# The old gods and their long shadow The ancient pantheons and how they still shape the modern world: the Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Norse, and Mesopotamian gods; the syncretism between them; and the threads that survive - the planets and days of the week named for gods, the festivals folded into Christian holidays, and the symbols that outlived their temples. *This story part of: Religion and ideology* *Babylon and its long shadow parallel this story* *Astrology: from the Babylonian sky to the horoscope parallel this story* *The Norse and Germanic gods part of this story* *Hermes Trismegistus and the Hermetic tradition parallel this story* *Easter, Lent, and the roots of the spring festival parallel this story* *The Renaissance: the rebirth of antiquity parallel this story* *The old gods hidden in everyday English part of this story* *Paganism: the old religions, their fall, and their return part of this story* *Zoroastrianism: heaven, hell, and the first cosmic battle parallel this story* ## c. 2501 BCE — Enki, god of water and wisdom, shapes humanity in Mesopotamian myth Enki, known to the Akkadians as Ea, governed fresh water, crafts, and cunning, and repeatedly rescued humankind in myth. He warns the flood hero in the Mesopotamian deluge stories. ## c. 2501 BCE — Enlil, lord of wind and storm, rules the Mesopotamian cosmos Enlil held the tablets of destiny and acted as the chief active god of the Sumerian and later Babylonian pantheon. His main temple, the Ekur at Nippur, was one of Mesopotamia's holiest sites. ## c. 2501 BCE — Inanna, later Ishtar, is the goddess of love and war The Sumerian Inanna and her Akkadian counterpart Ishtar embodied both sexual love and battle, linked to the planet Venus. Her worship spread widely and influenced later Near Eastern and Greek goddess figures. ## c. 2501 BCE — The Sumerians worship An, the sky father, head of the earliest pantheon Sumerian religion, among the oldest documented, placed An (later Akkadian Anu) as the sky god and ancestor of the gods. His name was written with the sign that also meant heaven and divinity itself. ## c. 2401 BCE — Horus, the falcon god, embodies Egyptian kingship Horus, son of Osiris and Isis, was depicted as a falcon or falcon-headed man and identified with the living pharaoh. His mythic struggle against Seth avenged his father and secured the throne. ## c. 2401 BCE — Ra, the sun god, sails across the Egyptian sky Ra was the Egyptian sun god who traveled the heavens by day and the underworld by night. From the Old Kingdom on, pharaohs styled themselves sons of Ra, and the god merged with Amun as Amun-Ra. ## c. 2351 BCE — Isis, mother goddess and healer, gathers the Egyptian myths of magic Isis, wife of Osiris and mother of Horus, was revered for magic, healing, and devotion. Her image nursing the infant Horus became one of the most enduring in ancient art. ## c. 2351 BCE — Osiris rules the Egyptian underworld and judges the dead Osiris, god of the dead and rebirth, presided over the judgment of souls in the Egyptian afterlife. His green skin symbolized regeneration and the yearly return of vegetation. ## c. 2351 BCE — The Osiris death-and-resurrection cycle shapes Egyptian religion In the central Egyptian myth, Osiris is murdered by Seth, revived by Isis, and reborn to rule the dead while his son Horus takes the throne. The cycle tied kingship, farming seasons, and hope for an afterlife together. ## c. 2001 BCE — Tammuz descends to the underworld and returns each year The Sumerian shepherd god Dumuzi, called Tammuz in Akkadian, spends part of the year in the underworld while Inanna mourns him. His return was linked to the seasonal revival of life. ## c. 2001 BCE — The dying-and-rising god pattern recurs across the ancient world Several ancient religions told of a god who dies and returns, tied to the cycle of the seasons and crops. Osiris, Tammuz, and Dionysus are the most cited examples in comparative study. ## c. 1901 BCE — Inanna's descent maps the journey to the underworld The Sumerian poem of Inanna's descent tells how the goddess passes through seven gates into the land of the dead and is stripped of her powers, then returns. It is one of the oldest recorded underworld journeys. ## c. 1751 BCE — Marduk rises to head the Babylonian pantheon As Babylon grew powerful under Hammurabi and after, its city god Marduk was elevated above the older Sumerian gods. He was credited with ordering the cosmos and holding the tablets of destiny. ## c. 1551 BCE — The Egyptian Book of the Dead guides souls through the afterlife The collection of spells known today as the Book of the Dead was written on papyri buried with the dead in the New Kingdom. It includes the weighing of the heart against the feather of Maat before Osiris. ## c. 1501 BCE — Creation myths across cultures order the world from chaos Many ancient cultures told creation stories in which order arises from a watery or formless chaos, as in the Babylonian Enuma Elish and the opening of Genesis. Scholars study these shared patterns in comparative mythology. ## c. 1501 BCE — The Vedic peoples worship Indra and the early Indo-Aryan gods The Rigveda praises gods such as the warrior Indra, the fire god Agni, and the sky god Dyaus, whose name shares a root with Zeus and Jupiter. These hymns record one of the oldest living religious traditions. ## c. 1201 BCE — The flood hero survives the deluge in the Epic of Gilgamesh In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Utnapishtim tells how the gods sent a great flood and how he built a boat and saved his family and animals. Older versions name the hero Atrahasis or Ziusudra. ## c. 1101 BCE — The Enuma Elish tells the Babylonian creation and Marduk's triumph The Babylonian creation epic Enuma Elish describes Marduk slaying the sea goddess Tiamat and forming the world from her body. It was recited at the Babylonian New Year festival and survives on cuneiform tablets. ## c. 1001 BCE — Zoroaster preaches Ahura Mazda in ancient Iran The prophet Zoroaster taught worship of the wise lord Ahura Mazda and a cosmic struggle between truth and falsehood. Zoroastrian ideas about judgment, heaven, and a final renewal influenced later religions. ## c. 751 BCE — Homer's epics fix the characters of the Greek gods The Iliad and Odyssey, attributed to Homer, portray the Olympian gods intervening in human affairs with distinct personalities. These epics became foundational to Greek education and shared identity. ## c. 751 BCE — The Greeks worship Zeus and the Olympian gods Zeus, god of sky and thunder, ruled a family of gods said to dwell on Mount Olympus. His name descends from the same Indo-European sky-father root that gave Latin its Jupiter. ## c. 701 BCE — Hesiod's Theogony records the genealogy of the Greek gods Hesiod's Theogony arranges the origins of the cosmos and the descent of the gods from Chaos through the Titans to Zeus. It is our main systematic source for Greek creation myth. ## c. 701 BCE — January is named for Janus, god of doorways and beginnings The Romans named the first month for Janus, the two-faced god who looked to the past and the future. His role as god of gates suited the opening of the year. ## c. 701 BCE — June is named for Juno, queen of the gods June honors Juno, wife of Jupiter and protector of marriage and women, which is often tied to the month's link with weddings. May likewise honors the goddess Maia. ## c. 701 BCE — March is named for Mars, the god of war March took its name from Mars, the war god, and once opened the Roman year and the season for military campaigns. Its old first place explains why September through December carry number-names for seventh to tenth. ## c. 701 BCE — Prometheus brings fire and civilization to humankind In Greek myth the Titan Prometheus steals fire from the gods and gives it to humans, and is punished for it. The figure of the culture-bringer who defies the gods recurs in many traditions. ## c. 701 BCE — The Twelve Olympians form the core Greek pantheon Greek religion centered on twelve major gods including Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Athena, Apollo, and Artemis. Each held domains and city cults, and their myths were shared across the Greek world. ## c. 701 BCE — The divine hero of miraculous birth appears across mythologies Many traditions tell of a hero of divine parentage who performs great labors, such as the Greek Heracles born of Zeus. Scholars trace a shared hero pattern across cultures. ## c. 701 BCE — The succession myth links Hesiod, the Hittites, and Babylon Greek myth of Uranus, Cronus, and Zeus overthrowing their fathers closely resembles the Hittite Kumarbi cycle and the Babylonian Enuma Elish. The parallels show the flow of Near Eastern myth into Greece. ## c. 701 BCE — The word ocean descends from the god Oceanus The Greeks pictured Oceanus as a Titan and a great river encircling the world, and his name gives us the word ocean. The Atlantic likewise recalls the Titan Atlas and the Aegean the legendary king Aegeus. ## c. 601 BCE — The Eleusinian Mysteries promise initiates a blessed afterlife The secret rites at Eleusis honored Demeter and Persephone and drew initiates from across the Greek and Roman worlds for over a thousand years. They centered on the myth of Persephone's descent and return. ## c. 601 BCE — The Mesopotamian flood story parallels the biblical Noah The flood account in Genesis shares striking details with the older Mesopotamian versions, including a divine warning, a boat, and birds sent out to find land. Scholars widely note the parallel between the two traditions. ## c. 510 BCE — Jupiter presides over the Roman state religion Jupiter Optimus Maximus, the sky and thunder god, was the chief god of Rome, honored in the great temple on the Capitoline Hill. He guarded oaths, law, and the Roman state. ## c. 501 BCE — Athens is named for the goddess Athena The city of Athens took its name from Athena, its patron goddess of wisdom and craft, who in myth won the city by giving the olive tree. Her great temple, the Parthenon, still crowns the Acropolis. ## c. 501 BCE — Dionysus dies and is reborn in Greek mystery myth Greek myth told of Dionysus, in his form as Zagreus, being torn apart and then reborn, a theme central to Orphic mystery cults. The story linked him to wine, ecstasy, and renewal. ## c. 501 BCE — Orpheus journeys into the underworld to reclaim the dead The Greek hero Orpheus travels to the land of the dead to bring back his wife Eurydice, only to lose her by looking back. The story became a model for the underworld quest in later art and music. ## c. 441 BCE — The interpretatio graeca reads other pantheons through Greek eyes Greek writers such as Herodotus identified Egyptian and other foreign gods with Greek ones, equating Amun with Zeus and Thoth with Hermes. This habit of matching gods shaped ancient understanding of religion. ## c. 401 BCE — Beltane and May Day keep the old spring fire festival The Celtic festival of Beltane greeted summer with bonfires and cattle rites at the start of May. Its customs survive in May Day celebrations with maypoles and flowers. ## c. 401 BCE — Samhain shapes Halloween and All Saints' customs The Celtic festival of Samhain marked the end of harvest and a night when the dead drew near, celebrated at the start of November. Its themes fed into the folk customs of Halloween. ## c. 332 BCE — Alexander is hailed as son of Zeus-Ammon At the oasis of Siwa, Alexander the Great was greeted as the son of Ammon, whom the Greeks equated with Zeus. The blended god Zeus-Ammon shows how conquest spread the mixing of pantheons. ## c. 301 BCE — Greek and Roman gods are treated as the same deities Zeus and Jupiter, Aphrodite and Venus, Hermes and Mercury came to be seen as one and the same gods under two names. This merging gave the classical world a shared mythology across languages. ## c. 301 BCE — Hellenistic culture blends the gods of many peoples After Alexander, Greek, Egyptian, and Near Eastern religions mixed freely, producing blended gods and shared mystery cults. This wide syncretism prepared the ground for religions that crossed old borders. ## c. 301 BCE — Rome adopts and identifies with the Greek pantheon As Rome absorbed Greek culture, it matched its own gods to the Olympians, so Jupiter answered to Zeus and Venus to Aphrodite. Greek myths were retold with Roman names and became the standard classical mythology. ## c. 301 BCE — Serapis is created to unite Greek and Egyptian worship The Ptolemaic rulers of Egypt promoted Serapis, a god blending Osiris and the Apis bull with Greek gods like Zeus and Hades. He was meant to bind Greek and Egyptian subjects in a common cult. ## c. 205 BCE — Rome imports the goddess Cybele as Magna Mater During the war with Hannibal, Rome brought the Anatolian mother goddess Cybele to the city as the Great Mother on the advice of an oracle. Her ecstatic cult and priests became a striking foreign presence in Roman religion. ## c. 201 BCE — Jupiter the planet honors the king of the gods The largest planet was named for Jupiter, chief of the Roman gods, fitting its size and brightness. The god's Greek name Zeus survives in the planet's adjective, Jovian. ## c. 201 BCE — Mars the planet is named for the god of war The reddish planet took the name of Mars, the Roman war god, its color suggesting blood and battle. The link gives us the adjective martial for things related to war. ## c. 201 BCE — Mercury the planet takes the name of the swift messenger god The fastest-moving planet was named for Mercury, the quick messenger god of the Romans, matching the Greek Hermes. Its swift motion across the sky suited the god of speed. ## c. 201 BCE — Saturn the planet carries the name of the old god of time and harvest The slowest of the visible planets was named for Saturn, an ancient Roman god of agriculture and time. The same god gives his name to the weekday Saturday. ## c. 201 BCE — The planets are named for the Roman gods The five planets visible to the naked eye carry the Latin names of Roman gods, a practice inherited from Greek and Babylonian astronomy. These names remain the standard ones used in science today. ## c. 201 BCE — Venus the planet bears the name of the goddess of love The brightest planet was named for Venus, Roman goddess of love and beauty, corresponding to the Greek Aphrodite. Earlier Mesopotamian astronomers had already linked the same planet to Ishtar. ## c. 101 BCE — The Celts honor Lugh, the Dagda, and Brigid Celtic peoples worshiped gods such as the skilled Lugh, the fatherly Dagda, and the goddess Brigid, known mostly from Irish texts and Roman accounts. Many local deities were tied to springs, rivers, and tribes. ## c. 51 BCE — The cult of Isis reaches Rome and the wider empire The Egyptian goddess Isis gained a devoted following across the Roman Empire, with temples and mystery rites promising salvation. Her worship crossed classes and endured into late antiquity. ## c. 45 BCE — July and August are renamed for Julius Caesar and Augustus The month Quintilis was renamed July for Julius Caesar after his calendar reform, and Sextilis became August for the emperor Augustus. Both men were later honored as divine by the Roman state. ## c. 98 — Tacitus records the gods of the Germanic tribes In his Germania, the Roman historian Tacitus described Germanic worship and matched their gods to Roman ones such as Mercury and Mars. These early gods are ancestors of the later Norse deities. ## c. 98 — The interpretatio romana matches foreign gods to Roman ones Romans routinely identified the gods of other peoples with their own, calling a Celtic or Germanic god by a Roman name they thought fit. Tacitus used this method to describe Germanic religion. ## c. 100 — Hermes Trismegistus merges the Greek Hermes with Egyptian Thoth In the Hellenistic world the Greek Hermes and the Egyptian god of writing Thoth were fused into Hermes Trismegistus, a supposed sage of hidden wisdom. Texts attributed to him shaped later magic, alchemy, and the occult. ## c. 100 — Saturday keeps the name of the Roman god Saturn Unlike the other weekdays in English, Saturday kept its Roman name, the day of Saturn, without a Germanic substitute. It preserves the old god directly in modern speech. ## c. 100 — Sunday and Monday are named for the sun and the moon Sunday keeps the Roman day of the sun and Monday the day of the moon, both once treated as divine. The names survived the shift to Christianity across northern Europe. ## c. 100 — The cult of Mithras spreads through the Roman army Mithraism, a mystery religion centered on the god Mithras slaying a bull, drew many Roman soldiers and met in underground temples. Its origins drew on the Persian deity Mithra reshaped in a Roman setting. ## c. 100 — The seven-day week is named for the sun, moon, and planets The planetary week assigned each day to a heavenly body and its god, a system that spread through the Roman world. English kept some Roman names and swapped others for Germanic gods. ## c. 150 — Babylonian astrology survives in the zodiac and horoscopes The zodiac signs and the practice of reading fate in the planets grew from Babylonian star lore, spread by Greek writers like Ptolemy. Their god-named planets still anchor astrology today. ## c. 274 — Aurelian promotes Sol Invictus as a unifying sun god The emperor Aurelian raised the cult of Sol Invictus, the Unconquered Sun, as a state god drawing on eastern and Roman solar worship. The sun cult gathered several traditions into one imperial religion. ## c. 300 — The halo in Christian art descends from images of the sun gods The radiant halo used to mark holy figures grew out of the sun-rays shown around gods and emperors, such as Sol and Helios. Early Christian art adopted the device for Christ, saints, and angels. ## c. 336 — Christmas is placed on December 25, the date of the sun's rebirth December 25 was celebrated as the birthday of the Unconquered Sun near the winter solstice, and Christian Rome fixed the birth of Christ on the same day. Scholars still debate how far the sun festival shaped the choice. ## c. 336 — Saturnalia's midwinter customs feed into Christmas The Roman festival of Saturnalia brought feasting, gift-giving, and a loosening of rules in late December, and some of its spirit carried into Christmas. The church set the Nativity in the same season of older winter festivals. ## c. 400 — Friday is named for Frigg, the Germanic goddess The Roman day of Venus became Friday, named for the goddess Frigg or Freya, matched to the goddess of love. French kept the Venus form as vendredi. ## c. 400 — The mother-and-child image passes from Isis to Christian art The widespread image of Isis nursing the infant Horus is often compared to later depictions of Mary and the Christ child. Art historians note the visual echo between the two devotional images. ## c. 400 — Thursday is named for Thor, the thunder god The Roman day of Jupiter became Thursday, named for the thunder god Thor, matched to the sky god Jove. French kept the Jupiter form as jeudi. ## c. 400 — Tuesday is named for Tiw, the Germanic god of war The Roman day of Mars became Tuesday, named for the Germanic war god Tiw or Tyr, a match of like gods. The Romance languages kept the Mars form, as in French mardi. ## c. 400 — Wednesday is named for Woden, the Germanic Odin The Roman day of Mercury became Wednesday, named for Woden, the Germanic form of Odin, seen as a like figure. French kept the Mercury form as mercredi. ## c. 600 — Brigid the goddess passes into a Christian saint and Candlemas The Irish goddess Brigid and her festival Imbolc in early February shaded into the cult of Saint Brigid and the feast of Candlemas. The blending shows how a pagan figure could be reworked as a Christian one. ## c. 725 — Easter carries the name of a goddess through Bede The monk Bede wrote that the English word Easter came from Eostre, a spring goddess whose month gave the festival its name. The German Ostern and English Easter still preserve the old name. ## c. 800 — Odin leads the Norse gods as god of wisdom and war Odin, chief of the Norse Aesir, sought wisdom at the cost of an eye and hung on the world tree to win the runes. He gathered slain warriors to Valhalla for the final battle. ## c. 800 — Thor, the thunder god, guards the Norse world with his hammer Thor wielded the hammer Mjolnir against giants and was the most widely worshiped Norse god among common people. His name survives in the weekday Thursday. ## c. 835 — The church sets All Saints' and All Souls' at the start of November The feast of All Saints was fixed on November 1 and All Souls' on November 2, overlapping the old season of the dead. The eve became All Hallows' Eve, later Halloween. ## c. 900 — The Germanic feast of Yule blends into Christmas The midwinter feast of Yule was folded into Christmas as northern peoples became Christian, and the word Yule still means Christmas. Customs such as evergreens and the Yule log carried over. ## c. 1220 — Ragnarok foretells the twilight and rebirth of the Norse gods Norse myth describes Ragnarok, a final battle in which Odin, Thor, and other gods fall and the world burns and sinks, then rises green and renewed. The vision is recorded in the Eddas. ## c. 1220 — Snorri Sturluson writes the Prose Edda The Icelandic scholar Snorri Sturluson compiled the Prose Edda as a handbook of Norse myth and poetry for Christian-era poets. Much of what we know of Norse mythology comes from his work. ## c. 1270 — The Poetic Edda preserves Old Norse mythological verse The Poetic Edda, gathered in the Icelandic Codex Regius, collects older poems about the Norse gods and heroes. It is a primary source for stories of creation and the end of the world. ## c. 1400 — Cupid endures as the symbol of Valentine's Day The Roman love god Cupid, son of Venus, survives as the winged archer of Valentine's Day cards. His arrows remain a common image for falling in love. ## c. 1450 — The Renaissance revives the classical gods in art and learning Renaissance artists and scholars returned to Greek and Roman myth, painting Venus, Apollo, and the Muses and reading the ancient poets closely. The gods lived on as cultural symbols rather than objects of worship. ## c. 1500 — Everyday English words carry the names of ancient gods Common words descend from god-names, such as cereal from Ceres, volcano from Vulcan, panic from Pan, and jovial from Jove. The old gods live on hidden in ordinary speech. ## c. 1781 — Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto extend the god-naming to modern discoveries When astronomers found planets beyond Saturn, they kept the classical tradition, naming them for Uranus the sky god, Neptune the sea god, and Pluto the god of the underworld. The choices tied new science to ancient myth. ## 1890 — Frazer's Golden Bough popularizes the dying-god theme James Frazer's study The Golden Bough gathered myths of dying and reviving gods and vegetation spirits from many cultures. Though its sweeping claims are now debated, it shaped modern comparative mythology. ## c. 1900 — Goodyear's winged foot comes from the god Mercury The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, founded in Ohio in 1898, adopted a winged-foot logo around 1900. It is based on the winged sandals of Mercury, the Roman messenger god also known to the Greeks as Hermes. ## c. 1902 — Minerva cars used the Roman goddess of wisdom as their emblem The Belgian carmaker Minerva, which began building automobiles around 1902, used the helmeted head of Minerva, the Roman goddess of wisdom, as its emblem. ## c. 1911 — Mobil's flying red horse is Pegasus of Greek myth The Socony oil company adopted a flying red horse as its trademark around 1911, the winged horse Pegasus of Greek mythology. The emblem was later carried by Mobil. ## 1912 — Hercules Powder is named for the strongman hero of Greek myth Hercules Powder Company, spun off from DuPont in 1912, made explosives and took the name of Hercules, the Greek hero known for superhuman strength. ## 1914 — FTD's emblem is the messenger god Mercury The florist network, founded in 1910, took a running Mercury as its emblem in 1914. The winged messenger god fit a business that carried flowers across distances. ## 1914 — Maserati's logo is the trident of the Roman god Neptune The Italian carmaker, founded in Bologna in 1914, took its trident logo from the statue of Neptune, the Roman sea god, in the city's central fountain. ## 1916 — Trojan condoms are named for the warriors of ancient Troy The Trojan condom brand, introduced in the United States in 1916, is named and pictured after the warriors of ancient Troy from the Trojan War of Greek legend. ## 1917 — Ambrosia is named for the food of the gods The English creamery Ambrosia, founded in Devon in 1917, is named after ambrosia, the food of the gods in Greek mythology. ## 1919 — Aurora pens are named for the Roman goddess of dawn The Italian fountain-pen maker Aurora, founded in Turin in 1919, is named after Aurora, the Roman goddess of the dawn. ## 1919 — Olympus cameras are named for Mount Olympus The Japanese optical company, founded in 1919, took the name Olympus after Mount Olympus, home of the Greek gods. It mirrored the firm's first brand Takachiho, a sacred peak of Japanese myth. ## 1920 — Mazda is named after the Zoroastrian god Ahura Mazda The Japanese automaker, founded in 1920, drew its name from Ahura Mazda, the Zoroastrian god of light and wisdom. The name also echoes founder Jujiro Matsuda's surname. ## 1934 — Canon began as Kwanon, named for a Buddhist deity The Japanese camera maker's first camera in 1934 was called Kwanon, after Kannon, also known as Guanyin, the Buddhist deity of mercy. The name was soon anglicized to Canon. ## 1936 — Argus cameras are named for the hundred-eyed giant of Greek myth The Argus camera brand, launched in Michigan in 1936, borrows the name of Argus Panoptes, the hundred-eyed all-seeing giant of Greek myth. ## 1938 — The Mercury car brand is named for the Roman messenger god Edsel Ford launched the Mercury car brand in 1938, naming it after Mercury, the swift Roman messenger god, to convey speed and dependability. ## 1947 — Ajax cleanser is named after the Greek warrior Ajax Colgate-Palmolive launched its Ajax cleanser in 1947, naming it after Ajax, the powerful Greek warrior of the Trojan War, to suggest strength against dirt. ## 1948 — Atlas Van Lines is named for the Titan who bears the sky The American moving company, founded in Indiana in 1948, is named after Atlas, the Titan of Greek myth condemned to bear the heavens on his shoulders. The name suggests strength in carrying loads. ## 1949 — Garuda Indonesia is named for the divine bird of Hindu myth Indonesia's national airline, established in 1949, is named after Garuda, the divine bird that serves as the mount of Vishnu in Hindu mythology. Garuda also appears on the country's national emblem. ## 1949 — Joseph Campbell frames the hero's journey as a shared pattern In The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell argued that hero myths worldwide follow a common arc of departure, trial, and return. His idea influenced storytelling and popular culture far beyond scholarship. ## 1954 — Gerald Gardner launches modern Wicca Gerald Gardner presented Wicca as a modern nature religion drawing on old pagan imagery, a goddess and a horned god, and the wheel of seasonal festivals. It grew into the largest strand of modern paganism. ## 1956 — Vulcan Materials is named for the Roman god of the forge Vulcan Materials, the U.S. construction-aggregates company formed in 1956, is named after Vulcan, the Roman god of fire and the forge. The name reflects the iron heritage of Birmingham, Alabama. ## 1958 — NASA names its programs after the ancient gods NASA drew its program names from Greco-Roman mythology: Mercury the messenger, Gemini the twins, Apollo the god of the sun and prophecy, and later Artemis (Apollo's twin) for the return to the Moon, plus Orion, Juno, and the Saturn and Atlas and Titan rockets. The oldest gods still name the newest machines. ## 1963 — Bacchus energy tonic is named for the Roman god of wine Dong-A Pharmaceutical of South Korea launched its Bacchus tonic in 1963, named after Bacchus, the Roman god of wine. ## 1969 — Janus funds are named for the two-faced Roman god The Janus mutual funds, founded in Denver in 1969, are named after Janus, the two-faced Roman god of beginnings, gates, and transitions. ## 1971 — Nike is named for the Greek goddess of victory In 1971 Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman renamed their shoe company Blue Ribbon Sports to Nike, after Nike, the winged Greek goddess of victory. The swoosh logo is meant to suggest her wing. ## 1971 — Starbucks uses the twin-tailed siren of Greek myth as its logo The Seattle coffee company, founded in 1971, built its logo around a twin-tailed siren, the sea creature of Greek myth whose song lured sailors. The company name itself comes from a character in Moby-Dick. ## 1972 — Apollo Tyres is named for the god Apollo The Indian tire manufacturer, founded in 1972, is named after Apollo, the Greek and Roman god of the sun, light, and strength. ## 1972 — Hermes parcel service is named for the Greek messenger god The German parcel-delivery service, founded in 1972, is named after Hermes, the Greek messenger god, a fitting patron for shipping goods. ## 1972 — Iceland recognizes Asatru, a revival of Norse worship Followers of Asatru revived worship of the Norse gods such as Odin and Thor, and Iceland gave the group official standing in the 1970s. Similar heathen movements spread in Europe and North America. ## 1977 — Kronos software is named for the Greek figure of time The workforce and timekeeping software firm, founded in Massachusetts in 1977, is named after Chronos, the personification of time in Greek myth, often rendered Kronos. ## 1977 — Oracle is named for the prophetic oracle of Greek religion The software company, founded in California in 1977, is named for the oracle, a source of prophecy and truth in Greek religion, most famously the Oracle of Delphi. ## 1978 — Orion Pictures is named for the hunter of Greek myth Orion Pictures, founded in 1978, is named after the constellation Orion, itself named for the giant hunter of Greek mythology. ## 1978 — Versace uses the head of Medusa as its emblem Gianni Versace founded his Italian fashion house in 1978 and chose the head of Medusa, the snake-haired Gorgon of Greek myth, as its symbol. He said she stood for a beauty with no way back. ## 1981 — Maruti is named for the Hindu deity Hanuman Maruti, India's carmaker whose modern entity was established in 1981, is named after Maruti, a traditional name for the Hindu deity Hanuman, the swift and mighty son of the wind god. ## 1982 — Pandora jewelry is named for the first woman of Greek myth The Danish jeweler, founded in Copenhagen in 1982, is named after Pandora, the first woman in Greek mythology. Her famous jar, often called a box, held the world's evils. ## 1984 — Titan watches are named for the elder gods of Greek myth Titan, the Indian watchmaker founded in 1984 as a Tata venture, is named after the Titans, the elder gods of Greek mythology. ## 1984 — TriStar Pictures uses Pegasus as its logo The film studio, founded in 1984, uses a winged horse as its logo, Pegasus of Greek myth, shown galloping in its opening sequence. ## 1985 — The Saturn car brand traces to the Roman god Saturn General Motors created the Saturn car brand in 1985, naming it after the Saturn rockets and ultimately the planet, which carries the name of the Roman god of agriculture and time. ## 1989 — Asus takes its name from Pegasus of Greek myth The Taiwanese electronics company, founded in 1989, took its name from the last letters of Pegasus, the winged horse of Greek mythology. ## 1990 — Pegasus Airlines is named for the winged horse of Greek myth The Turkish low-cost carrier, founded in 1990, is named after Pegasus, the winged horse of Greek mythology. ## 1993 — Nvidia's name echoes invidia, envy in Roman myth The graphics-chip company, founded in California in 1993, built its name around the NV acronym for next version. The founders liked that the result resembled invidia, the Latin word for envy personified in Roman myth as the goddess Invidia. ## 1994 — Amazon is named after the warrior women of Greek myth Jeff Bezos named his 1994 online bookstore after the Amazon River, the world's largest. Spanish explorers had named that river for the Amazons, the warrior women of Greek mythology. ## 1994 — Delphi is named for the ancient Greek oracle site Delphi, the auto-parts company spun off from General Motors in 1994, is named after Delphi, the ancient Greek sanctuary of Apollo and home of its famous oracle. ## 1996 — Osiris Shoes is named for the Egyptian god of the afterlife The skateboarding footwear brand Osiris, founded in San Diego in 1996, is named after Osiris, the ancient Egyptian god of the afterlife and resurrection. ## 1999 — LUNA bars are named for the Roman goddess of the moon Clif Bar launched its LUNA nutrition bar for women in 1999, named after Luna, the Roman goddess who personified the moon. ## 1999 — NYX Cosmetics is named for the Greek goddess of night NYX Cosmetics, founded in Los Angeles in 1999, is named after Nyx, the Greek goddess of the night. ## 2000 — Pandora music is named for Pandora's box of Greek myth The music-streaming service, launched in 2000, is named after Pandora's box of Greek myth, opening to reveal a tailored world of songs. ## 2001 — Venus razors are named for the Roman goddess of love Gillette introduced its Venus razor for women in 2001, named after Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty. ## 2014 — Elysium Health is named for the paradise of Greek myth The supplement company Elysium Health, founded in 2014, is named after Elysium, the paradise reserved for heroes in Greek mythology.