The religion of the Mithras cult in the Roman Empire: mysteries of the unconquered sun
A study of the religious system of Mithraism, one of the 'mystery cults' popular in the Roman Empire contemporary with early Christianity. Mithraism is described from the point of view of the initiate engaging with its rich repertoire of symbols and practices. - ;A study of the religious s...
| Contributors: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Book |
| Language: | English |
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| Published: |
Oxford New York
Oxford University Press
2006
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| In: | Year: 2006 |
| Further subjects: | B
Mithrasdienst
B Rome (Empire) B BODY, MIND & SPIRIT ; Spirituality ; Paganism & Neo-Paganism B Religion B Electronic books B Mithraism B RELIGION ; Comparative Religion B Rome Religion Rome (Empire) B Rome Religion |
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Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Parallel Edition: | Print version: Religion of the Mithras cult in the Roman Empire: |
| Summary: | A study of the religious system of Mithraism, one of the 'mystery cults' popular in the Roman Empire contemporary with early Christianity. Mithraism is described from the point of view of the initiate engaging with its rich repertoire of symbols and practices. - ;A study of the religious system of Mithraism, one of the 'mystery cults' popular in the Roman Empire contemporary with early Christianity. Roger Beck describes Mithraism from the point of view of the initiate engaging with the religion and its rich symbolic system in thought, word, ritual action, and cult life. He employs the methods Cover -- Contents -- List of Figures -- Abbreviations -- 1. Introduction to Interpreting the Mysteries: Old Ways, New Ways -- 1. An agenda -- 2. A word on ontology -- 3. Template for a re-description of the Mithraic mysteries -- 4. On comparisons -- 5. On cognition -- 6. Synchronic versus diachronic; structure and meaning versus historic cause and effect; interpretation versus explanation -- 7. Conclusion -- 2. Old Ways: The Reconstruction of Mithraic Doctrine from Iconography -- 1. A gateway to an interpretation of the mysteries: Porphyry, De antro nympharum 6, on the form and function of the mithraeum -- 2. The traditional route: from the iconography of the monuments to the myth of Mithras to the beliefs of Mithraists -- 3. The merits and achievements of the traditional heuristic procedure -- 4. The shortcomings of the traditional heuristic procedure -- Appendix: some remaining methodological problems for the explication of the Mithras myth as represented on the figured monuments -- 3. The Problem of Referents: Interpretation with Reference to What? -- 1. Iconography and the problem of referents -- 2. Referents in the surrounding culture? -- 3. Iranian referents? -- 4. Celestial (astronomical/astrological) referents? -- 5. Conclusion -- 4. Doctrine Redefined -- 1. Back to Porphyry, De antro 6 -- 2. 'Induction into a mystery': the doctrinal misconstruction of De antro 6 -- 3. Teaching versus enacting the 'descent and departure of souls': the commonsensical answer -- 4. An expectation of appropriate behaviour -- 5. 'Reason for the wise, symbols for the vulgar' -- 6. Mithraic doctrine and its stakeholders: various views -- 7. Doctrine and belief: the Christian 'faith' paradigm -- 8. Mithraic doctrine: three main issues -- 9. (i) Generalizing about Mithraic doctrine from unusual monuments -- 10. (ii) What do we mean by 'doctrine' in the context of the Mithraic mysteries? An array of answers -- 11. (iii) Doctrine and the ordinary initiate -- 12. Conclusion -- Transition: from old ways to new ways -- 5. The Mithraic Mysteries as Symbol System: I. Introduction and Comparisons -- 1. Religion as a system of symbols: an anthropological approach -- 2. Are Geertzian description and interpretation applicable to the symbol system of the Mithraic mysteries? -- 3. Yes, Geertzian description and interpretation are possible, provided we begin not with the tauroctony but with the mithraeum and the grade structure -- 4. A culture within a culture: Mithraism as a subsystem within the cultural system of Graeco-Roman paganism. The hermeneutic implications -- 5. The symbol complex of the grade hierarchy -- 6. A modern comparator: the symbol system of the Chamulas -- 7. The construction of space in Mithraic and Chamula cultures -- 8. Mithraism's second axiom: 'Harmony of Tension in Opposition' -- Appendix: on Porphyry's De antro nympharum as a reliable source of data on the Mithraic mysteries -- 6. Cognition and Representation -- 1. The cognitive approach: ontogenetic/phylogenetic versus cultural -- 2. Gods in mind: cognition and the representation of supernatural beings -- 3. Negotiating representations -- 4. Reintegrating th. |
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| Item Description: | Includes bibliographical references (p. [261]-271) and indexes. - Description based on print version record |
| ISBN: | 0198140894 |