Editing Mithraism (section)

==Interpretations of the bull-slaying scene==
[[File:Museul de istorie IMG 1703Siboiumithra 02.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Unusual tauroctony at the [[Brukenthal National Museum]]]]

According to Cumont, the imagery of the tauroctony was a Graeco-Roman representation of an event in Zoroastrian cosmogony described in a 9th-century Zoroastrian text, the [[Bundahishn]]. In this text the evil spirit [[Ahriman]] (not Mithra) slays the primordial creature [[Gavaevodata]], which is represented as a bovine.{{efn|
"{{big|19}}.&nbsp;He let loose Greed, Needfulness, [Pestilence,] Disease, Hunger, Illness, Vice and Lethargy on the body of Gav' and Gayomard. {{big|20}}.&nbsp;Before his coming to the 'Gav', Ohrmazd gave the healing Cannabis, which is what one calls 'banj', to the' Gav' to eat, and rubbed it before her eyes, so that her discomfort, owing to smiting, [sin] and injury, might decrease; she immediately became feeble and ill, her milk dried up, and she passed away."<ref>{{cite book |title=The Greater [Bundahishn] |at=IV.19-20 |url=http://www.avesta.org/mp/grb1.htm#chap4 |access-date=9 October 2009 |archive-date=20 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171020090417/http://www.avesta.org/mp/grb1.htm#chap4 |url-status=live }}</ref>
}}
Cumont held that a version of the myth must have existed in which Mithras, not Ahriman, killed the bovine. But according to Hinnells, no such variant of the myth is known, and that this is merely speculation: "In no known Iranian text [either Zoroastrian or otherwise] does Mithra slay a bull."<ref>{{cite conference |last=Hinnels |first=John R. |title=Reflections on the bull-slaying scene |book-title=Mithraic Studies |conference=The First International Conference on Mithraic Studies |publisher=Manchester University Press |volume=II |pages=290–312}}</ref>{{rp|style=ama|p= 291}}

David Ulansey finds astronomical evidence from the mithraeum itself.{{refn|name="Ulansey_1989"|{{cite book|last=Ulansey |first=David |year=1989 |title=The Origins of the Mithraic Mysteries |publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=0-19-505402-4}} (1991 revised edition<ref name=Ulansey-1991-Origins/>) }} He reminds us that the Platonic writer [[Porphyry (philosopher)|Porphyry]] wrote in the 3rd&nbsp;century&nbsp;CE that the cave-like temple Mithraea depicted "an image of the world"{{efn|
10:&nbsp;"Since, however, a cavern is an image and symbol of the world&nbsp;..."<ref>{{cite book |author=Porphyry |author-link=Porphyry (philosopher) |title=De Antro Nympharum |trans-title=On the Cave of the Nymphs |at=10 |url=http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/porphyry_cave_of_nymphs_02_translation.htm |access-date=9 October 2009 |archive-date=22 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170822111032/http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/porphyry_cave_of_nymphs_02_translation.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>}} and that Zoroaster consecrated a cave resembling the world fabricated by Mithras.{{efn|
2:&nbsp;"For, as Eubulus says, Zoroaster was the first who consecrated in the neighbouring mountains of Persia, a spontaneously produced cave, florid, and having fountains, in honour of Mithra, the maker and father of all things; {{nobr|12: a cave,}} according to Zoroaster, bearing a resemblance of the world, which was fabricated by Mithra. But the things contained in the cavern being arranged according to commensurate intervals, were symbols of the mundane elements and climates."<ref name=deantro2>{{cite book |author=Porphyry |author-link=Porphyry (philosopher) |title=De Antro Nympharum |trans-title=On the Cave of the Nymphs |at=2 |url=http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/porphyry_cave_of_nymphs_02_translation.htm |access-date=9 October 2009 |archive-date=22 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170822111032/http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/porphyry_cave_of_nymphs_02_translation.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>
}}
The ceiling of the Caesarea Maritima Mithraeum retains traces of blue paint, which may mean the ceiling was painted to depict the sky and the stars.<ref>{{cite book |first=Lewis M. |last=Hopfe |year=1994 |section=Archaeological indications on the origins of Roman Mithraism |editor-first=Lewis M. |editor-last=Hopfe |title=Uncovering Ancient Stones: Essays in memory of H. Neil Richardson |publisher=Eisenbrauns |pages=147–158, 154}}</ref>

Beck has given the following celestial composition of the Tauroctony:<ref>{{cite book |author=Beck, Roger |year=2004 |section=Astral symbolism in the tauroctony: A statistical demonstration of the extreme improbability of unintended coincidence in the selection of elements in the composition |title=Beck on Mithraism: Collected works with new essays |publisher=Ashgate Publishing |isbn=978-0-7546-4081-3 |page=257}}</ref>
:{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Component of Tauroctony
! Celestial counterpart
|-
| Bull
| ''[[Taurus (constellation)|Taurus]]''
|-
| Sol
| ''[[Sun]]''
|-
| Luna
| ''[[Moon]]''
|-
| Dog
| ''[[Canis Minor]]'', ''[[Canis Major]]''
|-
| Snake
| ''[[Hydra (constellation)|Hydra]]'', ''[[Serpens]]'', ''[[Draco (constellation)|Draco]]''
|-
| Raven
| ''[[Corvus (constellation)|Corvus]]''
|-
| Scorpion
| ''[[Scorpius (constellation)|Scorpius]]''
|-
| Wheat's ear (on bull's tail)
| ''[[Spica]]''
|-
| Twins Cautes and Cautopates
| ''[[Gemini (constellation)|Gemini]]''
|-
| Lion
| ''[[Leo (constellation)|Leo]]''
|-
| [[Krater|Crater]]
| ''[[Crater (constellation)|Crater]]''
|-
| Cave
| ''[[Universe]]''
|}

Several celestial identities for the Tauroctonous Mithras (TM) himself have been proposed. Beck summarizes them in the table below.<ref name=Beck-2004-TM-ID>{{cite book |last=Beck |first=Roger |year=2004 |chapter=The rise and fall of astral identifications of the tauroctonous Mithras |title=Beck on Mithraism: Collected works with new essays |publisher=Ashgate Publishing |isbn=978-0-7546-4081-3 |page=236}}</ref>
:{| class="wikitable"t
|-
! Scholar
! Identifies tauroctonous Mithras (TM) as<ref name=Beck-2004-TM-ID/>
|-
| Bausani, A. (1979)
| TM associated with Leo, in that the tauroctony is a type<br/>of the ancient lion–bull (Leo–Taurus) combat motif. 
|-
| Beck, R.L. (1994)
| TM = Sun in Leo
|-
| Insler, S. (1978)
| [tauroctony = heliacal setting of Taurus]
|-
| Jacobs, B. (1999)
| [tauroctony = heliacal setting of Taurus]
|-
| North, J.D. (1990)
| TM = [[Betelgeuse]] (Alpha Orionis) setting,<br/>TM knife = [[Triangulum (constellation)|Triangulum]] setting,<br/>TM cloak = [[Capella (star)|Capella]] (Alpha Aurigae) setting.
|-
| Rutgers, A.J. (1970)
| TM = Sun,<br/>Bull = Moon
|-
| Sandelin, K.-G. (1988)
| TM = [[Auriga (constellation)|Auriga]]
|-
| Speidel, M.P. (1980)
| TM = Orion
|-
| Ulansey, D. (1989)
| TM = Perseus
|-
| Weiss, M. (1994, 1998)
| TM = the Night Sky
|}

[[File:Mithras banquet Louvre Ma3441.jpg|thumb|Sol and Mithras banqueting with Luna and the twin divinities Cautes and Cautopates, his attendants (side&nbsp;B of a double-sided Roman marble relief, 2nd or 3rd&nbsp;century&nbsp;CE)]]
Ulansey has proposed that Mithras seems to have been derived from the [[Perseus (constellation)|constellation of Perseus]], which is positioned just above Taurus in the night sky. He sees iconographic and mythological parallels between the two figures: both are young heroes, carry a dagger, and wear a Phrygian cap. He also mentions the similarity of the image of Perseus killing the [[Gorgon]] and the tauroctony, both figures being associated with caverns and both having connections to Persia as further evidence.<ref name=Ulansey-1991-Origins/>{{rp|style=ama|pp= 25–39}}
Michael Speidel associates Mithras with the constellation of [[Orion (constellation)|Orion]] because of the proximity to Taurus, and the consistent nature of the depiction of the figure as having wide shoulders, a garment flared at the hem, and narrowed at the waist with a belt, thus taking on the form of the constellation.<ref name=Speidel-1997>{{cite book |first=Michael P. |last=Speidel |date=August 1997 |orig-year=1980 |title=Mithras-Orion: Greek hero and Roman army god |publisher=Brill Academic Publishers |isbn=90-04-06055-3}}</ref>

In opposition to the theories above, which link Mithras to specific constellations, Jelbert suggests that the deity represented the Milky Way.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Jelbert |first=Rebecca |year=2022 |title=Illuminating Mithraic Iconography: Mithras, God of Light, as the Milky Way  |journal=Culture and Cosmos |volume=26 |pages=51–78|doi=10.46472/CC.0126.0205 |s2cid=258253505 }}</ref> Jelbert argues that within the tauroctony image, Mithras' body is analogous to the path of the Milky Way that bridges Taurus and Scorpius, and that this bifurcated section mirrors the shape, scale and position of the deity relative to the other characters in the scene. The notion of Mithras as the Milky Way would have resonated with his status as god of light and lord of genesis, suggests Jelbert, due to the luminosity of this celestial feature, as well as the location of the traditional soul gates at Taurus-Gemini and Scorpius- Sagittarius, portals once believed to represent the points of entry for the soul at birth and death respectively.

Beck has criticized Speidel and Ulansey of adherence to a literal cartographic logic, describing their theories as a "will-o'-the-wisp" that "lured them down a false trail".<ref name=Beck-2004-InPlcLion>{{cite book |author=Beck, Roger |year=2004 |section=In the place of the lion: Mithras in the tauroctony |title=Beck on Mithraism: Collected works with new essays |publisher=Ashgate Publishing |isbn=978-0-7546-4081-3 |pages=270–276 |section-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SIYTfTYrs1UC&dq=ulansey+mithras+sol+luna&pg=PA276 |access-date=23 February 2023 |archive-date=14 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414153757/https://books.google.com/books?id=SIYTfTYrs1UC&dq=ulansey+mithras+sol+luna&pg=PA276 |url-status=live }}</ref> He argues that a literal reading of the tauroctony as a star chart raises two major problems: it is difficult to find a constellation counterpart for Mithras himself (despite efforts by Speidel and Ulansey) and that, unlike in a star chart, each feature of the tauroctony might have more than a single counterpart. Rather than seeing Mithras as a constellation, Beck argues that Mithras is the prime traveller on the celestial stage (represented by the other symbols of the scene), the Unconquered Sun moving through the constellations.<ref name=Beck-2004-InPlcLion/> But again, Meyer holds that the Mithras Liturgy reflects the world of Mithraism and may be a confirmation for Ulansey's theory of Mithras being held responsible for the precession of equinoxes.{{efn|
... The Mithras Liturgy reflects the world of Mithraism, but precisely how it relates to other expressions of the mysteries of Mithras is unclear. ... With the leg of the bull, interpreted astronomically, the Mithraic god, or Mithras, turns the sphere of heaven around, and if the text suggests that Mithras "moves heaven and turns it back (antistrephousa)," Mithras may be responsible for the astronomical precession of the equinoxes, the progressive change in the earth's orientation in space caused by a wobble in the earth's rotation (so Ulansey).<ref>{{cite book | last1 = Meyer | first1 = Marvin | year = 2006 | title = The historical Jesus in context | chapter = The Mithras Liturgy |editor1 = Levine, A.J. |editor2=Allison, Dale C. Jr. |editor3=Crossan, John Dominic |publisher = Princeton University Press | location = New Jersey | isbn = 0-691-00991-0 |pages= 179–180}}</ref>
}}

[[Peter Chrisp]] posits that the killing was of a "[[sacred bull]]" and that the "act [was] believed" to create the universe's [[Energy (esotericism)|life force]] and maintain it.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=McIntosh |first1=Jane |title=History of the World in 1,000 Objects |last2=Chrisp |first2=Peter |last3=Parker |first3=Philip |last4=Gibson |first4=Carrie |last5=Grant |first5=R. G. |last6=Regan |first6=Sally |date=October 2014 |publisher=[[DK (publisher)|DK]] and the [[Smithsonian]] |isbn=978-1-4654-2289-7 |location=New York |page=83 |author-link=Jane McIntosh |author-link2=Peter Chrisp}}</ref>