The religion of the Mithras cult in the Roman Empire : mysteries of the unconquered sun / Roger Beck.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Beck, Roger, 1937-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Mithraism.

Rome--Religion.

Rome.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (302 p.)

Place of Publication:

Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2006.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

A study of the religious system of Mithraism, one of the 'mystery cults' popular in the Roman Empire contemporary with early Christianity. Mithraism is described from the point of view of the initiate engaging with its rich repertoire of symbols and practices. - ;A study of the religious system of Mithraism, one of the 'mystery cults' popular in the Roman Empire contemporary with early Christianity. Roger Beck describes Mithraism from the point of view of the initiate engaging with the religion and its rich symbolic system in thought, word, ritual action, and cult life. He employs the methods

Contents:

Contents; List of Figures; Abbreviations; 1. Introduction to Interpreting the Mysteries: Old Ways, New Ways; 2. Old Ways: The Reconstruction of Mithraic Doctrine from Iconography; 3. The Problem of Referents: Interpretation with Reference to What?; 4. Doctrine Redefined; Transition: from old ways to new ways; 5. The Mithraic Mysteries as Symbol System: I. Introduction and Comparisons; 6. Cognition and Representation; 7. The Mithraic Mysteries as Symbol System: II. The Mithraeum; 8. Star-Talk: The Symbols of the Mithraic Mysteries as Language Signs

9. The Mithraic Mysteries as Symbol System: III. The Tauroctony10. Excursus: the esoteric quartering, a lost helicoidal model of lunar motion, and the origin of the 'winds' and 'steps' of the Moon. The identity of 'Antiochus the Athenian'; Conclusions: a new basis for interpreting the mysteries; References; Index of Mithraic Monuments; Index of Ancient Authors; General Index;

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [261]-271) and indexes.

ISBN:

1-280-75330-7

0-19-151823-9

1-4294-2119-3

OCLC:

476257645