From anthropo, which relates to human beings, and morphe, meaning form, anthropomorphism is the process of ascribing human form to inhuman things. In religion, anthropomorphism is commonly applied to deities and forces of nature. The most obvious expression of this process is assigning human appearances to these entities, although other human characteristics such as behavior and emotion can also be included.
Classical gods such as Zeus, Athena, and Aphrodite are well known examples of anthropomorphism. They are commonly depicted as human in appearance, and they generally behave like humans, displaying jealously, love, pride, anger and so forth.
In comparison, the monotheistic gods tend to be much less anthropomorphic. Judaism and Islam never visually depict their god. This is because the god in question is a god of everything and thus cannot be limited by form or appearance. Doing so is considered blasphemy. While Christianity also views their god as a god of all things, they have a far more varied history as to the appropriateness of depictions of him. The portrayal of Ahura Mazda, the monotheistic god of Zoroastrianism, appears to be similarly varied, although current practice avoids such representations.
