In Search of God the Mother: The Cult of Anatolian Cybele (1999)

This book examines one of the most intriguing figures in the religious life of the ancient Mediterranean world, the Phrygian Mother Goddess, known to the Greeks and Romans as Cybele or Magna Mater, the Great Mother. Her cult was particularly prominent in central Anatolia (modern Turkey), and spread from there through the Greek and Roman world. She was an enormously popular figure, attracting devotion from common people and potentates alike. This book is the first comprehensive assembly and discussion of the entire extant evidence concerning the worship of the Phrygian Mother Goddess, from her earliest appearance in the prehistoric record to the early centuries of the Roman Empire. Lynn E. Roller presents and analyzes literary, historiographic, and archaeological data with equal acuity and flair. While previous studies have tended to emphasize the more outrageous aspects of the Mother Goddess's cult, such as her orgiastic rituals and the eunuch priests who attended her, this book places a special focus on Cybele's position in Anatolia and the ways in which the identity of the goddess changed as her cult was transmitted to Greece and Rome. Roller gives a detailed account of the growth, spread, and evolution of her cult, her ceremonies, and her meaning for her adherents. This book will introduce students of Classical antiquity to many aspects of the Great Mother which have been previously unexamined, and will interest anyone who has ever been piqued by curiosity about the Mother Goddess of the ancient Western world. University of California Press IN SEARCHOF GOD THE MOTHER: The Cult of Anatolian Cybele 3 CONTENTS 9 ILLUSTRATIONS 11 PREFACE 15 ABBREVIATIONS 19 INTRODUCTION 21 1 • PROLEGOMENON TO A STUDY OF THE PHRYGIAN MOTHER GODDESS 29 1 • THE MOTHER GODDESS IN ANATOLIA 45 2 • THE EVIDENCE FROM PREHISTORY 47 3 • THE BRONZE AND EARLY IRON AGES 61 THE HITTITE BACKGROUND 62 THE NEO-HITTITE BACKGROUND 64 THE URARTIAN COMPONENT 73 CONCLUSION 82 4 • THE CULT OF THE MOTHER GODDESS IN PHRYGIA 83 THE EPIGRAPHICAL EVIDENCE 85 THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE 91 The Archaeological Evidence: Central and Eastern Phrygia 92 The Archaeological Evidence: Western Phrygia 104 Transitional Cult Monuments 125 THE CULT OF THE MOTHER GODDESS IN PHRYGIA: SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS 128 2 • THE MOTHER GODDESS IN GREECE 137 5 • THE EARLY CULT 139 6 • THE CLASSICAL PERIOD 163 RITES AND CULT PRACTICES 164 SANCTUARIES OF METER AND THE STATUS OF METER IN THE GREEK POLIS 181 THE PLACE OF METER IN THE GREEK PANTHEON 189 METER AND ATTIS 197 METER'S PLACE IN GREEK SOCIETY 202 SUMMARY: NOTHING TO DO WITH PHRYGIA? 204 7 • THE HELLENISTIC PERIOD 207 METER IN PHRYGIA AND LYDIA 209 THE GREEK METER IN WESTERN ANATOLIA 218 METER IN GREECE 236 METER IN HELLENISTIC LITERATURE AND SOCIETY 247 SUMMARY: METER AND HELLENISTIC SOCIETY 252 3 • FROM CULT TO MYTH 255 8 • THE MYTH OF CYBELE AND ATTIS 257 THE MYTH AND ITS SOURCES 258 ANALYSIS OF THE MYTH: FROM PHRYGIA TO THE WEST 267 PRINCIPAL SOURCES FOR THE MYTH OF CYBELE AND ATTIS 279 4 • THE ROMAN MAGNA MATER 281 9 • THE ARRIVAL OF THE MAGNA MATER IN ROME 283 10 • THE REPUBLIC AND EARLY EMPIRE 307 THE MAGNA MATER CULT DURING THE REPUBLIC 307 THE LATE REPUBLIC AND EARLY EMPIRE: LITERARY FIGURES 312 THE LATE REPUBLIC AND EARLY EMPIRE: MONUMENTS AND RITUALS 329 THE MATER DEUM MAGNA IDAEA: ANALYSIS AND CONCLUSIONS 336 APPENDIX 340 11 • THE ROMAN GODDESS IN ASIA MINOR 347 EPILOGUE 365 BIBLIOGRAPHY 367 Aign, B. 367 Barnett, R.D. 368 Bolton, J. D. P. 369 Burr, D. 370 Deighton, H. 371 Friedrich, J. 372 Güterbock, H. 373 Helbig, W. 374 Keil, J. 375 Laum, B. 376 Meriç, R. 377 Naumann, F. 378 Perret, J. 379 Ratte, C. 380 Romano, I. B. 381 Schwertheim, E. 382 Straten, F. T. van 383 Vermeule, E. 384 Wolters, P. 385 INDEX 387 Acropolis 387 Ankara 388 Boiotia 389 Diodoros 390 Greece 391 Hadrian 392 Leto 393 Maternal identity 394 Metragyrtai 395 Muses 396 Pindar 397 Prinias 398 Romulus and Remus 399 Stelai 400 0520210247 "This book is the first comprehensive assembly and discussion of the entire extant evidence concerning the worship of this goddess, called Matar Kubileya in Phrygia, Kybele in ancient Greece, and Magna Mater (the Great Mother) in Rome. Lynn E. Roller presents and analyzes literary, historiographic, and archaeological data ranging from the prehistoric record to the early centuries of the Roman Empire. This book will interest classicists, archaeologists, ancient historians, historians of religion and religious ecology, and everyone who has ever been piqued by curiosity about the Great Mother goddess in the ancient Mediterranean world."--Jacket An examination of an intriguing figure in the religious life of the ancient Mediterranean world, the Phrygian Mother Goddess, known to the Greeks and Romans as Cybele or Magna Mater, the Great Mother. The text presents and analyzes literary, historiographic and archaeological data.