Agdistis

Phrygian statue of Kybele/Agdistis from the mid-6th century BCE at or near Hattusa

Agdistis (Ancient Greek: Ἄγδιστις) was a deity of Greek, Roman and Anatolian mythology, possessing both male and female sexual organs. She is closely associated with the Phrygian goddess Cybele.^[1]

Her androgyny is seen^{[by whom?]} as symbolic of a wild and uncontrollable nature. It was this trait which was threatening to the gods and ultimately led to her destruction.^{[2]:  20, 92}

Mythology[]

According to Pausanias, on one occasion Zeus unwittingly begot by the Earth a superhuman being which was at once man and woman, and was called “Agdistis”.

In other versions, there was a rock, called “Agdo”, on which the Great Mother slept. Zeus impregnated the Great Mother (Gaia),^{[clarification needed]} which brought forth Agdistis.^[3]

The gods were afraid of the double-gendered Agdistis. One deity^[a] put a sleeping draught in Agdistis' drinking well.

After the potion had put Agdistis to sleep, Dionysus tied Agdistis's foot to Agdistis's male genitalia (φαλλός) with a strong rope. When Agdistis awoke and stood, Agdistis ripped his penis off, castrating himself.^[3] The blood from his severed genitals fertilized the earth, and from that spot an almond^[b] tree grew.

Nana, daughter of the river-god Sangarius, was once gathering the fruit of this tree; she stored some almonds^[b] in her bosom,^[3] but they disappeared. She consequently became pregnant with Attis.^{[4]: vii. 17. § 7.9-13  [c]} After giving birth to Attis, Nana abandoned him, and the infant was taken in by human foster-parents.^{[citation needed]}

When he had grown up, Attis was of such extraordinary beauty that the now-conventionally female Agdistis fell in love with him, despite in effect being his father. His foster-parents, however, intended him to become the husband of the daughter of the king of Pessinus, and he accordingly went to the Pessinian royal court.^[d]

At the moment when the marriage song had commenced, Agdistis appeared in her full glory, and all the wedding guests were instantly driven mad, causing both Attis and the king of Pessinus to castrate themselves, and the bride to cut off her breasts. Agdistis then repented of her deed, and obtained from Zeus the promise that the body of Attis would not decompose.

This is the most popular account of an otherwise mysterious affair, which is probably part of a symbolic worship of the creative powers of nature. Pausanias also mentions a hill in Phrygia named “Agdistis”, at the foot of which Attis was reported to have been buried.^{[4]: i. 4. § 5  [e]}

Cult of Agdistis[]

The distinction between the west-Anatolian mother goddesses is entirely muddy:

• According to Hesychius^[6] and Strabo,^[7] Agdistis is the same as the Cybele, who was worshiped at Pessinus under that name.
• However, in many ancient inscriptions, Agdistis is clearly distinct from Cybele, whereas in many others she is listed as merely an epithet of Cybele.^[8]

Although primarily an Anatolian goddess, the cult of Agdistis covered a good deal of territory:

• By 250 BC it had spread to Egypt
• In the mid-Aegean islands and mainland Greece, her cult notably could be found in
  • Piraeus as early as the 3rd or 4th century BC
  • later in Attica
  • Rhamnus around 80 BC (where there was a sanctuary of Agdistis)^[8]
  • Inscriptions honoring her have been found on Crete, at Paros
• In mainland and coastal Anatolia
  • Inscriptions found at Sardis from the 4th century BC indicate that priests of Zeus were not permitted to take part in the mysteries of Agdistis.^[9]
  • Inscriptions honoring Agdistis have been found at Mithymna
  • In the 1st century BC, her shrine in Philadelphia, Anatolia, required a strict code of behavior. At that location – and others – she is found with sister deities (“theoi soteres”).^[10]
  • Some time after 80 BC her cult is found on Lesbos
• Also after 80 BC Agdistis' cult is found in far-off Panticapeum, on the eastern shore of the Crimea.

There is epigraphic evidence that in some places^[where?] Agdistis was considered a healing goddess of a wholly benevolent nature.^[2]

In an attempt to fathom the mixed-up distinctions and opposing syncretism of the Anatolian mother goddesses, scholars have hypothesised that Agdistis is part of a continuum of androgynous Anatolian deities,^{[citation needed]} including an ancient Phrygian deity probably named Andistis^{[citation needed]} and one called Adamma,^{[citation needed]} stretching all the way back to the ancient kingdom of Kizzuwatna in the 2nd millennium BC.^{[citation needed]}

See also[]

• Aphroditus, the androgynous aspect of the goddess Aphrodite
• Galli, the eunuch priests of the goddess Cybele in Rome, and her consort Attis
• Hermaphroditus, the androgynous son of Hermes and Aphrodite

Notes[]

References[]

External links[]

Wikisource has the text of the Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology's article about Agdistis.

• The dictionary definition of Agdistis at Wiktionary

• "Agdistis: Phrygian hermaphrodite goddess". Phrygios. Theoi Project (theoi.com).

• "Agdistis". Greek mythology. Mythology Index (mythindex.com).

• "Agdistis". Greek mythology. Hellenica (mlahanas.de). Archived from the original on 3 April 2012. — information about Greece and Cyprus