CHAPTER 1

THE OLYMPIAN GODS

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 CW
Chapter 1:  Introduction

The Olympian gods

The Romans worshipped many different gods and goddesses. As discussed on pp1–4, Rome
was a city founded a very long time ago. We do not know much about very early Roman
religion, but we do know that over time Roman culture was influenced by the culture of the
Ancient Greeks. By the middle of the 2nd century bc the Romans had conquered Greece and
absorbed much of its literature and religion. It became the Roman practice to match up their
own major gods with the Greek gods, and many of the stories the Greeks had told about their
gods started to appear in Roman literature too.
The most famous gods worshipped by the Romans are known as the Olympian gods.
They have this name because they were paired with the major gods whom the Greeks had
believed lived on Mount Olympus. Here is a list of the Olympian gods with both their
Roman and their Greek names. You will see that the Romans believed that each god was
associated with different things.

FIGURE 1.1  The summit of Mount Olympus

Mount Olympus is a mountain in Greece and it has one of the highest peaks in Europe.
Its summit is often shrouded in cloud, and it is no surprise therefore that it seemed like a
natural home for the gods.

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 Chapter 1  Introduction

Roman name Greek name

Jupiter Zeus king of the gods

Neptune Poseidon god of the sea

Pluto Hades god of the underworld, the region

inhabited by souls of the dead

Juno Hera queen of the gods, goddess of

marriage

Venus Aphrodite goddess of love

Apollo Apollo god of music, prophecy, music,

archery and disease

Mars Ares god of war

Diana Artemis goddess of hunting, childbirth and

young women

Minerva Athena goddess of wisdom, weaving,

and war

Ceres Demeter goddess of agriculture

Bacchus Dionysus god of wine, fertility and frenzy

FIGURE 1.2  Bust of Jupiter
Vulcan Hephaestus the blacksmith god of fire
The shoulders and bare chest in this statue
Mercury Hermes the messenger of the gods and show Jupiter’s strength. Jupiter’s face has been
the god of travellers and thieves carved with his characteristic beard. This bust
dates from the 2nd century ad and is now part
Vesta Hestia goddess of the hearth and home of the collection at The British Museum.

The Greeks, and then the Romans, told many stories about these gods. This chapter
focuses on the stories. You may know some of these stories already because many of them
are still popular today. These stories help us to understand some of the things which were
important to the Romans and some of the things which they worried about. As you read the
myths in this chapter, it might be interesting to consider what these stories might tell us
about the Roman attitudes to family, gender and power.

Jupiter, king of the gods

The Romans believed that Jupiter was the king of the gods. Even though he was the most
powerful of the gods, his reign was not always an easy one. Jupiter is often shown in art with
his favourite weapon, a thunderbolt, ready to throw whenever trouble arose.
Jupiter had not always been the king of the gods. The Roman poet Ovid re-­tells the Greek
story that Jupiter became king after he killed his father, Saturn. Saturn was the king of the
Titans. Titans were divine beings, an earlier race of gods. They were monstrous and

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 Chapter 1 The Olympian Gods

uncivilised. There had been a prophecy that one of Saturn’s

children would kill him and take his place. To prevent this,
Saturn swallowed each child as soon as his wife, Ops,
gave birth.
As you will read in Exercise 1.4, Saturn’s wife decided
to trick him. When Jupiter was born, she hid her baby and
gave Saturn a stone wrapped as a baby to swallow.
Unknown to Saturn, Jupiter grew up in secret. Later, he
and his mother tricked Saturn into drinking a potion that
made him vomit up all the children he had already
swallowed. Together, Jupiter and his siblings defeated
Saturn. Then Jupiter and his brothers, Neptune and Pluto,
drew lots to decide who would rule which part of the world.
Jupiter took over Mount Olympus and ruled as king of the
gods. Neptune won the sea, and Pluto won the Underworld.
Jupiter settled in to rule men and gods from Mount
Olympus. Jupiter married his sister Juno, who became the
queen of the gods. Their son, Mars, was the god of war.
Juno was believed to be the goddess of marriage even
though her own marriage to Jupiter was not always a
happy one because Jupiter had many affairs. Several
stories from ancient myth focus on Juno’s jealousy and her
readiness to take revenge.

Trouble on Mount Olympus: Juno and

Vulcan
One of the most famous stories about Jupiter and Juno
FIGURE 1.3  Saturn eating one of his children
started as a Greek myth told by the Greek poet Hesiod
This chilling painting of the Titan Saturn, the father of many sometime around 700 bc in a long poem called the
Olympian gods, was created by the Spanish painter Goya
Theogony. Like many Greek myths, the Romans re-told
towards the end of his life when he had seen a
tremendous amount of death and destruction in the the same story using Roman names instead. In this story,
Napoleonic Wars. Notice how, in a mainly dark Juno became so annoyed with the number of children
background, the bolting white eyes of Saturn and the red Jupiter had with other goddesses, and even mortal women,
blood of his son stand out. that she decided to have a child on her own. Since she was
a goddess, she was able to do this. However, the child she
bore was not like the other Olympians; Olympians were all beautiful and this child, Vulcan,
was ugly. Despite this, Vulcan was very clever, and became the god of fire and metalworking.
The Romans believed that Vulcan set up a forge and worked with the one-­eyed giants known
as Cyclopes to make weapons for the gods themselves, including Jupiter’s thunderbolts. You
can read about some of these weapons in Source 1.1.
In another of the stories told about Vulcan, we hear that Jupiter threw Vulcan out from
Mount Olympus. This happened because Juno was determined to destroy one of Jupiter’s
sons by a mortal woman: the hero Hercules, whom we shall read more about in Chapter 2.

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 Chapter 1  Introduction

FIGURE 1.4  A Cyclops forging Jupiter’s thunderbolts

According to myth, the Cyclopes also made weapons for the other gods, such as
Neptune’s three-­pronged trident and Pluto’s helmet of invisibility. This mosaic, which
dates from the 3rd century ad , was found in Tunisia where it remains today in the Bardo
National Museum.

Juno had sent a storm to destroy Hercules, so Jupiter punished Juno by hanging her from
Mount Olympus with anvils chained to her ankles. When Vulcan tried to free his mother,
Jupiter cast him out from Mount Olympus. Other myths tell us that Juno threw Vulcan from
Mount Olympus because he was crippled and ugly. It is important to remember that, when it
comes to the myths about the Olympian gods, there is often more than one version.

Vengeful gods: Vulcan and Venus

In revenge for his exile, Vulcan sent a throne to Juno. Vulcan was such a clever craftsman
that, when Juno sat in the throne, she was bound fast and could not get free. Vulcan agreed
to release Juno if Jupiter promised that Venus, the goddess of love, would marry Vulcan.
This was a bold request. Venus was so beautiful that many gods had fallen in love with her

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 Chapter 1 The Olympian Gods

and wanted to marry her. What’s more, Venus

was already in love with Mars, the god of war
and the son of Jupiter and Juno, and so she did
not wish to marry Vulcan.
Jupiter, however, agreed to Vulcan’s
demands and, because Jupiter was the king of
the gods, Venus had to obey. She married
Vulcan, but she was not faithful to him. In
Exercise 1.8, you will read a story from nearly
3,000 years ago that tells how Vulcan
eventually caught Venus committing adultery
with Mars. The Roman poet Ovid included
this story in one of his poems, and you can
read a translation of this in Source 1.3.

Wisdom and war: Minerva and

Mars
Mars was not the only god of war. The
Romans also worshipped Minerva, the
goddess of war, wisdom and crafts such as
weaving. She was the daughter of Metis, the
Titan goddess who had been married to Jupiter
before he married Juno. Just as Jupiter’s father
FIGURE 1.5  Birth of Minerva swallowed his children to keep them from
This vase was created in Greece in the 5th century bc . It shows the overthrowing him, Jupiter decided to swallow
story of the birth of the Greek goddess Athena or, as the Romans Metis before she could give birth to their
knew her, Minerva. She is shown here emerging from the head of her
child. Even though Jupiter had swallowed her,
father, fully grown and wearing armour.
Metis gave birth to Minerva inside Jupiter’s
body. Soon afterwards, Jupiter began having
terrible headaches. To get rid of these headaches, Jupiter asked Vulcan to hit him in the head
with an axe. When Vulcan did so, Minerva jumped out, fully grown and armed for battle.
You will read a version of this story in Exercise 1.16.

The power of the gods

As we have seen, the gods of Mount Olympus did not set good moral examples for humans.
The gods could be petty, mean, cruel and unfaithful, but the Romans worshipped them
because they had great power over the world of mortals. For example, we have seen that the
Romans believed that Jupiter controlled the weather, Neptune had power over the seas and
Venus had the power to make men and women fall in love.
Many of the stories told about the other Olympians focus on their particular power. For
example, the Romans believed that Ceres, the goddess of agriculture, was responsible for the

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 Chapter 1  Introduction

seasons. To explain this, the poet Ovid tells us

that Pluto, the god of the Underworld, fell in love
with Ceres’ daughter Proserpina. Pluto abducted
Proserpina and took her to the Underworld to be
his bride. Ceres searched the world for Proserpina
and neglected her duties as the goddess of
agriculture. The crops died in the fields and
humans began to starve. Finally, Jupiter decreed
that because Proserpina had eaten some
pomegranate seeds in the Underworld, she would
spend part of the year there with Pluto. For the
rest of the year, however, she would return to her
mother. The Romans believed that when
Proserpina returned to Ceres in the spring, the
goddess was happy and the earth grew abundant
food. In the autumn, when Proserpina returned to
the Underworld, Ceres began to grieve again and
nothing grew during the winter months.
Some gods had power over a large number of
different things at the same time. For example
Apollo was the god of music, prophecy and
archery, and he was both the bringer and healer of
diseases. Apollo’s twin sister, Diana, also had
wide-­ranging powers. She was the goddess of
hunting and wild animals, and she was worshipped
as the goddess of childbirth and the protector of
girls until they reached the age of marriage. FIGURE 1.6  Roman fresco of Diana

Many people today have heard of the god This beautiful wall painting (fresco) of Diana, goddess of hunting,
childbirth and young women, was found in the Roman seaside town
Bacchus: he was the god of wine and most
of Pompeii. She is shown with a serious expression, striding
people now associate him with parties and fun. forward, and about to place an arrow in her bow.
To the Romans, however, he was a figure of
great and dangerous power. He was the god of
madness, frenzy and fertility.
Mercury was the messenger god, sent by other gods to carry information between gods
and mortals and between the gods themselves, but he was very powerful in his own right as
the patron god of travellers and thieves. Mercury is easily recognised by his winged sandals
and he appears in many stories in classical mythology and literature as he goes about
delivering news and information. The Roman poet Ovid wrote that Mercury did not just
deliver messages for the gods; he also carried dreams to sleeping mortals and conducted the
spirits of the dead to the Underworld.
Vesta was a very important goddess for the Romans. She was worshipped as the goddess
of the hearth and home. You will read much more about Vesta in Chapter 3.

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 Chapter 1 The Olympian Gods

Chapter 1:  Sources to Study

Source 1.1:  Vulcan’s forge

In the 1st century bc the poet Virgil wrote a dramatic description of the weapons for Jupiter,
Mars and Minerva made by the Cyclopes in Vulcan’s cave.
In this passage, Virgil uses the Greek name Pallas Athene for Minerva and he describes
the aegis which was part of her armour. This aegis was a breastplate with the head of the
monstrous Gorgon Medusa, whose gaze turned people to stone.

The Cyclopes Brontes, Sterope and Pyracmon were forging steel, working naked in that
vast cavern. In their hands was a thunderbolt which they had roughed out, one of those the
Father of the Gods and Men hurls down upon the earth in such numbers from every part of
the sky. Some of it was already polished, some of it unfinished. They had attached three
shafts of lashing rain to it, three shafts of heavy rain clouds, three of glowing fire and three
of the south wind in full flight. They were now adding to the work the terrifying lightning
and the sound of thunder, then Fear and Anger with its accompanying flames. In another
part of the cave they were working for Mars, busy with the wing-­wheeled chariot in which
he stirs up men and cities to war. Others were hard at work polishing the armour worn by
Pallas Athene when enraged, the fearsome aegis with its weaving snakes and their reptilian
scales of gold, and the Gorgon Medusa herself, rolling her eyes in her bodiless head on the
breastplate of the goddess.
Virgil, Aeneid Book 8, 424–438 (trans. slightly adapted)

Source 1.1:  Questions

1 How many Cyclopes were working in the cave and what were their names?
2 For which god were they making a thunderbolt?
3 What had the Cyclopes added to the thunderbolt to make it so powerful and
frightening? What were they adding next?
4 What were the Cyclopes making for Mars?
5 What does the description of Minerva’s armour tell us about her as a
goddess?
6 Based on what you have read in this passage, which god do you think would
have been most terrifying to look at?

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 Chapter 1  Sources to Study

Source 1.2:  Venus’ beauty

This fresco was found on the wall of a home in the city of Pompeii. Pompeii was a Roman
city on the Bay of Naples, near to the volcano Vesuvius. When Mount Vesuvius erupted in ad
79, the entire city was buried under ash and pulverised rock.
Archaeologists started to excavate the area in the 18th century. They found that many
parts of Pompeii were amazingly well-­preserved by the volcanic ash, including this wall
painting of Venus. In this painting, Venus is shown lying on a shell, floating on the sea with
two little winged cupids.

FIGURE 1.7  Detail from a fresco from the House of Venus

This large fresco is from a grand and wealthy house. It is on the wall of the covered
colonnade which runs around the house’s inner courtyard garden. Many different
frescos are displayed, but this is the most famous of them, and the house takes its
modern name from it.

Source 1.2:  Questions

1 Who is the most important figure in this painting? How can you tell?
2 What has the painter done to Venus’ appearance to show us that she is the
goddess of love?
3 What characteristics does this image suggest belong to Venus?
4 Some people think Venus has been painted on a sea-­shell here to remind its
viewers of the myth that she was born from the foam of the sea. What can
you find out about this myth? What does this story tell us about the Romans’
understanding of the world around them?
5 Why do you think the Romans might have wanted paintings of the gods on
display in their houses?

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 Chapter 1 The Olympian Gods

Source 1.3:  Venus and Mars’ love affair

At the very start of the 1st century ad , the Roman poet Ovid wrote a poem called the
Metamorphoses. In this poem he told many different stories about the gods. In this passage,
Ovid tells us that the Sun caught Mars and Venus having an affair. The Sun then told Vulcan
that his wife was cheating on him. Vulcan created a clever trap to catch the lovers and
embarrass them before the gods.

The Sun, people think, was the first god to see Venus committing adultery with Mars. This
god is the first to see everything. Pained by what he saw, the Sun told Venus’ husband,
Vulcan, son of Juno, about the pleasures stolen from his marriage-­bed, and showed him the
site of the betrayal. Shocked, Vulcan let the artwork he was making fall from his skilful
hands. Straightaway he fashioned from bronze tiny links of bronze, a net invisible to the
eye to use as a snare, handiwork finer than the finest thread, finer than a spider’s web
hanging from a ceiling. He arranged the net carefully above the bed, setting it to drop at the
slightest touch, the smallest movement.
When his wife and her lover made love in the bed, by means of a husband’s skill they
were caught in each other’s arms, stuck fast to each other by this new kind of net. Vulcan
immediately threw open the ivory doors of the bedroom and let in the gods. There the
lovers lay, body bound to body – a shocking sight – and various gods (all amused) wished
out loud that he could be part of a shocking sight like that. It gave them all a good laugh,
and for a long time this was the most repeated story in all of heaven.
Ovid, Metamorphoses, Book 4.171–189 (trans. slightly adapted)

Source 1.3:  Questions

1 Why do you think the Sun is described as ‘the first to see everything’?
2 Why did the Sun tell Vulcan that Venus was cheating on him?
3 How did Vulcan feel when he heard this, and what did he do next?
4 Why did Vulcan summon the other gods? What do you think he was expecting
them to do?
5 Are you surprised by the way the other gods reacted? Explain your answer.
6 Write a character description of Vulcan based on what this passage tells us
about his feelings and his actions.

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 Chapter 1  Sources to Study

Source 1.4:  Do gods look like humans?

Around 45 bc , the Roman orator and author Cicero wrote a series of philosophical books
entitled De Natura Deorum (On the Nature of the Gods). One of the subjects he wrote
about was the appearance of the gods. Romans believed that the gods were anthropomorphic,
i.e. that they looked and acted like humans. In the passage below Cicero explains why this
was so.

Indeed, when we think about the gods’ appearance, we think that the race of the gods is
nothing other than human in appearance; for how else does anyone ever imagine – either
when they are awake or when they are asleep – that they have pictured the gods? Reason
itself declares the same thing. For it is generally agreed that the nature of the gods surpasses
all others, either because it is blessed or because it is immortal, and therefore that it must
be equivalent to the most beautiful thing. What arrangement of limbs, what shaping of
features, what figure, what species is able to be more beautiful than the human one?
Cicero, De Natura Deorum, Book 1.46–47 (with omissions)

Source 1.4:  Questions

1 What is the first reason Cicero gives to explain why the Romans thought that
the gods look like humans?
2 Cicero then tells us that reason, i.e. logical thought, brings us to the same
conclusion. Use the following questions to help you explain his argument.
a. What does Cicero mean when he writes that the nature of the gods
surpasses all others?
b. If the gods are better than all other beings, what does Cicero think this
means their appearance must be?
c. What does Cicero think is the most beautiful appearance for a being to
have?
3 Do you think Cicero’s argument is a good one?
4 Based on what you know about the gods, do you agree that they should be
beautiful?
5 Think about the images you have seen of the gods so far. Do you think that
they are beautiful? Does our society have the same standards of beauty as
the Romans had?

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 Chapter 1 The Olympian Gods

Chapter 1:  Questions for Discussion

1 What is your impression of the Olympian gods from what you have read?
You might like to consider
● how the gods treated each other
● how the gods treated the humans
● what the gods looked like
● where the gods lived
● the powers of the gods

2 Which of the gods or goddesses you have read about would you choose to
worship and why?
You might like to consider
● what each god or goddess was associated with
● the powers of each god or goddess
● the character of each god or goddess

3 What can we learn about the Romans from the stories they told about the
gods?
You might like to consider
● the values and attitudes of the gods
● the actions of the gods
● how the Romans connected the gods with the natural world around them

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 Chapter 1  Core Language Part A

Chapter 1:  Core Language Part A

Gods and goddesses

The following gods and goddess feature in the sentences and stories in this
chapter:

Iuppiter Jupiter, king of the gods

Iūnō Juno, queen of the gods
Minerva Minerva, goddess of wisdom and war
Mars Mars, god of war
Vulcānus Vulcan, the blacksmith god of fire
Venus Venus, goddess of love

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 Chapter 1 The Olympian Gods

Differences between English and Latin

There are many ways in which Latin is different from English. Of these, the most
important are as follows.

● Latin word order is often different: verbs are often (but not always) at the end
of a sentence.
● Latin often uses fewer words than English; this means that you will often
need to add extra words in English when you translate. For example, Latin
has no word for a or the, and it often does not use words for my, your, his,
hers, its, ours etc.
● Capital letters are used only for names.

Exercise 1.1

  1. Iuppiter erat rēx.   6. Iuppiter erat pater.

  2. Iūnō rēgīna erat.   7. Iūnō uxor erat.

  3. Iuppiter deus erat.   8. fīlia erat Minerva.

  4. Iūnō dea erat.   9. fīlius Mars erat.

  5. Iūnō māter erat. 10. Minerva erat dea.

Note that you should rēx king

learn all the
rēgīna queen
vocabulary printed in
green boxes. deus god

dea goddess

māter mother

pater father

uxor wife

fīlia daughter

fīlius son

erat he / she was

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 Chapter 1  Core Language Part A

Exercise 1.2

  1. Mars deus Rōmānus erat.   6. Iūnō saeva erat.

  2. Minerva dea Rōmāna erat.   7. Mars erat īrātus.

  3. Minerva pulchra erat.   8. Iūnō īrāta erat.

  4. Mars pulcher erat.   9. Minerva laeta erat.

  5. Mars erat saevus. 10. Iuppiter laetus erat.

Rōmānus, Rōmāna Roman Question: Can you

work out from
pulcher, pulchra beautiful, handsome
Exercise 1.2 why
saevus, saeva savage, cruel each of these Latin
words has two
īrātus, īrāta angry
different forms?
laetus, laeta happy

Exercise 1.3

1. Venus pulchra et laeta erat. 5. Iuppiter laetus erat sed Iūnō

īrāta erat.
2. saepe Vulcānus erat īrātus.
6. etiam Iuppiter erat īrātus.
3. saepe Iūnō saeva erat sed
Venus laeta erat. 7. Mars erat pulcher sed īrātus.

4. tum Mars laetus erat. 8. tum Vulcānus īrātus et saevus

erat.

saepe often

sed but

tum then

et and; even

etiam also; even

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 Chapter 1 The Olympian Gods

Exercise 1.4:  Saturn eats his children

Before Jupiter became king of the gods, a monstrous race of Titans ruled Mount
Olympus. Saturn, king of the Titans, had received a prophecy that one of his children
would kill him and take his place. Saturn decided to eat each of his children as soon
as they were born.

One day his wife tricked him into eating a stone instead. The new baby grew up in
secret and eventually overthrew his father.

ōlim Iuppiter nōn erat rēx. Sāturnus deus erat et Sāturnus erat rēx. Sāturnus
pater erat sed Sāturnus saevus erat. Sāturnus līberōs cōnsūmpsit. māter īrāta
erat.

tum fīlius novus erat nātus. māter fīlium amāvit. māter patrem lapide fefellit.
fīlius cēlātus erat. fīlius tūtus erat. māter laeta erat. 5

fīlius erat Iuppiter. fīlius īrātus erat. Sāturnus saevus erat sed etiam fīlius
saevus erat. Iuppiter patrem vīcit. tum Iuppiter rēx erat. Iuppiter laetus erat.

ōlim once
nōn not
Sāturnus Saturn
līberōs cōnsūmpsit ‘ate his children’
novus new
nātus born
fīlium amāvit ‘loved her son’
patrem lapide fefellit ‘tricked his father with a stone’
cēlātus hidden
tūtus safe
patrem vīcit ‘defeated his father’

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 Chapter 1  Core Language Part A

Nouns and adjectives

In Latin, different sorts of words behave in different ways. This means it is
important to know which part of speech a word is.

nouns usually refer to people or gods, things, places

adjectives usually describe nouns

Exercise 1.5

Translate each of these words and say whether it is a noun or an adjective.

  1. rēgīna   6. laetus

  2. īrātus   7. rēx

  3. pulcher   8. Iūno

  4. fīlia   9. saevus

  5. deus 10. māter

Verbs
Verbs usually refer to actions: for example, he wept, she ruled.

Exercise 1.6

Translate the following sentences and underline the verb in each one.

1. pater lacrimāvit.

2. Iuppiter rēxit

3. māter lacrimāvit.

4. rēx rēxit.

5. rēgīna rēxit.

lacrimāvit he / she wept

rēxit he / she ruled

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 Chapter 1 The Olympian Gods

Case endings
Nouns in Latin change their endings depending upon the role they play in the
sentence. We refer to these endings as case endings.

The two most important roles in the sentence are subject and object.

● the subject does an action

● the object has an action done to it

In the sentences which follow you will see that some of the nouns have changed
Watch out! their endings. This is because some of the nouns are the subjects of their verbs,
Sometimes the but the other nouns are the objects.
spelling of the rest of
the noun has to If a noun is the subject of the verb, it will have the form you have met in the
change too: for vocabulary lists.
example, Iūnō will If a noun is the object of the verb it will have one of the following three endings.
become Iūnōnem  
and Mars will become
-am -um -em
Martem.

Exercise 1.7

In each of the following sentences, write out the Latin, underline the subject, circle
the object and translate the whole sentence.
  1. Iuppiter Iūnōnem amāvit.
  2. Mars Minervam laudāvit.
  3. Iuppiter Minervam terruit.
  4. pater Martem pūnīvit.
  5. māter fīlium amāvit.
  6. deus fīliam terruit.
  7. rēx rēgīnam amāvit.
  8. Iuppiter uxōrem rēxit.
  9. māter fīlium laudāvit.
10. Iūnō lacrimāvit.

amāvit he / she loved

laudāvit he / she praised

terruit he / she terrified

pūnīvit he / she punished

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 Chapter 1  Core Language Part A

Exercise 1.8:  Vulcan punishes Venus

Venus, the beautiful goddess of love, was often unfaithful to her husband Vulcan.
Her most notorious affair was with Mars, the handsome god of war. Vulcan devised
a way to punish his unfaithful wife: he made a clever net which trapped and
embarrassed Venus and Mars.

In Source 1.3 you can read a translation of Ovid’s version of this story.

Vulcānus erat deus: uxor erat Venus. Venus erat dea pulchra. Vulcānus nōn
erat pulcher. Vulcānus Venerem amāvit; Venus Vulcānum nōn amavit. Mars
erat deus pulcher. Mars Venerem amāvit et Venus Martem amāvit.

clam Mars et Venus in cubiculō erant. Mars erat laetus; Venus erat laeta. Vulcānus
5 Martem et Venerem cōnspexit. Vulcānus īrātus erat. Vulcānus Martem et Venerem
pūnīvit. Vulcānus māchinam ingeniōsam fēcit. māchina ingeniōsa Martem et
Venerem cēpit. Mars īrātus erat; Venus īrāta erat, sed Vulcānus erat laetus.

nōn not
clam in secret
in cubiculō ‘in the bedroom’
cōnspexit he / she caught sight of
māchina machine
ingeniōsus clever
fēcit he / she made
cēpit he / she captured

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 Chapter 1 The Olympian Gods

Chapter 1:  Core Language Part B

Noun cases: nominative and accusative
You have learned so far that the two most important roles in a sentence are
subject and object, and that Latin nouns have different cases to show which role
they have.

● The subject does the action of the verb. In Latin, if a noun is the subject of a
verb, it will be in the nominative case.

The king wept.

   subject
   nominative

● Some verbs also have an object; this is the noun which has the action done to
it. In Latin, if a noun is the object of a verb, it will be in the accusative case.

The king terrified the queen.

           object
           accusative

● Notice, however, that there is no object after erat (he / she was).

Jupiter was the king.

nominative   nominative

Exercise 1.9

For each of the following English sentences, identify which nouns would be in the
nominative case in Latin and which nouns would be in the accusative case.

  1. The queen terrified her son.

  2. The king praised the queen.

  3. Vulcan loved Venus.

  4. Venus was a goddess.

  5. The son loved his mother.

  6. The father punished his daughter.

  7. The queen wept.

  8. Jupiter was the king.

  9. Mars terrified the king.

10. The woman praised her daughter.

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 Chapter 1  Core Language Part B

Noun endings: declensions, stems and gender

There are different sets of endings for each case because nouns in Latin belong to
different groups. We call these groups declensions: nouns in the same declension
share the same endings.

The part of the noun that does not change is called the stem. For some nouns the
stem used for other cases is different from the form the noun has in the nominative
case.

Like many modern languages, in Latin each noun has a gender; for some nouns
(e.g. pater – father) this is obvious, but for others it is not. Vocabulary lists,
therefore, will tell you which gender a noun is.

The table below has all the nouns you will meet in the rest of Chapter  1. The
second column tells you the stem for each noun, whether it is in the 1st, the 2nd,
or the 3rd declension and whether it is a masculine or a feminine noun.

dea de- 1f goddess

fīlia fīli- 1f daughter

rēgīna rēgīn- 1f queen

fēmina fēmin- 1f woman

deus de- 2m god

līberī līber- 2m children

fīlius fīli- 2m son

māter mātr- 3f mother

pater patr- 3m father

rēx rēg- 3m king

uxor uxōr- 3f wife

homō homin- 3m man; human being

Iuppiter Iov- 3m Jupiter

Mars Mart- 3m Mars

Iūnō Iūnōn- 3f Juno

Minerva Minerv- 1f Minerva

Venus Vener- 3f Venus

Vulcānus Vulcān- 2m Vulcan

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 Chapter 1 The Olympian Gods

Case endings and declensions

You have learned that nouns belong to different groups, called declensions and
that nouns within the same declension share the same endings.

Here are the endings for the nominative and accusative cases for each declension.

1st declension 2nd declension 3rd declension

nominative fēmin-­a de-­us (rēx)

accusative fēmin-­am de-­um rēg-­em

rēx is in brackets because each 3rd declension noun has its own form for the
nominative case: pater, māter, homō, rēx, uxor are all examples of 3rd
declension nominatives. This means that rēx cannot act as a template for other
nominative 3rd declension nouns; each 3rd declension noun’s nominative will be
whatever it is for that word.

This also means that for the 3rd declension it is necessary to learn the stem
separately; sometimes the stem is quite different from the nominative (e.g.
Iuppiter has the stem Iov-).

Exercise 1.10

Give the meaning and the accusative form for each of these nouns.

  1. dea, de- 1f

  2. Vulcānus, Vulcān- 2m

  3. rēgīna, rēgīn- 1f

  4. pater, patr- 3m

  5. Iūnō, Iūnōn- 3f

  6. fīlius, fīli- 2m

  7. fīlia, fīli- 1f

  8. māter, mātr- 3f

  9. Mars, Mart- 3m

10. Minerva, Minerv- 1f

11. uxor, uxōr- 3f

12. homō, homin- 3m

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 Chapter 1  Core Language Part B

Translating nouns in the accusative case

In English we usually write the verb before its object, but in Latin these are often
written the other way round.

pater fīlium pūnīvit. The father punished the son.

This means that when you meet an accusative noun in Latin you may need to
read on and translate the verb first.

Exercise 1.11

  1. pater fīliam laudāvit.   6. uxor lacrimāvit.

  2. māter fīlium pūnīvit.   7. Vulcānus uxōrem pūnīvit.

  3. Iuppiter uxōrem terruit.   8. rēx rēgīnam laudāvit.

  4. Iūnō fīlium amāvit.   9. fīlia patrem amāvit.

  5. Minerva patrem laudāvit. 10. māter fīlium terruit.

Exercise 1.12

1. tum Iuppiter fīliam pūnīvit.

2. saepe Mars Minervam terruit.

3. Iuppiter Iūnōnem amāvit et Iūnō Iovem amāvit.

4. pater fīlium amāvit.

5. saepe fīlius lacrimāvit.

6. Mars etiam Iūnōnem terruit.

7. māter fīlium pūnīvit sed etiam tum fīlius mātrem amāvit.

8. saepe rēx fīlium pūnīvit sed uxōrem laudāvit.

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 Chapter 1 The Olympian Gods

Adjectives: nominative and accusative

Adjectives also change their endings. Here are all the adjectives for Chapter 1: the
stem for each adjective is listed in the second column.

īrātus īrāt- angry

laetus laet- happy
pulcher pulchr- beautiful; handsome
Rōmānus Rōmān- Roman
saevus saev- savage; cruel
multus mult- much; many

We say that adjectives have to agree with their nouns.

● If the noun which the adjective describes is nominative masculine, then we

need the nominative masculine form of the adjective.
● If the noun which the adjective describes is accusative feminine, then we
need the accusative feminine form of the adjective.

This means that it is important to know the case and gender of each noun,
because the ending for the adjective will depend upon this. The table below shows
the endings used by the adjectives you will meet in Chapter 1.

Watch out! For masculine feminine

some adjectives,
nominative īrāt-­us īrāt-­a
the nominative
masculine ending is accusative īrāt-­um īrāt-­am
-er (e.g. pulcher).
In Latin, adjectives are usually written after the nouns they agree with; in English
they are usually before the noun they describe.

pater laetus fīlium laudāvit. The happy father praised his son.

Exercise 1.13

  1. rēx uxōrem pulchram amāvit.   6. uxor saeva fīliam pūnīvit.

  2. Iuppiter fīlium saevum   7. rēx laetus rēgīnam laudāvit.

pūnīvit.
  8. Iuppiter fīlium īrātum pūnīvit.
  3. dea laeta Martem laudāvit.
  9. māter rēgem pulchrum
  4. pater īrātus fīliam terruit. amāvit.

  5. homō uxōrem laetam 10. rēx Rōmānus Iovem laudāvit.

laudāvit.

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 Chapter 1  Core Language Part B

Singular and plural endings

All the case endings you have met so far have been singular. If the nouns are
plural then different endings are used.

1st declension 2nd declension 3rd declension

nominative plural fēmin-­ae de-ī rēg-ēs

accusative plural fēmin-ās de-ōs rēg-ēs

Verb endings change too if the subject is plural.

amāv-it he / she loved

amāv-ērunt they loved

Exercise 1.14

  1. rēgīna līberōs terruit.

  2. pater fīliōs amāvit.

  3. fīliī patrem amāvērunt.

  4. rēx hominēs terruit.

  5. līberī rēgīnam nōn amāvērunt.

  6. pater et māter fīliās pūnīvērunt.

  7. deī et deae hominēs terruērunt.

  8. māter fīliōs et fīliās laudāvit.

  9. hominēs rēgem laudāvērunt.

10. līberī lacrimāvērunt.

Grammar hunt

From Exercise 1.14, can you find examples of the following?

1. a 2nd declension nominative pl noun

2. a 3rd declension accusative pl noun

3. a 1st declension accusative pl noun

4. a 3rd declension nominative pl noun

5. a plural verb

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 Chapter 1 The Olympian Gods

CW Exercise 1.15:  Minerva’s birth

According to myth, Jupiter feared that one day one of his children would overthrow
him, just as he had overthrown his own father, Saturn. In an attempt to prevent this,
he ate Minerva’s mother, the Titan goddess Metis, when she was pregnant with
their daughter Minerva. Even so, Metis gave birth to Minerva inside Jupiter. Together
she and Minerva were so troublesome that they caused Jupiter constant headaches.
Vulcan came to the rescue: he struck Jupiter’s head open with his axe, and Minerva
– fully grown and fully armed – emerged. Many have seen this birth story as a
symbol of Minerva’s intelligence and her role as the goddess of wisdom as well as
the goddess of war.

Iuppiter uxōrem pulchram amāvit sed saepe fēminās aliās et deās amāvit.
Iuppiter deam, Mētem nōmine, amāvit. tum Mētis praegnāns erat. Iuppiter
īrātus erat. Iuppiter Mētem pūnīvit. Iuppiter Mētem cōnsumpsit.

tum Mētis intrā Iovem erat. Mētis īrāta erat. Mētis Iovem pūnīvit. intrā Iovem
Mētis fīliam peperit. Mētis intrā Iovem erat et etiam fīlia intrā Iovem erat. 5
saepe Mētis et fīlia intrā Iovem indomitae erant. Mētis et fīlia Iovem saepe
vexāvērunt. Iuppiter lacrimāvit.

tum Vulcānus Iovem percussit. ex capite fīlia appāruit. fīlia erat

Minerva. Minerva erat dea pulchra et sapiēns. Iuppiter Vulcānum
laudāvit. Iuppiter Minervam laudāvit. Minerva laeta erat et Iuppiter 10
laetus erat.

aliās (accusative pl) ‘other’

Mētis, Mēt- 3f Metis, a Titan goddess
nōmine ‘by name’
praegnāns (nominative sg) ‘pregnant’
cōnsūmpsit he / she ate
intrā (+ accusative noun) ‘inside’
peperit she gave birth to
indomitae (nominative pl) ‘wild; unrestrained’
vexāvērunt they annoyed
percussit he / she struck
ex capite ‘from his head’
appāruit he / she appeared
sapiēns (nominative sg) ‘wise’

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 Chapter 1  Core Language Part B

Adjectives describing plural nouns

Adjectives also have different endings when they describe plural nouns.

masculine feminine

nominative plural īrāt-ī īrāt-­ae

accusative plural īrāt-ōs īrāt-ās

We use the word number to refer to whether or not a word is singular or plural.
This means that we say that adjectives have to agree with their nouns in case,
gender and number.

Exercise 1.16
Translation tip:
most adjectives are
  1. rēx multōs fīliōs et multās fīliās amāvit. written after their
  2. Iūnō saeva hominēs terruit. nouns, but
adjectives like
  3. Venus laeta multōs hominēs amāvit. multus, which
  4. Iuppiter deōs īrātōs pūnīvit. describe quantity,
are often written
  5. pater et māter fīliās laetās amāvērunt. before their noun
  6. hominēs deōs saevōs laudāvērunt. rather than after it.

  7. rēx īrātus hominēs pūnīvit.

  8. Iuppiter et Iūnō multōs hominēs terruērunt.

  9. līberī īrātī mātrem et patrem non amāvērunt.

10. rēx hominēs saevōs rēxit.

Derivation hunt

Can you find in Exercise 1.15 the Latin words from which the following English words
derive? If you do not know the meaning of the English word, try and use the Latin
word to help you work it out.

  1. consume   6. punishment

  2. nominate   7. intravenous

  3. indomitable   8. percussion

  4. apparition   9. capital

  5. filial 10. laudatory

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 Chapter 1 The Olympian Gods

CW Exercise 1.17:  Mars terrifies the humans

Many humans were frightened of the gods’ power. Mars, the god of war, was
especially terrifying because of the widespread devastation which war often caused.

Iuppiter erat deus saevus. Iuppiter deōs et hominēs rēxit. Iuppiter uxōrem
pulchram habēbat. uxor erat Iūnō. Iūnō fīlium habēbat. fīlius erat Mars.

Mars saevus et saepe īrātus erat. Mars multōs hominēs terruit: etiam multās
fēminās et multōs līberōs terruit. deī et deae Martem nōn amāvērunt. hominēs
Martem nōn amāvērunt. saepe Mars saevissimus erat. Mars multōs hominēs 5
dēlēvit. tum fēminae et līberī lacrimāvērunt sed Mars erat laetus.

habēbat ‘he had’

nōn not
saevissimus, saevissim- really savage
dēlēvit he / she destroyed

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 Chapter 1  Core Language Vocabulary List

Chapter 1:  Core Language CW

Vocabulary List
 

amāvit, amāvērunt he / she loved, they loved

lacrimāvit, lacrimāvērunt he / she wept, they wept
laudāvit, laudāvērunt he / she praised, they praised
terruit, terruērunt he / she terrified, they terrified
rēxit, rēxērunt he / she ruled, they ruled
pūnīvit, pūnīvērunt he / she punished, they punished
erat, erant he / she was, they were
dea de- 1f goddess
fīlia fīli- 1f daughter
rēgīna rēgīn- 1f queen
fēmina fēmin- 1f woman
deus de- 2m god
līberī līber- 2m children
fīlius fīli- 2m son
māter mātr- 3f mother
pater patr- 3m father
rēx rēg- 3m king
uxor uxōr- 3f wife
homō homin- 3m man; human being
īrātus īrāt- angry
laetus laet- happy
pulcher pulchr- beautiful; handsome
Rōmānus Rōmān- Roman
saevus saev- savage; cruel
multus mult- much; many
tum then
et and; even
saepe often
sed but
etiam also; even

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 Chapter 1 The Olympian Gods

Chapter 1:  Additional Language

Section A1:  Chapter 1 Vocabulary

Exercise A1.1:  Derivations

Many English words have Latin origins. We say that these words derive from Latin.
Therefore, they are called ‘derivations’.

See if you can find English words which derive from these Latin words, and explain what
they mean.
 
Latin word meaning derivation explanation
e.g. īrātus angry irate very angry
1 pater
2 deus
3 multus
4 rēx
5 fēmina

Exercise A1.2:  Parts of speech

Write out the meaning of each of the following Latin words and label it as either a noun,
verb or adjective.

Latin meaning part of speech

e.g. homō man noun
 1 lacrimāvērunt
 2 laetus
 3 uxor
 4 pater
 5 īrātus
 6 laudāvit
 7 saevus
 8 fēmina
 9 terruit
10 rēx

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 Chapter 1  Additional Language

Exercise A1.3:  Vocabulary crossword

The clues to this crossword are given in English. For each clue, the answer is its Latin 1

translation. Complete the crossword with the correct Latin words. 2

3 4 5
Across Down
  4. mother   1. wife 6

  9. happy   2. then 7 8

10. queen   3. children 9 10

12. he wept   5. even 11
13. and   6. they praised
12
14. often   7. angry
16. beautiful   8. son
13 14 15
17. goddess 11. savage
19. much 15. they were 16

20. he ruled 18. but 17

18

19 20

Section B1:  Word Endings

Exercise B1.1:  Nominative and accusative (sg) nouns

The nominative and accusative singular noun endings are as follows:

1st declension 2nd declension 3rd declension

nominative fēmin-­a de-­us (rēx)

accusative fēmin-­am de-­um rēg-­em

rēx is in brackets because each 3rd declension noun has its own nominative singular form
and so rēx cannot serve as a template for any other nominative.

Circle the ending in each of the following nouns and say whether it is nominative or
accusative. Remember that 3rd declension nominatives have no fixed ending: for these,
circle the whole word.

e.g. patrem    accusative

  1. homō   6. hominem
  2. māter   7. fīliam
  3. fīlius   8. uxor
  4. deam   9. fīlia
  5. rēgīnam 10. deum

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 Chapter 1 The Olympian Gods

Exercise B1.2:  Nominative and accusative (sg) adjectives

Choose the right form of the adjective to agree with each noun and translate each phrase.

noun adjective meaning

e.g. rēx īrātus / īrātum/ īrāta / īrātum the angry king

1 rēgīnam saevus / saevum / saeva / saevam

2 patrem laetus / laetum / laeta / laetam

3 māter pulcher / pulchrum / pulchra / pulchram

4 dea īrātus / īrātum / īrāta / īrātam

5 rēgem Rōmānus / Rōmānum / Rōmāna / Rōmānam

Exercise B1.3:  Nominative and accusative (pl) nouns

The nominative and accusative plural noun endings are as follows:

1st declension 2nd declension 3rd declension

nominative pl fēmin-­ae de-ī reg-ēs

accusative pl fēmin-ās de-ōs reg-ēs

Each of the following nouns is nominative plural. Write out the meaning for each noun and
state its accusative plural.

e.g.  līberī      children  →  l¬-bero-s

1. rēgīnae   6. patrēs
2. rēgēs   7. fīliī
3. fīliae   8. mātrēs
4. deī   9. hominēs
5. deae 10. uxōrēs

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 Chapter 1  Additional Language

Exercise B1.4:  Nominative and accusative (pl) adjectives

The plural nominative and accusative endings for īrātus are as follows:

masculine feminine

nominative pl īrāt-ī īrāt-­ae

accusative pl īrāt-ōs īrāt-ās

Make the adjective īrātus agree in case, gender and number with each of the following
plural nouns, and then translate each phrase.

e.g. fīliae    f -¬ liae -¬ ra-tae → angry daughters

  1. līberī   6. patrēs (accusative pl)
  2. rēgēs (nominative pl)   7. fīliōs
  3. rēgīnae   8. uxōrēs (accusative pl)
  4. deās   9. mātrēs (nominative pl)
  5. hominēs (nominative pl) 10. deī

Exercise B1.5:  Verbs

Translate each of these verbs. Use the ending to help you work out whether the subject
is he / she or they.

e.g. pūnīvit he / she punished

  1. lacrimāvit   6. rēxērunt
  2. amāvērunt   7. laudāvērunt
  3. laudāvit   8. amāvit
  4. pūnīvērunt   9. rēxit
  5. terruit 10. terruērunt

Section C1:  English to Latin Sentences

Exercise C1.1:  Nominative and accusative nouns

Label each of the nouns in purple as subject or object, and then translate the noun into Latin.

Remember, the subject will be in the nominative case and the object will be in the
accusative case.

e.g. The father praised his son.

subject object
pater f -¬ liu m
  1. The mother loved her daughter.   6. The god punished the humans.
  2. The kings terrified the men.   7. The daughter praised the son.
  3. The women punished the children.   8. The father praised his children.
  4. The children loved their mother.   9. The gods punished the kings.
  5. His wife praised the king. 10. The queen loved the king.
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 Chapter 1 The Olympian Gods

Exercise C1.2:  Nouns and adjectives

Translate each of the adjective and noun pairs in purple into Latin; remember you will
need to work out the case, gender and number of the noun first so that you can make sure
that the adjective agrees with its noun.

e.g. The queen loved the happy king.

accusative masculine sg → re-gem laetu m
  1. The savage king terrified the queen.
  2. The queen punished her angry sons.
  3. The happy men praised the gods.
  4. Many gods terrified many men.
  5. The handsome father loved his wife.
  6. The mother punished her angry daughters.
  7. The king praised his handsome sons.
  8. The king punished his savage wife.
  9. The children loved their happy mother.
10. The Roman kings terrified the children.

Exercise C1.3:  Sentences to translate into Latin

Translate each of the following sentences into Latin: remember, you will not need a Latin
word for a, the, his, her, their, they, he or she.

  1. The angry king punished his son.

  2. He punished his daughter.
  3. The king and queen praised their daughters.
  4. They praised their king.
  5. The handsome god loved the beautiful goddess.
  6. The savage wife punished her daughter.
  7. The king often terrified many children.
  8. Even then the angry king terrified his wife.
  9. Often the children terrified their mother.
10. The king loved his wife but his wife terrified their children.

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