Apotheosis

Apotheosis (from Ancient Greek ἀποθέωσις (apothéōsis), from ἀποθεόω/ἀποθεῶ (apotheóō/apotheô) 'to deify'), also called divinization or deification (from Latin deificatio 'making divine'), is the glorification of a subject to divine levels and, commonly, the treatment of a human being, any other living thing, or an abstract idea in the likeness of a deity. Apotheosis relates to religion and is the subject of many works of art. Figuratively, "apotheosis" may be used in almost any context for "the deification, glorification, or exaltation of a principle, practice, etc.", so normally attached to an abstraction of some sort. Apotheosis is a feature of many religions in the world, and some that are active today. It is a belief in a possibility of newly created gods, so a polytheistic belief system. The Abrahamic religions of Islam and Judaism do not allow for this, though many recognize minor sacred categories such as saints (created by a process called canonization). In Christian theology there is a concept of the faithful becoming god-like, called divinization or in Eastern Christianity theosis. In Hinduism there is some scope for new deities. A human may be deified by becoming regarded as an avatar of an established deity, usually a major one, or by being regarded as a new, independent, deity (usually a minor one), or some mixture of the two. In art, an apotheosis scene typically shows the subject in the heavens or rising towards them, often accompanied by a number of angels, putti, personifications of virtues, or similar figures. Especially from Baroque art onwards, apotheosis scenes may depict rulers, generals or artists purely as an honorific metaphor; in many cases the "religious" context is classical Greco-Roman pagan religion, as in The Apotheosis of Voltaire, featuring Apollo. The Apotheosis of Washington (1865), high up in the dome of the United States...