APOTHEOSIS • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Apotheosis

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/əpˌɑθiˈoʊsəs/ Listen

noun

Apotheosis n. pl.

The act of elevating a mortal to the rank of, and placing him among, "the gods;" deification.

Glorification; exaltation. "The apotheosis of chivalry." "The noisy apotheosis of liberty and machinery."

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Etymology of 'Apotheosis'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Apotheosis" Quotes from Famous Books

... allegoric Roman, theology coincided on the whole in their result. But, even if the philosopher was obliged to designate individual propositions of the priestly lore as doubtful or as erroneous—as when the Stoics, for example, rejecting the doctrine of apotheosis, saw in Hercules, Castor, and Pollux nothing but the spirits of distinguished men, or as when they could not allow the images of the gods to be regarded as representations of divinity—it was at ...

— The History of Rome (Volumes 1-5) • Theodor Mommsen

... system almost pure and simple, that is to say, it established government of the nation by delegates whom it itself elected and by these delegates strictly and exclusively. This time we have reached an apotheosis of incompetence ...

— The Cult of Incompetence • Emile Faguet

... originally Buddhistic: the late Prof. S. Beal gave the earliest known version from the Chinese translation of the Vinaya Pitaka in the Academy of Nov. 4, 1882. The conception of an animal sacrificing itself for the sake of others is peculiarly Buddhistic; the "hare in the moon" is an apotheosis of such a piece of self-sacrifice on the part of Buddha (Sasa Jataka). There are two forms that have reached the West, the first being that of an animal saving men at the cost of its own life. I pointed out an early instance of this, quoted by a Rabbi of the second century, in my Fables ...

— Celtic Fairy Tales • Joseph Jacobs (coll. & ed.)

... a great occasion," he mused. "We have seen what we came out to see, and what more have we a right to demand? The dear people rampant, the respected mayor quiescent, but biding his time, Cobbens couchant but fanged, the President raised to a sublime apotheosis. It is always a pleasure—is it not?—to witness transcendent ability, even if it be in the line of practical politics. The perfection of each thing is worth observing. These local politicians are fools compared with the President, mere blundering tyros in the hands of a master ...

— The Mayor of Warwick • Herbert M. Hopkins

... always in the superior position of a benefactor. Benefactor, indeed! He was in a fair way of becoming Flossie's deity, her Providence, the mystic source of theatre-tickets and joy. No really brave man ever shrinks from the dangers of apotheosis, when the process involves no loss of personal dignity. And apart from the gratification of his natural healthy vanity, Rickman's heart was touched by the thought that the little thing turned to him instinctively ...

— The Divine Fire • May Sinclair

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