Pantheon (gods)
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A pantheon (from Greek Πάνθειον[1] - pantheion, literally "a temple of all gods", neut. of πανθείος - pantheios, "of or common to all gods", from πᾶν - pan, "all" + θείος - 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.
[edit] Specific pantheons
- Sumerian pantheon
- Egyptian pantheon
- Greek pantheon
- Roman pantheon
- Germanic pantheon
- Celtic pantheon
- Slavic pantheon
- Hindu pantheon
- Japanese pantheon
- Aztec pantheon
- Mayan pantheon
- Native American pantheon
- African pantheons
[edit] Figurative use
Since the 16th century the word has also been used in a secular sense, meaning a set of exalted people. This meaning, in modern parlance, is often used to describe the rise of a person into that exalted group, e.g., "Mick Jagger has joined the pantheon of rock megastars."
[edit] References
- Wrigley, Richard & Craske, Matthew (2004), Pantheons transformations of a monumental idea. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., ISBN 0754608085.[[sk:Panteón (spoločenstvo bohov)]
