What is the difference between Roman and Greek mythology?

Answer 1

Greek mythology was adopted by the Romans, so they are very similar. Mostly, the differences are the names of the gods. For example, Dionysus was the God of wine in Greek mythology, and Bacchus was his name in Roman mythology.

Answer 2

It's similar but the names of the gods and goddesses are different
Greek mythology came first, for one thing. The Greeks created their mythology and then Romans came along, took it over, and created their own mythology with variations off Greek. And they stole a lot of ideas.

Answer 3

There are quite a few, and it becomes a little confusing with all the conflation that occurs between them (since Romans had a combination of Greek and Italian heritage). The Greek Pantheon was considerably larger than the Roman. They personified almost everything, from emotions to natural occurrences. The Romans, however, also had gods that the Greeks didn't, like the household gods (the Lares and Penates), and Janus (the god of beginnings, endings and doors). The Greeks worshiped according to where they lived, by and large, though Zeus was worshiped almost everywhere (as Poseidon was before him). The Pantheon itself was dominated by the 12 Olympians, and their prominence was largely regional. Athens, for exampled, worshiped Athena, while Corinth honored Apollo. The Romans, though, didn't see Olympus with the same level of importance. To them the pantheon was ruled by a triad- originally Jupiter, Mars and Quirinus (the deified founder of the city, Romulus - this was the Archaic Triad). Later, as they began to absorb more of their neighbors (and thus their cultures, they changed it to the more well-known Capitoline Triad of Jupiter, Juno and Minerva. This shows a transition from a highly militant Rome into one more concerned with the well-being of its subjects. That said, the religion wasn't dominated as much my regional differences than by differences in the people themselves. A farmer, say, might be more prone to honor Ceres than a public administrator, who might be more devoted to Mercury or Minerva. The Romans placed more importance in war, and so Mars was far more important to the Romans than Ares was to the Greeks. Further, Minerva had little to no role in military affairs, which is essentially the opposite of her Greek counterpart, Athena. As you can see, while there were a lot of similarities (caused mostly by conflation), the religions were actually very different.