Mars
Mārs
Ringkasan
Mars adalah dewa perang Romawi, kedua sesudah Jupiter, sekaligus pelindung Roma dan pertanian. Ia dikenal sebagai ayah Romulus dan Remus, dan serigala serta burung pelatuk suci baginya.
Mars is the Roman god of war, second only to Jupiter, and a guardian of Rome and agriculture. He is known as father of Romulus and Remus, and the wolf and woodpecker were sacred to him.
Kisah dan tradisi
Mars adalah dewa perang Romawi, kedua sesudah Jupiter dalam jajaran dewa Romawi. Sebagian besar mitosnya dipinjam dari Ares Yunani, tetapi ia dipandang lebih tenang dan lebih berbudi luhur oleh orang Romawi. Berbeda dengan Ares yang dianggap pengacau, Mars melambangkan kekuatan militer sebagai cara mengamankan perdamaian. Ia juga pelindung pertanian, perpaduan yang khas Roma awal, dan putra Jupiter dan Juno. Ciri hakiki Mars adalah kejantanan, yang dipahami sebagai daya hidup (vis) atau keutamaan (virtus). Mars dipandang sebagai pelindung Roma dan cara hidup Romawi, yang membela batas dan perbatasan kota. Dalam perang, sebuah tombak diguncang di Regia dan ia dipanggil untuk menjaga rakyat Romawi; panglima yang hendak berangkat mengguncang tombak sucinya. Persaudaraan Arval memanggilnya untuk melindungi para pemohon dari malapetaka, dan sebagai pelindung pertanian ia mengarahkan tenaganya agar tanaman tumbuh. Pada abad ke-3 M ia terutama disembah legiun Romawi. Dalam mitos pendirian Roma, Mars dianggap ayah Romulus dan Remus, kembar pendiri Roma yang mitis. Livy mencatat bahwa sang Perawan Vesta menyebut Mars sebagai ayah mereka, entah karena sungguh percaya atau agar kesalahannya tampak lebih ringan. Serigala betina menyusui bayi-bayi itu; serigala dan burung pelatuk adalah hewan liar paling suci bagi Mars. Dalam asal-usul Roma menurut Virgil, Mars adalah leluhur Romulus. Di wilayah bangsa Aequi, Mars memiliki orakel kuno tempat ramalan konon diucapkan seekor burung pelatuk. Mars juga dikaitkan dengan Venus, dengan pasangan Nerio, dan dalam kisah khas Romawi dengan pernikahannya yang licik dengan Anna Perenna. Bulan Martius dinamai menurut Mars. Festival untuknya digelar pada Maret dan Oktober, sering terkait persiapan dan penutupan kampanye militer, dan dilaksanakan antara lain oleh imam khusus flamen Martialis. Pada Maret para imam Salii menyanyikan himne dengan baju zirah zaman perunggu, dan Tubilustrium membersihkan terompet. Di antaranya Equus October, perlombaan kuda di Campus Martius, dan Armilustrium, penyucian senjata sebelum disimpan. Kurban khasnya adalah suovetaurilia dan Kuda Oktober. Kuil dan altar didirikan baginya di Roma dan seluruh kekaisaran, dan relief menampilkannya sebagai pria berjanggut dengan helm Korintus.
Mars is the Roman god of war, second only to Jupiter in the Roman pantheon. Most of his myths were borrowed from Greek Ares, but the Romans saw him as more level-headed and more virtuous. Unlike Ares, seen as a disruptive force, Mars represented military power as a way to secure peace. He was also an agricultural guardian, a combination characteristic of early Rome, and a son of Jupiter and Juno. Mars is characterised above all by virility, understood as vital force (vis) or manly virtue (virtus). Mars was seen as a protector of Rome and the Roman way of life, defending city borders and frontiers. In wartime a spear was shaken in the Regia and he was called on to watch over the Roman people, and the departing commander shook his sacred spears. The Arval Brotherhood invoked him to protect suppliants from ill, and as agricultural guardian he directs his energies toward making crops grow. By the 3rd century CE he was mainly worshipped by Roman legions. In the myth of Rome's founding, Mars is considered father of Romulus and Remus, the mythical twin founders of Rome. Livy records that the Vestal named Mars as their father, either because she believed it or to make the fault seem lighter. A she-wolf suckled the infants; the wolf and woodpecker were the wild animals most sacred to Mars. In Virgil's account of Rome's origin, Mars is the ancestor of Romulus. Among the Aequi, Mars had an ancient oracle where a woodpecker was said to speak the prophecies. Mars is also linked to Venus, to his consort Nerio, and in a uniquely Roman story to his tricked marriage to Anna Perenna. The month Martius was named after Mars. Festivals for him were held in March and October, often tied to preparing for and closing military campaigns, and were carried out by his dedicated priests, the flamen Martialis. In March the Salii priests sang hymns in bronze-age armour, and the Tubilustrium cleansed trumpets. They included the Equus October, a horse race in the Campus Martius, and the Armilustrium, the purification of weapons before storage. His distinctive sacrifices were the suovetaurilia and the October Horse. Temples and altars were dedicated to him in Rome and throughout the Empire, and relief art shows him as a bearded man in a Corinthian helmet.
Fakta utama
- Budaya / Culture
- Tradisi Romawi kuno
- Kawasan / Region
- Eropa
- Klasifikasi / Classification
- Deity
- Kemampuan / Abilities
- Perlindungan dalam perang dan atas umatnya, Menciptakan kondisi tanaman tumbuh, Pertanda kemenangan
Nama lain / Alternate names
Mars Ultor
Tahukah kamu? / Did you know?
Paruh burung pelatuk Mars dibawa sebagai jimat untuk mencegah sengatan lebah dan gigitan lintah.
Romans carried the beak of Mars's woodpecker as an amulet against bee stings and leech bites.