Neptune of the sea, identified with the Greek Poseidon. The demand for a mythological name seemed to be in keeping with the nomenclature of the other planets, all of which, except for Earth, were named for deities in Greek and Roman mythology. Most languages today, even in countries that have no direct link to Greco-Roman culture, use some variant of the name "Neptune" for the planet. However, in Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese, and Korean, the planet's name was translated as "sea king star" (), because Neptune was the god of the sea. In Mongolian, Neptune is called "Dalain Van" (Далайн ван), reflecting
Neptune (mythology) of Venilia in childbirth and motherhood. A legendary king Venulus was remembered at Tibur and Lavinium. German scholar H. Petersmann has proposed a rather different interpretation of the theology of Neptune. Developing his understanding of the theonym as rooted in IE *nebh, he argues that the god would be an ancient deity of the cloudy and rainy sky in company with and in opposition to Zeus/Jupiter, god of the clear bright sky. Similar to Caelus, he would be the father of all living beings on Earth through the fertilising power of rainwater. This "hieros gamos" of Neptune and Earth would