Mystic Cults in Magna Graecia

Chapter 15. The Amor and Psyche Relief in the Mithraeum of Capua Vetere: An Exceptional Case of Graeco-Roman Syncretism or an Ordinary Instance of Human Cognition?

Chapter 15 The Amor and Psyche Relief in the Mithraeum of Capua Vetere: An Exceptional Case of Graeco-Roman Syncretism or an Ordinary Instance of Human Cognition? Luther H. Martin The “main characteristic feature of Hellenistic religion[s]” such as Mithraism has been described as “syncretism,” as has the entire Hellenistic age (Grant 1953: xiii). However, the utility of this category of syncretism, usually understood as some sort of mutual influence upon a religious practice or representation by two (or more) cultures in contact, is contested. If employed as an explanatory category, as it often is, it explains nothing . From a historical perspective, all religions are syncretistic, that is, constituted of temporal antecedents and influenced by contemporaneous contingencies. Even when used as a descriptive category, consequently, “syncretism” is simply the redundant naming of a historically constructed conundrum to be explained (Martin 1983; see now Leopold and Jensen 2004 for an excellent historical and theoretical overview of uses of this category). If, then, we begin with the notion of Hellenistic syncretism as a problem to be explained, the Amor and Psyche relief in the Mithraeum of Capua Vetere, the only known presence of these popular Greek figures in a sanctuary devoted to the Roman deity Mithras, would appear to present an exceptional case indeed. The Amor and Psyche Relief in the Mithraeum of Capua Vetere The small (32 × 36 cm), white marble relief of Amor and Psyche in the Mithraeum of Capua Vetere portrays the nude, winged child Amor leading the larger (adult) female figure of Psyche, also winged, by the light of his torch (Fig. 15.1). He grasps Psyche’s left arm with his right hand while holding the torch in his left (CIMRM 186: see Merkelbach 1984: 296, 278 Luther H. Martin Abb. 27; Vermaseren 1971: 23 and pl. 20). Psyche wears an ankle-length diaphanous dress, the hem of which she holds in her right hand. As in conventional representations of the pair, the wings of Amor are birdlike, whereas those of Psyche are butterfly wings. Unlike conventional representations , the feminine attributes of Psyche have been moderated, giving her a more masculine appearance (Merkelbach 1984: 82).The relief, highlighted by a red border painted on the wall around it, was probably inserted in the wall of the Mithraeum during its first period of use, during the early to mid-second century CE (Vermaseren 1971: 49–50, 50 n. 1). Little discussion has been devoted to the significance of the Capuan Amor and Psyche relief. Reinhold Merkelbach considers Psyche to be a representation of the enigmatic “nymphus,” the second grade of Mithraic initiation (Merkelbach 1982: 24; 1984: 88–92), and Amor to be that of Heliodromus, the sixth grade of the initiation (Merkelbach 1984: 92)— though he offers little evidence for these conclusions.1 More interestingly, Richard Gordon emphasizes that the position of the relief in the Capua Mithraeum is above a niche at the longitudinal center of the left (southern) bench of the Mithraeum. He suggests that such niches, which mark the center of benches along the two side walls in virtually all Figure 15.1. Amor and Psyche. Photo by Patricia A. Johnston. Amor and Psyche in the Mithraeum of Capua Vetere 279 Mithraic temples, represent the solstices that, according to Porphyry, are the gates by which souls enter and depart the cosmos (Porph. Antr. 2). Following Porphyry, Gordon argues that souls descend into this world of being through the “northern” gate and re-ascend through the “southern” gate (Porph. Antr. 24–25)—“north” and “south” referring here to the astrological orientations of the cosmos represented in the formal structure of Mithraic temples and not to the actual cardinal points (Gordon 1996b: 56). In this astrological interpretation, the Capuan Amor and Psyche relief is located above the niche marking the “southern” portal of the soul’s re-ascent (Gordon 1996b: 56–58; so also Beck 2000b: 162 n. 69).2 While Eros (Amor) is traditionally associated with freeing the soul from the conditions of this existence (Schlam 1976: 31), the implication of the Capuan relief is that the re-ascent of the soul is under the guidance of a winged Amor as well. Indeed, Porphyry characterizes the north winds, which he considers to assist in the descent of the soul, as erōtikos (Porph. Antr. 26; Gordon 1996b: 56–58). This descent of the soul, its subsequent trials, and its final ascent may represent...