The Great Mother Goddess on the Thracian Coast of Pontos Euxeinos: Forms and Traditions
In: Ancient Civilizations from Scythia to SiberiaSearch for other papers by Dobrinka Chiekova in
Current site
Google Scholar
Abstract
This paper focuses on the worship of the Mother Goddess in the Greek colonies on the west coast of the Black Sea from the Archaic to the Roman period. The epigraphic and the archaeological evidence demonstrate the importance of the Milesian colonies in the spread of the cult. The political aspect of the Goddess’s personality is prominent and reminds of her Phrygian position. A Great Goddess very similar to the Phrygian Matar was worshiped in Thrace and on the western shores of the Black Sea before the arrival of the Greeks in 7th century BC. The Greek colonists and the Thracians were able to recognize simultaneously the continuum and the distinction in the forms and characteristics of their respective Great Goddess.
Purchase
Buy instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):
Institutional Login
Log in with Open Athens, Shibboleth, or your institutional credentials
Personal login
Log in with your brill.com account
-
Alexandrescu-Vianu, M. (1980). Sur la diffusion du culte de Cybèle dans le bassin de la Mer Noire à l’époque archaïque. Dacia N.S.24, pp. 261–265.
-
Alexandrescu-Vianu, M. (1990). Nouveaux documents concernant le culte de Cybèle à Istros. Dacia N.S.34, pp. 219–222.
-
Alexandrescu-Vianu, M. (1994). Trois statuettes archaïques syro-phéniciennes à Histria. Il Mar Nero I, pp. 137–144.
-
Avram, A. (1999). Étude introductive. In: Inscriptiones Scythiae Minoris Graecae et Latinae III: Callatis et son territoire. Bucharest, Paris: Editura Enciclopedică; Diffusion de Boccard, pp. 3–198.
-
Bäbler, B. (1998). Fleissige Thrakerinnen und wehrhafte Skythen. Nichtgriechen in klassischen Athen und ihre archäologische Hinterlassenschaft. Stuttgart und Leipzig: B.G. Teubner.
-
Baralis, A. (2008). The chora formation of the Greek Cities of Aegean Thrace. Towards a Chronological approach to the Colonization Problem. In: P. Guldager Bilde and J.H. Petersen, eds., Meetings of Cultures in the Black Sea Region: Between Conflict and Coexistence (Black Sea Studies 8). Aarhus: Aarhus Universitetsforlag, pp. 101–130.
-
Baralis, A., Panayotova, K., Nedev, D., eds. (2019). Apollonia du Pont: sur les pas des archéologues; collections du Louvre et des musées de Bulgarie. Catalogue de l’exposition. Sofia: Faber.
-
Bonnet, C. (2015). Les enfants de Cadmos. Le paysage religieux de la Phénicie hellénistique. Paris: Editions de Boccard.
-
Borgeaud, Ph. (2004). Mother of the Gods. Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press [translated by L. Hochroth. Originally published as Borgeaud, Ph. (1996). La mère des Dieux. Paris: Editions du Seuil].
-
Boshnakov, K. & Boshnakova, A. (2000). Ezik’t na obrazite v pametnitzi na trakiïskata kultura. Minalo 2, pp. 5–23.
-
Bøgh, B. (2007). The Phrygian Background of Kybele. Numen 54 (3), pp. 304–339.
-
Bøgh, B. (2012). Mother of the Gods: Goddess of Power and Protector of Cities. Numen 59 (1), pp. 32–67.
-
Braund, D. (2008). Scythian laughter: conversation in the northern Black Sea region in the fifth century BC. In: P. Guldager Bilde & J.H. Petersen, eds., Meetings of Cultures in the Black Sea Region: Between Conflict and Coexistence (Black Sea Studies 8). Aarhus: Aarhus Universitetsforlag, pp. 347–368.
-
Braund, D. (2017). The Goddess Bendis in Fifth Century Athenian Culture. Vestnik drevneï istorii 77 (3), pp. 574–598.
-
Braund, D. (2018). Greek religion and cults in the Black Sea region. Goddesses in the Bosporan Kingdom from the Archaic Period to the Byzantine Era. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
-
Burstein, S. (2006). The Greek Cities of the Black Sea. In: K.H. Kinzl, ed., A Companion to the Classical Greek World. Blackwell Companions to the Ancient world. Malden MA, Oxford: Wiley Blackwell, pp. 137–152.
-
Chaniotis, A. (2017). Political culture in the cities of the Northern Black Sea region in the “Long Hellenistic Age” (The Epigraphic evidence). In: V. Kozlovskaya, ed., The Northern Black Sea in Antiquity. Networks, connectivity, and cultural interactions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 141–166.
-
Chiekova, D. (2008). Cultes et vie religieuse des cités grecques du Pont Gauche (VIIe– Ier siècle av. J.-C.). Bern: Peter Lang.
-
Chiekova, D. (2011). Greek and Thracian religious traditions in the Greek cities on the Western Black Sea Coast. In: N. Badoud, ed., Philologos Dionysios. Mélanges offerts au professeur Denis Knoepfler. Genève: Librairie Droz, pp. 517–532.
-
Chiekova, D. (2019). Le culte d’Aphrodite. Le culte de Cybele. In: A. Baralis, K. Panayotova, D. Nedev., eds., Apollonia du Pont: sur les pas des archéologues; collections du Louvre et des musées de Bulgarie. Catalogue de l’exposition. Sofia: Faber, pp. 108–111.
-
Chiekova, D. (2020). Review: Van Haeperen, F. Étrangère et ancestrale: la mère des dieux dans le monde romain (Les conférences de l’École pratique des hautes études 12). Paris: Les Éditions de Cerf, 2019. Bryn Mawr Classical Review. https://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2020/2020.08.03/.
-
Crielaards, J.P. (2009). The Ionians in the Archaic period. Shifting identities in a changing world. In: T. Derks and N. Roymans, eds., Ethnic Constructs in Antiquity. The Role of Power and Tradition. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, pp. 37–84.
-
Damyanov, M. (2007). Dionysopolis, its territory and neighbours in the pre-Roman times. In: D. Gramennos and E. Petropoulos, eds., Ancient Greek colonies in the Black Sea 2, Oxford: Archaeopress, pp. 1–36.
-
Damyanov, M. & Panayotova, K. (2019). Le sanctuaire du cap Skamni. In: A. Baralis, K. Panayotova, D. Nedev, eds., Apollonia du Pont: sur les pas des archéologues; collections du Louvre et des musées de Bulgarie. Catalogue de l’exposition. Sofia: Faber, pp. 97–107.
-
Dana, M. (2007). Cultes locaux et identité grecque dans les cités du Pont-Euxin. Les Etudes Classiques 75, pp. 171–186.
-
Deoudi, M. (2015). Bendis in Kleinasien. In: A. Muller, E. Lafli, and S. Huysecom-Haxhi, eds., Figurines de terre cuite en Méditerranée grecque et romaine, Volume 2. Iconographie et contextes. Villeneuve d’Ascq: Presses Universitaires de Septentrion, pp. 49–59.
-
Dubois, L. (1996). Inscriptions grecques dialectales d’Olbia du Pont. Genève: Librairies Droz S.A.
-
Eckert, M. (2016). Die Aphrodite der Seefahrer und ihre Heiligtümer am Mittelmeer. Archäologische Untersuchungen zu interkulturellen Kontactzonen am Mittelmeer in der späten Bronzezeit und frühen Eisenzeit. Münster: LIT.
-
Fol, V. (2000). Megalitni i skalno-izsecheni pametnitsi v drevna Trakiya. Sofia: Demax.
-
Fol, A., Chichikova, M., Ivanov, T., & Theophilov, T. (1986). The Thracian Tomb near the village of Sveshtari. Sofia: Svyat Publishers.
-
Gočeva, Z. & Oppermann, M. (1979). Corpus Cultus Equitis Thracii (CCET), I. Leiden: Brill.
-
Graf, F. (1985). Nordionische Kulte. Rome: Schweizerische Institut in Rom.
-
Greenwalt, W. (2015). Thracian and Macedonian Kingship. In: J. Valeva, E. Nankov, and D. Graninger, eds., A Companion to Ancient Thrace. Blackwell Companions to the Ancient world. Malden, Oxford: Wiley Blackwell, pp. 337–351.
-
Guldager Bilde, P. & Petersen, J.H., eds. (2008). Meetings of Cultures in the Black Sea Region: Between Conflict and Coexistence (Black Sea Studies 8). Aarhus: Aarhus Universitetsforlag.
-
Henrichs, A. (1976). Despoina Kybele: Ein Beitrag zur Religiösen Namenkunde. Harvard Studies in Classical Philology 80, pp. 253–286.
-
Hinge, G. (2008). Dionysos and Heracles in Scythia – The Eschatological String of Herodotos’ Book 4. In: P. Guldager Bilde & J.H. Petersen, eds., Meetings of Cultures in the Black Sea Region: Between Conflict and Coexistence (Black Sea Studies 8). Aarhus: Aarhus Universitetsforlag, pp. 369–397.
-
Ismard, P. (2010). La cité des réseaux. Athènes et ses associations, VIe–Ier siècle av. J.-C. Paris: Publications de la Sorbonne.
-
Ivantchik, A. (2016). L’idéologie royale des Scythes et son expression dans la littérature et l’iconographie grecques: l’apport de la numismatique. Dialogues d’histoire ancienne, 42 (1), pp. 305–329.
-
Johnston, P. (1996). Cybele and her companions on the Northern Littoral of the Black Sea. In: E.N. Lane, ed., Cybele, Attis and related cults. Essays in memory of M.J. Vermaseren. Leiden: Brill, pp. 101–116.
-
Lazarenko, I., Mircheva, E., Encheva, R., Stoyanova, D., & Sharankov, N. (2013). The Temple of the Pontic Mother of Gods in Dionysopolis. Varna: Slavena.
-
Lilimbaki-Akamati, M. (2000). To hiero tes Meteras ton Theon kai tes Aphrodites sten Pella. Thessaloniki: Publications Athanasios Altinzis.
-
Maddoli, G. (2015). Iasos: Vendita del sacerdozio della Madre degli Dei. Studi Classici e Orientali 61 (2), pp. 101–118.
-
Malkin, I. (2011). A Small Greek World. Networks in the Ancient Mediterranean. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
-
Mircheva, E. (2013). Sculpture and relief. In: I. Lazarenko, E. Mircheva, R. Encheva, D. Stoyanova, & N. Sharankov, The Temple of the Pontic Mother of Gods in Dionysopolis. Varna: Slavena, pp. 34–46.
-
Munn, M. (2006). The Mother of the Gods, Athens, and the Tyranny of Asia. Berkeley: California University Press.
-
Nafissi, M. (2015). Una dedica a Basileia da Iasos e il duplice culto della Madre degli Dei e della Madre Frigia. Studi Classici e Orientali 61 (2), pp. 119–136.
-
Naumann, F. (1983). Die Ikonographie der Kybele in der Phrygischen und der Griechischen Kunst. Tübingen: E. Wasmuth.
-
Nedev, D. & Stoyanova, D. (2019). Les sanctuaires de la cité: l’architecture religieuse de la péninsule de Skamni. In: A. Baralis, K. Panayotova, D. Nedev, eds., Apollonia du Pont: sur les pas des archéologues; collections du Louvre et des musées de Bulgarie. Catalogue de l’exposition. Sofia: Faber, pp. 86–93.
-
Nekhrizov, G. (2015). Dolmens and Rock-Cut Monuments. In: J. Valeva, E. Nankov, and D. Graninger, eds., A Companion to Ancient Thrace. Blackwell Companions to the Ancient world. Malden, Oxford: Wiley Blackwell, pp. 126–143.
-
Oppermann, M. (2017). Der Kybelekult an der Westküste des Schwarzen Meeres. Pontica 50, pp. 17–47.
-
Parker, R. (1996). Athenian Religion: A History. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
-
Parker, R. (2002). The cult of Aphrodite Pandemos and Pontia on Cos. In: H.F.J. Horstmanshoff, H.W. Singor, F.T. Van Straten, J.H.M. Strubbe, eds., Kykeon. Studies in honor of H.S. Versnel. Leiden, Boston: Brill, pp. 143–160.
-
Parker, R. (2017). Greek Gods Abroad: Names, Natures, and Transformations. Oakland, California: University of California Press.
-
Parker, R. & Stamatopoulou, M. (2004). A new funerary gold leaf from Pherai. Archaeologike Ephemeris 143, pp. 1–32.
-
Paul, S. (2013). Cultes et sanctuaires de l’île de Cos. Liège: Presses Universitaires de Liège.
-
Pirenne-Delforge, V. (1994). L’Aphrodite grecque (Kernos Suppl. 4). Athens and Liège: Presses universitaires de Liège.
-
Rabadjiev, K. (2015). Religion. In: J. Valeva, E. Nankov, and D. Graninger, eds., A Companion to Ancient Thrace. Blackwell Companions to the Ancient world. Malden, Oxford: Wiley Blackwell, pp. 443–456.
-
Rohaut, L. (2019). Les naïskoi d’Apollonia du Pont. In: A. Baralis, K. Panayotova, D. Nedev, eds., Apollonia du Pont: sur les pas des archéologues; collections du Louvre et des musées de Bulgarie. Catalogue de l’exposition. Sofia: Faber, pp. 112–113.
-
Roller, L. (1999). In Search of God the Mother. The Cult of Anatolian Cybele. Berkeley: University of California Press.
-
Roller, L. (2003). The Mother Goddess between Thrace and Phrygia. Thracia 15, pp. 161–167.
-
Rostovtzeff, M. (1919). Le culte de la Grande Déesse dans la Russie méridionale. Révue des Etudes Grecques 32, pp. 462–481.
-
Rousseva, M. (2000). Thracian Cult Architecture. Yambol: Nous.
-
Rusyaeva, A. (1992). Religiya i kul’tÿ antichnoï Ol’vii. Kiev: Naukova dumka.
-
Sharankov, N. (2013). Inscriptions. In: I. Lazarenko, E. Mircheva, R. Encheva, D. Stoyanova, & N. Sharankov, The Temple of the Pontic Mother of Gods in Dionysopolis. Varna: Slavena, pp. 47–64.
-
Simms, R. (1988). The Cult of the Thracian Goddess Bendis in Athens. Ancient World 18, pp. 59–76.
-
Stoyanov, T. (1985). Le cavalier et la déesse. Observations sur une série des reliefs thraces. Ktema 10, pp. 273–285.
-
Tacheva-Hitova, M. (1983). Eastern Cults in Moesia Inferior and Thracia (5th century BC– 4th century AD). Leiden: Brill.
-
Theodossiev, N. (2002). Mountain Goddesses in Ancient Thrace: The Broader Context. Kernos 15, pp. 325–329.
-
Todorova, H. (2007). Durankulak: a territorium sacrum of the goddess Cybele. In: D. Gramennos and E. Petropoulos, eds., Ancient Greek colonies in the Black Sea 2. Oxford: Archaeopress, pp. 175–238.
-
Tsetskhladze, G.R. (1998). Greek Colonization of the Black Sea Area: Stages, Models and Native Population. In: G.R. Tsetskhladze, ed., The Greek Colonization of the Black Sea Area. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, pp. 9–68.
-
Ustinova, Y., (1998). Aphrodite Ourania of the Bosporus: The Great Goddess of a Frontier Pantheon. Kernos 11, pp. 209–226.
-
Van Haeperen, F. (2019). Étrangère et ancestrale: la mère des dieux dans le monde romain. Les conférences de l’École pratique des hautes études 12. Paris: Les Éditions de Cerf.
-
Vassileva, M. (2001). Further Considerations on the Cult of Kybele. Anatolian Studies 51, pp. 51–63.
-
Vassileva, M. (2005). Tsar Midas mezhdu Evropa i Azia. Sofia: Editio Academica “Marin Drinov”.
-
Vassileva, M. (2012). The Rock-Cut monuments of Phrygia, Paphlagonia and Thrace: A comparative overview. In: G.R. Tsetskhladze, ed., The Black Sea, Paphlagonia, Pontus and Phrygia in Antiquity: Aspects of archaeology and ancient history (BAR International Series 2432), Oxford: Archaeopress, pp. 243–252.
-
Velkov, V. (2005). Inscriptions antiques de Messembria. In: L. Ognenova-Marinova, I. Karayotov, eds., Nessèbre III. In memoriam Jannae Cimbuleva. Burgas: Spring, pp. 159–193.
-
Venedikov, I. & Gerassimov, T. (1975). Thracian Art Treasures. London: Caxton.
-
Versnel, H.S. (2011). Coping with the Gods. Wayward Readings in Greek Theology. Leiden, Boston: Brill.
-
Wiemer, H.-U. & Kah, D. (2011). Die Phrygische Mutter in Hellenistischen Priene: Eine Neue Diagraphe und Verwandte Texte. Epigraphica Anatolica 44, pp. 1–54.
| All Time | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 115 | 115 | 34 |
| Full Text Views | 5 | 5 | 2 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 19 | 19 | 8 |
The Great Mother Goddess on the Thracian Coast of Pontos Euxeinos: Forms and Traditions
In: Ancient Civilizations from Scythia to SiberiaSearch for other papers by Dobrinka Chiekova in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Abstract
This paper focuses on the worship of the Mother Goddess in the Greek colonies on the west coast of the Black Sea from the Archaic to the Roman period. The epigraphic and the archaeological evidence demonstrate the importance of the Milesian colonies in the spread of the cult. The political aspect of the Goddess’s personality is prominent and reminds of her Phrygian position. A Great Goddess very similar to the Phrygian Matar was worshiped in Thrace and on the western shores of the Black Sea before the arrival of the Greeks in 7th century BC. The Greek colonists and the Thracians were able to recognize simultaneously the continuum and the distinction in the forms and characteristics of their respective Great Goddess.
| All Time | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 115 | 115 | 34 |
| Full Text Views | 5 | 5 | 2 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 19 | 19 | 8 |