Across the Pantheons: Comprehensive Equivalence of Ancient Deities
The practice of identifying foreign gods with domestic ones, known as Interpretatio Graeca (Greek) or Interpretatio Romana (Roman), provides a detailed look at the religious landscape of the ancient world. It demonstrates that the core domains of life—cosmic order, warfare, fertility, and death—were universally personified, revealing a common human response to the forces of the natural world and society.
This comprehensive presentation expands the comparison to include a wider range of deities, minor gods, and shared concepts across the Greek, Roman, Egyptian, and Mesopotamian (Babylonian/Sumerian) pantheons.
Extended Comparative Table of Divine Functions
The following table is organized by the functional domain the deity oversees. Note that functional equivalence is not always a one-to-one mythological match, but reflects the primary role recognized by comparative ancient observers (like Herodotus).
| Functional Domain | Greek God | Roman God | Egyptian God | Babylonian/Sumerian God |
| Supreme Sky / King | Zeus | Jupiter | Amun / Ra | Anu / Enlil |
| Queen / Marriage | Hera | Juno | Isis / Mut | Ninlil |
| Elder/Time/Earth | Cronus | Saturn | Geb (Earth) / Shu (Air) | Anu (Elder) / Ki (Earth) |
| Sea / Water | Poseidon | Neptune | Sobek (Nile) | Enki (Ea) |
| Underworld / Dead | Hades / Pluto | Pluto / Dis Pater | Osiris | Ereshkigal |
| Sun / Solar Orb | Apollo / Helios | Apollo / Sol | Ra / Horus | Shamash (Utu) |
| Moon / Lunar Cycle | Artemis / Selene | Diana / Luna | Thoth / Khonsu | Sin (Nanna) |
| Love / Fertility | Aphrodite | Venus | Hathor | Ishtar (Inanna) |
| Wisdom / Strategy | Athena | Minerva | Neith | Ninkhursag |
| War / Battle | Ares | Mars | Montu / Sekhmet | Ninurta / Nergal |
| Messenger / Magic | Hermes | Mercury | Thoth | Nabu / Ningishzidda |
| Fire / Forge | Hephaestus | Vulcan | Ptah | Dumuzi (sometimes) |
| Harvest / Grain | Demeter | Ceres | Isis / Nepthys | Ashnan |
| Home / Hearth | Hestia | Vesta | Anuket | Gula |
| Justice / Order | Themis | Justitia | Ma’at | Shamash |
| Death / Psychopomp | Thanatos | Mors | Anubis | Nergal |
| Chaos / Storms | Typhoeus | Typhon | Set | Tiamat |
| Wine / Revelry | Dionysus | Bacchus / Liber | Osiris / Min | Dumuzi |
| Healing / Medicine | Asclepius | Aesculapius | Imhotep | Gula |
| Childbirth | Eileithyia | Lucina | Heket / Taweret | Nintu |
Prophetic Insight: The Unity of Pagan Systems
This extensive cross-reference is highly valuable in the context of the Lord’s Return and the distinction between divine and man-made systems. The uniformity of these pagan pantheons serves as a powerful illustration of the global reach of the anti-biblical systems of worship.
- Uniformity of Deification: The fact that people from the Tigris-Euphrates to the Nile to the Mediterranean Sea all independently (or through cultural transfer) deified the same phenomena (sky, sea, war, love, harvest) highlights the universal tendency to worship the creation instead of the Creator.
- Syncretism and the Mark: The seamless blending, epitomized by hybrid cults like Serapis (Osiris-Apis, often equated with Hades, Zeus, and Dionysus), demonstrates the ease with which pagan systems could be unified under a single, overarching entity—a concept central to prophetic warnings about a final, unified system of worship.
- The Cosmic Lie: Many of these deities were intrinsically linked to the celestial bodies (Ishtar/Venus, Marduk/Jupiter, Shabtay/Saturn). Their worship represents the replacement of God’s truthful, calendrical purpose for the stars with a system of pagan astrological idolatry, directly contrasting with the biblical mandate to use the heavens only for signs and seasons.