Zemele, the Thraco-Phrygian Earth-Mother
Thracian · deity · Thraco Phrygian substrate of Greek myth; pre Classical, name attested in a Phrygian formula · deity
Included as the Thraco-Phrygian earth-mother underlying the Greek Semele, mother of Dionysus, since the prompt's traditions are the source-stratum of the Dionysiac complex. Classified 'deity' (the original earth-goddess), though in Greek myth Semele is a mortalized Theban princess (vitalStatus 'deceased' reflects that Greek narrative, in which she dies by Zeus' lightning before being raised). Native form given as the Phrygian-attested zemelō in Greek script; the Thracian Zemele is a reconstruction noted as such.
Domains
- earth and soil
- motherhood and birth
Powers
- brings forth the god of the vine
- is the earth from which life springs
Epithets
- Θυώνη
Relations
- ancestor of: The Thracian Dionysus, Lord of the Mountain Frenzy