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A Compendium of the Ancient Gods

Themes

Love and desire

57 gods of love and desire, across eight rooms, in the order the rooms are walked.

The Cradle of Cities

12 works

Adonis, plate — Adonis a-do-nis The Lord — Phoenician Lover of Astarte, Mourned in Annual Rite

Agdistis, plate — Agdistis ag-dis-tis The Hermaphroditic Mother — Origin of Attis from the Almond

Anat, plate — Anat a-nat The Maiden of Slaughter — sister-lover of Baal

Astarte, plate — Astarte as-tar-te The Phoenician Queen of Heaven

Attis, plate — Attis at-tis Beloved of the Mother — Phrygian shepherd-god

Baalat Gebal, plate — Baalat Gebal baa-lat ge-bal The Lady of Byblos — Mistress of the Cedar Coast

Dumuzi, plate — Dumuzi du-mu-zi The Faithful Son — shepherd-king, beloved of Inanna

Eshmun, plate — Eshmun esh-mun The Healer — Phoenician god of Sidon

Inanna, plate — Inanna ee-nan-nah Queen of Heaven — Akkadian Ishtar; goddess of love, war, and the morning and evening star

Ishtar of Nineveh, plate — Ishtar of Nineveh ish-tar of ni-ne-veh The Lady of Nineveh — Assyrian Ishtar

Nanaya, plate — Nanaya na-naya The Sweet One — Goddess of Sensual Love and Music

Shaushka, plate — Shaushka shaush-ka The Hurrian Ishtar — goddess of love and war

The Gift of the Nile

2 works

Hathor, plate — Hathor ha-thor Lady of Dendera — goddess of love, music, and the western mountain

Min, plate — Min min The Fertility God of Coptos

The Olympian Order

22 works

Adonis, plate — Adonis a-do-nis The Beloved of Aphrodite, slain by the boar — the Greek mystery of the dying youth

Aphrodite, plate — Aphrodite af-roh-dye-tee Foam-Born — goddess of love

Ariadne, plate — Ariadne air-ee-ad-nee Cretan princess, who gave Theseus the thread — and was abandoned at Naxos

Atalanta, plate — Atalanta at-uh-lan-tuh The Huntress — the only woman among the Argonauts

Echo, plate — Echo eck-oh The Mountain Nymph who could only repeat

Empusa, plate — Empusa em-pyoo-suh Shape-Shifting Hag of Hecate

Eos, plate — Eos ee-oss The Dawn — rosy-fingered goddess of the morning

Erato, plate — Erato air-uh-toh Muse of Love Poetry

Eros (Later), plate — Eros (Later) air-oss (later) Son of Aphrodite — winged boy of love

Eros (Primordial), plate — Eros (Primordial) air-oss (primordial) The Original Love — primordial unifying power

Glaucus, plate — Glaucus glaw-kus The Sea-Green — fisherman become sea-god

Helen, plate — Helen hel-en Daughter of Zeus and Leda — wife of Menelaus, cause of the Trojan War

Hyacinthus, plate — Hyacinthus high-uh-sin-thus The Spartan youth beloved of Apollo, slain by the discus

Lamia, plate — Lamia lay-mee-uh The Child-Devouring Queen

Leto, plate — Leto lee-toh Mother of Apollo and Artemis

Medea, plate — Medea meh-dee-uh Princess of Colchis and sorceress, who slew her own children

Narcissus, plate — Narcissus nar-siss-us The Boeotian youth who loved his own reflection

Paris, plate — Paris pair-is The shepherd-prince of Troy — judge of the goddesses, abductor of Helen

Phanes, plate — Phanes fay-neez The Light-Bringer — Orphic first-born

Philotes, plate — Philotes fih-loh-teez Friendship and Sexual Love — daughter of Night

Selene, plate — Selene seh-lee-nee The Moon — mistress of the night sky

The Charites, plate — The Charites the kar-ih-teez The Graces — Aglaea, Euphrosyne, Thalia

The Levantine Borderlands

2 works

Al-Lat, plate — Al-Lat al--lat The Nabataean Mother-Goddess — al-Lat, the goddess

Al-Uzza, plate — Al-Uzza al--uz-za The Mighty Maiden — warrior-goddess of the planet Venus

The Edges of Empire

2 works

Dali, plate — Dali da-li The Caucasian Goddess of the Hunt — wild golden mistress of the mountain

Kotys, plate — Kotys ko-tys The Thracian Goddess of Orgiastic Rites — patroness of mystery initiation

The Etruscan World

2 works

The Lasa, plate — The Lasa the la-sa Female Spirits — companions of Turan

Turan, plate — Turan tu-ran The Etruscan Goddess of Love — equivalent to Aphrodite, mistress of vital force

The Roman Inheritance

2 works

Flora, plate — Flora flo-ra Goddess of Flowering Plants

Pomona, plate — Pomona po-mo-na Goddess of Orchard Fruit

The Northern Inheritance

13 works

Auseklis, plate — Auseklis au-sek-lis The Latvian Morning Star — son of Saulė the Sun

Aušrinė, plate — Aušrinė auš-rinė The Dawn-Star — Morning Goddess

Boann, plate — Boann boann Goddess of the River Boyne — wife of the Dagda

Brynhildr, plate — Brynhildr bryn-hildr The Valkyrie — pledged to Sigurd, betrayed, who summoned his murder

Awaiting its plate

E Bukura E Dheut e bu-ku-ra e dheut The Beauty of the Earth — Ambiguous Chthonic Figure — Albanian

Freyja, plate — Freyja fray-yah Lady of the Vanir — Goddess of Love, Magic, and the Slain

Freyr, plate — Freyr frayr Lord of the Vanir — God of Plenty and Peace

Lada, plate — Lada la-da Goddess of Spring, Love, and Marriage

Awaiting its plate

Lemminkäinen lem-min-käi-nen The Reckless Hero — Slain and Resurrected — Finnic

Medb, plate — Medb medb Queen of Connacht — instigator of the Cattle Raid of Cooley

Midir and Étaín, plate — Midir and Étaín mi-dir and é-taín The Lovers of the Fairy Mound — recovered through three lives

Rusalka, plate — Rusalka ru-sal-ka Water Spirit — Drowned Maiden of the River

Sigurd, plate — Sigurd si-gurd The Dragonslayer — Sigurd Fáfnisbani, Siegfried of the Nibelungenlied