Greek and Roman mythology

Graeco-Roman mythology and Graeco-Roman religion include the cults, beliefs and legends of ancient Greece, of which many were adopted to the Roman Empire, in syncretism with other beliefs around the Mediterranean Sea.

While these faiths were replaced by Christianity, they have survived as folk belief, and the foundation of the European literary canon, as well as timeless themes of European art and European classical music.

Understand
There was no universal Greek or Roman religion. The Mediterranean region has had countless faiths, myths and legends inspiring each other, without the institutional organization of today's world religions, such as Christianity or Islam. Nevertheless, both Greek and Roman mythology are believed to share a common origin in Proto-Indo-European mythology, which is also likely the common ancestor of the Germanic (including Norse), Celtic, Slavic and Vedic Hindu mythologies.

The Greek civilization has been recorded from the 9th century BC. Its early history is intertwined with legend, with the Trojan War described in the Iliad and the Odyssey, as a Greek foundation myth.

The most famous Graeco-Roman religious faith is the one of classical Greece during the 5th and 4th centuries BC. It was a polytheist faith with many goods (the pantheon) who had superhuman abilities, without being all-powerful or all-good.

The Roman Empire adopted much of Greek culture, including the pantheon. Since Augustus, the Roman Empire had an imperial cult parallel with the polytheist belief.

Since the Christianization of the Roman Empire in the 4th century, Christians have referred to the believers in other faiths than Judaism or Christianity as pagans, from Latin pāgānus ("rural").

The ancient Greeks were skilled in astronomy, which was in ancient times not much different from astrology, the superstition that celestial bodies' positions had a connection to life on Earth. Many stars and constellations have been named by gods and other characters of Greek mythology. While the planets visible to the naked eye (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn) got the names of the Roman gods, celestial bodies discovered through telescopes in modern times continue the Greek and Roman theme.