Apotheosis
In 42 BC, the Roman Senate voted to deify Julius Caesar after his assassination. This decree came from his adopted son Octavian, who later became Augustus. The process transformed a dead ruler into a divine figure known as divus. Before this moment, only Quirinus held that status among Romans. He was identified with Romulus, the city's founder.
The ceremony included an eagle released into the sky. It represented the soul of the deceased ascending to heaven. Coins and reliefs depicted eagles or chariots carrying figures upward. A relief on the Column of Antoninus Pius shows the emperor and his wife Faustina being lifted by a winged figure named Eternity. Below them sit Roma and personifications of the provinces.
Julian Caesar's deification set a precedent for future emperors. Successors often honored popular predecessors to legitimize their own rule. In 193 AD, Septimius Severus ordered a lavish funeral for Pertinax. Historian Dio Cassius witnessed the event and described its scale. The ritual involved public ceremonies and official decrees confirming imperial divinity.
Guan Yu stands as one of many mortals elevated within the Taoist pantheon. Iron-crutch Li and Fan Kuai share similar status in Chinese folk religion. Song dynasty general Yue Fei received deification during the Ming dynasty. Some practitioners rank him among three highest-ranking heavenly generals.
In Buddhism, Gautama Buddha began as a normal human before achieving Buddhahood. Many significant deities are viewed as avatars or rebirths of earlier figures. Rama, a major Hindu deity, was born as a human and seen as an avatar of Vishnu. Swaminarayan lived from 1781 to 1830 and is regarded by some Hindus as an avatar of Krishna.
Bharat Mata emerged as a national personification created by Bengali intellectuals in the late 19th century. She now receives worship across India. Jayavarman VII ruled the Khmer Empire between 1181 and 1218. His features appear on statues of Buddha and Avalokitesvara erected throughout Cambodia. The Druze faith considers Imam Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah God incarnate. Hamza ibn Ali ibn Ahmad proclaimed that God assumed human form in al-Hakim's body.
The Roman Catholic Church avoids using the word apotheosis in its theology. Instead it employs divinization or deification alongside the Greek term theosis. Latin tradition emphasizes participation in divine nature through sacraments. A priest pouring wine and water into a chalice prays: By the mystery of this water and wine may we come to share in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share in our humanity.
Eastern Orthodox theology defines theosis as transformation into union with God. Hierotheos Vlachos describes purification of body and mind followed by illumination via vision of God. This process relies on direct spiritual insight rather than rational thought. Athanasius wrote: For He was made man that we might be made God.
Mormon denominations teach exaltation as reaching the highest level of salvation. Adherents believe they can become gods, create worlds, and govern spirit children. The LDS Church no longer requires polygyny for exaltation. Fundamentalist groups like FLDS still insist on religious polygamy for full exaltation. Wesleyan Protestantism links theosis to entire sanctification, teaching believers can live without voluntary sin.
Paolo Veronese painted Apotheosis of Venice in 1585. It adorns a ceiling inside the Doge's Palace. The composition shows subjects rising toward heavens accompanied by angels or putti. Baroque art often depicted rulers purely as honorific metaphors. Classical Greco-Roman pagan religion provided context for many such scenes.
The Apotheosis of Washington crowns the dome of the United States Capitol Building. Completed in 1865, it features allegorical figures surrounding George Washington. Imagery typically suited placement on ceilings or within domes. Personifications of places received apotheosis alongside abstract concepts.
Sebastiano Ricci created Apotheosis of Saint Sebastian in 1725. Andrea Pozzo painted Saint Ignatius Loyola ascending into heaven between 1691 and 1694. His work appears beside the nave cupola in Rome's Church of the Gesù. Pietro da Cortona celebrated Pope Urban VIII with Allegory of Divine Providence and Barberini Power during the 1630s. Giant bees representing the Barberini family flank crossed keys of papacy.
François Couperin composed Le Parnasse ou L'Apothéose de Corelli for chamber forces. Another piece honored Jean Baptiste Lully titled L'Apothéose de Lully. Movements included Enlévement de Lully au Parnasse describing his raising to Parnassus. French Baroque music used apotheosis as an alternative title to tombeau for memorial pieces.
Franz Liszt treated symphonic themes by blowing them beyond proportions and slowing them dramatically. Critics sometimes dismissed such treatment as vacuous bombast. Richard Wagner described Beethoven's Seventh Symphony metaphorically as the apotheosis of dance. Hector Berlioz named the final movement of his Grande symphonie funèbre et triomphale Apotheose in 1846.
Samuel Menashe wrote a poem called Apotheosis between 1925 and 2011. Barbara Kingsolver authored another work under the same name. Emily Dickinson published Love Poem 18: Apotheosis from 1830 to 1886. Paul Laurence Dunbar created Love's Apotheosis while Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote The Apotheosis or the Snow-Drop in 1787.
Continue Browsing
Common questions
When did the Roman Senate vote to deify Julius Caesar?
The Roman Senate voted to deify Julius Caesar in 42 BC. This decree was issued by his adopted son Octavian, who later became Augustus.
Who is considered the first Roman ruler to receive divine status as divus?
Quirinus held that status among Romans before Julius Caesar received it. He was identified with Romulus, the city's founder.
What year did Septimius Severus order a lavish funeral for Pertinax?
Septimius Severus ordered a lavish funeral for Pertinax in 193 AD. Historian Dio Cassius witnessed the event and described its scale.
During which dynasty did Song dynasty general Yue Fei receive deification?
Song dynasty general Yue Fei received deification during the Ming dynasty. Some practitioners rank him among three highest-ranking heavenly generals.
What years did Swaminarayan live according to historical records?
Swaminarayan lived from 1781 to 1830 and is regarded by some Hindus as an avatar of Krishna.
When was The Apotheosis of Washington completed on the United States Capitol Building dome?
The Apotheosis of Washington was completed in 1865. It features allegorical figures surrounding George Washington.
All sources
50 references cited across the entry
- 1bookImhotep: The Egyptian god of medicineJamieson B. Hurry — Traffic Output — 2014
- 2journalReligion of the Greeks and Romanschevalier de Jaucourt (biography) Louis — 2005-12-19
- 3web12 Main Greek Gods of Greek Mythology -2019-11-26
- 4webGreek Mythology's Greatest Love StorySean Kelly — 2025-02-14
- 5bookAlexander the GreatRobin Lane Fox — Allen Lane — 1973
- 6bookOutline-history of Greek religionLewis Richard Farnell — Duckworth & Co. — 1921
- 7webRelevant facts about ancient Greek hero cultsGregory Nagy
- 8bookA Dictionary of Greek and Roman AntiquitiesWilliam Smith et al. — John Murray — 1890
- 9wikisourceRichard GarnettCambridge University Press — 1911
- 10journalYüeh Fei (1103-41) and China's Heritage of LoyaltyJames T. C. Liu — 1972
- 12bookProspect Theory and Foreign Policy Analysis in the Asia Pacific: Rational Leaders and Risky BehaviorK. He et al. — Taylor & Francis — 2013
- 13bookThe Sun Tyrant: A Nightmare Called North KoreaJ. P. Floru — Biteback — 2017
- 14webJohn 10:34
- 16bookHistorical Dictionary of Radical ChristianityW. H. Brackney — Scarecrow Press — 2012
- 17bookA Church Dictionary: A Practical Manual of Reference for Clergyman and StudentsW. F. Hook et al. — John Murray — 1896
- 18bookHistory of the Waldenses of Italy: From Their Origin to the ReformationE. Comba et al. — Truslove & Shirley — 1889
- 26bookA history of ideas and images in Italian artJames Hall — Murray — 1983
- 27bookOrthodox Spirituality: A Brief IntroductionHierotheos Vlachos — Birth of the Theotokos Monastery — 1994
- 28bookLatter-Day Screens: Gender, Sexuality, and Mediated MormonismBrenda R. Weber — Duke University Press — 2019
- 29bookDesert Patriarchy: Mormon and Mennonite Communities in the Chihuahua ValleyJanet Bennion — University of Arizona Press — May 1, 2004
- 30journal'A Continuation of the Seeds': Joseph Smith and Spirit BirthBrian Hales — University of Illinois Press — Fall 2012
- 31bookContemporary Mormonism: Latter-day Saints in Modern AmericaClaudia Bushman — Greenwood Publishing Group — 2006
- 32bookEncyclopedia of MormonismK. Codell Carter — Macmillan Publishers — 1992
- 33bookGospel FundamentalsLDS Church
- 34bookPolygamy: A Cross-Cultural AnalysisMiriam Koktvedgaard Zeitzen — Berg Publishers — May 15, 2008
- 35journalIs the Creed orthodox?Theodore Runyon — Oxford Institute of Methodist Theological Studies — Spring 1987
- 36journalThe Fatimids and Their Traditions of LearningIsmail K. Poonawala et al. — July 1999
- 37journalThe Origins of the Druze Religion (Fortsetzung)David R. W. Bryer — 1975
- 38bookThe World's Greatest Religious Leaders: How Religious Figures Helped Shape World History 2 volumesABC-CLIO — 2018
- 39journalThe Origins of the Druze ReligionDavid Bryer — 1975
- 40journalThe Christian Influences in Ismaili ThoughtRami İbrahim Mahmut — 30 June 2023
- 41webFrançois Couperin – L'Apothéose de Lully & Leçons de ténèbres – Arcangelo & Jonathan Cohen HyperionCurtis Rogers — July 2017
- 42bookMusic and Monumentality: Commemoration and Wonderment in Nineteenth Century GermanyAlexander Rehding — Oxford University Press — August 19, 2009
- 44bookDeification in Russian Religious Thought: Between the Revolutions, 1905-1917 - Ruth Coates - Google BooksRuth Coates — Oxford University Press — 12 September 2019
- 45bookRLE: Japan Mini-Set F: Philosophy and Religion (4 vols)V. Authors — Taylor & Francis — 2021
- 47bookAthenae Britannicae, or, A Critical History of the Oxford and Cambridge Writers and WritingsFor the author — 1716
- 48bookSpiritual Exegesis and the Church in the Theology of Henri de LubacS.K. Wood — Wipf & Stock Publishers — 2010
- 49bookArchitects of the Culture of DeathD. De Marco et al. — Ignatius Press — 2016
- 50webDarwin, Carlyle, and Dickens, with Other Essays - Samuel Davey - Google BooksSamuel Davey — 1876