For being one of the oldest deities, Varuna, who is the god of the ocean and ruler and creator of the sky, was known for being superior and “all knowing.” He lives in the highest world and has an immense amount of knowledge.
The meaning of this god’s name is “he who covers.”. His name also follows the Sanskrit root which means the act of enveloping. It is also said his name may also be derived from the Proto-Indo-European root * or *. Varuna is also dated back to the 14th century where inscriptions were located in Bogazkoy, Turkey. These inscriptions also theorize that the Uru-Van--, a deity pro-typical for later gods. (contributors, 2017) Varuna was, not just one, but two types of gods. He also measured out the three worlds: As the sky god, Varuna was depicted as an old man with a noose made from a snake for which he would use on unlawful people.Varna had many
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It was in 800-1200 B.C where Varuna had been mentioned less and less. His powers were dimmed to “Guardian of the directions” and only ruled the west which was affiliated to his darkness. Though Varuna slowly fell out of topic in this religion, his practices are still taken on till this day. Since his cosmic order of rta, which had turned into a concept for dharma that are practiced by Hindus today to receive peace in the later days.
Varna had many alliances very with gods. The most important one has to deal with the god, Indra. Even these two are opposite from each other, Indra-Varuna, which is their pairing name, they had a very powerful alliance. “I, Varuna, am king…I, Varuna, am Indra
[too]” (Veda 4.42). But as expected, they soon “break up” and turn against each other. Indra finally regains the upper hand and kills Varuna just as he brutally underthrows Dyaus. From this atrocious event, Indra has gained most of Varuna’s old power, and now, Indra’s new power, control over the
...so associated with clouds, rivers, and oceans. Known to be omnipotent and omniscient, there was great respect for Varuna as believers thought the god kept watch over the entire universe. Because this god controlled the environment and flow of waters, it is believed that Varuna was responsible for upholding world order. Varuna is depicted on a chariot led by seven swans with an umbrella placed overhead. He has four arms in which he holds a lotus, a noose, a conch, and a vessel of gems. Ruler of waters in Greek mythology, is Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea and rivers. He became ruler of the sea after he and his brothers defeated the elder gods in a divine war. Poseidon is usually seen as an older man with long curly hair and a long beard. In his hand he holds a trident and in most cases is depicted wearing a crown while standing is amidst water or water creatures.
After the waters of Apsu and Tiamat mix, the gods Lahmu and Lahamu ("slime, mud") emerge. And from this pair come Anshar ("whole sky") and Kishar ("whole earth"), meaning perhaps "the horizon, the circular rim of heaven and the corresponding circular rim of earth" (Jacobsen 168). Anshar and Kishar give birth to Anu, the sky god, who in turn begets what one translation calls "his likeness" (Heidel 18) Ea, the trickster god of the flowing waters, who is familiar to us as Enki.
Anubis was the Egyptian god of embalming and the keeper of secrets. He was associated with the mummification and protection of the dead and journey to the afterlife. He was portrayed man with a jackal’s head, or in jackal form holding a flail in the crook of his arm and wearing a ribbon. In the Old Kingdom he was the most important God, where he was associated with the burial of the pharaoh. He was very important because the Egyptians worshiped two things: 1. the gods and 2. The dead. The ancient Egyptians also believed in the afterlife. So another reason why Anubis was so important was because, on your travel to the afterlife he was there waiting for you. He takes your heart, weighs it and decides your fate in the underworld depending on how heavy your heart is compared to a feather.
Apollo is a very important and powerful god. He is the god of music, poetry, art, oracles, archery, plague, medicine, sun, light, and knowledge. His valuable abilities granted him a seat in Mount Olympus with 11 other powerful deities. He is the ideal of Kouros: beardless and an athletic youth. His gift of prophecies and oracles were given to him due to the fact that he is unable to speak a lie. (Weaver)
Zeus needs no introduction, as the Greek mythological god of the sky his name and tales are known throughout the world. Born from Cronus his father and Rhea his mother Zeus was the sixth son of the two. After Cronus ate his first five children Rhea gathered the strength to save her next child which was Zeus. Rhea tricked Cronus in to eating a stone by rapping it up in a swaddle of cloths instead of her new born; she sent her child to the island of Crete to Mt. Dikte where he was raised by a goatee. As Zeus matured to a young adult he became strong and made his father Cronus throw his siblings up. His five sibling concluded of Demeter, Hestia, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon. The siblings shared rule of the world; the most known gods are Zeus whom made himself ruler of the sky, Poseidon who was given the sea and Hades was handed the Underworld. As the sky god Zeus acquired powers, responsibilities, and other perks; powers that included his weapons the lightning bolt, and the power to morph into man and animal, his reasonability to look over man enabled him to observe people in time of war and in their most personal of times. As a sky god Zeus was expected enrich the mortal chain; that lead him to have many loves and affairs.
Often known as one of the greatest Greek heroes of all time, Bellerophon was the man most favored by the gods before Hercules. Bellerophon is the son of Poseidon and Queen Eurynome making him demigod. Queen Eurynomes husband was King Glaucus of Corinth who believed that Bellerophon was his own son and continued to raise him as if he was. At the age of sixteen Bellerophon set out to find adventure. Bellerophon befriends Proteus who was very jealous of Bellerophon. Because of this Proteus sent a sealed letter to his in-laws telling them to kill Bellerophon. Unaware of this, it is where Bellerophon's story starts.
The famous walled city or Uruk in ancient Sumer is the oldest polytheistic culture to be documented. Uruk worshiped a pantheon of gods and goddesses such as the warrior goddess Ishtar, patron of the city, Anu, father of the gods and Shamash, god of the sun and of justice. The first and most obvious piece of evidence for the presence of elastic gender roles and female power is the fact there are both gods and goddesses in this Sumerian religion. Rather than a male dominated powerhouse in the heavens, Uruk recognized the goddesses as an equally powerful, and active, force in the cosmos. In the epic of Gilgamesh, goddesses appear to be a more dynamic force than some of the gods in the story. Gilgamesh, the protagonist of the epic, purportedly “two-thirds divine and one-third huma...
Vishnu, known as the Preserver, preserves new creations and comes down to Earth during critical times in the “cosmic cycles.” Vishnu is one of the main Hindu gods, worshiped as the protector and preserver of worlds. Vishnu is considered one of the main gods along with Brahman and Shiva.
The ancient Greeks worshiped gods-just like the Egyptians-for different reasons altogether. Yet each god had their own importance to the world, they believed Apollo would drive his chariot across the skies to bring light to the world, and Aphrodite would keep people in love of what they are doing and love for other people, just to name two gods and their reasons. Zeus was the most powerful god, ruler of the skies, overseer of oaths, and bringer of the downfall of the Titans. Poseidon was the second most powerful god, ruler of the sea, creator of the horse, earth shaker, and storm bringer. Hades was the third most powerful god, ruler of the underworld, controller of the dead, and keeper of the earth’s riches. Out of all of the 12 major gods, these three gods were the most powerful and influential in the Greek belief, called the big three.
Many people would blatantly state that the importance of the gods in Greek society derives from the fact that Gods in any society are usually used to explain phenomenon that people cannot logically comprehend, but in ancient Greece gods were actually entities that took part in the workings of society itself. Even simple aspects of day-to-day life such as sex and disputes between mortals were supposedly influenced by godly workings. Unlike modern religions such as Catholicism, Buddhism, and Hinduism, where an omnipotent force supposedly controls the workings of the world, a hierarchy of Gods characterized religion in ancient Greece. Working as one big family, which they actually were, each one of the Greek gods governed a certain aspect of the world in a way that usually reflected their own humanlike personalities. These unique personalities also contained many human flaws such as envy and greed, and were where the Greek God’s importance lay. Greek religion was more concentrated on the way an individual dealt with situations that popped up in the world around him than on understanding the world itself. In other words the Greeks were more interested in the workings of the mind than in the workings of the environment around them.
Gods and goddesses in mythology are used in allusions and often referred to in our daily lives, but do we truly understand them? We may not understand how or why they look the way they do, how they behave, what they are capable of accomplishing, or how they interacted with humans. These super-beings of extremely high status were the heart and soul of prayers and explanations of natural phenomena. They had a variety of natures and were represented in a variety of ways, by different religions.
Jupiter was the ruler of the gods. He is also known as Zeus to the Greeks. The King of Gods in Greek Mythology Zeus was the ruler of the sky, and had the power to create thunderstorms and lightning as well as earthquakes. He was the child of Cronus and Rhea. As the story goes he was their sixth child, and the father to protect him from being overthrown had eaten the five previous children. Zeus was taken to a city called Crete and hidden from his father. As Zeus grew older and learned of what happened he found a potion to make his father regurgitate the other children. Once this happened they all teamed up and killed their father. Zeus then became the ruler of Mount Olympus, and head of the new line of Gods. Jupiter was the predominant power holder of Roman Gods. He was ruler of the sky, the daylight, all the weather, and even the thunder and lightening.(Ruck,Carl and Staples, Danny, pg 19)
and the universe with 11 other gods. Zeus was the spiritual father of the gods.
Zeus is the god of law, justice, morals, thunder, lightning, and rain. It was his job to oversee and make sure laws were being kept. He was worshipped originally as a weather god. He was depicted as a middle-aged man with a youthful appearance; he was regale and was almost always shown ready to throw a lightning bolt (pantheon/zeus).
• Vishnu, (Krishna) the Preserver, who preserves these new creations. Whenever Dharma (eternal order, righteousness, religion, law, and duty) is threatened, Vishnu travels from heaven to earth in one of ten incarnations;