Porphyry’s allegorical reading of Homer’s cave as a map of the soul’s descent into matter and return to the divine, drawing on Platonism, astrology and the cult of Mithras.
16 Jul 2026
In this episode we explore one of the most fascinating texts in the history of Western esotericism: Porphyry’s Commentary on the Cave of the Nymphs. Written in the 3rd century, this short but remarkable work interprets a mysterious passage from Homer’s Odyssey as a profound allegory for the soul’s descent into matter and its eventual return to the divine. We explore how Porphyry reads the cave, its nymphs, its looms and its two gates as a complete symbolic map of the cosmos, drawing on Platonic metaphysics, ancient astrology, and even the Cult of Mithras.
Jason Reza Jorjani, PhD, is a philosopher and author of Prometheus and Atlas, World State of Emergency, Lovers of Sophia, Novel Folklore: The Blind Owl of Sadegh Hedayat, and Iranian Leviathan: A Monumental History of Mithra's Abode.
Le culte romain de Mithra. Entre réalités antiques et fantasmes contemporains ! Par Richard Veymiers, directeur du Domaine et Musée royal de Mariemont.
