Home Site Menu Religion Menu Interesting Menu Humour Menu Guestbook Forum Email

Jupiter

Epithets of Jupiter

Or perhaps more correctly, Juppiter, a contraction of Diovis pater, or Diespiter, and Diovis or dies, which was originally identical with divum (heaven); so that Jupiter literally means "the heavenly father." The same meaning is implied in the name Lucesius or Lucerius, by which he was called by the Oscans, and which was often used by the poet Naevius (Serv. ad Aen. ix. 570; comp. Fest. s. v. Lucetium, p. 114, ed. Miiller; Macrob. Sat. i. 15; Gell. v. 12.)

The corresponding name of Juno is Lucina.

It is further not impossible that the forgotten name, divus pater Falacer, mentioned by Varro (de L. L. v. 84, vii. 45), may be the same as Jupiter, since, according to Festus (s. v. falae, p. 88, ed. Müller), falandum was the Etruscan name for heaven. The surname of Supinalis (August. de Civ. Dei, vii. 11) likewise alludes to the dome of heaven.

As Jupiter was the lord of heaven, the Romans attributed to him power over all the changes in the heavens, as rain, storms, thunder and lightning, whence he had the epithets of Pluvius, Fulgurator, Tonitrualis, Tonans, Fulminator, and Serenator. (Appul. de Mund. 37; Fest. s. v. prorsum; Suet. Aug. 91.) As the pebble or flint stone was regarded as the symbol of lightning, Jupiter was frequently represented with such a stone in his hand instead of a thunderbolt (Arnob. vi. 25); and in ancient times a flint stone was exhibited as a symbolic representation of the god. (Serv. ad Aen. viii. 641; August. de Civ. Dei, ii. 29.)

In concluding a treaty, the Romans took the sacred symbols of Jupiter, viz. the sceptre and flint stone, together with some grass from his temple, and the oath taken on such an occasion was expressed by per Jovem Lopidem jurare. (Fest. s.v. Feretrius; Liv. xxx. 43; Appul. de Deo Socrat. 4; Cic. ad Fam. vii. 12; Gell. i. 21; Polyb. iii. 26.) When the country wanted rain, the help of Jupiter was sought by a sacrifice called aquilicium (Tertull. Apol. 40); and respecting the mode of calling down lightning, see Elicius. These powers exercised by the god, and more especially the thunderbolt, which was ever at his command, made him the highest and most powerful among the gods, whence he is ordinarily called the best and most high (optimus maximus), and his temple stood on the capitol; for he, like the Greek Zeus, loved to erect his throne on lofty hills. (The History of Rome By Titus Livius i, xliii.) From the capitol, whence he derived the surnames of Capitolinus and Tarpeius, he looked down upon the forum and the city, and from the Alban and sacred mounts he surveyed the whole of Latium (Fest. s. v. Sacer Mons), for he was the protector of the city and the surrounding country. As such he was worshipped by the consuls on entering upon their office, and a general returning from a campaign had first of all to offer up his thanks to Jupiter, and it was in honour of Jupiter that the victorious general celebrated his triumph. (The History of Rome By Titus Livius xxi. xli. xlii.) The god himself was therefore designated by the names of Imperator, Victor, Invictus, Stator, Opitulus, Feretrius, Praedator, Triumphator, and the like. (Liv. i. 12, vi. 29, x. 29; Ov. Fast. iv. 621; August. de Civ. Dei, viii. 11; Serv. ad Aen. iii. 223; Appul. de Mund. 37; Festus, s. v. Opitulus; Cic. de Leg. ii. 11, in Verr. iv. 58.)

Under all these surnames the god had temples or statues at Rome; and two temples, viz. those of Jupiter Stator at the Mucian gate and Jupiter Feretrius, were believed to have been built in the time of Romulus. (Liv. i. 12, 41; Dionys. ii. 34, 50.) The Roman games and the Feriae Latinae were celebrated to him under the names of Capitolinus and Latialis.

Jupiter, according to the belief of the Romans, determined the course of all earthly and human affairs: he foresaw the future, and the events happening in it were the results of his will. He revealed the future to man through signs in the heavens and the flight of birds, which are hence called the messengers of Jupiter, while the god himself is designated as Prodigialis, that is, the sender of prodigies. (Plaut. Amphitr. ii. 2, 107.)

For the same reason Jupiter was invoked at the beginning of every undertaking, whether sacred or profane, together with Janus, who blessed the beginning itself (August. de Civ. Dei, vii. 8; The History of Rome By Titus Livius viii. 9; Cato, de R. R. 134, 141; Macrob. Sat. i. 16); and rams were sacrificed to Jupiter on the ides of every month by his flamen, while a female lamb and a pig were offered to Juno on the kalends of every month by the wife of the rex sacrorum. (Macrob. Sat. i. 15; Ov. Fast. i. 587; Fest. s. v. Idulis Ovis.) Another sacrifice, consisting of a ram, was offered to Jupiter in the regia on the nundines, that is, at the beginning of every week (Macrob. Sat. i. 16; Festus. s. v. nundinas); and it may be remarked in general that the first day of every period of time both at Rome and in Latium was sacred to Jupiter, and marked by festivals, sacrifices, or libations.

It seems to be only a necessary consequence of what has been already said, that Jupiter was considered as the guardian of law, and as the protector of justice and virtue: he maintained the sanctity of an oath, and presided over all transactions which were based upon faithfulness and justice. Hence Fides was his companion on the capitol, along with Victoria; and hence a traitor to his country, and persons guilty of perjury, were thrown down the Tarpeian rock. Faithfulness is manifested in the internal relations of the state, as well as in its connections with foreign powers, and in both respects Jupiter was regarded as its protector. Hence Jupiter and Juno were the guardians of the bond of marriage; and when the harmony between husband and wife was disturbed, it was restored by Juno, surnamed Conciliatrix or Viriplaca, who had a sanctuary on the Palatine. (Fest. s. v. Conciliatric; Val. Max. ii. 1. § 6.)

Not only the family, however, but all the political bodies into which the Roman people was divided, such as the gentes and curiae, were under the especial protection of the king and queen of the gods; and so was the whole body of the Roman people, that is, the Roman state itself. The fact of Jupiter being further considered as the watchful guardian of property, is implied in his surname of Hercius (from the ancient herctum, property), and from his being expressly called by Dionysius (ii. 74), horios Zeus, i.e. Jupiter Terminus, or the protector of boundaries, not only of private property, but of the state.

As Jupiter was the prince of light, the white colour was sacred to him, white animals were sacrificed to him, his chariot was believed to be drawn by four white horses, his priests wore white caps, and the consuls were attired in white when they offered sacrifices in the capitol the day they entered on their office. (Festus) When the Romans became acquainted with the religion of the Greeks, they naturally identified Jupiter with Zeus, and afterwards with the Egyptian Ammon, and in their representations of the god they likewise adopted the type of the Greek Zeus.

From Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology

Epithets of Jupiter

Jupiter Ammon. Originally an Aethiopian or Libyan divinity, whose worship subsequently spread all over Egypt, a part of the northern coast of Africa, and many parts of Greece. The real Egyptian name was Amun or Ammun ( The History by Herodotus. Euterpe).

Jupiter Caelus or Caelestis "heavenly", "celestial". People continued to worship the material heaven in him; under the Romans he was still simply called Caelus, as well as "Celestial Jupiter" (Jupiter Caelestis), but it was a heaven studied by a sacred science that venerated its harmonious mechanism. The Seleucides represented him on their coins with a crescent over his forehead and carrying a sun with seven rays, to symbolize the fact that he presided over the course of the stars. The Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism.

Jupiter Fulgurator. Lightning Hurler

Jupiter Fulminator. He carries the lightning

Jupiter Latialis, the protecting divinity of Latium. The Latin towns and Rome celebrated to him every year the feriae Latinae, on the Alban mount, which were proclaimed and conducted by one of the Roman consuls.

Jupiter Lucerius or Luceria, Lucetius and Lucetia. The giver of light, also occurs in the surname of Juno. According to Servius, the name was used especially among the Oscans.

Jupiter Pluvius the sender of rain, to whom sacrifices were offered during long protracted droughts. These sacrifices were called aquilicium, "the calling forth of water," because certain magic ceremonies were performed by Etruscans to call down rain from heaven.

Jupiter Stator, describing him as staying the Romans in their flight from an enemy, and generally as preserving the existing order of things. (The History of Rome By Titus Livius)

Jupiter Terminus or Jupiter Terminalus divinity presiding over boundaries and frontiers. His worship is said to have been instituted by Numa who ordered that every one should mark the boundaries of his landed property by stones to be consecrated to Jupiter, and at which every year sacrifices were to be offered at the festival of the Terminalia. (Fasti By Ovid)

Jupiter Tonans, the thunderer was usually represented with a thunderbolt in his hand. (Fasti By Ovid)

Jupiter Victor:
A temple to Jupiter Victor was dedicated by Quintus Fabius Maximus
Jupiter, titled the Victor, keeps the Ides of April:
A temple was dedicated to him on this day.
And if I'm not wrong, on this day too, Liberty
Began to occupy a hall worthy of our people. ( Fasti By Ovid)

Jupiter Summanus. A derivative form from summus, the highest, an ancient Roman or Etruscan divinity, who was equal or even of higher rank than Jupiter; in fact, it would seem that as Jupiter was the god of heaven in the bright day, so Summanus was the god of the nocturnal heaven, and lightnings plying in the night were regarded as the work of Summanus

Jupiter Feretrius which is probably derived from ferire, to strike; for persons who took an oath called upon Jupiter, if they swore falsely, to strike them as they struck the victim they sacrificed to him.

Jupiter Optimus Maximus or Optimus Magnus. The temple for this aspect of Jupiter, the best and greatest, was located on the Capitoline Hill in honour of a vow made by Tarquinius Priscus in his wars against the Sabines.

Jupiter Beissirissa A Celtic god who was identified with the Roman god Jupiter, known from a dedication to Jupiter Optimus Maximus Beissirissa, found at Cadeac, Hautes-Pyrenees, southern France.

Jupiter Brixianus. 'God of the High Place', identified with the tutelary deity of the Brescia region and of the ancient Celtic Brixia, a town of the Cenomani.

Jupiter Ladicus. Jupiter equated with a Celtiberian mountain-god and worshipped as the spirit of Mount Ladicus

Jupiter Parthinus or Partinus. Jupiter was worshiped under this name on the borders of north-east Dalmatia and Upper Moesia, perhaps being associated with the local tribe known as the Partheni.

Jupiter Poeninus. "One inscription runs, "To the Mountains"; a god of the Pennine Alps, Poeninus, was equated with Juppiter; and the god of the Vosges mountains was called Vosegus, perhaps still surviving in the giant supposed to haunt them." (Histories by P. Cornelius Tacitus)

Jupiter Solutorius. Jupiter enjoyed an especial popularity in Lusitania and most of the Spanish inscriptions mentioning Jupiter are found there. On these inscriptions he is usually called Solutorius and was identified with the native gods Ladicus and Candamius.

Jupiter Taranis. "But, as in Gaul, it was often part of a state policy, and there the fusion of cults was intended to break the power of the Druids. The Gauls seem to have adopted Roman civilisation easily, and to have acquiesced in the process of assimilation of their divinities to those of their conquerors. Hence we have thousands of inscriptions in which a god is called by the name of the Roman deity to whom he was assimilated and by his own Celtic name—Jupiter Taranis, Apollo Grannus, etc. Or sometimes to the name of the Roman god is added a descriptive Celtic epithet or a word derived from a Celtic place-name." The Religion Of The Ancient Celts

Jupiter Uxellinus. Worshipped in the high Austrian mountains, a Celtic god with attributes akin to the Roman Jupiter