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Aeneas

2010-06-22T13:00:33Z

Gaius Apollonius Agrippa:

Aeneas
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This article is about the Greco-Roman hero. For other uses, see Aeneas (disambiguation).
Aeneas flees burning Troy, Federico Barocci, 1598.
Aeneas carrying Anchises, black-figured oinochoe, ca. 520-510 BC, Louvre (F 118)

In Greco-Roman mythology, Aeneas (Greek: Αἰνείας, Aineías, derived from Greek Αἰνή meaning "to praise"; pronounced /ɪˈniːəs/ in English) was a Trojan hero, the son of the prince Anchises and the goddess Aphrodite. His father was also the second cousin of King Priam of Troy. The journey of Aeneas from Troy (with help from Aphrodite), which led to the founding of the city Rome, is recounted in Virgil's Aeneid. He is considered an important figure in Greek and Roman legend and history. Aeneas is a character in Homer's Iliad, Quintus Smyrnaeus' Posthomerica, and Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida.
Contents
[hide]

* 1 Mythology
* 2 Family and legendary descendants
* 3 Literature and film
* 4 Family tree
* 5 Notes
* 6 References

[edit] Mythology

In the Iliad, Aeneas is the leader of Troy's Dardanian allies (Trojans — descendants of Dardanus), and a principal lieutenant of Hector, son of the Trojan king Priam. In the poem, Aeneas' mother Aphrodite frequently comes to his aid on the battlefield; he is also a favorite of Apollo. Aphrodite and Apollo rescue Aeneas from combat with Diomedes of Argos, who nearly kills him, and carry him away to Pergamos for healing. Even Poseidon, who normally favors the Greeks, comes to Aeneas' rescue when the latter falls under the assault of Achilles, noting that Aeneas, though from a junior branch of the royal family, is destined to become king of the Trojan people. Aeneas killed 28 people in the Trojan War.[1]

As seen in the first books of the Aeneid, Aeneas is one of the few Trojans who were not killed in battle or enslaved when Troy fell. When Troy was sacked by the Greeks, Aeneas, after being commanded by the gods to flee, gathered a group, collectively known as the Aeneads, who then traveled to Italy and became progenitors of the Romans. The Aeneads included Aeneas' trumpeter Misenus, his father Anchises, his friends Achates, Sergestus and Acmon, the healer Lapyx, the steady helmsman Palinurus, and his son Ascanius (also known as Iulus, Julus, or Ascanius Julius.) He carried with him the Lares and Penates, the statues of the household gods of Troy, and transplanted them to Italy.
Aeneas tells Dido about the fall of Troy, by Pierre-Narcisse Guérin.

(From here on, the Greek myths make room for the Roman mythology, so the Roman names of the gods will be used, except for Aphrodite.)

After a brief but fierce storm sent up against the group at Juno's request, and several failed attempts to found cities, Aeneas and his fleet made landfall at Carthage after six years of wanderings. Aeneas had a year-long affair with the Carthaginian queen Dido (also known as Elissa), who proposed that the Trojans settle in her land and that she and Aeneas reign jointly over their peoples. Once again, this was in favour of Juno, who was told of the fact that her favorite city would eventually be defeated by the Trojans' descendants. However, the messenger god Mercury was sent by Jupiter and Aphrodite to remind Aeneas of his journey and his purpose, thus compelling him to leave secretly and continue on his way. When Dido learned of this, she ordered her sister Anna to construct a pyre, she said, to get rid of Aeneas' possessions, left behind by him in his haste to leave. Standing on it, Dido uttered a curse that would forever pit Carthage against Rome. She then committed suicide by stabbing herself with the same sword she gave Aeneas when they first met and then falling on the pyre. Anna reproached the mortally wounded Dido. Meanwhile, Juno, looking down on the tragedy and moved by Dido's plight, sent Iris to make Dido's passage to Hades quicker and less painful. When Aeneas later traveled to Hades, he called to her ghost but she neither spoke to nor acknowledged him.

The company stopped on the island of Sicily during the course of their journey. After the first trip, before the Trojans went to Carthage, Achaemenides, one of Odysseus' crew who had been left behind, traveled with them. After visiting Carthage, the Trojans returned to Sicily where they were welcomed by Acestes, king of the region and son of the river Crinisus by a Dardanian woman.
Aeneas defeats Turnus, Luca Giordano, 1634-1705, The genius of Aeneas is shown ascendant, looking into the light of the future, while that of Turnus is setting, shrouded in darkness.
Aeneas and the god Tiber, by Bartolomeo Pinelli.

Latinus, king of the Latins, welcomed Aeneas' army of exiled Trojans and let them reorganize their lives in Latium. His daughter Lavinia had been promised to Turnus, king of the Rutuli, but Latinus received a prophecy that Lavinia would be betrothed to one from another land — namely, Aeneas. Latinus heeded the prophecy, and Turnus consequently declared war on Aeneas at the urging of Juno, who was aligned with King Mezentius of the Etruscans and Queen Amata of the Latins. Aeneas' forces prevailed. Turnus was killed and his people were captured. According to Livy, Aeneas was victorious but Latinus died in the war. Aeneas founded the city of Lavinium, named after his wife. He later welcomed Dido's sister, Anna Perenna, who then committed suicide after learning of Lavinia's jealousy.

After Aeneas' death, Aphrodite asked Jupiter to make her son immortal. Jupiter agreed and the river god Numicus cleansed Aeneas of all his mortal parts and Aphrodite anointed him with Ambrosia and Nectar, making him a god. Aeneas was recognized as the god Jupiter Indiges. Inspired by the work of James Frazer, some have posited that Aeneas was originally a life-death-rebirth deity.
[edit] Family and legendary descendants

Aeneas had an extensive family tree. His wet-nurse was Caieta, and he is the father of Ascanius with Creusa, and of Silvius with Lavinia. The former, also known as Iulus (or Julius), founded Alba Longa and was the first in a long series of kings. According to the mythology outlined by Virgil in the Aeneid, Romulus and Remus were both descendants of Aeneas through their mother Rhea Silvia, making Aeneas progenitor of the Roman people. Some early sources call him their father or grandfather,[2] but considering the commonly accepted dates of the fall of Troy (1184 BC) and the founding of Rome (753 BC), this seems unlikely. The Julian family of Rome, most notably Julius Cæsar and Augustus, traced their lineage to Ascanius and Aeneas, thus to the goddess Aphrodite. Through the Julians, the Palemonids also make this claim. The legendary kings of Britain also trace their family through a grandson of Aeneas, Brutus.
[edit] Literature and film

In the Divine Comedy Dante sees the shade of Aeneas among other Roman worthies in the section of Limbo reserved for "virtuous pagans".

* Roman d'Enéas

In modern literature, Aeneas appears in David Gemmel's Troy series as a main heroic character who also goes by the name Helikaon.

Despite the many Hollywood elements, Aeneas has received little interest from the film industry.

* Aeneas (Steve Reeves) was the main character in the 1961 sword-and-sandal peplum La guerra di Troia (The Trojan War).
* In the movie Troy, Aeneas appears briefly played by Frankie Fitzgerald. Paris sees him leaving Troy and hands him the sword of Troy and says, "as long as it remains in the hands of a Trojan our people have a future. Protect them Aeneas; find them a new home". Aeneas replies, "I will." No mention of his semi-royal heritage or role as a warrior is mentioned, and he is portrayed as a teenager at the time.

[edit] Family tree

Zeus/Jupiter

Electra

Teucer

Dardanus

Batea

Erichthonius

Ilus

Tros

Ilus

Assaracus

Ganymede

Laomedon

Themiste

Capys

Priam

Anchises

Aphrodite/Venus

Latinus

Creusa

Aeneas

Lavinia

Ascanius

Silvius

Silvius

Aeneas Silvius

Brutus of Britain

Latinus Silvius

Alba

Atys

Capys

Capetus

Tiberinus Silvius

Agrippa

Romulus Silvius

Aventinus

Procas

Numitor

Amulius

Rhea Silvia

Ares/Mars

Hersilia

Romulus

Remus

Kings of Rome
[edit] Notes

1. ^ Hyginus, Fabulae 115.
2. ^ Romulus by Plutarch

see A.C Grayling Book The Choice of Hercules
[edit] References
Search Wikimedia Commons Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Aeneas
Search Wikisource Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Aeneas.

Classical sources

* Homer, Iliad II, 819-21; V, 217-575; XIII, 455-544; XX, 75-352;
* Apollodorus, Bibliotheke III, xii, 2;
* Apollodorus, Epitome III, 32-IV, 2; V, 21;
* Virgil, Aeneid;
* Ovid, Metamorphoses XIV, 581-608;
* Ovid, Heroides, VII.
* Livy, Book 1

Dius Fidius

2010-06-22T01:58:48Z

Gaius Apollonius Agrippa: New page: Dius Fidus From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to ...

Dius Fidus
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
This article does not cite any references or sources.
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2009)

The Sabine and later, Roman god of oaths, Dius Fidus was associated with Jupiter.

Nerio

2010-06-22T01:52:02Z

Gaius Apollonius Agrippa: New page: Nerio From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia In Roman mythology, Nerio was an ancient war goddess and the personification of valor. She was the partner of Mars in ancient cult practices, a...

Nerio
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In Roman mythology, Nerio was an ancient war goddess and the personification of valor. She was the partner of Mars in ancient cult practices, and was sometimes identified with the goddess Bellona, and occasionally with the goddess Minerva. Spoils taken from enemies were sometimes dedicated to Nerio by the Romans. As one of the shapeless di indigetes of early Roman religion, Nerio was later supplanted by mythologized deities appropriated and adapted from other religions.[1]

== References ==

1. ^ Grimal, p. 308.

== Sources ==

* Grimal, Pierre. The Dictionary of Classical Mythology. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1986. ISBN 0-631-20102-5

Libera

2010-06-22T01:50:03Z

Gaius Apollonius Agrippa: New page: Libera (mythology) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia In Roman mythology, Libera is a goddess of fertility and the Earth. She is the daughter of Liber and Ceres. Libera is associated ...

Libera (mythology)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In Roman mythology, Libera is a goddess of fertility and the Earth. She is the daughter of Liber and Ceres. Libera is associated with Persephone of Greek mythology.

== References ==

Michael Jordan, Encyclopedia of Gods, Kyle Cathie Limited, 2002

Pales

2010-06-22T01:47:11Z

Gaius Apollonius Agrippa: Pales

Pales
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In Roman mythology, Pales was a deity of shepherds, flocks and livestock. Regarded as a male by some sources and a female by others, and even possibly as a pair of deities (as Pales could be either singular or plural in Latin).

Pales' festival, called the Parilia, was celebrated on April 21. Cattle were driven through bonfires on this day. Another festival to Pales, apparently dedicated "to the two Pales" (Palibus duobus) was held on July 7.

Marcus Atilius Regulus built a temple to Pales in Rome following his victory over the Salentini in 267 BC. It is generally thought to have been located on the Palatine Hill, but, being a victory monument, it may have been located on the route of the triumphal procession, either on the Campus Martius or the Aventine Hill.

== References ==

* Richardson, L. (1992). A New Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome. Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press. (p. 282)
* Scullard, H.H. (1981). Festivals and Ceremonies of the Roman Republic. London: Thames and Hudson. (p. 104–105)

Bellus

2010-06-20T18:55:11Z

Gaius Apollonius Agrippa: Bellus

Bellus

Belus or Belos (Βῆλος) in classical Greek or classical Latin texts (and later material based on them) in a Babylonian context refers to the Babylonian god Bel Marduk. Though often identified with Greek Zeus and Latin Jupiter as Zeus Belos or Jupiter Belus, in other cases Belus is euhemerized as an ancient king who founded Babylon and built the ziggurat. He is recognized and worshipped as the God of war.
Eusebius of Caesarea (Praeparatio Evangelica 9.18) cites Artabanus as stating in his Jewish History that Artabanus found in anonymous works that giants who had been dwelling in Babylonia were destroyed by the gods for impiety, but one of them named Belus escaped and settled in Babylon and lived in the tower which he built and named the Tower of Belus. A little later Eusebius (9.41) cites Abydenus' Concerning the Assyrians for the information that the site of Babylon:
... was originally water, and called a sea. But Belus put an end to this, and assigned a district to each, and surrounded Babylon with a wall; and at the appointed time he disappeared.
This seems to be a rationalized version of Marduk's defeat of Tiamet in the Enuma Elish followed here by Belus becoming a god. A little earlier in the same section, in a supposed prophecy by King Nebuchadnezzar, King Nebuchadnezzar claims to be descended from Belus.
Diodorus Siculus (6.1.10) cites Euhemerus as relating that Zeus (a euhemerized Zeus) went to Babylon and was entertained by Belus. Diodorus also relates (17.112.3) how the Chaldean of Babylon requested Alexander the Great to restore the "Tomb of Belus" which had been demolished by the Persians. Strabo (16.1.5) likewise refers to the ziggurat as the "Tomb of Belus" which had been demolished by Xerxes.
See Belus (Egyptian) for statements that Belus in reference to the Babylonian Zeus Belus actually refers to the Belus of Greek mythology, son of Poseidon by Libya.
It is likely the Babylonian Belus was not clearly distinguished from vague, ancient Assyrian figures named Belus though some chronographers make the distinction

Bellus

2010-06-20T18:37:27Z

Gaius Apollonius Agrippa: Bellus

== Belado ==

== From www.celtnet.org.uk ==

A Gaulish God: He of Death
This Gauish god is known from several inscriptions found in the Provence region of France. In each inscription he is equated with Roman Mars, and this, with the interpretation of his name's meaning indicates that he was a martial deity, a 'bringer of death'.

Synonyms:
Gaul: Death

Belado is known from several inscriptions, all originating in Gaul. The first of these (CIL XII 0503) was discovered at Aix-en-Provence, Boches-du-Rhône, France which reads: Marti Beladoni T(itus) Fl(avius) Iustus ex iussu (To Mars Belado, Titus Flavius Iustus [proffers this] in fulfilment of a demand). The next two inscriptions (AE 1904, 142 and AE 1904, 143) both derive from Limans, Alpes de Haute-Provence, France. The first of these (AE 1904, 142) reads: [Marti] Bela[doni] v(otum) s(olvit) [l(ibens) m(erito)] T(itus) Vent[idius?] Cila I[ (To Mars Belado, Titus Ventidius Cila I[ willingly and deservedly [offers this] in fulfilment of a vow). The next inscription, (AE 1904, 143) reads: [Marti] Bela[doni] Con[nius] Urs[us] v(otum) s(olvit) [l(ibens) m(erito)] (To Mars Belado, Connius the Bear willingly and deservedly [offers this] in fulfilment of a vow).

The final inscription (AE 1991, 1197) derives from Plaisians, Drôme, France and reads: Marti Beladoni Patern(us) Quintuli v(otum) [s(olvit)] l(ibens) m(erito) (To Mars Belado, Paternus Quintulius willingly and deservedly [offers this] in fulfilment of a vow). In each case the name Belado associated with the Roman warrior deity Mars by Interpretato Romano which strongly indicates that Belado was considered a warrior-type deity.

This association of Belado with Mars also has a bearing upon the interpretation of the deity's name. If the name is Celtic then it can only be derived from the reconstructed proto-Celtic element: *belatu- (death). Though this would be expected to give us the name Belato. However, the name also has echoes of the Latin Bellus (war/battle) but we'd then expect the form Belladus. What seems to have happened is that the Gaulish name of the deity has been given the -dus ending based on the influence of Latin bello. Thus Beladus can be interpreted as 'He of Death'.

Aeneas

2010-06-20T18:17:06Z

Gaius Apollonius Agrippa: Aeneas

Aeneas

In Greco-Roman mythology, Aeneas (Greek: Αἰνείας, Aineías, derived from Greek Αἰνή meaning "to praise"; pronounced /ɪˈniːəs/ in English) was a Trojan hero, the son of the prince Anchises and the goddess Aphrodite. His father was also the second cousin of King Priam of Troy. The journey of Aeneas from Troy (with help from Aphrodite), which led to the founding of the city Rome, is recounted in Virgil's Aeneid. He is considered an important figure in Greek and Roman legend and history. Aeneas is a character in Homer's Iliad, Quintus Smyrnaeus' Posthomerica, and Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida.

== Contents ==

1 Mythology
2 Family and legendary descendants
3 Notes
4 References

== Mythology ==

In the Iliad, Aeneas is the leader of Troy's Dardanian allies (Trojans — descendants of Dardanus), and a principal lieutenant of Hector, son of the Trojan king Priam. In the poem, Aeneas' mother Aphrodite frequently comes to his aid on the battlefield; he is also a favorite of Apollo. Aphrodite and Apollo rescue Aeneas from combat with Diomedes of Argos, who nearly kills him, and carry him away to Pergamos for healing. Even Poseidon, who normally favors the Greeks, comes to Aeneas' rescue when the latter falls under the assault of Achilles, noting that Aeneas, though from a junior branch of the royal family, is destined to become king of the Trojan people. Aeneas killed 28 people in the Trojan War.[1]
As seen in the first books of the Aeneid, Aeneas is one of the few Trojans who were not killed in battle or enslaved when Troy fell. When Troy was sacked by the Greeks, Aeneas, after being commanded by the gods to flee, gathered a group, collectively known as the Aeneads, who then traveled to Italy and became progenitors of the Romans. The Aeneads included Aeneas' trumpeter Misenus, his father Anchises, his friends Achates, Sergestus and Acmon, the healer Lapyx, the steady helmsman Palinurus, and his son Ascanius (also known as Iulus, Julus, or Ascanius Julius.) He carried with him the Lares and Penates, the statues of the household gods of Troy, and transplanted them to Italy.

(From here on, the Greek myths make room for the Roman mythology, so the Roman names of the gods will be used, except for Aphrodite.)
After a brief but fierce storm sent up against the group at Juno's request, and several failed attempts to found cities, Aeneas and his fleet made landfall at Carthage after six years of wanderings. Aeneas had a year-long affair with the Carthaginian queen Dido (also known as Elissa), who proposed that the Trojans settle in her land and that she and Aeneas reign jointly over their peoples. Once again, this was in favour of Juno, who was told of the fact that her favorite city would eventually be defeated by the Trojans' descendants. However, the messenger god Mercury was sent by Jupiter and Aphrodite to remind Aeneas of his journey and his purpose, thus compelling him to leave secretly and continue on his way. When Dido learned of this, she ordered her sister Anna to construct a pyre, she said, to get rid of Aeneas' possessions, left behind by him in his haste to leave. Standing on it, Dido uttered a curse that would forever pit Carthage against Rome. She then committed suicide by stabbing herself with the same sword she gave Aeneas when they first met and then falling on the pyre. Anna reproached the mortally wounded Dido. Meanwhile, Juno, looking down on the tragedy and moved by Dido's plight, sent Iris to make Dido's passage to Hades quicker and less painful. When Aeneas later traveled to Hades, he called to her ghost but she neither spoke to nor acknowledged him.
The company stopped on the island of Sicily during the course of their journey. After the first trip, before the Trojans went to Carthage, Achaemenides, one of Odysseus' crew who had been left behind, traveled with them. After visiting Carthage, the Trojans returned to Sicily where they were welcomed by Acestes, king of the region and son of the river Crinisus by a Dardanian woman.

Latinus, king of the Latins, welcomed Aeneas' army of exiled Trojans and let them reorganize their lives in Latium. His daughter Lavinia had been promised to Turnus, king of the Rutuli, but Latinus received a prophecy that Lavinia would be betrothed to one from another land — namely, Aeneas. Latinus heeded the prophecy, and Turnus consequently declared war on Aeneas at the urging of Juno, who was aligned with King Mezentius of the Etruscans and Queen Amata of the Latins. Aeneas' forces prevailed. Turnus was killed and his people were captured. According to Livy, Aeneas was victorious but Latinus died in the war. Aeneas founded the city of Lavinium, named after his wife. He later welcomed Dido's sister, Anna Perenna, who then committed suicide after learning of Lavinia's jealousy.
After Aeneas' death, Aphrodite asked Jupiter to make her son immortal. Jupiter agreed and the river god Numicus cleansed Aeneas of all his mortal parts and Aphrodite anointed him with Ambrosia and Nectar, making him a god. Aeneas was recognized as the god Jupiter Indiges. Inspired by the work of James Frazer, some have posited that Aeneas was originally a life-death-rebirth deity.

== Family and legendary descendants ==

Aeneas had an extensive family tree. His wet-nurse was Caieta, and he is the father of Ascanius with Creusa, and of Silvius with Lavinia. The former, also known as Iulus (or Julius), founded Alba Longa and was the first in a long series of kings. According to the mythology outlined by Virgil in the Aeneid, Romulus and Remus were both descendants of Aeneas through their mother Rhea Silvia, making Aeneas progenitor of the Roman people. Some early sources call him their father or grandfather,[2] but considering the commonly accepted dates of the fall of Troy (1184 BC) and the founding of Rome (753 BC), this seems unlikely. The Julian family of Rome, most notably Julius Cæsar and Augustus, traced their lineage to Ascanius and Aeneas, thus to the goddess Aphrodite. Through the Julians, the Palemonids also make this claim. The legendary kings of Britain also trace their family through a grandson of Aeneas, Brutus.

== Notes ==

^ Hyginus, Fabulae 115.
^ Romulus by Plutarch
see A.C Grayling Book The Choice of Hercules

== References ==

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Aeneas
Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Aeneas.
Classical sources
Homer, Iliad II, 819-21; V, 217-575; XIII, 455-544; XX, 75-352;
Apollodorus, Bibliotheke III, xii, 2;
Apollodorus, Epitome III, 32-IV, 2; V, 21;
Virgil, Aeneid;
Ovid, Metamorphoses XIV, 581-608;
Ovid, Heroides, VII.
Livy, Book 1

Isis

2010-06-19T18:49:01Z

Gaius Apollonius Agrippa: Isis

Isis

Originally, the goddess Isis was portrayed as a woman, wearing a headress shaped like a throne.
Goddess of motherhood, magic and fertility
Major cult center Philae, Abydos
Symbol the throne, the sun disk with cow's horn, the sycamore tree
Parents Geb and Nut
Siblings Osiris, Set and Nephthys
Consort Osiris
Isis (Ancient Greek: Ἶσις) was a goddess in Ancient Egyptian religious beliefs, whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. She was worshiped as the ideal mother and wife as well as the matron of nature and magic. She was the friend of slaves, sinners, artisans, the downtrodden, as well as listening to the prayers of the wealthy, maidens, aristocrats and rulers.[1] Isis is the Goddess of motherhood, magic and fertility.
The goddess Isis (the mother of Horus) was the first daughter of Geb, god of the Earth, and Nut, the goddess of the Overarching Sky, and was born on the fourth intercalary day. At some time Isis and Hathor had the same headdress. In later myths about Isis, she had a brother, Osiris, who became her husband, and she then was said to have conceived Horus. Isis was instrumental in the resurrection of Osiris when he was murdered by Set. Her magical skills restored his body to life after she gathered the body parts that had been strewn about the earth by Set.[2] This myth became very important in later Egyptian religious beliefs.
Isis is also known as the goddess of simplicity, protector of the dead and goddess of children from whom all beginnings arose. In later myths, the Ancient Egyptians believed that the Nile River flooded every year because of her tears of sorrow for her dead husband, Osiris. This occurrence of his death and rebirth was relived each year through rituals. The worship of Isis eventually spread throughout the Greco-Roman world, continuing until the suppression of paganism in the Christian era.[3]

Temple of Isis in Philae, Egypt

== Contents ==

1 Origin of the name
2 Early history
3 Temples
4 Priesthood
5 Iconography
5.1 Associations
5.2 Depictions
6 Isis in literature
7 Mythology
7.1 Sister-wife to Osiris
7.2 Assimilation of Hathor
7.2.1 Mother of Horus
7.2.2 Magic
7.3 Assimilation of Mut
8 Greco-Roman world
9 Titles
10 Notes
11 References
11.1 Primary sources
11.2 Secondary sources

== Origin of the name ==

The pronunciation for this deity is a mispronunciation of the Greek name which itself changed the original Egyptian name spelling by the addition of a last "-s" because of the grammatical requirements of Greek endings.
The Egyptian name was recorded as ỉs.t or ȝs.t and meant "(She of the) Throne." The true Egyptian pronunciation remains uncertain, however, because their writing system usually did not feature vowels. Based on recent studies which present us with approximations based on contemporary languages and Coptic evidence, the reconstructed pronunciation of her name is *Usat [*ˈʔyː.səʔ]. Osiris's name—that is, *Usir 'Osiris' (ws-ỉr) also starts with the throne glyph ʔs ("-s"). The name survived in Coptic dialects as Ēse or Ēsi, as well as in compound words surviving in names of later people such as "Har-si-Ese", literally, "Horus, son of Isis".
For convenience, Egyptologists arbitrarily choose to pronounce her name as "ee-set". Sometimes they may also say "ee-sa" because the final "t" in her name was a feminine suffix, which is known to have been dropped in speech during the last stages of the Egyptian language.
Literally, her name means "she of the throne". Her original headdress was a throne. As the personification of the throne, she was an important representation of the pharaoh's power, as the pharaoh was depicted as her child, who sat on the throne she provided. Her cult was popular throughout Egypt, but the most important sanctuaries were at Giza and at Behbeit El-Hagar in the Nile delta, which was in Lower Egypt.

== Early history ==

Her origins are uncertain, but are believed to have come from the Nile Delta. Like other Egyptian deities she did have a centralized Cult of Isis (New cults) in the Hellenistic Civilization. First mentions of Isis date back to the Fifth dynasty of Egypt which is when the first literary inscriptions are found, but her cult became prominent late in Egyptian history, when it began to absorb the cults of many other goddesses with strong cult centers. This is when the cult of Osiris arose and she became such an important figure in those beliefs. Her cult eventually spread outside Egypt.
During the formative centuries of Christianity, the religion of Isis drew converts from every corner of the Roman Empire. In Italy itself, the Egyptian faith was a dominant force. At Pompeii, archaeological evidence reveals that Isis played a major role. In Rome, temples were built and obelisks erected in her honour. In Greece, traditional centres of worship in Delos, Delphi, and Eleusis were taken over by followers of Isis, and this occurred in northern Greece and Athens as well. Harbours of Isis were to be found on the Arabian Sea and the Black Sea. Inscriptions show followers in Gaul, Spain, Pannonia, Germany, Arabia, Asia Minor, Portugal and many shrines even in Britain.[4]

== Temples ==

Most Egyptian deities first appeared as very local cults and throughout their history retained those local centres of worship, with most major cities and towns widely known as the home of these deities. Isis originally was an independent and popular deity established in predynastic times, prior to 3100 B.C., at Sebennytos in the northern delta.[5]
Eventually temples to Isis began to spread outside of Egypt. In many locations, particularly Byblos, her cult took over that of worship to the Semitic goddess Astarte, apparently due to the similarity of names and associations. During the Hellenic era, due to her attributes as a protector and mother, as well as a lusty aspect gained when she absorbed some aspects of Hathor, she became the patron goddess of sailors, who spread her worship with the trading ships circulating the Mediterranean Sea.
Likewise, the Arabian goddess Al-Ozza or Al-Uzza العُزّى (al ȝozza), whose name is close to that of Isis, is believed to be a manifestation of her. This, however, is thought to be based on the similarity in the name.
Throughout the Graeco-Roman world, Isis became one of the most significant of the mystery religions, and many classical writers refer to her temples, cults, and rites.
Temples to Isis were built in Iraq, Greece and Rome, with a well preserved example discovered in Pompeii. On the Greek island of Delos a Doric Temple of Isis was built on a high over-looking hill at the beginning of the Roman period to venerate the familiar trinity of Isis, the Alexandrian Serapis and Anubis. The creation of this temple is significant as Delos is particularly known as the birthplace of the Greek gods Artemis and Apollo who've had temples of their own on the island long before the temple to Isis was built. At Philae her worship persisted until the sixth century, long after the rise of Christianity and the subsequent suppression of paganism. The cult of Isis and Osiris continued up until the 6th century AD on the island of Philae in Upper Nile. The Theodosian decree (in about 380 AD) to destroy all pagan temples was not enforced there until the time of Justinian. This toleration was due to an old treaty made between the Blemyes-Nobadae and Diocletian. Every year they visited Elaphantine and at certain intervals took the image of Isis up river to the land of the Blemyes for oracular purposes before returning it. Justinian sent Narses to destroy the sanctuaries, with the priests being arrested and the divine images taken to Constantinople.[6] Philae was the last of the ancient Egyptian temples to be closed.

== Priesthood ==

Little information on Egyptian rituals for Isis survives, however, it is clear there were both priests and priestesses officiating at her cult rituals throughout its entire history. By the Greco-Roman era, many of them were healers, and were said to have many other special powers, including dream interpretation and the ability to control the weather, which they did by braiding or not combing their hair. The latter was believed because the Egyptians considered knots to have magical powers.

== Iconography ==

== Associations ==

Because of this association between knots and magical power, a symbol of Isis was the tiet or tyet (meaning welfare/life), also called the Knot of Isis, Buckle of Isis, or the Blood of Isis, which is shown to the right. In many respects the tyet resembles an ankh, except that its arms point downward, and when used as such, seems to represent the idea of eternal life or resurrection. The meaning of Blood of Isis is more obscure, but the tyet often was used as a funerary amulet made of red wood, stone, or glass, so this may simply have been a description of the appearance of the materials used.
The star, Spica, (sometimes called Lute Bearer), and the constellation which roughly corresponds to the modern Virgo, appeared in the sky above the horizon at a time of year associated with the harvest of wheat and grain, and thus became associated with fertility deities, such as Hathor. Isis would come to be connected with them through her later conflation with Hathor.
Isis also assimilated Sopdet, the personification of the star Sirius, since Sopdet, rising just before the flooding of the Nile, was seen as a bringer of fertility, and so had been identified with Hathor as well. Sopdet retained an element of distinct identity, however, as Sirius was quite visibly a star and not living in the underworld— which might have conflicted with Isis' representation as the wife of Osiris, who was the ruler of the underworld.
Probably due to assimilation with the goddesses Aphrodite and Venus, during the Roman period, the rose was used in her worship. The demand for roses throughout the empire turned rose production into an important industry.

== Depictions ==

In art, originally Isis was pictured as a woman wearing a long sheath dress and crowned with the hieroglyphic sign for a throne. Sometimes she was depicted as holding a lotus, or, as a Sycamore tree. One pharaoh, Hatshepsut, was depicted in her tomb as nursing from a sycamore tree that had a breast.
After she assimilated many of the roles of Hathor, Isis's headdress is replaced with that of Hathor: the horns of a cow on her head, with the solar disk between them. Sometimes she also was represented as a cow, or a cow's head. Usually, however, she was depicted with her young child, Horus (the pharaoh), with a crown, and a vulture. Occasionally she was represented as a kite flying above the body of Osiris or with the dead Osiris across her lap as she worked her magic to bring him back to life.
Most often Isis is seen holding only the generic ankh sign and a simple staff, but in late images she is seen sometimes with items usually associated only with Hathor, the sacred sistrum rattle and the fertility-bearing menat necklace. In The Book of Coming Forth By Day Isis is depicted standing on the prow of the Solar Bark with her arms outstretched.[1]
The star Sept (Sirius) is associated with Isis. The appearance of the star signified the advent of a new year and Isis was likewise considered the goddess of rebirth and reincarnation, and as a protector of the dead. The Book of the Dead outlines a particular ritual that would protect the dead, enabling travel anywhere in the underworld, and most of the titles Isis holds signify her as the goddess of protection of the dead.

== Isis in literature ==

Plutarch, a Greek scholar who lived from 46 A.D. to 120 A.D., wrote Isis and Osiris,[7] which is considered a main source about the very late myths about Isis.[8] In it he writes of Isis, describing her as: " a goddess exceptionally wise and a lover of wisdom, to whom, Fas her name at least seems to indicate, knowledge and understanding are in the highest degree appropriate.." and that the statue of Athena (Plutarch says 'whom they believe to be Isis' in Sais carried the inscription "I am all that has been, and is, and shall be, and my robe no mortal has yet uncovered." [9] At Sais, however, the patron goddess of its ancient cult was Neith, many of whose traits had begun to be attributed to Isis during the Greek occupation. In The Golden Ass the Roman writer Apuleius later gives us his understanding of Isis in the second century. The following paragraph is particularly significant:
“ You see me here, Lucius, in answer to your prayer. I am nature, the universal Mother, mistress of all the elements, primordial child of time, sovereign of all things spiritual, queen of the dead, queen of the ocean, queen also of the immortals, the single manifestation of all gods and goddesses that are, my nod governs the shining heights of Heavens, the wholesome sea breezes. Though I am worshipped in many aspects, known by countless names ... some know me as Juno, some as Bellona ... the Egyptians who excel in ancient learning and worship call me by my true name...Queen Isis. ”

== Mythology ==

When seen as the deification of the wife of the pharaoh in later myths, the prominent role of Isis was as the assistant to the deceased pharaoh. Thus she gained a funerary association, her name appearing over eighty times in the Pyramid Texts, and she was said to be the mother of the four deities who protected the canopic jars—more specifically, Isis was viewed as protector of the liver-jar-deity, Imsety. This association with the pharaoh's wife also brought the idea that Isis was considered the spouse of Horus (once seen as her child), who was protector, and later the deification of the pharaoh. By the Middle Kingdom, the 11th through 14th dynasties between 2040 and 1640 B.C., as the funeral texts began to be used by more members of Egyptian society, other than the royal family, her role also grows to protect the nobles and even the commoners.
By the New Kingdom, the 18th, 19th, and 20th dynasties between 1570 and 1070 B.C., Isis gained prominence as the mother and protector of the pharaoh. During this period, she is said to breastfeed the pharaoh and often is depicted doing so.
The role of her name and her throne-crown is uncertain. Some early Egyptologists believed that being the throne-mother was Isis's original function, however, a more modern view states that aspects of that role came later by association. In many African tribes, the throne is known as the mother of the king, and that concept fits well with either theory, possibly giving insight into the thinking of ancient Egyptians.

== Sister-wife to Osiris ==

In the Old Kingdom, the 3rd Dynasty through to the 6th Dynasty dated between 2,686 to 2,134 B.C., the pantheons of individual Egyptian cities varied by region. During the 5th dynasty, Isis became one of the Ennead of the city of Heliopolis. She was believed to be a daughter of Nut and Geb, and sister to Osiris, Nephthys, and Set. The two sisters, Isis and Nephthys, often were depicted on coffins, with wings outstretched, as protectors against evil. As a funerary deity, she was associated with Osiris, lord of the underworld (Duat), and was considered his wife.

== Assimilation of Hathor ==

When the cult of Ra rose to prominence he became associated with the similar deity, Horus. For some time, Isis intermittently had been paired as the wife of Ra. Since she was the mother of Horus, he then became the child of Ra as well. A merging of the two male deities resulted in Ra-Horakhty. Hathor had been paired with Ra as well in some regions and when Isis began to be paired with Ra, soon Hathor and Isis began to be merged in some regions also as, Isis-Hathor. Another variant occurred in the Ennead, with Isis as a child of Atum-Ra, making her become the child of Hathor since Hathor had become paired with Ra. This also led to the merger of Hathor and Isis frequently, because of common characteristics.

== Mother of Horus ==

By merging with Hathor, Isis became the mother of Horus, rather than his wife, and thus, when beliefs of Ra absorbed Atum into Atum-Ra, it also had to be taken into account that Isis was one of the Ennead, as the wife of Osiris. It had to be explained how Osiris, however, who (as lord of the dead) being dead, could be considered a father to Horus, who was not considered dead. This conflict in themes led to the evolution of the idea that Osiris needed to be resurrected, and therefore, to the Legend of Osiris and Isis, of which Plutarch's Greek description written in the first century A.D., De Iside et Osiride, contains the most extensive account known today. [12]
Yet another set of late myths detail the adventures of Isis after the birth of Osiris's posthumous son, Horus. Isis was said to have given birth to Horus at Khemmis, thought to be located on the Nile Delta.[13] Many dangers faced Horus after birth, and Isis fled with the newborn to escape the wrath of Set, the murderer of her husband. In one instance, Isis heals Horus from a lethal scorpion sting; she also performs other miracles in relation to the cippi, or the plaques of Horus. Isis protected and raised Horus until he was old enough to face Set, and subsequently, became the pharaoh of Egypt.

== Magic ==

In order to resurrect Osiris for the purpose of having the child Horus, it was necessary for Isis to "learn" magic (which long had been her domain before the cult of Ra arose), and so it was said that Isis tricked Ra (i.e. Amun-Ra/Atum-Ra) into telling her his "secret name," by causing a snake to bite him, for which only Isis had the cure. The names of deities were secret and not divulged to any but the religious leaders. Knowing the secret name of a deity enabled one to have power of the deity. That he would use his "secret name" to "survive" implies that the serpent had to be a more powerful deity than Ra. The oldest deity known in Egypt was Wadjet, the Egyptian cobra, whose cult never was eclipsed in Ancient Egyptian religion. As a deity from the same region, she would have been a benevolent resource for Isis. The use of secret names became central in late Egyptian magic spells, and Isis often is implored to "use the true name of Ra" in the performance of rituals. By the late Egyptian historical period, after the occupations by the Greeks and the Romans, Isis became the most important and most powerful deity of the Egyptian pantheon because of her magical skills. Magic is central to the entire mythology of Isis, arguably more so than any other Egyptian deity.
Prior to this late change in the nature of Egyptian religion, the rule of Ma'at had governed the correct actions for most of the thousands of years of Egyptian religion, with little need for magic. Thoth had been the deity who resorted to magic when it was needed. The goddess which held the quadruple roles of healer, protector of the canopic jars, protector of marriage, and goddess of magic previously had been Serket. She then became considered an aspect of Isis. Thus it is not surprising that Isis had a central role in Egyptian magic spells and ritual, especially those of protection and healing. In many spells, she also is completely merged even with Horus, where invocations of Isis are supposed to involve Horus's powers automatically as well. In Egyptian history the image of a wounded Horus became a standard feature of Isis's healing spells, which typically invoked the curative powers of the milk of Isis. (Silverman, Ancient Egypt, 135)

== Assimilation of Mut ==

Mut, a primal deity called, mother, was originally a title of the primordial waters of the cosmos, the mother from which the cosmos emerged. When the pairing of the deities began, Mut became a consort of Amun, who already had been assigned a quite different wife. After the authority of Thebes had risen during the eighteenth dynasty, and made Amun into a much more significant god, the cult later waned, and Amun was assimilated into Ra.
In consequence, Amun's consort, Mut, by then a depicted as a doting, adoptive[14] mother—who by this point had absorbed other goddesses herself—also was assimilated into Ra's wife, Isis-Hathor as Mut-Isis-Nekhbet. On occasion, Mut's infertility was taken into consideration[citation needed], and so Horus, who was too significant to ignore, had to be explained by saying that Isis became pregnant by magic when she transformed herself into a kite and flew over the dead body of Osiris.
Later myths became quite convoluted. Mut's consort was Amun, who had by this time become identified with Min as Amun-Min (also known by his epithet - Kamutef). Since Mut had become part of Isis, it was natural to try to make Amun, part of Osiris, the husband of Isis, but this was not easily reconcilable, because Amun-Min was a fertility god and Osiris was the god of the dead. Consequently they remained regarded as separate, and Isis sometimes was said to be the lover of Min. Subsequently, as at this stage Amun-Min was considered an aspect of Ra (Amun-Ra). He was also considered an aspect of Horus, since Horus was identified as Ra, and thus Isis's son, was on rare occasions said to be Min instead, which neatly avoided confusion over Horus's status as being both the husband and son of Isis.

== Greco-Roman world ==

Following the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great the worship of Isis spread throughout the Graeco-Roman world.[15] Tacitus writes that after Julius Caesar's assassination, a temple in honour of Isis had been decreed; Augustus suspended this, and tried to turn Romans back to the Roman deities who were closely associated with the state. Eventually the Roman emperor Caligula abandoned the Augustan wariness toward what was described as oriental cults, and it was in his reign that the Isiac festival was established in Rome. According to Josephus, Caligula donned female garb and took part in the mysteries he instituted, and in the Hellenistic age Isis acquired a "new rank as a leading goddess of the Mediterranean world." Vespasian, along with Titus, practised incubation in the Roman Iseum. Domitian built another Iseum along with a Serapeum. Trajan appears before Isis and Horus, presenting them with votive offerings of wine, in a bas-relief on his triumphal arch in Rome.[16] Hadrian decorated his villa at Tibur with Isiac scenes. Galerius regarded Isis as his protectress.[17]
Roman perspectives on cults were syncretic, seeing in new deities, merely local aspects of a familiar one. For many Romans, Egyptian Isis was an aspect of Phrygian Cybele, whose orgiastic rites were long-naturalized at Rome, indeed, she was known as Isis of Ten Thousand Names.
Among these names of Roman Isis, Queen of Heaven is outstanding for its long and continuous history. Herodotus identified Isis with the Greek and Roman goddesses of agriculture, Demeter and Ceres.
In later years, Isis also had temples throughout Europe, Africa and Asia. An alabaster statue of Isis from the 3rd century BC, found in Ohrid, in the Republic of Macedonia, is depicted on the obverse of the Macedonian 10 denars banknote, issued in 1996.[18]
The male first name "Isidore" (also "Isador"), means in Greek "Gift of Isis" (similar to "Theodore", "God's Gift"). The name, which became common in Roman times, survived the suppression of the Isis worship and remains popular up to the present - being among others the name of several Christian saints.

== Titles ==

In the Book of the Dead Isis was described as:
She who gives birth to heaven and earth,
She who knows the orphan,
She who knows the widow spider,
She who seeks justice for the poor people,
She who seeks shelter for the weak people
She who seeks the righteousness in her people
Some of Isis's many other titles were:
Queen of Heaven,
Mother of the Gods,
The One Who is All,
Lady of Green Crops,
The Brilliant One in the Sky,
Star of the Sea,[19]
Great Lady of Magic,
Mistress of the House of Life,
She Who Knows How To Make Right Use of the Heart,
Light-Giver of Heaven,
Lady of the Words of Power,
Moon Shining Over the Sea.
[show]
v • d • e
Ancient Egyptian religion

== Notes ==

^ a b R.E Witt, "Isis in the Ancient World", p. 7, 1997, ISBN 0801856426
^ Veronica Ions, Egyptian Mythology, Paul Hamlyn, 1968, ISBN 0 600 02365 6
^ "The Church in Ancient Society: From Galilee to Gregory the Great", Henry Chadwick, p526, Oxford University Press, 2003, ISBN 0199265771
^ R.E Witt, "Isis in the Ancient World", 1997, ISBN 0801856426
^ Veronica Ions, Egyptian Mythology, Paul Hamlyn, 1968, ISBN 0 600 02365 6
^ ”History of the Later Roman Empire from the Death of Theodosius I. to the Death of Justinian”, The Suppression of Paganism – ch22, p371,John Bagnell Bury, Courier Dover Publications, 1958, ISBN 0486203999
^ "Isis and Osiris", Plutarch, translated by Frank Cole Babbitt, 1936, vol. 5 Loeb Classical Library.[1]
^ D.S. Richter, "Plutarch On Isis and Osiris: Text, Cult, and Cultural Appropriation," Transactions of the American Philological Association (2001) 131:191-216
^ "Isis and Osiris", Plutarch, translated by Frank Cole Babbitt, 1936, vol. 5 Loeb Classical Library.[2]
^ Mercantante, Anthony S. Who's What in Egyptian Mythology MetroBooks (NY); 2nd edition (March 2002) ISBN 978-1586636111 p.114
^ a b Pinch, Geraldine Handbook of Egyptian Mythology ABC-CLIO Ltd; 31 Aug 2002 ISBN 978-1576072424 p. 79 [3]
^ D.S. Richter, "Plutarch on Isis and Osiris: Text, Cult, and Cultural Appropriation," TAPhA (2001) 191-216.
^ Griffiths, J. Gwyn. (2002). Isis. In D. B. Redford (Ed.), The ancient gods speak: A guide to Egyptian religion (pp. 169). New York: Oxford University Press, USA.
^ Lindemans, Micha F. "Mut" January 16, 2004 http://www.pantheon.org/articles/m/mut.html Accessed October 06, 2008
^ R.E Witt, "Isis in the Ancient World", 1997, ISBN 0801856426
^ R.E Witt, "Isis in the Ancient World", Ch17:" The Goddess Darling of the Roman Emperors", p235, 1997, ISBN 0801856426
^ R.E Witt, "Isis in the Ancient World", p51,1997, ISBN 0801856426
^ National Bank of the Republic of Macedonia. Macedonian currency. Banknotes in circulation: 10 Denars. – Retrieved on 30 March 2009.
^ "The Concept of the Goddess" By Sandra Billington, Miranda Green, Routledge, 1999, p70, ISBN 0415197899

== References ==

== Primary sources ==

Ovid, Metamorphoses i.588-747
Eusebius, Chronicon 32.9-13, 40.7-9, 43.12-16

== Secondary sources ==

Ian Shaw (2000) The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt
Rosalie David (1998) Handbook to Life in Ancient Egypt
Lewis Spences (1990) Ancient Egyptian Myths and Legends
Plutarch, (1936) De Iside et Osiride, edited by Frank C. Babbitt
Richard H. Wilkinson (2003) The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt
Ian Shaw & Paul T. Nicholson (1995) The British Museum Dictionary of Ancient Egypt
Kockelmann, Holger, Praising the goddess: a comparative and annotated re-edition of six demotic hymns and praises addressed to Isis (Berlin; New York: Walter de Gruyter, 2008).

Serapis

2010-06-19T18:33:35Z

Gaius Apollonius Agrippa: Serapis

Serapis

The Hellenistic-Egyptian god Serapis and his attributes.
Serapis (Latin spelling, or Σάραπις, Sarapis in Greek) was a syncretic Hellenistic-Egyptian god in Antiquity. His most renowned temple was the Serapeum of Alexandria.[1] Under Ptolemy Soter, efforts were made to integrate Egyptian religion with that of their Hellenic rulers. Ptolemy's policy was to find a deity that should win the reverence alike of both groups, despite the curses of the Egyptian priests against the gods of the previous foreign rulers (i.e Set who was lauded by the Hyksos). Alexander the Great had attempted to use Amun for this purpose, but he was more prominent in Upper Egypt, and not as popular with those in Lower Egypt, where the Greeks had stronger influence. The Greeks had little respect for animal-headed figures, and so a Greek-style anthromorphic statue was chosen as the idol, and proclaimed as the equivalent of the highly popular Apis.[2] It was named Aser-hapi (i.e. Osiris-Apis), which became Serapis, and was said to be Osiris in full, rather than just his Ka (life force).

== Contents ==

1 History
2 Notes
3 References

== History ==

The earliest mention of a Serapis is in the disputed death scene of Alexander (323 BC).[3] Here, Serapis has a temple at Babylon, and is of such importance that he alone is named as being consulted on behalf of the dying king. His presence in Babylon would radically alter perceptions of the mythologies of this era, though fortunately it has been discovered that the unconnected Babylonian god Ea (Enki) was titled Serapsi, meaning king of the deep, and it is possible this Serapsi is the one referred to in the diaries. The significance of this Serapsi in the Hellenic psyche, due to its involvement in Alexander's death, may have also contributed to the choice of Osiris-Apis as the chief Ptolemaic god.
According to Plutarch, Ptolemy stole the cult statue from Sinope, having been instructed in a dream by the unknown god, to bring the statue to Alexandria, where the statue was pronounced to be Serapis by two religious experts. One of the experts was of the Eumolpidae, the ancient family from whose members the hierophant of the Eleusinian Mysteries had been chosen since before history, and the other was the scholarly Egyptian priest Manetho, which gave weight to the judgement both for the Egyptians and the Greeks.
Plutarch may not however be correct, as some Egyptologists allege that the Sinope in the tale is really the hill of Sinopeion, a name given to the site of the already existing Serapeum at Memphis. Also, according to Tacitus, Serapis (i.e. Apis explicitly identified as Osiris in full) had been the god of the village of Rhakotis, before it suddenly expanded into the great capital of Alexandria.
The statue suitably depicted a figure resembling Hades or Pluto, both being kings of the Greek underworld, and was shown enthroned with the modius, a basket/grain-measure, on his head, since it was a Greek symbol for the land of the dead. He also held a sceptre in his hand indicating his rulership, with Cerberus, gatekeeper of the underworld, resting at his feet, and it also had what appeared to be a serpent at its base, fitting the Egyptian symbol of rulership, the uraeus.
With his (i.e. Osiris') wife Isis, and their son (at this point in history) Horus (in the form of Harpocrates), Serapis won an important place in the Greek world,[4] reaching Ancient Rome, with Anubis being identified as Cerberus. In Rome, Serapis was worshiped in the Iseum Campense, the sanctuary of the goddess Isis located in the Campus Martius and built during the Second Triumvirate. The Roman cults of Isis and Serapis gained in popularity late in the first century thanks to the god's role in the miracles that the imperial usurper Vespasian experienced in the city of Alexandria, where he stayed prior to his return to Rome as emperor in 70 AD. From the Flavian Dynasty on, Serapis sometimes appeared on imperial coinage with the reigning emperor. The great cult survived until 385, when a Christian mob destroyed the Serapeum of Alexandria, and subsequently the cult was forbidden by the Theodosian decree.
The early Alexandrian Christian community appears to have been rather syncretic in their worship of Serapis and Jesus and would prostrate themselves without distinction between the two.[5] A letter inserted in the Augustan History, ascribed to the Emperor Hadrian, refers to the worship of Serapis by residents of Egypt who described themselves as Christians, and Christian worship by those claiming to worship Serapis, suggesting a great confusion of the cults and practices:
The land of Egypt, the praises of which you have been recounting to me, my dear Servianus, I have found to be wholly light-minded, unstable, and blown about by every breath of rumour. There those who worship Serapis are, in fact, Christians, and those who call themselves bishops of Christ are, in fact, devotees of Serapis. There is no chief of the Jewish synagogue, no Samaritan, no Christian presbyter, who is not an astrologer, a soothsayer, or an anointer. Even the Patriarch himself, when he comes to Egypt, is forced by some to worship Serapis, by others to worship Christ.[6]

== Notes ==

^ "Of the Egyptian sanctuaries of Serapis the most famous is at Alexandria", Pausanias noted (Description of Greece, 1.18.4, second century AD), in describing the Serapeion at Athens erected by Ptolemy on the steep slope of the Acropolis: "As you descend from here to the lower part of the city, is a sanctuary of Serapis, whose worship the Athenians introduced from Ptolemy."
^ According to Sir J.G. Frazer's note to the Biblioteca of Pseudo-Apollodorus, 2.1.1: "Apollodorus identifies the Argive Apis with the Egyptian bull Apis, who was in turn identified with Serapis (Sarapis)"; Pausanias also conflates Serapis and Egyptian Apis: "Of the Egyptian sanctuaries of Serapis the most famous is at Alexandria, the oldest at Memphis. Into this neither stranger nor priest may enter, until they bury Apis" (Pausanias,Description of Greece, 1.18.4).
^ Reported from Arrian, Anabasis, VII. 26.
^ In his Description of Greece, Pausanias notes two Serapeia on the slopes of Acrocorinth, above the rebuilt Roman city of Corinth (2.4.5) and one at Copae in Boeotia (9.24.1).
^ Otto Friedrich August Meinardus, Two Thousand Years of Coptic Christianity (American University in Cairo Press), 2002, p. 143, ISBN 9774247574A.
^ Firmus et al. 8 Historia Augusta 8.

== References ==

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Serapis
E. R. Bevan: The House of Ptolemy, Chapter. II
James Grout: "Temple of Serapis", part of the Encyclopædia Romana
"Immoralities of the Gods: Of the fugitive Serapis chased from Sinope to Alexandria", by Theophilus of Antioch
"Greco-Egyptian Mythology: The Alexandrian Synthesis"

Attis

2010-06-19T17:43:25Z

Gaius Apollonius Agrippa: Attis

Attis

Attis (Ancient Greek: Ἄττις or Ἄττης) was the consort of Cybele in Phrygian, Lydian and Greek mythology. His priests were eunuchs, as explained by origin myths pertaining to Attis and castration. The name is also encountered as a male name in both Phrygia and Lydia, in this case usually spelled as "Atys" or "Ates".

== Contents ==

1 Origins and mythos
2 Archaeological finds
3 Notes

== Origins and mythos==

Attis cult began around 1200 BCE in Dindymon (today's Murat Dag of Gediz, Kütahya). He was originally a local semi-deity of Phrygia, associated with the great Phrygian trading city of Pessinos, which lay under the lee of Mount Agdistis. The mountain was personified as a daemon, whom foreigners associated with the Great Mother Cybele.
The story of his origins at Agdistis, recorded by the traveler Pausanias, have some distinctly non-Greek elements: Pausanias was told that the daemon Agdistis initially bore both male and female attributes. But the Olympian gods, fearing Agdistis, cut off the male organ and cast it away. There grew up from it an almond-tree, and when its fruit was ripe, Nana who was a daughter of the river-god Sangarius picked an almond and laid it in her bosom. The almond disappeared, and she became pregnant. Nana abandoned the baby (Attis). The infant was tended by a he-goat. As Attis grew, his long-haired beauty was godlike, and Agdistis as Cybele, then fell in love with him. But the foster parents of Attis sent him to Pessinos, where he was to wed the king's daughter. According to some versions the King of Pessinos was Midas. Just as the marriage-song was being sung, Agdistis/Cybele appeared in her transcendent power, and Attis went mad and cut off his genitals. Attis' father-in-law-to-be, the king who was giving his daughter in marriage, followed suit, prefiguring the self-castrating corybantes who devoted themselves to Cybele. But Agdistis repented and saw to it that the body of Attis should neither rot at all nor decay.[1]
Attis was resurrected, and took the form of a pine tree. This resurrection was celebrated on 25 March - the festival of Hilaria.[2]
At the temple of Cybele in Pessinus, the mother of the gods was still called Agdistis, the geographer Strabo recounted.[3]

As neighboring Lydia came to control Phrygia, the cult of Attis was given a Lydian context too. Attis is said to have introduced to Lydia the cult of the Mother Goddess Cybele, incurring the jealousy of Zeus, who sent a boar to destroy the Lydian crops. Then certain Lydians, with Attis himself, were killed by the boar. Pausanias adds, to corroborate this story, that the Gauls who inhabited Pessinos abstained from pork. This myth element may have been invented solely to explain the unusual dietary laws of the Lydian Gauls. In Rome, the eunuch followers of Cybele were known as Galli ("Gauls").
Julian the Apostate gives an account of the spread of the orgiastic cult of Cybele in his oratio 5. It spread from Anatolia to Greece and eventually to Rome in Republican times, and the cult of Attis, her reborn eunuch consort, accompanied her.
The first literary reference to Attis is the subject of one of the most famous poems by Catullus[4] but it appears that the cult of Attis at Rome was not attached to the earlier-established cult of Cybele until the early Empire.[5]

== Archaeological finds ==

A marble bas-relief of Cybele in her chariot and Attis, from Magna Graecia, is in the archaeological museum, Venice.
A finely executed silvery brass Attis that had been ritually consigned to the Mosel was recovered during construction in 1963 and is kept at the Rheinisches Landesmuseum of Trier. It shows the typically Anatolian costume of the god: trousers fastened together down the front of the legs with toggles and the Phrygian cap.[6]
In 2007, in the ruins of Herculaneum a wooden throne was discovered adorned with a relief of Attis beneath a sacred pine tree, gathering cones. Various finds suggest that the cult of Attis was popular in Herculaneum at the time of the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD.[7]

== Notes ==

^ Pausanias, Greece 7,19.
^ http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/265677/Hilaria
^ Strabo, Geography, 12,5,3.
^ Poem 63. Grant Showerman, "Was Attis at Rome under the Republic?" Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association 31 (1900), p. 46-59.
^ Lambrechts 1962.
^ Image is here.See also here
^ Mark Merrony, An Ivory Throne for Herculaneum, Minerva, March-April 2008. A picture accompanies the article.

Mithras

2010-06-19T16:34:06Z

Gaius Apollonius Agrippa: Mithras

Mithras

Double-faced Mithraic relief. Rome, second to third century AD. Louvre Museum
The Mithraic Mysteries or Mysteries of Mithras (also Mithraism) was a mystery religion centered on the god Mithras, became popular among the military in the Roman Empire, from the 1st to 4th centuries CE. Information on the cult is based mainly on interpretations of the many surviving monuments. The most characteristic of these are depictions of Mithras as being born from a rock, and as sacrificing a bull. His worshippers had a complex system of seven grades of initiation, with ritual meals. They met in underground temples, which survive in large numbers. Little else is known for certain.

== Contents ==
Contents

1 Summary of the cult myth
2 History and development
2.1 Beginnings
2.1.1 Earliest cult locations
2.1.2 Earliest archaeology
2.1.3 Earliest literary references
3 Origin Theories
3.1 Plutarch
3.2 Porphyry
3.3 Cumont's hypothesis: possible origins in Persian Zoroastrianism
3.4 Modern theories
3.5 Later History
3.6 The end of Mithraism
4 Iconography
4.1 The tauroctony
4.1.1 Interpretations and theories
4.2 The banquet
4.3 Leontocephaline
4.4 The Taurobolium
5 Rituals and worship
5.1 The mithraeum
5.2 Degrees of initiation
5.3 Ritual imitations
5.4 Mithraic Ethics
6 Mithras and other gods
6.1 Mithraism and Christianity
7 References
8 Further reading
9 External links

== Summary of the cult myth ==
Summary of the cult myth

Mithras born from the rock (petra genetrix), Marble, 180-192 CE. From the area of S. Stefano Rotondo, Rome.
Mithras is born from a rock.[1] He is depicted in his temples slaying a bull in the tauroctony (see section below). Little is known about the beliefs associated with this.[2] The ancient histories of the cult by Euboulos and Pallas have perished.[3] The name of the god was certainly given as Mithras (with an 's') in Latin monuments, although Mithra may have been used in Greek.[4]

== History and development ==
History and development

== Beginnings ==
Beginnings
In antiquity, texts refer to "the mysteries of Mithras", and to its adherents, as "the mysteries of the Persians."[5] But there is great dispute about whether there is really any link with Persia, and its origins are quite obscure.[6]
The mysteries of Mithras were not practiced until the 1st century AD.[7] The unique underground temples or Mithraea appear suddenly in the archaeology in the last quarter of the first century AD.[8]

== Earliest cult location ==
Earliest cult locations
The attested locations of the cult in the earliest phase (c. 80–120 AD) are as follows:[9]
Mithraea datable from pottery
Nida/Heddemheim III (Germania Sup.)
Mogontiacum (Germania Sup.)
Pons Aeni (Noricum)
Caesarea (Judaea)
Datable dedications
Nida/Heddernheim I (Germania Sup.) (CIMRM 1091/2, 1098)
Carnuntum III (Pannonia Sup.) (CIMRM 1718)
Novae (Moesia Inf.) (CIMRM 2268/9)
Oescus(Moesia Inf.)(CIMRM 2250)
Rome(CIMRM 362, 593/4)
Datable literary reference
Rome (Statius, Theb. 1.719-20)

==Earliest archaeology ==
Earliest archaeology
The earliest Mithraic monument showing Mithras slaying the bull is thought to be CIMRM 593. This is a depiction of Mithras killing the bull, found in Rome. There is no date, but the inscription tells us that it was dedicated by a certain Alcimus, steward of T. Claudius Livianus. Vermaseren and Gordon believe that this Livianus is a certain Livianus who was commander of the Praetorian guard in 101 AD, which would give an earliest date of 98-99 AD.[10]
An altar or block from near SS. Pietro e Marcellino on the Esquiline in Rome was inscribed with a bilingual inscription by an Imperial freedman named T. Flavius Hyginus, probably between 80-100 AD. It is dedicated to Sol Invictus Mithras.[11]
CIMRM 2268 is a broken base or altar from Novae/Steklen in Moesia Inferior, dated 100 AD, showing Cautes and Cautopates.
Other early archaeology includes the Greek inscription from Venosia by Sagaris actor probably from 100–150 AD; the Sidon cippus dedicated by Theodotus priest of Mithras to Asclepius, 140-141 AD; and the earliest military inscription, by C. Sacidius Barbarus, centurion of XV Apollinaris, from the bank of the Danube at Carnuntum, probably before 114 AD.[12]
The last is the earliest archaeological evidence outside Rome for the Roman worship of Mithras, a record of Roman soldiers who came from the military garrison at Carnuntum.[13] The earliest dateable Mithraeum outside Rome dates from 148 AD.[14] The Mithraeum at Caesarea Maritima is the only one in Palestine and the date is inferred.[15]
Vermaseren notes that no Mithraic monument can be certainly dated earlier than the end of the first century AD.[16]
Five small terracotta plaques of a figure holding a knife over a bull have been excavated near Kerch in the Crimea, dated by Beskow and Clauss to the second half of the first century BC,[17] and by Beck to 50 BC-50 AD, which might be a depiction of Mithras.[18] The bull-slaying figure wears a Phrygian cap, but is described by Beck and Beskow as otherwise unlike standard depictions of the tauroctony.[19]
[edit]Earliest literary references
The earliest surviving ancient literary text that can be associated with the Mysteries of Mithras is in Statius c. 80 AD, who makes an enigmatic reference, possibly to the tauroctony.[20] Dio Cassius, describing the visit of Tiridates to the emperor Nero in 63 AD, refers to his worshipping Mithras; but the context suggests that the Persian Mitra is intended.[21]

== Origin Theories ==
Origin Theories

==Plutarch ==
Plutarch
The Greek biographer Plutarch (46 - 127) says that the pirates of Cilicia, the coastal province in the southeast of Anatolia, were the origin of the Mithraic rituals that were being practiced in Rome in his day: "They likewise offered strange sacrifices; those of Olympus I mean; and they celebrated certain secret mysteries, among which those of Mithras continue to this day, being originally instituted by them." (Life of Pompey 24, referring to events c. 68 BC). The 4th century commentary on Vergil by Servius says that Pompey settled some of these pirates in Calabria.[22] But whether any of this relates to the origins of the mysteries is unclear.[23]

== Porphyry ==
Porphyry
According to 3-4th century AD philosopher Porphyry, Mithraists considered that their cult was founded by Zoroaster.[24] But Porphyry is writing close to the demise of the cult, and modern scholar Robert Turcan has challenged the idea that Porphyry's statements about Mithraism are accurate. His case is that far from representing what Mithraists believed, they are merely representations by the neo-platonists of what it suited them in the late 4th century to read into the mysteries.[25] Merkelbach and Beck believe that Porphyry's work "is in fact thoroughly coloured with the doctrines of the Mysteries."[26]
[edit]Cumont's hypothesis: possible origins in Persian Zoroastrianism
Scholarship on Mithras begins with Franz Cumont, who published a two volume collection of source texts and images of monuments in French in 1894–1900. Cumont's hypothesis, as the author summarizes it in the first 32 pages of his book, was that the Roman religion was "the Roman form of Mazdaism",[27] the Persian state religion, disseminated from the East.
Cumont's theories were examined and largely rejected at the First International Congress of Mithraic Studies held in 1971. John Hinnells was unwilling to reject entirely the idea of Iranian origin,[28] but wrote: "we must now conclude that his reconstruction simply will not stand. It receives no support from the Iranian material and is in fact in conflict with the ideas of that tradition as they are represented in the extant texts. Above all, it is a theoretical reconstruction which does not accord with the actual Roman iconography."[29] He discussed Cumont's reconstruction of the bull-slaying scene and stated "that the portrayal of Mithras given by Cumont is not merely unsupported by Iranian texts but is actually in serious conflict with known Iranian theology."[30] Another paper by R. L. Gordon argued that Cumont severely distorted the available evidence by forcing the material to conform to his predetermined model of Zoroastrian origins. Gordon suggested that the theory of Persian origins was completely invalid and that the Mithraic mysteries in the West was an entirely new creation.[31]
Boyce states that "no satisfactory evidence has yet been adduced to show that, before Zoroaster, the concept of a supreme god existed among the Iranians, or that among them Mithra - or any other divinity - ever enjoyed a separate cult of his or her own outside either their ancient or their Zoroastrian pantheons."[32]
Beck tells us that since the 1970s scholars have generally rejected Cumont, but adds that recent theories about how Zoroastrianism was during the period BC now makes some new form of Cumont's east-west transfer possible.[33] "Apart from the name of the god himself, in other words, Mithraism seems to have developed largely in and is, therefore, best understood from the context of Roman culture."[34]

== Modern Theories ==
Modern theories

Bas-relief depicting the tauroctony. Mithras is here named Sol Invictus. Sol and Luna appear at the top of the relief
Beck believes that the cult was created in Rome, by a single founder who had some knowledge of both Greek and Oriental religion, but suggests that some of the ideas used may have passed through the Hellenistic kingdoms: "Mithras — moreover, a Mithras who was identified with the Greek Sun god, Helios, ... was one of the deities of the syncretic Graeco-Iranian royal cult founded by Antiochus I, king of the small, but prosperous "buffer" state of Commagene, in the mid first century BC.[5]
Merkelbach suggests that its mysteries were essentially created by a particular person or persons[35] and created in a specific place, the city of Rome, by someone from an eastern province or border state who knew the Iranian myths in detail, which he wove into his new grades of initiation; but that he must have been Greek and Greek-speaking because he incorporated elements of Greek platonism into it. The myths, he suggests, were probably created in the milieu of the imperial bureaucracy, and for its members.[36] Clauss tends to agree. Beck calls this "the most likely scenario" and states "Till now, Mithraism has generally been treated as if it somehow evolved Topsy-like from its Iranian precursor -- a most implausible scenario once it is stated explicitly."[37]
Archaeologist Lewis M. Hopfe notes that there are only three Mithraea in Roman Syria, in contrast to further west. He writes: "archaeology indicates that Roman Mithraism had its epicenter in Rome... the fully developed religion known as Mithraism seems to have begun in Rome and been carried to Syria by soldiers and merchants."[38]
Taking a different view from most modern scholars, Ulansey argues that the Mithraic mysteries began in the Greco-Roman world as a religious response to the discovery by the Greek astronomer Hipparchus of the astronomical phenomenon of the precession of the equinoxes — a discovery that amounted to discovering that the entire cosmos was moving in a hitherto unknown way. This new cosmic motion, he suggests, was seen by the founders of Mithraism as indicating the existence of a powerful new god capable of shifting the cosmic spheres and thereby controlling the universe.[39]
Ware asserted that the Romans who founded the cult borrowed the name "Mithras" from Avestan Mithra.[40]

== Later History ==
Later History
The first important expansion of the mysteries in the Empire seems to have happened quite quickly, late in the reign of Antoninus Pius and under Marcus Aurelius. By this time all the key elements of the mysteries were in place.[41]
Mithraism reached the apogee of its popularity during the 2nd and 3rd centuries, spreading at an "astonishing" rate at the same period when Sol Invictus became part of the state cult.[42] At this period a certain Pallas devoted a monograph to Mithras, and a little later Euboulus wrote a History of Mithras, although both works are now lost.[43] According to the possibly spurious fourth century Historia Augusta, the emperor Commodus participated in its mysteries.[44] But it never became one of the state cults.[45]
[edit]The end of Mithraism
It is difficult to trace when the religion of Mithras came to an end. Beck states that "Quite early in the [fourth] century the religion was as good as dead throughout the empire."[46] Inscriptions from the fourth century are few. There is evidence for an attempt to revive Mithraism in mid fourth century Rome - especially during the reign of Julian the Apostate - as part of deliberate attempt by certain leading senatorial families to promote pagan alternatives to Christianity.[47] There is, however, virtually no evidence for the continuance of the cult of Mithras into the fifth century. In particular large numbers of votive coins deposited by worshippers have been recovered at the the Mithraeum at Pons Sarravi (Sarrebourg) in Gallia Belgica, in a series that runs from Gallienus (253-68) to Theodosius I (379-395). These were scattered over the floor when the Mithraeum was destroyed, as Christians apparently regarded the coins as polluted; and they therefore provide reliable dates for the functioning of the Mithreaum.[48] It cannot be shown that any Mithraeum continued in use in the fifth century. The coin series in all Mithraea end at the end of the fourth century at the latest. The cult disappeared earlier than that of Isis. Isis was still remembered in the middle ages as a pagan deity, but Mithras was already forgotten in late antiquity.[49]
Cumont stated in the English edition of his book that Mithraism may have survived in certain remote cantons of the Alps and Vosges into the fifth century, but the reference was only given in the French text, and was to the date of the coins in the Mithraeum at Pons Sarravi, none of which are in fact fifth century.[50]

== Iconography ==
Iconography

Much about Mithraism is only known from reliefs and sculptures. There have been many attempts to interpret this material.

== The Tauroctony ==
The tauroctony

In every Mithraeum the centrepiece was a representation of Mithras killing a sacred bull; the so-called tauroctony.[51]
The image may be a relief, or free-standing, and side details may be present or omitted. The centre-piece is Mithras clothed in Anatolian costume and wearing a Phrygian cap; who is kneeling on the exhausted [52] bull, holding it by the nostrils [52] with his left hand, and stabbing it with his right. As he does so, he looks over his shoulder towards the figure of Sol. A dog and a snake reach up towards the blood. A scorpion seizes the bull's genitals. The two torch-bearers are on either side, dressed like Mithras, Cautes with his torch pointing up and Cautopates with his torch pointing down.[53]
The event takes place in a cavern, into which Mithras has carried bull, after having hunted it, ridden it and overwhelmed its strength [54] . Sometimes the cavern is surrounded by a circle, on which the twelve signs of the zodiac appear. Outside the cavern, top left, is Sol the sun, with his flaming crown, often driving a quadriga. A ray of light often reaches down to touch Mithras. Top right is Luna, with her crescent moon, who may be depicted driving a biga.
In some depictions, the central tauroctony is framed by a series of subsiduary scenes to the left, top and right, illustrating events in the Mithras narrative; Mithras being born from the rock, the water miracle, the hunting and riding of the bull, meeting Sol who kneels to him, shaking hands with Sol and sharing a meal of bull-parts with him, and ascending to the heavens in a chariot.

Tauroctony from Neuenheim near Heidelberg, with subsiduary framing panels depicting the life of Mithras
Sometimes Cautes and Cautopates carry shepherds' crooks instead.[55].

== Interpretations and theories ==
Interpretations and theories
Franz Cumont hypothesized that the imagery of the tauroctony was a Graeco-Roman representation of an event in Zoroastrian cosmogony described in a 9th century AD Zoroastrian text, the Bundahishn. In this text the evil spirit Ahriman (not Mithras) slays the primordial creature Gavaevodata which is represented as a bovine.[56] Cumont speculated that a version of the myth must have existed in which Mithras, not Ahriman, killed the bovine. But Hinnells points out that no such variant of the myth is known, and that this is merely speculation: "In no known Iranian text [either Zoroastrian or otherwise] does Mithra slay a bull" [57]
David Ulansey finds astronomical evidence from the mithraeum itself.[58] He reminds us that the Platonic writer Porphyry wrote in the 3rd century AD that the cave-like temple Mithraea depicted "an image of the world"[59] and that Zoroaster consecrated a cave resembling the world fabricated by Mithras[60] The ceiling of the Caesarea Maritima Mithraeum retains traces of blue paint, which may mean the ceiling was painted to depict the sky and the stars..[61]

Unusual Tauroctony of Mithras at the Brukenthal National Museum
Beck has given the following celestial anatomy of the Tauroctony:[62]
Component of Tauroctony Celestial Counterpart
Bull Taurus
Dog Canis Minor, Canis Major
Snake Hydra, Serpens, Draco
Raven Corvus
Scorpion Scorpius
Wheat's ear (on bull's tail) Spica
Twins Cautes and Cautopates Gemini
Lion Leo
Crater Crater
Sol Sun
Luna Moon
Cave Universe
Several celestial identities for the Tauroctonous Mithras (TM) himself have been proposed. Beck summarizes them in the table below.[63]
Scholar Identification
Bausani, A. (1979) TM associated with Leo, in that the tauroctony is a type of the ancient lion-bull (Leo-Taurus) combat motif.
Beck, R.L. (1994) TM = Sun in Leo
Insler, S. (1978) bull-killing = heliacal setting of Taurus
Jacobs, B. (1999) bull-killing = heliacal setting of Taurus
North, J.D. (1990) TM = Betelgeuse (Alpha Orionis) setting, his knife = Triangulum setting, his mantle = Capella (Alpha Aurigae) setting.
Rutgers, A.J. (1970) TM = Sun, Bull = Moon
Sandelin, K.-G. (1988) TM = Auriga
Speidel, M.P. (1980) TM = Orion
Ulansey, D. (1989) TM = Perseus
Weiss, M. (1994, 1998) TM = the Night Sky
Ulansey has proposed that Mithras seems to have been derived from the constellation of Perseus, which is positioned just above Taurus in the night sky. He sees iconographic and mythological parallels between the two figures: both are young heroes, carry a dagger and wear a Phrygian cap. He also mentions the similarity of the image of Perseus killing the Gorgon and the tauroctony, both figures being associated with underground caverns and both having connections to Persia as further evidence.[64]
Michael Speidel associates Mithras with the constellation of Orion because of the proximity to Taurus, and the consistent nature of the depiction of the figure as having wide shoulders, a garment flared at the hem, and narrowed at the waist with a belt, thus taking on the form of the constellation.[65]
Beck has criticized Speidel and Ulansey of adherence to a literal cartographic logic, describing their theories as a "will-o'-the-whisp" which "lured them down a false trail."[66] He argues that a literal reading of the tauroctony as a star chart raises two major problems: it is difficult to find a constellation counterpart for Mithras himself (despite efforts by Speidel and Ulansey) and that unlike in a star chart, each feature of the tauroctony might have more than a single counterpart. Rather than seeing Mithras as a constellation, Beck argues that Mithras is the prime traveller on the celestial stage (represented by the other symbols of the scene), the Unconquered Sun moving through the constellations.[66]

== The Banquet ==
The banquet

Sol and Mithras banqueting with Luna and the twin divinities Cautes and Cautopates, his attendants. Marble, side B of a two-faced Roman relief, 2nd or 3rd century AD.
The second most important scene after the tauroctony in Mithraic art is the so-called banquet scene.[67] The two scenes are sometimes sculpted on the opposite sides of the same relief. The banquet scene features Mithras and the Sun god banqueting on the hide of the slaughtered bull [67]. On the specific banquet scene on the Fiano Romano relief (see image on the right), one of the torchbearers points a caduceus towards the base of an altar, where flames appear to spring up. Robert Turcan has argued that since the caduceus is an attribute of Mercury, and in mythology Mercury is depicted as a psychopompos, the eliciting of flames in this scene is referring to the dispatch of human souls and expressing the Mithraic doctrine on this matter.[68] Turcan also connects this event to the tauroctony: the blood of the slayed bull has soaked the ground at the base of the altar, and from the blood the souls are elicited in flames by the caduceus.[68]

Leontocephaline of the Mithraic Mysteries. Line drawing of the figure found at the mithraeum of C. Valerius Heracles and sons (dedicated 190 AD) at Ostia Antica, Italy. CIMRM 312

== Leontocephaline ==
Leontocephaline
One of the most characteristic features of the Mysteries is the naked lion-headed figure often found in Mithraic temples. He is entwined by a serpent, with the snake's head often resting on the lion's head. The lion's mouth is often open, giving a horrifying impression. He is usually represented having four wings, two keys (sometimes a single key) and a scepter in his hand. Sometimes the figure is standing on a globe inscribed with a diagonal cross. A more scarcely represented variant of the figure with a human head is also found.[69]
Although animal-headed figures are prevalent in contemporary Egyptian and Gnostic mythological representations, the Leontocephaline is entirely restricted to Mithraic art.[69]
The name of the figure has been deciphered from dedicatory inscriptions to be Arimanius (though the archeological evidence is not very strong), which is nominally the equivalent of Ahriman, a demon figure in the Zoroastrian pantheon. Arimanius is known from inscriptions to have been a deus in the Mithraic cult (CIMRM 222 from Ostia, 369 from Rome, 1773 and 1775 from Pannonia) [70]
Although the exact identity of the lion-headed figure is debated by scholars, it is largely agreed that the god is associated with time and seasonal change.[71]

==The Taurobolium ==
The Taurobolium
No ancient source associates Mithras with the Taurobolium. The only monument to do so, CIL VI, 736, is a forgery.[72]

== Rituals and worship ==
Rituals and worship

Little is known about the beliefs of the cult of Mithras. Modern accounts rely primarily on modern interpretation of the reliefs.[2]
No Mithraic scripture or first-hand account of its highly secret rituals survives, with the possible exception of a liturgy recorded in a 4th century papyrus, which may not be Mithraic at all.[73] The walls of Mithraea were commonly whitewashed, and where this survives it tends to carry extensive repositories of graffiti; and these, together with inscriptions on Mithraic monuments, form the main source for Mithraic texts [74] .
Nevertheless, it is clear from the archeology of numerous Mithraea that most rituals were associated with feasting - as eating utensils and food residues are almost invariably found. These tend to include both animal bones and also very large quantities of fruit residues.[75] The presence of large amounts of cherry-stones in particular would tend to confirm mid-summer (late June, early July) as a season especially associated with Mithraic festivities. The Virunum album, in the form of an inscribed bronze placque, records a Mithraic festival of commemoration as taking place on 26 June 184. Beck argues that religious celebrations on this date are indicative of special significance being given to the Summer solstice; but equally it may well be noted that, in northern and central Europe, reclining on a masonry plinth in an unheated cave was likely to be a predominantly summertime activity. For their feasts, Mithraic initiates reclined on stone benches arranged along the longer sides of the Mithraeum - typically there might be room for 15-30 diners, but very rarely many more than 40/[76] Counterpart dining rooms, or triclinia were to be found above ground in the precints of almost any temple or relgious sanctuary in the Roman empire, and such rooms were commonly used for their regular feasts by Roman 'clubs', or collegia. Mithraic feasts probably performed a very similar function for Mithraists as the collegia did for those entitled to join them; indeed, since qualification for Roman collegia tended to be restricted to particular families, localities or traditional trades, Mithraism may have functioned in part as providing clubs for the unclubbed.[77]
Each Mithraeum invariably had several altars at the further end, underneath the representation of the tauroctony; and also commonly contained considerable numbers of subsiduary altars, both in the main Mithraeum chamber, and in the ante-chamber or narthax.[78] These altars, which are of the standard Roman pattern, each carry a named dedicatory inscription from a particular initiate, who dedicated the altar to Mithras "in fulfillment of his vow", in gratitude for favours received. Burned residues of animal entrails are commonly found on the main altars indicating regular sacrificial use. However, Mithraea do not commonly appear to have been provided with facilities for ritual slaughter of sacrificial animals (a highly specialised function in Roman religion), and it may be presumed that a Mithraeum would have made arrangements for this service to be provided for them in co-operation with the professional victimarius[79] of the civic cult.
Mithraic beliefs appear not to have been internally consistent and monolithic,[80] but rather, varied from location to location.[81] Mithraism had no predominant sanctuary or cultic centre; and, although each Mithraeum had its own officers and functionaries, there was no central supervisory authority. In some Mithraea, such as that at Dura Europos wall paintings depict prophets carrying scrolls[82], but no named Mithraic sages are known, nor does any reference give the title of any Mithraic scripture or teaching. It is known that intitates could transfer with their grades from one Mithraeum to another[83], but we do not know how a Mithraeum could tell who was properly an initiate (or indeed whether this was ever an issue; as it most certainly was in contemporary Christianity).

==The mithraeum ==
The mithraeum

A mithraeum found in the ruins of Ostia Antica, Italy.
Temples of Mithras are sunk below ground, windowless, and very distinctive. In cities, the basement of an apartment block might be converted; elsewhere they might be excavated and vaulted over, or converted from a natural cave. Mithraic temples are common in the empire; although very unevenly distributed, with considerable numbers found in Rome, Ostia, Numidia, Dalmatia, Britain and along the Rhine/Danube frontier; while being much less common in Greece, Egypt, and Syria [84] . Mithriac rituals being secret, Mithraism could only be practiced within a Mithraeum [85]; and consequently it may be safely concluded that areas without Mithraea were also without Mithraists. More than 420 Mithraic sites have now been identified [86]. By their nature Mithraea tend to survive when other forms of religious structures do not; and consequently the relative prevalence of Mithraism in the population may well tend to be over-estimated. For the most part, Mithraea tend to be small, externally undistinguished, and cheaply constructed; the cult generally preferring to create a new centre rather than expand an existing one. The Mithraeum represented the cave in which Mithras carried and then killed the bull; and where stone vaulting could not be afforded, the effect would be imitated with lath and plaster. They are commonly located close to springs or streams; fresh water appears to have been required for some Mithraic rituals, and a basin is often incorporated into the structure [87] . There is usually a narthax or ante-chamber at the entrance, and often other ancillary rooms for storage and the preparation of food. The term mithraeum is modern; in Italy inscriptions usually call it a spelaeum; outside Italy it is referred to as templum.
In their basic form, Mithraea were entirely different from the temples and shrines of other cults. In standard pattern Roman religious precincts, the temple building functioned as a house for the God; who was intended to be able to view through the opened doors and columnar portico, sacrificial worship being offered on an altar set in an open courtyard; potentially accessible not only to initiates of the cult, but also to colitores or non-initiated worshippers [88]. Mithraea were the antithesis of this [89]; being entirely inward-focussed with altars set within the building, and with no sacred precinct, or indeed any provision for worshippers other than initates. .

==Degrees of initiation ==
Degrees of initiation
In the Suda under the entry "Mithras", it states that "no one was permitted to be initiated into them (the mysteries of Mithras), until he should show himself holy and steadfast by undergoing several graduated tests."[90] Gregory Nazianzen refers to the "tests in the mysteries of Mithras".[91]
There were seven grades of initiation into the mysteries of Mithras, which are listed by St. Jerome[92]. Manfred Clauss states that the number of grades, seven, must be connected to the planets. A mosaic in the Ostia Mithraeum of Felicissimus depicts these grades, with heraldic emblems that are connected either to the grades or are just symbols of the planets. The grades also have an inscription besides them commending each grade into the protection of the different planetary gods.[93] In ascending order of importance the initiatory grades were:[94]
Grade Symbols Associated planet/Protecting deity
Corax (raven) beaker, caduceus Mercury
Nymphus (bridegroom, or male bride) lamp, diadem Venus
Miles (soldier) pouch, helmet, lance Mars
Leo (lion) batillum, sistrum, thunderbolts Jupiter
Perses (Persian) akinakes, scythe, moon and the stars Luna
Heliodromus (sun-runner) torch, radiated crown, whip Sol
Pater (father) patera (or ring?), staff, Phrygian cap, sickle Saturn
Elsewhere, as at Dura Europos Mithraic graffiti survive giving membership lists, in which initiates of a Mithraeum are named with their Mithraic grades. At Virunum, the membership list or album sacratorum was maintained as an inscribed plaque, updated year by year as new members were initiated. By cross-referencing these lists it is sometimes possible to track initiates from one Mithraeum to another; and also speculatively to identify Mithraic initiates with persons on other contemporary lists - such as military service rolls, of lists of devotees of non-Mithraic religious sanctuaries. Names of initiates are also found in the dedication inscriptions of altars and other cult objects. Clauss noted in 1990 that overall, only about 14% of Mithriac names inscribed before 250 identify the initiates grade - and hence questioned that the traditional view that all initiates belonged to one of the seven grades [95]. Clauss argues that the grades represented a distinct class of priests, sacerdotes. Gordon maintains the former theory of Merkelbach and others, especially noting such examples as Dura where all names are associated with a Mithraic grade. Some scholars maintain that practice may have differed over time, or from one Mithraea to another.
The highest grade, pater, is far the most common found on dedications and inscriptions - and it would appear not to have been unusual for a Mithraeum to have several persons with this grade. The form pater patrum (father of fathers) is often found, which appears to indicate the pater with primary status. There are several examples of persons, commonly those of higher social status, joining a Mithraeum with the status pater - especially in Rome during the 'pagan revival' of the fourth century. It has been suggested that some Mithraea may have awarded honorary pater status to sympathetic dignitaries [96].
The initiate into each grade appears to have required to undertake a specific ordeal or test [97] , involving exposure to heat, cold or threatened peril. An 'ordeal pit', dating to the early 3rd century, has been identified in the Mithraeum at Carrawburgh. Accounts of the cruelty of the emperor Commodus describes his amusing himself by enacting Mithriac initiation ordeals in homicidal form. By the later 3rd century, the enacted trials appear to have been abated in rigor, as 'ordeal pits' were floored over.
Admission into the community was completed with a handshake with the pater, just as Mithras and Sol shook hands. The initiates were thus referred to as syndexioi, those "united by the handshake". The term is used in an inscription by Proficentius [98] and derided by Firmicus Maternus [99]

== Ritual imitations ==
Ritual imitations

Reconstruction of a mithraeum with a mosaic depicting the grades of initiation.
Activities of the most prominent deities in Mithraic scenes, Sol and Mithras, were imitated in rituals by the two most senior officers in the cult's hierarchy, the Pater and the Heliodromus.[100]. The initiates held a sacramental banquet, replicating the feast of Mithras and Sol.[100]
Reliefs on a cup found in Mainz,[101][102] appear to depict a Mithraic initiation. On the cup, the initiate is depicted as led into a location where a Pater would be seated in the guise of Mithras with a drawn bow. Accompanying the initiate is a mystagogue, who explains the symbolism and theology to the initiate. The Rite is thought to re-enact what has come to be called the 'Water Miracle', in which Mithras fires a bolt into a rock, and from the rock now spouts water.
Roger Beck has hypothesized a third processional Mithraic ritual, based on the Mainz cup and Porphyrys. This so-called Procession of the Sun-Runner features the Heliodromus, escorted by two figures representing Cautes and Cautopates (see below) and preceded by an initiate of the grade Miles leading a ritual enactment of the solar journey around the mithraeum, which was intended to represent the cosmos.[103]
Consequently it has been argued that most Mithraic rituals involved a re-enactment by the initiates of episodes in the Mithras narrative [104], a narrative whose main elements were; birth from the rock, striking water from stone with an arrow shot, the killing of the bull, Sol's submission to Mithras, Mithras and Sol feasting on the bull, the ascent of Mithras to heaven in a chariot. A noticeable feature of this narrative (and of its regular depiction in surviving sets of relief carvings) is the complete absence of female personages [105]. Mithras has no mother, consort or children. As a form of mutual religious courtesy Mithraea commonly also hosted statues to non-Mithraic divinities, and feminine gods were not excluded from this, but in the main Mithraic iconographic sequence only the figure of Luna is presented as feminine, and she is not depicted as interacting with Mithras or participating in the action of the narrative in any way.
From this, and from the evidence of membership lists, it is generally believed that cult was for men only. It has recently been suggested by one scholar that "women were involved with Mithraic groups in at least some locations of the empire."[106] Soldiers were strongly represented amongst Mithraists; and also merchants, customs officials and minor bureaucrats. Few, if any, initiates came from leading aristocratic or senatorial families until the 'pagan revival' of the mid 4th century; but there were always considerable numbers of freedmen and slaves .[107].

== Mithraic Ethics ==
Mithraic Ethics
Clauss suggests that a statement by Porphyry that people initiated into the Lion grade must keep their hands pure from everything that brings pain and harm and is impure means that moral demands were made upon members of congregations.[108]. A passage in the Caesares of Julian the Apostate refers to "commandments of Mithras".[109]Tertullian, in his treatise 'On the Military Crown' records that Mithraists in the army were officially excused from wearing celebratory coronets; on the basis that the Mithraic initiation ritual included refusing a proffered crown, because "their only crown was Mithras" [110].

== Mithras and other gods==
Mithras and other gods

Syncretism was a feature of Roman paganism, and the cult of Mithras was part of this. Almost all Mithraea contain statues dedicated to gods of other cults, and it is common to find inscriptions dedicated to Mithras in other sanctuaries, especially those of Jupiter Dolichenus [111] . Mithraism was not an alternative to other pagan religions, but rather a particular way of practising pagan worship; and many Mithraic initiates can also be found worshipping in the civic religion, and as initiates of other mystery cults [112]. Although modern scholarship refers to Mithraic initiates as Mithraists, no equivalent term is found in antique Mithraic texts; Mithraic congregations appear to have needed no general term to distinguish their own members.

== Mithraism and Christianity ==
Mithraism and Christianity

Mithras riding bull
The idea of a relationship between early Christianity and Mithraism is based on a remark in the 2nd century Christian writer Justin Martyr, who accused the Mithraists of diabolically imitating the Christian communion rite.[113] Based upon this, Ernest Renan in 1882 set forth a vivid depiction of two rival religions: "if the growth of Christianity had been arrested by some mortal malady, the world would have been Mithraic,"[114] Edwin M. Yamauchi comments on Renan's work which, "published nearly 150 years ago, has no value as a source. He [Renan] knew very little about Mithraism..."[115]

== References ==
References

^ Commodian, Instructiones 1.13: "The unconquered one was born from a rock, if he is regarded as a god."
^ a b Clauss, M. The Roman cult of Mithras, p. xxi: "we possess virtually no theological statements either by Mithraists themselves or by other writers."
^ Porphyry, De Antro Nympharum tells us of both writers.
^ Gordon, Richard L. (1978). "The date and significance of CIMRM 593 (British Museum, Townley Collection". Journal of Mithraic Studies II: 148–174.. p. 160: "The usual western nominative form of Hithras' name in the mysteries ended in -s, as we can see from the one authentic dedication in the nominative, recut over a dedication to Sarapis (463, Terme de Caracalla), and from occasional grammatical errors such as deo inviato Metras (1443). But it is probable that Euboulus and Pallas at least used the name Mithra as an indeclinable (ap. Porphyry, De abstinentia II.56 and IV.16)."
^ a b Beck, Roger (2002). "Mithraism". Encyclopædia Iranica. Costa Mesa: Mazda Pub. Retrieved 2007-10-28.
^ See detailed discussion of possible origins below.
^ Clauss, Manfred (2000). Gordon, Richard (trans.). ed. The Roman cult of Mithras. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 074861396X.
^ Beck, R., “The Mysteries of Mithras: A New Account of their Genesis”, Journal of Roman Studies, 1998, 115-128. p. 118.
^ "Beck on Mithraism", pp. 34–35. Online here.
^ Gordon, Richard L. (1978). "The date and significance of CIMRM 593 (British Museum, Townley Collection". Journal of Mithraic Studies II: 148–174.. Online here.
^ Gordon, Richard L. (1978). "The date and significance of CIMRM 593 (British Museum, Townley Collection". Journal of Mithraic Studies II: 148–174.. Online here CIMRM 362 a , b = el l, VI 732 = Moretti, lGUR I 179: "Soli | Invicto Mithrae | T . Flavius Aug. lib. Hyginus | Ephebianus | d . d." - but the Greek title is just "`Hliwi Mithrai". The name "Flavius" for an imperial freedman dates it between 70-136 AD. The Greek section refers to a pater of the cult named Lollius Rufus, evidence of the existence of the rank system at this early date.
^ Gordon, Richard L. (1978). "The date and significance of CIMRM 593 (British Museum, Townley Collection". Journal of Mithraic Studies II: 148–174. p. 150.
^ C. M. Daniels, "The Roman army and the spread of Mithraism" in John R. Hinnels, Mithraic Studies: Proceedings of the First International Congress of Mithraic Studies, vol. 2, 1975, Manchester UP, pp.249-274. "The considerable movement [of civil servants and military] throughout the empire was of great importance to Mithraism, and even with the very fragmentary and inadequate evidence that we have it is clear that the movement of troops was a major factor in the spread of the cult. Traditionally there are two geographical regions where Mithraism first struck root: Italy and the Danube. Italy I propose to omit, as the subject needs considerable discussion, and the introduction of the cult there, as witnessed by its early dedicators, seems not to have been military. Before we turn to the Danube, however, there is one early event (rather than geographical location) which should perhaps be mentioned briefly in passing. This is the supposed arrival of the cult in Italy as a result of Pompey the Great's defeat of Cicilian pirates, who practiced 'strange sacrifices of their own... and celebrated certain secret rites, amongst which those of Mithras continue to the present time, have been first instituted by them'. (ref Plutarch, "Pompey" 24-25) Suffice it to say that there is neither archaelogical nor allied evidence for the arrival of Mithraism in the west at that time, nor is there any ancient literary reference, either contemporary or later. If anything, Plutarch's mention carefully omits making the point that the cult was introduced into Italy at that time or by the pirates. Turning to the Danube, the earliest dedication from that region is an altar to Mitrhe (sic) set up by C. Sacidus Barbarus, a centurion of XV Appolinaris, stationed at the time at Carnuntum in Pannonia (Deutsch-Altenburg, Austria). The movements of this legion are particularly informative." The article then goes on to say that XV Appolinaris was originally based at Carnuntum, but between 62-71 transferred to the east, first in the Armenian campaign, and then to put down the Jewish uprising. Then 71- 86 back in Carnuntum, then 86-105 intermittently in the Dacian wars, then 105-114 back in Carnuntum, and finally moved to Cappadocia in 114.
^ C. M. Daniels, "The Roman army and the spread of Mithraism" in John R. Hinnels, Mithraic Studies: Proceedings of the First International Congress of Mithraic Studies, vol. 2, 1975, Manchester UP, p. 263. The first dateable Mithraeum outside italy is from Böckingen on the Neckar, where a centurion of the legion VIII Augustus dedicated two altars, one to Mithras and the other (dated 148) to Apollo.
^ Lewis M. Hopfe, "Archaeological indications on the origins of Roman Mithraism", in Lewis M. Hopfe (ed). Uncovering ancient stones: essays in memory of H. Neil Richardson, Eisenbrauns (1994), pp. 147-158. p.153: "At present this is the only Mithraeum known in Roman Palestine." p. 154: "It is difficult to assign an exact date to the founding of the Caesarea Maritima Mithraeum. No dedicatory plaques have been discovered that might aid in the dating. The lamps found with the taurectone medallion are from the end of the first century to the late third century A.D. Other pottery and coins from the vault are also from this era. Therefore it is speculated that this Mithraeum developed toward the end of the first century and remained active until the late third century. This matches the dates assigned to the Dura-Europos and the Sidon Mithraea."
^ Vermaseren, M.J., Mithras: the Secret God, p. 29: "One other point of note is that no Mithraic monument can be dated earlier than the end of the first century AD, and even the more extensive investigations at Pompeii, buried beneath the ashes of Vesuvius in AD 79, have not produced a single image of the god."
^ Beskow, Per, The routes of early Mithraism, in Études mithriaques Ed.Jacques Duchesne-Guillemin. p.14: "Another possible piece of evidence is offered by five terracotta plaques with a tauroctone, found in Crimea and taken into the records of Mithraic monuments by Cumont and Vermaseren. If they are Mithraic, they are certainly the oldest known representations of Mithras tauroctone; the somewhat varying dates given by Russian archaeologists will set the beginning of the first century C.E. as a terminus ad quem, which is also said to have been confirmed by the stratigraphic conditions." Note 20 gives the publication as W. Blawatsky / G. Kolchelenko, Le culte de Mithra sur la cote spetentrionale de la Mer Noire, Leiden 1966, p.14f. See also Clauss, The Roman cult of Mithras, p.156-7 which merely mentions the date and presumes that the deity is Mithras-Attis.
^ ...the area [the Crimea] is of interest mainly because of the terracotta plaques from Kerch (five, of which two are in CIMRM as nos 11 and 12). These show a bull-killing figure and their probable date (second half of first-century BC to first half of first AD) would make them the earliest tauroctonies -- if it is Mithras that they portray. Their iconography is significantly different from that of the standard tauroctony (e.g. in the Attis-like exposure of the god's genitals). Roger Beck, Mithraism since Franz Cumont, Aufsteig und Niedergang der romischen Welt II 17.4 (1984), p. 2019
^ Beskow continues: "The plaques are typical Bosporan terracottas... At the same time it must be admitted that the plaques have some strange features which make it debateable if this is really Mithra(s). Most striking is the fact that his genitals are visible as they are in the iconography of Attis, which is accentuated by a high anaxyrides. Instead of the tunic and flowing cloak he wears a kind of jacket, buttoned over the breast with only one button, perhaps the attempt of a not so skillful artist to depict a cloak. The bull is small and has a hump and the tauroctone does not plunge his knife into the flank of the bull but holds it lifted. The nudity gives it the character of a fertility god and if we want to connect it directly with the Mithraic mysteries it is indeed embarrassing that the first one of these plaques was found in a woman's tomb." Roger Beck, Mithraism since Franz Cumont, Aufsteig und Niedergang der romischen Welt II 17.4 (1984), p. 2019: "Their iconography is significantly different from that of the standard tauroctony (e.g. in the Attis-like exposure of the god's genitals)." Clauss, p.156: "He is grasping one of the bull's horns with his left hand, and wrenching back its head; the right arm is raised to deliver the death-blow. So far, this god must be Mithras. But in sharp contrast with the usual representations, he is dressed in a jacket-like garment, fastened at the chest with a brooch, which leaves his genitals exposed - the iconography typical of Attis."
^ Statius, Thebaid (Book i. 719,720): "Mithras twists the unruly horns beneath the rocks of a Persian cave."
^ Dio, Cassius, Epitome of Book 63, 5:2.
^ Pearse, Roger, Reference to Mithras in the Commentary of Servius? gives the sources and references.
^ C.M.Daniels, "The role of the Roman army in the spread and practice of Mithraism" in John R. Hinnells (ed) Mithraic Studies: proceedings of the first International congress of Mithraic Studies Manchester university press (1975), vol. 2, p. 250: "Traditionally there are two geographical regions where Mithraism first struck root in the Roman empire: Italy and the Danube. Italy I propose to omit, as the subject needs considerable discussion, and the introduction of the cult there, as witnessed by its early dedicators, seems not to have been military. Before we turn to the Danube, however, there is one early event (rather than geographical location) which should perhaps be mentioned briefly in passing. This is the supposed arrival of the cult in Italy as a result of Pompey the Great's defeat of the Cilician pirates, who practised 'strange sacrifices of their own ... and celebrated certain secret rites, amongst which those of Mithra continue to the present time, having been first instituted by them'. Suffice it to say that there is neither archaeological nor allied evidence for the arrival of Mithraism in the West at that time, nor is there any ancient literary reference, either contemporary or later. If anything, Plutarch's mention carefully omits making the point that the cult was introduced into Italy at that time or by the pirates."
^ Porphyry, On the Cave of the Nymphs, 6: "For according to Eubulus, Zoroaster first of all among the neighbouring mountains of Persia, consecrated a natural cave, florid and watered with fountains, in honour of Mithras the father of all things: a cave in the opinion of Zoroaster bearing a resemblance of the world fabricated by Mithras. But the things contained in the cavern, being disposed by certain intervals, according to symmetry and order, were symbols of the elements and climates of the world."
^ Turcan, Robert, Mithras Platonicus, Leiden, 1975, via Beck, R. Merkelbach's Mithras p. 301-2.
^ Beck, R. Merkelbach's Mithras p. 308 n. 37.
^ Beck, R. "Merkelbach's Mithras" in Phoenix 41.3 (1987) p. 298.
^ John R. Hinnells, "Reflections on the bull-slaying scene" in Mithraic studies, vol. 2, p. 303-4: "Nevertheless we would not be justified in swinging to the opposite extreme from Cumont and Campbell and denying all connection between Mithraism and Iran."
^ John R. Hinnells, "Reflections on the bull-slaying scene" in Mithraic studies, vol. 2, p. 303-4: "Since Cumont's reconstruction of the theology underlying the reliefs in terms of the Zoroastrian myth of creation depends upon the symbolic expression of the conflict of good and evil, we must now conclude that his reconstruction simply will not stand. It receives no support from the Iranian material and is in fact in conflict with the ideas of that tradition as they are represented in the extant texts. Above all, it is a theoretical reconstruction which does not accord with the actual Roman iconography. What, then, do the reliefs depict? And how can we proceed in any study of Mithraism? I would accept with R. Gordon that Mithraic scholars must in future start with the Roman evidence, not by outlining Zoroastrian myths and then making the Roman iconography fit that scheme. ... Unless we discover Euboulus' history of Mithraism we are never likely to have conclusive proof for any theory. Perhaps all that can be hoped for is a theory which is in accordance with the evidence and commends itself by (mere) plausibility."
^ John R. Hinnells, "Reflections on the bull-slaying scene" in Mithraic studies, vol. 2, p. 292: "Indeed, one can go further and say that the portrayal of Mithras given by Cumont is not merely unsupported by Iranian texts but is actually in serious conflict with known Iranian theology. Cumont reconstructs a primordial life of the god on earth, but such a concept is unthinkable in terms of known, specifically Zoroastrian, Iranian thought where the gods never, and apparently never could, live on earth. To interpret Roman Mithraism in terms of Zoroastrian thought and to argue for an earthly life of the god is to combine irreconcilables. If it is believed that Mithras had a primordial life on earth, then the concept of the god has changed so fundamentally that the Iranian background has become virtually irrelevant."
^ R.L.Gordon, "Franz Cumont and the doctrines of Mithraism" in John R. Hinnells, Mithraic studies, vol. 1, p. 215 f
^ Boyce, Mary (2001). "Mithra the King and Varuna the Master". Festschrift für Helmut Humbach zum 80 (Trier: WWT). pp. 243,n.18
^ Beck, Roger B. (2004). Beck on Mithraism: Collected Works With New Essays. Aldershot: Ashgate. ISBN 0754640817., p. 28: "Since the 1970s scholars of western Mithraism have generally agreed that Cumont's master narrative of east-west transfer is unsustainable;" although he adds that "recent trends in the scholarship on Iranian religion, by modifying the picture of that religion prior to the birth of the western mysteries, now render a revised Cumontian scenario of east-west transfer and continuities now viable."
^ Martin, Luther H. (2004). "Foreword". in Beck, Roger B. (2004). Beck on Mithraism: Collected Works With New Essays. Aldershot: Ashgate. ISBN 0754640817., p. xiv.
^ Beck, R., 2002: "Discontinuity’s weaker form of argument postulates re-invention among and for the denizens of the Roman empire (or certain sections thereof), but re-invention by a person or persons of some familiarity with Iranian religion in a form current on its western margins in the first century CE. Merkelbach (1984: pp. 75-7), expanding on a suggestion of M.P. Nilsson, proposes such a founder from eastern Anatolia, working in court circles in Rome. So does Beck 1998, with special focus on the dynasty of Commagene (see above). Jakobs 1999 proposes a similar scenario."
^ Reinhold Merkelbach, Mithras, Konigstein, 1984, ch. 75-7
^ Beck, R., "Merkelbach's Mithras", p. 304, 306.
^ Lewis M. Hopfe, "Archaeological indications on the origins of Roman Mithraism", in Lewis M. Hopfe (ed). Uncovering ancient stones: essays in memory of H. Neil Richardson, Eisenbrauns (1994), pp. 147-158. p.156:"Beyond these three Mithraea [in Syria and Palestine], there are only a handful of objects from Syria that may be identified with Mithraism. Archaeological evidence of Mithraism in Syria is therefore in marked contrast to the abundance of Mithraea and materials that have been located in the rest of the Roman Empire. Both the frequency and the quality of Mith-raic materials is greater in the rest of the empire. Even on the western frontier in Britain, archaeology has produced rich Mithraic materials, such as those found at Walbrook. If one accepts Cumont's theory that Mithraism began in Iran, moved west through Babylon to Asia Minor, and then to Rome, one would expect that the religion left its traces in those locations. Instead, archaeology indicates that Roman Mithraism had its epicenter in Rome. Wherever its ultimate place of origin may have been, the fully developed religion known as Mithraism seems to have begun in Rome and been carried to Syria by soldiers and merchants. None of the Mithraic materials or temples in Roman Syria except the Commagene sculpture bears any date earlier than the late first or early second century. [30. Mithras, identified with a Phrygian cap and the nimbus about his head, is depicted in colossal statuary erected by King Antiochus I of Commagene, 69-34 B.C.. (see Vermaseren, CIMRM 1.53-56). However, there are no other literary or archaeological evidences to indicate that the cult of Mithras as it was known among the Romans in the second to fourth centuries A.D. was practiced in Commagene]. While little can be proved from silence, it seems that the relative lack of archaeological evidence from Roman Syria would argue against the traditional theories for the origins of Mithraism."
^ Ulansey, D., The origins of the Mithraic mysteries", p. 77f.
^ Ware, James R.; Kent, Roland G. (1924). "The Old Persian Cuneiform Inscriptions of Artaxerxes II and Artaxerxes III". Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association 55: 52. doi:10.2307/283007. pp. 52–61.
^ Gordon, Richard L. (1978). "The date and significance of CIMRM 593 (British Museum, Townley Collection". Journal of Mithraic Studies II: 148–174.. pp.150-151: "The first important expansion of the mysteries in the Empire seems to have occurred relatively rapidly late in the reign of Antoninus Pius and under Marcus Aurelius (9) . By that date, it is clear, the mysteries were fully institutionalised and capable of relatively stereotyped self-reproduction through the medium of an agreed, and highly complex, symbolic system reduced in iconography and architecture to a readable set of 'signs'. Yet we have good reason to believe that the establishment of at least some of those signs is to be dated at least as early as the Flavian period or in the very earliest years of the second century. Beyond that we cannot go..."
^ Beck, R., Merkelbach's Mithras, p.299; Clauss, R., The Roman cult of Mithras, p. 25: "... the astonishing spread of the cult in the later second and early third centuries AD ... This extraordinary expansion, documented by the archaeological monuments..."
^ Clauss, R., The Roman cult of Mithras, p. 25, referring to Porphyry, De Abstinentia, 2.56 and 4.16.3 (for Pallas) and De antro nympharum 6 (for Euboulus and his history).
^ Loeb, D. Magie (1932). Scriptores Historiae Augustae: Commodus. pp. IX.6: Sacra Mithriaca homicidio vero polluit, cum illic aliquid ad speciem timoris vel dici vel fingi soleat "He desecrated the rites of Mithras with actual murder, although it was customary in them merely to say or pretend something that would produce an impression of terror".
^ Clauss, M., The Roman cult of Mithras, p. 24: "The cult of Mithras never became one of those supported by the state with public funds, and was never admitted to the official list of festivals celebrated by the state and army - at any rate as far as the latter is known to us from the Feriale Duranum, the religious calendar of the units at Dura-Europos in Coele Syria;" [where there was a Mithraeum] "the same is true of all the other mystery cults too." He adds that at the individual level, various individuals did hold roles both in the state cults and the priesthood of Mithras.
^ Beck, R., Merkelbach's Mithras, p. 299.
^ Clauss, M., The Roman cult of Mithras, p. 29.
^ Clauss, M., The Roman cult of Mithras, pp. 31-32.
^ Clauss, M., The Roman cult of Mithras, p.171.
^ Cumont, Franz (1903). McCormack, Thomas J. (trans.). ed. The Mysteries of Mithra. Chicago: Open Court. ISBN 0486203239. pp. 206: "A few clandestine conventicles may, with stubborn persistence, have been held in the subterranean retreats of the palaces. The cult of the Persian god possibly existed as late as the fifth century in certain remote cantons of the Alps and the Vosges. For example, devotion to the Mithraic rites long persisted in the tribe of the Anauni, masters of a flourishing valley, of which a narrow defile closed the mouth." This is unreferenced; but the French text in Textes et monuments figurés relatifs aux mystères de Mithra tom. 1, p. 348 has a footnote. The French text is referenced and discussed by Roger Pearse, Cumont on the end of the cult of Mithras which translates it and discusses the sources which are too long to include here.
^ David Ulansey, The origins of the Mithraic mysteries, p. 6: "Although the iconography of the cult varied a great deal from temple to temple, there is one element of the cult's iconography which was present in essentially the same form in every mithraeum and which, moreover, was clearly of the utmost importance to the cult's ideology; namely the so-called tauroctony, or bull-slaying scene, in which the god Mithras, accompanied by a series of other figures, is depicted in the act of killing the bull."
^ a b Clauss, M., The Roman cult of Mithras, p.77.
^ Clauss, M. The Roman cult of Mithras, p.98-9. An image search for "tauroctony" will show many examples of the variations.
^ Clauss, M., The Roman cult of Mithras, p.74.
^ J. R. Hinnells, "The Iconography of Cautes and Cautopates: the Data," Journal of Mithraic Studies 1, 1976, pp. 36-67. See also William W. Malandra, Cautes and Cautopates Encyclopedia Iranica article
^ The Greater [Bundahishn] IV.19-20: "19. He let loose Greed, Needfulness, [Pestilence,] Disease, Hunger, Illness, Vice and Lethargy on the body of , Gav' and Gayomard. 20. Before his coming to the 'Gav', Ohrmazd gave the healing Cannabis, which is what one calls 'banj', to the' Gav' to eat, and rubbed it before her eyes, so that her discomfort, owing to smiting, [sin] and injury, might decrease; she immediately became feeble and ill, her milk dried up, and she passed away."
^ Hinnels, John R.. "Reflections on the bull-slaying scene". Mithraic Studies: Proceedings of the First International Conference on Mithraic Studies. Manchester UP. pp. II.290–312., p. 291
^ Ulansey, David (1989). The Origins of the Mithraic Mysteries. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195054024. (1991 revised edition)
^ Porphyry, De Antro nympharum 10: "Since, however, a cavern is an image and symbol of the world..."
^ Porphyry, De antro nympharum 2: "For, as Eubulus says, Zoroaster was the first who consecrated in the neighbouring mountains of Persia, a spontaneously produced cave, florid, and having fountains, in honour of Mithra, the maker and father of all things; |12 a cave, according to Zoroaster, bearing a resemblance of the world, which was fabricated by Mithra. But the things contained in the cavern being arranged according to commensurate intervals, were symbols of the mundane elements and climates.
^ Lewis M. Hopfe, "Archaeological indications on the origins of Roman Mithraism", in Lewis M. Hopfe (ed). Uncovering ancient stones: essays in memory of H. Neil Richardson, Eisenbrauns (1994), pp. 147-158, p.154
^ Beck, Roger, "Astral Symbolism in the Tauroctony: A statistical demonstration of the Extreme Improbability of Unintended Coincidence in the Selection of Elements in the Composition" in Beck on Mithraism: collected works with new essays" (2004), p. 257.
^ Beck, Roger, "The Rise and Fall of Astral Identifications of the Tauroctonous Mithras" in Beck on Mithraism: collected works with new essays" (2004), p. 236.
^ Ulansey, D., The origins of the Mithraic mysteries", p. 25-39.
^ Michael P. Speidel, Mithras-Orion: Greek Hero and Roman Army God, Brill Academic Publishers (August 1997), ISBN 109004060553
^ a b Beck, Roger, "In the place of the lion: Mithras in the tauroctony" in Beck on Mithraism: collected works with new essays" (2004), p. 270-276.
^ a b Beck, Roger, "In the Place of the Lion: Mithras in the Tauroctony" in Beck on Mithraism: collected works with new essays" (2004), p. 286-287].
^ a b Beck, Roger (2007). The Religion of the Mithras Cult in the Roman Empire. London: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0199216134., p. 27-28.
^ a b von Gall, Hubertus, "The Lion-headed and the Human-headed God in the Mithraic Mysteries," in Jacques Duchesne-Guillemin ed. Études mithriaques, 1978, pp. 511
^ Jackson, Howard M., "The Meaning and Function of the Leontocephaline in Roman Mithraism" in Numen, Vol. 32, Fasc. 1 (Jul., 1985), pp. 17-45
^ Beck, R, Beck on Mithraism, pp. 194
^ J. Lebegue, "Une inscription mithriaque du musée de Pesaro", Revue archaeologique, 3rd series, t. 14, pp. 64-9, 1889. See also blog post with inscription, translation, and summary of Lebegue's argument.
^ Meyer, Marvin W. (1976) The "Mithras Liturgy".
^ Francis, E.D. (1971). Hinnells, John R.. ed. “Mithraic graffiti from Dura-Europos,” in Mithraic Studies, vol. 2. Manchester University Press. pp. 424–445.
^ Clauss, M., The Roman cult of Mithras, p.115.
^ Clauss, M., The Roman cult of Mithras, p.43.
^ Burkert, Walter (1987). Ancient Mystery Cults. Harvard University Press. p. 41. ISBN 0674033876.
^ Clauss, M., The Roman cult of Mithras, p.49.
^ Price S & Kearns E, Oxford Dictionary of Classical Myth and Religion, p.568.
^ Beck, Roger (2007). The Religion of the Mithras Cult in the Roman Empire. London: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0199216134., p. 85-87.
^ "Beck on Mithraism", p. 16
^ Hinnells, John R., ed (1971). “Mithraic Studies, vol. 2. Manchester University Press. plate 25
^ Clauss, M., The Roman cult of Mithras, p.139.
^ Clauss, M., The Roman cult of Mithras, pages 26 and 27.
^ Burkert, Walter (1987). Ancient Mystery Cults. Harvard University Press. p. 10. ISBN 0674033876.
^ Clauss, M., The Roman cult of Mithras, p.xxi.
^ Clauss, M., The Roman cult of Mithras, p.73.
^ Price S & Kearns E, Oxford Dictionary of Classical Myth and Religion, p.493.
^ Price S & Kearns E, Oxford Dictionary of Classical Myth and Religion, p.355.
^ Clauss, The Roman cult of Mithras, p.102. The Suda reference given is 3: 394, M 1045 Adler.
^ Clauss, The Roman cult of Mithras, p.102. The Gregory reference given is to Oratio 4. 70.
^ Jerome, Letters 107, ch. 2 (To Laeta)
^ M.Clauss, The Roman cult of Mithras, p.132-133
^ M.Clauss, The Roman cult of Mithras, p.133-138
^ Clauss, Manfred (1990). "Die sieben Grade des Mithras-Kultes". ZPE 82: 183–194.
^ Griffiths, Alison. "Mithraism in the private and public lives of 4th-c. senators in Rome". EJMS. http://www.uhu.es/ejms/Papers/Volume1Papers/ABGMS.DOC
^ Clauss, M., The Roman cult of Mithras, p.103.
^ M. Clauss, The Roman cult of Mithras, p. 42: "That the hand-shaken might make their vows joyfully forever"
^ M. Clauss, The Roman cult of Mithras, p. 105: "the followers of Mithras were the 'initiates of the theft of the bull, united by the handshake of the illustrious father." (Err. prof. relig. 5.2)
^ a b "Beck on Mithraism", pp. 288-289
^ Beck, Roger (2000). "Ritual, Myth, Doctrine, and Initiation in the Mysteries of Mithras: New Evidence from a Cult Vessel". The Journal of Roman Studies 90 (90): 145–180. doi:10.2307/300205.
^ Merkelbach, Reinhold (1995). "Das Mainzer Mithrasgefäß". Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik (108): 1–6.
^ Martin, Luther H. (2004). "Ritual Competence and Mithraic Ritual". in Wilson, Brian C. (2004). Religion as a human capacity: a festschrift in honor of E. Thomas Lawson. BRILL., p. 257
^ Clauss, The Roman cult of Mithras, p.62-101.
^ Clauss, The Roman cult of Mithras, p.33.
^ David, Jonathan (2000). "The Exclusion of Women in the Mithraic Mysteries: Ancient or Modern?". Numen 47 (2): 121–141. doi:10.1163/156852700511469., at p. 121.
^ Clauss, The Roman cult of Mithras, p.39.
^ Clauss, M., The Roman cult of Mithras, p.144-145: "Justin's charge does at least make clear that Mithraic commandments did exist."
^ Clauss, M., The Roman cult of Mithras, p.144, referencing Caesares 336C in the translation of W.C.Wright. Hermes addresses Julian: "As for you . . . , I have granted you to know Mithras the Father. Keep his commandments, thus securing for yourself an anchor-cable and safe mooring all through your life, and, when you must leave the world, having every confidence that the god who guides you will be kindly disposed."
^ Tertullian, De Corona Militis, 15.3
^ Clauss, M., The Roman cult of Mithras, p.158.
^ Burkert, Walter (1987). Ancient Mystery Cults. Harvard University Press. p. 49. ISBN 0674033876.
^ Justin Martyr, First Apology, ch. 66: "For the apostles, in the memoirs composed by them, which are called Gospels, have thus delivered unto us what was enjoined upon them; that Jesus took bread, and when He had given thanks, said, "This do ye in remembrance of Me, this is My body; "and that, after the same manner, having taken the cup and given thanks, He said, "This is My blood; "and gave it to them alone. Which the wicked devils have imitated in the mysteries of Mithras, commanding the same thing to be done. For, that bread and a cup of water are placed with certain incantations in the mystic rites of one who is being initiated, you either know or can learn."
^ Renan, E., Marc-Aurele et la fin du monde antique. Paris, 1882, p. 579: "On peut dire que, si le christianisme eût été arrêté dans sa croissance par quelque maladie mortelle, le monde eût été mithriaste."
^ Edwin M. Yamauchi cited in Lee Strobel, The Case for the Real Jesus, Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2007, p.175

Dis

2010-06-19T02:17:35Z

Gaius Apollonius Agrippa: Dis

Dis Pater

Dis Pater, or Dispater (cf. Skt. Dyaus Pitar), was a Roman god of the underworld, later subsumed by Pluto or Hades. Originally a chthonic god of riches, fertile agricultural land, and underground mineral wealth, he was later commonly equated with the Roman deities Pluto and Orcus, becoming an underworld deity.
Dis Pater was commonly shortened to simply Dis (much like how Dyaus Pitar was also simply called Dyaus). This name has since become an alternate name for the underworld or a part of the underworld, such as the Dis of The Divine Comedy.

Dis Pater was originally a god of wealth, much like the Roman god Pluto (from Greek Πλούτων, Ploutōn, meaning "wealthy"), who was later equated with Dis Pater. Dis is contracted from the Latin dis (from dives meaning "rich"), and pater ("father"), the literal meaning of Dis Pater being "Wealthy Father" or "Father of Riches" [citation really needed].
Julius Caesar writes in Commentarii de Bello Gallico that the Gauls considered Dis Pater to be an ancestor. In thus interpreting the Gauls' god as Dis, Caesar offers one of his many examples of interpretatio Romana, the re-identification of foreign divinities as their closest Roman counterparts. The choice of Dis to translate whatever Celtic divinity Caesar has in mind - most likely Cernunnos, as the two are both associated with both the Underworld and prosperity - may in part be due to confusion between Dis Pater and the Proto-Indo-European deity *Dyeus, who would have been addressed as *Dyeu Phter ("Sky Father"). This name is also the likely origin of the name of many Indo-European gods, including Zeus and Jupiter, though the name's similarity to Dis Pater may be in part coincidental.

Like Pluto, Dis Pater eventually became associated with death and the underworld because the wealth of the earth—gems and precious metals—was considered in the domain of the Greco-Roman underworld. As a result, Dis Pater was over time conflated with the Roman god Pluto, who became associated with the Greek god Hades as the deity's role as a god of death became more prominent than his role as a wealth god.
In being conflated with Pluto, Dis Pater took on some of the Greek mythological attributes of Pluto/Hades, being one of the three sons of Saturn (Greek: Cronus) and Ops (Greek: Rhea), along with Jupiter and Neptune. He ruled the underworld and the dead beside his wife, Proserpina (Greek: Persephone).[1] In literature, Dis Pater was commonly used as a symbolic and poetic way of referring to death itself.

When Dis Pater was in the underworld, only oaths and curses could reach him, and people invoked him by striking the earth with their hands. Black sheep were sacrificed to him, and those who performed the sacrifice averted their faces. Dis Pater, like his Greek equivalent, Hades, had little or no real cult following, and so there are few statues of him.
In 249 BC and 207 BC, the Roman Senate ordained special festivals to appease Dis Pater and Proserpina. Every hundred years, a festival was celebrated in his name. According to legend, a round marble altar, Altar of Dis Pater and Proserpina (Latin: Ara Ditis Patris et Proserpinae), was miraculously discovered by the servants of a Sabine called Valesius, the ancestor of the first consul. The servants were digging in the Tarentum on the edge of the Campus Martius to lay foundations following instructions given to Valesius's children in dreams, when they found the altar 20 feet (6 m) underground. Valesius reburied the altar after three days of games. Sacrifices were offered to this altar during the Ludi Saeculares or Ludi Tarentini. It may have been uncovered for each occasion of the games, to be reburied afterwards, a clearly chthonic tradition of worship. It was rediscovered in 1886–87 beneath the Corso Vittorio Emanuele in Rome.[2][3]
In addition to being considered the ancestor of the Gauls, Dis Pater was sometimes identified with the Sabine god Soranus. In southern Germany and the Balkans, Dis Pater had a Celtic goddess, Aericura, as a consort. Dis Pater was rarely associated with foreign deities in the shortened form of his name, Dis.[4]

References

^ Grimal. The Dictionary of Classical Mythology. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. pp. 141, 177. ISBN 0631132090.
^ Nash. Pictorial Dictionary of Ancient Rome Volume 1. London: A. Zwemmer Ltd. p. 57. ISBN 0878172653.
^ Richardson. A New Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome. London: Thames and Hudson. pp. 110–111. ISBN 0801843006..
^ Green. Dictionary of Celtic Myth and Legend. London: Thames and Hudson. pp. 81–82. ISBN 0500015163.