Art is the only true lense through which the modern world has ever been able to get a real glimpse at the ancient past. Art has been invaluable to the pursuit of archeological knowledge. When you imagine the old gods, you don't have to struggle so very hard because the ancient people already knew what they looked like! And from the most broad lense, you can clearly see that they were incredibly distinctive and identifiable! We don't see several different re editions of what Thor or Zeus might have looked like or their general personalities. Throughout all forms of writing and even in UPG experiences, the known deities seem to be really clear. Thor and Zeus are good examples to pair because they are both gods of thunder, lightning, rain, the sky in general. But they have very different descriptions and obvious personality traits that don't really match. This is where I take my perspective from, that all deities are who they are. Not the same deity by a different name just happening to be mentioned to some travellers who start a whole new religion about that same deity with a new name they just decided to make up and entirely different folkloric stories. That doesn't really make much sense to me! Pantheons are unique families that chose a place on earth to inhabit, develop, and teach humans how to thrive. The stories always say how the gods taught humans. Why shouldn't we believe them? Not only has art depicted deities consistently but in some cultures, it was their very language! Ancient Egyptians, Sumarians, Native Americans, Meso Americans, many of these cultures had picture writing! Heiroglyphics, cuneiform, and many more! Some cultures used knotwork to tell stories or keep track of business information such as accounts of livestock and other things. Humans have no shortage when it comes to the imagination and it has been how we have come to be who we are today! Anyone today who fails to give ancient people their due shows themselves to be ill educated. We didn't just magically get handed a modern system. It developed over time and ever more rapidly as the technology itself lended to our breakthroughs. Art is the best way we are able to see how things progressed! Just looking at art and it's progress through the ages is a perfect way to measure our understandings of the world and what we have gained today but also, so very very much of what we have lost in our often blind pursuit of progress.