By the Gods!

Aug 10

Augustus, Emperor of Rome

By now, I’m sure you know that the Romans had more than a few gods back in their day. The Roman Pantheon, brother to that of Ancient Greece, was growing every day as it incorporated the deities and venerated warriors/prophets/legends of conquered and soon-to-be conquered civilizations. However, this still wasn’t enough to slake their intense thirst for more things to pray to. In the days of the Republic (before 27 BCE) Generals and other men of merit would occasionally be raised to the status of god posthumously. A big example of deification like this came in the form of Augustus, the first Emperor of the Roman Empire.

Born Gaius Octavius, he was raised to the adopted son of Julius Caesar upon Caesar’s death, and began his path to glory. He became a Consul of the Roman Senate, (a position of immense influence and power) and received an enormous inheritance from his dead adoptive father. Julius Caesar’s death had thrown the Republic into a state of turmoil the likes of which had not been seen before, and Octavius formed a Triumvirate with the generals Lepidus and Marc Antony to take control of the wide lands of the Romans, and destroy those they saw as rebels. Octavius proved time and again that he was a brilliant tactical, political and financial leader, and brought prosperity to his people. Eventually destroying Marc Antony in a later clash, Octavius soon found himself without Roman enemies to dispatch, named himself Emperor, and turned his attention outward, to expand the territories of the rich empire.

At this point his name was changed, again, to Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (Augustus meaning “the revered one”), and he initiated the period that would come to be known as the Pax Romana, or “the Roman Peace”—a period of stability and wealth. Augustus, in his time, greatly enlarged the empire’s territories, developed networks of roads, established a standing Roman Army and the Praetorian guard, and basically set every recognizable tradition and protocol that would make the Empire great for centuries to come. Upon his death in 14 CE, he was declared a god by the Roman senate. The people were told to worship him just as they would Jupiter and the established pantheon, and his legacy certainly had a “divine” vibe. Each emperor after would adopt the names Augustus and Caesar, so beloved and renowned had the original Augustus been. The month of August, too, receives its name from the first Emperor; the sixth month of the Roman calendar, Sextilis, was renamed Augustus in his honour. What a guy!

Posted 9 months ago

127 notes

rome, roman, ancient, deification, deity, hero, heroes, mythology, roman mythology,

Jun 2

Νύξ ; Nyx - Primordial Greek Goddess of Night
Roman: Nox

Zeus the almighty god of the Greek Olympian Pantheon is depicted as all powerful. However, like every deity or hero there is always one thing (if not many) they fear. I’m not referring to an envious Hera, nor a tyrannical father like Kronos, or even the Gigantes who almost ransacked Olympus. There is one figure, in the obscure pages of Greek Mythology whom Zeus wishes to displease - one with the power over Gods and Mortals - Nyx the Goddess of Night.

Origins: Nyx is depicted as a black-winged Goddess driving a chariot, and at times a veil of dark mist. Mentioned from the cosmogony of Hesiod, she was born from Air (Khaos). Sleeping with Darkness (Erebos) produced Light (Aither) and Day (Hemera), first components of the primeval universe. However, she gave birth to other more known but lesser gods which include [According to Hesiod]:

Thanatos (Gentle Death)
Hypnos (Sleep)
Morpheus & the tribe of dreams (Oneiroi)
Moirai (better known as the Fates)
Ker & the Keres (Bringers of violent death)
Moros - (Doom)
Oizys (Misery)
Momos (Criticism & Blame)
Hesperides (Nymphs of the Evenings)
Nemesis (Retribution)
Apate (Deceit)
Philotes (Sex - hence the the suffix -phile)
Geras (Old age - Geriatrics anyone?)
Eris (the most famous hater in the Universe of Greek mythology - Strife/Discord)

Though rarely mentioned in Greek Myths, one passage from the Iliad by Homer is a scene where Hypnos addresses Hera about an old favor she commanded of him:
[Hypnos addresses Hera :] `That time I laid to sleep the brain in Zeus of the aegis and drifted upon him still and soft, but your mind was devising evil, and you raised along the sea the blasts of the racking winds, and on these swept him away to Kos, the strong-founded, with all his friends lost, but Zeus awakened in anger and beat the gods up and down his house, looking beyond all others for me, and would have sunk me out of sight in the sea from the bright sky had not Nyx (Night) who has power over gods and men rescued me. I reached her in my flight, and Zeus let be, though he was angry, in awe of doing anything to swift Nyx’ displeasure.’”

Zeus played it safe… and did a smart thing not to anger a Goddess far more powerful than he. So we have Nyx and her children to thank for many other events in Greek Mythology. E.g. Eris, spirit of discord, throwing the Golden Apple which influenced the start of the Trojan war, etc.

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Thanks for the awesome submission! This article wasn’t written by the regular editors, but submitted by a follower! If you’ve got a story you want to share, or a deity you really love, let us know! For more information on Nyx, go here. To submit your own articles to By the Gods!, click here!

Posted 12 months ago

391 notes

submission, greek, mythology, goddess, deity, iliad, classic, literature,

May 25

Tlaloc is one of my personal favourite gods within my personal favourite cultural mythology. Nobody can deny that the Aztecs were some of history’s greatest badasses - and they have the gods to prove it. That and human sacrifice. Also, Tlaloc has probably the most kickass garb of any god ever. He is usually depicted wearing goggles (one of my aesthetically favoured accessories) and he has fangs.

Tlaloc is an interesting case because he is a god of rain, fertility and a god who was salubrious - but he could also be kind of a withholding dick.

What Tlaloc giveth, Tlaloc can taketh away. And taketh away hard.

See, Tlaloc could bring rain and fertility, but also hail, thunder, and diseases like leprosy and rheumatism.

When Tlaloc was pissed enough to unleash leprosy and disease and hardship, there was a simple solution: Human sacrifice.

But not your run-of-the-mill cut open your ribcage and rip out your heart while it was still beating so you could see it before you died sacrifice that the Aztecs usually did. Tlaloc only wanted children. Crying children, to be specific.

So when Tlaloc got all angry and frowny behind his ass-kicking steampunk goggles, priests would round up some kids and, in order to have a successful Tlaloc-appeasing sacrifice, the kids were made to cry. (Yeah, what a surprise. Priests traumatizing children.) The more the kids cried, the more Tlaloc was appeased.

So, behold Tlaloc - one of my favourite dudes who could only be pleased by having traumatized children killed for him. Best ever or best ever?

The rituals pertaining to those who died in water (from drowning) or other Tlaloc-related deaths (see: struck by lightning), and strangely enough those stunted in growth, are interesting because those who died tied to Tlaloc were not cremated as was customary in Aztec culture, but instead buried with blue paint on their foreheads and seeds in their faces. They were also dressed in paper and buried holding a digging stick for planting.

Tlaloc: demands crying children to be killed, and wants plants to grow out of your dead face.

What is there not to love?

Posted 1 year ago

361 notes

Tlaloc, cultural trauma, human sacrifice, aztec, south american, deity, god, mythology,

May 15

Hi

Just read this post:
http://bythegods.tumblr.com/post/4897938356/loki-is-indeed-not-your-average-trickster-in

Could you clear up what Loki's status is? Is he considered a god, when he's not the son of one. His blood father is Farbaute, the giant, his mother Laufey, also a giant. Isn't it only in Snorri Sturlason's books that he is referred to as one of the gods. He's not considered a god by most, as you need to be born by God parents to be one.

adland

Norse/Germanic mythology isn’t as clear cut as, say, Greek or Egyptian myth in this department. Loki is one of the divine/magic beings, as are the Aesir, the Vanir, and the Jotun.

“Aesir” (and the absorbed “Vanir”) are generally interchangeable with the term “gods” in Germanic myth. Loki helps the Aesir out from time to time, but of course he also hinders them fairly regularly, and sometimes performs outright dastardly deeds (like masterminding Baldr’s death). He’s a being of comparable power to many of the Aesir, so for this reason it’s reasonable to call him a “god.”

On the other hand, he ends up as a major adversary of the Aesir, condemned to a near-eternal torture until Ragnarok begins, when he will firmly place himself in the anti-Aesir camp for the final battle.

Another way to look at it, is that Loki does not have any domain that he oversees in the realm of men. By that I mean that he doesn’t have an area he’s seen as “master” of in the lives of the folk who wrote the myths. In battle sacrifices were made to Odin, prayers to Tyr and Thor. Sailors would pray and sacrifice to Njord, mothers to Frigg and young women to Freya. The people didn’t worship Loki, but simply acknowledged his role in divine developments.

The way I see it, we don’t have enough hard evidence on Germanic/Norse myth to be specific in our classifications. Most of what we’ve got is from Snorri Sturluson, as you mentioned, which was recorded centuries after the “golden age” of Norse/Germanic religious practice.

Loki was definitely an important figure; some people think he used to have a more important role, but his duties were relegated to other Aesir as the stories changed. There are some theoretical systems that believe Odin to be the only “god” figure in an essentially monotheistic Norse religion, with the rest of the Aesir being semi-divine, closer to “angel” status beings.

Posted 1 year ago

38 notes

questions, mythology, myth, norse, germanic, god, goddess, deity,

May 1

The Goddess Artemis

I’ve always had a heightened respect for Lady Artemis because her role in Greek Mythology, and in her many forms in other ancient Mediterranean cultures. She was the Goddess of the hunt, the outdoors, and virginity. Out of most of the Greek divinities, she seemed not as corrupt. One of the most fascinating things about her is the obvious love for nature. She believed that hunting of wildlife was acceptable and necessary. However, if it was done disrespectfully and inhumane, there would be “Tartarus” to pay.

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Thanks for the Submission! For additional information on Artemis, check here!

Posted 1 year ago

179 notes

greek, mythology, greek myth, goddess, deity, olympian, submission,

Apr 29

Hades

We’ve only mentioned this guy in passing up until now, so let’s give him the recognition he deserves. Hades, the Greek god of the Underworld, was/is a pretty big deal. He was the son of the Titans Cronus and Rhea, and as such was the brother of Zeus, Poseidon, Hera, Demeter and Hestia. After Cronus was overthrown by the efforts of the younger generation of gods, the universe was divided between the three high-ranking brothers of the winning team: Zeus took the sky, Poseidon got the seas, and Hades got the Underworld. One of the only bright spots in the dark god’s life was his lovely wife Persephone, with whom he had a bit of a roller coaster relationship.

Dubbed by Homer as the “host of many,” (since the idea was that everyone would end up gracing his hall at one point or another) he was also known as Polydegmon, which meant “receiver of many guests.” It was also usual, among the ancient Greeks, to call Hades by the title of Pluto, which meant “giver of wealth;” many sacrifices were thrown his way, as it wasn’t the worst idea in the world to please the dude that would be the caretaker of your soul for eternity.

Chances are you’ve seen Hades in some form of popular culture or another. There’s a fascination with the afterlife that persists from ancient days to now, though the tone has certainly varied by date and region. Neither the Greeks nor the Romans ever thought of Hades as an evil force like Satan in Christianity. He was certainly a grim deity, but malicious he was not. The Underworld was seen as very physical place––just a remote one. Deep under the earth, it could only be reached by a subterranean river known as Styx. Beyond that, the entrance was guarded by the three-headed dog Cerberus, who ensured no soul escaped. Most of the time Cerberus was pretty good at his job… most of the time.

Posted 1 year ago

175 notes

greek, greek mythology, mythology, deity, god, underworld, family, creatures,

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