The Mystery-Religions

By S. Angus

Book Overview

What is the strange fascination of the Mystery-Religions for the ancient world and today, some 2,000 years later, for moderns? Why are these colorful ancient cults so little known, all information about them suppressed or distorted by centuries of official religion in Europe? What did these ancient beliefs have that exacted the respect of Socrates, Plato, Virgil, Apuleius, and other great men of the classical age? Was the religion that stamped them out, Christianity, itself originally a Mystery-Religion, with secret teachings that only initiates could comprehend and psychological techniques not generally revealed? This volume, generally considered the most useful single work in English on the subject, attempts to answer such questions, while at the same time offering a sound, solid background in the various forms of religious experience that are grouped together under the term Mystery-Religions. From the Eleusinian mysteries of ancient Greece through the Asiatic cults of Cybele, the Magna Mater, and Attis; the strange rompings of the Dionysian groups; Orphics with their impact on Greek philosophy; the Mysteries emergent from Egypt -- Hermes Trismegistos, the Pymander, Isis, and Osiris; on up to the religion that swept the Near East and Europe, carried by the Roman legions, and that almost became central for us today -- Mithraism. Each of these religions offered something to its devotees that the older ethnic and state religions could not: a sense of the value of the individual; heightened areas of experience, even to the manipulations of sensory experience; psychological insights that are only now being appreciated. Yet they all died out within a couple of centuries of the Christian era, Gnosticism (apart from a few vestigial groups in the Near East and Europe) subsuming their heritage last.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0486231240
• ISBN13: 9780486231242
• Release Date: November 2011
• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 0.97 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.4" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Classic study, invaluable resource

Owning this book is a necessity for anyone and everyone interested in the subject of ancient mystery religions and cultic practices. An in-depth study (out-dated though it is, on occasion), it's both penetrating and insightful. A must for the serious student of ancient mythology and religion. Ian Driscoll, author of Atlantis: Egyptian Genesis

Review

As someone with no background in this type of material, I was curious surrounding some of hype of the "Da Vinci code" so I picked up this tome. After a difficult start due to my lack of knowledge in this field of studies. I read slowly then avidly and gained so much from this very learned man. It is a balanced book it that does not have any agenda only that it speaks the truth. Now as for the level of writing these types of books do go beyond the college-lite education that is so common today. The style is lucid and clear and with an excellent usage of vocabulary.

The Best Most Authoritative Review of the Mysteries

Anyone curious for a well written collegiate level review of the Ancient Mysteries and the similarities found in Christianity will find this work complete. I don't believe a better work on this topic has been written. For the esoterically minded, Hermeticist, Freemason, Rosicrucian, look no further.

"A Superb Survey of the Mystery-Religions"

What will be found in the Anglican scholar Samuel Angus,' "The Mystery-Religions," is an informative overview of the principle cults which dominated the Mediterranean world from Alexander's conquests up to the early centuries of the Christian era. The crux of this work lies in Angus' erudite analysis of the various factors which facilitated the spread and subsequent decline of the Mystery-Religions, and likewise the factors that ultimately aided the spread and triumph of Christianity. He is clear in his presentation of key points and sincere with the information he provides. Angus' deep familiarity with both the ancient texts and the current modern scholarship of his times, on the whole, presents a well-researched work valuable for students and scholars alike. This work is an enduring masterpiece, which offers readers a complete and useful tool for understanding the multifaceted belief systems of the Mystery-Religions.

Classic Study of the Mystery Religions

First published in the 1920s, this work is still the standard on the various mystery religions so popular in Greece and Rome before the establishment of Christianity. (Interesting parallels between the mystery faiths and early Christianity are discussed, without either apology or venom, but with an avid interest.)While these mystery faiths were extremely popular, they were nonetheless secret societies. Many references to their rites and doctrines exist in surviving ancient sources; these references, however, are necessarily veiled. S. Angus does a beautiful job in arranging these fragments to present an intriguing mosaic. Another classic on ancient Mediterranean religion would be James George Frazer's The Golden Bough. For a more recent study, see Michael Grant, Myths of the Greeks and Romans, which includes a discussion of the mystery religions.