Do you know the Greek names of the Planets? The names of the planets are given by more or less famous astronomers who discovered them throughout the years.
The planets in our solar system got their names mostly from the Greek Mythology and the Roman nomenclature.
Here we will present the Greek names of the planets, as they were given by the ancient Greeks and modern astronomers.
There are also several astronomical terms with a Greek origin. For instance, the word Galaxy comes from the Greek Galaxias, the Greek name for Chaos is Haos, while the word planet comes from the Greek word Planitis.
The names of planets in the Roman and Greek Language
We chose to present the planets according to their distance from the sun.
Sun – Helios
Helios is the Greek name of the Sun, the center of our solar system.
Earth – Ge (from the ancient Greek name Gaia or Gaea)
Gaia was the great mother of all, creator and giver of birth to the Earth and all the Universe, the heavenly gods, the Titans, and the Giants. The gods were born from her union with Uranus (the sky), while the sea-gods were born from her union with Pontus (the sea).
Mercury – Ermis
Ermis is the Greek name of the planet Mercury, which is the closest planet to the sun. It is named after the Greek God of commerce, Ermis or Hermes, who was also the messenger of the Ancient Greek gods.
Venus – Aphrodite
Aphrodite is the Greek name of the planet Venus, which is named after Aphrodite, the goddess of Love.
Mars – Aris
Aris is the Greek name of the planet Mars, the fourth planet from the sun, also known as the Red planet. Aris or Ares was the Greek god of War.
Jupiter – Dias
Jupiter, the fifth planet from the sun, is the largest planet in our solar system. In Greek the name of the planet Jupiter is Dias, the Greek name of god Zeus.
Jupiter has many moons orbiting around the planet. The largest one is Ganymede and it is named after Ganymedes, the hero of the Greek mythology.
Saturn – Kronos
Saturn is the second largest planet of our system and the sixth planet from the sun. The Greek name of the planet Saturn is Kronos. The Titan Cronus was the father of Zeus, while Saturn was the Roman God of agriculture.
Uranus – Ouranos
Ouranos is the Greek name of the planet Uranus, the seventh planet from the sun. This planet is named after the creator of the sky, God Uranus or Ouranos, which means sky in the Greek language. He was the father of Cronus and the Titans, as well as of the Cyclopes.
Neptune – Poseidon
Neptune or Poseidon as is its Greek name, was the God of the Seas. It is the eight planet from the sun, and its predominant color is blue, which makes its name a rather excellent choice.
Pluto – Pluton
The god of the Underworld, Pluto or Pluton in Greek is the farthest planet from the sun and one of the least observed planets in our solar system.
Other Greek names in our galaxy
Greek names were given also to several stars and planetary features in our Galaxy. The names of stars are chosen by their discoverers as well. Some of them are:
Cerberus. The three headed dog – guardian of the gates of the Underworld, known with the name Kerveros in Greek, is given to the large black spot on the surface of planet Mars.
On Mars, there is also the Olympus Mons, the largest volcano of the planet, referring to Mount Olympus or Olympos in Greek, the mountain of the gods in the Greek mythology.
Planet Venus also has its volcano, named Rhea Mons, after Rhea or Rea, the mother of Zeus, daughter of Uranus and Gaia.
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Most other names are very similar anyway between Greek and Roman. Other objects that would have a different Roman name are planet 10, Eris, (Discordia) and Mars’ moons Phobos and Deimos (Pavor and Terror)
How are the former planets 8-11, the asteroids discovered in 1801? Juno is Hera, Ceres is Demeter, Vesta is Hestia and Pallas is Athene anyway… Couldn’t find anything about a Pallas Minerva in Roman.
Should gave been more goddesses anyway. Saturn’s second biggest moon is named after his wife Rhea, but Galileo couldn’t name one of Jupiter moons after Juno (or a different wife) instead chose 4 people he lusted after.
Actually Helios is the god of the Sun, and Selene is the goddess of the moon. But after Greek Gods Apollo and Artemis were born, they were mistakenly recognized as the god and goddess of the sun and moon. They were mistakenly recognized as that because of their personality. Apollo was one of the flashiest gods, while Artemis was powerful, but was always hiding behind the shadows.
So the study of the Moon has a little used nomenclature: Selenology, following the English protocol of combining the Greek root with the British “-ology” meaning study of. Similarly, the study of all things Mars has been coined “Areology.”
Using this protocol of Greek Root + “ology” would the following terminology be correct:
Ermisology: study of Mercury
Hesperology/Phosphorology/Aphroditology: study of Venus: Things get complicated, as Venus’ appearance as the morning star and evening star were given different deity names, with Aphrodite being somewhere in the mix as well….
Geology: obviously!
Areology: study of Mars
Zeusology/Diasology: which is the study of Jupiter?
Kronology: study of Saturn
Ouroanology: study of Uranus
Poseidonology: study of Neptune
Plutonolgy: study of Pluto (even tho it is no longer officially sporting “planet” in its description!)
Apologies for any mistakes in adding/subtracting root endings–just trying to come up with the best sounding word. Any corrections appreciated! But looking at these, the convention of a Greek root plus “ology” suffix has decidedly mixed results. Perhaps this is why the IAU has not pursued this in their nomenclature?
Also, why isn’t Pluto called HADES?
It is very helpful to people who want to learn Greek !!!!!!
i love it, Greek myth is my favorite thing to learn, but i though Apollo was the god of the sun?
Helios is the Greek name of the sun, but Apollo is the god of the sun.
Helios in Greek Mythology is a god, the Sun personified, who drives his flaming chariot in the sky. He is the son of Titan Hyperion. He has two sisters, Selene (the moon) and Io, the goddess of Dawn.
Apollo is the god of light/enlightenment/education, arts, and insight/clairvoyance. His connection with light has convinced some scholars that they are versions of the same thing, however they are clearly distinguished and have entirely different origin story and families. Apollo is the son of Zeus, therefore lower ranked god than Helios, so it sounds unlikely that they are the same.
its good want to learn more about greek mythology. i love to know more about greek history. i wanna know it in a beautiful way.
you should put more planet and star names
good helpful!!!!! 🙂