Pantheon
Origin
Middle English Panteon, a temple at Rome, from Latin Pantheon, from Greek pantheion temple of all the gods, from neuter of pantheios of all gods, from pan- + theos god
Definitions
- 1: a temple dedicated to all the gods
- 2: a building serving as the burial place of or containing memorials to the famous dead of a nation
- 3: the gods of a people; especially : the officially recognized gods
- 4: a group of illustrious or notable persons or things
Description
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.[1]
