Pantheon (religion)

A pantheon (from Greek πάνθεον pantheon, literally "(a temple) of all gods", "of or common to all gods" from πᾶν pan- "all" and 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 BCE. 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.This practice is hinted at in previous references; for example, Jove of the proto-Indo-European pantheon (whose other linguistic forms are "deus" and "divus") meant 'god, rich man'. Today the word "pantheon" 'of or for the gods' is reflected in the journalistic meme that refers to financial titans as "Masters of the Universe". For example: "Mick Jagger was exalted into the pantheon of rock megastars".
==See also==
;Specific pantheons of deities
* Armenian pantheon
* Berber pantheon
* Canaanite pantheon
* Celtic pantheon
* Divine Council
* Egyptian pantheon
* Germanic pantheon
* Greek pantheon
* Hindu pantheon
* Incan Pantheon
* Japanese pantheon
* Japanese Buddhist pantheon
* Native American pantheons
* Norse pantheon
* Rigvedic pantheon
* Roman pantheon
* Slavic pantheon
* Sumerian pantheon
==Notes==
==Further reading==
* Wrigley, Richard & Craske, Matthew (2004), Pantheons: Transformations of a Monumental Idea. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., ISBN 0-7546-0808-5.
 
Category:Comparative mythology