Myths about Jupiter and its Moons

Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system. It is also one of the brighter objects in the night sky. No one knows for sure who discovered Jupiter, but it was known in ancient times. The Roman god Jupiter is associated with the Greek god, Zeus. There are many interesting myths about Jupiter's Moons, too, which were named after mythological beings associated with Jupiter/Zeus.
"Temple of Jupiter" by Giovanni Battista Cipriani. In Roman mythology, Jupiter (Zeus in Greek mythology) was the king of heaven and Earth and of all the Olympian gods. He was also known as the god of justice.<p><small><em> Image courtesy of Corel Corporation.</em></small></p>According to <a href="http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2013-277">NASA scientists</a>, the Voyager 1 spacecraft entered interstellar space in August 2012, becoming the first spacecraft to leave the <a href="/our_solar_system/solar_system.html&edu=elem">solar system</a>. The space probe is about 19 billion km from the <a href="/sun/sun.html&edu=elem">Sun</a>. <a href="/space_missions/voyager.html&edu=elem">Voyager 1 and 2</a> were launched in 1977 on a <a href="/space_missions/voyager.html&edu=elem">mission</a> that flew them both by <a href="/jupiter/jupiter.html&edu=elem">Jupiter</a> and <a href="/saturn/saturn.html&edu=elem">Saturn</a>, with Voyager 2 continuing to <a href="/uranus/uranus.html&edu=elem">Uranus</a> and <a href="/neptune/neptune.html&edu=elem">Neptune</a>. Voyager 2 is the longest continuously operated spacecraft. It is about 15 billion km away from the <a href="/sun/sun.html&edu=elem">Sun</a>.<p><small><em>Image courtesy of NASA</em></small></p>

Explore Myths about Jupiter and its Moons

Roman: Jupiter

In Roman mythology Jupiter was the king of heaven and Earth and of all the Olympian gods. He ...Read more

Roman: Callisto

Callisto was a river goddess. Her great grandfather was the river god Inachus. Callisto was ...Read more

Roman: Europa

Europa was a beautiful princess. According to Greek mythology, Europa was seduced by Zeus, ...Read more

Roman: Ganymede

Ganymede was a son of Tros, who was the ruler of the city of Troy. One day, Jupiter saw Ganymede ...Read more

Roman: Leda

For the ancient Greeks, the constellation Cygnus, which means "swan", was related to the myth ...Read more

Roman: Io

Io was a beautiful priestess of the Greek goddess, Hera. Hera was the jealous wife of Zeus, ...Read more

Explore Myths about other nearby planets

Greek:Cronus

In Greek mythology, Cronus was the son of Uranus and Gaea. He lead his brothers and sisters ...Read more

Hindu: Sani

In Hindu mythology, the god Sani was identified with the planet Saturn. Sani's parents were ...Read more

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