Mitra (Conan)

Mitra is a deity from the fictional Hyborian Age created by Robert E. Howard in his Conan series of stories. Mitra is a personification of good popular amongst people of the era.

Overview


He is probably loosely based on the Vedic and Zoroastrian figure by the same name, and in the Hyborian universe, his worship generally represents Christianity. In the essay "The Hyborian Age", Howard notes that followers of Mitra are urged to forgive their enemies (though many of them fail to do so). Mitra's religion is missionary; its adherents sometimes lose their lives trying to spread their faith to hostile peoples.

The god's worship is strong and dominant, effectively the state religion, in the Hyborian countries corresponding to modern Western Europe. In other parts of the world, corresponding to Asia and Africa, Mitra is, at best, one god among many, while in Stygia (Egypt and North Africa), worship of Mitra is altogether banned.

Mitra is the chief god of most of the civilized Hyborian kingdoms, including Aquilonia, Ophir, Nemedia, Brythunia, Corinthia, and Zingara. His worshippers are monolatristic, since at least one tale depicts priests of Mitra recognizing the existence of another deity (Set). He is depicted as a "gentle" god. In Khoraja, which is on the border between the Hyborian kingdoms and the Semite ones, the worship of Mitra was largely forgotten in favor of the Semite gods – but in hours of great need, Khorajans still call on Mitra and are answered ("Black Colossus").

While Mitra and his followers are in general presented favorably in the Conan stories, in Howard's The Hour of the Dragon they show prejudice and persecution those of Asura. Conan, being a "barrbarian", does not share this "civilized" prejudice and protects the Asura followers, who prove benefit in his hour of need.

The Mitran cult never practice sacrifice and values aesthetic simplicity. Thus, his shrines are usually unadorned and feature little or no iconography except for a single idol. The idol itself has the appearance of an idealized, bearded male figure and is the primary direction of Mitran worship. However, being omnipresent and incorporeal, Mitra is not considered to reside in the icon, nor share its appearance. He is also symbolically represented by a phoenix in Howard's writing, by an Ankh in the Age of Conan MMORPG, and by a bronze colossus in the survival video game Conan Exiles.

Mitra appears directly in Howard's "Black Colossus", where he speaks to Princess Yasmela of Khoraja and helps her in an hour of desperate need. Mitra's involvement has a significant effect on Conan's career. Due to the god's involvement, Conan – who hitherto had never commanded more than a "company of cut-throats" – gets the chance to become a general and emerge victorious from a major battle involving tens of thousands of soldiers and affecting the future of the whole world. Though Conan's career would know many more ups and downs, this was an important step towards him eventually becoming a king – for which he could thank Mitra. From Mitra's point of view, the god evidently considered Conan as the fighter best fitted to fight and defeat a sworn enemy of the Hyborian kingdoms, who had an ancient grudge against Hyborians and who intended to lead his armies to conquer and devastate the Hyborian kingdoms, the center of Mitra worship.

Mitra is olso mentioned by the pirate Valeria in Howard's story "Red Nails".

Mentions in adaptations
Mitra, along with Crom, is mentioned in the animated series Conan the Adventurer. Here, he serves as the patron deity of Conan's love interest Jezmine, Conan's love interest, who says, "By Mitra!" in times of danger.