What is the apotheosis? This concept originated in ancient Greece. Today it is often used in colloquial and written language, but often not in the sense in which the Greeks used it.
Attribution to the host of the gods
Even in ancient Greece, the meaning of the word "apotheosis" has changed. At first it was used when it came to reckoning a mere mortal to the host of gods. The characters of ancient Greek myths are ordinary people, gods and heroes. Heroes are demigods, children born from the connection of an earthly woman with an inhabitant of Olympus.
What is the apotheosis? This is the transition of a mere mortal to another quality - divine. It is worth saying that this happened in the myths of ancient Greece infrequently. Only the most prominent characters, Hercules and the emperor Claudius, were ranked among the host of gods.
Praise
When asked about what apotheosis, the ancient Greeks answered in the following way: glorification, praise. The deceased emperors were usually given solemn honors. The term eventually became Latin, and even after the collapse of the Roman Empire, it did not disappear, but, like many other Latin words, migrated to European languages. In modern times, it received a slightly different meaning: canonization, beatification.
Art
What is the apotheosis, you can understand by looking at the picture "The Apotheosis of Napoleon." Jean Auguste Ingres portrayed the great commander, or rather his soul, ascending upward. What is the apotheosis? This is an image of the soul of a dead person rising to heaven. Another example from the history of painting is “The Apotheosis of War”.
Initially, Vereshchagin called her painting "Triumph of Tamerlane." The Turkic commander used to leave piles of skulls after himself, which was a rather gloomy sight. In the picture of the Russian artist there are no soaring souls and other mysticism. Just a pyramid of skulls, depicted on the background of the destroyed city. The details of the picture symbolize devastation and death - all that war brings with it.
In colloquial speech, apotheosis is often used in the meaning of "climax". However, these words are not synonyms.