Mythology has been prevalent in various forms of writing, and still is to this day. Mythology affected how the Montagues and Capulets believed planets and the world around them worked because they had no other explanation for how the world worked. All throughout Romeo and Juliet there are either direct or subtle references back to mythology.
In Romeo and Juliet there have been many mentions of mythology, such as Jove, the king of all roman gods as seen in act two page eighty-five. Shakespeare was born in the fifteen-hundreds, and during those times the planets had just been discovered, and roman, Greek, and Norse mythology still had a large impact on the lives of everyone living in Europe and the surrounding continents. Throughout Romeo and Juliet, it can be inferred that the pair of teenagers are either Catholic or something similar, but multiple times they either curse their god or go against their religious rules. According to the catholic faith it says that they should have no other gods except the one they already believe in, so if that were to be true, then why would Romeo and all other make references to gods from other religions? When Venus, the goddess of love, and Cupid, the matchmaker, are mentioned on page 125 Juliet is hoping the nurse will bring her Romeo’s loving response back as fast as Cupid and Venus. In saying that it shows how Juliet believes in other gods more so than her own, this may be because she is blaming her god on everything that has and will happen to her.
Earlier on in the story Romeo even mentions a Greek goddess, Diana, who is the goddess of the hunt and later also becomes the goddess of the moon. He compares Juliet to the moon because as of now Juliet is still a virgin, and a “servant of the moon” because Diana is also the goddess of virginity. Romeo implies that the goddess is saddened because Juliet is more beautiful than she, and therefore refuses to give up her ‘servants’ virginity. With those few lines Romeo has officially personified the moon, he is showing that he believes there is a goddess called Diana and is therefore believing in a different god besides his own. It has now been confirmed that Romeo and Juliet believe that there are other gods out there. They are both placing their fates in the hands of other beings, and this is part of the reason why everything happened the way it did. The pair went against their religion, and as punishment their god granted them both terrible fates.
There is proof just about everywhere in the play that the Montagues and Capulets are both Catholics. On page 129 Nurse mentions the name of Mary, the mother of God, and on the same page Juliet asks to take confession, which is asking god to absolve someone of all their sins therefore putting the person in a state of purification until the next time they committed a sin. Religion appears to be a big factor in most of Shakespeare’s works. In another one of his plays, Macbeth, there are two witches which are both mythological figures. The witches are never named, but the queen of witches, Hecate, is mentioned briefly in the play. She is the Greek goddess of magic, witchcraft, necromancy, and more, with Shakespeare demonstrating that he clearly has a vast knowledge of several types of Mythology, and that his religion reflected in his works.
In short Shakespeare is a witch, or something of the sort. It is shown how Shakespeare’s characters reflect his attitude towards the world, and this may also reflect his religious beliefs. The Hellenic religion must do with the Greek gods and goddesses and everything that comes along with them, and Hellenic’s have a very vast knowledge about all those stories. It has not ever been proven that Shakespeare was anything other than Catholic, and it seems that he knows a great deal about the Catholic faith, but in his writing, he goes against his god. Whether or not this is just the way he wanted to write his characters or if this is how he wanted to portray his actual faith has yet to be seen.
Shakespeare has made references back to several mythological figures. One of the first he referenced was Dianna, goddess of the moon and virginity. Another god that Shakespeare made mention of was Jupiter, King of the gods. There is now proof to support the theory that he is not a part of the Catholic faith but is a Hellenic. It is known that he has a vast knowledge of these figures, and in short is a witch.
