Pantheon (gods)
Encyclopedia
A pantheon is a set of all the gods of a particular polytheistic religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...

 or mythology
Mythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...

.

Max Weber
Max Weber
Karl Emil Maximilian "Max" Weber was a German sociologist and political economist who profoundly influenced social theory, social research, and the discipline of sociology itself...

's 1922 opus, Economy and Society
Economy and Society
Economy and Society is a book by political economist and sociologist Max Weber, published posthumously in Germany in 1922 by his wife Marianne. Alongside The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, it is considered to be one of Weber's most important works...

discusses the link between a pantheon of gods and the development of monotheism
Monotheism
Monotheism is the belief in the existence of one and only one god. Monotheism is characteristic of the Baha'i Faith, Christianity, Druzism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Samaritanism, Sikhism and Zoroastrianism.While they profess the existence of only one deity, monotheistic religions may still...

.

Pantheon can also refer to a temple
Temple
A temple is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, or analogous rites. A templum constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest, or augur. It has the same root as the word "template," a plan in preparation of the building that was marked out...

 or sacred building explicitly dedicated to "all deities", avoiding the difficulty of giving an exhaustive list.
The most famous such structure is the Pantheon
Pantheon, Rome
The Pantheon ,Rarely Pantheum. This appears in Pliny's Natural History in describing this edifice: Agrippae Pantheum decoravit Diogenes Atheniensis; in columnis templi eius Caryatides probantur inter pauca operum, sicut in fastigio posita signa, sed propter altitudinem loci minus celebrata.from ,...

 of Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

, built in the year 27 BC. The building was dedicated to "all gods" as a gesture embracing the religious syncretism
Syncretism
Syncretism is the combining of different beliefs, often while melding practices of various schools of thought. The term means "combining", but see below for the origin of the word...

 in the increasingly multicultural Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....

, with subjects worshipping gods from many cultures and traditions. The building was later renovated for use as a Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

 church in 609 under Pope Boniface IV
Pope Boniface IV
Pope Saint Boniface IV was pope from 608 to his death.Son of Johannes, a physician, a Marsian from the province and town of Valeria; he succeeded Boniface III after a vacancy of over nine months. He was consecrated on either 25 August or September 15 in 608...

.

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 gods or goddess is an immortal figure that may or may not be real; it may have a special power)
Specific pantheons of deities

  • Berber pantheon
  • Canaanite pantheon
  • Sumerian pantheon
    Sumerian religion
    Sumerian religion refers to the mythology, pantheon, rites and cosmology of the Sumerian civilization. The Sumerian religion influenced Mesopotamian mythology as a whole, surviving in the mythologies and religions of the Hurrians, Akkadians, Babylonians, Assyrians, and other culture...

  • Egyptian pantheon
    Egyptian pantheon
    The Egyptian pantheon consisted of the many gods worshipped by the Ancient Egyptians. A number of major deities are addressed as the creator of the cosmos. These include Atum, Ra, Amun and Ptah amongst others, as well as composite forms of these gods such as Amun-Ra. This was not seen as...

  • Armenian pantheon
    Armenian mythology
    Very little is known about pre-Christian Armenian mythology, the oldest source being the legends of Xorenatsi's History of Armenia.Armenian mythology was strongly influenced by Zoroastrianism, with deities such as Aramazd, Mihr or Anahit, as well as Assyrian traditions, such as Barsamin, but there...

  • Incan Pantheon
    Inca mythology
    Inca mythology includes many stories and legends that are mythological and helps to explain or symbolizes Inca beliefs.All those that followed the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire by Francisco Pizarro burned the records of the Inca culture...

  • Greek pantheon
    Twelve Olympians
    The Twelve Olympians, also known as the Dodekatheon , in Greek mythology, were the principal deities of the Greek pantheon, residing atop Mount Olympus. Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Hestia, and Hades were siblings. Ares, Hermes, Hephaestus, Athena, Apollo, and Artemis were children of Zeus...

  • Roman pantheon
  • Germanic pantheon
    Common Germanic deities
    The article lists gods and goddesses that may be reconstructed for Proto-Germanic or Common Germanic Migration period paganism, or which figure in both West and North Germanic mythology...

    • Norse pantheon
  • Celtic pantheon
    Celtic pantheon
    The gods and goddesses, or deities of the Celts are known from a variety of sources, including written Celtic mythology, ancient places of worship, statues, engravings, cult objects and place or personal names....

  • Slavic pantheon
  • Hindu pantheon
    • Rigvedic pantheon
  • Japanese pantheon
  • Japanese Buddhist pantheon
    Japanese Buddhist pantheon
    The Japanese Buddhist Pantheon designates the multitude of various Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and lesser deities and eminent religious masters in Buddhism...

  • Aztec pantheon
  • Mayan pantheon
  • Native American pantheons
    Native American deities
    - Abenaki :*Azeban - trickster*Bmola - bird spirit*Gluskab - kind protector of humanity*Malsumis - cruel, evil god*Tabaldak - the creator- Haida :*Gyhldeptis*Lagua*Nankil'slas*Sin*Ta'xet*Tia- Hopi :* Aholi* Angwusnasomtaka* Kokopelli* Koyangwuti...

  • African pantheons
  • Guanche pantheon
  • Theosophical pantheon
    Spiritual Hierarchy
    Spiritual Hierarchy is a term often used in Neo-Theosophy, and the Ascended Master Teachings, a group of religions based on Theosophy. It represents the concept of a group of self-realised Masters of the Ancient Wisdom, referred to by those adherent to the Ascended Master Teachings as Ascended...

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