Pantheon (religion)

A pantheon (from Greek Πάνθεον pantheon, literally "(a temple) of all gods", "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, mythology, or tradition.

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 known 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" can also refer in a secular sense to the set of a society's exalted persons. For example: "Mick Jagger was exalted into the pantheon of rock megastars".

See also

Specific pantheons of deities

Further information: List of deities

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

Further reading

• Wrigley, Richard & Craske, Matthew (2004), Pantheons: Transformations of a Monumental Idea. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., ISBN 0-7546-0808-5.