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Many religions also offer their own views on the nature of good and evil, and they may prescribe guidelines and judgment on different kinds of human behavior.","image":{"id":0,"url":"/95/180595-050-EDF2CA3A.jpg","altText":"Philosophy & Religion","fullUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205729/https://cdn.britannica.com/95/180595-050-EDF2CA3A.jpg"}},{"id":9000,"title":"Politics, Law & Government","urlTitle":"Politics-Law-Government","description":"The world today is divided territorially into more than 190 countries, each of which possesses a national government that claims to exercise sovereignty and seeks to compel obedience to its will by its citizens. Governments can be classified in any number of ways. For example, they might be classified by the number of rulers, thus distinguishing government by one (as in a monarchy or a tyranny) from government by the few (in an aristocracy or oligarchy) and from government by the many (as in a democracy). Governments can also be classified by mode of succession; for example, ascension to governmental leadership may follow the rules of hereditary succession, or it may be determined through elections or by force. Governments also vary in terms of the laws and rules of conduct that each political entity follows.","image":{"id":0,"url":"/22/99622-050-E70BCD0A/Parthenon-Athens.jpg","altText":"Politics, Law & Government","fullUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205729/https://cdn.britannica.com/22/99622-050-E70BCD0A/Parthenon-Athens.jpg"}},{"id":1000,"title":"Science","urlTitle":"Science","description":"How can the sky be blue one day and stormy the next? Why do heavy objects tend to fall downwards when dropped? How are birds able to fly (and why can’t I do the same?)? Human beings have long been curious about the world in which we live, striving to identify connections among the phenomenons we witness and to understand how it all works. The field of science has developed over many centuries as a way of studying and understanding the world, beginning with the primitive stage of simply noting important regularities in nature and continuing through the rise of modern science. The modern-day sciences cover a vast range of fields, including biology, chemistry, meteorology, astronomy, physics, and much more.","image":{"id":0,"url":"/86/193986-050-7B2DBB6A/ball-and-stick-model-structure-atoms.jpg","altText":"Science","fullUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205729/https://cdn.britannica.com/86/193986-050-7B2DBB6A/ball-and-stick-model-structure-atoms.jpg"}},{"id":4000,"title":"Sports & Recreation","urlTitle":"Sports-Recreation","description":"Physical contests and recreational games have long played a part in human society. In both team and solo sports, the human body has been pushed to its limits in the name of improving athletic performance and to break record upon record. The ancient Olympic Games are an early example of the contests in which humans have engaged to showcase physical prowess. In modern times, sports and games have evolved into a lucrative and competitive industry, while other leisure activities, such as card and video games, can be competitive or can just be a way to unwind or socialize.","image":{"id":0,"url":"/13/170713-131-8D6B0AF7.jpg","altText":"Sports & Recreation","fullUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205729/https://cdn.britannica.com/13/170713-131-8D6B0AF7.jpg"}},{"id":2000,"title":"Technology","urlTitle":"Technology","description":"Humankind has long striven to improve its living conditions through the development of tools, instruments, and transportation and communications systems, all with the goal of making our lives easier, more productive and—why not—more fun, too! Thanks to human curiosity and technological research, many significant inventions have been made throughout history that in turn made a difference in our daily lives.","image":{"id":0,"url":"/84/203584-131-357FBE7D/speed-internet-technology-background.jpg","altText":"Technology","fullUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205729/https://cdn.britannica.com/84/203584-131-357FBE7D/speed-internet-technology-background.jpg"}},{"id":11000,"title":"Visual Arts","urlTitle":"Visual-Arts","description":"These are the arts that meet the eye and evoke an emotion through an expression of skill and imagination. They include the most ancient forms, such as painting and drawing, and the arts that were born thanks to the development of technology, like sculpture, printmaking, photography, and installation art, the latter a combination of multiple creative expressions. Though beauty is in the eye of the beholder, different eras in art history have had their own principles to define beauty, from the richly ornamented taste of the Baroque to the simple, utilitarian style of the Prairie School.","image":{"id":0,"url":"/45/24345-050-78FAA104.jpg","altText":"Visual Arts","fullUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205729/https://cdn.britannica.com/45/24345-050-78FAA104.jpg"}},{"id":6000,"title":"World History","urlTitle":"World-History","description":"Does history really repeat itself, or can we learn from the mistakes of those who came before us? History provides a chronological, statistical, and cultural record of the events, people, and movements that have made an impact on humankind and the world at large throughout the ages. Investigating the causes and results of past events is critically important in gaining a full understanding and perspective of present-day issues.","image":{"id":0,"url":"/05/84505-050-8BB58BE6/cave-art-Ennedi-Plateau-Chad.jpg","altText":"World History","fullUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205729/https://cdn.britannica.com/05/84505-050-8BB58BE6/cave-art-Ennedi-Plateau-Chad.jpg"}}],"featuredTopic":{"title":"British Broadcasting Corporation","url":"/topic/British-Broadcasting-Corporation","description":"Article / Entertainment & Pop Culture","image":{"id":120045,"url":"/87/124487-050-FB29D9BF/Workers-headquarters-British-Broadcasting-Corporation-London.jpg","altText":"BBC headquarters, London","credit":"© IR_Stone/iStock.com","width":1600,"height":1011,"fullUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205729/https://cdn.britannica.com/87/124487-050-FB29D9BF/Workers-headquarters-British-Broadcasting-Corporation-London.jpg"}},"videoChannelsLinks":[{"title":"Britannica Classics","url":"/videos/britannica-classics","description":"Check out these retro videos from Encyclopedia Britannica’s archives."},{"title":"Britannica Explains","url":"/videos/explains","description":"In these videos, Britannica explains a variety of topics and answers frequently asked questions."},{"title":"This Week in History","url":"/videos/this-week-in-history","description":"In these videos, find out what happened this week (or any week!) in history."},{"title":"Demystified Videos","url":"/videos/demystified","description":"In Demystified, Britannica has all the answers to your burning questions."},{"title":"#WTFact Videos","url":"/videos/wtfact","description":"In #WTFact Britannica shares some of the most bizarre facts we can find."}],"newLinks":[{"title":"Student Portal","url":"/study/","description":"Britannica is the ultimate student resource for key school subjects like history, government, literature, and more.","newTab":true},{"title":"COVID-19 Portal","url":"/explore/savingearth/covid-19/","description":"While this global health crisis continues to evolve, it can be useful to look to past pandemics to better understand how to respond today.","newTab":true},{"title":"100 Women","url":"/explore/100women/","description":"Britannica celebrates the centennial of the Nineteenth Amendment, highlighting suffragists and history-making politicians.","newTab":true},{"title":"Britannica Beyond","url":"https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205729/https://beyond.britannica.com","description":"We’ve created a new place where questions are at the center of learning. 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<main> <div class="md-page-wrapper"> <div id="content" class="md-content"> <div class="md-article-container template-desktop infinite-pagination"> <article class="article-content content md-expanded" data-topic-id="469156"> <div class="pl728 toolbar-ad"></div> <div class="family-bar topic-toolbar sticky-toolbar border-bottom d-flex align-items-center font-14 bg-white shadow"> <a href="/web/20201111205729/https://www.britannica.com/topic/polytheism" class="title d-none d-lg-block label px-20 text-truncate text-black link-blue lh-lg">Polytheism</a> <div class="slider js-slider position-relative d-inline-flex align-items-center mw-100 tabs"> <div class="slider-container js-slider-container text-nowrap overflow-hidden d-flex "> <span class="tab active">Article</span> <a class="tab" href="/web/20201111205729/https://www.britannica.com/topic/polytheism/images-videos">Media</a> <a class="tab" href="/web/20201111205729/https://www.britannica.com/topic/polytheism/additional-info">Additional Info</a> </div> <button disabled class="prev-button js-prev-button position-absolute btn btn-circle shadow btn-sm btn-unstyled mx-10 shadow bg-white text-blue"> <span class="material-icons md-24" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_left"></span> </button> <button disabled class="next-button js-next-button position-absolute btn btn-circle shadow btn-sm btn-unstyled mx-10 shadow bg-white text-blue"> <span class="material-icons md-24" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_right"></span> </button> </div> </div> <div class="grid gx-0"> <div class="col-auto"> <div class="md-article-drawer position-relative d-flex border-right bg-gray-50 open"> <div class="drawer py-25 open"> <div class="label mb-10">Article Contents</div> <!DOCTYPE HTML><ul class="list-unstyled pb-100" data-level="h1"><li data-target="#ref1"><a href="/web/20201111205729/https://www.britannica.com/topic/polytheism">Introduction</a></li><li data-target="#ref38132"><a href="/web/20201111205729/https://www.britannica.com/topic/polytheism#ref38132">The nature of polytheism</a></li><li data-target="#ref38133"><a href="/web/20201111205729/https://www.britannica.com/topic/polytheism/Forms-of-polytheistic-powers-gods-and-demons">Forms of polytheistic powers, gods, and demons</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref38134"><a href="/web/20201111205729/https://www.britannica.com/topic/polytheism/Forms-of-polytheistic-powers-gods-and-demons#ref38134">Natural forces and objects</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref38135"><a href="/web/20201111205729/https://www.britannica.com/topic/polytheism/Forms-of-polytheistic-powers-gods-and-demons#ref38135">Vegetation</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref38136"><a href="/web/20201111205729/https://www.britannica.com/topic/polytheism/Animal-and-human-forms">Animal and human forms</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref38137"><a href="/web/20201111205729/https://www.britannica.com/topic/polytheism/Animal-and-human-forms#ref38137">Functional deities</a></li></ul></li><li data-target="#ref38138"><a href="/web/20201111205729/https://www.britannica.com/topic/polytheism/Types-of-polytheism">Types of polytheism</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref38139"><a href="/web/20201111205729/https://www.britannica.com/topic/polytheism/Types-of-polytheism#ref38139">Greco-Roman religion</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref38140"><a href="/web/20201111205729/https://www.britannica.com/topic/polytheism/Types-of-polytheism#ref38140">Germanic, Scandinavian, Celtic, and Slavic mythologies</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref38141"><a href="/web/20201111205729/https://www.britannica.com/topic/polytheism/Types-of-polytheism#ref38141">Egypt and the Middle East</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref38142"><a href="/web/20201111205729/https://www.britannica.com/topic/polytheism/Types-of-polytheism#ref38142">Early Indo-Iranian religions</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref38143"><a href="/web/20201111205729/https://www.britannica.com/topic/polytheism/Types-of-polytheism#ref38143">Classical and modern Hinduism</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref38144"><a href="/web/20201111205729/https://www.britannica.com/topic/polytheism/Buddhism">Buddhism</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref38145"><a href="/web/20201111205729/https://www.britannica.com/topic/polytheism/Buddhism#ref38145">East Asian religions</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref38146"><a href="/web/20201111205729/https://www.britannica.com/topic/polytheism/Buddhism#ref38146">Religions of ancient 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Rowny Professor of Comparative Religions, University of California, Santa Barbara. Author of <i>The Religious Experience </i>and many others.</div> </div> <div class="last-updated mt-5 text-gray-600 font-sans-serif"> Last Updated: <time datetime="2020-11-10T00:00:00CST"> Nov 10, 2020 </time> <a href="/web/20201111205729/https://www.britannica.com/topic/polytheism/additional-info#history" rel="nofollow">See Article History</a> </div> </div> </div> <div class="col-da-300"></div> </div> <div class="grid"> <script class="topic-json" type="application/json"> { "469156": { "url": "/topic/polytheism", "shareUrl": "https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205729/https://www.britannica.com/topic/polytheism", "title": "polytheism | Definition, Examples, Religions, & Facts", "documentGroup": "TOPIC PAGINATED LARGE" } } </script> <div class="topic-content col-sm pr-lg-60"> <!DOCTYPE HTML><span class="marker before-article"></span><section id="ref1" data-level="1"><p><strong><span id="ref420549"></span>Polytheism</strong>, the belief in many gods. Polytheism characterizes virtually all religions other than <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205729/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Judaism" class="md-crosslink">Judaism</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205729/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Christianity" class="md-crosslink">Christianity</a>, and <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205729/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Islam" class="md-crosslink">Islam</a>, which share a common tradition of <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205729/https://www.britannica.com/topic/monotheism" class="md-crosslink">monotheism</a>, the belief in one God.</p><span class="marker p1"></span><div class="assemblies"><figure class="md-assembly print-false" data-assembly-id="229706"><div class="md-assembly-wrapper" data-type="image"><div class="image-wrapper mg"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205729/https://cdn.britannica.com/57/197557-050-C3C5055A/Vishnu-Shiva-Brahma-Hindu-Trimurti-gods.jpg" class="media-overlay-link" data-href="/media/1/469156/229706"><img loading="lazy" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205729im_/https://cdn.britannica.com/s:700x500/57/197557-050-C3C5055A/Vishnu-Shiva-Brahma-Hindu-Trimurti-gods.jpg" alt="Hinduism: Trimurti" data-width="1600" data-height="1225"></a></div></div><figcaption><strong class="md-assembly-title">Hinduism: Trimurti</strong><div class="md-assembly-caption">(From left to right) Vishnu, Shiva, and Brahma, the three Hindu gods of the Trimurti.</div><cite class="d-block mb-10">Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Gift of Ramesh and Urmil Kapoor (M.86.337), www.lacma.org</cite></figcaption></figure></div><span class="marker AM1 am-inline"></span><span class="marker MOD1 mod-inline"></span><p>Sometimes above the many gods a polytheistic religion will have a supreme creator and focus of devotion, as in certain phases of <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205729/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hinduism" class="md-crosslink">Hinduism</a> (there is also the tendency to identify the many gods as so many aspects of the Supreme Being); sometimes the gods are considered as less important than some higher goal, state, or saviour, as in <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205729/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Buddhism" class="md-crosslink">Buddhism</a>; sometimes one god will prove more dominant than the others without attaining overall supremacy, as <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205729/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Zeus" class="md-crosslink">Zeus</a> in <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205729/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Greek-religion" class="md-crosslink">Greek religion</a>. Typically, polytheistic <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205729/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cultures" class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off" data-term="cultures">cultures</a> include belief in many demonic and ghostly forces in addition to the gods, and some supernatural beings will be malevolent; even in monotheistic religions there can be belief in many demons, as in <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205729/https://www.britannica.com/topic/New-Testament" class="md-crosslink">New Testament</a> Christianity.</p><span class="marker p2"></span><div class="assemblies"><figure class="md-assembly print-false" data-assembly-id="8080"><div class="md-assembly-wrapper" data-type="image"><div class="image-wrapper mg"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205729/https://cdn.britannica.com/75/5275-050-A960A3E8/thunderbolt-Zeus-statuette-Dodona-Greece-National-Museums.jpg" class="media-overlay-link" data-href="/media/1/469156/8080"><img loading="lazy" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205729im_/https://cdn.britannica.com/s:700x500/75/5275-050-A960A3E8/thunderbolt-Zeus-statuette-Dodona-Greece-National-Museums.jpg" alt="Zeus" data-width="1526" data-height="1600"></a></div></div><figcaption><strong class="md-assembly-title">Zeus</strong><div class="md-assembly-caption">Zeus hurling a thunderbolt, bronze statuette from Dodona, Greece, early 5th century <span class="text-smallcaps">bce</span>; in the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin.</div><cite class="d-block mb-10">Antikenabteilung, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin—Preussischer Kulturbesitz</cite></figcaption></figure></div><span class="marker AM2 am-inline"></span><span class="marker MOD2 mod-inline"></span><p>Polytheism can bear various relationships to other beliefs. It can be incompatible with some forms of <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205729/https://www.britannica.com/topic/theism" class="md-crosslink autoxref">theism</a>, as in the Semitic religions; it can coexist with theism, as in <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205729/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Vaishnavism" class="md-crosslink">Vaishnavism</a>; it can exist at a lower level of understanding, ultimately to be <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205729/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/transcended" class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off" data-term="transcended">transcended</a>, as in <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205729/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mahayana" class="md-crosslink">Mahayana Buddhism</a>; and it can exist as a tolerated adjunct to belief in transcendental liberation, as in <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205729/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Theravada" class="md-crosslink">Theravada Buddhism</a>.</p><span class="marker p3"></span><span class="marker AM3 am-inline"></span><span class="marker MOD3 mod-inline"></span></section> <span class="marker h2"></span><section id="ref38132" data-level="1"> <h2 class="h1">The nature of polytheism</h2> <p>In the course of analyzing and recording various beliefs connected with the gods, historians of religions have used certain categories to identify different attitudes toward the gods. Thus, in the latter part of the 19th century the terms <em><span id="ref420550"></span><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205729/https://www.britannica.com/topic/henotheism" class="md-crosslink">henotheism</a></em> and <em>kathenotheism</em> were used to refer to the exalting of a particular god as exclusively the highest within the framework of a particular hymn or ritual—e.g., in the hymns of the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205729/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Veda" class="md-crosslink">Vedas</a> (the ancient sacred texts of India). This process often consisted in loading other gods’ attributes on the selected focus of <span id="ref420551"></span><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205729/https://www.britannica.com/topic/worship" class="md-crosslink">worship</a>. Within the framework of another part of the same <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205729/https://www.britannica.com/topic/ritual" class="md-crosslink autoxref">ritual</a> tradition, another god may be selected as supreme focus. Kathenotheism literally means belief in one god at a time. The term <em><span id="ref420552"></span><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205729/https://www.britannica.com/topic/monolatry" class="md-crosslink">monolatry</a></em> has a connected but different sense; it refers to the worship of one god as supreme and sole object of the worship of a group while not denying the existence of deities belonging to other groups. The term <em>henotheism</em> is also used to cover this case or, more generally, to mean belief in the supremacy of a single god without denying others. This seems to have been the situation for a period in ancient Israel in regard to the cult of Yahweh.</p><span class="marker p4"></span><span class="marker AM4 am-inline"></span><div class="marketing-INLINE_SUBSCRIPTION marketing-content" data-marketing-id="INLINE_SUBSCRIPTION"><div class="inline-subscription mb-30 mx-sm-20 font-16 text-center"> Get exclusive access to content from our 1768 First Edition with your subscription. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205729/https://subscription.britannica.com/subscribe?partnerCode=BP_House_EUR" class="cta">Subscribe today</a> </div></div><span class="marker MOD4 mod-inline"></span> <p>The term <em><span id="ref761755"></span><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205729/https://www.britannica.com/topic/animism" class="md-crosslink">animism</a></em> has been applied to a belief in many <em>animae</em> (“<span id="ref420554"></span><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205729/https://www.britannica.com/topic/spirit-religious-being" class="md-crosslink">spirits</a>”) and is often used rather crudely to characterize so-called primitive religions. In evolutionary <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205729/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hypotheses" class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off" data-term="hypotheses">hypotheses</a> about the development of religion that were particularly fashionable among Western scholars in the latter half of the 19th century, animism was regarded as a stage in which the forces around human beings were less personalized than in the polytheistic stage. In actual instances of religious belief, however, no such scheme is possible: personal and impersonal aspects of divine forces are interwoven; e.g., <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205729/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Agni" class="md-crosslink">Agni</a>, the fire god of the <span id="ref420555"></span><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205729/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Rigveda" class="md-crosslink">Rigveda</a> (the foremost collection of Vedic hymns), not only is personified as an object of worship but also is the mysterious force within the sacrificial fire.</p><span class="marker p5"></span><span class="marker AM5 am-inline"></span><span class="marker MOD5 mod-inline"></span> <p>Belief in many divine beings, who typically have to be worshipped or, if malevolent, warded off with appropriate rituals, has been widespread in human cultures. Though a single evolutionary process cannot be postulated, there has been a drift in various traditions toward the unification of sacred forces under a single head, which, in a number of nonliterate “primal” societies, has become embedded in a supreme being. Sometimes this being is a <em><span id="ref420556"></span><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205729/https://www.britannica.com/topic/deus-otiosus" class="md-crosslink">deus otiosus</a></em> (an “indifferent god”), regarded as having withdrawn from immediate concern with men and thought of sometimes as too exalted for men to petition. This observation led <span id="ref420557"></span><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205729/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Wilhelm-Schmidt" class="md-crosslink">Wilhelm Schmidt</a>, an Austrian anthropologist, to postulate in the early 20th century an <em><span id="ref420558"></span>Urmonotheismus</em>, or “original monotheism,” which later became overlaid by polytheism. Like all other theories of religious origins, this theory is speculative and unverifiable. More promising are attempts by sociologists and social anthropologists to penetrate to the uses and significance of the gods in particular societies.</p><span class="marker p6"></span><span class="marker AM6 am-inline"></span><span class="marker MOD6 mod-inline"></span> <p>Besides the drift toward some unification, there have been other tendencies in human <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205729/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/culture" class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off" data-term="culture">culture</a> that entail a rather sophisticated approach to mythological material—e.g., giving the gods psychological significance, as in the works of the Greek dramatists <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205729/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Aeschylus-Greek-dramatist" class="md-crosslink">Aeschylus</a> and <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205729/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Euripides" class="md-crosslink">Euripides</a> and, similarly but from a <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205729/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/diverse" class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off" data-term="diverse">diverse</a> angle, in Buddhism. At the popular level there has been, for instance, the reinterpretation of the gods as Christian saints, as in Mexican Catholicism. A fully <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205729/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/articulate" class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off" data-term="articulate">articulate</a> theory, however, of the ways in which polytheism serves <span id="ref420559"></span><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205729/https://www.britannica.com/topic/religious-symbolism" class="md-crosslink">symbolic</a>, social, and other functions in human culture requires clarification of the role of <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205729/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/myth" class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off" data-term="myth">myth</a>, a much-debated topic in contemporary anthropology and comparative religion.</p><span class="marker p7"></span><span class="marker AM7 am-inline"></span><span class="marker MOD7 mod-inline"></span> </section> <span class="marker end-of-content"></span><span class="marker after-article"></span></div> <aside class="col-da-300" data-page="1"> <div class="rr-module rr-module-1"> <div class="marketing-RIGHT_RAIL_MODULE marketing-content" data-marketing-id="RIGHT_RAIL_MODULE"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205729/https://books.britannica.com/us-britannica-all-new-kids-encyclopedia/?utm_source=ecomm&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=swyk-announcement&utm_content=ency" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205729im_/https://cdn.britannica.com/safeimages/BB_KidsEncy_RightRail_300x90.jpg" alt="Learn More!" class="mb-30"/> </a></div></div> <div class="rr-module rr-module-2">  <div class="md-events-box md-content-module-right imars-xml-OTHER_INFO"> <div class="fact-box"> <div class="title">Polytheism</div> <div class="fact-box-details md-striped"> <!DOCTYPE HTML><dl data-label="key people"><dt class="fact-list">key people</dt><dd><ul class="list-unstyled"><li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205729/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Aedesius-Greek-philosopher">Aedesius</a></li></ul></dd></dl> <dl data-label="related topics"><dt class="fact-list">related topics</dt><dd><ul class="list-unstyled"><li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205729/https://www.britannica.com/topic/pluralism-philosophy">Pluralism and monism</a></li> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205729/https://www.britannica.com/topic/henotheism">Henotheism</a></li> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205729/https://www.britannica.com/topic/nature-religion">Nature religion</a></li> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205729/https://www.britannica.com/topic/god-deity">God</a></li></ul></dd></dl></div> </div> </div> </div> </aside> </div> </div> <div class="infinite-pagination-button grid gx-0"> <div class="col-sm col-100"> <div class="js-load-next-container d-flex justify-content-center my-25"> <button class="js-load-next btn btn-blue d-flex flex-column text-uppercase pb-0"> Load Next Page <em class="material-icons md-36" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_down"></em> </button> <em class="material-icons js-loading-spinner ui-spin d-flex align-items-center align-self-center justify-content-center text-blue font-36 d-none" data-icon="brightness_low"></em> </div> </div> <div class="col-lg-da-300"></div> </div> </div> </div> </article></div> <div class="infinite-end p-5 text-center bg-green text-white d-none"> <em class="material-icons" data-icon="check"></em> </div></div> </div> </main> <footer id="md-footer" class="footer-wrapper hide-on-edit"> <div class="footer-bck"> <div class="marketing-FOOTER_NEWSLETTER marketing-content" data-marketing-id="FOOTER_NEWSLETTER"><div class="md-footer-newsletter-form pt-10 mb-30 mx-15 mx-sm-120"> <div class="font-18"> <strong>Inspire your inbox –</strong> Sign up for daily fun facts about this day in history, updates, and special offers. </div> <div class="p-30"> <div class="newsletter-form-container"> <form class="newsletter-form" method="post" action="/web/20201111205729/https://www.britannica.com/newsletter-subscription/EB_ON_THIS_DAY"> <div class="form-group grid d-flex justify-content-center"> <div class="col-sm-50 col-100"> <label class="sr-only" for="enter-your-email">Enter your email</label> <input id="enter-your-email" type="email" name="email" class="form-control font-18 p-10" placeholder="Enter your email" pattern="[a-z0-9._%+-]+@[a-z0-9.-]+\.[a-z]{2,4}$" required> </div> <div class="col-sm-auto col-100 mt-5 mt-sm-0"> <button type="submit" class="btn btn-outline-white" style="width: 100%; height:100%;">Subscribe</button> </div> </div> <div class="text-white pt-30 text-opacity"> By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica.<br> Click here to view our <a class="link-white text-decoration-underline" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205729/https://corporate.britannica.com/privacy-policy" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">Privacy Notice</a>. 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