Quiz Reference
The Greek Gods and Their Roman Names
Published September 28, 2026 • 2 Views
Zeus or Jupiter, Ares or Mars — the full pairing table, what each god was actually responsible for, and the four where the two traditions do not line up neatly.
Ask a quiz question about classical mythology and you are really asking which naming tradition the setter has in mind. The Romans adopted the Greek gods wholesale and renamed them, so almost every figure has two names. Crossword setters exploit this constantly: the clue says "god of war" and the answer could be Ares (4) or Mars (4).
The main pairings
| Greek | Roman | Responsible for |
|---|---|---|
| Zeus | Jupiter | King of the gods, sky and thunder |
| Hera | Juno | Marriage, queen of the gods |
| Poseidon | Neptune | The sea, earthquakes, horses |
| Hades | Pluto | The underworld and the dead |
| Athena | Minerva | Wisdom, strategy, crafts |
| Apollo | Apollo | Light, music, prophecy, healing |
| Artemis | Diana | The hunt, the moon, wild places |
| Ares | Mars | War |
| Aphrodite | Venus | Love and beauty |
| Hephaestus | Vulcan | Fire, forges, metalwork |
| Hermes | Mercury | Messages, travel, trade, thieves |
| Demeter | Ceres | Harvest and agriculture |
| Dionysus | Bacchus | Wine, theatre, revelry |
| Hestia | Vesta | The hearth and home |
| Persephone | Proserpina | Spring, and queen of the underworld |
| Eros | Cupid | Desire |
| Cronus | Saturn | Time, and the previous ruling generation |
| Gaia | Terra | The Earth itself |
| Helios | Sol | The sun |
| Selene | Luna | The moon |
| Nike | Victoria | Victory |
| Pan | Faunus | The wild, shepherds, panic |
Where the two traditions do not match
- Apollo kept his name. The Romans imported him directly without renaming, which is why he is the one answer that works either way.
- Ares and Mars are not the same character. Ares was disliked by the Greeks — brutal, reckless, barely heroic. Mars was respected in Rome, a father of the nation and second only to Jupiter.
- Hades is not quite Pluto. Hades is the underworld’s grim ruler; Pluto carries a sense of wealth, from the riches buried in the earth.
- Artemis and Diana drifted apart. Diana absorbed Italian woodland deities and became more closely tied to the moon than Artemis originally was.
Quick crossword lengths
3: Pan, Sol. 4: Zeus, Hera, Juno, Ares, Mars, Eros, Nike, Gaia, Luna. 5: Hades, Pluto, Venus, Diana, Ceres, Vesta. 6: Athena, Apollo, Hermes, Vulcan. 7: Jupiter, Minerva, Mercury, Bacchus, Neptune.