Hellenistic Mystery Religions

Diversity of the Mysteries

...teachings of individual older sects still provide an important point of reference.⁷ For the rest, we are dependent on mere hints.

But we can compare them with one another and thereby bring them to life and into context—not only because all sorts of mutual influences original: Wechselwirkungen had already taken place, but even more so because at least the main religions now share a common fundamental trait. This trait stands in sharp contrast to the Greek spirit original: Griechentum of that time, which made God increasingly transcendent for the educated classes and moved Him further and further away from humanity.

Osiris, Attis, and Adonis These are "dying-and-rising" deities from Egypt, Phrygia, and Syria/Greece respectively, whose myths involve death and rebirth. were once human; they died and were resurrected as gods. According to a more recent view, the Iranian god "Man" This refers to the concept of the "Primal Man" (Gayomart) in Iranian and Gnostic traditions, a divine being who falls into the material world and must be rescued. experienced something similar: he descended into matter, sank there into a death-like sleep, but was awakened again and returned to his heavenly home. When we unite with these gods—whether we take them into ourselves or "put them on" like a garment—we gain the rock-solid certainty of our own immortality, even our own divinity.

However, the ancient national mysteries—which Herodotus A Greek historian from the 5th century BCE who described Egyptian religious customs. also testifies to for Egypt—consisted of dramatic representations of the god’s experiences. Since at least the early Hellenistic period, these included the goddess mourning, searching, and finally finding her lost beloved; the lament for the dead Adonis and the greeting of the resurrected one; and the central performances of the Attis faith.

All these sacred acts (whether ancient or newly introduced) seem to have become parts of an elaborately ordered worship service original: Gottesdienst in the Hellenistic cult. They were performed entirely, or at least partially, in public for the community. Whether we still wish to call them "mysteries" matters little, provided we distinguish them sharply from those purely personal mysteries which we can also identify alongside them in Egyptian, Phrygian, and Persian cults...