Mastrocinque The Mysteries of Mithras

A Different Account
1. Auflage 2017
ISBN: 978-3-16-155118-5
Verlag: Mohr Siebeck
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, Band 24, 384 Seiten

Reihe: Orientalische Religionen in der Antike

In this work, Attilio Mastrocinque cautions against an approach to Mithraism based on the belief that this mystic cult resembles Christianity. While both Christian and pagan authors testified that Mithraic elements were indeed borrowed, according to Attilio Mastrocinque this was only done by some gnostic Christians. He counters that Roman Empire ideology and religion provide better clues on how to approach the matter, contending too that Virgil proves to be more important than the Avesta in understanding Mithraic iconography. The meaning of the central scene - the Tauroctony - thus becomes clear when the Roman triumph's central act of bull sacrifice is thought of as just that, with Mithras playing the role of victor as author of this success. The episodes depicted on many reliefs relate to a prophecy known to Firmicus Maternus and other Christian polemists, and which foretold the coming of a saviour, i.e. the first emperor, when Saturn returns and Apollo-Mithras will rule.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Mastrocinque, Attilio

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein Religionsgeschichte Religionen der Antike
• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein Religionssoziologie und -psychologie, Spiritualität, Mystik
• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Sonstige Religionen Sonstige Religionen: Kult, Riten, Feiertage, Zeremonien, Gebete

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1;Cover;1
2;Preface;6
3;Contents;10
4;Abbreviations;14
5;List of illustrations;18
6;Chapter 1: Basic Elements of Mithraism;24
6.1;§ 1. Character and Bias of Ancient Sources on Mithraism;24
6.2;§ 2. The Seven Grades of Initiation;28
6.3;§ 3. The Initiatory Rituals;33
6.4;§ 4. The Fourth Grade: Leo and his God Jupiter;39
6.5;§ 5. A Christian Imitation of the Seven Initiation Grades;43
6.6;§ 6. The Mithraic Cave;45
6.7;§ 7. The Two Niches in the Mithraic Cave;48
6.8;§ 8. Theories on the Cultural Origin of Mithraism;50
6.9;§ 9. Mithraism from Zoroaster to Plato;51
6.10;§ 10. How Christian was Roman Mithraism;53
6.11;§ 11. History of Scholarly Research in Mithraism;58
7;Chapter 2: Mithraism, Kings, and Emperors;64
7.1;§ 12. How were the Roman Emperors involved in Mithraism?;64
7.2;§ 13. Who was Mithras?;68
7.3;§ 14. Mithras and the Kings;73
7.4;§ 15. The King as Mithras;76
7.5;§ 16. Tauroctony on Coins from Tarsus;82
7.6;§ 17. Invictus;84
7.7;§ 18. The Cosmocrator and other Imperial Iconographies;87
7.8;§ 19. Victoria and the Imperial Eagle;91
7.9;§ 20. Sol and the Emperor;94
7.10;§ 21. The Apotheosis of Roman Emperor;96
7.11;§ 22. The Priests of Apollo;101
7.12;§ 23. Apollo – Mithras;103
7.13;§ 24. A Persian God with Divus Augustus;106
7.14;§ 25. Salvation of the Soul;114
7.15;§ 26. Mithras between Imperial Apotheosis and damnatio memoriae;121
8;Chapter 3: The Myths of the Origins (left Predellas);126
8.1;§ 27. Victoria and Mithras I: Saturn’s Dream;126
8.2;§ 28. Victoria and Mithras II: The Birth of Mithras from the Rock;130
8.3;§ 29. Victoria and Mithras III: from Gigantomachy to the Birth of Mithras;135
8.4;§ 30. The Miracle of the Water and the Birth of a New Humankind;137
8.5;§ 31. Jupiter at Actium, the Gigantomachy, and the Sistrum;140
8.6;§ 32. The Mithraic Prophecy;144
8.7;§ 33. The End of the Civil War and the Prophecy;150
8.8;§ 34. The Magi at Bethlehem;158
8.9;§ 35. Mithras as an Archer;160
8.10;§ 36. Appendix 1. Cautes and Cautopates;162
9;Chapter 4: The Myth of the Bull (Central Scene and Upper Predellas);168
9.1;§ 37. The Sacrifice of the Bull;168
9.2;§ 38. The Meaning of the Mithraic Bull;174
9.3;§ 39. Danaos, the Bull, and Augustus;175
9.4;§ 40. The Bull on a Boat;178
9.5;§ 41. Mercury and the Transitus;184
9.6;§ 42. Salvation in the Mysteries of Mithras;189
9.7;§ 43. Mithras the Hunter;192
10;Chapter 5: Sol’s Coronation and Mithras’ Apotheosis (Right Predellas);194
10.1;§ 44. The Right Predellas: Mithras and Sol;194
10.2;§ 45. Mithras’ Apotheosis;201
10.3;§ 46. Refusing the Crown;206
10.4;§ 47. The Spread of Mithraism in the Roman Empire;208
10.5;§ 48. Imperial Freedmen and Mithraism;212
10.6;§ 49. From Nero to Vespasian;215
10.7;§ 50. Appendix 2. Tiridates’ Coronation and Mithraism;221
11;Chapter 6: The Mithraic Aiones;228
11.1;§ 51. Mazdaism vs. Mithraism;228
11.2;§ 52. The Lion-Headed God;230
11.3;§ 53. Orphic Pattern in Mithraism;238
11.4;§ 54. The Lion and the Snake;241
11.5;§ 55. The Supreme Triad of Mithraism;246
11.6;§ 56. Treatment of Mazdaism;250
11.7;§ 57. Tarsian Culture under the Roman Empire;251
11.8;§ 58. Sandas, the Tarsian God of War and of the Dead;255
11.9;§ 59. The God of the Dead is raised to the Hypercosmic World;259
12;Chapter 7: The System of Planetary and Hypercosmic Gods;264
12.1;§ 60. The Seven Gods According to History. The First Four Gods;264
12.2;§ 61. The Seven Gods According to Ancient Theogonies;265
12.3;§ 62. The Three Uppermost Initiatory Grades;266
12.4;§ 63. The Geography of a Mithraeum;269
12.5;§ 64. The Whole System of Mithraic Gods;275
12.6;§ 65. The Mithraic Triangle;280
12.7;§ 66. The Central Position of Sol;282
12.8;§ 67. The Mithraic Theogony;283
13;Chapter 8: Mithraism and the Magic Arts;288
13.1;§ 68. Magic Deceptions;288
13.2;§ 69. Knowledge of natural Substances among Hellenistic Magi;292
13.3;§ 70. Magical Performances at Banquets;293
13.4;§ 71. Supposed Magi;297
13.5;§ 72. Gnostic Imitations of magic Performances;299
13.6;§ 73. Speaking Skulls;300
13.7;§ 74. Tricks during Mithraic Banquets;305
13.8;§ 75. Deception or Truth?;309
13.9;§ 76. How was a Mithraic Community organized?;312
13.10;§ 77. The Psychological Impact of the Mysteries of Mithras;315
13.11;§ 78. Teaching within the three higher Grades;316
13.12;§ 79. Mithraic Secrecy and public Cults;318
14;Chapter 9: The Evolution of the Mithraism;320
14.1;§ 80. Serapis in Some Mithraea;320
14.2;§ 81. Hecate in Some Mithraea;323
15;Chapter 10: Para-Mithraism;326
15.1;§ 82. Mithraic Worship out of the Mithraea;326
15.2;§ 83. The Mithraic Catechism from Egypt;330
15.3;§ 84. The “Mithras Liturgy”;331
16;Chapter 11: The latest devotees of Mithras;336
16.1;§ 85. The End of Mithraism;336
16.2;§ 86. The Mysteries of Mithras in the Christian Empire;340
16.3;§ 87. Julian the Emperor and the Mysteries of Mithras;344
16.4;§ 88. Julian and the Imperial Ideology;347
16.5;§ 89. Romanization of Eastern Cults;350
17;Bibliography;356
18;Index;366
18.1;I. General Index;366
18.2;II. Index locorum;380

Über Autor(innen)

Mastrocinque, Attilio
Born 1952; 1975 Master; since 2002 Full Professor of Roman History at the University of Verona; 2008-10 president of Cultural Heritage courses at the University of Verona; 2005-15 Director of the Archaeological Mission at Grumentum (Lucania).