List of thunder gods

For other uses, see God of Thunder (disambiguation).
Indra, the Indian/ Hindu god of thunder.

Polytheistic peoples of many cultures have postulated a thunder god, the personification or source of the forces of thunder and lightning; a lightning god does not have a typical depiction, and will vary based on the culture. In Indo-European cultures, the thunder god is frequently known as the chief or king of the gods, e.g. Indra in Hinduism, Zeus in Greek mythology, and Perun in ancient Slavic religion; or a close relation thereof, e.g. Thor, son of Odin, in Norse mythology. This is also true of Shango in Yoruba religion and in the syncretic religions of the African Diaspora, such as Santería (Cuba, Puerto Rico, United States and Candomblé (Brazil).

In Greek mythology, the Elysian Fields, or the Elysian Plains, the final resting places of the souls of the heroic and the virtuous, evolved from a designation of a place or person struck by lightning, enelysion, enelysios.[1] This could be a reference to Zeus, the god of lightning/Jupiter, so "lightning-struck" could be saying that the person was blessed (struck) by Zeus (/lightning/fortune). Egyptologist Jan Assmann has also suggested that Greek Elysion may have instead been derived from the Egyptian term ialu (older iaru), meaning "reeds," with specific reference to the "Reed fields" (Egyptian: sekhet iaru / ialu), a paradisiacal land of plenty where the dead hoped to spend eternity.[2]

List of thunder gods

Ancient Near East

Eurasia

East Asia

Thunder Emperors of the Five Regions

Thunder Kings of the Five Regions

Marshals of Thunder

Thunder Generals of the Five Regions

Twelve Lords of Heaven’s Thunder

Twelve Lords of Earth’s Thunder

Twelve Lords of Man’s Thunder

Thirty Six Lords of Thunder

Thirty Six Gods of Thunder

Americas

Sub-Saharan Africa

Oceania

Polynesian mythology
Micronesian mythology

Australia

New Zealand

Literature

Music

Video games

See also

References

  1. Walter Burkert, Greek Religion, 1985. p. 198.
  2. Assmann, Jan (2001). Death and Salvation in Ancient Egypt. Cornell University Press. p. 392
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