This is an article on Mithraism in comparative mythology and comparative theology. See Mithraic mysteries for the main article.
The Roman cult of Mithras had connections with other pagan deities, syncretism being a prominent feature of Roman paganism. Almost all Mithraea contain statues dedicated to gods of other cults, and it is common to find inscriptions dedicated to Mithras in other sanctuaries, especially those of Jupiter Dolichenus.Clauss, M., The Roman cult of Mithras, p.158. Mithraism was not an alternative to other pagan religions, but rather a particular way of practising pagan worship; and many Mithraic initiates can also be found worshipping in the civic religion, and as initiates of other mystery cults.
Comparisons with contemporary Roman gods
Phanes Orphic speculation influenced the cult of Mithras at times.Clauss, M., The Roman cult of Mithras, p. 70 In Orphic cosmogony, Phanes emerges from the world egg at the beginning of time, bringing the universe into existence.
There is some literary evidence of the syncretism of Mithras and Phanes. A list of the eight elements of creation appears in Zenobius and Theon of Smyrna; most of the elements are the same, but in Zenobius, the seventh element is "Mithras", in Theon it is "Phanes". Theon gives the same list but substitutes Phanes.See Albert de Jong, Traditions of the Magi: Zoroastrianism in Greek and Latin literature, p.309 on this; quoted on Pearse, Roger Zenobius on Mithras and Who is Theon of Smyrna?.
A Greek inscription on a statue base from a mithraeum in Rome reads "to Deus Sol Mithras Phanes". A relief from Vercovicium on Hadrian's Wall shows Mithras emerging from the cosmic egg, which is represented both as such and by the shape of the zodiacal ring.Clauss, M. The Roman cult of Mithras, p. 70, photo p.71. The relief (Vermaseren 860) is now at the University of Newcastle. Ulansey adds, "The identification between Mithras and Phanes indicated by CIMRM 860 is also explicitly attested by an inscription found in Rome dedicated to 'Zeus-Helios-Mithras-Phanes' and another inscription dedicated to 'Helios-Mithras-Phanes'."Ulansey, David, The Origins of the Mithraic Mysteries, pp.120-1. Excerpts here .
Another syncretistic relief is in Modena. This shows Phanes coming from an egg with flames shooting out around him, surrounded by the twelve signs of the zodiac, in an image very similar to that at Newcastle.Vermaseren, M., The miraculous birth of Mithras, p.287 n.10. The relief is in the Estense Museum in Modena, Italy. See also F. Cumont, "Mithra et l'Orphisme", RHR CIX, 1934, 63 ff; M. P. Nilsson, "The Syncretistic Relief at Modena", Symb. Osi. XXIV, 1945, 1 ff. Further references also exist.Vermaseren 695: marble relief from Mutina or Rome; V 475: Greek inscription from Rome, dedication by a Father and priest to Zeus-Helios-Mithras-Phanes
Helios/Sol/Sol invictus Mithras's stock epithet is Sol Invictus, "invincible sun". However, Mithras is distinct from both deities known as Sol Invictus, and they are separate entities on Mithraic statuary and artwork such as the tauroctony, hunting scenes, and banquet scenes, in which Mithras dines with Sol. Other scenes feature Mithras ascending behind Sol in the latter's chariot, the deities shaking hands and the two gods at an altar with pieces of meat on a spit or spits. One peculiar scene shows Sol kneeling before Mithras, who holds an object in his hand, interpreted as either a Phrygian cap or the haunch of the bull.
Unlike Helios or Sol, who was part of the traditional state-sponsored Roman religious system, and also unlike the Sol Invictus cult, which became an official state-sponsored cult under Aurelian in 274, the Mithraism (as with all other Greco-Roman mysteries) did not receive state sanction. Under Commodus's rule (r. 180–192 CE), the title invictus became a standard part of divine and imperial epithets, but this adapted from Hercules Invictus, not from either Sol or Mithras.
Jupiter Dolichenus The Mithraea at Carnuntum appear to have been constructed in close association with contemporary temples of Jupiter Dolichenus,Clauss, M., The Roman cult of Mithras, p.44. and there seem to have been considerable similarities between the two cults; both being mystery cults with secret liturgies, both being popular in the military, and having similar names for their officials and initiates. Two large Mithrea have been discovered in Doliche itself (modern Gaziantep in Turkey), which have been proposed as being unusually early.
Mithraism and Christianity
Most scholars date Mithraism as existing prior to Christianity. Persian scholar and art historian, , cites notable Greek thinker, Plutarch, whose writing represents the earliest account on this issue. In the year 67 BCE, pirates who had more than a thousand sails and had captured more than four hundred cities "offered strange rites of their own at Mount Olympus, and celebrated there, certain secret rites, among which those of Mithras continue to the present time, having been first instituted Soudavar submits that Plutarch pins Mithraic worship in Rome long before the birth of Christ, and it is therefore improbable that Christian traditions informed Mithraic, but rather the opposite.
Despite Plutarch's original chronological documentation of Mithraism predating early Christianity, a remark in the 2nd century by the first Christian apologist Justin Martyr accused the Mithraists of diabolically imitating the Christian communion rite, which indicates one instance of the evolution of Mithraism many years after its first known appearance. Justin Martyr was born roughly 50 years after Plutarch. A late-2nd-century Greek scholar and philosopher, Celsus, references how later Ophite gnostic ideas overlapped with the early mysteries of Mithras; however, the writing of Celsus was systematically suppressed by a growing Christian community shortly thereafter.
Originator of the Christ myth theory, Charles-François Dupuis, set out to prove the Mithraic origins of Christianity. Dupuis points out the absence of non-Christian historical records pertaining to Jesus, as well as the shared narrative structure possessed by the biblical account of Jesus and other notable myths. Dupuis claims this as evidence that suggests the New Testament's story of Jesus was likely a mythological construct created as a means to control religious practices.
In 1882, Ernest Renan posited a case of two rival religions. He writes, "If the growth of Christianity had been arrested by some mortal malady, the world would have been Mithraic."
Christian apologists, among them Ronald Nash and Edwin Yamauchi, have suggested a different interpretation of Mithraism's relationship to Christianity. Yamauchi, pointing out that some of the textual evidence for Mithraist doctrine was written after the New Testament was in circulation, makes a logical leap in considering that it is more likely that Mithraism borrowed from Christianity, rather than the other way around. Ultimately, Plutarch provides the earliest unbiased account of Mithraism's earlier existence, which continues to provoke scholarly response.
Miraculous birth Mithras was born from a rock, not a virgin woman. David Ulansey speculates that this was a belief derived from the Perseus myths, which held he was born from a cavern.
25 December
It is often stated (e.g. by Encyclopaedia Britannica, the Catholic Encyclopedia, and others) that Mithras was born on December 25. Beck (1987) argues that this is unproven. He writes: "The only evidence for it is the celebration of the birthday of Invictus on that date in Calendar of Philocalus. Invictus is of course Sol Invictus, Aurelian's sun god. It does not follow that a different, earlier, and unofficial sun god, Sol Invictus Mithras, was necessarily or even probably, born on that day too."
Unusually amongst Roman mystery cults, the mysteries of Mithras had no "public" face; worship of Mithras was confined to initiates, and they could only undertake such worship in the secrecy of the Mithraeum. Clauss (1990) states: "the Mithraic Mysteries had no public ceremonies of its own. The festival of natalis Invicti [Birth of the Unconquerable (Sun)], held on 25 December, was a general festival of the Sun, and by no means specific to the Mysteries of Mithras.".
Steven Hijmans has discussed in detail whether the general natalis Invicti festival was related to Christmas but does not give Mithras as a possible source.
Meanwhile, in modern-day Iran, the original homeland of Mithra, its religious followers celebrate a traditional feast of his birth. The present-day Iran Chamber Society's Ramona Shashaani claims that Christians borrowed the 25 December date from this "Persian" (i.e. Parsee = Zoroastrian) tradition: While Christians around the world are preparing to celebrate Christmas on Dec. 25th, the Persians are getting ready to tribute one of their most festive celebrations on Dec. 21st, the eve of winter solstice, the longest night and shortest day of the year. In Iran this night is called Shab-e Yaldaa, also known as Shab-e Chelleh, which refers to the birthday or rebirth of the sun. ... Yaldaa is chiefly related to Mehr Yazat; it is the night of the birth of the unconquerable sun, Mehr or Mithra, meaning love and sun, and has been celebrated by the followers of Mithraism as early as 5000 BC ... But in the [Roman-controlled areas] 4th century AD, because of some errors in counting the leap year, the birthday of Mithra shifted to 25 December and was established as such.However, see
Salvation A painted text on the wall of the St. Prisca Mithraeum () in Rome contains the words: et nos servasti (?) ... sanguine fuso (and you have saved us ... in the shed blood). The meaning of this text is unclear, although presumably it refers to the bull killed by Mithras, as no other source refers to a Mithraic salvation.
However, the servasti is only a conjecture. According to Robert Turcan, Mithraic salvation had little to do with the other-worldly destiny of individual souls, but was on the Zoroastrian pattern of man's participation in the cosmic struggle of the good creation against the forces of evil. Another difference is found with Mithras' slaying the bull is the sacrifice, while in Christianity the sacrifice was Christ himself.
Akhondi and Akbari also claim red was a color of prominence. The sacrifice of the bull's holy blood was a sign of fertility and life, much as in Christianity red wine can symbolize the sacrifice of Christ. In addition, white was an important color for the cult. The bull always remained white because it was a symbol of purity and holiness. Moon and stars painted in gold and white were also important symbols to the cult and later incorporated into Christian architecture and other decorations.
Mithraists believed that one day Mithra's works would be complete on earth and that he would return to heaven.
Symbolism of water Monuments in the Danube area depict Mithras shooting a bow at a rock in the presence of the torch-bearers, apparently to encourage water to come forth. Clauss states that, after the ritual meal, this "water-miracle offers the clearest parallel with Christianity".Clauss, M. The Roman Cult of Mithras
Sign of the cross Tertullian states that followers of Mithras were marked on their forehead in an unspecified manner. There is no indication that this mark was made in the form of a cross, or a branding, or a tattoo, or a permanent mark of any kind. Beskow describes the entire idea as a "scholarly myth"See also The symbol of a circle with a diagonal cross inscribed within it is commonly found in Mithraea, especially in association with the Leontocephaline figure.
Mithraic motifs and medieval Christian art