CORYBANTES, spiritual powers, with the same relation to the Asiatic Great Mother of the Gods as the Curetes bear to Zeus. From their first appearance in literature, they are already often identified or confused with them, and are distinguished only by their Asiatic origin and by the more pronouncedly orgiastic nature of their rites. Various accounts of their origin are given : they were earth-born, sons of Cronus, sons of Zeus and Calliope, sons of Rhea, of the Great Mother and a mystic father, of Apollo and Thalia, of Athena and Helios. Their names and number are vague, and vary from one authority to another. We know that they had a mystic cult, and that a prominent feature of their ritual was a wild dance, which was claimed to have powers of healing mental disorder. It seems possible that originally they were priests or medicine-men of ancient times, later thought of as superhuman.
In art the Corybantes appear, usually not more than two or three in number, fully armed and executing their orgiastic dance.
See Roscher's Lexikon der Mythologie art. "Korybanten und Kureten."