Mitra or Mithra or Mithras is an important deity of Persian and Indic culture; he appears in the Vedas as one of the Adityas, a solar deity and the god of honesty, friendship, contracts and meetings. In Persian civilization, where his name was rendered as Mithra, he later came into increased prominence as a major deity of Zoroastrianism. He can be identified with a proto-Indo-Persian deity whose name can be reconstructed as *Mitra. Mithraism began as an aspect of the religion of the old Vedic (Hindu) p ...

Including:

• Mitra - Etymology and Origins
• Mitra - Mitra in the Vedas
• Mitra - Mithra in the Persian World
• Mitra - Temples to Mithra in Greater Ancient Persia
• Mitra - Mithra in the Greco/Roman world
• Mitra - External link

Read more here: » Mitra: Encyclopedia - Mitra

The reform of Zarathushtra (Zoroaster) retained the multitudes of Persian deities, reducing them, in a complex hierarchy, to "Immortals" and "Adored Ones" who were now conceived either under the rule of Ahura Mazda or of Ahriman, as all of the cosmos was now part of Good or part of Evil. In the later parts of the Avesta, Mithra comes to the fore among the created beings. He gained the title of "Judge of Souls". As the protector of truth and the enemy of error, Mithra occupied an intermediate position in the Zoroastrian pantheon as the ...

See also:

Mitra, Mitra - Etymology and Origins, Mitra - Mitra in the Vedas, Mitra - Mithra in the Persian World, Mitra - Temples to Mithra in Greater Ancient Persia, Mitra - Mithra in the Greco/Roman world, Mitra - External link

Read more here: » Mitra: Encyclopedia II - Mitra - Mithra in the Persian World

In the Hellenistic culture, Mithra could be identified with Apollo - Helios. During the 2nd century BC, probably at Pergamon, Hellenistic sculptors transformed the figure of Mitra/Helios into an iconic Mithras, the central god of a new syncretic religion, Mithraism. Although this new cult never caught on in the Greek homeland, it was taken to Rome around the 1st century BC by, and was dispersed throughout the Roman Empire and embraced by emperors as an official religion. This later career ...

See also:

Mitra, Mitra - Etymology and Origins, Mitra - Mitra in the Vedas, Mitra - Mithra in the Persian World, Mitra - Temples to Mithra in Greater Ancient Persia, Mitra - Mithra in the Greco/Roman world, Mitra - External link

Read more here: » Mitra: Encyclopedia II - Mitra - Mithra in the Greco/Roman world

In the Vedic hymns, Mitra is always invoked together with Varuna, so that the two are combined as 'Mitravaruna': Varuna is lord of the cosmic rhythm of the celestial spheres, while Mitra brings forth the light at dawn, which was covered by Varuna. In the Shatapatha Brahmana, the Paired One is analyzed as "the Counsel and the Power" — Mitra being the priesthood, Varuna the royal power. As Joseph Campbell remarked, "Both are said to have a thousand eyes. Both are active foreground aspects of the light or solar force at play i ...

See also:

Mitra, Mitra - Etymology and Origins, Mitra - Mitra in the Vedas, Mitra - Mithra in the Persian World, Mitra - Temples to Mithra in Greater Ancient Persia, Mitra - Mithra in the Greco/Roman world, Mitra - External link

Read more here: » Mitra: Encyclopedia II - Mitra - Mitra in the Vedas

The Indo-Persian word *mitra- could have two meanings: covenant, compact, oath, or treaty friend A general meaning of "alliance" might adequately explain both alternatives. The second sense tends to be emphasized in Indic sources, the first sense in Persian. The earliest known occurrence of the name Mitra is in a treaty inscription, ca 1400 BCE, established between the Hittites and the Hurrian kingdom of the Mitanni in the area southeast of Lake Van. The treaty is guaranteed by ...

See also:

Mitra, Mitra - Etymology and Origins, Mitra - Mitra in the Vedas, Mitra - Mithra in the Persian World, Mitra - Temples to Mithra in Greater Ancient Persia, Mitra - Mithra in the Greco/Roman world, Mitra - External link

Read more here: » Mitra: Encyclopedia II - Mitra - Etymology and Origins