Dictionary Of God And Godedesses

200 MinosART REFERENCES depicted with Juno and Jupiteron the Great Arch of Trajan at Beneventumerected in AD 115; frequently appearing on sarcophagioffering new life beyond the grave.See also ATHENA.LITERARY SOURCES Aeneid (Virgil), etc.Minerva is probably derived from an Etruscangoddess Menrva but later becomes modeled onthe Greek goddess ATHENA. Like the latter, shesprang fully armed from the head of JUPITER(ZEUS), whose head had been cleaved with Vulcan’sax. As Minerva Medica she is the tutelarygoddess of Rome. She is perceived variously asgoddess of war and peace, but also of wisdom andthe arts and crafts including needlework. Annualfestivals in her honor included the Minervalia andQuinquatria (March 19-23) at which the Palladiumstatue which had allegedly fallen fromOlympus was carried in procession.MinosMinor underworld god. Greco-Roman. A son ofZeus and Europa. The mythical king of Crete.One of three judges of the dead souls enteringHades. His cult is linked with the worship of bulls.MirsaGod of light. Pre-Christian Caucasus region.Probably derived from the Persian god MITHRA.Also the deity responsible for fire.MITHRA (friend)ORIGIN Persian [Iran]. God of the upper air.KNOWN PERIOD OF WORSHIP circa 400 BC toAD 200.SYNONYMS MITRA (Hindu); MITHRAS (Roman).CENTER(S) OF CULT throughout area of Persianinfluence.ART REFERENCES various sculptures and reliefs.LITERARY SOURCES Avesta.Originating in India, Mithra is a god of light whowas translated into the attendant of the godAHURA MAZDA in the light religion of Persia;from this he was adopted as the Roman deityMithras. He is not generally regarded as a skygod but a personification of the fertilizing powerof warm, light air. According to the Avesta, hepossesses 10,000 eyes and ears and rides in a chariotdrawn by white horses.In dualistic Zoroastrianism, which effectivelydemoted him, Mithra is concerned with the endlessbattle between light and dark forces; he representstruth. He is responsible for the keepingof oaths and contracts. He was born from a rockand, according to legend, engaged in a primevalstruggle with Ahura Mazda’s first creation, a wildbull, which he subdued and confined to a cave.The bull escaped, but was recaptured by Mithra,who slit its throat. From the blood sprang plantlife on earth. His chief adversary is AHRIMAN,the power of darkness. Mithra is not generallyworshiped on his own, but as an integral part ofthe Mithraic worship of Ahura Mazda, where heacts as an intercessor between gods and men. Inthe Hellenic period he was transformed moreclosely to the role of a sun god.See also AHURA MAZDA.MithrasGod of soldiers. Greco-Roman. Derived from theIndian-Persian model. He became particularlyprominent among military people throughout theRoman Empire during the first and second centuriesAD, as a god symbolizing loyalty and truth.The cult was performed in an underground temple,the mithraeum, and involved the sacrifice of abull. Mithraism, under Roman influence, was anexclusively male cult.