In theology, apotheosis refers to the idea that an individual has been raised to godlike stature.
The long-deceased heroes linked with founding myths of Greek sites were accorded chthonic rites in their heroon, or “hero-temple”.
Myth today has come to have negative connotations which are the complete opposite of its meaning in a religious context... In a religious context, however, myths are storied vehicles of supreme truth, the most basic and important truths of all. By them people regulate and interpret their lives and find worth and purpose in their existence.
Myths put one in touch with sacred realities, the fundamental sources of being, power, and truth. They are seen not only as being the opposite of error but also as being clearly distinguishable from stories told for entertainment and from the workaday, domestic, practical language of a people. They provide answers to the mysteries of being and becoming, mysteries which, as mysteries, are hidden, yet mysteries which are revealed through story and ritual.
Myths deal not only with truth but with ultimate truth.
These are the hidden words that The Living Jesus spoke.
And Didymos Judas Thomas wrote them down.
“Not until The Male becomes Female and The Female becomes Male shall ye enter The Kingdom of Heaven.”
— The Gospel of Thomas
In theology, apotheosis refers to the idea that an individual has been raised to godlike stature. In art, the term refers to the treatment of any subject (a figure, group, locale, motif, convention or melody) in a particularly grand or exalted manner.
Antiquity
Further information: imperial cult and divine king
Before the Hellenistic period, imperial cults were known in Ancient Egypt (pharaohs) and Mesopotamia (since Naram-Sin). From the New Kingdom, all deceased pharaohs were deified as the god Osiris.
Ancient Greece
Main article: Greek hero cult
From at least the Geometric period of the ninth century BC, the long-deceased heroes linked with founding myths of Greek sites were accorded chthonic rites in their heroon, or “hero-temple”.
In the Greek world, the first leader who accorded himself divine honours was Philip II of Macedon. At his wedding to his sixth wife, Philip’s enthroned image was carried in procession among the Olympian gods; “his example at Aigai became a custom, passing to the Macedonian kings who were later worshipped in Greek Asia, from them to Julius Caesar and so to the emperors of Rome”. Such Hellenistic state leaders might be raised to a status equal to the gods before death (e.g., Alexander the Great) or afterwards (e.g., members of the Ptolemaic dynasty). A heroic cult status similar to apotheosis was also an honour given to a few revered artists of the distant past, notably Homer.
Archaic and Classical Greek hero-cults became primarily civic [tied to the Mytho-Historical Founder of a City-State] extended from their familial origins, in the sixth century; by the fifth century none of the worshipers based their authority by tracing descent back to the hero, with the exception of some families who inherited particular priestly cults, such as the Eumolpides (descended from Eumolpus) of the Eleusinian mysteries, and some inherited priesthoods at oracle sites. The Greek hero cults can be distinguished on the other hand from the Roman cult of dead emperors, because the hero was not thought of as having ascended to Olympus or become a god: he was beneath the earth, and his power purely local. For this reason hero cults were chthonic in nature, and their rituals more closely resembled those for Hecate and Persephone than those for Zeus and Apollo.
Two exceptions were Heracles and Asclepius, who might be honoured as either gods or heroes, sometimes by chthonic night-time rites and sacrifice on the following day.
Ancient Rome
Main article: Imperial cult (ancient Rome)
Up to the end of the Republic, Romans accepted only one official apotheosis: the god Quirinus, whatever his original meaning, having been identified with Romulus. Subsequently, apotheosis in ancient Rome was a process whereby a deceased ruler was recognized as having been divine by his successor, usually also by a decree of the Senate and popular consent. In addition to showing respect, often the present ruler deified a popular predecessor to legitimize himself and gain popularity with the people. The upper-class did not always take part in the imperial cult, and some privately ridiculed the apotheosis of inept and feeble emperors, as in the satire The Pumpkinification of (the Divine) Claudius, usually attributed to Seneca.
At the height of the imperial cult during the Roman Empire, sometimes the emperor’s deceased loved ones—heirs, empresses, or lovers, as Hadrian’s Antinous—were deified as well. Deified people were awarded posthumously the title Divus (Diva if women) to their names to signify their divinity. Traditional Roman religion distinguished between a deus (god) and a divus (a mortal who became divine or deified), though not consistently. Temples and columns were erected to provide a space for worship.
Ancient China
The Ming dynasty epic Investiture of the Gods deals heavily with deification legends. Numerous mortals have been deified into the Daoist pantheon, such as Guan Yu, Iron-crutch Li and Fan Kuai. Song Dynasty General Yue Fei was deified during the Ming Dynasty and is considered by some practitioners to be one of the three highest ranking heavenly generals.
DATHON [on monitor]:
Darmok at Tanagra.
TAMARIAN [on monitor]:
Shaka! Mirab, his sails unfurled.
DATHON [on monitor]:
Darmok.
TAMARIAN [on monitor]:
Mirab.
DATA:
Freeze. Darmok.
TROI:
Darmok. Well, it seems to be a point of contention between them. Perhaps something the Tamarian captain proposed that the First Officer didn't like.
DATA:
The apparent emotional dynamic does seem to support that assumption. As with the other terms used by the Tamarian, this appears to be a proper noun. The name clearly carries a meaning for them.
TROI:
Computer, search for the term Darmok in all linguistic databases for this sector.
COMPUTER:
Searching. Darmok is the name of a seventh dynasty emperor on Kanda Four. A mytho-historical hunter on Shantil Three. A colony on Malindi Seven. A frozen dessert on Tazna Five. A
TROI:
Stop search. Computer, how many entries are there for Darmok?
COMPUTER: Forty seven.
TROI:
All our technology and experience, our universal translator, our years in space, contacts with more alien cultures than I can even remember.
DATA:
I have encountered one thousand, seven hundred fifty four non-human races during my tenure with Starfleet.
TROI:
And we still can't even say hello to these people.
DATA:
Correct.
TROI:
A single word can lead to tragedy.
One word misspoken or misunderstood.
And that could happen here, Data, if we fail.
DATA:
Replay at time index one four four.
DATHON [on monitor]:
Darmok at Tanagra.
DATA:
Freeze. Computer, search for the term Tanagra. All databases.
COMPUTER:
Searching. Tanagra. The ruling family on Gallos Two. A ceremonial drink on Lerishi Four. An island-continent on Shantil Three —
TROI:
Stop. Shantil Three.
Computer, cross-reference the last entry with the previous search index.
COMPUTER:
Darmok is the name of a mytho-historical hunter on Shantil Three.
TROI:
I think we've got something.
RIKER:
What did you find out?
DATA:
The Tamarian ego structure does not seem to allow what we normally think of as self-identity.
Their ability to abstract is highly unusual.
They seem to communicate through narrative imagery by reference to the individuals and places which appear in their mytho-historical accounts.
TROI:
It's as if I were to say to you, Juliet on her balcony.
CRUSHER:
An image of romance.
TROI:
Exactly. Imagery is everything to the Tamarians.
It embodies their emotional states, their very thought processes.
It's how they communicate, and it's how they think.
RIKER:
If we know how they think, shouldn't we be able to get something across to them?
DATA:
No, sir. The situation is analogous to understanding the grammar of a language but none of the vocabulary.
CRUSHER:
If I didn't know who Juliet was or what she was doing on that balcony, the image alone wouldn't have any meaning.
TROI:
That's correct.
For instance, we know that Darmok was a great hero, a hunter,
and that Tanagra was an island,
but that's it.
Without the details, there's no understanding.
DATA:
It is necessary for us to learn the narrative from which the Tamarians drawing their imagery.
Given our current relations, that does not appear likely.
[Planet surface]
(Night has fallen, a fire is lit and Dathon is lying down.)
DATHON:
Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra.
PICARD:
Our situation is similar to theirs.
I understand that. But I need to know more. You must tell me more about Darmok and Jalad. Tell me.
You used the words, 'Temba, his arms wide' when you gave me the knife and the fire. Could that mean give?
Temba, his arms wide. Darmok. Give me more about Darmok.
DATHON:
Darmok on the ocean.
PICARD:
Darmok.
(draws on the soil)
The ocean. Darmok on the ocean. A metaphor? For being alone? Isolated? Darmok on the ocean.
(Dathon writhes in pain.)
PICARD:
Are you all right?
DATHON:
Kiazi's children, their faces wet.
PICARD:
Temba, his arms open.
Give me more about Darmok on the ocean.
DATHON:
Tanagra on the ocean.
Darmok at Tanagra.
PICARD:
At Tanagra. A country?
Tanagra on the ocean.
An island.
Temba, his arms wide.
DATHON:
Jalad on the ocean.
Jalad at Tanagra.
PICARD:
Jalad at Tanagra.
He went to the same island as Darmok.
Darmok and Jalad Tanagra.
DATHON:
The beast at Tanagra.
PICARD:
The beast?
There was a creature at Tanagra?
Darmok and Jalad, the beast of Tanagra.
They arrived separately.
They struggled together against a common foe, the beast at Tanagra.
Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra.
DATHON:
Darmok and Jalad on the ocean.
PICARD:
They left together.
Darmok and Jalad on the ocean.
DATHON:
The ocean. (another spasm)
Zinda! His face black, his eyes red.
Callimas at Bahar.
PICARD:
You hoped this would happen, didn't you?
You knew there was a dangerous creature on this planet and you knew from the tale of Darmok that a danger shared might sometimes bring two people together.
Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra.
You and me, here, at El-Adrel.
DATHON:
Kira at Bashi.
Temba, his arms wide.
PICARD:
My turn? No, I'm not much of a story teller. Besides, you wouldn't understand. Shaka. when the walls fell. Perhaps that doesn't matter. You want to hear it anyway. There's a story, a very ancient one, from Earth. I'll try and remember it. Gilgamesh, a king. Gilgamesh, a king, at Uruk. He tormented his subjects. He made them angry. They cried out aloud, send us a companion for our king. Spare us from his madness. Enkidu, a wild man from the forest, entered the city. They fought in the temple. They fought in the street. Gilgamesh defeated Enkidu. They became great friends. Gilgamesh and Enkidu at Uruk.
DATHON:
At Uruk.
PICARD:
The new friends went out into the desert together, where the great bull of heaven was killing men by the hundreds. Enkidu caught the bull by the tail. Gilgamesh struck it with his sword.
DATHON:
Gilgamesh.
PICARD:
They were victorious. But Enkidu fell to the ground, struck down by the gods. And Gilgamesh wept bitter tears, saying, 'he who was my companion through adventure and hardship, is gone forever.
(And so Dathon dies.)
These are the hidden words that The Living Jesus spoke.
And Didymos Judas Thomas wrote them down.
“Not until The Male becomes Female and The Female becomes Male shall ye enter The Kingdom of Heaven.”
— The Gospel of Thomas
