List of Mycenaean deities

Many of the Greek deities are known from as early as Mycenaean (Late Bronze Age) civilization. This is an incomplete list of these deities and of the way their names, epithets, or titles are spelled and attested in Mycenaean Greek, written in the Linear B syllabary, along with some reconstructions and equivalent forms in later Greek.

Deities

Gods

  • Anemoi - attested through *Anemohiereia or *Anemon Hiereia, "Priestess of the Winds" (Linear B: ๐€€๐€š๐€—๐€‚๐€‹๐€ฉ๐€Š, a-ne-mo-i-je-re-ja, ๐€€๐€š๐€—๐„€๐€‚๐€‹๐€ฉ๐€Š, a-ne-mo,i-je-re-ja)
  • Apollo(?) - perhaps attested through the lacunose perio (Linear B: ๐€Ÿ๐Š, pe-rjo-, reconstructed a-pe-rjo-ne)
  • Ares (Linear B: ๐€€๐€ฉ, a-re)
  • Despotas(?) - unclear, perhaps house deity (Linear B: ๐€ˆ๐€ก๐€ฒ, do-po-ta)
  • Dionysus (Linear B: ๐€‡๐€บ๐€๐€ฐ, di-wo-nu-so)
  • Dipsioi - perhaps "the Thirsty and hence the Dead Ones"; perhaps related to Thessalian month Dipsos, meaning obscure (Linear B: ๐€‡๐€ ๐€ฏ๐€๐€‚, di-pi-si-jo-i)
  • Drimios - unknown, in later times, son of Zeus, perhaps a predecessor of Apollo (Linear B: ๐€‡๐€ช๐€–๐€, di-ri-mi-jo)
  • Enesidaon - possibly a theonym; possibly an epithet of Poseidon, assumed to mean "Earthshaker" or something similar (Linear B: ๐€๐€š๐€ฏ๐€…๐€ƒ๐€š, e-ne-si-da-o-ne)
  • Enyalius - a later epithet of Ares (Linear B: ๐€๐€๐€ท๐€ช๐€, e-nu-wa-ri-jo)
  • Hephaestus - regarded as indirectly attested by the name *Haphaistios or *Haphaistion, presumed to be a theophoric name (Linear B: ๐€€๐€ž๐€‚๐€ด๐€, a-pa-i-ti-jo)
  • Hermes (Linear B: ๐€๐€”๐€, e-ma-*25 or e-ma-ha)
    • Areias - epithet (Linear B: ๐€€๐€ฉ๐€Š, a-re-ja)
  • Hyperion(?) - perhaps attested through the lacunose perio (Linear B: ๐€Ÿ๐Š, pe-rjo-, reconstructed u-pe-rjo-ne)
  • Marineus(?) - unknown deity, perhaps "God of the Woolens", meaning obscure (Linear B: ๐€”๐€ช๐€š, ma-ri-ne(-u?), ๐€”๐€ช๐€š๐€ธ, ma-ri-ne-we, ๐€”๐€ช๐€š๐€บ, ma-ri-ne-wo)
  • Pade(?) - possibly unknown god, thought to be Cretan, Minoan in origin (Linear B: ๐€ž๐€† pa-de, ๐€ž๐€†๐€‚ pa-de-i)
  • Paean - a precursor of Apollo (Linear B: ๐€ž๐€Š๐€บ๐€š, pa-ja-wo-ne)
  • Poseidon - chief deity (Linear B: ๐€ก๐€ฎ๐€…๐€ƒ, po-se-da-o, ๐€ก๐€ฎ๐€…๐€บ๐€š, po-se-da-wo-ne)
  • Trisheros - theonym, "Thrice-Hero"; thought to attest, and pertain to, the veneration of the dead (Linear B: ๐€ด๐€ช๐€ฎ๐€ซ๐€, ti-ri-se-ro-e)
  • Wanax - "the King"; in this case, it is considered to be a theonym in the dative case, perhaps as an epithet of Poseidon (Linear B: ๐€ท๐€™๐€๐€ณ, wa-na-ka-te)
  • Zeus - God of the sky (Linear B: ๐€‡๐€ธ, di-we, ๐€‡๐€บ, di-wo)
    • Diktaios - local epithet of Zeus on Crete (Linear B: ๐€‡๐€๐€ฒ๐€ ๐€‡๐€ธ, di-ka-ta-jo di-we)

Goddesses

  • Artemis (Linear B: ๐€€๐€ณ๐€–๐€ต, a-te-mi-to, ๐€€๐€ด๐€–๐€ณ, a-ti-mi-te)
  • Diwia - possibly the female counterpart of Zeus, possibly Dione in later Greek (Linear B: ๐€‡๐€„๐€Š, di-u-ja, ๐€‡๐€น๐€Š, di-wi-ja)
  • Doqeia(?) - possibly an unknown goddess but could be only a feminine adjective (Linear B: ๐€ˆ๐€ค๐€Š, do-qe-ja)
  • Eileithyia - attested in the Cretan Eleuthia form; perhaps Minoan in origin (Linear B: ๐€๐€ฉ๐€„๐€ด๐€Š, e-re-u-ti-ja)
  • Eos - perhaps attested through a personal name แผˆฯohฮนฮฟฯ‚ related to the word for dawn, or dative form ฤ€wลiลi (Linear B: ๐€€๐€บ๐€‚๐€, a-wo-i-jo).
  • Erinyes - both forms of the theonym are considered to be in the singular, Erinys (Linear B: ๐€๐€ช๐€, e-ri-nu, ๐€๐€ช๐€๐€ธ, e-ri-nu-we)
  • Hera (Linear B: ๐€๐€จ, e-ra)
  • Iphemedeia - theonym; probably variant form of Iphimedia, name of a mythological person found in Homer's Odyssey (Linear B: ๐€‚๐€Ÿ๐€•๐€†๐€Š, i-pe-me-de-ja)
  • Komawenteia(?) - possibly unknown deity, possibly meaning "long-haired goddess" (Linear B: ๐€’๐€”๐€ธ๐€ณ๐€Š ko-ma-we-te-ja)
  • Leto - perhaps attested through the forms Latios (Linear B: ๐€จ๐€ด๐€, ra-ti-jo) and Lato (Linear B: ๐€จ๐€ต, ra-to).
  • Manasa - unknown goddess (Linear B: ๐€”๐€™๐€ญ, ma-na-sa)
  • Mater Theia - possibly "Mother of the Gods" or mother goddess (Linear B: ๐€”๐€ณ๐€ฉ๐„€๐€ณ๐€‚๐€Š, ma-te-re,te-i-ja)
  • Pipituna - Reconstructed as *ฮ ฮฏฯ€ฯ„ฯ…ฮฝฮฝฮฑ (Pรญptynna), unknown deity, considered to be Pre-Greek or Minoan (Linear B: ๐€ ๐€ ๐€ถ๐€™, pi-pi-tu-na)
  • Posidaeia - probably the female counterpart to Poseidon (Linear B: ๐€ก๐€ฏ๐€…๐€๐€Š, po-si-da-e-ja)
  • Potnia - โ€œMistressโ€ or โ€œLadyโ€; may be used as an epithet for many deities, but also shows up as a single deity (Linear B: ๐€ก๐€ด๐€›๐€Š, po-ti-ni-ja)
    • Potnia Athena - or Potnia of At(h)ana (Athens(?)); reference of the latter is uncertain (Linear B: ๐€€๐€ฒ๐€™๐€ก๐€ด๐€›๐€Š, a-ta-na-po-ti-ni-ja)
    • Potnia Hippeia - Mistress of the Horses; later epithet of Demeter and Athena (Linear B: ๐€ก๐€ด๐€›๐€Š๐„€๐€‚๐€ค๐€Š, po-ti-ni-ja,i-qe-ja)
    • Potnia of Sitos - Mistress of Grain, Bronze Age predecessor or epithet of Demeter (Linear B: ๐€ฏ๐€ต๐€ก๐€ด๐€›๐€Š, si-to-po-ti-ni-ja)
    • Potnia of the Labyrinth (Linear B: ๐€…๐†๐€ช๐€ต๐€๐„€๐€ก๐€ด๐€›๐€Š, da-pu2-ri-to-jo,po-ti-ni-ja)
    • Potnia, at Thebes, of no attested name or title, other than that offers are made to her house, her premises (Linear B: ๐€ก๐€ด๐€›๐€Š๐„€๐€บ๐€’๐€†, po-ti-ni-ja,wo-ko-de)
    • Potnia, of unidentified Pylos sanctuary - unknown local(?) goddess of pa-ki-ja-ne (*Sphagianes?) sanctuary at Pylos (Linear B: ๐€ก๐€ด๐€›๐€Š, po-ti-ni-ja)
    • Potnia, of uncertain A place or epithet (Linear B: ๐€ก๐€ด๐€›๐€Š๐„€๐€€๐€ฏ๐€น๐€Š, po-ti-ni-ja,a-si-wi-ja)
    • Potnia, of unknown E place or epithet (Linear B: ๐€๐€ฉ๐€น๐€๐€ก๐€ด๐€›๐€Š, e-re-wi-jo-po-ti-ni-ja)
    • Potnia, of unknown N place or epithet (Linear B: ๐€š๐€บ๐€Ÿ๐€ƒ๐„€๐€ก๐€ด๐€›๐€Š, ne-wo-pe-o,po-ti-ni-ja)
    • Potnia, of unknown U place or epithet (Linear B: ๐€„๐€ก๐€๐€ก๐€ด๐€›๐€Š, u-po-jo-po-ti-ni-ja)
    • Potnia, of unknown ? place or epithet (Linear B: ๐€€๐€๐€ฏ๐„€๐€ก๐€ด๐€›๐€Š, (?)-a-ke-si,po-ti-ni-ja)
  • Preswa(?) - generally interpreted as a dove goddess or an early form of Persephone (Linear B: ๐€Ÿ๐€ฉ๐š, pe-re-*82 or pe-re-swa)
  • Qerasia(?) - unknown goddess, perhaps Minoan in origin or possibly connected with thฤ“r (Linear B: ๐€ค๐€จ๐€ฏ๐€Š, qe-ra-si-ja)
  • Qowia(?) - unknown deity, possibly meaning โ€œShe of the Cow(s)" (Linear B: ๐€ฆ๐€น๐€Š, qo-wi-ja)
  • Wanasso(?) - "the Two Queens", possibly Demeter and Persephone, *wanassojin(?) regarded as a dative dual form (Linear B: ๐€ท๐€™๐€ฐ๐€‚, wa-na-so-i)

Pantheon

  • Pantes Theoi - a special invocation "to All the Gods", irrespectively of sex, etc.; recurrently attested at Knossos (Linear B : ๐€ž๐€ฏ๐€ณ๐€ƒ๐€‚, pa-si-te-o-i)

Heroes, mortals and other entities or concepts

  • Proteus - could be the theonym of the sea-god Proteus, but probably just the anthroponym of a nobleman (Linear B: ๐€ก๐€ซ๐€ณ๐€„, po-ro-te-u)

Possible deities

Deities speculated to have been worshipped but without hitherto attestation in the Linear B tablets

  • A possible sun goddess, predecessor to Helios and possibly related to Helen. No unambiguous attestations of words for "sun" have been found yet, though the Mycenaean word for "sun" is reconstructed as *hฤwรฉlios.

See also