CLAS 365 Lecture Notes - Lecture 20: Cabeiri, Greco-Roman Mysteries, List Of Ancient Macedonians
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Just off shore of thrace, in hellenistic period the sanctuary became a principle one. Seemed to be independent for much of its history. We do(cid:374)"t k(cid:374)o(cid:449) (cid:449)ho the great gods are. But (cid:449)e thi(cid:374)k is it (cid:449)as ta(cid:271)oo to utter their (cid:374)a(cid:373)es, collectively could be refered to as cabeiri. If it is the cabeiri, they were cothonic deities associated with this part of. Cabeiri sometimes connected to an olympian deity also, hephaistos. For cabeiri, we think it includes pre-greek or not greek elements. So this is a mystery cult, and the process of worship is never to be described, hence mystery cult. Some sources do mention two female goddesses and one male one. Along with them, a servant often included named cadmilus. (sometimes shown as old man or son. )axierus seems to be a great mother goddess. (coins depict this) (silver tetradrachm, samothrace 280bc) we tend to associated axierus with demeter.