Janus
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.
The Myth of Janus
Janus was primarily a Roman deity — the two-faced god of beginnings, transitions, doorways, and endings — but the Greeks knew a parallel figure. His two faces looked simultaneously to past and future, and he presided over every threshold and passage. January bears his name. His temple in Rome was closed only in times of peace — a rarity. Some Greek traditions linked him to the Titan Kronos, who fled to Italy after Zeus overths threw him. Others connected him to the founding myths that tied Troy to Rome through Aeneas. While Athena and Apollo governed wisdom and foresight among the Greeks, Janus represented a distinctly Italian concept: the sacred nature of doorways, beginnings, and the passage between states of being.
Parents
Saturn and Entoria (Roman tradition)
Children
Fontus
Symbols
Fun Fact
"January" and "janitor" (originally a doorkeeper) both come from Janus — the god of doorways guards the door of the year and the door of every building.
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
January
💭 conceptLanguage and timekeeping
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
Hermes
⚡ godMessenger of the gods and patron of thieves
The quicksilver god who guides souls to the Underworld, protects travellers, and invented lying on the day he was born.
Hecate
⚡ godGoddess of crossroads, magic, and the liminal
The triple-formed goddess of crossroads, sorcery, and the boundaries between worlds — honoured by Zeus above all other deities.
Jupiter
⚡ godKing of gods, sky, thunder
Supreme deity of the Roman pantheon, equivalent to the Greek Zeus, ruling over gods and mortals from the heavens
Apollo
⚡ godGod of prophecy, music, and plague
The radiant god of light, prophecy, music, healing, and plague — the most complex deity in the Greek pantheon.
Fortuna
⚡ godLuck, fate, chance, fortune
Roman goddess of fortune and chance, equivalent to the Greek Tyche
Dionysus
⚡ godGod of wine, ecstasy, and theatre
The god born twice — once from his mother's womb and once from Zeus's thigh — who brought wine, madness, and liberation to the world.
Faunus
⚡ godForests, fields, flocks, prophecy
Roman god of the wild, forests, and flocks, equivalent to the Greek Pan
Vertumnus
⚡ godSeasons, change, gardens, plant growth
Roman god of seasonal change and gardens, a shape-shifter with no direct Greek equivalent
Apollo
⚡ godGod of light, music, prophecy, and plague
Apollo was the most complex Olympian — god of light, music, poetry, prophecy, healing, plague, and rational thought, the divine embodiment of Greek civilisation.
Hecate
⚡ godGoddess of crossroads, magic, and the moon
A powerful Titan goddess associated with crossroads, doorways, magic, witchcraft, and the night. Hecate was one of the few Titans honored by Zeus after the Titanomachy.
Silvanus
⚡ godForests, boundaries, woodland
Roman god of forests and uncultivated land, protector of boundaries between wild and civilised spaces