Mise (mythology)

Mise or Misé (Ancient Greek: Μίση, romanized: Mísē) is an Anatolian goddess addressed in one of the Orphic Hymns. She is first mentioned in a mime by the Greek poet Herodas, which references a "Descent of Mise". In the Orphic Hymn addressed to her, she is identified with Dionysus, and depicted as a female version of the god. She is also named in two inscriptions discovered around the city of Pergamon in Asia Minor, which indicate that there existed a local cult to her in the area.

Greek literature

The earliest mention of Mise comes from a mime by the Greek poet Herodas (which 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 locations are possible,^[6] with the exception of Egypt, which is excluded by the mime itself.^[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] The hymn, which is part of the group of hymns in the collection related to Dionysus, identifies her with Dionysus, and depicts her as a female version of the god;^[8] the hymn also portrays her as being dual-natured, calling her "masculine and feminine".^[9] She is described as the daughter of the Egyptian goddess Isis, who is mentioned by Plutarch as the mother of Dionysus.^[10]

The few other references to Mise in literature provide an unclear picture of her.^[3] According to Harpocration, the 4th-century BC mythographer Asclepiades of Tragilus considered Dysaules, an autochthon of Eleusis, to be the father, by Baubo, of Protonoe and Nisa (Νίση);^[11] the name of latter of these figures was emended to "Mise" by Karl Müller, a reading which has been largely accepted by subsequent scholars.^[12] The Greek writer Antoninus Liberalis (who likely dates to around the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD) relates a tale about a figure named Misme (Μίσμη), who may be the same as Mise, in which she takes in a thirsty Demeter and gives her a drink; Misme's son, Ascalabus, bursts into laughter at Demeter's drinking, and is turned by the goddess into a lizard.^[13] According to the 5th- or 6th-century AD grammarian Hesychius, Mise is associated with the Mother goddess and her name is used in oaths.^[14]

Anatolian inscriptions

Mise's name has been found in two inscriptions from Asia Minor.^[15] One of these inscriptions, discovered during late-19th-century excavations of the city of Pergamon,^[16] was found in the sanctuary of Demeter in the city, and likely dates to the 2nd century BC.^[17] The inscription, which consists of the word ΜΙΣΗΙ, was likely originally inscribed on an altar dedicated to the goddess.^[18] 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.^[19] The text of the inscriptions specifies that the altar was dedicated to "Mise Kore" by a priestess named Ánthis (Ἄνθις).^[17] 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.^[20] 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.^[20]