Ancient Mystery Cults

Carl Newell Jackson Lectures

by Walter Burkert

The foremost historian of Greek religion provides the first comprehensive, comparative study of a little-known aspect of ancient religious beliefs and practices. Secret mystery cults flourished within the larger culture of the public religion of Greece and Rome for roughly a thousand years. This book is neither a history nor a survey but a comparative phenomenology. Concentrating on five major cults. In defining the mysteries and describing their rituals, membership, organization, and dissemination, Walter Burkert displays the remarkable erudition we have come to expect of him; he also shows sensitivity and sympathy in interpreting the experiences and motivations of the devotees.

Genres: History, Religion, Nonfiction, Mythology, Classics, Ancient History, Mysticism

181 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Walter Burkert was a German scholar of Greek mythology and cult. Professor Emeritus of Classics, University of Zurich, Switzerland, he taught in the UK and the US.

Reviews

[peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good, quick little primer on a fascinating aspect of the classical religious context: the mystery cult. These religions set the stage for the emergence of Christianity, and it is remarkable to hear of how they anticipate and how they differ from it. Burkett makes it quite clear how dependent these mystery cults were on the broader pagan milieu.

This book is scholarly but approachable, and does not suffer from any new age mysticism that many works on this subject are burdened by.

[Χρυσόστομος Τσαπραΐλης · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ενδιαφέρον αλλά στεγνό, βαριά ακαδημαϊκό βιβλίο που εξετάζει πτυχές αρχαίων μυστηριακών λατρείων του μεσόγειου κόσμου λαμβάνοντας ως case studies τα πέντε γνωστότερα μυστήρια: Ελευσίνια, Ίσιδας, Μίθρα, Διόνυσου και Μεγάλης Μητέρας. Στα δυο πρώτα κεφάλαια επικεντρώνεται στο ιστορικό, κοινωνικό και πολιτικό σκέλος, ενώ στα δύο τελευταία μπαίνει βαθύτερα στην τελετουργία και στην ίδια την εμπειρία των μυστηρίων. Σίγουρα οι περισσότεροι αναγνώστες θα βρουν κάτι ενδιαφέρον αλλά θα πρέπει να το αναζητήσουν μέσα στο κάπως άχαρο κείμενο και στο πλήθος σημειώσεων που, ως αναμενόμενο, περιλαμβάνει ένα βιβλίο τέτοιου προσανατολισμού.

[Maan Kawas · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent book that provides information about the realm of ancient mystery cults, Ancient Greek and Roman, Ancient Egyptian, and Mesopotamian. Although I enjoyed this book and found it so informative and interesting, still I encountered some difficulties in understanding some of its (Greek) terms and words, due to lack of definition/explanation!

[Chaney · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was great. Though it can be dense at times, this collection of talks by a very competent speaker contains an amazing amount of information on the much-alluded-to, little-understood subject of mystery cults. A realistic, scholarly picture of what these associations were and what their participants were like emerges, and it's refreshingly devoid of hype and romanticism.

[Daniel Lyons · Rating 5 out of 5]

Found this in my mother-in-law's library and pilfered it. Excellent discussion of the topic presented for non-experts like myself, but goes into some depth in this interesting topic. Really helped me understand the difference in mindset of pre-Christian pagan peoples.

[DAJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

The four chapters of this book are taken from a series of lectures that Burkert gave in 1982. They all examine aspects of mystery cults in general rather than each cult individually. The introduction, which describes the Eleusinian mysteries and those dedicated to Dionysus, Magna Mater, Isis, and Mithras, gives the reader the basic background for understanding what follows. The four lectures discuss: how the mysteries satisfied worshippers' personal religious needs; the communities of initiates in each cult, and how they were organized; mystery cults' theology, or lack thereof; and what the mystery rites actually consisted of. This structure means that the reader doesn't get a complete description of any of the individual cults. Instead, Burkert looks at each of them while discussing the main topic in each essay.

Burkert challenges many old assumptions about the mystery cults. He expresses skepticism about the use of hallucinogens or other drugs during the mystery rites, saying the circumstances of most rites really weren't well suited for a drug trip. He shows that the mysteries had no systematic theology and their religious communities were fairly loosely organized. He especially challenges the notion that the mysteries guaranteed a better afterlife for their initiates.

A lot of this criticism is justified. Hallucinogen-based mystery rites seemed plausible in the wake of the drug-centered mysticism of the 1960s counterculture, but by 1982 the effects of hallucinogens were well understood, and Burkert was able to point out the dissimilarity between them and the mystery cults. More fundamentally, scholars for generations before Burkert were working with the unspoken assumption that Christianity is the model for what a real religion should be like. To them, the mysteries seemed like half-formed precursors to this type of religion, and they often assumed that the mysteries were more Christian-like than they really were. Scholars in the 1970s and 1980s reacted against these faulty assumptions, and their skeptical views held sway when these lectures were given. Nevertheless, I think Burkert downplayed afterlife beliefs too much, and more recent studies of the mystery cults tend to agree with me.

Burkert is often insightful, especially about the psychological phenomena underlying the mystery cults. But this really isn't a complete examination of the mysteries. A reader looking for one should turn to Mystery Cults of the Ancient World by Hugh Bowden, which describes the historical context extensively, or Initiation into the Mysteries of the Ancient World by Jan Bremmer, which gives straightforward descriptions of the rites and examines them just as thoughtfully as Burkert does. This book works best as a supplement to those two.

[Laura Janeiro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Libro difícil. Apabullante erudición. En la abundancia de citas se pierde el hilo que las hilvana.

Así como sin hierofante no era posible el acceso a cultos mistéricos antiguos, sin ayuda es mucho lo que se me escapa en la lectura. Como recopilación antropológica debe ser apasionante. Como libro... mmm. En mi caso, lo veo como una guía de futuras lecturas destinadas a releer (o decantar) este libro.

Es llamativo el resultado. Los misterios se esconden de los no iniciados, incluso en un libro que pretende iluminar sus sendas ocultas.

El final, integrador, justifica el esfuerzo de la lectura y permite asir el sentido que Burkert supone para los misterios.

... “Los misterios eran demasiado frágiles para sobrevivir por sí mis­mos como «religiones». Eran opciones dentro de la multiplicidad del politeísmo pagano, y desaparecieron con él. Queda una extraña fasci­nación incluso en los destellos y conjeturas de fragmentos evocadores: la oscuridad y la luz, la angustia y el éxtasis, el vino, la espiga de trigo. Los logoi siguieron siendo provisionales, sin que alcanzasen el nivel de sistema o credo. Bastaba saber que había puertas al secreto que podían abrirse para aquellos que sinceramente lo buscaban, lo que significaba que había una oportunidad de escapar de los caminos cerrados y los yermos de una existencia previsible. Tales esperanzas fueron intentos de crear un contexto de sentido en un mundo banal, deprimente y a
menudo absurdo, proporcionando la experiencia de un gran ritmo en el que las resonancias de la psique individual podían ser integradas a través de un acontecimiento asombroso de sympatheia.”

[Ahmet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gizem tapıları diyince aklınızda hiçbir şey canlanmıyorsa yalnız değilsiniz,
Kitapta antik yunan döneminde yaklaşık MÖ 250- MS 300 civarında kendi içinde kapalı dini bir tür gruplaşmalardan bahsediliyor, genel anlamda din değil fakat tarikat yapılanması tarzı içine girenlerin birbirini tanıdığı kolladığı, gruba olan katkılarına göre derecelendirildiği kapalı bir kutu,
Gizli olmasının sonucu olarak yazılı kaynak çok kısıtlı ve sosyal etkinliklerini yaptıkları tapınmaları farklı farklı eserlerden ancak ucundan kıyısından yakalayabilmişiz,
Yazar yapılmış heykeller kabartmalar üzerine bazı sahnelerden yola çıkarak görünür bir yapı inşa etmeye çalışmış, mümkün olduğunca elindeki materyallerden çıkan anlamları ve şimdiye kadar varolagelmiş tartışma sonuçlarına göre hayallerden uzak gerçekçi bir bütün oluşturmuş,
Platon döneminde bulunan bu tarz inanç grupları için olan görüşleri ve konuşmaları farklı kitaplarından alıntılanmış,
Kitap 1999 basımı olduğu için bu alandaki güncel bilgilerden yoksun olabileceğini düşündürüyor,
4 Yıldız vermemin bir sebebi kitaptaki dip notların emeğin karşılığı olarak görmem, bir yandan da okumayı inanılmaz zorlaştırıyor, sonrasında sayfa sonunda göz atmaya başladım dip notlara, kitabı daha rahat okudum, araştırma yapmak isteyen biri için detaylı referanslar ve karşılaştırmalı tartışmalı konular için birden fazla kaynak gösterilmiş,
Kitabın ortasında konuyla ilgili buluntulardan vazo ve kabartmaların resimleri açıklamalarıyla eklenmiş

[N · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stay of execution.

Notes
Initiation. Change of status affects relationship with the god/goddess. Not an irrevocable change.

Secret: mystery cannot be betrayed, but even if told it would appear insignificant, so secrecy was protected.

Votive religions focus on gifts left in sanctuaries - coping with uncertainty by smaller renunciations, especially post-dated vows.

Experience of pain -> search for escape (soteria) -> faith (pistis) -> votive -> success -> perpetuation

Diagoras of Samothrace - the offerings by those saved seafarers would be far more numerous if the drowned were allowed to give gifts too.

Isis grants new life, more powerful than votive gift: novae salutis curricula

Reconciling the 2 contradictory purposes of mysteries - soteria from some manifest suffering (Demeter conferring ploutos) vs afterlife initiation/purification: all suffering borne from an old enmity (Plato’s menima). So the ritual has an effect in this life and the other-world.

Aristotle - those undergoing mysteries (telomenoui) should not learn (mathein) but experience / be affected (pathein).

Sinesius distinction between primitive egyptian monks (jump from base reality to exalted state, then back to miserable surrounding) and philosophical mysticism (step by step to epopteia, pure vision).

[Mateusz · Rating 4 out of 5]

A superb book, as long as it is taken for what it is: a series of erudite lectures, barely touching the depths of the subjects. I felt comfortable reading it, as I had solid background knowledge from elsewhere, yet I enriched myself with these erudite flakes and minutes to a satisfying degree. Highly commendable for the cognoscendi, to gather new tasty bits of variete not to be found elsewhere. Highly commendable to the amateurs - to develop a love for mysteries starting from this short survey.

Thank you.

[Luke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found this book in one of the sources when looking for information regarding esotericism and magic. The most interesting chapter would be the last one regarding divine experience and the methods of invoking said experience using various methods like rituals in community. Sharing a feast over the carcass of a bull, symbolizing Mithras slaying the bull as our cosmogenic birth is one of many symbolic rituals I feel like we should bring back. Communal cults sounds like a good idea to abolish the toxic individualism of today.

[Dio Moore · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short book that took a week to read. It felt like a lot longer, and should have been shorter, but hey-ho. I really wish the chapters had been split up into smaller sections to make it a little bit easier to digest and flip to the relevant information. Overall, though, full of really interesting material that will come in useful during my studies.

[Xavi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cito de la última página: “Los misterios eran demasiado frágiles para sobrevivir por sí mismos como religiones. Eran opciones dentro de la multiplicidad del politeísmo pagano, y desaparecieron con él. Queda una extraña fascinación incluso en los destellos y conjeturas de fragmentos evocadores: la oscuridad y la luz, la angustia y el éxtasis, el vino, la espiga de trigo”.

[Jackie ϟ Bookseller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this for a class. Pretty simple explanations, although Chapter 3 felt less organized and developed than the others.

[Art Killings · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book on the various mystery religions that were flourishing in the Greco-Roman world before and during the time of Jesus.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not what I was expecting, but a brief and interesting series of lectures.

[Veiltender · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid and careful discussion of what we do and don’t know about ancient mystery cults. A great book to start with on the topic.

[Meredith Huff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good overview of mystery cults.

[Goknilirmak · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dipnotların çokluğu ve çeviri okumayı güçleştirmiş.

[helen]

neat

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is definitely an book aimed at academia. Very dense with information and citations, you have to be really interested in the subject and invested in learning to get through the book.

[Rafael · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5

[Sandra Bassett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most are familiar with Greek and Egyptian Myth but few realize the secrecy around the myths that made them into a religion. One of my Religious Studies professors claimed that Christianity thrived while these religions became what we now call "myths" because early Christianity did not require a veil of secrecy around its beliefs and was open to all rather than a select few. He also claimed that the localization of "myths" led to their downfall when people began to travel more. The Christian god is a traveling god that can be worshiped any where, not just in Eleusis (ie. Demeter and Kore). While most books only tell of the "myth" or story of gods and goddesses, this book explores what made them religions.

[Midori · Rating 2 out of 5]

Burkert's Mystery Cults scores low not because of its schematic treatment of the late antiquity mystery cults such as the mysteries of Meter, Isis or Mithra- the Eleusinian Mysteries are certainly the exception to the rule although the author scrupulously avoids treating them in their great classical era- but because of its disorganized structure. The reader has to reassemble the tips and bits of information dispersed all around to have a clear idea of each one of the mysteries cults described. Some insightful general observations mainly found in the first pages of the book save the project from the complete disaster.

[Johanna Hilla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Despite being slightly disorganized in its structure, Burkert offers a phenomenal attempt to tie together the secrets of mysteries. He is a historian but not afraid to bring forth perspectives from psychology and anthropology. In addition to being vastly informative, his writing is light and flows nicely. A very important topic in the current discussion of altered states policies!

[Erik Graff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having read a great number of books about ancient Greek religion, I appreciated one that went beyond being a general survey yet was delivered for a popular audience. I should read more about the pagan mystery cults in order to better understand the Christian ones.

[Morgan Lofting · Rating 4 out of 5]

burkert, detienne, vidal-naquet and company continue to feed my love of antiquity. good historians, compelling ideas.
years ago, reading mary renault began my fascination with how we humans make up the world around us.

[Hoyden · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a mess. At least it's useful for exams.

[Anna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very bad..This is the worst book I have read so far about the ancient cults.

[Sean Mccarrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is not for the casual reader, but it does a really great job of addressing the imagistic nature of the mystery cults. It really enlightened my knowledge of what mystery cults were.