|
Attis was a Phrygian or a Lydian dear to Cybele.
He is remembered for having cut off his genitals in
a fit of folly. Some say that at his death he was
turned into a pine tree, but even more
extraordinary is his birth.
|
|
|
|
|
Belief today and yesterday
|
Not few believe that people of ancient times
were like children, and not at all so clever as
modern man. And since technological advance is
their clue and indicator, they are persuaded that
humanity easily discards the beliefs and fantasies
of the past, as its mental sanity is increased by a
larger amount of verifiable facts. So for example,
says the distinguished anthropologist James G.
Frazer, 1854-1941:
"The belief in
the possible impregnation of women without sexual
intercourse appears to have been common, if not
universal, among men at a certain stage of social
evolution, and it is still held by many
savages." [James G. Frazer. Note to
Apollodorus 1.3.5.]
However, there are those in contemporary society
who could not be called savages and yet assert that
Mary, the mother of Jesus, conceived her child
without regular sexual intercourse.
|
|
How Attis was conceived
|
Now the myths, which have less to do with belief
than some would think, affirm that the daughter of
the god of the Sangarius river, which flows in Asia
Minor into the Black Sea, conceived Attis not by
sexual intercourse, but by taking the fruit of an
almond tree that had grown up from the sexual organ
of Agdistis, which the gods had cut off.
|
|
Agdistis
|
Agdistis, who was a demon with both male and
female sexual organs, was born from the seed that
Zeus once let fall upon the
ground when he was asleep. But since his double
sexuality frightened the gods, they cut off
Agdistis' male organ. From Agdistis' amputated
organ then, an almond tree grew up with its fruit
ripe; and when Sangarius' daughter came along, they
say, she took of the fruit and laid it in her bosom
and, on doing this, the fruit disappeared and she
found herself pregnant.
|
|
Castration at wedding party
|
When some time after a boy was born she exposed
him, but he was saved by a goat that nourished him.
And when years later Attis became a youth of beauty
more than human, he was sent by some relatives to
Pessinus in central Asia Minor near Mount Dindymus,
to marry the king's daughter. However, when the
wedding ceremony was being celebrated and all were
singing, Agdistis made a sudden appearance,
whereupon Attis, losing his mind, cut off his own
genitals; and so did the king too.
|
|
Attis buried
|
When this happened, Agdistis repented and asked
Zeus to grant that Attis'
body should not decay; for as they say, Agdistis
was himself in love with the youth. But whatever
happened to that request, Attis was buried in the
vicinity of Pessinus, where a temple was built to
the Mother of the Gods, whom they called Agdistis
although she is often identified with
Rhea 1, Cronos'
wife.
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Mother of The Gods,
called Agdistis and Cybele, and identified
with Rhea
1, the wife of Cronos
|
|
|
Attis love for Sagaritis
|
Others have said that Attis was a worshipper of
the Mother of the Gods, and that the goddess asked
him to guard her temple and keep his chastity,
whereupon he promised obedience saying:
"If I lie ...
may the love for which I break faith be my last
love of all." [Ovid,
Fasti
4.227]
And since promises are more often than not
broken, Attis met the Naiad Sagaritis and turned
her into his sweetheart. But the Mother of the
Gods, who was well informed, by wounding the
Naiad's tree destroyed Attis' sweetheart as well,
since her fate was dependent on the tree's. This
event, they say, and nothing else, is the reason
why Attis lost his mind, imagining that his
chamber's roof was falling in.
|
|
Attis goes mad
|
So being completely mad, Attis ran to the top of
Mount Dindymus, uttering such words that let
understand that he was seeing the
ERINYES. Then he mangled
his body with a sharp stone, and trailed his hair
in the dust, crying as he tortured himself that he
had deserved what he was going through. Then he
shouted repeatedly:
"Ah, perish
the parts that were my ruin." [Ovid,
Fasti
4.240]
whereupon he cut off his genitals. Then Attis
turned into a pine-tree, which is why this tree is
pleasing to the Mother of the Gods.
|
|
Born an eunuch and killed by a boar
|
Still others say that Attis was son of the
Phrygian Calaus and eunuch from birth. Attis became
known, they say, when he, after migrating to Lydia
instructed his hosts in the orgies of the Mother.
But the Lydians, for loving Attis and the Mother so
much, had their tillage destroyed by a boar sent by
Zeus; and this animal, they
tell, killed Attis in addition to some Lydians.
|
|
The Mother goes to Rome
|
Later, at the time when Attalus was king of
Phrygia, which is about
200 BC, the Mother of the Gods was brought to Rome,
following the instructions of the Sibyl at Cumae
and the Oracle at Delphi.
It is said that when the king at first refused the
favour to the Roman envoys, the voice of the
goddess herself was heard saying these prophetic
words:
"It was my own
will that they should send for me ... let me go, it
is my wish. Rome is a place meet to be the resort
of every god." [Ovid,
Fasti
4.269]
|
|
Successful priesthood
|
When the Mother of the Gods had spoken, Attalus,
understanding that Rome traced its origin to
Aeneas and Phrygian
ancestors, let the envoys take the goddess, whose
image was embarked in the Hellespont, the strait in
northwestern Asia Minor, and came to the mouth of
the Tiber, Rome's river, some time later. For this
reason the Asian temple became famous where the
Mother of the Gods was venerated. She was in Asia
called Agdistis, and being the object of great
devotion, the priests, they say, achieved
extraordinary prosperity, living as potentates.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cybele (Rhea
1) with the lion at her
feet, Attis holding a shepherd's staff,
and worshippers
|
|
|