I. Name

Σωτήρ is the nomen agentis of the stem σω-, which is also present in the verb σῴζω, and thus in essence denotes a person who saves or preserves (or has done so). It can be used about those who have saved a community or a group of persons or an individual from an undesirable condition. In a specifically religious sense it functions as an honorific title of several gods, e.g. Zeus, Asklepios, Sarapis, or of men whose status has been raised to the divine sphere, e.g. kings and outstanding Roman authorities, later…