how i personally refer to the theoi vs how i refer to their fandom characters (as a hellenic polytheist)

disclaimer you dont have to do any of these to be a "proper" hellenic or anything, i just think this kind of change in language is good for clarification.

im not really active in any mythology fandoms, but i am familiar with a lot of them. hence why this is necessary for me

when im referring to the real gods:

i spell their names closer to the way they are in greek, like "apollon" instead of "apollo", "dionysos" instead of "dionysus", you get the picture. when pronouncing them in speech i use pronunciations closer to how they were in greek as well.

i occasionally give them titles like "mother/father", "lord/lady", "king/queen", it just depends on whos fronting. though these are not epithets at all so really this is suuuppperr optional

i call them the theoi or deities first, gods second. i tend to prefer theoi because it has a deeper meaning. when there are so many interpretations of what the words god and gods mean nowadays, theoi is more specific.

i normally dont type with capitals but on the rare times i do, i always capitalize the word "god/godess"

i call them hellenic before i do greek. ex, "the hellenic gods" instead of "the greek gods". personal preference.

when im referring to fandom characters or them in mythology (like the odyssey):

i spell their names the way theyre most commonly spelled.

i never call them anything other than gods.

i never call them hellenic, itll always be "the greek gods"

i never capitalize the word "god"

uh yeah! this is mostly for the folks on my bulletins who may need to distinguish better to understand the things i say. inspired by a pinterest post pointing out their differences in speech too