CYBELE.
_Ques._ Who was Cyb´ele?
_Ans._ This goddess, sometimes called by the Greeks, Rhea, and by the
Latins, Ops, is considered to be a personification of the earth. She
is goddess, not of cities only, but of all things which the earth
contains. She was the daughter of Coelum, and the wife of Saturn.
_Ques._ How was Cyb´ele represented?
_Ans._ Generally as riding in a chariot, drawn by lions. She wears a
turreted crown, and is clothed in a many-colored mantle, on which are
represented the figures of various animals. In her right hand she
holds a sceptre, and in her left, a key. This last emblem seems to
signify that the earth locks up her treasures in the winter season.
Cyb´ele is always represented with the dignified and matronly air
which distinguishes Juno and Ceres.
_Ques._ How was she worshipped?
_Ans._ Sacrifices were first offered to this goddess in Phrygia and
Lydia. Her temples were generally built on the summits of mountains;
that on Mount Dindymus near Pessi´nus, in Galatia, was particularly
celebrated. Her statue in this temple was simply a large aerolite
which had fallen in the vicinity, and was regarded by the people as
the heaven-sent image of their great goddess. At the close of the
second Punic war, the Romans, directed, it is said, by the Sibylline
books, sent an embassy to Attalus, king of Pergamus, requesting that
he would permit the so-called image to be removed to Rome. The monarch
consented, and the sacred stone was carried in triumph to the Italian
capital. There it was placed in a stately temple built for the
purpose, and a solemn festival, called Megalesia, was celebrated
annually, in honor of Cyb´ele. During these solemnities, priests
called Galli and Corybantes ran about like madmen, with cries and
howlings, making, at the same time, a terrific noise with the clashing
of cymbals, the sound of pipes and other instruments. In their frenzy,
they cut their flesh with knives, and performed many other
extravagances, but the people regarded them with reverence, as they
were believed, while in this state, to possess the gift of prophecy.
The divinity worshipped by the Roman women under the name of Bona Dea,
or Good Goddess, is believed to be the same as Cyb´ele.
Ancient writers relate an extraordinary incident connected with the
arrival of the image of Cyb´ele in Rome. The ship which bore the
sacred stone was stranded on a shoal in the Tiber. Claudia, a Vestal
Virgin who was suspected of having violated her vow, attached her
girdle to the prow, and drew the ship safely into port. Her innocence
was established by this prodigy.