Attis (sometimes written as "Atys") was the lover of Cybele,^[1] her eunuch attendant and driver of her lion-driven chariot; he was driven mad by her and castrated himself. Greek mythology is the body of stories belonging to the ancient Greeks concerning their gods and Heroes the nature of the world and the origins and significance The ancient Greeks proposed many different ideas about primordial deities in their mythology, which would later be largely adapted by the In Greek mythology, the Titans ( Greek: Tītā́n; plural Tītânes) were a race of powerful Deities that ruled during the legendary The Twelve Olympians, also known as the Dodekatheon ( Greek: Δωδεκάθεον The ancient Greeks had a large number of sea deities. The philosopher Plato once remarked that the Greek people were like frogs sitting around a pond -- their Chthonic (from Greek χθόνιος khthonios "of the earth" from khthōn "earth" pertaining to the Earth; earthy subterranean In Greek mythology, the Muses ( Ancient Greek, hai moũsai: perhaps from the Proto-Indo-European root * men- "think" are Asclepius (pronounced /æsˈkliːpiːəs/, Greek, transliterated Asklēpiós; Latin Aesculapius) is the god of Medicine Anatolia (Anadolu Ανατολία Anatolía) or Asia minor, comprising most of modern Turkey, is the geographic region bounded by the Black The Temple of Artemis ( Greek: Ἀρτεμίσιον Originally a Hittite and Phrygian Goddess, Cybele (Κυβέλη was a deification of the Earth Mother and was worshipped in Originally a Hittite and Phrygian Goddess, Cybele (Κυβέλη was a deification of the Earth Mother and was worshipped in A eunuch (ˈjuːnək is a Castrated man in particular one castrated early enough to have major hormonal consequences the term usually refers to those castrated in order to Castration (also referred to as Gelding, Neutering, Fixing, orchiectomy, and orchidectomy is any action surgical, chemical

Attis wearing the Phrygian cap. The Phrygian cap is a soft red conical cap with the top pulled forward worn in antiquity by the inhabitants of Phrygia, a region of central Anatolia Terracotta thymiaterion from Tarsus, 1st or 2nd century BC, Louvre. A thymiaterion is a Type of Censer or Incense burner formerly used in the Mediterranean region for spiritual and Religious Tarsus ( Greek Ταρσός is a City, and a large district in Mersin Province, Turkey, from the city of Mersin and near (40 The Louvre Museum (Musée du Louvre located in Paris is the world's most visited art museum a historic monument and a national museum of France

Attis was originally a local semi-deity of Phrygia, associated with the great Phrygian trading city of Pessinos, which lay under the lee of Mount Agdistis. In antiquity Phrygia (Φρυγία was a kingdom in the west central part of Anatolia, in what is now modern-day Turkey. thumb|Pessinus Area Sivrihisar Eskişehir Turkey Pessinus was the city in Anatolia, the Asian part of Turkey on the upper course of the river Sakarya The mountain was personified as a daemon, whom foreigners associated with the Great Mother Cybele. The words daemon, dæmon, are Latinized spellings of the Greek δαίμων ( daimôn) used purposely today to distinguish the daemons

The story of his origins from Agdistis, as told to the traveller Pausanias, have some distinctly non-Greek elements: Pausanias was told that the daemon Agdistis initially bore both male and female attributes. Agdistis ( Gr) was a deity of Greek, Roman and Anatolian mythology possessing both male and female sexual organs, con­nected with Pausanias ( Greek:) was a Greek traveller and Geographer of the 2nd century CE, who lived in the times of Hadrian, Antoninus But the Olympian gods, fearing Agdistis, cut off the male organ and cast it away. The Twelve Olympians, also known as the Dodekatheon ( Greek: Δωδεκάθεον There grew up from it an almond-tree, and when its fruit was ripe, Nana who was a daughter of the river Sangarios picked an almond and laid it in her bosom. According to Greek mythology Nana was a Nymph of Sangarius, a river located in present-day Turkey. The Sakarya ( Greek Σαγγάριος, Latinized as Sangarius) is a River in Asia Minor. The almond disappeared, and she became pregnant. Nana abandoned the baby (Attis). The infant was tended by a he-goat. As Attis grew, his long-haired beauty was godlike, and Agdistis as Cybele, then fell in love with him. But the foster parents of Attis sent him to Pessinos, where he was to wed the king's daughter. According to some versions the King of Pessinos was Midas. In Greek mythology, Midas or King Midas (in Greek Μίδας is popularly remembered for his ability to turn everything he touched into Gold Just as the marriage-song was being sung, Agdistis/Cybele appeared in her transcendent power, and Attis went mad and cut off his genitals. Attis' father-in-law-to-be, the king who was giving his daughter in marriage, followed suit, prefiguring the self-castrating corybantes who devoted themselves to Cybele. The Korybantes ( Ancient Greek:) were the crested dancers who worshiped the Phrygian goddess Cybele with drumming and dancing But Agdistis repented and saw to it that the body of Attis should neither rot at all nor decay. ^[2]

Attis was reborn as the evergreen pine. At the temple of Cybele/Rhea in Pessinos, the mother of the gods was still called Agdistis, the geographer Strabo recounted. Strabo ( Greek: Στράβων 63/64 BC – ca AD 24 was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher. ^[3]

Sculpture of Attis. Museum of Ephesus, Efes, Turkey.

As neighboring Lydia came to control Phrygia, the cult of Attis was given a Lydian context too. Defining Lydia Aside from a legend related by Herodotus, who states that the name Lydia came from king Lydus at the time of the fall of Troy Attis is said to have introduced to Lydia the cult of the Mother Goddess Cybele, incurring the jealousy of Zeus, who sent a boar to destroy the Lydian crops. Zeus (zjuːs in Greek: nominative: Zeús /zdeús/ genitive: Diós; Modern Greek /'zefs/ in Greek mythology Then certain Lydians, with Attis himself, were killed by the boar. Pausanias adds, to corroborate this story, that the Gauls who inhabited Pessinos abstained from pork. This myth element may have been invented solely to explain the unusual dietary laws of the Lydian Gauls. Taboo food and drinks are food and drink which people abstain from consuming for religious or cultural reasons Ancient Galatia was an area in the highlands of central Anatolia in modern Turkey. In Rome, the eunuch followers of Cybele were known as Galli ("Gauls"). Galli (singular Gallus) was the Roman name for castrated followers of the Phrygian goddess Cybele, which were regarded as a Third gender

As the orgiastic cult of Cybele spread from Anatolia to Greece and eventually to Rome in the time of Claudius, the cult of Attis, her reborn eunuch consort, accompanied her. Originally a Hittite and Phrygian Goddess, Cybele (Κυβέλη was a deification of the Earth Mother and was worshipped in Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus or Claudius I ( August 1, 10 BC &ndash October 13, AD 54 ( Tiberius Claudius Drusus from birth to The first literary reference to Attis is the subject of one of the most famous poems by Catullus. For persons with a Cognomen "Catulus" see Lutatius Gaius Valerius Catullus (ca ^[4] but it appears that the cult of Attis at Rome was not attached to the earlier-establish cult of Cybele until the early Empire. ^[5] The much later Imperial Roman calendar given in the Fasti Philocali was set thus:

March 15 - Canna Intrat (procession of the reed-bearers and syrinx-blowers);

March 22 - Arbor Intrat [equinox]- (entrance of the sacred pine tree; burial of Attis in effigy strapped to a stake);

March 24 - Sanguis (day of mourning, sacrifice, and bloodletting);

March 25 - Hilaria (day of Attis' resurrection);

March 27 - Lavatio (day of ablution). The Chronography of 354, also known as the Calendar of 354, was a 4th century Illuminated manuscript, which was produced in 354 AD for a wealthy Roman Christian The pan flute or pan pipe (also known as panflute or panpipes) is an ancient Musical instrument based on the principle of the Closed

A marble bas-relief of Cybele in her chariot and Attis, from Magna Graecia, is in the archaeological museum, Venice. A bas-relief (baʁəljɛf in French; French for "low relief" derived from the Italian basso rilievo) or low relief is a Sculpture A finely executed silvery brass Attis that had been ritually consigned to the Mosel was recovered during construction in 1963 and is kept at the Rheinisches Landesmuseum of Trier (see link for illustration). Trier (Trèves Luxembourgish: Tréier; Augusta Treverorum is a City in Germany on the banks of the Moselle River. It shows the typically Anatolian costume of the god: trousers fastened together down the front of the legs with toggles and the Phrygian cap. The Phrygian cap is a soft red conical cap with the top pulled forward worn in antiquity by the inhabitants of Phrygia, a region of central Anatolia

In 2007, in the ruins of Herculaneum a wooden throne was discovered adorned with a relief of Attis beneath a sacred pine tree, gathering cones. Historical records indicate that the cult of Attis was popular in Herculaneum at the time of the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD. Year 79 was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Julian calendar.

Notes

External links

• http://www.bartleby.com/196/81.html
• http://www.theoi.com/Phrygios/Attis.html
• Brass Roman statuette of Attis, RheinischesLandesmuseum, Trier

Literature

• P. Lambrechts , Attis: Van Herdersknaap tot God (Brussels:Vlaamse Akademie) 1962. (French summary)
  • Reviewed by J. A. North in The Journal of Roman Studies 55. 1/2 (1965), p. 278-279.
• H. Hepding, Attis seine Mythen und sein Kult (Religionsgeschichtliche Versuche und Vorarbeiten I), Giessen, 1903.
• E. N. Lane (ed. ), Cybele, Attis and Related Cults. Essays in Memory of M. J. Vermaseren. (Religions in the Graeco-Roman World, 131), Leiden-Köln, 1996.