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
This part of a 12th-century Swedish tapestry has been interpreted to show, from left to right, the one-eyed Odin, the hammer-wielding Thor and Freyr holding up an ear of corn.[2]
the Elephantine triad of Khnum (god of the source of the Nile river), Satet (the personification of the floods of the Nile river), and Anuket (the Goddess of the nile river).
the sungod Ra, whose form in the morning was Khepri, at noon Re-Horakhty and in the evening Atum, and many others.[9]
The Fates, Moirai or Furies in Greek and Roman mythology: Clotho or Nona the Spinner, 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.
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.
^Ancient Egyptian religion: The Gods. Encyclopaedia Britannica Online.
^Leiren, Terje I. (1999). From Pagan to Christian: The Story in the 12th-Century Tapestry of the Skog Church.
^Chambers's Encyclopedia Volume 1
^"The Biblical Astronomy of the Birth of Moses". Try-god.com. Archived from the original on 2013-08-01. Retrieved 2013-02-03.
^The twelve gods of Greece and Rome, Charlotte R. Long, p. 11
^Religion in Hellenistic Athens Por Jon D. Mikalson, p. 210
^The twelve gods of Greece and Rome Por Charlotte R. Long, p. 11
^The Mythological Trinity or Triad Osiris, Horus and Isis, Wikicommons
^Manfred Lurker, Lexikon der Götter und Symbole der alten Ägypter, Scherz 1998, p. 214f.
^Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, Volume 6. Fiction - Hyksos. Part 2. God - Heraclitus, James Hastings, John A. Selbie and others (Ed.s), p. 381
^Os Principais Deuses e Deusas da Lusitânia - Panteão Lusitano Archived 2016-01-01 at the Wayback Machine, Revvane.com
^"Definition of trinity in English". Oxford Dictionaries - English. Archived from the original on December 26, 2012.
^Daley, Brian E. (2009). "The Persons in God and the Person of Christ in Patristic Theology: An Argument for Parallel Development". God in Early Christian Thought. Leiden & Boston: Brill. pp. 323–350. ISBN 978-9004174122.
^Ramelli, Ilaria (2012). "Origen, Greek Philosophy, and the Birth of the Trinitarian Meaning of Hypostasis". The Harvard Theological Review. 105 (3): 302–350. doi:10.1017/S0017816012000120. JSTOR 23327679. S2CID 170203381.