P. is the personification of the Greek goddess of loyalty and faith. Except for Thgn. 1137 (2nd half of the 6th cent. BC), P. rarely appears as a deity, and only very late. She had a cult of which at least a shrine in Athens can be identified in Diogenianus 2,80. P. was regarded by the Romans as equivalent to Fides. It was not until Christianity that the term pistis came to mean a belief in revealed truth (see section E below).
Polleichtner, Wolfgang (Würzburg) and
Büchli, Jörg (Zürich),
“Pistis”, in:
Brill’s New Pauly, Antiquity volumes edited by: Hubert Cancik and , Helmuth Schneider, English Edition by: Christine F. Salazar, Classical Tradition volumes edited by: Manfred Landfester, English Edition by: Francis G. Gentry.
Consulted online on 29 May 2023 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e926200>