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Neptune, in Roman religion and mythology

(Encyclopedia)Neptune, in Roman religion and mythology, god of water. He was presumably an indigenous god of fertility, but in later times he was identified with the Greek Poseidon, god of the sea. At his festival,...

Vulcan, in Roman religion and mythology

(Encyclopedia)Vulcan, in Roman religion and mythology, fire god. Chiefly a god of destructive fire, Vulcan seems to have originated as a god of volcanoes. His festival, the Volcanalia, was held on Aug. 23. He was l...

Ceres, in Roman religion and mythology

(Encyclopedia)Ceres sîrˈēz [key], in Roman religion and mythology, goddess of grain; daughter of Saturn and Ops. She was identified by the Romans with the Greek Demeter. Her worship was connected with that of th...

Saturn, in Roman religion and mythology

(Encyclopedia)Saturn, in Roman religion and mythology, god of harvests, later identified with the Greek Kronos. Little is known of the origins of his cult. His reign was regarded as the Golden Age. He was the husba...

Jupiter, in Roman religion and mythology

(Encyclopedia)Jupiter, in Roman religion and mythology, the supreme god, also called Jove. Originally a sky deity associated with rain and agriculture, he developed into the great father god, prime protector of the...

Venus, in Roman religion and mythology

(Encyclopedia)Venus, in Roman religion and mythology, goddess of vegetation. Later, she became identified (3d cent. b.c.) with the Greek Aphrodite. In imperial times she was worshiped as Venus Genetrix, mother of A...

sin, in religion

(Encyclopedia)sin, in religion, unethical act. The term implies disobedience to a personal God, as in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and is not used so often in systems such as Buddhism where there is no persona...

religion

(Encyclopedia)religion, a system of thought, feeling, and action that is shared by a group and that gives the members an object of devotion; a code of behavior by which individuals may judge the personal and social...

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