I. In general and in classical antiquity
1. History of the term
The adjective πολύθεος/polýtheos refers in poetic Greek to that which pertains to many deities: the altar as the seat (hédra) of many gods (Aesch. Suppl. 424) or the divine assembly attended by many gods (Lucian. Iuppiter Tragoedus 14). It is only in Jewish and Christian literature (Apologists) that this concept is used to justify the rule (monarchía) of a single deity. Philo [12] of Alexandria coined the terms δόξα πο…