Zeus and the other gods of shining Olympus were in reality divine only by popular consent. Over the course of time Olympian luster diminished in favor of religious experiences more immediate to the concerns of people living in an increasingly cosmopolitan ancient world. These experiences were provided by the mysteries, religions that flourished particularly during the Hellenistic period and were secretly practiced by groups of adherents who decided, through personal choice, to be initiated into the profound realities of one deity or another. Unlike the official state religions, in which people were expected to make an outward show of allegiance to the local gods, the mysteries emphasized an inwardness and privacy of worship within a closed band of initiates. In this book, Marvin W. Meyer explores the sacrifices and prayers, the public celebrations and secret ceremonies, the theatrical performances and literary works, the gods and goddesses that were a part of the mystery religions of Greece in the seventh century B.C. to the Judaism and Christianity of the Roman world of the seventh century A.D.
Marvin W. Meyer is Professor of Religious Studies at Chapman University. He has written and edited numerous books, including The Unknown Sayings of Jesus and Ancient Magic and Ritual Power. He is a research project director at the Institute for Antiquity and Christianity, Claremont Graduate School, and codirector of the Albert Schweitzer Institute.
Preface 1. Introduction 2. The Greek Mysteries of the Grain Mother and Daughter, and Related Mysteries Homeric Hymn to Demeter Herodotus, History, Book 8 (selection) Aristophanes, The Frogs (selection) Plutarch of Chaeronea, Progress in Virtue (selection) Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Book 5 (selection) Herodotus, History, Book 2 (selection) Lucian of Samosata, Alexander the False Prophet (selection) 3. The Andanian Mysteries of Messenia Pausanias, Description of Greece, Book 4 (selection) Rule of the Andanian Mysteries 4. The Greek Mysteries of Dionysos Euripides, The Bacchae (selections) Livy, History of Rome, Book 39 (selection) Achilles Tatius, The Adventures of Leucippe and Clitophon, Book 2 (selection) Pausanias, Description of Greece, Book 6 (selection) Rule of the Iobacchoi Plato, Republic, Book 2 (selection) Orphic Lamella from Thessaly Orphic Hymns 5. The Anatolian Mysteries of the Great Mother and Her Lover, and the Syrian Goddess Arnobius of Sicca, The Case Against the Pagans, Book 5 (selections) Livy, History of Rome, Book 29 (selection) Catullus, Poem 63 Prudentius, On the Martyrs' Crowns (selection) Lucian of Samosata (?), The Syrian Goddess (selections) Apuleius of Madauros, The Golden Ass, Book 8 (selection) Hippolytus of Rome, Refutation of All Heresies (selections) 6. The Egyptian Mysteries of Isis and Osiris Plutarch of Chaeronea, On Isis and Osiris (selections) Isis Aretalogy from Cyme Isis Love Spell from the Great Magical Papyrus of Paris (selection) Apuleius of Madauros, The Golden Ass, Book Flavius Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, Book 18(selection) 7. The Roman Mysteries of Mithras Lucian of Samosata, Menippus (selection) Plutarch of Chaeronea, Life of Pompey (selection) Mithraic Inscriptions of Santa Prisca Firmicus Maternus, The Error of the Pagan Religions (selections) Origen, Against Celsus (selection) Porphyry, On the Cave of the Nymphs (selection) The Mithras Liturgy 8. The Mysteries within Judaism and Christianity Plutarch of Chaeronea, Table-Talk, Book 4 (selection) Philo of Alexandria, On the Contemplative Life (selection) Clement of Alexandria, "To Theodore" Gospel of Philip (selections) Clement of Alexandria, Exhortation to the Greeks (selections) Glossary Acknowledgments
"The ancient mysteries have remained all too mysterious because of the lack of ready access to them... Now we have in one volume a fine collection of the sources that have survived... This will be for many students the lifting of the veil for which they have been looking."--James Robinson, Institute of Antiquity and Christianity, The Claremont Graduate School "The Ancient Mysteries contains a very balanced selection of sources for the study of the ancient so-called mystery religions, starting with Eleusis and ending with mysteries in Judaism and Christianity... No other modern sourcebook exists in this field. Therefore this book fills a gap not only in the area of late antiquity and early Christianity, but also in the field of history of religions in general." --Kurt Rudolph, Philipps-Universitat Marburg, Germany "Unlike most books on 'ancient mysteries,' this one is based on careful reading of the original texts in their original languages. It is a competent, intelligent, and sympathetic study of which the original conclusions deserve careful consideration."--Morton Smith, author of Jesus the Magician and The Secret Gospel
