PLOUTŌN - The Epithets

PLOUTOHN - The Epithets

HellenicGods.org

HOME GLOSSARY RESOURCE ART LOGOS CONTACT

PLEASE NOTE: Among the epithets of Ploutohn, one of the most important deities of all Hellenismos, you will find some which make reference to the God dwelling under the earth in a place of gloom. It cannot be denied that such a belief existed in ancient Greece, so in the interests of completeness, such epithets are present on this page. But in reality, these epithets at best reflect a poetic conception of the God, at worse they demonstrate a complete misunderstanding . The principle and correct epithet of Ploutohn is Zefs (Zeus) Khthonios, which translates as Terrestrial or Earthy Zefs. Khthonic means of the earth, not under the earth, which is ypokhthonic, ypo (Gr. ὑπο) meaning under. Therefore, Ploutohn is the great God of the earth, the very king of the earth in all its verdure and richness. Ploutohn is also said to be the God of the dead but this is also a misunderstanding: Ploutohn is the God of those who are going to die, the mortals.

For a more thorough discussion and, in particular, the brief essay entitled Ploutōn and the Dead on this page: PLOUTOHN

Adámastos - (adamastus; Gr. ἀδάμαστος, ΑΔΑΜΑΣΤΟΣ. Adj. Etym. ἀδάμας, "unconquerable.") - Lexicon entry: ἀδάμαστος , ον, (δαμάω) unsubdued, inflexible, of Hades: later in the proper sense, untamed, unbroken. (L&S p. 20, left column, within the entries beginning with ἀδάμας, edited for simplicity.)

Adesius - (Gr.) his name in Latium. It is expressive of the grave. (CM p.5)

Agelastus - (Gr.) from his melancholy countenance. (CM p.5)

Agesilaus - (Gr.) expressive of his attracting all people to his empire. (CM p.5)

Agetes - a name assigned to him by Pindar, as to one who conducts. (CM p.5)

Aidis - (Hades; Gr. Ἅιδης, ἍΙΔΗΣ. Etym. from ἀείδω or ᾄδω, to sing.) his name among the Greeks. (CM p.5)

- unseen, secret (L&S p.36, left column)

- cf. Aïdonefs.

Aïdonefs - (Aidoneus; Gr. Ἀϊδωνεύς, ἈΙΔΩΝΕΎΣ)

- singer; from ᾄδω [ᾄδω, Att. contr. for ἀείδω, q.v. ἀδῶ· ἀρέσκω, Hsch. (L&S p. 25, right column)]; ἀείδω, ---sing (L&S p. 26, left column). ἀηδ-ονιδεύς, έως, ὁ, young nightingale pl. -ῆες Theoc.15.12. (prob.). ἀηδ-όνιος, ον, of a nightingale, γόος, νόμος ἀ., A.Fr.291, Ar.Ra.684. 2. of sleep, light, Nicoch.4 D., cf. Nonn.D.5.411. ἀηδονίς, ίδος, ἡ, = ἀηδών, nightingale, E.Rh.550 (lyr.), Call.Lav.Pall. 94, Theoc.8.38; Μουσάων ἀηδονίς, of a poet, AP7.414 (Noss.); of a girl, IG14.1942. (L&S p.30, left column)

- lengthd. poet. form of Ἄιδης (L&S p. 36, right column), i.e. Aithis or Hades.

- cf. Aidis.

Aidoneus - See Aïdonefs.

Aita or Eita - Aita or Eita is an Etruscan name for Ploutohn.

Altor - (Latin) from alo, to nourish. (CM p.5)

Amænthis - (Amenthes; Egyptian but written in Greek thus: Αμένθης, ΑΜΈΝΘΙΣ) (Amænthis is) a name of Pluto among the Egyptians. Plutarch informs us, that the word Amænthis has a reference to the doctrines of the metempsychosis, and signifies the place which gives and receives; on the belief that some vast gulf was assigned as a receptacle to the souls, which were about to animate new bodies. (CM p.5)

- "...Plato says that Hades is so named because he is a beneficent and gentle God towards those who have come to abide with him. Moreover, among the Egyptians many others of the proper names are real words; for example, that place beneath the earth, to which they believe that souls depart after the end of this life, they call Amenthes, the name signifying 'the one who receives and gives.' " (Plutarch's Moralia, Isis and Osiris Chap. 29, 362E; trans. Frank Cole Babbitt, 1936, Plutarch's Moralia Vol. V; found here in the 1969 Loeb/Heinemann/Harvard Univ. Press. edition on p.73.)

Amenthes - See Amænthis.

Ánax - (Gr. Ἄναξ, ΑΝΑΞ) Ánax is king.

- Lexicon entry: ἄναξ [ᾰ], ἄνακτος (cf. Ἄνακες), ὁ, rarely fem. ὦ ἄνα for ἄνασσα:—lord, master. 1. of the Gods, esp. Apollo; of Zeus; Poseidon, of Πλοῦτος; esp. of the Dioscuri, cf. Ἄνακες, Ἄνακοι; of all the Gods. (L&S p. 114, left column, edited for simplicity.)

Axiocersus - (Gr.) or the shorn God, a name of Pluto in the Mysteries of the Cabiri: he was there represented as without hair. (CM p.5)

Chamaizelos Zefs - See Khamaizilos Dios.

Chlotonius - (Gr.) infernal, a name assigned to him by Orpheus in his hymn to the Eumenides. (CM p.5)

Clymenus - (Gr.) renowned. (CM p.5)

Dis - the name under which he was worshipped by the Gauls. (CM p.5)

Efklæís - (Euclius; Gr. Εὐκλεής, ΕΥΚΛΕΗΣ) Dionysos the glorious; renowned. (CM*p.181)

- of good report, famous, freq. of persons. II. Εὐκλῆς, Orphic title of Hades. (L&S p. 718, left column, edited for simplicity.) Cf. Efklís.

Efklís - (Eucles; Gr. Εὐκλῆς, ΕΥΚΛΗΣ. Pronounced: ef-KLEES.) Eukles is Ploutohn. (Pluto [Ἅιδης]; Gr. Πλούτων)

- "Eukles, 'the fair-famed', is Hades or Pluto, as Hesychius (ed. grammarian, 5th century CE) says." (Orpheus and Greek Religion by W.K.C. Guthrie, 1952; found in the 1993 Princeton Univ. Press edition [Princeton, NJ USA], p. 179)

- "Most scholars agree in identifying Eucles, whose name literally means 'of good fame,' with Hades, who in cult is sometimes referred to euphemistically as 'Klymenos,' or 'famous.' " (Ritual Texts for the Afterlife by Fritz Graf and Sarah Iles Johnston, 2007, Routledge [London and New York], p. 123). Cf. Efklæís.

Eita or Aita - Eita or Aita is an Etruscan name for Ploutohn.

Eubulius - (Gr.) the consoler, death being the termination of human sorrows. (CM p.5)

Eucles - See Efklís.

Euclius - See Efklæís.

Februus - (Latin) from Februa, signifying the sacrifices and purifications adopted in funeral rites. (CM p.5)

Feralis Deus - the dismal or cruel God. (CM p.5)

Hades - See Aidis.

Hegetes - same as Agetes above. (CM p.5)

Iao - his name at Claros, a town in Ionia. (CM p.5)

Khamaizilos Dios - (Chamaizelos Zefs; Χαμαίζηλος Διός. Etym. Χᾰμαί means on the ground, on the earth; ζῆλος means jealousy or envy, so he likes to be on the Earth) Khamaizilos Dios is Khthonic Zefs.

- Ζεὺς χ., = χθόνιος, Orph.A.931; Ποσειδῶν χ. IG22.1367. (L&S p. 1975, right column, within the entries beginning with χᾰμαι-γενής, sub-heading χᾰμαί-ζηλος)

Lactum - his name among the Sarmatians. (CM p.5)

Larthy Tytiral - sovereign of Tartarus, his name in Etruria. (CM p.5)

Manus - the diminutive of Summanus, an Etruscan epithet. (CM p.5)

Mantus - same as Manus above. (CM p.5)

Moiragetes - (Gr.) his name as guide of the Fates. (CM p.5)

Nekrodegmôn - (Gr. Νεκροδεγμων, ΝΕΚΡΟΔΕΓΜΩΝ) (Mortuos Recipiens) receiver of the dead. (Aeschylus)

Nekrôn Sôtêr - (Gr. Νεκρων Σωτηρ, ΝΕΚΡΩΝ ΣΩΤΗΡ) Saviour of the Dead.

Niger Deus - black God, his epithet as God of the Infernal Regions. (CM p.6)

Opertus - (Latin) the concealed. (CM p.6)

Ophieus - his name as the blind God among the Messenians: it was derived from their dedicating certain Augurs to him, whom they deprived of sight at the moment of their birth. (CM p.6)

Orcus - See Órkos.

Órkos - (Orcus; Gr. Ὅρκος, ΟΡΚΟΣ) signifying oaths; Pluto being the avenger of the perjured. (Orphic frag. 56b Rufinus' translation of Recognitiones [pseudo-Clement] 10.18)

Pasiánax - (Gr. Πασιάναξ, ΠΑΣΙΑΝΑΞ) Lexicon entry: πᾱσῐάναξ [ᾰν], ακτος, ὁ, universal king, Ζεύς Orac. ap. Phleg.1.6 J. : applied to the ruler of the dead, and hence to the dead. (L&S p. 1346, left column, edited for simplicity.)

Polydegmôn - (Gr. Πολυδεγμων, ΠΟΛΥΔΕΓΜΩΝ) host of many.

Polydegmenos - expressive of his receiving indiscriminately all persons into his empire. (CM p. 6)

Polysêmantôr Aidonius - (Gr. Πολυσημαντωρ Αιδωνευς, ΠΟΛΥΣΗΜΑΝΤΩΡ ΑΙΔΩΝΕΥΣ) Hades Ruler of Many.

Polyxenos - (Gr. Πολύξενος, ΠΟΛΥΞΕΝΟΣ) host of many.

Postulio - (Latin) a name assigned to him by Varro, under which he was worshipped on the shores of the lake Curtius, from the circumstance of the earth's having opened at that spot, and of the Aruspices having presumed that the King of Death thus asked for (postulo, I ask,) sacrifices. (CM p.6)

Profundus Jupiter - deep or lower Jove, from his being sovereign of the deep, or infernal regions. (CM p.6)

Quietalis - (Latin) from quies, rest. (CM p.6)

Rusor - (Latin) because all things return eventually to the earth. (CM p.6)

Salutaris Divus - a name assigned to him when he restored the dead to life. Whenever the Gods wished to re-animate a body, Pluto let fall some drops of nectar from his urn upon the favoured person: this may account for his being sometimes represented with an inverted vase. (CM p.6)

Saturnius - from his father Saturn. (CM p.6)

Soranus - his name among the Sabines, in the temple dedicated to him on Mount Soracte. (CM p.6)

Stygius - from the river Styx. (CM p.6)

Summanus - from summus manium, prince of the dead. (CM p.6)

Tellumo - (Latin) a name derived from those treasures which Pluto possesses in the recesses of the earth. Tellumo denotes (according to Varro) the creative power of the earth, in opposition to Tellus the productive. (CM p.6)

Theôn Khthonios or Theôn Khthonios - (Gr. Θεων Κθονιος, ΘΕΩΝ ΚΘΟΝΙΟΣ) Terrestrial God.

Uragus - (Latin) expressive of his power over fire. (CM p.6)

Urgus - (Latin) from urgeo, to impel. (CM p.6)

Zeus Khthonios or Zeus Chthonios - (Gr. Ζευς Κθονιος, ΖΕΥΣ ΚΘΟΝΙΟΣ) Terrestrial Zeus, the third Zeus.

Among the epithets applied to this God by Homer and Virgil, are:

The grisly God, Iliad ix. 209. (CM p.6)

Infernal Jove, ib. 584. (CM p.6)

Ruthless king, Æn. vi. 179. (CM p.6)

Stygian Jove, ib. 207. (CM p.6)

The story of the birth of the Gods: Orphic Rhapsodic Theogony.

We know the various qualities and characteristics of the Gods based on metaphorical stories: Mythology.

Dictionary of terms related to ancient Greek mythology: Glossary of Hellenic Mythology.

Introduction to the Thæí (the Gods): The Nature of the Gods.

How do we know there are Gods? Experiencing Gods.

For more information: Inquire.hellenicgods@gmail.com

© 2010 by HellenicGods.org. All Rights Reserved.

HOME GLOSSARY RESOURCE ART LOGOS CONTACT