Mithra (deity)

• From the Sanskrit mitra came Maitreya , the name of a bodhisattva in Buddhism .
• In Hellenistic Asia Minor , the Avestan deity united with various local and Greek gods, which led to several incarnations of Apollo-Helios-Mithra-Hermes-Steelbon.
• Through Greek and Anatolian mediation, the Avestan theonym gave birth to a Roman deity under the name Mithras, the main figure of the Roman mysteries of the first century, who became known as Mithraism .
• In the Middle Persian, the Avestan theonym developed (among other Central Iranian forms) into the Sogdian Misha , the Middle Persian and Parthian Mihr, and the Bactrian Miuro .

A great discussion was caused by the mention by Herodotus of Mithra as a female deity, which does not have a clear explanation. He writes: “... from the Assyrians and Arabs, the Persians learned to honor Urania (the Assyrians call Aphrodite Militta, the Arabs call Alilat , and the Persians call Mitra) ” ^[1] . Strabo corrects his data, indicating that the Persians call the Mithra of Helios, that is, the sun ^[2] . Militta is Mulissu, the wife of Ashur ^[3] .

All hypotheses, including the witty explanations of the reservations of the translator Herodotus, de Jong characterizes as dubious ^[4] . It was also assumed that Herodotus proceeded from identification with the planet Venus. Most often, it is believed that Anahita should be identified with Aphrodite ^[5] .

E. A. Grantovsky, following V.V. Struve, sees in the message an indication of the androgynous essence of Mithra ^[6] . The hypothesis about the female nature of Mitra can be confirmed by the finding of the goddess Mioro on Kushan coins ^[4] .

In the work of Xenophon " Domostroy " Mithra swears by Cyrus the Younger ^[7] , as well as Persian Artabaz ^[8] . According to Curtius, Darius III before the battle of Gaugamela invoked the Sun, Mithra and the sacred fire ^[9] . In the transmission of Plutarch, Darius swears by the " great light of Mithras " ^[10] . The Armenian king Tiridat, referring to Nero, mentioned that he worshiped Mithra ^[11] .

In the inscription from Xanthos Apollo is called xšaθrapati (Mitra), as well as Sarapis ^[12] . In the pseudo-Clementines, Miter is also identified with Apollo ^[13] .

According to Plutarch, Mithra is in the middle between Ormazd and Ahriman , and therefore he is called an intermediary ^[14] . De Jong offers an original translation of this place: "That's why the Persians call the mediator Mitra", referring to the Pahlavi migāncīg ("mediator") - the epithet of Mitra ^[15] . The same mediation function with Druj in yachts is attributed to Sraosh ^[16] . According to Benveniste, it originally belonged to Miter ^[17] . In Parthian and Sogdian texts, the Third Envoy of the Manichaean religion also bears the name of Mithras ^[18] .

The Armenian author Yeznik Kolbsky gives this story: Areman invited Ormazd to a holiday, Ormazd refused until their sons fought. The son of Areman defeated, the spirits searched for a mediator and could not find, and then created the Sun to judge them ^[19] .

The Roman emperor Julian the Apostate , referring to the hypotheses of the Mysteries, mentions the opinion that Helios moves in the region above the motionless stars, in the middle between the three worlds ^[20] , and the middle of the Sun in Julian dates back to the Persian doctrine, as well as the opinion of its astronomical position ^[21] , although it uses the Aristotelian term " mesothetes " ^[22] .

Dionysius the Areopagite , talking about the day of the stop of the sun mentioned in the Bible under the king of Judea Hezekiah , refers to the Persian sacred stories and celebrations that magicians make the triple Miter ^[23] .

Lucian mentions the golden statue of Mithras ^[24] , and Nonnus notes the veneration of Mithras in Bactria ^[25] and Babylon ^[26] .

Pseudo-Plutarch 's famous work On Rivers, known for its hoaxes, tells the story of how Mithra, wanting to have a son, but hating women, copulated with the rock that gave birth to Diorf’s son, and when he grew up, he was killed by Ares and turned into a mountain , on which an unusual tree grew ^[27] . De Jong leads a series of parallels to the plot: the Hittite Song of Ullikummi, Armilla from Jewish folklore, the story of Agdistis, the epic of the Narts and the story of Amirani, and believes that the mention may reflect the existing motive ^[28] .

In the last centuries BC. e. a special religion arose with the cult of Mithras - Mithraism , which became widespread in the Hellenistic world, from the 1st century AD e. - in Rome , from the II century - throughout the Roman Empire; Especially popular in the border provinces, where there were Roman legions, whose soldiers were the main adherents of the cult of Mithras, who was considered a god bringing victory; the remains of numerous sanctuaries- Mitreums near the Roman camp sites. A significant role in the spread of Mithraism was played by the social lower classes, which he attracted by proclaiming equality among the initiates in it and promising a blissful life after death.

According to Plutarch , the spread of the mysteries of Mithras throughout the Mediterranean is associated with the activity of Cilician pirates in the 60s BC. e., who performed them initially in the Lycian city of Olympus ^[29] .

In the mysteries and inscriptions, Miter is associated with the Orphic deity Phaneth ^[30] . Mircea Eliade believes that the legendary details of the biography of Mithridates VI Eupator (and partly also Cyrus the Great) reflect the ideas of Mithraism ^[31] .

During the Mysteries, it is said that Mithra was born of stone, and the place of the Mysteries is called a cave ^[32] . Justin the Philosopher points out that the devil told the priests of Mithras this name, for Christ was born in a cave ^[33] . According to Statius , Achaemenians call Apollo Titan, and in the cave of Perseus he is called Mitro, bending horns ^[34] .

Porfiry , referring to a certain Evbula ^[35] , notes that the cave in the mountains, blooming and rich in springs, was first dedicated to Miter by Zoroaster , and this cave is an image of the cosmos created by Mitra, and the one inside was a symbol of cosmic elements and cardinal points ^[36] (similarly, according to Porfiry, the cosmos was compared with the cave of the Pythagoreans and Plato ). Mithra wears the sword of Aries (the sign of Ares) and rides on the bull of Aphrodite ^[37] .

Christian author Justin the Philosopher called the offer of bread and a bowl of water entering into the sacraments of Mithras an imitation of evil demons to Christianity ^[38] . The use of honey in them is noted by Porfiry ^[39] . The degrees of initiation in the mystery of Mithra are known from the inscriptions and letters of Jerome ^[40] .. During initiation into the sacraments of Mithra, tortures and trials through fire were carried out ^[41]

According to Tertullian , in these sacraments the offering of bread was performed and the image of the resurrection was presented ^[42] . Celsus says that the mysteries give symbols of the movement of stars and planets in the sky and the passage of souls through them, and the seven-staircase (the seven gates are connected with seven metals and seven deities) serves as a symbol, and claims that Christians borrowed a lot from this teaching (under Christians he primarily understands the Ophite sect) ^[43] . Claudian Miter is called the rotating star ^[44] , and the emperor Julian the Apostate mentions the secret Chaldean doctrine of the seven-year ^[45] .

Since the end of the 2nd century Roman emperors (especially Aurelian and Diocletian ) patronized the cult of Mithras. In the II-IV centuries. Mithraism was one of the main rivals of Christianity.

Julian speaks of venerating Mithra and celebrating the games in honor of the Sun once every 4 years ^[46] . In 303, the wizard Theotokles, hiding in a cave, made a prophecy of the Gallery , provoking persecution of Christians ^[47] .

According to historians Augustus , the emperor Commodus tarnished the sacred actions of Mithras by killing a person, although usually the terrible is only spoken or portrayed in them ^[48] .

Georgy of Alexandria ordered the cleansing of the cave of Mitra, which Constantius II handed over to the Alexandrian church in 362, and there were many skulls (according to Christians, human beings) that were carried around the city at the direction of George of Alexandria as evidence of possible human sacrifices and fortunetelling there . Then unrest occurred in the city, and George and some other Christians were killed by the Gentiles ^[49] .

One of the common images on Mithraic bas-reliefs and murals is the tauroctonia (slaughter of the bull by Mitra), for example: The relief of Mitra . Mitra, turning his face away, plunges a knife into the victim’s side. When a bull dies, spewing a seed (and the phallus of a bull is bitten off by a scorpion), a grain that produces bread grows from its brain, and a vine grows from its blood. The acts of Mithra are contemplated by Kauto and Kautopath, dressed like him, holding torches in their hands. Although Mitra was identified with the Sun, in some images Sol and Mitra are shown in parallel: either Sol kneels before Mitra, or orders him to sacrifice the bull, or shake hands and eat meat of the bull, and they are served by servants in animal masks ^{[50 ]} .

There are also images of tests during initiation. The naked myst sits with a blindfold, and in front of him is a priest with a sword ^[51] . In the plots of the so-called “Mithraic embrace,” Miter in the form of a lion covers a bull (or other artiodactyl animal ), grabbing it with its front paws; on a fresco in the Capuan Mitreum, in place of a bull, a naked youth is depicted, which the mystagogue falls to the ground, hugging from behind, in which some authors see the homoerotic content of such a ritual, including the ritual castration of a neophyte and the pouring of seed into it ^[52] .

The Origin of Roman Mithraism

In 1971, the first international congress was held at the University of Manchester , at which researchers of Mithraism gathered. At this congress, many scholars questioned the Iranian origin of ancient Mithraism. R. Gordon and John Hinnels suggested that ancient Mithraism is a new cult that is not related to Iranian, and that the name of Mithra was borrowed by him to give authority and the spirit of antiquity ^[53] (the hypothesis of the non-Iranian origin of the cult was originally developed by S. Vikander in 1950 work).

As M. Dresden points out, the Iranian elements in the Mysteries are too significant to deny their origin, but the scenes of Mitra’s murder of a bull on reliefs cannot be completely reduced to describing the murder of a primitive Ahriman from Pahlavi writings ^[54] . According to M. Eliade , killing a bull should rather be compared with the eschatological sacrifice of a bull Hatayosh performed by Saoshiant, using the fat of which and white homa, a drink of immortality will be made that will be given to all people ^[55] . V. N. Toporov compares this motive with the participation of the Indian god Mithra in the murder of Soma ^[56] .

According to one version, Mithra was born of stone in a cave. Epiphanius of Cyprus , on the other hand , speaks of the birth of the god Aeon from the maiden goddess Kora, which was celebrated in Alexandria on January 6 (and Aeon could be identified with Phaneth and thus with Mithra) ^[57] .

• Mihr
• Mysteries of Mithras

• Mifra // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
• H. Oldenberg , Die Religion des Veda (Berlin, 1894, p. 185 et seq.);
• Hillebrandt:
  • "Varuna und Mitra";
  • Vedische Mythologie (I, 53-5).
• Jean Baptiste Lajar :
  • "Nouvelles observations sur le grand bas-relief mithriaque de la collection Borghesè" ( 1828 );
  • “Mémoires sur les deux bas-reliefs mithriaques, qui ont été découverts en Transylvanie” ( 1830 );
  • "Recherches sur le culte public et les mystères de Mithra en Orient et en Occident" ( 1847 ).
• http://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/problema-genezisa-iranskogo-mitraizma

• Miter (in Vedic mythology) // Mythological Dictionary
• Mithra, Mythra (in ancient Iranian mythology) // Mythological Dictionary
• Ivanov P.V.Soteriological aspects of Mithraism
• Amphitheatres A. V. “Christmas of the Invincible Sun”