Euhemeros

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Ancient Greek mythographer, active around 300 BCE, who argued that the gods of myth were once real human kings later worshipped as divine
2. A Greek writer of the late fourth century BCE, known for claiming that deities originated as honored mortal rulers and heroes
3. The classical author whose theory that gods were exalted men gave rise to the term euhemerism for rationalizing myth

Etymology: Euhemerus was a Greek writer of the late fourth century BC who proposed that the gods of myth were once real human beings: kings, conquerors and benefactors whom later generations came to worship as divine. His name survives as a word in English, "euhemerism," and in its adjective form "euhemerist" for those who hold the view. The name itself comes straight from Ancient Greek "Euhēmeros," borrowed without alteration into the modern language. The idea is far older than the man. Euhemerus's account, known mainly through fragments preserved by later writers, described a voyage to a distant island where he found inscriptions recording the deeds of Uranus, Zeus and other deities as mortal rulers. Whether he believed this or was writing a satirical fiction is still debated, and the story was persuasive enough that the approach to myth it inspired bears his name rather than anyone else's.