Soteriology and Mystic Aspects in the Cult of Cybele and Attis

Unpublished relief of Attis from the “Roman bridge” in Blažuj – Ilidža near Sarajevo

“…The figure of Attis tristis found in nearby Ilijaš, like our figure from the bridge in Blažuj, Ilidža Municipality, suggests that this cult was well-established and important to the local population and, very likely, to foreign settlers. Mystical (Sfameni Gasparro 1985: 26-43), soteriologicaleschatological (Sfameni Gasparro 1985, chthonic properties are attributed to Attis figures of this kind, and in this light Attis also features as the guardian of a grave and of the deceased (Paškvalin 1994: 35). Similar processes in the organization of Metroac cultic communities have been recorded in other provinces (Karković-Takalić 2012: 87-105), and it is realistic to assume that such may also have existed in this part of the world.…”

Religiöse Geheimniskommunikation in der Mittleren und Späten Römischen Republik

“…1.119;vgl. allgemein dazu Burkert (1972) 274-283; (1982); (1987a) 7 f.; 45 f. sowie 30-53 (zur Diversität der Sozialformen); (1995) 81 f.; (2002) 14 f.; Sfameni Gasparro (1985) xiv; xx; 6 f.; Borgeaud (2007) 205;(2013) 131-137;Bowden (2010) 34 f.; Henrichs (2010) 87-89. Dass der Geheimnisapparat der Mysterien nicht nur zur außerzivilen Positionierung dienen kann, sondern auch die Verortung innerhalb desselben ermöglicht, zeigt insbesondere der Blick auf die eng mit dem Poliskult verwobenen Mysterien der griechischen Welt, v. a. Athens; vgl.…”

“…Jahrhunderts. 59 Sfameni Gasparro (1985); Roller (1999) 180-182;276 f.; Versnel (1990) 105-111;Roller (1996); Bowden (2010) 88-91;vgl. Eur.…”

The origin of Beliar inSibylline Oracle3.63: A new proposal

“…There is disagreement whether the Roman festival of Hilaria, celebrated in Rome in honor of Attis at the end of March since the mid-second century C.E., is in any sense related to the Christian idea of resurrection. 44 On the other hand, it is not impossible that the Sibylline author, sharing in the anti-Galatian attitude of the rest of the oracle, exaggerated the Attis myth current in Pessinus to make it into a story about literal resurrection and then attributed it to Beliar. This possibility, however, cannot be confirmed.…”

“…Istanbuler Mitteilungen 28 (Tübingen: E. Wasmuth, 1983); G. Sfameni Gasparro, Soteriology and Mystic Aspects in the Cult of Cybele and Attis . EPRO 103 (Leiden: Brill, 1985); L. E. Roller, In Search of God the Mother: The Cult of Anatolian Cybele (Berkley, Calif.: University of California Press, 1999); P. Borgeaud, Mother of the Gods: From Cybele to Virgin Mary (trans. L. Hochroth; Baltimore, Md.…”