James George Frazer and an anonymous author

“ Thus the Penates, as simple gods of food, are probably much more ancient than deities like Jupiter, Neptune, Apollo and Minerva.
With the Penates we may compare the kindly household gods of old Germany; they too had their home on the kitchen hearth and received offerings of food and clothing. In the castle of Hudemühlen (Hanover) there was a kobold for whom a cover was always set on the table. In Lapland each house had one or more spirits. The souls of the dead are regarded as house-spirits by the Russians; they are represented as dwarfs, and are served with food and drink. ”

“ More fruitful than these misty speculations is the suggestion, made by the ancients themselves, that the worship of these family gods sprang from the ancient Roman custom (common to many savage tribes) of burying the dead in the house. But this would account for the worship of the Lares rather than of the Penates. A comparison with other primitive religious beliefs suggests the conjecture that the Penates may be a remnant of fetishism or animism. The Roman genii seem certainly to have been fetishes and the Penates were perhaps originally a species of genii. ”

“ Jupiter representing the middle ether, Juno the lowest air and the earth, and Minerva the highest ether, to whom some added Mercury as the god of speech (Servius, on Aen. ii 296, Macrobius, Sat. iii. 4, 8; Arnobius, Adv. Nat. iii. 40) . Others identified them with Apollo and Neptune (Macrob. iii. 4, 6; Arnob. loc. cit.; Servius, on Aen. iii. 119) . ”