classics: planet names

which Greek god inspired the name of Saturn? what about Uranus?

Recently, I’ve been reading The Odyssey by Homer, and the possibility of planet names being Greek-god inspired has been stuck in my head. So, I surfed the web to read into it and here’s what I learned:

In ancient Greece, each planet was assigned to a particular god according to each celestial body’s characteristics. The fastest planet, Stilbon, “the gleamer”, was assigned to Hermes, the messenger of the gods who is known for his quick speed and winged sandals. The brightest planet, Phosphoros, “the light bringer”, was assigned to Aphrodite, the goddess of love who was known for her beauty. The planet with a gentle red hue, Pyroeis, “the fiery”, was ruled by Ares, the god of war and the embodiment of the brutality of battle. The slowest planet, Phainon, “the shiner,” was sacred to Cronus, the leader of the Titan gods and father of Zeus. Phaethon, “the bright”, was assigned to Zeus himself, the king of the Olympian gods and wielder of his signature lightning bolt.

You might have noticed that these names don’t particularly sound like the English ones vastly used today.

Well, it turns out that my original hypothesis was wrong. It was not the Greek whose pantheon influenced the names of the planets, but the Romans.

Largely influenced by Greek traditions, the Romans took the Greek gods associated with each planet and replaced them with the equivalent gods from their own culture — Mercurius, Venus, Mars, Iuppiter, and Saturnus. The invention of the telescope in the 17th century led to the discovery of more distant planets, and the tradition of using names of ancient gods was continued. The seventh planet was discovered in 1781 and named after Ouranos, the Greek god of the sky. Ouranos is the father of Cronus who is the father of Zeus. It was assumed that the Latinised form of the name would be the Roman version, but the equivalent Roman god is actually Caelus. There are some mysteries here, but let’s move on for now. The eighth planet was named after Neptune, the Roman god of the sea. The ninth planet (now reclassified as a dwarf planet) was named after Pluto, the Roman god of the underworld.

These names eventually made their way into most modern European languages with slight variations:

Mercurius = Mercury

Venus = Venus

Mars = Mars

Iuppiter = Jupiter

Saturnus = Saturn

Ouranos = Uranus

Neptune = Neptune

Pluto = Pluto

The names of the planets each have their own backstory, like little characters in the Milky Way, complete with their own fears, desires, and secrets.

One of my favorite quotes from Dale Carnegie goes, “Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.”

Why shouldn’t this apply to planets too?

until next time,

moony~

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