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So I noticed most of the word bearers names take roots from Greek mythology, worship a "pantheon" of gods and the runes on their armor (Colschian) were confirmed to be the Greek alphabet in [/i]massacre[i].

"Pantheon" is just a term when spoken about multiple gods/deitys.

And yes, the WB's are infuenced by Greco-Roman culture with some Middle Age crusaders mixed in.

 Bronzefists42 wrote:
So I noticed most of the word bearers names take roots from Greek mythology, worship a "pantheon" of gods and the runes on their armor (Colschian) were confirmed to be the Greek alphabet in [/i]massacre[i].

Them worshiping a Pantheon means practically nothing, as just about everybody except for the Cult Imperialis worships a Pantheon.

 dusara217 wrote:

 Bronzefists42 wrote:
So I noticed most of the word bearers names take roots from Greek mythology, worship a "pantheon" of gods and the runes on their armor (Colschian) were confirmed to be the Greek alphabet in [/i]massacre[i].

Them worshiping a Pantheon means practically nothing, as just about everybody except for the Cult Imperialis worships a Pantheon.

And even the Imperial Cult has an endless parade of saints. It's about as monotheistic as Catholicism. (Speaking as someone without a lot of knowledge of Catholicism speaking with no intent to offend attempting to describe the number of different distinct entities one can offer prayers to)

 AnomanderRake wrote:

 dusara217 wrote:

 Bronzefists42 wrote:
So I noticed most of the word bearers names take roots from Greek mythology, worship a "pantheon" of gods and the runes on their armor (Colschian) were confirmed to be the Greek alphabet in [/i]massacre[i].

Them worshiping a Pantheon means practically nothing, as just about everybody except for the Cult Imperialis worships a Pantheon.

And even the Imperial Cult has an endless parade of saints. It's about as monotheistic as Catholicism. (Speaking as someone without a lot of knowledge of Catholicism speaking with no intent to offend attempting to describe the number of different distinct entities one can offer prayers to)

proably less so when you consider in christinaity, god had 1 son. the GEOMK had 9 (well 9 that are reckongized across the IoM)

 AnomanderRake wrote:

 dusara217 wrote:

 Bronzefists42 wrote:
So I noticed most of the word bearers names take roots from Greek mythology, worship a "pantheon" of gods and the runes on their armor (Colschian) were confirmed to be the Greek alphabet in [/i]massacre[i].

Them worshiping a Pantheon means practically nothing, as just about everybody except for the Cult Imperialis worships a Pantheon.

And even the Imperial Cult has an endless parade of saints. It's about as monotheistic as Catholicism. (Speaking as someone without a lot of knowledge of Catholicism speaking with no intent to offend attempting to describe the number of different distinct entities one can offer prayers to)

Sorry, but saints aren't deities. They're people who have done miracles. A pantheon is a group of gods who interact with each other.

Computron wrote:

 AnomanderRake wrote:

 dusara217 wrote:

 Bronzefists42 wrote:
So I noticed most of the word bearers names take roots from Greek mythology, worship a "pantheon" of gods and the runes on their armor (Colschian) were confirmed to be the Greek alphabet in [/i]massacre[i].

Them worshiping a Pantheon means practically nothing, as just about everybody except for the Cult Imperialis worships a Pantheon.

And even the Imperial Cult has an endless parade of saints. It's about as monotheistic as Catholicism. (Speaking as someone without a lot of knowledge of Catholicism speaking with no intent to offend attempting to describe the number of different distinct entities one can offer prayers to)

Sorry, but saints aren't deities. They're people who have done miracles. A pantheon is a group of gods who interact with each other.

As someone who was raised Catholic I can say the focus on saints and the holy trinity is very similar to polytheism. It may not directly be polytheism but it has elements of it.

They toss words around like "Pantheon" and things in that vein and Word Bearer names are ancient Greek inspired, but so are Ultramarines, but perhaps less roman influenced. I get a really harsh catholic vibe from them, though. The Word Bearers are kind of an antithesis to the Cult Imperialis, which actually makes them very conceptually similar to it. The 6e CSM codex has a little blurb in it about a few traitor warbands and in the part about Word Bearers, it talks about forcing people to attend black masses and other bastardizations of christian practices.

I think they are more Romanesque (IE use the names but do not have the culture look)

Do the Word Bearers have some Greco-Roman symbolism? Sure. So does the Imperium at large. I gather the Emperor was a great admirer of all things Greco-Roman. He was specifically pro-Roman; they had a long-lived and effective Empire, a model he sought to emulate culturally, linguistically and administratively.

Were the word Bearers the MOST Greco-Roman of the Legions? I think (arguably) the Ultramarines hold that title, though any number of Legions had Greco-Roman influences.

Clearly some legions displayed LESS Greco-Roman influence. The Thousand Sons seemed overwhelmingly Pharonic/ Egyptian, the Space Wolves went all Norse and the White Scars went in for an Asiatic Steppe vibe to name a few. But all were subject to the Emperor's prediliction for things Roman, and incorporated neo-Romanesque elements in their iconography, nomenclature and traditions.

My two teef