Greco-Roman mysteries
Mystery religions, mystery cults, sacred mysteries or simply mysteries, were religious schools of the Greco-Roman world for which participation was reserved to initiates . The main characteristic of these religious schools was the secrecy associated with the particulars of the initiation and the ritual practice, which may not be revealed to outsiders. The most famous mysteries of Greco-Roman antiquity were the Eleusinian Mysteries, which predated the Greek Dark Ages. The mystery schools flourished in Late Antiquity; Emperor Julian, of the mid-4th century, is believed by some scholars to have been associated with various mystery cults—most notably the mithraists. Due to the secret nature of the schools, and because the mystery religions of Late Antiquity were persecuted by the Christian Roman Empire from the 4th century, the details of these religious practices are derived from descriptions, imagery and cross-cultural studies.
Justin Martyr in the 2nd century explicitly noted and identified them as "demonic imitations" of the true faith; "the devils, in imitation of what was said by Moses, asserted that Proserpine was the daughter of Jupiter, and instigated the people to set up an image of her under the name of Kore". Through the 1st to 4th century, Christianity stood in direct competition for adherents with the mystery schools.
Etymology
The English word 'mystery' originally appeared as the Ancient Greek plural 'the Mysteries', and developed into the Latin mysterium, where the English term originates. The etymology of the Greek mustḗrion 'revealed secret' is not entirely clear, though scholars have traditionally thought it to have derived from the Greek 'to close, shut; to be shut '. Hittite scholar Jaan Puhvel suggests that the Greek term derives from the Hittite verb munnae 'to conceal, to hide, to shut out of sight'.Characteristics
Mystery religions formed one of three types of Hellenistic religion, the others being the imperial cult, or the ethnic religion particular to a nation or state, and the philosophic religions such as Neoplatonism.This is also reflected in the tripartite division of "theology"—by Varro—into civil theology, natural theology, and mythical theology.
Mysteries thus supplement rather than compete with civil religion. An individual could easily observe the rites of the state religion, be an initiate in one or more mysteries, and at the same time adhere to a certain philosophical school. Many of the aspects of public religion such as sacrifices, ritual meals, and ritual purification were repeated within the mystery, but with the additional requirement that they take place in secrecy and be confined to a closed set of initiates. The mystery schools offered a niche for the preservation of ancient religious ritual, which was especially in demand by the time of the late Roman Empire, as cultic practices supported the established social and political orders instead of working against them; numerous early strands of Judaism and Christianity, for instance, appeared in opposition to such conditions, whereas the mystery cults, by their very nature, served to strengthen the status quo.
For this reason, what evidence remains of the older Greek mysteries has been understood as reflecting certain archaic aspects of common Indo-European religion, with parallels in Indo-Iranian religion. The mystery schools of Greco-Roman antiquity include the Eleusinian Mysteries, the Dionysian Mysteries, and the Orphic Mysteries. Some of the many divinities that the Romans nominally adopted from other cultures also came to be worshipped in Mysteries; for instance, Egyptian Isis, Persian Mithras from the Mithraic Mysteries, Thracian/Phrygian Sabazius, and Phrygian Cybele.
In Plato's Meno, the character Meno had intended to leave Athens "before the mysteries", but agrees to stay longer so as to extend his discussion with Socrates about whether virtue can be taught.
Eleusinian Mysteries
The Eleusinian Mysteries were the earliest and most famous of the mystery cults and lasted for over a millennium. Whenever they first originated, by the end of the 5th century BCE, they had been heavily influenced by Orphism, and in Late Antiquity, they had become allegorized.Myth
The basis for the Eleusinian Mysteries is a myth told in the Homeric Hymns concerning the kidnapping of Persephone, daughter of Demeter, by Hades, the god of the underworld. In her distress, and in hopes of persuading Zeus to intervene, Demeter—the goddess of agriculture—caused famine and drought across the earth, killing many and depriving the gods of proper sacrifices and worship. Eventually, Zeus permitted Persephone to reunite with her mother, who returned the earth to its former prosperity. However, it was a rule of the Fates that whoever ate or drank in the underworld was doomed to spend eternity there. Hades had tricked Persephone into eating pomegranate seeds ; thus, she was forced to remain in the underworld for either four or six months of the year. During this time each year, Demeter, in her sadness, neglects to nourish the earth until Persephone returns to her, and the cycle repeats. These cyclical periods became the winter and spring seasons, with the “death” and “rebirth” of Persephone symbolizing the cycle of life.Initiation
On the 15th of the month of Boedromion, as many as 3,000 potential initiates would have gathered in the agora of Athens. Initiates were limited to those that spoke Greek and had never killed; as the emphasis on purity grew, those who had “impure” souls were also banned. Like at other large festivals such as the Diasia and Thesmophoria, the prospective initiates would bring their own sacrificial animals and hear the festival's proclamation as it began. The next day, they would go to the sea to purify themselves and their animals. Three days of rest would pass until the 19th, when initiates would return to the agora to begin the procession to the sanctuary of Demeter and Persephone in Eleusis. The procession was led by two Eleusinian priestesses, followed by many Greeks carrying torches and other special ceremonial items for the upcoming initiation. The 15-mile journey would have been constantly interrupted by celebration and dancing; once the city was reached, the pilgrims would dance into the sanctuary.The next day would begin with sacrifices, and at sunset, the actual initiations would commence in a great hall called the Telesterion. The initiates would wash themselves to be pure and sat together in silence surrounded by the smell of extinguished torches. The initiation may have taken place over two nights. If so, the first may have concerned the kidnapping of Persephone and ended with her return to her mother. The second night may have concerned the epopteia, the higher degree of the Mysteries—a performance by the skilled Eleusinian clergy including singing, dancing, and potentially the showing of a phallus; the climax of the event must have included the display of a statue of Demeter, an ear of wheat, and a “birth” of agricultural wealth. In an attempt to explain how so many people over the span of two millennia could have consistently experienced revelatory states during this culminating ceremony, numerous scholars have proposed that the power of the Eleusinian Mysteries came from the kykeon's functioning as an entheogen.
Aftermath
On the final day of the initiation—called the Plemochoai, after a type of vessel used to conclude a libation—the new members could now wear a myrtle wreath like the priests. The initiates would eventually leave and utter the phrases paks or konks, proclaiming the conclusion of an event. The clothing worn by the new members during their journey were used as lucky blankets for children or perhaps were given to their sanctuary.Samothracian Mysteries
The second most famous Mysteries were those on the island of Samothrace. While information on the Samothracian Mysteries is even more scarce than that on the Eleusinian Mysteries, it is known that they significantly borrowed from the ones at Eleusis ; archaeological and linguistic data continues to shed light on this religious school. These rituals were also associated with those of neighboring islands, such as the mysteries of the Cabeiri. Philip II of Macedon and his later wife Olympias were said to have met during the initiation ceremony at Samothrace. Heracles, Jason, Cadmus, Orpheus and the Dioscuri were all said to have been initiated here.Myth
Little is known about any core foundational myths for the entities worshipped by cult initiates at Samothrace—including their identities, as they tended to be discussed anonymously, being referred to as the "Samothracian gods" or the "Great Gods". However, comparisons have been made between the "gods of Samothrace" and the Cabeiri--chthonic deities from comparable pre- or non-Greek cultures such as Thrace or Phrygia. There is a definite connection in that each deity or set of deities purportedly offered protection on the seas and help in difficult times, though the extent of this connection is impossible to conclude. It is therefore likely that if the Samothracian gods were not the Cabeiri themselves, then the cult was at least heavily influenced by this comparative religion, along with Thracian elements of worship present on the island before an established Greek presence.Initiation
Unlike at Eleusis, initiation at Samothrace was not restricted to a few days of the year, instead lasting from April to November with a large event likely taking place in June, potentially over two nights. The future initiates would enter the sanctuary of Samothrace from the east, into a circular space 9 meters in diameter with flagstones and a grandstand of five steps. Livy records that here, the initiates would listen to a proclamation concerning the absence of crime and bloodshed. Libations and sacrifices of rams were likely made at the beginning of the rituals, similar to at Eleusis. The initiates would have moved to another building at night for the actual initiation, though archaeologists are unsure whether this was the Hall of the Choral Dancers, the Hieron, the Anaktoron, the Rotunda of Arsinoe II, or another building.In the 3rd century CE, Hippolytus of Rome in his Refutation of All Heresies quotes a Gnostic author who provides a summary of some of the images here:
There stand two statues of naked men in the Anaktoron of the Samothracians, with both hands stretched up toward heaven and their pudenda turned up, just as the statue of Hermes at Kyllene. The aforesaid statues are images of the primal man and of the regenerated, spiritual man who is in every respect consubstantial with that man.
The scarcity of evidence precludes understanding the specifics of the initiation, though there may have been dancing such as at Eleusis associated with the mythology of the search for Harmonia. At the end of the initiation, the initiates were given a purple fillet. On the epopteia, the second night of initiation, the “usual preliminary lustration rites and sacrifices” took place; little else is known, except that it may have been similar to the Eleusinian epopteia and would have climaxed with the showing of a great light.