Marisia - Maros Megyei Múzeum Évkönyve 32/2. (2012)
Articles
Notes on a Mithraic Relief from Dragu 141 (Biehl-Bertemes 2001,11-27), thus the iconographic variety is somewhat predestinated by the nature of the sacred message, itself relative. The relief from Dragu is an eloquent example for the Roman provincial art, being a piece with several elements that are not typical - the aedicule shape, the position of the raven, of the lion, of the torchbearer - and with a character we could consider being an iconographic hapax. Based on the examples provided we tried to prove however that the religious message of a mystery cult, unreachable for the uninitiated and only partially known for most followers, appears so varied and rich in Roman provincial art that the theological ‘doctrine’ - and thus also visual - of the cult must be reinterpreted. The piece from Dragu is an example where we see with certainty the influence of regional workshops (place of discovery, poor craftsmanship), a possible influence of the different Eastern cults (the aedicule shape) and a tendency to minimize the mithraic, religious message. The flying figure from the right side of the relief can be interpreted, based on the given examples, as an over-sized symbol of a degree of initiation - most likely heliodormus or possibly nymphus -, as a symbol of the human soul in the world of the dead or simply as a mistake of the artist. The search for the torchbearer or the light-bearer - lucem ferre - through the eyes of a modern man is an attempt that is paradoxical and absurd, born from the essential nature of mystery cults, reflected by the famous quote “dicerem, si dicere liceret, cognosceres, si liceret audire” (Apuleius: Metamorphoses, XI. 23). Alvar 2008 BÄRBULESCU 1998 Bärbulescu 2003 BÄRBULESCU 2005 Beck 1984 Beck 1998 Beck 2006 Biehl-Bertemes 2001 Boda-Szabó 2011 Bradley 2009 CIMRM Clarac 1828 Clauss 1990 Cumont 2010 Finály 1904 Flood 1999 REFERENCES Alvar, J., Romanising Oriental Gods: Myth, Salvation and Ethics in the Cult of Cybele, Isis and Mithras, Leiden-Boston. Bärbulescu, M., Cultes et Croyances dans le Milieu rural en Dacie, IN: La politique édilitaire dans les provinces de l’Empire romain IIéme-iYme siecles apres J.-C., Tulcea. Bärbulescu, M., Interference spirituale in Dacia romanä, Cluj-Napoca. Bärbulescu, M. (ed.), Atlas-dic(ionar al Daciei romane, Cluj-Napoca. Beck, R., Mithraism since Franz Cumont, ANRW, II, 17.4, 2003-2115. Beck, R., The Mysteries of Mithras: A New Account of Their Genesis, JRS, 88,115-128. Beck, R., The Religion of the Mithras Cult in the Roman Empire, Oxford. Biehl, P.-Bertemes, Fr., The archaeology of Cult and Religion: an Introduction, IN: Biehl, P. F.-Bertemes, F.-Meller, H. (eds.), The archaeology of Cult and Religion, Budapest, 11-26. Boda, I.-Szabó, Cs., Notes on a Dolichenian Relief from Mehadia, Marisia, XXXI, 273-283. Bradley, M., The importance of colour on ancient marble sculpture, Art History, 32, 427-457. Vermaseren, M., Corpus Inscriptionum et Monumentorum Religionis Mithriacae I-II, Hague, 1956-1960. Clarac, E, Musée de Sculpture antique et moderne, ou description historique et graphique du Louvre, Paris, vol. 2. Clauss, M., Die sieben Grade des Mithras-Kultes, ZPE, 82,183-194. Cumont, E, Religiile orientale in pägänismul roman, Herald, (traducere dupä originalul francez din 1906). Finály, G., A Limes Dacicus és a pogojuri földvár, ArchÉrt, 24, 243-246. Flood, G., Beyond Phenomenology: Rethinking the Study of Religion.
