Why are all planets named after the roman god of agriculture?

Answer 1

When the ancient people looked into the night sky, it would have been impossible for them not to notice that the planets not only rotated in the sky with the other stars, but that they also changed position every night. To them, these stars must have represented something more powerful, so they made them sacred to the gods they felt they represented. Later, when Rome came into prominence, they added the Greek's astronomical and astrological knowledge to their own, but replaced the Greek names with Latin ones.

The fastest moving was made sacred to Hermes, and later named Mercury.

The brightest and most beautiful was made sacred to Aphrodite. The Romans called it "Lucifer". Later it was named Venus, harkening back to the Greek roots.

The red tinted one was made sacred to Ares and later named Mars.

The one that dominated the night sky, and nearly as bright as Venus, was made sacred to Zeus, and later named Jupiter.

The faint one that seemed to lope slowly across the sky, looking as if it were peering over Jupiter's shoulder, was made sacred to Kronos, and later named Saturn.

Later astronomers, when they discovered the farther planets, kept with this tradition and named the planets after Greek or Roman mythological figures. The moons, asteroids and dwarf planets are bear names from mythology.