Isis worship in second century Greece and Rome as portrayed in Apuleius' “Metamorphoses”

Seegmiller, Beau. Utah State University, ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2004. 1423832.

p 1 

In the Hellenistic and Roman periods of antiquity, the worship of deities perceived as foreign to the Greeks and Romans emerged and grew steadily. Isis, an Egyptian goddess, was one of these divinities worshiped by Greeks and Romans outside of Egypt. This phenomenon gained noticeable momentum in the Hellenistic period, an era of Mediterranean history beginning with the political reformation instituted by Alexander the Great (333-323 BCE). His and his successors’ military conquests and the ensuing political developments allowed the occurrence of a cultural coalescence, whichtranscended traditional borders. The accompanying increase in trade and immigration by Greeks exposed them even more to the diverse customs and values of the Mediterranean world and the Near East. This circumstance continued as Rome rose to dominance, marking another historical period called the Roman period (31 BCE-476 CE). The Roman Empire even further unified these diverse regions.1 One of the many outcomes of this cultural and regional confluence was the ordering and assimilation of varied religions. Isis was an Egyptian goddess, whose worship Greeks and Romans incorporated into their own religious belief structures

The worship of this goddess in the Greek sphere first appeared sometime in the late fifth century BCE.

p 3 Greeks themselves identified Demeter with Isis and the Eleusinian Mysteries were a prominent Greek form of worship. This description of Demeter worship will provide a backdrop that will point to those elements within the Isis Mysteries which were of Greek origin. Through explicating the worship practices and mythological facets shared by both Demeter worship and the Isis Mysteries, the influence of Greek culture upon Greco-Roman Isis worship comes into sharper focus. An example of such influence can be seen in Demeter’s worship within the Eleusinian Mysteries where both individual initiations and public processions were employed.13 Both of these practices were fundamental in the cult of Isis in Greece and Rome.  This study will also provide a foundation for a greater understanding of the cultural phenomenon, Egyptian exoticism, which fueled and governed the development and popularity of Isis worship in the Greco-Roman world

p5 The Egyptian the of Isis myth also introduces some of those elements of Egyptian religion which appealed to the Greeks who later came to rule Egypt in the late fourth century BCE. In particular, the wandering of a mournful Isis and a goddess who has power over life after death attracted the Greeks as both were also characteristics attributed to the Greek deity Demeter. In Egyptian mythology, Isis also displays deep emotions and overcomes the obstacles in her way, character traits the Greeks admired in their own myths. For these reasons, ancient Greek writers such as Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus identified Isis as the Egyptian Demeter.19

p11 Great public processionals and private initiations typified much of Isis’ worship across Greece and Rome during the Hellenistic and Roman periods. Typically, her temples in this part of the Mediterranean were walled compounds which encompassed her sanctuary and a courtyard with the images of several Egyptian gods. These enclosed areas were also decorated with sphinxes, obelisks, and other sculptures and images from Egypt or items manufactured to appear Egyptian, including great cisterns of water from the Nile.33 The priests and priestesses of Isis wore white linen robes, had shaved heads, and followed dietary restrictions, which required them to avoid pork, fish, and wine.

p 12 These inductions by secret rites were not limited to a specific social class or hereditary group but were open to those who could pay the requisite fees. Though we do not know the details of these rites it is clear that they concerned the welfare of the initiate in matters of life and death. One of the principal and most extensive contemporaneous accounts of her worship is contained in the novel Metamorphoses by Lucius Apuleius.

p24 Burkert addresses this process of incorporating foreign divinities and religious practices by asserting that Isis worship, rather than being a unique phenomenon, was simply another example of a mystery religion. He contends that all Greco-Roman mystery religions had an essentially Greek foundation.

p26 Religious practices derive a great deal of meaning from their function within the culture in which they are imbedded. In turn, they contribute to the web of meaning provided by the cultural system of which they are a part. Removing these forms from their cultural context and analyzing or comparing them to other forms of worship can lead to distortion and manipulation of the evidence.

p 30 My conclusions here will provide a solid example of the cross-fertilization of 

worship systems between distinct cultures and also lay the groundwork for further explication of the cultural characteristics that drive such religious transmissions. Through these contextualized comparisons we get a glimpse at the cultural phenomenon, Egyptian exoticism, which fomented the development of Isis worship and made it a significant component of Greco-Roman religion. This study seeks not only to explicate as fully as possible the origin and development of Isis worship in the Greco-Roman world but also to serve as a foundational investigation contributing to the broader study of religious and cultural intersections in the ancient world. 

p51 Demeter worship at Eleusis came under the authority of the polis of Athens; yet this belief system also played a significant part in Greek culture outside that city-state. Our understanding of this form of worship and Demeter’s underlying divine characteristics rests principally on her mythology. The mythology of Demeter is also important in understanding the basic personality of the goddess and her divine function within the Greek cosmos. Writing at the end of the eighth century BCE, Hesiod catalogues the birth of the cosmos and the gods that were seen to rule and govern it. After a series of intrigues and conflicts among the first generations of deities, the rule of the universe comes eventually to rest on the shoulders of their descendants, the Olympian gods and goddesses. Of these, Zeus functions as the grand administrator and Demeter holds power over the production of crops and vegetation. From this, she was envisioned as the sustainer of life for both men and animals.

p 52 Her power and influence are further illustrated in the mythology recorded in The Homeric Hymns. Originally, traveling bards performed these sacred songs at religious events and festivals. These hymns are only called “Homeric” because they share the same style, meter, and dialect as Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, though the hymn to Demeter appears to date from approximately the mid-sixth century BCE and thus 1 cannot come from the same author who wrote the epics. The myth of Demeter relates the story of Hades’ abduction of Persephone, her daughter, and how Demeter recovered her in part. It is of particular importance to us because in this myth the extent and nature of Demeter’s power and persona are clarified. Additionally, the story demonstrates her status among her peer divinities and her relationship among them as she withholds her support for the growth of vegetation in order to have Persephone returned to her. Most importantly, though, it also shows how she interacts with mortal humans and institutes her rites at Eleusis

p56 As early as the time of Solon in the first half of the sixth century BCE, Eleusis was part of the Athenian polis}34 As such, the rites performed during the Eleusinian Mysteries were of primary concern to the Athenians and played a significant role in their religious outlook from early on.135 Beginning in the second half of the sixth century BCE, the Eleusinian Mysteries grew in reputation and became panhellenic with admission no longer restricted to the Athenian citizenry. The rites maintained great popularity until the late fourth century CE.136 This prominence in ancient life spanning almost a thousand years is evident in the periodic expansion of the cult site to accommodate the ever growing number of adherents. At its high point, these initiation rites were performed inside the sanctuary at Eleusis and, as more and more initiates took part in this annual experience, the sanctuary had to be expanded to accommodate them.

p59One of the foundational works is Eleusis and the Eleusinian Mysteries by George E. Mylonas. In this book, published in 1961, Mylonas synthesizes archeological and epigraphic discoveries with literary evidence to produce a comprehensive study of the Eleusinian Mysteries.

p59 The rites themselves were performed in two different settings and the initiates passed through three stages of initiation. The first was called the myesis in which the candidate was purified and prepared for the performance of the initiations proper, the telete. The myesis, performed at the Eleusinian sanctuary or the Eleusinion143 in Athens, changed the status of the candidate from an amyetos, one “uninitiated,” to a mystes, an “initiate.”144 The candidate was then ready to receive the telete, which was performed as part of the Lesser Mysteries at Athens in the spring and in the Greater Mysteries at Eleusis in the fall. To complete the full telete, the mystes was required to attend both festivals and participate in all the rites. This completion of the telete for the first time constituted the second stage of initiation. The third stage was accomplished when the mystes returned to participate the following year as an epoptes, a “viewer.”

The myesis prepared and purified the candidate for the telete. The individual received the myesis within certain periods before the Lesser Mysteries and could do this either within the Eleusinian sanctuary at Eleusis or in the Eleusinion, which was Demeter’s sanctuary at Athens. The candidate underwent this solitary ceremony individually at the hands of his sponsor, a member of either the Eumolpidai or theKerykes families, prominent Athenian clans. Supplying an animal, usually a ewe or pig, and after sacrificing it, the worshiper entered a room and sat upon a stool covered with the fleece of a ram. The initiate was veiled, sitting barefoot, as his sponsor approached him from behind, holding a winnowing fan over him, and passed a burning torch close to his hand, purifying him.146 Having fasted in preparation for the myesis, the individual was then given a cup of kykeon, a mixture of barley-meal, mint, and water, with which to break his fast. When this rite was completed, the candidate was cleansed and prepared to receive the telete.147

p60 The Lesser Mysteries were the first part of the telete and were held once a year in the early spring at Athens. In the Greek month of Anthesterion, our February, the Athenians performed these rites at the Agra, on the banks of the river Ilissos. What occurred at this festival is not known clearly but it appears to involve further purification, the performance of a ceremony called the Kemophoria, public and individual sacrifices, and hymn singing. Even more purification rituals ensued, fasting and sacrifices accompanying the “sprinkling of water or even bathing in the waters of Ilissos.” In the Kemophoria, female initiates bore the sacred kernos, a vessel with many small cups held together, and placed in them assortments of food-stuffs: wheat, oats, seeds, peas, honey, wine, oil, and other such items. They bore these as offerings to the goddess and then later partook of them to commemorate the generosity of the goddess.14

Seven months following the observance of the Lesser Mysteries, initiates came to participate in the Greater Mysteries. The actual rites began on the fifteenth day of Boedromion but on the day before, the sacred items of the Eleusinian sanctuary, the socalled hiera,150 were removed from their place in the Anaktoron, the holy inner room of the sanctuary. They were taken in procession to the Eleusinion in Athens, a journey of some fourteen miles. The priesthood led the procession as the priestesses carried the hiera in kistai, cylindrical containers sealed securely with tight covers, so that spectators were not able to view the sacred objects. After preliminary sacrifices, the officials in charge began the fourteen-mile journey along the Sacred Way to the Eleusinion in Athens, and when they arrived, they made final preparations for the festivities and rites that followed the next day.

On the first day of the Mysteries, the fifteenth day of Boedromion, the kingarchon called the people to an assembly in the Agora of Athens. Here, in the presence ofpriests and officials from the Eleusinian sanctuary, he invited those who had “clean hands” and “lived well and justly” to participate in the rites but he prohibited those who were guilty of homicide or were unable to understand Greek. In examining the candidates, the king-archon ensured the sanctity of the rites.

On the second day of the Mysteries, the sixteenth day of Boedromion, heralds coursed their way through the city shouting, “To the sea, O mystai.” Each candidate journeyed down to the seashore and brought a small pig with him, cleansing himself and his animal in the sea. The initiate then returned to Athens and sacrificed the pig. The ritual washings and sacrifices cleansed and purified the candidates in preparation for their initiation into the Mysteries

The third and fourth days of the festival provided further preparation and rest for the candidates. On the third day, the king-archon and other dignitaries offered the great sacrifice to Demeter in the Eleusinion. He also offered up prayers for the assembly, the other communities connected to Athens, the women and children, and their country. The polis worshiped and sacrificed to the goddess Demeter on this day. On the fourth day, the candidates who had already been cleansed in the sea rested, but those late-comers who missed the cleansing and sacrifices of the second day did so on the eighteenth day of v Boedromion. With every preparation having been made, the participants were ready for the great procession to Eleusis.1

On the fifth day, the nineteenth of the Boedromion, the kistae containing the hiera were taken back to the Eleusinian sanctuary in procession with the candidates. The priests and priestesses of Eleusis carried the hiera from the Eleusinion and met the initiates at the city gates. They each had a bundle containing supplies and the new clothes they would wear during their initiation. Others had assembled to watch the procession begin. They journeyed along the Sacred Way until the sun began to set. After a rest, the procession continued under the light of torches until they arrived at the sanctuary and the assemblage passed the remainder of the night in singing and dancing. They observed and partook of the Kemophomia as the last act of the night and then dispersed, finding shelter after participating in an exhausting but most certainly exhilarating day and night of religious celebration.

On the sixth day, the twentieth of Boedromion, initiates and their sponsors spent their time in fasting and sacrifices. They rested and recovered from the activities of the day and night before, yet took steps to be completely purified. The sponsors supervised the initiates in their fasts and preparations for the coming night. As the day closed, the main sacrifice to Demeter, Persephone, and the Eleusinian gods was offered, marking the beginning of the initiation rites. Breaking their fast by drinking kykeon, the assemblage commemorated Demeter’s suffering. The initiates put on their new clothes and anticipated the events to come.156

With the coming of night, the candidates entered the Telesterion to receive and complete the telete. The Telesterion was an expansive, pillared room, which

accommodated all of the initiates and the epoptes participating in the secret rites. The content of these rites spanned two entire nights and the adherents spent the intervening day in rest and preparation. Throughout these two nights, they probably participated in a sacred drama, which reenacted the abduction of Persephone and the wanderings of Demeter, her grief and despondency. In darkness and under the light of torches, the participants searched with Demeter, mourned with her, and rejoiced at her reunion with her daughter. In this setting they most likely felt and suffered the reenactment of her entire myth. The Hierophant, the High Priest of the sanctuary, spoke words essential to the initiation but unutterable outside the confines of the sanctuary. These essential words or phrases necessitated that each participant understood Greek. Such exciting and stimulating experiences led to the climactic moment, the showing of the hiera.158 The Hierophant entered the Anaktoron, a room within the expansive Telesterion, and brought out the hiera. They were displayed only within the context of the celebration of the Greater Mysteries, and then carefully hidden away within the kistae. The Hierophant held up the hiera for the assemblage to view and this revelationThe Hierophant held up the hiera for the assemblage to view and this revelation completed the initiation of the candidates.159 On the eighth day, the twenty-second day of Boedromion, the initiates passed the time offering libations and festivities, with singing and dancing. On the ninth day the crowd dispersed to their homes. While much evidence refers to their experience as a lifealtering event, the newly initiated were under no obligation to return to the sanctuary to worship nor were they part of a band or club with material responsibilities and benefits. They were free, and not required to return in later years and participate as an epoptes. The initiates returned to their homes enriched, better for the experience, but “free to return to their normal” lives.