Cybele
Phrygian · deity · mythic · Recorded classification
Phrygian Mountain Mother (Matar Kubileya); shown at rock-cut shrines (Midas City, Arslankaya) with lions, hawk, tympanon and polos; later the Roman Magna Mater.
Children
Domains
- mother goddess
- mountains and wild animals
Powers
- Master the wild and its beasts from a lion throne
- Defend cities and fortresses as Mother of the Gods
Epithets
- Matar Kubileya Mother of the Mountain (Kubileya); the Phrygian Mountain-MotherPhrygian rock-cut inscription, Midas City (Yazılıkaya, 6th c. BCE) (primary)
- Μήτηρ Μεγάλη Great Mother; the Greek cult-title of the Anatolian goddessHymn. Hom. 14 (to the Mother of the Gods); Pind. fr. 80 (primary)
- Magna Mater Great Mother; the Roman state title after her 204 BCE arrival at RomeLivy 29.10-14; Ov. Fast. 4.179-372 (primary)
Relations
- equated with: AgdistisReciprocal of phrygian_agdistis.equated-with (alphabetical family sweep). (auto reciprocal)
- lover: AttisReciprocal of phrygian_attis.lover — The Mountain Mother's beloved shepherd-consort; his broken vow, madness and self-castration beneath the pine were re-enacted by her Galli.Ovid, Fasti 4.223-244; cf. Pausanias 7.17.10-12 (primary)
- interpretatio: RheaReciprocal of greek_hesiod_rhea.interpretatio — Greeks identified Matar Kubileya with Rhea, the Mother of the Gods (Strabo treats the names as one cult). Preserves the mountain Mother with lions; breaks on Rhea's Titan genealogy and Cybele's Attis-cult.Strabo, Geography 10.3.12-13 (primary); L. E. Roller, In Search of God the Mother (1999) (secondary)
- equated with: KufawsGreek Kybebe derives from Lydian Kufaws/Kuvav; Hipponax already uses the Lydian form. Preserves the lion-attended Mother; the Phrygian Matar's rock-facade cult is distinct from the Sardian civic goddess.M. Munn, The Mother of the Gods, Athens, and the Tyranny of Asia (2006) (secondary); Hipponax fr. 127 West (Kybebe) (primary)
Sources
- existence: Roller, In Search of God the Mother: The Cult of Anatolian Cybele (1999) (secondary)