Christianity expanded, as we have seen, in the environment of eastern
Mediterranean culture. Its original heritage was that of Judaism, but
within the first century it had entered upon the conquest of the Gentile
world. As that conquest proceeded and the penetration of new ideas into
pagan thought continued, a corresponding reaction of paganism upon the
new faith took place. With the general aspects of this phenomenon all are
familiar. It is significant here only in the field of lyrical expression.
The period of pagan influence in the sense of an imprint from Greek and
Roman literature is also the period of impact with pagan heretical ideas
derived either from current philosophies or the practices of mystery
religions.
Once more the chart and compass offered by the direct extant sources are
the best guides through the cross currents of the literature in our
possession. Representative pagan poetry must be examined, at least of a
few general types, in order to establish what influence, if any, was
exerted upon contemporary Christian hymns.
Regarding the classical influence, _per se_, a large number of Greek
hymns were in existence when Christianity was founded,[38] and Roman
lyrics were appearing in that very century. Paul was obviously acquainted
with the Hymn of Cleanthes, a Stoic writer of the third century, B.C.,
for he quoted his words on the Areopagus. The original passage to which
Paul refers has been translated as follows:
Thee it is meet that mortals should invoke,
For we Thine offspring are and sole of all
Created things that live and move on earth
Receive from Thee the image of the One.[39]
It is evident that the Christian hymns embedded in the books of the New
Testament were not constructed after a classical model of this type. The
influence of Old Testament poetry was too strong, the associations of
paganism repellant and, moreover, the Greek poetry, familiar to the
average man of that day, quite different. The older Greek hymns, such as
the _Homeric Hymns_, the _Odes_ of Pindar, the choruses of Greek tragedy,
were produced in the Hellenic or pre-Hellenic ages which had been
followed by more than two centuries of Hellenistic culture. Dr. Edward
Delavan Perry, writing of Hellenistic poetry, said, "Other forms of
poetry, particularly the lyric, both the choral and the 'individual,'
died out almost completely."[40]
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,