Dionysus-Osiris
Dionysus-Osiris, alternatively Osiris-Dionysus, is a deity arising from the syncretism of the Egyptian god Osiris and the Greek god Dionysus.
Syncretism
[edit]The two deities had been identified with each other as early as the 5th century BC, as recounted in the Histories of Herodotus:[1]
For no gods are worshipped by all Egyptians in common except Isis and Osiris, who they say is Dionysus; these are worshipped by all alike. [...] Osiris is, in the Greek language, Dionysus.
Other syncretic deities arose from these Egyptian-Greek conflations, including Serapis and Hermanubis.
Dionysus-Osiris was particularly popular in Ptolemaic Egypt, as the Ptolemies claimed descent from Dionysus, and as pharaohs claimed the lineage of Osiris.[2] This association was most notable during a deification ceremony where Mark Antony became Dionysus-Osiris, alongside Cleopatra as Isis-Aphrodite.[3]
In the controversial book The Jesus Mysteries, Osiris-Dionysus is claimed to be the basis of Jesus as a syncretic dying-and-rising god, with early Christianity beginning as a Greco-Roman mystery.[4] The book and its "Jesus Mysteries thesis" have not been accepted by mainstream scholarship, with Bart Ehrman stating that the work is unscholarly.[5]
See also
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References
[edit]- ^ Herodotus. Histories. George Rawlinson Translation. Book 2.
- ^ Kampakoglou, Alexandros v (2016). Danaus βουγενής: Greco-Egyptian Mythology and Ptolemaic Kingship. Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies. pp. 119–122.
- ^ Scott, Kenneth (1929). Octavian's Propaganda and Antony's De Sua Ebrietate (24th ed.). Classical Philology. pp. 133–141.
- ^ Maurice Casey Jesus: Evidence and Argument or Mythicist Myths? T&T Clark 2014 FREKE, N.T. and GANDY, L.P. p.17
- ^ Ehrman, Bart D. (2012). Did Jesus Exist?: The Historical Argument for Jesus of Nazareth. New York City, New York: HarperCollins. pp. 25–30. ISBN 978-0-06-220644-2.
External links
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