A Compendium of the Ancient Gods

Themes

Music and poetry

45 gods of music and poetry, across seven rooms, in the order the rooms are walked.

The Cradle of Cities

3 works

Nanaya, plate
Nanaya na-naya The Sweet One — Goddess of Sensual Love and Music
Ningal, plate
Ningal nin-gal Great Lady of the Moon — Consort of Nanna and Mother of Inanna
Shaushka, plate
Shaushka shaush-ka The Hurrian Ishtar — goddess of love and war

The Gift of the Nile

4 works

Bastet, plate
Bastet bas-tet The Cat of Bubastis
Bes, plate
Bes bes The Household Protector — apotropaic dwarf-god
Hathor, plate
Hathor ha-thor Lady of Dendera — goddess of love, music, and the western mountain
Ihy, plate
Ihy i-hy The Sistrum-Player — child-god of Dendera, son of Hathor

The Olympian Order

22 works

Apollo, plate
Apollo uh-pol-oh The Far-Shooter — god of music, prophecy, and plague
Calliope, plate
Calliope kuh-lye-uh-pee Muse of Epic Poetry
Clio, plate
Clio klye-oh Muse of History
Dionysus, plate
Dionysus dye-oh-nye-sus The Twice-Born — god of wine and ecstasy
Echo, plate
Echo eck-oh The Mountain Nymph who could only repeat
Erato, plate
Erato air-uh-toh Muse of Love Poetry
Euterpe, plate
Euterpe yoo-ter-pee Muse of Music and Lyric
Hermes, plate
Hermes her-meez Messenger of the Gods — patron of travelers and thieves
Melpomene, plate
Melpomene mel-pom-uh-nee Muse of Tragedy
Mnemosyne, plate
Mnemosyne neh-moss-ih-nee Memory — mother of the Muses
Momus, plate
Momus moh-mus Blame — the carping critic
Oizys, plate
Oizys oy-zis Misery — daughter of Night
Orpheus, plate
Orpheus or-fee-us Singer of the Underworld — patron of the Mysteries
Pan, plate
Pan pan God of the Wild — pastoral piper of Arcadia
Pegasus, plate
Pegasus peg-uh-sus The Winged Horse, born of the Gorgon's blood
Polyhymnia, plate
Polyhymnia pol-ee-him-nee-uh Muse of Sacred Hymn
Terpsichore, plate
Terpsichore terp-sik-uh-ree Muse of Dance
Thalia (Muse), plate
Thalia (Muse) thay-lee-uh (muse) Muse of Comedy
The Charites, plate
The Charites the kar-ih-teez The Graces — Aglaea, Euphrosyne, Thalia
The Muses, plate
The Muses the mu-ses Daughters of Mnemosyne — patrons of the arts
The Sirens, plate
The Sirens the sy-rens The Singers of the Rocks, whose voices drew sailors to their death
Urania, plate
Urania yoo-ray-nee-uh Muse of Astronomy

The Edges of Empire

1 work

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

The Etruscan World

2 works

Aplu, plate
Aplu ap-lu The Etruscan Apollo — god of prophecy and music, brought from the Greeks of Cumae
Fufluns, plate
Fufluns fuf-luns The Etruscan Wine-God — equivalent to Dionysus, with chthonic associations

The Roman Inheritance

2 works

Carmenta, plate
Carmenta car-men-ta Goddess of Childbirth and Prophetic Song — mother of Evander
The Camenae, plate
The Camenae the ca-me-nae The Italic Muses — water-nymphs of the spring at the Porta Capena

The Northern Inheritance

11 works

Bragi, plate
Bragi bra-gi God of Poetry — Husband of Idunn
Brigid, plate
Brigid bri-gid Goddess of Smithcraft, Healing, and Poetry — Triple Goddess
Ceridwen, plate
Ceridwen ce-rid-wen The Welsh Witch of Inspiration — keeper of the cauldron of awen
Dagda, plate
Dagda dag-da The Good God — Father of the Tuatha Dé
Kvasir, plate
Kvasir kva-sir The Wisest of Men — whose blood made the Mead of Poetry
Maponos, plate
Maponos ma-po-nos The Divine Youth — the British Apollo, hunter and singer
Odin, plate
Odin oh-din Allfather — God of War, Wisdom, and Death
Ogma, plate
Ogma og-ma God of Eloquence — Inventor of the Ogham Script
Taliesin, plate
Taliesin ta-lie-sin The Welsh Bard — twice born, once mortal and once divine
Awaiting its plate
Väinämöinen väi-nä-möi-nen The Eternal Sage — Hero of the Kalevala — Finnic
Veles, plate
Veles veh-les Underworld God — Patron of Cattle and Wealth

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