The author of this paper approaches the Hungarian translations of Shakespeare by placing translation squarely in the context of reception history. The Hungarian reverence for Shakespeare towards the end of the eighteenth century was such, it is argued, that we can describe it in terms of a secular cult, characterized by a particular psychology, ritual and rhetoric; the nature of the Hungarian translations of Shakespeare in this period will be better understood if they are seen from this vantage point. The paper considers aspects and phases of the Hungarian Shakespeare cult, translations in the age of initiation, indirect ways to Shakespeare and other issues.