Mithras

[ mith-ras ]

noun

, Persian Mythology.

1. the god of light and truth, later of the sun.

Mithras

/ ˈmɪθrə; ˈmɪθræs /

noun

1. Persian myth the god of light, identified with the sun, who slew a primordial bull and fertilized the world with its blood

Word History and Origins

Origin of Mithras¹

< Latin < Greek Míthrās < Old Persian Mithra

Example Sentences

More likely, the iconic image of Mithras kneeling on a bull and plunging a dagger into its neck was intended to inspire awe and fervor.

From New York Times

Unlike Jews and adherents of Mithras and Isis, Christians were violently persecuted — and some of Rome’s earliest churches, including St. Peter’s, are martyriums: sites where saints were slain for their beliefs.

From New York Times

Rome being Rome, these holy places are often jumbled together or layered — a church dedicated to the Virgin on top of pagan temples; a medieval church built over an ancient home that had a shrine to the Persian sun god Mithras in its basement.

From New York Times

“At sites where there’s a lot of chicken sacrifice to the gods of Mercury and Mithras” during the Roman occupation of Britain, Dr. Sykes said, “some of the values of those chickens just looked really bizarre.”

From New York Times

Eggs were associated with fertility, rebirth and the Roman gods Mithras and Mercury.

From BBC