I've recently finished Marcus Aurelius' Meditations, Seneca's On The Shortness Of Life, and Epictetus' Enchiridion. One thing that has struck me is their distinction between the use of the word God and the word gods. While I think I understand the meaning of these words contextually, I'm interested in, for example, what is the original word that God is translated from in each of these texts. Being somewhat familiar with Ancient Greek and Roman mythology and religious practices, I did not know the "theology" of it was understood in quite this way. Obviously these traditions are not reformed religions the way we think of it in the modern sense so not everyone would understand the gods in the same way but I was still surprised by it. Does the word God represent an actual mythological figure such as Uranus or whatever the Roman equivalent was when Seneca speaks of something like men and gods being the sons of God? Or was this more conceptual than literal. Is this way of thinking limited to the stoics and platonists or is this how the religious leaders of the time understood their world? Thanks.