word
Greek
Pantheon
lit. “all the gods”
The full set of gods in a religion — and, by extension, the canonical group of greats in any field.
Origin
From the Greek pan- (all) + theos (god). The Pantheon in Rome (built ~125 CE, still standing) was a temple to all the gods of the Roman state. The word moved from religion to mean the agreed-on greats of any discipline.
Modern usage
'In the pantheon of [X]' is a common critical phrase — the pantheon of jazz, of presidents, of NBA point guards. The implicit move is to canonize someone.
In the wild
She's already in the pantheon of modern essayists.— literary criticism
Tags
canon
gods
greatness