Arimanius

Not to be confused with Armenius or Arminius.
Lion-headed figure from the Sidon Mithraeum, sometimes identified as a Mithraic form of Arimanius (500 CE; CIMRM 78 & 79; Louvre)

Arimanius (Greek: Αρειμάνιος Areimánios; Latin: Arīmanius) is a name for an obscure deity found in a few Greek literary texts and five Latin inscriptions. It is supposed to be the opponent of Oromazes (Ancient Greek: Ὡρομάζης Hōromázēs), the god of light. In classic texts, in the context of Zoroastrianism, Areimanios (with variations) fairly clearly refers to the Greeks' and Romans' interpretation of the Persian Ahriman.[1]:  2034  The Latin inscriptions which were found in a Mithraic context suggest a re-defined or different deity with a near-identical name.[2]:  226 

The most extended passage in classical literature on Areimanios is in two sections of Plutarch[3] who describes him as the dark or evil side in a dualistic opposition with Oromazes (for Ohrmuzd or Ahura Mazda).[5] However, Plutarch[3] was specifically describing Persian Zoroastrianism, rather than the obscure Arimanius of the Mysteries of Mithras. In the context of Roman Mithraism, from the way the name is used, it seems implausible that it refers to an evil entity, no matter how formidable his depictions might appear.[2]:  226–227 

  1. ^ Beck, Rodger (1984). "Mithraism since Franz Cumont". Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt [The Rise and Fall of the Roman World]. II.17.4.
  2. ^ a b Gordon, Robert L. (1975). "Cumont and the doctrine of Mithraism". Mithraic Studies. Manchester University Press.
  3. ^ a b Plutarch (1936). Isis and Osiris. Translated by Thayer, Bill. Loeb Classical Library. pp. 46–47; available online: Plutarch (1936). Isis and Osiris. Translated by Thayer, Bill. University of Chicago. pp. 46–47 – via LacusCurtius.
  4. ^ de Jong, A. (1997). Traditions of the Magi: Zoroastrianism in Greek and Latin literature. Brill.
  5. ^ Areimanios is also mentioned in other texts as an evil daimon, "the worst spirit", or even equated with Satan as "the adversary": Diogenes Laërtius 1.8; Damascius, Dubitationes et Solutiones 125; Agathias, Historiae 2.25; Theodore of Mopsuestia apud Photius, Bibliotheca 72.81, cited by de Jong (1997).[4]:  313–314