Mystery Cults Research Articles

Les Metamorphoses d’Apulée. 2. Destructuration anarchétypale du roman

Apuleius’ Metamorphoses. 2. Anarchetypal Freedom of the Novel. In this paper I apply a concept I have coined and defined—the anarchetype—to the ancient Greek and Latin novel, more specifically to Apuleius’ Metamorphoses. The text suffers, in my view, from the tension between two contrary formal tendencies, one which is archetypal, another which is anarchetypal. In a paper published in the previous issue of this journal, I have analyzed the first structural constraint, the archetypal one. In the present paper I focus on the anarchetypal tendency of the novel. Apuleius’ assumed intention of writing an entertaining text, in the wake of the “Milesian tales”, offers him the opportunity to treat freely the epic material, with no regards to Aristotle’s principles and to the canon of high literature. The haphazard fragmentation of the linear narrative and the plethora of additional stories give the text the aspect of an anarchetypal rhizome-like domino game. Keywords: Greek and Latin novel, Apuleius, The Metamorphoses, mystery cults, initiation travel, archetype, anarchetype

Les Métamorphoses D’Apulée 1. Le scénario initiatique archétypal

Apuleius’ Metamorphoses. 1. The Archetypal Initiation Pattern. In this paper I apply a concept I have coined and defined – the anarchetype – to the ancient Greek and Latin novel, more specifically to Apuleius’ Metamorphoses. The text suffers, in my view, from the tension between two contrary formal tendencies, one which is archetypal, another which is anarchetypal. The first structural constraint is the archetypal one. In contrast to the popular narrative Onos, that Apuleius takes as his epic source, The Golden Ass receives a strong organizing pattern, that of an initiation journey. Transformed by mistake, within a sorcery ritual, into an ass, Lucius suffers a series of adventures and encounters with different mystery and philosophical cults (Dea Syria, Dionysos, Isis, Medio-platonism) which bring him back to the human, and then divine condition. This rite of passage offers an archetypal structure to the novel. Keywords: Greek and Latin novel; Apuleius; The Metamorphoses; Mystery Cults; initiation travel; archetype; anarchetype.

A Re-Evaluation of the Iconography of the Etruscan Bronze Lamp of Cortona

Abstract This paper addresses unresolved issues in the study of the enigmatic iconography of the Etruscan bronze lamp of Cortona. Drawing upon literary sources and additional iconographic evidence, issues with previous interpretations of the lamp will be discussed. Subsequently, new identities are proposed for the key figures on the lamp, concluding that its iconography is a manifestation of Dionysian thiasus and that the lamp was a cult object associated with the mystery cult of Dionysus. This paper will also contribute to the refutation of the concept of “Dionysism without Dionysus” in Archaic Etruria.

Echoing the Eleusinian World: Eleusinian Topoi and Sounds in Pindaric Epinician Poetry

Abstract The spheres of Eleusinian mystery cults and of the Panhellenic games have numerous points of contact, from a lexical point of view, as well as on the level of imagery, more particularly with reference to their respective soundscapes. The familiarity that Pindar and his audiences share with these two contexts seems to emerge throughout the epinician odes. Focusing on the Pindaric corpus, this article highlights the similarities and analogies that could have led the poet to put together (and to draw inspiration from) the Eleusinian mysteries with their jargon on the one hand, and the lexicon and imagery of eulogy embedded in the reality and representation of the Panhellenic games on the other. My double objective is to analyze this common repertoire of terminology and images, evoked by Pindar and recognizable to his audiences, and to shed fresh light on Pindar’s engagement with Eleusinian mysteries through a textual approach. More generally, what I attempt to demonstrate in this paper is that the Eleusinian world resonates in Pindaric epinician poetry.

Схождение Инанны и похищение Персефоны: очерк о двух литературных источниках о мифах смерти и возрождения

The article deals with two literary works originating from two highly distinct traditions: ancient Sumerian and Greek. Despite their different origins, the two works in question, “The Descent of Inana to the Underworld” and Homeric Hymn “To Demeter”, share several key features, which thematically connect them to Greek Mystery cults: topics of death and possibility of salvation, mysteries of the underworld, which can be transcended by means of initiation rites, aetiological connection between the death and rebirth of a fertility deity and agricultural fertility of the land. Based on the assumption that these two sources can be identified as apocalypses and given the widespread correlation between formal literary complexity and philosophical (or theological) depth found in apocalyptic literature (especially in Judeo-Christian tradition), this paper seeks to establish the same correlation in Greco-Sumerian and, more precisely, Eleusinian milieu. However, the final analyses proves the opposite of the initial hypothesized conclusion.

Греческие мистериальные культы. Часть I: Святилище Великих богов на о. Самофракия и мистерии Кабиров

In this article we first, using the example of Eleusis, briefly examine the question of the origin of ancient mystery practices, and we also touch upon the problem of the evolution of Greek religious beliefs from Archaic times to the Classical period. Often the presence or absence of an extraordinary experience is regarded as a criterion which allows to classify a specific ancient cult as a “mystery” cult. Another criterion, of course, is the closed, initiatory nature of these cults. We discuss this type of cults in the paper, beginning with the historically most ancient ones. The main part of the article is devoted to the detailed study of the Samothracian Mysteries and the sacred rites of Kabeiroi, first of all, in Thebes and on the island of Lemnos. The literary and epigraphic data in the article are considered in the light of archaeological findings. We see that the ancient cult of the Kabeiroi, as well as the ideas about the Great Gods of Samothrace, underwent significant changes over time, first of all, it seems, under the influence of Eleusis. Were the myths of the Samothrace and of the Kabeiroi of a ‘salvific’ nature, and not only in the sense of rescue at sea or from enemies by means of miraculous weapons or foreign magic? Obviously, since about the time of Plato, and perhaps somewhat earlier, the mystery cults, above all the Eleusinian and Orphic ones, are accompanied by certain eschatology and are conceptualized in a philosophical way. This does not mean, of course, that people stop turning to the gods with “ordinary” requests for help and, passing through initiation into the mysteries, necessarily aspire to acquire only a special “mystic” experience or secure for themselves a privileged place in the other world, the picture of which just at this time is significantly transformed. This is briefly the content of the first part of the work, published in this issue of the journal. In the second part of the study we will continue with an account of the “minor mysteries” of antiquity, such as the secret rituals of the Korybantes, the Andanian mysteries in Messenia, and the cult of Artemis in Ephesus, in order to move in the third part to late antique practices such as the mysteries of Isis and Mithras, which we hope will bring us closer to a theoretical synthesis that treats the nature and meaning of the ancient mystery cults.

Истину ты говорил и о всём рассуждал справедливо (понятия правды и справедливости от Гомера до орфиков)

In “Axial time,” the notion of order begins to be understood in the emerging forms of individual creativity - lyric poetry, philosophy and mystery. If the notions of order, truth and justice before that time were understood only in specific actual contexts, then along with the movement towards individual consciousness the nature of the referent is changing, and these concepts begin to interact independently of the context. As far back as the Indo-European unity, the ideas of order and struggle of the two beginnings (positive and negative), embodied in different forms, appeared. The idea of order is represented by the Vedic ṛta, the Iranian arta, and the Greek dike. It is interesting that certain ideas expressed by a number of words may end up being represented by a set of concepts in which these words sometimes are no longer included. If we turn to Greek, dike begins to correlate with themis, where the first word refers to inter-family and the second to family law. But in the “Axial Age,” themis is limited to the communal level, while dike reaches the cosmic level and turns out to be just world order. And, paradoxically, because of this, it is also placed in each individual soul. This truth is revealed in a state of frenzy to the mystics, to the prayers, and to the poets. The idea of metempsychosis plays a role here. A hitherto unknown state of individual responsibility arises. The article examines the situation according to which the formation of abstract concepts proceeds by the gradual formation of a semantic field, on which the meanings of words begin to be more and more definitely differentiated. The comprehension of the corresponding images and concepts at the individual level leads to the formation of the system of philosophical categories. The connection of the conceptual system and the orientation towards individual justice is determined, in particular, by the development of the mystery cults.

Belayche, Nicole & Massa, Francesco (eds.) (2021). Mystery Cults in Visual Representation in Graeco-Roman Antiquity. Brill / Kiernan, Philip (2020). Roman Cult Images. The Lives and Worship of Idols from the Iron Age to Late Antiquity. CUP

Belayche, Nicole & Massa, Francesco (eds.) (2021). Mystery Cults in Visual Representation in Graeco-Roman Antiquity. Brill / Kiernan, Philip (2020). Roman Cult Images. The Lives and Worship of Idols from the Iron Age to Late Antiquity. CUP

Mystery cults in visual representation in Graeco-Roman antiquity. Edited by Nicole Belayche and Francesco Massa. (Religions in the Graeco-Roman World, 194.) Pp. xiv + 237 incl. 63 colour and black-and-white ills. Leiden–Boston: Brill, 2021. €104. 978 90 04 43932 0; 0927 7633

Mystery cults in visual representation in Graeco-Roman antiquity. Edited by Nicole Belayche and Francesco Massa. (Religions in the Graeco-Roman World, 194.) Pp. xiv + 237 incl. 63 colour and black-and-white ills. Leiden–Boston: Brill, 2021. €104. 978 90 04 43932 0; 0927 7633 - Volume 73 Issue 4

Das „sterbende Weizenkorn“

Abstract Paul’s statement that seeds die after sowing in the soil before they germinate is often assessed as a commonly held view of antiquity. Some scholars even claim that it conforms to the scientific standards of ancient philosophy. This paper examines the sources cited as evidence for this claim and shows that it is untenable. Paul’s formulation is very unusual. His idea that seeds die does not make sense on the background of ancient botany. Similar, albeit not identical ideas can be found only in the context of some ancient mystery cults. It is difficult to assess how wide-spread they were.

Some Notes and Observations on the Tbilisi Hymn to Dionysus (P. Ross. Georg. 1.11)

The Tbilisi Hymn to Dionysus offers an unusual glimpse into Greek religion in the making. The text, written in the third century CE, is the first draft of a cult song, whose content indicates its clear connection to a mystery cult. Thus, it is tempting to call it a hieros logos of Dionysian initiation, a late cousin or offspring of the religious literature that flourished in Egypt under the rule of Ptolemy Philopator. This paper contains three notes regarding the mythical and theological content of the hymn, as well as its performative context.

Mystery Cult in Vergil

Abstract In this paper we begin with a brief survey of the presence of the mysteries in Greek and Latin epic poetry, before giving an overview of the mysteries in Vergil and attempting to identify the function of the references to mystery religion in Aeneid 6. Throughout, we consider the modality of how the poets allude to the mysteries in ways that allow mystery cults to take on a life of their own in imaginative literary representations, arriving at the conclusion that it is only by means of closer collaboration between literary critics and historians of religion that progress will be made in this complex field of study.

Dire les mystères en latin, et en vers, au IVe s. apr. J.C. : À propos d’orgia (Aviénus et Optatien Porphyre) et d’Eleusis (Claudien)

Abstract In this article, I first examine the use of the word orgia in the context of Optatian’s, Avienus’ and Claudian’s poetry. I then evaluate the references to the cult of Eleusis occurring in the proemium of the first book of Claudian’s Rape of Proserpina. By these two test cases, I try to survey the way in which the vocabulary of the mystery cults is used by Latin poets writing in the 4th century AD, a time punctuated by events which had progressively pushed the mystery cults to the margins of the Empire. In these texts, which might possibly mirror contemporary religious issues—although they are, first and foremost, literary projects shaped by their own models and narrative mechanisms—the mystery ceremony is sometimes likened to a theatrical performance; the emphasis is placed on the collective sensory experience, on the occult nature of these practices, as well as on their etiological aspects and symbolic meaning.

Mysteriorum simulatio

Abstract This article considers the presence of a vocabulary of mysteries in the late antique laws collected in the Theodosian Code. The analysis shows the common use of some traditional words in a new meaning in order to define Christianity and defend its identity against other religions: not only the traditional mystery cults, but also the heretics. This vocabulary presents concepts and ancient religious ideas transformed into voces mediae, that can be used by religious communities in the conflicts of the age.

The Mystery Cults and the Latin Historians

Abstract Historians writing in Latin show only intermittent interest in mystery cults; but when they do, their approach falls broadly into three different patterns. At times the cults are described in their local context, and treated as alien to a greater or lesser degree, though recognizable and sometimes acceptable to Roman participants. Secondly, they are sometimes treated as more or less indistinguishable from the rest of the religious landscape at Rome—but in those cases all sense of foreignness disappears, and there is no mention of initiation or anything distinctive about the experience of those cults. Thirdly, those more distinctive aspects may be emphasized, but only when the cults are treated as something dangerous and hostile to Rome, and are assimilated to ideas of secrecy and conspiracy.

Euripides’ Suppliants: Mystery Cult Initiation and the Deaths of Evadne and Capaneus

Euripides’ Suppliants: Mystery Cult Initiation and the Deaths of Evadne and Capaneus

Sacral Inventories and Archaeological Reality in the Isis Sanctuaries oustide Egypt (Late Hellenistic and Roman Periods)

What kind of material can be found in Isiac sanctuaries, that is, those devoted to Isis, and her companion Sarapis, as well as the synnaoi theoi, Anubis and Harpocrates? To answer this question, we can study the sacral inventories, but they are few. Sundry information is also to be found in literary and epigraphical texts (especially dedications) and iconography, but all these sources have to be linked with the material discovered in sanctuaries. Three main groups of material can be identified: first of all, the statue and everything connected to it (such as garments and jewels); then, the material used to worship the god or goddess during everyday worship or on different feasts; finally, objects used to create a special atmosphere peculiar to a mystery cult.

Coping with Images of Initiations in the Mithras Cult

This paper starts with a preliminary reflection on the broader field of “mystery cults”, which are characterized by a ban on divulgation and the incommunicability of experience. The “mysteries” of Mithras present a further difficulty: their images, built within Roman contexts, lack the visual markers of the Greek “mystery cult” tradition. Moreover, the epigraphical evidence for the worshippers of Mithras does not mention “mysteries”. The second and longer section of the paper addresses the few frescoes that were interpreted as depictions of initiation rituals inside three mithraea and on an adorned krater. It first recalls the main approaches to the interpretation of these images (historiography, anthropological approach, semiotic reading), and then argues that these images intended to display to the viewers (insiders/initiates) a sense of grouping and of contrasted agencies within the groups, to different extents in each mithraeum. By focusing on a case-study from Caesarea Maritima, it proposes to identify the three different ways through which a religious group might give an image both of itself and to itself: a collective ritual (i.e. a procession), the initiation as a transmission (without a special terrifying ambiance), and a mythological narrative on the deity who protects the group.

Acousmatic Orphism: Susan Howe

In this essay Joseph Donahue uncovers the Orphic ambitions of Susan Howe's 2010 volume of poetry, That This, especially as manifested in the poet's collaboration with the composer David Grubbs in the recording of a poem from that volume, ‘Frolic Architecture’. To account for the use of free-floating syllabic sound as an intensification of the Orphic concerns of the poem in the recording, the essay turns at first to the origin of acousmatic sound and its proposed relations to ancient mystery cults: composer and sound theorist Pierre Schaeffer claimed that to hear sound without seeing its source placed the listener in a position comparable to that of an initiate in the cult of Pythagoras. Drawing on Brian Kane's 2014 study of the origins of musique concrète (which incorporates recorded sounds) in the postwar period, Sound Unseen, this piece claims the acousmatic not only for Pythagoras but for Orpheus. It is argued that an Orphic poetics rooted in the acousmatic comes to full fruition in late Howe. Howe's own evocations of Pythagoras, and her own mythologising of the acousmatic, are examined, especially in regard to her collage method which so often and so momentously conceals or removes the visual origin of sounded syllables. The collaboration with composer David Grubbs intensifies the acousmatic poetics of Howe's text, and it is suggested, is the poem's ultimate realisation.

Noah and Moses in Acts 15: Group Models and the Novelty of the Way

This article argues that Acts 15 alludes both to commandments associated with Noah and pentateuchal legislation on the gerim, though without consistently developing either of these allusions. As a result, this chapter presents the Way as a novel movement that both corresponds with and transcends familiar categories. By discussing Acts’ simultaneous evoking and negation of other models (voluntary associations, Bacchic mystery cults, philosophical schools and ethnic groups), I argue that Acts 15 reflects a literary strategy evident throughout Acts. This strategy enabled the author of Acts to anchor the Way into the structures and traditions of the early Roman Empire.