Mithras Liturgy

The Mithras Liturgy is the name given to one of the texts found in one of the Greek Magical Papyri, the so-called "Great Magical Book",[1] numbered PGM IV, on lines 475-834.[2] and was given the title "Mithras Liturgy" by its first translator, Albrecht Dieterich,[3] because one of the deities invoked is Helios Mithras (Ἥλιοϲ Μίθραϲ),[4] but the text is generally now considered as syncretistic, and with no connection to Mithraism.[5][6]

The codex containing the text (Paris Bibliothèque Nationale Suppl. gr. 574) was acquired by the French National library in 1857 and has been dated to the early fourth century AD. The first editor, Albrecht Dieterich, proposed that the text may originally have been composed as early as 100–150 AD.[7]

Contents

The text and the cult of Mithras

The text is syncretistic. The name "the Mithras liturgy" was given to it by Dieterich, who dedicated the edition to Franz Cumont. But Cumont could not see the text as being Mithraic in origin, and the book itself was written by a native Egyptian priest based in Thebes. Gee believes that its origins should be sought in this context, while Hans Dieter Betz thinks rather of a wandering philosophical origin.[8]

Classicist Johan C. Thom notes that opinions regarding the context of the text differ, for example, Mithraism or another mystery cult, ancient magic, the Egyptian cult regarding the dead, or theurgy.[9] Mithraic scholars such as Cumont, Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, Martin P. Nilsson, and Walter Burkert do not identify the text as a Mithraic liturgy.[10] Cumont argued that the text lacked Mithraic eschatology, the Mithraic doctrine of the passage of the soul through the seven planetary spheres, and Mithras as a guide in the ascension.[11]

Betz believes that the Mithras Liturgy is a product at the meeting-point of Greek, Egyptian, and Mithraic traditions, finally identifying the central 'ascent' section as a product of early Hermeticism,[12] a view endorsed by Richard Gordon.[13]

Marvin Meyer is certain that the text has connections to Mithraism and believes that it "contributes a great deal to the study of magic, miracle, and ritual in religions in antiquity and late antiquity, including Christianity, and the stories of miracles attributed to Jesus and others may profitably be studied with texts like the Mithras Liturgy at hand."[14]

Other texts in PGM IV

Lines 1-25 are a spell calling on Egyptian and Jewish powers in order to obtain information. Lines 1127-64 are a spell for exorcising a demon, using Coptic words of Christian origin, with instructions for preparing an amulet. Lines 1716-1870 are headed "Sword of Dardanos" and is a love spell.

References

  1. ^ K. Preisendanz, vol. 1, vii: "Das Große Zauberbuch der Bibliotheque Nationale Paris, Suppl. grec. 574, ein Sammelwerk von 3274 Zeilen auf 18 Doppelblättern, von der Kaiserl. Bibliothek 1857 aus der Collection Anastasi erworben..."
  2. ^ See the Greek text with German translation in Albrecht Dieterich, Eine Mithrasliturgie, 2nd edition, pp 1-2
  3. ^ Albrecht Dieterich, Eine Mithrasliturgie, Leipzig: Teubner, 2nd enlarged edn. 1910
  4. ^ Meyer, Marvin (2006). "The Mithras Liturgy". In A.J. Levine, Dale C. Allison, Jr., and John Dominic Crossan. The historical Jesus in context. New Jersey: Princeton University Press. pp. 180. ISBN 0-691-00991-0. . The reference is on line 482.
  5. ^ The "Mithras Liturgy":Text, Translation and Commentary (Tubingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2003)
  6. ^ Richard Gordon, "Probably Not Mithras", The Classical Review Vol. 55, No. 1 (March 2005) pp. 99-100.
  7. ^ Meyer, Marvin (2006). "The Mithras Liturgy". In A.J. Levine, Dale C. Allison, Jr., and John Dominic Crossan. The historical Jesus in context. New Jersey: Princeton University Press. pp. 182. ISBN 0-691-00991-0. http://books.google.com/books?id=wMbEyeDSQQgC&printsec=frontcover&rview=1#v=onepage&q&f=false. Retrieved 2011-01-20. 
  8. ^ John Gee, review of Hans Dieter Betz, The "Mithras Liturgy": Text, Translation and Commentary, in Review of Biblical Literature (2005).
  9. ^ Johan Thom, review of Hans Dieter Betz, The "Mithras Liturgy": Text, Translation and Commentary, in Review of Biblical Literature (2006).
  10. ^ The "Mithras Liturgy":Text, Translation and Commentary (Tubingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2003). p.15
  11. ^ The "Mithras Liturgy":Text, Translation and Commentary (Tubingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2003). p.12
  12. ^ The "Mithras Liturgy":Text, Translation and Commentary (Tubingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2003)
  13. ^ Richard Gordon, "Probably Not Mithras", The Classical Review Vol. 55, No. 1 (March 2005) pp. 99-100.
  14. ^ Meyer, Marvin (2006). "The Mithras Liturgy". In A.J. Levine, Dale C. Allison, Jr., and John Dominic Crossan. The historical Jesus in context. New Jersey: Princeton University Press. pp. 182. ISBN 0-691-00991-0. 

External links