Cybele and Attis Flashcards
Who was Cybele?
Associated with crown / drum in artistic depictions:
Sometimes shown with a lion (in her lap?). No inscriptions on the statues etc. so assume it is her. Her name is known but not widely used in Classical Greece. Crown is the least stable element of her iconography - Sometimes associated with Hecate, although in monuments Cybele has priority
What are the origins of the worship of Cybele?
Frygia in Anatolia? Greek name but may not have Greek origins
Anatolia statue (6000 BCE) of ‘mother goddess’ (large woman flanked by lions) - Could be evidence for an oriental cult…?
Myth that she was supposed to go with Aeneas to Rome, but it was too early so she waited until the end of the Punic war when she was brought to Rome and a state cult established for her
Romans turned to her cult when Hannibal became a threat, and brought her cult statue and priesthood to the capital, where it became a new focal point for Roman polytheism
Who was Attis?
Identified by his cap (Frigian)
Originally was both male and female, castrated of his male parts and is now a genderless (non-binary?) being
Wasn’t originally associated with Cybele
What was the March Festival of Attis?
Very similar function and time frame to the Passion of Christ (Easter) - Roman cult feature
What is the main literary source for Cybele/Attis?
Sale of a priesthood in Priene
CGRN 175 (2nd century BCE)
Selling the priesthood : specifics of what the priestess is allowed
Another way of creating revenue for the cult
Similar features to cult of Dionysus (Miletus)
Name one piece of archaeological evidence for Cybele/Attis:
The Metroon at Athens (mother sanctuary)
Text that mentions the “mysteries of the Mother of the Gods”
Man initiating the women into these mysteries and is killed for it: a plague follows and an oracle tells the people to “appease the murdered man”
What 1st c. BCE piece of archaeological evidence is useful for understanding Cybele/Attis?
The Metroa in Minoa (1st c. BCE)
Mentions sacrificial rites to do with oxen and female goddesses + priestesses
Monetary cult, focused on reinvesting money gained through the cult members (just like Eleusis)
Which archaeological site demonstrates a greater worship of Attis than Cybele?
Site - Bulgaria - of the Pontic mother of gods
Active from the 4th century BCE to the 3rd century CE (through to Hellenistic Rome)
Inscription set up by the Atteis (followers of Attis)
Attis becomes much more important in this cult that the mother Cybele
