Greyhorn Pagans

  Before I get back into the creation myth series I want to sidetrack just a little and tell the story of Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome.  It's a cool story with a lot going on including but not limited to fratricide. So strap in, hold tight cause here we go. A little backstory first. Legend has it that Ascanio (son of the Trojan hero Aeneid (or Aeneas ) (whom I covered in the Roman origin story) founded the city of Alba Longa on the right bank of the river Tiber . Many of the ascendants of Aeneid reigned there peacefully until Nimitor became king. When Nimitor was king his brother Amulius seized the power and dethroned Nimitor (nothing like some brotherly rivalry, right?) , killing his male heirs and forcing his daughter, Rhea Silvia , to become a Vestal Virgin so that she would not provide a male heir to the throne. (Vestal Virgins were charged with keeping a sacred fire that was never to be extinguished and were sworn to chastity.) Nevertheless she gav...

 While the true Roman origin myth varies from source to source and the Romans themselves were - as a rule- not myth makers there are some stories about how the land we now know as Italy and their folk came to be.  Myths or stories from ancient Romans times about how the world was created are practically non-existent and are usually told through the Greek story but with Romanized names. One of the earliest to relate the story (reminiscent to Homer's Odyssey) was the poet Virgil in his epic Aeneid. The same Virgil who also was the guide of Dante Alighieri through the 9 circles of hell in his famous book "The Divine Comedy".  In this story, our hero, with the help of his mother Venus escaped Troy with his father (a mortal named Anchises) and a number of his fellow soldiers before the city was completely overtaken by the Greeks. This story and its connection to the Trojan Wars gave the Romans a link to the ancient Trojan culture. It should be noted that the story of the Troja...