1 00:00:07,730 --> 00:00:12,369 Okay, so besides history, mythology has always been a guilty pleasure of mine. 2 00:00:12,369 --> 00:00:15,189 And boy have I been waiting to do this topic for a while. 3 00:00:15,189 --> 00:00:19,489 As a function of popularity, Roman mythos isn't nearly as popular as its Greek counterpart, 4 00:00:19,489 --> 00:00:23,109 since the Romans were more preoccupied with empire building and Caesar killing than they 5 00:00:23,109 --> 00:00:25,030 were with their oral traditions. 6 00:00:25,030 --> 00:00:28,489 But they did name the planets after their deities, which is nice. 7 00:00:28,489 --> 00:00:50,560 Okay, so the Romans borrowed heavily from the Greek pantheons, and also appropriated 8 00:00:50,560 --> 00:00:53,280 many of their homegrown deities into Greek equivalents. 9 00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:57,579 The Italian peninsula had been in contact with the Greeks for centuries, and Greek colonies 10 00:00:57,579 --> 00:01:01,240 were spread throughout the Mediterranean, so this was somewhat inevitable. 11 00:01:01,240 --> 00:01:04,459 To get some of the bigger famous gods out of the way, the Roman pantheon corresponded 12 00:01:04,459 --> 00:01:07,200 mostly with a third Greek dynasty called the Olympians. 13 00:01:07,200 --> 00:01:12,760 Zeus, Hera and Athena became Jupiter, Juno and Minerva respectively, the three patron 14 00:01:12,760 --> 00:01:13,760 gods of Rome. 15 00:01:13,760 --> 00:01:17,659 Ares, Aphrodite and Poseidon became Mars, Venus and Neptune. 16 00:01:17,659 --> 00:01:21,599 Hermes, with his cool winged shoes became Mercury, the god of communication, transport 17 00:01:21,599 --> 00:01:23,019 and commerce. 18 00:01:23,019 --> 00:01:27,959 The famous Titan equivalents are the first gods Uranus of the sky and Gaia of the earth 19 00:01:27,959 --> 00:01:31,599 who, through their marriage, bore Saturn, one of the oldest and most famous gods of 20 00:01:31,599 --> 00:01:33,400 Roman mythology. 21 00:01:33,400 --> 00:01:37,700 Saturn was hugely important to the Romans as he reigned the supreme deity and father 22 00:01:37,700 --> 00:01:41,439 of Jupiter, corresponding to his Greek equivalent, Chronos. 23 00:01:41,439 --> 00:01:45,280 The age of Latin dominance over Italy is said to be attributed to him and his name lives 24 00:01:45,280 --> 00:01:48,859 on in the planet Saturn and the sixth day of the week, Saturday. 25 00:01:48,859 --> 00:01:53,379 The winter solstice festival became dedicated to him in the month of December as Saturnalius, 26 00:01:53,379 --> 00:01:58,040 or Saturn Festival, and Christmas was later moved to December 25th to coincide with it, 27 00:01:58,040 --> 00:02:00,980 illustrating just how important it was to the Romans. 28 00:02:00,980 --> 00:02:03,659 Hades, the Greek god of the underworld, would become Pluto. 29 00:02:03,659 --> 00:02:07,760 Hephaestus, the Greek god of fire, became Vulcan, where the modern word volcano comes 30 00:02:07,760 --> 00:02:08,759 from. 31 00:02:08,759 --> 00:02:12,860 The odd one out was Apollo, who seems to have blended over time with some other deities. 32 00:02:12,860 --> 00:02:17,620 Classic Roman mythology places him with Greek Apollo, the son of Jupiter, but Apollo was 33 00:02:17,620 --> 00:02:21,939 also worship for many other things, and it's hard to pin down. He is portrayed as the patron 34 00:02:21,939 --> 00:02:26,120 god of Troy, which would later make him very important to the Romans. The Trojans worshipped 35 00:02:26,120 --> 00:02:31,439 him as the Sun God, which seems to correspond with the Italian Etruscan god Sol, but also 36 00:02:31,439 --> 00:02:37,120 at various times been associated with Helios, who is not an Olympian, but a Titan like Saturn, 37 00:02:37,120 --> 00:02:41,580 who is famous for drawing the sun across the sky in his chariot. All these inconsistencies 38 00:02:41,580 --> 00:02:45,180 were hand-waved somewhat, as the customs, festivals and worship mattered a lot more 39 00:02:45,180 --> 00:02:49,340 the Italians than the myths or the stories, but don't take my word for it, I wasn't there. 40 00:02:49,979 --> 00:02:55,020 Of the stories, there are some good ones. Hercules was adopted from the Greek hero Heracles, 41 00:02:55,020 --> 00:03:00,780 the son of Zeus and a mortal woman. Heracles was an immensely influential character in Roman times, 42 00:03:00,780 --> 00:03:04,939 and his stories feature heavily. Besides the well-known Twelve Tasks, 43 00:03:04,939 --> 00:03:09,979 Heracles also has stories featuring him in the Roman Empire, such as killing Vulcan's son Casus, 44 00:03:09,979 --> 00:03:14,460 the fire-breathing giant, or when he visited Germany with some of the locals identifying him 45 00:03:14,460 --> 00:03:16,060 as Thor. 46 00:03:16,060 --> 00:03:19,900 Hercules is said to have visited a town on the southern shores of Gaul and chased away 47 00:03:19,900 --> 00:03:22,280 the gods that were terrifying the locals. 48 00:03:22,280 --> 00:03:26,300 In honour of him, they built the temple of Hercules Maniarchos, which I'm sure you've 49 00:03:26,300 --> 00:03:29,199 pieced together, eventually became Monarcho. 50 00:03:29,199 --> 00:03:34,000 Many of these stories were compiled into literature, the most famous of which was the Aeneid, an 51 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:36,699 epic saga containing the founding myths of Rome. 52 00:03:36,699 --> 00:03:41,379 Virgil, the poet and writer, was commissioned by Caesar Augustus to write an epic poem about 53 00:03:41,379 --> 00:03:46,659 himself in his glorious life. To which Vergil said sure, and then immediately began work compiling a 54 00:03:46,659 --> 00:03:51,219 historical epic on the history of Rome, to stick it to Augustus, who he didn't like very much. 55 00:03:51,840 --> 00:03:56,319 Vergil compiled several stories and sources relating to Rome's history, into one epic saga 56 00:03:56,319 --> 00:04:01,680 spanning three continents and many years. Initially meaning to serve as a sequel to Homer's Iliad and 57 00:04:01,680 --> 00:04:07,020 Odyssey, but also heavily borrowing from both. The Aeneid, much like the Odyssey, picks up soon 58 00:04:07,020 --> 00:04:11,919 after the Trojan War, with Aeneas, a Trojan warrior and son of Venus, tasked with taking 59 00:04:11,919 --> 00:04:17,120 the Trojan survivors and finding them a new home. Either that or he ran away, sources disagree. 60 00:04:17,860 --> 00:04:21,779 The Trojan refugees took a fleet of ships and began their epic quest to find their prophesied 61 00:04:21,779 --> 00:04:26,839 new home of Italy. This being far too mortal a quest, the gods couldn't help themselves by 62 00:04:26,839 --> 00:04:31,600 getting involved. Aeneas' journey was interfered by competing gods who either did or did not want 63 00:04:31,600 --> 00:04:36,899 the Trojans to find a new home. Juno, Jupiter's wife, or niece, depending who you ask, was 64 00:04:36,899 --> 00:04:41,040 particularly ruthless in her attempt to stop Aeneas from getting to Italy, since it was foretold that 65 00:04:41,040 --> 00:04:46,360 his descendants would one day destroy and conquer Carthage, her all-time favourite city. Neptune, 66 00:04:46,560 --> 00:04:51,100 the god of the sea, helped the Trojan fleet by halting a storm sent by Juno, but not before it 67 00:04:51,100 --> 00:04:55,660 had blown them all the way to Libya. With some more divine intervention, eventually Aeneas made 68 00:04:55,660 --> 00:04:59,939 it to Carthage, where he stayed for six years, married the queen of Carthage, Dido, and generally 69 00:04:59,939 --> 00:05:05,220 became content, before a strongly worded suggestion from Jupiter via Mercury, who told Aeneas to get 70 00:05:05,220 --> 00:05:09,860 his butt and start sailing again. The Trojans would quietly sneak off one night, and Aeneas 71 00:05:09,860 --> 00:05:14,259 would abandon his wife, angering her so much that she cursed Aeneas and vowed that Carthage 72 00:05:14,259 --> 00:05:18,579 will always be an enemy to his descendants. This is what those in the writer's business 73 00:05:18,579 --> 00:05:23,459 call foreshadowing. After a brief stop in Sicily, Aeneas finally arrives on the shore of Italy, 74 00:05:23,459 --> 00:05:27,300 and after a visit to the underworld, he learns of his destiny to become the father of the Roman 75 00:05:27,300 --> 00:05:32,980 Empire. So, no pressure. Hopping on his boat again, the Trojans settled the Italian kingdom 76 00:05:32,980 --> 00:05:38,259 of Latium and immediately started a war. Seriously, the rest of the book is just war between competing 77 00:05:38,259 --> 00:05:44,259 suitors to the Latin princess's hand. Tiberinus, god of the Tiber River and son of the titan 78 00:05:44,259 --> 00:05:49,779 Oceanus, helped Aeneas in the war. He once again assured Aeneas that Italy was to be his home and 79 00:05:49,779 --> 00:05:54,040 that he should found a settlement and become father to the world's greatest empire. Aeneas 80 00:05:54,040 --> 00:05:58,959 then founded the city of Alba Longa in Latium and became its first king. His descendants would rule 81 00:05:58,959 --> 00:06:03,240 the city until the birth of the princess Rhea Silver. Rhea became pregnant with the sons of 82 00:06:03,240 --> 00:06:08,259 the Roman god Mars, eventually giving birth to twins she named Romulus and Remus. Their grand 83 00:06:08,259 --> 00:06:12,339 uncle, the king of Elba, saw them as a threat to his rule and ordered them killed, whereupon they 84 00:06:12,339 --> 00:06:17,660 were thrown into the Tiber River to die. Tiberinus then rescued the twins and a she-wolf found the 85 00:06:17,660 --> 00:06:22,639 boys and suckled them to keep them alive. The boys grew up in an area of seven hills and became 86 00:06:22,639 --> 00:06:26,740 great warriors, and after learning who they were, they led a revolt against the king their uncle, 87 00:06:26,740 --> 00:06:30,420 who had himself usurped the throne from Romulus and Remus' grandfather, Numitor. 88 00:06:31,060 --> 00:06:34,500 With Numitor back on the throne, the twins returned to the seven hills they were raised on. 89 00:06:35,300 --> 00:06:40,019 A disagreement on where to settle down led to a fight between the two, and Romulus killed his 90 00:06:40,019 --> 00:06:46,100 brother. Romulus then created a settlement and named it after himself, Rome, and reigned as its 91 00:06:46,100 --> 00:06:51,300 first king. And that is how the Trojan refugees would live on to become the legendary founders 92 00:06:51,300 --> 00:06:58,889 of the Roman Empire. 93 00:06:58,889 --> 00:07:02,149 This video has once again been made possible with Skillshare. 94 00:07:02,149 --> 00:07:07,870 The first 500 to sign up with the link below can learn free for 2 months. 95 00:07:07,870 --> 00:07:11,910 If you're looking to start a new project, Skillshare is the best place to start. 96 00:07:11,910 --> 00:07:16,269 The hundreds of online courses can help you learn a new skill or even brush up on old 97 00:07:16,269 --> 00:07:17,269 ones. 98 00:07:17,269 --> 00:07:20,850 If you like the videos I make and would like to learn how to create high quality vector 99 00:07:20,850 --> 00:07:26,029 graphics, I'd recommend having a watch of Introduction to Cartoon Character Design and 100 00:07:26,029 --> 00:07:30,709 And also Mastering Illustrator, 10 tips and tricks to speed up your workflow. 101 00:07:30,709 --> 00:07:34,230 Great for intermediate and low level skill designers alike. 102 00:07:34,230 --> 00:07:38,529 Remember to sign up using the link below for your chance to learn a new skill and support 103 00:07:38,529 --> 00:07:40,269 the channel by doing so. 104 00:07:40,269 --> 00:07:43,800 A big thanks to Skillshare. 105 00:07:43,800 --> 00:07:46,379 This video was voted on by my Patrons. 106 00:07:46,379 --> 00:07:50,319 If you'd like to have your say on the channel, become a Patron today. 107 00:07:50,319 --> 00:07:51,079 Until next time.