In the Greco-Roman world, forgotten cults enacted arcane rituals whose secrets historian Hugh Bowden reveals…
In the time of the Ancient Greeks and Romans, secret societies practised rituals, the knowledge of which has since been lost to time. These rituals, known as ‘mysteries’, continue to fascinate historians who seek to piece together disparate sources, from scant written accounts to evidence found at archaeological sites, in an attempt to further understand these fascinating cults. Professor Hugh Bowden of King’s College London has spent many years studying Greek religion and to celebrate the release of his seminal work, Mystery Cults In The Ancient World, in paperback, he spoke to us about these groups, their various practices and the difficulties posed by researching something intended to remain secret.
In the introduction to your book, you define both the use of the word ‘mystery’ and the term ‘mystery cult’ in this context, could you just explain these definitions for the benefit of our readers?
The word ‘mystery’ originates from an ancient Athenian festival, the Eleusinian Mysteries, and in this context actually refers to a festival involving initiation. ‘Mystery cult’ is a modern term and can be an unhelpful one. For example, the Eleusinian Mysteries are a festival in honour of the goddess Demeter and her daughter Persephone (referred to in ancient times as Kore). And whilst initiation was important, there were lots of other activities that were just part of the worship of that goddess that were not particularly ‘cult-like’. However, other cults like the Mysteries of Mithras involve meetings of small groups of initiates and in that sense is closer to what we would consider cult practices. So we don’t use the terms ‘mystery’ or ‘cult’ quite in the way that we do in modern parlance, though there is some overlap.
Why were these separate groups linked under the mystery cults?
It’s a term we tend to use to describe a number of religious activities. Some are characterised by initiation, in which secret rituals took place that you weren’t allowed to talk about. But there are other groups generally referred to as mystery cults such as the worship of Dionysus, which may not have involved initiation. These cults involved people meeting and engaging in what are referred to as ‘ecstatic activities’. Ancient Greek writers already saw connections between these
