The Virgin Goddess Studies in The Pagan and Christian Roots of Mariology

T H E VIRGIN GODDESS
NUMEN BOOK SERIES

STUDIES IN THE HISTORY
OF RELIGIONS
EDITED BY
WJ. H A N E G R A A F F
ADVISORY BOARD
P. ANTES, M. DESPLAND, RI J. HACKETT, M. ABUMALHAM MAS, A.VV. GEERTZ,

G. TER HAAR, G.L. LEASE, M.N. GETUI, I.S. GILHUS, P. MORRIS, J.K. OLUPONA,
E. THOMASSEN, A. TSUKIMOTO, A.T. WASIM
VOLUME LIX
'/68V
THE VIRGIN GODDESS

STUDIES I N T H E P A G A N A N D C H R I S T I A N R O O T S
MARIOLOGY
BY
S. B E N K O
BRILL
LEIDEN BOSTON
2004
OF
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Benko, Stephen, 1924T h e virgin goddess : studies in the pagan and Christian roots of mariology /
by Stephen Benko.
p. cm. (Studies in the history of religions, ISSN 0169-8834 ; v. 59)
Originally published: Leiden ; New York : E.J. Brill, 1993.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 90-04-13639-8 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Mary, Blessed Virgin, Saint History of doctrines - Early church, ca. 30-600. 2.
Goddesses- Rome. 3. Christianity and other religions- Rome. 4. Rome
Religion.
I. Title. II. Series.
BT612.B46 2003
232.91dc22
2003065311
ISSN
ISBN
0169-8834
90 04 13639 8
Copyright 2004 by Koninklijke Brill NV, IAden, The Netherlands

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CONTENTS
List of Illustrations
Abbreviations
vii
viii
I. T h e Pagan Goddess as a Concern for Christian

Theology
II. Goddesses in the Greco-Roman World
1
20
A. Caelestis
21
B. Isis
43
C. The Syrian Goddess
53
D. The Cult of Dionysus
65
E. Cybele, the Great Mother

III. T h e Image of the Goddess in the New Testament ....
70
83
A. T h e Woman Clothed with the Sun and Pagan

Mythology
1. T h e Concept of Heaven
2. T h e Robe of the Woman
87
87
95
3. T h e Astral Motifs
108
4. T h e Cosmic Battle
115
a. T h e Dragon
115
b. Water
121
5. Conclusions
128
B. Early Christian Interpretations of the Woman

Clothed with the Sun
130
1. T h e Greek Fathers
131
2. T h e Latin Fathers
133
I V . The Great Mother and Montanism

A. T h e History and Theology of Montanism
137
137
B. Montanism, the Great Mother, and the

Virgin Mary
C. Summary
151
168
V . T h e W o m e n W h o Sacrificed to Mary:
T h e Kollyridians
170
A. T h e Kollyridians according to Epiphanius..
171
B. Bread as an Element of Sacrifices
173
C. T h e Power of Consecrated Bread
187
D. W h o Were the Kollyridians?
191
CONTENTS
vi
V I . From Devotion to Doctrine

. Mary as Virgin Mother
. Mary as Earth-Goddess
C. T h e Queen is Crowned
V I I . Mary and the History of Salvation
A. Eve, Mary and the Church
B. Mary, the Mother o f God
196
196
206
216
229
229
245
Epilogue: Mariology: Past and Future, A Summary
263
Bibliography
266
General Index
285
Illustrations
LIST OF I L L U S T R A T I O N S
1. Knigin der Nacht. ( T h e Queen of the Night, surrounded by
the starry sky as a robe. Stage design for Mozart's Zauberflte,
Berlin, 1823. Deutsches Theatermuseum, Mnchen.)
2. Mary "clothed with the sun with the moon under her feet."
Albert Glockendon (Nrnberg, 1545) Gebetbuch des Herzogs
W i l h e l m IV v. Bayern (Reprinted by permission o f the
sterreichische Nationalbibliothek, Wien.)
3. Black Madonna of Czestochowa. (Reprinted by permission of
the Kunst-verlag Maria Laach.)
4. Dressed statue of the Virgin with crown. Lindenholz, ca. 1150.
Benediktiner Priorat, Mariazell. (Reprinted by permission of
Foto Kuss, Mariazell.)
5. Cake-mould from the palace of Mari (Mesopotamia) for making cakes in the form of Ishtar. (Reprinted by permission of
the Runion des muses nationaux Paris.)
6. Stamp of a physician with the imprint . (Reprinted by
permission o f the Historisches Museum, Basel.)
7. M o d e r n roman catholic eucharistie host with the chi-rho
motiv.
8. Hungarian
roman
catholic
church
Csiksomlyo,
Transsyl-
vania; Madonna crowned with twelve stars on her right S.

Peter, left S. Paul, at her feet S. Francis and S. Dominic.
ABBREVIATIONS
AAS
ANF
ANRW
CSEL
ER
GCS
Acta Apostolicae Sedis

Ante Nicene Fathers. Reprint by Eerdmans, 1951.
Aufstieg und N i e d e r g a n g der rmischen Welt. Edited by .
T e m p o r i n i and W. Haase. Berlin, de Gruyter. (Volumes still
being published).
Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum, 1866 ff.
LCL
Encyclopedia o f Religions.
Die griechischen christlichen
Jahrhunderte.
L o e b Classical Library.
MPG
MPL
NPNF
Migne, Patrologia Series Graeca.

Migne, Patrologia Series Latina.
Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers. Reprint by Eerdmans, 1951.
PAULY
RAC
RGG
SHA
Pauly-Wissowa-Kroll, Realencyclopaedie.
Reallexikon fr Antike und Christentum 1941 ff.
Die Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart, 3rd edition.
Scriptores Historiae Augustae.
T h e o l . Realenc.Theologische
Schriftsteller der ersten
Realencyclopaedie.
drei
CHAPTER ONE
T H E P A G A N GODDESS AS A C O N C E R N FOR
CHRISTIAN T H E O L O G Y
During the sixteenth century Reformation, Protestants accused
the Roman Catholic Church o f harboring ideas and practices
which had been taken over from the Greco-Roman world. This
was considered to be a serious charge, since the goal o f Christianity, so the accusers claimed, was to replace paganism with the
vera religio (true religion), not to continue it under a different
name. T h e often crude and aggressive attacks by Protestants,
especially during the era when polemics was a favorite discipline, 1 were strongly countered by Roman Catholic scholars. N o
area of Roman Catholic theology has received more attention in
this debate than the role accorded and the devotion paid to the
Virgin Mary. T h e literature on this topic is so extensive that it is
nearly u n m a n a g e a b l e , 2 but even a casual acquaintance with
Protestant criticism of Mariology reveals that it is in this particular
area that the charge o f "paganism" is most often heard. However,
according to the learned professor R. J. Zwi Werblowsky, every
religion is many religions. 3 T h e r e f o r e , the discovery of elements
1
O n e example may be Karl von Hase, Handbuch der
Protestantischen
Polemik gegen die Rmisch Katholische Kirche, 6th ed., Leipzig: Breitkopf und
Hrtel, 1894. This is a very scholarly but quite aggressive and often sarcastic
book. For a brief review of Roman Catholic criticism of Protestantism, see
Franz J. Leenhard, Der Protestantismus im Urteil der rmisch katholischen Kirche,
Zrich: Zwingli Verlag, 1943. Although written by a Protestant, with an
introduction by no less a person than Emil Brunner, this book is still a fair
and representative collection of sources. T o pursue the literature of polemics
any further would be an amusing but outdated exercise.
2
Those interested may look at the bibliography of Stephen Benko, Protestants, Catholics and Mary, Philadelphia: Judson Press, 1969, and S. Benko,
"An Intellectual History o f Changing Protestant Attitudes Towards Mariology Between 1950 and 1967," Ephemerides Mariologicae 24 (1974) 211-226. An
excellent bibliography is also given in Walter Delius, Geschichte der Marienverehrung, Mnchen/Basel: Reinhardt, 1963. T h e list of publications continues.
3
R. J. Zwi Werblowsky, "Synkretismus in der Religionsgeschichte," in
Synkretismus in den Religionen Zentralasiens, Wiesbaden: . Harrassowitz, 1987,
p. 2, with reference to the famous Dutch scholar, the late Gerardus Van Der
Leeuw. See also W. K. C. Guthrie, The Greeks and Their Gods, Boston: Beacon
T H E P A G A N GODDESS A N D C H R I S T I A N
THEOLOGY
o f our pagan past in the Christian religion should not surprise us.
In its veneration o f the Virgin Mary, not only did Roman
Catholic Christianity absorb many elements of the cults of Greek
and Roman goddesses, but Mary in effect replaced these deities
and continued them in a Christian form. This is the view to
which the Jesuit scholar Karl Priimm responded in his book Der
Christliche Glaube und die altheidnische Welt.4 Prmm investigated the
similarities between the ancient goddesses and Mary and quoted
many scholars who asserted that in Mary the ancient "mother o f
the g o d s " had returned in new glory. A f t e r reviewing
these
mother goddesses and discussing extensively the philosophy of

their cults, he concluded that the Marian dogma cannot be deduced from pagan precedents and, furthermore, it was not even
encouraged, promoted, or sidetracked by them for one simple and
obvious reason: the fundamental principle o f Mariology is the
motherhood of Mary and this is the greatest argument supporting
the full humanity of Jesus. Consequently, Mary could never have
been and could never become a goddess in the pagan sense because this would remove one of the two major pillars upon which
all orthodox Christian theology rests.5 Prmm's logic is impeccable, and his statement that the basic principle of Mariology is
the motherhood of Mary is undeniable: all later Mariological dogmas and theses are based on this principle. 6 A n d yet one wonders
why he found it necessary to research the history o f the mother
goddesses and to refute and deny any connection between them
Press, 1955, p. 176: "A living religion is a stone o f many facets, any one o f
which can be turned to face the light while the gleam o f the others is
dulled by shadow: nor is the possessor necessarily conscious that the stone
has turned in his hands."
4
Karl Prmm, Der Christliche Glaube und die altheidnische Welt, 2 vols.,
Leipzig: Jakob Hegner, 1935. Chap. VII in vol. 1, pp. 285-333, is entitled "Die
Muttergottes des Christentums und die Muttergttinnen des Heidentums."
5
Ibid., p. 328: "Somit liegt kein Anzeichen dafr vor dass die geradlinige Entwickelung des Marianischen Dogmas durch seitliche Anstsse
die von heidnischen Anschauungen ausgegangen waren b e f r d e r t gescheiwge denn gestrt worden sei. Menschlich gesprochen lag die grosse
H e m m u n g gegenber j e d e n Abgleiten vom Gedenken an die Person Maria
zur Vorstellung heidnischer Gttinnen darin dass eben die Marianische
Grundtatsache ihr Mutterverhltnis zu Jesus vorzugsweise zum Erweis der
wahren M e n s c h h e i t des H e r r n Auswertung fand; Diese Blickrichtung
musste davor bewahren Maria jemals auf die E b e n e des Gttlichen zu
erheben."
6
See Benko, Protestants, Catholics and Mary, chap. 11.
T H E P A G A N GODDESS A N D C H R I S T I A N T H E O L O G Y
and Mary so extensively if he did not have reasons to believe that

such connections might exist.
A similar view c o n c e r n i n g the origin o f M a r i o l o g y was
forwarded f r o m an unexpected side. L e o n h a r d Fendt, in his
Gnostische Mysterien. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte des Christlichen Gottesdienstes,7 investigated the Gnostic communion feasts and compared them with Christian developments. In discussing the
Gnostic Markos, he analyzed the role of Markos' "Charis," whom
Fendt called "a Hellenistic form of the mother of gods." 8 This led
him to explore the role of Mary in orthodox Christian theology as
contrasted with the female figures in Gnostic systems; 9 he
concluded that the cult of Mary grew out o f Christianity quite
independently. Fendt specifically rejected the possibility that the
cult o f Mary had anything to do with the syncretistic cult of the
Great Mother. 1 0 But he, too, was faced with problems: the Kollyridians, f o r example, about whom he could say only that they
were an exception and an isolated phenomenon, identified Mary
with the Great Mother. H e also quoted a number of Ophite hymns
from Origen, Contra Celsum 6.31, "which could be in a Catholic
prayer book if one replaces 'Charis' with 'Mary.'" 11 Fendt's book is
so rich in insights that even now, sixty-five years after its publication, it is still widely read. In this book, Fendt concluded that
7
Leonhard Fendt, Gnostische Mysterien. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte des Christlichen Gottesdienstes, Mnchen: Kaiser Verlag, 1922.
8
Ibid., p. 41.
9
Ibid., pp. 79-83, . 22.
10
Ibid.: "Der Marienkult ist aus dem Christentum selbstndig erwachsen" (p. 81). "An ein Herauswachsen des Marienkults aus dem Kult der
Grossen Mutter ist also nicht zu denken" (p. 80). Similar statements occur
occasionally in Roman Catholic Mariologies, e.g., P. G. M. Roschini, Maria
Santissina Nella Storia Delia Salvezza, 4 vols., Isola Del Liri: Editrice M.
Pisani, 1969, who compares the veneration of pagan goddesses and that o f
Mary and concludes that the cult of Mary comes directly from scripture and
tradition: "II culto di Maria driva unicamente, come da Iimpida fonte, dall
idea grandiosa che di Lei o f f r o n o la S. Scrittura e la tradiozione apostolica"
(vol. 4, pp. 53-54). Our question is: Where does tradition come from? See also
Gregory Alastruey, The Blessed Virgin Mary, 2 vols., St. Louis, Mo.: B. Herder,
1964: "Mary's cult differs absolutely from any pagan cult, and it is neither
essentially nor accidentally derived from it." T h e author, however, acknowledges that many superficial similarities exist (vol. 2, pp. 259-269). Further
literature on the subject includes J. Danielou, " L e culte Mariai et le
paganisme," in Maria, ed. P. Du Manoir, Paris: Beauchesne, 1949, vol. 1, pp.
159-181.
11
Fendt, op . cil., p . 80.
THEOLOGY
while there is nothing new under the sun, new things can come
into the world from above and this is exactly what happened in
the case o f Jesus Christ. Therefore, the cult of the Madonna is also
something new and different from the pagan cults because o f the
Spirit o f Jesus. 12 That is the reason, Fendt said, why Catholics
refuse to be called the revivers of the cults of the mother o f the
gods.
Today, however, one would be hard put to find any secular
historian
or historian of religion w h o would make the fine
distinction proposed by such distinguished scholars as Prmm

and Fendt. Almost all authors quoted in the present volume in
connection with this particular theme would point to Marian piety
as the natural outgrowth of the goddess-cults in the ancient world.
But just what is the connection? Is it correct to say that the cult o f
the Virgin was merely "influenced by pagan practices," or that it
simply "absorbed" and "assimilated" some ideas that were current among people who embraced Christianity? T o point out similarities, interesting parallels between the cults o f fertility goddesses and the cult of Mary, would be a waste o f time because it
would not demonstrate anything that has not been known in the
past. But I h o p e to show that there were powerful causative
influences from Greco-Roman religions that shaped the form o f
Mariology. T h e biblical roots o f Mariology have been sufficiently
analyzed; I intend to inquire into some extra-biblical sources o f
Marian piety, belief, and doctrine. I propose that there is a direct
line, unbroken and clearly discernible, from the goddess-cults o f
the ancients to the reverence
paid and eventually the
cult
accorded to the Virgin Mary. This cult I shall call " M a r i o l o g y "
(by a slight extension o f the term) as distinct from "Mariolatry,"
the excessive worship of Mary as a supernatural power in her own
right. I propose, therefore, that Mariology does not simply resemble pagan customs and ideas, but that it is paganism baptized,
pure and simple. I am fully aware that this is a controversial statement and may generate some spirited opposition, so I should like
to point out that most of our ancestors in the Christian faith were
baptized pagans; from the second century on, Jewish converts
seem to have been relatively few.
My studies have brought me to the conclusion that in Mario12
Ibid., p. 82.
T H E P A G A N GODDESS AND C H R I S T I A N
THEOLOGY
logy the Christian genius preserved and transformed some of the

best and noblest ideas that paganism developed before it. Rather
than being a "regression" into paganism, Mariology is a progression toward a clearer and better understanding o f the feminine
aspect of the divine and the role of the female in the history o f
salvation. O f course, over the centuries there were many aberrations into Mariolatry, but this does not mean that in its basic
principle Mariology is a superstition. On the contrary, I hope to
show that M a r i o l o g y is a necessary part o f Christianity.
In
Marian piety, the Christian Church did not simply adopt the
pagan structures and forms of worship of the Mother Goddess. In
this sense, Prmm, Fendt, and other defenders of the exclusively
Christian origins of Mariology are correct: Mariology is not the
same as the worship o f Cybele or Isis or Caelestis. If this were
indeed the case, then Mariology would be outdated, archaic, and
irrelevant: there is no place today for maenads or for the celebration of an orgia, to mention only two examples. Christianity did
not simply adopt pagan ideas and cult practices, but transformed
them by merging them with elements peculiar to itself.
T h e cult of the Mother Goddess entered the Christian Church
in typically Christian categories, such as the Ecclesia, represented
as the spiritual mother of Christians, or as "the Second Eve,"
whose divine motherhood is responsible for mankind's rebirth. It
was through such Christian concepts that the idea o f the divine
feminine took root in Christianity, and it was a long and often
confusing process until Mary was declared to be the Mother o f
God. But it is the primordial mystery of generation and childbirth, the appearance of life, and the age-old belief that motherh o o d is part of a cosmic order upon which both the pagan and the
Christian versions o f the cult of the theotokos rest. This reverence
for motherhood and childbirth is the basic principle of Mariology,
a principle which Christianity inherited from its pagan
fore-
runners.
Veneration o f m o t h e r h o o d brings us to the fact o f sexual
differentiation and the question of the relation of male and female
to each other. T h e universal human experiences of sex, generation, fatherhood, and motherhood, when viewed sub specie aeternitatis, become ingredients o f the divine order. H e r e the contribution o f Mariology is considerable. Let us look briefly at some o f
the issues involved.
THEOLOGY
1. W e cannot say "male" without at the same time saying

"female." This is obvious, yet in Christian theology, the image o f
G o d that emerged from Judaism is of a G o d solely male. Even in
its Trinitarian form (Father, Son and Holy Spirit), it is, at least in
Latin Christianity, an exclusively male God, since the Holy Spirit
is a "he": the word spiritus in Latin is a masculine noun. 1 3 This
13
In Greek it is neuter (pneuma) and in Hebrew it is feminine
(ruah).
Recent feminist concerns focused attention on this problem. See, a m o n g
others, Phyllis Trible, God and the Rhetoric of Sexuality, Philadelphia: Fortress,
1978; Leonard Swidler, Biblical Affirmations of Woman, Philadelphia: Westminster, 1979. Andrew M. Greely, The Mary Myth. On the Feminity of God,
New York: Seabury Press, 1917, chap. 3, "The Androgyny of G o d , " pp. 49-72,
developed this theme and stated, "God is both masculine and feminine and
may well have been thought of as a woman long b e f o r e she/he was ever
thought of as male" (p. 49). Greely proposed that Mary should be regarded as
the "symbol o f the feminine component of the deity" (p. 13) because she
"reveals the tender, gentle, comforting, reassuring, ' f e m i n i n e ' dimension
o f G o d " (p. 17). "Mary is the Catholic Christian religion's symbol which
reveals to us that the Ultimate is androgynous, that in God there is both
male and female ... She reveals to us the feminine dimensions of the Christian G o d , and at the same time reinforces our perceptions of all things,
including ourselves, as androgynous in some fashion" (pp. 216-217). See also
p. 87 on his ideas about the androgyny of Jesus. But Greely falls short of
acknowledging Mary as a goddess, although he admits that "Mary ... is part
o f a great tradition of female deities, all of whom reflect the human condition that God has feminine as well as masculine characteristics" (p. 13).
"Mary reveals, as d o all goddesses, the feminine aspect of the deity" (p. 36).
Yet Mary is d i f f e r e n t (p. 71). Greely was not the first to advance such
thoughts. Prior to him, George Koepgen, Die Gnosis des Christentums, Salzburg:
Verlag Otto Mller, 1939, pp. 318-319, proposed that the church is an androgynous entity, because in Jesus, male and female are united. T h e celibate
priest is a visible symbol o f this androgyny, and since the priest is virgin,
in his soul, male and female are united. (Cf. J. W. Drijvers, "Virginity,"
ER, vol. 15, pp. 179-281.) This is not an altogether new idea. Wayne A.
Meeks, " T h e Image of the Androgyne: Some Uses of a Symbol in Earliest
Christianity," History of Religions 13 (1974) 165-208, quotes Maximus the Confessor (580-662): Christ "unified man, mystically abolishing by the Spirit
the difference between male and female and, in place of the two with their
peculiar passions, constituting one free with respect to nature" (Questiones ad
Thalassium, vol. 48). See also E. Ann Matter, "The Virgin Mary: A Goddess?"
in Carl Olson, ed., The Book of the Goddess. Past and Present, N e w York:
Crossroad, 1939, pp. 80-96; Rosemary Redford Ruether, Mary-The
Feminine
Face of the Church, Philadelphia: Westminster, 1977; Merlin Stone, When God
Was a Woman, New York: Dial Press, 1976 (this book has very g o o d references, but no footnotes, and that diminishes its usefulness). H e r e should
also be mentioned Henri de Lubac, The Eternal Feminine, L o n d o n : Collins,
1970, a study of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin's poem of Love and his views on
T h e Eternal Feminine and Mary. De Chardin is quoted as expressing "the
need to correct 'a dreadfully masculinized' conception o f the G o d h e a d "
(p. 126). I am omitting here books dealing with the typology o f Mary and
the church; the number of these books and articles is very great. (See n. 2
7 T H E P A G A N GODDESS AND C H R I S T I A N
THEOLOGY
was not the case in paganism, where the many goddesses gave
expression to the feminine aspect o f the divine image. From this
point of view, Christianity had an obvious shortcoming. Resolution was sought through the elevation of the Virgin Mother o f
God, Mary, to higher and higher levels in the divine economy.
That the divine cannot be conceived of as exclusively male or
female was clearly understood by the pagans, who sensed that in
the absolute all opposites and contraries are present and reconciled. In paganism such primordial unity was widely discussed
as early as Hesiod (ca. 700 B.C.), who explained the existence o f
the world as a result of a series of separations. 14 In one of his
comedies, Aristophanes (ca. 457-ca. 385) developed the same
theme, 1 5 and in many of the Near Eastern cosmogonies, which
we will briefly mention later, the image o f a primeval unity from
which everything else developed is also present. These discussions do not conflict with the biblical creation narratives. Although in Genesis, creation is referred to as the activity of a God
who is above the universe and creates not with his body but with
the agency of his word, yet the net result a series of separations
and multiplications is the same. T h e most famous discussion of
the male-female polarity is in Plato's Symposium, where he posits
the existence o f a primeval androgynous man who was split into
male and female. According to Plato, the intense desire of man
and woman for intercourse is determined not by the urge to
procreate but by the desire to become one again: "And the reason
is that human nature was originally one and we were a whole,
and the desire and pursuit of the whole is called love." 1 6 Jewish
mysticism also represented the first man as androgynous. 17 This
above for bibliography.) Caroline Walker Bynum, Jesus as Mother. Studies in
the Spirituality of the High Middle Ages, Berkeley, Los Angeles, L o n d o n : U C
Press, 1982, deals with the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. See also Virginia Ramey Mollenkott, The Divine Feminine, New York: Crossroad, 1983.
14
Hesiod, Theogony 120. But see also Empedocles of Acragas (ca. 450 B.C.)
and his "twofold tale," in John Burnett, Early Greek Philosophy, New York:
Macmillan, 1892. Also, M. L. West, The Orphic Poems, O x f o r d : Clarendon,
1983, especially p. 57.
15
Aristophanes, The Birds, in B. B. Rogers, Five Comedies of Aristophanes,
New York: Doubleday, 1955, p. 34.
16
Plato, Symposium, 183E-193D, in The Dialogues of Plato, ed. B. Jowett, New
York: Scribner, 1889, vol. 1, pp. 483-486.
17
T h e literature on the subject o f the androgyne is very large. Indispensable for any reader is Mircea Eliade, The Two and the One, L o n d o n :
Harvill Press, 1965, and Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty, Women, Androgynes, and
THEOLOGY
view is reflected in the biblical account of the creation of Eve from

Adam, which, according to the text, is the reason why a man and
a woman have intercourse. 18
2. For both paganism and Christianity sex is a reality; however, sexual separation is a condition which did not exist "in the
beginning." Originally there was unity and to return to that unity
(which includes the communia dei el hominis) is the aim of religion.
Early Christian theology both orthodox and heterodox strove
to point out a way toward overcoming such separation in order to
arrive at unity. Indeed, the eucharistie feast may conceal an obscure element of the ancient hieros gamos, the sacred intercourse
Other Mythical Beasts, Chicago: University o f Chicago Press, 1980. O'Flaherty

deals mostly with Hindu mythology; chap. V, "Androgynes," however, has
many useful general remarks, especially on pp. 283-309. Also, the article
"Androgynes" in the ER, vol. 1, pp. 276-281, by the same two authors (this
article is based on their books mentioned above). A. W. Watts, The Two
Hands of God. The Myths of Polarity, New York: G e o r g e Braziller, 1963, collected many mythological accounts of "the desire and pursuit o f the w h o l e "
f r o m such diverse places as ancient Egypt, Greece, India, and others. H e
concluded that "almost invariably our mythologies preserve the hint o f a
way back to the lost unity, though the price that has to be paid for it is a form
o f death." This may be death in a real sense as in Christianity, or selfdenial, treating oneself as already dead, but "that is the state o f paradise
r e g a i n e d " (Watts, p. 201). Ernst Benz, Adam, Der Mythus vom Urmenschen,
Mnchen-Planegg: Otto-Wilhelm-Barth Verlag, 1955, is a useful collection
o f texts relating to the problem of the androgyne. T h e authors discussed in
this book include Jacob Boehme, F. von Baader, and N. Berdjajew; this book
was used by M. Eliade, who referred to it extensively. Wayne A . Meeks, art.
cit., . 12, investigated the myth of the androgyne in the areas o f Paul's
missionary activity and concluded that in the baptismal liturgy there was a
reunification formula in which the Christian was assured that "he has put
on again the image o f the Creator, in whom there is no male and f e m a l e "
(p. 207). In opposition to Meeks, Dennis Ronald MacDonald, There Is No
Male and Female. The Fate of a Dominical Saying, Philadelphia: Fortress, 1987,
argues that Paul's concern was the unification of alienated social groups
Jews/Greeks, slave/free, men/women and not a baptismal restoration of
the androgyne. (MacDonald, pp. 126, 128, 130, 132: Paul "envisioned a fully
democratized community.") Further literature on the subject includes the
e x c e l l e n t anthropological study by Hermann Baumann, Das Doppelte Geschlecht, Berlin: . Reimer, 1955; Ernst Ludwig Dieterich, "Der Urmensch
als A n d r o g y n , " Zeitschrift fr Kirchengeschichte 58 (1939) 297-345; and A l f r e d
Bertholet, Das Geschlecht der Gottheit, Tbingen: J. C. B. Mohr (Paul Siebeck),
1934. For Jewish mysticism, see Raphael Patai, The Hebrew Goddess, N e w
York: Ktav Publishing House, 1967.
18
Gen. 2:21-23: " T o become one flesh" is to restore their original unity.
For an analysis o f this account, together with those o f Plato and Aristophanes, see Baumann, op at., pp. 175-181.
9 T H E P A G A N GODDESS A N D C H R I S T I A N
THEOLOGY
which reenacts the primeval unity that existed prior to creation. 19

In the New Testament Jesus is reported to have said that in heaven
there will be no sexual differentiation because all will be "like
angels." 20 This thought also appears outside the canonical gospel
narratives. According to the Gospel o f Thomas, it was with reference to little children that Jesus told his disciples how they can
enter the Kingdom: "When you make the two one, and when
you make the inner as the outer and the outer as the inner and
the above as the below, and when you make the male and the
female into a single one, so that the male will not be male and the
female not be female ... then shall you enter (the K i n g d o m ) . " 2 1
19
Stephen Benko, Pagan Rome and the Early Christians, B l o o m i n g t o n :
Indiana Univ. Press, 1984, pp. 79-102; idem., "The Libertine Gnostic Sect o f
the Phibionites A c c o r d i n g to Epiphanius," Vigiliae Chrislianae 21 (1967)
103-119.
20
Mark 12:18-25; Matt. 22:23-30; Luke 20:27-36. From here we are to
understand also Jesus' words about little children: " T o such belongs the
kingdom of G o d , " obviously, because they have not yet reached full sexual
maturation and, thus, division, and live in a state of paradisiacal innocence.
Mark 10:13-16; Matt. 18:3, 19:13-15; Luke 18:16-17 .
21
L o g i o n 22, A. Guillemont et al., eds., The Gospel According to Thomas,
Leiden: E. J. Brill; New York: Harper and Brothers, 1959, pp. 17-19. This
saying is also used in the early Christian homily called 2 Clement, chap.
12. Here, however, the preacher interprets the saying as a call for moral
purity and asceticism. See Rudolf Knopf, Lehre der zwlf Apostel. Zwei Clemensbriefe, Tbingen: J. C. B. Mohr (Paul Siebeck), 1920, pp. 170-171 (Handbuch
zum N e u e n Testament, Ergnzungsband I ) . An English translation is also
available in . J. Goodspeed, The Apostolic Fathers, New York: Harper and
Brothers, 1950, p. 90, and C. C. Richardson, Early Christian Fathers, Philadelphia: Westminster, 1953, pp. 197-198 . See also the fragments of the Gospel
of the Egyptians, in E. H e n n e c k e and W. Schneemelcher, New Testament
Apocrypha, Philadelphia: Westminster, 1963, vol. 1, pp. 166-167. On Thomas,
see especially Stevan L. Davies, Thomas and Christian Wisdom, N e w York:
Harper & Row, 1983. A commentary on the Gospel of Thomas was published
by Robert M. Grant, The Secret Sayings of Jesus, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday,
1960. See also Dennis Ronald MacDonald, There Is No Male and Female: The
Fate of a Dominical Saying in Paul and Gnosticism, Philadelphia: Fortress Press,
1987. Useful is Jorunn Jacobsen Buckley, Female Fault and Fulfillment in Gnosticism, Chapel Hill and L o n d o n : Univ. of North Carolina Press, 1986, especially chap. 5, "An Interpretation of Logion114 in T h e Gospel of Thomas,"
pp. 84-104. Similar is another saying of Jesus, when the disciples asked him:
"When will thou be revealed to us and when will we see T h e e ? " T h e
answer o f Jesus was: "When you take o f f your clothing without being
ashamed, and take your clothes and put them under your feet as the little
children and tread on them, then (shall you behold) the Son of the Living
( O n e ) and you shall not fear." Finally, the last logion: "Simon Peter said to
them: Let Mary go out from among us, because women are not worthy o f the
Life. Jesus said: See, I shall lead her, so that I will make her male, that she
too may become a living spirit, resembling you males. For every woman
10
THEOLOGY
According to these canonical and aprocryphal sayings of Jesus,

in the kingdom of God sexual differentiation will no longer exist;
a condition will prevail that existed before the sexes were separated. This state is the result of redemption, which for many
church fathers meant the restoration of God's creation to the
condition that existed prior to the destructive consequences o f
sin. 22 Complete redemption, a perfect restoration of the kingdom
o f God, cannot take place without the reuniting of female and
male. T h e result is a "new creation" in which the
universe
undergoes a process o f cosmic rebirth. 2 3 H e r e Mary has her

fundamental role. Her figure, as Desire Hirst has expressed it,
"mirrors the Divine Nature itself, especially in its most hidden
and profound facet ... that of Motherhood which is the complement of the Fatherhood of God." 24
3. Mary was impregnated by the creative word of God: this is
what we call "virgin birth." T h e phrase 25 means that Mary "did
not know man," i.e., a male, prior to the conception and birth of
Jesus. This point is important because her virginal
condition
means that Mary's unspoiled purity and innocence parallels the
w h o makes herself male will enter the Kingdom o f H e a v e n . " L o g i o n s 37

and 114, Guillemont et al., supra, pp. 23 and 57. Concerning the practice of
undressing and treading upon the clothing, see Jonathan Z. Smith, " T h e
Garment of Shame," History of Religions 5 (1966) 217-238, according to whom
L o g i o n 37 is an interpretation of an "archaic Christian baptismal rite." Cf.
the lament of Isis, which I quote from Bertholet, op. cit., p. 18: "I made
myself into a man, although I was a woman, to let your name live on
earth."
22
See, e.g., Paul in Rom. 5; 1 Cor. 15; similarly Eph. 1. Also Adversus
Haereses 5, 1 ff.; Augustine, In Psalmum 96.15; Origen, De pnncipiis 1.6, 1-2.
23
Rom. 8:22-23: "We know that the whole creation has been groaning
in travail together until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves,
w h o have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait f o r adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies." See also Gal. 4:19, and numerous
passages, such as 1 John 4:7, where Christians are referred to as "born of
God."
24
Desire Hirst, "The Catholic Concept of the Feminine,"Bucknell Review
24 (1978) 67. According to Hirst, Mary was human, not a goddess. But her
relationship with God was such that "leads the creature toward deification,
to becoming a god through participation in Divine will ... Mary is one of us
w h o may b e c o m e gods only if we accept our created position and live it
through to the e n d " (p. 64). This begs the question whether Mary has now
been deified and whether we are now permitted to think of her as divine.
Hirst, as I see it, leaves the question open.
25
T h e expression is found in other mythologies, too; thus, it is not
unique to Christianity.
THEOLOGY
unspoiled state o f creation when "the Spirit of God was moving

over the face of the waters." 26 Accordingly, the gospel o f Luke
emphasizes that the angel Gabriel was sent to a virgin in Nazareth;
the Spirit o f God overshadowed her and entered into her as into
pure soil; thus the new creative word o f G o d was sown. 27 T h e
Christian recorder o f the prologue to the Gospel o f Luke thus
established a parallel with Genesis 1 which would be more fully
developed by later authors who would draw a parallel between the
"virgin earth" and the virgin condition of Mary's body. Neither
did it escape their attention that both in Genesis 1 and in the
conception of Jesus the "word of G o d " was the seminal agent.
A virgin, as someone who is not engaged in sexual activity
either as male or female, is in a sense "neither male nor female,"
as the sayings of Jesus describe those entering the kingdom o f
G o d . Virgins are thus in that state of paradisaical
innocence
which existed before sin entered the world and man was separated from God. N o t subject to the same limitations of the human
condition as others, they are, in a manner of speaking, between
humanity and God. A virgin stands "for continuity in its most
pure state" because "she remain [s] as she had been first created."
H e r body is "a clear echo of the virgin earth of Paradise untouched earth, that bore within itself the promise of undreamed-of
abundance." 2 8 T h e Virgin Mary was the "virgin earth," and thus
a perfect choice for the female counterpart in the process o f the
"new creation."
What happened in the 'Virgin Birth"? T w o elements heaven and earth, spirit and flesh, holy and profane c o m m i n g l e d
and a second creation took place: the "second A d a m " was caused
to appear, he "who has made us both one, and has broken down
the dividing wall of hostility ... that he might create in himself
one new man in place of the two, so making peace." 2 9 Without
Mary, this could not have happened; here her
figure
reaches
those cosmic proportions that will more fully appear in Revelation
Gen. 1:2; see D. A. Leeming, "Virgin Birth," ER, vol. 15, pp. 272-276.
Luke 1:26-35. See also our later discussion of Mary as earth, p. 206fT..
28
See Peter Brown, The Body and Society. Men, Women and Sexual Renunciation in Early Christianity, New York: Columbia U. Press, 1988, pp. 271 and 278.
Also, Aline Rousselle, Porneia,On Desire and the Body in Antiquity,
Oxford:
Basil Bleckwell, 1988, and Han J. W. Drijver, loc. cit.
29
Eph. 2:14-15.
26
27
12
THEOLOGY
12. Protestants like to point out that the Virgin Birth is a statement
about Jesus and not about Mary. That is only partly true. Those
who wrote down the infancy narratives o f the Gospels of Matthew
and Luke may have had Jesus at the center o f their attention, 30 but
they could not possibly i g n o r e Mary. In Christian belief the
conception and birth o f Jesus is a cosmic event and Mary is a
necessary part of that event.
T h e apocryphal Gospel of Bartholomew reflects the popular belief
in the importance of Mary's motherhood. H e r e the disciples ask
her how she conceived and carried "him who cannot be carried
or how she bore so much greatness." At first she refuses to answer
and warns the disciples that such a mystery cannot be spoken o f
without great and dangerous consequences. W h e n the disciples
insist, Mary begins the story, but she can go only up to the point
where the angel came to her. "As she was saying this, fire came
from her mouth, and the world was on the point o f being burned
up. T h e n came Jesus quickly and said to Mary: 'Say no more, or
today my whole creation will come to an e n d . ' " 3 1 According to
this passage, Mary conceived and bore more than the human side
o f Jesus; she bore the creator of the world. Her image is that of the
divine mother, the female who is part o f the cosmic creative
process. A n d this is not far from the image of the "Great Mother o f
the gods" to whom our ancestors were so deeply devoted.
Christianity did not add a new element to religion when it
introduced
into its theology
such concepts as " v i r g i n "
and
"mother"; rather, it sharpened and refined images that already

existed in numerous forms in pagan mythology. If these images
are archetypes, then they belong to the "collective unconscious"
o f humankind; each generation inherits them; they are permanent parts of the human species, biologically determined. Those
who find this Jungian theory unacceptable would say that these
images are learned and not inherited, but in either case it cannot
be denied that here we are dealing with universal human experiences. 3 2 Our earliest memories are likely to c o m e from our
30
This, of course, may not be the case, either, since it is not very difficult
to find elements of very early Christian devotion to Mary in these narratives.
31
Hennecke and Schneemelcher, op. cit., vol. 1, p. 494.
32
T h e Jungian theory about the mother-archetype is discussed in great
detail by Erich N e u m a n , The Great Mother. An Analysis of the Archetype
13
THEOLOGY
mothers; our concept of life is inseparable from that of the womb;

our concept of nurturance is female, and everybody has some
understanding of the mother-child relationship.
Whatever its source, a study o f ancient history shows that
goddess-worship has been an important aspect of human religion
from earliest times. T h e diversity of pagan divinities must not be
denied: Sekhnet was goddess o f plague and punishment, Bellona
o f war, etc. However, what those usually called "fertility goddesses" represented was the same in every age and every place.
Thus, it cannot be said that Isis and Cybele were historically
identical; obviously they were not; functionally, however, they
were in some respects equivalent. T h e best proof of this fact is the
syncretism which was generally accepted by everyone during
the early centuries of Christianity; if such functional equivalency
had not existed among the goddesses, the later syncretism could
never have happened. Already in the fifth century B.C. Herodotus
(Bollingen Series X L V I I ) , New York: Pantheon Books, 1955. This massive
volume (43 p. introduction, 353 p. text, 380 p. plates and index) is still the
definitive treatment o f the subject. Ann Belford Ulanov, The Feminine in
Jungian Psychology and in Christian Theology, Evanston: Northwestern Univ.
Press, 1971, analyzed Jung's ideas on the feminine and the implications for
Christian theology, and generally the role o f the feminine in religion and
life. T h e opposite view would be represented among others by Mircea Eliade,
Patterns in Comparative Religion, New York: Sheed and Ward, 1958, according
to whom it is not necessary to work with archetypes because human experiences are similar everywhere. This could be called a cultural-anthropological line, which has been embraced by many historians o f religion. Judith
Ochshorn, The Female Experience and the Nature of the Divine, B l o o m i n g t o n :
Indiana Univ. Press, 1981, for example, found the Jungian approaches unsatisfactory because they "oversimplify and violate the complexity and variety
of human experience" (p. xv). See also G. Van Der Leeuw, Phnomenologie der
Religion, Tbingen: Mohr, 1933, pp. 165, 190; and the criticism of Jung and
Neumann by J. J. Preston, ed., Mother Worship, Chapel Hill: Univ. N o r t h
Carolina Press, 1982: "Human behavior cannot be reduced to innate principles, infantile phantasies, or archetypes" (p. 328). "It is not necessary to invoke an innate archetype to explain the widespread ambivalence represented
in goddess worship ... M o t h e r worship is m o r e c o m p l e x than N e u m a n n
would have us believe ... goddesses are multifaceted phenomena, integrating
a wide range o f human experiences and aspirations" (p. 332). For our
purpose such differentiation is not necessary, since both Jungians and the
cultural-anthropologists ultimately talk about religious experiences which
appear to be common to all peoples, as Preston himself admitted: "Even if we
d o not agree with the Jungian idea o f a female archetype, all humans
understand the mother-infant bond and recognize the related universal
symbol of the w o m b as mother of l i f e " (J. J. Preston, "Goddess Worship,"
ER, vol. 6, p. 58). See also Preston, Mother Worship, supra: "... in each o f us is a
memory of that time of perfect bonding between mother and child" (p. 340).
14
THEOLOGY
identified the Greek gods with those of the Egyptians, 33 and by the
second century A.D., Apuleius could assertively make Isis identify herself with most o f the major goddesses known at that time.
Apuleius was a devotee of Isis. That his claim could have been
accepted by those devoted to the other goddesses is unlikely. But at
the least he shows us how syncretism could be used to claim for
o n e or another cult far wider validity than it previously had been
thought to have. For Apuleius, Isis is "the natural mother o f all
things, mistress and governess o f all the elements." Only the
names under which she is worshipped are different. 3 4 So did
Lucius invoke her help "by whatever name or fashion or shape it
is lawful to call upon thee" 3 5 until she came and restored his
corrupted shape back to its original unspoiled form; from an ass
he became a man again.
If we change the name Isis in the story of Lucius' conversion to
Mary, we are already speaking in a Mariological context. Even
thouqh the dramatis personne clearly belong to the pagan world, the
function o f Isis is that of the great goddess through whom a "new
creation" takes place, the effects of a "curse" are reversed, and
Lucius is saved. When Apuleius wrote this tale, Christians were
already comparing the Virgin Mary to Eve and were beginning
to draw parallels between
the woman who was the cause o f
mankind's fall and the woman who was the cause of redemption.
Pagan and Christian concepts of the role o f the "woman" here
run side by side until the pagan concept converges with the Christian one and Mary emerges supreme.
T o demonstrate this development, to show how the pagan
"queen of heaven" gradually became the Christian "queen
of
heaven," we must follow a chronological method of investigation

to illustrate our thesis adequately. A topical treatment o f Mariology is a legitimate approach; 36 my point in this book, however, is
33
See Histories 2.155-156, in A. D. Godley, ed., LCL, L o n d o n : Heinemann,
1960, vol. 1, p. 469. A m o n g others, Demeter is identified with Isis. This is
the so-called interpretatio greca, which is based on the assumption that all
peoples worshipped the same gods.
34
The Golden Ass 11.4, in W. Adlington, ed., LCL, rev. by S. Gaselee,
L o n d o n : Heinemann, 1935, p. 545.
35
Ibid. 11.2, p. 541.
36
Giovanni M i e g g e , The Virgin Mary, Philadelphia: Westminster, 1956,
to name one example, did this with excellent results. Very informative also
is the great three-volume work by Juniper B. Carol, ed., Mariology, Milwau-
15
THEOLOGY
to show the continuity of the reverence paid to the female aspect of

God. This can best be done by proceeding along chronological
lines.
This procedure will also reveal that the goddess-cult of most
decisive influence on the emerging Christian Church was that o f
Magna Mater, that is, Cybele, and therefore, that the geographic
center of nascent Mariology was western Asia Minor. This does
not mean that other goddesses, such as Isis, did not play a formative role in Christianity. T h e study of Christian iconography, to
mention only one field, has shown how much we inherited from
the pious worshippers of Isis. On the level of popular devotion Isis
left many marks of the cult of Mary. 37 However, it seems to me
that Mariology was more substantially determined by the theology of the Great Mother than by any other fertility goddess. It
was the motherhood of Mary which became the point o f connection between her figure and the pagan goddess concept, and I
should like to recall once more that the basic principle of Mariology, from which everything else flows, is the fact that she was
the mother of Jesus. I will, therefore, attempt to show how the
early Christian theologians used the m o t h e r h o o d o f Mary to
connect her with the events described in Genesis 3 and how this
then led to the use of such epithets for Mary as "the cause of salvation" which eventually raised her image into a cosmic perspective. T h e vehicle by which many ideas connected with Magna
Mater were transferred into Christianity was the Montanist movement. Obviously, there were other important movements in the
second century. O n e of these in which the feminine element also
played a significant role was Gnosticism, which, as has been
shown, may also have absorbed ideas from the worship of Cybele.
T h e impact of the Gnostic understanding o f the f e m i n i n e
element upon mainstream Christianity, however, would require
another study.38
kee: Bruce, 1955-61.

37
R. E. Witt, Isis in the Graeco-Roman World, Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell Univ.
Press, 1971, describes the spread of the cult of Isis, her eventual assimilation
with other goddesses, and her impact on Christianity. T h e author believes
that Paul was especially preoccupied with the popularity of Isis.
38
See Karen L. King, ed., Images of the Feminine in Gnosticism, P h i l a d e l phia: Fortress Press, 1988. This book contains papers delivered at a conference at the Institute o f Antiquity and Christianity in Claremont, California, in 1985, and has the most recent information on the subject. See also
16
THEOLOGY
W e shall proceed in the following way.

First, we shall investigate a few characteristic pagan goddesses:
their stories, their cults, and their impact upon their worshippers
P h e m e Perkins, "Sophia and the Mother-Father: T h e Gnostic Goddess," in

Carl Olson, op. cit., pp. 97-109; Jorunn Jacobsen Buckley, op. cit., Charles W.
Hedrick and Robert Hodgson, Jr., eds., Nag Hammadi, Gnosticism and Early
Christianity, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1988.
Speaking about the Goddess, or Mother Goddess (in the singular and with
a capital G and M ) is a convenience but the dispute still goes on whether it is
legitimate or not.James J. Preston ( o p . cit. pp. 325-343) argued spiritedly
supporting the "multivariant" and the "polymorphous" character of the goddesses. A c c o r d i n g to him mother deities may be "1. reflections o f sociocultural realities, 2. models to be imitated by humans, 3. opposites inversely
related to their human counterparts, 4. idealized extensions o f m o t h e r h o o d
as conceived and practiced in empirical reality." (p. 337). This may all be
true (and it should be remembered that Preston argues against the archetypal f e m i n i n e p r i n c i p l e ) but A . H . A r m s t r o n g ' s d e f i n i t i o n provides an
operational basis on which the p h e n o m e n o n o f female deities can be discussed. This is what he says:
" T h e actual figures in most mystery cults of any spiritual importance are
female divinities who can be grouped under the title o f Goddess or Mother.
W h a t d o we mean when we speak o f the 'Goddess'? It is, o f course, a
modern generalization covering a great multiplicity of cults and stories in
the Mediterranean area. But they all have something in c o m m o n that is
very difficult to apprehend and perhaps impossible even to understand fully.
T h e feminine aspect of divinity in the world can mean so many things. T h e
nearest approach to a successful statement of what it may be is perhaps what
Zuntz says when speaking o f an early form of the cult o f the mother, that o f
the great Neolithic T e m p l e of Malta: 'These men of an age f r o m which not
one word reaches us perceived and worshipped in their goddess the wonder
o f life unending, embracing death as a stage and step to its eternity.'" A . H .
Armstrong, " T h e Ancient and Continuing Pieties o f the Greek W o r l d " in
A . H . Armstrong's Classical Mediterranean Spirituality, N e w York: Crossroad,
1986, p. 72. T h e quotation is from G. Zuntz, Persephone. O x f o r d : Clarendon
Press, 1971, p. 53.
Urs Winter, Frau und Gttin, Gttingen: Vandenhoeck Sc Ruprecht, 1983, p.
199, makes this remark concerning female statuettes in the Syrian-Palestinian area: "Selbst wenn sie zu einem bestimmten Zweck ... und in Zusamm e n h a n g mit magischen Praktiken v e r w e n d e t w o r d e n sein m o c h t e n ,
i m m e r verkrpern sie einen Aspekt einer 'Idealfrau,' deren Ausstrahlung
die syrisch-palastinische Frau verklrte. W e n n diese 'Idealfrau' in ihren
zeitlich und lokal verschieden ausgeprgten Aspekten im Mittelpunkt der
Diskussion steht, finde es legitim, schlechthin von der 'syrischen Gttin' zu
r e d e n . " T h e p o i n t is well taken. While not many scholars today would
reduce the problem to a simple proposition that the "Mother Goddess" was
worshipped in ancient times (E. O. James, The Cull of the Mother Goddess,
L o n d o n , 1959, gives this impression), it is true that the "eternal f e m i n i n e , "
the female face of God, was the object of those various approaches which we
know as a bewildering multiplicity of cults. In this sense we should be able
to talk about "the" goddess. (See to this, V. Pestalozza, Eterno
Feminimo
Mediterraneo, Venice: Neri Pozza, 1954).
THEOLOGY
when they were pagans and after they became Christians. T h e

many goddesses in
the
Roman
Empire varied
considerably
according to the place of their origin, their initial area o f responsibility in life and their position in the divine hierarchy. These
details, while important for the historian of religion, are less so for
our study which is concerned with the feminine aspect of the
divine in general rather than the differences among its various
forms. Futhermore, the period of time we are studying was a time
o f syncretism when the images of many originally independent
goddesses had m e r g e d and were functionally indistinguishable.
While in the day-to-day practice of paganism by ordinary people
the many goddesses continued to have their proper functions and
peculiar shrines, and therefore, their specific established cults,
there was in philosophy an increasing tendency to treat the more
important ones as aspects of the one, abstract philosophical divinity. T h e potentialities o f this attitude went well beyond the old
syncretism presented by Herodotus, who merely identified the
deities o f d i f f e r e n t cultures who had similar functions, conveniently but simplistically supposing that they "must have b e e n "
the same being. T h e new, primarily Stoic, and later neo-Platonic,
syncretism was spread among the upper classes by teachers o f
philosophy and their popular followers, the teachers o f rhetoric.
W h e n Christian clergy began to come from the educated classes,
Mary was brought into the process, with the result we shall
describe. W e must keep in mind that such rigid definitions of
subtle theological nuances as we are used to in Christian dogmatics (e.g., the Trinitarian controversies) were alien to the
pagans. They felt considerably freer to express the varieties o f
their religious experiences than did Christians later on. Theref o r e , in the following pages I will use the simple, all-inclusive
term "Goddess," "Queen of Heaven," or "Mother Goddess" to denote this manifestation of the divine; I believe this is a convenience we can afford and to which the ancients would not object.
W e will then turn to a review o f the image o f the "Queen o f
Heaven" in the New Testament in order to show how the biblical
image corresponds to that of her pagan counterparts. In this chapter I rely heavily upon basic research o f many scholars. A f t e r
reviewing their works, I shall give my own interpretation.
In the fourth chapter I shall discuss the Christian sect o f the
Montanists who absorbed and diffused in the Christian Church
18
THEOLOGY
many elements of the cult o f Magna Mater, the Great Mother

Goddess, Cybele.
After this, we shall investigate the story of the Kollyridians, an
obscure Christian sect which actually replaced the pagan goddess
with Mary and o f f e r e d sacrifices to her. How significant were the
Kollyridians? Because they quickly disappeared from history, it
would be easy to dismiss them as being of n o
consequence.
However, they are a link between paganism and Christianity and

that suggests what Christianity could have b e c o m e had
not
orthodox Christian theology (whatever " o r t h o d o x " may m e a n )

developed its own Mariology. T h e Kollyridians disappeared only
when the veneration of Mary became universally accepted in the
church
Had Mary not been adopted by the church as an alterna-
tive to the goddesses of the pagans, would the Kollyridians have

developed
a larger
following
and perhaps a rival
Christian
church? This is idle speculation, but church history provides us

with many examples o f how sects developed when the church
failed to meet the needs of its members.
Chapter VI will treat the role of popular piety in the growth o f
Marian devotion through discussion of the Protoevangelium
of
James, the idea of the earth-mother, and the development o f the

image of the queen of heaven into an established article of faith.
Finally, I shall investigate the development of Mariology in
official, orthodox Christian theology. This begins with the EveMary parallelism in which Christian theologians reached back to
the old theory of primordial creation to explain their theory of the
"new creation." Since they could not use the image o f a goddess,
they substituted for the female face of God the spiritualized image
o f Ecclesia the church which they gradually identified with
Mary. All that is very confusing, often contradictory, and not at
all clear, but this was the best they could do without falling into
paganism.
In this way, Mary was eventually declared to be "Mother o f
G o d , " which is a wholly pagan term filled with new Christian
meaning. Did Mary become a goddess when this declaration was
made? T h e answer of Christians was, and still is, an indignant
N o ! but in fact Mary assumed the functions o f pagan female
divinities and for many pious Christian folk she did, and does,
everything the ancient goddesses used to do.
Such is the scope of this book. It is less a study in the history o f
THEOLOGY
religions than what German theology calls Dogmengeschichte, i.e.,

history of dogma, in this case that o f Mariology. Since the topic is
obviously close to feminist concerns, many books apparently
inspired by the current feminist concerns but dealing with strictly historical or theological problems were very helpful in my
work. I list these books at their proper places.
But I should like to emphasize that these essays were not
intended to be contributions to feminist sutdies; there are many
excellent works on women's experiences in early Christian times
to which anyone interested can turn. These essays were written
over many years, sometimes independently from each other, but
always within the framework of historical theology. Many people
read parts o f this manuscript and o f f e r e d their criticism. I am
indebted to all o f them, but here I should like to mention two who
are no longer with us. Dr. David Scheidt, former editor of Fortress
Press in Philadelphia, gave me invaluable advice and professional
help. Professor Morton Smith of Columbia University read and
criticized the manuscript with his usual wit and akribia. H e and I
disagreed on many things in life, but when the chips were down
he was always a friend.
Finally, I should like to mention that the problem with which
this book deals is far too complex to be dealt with in a single
volume. I am taking up for study one single thread that runs
through the fabric of that coat of many colors that is called
Christianity. T h e r e f o r e I ask scholarly readers not to j u d g e my
book by their own special fields of expertise; rather, I invite pursuit
o f our main line of thought. T h e extensive bibliographies attached
to the end of each chapter are meant to enable the reader to fill in
whatever information may be missing from the text. These bibliographies contain only titles that I have personally consulted.
I hope that what I present here from its pagan background will
contribute to the understanding of certain aspects o f Christianity:
that is my primary concern.
CHAPTER
TWO
GODDESSES I N T H E G R E C O - R O M A N W O R L D
A goddess was an ever-present figure in the society in which the
first Christians lived. T o familiarize ourselves with the role o f a
goddess in the religious and social life o f the Greeks and Romans
and to understand better the heritage Gentile Christians brought
with them to the new faith, we will study those goddesses who
were particularly influential during the early Christian centuries.
Caelestis, Isis, the Syrian Goddess, and Cybele were worshipped
in areas which were also h o m e to influential Christian communities. T h e y were also closely linked with many other
great
goddesses of the ancient world, Greek, Roman, and Near Eastern,

and thus they are g o o d representations of what is generally called
a "goddess." Because of its close relationship to the cult o f Cybele,
we will also briefly review the cult of Dionysus.
T h e r e were many goddesses in the ancient world, as there
were many gods. D i f f e r e n t conditions, natural
environments,
and historical experiences created differences in peoples' perception of the nature o f the divine. So we find that the goddess-figure
also appeared in numerous forms, that the divine feminine revealed herself in many goddesses, among them, Isis, Athena,
and Juno. A n d yet it is possible to study the problem of "the goddess" in a general way. Religion is the human endeavor
to
approach, understand, and somehow express that which is divine.

But we can do that only by employing images already familiar to
us, and the number of these is limited to the phenomena that are
available to us through our senses, that is, what we can see and
hear and otherwise perceive in the world around us. A n d the
world around us is much the same n o matter where we live:
regardless o f the many differences among cultures and peoples,
the sky, the earth, the realities of birth and death are roughly the
same for all peoples everywhere. T h r e e of these universal experiences are sex, motherhood, and birth. T h e mystery surrounding these three generates most religious thought among
all
peoples whose history is available to us and as far back in history
GODDESSES I N T H E G R E C O - R O M A N W O R L D
21
as we can reach. Besides, it would be wrong to assume that the

peoples of the MediterraneanEgyptians, Greeks, Romans, and
others with whom we are mostly c o n c e r n e d had d e v e l o p e d
their religious ideas independently of each other. T o d o this they
would have to have lived in total isolation f r o m one another,
which they did not. In fact, there was substantial
interaction
a m o n g these peoples in ancient times, 1 sometimes as peaceful

trade, other times as war and conquest, all of which resulted in an
exchange o f cultures, customs, and religious ideas. As German
Chancellor Bismarck supposedly said, "Ideen sind zollfrei."2
wherever there is Kulturkontakt
And
there is also syncretism. Thus,
eventually, the process o f influencing and being influenced led to

mutual accommodation of various religious ideas. By the time o f
the Christian
centuries, many originally d i f f e r e n t images
of
divinities had blended into each other. But each time a goddess
was venerated, fundamental to that veneration was recognition o f
the feminine present in the divine.
T o understand this means to become sensitive to the issue o f
Mariology. Comparing present day Marian devotions with Greek
and Roman expressions o f piety directed to a goddess shows only
how local pagan customs m e r g e d into new Christian practices.
But it does not answer the question why either pagans or Christians turned to feminine dimensions o f God in addition to masculine ones. T h e study of the history and theology o f the goddesses
we have chosen as examples will reveal the basic principles that
underlie their worship. This in turn should illuminate the basic
principle of Christian Mariology.
A. CAELESTIS
T h e name Caelestis is explained by the title of the goddess, "Queen
o f H e a v e n . " However, while no one will have difficulty understanding what "queen" means, our concept o f "heaven" is rather
unclear. N o r was it clearly defined by our Greco-Roman ancestors. T h e etymology o f the Greek word for heaven,
yields nothing. W e are a little better o f f with the Latin
caelum,
which derives from the Greek = hollow. W e may therefore
1
2
See the review of J. Ochshorn, op. cit., pp. 25-31.

"Ideas cannot be kept out by the imposition of tariffs."
22
GODDESSES IN T H E GRECO-ROMAN WORLD
surmise that when Romans heard the word caelum or heard about
something or someone who was caelestis, they may have pictured
the hollow, star-studded, vessel-like covering that appears above
the earth. T h e concept, therefore, refers to the universe as a whole.
H e r e too, the ancients were free to think of a variety of things, as
we will show in our next chapter; but for the time being we will
use the term Caelestis in the sense of "universal." T h e word is used
both as a noun, referring to a specific goddess, and as an adjective
to express the quality of a goddess ( Caelestis, the goddess; Juno
Caelestis = Juno the heavenly).
At the beginning of the Aeneid,
Virgil relates the arrival of
Aeneas in Carthage. H e describes a magnificent city o f many

buildings, theaters, and harbors.
A m i d the city ... was a grove, luxuriant in shade, the spot
w h e r e first the Phoenicians, tossed by waves and whirlwind, d u g
up the token which queenly J u n o had p o i n t e d out, a head o f the
spirited horse, ... H e r e Sidonian D i d o was f o u n d i n g to J u n o a
mighty temple, rich in gifts and the presence o f the goddess. 3
N o less impressive was the royal palace in which massive silver

and g o l d works of art stood on the banquet tables covered in
purple. 4 O f course, Virgil could not have seen Dido's Carthage; 5 he
3
Virgil, The Aeneid 1.441-447, H. Rushton Fairclough, ed., LCL, London:
Heinemann, 1916, pp. 271-273. Thus also Silius Italicus (26-101A.D.), Punica.
1.81-84, LCL, J. D. Duff, ed., London: Heinemann, 1934,p. 11: "In the centre
of Carthage stood a temple, sacred to the spirit of Elissa (Dido) the foundress,
and regarded with hereditary awe by the people. Round it stood yew trees
and pines with their melancholy shade, which hid it and kept away the
light o f heaven."
4
Virgil, op. cit. 1.625-645.
5
For a brief summary of the history of Carthage, see Der Kleine Pauly,
Stuttgart: Druckenmller, 1969, 1.135-138. Also Dimitri Baramki, Phoenicia
and the Phoenicians, Beirut: Khayats, 1961; Donald Harden, The Phoenicians,
L o n d o n : Thames and Hudson, 1962; B. H. Warmington, Carthage, New
York: Praeger, 1969; Sabatino Moscati, The World of the Phoenicians , (Praeger
History o f World Civilization), New York/Washington: Praeger, 1968;
Gerhard Herrn, The Phoenicians, New York: William Morrow, 1975; Gilbert
Charles-Picard, La Civilization de L'Afrique Romain, Paris: Pion, 1959; Giblert
Charles-Picard, Carthage, London: Elek Books, 1956. Some of the older
books are still valuable, among them F. C. Movers, Die Phnizier, 2 vols. (vol.
2 has three parts), Bonn: Weber, 1841 and Berlin: Dummler, 1849; Otto
Meitzer, Geschichte der Karthager, 2 vols., Berlin: Weidmann, 1879; . Davis,
Carthage and Her Remains, New York: Harper, 1861; R. Bosworth Smith,
Carthage and the Carthaginians, London: Longmans, Green Sc. Co., 1849; Franz
Labarre, Die rmische Kolonie Karthago, Potsdam: Kraemer-Brandt, 1882; but
especially Auguste Audollent, Carthage Romaine, Paris: Ancienne Libraire
23 GODDESSES I N T H E GRECO-ROMAN
WORLD
lived between 70 and 19 B.C., when ancient Carthage was only a

faded memory. But in its place stood another city no less glorious
than the first, and the temple that Virgil described for the time o f
Dido was one o f the greatest and most influential sanctuaries in
the early Roman Empire, the seat o f the queen o f heaven, Dea
Caelestis. When Carthage was a Phoenician colony, and later an
independent city of Phoenician origin, another goddess had been
worshipped there; her name was Tanit.
W h o was Tanit? In other words, what did the Carthaginian
mind condense in the image of Tanit? 6 She is often referred to as
"Tanit Pene Baal," i.e., "the face of Baal" or "the image o f Baal," 7
which may mean "Tanit is the appearance (or manifestation) o f
Baal." She later became a moon-goddess and in this respect the
name Pene-Baal suggests that as the moon reflects the light of the
sun, so Tanit reflects Baal. As a moon goddess, Tanit embodied
some o f the same characteristics as Selene, Artemis, and other
lunar divinities. First among these characteristics is an association with the female principle through the mysterious connection
between the phases of the moon and the menstrual cycle. But the
moon is also the ruler of the night, during which dew is formed.
T h o r i n et Fils, 1901. Also, Gilbert and Colette Charles-Picard, Daily Life in

Carthage, L o n d o n : Allen and Unwin, 1961; Gilbert and Colette CharlesPicard, The Life and Death of Carthage, L o n d o n : Sidgwick & Jackson, 1968;
Werner Huss, Geschichte der Karthager, Mnchen: C. H. Beck, 1985. For the
m o d e r n excavations see John Griffith Pedley, ed., New Light on Ancient
Carthage, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1980 .
6
See K. Preisendanz, "Tanit", Pauly's Realencyclopdie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft, Stuttgart: Druckenmller Verlag, 1932. 2. Reihe, S. Halbband ( I V / A / 2 ) , pp. 2178-2205; Philippe M. Berger, "Tanit Pene Baal,"
Journal Asiatique, Septieme Serie, 9 (1877) 147-160; P. Ronzevalle, "Trace de
Cult de Tanit en Pheniicie," Melanges de la Facult Orientale Universite Saint
Joseph 5 (1912) 75-83; G. Charles-Picard, Les Religions De L'Afrique
Antique,
Paris: Pln, 1954; Friedrich Ch. Munter, Die Religion der Karthager, Kopenhagen: Schubothe, 1821; Carl C. Clemen, Die Phnikische Religion nach Philo
von Byblos, Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs, 1939; also the literature quoted above on
P h o e n i c i a and Carthage. E. Lipinski, "Syro-Fenicische Wortels Van D e
Karthaagse Religie," Phoenix 28 (1982) 51-84, discusses the latest researches
on Tanit and other aspects of Carthaginian religion. H e r e also, a section on
the "sign of Tanit" with illustrations from modern excavations.
7
Cf. Gen. 32.30: "So Jacob called the name of the place Peni'el saying,
For I have seen God face to face ... " See also Huss, op. at., pp. 512-516: T h e
god Baal turns his face to men in Tanit. T h e hypothesis that Pene-Baal is a
reference to an originally androgynous god is mentioned by Dietrich, "Der
Urmensch," op. cit., p. 328, with reference to Bertholet, Gtterspaltung, op. cit.,
p. 31, . 110.
24
GODDESSES I N T H E G R E C O - R O M A N
WORLD
Dew is a form o f precipitation quite important in maintaining

vegetable life in areas where rainfall is often insufficient. T h e
realm o f the moon, the night itself, is also a powerful mystical
time which played an important role in ancient magic. "For the
light o f day is single and simple, and Pindar says that the sun is
seen 'through the lovely ether,' whereas the night air is a coalescence and fusion o f many illuminations and powers which flow
down like seeds to one centre from all the stars."8 N o wonder then
that Tanit was worshipped as a goddess o f fertility, o f that creative
moisture in which impregnation
takes place and life begins.
Tanit's signs included not only the crescent moon, but other symbols of fecundity as well, such as the palm tree, the dove, or the
fish. 9 Already here we can sense that the association of sea and
8
Plutarch, De Iside et Osiride 80b. ET.: J. Gwyn Griffiths, C a r d i f f :
University of Wales Press, 1970, p. 249; see also ibid. 79b, p. 245.
9
T h e name o f T a n i t itself may have a connection with the watery
e l e m e n t o f the sea, which was such an important part of polytheistic
mythologies. This idea was suggested by F. M. Cross, w h o wrote: " T h e
epithet Tannitu, literally 'the one o f the (sea) serpent' or 'the Dragon Lady,'
is identical with the Carthaginian goddess Tanit ( ) , consort of
Ba'al H a m m o n , "Lord of Amanus," epithet of Kronos ... " T h e word Tannit,
Cross says, must be derived f r o m T N N , especially Tannin, which means
" d r a g o n " or "serpent" and is strikingly similar "to the oldest epithet o f
Elat-Asherah: Atiratu Yammi, "Asherah o f the Sea ( d r a g o n ) . " (Frank
M o o r e Cross, Jr., " T h e Origin and Early Evolution of the Alphabet," Eretz
Israel 8 [1967] 8-24. See also his remarks on the great goddess o f Canaan,
consort of El, whose epithet is "the Serpent Lady." F. M. Cross, "Yahweh
and the God of the Patriarchs," Harvard Theological Review 55 [1962] 225-259,
esp. 238. Also F. M. Cross, Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic, C a m b r i d g e ,
Mass.: Harvard, 1973, pp. 28-36. See, however, M. Leglay, Saturne
Africaine,
Paris, 1966, who dismisses the claim.)
If this were the case, Tanit on one hand is a goddess associated with the
sea and at the same time associated with the moon, and thus, a celestial
figure. That the phases of the moon and the tides o f the sea are interdependent is a well-known phenomenon, and so is the fact that the female cycle
and the m o o n ' s phases resemble each other. W e r e m e m b e r at this point
that the Greek goddess Aphrodite, too, had associations with both the sea
and the sky: according to one tradition, she rose f r o m the f o a m that
gathered around the genitals of Ouranos (sky) when Zeus cut them o f f and
threw them into the sea. ( O n the birth o f Aphrodite, see Hesiod, Theogony
188-200.) Thus, she is from Heaven and from the sea, and the girls who sing
her praises "by looking upward indicate that she is f r o m Heaven and by
slightly moving their upturned hands they show that she has c o m e f r o m
the sea, and their smile is an intimation of the sea's calm." (Philostratus,.
Imagines [Eikonesl, LCL, Arthur Fairbanks, ed., L o n d o n : Heinemann, 1960,
pp. 130-133.)
For a comparison, see Ed Meyer, "Astarte," in W. H. Roscher,

Ausfhrliches Lexikon der Griechischen und Rmischen Mythologie, Leipzig: Teubner, 1884-
25 GODDESSES I N T H E G R E C O - R O M A N
WORLD
sky, water and moon, moisture and fertilization, are references to

the great universal realities of life in which the female element
plays so significant a role. In the image o f the goddess these are
raised to a cosmic level and divinized. W e may suppose that Tanit
evoked these associations in the hearts of her worshippers. Thus
she included in herself characteristics o f many other fertility
goddesses. It is very difficult, if not impossible, to distinguish between Tanit and Astarte or Juno, Magna Mater, Bona Dea, others in
whom the reproductive powers of the female were venerated. T h e
epithet "heavenly" was matter-of-factly added to these names, indicating the universal, cosmic role of the goddess. 10
Devotion to Tanit went so deep, and her presence permeated the
life of Carthage to such a degree that she was called the "daemon
1886, vol. 1, pp. 645-655, and A . Furtwngler, " A p h r o d i t e , " in W. H .
Roscher, supra, vol. 1, pp. 390-419; W o l f Baudissin, "Atargatis," in A. Hauck,
ed., Realencyklopdie fr Protestantische Theologie und Kirche, Leipzig: J. C.
Hinrichs, 1896-1913, vol. 2, pp. 171-177. "Ist Atargatis, wie wir annehmen,
ursprnglich identisch mit Astarte und ist diese die Reprsentantin des
befruchtenden Nachthimmels, speziell des Mondes, so wird die Darstellung
j e n e r als einer Wasser-und Fischgottheit mit der im A l t e r t u m weit
verbreiteten Anschanuung des Mondes als des Prinzips der befruchtenden
Feuchtigkeit, als des T a u s p e n d e n d e n in V e r b i n d u n g gebracht w o r d e n
sein," Baudissin, supra, p. 177; W. Baudissin, "Astarte and Aschera," op. cit.,
vol. 2, pp. 147-161. " ... Die befruchtende Kraft des H i m m e l s eignet im
O r i e n t zumeist dem tauspendenden Nachthimmel, und der vornehmste
Reprsentant des Nachthimmels ist der M o n d , " Baudissin, "Astarte and
Aschera," p. 149.
10
E.g., Herodotus, Histories 1.105, LCL, A. D. Godley, ed., London: Heinemann, 1960, vol. 1, pp. 136-137. See also 3.8: T h e Arabs honor the Heavenly
A p h r o d i t e w h o m they call Alilat. T h e y only acknowledge her and Dionysus, whom they call Orotalt, op. cit., vol. 2, pp. 10-11. 4.59: T h e Scythians
worship the heavenly Aphrodite, op. cit., vol. 2, pp. 256-57. Pausanias says the
f o l l o w i n g about the beginning o f the cult o f "Heavenly A p h r o d i t e " in
G r e e c e : "Nearby (i.e., the Kerameikos in A t h e n s ) is the Sanctuary o f
Heavenly A p h r o d i t e . T h e Assyrians were the first o f the human race to
worship the Heavenly one; the people o f Paphos in Cyprus, and of Phoenician Askalon in Palestine, and the p e o p l e o f Kythera, w h o learned her
worship from the Phoenicians. Aigeus instituted her at Athens ... T h e statue
there now is Parian marble, and by Pheidias. But in Athmon, an Athenian
country town, they claim that it was Porphyrion, a king even earlier than
Aktaios, who set up their local sanctuary of the Heavenly O n e , " Guide to Greece
1.14.7, Peter Levi, ed., Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1971, vol. 1, p. 44. In all
these texts the expression "Heavenly O n e " or "heavenly" would express the
same idea as "Caelestis," because, as K. Latte observed, "Sie alle erheben den
Anspruch auf universale Galtung ihrer Gtter." A t the same time when the
cult of Tanit was at its peak in Carthage, the "Queen of Heaven" was soundly
repudiated by the prophet Jeremiah, who was active ca. 626-580 B.C. Jer. 7.18
and 44.15-25. See further comments in our chapter on the Kollyridians.
26
o f Carthage." When at the height of the second Carthaginian war

in 215 B.C. , Hannibal concluded a treaty with the king o f Macedon, Philip V, the preamble to the oath contained the following
words:
T h i s oath is taken in the presence of Zeus, H e r a and A p o l l o ; in the
p r e s e n c e o f the , Hercules, Iolus, Ares, T r i t o n
and P o s e i d o n ; o f the g o d s that a c c o m p a n y the army, and o f the
sun, m o o n and earth; o f rivers, harbors and water; o f all the g o d s
w h o rule Carthage ... 11
11
Polybius, Histories 7.9.2; see Ian Scott-Kilvert, Polybius, the Rise of the
Roman Empire, New York: Penguin, 1979, p. 358, or Alvin H. Bernstein, ed.,
Polybius on Roman Imperialism, South Bend, Ind.: Regnery/Gateway, 1980, p.
224. Cf. Elias J Bickerman, "An Oath of Hannibal," Transactions of the American Philological Association 75 (1944) 87-102. Bickerman argues that the Greek
text is a translation from the Punic, which would make the use of the word
even more significant. See also E. J. Bickerman, "Hannibal's
Covenant," American Journal of Philology 73 (1952) 1-23. Both articles were
reprinted in a collection of essays by Bickerman, Religions and Politics in the
Hellenistic and Roman Periods, eds. Emilio Gabba and Morton Smith, Como:
Edizioni N e w Press, 1985, pp. 255-272 and 373-397, respectively. When
Servius (ca. 4th century A.D.) wrote his commentary on Virgil and wanted
to explain the words in Georgica 1.498, "Dii Patris Indigetes" (native gods;
"gods of our father and our country"), he wrote: "Dii Patris Indigetes. Qui
praesunt singulis civitatibus, ut Minerva Athenis, Iuno Karthaginiensibus,"
Servii Grammatici Qui Feruntur in Vergilii Carmina C o m m e n t a r i i ,
Lipsiae: Teubneri, 1902. Recenserunt Georgius Thilo et Hermannus Hago,
vol. III, Fase. II, p. 277. The Georgica, LCL, H. R. Fairclough, ed., Cambridge,
Mass.: Harvard Univ. Press, 1953, p. 114. In the case of an evocation, this
genius of the city was invited to leave. We know something about this from
a brief passage o f Macrobius. "Now it is well known "-says Macrobius-"that
all cities are under the protection of some god, and that it was a secret
custom of the Romans unknown to many, that when they were besieging an
enemy city and had reached the point when they were confident that it
could be taken, they summoned out the tutelary gods by a certain formula."
This is why, Macrobius continues, the Romans kept the true name of their
city a secret. According to one tradition a secret name of Rome was ",
which translated into Latin means Amor, and this word read backward
would spell Roma. Heavy penalty was meted out to those who desecrated this
name; Pliny, Naturalis Historia 3.65, refers to a certain Valerius Soranius
who was sentenced to crucifixion by the Senate because he pronounced the
secret name. There were other secret names of Rome.) After this, Macrobius
quotes a secret formula of evocation (Carmen quo di evocantur, cum oppugnatione
civitas cingitur) which was supposedly chanted at the capture of Carthage. H e
found this in the book of Sammonicus Serenus, an otherwise unknown late
second/early third-century author: " O thou, whether thou art a god or a
goddess, under whose protection the people and the city of Carthage are, and
thou, greatest one, who has taken under thy protection this city and
people, I pray and entreat ye, and ask this indulgence of ye, that ye desert
the people and the city of Carthage, and abandon the places, temples, sacred
WORLD
Although the word in this sentence certainly means

"god," a better translation would be "the genius of Carthage," i.e.,
the attendant spirit, guardian, and life force of the city.
spots and their city, and that ye depart from them. A n d cast on that people
and city fear, terror and forgetfulness, and abandoned by them, come ye to
R o m e to me and my people. A n d may all places, temples, sacred spots, city
be more acceptable and agreeable to ye. A n d may ye be propitious to me, the
Roman people, and my soldiers, so that we may know and understand. If ye
accomplish these things, I vow that temples and games will be established
in your honor ... " Macrobius, Saturnalia 3.9.7-11, Ambrosii Theodosii Macrobii
Saturnalia, ed. Iacobus Willis, Leipzig: Teubner, 1970, pp. 185-186. See Naphtali Lewis and Meyer Reinhold, Roman Civilization, vol. 1, New York: Harper,
1966, p. 145; also Macrobius, Saturnalia, ed. Percival U. Davies, New York and
L o n d o n : Columbia Univ. Press, 1969, pp. 218-219; and Servius to Aeneid
12.841. See also T h . H. H o p f n e r , "Mageia," in Pauly-Wissowa-Krol, Realencyclopadie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft, vol. 28, Stuttgart: Druckenmller
Verlag, 1928, pp. 301-394, esp. p. 337. T h . H. H o p f n e r , Griechisch-gyptischer
Offenbarungszauber, 2 vols., Studien zur Palaeographie und Papyruskunde, 21
and 23, Leipzig: H. Haessel, 1921-1924. Martin P. Nilsson, Greek Piety, N e w
York: W. W. Norton, 1969, pp. 170-175; W. Foerster, " " Theologisches
Wrterbuch zum Neuen Testament, G. Kittel, ed., Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 1935,
vol. 2, pp. 1-21. See also . H . Scullard, "Caelestis," The Oxford Classical
Dictionary , O x f o r d : Clarendon, 1970, pp. 187-188. T h e one evocatio o f which
we have more information was in connection with the capture o f Veii in
396 B.C. Here the evocation was uttered by the general, Camillus, as follows:
"Pythian Apollo, led by you and inspired by your holy breath, I go forward
to the destruction of Veii, and I vow to you a tenth part of the spoils. Queen
Juno, to you too I pray, that you may leave this town where now you dwell
and follow our victorious arms into our City of Rome, your future home,
which will receive you in a temple worthy of your greatness," Livy, Ab Urbe
Condita 5.21, in Livy, The Early History of Rome, ed. A . de Selincourt,
Baltimore, Md.: Penguin Books, 1969, p. 348. T h e vow was fulfilled and in
392 B.C. a temple was dedicated on the Aventine to Juno Regina. (I read
with considerable interest and with some surprise that in Roschini's
massive Mariology exactly these words of Livy are quoted in support o f the
thesis of Mary's Queenship. Since Camillus did dedicate the temple to 'Juno
R e g i n a " the pagan climate was made favorable to the concept o f "Maria
R e g i n a " and in fact "A Giunone Regina sull' Aventino, succd Maria
Regina," says Roschini (Roschini, op. cit., vol. 2, p. 379, with reference to
Ildefonso Schuster, "Maria Regina N e l l ' Arte Paleocristiana in Roma," La
Regalita Di Maria 5 (1952) 2-4. T h e roots of the tradition on which the cult of
Mary is based, therefore, g o back to the time of the capture of Veii and lead
directly to the cult of Juno Regina, according to Roschini.) A t one time,
however, there was a Senate decree concerning Caelestis, as it appears f r o m
the Regulae Iuris 22.6 of Ulpian: "We cannot appoint any o f the gods our
heirs, except those whom we are permitted to appoint by a decree o f the
Senate, or by the Imperial Constitutions; for instance, the Tarpeian Jove, the
Didymean A p o l l o of Miletus, Mars in Gaul, the Trojan Minerva, Hercules of
Gades, Diana of Ephesus, the Sipyleian Mother of the gods worshipped at
Smyrna, and the Heavenly Goddess Selene of Carthage." See the English
translation in Corpus Iuris Civilis, ed. S. P. Scott, Cincinnati: T h e Central
Trust Co., 1932; repr. New York: AMS Press, 1973, p. 242.
28
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What happened to Tanit after Carthage was destroyed in 146

B.C.? Perhaps her cult continued in the countryside, since the
destruction of Carthage did not mean that Punic civilization was
totally annihilated. T h e Punic language was spoken in N o r t h
Africa for many more centuries, and so it is possible that her cult
also continued. What we know for certain, however, is that the
name o f the goddess who was worshipped in Roman Carthage
was Caelestis, and we have reason to believe that the Romans
connected Juno with the original "genius" of the destroyed city.
Juno shared many features with Tanit. She was originally also a
goddess of menstruation through association with the moon. Most
o f her functions involved presiding over the experiences
of
women: as Juno Interduca she led the bride to her new home, as
Cinxia she assisted in the loosening o f her girdle, as Opigenia she
assisted in childbirth, as Lucina
she caused the child to see the
light, and so forth. 1 2 So close was the resemblance between the

two goddesses that Hannibal, at the invasion of Italy, chose the
temple o f Juno in Lacinium, near Croton, to dedicate "an altar
with a long inscription containing a record o f his achievements.
T h e inscription was in Punic and Greek." 1 3
12
R e f e r e n c e s in lui. V o g e l " I u n o , " in W. H . Roscher,
Ausfhrliches
Lexikon der Griechischen und Rmischen Mythologie, Leipzig: Teubner, 1890-1897,
vol. 2, pp. 574-611; also W. H. Roscher, "Iuno Caelestis," op. cit., pp. 612-615;
H. J. Rose, Religion in Greece and Rome, New York: Harper & Row, 1959, pp.
216-219; H.J. Rose, 'Juno," in Oxford Classical Dictionary, op. at., pp. 568-569.
13
Croton is at the southern shore o f the toe o f Italy, near the Gulf o f
Taranto. See Livy, op. cit., 28.46, in Livy, The War with Hannibal, A . de
Selincourt, ed., Baltimore, Md.: Penguin, 1965, p. 564. Polybious claims that
he saw this tablet: see Histories 3.33.18, op. cit., p. 115. Obviously, Hannibal
assumed Juno to be the Italian equivalent of the Carthaginian Queen o f
Heaven in whose temple as a nine-year-old boy he may have taken a solemn
vow to be an enemy of Rome. (Livy, op. cit. 21.1; for English translation, see
loc. cit., p. 23. According to Polybius, Histories 3.11.5, Bernstein, op. cit., p.
101, the oath was made during a sacrifice to Zeus, i.e., Baal. See E. J.
Bickerman, "Hannibal's Covenant," art. at., n. 22.) Similarly, the Romans
viewed the temple of Tanit in Carthage as that of Juno. (Pliny:
Historia
Naturalis 6.36.20; and L C L , H. Rackham, ed., Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard,
1947, vol. 2, p. 487, ct. Virgil, Aeneid 1.7: " ... in Carthage alone beyond all
other lands had Juno her seat ... H e r e was her armor, here her chariot."
See J. W. MacKail, Virgil's Works, New York: M o d e r n Library, 1950, p. 3.
Pliny the Elder matter-of-factly relates that Hanno o f Carthage found on the
islands of the Gorgades native women who "had hair all over their bodies"
and "he deposited the skins o f the two female natives in the T e m p l e of Juno
as a p r o o f o f the truth of his story and as curiosities, which were kept on
display until Carthage was taken by R o m e . " Apart from the fact that the
WORLD
T h e year 146 B.C. ends the history of Carthage as a Phoenician

city and also the worship of the Queen of Heaven under the name
of Tanit. T h e new name o f the "genius o f Carthage" soon would
be Iuno Caelestis, from which the name Juno was d r o p p e d and
the goddess was called simply "Caelestis." Almost certainly the
Gracchan settlement Iunonia
14
had a sanctuary of Caelestis, but
natives in question were probably chimpanzees, it is interesting that the

temple of Tanit was equated by a Roman with that o f Juno. T h e epithet
"Queen of H e a v e n " was also current for Juno, thus could Virgil write about
the sufferings o f Aeneas: " ... why did the Queen o f Heaven urge on a man
... to circle through all those afflictions?" Aeneid 1.15. Similarly, C i c e r o
could thunder against Verres: "Hear me Juno, Queen of Heaven; thou whose
two sacred and ancient shrines, built by our allies in their two islands of
Melita and Samos, this same Verres with an equal wickedness stripped of
all their offerings and adornment": The Verrine Orations 5.72, in L. H . G.
Greenwood, LCL, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard, 1953, vol. 2, p. 673; also 4.103,
op. cit., p. 409. See also Ovid, Fasti 6.37: "cur igitur regina vocar princepsque
dearum?" J. G. Frazer, ed., L o n d o n : Heinemann, 1931, p. 320.) This might
give us an indication why the settlement established under Gaius Gracchus
was called Iunoia: Carthage was from the beginning a city of the Queen o f
Heaven and if in 146 B.C. the evocation and the vow to build a temple to her
was indeed taken, by the establishment o f Iunoia and the building o f a
temple to Juno that vow would have been fulfilled.
W e have some information about the temple of Juno in Lacinium; because
o f the close resemblance between Juno and Tanit, and the general similarity of the architectural features of ancient sanctuaries, we may have an idea
o f the appearance o f the temple of Tanit. Livy reports: "Six miles f r o m
( C r o t o n ) was a temple more famous than the city itself, that of Lacinian
Juno, revered by all the surrounding peoples. T h e r e a sacred grove, which
was enclosed by dense woods and tall fir trees, had in its centre luxurious
pastures, where cattle o f all kinds, being sacred to the goddess, used to
pasture without any s h e p h e r d " (Ab urbe condita 24.3; see the English
translation of LCL, Frank G. Moore, ed., Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Univ.
Press, 1966, vol . 6, pp. 181-183. ) This description compares favorably with
Virgil's picture of the temple in Carthage (see n. 3 above). We have already
seen that Hannibal visited this temple and this visit was also r e m e m b e r e d
by Cicero, who wrote that Hannibal wanted to carry o f f a golden column
f r o m the temple of Juno at Lacinium, but the goddess appeared to him in a
vision and warned him not to do it. Hannibal obeyed the goddess and made
the image of a calf f r o m the gold he had purloined from the column (he
bored into it to see whether it was solid g o l d ) and placed it on the top. (De
Divinatione
1.24.48, LCL,
William A. Falconer, ed., C a m b r i d g e , Mass.:
Harvard, 1953, p. 277. ) Like all temples, this one housed the image o f the
goddess, which, again in accordance with the custom of the ancients, was
dressed in a robe. T h e robe was beautiful and admired by all; but more about
that later.
14
Plutarch, Gaius Gracchus 9.2: "And now Rubrius, one o f his colleagues
in the tribuneship, brought in a bill for the founding of a colony on the site
o f Carthage, which had been destroyed by Scipio, and Caius, upon whom the
lot fell, sailed o f f to Africa as superintendent o f the foundation." Plutarch's
Lives, Bernadette Perrin, ed., LCL, L o n d o n : Heinemann, 1959, pp. 218-219.
38
WORLD
the real fame and popularity of the goddess came after the time of
Octavian Augustus. It was then that the temple of Juno Caelestis
became a large and famous complex and that her worship spread
over a large part of the Roman Empire.
W h o was this Juno Caelestis, and what did she represent? 15 She
was f o r Roman Carthage basically what Tanit was for the Phoenician city, but with important modifications. T h e
syncretism
which had already begun in the original city progressed steadily

in the Roman colony. First, identification of Juno with other
goddesses was easy, and of this we have many examples. 1 6 But
Ibid. 11.1-2: "In Africa, moreover, in connection with the planting o f a
colony on the site of Carthage, to which Caius gave the name Iunonia, in
Greek Heraea, there are said to have been many prohibitory signs from the
gods." Op. cit., pp. 220-221. See also Plutarch, The Lives of the Noble Grecians and
Romans, trans. John Dryden, rev. Arthur H. Clough, N e w York: M o d e r n
Library, n.d., pp. 1013-1014. Iunonia is also mentioned by Iulius Solinus (fl.
200 A.D.), Collectanea Rerum Memorabilium, chap. 39, English trans, by Arthur
G o l d i n g (1587), facsimile repr. by G e o r g e Kish, Gainsville, Fla.: Scholars'
Facsimiles and Reprints, 1955, n.p. Another edition by T h e o d o r Mommsen,
C. Iulii Solini Collectanea Rerum Memorabilium, Berlin: Weidmann, 1895. See
also Th. Mommsen, The History of Rome, Cleveland/New York: W o r l d , 1967,
pp. 63, 79 .
15
One would expect that because of the importance o f the topic there
would be at least one monograph on Caelestis, but this is not the case. T h e
best book on the subject is still A. Audollent, Carthage Romain, supra, n. 5.
H e collected much of the epigraphical evidence for the cult o f Caelestis, as
well as the ancient Greco-Roman and Christian references. Also very useful
is F. Cumont, "Caelestis," in Pauly's Realencyclopadie, op. cit., vol. 3:1, pp.
1247-1250; Joseph Dlger, "Die Himmelsknigin von Karthago. Ein religionsgeschichtlichter Beitrag zu den Schriften Tertullians," Antike und
Christentum
1 (1929) 92-106, is m o r e than just what its title says. G. H.
Halsberghe's "Le Culte de Dea Caelestis," Aufstieg und Niedergang der rmischen
Welt, Berlin/New York: Walter de Gruyter, 1984, Series II (Prinzipat), vol.
17/4, pp. 2204-2223, is based largely on Dlger. See also Howard H. Scullard,
"Caelestis," The Oxford Classical Dictionary, 2nd ed., pp. 187-188; W. H.
Roscher, "Iuno Caelestis," in Roscher's Lexikon, op. cit., pp. 612-615. Some
material is also in works dealing with the history o f Carthage and Carthaginian r e l i g i o n , especially those o f Movers, op. cit.; Davis, op. cit., G.
Charles-Picard, Les Religions de l'Afrique antique, Paris: Pion, 1954. T h e spread
of the cult under the emperor Septimius Severus is dealt with by Alfred von
Domaszewski, Die Religion des rmischen Heeres, Trier: Fr. Lintz, 1895, and
Abhandlungen zur rmischen Religion, Leipzig/Berlin: Teubner, 1909. A reaction
to Domaszewski's thesis is Ilsemarie M u n d l e , "Dea Caelestis in der
Religionspolitik des Septimius Severus und der Julia D o m n a , " Historia 10
(1960) 228-237. See also Kurt Latte, Rmische Religionsgeschichte,
Mnchen:
Beck, 1967, pp. 345-347.
16
Thus, Horace, in Odes 2.1, referring to the defeat of the republicans in
Africa, says: 'Juno quit Africa with all the gods." H. E. Butler, The Odes of
Horace in English Verse, Latin text with translation, L o n d o n : G. Bell, 1929,
WORLD
syncretization went on until it embraced all goddesses o f fertility,

as we can see from the prayer of Lucius at the end of the Metamorphoses: "Blessed Queen o f Heaven, whether you are pleased to
be known as Ceres ... or whether as celestial Venus ... Artemis ...
Proserpine ... I beseech you, by whatever name, in whatever
aspect, in whatever ceremonies you deign to be invoked, have
mercy on me ..." After this prayer, the goddess appeared and
affirmed that all the different names under which the primordial
mistress o f all the elements is worshipped, whether that name is
Cybele, Artemis, Aphrodite, Juno, or any other, refer to the same,
namely Queen Isis. 17 Thus, all divinities representing female
functions, including the Near Eastern fertility goddesses, were
identified. 1 8
Juno Caelestis reflected all these aspects. Tertullian mentions
her once along with Cybele, at another time with Astarte, and
again with Atargatis. 19 T h e fourth-century convert to Christianity,
Firmicus Maternus (ca. 340 A.D.), a pagan until shortly before he
wrote his book, remembered Caelestis as Juno or Venus, i.e., a
pp. 94-95. See also R. G. M. Nisbet and Margaret Hubbard, A Commentary on

Horace: Odes, Book II, O x f o r d : Clarendon, 1978, pp. 24-25; Cyprian, Quod idola
dii nonsunt 4: "Mars is a Thracian, and Jupiter a Cretan, and Juno either
Argive, or Saurian or Carthaginian." (Juno vet Argiva, vel Sauna, vet Poena.)
ANF 5.466. See also Valerius Maximus, Factorum et dictorum memorabilium libri
novem, ed. C. Kempf, Lipsiae: Teubner, 1988, 1.1 Ext. 2 (p. 11), where
Caelestis is simply called Juno. In the story of A m o r and Psyche we read
that Psyche came to a beautiful temple of Juno in the valley, in the middle of
a sacred grove. T h e r e she prayed: "Sister and wife o f great Jupiter, I cannot
tell where you may be at the moment. You may be residing in one o f your
ancient temples on Samos ... Or you may be visiting your happy city of Carthage
on its high hill, where you are adored as a virgin travelling across Heaven
in a lion-drawn chariot. Or you may be watching over the famous walls o f
Argos ... where you are adored as the Queen of Heaven ... Wherever you are,
you whom the whole East venerates as Zygia, the Goddess of Marriage, and
the whole West as Lucina, Goddess o f Childbirth, I appeal to you now as
Juno the Protectress ... You see, Goddess, I am very, very tired, and very, very
frightened and I know that you are always ready to help ..." Apuleius, Metamorphoses 6.4 ET.: Robert Graves, The Golden Ass, New York: Farrar, Straus 8c
Giroux, 1970, p. 128.
11.3-5, op. cit., pp. 262-265.
"Juno autem sine dubitatione ab illis Astarte vocatur." Augustine,
Quaestiones in Heptateuchum 7.16, M P L , 34.797.
19
Apologeticum 12, ANF 3.28; Apol. 24: "Every province even, and every city,
has its god. Syria has Astarte, Arabia has Dusares, the Norici have Belenus,
Africa has Caelestis ... " ANF 3.29; Ad Nationes 2.8; Apol. 24: "How many have
either seen or heard of the Syrian Atargatis, the African Caelestis ... " ANF
3.136.
17
18
32
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goddess o f fertility, and in this connection he said that she was

the "air." H e may have been referring simply to Hera (by that
time it was common practice among the Stoics to make out o f
" . It seems more likely, however, that he sensed the pagan
concept o f the mystery of the air as "an intermediary between sea
and sky," that is, the element which filled the space created after
the upper and lower regions o f the universe were separated in
primordial times. This separation, as we shall see in our later
discussions, was the cosmogonic event which initiated the creative process. Caelestis, in the mind o f the pagans, became a
goddess o f primordial creative powers. 20
Considering the many inscriptions that mention the name o f
Caelestis and the frequent references made to her by Christian
and pagan authors, we may assume that she was extremely popular, as one would expect of the patroness and "genius" o f "New
Carthage." H e r
temple, if indeed Virgil and Silius Italicus 21
patterned their descriptions after it, must have been very large,
situated in a park-like setting and surrounded by many trees.
Nothing remains of it. This time the destruction came not from a
conquering enemy but from the recently established Christian
church. T h e destruction of the temple was so total that no archaeological reconstruction is possible, but we know that the statue o f
Caelestis stood within it. Tertullian referred to that statue when he
criticized pagan idols; 22 so did Augustine, who saw the image in
the sanctuary.23 This statue had been moved temporarily to R o m e
by the emperor Elagabalus (218-222 A.D.), who in his desire to
further monotheism under the aegis of his sun-god, Elah-Gabal,
20
" T h e Assyrians and part of the Africans ascribe the primacy among
the elements to the air, and worship it in a shape which is the product o f
their imagination. For exactly this, the air, is what they have consecrated
under the name of Juno or Venus the v i r g i n - i f virginity ever suited the
fancy o f Venus! ... Animated by some sort o f reverential feelings, they
actually have made this element into a woman. For, because air is our intermediary between sea and sky (quia aer interiectus est inter mare et caelum), they
honor it through priests who have womanish voices ... " Firmicus Maternus,
De errore profanorum religionum, 4, Konrat Ziegler, ed., Mnchen: Max H u e b e r
Verlag, 1953, p. 45. This translation is from Charles A. Forbes, ed., Firmicus
Maternus.
The Error of Pagan Religions, N e w York: N e w m a n Press, 1970
(Ancient Christian Writers, vol. 37), p. 50. See also the editor's notes on pp.
150-153, and our chap. 3.
21
See above, n. 3.
22
Apol.12, ANF 3.28.
23
De Civitate Dei 2.26; NPNF 2 Series, vol. 2, p. 40.
WORLD
"married" him to Caelestis. First he chose Pallas A t h e n e as a

mate for his god, "but then he declared that his g o d was displeased with such a war-like goddess who was always armed and
sent for the statue o f Urania, who was worshipped widely among
the Carthaginians and others in Libya." 24 Elagabalus then built a
temple to Caelestis on the Capitoline near the temple o f Juno
Moneta. 2 5 Thus, Elagabalus may have been responsible for offiially introducing the cult of Caelestis into the city, 26 but it is more
than likely that private worship of the goddess had begun there
long before. After the assassination of Elagabalus, the statue was
returned to its original home.
T h e temple of Caelestis was a place o f oracles. W e are told that
when he was proconsul in Africa, the emperor Pertinax (193
A.D.) suppressed many rebellions "by the aid o f prophetic verses
which issued from the temple of Caelestis." A similar statement is
made in the story o f Macrianus (260-261 A.D.): "The priestess o f
Caelestis at Carthage was wont, when inspired by the goddess, to
predict the truth." 27 T o some extent the popularity of Caelestis may
be attributed to her fame as a source of oracles; the early imperial
age was a time when people were greatly worried about the
24
H e r o d i a n , History 5.6.4-6, LCL,
C. R. Whittaker, ed., Cambridge,
Mass.: Harvard, 1969, pp. 48-51. T h e rest of Herodian's description is as
follows: "Tradition says that Dido the Phoenician set up the statue at the
time presumably when she founded the ancient city o f Carthage, after cutting up the hide. T h e name used by the Libyans for the goddess is Urania,
by the Phoenicians Astroarche; they would also have it that she is the moon
goddess. A marriage between the sun and the moon, Antoninus declared,
was very appropriate, and he sent for the statue together with all the gold
f r o m her temple. H e also issued orders that a very large sum of money
should be contributed, supposedly as a dowry. When the statue had been
brought, he married it to the god, giving instructions that all the inhabitants o f Rome and Italy should celebrate in public and private with all kinds
of festivities and banquets, as though this were a real marriage of the gods."
T h e story is also related by Dio, Roman History 79.12, LCL, Earnest Cary, ed.,
L o n d o n : Heinemann, 1961, vol. 9, p. 461.
25
Today the church of the Ara Coeli stands on the site of the temple of
Juno Moneta; no sign of the temple of Caelestis is discernible.
26
See M u n d l e , op. cit., pp. 235-236, who argues against the thesis o f
Domaszewski that it was Septimius Severus (193-211 A . D . ) and his second
wife, Julia Domna, who popularized the cult. A c c o r d i n g to Domaszewski,
Elagabalus built two temples for Caelestis, one on the Capitoline (this he
concludes from the Scriptores Historiae Augustae Vita Heliogabali 1.6) and a
larger one farther out (which he bases on Herodian 5.6.6).
27
SHA, Pertinax 4.2, op. cit., vol. 1, p. 321; SHA, Macrianus 3.1, op. cit.,
vol. 2, p. 53.
34
WORLD
salvation o f their souls and eagerly looked for answers to questions raised by the facts o f life and death. 28 T h e temple had priests
as well as the priestesses mentioned by Macrianus and various
orders of minor clergy. Augustine refers to "priests and choristers" who took part in the liturgy and to a "vast assemblage o f
p e o p l e " who attended. 29 Indeed, the shrine of Caelestis may have
been the most common place to turn to in time of need. Cyprian,
the aristocratic bishop of Carthage (200-258 A.D.), relates a story
which sounds typical o f social conditions in the third century: an
abandoned child was found and was taken "to the idol where the
p e o p l e flocked (apud idolum quo populus conuebat), and in the
presence o f the idol they gave the child bread m i n g l e d with
wine, because it was not yet able to eat meat." 3 0 Although the
name of Caelestis is not directly mentioned here, it is quite likely
that her temple is meant.
T h e church fathers who were active in North Africa, where
Caelestis was most popular, criticized and attacked her relentlessly. Tertullian (160-240 A.D.), a native Carthaginian, was familiar with her cult and referred to it several times in his writings. 31
When he became a Montanist he tried to introduce the rigorous
practices of that sect among the Christians in Carthage: he wrote a
book On Fasting32
in which he may have borrowed some ideas
f r o m the cult of Caelestis. At least that was the charge raised

against him by Christians who rejected such fasts and considered
them improper innovations. 33 Tertullian advocated so-called "dry
28
Alexander of Abunoteichos is a prime example of how such credulous
people could be taken advantage of by unscrupulous deceivers. See S. Benko,
Pagan Rome and the Early Christians, Bloomington: Indiana Univ. Press, 1986,
pp. 108-113. N o such ill fame is attached to the shrine of Caelestis.
29
De Civitate Dei 2.4, NPNF Series 1, vol. 2, p. 25.
30
De Lapsis 25, ANF 5.444. T h e rest of the story is informative about the
mentality o f some Christians, which may not have been very different f r o m
that o f their pagan neighbors. Cyprian, who claims to have been an eyewitness of these events, says that the bread and wine given to this child was
taken f r o m f o o d that was previously dedicated to an idol. When later the
child was given the Eucharist (infant c o m m u n i o n ! ) , she began to cry and
vomit, i.e., the elements of the Eucharist and pagan sacrificial f o o d rejected
each other a case of so-called "antipathetic magic." See Benko, op. cit., p.
125.
31
See also Apol. 12, 23, 24; Ad Nat. 2.8.
32
De leiunio, CSEL 20.296; ANF 4.113.
33
Hippolytus, Refutation 12: "They introduce the novelties o f fasts and
feasts, and meals of parched food ... " ANF 5.123. See also Jerome, Epistola
41.3, NPNF, Series 2, vol. 6, p. 56.
35 GODDESSES I N T H E GRECO-ROMAN WORLD
fasts" (Xerophagies), i.e., fasts involving abstention from not only

solid f o o d but also water. H e bitterly attacked other Christians for
criticizing this practice and in the process gave us information
about Caelestis:
W h e n c e it is that e v e n they w h o c o u r t their i d o l s by dressing
them, and by a d o r n i n g them in their sanctuary, 54 and by saluting
t h e m at each particular hour, are said to d o t h e m service. But,
m o r e than that, the heathens r e c o g n i z e every f o r m o f h u m i l i a t i o n
( ) . W h e n the heaven is r i g i d and they year arid,
b a r e f o o t e d processions are e n j o i n e d by public p r o c l a m a t i o n ; the
magistrates lay aside their purple, reverse the fasces, utter prayer,
o f f e r a victim.
In
some areas, he continues, p e o p l e
put on
sackcloth
and
sprinkled themselves with ashes, closed their shops and baths,

kept only one fire in public on the altars and "no water even in
their platters ... " What a magnificent portrait o f public penance
and a day of prayer decidated to the pluviarum pollicitatrix
for the
blessings of rain in a time of draught! Tertullian ranked it as an

ultimate insult that the "orthodox" Christians put his xerophagy on
the same level with the cult of the pagan goddesses. 35 Yet his
report is testimony to pagan piety.
In spite o f the rapid progress of Christianity, the popularity of
Caelestis remained. Her temple is mentioned as the most popular
public place by the Cathaginian bishop Cyprian (200-258 A.D.). 3 5
Ambrose, the bishop o f Milan
(339-397 A . D . ) , mentions her
matter-of-factly in his response to the letter of Symmachus, in

which that noble Roman requested the restoration of the Altar o f
Victory in the Senate. 37 T h e religion o f Caelestis was still alive
and well in 363 A.D. when the temple o f A p o l l o at Daphnae
burned down. T h e emperor Julian suspected the Christians as the
arsonists, but Ammianus Marcellinus (330-395 A . D . ) , the last
great Roman historian, who accompanied Julian in his campaigns, said that the fire may have been started by the philosopher
Asclepiades, who "placed before the lofty feet o f the statue a little
silver image of the Dea Caelestis, which he always carried with
Reference to the Robe of Caelestis; more on this in our next chapter.

Loc. at., n. 32.
36
See p. 34.
37
Letter 18.30, Epistola Contra Symmachum, MPL 16, 980, NPNF, Series 2, vol.
10, p. 421.
34
35
36
WORLD
him wherever he went, and after lighting some wax tapers as

usual, went away." 38 Some pagans, it seems, carried an image o f
the goddess with them much the same way as some Christians
today wear around their necks a medallion bearing an image o f
Mary.
W e gain considerable information about Caelestis from Augustine (354-430 A.D.), the great bishop o f H i p p o . H e was born in
North Africa at Thagaste, 39 taught at one time in Carthage, and
knew the cult f r o m firsthand experience. As a young man he
participated in the services in her temple; he listened to the choir
and watched the priests. At one time he attended a ferculum, i.e., a
religious banquet at which actors gave performances b e f o r e the
statue o f the goddess which was placed on a couch as if it were to
be feasted. In retrospect he j u d g e d the words spoken there lewd
and the whole performance offensive. 4 0 H e does not say how old
he was when he attended this service, but if he was twenty-one,
then in the year 375 A.D. "vast crowds" were still coming to the
temple o f Caelestis from all quarters of the city. N o t only women
but men, too, came to these services. Augustine says they came
38
Histories 22.13.3, L C L , John C. Rolfe, ed., L o n d o n : Heinemann,1950,
pp. 270-271.
39
H i p p o was at the site o f modern Bone in what is Algeria today and
Thagaste is Souk Ahras, Algeria.
40
De civitate dei 2.4: "I myself, when I was a young man, used sometimes
to g o to the sacrilegious entertainments and spectacles; I saw the priests
raving in religious excitement, and heard the choristers; I took pleasure in
the shameful games which were celebrated in honor o f gods and goddesses,
of the virgin Caelestis, and Berecynthia, the mother of the gods. (Berecyntus
is a mountain in Phyrgia sacred to Cybele; from this came the expression
Berecynthia mater, i.e., Cybele, the Great Mother.) A n d on the holy day consecrated to her purification, there were sung before her couch productions so
obscene and filthy for the ear I d o not say of the mother o f the gods, but of
the mother o f any senator or honest man nay, so impure, that not even
the mother o f the foul mouthed players themselves could have formed o n e of
the audience. For natural reverence for parents is a bond which the most
abandoned cannot ignore. A n d , accordingly, the lewd actions and filthy
words with which these players h o n o r e d the mother o f the gods, in presence of a vast assemblage and audience of both sexes, they could not for very
shame have rehearsed at home in presence o f their own mother. A n d the
crowds that were gathered from all quarters by curiosity, o f f e n d e d modesty
must, I should suppose, have scattered in the confusion o f shame. If these are
sacred rites, what is sacrilege? If this is purification, what is pollution? This
festivity was called the Tables (=Fercula) as if a banquet were being given at
which unclean devils might find suitable refreshment ... " NPNF, Series 1,
vol. 2, p. 25. See also De civ. dei 4.10, op. cit., p. 70, where he repeats these
charges.
WORLD
out of curiosity. But how does he know that? Perhaps the service o f
Caelestis touched a responsive chord in the hearts of the worshippers. Unwillingly Augustine paid a compliment to pagan piety:
" T h e r e are some," he says, "who dismiss G o d when they hunger
in this world and they ask Mercury or Jupiter to grant a boon
which may be granted to them, or they may ask the same o f her
w h o m they call Caelestis, or some other similar daemon: but
their flesh does not thirst after G o d . " 4 1 W h o were these who in
time of need abandoned God and turned to Caelestis? Could they
have been unstable Christians? Augustine did not say, but he was
intrigued enough by the popularity o f Caelestis to return to the
topic again. O n c e more he described this pagan ceremony, or
perhaps another which he had attended. Again he was o f f e n d e d
by the presence of prostitutes and did not understand how they
could have a place in the service of a "virgin" goddess. T h e rites
were so obscene that many prudent women turned away f r o m
what was going on because they were not able to watch acts so
licentious. Even in the privacy of their homes, Augustine says,
p e o p l e could do such things only in secret. Augustine did not
close his eyes to what he saw, but carefully watched and observed
everything; only in retrospect did he condemn in righteous
indignation what he saw.42 It is interesting to note that Augustine
Enarratio in Psalmum 62.7, MPL 36.752.
De civitate dei 2.26: "Where and when those initiated in the mysteries
o f Caelestis received any g o o d instructions, we know not. What we d o know
is, that b e f o r e her shrine, in which her image is set, and amidst a vast
crowd gathering f r o m all quarters, and standing closely packed together,
we were intensely interested spectators o f the games which were going on,
and saw, as we pleased to turn the eye, on this side a grand display o f harlots, on the other the virgin goddess; we saw this virgin worshipped with
prayer and with obscene rites. T h e r e we saw no shame-faced mimes, n o
actress overburdened with modesty; all that the obscene rite demanded was
fully c o m p l i e d with. W e were plainly shown what was pleasing to the
virgin deity, and the matron who witnessed the spectacle returned h o m e
f r o m the temple a wise woman. Some indeed, of the more prudent women
turned their faces f r o m the immodest movements o f the players, and
learned the art o f wickedness by a furtive regard. For they were restrained,
by the modest demeanor due to men, from looking boldly at the immodest
gestures; but much m o r e they were restrained f r o m c o n d e m n i n g with
chaste heart the sacred rites of her whom they adored. A n d yet this licentiousness which, if practiced in one's home, could only be done there in
secret was practiced as a public lesson in the temple; and if any modesty
remained in men, it was occupied in marvelling that wickedness which
men could not unrestrainedly commit should be part o f the religious teaching of the gods, and that to omit its exhibition should incur the anger of the
41
42
38
was so terribly upset by sexual inferences in connection with the

"Virgin Caelestis" at a time when Christians were openly discussing sexual matters pertaining to the Virgin Mary. They constantly talked about the virginity o f Mary, which they described as
"antepartum, inpartu, post partum, "i.e., before, during, and after the
birth o f Jesus. What could be more indelicate than the detailed
description o f the condition o f Mary's hymen in the Christian
treatise called the Protoevangelium of James}4i This treatise did not
upset Augustine or the Christian congregations; nonetheless, they
c o n d e m n e d their pagan contemporaries f o r what they called
their open lewdness.
A n o t h e r practice f o r which Augustine criticized the Carthaginians was that of temple prostitution. Speaking about Venus, he
says: " T o her also the Phoenicians o f f e r e d a gift by prostituting
their daughters before they united them to husbands." 44 A similar
custom was also reported by the Roman historian Valerius Maximus, who lived during the reign of Emperor Tiberius
(14-37
A.D.):
In Sicca in fact, there is a t e m p l e o f Venus, i n t o which respectable
ladies used to gather, and so after they had g o n e f o r t h to e n r i c h
themselves they contracted f o r their dowries by d i s h o n o r i n g their
bodies: respectable marriage, then, n o w o n d e r (is m a d e ) so disreputable by this obligation o f the union. 4 5
gods. What spirit can that be, which by a hidden inspiration stirs men's
corruption, and goads them to adultery, and feeds on the full fledged iniquity, unless it be the same that finds pleasure in such religious ceremonies,
sets in the temples images of devils, and loves to see in play the images of
vices; that whisper in secret some righteous sayings to deceive the few who
are good, and scatters in public invitations to profligacy, to gain possession of
the millions who are wicked?" NPNF, Series 2, vol. 2, p. 40.
45
Second century A.D.; see chap. VI, p. 196ff.
44
De civitate dei 4.10, op. cit., p. 70.
45
"Siccae enim fanum est Venen, in quod se matronae conferebant atque dei
procedentes ad questum, dotis corporis iniuria contrahebant honesta nimirum tam
inhonesto vinculo coniugia inuncturae. " Valerius Maximus, Factorum et Dictorum
memorabilium libri novem 2.6.15, Lipsiae: Teubner,1988, C. Kempf, ed., p. 81.
Sicca or Sicca Veneria in what is today Tunisia was the center of the cult of
Venus. Modern name of the town is le Kef. Action was taken against two
such temples by the emperor Constantine, as reported by Eusebius Vita
Constantini 3.55 and 58. This is what he says; 3.55 NPNF, Series II, vol. 1, pp.
534-535: Constantine had the temple of the "foul demon" Venus at Aphaka
on Mt. Lebanon destroyed, because in there effeminate priests "forgot the
dignity of their sex" and there was "unlawful commerce of women and
adulterous intercourse." 3.58 NPNF, op. cit., pp. 535-536: in the City of
WORLD
N o t noted for the depth of his thought, accuracy, or critical

analysis, Valerius Maximus here may have misinterpreted an
element in this practice: the women prostituted themselves for the
goddess and not to supplement their dowry. This comes out
clearly in the report of Herodotus, who says that the obligation
was on both rich and poor women, and that after they fulfilled
their duty to the goddess "it [would] be impossible to seduce them
by any offer." 4 6 Lucian, in De Dea Syria (chap. 6), also mentions
something similar and emphasizes that the money thus gained
would become an offering to Aphrodite. Prostitution before marriage for the purpose of collecting a dowry did exist in the ancient
world, but it was undertaken on one's private initiative. 47 T e m p l e
prostitution as a work of piety is difficult for us to understand, but
f o r the ancients fertility and the enjoyment o f it was a divine
command and blessed by the goddess o f love. As sympathetic
magic, its practice was believed to enhance agricultural production as well as human fertility in the community. Even more
importantly, sacred intercourse represented a sacramental suspension of sexual differentiation and a return to the primordial
state of union when the sexes were not yet separated. In a proleptic
way, it also points forward to the time o f final restoration of the
cosmos' perfect state when "there is no male and female." W e
H e l i o p o l i s in Phoenicia "in which those who dignify licentious pleasure
with a distinguishing title of honor, had permitted their wives and daughters to commit shameless fornication." These practices were forbidden and a
church was built in this city.
46
Herodotus, Histories 1.199. His report concerns the temple of Aphrodite
(=Mylitta) in Babylon. See LCL, A. D. Godley, ed., Cambridge: Harvard
Univ. Press, 1975, vol. 1, p. 253; or the Penguin edition, A. de Selincourt,
ed., Baltimore: Penguin, 1966, pp. 94-95. Karel van der T o o r n , "Female
Prostitution in Payment of Vows in Ancient Israel." Journal of Biblical Literature 108 (1989) 193-205 suggested that Herodotus may have "mistaken the
prostitution in payment of a vow for a general, once-in-a-life-time duty p.
204. Already, however, Brigitte Menzel, Assyrische Tempel, R o m e : Biblical
Institute Press, 1981, vol. II, pp. 27-23, stated, that "...'Hierodulie' nichts mit
Tempelprostitution zu tun hat ... sondern zunchst nur generell 'Tempelpersonal' bezeichnet ... H e r o d o t (Hist. 1.199) darf nicht als Beleg fr T e m p e l prostitution herangezogen werden." Criticism of cultic prostitution in Mesopotamia was also voiced by D. Arnaud, "La Prostitution sacree en Msopotamie, un mythe historographique?" Revue de l'Histori des Religions 183 (1973)
111-115. See also article "Hieroduloi" in Pauly, op. cit. 8 (1913) 1459 ff. Very
instructive is the analysis of the Herodotus passage in Urs Winter, op. cit.,
pp. 335-337 and his general remarks on sacred prostitution, pp. 334-342.
47
See, e.g., Herodotus, Histories 1.92 about Lydian girls, and van der
T o o r n , above, about voluntary prostitution in payment of a vow.
GODDESSES IN T H E G R E C O - R O M A N
40
WORLD
will return to this theme when we discuss Cybele, the Phrygian

Great Mother. 48
T h e priests of Caelestis were not eunuchs and we do not hear
about "Galli" in Carthage; Roman moderation and sobriety, together with the fusion of Carthaginian Tanit with Roman Juno in
Caelestis, precluded that. This did not prevent Firmicus Maternus
(ca. 340 A.D.) from including the Africans in his diatribe against
effeminate priests who had womanish voices, rubbed their skin
smooth, wore female clothing, flaunted their impure bodies, and
boasted of their depravity. What kind of divinity was it, Firmicus
asks, which delighted in such unnatural human bodies?
Blush ... you p o o r wretches; G o d c r e a t e d you o t h e r than this! ...
R e j e c t this g r e a t and calamitous e r r o r , a n d a b a n d o n at last
the i n c l i n a t i o n o f the h e a t h e n heart. D o n o t take y o u r b o d y w h i c h
G o d c r e a t e d a n d c o n d e m n it by the w i c k e d law o f the devil. W h i l e
t i m e still permits, g o to the rescue o f y o u r disastrous situation. 4 9
All this sounds very much like Gibbon's condemnation o f early

Christian monasticism. 50
Without trying to excuse the behavior o f the Galli, o n e can
wonder whether Firmicus would similarly criticize the Anchorites and Cenobites of the Egyptian and Syrian deserts or praise
them for torturing their bodies "which God created"? A t any rate,
the cult o f Caelestis did not include this rite o f priestly castration,
and Firmicus' criticism fits only Cybele or the Dea Syria.
T h e worship of Caelestis continued and the temple in Carthage
served its purpose. Filastrius (died ca. 397 A.D.) still referred to it
as a living religion and cult. 51 But when the end came in 399
A.D., the temple was taken over amid loud pagan protests and
converted into a Christian church. Forcible christianization now
went at full speed, and soon Christians demanded total destruction
Chap . 2 , p. 70ff.
Firmicus Maternus, De errore profanorum religionum 4.4, op. at., pp. 50-51.
T h e repulsive behavior o f the eunuch priests is described in the eighth
chapter o f Apuleius, Metamorphoses.
50
Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, chap. 37, J. B. Bury, ed., L o n d o n :
Methuen, 1909, vol. 4, pp. 78-79.
51
Liber de haeresibus 15: "Alia est haeresis in Judaeis, quae reginam quam et
fortunam coeli nuncupant, quam et coelestem vocant in Africa, eique sacrificia offerre
non dubitabant, ut etiam prophetae Jeremiae Judaei tunc dicerent ex aperto . . ."
(quotes Jer. 44.27), MPL 12.1126-1127; also CSEL 38.1898 and CCL 9.1957;
Filastrius composed this book between 385 and 391 A.D.
48
49
41 GODDESSES I N T H E GRECO-ROMAN W O R L D
o f paganism. In 401 a general council was held in Carthage

under the chairmanship of Bishop Aurelius, and the assembled
fathers called upon the emperors to destroy pagan sanctuaries,
images and relics of the gods, even the parks and gardens in
which the sanctuaries and shrines stood. Even today the sanctimonious words fall heavy on the ear:
Item placuit, ab imperatoribus gloriosissimis peti, ut reliquiae
idololatriae n o n solum in simulacris, sed in q u i b u s c u m q u e locis,
vel lucis, vel arboribus o m n i m o d e deleantur. Aurelius episcopus
ecclesiae Carthaginis, supra c o m p r e h e n s i s in nostro c o n c i l i o
statutis subscripsi. Similiter septuaginta d u o episcopi
suscripserunt. 2
In 421 A.D., under the supervision of the imperial tribune Ursus,

the magnificent temple was demolished and the site became a
Christian cemetery. Whether this wanton destruction had to d o
with the pagans' demand that the church be returned to them, we
do not know. W e do know that the pagans claimed that they had
received an oracle from Caelestis53 to that effect, and we do know
that soon after that, all the buildings of the complex were demolished. Why? If, as Christians claimed, the pagan deities did
not exist, why bother to destroy their idols and temples? N o
answer was ever given.
But the power of Caelestis was broken. Augustine reflects with
melancholy upon her past glory: "What were the kingdoms o f
this earth? T h e kingdoms of idols, the kingdoms of daemons are
broken ... H o w great was the power o f Caelestis which was in
Carthage! W h e r e is now the kingdom of Caelestis?" 54 By then,
however, more was broken than the kingdom of Caelestis, and
Augustine knew it. T h e empire of Rome was broken, the barbarians were battering at the door of Utica, and the Christian bishop
there was desperately trying to exonerate the church from blame
for the disaster which befell Rome. Christians were not the cause
o f Rome's problems, he claimed. Constantinople was the p r o o f
because it was founded by a Christian emperor, lost its false gods,
52
Johannes Dominicus Mansi, Sacrorum conciliorum nova et amplissima
collectio, vol. 3, Florentiae: Expensis Antonii Zatti Veneti, 1795, p. 971. T h e
date o f the Fifth General Council was 401, according to Carl J. H e f e l e ,
Conciliengeschichte, Freiburg: Herder, 1875, vol. 2, pp. 80-81.
53
See below, n.57.
54
Enarratio in psalmum 94.14, MPL 37, 1270.
42
a n d still p r o s p e r e d . " C a r t h a g e r e m a i n s n o w i n its p o s s e s s i o n o f t h e

n a m e o f Christ, yet o n c e u p o n
a t i m e its g o d d e s s C a e l e s t i s w a s
o v e r t h r o w n ; b e c a u s e c e l e s t i a l s h e was n o t , b u t t e r r e s t r i a l . " 5 5 C a r thage, however,

Gaiseric,
stroyed
did not long
the Vandal
"the
surnamed
survive
king, captured
theatres,
the
temple
as a R o m a n
city. I n
it a n d , a m o n g
'Memory'
with
439
others,
the
de-
passage
'Celestis.'"56 At the time o f the V a n d a l invasion
there
w a s still a s t r e e t c a l l e d C e l e s t i s i n C a r t h a g e !
One
o f Augustine's pupils, Quodvultdeus, b e c a m e
bishop
of
C a r t h a g e i n 4 3 7 A . D . , b u t w a s e x p e l l e d w h e n t h e city f e l l . T h e r e u p o n h e f l e d to C a m p a n i a w h e r e h e w r o t e a b o o k in w h i c h
reminisced
about Carthaginian
Caelestis. S i n c e h e was an
he
eye-
w i t n e s s t o s o m e o f t h e e v e n t s that h e d e s c r i b e d , h i s r e p o r t is w o r t h
q u o t i n g in full:
In A f r i c a , at Carthage, C a e l e s t i s a s they c a l l e d her had a vast
t e m p l e s u r r o u n d e d by sanctuaries o f all their g o d s ; its street was
d e c o r a t e d with mosaics as well as lavish c o l u m n s a n d walls of
stone which e x t e n d e d very nearly 2,000 feet. It had b e e n closed for
a l o n g time, f e n c e d in a n d o b s c u r e d by w i l d t h o r n y thickets,
w h e n the Christian p e o p l e wanted to appropriate it f o r the service
o f the true religion. But the pagan p e o p l e cried out that there w e r e
dragons and serpents to protect the t e m p l e . T h i s only f u r t h e r inf l a m e d the Christians with zeal, and they r e m o v e d all the bushes
w i t h o u t c o m i n g to any harm; with the same ease they consecrated the temple to their G o d and L o r d . In fact, w h e n they c e l e brated the solemn rite o f Easter, and a great c r o w d had g a t h e r e d ,
c o m i n g f r o m far and w i d e in curiosity, the o n e we must call the
f a t h e r o f a n u m b e r o f priests and a man worthy o f our reverance,
Bishop Aurelius, n o w a citizen o f the H e a v e n l y K i n g d o m ( C i t y ) ,
established his t h r o n e there in the house o f Caelestis and set siege.
I myself was p r e s e n t then, with s o m e f r i e n d s and c o m p a n i o n s ,
and as we turned f r o m side to side in o u r y o u t h f u l i m p a t i e n c e ,
e x a m i n i n g each detail a c c o r d i n g to its i m p o r t a n c e , s o m e t h i n g
marvelous and i n c r e d i b l e presented itself to our eyes: an inscription in h u g e b r o n z e letters o n the f r o n t o f the t e m p l e read: Aurelius
Pontifex dedicavit (Aurelius, the H i g h Priest, has d e d i c a t e d [this
t e m p l e ] ) . U p o n r e a d i n g this the p e o p l e w e r e a m a z e d that the
f o r e s e e i n g G o d had a c c o m p l i s h e d this d e e d , which the p r o p h e t i c
spirit had i n s p i r e d , by his o w n sure c o m m a n d . A n d w h e n a
Sermon 55.12, NPNF, Series 1, vol. 6, p. 434.
Victor of Vita, Historia perseculionis afncanae provinciae, 1.3.6, Michael
Petschenig, ed., Vienna: C. Gerld, 1881. Also, CSEL 7.5. There is an English
translation: The Memorable and Tragical History of the Persecutions in Africke ...
1605, repr. Menston, Yorkshire: Scholar Press, 1969. Victor wrote around
488-489.
55
56
43 GODDESSES IN THE GRECO-ROMAN WORLD

pagan put f o r t h a certain false oracle as if it c a m e f r o m the same
Caelestis, which said that the v o i c e a n d the t e m p l e s w o u l d b e
r e t u r n e d to their f o r m e r rites, then G o d , that true G o d w h o s e
p r o p h e t i c oracles know n o t h i n g o f how to lie or h o w to d e c e i v e ,
c o m m a n d e d through the present e m p e r o r , the pious and Christian
V a l e n t i n i a n , son o f C o n s t a n t i n e a n d A u g u s t a P l a c i d a , that
t h r o u g h the e f f o r t s the tribune Ursus, all the temples should b e
razed to the g r o u n d and, scattering [their stones], he should leave
only the fields, evidently as a sepulchre f o r the d e a d . Even the
v o i c e o f Caelestis, destroyed n o w by the Vandals, was left w i t h o u t
memory.57
B u t f a i t h d i e s h a r d , a n d in spite o f w h a t Q u o d v u l t d e u s said, t h e
Carthaginians
Vandal
remained
attached
to
their
Queen,
even
under
rule. N o t only w e r e there many pagans w h o o p e n l y
con-
fessed their a t t a c h m e n t to Caelestis, t h e r e w e r e even
Christians
w h o secretly p a i d h o m a g e to h e r . Salvian, a Christian
clergyman
( 4 0 0 - 4 8 0 A . D . ) 1 i v i n g in M a r s e i l l e s , r e f l e c t e d u p o n this s i t u a t i o n i n
Africa and complained
the
service
of
Caelestis
that m a n y " s o - c a l l e d " Christians w e n t

before
or
after
the
Christian
to
worship
s e r v i c e . It w o u l d h a v e b e e n b e t t e r , h e says, i f t h e s e C h r i s t i a n s h a d
not
come
negligence,
at
all,
because
then
they
would
be
guilty
b u t this w a y t h e y w e r e g u i l t y o f s a c r i l e g e . 5 8
only
of
Slowly,
h o w e v e r , t h e m e m o r y o f C a e l e s t i s f a d e d , as d i d t h e cults o f o t h e r
d i v i n e q u e e n s in o t h e r p a r t s o f w h a t was a n d w h a t r e m a i n e d
the R o m a n
of
Empire.
B.
ISIS
U n l i k e C a e l e s t i s , Isis h a s b e e n w r i t t e n a b o u t so o f t e n i n
years that a short s u m m a r y o f h e r
cult will h e r e
recent
suffice.59 Isis
57
De promissionibus et predictionibus dei, 3.38.44, MPL 51.835-836. The book
is sometimes ascribed to Prosper of Tiro (390-455); on the controversy, see B.
Altaner and R. Stuiber, Patrologie, 7th ed., Freiburg: Herder, 1966, p. 449.
Also Rene Braun, Quodvultdeus. Livre des promesses et des predictions de
dieu, T o m e II, Paris: Cerf, 1964, pp. 547-579.
58
De Cubernatione Dei 8.2 ET., The Writings of Salvian the Presbyter, Jeremiah
F. O'Sullivan, ed. (The Fathers of the Church), New York: Cima Publishing, 1947, pp. 226-227. T h e book was written around 440 A.D.
59
Some of the recent literature includes R. E. Witt, Isis in the GraecoRoman World, Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell Univ. Press, 1971; Ladislaw Vidman, Isis
und Sarapis bei den Griechen und Rmern, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1970;
Sharon K. Heyob, The Cult of Isis Among Women in the Graeco-Roman World,
Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1975; Friedrich Solmsen, Isis Among Greeks and Romans,
Cambridge: Harvard Univ. Press, 1979; G. Roeder, "Isis," in Pauly-Wissowa,
9.2084-2132; Ed Meyer and W. Drexel, "Isis," in W. H. Roscher, Lexikon, II/l,
44
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emerged as the most popular goddess in Egypt after a long period

o f development. It is important to note that this development took
place in two distinct periods: that o f ancient Egypt and the other of
Hellenistic Egypt, when it became the cult that was known to
Romans and Christians.
According
to ancient Egyptian
mythology, Isis came
into
being at the third level o f creation. T h e wife of Osiris, she was a

celestial divinity. However, for the Egyptians the "heavens" were
also the primordial ocean, the water f r o m which
everything
came. As wife o f Osiris and mother o f the sun-god, Horus, she

was deeply connected with the origin o f life. In the myth o f
Osiris, best known to us from the account of Plutarch, 60 it is Isis
w h o resurrects her dead husband, saves her child Horus, and
even protects Seth, the murderer of Osiris. Thus viewed as one in
possession o f powerful magic, the mother o f g o d who could
bestow immortality, Isis grew in importance.
As the Greeks began to identify the Egyptian divinities with
their own, Isis became Demeter, a nature goddess who also presided over a powerful mystery. Osiris became Dionysus, and
Horus, Apollo. 6 1 T h e real popularity o f Isis in the Greco-Roman
world, however, began in Hellenistic times when she became
associated with the new god, Sarapis. 62 When and exactly how
this happened is a controversial topic. However, at this time a new
Isis cult developed and quickly spread into Greece and Italy. In
the fourth century B.C. there was already a sanctuary o f Isis in
Athens, and possibly a hundred years later she was known in
Sicily. From there the cult spread northward into other Italian
cities, including Pompeii, where excavations yielded
evidence
that the cult flourished there by the first century A.D.

In R o m e the atmosphere was not favorable for foreign, especially oriental, cults. Isis had a stormy history there, sometimes
tolerated, sometimes forbidden, depending on the m o o d o f the
Senate and later, the emperors. It was only Caligula (37-41 A.D.)
360-548; A. D. Nock, Conversion, O x f o r d : O x f o r d Univ. Press, 1933; J. Gwynn
G r i f f i t h s , Plutarch's De Iside et Osiride, Univ. o f Wales, 1970; J. Gwynn
Griffiths, Apuleius of Madauros. The Isis Book. (Metamorphoses, Book XI), Leiden:
E . J . Brill, 1975; Tran Tarn Tinh, Isis Lactans, Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1973.
0
See J. G. Griffith's analysis quoted above.
61
Herodotus 2, 42.59.156.
62
T h e name may derive f r o m Osiris-Apis, Apis in this c o n n e c t i o n
meaning the soul o f Osiris; for references, see Heyob, op. cit., p. 3.
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who finally gave official recognition to the cult. Isis became a

very popular goddess, even though a great number of oriental
mysteries competed for people's loyalties in the early empire. Isis
flourished even under the pressure of the growing and increasingly aggressive Christian movement. By the end o f the fourth
century, pagan cults were deliberately and violently
extermi-
nated. As a result of this systematic persecution, Isis, too, slowly

disappeared in a process similar to that of Caelesds.
T w o great festivals, the Isia and the Navigium Isidis , belonged to
the cult o f Isis. T h e first, a dramatic presentation of the story o f
Osiris, was celebrated in R o m e at the beginning of N o v e m b e r .
A f t e r Osiris was brutally murdered by Seth and his body was cut
into pieces, Isis wandered through the land, weeping and looking
f o r the corpse of her husband. All this was reenacted during the
festival. When the corpse was found, the participants cried out in
j o y : "We have found it, let us rejoice together!" Then Osiris was
raised from the dead and there was general rejoicing. 63 N o doubt
this mystery play made as deep an impression on the pagans as
the reenactment of the passion of Jesus Christ made upon Christians. People wept and beat their breasts over the death of Osiris;
with loud jubilation they rejoiced when the body was found and
Osiris was resurrected. Christian and non-initiated Roman authors made fun of this ritual; to them, this grieving and rejoicing
made no sense since, to them, nothing was lost and nothing was
found. But readers who are familiar with Good Friday and Easter
celebrations will understand that for Isiac initiates these were
deeply meaningful rites; they dealt with the mysteries o f death
and resurrection and evoked in the participants a sense o f eternal
life.
T h e Navigium
Isidis ( = "Navigation o f Isis") was
held on March 5, as a festival commemorating either the launching o f the ship of Isis to Phoenicia, searching for Osiris, or her
arrival from Phoenicia. T h e celebradon marked the beginning of
the new season of seafaring and it was a festive and joyful gather-
65
Herodotus, 2.171; Plutarch, op. at., chap. 27 = Griffiths, op. cit., pp. 388393, for commentary; Athenagoras, Supplicatio 22; Firmicus Maternus, De
errore ... 2.3, 6, 9, 27; Seneca, Apocolocyntosis 13 quotes the words when Claudius arrives in the underworld. (Apostolos Athanassakis, Apocolocyntosis Divi
Claudii, Lawrence, Kan.: Coronado Press, 1973, p. 12; Minucius Felix, Octavius
23. For references from classical Latin authors, see Heyob, op. cit., p. 55, n.9.)
46
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ing. Apuleius (Metamorphoses 11.7-17) described such a procession.

Soon after sunrise the streets were already full o f people. All
nature seemed joyful, birds were singing melodiously
"making
sweet welcome ... to the mother o f the stars, the parent o f times
and mistress of all the world." T h e trees seemed to rejoice in their
fertility, and the sky was fair and clear.People came dressed in
the habits of various professions: one came as a warrior, another as
a hunter, another as a gladiator, yet another as a fisherman, and
so forth. In the midst of the multitude one might see the "saving
goddess" triumphantly marching forward. W o m e n , dressed in
white and wearing garlands on their heads, spread herbs along
her way; others held mirrors in their hands turned toward the
goddess; yet others had ivory combs in their hands, indicating
that they were trained to adorn the hair o f the goddess. Some
people dropped balm and precious ointments on the way, and a
multitude of men and women held lamps, candles, and torches
in their hands in honor of the one who was "born of the celestial
stars." T h e n came a group o f singing youths in white vestments,
followed by trumpeters and musicians with pipes and flutes. T h e
initiates f o l l o w e d , all in glistening white linen
dresses.
The
women had their hair anointed but the heads of the men were
shaven. In their hands they held brass timbrels which gave out a
shrill sound. Now came the principal priests, carrying ceremonial objects, and then people dressed as the gods: Anubis wearing
the head of a dog, then a cow representing the great and youthful
"mother o f all." Following them came the officials who carried
in precious boxes the secrets of the religion, which nobody could
see. A n d finally came the high priest, holding in his hand a
timbrel and a garland o f roses. T h e procession went to the sea
coast where the high priest dedicated and launched a beautifully
decorated ship that the breeze soon blew far away out o f sight.
A f t e r this the people assembled in the temple, where the holy
objects were properly disposed o f and prayers were said. T h e
multitude then was dismissed and "all the people gave a great
shout," embraced and kissed each other, and took home all kinds
o f leafy branches, herbs, and flowers. 54
A n d now Apuleius describes the initiation of Lucius into the
mysteries o f Isis as the conclusion o f the whole story, for
54
LCL, Adlington and S. Gaselee, ed., pp. 550-569 (1935).
Meta-
47 GODDESSES IN T H E GRECO-ROMAN WORLD
morphoses, as the title of the book indicates, is the account of a conv e r s i o n . 6 5 T h e conversion o f Lucius was so complete that he
rented for himself a place within the temple precinct o f Isis and
lived there until the time for initiation arrived. Prior to that, he
had to go through various rites o f purification, and on the great
appointed day and in the presence of a multitude of priests (the
laity and the uninitiated were dismissed), he was given a new
linen robe and taken to the most sacred, secret place o f the temple.
This is the mystery which he cannot divulge, he says, but to
satisfy the curiosity o f the reader he indicates so much:
... I a p p r o a c h e d near i n t o hell, even to the g a t e o f P r o s e r p i n e ,
and after that I was ravished throughout all the elements, I r e t u r n e d
to my p r o p e r place: about m i d n i g h t I saw the sun brightly shine,
I saw likewise the g o d s celestial and the g o d s internal, b e f o r e
w h o m I p r e s e n t e d myself and w o r s h i p p e d t h e m . 6 6
On the second day of the ceremonies he was introduced to all

the people as a new priest. Vested in fine linen decorated with
symbolic flowers and images of animals, he stood on a pulpit
b e f o r e the image of the goddess. This was a celebration of the
"nativity of his holy order," which was followed by a sumptuous
banquet. This was repeated on the third day. Then Lucius went to
Rome where, in the temple of Isis on the Campus Martius, he was
initiated as a priest of Osiris and, with his head shaven, continued
to serve as a priest.
T h e mysteries of Isis had sanctuaries in which the important
ceremonies of the cult took place. These contained an open court
with altars where the morning sacrifices were conducted, an
inner chamber with the image o f the goddess, and an underground crypt. This probably represented the underworld, where
Lucius, too, underwent his initiation. These crypts contained
water and the rite p e r f o r m e d on Lucius must have been a symbolic drowning with Osiris and a rising again to new life. 6 7
W h i l e various activities took place in these temples, the most
important was the worship o f the goddess b e f o r e her image.
65
See A. D. Nock, Conversion, Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 1933; James
Tatum, Apuleius and the Golden /I, Ithaca and London: Cornell Univ. Press,
1979.
66
11.23, LCL, op. at., p. 581.
67
Robert A. Wild, Water in the Cultic Worship of Isis and Sarapis, Leiden:
E.J. Brill, 1981, p. 52.
48
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Sacrifices and prayers offered to Isis are often depicted on frescoes

and reliefs.
T h e services included the singing o f hymns and music with
several instruments. T h e nature of the mysteries demanded that
some parts of the services were open only to initiates, while in
others everybody could participate. People attracted to the Isiac
mysteries were thus divided into three groups: priests, initiates,
and
laymen.
T h e priesthood had a number o f grades and functions. T h e

highest rank was the chief priest and prophet, after whom came the
stolist, who was in charge of the goddess's clothing. T h e pastophors
were responsible for carrying the statue, while the neocorus took
care o f the temple. There were also scribes, astrologs, who observed
the hours, and cantors who performed the ritual chanting.
T h e initiates were called by the goddess personally, usually in
a dream. As is told o f Lucius in the Metamorphoses,
they went
through a series o f ceremonies which included fasting, ritual

cleansing and baths. These initiatory rites led eventually to a
lower order of the priesthood in the case o f Lucius, to admission
into the rank of the pastophor.
Laymen, if they so desired, could j o i n a cult association, o f
which there were many. Those who were seriously interested
could become members of a unit that was under the direction of a
priest. From here they could go into a higher level o f organization
where they were given certain tasks in the cult. Such cult associations were composed o f the Sarapiastai, the Therapeutae, and the
Melanophors,
who wore black clothing, indicating that they were
particularly dedicated to the grieving and mourning Isis. But

mention is also made o f people who were identified as Isiacus,
Anubiacus, or Bubasticus, referring to the person's particular devotion.
A special feature in the mysteries of Isis was the participation o f
women. This has been researched by Sharon Kelly Heyob in her
book The Cult of Isis Among Women in the Graeco Roman
World,68
Many women were among the office holders o f the cult.

Although most o f the principal priests appear to have been men,
women
priests became
increasingly c o m m o n
from
the first
century A.D. onward, especially in the Roman sphere. W o m e n

68
Heyob, loc. at.
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devotees are frequently mentioned in inscriptions and are also depicted on the wall paintings o f Herculaneum. T h e Metamorphoses
(Chap. 11) mentions them several times, and there is much
epigraphical information to show that they were present in the
cult associations.69
This was so, H e y o b asserts, because Isis was perceived as a
goddess who presided over fertility and birth and who was looked
upon as the protectress of lovers. From the very beginning she
was associated with the generative forces of nature, and so Lucius
addressed her as "the original and motherly source o f all fruitful
things in the earth" and "the celestial Venus, who in the beginning o f the world coupled together male and female with an
engendered love." 7 0 As wife she could be looked upon as a prototype of earthly relationships and as mother she was often depicted
in statues holding her infant son in her lap. This theme later
developed into Isis lactans, i.e., Isis nursing her son. In the procession described by Apuleius 7 1 the goddess who nourishes was
represented by a golden vessel shaped as a breast from which
milk flowed down. W o m e n thus saw Isis as the divine protectress
who on a celestial level already experienced everything that a
woman can experience in her life cycle; 72 to all her devotees she
was the divine image of the female sex, protectress of all female
functions.
Many religions know ablutions and sprinklings as means o f
spiritual purification, but in the cult o f Isis water seems to have
played a more important role. An indication of that is hinted at in
the story o f Lucius, whose first thought after the initial appearance
o f the goddess was to sprinkle himself with seawater. T h e n ,
before his initiation, he had to take an ordinary bath after which
he was sprinkled by the priest in the sanctuary.73 Indeed, ablution
facilities found in many sanctuaries o f Isis reveal elaborate systems of waterworks built for this purpose. (This aspect of the Isiac
mystery was researched and analyzed by Robert A. Wild, w h o
Op. at, pp. 81-110.

Op. at., 11.2.
71
Op. at., 11.10.
72
Heyob, op. at., pp. 53-80.
73
Metamorphoses 11.7, 23. But see also 11.1, where Lucius plunged his
head seven times in the sea to purify himself even b e f o r e making his
prayer.
69
70
50
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collected much archaeological material f o r his book,
quoted
above, and enhanced his research with diagrams and pictures to

shed light on the subject.) Nile-water was especially valued by
her devotees and in many sanctuaries containers for such water
were present. T h e blessings which the f l o o d i n g o f the Nile bestows on the land and people of Egypt is well know; the Egyptians,
however, attributed a greater potency to water. As Plutarch says,
"They call not only the Nile but all moisture generally the efflux
o f Osiris, and in honor of the god the water-pitcher always leads
the procession o f the sacred ceremonies." 74 This mystical connection between the g o d and water may account for Plutarch's also
stating that such purifications were conducive to health: the use o f
water had a hygienic effect. 7 5
T h e connection of Isis with water goes back to her very origin:
as a celestial divinity she was the daughter of Geb, g o d o f earth,
and Nut, the heavenly queen, the divinity o f the primordial
water, heaven, the "mother of all the gods." 7 6 According to this
identification of waters and heaven, therefore, Isis was not only a
queen of heaven but a creative, generative principle whose primordial connection with water gave to that element a mysterious
purifying and vivifying potency. For the followers o f the Isiac
mysteries, ablutions and sprinkling with water were a sacramental experience, i.e., a physical action available to the senses in
which a spiritual gift was given to the partakers. This can b e
compared to Christian Baptism, for Christians regard baptismal
water as laden with spiritual potency by virtue of that water's
union with the Holy Spirit. 77 Similarly, Isis was regarded as a
savior goddess.
In the Metamorphoses 11.2, Lucius addressed Isis as "Queen o f
74
Op. cit., chap. 36; Griffiths, op. cit., p. 173. In his commentary, Griffiths
quotes other Egyptian references; see p. 436: " T h e Nile is the discharge of
his body, to nourish the nobility and the commons." " T h e water belongs to
thee, thine inundation belongs to thee, the efflux which has come f r o m the
god, the body secretion which has come from Osiris, that thy hands may be
washed therewith." See Metamorphoses 11.11 for the sacred water container
in the procession.
75
Op . cit ., chap . 79; see, however, Griffiths' comments on p. 566. See
also T h e o d o r H o p f n e r , Plutarch ber Isis and Osiris, rpt. of 1940 ed., Hildesh e i m / New York: George Olms, 1974, pp. 165-169.
76
References in Hopfner, op. at., p. 20.
77
See about this below, especially Tertullian's view on baptism.
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Heaven" and "Heavenly Venus." 78 Since the titles are the same as
those given to Juno Caelestis in Carthage, Apuleius, whose birthplace of Madaurus was not very far from Carthage, may have
been influenced by the overwhelming popularity of Caelestis. If
indeed he applied the epithets of Caelestis to Isis, he did something that in the middle of the second century was not surprising,
f o r that creative power which "illumines all city walls with its
feminine light ... nourishing the happy seeds ... " cannot vary
greatly, regardless o f the name or ceremony by which she is
invoked. 7 9
Since messages from Isis were usually received in the form o f
a dream, incubation, that is, sleeping in the temple at night, was
often practiced. T h e worshipper rented a room in the temple compound, spent the night there, and waited for the appearance of the
goddess or the god. T h e opportunity for vicious rumors, especially
when incubation was practiced by women, was ever present, and
sometimes illicit activities may have taken place. Best known is
the story reported by Josephus, 80 according to which a Roman
knight, by bribing the priests, was able to have an illicit relation
with a lady in the temple o f Isis. H e appeared to the lady disguised as Anubis, and the lady, believing that a great honor was
bestowed upon her and that she actually had a union with the
god, told of her experiences to everybody, including her husband.
The
fraud was discovered and exemplary punishments
were
meted out to all guilty parties. Many other veiled and not so veiled
references can be found in Roman literature about the supposed
tendency o f Isis to encourage sexual misconduct. Heyob made a
valiant attempt to prove these charges false and to exonerate Isis.81
H e r arguments seem convincing, but an additional remark needs
to be made: nothing pleased adherents of one religion more than
to level charges of sexual misbehavior and aberration against
another cult. Ancient history is full o f such incidents, perhaps
because they were so easy to make and many people liked them
and did not ask f o r substantiation. T h e Romans made such
"Regina Caeli ... sive tu Ceres ... seu tu Caelestis Venus ..."
Metamorphoses 11.2: "... isla luce feminea collustrans cuncta moenia ... nutriens
laeta semina ... quoquo nomine, quoquo rilu, quaqua facie te fas invocare . . . " S e e
Griffiths, The Isis Book, pp. 114-117.
80
Antiquities 18.65-80.
81
Op. cit., pp. 111-127.
78
79
52
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charges against Christians, and one has only to read the
Octavius
by Minucius Felix to see how vicious some people could be. But
Christians returned the favor, as the examples we quoted concerning Caelestis should suffice to illustrate. If occasional wrongs took
place within the religion o f Isis, that was not its outstanding
characteristic. In fact, the opposite appears to be true.
T h e similarities between the cult of Isis and certain Christian
practices have been pointed out many times. Scholarly commentaries on the books o f the New Testament usually contain references to parallel ideas and concepts. Christian iconography also
has been compared to that o f Isis, especially the representations o f
the Virgin Mary with the child Jesus, which i n d e e d resemble
closely those o f Isis nursing her son. T h e similarities are impressive. When one looks at the illustrations o f Isis reprinted by
Tran Tarn Tinh in Isis Lactans it is easy to understand why so
many scholars consider Isis to be the prototype o f Mary. Most
recently, R. E. Witt called Isis the "Great Forerunner," emphasizing Paul's familiarity with Isiac liturgy. 82 But Tran Tam T i n h
pointed out the large chronological gap between the statues of Isis
Lactans and Maria Lactans. In the West the first representations o f
Mary nursing her son date from the twelfth century. 83 T h e theological roots o f Mariology are very probably in Asia Minor rather
than in North Africa. A n d even though, as Witt points out, the
cult o f Isis was known in Asia Minor, the major female divinity,
whose influence overshadowed everything else there, was not
Isis but Cybele, the Great Mother. This is not to underestimate the
influence o f Isis upon the later praxis pietatis directed toward Mary.
Pious Christians observing their pagan neighbors o f f e r i n g devotion to Isis could not fail to be impressed by the many attractive
features o f her rituals. But this was also the case at places where a
goddess other than Isis was venerated.
Mariology is much too complex a p h e n o m e n o n to be derived
from a single source; there are many "forerunners" o f the veneration of Mary. It is not isolated and sometimes superficial similarities that we must look for, but rather, general and broad
principles which apply wherever a goddess is worshipped. W e
find these in the cult o f Isis.
82
83
This was a cosmic religion which
Op. cit., pp. 255-281.

Op. cit., p. 47; see also pp. 40-49 for the total background.
held out the h o p e of personal salvation by an intimate reintegration into a totality. In the mysteries of Isis this totality was
represented by the primordial waters. Over and above the chaotic
divisions and separations in the world, Isis pointed to an essential
order in the universe and offered a way to attain it. In this the cult
o f Isis came very close to the teachings o f Pauline Christianity as
expressed in Ephesians 1 and Colossians 1 as well as to the concept
o f a "unio mystica" of man with G o d which played such an important role in early Christian theology. O f course, other mysteries
did the same, and we now turn to review another o f these, the
rites of the Syrian Goddess.
C. THE SYRIAN GODDESS
At the time when Juno Caelestis was worshipped in Carthage and
the cult o f Isis was spread over the Mediterranean world, another
goddess reigned supreme in Hierapolis. W e learn o f her f r o m
Lucian's essay, De Dea Syria ( O n the Syrian goddess). 8 4 This essay,
we must remember, is a parody; it is uncertain how much o f it is
true. Nevertheless, this is what Lucian says.
A t the outset, he asserts that Hierapolis is called " H i r e " ( " h o l y " ) in
G r e e k b e c a u s e it is a city holy to t h e Assyrian d e i t y H e r a
(Ch. I ) . 8 5 T h e n he writes o f the spread o f r e l i g i o u s ideas f r o m
84
Hierapolis is in northern Syria (Coelesyria) near the Euphrates river.
Much good material is available on De Dea Syria. The following represents
only a selection directly used by me. Text and translation in the LCL, A. M.
Harmon, ed., London: Heinemann, 1961, pp. 337-441. Another good translation is De Dea Syria, Harold W. Attridge and Robert A. Oden, eds., Missoula, Mont.: Scholars Press, 1976 (Society of Biblical Literature, Texts and
Translations 9); Carl Clemen, Lukian's Schrift ber die Syrische Gttin, Leipzig:
J. C. Hinrichs, 1938 (pp. 1-27 provide a German translation); Monika Hrig,
"Dea Syria-Atargatis," ANRW II. Prinzipat, 17.3, Berlin/ New York: Walter
de Gruyter, 1984, pp. 1536-1581; R. A. Oden, Studies in Lucian's De Dea Syria,
Missoula, Mont.: Scholars Press, 1977; H. J. W. Drijvers, Cults and Beliefs at
Edessa, Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1980 (Etudes Preliminaries aux Religious Orientales Dans L'empire Romain, vol. 82); H. J. W. Drijvers, "Die Dea Syria und
andere syrische Gottheiten im Imperium Romanum," in Maarten J. Vermaseren, Die orientalische Religionen im Rmerreich, Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1981, pp.
241-263; H. Stocks, "Studien zu Lukian's 'De Dea Syria,'" Berytus 4 (1937) 140.
85
The pronunciation of "Hera" and "hire" is, of course, similar, but let
us remember that Hera is the Greek Juno. About speculations "Hera" and
"aer," see p.32. T h e modern name of the place is Mambij, which comes
from the ancient Mabbug. Pliny, Natural History 5.19.81: "Bambyce which is
also named Hierapolis, and by the Syrians Mabog-here the monstrous goddess Atargatis, who is called by the Greeks Derceto, is worshipped." LCL, R.
54

Egypt to Assyria (Chs. 2, 3) and briefly notes that there is also a
sanctuary o f the Sidonians in h o n o r o f Astarte, w h i c h h e i d e n tifies with the m o o n g o d d e s s S e l e n e ( C h . 4 ) . L u c i a n r e f e r s to
a n o t h e r sanctuary w h i c h he d i d n o t visit ( C h . 5 ) a n d then
describes the great sanctuary o f A p h r o d i t e in Byblos, w h e r e the
rites o f A d o n i s w e r e p e r f o r m e d . W o m e n w h o , in c o n n e c t i o n with
these rites, refuse to shave their heads must o f f e r themselves f o r
sale f o r o n e day ( C h . 6). Osiris is b e l i e v e d to be buried in Byblos,
and each year a head c o m e s miraculously f r o m Egypt to Byblos
( C h . 7 ) . A n o t h e r m i r a c l e in Byblos is that each year the river
A d o n i s changes its c o l o r to r e d , which s o m e p e o p l e c o n n e c t e d
with the story o f the k i l l i n g o f A d o n i s ; o t h e r s e x p l a i n e d the
c h a n g e in c o l o r by saying simply that the winds blew r e d dust
i n t o the water ( C h . 8 ) . In Ch. 9 Lucian r e p o r t s that t h e r e was a
sanctuary o f A p h r o d i t e in L e b a n o n . H e then p r o c e e d s to describe
the t e m p l e in Hierapolis.
T h a t t e m p l e , larger than any m e n t i o n e d so far, h o u s e d many
gifts o f g o l d and silver. Its statues o f the g o d s w e r e b e l i e v e d to
m o v e , perspire, and give oracles ( C h . 10). M a n y stories w e r e told
about the age o f this t e m p l e ( C h . 11), but most p e o p l e b e l i e v e d its
f o u n d e r was D e u c a l i o n , the N o a h o f G r e e k m y t h o l o g y . In Ch. 12
Lucian tells the story o f Deucalion and the f l o o d . T h e inhabitants
o f Hierapolis believed that the flood-waters r e c e d e d w h e n a g r e a t
chasm ( ) was f o r m e d which a b s o r b e d all the water. Deucalion built a t e m p l e over the chasm and d e d i c a t e d it to Hera. In
r e m e m b r a n c e o f this event, priests and laymen alike g o twice
each year to the sea to f e t c h water which they p o u r out in the
t e m p l e and, thus, down into the chasm. ( L u c i a n saw this chasm
u n d e r the t e m p l e ; it was q u i t e s m a l l . ) T h i s r i t e recalls t h e
m e m o r y o f the disaster and divine favor ( C h . 13). Yet others said
that the t e m p l e was f o u n d e d f o r the m o t h e r o f H e r a , D e r k e t o . In
P h o e n i c i a L u c i a n had seen an i m a g e o f D e r k e t o which was h a l f
w o m a n and half fish; in H i e r a p o l i s he had seen o n e w h i c h was
all w o m a n . T h e p e o p l e t h e r e r e g a r d e d fish as sacred ( C h . 14). 8 6
Yet another story told about the sanctuary is that Attis, having been
castrated by Rhea, established the t e m p l e at H i e r a p o l i s . As p r o o f
Rackham, ed., London: Heinemann, 1947, vol. 2, pp. 282-283. Strabo, Geography 16.1.27: "Bambyce which is also called Edessa and Hierapolis, where
the Syrian goddess Atargatis is worshipped." LCL, H. L. Jones, ed., London:
Heinemann, 1930, vol. 7, pp. 234-235. Strabo is wrong in including Edessa
in the list; it was about fifteen miles northeast of Hierapolis on the other
side of the Euphrates.
86
On fish and the cult of Atargatis, see Franz Joseph Dlger, I X 0 Y C Das
Fischsymbol in frhchristlicher Zeit, Mnchen: Aschendorf.1928, pp. 120-142;
also pp. 431-446 about fish in the cult of Tanit. Some material in Hermann
Usener, Die Sintfluthsagen, Bonn: Cohen, 1899 (Religionsgeschichtliche
Untersuchungen, dritter theil). See also Oden, op. cit., p. 88, who compares
Atargatis not only with Astarte and Anat, but also with Aserah, the goddess
who has close connections with the fish. Similarly, Hrig, op. cit., p. 1539.
55 GODDESSES IN T H E GRECO-ROMAN
WORLD
there is an i m a g e o f Rhea carried by lions and w e a r i n g a t o w e r

o n her head. T h e G a l l i 8 7 in the t e m p l e castrated t h e m s e l v e s in
imitation o f Attis (Ch. 15). T h e tradition that Dionysus f o u n d e d the
t e m p l e is s u p p o r t e d by the p r e s e n c e in the gateway o f two large
phalli d e d i c a t e d by Dionysus himself. A b r o n z e statue o f a s m a l l
man with a large penis r e m i n d e d Lucian o f the G r e e k custom o f
h o n o r i n g Dionysus by putting up phalli on the top o f which sat
small w o o d e n m e n with large genitals ( C h . 16). T h e n e x t two
chapters relate the story o f Stratonice, 8 8 whose stepson f e l l in love
with her (Chs. 17, 18) and w h o p r o m i s e d to build a t e m p l e in
Hierapolis. H e r husband sent her there with a y o u n g man n a m e d
C o m b a b u s , w h o , b e f o r e he left, castrated h i m s e l f and l e f t his
genitals in a box with the king so that later he could not b e accused
o f seducing the q u e e n (Chs. 19, 20). T h e y built the t e m p l e in
Hierapolis; nonetheless, Stratonice fell in love with C o m b a b u s and
tried to seduce him, but he resisted and told her what he had done.
Stratonice ceased her efforts at seduction, but she still loved the
y o u n g man. T h i s sort o f love still exists in H i e r a p o l i s , L u c i a n
asserts: the Galli lust f o r the w o m e n and the w o m e n f o r the Galli
(Chs. 21, 22). W h e n Stratonice and Combabus r e t u r n e d h o m e , she
accused him o f trying to seduce her, and C o m b a b u s was arrested,
tried, and sentenced to death. Combabus then asked f o r the b o x he
had left with the king and showed his severed genitals c o n t a i n e d
therein, w h e r e u p o n the king r e l e n t e d and r e w a r d e d C o m b a b u s
f o r his loyalty (Chs. 23, 24, 25). T h e t e m p l e was c o m p l e t e d and a
statue o f C o m b a b u s was p l a c e d in it. T h a t is the t e m p l e which
L u c i a n saw and w h i c h , a c c o r d i n g to some, is the o r i g i n o f the
practice o f castration in the t e m p l e (Ch. 26). Even to the present
day, m e n castrate themselves, put o n w o m e n ' s c l o t h i n g , a n d
p e r f o r m the w o r k usually d o n e by w o m e n ( C h . 2 7 ) . T h e sanctuary was built o n a hill. In the e n t r a n c e w a y s t o o d the phalli,
which w e r e very tall. T w i c e a year a man c l i m b e d to the t o p 8 9 a n d
stayed there f o r seven days, a c c o r d i n g to s o m e , in m e m o r y o f the
f l o o d when p e o p l e f l e d to high elevations and to the tops o f the
trees; a c c o r d i n g to others, this was d o n e in h o n o r o f Dionysus.
P e o p l e c a m e and d e p o s i t e d m o n e y in a c o n t a i n e r , spoke their
names, and the man on the top s p o k e a p r a y e r f o r t h e m . 9 0
87
Emasculated priests of Cybele and other divinities. More about this
problem in our chapter on Cybele.
88
She was the Macedonian wife of Seleucus I (358-281 B.C.). She rebuilt
the temple around 300 B.C.
89
Lucian says that the phalli were 1,800 feet; see, however, Harmon, op.
cit., comments on chap. 28. He also describes how the man climbed on the
top with the help of ropes and wooden steps big enough for the toes.
90
Did the Christian "pillar-saints" learn something from this practice?
It certainly would stand to reason since these anchorites were also from
Syria and some form of influence cannot be rejected. Theodoret of Cyprus,
Historia religiosa seu ascetica vivendi ratio (MPG 82, 1283-1496), or History of the
Monks, in chap. 26 gives an account of the famous Simeon Stylites (395-451),
56

T h a t man never slept, f o r fear o f falling d o w n (Ch. 2 9 ) .
A t this point, Lucian gives a d e s c r i p t i o n o f the t e m p l e , w h i c h
c o u l d well have b e e n similar to that o f Caelestis since most
t e m p l e s o f antiquity w e r e built o n the s a m e basic p l a n . T h i s
t e m p l e f a c e d the rising sun. It stood o n a large p l a t f o r m , a n d a
stone r a m p led up to it. T h e doors and the r o o f w e r e m a d e o f g o l d ;
inside a pleasant f r a g r a n c e f i l l e d the air, l i n g e r i n g o n the visitors'
c l o t h i n g l o n g after they had left ( C h . 30). Inside the t e m p l e there
was a small c h a m b e r which only selected priests m i g h t enter: in
it w e r e statues o f H e r a supported by lions, and o f Zeus sitting o n
bulls ( C h . 3 1 ) . Lucian had no p r o b l e m with the i m a g e o f Zeus; it
l o o k e d in every respect like Zeus. But H e r a s e e m e d to have incorp o r a t e d features o f A t h e n a , A p h r o d i t e , S e l e n e , R h e a , A r t e m i s ,
N e m e s i s , and the Fates. A tower and rays w e r e o n h e r head, and
she w o r e a g i r d l e with which they d e c o r a t e o n l y " t h e h e a v e n l y
o n e " ( ) . 9 1 A g e m o n her head f i l l e d the t e m p l e with
light at night ( C h . 32). Between the two statues t h e r e was a g o l d e n
i m a g e w h i c h they called " S i g n " ( ) ; w h e n they b r o u g h t
water f r o m the sea, they take this i m a g e with t h e m ( C h . 3 3 ) . For
H e l i o s and Selene there were no statues (Ch. 34), but there was o n e
f o r A p o l l o as a mature man ( C h . 35). A p o l l o gave oracles o f his
own accord; b e h i n d his statue w e r e those o f Atlas, H e r m e s , and
Eileithyia (Chs. 36, 37, 3 8 ) , and many o t h e r statues o f g o d s and
man (Chs. 39, 40, 41). W i l d animals g r a z e d in the courtyard; they
w e r e sacred and tame ( C h . 41). T h e r e w e r e many priests vested in
white robes, but the high priest was vested in p u r p l e and w o r e a
g o l d e n tiara. O t h e r t e m p l e servants i n c l u d e d f l u t e players, pipers,
Galli, and w o m e n (Chs. 42, 43). Sacrifices w e r e p e r f o r m e d twice
daily ( C h . 44). Sacred fish w e r e raised in a lake nearby. T h e lake
was very d e e p , and in the m i d d l e stood an altar to which p e o p l e
swam in o r d e r to b r i n g garlands (Chs. 46, 47). H e r e a great festival
was held, which they called " " ( " D e s c e n t to the
L a k e " ) . A l l sacred objects w e r e taken to t h e lake w h e r e c e r e m o n i e s w e r e p e r f o r m e d ( C h . 47). O n e o f the greatest c e r e m o n i e s
i n v o l v e d b r i n g i n g water f r o m the sea, and h e r e L u c i a n m e n t i o n s
again the rite he described in Chapter 13 ( C h . 48). A n o t h e r g r e a t
and while the differences between Simeon and the men in Hierapolis are
obvious, there are some common elements such as the number of visitors,
requests for intercession, lack of sleep, and so forth. A German translation of
T h e o d o r e t ' s book is available in the Bibliothek der Kirchenvter, Mnchen:
Ksel Verlag,1926, vol. 50, pp. 156-170, esp. pp. 162-164. Further literature in
Johannes Quasten, Patrology, Utrecht/Antwerp: Spectrum, 1960, vol. 3, p. 550.
See also Hippolyte Delahaye, Les Saints Stylites, Bruxelles, Socit des
Bollandists, Paris: A. Picard, 1895 (1923).
91
Translated into Latin, this would mean Caelestis, but in this connection no doubt Aphrodite is meant. T h e girdle of the goddess had exclusive
features, just like that of Caelestis and Isis. On the importance of robes, see
below.
57 GODDESSES IN T H E GRECO-ROMAN W O R L D
festival was the " F i r e " o r " L a m p " festival. W o r s h i p p e r s c h o p p e d
d o w n live trees, stood t h e m up in the courtyard, a n d o n t h e m
h u n g live animals a l o n g with artifacts o f g o l d a n d silver. A t a
given m o m e n t everything was b u r n e d up. T h o s e w h o c a m e to the
festival b r o u g h t with them an imitation o f the " S i g n " ( C h . 4 9 ) .
N e x t L u c i a n describes c e r e m o n i e s d u r i n g w h i c h m e n b e c a m e
Galli, a l o n g with customs r e l a t i n g to these eunuchs (Chs. 50, 51,
52, 5 3 ) . Sacrificial animals i n c l u d e d all kinds e x c e p t pigs ( C h . 5 4 ) .
T h e treatise e n d s with a d e s c r i p t i o n o f customs p e r t a i n i n g to
p i l g r i m s and p i l g r i m a g e s (Chs. 55, 5 6 ) and sacrifices by private
individuals (Chs. 57, 58, 59, 6 0 ) .
T h e Dea Syria, whom Lucian calls Hera, is Atargatis, a fertility

goddess. 92 Her cult was very popular and widespread. W e are told
by the imperial biographer Suetonius that Nero, who "utterly despised all cults," was, for awhile at least, a devoted follower o f the
"Syrian
G o d d e s s . " 9 3 She was also called Derceto, but the two
names sound so similar that the suggestion has been made that
"Derceto" was a derivation o f "Atargatis." 94 T h e etymology o f the
name Atargatis points to a connection with "Astarte" (Ishtar),
"Ata"
( A n a t h ) , 9 5 and this in turn suggests that Atargatis was a
syncretistic figure which incorporated elements of many Near

Eastern fertility divinities. T h e picture given us by Lucian is
characteristic of the worship not only o f Astarte-Ishtar, but also o f
Aphrodite, Cybele, Ashera, Isis, and Caelestis. T h e representation
o f Atargatis as half woman/half fish, the emphasis on water (an
essential element in the process o f fertilization) and the sea, and
their
common
titles "Urania"
("Heavenly")
and
"Queen
of
Heaven," points to a theology which was shared by many cults of

fertility goddesses.
Lucian mentions the tradition that the cult originated with
Deucalion, who built the temple when the flood had receded. In
summary, the people of Hierapolis believed that the great f l o o d
ended when the water had receded and disappeared into a great
(chasm). T h e temple was built over this chasm, and twice
92
Oden, Studies, p. 55; Francis R. Walton, "Atargatis," Oxford Classical
Dictionary, p. 136; and literature in n. 84, above.
93
Nero 54, ET, The Lives of the Twelve Caesars by Suetonius, Joseph Gavorse,
ed., New York: Modern Library, 1959, p. 279.
94
Hrig, op. at., p. 1539, derives the name from the Semitic Darkatu and
explains it as "lady" or "queen." See also Oden, op. at., pp. 71 ff; Clemen, op.
di., p. 41. See also Cross, Canaanite Myth ..., op. cit., p. 31.
95^ Hrig, op. at., p. 1539; Oden, Studies, p. 88.
58
WORLD
every year this event was liturgically recalled by the worshippers

in a ceremony o f , i.e., the bringing o f the water. 96 T h e
cult was based, therefore, on an act of the gods by which they
saved the human race f r o m extinction. But m o r e is involved.
Agriculture could begin only when the chaos o f the f l o o d was
replaced by a world order which enabled the fertilization o f the
ground and the beginning o f ordered life. T h e temple built over
that spot, therefore, was a constant reminder o f the fact that
civilized life depended on the overcoming of chaos and on the
beneficient, creative powers o f water. 97
A tradition similar to that preserved in Hierapolis existed in
96
Chap. 13, 48; also chap. 33, where a golden dove is mentioned sitting
on the head of Dionysus, recalling the dove that also appears in the f l o o d
stories, e.g., Gen. 8.8.
97
T h e r e is a legend in the so-called Pseudo-Melito A p o l o g y 44, according to which there was a well in Mabug in which there dwelled an unclean spirit that committed acts of violence against all who passed by. Sivir,
the daughter o f Hadad, was charged with pouring seawater into the well in
order to restrain the spirit. However, the only similarity between this and
the rites in Hierapolis is the pouring of seawater into a h o l e - n o t enough
f r o m which to draw any conclusion. T h e full text from William Cureton,
Spicilegium Syriacum, London: Rivingtons, 1855, pp. 41-51: An Oration of Meliton
the Philosopher: "But touching N e b o , which is in Mabug, why should I write
to you; for lo! all the priests which are in Mabug know that it is the image
o f Orpheus, the Thracian Magus. And Hadran is the image of Zaradusht, a
Persian Magus, because both of these Magi practiced Magism to a well
which is in a wood in Mabug, in which was an unclean spirit, and it committed violence and attacked the passage of everyone who was passing by in
all that place in which now the fortess Mabug is located; and these same
Magi charged Simi, the daughter o f Hadad,that she should draw water f r o m
the sea and cast it into the well, in order that the spirit should not come up
and c o m m i t injury, according to that which was a mystery in their
Magism" (op. cit., pp. 44-55). T h e "violence" which the spirit committed was,
according to Cureton (p. 91), "the exhalation of pestilential vapors"; Stocks,
op. cit., p. 24, n. 103, however, discusses the possibility that it was an attack
on men's genitals (= cf. Galli). See also Oden, Studies ..., pp. 127-128. H e r e
may be m e n t i o n e d a four-day celebration observed by the Egyptians in
commemoration of the recession of the waters o f the Nile. On the third day
o f the festival the Egyptians went down to the sea and p e r f o r m e d a rite
symbolizing the fertilization o f the earth through water: the priests produced a sacred chest in which was a golden container. Into this container
they poured potable water (in contrast to the saltwater of the sea), and the
p e o p l e rejoiced with great exultation that Osiris had been found. After this
they would knead together soil and water, mix it with spices and expensive
incense, and f o r m f r o m the mixture crescent-shaped figures which they
a d o r e d (Plutarch, De Iside et Osiride 39, LCL, Plutarch's Moralia, Frank C.
Babbit, ed., London: Heinemann, 1936, vol. 5, p. 97).
WORLD
Judaism. 9 8 According to this tradition, the waters o f chaos were

kept under control by God, who placed a huge rock over them,
preventing them f r o m again rushing forth. A c c o r d i n g to o n e
version, the rock was formed from the stones upon which Jacob
rested his head at Bethel (Gen. 28.11). This rock was like a vault
which held up the earth and upon which rested the temple in
Jerusalem. 9 9 T h e prophet Jonah saw this rock from below when
the great fish swallowed him and took him under the temple o f
G o d . 1 0 0 W e r e this stone removed for any reason, the primeval
water would rise again, with disastrous consequences.
When
King David dug up the foundation of the sanctuary (according to

another rabbinic reference, it was the altar), he reached the level
of the primeval water, with near fatal consequences. 101 T h e Jewish
tradition states further that the altar in the temple was surrounded
by a gutter by which the blood and wine offerings were gathered
into an underground room. Every seventy years young men o f
the priesthood descended into that room and collected the congealed wine and blood, which had the appearance of dried figs;
these were then burned with great solemnity. 102 But this underg r o u n d r o o m went deeper and eventually reached the abyss
(tehom), so that the sacrificial libations, at least in pious imagination, reached the primeval ocean. Rabbinic mysticism f o u n d a
reference to this in the Song of Songs:
98
This was explored first by Gustav Dalman, Neue Petra Forschungen und
der Heilige Felsen von Jerusalem, L e i p z i g : Hinrichs, 1912. All T a l m u d i c
references are collected here. On this important research is based H. Stock's
essay, see n. 1. On Stock's proposal of an Anatolian influence on the cult o f
Hierapolis, see Carl Clemen, " T e m p l e and Kult in Hierapolis,"
Pisciculi.
Studien zur Religion and Kultur des Altertums (F. J. D l g e r Festschrift), ed.
T h e o d o r Klauser und A d o l f Rucker, Mnchen: Aschendarff, 1939, pp. 66-69.
Mr. Sheldon Brunswick, the learned librarian and keeper of the H e b r e w
material at the Doe Library, U.C. Berkeley, helped me to verify the Talmudic and related H e b r e w tests. Does the H e b r e w tradition g o back to
Babylonian precedents? "Babylon ... had been built upon bab apsi, the 'Gate
o f Apsu,' apsu designating the water of chaos b e f o r e creation," says M.
Eliade, Cosmos and History, N e w York: Harper, 1959, p. 15, who refers to
Jeremias, op. cit., p. 113.
99
100
1916,
name
World
101
102
Pirke Rabbi Eliezer 35, Dalman, op. cit., pp. 135-136.

pirke Rabbi Eliezer 10, ET, Gerald Friedlander, L o n d o n : Kegan Paul,
p. 71. According to the Targum Yerushalmi I to Exodus 28.30, the
o f God was written on this stone, "with which the Master o f the
sealed the Great Depth from the beginning ..."
Dalman, op. cit., p. 144.
Sukkah 49a, Dalman, op. at., p. 144.
GODDESSES I N T H E GRECO-ROMAN W O R L D
60
... T h e Pits i.e., the pits u n d e r the altar into which the wine
o f f e r i n g s flowed] have existed since the six days o f creation, f o r
it is said, "The rounding of thy thighs are like the links of a chain,
the works of the hands of a skilled workman. " "The rounding of
the thighs" refers to the Pits; "like the links of a chain" i m p l i e s
that their cavity descends to the abyss; "the work of the hands
of a skilled workman" means that they are the skillful h a n d i w o r k
o f the H o l y O n e , blessed be H e ... It has b e e n taught, R.Jose
says, that the cavity o f the Pits d e s c e n d e d to the abyss, f o r it
is said, "Let me sing of my beloved, a song of my beloved touching
his vineyard. My well-beloved had a vineyard on a very fruitful
hill. And he digged it, and cleared it of stones, and planted it
with the choicest wine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and
also hewed out a vat therein. " "And planted it with the choicest
wine" refers to the temple; "and built a tcrwer in the midst of it"
r e f e r s to the altar; "and also hewed out a vat therein " refers to
the Pits. 103
T h e mind of the pious Jew, therefore, envisaged under the altar o f

the Jerusalem temple, a rock, and under the rock, the abyss o f the
primeval sea. It would mean the end of the world if this plug were
removed. 1 0 4
Another element in Jewish tradition that was similar to the cult
o f the Dea Syria was the
(carrying of the water). In
Judaism this was practiced in connection with various purification rites such as those involving uncleanness by contact with
dead bodies. According to Numbers 19:17, the ashes o f the red
heifer sacrificed for the occasion had to be mixed with running
water, and we read in the Talmud that children went to Siloam
with stone containers and filled them with water for this rite. 105
Particularly well known is the water libation ceremony o f the
Feast o f Tabernacles. On the first day of this seven-day feast, a
procession led by the priests went to Siloam and brought water
103
Sukkah 4.9, Gemara, The Babylonian Talmud, ET, I Epstein, London:
Soncino Press, 1938, vol. 6, pp. 229-230.
104
Dalman, op. cit., p. 145: "Der Fels, ein Grundstein der Weltschpfung, die Hhle ein Schlund, der zum Urmeere hinabfhrt, das war es, was
man da schaute. Grollend und kulturfeindlich lauert das Chaos under der
H h l e . Wer ihren Boden durchbricht, beschwrt den Weltuntergang
herauf. In der Seelenhhle und dem Seelenbrunnen der moslemischen
Sage lebt das Grauen vor einer unter dem Felsen befindlichen ffnung zur
Unterwelt noch immer fort and verhindert j e d e durchgreifende Untersunchung."
105
Parah 3.2-3, The Babylonian Talmud, op. dt., p. 327. See also the Tosefta
(i.e., the Supplement) to Parah 3.1-3.3, in Jacob Neusner, The Tosefta, New
York: Ktav, 1977, vol. 6, pp. 175-176.
WORLD
through the "water-gate" while the trumpets were
sounding.
T h e y then went around the altar, which the priest ascended.

T h e r e he performed the sacrifice, using two silver bowls, one f o r
water and one for wine. 106 T h e two liquids thus mixed flowed
down and were believed to reach the tehom. This means that the
ceremony, like the one in Hierapolis, preserved the memory o f
the f l o o d and the taming o f the waters. T h e Feast o f Tabernacles
was an agricultural festival and many elements in it, such as the
libation
ceremony, had fertility motifs. 1 0 7 That is the reason
behind the eschatological element that Jewish piety added to the

concept o f the altar: the altar is not only symbolic o f the subterranean ocean, it is from there that living waters shall bubble
forth: "And it is written about Jerusalem, ' A n d it shall come to
pass in that day that living waters shall g o out from Jerusalem'
(Zachariah 14.8). This refers to the well which will arise in
Jerusalem in the future, and will water all its surroundings." 108
106
Shekalim 6, Mishnah 3: "... W h e r e f o r e was its name called water-gate?
Because through it was brought in the flask o f water for the libation o f the
Feast of the Tabernacles. R. Eliezer the son of Jacob says: through it the water
trickled forth and in the hereafter they will issue out f r o m under the
threshold o f the house" (op. cit., vol. 7, p. 23). (See also Herbert Danby, The
Mishnah, London: O x f o r d Univ. Press, 1933, p. 158; Sukkah 4.9: "How as the
water libation ( p e r f o r m e d ) ? A golden flagon holding three logs was filled
f r o m the Siloam. When they arrived at the water-gate, they sounded a
'tekiah' (long blast), a 'ternah' (tremulous note) and again a 'tekiah' (long
blast). ( T h e priest then) went up the ascent ( o f the altar) and turned to his
left where there were two silver bowls. R. Judah said, they were of plaster
(but they looked silver) because their surfaces were darkened f r o m the wine.
T h e y had each a hole like a slender snout, one ( h o l e ) being wide and the
other narrow so that both emptied themselves together. T h e one on the west
was for water and the one on the east for wine ... " (op. at., vol. 6, p. 226).
This is the sacrifice that goes into the Pit. See also J. C. Rylaarsdom,
"Booths, Feast o f , " The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, New York/ Nashville: Abingdon, 1962, vol. 2, pp. 455-458.
See Rylaarsdom, art. at., p. 457.

Pirke Rabbi Eliezer 35, ET, Gerald Friedlander, L o n d o n : Regan Paul,
1916, p. 263. See also Yoma 77b-78a: "R. Eliezer b. Jacob said: ( H e n c e ) g o forth
to the waters which will bubble forth f r o m under the threshold o f the
Sanctuary," The Babylonian Talmud, op. at., Seder Mo'ed, pp. 379-380. T h e waters
o f the pool o f Siloam from which the libation water was taken were believed
to have miraculous qualities and were sometimes compared with the waters
o f creation: "If a man had an impurity in his hand even if he dipped it in
the water o f Siloam or the water o f creation, he could not purify himself
eternally. But if he throws the impurity away he could purify himself
immediately," Talmud Yerushalmi, Tannit 65a, Venice: Daniel Bmberg, 1524.
Jesus sent the blind man here to wash o f f the clay from his eyes, John 9.7;
see to this, Gustav Dalman, Sacred Sites and Ways, L o n d o n : SPCK, 1935, pp.
107
108
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According to Greek mythology, the floodwaters drained o f f in

Athens within the precincts of the temple o f Zeus. H e r e were
statues and shrines o f deities involved with the establishment o f
an ordered universe, such as Zeus, Cronos, Rhea, and Ge (Earth).
T h e floor o f the temple opened to the width of a cubit and into this
opening each year was cast wheat meal mixed with honey, in
remembrance o f the flood, the waters of which flowed into this
opening. 1 0 9 This event was celebrated on the Anthesteria, a threeday festival held on the twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth days o f
the month Anthesterion
(roughly, our February). T h e festival
included a number o f features which are difficult to interpret. T h e

name itself ( = flower) indicates that it was a spring festival.
Indeed, children were given wreaths o f flowers, but the main
tone of the festival was the polarity between a dionysiac celebration of life and a somber remembrance of the dead.
T h e first day, called Pilhoigia
( O p e n i n g o f the Jars), was
dedicated to the opening o f large earthenware jars (pithoi)
in
which the juice of the grapes was stored after the harvest. T h e
now fermented juice was taken to the temple o f Dionysus "in the
Marshes," where libations and prayers were o f f e r e d and the new
wine, properly mixed with water, was first tasted. T h e rest o f the
day was spent in drinking. T h e second day was called
Choes
(wine jugs, cups). T h e main event of this day was a procession in

which Dionysus himself, perhaps personified by a masked actor,
was conveyed on a carriage that looked like a ship. T h e procession was quite uninhibited, but a serious aspect o f it was the
Hieros
Gamos (holy marriage) o f the King Archon 1 1 0 with his
wife, whose official title was Basilinna. T h e third day was Chytroi
(Pots).
All kinds o f vegetables were cooked together in one pot
and o f f e r e d to Hermes on behalf of the dead. T h e doorways o f

homes were smeared with pitch as a protection against ghosts
because this was a day of the dead and ghosts were invited to
310-311. This book is the English translation of the author's Orte und Wege
Jesu.
109
Pausanias, Description of Greece 1.18.7, L C L , W. H. S. Jones, ed.,
L o n d o n : Heinemann, 1918, p. 91. About the location of this opening and the
possible site of Deukalion's tomb, see Walter Judeich, Topographie von Athen,
Mnchen: Beck, 1931, pp. 385-386.
110
Archon
Basileus - a magistrate whose o f f i c e included mostly
religious duties o f the former kings; he had charge over the mysteries.
the
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return to their abode at the end of the day. T h e explanation of this

one-pot meal was that those who survived the f l o o d
everything together in one pot on the first day.' 11
cooked
T h e traditions
11J
Martin P. Nilsson, Geschichte der Griechischen Religion, Mnchen: Beck,
1955, vol. 1, p. 595: "Das Aition knpft an die deukalionische Flut an. Die
Menschen, welche dieser entronnen waren, kochten am ersten T a g , an
d e m sie wieder Mut fassten, allerlei in einem T o p f zusammen; daher erhielt der Tag und das Fest den Namen ; der Inhalt der T p f e wird als
Panspermie bezeichnet ... Die L e x i c o g r a p h e n erwhnen ein athenisches
Trauerfest, die Hydrophorie, die zur Erinnerung an die in der grossen Flut
U m g e k o m m e n e n gefeiert wurde." See also H. J. Rose, Religion in Greece and
Rome, N e w York: Haper Row, 1959, pp. 79-82; August Mommsen, Feste der
Stadt Athen, Leipzig: Teubner, 1898, pp. 384-404; Martin P. Nilsson, "Die
Anthesterion und die Aiora," Eranos 15 (1915)181-200; Erwin Rohde, Psyche.
Seelencult und Unsterblichbeitsglaube der Griechen, Tbingen: J. C. B. Mohr, 1925,
vol. 1, pp. 237-245; Ludwig Deubner, Attische Feste, Berlin: Keller, 1932,
pp. 93-123; Willy Borgeaud, " L e Deluge, Delphes, et les Anthesteries,"
Museum Helveticum 4 (1947) 205-250; Carl Kernyi, Dionysus. Archetypal Image
of Indestructable Life (Bollingen Series, L X V . 2), Princeton: Princeton Univ.
Press, 1976, pp. 290-315. Nilsson also mentions an Athenian feast of , which was a mournful occasion in remembrance of the great flood of
Deukalion and o f those who perished by it.
Other fertility rites o f the Athenians included the Munichia, which were
held on the sixteenth day of the month Munichion (ca. A p r i l ) . On this day
a she-goat was sacrificed in place of a young girl, as was the case in preclassical times when human sacrifice was practiced in connection with the
cult of Artemis (cf. De Dea Syria 58). Other items offered to the goddess were
r o u n d cakes with burning candles in the m i d d l e , which represented
Artemis as a moon-goddess. Another observance worth citing is known to us
f r o m Pausanias, Guide to Greece 1.27.4, ET, Peter Levi, N e w York: Penguin,
1971, vol. 1, pp. 76-77: " T h e r e was a thing that amazed me which not
everyone knows; I shall describe what happens. T w o virgin girls live not far
f r o m the temple o f Athene of the city; the Athenians call them the bearers
Arrephoroi.["Carriers o f Unspoken T h i n q s " ] . For a certain time they have
their living from the goddess: and when the festival comes they have to
p e r f o r m certain ceremonies during the night. T h e y carry on their heads
what Athene's priestess gives them to carry, and neither she who gives it
nor they w h o carry it know what it is she gives them. In the city not far
f r o m Aphrodite-in-the-Gardens is an enclosed place with a natural entrance
to an underground descent; this is where the virgin girls g o down. T h e y
leave down there what they were carrying, and take another thing and
bring it back covered up. T h e y are then sent away, and other virgin girls
are brought to the Acropolis instead o f t h e m . " These rites were called
Arrephoria and they may have been held in the last month of the year called
Skirophorion.
On the twelfth day of Skirophorion there was also an obscure rite dedicated
either to Athene or Demeter. This observance was a women's festival and
included a procession, but we d o not know what happened when the
procession arrived at its destination near Eleusis, except that it was a kind o f
fertility rite. On this day women threw live piglets, cakes made in the f o r m
o f male genitals, and models of snakes into caverns. On the
Thesmophoria,
the great festival o f the grain-goddess Demeter, held on the eleventh,
64
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o f Greece, Judaism, and Hierapolis meet in these points.

As we have seen, the element of water, as the origin and genesis of life, was central to a religious life focused on the mystery o f
fertility. T h e cult o f the Dea Syria , like those o f Caelestis and Isis,
dealt with ultimate causes and sources. In this pursuit, the story of
the f l o o d served as a vehicle to explain the origins of civilization
on earth, while the general emphasis on water pointed beyond
the f l o o d to the primodial separation o f the elements and the
beginning of life per se. But what is the significance o f the Galli in
the cult of the Dea Syria and o f the ritual promiscuity in the
Anthesteria? In one practice we see the violent removal o f men's
distinguishing sexual characteristics and in the other, a comparably frenzied elimination o f sexual diversity by indiscriminate
and chaotic copulation. T h e same p h e n o m e n a will reappear in
the cult o f Cybele, which will shed more light on this matter. W e
now turn our attention to the mysteries of Dionysus as an introduction to an investigation of the cult of the Great Mother, Cybele.
D. THE CULT OF DIONYSUS
T h e cult of Dionysus was closely related to the cult of Cybele, the
Great Mother. It is generally accepted by most scholars today that
his cult spread to Greece from Thrace, but the Thracians were
related to the Phrygians; 112 thus, the religious beliefs o f the two
peoples flowed f r o m the same sources. T h e Dionysiac cult has
been
throughly investigated and, fortunately, we have
many
classical Greek works that contain information about it. 115 T h e s e
twelfth, and thirteenth days o f Pyanepsion ( O c t o b e r ) , the women went down

and brought back the decayed remains, placed them on an altar, and burned
them a rite reminiscent o f the Jewish collection of congealed wine and
blood f r o m the Pit. T h e Athenian women who carried out this ugly task
were required to keep themselves pure by abstaining from sex for three days
(they chewed garlic to discourage their husbands; see literature at the
beginning o f this note for sources), thus suggesting some fertility mystery.
112
See Johannes Friedrich, "Phrygia," in Pauly, op. cit., 20/1, 883, concerning the migration o f the Thracians to Phrygia and the "kulturelle
Gemeinschaft" o f the two peoples. Also, Herodotus, Histories 7.73, ET, Selincourt, op. cit., p. 441.
113
T h e most often quoted classical source is Euripides' Bacchae, but Greek
vase painting also provides valuable information. For a commentary on the
Bacchae, see E. R. Dodds, Euripides' Bacchae, O x f o r d : Clarendon 1960. T h e LCL
edition of the Bacchae was prepared by Arthur S. Way and published in 1942.
A m o n g scholarly analyses outstanding are the f o l l o w i n g : Erwin R o h d e ,
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testify to the Greeks' own awareness that the Dionysiac rites,

characterized by excessive enthusiasm overflowing into irrational
behavior, were essentially the same as those o f the Phrygian
Mother. 114
Several festivals were connected with Dionysus. T h e biennial
orgia were ecstatic rites held over mountaintops in the darkness o f
night, flickering torches providing the only light. T h e worshippers, dressed in long robes made o f animal skins, let their hair
flow freely in the wind. Some attached horns to their heads; some
carried sacred snakes115 and the thyrsos, a spear topped with a pine
c o n e and wreathed with ivory and vine branches. Phrygian
flutes, drums, and cymbals filled the air with music, which
caused the excited participants to break out in uncontrollable and
incoherent cries o f j o y . They danced and drank intoxicating
drinks above all, wine, which they believed contained the spirit
o f Dionysus. Thus wine was consumed as a solemn sacramental
act, not merely as revelry. Eventually, as they began to hallucinate, they perceived the world of nature as supremely beautiful
Psyche, L o n d o n : R u t l e d g e and Kegan, 1925 (orig. G e r m a n ed.,1893). T h i s is

to be s u p p l e m e n t e d by E. R. Dodds, The Greeks and the Irrational,
Boston:
Beacon Press, 1957, esp. pp. 64-101, " T h e Blessings o f Madness," and pp. 270282, " M a e n a d i s m . " W. O t t o , Dionysus, Myth and Cult, B l o o m i n g t o n : I n d i a n a
Univ. Press, 1965; W . C. Guthrie, The Greeks and Their Gods, Boston: Beacon
Press, 1955, pp. 145-182; M . P. Nilsson, "Dionysus," Oxford Classical Dictionary,
pp. 352-353. With regard to the relationship between Dionysus, T h r a c e , and
Asia M i n o r , see the G e r m a n Ph.D.dissertation by A . Rupp, Die Beziehungen
des Dionysus-Kultes zu Thrakien und zur Kleinasien, Stuttgart, 1882. Furthermore,
M . P. Nilsson, Geschichte der Griechischen
Religion 1/2; M. P. Nilsson, The
Dionysiac Mysteries of the Hellenistic and Roman Age, L u n d : C. W . K. G l e e r u p ,
1957. Farnell, op. cit., 5.85 ff.; and a m o d e r n psychological investigation by
KroIy Kernyi, Dionysus; Archetypal Image of Indestructible Life, P r i n c e t o n :
P r i n c e t o n Univ. Press, 1976. T h e subject is treated f r o m w o m e n ' s p o i n t o f
view by Ross Shepard Kraemer, Ecstatics and Ascetics: Studies in the Functions of
Religious Activities for Women in the Greco-Roman World, u n p u b l i s h e d P h . D .
dissertation, P r i n c e t o n U n i v . , 1976, and "Ecstasy and Possession: T h e
Attraction o f W o m e n to the Cult o f Dionysus," Harvard Theological Review 72
( 1 9 7 9 ) 55-80. U s e f u l illustrations f r o m A t h e n i a n vase paintings in Eva C.
Keuls, The Reign of the Phallus, N e w York: H a r p e r & Row, 1985. See also
M a r c e l Detienne, Dionysos Slain, Baltimore: Johns H o p k i n s Univ. Press,1979.
114
C o m p a r e these lines f r o m the Bacchae: "From Asian soil, f o r over the
hallowed ridges o f T m o l u s fleeting ... d o I s p e e d " (64-65); " ... the orgies o f
C y b e l e mystery-folden, o f the M o t h e r - o l d e n , w r e a t h e d with ivy sprays ...
child o f G o d , o ' e r the mountain o f Phrygia w h o t r o d " (79-88), and so forth,
LCL, pp. 11-13. See, however, Kraemer, op. cit., 29-35, for a summary o f other
opinions about the origin o f the cult.
115
Mark 16.18: " T h e y will pick up serpents ... "
66
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and sweet, or as Euripides says in the Bacchae,
for them the
ground flowed with milk, wine, and nectar. 116 They felt possessed
by the god, filled by the god, and the religion of Dionysus knew
such inspired people who, in a state o f extreme ecstasy, prophesied. 117
Both sexes were attracted to this religion, but R. S. Kraemer has
argued convincingly that it was more common for women than
for men. It is quite possible that women who otherwise had to
conduct themselves in a restrained and decorous manner found
this temporary liberation from their daily routine an especially
welcome
orgia,119
change. 1 1 8 Sexual license was a part of the Dionysiac

and according to Livy, 120 in R o m e the
promiscuous
Bacchic celebrations were occasions for immorality and obscene

behavior. T h e Bacchic rites were suppressed in Rome in 186 B.C.
largely for reasons of immorality.
In Athens the Dionysiac festival included the public display of
phalli
and the Hieras
Gamos which was p e r f o r m e d during
the
second day o f Anthesteria, the main festival with which Dionysus

was connected. In a procession the Basileus and his wife, the
Basilinna,121
were taken to their official residence, the Boukoleion,
where they p e r f o r m e d the sacred act o f intercourse while the
116
Bacchae, op. cit., 146-147; LCL, p. 17. M o r e references f r o m classical
literature in Rohde, p. 274. This may be compared to what modern drug
users experience. I interviewed some students of mine who at one time used
drugs, and they unanimously assured me that the e f f e c t of the drugs was a
state o f mind beautiful beyond description. Unfortunately, it was a temporary
one, and it was this fact which eventually made them abandon the drug
culture. Dionysiac worshippers also became temporarily insensitive to pain,
much like the Galli when they emasculated themselves, and some Christian ascetics and martyrs who during the greatest torture behaved as if they
were oblivious to pain.
117
Rohde, op. cit., pp. 260, 275; Herodotus, 7.111, op. at., p. 451. Euripides,
Bacchae 298. Livy reports that in Rome, men attached to the Bacchic cult
"apparently out o f their wits would utter prophecies with frenzied bodily
convulsions," op. cit., 39.13, ET, H . Bettenson, Livy, N e w York: Penguin,
1981 p. 407.
118
See the discussion of Kraemer, Ecstatics ..., pp. 74-85. In summary she
believes that "participation in the Dionysiac orgia afforded Greek women a
means of expressing their hostility and frustration at the male dominated
society, by temporarily abandoning their homes and household responsibilities, and engaging in somewhat outrageous activities," p. 85; "Ecstasy
and Possession ...," p. 80.
119
References in Guthrie, p. 149.
120
Op. at., 39.8-19, ET, Bettenson, op. at., pp. 401-415.
121
See above, p. 63
67 GODDESSES IN T H E G R E C O - R O M A N
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p e o p l e spent the evening drinking wine and observing
holy
silence. 122 Strange as this may be to us, it appears to be quite mild

in comparison with what happened during the fesdval of
Haloa,
held on the twenty-sixth day o f the month Poseidon (roughly, our

December-January). This was a celebration honoring Dionysus
and Demeter, during which women carried models o f male and
female genital organs, used obscene language, and encouraged
each other to take lovers. On the tables were cakes made in the
form of phalli and female organs, and the celebration, restricted to
women,
eventually
developed
into
an
all-night
orgy
where
women shed all standards o f decency. 123 What does obscenity

have to do with religion? In an article, "Some Collective Expressions o f Obscenity in Africa," E. E. Evans-Pritchard investigated the use o f obscene language, songs, and bodily movements
among
several African
tribes and concluded,
among
other
things, that such behavior, while not normally permitted, was

allowed as "an important religious c e r e m o n y "
(p. 313) 1 2 4
curiously enough, sometimes at funerals. N o sense of shame was

experienced
under these circumstances and the
ceremonies
seemed to serve an important social function, namely, to direct

"human
emotions into prescribed channels o f expression
at
periods of human crisis" (p. 331). While this explains the use o f
obscenity as a means o f releasing tension, it leaves unanswered
122
See Ludwig Deubner, Attische Feste, Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 1966,
pp. 104-117. On sacred marriage generally see Albert Klinz, Hieros Gamos,
Halle: E. Klinz, 1933. This is a Ph.D. dissertation at the University of Halle,
written in Latin. It contains a collection of Greek and Roman sources that
refer to divine marriages. On the Sumerian roots of this rite: Samuel N .
Kramer, The Sacred Marriage Rite, B l o o m i n g t o n : Indiana Univ. Press,1969.
Much interesting material is also found in M. H. Pope, Song of Songs, Garden
City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1977, and Urs Winter, op. cit. pp. 252-260; 311-368.
123
A somewhat similar behavior was displayed by the women during
the second day of the Thesmorphoria held on the eleventh day o f the month
Pyanepsion (October-November). It was a day o f fast during which the women
hurled insults at each other, even hit each other and generally mocked each
other. T h e practice is explained as an imitation o f the story of Demeter who,
in search for her lost daughter Persephone, once was hosted by Iambe.
Iambe, to cheer up Demeter, the sorrowing mother, made all kinds o f
lascivious jokes. Obscene songs were also used at the Eleusian mysteries o f
Demeter; see Robert Graves, The Greek Myths, vol. 1, pp. 94-95, Baltimore,
Md.: Penguin, 1955. Also H. J. Rose, Religions in Greece and Rome, New York:
Harper, 1959, pp. 77-78.
124
Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and
Ireland 49 (1929) 311-331.
GODDESSES I N T H E GRECO-ROMAN
68
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the question o f why such release was n e e d e d in a religious

ceremony. In his article, Evans-Pritchard remarks: "In normal
times the abnormal is taboo, but in abnormal dmes the abnormal
things are done to restore the normal condition of affairs." 125
T h e cults o f Dionysus and Cybele, as other fertility rites, included wild, unrestrained acts in which conventional morals and
standards o f human behavior disappeared. All animal instincts,
submerged and suppressed, were released in these orgies, as if the
rock h o l d i n g back the primordial waters in Jewish mythology
had been removed and chaos permitted to return. 126 T h e music o f
the drums, the clashing o f the cymbals, induced a sensation o f
the "raging of the elements let loose," 127 and with wild leaps, the
intoxicated dancers reintegrated themselves into a mystical, cosmic unity. T h e Dionysiac orgia was an attempt "to restore the
normal condition o f affairs," so to speak. Because unity is normal,
not separation, the devotees of Dionysus reached out f o r the primordial condition and in a proleptic way experienced the j o y f u l
restoration o f the cosmos to its undifferentiated state. H e r e is the
key to understanding the Hieros Gamos. N o doubt it was a fertility
rite which was meant to ensure g o o d harvest, but beyond that, it
pointed toward the great mystery of the union of Earth and Sky,
which was viewed in many myths as the cause o f the Earth's
fertility. As we shall see in our next chapter, the union o f Earth
and Sky was the prototype of human intercourse, through which
male and female experienced a temporary victory over separation. Lucretius (95-52 B.C.) beautifully describes intercourse as a
vain attempt of lovers to melt into each other:
A n d w h e n at last with twining limbs they taste the
f l o w e r o f youth, w h e n now their bodies f e e l a foretaste
o f delight, and Venus hath the man in act to sow the
f e m a l e soil, even then f r a m e u n t o f r a m e they wildly
lock, m i n g l i n g the moisture o f their mouths, and e ' e n
draw in each other's breath, as teeth o n lips they
madly press; yet all in vain, since naught can they
r e m o v e there f r o m , nor penetrate body in body, and thus
m e r g e into o n e . For this they seem at times to crave,
and strive to d o ... 128
125
126
127
128
Art. cit., p. 323, is a quotation from another work.

See above, p. 59.
Crawley, op. cit., pp. 247-248.
De rerum natura 4.1103-11114, ET, Charles . Bennett, New York: W . J .

T h i s m a y s h e d l i g h t o n r i t u a l p r o m i s c u i t y : it w a s a
act because
in
the act o f i n t e r c o u r s e
male
and
religious
female,
albeit
m o m e n t a r i l y , b e c a m e o n e a n d in o r g a s m c a m e as c l o s e t o
n i t y as is h u m a n l y
Hieros
Gamos,
possible.
Dionysiac
was a s a c r a m e n t a l
henosis,
madness,
the
divi-
including
deepest
the
religious
e x p e r i e n c e accessible to m e n a n d w o m e n , a return to unity with

G o d , b e i n g c o m p l e t e l y filled with a n d a b s o r b e d i n t o the divine.
T h e G r e e k w o r d may c o m e f r o m , in w h i c h case the
m e a n i n g o f w o u l d be "a w o r k d o n e f o r the g o d s . " H o w e v e r ,
t h e r e is also a possibility that the w o r d c o m e s f r o m (i.e. =
) , which means "any well-watered, fertile spot o f l a n d " and so
"a tract o f land sacred to the g o d s . " A p i e c e o f land b e t w e e n
A t h e n s a n d M e g a r a w h i c h was d e d i c a t e d to t h e c o r n g o d d e s s
D e m e t e r was specifically c a l l e d . F r o m h e r e c o m e s the
w o r d . 1 2 9 If i n d e e d c o m e s f r o m , f o r which I
could not find irrefutable evidence, then the G r e e k orgia conceals a
subtle r e f e r e n c e to an association with orgasm as the c l i m a x o f
i n t e r c o u r s e . F u r t h e r m o r e , since points to the g o d d e s s
D e m e t e r and f e r t i l e earth, the orgia c o u l d b e u n d e r s t o o d as an
e x p e r i e n c e o f the Hieros Gamos. W h i l e I c a n n o t p r o v e this h y p o thesis with classical r e f e r e n c e s , I think it is possible that the
similarity o f the words may have c o n j u r e d up these ideas in the
G r e e k m i n d . T h e m o d e r n English w o r d " o r g a s m " n o l o n g e r
contains this hint that in the climax o f intercourse the d i v i n e is
present. It was d i f f e r e n t f o r ancient Greeks w h o r e g a r d e d e r o t i c
e x p e r i e n c e as a "kind o f death which is m o r e intense than the life
o f a n o r m a l consciousness and points to the e m e r g e n c e o f a n e w
consciousness, h o w e v e r u n i d e n t i f i a b l e . " 1 3 0
I n d i s c r i m i n a t e s e x u a l b e h a v i o r i n r e l i g i o n is a t e m p o r a r y susp e n s i o n o f o r d e r in h u m a n r e l a t i o n s a n d a s a c r a m e n t a l
demon-
stration o f chaos, i.e. t h e c o n d i t i o n o f c o m m i n g l i n g e l e m e n t s a n d

t h e a b s e n c e o f divisions a n d separations. T h i s was mysticism
the
most
exalted
saints, c o m p a r a b l e
level,
to
similar
the
to
mystical
the visions o f
imagery
of
the
the
on
medieval
New
Testa-
m e n t , as w e l l as t o t h e e x p e r i e n c e o f C y b e l e ' s i n i t i a t e s , t o w h i c h
we now
turn.
Black, 1946, pp. 219-220.

129
Liddell-Scott, op. cit., pp. 1245-1456.
130
W. Corrigan, "Body and Soul of Ancient Religious Experience," in
A. H. Armstromg, op. cit., p. 364.
70
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E. CYBELE, THE GREAT MOTHER

Cybele
is o n e
name
under which
the mysterious p o w e r
of
bringing forth life was venerated. 131 In Asia Minor reverence paid
to such power can be traced back to 6000 B.C., but the most direct
ancestor of Cybele seems to have been the Hittite deity Kubaba. 132
T h e center of Cybele's worship was in Pessinus, where a sacred
stone, believed to have fallen from heaven ( f r o m Pesein 'to fall'),
was worshipped as the goddess. 133 She also ruled over Mount Ida
near Troy, and for this reason the Romans also called her the
Idean Mother. It was f r o m here (or f r o m P e r g a m u m ) that the
Romans brought her statue to R o m e in 204 B.C. to help them to
overcome
Hannibal.134
T h e young
Scipio, a c c o m p a n i e d
by
married women, received the goddess at Ostia and gave her to the
w o m e n w h o took her to Rome. T h e r e "the w o m e n passed the
goddess from hand to hand, one to another in succession," and
eventually brought her to the Palatine, where later a temple was
built in her h o n o r , the ruins o f which are still visible.
The
Romans also instituted the festivities called Megalensia to be held

in her honor in April.
131
Since the literature on this topic is very great, the interested student
must make a careful selection. Still a very useful book is Grant Showerman,
The Great Mother of the Gods, Chicago: Argonaut, 1969 ( r e p r i n t o f 1902
e d i t i o n ) . Most up to date is Maarten J. Vermaseren, Cybele and Attis. The
Myth and the Cult, L o n d o n : Thames and Hudson, 1977 . Also G. M. Sanders,
"Gallos," RAC 8, 983-1034; Harold Willoughby, Pagan Regeneration, Chicago:
Univ. o f C h i c a g o Press, 1929; W. Drexel, " M e t e r , " in Roscher, op. cit.,
2.2848-2931; A. Momigliano, "Cybele," ER, Mircea Eliade, ed., N e w York:
Macmillan, 1984, 4.185-187; Garth T h o m a s , "Magna Mater and Attis,"
ANRW 2.17.3, pp. 1500-1535. Some texts pertaining to the Great Mother were
collected and reprinted by Marion W. Meyer, The Ancient Mystenes. A
Sourcebook, San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1987. Most books dealing with
Montanism also deal with Cybele; these are listed below.
132
On the meaning of the name, see Vermaseren, op. cit., pp. 21-24.
133
Sacred stones falling from heaven were probably meteorites. O n e is
mentioned in Acts 19.35, but there were others, such as the black stone of
Emesa, the worship o f which by the Emperor Elagabalus eventually caused
his assassination ( H e r o d i a n , Histories 5.3.5). T h e "Palladium," which supposedly was brought by Aeneas from Troy to Rome, was worshipped as the
image o f Pallas Athene sent down from heaven (Pausanias, Guide to Greece 2,
23.5). This was guarded by the Vestal Virgins. On the Palladium, see
Clarence A. Forbes, Firmicus Maternus: The Error of the Pagan Religions, New
York: Newman Press, 1970, pp. 74-76, and the editor's critical remarks. Also
Cyril Bailey, "Palladium," The Oxford Classical Dictionary, op. cit., pp. 771-772.
134
Livy, Ab Urbe Condita 29.10, 11, 14.
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T h e myths that grew up around Cybele are known in various

versions, all of which are further complicated by the figure of
Attis, her youthful companion. 1 5 5 It is impossible to reconcile
these stories with each other, but the main features are these: T h e
goddess loved Attis, but he was unfaithful to her and in sorrow
over his infidelity he emasculated himself and died.
Cybele
m o u r n e d him, but in the end, Attis was restored to life and

deified. T h e core o f the myth is the typical explanation of the
changing seasons by an agriculturally oriented society: Cybele is
Mother Earth; Attis is the g o d of vegetation. In the spring (the
youth o f Attis) the two of them are in love, but when summer
comes the fruits are harvested, the fields are barren, and Attis is
dead. Autumn and winter come, the mother grieves, but Attis is
revived. 136 T h e same elements appear in the stories of the grieving
mother Demeter in search of Persephone, the myth upon which
the Eleusinian mysteries were based, and of the Mesopotamian
Ishtar and her young lover Tammuz, whose annual death was
m o u r n e d with weeping by women. 1 3 7 T h e festivals o f Cybele
reflected the events told in the myths. According to the Roman
festival, which was based upon the Phrygian rites, these were the
holy days: 138
March 15 Canna intrat :
"Entry of the reed" (Canna).

Worshippers remembered on this day
the early life o f Attis when
abandoned among
he was
the reeds o f
the
river Gallus and rescued by shepherds.

March 22 Arbor intrat :
"Entry of the tree" (Arbor).

On this day a pine tree was cut before
135 Vermaseren, op. at., pp. 76-95, quotes and analyzes them all.
136 " T h e earth, they maintain, loves the crops, Attis is the very thing
that grows f r o m the crops, and the punishment which he suffered is what a
harvester does to the injured crops with his sickle. His death they interpret
as the storing away o f the collected seed, his resurrection as the sprouting of
the scattered seeds in the annual time of the season." Firmicus Maternus, op.
cit. 3.2, p. 48.
137
See Ezek. 9.14: "Then he brought me to the entrance of the north gate
o f the house o f the L o r d , and behold, there sat women w e e p i n g f o r
T a m m u z . " Ishtar and Tammuz in the Sumerian pantheon are Inanna and
Dumuzi.
138 V e r m a s e r e n , op. cit., pp. 113-125; Showerman, op. cit., pp. 49-70;
Willoughby, op. cit., pp. 122-129.
72
WORLD
sunrise,because Attis died under a pine

tree. An image o f Attis was attached to
the tree, solemnly carried into the temple, and laid out as though it were a
dead body. Lamentadons followed and
continued through the next day, which
was a day o f mourning
accompanied
by fasting.
March 23 Day o f Mourning:
T h e Salii, dancing priests o f Mars, perf o r m e d their sacred dance, and the
mourning and fasting continued.
March 24 Dies Sanguinis : "The Day of Blood."
Fanatic worshippers flagellated themselves with leather scourges and sprinkled their blood upon the altars. T h e
music o f cymbals, drums, flutes, and
horns incited the faithful into frenzied
dancing, loud
and howling
singing,
while they inflicted all manner o f injury upon their bodies, including biting
themselves. 1 3 9 This was also the
day on which some, driven to unrestrained
frenzy,
emasculated
selves and thus identified
them-
themselves
139
Lucian, Dialogues of the Gods 20 (12), M. D. Macleod, LCL,
London:
H e i n e m a n n , 1946, vol. 7, p. 333: "She ( R h e a ) keeps shrieking f o r Attis,
while the Corybantes slash their arms with swords or let down their hair
and rush madly over the mountains, or blow on the horn, thunder on the
drums, or bang cymbals; it is just chaotic frenzy all over Ida." Compare the
description o f Apuleius, Metamorphoses
8.27-28, ET, W. A d l i n g t o n ,
LCL,
L o n d o n : Heinemann 1935, p. 391: "They went forth with their arms naked
to their shoulder, bearing with them great swords and mighty axes,
shouting and dancing like mad persons to the sound o f the pipe ... they
began to howl all out o f tune and hurl themselves hither and thither, as
though they were mad. T h e y made a thousand gests with their f e e t and
their heads; they would bend down their necks and spin round so that their
hair flew out in a circle; they would bite their own flesh; finally, every one
took his two-edged weapon and wounded his arms in diverse places ..."
C o m p a r e with this the story of the priests of Baal in their confrontation
with Elijah: " ... they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their custom
with swords and lances until the blood gushed out upon them ... and they
raved on until the time of the offering ... " 1 Kings 18 . 28-29.
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March 25 Hilana :
with the deity. They believed that by

this act they achieved a particularly
intimate relationship with Cybele. 140
"Day of Rejoicing."
March 26 Requietio
During the night prior to this day,

"Attis" was buried. Early in the morning, however, a priest brought in light,
anointed the throats o f the mourners,
and said: "Be of g o o d cheer, mystae, the
g o d was saved. For us, too, there will be
salvation f r o m afflictions." Attis was
raised, and the day was given over to
happy entertainment.
"A day of rest."
140 According to Pliny, Hist. Nat. 35.46.165, they used a piece of Samian
pottery to avoid "dangerous results," P. H. Rackham, LCL, Cambridge, Mass.:
Harvard Univ. Press, 1947-1963, pp. 382-383. Lucian, De Dea Syria 51, describes
the emasculation, and Catullus' poem number 63, Attis, is a powerful study of
the after effects on some men of such a senseless act. Lucretius, De Rerum
Natura, 597-698, also described the rites of the Great Mother and passed a
gentle j u d g e m e n t on the whole matter: it is well meant, but far f r o m
reason. For an English translation, see Charles E. Bennett, On the Nature of
Things, New York: W. J. Black, 1946, p. 86. See also Ovid, Fasti 4.179-372, J. G.
Frazer, ed., LCL, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Univ. Press, 1931, pp. 200-215, of
which the following lines must suffice: " ... straightaway the Berecynthian
(= Phrygian) flute will blow a blast on its bent horn, and the festival o f the
Idaean M o t h e r will have come. Eunuchs will march and thump their
hollow drums, and cymbals clashed on cymbals will give out their tinkling
notes; seated on the unmanly necks of her attendants, the goddess herself
will be borne with howls through the streets in the city's midst. T h e stage
is clattering, the games are calling. T o your places, Quirites! A n d in the
empty law courts let the war of suitors cease ... !" See also Martial, esp.
3.81.1-6.
Christians naturally deplored this act in the strongest terms; see, e.g.,
Minucius Felix, Octavius 24.4 "Would not a man who makes libations o f his
own blood, and supplicates his god by his own wounds, be better if he were
altogether profane, than religious in such a way as this? A n d he whose
shameful parts are cut off, how greatly does he wrong God in seeking to
propitiate H i m in this manner! Since if God wished for eunuchs, H e could
bring them as such into existence, and would not make them so afterwards.
W h o does not perceive that p e o p l e o f unsound mind and o f weak and
d e g r a d e d apprehension, are foolish in these things, and that the very
multitude o f those who err affords to each of them mutual patronage? H e r e
the defense o f the general madness is the multitude of the mad p e o p l e . "
English translation from ANF 4, 187-188.
74
March 27 Lavatio :
WORLD
"Day of washing."
T h e statue of the goddess was taken to a
river and washed, then, in festal procession, it was returned to the
temple.
Flowers, singing,and dancing were a

part of this procession.
T h e cult o f Cybele must have included several o f f i c e holders
such as the Cannophori, those in charge o f the proper performance
o f the first day's solemnities. W o m e n were admitted to this group
o f functionaries, a fact that distinguished Cybele's from other cults
that limited the priesthood to men. 1 4 1 T h e Dendrophoroi
were
responsible for the pine tree, but those who dedicated themselves
fully to the service o f the goddess by emasculating themselves
were called the Galli. 142 Their chief was called the Archigallus.
In R o m e only Orientals were originally permitted to serve in the
hierarchy. Later this restriction was abolished and we hear o f
several Roman men and women who served as priests and priestesses of Cybele. Her temple, like others, needed many servants to
take care o f everyday necessities and the sacred objects. A m o n g
these were musicians and singers, whose number, according to
the testimony of ancient authors, must have been very great. 143
Cybele was a chaste goddess, "beautiful and kindly," 1 4 4 whose
religion was one of salvation. This is vividly illustrated by the rite
o f the Taurobolium,
in which the fresh blood o f the bull
flowed
upon the devotees as they stood in a pit under a grate. 145 This
ceremony, so reminiscent of a "baptism by b l o o d , " elicited criticism from later Christian authors who ridiculed the gory proceedings and contrasted them with the cleansing power of the blood o f
141
See Livy, 34.7: "They cannot partake o f magistracies, priesthoods,
triumphs, badges of office, gifts or spoils o f war." Virginia Burrus, Chastity as
Autonomy. Women in the Stories of the Apocryphal Acts. L e w i s t o n / Q u e e n s t o n :
Edwin Mellen Press, 1987, p. 100.
142
T h e name comes either from Gallus, which means "cock," which the
galli adopted as their symbol, or from the River Gallos near which Attis
was abandoned (or near which he emasculated himself), or from a certain
King Gallus.
143
Vermaseren, op . at ., pp.109-110.
144
Showerman, op. cit., pp. 80,82, emphasizes this point strongly.
145
In the taurobolium a bull was killed; in the criobolium it was a ram. See
Robert Duthoy, The Taurobolium: Its Evolution and Terminology, Leiden: Brill,
1969.
WORLD
Jesus. 1 4 6 Elements which appeared symbolically in
Christian
baptism were presented very realistically in the rite of the taurobolium . Here the devotee actually descended into a pit resembling
a tomb and was actually drenched in blood; when he reappeared
he was "reborn for eternity." 1 4 7 Baptism by immersion, St. Paul
explained in Romans 6, symbolized a death and resurrection with
Christ "so that we too might walk in newness of life."
A n o t h e r element in the worship o f Cybele which irritated
Christians was an otherwise obscure rite of initiation which took
place during the night preceding the Hilaria.
As is usual with
mystery religions, little is known about the rite itself, but some
elements of it have been preserved by Clement of Alexandria,
according to whom the person just initiated uttered these words: "I
have eaten out of the drum, I have drunk out of the cymbal, I have
carried the Cernos, I have slipped into the bedroom." 1 4 8 Some kind
of eating and drinking took place in this ceremony which had a
sacramental effect, making the person a "mystes" of Attis. T h e
similarity to the Christian eucharist is obvious and one wonders
whether St. Paul, who received his education in Asia Minor and
must have known about the mysteries of Cybele, was influenced
by these ideas when he wrote to the Corinthians: " T h e cup of
blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of
146
Firmicus Maternus, De Errore Profanum Religionum 27.8: "That blood pollutes, it does not redeem ... it destroys a person in death. Unhappy are they
who are drenched by the outpouring of sacrilegious blood, that sacrifice o f a
bull or a ram pours out upon you the stain of wicked blood." English translation, Clarence A. Forbes, Firmicus Maternus: The Error of Pagan Religions,
N e w York: Newman Press, 1970, p. 107. T h e book of Firmicus Maternus was
written ca. 350 A.D.. See also Prudentius, Peristephanon
10.1006-50. T h e
English translation o f parts of the poem of Prudentius in Vermaseren, op.
cit., pp. 102-103. For a complete translation, see H . J . Thomson, ed., Prudentius, LCL, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Univ. Press, 1961, vol. 2, pp. 294-299.
147
Vermaseren, op. cit., p. 106.
148
Protrepticus 2.15, ANF 2.175. T h e full report of Clement is as follows:
"Such rites the Phrygians perform in honor of Attis and Cybele and the
Corybantes. As the story goes, Zeus, having torn away the orchites o f a ram,
brought them out. and cast them at the breasts of Demeter, thus paying a
fraudulent penalty for his violent embrace, pretending to have cut out his
own. T h e symbols o f initiation in these rites, when set b e f o r e you in a
vacant hour, I know will excite your laughter, although on account o f the
exposure by no means inclined to laugh. have eaten ... etc.' A r e not these
tokens of disgrace? Are not the mysteries absurdity?" See to this passage, G.
E. Mylonas, op. cit., p. 288 ff. In Firmicus Maternus, De Errore ... 18, the
sentence is quoted in slightly different form: "I have eaten f r o m the drum, I
have drunk from the cymbal, I became an initiate ( ) of Attis."
76
WORLD
Christ? T h e bread which we break, is it not a participation in the

body o f Christ? ... I imply that what pagans sacrifice they o f f e r to
demons and not to God ... " 149 Firmicus Maternus also compared
the pagan and Christian
" c o m m u n i o n " and could o f f e r
no
differentiation except the lame comment that what the devotees o f

Cybele drink is "the cup o f d o o m , " what they eat "brings death
and punishment," while Christian communion brings salvation
and life. 1 5 0 T h e meaning o f g o i n g "into the b e d r o m " is not
known. W h e t h e r there was a real or symbolic sacred marriage
remains unresolved, but it is clear that the devotees believed that
they had had an experience o f mystical union with the divine.
These, then, were the chief characteristics of the cult o f Cybele.
It was a religion deeply rooted in the soil of Asia Minor, and even
in later times it preserved many ancient elements. T h e goddess
often was pictured riding on a lion or flanked by lions, giving expression to her power over wildlife and nature. H e r divine power
also controlled the creative forces o f the earth and the myths
which arose about her were expressions of her great mystery, that
o f bringing forth life. Thus, the worshippers o f Cybele were given
answers to the greatest and most ancient concerns o f humanity,
those of life and death. These concerns were centered in the idea
o f the earth, for it was a common observation o f ancient people
that every living thing comes from earth and eventually returns
to it.151 Cybele, the Great Mother, touched sensitive chords in the
human soul and the response was highly emotional; to the issues
raised by Cybele, rational, sensible answers could not be given
and would have been inadequate. Her worship was characterized
by communication other than intelligent speech, i.e., the expression o f thoughts in articulate sounds. Dancing uncontrolled
movements o f the limbs o f the body and the head, twisting and
w h i r l i n g w a s one o f these. In such dancing the worshippers
seemed to lose their individual identities and to merge into a
divine presence. 152 Music that is, sounds in melodic, harmonic,
1 Cor. 10.14-22.
Op. cit., chap. 18; English translation in op. cit., p. 81.
151
See on this below, chap. VI, p. 207, in connection with the cult o f the
earth-goddess.
152 " T h e power of dance in religious practice lies in its multisensory,
emotional, and symbolic capacity to communicate. It can create moods and a
sense o f situation in attention riveting patterns by framing, prolonging, or
discontinuing communication. Dance is a vehicle that incorporates inchoate
149
150
WORLD
and rhythmic combination was another such means o f communication; ancient authors mention a multitude o f musical
instruments which were used in the festival. Whether this music
was a planned, organized communication or simply spontaneous
noise-making n o o n e knows because n o examples o f ancient
music have survived. But we know the music's e f f e c t : it was
ecstasy,153 a supernatural rapture which put devotees into a state o f
mind in which they became vehicles for the proclamation o f the
divine will. Prophecy was a part o f such frenzy, 1 5 4 which overwhelmed men and women alike. This phenomenon is attested to
in other Near Eastern cultures 155 as well as in ancient Israel,
ideas in visible human f o r m and modifies inner experience as well as
social action." " ... Dance is a means of religious concentration as well as o f
corporeal merging with the infinite G o d . " Judith Lynn Hanna, " D a n c e , "
ER, 4.203, 205.
153
Anyone who has seen the effect o f "rock m u s i c " l o u d , shrill, and
seemingly disorganized upon large groups of young people will have no
difficulty imagining the ancient " h a p p e n i n g . " A c c o r d i n g to newspaper
accounts, such "rock" concerts often result in faintings and violence. W e see
another similarity between the external appearance of the devotees of Cybele
and some modern "rock" performers. T h e galli appeared in ostentatious
clothing, men "feminized their faces," wore soft garments, and their "scandalous performances" were "accompanied by the moaning o f the t h r o n g "
(Firmicus Maternus, op. cit., 4.2, p. 50). They wore their hair long and used
make-up on their faces, according to Augustine, De rvitate dei 7.26: "These
effeminates, no later than yesterday, were g o i n g through the streets and
places of Carthage, with anointed hair, whitened faces, relaxed bodies, and
f e m i n i n e gait exacting f r o m the p e o p l e the means o f maintaining their
ignominious lives." (English translation in NPNF, Series 1, vol. 2, p. 137;
there is a similar description of the "hideous" eunuch priests in Apuleius,
Metamorphoses 8.27, LCL, op. cit., p. 389.) T h e same things could be said of
some "punk-rock" performers.
154
Strabo, Geography 11.4.7, describes the custom of the Albanians: " T h e
o f f i c e of the priest is held by the man who, after the king, is held in the
highest honor; he has charge o f the sacred lance ... and also o f the temple
slaves, many o f whom are subject to religious frenzy and utter prophecies."
T h e n he relates that some of those who were "violently possessed" wandered
alone in the forest; these were arrested, feasted for that year, and then were
sacrificed "in h o n o r o f the goddess." T h e sacrificial killing was accomplished with a sacred lance by which the victim was stabbed in the heart.
From his fall the Albanians also drew auguries. LCL, H. L. Jones, ed.,
L o n d o n : Heinemann, 1961, vol. 5, 228-231. See the Taurobolium, where the
bull is killed with a sacred lance. Albania was located in the Caucasus, near
the Kura river. Its main city was (. H . Warmington, "Albania"
The Oxford Classical Dictionary, op. cit., p. 34: "Their chief worship was an
orgiastic cult o f the moon goddess."); see also Pliny, Naturalis Historia 6.29:
he mentions Cabalaca. Also, Wilhelm Schepelern, Der Montanismus und die
Phrygischen Kulte, Tbingen: J. C. . Mohr, 1929, pp. 94-95.
155
According to William F. Albright, From Stone Age to Christianity,
New
78
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w h e r e it eventually d e v e l o p e d into the prophetic
movement
known from the O l d Testament.

Religious frenzy led some followers o f Cybele to a quite
different conclusion: these unfortunates castrated themselves and
many o f them afterwards put on female clothing and affected
female behavior. Severing o f the genitals has been understood
primarily as an attempt to conform to the goddess as closely as
possible, to assimilate oneself to Cybele, so as to be able to serve the
goddess m o r e perfectly. 1 5 6 Castration, however, changes a man
into a condition which is "neither male nor female," and f r o m
this vantage point the religious significance of the act becomes
much larger. T h e castrated devotee received a new identity beyond sexuality; he became an androgynous person and thus returned to the primordial state of undifferentiation. Thus a castrated
person is like a virgin. A n d the reason why so often in ancient
religions virginity was a prerequisite for visiting the sanctuaries
or serving the divinities 157 is that a virgin or a castrated person, as
one in an "in-between" state, was believed to be able to perform a
mediating function between God and humanity.
W e shall discuss the importance of clothing later; 158 right now
let us try to understand what the Galli may have believed when
they exchanged male attire f o r female attire. As described by
Apuleius, and as criticized by Augustine, this was a repulsive
show, but from the vantage point o f the religiously motivated, it
was an attempt to merge male and female: the deficiency that
arises from the condition of being a "male" was compensated by
adding the " f e m a l e " in the form of dress. Thus, the male was
completed and the androgyne restored. 159 T h e practice o f changing clothing belonged to the baptismal ceremonies of the early
Christians, too. Since baptism symbolized the "new m a n " in
whom the image of G o d was restored, this was made visible by
York: Doubleday/Anchor, 1957, p. 304, in the Assyrian area most o f the

"bearers of oracles were females."
156
A. D. Nock, "Eunuchs in Ancient Religion," Archiv fr Religionswissenschaft 23 (1952 ) 25-33.
157
For references, see N o c k , op. cit., and Drijvers, op. cit., p. 280.
Celibacy, that is, voluntary virginity o f the priest today, has been explained
by a Roman Catholic scholar in very much the same categories; see Introduction, n.13.
158
Chap. 3, "The Robe of the Woman."
159
See Baumann, op. cit., p. 46, and A. Bertholet, art. cit., p. 19.
WORLD
the new garment worn by the "reborn" Christian. Paul uses the
imagery o f dressing and undressing when he speaks about "putting off the old nature" and "putting on the new nature" 160 and
when he says that in baptism a person "has put on Christ." 161
Being "dressed in Christ" as in a robe symbolized the merging o f
Christ's nature with that of the newly baptized person: the result
was a new person in whom the primordial division had been
reversed. Paul adds immediately in the next sentence: "There is
no male or f e m a l e . " 1 6 2 In their religious enthusiasm, Cybele's
devotees reached for salvation in henosis with the divine; that they
did this in ways abhorrent and unacceptable to us does not detract
from their piety and dedication.
T h e issues touched upon, however briefly, in this review o f the
cult of Cybele are so close to many concerns of Christian theology
that the question must be faced: what is the relationship
of
Christianity to the worship o f Magna Mater in Asia Minor? This

is a complex problem. In the following pages we shall try to find
those answers that shed light on the role of Mary in Christian
piety and faith. Our study will focus on two Christian phenomena
in Asia Minor that were contemporary with the cult o f Cybele:
the book o f Revelation, with its central image o f the "woman
clothed with the sun," and the Montanist movement, in which
women seem to have played a greater part than in other congregations of the early church.
But first, let us summarize what we have thus far discussed.
Fertility goddesses were personifications o f all those forces in
nature which represent reproduction and life. Caelestis was "pluviarum pollicitatrix,"
as Tertullian said,163 "the promiser o f rain,"
that gentle mystery that fertilizes land and people, that energy in
the sky that rules over and controls the stars and the moon, the
night air and all celestial phenomena. Similar statements could
Eph. 4.22-24; Col. 3.10.

Gal. 3.27.
162
Gal. 3.28. Was Paul influenced in his use of such imagery by what he
saw in Cybele's mysteries? See below, p. 166. See also Jonathan Z. Smith,
" T h e Garment o f Shame," History of Religions 5 (1966) 217-238; Wayne A .
Meeks, " T h e Image of the Androgyne: Some Uses of a Symbol in Earliest
Christianity," History of Religions 13 (1974) 165-208; Dennis R. MacDonald,
There Is No Male and Female. The Fate of a Dominical Saying in Paul, Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1987.
163
Apol. 23; ANF 3.37.
160
161
80
be made about the other goddesses whose chief characteristics we

reviewed, and so it may be said that a fertility goddess is the
c o n q u e r o r of aridity and dryness, i.e., conditions that would
impede the generation of life. She is, as the great emperor Julian
said, "the very goddess whom some call Venus, others Juno,
whom still others regard as the natural cause which supplies from
moisture the beginnings and seeds of everything, and points out
to mankind the source of all blessings." 164
She is the principle and cause of all generation, 165 the universal
mother, mother of gods and man. 166 What did pagans have in
mind when they said "Mother of the Gods"? Julian gave this definition:
She is the source of the intellectual and creative gods, w h o in
their turn g u i d e the visible gods: she is both the m o t h e r and the
spouse o f mighty Zeus; she c a m e into b e i n g next to and t o g e t h e r
with the great creator; she is in control o f every f o r m o f life
and the cause o f all g e n e r a t i o n ; she easily brings to p e r f e c t i o n
all things that are made; without pain she brings to birth, and
with the father's aid creates all things that are; she is the m o t h e r less m a i d e n ,
e n t h r o n e d at the side o f Zeus, and in very truth is the M o t h e r o f all
the Gods. 1 6 7
Thus, for ancient Greeks and Romans a goddess represented

everything that femininity meant and stood for. That in physical
life this had sexual connotations should be neither surprising nor
164
Plutarch, Crassus 17, Plutarch's Lives, LCL, Bernadette Perrin, ed.,
L o n d o n : Heinemann, 1915, pp. 366-367. Andrew Greely, op. cit., pp. 36-55,
explores and explains this issue with clarity. O n e of his statements should
be quoted: "The feminine goddesses of antiquity, then, represent the fact that
the 'feminine principle' is present in the deity. They are developments for
more primitive androgynous deities, in all likelihood, and of course they
reflect the human experience of sexuality as sacred. Fertility is a good, indeed, and indispensible thing, and fertility involves sexuality; then surely
sexuality must be found in the ultimate and the absolute. But it is difficult to
deal with an ultimate that is masculine and feminine at the same time.
Therefore, we have gods and goddesses, and underlying the vast systems of
ritual and cult we build to those deities, there is still the notion that in
whatever is really ultimate, the two are combined" (op. cit., p. 55).
1 6 5 Julian, Oration V, Hymn to the Mother of the Gods, 166, LCL, The Works
of the Emperor Julian, Wilber C. Wright, ed., London: Heinemann,1913, pp.
462-463. This oration was written in 362 at Pessinus in Phrygia in honor of
Cybele, whose cult Julian explains in Neo-Platonic terms.
166
Oration V, 179D, op. cit., p. 463.
1 6 7 Julian, Oration V166, op. cit., p. 463.
WORLD
offensive. It is possible, for example, that in the temple of Caelestis

in Carthage the cult included sexually explicit rites similar to
those of Hierapolis; at least Valerius Maximus and Augustine 1 6 8
definitely
mention
Carthage
when
they c o n d e m n
the
"im-
moral" practices of the pagans. If so, the worshippers o f Caelestis

did nothing more than recognize an aspect o f physical life in
which the divine reveals itself.
W e can express ourselves only by using images o f existing
realities, 1 6 9 and the image most readily available with respect to
the origin of life is the union of sexes. Because we experience in
their union the beginning of a process of creation, " m a l e " and
" f e m a l e " are understood to have a primordial origin.
Pagan
mythologies tell of cosmic unions which led to the creation o f the

universe. T h e Bible speaks of God and his word, or G o d and his
spirit, as the primary creative forces. Whether it is pagan or JudeoChristian tradition that one follows, prior to the coming into being
o f the universe there was an androgynous energy or f o r c e in
which "male" and "female," potentially present, were united.
L i f e began when "male" and "female" issued from this force as
differentiated powers. A goddess, therefore, is that half of the
divine which presides over and represents female functions, just
as a g o d does with respect to male functions.
As we have seen, the image of the divine female is an extremely complex religious phenomenon about which no single comprehensive statement can be made. Many goddesses, for example,
represented evil forces and negative elements in the world. These
would require a study beyond the scope of this book. Our concern
is the relationship between the image of Mary in Christianity and
the pagan goddesses of fertility. Already it seems clear that the
Mariological principle, i.e., veneration of the m o t h e r h o o d
of
Mary, is much more indebted to pagan belief and practice than

many scholars are willing to admit. As we consider the role o f
these goddesses in pagan faith and piety, the conclusion seems
inevitable that Mary eventually fulfilled the same role and
filled
the same need in Christian theology and piety.
See above p. 36f.

A n d r e w Greely, op. cit., p. 35 elaborated on this theme which was
first presented, as far as I know, by Mircea Eliade in his Patterns
of
Comparative Reliqion.
168
169
82
WORLD
Fundamental to Christian theology is the idea o f a primordial

creation which was corrupted by sin and a new creation
in
which the process of separation will be reversed and the union o f

divine and human will be restored. Mary is the feminine half of
the divine activity which results in a new creation, i.e., the
beginning o f a process which leads to salvation. Mary is the
female aspect of God the Redeemer, just as God's " W o r d " or Spirit
was the cooperating principle in the primordial creation. Without
Mary there is no divine conception and birth, no beginning o f a
new race, no new heaven and earth.
W e now turn to chapter 12 of the book of Revelation, to the
woman "clothed with the sun." Is she an echo o f the pagan
goddess?
CHAPTER THREE
T H E IMAGE OF T H E GODDESS I N
THE NEW TESTAMENT
A n d a great p o r t e n t a p p e a r e d in heaven, a w o m a n c l o t h e d with

the sun, with the m o o n under her feet, and o n her h e a d a crown
o f twelve stars; she was with child and she cried out in her pangs
o f birth, in anguish f o r delivery. A n d another p o r t e n t a p p e a r e d in
heaven; b e h o l d , a great r e d d r a g o n , with seven heads a n d ten
horns, and seven d i a d e m s u p o n his heads. His tail swept d o w n a
third o f the stars o f heaven, and cast t h e m to the earth. A n d the
d r a g o n stood b e f o r e the w o m a n w h o was about to bear a child, that
he might devour her child w h e n she b r o u g h t it forth; she b r o u g h t
f o r t h a m a l e child, o n e w h o is to rule all the nations with a r o d o f
iron, but her child was caught up to G o d and to his throne, and the
w o m a n f l e d into the wilderness, w h e r e she has a place p r e p a r e d
by G o d , in which to be nourished f o r o n e thousand two h u n d r e d
and sixty days.
N o w war arose in h e a v e n , M i c h a e l and his angels f i g h t i n g
against the d r a g o n ; and the d r a g o n and his angels f o u g h t , but
they w e r e d e f e a t e d and there was no l o n g e r any place f o r them in
heaven. A n d the great d r a g o n was thrown d o w n , that ancient serpent, w h o is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver o f the w h o l e
w o r l d h e was thrown d o w n to the earth, and his angels w e r e
thrown down with him. A n d I heard a loud v o i c e in heaven, saying, " N o w the salvation and the p o w e r and the k i n g d o m o f o u r
God and the authority o f his Christ have c o m e , f o r the accuser o f
our b r e t h r e n has b e e n thrown d o w n , w h o accuses t h e m day a n d
night b e f o r e our G o d . A n d they have c o n q u e r e d him by the b l o o d
o f the L a m b and by the w o r d o f their testimony, f o r they loved not
their lives even u n t o death. R e j o i c e then, heaven and y o u that
dwell t h e r e i n ! But w o e to you, earth and sea, f o r the devil has
c o m e d o w n to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time
is s h o r t ! "
A n d w h e n the d r a g o n saw that he had b e e n thrown d o w n to
the earth, he pursued the w o m a n w h o had b o r n the m a l e child.
But the w o m a n was given the two wings o f the great eagle that she
m i g h t fly f r o m the serpent into the wilderness, to the place w h e r e
she is to be nourished f o r a time, and times, and half a time. T h e
serpent p o u r e d water like a river out o f his mouth after the w o m a n ,
and the earth o p e n e d its m o u t h and swallowed the river w h i c h
the d r a g o n had p o u r e d f o r m his m o u t h . T h e n the d r a g o n was
angry with the w o m a n , and w e n t o f f to make war o n the rest o f
her offspring, o n those w h o k e e p the c o m m a n d m e n t s o f G o d and
84
T H E IMAGE OF T H E GODDESS I N T H E NEW T E S T A M E N T

bear testimony to Jesus. A n d he s t o o d o n the sand o f the sea.
(Revelation 12:1-16) J
T o what extent is this "woman" a reflection o f the pagan

"Queen
o f Heaven"? 2 T o discover this we will investigate the
extra-biblical material and mythology that may have shaped the

view o f the author o f the book of Revelation and that may be
reflected in this particular vision. 5 T h e drama i t s e l f t h e birth o f
a child and events related to i t a r e beyond the scope o f this
study. Our interest will be limited to the figure o f the "woman"
only and this to the degree that she may be a product o f pagan
mythological thought patterns.
T h e entire myth is of pre-Christian origin. 4 It was the so-called
T h e revised Standard Version, New York: Thomas Nelson & Sons,
1952.
2
Thus, we do not plan to pursue a systematic exegesis of the text. These
are plentiful and the resulting interpretations are by and large all variations on the same theme: the woman is either the symbol of the church, the
synagogue, or Mary, or a combination of these. These hypotheses are being
endlessly repeated, of which the following selections of publications may
serve as an example. J. E. Bruns, "The Contrasted Woman of Apocalypse 12
and 17." Catholic Biblical Quarterly 26 (1964) 459-463; P.P. James, "Mary and
the Great Sign." American Ecclesiastical Review 142 (1960) 321-329; J. Ernst,
"Die Himmlische Frau im 12 Kapitel der Apokalypse." Theologie und Glaube
58 (1968) 39-59; J. Sickenberger, "Die Messiasmutter im 12 Kapitel der
Apokalypse." Theologische Quartalschrift 126 (1946) 357-427; J. Michl, "Die
Deutung der apokalyptischen Frau in der Gegenwart." Biblische Zeitschrift
N.F. 3 (1959) 301-310; see also the numerous commentaries on the book of
Revelation, ad loc. Johann Kosnetter, "Die Sonnenfrau (Apok. 12.1-17) in der
Neueren Exegese." Theologische Fragen der Gegenwart. Festschrift, Kardinal
T h e o d o r Innitzer. Wien: Domverlag, 1952, pp. 93-108, demonstrates among
others, that any single identification of the Sonnenfrau is inadequate and
cannot be supported by some verse in chapter 12. The author's final conclusion is that the woman is "ein zusammenfassendes symbol fr die menschliche komponente der Heilsgeschichte." (p. 108). A useful summary o f present-day research on the subject is in R.E. Brown et al., eds., Mary in the
Church, Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1978, pp. 218-239. A d e l e Yarboro
Collins, Crisis and Catharsis: The Power of the Apocalypse. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1984 has a good section on authorship, time and place of origin
and the social situation at the time of composition.
T h e Old Testament element in Revelation and the Jewish orientation of
the author has been also scrutinized by numerous commentators some of
whom find the prototype of the "woman" of Rev. 12 in the many references
to "woman" in the Old Testament as symbolizing the synagogue or the
people of God. T h e same course was and is followed by those who compare
the Christian church to the symbolic "woman" in the Old Testament.
For Jewish examples see below p.227f., "Eve, Mary and the Church."
See Hans Lietzmann, Der Weltheiland. Bonn, 1909. . Norden, Die Geburt
des Kindes. Leipzig und Berlin: Teubner, 1924.
s
85
T H E IMAGE OF T H E GODDESS IN T H E N E W T E S T A M E N T
"religionsgeschichtliche
Schule" in Germany at the end o f the nine-
teenth and at the beginning o f the twentieth centuries that called

attention to these facts, and it was scholars belonging to this school
whose genius and tireless work o p e n e d up new horizons in the
understanding o f the book of Revelation. By refusing to view the
book in isolation and by integrating it into the total experience o f
the Mediterranean world these scholars gave meaning to many
o f the mysterious references in the book, especially to those
pertaining to our problem in Chapter 12.
Eberhard Vischer was the first to suggest that the book o f
Revelation should be understood from a Jewish background. H e
used talmudic parallels to prove his point. T h e name o f the great
historian A d o l f von Harnack in the title o f Vischer's book added
greater weight to his arguments. 5 Soon after Vischer, Albrecht
Dieterich pointed to Greek mythology and suggested that there
was a similarity between the pythian dragon, the birth o f A p o l l o
from Leto, and the story in Revelation 12.6 Herman Gunkel then
opened
up Babylonian
mythology f o r biblical research
and
showed the interdependency o f the world o f ideas in Genesis 1

and Revelation 12.7 It was Gunkel who formulated the position o f
the religionsgeschichtliche
Schule with the statement that "die neu-
testamentliche Religion bei ihrer Entstehung und Ausbildung in wichtigen,

ja in einigen wesentlichen Punkten unter entscheidenden Einfluss fremder
Religionen gestanden hat, und dass dieser Einuss zu den Mnnern des
Neuen Testaments durch das Judentum hindurch gekommen ist."8 T h e
publication o f Wilhelm Bousset's commentary on the book o f
Revelation in 1906 was a major event; this book still has not been
superseded. For the interpretation o f Revelation 12 his major contribution was the investigation o f Egyptian mythology, in which
he pointed to the figures of Hathor = Isis, the great mother of gods;
5
Die Offenbarung Johannis ne jdische Apokalypse in Christlicher Bearbeitung,
mit einem Vorwort von A. Harnack (Texte und Untersuchungen II.3) Leipzig: J.
C. Hinrichs, 1886; 2nd ed. 1895.
6
A l b r e c h t Dieterich, Abraxas. Studien zur Religionsgeschichte des spteren
Altertums, Leipzig: Teubner, 1891. T h e work is available now in the edition
o f Aachen: Scientia Verlag, 1975, which is a reprint of the 1905 Leipzig
edition. See here esp. pp. 111-126 for the Leto-Python parallels.
7
Hermann Gunkel, Schpfung und Chaos in Urzeit und Endzeit, Gttingen:
Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, 1895.
8
Zum religionsgeschichtlichen Verstndnis des Neuen Testaments, Gttingen:
Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, 1910, p. 1.
86
T H E IMAGE OF T H E GODDESS IN T H E NEW T E S T A M E N T
Horus, the young sun-god, and the dragon Typhon as parallels to

the figures in Revelation 12. "Solche Herbernahme
Erzhlungen,
von
Mythen,
Sagen und Symbolen, Lehren und Vorschriften von einer
Religion in die andere, " Bousset said. "Gehren doch zu den allergewhnlichsten geschichtlichen Vorgngen. Durch nichts kann -wirkungsvoller fr
eine neue Religion Propaganda gemacht werden, als wenn man sie im
Gewand der alten darstellt. "9
A l f r e d Jeremias 10 compared the Egyptian myth of the struggle
between Ra and Apophis with the cosmic battle in Revelation 12.
Carl Clemen put the entire New Testament under the magnifying glass of the religionsgeschichtliche method, taking into account
all previously published scholarly works written on the subject. 11
His book is a mine o f information; reading it gives o n e the
impression that all later Ph.D. theses and commentaries on Revelation were based on his researches; nothing essentially new has
been added.
Unfortunately for Christian scholarship, one aspect of the study
o f Revelation 12 is often neglected: the influence of astrology,
which was considerable in the early Roman empire. Indeed, so
preoccupied were people with the influence of the stars that one
major Roman historian called astrology "the religion par excellence o f the Mediterranean world at this time." 1 2 Yet in the study of
the New Testament this is seldom considered. In this respect
Franz Boll has contributed much invaluable material; he was the
first to research this problem and to show the frequency with
which contemporary readers' minds turned to astral mythology
upon reading Revelation 12.13
9
Die Offenbarung Johannis. Kritisich-Exegetischer Kommentar ber das Neue
Testament,
Begrndet von H e i n r . Aug. Wilh. Meyer, vol. 16, Gttingen:
Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, 1906. Exegesis of Ch. 12, pp. 335-358; the quote
above is on p. 354.
10
Das alte Testament im Lichte des alten Orients, Leipzig: J. C. Hinrich'sche
Buchhardlung, 1905; 3rd ed., 1916, p. 145; Die Pambabylonisten, Leipzig; J.
C. Hinrichs, 1907, p. 51 ff.
11
Religionsgeschichtlichee Erklrung des Neuen Testaments. Die Abhngigkeit des
ltesten Christentums von den nichtjdischen Religionen und Philosophischen Systemen,
Glessen: A. Tpelmann, 1909.
12
Michael Grant, The World of Rome, Cleveland and N e w York: W o r l d ,
I960, p. 135.
13
Franz Boll, Aus der Offenbarung Johannis. Hellenistische Studien zum Weltbild der Apokalypse, Leipzig/Berlin: Teubner, 1914. See also his Sphaera, Leipzig: Teubner, 1903. Also, "Stern der Weisen," Zeitschrift fr Neutestamentliche
Wissenschaft, Glessen: Tpelmann, 1900-; 18 (1917/18), pp. 41-48.
87
W e will now give a brief account of how the material drawn

from outside the corpus of biblical literature aids us in understanding the historical background of Revelation 12.
A. THE WOMAN CLOTHED WITH THE SUN
AND PAGAN MYTHOLOGY
Few m o d e r n scholars deny the pagan mythological elements in
Revelation 12. However, many point out that there are substantial
differences between the respective pagan myths and the biblical
statements. For this reason J. Kosnetter 14 does not even discuss the
religionsgeschichtliche Deutung. But without utilizing the results of that
research, all attempts of interpreting Revelation 12 on a purely
biblical basis fail, as Kosnetter himself must admit. T h e y fail
because none of the interpretations of the woman fits perfectly;
each one is contradicted by a particular verse of Chapter 12.
Aetiological in nature, myths are prescientific attempts to explain natural phenomena presented as narratives involving supernatural persons and actions. They deal with cosmology, theology,
and even soteriology. T h e mental process that gave rise to and
eventually d e v e l o p e d the story of the woman in Revelation 12
certainly presupposed basic ideas expressed in pagan mythology,
and for this reason alone this perspective should not be ignored in
interpreting the text.
T h e setting o f the story provides the framework and background of everything that takes place and defines the nature of
the woman who appears there. Some pagan mythological concepts that seem to have had a formative influence on the image of
the woman as the author "painted" her are: (1) "heaven" as the
place where the whole drama takes place; (2) the robe of the
woman; (3) the astral motifs; (4) the battle with the dragon. I will
discuss each of these, concluding witha review o f the earliest
Christian interpretations of Revelation 12.
1. The Concept of Heaven
T h e word "heaven" = , Aristotle says, can be used in
three different contexts. First, it can mean "the substance o f the
outermost circumference of the world ... in which we also believe
14
Op at p. 94.
88
T H E IMAGE OF T H E GODDESS I N T H E N E W T E S T A M E N T
all divinity to have its seat." Secondly, the word can be applied "to
that body which occupies the next place to the outermost circumference o f the world, in which are the m o o n and the sun and
certain of the stars ... " Thirdly, "it is customary to give the name
of ouranos to the world as a whole," i.e., to that whole body which
is "enclosed by the outermost circumference." 1 5 Aristotle's first
two definitions are similar to modern usage, for which the word
"heaven" can refer either to the abode of G o d and o f immortal
beings, or to that space appearing as a vault or canopy over the
earth, in which the sun, moon, and stars are seen.
T h e third definition of Aristotle, "heaven" meaning the entire
universe, encompassing earth and sky, is no longer in everyday
usage. However, this seems to have been the generally accepted
view in the ancient world. 1 6 In his study o f Sumerian
Mythology,
Samuel N. Kramer concluded that Sumerian cosmogeny already

included the following ideas: Before everything else there was a
primeval sea; this begot a cosmic mountain consisting of a united
heaven and earth; only later were heaven and earth separated by
the air-god Enlil. 17 Similar ideas were present in Egyptian mythologies. These maintain that out o f the primeval ocean rose a
united world; the goddess Nut lay upon her husband Geb. T h e n
came Shu, god of the air, who forced himself between the two and
lifted up Nut; thus, everything in the world f o u n d its p r o p e r
p l a c e . 1 8 T h e Greco-Roman idea of the origin o f heaven was
summarized by Diodorus Siculus:
15
De Caelo 278 b. W. K. C. Guthrie, Aristotle on the Heavens, LCL, L o n d o n :
Heinemann, 1953, pp. 88-89.
16
Collections of ancient creation myths are available in several convenient editions: Barbara C. Sproul, Primal Myths. Creating the World, San
Francisco: H a r p e r and Row, 1979; Charles H. L o n g , Alpha. The Myths of
Creation, New York: George Braziller, 1963; S. G. F. Brandon, Creation Legends
of the Ancient Near East, London: H o d d e r and Stoughton, 1963. For an extensive analysis o f the Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Greek, and bibilical cosmogonies, the reader is requested to turn to Brandon.
17
Op. cit., pp. VII-VIII; 41-42: "The Sumerian expression for 'universe' is
an-ki, literally 'heaven-earth.'"; 73-75; Brandon, op. cit., p. 71; 100-102.
18
S. Morenz, op. cit., pp. 182T83. Brandon, op. cit., pp. 27-28. See also
A d o l f Erman, Die Religion der gypter, Berlin and L e i p z i g : De Gruyter,
1934,pp. 61-63; Kurt Sethe, Urgeschichte und Alteste Religion der gypter,
Leipzig:Deutsche Morgenlandische Gesellschaft, 1930, par. 75, p. 62. Also
Willibald Staudacher, Die Trennung von Himmel und Erde, Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1968 (reprint of 1942 edition). Staudacher has
shown that the idea was widespread in Asia and Africa, too.
89 T H E IMAGE OF T H E GODDESS IN T H E NEW T E S T A M E N T
W h e n in the b e g i n n i n g , as the a c c o u n t runs, the universe was

b e i n g f o r m e d , b o t h heaven and earth w e r e indistinguishable in
appearance, since their e l e m e n t s w e r e i n t e r m i n g l e d : then, w h e n
their bodies separated from o n e a n o t h e r , the universe t o o k o n in
all its parts the o r d e r e d f o r m in which it is n o w seen; the air set up
a continual m o t i o n , and the f i e r y e l e m e n t in it g a t h e r e d i n t o the
h i g h e s t r e g i o n s ... w h i l e all that was m u d - l i k e a n d thick a n d
c o n t a i n e d an a d m i x t u r e o f moisture sank because o f its w e i g h t
into o n e place ,.." 19
T h e earliest theogonies (accounts of the birth of the divinities)

reflect similar ideas. According to Hesiod, the first power was
chaos and then arose "Gaia, broad-bosomed earth"; after her, Eros,
Night, and Erebos. "Gaia first gave birth to him who is equal to
her, star-studded Ouranos, to cover her everywhere over and be an
ever-immovable base for the gods ... " 20
Ouranos and Gaia had intercourse, giving birth to Okeanos. A
rapid succession of events led finally to the violent separation o f
Ouranos and Gaia by Kronos. While the account of Hesiod is less
than crystal clear, it does contain elements which survived. T h e
tradition that heaven and earth were once one and that life arose
from their intercourse continued to live in Greece. "The tale is not
mine," wrote Euripides. "I learned it from my mother, that heaven and earth were once one ( ).
But when they were parted from each other, they brought forth
all things and brought them to light, trees, birds, beasts, creatures
of brine and the race of men." 2 1 W e read a similar account in the
Argonautica
where Apollonius of Rhodes makes Orpheus sing
"how the earth, the heaven and the sea, once mingled together in
one form ( ), after deadly strife were separated from each other ... " 22
These myths ascribe the origin of heaven to a primordial, cosmic cataclysm in which heaven was separated from and f o r c e d
19
The Library of History 1.7, LCL, C. H. Oldfather, ed., London: Heinemann, 1960, p. 25.
20
Theogony 116-136; R. M. Frazer, The Poems of Hesiod, Norman: University
of Oklahoma, 1983, pp. 30-33; Brandon, op. cit., pp. 167-170.
21
Fragment 484, in August Nauck, Tragicorum Graecorum Fragmenta, Hildesheim: Georg Olms, 1964 (reprint with additions of Bruno Snell), p. 511.
English translation after James G. Frazer, The Worship of Nature, New York:
Macmillan, 1926, p. 40.
22
1.496-499, LCL, R. C. Seaton, ed., London: Heinemann, 1930, p. 37. See
also Aristophanes, The Birds, 693-705.
90
above earth. For lack of space and light, life on earth would have
been impossible without this event. Hesiod speaks of the darkness
o f night as the time when Ouranos descends upon Gaia, "closely
embracing her, stretching everywhere over her." 2 3 In his view,
there is continuous intercourse between heaven and earth, and
thus, not only did life begin from that union, it continually
renews itself because heaven and earth love each other. Similarly, in Egyptian mythology the sun arises out of a sexual union
o f heaven and earth, and this process repeats itself every day. At
night heaven and earth make love and in the morning the sun
rises from the primeval ocean. 24 T h e fertilizing moisture of rain
comes from heaven, and earth loves it, so "when the two are
j o i n e d in love's embrace, they make all things to grow." 2 5 Aeschylus calls this a marriage
o f heaven
and earth, and
the
H o m e r i c Hymn to Earth calls Earth "the wife of starry Ouranos." 2 6 This is the , prototype of all marriage
relationships; 2 7 consequently, in Athens marriages were dedicated to Ouranos and Gaia.2S T h e learned bishop of Hippo, Augustine, knew pagan mythology very well, but he could not, or
perhaps refused to, give credit to the pagans for the depth of their
thoughts. Instead of praising them for giving expression to a profound idea, he wrote sarcastically:
L e t us assume t h a t j u p i t e r is n o w the soul o f this material w o r l d ...
N o w let him b e A e t h e r , that he may e m b r a c e f r o m a b o v e J u n o ,
the air spread below, now let him be the w h o l e sky, i n c l u d i n g the
air, and i m p r e g n a t e with the life-giving rain and seed the earth,
w h o is called at the same time his w i f e and his m o t h e r , f o r this is
no disgrace in divine affairs. 2 9
T h e idea that originally there was a unity from which every-
Theogony 176-178, op. at., p. 36.

Kurt H. Sethe, op. cit., pars. 70 and 113, pp. 58 and 94.
25
Euripides, Fragment 898, in Nauck, op. cit., p. 648.
26
Aeschylus, Fragment 44, in Nauck, op. cit., p. 16; Homeric Hymn to Earth
30.17. Compare with this Lucretius, De rerum natura 2.991-1022: "We all came
from heavenly seeds, he is father of all, by whom mother earth received the
drops of liquid moisture ... etc."
27
Staudacher, op. cit., p. 88.
28 p r o c i u s j n a comment on Plato's Republic (G. Kroll, ed., Procli Diadochi
in Platonis Rem Publicam Commenlarii, Leipzig: Teubner, 1899, p. 134, line 9).
See also A. Dieterich, Mutter Erde, Leipzig/Berlin: Teubner, 1905, p. 45.
29
Augustine, De Civitate Dei 4.11, LCL,
Wm. Green, ed., L o n d o n :
Heinemann, 1963, vol. 2, p. 45.
23
24
91 T H E IMAGE OF T H E GODDESS IN T H E N E W T E S T A M E N T
thing came into being was familiar to the Greek philosophers.

Beginning with Thaes, they struggled with the problem o f the
material origin o f all things, supposing that all things have an
origin and that that origin must be one thing. Eventually Greek
philosophy developed into a more abstract way of thinking. Plato's
Symposium, as we have seen, contains an elaborate discussion o f
the origin of male and female from an androgynous unity. T h e
original unity of heaven and earth is the cosmic aspect o f the
same thought. Thus, if the divided halves o f male and female
desire to be united again, to use Plato's terminology, the same
must be true of the divided halves o f heaven and earth. 30 It was,
therefore, not without reason that pagan mythologies assigned
gender distinctions to heaven and earth. In most, heaven is male
and earth is female. However, Egyptian mythologies reverse this
order; there, earth is male, heaven is female. Egyptian illustrations show Shu, the god of the air, pushing up Nut, who is pictured
as a naked woman arching her body over Geb and thus covering
him like a canopy. While there is a yawning gap between the
two, they are parts of the same whole: the universe is one; heaven
and earth belong together. 31
T h e view o f heaven that we find scattered in the pages of the
O l d and New Testaments is not a consistent one. 3 2 T h e N e w
30
Konrat Ziegler, "Menschen und Weltwerden," Neue Jahrbucher fr das
klassische Altertum, 16 (1913), 529 ff, brought androgyny and the myths about
the separation of heaven and earth together in a fascinating essay. For a useful summary o f the Greek philosophers' thoughts, see W. K. C. Guthrie, In
the Beginning, London: Methuen, 1957, and F. M. Cornford, Principium Sapientiae. The Origins of Greek Philosophical Thought, Cambridge: University Press,
1952.
31
T h e f o l l o w i n g material contains m o r e useful i n f o r m a t i o n : Ernst
Wst, "Uranos," in Pauly, op. cit., Zweite Reihe, 9/1 (17. Halbband) 966-980;
. Oberhummer, "Urania," Pauly, op. cit., Zweite Reihe, 9/1 (17. Halbband)
931- 942; N. J. Girandoot, "Chaos," ER 3.213-218; Linda M. Taber and F.
Stanley Lusby, "Heaven and Hell," ER 6.237-243; Ian Petru Culianu, "Sky.
T h e Heavens as Hierophany," ER 13.343-345; Peter Chemerey, "Sky. Myths
and Symbolism," ER 13.345-353; Charles H. L o n g , " C o s m o g o n y , "
ER
4.94-100; Rees W. Bolle, "Cosmology: An Overview," ER 4.100-107.
32
T h e account of the creation in Gen. 1 shows some similarities with
Hesiod's Theogony: both mention the elements of chaos, the placing of heaven
above the earth, light which makes the day possible, etc. As far as the nature
o f heaven is concerned, the Old Testament can describe it in various ways:
in Gen. 1:6 heaven is a firmament; according to Job 26:11, it is like a house
that has pillars; Ps. 104:2 refers to it as a tent stretched out.
92
Testament even mentions several heavens. s s But in one point

there seems to be agreement: heaven and earth aie parts o f the
same creation of God. "In the beginning God created the heavens
and the earth," Genesisl:l says, and the same belief is reflected
throughout the Bible in spite o f the extremely liberal manner in
which the authors employed these terms. This view leads to the
assumption o f a cosmic correspondence between heaven
and
earth: whatever happens in either sphere affects the other. Events

taking place on earth have their appropriate response in heaven,
and decisions made in heaven will have their effects on earth for
better or for worse. This relationship is well illustrated in the announcement of the birth of Jesus to the shepherds: immediately
after the announcement, a multitude o f heavenly hosts appeared,
praising G o d in the highest (i.e. in heaven) and proclaiming peace
on earth,34 It is because of this cosmic correspondence that the
redemption promised in the Bible is also a cosmic event, universal in nature: it is the reunification o f all things, "things in
heaven and things on earth." 35
Despite everything the Bible says about it, however, Christianity has never o f f e r e d a uniform definition o f heaven and so
the Aristotelian views have prevailed. O n e can think of heaven as
the place where God lives and where the blessed g o after death
( " O u r Father who are in heaven ... " Matt. 6.9; " ... our commonwealth is in heaven ... " Phil. 3.20); one can also look up to the sky
and say, with Psalm 19.1, " T h e heavens are telling the glory o f
G o d ; and
the f i r m a m e n t proclaims his handiwork." T o
my
knowledge, however, the view of heaven as the natural half o f

earth has not been part o f Christian piety and even scholars who
discuss it are hard to find. O n e notable exception is the great
Origen (died 253/254), who in his book De pnncipiis discussed at
length the idea o f the cosmos and stated that "the universe is
bounded by heaven and earth." 36
T h e numerous personifications of heaven found in the Bible as
well as in pagan literature suggest a cult of heavenly bodies, a
33
2 Cor. 12.2-4; for a biblical view of heaven, see Ulrich Simon, Heaven in
Christian
Tradition,
N e w York: H a r p e r & Brothers, 1958; S. M o r e n z ,
" H i m m e l , " RGG, 328-333.
34
Luke 2.13-14.
35
Eph. 1.10; Col. 1.15-17; see also Heb. 9.24.
36
2.3.6; A N F 4.273; see also 2.3.7 and 2.11.6.
93 T H E IMAGE OF T H E GODDESS IN T H E N E W T E S T A M E N T
practice which was of great concern to the Old Testament prophets. W e also find in the Bible an underlying sexual differentiation between heaven and earth; things that pertain to the celestial
sphere are usually masculine and those representing
earthly
dimensions are feminine. In the symbolic imagery o f the O l d

Testament, God is the father-figure and also the husband, Israel,
the wife. Similarly, in the New Testament Christ is always the
g r o o m , never the bride. T h e eroticism so starkly represented in
pagan mythologies o f the relationship between Ouranos and Gaia
comes to the surface in the Song of Songs, which is usually interpreted as an expression of God's love for his people. Just as the
pagan mythologies spoke about the natural love of Ouranos and
Gaia, so the gospel of John proclaimed that God loves the world
(3:16), and just as Ouranos fertilizes Gaia by his moisture, so we are
told in 1 John 3:9 that those who are born of God have the sperm of
G o d ( ) in them. Indeed, such cosmic love is a constant theme o f the Bible, in which the final restoration o f the
universe is pictured as a meeting o f bridegroom and bride to
consummate their marriage. 37
T o those familiar with the pagan myths, and the authors o f the
books of the New Testament certainly were, the bridal imagery of
the Bible does not seem very different from the pagan concept of a
union between heaven and earth, personified as Ouranos and
Gaia. Such a return to the original condition of the universe was o f
concern to Christians as well as pagans. Elaborate systems were
developed on this theme by Origen, from the Christian side, and
by Plotinus, from the pagan, Neoplatonic point o f view. 38 Even
without lengthy philosophical discussion, the assumption that
everything came out o f an original unity suggests that everything
will again be dissolved into one: ,
. 3 9 Obviously, this has to include the reunification of heaven and earth. T h e "great portent" of Revelation 12.1
that "appeared in heaven" is without doubt the beginning of an
eschatological drama, the end o f which, according to Revelation
21, will be the elimination of the distance between heaven and
earth and of the separation of God and men.
Rev. 21.1-2; 22.17. See also Matt. 25.1-13; Rev. 17.&-9.
See S. Benko, Pagan Rome, pp. 90-91.
39
Diogenes Laertius, Prologue 1.3, LCL, R. n. Hicks, ed., L o n d o n : Heinemann, 1950, p. 4.
37
38
94
It seems to me unreasonable to deny that the author of Revelation and the scribe to whom he dictated this vision conceptualized
heaven in pagan mythological categories, for they had no other
avenue of apprehension. So we will look at the picture desribed in
Revelation
12.1 in this way: somewhere in the
mythological
sphere of heaven, the image of a pregnant woman comes in sight.

By whom was she impregnated? T h e text does not say. H o w did
she reach the heavenly spheres and what is her function there?
T h e more we analyze the picture, the m o r e elusive it becomes.
May we then take advantage of the resources o f f e r e d by GrecoRoman mythology and assume that the mind o f the author, permeated with pagan mythological presuppositions, is using such
images to express his Christian views? T o do so suggests that, in
this instance, pagan mythology exerted a causative i n f l u e n c e
upon a Christian object of faith, namely, the end o f the world,
which in the faith o f the Christians is preceded by the pregnancy
o f a woman chosen by G o d and the subsequent birth of a child
who begins a new humanity. T h e conception o f Jesus is understood as the result of a union between heaven and earth the
Holy Spirit and the Virgin M a r y j u s t as in pagan mythology it
is Ouranos who impregnates Gaia. T h e figure o f the woman in
Revelation 12.1, then, was patterned after the image of Earth, Gaia,
pregnant as a result o f her union with Ouranos, Heaven. W e shall
see later that the image of Mary as the Earth Mother was well
known in Christian piety and to a certain degree even in Christian Mariology. Using the images o f Ouranos and Gaia, the Christian author presents here a picture of reestablishment o f the primordial unity between heaven and earth. 40
What the author o f Revelation 12 saw in the heavenly spheres
was what anybody living in the Mediterranean world at the end
o f the first century would immediately recognize as the "Queen
o f Heaven." "Die Attribute die ihr gegeben sind weisen auf das Bild der
Himmelsknigin
hin, "wrote . Lohmeyer in his definitive commen-
tary on the Apocalypse. 41 Similar statements were made by other
40
H. Gallinger, op. cit. p. 32, m. 36 quotes C.G. Jung, who "sieht in der
Frau die Gestalt, die zum Hellen das Dunkle fgt, so den hieros gamos der
Gegenstze bildet und die Natur mit dem Geiste vershnt."
Ernst Lohmeyer, Die Offenbarung des Johannes. 2. ed. Tbingen: J.C.B.
Mohr, 1953, p. 98. See also Oskar Holtzmann, Das Neue Testament. Glessen:
T p e l m a n n , 1928, p. 928: "Die Mutter des Messias ist nach dem Bild einer
95 T H E IMAGE OF T H E GODDESS IN T H E NEW TESTAMENT
commentators and to these we must add Gunkel's suggestion in

Schpfung und Chaos 42 that a relationship exists between Revelation
12 and the Genesis narratives. If the pagan mythological foundation o f the woman's figure is thus established, then the concept o f
the hieros gamos that I suggest for this particular vision is not so far
fetched as it may seem. T h e culminating point o f the entire book
is after all a marriage celebration on a cosmic scale, a great consummation which both the pagan and the Judeo-Christian traditions can only hint at by referring to sexual union between male
and female. It was again E. Lohmeyer who pointed out that
certain elements in the book of Revelation, i.e. the birth o f a savior
child who after maturing enters a holy marriage, is also reflected
in Virgil's 4. Eclogue: the child, whose birth Virgil prophesizes,
shares the bed o f a goddess at the end of the poem. 4 3 It is in this
context that we should see the "woman clothed with the sun": she
is a goddess, a Christian goddess, whose role is to play the female
part in the reunification of God with his creatures.
2. The Robe of the Woman
In the ancient world, the sky meant one thing to farmer and citydweller alike: it was the huge d o m e that covered the earth, the
immensity
of
which
immediately
evoked
religious
feelings.
Cicero wrote:
W h e n we gaze upward to the sky and c o n t e m p l a t e the h e a v e n l y
bodies, what can be so obvious and so manifest than that t h e r e
must exist s o m e p o w e r possessing t r a n s c e n d e n t i n t e l l i g e n c e by
w h o m these things are ruled? W e r e it not so, h o w c o m e s it that
the words convey conviction to all readers, ' B e h o l d , the dazzling
vault o f heaven, which all mankind as Jove invoke ... " 4 4
Later Cicero quoted a passage from Euripides: "Thou seest the

boundless aether's spreading vault, whose soft embrace encompas-
heidnischen Himmelsknigin gebildet, wie 1.12-l7, 10.1-2 Heidnische

Kultbilder die Vorlage waren." Similarly H. Ringgren, Das Alte Testament
Deutsch 16/2, Gttingen, 1958, ad loc. and many others quoted by Hildegard
Gillinger, Das "Grosse Zeichen" von Apokalypse 12. Wrzburg/Stuttgart: Echter
Verlag, 1971, pp. 76-77.
42
Op. cit.
43
E. Lohmeyer, op. dt. p. 155.
44
De natura deorum 2.4; H.R. Rackham, Cicero, LCL, London: Heine-mann,
1979, vol. 19, p. 125. The Ennius quotation also appears in 2.65, p. 187.
96
seth the earth; this deem thou g o d of gods, the supreme Jove." 4 5
A n d so, the shape of a vault or d o m e became the ultimate artistic
expression o f heaven, the abode o f the gods. In the history o f
architecture, such designs can be found from very early times on,
including perhaps the Mycenean behive tombs, but without doubt
the elaborate circular burial chambers of the Romans, the ceilings
o f which were originally dome-like. 46 While a reminder o f heaven in connection with burials is quite natural, the dome-design
was utilized in other areas, too. T h e most outstanding example is
the Pantheon in Rome, built originally by Marcus Agrippa in 2725 B.C. and rebuilt by the emperor Hadrian. Its magnificent d o m e
measures 43.30 meters. (St. Peter's, another marvel of architecture,
measures only 42.52 meters.) "Pantheon" means "all gods," and
so, as the historian Dio wrote, it was long assumed that "it has this
name, because it received among the images which decorated it
the statues o f many gods, including Mars and Venus"; however,
Dio adds, "my own opinion of the name is that, because o f its
vaulted roof, it resembles the heavens." 47 Nero's famous Golden
House was also supposed to resemble heaven, and we read that
there were in it "dining rooms, with fretted ceilings of ivory,
whose panels could turn and shower down flowers and were
fitted with pipes f o r sprinkling the guests with perfumes. T h e
main banquet hall was circular and constantly revolved day and
night, like the heavens." 48 T h e examples could be multiplied, 4 9
Euripides, Fragment 386; Cicero, op. at., 2.65, p. 187.
T h e visitor to modern R o m e can still see some o f these, such as
Hadrian's tomb, the mausoleum o f Augustus, and some m o r e on the Via
ia.
Dio, History 53.27, LCL, F. Carr, ed., L o n d o n : Heinemann, 1979, vol. 6,
p. 263. Virgil says that in the temple where Dido received Aeneas, she sat
down "beneath the central vaulting o f the temple": Aeneid 1.505. T o this
Servius added the remark: "Ideo sic fit, ut similari caeli imaginem reddat, quod
constat esse convexum": G. T h i l o and H. Hager, Servit Grammatici Qui Feruntur In
Vergilii Carmlna Commentarii, Leipzig and Berlin: Teubner, 1923, p. 157. O f
course, Servius wrote in the context of the fourth century A.D.
48
Suetonius, Nero 31, J C. Rolfe, ed., Suetonius, LCL, L o n d o n : Heinemann,
1950, p. 137. A reference to this feature of the Golden House is also in Seneca,
Epistula 90.15: " ... one who invents a process for spraying saffron perfumes to
tremendous heights f r o m hidden pipes ... w h o so cleverly constructs a
dining room with a ceiling o f movable panels that it presents one pattern
after another, the r o o f changing as often as the courses ... " R. P. Gummere,
ed., Seneca. Epistolae Morales, vol. 2, p. 405, LCL, L o n d o n : Heinemann, 1920.
49
O t h e r similar structures were in Hadrian's villa in Tivoli, in several
o f the imperial baths, and other buildings. Philostratus, Life of Apollonius of
45
46
97 T H E IMAGE OF T H E GODDESS I N T H E N E W T E S T A M E N T
but these are enough to show that when Christian architecture

adopted the dome-design, it took over and continued an image o f
heaven familiar to the pagan world.
This image is continued in the half-dome over the apse o f
many Christian churches. A m o n g the oldest examples are S.
Maria in Trastevere, which some claim is the oldest church in
R o m e , and S. Pudenziana, f o r which others make the same
claim. H i g h above the apse in the canopy o f the half-dome, the
image o f the exalted Christ is visible in both churches. In the
magnificent S. Maria Maggiore, there appears below the halfd o m e a picture of the Virgin Mary's death with Jesus Christ in
attendance; above this, in the half-dome, we see Mary assumed
into heaven and crowned by Jesus. T h e script below it explains:
"Exaltata est Santa Dei Genelrix super choros angelorum ad celestia
regna. " O f special interest is Santa Constanza, a circular church,
originally built as a mausoleum for the daughters of Constantine
the Great. Not only is the church reminiscent of pagan tombs, but
its decoration is more pagan that Christian. T h e exquisite mosaics
with their floral designs which ornament the vaulting are a
classic example o f an architecture in which "the pagan and
Christian worlds meet and mingle." 5 0 All of this supports the
claim that there is "an unbroken continuity between antique and
Christian monuments of this kind." 51
Tyana 1.25, says that during his travels, Apollonius saw in Babylon a house,
the r o o f of which was made "in the form of a dome, to resemble in a manner the heavens and that it was r o o f e d with sapphire, a stone that is very
blue and like the heavens to the eye, and there were images of the gods,
which they worship, fixed aloft and looking like golden figures shining out
o f the ether": LCL, F. C. Conybeare, ed., London: Heinemann, 1948, vol. 1,
p. 77.
50
Georgina Masson, Rome, New York: McKay, 1971, p. 295. Magnificent
pictures of these domes and many others may be found in Paolo Marton,
Rome, Mirror of the Centuries, Udine: Magnus 1983.
51
Karl Lehmann, " T h e D o m e o f Heaven," Art Bulletin 27 (1945): 1-27;
this quotation, p. 9. "If the derivation of the Christian vision of heaven from
an unbroken and ever growing stream o f pagan tradition is obvious, the
connection is further borne out by the persistence and reorganization of
specific elements o f classical tradition": Lehmann, op. cit., p. 9. Karl Lehman's study of celestial symbolism in Western architectural decorations was
continued and expanded to the Asian world by Alexander Coburn Soper,
" T h e ' D o m e o f Heaven' in Asia," Art Bulletin 29 (1947): 225-248. Amanda K.
Coomaraswamy, " T h e Symbolism o f the D o m e , " investigated the idea in
Hindu thought. This essay can be found in Roger Lipsey,
Coomaraswamy,
Princeton: University Press, 1977 (Bollingen Series 89). See also Jean Pepin,
98
In addition to the vaulted shape, the idea o f heaven is also expressed with the decoration of the ceiling. Even when the ceiling
is not a d o m e but a flat roof, its color and its decoration with stars,
sun, and m o o n recall a vision o f heaven. Such designs were
utilized in flat ceilings, tents, and even awnings. Pliny says that
"awnings colored as the sky and spangled with stars have been
stretched with ropes even in emperor Nero's amphitheater," 5 2 to
serve as shades from the sun for the spectators. In Euripides' Ion
there is a description o f a tent, the ceiling of which was a "canopy
o f shawls" decorated with the sun, moon, the Pleiades, and other
heavenly bodies. 53 Thus, even temporarily erected canopies symbolized heaven and the shape of a tent could be compared to the
sky as it covers the earth. Heaven, then, is being viewed as a
cosmic tent. A n d since a tent is so similar in shape to a robe, it
takes only a short stretch of the imagination to think o f the cosmic
tent as a cosmic robe which surrounds and covers the great mystery that is called God. "Thou art clothed with honor and majesty,
who coverest thyself with light as a garment, who hast stretched
out the heavens like a tent." 54
Images of the gods and goddesses were often painted with robes
covered with celestial symbols, usually with many stars.55 T h i s
was done, of course, to express their celestial character, their
authority, and their rule over the universe. Thus Apuleius described Isis as wearing a black robe embroidered with glittering
stars around a full moon. 5 6 According to Martianus Capella, the
"Cosmic Piety" in A. H . Armstrong, op. cit. pp. 408-435, esp. pp. 421-424 " T h e
T e m p l e , the Image of the World."
52
Pliny, Naturalis Hisloria 19.6, "Vela colore coeli stellata," LCL, H. R. Rackham, ed., London: Heinemann, 1950, pp. 434-437.
53
Ion 1141-1158, Arthur S. Way, ed., Euripides, LCL, L o n d o n : Heinemann,
1964, vol. 4, pp. 110-113.
54
Ps. 104.2-3; see also Ps. 102.25-27 and Is. 40:22; compare also with
Akhenaton's "Hymn to the A t o n , " in J. B. Pritchard, Ancient Near Eastern
Texts Relating to the Old Testament, Princeton: University Press, 1950, pp. 370371.
55
Robert Eisler, Weltmantel und Himmelzell. Religionsgeschichtliche
Untersuchungen zur Urgeschichte des antiken Weltbildes, Mnchen: C. H. Beck, 1910,
mentions Marduk, Mithra, Attis, Aphrodite, the Ephesian Artemis, among
others, pp. 60-68.
56
Metamorphoses
11.3-4. See also Heinrich Schfer, "Das Gewand der
Isis," Festchrift zu C. F. Lehmann-Haupt's sechzigstem Geburtstage, Herausg e g e b e n von K. Regling und H. Reich, Wien and Leipzig: Wilhelm Braumller, 1921, PP 194- 206.
99 T H E IMAGE OF T H E GODDESS I N T H E NEW T E S T A M E N T
tunic of Juno was grass-green and her robe was made of clouds;
her shoes were dark, the soles like night. 57 Similarly,
ancient
statues of divinities were covered with robes that reflected their

main characteristics. In Athens a robe for Athene, the Peplos, was
woven by the women and given to the goddess during the Great
Panathenian Festival in connection with an elaborate procession.
Now we return briefly to Caelestis. As we have mentioned, in
Lacinium the statue of Juno was dressed in a robe whose extraordinary beauty was admired by all. 58 T h e following story is related
about it by Athenaeus: A certain Sybarite citizen, Alcisthenes by
name, had such a yen for luxury that he had a very expensive
robe made for himself. During the festival of Hera (= Juno) in
Lacinium, "at which all Greeks of Italy gather," he exhibited the
robe and it was much admired. When Dionysus, tyrant of Syracus, "came into possession of it, he sold it to the Carthaginians for
one hundred and twenty talents." A certain Polemon, Athenaeus
continues, also related this story in a book entitled On the Robes of
Carthage. Nothing remains of Polemon's work, but we know from
Aristotle's description of it that the robe "was of purple,
fifteen
cubits in size, and on each side it was ornamented with embroidered figures, of Susa above, and of the Persians below; in the
center were Zeus, Hera, Themis, Athene, Apollo, and Aphrodite.
At one extremity was Alcimenes, and on either side Sybaris." 59
57
Martianus Capella was of North African origin and wrote between
410-436. H e was a pagan, and a contemporary of St. Augustine. Both men
observed the death of the Roman Empire, but while the bishop's reaction to
this tragedy was almost like a defiant " G o o d riddance!" Martianus, with
uncertain hands, collected and compiled the wisdom of his age as if to salvage something f r o m the coming destruction. His book De Nuptiis Philologiae
et Mercurii is an allegorical story in which the g r o o m presents his bride
with seven wedding gifts-Grammar, Rhetoric, Dialectic, Arithmetic, Geometry, Astronomy, Music. T h o u g h poorly written and despite the fact that it
was a compilation f r o m previous compilers, this book became a widely
accepted textbook during the Middle Ages. T h e Latin text is available in the
f o l l o w i n g edition: Martianus Capella, De Nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii, A.
Dick, ed., Stuttgart: T e u b n e r , 1978 (reprint). An English translation and
detailed study of the work in two volumes was prepared by William H. Stahl
and Richard Johnson: Martianus Capella and the Seven Liberal Arts, N e w York
and L o n d o n : Columbia University Press, 1971 and 1977. See also H a i j o J.
Westra, The Commentary on Martianus Capella's De Nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii.
Attributed to Bernardus Silvestris, Leiden: E . J . Brill 1986
58
Chapter II, p. 28ff.
59
Deipnosophistae
12.541, in Charles B. Gulick, ed., LCL,
Cambridge,
Mass.: Harvard, 1943, pp. 447-449. Athenaeus flourished ca. 200 A.D.; the title
100
According to R. Eisler, 60 however, this customary translation is

incorrect, in the Greek text should be translated with
"zodiac," " , " and " " should not be capitalized but
left as simple nouns: (lily) and
( p e a c h ) . Accor-
dingly, the robe was decorated with the signs o f the zodiac,
flowers, and peaches. Juno and Caelestis were universal goddesses and Eisler's interpretation reveals that the decorations on
this robe, as we should expect, emphasized their cosmic role. This
robe, then, was taken to Carthage where we assume it decorated
the statue o f Tanit.
What became of the robe? Did it perish in the general destruction o f Carthage in 146 B.C. or was it saved? O n c e again we recall
the capture of Veii, after which the statue o f "Queen Juno" was
moved to R o m e "with deepest reverence." Something like this
could have happened in 146 B.C., but if so, no mention o f it was
made by Polybius or Livy, both of whom were impressed chiefly
with the ferocity o f the city's destruction. This is a pity, because
our knowledge of this robe is extremely limited, and robes were
important parts of the statue of a goddess; those who made them
have woven into them their confession o f faith. T h e robe o f
Lacinium could tell us much about what the Romans believed
about Juno, the Greeks about Hera (the temple was originally built
o f his book means "The Learned Banquet." This information he took f r o m
Aristotle, o f which see below. Dionysius the Elder, tyrant of Syracuse, lived
between c . 430 and 367 B. C. Croton was captured by Dionysus in 379 B.C.,
and thus, the event must date from or after this year. It is impossible to
establish the modern value o f Dionysius' talent because o f the difference o f
wages, prices, and the purchasing power of average people. But if o n e talent
was 6,000 drachmas and one drachma was worth about $20, then o n e talent
was worth $120,000. In this case, 120 talents would be $14,400,000 an amount
which only governments can spend. If correct, the robe deserved its fame. In
ascertaining these values, I have used the chart in Frank J. Frost, Greek
Society, Lexington, Mass.: D. C. Heath, 1971, p. 58. See also Gustave Glotz,
Ancient Greece at Work. An Economic History of Greece from the Homeric Period to the
Roman Conquest, New York: Norton, 1967, pp. 231-244. This book was originally published in 1920. Also John Scarborough, Facets of Hellenic Life, Boston:
Houghton Mifflin, 1976, p. 7. However, Gulick in his edition of the Deipnosophistae, p. 123, puts the value of the robe at $130,000-in 1955 values, which is
a more realistic figure. See K. Deichgraber, Pauly's Realencyklopdie, op. at.,
21.2, p. 1301-1302. According to Athenaeus, the title o f his work in Greek
was . Aristotle's work is called De Mirabilibus
Auscultationibus (On Marvelous Things Heard) 96, W. S. Hett, ed., Aristotle, Minor Works, LCL,
L o n d o n : Heinemann, 1955, p. 279. T h e work is considered to be spurious
and a set of compilations dating from the second to the sixth century A.D.
60
Op. cit., p. 35.
101
by the Greeks for H e r a ) , and the Carthaginians about Tanit, who

eventually received it. When Carthage became a Roman city and
Caelestis took the place of Tanit as the chief goddess, her statue
was also covered with a beautiful robe. It was probably to this robe
that Tertullian referred when he said that "they who court their
idols by dressing them, and by adorning them in their sanctuary, and by saluting them at each particular hour, are said to do
them service." 6 1 Even if this robe was not the same as the one
described by Aristotle, it must have been worthy o f the honor paid
to the goddess. In the Histona Augusta we read that during a
particularly turbulent period of the empire, "the Africans ....
created an emperor, Celsus, dressing him with the robe o f the
goddess Caelestis (peplo deae Caelestis ornatum). " T h e robe represented authority and Celsus hoped that if he wore it divine sanction would be given to his imperial claim. 62
Clearly, a robe, even a simple dress, is more than a means to
cover the body. "A garment is an expression of personality"; it is
"a second skin."6S It becomes a part of the person who wears it and
reveals much about him or her, so much indeed that by simply
looking at a dress, one can have a fairly accurate impression o f
the person. A garment is an extension of the personality and a
way o f communicating with the world outside oneself. T h e garment worn by a powerful person may even absorb some of that
person's power. Thus when the prophet Elijah was taken up into
heaven by the chariot of fire, his successor, Elisha "took hold o f
De ieiunio 16; CSEL 20.296; ET.: ANF 4.113.

Tyranni Tri gin ta 29, The Scriptores Historiae Augustae, David Magie, ed.,
L o n d o n : Heinemann, 1932, vol. 3, pp. 132-133. This Celsus probably never
existed, but the so-called Thirty Tyrants were pretenders to the o f f i c e o f emperor during the third century. See B. H. Warmington, "Thirty Tyrants,"
Oxford Classical Dictionary, op. cit., pp. 1064-1065; and the comments o f David
Magie, op. at., p. 65.
63
Ernest Crawley, Dress, Drinks and Drums, L o n d o n : Methuen, 1931,
pp. 65-64. "Dress, in fact, as a secondary human character, must be treated, as
regards its origins, in the same way as human weapons, tools, and machines. Dress increases the static resisting power o f the surface o f the body,
just as tools increase the dynamic capacity o f the limbs. It is an extension
(and thereby an intension) of the passive area of the person, just as a tool is
o f the active mechanism of the arm. It is a second skin, as the other is a
second hand": p. 4. See also J. C. Flugel, The Psychology of Clothes, N e w York:
International Universities Press, 1971 (reprint of the 1930 edition); Marilyn
J. H o r n and Lois M. Gurel, The Second Skin. An Interdisciplinary
Study of
Clothing, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1975, 1981.
61
62
102
his own clothes and rent them into two pieces. And he took up the
mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him." Presently the prophet's power was transferred to him; he could even part the waters
o f the Jordan river, and the people who saw him said, " T h e spirit
o f Elijah rests on Elisha." 64 Similarly, we read that miraculous
power was attributed to the garment of Jesus. When a gravely ill
woman came to be healed, she said, "If I touch even his garments, I shall be made well." She did touch his garment and was
immediately
healed.
" A n d Jesus, perceiving
in himself
that
power had gone forth from him, immediately turned about in the
crowd and said,'Who touched my garments?'" 65
Apuleius tells us that during the process of his initiation Lucius
received twelve robes, indicating his gradual and eventually total
rebirth. Each robe represented a different stage in his transformation until the last one which, sumptuously decorated, was called
the "Olympian robe." This one showed Lucius in a state of assimilation to Isis and Osiris. 66 In the apocryphal Acts of Thomas Jesus
relates that he received a "splendid robe" which he had to take o f f
when he went to the land of the Egyptians. There he clothed himself "in garments like theirs that they might not suspect that I was
come without." After awhile he took o f f these "dirty and unclean
garments," and having returned h o m e , he saw his "splendid
robe." Suddenly
"... w h e n I saw it over against me, the ( s p l e n d i d r o b e ) b e c a m e like
me, as my r e f l e c t i o n in a mirror; I saw it ( w h o l l y ) in me, a n d in
it I saw myself ( q u i t e ) apart ( f r o m m y s e l f ) , so that we w e r e two in
distinction, and again o n e in a single f o r m ,.." 6 7
T h e "splendid r o b e " here means, of course, the heavenly ego o f

Jesus.
When someone puts on new garments, he/she must first take
o f f the old ones. Apuleius, too, was naked momentarily (see Griffiths, p. 309) which did embarrass him. Similarly, in the early
64
65
66
2 Kings 2.9-15.
Mark 5.25-30; Luke 8.43-46.
Metamorphoses 11.24, see also J. Gwyn Griffiths, The Isis Book, pp. 310-
314.
67
Acts of Thomas 108-113, Hennecke-Schneemelcher, op. cil. vol. 2, pp. 498504. Compare this with the "garment of ladyship" given to Inanna in
Inanna's Descent to the Nether World, Pritchard, ANET, 53, as analyzed by
Judith Ochshorn, op. cit. p. 48.
103
Christian practice of baptism spiritual rebirth was symbolized not

only by going under water and re-emerging again, but by the
very real act o f taking o f f the old clothing and putting on new
ones. 68
W h e n Revelation 12 says that the woman who appeared in
heaven was "clothed with the sun," the significance of the statement cannot be overestimated. She is wearing the sun as her robe,
and that robe is the expression o f her personality; that is how she
is to be regarded by the rest o f the world. But how did pagan
mythology view the sun? Personified as Helios or Sol, the sun
was conceived o f by the Greeks and Romans as the ruler o f the
entire universe and the power that regulates the flow and rhythm
o f the cosmos. T h e effect of the sun on life is obvious; everyone
can see it. It was not without reason that the "heretic king" Akhenaton promoted the Aton, i.e., the sun-disc, as the "sole g o d . " In
his beautiful hymn, 69 he praised Aton as a radiant energy f r o m
which all life arose and by which everything was sustained.
While his religious reform was doomed to failure, the thought of
a sole sun-god continued. By the end of the Hellenistic age, there
was a definite tendency toward the development of a sun-cult, i.e.,
a religion in which the functions of all gods and goddesses would
be m e r g e d into the one image o f the sun.70 Macrobius, in the
early fifth century A.D., said exactly this: all gods are identical
with the sun. H e also explained that since the planets rule the fate
o f men and the sun leads the planets, it is clear that the sun is the
ultimate reason of everything. 71 H e is "pantokrator," the soul of
the cosmos, the energy of the cosmos, the light of the cosmos.
68
This issue was treated by Jonathan Z. Smith, " T h e G a r m e n t o f
Shame." History of Religions 5 (1966) 217-238. See also Dennis R. MacDonald,
There is No Male and Female. The Fate of a Dominical Saying in Paul. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1987. Ritual nudity in paganism has been treated by
F. Pfister, "Nacktheit." Pauly-Wissowa, op. cit. 16/2, 1541-49.
69
See f o o t n o t e #11 above. On Akhenaton and his sun-cult, see F. G.
Bratton, The First Heretic. The Life and Times of Ikhnaton the King, Boston: Beacon
Press, 1961; Leslie A. White, "Ikhnaton: T h e Great Man vs. the Cultural
Process," Journal of the American Oriental Society 68 (1948): 91-103; F.J. Giles,
Ikhnaton, Legend and History, London: Hutchinson, 1970.
70
Martin P. Nilsson, Geschichte der Griechischen Religion, Mnchen: Beck,
1961 (2nd ed.), vol. 2, pp. 507-519.
71
Saturnalia 1.17.3 ff and 1.19.7 ff. See also the emperor Julian's Oratio 4
on the Dies Natalis Invicti. For the development of the sun cult in Rome, see
Gaston H. Halsberghe, The Cult of Sol Invictus, Leiden: Brill, 1977.
104
This is the garment with which the woman in Revelation 12 was

clothed.
Thus clothed, she is revealed in a state of assimilation to the
divine principle, as united with God. This is hieros gamos on the
most exalted level. Under her feet is the moon. While the sun was
usually personified as male, with a radiant crown on his head,
the moon was female, Selene or Luna, and associated with female
functions. Nothing is more natural than that these two heavenly
bodies would be associated in mythology and popular religion,
which indeed happened very early. Selene was l o o k e d upon as
the wife of Helios. T h e conjunction o f sun and moon was called
in Greek, = coming together; the same word is also used
in a sexual sense, i.e., coitus, means to
marry, and as this became a technical term, the word was
often omitted from the phrase. 72 There is a marriage relationship
between the sun and the moon, and people regarded the day o f
the new moon as particularly favorable for a wedding. 7 3
This is the vision of Revelation 12.1: the woman has been hypostatically united with the divine, and in her person, standing on
the moon, the sun and the moon are brought together in a conjunction which carries elements o f a great "coming together," a
cosmic hieros gamos. This image points toward the eschatological
marriage feast at the end of the book. T h e picture is soon obscured
by the following verses, but the image is there and it does have a
message. 74
72
William F. Arndt and F. Wilbur Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of
the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Chicago: University of
C h i c a g o University o f Chicago Press, 1957, pp. 795-796; W. H . Roscher,
" M o n d g t t i n " Roscher, op. cit. 2.3119-3200; A. Rapp, "Helios," Roscher, op.
cit., pp. 1993-2026. Karl Kernyi, "Vater Helios," Eranos Jahrbuch 10 (1943):
81-124; Karl Kernyi, Tochter der Sonne, Zrich: Rascher Verlag, 1944.
73
What Elagabalus did when he "married" his sun-god to Caelestis (see
above, Chapter I I ) was in itself not at all a revolting idea. It was the
ceremonies attending the cult and the obvious dementia o f Elagabalus that
caused his downfall.
74
T h e flight of the woman into the wilderness is o n e argument that
scholars opposed to the Marian interpretation of Rev. 12 often use. But as I
observed above, there is no interpretation which would be o n e hundred
percent satisfactory. It is in the nature of myths that they have many variants
o f t e n contradictory to each other, as anybody with an even superficial
knowledge of pagan mythology knows. W e must accept the fact that this is so
in Rev. 12, too, and should resist the temptation to look for a logical,
systematic presentation of a thesis in it.
T h e r e is another vision o f a woman in Revelation whose clothing also expresses her identity. This is
... the g r e a t w h o r e , e n t h r o n e d above the o c e a n . T h e kings o f the
earth have c o m m i t t e d f o r n i c a t i o n with her, and o n the w i n e o f
h e r f o r n i c a t i o n m e n all o v e r t h e w o r l d have m a d e t h e m s e l v e s
drunk ... I saw a w o m a n m o u n t e d o n a scarlet beast w h i c h was
c o v e r e d with b l a s p h e m o u s names and had seven heads a n d ten
h o r n s . T h e w o m a n was c l o t h e d in p u r p l e a n d scarlet a n d
b e d i z e n e d with g o l d and j e w e l s and pearls. In her h a n d she h e l d
a g o l d cup, full o f obscenities and the fondness o f her f o r n i c a t i o n ;
and written o n her f o r e h e a d was a n a m e with a secret m e a n i n g :
"Babylon the great, the m o t h e r o f w h o r e s and o f every obscenity
o n e a r t h . " T h e w o m a n I saw was drunk with the b l o o d o f G o d ' s
p e o p l e and with the b l o o d o f those w h o had b o r n e their testimony
to Jesus... 75
T h e following verses o f f e r an explanation o f the vision: the

woman is "the great city" which most modern interpreters take to
be Rome, since Babylon in literal sense is out of the question. 76
But there are certain elements in this vision which conjure up the
image of a pagan goddess. T h e robe o f this woman, decorated
with jewels and pearls, is similar to those that clothed the statues
o f goddesses, who were commonly associated with wild beasts,
such as lions. H o m e r called Artemis
, and the
image of a goddess as the mistress o f wild animals is a familiar

one in pagan mythology and art.77 A m o n g the wild animals the
lion is often depicted, sometimes surrounding the throne of the
goddess, sometimes bearing the goddess on its back. 78 T h e lion
was part of the retinue of the Dea Syna and in a favorite representation of Cybele, she sits in a chariot drawn by lions. 79 T h e association o f this woman with a city is also typical of pagan goddesses.
As we have seen above, they were often protective deities o f cities
and were identified as the "genius" of that particular city. Thus
they were sometimes represented with a city wall as a crown on
17.1-6, from the New English Bible.

So Kuhn in the TWNT
1.512-514, article "Babylon." An exception
seems to be E. Lohmeyer, op. at. ad loc.
77
Iliad 21.470. See to this Chris Winter, Frau und Gttin. Gttingen:
Vandenhoeck to Ruprecht, 1983, pp. 185-186 and the illustration reprinted at
the end of the book.
78
Winter, op. cit. pictures #253, 487-491 and others.
79
Lucian, op. at., ch. 15; see to this the comments of Hrig, op. at. pp. 51128.
75
76
106
their heads, as were Cybele and the Artemis of Ephesus. T h e r e is,

however, a deeper analogy: a city is like a woman who bears,
nurtures, and protects her children. T h e city is a woman in a
symbolic sense. In Revelation 17, "the great whore" is associated
with a sinful entity, Babylon, which is then contrasted with the
new city, Jeruselem "coming down out o f heaven f r o m
made ready like a bride adorned for her
husband." 80
God,
T h e city as
the "great w h o r e " represents chaos; the true city, however, is a

holy place, in which chaos and chaotic powers are conquered. 8 1
Whatever the interpretation of this woman may be, the image
is clearly patterned after that of a pagan goddess. I suggest that this
goddess was Cybele to whose image Christians in Asia M i n o r
were most often exposed. They were exposed to an image o f the
goddess wearing a richly decorated robe, with a symbolic wall on
her head, and accompanied by lions. They were exposed
to
orgiastic, chaotic celebrations, promiscuity which Christians associated with the sin of fornication. T h e words with which she is
most identified reminded Christians in Asia M i n o r o f Cybele:
"Babylon the great, mother of whores ... " If we leave out the
comma, it is not difficult to read in verse 17.5 " ,"
i.e. "the great mother." Possibly Christians in Asia Minor could
read between
the lines. From
this sinful mystery they were
called away into the mystery o f Jesus: " C o m e out of her, my

people, lest you take part in her sins and share in her plagues ...
She says in her heart, am a queen on my throne ...' Because o f
this, her plagues shall strike her in a single day ... no more shall
the sound of harps and minstrels, of flute players and trumpeters
be heard in you ..."82 Cybele's orgiastic celebrations which were
accompanied by just such music. Cybele, for the author, is the
incorporated sum of all demonic powers, she is Babylon, a city
which gives birth to, nourishes and protects all those forces and
activities that are inimical to the rule of God.
80
21.2.
Mircea Eliade, Cosmos and History. The Myth of the Eternal Return. N e w
York: Harper, 1959 discusses this issue; see also the summaries in R u d o l f
Halver, Der Mythos im letzten Buch der Bibel. Hamburg: H. Reich, 1964, pp. 111114. See to this also below our discussion o f the dragon.
82
18. 4-24. Possibly 14.4 also refers to Cybele if the plural
originally read in the singular : those who did not defile themselves with the cult of Magna Mater. U. Burch, Anthropology and the Apocalypse.
London, 1939 quoted by Halver, op. at., p. 100-102.
81
T h e whorish queen is contrasted with the queen of heaven: one

is in alliance with chaotic elements, the other opposes them. O n e
is clothed with purple and scarlet, colors associated with destruction, 83 the other with the sun, the divine element itself. T h e "hieros
gamos" of one is fornication, of the other it is the consummation o f
the eschatological union between heaven and earth.
This leads us back to the heilsgeschichtliche view of biblical history, characterized by the principle of Urzeit and Endzeit, and the
work of H. Gunkel who pointed to the relationship between Genesis and Revelation. W e find that the clothing o f the woman in
Revelation 12 fits this pattern perfectly. After the Fall, according to
Genesis, Adam and Eve lost their original clothing and their bodies were covered with fig leaves (Gen. 3.7) According to Jewish
and early Christian interpretations they were orginally clothed
in "garments o f glory" and "garments o f light" which will be
restored to them at the end of time. At the eschatological marriage
feast such a robe will be a requirement (Rev. 22.14; Mt. 22.11); it is
acquired in baptism. Eve lost her robe of glory in the Fall which,
according to the Revelation of Moses, she lamented with
these
words: "And in that very hour mine eyes were o p e n e d , and I

knew that I was stripped of the righteousness with which I had
been clothed; and I wept saying, What is this thou hast done to
me, because I have been deprived of the glory with which I was
clothed?" 8 4 Now, in Revelation 12, Eve appears restored in her original robe of glory. This is the ultimate message of the "woman
clothed with the sun."
W e turn now to the astral motifs. But first let us summarize
what we have thus far discussed. In the pagan view, heaven was
seen as a dome and also as a cosmic robe. A robe is an expression
and an extension of its wearer's personality. Thus, if Revelation 12
is indeed based on pagan mythological presuppositions, the woman who appeared to the seer is a celestial figure whose cosmic
robe demonstrates her divine authority. T h e contrast between her
See below, T h e Dragon.
ANF 8, 567. My attention was called to this passage by Sebastian Brock,
"Clothing Metaphors as a Means of Theological Expression in Syriac Tradition," in Typus, Symbol, Allegone bei den stlichen Vter und ihren Parallelen in
Mittelalter. H e r a n s g e g e b e n von Margot Schmidt in Zusammenarbeit mit
Carl Friedrich Geyer. Regensburg: Verlag Friedrich Pustet, 1981, pp. 11-38.
See also E. Peterson, "Theologie des Kleides," Benediktinische Monatsschrift 16
(1934), 347-56.
83
84
108
attire and that o f the "great whore" in ch. 17.1-6 further enhances
the image o f the woman in Revelation 12.1 as that o f a heavenly
figure who is deeply involved in the process o f the final consummation.
3. The Astral Motifs
Stars and constellations permeate the whole story we are studying. Such celestial images are essential to representations o f
"heavenly queens." T o the ancient Greeks and Romans, stars and
constellations were living beings, each with its peculiar personality. Traces o f this belief are reflected in the New Testament, as,
f o r example, when, in connection with the resurrection, Paul
speaks about "celestial bodies" and "terrestrial bodies" whose
"glory" differs from one another. "There is one glory of the sun,
and another glory o f the moon, and another glory o f the stars; for
o n e star differs f r o m another star in glory." 8 5 This view is based
on a system o f magic in which the planets f i g u r e d as intermediary
beings possessing various characteristics which
the
Greeks called .
Planets were not the only intermediaries, however. Ancient
daemonology posited the existence o f a host of daemons, that is,
mediators, between gods and men. Plato (429-347 B.C.) had distinguished daemons from gods and men, assigning to daemons
the role o f mediators in creation and generally in leading the
world. 8 6 Eventually the Neoplatonic philosophers 8 7 developed a
hierarchical order, descending f r o m the gods to archangels,
angels, and daemons down to men. Depending on their proximity to the gods, the bodies of the daemons may be air, water, or
steam; the closer they are to men, the m o r e their bodies will
consist o f a material substance. All o f them, however, belong to
the same universal world-soul. Thus by conceiving this system,
the philosophers not only preserved the unity of the universe but
also assured the possibility o f communication between the divine
1 Cor. 15.4041.
Symposium 202D: "
. " ( T h e whole of the daimonion is between divine and mortal.) Plato,
Symposium, W.R. M. Lamb, ed., LCC, Cambridge, Mass: Harvard, 1967, pp.
202-203.
87
Especially Porphyry (232-305 A . D . ) ; Iambiichos (250-325 A . D . ) ; and
Proclus (410-485 A.D.).
85
86
and the human. 88 Through the daemons, the divine penetrates

into the lowest regions o f the universe; it is present and accessible
in the sensible and physical. By contacting or perceiving the
" d a e m o n " in a certain physical object, an ascent toward the
divine is possible. This linking o f the universe from its highest to
its lowest parts constitutes the principle o f "sympathy" which
permeates everything.
Such "sympathy" implies interdependence as well, and since
power also descends from the higher to the lower, so does the
exerdon o f influence work from above to below. Thus the heavenly bodies and their movements were understood to affect the lives
o f men: belief in a mystical cosmic harmony meant that events
in heaven were thought to have their reflection on earth. This
thought pattern, which can be followed from the epics o f H o m e r
down to the book of Revelation, is known to us as astrology, which
claims to study the influences of the celestial bodies on human
desdny. T h e seven planets, that is, the stars which appear to have
modons of their own, 89 are, in order of their closeness to the earth,
the M o o n , Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. T h e
motions of these planets take place in a sphere called the zodiac. 90
T h e zodiac is divided into twelve constellations, called Aries,
Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius,
Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces. Each month the sun passes
through one o f these "signs", thus enhancing the influence o f
that constellation on the earth. Ancient astrology and magic also
held that the soul is prexistent and descends into a material body
by way o f the planets and the fixed stars.91 From each celestial
body the soul was understood to absorb a certain , thus at
birth not only the basic character of the person was thought to be
determined, but also the basic pattern o f his or her earthly destiny. T o cast a horoscope, an astrologer finds the exact constellations at the moment of birth and then applies the relevant to
the person in question. T h e author o f Revelation gives us every
reason to believe that he was familiar with these principles o f
See Hopfner, op. at., pp. 327-328; S. Benko, Pagan Rome ..., pp. 103.
= wanderer.
90
= animal; = sculpture o f an animal; = the
circle containing such figures.
91
Plato, Timaeus, 34B-35A. R. D. Archer-Hind, The Timaeus of Plato,
L o n d o n : Macmillan, pp. 104-150.
88
89
110
cosmic harmony and sympathy, and keeping this in mind, we

may see his book in a broader dimension.
T h e vision of Revelation 12 takes place in the sky, and many
actors in the celestial drama are those personified constellations
that were so familiar to everyone living in the early Roman Empire. Several references seem to call for not merely mythological
but also astrological explanations. T h e following items mentioned
in the text may have astral meanings: 92
The
Crown on the woman's head recalls the
constellation
( C o r o n a ) which according to Greek mythology was
placed in heaven to commemorate Ariadne, the tragic lover of

Theseus (Rev. 12.1).
The Dragon is a constellation called in Greek (Draco in
Latin) and was identified either with the dragon killed by Cadmus or the Python killed by Apollo (Rev. 12.3).
The Hydra ( " ) , or Water-Snake, consists o f stars f o r m i n g
coils and tails. A similar constellation
is the Snake
(")
(Rev. 12.14).
The Eagle ('; Aquila), also a constellation, was a bird sacred
to Zeus (Rev. 12.14).
Aquarius, as such, is not mentioned in Revelation 12, but this is
the "Water-Pourer" who was connected with Deucalion, the Noah
o f Greek mythology. H e is represented as a man holding an urn
f r o m which water pours out, an image similar to the one presented in Revelation 12.15.
T h e overwhelming figure in the vision, however, is a woman
clothed with the sun, under whose feet is the moon, and who
wears a crown of twelve stars. Any Greek or Roman reading such
a description would have thought o f the constellation
Virgo
( ; V i r g i n ) , the sixth sign of the zodiac who was repre92

Thomas L Heath and Otto E. Neugebauer,"Constellations," Oxford Classical Dictionary, op. cit., pp. 282-285; F. Boll and W. Gundel, "Sternbilder."
Roscher, Lexicon ..., op. cit., vol. 6, pp. 867-1070. Franz Boll: Aus der Offenbarung
Johannis. Hellenistische Studien zum Weltbild der Apokalypse, L e i p z i g / B e r l i n :
Teubner, 1914; F. Boll, Sphaera. Neue griechische Texte und Untersuchungen zur
Geschichte der Sternbilder, Leipzig: Teubner, 1903; F. Boll, Sternglaube und Sterndeutung. Die Geschichte und Wesen der Astrologie. Leipzig and Berlin: T e u b n e r ,
1931 (1st edition 1919); F. Boll, "Der Stern der Weisen," Zeitschrift fr die
neutestamentliche Wissenschaft, 18 (1917/18), 41-48; Werner Foerster, ' ,
, TWNT
1.501-502. A l f r e d Jeremias, "Sterne (Bei den Babyloniern)"
Roscher, op. dt., vol. 4.1427-1500; George Thiele, Antike Himmelsbilder, Berlin:
Weidmann, 1898, pp. 65-66, 97.
111 T H E IMAGE OF T H E GODDESS IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
sented as a woman holding an ear of corn and having wings. A

Hellenistic work described this sign as follows:
T h e V i r g i n . H e s i o d in his T h e o g o n y has called her the d a u g h t e r
o f Zeus and T h e m i s , and she is called 'Justice" ( ) . 9 3 But after
mortals had c h a n g e d their ways and n o l o n g e r c a r e d f o r j u s t
behavior, she n o l o n g e r d w e l l e d a m o n g t h e m but d e p a r t e d i n t o
the m o u n t a i n s . A f t e r w a r d s , w h e n strife and war had b e c o m e
e n d e m i c a m o n g m e n d u e to their savage injustice, she a s c e n d e d
i n t o heaven. T h e r e are also the most n u m e r o u s accounts c o n c e r n i n g her: S o m e say she is Demeter because she holds an ear o f corn.
O t h e r s say she is Isis. Still others call her, Atargatis, others, Fate
(Tyche) because they give her a headless f o r m . She has o n e d i m
star on top o f her head, o n e o n top o f each s h o u l d e r , and two o n
each wing. T h e star on the right wing, between the s h o u l d e r a n d
the top o f the wing, is called Protrugeter,94 T h e r e is o n e star u p o n
each elbow, and o n e upon each tip o f the hands, the bright star o f
the left hand is called Stachus.95 U p o n the e d g e o f her g a r m e n t
there are six dim stars ... o n e u p o n each f o o t . T h e sum total o f all
are twenty. 9 6
Thus the image o f a woman standing in the sky was one with
which p e o p l e were familiar and to which they could relate.
Apuleius also pictured Isis as a celestial figure.97 On her forehead
she wore a shining round disc like the moon, held up by snakes
rising from the earth; behind her head appeared ears of corn. She
93
Hesiod, Theogony 901-902; See Works and Days 256, Aratus, Phaenomena
99- 136, in Maass, Ernestus, Arati Phaenomena, Berlin: Weidmann, 1955, pp.
9-11. See also Ovid, Fasti 1.248-250. Justice was put to flight by the sin of
mortals; she was the last of celestials to forsake the earth. Metamorphoses
1.149-150: "Victa jacet pietas et Virgo caede madentes, Ultima caelestum, terras
Astraea reliquit. " (Piety was over-thrown and the Virgin, Astraea, the last of
the celestials, left the blood-sweating earth.) Also, Juvenal, Satire 6.1-20: "In
older days when Saturn ruled the earth, and men were housed in cold
caves, chastity stayed on earth, ... Justice, however, left earth for heaven and
took her sister, Chastity, along." After these, the Christian Lactantius,
Divinae Institutiones 5.5 ( A N F 7.140).
94
Literally translated, this means "before the vintage." It is also the
name of a star in the constellation of Virgo which the Romans called Vindemiatrix, or Vindemiator.
95
"Ear of corn, " in Latin spica.
96
Psuedo-Eratosthenes, Catasterismi 9. T h e Greek text is in Alexander
Olivieri, Psuedo-Eratosthenis Catasterismi, Lipsiae: Teubner, 1897, (Mythographi
Graeci, III.l), pp. 11-12. The word comes from and ,
thus the meaning is "placing among the stars." There is a break in the text
which probably indicated where the twentieth star should be; as it is we
only have the positions of nineteen.
97
Metamorphoses 11.3-5. See also J. Gwyn Griffiths, Apuleius of Madauros.
The Isis Book (Metamorphoses, Book XI), Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1975, pp. 114- 117.
112
T H E IMAGE OF T H E GODDESS IN THE N E W T E S T A M E N T
identified herself with the great fertility goddesses, among them

Juno. Indeed, Martianus Capella described Juno in a similar way.
In his story, Juno, seated upon a throne next to Jupiter, wore on her
head a mantilla
on which was a diadem
set with
precious
stones. 9 8 Other gods and goddesses came b e f o r e them, among

them Saturn, holding a
fire-breathing
dragon, then Sol (= Sun)
and Luna (= M o o n ) . Jupiter addressed them in this fashion:

"People of the stars ... " " Here, then, we find again the familiar
actors in the cosmic drama of Revelation 12: the sun, the m o o n ,
the dragon, and the stars. Mardanus referred to Juno as "regina
coeli" queen of heaven, a common epithet, but for us it is interesting that he described Juno's jewelry and appearance in association with the stars in such a way that immediately calls to mind
the woman clothed with the sun, who wore on her head a crown
o f twelve stars.100
In this connection must be mentioned the so-called Carvoran
inscription. This inscription, left behind by a Roman
soldier,
Donatianus, in the wall o f Hadrian in Northumberland around

the third century, reads as follows:
I m m i n e t L e o n i V i r g o caelesti situ
Spicifera, iusti inventrix, urbium conditrix,
Ex quis muneribus nosse contigit deos,
E r g o e a d e m mater divum, pax, virtus, Ceres,
D e a Syria, lance vitam et iura pensitans.
In caelo visum Syria sidus e d i d i t
L i b y a e c o l e n d u m . I n d e cuncti didicimus.
Ita intellexit n u m i n e inductus tuo
Marcus Caecilius Donatianus militans
T r i b u n u s in p r a e f e c t o d o n o principis.
T h e V i r g o stands by L e o in the heavenly place
the bearer o f ears o f corn, the inventor o f justice,
the f o u n d e r o f cities,
out o f whose m u n i f i c e n c e o n e can know the gods,
the same is, t h e r e f o r e , the m o t h e r o f the gods, Peace,
98
"Cui gemmis insitum diadema pretiosis," Ch. 67. A. Dick, op. cit.,
p. 31. In Ch. 75 the Sun (Sol) is said to have worn a crown with twelve
burning stones: "Erat illi in circulum ducta fulgens corona, quae duodecim flammis
ignitorum lapidum fulgorabat": A. Dick, op. at., p. 34.
99
W. Stahl, op. cit., p. 31.
100
See to this Carl Clemen, Religionsgeschichtliche Erklrung des Neuen
Testaments, Glessen: Tpelmann, 1909, pp. 78-79, for a review of the authors
who bring the twelve stars in connection with the zodiac.
113 T H E IMAGE OF T H E GODDESS I N T H E NEW TESTAMENT

Virtue, Ceres,
the Syrian goddess, w e i g h i n g with a scale life and right.
Syria h a n d e d o n the constellation seen o n the sky
to Lybia to cultivate. T h e n c e we all learned (the cult).
I n d u c e d ( o r m o v e d ) by your divinity thus u n d e r s t o o d
Marcus Caecilius Donatianus serving as a soldier
tribune, by the grace o f the e m p e r o r , a prefect. 1 0 1
This inscription was first applied to Revelation 12 by A. Dieterich in 1891.102 After him many others referred to it, and for our
own investigation it is an important reference because it reflects
popular piety around the second century A.D., at which time the
great fertility goddesses from Syria to Lybia and R o m e were
considered to be "the same." They were all viewed as images o f
the Virgo, a celestial divinity who was also the mother o f the gods.
T h e Roman soldier and the Christian visionary both see a
woman appearing in the sky, and for both she is a divine and
royal figure. This is not just a coincidence. T h e concept o f the
constellation Virgo was destined to play an unusual role in Christian theology just about the time when the inscription of Donatianus was written. A r o u n d the middle o f the second century,
Christians began to return to their pagan intellectual origins,
referring to and quoting Greek and Roman authors. 103 Soon they
rediscovered Virgil, especially his Fourth Eclogue in which the
poet sings about the return of the "golden age," the rule of Saturn.
This beautiful and mysterious poem written in 40 B.C. centers
around the birth of a child whose coming will usher in a new
age, free o f every sort o f wickedness which thus far has hung
over mankind as an evil curse. "Iam redit et Virgo, redeunt Saturnia
regna." "Now returns the Virgo, returns Saturn's rule," 1 0 4 Virgil
says, and from the context it is clear that he was referring to the
101
CIL 7, #759, p. 137; Franciscus Buecheler, Carmina Latina Epigraphica.
Leipzig: Teubner, 1895, #24, p. 15.
102
Abraxas, p. 111. For later references see, among others, J. Dlger,
"Die Himmelsknigin ...," op. t. A von Domaszewszki, "Virgo Caelestis"
in Orientalische Studien. ( T h e o d o r Noldke zum siebzigten Geburtstag.) Carl
Bezold, editor. Gieszen: Tpelmann, 1906, vol. 2, pp. 861-863 connected the
Carvoran inscription with Virgil, Aeneis 4.58 and Caelestis of Carthage.
103
T h e first Christian to quote directly from a Greek pagan was Justin
Martyr (d. 165 A.D.), while Minucius Felix (d. 240 A.D.) was the first
Christian to use a direct quotation from a Latin pagan author. See to this
problem W. Krause, Die Stellung der frhchristlichen Autoren zur heidnischen
Literatur, Wien: Herder, 1958.
104
Line 6.
114
constellation Virgo, whose return from heaven to earth meant that

the conditions which forced her departure from earth, i.e., the
proliferation o f sin and evil, have been eliminated. It was, o f
course, not difficult for Christians to put the emphasis upon the
meaning of the word Virgo, Virgin. While this was legitimate for
pagans as well, the Virgin par excellence for Christians was the
mother o f Jesus. A n d so in Christian interpretation Virgil's poetic
line became a reference to Mary. T h e first Christian work to
make this positive identification was the Oratio ad Coetum Sanctorum, a g o o d Friday sermon ascribed to Constandne the Great (285337) and composed around A.D. 323.105 T h e rest o f Virgil's poem
underwent a similar allegorization and eventually Virgil himself
was regarded as a prophet who foretold the birth o f Christ. But
, or Virgo,
in Greco-Roman religious usage can also
mean any one of the "virgin" goddesses Demeter, Juno, Isis,

Atargatis, Caelesds, and Aphrodite, to name a few. T h e question
is, then, could Christians interpret Virgil's poem as a reference to
Mary if some form of mental association between the image of a
virgin goddess and Mary had not already taken place? Whatever
the answer to this question may be, the fact remains that in this
case there is a direct overlapping o f the pagan Virgo and the
Christian Mary. In other words, it was in the interpretation of the
Fourth
Eclogue that Christians openly identified Mary with the
celestial virgin goddess of paganism.

O n c e again, the astral motifs in Revelation 12 are very close to
those used in pagan mythologies to describe and characterize
goddesses: the association with sun and moon, the use o f the stars
as decorations, jewels in a crown, or on a robe are all devices to
illustrate the high position of the goddess. In Revelation 12 all this
is present and one thing more: the image of the constellation Virgo
is strongly implied in the text, and this places the image once
again into a cosmological context. T h e Virgo left the world when
the present conditions arose and will return at the end, when the
"golden age" is reestablished. According to Greco-Roman mythology, the return of the Virgin is a sign that "the end is near," and
this is what Revelation 12 indicates. T h e sign of the Virgo appeared
105
B e f o r e him Cyprian (200-258) and Lactantius (240-320) already
utilized the Fourth Eclogue in other contexts. See S. Benko, "Virgil's Fourth
Eclogue ...," op. at.
in the sky; this can mean only one thing, namely, that the
damage done "in the beginning" has been repaired and the Kingdom of God, to use now Christian terminology, is near.
4. The Cosmic Battle
Immediately after the woman, a second portent appears in heaven: a great red dragon who in a desperate struggle tries to destroy
the woman, eventually by pouring water after her. Thus begins
the great battle which introduces the visions o f the end-time, a
motif first discussed by H . Gunkel and later explored by many
scholars. 106 T w o elements relate directly to our understanding o f
the woman's role in the drama: first, the figure of the dragon, and
second, the significance of water in the cosmic scheme.
a. T h e Dragon
T h e dragon is a familiar figure in the mythologies o f many
peoples. In the Old Testament it appears under the names o f "Leviathan," "Monster," "Serpent," and "Rahab" (= "Rager"). Because
these monsters are usually associated with the sea, often the sea itself is named as the personification of evil. Whatever their name,
106 H e r m a n n Gunkel, Schpfung und Chaos in Urzeit und Endzeit. Eine

religionsgeschichtliche Untersuchung ber Gen. 1 and Ap. Joh. 12, Gttingen: Vandenhoeck and Reprecht, 1895. Otto Kaiser, Die Mythische Bedeutung des Meeres
in gypten, Ugarit und Israel, Berlin: Tpelmann, 1962, esp. pp. 140-159. Robert
Graves and Raphael Patai, Hebrew Myths: The Book of Genesis, New York:
McGraw-Hill, 1964, pp. 21-54. R. Merkelbach, "Drache," Reallexikon fr Antike
und Christentum, Stuttgart: Anton Hiersemann, 1954, vol. 4, pp. 226- 250. Theodor H. Gaster, "Cosmogony," The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, Nashville:
Abingdon, 1962, vol. 3, p. 316. Howard Wallace, "Leviathan and the Beast in
Revelation," The Biblical Archeologist (1948): 61-68; Marvin H . Pope, Job ( T h e
A n c h o r Bible, vol. 15), Garden City, N.Y. Doubleday, 1965, pp. 265-279
(comments on " B e h e m o t h " and "Leviathan"). Biblical commentaries: Hermannn Gunkel, Genesis, Gttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1922; John
Skinner, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Genesis, N e w York: Charles
Scribner's Sons, 1925; Cuthbert A. Simpson, The Book of Genesis, T h e Interpreter's Bible, vol. 1, New York/Nashville: Abingdon Cokesbury Press, 1952,
pp. 437 ff. A new addition to this literature is John Day, God's Conflict with the
Dragon and the Sea in the Old Testament, N e w York: Cambridge University
Press, 1985; Susan Niditch, Chaos to Cosmos: Studies in Biblical Patterns of Creation, Chico, Calif.: Scholar's Press, 1985. Carola Kloos, YHWH's Combat with
the Sea. A Canaanite Tradition in the Religion of Ancient Israel. Leiden: E. J. Brill,
1986 analyzes Psalm 29 and the Red Sea Story. T h e dragon's image in Rev.
12 was investigated by A. Y. Collins, The Combat Myth in the Book of Revelation.
Missoula, Montana: Scholar's Press, 1976.
116
they are always enemies of God; thus we have in the O l d Testament the familiar juxtaposition of God versus the "serpent." 1 0 7 In
Sumerian and Babylonian mythology, the sea monster is called
Tiamat and her husband is Apsu. Their chaotic unions issued in
dragon-like monsters, whose eventual fight set the stage for the
creation o f mankind. 108 In Canaanite mythology, the chief actors
are Baal, who represents fertility and life; Anath, his f e m a l e
counterpart; and Mot, g o d of sterility and death. Baal's first conflict was with the waters, whose unruliness and tyranny had to be
subdued before life could begin. Baal achieved this victory in a
successful battle with Yam, i.e., the dragon, the L o r d o f the Sea.
107
Some relevant texts are: Job 3.18, 7.12, 9.13, 26.12, 41.1-11; Ps. 74.13- 14,
89.10, 104.26, 148.7; Isa. 14.29, 27.1, 30.6, 51.9; Ezek. 29.3, 32.2; Dan. 7.7;
A m o s 9.3; Habakkuk 3.13, 15. T o these texts we may add f r o m early
Christian literature Hermas, Pastor, Vision 4: Hermas went out on the
Campanian way and f r o m a cloud o f dust a large beast, "something like a
semi- monster," appeared to him; it was about a hundred feet long, and its
head was like a wine-jar. It came upon Hermas with a great rush, but it was
subdued by the faith o f Hermas and stretched out on the ground. Presently, a
girl came about whom Hermas immediately recognized as the church. She
explained to him that the beast means great affliction, but those who have
faith will be saved. E. J. Goodspeed, The Apostolic Fathers, N e w York: Harper,
1950, p. 120. Also, the Pistis Sophia 66: T h e emanations pursued Pistis Sophia,
and o n e o f them transformed itself into the f o r m o f a basilisk with seven
heads, the other into the form o f a dragon ( ) . They threatened Pistis
Sophia and led her back into the chaos. Carl Schmidt, Koptisch Gnostische
Schriften, Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 1959, pp. 88-89. In the newly published
English translation o f the Greek magical papyri occurs the f o l l o w i n g
sentence: " ... in the parts toward the west you have the shape of a crocodile,
with the tail of a snake, f r o m which you send out rains and snows; in the
parts toward the east you have (the f o r m o f ) a winged dragon, a diadem
fashioned o f air, with which you quell all discords beneath the heaven and
on earth ... " T h e incantation is addressed to God whose name is given in
numerous forms. Investigating the Apocalypse from the point o f view o f the
magical papyri is still to be made; it is a fascinating assumption, however,
that the author was not only familiar with pagan mythological concepts, but
with magical formulas, too. See Hans Dieter Betz, The Greek Magical Papyri in
Translation,
Chicago: University o f Chicago Press, 1986, p. 16; PGM
II,
110-114.
108
"Enuma Elish," in James B. Pritchard, Ancient Near Eastern Texts
Relating to the Old Testament, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1955,
pp. 60-72. A l f r e d Jeremias, Das Alte Testament in Lichte des Alten Orients, Leipzig: J.C. Hinrichs'sche Buchhandlung, 1916, pp. 6-34. Samuel Noah Kramer,
History Begins at Sumer, New York: Doubleday, 1958, pp. 170-181. ' T i a m a t " is
philologically the same as " t e h o m " in Hebrew, i.e., the " d e e p , " in Gen. 1.2
"Rahab" means "Rager" and "Leviathan" is a linguistic relative o f the word
"tannin," i.e., "monster." See also Pritchard, op. cit., pp. 125-126; Samuel
N o a h Kramer, ed., Mythologies of the Ancient World, Garden City, N.Y.:
Doubleday, 1961, pp. 151, 174.
T h e waters could now be distributed advantageously and Baal was

worshipped as the g o d of rainfall who rode upon the clouds. 109 In
later developments the myth assumed the character of dying and
rising gods, i.e., the agricultural cycles: Mot caused the death o f
Baal until through the energetic intervention of Anath he was
restored to life and the rains returned. 110
Greek mythology, although somewhat remote f r o m its N e a r
Eastern counterparts, shows some similarities to it. 111 In these
myths the destructive force appears as a dragon, a serpent, or a
monster, sometimes with the names of "Hydra," " T y p h o n " or
"Typhaon," or "Pytho," who are eventually killed by a g o d or a
hero. These stories, then, exist in many versions, expressing the
same thought in several variations and in different frameworks. 112
109
E.O. James, The Ancient Gods, New York: Putnam, 1960, pp. 87-90; J.
Ray, "Baal," The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, 1.328-329; Cyrus H .
G o r d o n , "Canaanite M y t h o l o g y , " Mythologies of the Ancient World, S. N .
Kramer, ed., pp. 184-201; T h e o d o r H. Gaster, Thespis. Ritual, Myth and Drama
in the Ancient Near East. N e w York: Henry Schuman, 1950.
110
Anath remained a popular goddess in the Ancient Near East and was
o n e o f the few absorbed into Egyptian mythology. She appears in the Old
Testament under the name of the father of Shamgar, one of the Judges, and
in the name o f the city of Anathoth (i.e., "House of the Great Anath", which
may have been a Canaanite shrine to the goddess and after the conquest by
the Hebrews it became a sacred city o f the Israelites. It is best known as the
birthplace of Jeremiah, Judg. 3.31, 5.6.
111
In addition to the works quoted below, see for the following W. H .
Roscher, Ausfhrliches Lexicon der Griechischen und Rmischen Mythologie, 6 vols.,
Leipzig: Teubner, 1984-1937.
112
These are some o f the best known Greek myths involving dragons or
serpents: T h e dragon killed by Cadmus (Thomas Bulfinch, Mythology, N e w
York: Dell, 1979, pp. 80-82 and 108-110. H . J . Rose et al., "Cadmus," in The
Oxford Classical Dictionary,2 Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1970, pp. 186-187.)
T h e sea-monster in the myth of Andromeda. (Michael Grant, The myths of
the Greeks and Romans, New York: New American Library, 1962, p. 346; H . J.
Rose, "Andromeda," The Oxford Classical Dictionary, 2 pp. 63-64.)
T h e myth o f Typhon (or Typhaon, or Typhoeus) is known in two variants,
o n e recorded in the Homeric Hymns, the other by Hesiod in the Theogony.
(Both are available in the L o e b edition: Hesiod, The Homeric Hymns and
Homerica, ET by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, LCL, Cambridge, Mass." Harvard
University Press, 1954.) O n e is in the Homeric Hymn to Apollo 3.300-373, the
other in the Theogony 820-868. Other variants o f the Typhon story are summarized by Robert Graves, op. cit., vol. 1, p. 56; M. Grant, op. cit., pp. 118-126.
Joseph Fontenrose, Python. A Study of Delphic Myth and Its origins, Berkeley
and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1959, p. 21, lists five
versions of Apollo's combat with the dragon.
Closely related to these stories is that o f Python. According to this myth,

Zeus fell in love with Leto, a female Titan, but Hera sent the serpent Python
to pursue her and prevent her from being delivered of her children. Finally
118
They all contain the same element that is also prominent in the
Near Eastern myths, that is, water monsters as enemies o f ordered
life. W h e n
Zeus kills T y p h o e o u s or A p o l l o kills T y p h o n
or
Python, the forces of disorder are eliminated so that civilized life

may begin. In Greek cosmogony it is the victory o f Zeus over the
Titans which expresses the triumph of order "over the monstrous
wildness o f age-old elemental disorder." 1 1 3
In Egyptian mythology 114 the concept that comes closest to that
of a dragon is Apopis (or Apophis, or A p e p ) , the snake.115 Apopis is
an elusive figure, not a g o d that can be worshipped, but simply a
p h e n o m e n o n that can be experienced as chaos and as an evil
she gave birth to Artemis on the island of Ortygia and soon after that to
A p o l l o on the island o f Delos. This is the myth many scholars compare to
the story in Rev. 12.
T h e son of Python and Echidne was the water monster, Hydra (= ,
w a t e r ) . (Pausanias Guide to Greece, ET by Peter Levi, H a r m o n d s w o r t h ,
England: Penguin, 1971, vol. 1, pp. 219-221; Bulfinch, op. cit., p. 119; R.
Graves, op. cit., vol . 1, pp. 107-110. ) R. Graves quotes Servius, the commentator o f Virgil, who gave his views on the puzzle of the hydra in his remarks
on the Aeneid 6 .287, where among many other monsters such as the Gorgons, the harpies, "the flame throwing Chimaera," Virgil also mentions
"the Lernaean Hydra that hisses terribly." (R. Graves, op. cit., p. 109.)
Scylla, who was changed into a sea monster with six heads, twelve feet, a
voice like a puppy-dog's barking. She captured sailors and slowly devoured
them. Odysseus lost six of his best men to the Scylla. ( H o m e r , Odyssey, 12.73259; Graves, op. cit., vol. 1, pp. 59-62; vol. 2, pp. 361-362.)
113
Hesiod, Theogony, 485 ff. M. Grant, op. at., p. 111.
114
Seigfried Morenz, gyptische Religion, Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, Verlag,
1960; Henri Frankfort, Andent Egyptian Religion, N e w York: Columbia University Press, 1948, reprinted as a Harper Torchbook, 1961; A d o l f Erman, Die
Religion der gypter, Berlin and Leipzig: Walter de Gruyter, 1934; Hans
Bonnett, Reallexikon
der gyptischen Religionsgeschicte,
Berlin: Walter de
Gruyter, 1952; G. Roeder, Urkunden zur Religion des Alten Aegyptens, Jena: .
Diederichs, 1923; H. T e Velde, Seth, God of Confusion, Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1977;
J. Gwyn Griffiths, The Chigin of Osiris and His Cult, Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1980; J.
Gwyn Griffiths, The Conflict of Horas and Seth, Liverpool: Liverpool University
Press, 1960; Rudolf Anthes, "Mythology in Ancient Egypt," in Mythologies of
the Andent World, Samuel Noah Kramer, ed., New York: Doubleday, 1961, pp.
15-92; H e r m a n n Kees, "Seth," Pauly's Realencyclopadie der Classischen Altertumswissenschraft,
ed. G. Wissowa, W. Kroll, K. Witte, Stuttgart: A l f r e d
Druckenmller, 1923, vol. II, Al. 2, pp. 1896-1922; E. A. Wallis Budge, From
Fetish to God in Andent Egypt, New York: Benjamin Blom, 1972 (reprint o f the
1934 edition).
115
The Instruction for King Meri-Ka-Re (end of the 22nd century B.C.) contains the following sentence: "Well directed are men, the cattle o f the god.
H e made heaven and earth according to their desire, and he repelled the
water-monster." This is very similar to the story o f the Babylonian Tiamat
and points to an early belief o f the Egyptians in the defeat of a monster at
creation. See Pritchard, op. dt., pp. 414-418, and footnote 49 on p. 417.
force. 1 1 6 According to Egyptian mythology, Apopis' origin goes

back to the time of the primordial waters where the mother of Re,
Neith, resided. From a spittle o f Neith, a snake developed which
was one hundred twenty yards long. This snake revolted against
Re but was defeated and driven back into his cavern; according to
the myth, since then there has been a never-ending
struggle
against the powers o f chaos. 117 T h e sun and light are constantly
exposed to the attacks of darkness, and so the rising of the sun is
represented as the victory o f Re over Apopis. This rising is a daily
occurrence, f o r Apopis never dies. H e is only repelled, overthrown, or conquered in the same way as, in
Mesopotamian
mythology, Marduk conquers Tiamat at each celebration o f the

New Year's festival. T h e possibility of chaos is ever-present and it
is Re, with the uraeus-snake on his forehead, who overcomes this
danger. Consequently, the pharaoh functions as the incarnation
o f Re, because he, the king, also conquers disorder and safeguards
order in the land. 118
T h e Egyptian idea of the g o d Seth is so closely related to Near
Eastern and Greek concepts that eventually he was identified with
Baal, Anath, and Typhon. 1 1 9 Unlike Apopis, Seth was thought o f
as a god who came into being at the third level of the development
of creation, which, according to the Heliopolitan Ennead, included
116
See to this problem Erich Hornung, "Chaotische Bereiche in der
g e o r d n e t e n W e l t , " Zeitschrift fr Aegyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde 81
(1956): 23- 32.
117
T h e main source is the Papyrus Bremner-Rhind XXII.1, the general
title of which is The Book of Overthrowing Apophis the Enemy of Re ... P o r t i o n s
are translated in James B. Pritchard, op. cit., pp. 6-7. See also T e Velde, op.
cit., pp. 99-107. Many passages mentioning Apopis in ancient literature were
collected by T h e o d o r Hopfner, Plutarch ber Isis and Osiris, Hildesheim: Georg
Olms, 1974, vol. 1, pp. 169-172 (This is a reprint of the edition of 1940/41, the
two volumes bound in o n e ) ; H. Bonnett, op. at., pp. 51-64.
118
Texts in Morenz, op. cit., p. 177. According to R. Anthes, op. at., p. 88,
the Eye is the Uraeus viper at the forehead of the king. As long as the king
lived the Uraeus was guarded, but when the king died, it would escape and
leave disturbance and chaos behind in Egypt. Maat, law and order, would
not return until the Uraeus would rest again at the forehead o f the new
king.
119
See Plutarch, De Iside et Osiride (or: Moralia, 351-384) in Frank Cole
Babbit, Plutarch's Moralia, LCL, vol. 5, London: Heinemann, 1957, pp. 7-101;
T h e o d o r H o p f n e r , Plutarch ber Isis and Osiris; G. Gwyn Griffiths, Plutarch's De
hide et Osiride, Cardiff: University o f Wales Press, 1970; E. Meyer, SethTyphon. Eine religionsgeschictliche Studie, Leipzig: W. Englemann, 1875; H.
Bonnett, op. at., pp. 702-714.
120
nine gods. 1 2 0 In the character of Seth, the slayer o f Osiris, the

Egyptians conceived a hostile god, an enemy of order, a promoter
o f confusion, a disturber o f harmony, who nevertheless is an
integral part of total reality. Afraid of Seth, Isis fled to the marshes
o f Khemnis and gave birth to Horus. 121 After the batde between
Horus and Seth, however, Isis did not permit Seth to be killed but
rather released him. Plutarch's interpretation o f this story is that
opposing influences make the world g o around and that evil
cannot be completely eradicated. If Osiris represents "the whole
source and faculty of creative moisture," and Seth (i.e., T y p o n )
"all that is dry, fiery and arid in general, and antagonistic to
m o i s t u r e , " 1 2 2 then it follows that the fiery element cannot completely disappear from the world; only the nature opposed to moisture must be relaxed and moderated, but "its tempering potency
should persist." 123 Thus, it is out of discordant elements that concord is created in the universe, and destructive forces are curbed,
but not eliminated. 124
T h e dragon, therefore, is a figure which is connected with the
principle of chaos. Chaos is the opposite of order; it is out of chaos
120 y h e oldest traditions are in the Pyramid texts, i.e., the writings in
the pyramids for the funeral of the pharaohs o f the Old K i n d g o m . These
were published by Kurt Heinrich Sethe, Die Altgyptischen
Pyramidentexte,
Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs, 1908, and K.H. Sethe, bersetzung und Kommentar zu
den altgyptischen Pyramidentexten, Gluckstadt, Hamburg: J.J. Augustin, 1936-62.
121
For the flight of Isis before Seth, see T e Velde, op. cit., 28, 32. According to Plutarch, op. cit., 358D, Thueris, concubine of Typhon, was also pursued
by a serpent. Fontenrose, op. cit., p. 190, mentions other pursuits: in the
Egyptian Tale of Two Brothers, the sea pursued Bata's wife; in Ovid, Metamorphoses 5.325 ff, Typhoeus pursued Venus, who saved herself by turning into
a fish.
122
Comparable, therefore, to the figure of Satan in the O l d Testament,
cf. Job 1.6; Zech. 3.1. Also see Plutarch's remarks on the dualistic nature of
the Zoroastrian religion, op. dt., 369E-370.
123
Op. dl., 364B; 371A and B. ET: Babbit, op. dt., p. 81.
124
Op. cit., 367A. Plutarch presses the point by quoting H o m e r , Iliad
18.107 (Strife may vanish away from the ranks o f the gods and mortals), and
says that this would be a curse, since all things originate f r o m strife and
antagonism This leads him to mention Empedocles' fragments on " L o v e "
and "Strife" (370D-E) and two lines from Euripides, Aeolus: " T h e g o o d and
bad cannot be kept apart, but there is some c o m m i n g l i n g , which is w e l l "
(369B). Plutarch then states that "nature brings, in this life o f ours, many
experiences in which both evil and g o o d are c o m m i n g l e d " (369C, ET.
Babbit, op. dt., p. 111). In Rev. 12 we observe that the dragon is "thrown
down," "defeated," but not killed and even after a victory hymn was sung
over him he was still able to pursue the woman and eventually return to his
element, the sea.
that the gods created order and made civilized life possible. Chaos
was identified with the elemental power o f water. Thus, Genesis
1.1-3 speaks of God separating "the waters which were under the
firmament from the waters which were above the firmament."
T h e waters under the heavens were restricted to their place so that
dry land could appear and vegetation could begin. This unruly,
destructive c o m m i n g l i n g o f water and elemental forces was
anthropomorphized in the figure o f a raging monster, a cosmic
opponent of God, conquered by him at the time o f creation, and
restrained and controlled by him now. 125 In Revelation 12 the
dragon is on the loose again, using the element of water in his
attempt to destroy the events taking place in heaven. Chaos, once
conquered by God, is threatening again to undo God's plans,
which are portrayed in the figure of the woman clothed with the
sun: she represents cosmic unity, she brings together "things in
heaven and things on earth," and thus she is a proleptic realization o f the final, eschatological consummation.
b. Water
Ancient mythologies reveal the double nature o f the element o f
water. Unrestrained water represents chaos and is experienced as
a destructive force; under control, however, water is absolutely
necessary to life. A c c o r d i n g to o n e line o f thought, all life
originated from Oceanus, i.e., water, the primeval cosmic power
125
373-D. Seth was consequently associated, among others, with the
dangerous animals of the Nile: the hippopotamus and the crocodile. [Op. cit.,
37lC-D-; see also J. G. Griffiths, The Conflict of Horus and. Seth, pp. 103, 112115. For Seth as a serpent, Hermann Kees, Horus und Seth als Gtterpaar.
(Vorderasiatisch-Aegyptische Gesellschaft, Mitteilungen, vols. 28 and 29),
Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs'sche Buchhandlung, 1923-1924, p. 46, and H. Kees,
"Seth," in Pauly's Realencyclopdie, II.A.2, p. 1902.] According to Plutarch,
there was a statue o f Seth in the form of a hippopotamus. Plutarch also
related that according to the Egyptians, Seth escaped Horus by turning into a
crocodile. We would expect, then, that Seth would be identified with Apopis,
as indeed seemed to be the case at a certain period of Egypt's history. But this
is not the case, for in a characteristically inconsistent way, Seth appears to be
fighting Apopis and protecting Re. T e Velde, op. cit., p. 141, 99-108.
T h e o d o r e H. Gaster suggested that the idea of such a primordial disorder

developed in Mesopotamia as a retrojection of the annual crisis caused by the
snow melting on the mountains and welling up in underground springs.
T h e rushing o f the waters that had to be dealt with at the beginning of each
year was thought of as something similar to what had to be d o n e at the
beginning of the world. [ T h e o d o r e H. Caster, "Cosmogony," p. 706.]
122
which is the source o f all life. H o m e r says that the

was Oceanus. 126 This reference lived on in some versions o f the
Greek Orphic tradition, whose cosmogony also began with Oceanus 127 as well as in the work of the "father o f philosophy," Thaes
o f Miletus, who, according to Aristotle, said that everything in the
world
originates f r o m o n e
substance and that substance
is
w a t e r . 1 2 8 Now, it may or may not be true that Thaies was influenced in the formation of his ideas by the Egyptians, as W. K.
C. Guthrie
suggested. 1 2 9 T h e fact is, however, that Egyptian
mythology contains many references to the primordial water,

Nun, as the source of life. 130 Sumerian mythology, too, refers to
the primeval sea as "the mother who gave birth to all the gods,"
personified in the goddess Nammu. Thus possibly the earliest
cosmogonies posited the existence of an eternal and uncreated
substance, the sea, from which everything came to be. 131 How-
126
Iliad. 14.210, 246, 302. See also Virgil, The Georgics 4.382: "Herself
therewithal offers prayer to Oceanus father of all things (patrem rerum) ...."
E.T.: J.W. Mackail, Virgil's Works, New York: Modern Library, 1950, p. 347.
M o r e references in Fontenrose, op. at., p. 226.
127
See M. L. West, The Orphic Poems, O x f o r d : Clarendon Press, 1983,
especially pp. 57, 119, 184-190; W. Staudacher, op. cit., pp. 77-121: "Rekonstrucktion der Orphischer K o s m o g o n i e n . " Also, Konrat Ziegler, "Orphische Dichtung," Pauly, op. cit., 17/2 (34. H a l b b a n d ) , 2308-2349, especially
2315-2316, where he deals with the expression of theon genesis.
128
G. E. R. Lloyd, Early Greek Science: Thaes to Aristotle, N e w York:
Norton, 1970, pp. 18-23; G. S. Kirk and J. E. Raven, The Presocratic Philosophers,
Cambridge: University Press, 1957, esp. pp. 8-37. Werner Jaeger, Paideia,
N e w York: O x f o r d University Press, 1965, vol. 1, p. 151. It might be of
interest to note here how Ovid in a poetic form retold the traditional myth
about the earliest beginning of the world: Before anything came to be there
was an uncoordinated mass, Chaos. T h e elements of land, air, and sea were
there, but without lasting shape and "everything got in the way of everything else." Everything fought its opposite, cold-hot, moist-dry, soft-hard. An
unnamed g o d put an end to this confusion by separating the elements and
assigning them their p r o p e r place and function, " f o r m i n g a harmonious
union." Ovid, Metamorphoses 1.1-66, E.T.: Mary M. Innes, The Metamorphoses of
Ovid,
N e w York: Penguin, 1982, pp. 29-31; Frank Justin Miller,
Ovid.
Metamorphoses, LCL, London: Heinemann, 1929, pp. 2-7.
129
In the Beginning. Some Greek Views on the Origins of Life and the State of Man,
L o n d o n : Methuen, 1957, pp. 17-18.
130
Siegfried Morenz, gyptische Religion, Stuttgart: Kohlhammer Verlag,
1960, especially pp. 180-186; E. A. Wallis Budge, From Fetish to God in Ancient
Egypt, New York: Benjamin Bloom, 1972 (reprint; 1st edition 1934), pp. 141142, 171, 199; Ochsham, op. at., p. 33; Sethe, Urgeschichte ..., paragraphs 70,
113, 163, 164, 167, 222; pp. 57, 94, 133-134, 136, 183.
131
Samuel N o a h Kramer, Sumerian Mythology. A Study of Spiritual and
Literary Achievement in the Third Millenium B.C., Philadelphia: University of
ever, even subdued, water is not always a blessing; even then it

can be a destructive power and a source o f much evil. This negative view of water can be found everywhere in ancient texts,
including the Bible 132 and Greek and Roman literature. 133
Pennsylvania Press, 1972, pp. 68-75.

132
In the book of Psalms a "time o f distress" can be referred to as "the
rash o f bad waters" [Ps. 32.6] and a time of affliction is described with the
f o l l o w i n g words: " T h e waters have c o m e up to my neck, I sink in d e e p
mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into d e e p waters, and the
flood sweeps over m e " [69.1-2; see also 42.7; 46.1-3], Similarly, the promise of
Yahweh to protect those who believe him is expressed with these words:
"When you pass through the water I will be with you; and through the river
they shall not overwhelm you" [Isa. 43.2a]. T h e danger that water represented was so keenly felt that it could be compared with that o f fire [Isa.
43.2b; Ps. 66.12]. Often the ocean is a symbol of death, as in the song o f
Jonah which came "out of the belly of Sheol," out o f the belly of the fish:
"Thou didst cast me into the deep, into the heart o f the seas, and the f l o o d
was round about me; all thy waves and thy billows passed over m e " [Jon. 2.23], H e r e Sheol, the deep, and the ocean are nearly synonymous, as in Ps. 88:
"Thou hast put me in the depths of the Pit, in the regions dark and deep.
Thy wrath lies heavy upon me, and thou dost overwhelm me with all thy
waves" [v. 6-7]. More examples could be cited, but these should suffice to
enable us to see that in the Old Testament the negative character of water
includes the ideas that water can cause death (obviously by drowning) and
that the ocean can be described as the realm of death.
133
See Hesiod's warning concerning seafaring and his ominous remark: "It is fearful to die among the waves" [ Works and Days, 618-694; H u g h
Evelyn White, Hesiod, op. cit., pp. 49-53; see also 236-237: the peaceful and just
d o not travel on ships, because the earth bears them fruit]. Lucretius wrote
that at one time men were harder, ate what Nature provided, and did not
know "the wicked way to navigation." Ships and sailors were not killed on
the rocks by the "turbulent billows of the sea" and it did not matter whether
the sea rose and stormed and nobody could be "enticed to his ruin by the
treacherous witchery of a quiet sea with laughing waves" [De Rerum Natura,
1000-1006, W. H. D. Rouse and M. F. Smith, Lucretius, De Rerum Natura, LCL,
L o n d o n : H e i n e m a n n , 1975, pp. 456-457], A c c o r d i n g to Virgil, seafaring
means "to tempt Thetis with rafts," but in the coming golden age even the
"trader himself will forsake the sea and the nautical pine (i.e., ships) will
not exchange merchandise" [S. Benko, "Virgil's Fourth Eclogue in Christian Interpretation," Aufstieg und Niedergang der rmischen Welt, H i l d e g a r d
T e m p o r i n i und W o l f g a n g Haase, eds., Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1980,
11.311, p. 657. See Oracula Sibyllina 3.777 ff: "And all the paths o f the plain
and the sheer banks and the lofty mountains and the wild sea waves shall
become easy to travel over by f o o t or sail in those days."] Ovid, fearful o f
Corinna's safety on the sea, wished that sea-going ships were unknown
[Amores 2.11; Guy Lee, Ovid's Amores New York: Viking, 1968, pp. 89-93; Peter
Green, Ovid. The Erotic Poems, Harmondsworth, England: Penguin, 1982, pp.
125-126]. Horace addressed a poem to his g o o d friend Virgil when he sailed
to Greece. In this poem Horace prayed to Venus, and then to Castor and
Pollux (i.e., the constellation Gemini, who were invoked in time of peril at
sea), that Virgil might be safe on his perilous journey. God in his wisdom
124
T h e Egyptians emphasized the beneficent aspect of water m o r e

than their Near Eastern neighbors because of the strong connection o f this element with Isis and Osiris. In one story, Osiris was
drowned in water by Seth;1S4 in another, he was tricked into lying
in a coffin, the lid o f which was nailed down; the coffin, enclosing the body o f Osiris, was thrown into a river and carried into
the sea.135 Therefore, the Egyptians could even look upon drowning as an apotheosis because this manner o f death assured that the
person would immediately become one with Osiris. 136 Yet there
are many references in Egyptian literature to water as a "symbol
o f death and chaos." 1 3 7 According to Plutarch, the Egyptians considered the sea as a "corrupt and pestilential residuum of a foreign
nature." 1 3 8 Sometimes the sea was identified with Typhon 1 3 9 and
salt with the spume o f Typhon. 1 4 0 N o r is the fear of water alien to
separated the lands from the waters and for men waters are non tangenda. T o
sail ships is a sacrilege; man's audacity in sailing will lead him to ruin.
[ H . E. Butler, The Odes of Horace, London: G. Bell, 1929, pp. 10-15; Helen R.
Henze, The Odes of Horace, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1961, pp.
22-23. This poem of Horace and also the one by Ovid, is a Propemptikon, i.e., a
"sending o f f " poem, and eventually this genre became popular in GrecoRoman literature. Even the Christian author Paulinus of N o l a (354/5-431)
wrote a Propemptikon on the occasion of the departure of his friend Nicetas. In
this case, o f course, Nicetas' safety from the dangers o f the deep is assured by
the sign o f the cross. See F. Jger, Das Antike Propemptikon und das 17. Gedicht
des Paulinus von Nola, Rosenheim, 1913. Also R. G. M. Nisbet and Margaret
Hubbard, A Commentary on Horace: Odes, Book 1, O x f o r d : Clarendon Press,
1970, pp. 40-58.] Water carries with it the potentiality o f death and destruction.
134
H. Bonnet, op. at., pp. 568-710. See T e Velde, op. ciL, pp. 81-86.
135
Plutarch, op. cit., p. 356. See the comments of H o p f n e r , op. cit., pp. 16,
39-40.
136
F. J. Dlger, "Esietus. Der Ertrunkene oder zu einem Osiris Gewordene," Antike und Christentum 5 (1939): 153-182; Hermann Kees, "Aptheosis by
D r o w n i n g , " Studies Presented to F. L. . Griffith, Egypt Exploration Society,
L o n d o n : O x f o r d University Press, 1932, pp. 402-405. (Osiris means "die befruchtende berschwemmung, sein Wassertod gibt also neues Leben, so wie
auch das Korn, wenn es bei der Ernte fllt, Nhrung und Leben spendet."
Yet, Kees warns, this is a late Egyptian view, and drowning was not always
viewed as a blessed event.) A Hermann, "Ertrinken," Reallexikon fr Antike
und Christentum, Stuttgart: Anton Hiersman, 1966, vol. 6, pp. 370-410; F. L. E.
Griffith, "Herodotus II.90-Apotheosis by Drowning," Zeitschrift fr gyptische
Sprache und Altertumskunde, 46 (1910): 132-134. Herodotus, The Persian Wars
2.90, reports that the bodies of those who were killed by a crocodile or who
drowned in the N i l e were embalmed and laid to rest with honors.
137
T e Velde, op. cit., pp. 85-86.
138
Op. cit., 353E.
139
= Seth, Plutarch, op. cit., 363E.
140
Op. at., 363E.
125 T H E IMAGE OF T H E GODDESS IN T H E NEW TESTAMENT
the world of the New Testament. It is in just such a light that the
story o f Jesus' stilling of the storm-tossed sea must be understood:
"Peace, be still!"Jesus said, and when calm returned, his
disciples said to one another: "Who is this, that even wind and sea
obey
h i m ? " 1 4 1 Similarly, Jesus' walking on the sea may be a
demonstradon both of his power to raise himself above the laws o f

nature and o f his authority over the primordial power o f the
waters, which would be an added proof of his divinity: 142 as G o d
had subdued the primordial waters, so Jesus now rules over them.
In the apocalyptic distress according to Luke, the sea again will be
a fearsome threat: "And there will be signs in sun and moon and
stars, and upon the earth distress o f nations in perplexity at the
roaring of the sea and the waves, men fainting with fear and with
foreboding o f what is coming on the world ... " 14S T h e meaning is
clear: Chaos has been tamed only temporarily and is being kept
under control by God. But water is still a potentially deadly
element, and at the end o f time the power o f chaos will again
threaten to destroy ordered life. This is what we read about in
Revelation 12.
T h e p h e n o m e n o n o f the water so fascinated the N o r t h A f r i c a n
Christian lawyer Tertullian (d. 220) that he based a g o o d part o f
his e n c o m i u m o f baptism o n the e x c e l l e n t c h a r a c t e r o f this
e l e m e n t . H e r e , o f course, he e m p h a s i z e d the b e n e f i c e n t qualities
o f water. His little treatise begins with the statement that heretics
(i.e. the Caininites) w h o wish to d e n y the i m p o r t a n c e o f baptism
are vipers, asps a n d basilisks w h o by n a t u r e p r e f e r a r i d a n d
waterless places ... "But w e , " h e says, "little fishes, a f t e r the
e x a m p l e o f our I X 0 Y C Jesus Christ, are born in water, n o r have we
safety in any o t h e r way than p e r m a n e n t l y a b i d i n g in w a t e r " ( C h .
1). T a k i n g baptism away f r o m Christians is the same as taking
little fishes out o f water. W h y d o e s a material substance have such
a great dignity? T h e answer is this: ' W a t e r is o n e o f those things
which, b e f o r e all o f the w o r l d , w e r e q u i e s c e n t with G o d in a yet
unshapen state." H e makes r e f e r e n c e s to Genesis 1.1-2 and then
c o n t i n u e s with these words: " T h e first thing, man, which y o u
Mark 4.35-41, and parallels.

Mark 6.48-51, and parallels. Compare with Job 26.312: "By his power
he stilled the sea ..." John Paul Heil, Jesus Walking on the Sea: Meaning and
Gospel Functions of Matt. 14.22-33, Mark. 6.45-52 and John 6.15b-21, Rome:
Biblical Institute, 1981. Elizabeth Struthers Malbon, "The Jesus of Mark and
the Sea of Galilee,"Journal of Biblical Literature 103 (1984): 363-377.
143
Luke 21.25-26 See also the Apocalypse of Baruch (or 2. Baruch) 29.33-8
and 2.Esdras 6.49-54: At the end of time Leviathan will again temporarily
break loose and then will be finally defeated.
141
142
126

have to venerate, is the age o f the waters in that their substance is
ancient; the second, their dignity, in that they w e r e the seat o f the
D i v i n e Spirit, m o r e pleasing to H i m , n o d o u b t , than all the o t h e r
t h e n e x i s t i n g e l e m e n t s . " T h e p r i m e v a l darkness was w i t h o u t
shape, the abyss was g l o o m y , and the earth u n f u r n i s h e d . " W a t e r
a l o n e always a p e r f e c t , g l a d s o m e , s i m p l e material substance,
p u r e in i t s e l f s u p p l i e d a w o r t h y v e h i c l e to G o d . " W a t e r s w e r e
the r e g u l a t i n g p o w e r s by w h i c h G o d c o n s t i t u t e d t h e w o r l d : by
d i v i d i n g the waters, he m a d e dry land. A f t e r this t h e w a t e r
r e c e i v e d the o r d e r to bring forth life ( G e n . 1.1-2, 6.8). It is in this
that T e r t u l l i a n finds the basis f o r the mystery o f baptism: " T h a t
the material substance which g o v e r n s terrestrial life acts as a g e n t
likewise in the celestial" ( C h . 3 ) . W a t e r b e c a m e holy because the
Spirit o f G o d h o v e r e d over it, thus bestowing the quality o f holiness
u p o n it. "All waters, t h e r e f o r e , in virtue o f the pristine privilege o f
their origin, d o , after invocation o f G o d , attain the sacramental
p o w e r o f sanctification" ( C h . 4 ) . T e r t u l l i a n then deals with the
d i f f i c u l t q u e s t i o n o f why t h e pagans, such as initiates o f t h e
Eleusinian mysteries, also use water f o r ablutions. A r e these also
baptisms? H e answers that in p a g a n c e r e m o n i e s d e m o n s a r e
active, whereas Christian baptism is the w o r k o f the holy angel o f
G o d ( C h . 5 ) . H e cites many r e f e r e n c e s to water in the O l d Testament, such as the R e d Sea, the bitter waters o f M a r a h m a d e sweet
by G o d , the water that c a m e from the rock o f H o r e b , and others
(Ex. 14:12-29, 23-25, 17.6). T h e n , as if d r a w i n g a parallel b e t w e e n
the first creation out o f chaos and the new creation by Christ, he
d e c l a r e s , " N e v e r is Christ w i t h o u t w a t e r ! " H e lists the g o s p e l
passages in which water is m e n t i o n e d in c o n n e c t i o n with Jesus:
he was baptized in water, c h a n g e d water into w i n e , invited p e o p l e
to c o m e to him and drink " H i s own s e m p i t e r n a l w a t e r , " a n d so
o n . Even Pilate's washing o f his hands in water and the water that
c a m e o u t Christ's side o n the cross carry a m y s t e r i o u s s i g n i ficance
( M a t t . 3.13-17; J o h n 2.1-11, 7.37; Matt. 10.42; J o h n 4.6;
Matt. 14.25; Mark 4.36-41; J o h n 13.1-11; Matt. 27.24; J o h n 19.34). In
discussing the story o f Jesus' q u i e t i n g the storm o n t h e sea,
T e r t u l l i a n remarks ( C h . 11) that in this storm the disciples w e r e
" b a p t i z e d " in a m a n n e r o f speaking. T h e "sea" in this story, h e
says, is an allegory o f the w o r l d (saeculum) and the little boat is the
c h u r c h ; w h e n Jesus c h e c k e d the waters, he c h e c k e d the w o r l d .
T h e rest o f Tertullian's treatise is o f little interest to us; it contains
practical instructions c o n c e r n i n g baptism. His p e r c e p t i o n o f the
e l e m e n t o f water, h o w e v e r , based u p o n the first f e w verses o f
Genesis, is as full o f m y t h o l o g i c a l e l e m e n t s as his u n d e r s t a n d i n g
o f baptism is full o f Christian applications o f G r e c o - R o m a n m a g i cal principles. 1 4 4
M i r c e a E l i a d e said: " I n all a n c i e n t m y t h o l o g i e s , " t h e
s y m b o l i z e : T h e universal sum o f virtualities; they are
144
Tertullian, De Baptismo, ET: A NF 3.669-679.
waters"
"fons et
127 T H E IMAGE OF THE GODDESS IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

origo, " "spring and o r i g i n , " the reservoir o f all the possibilities o f
existence; they p r e c e d e every f o r m and support every c r e a t i o n ...
I m m e r s i o n in water signifies repression to the f o r m a l , re-incorp o r a t i o n into the u n d i f f e r e n t i a t e d m o d e o f prexistence. Emersion
repeats the c o s m o g o n i e act o f f o r m a l manifestation; i m m e r s i o n is
equivalent to a dissolution o f f o r m s ... In whatever r e l i g i o u s c o m p l e x we find them, the waters invariably retain their f u n c t i o n ;
they disintegrate, abolish f o r m s , "wash away sins"; they are at
o n c e p u r i f y i n g and r e g e n e r a t i n g . T h e i r destiny is to p r e c e d e the
Creation and to reabsorb i t . . . " 145
Consequently, waters were sometimes looked upon as the primordial androgynous substance, in which everything was m i x e d
and undifferentiated. Creation came from water by a process o f
separations and divisions. 146
Revelation 12, however, emphasizes the aspect o f water which
is represented by the image of the dragon, i.e., the destructive, inimical force, chaos, the primeval water that, according to Jewish
mythology, is restrained in the tehom under the rock in Jerusalem, the floodwaters o f Deucalion that were remembered in the
temple at Hierapolis and in the Athenian Anthestera. T h e intent o f
the author is to describe a cosmic drama, in which the opponent
of the destructive forces is the woman clothed with the sun. In a
proleptic way her heavenly marriage is consummated here in a
hieros gamos that will eventually overcome all separations and
reestablish the union of heaven and earth, o f God and man. This
145
Mircea Eliade, The Sacred and the Profane, New York: Harcourt, Brace
& World, 1958, pp. 130, 131.
146
See Dietrich, "Der Urmensch ...," p. 308; also Irenaeus, Adv. Haer.
1.30.1, ANF 1.354; J. Doresse, The Secret Books of the Egyptian Gnostics, New
York: Viking, 1958, pp. 37, 66-67; R. M. Grant, Gnosticism, p. 53. Water has
no gender. Some recent feminist writers pointed to the fact that, according
to Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, life began in the sea, and they
conclude that, therefore, the sea was feminine. "In the beginning ... was a
very female sea." So begins a massive feminist book, the thrust of which is to
show the primacy and superiority of the female gender. Monica Sjoo and
Barbara Mar, The Great Cosmic Mother, San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1987,
compare, among others, the water of the sea with the amniotic fluid of the
womb, the lunar tidal rhythms with the menstrual cycle, and so forth, and
then make this statement: "in the beginning ... there were no specialized
sex organs; rather a generalized female existence reproduced itself within
the female body of the sea" (op. dt., p. 1). This, in many respects inadequately researched, book misses the very obvious point that one cannot say female
without saying male at the same time. T h e words of Alfred Bertholet should
be remembered: "Das Geschlecht gehrt ursprnglich nicht zur Gottheit ....
A m Anfang war die 'Kraft' oder 'Macht' die als solche geschlechtslos ist"
(Das Geschlecht der Gottheit. Tbingen: J. C. B. Mohr, 1934, p. 22).
128
is the grand theme o f Revelation and thus it is with g o o d reason

that chapter 12 has been called the center of the endre book. 147
5. Conclusions
W e have analyzed the "woman clothed with the sun" from four
different viewpoints because Revelation 12 is, as W. K. C. Guthrie
said o f all living religions, "a stone o f many facets, any o n e o f
which can be turned to face the light ... " 1 4 8 W e exposed four
different aspects o f Revelation 12 to the light o f pagan mythology
in search of a better understanding of the text. It would be
relatively easy to conclude from our investigations that Christianity is a syncretistic religion that arose as a result o f the intermingling o f many Jewish and pagan myths. Such a statement
would not be original. Already at the end of the second century,
Celsus, the great scholarly critic o f Christianity, had stated that
Christianity is "not a venerable or a new branch o f instruction." 149
But Christianity is more than the sum total o f many pagan myths
and customs. W e have seen in the foregoing pages that to all o f
these myths and beliefs Christianity a d d e d its own
peculiar
interpretation and viewpoint, thus creating something new out of

what was old. T h e fact, therefore, that elements o f contemporary
myths and beliefs abound in Christianity, and particularly, f o r
our concern, in Revelation 12, means only that Revelation 12
cannot be thoroughly understood unless it is accepted as an
integral part of a historical process in which our religious ideas
and images were formed. 1 5 0 What we read in Reve1ation12 is not
the free invention o f its author, who worked with already existing
material available to him in literature, poetry, art, mythology,
tales and legends. 151 Therefore, on the basis o f what we have seen
P. Prigent, op. at. p. 1.
See Introduction, footnote 1.
149
The True Word, in Origen, Against Celsus 1.4, AN F 4.398.
150
... Vieles, was man als christlich in Anspruch n e h m e n mchte,
nur zufllig in der ltesten Literatur nicht vertreten ist." Paul Wendland,
Die hellenistisch-rmische Kultur in ihren Beziehungen zu Judentum und Christentum,
Tbingen: J. C. B. Mohr, 1907, p. 53.
151
T h e alternative must be, even for a fundamentalist Christian, frightening, since it would mean a "revelation" without points o f connection in
human history, and that would ultimately mean that the word, after all, did
not "become flesh." It is no accident that as a theological school, "Religionsgeschichte" led directly to the rediscovery of "Heilsgeschichte," a study of the
history of salvation, as an activity of God in and with man in the world.
147
148
in this study, I should like to make the following proposals:

1. In Revelation 12, for the first time in Christian literature,
mention is made of a goddess-like figure who resembles in many
details the great fertility goddesses of paganism at that time. This
means that the concept o f a goddess was alive in Christianity and
began to resurface at the end o f the first century. It is not without
significance that this happened in Revelation, for this book is a
product o f the eastern Mediterranean, close to the world o f Asia
Minor, which was the center of the worship o f Cybele, the Great
Mother. W e will study this question in greater detail in our next
chapter, but already we can see that the r e e m e r g e n c e o f the
" Q u e e n o f H e a v e n " concept in Christianity was very probably
due to pagan influences. T h e Aition is clearly pregnancy, motherhood, which is the foundation of all later Mariological investigations.
2. This drama is o f cosmic proportions and involves fundamental issues o f universal significance. W e are presented with
images of the beginning and the end, the separation of heaven
and earth and o f male and female, and their eventual reintegration and unification. T h e woman, therefore, represents here
everything that Caelestis meant for the Carthagenians, the Dea
Syria for the worshippers at Hierapolis, and the Great Mother of the
Gods for Julian the Apostate: she is the female aspect of that great
mystery which is called God. She is what pagans worshipped
under various names and forms as the goddess, who reemerges
here in all her glory as a component o f Christian religious imagination as well.
3. When ancient Greeks, Romans, and other peoples anthropomorphized their gods and goddesses, they thought of them as
real, personal beings who can have crowns on their heads and
robes on their shoulders. They can also be pregnant and have
children. Thus, it would be contrary to accepted contemporary
usage to see in the figure of the woman something other than a
woman, such as the allegory o f another concept like the synagogue or the church. Regardless of how strong the Old Testament
background o f Revelation is, this woman is in the distinguished
company o f other heavenly queens; her position, her robe, her
jewelry, her whole appearance identifies her as such. She should
be interpreted as the Queen of Heaven of Christianity, Mary, who
is soon to be called "Mother of God."
130
T H E IMAGE OF T H E GODDESS I N T H E NEW T E S T A M E N T
4. N o r can the image of the woman in Revelation 12 be connected with the numerous references to symbolic women in the
O l d Testament, even though the author used the O l d Testament
extensively.
The
crucial
fact is that
this message
was first
addressed to Christians, in particular those Christians who lived

in an area of Asia Minor that was the center o f the cult of
Magna
Mater and where other "Queens of Heaven" such as Isis were also
widely venerated. W h e n somebody in Asia Minor at the end o f
the first century A.D. was told that a woman clothed with the sun
appeared in heaven, with a crown of stars on her head and the
m o o n under her feet, it is unlikely that he or she would immediately think o f the "daughter of Z i o n " in the O l d Testament.
M i n i m i z i n g the pagan environment o f the author and o f the
intended readership would mean lifting the vision out o f its social
and religious context; that is why it is not sufficient to interpret the
text on the basis of the O l d Testament only. Even if it is argued
that the O l d Testament itself absorbed many non-Jewish ideas
and thus pagan elements in Revelation 12 may have come to the
author via the O l d Testament, the fact remains that the author
lived in a pagan world. W e will see in our investigations o f the
cult o f Cybele and o f the Montanist m o v e m e n t how much the
world of Revelation was a part o f the spiritual and intellectual
world o f Asia Minor and how deeply immersed in that culture
the author o f Revelation 12 must have been. Thus, while drawing
on O l d Testament elements in the interpretation of Revelation 12
is certainly valid, recognition o f the pagan components in the
image o f the "woman" is not only legitimate but essential.
Our objective, as stated at the beginning o f this chapter, has
been to investigate whether the woman who appeared to the
author o f Revelation 12 was a reflection of the pagan "Queen o f
Heaven," and if so, to what extent. Our answer is that she is the
Queen of Heaven adopted into Christianity.
B. EARLY CHRISTIAN INTERPRETATIONS OF THE
WOMAN CLOTHED WITH THE SUN
For the sake of perspective, let us now review briefly how the
earliest Christian interpreters of Revelation 12 saw the figure o f
the woman. 1 5 2
52
T h e list is not complete, and those who desire m o r e
information
1. The Greek Fathers

Hippolytus (d. 235), the bishop of Rome, was the first Christian
author to deal with this question in his Treatise on Christ and
Antichrist, Chapter 61.153 H e interpreted the woman as a figure o f
the church which possesses the W o r d of God whose brightness is
above the sun. T h e m o o n under her feet means that she is
adorned with heavenly glory. T h e crown of twelve stars refers to
the twelve apostles. T h e statement that the woman cries in travail
o f birth means that the church always brings forth the W o r d ,
which is persecuted by the world. T h e male child born o f the
woman refers to Christ, who is always being brought forth by the
church. Christ is heavenly and earthly; this is the meaning of the
words that the child was "caught up" to heaven. T h e two wings o f
the eagle given to the woman are the faith of Jesus Christ.
Origen (d. 253 or 254) wrote a commentary on Revelation. This
was found and published in 1911.154 Unfortunately, this commentary is incomplete. From Revelation 12, only verses 9 and 13 are
briefly mentioned, then again in verse 17. After this the commentary o f Origen abruptly ends and what follows is the long
section from Irenaeus' Adversus Haereses.
T h e martyr bishop of Tyre in Phoenicia, Methodius (d. 312),
dealt with this problem in his book Symposium,155 T h e woman is
the church, he wrote, and the child born o f her means the Christians who are being brought forth in baptism. T h e moon refers to
baptism, and thus, the woman standing on the moon represents
the church which
stands upon
the faith o f
the
Christians.
may wish to consult the folloiwng works. Pierre Prigent, Apocalypse 12.
Histoire De L'Exegese, Tbingen: J. C. B. Mohr, 1959. (Beitrage zur Geschichte
der Biblischen Exegese, #2); Bernard T. LeFrois, The Woman Clothed With the
Sun (. 12): Individual or Collective?, Rome: Orbis Catholicus, 1954; D. Unger,
"Did St. John See the Virgin Mary in Glory? (Apoc. 12.1)," Catholic Biblical
Quarterly 11 (1949): 248-262, 392-405; 12 (1950): 74-83, 155-161, 292-300, 405-415.
153
GCS 1 (Hippolytus
Werke, ed. by H. Achelis, Leipzig: J. C. Hinrich's,
1897- 1929), Zwiter Halbband, p. 41. ET: ANF 5.2. According to S.Jerome,
De Viris Illustribus 61 (MPL 23, 671), Hippolytus also wrote a complete commentary on Revelation which is lost. Certain parts of it are thought to be
found in some Arabic fragments; see Achelis, op. cit., pp. 321 ff.
154
Constantin Diobouniotis and A d o l f Harnack, Der
Scholien-Kommentar
des Origenes zur Apokalypse Johannis (Texte und Untersuchungen zur Geschichte
der Christlichen Literatur, vol. 38.3), Leipzig: J. C. Hinrich's, 1911.
155
8.4 ff, GCS (by G. Bonwetsch). ET: The Banquet of the Ten Virgins, ANF,
6.335-336.
132
Methodius rejected the interpretation o f the "male c h i l d " as

Christ, because S. John spoke in the book o f Revelation about
present and future things, but the incarnation took place long
b e f o r e Revelation was written. Neither was Jesus "caught u p " to
heaven after his birth, but he stayed on to subdue the dragon
which is the devil. T h e church flees into the wilderness, a place
unproductive o f evils, the place o f Virtue. She flies on the heavenly wings o f virginity, called the "wings o f the great eagle."
Christians should imitate the church in the wilderness overcoming the Devil.
Epiphanius o f Salamis (d. 403) referred to Revelation 12.4 in his
discussion of the sect of the Antidikomarionites. 156 H e wrote that
this passage may have been fulfilled in Mary, but he was n o t
certain that his interpretation was correct. Nevertheless, Epiphanius was probably the first author to identify the "woman clothed
with the sun" with Mary.
T h e first real commentary on the book of Reveladon written in
the Eastern Church comes from an otherwise unknown author,
O e c u m e n i u s . 1 5 7 Writing in the first half o f the sixth century, he
was also the first Greek father to propose a definitely Mariological
exegesis of this chapter. For him it was not a future-apocalyptical
but a retrospective-historical vision. T h e woman is Mary, and she
is pregnant with Christ, the sun. That is the reason why the Greek
text says and not . In reference to verse 2 he cited Isaiah 66:7
( " B e f o r e she was in labor she gave birth, before her pain came
upon her she was delivered of a son") and asserted that Mary
escaped the pains of labor. Why, then, does verse 2 say that she
was in pain and cried? By this we must understand the sorrow
and g r i e f which must have overwhelmed Mary, thinking
that
Joseph suspected her o f adultery. When Moses was in distress

G o d asked him, "Why do you cry to me?" (Ex. 14:15); similarly,
156
Panarion 78.11, Kala Antidikomarianiton,
GCS 37.452475 (ed. by Karl
H o l l , Leipzig: J. C. Hinrich'sche Buchhandlung, 1933). See p. 170 note 1 for
information on an English translation. T h e chapter is available in German
in the Bibliothek der Kirchenvter, vol. 38, pp. 233-26 3 (ed. by J. Hormann, Der
Heiligen Epiphanius
von Salamis ... Ausgewhlte Schriften, Kampten and
Mnchen: Ksel Verlag, 1919).
157
T h e c o m p l e t e text was found at the end o f the last century and
published later by H. C. Hoskier, The Complete Commentary of Oecumenius on the
Apocalypse. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1928.
133
Revelation calls the sorrow o f Mary "cry. " In like manner, Oecumenius referred verse 4 to the persecution by H e r o d and verse 6 to
the flight into Egypt; the two wings he explained as the wings o f
the angel who warned Joseph to flee, and verse 15, allegorically
with reference to Jon. 2.5 ( " T h e waters closed in over m e " ) .
T h e archbishop o f Caesarea in Cappadocia, Andreas (563-613)
wrote his Commentary 158 in the second half of the sixth century. It
is based on Hippolytus, but in the exegesis o f Chapter 12 he followed Methodius. H e knew that some interpreted the woman as
the Virgin Mary, but he referred to Methodius and quoted his
work: the woman is the church, the moon refers to baptism, the
church is in travail until Christ be born in the believers. T h e
persecution is upon the church through which Christ Himself is
persecuted; he asked Saul on the road to Damascus, "Why do you
persecute me?" when Saul actually was persecuting the church.
2. The Latin Fathers
T h e first to be mentioned here is Victorinus (d. 304), bishop o f
Poetovio, which today is in Yugoslavia (formerly Pettau, Steiermark in Austria). Victorinus died as a martyr during the great
persecution of emperor Diocletian, and among others, he is remembered as the first Christian exegete to write in Latin. T h e original text of his commentary on the book of Revelation was found
in 1916; until then it was known only in the form of an edition by
S. Jerome. 1 5 9 For Victorinus also, the woman represented the
church which is clothed with the sun, i.e., the h o p e o f resurrection. T h e moon refers to the death of the saints. "Caught up" to
heaven is reference to the Ascension o f Jesus; the male child is
apparently thought o f as Jesus. T h e eagle's wings were given to
the church; these are the prophet Elijah and the "prophet who will
be with him." T h e flight of the church did not yet take place.
T h e next to advocate an allegorical interpretation of Revelation
12 was Tyconius, a Donatist Christian. His book, written around
380, is lost, but it can be reconstructed from works of others who
used his book and wrote their commentaries on the basis o f his
ideas. Such authors are Primasius; Cassidorus, whose works we
Commentarus in Apocatypsis, MPG 106.319 fT.
CSEL 49.104 ff. ET: Commentary on the Apocalypse of the Blessed John, ANF
7.355 ff.
158
159
134
will discuss later; and during the Middle Ages, Beda and Beatus.
According to a manuscript of his Commentary 160 published in 1897,
he also interpreted the woman as the church. S. Jerome (d. 419)
edited the Commentary o f Victorinus, 161 in which, as we have
discussed, the woman is understood as a figure of the church. S.
Augustine (d. 430) gave an exposition of Revelation 20 and 21 in
De Civitate Dei 20, 7-17, but not o f Chapter 12. This question is
touched on by him very briefly in Enar.
identifies the woman as the "Civitas Dei."
in Ps. 142 where he
162
A m o n g the works of S. Augusdne were published the sermons

De Symbolo ad Catechumenos II-IV. These are now generally attributed to Quodvultdeus (d. 455), Augustine's disciple. 163 H e identified
the woman as Mary, but in the sense that she represented "the
figure o f the holy church." 164
Caesarius of Aries (d. 542) wrote in the spirit o f authors before
Tyconius: the woman is the church, the twelve stars in her crown
the twelve apostles. T h e woman bore a male child, i. e., Christ,
and therefore the body o f Christ, the church, always bears the
members o f Christ. T h e child is called a male because it conquers
the devil. T h e wilderness is the world where the church suffers
omnen virtutem Satanae.165
T h e commentary of Apringius, bishop o f Beja in Portugal, written around 551, is incomplete; it consists of Chapters 1-5.7 and 18.6
to the end. Between these sections is S.Jerome's edition o f Victorinus. Otherwise Apringius follows Tyconius in his exegesis. 166
160 Tyconii A f r i Fragmenta. Commentarii in Apocalypsim. Spicilegium
Casiense. III. 1. Montecassino, 1897, pp. 261-331: MPL Supplemenlum 1, 621-652.
See also Francesco L o Bue, The Turin Fragments of Tyconius' Commentary on Revelation, Cambridge: University Press, 1963, p. 178: "In muliere ecclesiam dsignt
..., " and pp . 180 -181: "Draco ... id est diabolus. "
161
CSEL 49.104 ff. presents both the edition of Victorinus and the
recensions of S. Jerome.
162
MPL 37 .1846.
163
MPL 40 . 637-668.
1 6 4 MPL 40.667. This is clear from his statement: Non habebit Deum patrem,
qui ecclesiam noluerit habere matrem. ( H e who will not have the church as
mother will not have God as father.) MPL 40.668. See, however, Le Frois, op.
cit., p. 51, and Hilda Graef, Mary. A History of Doctrine and Devotion, N e w
York: Sheed and Ward, 1963, vol. 1, p. 132, for a different opinion.
165
Caesarius Commentary is found among the works o f S. Augustine
under the title Expositio in Apocalypsin B. Ioannis. T h e exegesis of Ch. 12 starts
with Homilia IX. (MPL 35.2433 ff.)
166
T h e edition by P. A. C. Vega, Apringii Pacensis Episcopi Tractatus in Apocalypsin, Escurial, 1940, has an excerpt from Victorinus on the place of Ch. 12.
135
Primasius (d. after 554), bishop o f Hadrumetum in N o r t h

Africa, was also greatly influenced by Tyconius, and in the exegesis o f Chapter 12 he followed the earlier way:167 the woman is
the church, the twelve stars the twelve apostles. H e likens her cry
o f travail because she bears the Christians to that o f S. Paul in
Galatians 4.19. T h e dragon, which is the devil, tries to destroy
what the woman has borne, as the devil tries to extinguish in us
that novum hominem qui secundum Deum creatus est (the new man
which is created after G o d ) . Justly is the child which is born by
the woman called a "male" because Christ is the head o f the
church and H e is born in the Christians who are members of His
body, and again, as S. Paul says in Galatians 3.27, those who are
baptized into Christ have put on Christ. T h e child was taken up to
G o d as Christ ascended to heaven (Phil. 3.20). T h e woman fled
into the wilderness: the church lives in this world, suffering as
the Jews did in the wilderness, yet always being under the care of
God.
Cassiodorus (d. 538), "the savior o f ancient literature," 1 6 8 comments only on verse 7 in Chapter 12, stating that in this text the
mother of Christ is remembered: Fit iterum commemoratio mains et
Domino Christi...
169
(It is fitting to remember the mother and Christ
the Lord.)
W e stop here because our investigation o f the "Queen
of
H e a v e n " does not extend into the Middle Ages. W e have seen,
however, that the Mariological interpretation of Revelation 12 is
not very old in the Christian Church. Although Epiphanius of
Salamis (d. 403) made a vague reference to Mary in connection
with Chapter 12, the first author who definitely identified the
woman as Mary was Oecumenius in the sixth century. T h e next
to d o so will be medieval scholars, Ambrose Autpert
(eighth
century) and Alcuin (d. 804). Most others see in the figure of the
woman the church. But since the early church also saw Mary as
the figure o f the church, indirectly there appears to be a certain
connection between Mary and the "woman." This idea surfaced,
for example, in the exegesis of Quodvultdeus (d. 455). Neverthe167
Commentarius Super Apocalypsim B. Ioannis Liber III, MPL 68.872 ff. T h e
book was written around 550.
168
Because in the monastery Vivarium, which he founded, his monks
copied ancient manuscripts.
169
Complexiones in Epistolas et Acta Apostolorum et Apocalypsin, MPL 70.1411.
136
less, the fact remains that almost four hundred years passed
b e f o r e the "woman clothed with the sun" was identified with
Mary. In view of the fathers' otherwise high opinions o f Mary,
this is hard to understand. But there is an explanadon: up to about
400 A.D. paganism and Christianity were still competitors and in
this struggle Christianity could not afford to adopt pagan terminology. N o matter how different the Christian interpretations of the
"Queen of Heaven" may have been, the pagan connotadons o f the
title were too strong and the woman of Revelation 12 could not be
called Mary; she was called the church, and the church was
associated with
Mary. With
the victory
o f Christianity
over
paganism all restraint on this aspect of doctrinal development was

overcome, and in 431 the Council o f Ephesus officially formulated
and approved the use of the word theotokos ( " G o d bearer") as an
appellative of the mother of Jesus Christ. Marian interpretations o f
the "woman" will not lag much behind and will fully flourish in
the Middle Ages and in our own day.
C H A P T E R IV
THE GREAT M O T H E R A N D M O N T A N I S M
A. THE HISTORY AND THEOLOGY OF MONTANISM
Most scholars agree that the Montanist movement 1 started around
156-7 when Montanus began to prophesy. 2 According to Eusebius,
1
All studies of Montanism begin with the patristic sources which were
collected by D. Nathanael Bonwetch, Texte zur Geschichte des Montanismus.
Bonn: A . Marcus und E. Weber's Verlag, 1914. (Kleine T e x t e , #129.) G.
N a t h a n a e l B o n w e t c h , Geschichte des Montanismus.
Erlangen: Andreas
Deichert, 1881. Other useful literature: Kurt Aland, Kirchengeschichtliche Entwrfe. Gtersloh: Gtersloher Verlagshaus, 1960. In this volume two major
articles are of interest: "Bemerkungen zum Montanismus und zur frhchistlichen Eschatologie." pg. 105-148, and "Augustin und der Montanismus."
pg. 149-164; Wilhelm Schepelern, Der Montanismus und die Phrygischen Kulte.
T b i n g e n : J. C. B. M o h r , 1929; on this important research William .
Goree, Jr. based his The Cultural Bases of Montanism. Ph.D. Thesis, Baylor
University, 1980. Still very useful are P. de Labriolle, Les Sources de L'Histoire
du Montanisme. Fribourg, Switzerland: Universite de Fribourg 1913, P. De
Labriolle, La Crise Montanist, Paris: E. Leroux 1913; Waldemar Belck, Geschichte des Monianismus. Leipzig: Drffling und Franke, 1883. Furthermore,
. Aland, "Montanus" and "Montanism." The Encyclopedia of Religion. 10.8183; Douglass Powell, "Tertullianists and Cataphrygians." Vigiliae Christianae
29 (1975) 33-54; H e i n r i c h Kraft, "Die altkirchliche P r o p h e t i e und die
Entstehung des Montanismus." Theologische Zeitschrift 11 (1955) 249-271;
Stephen Gero, "Montanus and Montanism according to a Medieval Syriac
Source." Journal of Theological Studies. N.S. 28 (1977) 520-524; J. Messingberd
Ford, "Was Montanism a Jewish Christian Heresy?" Journal of Ecclesiastical
History. 17 (1966) 145-158; T i m o t h y D. Barnes, " T h e C h r o n o l o g y o f
Montanism." Journal of Theological Studies N . S. 20 (1970). Gerhard Ficker,
"Wiederlegung eines Montanisten." Zeitschrift fr Kirchengeschichte 26 (1905)
447-463; A d o l f Jlicher, "Ein Gallisches Bischofsschreiben des 6. Jahrhunderts als Zeuge fur die Verfassung der Montanistenkirche," Zeitschrift fr
Kirchengeschichte
16 (1896) 664-671; W. M . Calder, "Philadelphia and
Montanism." Bulletin of the John Rylands Library 7 (1922-23) 309-354. Useful
summaries in W. H. C. Frend, Martyrdom and Persecution in the Early Church.
N e w York: University Press, 1967 pp. 217-222; W. H. C. Frend, Saints and
Sinners in the Early Church. L o n d o n : Darton, Longman and T o d d 1985, pp. 6972; W. H . C. Frend, The Rise of Christianity. Philadelphia. Fortress, 1984, pp.
253-257; Carl A n d r e s e n , Die Kirchen der Alten Christenheit.
Stuttgart:
Kohlhammer, 1971, pp. 110-115; R. Seeberg, Lehrbuch der Dogmengeschichte.
Graz: Akademische Druck und Verlagsanstalt, 1953. Band 1, pp. 321-329; .
Harnack, History of Dogma. New York: Dover, 1961 (reprint o f the 1900
edition), vol. 2, pp. 95-108.
2
We
arrive at this date by f o l l o w i n g Epiphanius, however,
Eusebius
138
T H E GREAT M O T H E R A N D M O N T A N I S M
Montanus was a "recent convert." 3 Jerome thought he was formerly a priest o f Cybele who had emasculated himself. 4 According to Didymus of Alexandria, Montanus was the priest o f an
idol, 5 and yet another source makes him a priest of Apollo. 6 Clearly there is no reliable information about Montanus' previous life,
but we do know that at one time "he fell into frenzy and convulsions," became ecstatic, spoke in a strange way, and uttered prophecies that were contrary to accepted traditions in the church. 7
Soon female associates appeared beside him; Priscilla and Maximilla claimed to have seen visions and also uttered prophecies. As
is customary with eschatological and charismatic
movements,
many people responded with faith in the "new prophecy," which

became the name of the movement. Individual Christians and
eventually whole congregations f o l l o w e d Montanus. In
time,
however, the church turned against the "new prophecy" and the
movement was branded a heresy. What happened to Montanus is
uncertain because later references to him came f r o m hostile
sources, one of which asserted that he committed suicide. 8 After
his death the prophetesses continued his work, but, as in most
eschatological movements, when the prophecies failed to materialize, the movement settled down into a m o r e or less routine
church life. T h e best known convert to Montanism was the great
Tertullian of Carthage, many of whose books reflect the theology
and ethics of later Montanism.
T h e "new prophecy" was a vigorous movement. N o t only were
Montanist preachers powerful speakers but they had fertile minds
and produced many books. According to Hippolytus they produced an "infinite number o f books," 9 none o f which has survived, however; only a few sentences from them can be recon-
suggests a date around 172; for the controversy on dating see Powell, op. at.
and D. Barnes, op.cit., among others.
3
H. E. 5.16.7.
4
Epistola 41.4: "abscisum et semivirum habuisse.""mutilated
and emasculated," NPNF, Series 2, vol. 6, 55-56.
5
De Trinitate 3.41.3; MPG 39, 449.
6
See the "Dialogue," in G. Ficker, op.cit. p. 445: 6
' .
7
.. 5.16.7; ET: LCL Kirsopp Lake, editor. L o n d o n : Heinemann, 1949,
vol. 1, 477-475.
8
Eusebius, .. 5.16.13.
9
Refutation 8.12, ANF 5.123, see also Epiphanius, Haer. 48.12.
139 T H E GREAT M O T H E R A N D M O N T A N I S M
structed. 10 A few of the original prophedc utterances of Montanus,

Maximilla, and Priscilla are quoted by Eusebius and Epiphanius,
but nothing in them shows any doctrinal deviation f r o m the
standards of the rest of the church; in matters concerning the
rules of faith (rgula fedei) the early Montanists were quite orthodox. They differed in practical matters and in their emphasis o f
certain ethical values, all o f which would have been considered
quite acceptable to every Christian a generadon or two earlier. T h e
Montanists believed in prophecy as a gift of the Holy Spirit; they
accepted and practiced glossolalia and believed that a Christian
must live up to the highest moral standards. These things were
integral parts o f early Christian life as it is reflected in the writings o f the New Testament and earliest Christian literature. But
the church o f the middle o f the second century was no longer the
charismatic church of the apostles, and things that had been
looked upon as signs of the activity of the Spirit a hundred years
before had come to be viewed as strange and eccentric.
An eschatological movement, the Montanists claimed
that
through a revelation they were warned that the new Jerusalem

would soon descend from heaven. 11 Even the place where this
was to happen was revealed to them: the village of Pepuza, and it
was here that the faithful were to gather to await for the great
event. 12 Montanus even called Pepuza "Jerusalem" and wanted to
hold his church meetings there because it was the holy place. So
strong was this faith in the immediate coming o f God's kingdom
that even Tertullian (died c. 220), who was a second generation
Montanist, believed in it, although without any reference to the
village of Pepuza. It was Tertullian who preserved for us a story,
perhaps stemming from the Parthian campaign
(197-199)
of
Emperor Septimius Severus (193-211). According to Tertullian's

account, a city was seen in the sky suspended from heaven. This
sight could be viewed by everyone, even pagans confessed to
having seen it, and it appeared every morning for forty days. For
Tertullian this vision was the fulfillment o f a Montanist prophecy
"which is a part o f our b e l i e f ' that there will be a picture o f the
W. M. Calder, op.cit. p. 322.

See Rev. 21.2: "and I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down
out of heaven from God..."
12
Epiphanius, Haer. 49.1.2-3; Eusebius, .. 5.18.2; 5.18.13.
10
11
140
T H E GREAT M O T H E R A N D
MONTANISM
heavenly city as a manifestation of the truth o f the prophecy. 1 3

T h e vision appeared in Judea, not in Pepuza, and Tertullian did
not investigate whether it was a mirage, an optical illusion often
experienced by visitors in hot sand deserts.
In this respect, the Montanists returned to an early Christian
concept o f eschatology, i.e. a very realistic eschatology which
f o u n d expression in statements such as Matthew 24.24, "... this
generation will not pass away dll all these things take place," and
the early letters o f Paul, particularly 1. Thessalonians. 14 T h e very
realistic view o f the "heavenly Jerusalem" in Montanism
also
reminds us of a similar view held by Papias, a pupil o f bishop

Polycarp, who may have known the apostle John. 1 5 H e believed
that the kingdom of Christ "will be set up in material form on this
e a r t h , " 1 6 and that in those days each vine will have ten thousand
branches, each branch ten thousand twigs, each twig ten thousand shoots, each shoot ten thousand clusters and each cluster ten
thousand grapes and each grape will produce twenty five metretes
o f wine. It will be similar with grain production. 1 7 This vision o f
Papias brings to mind the experience of the worshippers of Dionysus, who, as we have seen above, thought o f the world as flowing
with milk, wine and nectar. Now Papias was also a Phrygian and
it is difficult not to sense a certain spiritual affinity between his
material vision of Paradise and the experience of the Bacchantes.
But Eusebius says that Papias must have gotten these ideas from a
"perverse reading" o f the Bible, and besides, "he was a man o f
very little i n t e l l i g e n c e . " 1 8 N o t so Eusebius, and generally the
church after the post- apostolic period; they no longer nurtured
such material visions o f the new Jerusalem. As a matter o f fact,
they kept delaying the time of Christ's coming farther and farther
into the future until they no longer had any vision o f it at all;
because it was now so far away from them, it did not cause any
Adv. Marc. 3.24; ET : ANF 3,342.

See e.g. Paul's strong convictions that he and many others will still be
alive when the Jesus returns, l.Thess. 4.15.
15
Eusebius, H.E. 3.39.1-17, op.at. pp. 291-299.
16
Op.cit. p. 295.
17
This story from Papias is quoted in Irenaeus Adv. Haer. 5.33.3-4; ET.:
ANF 1.562-563. Irenaeus, Papias and Tertullian were millenialists; i.e. they
believed that prior to the final consummation there will be a thousand year
long rule of Christ on earth.
18
H.E. 3.39.12, op.cit. p. 297.
13
14
change in their everyday lives. For them
it was n o
longer
realistic to talk about the new Jerusalem except in homilies and in

hypothetical terms, but for the Montanists eschatology was something immediate and the effect of this belief was a different ethic.
Montanist prophecy was, consequently, directed toward everyday Christian behavior. N o new "revelations" concerning
the
way o f salvation were received, as in many Gnostic movements.

That the utterances o f the three original founders of the movement, Montanus, Priscilla, and Maximilla, were real prophecies,
spoken under inspiration, not even the critics denied. What they
questioned, however, was whether this inspiration was f r o m the
Holy Spirit of God. Their answer was that Montanist prophecies
were uttered under the possession of demons; that demons existed,
n o one doubted. Montanus, we read in Eusebius "became obsessed, and suddenly fell into frenzy and convulsions." 1 9 H e was
not the only one of his age subject to such phenomena. O n e o f his
contemporaries, who lived not very far from him, Alexander o f
Abonuteichus,20
behaved in a similar manner: in
religious
frenzy, he tossed his long locks and, foaming at the mouth (he
produced foam by chewing soapwart plant, Lucian asserts), he
screamed at the top of his lungs a volley of unintelligible words;
he ran about chanting and praying so that eventually a great
number o f people believed that he was the chosen prophet o f the
healing g o d Asklepios. H e then spoke a number o f oracles which
he developed into a prosperous business. As in the case of Montanus, Alexander's oracles were mostly bits o f pious advice on the
everyday vicissitudes o f life. Lucian indicated in one of his essays
that several such people were healed by an exorcist in Palestine.
T h e persons obsessed by the demon, he says, "fall down in the
light o f the moon and roll their eyes and fill their mouths with
foam." For a fee, they were restored to health by an exorcist. T h e
exorcist could talk to the demons who answered him in the
H.E. 5.16.7, op.cit. p. 475.
Abonuteichus, or Ionopolis was in Pontus on the northern region o f
Asia Minor, close to Sinope. Pepuza was in western Asia Minor, in Phrygia.
T h e air distance between the two cities is ca. 300 miles. See F. van der Meer,
Atlas of the Early Christian World. New York: Nelson, 1958, p. 7. It seems that
the lives of Montanus and Alexander overlapped. T h e story of Alexander is
in Lucian of Samosata, (115-200 A . D . ) Alexander the False Prophet LCL. A . M .
Harmon, editor. London: Heinemann, 1961, vol. 4. For a review and evaluation, see Stephen Benko, Pagan Rome... op.cit. pp. 103-139.
19
20
142
language o f the country from which they came. At the command o f the exorcist, they left the body o f the one possessed.
Lucian says that he himself saw one o f these demons coming out
"black and smokey in color." 21 T h e eloquent and scholarly critic,
Celsus, who wrote around 180 A.D. and thus was a contemporary
o f both Montanus and Alexander, confirmed that prophecy of this
sort indeed was widely practiced. H e wrote: " T h e r e are many,
who, although o f no name, with the greatest facility and on the
slightest occasion, whether within or without temples, assume the
motions and gestures of inspired persons; while others do it in
cities or among armies, for the purpose o f attracting attention and
exciting surprise. These are accustomed to say, each for himself,
am God; I am the Son o f God; or, I am the Divine Spirit; I have
come because the world is perishing ... A n d those who know not
the punishments which await them will repent and grieve in
vain; while those who are faithful to me I will preserve eternally
... ' T o these promises are added strange, fanatical, and quite
unintelligible words, o f which no rational person can find the
meaning; they are so dark, as to have no meaning at all; but they
give occasion to every fool or impostor to apply them to suit his
own purposes." Celsus also claimed to have interviewed such prophets who, when pressed by him, admitted that their incoherent
words meant nothing. 2 2 T h e testimony of Lucian may be criticized as that of a satirist who emphasized things he disliked. But
Celsus was a scholar and his statements must be taken with the
same scholarly respect with which he wrote them. Montanus'
own prophecies seem to confirm that he considered himself the
mouthpiece of the Paraclete, 23 although he did not necessarily
21
Philopseud.es - The Lover of Lies. 16. LCL, A. M. Harmon editor, op.cit. vol.
3.345. Compare this story with the exorcism o f the Gadarene demoniac by
Jesus in Mark 5.1-19.
22
The True Word, in Origen, Against Celsus 7.9 and 11; ANF 4.614-615. See
also R. Joseph H o f f m a n n , Celsus on the True Doctrine. New York and O x f o r d :
O x f o r d U . Press, 1987, pp. 106-107.
23
Eusebius, .. 5.14.11 " O f these (i.e. the enemies of the church) some
like poisonous reptiles crawled over Asia and Phrygia, and boasted that
Montanus was the Paraclete and that the women o f the sect, Priscilla and
Maximilla, were the prophetesses o f Montanus." op.cit. p. 471; Epiphanius,
Panarion 48.11: Montanus said "It is I, T h e Lord God the Almighty who am
present in man." Again, Montanus said: "I am neither an angel nor an
envoy, but I, the Lord, God the Father, have come." Bonwetsch, Texte, op.cit.
p. 19. Hippolytus, Refutation
8.12: "And they assert that into (Priscilla,
Maximilla and Montanus) the Paraclete Spirit had departed." ANF 5.123;
143 T H E GREAT M O T H E R AND M O N T A N I S M
identify himself with God or with Jesus Christ. Schepelern has

convincingly argued that such use of the first person singular
meant the g o d who spoke in the medium, not the medium himself. 24 This is the case with Apollo, who was originally a g o d of
Asia Minor. His mouthpiece, the Pythia in Delphi, always spoke
in the first person when she uttered her oracles and it was obvious
to all that these were Apollo's words and not those of the Pythia.
T h e Pythia spoke when she was "entheos" "filled with G o d . " W e
have a vivid description o f this condition by Virgil who tells us
how Aeneas went to inquire o f the Sybil at Cumae: when he
arrived at the cave the prophetess was "raging fiercely," trying to
"shake the mighty goddess from her breast." 25 Similarly, Ovid
says that the Sibyl is inspired by "the presence of the g o d within
her," which means that she is "entheos, " "plena deo, " "filled with
g o d . " 2 6 W e also learn from Ovid that the Sybil was a virgin who
resisted the advances o f Phoebus ( A p o l l o ) when she was still an
innocent young girl, which recalls the insistence of the Montanists that their prophetesses lived in a celibate state 27 and that
Priscilla was a virgin. According to Epiphanius, 28 in Montanist
services of worship virgins displayed a certain "enthusiasm," that
is, they showed signs of being entheos, "filled with God", the condition of prophetic madness well known from ancient literature. 29
according to Didymus, De trinitate 3.41 Montanus said: "I am the Father, and
the Son and the Paraclete." Bonwetsch, Texte, p. 22. T h e Parclete is, of course,
the "counselor" or "advocate" of John 14.16; 15.26; 16.7, see W. F. Arndt and
F. W. Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament. C a m b r i d g e :
University Press, 1957, pp. 623-624.
24
Op. cit. pp. 145-159.
25
Aeneid 6.77; ET: J.W. Mackail, Virgil's
Works. N e w York: M o d e r n
Library, 1950, p. 106.
26
Mary M. Innes, The Metamorphoses of Ovid 14.101-137. N e w York:
Penguin, 1982, p. 314. See also E. Norden, "Vergilstudien." Hermes 28 (1893)
501-521 and compare R. G. Austin, P. Vergili Moronis Aeneidos Liber Sixtus With
a Commentary. O x f o r d : Clarendon Press, 1977, p. 60: "The phrase plena deo ...
occurs nowhere in Virgil. Obviously it would Fit the Sibyl either in this
context ... or in that of 77f. It is generally taken to be a remnant of an early
draft ..." Austin quotes examples o f similar phrases from Ovid, Lucian and
other authors. T h e relevant line from the Aeneid in Latin are as follows.
6.50: "adflata est numine quando iam propiore dei." 6.78: "Bacchatur uates, magnum
si pectore possit excussisse deum. " See Austin, op.cit. ad.loc.
27
Eusebius, H.E. 5.18.2.
28
See below, p. 149.
29
T h e problem has been researched by many scholars, for an excellent
summary see E. R. Dodds, The Greeks and the Irrational. Berkeley, California:
U.C. Press, 1957, chapter III: "The Blessing of Madness."
144
T h e Montanist prophets and other "ecstatics" mentioned by

ancient authors seem to belong to the same group o f people, those
w h o spoke under the influence of a superior spiritual power
whose voice their sayings were believed to be. This manner o f
speaking starts out as a coherent message, but as the frenzy grows
it develops into an incoherent, ecstatic gibberish. By the second
century this was a fairly common p h e n o m e n o n . In the time o f
the New Testament it was called glossolalia, speaking in tongues,
and may have originated with the pentecostal experience of the
apostles, who under the influence o f the Holy Spirit "spoke in
other tongues" and gave the impression to others that they were
drunk." 3 0 Paul is our witness that such glossolalia appeared to outsiders as madness 31 and indeed, if we draw upon some examples
f r o m gnostic practices we can understand why. H e r e are two
sentences quoted by Irenaeus: "Basema Chamosse Baoenaora Mistadia Ruada Kousta Babaphor Kalachthei.
"Messia Uphareg Namenpsoe-
mam Chaldoeaur Mosomedoea Acphranoe Psaua Jesus Nazaria. "

Another from a gnostic gospel:
32
"Aeeou iao aoi oia psinother thernops
nopsiter zagoure pagoure netmomaoth nepsiomaoth marachachtha thobarrabau
tharnachachan
zorokothora
ieou sabaoth. ' ? 3 Lucian
quotes
similar gibberish concerning Alexander. 3 4 T h e frenzied speech

o f the Montanists must have been similar to that practiced by
other emotionally supercharged people in Asia M i n o r and the
surrounding areas, perhaps similar also to some
Pentecostal
charismatic speaking of modern times.

T h e purpose o f such behavior is to convey to the
group
messages f r o m God. W e have already seen that the Montanist

prophecy consisted of counsels concerning practical, not theological, matters. Apart from the promise o f the "new Jerusalem"
and its speedy coming 3 5 the Montanist prophecies appear to have
been didactic and homiletic. "Do not listen to me, but listen to
Acts 2.4 and 13.

1 Cor. 14.23 ""; all three chapters 12, 13, 14 are quite instructive in this matter.
32
Adv. Haer 1.21.23; ANF 1.346.
33
H e n n e c k e - S c h n e e m e l c h e r , op.cit. vol. 1, p. 258. Many more examples
could be found in The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation, H. D. Betz, editor.Chicago: Univ. o f Chicago Press, 1986.
34
See Stephen Benko, Pagan Rome, p. 111.
35
Maximilla said that after her there would be no m o r e prophets but
that the end would come. Epiphanius, Panarion 48.2; Bonwetsch, Texte, p. 16.
30
31
Christ!" said Maximilla. 3 6 Tertullian quoted a "counsel o f the

Spirit": being defamed by the public is for the believer's own g o o d
"for he who is not exposed to dishonor among men is sure to be so
before the L o r d ... Seek not to die on bridal beds nor in miscarriages, nor in soft fevers, but to die in the martyr's death, that he
may be glorified who has suffered for you." 37 In the Montanism
represented by Tertullian such practical issues dominate, for,
Tertullian said, "the Paraclete's administrative office is the direction o f discipline, the revelation of Scriptures, the reformation o f
the intellect and the advancement toward the better things." 38 T h e
rule of faith needs n o improvement and no change, but righteousness develops in stages: first, a rudimentary stage, then, the Law,
the prophets, and the gospel. And now finally "through the Paraclete it is settling into maturity. T h e Paraclete will be after Christ,
the only one to be called and revered as Master; for H e speaks not
f r o m Himself, but what is commanded by Christ." 39 A n d what
does the Paraclete c o m m a n d ? - t h a t virgins be veiled, that fasts be
observed, that none should marry a second time, that martyrdom
not be avoided, and similar matters that do not affect the rule o f
faith. 40
T h e morality of the Montanists was i n f l u e n c e d by these
"prophecies" and by their acute sense of the impending descent
o f the heavenly Jerusalem. So it was with Christians generally in
apostolic times, but as their eschatological hopes faded so their
moral outlook changed. Faith in the unique cleansing power o f
baptism which should have been effective until the second coming o f Jesus was slowly abandoned, and the church developed a
penitential system to accommodate repentant sinners. By the
time o f Tertullian even adultery and fornication were forgiven, 4 1
Epiphanius, op.cit. 48.8.

De fuga in persecutione 9; Bonwetsch, Texte p. 31; ANF 4.121; c o m p a r e
with De anima 55; "If you lay down your life for God, as the Paraclete
counsels, it is not in gentle fevers and on soft beds, but in the sharp pains of
martyrdom." ANF 3.231.
38
Hebrews 11.40; 12.24.
39
De virginitms velandis 1. ANF 4.27-28.
40
Tertullian's treatises dealing with these matters are De
virginibus
velandis, De monogamia, De jejunio, De pudicitia, De fuga in persecutione. All are
translated in ANF 3 and 4.
41
So it was stated by Callistus, bishop of R o m e (217-222) in his famous
edict, which caused Tertullian to write his venomous reply in De pudicitia,
Hippolytus in his Philosophumena 9.12 also attacked the lax standards of the
36
37
146
THE GREAT MOTHER AND M O N T A N I S M
and it was against such "laxity" that the Montanists maintained

high and rigorous standards f o r their daily lives. T h e y were
known for their strict fast which bordered on asceticism. Montanus himself had given laws concerning fasts42 which Hippolytus called "novel and strange." 43 They appear in the writings o f
Tertullian, who boasted o f the strict practices o f the Montanists
and scolded the "Psychics" (the main church) whom he called
"gluttons" because they "hated fasts." 44 "It is these which raise
controversy with the Paraclete; it is on this account that the New
Prophecies are rejected; not that Montanus and Priscilla and
Maximilla preach another God, nor that they disjoin Jesus Christ
( f r o m G o d ) , nor that they overturn any particular rule o f faith or
hope, but that they plainly teach m o r e frequent fasting than
marrying..." In addition to more fast days, Tertullian also mentions the Montanist practices of lengthening the fast periods
which were observed by all Christians and xerophagies, i.e. dry
fasts in which they abstained from water and even juicy fruits.
T h e followers of Montanus are, therefore, constantly reproached
with "novelty," complains Tertullian, who then lashes into a
vigorous defense of the Montanist standards accompanied by an
equally vigorous denunciation of the "psychics'" laxity. 45 Abstinence from water included abstinence from bathing, boasted Tertullian, which conjures up images o f certain ascetic monastics
concerning whom Anatole France said that "the o d o r o f their
virtues rose up to heaven." 46
Montanist morality was equally strict in sexual matters. So
rigorous were they in this respect that Apollonius, a writer whose
works Eusebius used, believed that Montanus "taught the annulment of marriage ... " 47 Later Apollonius and Eusebius stated that
both Priscilla and Maximilla left their husbands as soon as "they
were fdled with the Spirit"; the Montanists, therefore, lie when
church of Rome.
42
Eusebius, H.E. 5.18.2, op.dt. p. 487.
43
Philosophumena
10.22; ANF 5.147. See also Epiphanius, op.dt. 48.8.
Bonwetsch, Texte p. 18.
44
De jejunio 1. ANF 4.102.
45
Loc. cit. Tertullian was probably influenced in this matter by cultpractices o f the followers o f Caelestis, see p. 34 of this manuscript.
46
Thais. Chicago: T h e U. o f Chicago Press, 1976, p. 28 Basil Gulati, translator.
47
H.E. 5.18.2; op.dt. p. 487.
they call Priscilla virgin. 48 O f course, marriage, divorce, and virginity should be mutually exclusive, except perhaps under some
extremely unusual circumstances, but these references to early
Montanism at least show that sex was viewed as a grave matter.
These Montanists may have followed strictly Paul's counsels in 1
Corinthians 7, where the apostle only grudgingly approves o f
marriage and sex because "the appointed time has grown very
short," 4 9 i.e. the end of the world was near. As an eschatological
movement, the Montanists probably wanted to preserve themselves from the involvements of sex and marriage and to achieve
perfection by the time the "heavenly Jerusalem" descended.
In this matter, too, Tertullian formulated the Montanist views
for his time, devoting an entire treatise to their discussion. H e
refers to their eschatological views in other writings, too. In his
Exhortation to Chastity, Tertullian contrasts the desires of the flesh to
our sanctification, God's will that His image be restored in us so
that we may b e c o m e holy. 50 H e distinguished three kinds o f
"sanctification": the first is "virginity from one's birth";
the
second, "virginity from one's second birth," i.e. baptism.
(If
married, that means the renunciation o f marital sex and for a

widowed woman, perseverance in her widowhood.) T h e
third
grade o f virginity is monogamy, that is, not marrying again after

the first marriage is ended by the death o f a partner. T h e first
grade Tertullian calls "happiness, total ignorance o f that f r o m
which you will afterwards wish to be freed"; the second is "virtue," and the third, in addition to virtue, is also "moderation." 5 1 In
this treatise Tertullian quoted Priscilla, "the holy prophetess":
" T h e holy minister knows how to minister sanctity. For purity is
harmonious, and they see visions; and turning their faces downward, they even hear manifest voices, as salutary as they are
withal
secret." 5 2 Carnality, "the filthy concupiscences o f
the
flesh," averts the Holy Spirit, while "purity" is a precondition for

an ecstatic experience.
Tertullian wrote in a similar vein his treatise On
Monogamy,
H. E. 5.18.3, toe. cit.

1. Cor. 7.29.
50
H e may have had l.Thess. 4.3; I.Cor.11.7; l.Pet. 1.16 in mind when he
wrote this sentence.
51
De exhortatione castitatis 1. A NI' 4.50.
52
Op.cit. ch. 10, p. 56.
48
49
148
which he begins with a tirade against heretics who do away with

marriages and Psychics, who multiply them. " A m o n g us, however, whom the recognition of spiritual gifts entities to be deservedly called Spirituals," there is only one marriage. T h e Psychics
claim that this teaching of the Paraclete is a novelty, yet it is in
harmony with apostolic teaching and tradition. 55 In a letter to his
wife, Tertullian advised her not to marry after his death and
assured her that in heaven the "voluptuous disgrace" which
existed between them, "such frivolities, such impurities," will not
exist. 54 What she thought of such a valuation o f their married life
is not recorded, but fortunately for her, she preceded her husband
in death. Tertullian was not the only one to hold such views o f
coitus and sex. With him we are already in that period o f history
when the church became preoccupied with the problem o f sex in
the way o f salvation. 55 For the Montanists sexual continence was
in the class of fasting, i.e., it was a means in the service o f a
higher, spiritual experience.
T h e asexual view o f heaven which Tertullian so greatly desired may have contributed to the position o f women in Montanism. Since in Christ there is "no male and female" 5 6 and in the
resurrection all will be "like angels in heaven," 5 7 the Montanists
disregarded sexual differences and, in a proleptic way, created in
their church life the new Jerusalem in this respect. T h e
two
prophetesses were just as important as Montanus himself; indeed,

they may have been regarded even more highly than Montanus
himself if we are to accept at face value an account o f Hippolytus. 58
Hippolytus says that the Montanists "magnify these wretched
De Monogamia 1. ET.: ANF 4.59-72.
Ad uxorem 1. ANF 4 39.
55
D. S. Bailey, Sexual Relations in Christian Thought. New York: Harper and
Brothers, 1959 is a g o o d introduction to the problem. For more, see Peter
Brown, The Body and Society. Men, Women and Sexual Renunciation in Early Christianity. N e w York: Columbia University Press, 1988, and K. Carrigan, "Body
and Soul in A n c i e n t Religious E x p e r i e n c e " in A. H. Armstrong, editor,
Classical Mediterranean Sprituality. New York: Crossroad, 1986, pp. 360-383.
56
Gal. 3.28.
57
Matthew 22.30.
58
Refutation 8.12: "These have been rendered victims of error f r o m being previously captivated by two wretched women, called a certain Priscilla
and Maximilla, whom they supposed to be prophetesses. A n d they assert that
into these the Paraclete Spirit had departed; and antecedently to them, they
in like manner consider Montanus as a prophet." ANF 4, 123. Note, that the
two women are mentioned first.
53
54
women above the Apostles and every gift o f grace, so that some o f
them presume to assert that there is in them something superior to
Christ." Even the "novelties o f fasts and feasts and meals o f
parched f o o d " were introduced by them because "they have been
instructed by women." 5 9 Epiphanius wrote that the revelation concerning the holiness of Pepuza and the promise that Jerusalem
would descend there was given to one of these women 6 0 and that
in later Montanism the prophetic role o f women in the church
lived on. H e writes: "Often seven white clad virgins c o m e into
their church. They carry torches and come before the congregation to prophesy, they demonstrate a certain enthusiasm ( ) , they deceive the people and make them all cry. They
shed tears as if they would be in mourning o f penitence and by
their behavior they mourn the fate o f men." 6 1 Tertullian reports
about a "sister" in his own congregation who had the spiritual gift
o f receiving revelation "which she experiences in the Spirit o f
ecstatic vision amidst the sacred rites of the Lord's day in the
church: she converses with angels, and sometimes even with the
Lord; she both sees and hears mysterious communications ... " 62
It is well known that prophecy was one of those ministries that
the early church accorded to women without hesitation, 65 but in
Hippolytus, loc. at.
Panarion 49.1, loc cit.
61
Panarion 49.2, loc.cit.
62
De anima 9. ANF 3.188.
63
See Acts 21.9 (Philip's daughters); 1 Cor. 11.4-5 (women must cover
their head when prophesying); see also Didache 10.7; 11.3. A brief discussion
by Jean Danielou, The Ministry of Women in the Early Church. L o n d o n : T h e
Faith Press, 1961. Also Rosemary Reuther and Eleaner McLaughlin, Women
of Spirit. Female Leadership in the Jewish and Christian Tradition. N e w York:
Simon and Schuster, 1979. T h e growing number of books dealing with
w o m e n ' s place in early Christianity is discussed and analyzed by Susanne
H e i n e , Women and Early Christianity. A Reappraisal. Minneapolis: Augsburg
Publishing House, 1988. From among the many books that were recently
published about women's place in the early Christian church, I have consulted the following, in addition to the others quoted above: Dautzenberg,
Gerhard, et al. (editors), Die Frau im Urchristentum. Freiburg: H e r d e r , 1983;
Susanne H e i n e , Frauen der Frhen Christenheit. Gttingen: Vandenhoeck and
Ruprecht, 1986, English translation: Women and Early Christianity. M i n n e a polis: Augsburg Press, 1987; R o g e r Gryson, Le Ministere des Femmes Dans
L'glise Anenne. Genbloux: Duculot, 1972; Otto Bangerter Frauen in Aufbruch,
Neukirchen: Neukirchener Verlag, 1971. Ben Wetherington, Women in the
Earliest Churches. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1988; Jean La
Porte, The Role of Women in Early Christianity. New York and T o r o n t o : Edwin
M e l l e n Press, 1982; Bonnie Bowman Thurston, The Widows. A Woman's
59
60
150
T H E GREAT M O T H E R AND M O N T A N I S M
the Montanist church women were also bishops and presbyters.

This practice was justified on the basis of Galatians 3.28: " ... there
is no male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." In his
pre-Montanist
days, Tertullian
accorded w o m e n
criticized
the
"heretics'
who
too many rights in the church: " T h e
very
women of these heretics, how wanton they are! For they are bold
enough to teach, to dispute, to enact exorcisms, to undertake cures
it may be even to baptize," i.e., administer the sacraments.64 Yet
this is what h a p p e n e d
in Montanism.
Firmilian,
bishop
of
Cappadocia, wrote a letter to Cyprian, probably in 256 A.D., in

which he related the story of a woman "who in a state of ecstasy
announced herself as a prophetess, and acted as if filled with the
H o l y Ghost." She deceived many with her marvels: she walked
barefooted in the snow without being harmed, predicted earthquakes, and professed an ability to see the future. She also "sanctified bread and celebrated the Eucharist, and o f f e r e d sacrifice to
the Lord, not without the sacrament of the accustomed utterance;
and also baptized many, making use o f the usual and lawful
words of interrogation, that nothing might seem to be different
f r o m the ecclesiastical rule." 65 Firmilian's problem was whether
these baptisms were valid, seeing that a "most wicked d e m o n
baptized through means o f a woman." 66 W e note that the woman
administered the sacraments strictly according to ecclesiastical
rules and regulations; the only problem was her sex. Augustine
(died 430), who called the Montanists Pepuziani or Quintilliani
similarly reported that they gave preferential status to women,

including the priesthood. 6 7 Finally, a sixth-century letter f r o m
bishops o f Gaul forbids the practice, followed in some congregations, of women assisting at the administration o f the eucharist,
just as in the "horrenda
reference to the
secta"which
is m o r e
than likely a
Montanists.68
Ministry in the Early Church. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1989.

64
De praescriptione haereticorum 41. ANF 3.263. See also De virginibus velandis
9.1, ANF 4.3; De baptismo 17.4, ANF 3.677. H e may have been inconsistent in
this matter, but Tertullian had a strong bias against w o m e n in higher
church offices.
65
This is among the letters of Cyprian, number 74.10; ANF 5, 393.
66
Ep. 74.11.
67
De haeresibus 27, MPL 42.30-31: "...tantum dantes mulieribus prinapatum, ut
sacerdotio quoque apud eos honorentur. "
68
A d o l f jlicher, "Ein Gallisches Bischofsschreiben des 6. Jahrhunderts
151
T H E GREAT M O T H E R AND M O N T A N I S M
B. MONTANISM, THE GREAT MOTHER AND THE VIRGIN MARY

Thus there appeared in Asia Minor in the middle of the second
century a Christian movement characteristized by intense apocalypticism, ecstasy, morals bordering on asceticism, and emphasis
on the role of women. Where did the Montanists get these ideas
and what possible formative forces played a role in their development?
Except for the apocalyptic h o p e for the descent o f the new
Jerusalem, all major distinctive marks of the pagan cult of Cybele
reappear in Montanism. Both were highly emotional
religions
built on faith, not reason. Tertullian made the famous statement

that human wisdom corrupts and the Christian needs no further
inquiry after enjoying the gospel. "Away with all attempts to produce a mottled Christianity of Stoic, Platonic, and dialectic composition! ... With our faith we desire no further belief." 6 9 Such
blind faith, expressing itself in total dedication to the respective
objects of faith, was characteristic o f the followers of Magna Mater
as well. They, too, were very pious, devoted people who could
u n d e r g o much physical inconvenience, such as fasting, in the
fulfillment of their religious obligations, they observed the decorated tree in their sanctuary and sincerely mourned the death of
their g o d and just as sincerely rejoiced in his resurrection. T h e
Montanists' fasts and xerophagies and their rejection of bodily
comforts suggest a joyless people. If they followed Tertullian's
advice to abstain from all forms of secular entertainment and to
concentrate always on their religion, 7 0 they must have been a
als Zeuge fr die Verfassung der Montanistenkirche." Zeitschrift fr Kirchengeschicle 16 (1896) 664-671.
69
De praescriptione haerelicorum 7, ANF 3.246. See also De anima 2: "Wide
are men's inquiries into uncertainties; wider still are their disputes about
conjecture ... T o the Christian, however, but few words are necessary for the
clear understanding of the whole subject. But in the few words there always
arises certainty to him, nor is he permitted to give his inquiries a wider
range than is compatible with their solution ...." This he bases on 1 T i m .
1.4 ( n o "speculations" but "divine training") and then adds that all solutions
must be learned from God; this statement may conceal a touch of his Montanism, if indeed he meant instruction c o m i n g f r o m God by inspired
pronhets. ANF 3 .183 .
70
H e even forbade attendance at shows as one of the earthly pleasures
which are "not consistent with true religion. Instead, Christians should
think o f the second coming of Jesus and the descent of the N e w Jerusalem.
That will be a spectacle to behold!" De spectaculis 1 and 30. ANF 3.80-91.
152
dark and sinister looking group. In Cybele's worship, such total

dedication and highly pitched emotion, induced by music, dance
and mass frenzy, drove some to the ultimate dedication, that is,
self-emasculation. This does not seem to have been practiced by
the Montanists, although Montanus himself may have been an
emasculated man. W e know of a few eunuchs who were highly
regarded members of the Chrisdan community. O n e was Melito,
the bishop of Sardis, whom Eusebius called a " e u n u c h " 7 1 and who
was revered in his day as a prophet. Melito lived in Sardis, i.e.,
near the epicenter o f Cybele's worship, and it is possible that at
one time he was under the influence o f the Great Mother. H e was
buried there "waiting for the visitation from heaven when he will
rise f r o m the dead," a statement which has a strange Montanist
ring to it. Also well known is the case o f the great Alexandrian
teacher, Origen (died 253/254), who in an "immature and youthful m i n d " castrated himself, following Matthew 19.12, which he
took "in too literal and extreme a sense."72 But Christianity did not
develop a group o f "Galli." Rather, there developed within Christianity a sexual asceticism which voluntarily renounced sexual
relations even within marriage and p r o m o t e d virginity as a
higher way of life. In an extreme form o f this self-denial, called
syneisaktism, a man and a woman lived together and shared the
same bed but refused to make love. Which group inflicted greater
injury on their bodies must be left unanswered, but such sexual
ascetism suggests a form o f the "emasculation" that Cybele's cult
evoked.
At this point we should recall the night preceding the
Hilaria
when mysteries took place concerning which we have very little

i n f o r m a t i o n . 7 3 Clement's reference to some kind o f " b e d r o o m "
experience indicates a possible mystical union with the divine
consummated in a Hieros Gamos or sacred intercourse such as we
discussed in connection with the cult o f Dionysus. 74 In this light,
consider the report by Epiphanius of a Montanist vision: "These
Quintillians or Priscillans say that in Pepuza either Quindlla or
Priscilla, I cannot say exactly which, one o f them, as I said, lay
down to sleep and Christ came to her and slept with her in this
71
72
73
74
H.E. 5 24 5 op.dt. 50.

Eusebius, H.E. 6.8.1.
Page 67.
See Stephen Benko, Pagan Rome ... pp. 79-98.
way, as this misled woman said, 'in the shape o f a woman (

) Christ came to m e dressed in a shining robe he put
wisdom into my heart and revealed to me that this place is holy
and that Jerusalem will descend from heaven here!'" 7 5 Did this
prophetess have an experience o f "sacred marriage" with Christ?
Do we have here a Montanist vestige o f the " b e d r o o m " mystery
about which Clement wrote? T o connect that mysterious event
with the New Testament image of Christ as a bridegroom would
be an easy step to take.76 Indeed, Tertullian admonished virgins
with these words: "You are wedded to Christ, to Him you have
surrendered your flesh, to him you have espoused your maturity." 77 Again he said: "You are wedded to Christ: to Him you have
surrendered your body; act as becomes your Husband's discipline." 7 8 Christ as the husband o f the virgin who dedicated her
life to him became a popular image during the Middle Ages,
which also left many testimonies o f ascetic women who had
mystic visions involving Christ. Many o f these visions were
announced and received by those who heard them as messages
from God. Hildegard of Bingen (1090-1179), for example, began to
relate her messages with these words, "Lux vivens dicit. " " T h e
living light says." Although these practices are reminiscent o f
those of the Montanist prophetesses, the medieval ascetic women
did not launch sectarian movements. But, as H . O . Taylor says,
"Their burning faith tended to melt into ecstatic experiences.
They had renounced the passionate love o f man in order to devote
themselves to the love of Christ; and as their thought leapt toward
Panarion 49 . 2-3.
See Matthew 9.15; 25.1 ff.; Rev. 19.7; 21.2, 9; 22.17.
77
De virginibus velandis 16, ANF 4.37. T h e r e f o r e , virgins walk around in
veils like married w o m e n .
78
De oratione 22, ANF 3.689. See also Cyprian, De Habilu Virginum: Virgins
w h o are corrupted by the world are "widows b e f o r e they are married,
adulterous, not to their husband, but to Christ." ANF 4.435; Athanasius,
Apologia ad Constanlium 33: Virgins are called "the brides of Christ." Even
"the limbs o f the virgins are in an especial manner the Saviour's o w n . "
NPNF Series 2, vol. 4, 252; Athenagoras, A Plea 33: "You would find many
a m o n g us, both men and w o m e n , growing old unmarried, in h o p e o f
living in closer communion with G o d " ANF 2.146. U n m a r r i e d w o m e n
who had taken a vow o f chastity were often called ancillae Christi or ancillae
dei = slaves of Christ or God. On this see Joseph Vogt, "Ecce Ancilla Domini:
the Social Aspects o f the Portrayal o f the Virgin Mary in Antiquity," in
Ancient Slavery and the Ideal of Man. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard U. Press,
1975, pp. 146-169.
75
76
154
the Bridegroom, the Church's Spouse and L o r d , their visions

sometimes kept at least the colour o f the love for knight or
husband which they had abjured." 79
T h e report o f Epiphanius does not make clear whether there
were two, or only one such appearance o f Christ. If there were
two, then he first came and "slept with" the prophetess in a holy
marriage and later gave a prophecy. If there was only
one
appearance, then, according to Epiphanius' report, Jesus "slept

with" the prophetess "in the shape of a woman." In any case, it
seems clear that the revelation about Pepuza was given by a
female figure. Now, about the same time this vision is alleged to
have taken place, another was reported by Hermas in Cumae. H e
saw in sleep the vision of a lady who gave him a revelation and
he naturally associated this woman with the Sybil o f Cumae, 8 0
w h o was venerated at that place. If the dream of the Montanist
prophetess was similar to that of Hermas, then the
that the prophetess in Pepuza saw may have also been a local
goddess who was worshipped at that place 81 and was known to
give oracles just like the Sybil. In the mind of the prophetess,
permeated with the love of Christ, this goddess was transformed
into Christ, just as the Sybil o f Cumae became the symbol o f the
"church" for Hermas. T h e goddess who was the most popular
dispenser o f oracles and visions in and around Pepuza was
Cybele. Thus we assume that the hallucination o f the prophetess
represented a "partial and passing phase" of her personality, 82 in
other words, her dream was moulded and shaped by her pagan
past. Is it possible that something similar happened to the visionary of Revelation 12?
W e find a parallel to this prophecy in the teaching o f the
Gnostic heretic, Marcus, as preserved by his adversary, Irenaeus:
" H e declared that the infinitely exalted Tetrad descended upon
him from the invisible and indescribable places in the form of a
woman (for the world could not have borne it coming in its male
f o r m ) and expounded to him alone its own nature and the origin
79
Henry Osborn Taylor, The Medieval Mind, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard
U. Press, 1951. vol. 1, p. 476. T h e whole chapter, pp. 458-486 is very interesting for our topic here.
80
Hermas, Shepherd Vis. 2.3.4. See ch. VII, p. 229f.
81
Epiphanius, loc. cit. footnote 4.
82
Taylor, op. cit. p. 458.
155 T H E GREAT MOTHER AND M O N T A N I S M
o f all things..." 83 In the next section we are told that the Tetrad
said: "I wish to show you Aletheia (=Truth) herself, f o r I have
brought her down from the dwellings above..." 84 Marcus, who
was also active about the middle of the second century, used here
concepts and even words similar to those o f the Montanist
prophetess: the "Tetrad" descended upon him in the form o f a
woman and revealed Truth (i.e. W i s d o m ) . Now, the curious
thing is that Marcus was active in the Rhone valley, which had a
large population of Greek speaking people from the Near East.
Irenaeus was their bishop. A m o n g these Christians we can detect
certain Montanist traits such as eagerness for martyrdom and
chiliastic tendencies. 85 W e also learn from Irenaeus that Marcus
accorded an unusually important role to women in his ministry.
Irenaeus speaks o f this in very much the same way that "orthod o x " critics, such as Eusebius and Epiphanius, speak about the
Montanists: these women were " d e l u d e d " by Marcus, they are
wretched women driven to madness, and Marcus even imparted
to them his demon of prophecy.
B e h o l d , my Charis has d e s c e n d e d upon thee; o p e n thy mouth and
p r o p h e s y . O n the w o m e n r e p l a y i n g "I have n e v e r at any t i m e
prophesied, nor d o I know how to prophesy", then, e n g a g i n g , f o r
t h e s e c o n d t i m e , in certain i n v o c a t i o n s , so as to a s t o u n d his
d e l u d e d victim, he says to her O p e n thy m o u t h , speak whatsoever
occurs to thee, and thou shalt prophesy. She then, vainly p u f f e d u p
and elated by these words, and greatly e x c i t e d in soul by the
expectation that it is herself w h o is to prophesy, her heart beating
violently ( f r o m e m o t i o n ) , reaches the requisite pitch o f audacity,
and idly as well as i m p u d e n t l y utters s o m e nonsense as it happens to occur to her, such as might b e e x p e c t e d f r o m o n e heated b y
an empty spirit... H e n c e f o r t h she reckons herself a prophetess ... 86
T h e gift of prophecy was not conferred by Marcus upon men.

Thus, some Montanist elements may have found their way into
Gnostic thinking and it is an intriguing thought that the emphatic
part given to women in the process of salvation by many later
Adv. Haer. 1.14.1 ANF 1.336.

Op.cit. 1.14.2, p. 337.
85
Irenaeus was a chiliast and believed in a thousand year reign of
Christ before the final consummation.
86
Adv. haer. 1.13.1-3 Irenaeus adds that these women then are so grateful
to Marcus that they become his mistresses "desiring in every way to be
united to him."
83
84
156
THE GREAT MOTHER AND
MONTANISM
Gnostic systems87 may have had some Montanist roots. But since
Marcus and the Montanist prophetesses were contemporaries, an
influence of one on the other is not certain. T h e possibility must
be left open that they drank from the same fountain and inasmuch as their ecstatic experiences resemble each other so closely,
that c o m m o n fountain may have been in Asia Minor.
Epiphanius' reference to the bedroom experience o f the prophetess may b e c o m e clearer if we compare it with similar experiences o f pagans. Classical literature offers several examples o f
persons being "filled with g o d " through an act o f intercourse in
which the divine was believed to enter the human. Herodotus
indicated that this was the case in Babylon, in Thebes, and in
Patara: b e f o r e giving oracles the women in these temples slept
with the god. 8 8 This was the popular belief concerning the Pythia
in Delphi; Origen and Chrysostom report that the traditional
explanation of her prophetic frenzy was that A p o l l o entered her
through her private parts as she sat on the tripod. 89 In the temple of
Larisa in Corinth, says Pausanias, A p o l l o speakes through a
woman, "who is kept from the beds o f men"; once in each month
"a ewe-lamb is slaughtered at night, she tastes its blood, and the
g o d possesses her." 9 0 Like early Christian virgins and medieval
nuns, this woman was forbidden sexual relations with a man
because she was married to Apollo. So we conclude that Montanist
and pagan shared a similar experience, in which enthusiasm
and prophecy were often the result of "sleeping with the g o d . "
This is the proleptic realization o f the eschatological
87
T h e Gospel o f Philip, Pistis Sophia, Gospel o f Mary may serve as some
examples. See E. Pagels, op. cit.
88
1.182.
89
O r i g e n , Against
Celsus 7.3: "It is said o f the Pythian priestess, whose
oracle seems to have been the most celebrated, that when she sat down at the
m o u t h o f the Castalian cave, the p r o p h e t i c spirit o f A p o l l o e n t e r e d her
private parts; and when she was filled with it, she gave utterances to responses ... A n d this occurs n o t o n c e or twice ... but as o f t e n as she was believed to receive inspiration f r o m A p o l l o . " ANF 4.612. Chrysostom,
Homily
20, O n 1. Cor. 12.1-2: "... this same Pythia, then is said, b e i n g a f e m a l e , to
sit at times upon the tripod o f A p o l l o astride, and thus the evil spirit ascending f r o m b e n e a t h and e n t e r i n g the l o w e r part o f h e r body, filles the
w o m a n with madness, and she with d i s h e v e l e d hair b e g i n s to play the
bacchanal and to foam at the mouth, and thus being in a frenzy to utter the
words o f her madness." NPNF First Series, 12.170.
90
Op. cit. 2.24.1; Peter Levi, op.cit. vol. 1, p. 186. M o r e r e f e r e n c e s in
Eugen Fehrle, Die Kultische Keuschheit im Altertum. Gieszen: T p e l m a n n , 1910.
157 T H E GREAT MOTHER AND M O N T A N I S M
henosis: a mortal body is being entered and filled by the immortal

divine spirit.
Montanists were
radical
Christians who
took
their
faith
seriously. This led them to the acceptance of martyrdom even

more eagerly than other Christians. An example of this eagerness
is Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, who died a martyr's death in 155
or 156. W e take note again of the location o f Smyrna, not far from
the center o f Montanism, and of the year o f the bishop's martyd o m , which may coincide with the appearance of Montanus.
W h e t h e r Polycarp was in any way under the influence o f the
e m e r g i n g "new p r o p h e c y " which may be older than Montanus h i m s e l f o u r sources do not say, but the written account o f
his execution, the "Martydom of Polycarp," contains a reference
to Quintus, "a Phyrgian" who encouraged others, in addition to
himself, to give themselves up voluntarily. "Phrygian" usually
refers to adherents of Montanus and thus Quintus may have been
a Christian enthusiast who sought martyrdom. 9 1 In the same
report we read that along with Polycarp "twelve others f r o m
Philadelphia" also died; again, the location of Philadelphia brings
us into the neighborhood where the "new prophecy" flourished. 92
W e also read in Eusebius 93 that the Christians o f Lyons and
V i e n n e made a record o f their sufferings and sent it to "the
brethren in Asia Minor and Phrygia." From this document we
gather that some of the martyrs may have come from the Montanist area o f influence since some have Greek names. Such was
Alexander, "a Phrygian by race and a physician by profession,
who had lived in Gaul for many years and was known to almost
everyone for his love toward God and boldness of speech, (for he
was not without a share o f the apostolic gift)..." 9 4 This "apostolic
gift" must have been the gift of the Holy Spirit, for Alexander, too,
was entheos and his image, as it appears in the report of Eusebius,
strongly resembles that o f a Montanist. T h e enthusiasm o f the
Montanists led them into extreme actions such as rigoristic fasting and ascetic morals. As the ultimate sacrifice they sought
martyrdom, the final and complete renunciation of the world
Martydom of Polycarp 4.1. LCC 1.150.
See to this problem W. M. Calder, "Philadelphia and Montanism."
Bulletin of the John Rylands Library 7 (1922-23) 309-354.
93
Op. cit. 5.1, 1-4, LCLp. 407.
94
Op. cit. 5.1.48, LCLp. 431.
91
92
158
which they believed would unite them immediately with Christ.

H o w different is this from the selfmutilation and bloody castration o f Cybele's priests? Both were driven by frenzy, and what the
Galli did in their supreme sacrifice in order to be united with
their goddess, the Montanists did through martyrdom. T h e abuse
o f their bodies, especially their sexual continence, was a bloodless
castration; in martyrdom the element of blood was not missing. 95
It is no surprise, then, to learn that Asia M i n o r was the place
where the word "martyr," which originally meant simply someo n e who testified or witnessed, received the coloring it later had
in Christian usage. Asia Minor was the place where the traditional Christian concept of martyrdom first developed. 9 6
In Montanism many elements which appeared in the cults o f
Magna Mater or Cybele and o f Dionysus were adapted
and
accommodated. In all three, religious experiences shared several

characteristic
manifestations which distinguished
them
from
other cults. O n e o f these was enthusiasm, that is, the feeling o f

being entheos, filled with god, and the desire to be absorbed into
g o d in a mystical union. Enthusiasm led to hallucinations and
prophecy, ecstatic experience of the divine. All three cults were
open to both men and women and a "bedroom-experience" may
have been a part o f each of them. In addition, all three demonstrate masochistic tendencies, ranging from the extreme o f selfmutilation to that o f sexual abstention. O f course, the worship of
Magna Mater was very much alive when Montanism flourished
and the two religions existed side by side for a long time. This is
not a unique phenomenon, for there are many examples o f such
influences being absorbed by one religion from another. This
happened, and is still happening today to Christianity in the
South American countries; it happened to nineteenth century
Judaism in Germany. It also happened to "orthodox" Christianity
during the second and third centuries when it attempted to present itself to the Roman world in Greco-Roman categories. A n d so
we find that the religious inclination and mentality of the peoples
o f Asia Minor that created and nurtured the cult o f Cybele also
95
A c c o r d i n g to Tertullian, De baptismo 16 martyrdom may replace baptism "when that has not been received, and restored it when l o s t . " - i . e . if a
grievous sin would separate someone from Christ, martyrdom restores that
relationship. ANF 3 . 677 .
96
H. Strathmann, THWNT 4.512.
159 T H E GREAT M O T H E R AND M O N T A N I S M
created in Montanism a form of Christianity that reflected that

Cybelene spirit. Our scant references indicate that even the
worship services of the Montanists showed the influence o f the
pagan cult. As we have seen, Epiphanius reported that the Montanists carried torches in their services, prophesied, shed tears,
and made everyone weep "as if they were in penitential mourning and by their behavior were mourning the fate of men." Is this
not similar to the pagan service o f The Arbor Intrat on March 22?
When the pagans wept for Attis, they indeed bemoaned the "fate
of men"; they struggled with the same problem o f life and death
and they, too, found their answer in salvation by divine intervention. T o say to this, as the Christian critics o f Magna Mater
said, "Yes, but the pagans are motivated by evil demons and
Christians are not," is not a very convincing argument. W e must
accept the probability that in Montanism Christianity absorbed
significant elements from the pagan cult of Magna Mater. 97
But it would be incorrect to classify Montanism as a pagan
religion, as if it were an offshoot of the cult of Magna Mater. That
was not at all the case. Montanism was a Christian movement,
although perhaps a deviant one, which absorbed not only pagan
customs. J. Messingberd Ford, in a well researched article 9 8
attempted to show that the decisive influence on Montanism, in
its original Phrygian and later North African form, came from
97
Such influence on Christianity has been demonstrated recently by an
interesting anthropological study of an Italian religious sect, the Fujenti,
devotees o f the Virgin Mary. ( T u l l i o Tentori, "An Italian Religious Feast:
T h e Fujenti Rites of the Madonna dell'Arco, Naples." J.J. Preston, op. at. pp.
95-122) In summary, these are the main characteristics o f their celebration:
M o n d a y after Easter they c o m e from their villages running or skipping
(fujenti=fujjenti="those who f l e e " ) , dressed in white shirts and trousers and
g o to the sanctuary of the Madonna dell'Arco and there fall into a trance,
they cry aloud, groan, o f f e r prayers, some fling themselves to the ground.
Some faint, others are seized by convulsion and have to be removed to a first
aid tent. As many as twenty five thousand may take part, observed by many
more. When they return to their villages, they have dances on the streets
for a week and these dances "express themes of violent aggressiveness with
strong sexual overtones." (op. at. p. 104) Music is provided by tambourines
and castanets which "evoke the music that accompanied the ancient cults of
Cybele." And, indeed, the cult of the Great Mother was very popular around
Mt. Vesuvius and the peasents, who are descendants of Roman slaves still
continue the tradition at the same time in the spring when the mysteries of
Attis were celebrated.
98
"Was Montanism a Jewish Christian Heresy?" Journal
History 17 (1966) 145-158.
of Ecclesiastical
160
Judaism. Inclusion of women in the clergy, weeping at worship

services, and many other elements that we find peculiar to Montanism could be found in Judaism. " T h e rather heterodox Jewish
background o f Asia Minor, especially of Phrygia, provided material and practices which Montanism could adopt," Professor Ford
c l a i m s . " This is certainly true, but it does not explain why other
heterodox forms o f Judaism, such as that in Alexandria, to take
o n e example, did not influence Christianity and bring about a
Montanist movement. It seems that Montanism, with its distinguishing characteristics, could arise only in Asia Minor. Nevertheless, Montanism did not grow out of the cult of Cybele; had that
been the case, it would have been simply another pagan cult.
Montanism was a Christian movement which developed f r o m
the same Christianity in Asia Minor which produced the book o f
Revelation. Many scholars now regard Revelation as the most
immediate basis o f Montanism. 1 0 0 Revelation is a "mighty prop h e c y " 1 0 1 in which prophets and prophetic word and work are
emphasized 1 0 2 ; ecstatic visions abound 103 ; the second coming o f
Jesus is presented as an immediate and urgent message 104 ; the
descent o f the heavenly Jerusalem is predicted. 105 Steadfastness in
the faith is commanded, 1 0 6 martyrdom is elevated to the highest
honor, 1 0 7 and a thousand year rule of Christ (millenarianism) is
p r e d i c t e d . 1 0 8 In Revelation 14.4 we even have a reference to a
hundred and forty four thousand men "who have not d e f i l e d
themselves with women, for they are chaste; ... and in their
mouth n o lie was found, for they are spodess." A n d of course it is
in Revelation 12 that we find that exalted figure o f a woman
"clothed with the sun." Since Revelation was written during the
last decade of the first century, our conclusion is that as early as
that time elements appeared in the Christian churches o f Asia
Op.dt. p. 152.
See Schepelern, op.dt. pp. 159-164.
101
1.3.
102
19.10; 22.7, 10, 18, 19; 10.11; 11.3, 11.6; False prophets: 16.13; 19.20;
20.10; Prophets: 10.7; 11.10, 18; 16.6; 18.20, 24; 22.6,9.
103
1.10, 17; 2.7; 4.2; 17.7; 21.10; etc.
104
1.7; 3.10, 11; 16.15; 22.7, 12, 20.
105
3.12;21.2, 10.
106
Chapters 2 and 3.
107
7.9-17; 6.9-11; 15.2-4; 20.4-6.
108
20.2-8.
99
100
M i n o r which were later recognizable in Montanism. W e rem e m b e r also, that all seven churches to which the letters were
addressed in chapters 2-3: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea, were all in the neighborhood
o f Phyrgia where Montanism originated. N o t much later, somewhere around 110-117 A.D, Ignatius, the bishop of An doch, was
transported through Asia Minor as a prisoner, to be executed in
R o m e . O n his journey he wrote letters to the congregations in
Ephesus, Philadelphia, Smyrna, Magnesia, Tralles, Rome, and to
Polycarp. These cities, with the exception o f Rome, are also in the
same region, and in these letters, words, expressions and paraphrases can be found which turn up also in Montanist literature. 1 0 9 It was Christianity in Asia Minor that produced Montanism. That Christianity, however, was already permeated with
the spirit characteristic of that region. In the earliest f o r m o f
Christianity, as reflected in the book o f Revelation, the letters o f
Ignatius, and similar documents, we can feel the heartbeat o f the
peoples who came to the church via the mysteries o f the Great
Mother. These Christians or their parents may have been at one
time devotees of the pagan mysteries; if not, they were certainly
exposed to their influence, and they brought these ideas with
them when they were converted.
T h e mainstream church later accused the Montanists o f
various crimes. Apollonius, whose anti-Montanist book was used
extensively by Eusebius, 110 accused them o f covetousness and
robbery, and described the prophets as appearing like the "galli"
o f Cybele: "If they deny that their prophets have taken gifts, let
them admit this, that if they have been convicted, they are not
true prophets, and we will give countless proofs of this. But it is
necessary to test all the fruits of a prophet. Tell me, does a prophet
dye his hair? Does he pencil his eyelids? Does he love ornaments? Does he gamble and dice? Does he lend money? Let them
state whether these things are right or not, and I will show that
they have been done among them." 111 Cyril of Jerusalem (died
109
These were examined by W. M. Calder, "Philadelphia and Montanism." Bulletin of the John Ryland Library 7 (1922/23) 309-354.
110
H. E. 5.17-18.
111
Op.cit. 5.17.11, pp. 491-493. If Montanist prophets in fact made themselves look as Apollonius claimed, then they could only adopt these customs
f r o m Cybele's "galli" and not from any Christian practice. In which case
162
386) said that Montanus "cut the throats o f wretched little children, and chopped them up into unholy food, for the purpose o f
their so-called mysteries," 112 thus repeating an old charge against
the Christians generally. 1 1 3 Eusebius, who certainly cannot be
accused o f covering up the Montanists' shortcomings, mentions
nothing about this charge, which can be safely classified as
slander. O f more interest is a short and often neglected remark o f
Epiphanius who says that the Montanists are also called
ritai
"Artoty-
because in their mysteries they o f f e r bread ( )
cheese ( )
.,."114
and
In an agricultural society these are essential
staples of life-sustaining food. If the Montanists indeed used these

elements in their Eucharist, they again paid reverence to the
Great Mother who was the protectress of both plant and animal
fertility.
Perhaps as the Montanists were driven out o f the " o r t h o d o x "
f o l d they reverted more to their pagan roots and adopted more
ideas associated with Cybele. Thus they may have put m o r e
emphasis on the feminine character of God, leading Epiphanius
to report that "they give thanks to Eve, because she first ate from
the tree o f knowledge." 1 1 5 In the same breath Epiphanius also says
that they honored the sister of Moses 116 as a prophetess, as they did
the four daughters o f Philip the evangelist 117 who were unmarried
and prophesied. Thus it is conceivable that the Montanists eventually elevated Mary to a position o f prominence in their faith. But
our sources about this are late and unreliable. Under the name o f
the Syrian bishop Maruta of Maipherkat (died ca. 420) a catalog o f
their pagan roots are even more obvious.

112
Catechetical Lecture 16.8, NPNF 7, 117. T h e charge also appears in
Epiphanius, Panarion 48.14. and Augustine, De haeresibus 26 ( M P L 42.30)
w h o claim that the Montanists mixed the blood of infants in the Eucharist.
O n this see Schepelern, op.cit. pp. 122-130. A . Rousselle and P. Brown, in
Ch. 1, footnote 28.
113
See Stephen Benko, op. cit. pp. 54-78.
114
Epiphanius Panarion 49.1.1 and 49.2.6, K. Hall, op.cit. p. 243. N . Bonwetsch, in his Texte... op.cit. p. 20 omitted this sentence. See also Augustine,
De haeresibus 28. "Artotyritae sunt, quibus oblalio eorum hoc nomen ded.it: offerunt
enim panem et caseum, dicentes a primus hominibus oblationes de fructibus terrae et
ovium fuisse celebrates. Hos Pepuzianis jungit Epiphanius." MPL 42.31. For a fuller
treatment see P. de Labriolle: "Artotyritae" RAC, vol. 1, 718-720.
115
Op.dt. 49.2.2.
116
Miriam, according to Numbers 12.2. T h e y claimed that G o d spoke
through her also.
117
Acts 21.9.
heresies was preserved 1 1 8 which lists the Montanists, who introduced "unbecoming speech" (indecora dicta), falsified the Scriptures, observed four fasts per year, each lasting forty days, and
"they call the blessed Mary divine (Divam)";
they say that an
archon united himself with her and so was the Son of God born o f
her. T h e report of the Syrian bishop is certainly not correct as far
as original Montanism is concerned; they were, as we have seen,
doctrinally quite orthodox. If they had been guilty o f any such
deviation, Eusebius and Epiphanius would have been delighted to
report it. But whether later Montanism developed along these
lines is a different question. Here, since we have no information,
we must work with hypotheses. First, we remember that Eve and
Mary were brought into relationship with each other as early as
the second century by many " o r t h o d o x " authors, 119 so a Montanist reference to Eve could just as naturally lead to Mary. But they
arrived at this parallelism in a different way: for the " o r t h o d o x "
Eve and Mary were in a direct line of the "history o f salvation",
f o r the Montanists their association would have reflected an
emphasis on the role of women in religion. T h e deepest roots of
that emphasis reached back to the worship of the Great Mother,
i.e., the religious life of Asia Minor which was centered around a
feminine divinity. It is entirely possible that as Montanists became estranged from the mainstream church, uninstructed and
simple believers in some remote Anatolian villages began to
accord to Mary honors similar to those which their ancestors
accorded to Cybele. This, o f course, is only a hypothesis, but we
do know that a Christian sect called the Philomananites (Those who
love Mary) did exist, and that in this sect priestesses celebrated the
Eucharist and o f f e r e d bread as sacrifice to Mary. Possibly they
had Montanist roots. In any case, in that sect, too, the worship o f
the Mother Goddess resurfaced in Christianity. In our next chapter we shall investigate that sect, the Kollyridians.
Montanism f a d e d out of Christian history but not without
leaving its pronounced mark. This movement carried into Christian thinking a dependence upon the inexhaustible power o f the
f e m i n i n e aspect o f God. Even today, without noticing it, every
118
See for the following Dlger, "Die eigenartige Marienverehrung ..."
op.cit. pp. 112-118. Also Labriolle, Les Sources ... op.cit. p. 194.
119
See chapter V below.
164
THE GREAT MOTHER AND M O N T A N I S M
Christian is exposed to expressions o f faith which would have

seemed quite natural to followers of Cybele. Our G o o d Friday and
Easter celebrations are held at the same time in the spring when
pagan mourners lamented the death o f Attis and rejoiced at his
resurrection. T h e festival day o f the Annunciation, when the
angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she would conceive Jesus,
is March 25, the day of the pagan Hilaria.
This is exactly nine
months before December 25, when Christians celebrate the birth

o f Jesus. March 25 is the spring equinox, when the days begin to
grow longer than the nights and what the pagans celebrated in
their spring festival, Christians celebrate by r e m e m b e r i n g
the
growth o f the body of Jesus in the womb of Mary. 120

N o wonder then, that many pagan temples, originally dedicated to Cybele or some other fertility goddess, became Christian
churches. In R o m e alone several churches now stand which
replaced f o r m e r pagan sanctuaries, among them Santa Maria
Maggiore which was built on the Esquiline hill by Pope Sixtus III
(432-440). Tradition has it that he built this church because
Roman women were still going there to a temple o f Juno Lucina,
the great mother goddess who assisted women in childbirth. 1 2 1
T h e building of this church was probably inspired by the Council
o f Ephesus in 431 when Mary was officially declared "Mother o f
G o d , " but whatever the case may be the new doctrine is amply
illustrated by the church's mosaics. A n o t h e r church, the Santa
Maria Sopra Minerva, was built in 1280 among the ruins o f the
temple o f Minerva. Santa Maria Ara Coeli stands on the site of
Juno Moneta. According to Christian legend, Emperor Augustus
saw a vision of the Virgin Mary, clothed in light and carrying
the baby Jesus in her arms, at this site and decided to build an
altar, which he called Ara Coeli, the Altar o f Heaven. T h e church
is still the home of the Santo Bambino, the miracle working statue
o f the baby Jesus. Santa Maria in Trastevere and perhaps even the
Pantheon may claim such distinguished heritage. T h e list could
g o on, but we must finish with the most important one, the center
o f Roman Catholic Christianity, St. Peter's in the Vatican: on this
site stood a sanctuary o f Cybele and Attis, which was called the
120
See Karl Kernyi, Apollon und Niobe. Wien: Albert Langen, 1980, pp.
420- 426.
121
Lucina = from lux, light; Juno helps to bring the child to light.
Phrygianum. Around it taurobolia were held and these were commemorated by altars. T h e Vatican hill seemed to be favored by
pagans for this purpose, in spite of the fact that the older temple of
Cybele was on the Palatine hill. 122 T h e temple on the Vatican
probably dates from the second century A.D., i.e., prior to the Constantinian church erected there; the pagan temple was probably
build by the Emperor Antoninus Pius.
But the story does not end here. In the thirteenth century A.D.,
a Muslim family, fleeing the M o n g o l invasion o f Afghanistan,
settled in Rum, the name given to Anatolia by the Arabs because
it was a Roman province. Here one o f the greatest mystics of the
Muslims, Rumi Jalal Al-din (1207-1273), son o f the Afghan refugee, lived and taught. H e presented his teachings in poetry and
is revered now not only for the beauty of his poems but also for the
depth of his thought. 123 Love was the basis of Rumi's theology. H e
taught that the experience o f love leads to unity with the divine,
which can be approached through dance. T h e first music was
God's creative word "which caused creation to dance out o f notbeing and to unfold in flowers, trees and stars. Everything created
participates in the eternal dance," of which the dance of the mystic is only a branch. 124 This was the beginning o f a mystical
Muslim fraternity, the Whirling Dervishes 125 who, in their long,
white robes turn around in rhythmic circles with their eyes
closed and appear to be in a trance. This is well known, but few
people realize that Rumi was living in Konya, the ancient city o f
Iconium, which is right in the middle of the area where both
Montanism and the cult of Cybele were centered. Thus, the fertile
soil o f Asia M i n o r gave us not only the cults o f Cybele and
Dionysus, but also Christian Montanism, and this highly refined,
spiritualized orgia, the mystic dance of the Muslim dervishes.
Asia Minor, more than any other area o f the Mediterranean,
122
See Vermaseren, op.cit. pp. 45-54; Showerman, op.cit. pp. 92-93 and
109; E. Stauffer, "Antike M a d o n n e n r e l i g i o n e n . " ANRW
2.17.3./ p. 1488.
Also Giovanni M i e g g e , The Virgin Mary . Philadelphia: Westminster Press,
1956, p. 76.
123
See for the following A n n e m a r i e Schimmel, "Rumi, Jalal Al-din"
ER 12, 482- 486, and John L. Esposito, Islam. The Straight Path. N e w York:
O x f o r d U. Press, 1988, pp. 103-112.
124
Schimmel, op. at. p. 484.
125
They could be seen in a recent (1987) television presentation o f the
Smithsonian institution on Suleyman the Magnificent.
166
was subject to such "outpouring o f the Spirit" which filled the

hearts of those who then became entheoi, "filled with g o d . " So it is
not surprising to recall that Apollo, the great god o f prophecy, was
also o f Anatolian origin, 126 and that Paul, who himself spoke in
tongues, saw visions and knew a man who was "caught up into
the third heaven," 1 2 7 was also born and educated in a city o f Asia
Minor, Tarsus. Did he know Cybele? It would have been impossible for him not to, since no person in a city where a festival of
the Great Mother was held could avoid noticing it. A n d when in 1
Corinthians 13 he hailed love as superior to "tongues o f men and
angels," noisy g o n g and clanging cymbal, prophetic power and
torture of the body, did he borrow these images from the services
o f Cybele, which he must have witnessed many times? 128 Many
scholars believe that the man he "knew" and whose experiences
he describes in 1 Corinthians 12.1-4 was actually himself, 129 and
if this is so, then his exposure to the influence of Cybele may have
been more than just casual. H e had experiences that were very
similar to those enjoyed by the followers o f Cybele and Dionysus:
he was in ecstasy, he did not know whether he was "in the body
or out of the body" and he was unaware of his physical existence.
H e had a temporary vision o f Paradise and heard "things that
cannot be told." It is even possible that the spirit of enthusiasmos that
permeated the people of Asia Minor may have left its mark in
Paul's theology, too. For if it is true, as I have suggested, that the
cults o f Cybele and Dionysus can only be understood in the
context of the pattern of the primordial and the eschatological, the
beginning and the end, then the many references o f Paul to
. R. Dodds, The Greeks, pp . 86-87, footnotes 32 and 33.
1 Cor. 14.18; Acts 9.1-9; 22.6-11; 2 Cor. 12.141.
128
E. Witt, op. dt. p. 266 argues for an influence of the mysteries of Isis
on Paul. See also Walter W. Hyde, Paganism
to Christianity.
N e w York:
Octagon Books, 1970 (originally published 1946) p. 53-55. I should like to
stress, however, that Paul was much closer in every respect to Cybele's cult,
not only because the place of his birth and education but also because during
his missionary journeys he was more likely to encounter devotees o f the
Great Mother. Michael P. Carroll, op. dt. pp. 111-112 also argues, although
f r o m a different perspective, against the origin of the Mary cult from the cult
o f Isis. But o f course, religious syncretism was by now so advanced that it is
impossible to make clear distinctions, and in Ephesus, for example, it was
"Great Artemis" whose followers caused substantial problems for the apostle.
Acts 19.2341.
129 This argument is based on verse 7: "And to keep me f r o m being too
elated by the abundance of revelations..."
126
127
henosis, unification, becoming one, and his emphasis on a return,

in Christ, to the primordial condition, in which there is n o male
and female, begin to sound like a Christian expression of what the
pagans also h o p e d f o r and imitated in their services. 130 E. R.
Dodds 1 3 1 pointed out that ecstatic prophecy was practised in Asia
M i n o r already at a very early time, as early perhaps as the
fourteenth century B. C. in the Hittite kingdom. This type of
prophecy, like Apollo's, which was communicated through the
Pythia, was the result of enthusiasm, i.e., being filled with God. In
1 Corinthians 14, Paul praises prophesy and ecstatic speech as one
o f the supreme gifts o f the Spirit: "Make love your aim and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.
For one who speaks in tongues speaks not to men but to God; for
n o one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit ..."
Thus, to the d e g r e e that certain Christians still follow Paul's
example in glossolalia and other charismatic manifestations o f the
Spirit, they are indebted to Cybele and Dionysus to a greater
degree than many of them care to admit. 132
ISO a detailed analysis of Paul's ideas can be found in the excellent study
o f Wayne A. Meeks "The Image of the Androgyne: Some Uses o f a Symbol
in Earliest Christianity." History of Religions 13 (1974) 165-208. Meeks also
discusses the idea of the Hieros Gamos in Paul's theology and suggests that in
the Asian congregations of Paul "a ritual of hieros gamos, of which baptism
was only the preliminary justification was actually enacted" but he adds that
this question "can hardly be answered by the evidence at hand." (p. 206) See
also Richard A. Batey, New Testament Nuptial Imagery. Leiden: E. J. Brill,
1971. A d d to this also the fascinating comparison by Kraemer, op. cit. pp.
161-167, of the myth of Dionysus and the apocryphal stories about Paul and
Thecla as related in the Acts of Paul and Thecla. Kraemer "would not want to
argue any direct connection between the Bacchic traditions and those of the
Acts" but such a conclusion is difficult to avoid especially if we add to Kraemer's analysis the facts that Thecla was f r o m Iconium too where the
Dionysiac-Cybelene influence was strong and that in the Acts some sort o f
Hieros Gamos between Paul and Thecla is hinted at, see Kraemer, p. 164. At
this point it should be mentioned that according to Herodotus 1.182, op. cit. p.
86-87, in " T h e Lycian Town of Patara," oracles were given by a priestess after
she was locked in the temple for o n e night. That this alludes to a Hieros
Gamos is clear from the preceeding references to a Chaldean god who sleeps
with a woman and a similar story of the temple of Zeus at Thebes. T h e gift
o f prophecy in these stories is linked to Hieros Gamos, which is how the
prophetess became entheos, filled with God. Kraemer also rightly points out
the strong erotic element in the apocryphal stories and the allusion to
"madness" of the converted women, which she compares to the "madness"
o f the maenads, pp. 175-184.
131
132
Op. at. pp. 69-70.

For a continued presence o f pneumatic movements in the Christian
168
C. SUMMARY
T h e cult o f the Great Mother, Cybele, left many distinguishing
marks on the early church in Asia M i n o r . Very probably this
influence is found in the book of Reveladon, in which case the
"woman clothed with the sun" is even m o r e likely to be the
vision o f a goddess. T h e i n f l u e n c e can also be seen in
the
Montanist movement, which eventually spread into the Western

Mediterranean, notably Gaul and N o r t h Africa. T h e Christian
perception o f the divine never completely lacked a f e m i n i n e
aspect. It seems that the basic principle o f Mariology, the motherh o o d o f Mary, owes much to the figure of the Great M o t h e r in
Asia M i n o r .
It is wrong to say that "the Mary cult was absent in the first few
centuries of the Christian era, only to appear relatively suddenly
in the
fifth."133
T h e contrary is true: Mary was in the mind, soul
and spirit of Christianity from the beginning and to this we find

literary p r o o f beginning with the gospel narratives. 134 T h e Montanist form o f Christian piety, under the powerful inspiration o f the
cult o f Cybele and the book o f Revelation
(which was already
influenced by Cybele), absorbed an even deeper appreciation o f

the divine feminine and spread this sensitivity to other parts o f the
Christian world. W h e n
the pagan population
came i n t o
the
church in great numbers, they already found in it the image o f

the divine mother to whom they could easily transfer the devotion which they formerly o f f e r e d to the Great Mother, Isis, Bona
Dea or some other goddess.
It is not without significance that the earliest Christian theological speculations about the motherhood of Mary, in the form of
the biblical parallelism " E v a - M a r i a , " came f r o m two theologians
whose roots were in the Eastern Mediterranean and were exposed
church see R. A. Knox, Enthusiasm. A Chapter in the History of Religion. O x f o r d :
Clarendon Press, 1950. For a psychological analysis of glossolalia see G e o r g e
Banton Cutten, Speaking with Tongues. New York: Yale University Press, 1927.
Also, Morton T. Kelsey, Tongue Speaking. The History and Meaning of Charismatic
Experience. N e w York: Crossroad, 1981.
133
Michael P. Carrol, The Cult of the Virgin Mary. P r i n c e t o n : P r i n c e t o n
University Press, 1986, p. X I I I . T h e learned author, whose book we will
m e n t i o n again, ignores the very early d e v e l o p m e n t o f Mariology within
Christianity.
134
See to this among others Joan Chamberlain Engelsman, The Feminine
Dimension of the Divine. Philadelphia: Westminister, 1979, p. 122.
169 T H E G R E A T M O T H E R A N D M O N T A N I S M
to Montanism. Justin Martyr (died 165), the son o f Greek-pagan

parents, was born in Flavia Neapolis (Nablus) in Palestine. His
theology shows strong eschatological motifs 135 which at that time
were emphasized primarily by the Montanists. Eventually, he
willingly suffered martyrdom f o r his faith. Irenaeus (c. 130-c.
202) was directly exposed to Montanism and shows certain sympathies with some Montanist principles. H e came f r o m Asia
M i n o r and was a disciple of Polycarp, bishop o f Smyrna. H e
became bishop o f Lyon in Gaul, where Montanism was already
known and became a cause o f dissension. O n this matter "the
brethren in Gaul" sent a letter to bishop Eleutherus in R o m e and
the ambassador was Irenaeus. 1 3 6 These two men are our first
literary witnesses to the conjunction of Eve and Mary. Was it
Montanist devotion to Eve137 that guided their attention toward this
parallelism? That is certainly possible and thus Montanism may
have been been the spark that triggered Orthodox Christian Mariology, culminating eventually in the declaration o f the Council o f
Ephesus (431) that Mary is the "Mother of God."
Before we discuss this subject, however, we will investigate an
extreme f o r m o f Marian peity, which may have been similarly
fostered, perhaps even engendered, by the Montanist movement:
T h e Kollyridians.
135
136
137
Dialogue 80, 110, 120.

Eusebius, op. at. 5.3.4-5.4.1.
See Epiphanius, op. at. 49.2.2.
C H A P T E R FIVE
T H E W O M E N W H O SACRIFICED T O MARY:
THE KOLLYRIDIANS
A strange p h e n o m e n o n o f early Christianity flourished for a
while in some eastern areas o f the Roman
empire,
notably
Thrace and Arabia. W e might call this phenomenon a sect, for its
chief characteristic was that its adherents sacrificed bread to Mary
and in their worship services only women took part. Attention
was called to the existence of this group by the pious monk
Epiphanius, bishop of Salamis (315403) whose book Panarion, the
Medicine
Chest, discusses eighty heresies, among them this one.
Epiphanius' work was composed between 374-77 and although the

book is a verbose, intolerant, impatient, and often uncritical work,
it is still valuable because it preserves for us much basic information from the life of the early Christians.
Our study begins with a translation of selected passages f r o m
the 79th chapter of the Panarion,1
Our analysis of the text begins
with a discussion of cereal and bread offerings in the ancient

world. W e will explore the idea of the "divine bread" in GrecoRoman and Jewish Christian traditions. W e will then turn to a
discussion of Jewish sacrifices to the "queen of heaven" as related
in the O l d Testament. This will lead us to a comparison o f such
1
This translation, originally prepared in 1968, was revised by Professor
Glenn A. Koch from Eastern Baptist Seminary, Philadelphia, Pa. T h e translation is based on the Greek text o f K. Holl in Die Griechischen- Christlichen
Schriftsteller der ersten Jahrhunderte. A k a d e m i e der Wissenschaften, Berlin.
Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs, 1933, vol. 37, pp. 475-484. T h e numbers before the
paragraphs correspond to the numbers found in this edition. Prior to this
thorough rebuttal, Epiphanius briefly mentioned this sect in his
Panarion
73.23 and in his Ancoratus 13.8. If the Anakephalaiosis is his work, which is
doubtful, then a brief reference here should also be counted. I omitted the
complete text because while I wrote this book E.J. Brill announced the publication o f an English translation of the complete Panarion, by F. Williams,
as part o f the N a g Hammadi Studies Series. T h e first volume appeared under
the following title: Frank Williams, The Panarion of Epiphanius of Salamis,
Book I (Sects. 1-46). Nag Hammadi Studies 35. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1987. T h e r e
is also a translation in Ross S. Kraemer ( e d ) , Meanads, Martyrs,
Matrons
Monastics: A Source book on Women's Religions in the Greco Roman World. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1988, pp. 51-58.
THE
171
KOLLYRIDIANS
sacrifice with the practices of the Kollyridians, the w o m e n w h o

o f f e r e d sacrifice to the Virgin Mary.
A. THE KOLLYRIDIANS ACCORDING TO EPIPHANIUS
Against the Kollyridians
who offer sacrifice to Mary, Heresy LIX of LXXIX
in the sequence
1.1 After this, <another> famous heresy has appeared, concerning which we already made brief mention in the previous chapter concerning the letter written to/in Arabia about the Virgin
Mary.
1.2 A n d this heresy in turn appeared in Arabia f r o m Thrace
and the upper regions of Scythia, and came unto our ears; it
appears to be both quite ridiculous and deserving o f mockery in
the eyes o f the prudent man.
1.3 Nevertheless let us begin to expose it, and try to explain
what this heresy professes. I have no doubt that it will be found to
contain m o r e foolishness than any wisdom at all, just as do other
heresies which were similar to it.
1.4 Indeed, just as the above mentioned people, who adopted
that sect, sow f r o m human inventions slanderous opinions concerning the Blessed Virgin, so also these, leaning to the opposite
side, fall also in extreme harm and danger, in such a manner
that the famous saying of pagan philosophers may be confirmed:
" T h e extremes are equals."
1.5 For equal is the mischief inherent in both these heresies:
T h e one disparaging the Holy Virgin, but the other praising her
m o r e than they ought.
1.6 For who are those who teach this other than women? For
women are by nature unstable, both faltering and low in intelligence.
1.7 T h e r e f o r e , the devil apparently vomited out that e r r o r
through them, just as he did in the chapter above in the very
ridiculous teaching f r o m Quintilla, Maximilla, and Priscilla, he
also did in this heresy. For some women decorate a carriage or a
square chair by covering it with fine linen, and on a certain
definite day of the year [on certain days] they set forth bread and
o f f e r it as sacrifice in the name o f Mary. T h e n all partake f r o m
that bread. Certain details of this thing we discussed in the same
letter written in Arabia. But now we shall speak accurately about
172
THE
KOLLYRIDIANS
it, and by asking God's help we shall produce to the best o f our
ability the arguments opposed to it, so that by cutting away the
very roots o f this idolatrous heresy we may be able with G o d to
tear out such a great madness from some.
T h e madness o f these w o m e n shows o n c e m o r e the disease o f the
d e c e i v e d Eve (II.1). T h i s doctrine is an u n d e r t a k i n g o f d e m o n s ( I I . 6) since w o m e n never acted as priests, n o t even Eve herself. Both
o l d and N e w T e s t a m e n t s show that o n l y m e n o f f e r e d sacrifices
and n o matter h o w greatly h o n o r e d M a r y was, she was n o t g i v e n
the p o w e r o f the priesthood ( I I I . l ) . W o m e n w e r e p r o p h e t s ( I I . 5 ) and
deaconesses ( I I I . 6 ) but not priests. W h a t the Kollyridian w o m e n do
is foolish, crazy, idolatry and a w o r k o f the devil. (IV.2,3,4) Mary's
b o d y was holy ( I V . 6 ) but she was n o t a goddess, and she always
r e m a i n e d o f t h e same nature as o t h e r w o m e n . ( V . 2 ) T h e O l d
Testament prophets f o r e t o l d the birth o f Jesus f r o m a V i r g i n ( V I . 16) a n d " G o d r e c r e a t e d himself out o f the V i r g i n " and still she was
n o t w o r s h i p p e d , "neither so that she be m a d e into a g o d , so that we
o f f e r sacrifices in her n a m e , n o r so that w o m e n b e instituted as
priests a f t e r so many g e n e r a t i o n s " . ( V I I . 2 ) N e i t h e r S a l o m e , n o r
M a r y n o r any o f the holy w o m e n n a m e d in the N e w T e s t a m e n t
w e r e given such honors.
(VII.3-4)
VII.5 T h e n from whence did this coiled serpent turn up? From
where are renewed his crooked plans? Yes, let Mary be honored,
but let the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit be worshipped; let no one
worship Mary! Because that mystery and cult o f adoration is not
due to women, nor even for man either, but to the one God: nor do
the angels seem worthy enough for such an honor.
VII.6 Let what is written perversely in the hearts of those who
are deceived be blotted out; let the lust of the tree be dimmed from
the eyes [allusion to Gen. 3]. Let the work itself, the creature,
return to G o d the creator. Let Eve along with Adam be shamed
into honoring only God; neither let her be deceived by the voice
o f the serpent, but persist in God's command: "Do not eat o f that
tree" [Gen. 2.17]! Though there was no error in the tree itself, sdll
the disobedience o f error (sic) crept in through the agency o f the
tree. Let n o one taste that error concerning the Holy Mary: for
even if "the tree is in season" [Gen. 2.9], it was not given for f o o d .
Similarly, even if Mary may be the most beautiful, holy and has
been honored, still she must not be worshipped.
VIII.1 Furthermore, these women of this sect "renew the drink
offering to Fortune and set the table for a d e m o n " [Isa. 65.11], not
to God, as it is written, and they feast on the f o o d of impiety, as the
173 T H E
KOLLYRIDIANS
divine word testifies: " W o m e n knead dough and their sons collect wood to make cakes for the army of heaven" [Jer. 7.18].
VIII.2 Let such women be muzzled by Jeremias, and let them
not disturb the world any longer. Let them not say, " W e h o n o r
the queen o f heaven" [Jer. 44.25 ( L X X 51.17)]. Taphnes knows
well how much they are to be punished. T h e region o f Magdala
knows well how to receive their corpses thrown to rotting. D o not,
O h Israel, be persuaded by w o m e n ! Turn away from the council
o f wicked w o m e n ! "For the woman snares the precious souls o f
m e n " [Prov. 6.26]! "Her feet guide those who deal with death into
Hades" [Prov. 5.5],
Evil w o m e n should be resisted ( V I I I . 3 ; r e f e r e n c e to Prov. 5.3-4) just
as the chaste Joseph did not let himself be tricked by the Egyptian
seductress ( I X . 2 ) .
I X . 3 H o w much m o r e can be argued against this heresy? In

fact, either these idle women adore Mary and o f f e r her a "collyris" (a small cake), or they o f f e r this ridiculous and absurd oblation in her behalf. T h e entire matter is folly, and alien, and is instigated by demons; it contains nothing but insolence and fraud.
IX.4 But lest we p r o l o n g the discussion, what has been said
until now should be enough. Mary is held in honor, but let the
L o r d be worshipped. Just men practice error for no one, for " G o d
can not be tempted by evil and he tempts no o n e " [Jas. 1.13], not
even are his servants disposed toward evil. "Each one is tempted,
enticed, and allured by his own desire. T h e n desire begets sin
and sin, when completed, generates death" [Jas. 1.14f].
IX.5 T h e r e f o r e , since we believe that we have discussed all
these matters sufficiently, beloved, since we crushed with the
word of truth this beetie, so to speak, golden colored, winged, and
buzzing about, at the same time very venomous and full of poison,
let us g o to another heresy, the only one that remains, asking G o d
o n c e m o r e that H e may give us His help to follow the paths o f
truth, and to engineer a final overthrow o f the opposition.
B. BREAD AS AN ELEMENT OF SACRIFICES
T h e concern of Epiphanius which prompted this treatise was well
founded: T h e r e was a Chrisdan sect in Arabia which elevated the
Virgin Mary to the status o f a goddess and worshipped her with
THE
174
KOLLYRIDIANS
regular sacrifices. W h o gave the name "Kollyridians" to this sect

is subject to debate. 2 Occasionally the name "Philomarianites," as
opposed to "Antidikomarianites," is also used to describe them, but
it is highly unlikely that these people would have used any other
name than "Christian." They doubtless believed, as members o f
most sects and heresies did, that theirs was a legitimate form o f
Christian
worship. 3 T h e name "Kollyridians" comes f r o m the
Greek word denoting the bread which the women sacrificed to

Mary, " . " This is to be distinguished from , a
medical expression referring to various drugs and salves that were
often marked with the seal of the physician who made them. 4
usually refers to a small loaf of bread, a cake, or a pancake5
which, in addition
to secular usage, often figures in
sacrifices.
Bread, or cereal offering, is as old as western civilization. T h e
roots of such offering may g o back to the dawn of history when
man first discovered the mystery of grain production. This process, which so closely resembles creation as an activity of God,
and the result of it, which was so essential for the maintenance o f
life, was early associated with divine power. T h e Greeks believed
that Demeter discovered grain; accordingly they called it the
"
. " 6 T h e solemn and awesome Eleusinian
2
Franz Joseph D l g e r , "Die eigenartige Marienverehrung der Philomarianiten oder Kollyridianer in Arabia." Antike und Christentum 1 ( 1 9 2 9 )
pp. 107-140; S. M. Jackson, "Collyridians." The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia
of Religious Knowledge. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker, 1950, vol. 3, p. 162. Most
church histories bypass the Kollyridians and the histories o f dogma mention them only in passing, see e.g. A. von Harnack, History of Dogma. N e w
York: Dover (reprint) 1961, vol. 4, p. 316; Reinhold Seeberg, Lehrbuch der
Dogmengeschichte. Graz: Akademische Verlagsanstalt, 1953, v. 2, p. 212.
3
It was often difficult to make a distinction between traditional Christianity and f r i n g e groups because "all are called Christian," Justin Martyr
c o m p l a i n e d in his Apology 1.7,26. In these passages he was referring to
gnostic heretics.
4
Such as the eye-salve mentioned in Revelation 3.18. T h e word is also
spelled , see Willliam F. Arndt and F. Wilbur Gingrich, A Greek
English Lexicon of the New Testament. Chicago, 111.: Univ. of Chicago, 1957, p.
442, and Kind, article in Pauly-Wissowa-Kroll, op. cit. XI.1, pp.
1100-1106; also F. W. Bayer, "Augensalbe" RAC 1.972-975.
5
E.A. Sophocles, Greek Lexicon of the Roman and Byzantine Periods. N e w
York: F. Unger, 1957, vol. 2, p. 675; G.W.H. Lampe, A Patristic Greek Lexicon.
O x f o r d : Clarendon Press, 1961, p. 675.
6
Diodorus Siculus, World History (Bibliotheca) 2.36.2: "In addition to the
grain o f Demeter ( ) there grows throughout India
much millet..." ET.: C. H. Oldfather, LCL. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard U.
175 T H E
KOLLYRIDIANS
mysteries centered around Demeter and partaking of her f o o d

may have been the climax o f the ritual, recalling the barley drink
that refreshed her during her journey. 7 , i.e., "feast o f
the great loaves" was a festival o f Delos in honor of Demeter. In
Boeotia an epithet of her was . was the
name of the month of Halos in Thessaly and in Athens Haloa
was the festival o f Demeter during which the first bread made
from the new harvest was dedicated to her. 8 T h e great festival o f
Thesmophoria, during the month Pyanepsion, was also dedicated
to Demeter. This celebration was restricted to women, and here
again, cakes were the cultic sacrificial offerings. 9 But it was not
only Demeter who appreciated cakes as offerings; so did Artemis
and other divinities. Theocritus tells us that even at the Adonis
festival the women presented cakes o f all kinds.10
It was no different in R o m e . In T h e Golden Ass, Apuleius
describes the interior of a temple of Ceres ( D e m e t e r ) in which
Psyche h o p e d to find temporary refuge. In the temple she saw
Press, 1961, vol. 2, pp. 6-7; Th. Klauser, J. Hauszleiter, A. Stuiber, "Brot."
Reallexikon fr Antike und Christentum (ed. T h e o d o r Klauser). Stuttgart: A.
Hiersemann, 1954, pp. 611-619; Johannes Behm, " " Theologisches Wrterbuch zum Neuen Testament. Stuttgart: Kolhammcr, 1933, vol. 1, pp. 475- 476; .
Man, "Bckerei" Pauly-Wissowa-Kroll, op. cit. II.2, pp. 2734-2743. Compare
Hippolytus, Refutation of all Heresies 5.3: "The Phrygians, however, assert, that
( G o d ) is likewise 'a green ear o f corn reaped.'" T h e n Hippolytus discusses
the Eleusian mysteries. ET.: ANF vol. 5, p. 55.
7
Homenc Hymn to Demeter 208; ET.: R. Gordon Wassou, et al. The Road to
Eleusis. New York and L o n d o n : Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1978, p. 64.
Ovid, Metamorphoses
5.450 mentions a "sweet drink" into which "toasted
barley" was sprinkled. Mary M. Innes, The Metamorphoses of Ovid. New York:
Penguin, 1982, p. 128. H. R. Willoughby, Pagan Regeneration. Chicago, 111.:
Univ. o f Chicago, 1929, pp. 36-67; G. E. Mylonas, Eleusis and the Eleusinian
Mysteries. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1961.
8
See H. G. Liddel and Robert Scott, A Greek English Lexicon. O x f o r d :
Clarendon Press, 1953, p. 1086; also the articles ,
in Pauly-Wissowa-Kroll, op. cit. vol. 29, p. 140.
9
Lewis R. Farnell, The Cults of the Greek States. O x f o r d : Clarendon Press,
1907, vol. 3, pp.74-106; H. J. Rose, Religion in Greece and Rome. N e w York:
Harper Sc Row, 1959, p. 77; August Mommsen, Feste de Stadt Athen im Altertum.
Leipzig: Teubner, 1898, pp. 318-319. See Aristophanes Thesmophoriazusae 284285: "Set down the basket Thratta; give me out the sacred cake to o f f e r to the
Twain (= Demeter and P e r s e p h o n e ) . " ET.: . . Rogers, LCL
Cambridge,
Mass.: Harvard U. Press, 1946, pp. 156-157.
10
... there is every cake, That every woman kneaded of meal so fair
with blossoms bent of every scent of oil or honey rare, Here's all outlaid in
semblance made o f every bird and beast." Theocritus 15.117-118 " T h e
W o m e n at the A d o n i s Festival." The Greek Bucolic Poets. J. M. Edmonds,
editor. LCL Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard U. Press, 1938, pp. 190-191.
THE
176
KOLLYRIDIANS
"sheaves o f corn lying on a heap, blades twisted into garlands,

and reeds o f barley; moreover she saw hooks, scythes, sickles,
and other instruments to reap ... " n a l l items essential to the cult
o f Demeter-Ceres. Cakes were offered on many occasions, such as
the Liberalia, on March 17, in honor of Liber Pater. Ovid is our
witness that selling such cakes was an opportunity for old women
to make some money. Even the words " o f f e r i n g " (libamen)
"cake" (libum)
and
he says, are derived from the name o f the g o d :
"Libations derive their names from their author, and so do cakes,

because part of them is offered on the hallowed hearths. Cakes are
made f o r the god, because he delights in sweet juices ... " 1 2
Another festival was Parilia, observed on April 21, in honor of the
Pales, the ancient g o d and goddess who were protectors o f stock
breeding. Ovid reports that on their festival baskets o f millet
accompanied cakes o f millet, for "the rural goddess particularly
delights in that food." 1 3 On the Matralia, the annual celebration o f
the Mater Matuta observed on June 11, Ovid urged the women:
"Go, g o o d mothers, (the Matralia is your festival) and o f f e r to the
T h e b a n goddess the yellow cakes that are her due ... why she
calls for toasted cakes, do thou Bacchus ... explain ..." H In the
festival o f the October Horse (Ecus October), the severed head o f a
horse was decorated with loaves of bread 15 in the hope o f securing
a g o o d harvest. This festival was observed in honor o f Mars, but
Minerva was also f o n d o f cakes 16 and so was Juno, 17 who had a
sacred
cave
in
Lanuvium
in
which
serpents
lived.
On
an
appointed day each year, girls went down the sacred path bearing
barley cakes in their hands. When they found the nest o f snakes
11
Metamorphoses 6.1. ET.: S. Gaselee, Apuleius. The Golden Ass. L o n d o n :
Heinemann, 1935, p. 251.
12
Fasti 3.725-736, LCL James G. Frazer, editor, L o n d o n : H e i n e m a n n ,
1931, pp. 174-175.
13
Fasti 4.743, op. at. pp. 244-245.
14
Fasti 6.475-484, op. at. pp. 354-357.
1 5 J. H. Rose, op. cit. p. 215-216; Laing, op. at. p. 57.
16
M . Iuniani Iustini Epitoma Historiarum P h i l i p p i c a r u m P o m p e i i
T r o g i . Otto Seel, editor. Stuttgart, Teubner, 1985, p. 169 (Chapter X X . 7 ) : "Itaque cum statuas invenibus iustae magnitudinis et in primis inervae fabricare
coepissent, et Metapontini oraculo cognito deorum occupandam manium et
deae pacem rati, iuvenibus modica et lapidea simulacra ponunt et d e a m
panificiis plaant."
17
Sexti P o m p e i Festi, De Verborum Significatu quae supersunt cum Pauli
Epitome. Wallace M. Lindsay, editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1913, p. 56, line 21:
"Curiales mensae, in quibus immolabatur Iunoni, quae Curis appellata est."
177 T H E
KOLLYRIDIANS
they fed the cakes to them. Popular tradition claimed that if the
girls were virgins the snakes accepted the cakes, if not, they were
disgraced. If everything went well and the girls returned safely,
everyone rejoiced that the year would be a fertile one. H e r e the
cakes, in association with a fertility goddess (Juno), the emphasis
on virginity, and the role o f the serpent clearly imply a mysterious fertility rite, the exact meaning o f which is lost, if indeed
such a rite ever was clearly defined and understood. 18
T h e list of such festivals could g o on: the Fornicalia, Lupercalia,
Terminalia and several other festivals included the o f f e r i n g o f
cakes, which must have had a deep mystical meaning f o r the
Romans. Just how deeply these feelings went we can sense f r o m
the custom o f confarreatio, the most solemn form o f marriage
ceremony in which panis farreus, a bread made of far or spelt, a
coarse wheat, was used. After prayers and sacrifices the bride
formally renounced her maiden name and assumed that o f her
husband, after which they both ate from the bread. T h e symbolism of eating from the one bread is quite apparent, but the bread
had to be o f far, the grain sacred to the goddess Demeter-Ceres.
That gave to the confarreatio a quasi sacramental character, for by
partaking of the bread the bride and groom were united not only
with each other, but also with the goddess. 19
18
Propertius, Elegies 4.8: "Lanuvium is from of old under the guard of an
ancient serpent; thou shalt not count it wasted time if thou give an hour to so
wondrous a visit. H e r e down a dark chasm plunges a sacred path, where
penetrates the offering to the hungry snake beware, maid, o f all such
paths as this! w h e n he demands his yearly tribute of f o o d and sends forth
loud hisses from the depths of earth. Maids that are sent down to rites such
as this turn pale when their hand is rashly thrusted in the serpent's mouth.
H e seizes the morsels that the virgin holds toward him: even the baskets
tremble in the virgin's hands. If they have been chaste, they return to
embrace their parents, and farmers cry: 'Twill be a fertile year!'" Propertius.
A . E. Butler, ed. LCL. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard, 1939, pp. 314-315. T h e
same story is related also in Aelian, De Natura Animalum. 11.16, see Aelian,
On the Characteristics of Animals. A. F. Scholfield, ed. LCL. L o n d o n : H e i n e mann, 1959, pp. 380-381. T h e ritual is somewhat reminiscent of the Thesmophoria when cakes were thrown into the sacred chasm, see Frazer, op.
cit. Part V., v. II. P. 17. T h e snake is an ancient fertility symbol; see E. 0.
James, The Ancient Gods. New York: Putnam, 1960, pp. 54-100.
19
See Gordon J. Laing, Survivals of Roman Religion. N e w York: C o o p e r
Square, 1963, p. 164. The Institutes of Gains 1.112. "Women are placed in the
hand of their husbands by confarreation, through a kind of sacrifice made to
Jupiter Farreus, in which a cake is employed, f r o m whence the ceremony
obtains its name; and in addition to this, for the purpose of performing the
ceremony, many other things are done and take place, accompanied with
178
THE
KOLLYRIDIANS
It seems immediately clear that by sacrificing a cake
the
Kollyridians were following an age-old custom. If we knew m o r e

about their cake, in particular about its shape, we would know
m o r e about the object o f their faith. Sacrificial cakes, as well as
those used at secular occasions, were made in different shapes
and forms, sometimes indicating a religious significance. According to Herodotus, cakes in animal forms were subsdtuted for
real animals which poor people could not afford to sacrifice. 20 T h e
Egyptians had long followed this practice, which later became
c o m m o n in Greece and Rome. An image made of dough might
also substitute if the proper animal was not available. This was the
case once in Cyzicus, when "the festival of Persephone was at
hand, and the people, lacking a black heifer for the sacrifice,
fashioned one of dough and brought it to the altar." 21 Athenaeus,
in his Deipnosophistae,
has a considerable section dealing only
with cakes, in which he describes their shapes, their names, and,

where appropriate, their religious use: " A m p h i p h o n " was a flat
cake, dedicated to Artemis, with lighted candles around it. "Elophos," a cake moulded in the image of a deer and made o f speltdough, honey, and sesame, was dedicated to Artemis also, on the
festival of Elaphebolia. 22
Sometimes the cakes were made in the shape o f male and/or
f e m a l e genital organs. In Syracuse, at the end of the Thesmophoria, sesame and honey cakes moulded in the shape o f female
organs were carried about in honor of Demeter; these cakes were
called "Mylloi." T h e origin of that custom might g o back to the
myth, related in the Orphic version of the rape of Kore, according
to which the grieving Mother Demeter, in search o f her lost
daughter Persephone, was made to laugh when her host Baubo
certain solemn words, in the presence of ten witnesses ... " S. P. Scott, The
Civil Law. Cincinnati: T h e Central Trust Co., 1932. vol. 1, p. 97.
20
"People of slender means make models of pigs out of dough, which
they bake and o f f e r in sacrifice instead of real ones." Herodotus, The Histories
2.47, ET.: Aubrey de Selincourt, Baltimore, Md.: Penguin, 1966, p. 21.
21
Plutarch, Lucullus 10.1 Plutarch's Lives. B. Perrin, Editor. LCL. L o n d o n :
Heinemann, 1914 vol. 11, pp. 500-501.
22
Athanaeus, Deipnosophistae 14.645; 546; but see 642-653 for a description
o f many kinds of cakes, their ingredients and possible ritual use. ET.: LCL
Ch. Burton, ed. L o n d o n : Heinemann, 1959, vol. 5, pp. 470-528. Also, Orth,
" K u c h e n " Pauly-Wissowa-Kroll, op. cit. 11/2, pp. 2088-2099 who gives a
complete list of Greek and Roman cakes in a variety of shapes sacrificed to
the appropriate divinities.
179 T H E
KOLLYRIDIANS
raised her skirt.23 Similar cakes, together with phalluses made o f

cakes, were also exhibited at the Haloa in Eleusis.24 Clement of
Alexandria (died 215 A.D.) said that sexual symbolism was part o f
the Eleusinian mysteries. Although speaking about these rites
was strictly forbidden, Clement scornfully revealed what was in
the "mystic chests" o f the mysteries: " ... sesame cakes, and pyramidal cakes, and globular and flat cakes, embossed with lumps o f
salt, and with a serpent, the symbol of Dionysus Bassareus. A n d
besides these, are they not pomegranates, and branches, and rods,
and ivy leaves? A n d besides, round cakes and poppy seeds? A n d
further, there are the unmentionable symbols of Themis: marjoram, a lamp, a sword, a woman's comb, which is a euphemism
and expression for the muliebra."25 In Rome such cakes are mentioned especially in connection with Priapus, a g o d o f fertility,
who was represented by an oversized phallus. 26 Petronius says
that at the banquet of Trimalchio there was a table, in the center of
which stood a statuette of Priapus made of pastry. Its erect phallus
propped up an apron which was fdled with fruits.27 Martial, in his
usual crude style, refers to a Priapus-cake, but the religious
23
Clement of Alexandria, Protreptikus 2.21 (ET.: ANF 2.176-177) gives the
story in the following words: "These are the secret mysteries o f the Athenians; these Orpheus records. I shall produce the very words o f Orpheus,
that you may have the great authority on the mysteries himself, as evidence
for this piece o f turpitude: - ' H a v i n g thus spoken, she drew aside her garments, and showed all that shape of the body which it is improper to name,
and with her own hand Baubo stripped herself under the breasts. Blandly
then the goddess laughed and laughed in her mind, and received the
glancing cup in which was the draught." A slightly different version of the
story is given by Arnobius, Contra Gentes 5.25-26 ( A N F 6.499-4500) see also
Eusebius, Praeparatio Evangelica 2.3; and Kern, "Baubo" in Pauly-WissowaKroll, op. cit. 3/1, pp. 150-152; W. Fauth, "Baubo," Der kleine Pauly. Stuttgart:
Druckenmller, 1964, 1.843-85. The Oxford Classical Dictionary, op. cit. p. 163:
Baubo may have been an ancient personification of the "pudendum muliebre"; for the origin of Baubo see Mylonas, op. dt. pp. 291-303. W o m e n lifting
up their skirts and exposing themelves as part of a religious rite is also
reported by Herodotus, 2.59-60 and Diodorus Siculus, 1.85; Athenaeus, Ddpnosophistae 14.647, op. cit. p. 492-493; see also R. Graves, The Greek Myths.
Baltimore, Md.: Penguin, 1955, vol. 1, p. 90, and Lewis R. Farnell, The Cults
of the Greek States. Oxford: Clarendon, 1907, vol. 3, p. 99.
24
James G. Frazer, The Golden Bough. Part V. "Spirits of the Corn and o f
the W i l d . " L o n d o n : Macmillan, 1955, p. 62.
25
Op. cit. p. 177.
26
H . Rose, "Priapus" Oxford Classical Dictionary, op. cit. p. 875; Herter,
"Priapus," Pauly-Wissowa-Kroll, op. cit. 20.1.2 (24 Halbband) pp. 1914-1942.
27
William Arrowsmith, Petronius. The Satyricon. 60. N e w York: N e w
American Library, 1959, p. 67.
THE
180
KOLLYRIDIANS
connotation is missing. 28 H e also mentions wheat cakes in the

shape o f female genital organs, but no religious significance is
mentioned. 2 9
Epiphanius does not elaborate on the cakes o f f e r e d by the
Kollyridians, but a comparison o f their service with that of some
Hellenistic women o f f e r i n g sacrifices may shed some light on
the subject. This is the subject matter of the fourth Miniambus of
Herodas, 3 0 who describes the visit o f two poor women, Kynno and
Kokkale, to the temple o f Asklepios at Cos.31 They bring a rooster
to the g o d who, by the "laying on o f his gentle hands" (v. 18),
wiped
away certain
sicknesses. A f t e r
the initial
prayer,
the
women admire the statues in the temple; before they leave, they
o f f e r a sacred cake to the snake o f Asklepios, which lived in a
den. 3 2 After this, the women place (i.e., "round, cakelike
loaves made o f pearl barley") 3 3 on the altar, but they do not leave
the temple until they take a piece of the , 34 for to forget these,
says Kynno, would be a greater loss than to leave behind a portion
28
Epigram 14.69: "Si vis esse satur, nostrum potes esse Priapum; ipsa licet
rodas inguina, purus eris." If you want to be satisfied, you may eat our
Priapus, you may gnaw on its inguen (=genital) and you remain undefiled.
(Probably a reference to fellatio.) See Martial, Epigrams. Walter C. A. Kerr,
ed. LCL London: Heinemann, 1927, vol. 2, pp. 464-465.
29
"Pauper amicitiae cum sis Lupe, non es amicae/et queritur d e te
mentula sola nihil./Ilia siligeneis (=made of wheat) pinguescit adultra
cunnis (=female genital) ,/Convivuam pascit nigra farina tuum." A l t h o u g h
you are a poor man to your friends, Lupus you are not so to your mistress, and
only your virility has no grievance against you. She, the adulteress, fattens
on " siligeneis cunnis"; black meal feeds your guests. Epigram 9.2, op. cit. pp.
70-71.
30
T h e name is sometimes spelled Herondas and even Herodes; he was
active around 250-260 B.C. T h e best edition o f these poems is I.C. Cunningham, Herodas. Miniambi.
O x f o r d : Clarendon, 1971. See also A. D. Knox,
Herodes, Cercidas and the Greek Choliambic Poets. LCL. L o n d o n : H e i n e m a n n ,
1929 ( in the same volume with The Characters of Theophrastus). Analysis o f
the fourth Miniambus: Richard Wnsch, "Ein D a n k o p f e r an Asklepios."
Archiv fr Religionsxmssenschaft 7(1904) 95-116.
31
O n the names o f the women see Knox, op. at. p. 127.
32
C o n c e r n i n g the sacred snakes of Asklepios see Pausanias, Guide to
Greece 2.23. ET.: Peter Levi, S. J., N e w York: Penguin, 1971, p. 196; W.K.C.
Guthrie, The Greeks and Their Gods. Boston: Beacon Press, 1955, pp. 227-228.
33
Wnsch, op. at. p. 114, "round, cake-like breads made of pearl-barley."
34
" H e a l t h o f f e r i n g " "Es ist langst erkannt, dass hier nichts
anderes ist als 'die dargebrachte Opferspeise,' von der ein T e i l von den
O p f e r e r n mit f o r t g e n o m m e n und gegessen w u r d e . " F. J. D l g e r " H e i d nische und Christliche Brotstempel mit religisen Z e i c h e n . " Antike und
Christentum. Mnster: Aeschendorffsche Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1929. vol. 1,
pp. 1-45; the quote is from p. 5.
181 T H E
KOLLYRIDIANS
o f the sacrifice (in this case the fowl). T h e n they may go h o m e

and eat what they have taken from the altar: the sacrificial meat
and the . is usually associated with Asklepios,
although it is also a title o f Athena, who eventually became
"Health," personified as the daughter of Asklepios. A piece o f the
bread sacrificed to Asklepios, placed on his altar and then eaten,
was regarded as being charged with the healing energy o f the
god. H e r e again we are in the realm of magic, which is based on
the universal law o f sympathy and antipathy. This universal law
o f nature guarantees that "lower" material objects will absorb
"higher" qualities by virtue o f physical contact if all the external
conditions are met. T h e bread which Kynno and Kokkale ate was
believed to contain a spark of the "daimon" o f Asklepios, and
when they ate the bread, it was this they believed they were
absorbing. 35
T h e ancients were familiar with the idea of the divine bread
which had healing and restorative powers. T h e Greek word for
such a bread was ; and we know that such bread
was widely used in medicine. 3 6 Its basic ingredient was unmilled
wheat, a practice which was also adopted by the Romans. Such a
bread was believed to be effective against many illnesses and thus
to possess both healing and prophylactic powers. 3 7 W e have
35
This explains the reluctance of Paul to permit the Corinthian Christians to eat what was o f f e r e d in sacrifice and then sold in the meat markets:
he believed in the existence o f demons and the possible pollution o f Christians by eating sacrificial meat. l.Cor. 10.14-32. T h e same principle is
behind the "gentle hand o f Asklepios" p e r f o r m i n g healing: by touching
the beneficent energy is transmitted, cf. Luke 8.46: "Jesus said, ' S o m e o n e
touched me; f o r I perceive that power has g o n e forth f r o m m e . " ' T h e
c o n n e c t i o n with the "laying on o f hands" in Greco-Roman and JudeoChristian traditions is obvious.
36
R. Wnsch, "Amuletum" Glotta 2(1910) 219-230, Liddell-Scott, op. dt. p.
87: " finest meal." Sophocles, op. cit. p. 129; Olck " PaulyWissowa-Kroll, op. cit. 1/2, pp. 2001-2002.
37
Pliny, Naturalis Historia 22.68.138. "Panis hie ipse quid vivitur innumeros paene continet medicinas." " T h e very bread which forms our staple
diet, has almost innumerable medicinal properties." A m o n g others Pliny
lists the f o l l o w i n g : it softens abscesses; is g o o d against violent fluxes o f
p h l e g m , bruises, sprains, callosities o f the feet, looseness o f the bowels,
catarrhs, improvement o f voice, scaly eruptions on the face, swollen eyes,
palsy. O f course, bread is to be properly prepared for a specific effect. Pliny,
Natural History W.H.S. Jones, editor, LCL. L o n d o n : Heinemann, 1961, vol. 5,
pp. 392-395; Amylon cures many diseases, op. cit. p. 22.67.137 ( L C L . vol. i pp.
392-393) - Oatmeal boiled in vinegar (avenacea farina) removes moles (loc. cit.
p. 3 9 2 - 3 9 3 ) - O n the Roman use o f barley and wheat, op. dt. 18.13.78 -
182
THE
KOLLYRIDIANS
already noted the association o f bread with Demeter. From this

association we can form an idea of the feelings and emotions
with which the ancients partook in bread which, by virtue o f
having been placed on the altar of a god, had undergone some
mystical transubstantiation.
It is perfectly natural that such beliefs would be continued in
Christian communities o f Gentile origin. Indeed, as early as the
time of Ignatius of Antioch (died ca. 110 A.D.), the Eucharist was
regarded as a "medicine o f immortality (
and an antidote that wards off
death." 38
In the Eucharist, Ignatius
says, the flesh ( ) of the resurrected Jesus is active and works

immortality. According to Irenaeus (died ca. 202 A.D.) of Lyon,
the divine Logos is present in the eucharistic bread and wine and
effects immortality. Later Chrisdan theologians gave more precise
definitions of the holy elements. Ambrose (died 397 A.D.), bishop
o f Milan, lays down in his treatise De Mystenis
39
the foundations
of the doctrine of the Eucharist: it is not corporeal food but spiritual;

the nature o f the elements in it having been changed, 4 0 it is no
longer an earthly but a divine food. 4 1 "Whoever receives it (the
sacrament) shall not die the death o f a sinner, because this bread
is the forgiveness of sins."42 St. Augustine (died 430 A.D.) completed this process by declaring that the Eucharist is "the daily
medicine o f the Lord's body." 43 These examples demonstrate the
continuity between the Greco-Roman and Christian views o f the
holy bread, 4 4 but the similarity does not stop here. T h e early
Christians believed the Eucharist to be a powerful prophylactic,
the mere presence o f which would be noticed by hostile demons.
Early Christian literature is full of miracles involving the Eucharist and showing either "sympathetic" (i.e., blessing) or "anti-
18.28.108 (vol. 5, pp. 240-259.)

38
Ephesians 20.2. Lothar Wehr, Arznei der Unsterblichkeit. M n c h e n :
Aeschendorf, 1987 analyzes Ignatius' references to the Eucharist and compares them with the Gospel o f John and other early Christian literature.
39
I regard these as genuine works af Ambrose.
40
9.50,52,58.
41
8.4.
42
De benedictione pair. 9.39.
43
Epistola 54.3.
44
L a m p e , A Patristic Greek Lexicon p. 1472 has many m o r e references
illustrating the sacramental use of . See also J.N.D. Kelly, Early
Christian Doctrines. New York: Harper, 1958, pp. 440-455; S. Benko, The
Meaning of Sanctorum Communio. London: SCM Press, 1964, pp. 34-56.
183 T H E
KOLLYRIDIANS
pathetic" (cursing) effects of the holy bread. 45 In such cases, the

Christians used the holy bread almost like an amulet, i.e., an
object believed to be charged with divine energy and thus effective in warding o f f evil and attracting blessing. If indeed the Latin
word amuletum
comes from the Greek , 4 6 the medicine
against all ills, then there must be a link between these GrecoRoman and Christian religious practices.
In Jewish tradition, bread and cereal play an equally important
role. Jewish history properly begins with the Exodus, a j o y f u l
occasion celebrated with festive baking of breads which the Israelites were commanded to do forever in remembrance of God's
activities. 4 7 This association o f G o d with bread was intensified
when, in the wilderness, manna (i.e., bread from heaven) was
given to the Israelites 48 to sustain their lives. Subsequently the
offering of the first fruits of cereals became a law.49 T h e climax o f
this development was reached with the ordinance of the "show
bread": Moses was c o m m a n d e d to "take fine flour and bake
twelve cakes of it; two tenths of an ephah shall be in each cake.
A n d you shall set them in two rows, six in a row, upon the table of
pure gold. A n d you shall put pure frankincense with each row,
that it may g o with the bread as a memorial portion to be o f f e r e d
by fire to the Lord." 50 Those portions which were not burnt were to
be eaten by Aaron, the high priest, and his sons, who were to "eat
it in a holy place." Josephus, the first century A.D.Jewish historian, explained that the twelve loaves "denoted the year, as distinguished into so many months." T h e n Josephus continues and
says that the seven handled lampstand 51 "secretly intimated the
Decani,
or seventy divisions of the planets; and as to the seven
lamps upon the candlesticks, they referred to the course of the
45
S. Benko, Pagan Rome...op. dt. pp. 123-125. A d d to this Augustine, Opus
imperfectum contra Iulianum 3.162: A child was born with its eyelids grown
together. T h e doctors wanted to cut it with metal instruments but its mother
refused and instead she placed eucharistic bread on the eyelids, which
immediately opened up. MPL 45, 1315, quoted by Dlger. "Heidnische und
Christliche Brotstempel ..." op. dt. p. 15.
45
47
Wnsch, "Amuletum" op. dt. 230.

Exodus 12.15-21. See article "Bread" in the Encyclopedia Judaica 4 1333-
1335.
48
49
50
51
Ex. 16.15; Nehemiah 9.15; Psalms 73.24-25; 105.40.

Leviticus 23.9-14.
Lev. 24.5-9.
Ex. 37.17-24.
184
THE
KOLLYRIDIANS
planets, o f which that is the number." 52 Thusjosephus accorded to

these breads cosmic significance; they represented f o r him the
presence of God. 53
Bread is also prominently mentioned in the curious story o f
the rape o f Tamar by Amnon. 5 4 Amnon pretended to be ill and
Tamar, sent by King David to prepare f o o d for him, "took dough
and kneaded it, and made cakes in his sight, and baked the cakes.
A n d she took the pan and emptied it before him, but he refused to
eat." T h e supposed illness of Amnon suggests a healing quality o f
the bread. Alfred Jeremias 55 has idendfied this story as belonging
to a group of similar Near-Eastern narratives and the bread as the
"mythical bread o f Istar." According to A. Jeremias, bread was an
o f f e r i n g to the mother o f the gods and its o f f e r i n g was a joyful
occasion; when mourning or in grief, eating of bread was forbidden. 56
Thus elements typical of Greco-Roman religions, namely the
reverential treatment of bread, its association with the sustenance
o f life, its place in temple worship, and the healing
quality
accorded to it, also appear in Jewish tradition.

But there is much more. In at least one book o f the O l d Testament, the offering of cakes to the Near-Eastern fertility goddess
appears as a widespread practice among women who refused to
stop sacrificing to the mother of the gods even under pressure:
T h e children gather w o o d , the fathers kindle fire, and the w o m e n
knead their d o u g h , to m a k e cakes f o r the q u e e n o f h e a v e n ; a n d
they pour out drink o f f e r i n g s to other gods, to p r o v o k e m e to anger.
(Jeremiah 7.18) 5 7
Strong ties bound the women to the queen of heaven, as is clear

from Jeremiah 44.15-25:
52
Antiquities 3.7.7. ET.: W. Whiston, The Life and Works of Falvius Josephus.
Philadelphia: J. 5. Winston Co., 1957, p. 101.
53
Numbers 4.7; Matthew 12.3-4; for complete O T references see H. F.
Beck "Bread of the Presence," Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, vol. 1. p. 464.
54
2.Samuel 13.1-14.
55
Das Alte Testament im Lichte des Alten Orients. Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs'sche
Buchhandlung, 1916, pp. 327-329.
56
Op. cit. p. 611; cf. Psalm 102:9. "For I eat ashes like bread, and mingle
tears with my drink."
57
Concerning the worship of Astarte among the Jews see also 1.Kings
11.5; 33 2.Kings 23.13.
185 T H E
KOLLYRIDIANS
T h e n all the m e n w h o knew that their wives had o f f e r e d incense

to other gods, and all the w o m e n w h o stood by, a g r e a t assembly,
all the p e o p l e w h o dwelt in Pathros in the land o f Egypt, answered
J e r e m i a h : 'As f o r the w o r d which y o u have s p o k e n to us in the
n a m e o f the L o r d , we will not listen to you. But we will d o e v e r y t h i n g that we have v o w e d , burn incense to the q u e e n o f h e a v e n
and p o u r out libations to her, as we did, both w e and o u r fathers,
our kings and our princes, in the cities o f j u d a h and in the streets
o f Jerusalem; f o r then we had plenty o f f o o d , and p r o s p e r e d , a n d
saw n o evil. But since we left o f f b u r n i n g incense to the q u e e n o f
h e a v e n and p o u r i n g out libations to her, we have lacked everyt h i n g and have b e e n c o n s u m e d by the sword a n d by f a m i n e . '
A n d the w o m e n said, ' W h e n w e b u r n e d incense to the q u e e n of
heaven and p o u r e d out libations to her, was it w i t h o u t o u r husbands' a p p r o v a l that we m a d e cakes f o r her b e a r i n g h e r i m a g e
and p o u r e d out libations to her?'
T h e n J e r e m i a h said to all the p e o p l e , m e n and w o m e n , all the
p e o p l e w h o had g i v e n h i m this answer: 'As f o r the i n c e n s e that
you b u r n e d in the cities o f j u d a h and in the streets o f Jerusalem,
you and your fathers, your kings and your princes, and the p e o p l e
o f the land, did not the L o r d r e m e m b e r it? Did it n o t c o m e into his
mind? T h e L o r d c o u l d no l o n g e r bear your evil d o i n g s and the
a b o m i n a t i o n s w h i c h y o u c o m m i t t e d , t h e r e f o r e y o u r land has
b e c o m e a desolation and a waste and a curse, without inhabitant,
as it is this day. It is because you burned incense, and because y o u
sinned against the L o r d and did not obey the v o i c e o f the L o r d or
walk in his law and in his statutes and in his testimonies, that this
evil has befallen you, as at this day.'
J e r e m i a h said to all the p e o p l e and all the w o m e n , ' H e a r the
w o r d o f the L o r d , all you o f Judah w h o are in the land o f Egypt,
T h u s says the L o r d o f hosts, the G o d o f Israel: You and your wives
have d e c l a r e d with your mouths, and have f u l f i l l e d it with y o u r
hands, saying, ' W e will surely p e r f o r m o u r vows that we have
m a d e , to burn incense to the q u e e n o f heaven and to p o u r out
libations to her.' T h e n c o n f i r m your vows and p e r f o r m your vows!
T h e p r a c t i c e o f t h e s e J e w i s h w o m e n was n o t r e s t r i c t e d t o t h e i r
s o j o u r n in E g y p t , i.e., they d i d n o t s i m p l y assimilate l o c a l
cus-
toms. T h e y w o r s h i p p e d the q u e e n o f h e a v e n already "in the cities

o f j u d a h a n d in t h e streets o f J e r u s a l e m . " M o r e o v e r , i n t h e i r r e p l y
to J e r e m i a h
among
t h e y s t r e s s e d t h a t this w a s a t i m e h o n o r e d
custom
t h e m , t h a t t h e r o y a l h o u s e w a s i n v o l v e d i n it, a n d
that
they o f f e r e d their sacrifices with the full approval o f their
hus-
bands. T h e cakes that they m a d e have t h e " i m a g e " o f I s h t a r b u t

w h a t was t h e i m a g e ? W a s it t h e i m p r e s s i o n o f a f e m a l e h e a d o n a
f l a t c a k e ? W a s it t h e " s i g n o f T a n i t " as was k n o w n in
Carthage?
186
THE
KOLLYRIDIANS
Was it a flat cake shaped in the form of a female Figure? O r was it

perhaps a cake resembling the female muliebra? If Marvin H. Pope
is correct, the present day Jewish custom o f baking and eating the
"Hamantaschen" at the Purim festival may give some indication
o f what these cakes looked like. T h e "Hamantaschen" are triangular pastries filled with ground poppy seeds (sometimes with
prunes); the common belief is that their shape resembles the three
cornered hat o f Haman, villain o f the book of Esther, hence the
name "Hainan's pockets." Now, Purim is celebrated in remembrance o f the vindication o f Esther, and Esther is the Persian
version o f Ishtar, i.e., the queen of heaven. Very likely, therefore,
"Hamantaschen" have nothing to d o with Haman; the name
may be a corruption of the German "Mohntaschen" (poppy-seed
pockets). What these cakes with their triangle-shape and poppy
seed filling indicated was the pubic mound of Ishtar. 58 Purim is a
j o y f u l festival and as we have seen above, eating "the f o o d o f
Ishtar" was reserved for happy occasions. Since the baking o f
cakes was also characteristic o f the Ishtar festivals, 59 we
may
conclude that the Jewish women's cakes, either by shape or form

or impressions, indicated the fertility-character of the festival.60
58
Marvin H. Pope, Song of Songs. Garden City, N. Y.: Doubleday, 1977, pp.
222; 378-379. Pope also connects this custom with the raisin cakes mentioned
in Song of Songs 2.5. "Sustain me with raisins, refresh me with apples; for I
am sick with love."
59
A. Jeremias, op. cit. p. 611. Friedrich Blome, Die Opfermaterie in Babylonien und Israel (Sacra Srriptura Antiquitatibus Orientalibus Illustrata, Rome:
Pontifical Biblical Institute, 1934 investigated the question o f the material o f
sacrifices in Mesopotamia and in Israel during the Old Testament period.
Baked bread offerings d o not seem to have been particularly significant. See
especially pp. 220-269. See also Winter, op. at., pp. 570-571.
60
Most scholars, of course, postulate that the book of Esther has little to do
with history and that it was written to justify the celebration of Purim. See
W. L . Humphrey "Esther" in Harper's Bible Dictionary. San Francisco: Harper
& Row, 1985, pp. 280-282; R. H. Pfeiffer, Introduction to the Old Testament. N e w
York: Harper, 1948, pp. 732-747; Otto Eissfeldt, Einleitung in das Alte Testament.
T b i n g e n : J. C. B. Mhr, 1956, pp. 624-631. Winter, op. cit., pp. 561-576
analyzed the Jeremiah passages and concluded that the "Queen of H e a v e n "
to w h o m the Jewish women sacrificed cannot be identified. H e says that
there were so many naked goddess figures found on Palestinian soil that
the conclusion is inevitable that not only at the time o f Jeremiah but already
during the early history of Israel women turned to the goddess with their
private concerns. " W e n i g e r die Erhabenheit und Ferne J H W H s , sondern
aber wohl sein 'mnnliches Image' war es, das die Frauen hinderte, sich
strker mit ihm zu identifizieren." p. 575.
187 T H E
KOLLYRIDIANS
C. THE POWER OF CONSECRATED BREAD

W h e t h e r Jewish, Greek, or Roman such religious practices are
determined by the belief that the divine is accessible to humans
because a is in everything: plants, rocks, metals, and not
only in material substances, but in immaterial ones as well. Such
an immaterial element laden with power is, for example, a name.
According to ancient belief, the name has a deep, mystic relationship to the numen of the person who bears it. N o t only are the true
names o f gods and goddesses holy and unutterable, they must
sometimes be replaced by figures and symbols that hide the true
name, which only the initiates, and perhaps not even they, can
know. 6 1 T h e numen
can thus be indicated by numbers, signs,
formulas, charms and images, the use of which was believed to

establish a relationship between men and the desired spiritual
power. T h e expected result was a blessing or, if malevolent powers
were invoked with bad intentions, a curse. Thus shaping sacrificial bread in forms indicative of the character of a g o d or goddess,
or marking it with such symbols, was a way of calling upon those
powers to become effective.
Christians began early to mark their eucharistic bread, a
practice that is definitely reported in the Acts of Thomas, which
was probably composed in the first half of the third century. H e r e
we read: "And the apostle commanded his servant to set a table
b e f o r e them; and he set out a stool which they found there, and
spreading a linen cloth upon it set on the bread of blessing."
W h e r e u p o n the apostle addresses a prayer to Jesus in which a
mysterious "hidden M o t h e r " is also invoked: "And when he had
said this, he marked the cross upon the bread and broke it and
began to distribute it." 62 T h e sign of the cross was used by the
early Christians as a powerful " , " a device that kept
the devil at a distance and made evil demons take flight. Crossing
oneself on the forehead assured protection against the myriads o f
demons with which Christians felt themselves surrounded day
and night; the sign of the cross summoned the superior power o f
61
See Revelation 19.12: "He has a name inscribed which no one knows
but himself."
62
Ch. 49-50; . H e n n e c k e - W . Schneemelcher, New Testament Apocrypha.
Philadelphia: Westminster, 1974, pp. 470-471.
188
THE
KOLLYRIDIANS
Christ against the powers o f darkness. 65 Thus when we read that

Christians crossed the bread they ate 64 we may think o f an invocation o f blessing similar to a grace b e f o r e meal in a Christian
household today. But why cross the eucharistic bread? Was it
necessary to increase its potency by the addidon o f the sign o f the
cross? Perhaps the Christians simply used this sign to distinguish
bread for sacred use, since there was no difference between the
bread eaten at home and that used in the Eucharist.65 Or perhaps
this is another area in which pagan and Christian practices overlap. W e have seen that in Greco-Roman paganism bread could be
specifically marked in two cases: either when the bread was used
as a medicine, in which case the physician stamped it, or when it
was a sacrificial bread, in which case the shape of the bread or its
decoration indicated to whom it was dedicated. I suggest that both
o f these practices may have played a role in the development o f
Christian worship. T h e eucharistic bread was both an " o f f e r i n g "
or a "sacrifice" and a spiritual medicine, one that was effective
against bodily ills as well. 66
T h e ritual described in the Acts of Thomas is very similar to the
Kollyridian service as Epiphanius describes it: here too, a wooden
table is converted to holy use by being covered with a linen cloth,
bread alone is used, and all eat from it. T h e use of the table reflects
a Roman pagan custom: any table "which has been dedicated can
serve the purpose o f an altar." 67 Roman literature provides many
See S. Benko, Pagan Rome ... op. dt. pp. 118-119 and 135.
Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures 13.36, MPC 33.816. Because o f
the explicit statement o f Jeremiah, that the cakes have the image o f the
"Queen o f H e a v e n " we cannot speculate that the Jewish woman may have
used such a symbol or something similar to it. Concerning the use of the
mark X in Near Eastern religions Urs Winter, op. cit., p. 301 quotes 0. Keel
w h o discovered that the X on the forehead of certain Near-Eastern statuettes
is a sign which identified the woman as belonging to the goddess. T h e X
which in the old Canaanite alphabet is the same as the letter Taw meant
" H o l y for the goddess." So were cakes and breads also marked that were
dedicated to the goddess. From the Old Testament Keel refers to Ex. 28.36
and Ezekiel 9.4-6 where such signs were used meaning a dedication f o r
J H W H . See also Winter, op. dt. p. 569 concerning remarks on terra- cotta
figures which may represent baked goods with the sign of an X.
65
F. J. Dlger, "Heidnische und Christliche Brotstempel mit religisen
Z e i c h e n . " Antike und Christentum 1 (1929) 1-46: H e r e also pictures of several
pagan and Christian stamped pieces of bread.
66
See footnote 45.
67
Macrobius, Saturnalia 3.11.3-6: "...it is clearly declared in the Papirian
legal code, that a table which has been dedicated can serve the purpose o f an
65
64
189 T H E
KOLLYRIDIANS
examples of tables, rather than regular altars, being used in divine

services. Best known is the lectisternium (in Greek ) , when
tables were set up as though for a banquet with images o f the gods
placed around them as if they were eating. Such a "feasting of the
gods" was celebrated in R o m e as early as 399 B.C. T h e f o o d
placed on the tables was consumed by the priests and the people:
first by the priests, whose eating was regarded as the gods' own
eating of it. When the people received their share, it was already
holy food, sanctified by the fact of having lain on the table o f the
gods, and so bearing a pardcle o f the divine in it. Similar practices
were observed in private homes. Tertullian sarcastically tells us
that at the birth o f a child the Romans "invoke the aid of Lucina
(Juno) and Diana; for a whole week a table is spread in honor o f
Juno." 6 8 This table at the birth o f a child is probably what Vergil
referred to when in his "Messianic Eclogue" he wrote: "Begin
little boy: those who do not smile on their parents neither god will
honor with his table, nor a goddess with her bed." 69 A cult, therefore, could be established whenever a table was set up and an
offering was dedicated; when the table was removed, the cult was
finished.
This must have been the custom which was followed in the
Acts of Thomas as well as by the Kollyridians. Indeed, Christians
did not use permanent altars for at least two hundred years. T h e
passage from Epiphanius is the first reference to a Christian altar;
at least Epiphanius considered it as such.70 But there is one great
altar. T h e words are as follows: 'As, for example, in the temple of Juno Populonia there is a sacred table ..."' T h e n Macrobius explains that in temples
there are two kinds o f furnishings, some are called "implements" the other
"ornaments." Ornaments are shields, crowns, etc. but the implements are
things that are always used in sacrifices "and of these a table on which are
placed the meat, drink and gifts for the gods is reckoned to be most important. ... T h e table ... and the small altars are usually dedicated on the same
day as the temple itself; so that a table dedicated at this rite may be used in a
temple as an altar and has the same sanctity as, for example a sacred couch."
ET.: P. V. Davies, Macrobius. The Saturnalia. N e w York and L o n d o n : Columbia University Press, 1969, p. 223.
68
De anima 39. ET.: ANF 3.219. See for this problem H e r b e r t Mischkowski, Die heiligen Tische im Gtterkultus der Griechen und Rmer. Knigsberg:
O t t o Kmmel, 1917 (Diss. Knigsberg.) Also H. J. Rose "Lectisterium" Oxford
Classical Dictionary, op. cit. p. 590.
69
Fourth Eclogue lines 62-63; See S. Benko "Virgil's Fourth Eclogue in
Christian I n t e r p r e t a t i o n . " Aufstieg und Niedergang der rmischen Welt. H.
T e m p o r i n i and W. Haase, ed. Berlin: de Gruyter, 1980. II/l, pp. 646-i05.
70
F. Wieland, Altar und Altagrab der christlichen Kirchen im 4. Jahrhundert.
THE
190
KOLLYRIDIANS
d i f f e r e n c e between the service described in the Acts of Thomas

and the Kollyridian service: Thomas clearly dedicated the bread
to Jesus, and thus his service was a Christian Eucharist, while the
Kollyridian women o f f e r e d the bread "in sacrifice in the name o f
Mary" (1.7). Epiphanius does not think that this is a Eucharist, but
rather, quoting Isaiah 65.11, calls it a "table for a d e m o n , " and
what the women ate, "impious f o o d . " H e then quotes Jeremiah
7.18: "Women knead dough and their sons collect wood to make
cakes f o r the army o f heaven" (VIII.1). Epiphanius, therefore,
equated the Kollyridian service with a sacrifice to the queen o f
heaven and thus regarded the cult as a revival of paganism in a
Christian garb. Whether the Kollyridians' bread was similar to
the bread sacrified by the Jewish women we do not know, but one
thing we may assume with a fair degree of certainty: these cakes
were not in erotic shapes nor were they stamped with obscene
symbols. Had they been, Epiphanius would have made a great
issue of it, for he uses every example he can think of to fulminate
against women. But he does not even mention it. So the women
used simple bread but bread it was, the "fruit o f Demeter,"
sacred to Artemis, Minerva, Juno and all the great
goddesses o f the ancient world. For bread has an
fertility
awesome
relationship to Gaia (earth), in whose "womb" the seed is planted

in order that it may die and thus multiply, grow, and become a
life-giving
element.
In
the
sacred
mystery
of
bread,
every
woman could view herself as possessing a portion o f the creative

power of the gods, for in every act of intercourse, conception and
birth, the sowing of the seed, the miracle o f death and life, is
repeated. When the Kollyridian women p e r f o r m e d their solemn
rites, they did so as women in the most exalted sense. Just as at the
Thesmophoria or the Roman mysteries o f Bona Dea, men were
excluded: nothing
should interfere with this d e e p
feminine
experience. It was part of Greco-Roman magical practice to require

silence, often solitude, and sometimes even the protective cover o f
night to assure effectiveness, for any profane sound might break
the spell. Strict regulations were established to exclude anything
that might interfere with the solemn character of the rites.71 T h e
Leipzig: J.C. Hinrichs, 1912. See also the article "Altar" by various authors
in Die Religion in Geschichte and Gegenwart. Tbingen: Mohr, 1957, pp. 251-266;
J. P. Kirsch and Th. Klauser, "Altar" RAC 1, 310-354.
71
S. Benko, Pagan Rome and the Early Christians. Bloomington: Indiana U.
191 T H E
KOLLYRIDIANS
Kollyridian sacrifice was celebrated in such a holy manner in

order to establish an unio mystica with the divine.
D. WHO WERE THE KOLLYRIDIANS?
It has been correctly pointed out 72 that Epiphanius traced the
origin of the Kollyridians to Thrace and Scythia where the goddesses Bendis and Diana were particularly popular. Bendis, the
fertility goddess of Thrace, was identified by the Greeks with
Artemis, Persephone, and Hecate; Diana was the protectress o f
women, whose origin may also g o back to Artemis. 73 It is entirely
possible that these goddesses in the lower Danube area had
influenced Christian piety there, but we need not resort to this
solution in our case. In Arabia the worship o f "heavenly Aphrodite" was already known to Herodotus, 7 4 indeed the worship o f
the great goddess under various names and forms was so universally widespread in the whole Mediterranean area that it did not
have to be imported from Thrace or anywhere else. What the
Kollyridians did came quite naturally to women in the ancient
world, and thus, if Epiphanius is right that it was a revival of
paganism, it could have started anywhere. But m o r e needs to be
considered. Thrace was, as we have seen, the birthplace o f the
Dionysiac cult, which had strong connections with the cult o f
Cybele in Asia M i n o r . Now, if I am correct that Cybele's cult
powerfully influenced Montanism, then it is no surprise to read
in Eusebius 75 that Priscilla, the Montanist prophetess, was also
acdve in Thrace. For the Montanists to g o to Thrace in search of
converts would have been as natural as for the first Hellenist
Christians in Jerusalem to g o to Samaria and preach the gospel to
Press, 1986, p. 125; see also Th. H o p f n e r "Mageia" In Pauly-Wissowa-Knoll,

op. cit. pp. 305, 321, 373 and Pliny, Naturalis Historia 23.3.11.
72
F. J. Dlger, "Die Eigenartige Marienverehrung..." op. cit. p. 112.
73
H . J. Rose, The Oxford Classical Dictionary, op. cit. p. 337-338; H. J. Rose,
Religion in Greece and Rome, op. cit. p. 238.
74
Histories 1.105; 3.8; 4.59.
75
5.19.3, quotation from a letter of Serapion, bishop of Antioch; who
complained that "the working of the so-called new prophecy of this false
o r d e r is abominated in the whole o f C h r i s t e n d o m . " In this letter o f
Serapion was a note of Aelius Publius Julius, bishop o f Debeltum in Thrace,
which said: "As God lives in the heavens the blessed Sotas in Anchialus
wished to drive the devil out of Priscilla and the hypocrites would not let
him." op dt. pp.492-95.
THE
192
KOLLYRIDIANS
Jews there who had rejected the temple and broken the law, as
Stephen and his kindred souls had done. 7 6 In Thrace Priscilla
found a predisposition to those qualities which were central for the
Montanists, such as ecstasy, a tendency to see visions, prophecy,
and full participation of women in the cult.
If that indeed is the case, as it seems to be, then Epiphanius
offers the solution for the puzzle of the origin o f the Kollyridians.
As he says, they originated in Thrace. I am proposing (this is n o
l o n g e r Epiphanius) that they were first a local branch o f the
Montanists. In the religious climate o f Thrace, they absorbed a
number o f pagan practices and eventually integrated into their
faith the universally popular mother-goddess idea, which f o r
them was represented by Mary, the mother of Jesus. This is how
Epiphanius described them. How they got into Arabia is not
known. Perhaps at one time m o r e
such congregations
were
spreading from Thrace and Epiphanius found o n e o f the last

groups remaining there. However that may be, they give us a
brief but fascinating glance into the development of Mariology by
revealing how the feminine aspect of the divine was carried over
from one generation to the other. 77
When did the Kollyridian sect come into being? In a popular
book, the British author G e o f f r e y Ashe 78 suggests that after the
death and resurrection o f Jesus there was, alongside the church in
Jerusalem
which was under
the leadership
of
the
apostles,
another movement under the leadership o f Mary. This group,

with Mary at its center, left Jerusalem and withdrew into the
wilderness as a religious community. When she was in her sixties, Mary went on a pilgrimage. H e r followers never saw her
again, and consequently believed that she was taken up to heaven
like Elijah. Luke and John visited this community and received
from
it traditions which were i n c o r p o r a t e d
in
their
gospel
narratives. This Marian community, according to Ashe, was the
Acts 8.1.
Michael P. Carroll, The Cult of the Virgin Mary. P r i n c e t o n : P r i n c e t o n
University Press, 1986, p. 46 suggested that they were the Pepuzians, as the
Montanists were sometimes called. I did not run across any statement in
my research which would indicate that the Pepuzians were not " o r t h o d o x "
Christians. Nevertheless, Carroll is certainly correct when he says that
there is a similarity between Montanists and Kollyridians.
78
The Virgin. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1976, pp. 149-171.
76
77
193 T H E
KOLLYRIDIANS
beginning o f the Kollyridian sect. In fairness to Ashe, we must

add that he himself calls this story "historical
fiction"79
which it
is, and thus we will not pursue his arguments any further. T h e r e
is n o historical reference to a "Marian r e l i g i o n " that existed
simultaneously with " o r t h o d o x " Christianity. But we d o know
that the Montanist movement carried in itself the seeds o f what,
under favorable conditions, could develop into the cult that Epiphanius called the Kollyridians. These conditions were present in
Thrace and that is how and when the sect started. For a long time
they were simply known by whatever name the followers o f
Montanus were called, and that may be why no particular attention was paid to them other than the notice given to Montanists in
general.
However, by the fourth century, when Eusebius lived, they
must have f u l l y developed their distinctive characteristics, because by that time they appear to have become an embarrassment
f o r the mainline church. If we can believe the Patriarch Eutychius, certain Marianites were condemned as early as the Council of Nicea (325) for teaching that besides the supreme G o d there
were two other gods, Christ and his mother, Mary. 80 Eutychius
was a patriarch between 933-944, so his report is open to some
doubt. Nevertheless, it was adopted by the medieval author, Ihn
Kibr, who died about 1363 and who included in a list o f heresies
the sect of Marianites who believed that Christ and Mary are two
gods besides God. 81 T h e last definite reference to the Kollyridians
is a brief remark by Leontius of Byzantium (died 543/44) who
refers to the "bread which the Philomarianites offer in the name
o f Mary." 82 This remark gives the impression that Leontius was
referring to practices current in his day, so the sect probably still
Op. dt. 161; "But it is strictly functional," he claims, p. 170.
Annales 440: "Erant ex illis qui affirmaverunt Christum et Matrem
ipsius duos esse deos praeter Deum summum: erant hi Barbari, et Marianitae audierunt. MPG 111.1006. See Felix Haase, Altchristliche Kirchengeschichte
nach Orientalischen Quellen. Leipzig: Otto Harrassowitz, 1925, p. 369; Dlger,
"Die eigenartige Marienverehrung ... " op. cit. p. 116.
81
F. Haase, op. dt. p. 316: "In der Encyklopdie des Schamsch-e Ri'asah
Abu l'Barakat ibn Kibr ( w i r d ) f o l g e n d e r Ketzerkatalog g e g e b e n : ... die
Sekte welche Muntas (Montanus) heisst, oder auch die Mariensekte, weil sie
Maria zum Gott machen...die barbarische Sekte...Sie gleichen der Mariensekte, indem sie glauben, dass Christus und Maria zwei Gtter neben Gott
sind."
82
Contra Nestorianos et Eutychianos 3.6 MPG 86.1.
79
80
194
THE
KOLLYRIDIANS
existed then. T h e r e is also a reference in the Koran which is

sometimes taken as an allusion to the Philomarianites:
"And
behold, G o d will say: Jesus, the Son o f Mary! Didst thou say
unto men, 'Worship m e and my mother, As gods in derogation
o f God?' H e will say: "Glory to thee! Never could I say what I had
n o right to say. Had I said such a thing, thou wouldst indeed have
known it.'" 8 3 If this is indeed a reference to the Kollyridians, the
sect must have survived up to the middle o f the seventh century
and been known to Mohammed, who died in 632. Since Mohamm e d was active in Arabia, where the original Kollyridians were
supposedly centered, such survival is not impossible; however,
given M o h a m m e d ' s strict monotheism, this passage may simply
refer to the Marian piety of his time. 84 Thus the Kollyridians fade
f r o m the history o f Christianity. They no longer fdled a need,
because by the middle of the seventh century the church's Mariology could comfortably accommodate any piety directed to the
Queen o f Heaven.
W e have pursued the pagan influence in the development of
the Christian concept o f the divine female, examining how pagan
images and concepts were carried over into the Christian community and found expression in such various ways as the image o f
the "woman clothed with the sun" and the practices of the Montanists and the Kollyridians. W e will now to look at this issue
f r o m within the Christian church and see how the Christian
genius out, of its own resources, began to restore the image of the
f e m i n i n e aspect of God. T h e Kollyridians were Christians, but
they were an extremist fringe and their story soon leads the
historian into a blind alley. T h e further development o f Mariology came not from them but from Christian theologians who
83
Sura 5.119. The Holy Qur-an. Text, Translation and Commentary by
Abdullah Yusaf Ali. Beirut: Dar Al Arabia, 1968, p. 20.
84
Some other references in the Koran which mention Mary are definitely antitrinitarian, but are not strictly anti-Marian. Sura 4.171: " O P e o p l e
o f the Book! Commit no excess in your religion: nor say of God aught but the
truth. Christ Jesus the son of Mary was (no more than) an apostle of God and
His Word, which H e bestowed on Mary ... Say not Trinity: desist: it will be
better for you: For God is one God." Sura 5.75-76: "They d o blaspheme who
say 'God is Christ the son of Mary.' ...Whoever joins other gods with God
God will forbid him the Garden ... They do blaspheme who say: 'God is one
of three in a Trinity: for there is no God except one God." op. dt. p. 234 and
266.
195 T H E
KOLLYRIDIANS
began to compare Eve with Mary. T h e significance o f Eve was

discovered by the Montanists. T w o orthodox theologians who
were familiar with Montanism first developed the crucial role o f
the two w o m e n in the history o f salvation and established a
relationship between them. W e turn now to this development.
CHAPTER SIX
FROM DEVOTION T O DOCTRINE
Christianity e m e r g e d from obscurity during the second century.

T h e correspondence between the governor of Bythinia-Pontus,
Pliny the Younger (61-112), and emperor Trajan (98-117) reveals a
noticeable group of Christians in Asia Minor who conducted their
religious life in a certain set way. N o t long after Pliny's tenure as
g o v e r n o r o f Bythinia-Pontus, the letter o f the martyr
bishop
Ignatius o f Antioch testifies to similar conditions in his area. It

was at this dme that Christians began to identify the beliefs which
would distinguish theirs f r o m other religions, first o f all f r o m
Judaism in which their immediate religious roots lay, but also
f r o m the religions of Greece and Rome, where their cultural roots
lay and, for an increasing number of them, their national origins
as well. That in their p e r i o d o f self- identification they drank
simultaneously f r o m the wellsprings of Judaism and paganism
should not come as a surprise.
A. MARY AS VIRGIN MOTHER
It is precisely this mixture which is reflected in a little treatise
known as the Protoevangelium
of James. As the title indicates, the
treatise deals with history prior to the nativity of Jesus as recorded

in the gospels of Matthew and Luke. T h e name of James points to
the brother o f Jesus1 as the author, but it is improbable that he
indeed wrote the book. Rather was his name used to lend authority to the writing, which is usually dated around the middle o f
the second century. O f course, it is possible that some of the ideas
i n c o r p o r a t e d by the unknown author into his work had been
circulating earlier, but just how much earlier no o n e can say.
H e r e is a brief summary of the contents of the book.
J o a c h i m b e l o n g e d to o n e o f the twelve tribes o f Israel. H e was a
very rich man and he used to o f f e r t w o f o l d sacrifices: o n e f o r the
p e o p l e and o n e f o r himself. O n the "great day o f the L o r d " h e was
Mark 6.3; Gal. 1.19.
197
o n his way to o f f e r a sacrifice w h e n a man n a m e d R e u b e n w e n t

to him and told him that he should not b e the first to o f f e r sacrifice
because he had n o children. J o a c h i m was greatly o f f e n d e d by this
r e m a r k and w h e n he searched the r e c o r d s o f the twelve tribes of
Israel he f o u n d that all the r i g h t e o u s in Israel had c h i l d r e n . H e
r e c a l l e d the story o f A b r a h a m and Sara and b e c a m e depressed.
Joachim did not g o back to his wife, but w e n t instead into the wilderness w h e r e he fasted f o r forty days and f o r t y nights. A t h o m e
his w i f e , A n n a , was b e i n g insulted by her servant because o f h e r
childlessness. In a tree, she c a u g h t sight o f a nest o f sparrows
which r e m i n d e d her o f her childless c o n d i t i o n and she b r o k e out
in a l a m e n t a t i o n . A f t e r her l a m e n t a t i o n the angel o f the L o r d
a p p e a r e d to her and a n n o u n c e d that she w o u l d c o n c e i v e and bear
and a child that w o u l d be spoken o f in the w h o l e w o r l d . T h e r e u p o n A n n a v o w e d that, regardless o f the c h i l d ' s sex, she w o u l d
consecrate her child as a sacrifice to the L o r d . A t the same t i m e an
angel a p p e a r e d to Joachim and u r g e d him to return h o m e because
his w i f e had c o n c e i v e d a c h i l d . J o a c h i m o f f e r e d a s a c r i f i c e
consisting o f 122 animals and then he r e t u r n e d to his h o m e . N i n e
months later A n n a gave birth to Mary. She was a s t r o n g child,
and w h e n she was only six m o n t h s o l d she w a l k e d seven steps,
but her m o t h e r p i c k e d her up and v o w e d that she w o u l d n o t walk
on the g r o u n d until she had b e e n presented in the t e m p l e . A n n a
m a d e a sanctuary in Mary's b e d r o o m and e n g a g e d s o m e v i r g i n
H e b r e w girls to carry the child so her f e e t w o u l d not touch the
g r o u n d . W h e n M a r y was a year o l d , h e r f a t h e r g a v e a great
r e c e p t i o n f o r the priests, scribes and elders. W h e n she b e c a m e two
years, o l d J o a c h i m wanted to f u l f i l l his p r o m i s e and give Mary to
the t e m p l e , but A n n a persuaded him to wait until she was t h r e e .
W h e n she b e c a m e three, J o a c h i m h i r e d virgin H e b r e w girls to
h o l d b u r n i n g lamps in their hands w h i l e they b r o u g h t Mary i n t o
the t e m p l e so that the child would n o t turn back w h e n she was left
in the temple. So the priests r e c e i v e d M a r y with a kiss o f g r e e t i n g
and her parents r e j o i c e d because the girl d i d not turn back after
t h e m . A n d in the t e m p l e M a r y was f e d f r o m the h a n d o f an
angel.
W h e n Mary r e a c h e d the age o f twelve, the priests m e t to discuss her status. T h e y w e r e afraid, that Mary, having r e a c h e d the
age o f puberty, w o u l d pollute the t e m p l e if they kept her there any
l o n g e r . T h e y finally d e c i d e d to give the high priest, Zacharias, a
free h a n d in the matter. U p o n d i v i n e inspiration, he d e c i d e d to
assemble the m e n o f Israel. Each man gave a r o d to the high priest
w h o then h a n d e d the rods back to them: w h e n he gave the last rod
back to Joseph, a d o v e sprang f o r t h f r o m it and sat u p o n his head.
T h e h i g h priest t h e r e u p o n a n n o u n c e d that J o s e p h s h o u l d take
M a r y i n t o his care. J o s e p h was very embarrassed a n d protested
saying: "I am an o l d man and have sons, but she is a girl ..." But
the priest w a r n e d him that unless he w a n t e d to s u f f e r the same
FROM DEVOTION T O DOCTRINE 206

f a t e as Dathan, A b i r a m , and K o r a h , w h o w e r e swallowed u p by
the earth, he had better take the g i r l . 2 So J o s e p h o b e y e d a n d t o o k
M a r y i n t o his h o m e w h i l e he w e n t o f f to build his b u i l d i n g s .
S o m e time later the priests in the t e m p l e d e c i d e d to make a veil f o r
the sanctuary. T h e y assigned the j o b to virgin girls in Israel, a n d
Mary received the greatest h o n o r : to make the scarlet and the true
purple.
W h i l e e n g a g e d at this task, M a r y w e n t to the well to d r a w
water. T h e r e she heard a v o i c e saying: "Hail, thou f a v o r e d o n e ..."
She l o o k e d about but did not see anything, and t r e m b l i n g w i t h
fear she w e n t back to the house to resume her w o r k at the purple.
S u d d e n l y an a n g e l stood b e f o r e h e r a n d a n n o u n c e d that she
w o u l d c o n c e i v e by the w o r d o f the L o r d . But she q u e s t i o n e d i n
herself: "Shall I c o n c e i v e and bring f o r t h like o t h e r w o m e n ? " T h e
a n g e l answered: " N o t so Mary; a p o w e r o f the L o r d shall o v e r shadow you ..." Mary then finished the scarlet and the p u r p l e and
d e l i v e r e d it to the priests. A f t e r that she w e n t to visit her kinsw o m a n , Elizabeth, w h o g r e e t e d her respectfully as "the m o t h e r o f
my L o r d . " But M a r y f o r g o t t h e mysteries that G a b r i e l t h e
archangel had told her, and she said: " W h o am I, that all w o m e n
o f the earth shall praise m e ? " She stayed t h r e e m o n t h s with
Elizabeth and her w o m b g r e w larger day by day. T h e n she w e n t
h o m e and hid herself in her house. She was sixteen years o l d
w h e n all this h a p p e n e d . In the sixth m o n t h o f Mary's p r e g n a n c y ,
Joseph c a m e h o m e . H e was very bitter. A t first he accused h i m s e l f
o f n o t having taken p r o p e r care o f Mary, but then he t u r n e d
against her and asked f r o m w h e r e the baby came. She answered:
"As the L o r d my G o d lives, I d o n ' t know ..." A t that, Joseph stopped
talking to her, and after s o m e t h o u g h t he d e c i d e d to send her
away quietly. T h a t night, however, the angel a p p e a r e d to him and
r e v e a l e d that the c h i l d was f r o m the H o l y Spirit. T h e n J o s e p h
m a g n i f i e d the L o r d and continued to take care o f Mary, but o n e
day the scribe c a m e to inquire why J o s e p h had not c o m e to the
assembly and discovered that Mary was p r e g n a n t . H e ran to break
the news to the high priest, w h o sent o f f i c e r s to b r i n g b o t h M a r y
a n d J o s e p h b e f o r e him. T h e y b o t h d e n i e d that they had h a d
i n t e r c o u r s e with each o t h e r , but the high priest did n o t b e l i e v e
them and he o r d e r e d them to u n d e r g o the water-test, i.e., they had
to drink o f the "water o f the conviction o f the L o r d . " But n e i t h e r
c a m e to any harm so the high priest released them.
T h e d e c r e e f o r the census went out f r o m Augustus, and Joseph
was uncertain h o w to e n r o l l Mary, as his w i f e or as his daughter.
H e was ashamed to d o the first, and e v e r y o n e knew M a r y was n o t
his daughter. "I will e n r o l l my sons," Joseph said, "but what shall
I d o with this c h i l d ? " H e d e c i d e d to leave the solution up to the
L o r d , saddled a she ass, put Mary u p o n it, and they set out f o r
B e t h l e h e m . O n e o f his sons led the ass w h i l e J o s e p h f o l l o w e d .
Numbers 16.1, 31-33.
199
T h r e e miles f r o m Jerusalem Joseph n o t i c e d that M a r y was m a k i n g a sad f a c e at o n e m o m e n t and l a u g h i n g the next. W h e n

Joseph asked her about this she e x p l a i n e d that she saw two p e o p l e :
o n e w e e p i n g , the o t h e r r e j o i c i n g . S o o n M a r y asked to be taken
d o w n f r o m the ass because she was in labor and the baby was
about to b e born. Finding a cave, Joseph left his sons to stay with
M a r y w h i l e he h i m s e l f w e n t in search o f a m i d w i f e . ( A t this
p o i n t the narrative c h a n g e s f r o m the third p e r s o n to the first
person: Joseph is speaking.) As Joseph was walking h e s u d d e n l y
realized that nature stood still; the birds stopped in flight, p e o p l e
s t o p p e d m o v i n g , even the river s t o p p e d flowing. A f t e r a w h i l e
e v e r y t h i n g r e s u m e d its n o r m a l course. A m i d w i f e c a m e a l o n g
and she went with Joseph to the cave. ( T h e narrative then returns
to third p e r s o n . ) A b r i g h t c l o u d o v e r s h a d o w e d t h e cave, after
which a g r e a t light was seen, and w h e n , little by little, the light
withdrew, the child Jesus a p p e a r e d and he w e n t i m m e d i a t e l y to
M a r y ' s breasts.
T h e m i d w i f e was a m a z e d at what she had seen, and as she
went out o f the cave she met Salome and told her that a virgin has
b r o u g h t f o r t h a child. S a l o m e expressed doubts, but the m i d w i f e
took her to the cave and told Mary: " M a k e yourself ready because
n o small controversy has arisen c o n c e r n i n g y o u ! " S a l o m e then
inserted her f i n g e r s to e x a m i n e the c o n d i t i o n o f M a r y ' s h y m e n
and her h a n d i m m e d i a t e l y d r i e d up. S h e p r a y e d a n d an angel
told her to touch the child with her hand, and w h e n she d i d so
her h a n d was i m m e d i a t e l y healed.
T h e wise m e n c a m e to B e t h l e h e m l o o k i n g f o r the king o f the
Jews. W h e n H e r o d heard o f this he was troubled and sent o f f i c e r s
to seek out the wise men. H e o r d e r e d them to i n f o r m him w h e n
they f o u n d the child, but the wise m e n , having p r e s e n t e d their
gifts to Jesus, r e t u r n e d to their country by a n o t h e r way. H e r o d ,
then, o r d e r e d the "slaughter o f the i n n o c e n t s . " M e a n w h i l e , Mary
hid Jesus by w r a p p i n g him in swaddling cloths and laying h i m
in an ox-manger. Elizabeth took J o h n into the mountains w h e r e a
mountain o p e n e d and hid them. H e r o d ' s soldiers c a m e and asked
Zacharias w h e r e his son was, a n d w h e n he c o u l d n o t g i v e an
answer, he was killed. T h e priests f o u n d his b l o o d turned to stone,
but his b o d y had disappeared. T h e p e o p l e observed three days o f
m o u r n i n g f o r Zacharias, after which they e l e c t e d S i m e o n as his
successor. It was S i m e o n o f w h o m the H o l y Spirit had said he
w o u l d not see death until he saw Christ in the flesh. T h e Protoevangelium ends with the statement by ' J a m e s " d e c l a r i n g that he
had written this b o o k in Jerusalem and that, when H e r o d d i e d and
a tumult had arisen in Jerusalem, he w i t h d r e w h i m s e l f i n t o the
wilderness until the tumult ceased. 3
3
E. Hennecke, W. Schneemelcher, New Testament Apocrypha. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1963, Vol.1, pp. 370-388; W. Michaelis, Die Apokryphen Schriften zum Neuen Testament. Bremen: Carl Schunemann Verlag, 1958,
200
FROM D E V O T I O N T O D O C T R I N E 200
If the apocryphal gospels and acts were the Sunday supplement

literature of the early Christians, the Protoevangelium
of James is a
superb example of the genre. But apocryphal stories were more;

they often expressed popular beliefs which tended to become parts
o f the body of faith. Undoubtedly, this pseudo-Jamesian tract was
written in honor of the mother of Jesus, and it is worth noting that
even at such an early date, b e f o r e other major doctrines o f the
church were fully developed and even b e f o r e the canon o f the
N e w Testament was fully established, faith in the "virgin mother" o f the Savior found such powerful expression. This must
have happened in the eastern provinces o f the Roman world
where the "mother goddess" image was more intense and where
Christians were more under the influence o f female divinities
than in the west. In fact, the Christian church in the west, at this
time meaning, for the most part, Rome, initially rejected this sort
o f popular piety; later the decree of Pope Gelasius (492-496) condemned the Protoevangelium,4
Neither the place o f composition nor the authorship o f the
Protoevangelium
of James can be identified any closer. Attempts to
identify Palestine as the place of origin and a Jewish Christian 5 as

the author failed because the work betrays serious ignorance o f
Palestinian geography and Jewish customs. It is quite impossible,
to mention only a few examples, that Mary, as a child, was at the
"third step of the altar" in the temple, 6 and even more impossible
that she had access to the Holy o f Holies 7 where only the high
priest could enter, and even he only once a year. 8 F u r t h e r m o r e ,
there are many incidents in the book which betray pagan rather
than Jewish influence. Bringing a woman into such close relation to priestly functions is not Jewish but pagan. In Greco-Roman
pp. 62-95. M. R. James, The Apocryphal New Testament. O x f o r d : C l a r e n d o n

1955, pp. 38-49. English translation also in ANF 8.361-367.
4
See Schneelmecher, op. cit. vol. 1, p. 47; according to B. A l t a n e r - A .
Stuiber, Patrologie, Freiburg: Herder, 1966, p. 463, the Decretum Gelasianum de
libris recipiendis et non recipiendis was composed in the sixth century in southern Gaul; see also H. D e n z i n g e r - A . Schnmetzer, Enchiridion Symbolorum.
Freiburg: Herder, 1965, p. 122.
5
See e.g. Jacques Hervieux, What are Apocryphal Gospels? L o n d o n : Burns &
Oates, 1960.
6
7.3; 8.1.
7
13.2: "... you were brought up in the Holy o f Holies and received f o o d
f r o m the hand o f an angel." Also 15.3.
8
Hebrews 9.3 and 7.
FROM D E V O T I O N T O
DOCTRINE
201
religions, priestesses and other female religious officials, such as

the Vestal Virgins in Rome, were known, but in Judaism they
were not. Another curious reference is to the midwife, Salome,
whose name recalls the name o f Semele, mother o f Dionysus,
who was also born in a cave, deep in the "womb" o f mother earth.
T h e cult o f Dionysus, a fertility g o d whose retinue included the
female maenads, originated in Phrygia, where religion and fertility were closely associated. 9 T h e name Semele came f r o m the
Phrygian "Zemelo", i.e., the Anatolian earth-mother. I f indeed
the author o f the Protoevangelium of James did borrow the name
Salome from Semele, a connection with near-Eastern mother goddess ideas is more than likely. In this case we find ourselves
again in the distinguished company o f Cybele, Dionysus, Apollo,
the Montanists, Paul, Melito, and others, including the Muslim
mystics. O f course, it is also possible that the name Salome is
nothing more than a borrowing from the New Testament, 10 but
the context of a divine birth in a cave at least suggests Semele. W e
observe also that according to Protoevangelium 7.3, when the child
Mary was placed upon the altar, "the Lord God put grace upon the
child, and she danced for j o y with her feet ... " Dancing, rhythmic bodily movement often accompanied by music, is an expression of joy, an expression that was part o f ancient Near Eastern
religious services up to the time o f early Christianity. 11 It is
impossible to think that Mary actually danced on the steps of the
altar, but the author may very well have meant that Mary was
filled with the spirit of joy in the presence o f God. This was the
case with the female followers of Dionysus, the maenads, who,
when they felt themselves filled by the god, broke out in uncontrollable dancing. As we have seen, worshippers o f Cybele, the
Great Mother, were famous for their singing, dancing, and the
use o f musical instruments. O f course, this is not an exclusively
9
See above, Chapter II pp. 65ff., also R. Graves, The Greek Myths. Baltimore, Md,: Penguin, 1955, vol. pps. 56-57; 103-111; H.J. Rose, Religion in Greece
and Rome. New York; Harper, 1959, pps. 61 f. On caves see Guthrie, The Greeks,
op. dt. p. 211; H.J. Rose "Caves" Oxford Classical Dictionary, op.dt. p. 218.
10
E.g. Mark 15. 40; 16.1.
11
Lillian B. Lawler, " D a n c i n g " Oxford Classical Dictionary, p. 312, C.
Kernyi, The Religion of the Greeks and Romans , New York: E.D. Dutton, 1962,
p. 58; G. H. Davis, "Dancing" Interpreters Dictionary of the Bible, vol. 1 p. 760;
W.O.E. Oesterley, The Sacred Dance . Cambridge: Univ. Press, 1923. See also
p. 68.
202
pagan phenomenon; it was part of Hebrew religion and even o f

early Christianity. 12 But around the middle of the second century,
religious dancing is reported mostly o f pagans; after a double
devastation o f their country 15 not many Jews danced for joy. W e
conclude that the inspiration of the Protoevangelium' s author came
f r o m pagan experiences. W e assume that he was a Chrisdan o f
pagan cultural background with only a superficial knowledge o f
Jewish religion and history. Perhaps it is not be too much to
suggest that the author was deeply influenced by the practices o f
Cybele's worship, which he
or she may have known intimately.
Apparently the author's aim was to elevate Mary to the level o f

the great virgin-mother goddesses of the Greco-Roman world.
Thus he should perhaps be placed in the distinguished group o f
second century Chrisdan apologists who, in other areas o f theology, tried to reconcile Christianity with the world in which it
lived. T h e Protoevangelium
presents Mary as a virgin prior to her
conception o f Jesus and affirms that she remained so after his

birth. Why is Mary's physical condition
so important in the
history o f salvation? Why would any one make her virginity a

matter o f such concern? For the Christian claim of salvation, the
death and resurrection of Jesus were central issues, not the condition of Mary's hymen. But for minds accustomed to thinking
in the categories of the prevalent pagan culture, the mother of the
Son of God could have no lesser dignity than the Great Mother o f
the gods, the favorite subject of popular piety in the East. So the
author lifted Mary out of the ordinary and elevated her to a goddess-like figure: her feet did not touch the ground until she was
taken to the temple, her bedchamber was made into a sanctuary,
and the "undefiled daughters of the Hebrews" attended her. Even
after her marriage to Joseph she labored in the company o f "pure
virgins" at making a veil for the temple, much the same way that
the girls of Athens worked at making the new peplos for the statue
o f the Virgin Athene.
T h e Protoevangelium
was, in the long run, a very successful
book. T h e ideas it promulgated gradually became universally accepted, and eventually even the resistance of R o m e disappeared.
12
1S
See Acts of John 94-96.

70 and 135 A. D.
DOCTRINE
203
T h e Lateran Council of 469 under Pope Martin I declared: "If anyone does not confess in harmony with the holy Fathers that the
holy and ever virgin and immaculate Mary is really and truly
the mother of God, inasmuch as she in the last times and without
semen by the Holy Spirit conceived G o d the W o r d
himself
specially and truthfully, who was born f r o m G o d the Father

before all ages, and she bore him uncorrupted, and after his birth
her virginity remaining indissoluble, let him be c o n d e m n e d . " 1 4
T h e perpetual virginiy o f Mary thus became an official teaching
o f the church: Mary was a virgin before, during, and after the
birth o f Jesus.15 In 1555, the Council o f T r e n t c o n f i r m e d this
dogma in the Constitution of Pope Paul IV known as "Cum Quorundam." H e r e the pope warns against teaching that "the same blessed Virgin Mary is not truly the Mother of God, and did not
remain always in the integrity of virginity, i. e., before birth, in
birth, and perpetually after birth." 1 6 Yet, despite the fact that these
official formulations are of a rather late date, this dogma is by no
means an innovation but belongs to a very early deposit o f the
Christian faith. Assuming, then, that the author o f the
Proto-
evangelium did not originate these ideas but found them already in
some form, perhaps in an oral tradition circulated by popular
piety, the roots o f the dogma reach back to the first half, perhaps
even to the first third, of the second century. 17
T h e image o f the "woman clothed with the sun" was the first
expression of popular emotional piety centered on Mary; the contemplation of Mary as the new, more perfect Cybele, the mother
o f God, was next. In the development o f Christian doctrines,
popular piety precedes and points the way to the crystallization o f
an article of faith. "Legem credendi lex statuai supplicandi." " T h e law
Canon 3. Denzinger, op. cit. p.l72.
Ante partum, In partu, Post partum.
16
Denzinger, op. cit. p. 427.
17
T h e expression "semper virgo"= "always virgin" was constantly used
even by the Protestant reformers of the sixteenth century, who never really
worried about the precise implications o f the words, in spite o f their often
harsh criticism of Medieval mariolatry. T h e expression is very early, too,
and comes from the Greek "aeiparthenos." According to G. W. H. Lampe, A
Patristic Greek Lexicon. O x f o r d : Clarendon, 1964, p. 38, it was already used by
Athanasius (295-373), Didymus the Blind (313-398) and Epiphanius (315403). See also Walter J. Burghardt, "Mary in Eastern Patristic T h o u g h t " in
Juniper B. Carol, Mariology.
Milwaukee: T h e Bruce Publishing Co., 19551961, vol. 2, p. 107.
14
15
204
o f faith is determined by the law of prayer." 18 T h e
Protoevangelium
shows how Christians w h o were formerly pagans could find a

place in their daily devodonal life for the mother goddess. But this
is only the beginning; pious practice eventually became a part o f
the faith o f the church, which, in turn, gave rise to further
clarifications and specifications o f the role o f Mary in the divine
economy. Faith in the perpetual virginity of Mary and her divine
motherhood led directly to the development o f faith in her immaculate conception, total sinlessness, and fullness o f grace, i.e., her
gradual assimilation into the divine nature.
"Immaculate conception" means that the Virgin Mary "in the
first instance o f her conception, by a singular grace and privilege
granted by Almighty God, in view o f the merits of Jesus Christ,
the savior oF the human race, was preserved free from all stain o f
original sin." 1 9 O r i g i n a l sin" is the sin committed by Adam and
Eve as described in Genesis 3, and by virtue o f the fact that all
human beings are descendants of Adam and Eve, all are subject
to this sin which is inherited by birth. T h e Virgin Mary was
exempted from this sin because she was destined to become the
mother of God; had she been subject to sin even to such a nominal
d e g r e e , she could not have conceived and b o r n e Jesus. Such
thoughts began to circulate in the Christian church very early.
Nestorius (ca. 381-ca.451) and Pelagius (died after 418) made
references to it.20 But the full development came only during the
Middle Ages, after much, often bitter discussion. T h e r e was an
early proclamation of the dogma by the reform council o f Basel
in 1438, but this was condemned by Pope Eugenius IV (1431-1447)
until the act o f 1854 settled the issue as a "doctrine revealed by
G o d . " 2 1 This dogma was unanimously rejected by Protestants and
18
Capitula psuedo-Caelistina, also called Indiculus; composed between 435442. H. Denzinger, Enchiridion Symbolorum Edition X X X I I I . Freiburg: Herder,
1965, #241, page 89.
19
Bull Ineffabilis Deus issued by Pope Pius I X in 1854. See William J.
Doheny, and Joseph Kelly, Papal Documents on Mary. Milwaukee: Bruce,
1954. T h e r e is a very large body of literature on this topic, among the best is
Edward D. O ' C o n n o r , ed. The Dogma of the Immaculate Conception: History and
Significance. Notre Dame, Ind.: University of N o t r e Dame, 1958. G o o d summaries also in Carol, Mariology, vol. 1, 328-394; Scheeben, Mariology, vol. 2,
32-139. Roschini, op. cit., vol. 3, pp. 9-336.
20
Unfortunately, both of them were heretics; see references in M i e g g e ,
op. dt. p. 111.
21
It was this statement o f the Bull which prompted A d o l f Harnack to
DOCTRINE
205
it is still a subject o f scholarly criticism, yet it Fits eminently in

the system o f salvation as understood by Roman Catholics. T h e
aim o f the Christian religion is to assist men to attain everlasting
life in the presence of God; this is made possible by salvation from
sin, the overcoming o f mortality, and the bestowal o f divine
nature upon men by union with the incarnate and immortal Son
o f God. H e became man in order that man might become God 2 2
and, by his death and resurrection, already accomplished this
work o f salvation. Incarnation took place by the miraculous conception in and birth through the Virgin Mary. H o w could a
human being tainted by original sin be a vehicle f o r such a
privilege? Restoration of the human race to its condition prior to
the Fall means the restoration of the image o f God, 2 3 and that
could be done only by elevating Mary above a fallen, sinful state.
By thinking o f Mary as free of all sin, including original sin,
Christian theology developed the concept o f a human
being
restored to Paradise, prior to the Fall. She is Eve before she was
corrupted, the female par excellence who alone is capable of the
hieros gamos, impregnation by the Spirit of God. As we have seen,
the Eve-Mary parallel is nearly as early as Christian
theology
itself. T h e basic concern o f this theology of salvation is, however,

that communication between G o d and man is impossible if they
are totally alienated from each other, if there is no point where
divine and human can connect. T h e Immaculata,
representing
earthly humanity in its unspoiled state, is the one with whom

communion with God was restored. It follows logically from this
line o f thought that Mary would come to be thought o f as the
symbol o f the church, the spotless bride whose marriage will be
the eschatological
consummation
o f divine and human,
the
union o f all that was divided.

T h e fact that these doctrines are rooted in popular piety that was
motivated by pagan precedents, more precisely, by the worship o f
Cybele, means only that Christianity is firmly anchored in the
historical process; it does not mean that Christianity reverted to an
earlier, primitive state of paganism. T h e fact that popular piety
developed the ideas of the "perpetual virginity" and "immaculate
make the sarcastic remark, "When and to whom was it revealed?" History of
Dogma, vol. 7, p. 100, New York: Dover, 1961 (reprint of the 1900 edition.)
" 2 Irenaeus, Adv. Haer. Book 5, prooem.
23
Imago dei, Gen. 1.26-27.
206
c o n c e p t i o n " was a positive contribution to the life of the church

because it rescued a crucial part o f religion which Christianity
nearly lost, namely, the feminine aspect of the divine. T h e entire
development may be looked upon as the response of the Christian
genius to a challenge posed by paganism. 24 Paganism had its own
elaborate system o f thought to account f o r the divisions and
opposites that people experience in the world and in their lives. By
positing the existence o f goddesses as well as gods, the pagans
acknowledged male and female as having equal dignity because
only the two together are " o n e , " separately they are halves. By
raising Mary to the level o f goddess, Christianity provided a cosmic framework for its theory o f salvation: salvation is universal, it
is vastly m o r e than the bestowal o f eternal life on isolated souls.
Salvation involves the cosmos, as Paul declared in Romans 5. But
where there is a second Adam, there is also a second Eve. A n d
when the two become one, that is the final redemption.
B. MARY AS EARTH-GODDESS
For ancient people, the earth itself revealed the divine female.
Observing the fecundity of the earth, they recognized the same
mystery that is repeated by every woman in childbirth.
The
similarity is clear: the earth is like a mysterious womb, receiving

the seed, nurturing it, and in due time bringing forth the fruit.
Thus Earth, capitalized, became personified as the M o t h e r
par
excellence. This was also the basis of the cosmogonie myth that a
sexual union between sky and earth was the primordial cause
through which everything was brought into being. 2 5
24
T h e doctrine of the "Immaculate C o n c e p t i o n " rests largely upon the
historicity o f the stories recorded in Gen. 3. However, if A d a m was not a
historical person, then the doctrine faces a very serious challenge o f interpretation. See further Edward D. O ' C o n n o r , "Modern Theories on Original
Sin and the Immaculate Conception." Studies 20 (1969) 112-136. This
article deals with, among others, the theories of Teilhard de Chardin. See
also G e o r g e Soli, Mariologie.
Freiburg: H e r d e r , 1978, pp. 246-248. O n
"original sin" see: Oscar Hardmann, The Christian Doctrine of Grace. L o n d o n :
G e o f f r e y Bles: T h e Centenary Press, 1937; Carolo Boyer, S. J. Tractatus De
Gratia Divina. Rome: Gregorian University, 1938; Henri Rondet, The Grace of
Christ. A Brief History of the Theology of Grace. Westminster, Md.: N e w m a n
Press, 1966; Otto Hermann Pesch, Albrecht Peters, Einfhrung in die Lehre von
Gnade und Rechtfertigung.
Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft,
1981, M. Schmaus, etc., editors, Handbuch der Dogmengeschichte II/3. "Urstnd,
Fall, Erbsnde." Freiburg: Herder, 1982.
25
T w o excellent books deal with this topic: Albrecht Dieterich, Mutter
DOCTRINE
207
Ancient literature amply testifies to the divine awe and respect

with which the Earth was treated. Already in H o m e r , sacrifices,
prayers, and oaths were directed to Sun and Earth. 26 Later, more
precise statements were made, such as the famous fragment of Xenophanes: "everything comes from earth and everything returns
to earth." 27 Or, Aeschylus who put these words into the mouth o f
Electra: "... Earth herself, that bringeth all things to birth and
having nurtured them receiveth their increase in turn ,.."28 T h e
examples could be multiplied, 29 but we must turn to the important
point of how the mystery of creation observed in the functioning
of Earth was transferred to women. A g o o d starting point may be
Plato, who hypothesized that begetting and bringing forth children
was not always done as it is today. Originally men did the act o f
impregnation on earth "like the crickets," but later Zeus moved
their genitals to the front, so that a woman could be impregnated. 3 0 H e r e the image of a farmer sowing the seed on his field
comes immediately to mind. A n d so we find that many ancient
authors expressed the belief that there was a profound similarity
between what the farmer did to earth when he ploughed it and
what he did to his wife when he had intercourse with her and
impregnated her. This thought goes back to Sumerian times, as
Erde. Leipzig, Berlin: Teubner, 1905 and Franz Altheim, Terra Mater. Untersuchungen zur altitalienischen Religionsgeschichte. Glessen: T p e l m a n n , 1931.
Both are indispensable. See also W. K. C. Guthrie, In the Beginning, pp. 11-45.
26
Iliad, 3.104; 3.276; 19.258. See A. T . Murray, Homer. The Iliad, vol. I, pp.
125; 137; vol. 2, p. 355. LCL. London: Heinemann, 1978.
27
Fragment 27, Diels, op. cit. p. 135:
.
28
The Libation Bearers. 126-127; LCL. H. W. Smyth, ed. London: Heinemann, 1971, vol. 2, p. 171; see also p. 148.
29
Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes, 16-17, op. dt. p. 323; 69, op. cit. p. 237;
Prometheus 88: op. dt. vol. 3, pp. 224-255; Pindar, Pythian Ode 9.98103; LCL J. Sandys, ed. p. 283. For an extensive collection of pre-Socratic
references to Earth see Diels, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker. Berlin: Weidmann, 1954, vol. 3, Wortindex by Walther Kranz, pp. 101-104. According to
Hesiod, Works and Days 61, Pandora was the first woman, made of earth and
water. Ovid, Metamorphoses 1.368-410 describes how, after the devastating
flood, Deucalion and Pyrrha were told by the oracle to "throw behind you
the bones of your great mother." Deucalion eventually came to the solution:
"Our great mother is the earth and by her bones I think the oracle means
the stones in the body of the earth." They threw stones behind them and
these turned into men and women. ET.: by Mary M. Innes, The Metamorphoses of Ovid. New York: Penguin, 1982, p. 39.
30
Symposium 191C; LCL W. R.M. Lamb, editor, L o n d o n : H e i n e m a n n ,
1967, vol. 3, p. 141.
208
FROM D E V O T I O N T O DOCTRINE 208
was demonstrated by professor Samuel N. Kramer in his translation of the "sacred marriage" between the g o d Dumuzi (=Tammuz) and the goddess Inanna. In this dialogue the queen speaks
first:
"As f o r me, my vulva, For m e the p i l e d - h i g h hillock, M e t h e
maid, w h o will p l o w it f o r me? My vulva, the water g r o u n d for
me, M e , the Q u e e n , w h o will station the o x t h e r e ? " T h e answer to
h e r question is: " O h L o r d l y Lady, the king will p l o w it f o r you,
D u m u z i , t h e k i n g , will p l o w it f o r y o u . " T h e n she j o y f u l l y
responds: " P l o w my vulva, man o f my h e a r t . "
They have intercourse, after which vegetation grows all around

t h e m . 3 1 Similarly, in the Greek language the verb can
mean to plow the field but also to beget children; in the passive
voice it can express the idea of being begotten. 32
N o t only is the work of the farmer a sexual ritual, but human
intercourse can be viewed as a microcosmic version of earthly
fecundity. T h e sexual act has a "cosmic structure"; in it the primordial act of creation is repeated, and thus it is a constant reminder that the "cosmos is a living organism which renews itself." 33
This close relationship between the work o f the farmer and the
activity o f the husband has been adopted even into Christian
theology. T h e great Alexandrian, Clemens, explained that the
purpose of sexual intercourse is the generation of children just as
the farmer's act o f cultivating the earth and sowing the seeds has
the end of producing food. T h e farmer who gives his seed to an
animated soil is concerned for the life o f the universe, and so is
on a much higher level than the simple farmer who produces
31
Samuel N o a h Kramer, The Sacred Marriage Rite.
Bloomington,
Indiana: Indiana University Press, 1969, p. 148. Baumann, op. cit., p. 382
quotes a Babylonian saying: "Ein Acker der nicht bestellt wird, ist gleich
einer Frau, die ohne Gatten is." I could not verify this saying. But compare
Lucian, Lexiphanes 19, LCL 5, 319: Cleinas does not have intercourse with his
wife any longer; she is "unapproachable and uncultivated." (
). Also see Robert Graves and Raphae Patai, Hebrew Myths : The
Book of Genesis, New York McGraw-Hill, 1966, pp.241-242: "Hebrew myths
treat women as fields to be ploughed and sown ..."
32
Liddell and Scott, op. cit., p. 245. Impregnating a woman is to "sow the
female soil" wrote Lucretius, De rerum natura 4.1107, op. dt., p. 219. See also
C. C. Van Essen, "Venus Cloacina" Mnemosyne 9 (1956) 137-144. For more
examples see U. Winter, op. dt., p. 322.
33
Mircea Eliade, The Sacred and the Profane. The Nature of Religion. New
York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1959, p. 148. See also Kees W. Bolle,
"Hieros Gamos." ER 6.317-321.
DOCTRINE
209
only perishable f o o d . O n e cares only for himself, the other cares

f o r G o d and obeys God, who said: "Be fruitful and multiply!"
(Gen.1.28.) 3 4 Hippolytus preserved a sentence from the followers
o f the heretic Simon, who justified their promiscuous behavior
with this argument: "All earth is earth, and there is no difference
where any one sows, provided he does sow." 35
T h e original mother is, o f course, Earth, said Plato. She not
only brought forth men but also f o o d for nourishment, and thus it
is not "earth that imitates the woman in the matter o f conception
and birth, but the woman the earth." 36 A n d so the poets sang the
praises of "Earth, the mother o f us all ... Well-formed Earth, oldest
o f all who nourishes all things living on land ... On you it depends to give life or take it away from mortal men." 3 7 "Divine
Earth, mother o f men and of the blessed gods, you nourish all,
you give all, you bring all to fruition, and you destroy all." 38 I n
Athens there was a sanctuary to Earth "surnamed Olympian" 3 9
and an image o f Earth "beseeching Zeus to rain upon her." 40 For
the Athenians, the concept o f " m o t h e r " was identical with
"Earth," 4 1 and this concept shines through in Latin literature, too.
T h e fragment of Xenophanes, quoted above, appears in Latin in a
fragment o f Ennius. 42 Lucretius wrote that "Earth has won the
name o f Mother, since from earth have all things sprung." 4 3
34
Paedagogus 2.10.83; ANF 2.259. Athenagoras, A Plea ... uses the symbolism
o f "the husbandman throwing the seed" and the procreation of children.
ANF 2.146.
35
Refutation 6.14; ANF 5.80.
36
Menexenus 238A, LCL, R. G. Bury, ed. London: Heinemann, 152, vol. 7,
p. 345.
37
Homeric Hymn to Earth 1.7; Apostolos Athannasakis, The Homeric Hymns.
Baltimore and L o n d o n : Johns Hopkins University Press, 1976, p. 67; Charles
Boer, The Homeric Hymns. Chicago: T h e Swallow Press, 1970, p. 5. See also
Aeschylus, Libation Bearers, quoted above.
38
A p o s t a l o s N . Athannasakis, The Orphic Hymns. Missoula, M o n t .
Scholars Press, 1977, p. 37; see also Hesiod, Theogony, 5.126 ff. and for further
examples Mircea Eliade, Patterns in Comparative Religion. L o n d o n and New
York: Sheed and Ward, 1958, pp. 239-264.
39
Pausanias, Description of Greece 1.18.7 LCL, W. H. S. Jones, editor,
L o n d o n : Heinemann, 1918, v. l.p. 91: here was the opening in the f l o o r
where the f l o o d waters disappeared.
40
Pausanias, op. at., 1.24.3; LCL, op. at., p. 123.
41
U . von Wilamowitz-Mollendorf, "Excurse zu Euripides H e r a k l i d e n , "
Hermes 17 (1882) 357-358.
42
Epicharmus, frg. 52, Diels, op. cit. p. 206-207: "terris gentis omnis peperit et
resumit denuo. "
43
On the Nature of Things 5.790; Charles E. Bennet, ed. New York: W. J.
210
Many times we read about the important role the
Romans
assigned to Earth in marriage relations and the birth of children.

At the wedding o f Aeneas and Dido "Primal Earth and Nuptial
Juno" gave the sign, and later we read that "Mother Earth was
provoked to anger." 44 Newborn children were placed on the earth,
f r o m which the father picked them up in the presence o f the
goddess Levana, acknowledging the child as his own. 45 Consequently, in Italy little children who died were not cremated, but
buried: it was believed that they still belonged to their "mother." 4 6
Now, the best fertile soil is black in color and the blacker it is
the more suited it is for agriculture. And so we hear that the Greek
corn- goddess, Demeter, whose name already in ancient times
was derived from Ge-meter = Earth mother, was in historical
times still worshipped in Arcadia as an ancient earth-goddess.
Pausanias knew that in Phygaleia, in Arcadia, there was a statue
of the Black Demeter ( ) which was eventually
consumed by fire. H e also says that a statue worshipped by the
Phygaleans in a cave was dressed in black, because that is how
the goddess mourned for her lost daughter. 47 Aristotle quotes a
poem by Solon in which he says: "... before the judgment-seat o f
T i m e , the mighty mother o f the Olympian gods, Black earth,
would best bear witness ... " 4 8 Several other goddesses
were
pictured as black, among them the many-breasted Artemis o f

Ephesus, Isis, Ceres, and others. T h e meteorite stone at Pessinus,
Black, 1946, p. 268; see also 5.820-823, p. 269-270.
44
Vergil, Aeneis 4.166, LCL H.R. Fairclough, ed. L o n d o n : H e i n e m a n n ,
1916, vol. 1, p. 407 and 4.178, loc. cit., to which Servius in his commentary
observed: "Quidam sane etiam Tellurem praeesse muptiis tradunl; nam el in auspiciis
nuptiarum invocatur. " G. T h i l o et H. Hagen, Servit Grammatici Qui Feruntur in
Vergilii Carmina Commentant. Leipzig and Berlin: Teubner, 1923, p. 492.
45
Augustine, De civ. Dei 4.11; it is in this chapter that Augustine fulminates against the idea that Jupiter and Juno, heaven and earth, would have
relations with each other.
46
Pliny, Naturalis Historia 7.72: "It is a universal custom not to cremate a
person who dies before cutting his teeth." LCL. H. Rackham, editor, L o n d o n :
Heinemann, 1969, v. 2, p. 553; see also Juvenal, Satire 15, 1140 LCL, G.G.
Ramsey, ed., London, Heinemann, 1950, p. 299.
47
Guide to Greece 8.5.8 and 8.42; ET.: Peter Levi, Pausanias. Guide to Greece.
Baltimore, Md.: Penguin, 1971, vol. 2, pp. 381 and 476. See also article
" D e m e t e r " in Pauly-Wissowa-Krol, op.cit. 4/2, 2713-2764, and article "Melaina", op. cit. 15/1, 384-386; Euripides, Bacchae 275-276 "... divine Demeter,
Earth is she ..." op. cil. p. 25.
48
Athenian Constitution 12.4; LCL, H . Rackham, ed. L o n d o n : Heinemann,
1952, p. 39.
DOCTRINE
211
belonging to the Great Mother Cybele, was also black, which

indicates that all these goddesses represented telluric fecundity
and were worshipped as fertility goddesses.
In Christian tradition the role o f earth as genetrix was based on
Genesis 2.7: G o d formed the first man, Adam, from the earth. In
Genesis 3:19 it is said that that is where men will again return:
"You are dust and to dust you shall return." Although there is no
indication in the Bible of any worship of earth, the idea o f
"Mother Earth" is there. It appears in texts like Job 1:21: "Naked I
came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return ...," or
Isaiah 62.3-5, where the fruitful land is compared to a married
woman. "Returning to dust" is a common expression o f death 4 9
and the eschatological resurrection is described as coming back
f r o m the earth. 50 In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul uses the imagery o f a
farmer sowing seeds when he develops his thesis o f the resurrection, and that, of course, is the classic text, used even today in
Christian funeral services. On such occasions the idea o f earthmother sometimes still shines through. In the funeral oration o f
his father, Gregory Nazianzen said, "Life...takes its rise from the
corruption which is our m o t h e r . . . " 5 1 When the apostle John
prepared to die, according to an apocryphal story, he stood in his
grave and told his followers to "throw my mother earth upon me
and cover me up." 52
T h e concept of earth as genetrix gained importance when the
first Christian theologians established a parallelism between the
primeval creation and the new creation brought about by Christ.
Adam was made from earth without a father, and Jesus Christ,
conceived without father, was born from Mary "as yet virgin." 5 3
In this text, Irenaeus already thought of Mary as representing
earth. H e was careful to emphasize her virginity at the time o f
conception because only so is the parallelism perfect. Thus in the
Martyrdom of S. Andrew-we read: "Since the first man, who brought
death into the world through the transgression of the tree, had
been produced from the spotless earth, it was necessary that the
Psalm 90.3; 104.29.

Ezechiel 37.1-28.
51
Oration 18.42, NPNF, Series 2, vol. 7, p. 268.
52
See Richard A. Lipsus, Die Apokryphen Apostelgeschichten und Apostellegenden. Braunschweig: C.A. Schwetschke und Sohn, 1883, vol. 1, p. 397.
53
Irenaeus, Adv. Haer 3.21.10; 3.22.1. ANF 1. p. 454.
49
50
Son of G o d should be begotten a perfect man from the spotless

virgin..." 5 4 Later, S. Ambrose spelled it out: ex terra virgine Adam,
Christus ex virgine.55
So Mary is presented as the virgin soil into
which the creative word of G o d fell at the Annunciation when,

through the Word, the conception of Jesus took place. Observe the
parallelism: G o d created by his word both times. Earth brings
forth when it is cultivated, woman conceives when her body is
"cultivated" by a male. But it was not so in the case of the Virgin
Maiy; she was the "terra non arabilis quae fructum partent, " 5 6 i.e., she
conceived without her body being "violated" by a male. For
Christians who thought in terms of a "first" and "second" creation, Mary more and more emerged as the sublime female, the
earth-goddess who gives life. But, incorporated into the Christian
history o f salvation, Mary is thought of not as just another earthgoddess, but as an integral part of a "new creation" made by God.
In the divine act of generation she is Earth with whom Heaven
unites and thus she is the female component o f the divine. But
she is also a part o f created humanity, representing earthbound
mankind in its relation to heaven, her Son and God's Son is the
first person of the new humanity. Thus the earth-goddess became
a thoroughly Christian figure; Mary is not Cybele or Isis, she is
the Mother of God, Jesus.
In addition to Cybele, the Great Mother, there were many other
divine females whose worshippers could transfer their devotion to
Mary when they came to identify themselves with the new faith.
Statues and statuettes o f pagan goddesses, some of them holding a
child, are very close to, one could say identical with, representations o f Mary and the child Jesus. A Celtic votive statue, reprinted
by Jacques Huynen, 5 7 is very similar to the statue of the venerated
Virgin o f Marsat, reprinted on the opposite page in Huynen's
book. It is well known that the iconography o f Isis and Horus was
basically adopted by Christians when they started to portray Mary
and Jesus as Mother and Child. 5 8 It is entirely possible that in
MPG 2.1225; ANF 8.512.
In Lucam 4.7.8; CChL 14, 108, followed by Augustine, De genesi contra
Manichaeos 2. 37, MPL 34, 21. See also Epiphanius, Panarion 79.7.2: " H e recreates himself out of the Virgin as an artist and Lord, as if f r o m earth."
56
Medieval hymn quoted by M. Eliade, Patterns... p. 259.
57
L'enigme des vierges noires. Paris: Editions Robert Laffant, 1972, between
pp. 1-129.
58
R. E. Witt, op. cit. pp. 216-217; plates 3 and 69.
54
55
213
DOCTRINE
some cases pagan statues may have been "baptized" and rededicated as objects of veneradon o f Mary. It is a well known fact that
sanctuaries dedicated to Mary were often built on sites that were
originally used for the veneration of pagan goddesses. T h e same
development could have happened in regard to statues, particularly when the statue o f the Virgin is black in color. Shrines o f earthgoddesses were scattered all over Europe, as are venerated statues
o f the "Black Madonna," which can be found in great numbers
f r o m Great Britain to Hungary and Poland. In none o f them with
which I am familiar can negroid features be detected; therefore,
they are not black because o f their race. In some cases the material from which they are made is black; in other cases, it is claimed
that accumulated dirt and soot may account for their color. This
explanation, usually given by Roman Catholic scholars, 59 does
not explain why the whole body of the statue turned black, even
under the clothing, and not just the face and hands. A n d what
about those to which none o f these arguments apply? O n e answer
lies at hand: they are black because they represent earth, the mother of all. That Chrisdans could so easily think o f Mary as black
should not be surprising. N o t only was the relationship between
Mary and the virgin earth long established, from quite early the
Song o f Songs was interpreted in the church in a Marian way.
This love song was explained as referring to the relationship
between Christ and the church, his bride; since the church was
identified with Mary, the song could be also be applied to the love
o f G o d and Mary; and the female lover in the Song o f Songs is
black: "I am black but beautiful, daughters of Jeruselem." 60
Thus nothing stands in the way o f seeing in the veneradon o f
the Black Madonnas a continuation of the popular piety with
which the great mystery o f earth was honored. In some areas o f
Europe the roots of this piety, such as that of the Celts,61 may g o
back to pre-Roman times. It may have been Artemis or Isis who
inspired the cult. In Tindari, Sicily, the Madonna
Nera is in a
59
M. R. Brown, "Black Madonna." Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Religion.
Washington, D.C.: Corpus Publications, 1979, vol. 1, p. 465; Bruguera, Justino, Montserrat. Barcelona: Editoril Planete, 1964. (a Spanish travelers guide
to the shrine o f Montserrat).
60
Song o f Songs 1.5; see the commentary by Marion H. P o p e , Song of
Songs. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Co., 1977.
6'
See Footnote 57.
214
church erected on the site o f a former sanctuary of Cybele. 6 2

Lyons, France, was also a city o f Cybele where a huge temple was
built in her honor, only to be replaced later by a Christian church
in which the black virgin is venerated; it is assumed to be the
replica o f an ancient image. 6 5 In Italy, M o n t e V e r g i n e
near
Naples was in Roman times a place of pilgrimage for worshippers

o f Cybele. H e r e again her sanctuary was transformed into a
church. Many stones from the pagan structure were used to build
the new one in which the Madonna
now
honored.64
Bruna
(brown M a d o n n a ) is
In Marseilles, which was formerly the Greek
colony of Massilia, the most popular goddess was Artemis, whom

the Phocaeans, founders of Massilia, brought from Ephesus. T h e
statue o f Artemis from Ephesus is black, and so is the Virgin
venerated in the Notre Dame de la Confession. 65 In Paris, a center
o f the worship of Isis, a black statue of Isis was actually venerated
as the Virgin until the sixteenth century. 66 T h e French
some-
times affectionately call Mary "la Bonne Mre," the g o o d mother,

which was the name o f an obscure Roman goddess, Bona Dea,
who was worshipped exclusively by women in secret nocturnal
c e r e m o n i e s . 6 7 It was probably that version of the Great Mother
which the Hungarians brought from Asia, and which, re-interpreted as Mary, is still included in the church calendar there
under its ancient name. T h e two feast days assigned to this celebration, called the "Greater" and "Lesser," 68 are the most popular
Marian holidays in Hungary. But regardless of place or origin, it
was the desire to worship the mother goddess that eventually
restored these images, in which people found expressed reverence
for the fertility o f the earth, for childbirth, and for the feminine
aspect o f God. T h e same idea was transplanted to the new world.
Soon after the conquest o f Mexico by Cortez, the native mother o f
62
See article "Tyndaros" in Pauly, op. cit. Zweite Reihe, vol. 4, pp. 17761796; on the Black Madonna, p. 1783.
63
Ean Begg, The Cult of the Black Virgin. L o n d o n : Arkana, 1985, pp. 58,
195.
64
Begg, op. cit. p. 244. Th. Trede, Das Heidentum in der rmischen Kirche.
Gotha: I.A. Perthes, 1889, II, 88-93.
65
Begg, op. cit. p. 197.
66
Begg, op. cit. p. 64-64; he also mentions the possible derivation of the
word Paris f r o m Par-Isis = "grove of Isis."
67
The Oxford Classical Dictionary, p. 172.
68
Nagy Boldog Asszony; Kis Boldog Asszony.
DOCTRINE
215
life in Guadelupe was replaced by the Virgin Mary. H e r image,

dark like that o f an Indian, is said to have been imprinted miraculously on the mantle of an Indian convert. 69
T h e r e are more than four hundred Black Madonnas all over
the world. N o t all of them are native creadons. Some of the most
famous are attributed to the workmanship o f St. Luke and are
believed to have been brought to Europe one way or another. T h e
Black Madonna o f Czestochowa was, according
to
tradition,
painted by St. Luke on a table made by Jesus and discovered by St.

Helena, Mother of Constantine. Other Madonnas also claim such
distinguished origins, and pious tradition keeps alive the faith that
many of them were brought back by the crusaders when they
returned from the Holy Land. Yet the origin of the cult of the
Black Virgin is shrouded in mystery. It began to flower during
the Middle Ages, but clearly it was there much before. Many
attempts were made to account for the origin o f the cult: it was
connected with medieval initiation rites, spiritual traditions, even
the Holy Grail and the Ark of the Covenant. Historical methods,
psychological techniques, even astrology have been used to explain the phenomenon. Yet the solution seems to be simple: the
Black Madonna is the ancient earth-goddess converted to Christianity. 7 0
Earth, however, is not only the source o f fertility and new life.
It is also an agent of death. Franz Altheim and Albrecht Dieterich
collected much material demonstrating that in Greek and Roman
religion the cult of the earth also included the cult o f the dead. 71
W e have seen above how often Greeks and Romans expressed the
idea that "everything comes from earth and everything returns to
it." This is ultimately what lies behind the saying of Paul, "What
you sow does not come to life unless it dies." 7 2 T e r r a
Mater
69
Marina Warner, Alone of All Her Sex. New York: A l f r e d A. Knopf,
1976, p. 302-303; Ena Campbell, " T h e Virgin o f Guadelupe and the Female
Self-Image: A Mexican Case History." in J. J. Preston, Mother Worship, pp. 524; Alan R. Sandstrom, "The Tonantsi Cult of the Eastern Nahua."J. J. Preston; op. cit. pp. 25-50; Begg, op. cit. pp. 247-248, and Marie Durand-Lefebvre,
Etude sur I'ongine des vierges noires. Paris: G. Durassie and Cie., 1937.
70
See the works by Huynen and Begg, quoted above. In addition to these
and the other works quoted above, there are many other publications dealing with the general topic and also with individual, local "Black Virgins."
71
See footnote 25.
72
1 Cor. 15.32.
216
controls the fate of seeds and of the dead; she is the great w o m b in
which seeds grow and in which the dead wait for the renewal o f
their life. In ancient Greece not only the harvested seeds were
placed in earthen jars, but also the bodies o f the dead. In many
ancient cults, rites for the dead and rites for fertility coincided. 7 5
For these are the two overwhelmingly important issues o f human
existence: birth and death, the beginning and the e n d o f life,
which the earth goddess unites in herself. She is i n d e e d the
"Great M o t h e r " and that is why the pious pray to the Madonna in
the "Hail Mary": "Holy Mary, Mother o f God, pray for us sinners
now and at the hour of our death. A m e n . "
C. THE QUEEN IS CROWNED
As Mary gradually became identified with the great goddesses of
the ancient Greco-Roman world, pious believers began to accord
to her the same honorary titles that were accorded to other
goddesses. A m o n g these the most exalted was that of " Q u e e n , " a
name by which Juno, Isis, and many others were called. Revelation 12 already presented Mary in a queenly role, and by the
time the Council of Ephesus met in 431, the people on the streets of
the city freely hailed her with the same titles with which they
previously had hailed their Artemis. Exegesis o f Genesis 3.15 also
pointed in this direction, for if Mary is so closely associated with
Christ in the work o f salvation, and if Christ is i n d e e d King, 7 4
then Mary could rightly be called Queen. Christian iconography,
as we have seen, adopted the theme of Isis and Horus in the representation o f Mary and Christ, thus further popularizing Mary's
queenship. N o r could the fact that so many Christian churches
were built on the sites of the sanctuaries of pagan goddesses fail to
make an impact on public piety. Mosaics of these churches bear
witness to the same popular belief: In the
S. Maria Maggiore (on
the site of Juno Lucina's temple) Mary is presented enthroned and

dressed in the robes of a Byzantine princess. This theme became
quite c o m m o n . In the S. Maria in Trastevere Mary and Christ sit
M. Eliade, Patterns ... pp. 345-358.

Rev. 17:14, "King of Kings and Lord of Lords," also 19:16. T h e tide o f
Jesus as " L o r d " applies here, too, because that name was associated with
supreme authority, e.g., Eph. 5:20; Col. 3:17; see also the use of the "name
which is above every name." Phil. 2:9.
73
74
217
next to each other on thrones, like king and queen. During the
Middle Ages and later, when the title " Q u e e n " was freely used in
reference to Mary, many o f her statues and paintings show her
with a crown on her head.
T h e "official" enthronement o f Mary, however, occurred only
in 1954, when the pope, Pius XII, issued his Encyclical Ad Coeli
Reginam ( T o the Queen o f Heaven), establishing a liturgical feast
in h o n o r of Mary. 75 W h i l e this is not a dogmatic constitution
defining Mary's queenship as a "revealed truth," it does sanction
the use o f the title, for encyclicals are papal letters to which the
people are expected to show respect and obedience. T h e letter
came as n o surprise to anyone because already a year before the
p o p e announced a "Marian year" to commemorate the one hundredth anniversary of the proclamation o f the d o g m a o f the
"Immaculate Conception." This encyclical, known as the Fulgens
Corona Gloriae , begins with these words: " T h e radiant crown o f
glory, with which the most pure brow o f the Virgin Mother was
encircled by God, seems to us to shine more brilliantly, as we
recall to mind the day...etc." 76 Thus, the pope made a clear reference not only to Revelation 12, but also to the widely held belief
in Mary's queenship. This pope, who was noted for his singular
devotion to Mary, also used the occasion of the promulgation o f
the dogma o f the bodily Assumption o f Mary to stress this point.
In this Bull he said:
" H e n c e the r e v e r e d M o t h e r o f G o d , f r o m all eternity j o i n e d in a
h i d d e n way with Jesus Christ in o n e a n d the same d e c r e e o f
p r e d e s t i n a t i o n , i m m a c u l a t e in her c o n c e p t i o n , a most p e r f e c t
virgin in her divine m o t h e r h o o d , the n o b l e associate o f the divine
R e d e e m e r w h o has w o n a c o m p l e t e t r i u m p h o v e r sin a n d its
consequences, was finally g r a n t e d , as the s u p r e m e culmination o f
her privileges .. that she m i g h t be taken up b o d y and soul to the
g l o r y o f heaven w h e r e , as Q u e e n , she sits in s p l e n d o r at the right
hand o f her Son, the immortal King o f the A g e s . " 7 7
In 1943, when the pope issued the encyclical Mystici Corporis, in

which he dealt extensively with the role of Mary in redemption,
he had already referred to her with these words: "... her body and
The official text is in the Acta Apostalicae Sedis 46 (1954) 625-640.
Acta Apostolicae Sedis 45 (1953) 590; ET: Dahony and Kelly, op. cit.
252-268.
77
Munificentissimus Deus. AAS 42 (1950) 768-769; ET Doheny and Kelly, op.
cit. p. 236.
75
76
218
soul refulgent with the glory o f heaven, where she reigns with
her Son ,.."78 It would take too much space to review all the honors
that Pius X I I paid to Mary. In various other pronouncements he
called her "Queen of the Family," "Queen o f Saints," "Queen o f
Mothers," and so forth, thus giving expression to a belief that was
widely held in the church at least since the Middle Ages.
With these pronouncements a development o f nearly two thousand years reached its climax: Mary has been
officially en-
throned as Queen of Heaven where she reigns jointly with Jesus.

In this book we have followed this line o f development. N o w we
will take a brief look at the actual content of this faith, for clearly
Mary is a Christian p h e n o m e n o n . While the evolutionary process started from paganism and developed through pagans converted to Christianity, it gradually shed all pagan associations.
H o w , then, does Christian theology explain, support, and justify
faith in the queenship o f Mary?
T o understand this point clearly we must know how the minds
o f Christians work when they talk about articles of faith. T h e basic
point is that nothing can be an object of faith that does not rest on
divine revelation. Divine revelation is found in the Bible, which
is The Word o f God; therefore, what is in the Bible ( O l d and New
Testaments)
is revealed truth. 79 So far most Christians would
agree, but at this point differences arise. Some, mostly those

whose roots g o back to the sixteenth-century Reformation, say that
the Bible contains the apostolic tradition which was closed when
the canon, i.e., the list o f authoritive books in the Bible, was
established. Others, mostly Roman Catholics, say that "... it is not
from sacred Scripture alone that the Church draws her certainty
about everything which has been revealed. Therefore, both sacred
tradition and sacred Scripture are to be accepted and venerated
with the same sense of devotion and reverence." 80 Scripture and
tradition, however, should not be considered two sources, but one,
because "both of them, flowing from the same divine wellspring,
AAS 35 (1943) 248.
I must omit any discussion of such questions as "verbal inspiration"
and related matters.
80
The Documents of Vatican II. W.l. Abbott, S.J., General Editor, New York:
T h e American Press, 1966, p. 117: Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation. Ch. II. 9. The statement reflects the position of the Council of Trent
(1546- 1563) that the church "pari pietatis affectu ac venerentia suscipit et
veneratur" both Scripture and Tradition. See Denzinger, op. cit. 1501.
78
79
DOCTRINE
219
in a certain way merge into a unity and tend toward the same
e n d . " 8 1 T h e Bible has a chronological primacy because it was
committed to writing before tradition began to develop. However,
when the apostles appointed bishops as their successors, they also
transmitted to them the teaching authority. Tradition, therefore,
means apostolic teaching as it "develops in the church with the
help of the Holy Spirit." 82 T h e difference between scripture and
tradition is merely the fact that one is contained in a book and the
other is transmitted without writing. 83 Thus, divine revelation is
contained in both written tradition and "living" tradition.
But this is not all. Scripture and tradition need to be interpreted
and the privilege of interpretation "has been entrusted exclusively
to the living teaching office of the church." 84 An object o f faith
must be supported by all three o f these elements, because, "...
sacred tradition, sacred scripture, and the teaching authority o f
the church, in accord with God's most wise design, are so linked
and j o i n e d together that one cannot stand without the others, and
that all together and each in its own way under the action of the
Holy Spirit contribute effectively to the salvation of souls." 85 T h e
teaching authority of the church is called the Magistenum and any
discussion o f a matter pertaining to an article o f faith, in our case,
the queenship o f Mary, must begin with an exploration of what
the Magistenum teaches; only after that can scripture and tradition
be examined. Pope Pius X I I laid down the following general rule:
the task of the theologian is "to show how that which is taught by
the living Magistenum is contained explicitly or implicidy in scripture and in divine tradition." 86 T h e starting point is, therefore, the
mind of the Magistenum, because compared with that scripture and
tradition are " r e m o t e " sources. 87 T h e teaching authority o f the
church culminates in the pope and since the pope is infallible
when he makes a solemn declaration in matters o f faith and
The Documents of Vatican II, p. 117.

Op cit. p. 116.
83
The Council of Trent is echoed here too, see Denzinger, 1501.
84
The Documents of Vatican II, pp. 117-118.
85
Op. cit. p. 118.
86
Encyclical Humani Generis, AAS 42 (1950) 568.
87
Cyril Vollert, " T h e Scientific Structure of Mariology." Carol, op. cit.
vol. 2, p. 12. T h e Magisterium, however, does not have to support its teachings
f r o m Scripture and Tradition, because "the actual unaminity of the teaching
church is a sufficient criterion." Vollert, loc. cit.
81
82
220
morals, he can declare an article o f faith to be dogma on his own

authority, i.e., motu proprio. This was the case with the promulgation o f the dogma o f Mary's bodily assumption into heaven. 8 8
Let us see how these principles are applied to the thesis o f Mary's
queenship.
T h e queenship of Mary is clearly a part o f the teaching o f the
Magisterium,
as the encyclicals Fulgens Corona and Ad Coeli Reginam
show. T h e earliest magisteral references g o back to the early

Middle Ages and then gradually become more frequent as popular devotion to Mary becomes more widespread. T h e process, as
we have seen, culminated under Pius X I I . This teaching is supported by reference to Scripture. T w o texts are especially quoted.
O n e is Genesis 3:15, "I will put enmity between you and the
woman ..." H e r e the prophecy, called protoevangelium, foretells
the crushing o f the serpent's head. Mary was so closely associated
with this conquest that she is said to be truly foreshadowed in this
text as queen. T h e other text is Revelation 12. This, as we have
seen, has long been explained in a Marian sense. This is now the
official exegesis of the church, since P o p e Pius X
declared:
"Everyone knows that this woman signified the Virgin Mary..." 89

Mary is depicted in this text in a royal robe and with a royal
crown, a clear reference to her queenship. A further biblical text
quoted in this context is Luke l:2&-38. In this story of the annunciation, interpreters stress the fact that Mary responded to the angel,
"Let it be to me according to your word." With this statement,
they argue, she actively cooperated in the work o f salvation because her answer constitutes an active consent to the conception o f
Jesus. Without her Fiat ("let it b e " ) , conception could not have
taken place; by giving her consent, Mary became
intimately
associated with Jesus, his redeeming work, and his kingly rule.
Ancillary texts which are given a Marian interpretation include:
Psalm 45, which is considered a "messianic" psalm, verse 9: "At
your hand stands the queen." 1 Kings 2:19: Solomon "had a seat
88
Ineffabilis Deus (1854) was the Bull which declared the doctrine o f
papal infallibility, and Munifecentissiumus Deus (1950) was the Bull in which
Pius X I I promulgated the dogma o f Mary's bodily assumption "by the
authority o f our Lord Jesus Chirst, of the blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and
by our own authority." Doheny and Kelly, op. cit. p. 239.
89
Ad diem Ilium. Doheny and Kelly, p. 146. Since then, this interpretation is routinely used in papal documents.
DOCTRINE
221
brought for the king's mother; and she sat on his right." Esther
2:17: "The king loved Esther ... and ... he set the royal crown on
her head and made her queen ,.."90 Luke 1:39-56: Elizabeth greeted
Mary with the title, " T h e mother of my L o r d . " Matthew 2:1-12,
where the magis are thought to give royal honors to Mary. T h e
scholars who quote these texts, however, know that only in retrospect, i.e., only when the queenship of Mary is already known,
do they yield this interpretation.
Tradition
can be ascertained f r o m the works o f the church
fathers and other ecclesiastical authors and from the liturgy, the
official form o f public worship in which the church gives expression to what it believes. Neither o f these goes back much beyond
the Middle Ages as far as the queenship of Mary is concerned,
which means only that this truth, which was implicitly
the apostolic deposit o f faith, became explicit
always in
gradually. Thus,
magisterium, scripture, and tradition are all utilized to support the

thesis, which thus can be viewed as a truth revealed by God. 91
What is the function o f Mary in her capacity as queen? T h e
Greek and Roman goddesses were in charge o f all female functions, presiding over marriage, childbirth, and similar issues. But
what is Mary doing as a queen and what is the extent o f her
authority? In popular piety simple believers still turn to her with
the same problems our pagan ancestors brought to their goddesses,
and it is a common homiletic device, even among Protestants, to
refer to Mary as the paragon of wife and mother. Officially,
however, her queenship has not yet been completely defined and
scholars
still
disagree
among
themselves
concerning
some
issues. Everybody seems to agree that the kingdom of Mary is the

kingdom o f Jesus Christ and that she jointly rules with him.
Authority is not divided between them because they rule in
complete agreement and unity. Mary is not vice-regent, so to
speak, neither does she have independent spheres o f influence.
She is so closely united with Christ that the two act as one. It is
conceivable, therefore, that a definition of Mary's rule with Christ
See also Esther 5.3.

O n c e again we must r e m e m b e r that n o such
promulgated.For the understanding of this problem I
documents and the massive Mariologies of Roschini,
Soll. I d o not know o f any Protestant work dealing
issue.
90
91
dogma has yet been

have used the papal
Scheeben, Carol and
specifically with this
222
may eventually conclude that in this association the words o f

Paul receive their fulfillment, "there is neither male nor fem a l e " ; 9 2 masculine and feminine are reunited in the image of
the Godhead. T h e kingdom of Christ is a spiritual kingdom, the
unique nature of which is the salvation o f mankind. T h e rulers'
function is directed toward this end and they exercise it in full
harmony with grace and mercy.
T h r e e conclusions can be made f r o m this view o f
Mary's
unique associadon with Jesus: First, she has a share in the work o f
redemption which Christ accomplished. This means that Mary is
Co-redemptnx with Jesus, who is the Redeemer. Secondly, Mary is
a Mediatrix
between mankind and Jesus, and thirdly, she is the
Dispensatrix of all graces. These are not offical articles o f faith but
theses, which are very often used by Mariologists when they try
to define Mary's role in the economy o f salvation. O f these three,
the Co-redemptrix role of Mary has been almost fully developed by
theologians and under favorable conditions it could be defined as
a dogma by the magistenum. T h e same principles that were used in
the definition o f the "immaculate conception" could apply in this
case, too: the magisterium
unanimously agrees with it; scripture
and tradition do not oppose it; the belief is universal among the
faithful; and it is a fitting doctrine. 93 T h e first pope to refer to Mary
with this title in an encyclical was L e o X I I I in 1894. After him
many others used it and now it is a c o m m o n designation
of
Mary. 9 4 T h e biblical arguments in this case, too, rest upon the

interpretation o f Genesis 3:15 and Luke 1:38: Mary cooperated
with Jesus in the work of redemption by assenting to be impregnated by the Holy Spirit of God. In the words o f a famous Dutch
scholar:
Gal. 3.28; see also Mt. 12.25.

Again, I must refer the reader to the Mariologies listed above. A
Protestant work critical of this thesis and gravely concerned about the possibility that it may be the next doctrine to be defined is Roland H. Seboldt,
Christ or Mary ? The Coredemption Role of Mary in Contemporary Roman Catholic
Theology. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1963. Also, Cornelius A. de
Ridder, Maria als Miterlserin. Gttingen: V a n d e r h o e k , 1965. Critical is
Miegge, op. dt. pp. 155-177.
94
L e o XIII: Iucunda Semper (1894); Pius X: Ad diem Ilium (1904); Benedict
X V : Inter Sodalida (1918); Pius XII: Munificentissimus Deus (1950) and Fulgens
Corona Gloriae (1953) referred to the work o f redemption as "common to the
Blessed Virgin and her Divine Son."
92
93
223
Mary is "the r e c e i v i n g and co-operating p r i n c i p l e o f our r e d e m p tion. By this we m e a n , in the first place, that M a r y was, in her
active c o n c e p t i o n and receptivity, the c o - o p e r a t i n g p r i n c i p l e in
'objective r e d e m p t i o n , ' in that she was personally i n v o l v e d in the
objective reality o f our r e d e m p t i o n in the man Jesus, and shared in
the objective fact o f the state o f r e d e m p t i o n o f the w h o l e o f m a n kind b r o u g h t about in principle in Christ."95
Mary as "the receiving and cooperating principle" is as subtle

and beautiful a definition as any pagan could have given of the
nature of the divine female: it recalls the idea o f Terra Mater, Caelestis, and all other goddesses, who in their own way expressed
the same idea, namely that life is the result of an active cooperation between male and female. T h e Co- redemptrix idea, which is a
horrendous thought to many Protestants, 96 could be the basis of a
new definition o f the concept o f God in which womanhood will
receive its equal share.
Mediatrix and Dispensatrix of all Graces are expressions of Mary's
queenly function. T h e first means that the prayers and requests o f
the faithful go to Jesus through Mary and because o f her mediation will receive a favorable response. According to the second, all
g o o d things and spiritual blessings that come to human beings
are dispensed by Mary. These titles are outgrowths of Mary's role
as Co-redemptrix
and are supported by the same arguments that
were used to support that thesis. Generally, the same popes who
favored Mary's role as Co-redemptrix also promoted her as Mediatrix and Dispensatrix of all Graces. A few examples will suffice. Pope
L e o X I I I made this statement: "As no man goes to the Father but
by the Son, so no one goes to Christ except through his Mother." 9 7
She is, therefore, "Mediatrix to the Mediator." 98 Pius IX: "God has
committed to Mary the treasury of all g o o d things, in order that
everyone may know that through her we obtained every hope,
every grace, and all salvation. For this is his will, that we obtain
95
E. Schillebeeckx, Mary Mother of Redemption. New York: Sheed and
Ward, 1964, pp. 85, 87.
96
They use Acts 4:12: "There is salvation in no one else, for there is no
other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."
and 1 Timothy 2:5: "For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." as biblical counter arguments.
97
Octobri Mense (1891), Doheny and Kelly, p. 56.
98
L e o XIII, Fidentem Piumque (1896), op. at. p. 117. See also Adiutricem
Populi (1895), op. at. p. 103.
224
everything through Mary." 99 T h e quotes could be multiplied but

the thrust o f the argument is clear. It has been pointed out many
times that these theses rest on an uncertain foundation, namely
on the incorrect Latin translation of Genesis 3:15 in the Vulgate,
which reads, "... she shall bruise your head ..." T h e Hebrew text,
and all modern translations, have the masculine gender, "... he
shall bruise your head..." So in several Marian treatises it is stated,
"Her foot has crushed the head of Satan," 100 while it should read
"His f o o t ..." However, Mary belongs to the Adam-Christ, EveMary parallelism even without this error. M o r e significant is the
fact that in the use of these titles there is a subtle shift o f the
enlightening and mediating role o f the Holy Spirit, which is
silently being assigned to Mary. Consciously or unconsciously,
Marian theology is moving toward a significant reinterpretation
o f the original Christian concept of the Godhead as consisting o f
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. T h e role of the Holy Spirit will be
taken over by Mary, as is shown in a painting located in the
Vatican's Galleria Pia. Mary is depicted here between G o d the
Father and Jesus Christ; all three have the same height and appear
to be equal. This is the image o f the new Trinity in which the
feminine has regained its proper place. 101
T h e queenship of Mary has been c o n f i r m e d by the Vatican
Council II in the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church. H e r e it is stated
that, "She was exalted by the Lord as Queen o f All, in order that
she might be the more thoroughly c o n f o r m e d to her Son ,.." 102
However, this statement appears as a chapter in the larger Constitution on the Church. That the theme was not given independent
treatment was understood by many as an attempt to tone down
"fruitless and passing emotion ..." and "vain credulity," i.e., excessive
Marian
piety. 1 0 3 If this indeed was the desire o f the
council fathers, their success was partial. While no new doctrines

on Mary were defined, popular piety is as strong as ever; new
apparitions o f the Virgin are reported periodically, such as the
Ubi Primum (1849), op. cit. p. 3.
bt Primum, toc. cit. For a brief review see Marina Warner, op. cit. pp.
245-246.
101
I have not seen this picture personally and rely on the description o f
T r e d e , op. t. II. 341. My efforts to obtain pictures o f art work from Italy were
very frustrating and unsuccessful.
102
Documents of Vatican II, p. 90.
103
Documents of Vatican II, p. 95.
99
100
DOCTRINE
225
recent one in M e d j u g o r j e in the former southern Yugoslavia. 104

T h e presently reigning pope, John Paul II, is devoted to the patron
o f Poland, the Black Virgin o f Czestochowa. In June 1979, he
visited this image, prayed before it, and delivered a moving message to "all God's people throughout the world who are particularly aware of the presence of Our Lady o f Jasna Gora." 1 0 5 For the
occasion the image was dressed as a queen, with a crown bearing
magnificent jewels, and a robe also richly bejeweled. T h e baby
Jesus on her arm is similarly attired. 106 T h e crown is, of course, a
symbol of queenly dignity. Since earliest Christian times, countless images have depicted Mary like that, and it is a particularly
favorite popular feast when a local statue of the Virgin is crowned.
T h e processions and ceremonies surrounding such crownings
are strongly reminiscent of ancient processions honoring statues
o f goddesses, such as Athene, with a new peplos,107 T h e abundance of gold and jewelry that constantly surrounds the image in
Czestochowa is breathtaking and would put to shame Lacinian
Juno or Caelestis in Carthage. 108 This seems to be the way devoted
followers of the goddess, from pagan to modern times, can best
express their love for the one they sense to be alive behind her
material likeness. A queen, after all, must have wealth. 109
104
Other modern apparations include one in Bayside, N.Y. in 1970, one
in Necedah, Wisconsin in 1950, another in Zeitoun, Egypt, between 19681971 which was supposedly witnessed by many thousands. T h e list is very
long, few of these, however, received ecclesiastical approval.
105
Devotion to Our Lady of Czestochowa. By the Daughters of St. Paul, St.
Paul Editions. N o place or date given.
106
T h e Black Virgin of Czestochowa (or Jasna Gora, which is the name
o f the monastery in the village of Czestochowa) is a painting and not a
statue. Therefore, to dress the image flat pieces of decorations were prepared
with holes for the heads and hands of Mary and Jesus. Thus the decoration
can be simply superimposed over the painting to give it the impression of a
d i f f e r e n t dress. T h e Black Virgin of Czestochow has several dresses. O n e
shows her with a solid gold halo around her head, another one bedecked
with diamonds, one with pearls, one with rubies and, o f course, o n e with
crown. See Zbigniew Bania and Stanislaw Kobielus, Jasna Gora. Warsaw:
Instytut Wydawniczy Pax, 1983. In Polish, with English summary. T h i s
book has very g o o d color pictures showing among others details o f the
jewelry and votive offerings of the faithful.
107 T r e d e described several o f these from southern Italy, op. dt. I. 104; II.
345-358, 395; III. 154; IV. 245-250.
108
See Chapter 2.
109
Many images of the virgin possess great treasuries which prompted
M. Warner, op. dt. p. 117, to comment: "It would be difficult to concoct a
greater perversion of the Sermon on the Mount than the sovereignity o f
226
The
queen reigns again. In a recent encyclical
the
pope
solemnly announced a "Marian Year," a year-long celebradon of

Mary. T h e encyclical, called Redemptoris
Mater,110
starts out by
a f f i r m i n g Mary's "precise place in the plan o f salvation" but

stresses especially the mysterious relationship between Mary and
the church. It reviews all the biblical passages to which Marian
interpretations are given, from Genesis 3 to Revelation 12, and
reiterates the Marian doctrines and theses, her divine motherhood, her role as mediatrix, and others. Considering next the postapostolic period, it, interestingly, emphasizes that Mary did not
receive an apostolic mission on the day of Pentecost. 111 Church
councils, liturgical texts, and ecclesiastical authors are quoted in
this letter, which is really a Mariology in a nutshell, drawing on
all the well-known arguments and interpretations that support the
privileges o f Mary. Noteworthy in this letter, however, is a
renewed emphasis upon what the pope calls "the Marian dimension o f the life o f Christ's disciples." A passage from this section
deserves to be more fully quoted: 112
T h i s M a r i a n d i m e n s i o n o f Christian life takes o n special i m p o r tance in relation to w o m e n and their status. In fact, f e m i n i n i t y has
a unique relationship with the M o t h e r o f the R e d e e m e r , a subject
which can b e studied in greater depth e l s e w h e r e . H e r e I simply
wish to n o t e that the f i g u r e o f Mary o f N a z a r e t h sheds light o n
w o m a n h o o d as such by the very fact hat G o d , in the s u b l i m e
e v e n t o f the I n c a r n a t i o n o f his Son, e n t r u s t e d h i m s e l f to the
ministry o f a w o m a n . It can thus b e said that w o m e n , by l o o k i n g
Mary and its cult ... and equally difficult to imagine a greater distortion of
Christ's idealism than this identification of the rich and powerful with the
g o o d . " This is certainly true, but if the learned author had placed the
overflowing generosity of the faithful within the context of Mark 14.3-9, her
j u d g m e n t may have been milder. Jesus, the author of the Sermon on the
Mountain, rebuked those who called it a waste when a woman poured very
expensive ointment on his head.
110
March 25, 1987. I used the English translation prepared by the O f f i c e
of Publishing and Promotion Services of the U.S. Catholic Conference. T h e
Marian Year was to begin June 7, 1987. The last Marian Year was ordered
by Pius XII in 1954 .
111
See op. cit. p. 57. This is an argument against the ordination of
women as priests. The same position was reiterated by the pope in the letter
Mulieris Dignitatem, issued in September 1988. In this "meditation" once
again, the pope holds up Mary as a model for women but does not grant
them the privilege of priestly service. According to this letter, a second,
more detailed analysis of the role of women in the church and society will
be issued later.
112
Op. cit. p. 101.
227
to Mary, find in her the secret o f l i v i n g t h e i r f e m i n i n i t y with

dignity and o f achieving their own true advancement. In the l i g h t
o f Mary, the C h u r c h sees in the f a c e o f w o m e n the r e f l e c t i o n o f a
beauty which mirrors the loftiest sentiments o f which the h u m a n
heart is capable: the self-offering totality o f love; the strength that is
capable o f b e a r i n g the greatest sorrows; limitless fidelity a n d
tireless d e v o t i o n to work; the ability to c o m b i n e p e n e t r a t i n g intuition with words o f support and e n c o u r a g e m e n t .
A pagan who felt the need to explain why there were goddesses could have written this statement with very little change.
For indeed, life does have a feminine dimension, indeed a goddess "sheds light on womanhood as such," and indeed, it is in the
goddess that women find "the secret of living their femininity
with dignity ..." Even with respect to G o d the "ministry o f
w o m e n " is indispensable, for femininity is part o f the cosmic
order. A n d had this imaginary pagan theologian been asked
why the statues of the goddesses look so beautiful and dignified,
he/she could have answered: Because we see "in the face o f
woman the reflection of a beauty which mirrors the loftiest sentiments of which the human heart is capable ..."
T h e elevation o f Mary to queen of heaven completes a long
process of clarifying her role in salvation history. Nothing more
can be added to her honors. Still unclear, however, is a definition
o f her image as the feminine aspect of the divine. How this will
c o m e about is at present uncertain. I would suggest that in the
future greater emphasis will be placed upon the role o f the Holy
Spirit in the life of the church. Since the Spirit is often identified
with Wisdom, with Sophia or Sapientia, this will invite greater
concentration on the feminine aspect o f the Godhead. Leonardo
Boff, a Roman Catholic scholar, provided the most perceptive
analysis in this area o f M a r i o l o g y . ' H e stated his view as
follows:
W e maintain the hypothesis that the V i r g i n Mary, M o t h e r o f G o d
and o f all m e n and w o m e n , realizes the f e m i n i n e absolutely a n d
eschatologically, inasmuch as the H o l y Spirit has m a d e her his
t e m p l e , sanctuary and tabernacle in so real and g e n u i n e a way
that she is to be r e g a r d e d as hypostatically u n i t e d to the T h i r d
Person o f the Blessed Trinity, (p. 93)
113
Leonardo Boff, The Maternal Face of God. The Feminine and Its Religious
Expressions. San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1987.
228
"Hypostatic" means absolutely real union. T h e Greek word

is used in philosophy almost like the word =
substance. In Christian theology this expression was used first in
Trinitarian discussions to describe the relationships o f the three
divine persons, and later in Christological debates to discuss the
human and divine natures in Christ. 114 By adopting this technical
term, B o f f affirms the divinity of Mary: "Mary's union with the
divinity is o f a hypostatic order." (p. 96). She was united with the
Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, because she received
not only "the effects of the Holy Spirit's intervention in her life ...
but ... specifically received the very person and godhead o f the
Third Person of the Holy Trinity." (p. 97) Thus B o f f sees in Mary
the "divinization o f the f e m a l e " as the male was divinized in
Jesus, arguing that: "... it was fitting that God divinize the feminine,
because of the equal dignity o f masculine and feminine, both o f
which have the same mission ... therefore, G o d did so assume the
feminine,
directly,
and
the
masculine,
indirectly,
in
Mary.
Potuit, Decuit, Ergo Fecit! G o d could, it was fitting that he should,

and so he did." (p. 95)
T h e expression "Potuit, Decuit, Ergo Fecit" as a theological argument can be traced back to William o f Ware (second half o f the
thirteenth century) but is generally attributed to Duns Scotus (died
ca.1308) who used similar logic to promote the thesis o f Mary's
immaculate conception. Thus in B o f f s theology Mary is part o f
the Trinity, but does not make it into a "Quaternity" as Jung
proposed 1 1 5 because she is identical with the Holy Spirit. Indeed, to
expand the trinitarian view o f God into a "quaternity" by adding
Mary to it would be disastrous for Christianity. On the other hand,
to re-emphasize the role of the Holy Spirit in feminine terms
would be, to paraphrase St. Bernard of Clairvaux, quite consistent
with "Scripture, tradition and common sense." 116
See H. Ringgren, "Hypostasen" RGG 3 3.504-506.

See BofFs discussion of Jung, pp. 227-241, esp. pp. 239-240.
116
Bernard (died 1153) argued against the Immaculate Conception with
the words that it was a novelty " o f which the rites o f the church knew
nothing, that reason does not approve, and ancient tradition does not rec o m m e n d . " Epistola 174 (172) and Canones Lugdunenses. Most of this letter was
translated in Miegge, op. cit. p. 110.
114
115
C H A P T E R SEVEN
MARY A N D T H E HISTORY OF SALVATION

H o w did the first Chrisdan theologians deal with the question of
the f e m i n i n e aspect of the divine? T h e fact that the N e w Testament all but ignores the Mother of God suggests that its authors
avoided the term, probably because o f its pagan connotations.
However, the early identification of the "woman clothed with the
sun" (Rev. 12) with the church led to further explorations of the
similarity between the church and Mary and the parallelism
between Eve and Mary. Just as the last book of the Bible, dealing
with the final consummation, begs for comparison with the first,
which deals with the beginnings, so the woman of Revelation 12
begs f o r comparison with the first woman, Eve. W e shall investigate how Chrisdan thinkers dealt with this theme and, in the
second part o f this chapter, sketch the process and the theological
discussions that led finally to the establishment o f the term
"Mary, Mother o f G o d . "
A. EVE, MARY AND THE CHURCH
Thinking
of
the church
as f e m i n i n e has a l o n g
history
in
Christian tradition. T h e first written evidence goes back to the

time of the Apostolic Fathers, that is, the group of writings which
chronologically follow the books o f the New Testament. In his
treatise called The Shepherd, Hermas (around 150 A D ) describes an
e x p e r i e n c e as he walked one day toward Cumae: an o l d lady
appeared to him and gave him a book to copy. At first, he believed
the old woman was the Sibyl since it was in Cumae that the
famous oracle of the Sibyl was located. 1 Later, however, it was
1
Cumae, or Cuma today, was founded around 750 B.C. by Greek colonizers f r o m Chalcis. Its favorable location near Napeles on the coast made it a
desirable place to visit and many country villas were erected nearby. T h e
Cumaean Sybil was always thought of as a very old woman. L e g e n d had it
that she lived for a thousand years and eventually shriveled up so that she
just floated in her cave as a whisper. A g o o d example o f contemporary beliefs
about the Cumaean Sibyl and her manner of prophesying is the description
by Virgil in the sixth book of the Aeneid. According to tradition preserved by
230
MARY AND THE HISTORY OF S A L V A T I O N
revealed to him that she was the church, old because she is the
first o f creation and "it was because of her that the world was
f o r m e d . " 2 So great was his respect for the Sibyl that Hermas did
not hesitate to refer to her to convey a Christian message. 3 Moreover, he gave the church cosmic attributes comparable to those
with which the woman in Revelation
12 is described. As the
"woman clothed with the sun" reflects back upon Eve in Genesis,
so the "church" of Hermas reaches back to the very beginning of
creation. 4
Dionysius of Halicarnassus 4.62.1-6; Pliny, Naturalis Histona 13.88, and

others, she sold her prophecies to Tarquinius Priscus (fifth king of Rome,
616-579 B.C.). This collection was put under the care of the
Quindecemviri
Saaris Faciundis, a priestly college which alone could consult the books at the
order of the Senate. These books burned in a fire in 83 B.C. and were
replaced with a new collection. Such was the authority o f the oracles that
Christians began to imitate them and interpolate the original ones with
Christian themes. This gave rise to the Christian Sibyllines which were
often highly regarded by the church fathers. T h e Sibylline oracles were last
consulted in 363 (Ammianus Marcellinus 23.1.7) and then the whole collection was destroyed under Stilicho, the ruler of the Western Empire from
395 to 408 under the emperior Honorius. See Dionysius of Halicarnassus, The
Roman Antiquities 4.62.1-6. T h e L o e b Lassical Library. Cambridge, Mass.,
Harvard U. Press, 1953, pp. 465-469 (Editor: Earnest Cary.); Pliny, Naturalis
Historia 13.27.88. T h e Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard U.
Press, 1960, p. 151 (Editor: H. Rackham); Ammianus Marcellinus, History
23.1.7. T h e L o e b Classical Library. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard U. Press,
1950, p. 315 (Editor: John C. Rolfe) and others. For a good Bibliography see
Edgar Hennecke, New Testament Apocrypha. Edited by Wilhelm Schneemelcher, English translation edited by R. McL. Wilson. Vol. 2. Philadelphia;
T h e Westminster Press, 1964, p. 703.
2
Visions 1.1.3; 2.1.1-4; 2.4.1-3; 3.1.1 if.
3
H e was not alone in this attitude toward the Sibyl. About the same time
the following Christian apologists also made references to the Sibyl: Justin
Martyr, Apologia 1.20.1; 1.44.12; Tatian, Oratio 4.1.1; Athenagoras Supplicatio
30.1. Respect for the Sibyl never declined in the early church but rather
grew, no doubt due to the influence of Virgil's Fourth Eclogue. This exalted
poem, composed in 40 B.C., begins with a reference to the "last age of the
Cumaean song" and then foretells the birth of a boy who will establish the
golden age. T h e poem was early interpreted by Christians as a pagan prophecy of the birth of Christ. St. Augustine (354-430) referred to the Sibyl and
the Fourth Eclogue numerous times and through him the respectability and
popularity of the Sibyl was established all through the Middle Ages. For a
detailed discussion and complete Bibliography, see Stephen Benko, "Virgil's Fourth Eclogue in Christian Interpretation." Aufstieg und Niedergang der
rmischen Welt. Ed. by Hildegard Temporini and Wolfgang Haase. Berlin,
New York: Walter de Gruyter, 1980. 11/31. pp. 646-705.
4
For commentary see Martin Dibelius, Der Hirt des Hermas. Tbingen: J.
C. B. Mohr (Paul Siebeck), 1923, p. 452. The statement of Hermas about the
prominence of the church is similar to that voiced by the apostle Paul in
231 M A R Y A N D T H E H I S T O R Y OF S A L V A T I O N
A short time after Hermas composed the Shepherd, an anonymous sermon,
now
called
The Second Letter of Clement, also
affirmed the pre-existence of the church: the original, spiritual

church was created before the sun and the moon; it "existed from
the beginning." 5 With a reference to Genesis 1.27, ( " G o d made
man male and female") the author continues: "the male is Christ,
the female is the Church." In addition to calling the church
female, the sermon also suggests (but does not expressly state) the
spiritual motherhood of the church. Isaiah 54.1 (Gal. 4.27), "Sing,
barren one who did not bear ..." is said to refer to Christians, "for
our Church was barren before children were given to her." (2.1) 6
T h e great bishop of Lyon, Irenaeus (c.130-202) came close to
identifying Mary with the church when he wrote in
Adversus
Haereses, "And Mary, exulting because of this, cried out, prophesying on behalf of the Church, 'My soul doth magnify the
Lord..."' 7 H e did not elaborate on this statement and thus we cannot draw further conclusions from it. While the sentence may
simply mean that Mary spoke as an agent or spokesperson o f the
church, it seems certain, at least, that Irenaeus, too, thought of the
church as female and as the mother o f Christians. "It behooves
us," he wrote, 8 " ... to flee to the Church, and be brought up in her
bosom, and be nourished with the Lord's Scriptures." T h e image
o f a mother suckling her children is also used by Clement o f
Alexandria (died before 215) in his encomium to the church: " O
mystic marvel! T h e universal Father is one, and one the universal W o r d : and the Holy Spirit is one and the same everywhere,
and one is the only virgin mother. I love to call her the Church ...
She is once virgin and mother pure as a virgin, loving as a
mother. A n d calling her children to her, she nurses them with
holy milk, viz. with the W o r d for childhood." 9 These hesitating
Eph. 3.9-11 where the church is presented with these words: " ... that
through the church the manifold wisdom o f G o d might now be made
known to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places. This was
according to the eternal purpose which he has realized in Christ Jesus our
L o r d ..."
5
14.1-2.
6
2. Clement 2.1. An English translation of both The Shepherd o f Hermas
and The Second Letter of Clement is available in Cyril C. Richardson, Early
Christian Fathers. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1953.
7
3.10.2, ANF 1.424.
8
Adv. haer. 5.20.2. ET: ANF 1.548.
9
Paedagogus 1.6. GCS 12.115; ET.: ANF s.220. See also Paedagogus 1.5: "the
232
M A R Y A N D T H E H I S T O R Y OF S A L V A T I O N
and probing allusions of the fathers finally led to the definite, n o

uncertain statement of Tertullian (c. 160-c.220): "Domina mater
ecclesia." 1 0 Tertullian, with the clear and precise mind o f a lawyer (which was probably his profession), liked to call things by
their name. H e came to the conclusion that the presence o f a
"Father" and a "Son" require the reality of a "Mother." W h e n in
the L o r d ' s Prayer we say "Our Father," we include the Son,
because the Father and the Son are one. 11 "Nor is even our mother
the Church passed by, if, that is, in the Father and the Son is
recognized the mother, f r o m whom arises the name both o f
Father and of Son." 1 2 H e told new church members that the
church where they were baptized and where they pray is "the
house o f your mother." 1 3 In discussing the salutary effects o f
sleep, Tertullian used the example of Adam, "the fountain o f the
human race." Adam was made to sleep by G o d and during this
sleep G o d f o r m e d Eve. 14 Now, sleep is an image o f death, and
since Adam was a figure of Christ, the sleep of Adam prefigured
the death of Christ. Just as from the side of Adam Eve was formed,
so from the wounded side of Jesus the church, "the true mother o f
all living," arose. 15
Tertullian's definition o f the m o t h e r h o o d o f the church was
m o t h e r draws the children to herself; and we seek our m o t h e r the
Church." ANF 2.214; ibid. 3.12: "Let us complete the fair face of the Church;
and let us run as children to our g o o d mother." ANF s.295.
10
Ad martyras 1: "Blessed martyrs d e s i g n a t e , a l o n g with the provisions
which our lady mother the Churcn f r o m her bountiful breasts, and each
brother out o f his private means, makes for your bodily wants in prison,
accept also from me some contribution to your spiritual sustenance ..." ANF
3.693.
11 John 10.30.
12
De oratione 2, ANF 3.682.
13
De baptismo 20; ANF 3.679.
14
Gen. 2.21-22.
15
De anima 43; ANF 3.222. T h e Latin text is more c o m p l e x : "Si enim
A d a m de Christo figuram dabat, somnus Adae mors erat Christi dormituri
in mortem, ut de injuria perinde lateris ejus vera mater viventium figuraretur Ecclesia." MPL 2.723. Tertullian is thinking here of Gen. 3.20: "The man
called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother o f all living." This
is based on the assumption that the word "Eve" is derived f r o m the H e b r e w
r o o t Ch-Y- H=life, alive, living. In this case Tertullian's parallelism is correct: f r o m Eve was born mankind in a physical way, f r o m the Church the
new creation o f God. This would be the "feminist" side o f the Adam-Christ
theology that Paul developed in Romans 5. T h e r e is also a brief reference
to "the m o t h e r " whom the sinners invoke in De pudicitia 5, ANF 4.78; here
again the Church is meant.
universally accepted. His pupil and follower, Cyprian (c. 200/10258), could say without hesitation: "Habere non potest deum patrem
qui ecclesiam non habet matrem. " ( H e cannot have G o d as father who
does not have the Church as m o t h e r . ) 1 6 T o fully appreciate
Cyprian's categorical statement we must remember that the unity
o f the church was an overriding concern f o r him. Faced with
severe persecutions, many Christians were denying their faith
(these were called the lapsi), faced also with the schismatic movements o f Novatus in Carthage and Novatianus in Rome, Cyprian
stressed that to be a Christian means to be in the church, 1 7 a
statement which he subsequently amplified to the famous sentence: O u t s i d e the Church there is no salvation!" 18 T h e image o f
the mother 1 9 served Cyprian's intentions well: as the mother
holds a family together, so the church holds together the family
of God.
T h e parallelism Adam-Christ/Eve-Church used by Tertullian
returned in the theology of Methodius (died 311). As Adam was
the husband of Eve, so Christ, the Word, came down to be j o i n e d
to his wife, the church. H e cleansed the church for the receiving
o f his spiritual seed which he implants in the mind. 2 0 T h e r e
conception takes place "by the church as by a woman," resulting
in birth. In this way the command given to the first man and
woman, "increase and multiply," 2 1 is fulfilled by the church increasing daily "in greatness, beauty and multitude." In a somewhat obscure way Methodius also applied Genesis 2.18; i.e., the
statement that Eve is a helper of Adam, to the church and Jesus:
the more perfect believers are the church and helpmate of Christ;
to him they are betrothed and given in marriage as a virgin; 2 2
they receive the "pure and genuine seed of his doctrine" and
cooperate with him in preaching salvation. 23 Methodius applies
De unitate ecclesiae 6, CSEL 3. 1.214; ANF 5.423.
"Christianus non est qui in Christi ecclesia non est, " Epistula 55.24.
18
"Salus extra ecclesiam non est. " Ep. 73.21.
19
It occurs more than thirty times in his writings, according to Johannes Quasten, Patrology . Utrecht/Antwerp: Spectrum, 1953, vol. 2, p. 374. It is
interesting that around the same time in Rome Hippolytus (died 235) never
used the word " M o t h e r " with reference to the Church, in spite of his exegesis of Apoc.12.1-6.
20
Eph. 5.31; 5.25-27.
21
Gen. 1.28.
22
2 Cor. 11.2.
23
Symposium or The Banquet of the Ten Virgins 3.8; ANF 319-320.
16
17
234
the image of the sexual relationship o f Adam and Eve f o r the

purpose o f producing children to the reladon o f Christ and the
church. However, while the seed o f A d a m was material
and
impregnated Eve who thus gave birth to humankind, the seed o f

Christ is the W o r d which impregnates the mind and so produces
new Chrisdans. This same line of thought was repeated by Zeno,
bishop o f Verona (362-372), in one of his sermons: the devil had
corrupted Eve by the ear, 24 so when Christ entered into Mary by
the ear 25 and was born of the virgin he cured "the wound of the
woman;" thus "Adam per Christum, Eva per Ecclesiam renovaretur. "
(Adam
should be renewed through Christ, Eve through
church.)26
the
Methodius and Z e n o saw the m o t h e r h o o d o f the
church in the fact that it was the renewed Eve, the spouse of
Christ, w h o is the second Adam. Yet Zeno's conclusion is surprising: if Christ entered into Mary, why is not Mary the spiritual
mother? What then is the relationship between Mary and the
church?
T h e bishop of Milan, Ambrose (333/4?-397), o f f e r e d an answer
to this question by declaring that Mary is "the type of the Church"
= Ecclesiae typos.2"7 T h e church is immaculate yet married, so is
Mary. T h e virgin church conceives Christians by the Spirit and
bears them without pain. Mary is married to Joseph but filled with
another, 2 8 so the individual churches are j o i n e d to a priest but are
filled with the Holy Spirit. Ambrose was the first to define this
relationship between Mary and the church and he mentioned it
often, as in his reference to the words of Jesus from the cross:
when Christ said: "Behold your mother!" he then said to the
church: "Behold your son!" 29 Ambrose, who spoke of Mary in the
most exalted terms, transmitted this devotion to his spiritual son,
Augustine (354-430). N o wonder, therefore, that the motherhood
o f the church as exemplified in Mary is also a part of Augustine's
24
25
26
27
28
Gen. 3: the serpent seduced Eve by speaking to her.

Luke 2.28.
Tractalus Liber 1 ; 13.10. MPL 11.352.
Expositio Evang. Sec. Luc. 2.7; MPL 15.1555B; CSEL 32.45.
T h e reference is to Mary having been filled with the Holy Spirit, Luke
1.35.
29
John 19.26-27; See Ambrose ... Exp. . Luc. 7.5 MPL 15.1700; CSEL
32.284: "Dicat et Ecclesiae: Ecce felius luus. " In the gospel account, o f course,
Jesus says these words to his mother, Mary. See also De Institutione
Virginis
14.88-89; De Obitu Theodosii Oratio 47; among others.
theology, as a few examples will suffice to illustrate: "Let us love

the L o r d our God, let us love his Church: him as a father, her as a
mother; him as L o r d and her as his servant, because we are
children o f his servant ... hold fast, beloved, hold fast to G o d the
Father and mother church." 30 "The Church ... is at the same time
virgin and gives birth. It resembles Mary who bore the Lord. Was
not the holy Mary a virgin and gave birth, and remained virgin?
So also the Church ...
birth to you ...
" 32
31
"Mary bore your head, the Church gave
"Honor the holy Church, your Mother." 3 3 Let us
mention finally Quodvultdeus (died about 455), a friend and pupil

o f Augustine. In his sermon to the catechumens, he echoes not
only his master, but also the great Tertullian: "Non habebit Deum
Patrem qui Ecclesiam noluit habere matrem. " ( H e who will not have
the Church as mother will not have God as father.) 3 4
By this time the idea was fully developed. Later fathers, including the medieval authors, could not add more to it. They faithfully repeated the tradition which they received: the church is
female, Mary is the type of the church, and the church is now
doing in a spiritual sense what Mary did physically. Thus there
is a mysterious relationship between Mary and the church. But
this mystery has not been explored. If anything, the relationship
between Mary and the church was neglected during the Middle
Ages in favor of the development of other privileges o f Mary.
Indeed, it is only in modern times that Mary and the church
have again become the focus of attention, especially since the
second Vatican Council included the teaching on Mary in the
Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, called Lumen Gentium,35
However, simultaneously with the development of the Marychurch parallelism, there also developed the parallelism between
Eve and Mary. 3 6 As interest in Mary grew, it was natural to
In Psalm 88. Sermon 2.14. MPL 36.1140-41.
Sermon 213.7; MPL 38.1063-64; also Sermon 195.2; MPL 38.1018.
32
Sermon 192.2.2; MPL 38.1012-13.
33
Sermon 214.11; M P L 38.1071; see also De Symbolo Sermon ad Catechumenos
1.1; MPL 40 . 62.
34
De Symbolo ad Catechumenos 3.13 13; MPL 40 668.
35
Walter M. Abbott, The Documents of Vatican II. New York: Guild Press,
1966, pp. 14-96.
36
T h e literature on this topic, as in every aspect o f Mariology is without
end. T h e following titles, however, are specifically helpful: Walter Delius,
Geschichte der Marienverehrung.
Mnchen/Basel: Ernst Reinhardt Verlag,
1963. Hilda Graef, Mary: A History of Doctrine and Devotion. New York: Sheed
30
31
236
compare Eve, "the cause o f sin" (Gen. 3) with Mary, who by her
birth o f the Savior could be called "the cause o f salvadon." Jusdn
Martyr (d. 165) was the first Christian author to make such a
statement: "For Eve, who was a virgin and undefiled, having conceived the word of the serpent, brought forth disobedience and
death. But the Virgin Mary received faith and j o y when
the
angel Gabriel announced the g o o d tidings to her that the Spirit o f

the L o r d would come upon her ... and she replied 'Be it unto m e
according to thy word.' A n d by her H e has been born ... by
whom G o d destroys both the serpent and those angels and men
who are like him ... " 37 An in-depth theological explanation of this
thesis was given by Irenaeus (c. 130-202) in the Adversus Haereses.
According to Irenaeus, the economy of salvation demanded that
A d a m be recapitulated in Jesus.38 T h e means o f this was Mary
f r o m whom Jesus received actual flesh "which had been derived
f r o m the earth, which H e had recapitulated in Himself." 3 9 This
was according to the eternally predestined will of G o d who decreed that the first man should be o f an animal nature and be
saved by one of a spiritual nature. It was also in accordance with
this design that Mary was found obedient and answered to the
angel who announced to her the conception of Jesus: "Behold the
handmaid o f the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word." 40 Eve
was disobedient and thus she became the cause of death, "both to
herself and to the entire human race." Mary, on the other hand,
by yielding obedience, became "the cause of salvation, both to
and Ward, vol . 1, 1963, vol . 2, 1965. H u g o Koch, Adhuc Virgo: Mariens Jungfrauschaft und Ehe in der allkirchlichen berlieferung bis zum Ende des 4. Jahrhunderts. Tbingen: Mohr (Siebeck), 1929. H u g o Koch, Virgo Eva - Virgo Maria:
Neue Untersuchungen ber die Lehre von der JungJrauschaft und der Ehe Mariens in
her ltesten Kirche. Berlin/Leipzig: Walter de Gruyter, 1937. Walter J. Burghardt, "Mary in Western Patristic T h o u g h t . " In Juniper . Carol, Editor,
Mariology. Milwaukee: Bruce, 1955, Vol. 1, pp. 109-155. Walter J. Burghardt,
"Mary in Eastern Patristic Thought." In Carol, op.cit. vol. 2 (1957), pp. 88-153.
Stephen Benko, Protestants, Catholics and Mary. Valley Forge: Judson Press,
1968. R. E. Brown, K. P. D o n f r i e d , J. A. Fitzmyer, J. Reumann, Editors,
Mary in the New Testament. Collaborative Assessment by Protestant and Roman
Catholic Scholars. Philadelphia: Fortess, 1978.
37
Dialogue with Trypho 100; ANF 1.249.
38
"For H e would not have been one truly possessing flesh and blood, by
which he redeemed us, unless H e had summed up in Himself the ancient
formation o f A d a m . " Op.cit. 5.1.2; ANF 1.527.
39
3.21.10 and 3.22.2. ANF 1.454.
40
Luke 1.38.
h e r s e l f a n d the whole human race ... A n d thus also it was that the
knot of Eve's disobedience was loosed by the obedience o f Mary.
For what the virgin Eve had bound fast through unbelief, this did
the Virgin Mary set free through faith." 41
Irenaeus based his theology o f recapitulation on S. Paul's philosophy of history, presented in Romans 5 and to a lesser degree in
1. Corinthians 15. In chapter 5 of Romans Paul starts out by affirming the hope with which mankind in the present can look toward
the future, because of the reconciling death of Christ and the love
o f G o d which, through the Holy Spirit, is already active in us.42
H e then goes on to examine the significance o f the past f o r the
present and the future. In so doing he puts the whole o f human
history under the light o f the gospel by demonstrating that there
is a real relationship between Adam and Christ. From
Adam
came sin and death over the entire human race, f r o m Christ
came justification and life for all who are united with Christ
through faith. 43 Adam is the first, the physical, the earthly; Christ
is the second, the spiritual, the heavenly. As Adam is the representative o f a sinful, physical, earth-bound mankind, so is Christ
representative o f a justified, spiritual, heavenly mankind. W o r l d
history for Paul is determined by the relationship of Adam and
Christ: only these two persons had a lasting, decisive and general
impact upon the fate of humanity, Adam having been the cause
o f the fall and Christ, the cause of redemption. Adam determined
the fate of mankind with respect to sin, Christ with respect to salvation, therefore, Christ is the second Adam. W e do not understand Christ unless we see him in the light o f Adam, and
vice
41
3.22.3-4; ANF 1.455. Irenaeus summarized again his views in the final
book o f the Adv. Haer. 5.19.1. H e repeats here what he said before and then
adds: "For just as the former was led astray by the word o f an angel, so that
she fled f r o m God when she had transgressed His word; so did the latter, by
an angelic communication, receive the glad tidings that she should sustain
God, being obedient to His word. And if the former did disobey God, yet the
latter was persuaded to be obedient to God, in order that the Virgin Mary
might become the patroness of the Virgin Eve. A n d thus, as the human race
fell into bondage to death by means o f a virgin, so is it rescued by a virgin;
virginal disobedience having been balanced in the opposite scale by virginal
obedience. For in the same way the sin o f the first created man receives
amendment by the correction o f the First-begotten, and the coming of the
serpent is conquered by the harmlessness of the dove, those bonds being
unloosed by which we had been fast bound to death."
42
43
Verses 1-11.
See also 1.Cor. 15.22, 45 ff.
238
versa, Adam is the "type" o f Christ and only through Christ can
Adam be understood. Sin, which came into the life o f mankind
through Adam, i.e., original sin, can be eliminated only by the
absolute and complete universal redemption in Christ, and vice
versa, an absolute and complete universal redemption by Christ is
impossible without the original sin brought about by Adam. For
the work o f salvation such a unity o f the individual with the
human race is essential, because without this a "once-for-all"
redemption is impossible. If the sin of Adam is an isolated case,
without further consequences, if every individual sinner is independent, then every sinner needs his or her individual savior. But
salvation is universal, so Paul teaches. Christ does not meet us as
Jew or Greek but as members o f the human race, because the
ultimate aim o f G o d in history is the reconstruction o f
the
universe, "to unite (in Christ) all things in heaven and things on
e a r t h . " 4 4 This is what Irenaeus calls "recapitulation", i.e., the
restoration of all creation under one head. "Being in Christ,"
another favorite expression of Paul, is thus parallel to the unity o f
all in Adam. 4 5
This thesis o f Paul became immensely popular and determined the Christian view of history and salvation for centuries to
come. It was soon to become a central part of the Christian message. Already the earliest Christian manual reports that during
the Eucharist the following prayer was said over the bread: "As
this piece o f bread was scattered over the hills and then was
brought together and made one, so let your Church be brought
together f r o m the ends of the earth into your kingdom ... " 4 6
Augustine, in his interpretation of Mark 13.27 ( " H e shall gather
together his elect from the four winds,") comments as follows:
" H e gathered all his elect from the four winds: therefore, from the
Eph. 1.1-14 = Col. 1.20.

See Karl Barth, Christ and Adam, Man and Humanity in Romans 5. N e w
York: Harper and Brothers, 1957. Originally published as Christus und Adam
nach Rmer 5, Zollikon-Zrich: Evangelisher Verlag, 1952. John G. Gibbs,
Creation and Redemption. A Study in Pauline Theology. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1971,
surveyed most of the literature dealing with the theological issue of creation
and redemption. ( O n K. Barth's Christ and Adam and his critics, see pp. 4-5;
Gibbs however, maintiains that "Karl Barth's understanding of the Pauline
Adam-Christ typology is basically correct." p. 50.) See also John A. Phillips,
Eve. The History of an Idea. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 19 4.
44
45
46
Didache 9.4; ET: C. C. Richardson, op. cit. p. 175.
whole world. For Adam himself (this I had said b e f o r e ) signifieth

in Greek the whole world; for there are four letters A, D, A and M.
But as the Greeks speak, the four quarters of the world have these
initial letters, they call East; , the West; "
the North; , the South: thou hast the word A D A M .
Adam therefore has been scattered over the whole world. H e was
in one place and fell, and as in a manner broken small, he fdled
the whole world: but the mercy o f G o d gathered together the
fragments from every side, and forged them by the fire of love,
and made one that which was broken. T h e Artist knew how to do
this; let no one despair; it is indeed a great thing, but reflect who
that Artist was. H e who made restored: H e who formed reformed.
What are righteousness and truth? H e will gather together His
elect with him ,.."47
In the theology of Irenaeus the universal character of Christ's
work means that it includes not only present and future but in a
retroactive way the past as well. H e argues that Abraham, too, will
inherit the kingdom of G o d through Jesus Christ 48 and this
complete redemption, encompassing past, present, and future, is
truly the "communio dei et hominis."49 It is in this context that his
parallelism of Eve and Mary is to be understood: since the event o f
Christ is the perfect counterbalance to the event of Adam, the role
played by Eve also must be counterbalanced; here Mary was an
excellent choice. W e note that while Paul did not see a need to
counterbalance Eve, the conclusions of Irenaeus are in harmony
with Pauline thought.
Tertullian (c. 160 - c. 120) also mentioned the Eve-Mary parallel
within the framework o f the recapitulation theory, taking his
47
In Ps. 96.15; NPNF 8.474 f. See also In.Joh.Tract. 10.12 and Tract. 9.14.
Compare Didache 10.4: "Remember, Lord, your church, to save it from all evil
and to make it perfect in your love, and gather it together in its holiness
f r o m the four winds, into your kingdom ... " Libertine Gnostics used the
same Pauline principles to practice immorality, see S. Benko, " T h e Libertine Gnostic Sect o f the Phibionites according to Epiphanius." Vigiliae Christianae 21 (1927) 103-119.
48
Op. cit. 4.8.1. Irenaeus refers to Matthew 8.11: "I tell you, many will
c o m e f r o m east and west and sit at table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in
the k i n g d o m o f heaven." T h e same idea also occurs in Ignatius,
Philadelphians 5.2: "And the Prophets, let us love them too, because they anticipated the gospel in their preaching and hoped for and awaited H i m , and
were saved by believing on him. Thus they were in Jesus Christ's unity." C.
C. Richardson, op. at. p. 109.
49
Op. cit. 5.1.1.
240
point of departure also from Paul. T h e words are familiar: "As Eve
had believed the serpent, so Mary believed the angel." But Tertullian introduced a new element to the story which was later adopted by Methodius and Zeno: 5 0 both women conceived by words.
For Eve, even though she was not directly impregnated,
"the
devil's words afterwards became as seed to her that she should

conceive as an outcast, and bring forth in sorrow. Indeed, she
gave birth to a patricidal devil..." i.e., Cain. Mary, o f course,
conceived by the W o r d of God directly. H e r e Tertullian found yet
another parallelism, namely between Cain and Abel, the "evil
brother" and the "good brother." Jesus is the "good brother" "who
should blot out the memory of the evil brother." 5 1
Firmicus Maternus wrote (ca. 346-348) an aggressive book to the
emperors Constantius and Constans demanding the abolishment
o f paganism. In his arguments he used the Eve-Mary parallelism
as he learned it from Irenaeus and Tertullian. 5 2 By this time the
theme was commonplace. T h e Syrian Ephraem (c. 306-73) used it
often in his hymns, 53 and it flowed through the words and works
o f preachers, exegetes, and systematic theologians. Epiphanius o f
Salamis (315-403) said that as Eve was the cause of death, so Mary
became the cause of life. 54 Gregory o f Nyssa (335-392) elaborated
the same point, 55 but the emphasis was slowly changing: Mary
appeared more and more in the center, as one who played a role
in the redemptive process and was somehow a touchstone o f
Christological orthodoxy. Central issues now will be the definition o f her title as Theotokos = Mother o f God, her perpetual
virginity, her sanctity, 56 and even her assumption into heaven,
See above p. 233f.
De carne Christi 17: ANF 3.536. See also Adv. Marcionem 2.4: God in his
goodness provided a helpmate to Adam, so he may not be alone. " H e knew
full well what a blessing to him would be the sex of Mary, and also o f the
Church." ANF 3.300.
52
De errore profanorum religionum 25; German translation in Bibliothek
der Kirchenvter. Kempten and Mnchen: Ksel Verlag, 1913. V o l . 14,
p. 69.
53
For quotations see Walter J. Burghardt. "Mary in Eastern Patristic
T h o u g h t " in Juniper . Carol, editor, Mariology. Milwaukee: T h e Bruce Publishing Co. 1957. Vol. 2, pp. 88-153.
54
Panarion, Heresy 78.18, Against the Antidikomarionites. GCS 37. 468469.
55
In diem natalem Christi. MPS 46.1140.
56
Hippolytus (died 235) attached the adjective "holy" to her name, in
Contra Noetum 17: "God the W o r d came down f r o m heaven into the holy
50
51
241 MARY AND T H E H I S T O R Y OF S A L V A T I O N

t h e e a r l i e s t w r i t t e n r e f e r e n c e t o w h i c h d a t e s a r o u n d 3 7 7 5 7 : issues
more
g e r m a i n e to the " w o m a n c l o t h e d with the s u n " than to "a
virgin b e t r o t h e d to a
m a n w h o s e n a m e was J o s e p h . " 5 8
A c c o r d i n g to yet a n o t h e r l i n e o f t h o u g h t in the early
church,
M a r y was n o t a r e p r e s e n t a t i v e o f t h e c h u r c h b u t a s y m b o l o f t h e
synagogue, n o t a type o f the new covenant but a type o f the old.
T h i s v i e w a p p e a r e d first i n T e r t u l l i a n , in his c o m m e n t s o n
those
passages o f t h e g o s p e l s w h i c h r e f e r to t h e u n b e l i e f o f his m o t h e r
a n d brothers.59
... t h e r e is s o m e g r o u n d f o r thinking that Christ's answer d e n i e s
His m o t h e r and b r e t h r e n f o r the present ... ' T h e L o r d ' s b r e t h r e n
had not yet b e l i e v e d in H i m . ' So it is c o n t a i n e d in the G o s p e l
which was published b e f o r e M a r c i o n ' s time; whilst there is at the
same time a want o f e v i d e n c e o f His m o t h e r ' s a d h e r e n c e to H i m ,
a l t h o u g h the Marthas a n d the o t h e r Marys w e r e in c o n s t a n t
attendance on H i m . In this very passage i n d e e d , their u n b e l i e f is
evident. Jesus was teaching the way o f life, p r e a c h i n g the k i n g d o m o f G o d and actively e n g a g e d in h e a l i n g infirmities o f b o d y
and soul; but all the while, whilst strangers w e r e intent o n H i m ,
His very nearest relatives w e r e absent. By and by they turn up,
and k e e p outside; but they d o not g o in, because, f o r s o o t h , they set
small store o n that which was d o i n g within; n o r d o they e v e n
wait, as if they had s o m e t h i n g which they c o u l d c o n t r i b u t e m o r e
necessary than that which H e was so earnestly d o i n g ; but they
p r e f e r to interrupt H i m and wish to call H i m away f r o m His great
w o r k ... H e d e n i e d His parents, then, in the sense in w h i c h H e
has taught us to d e n y o u r s f o r G o d ' s w o r k . 6 0 But t h e r e is also
another view o f the case: in the abjured m o t h e r there is a f i g u r e o f
the synagogue, as well as o f the Jews in the u n b e l i e v i n g b r e t h r e n .
In their person Israel r e m a i n e d outside, whilst the n e w disciples
w h o kept close to Christ within, h e a r i n g and b e l i e v i n g , r e p r e sented the Church, which H e called m o t h e r in a p r e f e r a b l e sense
Virgin Mary." ANF 5.230; MPG 10.825.

57
Epiphanius, Panarion, Heresy 78. 10, 11, 23. GCS 37. 461, 462, 374.
58
Luke 1.26.
59
T h e main texts are Matthew 12.46-49: his mother and brothers stood
outside and when told about it he stretched out his hand toward his disciples
and said, "Here are my Mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will
o f my Father in heaven is my brother, and sister, and mother." John 7.5:
"For even his brothers did not believe in him." Luke 11.27-28: A woman in
the crowd cried to him, "Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts
that you s u c k e d . " a n d Jesus replied: "Blessed rather are those who hear
the word of God and keep it."
60
T h e reference is to Matthew 10.37: "He who loves father or mother
more than me is not worthy of me." Cf. Luke 14.26: "If anyone comes to me
and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and
brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple."
M A R Y AND T H E H I S T O R Y OF S A L V A T I O N
242
a n d a w o r t h i e r b r o t h e r h o o d , with the r e p u d i a t i o n o f the carnal

r e l a t i o n s h i p . It was in just the same sense, i n d e e d , that H e also
r e p l i e d to that exclamadon ( o f a certain w o m a n ) , n o t d e n y i n g His
m o t h e r ' s ' w o m b and paps,' but designating those as m o r e 'blessed
w h o hear the w o r d of G o d . ' 6 1
This theory is consistent with Tertullian's view that the new

Eve is the Christian church, as the new Adam is Jesus. If this is so,
then the Pauline idea that the church is the "bride" o f Christ falls
easily in the pattern and the " m o t h e r h o o d " o f the church also
makes g o o d sense. T h e parallelism in this case looks like this:
A d a m and Eve = sinful mankind; Jesus and the church = red e e m e d mankind. In this scheme, however, there is no place for
Mary and Tertullian solved the problem by introducing in the
image of the synagogue and the community of those who did not
believe. This conclusion was not difficult to reach: since the
physical body of Jesus was born of Mary's humanity, 62 Tertullian
could identify that with the old dispensation, "according to the
law, according to the flesh," as opposed to the new, "according to
the Spirit."
Hilary o f Poitiers (315-367) echoed Tertullian in his commentary on the Gospel of Matthew:
... w h e n the man c a m e and a n n o u n c e d that his m o t h e r and his
brothers w e r e waiting f o r h i m outside, he stretched out his h a n d
toward his disciples and answered that they w e r e his brothers and
his m o t h e r , and w h o e v e r obeys his father's will, he is his b r o t h e r ,
sister and m o t h e r . Thus, by r e t a i n i n g the r i g h t and the n a m e o f
all relationships n o l o n g e r f o r the c o n d i t i o n o f birth but f o r the
c o m m u n i o n o f the c h u r c h , he constituted a m o d e l o f g e n e r a l
activity a n d thinking. H o w e v e r , he s h o u l d n o t b e r e g a r d e d as
thinking contemptuously o f his m o t h e r f o r w h o m he d e v o t e d the
a f f e c t i o n o f greatest care in his passion. 6 3 T h e r e is also a typical
sense in the fact that his m o t h e r and his b r o t h e r s r e m a i n e d
outside because they had the opportunity to c o m e in to him just as
61
De carne Christi 7; CSEL 70.211 f; ANF 3.527-528. In Adversus Marcionem
4.19. Tertullian also stressed the point that the mother and the brethren of
Jesus were outside, while others listened to him inside. "He transferred the
names of blood relationship to others, whom H e judged to be more closely
related to Him by reason of their faith ... H e substituted the others, not as
being truer relatives, but worthier ones." CSEL 47.483; ANF 3.378. T h e thrust
o f the argument here is anti-Gnostic: Jesus did have a mother and brothers
otherwise H e could not have transferred this designation to others.
62
Gal. 4.4.
6 3 John 19.26-27.
243 MARY AND T H E H I S T O R Y OF S A L V A T I O N

the others did. But because he c a m e to his own and his o w n d i d
n o t r e c e i v e him, in his m o t h e r and brothers the s y n a g o g u e and
the Jews are p r e f i g u r e d abstaining f r o m g o i n g in to and a p p r o a c h ing him."64
" T h e Athanasius o f the West" and champion of orthodoxy, as

Hilary is often called, 65 wrote this book on the basis of homilies
which he delivered for the instruction of his congregation. His
aim was to find the "deeper" meaning of the text and not to write
a dogmatic treatise. 66 Yet together with Tertullian he does represent a thought pattern which, alongside the others we have seen,
goes back to the earliest periods of ecclesiastical history. This concept, however, was not widely accepted. T h e suggestion that
Mary's motherhood paralleled the motherhood of the church was
much easier to understand and thus it remained the tacitly
approved and accepted view.67
In the Old Testament, God's chosen people, Israel, is commonly r e f e r e d to as female and sometimes also as virgin. A few
examples will suffice to illustrate this point:
2 Kings 19.21: "... the virgin daughter of Zion ..."
Isaiah 37.22: "... the virgin daughter of Zion ..."
Isaiah 52.2: "... captive daughter of Zion ..."
Isaiah 62.11- "... Say to the daughter of Zion ..."
Jeremiah 6.23: "... daughter of Zion ..."
Jeremiah 14.17: "... the daughter o f my people ..."
Jeremiah 1813: "... the virgin Israel ..." (also 31.04, 81.21)
Lamentations 1.15: "... the virgin daughter o f j u d a h ..."
Lamentations 2.13: "... virgin daughter o f Zion ,.."68
In Evangelium Matthaei Commentanus 12.24. MPL 9.993.

H e was an ardent opponent of Arianism and a promoter of the trinitarian faith in the defense of which he wrote two books, De synodis and De
Trinitate. H e was a native of Gaul. In 1851 the honorary title "Doctor Ecclesiace" was bestowed on him by the Roman Catholic Church and thus Hilary
is one of the select group of theologians whose teachings constitute a basis for
Roman Catholic teaching.
66
Similarly to the Gospel of John in which there is also a sharp contrast
between light and darkness, flesh and spirit, the synagogue and the
followers of Jesus, etc. See 1.5,11,13; 3.6,19; 9.34.
6 7 John 19.26-27 is interpreted this way, too.
68
For the Revised Standard Version o f the bible Nelson's
Complete
Concordance, New York: Thomas Nelson & Sons, 1957, pp. 390-394 offers many
more examples.
64
65
244
In these and many similar passages a female symbolizes the

totality of the people of God. T h e image may have come from two
preconceptions, one, the idea o f G o d as male and second, the
concept of the covenant, that is, the idea o f a unique relationship
between G o d and Israel as a people chosen for his unique service.
This covenant relationship is like a marriage and thus "Israel"
was naturally imagined as the female counterpart o f God. T h e
message of the prophet Hosea is built on this concept. 69 Thus the
image o f Israel as female, virgin, and wife was familiar to readers
o f the O l d Testament. 70 Israel as bride is a natural analogy to the
church as bride 71 and G o d as "husband of Israel" is paralleled in
Jesus as "husband" o f the church. This analogy raises human
marriage to cosmic levels: not only is it a reflection o f Yahweh's
relation to Israel, it is a proleptic realization o f the eschatological
consummation
in which
the primordial
henosis o f male and
female (i.e. the condition before the sexes were separated) is

restored. 7 2 This is another aspect o f the recapitulation theory o f
Irenaeus and Paul and thus brings us back to the A d a m
Christ/Eve = Mary parallelism.

Implicit in these speculations about Mary is the idea that she
69
See also Jeremiah 2.If; 3.1ff; Ezekiel 16; 23; Isaiah 50.1 and Isaiah 62.5:
"... as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over
you." Zion as bride: Isaiah 49.18.
70
See Walter Eichrodt, Theology of the Old Testament. P h i l a d e l p h i a :
Westminster Press 1961, vol.1 which is centered around the idea o f the
covenant. J. H e m p e l , "Bund" Die Religion in Geschichte und
GegenwartTbingen: J. C. . Mahr, 1957, vol. 1, pp. 1511-1515. . Stauffer, Article ,
in G. Kittel, Theologisches Wrterbuch zum Neuen Testament. Stuttgart:
Kohlhammer, 1933, vol. 1, pp. 646-655. H. Strack und P. Billerback, Kommentar zum Neuen Testament aus Talmud und Midrasch. Mnchen: C. H. Beck, 1922
(reprinted 1956), from which the following rabbinic parallels are particularly interessant: Pirque Rabbi Eliezer 41: T h e day when G o d gave the Law
was like a wedding day. G o d was the b r i d e g r o o m , Israel the bride and
Moses led the bride to meet the g r o o m . Meckhiltha, Ex. 1917: "God came
f r o m Sinai" (Deut. 33.21) like a bridegroom to receive his bride. Op.cit. vol.
1, pp. 970 and 969.
71
Eph. 5.25-33; John 3.29: John the Baptist calls himself "friend o f the
b r i d e g r o o m " , Jesus is the g r o o m "who has the bride." 2 Cor.11.2: "I betrothed you to Christ to present you as a pure bride to her one husband." Rev.
19.7: the marriage o f the L a m b and his Bride; 21.2 "... the holy city, new
Jerusalem, c o m i n g down out of heaven f r o m God, prepared as a bride
adorned for her husband." Also 21.9 and 22.17. C o m p a r e Matthew 9.15;
25.1-13; parabole o f the virgins who waited to meet the b r i d e g r o o m . See
Joach. Jeremias, Article , in Kittel, op.dt. 4.1092-1099.
72
Gen. 2.24.
245
plays a necessary part in the economy of salvation: without her,

incarnation is impossible and the whole redemptive process cannot take place. T h e word "implicit" needs to be underlined, because no church father spelled this out. Explicitly, they placed
Mary into the context o f Romans 5 by enlarging the Adam-Christ
parallel to include Eve-Mary. This did not quite work because the
biblical references point to the church, not Mary, as the bride and
spiritual wife o f Christ. Consequently, with an unerring instinct,
they began to draw the parallel between Mary and the church.
W h e n this mystical identity was sufficiently c o m m o n , the expanded recapitulation theory o f Romans 5 posed no difficulties. It
was easy to think o f the church as female, the O l d Testament
having paved the way by calling the chosen p e o p l e o f
God
"daughter," "virgin," and "wife." T h e church as the new Israel

could easily adopt these names, and the universal role assigned to
Eve supplied the vehicle for transforming Mary into a collective
personality.
B. MARY, THE MOTHER OF GOD
H o w did the scattered thoughts o f the early Christian Fathers
about Eve, Mary, the church and their mystical
interrelation
eventually come together in the theological definition o f Mary as

the "Mother of God"? Let us now trace this development, at the
end of which the Chrisdan goddess emerged in all her glory. 73
Christian theology started with Christology. By this we mean
that the first concern o f the primitive church was a definition o f
the person and the work of Christ Jesus.74 At its simplest level this
took the form o f identifying Jesus o f Nazareth with the Messiah,
as appears in New Testament texts such as Mark 8:29, 'You are the
Christ." Similarly, Chrisdan confessions of faith started with the
Christologial article and in their simplest form were statements
concerning Christ Jesus and his redemptive work. 75 Christology
73
T h e following is part of an essay first published in Oihonomia.
Heilsgeschichte als Thema der Theologie. Ed. Felix Christ. Hamburg: Reich, 1967, pp.
261-272.
74
For a definition o f Christology see 0. Cullmann, The Christology of the
New Testament. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1959, pp. Iff.
75
J. N. D. Kelly, Early Christian Creeds, L o n d o n : Longmans, 1960 (second
ed.) pp. 13 ff. presents another theory but he himself admits that so far as
explicityly formulated credal confessions are concerned, those o f the single
246
was thus alive in the church from the earliest times, but the
problem o f the birth of Jesus was seldom included in it. For the
primitive church the focal point o f faith was the resurrection.
Only gradually did Christians turn their attention to the birth o f
Jesus, and even then only in a rather limited way.76 This limited
interest is clearly reflected in the gospels. T h e earliest gospel has
n o birth-narrative; Matthew and Luke each have two chapters
concerning the birth, whereas the passion-narratives receive considerably more attention. In the fourth gospel there is no nativity
narrative; rather, the prologue speaks o f the incarnation o f the
eternal W o r d . Paul's lack of interest in the birth of Jesus is well
known, 7 7 and this is also true of the other New Testament books.
I n d e e d , the primitive church did not even have a Christmas
festival. Sunday was celebrated as the day o f the resurrection, and
the only yearly Christian festivals were the Easter holidays in
memory of Christ's death and resurrection. 78
This lack of interest, however, was limited to the manner o f the
incarnation, i.e., the way in which Jesus Christ came into the
world.
T h e incarnation itself was always an integral part o f the
faith of the early Christians. That is to say, the uniqueness of Jesus

was beyond doubt for them. T h e assumption of a supernatural
relationship between Jesus and God shines through the gospel o f
clause, Christological pattern seem to have been far and away the most
popular in the apostolic age. (p. 25) For our position see O. Cullmann, The
Earliest Christian Confessions. (E. T. b y j . K. S. Reid) London, 1949.
76
In this matter, therefore, the mind o f the early Christians worked in
a way d i f f e r e n t f r o m ours. When we treat Christology in a systematic way
the first question we raise is that of the incarnation. This seems natural for
us because the birth of Jesus stands at the beginning of his human life and
work. However, this method is correct only if we approach Christology with
the idea o f proceeding along chronological lines, starting with the birth
and ending with the resurrection and the ascension. After which, in systematic theology, the doctrine of the church, Ecclesiology, begins. But this, as
we see, was not the method of the early Christians. They were looking at
the events surrounding Jesus backwards and they discovered as the last what
was chronologically the first, i.e., the birth of Jesus.
77
Phil. 2:5 ff. mentions the incarnation with respect to Christ's death;
Gal. 4:4 says that Jesus was born of a woman. But these instances only underline our statement that Paul was not interested in the birth of Jesus and
refers to it only at the periphery of his theology.
78
See O. Cullmann, " T h e Origin of Christmas" in The Early Church, pp.
21-36. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1961. For additional literature see J.
Beckman, "Weihnachten," R G G 3, vol. VI. p. 1564. For the infancy narratives in Matthew and Luke, see Raymond E. Brown, The Birth of the Messiah.
N e w York: Doubleday, 1977.
Mark, in which at the Baptism, a heavenly voice calls Jesus "my

beloved Son." 79 T h e Fourth Gospel presents the locus classicus of
all later Christologies in John 1:14, the Latin version o f which
("verbum
caro") is the source of the technical term "in-carnation".
T h e birth-stories of Matthew and Luke belong to a later stratum o f

each gospel, and can best be understood if considered within the
scope of the development of Christology in the primitive church.
T h e ultimate question in both of them is the relationship o f the
divine and human in the person o f Jesus Christ. This is essentially what the Fourth Gospel seeks to express with the words "o
" and this is also the theme of the hymn in
Philippians 2:5-11, to which we shall return. Is not this also the
starting point o f Mariology? That Jesus Christ was not only "conceived by the Holy Spirit" but also "born of woman" makes it
essential that a Christology based upon the New Testament concern itself with the mother of Jesus. This concern could safely be
called "maternology," the doctrine of the mother o f Jesus, had not
the gospel narratives preserved for us the name o f this mother,
which happened to be Mary. 80
T h e early church did not elaborate on this latter point, but the
problem o f the relation between the divine and the human in
Christ is present in the New Testament. Besides the birth narratives, the gospels are full of various Christological titles which are
applied to Jesus and which contain in themselves answers to
particular questions that arose concerning Jesus Christ. In the
other books Christological definitions appear. Romans 1.2-4, for
example, characterizes Jesus as the one "who was descended from
David according to the flesh and designated Son of God in power
according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the
dead, Jesus Christ our Lord ..." T h e post-apostolic church then
Mark 1:11.
J. Brinktrine gave this appropriate title to his Mariology published in
Paderborn, 1959: "Die Lehre von der Mutter des Erlsers." This is also the
title of the latest papal encyclical letter: Redemptoris Mater (March 25, 1987) by
John Paul II. Indeed, the New Testament attaches no special significance to
the name o f the mother o f Jesus. She is mentioned by name only in the
following passages: Matthew l.:16, 18, 20; 2:11; 13:55. Mark 6.3. Luke 1:27,
30, 34, 38, 39, 41, 46, 56; 2:5, 16, 19, 34. Acts 1:14. Her name is not mentioned
at all in the fourth gospel, by Paul or the rest o f the New Testament literature. Concerning the meaning of the name see Walter Delius, Geschichte der
Marienverehrung. Mnchen/Basel: Reinhardt, 1963. p. 9 f.
79
80
248
M A R Y AND T H E H I S T O R Y OF S A L V A T I O N
began to speculate on the person o f Christ and the prevailing

emphasis of the following centuries was upon the definidon o f the
nature of Christ within himself, i.e., the relation o f his divine and
human nature, or the relation between Jesus the Son and G o d the
Father. Immediately after the New Testament period there were
two radical attempts to resolve the Christological dilemma. They
are diametrically opposed to each other in that the one denied the
divinity o f Jesus and the other denied his humanity. T h e first of
these is associated with the sect o f the Ebionites, although similar
views persisted in the church long after this group disappeared
from the scene. T h e Ebionites were originally the Jewish Christian group beside the Gentile Christian faction. In addition to their
insistence upon keeping the Jewish laws, the Ebionites also
denied the virgin birth and looked upon Jesus as the natural son of
Joseph and Mary. Nevertheless, they accepted Jesus as the Messiah and waited for his return. A few years before the destruction
of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. the Jewish Christian group immigrated to
Pella in Transjordan. This immigration took the group out o f the
flow o f the main historical events and it soon shrank to an
insignificant sect.
T h e other solution is known as Docetism. W e must remember,
however, that Docetism was not a sect but a way o f thinking
which was e m p l o y e d particularly by the Gnostic
theologians.
Docetism ( f r o m dokein = to appear) held that Christ had n o real

body, but only appeared to be in flesh, only appeared to suffer on
the cross; in fact he was completely spiritual. Naturally, then, his
birth was not real; his body came through Mary's as water flows
through a tube, without taking with it anything of the substance of
the tube. Docetism must have existed as early as N e w Testament
times. Several passages in the Johannine letters are interpreted as
combatting this kind of teaching. Ignatius, the bishop of Andoch,
must have had Docetism in mind when he went to great lengths
to emphasize that Jesus Christ was actually born and that he
actually went through various human experiences. In this connection, Ignatius often referred to Mary as the mother of Jesus as
proof o f the reality of his flesh and humanity.
These early attempts served only as preludes to the later Christological debates, which laid the basis and, so to speak, created the
possibility o f subsequent Mariological speculations. Thus far the
interest in Mary as a Christological subject was negligible. Even
in the struggle against Docetism, the church made very little use
o f her. In the same breath with Mary, H e r o d the Tetrarch or
Pondus Pilate the governor could be mentioned in support of the
claim that Jesus was indeed a real, historical person. That is
basically the conviction held by Paul of Samosata, who however,
injected a new emphasis into the debate. Paul, who was bishop o f
Antioch around 260, is sometimes called the forerunner o f Nestorius because, as Eusebius says,81 "he held, contrary to the teaching
o f the church, low and degraded views o f Christ, namely that in
his nature he was a common man ..." H e used the word
"homoou-
sios" (consubstantial) in describing the relation between Father

and Son but, curiously enough, the Synod which
condemned
him at Antioch in 268 rejected the term. H e was an Adoptianist,

i.e., he held that Jesus Christ was a human being upon whom the
H o l y Spirit descended. T h e r e was no room in his theology f o r a
real incarnation because only Jesus, not the Logos, was born o f
Mary. "Mary did not bear the Word, for Mary did not exist before
the ages. Mary is not older than the Word; what she bore was a
man equal to us, but superior in all things as a result o f holy
spirit." 82 Paul of Samosata was the first theologian to hold to an
Adoptianist Christology, 8 3 but he touched on a relationship in
Christology which thus far had been largely neglected, namely
the divinity
of Jesus Christ in relation to his mother. That Jesus
Christ was a real human being and Mary was his mother is easy
to understand. Nobody could quarrel with the statement that if a
person had a human mother, he was a human being, too. But
what about the divine nature of Christ? What was Mary's relation
to that? If the Logos and Jesus Christ were one, then Mary, who
certainly bore Jesus, bore the Logos. Paul rejected this concept and
in so doing he focused attention on the problem of what did take
place in the incarnation. Did Mary bear G o d or man? Paul's
answer was that she bore a man, but while he gave this answer,
Mary was already being called "theotokos, " "God bearer".
It was, as we see, Christological speculations in the post-apostolic church that gradually led to a clarification of Mary's role in
81
Church History 7, 27. The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series T w o ,
Vol. I. 312.
82
F. Loofs, Paulus von Samosata. Leipzig, 1924, pp.70 and 242 ff. Also J.N.
D. Kelly, Early Christian Doctrines. New York: Harpers, 1958. p. 140.
83
Kelly, Early Christian Doctrines, p. 115 ff. give a g o o d survey.
250
the incarnation. Let us now further explore this line o f thought

with special attention to the term theotokos, because the development of this term will shed light upon the basic characteristics o f
Mariology in its formative period.
As far as we know the word theotokos was first used by Origen
(1253/54). At least this is what we gather from Socrates'
History.
84
Church
But the expression did not become popular until the time
o f the Arian controversies when Athanasius (295373) frequently

employed it. T h e Arian controversy centered on the problem o f
the relation between God the Father and the Logos; the problem of
the mother o f Jesus did not enter it. T h e Creed which was accepted at the Synod of Nicea in 325 contains no reference at all to
Mary, but it made a significant statement which inevitably led
toward further questioning. It sanctioned the use o f the term
homoousios
(the Son is consubstantial with the Father) and this
firmly established the divinity o f Jesus Christ. Indeed, the position

taken by Arius was so devoted to the monarchia o f God that Jesus
was reduced to a demi-god, which is not really the Christian
concept. As it was, the Nicene fathers were no less monarchistic
in their theology than was Arius, and we can easily understand
that the term homoousios
was not congenial to many o f them.
After all, if the Son is consubstantial with the Father, how are we
to safeguard the unity and oneness of God? Moreover, how are we
to explain the incarnation? T h e theologically uninitiated could
logically draw the conclusion that since Jesus is o f the same substance as God, and since Mary bore Jesus, therefore, Mary bore
God. But how could a creature give birth to her own creator? With
respect to the divine and human natures of Christ, Nicea answered the question o f divinity beyond any doubt, but concerning
the humanity it left a great deal of confusion.
It is no surprise that the first great heresy after Nicea was inaugurated by a devotee of the term homoousios and an ardent
fighter
against Arianism, Apollinarius o f Laodicea (about 310-390). H e

84
VII, 32. NPNF, Ser. Two, Vol. II, 171. (Quasten in his Patrology vol. II,
p. 81 wrongly attributes the passage to the historian S o z o m e n . ) For the
history of the term "theotokos" see John Henry Cardinal Newman, Select
Treatises of St. Athanasius in Controversy with the Arians. V o l u m e II. L o n d o n :
Longmans, Green and Co. Fifth ed. 1890. pp. 210-215. A l s o J . Brinktrine, op.
cit. pp. 15 f. C o m p a r e with this Delius, op. cit. pp. 78 ff. and note that
Hippolytus' use of the word is debatable, see G. W. H. Lampe, A Patristic Greek
Lexicon. Oxford: Clarendon, 1964. pp. 639-641.
was also a friend of Athanasius and consequently he began to

develop his ideas as a defender of orthodoxy against the surviving
influence of Paul of Samosata. But whereas Paul reduced Jesus
Christ to a mere man, Apollinarius exalted him to such a degree
that the humanity o f Jesus all but disappeared. H e rejected the
idea that there could be a distinction between the Son o f G o d and
the Son of Mary because Christ is one person, and insofar as he is
consubstantially united with God, even his body, which he received f r o m the Virgin Mary, is divine. 8 5 T h e vocabulary o f
Apollinarius is strangely reminiscent o f the word theotokos, "Godbearer." H e speaks o f Jesus not only as "God incarnate" but also as
the "flesh-bearing G o d , " " ," and "God born o f
woman." These are expressions which today are widely applied
to Mary, only the order of words is reversed: " T h e woman o f
whom G o d was b o r n , " "the flesh which carried G o d , " "
" if we want to twist Apollinarius' words, are among the
many honorary expressions used in reference to Mary. Be that as
it may, the heresy underlying Apollinarius' subtle theology soon
became apparent, for he acknowledged only one nature in Jesus
Christ and in doing so overthrew the delicate balance between
Christ's divine and human natures. H e de-emphasized the humanity of Jesus to such a d e g r e e that ultimately his Christology
would have ended in Docetism. In 381 the Council o f Constantinople c o n d e m n e d him and several laws were enacted against
his followers by Emperor Theodosius. 86
Now the Christological debate swung back to the other pole. As
a natural reaction against Apollinarianism the interest centered
on the humanity of Jesus. Gregory Nazianzen (c. 329/30 - c. 390)
gives us an excellent example o f this in his second letter to
Cledonius (Epistle 102) in which he writes: "And since a questions has also been mooted concerning the divine assumption of
humanity, or incarnation, state this also clearly to all concerning
me, that I join in O n e the Son, who was begotten of the Father,
and afterward of the Virgin Mary , and that I d o not call him two
sons but worship him as one and the same in undivided Godhead
and honor." 8 7 T h e question in Gregory's mind, as we see f r o m
Kelly, op. cit. pp. 289 ff.
See Q. King, The Emperor Theodosius and the Establishment of Christianity. Philadelphia: Westminister, 1961, pp.36 ff.
87
E.R. Hardy and C.C. Richardson, Christology of the Later Fathers, ( T h e
85
86
252
this quotation, was not whether Jesus Christ was divine or not; this
he held without any doubt, and apparently so did others. T h e
question that called f o r an answer was how the divine could
assume humanity, i.e., the incarnation. Gregory points here to
the birth o f Jesus from the Virgin Mary as an undeniable proof o f
his humanity. In his first letter to Cledonius against Apollinarius
(Epistle
101) he writes: "For we do not sever the man f r o m the
God-head, but we lay down as a dogma the unity and identity ( o f

person), who of old was not man but God and the only Son before
all ages, unmingled with body or anything corporeal; but who in
these last days has assumed manhood also for our salvation ... that
by one and the same (Person), who was perfect man and also
G o d , the entire humanity fallen through sin might be created
anew. If anyone does not believe that holy Mary is the Mother o f
God, he is severed from the God-head. If anyone should assert that
he passed through the Virgin as through a channel, and was not
at once divinely and humanly f o r m e d in her (divinely, because
without the intervention o f a man; humanly because in accordance with the laws of gestation), he is in like manner godless." 88
W e have quoted this passage more fully so that the clarity o f
Gregory's thought may not be obscured. Unfortunately, sometimes the sentence: "If anyone does not believe that holy Mary is
the Mother of God, he is severed from the God-head," is quoted out
of context as if it were a "Mariological statement as a test of orthod o x y . " 8 9 As it is, however, the statement is not Mariological but
Christological, and its purpose is to emphasize the fact o f the
incarnation, or, in other words, the fact that God really became
man. Gregory employs here the word theotokos, and for him this
means
only o n e
thing,
that G o d
really
assumed
humanity
through a human birth. That Mary is theotokos expresses the

Christological idea that he who was born o f her is real G o d and
real man. In this sense the term theotokos means exacdy the opposite o f what it later came to mean. 9 0 Later, when the term was
Library of Christian Classics, vol III.) Philadelphia: Westminister, 1954. p.
225. MPG, 37.196.
88
Ibid. p. 216 f. MPG 37, 177.
89
Hilda Graef, Mary: A History of Doctrine and Devotion. Vol.1 N e w York:
Sheed and Ward, 1963, p. 64. See also Juniper B. Carol ( e d i t o r ) , Mariology.
vol. 2. Milwaukee: Bruce, 1957, p. 120.
90
Hardy and Richardson, Christology...p.
31: "For this connection the
term 'theotokos' 'God-bearer', is first formally e m p l o y e d with a reverse
used, everybody understood it as a kind o f royal title underscoring Mary's privileged position and honor. However, when these
fathers used the term, they did not think of Mary; they thought o f
Christ.
T h e other Gregory, the Bishop o f Nyssa ("f394) used the word
theotokos five times in his works in a similar meaning. In his
struggle against Apollinarius he was also anxious to emphasize
that "Christ really was present in the human compound, and so to
leave no room for their surmise who propound that a phantom or
form in human outline and not a real Divine Manifestadon, was
there." 9 1 For this reason he emphatically rejected the term anthropotokos, "man-bearer," and declared that Mary indeed was theotokos, because "Christ is the power of G o d and the wisdom o f God,
always changeless, always imperishable, though H e comes in
the changeable and the perishable ,.."92
T h e Christological debate with respect to the human side of the
incarnation condnued in the works o f the contemporary theologians, especially T h e o d o r e of Mopsuesda ( f 4 2 8 ) . For our purpose,
however, it is sufficient to know the precise meaning o f the term
theotokos on the eve the Council o f Ephesus. It is important to
r e m e m b e r that the meaning was Christologial and not Mariological.
T h e council of Ephesus (431) was convened by Emperior Theodosius II to resolve the dispute which arose between Nestorius (348
- 4 5 1 ) and Cyril o f Alexandria (d. 444). T h e dispute itself started
over Nestorius' definition o f the two natures of Christ and his
insistence that the divine nature in Christ cannot really have a
human mother. Nestorius was forced to give a definition o f his
Christology when he became bishop of Constantinople in 428 and
discovered that public opinion was sharply divided on the issue.93
emphasis f r o m that which it carries later."
91
Letter 17 to Eustathia, Ambrosia and Basilissa. NPNF,
Series T w o .
Vo1.5.pp.542 ff. MPG 46, 1015-1024.
92
Ibid.
93
Ch. J. H e f e l e , A History of the Councils of the Church. Vol. 3, English
Translation: Edinburgh: T. & T . Clark, 1883. A g o o d concise description o f
the historical background and of the proceedings at the Council is given by
Giovanni M i e g g e , The Virgin Mary. Philadelphia: Westminister, 1955. pp.53
ff. Relevant works o f Nestorius are available in the edition Friedrich Loofs,
Nestoriana. Die Fragmente des Nestorius. Halle: Max Niemeyer, 1905, especially
the following statements: Sed et virginem chnstotocon ausi sunt cum codo quodam
deo tactare divinam. Letter "Ad Caelestinum I. Loofs, op. cit. p. 164, lines 4 - 5 ;
254
In his sermons he made clear that the union o f the two natures
must be kept intact but without confusion; therefore, the incarnation should be described by calling Mary "Christbearer," Christotokos, i.e., neither anthropotokos, "man-bearer" nor theotokos, "Godbearer." Because o f this position he soon f o u n d himself under
attack by Cyril. When he discovered that Cyril was in communication with Bishop Celestine of Rome on this issue, Nestorius also
wrote to Celestine. In his first letter he proposed that the term
theotokos leads to a corruption o f Christology similar to Apollinarius' and Arius' "blending together the Lord's appearance as man
into a kind o f confused combination." 9 4 What he meant by this
statement is that if we employ the term theotokos then we can
mean only one of two things. Either the Son is a creature, which
is Arianism, or the humanity o f Christ is imperfect, which is
exactly what Apollinarius taught. Some o f his own clergy, Nestorius continued, "openly blasphemed God the W o r d consubstantial
with the Father, as if he took his beginning f r o m the Christbearing Virgin ... they refer the Godhead of the Only-begotten to
the same origin as the flesh j o i n e d (with it), and kill it with the
flesh, and blasphemously say that the flesh j o i n e d with
the
G o d h e a d was turned into deity by the deifying W o r d which is

nothing more nor less than to corrupt both. They even have to
treat the Christ-bearing Virgin in a way as along with G o d (or:
include the Virgin in the topic of theologia) , 95 for they do not
scruple to call her theotokos, when the holy and beyond-all-praise
Fathers at Nicaea said no more of the holy Virgin than that our
L o r d Jesus Christ was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin
Mary, not to mention the Scriptures, which everywhere, both by
angels and apostles, speak o f the Virgin as mother of Christ, not o f
G o d the W o r d . " T h e term theotokos is not appropriate f o r Mary,
Nestorius argues, because a mother is o f the same essence as what
is born o f her, and Mary could not give birth to God the W o r d
w h o was older than she herself. T h e r e f o r e , Theotokos
may be
used in reference to the humanity of Christ, that is, only in the
see Hardy and Richardson, op. cit., 348; First Sermon against the Loofs, op. cit. p. 263, lines
12-13; Sermon ( )
Loofs, op. cit. p. 276, lines 4-5-6.
94
Hardy and Richardson, op. cit. p.347.
95
Ibid. p.348, n. 6.
255 MARY AND T H E HISTORY OF S A L V A T I O N
sense that what was born o f the Virgin was the
"inseparable
temple o f G o d the W o r d , " but not to imply that Mary is the

mother of God the Word.
It is impossible not to sympathize with Nestorius' concern for a
healthy Christology because so much that he dreaded f r o m a
vague and uncontrolled use of theotokos was realized in later
Mariological speculations. Yet Nestorius was wrong, but not because he recognized the dangers latent in the term theotokos; in
this he was all too right. T h e orthodoxy of his intentions cannot be
doubted either. But he was unable to resolve the reladonship of the
two natures in Christ in a way that would guarantee the unity o f
Christ. As he presented it, his Christology was open to attack, and
his enemies took full advantage of this fact.
Cyril of Alexandria attacked Nestorius on the grounds that the
union of the two natures which Nestorius proposed was not a real
union at all. If the person of Christ is not understood correctly,
Cyril maintained, then Christ's work of redemption is in danger,
too, for this must be understood as the work o f G o d incarnate.
From this viewpoint one could only conclude that when Nestorius, even in a limited sense, rejected the use of the term theotokos,
he became guilty of a great heresy. Cyril presented his opinions
in sermons and in various letters. When Bishop Celestine sided
with him in 430, Cyril composed a long letter to Nestorius to
which were added twelve anathemas. H e called upon Nestorius to
subscribe to these. In the course o f the letter he declared: "Since
the holy Virgin gave birth after the flesh to God who was united
by hypostasis with flesh, therefore we say that she is theotokos, not
as though the nature of the W o r d had the beginning o f its
existence from flesh ... (nor that the W o r d needed human birth,
but that by accepting it he blessed the beginning of our existence,
and removed the curse from it) ... " Consequently, the first o f the
twelve anathemas reads: "If anyone does not confess that Emmanuel is God in truth, and therefore the holy Virgin is theotokos
- for she bore in the flesh the W o r d of God become f l e s h - l e t him
be anathema." 9 6 T h e Antiochene theologians did not like this
formulation and in 432 Cyril was seriously charged with Apollinarianism, a charge f r o m which he had to clear himself by
explaining his position. However, the Council which met in
96
Ibid. pp. 352-353.
256
Ephesus in 431 officially approved Cyril's position and Nestorius

was excommunicated. T h e term theotokos was subsequently included in the "Formula of Union o f 433" which was intended to
bring together the Antiochene theologians who leaned toward
Nestorius, and the Alexandrian group, which was represented by
Cyril. 9 7
After the case of Eutyches (born around 378), who was excommunicated because of monophysitism in 448, the Christological
debate was finally settled by the Council o f Chalcedon in 451. In
this council the fathers referred to the incarnation in the following way: "... begotten before ages of the Father in Godhead, the
same in the last days for us; and for our salvation (born) of Mary,
the virgin theotokos, in manhood, one and the same Christ." 9 8
Thus the term theotokos was firmly established.
W e are accustomed to think o f the council o f Ephesus as
having made a major Mariological declaration. O n e theologian
states: "A bishop had questioned Mary's most precious prerogative,
and his brother bishops had banned him from their fellowship." 99
Another
says: " T h e
controversy
was at an
solemnly been affirmed to be Theotokos,"100
end.
Mary
had
This view must un-
d e r g o some revision. First o f all, the circumstances under which

the Council met and approved the term theotokos were such that
no true Christian could recount them without embarrassment. 101
Yet the fact that Mary was officially declared to be theotokos in
Ephesus, where "the temple of the great goddess Artemis" stood,
must not be set aside as insignificant. T h e p e o p l e o f Ephesus
reacted to the Council in much the same way their ancestors had
almost 400 years b e f o r e when they thought that the h o n o r o f
Artemis was at stake (Acts 19). Although they probably had little
understanding for the Christological issue, they demonstrated in
the streets and shouted "Praised be the Theotokos!" just as their
ancestors had shouted "Great is Artemis o f the Ephesians." This
T e x t in Hardy and Richardson, op. cit., pp.356 ff.

Ibid. p . 3 7 3 .
99
Carol, Mariology, vo1.2.p.123
100
Graef, Mary ..., p.111. However, see a more realistic appraisal by Rene
Laurentin, Queen of Heaven. A Short Treatise on Marian Theology. (E.T. by Gordon
Smith.) Dublin and London, 1956.pp 48 ff.
101
See the material in a condensed form in Philip Hughes, The Church in
Crisis: A History of the General Councils 325-1870. New York: Doubleday, 1961.pp.
46-47, or Hefele, op.cit.
97
98
display of popular pious use of the term theotokos should have been
sufficient warning to Cyril and the other Council fathers of where
the real source of the problem lay, but they did not, or could not,
face that problem. T h e fact is that even today "Mother o f G o d " is a
very subtle theological term, a popular and careless use o f which
is likely to result in the conclusions indicated by the Ephesian
populace. In their minds, there was probably little or no difference
between Artemis and Mary.
But the council of Ephesus was not interested in Mary and that
is the point to keep in mind. It approved of the term theotokos not as
a prerogative o f Mary, but as an expression of the doctrine of the
two natures of Christ. "Theo-tokos" unites the idea of God {"theo" )
with the ideal o f human birth ("-tokos"
) and thus presents the
Christian idea o f the incarnation in a well balanced way. This

balance between the two natures had been scrupulously observed
by Cyril, especially in the later debate that led to Chalcedon. T h e
references in this debate to the human side o f the incarnation
make it clear beyond the shadow of a doubt that the fathers were
not interested in conferring privileges upon Mary; their only
concern was to give adequate expression to their faith about the
person of Jesus Christ. However, in their struggles for a correct
formulation o f their faith, they referred more and more to Mary.
Thus, to use Nestorius' words, Mary was included "in the topic o f
theologia." Once this happened, the way was opened for a shift in
emphasis. Even in Ephesus, the fathers who said "theotokos" were
concerned about him who was born. But it is very easy, indeed, to
place the emphasis on her who bore him, and when this happens
a Christological statement immediately becomes a Mariological
dde.
As soon as Mary was included as a theological argument in
the Christological debates, Mariology became a theological discipline. Now let us investigate the outstanding characteristics of this
early
Mariology.
T h e Christological debates were centered on the problem of the

natures o f Jesus Christ. While the New Testament is basically
concerned with the question of what God has done in Christ, and
not who Christ was, the fathers o f the church were f o r c e d to
discuss the issue because the incarnation was not easy to accept or
to explain. T h e statement "God became man" contains a contradiction to which Celsus logically objected that if G o d were to
258
c o m e down to men he would have to " u n d e r g o a change, a

change from g o o d to evil, from virtue to vice, f r o m happiness to
misery, and from best to worst." 102 In the face o f such criticism
Christian theologians had n o alternative but to d e f e n d what
O r i g e n called "the condescension (katabasis) of God to human
affairs." T h e issue had to be clarified for the benefit of the church
as well, f o r questions similiar to those Celsus raised were also
asked within the church. T h e union of the human and the divine
in Jesus had to be explained in some way. In this endeavor the
fathers made extensive use of Philippians 2:5 -11: "Have this mind
among yourselves, which you have in Christ Jesus, who, though
he was in the form o f God, did not count equality with G o d a
thing to be grasped but emptied himself taking the form o f a
servant, being born in the likeness of man. A n d being found in
human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto
death, even death on a cross. T h e r e f o r e God has highly exalted
him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and
on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." 103
T h e means by which the self-emptying takes place is the birth
f r o m the virgin's womb. T h e second century fathers referred to
Mary in this way. 104 In the later controversies Mary was again
represented as the means of the kenosis. This motif played an
important role in the Arian controversy and afterwards even
Apollinarius used it when he wrote, "Incarnation is self-emptyi n g . " 1 0 5 According to Gregory of Nazianzen, the kenosis was God's
way o f liberating mankind from the bondage o f sin. "For in truth
he was in servitude to flesh and to birth and to the conditions o f
our life with a view to our liberation, and to that of all those whom
Origen, Against Celsus 4, 14. ANF IV, 502.

See the exegesis of this passage in Cullmann, Christology...pp.174
ff.
Also Donald G. Dawe, The Form of a Servant/A Historical Analysis of the Kenotic
Motif. Philadelphia: Westminister, 1964.
104
See S. Benko, "Second Century References to the Mother of Jesus."
Religion in Life, Vol. X X V I , N o . 1. 1956-57 Winter Issue, pp. 98 ff. T h e thesis of
this article is that references to Mary in the second century are always in
connection with the humanity of Jesus. See also H. v. Campenhausen, The
Virgin Birth in the Theology of the Ancient Church. Studies in Historical Theology,
N o . 2. L o n d o n : S.C.M. Press, 1964.
105
Dawe, op.cit., p.60.
102
103
he has saved who were in b o n d a g e under sin. What greater

destiny can befall man's humility than that he should be intermingled with God, and by this intermingling should be deified,
and that we should be so visited by the day-spring from on high
that even that holy thing that should be born should be called the
Son of the Highest and that there should be bestowed upon him a
name which is above every name? A n d what else can this be
than God - and that every knee should bow to him that was made
of no reputation for us, and that mingled the form of God with the
form of a servant, and that all the house o f Israel should know that
God has made him both Lord and Christ? For all this was done by
the action of the begotten, and by the g o o d pleasure of Him that
begot him." 1 0 6
A similar position was also taken by Cyril of Alexandria who
made extensive use of the kenotic motif in his writings against
the Antiochean theologians. 1 0 7 In his letter to John o f Antioch,
accepting the so called "Formula of Union of 433" which sought
to reconcile the two groups separated at Ephesus, Cyril wrote: "For
you must surely clearly understand that almost all our fight for
the faith was connected with our declaring that the holy Virgin is
theotokos. But if we say that the holy body of Christ the Savior o f us
all was from heaven and not of her, how could she be thought o f
as theotokos ? For whom indeed did she bear, if it was not true that
she bore Emmanuel after the flesh ...? But since God the Word,
who descended from above and from heaven, emptied himself,
taking the form of a servant and is styled Son o f Man, while
remaining what he is, that is, God, there is one Lord Jesus Christ,
although the difference of the natures is not ignored, out of which
we say that the ineffable union was effected." 1 0 8
In the West, Hilary of Poitiers (ca. 315-367) used the kenotic-
106
The Fourth Theological Oration, 3. Hardy and Richardson, op.cit., p. 178
MPG 36, 105-108. Other interesting passages from Gregory include Oration II,
23 ( N P N F Series T w o , Vol . 7, 209); Oration 12, 4 (ibid., p. 246); Oration 37 2
(ibid., p. 338) Oration 37, 3 (ibid., p. 339) which explains the reason of kenosis
with the following words: "But inasmuch as H e strips Himself for us, inasmuch as H e comes down (and I speak of an exinanition, as it were, a laying
aside and a diminution of His glory), H e becomes by this comprehensible."
See also his Second Letter to Cledonius Against Apollinaris,
Hardy and
Richardson, op . at., p. 227.
107
108
This is well summarized by Dawe, op. cit., pp.58 ff.

Hardy and Richardson, op.cit., p. 357.
260
motif: "Christ abode in the form o f G o d when H e assumed the

form o f a servant, not being subjected to change, but emptying
Himself; His unbounded might contracted itself, until it could
fulfil the duty of obedience even to the endurance of the body to
which it was yoked. But since H e was self-contained even when
H e emptied Himself, His authority suffered n o diminution, for in
the humiliation o f the emptying H e exercised within Himself the
power o f that authority which was emptied." 1 0 9 Similar notions
are also found in the works of Ambrose (339-397), who used the
words exinanire
(emptying) and celare ( h i d i n g )
concerning
the
divinity o f Christ in the incarnation. "For of a truth H e died in

that which H e took of the Virgin, not in that which H e had of the
Father ... For H e took on H i m that which H e was not that H e
might hide that which H e was." 110 It is possible that these two
men influenced Leo, bishop o f Rome between 440-461, in the
formation o f his own Christology. B e c o m i n g involved in the
Christological controversies through the Eutychian heresy, L e o
composed a letter, the so called " T o m e o f L e o , " which was intended to end the controversy at the Council of Ephesus of 449.111
T h e letter, however, was suppressed. It was not officially approved
until the Council of Chalcedon in 451, although not as the official
document o f the Council. Nevertheless, the letter is significant
because it is respresentative o f Western thinking on the Christological issue. In it, L e o made several references to the kenoticmotif. It seems that his mind constantly returned to the formulation of Philippians 2:5 ff.: "He took on him the form of a servant
without the defilement o f sins, augmenting what was human, not
diminishing what was divine; because the 'emptying o f himself,'
whereby the Invisible made himself visible, and the Creator and
L o r d of all things willed to be one among mortals, was a stoopingdown o f compassion, not a failure of power. Accordingly, the
same who, remaining in the form of God, made man, was made
Man in the form of a servant. "
112
L e o is clear that the kenosis, the
109
On the Trinity, II 48. NPFN 9, 217 MPL 10, 431 f. See also in the same
book 8.45; 9.14; 10.25; 12.16.
110
On the Holy Spirit, Book I, Chapter 9, 107 NPNF 10 107, M P L 16, 759.
See also De Incarnationis Sacramento 5, 41. mpl 16, 804.
111
Contemptuously, L e o called this synod "Latrocinium," i .e., "Synod of
Robbers."
112
Hardy and Richardson, op.cit. pp.363 f. See Also H e f e l e , op.cit.pp. 225
ff., or NPNF Series T w o , 12, 38 ff. and in the same series among the acts o f
humiliation of Christ, lies in his being "made o f a woman, made

under the l a w , " l i s i.e., being born of Mary. T h e Son o f G o d
descended from heaven and entered this lower world: the Lord o f
the universe allowed his infinite majesty to be overshadowed and
took upon him the form of a servant.114 T h e Virgin supplied the
matter of Christ's flesh; the divine power is manifested by the
new m o d e o f birth in which the incarnation took place. That is
the true significance o f the Virgin birth of Christ, since to deny
his true flesh is also to deny his bodily sufferings. 115
What, then, were the outstanding characteristics o f Mariology
as it first e m e r g e d from the Christological controversies? It is
characterized by the words "condescension" (katabasis) and "selfemptying" (kenosis). Mary supplied the means by which this condescension and self-emptying took place. Incarnadon, being born
o f Mary, was a humiliation for Christ which made him o f n o
reputation. What he received from her was "the form o f a servant" and thus we see that the fathers spoke o f Mary in closest
connection with Heilsgeschichte, that is, with Christ's obedience in
condescending to human affairs. For them, to speak about Mary
was meaningful only in view o f God's revelatory actions. 116 H e r
significance lay not in her being, but in her involvement in a
particular ("fullness of time") in redemptive history, when God sent forth his Son, born of woman. 117
This is the crucial point, the point at which the Council fathers
failed. Ephesus was a victory for the theologians and priests, who
successfully defended orthodoxy from pagan influences, especially from the dreaded idea of polytheism. In the process, however,
they failed to recognize the rapid progress of an already deeply
rooted popular religion which adopted and baptized innumerable
pagan practices. T h e veneration of martyrs, saints, statues, relics
and amulets became accepted expressions o f pious devotion. All o f
these, however, faded in comparison with the devotion accorded
to the Virgin Mary. T h e excellent fathers of orthodoxy did their
the Council of Chalcedon (451), vol. 14.254. T h e Latin text is available in

Miene, PL 54, 756 ff.
115
Hardy and Richardson, op.cit. p. 365.
114
Ibid., p.364.
115
Ibid., p.367.
116
O. Cullman, Christology. op.cit. p.293.
117
Gal. 4.4.
262
best to secure the full humanity and full divinity of Jesus Christ.
But they did not adequately deal with Mariology. Only if Mary is
part o f sinful mankind could she supply to Christ the "form o f a
servant." But the questions raised by such a union were so great
that the most specious reasoning could not answer them all. T h e
solution came when the concept of Mary's "immaculate conception," i.e., complete sinlessness, including freedom from original
sin, was fully developed. Then incarnation could be understood as a
true cosmic event paralleling the primeval "communia dei et hominis. " In Mary, the Immaculate, the divine united himself with
mankind prior to sin and thus the new creation could take place.
T h e adoption of the title theotokos paved the way toward this
development, but it was, as a theological definition, several steps
behind popular piety, which already depicted Mary clothed with
the sun and accorded her all the honor that pagans gave to their
Queen o f Heaven.
Thus the theological definition of Mary's role in the incarnation and consequently in the history of salvation came about in a
remarkably absurd way. In their attempt to avoid polytheism,
theologians included Mary in their Christological debates as an
argument for the humanity of Jesus. T h e results, however, were
exactly the opposite of what they intended, for once having included the mother o f Jesus in the "topic o f theologica, " the wheels
were set in motion that would lead to the declaration of the theotokos title. But a theotokos who is human is a contradiction, and so
the church entered upon the long and arduous journey toward
the final conclusion: the Mother of G o d must be the Queen of
Heaven.
EPILOGUE
M A R I O L O G Y : PAST A N D F U T U R E
A
SUMMARY
In this study we have traced the roots o f Mariology back into

classical Mediterranean devotion to the goddesses of fertility and
motherhood. Hopefully our thesis, that there exists a direct line
between the pagan goddesses and Mary and that Mariology is a
continuation of the veneration accorded to fertility goddesses, is
now substantiated.
W e have seen that pagan fertility goddesses were conceived o f
as fulfilling the feminine role in the divine act of creation, and
that therefore they represented the female principle in the divine
as well as everything that femininity means on a human level.
As such, goddesses filled a cosmic role, participating in the creation, maintenance, and nurture o f the universe and every living
thing in it. Because the central concept in their veneration was
motherhood, they were commonly called mother goddesses; one
o f their honorary titles was "Mother of the gods."
T h e veneration o f Mary strictly adheres to these principles,
f r o m which it is derived. She is the female agent in the "new
creation." Her participation in the divine act of redemption is of a
cosmic character, for as the mother o f the new generation she
stands with
the father. In
the figure o f Mary femininity is
divinized and m o t h e r h o o d is raised to the same level as the

fatherhood of God.
Classical Mediterranean spirituality conceived of the present
condition of the universe, in which divisions exist that did not
exist "in the beginning," as "unnatural." These divisions and
separations will disappear when the original conditions return.
O n e aspect o f this separation is the forceful disjunction of heaven
and earth, which is similar to the division o f male and female.
T h e separation, however, is not absolute; heaven and earth still
intermingle and earth is fertilized by the moisture of the sky.
Male and female similarly unite, albeit temporarily, in sexual
intercourse, which is an anticipation of the final consummation.
264
M A R I O L O G Y PAST A N D FUTURE
In acknowledgement o f this, the hieros gamos was practiced in

many ancient cults.
Christianity adopted, purified, and crystallized these ideas by
developing the theology of the recapituladon (or, as Irenaeus said
) of all things in Christ. In this theology, sexual
imagery was widely
used
and
the
union
of
all
things
was
demonstrated by reference to marriage. In this hieros gamos Mary

received the role o f the bride, as the "virgin earth" who was impregnated by the word o f God, as the symbol o f the church, the
bride of Christ, and as Queen of Heaven.
Thus in a theological perspective, Mary is the direct continuation o f the pagan goddesses and unites in herself the basic
principles that in Mediterranean piety underlay and determined
the worship of mother goddesses.
Historically the divinity o f Mary is first indicated in the book
o f Revelation and later in the piety o f Asia Minor where Christians were more sensitive toward the female aspect o f God due to
the influence of Cybele and the age old religious history o f Asia
M i n o r in which the union o f the divine and human was prominent. In this general geographic area the first Mariological
impulses appeared in popular piety, leading the way to later theological speculation. T h e motherhood of Mary, which is the basic
principle of Mariology, came from the pagan "Magna Mater" and
"Mother of the Gods" designations of certain goddesses. Here, too,
the influence o f Cybele was crucial, because o f all Greek and
Roman goddesses she alone could be called a "virgin mother";
thus she o f f e r e d the only possible connection with the Christian
image of the virgin mother of God. 1
This does not mean that other goddesses had no impact on the
Christian cult. W e have seen that popular piety easily identified
local goddesses with Mary. T h e rapid spread of the cult o f Mary is
due in no small measure to the fact that people could so easily
transfer to it the worship they had offered to their pagan goddess.
This development continued even in the N e w W o r l d , o n e example o f which is the cult o f the Virgin o f Guadelupe. However,
the influence o f these goddesses, including Isis, was secondary:
1
This has been pointed out by Lewis R.Farnell, The Cults of the Greek
States. O x f o r d : Clarendon,1907, vol. 3, pp. 305-306 and M. P. Carroll, op. cit.,
p. 10. Carroll also argues against deriving the Mary cult f r o m the cult o f Isis,
see op. dt., pp. 111-112.
265 M A R I O L O G Y PAST A N D FUTURE
for the origin of the cult, all evidence points to Asia Minor and to
Greco-Roman pagan piety. Other aspects of Mariology, such as
Gnosticism and the "Wisdom" (Sophia) concept, also enriched
Mariology but did not originate it. Mariology is firmly rooted in a
cosmic view o f redemption and only in this context can it be
understood.
T h e veneration of Mary cannot be viewed in isolation and it is
wrong to see it as a uniquely Christian phenomenon which grew
out o f Christianity without any outside influence, as it is sometimes claimed by Mariologists. But it would be equally wrong to
claim that the introduction of Mary into Christian thinking was a
relatively late phenomenon and therefore does not belong to the
original stratum o f Christian theology. This position has often
been taken by opponents o f Marian piety who also point out that
the cult o f Mary began to flourish only after the Council
of
Ephesus in 431. While it is certainly true that after 431 Mariolatry

spread rapidly, it is equally true that in an implicit way the
cosmic role o f Mary in salvation can already be detected in the
nativity stories of Matthew and Luke, in Revelation 12, and then,
f r o m the middle o f the second century on, in numerous investigations o f the Eve-Mary parallel.
What is the future of Mariology? This depends on the work o f
Christian
scholars and theologians. This study suggests that
Mariology offers a way to deal with a major deficiency o f Christian theology in which the feminine image of G o d has all but
disappeared.
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CHAPTER FIVE
Article, "Altar" by various authors in Die Religion in Geschichte and Gegenwart.
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, "Die eigenartige Marienverehrung der Philomarianiten oder Kollyridianer in Arabia." Antike und Christentum 1 (1929) pp. 107-140.
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Hinrichs'sche Suchhandllung, 1916.
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P f e i f f e r , R. H., Introduction to the Old Testament. N e w York: Harper, 1948,
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CHAPTER SEX
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Altaner, B. - Stuiber, ., Patrologie. Freiburg: Herder, 1966.
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Seboldt, Roland H., Christ or Mary ? The Coredemption Role of Mary in Contemporary Roman Catholic Theology. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House,
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Soll, George, Mariologie. Freiburg: Herder, 1978.
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T r e d e , Th., Das Heidentum in der rmischen Kirche. Gotha: I. A. Perthes, 1889.
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Van Essen, C. C., "Venus Cloacina" Mnemosyne 9 (1956) 137-144.
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Wilamowitz-Mollendorf, von, "Excurse zu Euripides Herakliden," Hermes 17
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Warner, Marina, Alone of All Her Sex. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1976.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Abbott, Walter M., The Documents of Vatican II. New York: Guild Press, 1966.
Barth, Karl, Christ and Adam, Man and Humanity in Romans 5. N e w York:
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Beckman, J., "Weihnachten", RGG 3, vol. VI p. 1564.
Benko, S., "Second Century References to the Mother of Jesus." Religion in
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Brown, Peter, R. L., The Cult of the Saints. Chicago: University o f Chicago
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Brown, R. E., Donfried K. P., Fitsmyer J. ., Reumann, J., ( e d d . ) , Mary in
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Burghardt, Walter J., "Mary in Eastern Patristic T h o u g h t " in Juniper B.
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Eichrodt, Walter, Theology of the Old Testament. Philadelphia: Westminster
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Filson, F. V., A New Testament History. Philadelphia: Westminster Press,
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Gibbs, John G., Creation and Redemption. A Study in Pauline Theology. L e i d e n :
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H e f e l e , Ch. J., A History of the Councils of the Church. V o l . 3, English
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Midrasch. Mnchen: C. H. Beck, 1922 (reprinted 1956).
GENERAL I N D E X
Aelian
De natura, 177
Aeschylus
Fragment 90,
Libation Bearers 207, 209
Seven Against Thebes 207
Prometheus 207
Akhenaton - Aton 103
Alastruey, Gregory 3
A l b r i g h t , William F. 78
Alcuin 135
Altheim, Franz 207, 215
Alexander o f Abunoteichus 34, 141
Ambrose of Milan 35
De mysteriis 18
InLucam 212
Exp. Ev. Luc 234
De inst. Virg. 234
De Obitu Theod. 234
Ambrose Autpert 135
Ammianus Marcellinus 35
Andreas of Caesarea
Commentary 133
Andresen, Carl 137
Anthes, Rudolf 118, 119
Anthesteria 62-65, 67, 127
Aphrodite 24, 31, 54, 56
Apollinarius 250 f, 254
A p o l l o 143, 156
Apollonius (Anti-Montanist) 161
Apollonius o f Rhodes
Argonautica 89
Apophis 86, 118f
Apringius
Tractatus 134
Apuleius
Golden Ass (Metamorphoses) 14,
31,46,49, 72, 77, 79, 98, 102, 111
Ara Coeli, Church of 33, 164
Aratus
Phaenomena 111
Aristophanes 7, 8, 80, 175
Aristotle
De caelo 87-88
De mirabilibus 100
Athenian Const. 210
Arnobius
Contra gentes 179
A r r o w s m i t h , W i l l i a m 179
A r t e m i s 31
Artotyritai 162
Ashe, Geoffrey 192
Asklepios 141, 180f
Aland, Kurt 137
Astarte 3, 57
Astral motifs 108ff
Astrology 86
Atargatis 31, 57, 58
Athanasius 203, 250f,
Apologia 153
Athanassakis, Apostolos 45, 209
Athena 33, 181, 203
Athenaeus
Deipnosophistae 99, 178, 179
Athenagoras
Supplication,
153, 209, 230
Attis 51, 71, 76, 159, 164
Attridge, Harold W. 53
Audollent, Auguste 22, 30
Augustine
Questiones 31,
De civitate dei 32, 34, 36, 37, 77,
79, 81, 90, 134, 210
Enarratio 37, 41
Sermon 42, 235
De Symbolo 134, 235
Dehaer. 150, 162
De benedictione 182
Epistolae 182
Opus imperf. 183
De genesi 212
In Ps. 239
In Joh. Tr. 239
Tract. 239
Aurelius, bishop 41
Austin, R.G. 143
Bailey, Cyril 70
Bailey, D.S. 148
Bangerter, Otto 149
Baptism 50, 75 (Taurobolium and
Baptism), 79 (Change o f clothi n g ) , 125 (Tertullian)
Baramki, Dimitri 22
Barnes, Timothy D. 137
Barth, Karl 238
Bartholomew, Gospel o f 12
Batey, Richard A. 167
Baudissin, W o l f 25
Baumann, Herman 8, 78, 208
286
GENERAL
Bayer, F. W. 174
Beatus 134
Beda 134
Begg, Ean 214
Behm, Johannes 175
Belck, Waldemar 137
Benko, Stephen 1, 2, 9, 93, 109,
114, 123, 141, 144, 152, 162, 182,
188, 190, 239, 258
Benz, Ernst 8
Bernard of Clairvaux, St. 228
Bertholet, Alfred 8, 23, 79, 127
Betz, Hans Dieter 116, 144
Bickerman, Elias J. 26, 28
Black goddesses 21 Off.
Blome, Friederich 186
Boer, Charles 209
Boff, Leonardo 227f.
Boll, Franz 86, 110
Bolle, Kees W. 91, 208
Bonnett, Hans 118, 119, 124
Bonwetch, D. Nathanael 137, 143,
146, 162
Borgeaud, Willy 63
Bousset, W i l h e l m 85
Boyer, Carolo 206
Brandon, S.G.F. 88
Bratton, F.G. 103
Brinktrine, J. 247, 250
Brock, Sebastian 107
Brown, Peter 11, 148, 162
Brown, M.R. 213
Brown, R.E. 84, 236, 246
Bruguera, Justino 213
Brunner, Emil 1
Bruns, J.E. 84
Brunswick, Sheldon 59
Budge, E.A. Wallis 118, 122
Burch, U. 106
Buckley, Jorunn J. 9
Burghardt, Walter J. 203, 236, 240
Burrus, Virginia 74
Bynum, Caroline Walker 7
Caelestis 5, 20, 21-43, 56, 79, 81,
101, 129, 146, 223, "daemon of
Carthage" 26
Caesarius
Expositio 134
Calder, W.M. 137, 157, 161
Caligula (Gaius) 44
Callistus 145
Campbell, Ena 215
Campenhausen, H.V. 258
INDEX
Carol, Juniper B. 14, 204, 221, 252,
256
Carrigan, K. 148
Carroll, Michael P. 166, 168, 192
264
Carthage 22ff, 27, 29, 31, 81
Carvoran Inscription 112
Cassiodorus 133,
Complexiones 135
Castration see Galli
Catullus
Attis (#63) 73
Celestine, bishop 254f.
Celsus
True Word 142
Charles-Picard, Gilbert 22, 23, 30
Charles-Picard, Gilbert and Colette
23
Chemerey, Peter 91
Chrysostom
Homily 156
Cicero
Verrine Orations 29
De diirinatione 29
De natura deorum 95
Clemen, Carl C. 23, 53, 58, 59, 86,
112
Clement of Alexandria
Protrepticus 75, 179
Paedagogus 209, 231
Clothing 79 (Transvestism), 101,
107 (Garments of Glory)
Collins, A d e l e Y. 84, 115
Constantine, Emperor
Oratio 114
Cornford, F.M. 91
Council of Chalcedon 256, 260
Council of Ephesus 136, 164, 216
256f., 260
Crawley, Ernest 68, 101
Cross, F.M. 24, 58
Culianu, Ian Petru 91
Cullman, Oscar 245, 246, 258, 261
Cumont, F. 30
Cureton, William 58, 59
Cutten, George B. 168
Cybele, Magna Mater, Great
Mother 5, 13, 14, 18, 20, 31, 40,
52, 65,70-82, 106, 129,30,138,
151, 152, 154, 158-169, 191, 201f.,
203, 211, 214
Cyprian
Quod idola 31
De lapsis 34, 35
GENERAL
Epist. 150
De habitu 153
De unitate 233
Cyril o f Alexandria 253ff.
Cyril of Jerusalem 161f., 188, 259
Czestochowa (Jasna Gora), Black
Virgin of 225
Daemons 108, 187
Dalman, Gustav 59, 60, 61, 62
Dance, Sacred 77, 201
Danielou, Jean 3, 149
Dautzenberg, Gerhard 149
Davis, G.H. 201
Davies, Stevan L. 9, 30
Dawe, Donald G. 258, 259
Day, John 115
Dea Syria see Syrian Goddess
de Chardin, Pierre Teilhard 6
de Labriolle, P. 137, 162, 163
Delahaye, Hippolyte 56
Delius, Walter 1, 235, 247
de Lubac, Henri 6
Demeter 44, 68, 71, l74f., l77f.,
182, 190, 210
de Ridder, Cornelius A. 222
Deubner, Ludwig 67
Detienne, Marcel 65
Deucalion 54, 57, 62, 127, 207
Dibelius, Martin 230
Didymus of Alexandria
De Trinitate 138, 143
Dieterich, Albrecht 85, 113, 206f.
215
Dieterich, Ernst Ludwig 8, 23
Dio
History 96
Diodorus, Siculus 89, 174, 179
Diogenes Laertius
Prologue 93
Dionysus 46, 55, 58, 63, 65-70, 140,
152, 158, 166, 201
Dionysus of Halicarnassus 230
Dodds, E. R. 65, 143, 166f.
Dlger, Joseph 30, 54, 113, 124,
163, 174, 180, 183, 188, 191
Domaszewski, Alfred S. 30, 33, 113
Doresse, J. 127
Drexel, W. 43, 70
Drijvers, J.W. 6, 53, 78
Durand-Lefebvre, M. 215
Duthoy, Robert 74
Eichrodt, Walter 244
INDEX
287
Eissfeldt, Otto 186

Eisler, Robert 98, 100
Elagabalus 32, 33, 70, 104
Elah-Gabal 32
Eleusian Mysteries 65, 72
Eliade, Mircela 7, 13, 59, 70, 81,
106, 126f 208, 209, 212, 216
Empedocles
Fragment 120
Engelsman, Joan Ch. 168
Ephraem the Syrian 53
Enthusiasm (Entheos) 143, 149,
156, 157, 158, 167
Epiphanius 163, 193
Panaron 132, 135, 137, 138, 142,
144, 145, 146, 149, 153f., 162, 170,
190f. 192, 212, 240, 241
Erman, A d o l f 88
Ernst, J 84
Esposito, John L. 165
Eucharist 76, 182, 188
Euripides
Bacchae 64, 66, 210
Fragments 89, 90, 96
Ion 98
Aeolus 120
Eusebius 163, 193,
Vita C. 38
Historia Ecclesiastica 137, 140,
142, 143, 146, 147, 152, 157, 161,
191,249
Praeparatio 179
Eutyches 256
Eutychius, Patriarch 193
Eva-Maria 168, 169, 195, 229ff.
Evans-Pritchard, E.E. 67
Farnell, Lewis R. 175, 179, 264
Fauth, W. 179
Fehrle, Eugen 156
Fendt, Leonhard 3, 4, 5
Ferculum (religious banquet) 36
Filastrius 40
Ficker, Gerhard 137
Firmicus Maternus
De errore 32, 40, 45, 70, 75, 76, 77,
240
F i r m i l i a n 150
Flgel, J.C. 101
Foerster, Werner 27, 110
Fontenrose, Joseph 117, 120
Ford, Messingberd J. 137, 159
France, Anatole 146
Frankfort, Henry 118
288
GENERAL
Frazer, James G. 89, 177, 179

Freud, W.H.C. 137
Friederich, Johannes 65
Frost, Frank J. 100
Furtwngler, A. 25
Galli, 40, 55, 57, 73-74, 77, 78, 152,
161
Gallinger, H. 94
Gaster, T h e o d o r H. 115, 117, 121
Gibbon, . 40
Gibbs, J o h n J . 238
Giles, F. J. 103
G i l l i n g e r , H i l d e g a r d 95
Girandoot, N J . 91
Glossolalia 144
Glotz, Gustave 100
Goodspeed, EJ. 9, 116
Gordon, Cyrus . 117
G o r e e , William B. 137
Grant, Michael 86, 117
Grant, Robert M. 9, 127
Graef, Hilda 134, 235, 252, 256
Graves, Robert 67, 115, 118, 179,
201, 208
Great Mother see Magna Mater,
Cybele,
Great Mother Archetype 12
Greely, Andrew M. 6, 80, 81
Gregory Nazianzen
Oratio 211, 259
Epistle 25If., 259
Gregory of Nyssa
In diem nalalem 240
Letter to Eustathia 253
Griffith, F.L.E. 124
Griffiths, J. Gwynn 44, 111, 118,
121
Gryson, Roger 149
Gunkel, Hermann 85, 107, 115
Gurel, Lois M. 101
Guthrie, W.K.C. 65, 66, 88, 91,
122, 128, 180, 201, 207
Haase, Felix 193
Halsberghe, G.H. 30, 103
Halver, Rudolf 106
Hardmann, Oscar 206
Harnack, A. 137, 174, 204f.
Hase, Karl von 1
Heath, Thomas 110
" H e a v e n " 22, 87-95
H e f e l e , Ch.J. 253, 260
Heil, John Paul 125
INDEX
Heine, Susanne 149
Helios 57, 103
Hempel, J. 244
Henze, Helen R. 124
Hera 31, 53, 56
Herrn, Gerhardt 22
H e r m a n n , A. 124
Hermas
Shepherd 116, 154, 229
Herodas (Herondas)
Miniambus 180
Herodian
History 33, 70
Herodotus 13, 14, 17, 25, 39, 45, 65,
66, 124, 167, 178, 179, 191
Hervieux, Jacques 201
Hesiod
Theogony 7, 24, 89, 90, 111, 117,
118, 209
Weeks and Days 123, 207
Heyob, Sharon K. 43, 44, 45, 48, 49,
51
Hierapolis 53ff., 81, 127
"Hieros Gamos" 63, 67, 68, 69, 76,
104, 127, 152, 158, 167
Hilary o f Poitiers
In . Math. 242f.
De Trinitate 260
On the Holy Spirit 260
De Incam. 260
Hildegard von Bingen 153
Hippolytus
Refutation 34, 138, 142, 148f., 175,
209
Treatise on Christ 131,
Philosophumena 145, 146
Contra Noetum 241
Hirst, Desire 10
Hrig, Monika 53, 57
H o f f m a n n , RJ. 142
Holtzmann, Oskar 94
Homer
Iliad 120, 122, 207
Odyssey 118
Homeric Hymns 90, 117, 175, 209
Hopfner, T h e o d o r 27, 50, 109, 119,
191
Horace
Odes 30, 123f.
Horn, Marilyn J. 101
Hubbard, Margaret 124
Hughes, Philip 256
Humphrey, W.L. 186
Huss, W e r n e r 23
GENERAL I N D E X
Huynen, Jacques 212
Hyde, Walter W. 166
Ignatius 161, 182, 196, 248
Innitzer, T h e o d o r Kardinal 84
Irenaus 10, 131, 169, 240
Adv. Haer 140, 144, 155, 205, 211,
231, 236f., 239
Isis 5, 13, 14, 15, 20, 31, 43-53, 56,
85,120,124
Julius Solinus 30
Jackson, S.M. 174
Jaeger, W e r n e r 122
Jger, F. 124
James, E.O. 16, 117, 177
James, P.P. 84
Jeremiah, prophet 25, 184f.
Jeremias, Alfred 86, 110, 116, 184,
186
Jeremias, Joachim 244
Jerome
Epistolae 34, 131, 134, 138
Joseph us
Antiquities 51, 183f.
Judeich, Walter 62
Jlicher, A d o l f 137, 150
Julia Domna 33
Julian, Emperor 35, 80, 81, 103,
129
Jung, Karl 12, 13
Juno 22, 28, 29, 31, 33 (Juno
Moneta) Caelestis 30ff., 40, 51,
53, 80, 99, 112
Justin Martyr
Dialogue 169, 236
Apology 1
Juvenal
Satires 210
Kaiser, Otto 115
Kees, Hermann 118, 121, 124
Kelly, J.N.D. 182, 245, 249
Kelly, Joseph P. 204
Kelsey, Morton T . 168
Kernyi, Karl (Karoly) 63, 65, 104
164, 201
Keuls, Eva C. 65
King, Karen L. 15
King, N . Q . 251
Kirk, G.S. 122
Klauser, Th. 175
Klinz, A l b e r t 67
Kloos, Carola 115
289
Knopf, Rudolf 9
Knox, R.A. 168, 180
Koch, Glenn A. 170
Koch, H u g o 236
Koepgen, Georg 6
Kollyridians 3, 18, 25, 163, 169,
170-195
Koran 194
Kosnetter, Johann 84, 87
Kramer, Samuel N. 67, 88, 116
118, 122, 208
Kraemer, Ross Shepard 65, 66 167,
170
Krause, W. 113
Labarre, Franz 22
Lactantius
Divinae Inst. Ill
Laing, Gordon J. 177
Lang, Charles H. 91
La Porte, Jean 149
Latte, Kurt 30
Laurentin, Rene 256
Lawler, Lillian B. 201
L e h m a n , Karl 97
L e e m i n g , D.A. 11
Leenhard, Franz J. 1
LeFrois, Bernard 131, 134
Leo, bishop of Rome 260
Leontius of Byzantium 193
Lietzman, Hans 84
Ligrinski, E. 23
Livy
Ab urbe condita 27, 28, 29, 66, 67,
70, 74
Lloyd, G.E.R. 122
Lohmeyer, Ernst 94, 95, 105
Long, Charles A. 88
Loofs, F. 249, 253
Lucian
De Dea Syria 53ff., 73
Dialogues of the gods, 72
Alexander 141
Philopseudes 142
Lexiphanes 208
Lucretius
De rerum natura 68,73, 90, 123,
208, 209
Lusley, F. Stanley 91
MacDonald, Dennis R. 8, 9, 79,
103
Macrianus 33, 34
290
GENERAL
Macrobius
Saturnalia 26, 27, 103, 188
Maenads 5, 201
Magisterium 219
Magna Mater see C y b e l e
Mal bon, Elizabeth S. 125
Man, A . 175
Mar, Barbara 127
Markos, the Gnostic 3
Martial 73, l79f.
Martianus Capella
De Nuptiis 98, 99, 112
Mary, Virgin 1, 10
and paganism 2, 3, 4
virgin birth 10, 11
"virgin earth" 11, 18, 206-216,
223 (Black Madonna)
basic principle of Mariology 14,
82
and the Church 18, 229-245
and Isis 52
Queen of Heaven 83-136,
(Rev. 12) 130, 216ffand 4.
Eclogue 114
not to be worshipped 172
raised in the temple 197,
perpetual virginity 199, 202ff.,
dances in the T e m p l e 201,
immaculate conception 204,
titles 218,
co-redemptrix, mediatrix,
dispensatrix 222f.
dressed as a queen 225,
appearances 224f.
coronation 225
and the Holy Spirit 227-228,
theotokos 245ff.
Masson, Georgina 97
Matter, Ann E. 6
Maximilla 138ff., 171
Maximus the Confessor 6
McLaughlin, Elener 149
Meeks, Wayne A. 6, 79, 167
M e g a l e n s i a 71
M e l i t o 152
Meitzer, Otto 22
M e n z e l , Brigitte 39
Merkelbach, R. 115
Methodius o f Tyre
Symposium 131, 233
Meyer, Ed. 24, 43, 119
Meyer, Marion W. 70
M i e g g e , Giovanni 14, 165, 204, 253
Minucius, Felix Octavius 45, 52, 73
INDEX
Mischkovszki, Herbert 189
Mollenkott, Virinia R. 7
M o m i g l i a n o , A. 70
Mommsen, August 63, 175
Mommsen, T h e o d o r 30
Montanus 137ff.
Montanism 15, 17, 80, 130, 137-169
Morenz, Siegfried 88, 92, 118, 119,
122
Moscati, Sabatino 22
Mother Goddess, 5, 16
Movers, F.C. 22, 30
Mundle, Ilsemarie 30, 33
Munter, Friederich Ch. 23
Music, Sacred 77
Mylonas, G.E. 76, 175, 179
Nakedness, Ritual 102, 103
Nauck, August 89
Navigium Isidis 45f.
Nestorius 204, 253ff.
Neuman, Erich 12
Newman, John H., Cardinal 250
Niditch, Susan 115
Nilsson, Martin P. 27, 63, 65, 103
Nisbet, R.G.M. 124
Nock, D. 44, 47, 78
Norden, . 84, 143
Oberhammer, . 91
Obscenity in religion, 67-69, 179,
186
Ochshorn, Judith 13, 21
O ' C o n n o r , Edward D. 204, 206
Oden, Robert A. 53, 57, 58, 59
Oecumenius
Commentary 132
O'Flaherty, Wendy D o n i g e r 7, 8
Olson, Carl 6
Orgia 5, 65, 66, 68, 69, 165
Origen 131, 152, 250
Contra Celsum 3, 128, 156, 258,
De principiis 92
Osiris 44, 45, 120, 124
Osterley, W.O.E. 201
Otto, W. 65
Ovid
Fasti 29, 111, 175
Metamorphoses 111, 120, 122, 175,
176,207
Amores
Pagels, Elaine 156
Pantheon 96, 164
GENERAL
Papal bulls and letters
Ad Coeli Reginam 217, 220
Ad diem illum 220, 222
Adiulricem populi 223
Cum quorumdam 203
Fidentem piumque 223
Fulgens Corona Glonae 217, 220,
222
Humani Genesis 219
Ineffabilis Deus 204, 220
Inter sodalicia 2 2
Iucunda semper 2 2 2
Lumen Gentium 235
Mulieris dignitatem 226
Munificentissimus Deus 217, 222,
Mystici coporis 217
Octobri Mense 223
Redemptoris Mater 226, 247
Ubi primum 224
Papias 140
Patai, Raphael 8, 115, 208
Paul o f Samosata 249, 251
Pausanias
Guide to Greece 25, 62, 63, 71, 118,
156, 180, 209, 210
Pedley, John Griffith 23
Pelagius 204
Pepin, J. 97
Pepuza 139ff., 154
Perkins, P h e m e 16
Pertinax 33
Pesch, Otto Herman 206
Pestalozza, U. 16
Peterson, E. 107
Pfeiffer, R.H. 186
Pfister, F. 103
Phillips, John A. 238
Philomarionites (Kollyridians)
163
Philostratus
Imagines 24
Life 96
"Pillar Saints" 56
Pindar 24
Plato
Symposium 7, 8, 91, 108, 207
Timaeus 109
Menexenus 209
Pliny
Naturalis Historia 26, 53, 73, 78,
98, 181, 191, 210, 230
Pliny the Younger 196
Plutarch
De Iside et Osiride 24, 45, 50, 58,
INDEX
291
119, 120
Gaius Gracchus 29
Lives 30
Crassus 80
Lucullus 178
Polybius
Histories 26, 28
Polycarp 140, 157, 169
Pope, Marvin H. 67, 115, 186, 213
Popes John Paul II 225, 247
L e o X I I I 223
Pius IX 223
Pius X 220
Pius X I I 220
Powell, Douglas 137
Preisendanz, K. 23
Preston, JJ. 13, 16, 159, 215
Prigent, Pierre 128, 131
Primasius 133,
Commentarius 135
Priscilla 138ff., l 7 l , 191, 192
Pritchard, James B. 116, 118, 119
Proclus
Commentaries 90
Propertius
Elegies 177
Prostitution, T e m p l e 38f. 106 (promiscuity)
Protoevangelium of James 18, 38,
196-206
Prmm, Karl 2,5
Prudentius
Peristephanon 75
Pseudo-Eratosthenes
Catasterismi 111
Pseudo-Melito A p o l o g y 58
Pythia 143
"Queen of Heaven" 31, 57, 112, 129,
130, 170, 173, (Jeremiah), 185
(Jeremiah), 186, 188, 216ff., 262
Quodvultdeus 42,43, 136
Raven, J.E. 122
Ray, J. 117
Reuther, Rosemary 6, 149
Richardson, C.C. 9, 238
Ringgren, H. 95, 228
Roeder, G. 43, 118
Rohde, Erwin 63, 65, 66
Rondet, Henri 206
Ronzevalle, P. 23
Roscher, W.H. 30, 104
Roschini, P.G.M. 3, 27, 204, 221
292
GENERAL
Rose, H.J. 28, 63, 67, 175, 176 179,

189, 191, 201
Rousselle, Aline 11, 162
Rumi Jalal Al-din 165
Rupp, A. 65
Rylaarsdom, J.C. 61, 62
S. Maria Maggiore, Church o f 97,
164, 216
Salvian 43
Sanders, G.M. 70
Sandstrom, Alan R. 215
Scarborough, John 100
Schfer, Heinrich 98
Scheeben 221
Scheidt, David L. 19
Schepelern, Wilhelm 77, 137, 143,
160, 162
Schillebeckx, E. 223
S c h i m m e l , A n n e m a r i e 165
Schmaus, M. 206
Scullard, H . H . 27, 30
Seboldt, Roland H. 222
Seeberg, R. 137, 174
Selene (Luna) 54, 56, 104
Seneca
Apocolocyntosis 45
Epistolae 96
Septimius Severns 33, 139
Servius
Commentary on Virgil 26, 96, 210
Seth 119, 120, 122, 124
Sethe, Kurt 88, 90, 120
Showerman, Grant 70, 74, 165
Sibylline Oracles 123, 230
Sickelberger, J. 84
Silius Italicus 22, 32
Simeon Stylites 56
Simon, Ulrich 92
Simpson, Cathbert A. 115
Sjoo, Monica 127
Skinner, John 115
Smith, Jonathan Z. 10, 79, 103
Smith, Morton 19, 26
Smith, R. Bosworth 22
Socrates
Church History 258
Soll, Georg 206, 221
Solmsen, Friederick 43
Soper, Alexander C. 97
Sproul, Barbara C. 88
Staudacher, Willibald 88, 90, 122
Stauffer, E. 165, 244
Stocks, H. 53, 59
INDEX
Stow, M e r l i n 6
Strabo
Geography 53, 77
Suetonius,
Nero 57, 96
Swindler, L e o n h a r d 6
Symmachus 35
Syrian Goddess (Dea Syria) 20, 40,
53-65, 129
Taber, Linda M. 91
Tanit 23-29, 40, 54, 101, 185
Tatian
Oratio 230
Taurobolium 75, 78, 165
Taylor, H . O . 153f.
Tentori, Tullio 159
Tertullian 138, 240,
Apologeticum 31, 34, 79
Ad Nationes 31, 32, 34
De ieiunio 34, 101, 145, 146
De Baptismo 125, 150, 232
De Oratione 153, 232
Adv. Marc. 140, 240, 241
De Fuga 145
De carne Ch. 240, 24If.
De anima 145, 149, 180
De virginibus vel. 145, 150, 153
De monogamia 145, 147f.
De pudicitia 145, 232
De exhortatione 147
Ad uxorem 148
De praescriptione 150, 151,
Ad Martyras 232
TeVelde, H. 118, 119, 120, 124
Thaes 19
Theocritus 175
T h e o d o r e of Mopsuestia 253
T h e o d o r e t o f Cyprus
Historia Religiosa 55
Theotokos 5, 136, 249ff.
Thiele, G e o r g e 110
Thomas, Garth 70
Thomas, Gospel of 9
Thurston, Bonnie B. 149
Trajan 196
Tran T a m Tinh 44, 52
Trede, Th. 214, 224
Trible, Phyllis 6
Tyconius
Commentary 133f.
Typhon 86, 117, 124
Ulanov, Ann Belford 13
GENERAL
Ulpian
Regulae Iuris 27
Unger, D. 131
Usener, Hermann
54
INDEX
293
Warmington, B.H. 101

Warner, Marina 215, 224, 225
Water, Flood-waters 53, 54, 58, 60
(Hebrew), 62 (Greek), 121ff., 125
(Baptism), 127 (Genderless)
Watts, A . W . 8
Wehr, Lothar 182
Wendland, Paul 128
Werblowsky, R.J. Zwi 1
West, M.L. 122
Wetherington, Ben 149
White, Leslie . 103
Wieland, F. 189
W i l a m o w i t z - M o l l e n d o r f , U. 209
Wild, Robert A. 47, 49
Williams, F. 170
Willoughby, Harold 70, 72, 175
Winter, Chris 105
Winter, Urs 16, 39, 67, 186, 188,
Valerius Maximus 3, 38, 39, 81

Van der Leeuw, G. 13
Van Essen, C.C. 208
Van der T o o r n , Karen 39
Vatican Council II 224
Venus 38, 49, 80
Vermaseren, Maarten J. 53, 70,
71, 72, 74, 75, 165
Victor o f Vita 42
Victorinus
Commentary 133
V i d m a n , Ladislaw 43
Virgil
Aeneid 22, 28, 29, 32, 96, 143,
210, 229
Georgica 26, 122,
4. Eclogue 113, 189, 230
Virginity 11, 177
Vischer, Eberhard 85
Vogel, lui. 28
Vogt, Joseph 153
Vollert, Cyril 219
Xenophanes,
Fragment 207, 209
Xerophagies, (dry fasts) 35, 146
Wallace, Howard 115

Walton, Francis R. 57
Zeno of Verona Tractatus 234, 240

Ziegler, Konrad 91, 122
208
Witt, R.E. 15, 43, 52, 166, 212

Wnsch, Richard 180, 181, 183
Wst, Ernst 91
ILLUSTRATIONS
2. Mary " c l o t h e d with the sun with the m o o n u n d e r her f e e t . " A l b e r t

G l o c k e n d o n ( N r n b e r g , 1545) Gebetbuch des H e r z o g s W i l h e l m I V v. Bayern
(Reprinted by permission o f the Osterreichische Nationalbibliothek, W i e n . )
3. Black M a d o n n a o f Czestochowa. (Reprinted by permission o f the Kunst-verlag

Maria Laach.)
4. Dressed statue o f the Virgin with crown. L i n d e n h o l z , ca. 1150. Benediktiner

Priorat, Mariazell. (Reprinted by permission o f Foto Kuss, Mariazell.)
5. Cake m o u l d f r o m the palace o f Mari ( M e s o p o t a m i a ) f o r

making cakes in the f o r m o f Ishtar. (Reprinted by permission o f
the Runion des muses nationaux, Paris.)
6. Stamp o f a physician with the imprint . (Reprinted by permission o f the Historisches Museum, Basel.)
7. M o d e m roman catholic eucharistic host with the chi-rho motiv.
8. Hungarian roman catholic church Csiksomlyo, Transsylvania: M a d o n n a crowned

with twelve stars - o n her right S. Peter, left S. Paul, at her feet S. Francis and S.
Dominic.

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T H E VIRGIN GODDESS

NUMEN BOOK SERIES

P. ANTES, M. DESPLAND, RI J. HACKETT, M. ABUMALHAM MAS, A.VV. GEERTZ,

THE VIRGIN GODDESS

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Copyright 2004 by Koninklijke Brill NV, IAden, The Netherlands

I. T h e Pagan Goddess as a Concern for Christian

C. The Syrian Goddess

D. The Cult of Dionysus

E. Cybele, the Great Mother

A. T h e Woman Clothed with the Sun and Pagan

B. Early Christian Interpretations of the Woman

I V . The Great Mother and Montanism

B. Montanism, the Great Mother, and the

A. T h e Kollyridians according to Epiphanius..

B. Bread as an Element of Sacrifices

C. T h e Power of Consecrated Bread

D. W h o Were the Kollyridians?

V I . From Devotion to Doctrine

Epilogue: Mariology: Past and Future, A Summary

vania; Madonna crowned with twelve stars on her right S.

Acta Apostolicae Sedis

Migne, Patrologia Series Graeca.

Schriftsteller der ersten

mother goddesses and discussing extensively the philosophy of

and Mary so extensively if he did not have reasons to believe that

Fendt, op . cil., p . 80.

or historian of religion w h o would make the fine

distinction proposed by such distinguished scholars as Prmm

paid and eventually the

logy the Christian genius preserved and transformed some of the

1. W e cannot say "male" without at the same time saying

view is reflected in the biblical account of the creation of Eve from

Other Mythical Beasts, Chicago: University o f Chicago Press, 1980. O'Flaherty

which reenacts the primeval unity that existed prior to creation. 19

According to these canonical and aprocryphal sayings of Jesus,

undergoes a process o f cosmic rebirth. 2 3 H e r e Mary has her

means that Mary's unspoiled purity and innocence parallels the

w h o makes herself male will enter the Kingdom o f H e a v e n . " L o g i o n s 37

unspoiled state o f creation when "the Spirit of God was moving

those cosmic proportions that will more fully appear in Revelation

into its theology

such concepts as " v i r g i n "

"mother"; rather, it sharpened and refined images that already

mothers; our concept of life is inseparable from that of the womb;

the woman who was the cause o f

heaven," we must follow a chronological method of investigation

to show the continuity of the reverence paid to the female aspect of

kee: Bruce, 1955-61.

W e shall proceed in the following way.

P h e m e Perkins, "Sophia and the Mother-Father: T h e Gnostic Goddess," in

when they were pagans and after they became Christians. T h e

many elements of the cult o f Magna Mater, the Great Mother

However, they are a link between paganism and Christianity and

orthodox Christian theology (whatever " o r t h o d o x " may m e a n )

Had Mary not been adopted by the church as an alterna-