Oldal 95 [95]
OCR
DIONYSUS AND HIS DOPPELGÁNGERS IN JOHN LYDUS ee ANNA JUDIT TÔTH ABSTRACT The De mensibus by John Lydus contains a problematic sentence stating that Dionysus had two epithets: Dimétor and Dithyrambus, and both or one of these names mean(s): “the one who has two paths of procession, the one, from the east toward the south, in winter, and the other, from the north toward the west, in summer.” This sentence can be explained with the help of Mithraic theology as it is summarized in Porphyry’s De antro nympharum. In Mithraic cosmology, the alter egos of Mithras, Cautes and Cautopates are associated with the same directions and seasons as in the text by Lydus. The Dionysiac triad in the De mensibus can be read, thus, as an interpretation and adaptation of a Mithraic cosmology. The close analogy suggests that in the imperial era of Rome, similar stellar theologies were adapted for mystery cults with independent origins. Pagan theology of Late Antiquity has become a popular subject in recent decades, and not only among philosophers.’ In the field of religious studies, more and more scholars have recognized that these sources, which were written in a Christian empire, contain valuable data unknown from earlier ages. In the following pages, I would like to focus on one author of the sixth century, John Lydus. His most important and complete work on the magistrates of the Roman Empire has many modern editions and translations,” while his other monograph on the Roman calendar has been ! The research leading to these findings was made possible through funding from the Hungarian Fund for Academic Research (OTKA) under the project number K 101503. ? Editions of the De magistratibus: R. Wuensch (ed.), Joannis Lydi De magistratibus populi Romani libri tres. Leipzig, Teubner, 1903; T. F. Carney, Bureaucracy in Traditional Society. Romano-Byzantine Bureaucracies Viewed from within, 3 vols., Lawrence, Kansas, Coronado Press, 1971, with English translation; Anastasius C. Bandy, Joannes Lydus on Powers or the Magistracies of the Roman State. Introduction, Critical Text, Translation, + 93 + Daréczi-Sepsi-Vassänyi_Initiation_155x240.indb 93 6 2020. 06.15. 11:04:15
