A Compendium of the Ancient Gods

Themes

Hero

49 gods of hero, across seven rooms, in the order the rooms are walked.

The Cradle of Cities

5 works

Adapa, plate
Adapa a-da-pa The Sage Who Refused the Bread of Immortal Life
Atrahasis, plate
Atrahasis at-ra-ha-sis The Exceeding Wise — Survivor of the Great Flood
Enkidu, plate
Enkidu en-ki-du The Equal Match Made by the Gods — Friend Beloved Beyond Speech
Gilgamesh, plate
Gilgamesh gil-gah-mesh Two Parts God and One Part Man — King of Uruk and Seeker of Immortality
Lugalbanda, plate
Lugalbanda lu-gal-ban-da Father of Gilgamesh — Eighth King of the First Dynasty of Uruk

The Gift of the Nile

1 work

Bata, plate
Bata ba-ta The Bull of Saka — hero of a folk-tale

The Olympian Order

16 works

Achilles, plate
Achilles uh-kill-eez The Best of the Achaeans — hero of the Iliad
Aeneas, plate
Aeneas eh-nee-as Trojan prince and son of Aphrodite — survivor of Troy, ancestor of Rome
Asclepius, plate
Asclepius uh-sklee-pee-us Divine Physician — son of Apollo
Atalanta, plate
Atalanta at-uh-lan-tuh The Huntress — the only woman among the Argonauts
Bellerophon, plate
Bellerophon buh-lair-uh-fon Tamer of Pegasus — slayer of the Chimera
Cadmus, plate
Cadmus kad-mus Founder of Thebes — sower of dragon's teeth
Glaucus, plate
Glaucus glaw-kus The Sea-Green — fisherman become sea-god
Hector, plate
Hector hek-tor Eldest son of Priam — defender of Troy, slain by Achilles
Heracles, plate
Heracles her-ah-kleez The Greatest of Heroes — performer of the Twelve Labors
Hyacinthus, plate
Hyacinthus high-uh-sin-thus The Spartan youth beloved of Apollo, slain by the discus
Jason, plate
Jason jay-sun Captain of the Argonauts — winner of the Golden Fleece
Odysseus, plate
Odysseus oh-dis-ee-us The Wily — wanderer of the Odyssey
Oedipus, plate
Oedipus ed-ih-pus King of Thebes, who slew his father and married his mother in ignorance
Paris, plate
Paris pair-is The shepherd-prince of Troy — judge of the goddesses, abductor of Helen
Perseus, plate
Perseus pur-see-us Slayer of the Gorgon — founder of Mycenae
Theseus, plate
Theseus thee-see-us Athenian Hero — slayer of the Minotaur

The Persian World

5 works

Khvarenah, plate
Khvarenah khva-re-nah Royal Glory — the divine charisma of the rightful king
Saoshyant, plate
Saoshyant sao-shyant The Coming Saviour — final renewer of the world at the end of time
Thraetaona, plate
Thraetaona thrae-tao-na The Dragon-Slayer — Faridun in the Shahnameh; conqueror of Aži Dahāka
Verethragna, plate
Verethragna ve-reth-rag-na Victory — Bahram in the later tradition; the Iranian war-god
Yima, plate
Yima yi-ma The First King — Jamshid in the later tradition; ruler of the golden age

The Edges of Empire

6 works

Batraz, plate
Batraz bat-raz The Steel Hero — Nart warrior of supernatural temper
Cariocecus, plate
Cariocecus ca-rio-ce-cus Lusitanian War-God — equivalent of Roman Mars
Soslan, plate
Soslan sos-lan The Solar Hero — Nart warrior of the sun
Sosryko, plate
Sosryko sos-ry-ko The Trickster-Hero of the Narts — fire-bringer, defeater of giants by guile
The Thracian Horseman, plate
The Thracian Horseman the thra-cian hor-se-man Heros — votive hero-cult of the deified ancestor
Zalmoxis, plate
Zalmoxis zal-mok-sis The Deified Hero — Thracian teacher of the immortal soul

The Roman Inheritance

4 works

Aeneas, plate
Aeneas eh-nee-as The Pious Trojan — Founder of the Roman Lineage
Quirinus, plate
Quirinus kwee-ree-nus Deified Romulus — Third God of the Archaic Roman Triad
Romulus, plate
Romulus ro-mu-lus Founder of Rome — Deified as Quirinus
Virtus, plate
Virtus vir-tus Goddess of Manly Excellence — paired with Honos

The Northern Inheritance

12 works

Bran the Blessed, plate
Bran the Blessed bran the bles-sed Giant King of Britain — His Severed Head a Talisman
Brynhildr, plate
Brynhildr bryn-hildr The Valkyrie — pledged to Sigurd, betrayed, who summoned his murder
Cú Chulainn, plate
Cú Chulainn koo-khul-in The Hound of Ulster — Hero of the Ulster Cycle
Fionn Mac Cumhaill, plate
Fionn Mac Cumhaill fionn mac cum-haill Leader of the Fianna — Hero of the Fenian Cycle
Awaiting its plate
Kalev / Kalevipoeg ka-lev / ka-le-vi-poeg The Estonian Giant-Hero — son of the giant Kalev
Awaiting its plate
Kullervo kul-ler-vo The Tragic Slave-Hero — orphan, kinslayer, suicide
Awaiting its plate
Lemminkäinen lem-min-käi-nen The Reckless Hero — Slain and Resurrected — Finnic
Lugh, plate
Lugh lugh The Many-Skilled — Hero-God of Light and Crafts
Scáthach, plate
Scáthach scá-thach The Warrior-Woman of the Isle of Skye — instructress of Cú Chulainn
Sigurd, plate
Sigurd si-gurd The Dragonslayer — Sigurd Fáfnisbani, Siegfried of the Nibelungenlied
Awaiting its plate
Väinämöinen väi-nä-möi-nen The Eternal Sage — Hero of the Kalevala — Finnic
Wayland, plate
Wayland way-land The Smith — Völundr in the Old Norse, Welund in the Old English

Floor plan

The rooms follow one another in the order their peoples first appear in the written record.

  1. The Cradle of Citiesc. 3400 BCE to 395 CE. 115 works
  2. The Gift of the Nilec. 4000 BCE to 395 CE. 73 works
  3. The Olympian Orderc. 1600 BCE to 750 CE. 152 works
  4. The Persian Worldc. 2000 BCE to 1010 CE. 30 works
  5. The Levantine Borderlandsc. 1200 BCE to 500 CE. 20 works
  6. The Edges of Empirec. 2000 BCE to 1500 CE. 33 works
  7. The Etruscan Worldc. 900 BCE to 750 CE. 22 works
  8. The Roman Inheritancec. 1200 BCE to 500 CE. 58 works
  9. The Northern Inheritancec. 2000 BCE to 1600 CE. 131 works