Cybele, the scorned Phrygian mother Goddess. Thought to reside in the very mountains and wilderness of the earth. Cybele is the primordial mother of the Phrygian pantheon, mother of the gods and man.
Worshipped in her purist form through chunks of meteorite, her worship commonly intersected with the gods of Olympus.
Cybele only has one full myth dedicated to her, yet there are numerous variations and retellings. Her lover: Attis, is said to have once been a mortal man who was raised into godhood by Cybele.
Hellenistic versions stated that like many before her, Cybele drew the unwarranted ire of Zeus, who in a fit of jealousy sent a boar to destroy her crops, temples and murder her followers. It was in this attack where Attis was gored by the boar.
In another myth spread by the Greeks and Romans, when Attis was undergoing the ceremonial castration done to the priests of Cybele, he died. Within death he came to see that Cybele was an uncaring goddess who no longer had interest in him
In yet another myth Cybele (as Agdistis) was born from the spilling of Zeus’ seed. originally intersex, Cybele had both male and female reproductive organs. For this, the gods feared Cybele and castrated Cybele’s male bits, which in turn grew into an almond tree. The goddess Nana ate from this tree, thus making her pregnant with Attis. When Cybele gazed upon Attis she instantly fell in love, however Attis was already betrothed into an arranged marriage with the daughter of king Midas. On the wedding day, right before the marriage would be ratified Cybele showed herself to the gathering. Her godly form caused all her onlookers to go mad and castrate themselves, including her beloved Attis. Devastated, Cybele brought Attis’ corpse to Zeus, pleading for him to revive Attis. Zeus refuses, rather than appeasing her, Zeus instead stops the decomposing process of Attis’ corpse.
—————
Known as Kubileya in her home land, Cybele was a native Phrygian goddess, and the head god of the pantheon. Despite her seeming popularity, no native myths of Cybele survive, with the only evidence of her existence coming from historical records and monuments.
Later on, Cybele’s worship was taken into Greece and eventually Rome, with her name being mutated into Cybele. It was here where her only myth was recorded, already under Hellenistic influence it likely doesn’t fully represent her original mythology. She was conflated with Hellenic goddesses such as Gaea, Rhea and Demeter.
While Cybele’s arrival in Greece was thought to be a response to calamitous events like meteor showers and famine, her worship in these lands didn’t mean that her reverence was completely tolerated. The foreign worship of Cybele was seen as barbaric by the native Greeks and Romans. Even those in these lands who did worship Cybele seemed to put emphasis on her foreign nature, ascribing a number of foreign stereotypes to her character. Many Greek and Roman writers spoke about the disdain for Cybele’s “effeminate” worship. Even the myths that have been recorded could’ve also originated rather as slander pieces against her worship, with a definitive example being the myth in which Attis comes to realize Cybele’s selfishness. This discrimination was present in the Christian era of Rome.
Cybele’s worship was unique to the Hellenic world, as many of their practices were remarkably different, ecstatic and emotional. One of the most interesting characteristics of her worship was her priests otherwise known as “Galli”. These priests would perform ritualistic castration in honor of their goddess. This castration is thought to parallel that of Attis’ own castration. Literature detailing them seems to conflict on their gender identity after this, some use feminine language and portray the Galli in a female sense, while others seem to consider the Galli as a third gender. It is known that the Greeks and Romans were repulsed by their practices, so the heavy use of feminine terms alongside slurs were used to disparage the Galli. However modern historians do generally believe that the Galli could’ve been practicing gender transitioning, variance and/or nonconformity. Due to the connecting etymologies and similarities, some have suggested that the Galli could be developmentally related to the Sumerian Inanna’s own priests, the Gala. However due to the paucity of evidence a definite conclusion cannot be reached.
The goddess Agdistis mentioned previously also hails from Phrygia. She was seen as the goddess of the titular mount Agdistis, a holy landmark in Cybele’s cult center of Pessinus. Although the two goddesses are occasionally seen as separate individuals, as seen in renditions of her myth where both Agdistis and Cybele raid Attis’ marriage ceremony and mourn his death, as well as Agdistis’ androgyny. Despite this being the case, the two goddesses were heavily conflated with each other to the point where the two were seen as identical to one another. Even in myths where the two are separated, they’re still heavily connected with each other. It’s possible that Agdistis was seen as a manifestation of Cybele.
Another goddess Cybele is connected to is the neighboring Lydian Artimus. Artimus shares most of Cybele’s characteristics, such as being the head god of the pantheon, being a mother goddess, and having a strong association with animals. In some depictions Artimus is shown to be the mother of the goddess Kufaws, who some believe to be the Lydian incarnation of Cybele’s forerunner, however others believe that she’s rather a localized version of the Sumerian goddess Kubaba. The exact developmental relationship between Artimus and Cybele seems to be unclear, however it is possible that the two may have developed from the same source or were influenced by each other.
Cybele seems to have a contentious history with another Anatolian god, Sabazios. Sabazios was a popular sky god in Phrygia and Thrace, and much like Cybele herself he too was introduced to the Greek world. Sabazios was commonly depicted on horseback and is commonly seen trampling a bull beneath its hooves. Some have suggested that the bull represents Cybele or her Phrygian worship.
Cybele’s origins are hazy. It’s possible that Cybele could’ve developed from a possible prehistoric mother goddess found in the Çatalhöyük figurines that date back to 6000 BC. These figurines depict a larger nude woman seated with two lions, animals known to be associated with Cybele. However, because of the age of these figurines, it cannot be proven to have a connection to Cybele. Similarly, some claim that Cybele is instead a descendant of a Aegean-Balkan prototype goddess, a similar explanation to the goddess Artimus. This theory does seem to rely on the idea that the Phrygians were migrants from the Balkans rather than natives to Anatolia. Others have claimed that Cybele could’ve originated or was influenced by Kubaba. Critics of this theory instead argue that while Cybele’s Phrygian name may not actually be etymologically related to Kubaba despite how widespread the notion is.
Cybele is one of the many primary pieces of evidence that proponents of the “great goddess” or “prehistoric goddess” theory use in their arguments, along side the likes of the Semitic Asherah, the controversial Minoan Snake Goddess, and even the tiger goddess of the Indus River Valley. This theory claims that prehistoric society held a matriarchal structure and focused on the worship of mother goddess, until men performed a nigh universal overthrow of their matriarchies just before the advent of civilization. This hypothesis has been thoroughly thrown out by modern academics and categorized as pseudo-history. The theory heavily relies on the assumption that the appearance of alleged mother goddesses, seen through the numerous prehistoric female figurines, equated to a female focused society. Cybele and the figurines found at Çatalhöyük are used to represent the idea that the later goddesses of the ancient world were hold overs of this matriarchal religion. However this conclusion is based on dubious grounds and the lack of evidence to support lofty claims like it. The seeming focus on goddesses does not necessarily mean that the society was matriarchal, nor that goddesses headed the religion, only that they were supposedly prominent. However this does not mean that there wasn’t any chief goddess in prehistoric times, only that it wasn’t a universal notion. Modern research into the potential structure of such prehistoric societies seems to point more to the presence of more egalitarian societies rather than the complete dominance of a single gender.
Cybele has many different names and titles. In Phrygia Cybele was affectionately referred to as Matar, meaning “mother”. Her full title was Matar Kubileya, which is believed to be read as “Mother of the Mountain”, exalting her qualities. In Greece her title was localized as Mētēr oreia. In particular her unique titles in Greece emphasized her role as a mother goddess, such as Mētēr theōn meaning “Mother of the Gods”, another title being “Mother of all Gods and all Human Beings”, and “Mistress Cybele the Mother”. In Roman times she was referred to under the title of Magna Mater meaning “Great Mother”.












