Tiresias: The Ancient Mediterranean Religions Source Database

7496

Lucian, The Syrian Goddess, 1

nan There is in Syria a city not far from the river Euphrates: it is called “the Sacred City,” and is sacred to the Assyrian Hera. As far as I can judge this name was not conferred upon the city when it was first settled, but originally it bore another name. In course of time the great sacrifices were held therein, and then this title was bestowed upon it. I will speak of this city, and of what it contains. I will speak also of the laws which govern its holy rites, of its popular assemblies and of the sacrifices offered by its citizens. I will speak also of all the traditions attaching to the founders of this holy place: and of the manner of the founding of its temple. I write as an Assyrian born who have witnessed with mine own eyes some of the facts which I am about to narrate: some, again, I learnt from the priests: they occurred before my time, but I narrate them as they were told to me.

Intertexts (texts cited often on the same page as the searched text):

10 results
1. Herodotus, Histories, 1.7 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE) 1.7. Now the sovereign power that belonged to the descendants of Heracles fell to the family of Croesus, called the Mermnadae, in the following way. ,Candaules, whom the Greeks call Myrsilus, was the ruler of Sardis ; he was descended from Alcaeus, son of Heracles; Agron son of Ninus, son of Belus, son of Alcaeus, was the first Heraclid king of Sardis and Candaules son of Myrsus was the last. ,The kings of this country before Agron were descendants of Lydus, son of Atys, from whom this whole Lydian district got its name; before that it was called the land of the Meii. ,The Heraclidae, descendants of Heracles and a female slave of Iardanus, received the sovereignty from these and held it, because of an oracle; and they ruled for twenty-two generations, or five hundred and five years, son succeeding father, down to Candaules son of Myrsus.
2. Lucian, The Ignorant Book-Collector, 4, 19 (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
3. Lucian, The Double Indictment, 34, 27 (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE) 27. Gentlemen, the defendant was no more than a boy — he still spoke with his native accent, and might at any moment have exhibited himself in the garb of an Assyrian — when I found him wandering up and down Ionia, at a loss for employment. I took him in hand; I gave him an education; and, convinced of his capabilities and of his devotion to me (for he was my very humble servant in those days, and had no admiration to spare for anyone else), I turned my back upon the many suitors who sought my hand, upon the wealthy, the brilliant and the high born, and betrothed myself to this monster of ingratitude; upon this obscure pauper boy I bestowed the rich dowry of my surpassing eloquence, brought him to be enrolled among my own people, and made him my fellow citizen, to the bitter mortification of his unsuccessful rivals. When he formed the resolution of travelling, in order to make his good fortune known to the world, I did not remain behind: I accompanied him everywhere, from city to city, shedding my lustre upon him, and clothing him in honour and renown. of our travels in Greece and Ionia, I say nothing: he expressed a wish to visit Italy: I sailed the Ionian Sea with him, and attended him even as far as Gaul, scattering plenty in his path.For a long time he consulted my wishes in everything, was unfailing in his attendance upon me, and never passed a night away from my side.
4. Lucian, Salaried Posts In Great Houses, 27 (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
5. Lucian, The Syrian Goddess, 3, 31-32, 6, 60, 7, 2 (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE) 2. The first men on earth to receive knowledge of the gods, and to build temples and shrines and to summon meetings for religious observances are said to have been the Egyptians. They were the first, too, to take cognizance of holy names, and to repeat sacred traditions. Not long after them the Assyrians heard from the Egyptians their doctrines as to the gods, and they reared temples and shrines: in these they placed statues and images.
6. Lucian, Hercules, 4 (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE) 4. For a long time I stood staring at this in amazement: I knew not what to make of it, and was beginning to feel somewhat nettled, when I was addressed in admirable Greek by a Gaul who stood at my side, and who besides possessing a scholarly acquaintance with the Gallic mythology, proved to be not unfamiliar with our own. ‘Sir,’ he said, ‘I see this picture puzzles you: let me solve the riddle. We Gauls connect eloquence not with Hermes, as you do, but with the mightier Heracles. Nor need it surprise you to see him represented as an old man. It is the prerogative of eloquence, that it reaches perfection in old age; at least if we may believe your poets, who tell us thatYouth is the sport of every random gust,whereas old ageHath that to say that passes youthful wit.Thus we find that from Nestor’s lips honey is distilled; and that the words of the Trojan counsellors are compared to the lily, which, if I have not forgotten my Greek, is the name of a flower.
7. Lucian, The Dead Come To Life Or The Fisherman, 19 (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
8. Lucian, The Scythian, Or The Consul, 9 (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
9. Pausanias, Description of Greece, 2.35.5-2.35.8, 7.18.9-7.18.13, 8.15.1 (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE) 2.35.5. At any rate, the goddess herself is called Chthonia, and Chthonia is the name of the festival they hold in the summer of every year. The manner of it is this. The procession is headed by the priests of the gods and by all those who hold the annual magistracies; these are followed by both men and women. It is now a custom that some who are still children should honor the goddess in the procession. These are dressed in white, and wear wreaths upon their heads. Their wreaths are woven of the flower called by the natives cosmosandalon, which, from its size and color, seems to me to be an iris; it even has inscribed upon it the same letters of mourning. The letters AI, an exclamation of woe supposed to be inscribed on the flower. 2.35.6. Those who form the procession are followed by men leading from the herd a full-grown cow, fastened with ropes, and still untamed and frisky. Having driven the cow to the temple, some loose her from the ropes that she may rush into the sanctuary, others, who hitherto have been holding the doors open, when they see the cow within the temple, close the doors. 2.35.7. Four old women, left behind inside, are they who dispatch the cow. Whichever gets the chance cuts the throat of the cow with a sickle. Afterwards the doors are opened, and those who are appointed drive up a second cow, and a third after that, and yet a fourth. All are dispatched in the same way by the old women, and the sacrifice has yet another strange feature. On whichever of her sides the first cow falls, all the others must fall on the same. 2.35.8. Such is the manner in which the sacrifice is performed by the Hermionians. Before the temple stand a few statues of the women who have served Demeter as her priestess, and on passing inside you see seats on which the old women wait for the cows to be driven in one by one, and images, of no great age, of Athena and Demeter. But the thing itself that they worship more than all else, I never saw, nor yet has any other man, whether stranger or Hermionian. The old women may keep their knowledge of its nature to themselves. 7.18.9. Most of the images out of Aetolia and from Acaria were brought by Augustus' orders to Nicopolis, but to Patrae he gave, with other spoils from Calydon, the image of Laphria, which even in my time was still worshipped on the acropolis of Patrae . It is said that the goddess was surnamed Laphria after a man of Phocis, because the ancient image of Artemis was set up at Calydon by Laphrius, the son of Castalius, the son of Delphus. 7.18.10. Others say that the wrath of Artemis against Oeneus weighed as time went on more lightly ( elaphroteron) on the Calydonians, and they believe that this was why the goddess received her surname. The image represents her in the guise of a huntress; it is made of ivory and gold, and the artists were Menaechmus and Soldas of Naupactus, who, it is inferred, lived not much later than Canachus of Sicyon and Callon of Aegina . 7.18.11. Every year too the people of Patrae celebrate the festival Laphria in honor of their Artemis, and at it they employ a method of sacrifice peculiar to the place. Round the altar in a circle they set up logs of wood still green, each of them sixteen cubits long. On the altar within the circle is placed the driest of their wood. Just before the time of the festival they construct a smooth ascent to the altar, piling earth upon the altar steps. 7.18.12. The festival begins with a most splendid procession in honor of Artemis, and the maiden officiating as priestess rides last in the procession upon a car yoked to deer. It is, however, not till the next day that the sacrifice is offered, and the festival is not only a state function but also quite a popular general holiday. For the people throw alive upon the altar edible birds and every kind of victim as well; there are wild boars, deer and gazelles; some bring wolf-cubs or bear-cubs, others the full-grown beasts. They also place upon the altar fruit of cultivated trees. 7.18.13. Next they set fire to the wood. At this point I have seen some of the beasts, including a bear, forcing their way outside at the first rush of the flames, some of them actually escaping by their strength. But those who threw them in drag them back again to the pyre. It is not remembered that anybody has ever been wounded by the beasts. 8.15.1. The people of Pheneus have also a sanctuary of Demeter, surnamed Eleusinian, and they perform a ritual to the goddess, saying that the ceremonies at Eleusis are the same as those established among themselves. For Naus, they assert, came to them because of an oracle from Delphi, being a grandson of Eumolpus. Beside the sanctuary of the Eleusinian has been set up Petroma, as it is called, consisting of two large stones fitted one to the other.
10. Philostratus The Athenian, Life of Apollonius, 8.15 (2nd cent. CE - missingth cent. CE) 8.15. They then said farewell to Demetrius, who was despondent about them, but they bade him hope for the best, as one brave man should for others as brave as himself, and then they sailed for Sicily with a favorable wind, and having passed Messina they reached Tauromenium on the third day. After that they arrived at Syracuse and put out for the Peloponnese about the beginning of the autumn; and having traversed the gulf they arrived after six days at the mouth of the Alpheus, where that river pours its waters, still sweet, into the Adriatic and Sicilian Sea. Here then they disembarked, and thinking it well worth their while to go to Olympia, they went and stayed there in the sanctuary of Zeus, though without ever going further away than Scillus. A rumor as sudden as insistent now ran through the Hellenic world that the sage was alive and had arrived at Olympia. At first the rumor seemed unreliable; for besides that they were humanly speaking unable to entertain any hope for him inasmuch as they heard that he was cast into prison, they had also heard such rumors as that he had been burnt alive, or dragged about alive with grapnels fixed in his neck, or cast into a deep pit, or into a well. But when the rumor of his arrival was confirmed, they all flocked to see him from the whole of Greece, and never did any such crowd flock to any Olympic festival as then, all full of enthusiasm and expectation. People came straight from Elis and Sparta, and from Corinth away at the limits of the Isthmus; and the Athenians too, although they are outside the Peloponnese; nor were they behind the cities which are at the gates of Pisa, for it was especially the most celebrated of the Athenians that hurried to the sanctuary, together with the young men who flocked to Athens from all over the earth. Moreover there were people from Megara just then staying at Olympia, as well as many from Boeotia, and from Argos, and all the leading people of Phocis and Thessaly. Some of them had already made Apollonius' acquaintance anxious to pick up his wisdom afresh, for they were convinced that there remained much to learn, more striking than what they had so far heard; but those who were not acquainted with him thought it a shame that they should seem never to have heard so great a man discourse. In answer to their questions then, of how he had escaped the clutches of the tyrant, he did not deem it right to say anything boastful; but he merely told them that he had made his defense and got away safely. However when several people arrived from Italy, who bruited abroad the episode of the lawcourt, the attitude of Hellas came near to that of actual worship; the main reason why they thought him divine was this, that he never made the least parade about the matter.

Subjects of this text:

subject	book bibliographic info
anineta	Borg (2008), Paideia: the World of the Second Sophistic: The World of the Second Sophistic, 34
antiochos iv of commagene	Merz and Tieleman (2012), Ambrosiaster's Political Theology, 28
aphrodisias (caria),basilica	Borg (2008), Paideia: the World of the Second Sophistic: The World of the Second Sophistic, 34
aphrodisias (caria)	Borg (2008), Paideia: the World of the Second Sophistic: The World of the Second Sophistic, 34
aphrodite	Borg (2008), Paideia: the World of the Second Sophistic: The World of the Second Sophistic, 34
aramaic	Merz and Tieleman (2012), Ambrosiaster's Political Theology, 85
architecture	Borg (2008), Paideia: the World of the Second Sophistic: The World of the Second Sophistic, 34
artemidorus of daldis,oneirocritica	Elsner (2007), Roman Eyes: Visuality and Subjectivity in Art and Text, 246
artemis	Borg (2008), Paideia: the World of the Second Sophistic: The World of the Second Sophistic, 34
atargatis	Elsner (2007), Roman Eyes: Visuality and Subjectivity in Art and Text, 19; Merz and Tieleman (2012), Ambrosiaster's Political Theology, 85
bellerophon	Borg (2008), Paideia: the World of the Second Sophistic: The World of the Second Sophistic, 34
caria	Borg (2008), Paideia: the World of the Second Sophistic: The World of the Second Sophistic, 34
celts	Elsner (2007), Roman Eyes: Visuality and Subjectivity in Art and Text, 60
coins	Borg (2008), Paideia: the World of the Second Sophistic: The World of the Second Sophistic, 34
commagene,culture,history	Merz and Tieleman (2012), Ambrosiaster's Political Theology, 28
daphne,syrian	Elsner (2007), Roman Eyes: Visuality and Subjectivity in Art and Text, 60
diplomacy	Borg (2008), Paideia: the World of the Second Sophistic: The World of the Second Sophistic, 34
dura europos,syria,temple of atargatis	Elsner (2007), Roman Eyes: Visuality and Subjectivity in Art and Text, 19
elite,commagenian	Merz and Tieleman (2012), Ambrosiaster's Political Theology, 28
eloquence,art of	Elsner (2007), Roman Eyes: Visuality and Subjectivity in Art and Text, 60
encomium	Borg (2008), Paideia: the World of the Second Sophistic: The World of the Second Sophistic, 34
ethnicity,lucian and	Elsner (2007), Roman Eyes: Visuality and Subjectivity in Art and Text, 60
festivals	Elsner (2007), Roman Eyes: Visuality and Subjectivity in Art and Text, 19
founder	Borg (2008), Paideia: the World of the Second Sophistic: The World of the Second Sophistic, 34
gordios	Borg (2008), Paideia: the World of the Second Sophistic: The World of the Second Sophistic, 34
gordiouteichos	Borg (2008), Paideia: the World of the Second Sophistic: The World of the Second Sophistic, 34
hadad	Elsner (2007), Roman Eyes: Visuality and Subjectivity in Art and Text, 19
hera	Elsner (2007), Roman Eyes: Visuality and Subjectivity in Art and Text, 19
heracles,celtic	Elsner (2007), Roman Eyes: Visuality and Subjectivity in Art and Text, 60
hero,eponymos	Borg (2008), Paideia: the World of the Second Sophistic: The World of the Second Sophistic, 34
herodotus	Borg (2008), Paideia: the World of the Second Sophistic: The World of the Second Sophistic, 34
hierapolis	Elsner (2007), Roman Eyes: Visuality and Subjectivity in Art and Text, 19, 60, 246; Merz and Tieleman (2012), Ambrosiaster's Political Theology, 85
homonoia	Borg (2008), Paideia: the World of the Second Sophistic: The World of the Second Sophistic, 34
iconography,and ethnicity	Elsner (2007), Roman Eyes: Visuality and Subjectivity in Art and Text, 60
identity,ethnic	Merz and Tieleman (2012), Ambrosiaster's Political Theology, 28
identity,local/regional	Borg (2008), Paideia: the World of the Second Sophistic: The World of the Second Sophistic, 34
imperial cult,and eastern religions	Elsner (2007), Roman Eyes: Visuality and Subjectivity in Art and Text, 246
lagina,temple of hecate	Borg (2008), Paideia: the World of the Second Sophistic: The World of the Second Sophistic, 34
lucian,alexander	Elsner (2007), Roman Eyes: Visuality and Subjectivity in Art and Text, 19
lucian,de dea syria	Elsner (2007), Roman Eyes: Visuality and Subjectivity in Art and Text, 19, 60, 246
lucian,heracles	Elsner (2007), Roman Eyes: Visuality and Subjectivity in Art and Text, 60
lucian,peregrinus	Elsner (2007), Roman Eyes: Visuality and Subjectivity in Art and Text, 19
lucian	Elsner (2007), Roman Eyes: Visuality and Subjectivity in Art and Text, 60
lucian of samosata	Merz and Tieleman (2012), Ambrosiaster's Political Theology, 28, 85, 86
lydia/lydians	Borg (2008), Paideia: the World of the Second Sophistic: The World of the Second Sophistic, 34
metropolis	Borg (2008), Paideia: the World of the Second Sophistic: The World of the Second Sophistic, 34
mystery religions,spread of	Elsner (2007), Roman Eyes: Visuality and Subjectivity in Art and Text, 246
myth,foundation	Borg (2008), Paideia: the World of the Second Sophistic: The World of the Second Sophistic, 34
myth,local	Borg (2008), Paideia: the World of the Second Sophistic: The World of the Second Sophistic, 34
naturalism,ritual-centered	Elsner (2007), Roman Eyes: Visuality and Subjectivity in Art and Text, 19
ninoe	Borg (2008), Paideia: the World of the Second Sophistic: The World of the Second Sophistic, 34
ninos	Borg (2008), Paideia: the World of the Second Sophistic: The World of the Second Sophistic, 34
ogmios (celtic heracles)	Elsner (2007), Roman Eyes: Visuality and Subjectivity in Art and Text, 60
paideia	Merz and Tieleman (2012), Ambrosiaster's Political Theology, 86
pausanias,description of greece,as pilgrimage text	Elsner (2007), Roman Eyes: Visuality and Subjectivity in Art and Text, 246
philostratus,life of apollonius	Elsner (2007), Roman Eyes: Visuality and Subjectivity in Art and Text, 19
pilgrimage	Elsner (2007), Roman Eyes: Visuality and Subjectivity in Art and Text, 246
plarasa (caria)	Borg (2008), Paideia: the World of the Second Sophistic: The World of the Second Sophistic, 34
provincialisation	Merz and Tieleman (2012), Ambrosiaster's Political Theology, 28
relief panels,atargatis and hadad (from temple of atargatis,dura europos,syria)	Elsner (2007), Roman Eyes: Visuality and Subjectivity in Art and Text, 19
resistance,spread of	Elsner (2007), Roman Eyes: Visuality and Subjectivity in Art and Text, 246
resistance to romanization	Elsner (2007), Roman Eyes: Visuality and Subjectivity in Art and Text, 246
ritual,setting for	Elsner (2007), Roman Eyes: Visuality and Subjectivity in Art and Text, 19
ritual	Elsner (2007), Roman Eyes: Visuality and Subjectivity in Art and Text, 19
romanization,resistance to	Elsner (2007), Roman Eyes: Visuality and Subjectivity in Art and Text, 246
rome (city)	Merz and Tieleman (2012), Ambrosiaster's Political Theology, 28
sacrifice	Borg (2008), Paideia: the World of the Second Sophistic: The World of the Second Sophistic, 34
semiramis	Borg (2008), Paideia: the World of the Second Sophistic: The World of the Second Sophistic, 34
soldiers	Merz and Tieleman (2012), Ambrosiaster's Political Theology, 28
stelai for ephebes,funerary'	Borg (2008), Paideia: the World of the Second Sophistic: The World of the Second Sophistic, 34
thyateira (lydia)	Borg (2008), Paideia: the World of the Second Sophistic: The World of the Second Sophistic, 34
vipsanius aiolion	Borg (2008), Paideia: the World of the Second Sophistic: The World of the Second Sophistic, 34