Prologue
I had heard about this uncanny character only in passing before curiosity actually made me do a search through the internet. Several weeks of reading lengthy and hard to discern articles finally brought my attention to the following article as the best guide to the subject.
This article was originally written by D.M. Murdock/Acharya S. and was supposedly published on April 04, 2011 from the TruthBeKnown website. I stumbled on it at the bibliotecapleyades website, which is a great free access repository of all sort of esoteric and fringe subjects. This version of the article is one which I have compressed and change a bit (in terms of wording) to respect the original authors work and to underline my hate of plagiarism. Other than that, all pictures and stuffs referenced in the bibliography are the ones originally presented in bibliotecapleyades.
A Roman wood and ivory throne found in the Villa of the Papyri, Herculaneum,
showing Attis next to a sacred pine tree collecting a pine cone.'
(Photo: Reuters/Archaeology Superintendent of Pompeii)
In case anyone let curiosity gets the better of them and decide to read this, I hope you will find it as intriguing and thought-provoking as I did.
Enjoy the intriguing mystery cult of Attis, that had spread to Rome from Turkey via Greece during the reign of Claudius (AD 41-54).
The Parallel
The writings of many experts in mythology revealed that the ancient Phrygo-Roman god known as Attis is depicted as having characteristics that mirrored the Judeo-Christian concept of Jesus Christ. The entity is said to be been born of a virgin mother, on December 25th, and being killed and resurrecting afterwards. This article will try to examine the evidence for these contentions, which basically parallel the gospel story and Christian tradition concerning Christ.
Dr. Andrew T. Fear, professor of Classics and Ancient History at the University of Manchester provided a summary of the myths and ritual of Attis, along with comparisons to Christian tradition. According to Fear, the youthful Attis was miraculously brought to life again exactly three days after his after his murder. The celebration of this cycle of death and renewal was one of the major festivals of the ‘Metroac cult’. Therefore, Attis represented a promise of reborn life and not surprisingly as such we find representations of the so-called mourning Attis as a common tomb motif in the ancient world.
Marble bust of Attis wearing Phrygian cap
2nd century AD/CE
Albeit at a superficial level, the parallel between Attis’ myth and the account of the resurrection of Christ is quite obvious. Attis, moreover, is also portrayed as a shepherd that practically occupies a favorite Christian image of Christ as the good shepherd. Even more parallels also seem to exist. The pine tree of Attis, for example, was seen as a parallel to the cross of Christ.
Beyond Attis himself, Fear argues, his mother figure Cybele also offered a challenge to Christian divine nomenclature. Cybele was regarded as a virgin goddess. As such, she could be seen as a rival to the Virgin Mary.
The Mother of The Gods, called Agdistis and Cybele, and identified with Rhea 1, the wife of Cronos. 3413: Statyette der Göttin Kybele. Griechisch 330-300 v. Chr.
Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg.
(Courtesy of http://www.maicar.com)
There was rivalry in terms of ritual as well. The climax of the celebration of Attis' resurrection, the so-called Hilaria, fell on the 25th of March. This is, according to Fear, the same date that the early church had settled on as the day of Christ's death.
These conclusions reportedly come from the study of the writings of ancient Pagans, as well as the early Church fathers, including:
Justin Martyr
Clement of Alexandria
Hippolytus
Tatian
Tertullian
Augustine
Arnobius
Firmicus Maternus
Born of a Virgin
The Phrygian god Attis's mother was variously called Cybele and Nana. As it is with the Egyptian goddess Isis and the Christian figure Mary, Nana/Cybele is depicted as a perpetual virgin, despite her status as a mother. It should be noted that the scholarly term used to describe virgin birth is "parthenogenesis" while many goddesses are referred to as "Parthenos", the Greek word meaning "virgin”. This term is applicable to the Phrygian goddess Cybele/Nana as well.
Attis is the son of Cybele in her form as the virgin, Nana."
Medallion of Cybele in chariot, under the sun, moon and star
2nd cent. BCE, Ai Khanoum, Afghanistan (Singh, 94)
The diverse names of Attis's mother and her manner of impregnation are explained by Dr. David Adams Leeming, professor emeritus of English and comparative literature at the University of Connecticut, as folllows:
Attis is the son of Cybele in her form as the virgin, Nana, who is impregnated by the divine force in the form of a pomegranate.
Reborn on December 25th
The "December 25th" date or winter-solstice birth of the sun god is a common theme in several cultures around the world over the past millennia, including the Egyptian. As it is for the Perso-Roman god Mithra, the Egyptian god Horus and the Christian godman Jesus, this date has likewise been claimed for Attis's nativity as well.
Attis's passion was celebrated on the 25th of March, exactly nine months before the solstitial festival of his birth, the 25th of December. The time of his death was also the time of his conception, or re-conception. In such context, Attis was symbolically born, annually, at the winter solstice.
Other experts underlined the fact that, in the secret rites of the Great Mother the young god Attis figured as her acolyte and consort. Each year he was born at the winter solstice, and each year as the days shortened, he died.
The reasoning behind this contention of the god figure Attis's birth being at the winter solstice is sound enough, as it echoes natural cycles, with the god's death at the vernal equinox also representing the time when he is conceived again, to be born nine months later.
Moreover, at times the young Attis was depicted as being merged with Mithra, whose birthday was traditionally held on December 25th and with whom he shared the same Phrygian capped attire.
Crucifixion
A depiction of the death of Attis.
The myths of Attis's death include the depiction of him being killed by a boar or by castrating himself under a tree, as well as being hung on a tree or "crucified". Indeed, he has been referred to as the "castrated and crucified Attis”.
It should be noted that the use of the term "crucified" for such gods like Horus and Attis does not connote that they were thrown to the ground and nailed to a cross, as people commonly think of crucifixion, based on the Christian tale.
In reality, there have been plenty of ancient figures who appeared in cruciform, some of whose myths specifically told the story of them being punished or killed through crucifixion, such as Prometheus.
Moreover, Attis is said to have been "crucified" to a pine tree, while Christ too was related as being both crucified and hung on a tree:
The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. (Acts 5:30)
And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree…(Acts 10:39)
As stated by La Trobe University professor Dr. David John Tacey what is especially significant is the fact that the Phrygian God Attis was crucified upon a tree. In antiquity, these two concepts were obviously similar enough to be interchangeable in understanding.
Tomb/Three Days/Resurrected
The death and resurrection of Attis, in three days (as revealed by Dr. Fear), is also related by Professor Merlin Stone, stating that Roman reports of the rituals of Cybele record that the son was first tied to a tree and then buried. Three days later a light was said to appear in the burial tomb, whereupon Attis rose from the dead, bringing salvation with him in his rebirth.
Contrary to current fad of dismissing all correspondences between Christianity and Paganism, the fact that Attis was at some point a "dying and rising god" is concluded by Dr. Tryggve Mettinger, professor of Old Testament Studies at the University of Lund and author of The Riddle of the Resurrection. Mettinger stated that since the time of Damascius (6th cent. ad/ce), Attis seems to have been believed to die and return (from dead)."
The worship
Attis worship is supposedly centuries older than Jesus worship and was popular in some parts of the Roman Empire before and well into the Christian era.
In the case of Attis, we possess a significant account of his death and mourning in the writings of the Greek historian of the first century BCE, Diodorus Siculus (3.58.7), including the evidently annual ritual creation of his image by priests, indicative of his resurrection. Hence, these noteworthy aspects of the Attis myth are clearly pre-Christian.
Bibliography
• Harari, Josue V. Textual Strategies: Perspectives in Post-Structural Criticism. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1979.
• Lane, Eugene N., ed. Cybele, Attis and Related Cults. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1996.
• Leeming, David Adams. Mythology: The Voyage of the Hero. New York/Oxford University Press, 1998.
• Merrony, Mark. "An Ivory Throne for Herculaneum."
minervamagazine.com/news.asp?min_issue=MAR_APR2008
• Mettinger, Tryggve D. The Riddle of the Resurrection. Coronet, 2001.
• Murdock, D.M. Christ in Egypt: The Horus-Jesus Connection. Seattle: Stellar House Publishing, 2009.
• Rigoglioso, Marguerite. Virgin Mother Goddesses of Antiquity. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010.
• Stone, Merlin. When God was a Woman. New York: Dorset Press, 1990.
• Tacey, David John. Patrick White: Fiction, and the Unconscious. Melbourne/New York: Oxford University Press, 1988.
• Toulson, Shirley. The Winter Solstice. London: Jill Norman & Hobhouse, 1981.
• Vermaseren, Maarten Jozef. Cybele, Attis, and Related Cults: Essays in Memory of M. J. Vermaseren. Leiden/New York: E.J. Brill, 1996.
• Walker, Barbara G. The Woman’s Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets. HarperSanFrancisco, 1983.
