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Apotheosis and divine incarnation
It is as if a (new?) God reveals himself subsuming some deeds and traits of a (dead?) human as part of his sacred myth.
Heroes in the cultic sense were by no means necessarily “heroic” in the modern, colloquial sense, but uncanny, beginning as the restless dead, becoming something more in a cultic dialogue with the community. - EP Butler .
Hindu
- In the hindu traditions raising humans to a divine level has oft happened.
- Recent ancestors and sages are treated as de-facto deva-s with supernatural powers. brAhmaNa-s are described as bhU-sura-s; cows and certain plants are venerated.
- Some bhakta-s are said to be raised to the level of protector deities [eg nandin, chaNdesha, bhR^i~NgiriTi, kubera - TW]
Examples elsewhere
- Deified heroes among the Chinese [WP]