{"id":100,"date":"2014-11-30T22:33:24","date_gmt":"2014-11-30T12:33:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stevewatson.info\/blog\/2014\/11\/30\/dying-and-rising-gods\/"},"modified":"2014-11-30T22:38:59","modified_gmt":"2014-11-30T12:38:59","slug":"dying-and-rising-gods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stevewatson.info\/blog\/2014\/11\/30\/dying-and-rising-gods\/","title":{"rendered":"Dying and Rising Gods"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nI knew that Frazer\u2019s claim in his <\/span>Golden Bough<\/em> of a widespread myth of a dying and resurrected god had been heavily discounted amongst later researchers, but I still thought that the general template he presented was applicable to a significant number of myths, and not just around the Mediterranean. Frazer\u2019s explanation of the origin of the story was, roughly speaking, that it gave a narrative form to the experience of cyclical death and rebirth in the plant world \u2013 particularly in farmed crops such as corn which were extremely important to early agricultural societies. The importance of the crop and people\u2019s natural desire to affect the outcome led naturally to ritual expressions of the mythical narrative, as they tried to encourage its recurrence by repeating and re-enacting the story.<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

In fact, I had also assumed that an additional contributing factor to the supposedly widespread template could be sought in the transformation of the common forms of the shamanic experience (see, for exx., M. Eliade, Shamanism<\/em>) into more sophisticated and intellectualised forms affected by mythological retellings \u2013 such as we might see in the Christ story and the supposed Harrowing of Hell episode added quite some time later. (I don\u2019t doubt that the initial popularity of the Frazer paradigm was motivated by its usefulness as a stick with which to beat the Christians \u2013 as if to say that their story could be explained as just another version of a common theme; where to be explained was to be explained away. Christians of the time, and I think both Lewis and Tolkien are examples, felt obliged to react by claiming that God tells stories in the real world that we are prepared to understand because we\u2019ve seen them before in the mythological world. This, however, is beside the point.)<\/o:p><\/p>\n

It turns out, however, that there are very few models for any such template. There are a fair number of stories of dying gods, but the details of their stories are not at all regular. And neither is there any great regularity in their ritual expressions \u2013 when these even exist or can be discovered. There follows a selection of the deities most prominently offered as exemplars of the type, together with a schematic description of the relevant mythological content, and also with whatever may occur as a related ritual. It is noticeable that there are almost no examples of gods actually explicitly dying and rising again as required.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\n

God<\/o:p><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Myth Elements<\/o:p><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Rite Elements<\/o:p><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Adonis<\/o:p><\/strong><\/p>\n

(Ovid, Metamorphoses <\/em>X, 519-741)<\/o:p><\/em><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\u00b7\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>Born of a myrrh tree<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>Aphrodite<\/strong> falls in love with him<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>She entrusts him to Persephone<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>Persephone falls in love<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>He must spend 2\/3 of year with Aphrodite and 1\/3 with Persephone
\n—<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>He is gored by a boar and dies<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>Aphrodite mourns his death<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>Plants arise from his blood<\/o:p><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\u00b7\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>Adonis gardens are planted of quick living plants.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>As the plants die, women mourn for the death of Adonis. (In Roman times they find a revived Adonis. Lucian, De Dea Syria<\/em>, c.6.)<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/o:p><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Attis<\/o:p><\/strong><\/p>\n

(Pausanias, Guide to Greece <\/em>VII, 17.5)<\/o:p><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\u00b7\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>Born of an almond from a tree that grew from the removed genitalia of Agdistis (M&F)<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>Raised by a goat<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>Agdistis, now Cybele<\/strong> (F), \u00a0falls in love<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>Attis prepares to wed another but Cybele makes him castrate himself and dies<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>Father-in-law-to-be does same<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>Cybele stops body from rotting<\/o:p><\/p>\n

—<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>He is gored by a boar and dies<\/o:p><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\u00b7\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>Attis\u2019s death is commemorated.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>Frenzied mourners whip and some castrate themselves.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>Attis is entombed <\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>He rises (Macrobius, Saturnalia<\/em> 1.21.10)<\/o:p><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Osiris<\/o:p><\/strong><\/p>\n

(Plutarch, On Isis and Osiris<\/em>. 12)<\/o:p><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\u00b7\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>Osiris is trapped in a coffin by his brother Set and dies<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>He drifts down the Nile and becomes attached to a Tamarind tree<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>His wife Isis<\/strong> revives him<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>Becomes pregnant with Horus<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>Osiris dies again<\/o:p><\/p>\n

—<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>Set finds and dismembers his body<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>Isis recovers the pieces except the phallus and buries him<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>Osiris is revived<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>Becomes king of underworld<\/o:p><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\u00b7\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>The First Day<\/span><\/em>, The Procession of\u00a0Wepwawet<\/em>: A mock battle was enacted during which the enemies of Osiris are defeated. A procession was led by the god Wepwawet (“opener of the way”).<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>The Second Day, The Great Procession of Osiris<\/em>: The body of Osiris was taken from his temple to his tomb. The boat he was transported in, the “Neshmet” bark, had to be defended against his enemies.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>The Third Day:<\/em>\u00a0Osiris is Mourned and the Enemies of the Land are Destroyed.<\/em><\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>The Fourth Day, Night Vigil<\/em>: Prayers and recitations are made and funeral rites performed.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>The Fifth Day, Osiris is Reborn<\/em>: Osiris is reborn at dawn and crowned with the crown of\u00a0Ma’at. A statue of Osiris is brought to the temple
\n(\u2018Stele of Ikhernofret<\/a>,\u2019 tr. ex<\/span> <\/span>J. H. Breasted,\u00a0<\/span>Ancient Records of Egypt<\/em>,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Part\u00a0One,\u00a7\u00a7\u00a0663ff. List from wp<\/a>.)<\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Dumuzi\/Tammuz<\/o:p><\/strong><\/p>\n

S. N. Kramer, “Dumuzi’s Annual Resurrection: An Important Correction to ‘Inanna’s Descent'”\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>183<\/strong>\u00a0(October 1966:31<\/span>)<\/o:p><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\u00b7\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>Inanna\/Ishtar<\/strong> goes to the underworld<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>She attempts to take the throne there but is caught and killed<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>Enki\/Ea rescues her but a sacrifice is required<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>Inanna chooses Dumuzi<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>He flees to his sister Geshtinanna<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>Inanna relents and allows Dumuzi and Geshtinanna to each spend \u00bd of each year in the underworld<\/o:p><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\u00b7\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>Six days of funeral at the summer solstice.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>Women mourn for dead D\/T<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>Rejoicing at risen D\/T<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/o:p><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Dionysus\/Bacchus<\/o:p><\/strong><\/p>\n

(Diodorus BH <\/em>V 75.4<\/span>)<\/o:p><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\u00b7\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>Born of Zeus and Persephone (queen of the underworld)<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>Hera has Titans eat him \u2013 except for his heart<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>Zeus places heart in thigh where he is grown<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>He is born again<\/o:p><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\u00b7\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>Intoxication, rhythm, and dance lead to frenzy<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>Identification of participants with god.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/o:p><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

\u00a0<\/o:p>I do notice that more than a few of these stories have an element of sexual attachment in them. This is something that isn\u2019t properly explained by the template of the corn story, and is not what you\u2019d expect from the shamanistic aspect either. Perhaps it\u2019s just a natural addition people make to stories as a motivator for some kinds of actions: part of our set of innate narrative preferences.)<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

<\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I knew that Frazer\u2019s claim in his Golden Bough of a widespread myth of a dying and resurrected god had been heavily discounted amongst later researchers, but I still thought that the general template he presented was applicable to a significant number of myths, and not just around the Mediterranean. Frazer\u2019s explanation of the origin […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history","category-religion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevewatson.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevewatson.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevewatson.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevewatson.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevewatson.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stevewatson.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevewatson.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevewatson.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevewatson.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}