Atargatis

Great Syrian mother- and fertility-goddess ('Dea Syria') of Hierapolis; consort of Hadad, lady of the sacred fish, doves, and lions.

Domains

• fertility
• fresh water

Powers

• Hallow the fish and doves sacred to her
• Reign enthroned and flanked by lions

Epithets

• the Syrian Goddess latin · Atargatis (Dea Syria) · cultThe great goddess of Hierapolis-Bambyce; consort of Hadad, lady of fish and dovesLucian, De Dea Syria; Aramaic dedications (primary)
• Dea Syria Latin · Dea Syria · cultthe Syrian GoddessLucian (attrib.), De Dea Syria (primary)
• Δερκετώ Greek · Derketo · cultDerceto, the fish-goddess form of AscalonDiodorus Siculus 2.4; Lucian, De Dea Syria §14 (primary)

Relations

• spouse: HadadThe Dea Syria enthroned beside Hadad at Hierapolis, where Lucian describes their paired cult images.Lucian, De Dea Syria (primary)
• equated with: AthtartThe name Atarʿate fuses ʿAttart (Astarte) with ʿAnat — Atargatis is linguistically built on Athtart. Preserves the great-goddess complex; Atargatis adds the fish-and-dove sanctity and Hierapolis cult.DDD (van der Toorn, Becking, van der Horst, eds., 2nd ed. 1999), s.v. 'Atargatis' (secondary)
• equated with: AnatThe second element of Atarʿate continues ʿAnat — the Aramean goddess absorbs Anat's identity alongside Astarte's. Anat's warrior ferocity survives only faintly in Atargatis's lion-throne.DDD (2nd ed. 1999), s.v. 'Atargatis' (secondary)
• interpretatio: HeraLucian calls the Hierapolis goddess Hera (enthroned beside a Zeus-Hadad) while admitting she blends Athena, Aphrodite, Selene and more — the ancient author himself flags how poorly the equation fits.Lucian, De Dea Syria 31-32 (primary)

Sources

• existence: Lucian, De Dea Syria; Hierapolis (Manbij) cult evidence (primary); Oxford Classical Dictionary, Atargatis (secondary)