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Any fool can make history, but it takes a genius to write it. Oscar Wilde


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The invention of gods

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1The invention of gods Empty The invention of gods Sat Dec 17, 2011 9:54 pm

Mutatis_Mutandis



The Roman emperor Julianius became famous (or even notorious) for turning his back in Christianity and attempting to restore paganism. But as historians observed, Julianius could not turn the clock back: Instead he had to re-invent paganism as a consistent religion with established doctrines, something it had never been. Ancient Roman theological doctrines were flexible and syncretic, easily enough incorporating the deities of other cultures, although conservatives looked askance at some of the wild eastern cults. And of course some philosophers were skeptic about the chaotic nature of this belief system.

But importing deities is one thing, inventing new ones is different. The Ptolemies in Egypt created Serapis, and thoroughly synthetic deity incorporating features from various competitors: The cult appears to have been amazingly successful. The Romans routinely deified dead emperors, and although Seneca was rebellously satirical about Claudius apotheosis, it appears to have been accepted without much protest.

So what was the mechanism behind this? Were the new official cults entirely formal affairs, while people found comfort in the worship of their house gods? Did ancestor worship and the godly pantheon merge seamlessly enough to make deification a logical step? Did pagan gods have prophets, similar to the monotheistic religions, who came forward to announce the new god?

2The invention of gods Empty Re: The invention of gods Sun Dec 18, 2011 7:59 pm

mckay1402


Admin

This is an interesting question actually. It was well established that foreign gods could be imported. Herodotus claimed that most of the Greek Pantheon came from East. As for inventing gods I wasn't aware of this.

I do find it hard to believe that people would have totally bought into the idea of a living emperor being a deity unless it was formally established and there was some kind of 'evidence' to back up their deification. I also think that as a marketing tool for the empire it was second to none.

How does a god get invented? Do the priests make out this is a new god that has appeared to them or do they make out it's a god which has only just revealed itself?

Every god needs representation on earth so that might take the shape of a dedicated cult and priesthood or a prophet. Probably the cult comes first and then the prophet comes after I would expect...this is based on absolutely no evidence though.

Just out of interest what prompted the question?

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3The invention of gods Empty Re: The invention of gods Tue Dec 20, 2011 10:12 pm

Mutatis_Mutandis



mckay1402 wrote:Just out of interest what prompted the question?

The history of Rome podcast: Highly recommended. I would post the link if I could.

Maybe deified Roman emperors should be seen as more on the same level as Catholic saints. The Romans did have something of an ancestor cult, and it is not improbable that a Roman would make a small offering to, say, Augustus in the hope that the late emperor would intercede with the gods (or perhaps the current emperor.) The later cult of living emperors could be seen as a mystical way of communicating with them, almost as a form of sympathetic magic (though the Romans would probably have been horrified by the idea.)

The Greco-Egyptian cult of Serapis is more surprising. It is almost as if its founders regarded the divine as malleable, something you could a chunk of and cast it in the form you needed. Which is half-way to the depersonalized deism advocated by some philosophers.

4The invention of gods Empty Re: The invention of gods Wed Dec 21, 2011 8:21 am

mckay1402


Admin

I love the History of Rome podcast. I haven't had a chance to listen to the latest episode yet but you have intrigued me.

With regards to the Romans I would think it was mmore calculated as a tool to keep their people in line than a nod to their forebears. Having said that I hadn't considered the idea of them as living representations of god on earth. From anything I've read about them they did not seem to represent themselves in that way.

I think a major difference between these deified emporers and the saints is that the saints would never have represented themselves as god.

I am going to have to have a look into Serapis before i comment as it is not something I am aware of. I will get back to you on that...

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