Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Ancient Mysteries.—Ii. (Continued From Vol. Iv. P. 887.)
THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES . —If . ( Continued f rom vol . iv . p . 887 . )
Having considered the mysteries or worship of ancient Egypt , we pass on to take a more general view of the mysteries of other nations , their origin and their purport . Faber , * one of the most voluminous and laborious writers on this subject / makes them at least identical in purport , as alike professing to reveal to the initiated the history of the popular divinities , and promising to those who participated in them the benefits of a mysterious regeneration . Identifying then , by the evidence of facts and
the positive assertions of the pagans themselves , the various gods and goddesses of ancient mythology , we must , to a certain extent , and at least in purport , identify the various mysteries of these kindred deities . And on this point Faber differs with Bishop Warburton ( before alluded to in these papers ) , who , strenuously identifying the mysteries , yet denies the identity of the deities to whom they were dedicated .
The mysteries then , we find ^ though frequently called by the names of different divinities , were in substance the same . Thus , according to Strabo , the orgies of the Curetes , which were celebrated in commemoration of the mystic birth of Jupiter , resembled those of Ceres , Bacchus , and the ancient Cybele ; and poets and mythologists Avere
continually in the habit of joining together the mysteries of Bacchus and Silenus , the rites of Cybele , and the Avorship offered to Jupiter at Mount Olympus . And in the same manner many of the ancient mysteries and other sacred rites were spoken of under the same
circumstances , or mentioned by writers as identical . Warburton , however , while denying the identity of the deities , assigns Egypt as a common origin to the mysteries themselves , which is the view which we ourselves have also maintained ; but we occasionally find in Faber different origins assigned , as for instance , that there was a tradition among the Greeks , with regard to the Orjihic mysteries , ( which were among the most ancient ) , that the fabulous (?) hierophant Orpheus was a Thracian , and that the ceremonies themselves were of * Rev . George Stanley Faber , B . D ., late Fellow of Lincoln College , Oxford , afterwards Master of '^ lierbourn Hospital , and Prebendary of Sarunu VOL Y . R
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Ancient Mysteries.—Ii. (Continued From Vol. Iv. P. 887.)
THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES . —If . ( Continued f rom vol . iv . p . 887 . )
Having considered the mysteries or worship of ancient Egypt , we pass on to take a more general view of the mysteries of other nations , their origin and their purport . Faber , * one of the most voluminous and laborious writers on this subject / makes them at least identical in purport , as alike professing to reveal to the initiated the history of the popular divinities , and promising to those who participated in them the benefits of a mysterious regeneration . Identifying then , by the evidence of facts and
the positive assertions of the pagans themselves , the various gods and goddesses of ancient mythology , we must , to a certain extent , and at least in purport , identify the various mysteries of these kindred deities . And on this point Faber differs with Bishop Warburton ( before alluded to in these papers ) , who , strenuously identifying the mysteries , yet denies the identity of the deities to whom they were dedicated .
The mysteries then , we find ^ though frequently called by the names of different divinities , were in substance the same . Thus , according to Strabo , the orgies of the Curetes , which were celebrated in commemoration of the mystic birth of Jupiter , resembled those of Ceres , Bacchus , and the ancient Cybele ; and poets and mythologists Avere
continually in the habit of joining together the mysteries of Bacchus and Silenus , the rites of Cybele , and the Avorship offered to Jupiter at Mount Olympus . And in the same manner many of the ancient mysteries and other sacred rites were spoken of under the same
circumstances , or mentioned by writers as identical . Warburton , however , while denying the identity of the deities , assigns Egypt as a common origin to the mysteries themselves , which is the view which we ourselves have also maintained ; but we occasionally find in Faber different origins assigned , as for instance , that there was a tradition among the Greeks , with regard to the Orjihic mysteries , ( which were among the most ancient ) , that the fabulous (?) hierophant Orpheus was a Thracian , and that the ceremonies themselves were of * Rev . George Stanley Faber , B . D ., late Fellow of Lincoln College , Oxford , afterwards Master of '^ lierbourn Hospital , and Prebendary of Sarunu VOL Y . R