Bendis the Two-Speared Huntress

Great Thracian goddess. Native theonym attested only in Greek script (Βένδις, var. Μένδις). At Athens syncretized with Artemis, Hekate and Selene but maintained a separate temple and festival, marking her as a distinct foreign goddess. The 'two spears' are her defining attribute.

Domains

• the hunt
• moon and night

Powers

• hunts wielding two spears

Epithets

• δίλογχος
• Βένδις

Relations

• interpretatio: Artemis

Sources

• Plato, Republic 327a-328a
• Britannica, 'Bendis'
• Standard etymological treatments of Bendis (< *bhendh- 'bind'), e.g. summarized in Theoi.com, citing Hellenistic lexica