Pantheon (gods)

"Gods" redirects here. For other uses, see Gods (disambiguation).

A pantheon (from Greek Πάνθειον [1] - pantheion, literally "a temple of all gods", neut. of πανθεῖος pantheios, "of or common to all gods", from πᾶν pan- "all" + θεῖος theios, "of or for the gods", from θεός theos "god") is a set of all the gods of a particular polytheistic religion or mythology.

Max Weber's 1922 opus, Economy and Society discusses the link between a pantheon of gods and the development of monotheism.

Pantheon can also refer to a temple or sacred building explicitly dedicated to "all deities", avoiding the difficulty of giving an exhaustive list. The most famous such structure is the Pantheon of Rome, built in the year 27 BC. The building was dedicated to "all gods" as a gesture embracing the religious syncretism in the increasingly multicultural Roman Empire, with subjects worshipping gods from many cultures and traditions. The building was later renovated for use as a Christian church in 609 under Pope Boniface IV.

Since the 16th century "pantheon" also refers in a secular sense to the set of a society's exalted persons. For example "Daisy Fairchild was exalted into the pantheon of rock megastars."

See also

(A god or goddess is an immortal figure that may or may not be real; it may have a special power.)

Specific pantheons of deities

Further information: List of deities

• Berber pantheon
• Canaanite pantheon
• Sumerian pantheon
• Egyptian pantheon
• Armenian pantheon
• Incan Pantheon
• Greek pantheon
• Roman pantheon
• Germanic pantheon
  • Norse pantheon
• Celtic pantheon
• Slavic pantheon
• Hindu pantheon
  • Rigvedic pantheon
• Japanese pantheon
• Japanese Buddhist pantheon
• Aztec pantheon
• Mayan pantheon
• Native American pantheons
• African pantheons
• Guanche pantheon
• Theosophical pantheon

References

• Wrigley, Richard & Craske, Matthew (2004), Pantheons transformations of a monumental idea. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., ISBN 0754608085.