- Golden Bough. A Study in Magic and Religion. Part IV. Adonis Attis Osiris. Volume I
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James Frazer
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The fifth volume and the first of two in the fourth part of Frazer's seminal work on the evolution of belief deals with the semi mythological legends of the Mediterranean and the eastern civilizations. Many analogies are traced between the worship of Osiris and the worship of the dead, especially of dead kings. The conclusion to which these analogies appear to the point is that under the mythical pall of the glorified Osiris, the god who died and rose again from the dead, there once lay the body of a dead man. The traditions of sacred men and women, ritual sacrifice and burning of gods, the influence of volcanoes upon religion, and the festivals of death and resurrection feature heavily.
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- Chapters
- PREFACE. Preface to the first edition, Preface to the second edition, Preface to the third edition.
- I. THE MYTH OF ADONIS. Changes of the seasons explained by the life and death of gods, Magical ceremonies to revive the divine energies, Prevalence of these ceremonies in Western Asia and Egypt, Tammuz or Adonis in Babylon, Adonis in Greek mythology.
- II. ADONIS IN SYRIA. Adonis and Astarte worshipped at Byblus, the kingdom of Cinyras, Divinity of Semitic kings, Kings named Adonis, "Sacred men", Divinity of Hebrew kings, The Baal and Baalath the sources of fertility, Personation of the Baal by the kin
- III. ADONIS IN CYPRUS. Phoenician colonies in Cyrpus, Kingdom of paphos, Sanctuary of Aphrodite at Paphos, The Aphrodite of Paphos a Phoenician or aboriginal deity, Her conical image, Sacred prostitution in th worship of the Paphian Aphrodoite and of oth
- IV. SACRED MEN AND WOMEN. Part 1. 1. AN ALTERNATIVE THEORY. Theory of the secular origin of sacred prostitution in Western Asia, It fails to account for the facts. 2. SACRED WOMEN IN INDIA. The dancing-girls of Southern India are at once prostitutes and
- IV. SACRED MEN AND WOMEN. Part 2. 7. REINCARNATION OF THE DEAD. Belief that the dead come to life as serpents, Reincarnation of the dead in America, Africa, and India, Belief in the Virgin Birth among the savages of New Guinea, Melanesia, and Australia.
- V. THE BURNING OF MELCARTH. Semitic custom of sacrificing a member of the royal family, The burning of Melcarth at Tyre, The burning of Melcarth at Gades, The burning of a god or goddess at Carthage, The fire-walk at Tyre and at Castabala, Burnt sacrific
- VI. THE BURNING OF SANDAN. Part 1. 1. THE BAAL OF TARSUS. The Tyrian Melcarth in Cyprus, The lion-slaying god, The Baal of Tarsus an Oriental god of corn and grapes. 2. THE GOD OF IBREEZ. Counterpart of the Baal of Tarsus at Ibreez in Cappadocia, God of
- VI. THE BURNING OF SANDAN Part 2. 5. SANDAN AND THE BAAL OF TARSUS. Sandan at Tarsus apparently a son of Baal, as Hercules of Zeus. 6. PRIESTLY KINGS OF OLBA. Priests of Sandan or Hercules at Tarsus, Kings of Cilicia related to Sandan, Priestly kings of
- VII. SARDANAPALUS AND HERCULES. 1. THE BURNING OF SARDANAPALUS. Tarsus said to have been founded by Sardanapalus, His legendary death in the fire, Historical foundation of the legend. 2. THE BURNING OF CROESUS. Improbability of the story that Cyrus inten
- VIII. VOLCANIC RELIGION. 1. THE BURNING OF A GOD. The custom of burning a god perhaps intended to recruit his divine energies. 2. THE VOLCANIC REGION OF CAPPADOCIA. The custom of burning a god perhaps related to volcanic phenomena, The great extinct volc
- IX. THE RITUAL OF ADONIS. Results of the preceding inquiry, Festivals of the death and resurrection of Adonis, The festival at Alexandria, The festival at Byblus, 184; The anemone and the red rose the flowers of Adonis, Festivals of Adonis at Athens and
- X. THE GARDENS OF ADONIS. Pots of corn, herbs, and flowers called the Gardens of Adonis, These "gardens" charms to promote the growth of vegetation, The throwing of the "gardens" into water a rain-charm, Parallel customs of wetting the corn at harvest or
- BOOK SECOND. ATTIS. I. THE MYTH AND RITUAL OF ATTIS. Attis the Phrygian counterpart of Adonis, His relation to Cybele, His miraculous birth, His death, Cybele and Attis at Rome, Their spring festival, The day of blood, Eunuch priests in the service of As
- II. ATTIS AS A GOD OF VEGETATION. Sancity of the pine-tree in the worship of Attis, Attis as a corn god, Cybele a goddess of fertility, The bath in the river. III. ATTIS AS THE FATHER GOD. Meaning of the name Attis, Relation of Attis to the Mother Goddes
- V. THE HANGED GOD. Death of Marsyas on the tree, Marsyas apparently a double of Addit, The hanging of Odin on the gallows-tree, The hanging of human victims among the Bogabos, The hanging of Artemis, The hanging of animal victims, Skins of human victims
- VI. ORIENTAL RELIGIONS IN THE WEST. Popularity of the worship of Cybele and Attis in the Roman empire, Effect of Oriental religions in undermining the civilization of Greece and Rome, Popularity of the worship of Mithra, its rivarly with Christianity, Th
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