Mithras by Andrew Fear;

Author:Andrew Fear;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Taylor & Francis (Unlimited)
Published: 2022-06-15T00:00:00+00:00

MITHRAS AND THE SUN

The most frequent title for Mithras is that of Sol Invictus, the “unconquered sun” or the “invincible sun” but Mithras is not the sun as we know it. As we have seen, when he kills the bull, Mithras often looks back towards Sol and the presence of the raven implies communication between the two deities. After he has killed the bull, Mithras goes on to have a series of encounters with Sol. These are four in number. The first two have a clear order. Initially Sol kneels before Mithras, this is followed by a second scene in which the two gods face each other, sometimes across an altar. It is rare for neither vignette to be present among tauroctony framing panels, but often only one is found. However, the presence of both scenes on occasions shows that they illustrate different parts of the mythos and when both are present their order is invariably that described above. On the Barberini tauroctony, a third vignette inserted between these two shows Mithras kneeling between two Cypress trees raising his right hand to the vault of heaven.71 The two scenes are followed by two others whose order is less clear. In one Sol invites Mithras to ride in his chariot, in the other Mithras and Sol dine together. The banqueting scene is so common that it will be given a section of its own.

The first two scenes carry two distinct, but related, meanings. One is simply that of Sol’s submission to Mithras, though it may also show Mithras initiating Sol into the new order of things created after the sacrifice of the bull. In their first encounter Sol, who is often naked or dressed simply in a cloak, kneels, or at times squats, in a suppliant posture before Mithras who is dressed in his normal garb. This is the more common of the two scenes and, whatever the details, its message that Sol subordinated himself to Mithras is clear. Mithras advances towards Sol and is shown performing two actions, sometimes individually, sometimes together. The first is his brandishing an object over Sol with his right hand. The second is placing his left hand on Sol’s head, or sometimes on his shoulder. It is not clear what Mithras waves over Sol. Where Mithras holds it, it is thin, but then usually thickens out into a sub-rectangular shape. A common view is that it is a Phrygian cap with which Mithras then “invests” Sol. A pileus, or felt cap similar to a Phrygian cap, was given to a Roman slave when he was freed, and the goddess Libertas is often depicted on Roman coins holding a pileus by its centre point. This symbolism would be appropriate here, especially if Mithras’s sacrifice was seen as freeing the world in some sense. Yet it is not without problems. Why would Mithras wave the cap, rather than simply hold it as Libertas does? Moreover, the cap is never shown being placed on Sol’s head. Mithras invariably waves the cap with his right hand, but it is his left which is shown resting on Sol.

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