Roman Mythology: An Overview (Part VII)

Welcome to the last (for now) part in our brief overview of Roman mythology. Last time, we discussed the myths pertaining to hubris and the underworld. Be sure to read that entry and all the prior entries in this series before reading this one. Today, we'll be exploring some of the common myths on love and desire. The authors included in this overview are: Virgil (Aeneid, Eclogues, Georgics), Ovid (Metamorphoses, Amores, Heroides, Ars Amatoria, Fasti), Horace (Odes, Satires, Epistles), Livy (Ab Urbe Condita), Catullus, Lucretius, Seneca (tragedies), Statius, and Lucan.

Key Myths: Nature

How to read this table:

Each row is a myth or mythological cycle. The columns show which authors engage with it and, where relevant, the specific work, book, or passage, and a note on how the myth is used. A dash (—) means the author does not meaningfully engage with that myth.

Author abbreviations:   Virg. = Virgil  ·  Ov. = Ovid  ·  Hor. = Horace  ·  Cat. = Catullus  ·  Liv. = Livy  ·  Lucr. = Lucretius  ·  Sen. = Seneca  ·  Stat. = Statius  ·  Luc. = Lucan

Work abbreviations:   Aen. = Aeneid  ·  Met. = Metamorphoses  ·  Od. = Odes  ·  DRN = De Rerum Natura  ·  Theb. = Thebaid  ·  BC = Bellum Civile (Pharsalia)  ·  AUC = Ab Urbe Condita  ·  Her. = Heroides  ·  Fast. = Fasti  ·  Am. = Amores

Nature

Myth	Summary	Primary source(s)	Other poets	Notes for translators
The Ages of Mankind	Humanity has declined through four (or five) ages: Gold (peace and plenty), Silver (agriculture, first seasons), Bronze (war), and Iron (the present age of injustice and labor). Degenerationfrom pure to corrupt.	Ov. Met. I.89–150: the most widely read Latin account. Virg. Georg. I.125–146: a more agricultural version, where Jupiter deliberately ended the Golden Age to force humanity to work and develop virtue through hardship.	Hor. Epod. 16 inverts the myth: Horace proposes sailing to the arva beata (blessed fields) to escape the Iron Age. Lucr. DRN V.925–1457: a materialist account of human development that also inverts the myth, arguing that things have gotten better, not worse.	When a Latin poet mentions the aurea aetas (golden age) or aureus in a pastoral/ political context, they are evoking this myth. Virgil's 4th Eclogue famously announces the return of the Golden Age, recalling Augustus's reign.
Ceres, Proserpina, and the Seasons	Pluto abducts Proserpina to the underworld. Ceres, grief-stricken, lets the earth become barren. A compromise is reached: Proserpina spends part of the year below (winter) and part above (spring and summer). The Roman etiology of the seasons.	Ov. Fast. IV.417–620: the fullest Roman account, tied to the festival of Ceres (Cerealia) in April. Also Met. V.341–661: longer, more detailed; embedded in Calliope's song.	Virg. Georg. I.39, II.29: Ceres as patroness of agriculture; winter associated with her grief. Hor. Od. III.21.1: Ceres invoked in the context of a harvest.	In Latin poetry, winter is frequently personified through Ceres's absence and grief. The metonymic use of Ceres for grain is also prevalent.
Deucalion and Pyrrha (the Flood)	Jupiter, disgusted by human wickedness (particularly Lycaon's cannibalism), sends a great flood. Only Deucalion and Pyrrha survive. They repopulate the world by throwing stones over their shoulders: the stones become people.	Ov. Met. I.163–415: the flood and its aftermath. Ovid links it directly to the Ages of Mankind and the story of Lycaon. The flood is Jupiter's response to Iron Age violence. The stone-people etiology explains the hardness of human nature.	Hor. Od. I.2.5–12: a flood threatening Rome is described to invoke Deucalion. Luc. BC V.627–636: storm at sea compared to Deucalion's flood.	The Latin pun underlying the stone-to-people transformation is lapis (stone) and laos (Greek: people). The words are not related, but Ovid pretends they are.
Lucretius and the nature of the gods	Not a myth but an anti-mythological argument. Lucretius, following Epicurus, argues that the gods do not intervene in human affairs and that the soul is mortal. He believes that traditional religion causes misery rather than comfort.	Lucr. DRN I–VI: Lucretius dismantles the mythology of divine intervention. He uses mythological figures and their cruel deeds as examples of false religion. Venus appears in the proem as personific-ation, not a literal deity.	Hor. Sat. I and the Epistles are sympathetic to Lucretian philosophy, Horace never goes as far. Virg. Georg. II.490–492: a famous passage honoring Lucretius..	Lucretius is essential reading to understand non-religious Roman philosophy. Roman literary culture was not naively religious; there was a serious intellectual debate. Myth operated similarly to the way modern religion does.

We hope you enjoyed this 7-part overview on Roman myth. Please leave comments with questions or suggestions on what we should cover next!