Myths and Legends: Ancient Rome: Mythology and Literature - Introductory

Become a vocabulary god or goddess by learning this list of words related to ancient Roman mythology and literature. Review the names of the Roman deities, as well as terms like epic, oracle, muse, and metamorphosis.
40 words 319 learners

Learn words with Flashcards and other activities

Definition First
Print Flashcards

Other learning activities

Answer a few questions about each word. Use this to prep for your next quiz! Compete with other teams in real time to see who answers the most questions correctly! Test your spelling acumen. Read the definition, listen to the word and try spelling it!

Teaching tools

Create and assign quizzes to your students to test their vocabulary. Assign learning activities including Practice, Vocabulary Jams and Spelling Bees to your students, and monitor their progress in real-time.

Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. Aeneas
    a mythical Greek warrior who was a leader on the Trojan side of the Trojan War; hero of the Aeneid
  2. Apollo
    Greek god of light
  3. Aurora
    goddess of the dawn; counterpart of Greek Eos
  4. Carthage
    an ancient city state on the north African coast near modern Tunis; founded by Phoenicians; destroyed and rebuilt by Romans; razed by Arabs in 697
  5. Ceres
    goddess of agriculture; counterpart of Greek Demeter
  6. Cupid
    (Roman mythology) god of love; counterpart of Greek Eros
  7. deity
    a supernatural being worshipped as controlling the world
  8. Diana
    virgin goddess of the hunt and the Moon
  9. Dido
    a princess of Tyre who was the founder and queen of Carthage
  10. epic
    a long narrative poem telling of a hero's deeds
  11. fate
    the ultimate agency predetermining the course of events
  12. faun
    a mythological creature that is half human and half goat
  13. Fortuna
    the goddess of fortune and good luck
  14. god
    any supernatural being worshipped as controlling the world
  15. goddess
    a female deity
  16. Janus
    the Roman god of doorways and passages
  17. Juno
    queen of the Olympian gods who protected marriage
  18. Jupiter
    supreme god of Romans; counterpart of Greek Zeus
  19. Latin
    any dialect of the language of ancient Rome
  20. Mars
    Roman god of war and agriculture
  21. metamorphosis
    a complete change of physical form or substance
  22. Minerva
    goddess of wisdom; counterpart of Greek Athena
  23. muse
    the source of an artist's inspiration
  24. Neptune
    god of the sea; counterpart of Greek Poseidon
  25. ode
    a lyric poem with complex stanza forms
  26. oracle
    an authoritative person who divines the future
  27. Ovid
    Roman poet remembered for his elegiac verses on love
  28. Priam
    the last king of Troy
  29. Proserpina
    goddess of the underworld; counterpart of Greek Persephone
  30. pyre
    wood heaped for burning a dead body as a funeral rite
  31. Remus
    (Roman mythology) the twin brother of Romulus
  32. Romulus
    founder of Rome
  33. Saturn
    god of agriculture and vegetation
  34. sibyl
    a woman who was regarded as an oracle or prophet
  35. Trojan Horse
    a large hollow wooden figure of a horse (filled with Greek soldiers) left by the Greeks outside Troy during the Trojan War
  36. underworld
    (religion) the place of the dead
  37. Venus
    goddess of love; counterpart of Greek Aphrodite
  38. Vesta
    (Roman mythology) goddess of the hearth and its fire whose flame was tended by vestal virgins; counterpart of Greek Hestia
  39. Virgil
    a Roman poet; author of the epic poem `Aeneid' (70-19 BC)
  40. Vulcan
    god of fire and metal working
Created on Wed Jan 11 15:31:07 EST 2017 (updated Fri Mar 31 11:26:13 EDT 2017)

Sign up now (it’s free!)

Whether you’re a teacher or a learner, Vocabulary.com can put you or your class on the path to systematic vocabulary improvement.