do you have any tips/recommendations for honouring and learning about lesser known Gods? I’ve been trying to build my knowledge on Penthos, god and personification of grief, but it’s so hard to find information and tell if it’s from a reliable source
I'm afraid that the sources, in this case, will be all of ancient Greek literature. (You can find some pointers to start in my F.A.Q. - link in bio and pinned post) I think the medieval Greek Suida Lexicon will help with your search, more specifically. Of course, googling will help you narrow down your search.
Like in antiquity, "πένθος" (penthos) is a neuter word in Greek, not masculine. ("το πένθος") It's not a god in Greek culture. The source you saw was probably Latin, where they treated it like a masculine word. Or maybe it was a mistranslation by a foreigner. It is in Latin sources that Grief is mentioned a lot like a spirit. However, Latin sources named the concept/personification "Luctus", not "Penthos". "Luctus" is masculine, and whoever translated it into English thought "Penthos" had to be masculine as well.
In any case, Penthos is not to be venerated like Hygeia, Plutos, or Tyche. Not everything is personified in order to be venerated. Greek culture is just very anthropocentric, so every stone and mountain has a character and an opinion. Through the centuries, this has inspired us to see the world with some respect and gravity, but we didn't and don't worship everything just because it is named or is a concept.
To put it very simply: If people are not being helped by the concept, it doesn't make sense to venerate it or make offerings to it. One says "may I have Luck!" or "I seek Health!", but never "man, only if I had more Grief in my life!" That's why I have never read of our ancients venerating/worshiping Penthos in the past. That's why you will not find Grief being venerated with worship in Greek literature. Only the simple concept of "grief" exists.
As you already know, we must be extremely cautious of what we read online, and we should double-check multiple sources before we arrive at a conclusion about what a spirit or deity is.
Also, I am always happy to be corrected by anyone who has more knowledge on this, and sources to prove that penthos was indeed mentioned in Greek texts as a "daemon" (which is, by the way, a masculine word). So far, I have not seen it, hence my asnwer here.
