Clivedurdle

Are you looking through the wrong end of the telescope here?

The pirates were part of an international Parthian war fighting team - we are not talking Pirates of the Caribbean here! We are talking Cuban Missile Crisis!

Their role in importing mithraic ideas was probably minimal - except Julius Caesar probably did chat with his captors about their beliefs and it is very likely they carried out religious rituals on board.

As the Taliban a few years ago blew up the Buddhas - their image based on Classic Greek styles there is no problem with the religion of the King of Kings spreading throughout the entire Roman Empire - it was not split then and even when it was they were in contact with each other.

What is weird about this discussion is there was another import of Eastern ideas - the Albigensian crusades - Cathars can also be understood as an evolution of Zarathustrian thinking.

Why this very strange denial of very strong oriental influences on the occident?

youngalexander

What the devil is that supposed to mean - or shall I be sorry I asked?

Well, I followed your link. There is certainly a wealth of stuff on Parthia. Amongst which I discovered this little gem.
Verjuy Mithra Temple, the Oldest Surviving Mithraist Temple in Iran

Mehr in Avesta and Old-Persian was called Mithra and in Pahlavi language it was called Mithr. In Avesta, Mehr was considered to be one of the creators of Ahura Mazda and was the Yazats (Izad) of contract and promise and hence the god of light and brightness because nothing was kept secret from him. Mithraism reached Babylon and Asia Minor from Iran and it then reached Europe by Roman soldiers. Once in Europe, it was worshiped as a great god. After the appearance of Zoroastrianism, Ahura Mazda became known as the only God and other Aryan gods were considered Yazats or angels which actually resembled characters and the power of God. Mehr was among such Yazats.

Mohammad Moghadam, the author of "Search on Mehr and Venus" believed that Mehr had a real character and during the reign of the Parthian dynasty, it was the official religion of Iranians. But in fact whatever the life of Mehr was, with the help of Christianity in the West and Zoroastrianism in the East, Mehr was destroyed.

Not too sure about its reliability tho!

spin

Quote:

Between the acting of a dreadful thing And the first motion, all the interim is Like a phantasma or a hideous dream --Willy the Shake

The Mithraism seen at Nemrut Dag is probably not that seen in the Mithraea.

The parts of Mithraism that have mostly interested me are the dualism and the eschaton, both present in the earliest Zoroastrianism, and the fact that Mithras was at one stage a representative or reflection of Ahuramazda, the lord of heaven. These plus some of the attributes of Mithras are similar to elements in the religion of Paul.


spin

Roger Pearse

No indeed. Try having a look at a couple of pages from Google Books, from Clauss' Roman Cult of Mithras.

All the best,

Roger Pearse

youngalexander

I was being a trifle tongue in cheek, I am quite familiar with Clauss.

Clivedurdle

Why don't we talk about proto - xianity? Say that before Constantine?

I cannot understand this search for the perfect Mithraism when xianity with its heresies had and has just as many varieties!