Ernest Renan suggested that without the rise of Christianity, we might all have embraced the cult of Mithras. Nevertheless, it has had a lasting influence on secret societies, religious movements and popular culture.
We propose to revisit a passage by the prolific author Marteen Vermaseren that highlights correspondences today forgotten between the Roman Mithras and its Eastern counterparts.
It is well known that Mithras was born from a rock. However, less has been written about the father of the solar god, and especially about how he conceived him.