There remain, then, only the extant hymns of the mystery cults. In spite of many references to the use of singing in connection with these religions, very few specimens of their hymns actually survive. The mystery religion was a sacramental religion “which stressed the approach to Deity through rite and liturgy after a severe probation and an oath pledging to secrecy.”[41] The leading cults were those associated with Orpheus, the Magna Mater (Cybele) and Attis, Mithra, Serapis, Isis, Adonis, and especially the Eleusinian Mysteries, which flourished for twelve centuries, ending with their extinction by the Christians in 397.[42]
During the period under consideration in this study Isis was honored in all parts of the Graeco-Roman world. An authentic hymn to Isis appears in the writings of Apuleius (b. 125), who describes a procession in honor of the goddess and gives the words of the chorus, closing,
Thy divine countenance and most holy deity I shall guard and keep
forever in the secret place of my heart.
Variants of the Isis cult hymn or hymns have been preserved in inscriptions; for example, a hymn of some fifty lines from Cyme in Aeolia,
I am Isis the sovereign of the whole land.[43]
Liturgical survivals of the cult of Mithra are almost unknown. Franz Cumont, the great student of Mithraism, quotes one hymn fragment only,
Hail bridegroom, hail thou new light![44]
He is of the opinion, however, that the Manichaean song mentioned by Augustine, 354-430, affords some idea of Mithraic poetry. The song or hymn in question represents a chief divinity surrounded by twelve minor divinities, symbolizing the seasons, all clothed with floral tributes.[45] Cumont also suggests that hero hymns were in existence, celebrating the exploits of the gods.[46] The so-called Liturgy of Mithra, a magic formula not considered by Cumont, contains hymn fragments, one of which begins,
Lord, hail, potentate of the water,