Define mystery cults in the context of Hellenistic spirituality.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

We can view the growth of mystery cults and the transition of philosophy to more individualistic concerns in the Hellenic Age as a reaction to the stress of realizing that there was a whole new, and not necessarily inferior, world beyond that traditionally assumed by Greeks. The religions encountered in Persia, Egypt, India, and other regions explored and conquered by Alexander, as well as the creation of a cosmopolitan world, left many Greeks feeling uneasy or lacking in identity. Adherence to mystery cults provided an explanation of the world around them and promised a blissful afterlife. The growth of comforting philosophies, such as Epicureanism and Stoicism, reveals much of the same intention, but these philosophies no longer relied on the cold rationalism of earlier philosophies. Finally, we see religions such as Judaism responding to the challenges of a more modern and integrated world that left many Jews with both a secular culture as well as Jewish culture following the Diasporas of the Hellenistic world, in particular, with the formation of factions, including the Pharisees and Sadducees.