CYBELE, sih'e-le (Gk. Ka/3i.24, Kybelc',`Pa, fthe(t), or RHEA CYBELE, or the GREAT _MOTHER OF TILE GODS. A divinity whose worship spread far and wide through the ancient world, though its early seats seem to have been Crete and Asia Minor. According to the myth which belonged to the worship of Zeus on !Mount Ida, Rhea was the wife of Cronus and mother of Zeus, Poseidon, and 'Hades. i.e. of the ruling race of gods. In Asia Minor we find widespread worship of a na ture goddess, regarded as the mother and source of all life, and honored with orgiastic rites upon the mountains and among the wild woods and caves. The wild beasts attended upon her, espe cially the lion, by whom her throne was watched and her car drawn. Her priests were called Co•y hantes. The Asiatic worship of Cybele had its origin apparently and certainly its chief centre at Pessinus in Phrygia, whence it passed into Lydia. United with the similar but less orgiastic Cretan cult of Rhea, it was early adopted bythe Greeks of the mainland, and connected with local cults of a similar goddess. In Rome the worship of
Cybele was introduced from Pessinus in B.C. 204, in consequence of the Sibylline prophecy, and the annual Mega lensian games were established in her honor. From the first century n.c. this cult of the great Eastern goddess in various forms and under many names was spread among the people by wandering bands of begging priests and priestesses. professing to work wonders, pre diet the future, and by initiation into their mys teries to bring relief from sin. The priests of Cy bele in Asia Minor were eunuchs, in imitation of the mutilation of Attis (q.v.), the original servant of the goddess. In works of art she is usually represented as seated on a throne, adorned with a mural crown, from which it veil is suspended. At either side of the throne are lions, or perhaps a lion lies on her lap or tinder her feet. Sometimes she is seen riding in a chariot drawn by lions.