Seminar organized by the Doctoral School in Archeology (Prof. M.T. D'Alessio) and by the Doctoral Student in Philology and History of the Ancient World (Prof. P.Vannicelli)
Aula XXII, Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia
June 11 2024 July 11 2024
The Hellenistic creation of a huge Afro-Euro-Asian geopolitical space stretching from the Indus river to the Atlantic sea is the premise for the sharing on a large scale of cultural patterns, the intersection of traditions and the meeting of experiences in the religious field. Among the most evident cultural interferences should be counted the spread of
the cult of a deity of great fascination such as Mithras. In the Rig Veda Mitra is often found together with another
Āditya, Varuna. The Iranian Mithra shares many characteristic with his Indian namesake, and is mainly a solar divinity, leading in war and ensuring the treaties.The passage to Rome is less than clear, but we know that around this god a specific mythological heritage and, above all, a peculiar ritual code developed in the Mediterranean sphere, which in
the Late Antiquity had an extraordinary appeal.