Mise (mythology)

Mise is an Anatolian goddess addressed in one of the Orphic Hymns, who is also attested in inscriptions found around the city of Pergamon.

The earliest mention of Mise comes from a mime by the Greek poet Herodas (which likely dates to the 3rd century BC).^[1] One of the characters in the work, Gryllos, is said to have become infatuated with a woman, Metriche, while they were at the "Descent of Mise".^[2] This "descent", or káthodos (κάθοδος), appears to reflect a real-world cult practice,^[3] and is suggestive of a katabasis (a descent to the Greek underworld).^[4] According to Graham Zanker, Mise's descent seems to have been a "copy" of the katabasis of Kore.^[5] The events of the mime are likely set on Kos or Cyprus, though other places are possible,^[6] with the exception of Egypt, which is excluded by the mime.^[3]

Mise is addressed in the forty-second of the Orphic Hymns, a collection of ancient Greek hymns composed in Asia Minor around the 2nd to 3rd centuries AD.^[7]

Mise's name has been found in two inscriptions from Asia Minor.^[8] One of these inscriptions, discovered during late-19th-century excavations of the city of Pergamon,^[9] was found in the sanctuary of Demeter in the city, and likely dates to the 2nd century BC.^[10] The inscription, which consists of the word ΜΙΣΗΙ, was likely originally inscribed on an altar dedicated to the goddess.^[11] The other inscription, the date of which is unknown, was discovered on an altar found near to Pergamon, which probably originated from or very close to the city.^[12] The text of the inscriptions specifies that the altar was dedicated to "Mise Kore" by a priestess named Ánthis (Ἄνθις).^[10] On the altar pieces of wheat are pictured, which, according to Anne-France Morand, mirror her connection with Demeter in the Orphic Hymns; Morand also views the altar as comporting with the "Eleusinian atmosphere" of the hymn to Mise.^[13] The existence of an altar dedicated to Mise indicates that she was worshipped in the region, with the two inscriptions pointing towards her having been the subject of a cult which existed in the immediate vicinity of Pergamon.^[13]

• Athanassakis, Apostolos N., and Benjamin M. Wolkow, The Orphic Hymns, Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2013. ISBN 9781421408828. Internet Archive.
• Malamis, Daniel, The Orphic Hymns: Poetry and Genre, with a Critical Text and Translation, Leiden and Boston, Brill, 2024. ISBN 9789004714076. doi:10.1163/9789004714083.
• Morand, Anne-France (2001), Études sur les Hymnes Orphiques, Leiden, Boston, and Cologne, Brill, 2001. ISBN 9004120300. doi:10.1163/9789004301504.
• Quandt, Wilhelm, Orphei Hymni, Berlin, Weidmann, 1955. OCLC 22971774.
• Ricciardelli, Gabriella, Inni Orfici, Milan, Mondadori, 2000. ISBN 8804476613.
• Zanker, Graham, Herodas: Mimiambs, Oxford, Oxbow Books, 2009. ISBN 9780856688836.

• Rudhardt, Jean, "Recherches sur les Hymnes orphiques", in Opera inedita: Essai sur la religion grecque & Recherches sur les Hymnes orphiques, Liège, Liège University Press, 2008. ISBN 9782960071726. doi:10.4000/books.pulg.514.