Greco-Roman mysteries

Greco-Roman Mystery religions, mystery cults, sacred mysteries or simply mysteries, were religious schools of the Greco-Roman world. The main feature of this religion is the secrecy associated with initiation and ritual practice, which was not revealed to outsiders. The most famous mysteries of Greco-Roman antiquity were the Eleusinian Mysteries, which were of considerable antiquity and predated the Greek Dark Ages. The mystery schools flourished in Late Antiquity; Julian the Apostate in the mid 4th century is known to have been initiated into three distinct mystery schools—most notably the Mithraists.

Greco-Roman mysteries have been known to contain certain archaic aspects of common Indo-European religion, with parallels noted in the Indo-Iranian religion. The mystery schools of Greco-Roman antiquity include the Eleusinian Mysteries, the Orphic Mysteries, and the Dionysian Mysteries.

Many of the divinities that the Greeks/Romans worshiped in the Mysteries were adopted from other cultures, for example, the Egyptian goddess Isis, the Magian god Mithras, the Thracian/Phrygian god Sabazius, and the Phrygian goddess Cybele.