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Dionysos class! The prof has a new puppy, and we are all cooing over him enormously.
--also an elderly adoptive dog, and a new grandchild, so honestly that& #39;s a pretty great way to start the class.
Today& #39;s presenter on mystery cults asked the prof to cover her eyes while the rest of us indicated if we& #39;d actually done the reading or not, which was both wise and kind of him.
Anyway! We& #39;re starting on the mystery cult(s) of Dionysos vs. the public/state cult(s) for him.
We& #39;ll also be wandering through the Cult of Isis, because of /course/.
Gosh the Romans were big into Isis.
Gosh the Romans were big into Isis.
We& #39;re starting by, broadly, explaining what a mystery cult /is/. Loosely and with caveats: it& #39;s not a mystery cult unless the & #39;only the in-group gets to know this stuff& #39; aspect is /significant/ to the in-group.
So other people being /unaware/ of what happens in a ritual/group doesn& #39;t make it a mystery cult unless it& #39;s significant to the cult itself that outsiders not be allowed to know (much less experience) the details of interior practice.
(Mind, that& #39;s one aspect of focus where I think about the & #39;knowledge& #39; aspect, whereas another definition might legitimately, or better, focus on the & #39;initiate& #39; divide between in/out.)
Presenter: "I could& #39;ve made you read [a text about the Eleusinian mysteries], but I didn& #39;t, because I& #39;m a benevolent god and it& #39;s boring."
Prof: "You may be the first person who ever called Eleusis boring."
Presenter: "But have you seen the cult of Isis? That& #39;s some cool shit!"
Prof: "You may be the first person who ever called Eleusis boring."
Presenter: "But have you seen the cult of Isis? That& #39;s some cool shit!"
(What about subdivisions? Mystic cults! Sophic cults! Mystery cults! "It felt like an issue of modern scholars trying to define things that didn& #39;t necessarily need to be defined.")
