Description
Book SynopsisThe Roman Mithras Cult: A Cognitive Approach is the first full cognitive history of an ancient religion. In this groundbreaking book on one of the most intriguing and mysterious ancient religions, Roger Beck and Olympia Panagiotidou show how cognitive historiography can supplement our historical knowledge and deepen our understanding of past cultural phenomenon. The cult of the sun god Mithras, which spread widely across the Greco-Roman world at the same time as other ''mystery cults'' and Christianity, offered to its devotees certain images and assumptions about reality. Initiation into the mysteries of Mithras and participation in the life of the cult significantly affected and transformed the ways in which the initiated perceived themselves, the world, and their position within it. The cult''s major ideas were conveyed mainly through its major symbolic complexes. The ancient written testimonies and other records are not adequate to establish a definitive reconstruction of Mit
Table of ContentsIntroduction
Part 1: The World View of Mithraism 1.The World View of the Mithras Cult 2.The Self in the Cult of Mithras 3.Perception of Space and Time in the Cult of Mithras
Part 2: Symbolic Thought, Iconography, and Mithraic Religiosity 4.The Scene of the Tauroctony as Symbol System 5.Mithraic Religiosity Conclusion Bibliography Index
