Myths of Months!

Happy first day of March!

Just this week I realized that I do not know the etymology of the months of January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August. So I hopped on wikipedia and discovered the myths related to these well beloved months.

January: "is named after Janus, the god of the doorway; the name has its beginnings in Roman mythology, coming from the Latin word for door since January is the door to the year."








February: "The Roman month Februarius was named after the Latin term februum, which means purification, via the purification ritual Februa held on February 15 (full moon) in the old lunar Roman calendar."

March: "The name of March comes from ancient Rome, when March was the first month of the year and named Martius after Mars orAres, the Greek god of war. In Rome, where the climate is Mediterranean, March was the first month of spring, a logical point for the beginning of the year as well as the start of the military campaign season."

April: "The derivation of the name (Latin Aprilis) is uncertain. The traditional etymology is from the Latin aperire, "to open," in allusion to its being the season when trees and flowers begin to "open," which is supported by comparison with the modern Greek use of ἁνοιξις (anoixis) (opening) for spring. Since some of the Roman months were named in honor of divinities, and as April was sacred to the goddess Venus, the Festum Veneris et Fortunae Virilis being held on the first day, it has been suggested that Aprilis was originally her month Aphrilis, from her equivalent Greek goddess name Aphrodite (Aphros), or from the Etruscanname Apru."

"The month May was named for the Greek goddess Maia, who was identified with the Roman era goddess of fertility, Bona Dea, whose festival was held in May. Conversely, the Roman poet Ovid provides a second etymology, in which he says that the month of May is named for the maiores, Latin for "elders," and that the following month (June) is named for the iuniores, or "young people" (Fasti VI.88)."

 Ovid provides two etymologies for June's name in his poem concerning the months entitled the Fasti. The first is that the month is named after the Roman goddess Juno, wife of Jupiter and equivalent to the Greek goddess Hera; the second is that the name comes from the Latin word iuniores, meaning "younger ones," as opposed to maiores ("elders") for which the preceding month May may be named (Fasti VI.1–88).




And July and August were named in honor of Julius Caesar and Augustus, respectively. 

"January" Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 20 Feb 2013. Web. 1 March 2013
"February" Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 28 Feb 2013. Web. 1 March 2013
"March" Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 1 March 2013. Web. 1 March 2013
"April" Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 23 Feb 2013. Web. 1 March 2013
"May" Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 26 Feb 2013. Web. 1 March 2013
"June" Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 24 Feb 2013. Web. 1 March 2013
"July" Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 24 Feb 2013. Web. 1 March 2013
"August" Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 22 Feb 2013. Web. 1 March 2013