Unveiling the Hidden Face of Antiquity:
Mysteries and Cryptic Cults
Unveiling the Hidden Face of Antiquity:
Mysteries and Cryptic Cults
Menelaos Christopoulos – Marion Meyer –
Athina Papachrysostomou (eds.)
Offprint
Phoibos Verlag, Wien 2023
Printed with support from the Department of Philology, University of Patras
in memory of Richard Seaford
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Cover: Eleusis, Telesterion, © Marion Meyer
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Table of Contents
Prologue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7
I. Eleusinian Mysteries
Marion Meyer
What Can Images Tell Us about the Athenians’ View of the Founder(s) of the
Eleusinian Mysteries ? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
13
Mattia De Poli
Aeschylus and the Eleusinian Mysteries: Further Sources for a “Famous” Accusation ? . . . . . .
27
Alice Clinch
Epiphanic Encounters at Eleusis: Incandescent and Ephemeral Forms of Epiphany . . . . . . . .
39
Eleni Fassa
A Eumolpid in the Hellenistic oecoumene: The Case of Timotheus, the
Eleusinian exegetes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
51
II. Other Gods and Heroes
Menelaos Christopoulos
Dionysus’ Katabasis and the Mysteries of Lerna . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
67
George W. M. Harrison
Rome’s Embrace of Heracles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
75
Ronald Blankenborg
‘I will Pray to You as a God’: Menelaus’ Previewed Deification in the Odyssey . . . . . . . . . . . . .
89
Chiara Di Serio
Julian and the Statue of the Mother of the Gods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Andrea Sánchez i Bernet
Ares’ Chthonic Connections in Classical Attic Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Elo-Mall Toomet
Mysteries of the Argive Plain – Mysteries of the Argive polis ? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
III. Ritual and Initiation
Olga Levaniouk
Mystery Cows: Bovine Subplots in Initiation Narratives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Philip R. Bosman
Julian the Sacrificer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Marios Koutsoukos
Visions of the Mithras Liturgy: The Role of Self-Initiation in Theurgic Ritual . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Alessandra Giannuzzi
Μονοκρήπιδες: The Symbol of the Barefoot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Jordi Redondo
Literature, Ritual, Myth, and Gender Change: Mysticity and Mysticality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
5
Table of Contents
IV. Poetry and Philosophy
Richard Seaford †
Parmenidean Metaphysics and Mystic Initiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
Natasha Bershadsky
Odysseus Running: Looms, Mirth, Dung, and Divine Presence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Giuseppe Zanetto
“Liturgical Eros”: Sacred Space as a Space for Love . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
Smaro Nikolaidou-Arampatzi
Paizein in Hades: Afterlife Bliss as a Playful and Innocent Condition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
Efthymia Kafritsa
Ἔρως as Mystic Initiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
V. Mysteries and Theater
Vasiliki Kousoulini
Dionysian Choreia as a Multisensory Experience in Ancient Greek Theater and
Ancient Greek Literary Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
Athina Papachrysostomou
Blissful Afterlife and para prosdokian in Middle Comedy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
Index of ancient names of persons and locations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
6
Prologue
This volume contains twenty-two studies focusing on a variety of topics related to mysteries, initiation rituals, and mystic cults in the ancient Greek and Roman worlds. Much of this material
was presented during an International Conference organized by the Centre for the Study of Myth
and Religion in Greek and Roman Antiquity at the University of Patras in 2022.
The Centre for the Study of Myth and Religion in Greek and Roman Antiquity (http://mythandreligion.upatras.gr/) was founded in 2004 at the Department of Philology of the University of Patras by Professor Menelaos Christopoulos. Its main purpose was “to host an ongoing academic
dialogue responsive to international scientific approaches and emerging research data, continually
stimulated by new academic research”. To serve this priority the Centre organizes, amongst other
activities, international conferences focusing on issues which either have not received the due attention in relevant scholarship or are of permanent interest within the field of ancient myth and
religion. Seven conferences have been organized so far (the Proceedings of these conferences have
already been published):
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Light and Darkness in Ancient Greek and Roman Mythology and Religion (Patras 2007)
The Greek Epic Cycle (co-organized with CHS-Harvard, Ancient Olympia 2010)
Time and Space in Greek Myth and Religion (Patras 2015)
Greek Satyr Play: Reconstructing a Dramatic Genre from its Remnants (Patras 2016)
Mythical History and Historical Myth: Blurred Boundaries in Antiquity (Patras 2019)
Mysteries, Mysticism, Cults, and Cultism in Antiquity (Patras 2022)
International Conference in Honour of Professor Menelaos Christopoulos (Patras 2023)
The present volume, under the title Unveiling the Hidden Face of Antiquity: Mysteries and Cryptic
Cults, hosts many (peer-reviewed) papers originally presented, as mentioned, at the Mysteries
Conference (2022), along with some additional (peer-reviewed) papers providing a fuller survey
of the book’s theme.
By definition, this subject can only be covered through interdisciplinary research involving
philological, archaeological, historical, anthropological, and philosophical approaches. To better
display this rich material, the twenty-two chapters of the volume have been classified under five
thematic parts:
•
Eleusinian Mysteries
•
Other Gods and Heroes
•
Ritual and Initiation
•
Poetry and Philosophy
•
Mysteries and Theater
Part I (Eleusinian Mysteries) was de jure expected to have a place in a volume thematically oriented towards mysteries and cryptic cults.
In this Part, Marion Meyer (“What Can Images Tell Us about the Athenians’ View of the
Founder(s) of the Eleusinian Mysteries ?”) studies three rare fifth-century images of Eumolpos
(= the eponymous hero of the genos who provided the hierophant) and of Keleos (= the king of
the Eleusinians who hosted Demeter) which, together with Euripides’ Erechtheus, are the earliest
evidence for the genealogy of the Mysteries’ mythical founder.
7
Prologue
Mattia De Poli (“Aeschylus and the Eleusinian Mysteries: Further Sources for a “Famous” Accusation ?”) studies the sources related to Aeschylus’ accusation of impiety with regard to the Eleusinian Mysteries, adding new evidence and connecting these accusations to Aeschylus’ travels to
Sicily towards the end of his life.
Alice Clinch (“Epiphanic Encounters at Eleusis: Incandescent and Ephemeral Forms of Epiphany”) deals with Demeter’s epiphanies in Eleusis and, in particular, with non-anthropomorphic epiphanies, focusing mainly on revelations of the goddess experienced through fragrance
and light.
Eleni Fassa (“A Eumolpid in the Hellenistic oecoumene: The Case of Timotheus, the Eleusinian exēgētēs”) closes Part 1 suggesting that, in the Hellenistic period, mystic experience could
eventually be accessible even far from Eleusis as presumed by the activity of the Eumolpid Timotheus who performed his hierophantic skills outside Eleusis and, in particular, in Ptolemaic
Alexandria.
Part II (Other Gods and Heroes) deals with rituals and cults related to gods – and heroes –
other than Demeter and Persephone.
This Part opens with Menelaos Christopoulos (“Dionysus’ Katabasis and the Mysteries of
Lerna”), who studies a highly indecent narrative concerning Dionysus’ descent to the Underworld through the lake Alkyonia of Lerna, his encounter with Prosymnos, and the mystic cults
performed on this occasion including a possible ritual re-enactment of that narrative.
George W. M. Harrison (“Rome’s Embrace of Heracles”) studies the reception of Heracles
in Rome and the two main concepts defining his heroic identity. During the Republic Heracles
appears as “soterios”, (Hercules custos), a hero performing beneficial deeds. During the Empire
this concept remains vigorous but a second Heracles emerges, a more “private”, sympotic Heracles, whose labors are paired with excess of power and outsized appetites.
Ronald Blankenborg (“‘I will Pray to You as a God’: Menelaus’ Previewed Deification in
the Odyssey”) focuses on Menelaus’ deification announced by Proteus in Odyssey 4 (in which he
spots an aspect of mysticism) and associates this narrative with the worship of Menelaus and Helen in Sparta.
Chiara Di Serio (“Julian and the Statue of the Mother of the Gods”) analyzes the journey
of the statue of the Mother of the Gods from Phrygia to Rome and the display of the statue’s divine powers as narrated in Julian’s Hymn to the Mother of the Gods and elucidates the Greco-Roman ideas concerning the relationship between the gods and their statues.
Andrea Sánchez i Bernet (“Ares’ Chthonic Connections in Classical Attic Sources”) examines the chthonic elements of Ares’ cult in Attica. Although his relation to war is dominant, the
author detects some further characteristics related to frenzy and madness which may unexpectedly suggest a comparison with Dionysus.
Elo-Mall Toomet (“Mysteries of the Argive Plain – Mysteries of the Argive polis ?”) closes
the second Part by studying the cults of Dionysus, Demeter, and Hera in the Argive plain and exploring the incorporation of specific mythical narratives and cults into the official religion of the
city of Argos.
Part III (Ritual and Initiation) features papers associated with initiation rites.
Olga Levaniouk (“Mystery Cows: Bovine Subplots in Initiation Narratives”) opens this
Part with a chapter focusing on the phraseology, imagery, and symbolism generally associated
with cows in narratives on Greek mysteries, whilst exploring, in particular, the specific significance attributed to bulls, cows, and calves.
8
Prologue
Philip R. Bosman (“Julian the Sacrificer”) questions the story about Julian’s sacrificial practices,
an odd story indeed since blood sacrifice was rather in decline in late antiquity. Julian’s practice
may be linked to his theurgic persuasion (being one of Iamblichus’ disciples), his initiation into
the Metroac mysteries and, finally, to the role he assigned to himself as emperor-priest.
Marios Koutsoukos (“Visions of the Mithras Liturgy: The Role of Self-Initiation in Theurgic Ritual”) studies one of the most detailed descriptions of epiphanic experience we possess
from Late Antiquity ( the ‘Mithras Liturgy’ found in the corpus of the Greek Magical Papyri) and
tries to discover parallels between self-initiatory magical texts and Neoplatonic theurgy.
Alessandra Giannuzzi (“Μονοκρήπιδες: The Symbol of the Barefoot”) studies the case of
μονοκρήπιδες (persons wearing only one shoe) classifying them into three categories: 1) people
who are about to be initiated 2) soldiers of primitive armies 3) people involved in a religious rite.
She cites mythical examples for these categories and further questions the relationship between
wearing one shoe and lameness.
Jordi Redondo (“Literature, Ritual, Myth, and Gender Change: Mysticity and Mysticality”) studies literary evidence on cult and ritual concerning in particular gender change; he investigates Indo-european antecedents and explores the way hermaphroditism, transvestism, and
bisexuality are perceived in the ancient Greek world.
Part IV (Poetry and Philosophy) deals with literary genres associated par excellence with mysteries and cryptic cults.
Richard Seaford (“Parmenidean Metaphysics and Mystic Initiation”) studies Parmenides’
thought starting from the assumption that Parmenides presents his ideas as if revealed in mystic
initiation; further on, he explores the influence of mystic doctrine on the content of Parmenides’
thought, and in particular the unity of the cosmos and the unity of subject with object.
Natasha Bershadsky (“Odysseus Running: Looms, Mirth, Dung, and Divine Presence”) examines the images on a skyphos from the Theban Kabiric sanctuary, which portray Odysseus
with Circe on one side, and Odysseus running over the waves on the other, in combination with
a scene of a footrace between Odysseus and Ajax from Iliad 23, featuring a simile of a weaving
woman. She argues that in both cases the seemingly comical scenes contain references to the cultic subtext, respectively the banquets for the Kabiri in the case of the skyphos, and the Panathenaic festival in the Iliad scene.
Giuseppe Zanetto (“Liturgical Eros: Sacred Space as a Space for Love”) studies religious festivals as a frequent topos where a girl and a boy meet for the first time and fall in love, and cites
characteristic examples from Callimachus, Xenophon of Ephesus, and Chariton; he argues that,
although this motif is mainly found in Hellenistic poetry and Greek novel, it can be considered
as a variation of the Archaic oarismós already encountered in the Iliad.
Smaro Nikolaidou-Arampatzi (“Paizein in Hades: Afterlife Bliss as a Playful and Innocent
Condition”) argues that paizein depictions of the Underworld illustrate afterlife bliss as an innocent and playful condition, which can be considered as an eschatological version of immortality;
she brings forward relevant examples from Pindar, Aristophanes, Plato, and Heraclitus indicating
their subtle convergence and divergence.
Efthymia Kafritsa (“Ἔρως as Mystic Initiation”) closes Part IV studying the representation
of ἔρως as mystic initiation in Plato’s Symposium and Phaedrus, whilst searching for similar concepts in earlier texts (i. e. Aeschylus and Sophocles). She also stresses the similarity of structure
that underlies the connection between erotic and mystic initiation.
9
Prologue
Part V (Mysteries and Theater) explores the relation between mysteries and theater focusing, in
particular, on Dionysian choreia and Greek Comedy.
Vasiliki Kousoulini (“Dionysian Choreia as a Multisensory Experience in Ancient Greek
Theater and Ancient Greek Literary Theory”) studies the performative forms in the dramatic appearances of Dionysian choreia in ancient Greek theater and examines their ‘reception’ by ancient
Greek literary criticism, thereby displaying the interaction between ritual forms and aesthetic
forms within the theatrical performance.
Athina Papachrysostomou (“Blissful Afterlife and para prosdokian in Middle Comedy”) explores the way comic poets tried to exploit the mysteries without openly parodying them. To that
end, she studies two representative comic fragments from Middle Comedy, where the playwrights satirize the belief about blissful afterlife through the ‘technique of disguise’, with no direct reference to the mysteries themselves.
On the ground of the above mentioned studies, the editors hope that this volume provides a reliable, well documented, and multidimensional survey of the main questions pertaining to mysteries and cryptic cults in Greek and Roman antiquity.
Our deepest thanks are addressed to the Department of Philology of the University of
Patras for generously covering part of the expenses for the publication of this volume.
Patras and Vienna, September 2023
Menelaos Christopoulos
Marion Meyer
Athina Papachrysostomou
On December 6, 2023, our colleague and friend Richard Seaford passed away. We will greatly
miss him and always remember him with admiration. Gratefully, we dedicate this volume to his
memory.
10
Chiara Di Serio
Julian and the Statue of the Mother of the Gods
Abstract
This paper focuses on the analysis of Julian’s passage in the Hymn to the Mother of the
Gods regarding the journey of the statue of the goddess from Phrygia to Rome, following
which her cult was first introduced to the city. Julian’s narrative provides us with fundamental elements for understanding the function of the cult statue of the Mother of the
gods (Μήτηρ θεῶν). Julian recounts that the goddess showed the Romans that her statue
was not an inanimate simulacrum, but indeed had divine power (Or. 8.160 a): since the
ship carrying the statue of the goddess stopped at the mouth of the Tiber, only the young
Claudia would be able to make it move and continue its journey upstream, after having
girded the prow of the ship and invoked the goddess (Or. 8.160 b–d). Through these
events, according to Julian, the goddess proved that no citizen could hide from her eyes
(Or. 8.161 a). Julian’s account becomes clearer through comparison with other versions of
the same episode. The aim of this study, therefore, is to clarify the elements of the story
that highlight the Greco-Roman ideas concerning the relationship between the gods and
their statues, and the cult actions performed by the worshippers.
Key words: Emperor Julian, Mother of the Gods, cult statue, divine power, cult actions
At the beginning of the Hymn to the Mother of the Gods (8.159 c –161 b)1 Julian dwells on the origins of the cult dedicated to the goddess.2 According to this account, the Romans, having listened to the Pythian god, transferred her statue from Phrygia to Rome, to gain her favor in the
war against the Carthaginians.3 Julian provides several details on this episode. The Romans asked
the kings of Pergamon and the Phrygians for the statue. Once they had received it, they boarded
it on a ship and sailed to the mouth of the Tiber. The people of Rome, the senate, the priests
and priestesses gathered to welcome the ship. As it approached, all prostrated themselves. Then –
according to Julian’s words – the goddess wanted to prove that her simulacrum had supernatural
powers. Therefore, when the ship touched the waters of the Tiber, the goddess suddenly stopped
it in its tracks. The Roman citizens tried to pull the ship upstream, but it would not move. Then
they tried to push it, but without success. At that point, a terrible suspicion arose in them that
the virgin Claudia, consecrated to the priesthood of the goddess, had not remained pure, and
that this sin must have angered the goddess. At first the maiden felt ashamed. Then she decided
to act: she took off her girdle, wrapped it around the prow of the ship, ordered everyone to step
aside and begged the goddess not to be unjustly defamed. Thus she succeeded in moving the
ship: indeed, she even moved it upstream.
These, in brief, are the events recounted in Julian’s narration. Soon after, he adds a series
of observations on the interpretation of these events. Apart from the reconstruction of the historical context of the introduction of the cult of the Mother of the Gods (Magna Mater) in Rome –
1 The numbering of Julian’s orations follows the edition of Rochefort 1963.
2 On the cult of the Mother of the Gods, see Cumont
1906; Graillot 1912; Vermaseren 1977; Sfameni Gasparro
1985; Borgeaud 1996; Alvar 2008, 282 –293.
3 Historians date the episode to the Second Punic
War, specifically to 204 BCE; cf. below n. 13.
101