Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
TIME & MIND: THE JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY CONSCIOUSNESS AND CULTURE, sa.19, ss.1-20, 2026 (AHCI, Scopus)
This article examines the unique iconography of Mithras-Attis as a syncretic figure within the religious and cultural context of the Bosporan Kingdom. Five terracotta plaques, discovered in Crimea and dated to the late Hellenistic and early Imperial periods serve as the starting point for the analysis. Unlike standard tauroctony scenes, these images combine attributes of both Mithras and Attis, revealing an unconventional representation that demands deeper interpretation. By applying Carl Jung’s theory of archetypes, the study explores how the father and mother archetypes are symbolically brought into confrontation in the figure of Mithras-Attis, resulting in a complex image of individuation, sacrifice, and catharsis. The bull-slaying motif is interpreted as a psychological struggle with instinctual impulses and the paternal prohibition, while Attis’s castration myth reflects a confrontation with the maternal archetype. Furthermore, a Deleuzian framework highlights the productive dimension of desire and the dynamics of power relations embedded in the iconography. Rather than viewing this syncretism as a mechanical fusion of cults, the study suggests that it emerges from the interaction of universal psychic structures with local cultural conditions. Ultimately, the Mithras-Attis imagery is shown to embody both repression and creation, reflecting the interplay of myth, psychology, and religious practice.