Mystery Cults of the Ancient World
This intriguing book offers the latest archaeological and textual information about some of the ancient world’s least-known, most compelling religions, most of which center on goddesses; for instance, Demeter, whose rites at Eleusis were attended by millions of initiates who kept the experience secret for hundreds of years, so that we still do not know exactly what happened in the “mysteries.” Two goddesses imported to Rome, Isis of Egypt and Cybele of Asia Minor, developed ecstatic cults among their converted followers. Among the male gods considered, the most significant is Dionysus, the wine god worshiped by the wild maenads, whose religion may have survived for almost a thousand years to crop up again in Pompeii. Bowden distinguishes these religions from others by noting that they are based in experience rather than in doctrine. Full of rarely published information but accessibly written, this is an excellent addition to the literature of ancient religions. --Patricia Monaghan