Ovid's Metamorphoses

Methamorphoeos vulgare; Metamorphoses(Written by, Ovid, Roman, Sulmo 43 B.C-17 A.D)

Folio 49 verso: Minerva discards the pipe; Marsyas competes with Apollo and, losing, is flayed alive.

Ovid was a Roman poet and Metamorphoses was a Latin narrative poem, composed of 250 myths and 15 stories. Metamorphoses was considered Ovid's Magnum opus, meaning his greatest work achieved. There are multiple artworks consisting of the myths within Metamorphoses, a few are shown below.

The Rape of Europa (Paolo Veronese, 1528-1588)

Perseus turning Phineas and his Followers to Stone (Luca Giordano, 1634 - 1705)

Diana and Actaeon from a set of Ovid's Metamorphoses (Manufactory: Gobelins: Royal Manufactory; Workshop of: Jean Jans the Younger, French, c. 1644-1723)

Palace of Circe (Oudry, Jean-Baptiste 1686-1755)

The Tapestry Weavers, or The Fable of Arachne (Diego Velazquez 1657)

Cult of Isis

Berlin State Museums 

After Mark Anthony's campaign to Egypt, the cult of Isis made its way into early Rome. The focus of the cult was due to the myth of death and rebirth of the god Osiris. In the myth Osiris's brother Seth was jealous of his rule, and so he murdered Osiris and cut him into pieces. Osiris's wife, Isis, took his pieces and ate them, later resurrected Osiris by giving birth to him. The rituals of the cult are unknown however there's slight evidence that to be initiated a person had to experience something symbolic to death and rebirth. The evidence is that of a man named Apuleius and his story titled the Golden Ass. Where he was interested in the cult, and later declared he would be reborn into a new person.

The Hero Aeneas

Venus as a Huntress Appears to Aeneas -Pietro da Corona (1631)

The main character of Virgil's Aeneid, Aeneas was one of the few Trojans still alive after Troy's fall. His mother was the goddess Venus, and his father was prince Achises. He was also famous in the Greek telling, Homer's Illiad. Aeneas went through the tale trying to find a new home along with the few remaining Trojans at his side. He was victorious in his battles, and was able to learn about the history of Rome and his descendants, Romulus and Remus.  After his death Venus asked Jupiter to make Aeneas immortal, which Jupiter agreed to do. After being cleansed of his mortality, Venus helped make him into a god. He became known as Jupiter Indiges, though Pater Indiges and Indiges were also used.

Aeneas and Anchises

(AD 98 - AD 117)

Hercules

Hercules and Achelous (in the form of a bull) 17th century (ca. 1670)

A famous hero born from Jupiter and the mortal Alcmene. Hercules came from the famous Greek legend where his name was Heracles. He was favored on Etruscan arts, and later coins. Even though he was originally Greek, the Roman Hercules had a great amount of original Roman tales. One of the more famous stories involved defeating Cacus, a man who terrorized the countryside. He later became considered a deity, and was the protector of childbirth due to having many children of his own. He was also associated with strength, Roman brides wore a belt called "knot of Hercules" which was hard to untie. Hercules was a complicated figure, in one myth his own madness was said to bring him to murder his first wife and child. Another by Ovid said he was poisoned and accepted by the gods to become one. Regardless through each myth, Juno despised him as she did with any child born from Jupiter that was not her own. Mark Anthony and emperor Commodus both considered Hercules to be their patron god.

Juno, with Hercules fighting a Centaur on reverse (Roman, 215–15 BCE)

Baby Hercules strangling a snake sent to kill him in his cradle (Roman marble, 2nd century CE)

A Few Roman Deities

The Roman equivalent of Zeus is Jupiter, Roman's believed he watched over them as the supreme god. Along with Jupiter there were many other gods that the Romans prayed to and went to for guidance. Unlike other religions these gods mingled with humans, and were believed to involve themselves in war and other affairs.  

Jupiter Punishing the Vices -Paolo Veronese

The Roman equivalent of Ares, the god of war, is Mars. He was considered second to Jupiter, and although he was the counterpart to Ares, he was noted to be more level-headed. He was also considered the father of Romulus and Remus, as well as a lover of Venus. There are multiple artwork consisting of the two, along with their son Cupid.

 Mars, The Olympian Gods; one of the nine panels of a ceiling decoration from the Palazzo Mocenigo-Robilant in Venice -Sebastiano Ricci

The goddess of wisdom and war, Roman equivalent to Athena, is the goddess Minerva. She is a daughter of Jupiter, and along with Jupiter and Juno was worshiped as part of Capitoline Triad, who were the supreme deities. Often in myths such as Arachne, Minerva teaches a lesson that mortals should never consider themselves equal to gods.She changes a girl into a spider for boasting about her weaving skills being superior to Minerva. She is also famous for playing a role in the Trojan War. 

A 2nd century CE marble statue of Minerva (Capitoline Museums, Rome)

Queen of the gods and wife of Jupiter, Roman equivalent of Hera, Juno. She was the protector and counselor of state, as well as the goddess of marriage. Juno was considered to always be extremely bitter and jealous. She would make any mortal woman miserable if they bore a child from Jupiter. She is the mother of Mars and Vulcan.  

 Juno Sospita, a plaster cast based on an original in the Vatican Museums

The goddess of love, Roman equivalent of Aphrodite, Venus. She was born from sea foam due to Saturn's blood falling into the water. Saturn is the father of  gods such as Jupiter, Juno, Neptune, Vesta, Ceres and Pluto. While Venus was married to Vulcan she had multiple lovers. Her most famous being Mars, and depending on the myth bore Fortuna with either Jupiter or Hermes. According to Virgil, Venus was an ancestor of Romulus and Remus. This was called Gens Julia, which included Julius Caeser, Agustus Octavian Ceaser and descendants. 

Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510)

Early Myths

The earliest myth would be of Rome's beginning, the birth of Romulus and Remus. They were raised by a she-wolf after being abandoned by their mother. They were considered the two founders of Rome, who quarreled for a  reason varying in each myth, but it always ended with Remus dying. In certain aspects this myth alone foreshadowed the downfall of Rome due to the unyielding desire for power and violence. Another interesting aspect of this myth involves the god Mars, who was often considered the father of Romulus and Remus. Often in Rome, power was associated to gods and some men were born with power due to being the child of a certain god.

Mosaic depicting the She-wolf with Romulus and Remus, from Aldborough, about 300-400 AD, Leeds City Museum

Another myth involves the early stages of Rome, where they found a lack of women to help with the population. To change this, Romans invited their close neighbors the Sabines to a party, and later abducted the Sabine women to be their wives. This myth is called "The Rape of the Sabine Women". It is said that Romulus convinced the Sabine women to accept the Romans as their husbands.

The Rape of the Sabine Women by Giambologna, in the Loggia dei Lanzi in Florence

Rome's Mythology - A Summary

From Rome's origins to the gods worshiped, mythology held a great impact on Rome. It's well known that Rome's mythology is greatly inspired by Greek mythology, as the two overlap in multiple stories. So much so that the Roman gods are counterparts to Greek gods, most differences are the art style and names. Earlier inspiration came from the Etruscan religion, however it is much less documented. Before it was classified as mythology, these stories were considered true. The gods were well worshiped and their stories and temples were spread throughout the empire.