DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14697#0215
Orphic Theogonies and Cosmogonic Eros 1053
either side of the zodiac, must be c
(sacrorum). Eisler ingeniously sug-
gests that the relief in question
originally adorned the Orphic sanc-
tuary of a certain Felix and Eu-
phrosyne and was subsequently
re-dedicated in a Mithraic temple
by Felix alone, since women were
excluded from the rites of Mithras.
That an Orphic monument should
thus be re-consecrated in a Mithraic
shrine seems likely enough in view
of the fact that at Borcovicium
{Housesteads on Hadrian's Wall)
Mithras himself was represented in
an oval zodiac with an egg-shell on
his head (J. C. Bruce The Roman
Wall3 London 1867 p. 399 with fig.
on p. 398, id. Lapidarium Septen-
trionale Newcastle-upon-Tyne 1871
ii. 96—98 no. 188 fig., F. Cumont
Textes et monuments figures relatifs
aux mysteres de Mithra Bruxelles
1896 i. 395 fig. 315, R. Eisler Welten-
mantel und Himmelszelt Mimchen
1910 ii. 410 ff. fig. 48 a relief, 1.40™
high, 0.77m wide, found in situ be-
tween two Mithraic altars = Corp.
inscr. Lat. vii nos. 645, 646 : Mithras'
body emerges from the Petra gene-
trix (Dessau Inscr. Lat. set. nos.
4244, 4248, 4250, cp. 4249); his arms
are broken, but his right hand still
holds a knife, his left hand a lighted
torch), while the lion-headed god,
usually described as the Mithraic
Kronos or Aion, but more probably
explained as Areimanios or Arei-
manes, the Mithraists' equivalent for
Ahriman (F, Legge Forerunners and
Rivals of Christianity Cambridge
1915 ii. 254 f.), appears with a snake
coiled about him, wings attached to
his shoulders and haunches, a scep-
tre held in his left hand, and a thun-
derbolt on his breast or at his side
{e.g. Clarac Mus. de Sculpt, pi. 559
fig. 1193, Reinach Rep. Stat. i. 296
no. 3, F. LajardIntroduction a, P etude
du culte public et des mysteres de
Mithra en orient et en Occident Paris
1847 ph 7°, C. O. M tiller Denkmaler
eted as p^ecunia) p(osuit) Felix pater
Fig. 910.
either side of the zodiac, must be c
(sacrorum). Eisler ingeniously sug-
gests that the relief in question
originally adorned the Orphic sanc-
tuary of a certain Felix and Eu-
phrosyne and was subsequently
re-dedicated in a Mithraic temple
by Felix alone, since women were
excluded from the rites of Mithras.
That an Orphic monument should
thus be re-consecrated in a Mithraic
shrine seems likely enough in view
of the fact that at Borcovicium
{Housesteads on Hadrian's Wall)
Mithras himself was represented in
an oval zodiac with an egg-shell on
his head (J. C. Bruce The Roman
Wall3 London 1867 p. 399 with fig.
on p. 398, id. Lapidarium Septen-
trionale Newcastle-upon-Tyne 1871
ii. 96—98 no. 188 fig., F. Cumont
Textes et monuments figures relatifs
aux mysteres de Mithra Bruxelles
1896 i. 395 fig. 315, R. Eisler Welten-
mantel und Himmelszelt Mimchen
1910 ii. 410 ff. fig. 48 a relief, 1.40™
high, 0.77m wide, found in situ be-
tween two Mithraic altars = Corp.
inscr. Lat. vii nos. 645, 646 : Mithras'
body emerges from the Petra gene-
trix (Dessau Inscr. Lat. set. nos.
4244, 4248, 4250, cp. 4249); his arms
are broken, but his right hand still
holds a knife, his left hand a lighted
torch), while the lion-headed god,
usually described as the Mithraic
Kronos or Aion, but more probably
explained as Areimanios or Arei-
manes, the Mithraists' equivalent for
Ahriman (F, Legge Forerunners and
Rivals of Christianity Cambridge
1915 ii. 254 f.), appears with a snake
coiled about him, wings attached to
his shoulders and haunches, a scep-
tre held in his left hand, and a thun-
derbolt on his breast or at his side
{e.g. Clarac Mus. de Sculpt, pi. 559
fig. 1193, Reinach Rep. Stat. i. 296
no. 3, F. LajardIntroduction a, P etude
du culte public et des mysteres de
Mithra en orient et en Occident Paris
1847 ph 7°, C. O. M tiller Denkmaler
eted as p^ecunia) p(osuit) Felix pater
Fig. 910.