Inanna
Inanna (/ɪˈnænə/ or /ɪˈnɑːnə/; Cuneiform: 𒀭𒈹 DMUŠ3; Sumerian: Inanna; Akkadian: Ištar; Unicode: U+12239) is the Sumerian goddess of love, fertility, and warfare, and goddess of the E-Anna temple at the city of Uruk, her main centre. Part of the front of Inanna's temple from Uruk Origins[edit] Etymology[edit] Inanna's name derives from Lady of Heaven (Sumerian: nin-an-ak). Worship[edit] One version of the star symbol of Inanna/Ishtar Iconography[edit] Inanna's symbol is an eight-pointed star or a rosette.[10] She was associated with lions – even then a symbol of power – and was frequently depicted standing on the backs of two lionesses. Inanna as the star, Venus[edit] Inanna was associated with the celestial planet Venus. Inanna's Descent to the Underworld explains how Inanna is able to, unlike any other deity, descend into the netherworld and return to the heavens. Character[edit] Inanna is the goddess of love – but not marriage. Myths[edit] Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta[edit]
Jinn
Imam Ali Conquers Jinn Unknown artist Ahsan-ol-Kobar 1568 Golestan Palace. Together, the jinn, humans and angels make up the three sapient creations of God. Like human beings, the jinn can be good, evil, or neutrally benevolent and hence have free will like humans and unlike angels.[3] Etymology and definitions[edit] Jinn is a noun of the collective number in Arabic literally meaning "hidden from sight", and it derives from the Arabic root j-n-n (pronounced: jann/ junn جَنّ / جُنّ) meaning "to hide" or "be hidden". In Arabic, the word jinn is in the collective number, translated in English as plural (e.g., "several genies"); jinnī is in the singulative number, used to refer to one individual, which is translated by the singular in English (e.g., "one genie"). In the pre-Islamic era[edit] Inscriptions found in Northwestern Arabia seem to indicate the worship of jinn, or at least their tributary status, hundreds of years before Islam. In Islam[edit] Classifications and characteristics[edit]
Persephone
Persephone as a vegetation goddess and her mother Demeter were the central figures of the Eleusinian mysteries that predated the Olympian pantheon and promised the initiated a more enjoyable prospect after death. Persephone is further said to have become by Zeus the mother of Dionysus, Iacchus, or Zagreus, usually in orphic tradition. The origins of her cult are uncertain, but it was based on very old agrarian cults of agricultural communities. Name[edit] Etymology[edit] Persephone or "the deceased woman" holding a pomegranate. Persephatta (Περσεφάττα) is considered to mean "female thresher of corn," going by "perso-" relating to Sanskrit "parsa", "sheaf of corn" and the second constituent of the name originating in Proto-Indo European *-gʷʰn-t-ih, from the root *gʷʰen "to strike".[8] An alternative etymology is from φέρειν φόνον, pherein phonon, "to bring (or cause) death".[9] John Chadwick speculatively relates the name of Persephone with the name of Perse, daughter of Oceanus.[12] Italy.
Arabian mythology
Arabian mythology is the ancient, pre-Islamic beliefs of the Arab people. Prior to Islam the Kaaba of Mecca was covered in symbols representing the myriad demons, djinn, demigods, or simply tribal gods and other assorted deities which represented the polytheistic culture of pre-Islamic Arabia. It has been inferred from this plurality an exceptionally broad context in which mythology could flourish.[1] Many of the physical descriptions of the pre-Islamic gods are traced to idols, especially near the Kaaba, which is asserted to have contained up to 360.[1] Gods[edit] The main god in the Arabian peninsula was Hubal (Arabic: هبل), who is regarded as the most notable and chief of the gods. The three daughters of Hubal, and chief goddesses of Meccan Arabian mythology, were Al-lāt, Al-‘Uzzá, and Manāt. Other notable gods Supernatural beings[edit] Spirits[edit] Jinn (also called djinn or genies, Arabic: جن jinn) are supernatural creatures which possess free will, and can be either good or evil.
Gaia (mythology)
The Greek word γαῖα (transliterated as gaia) is a collateral form of γῆ[4] (gē, Doric γᾶ ga and probably δᾶ da)[5] meaning Earth,[6] a word of uncertain origin.[7] R. S. P. Beekes has suggested a Pre-Greek origin.[8] In Mycenean Greek Ma-ka (trans. as Ma-ga, "Mother Gaia") also contains the root ga-.[9][10] According to Hesiod, Gaia conceived further offspring with Uranus, first the giant one-eyed Cyclopes: Brontes ("Thunder"), Steropes ("Lightning") and Arges ("Bright");[16] then the Hecatonchires: Cottus, Briareos and Gyges, each with a hundred arms and fifty heads.[17] As each of the Cyclopes and Hecatonchires were born, Uranus hid them in a secret place within Gaia, causing her great pain. Because Cronus had learned from Gaia and Uranus, that he was destined to be overthrown by his own child, Cronus swallowed each of the children born to him by his Titan sister Rhea. With Gaia's advice[21] Zeus defeated the Titans. In classical art Gaia was represented in one of two ways.
Modern Times (1936)
Demeter
In ancient Greek religion and myth, Demeter (/diˈmiːtər/; Attic: Δημήτηρ Dēmḗtēr; Doric: Δαμάτηρ Dāmā́tēr) is the goddess of the harvest, who presided over grains and the fertility of the earth. Her cult titles include Sito (Σιτώ), "she of the Grain",[1] as the giver of food or grain[2] and Thesmophoros (θεσμός, thesmos: divine order, unwritten law; "phoros": bringer, bearer), "Law-Bringer," as a mark of the civilized existence of agricultural society.[3] Etymology[edit] Demeter's character as mother-goddess is identified in the second element of her name meter (μήτηρ) derived from Proto-Indo-European *méh₂tēr (mother).[11] In antiquity, different explanations were already proffered for the first element of her name. An alternative, Proto-Indo-European etymology comes through Potnia and Despoina; where Des- represents a derivative of PIE *dem (house, dome), and Demeter is "mother of the house" (from PIE *dems-méh₂tēr).[20] Agricultural deity[edit] Festivals and cults[edit] Myths[edit]
White Palace
Rhea (mythology)
Rhea (or Cybele), after a marble, 1888. Then she hid Zeus in a cave on Mount Ida in Crete. According to varying versions of the story: Rhea only appears in Greek art from the fourth century BC, when her iconography draws on that of Cybele; the two therefore, often are indistinguishable;[10] both can be shown on a throne flanked by lions, riding a lion, or on a chariot drawn by two lions. In Roman religion, her counterpart Cybele was Magna Mater deorum Idaea, who was brought to Rome and was identified in Roman mythology as an ancestral Trojan deity. On a functional level, Rhea was thought equivalent to Roman Ops or Opis. Most often Rhea's symbol is a pair of lions, the ones that pulled her celestial chariot and were seen often, rampant, one on either side of the gateways through the walls to many cities in the ancient world. In Homer, Rhea is the mother of the gods, although not a universal mother like Cybele, the Phrygian Great Mother, with whom she was later identified.
