The study of mystery cults was transformed by the publication in 1987 of Walter Burkert's Ancient mystery cults, based on his Jackson Lectures of 1982. Before this, the emergence of mystery cults had been usually understood as a phenomenon of the Hellenistic period, and as a result of increased contact with the Near East. It was also considered to reflect a disenchantment with state religion and a search for individual salvation. As Burkert recognised, the Eleusinian mysteries and the ecstatic worship of Dionysus were Greek, and dated back to at least the sixth century bce. These practices were also usually an important element of civic religion, not an alternative to it. It is also clear that, although what scholars now generally refer to as ‘mystery cults’ (as opposed to the earlier ‘mystery religions’ or ‘oriental cults’) are best seen as rituals or festivals (in the case of the Eleusinian mysteries) that represent one element of the worship of gods who are members of each city's pantheon, rather than separate religious systems. These issues, and others, are discussed in the substantial introductory chapter to the volume under review, written by the editors (in English). The rest of the volume consists of seven further chapters, four in French and three in English, divided into three sections: part i asks ‘Do Images Depict Mystery Cults, and if so, How?’; part ii is entitled ‘Historiography and Images of Mystery Cults’; and part iii is ‘Depicting Objects to Signify Mystery Cults’. Although this is not mentioned in the introduction, the volume had its origins in a conference, ‘Comment Figurer un “Mystère”? Réponses Antiques et Éclairages Comparés’, held in Paris in October 2015.

The three chapters of the first part are all in French, and all focus on Dionysus. Cornelia Isler-Kerényi looks at Attic vases of the sixth and fifth centuries, and Apulian vases of the fourth century, that depict Dionysiac activites. She sees these as possibly representing Bacchic experiences (as opposed to depicting actual ritual practices) and suggests that they may provide evidence for the idea that ecstatic Bacchic rituals were performed in Athens in the sixth and fifth centuries, something for which the evidence is otherwise very limited. Stéphanie Wyler explores a frieze from the Neronian Domus Transitoria in Rome. The original artwork is mostly lost, but when it was first uncovered, in 1720, a set of watercolours of the frieze was painted, although comparison with the parts of the original that do survive show that they are not very accurate copies. They are now in the collection of Eton College, and have been little studied until recently. Wyler suggests that they show interest in Greek mystery subjects among the Roman elite of the first century. Janine Balty moves us to late antiquity (that is from the third century ce onwards), and looks at mosaics from the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire that depict scenes that can be associated with Dionysus, including depictions of the goddess Teletē, showing continuing interest in these subjects into the Christian period.

In the second part, Philippa Adrych looks at the evidence for the seven grades of initiation in Mithraism. She begins with a wide-ranging critique of existing scholarship, and in particular the practice of relying on literary material to interpret the visual material which is our direct evidence for Mithraic practices. She argues that to look for norms across the whole area where Mithraic material is found is unhelpful. So, for example, the evidence for seven grades all comes from Ostia and Rome, and should not necessarily be read onto material from places like Dura Europos. In the longest chapter in the book (and the last in French) Richard Veymiers discusses two groups of images (mostly sculptural reliefs), those that have been said to be of Isiac initiation, and those which include cistae, that is containers thought to be usually associated with the cult of Isis. He argues that the material probably does not depict actual rites of initiation, but offer a more general sense of mystery. Like Adrych he dismisses the notion of an ‘Isiac religion’ that was the same across the empire.

Veymiers's discussion of cistae foreshadows the contents of the two chapters in the final part of the volume. Anne-Françoise Jaccottet examines the depiction of the Eleusinian ‘bundle’, made up of myrtle sprigs bound together with large rings, and the liknon, the winnowing basket, which is found in a variety of contexts, including the cult of Dionysus. She suggests that when these objects, and also cistae, are depicted, they should be taken as signifiers of initiation and mysteries more generally, rather than depicting actual rituals. Françoise Van Haeperen also focuses on cistae, this time in relation to the cult of Mater Magna, the Mother of the Gods. She rejects the fanciful notion that cistae were considered to contain the gentials of the galli, devotees of the Mother who castrated themselves for her. Indeed she rightly plays down the significance of the galli more generally: castrated individuals would not have served as cult officials of the Mater Magna. Like Veymiers and Jaccottet, she reads the cistae as symbolising access to reserved rituals, rather than having a more specific meaning.

The argument of the volume can be summed up as emphasising that visual representations of mystery cults were generally symbolic rather than depicting actual rituals, something important to say, even if ultimately it is what is to be expected when the rituals themselves were supposed to be kept secret. The volume also emphasises local variation rather than the idea of common practices across the Mediterranean area. It is well produced, with illustrations printed alongside the text rather than in separate blocks of plates. Where Greek is used, it is mostly translated, but not always, and this may mean that it is less accessible to some readers than it could have been, but this is not generally a major issue. Overall this book is a valuable contribution to the study of mystery cults.