Many of the Greek deities are known from as early as Mycenaean (Late Bronze Age) civilization. This is an incomplete list of these deities [n 1] and of the way their names, epithets, or titles are spelled and attested in Mycenaean Greek, written in the Linear B [n 2] syllabary, along with some reconstructions and equivalent forms in later Greek.
Name | Notes | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
English | Linear B | Transliteration | Comments | Footnotes |
Pantes Theoi | 𐀞𐀯𐀳𐀃𐀂 | pa-si-te-o-i | "To All the Gods"; a special invocation, irrespective of sex, etc.; recurrently attested at Knossos [1] [2] [3] [4] | [n 3] [n 4] [n 5] |
Name | Notes | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
English | Linear B | Transliteration | Comments | Footnotes |
Anemoi | 𐀀𐀚𐀗𐀂𐀋𐀩𐀊 / 𐀀𐀚𐀗𐄀𐀂𐀋𐀩𐀊 | a-ne-mo-i-je-re-ja / a-ne-mo,i-je-re-ja | attested through *Anemohiereia or *Anemon Hiereia, "Priestess of the Winds" [9] [1] [10] [11] | [n 6] [n 7] [n 8] [n 9] |
Apollo(?) | 𐀟𐁊 | pe-rjo-, reconstructed a-pe-rjo-ne | perhaps attested through the lacunose perio [13] [14] | [n 10] |
Ares | 𐀀𐀩 | a-re | [9] [16] [17] [18] [19] | |
Despotas(?) | 𐀈𐀡𐀲 | do-po-ta | unclear, perhaps house deity, euphemism for Hades meaning master? [19] [20] [21] | [n 11] [n 12] [n 13] |
Dionysus | 𐀇𐀺𐀝𐀰 | di-wo-nu-so | [19] [26] | [n 14] |
Dipsioi | 𐀇𐀠𐀯𐀍𐀂 | di-pi-si-jo-i | meaning obscure: perhaps "The Thirsty and hence the Dead Ones" possibly referring to ancestor worship or slain gods possibly the Titans; perhaps related to Thessalian month Dipsos [19] [32] [33] [34] [35] | [n 15] |
Drimios | 𐀇𐀪𐀖𐀍 | di-ri-mi-jo | unknown, in later times, son of Zeus, perhaps a predecessor of Apollo [19] [34] [37] | [n 11] [n 16] [n 17] |
Enesidaon | 𐀁𐀚𐀯𐀅𐀃𐀚 | e-ne-si-da-o-ne | possibly a theonym; possibly an epithet of Poseidon, assumed to mean "Earthshaker" or something similar [1] [37] [40] | [n 13] [n 18] [n 19] |
Enyalius | 𐀁𐀝𐀷𐀪𐀍 | e-nu-wa-ri-jo | a later epithet of Ares, or his son with Enyo, maybe a title for his father Zeus. [1] [19] [28] [34] | |
Hephaestus | 𐀀𐀞𐀂𐀴𐀍 | a-pa-i-ti-jo | regarded as indirectly attested by the name *Haphaistios or *Haphaistion, presumed to be a theophoric name [27] [29] [43] | |
Hermes | 𐀁𐀔𐁀 | e-ma-*25 or e-ma-ha | [19] [2] [44] [45] [46] | [n 20] |
Areias | 𐀀𐀩𐀊 | a-re-ja | epithet (Hermes as war god) [2] [48] | [n 11] |
Hyperion(?) | 𐀟𐁊 | pe-rjo-, reconstructed u-pe-rjo-ne | perhaps attested through the lacunose perio [49] | [n 21] |
Marineus(?) | 𐀔𐀪𐀚 / 𐀔𐀪𐀚𐀸 / 𐀔𐀪𐀚𐀺 | ma-ri-ne(-u?) / ma-ri-ne-we / ma-ri-ne-wo | unknown deity, perhaps "God of the Woolens", meaning obscure perhaps Pan. [19] [27] [29] [50] [51] | |
Pade(?) | 𐀞𐀆 / 𐀞𐀆𐀂 | pa-de / pa-de-i | possibly unknown god, thought to be Cretan, Minoan in origin maybe Zagreus as the divine child. [9] [1] [19] [52] | |
Paean | 𐀞𐀊𐀺𐀚 | pa-ja-wo-ne | a precursor of Apollo [1] [19] [53] [54] | [n 22] |
Poseidon | 𐀡𐀮𐀅𐀃 / 𐀡𐀮𐀅𐀺𐀚 | po-se-da-o / po-se-da-wo-ne | chief deity [19] [56] [57] | [n 13] |
Trisheros | 𐀴𐀪𐀮𐀫𐀁 | ti-ri-se-ro-e | theonym, "Thrice-Hero"; thought to attest, and pertain to, the veneration of the dead or the Tritopatores [19] [34] [63] [64] [65] | [n 23] [n 24] [n 25] |
Wanax | 𐀷𐀙𐀏𐀳 | wa-na-ka-te | "The King"; in this case, it is considered to be a theonym in the dative case, perhaps as an epithet of Poseidon [19] [34] [73] | [n 26] [n 27] |
Zeus | 𐀇𐀸 / 𐀇𐀺 | di-we / di-wo | God of the sky [19] [76] [77] | |
Diktaios | 𐀇𐀏𐀲𐀍 𐀇𐀸 | di-ka-ta-jo di-we | local epithet of Zeus on Crete [9] [19] [78] [79] | [n 28] [n 29] |
Name | Notes | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
English | Linear B | Transliteration | Comments | Footnotes |
Artemis | 𐀀𐀳𐀖𐀵 / 𐀀𐀴𐀖𐀳 | a-te-mi-to / a-ti-mi-te | [19] [81] [82] [83] [84] | |
Diwia | 𐀇𐀄𐀊 / 𐀇𐀹𐀊 | di-u-ja / di-wi-ja | possibly the female counterpart of Zeus, possibly Dione in later Greek [1] [19] [21] [34] | |
Demeter | Damate in Linear A and B | |||
Doqeia(?) | 𐀈𐀤𐀊 | do-qe-ja | possibly an unknown goddess but could be only a feminine adjective [85] [86] [87] | [n 30] |
Eileithyia | 𐀁𐀩𐀄𐀴𐀊 | e-re-u-ti-ja | attested in the Cretan Eleuthia form; perhaps Minoan in origin [1] [19] [89] [90] [91] | |
Eos | 𐀀𐀺𐀂𐀍 | a-wo-i-jo | perhaps attested through a personal name Ἀϝohιος related to the word for dawn, or dative form Āwōiōi [92] [93] [94] [95] [96] [97] | [n 31] [n 32] |
Erinyes | 𐀁𐀪𐀝 / 𐀁𐀪𐀝𐀸 | e-ri-nu / e-ri-nu-we | both forms of the theonym are considered to be in the singular, Erinys [9] [19] [56] [99] [100] | [n 33] |
Hera | 𐀁𐀨 | e-ra | [19] [34] [102] | |
Iphemedeia | 𐀂𐀟𐀕𐀆𐀊 | i-pe-me-de-ja | theonym; probably variant form of Iphimedia, name of a mythological person found in Homer's Odyssey [19] [21] [34] [103] | |
Komawenteia(?) | 𐀒𐀔𐀸𐀳𐀊 | ko-ma-we-te-ja | possibly unknown deity, possibly meaning "long-haired goddess" [21] [104] | [n 34] |
Leto | 𐀨𐀴𐀍 / 𐀨𐀵 | ra-ti-jo / ra-to | perhaps attested through the forms Latios [107] [108] and Lato [109] | [n 35] |
Manasa | 𐀔𐀙𐀭 | ma-na-sa | unknown goddess [19] [34] [85] [111] [112] | [n 11] [n 36] |
Mater Theia | 𐀔𐀳𐀩𐄀𐀳𐀂𐀊 | ma-te-re,te-i-ja | possibly "Mother of the Gods" or mother goddess [19] [113] [114] | [n 37] |
Pipituna | 𐀠𐀠𐀶𐀙 | pi-pi-tu-na | Reconstructed as *Πίπτυννα (Píptynna); [116] unknown deity, considered to be Pre-Greek or Minoan [9] [1] [19] [35] [37] [117] [118] | [n 38] |
Posidaeia | 𐀡𐀯𐀅𐀁𐀊 | po-si-da-e-ja | probably the female counterpart to Poseidon [19] [21] | [n 11] |
Potnia | 𐀡𐀴𐀛𐀊 | po-ti-ni-ja | "Mistress" or "Lady"; may be used as an epithet for many deities, but also shows up as a single deity [19] [120] [121] [122] | [n 13] |
Potnia Athena | 𐀀𐀲𐀙𐀡𐀴𐀛𐀊 | a-ta-na-po-ti-ni-ja | or Potnia of At(h)ana (Athens(?)); reference of the latter is uncertain [1] [19] [114] | [n 39] |
Potnia Hippeia | 𐀡𐀴𐀛𐀊𐄀𐀂𐀤𐀊 | po-ti-ni-ja,i-qe-ja | Mistress of the Horses; later epithet of Demeter and Athena [19] [114] | [n 40] [n 41] |
Potnia of Sitos | 𐀯𐀵𐀡𐀴𐀛𐀊 | si-to-po-ti-ni-ja | Mistress of Grain; Bronze Age predecessor or epithet of Demeter [19] [85] [114] [124] | [n 42] |
Potnia of the Labyrinth | 𐀅𐁆𐀪𐀵𐀍𐄀𐀡𐀴𐀛𐀊 | da-pu2-ri-to-jo,po-ti-ni-ja | [1] [19] [34] [114] | |
Potnia, at Thebes | 𐀡𐀴𐀛𐀊𐄀𐀺𐀒𐀆 | po-ti-ni-ja,wo-ko-de | of no attested name or title, other than that offers are made to her house, her premises likely the Sphinx [19] [27] [34] [126] [127] | [n 43] |
Potnia, of unidentified Pylos sanctuary | 𐀡𐀴𐀛𐀊 | po-ti-ni-ja | unknown local(?) goddess of pa-ki-ja-ne (*Sphagianes?) sanctuary at Pylos [114] [129] [130] | [n 11] [n 44] [n 45] |
Potnia, of uncertain A place or epithet | 𐀡𐀴𐀛𐀊𐄀𐀀𐀯𐀹𐀊 | po-ti-ni-ja,a-si-wi-ja | Maybe Aphrodite as Astarte when she was introduced into Greece. [19] [135] | [n 46] [n 47] |
Potnia, of unknown E place or epithet | 𐀁𐀩𐀹𐀍𐀡𐀴𐀛𐀊 | e-re-wi-jo-po-ti-ni-ja | [85] | [n 48] |
Potnia, of unknown N place or epithet | 𐀚𐀺𐀟𐀃𐄀𐀡𐀴𐀛𐀊 | ne-wo-pe-o,po-ti-ni-ja | [19] [85] | |
Potnia, of unknown U place or epithet | 𐀄𐀡𐀍𐀡𐀴𐀛𐀊 | u-po-jo-po-ti-ni-ja | [19] [85] | [n 49] |
Potnia, of unknown ? place or epithet | 𐀀𐀐𐀯𐄀𐀡𐀴𐀛𐀊 | (?)-a-ke-si,po-ti-ni-ja | [85] | [n 50] |
Preswa(?) | 𐀟𐀩𐁚 | pe-re-*82 or pe-re-swa | generally interpreted as a dove goddess or an early form of Persephone [19] [21] [111] [139] | |
Qerasia(?) | 𐀤𐀨𐀯𐀊 | qe-ra-si-ja | unknown goddess, perhaps Minoan in origin or possibly connected with thēr [9] [1] [19] [34] [85] [140] [141] [142] | [n 51] [n 52] |
Qowia(?) | 𐀦𐀹𐀊 | qo-wi-ja | unknown deity, possibly meaning "She of the Cow(s)" [21] [75] [85] | [n 11] [n 53] [n 54] |
Wanasso(?) | 𐀷𐀙𐀰𐀂 | wa-na-so-i | "The Two Queens", possibly Demeter and Persephone; *wanassojin(?) regarded as a dative dual form [19] [34] [129] [147] | [n 26] [n 27] [n 55] |
Possible goddesses | ||||
(?) | (?) | (?) | A possible sun goddess, predecessor to Helios, and possibly related to Helen . [150] No unambiguous attestations of words for "sun" have yet been found, though the Mycenaean word for "sun" is reconstructed as *hāwélios. | [n 56] |
Name | Notes | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
English | Linear B | Transliteration | Comments | Footnotes |
Proteus | 𐀡𐀫𐀳𐀄 | po-ro-te-u | could be the theonym of the sea-god Proteus, but probably just the anthroponym of a nobleman [151] [152] [153] |
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: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)Linear B is a syllabic script that was used for writing in Mycenaean Greek, the earliest attested form of the Greek language. The script predates the Greek alphabet by several centuries, the earliest known examples dating to around 1400 BC. It is adapted from the earlier Linear A, an undeciphered script perhaps used for writing the Minoan language, as is the later Cypriot syllabary, which also recorded Greek. Linear B, found mainly in the palace archives at Knossos, Kydonia, Pylos, Thebes and Mycenae, disappeared with the fall of Mycenaean civilization during the Late Bronze Age collapse. The succeeding period, known as the Greek Dark Ages, provides no evidence of the use of writing.
Michael George Francis Ventris, was an English architect, classicist and philologist who deciphered Linear B, the ancient Mycenaean Greek script. A student of languages, Ventris had pursued decipherment as a personal vocation since his adolescence. After creating a new field of study, Ventris died in a car crash a few weeks before the publication of Documents in Mycenaean Greek, written with John Chadwick.
A tripod is a portable three-legged frame or stand, used as a platform for supporting the weight and maintaining the stability of some other object. The three-legged design provides good stability against gravitational loads as well as horizontal shear forces, and better leverage for resisting tipping over due to lateral forces can be achieved by spreading the legs away from the vertical centre. Variations with one, two, and four legs are termed monopod, bipod, and quadripod.
Rio is a town in the suburbs of Patras and a former municipality in Achaea, West Greece, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Patras, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 98.983 km2. The municipal unit had a population of 14,219 in 2021. The campus of the University of Patras and the Casino Rio is located in Rio.
Mycenaean Greek is the most ancient attested form of the Greek language, on the Greek mainland and Crete in Mycenaean Greece, before the hypothesised Dorian invasion, often cited as the terminus ad quem for the introduction of the Greek language to Greece. The language is preserved in inscriptions in Linear B, a script first attested on Crete before the 14th century BC. Most inscriptions are on clay tablets found in Knossos, in central Crete, as well as in Pylos, in the southwest of the Peloponnese. Other tablets have been found at Mycenae itself, Tiryns and Thebes and at Chania, in Western Crete. The language is named after Mycenae, one of the major centres of Mycenaean Greece.
The xiphos is a double-edged, one-handed Iron Age straight shortsword used by the ancient Greeks. It was a secondary battlefield weapon for the Greek armies after the dory or javelin. The classic blade was generally about 45–60 cm (18–24 in) long, although the Spartans supposedly preferred to use blades as short as 30 cm (12 in) around the era of the Greco-Persian Wars.
The Thebes tablets, with inscriptions in Mycenaean Greek using Linear B, were discovered in Thebes, Greece. They belong to the Late Helladic IIIB context, contemporary with finds at Pylos. A first group of 21 fragments was found in the 1963–64 campaign; A further 19 tablets were found in 1970 and 1972. Using Near Eastern cylinder seals associated with the finds, the editors of the published corpus of the whole archive now date the destruction of the Kadmeion, the Mycenaean palace complex at Thebes, and thus the writing of the tablets, some of which were still damp when they were unintentionally fired, to shortly after 1225 BC. Chadwick identified three recognizable Hellenic divinities, Hera, Hermes and Potnia "Mistress", among the recipients of wool. He made out a case for ko-ma-we-te-ja, also attested at Pylos, as the name of a goddess.
An artos is a loaf of leavened bread that is blessed during services in the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine rite catholic churches. A large Artos is baked with a seal depicting the resurrection for use at Pascha (Easter). Smaller loaves are blessed during great vespers in a ritual called Artoklasia and in other occasions like feast days, weddings, memorial services etc.
In Greek mythology, Iphimedeia or Iphimede (Ἰφιμέδη) was a Thessalian princess. She was attested in Homer's Odyssey in the Catalogue of women as being a mortal.
A temenos is a piece of land cut off and assigned as an official domain, especially to kings and chiefs, or a piece of land marked off from common uses and dedicated to a god, such as a sanctuary, holy grove, or holy precinct.
Potnia is an Ancient Greek word for "Mistress, Lady" and a title of a goddess. The word was inherited by Classical Greek from Mycenean Greek with the same meaning and it was applied to several goddesses. A similar word is the title Despoina, "the mistress", which was given to the nameless chthonic goddess of the mysteries of Arcadian cult. She was later conflated with Kore (Persephone), "the maiden", the goddess of the Eleusinian Mysteries, in a life-death rebirth cycle which leads the neophyte from death into life and immortality. Karl Kerenyi identifies Kore with the nameless "Mistress of the labyrinth", who probably presided over the palace of Knossos in Minoan Crete.
Amnisos, also Amnissos and Amnisus, is the current but unattested name given to a Bronze Age settlement on the north shore of Crete that was used as a port to the palace city of Knossos. It appears in Greek literature and mythology from the earliest times, but its origin is far earlier, in prehistory. The historic settlement belonged to a civilization now called Minoan. Excavations at Amnissos in 1932 uncovered a villa that included the "House of the Lilies", which was named for the lily theme that was depicted in a wall fresco.
Despoina or Despoena was the epithet of a goddess worshipped by the Eleusinian Mysteries in Ancient Greece as the daughter of Demeter and Poseidon and the sister of Arion. Surviving sources refer to her exclusively under the title Despoina alongside her mother Demeter, as her real name could not be revealed to anyone except those initiated into her mysteries and was consequently lost with the extinction of the Eleusinian religion. Writing during the second century A.D., Pausanias spoke of Demeter as having two daughters; Kore being born first, before Despoina was born, with Zeus being the father of Kore and Poseidon as the father of Despoina. Pausanias made it clear that Kore is Persephone, although he did not reveal Despoina's proper name.
Hippeia or Hippea is the name of two characters in Greek mythology.
Enkhelyawon was possibly a Mycenaean king from Pylos in the 13th century BCE.
In Greek mythology, Perse is one of the 3,000 Oceanids, water-nymph daughters of the Titans Oceanus and Tethys. Her name was also spelled as Persa, Perseide, Persea or Perseis. Perse married Helios, the god of the sun, and bore him several children, most notably the sorceress-goddess Circe.
The religious element is difficult to identify in Mycenaean Greece, especially as regards archaeological sites, where it remains very problematic to pick out a place of worship with certainty. John Chadwick points out that at least six centuries lie between the earliest presence of Proto-Greek speakers in Hellas and the earliest inscriptions in the Mycenaean script known as Linear B, during which concepts and practices will have fused with indigenous Pre-Greek beliefs, and—if cultural influences in material culture reflect influences in religious beliefs—with Minoan religion. As for these texts, the few lists of offerings that give names of gods as recipients of goods reveal little about religious practices, and there is no other surviving literature.
Eritha was a Mycenaean priestess. She was a subject of the Mycenaean state of Pylos, in the southwestern Peloponnese, based at the cult site of Sphagianes, near the palatial centre of Pylos.
Lydia Baumbach was a South African classical scholar, known particularly for her work in the field of Mycenaean studies.
PY Ta 641, sometimes known as the Tripod Tablet, is a Mycenaean clay tablet inscribed in Linear B, currently displayed in the National Archaeological Museum, Athens. Discovered in the so-called "Archives Complex" of the Palace of Nestor at Pylos in Messenia in June 1952 by the American archaeologist Carl Blegen, it has been described as "probably the most famous tablet of Linear B".
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