Mitra: Difference between revisions

*mitra (Proto-Indo-Iranian, nominative *mitras) was an important Indo-Iranian divinity. Following the prehistoric cultural split of Indian and Iranian cultures, names descended from *mitra were used for the following religious entities:

• Mitra (Sanskrit Mitrá-, Mitráḥ), a deity (asura) who appears frequently in the ancient Indian text of the Rigveda.
• Mithra (Avestan Miθra-, Miθrō), a yazata mentioned in the Zoroastrian sacred scripture of the Avesta, whose modern Persian equivalent is Mehr.
• Mithras, the principal figure of the Greco-Roman religion of Mithraism.

The Indo-Iranian word *mitra- means "[that which] binds", deriving from the root mi- "to bind", with the "tool suffix" -tra- (cf. man-tra-). This meaning is preserved in Avestan mithra "covenant". In Sanskrit, mitra literally means "friend", one of the aspects of binding and alliance.

Vedic Mitra is a prominent deity of the Rigveda distinguished by a relationship to Varuna, the protector of rta. Together with Varuna, he counted among the Adityas, a group of solar deities, also in later Vedic texts. Vedic Mitra is the patron divinity of honesty, friendship, contracts and meetings.

The first extant record of Indo-Aryan^[1] Mitra, in the form mi-it-ra-, is in the inscribed peace treaty of c. 1400 BC between Hittites and the Hurrian kingdom of the Mitanni in the area southeast of Lake Van in Asia Minor. There Mitra appears together with four other Indo-Aryan divinities as witnesses and keepers of the pact.

In Zoroastrianism, Mithra is a member of the trinity of ahuras, protectors of asha/arta, "truth" or "[that which is] right". Mithra's standard appellation is "of wide pastures" suggesting omnipresence. Mithra is "truth-speaking, ... with a thousand ears, ... with ten thousand eyes, high, with full knowledge, strong, sleepless, and ever awake." (Yasht 10.7). As preserver of covenants, Mithra is also protector and keeper of all aspects of interpersonal relationships, such as friendship and love.

Related to his position as protector of truth, Mithra is a judge (ratu), ensuring that individuals who break promises or are not righteous (artavan) are not admitted to paradise. As also in Indo-Iranian tradition, Mithra is associated with (the divinity of) the sun but originally distinct from it. Mithra is closely associated with the feminine yazata Aredvi Sura Anahita, the hypostasis of knowledge.

The name Mithra was adopted by the Greeks and Romans as Mithras, chief figure in the mystery religion of Mithraism. At first identified with the Sun-god Helios by the Greeks, the syncretic Mithra-Helios was transformed into the figure Mithras during the 2nd century BC, probably at Pergamon. This new cult was taken to Rome around the 1st century BC and was dispersed throughout the Roman Empire. Popular among the Roman military, Mithraism was spread as far north as Hadrian's Wall and the Germanic Limes.

• Mithra in Herodotus Histories I.131 is a divinity identified with the planet Venus and equated with Aphrodite, Mylitta and Alilat. This is either a confusion with Aredvi Sura Anahita (so Nyberg,^[2] Boyce^[3] and others) who is also identified with Venus, or as has been more recently proposed,^[4] a reference to Venus' role as the morning-star, which corresponds to Mithra's role as harbinger of the sun.
• Mitra in Robert E. Howard's Hyborian Age stories is the name of the most popular of the "Hyborian" deities, and one of the few who represent a traditional Western concept of Good.
• Mitra is a genus of Neogastropod snail in the family Mitridae.
• mitra (μἱτρα) is also Greek for a headband or turban, whose modern descendant is the episcopal mitre.
• Mitra is Serbian name
• Mitra is a Bengali and Punjabi family name
• Mitra is a Portuguese slang term corresponding to the British chav
• Mithra is a race in Final Fantasy XI