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Richard August Reitzenstein (2 April 1861, in Breslau – 23 March 1931, in Göttingen) was a German classical philologist and scholar of Ancient Greek religion, hermetism and Gnosticism. He is described by Kurt Rudolph [ 1 ] as “one of the most stimulating Gnostic scholars.”
The mystery religions, according to Maccoby, were the dominant religious forms in the Hellenistic world of that age and strongly influenced Paul's mythological psychology. Maccoby partially derived his theory from fragments of the writings of opponents of Ebionites , particularly the treatise on Heresies by Epiphanius of Salamis .
The religion following Cybele (or the Great Mother) came from Phrygia to Greece and then to Egypt and Italy, where in 204 BCE the Roman Senate permitted her worship. She was a healing and protecting goddess, and a guardian of fertility and wild nature. [10] Another mystery religion was focused around Dionysus.
Roman statue of Isis, second century CE. Greco-Roman mysteries were voluntary, secret initiation rituals. [2] They were dedicated to a particular deity or group of deities, and used a variety of intense experiences, such as nocturnal darkness interrupted by bright light, or loud music or noise, that induced a state of disorientation and an intense religious experience.
Mystery religions, mystery cults, sacred mysteries or simply mysteries (Greek: μυστήρια), were religious schools of the Greco-Roman world for which participation was reserved to initiates (mystai). The main characteristic of these religious schools was the secrecy associated with the particulars of the initiation and the ritual practice ...
The origins of Western esotericism are in the Hellenistic Eastern Mediterranean, then part of the Roman Empire, during Late Antiquity. [85] This was a milieu that mixed religious and intellectual traditions from Greece, Egypt, the Levant, Babylon, and Persia—in which globalisation , urbanisation, and multiculturalism were bringing about socio ...
One of two known Phoenician Harpocrates statues. Harpocrates (Ancient Greek: Ἁρποκράτης, Phoenician: 𐤇𐤓𐤐𐤊𐤓𐤈, [1] romanized: ḥrpkrṭ, Coptic: ϩⲁⲣⲡⲟⲕⲣⲁⲧⲏⲥ harpokratēs) is the god of silence, secrets and confidentiality in the Hellenistic religion developed in Ptolemaic Alexandria (and also an embodiment of hope, according to Plutarch).
One of the first known representations of the Buddha, Gandhara, in pure Hellenistic style and technique: Standing Buddha (Tokyo National Museum). Height: about 1 meter. The Indo-Greek may have initiated anthropomorphic representations of the Buddha in statuary, possibly as soon as the 2nd-1st century BCE, according to Foucher and others.