THE GREAT MOTHER CYBEL

Cybele is an ancient Anatolian deity, venerated as the Great Mother Idea, from Mount Ida near Troy, goddess of nature, animals and wild places. She was an ambivalent divinity, she symbolized the creative and destructive force of Nature. She is often associated with Rhea.

The main center of her cult was the sanctuary of Pessinus, in Phrygia, from which she passed through Lydia approximately in the 7th century BC. in the Greek colonies of Asia Minor and subsequently on the continent, in Rome. In Greek mythology she was identified with Rhea, the mother of the Gods.

Cybele is generally depicted sitting on the throne or on a chariot pulled by two lions or leopards; she is accompanied by her companion Attis and her priests. On her head she has a turreted crown.

The two lions represent the mythological characters of Melanion and Atalanta, transformed into lions by Zeus and condemned to drag the goddess's chariot as punishment for having desecrated a temple of the latter.

 

STATUE OF CYBELE FORMIANA AT COPENHAGEN MUSEUM
Large statue of seated Cybele, exhibited at the Ny Carlsberg Glypotek Museum in Copenhagen with the words "Found in Formia".

Found in Formia in 1892 in the Vindicio area in a shrine dedicated to the Goddess Cybele.
Marble statue height 1.72 m from the first century BC.
Also called Magna Mater, i.e. the mother of all Gods.
A Roman myth born after Hannibal's defeat connects the Goddess Cybele to Victory.