Triad (religion)

A triad, in a religious context, refers to a grouping of three gods, usually by importance or similar roles. A triad of gods were usually not considered to be one in the same being, or different aspects of a single deity as in a Trinity or Triple deity.

Triads of three closely associated deities were commonly found throughout the ancient world, and in particular in the religious traditions of Ancient Greece and Egypt.^[1]

List of deity triads

Historical polytheism

• The Classical Greek Olympic triad of Zeus (king of the gods), Athena (goddess of war and intellect) and Apollo (god of the sun, culture and music)^[3][4]
• The Delian chief triad of Leto (mother), Artemis (daughter) and Apollo (son)^[5][6] and second Delian triad of Athena, Zeus and Hera^[7]
• The Eleusinian Mysteries centered on Persephone (daughter), Demeter (mother), and Triptolemus (to whom Demeter taught agriculture)
• In ancient Egypt there were many triads:
  • the Osirian (or Abydos) triad of Osiris (husband), Isis (wife), and Horus (son),^[8]
  • the Theban triad of Amun, Mut and Khonsu
  • the Memphite triad of Ptah, Sekhmet and Nefertem
  • the
    Satet (the personification of the floods of the Nile river), and Anuket
    (the Goddess of the nile river).
  • the sungod
    Re-Horakhty and in the evening Atum, and many others.^[9]
• The
  Alexandrian Serapis and Harpocrates (a Hellenized version of the already referred Isis-Osiris-Horus triad), though in the early Ptolemaic period Serapis, Isis and Apollo (who was sometimes identified with Horus) were preferred.^[10]
• The Roman
  Jupiter (father), Juno (wife), and Minerva
  (daughter)
• The Roman
  Libera (or its Greek counterpart with Demeter, Dionysos and Kore
  )
• The Julian triads of the early Roman Principate:
  • Venus Genetrix, Divus Iulius, and Clementia Caesaris
  • Divus Iulius, Divi filius and Genius Augusti
  • Eastern variants of the Julian triad, e.g. in
    Dea Roma
    , Divus Iulius and Genius Augusti (or Divi filius)
• The
  Matres (Deae Matres/Dea Matrona) in Roman mythology
• The Fates,
  Lachesis or Decima the Weaver, and Atropos or Morta
  the Cutter of the Threads of Life. One's Lifeline was Spun by Clotho, Woven into the tapestry of Life by Lachesis, and the thread Cut by Atropos.
• The
  Gallo-Roman
  times
• The main supranational triad of the ancient
  Arentius and Quangeius and Trebaruna, followed by a minor Gallaecian-Lusitanian triad of Bandua (under many natures), Nabia and Reve female nature: Reva^[11]
• The sisters Uksáhkká, Juksáhkká and Sáhráhkká in
  Sámi mythology
  .
• The triad of
  Mohammed
  (Holy Qu'ran (Abdullah Yusuf Ali translation), Surah 53:19-22)
• Lugus (Esus, Toutatis and Taranis) in Celtic mythology
• Vili and Ve in Norse mythology
• The Norns in Norse mythology
• Odin, Freyr, and Thor in Norse mythology. Odin is the god of wisdom and knowledge, Freyr is the god of fertility and prosperity, and Thor is the god of thunder and strength.
• The
  Slavic mythology
• Pikuolis (god of death) in Prussian mythology
• The
  Slavic mythology
• The Charites or Graces in Greek mythology
• The One, the Thought (or Intellect) and the Soul in Neoplatonism

• Mahayana Buddhism
• Ayyavazhi Trinity
• Puranic Hinduism
• Lord Dattatreya
• Mitra, Aryaman, and Varuna
  in early vedic Hinduism
• Ganga, Yamuna, and Saraswati merged in one is the Triveni
• Mahayana Buddhism
• Puranic Hinduism

Other Eastern religions

• Three Pure Ones in Taoism
• Fu Lu Shou
  in Taoism
• San-shan kuo-wang, Lords of the Three Mountains in Chinese folk religion
• The Ahuric Triad of
  Achaemenid times, Mazda, Mithra and Anahita
  .
• Susanoo in Shinto
  .
• Tản Viên Sơn Thánh, Thần Cao Sơn and Thần Quý Minh, Three mountain gods rule the Ba Vì mountain range in Vietnamese folk religion.
• Mẫu Thượng Thiên, Mẫu Thoải and Mẫu Thượng Ngàn in Đạo Mẫu.

Neopaganism

• Triple Goddess (Neopaganism), the Maiden-Mother-Crone deity of Wicca and other neopagan faiths.

Esotericism

• Ra Hoor Khuit in the Thelemic
  spiritual system

• List of deities
• Les Lavandières
• Mythography
• Thraetaona
• Three hares
• Trichotomy (philosophy)
• Trifunctional hypothesis
• Trita
• Tritheism

References