Did Rome Really Steal Zeus?

Revealing the workings of religious syncretism in Antiquity

photo by Engin Akyurt on Unsplash

The idea that ancient cultures could “steal” each other’s myths, rites, or gods is very prevalent these days. It’s easiest to point to Greece and Rome here; dozens of Greek deities and myths were either made equivalent to preexisting Roman ones or just lifted entirely. Some of this, of course, can be boiled down to…