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Cult of Asclepius, also called Ophiuchus, the Serpent Bearer, from where we get the symbol of medicine. From the biggest temples to Asclepius are the Asclepieion at Pergamon in modern-day Turkey, right next to the second biggest library in the Roman Empire, and a hot spot for early Christianity, the sanctuary of Asclepius at Epidaurus, which Pausanias is connected with the god Eshmun. Then you have the Serapium in Egypt, which was considered sacred to Asclepius as well, since Asclepius was a syncretic deity linked with Osiris, Asclepius, and Imhotep, Plutonio. And then there is the Asclepieion of Carthage, which is actually a temple dedicated to Eshmun-Melqart, a syncretic deity linked with Eshmun, the Physician, and Melqart, who is the Punic Heracles, another dying and rising deity, who I will give back to shortly.
The first-century AD Pool of Bethesda, described in the Gospel of John where Jesus heals a lame man in chapter 5, was found by archaeologists in 1964 to be part of an Asclepieion and a shrine dedicated to none other than Eshmun. A trilingual inscription from 2nd century BC Sardinia, written in Latin, Greek, Punic, also identifies Eshmun with the Greek Ophiuchus and the Latin Aesculapius. Ophiuchus, the Serpent Bearer, is the ancient 13th constellation that is on the zodiacal ecliptic along with the other 12 traditional zodiac constellations of the Greeks and Babylonians. This constellation of Ophiuchus was that of a man holding a rod entwined with a celestial serpent and standing on scorpions and snakes. This imagery seems to be apparent in Luke's gospel as well: "Behold, I give you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you."
In the Book of Numbers, Moses held up a bronze rod with a serpent coiled around it that worked as a magic wand that could heal people from poisonous serpent bites. "Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Make a fiery serpent and put it on a rod, and it shall come about that everyone who is bitten and looks at it will live.' So Moses made a bronze serpent and put it on a rod, and it came about that if a serpent bit someone and he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived" (Numbers 21). This was also drawn upon in the Gospel of John when Jesus is on the cross, he is compared to the serpent on a cross in the wilderness: "just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must also be lifted up." This passage would become central to some early Christian groups, such as the Naassenes and Sethians, who I shall touch on later when it's relevant.
To the ancient Greeks, this constellation represented the god Apollo himself struggling with a huge snake that guarded the Oracle of Delphi. Later myths identified Ophiuchus with Laocoön, the Trojan priest of Poseidon who warned his fellow Trojans about the Trojan Horse and was later slain by a pair of sea serpents sent by the gods to punish him. The Romans marked this constellation as the healer god Asclepius, Apollo's son, who learned the secrets of raising the dead, healing the sick, and keeping death at bay after observing one serpent bringing another healing herbs to prevent the human race from becoming immortal. Under Asclepius's care, Jupiter killed him with a lightning bolt but later raised him up into the heavens to honor his works as a god.
The famous symbol shared by Asclepius, Eshmun, and Ophiuchus is the symbol of the serpent on the rod, the universal symbol for health and medicine. The priests of Eshmun, as well as Ophiuchus and Asclepius, would be the most educated class of priests, arguably on the entire planet during this time. The priest-philosophers such as Parmenides and Pythagoras, who are not only well-known philosophers but also poets, mathematicians, astronomers, biologists, skeptics, psychologists, and most of all, lawgivers. They were well-known worshippers of Apollo and his son Asclepius, and recent archaeology has shown that the schools of Parmenides and Pythagoras in southern Italy were deeply concerned with healing and medicines.
In 1958, a series of archaeological discoveries were made in Velia in Italy. The Temple of Apollo, the center for the school of Parmenides, there was a statue that is among the most unique and rarest archaeological finds, possibly of all time. The inscription at its base reads: "Olis, son of Ophiuchus, healer, in the year 379." Two more similar inscriptions on statues were discovered. All three had the name Olis, but the father's names were different: Aristeus and Hironemus. The dates were also different: 280, 379, and 446.
Peter Kingsley, in his book *Dark Places of Wisdom*, goes in-depth on the significance of these inscriptions, saying that the term "Olis" is associated with an individual devoted to Apollo and signifies a unique aspect of worship dedicated to Apollo. Ophis, particularly along Anatolia's western coastlines where the Ionians once dwelt, such as Pythagoras, Heraclitus, and Parmenides. The epithet "Ophis" carries a nuanced duality. Initially, it describes attitudes such as lethal, harmful, or severe, acknowledging the darker aspects inherent in every deity. However, the Greeks also interpreted "Ophis" to mean "the one who restores to health." This duality encapsulates Apollo's essence, simultaneously the healer and the destroyer, embodying the capacity to both inflict and cure. "Apollon" in Greek means "to destroy," but Apollo is a god of healing and restoration.
Peter Kingsley has this to say in his book *Dark Places of Wisdom*: "You find that to them, heroes weren't just figures in some mythical past. For them, the heroic ideal is something that had to be lived in the present. The aim of one's life, the life of a wise man, was to follow the way of the hero, to live his ordeals, his sufferings, his transformation. That's what provided the spiritual purpose in the map of their existence." You can still see how this imitation of the hero was adapted by Christianity to become the imitation of Christ.
Kingsley, one of the great classicists and historians of our time, writes that these very Velians from the school of Parmenides and Pythagoreans and the school of Croton, all who can technically be considered religious Orphics, built temples to Apollo in the southern coast of Italy, and at these places, they conducted rituals of medically induced incubation. Parmenides set up a temple in Velia where the rites of incubation were performed, and the initiates would spend days or even weeks in a dark cave under the supervision of a Magus and report their dreams to them for conducting research. It all sounds bizarre, but this was early science in the ancient world. They compared these rituals with the myths of Orpheus descending into the underworld to perform his music in the presence of the king and queen of Hades in order that he may raise his dead wife from the grave.
Pythagoras, departing his native Samos in Ionia, lived in Egypt for 12 years and then Babylon for another 12 years. Finally, after 24 years of education amongst the Chaldeans and Magi, he set sail for Italy, carried within the traditions of the advanced Persian and Egyptian knowledge, including methods of incubation and practices for journeying to the underworld, demonstrating his deep reverence for the underworld goddess Persephone, who descended and returned from Hades. He transformed his new residence in Croton, Italy, into a medical sanctuary in the name of Apollo, showcasing his devotion. The ritual *katabasis* was no longer just mythology; this was reality to them.
Xenophanes, student of Pythagoras in southern Italy, taught that "God is one, supreme among Gods and Men, and not like men either in mass or mind." We can see the obvious roots of Judeo-Christian thought within the fragments of these Presocratic Orphics: "a Oneness of being that is uncreated, unbegotten, alone, begotten, whole, unmoved, unending, indestructible, homogeneous, continuous, contiguous, that it abides in one position, is indivisible, has always been as it is, and never can be any different." These are Orphic, Pythagorean, Platonist, and Pythagorean philosophers who are also trained in medicine and history, as well as religious matters.
Pyrrho, the founder of philosophical skepticism, traveled with Alexander the Great to Babylon and India and engaged with the brightest minds from the Brahmins, Buddhists, as well as the Magi, and brought these ideas back to Egypt to the newly built Library of Alexandria. It is not impossible, in my opinion, and it's actually likely that Christianity draws some of its influence from Buddhist and Zoroastrian thought via the Therapeutae in Egypt, who adopt these ideas in the melting pot that is Alexandria, Egypt. Not only were there Buddhist temples in Alexandria, Egypt, but we also know that Ashoka the Great, king of India in the 3rd century BC, set up pillars on every continent from India to Asia Minor and Egypt and as far as Greece, and on these pillars, he inscribed a Buddhist and globalist message to the leaders to allow for universal healthcare, for free trade, and forward-thinking among the educated classes in these areas. These Ashoka pillars mentioned Ptolemy and Titus and Antigonus by name.
"500 BCE: Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful" - The Buddha. "300 BCE: That which you hate to be done to you, do not to another." - Egyptian Papyrus, 10 BCE. "What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow; that is the whole Torah. The rest is commentary." - Hillel the Elder. The Golden Rule, that many credit to Jesus of Nazareth, was already well-established as universal wisdom dating back to the early Iron Age, found in Greek and Hindu texts.
It is these very philosophers and healers who I think become the philosophical sect called the Therapeutae, and these Therapeutae are the proto-Christian Gnostics. Even Christian Church Fathers claim to be descended from the Therapeutae. In *Ecclesiastical History*, Eusebius of Caesarea, a Christian writer from the 3rd century, referring to the Therapeutae as the predecessors of Christian monasticism, highlighted their practices such as giving up possessions, embracing chastity, observing fasts, and leading solitary lives as parallel to the communal living ideals of Christian monks. Epiphanius of Salamis, a fourth-century bishop, labeled the Therapeutae as part of the Christian community in his work *Panarion*. A fifth-century author, Pseudo-Dionysius, also drawing on Eusebius's descriptions, suggested that the ascetics were known as Therapeutae or servants, while others referred to them as monks. He viewed Eusebius's group as a structured Christian ascetic community, interpreting Therapeutae to mean servants.
The Gnostic sects of the Valentinians, Naassenes, and Simoniacs deeply venerate the Presocratic wisdom of the Greeks and Eastern wisdom of the Magi. The Naassenes and Sethians, for example, thought of Christ as the serpent on the cross, which is the symbol of the physician common to the Greek Therapeutae and the Semitic cult of Eshmun. The cult of Eshmun, like that of other Phoenician deities, was influenced by and intertwined with the religious practices of neighboring cultures, leading to syncretism with gods from Greek, Egyptian, and Mesopotamian pantheons. This syncretism reflects the dynamic and interconnected nature of ancient Mediterranean religious practices, where deities could embody similar themes across different cultures while retaining unique aspects within their original context. For example, in Cyprus, Eshmun was syncretized with Melqart, and also Astarte is given by a dedication reciting "to his Lord Eshmun-Melqart." Melqart, the Punic Heracles, was also a dying and rising deity venerated at the Spring Equinox.
Shaker, I know at this point you must be thinking, "This is getting out of control with all these sons or daughters of God dying and resurrecting at Easter time." Either I'm lying and making all this up, or your favorite seminarian Bible scholar has a lot of explaining to do. And I implore you to fact-check everything I'm saying. I also am not even close to being done yet. There is overwhelming data to support that Melqart, like Osiris, Tammuz, Romulus, Ishtar, Eshmun, Adonis, Pan, Dionysus, Orpheus, and Dionysus, is a dying and rising or *katabasis* hero who is venerated at the Spring Equinox. The peer-reviewed book *Phoenicians and the West: Politics, Colonies, and Trade* by Professor of Archaeology Maria Eugenia Aubet states: "Melqart played the central role in the Phoenician Spring Festival during which he died and was resurrected, an annual festival during the same week as Easter, Passover, and Roman Hilaria." To not use the word "resurrection" for Heracles and instead use the word "awaken" when "resurrection" is the correct word to be used here? Pathetic. Welcome to seminary and Bible scholarship, where more work goes into hiding things than revealing them.
Also, Josephus does use the name for Heracles. However, the temple in Phoenicia was dedicated to Melqart, who was fully syncretized with the healer Eshmun by the late first century. Eshmun was clearly a syncretic god passed down from a Syrian Baal and syncretized with Ophiuchus in Phoenicia and was venerated in the Levant from the 7th century BCE to the 5th century of the Common Era. Evidence of pilgrimages to his temple from all over the Roman Empire lasted up until the Christian era in the 4th century, and severing coins of Eshmun are minted in Syria and Lebanon in the 3rd century. Eshmun is syncretized not only with Melqart but also with Adonis and Attis.
If you are wondering if there is actual textual evidence of primary sources from early Christians in the late 1st and early 2nd Century that acknowledge that these dying and rising gods are linked with Jesus in any way, the answer is yes. But I will get to those texts at the very end, 'cause there are things that need to be discussed before that.
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The Pyrgi Tablets are three golden leaves dating back to the 5th century BCE, discovered in 1964 during excavations at the ancient Etruscan port city of Pyrgi, Italy. They are significant for several reasons. Primarily, because they offer a rare example of bilingual texts from the ancient world. Two of the tablets are inscribed in Etruscan, and the third is in Phoenician, providing valuable insights into the languages and the interaction between the Etruscans and Phoenicians. The tablets were dedicated to the Phoenician goddess Astarte, consort of Eshmun, and are believed to have been part of a ceremonial offering made by Thefarie Velianas, the king of Caere, the Etruscan city controlling Pyrgi at the time, making a dedication to the goddess. This is indicated by the inscriptions which detail the offering and consecration made by Velianas to Astarte. Astarte, who is Lady Babylon or Ishtar, who has been talked about at length in this video, makes her mark on Rome all the way back in the days of the Etruscans.
The significance of the Pyrgi Tablets offers insights into the religious practices, diplomatic relations, and cultural exchanges between the Etruscan and Phoenician people. Furthermore, the Pyrgi Tablets shed light on the extent of Phoenician influence in the Mediterranean and the interconnectedness of the ancient Mediterranean cultures. They are among the most important archaeological finds related to the Etruscans, a civilization that played a significant role in the history of ancient Italy but left behind relatively few written records. Records. They also show how we can see Eshmun in one inscription can be Adonis or Attis in the other inscriptions, while the goddess Astarte becomes Venus. This is an early demonstration of *interpretatio Romana*, where different languages tell nearly identical myths but transfer the names of gods and their pantheons.
The Phoenician text of the Pyrgi Tablets, Western Italy, seemed to indicate commemoration of the death of Adonis was an important rite in central Italy as far back as 500 BCE. The Phoenician phrase *b'ym kbr 'lm* on the day of burial of the divinity refers to this rite. Then the phrase "the death of the handsome Adonis." Prime example: Adonis is another god whose death and resurrection was celebrated at the spring ritual. Mourning for Adonis was widespread from Phoenicia to Greece. As we mentioned in the beginning of the video, the mourning for Tammuz by Ishtar was a famous Sumerian poem recited during the Akiti festival. Sappho, the famous poet from Lesbos, who lived all the way back in the 7th century BCE, even before the Persians defeated the Assyrians, wrote this famous poem:
"Oh, my Adonis is dying! Ah, what shall we do? Oh, nymphs, let it echo the voice of your crying! The Greenwood through, oh Forest Maidens, smite on the breast, rend ye the delicate woven vest! Let the well ring wild and high! Ah, for Adonis, cry! Oh, Sappho, how cast thou chant the bliss of Cypris after such day as this? Oh, Adonis, thou leavest me! Woe for my lot! And Os, my servant, ath me not so! Well, Cytherea, grief distraught, who shall console me for thee? There is none! Not Ares, my God-lover, passionate one, who swore in his jealousy forth to hell! Hephaestus, my spouse, from his palace, if he dared but to lift his eyes unto me, not he can console me! Adonis, for thee! Well, for Adonis, well! A lament for Adonis." - Sappho, 600 BCE.
The obvious parallels to Ishtar and Tammuz go without saying. Just like Eshmun, Adonis was a beautiful hunter who was loved by Venus. And as he is hunting, he is killed by a wild boar, who in some versions of the myth, say that it's Mars in disguise who seeks to get revenge on Adonis for taking Venus away from him. Venus mourns over the death of Adonis, and her tears mix with the blood of Adonis, which causes a rose to grow from the ground, marking his divinity, an annual agricultural rise from the dead.
The famous Augustan-era poet Ovid retells this famous ancient story in Latin in the *Metamorphoses*, written about 20 BCE. The Adonia festival was celebrated at two times of the year: first in the early spring at the vernal equinox, and then at the midsummer solstice. Aristophanes, in his *Lysistrata*, has the festival take place in the early spring of 415 BC, when the Sicilian expedition was proposed. Throughout the festival, Athenian women ascended to their rooftops, where they engaged in dancing, singing, and ritual lamentation for the death of Adonis. They cultivated Adonis's gardens by planting lettuce and fennel seeds in broken pots, observing them quickly sprouting and then perish. Following the rooftop festivities, the women carried these miniature gardens and diminutive figures of Adonis down the streets, where they held a symbolic funeral procession. This culminated in the ceremonial interment of the effigies and the wilted gardens either in the ocean or natural springs.
In Theocritus's 15th Idyll, dated to the 4th century BC, we find the most extensive account of the Adonia festival that's been preserved to this very day. This depiction by Theocritus showcases a version of the festival that enjoyed official support from the court of Ptolemy and included a yearly contest where women performed mournful songs for Adonis. The historian Pausanias, in the 2nd century, mentions that women in Argos commemorated Adonis and dedicated a shrine to him. Lucian's *On the Syrian Goddess* details an Adonia festival in Byblos during the same century. Here in Byblos, the River Adonis turns red each year during the spring due to heavy rainfall washing off the red oily rock that sits above the river in the mountains, making the River of Adonis bleed red with the blood of the god.
In Roman times, Adonis and Osiris are syncretized together as the god Plutonian, a central deity within the Mithraic Mysteries, who was in direct competition with Christianity, and his festival was celebrated in the same week as Attis, known as the Hilaria festival, which took place between March 22nd and April 1st. The Hilaria festival is the most interesting of all the spring equinox festivals. This festival, adopted by the Romans in 204 BCE, has its roots back in ancient Phrygia, central to the Great Mother Cybele and her consort Attis. The myth of Attis is a lot like Eshmun's story. Attis was the ancient Phrygian god of vegetation and the consort of the Great Mother of the Gods, Cybele. The goddess drove him into a mad frenzy, which caused him to castrate himself, just like Eshmun. He then bleeds out and dies, just like Eshmun. But Cybele raises him up into a god and places him as an eternal tree that buds each year during the spring.
There are other versions of the myth which include Attis being raised by milk of he-goats. But instead of Cybele, it's a hermaphroditic god called Agdistis who loves him instead. Attis still castrates himself in this version and dies, but Agdistis repented of what she had done to Attis and persuaded Zeus to grant the body of Attis to neither rot nor decay, and in this version, Attis lives forever immortal in his flesh. Initiates of the eunuch priesthood of Cybele, known as the Galli, styled as the eunuchs of Ishtar, reenacted this myth with an act of self-castration each year during what is known as the Holy Week of Attis, celebrated roughly during the same week as Easter, which is right now, if you are watching this video.
The Hilaria of Attis was a holy week or the passion of Attis. This was a Roman festival celebrated in multiple cities in Rome during the same week. And in Egypt, it was celebrated for Osiris and Isis without castration, though, and slightly celebrated differently, but this was still called the Hilaria, which means in Latin, rejoicing. Violence and wreaths were used to decorate the Roman tombs. Arobos of Sica preserved the entire calendar of the Holy Week of Attis, known as Hilaria. On March 15th, the Cybele inra, the reed, enters the canor. Reed bearers march in a procession marking the birth of Attis. During this time, followers of Magna Mater abstained from bread, pomegranates, quinces, fish, and pork. On March 22nd, the tree enters the dendrophoroi, the tree bearers. They carry a pine tree wrapped in wool, decked with violets, in a funeral procession. This marked the death of Attis. They also decorated the tree, and tiny figures of the god Attis were placed on top. The day of mourning and fasting. The pine tree is laid to rest at the Temple of Magna Mater. On March 23rd, the next day was the day of blood. The devotees of Attis and Cybele whipped themselves to offer their blood to the gods. Meanwhile, the Galli priests of Cybele would play flutes and beat hand drums. Then Attis was placed in his tomb. The next day would call the day of rejoicing, March 25th. Attis, or Osiris, is resurrected. People held street carnivals to celebrate. The next day, March 26th, was the day of rest after the previous day's fun. People rested. Finally, on March 27th, the day of washing. The sacred stone of Magna Mater was carried down the Via Sacra to Almo in Rome, a tributary of the Tiber. The goddess was washed with ashes and showered with violets.
One of the earliest sects of Christianity that is mentioned in the primary sources, known as the Naassenes, and were said to have syncretized Jesus with not only Attis but with a whole lot of the dying and rising gods. Hippolytus, in his *On Heresies*, addresses a man called the Naassene preacher, who he claims was singing hymns that were originally written for Attis but applying them to Jesus. Here's what the hymn to Jesus says:
"Whether you are Kronos's offspring or that of Zeus, or blessed one, or of Rhea, be greeted, the great one, with the sound of whose name Rhea cast down her eyes. Oh Jesus Christ, the Assyrians call you thrice beloved Adonis, all of Egypt Osiris, Hellenic wisdom, the Horn of Men upon Heaven, the Samothracian AUGUST Adamas, unconquered one, the Hounan, the Thracians, Corybant, and the Phrygians sometimes Pepus, the other times Corpse God, unfruitful one, shepherd, ear of grain while still green, fruitful one whom the Almond bore, the man who plays the pipe. I shall him rehear as Addis, not with the chiming of bells or the bellowing of the flute of the Idean Korybantes mingled with it, rather I shall mix lyre playing with my Phobian muse. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! You are Pan, Bacchus, as a shepherd of the white stars, Jesus Christ."
So, just to sum this up for you: during the same week as Easter, you have a festival that celebrates the death and resurrection of Attis and Osiris, including a day of mourning followed two days later by a day of rejoicing. The same three-day sequence of death and resurrection of Jesus at Easter. And on top of that, you have early pre-Church Christians who are singing hymns that equate Jesus with these exact deities. And still, many New Testament scholars think this is just a coincidence and has no influence on the Gospel stories.
The Greek tale of Aphrodite's love for the youth in Cyzicus on Mount Ida in the Troad was probably also loosely derived from the myth of Attis, also drawn from Adonis and Tammuz. As well, Attis was also identified by the Greeks with the god Iacchus, the consort of the Great Mother in the Samothracian Mysteries. Iacchus is another god who dies by the hands of Zeus by a thunderbolt for lying in a field with Demeter, but is also able to get her pregnant with twin Pluto and Triptolemus, gods central to the Eleusinian Mysteries, who spread the rites of Dionysus to the world. Some sources even suggest that Pluto and Triptolemus are both secret avatars of the god Dionysus himself, as both share an epithet with him, which is Iacchus, an epithet only shared by Dionysus and their mother Demeter, a possible clue to the esoteric truth about Iacchus and Demeter.
Dionysus is the most important and elaborate of all the gods who die and resurrect. Among all Greek deities, Dionysus stands out as the most beloved, yet hardest to categorize. Dionysus is one of the oldest gods from pre-Hellenic times and before the alphabet even existed, originating from Thrace, where he was initially revered as Sabazius, the barley beer deity. In Greece, he transformed into a god of the vine and fruits, overseeing and nurturing vineyards, evolving from a fertility god to a deity of ecstasy, divine inspiration, and mania, and ultimately becoming a divine figure who sacrifices himself for humanity. Dionysus's mythology is a rich blend of various characters and tales, notably including the identification as Zagreus, the horn child of Zeus and Persephone, favored by Zeus and chosen to be the heir of Heaven. Dionysus was tragically targeted by Hera's jealousy, leading to a dramatic and brutal death at the hands of the Titans, dismembered, only to be resurrected by Zeus, thanks to Athena's intervention and Zeus's ingenuity. When Dionysus returns, he once again conquers death by being able to descend into Hades and successfully return with the poet Aristæus, who he raises up and makes divine. No other god achieves both resurrection and *katabasis* in the same timeline other than Dionysus and Jesus.
The worship of Dionysus was marked by elaborate rituals that celebrated his death and resurrection, drawing vast numbers of Greeks into the wilderness each spring, known as the Great Dionysia, celebrated at Athens and Thebes from the 10th to the 16th of the month of Elafebolion, which corresponds exactly to the month of Nisan, which means once again, another festival of death and resurrection that overlaps with Easter. The attendance of the Dionysia would revel in the rebirth of nature and the god himself. These celebrations involved inhibited drinking, ecstatic dances, and wild processions led by maenads. The rituals culminated in the symbolic dismemberment of a creature, mirroring Dionysus's own fate, to achieve a profound communion, believed to unite the participants with divine Dionysus. His cult, with its intense and mystical rites, swept through Greece, challenging the conventional worship of the Olympian gods. Despite attempts by religious and political authorities to contain its influence, Dionysus was eventually embraced within the Olympian fold, his worship formalized into the Great Dionysia at the vernal equinox of springtime. This integration marked a significant shift, blending Dionysian ecstasy with more structured worship of gods like Apollo.
Speaking of Apollo, there is another god who dies and rises at the spring, and that is Apollo's male lover, Hyacinthus. In fact, Hyacinthus and Apollo are so old, they are considered by scholars to be pre-Hellenic Bronze Age gods that trace back to the Mycenaeans. Hyacinthus, a Spartan prince noted for his extraordinary beauty, captured the affection of the god Apollo. Apollo's love for Hyacinthus...
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...for Hyacinthus, Apollo yearned to shed his divinity and share in the young Spartan's mortal fate, even pleading with his uncle Hades to end his life. He created a flower from Hyacinthus's spilled blood, the Hyacinth, as inscribed on its petals the words of lamentation: "Alas, alas." The flower Hyacinth turned into the modern plant bearing its name. Hyacinthus was eventually resurrected by Apollo and attained immortality. Pausanias has recorded that the throne of Apollo in Sparta had the depiction of a bearded Hyacinthus being taken to Heaven along with Poppæa by Aphrodite, Athena, and Emus. Hyacinthus personifies the sprouting vegetation in spring, which is killed by the heat of the summer. The apotheosis of Hyacinthus indicates that after attaining godhood, he represented the natural cycle of decay and renewal.
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Greek religion accompanied three main phases: the chthonian or earthbound, the Olympian, and the mystical. Each reflecting different societal classes and periods. The mystical aspect, embodied in the secret rites, promised personal immortality, becoming a vital part of Greek spirituality. The Eleusinian Mysteries, centered around Demeter and Persephone's myth, were paramount among these rites, symbolizing death and rebirth in a grand cycle of life that offered hope for an afterlife filled with joy and peace. This ancient promise of renewal merged with the Egyptian concept of the afterlife, laying the spiritual groundwork for Christianity's rise in the Western world.
Remember when I told you earlier in the video to remember the good-looking playboy sent by Aphrodite, the charming queen of the underworld, Persephone? Call enter Orpheus, the good-looking playboy who lost his beloved wife Eurydice and travels down into Hades, where he plays his lyre in front of the queen of the underworld, Persephone, and his charm and magic of his song sways her to allow him to return from Hades and bring his wife with him. In the 7th century BCE, when Greece was profoundly influenced by a mystical cult more impactful than the Eleusinian Mysteries, tracing its roots back to Orpheus, a legendary Thracian bard known for his unparalleled musical and poetic talents. As noted by Diodorus, Orpheus, a symbol of gentleness, musical mastery, and deep emotion, captivated all of creation with his lyre, taming wild beasts and moving inanimate nature with his melodies. His tragic love story with Eurydice, which led him to the underworld in an attempt to reclaim her, only to lose her again due to a moment of doubt, adds a poignant layer to this myth. His reluctance to find solace in others after Eurydice's final loss angered Thracian women, who in a Dionysian frenzy tore him apart, with Zeus immortalizing Orpheus's lyre in the stars and his still singing head becoming a revered oracle in Lesbos, symbolizing Orpheus's immortality after death and being raised up by Zeus into the heavens.
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Between Orpheus's love for Eurydice and Apollo's love for Hyacinthus, there's a message there. Beneath both of these stories, it's that to be resurrected, it's the people left behind in the world that you leave when you die that resurrect your soul through them remembering you. Orpheus was believed to have left behind sacred hymns, later organized by Onomacritus, the Orphic theologian, who was also credited for compiling the writings of Musæus, the son of Orpheus, who some thought could be the same person as Moses, who left behind a text known as the Octateuch, including Chresm Oracles, written similar to the compilation of the Homeric epics and Homeric hymns. These oracles and hymns laid the foundation for the Orphic cult, which emphasized the cycle of life, death, and rebirth, particularly through the lens of the Dionysus-Zagreus narrative. This belief system introduced concepts of original sin and divine redemption into Greek thought, portraying the soul as trapped within the body, a prison or tomb, but also containing a spark of divinity from Dionysus himself. The Orphic rituals, particularly the sacraments of eating a bowl symbolizing Dionysus's body and bread of the Eucharist symbolizing the blood and body of Dionysus, were meant to reaffirm this connection to the divine. Orphic theology provided a detailed account of the soul's journey after death, facing judgment in the underworld, with outcomes ranging from eternal damnation to rebirth through the cycle of transmigration, depending on the soul's purity. This complex eschatology, which also allowed for penances and indulgences, influenced Plato's critique of religious practices in Athens and sowed the seeds for the concepts of sin and redemption in the afterlife that would permeate later religious doctrines. Orphism introduced a moral and aesthetic dimension to Greek religion, advocating for a lifestyle distinct from heathenistic worship of the Olympian gods and turning to piety. This movement, which likely influenced Pythagoreanism and contributed to Platonic and Stoic thought, set the stage for Christian morals, monasticism, and mysticism, echoing the dualistic view of body and soul, the pursuit of purity, and the hope for immortality. The Orphic legacy, with its rich symbols, rituals, and beliefs, continues to resonate, underscoring the enduring human quest for meaning and transcendence beyond the tangible world.
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The ancient concept of the *katabasis* refers to a descent, especially a journey down into the underworld or a significant trip to a lower realm. This term is deeply rooted in classical mythology and literature, symbolizing a hero's journey to the land of the dead. Such a narrative often involves a hero confronting supernatural challenges, meeting with the souls of the departed, or seeking wisdom and power that is unattainable in the mortal world. *Katabasis* is a recurring theme in various ancient cultures but is particularly prominent in Greek and Roman mythology. Examples include Orpheus's journey to the underworld to retrieve his wife Eurydice, showcasing his attempt to overcome death with the power of music and love, only to tragically lose her again by violating the condition of not looking back until reaching the surface. There is also Heracles, who is one of the earliest pre-Hellenic gods to have completed the *katabasis*. Heracles, in one of the 12 labors, specifically when he had to capture Cerberus, the three-headed dog guarding the entrance to Hades, demonstrating his strength and courage. He enters Hades and returns triumphantly. When Euripides tells the tale about Heracles, he specifically recounts a three-day sequence, showing the same three-day motif for Jesus during Easter weekend.
"Admetus, now wherefore speechless standest thus, my wife? Hercules not vouchsafed the yet to hear her voice ere to the powers beneath the earth she be unconsecrated. And the third day come, but lead her in. And just man as thou art, henceforth Admetus, reverence still the guest. Bewail, but I must go and work the works set by the king, the son of Stelis." - Euripides, *Alcestis*.
There lies a thread of ancient ritual and celestial decree. Alcestis must linger in a state of liminality until the third day to be released from her consecration to the chthonic powers. These enigmatic deities of the underworld, this period of waiting steeped in mysticism, an ancient Greek religious practice, symbolizes a necessary transition, a sort of purgatorial interlude where the boundary between life and death blurs. It's a time when Alcestis, though reclaimed from the clutches of Hades by Heracles's valor, must yet navigate the shadowy corridors of the afterlife before she can step back into the sunlit world of the living. This waiting period is not just a pause in the narrative; it's a sacred interval deeply rooted in the cultural and spiritual ethos of Hellenistic times, reflecting a profound respect for the rites and rituals that govern the passage between the worlds.
Besides Orpheus and Heracles, there are dozens of other heroes and gods who perform the *katabasis*. Odysseus's visit to the underworld in Homer's *Odyssey* to seek advice from the prophet Tiresias, offering insights into his future challenges and the fate of his companions. He is able to travel into the land of the dead and return unharmed. Aeneas's descent to the underworld in Virgil's *Aeneid*, guided by the Cumaean Sibyl to meet his deceased father Anchises, who reveals Rome's glorious future, symbolizing the foundation of Roman identity and destiny. One of Aeneas's descendants, Romulus, according to Livy, was the founder of Rome, established greatness for the new city against the Saban tribes, but was murdered by his foes in a brutal way. When they went to look for his body, Romulus, like Jesus, had disappeared and was raised up by Jupiter and, according to Livy, was placed at the right hand of Jupiter and later returned to his followers on Earth. Proserpina is another character who completes the *katabasis*. She is taken down to Hades by Pluto against her will, though, but due to her mother Demeter's relentless pursuit, is able to return for six months each year.
These stories were not merely adventurous tales but carried deeper meanings. *Katabasis* represented a rite of passage, a transformation that allowed the hero to gain profound knowledge, resolve, and sometimes divine favor, crucial for completing their quest or fulfilling their destinies. It has also reflected ancient beliefs about death, afterlife, and the connection between the living and the dead, embodying themes of loss, redemption, and the eternal cycle of life and death. It was believed and well-established within Christian tradition that while Jesus was dead during the weekend between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, that his soul descended into the underworld, into hell or Hades, where he preached the good word of salvation to the souls in hell, and that they raised up with him in his glory when he ascended to the Father. This is the *katabasis* in the most fundamental sense.
In the lore of ancient Greece, the tales of Orpheus, Dionysus, Zagreus, Heracles, Attis, Psyche, Aeneas, and Romulus embarking on perilous journeys to the underworld, known as Hades, and making their return to the above world. These adventures, termed *katabasis* for the descent and *anabasis* for the return, are thought to symbolize the rites of passage of the mystery cults, especially those held in Eleusis. For two millennia, while clear to the ancients, the symbolic meaning of these myths has become obscure over time. These myths and the Eleusinian Mysteries they hint at taught concepts of life after death, rebirth, and the eternal soul, influencing early Christian thought and rhetoric.
The Mysteries began in Eleusis, initiated by Demeter in her search for her daughter Persephone, leading to a myth that explains the cycle of the seasons and the dual role of Persephone as the queen of the underworld and the embodiment of spring's return. The rituals of the Eleusinian Mysteries, shrouded in secrecy under penalty of death for divulgence, began with purification and fasting, following processions and sacrifices, culminating in a symbolic reenactment of the soul's journey through death to a higher state of existence. This series of rites promised initiates a deeper understanding of life's mysteries, including the afterlife's rewards and punishments. Before the fall festivities, initiates underwent a spring ceremony for the Lesser Mysteries, involving purification and learning of sacred myths. The Greater Mysteries unfolded in autumn, initiates experiencing symbolic death and rebirth through staged rituals in darkness, confronting fears and emerging into light, a transformation underscored by the consumption of a sacred drink made up of wine and barley and the utterance of a mystic phrase. The highest level of initiation revealed through an allegory of agricultural rebirth, bestowed upon the initiate the title of Epopt or seer, marking a profound spiritual awakening. This connection to the mysteries of life, death, and rebirth resonated with the philosophical and theological currents of the time, suggesting early monotheistic tendencies and a belief in the soul's immortality after death. These ancient rituals and their encoded wisdom found echoes in early Christianity, which adapted and expanded upon these themes to reach a wider audience familiar with the language and symbols of the mystery cults. The teachings of the Eleusinian Mysteries, with their emphasis on moral improvement and the hope of a blessed afterlife, thus provided a fertile ground for the spread of Christian doctrine, blending ancient rites with new religious insights. In essence, the Eleusinian Mysteries and the mythic journeys of Greek heroes offer a window into the ancient world's spiritual beliefs and the continuity of these themes into the Christian era, underscoring the universal quest for understanding the mysteries of life, death, and the divine. Cicero's praise for the Eleusinian Mysteries as a civilizing force reflects the enduring value of these ancient rites in shaping human thought and spirituality, echoing through history as a testament to the power of sacred tradition to inspire hope and moral growth.