Pyroeis () in

ancient Greek religion Religious practices in ancient Greece encompassed a collection of beliefs, rituals, and Greek mythology, mythology, in the form of both popular public religion and Cult (religious practice), cult practices. The application of the modern concept ...

is the god of the wandering star Areios, identified with the planet

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

. He is also known as Mesonyx (; 'midnight').

Etymology

Pyroeis, from , 'fire', means 'the fiery one'.

Function

Ancient Greek astronomy Ancient Greek astronomy is the astronomy written in the Greek language during classical antiquity. Greek astronomy is understood to include the Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek, Hellenistic period, Hellenistic, Roman Empire, Greco-Roman, and Late an ...

, Pyroeis is the god of the

planet A planet is a large, Hydrostatic equilibrium, rounded Astronomical object, astronomical body that is generally required to be in orbit around a star, stellar remnant, or brown dwarf, and is not one itself. The Solar System has eight planets b ...

, one of the five planets visible to the naked eye. Astronomers of the time assigned these " planetae" various names, associated them with different gods, and ascribed various qualities to their apparent behaviour in the sky."Planetae"
in ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities'', pp. 922, 923.

References

Greek gods Martian deities Personifications in Greek mythology {{Greek-deity-stub

Etymology

Function

See also

References