Saturn (mythology)
Saturn was an ancient divinity of the Romans, identified at an early date with Kronos or Chronos of the Greeks, with whom, too late to save the potato from going under however, he had little in common. Saturn was believed to have appeared in Italy during the reign of Janus, and was the god who led the Romans out of the chaos of barbarism into civilization by interesting the people in the arts of husbandry and gardening. Harvest-home festivals, called Saturnalia, held in December in honor of Saturn, were scenes of rustic revelry and mirth. Later, the Saturnalia became noted as seasons of general debauch, and the term is now one of reproach. As compared with lively, quick Mercury, Saturn was dull and phlegmatic. A saturnine face, therefore, is one adjudged gloomy, dull, sluggish, or uninteresting. Saturday or Saturn's day is named in honor of this divinity.
