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In Polytheistic systems there is a tendency for one divinity, usually a male, to achieve pre-eminence as King of the Gods. This tendency is paralleled with the growth of hierarchical
Hierarchy

A 'hierarchy' is an arrangement of items The word derives from the Greek language , from ?e?????? , "president of sacred rites, high-priest" and that from , "sacred" + , "to lead, to rule"....
 systems of political power
Political power

Political power is a type of power held by a political organization in a society which allows administration of some or all of public resources, including labour, and wealth....
, in which a monarch eventually comes to assume ultimate authority
Authority

In government, authority is often used interchangeably with the term "power ". However, their meanings differ: while "power" refers to the ability to achieve certain ends, "authority" refers to a claim of legitimacy , the justification and right to exercise that power....
 for human affairs. Other Gods come to serve in a divine council or pantheon
Pantheon (gods)

A pantheon 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....
, usually linked by family ties from union of a single husband or wife, or else from an androgynous
Androgyny

Androgyny is a term derived from the Greek language words a??? and ???? that can refer to either of two related concepts about gender: the mixing of masculinity and femininity characteristics, as in fashion statements; or the balance of "anima and animus" in Analytical psychology....
 divinity who is responsible for the creation.

Historically, subsequent social events, such as invasions or shifts in power structures sees the previous "King of the Gods" displaced by a new divinity, who assumes the previous God's attributes and functions.

Examples of this displacement of Kings of the Gods include

There is also a tendency for kings of the Gods to assume more and more importance, syncretistically
Syncretism

Syncretism consists of the attempt to reconcile disparate or contrary beliefs, often while melding practices of various schools of thought. The term may refer to attempts to merge and analogy several originally discrete traditions, especially in the theology and mythology of religion, and thus assert an underlying unity allowing for an inclu...
 assuming the attributes and functions of lesser divinities, who come to be seen as aspects of the single supreme deity.






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In Polytheistic systems there is a tendency for one divinity, usually a male, to achieve pre-eminence as King of the Gods. This tendency is paralleled with the growth of hierarchical
Hierarchy

A 'hierarchy' is an arrangement of items The word derives from the Greek language , from ?e?????? , "president of sacred rites, high-priest" and that from , "sacred" + , "to lead, to rule"....
 systems of political power
Political power

Political power is a type of power held by a political organization in a society which allows administration of some or all of public resources, including labour, and wealth....
, in which a monarch eventually comes to assume ultimate authority
Authority

In government, authority is often used interchangeably with the term "power ". However, their meanings differ: while "power" refers to the ability to achieve certain ends, "authority" refers to a claim of legitimacy , the justification and right to exercise that power....
 for human affairs. Other Gods come to serve in a divine council or pantheon
Pantheon (gods)

A pantheon 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....
, usually linked by family ties from union of a single husband or wife, or else from an androgynous
Androgyny

Androgyny is a term derived from the Greek language words a??? and ???? that can refer to either of two related concepts about gender: the mixing of masculinity and femininity characteristics, as in fashion statements; or the balance of "anima and animus" in Analytical psychology....
 divinity who is responsible for the creation.

Historically, subsequent social events, such as invasions or shifts in power structures sees the previous "King of the Gods" displaced by a new divinity, who assumes the previous God's attributes and functions.

Examples of this displacement of Kings of the Gods include
  • The Ancient Greek
    Ancient Greece

    The term Ancient Greece refers to the period of History of Greece lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca. 1100 BC and the Dorian invasion, to 146 BC and the Roman Republic conquest of Greece after the Battle of Corinth ....
     Olympian
    Twelve Olympians

    The Twelve Olympians or younger gods, also known as the Dodekatheon , in Greek mythology, were the principal Greek Godss of the Greek pantheon , residing atop Mount Olympus, having supplanted the Titan or older gods in the greek mythogical narrative....
     Gods, in which Cronus
    Cronus

    Cronus or Kronos, , was the leader and the youngest of the first generation of Titan , divine descendants of Gaia , the earth, and Uranus , the sky....
     displaces Uranus
    Uranus (mythology)

    Uranus is the Latinized form of Ouranos , the Greek language word for sky. In Greek mythology Uranus , or Father Sky, is personified as the son and husband of Gaia , Mother Earth ....
    , and Zeus
    Zeus

    Zeus in Greek mythology is the king of the gods, the ruler of Mount Olympus and the god of the sky father and List of thunder gods. His symbols are the thunderbolt, eagle, bull , and oak....
     in turn displaces Cronus
  • The Hurrian/Hittite
    Hittites

    The Hittites were an ancient Anatolian people who spoke a Hittite language of the Anatolian languages of the Indo-European languages family, and established a kingdom centered at Hattusa in north-central Anatolia ca....
     pantheon in which Kumarbis is displaced by Teshub
    Teshub

    Teshub was the Hurrians god of sky and storm. He was derived from the Hattians Taru. His Hittites and Luwian name was Tarhun .He is depicted holding a triple thunderbolt and a weapon, usually an axe or Mace ....
     or Tarhunt.
  • The Canaan
    Canaan

    Canaan is an ancient term for a region encompassing modern-day Israel and Lebanon, the Palestinian Territories, plus adjoining coastal lands and parts of Jordan, Syria and northeastern Egypt....
    ite panthon, in which Baal
    Baal

    Ba'al is a Northwest Semitic title and honorific meaning "master" or "lord" that is used for various gods who were patrons of cities in the Levant, cognate to East Semitic Bel ....
     displaces El
    El (god)

    is the Northwest Semitic languages word for "deity" , cognate to Arabic and Akkadian .In the Canaanite religion, or Levantine religion as a whole, El or Il was the supreme god, the father of humankind and all creatures and the husband of the Goddess Asherah as attested in the tablets of Ugarit....
     (and the Hebrew creation, in which Yahweh
    Yahweh

    Image:Tetragrammaton scripts.svg[Aramaic alphabet|Aramaic]] and Hebrew alphabet Yahweh is the English rendering of , a vocalization of the Tetragrammaton that was proposed by the Hebrew scholar Gesenius in the 19th century....
     displaces Baal
    Baal

    Ba'al is a Northwest Semitic title and honorific meaning "master" or "lord" that is used for various gods who were patrons of cities in the Levant, cognate to East Semitic Bel ....
    )
  • The Ancient Egyptian Ennead
    Ennead

    Ennead , an ancient Greek translation of the Egyptian word, Pesedjet, consists of a grouping of nine deity, most often appearing in the context of Egyptian mythology....
     and Ogdoad
    Ogdoad

    In Egyptian mythology, the Ogdoad were eight deities worshipped in Hermopolis during what is called the Old Kingdom, the third through sixth dynasties, dated between 2686 to 2134 B.C....
     where Osiris
    Osiris

    Osiris was an Egyptian mythology, usually called the god of the Afterlife.Osiris is one of the oldest gods for whom records have been found; one of the oldest known attestations of his name is on the Palermo Stone of around 2500 BC....
     assumes pre-eminence, to be displaced by Seth
    Seth

    Seth , in the Book of Genesis of the Hebrew Bible, is the third listed son of Adam and Eve and brother of Cain and Abel and is the only other son mentioned by name....
     or Sutekh, who is in turn replaced by Horus
    Horus

    Horus is a god of the Ancient Egyptian religion, most commonly known by the Greek language version Horus, of the Egyptian language Heru/Har....
    , son to Osiris and Isis
    ISIS

    ISIS is an industry standard interface for technologies, developed by Pixel Translations in 1990 .ISIS is an open standard for scanner control and a complete image-processing framework....
  • In the Historical Vedic religion
    Historical Vedic religion

    The religion of the Vedic period is the historical predecessor of Hinduism. Its liturgy is reflected in the Mantra portion of the four Vedas, which are compiled in Sanskrit....
    , the King of the Gods was Indra
    Indra

    Indra is the god of War and Weather, also the King of the gods or Deva and Lord of Heaven or Swarga in Hinduism. Mentioned first as the chief deity in the sacred Hindu text of Rig Veda, Indra is bestowed with a heroic and almost brash and amorous character....
    , who was replaced by Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu as the Vedic religion evolved into Brahmanical Hinduism
    Hinduism

    'Hinduism' is the predominant religion of the Indian subcontinent. Hinduism is often referred to as , a Sanskrit phrase meaning "the eternal dharma", by its practitioners....
    .
  • In the Mesopotamia
    Mesopotamia

    Mesopotamia is the area of the Tigris-Euphrates river system, along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, largely corresponding to modern Iraq, as well as some parts of northeastern Syria, some parts of southeastern Turkey, and some parts of the Khuzestan Province of southwestern Iran....
    n Anunaki, Enlil
    Enlil

    Enlil , was the name of a chief deity listed and written about in ancient Sumerian, Akkadian, Hittite, Canaanite and other Mesopotamian clay and stone tablets....
     displaces Anu and is in turn replaced by Marduk
    Marduk

    Marduk was the Babylonian language name of a late-generation god from ancient Mesopotamia and patron deity of the city of Babylon, who, when Babylon permanently became the political center of the Euphrates valley in the time of Hammurabi , started to slowly rise to the position of the head of the Babylonian pantheon, a position he fully acqu...
    .


There is also a tendency for kings of the Gods to assume more and more importance, syncretistically
Syncretism

Syncretism consists of the attempt to reconcile disparate or contrary beliefs, often while melding practices of various schools of thought. The term may refer to attempts to merge and analogy several originally discrete traditions, especially in the theology and mythology of religion, and thus assert an underlying unity allowing for an inclu...
 assuming the attributes and functions of lesser divinities, who come to be seen as aspects of the single supreme deity. Examples of this include

  • Ancient Iranian Ahura Mazda
    Ahura Mazda

    Ahura Mazda is the Avestan language name for a divinity exalted by Zoroaster as the one uncreated Creator, hence God.The Zoroastrianism is described by its adherents as Mazdayasna, the worship of Mazda....
     of the Zoroastrians
  • Hinduism
    Hinduism

    'Hinduism' is the predominant religion of the Indian subcontinent. Hinduism is often referred to as , a Sanskrit phrase meaning "the eternal dharma", by its practitioners....
     where Brahma
    Brahma

    Brahma is the Hinduism god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. He is not to be confused with the Supreme Cosmic Spirit in Hindu Vedanta philosophy known as Brahman....
    , Shiva
    Shiva

    Shiva: is a major Hinduism god, and one aspect of Trimurti. In the Shaiva tradition of Hinduism, Shiva is seen as the supreme God. In the Smarta tradition, he is one of panchadeva....
    , and Vishnu
    Vishnu

    Vishnu , , is the Supreme God in Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of panchadeva, and his supreme status is declared in the Hindu sacred texts like Yajurveda, the Rigveda and the Bhagavad Gita....
     are seen as comprising the essence of all other divinities, and are considered aspects of the same monist reality, an impersonal force called Brahman
    Brahman

    Brahman is a concept of Hinduism. Brahman is the unchanging, infinite, Immanence, and transcendence reality which is the Divine Ground of all matter, energy, time, space, being, and everything beyond in this Universe....
    .
  • Judaism
    Judaism

    Judaism is a set of beliefs and practices originating in the Hebrew Bible , as later further explored and explained in the Talmud and other texts....
     where Angelology sees previous divinities becoming aspects of a single supreme creator
    Creator deity

    A creator deity is a deity in a creation myth responsible for the creation of the world .In monotheism, the single God is necessarily also the creator deity, while polytheistic traditions may or may not have creator deities....
    's powers.