Skip to the gallery

A Compendium of the Ancient Gods

Themes

Wine and feasting

30 gods of wine and feasting, across eight rooms, in the order the rooms are walked.

The Cradle of Cities

5 works

Geshtinanna, plate — Geshtinanna gesh-ti-nan-na Lady of the Vine — sister of Dumuzi

Hedammu, plate — Hedammu he-dam-mu The Sea-Monster — Earlier Champion of Kumarbi

Inara, plate — Inara i-na-ra Daughter of Tarhunt — Lure of the Dragon Illuyanka

Ninkasi, plate — Ninkasi nin-ka-si The Lady Who Fills the Mouth — Goddess of Beer and Brewing

Tarhunza, plate — Tarhunza tar-hun-za The Luwian Storm-God

The Gift of the Nile

1 work

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

The Olympian Order

7 works

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

Dionysus, plate — Dionysus dye-oh-nye-sus The Twice-Born — god of wine and ecstasy

Euterpe, plate — Euterpe yoo-ter-pee Muse of Music and Lyric

Hebe, plate — Hebe hee-bee Cupbearer of the Gods — wife of the deified Heracles

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 Persian World

1 work

Haoma, plate — Haoma hao-ma The Sacred Plant — and the yazata of the priestly drink

The Edges of Empire

3 works

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

Kviria, plate — Kviria kvi-ria The Mediator-God — intermediary between Ghmerti and humankind

Satana, plate — Satana sa-ta-na The Mother of the Narts — wise counselor of the heroic clan

The Etruscan World

1 work

Fufluns, plate — Fufluns fuf-luns The Etruscan Wine-God — equivalent to Dionysus, with chthonic associations

The Roman Inheritance

5 works

Anna Perenna, plate — Anna Perenna an-na pe-ren-na The Goddess of the Year — whose festival opened the new year by the Tiber

Bona Dea, plate — Bona Dea bo-na dea The Good Goddess — Women's Mystery

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

Liber and Libera, plate — Liber and Libera li-ber and li-be-ra Italic Wine-and-Vine Deities — Companions of Ceres

Saturn, plate — Saturn sa-turn Italic God of Sowing — King of the Golden Age

The Northern Inheritance

7 works

Aegir, plate — Aegir ae-gir Lord of the Sea — Brewer of Ale for the Gods

Dagda, plate — Dagda dag-da The Good God — Father of the Tuatha Dé

Goibniu, Credne, and Luchta, plate — Goibniu, Credne, and Luchta goib-niu, cred-ne, and luch-ta The Three Craftsmen of the Tuatha — smith, bronze-worker, and wright

Jānis, plate — Jānis jā-nis The Latvian Midsummer Spirit — patron of the great solstice festival

Kvasir, plate — Kvasir kva-sir The Wisest of Men — whose blood made the Mead of Poetry

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

Nantosuelta and Sucellus, plate — Nantosuelta and Sucellus nan-to-suel-ta and su-cel-lus The Gallic Pair — the Goddess of the Winding Stream and the God of the Mallet