A Compendium of the Ancient Gods

Themes

Underworld

81 gods of underworld, across seven rooms, in the order the rooms are walked.

The Cradle of Cities

17 works

Adonis, plate
Adonis a-do-nis The Lord — Phoenician Lover of Astarte, Mourned in Annual Rite
Alalu, plate
Alalu a-la-lu First King of Heaven — Deposed in the Kumarbi Cycle
Allani, plate
Allani al-la-ni Sun-Goddess of the Earth — Hurrian Queen of the Underworld
Dumuzi, plate
Dumuzi du-mu-zi The Faithful Son — shepherd-king, beloved of Inanna
Ereshkigal, plate
Ereshkigal eh-resh-kee-gal Queen of the Great Below — Lady of the Underworld
Gallu, plate
Gallu gal-lu The Demons of the Underworld — pursuers of Inanna and of Dumuzi
Geshtinanna, plate
Geshtinanna gesh-ti-nan-na Lady of the Vine — sister of Dumuzi
Inanna, plate
Inanna ee-nan-nah Queen of Heaven — Akkadian Ishtar; goddess of love, war, and the morning and evening star
Lelwani, plate
Lelwani lel-wa-ni The Sun-Goddess of the Earth — Queen of the Hittite Underworld
Mot, plate
Mot mot Death — Devourer of Baal
Nergal, plate
Nergal ner-gal The Burning One — god of war, plague, and the underworld
Ninazu, plate
Ninazu ni-na-zu Lord of Healing and the Underworld — son of Ereshkigal
Ningishzida, plate
Ningishzida nin-gish-zi-da Lord of the True Tree — chthonic god of vegetation
Santas, plate
Santas san-tas Luwian War-God — Predecessor of the Cilician Sandon
Shapash, plate
Shapash sha-pash The Sun — torch of the gods
The Anunnaki, plate
The Anunnaki the a-nun-na-ki The Princely Seed — the assembled great gods
Utu, plate
Utu u-tu The Sun — Akkadian Shamash; judge and revealer

The Gift of the Nile

10 works

Aker, plate
Aker a-ker The Twin Lions of the Horizon
Ammit, plate
Ammit am-mit The Devourer of the Dead — fate of the unjustified soul
Anubis, plate
Anubis ah-noo-bis The Jackal — Lord of Embalming
Apep, plate
Apep a-pep The Chaos-Serpent — adversary of the sun
Khentamentiu, plate
Khentamentiu khen-ta-men-tiu Foremost of the Westerners — older lord of the dead
Mehen, plate
Mehen me-hen The Coiled Serpent — protector of the solar barque
Osiris, plate
Osiris oh-sye-ris Lord of the Dead — slain king and judge of souls
Ra, plate
Ra ra The Sun — daily king of heaven
Sokar, plate
Sokar so-kar The Falcon of the Necropolis — lord of the Memphite cemetery
Wepwawet, plate
Wepwawet wep-wa-wet Opener of the Ways — jackal of Asyut

The Olympian Order

21 works

Adonis, plate
Adonis a-do-nis The Beloved of Aphrodite, slain by the boar — the Greek mystery of the dying youth
Aeneas, plate
Aeneas eh-nee-as Trojan prince and son of Aphrodite — survivor of Troy, ancestor of Rome
Cerberus, plate
Cerberus sur-buh-rus The Hound of Hades — three-headed guardian of the dead
Charon, plate
Charon kair-on Ferryman of the Styx — gatekeeper of the dead
Demeter, plate
Demeter dee-mee-ter Earth Mother — goddess of grain and the Eleusinian Mysteries
Erebus, plate
Erebus air-uh-bus The Underworld Dark — consort of Night
Hades, plate
Hades hay-deez Lord of the Dead — king of the underworld
Hecate, plate
Hecate hek-uh-tee Of the Crossroads — goddess of witchcraft and the dark moon
Heracles, plate
Heracles her-ah-kleez The Greatest of Heroes — performer of the Twelve Labors
Hermes, plate
Hermes her-meez Messenger of the Gods — patron of travelers and thieves
Mnemosyne, plate
Mnemosyne neh-moss-ih-nee Memory — mother of the Muses
Orpheus, plate
Orpheus or-fee-us Singer of the Underworld — patron of the Mysteries
Persephone, plate
Persephone per-sef-oh-nee Queen of the Underworld — daughter of Demeter
Styx, plate
Styx stiks The Hateful — river of unbreakable oath
Tartarus, plate
Tartarus tar-tuh-rus The Pit — deepest place of the underworld
Thanatos, plate
Thanatos than-uh-tos Death — implacable son of Night
The Erinyes, plate
The Erinyes the eh-rin-eez The Furies — Tisiphone, Megaera, Alecto
The Great Sinners, plate
The Great Sinners the great sin-ners Sisyphus, Tantalus, and Ixion — the three condemned to eternal torment in Tartarus
The Hecatoncheires, plate
The Hecatoncheires the heh-kuh-ton-ky-reez The Hundred-Handed — Briareus, Cottus, and Gyges
Theseus, plate
Theseus thee-see-us Athenian Hero — slayer of the Minotaur
Tiresias, plate
Tiresias tie-ree-see-us The Blind Theban Seer

The Edges of Empire

6 works

Ataecina, plate
Ataecina a-tae-ci-na Chthonic Goddess of Lusitania — receiver of curse-tablets
Bonchor, plate
Bonchor bon-chor Numidian Local Deity — patron of a tribal sanctuary
Derzelas, plate
Derzelas der-ze-las The Great God of Odessos — Thracian deity of life-force and fertility
Endovelicus, plate
Endovelicus en-do-ve-li-cus Oracular Healing-God of Lusitania — patron of dream incubation
Soslan, plate
Soslan sos-lan The Solar Hero — Nart warrior of the sun
Zalmoxis, plate
Zalmoxis zal-mok-sis The Deified Hero — Thracian teacher of the immortal soul

The Etruscan World

8 works

Aita, plate
Aita ai-ta The Etruscan Lord of the Underworld — equivalent to Greek Hades
Catha, plate
Catha ca-tha Solar Daughter of the Sun — child-goddess of the dawn-light
Charun, plate
Charun cha-run Hammer-Wielding Death-Demon — striker of the dying
Fufluns, plate
Fufluns fuf-luns The Etruscan Wine-God — equivalent to Dionysus, with chthonic associations
Phersipnai, plate
Phersipnai pher-sip-nai The Etruscan Queen of the Dead — borrowed from Greek Persephone
Tiur, plate
Tiur tiur The Etruscan Moon — companion of Usil and marker of the months
Tuchulcha, plate
Tuchulcha tu-chul-cha The Etruscan Underworld Tormentor — snake-haired demon of the wicked dead
Vanth, plate
Vanth vanth The Etruscan Death-Escort — winged female spirit of the moment of dying

The Roman Inheritance

7 works

Aeneas, plate
Aeneas eh-nee-as The Pious Trojan — Founder of the Roman Lineage
Dis Pater, plate
Dis Pater dis pa-ter The Rich Father — Roman lord of the underworld
Manes, plate
Manes ma-nes Ancestral Spirits — the Honored Dead
Mania, plate
Mania ma-nia The Mother of the Manes — old goddess of the spirits of the dead
Orcus, plate
Orcus or-cus The Old Italic God of the Dead — taker of those who break their oaths
Proserpina, plate
Proserpina pro-ser-pi-na Roman queen of the underworld — daughter of Ceres, wife of Dis Pater
Serapis, plate
Serapis se-ra-pis Hellenistic Egyptian-Greek God — see also Apis (Volume II)

The Northern Inheritance

12 works

Cernunnos, plate
Cernunnos cer-nun-nos The Horned God — Lord of Animals
Awaiting its plate
E Bukura E Dheut e bu-ku-ra e dheut The Beauty of the Earth — Ambiguous Chthonic Figure — Albanian
Hel, plate
Hel hel Queen of the Underworld — Daughter of Loki
Awaiting its plate
Kalev / Kalevipoeg ka-lev / ka-le-vi-poeg The Estonian Giant-Hero — son of the giant Kalev
Koschei, plate
Koschei kos-chei The Deathless — whose soul is hidden in an egg in a duck on an island
Ran, plate
Ran ran Goddess of the Sea — Catcher of the Drowned
Sleipnir, plate
Sleipnir sleip-nir Eight-Legged Steed of Odin
Sucellus, plate
Sucellus su-cel-lus The Good Striker — Hammer-Bearing Father-God
Triglav, plate
Triglav trig-lav Three-Headed God of Western Slavs
Awaiting its plate
Tuoni and Tuonetar tuo-ni and tuo-ne-tar King and Queen of the Finnish Underworld
Veles, plate
Veles veh-les Underworld God — Patron of Cattle and Wealth
Velnias, plate
Velnias vel-nias The Old One — Chthonic Adversary of Perkūnas

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