God (male deity)
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A god is a male deity, in contrast with a goddess, a female deity. While the term "goddess" specifically refers to a female deity, the plural "gods" can be applied to gods collectively, regardless of gender.
In most polytheistic religions, both in history and in the present, male deities had the more prominent role. The Greek and Roman pantheons were ruled by Zeus and Jupiter.[1]
When Ancient Egyptian religion developed closer to monotheism, it was Amun, a male god, who rose to the most prominent place.[2]
War gods like the rulers of the pantheon, could often be male: Ares/Mars and Toutatis[3] are obvious examples.
Examples
- Anubis - god of mummification in Egypt
- Dyeus, sky father for the Proto-Indo-Europeans
- Dyaus Pita, the reflex of Dyeus in the historical Vedic religion
- Jupiter - chief god in Roman mythology
- Tengri - primary chief deity and sky father of the early Turkic peoples and the proto-Mongols.
- Zeus - main god in ancient Greece
- Ra, sun god in Ancient Egyptian religion
- Enki, patron god of the Mesopotamian city of Eridu
See also
- Mother goddess
- Gender of God
- Goddess
- Lists of deities
- Patriarchy
- Polytheism
- Pantheism
- Sky father
- Norse
Notes
- ↑ Article "Jupiter" in The Oxford Classical Dictionary. ISBN 0-19-860641-9
- ↑ Vincent Arieh Tobin, Oxford Guide: The Essential Guide to Egyptian Mythology, Edited by Donald B. Redford, p. 20, Berkley books, ISBN 0-425-19096-X
- ↑ Paul-Marie Duval. 1993. Les dieux de la Gaule. Éditions Payot, Paris. ISBN 2-228-88621-1
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