Polytheism

polytheism (pŏl`ēthēĭzəm), belief in a plurality of gods in which each deity is distinguished by special functions. The gods are particularly synonymous with function in the Vedic religion (see Vedas) of India: Indra is the storm god, Agni the fire god, Vayu the wind god, Yama the god of death. Polytheistic worship does not imply equal devotion or importance to each deity. The religion of dynastic Egypt included hundreds of deities, but worship (as in Greek Olympianism) tended to be city-centered; thus, Anubis, the jackal-headed god who guided the dead along the dangerous path to the underworld, had his cult at Abydos, and Ba, the ram-god, was worshiped at Bubastis. Polytheism probably is a development from an earlier polydemonism, characterized by a variety of disassociated and vaguely defined spirits, demons, and other supernatural powers. It is also related to animism, ancestor worship, and totemism (see totem). All of these forms of belief are based on human propensity to worship all objects on earth and in heaven, all that is unusual or useful, strange or monstrous. Unlike the supernatural forces in polydemonism, however, those of polytheism are personified (see anthropomorphism) and organized into a cosmic family. This family becomes the nucleus of legends and myths and, eventually, of a cosmology that seeks to explain natural phenomena and to establish people's relation to the universe. As polytheistic religions evolve, lesser deities diminish in stature or vanish completely, their attributes being assigned to preferred gods, until the religion begins to exhibit monotheistic tendencies—thus the Olympian Zeus, originally a sky god, became the titular head and most powerful of all Olympian deities; the Egyptian Ra was the original, self-generating and supreme deity; and the Vedic gods of India, once numbering several thousand, were gradually displaced by the trinity of Vishnu, Shiva, and Brahma. Significantly, both the Greeks and Indians subordinated their supreme deities to a more profound principle of Oneness or Supreme Fate, which the Greeks called Moira and the Vedic Indians named Rita.

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polytheism

Belief in many gods. Though Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are monotheistic (see monotheism), most other religions throughout history have been polytheistic. The numerous gods may be dominated by a supreme god or by a small group of powerful gods. The gods originated as abstractions of the forces of nature such as the sky or the sea and of human and social functions such as love, war, marriage, or the arts. In many religions the sky god is powerful and all-knowing (e.g., Dievs), and the earth goddess is maternal and associated with fertility. Gods of death and the underworld (e.g., Osiris and Hel) are also important. In addition to many gods, polytheistic religions generally also include malevolent or benevolent spiritual forces or powers. See also god and goddess.

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polytheism

the worship of or belief in more than one god

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Polytheism 

the worship of many gods.

Polytheism arose in early class society. It developed from polydemonism—the worship of various spirits of the tribal-clan religions—as a reflection in ideology of the social stratification and complication of religious fantasy. In polytheism the supernatural world is represented as a hierarchy of gods possessing varying degrees of power, each with his own individual name, his own (often anthropomorphic) appearance, and his own definite sphere of control in nature and society. At the head of the pantheon, corresponding to earthly power, is a supreme god; but he is not the only one, in contrast to monotheism. Polytheism does not preclude the recognition of the gods of other peoples. The main role in the ritual of polytheism is played by priests, who are associated with particular temples.

Adherents to polytheistic religions include the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, as well as the peoples of modern India, Japan, and tropical Africa. Many of the concepts and rituals of polytheism continue to exist in all the “monotheistic” religions—belief in a “holy trinity” (the god-father, the god-son, and the holy spirit), worship of prophets, and the cult of the mother of god and the saints.

REFERENCE

Donini, A. Liudi, idoly i bogi, 2nd ed. Moscow, 1966. (Translated from Italian.)