Who is the Roman equivalent of Zeus?

Jupiter. The atlas treats him as the chief god of the Roman state rather than a renamed Zeus: oaths, treaties and magistrates' offices ran under his name, and he shared the Capitoline temple with Juno and Minerva.

Is Apollo a Greek or a Roman god?

Both. Rome adopted Apollo under his Greek name instead of giving him a Latin one. The atlas has a separate Roman entry for him because Romans used him differently, in plague rites and in the Palatine temple Augustus built.

What is the Roman name for Hades?

Pluto. The atlas lists Pluto as an alternate name on the Hades entry and has no separate Roman entry for him.

Which Roman god has no Greek twin?

Janus, the two-faced god of doors, gates and beginnings. The atlas entry notes that Romans themselves knew he had no Greek equivalent.

Which planets are named after Roman gods?

Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune carry the Roman names of Hermes, Aphrodite, Ares, Zeus, Cronus and Poseidon. Uranus is the exception: it keeps the Greek name of the sky god.

Are Greek and Roman gods the same?

Often the same stories, not the same cults. Romans matched their gods to Greek ones and kept the myths, but many Roman gods grew from older Italian roles: Neptune from freshwater and horses, Mars from a farmer's protector, Bacchus beside the Italian god Liber.

Guide · Greece and Rome

Greek and Roman Gods: Name Chart and Real Differences

Which Roman god matches which Greek god, what the two share, and where Rome made the god its own.

Romans matched their gods to Greek ones and kept most of the Greek myths, so the chart below is mostly a list of renamings. The interesting part is the last column: what each Roman god did that the Greek one did not. Every row links to the full head-to-head comparison and to both deity entries.

Greek gods and their Roman names

13 pairs the atlas documents, in the order of the Greek pantheon's roster. Domains come from each deity's entry.

Greek gods, their Roman counterparts, the domains they share, and what changed in Rome
Greek	Roman	Shared domains	What changed in Rome	Compare
Zeus	JupiterPlanet Jupiter	sky, thunder, lightning, and law	The chief god of the Roman state: magistrates took office and treaties were struck under him, and he shared the Capitoline temple with Juno and Minerva.Rome adds: kingship.	Zeus vs Jupiter
Hera	Juno	marriage, women, childbirth, and family	Also a civic goddess. As Juno Moneta she kept a temple whose name survives in the word money, and her brief covers women, colonies and the city's welfare.	Hera vs Juno
Poseidon	NeptunePlanet Neptune	sea, earthquakes, and horses	Italian cult ties him to freshwater and horses as well as the sea. His July festival, the Neptunalia, was held in the drought of midsummer.Rome adds: freshwater.	Poseidon vs Neptune
Athena	Minerva	wisdom, warfare, crafts, and strategy	A magistrate's goddess on the Capitol. Her festival, the Quinquatrus, belonged to artisans and schools as much as to soldiers.Rome adds: arts.	Athena vs Minerva
Apollo	Apollo	sun, music, poetry, prophecy, healing, and archery	Rome kept the Greek name. Plague liturgies, the Sibylline Books and Augustus's Palatine temple are the Roman uses of him.	Apollo vs Apollo
Artemis	Diana	hunt, wilderness, moon, childbirth, and virginity	Her oldest Latin home is the grove at Aricia by Lake Nemi, where the priest won his office by killing his predecessor.	Artemis vs Diana
Ares	MarsPlanet Mars	war	An ancestor and a farmer's god. He fathered Romulus and Remus, and Cato's farmer prayed to him to keep disease off the land. The atlas calls him honorable where Ares is chaotic.Rome adds: military, agriculture, and spring.	Ares vs Mars
Aphrodite	VenusPlanet Venus	love, beauty, and desire	An ancestor too: the Julian family claimed descent from her through Aeneas, and Caesar dedicated a temple to Venus Genetrix.Rome adds: fertility and victory.	Aphrodite vs Venus
Hermes	MercuryPlanet Mercury	messengers, commerce, thieves, travelers, and boundaries	Tied to the marketplace. Ovid's Fasti gives him a May festival where merchants asked pardon for past fraud and luck for the next bargain.Rome adds: eloquence.	Hermes vs Mercury
Dionysus	Bacchus	wine, festivity, theater, and madness	The Latin name of Dionysus, paired with the older Italian god Liber. The Bacchanalia were restricted in 186 BCE after a state investigation.Rome adds: fertility.	Dionysus vs Bacchus
Demeter	Ceres	agriculture, harvest, and fertility	Also the plebeians' goddess: her Aventine temple, vowed in 496 BCE, was the base of the plebeian aediles.Rome adds: grain and motherhood.	Demeter vs Ceres
Hephaestus	Vulcan	fire and metalworking	Fire as a public danger in a wooden city. The Vulcanalia on 23 August used bonfires and offerings to keep accidental fire in its place.Rome adds: forges and volcanoes.	Hephaestus vs Vulcan
Hestia	Vesta	hearth, home, and family	The hearth turned into state furniture. Her fire in the Forum was tended by the Vestal Virgins, and if it died the city itself was thought to be in danger.Rome adds: state.	Hestia vs Vesta

Roman names without their own entry

The atlas lists these Roman names on the Greek god's entry and has no separate Roman page for them.

Hades is Pluto
Persephone is Proserpina
Cronus is Saturn (also the planet Saturn)
Gaia is Tellus
Helios is Sol
Selene is Luna
Eos is Aurora
Nyx is Nox
Thanatos is Mors
Asclepius is Aesculapius

A Roman god with no Greek twin

Janus is the god of doors, gates and first things, shown with two faces. His entry says he has no Greek twin and that Romans knew it. January is named for him, and the doors of his shrine in the Forum stood open in war and closed in peace.

Why the pairing is not one to one

Three patterns in the entries explain most of the differences in the chart.

Older Italian gods. Neptune was a god of freshwater and horses before he was matched to Poseidon, and Bacchus shares an altar with the Italian god Liber.
Ancestors and state gods. Mars and Venus are ancestors of the Roman people, and Jupiter presides over oaths and offices.
A name kept as is. Apollo crossed over unrenamed, so the chart row looks like a pair of the same name.

Questions readers ask

Who is the Roman equivalent of Zeus?: Jupiter. The atlas treats him as the chief god of the Roman state rather than a renamed Zeus: oaths, treaties and magistrates' offices ran under his name, and he shared the Capitoline temple with Juno and Minerva.
Is Apollo a Greek or a Roman god?: Both. Rome adopted Apollo under his Greek name instead of giving him a Latin one. The atlas has a separate Roman entry for him because Romans used him differently, in plague rites and in the Palatine temple Augustus built.
What is the Roman name for Hades?: Pluto. The atlas lists Pluto as an alternate name on the Hades entry and has no separate Roman entry for him.
Which Roman god has no Greek twin?: Janus, the two-faced god of doors, gates and beginnings. The atlas entry notes that Romans themselves knew he had no Greek equivalent.
Which planets are named after Roman gods?: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune carry the Roman names of Hermes, Aphrodite, Ares, Zeus, Cronus and Poseidon. Uranus is the exception: it keeps the Greek name of the sky god.
Are Greek and Roman gods the same?: Often the same stories, not the same cults. Romans matched their gods to Greek ones and kept the myths, but many Roman gods grew from older Italian roles: Neptune from freshwater and horses, Mars from a farmer's protector, Bacchus beside the Italian god Liber.