This is from my ever-growing Word Document of all the domains/epithets of Perses Diogenes.
Perses Diogenes - His main epithet. To say his full name was only used in ceremonies and religious processions and not used in vain, because saying his full name automatically could bind you to tell the truth, and his name was used in making oaths and serious promises. Some have said that saying his name and giving him an offering, after praying to one of his fathers, could calm their moods and show more compassion towards you.
Diogenes Pistos (the loyal one) - one of his main epithets. This epithet was used to wish people to be loyal, be it in a familial, romantic or job/servant context. He was identified as a personification of absolute loyalty. His name was sworn in special or everyday promises as a means of enforcing the truth of their actions and the weight of their promises. To lie after this was equivalent to damning oneself.
It also served a military purpose, as commanders and soldiers invoked his name and swore to protect their land and their people.
Diogenes Philopater (father-loving) is used together with the worship of his fathers. A lot of temples to Diogenes Philopator were in the vicinity of one of his fathers’ temples where in both cases there would be either a statue of him or one of his fathers. He famously was regarded as the favorite and most beloved child of both of his fathers.
Diogenes Philostorgos (family-loving) was worshipped in a more familial context. Could be used to symbolize the loyalty to one's family and the loyalty to the family in which you were accepted.
Diogenes Polyolbos (full of blessings) the epithet was mostly used in the context of cooking. This domain he shared with his aunt Hestia, the goddess of hearth and family. Him gifting human’s tomatoes, potatoes and various spices hailed him as a god of cooking and a patron of chefs and cooking households. To this day kyane-ah plakountas, or as they famously called the blue cookies, are regarded as one of Greece's traditional desserts.
Also, famously a lot of restaurants in Greece and abroad name their restaurants after Perses Diogenes.
Diogenes Kourotrophos (of the children) was the most prominent and important domain of Perses Diogenes. It encapsulated his calling as a “god of demigods” and overall was associated with parenting. Participating directly or indirectly in the upbringing and protection of heroes, he was the patron and protector of all demigods and was believed to protect kids from great dangers and was also worshipped as a god of orphans and adoption respectively, giving him quite a maternal role.
He famously also was the adoptive father of the great healer turned god, Asclepius by Apollo’s request. There are even sources of him raising his half-brother Dionysus after his birth as a means to protect him from the wrath of Hera.
Diogenes Limenus (of the harbor) - In this aspect the god was considered the patron or the protector of the harbor.
Diogenes Euplous (fair voyage) is a protector of anyone who was in the sea. Before any sea travels, people made offerings to Diogenes in exchange for a safe journey, placed somewhere in the port where the ships docked. Diogenes Euplous is often shown as a youth, accompanied by his sea father Poseidon, which is confirmed by the fact that a lot of the gifts were children's toys, as if asking the god not only to show them favor, but to also take care of their children back at home.
Euplous was also viewed as a companion to the god Hermes in psychopomp duties, delivering the souls of those who were lost at the sea to the Underworld, which gave him a quite interesting chthonic connection. He is portrayed holding a fisher net in which he caries the souls.
Diogenes Areios (war-like Diogenes) - The war-like Diogenes was most frequently worshipped in Sparta. Depicted as a young man in his late teens to early twenties he is armed with his titular sword Anaklusmos, bronze xiphos, and a shield. He is dressed in a lifted helmet, akin to his half-siblings Athena and Ares, who are also war deities, and a breastplate.
The net of Diogenes (more frequently used by Diogenes Euplous can be found by his hip.) He represents the soldier's loyalty to their homeland and people.
Diogenes Akhlys (of the poison) - the epithet being rather negative on its own, actually has a rather positive meaning in context. The god was regarded as a healer of any poison or toxin, which gave him a branched domain of healing. A lot of healers and apothecaries would pray to him to brew a perfect remedy, as it is only the dose that distinguishes medicine from poison.
There can be found lots of myths where the god personally healed someone from a poisonous plant or a venomous snake bite. The cult of Diogenes Akhlys is one of the only cults that, mythologically speaking, was not constructed with the help of his fathers, which made some scholars believe it to be one of his eldest cults.
Diogenes Akhlys was seen as a kind and benevolent deity and most often than not was worshipped together with his half-brother Apollo, the god of medicine and plagues.
The saying “only loyalty can root out poison” came directly from this epithet.
Diogenes Halosydnos (sea-nurtured)
Diogenes Ombrios (rain-giving)
Diogenes Androgynos A quite rare epithet given to the god. It was most likely derived from the fact, that akin to his half-brother Apollo, Perses Diogenes wore longer garments of clothing covering his knees and calves and giving illusion of a female gown. Some statues of him were even mistaken for women if not for his short hair, shroud on his shoulders and holding a sword.
It is also interesting to note that Diogenes was the only male god that was constantly portrayed as fully dressed in chiton, cape and sandals, compared to the statues and artworks of other gods who had some amount of nudity to them. It is unknown if was a religious requirement, considering the god was categorized as an unmarried youth, or simply a blind luck of more such artworks surviving.
Diogenes Krokopeplos (saffron dressed) - A lot of the statues of Diogenes can best be recognized by his orange cape. The colour of the cape gives him one of his most well-known epithets, saffron-clad. In some myths the cape was used as a funeral shroud for the demigods he held dear.
The greatest example for this being the death his adopted son Asclepius. When Diogenes’ father Zeus struck Asclepius with lightning, no body was left, so the god collected his ashes in his cape and buried them together.
(Diogenes Nymphios (Diogenes the Groom) - is often spoken in the context of unfulfilled romantic desires of many gods who pursued Perses Diogenes although none were found worthy of him.
He is closely linked to Hera and Aphrodite, as the god was considered the perfect groom- eternally eligible yet never attainable. He represented young boys that would soon be wed and widowers whose wives died young.
Both male and female parties could pray to the god for loyalty in their marriage. Mothers would pray to be wed to a kind and gentle husband, and families would pray for a virtuous wife. It is the most ornate depiction of the Diogenes. Often depicted as a youth around the age of 20, with his signature orange cloak on his shoulders and one arm outstretched, as to invite someone to take it or offer gifts. An eternal groom waiting for his chosen one.)
(I am still unsure of this one )
Diogenes Philogynos (fond of women) - One of the most iconic epithets used to describe the god, Diogenes Philogynos was seen as a symbol of protection specifically to women. Many myths describe his kindness and fondness towards women, and many accounts speak of him referring to women as equals, what was uncharacteristic for the time of ancient Greece. In marriage processions his priestesses could serve as guardians for the bride. In some cases, they could even advocate on the side of the bride and offer some degree of protection until the bride has been ceremonially accepted into the groom's house.
This protection could even carry towards women seeking divorce. If a woman faces a danger of being in, or being returned to an unstable home, she could go to her local temple and petition for a sanctuary, before all contracts be signed. During this time, a woman could become a priestess of Perses, since his temples did not have a requirement of celibacy or virginity. The temples of Perses also served as a “safe harbor” for women who bore out of wedlock, widows and those who suffered abuse within the household.
Abuse and mistreatment of women, especially in marriage will invite his wrath, and misfortune upon men. Many myths tell about him taking the women and children away to his temples and severely punishing the abusers.
Feel free to add anything that comes to mind.
P.S. I tried to make the domains more varied, so to say, as the mythological gods are not as neatly categorized and thematically coherent, as we think, and a lot of them, had a lot of domains that were either one specific domain or to have many that overlapped and were completely different from one another.
CANON. I DECLARE THAT THIS IS CANON TO THE PERSES DIOGENES UNIVERSE.
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