The early Mycenean pantheon includes now familiar deities such as Poseidon, who evolves as a god of the underworld, and Demeter and Persephone, goddesses of the Eleusinian Mysteries.
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The religion of the Mycenaeans is early ancient Greek. The modern pantheon and myths of the Greek deities are based on divinities of Arcadia and Mycenaean Greece, Crete and regions of Thrace.
Poseidon, God of Water, Storms, Earthquakes & Horses
Poseidon is originally a chthonic god of earthquakes, groundwater and underwater rivers. Groundwater is a precious resource in lands surrounded by the salt seas and regions susceptible to drought.
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A god of great power, he's worshipped in Arcadia (c. 1600 BCE), a pre-Mycenaean inland region of southern Greece. Other Arcadian gods include Hermes and Pan.
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The lands are formed by cataclysmic seismographic events. In Pylos and Thebes, Poseidon has the cult title "earth shaker" (E-ne-si-da-o-ne). Because of the active volcanic nature of the Greek Isles and coast, earth tremors are felt throughout the regions.
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Poseidon is associated with horses as the early Hellenes bring his cult to Greece. They introduce horses into Greece by c. 2000.
Demeter and Persephone, Mother & Daughter Agriculture Mystery Goddesses
Demeter and Persephone are the mother and daughter goddesses of the Eleusinian Mysteries. The cult gains prevalence c. 1500 BCE with an annual festival at the Panhellistic Sanctuary of Eleusis in ancient Greece.
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The women are called the two mistresses or two goddesses. A early agricultural goddess, Pe-re-swa develops into Persephone. Demeter is Sito or wheat. A cult of Despoina (the mistress) prevails until classical Greece in the 4th - 5th centuries BCE.
In Arcadian myth, Poseidon is an underworld river spirit who takes the form of a horse (Poseidon Hippios) and pursues Demeter. She becomes a mare, and they mate. Demeter gives birth to the divine black-maned horse Arion, who appears in later myths.
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Demeter's daughter, Despoina, is depicted either as a mare of a woman with mare's head. Animal-headed statues also appear in Arcadia.
In the cult of Despoina at Lycosura, the two goddesses are associated with springs and animals. They're especially connected to Poseidon as well as Artemis, the "mistress of the animals" who is the first nymph.
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Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt, Wild Animals, Childbirth, Nature & Vegetation
In Arcadia Artemis emerges as a daughter of Demeter. She becomes the most popular Goddess in Greece. Earliest known forms of her name are the Mycenean Greek a-te-mi-to and a-ti-mi-te.
Artemis is preceded by the Minoan goddess Britomartis. Evidence of Britomartis includes a representation between two lines on a seal of Minoan origin, and on gold jewelry from Mycenae. Britomartis is a goddess of wild animals and hunting in Crete.
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At her temple Artemis-Orthia at Sparta, excavations turn up masks resembling human faces. They're worn by dancers in the vegetation cult of Artemis.
She presides in the fertility Cult of the Tree, an ecstatic orgiastic celebration dedicated to her. The Cult of the Tree image also appears on Minoan artifacts.
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Paean, Physician of the Gods
Paean is the personification of a magic song believed to heal sufferers. He's a precursor of the Greek divine physician Asclepius.
Asclepius is skilled at using medicine to cure illness. He performs surgery, recites incantations and practices medicinal herbology to treat patients.
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The song of healing later becomes a song of victory. Followers of Paean are known as 'seer-doctors'.
In ancient times medicine is a combination of natural health, psychology and magic. Chemistry doesn't enter the field of medicine until Paracelsus of the European Renaissance c. 1500 CE.
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Athena, Goddess of Wisdom, War & Handicrafts
Athena appears in Knossos, Crete in the late Minoan II civilization (c. 1470-1420 BC). Originally she's a goddess of palaces and palatial processions. She's represented as a warrior goddess in a Mycenaean fresco.
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Athena appears with her palladium (Pallas Athena), a cult image ensuring the safety of Troy, which is established c.1750 BCE. The name Pallas comes from the Greek meaning 'youthful one' or 'young lady', an attribute often given to a goddess.
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Later Greeks make up elaborate stories about the origin of Pallus. The statue is stolen by Odysseus and Diomedes in the Illiad (written c. 800 BCE). The symbolism is eventually adopted by the Romans.
Dionysos, God of Wine-Making, Fertility, Festivity, Madness & Theater
Assumed to have Thracian origins, Dionysos means "son of Zeus". Before the end of the Mycenean Age Dionysos appears in cult centers at Boeotia and Phocis, the latter known for the Delphic Oracle.
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His cult is centered in Thebes and his orgies are said to be held on Mount Parnassos. He relates to the myths of the Divine Child, abandoned by his mother, who grows up with Nature as his caregiver. In later myths he's born from the thigh of Zeus.
Representations of the Minoan Genius Spirits are also common. Later Mycenean deities include Hephaestus the Fire God and Ares the War God.
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Arcadian deities include Hermes the Herald of the Gods and Pan the Pastoral God, both of whom make their way into the larger sphere of ancient Greek mythology. Eileithyia, Goddess of Childbirth and Midwifery is based on a pre-existing Minoan deity.
The Erinya or Eumenides, a group of vengeful goddesses, dwell in Erebus long before the advent of the Olympian Gods. Erebus is the personification of darkness. These women wear black and hate drips from their eyes. In some stories snakes wind through their hair.
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They hear complaints of mortals, whether of insolence of son to father, host to guests or the city council to supplicants. They also attack those who swear false oaths. Later in myth they are the Furies.
Upon these foundations the Myceneans lay groundwork for the shining pantheon of evolved civilization. Mycenae reaches unprecedented heights of power 1600 - 1100 BCE.
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The early mythology of Greece eventually comes together in a major pantheon to last for centuries. Legends and history of the Greeks influence the Romans (c. 800 BCE) and other cultures through the ages.
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