POLYTHEISM ( from Gk. 702. 03e0f, 1301 gthros, relating to many gods, from :-roAt;c, /Julys, much, many + Of6c, ther,s, god). The belief in many gods, as opposed to monotheism, or atheism, belief in one god or in no god. The most primi tive peoples scarcely recognize any god. but only demoniac forces. and behind polytheism lies the worship of one superior clan-god. But this latter does not exclude a belief in the existenc of other gods of other clans, who on occasion may he worshiped, and the bare recognition of more than one god is not irreconcilable with a synchronons worship of only one elan-god or of rites which propitiate only demons. Most of the forms of polytheism known are far from primitive. and represent both internal development and an amal gamation of beliefs. Different clan-gods, in con sequence of political fusion or simply through borrowing. may become united into one pantheon. Thus modern Hindu polytheism arises from a union of Aryan and Dravidian deities: Greek polytheism combined Hellenic and Semitic gods; the Teutonic pantheon included different clan gods with characteristics borrowed from the Finns and others. Polytheism has been derived, in some cases, but not all. from totemism (q.v.).
In this article only the general aspects of polytheism are to be considered. (1) There is only one unbroken series between inchoate and perfected polytheism. Spirits become gods; gods decline into mere spirits. Polvtliemonism and polytheism constantly interchange. (2) There is scarcely any natural phenomenon that has not been deified, but the order of deification varies in time. In some cases, sky and earth gods are early divinities: in others, they are ignored altogether. or come late into the pantheon. (3) Nature-gods form only a part of the pantheon, which embraces also deified man-gods and ghosts.
gods of poetic fancy, of logic. etc. (4) Social development conditions the pantheon, but there is no absolute rule of progression from matriar chal to patriarchal divinities. (5) The concrete comes before the abstract. Tiber and Ganges are divinities before Water is a god. (6) Na ture and mind are often correlated in the figures of the pantheon. Water and wisdom, for exam ple, are united in three distinct polytheistic sys tems, in the Wisdom-spring of Germany. in Ea, the Babylonian god. and in Varuna. the Hindu god of water and wisdom. (7) In some cases
local parts of earth are revered before there are any great gods to which worship is paid. (R) This does not exclude the vague recognition of a creator-god to whom worship is not paid. (9) The great phenomenal gods, sun, wind, storm, sky, always expand rapidly when na tionalized, taking on attributes not theirs orioi nally. (10) This leads to such gods becoming more and more anthropomorphic and anthropo pathic. (11) The ethical element in gods is a reflection of the sociological conditions of• the worshiper. (12) This ethical element in early pantheons is usually accredited only to certain gods, usually the far-seeing and purificatory gods. (13) racial differences in the con ception of gods, we must recognize also a per petual intellectual difference in every race. The same god is thus conceived in different ways by members of the same race. (14) The higher con ception is the result of the intelligence of a few minds. It may dominate them. while the older crude conception still obtains among the vulgar. Which conception shall prevail depends on the ascendency gained by the more intellectual mem bers of the race. (15) There is a tendency in all polytheisms to make social distinctions, to group the gods in classes. Groups of three, nine, ten, twelve gods are common. (111) This group ing tends to make natural triads. as those of sky, air, earth, or sun, lightning, fire, which in turn, as the gods ,become more human. tend to become converted into family groups, father mother, and son taking the place of an earlier triad.
Early stages of polytheism. where gods and demons interchange in the same personalities. are found in the religion of Babylonia and Assyria, in the Aino and the Polynesian religions, and in the cult of some of the African and American savages. The perfected Babylonian cult shows polytheism in an advanced stage, as do the religions of Greece, Rome, Germany, and India. In India, Egypt, and Greece are found the most marked examples of the tendency to arrange the gods in social groups. Consult: Tiele, Kompendium der Religionsyeschiehte ed.. Breslau, 1003) ; Saussaye, Lehrloich der Re ligionsgeschiehte (2d ed.. Freiburg, 1897) trow. The Study of Religion, with full bibliog raphy fib., 1901) ; and for special systems of polytheism. see the separate articles, GREEK RE LIGION ; ROMAN RELIGION ; etc.