Further considerations on the cult of Kybele

Abstract

Modern scholarship has produced a large volume of literature on the Phrygian goddess Kybele. The image of the Great Mother-Goddess, both on European and on Anatolian soil, has long attracted scholarly attention. Besides works that have become classics (Graillot 1912; Vermaseren 1977), I will list just a few more recent studies (Naumann 1983; Borgeaud 1996; Işık 1999; Roller 1999). The representations of Kybele are gathered in the eight volume Corpus by M J Vermaseren (most valuable for the present study being volumes 1 and 2: Vermaseren 1982; 1987). Numerous articles are devoted to different aspects of Kybele's figure and cult. All contributions to the subject must take into consideration the recent exhaustive study on the Mother cult in Phrygia, Greece and Rome by L E Roller (1999). The present paper aims at offering another point of view on some disputable questions and at introducing new comparative material.