The Religion of the Mithray Cult in the Roman Empire

Zusatztext not only compulsory reading for any scholar or student working on Mithraism, but ought to be taken full account of also by anyone with an interest in the study of ancient religion in general ... the persistent reader will be rewarded with the rich experience of having his or her thoughts continuously provoked by a great historian of ancient religion in the course of his attempts to make sense of the fascinating phenomena that were the Mithraic mysteries. Informationen zum Autor Roger Beck is Professor Emeritus, at the University of Toronto. Klappentext This volume is 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 of anthropology of religion and the new cognitive science of religion to explore in detail the semiotics of the Mysteries' astral symbolism! which has been the principal subject of his many previous publications on the cult. Zusammenfassung 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. Inhaltsverzeichnis 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. 1. Introduction and comparisons 6: Cognition and representation 7: The Mithraic mysteries as symbol system. 2. The mithraeum 8: Star-talk: the symbols of the Mithraic mysteries as language signs 9: The Mithraic mysteries as symbol system. 3. The tauroctony 10: Excursus ...

Product details

• Authors: Roger Beck, Beck Roger
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 08.03.2007
• EAN: 9780199216130
• ISBN: 978-0-19-921613-0
• No. of pages: 302
• Dimensions: 155 mm x 235 mm x 18 mm
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > Regional and national histories; Non-fiction book; European History, SCIENCE / History, HISTORY / Ancient / General, HISTORY / Europe / General, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sociology of Religion, RELIGION / Antiquities & Archaeology, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Archaeology, RELIGION / Ancient, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Anthropology / Cultural & Social, Social & cultural anthropology, ethnography, History of Science, Ancient World, Social and cultural anthropology, Ancient History, Archaeology by period / region, Ancient history: to c 500 CE, Ancient religions & mythologies, Classical Greek & Roman archaeology, Ancient religions and Mythologies