Who is neptunes god

Though he lacked political power within the Roman pantheon, Neptune still commanded the fear and respect of a people whose fortunes were intimately tied to the seas. His importance increased in the second and third centuries BCE as Roman hegemony spread throughout the Mediterranean. There are two candidates with strong cases.

Neptune controlled all waters, from the smallest streams and springs to the largest well-known bodies of water—namely, the seas the Romans were aware of the ocean beyond the Iberian peninsula, but only dimly so.

Neptune made the Mediterranean Sea his domain, and lived in a golden palace beneath the waves with his consort Salacia and his loyal sons. Neptune could also summon winds and storms. By roiling the seas and delivering crushing waves, Neptune sunk many ships and sent many sailors to watery graves. Neptune was thought to wield a trident—a three-pronged thrusting weapon used by Mediterranean fisherpeople for centuries.

Many depictions of Neptune also featured him riding a chariot pulled either by horses or mythical seahorses; the latter were generally portrayed as horses with fish-like bodies and fins.

His mother was Ops or Opis , a primordial goddess of the earth. His siblings were among the chief deities of the Roman pantheon. His brothers were Jupiter, king of the gods, and Pluto , the god of the underworld and wealth. His sisters were Ceres , goddess of agriculture and cereals, Vesta , goddess of the hearth and home, and Juno, goddess of marriage, family, and domestic tranquility.

Salacia served as the Roman counterpart to Amphitrite, the sea nymph of Greek lore. There are many stories that depict him as being difficult and somewhat vindictive. His behavior is said to reflect the unpredictable nature of the sea. According to one tale, it was his unpredictable nature that caused Neptune to make an attempt to overthrow his brother Jupiter and become ruler of the underworld.

However, he failed in his attempt to accomplish this task. At the time, there was very little understanding of what really caused earthquakes.

And the ancient Romans thought they came from the sea, but had no scientific knowledge of things like plates and shifting of the earth. Since Neptune was the god the sea, it was thought that an earthquake occurred when he became angry. According to some stories about the Roman god Neptune, he had a wife named Salacia. Little is known about her. In ancient Italian mythology, she may have been the goddess of salt water.

Neptune had three children with Salacia. The most well-known of three was Triton. Like his father, he is depicted carrying a trident three-pronged staff.

Because of these relationships, he had many other sons and daughters other than the three children he had with his wife. The most notable of these children are Pegasus and Atlas. She is the woman most-often considered to be his wife rather than Salacia. According to one story about this relationship, Neptune saw Amphitrite, a water nymph, dancing on the island of Naxos. He was captivated by her beauty and instantly fell in love and asked her to marry him.

She turned him down. Not to be deterred, Neptune sent one of his servants, a dolphin, to try and find her again. The clever and charming dolphin was able to convince Amphitrite to change her mind and agree to marry Neptune.

However the Romans, who were not seafaring people, associated him more with fresh water and horses, and treated him with a fearful respect.

The Romans believed in a series of gods associated with world around them. They designated Neptune as the god of water and the sea, a close parallel to the Greek god, Poseidon.

As a god of both fresh water and the sea, Romans prayed to Neptune to provide water for their crops. In ancient Italy, farmers would honor Neptune with a festival in July, when frequent droughts would destroy their fields.

He was also a patron of horses and had a temple called Circus Flaminius built near a race track, and another in Campus Martius. He was also the patron of horse racing and a temple dedicated to him was situated near the Circus Flaminius which was a Roman racetrack.

He may have arisen as a sky god, casting lightning bolts instead of his throwing his trident. Or he may have initially been viewed as a fertility god, sending up springs of water from the earth. By B. Thus, his domain changed from freshwater springs to that of the ocean and sea. Unlike many of the gods of Rome, Neptune has his origins in the Latin culture of Rome. The role of Neptune changed when the Roman Empire came into contact with Greece and absorbed much of its religion.

Neptune shares an origin story with several gods who were born to his parents, Saturn and Ops. Saturn decided to eat the children as they were born, including Neptune. Ops tricked Saturn into eating a rock after he had eaten five of his six children.

All five children were regurgitated by Saturn to return to the world and take up their roles as gods, including Neptune. The classic depiction of Neptune is of an old man with long hair and a grey beard. He is often shown as one of the oldest-looking gods of Ancient Rome in classical and modern artworks. What makes him one of the most recognizable gods of Rome is his trident that he carries as he moves beneath the ocean waves.

Neptune is one of the early gods of Rome who date back beyond the earliest contact with the Greek culture. He was one of the six children of Saturn and Ops. Neptune and his brothers, Jupiter and Pluto, defeated their father in battle and agreed to take control of the three realms of the world.

Neptune became the ruler of the seas, Jupiter took control of the sky, and Pluto oversaw the underworld.