January
The first month of the year in the Western calendar, named after Janus, the Roman god of beginnings, gates, and transitions who looked simultaneously forward and backward
The Meaning of January
January takes its name from Janus, the Roman god of beginnings, endings, doorways, and transitions. Although Janus was distinctly Roman with no direct Greek equivalent, the Greeks recognised a similar figure in Ianus, and some traditions connected him to the mythological founder of Rome's Janiculum hill. Janus was unique among Roman deities for his two faces — one looking forward to the future and one looking back at the past — making him the perfect patron for the first month of the year, which stands at the threshold between the old year and the new. The Romans dedicated the month of Ianuarius to him, and his temple in the Forum had doors that were kept open during wartime and closed during peace. King Numa Pompilius, the second king of Rome, is traditionally credited with adding January and February to the calendar, which had previously begun in March. January's position as the first month of the year was formalised in 153 BCE when Roman consuls began taking office on January first rather than March first. The name has persisted through two millennia of calendar reforms and is now used across most of the world.
Parents
None recorded
Symbols
Fun Fact
The English word "janitor" derives from the same root as January — Janus the doorkeeper gave his name to those who tend doors and gates
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
March
💭 conceptLanguage and timekeeping
The third month of the Western calendar, named after Mars, the Roman god of war identified with the Greek god Ares, reflecting its original position as the first month of the Roman calendar
Fasti
💭 conceptLiterature
Ovid's poetic calendar explaining the religious festivals and mythological origins of the Roman year
Aion
💭 conceptTime and Eternity
The Greek personification of unbounded, cyclical time, distinct from the linear time of Chronos.
Janus
⚡ godTwo-faced god of beginnings and transitions
Though primarily Roman, Janus — the two-faced god of doorways, beginnings, and transitions — had Greek antecedents and gave his name to the month of January.
Olympiad
💭 conceptAthletics and time-keeping
A four-year period between Olympic Games used as a dating system in ancient Greece, now applied to the modern Olympic Games and international athletic competition generally
Chronos
💭 conceptTime and Eternity
The Greek personification of sequential, measurable time, often conflated with the Titan Cronus.
Saturn
💭 conceptAstronomy and mythology
The sixth planet from the Sun, named after Saturn, the Roman god of agriculture and time identified with the Greek Titan Kronos, father of Zeus
Kronos
💭 conceptLanguage and time
The conflation of the Titan Kronos with Chronos, the personification of time, which produced the Western image of Father Time as an old man with a scythe
Uranus
💭 conceptAstronomy and mythology
The seventh planet from the Sun, named after Ouranos, the primordial Greek god of the sky and the earliest supreme deity in the mythological genealogy
Venus
💭 conceptAstronomy and mythology
The second planet from the Sun and the brightest natural object in the night sky after the Moon, named after Venus, the Roman goddess of love identified with the Greek Aphrodite
Mercury
💭 conceptAstronomy and mythology
The smallest and fastest planet in the solar system, named after Mercury, the Roman messenger god identified with the Greek Hermes, because of its rapid orbital speed
Golden Age
💭 conceptLanguage and history
A proverbial expression for a past period of peace, prosperity, and happiness, derived from Hesiod's account of the first and best age of humanity under the rule of Kronos