The term apotheosis goes back to Greek and Roman days, when important men became gods. For example, of the 60 Roman emperors who ruled between 14 AD and 337 AD, 36 made it to god status together with 27 members of their families.
In the Catholic church, apotheosis was sometimes associated with humans being made saints. The first reference in the English language came in 1570 in a book about Great Britain church history, popularly known as Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, where John Foxe affirmed “that in this calendar, I make an apotheosis or canonisation of false martyrs”.
Apotheosis reaches art and literature fast
Not unsurprisingly becoming a saint or the processes of going up to heaven – also known as the apotheosis – was a frequent subject of painting.
In literature, apotheosis came to mean the highest point, or a superlative. A recent example is in The Dark Tower by Stephen King where the desert is referred to as “the apotheosis of all deserts”.
But it is not necessary to be Greek, Roman or a Catholic to become a god. Modern history holds many controversial apotheoses, with country leaders been elevated to superhuman charismatic and faultless figures. Great examples are Kim Jong-il in North Korea and Lenin in the former USSR. Their mausoleums still stand, publicly displaying the former leaders’ embalmed bodies.
