A dying-and-rising, death-rebirth, or resurrection deity is a religious motif in which a god or goddess dies and is resurrected. Examples of gods who die and later return to life are most often cited from the religions of the ancient Near East. The traditions influenced by them include the Greco-Roman mythology.
The concept of a dying-and-rising god was first proposed in comparative mythology by James Frazer's seminal The Golden Bough (1890). Frazer associated the motif with fertility rites surrounding the yearly cycle of vegetation. Frazer cited the examples of Osiris, Tammuz, Adonis and Attis, Zagreus, Dionysus, and Jesus.
The Return of Persephone by Frederic Leighton (1891).
Odin whispering to a dead Baldr as he is to be sent out to sea
The Osiris-bed, where he renews the harvest cycle in Egypt
Bronze figurine of Osiris
Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. In a number of religions, a dying-and-rising god is a deity which dies and is resurrected. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions, which involves the same person or deity coming back to another body. Disappearance of a body is another similar, but distinct, belief in some religions.
The Resurrection, painting by Andrea Mantegna, 1457–1459
A depiction of a Phoenix, a figure of revival
Plaque depicting saints rising from the dead
The Resurrection of Lazarus, painting by Leon Bonnat, France, 1857