1. Mystery Cults
Cybele is perhaps the most commonly worshiped mother goddess. Her history is timeless, as she has taken many forms and names throughout the different centuries and in various civilizations. Her official Roman name is "Mater Deum Magna Idea." This paper will take you along her journey from Anatolia to Rome, and touch on her presence in Greece. She comes with many myths and worship practices. There is archeological evidence of her cult throughout much of the world. The following pages only provide a glimpse of her story, but will make clear the impact she has had on Classical- and Hellenistic- day civilization.
Since the beginning of time, man has wondered about the phenomenon of nature. Events such as flood, drought, life, and death have eluded us. It is human nature to formulate cause and effect explanations for such occurrences. Before science, there was only speculation (myth and folklore). What happens when the cause is unobservable, not able to be seen as natural? We come up with supernatural explanations to appease our curiosity. This leads to the personification of such supernatural power, and we form an all-powerful being in our minds.
Carl Jung best describes why this all-powerful being has taken a feminine form in many cultures, old and new. Most ancient societies were male-dominated, and patriarchal, which Jung calls animus. Women in these societies were often seen as care-givers and givers of life. He calls this anima.
Males were seen as the "creative- transformation" side of humanity, while women were the "protective- nurture" side. With this in mind, it is clear why women were considered responsible for the "growth of all nature." Jung said this is the reason why the superior supernatural being was a female archetype. A Great Mother, a Mother Nature, a Cybele, the same being has many names, but all can be traced back to a single beginning, with the animus and anima idea, from pre-history (Jung: Ferguson, 1970, p.
Greek Drama534 b.c. don't know exactly. Thespis, first tragedy writer stepped out of chorus for a solo. Tragedy=goat song. Possible influence by Egyptian ritual- Isis & Osiris story. dionysia (4 celebrations each winter in Athens, featured drama contests attempting to secure fertility and crop growt...
Religion in Ancient Rome Religion in ancient Roman times could be divided into two main Categories; State and Domestic Religion. However there were two other types of religion present in ancient Rome and these were Emperor Cult and Foreign Religions. Domestic Religion ...
Since the beginning of their existence Romans tended to take over other cults and incorporate them into their own religion ; cults like the one of Cybele, originally from Anatolia, Mithras from the Persians and even Isis from Egypt where adapted and incorporated in Roman society. ...
English novelist, story writer, critic, poet and painter Lawrence is one of the greatest figures in 20th-century English literature. Lawrence's doctrines of sexual freedom arose obscenity trials, which are still part of the relationship between literature and society. He saw sex and intuition as a key to undistorted perception of reality and a way unburden individual's frustrations and maladjustment to industrial culture. In 1912 he wrote: "What the blood feels, and believes, and says, is always true." The author's frankness in describing sexual relations between men and women u...
As ancient Greek history has played such a pivotal role in subsequent cultures throughout time, that to learn about women in this society enhances our understanding of western civilization. Ancient Greece was not a united nation, but a collection of individual sovereign communities with a common language, and similar religious rituals and beliefs. Communication was difficult due to the numerous islands and mountainous terrain that bisected the communities of people. Democracy, classical art and architecture, philosophy, and drama all can trace their lineage to ancient Greece. Antique vases and...