Domain: Phrygia, Modern Day Turkey (Near East)
Genealogy: Sprung from Phrygian rock/earth.
Claim to Fame: Fertility Goddess, one of the original deities from more primitive times.
Iconography: Hermaphroditic status, polished cone, many breasts/heads/arms, almond tree. Often attended by orgiastic worshippers alike to Dionysus' contraband.
Literature: Linear B.
Myth
I. Birth: Sprung autonomously from the Phrygian earth, Cybele was originally hermaphroditic in nature, but castrated herself to attain female identity (indicates prevalence of ancient matriarchal societies). From her severed male genitalia, an almond tree sprouted.
II. Followers: Attended by the Corybantes ("whirlers"), who wield drums, cymbals, and horns, as well as Galli, eunuchs who took Cybele's castration as an example for them to follow. Also picked up by priests as justification for the castration of youth in ancient times.
III. Attis: One day Nana (water nymph, daughter of River Sangrios), picked a blossom from the almond tree, from which Attis was born 9 months later. He is abandoned however, only to be nursed by a billy goat in the wild.
Cybele unknowingly falls for the youth, who is essentially a manifestation of her own severed genitalia (once again, theme of searching for what was lost/severed, ie. Aristophanes). Because Attis' affections lie with someone else, Cybele drives him insane due to to her jealousy. In his madness, Attis castrates himself and dies. A remorseful Cybele appeals to Zeus however, who decrees that Attis' body should never decay (quirk: only his little finger moves, and hair continues to grow).
