Chapter 14- 16
Hierophant
The "one who displays the sacred things," the officiating priest.
Orphism
refers to the set of religious beliefs and practices which originated among the Greeks, and more specifically with the Thracians, and was associated with literature ascribed to the mythical Thracian poet Orpheus, who descended into Hades and returned. Orphics also revered Persephone (who annually descended into Hades for a season and then returned) and Dionysus / Bacchus (who also descended into Hades and returned). Orpheus was said to have invented the Mysteries of Dionysus. Poetry containing distinctly Orphic beliefs has been traced back to the 6th century BC or at least 5th century BC.
metempsychosis
reincarnation or transmigration of souls
Elysium or Elysian Fields
the equivalent of heaven
Rhadamanthys
was Lord of Elysium and judge of the men of Asia.
Mithraism
was another mystery cult that developed under the Roman empire. Mithras (or Mithra) was the god of light and truth and righteous champion of good against evil. He was of Persian origin and was considered a redemption god, somewhat similar to Isis and Dionysus. No myths about Mithras survive and there were no public festivals in his honor. What is known about his worship derives mostly from archaeology. Mithraism was particularly popular with the Roman legions, and mithraea, the shrines where the mysteries took place, are found everywhere in the empire, but especially at sites along the northern frontier. These were rectangular buildings designed to resemble caves: they lay partly underground with barrel-vaulted ceilings and no windows. Torches and lamps provided light for the performance of indoor rituals that involved rather small groups. A sequence of levels of initiation, the so-called seven grades, was observed.
Triptolemus
Figure who is given the commission to spread Demeter's arts; he becomes a judge in the Underworld; he merges with the figure of Demophoön.
Hecate
Goddess of the occult and the power of vengeance; worshiped at crossroads, she becomes Trivia, a triune goddess (Hecate, Artemis, and Selene); she shares associations with the Furies; in Vergil's Aeneid it is Hecate who has instructed the Sibyl in the secrets of Tartarus, enabling her to describe this realm to Aeneas.
Hecate
Goddess of the occult and the power of vengeance; worshiped at crossroads, she becomes Trivia, a triune goddess (Hecate, Artemis, and Selene); she shares associations with the Furies; in Vergil's Aeneid it is Hecate who has instructed the Sibyl in the secrets of Tartarus, enabling her to describe this realm to Aeneas.Goddess of the occult and the power of vengeance; worshiped at crossroads, she becomes Trivia, a triune goddess (Hecate, Artemis, and Selene); she shares associations with the Furies; in Vergil's Aeneid it is Hecate who has instructed the Sibyl in the secrets of Tartarus, enabling her to describe this realm to Aeneas.
Cabiri(Castor and Pollux
Gods of Samothrace, usually referred to as the "great gods" and sometimes identified with the Dioscuri.
Cerberus
Hades was often portrayed with his three-headed guard dog Cerberus and the two-pronged bident. was the three-headed hound of Hades. To get past Cerberus Odysseus and Aeneas would have to give him a drugged sop to put him to sleep.
Tartarus or Erebus
Hades' realm although they are also used solely for the region of torment. It was thought of as a dim and shadowy place.
Serapis
Her cult was associated with the god Serapis.
Demeter (Roman Ceres)
"Great Mother" or "Great Goddess"
Phlegethon
"River of fire."
Lethe
"River of forgetfulness."Minos:
Styx
"River of hate."
Cocytus
"River of wailing
Acheron
"River of woe."
Cybele
("Great Mother of the Gods") and Attis
Alecto
("endless")
Megaera
("jealous rage")
Hermes Psychopompos
("soul-guide").
Tisiphone
("vengeful destruction").
Demeter
(Ceres) and Persephone Goddess of the fertility of the earth and grain; she is most often depicted in company with her daughter, Persephone, who was abducted by Hades; in her grief Demeter wanders the earth, searching and comes to Eleusis, where she will establish her rites and spread them to the world. In anger at Zeus' collusion in the abduction, she absents herself from the company of the gods and stops the fertility of the earth; Zeus will eventually relent and allow Persephone to return. Persephone, however, has eaten of the pomegranate, whichwill forever root her to two worlds, the upper and the lower realms. While Persephone is below, the earth sleeps and does not produce; when she returns to the upper world, the earth erupts with fertility. This story is the foundation myth for the rites of Demeter and Persephone at Eleusis. Demeter's counterpart among the Romans is Ceres; Persephone's counterpart is Proserpina; sometimes Persephone is simply called Kore ("girl").
mithraeum(pl., mithraea)
- Underground chapels for the worship of the Persian Mithras. - The central motif in the representation and worship of the Persian Mithras, the tauroctony is the "slaying of the bull."
OrpheusandEurydice(adryad)
A figure of legend; a singer of song; his central myth involves his unsuccessful attemptto retrieve his wife, Eurydice, from the Underworld; after his failure, he is dismembered by a band of Thracian women (sometimes maenads), whom he has spurned; the traditional tale contains both Apollonian and Dionysian elements. This figure of Orpheus was also considered the founder of a religion, and a prophet, who offered direction for living in harmony with the world and a hope for a blessed afterlife.
Zagreus -Dionysus -Iacchus
A statue of Iacchus (likely another name for Dionysus), which was carried in processionto Eleusis; "Iacche!" was also a ritual cry in the mystery cult of Dionysus. In another version of Dionysus' birth, Zeus mated with Persephone, who bore Zagreus (Dionysus); Hera, in a jealous rage, has the Titans dismember the baby and consume everything but the heart, which is saved and swallowed by Zeus. Zeus then fathers the child on Semele; in his wrath, Zeus destroyed the Titans with his thunderbolt and fromtheir ashes human beings arise.
Furies (Erinyes, Eumenides)
Alecto, Megaera, Tisiphone were female chthonic deities of vengeance; they were sometimes referred to as "infernal goddesses" living in Erebus. According to Hesiod's Theogony, when the Titan Cronus castrated his father Uranus and threw his genitalia into the sea, the Erinyes emerged from the drops of blood that fell on the earth (Gaia). Their number varies, but three appear in the Aeneid: Alecto ("endless"), Megaera ("jealous rage"), and Tisiphone ("vengeful destruction"). The Erinyes were chthonic powers of vengeance in the Underworld;their Roman name is the Furies. The Greek term Eumenides means "kindly ones."
Orcus
Another Latin name for the Underworld; it means "the place that confines."
DeaSyria
Atargatis - Syrian goddess, joined with Hadad (a god of thunder) in a sacred marriage and thus associated with other sky-gods (Greek Zeus, Roman Jupiter, and Syrian Baal).
Phanes
Being who arises from the cosmic egg; identified with Eros.
Horus (Harpocrates)
Child of Isis and Osiris.
"TheTwoGoddesses" Realms/domains/functions
Demeter is the goddess of the ripe grain Persephone(Kore) is the goddess of the new crop of grain, which arises from the ground after the seed grain has been planted in the ground.
Isis (through a process of late syncretism she becomes the singular divinity)
Egyptian goddess of fertility, worshipped in a mystery cult. Her myth tells of her search for her husband and brother, Osiris, who had been dismembered by the evil god Seth; in Apuleius' Golden Ass, the hero Lucius receives her aid and becomes a devotee.
Osiris
Husband and brother of Isis.
Chronus(Time)
In Orphic cosmogony, Chronus ("time") was the first principle and from him come Aether, Chaos, and Erebus.
Aristaeus
In a variant tradition of the story (Vergil's Georgics, Book 4), Eurydice fled from Aristaeus and was bitten by a snake and died; in this version Aristaeus has to atone for his crime.
Persephone(RomanProserpina)
Kore
HomericHymnstoDemeter
In the account of Persephone's abduction told in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, Hades snatches away his niece with the full permission of Zeus (and without that of Demeter) while she is gathering flowers (in particular the narcissus, grown by Gaea to abet the theft) in the company of the Oceanides in Sicily. Hecate and Helius alone hear her cries; Helius apparently sees the abduction as well. (Athena, Artemis, and the Oceanides are later in the poem said to have been in her company.)
Seth
Isis was instrumental in the resurrection of Osiris when he was murdered by the evil power Seth (or Set).
Syncretism
Literally "growing together"; in terms of the varied mystery cults of the ancient world, it refers to the harmonizing of the different cults and myths into some sort of unity.
Judges of the Underworld
Minos, Rhadamanthys, Aeacus They judged the deeds of the deceased and created the laws that governed the underworld. However, none of the laws provided a true justice to the souls of the dead, and the dead did not receive rewards for following them or punishment for wicked actions.
Homeric Underworld (Book 11 of theOdyssey)
Nekuia
Sisyphus
One of the damned in the Underworld; he attempted to cheat death and was punished with having to roll a stone up a hill, only to have it roll back down as he neared the top.
Tityus
One of the damned in the Underworld; he attempted to rape Leto and was punished with having his liver feasted on by a vulture for eternity.
Tantalus
One of the damned in the Underworld; he tried to feed the gods human flesh and was punished by perpetual hunger and thirst, with food and drink just out of reach.
Ixion
One of the eternally damned in Tartarus; he attempted to rape Nephele ("cloud"), whom Zeus had transformed into the likeness of his wife Hera; Ixion is condemned to a fiery wheel.
Musaeus
Orpheus had a son or a pupil, named Musaeus, who assumed many of Orpheus's characteristics.
OrpheusandOrphism;MysteryReligionsinRomanTimes
Orpheuswas considered the son either of a Thracian river-god named Oeagrus or of Apollo and a Muse. He was famous for his sweet singing and lyre playing. His music enchanted all the animals, drawing them all into the magic circle of his song.
Mithra/Mithras
Persian god of light and truth, worshiped in a mystery cult; at the center of his myth was the tauroctony or the "slaying of the bull."
"TheTwoGoddesses"
Persephone and DemeterDemeter and Persephone(Kore) represent two aspects of the cultivation of grain. Together, they are sometimes referred to as the Two Goddesses.; Here a young initiate (mystes), or Triptolemus,stands in the midst of the goddesses.
Persephone (Roman Proserpina)
Persephone is an old chthonic deity of the agricultural communities, who received the souls of the dead into the earth, and acquired powers over the fertility of the soil, over which she reigned. The earliest depiction of a goddess who may be identified with Persephone growing out of the ground, is on a plate from the Minoan period in Phaistos. The goddess has a vegetable- like appearance, and she is surrounded by dancing girls between blossoming flowers.
Taurobolium
Ritual shedding of the blood of the bull, associated with the worship of Cybele.
Apuleius' Metamorphosesor Golden Ass
Roman novel of the 2nd century a.d. in Latin, which tells of the transformation of its hero Lucius into an ass and his misadventures; he eventually returns to human form and is initiated into the mysteries of Isis.
Rivers
Styx,Acheron,Lethe,Cocytus,Phlegethon(orPyriphlegethon)
Kykeon
The drink with which Demeter broke her fast at Eleusis, as reenacted in the rituals at Eleusis; it is a mixture of barley and water.
Danaïds
The fifty daughters of Danaüs; all but one murder their husbands on their wedding night and are punished in the Underworld with the endless toil of trying to draw water with a sieve.
Metaneira
The king and queen of Eleusis, where Demeter comes in her search for her daughter Persephone.
Demophoön
The son of Celeus and Metaneira; Demeter tries to immortalize him, but refuses to continue when interrupted by Metaneira, who thinks the goddess meant to harm her son. Demophoön is sometimes confused with Triptolemus, who is given the great commission to spread the rites of Demeter to the world.
Telesterion
The special sacred enclosure at Eleusis, in which the Greater Mysteries are prerformed; it literally means "the place for the rites."
Hades (Roman Pluto, Dis)
The world of the dead and the god who rules that realm; literally the word means "the unseen one."
Hades(RomanPlutoorDis)
The world of the dead and the god who rules that realm; literally the word means "the unseen one."
Arch-sinners (and their crimes)
Tityus, Ixion, Sisyphus, Tantalus, Danaids- Each sinner has pissed off the Gods in their own special way.
Hiera
Translated literally as "sacred things," it can refer to any ritual offering or implement; in the mystery cult, especially at Eleusis, it refers to the final revelation of god in the ritual.
Nekuia
another name for the underworld.
Eleusinian Mysteries
cult of Demeter and other gods. Extremely secret which were of considerable antiquity and predated the Greek Dark Ages.
TheRealmofHadesandViewsoftheAfterlife
gloomy, and a few will be tormented with punishments based on their sins. The sin and punishment system is very well establish
Odysseus meets Teiresias, Achilles, Agamemnon, Anticlea, Ajax, Elpenor
in something that is the equvilent of a nightmare, Odysseus had found his way into one of the plains of the underworld where if he lets any of the souls drink from the pit of the dark blood, they will instantly recall their former life of the light. Teiresias told Odysseus how this works. Achilles gave him some information and a warning, same with Agamemnon, Anticlea, Ajax, and Elpenor. They also wanted to know how he got there. None of the living can traverse the underworld and return alive, Odysseus did.
Avernus -Aeneas' entrance to the Underworld
was represented as the entrance to the Underworld. Avernus is a volcanic crater lake in the Campania region of Italy. The name comes from the Greek word άορνος, meaning "without birds," because according to tradition, all birds flying over the lake were destined to fall dead. This was likely due to the toxic fumes that mouths of the crater gave off into the atmosphere. In later times, the word was simply an alternate name for the underworld.
Zagreus
was symbolically killed and eaten by the Titans. After the Titans were killed by Zeus' thunderbolts, Zeus created human beings from the ashes of the blasted Titans. For this reason human nature has an evil, Titanic aspect. But because the flesh of Dionysus, whom the Titans devoured, was mingled with the Titans' ashes, human beings also contain a divine Dionysian spark encased in a gross Titanic body. The goal of human existence was therefore to free the immortal soul from the "grievous circle" of its bodily imprisonment (sômasêma, "the body is a tomb") through an ascetic way of life together with secret initiation rites. The Orphicsalso taught metempsychosis, or the reincarnation of the soul.
Charon
was the ferryman who, after receiving a soul from Hermes, would guide them across the rivers Styx and/or Acheronto the underworld. At funerals, the deceased traditionally had an obol (a coin) placed over their eye or under their tongue, so they could pay Charon to take them across.
Aeacus
was the guardian of the Keys of the Underworld and the judge of the men of Europe.
Minos
was the judge of the final vote.
Eleusis
where the worship of Demeter, in the town of Eleusis 14 mile west of Athens.
