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Myths and Legends: Journeys Through Time

Janus

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Have you ever had a moment where you feel as if you’re looking forward to whatever the

future may bring yet at the same time, looking back as to what the past has brought?  Or have

you ever sat around on New Year’s Eve contemplating the coming new year while reminiscing

about the past year?  January is the first month of the year and it’s named after a Roman god

named Janus. Janus is one of the more….interesting gods in the Roman pantheon. He’s just

as if not more important than Jupiter, who is the ruler of all the gods. In Greek mythology

Jupiter’s counterpart is Zeus, Janus however has no Greek counterpart. The closest Greek

mythology comes to having a counterpart for Janus is two-faced god similar to the god

Hermes. Two faced…yes Janus is most often depicted as having two faces. One looking

forward in time, to the future and all things coming, and the other looking back into times,

to the past and all things that have happened. In Roman mythology Janus is considered the

god of beginnings, gates, doorways, marriages, the harvest, deaths…any event or time in a

person’s life where the was a new beginning, an end or change. Originally though, Janus was

the patron of the concrete and abstract beginnings of the world, human life, new historical

ages and economical enterprises. Also in his original depiction, he was the patron of home

entrances, gates, bridges, covered and arched passageways. One version of the mythology

holds that Janus originally came from Thessaly and was welcomed into Latium by Carmese

who later became his wife. By Carmese he had several children one of them being Tiberinus

who’s the namesake for the river Tiber. When Carmese died, Janus became the sole ruler of

Latium. When Saturn (The Roman counterpart to the Greek Titan Kronos) was fleeing from

his son Jupiter, it was Janus that offered him a place of shelter. Janus was the first king of

Latium and as such, he brought about many things. One of the things that he brought was a

time of peace and change which is also known as the Golden Age. He introduced money,

agriculture and the laws. In a sense you could say he was responsible for making Rome

civilized. When Janus died he was deified. Basically..he was made a deity and became

the protector of Rome. When Romulous stole the Sabine virgins and the Sabines attacked

Rome as a result, Janus became known for one thing. The daughter of one of the guards

decided to betray he fellow countrymen and guided the Sabines to the city. When they

attempted to climb the hill, Janus caused a hot spring to erupt from said hill. The Sabines

fled and ever since then, the gates of Janus’ temple were kept open in war times so that he

could come and help whenever needed. Whenever there’s peace the gates of his temple are

closed. January is named after Janus because on December 31 we celebrate New Year’s Eve

and at midnight we say goodbye to the old year and hello to the new year. At this time a

person is effectively looking forward while looking back. Janus may have been a two faced

god but he was a two faced god in a very good way.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janus

http://www.loggia.com/myth/janus.html

http://www.pantheon.org/articles/j/janus.html