The orgiastic
ritual of the priests of Kybele made at first little appeal to the more
disciplined temperament of the Roman population. By degrees, however,
it won its way, and by the reign of Claudius had become so popular
that the emperor instituted public feasts in honour of Kybele and
Attis, feasts which were celebrated at the Spring solstice, March
15th-27th.[9]
As the public feast increased in popularity, so did the Mystery feast,
of which the initiated alone were privileged to partake, acquire a
symbolic significance: the foods partaken of became "un aliment de
vie spirituelle, et doivent soutenir dans les epreuves de la vie
l'initie." Philosophers boldly utilized the framework of the Attis
cult as the vehicle for imparting their own doctrines, "Lorsque le
Neoplatonisme triomphera la fable Phrygienne deviendra le moule
traditionnel dans lequel des exegetes subtils verseront hardiment
leurs speculations philosophiques sur les forces creatrices
fecondantes, principes de toutes les formes materielles, et sur la
delivrance de l'ame divine plongee dans la corruption de ce monde
terrestre."[10]
Certain of the Gnostic sects, both pre- and post-Christian, appear
to have been enthusiastic participants in the Attis mysteries;[11]
Hepding, in his Attis study, goes so far as to refer to Bishop
Aberkios, to whose enigmatic epitaph our attention was directed in
the last chapter, as "der Attis-Preister.
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