The logo of the Melammu Project

The Melammu Project

The Heritage of Mesopotamia and the Ancient Near East

  The Melammu Project
  
   General description
   Search string
   Browse by topic
   Search keyword
   Submit entry
  
   About
   Open search
   Thematic search
   Digital Library
   Submit item
  
   Ancient texts
   Dictionaries
   Projects
   Varia
   Submit link
  FAQ
  Contact us
  About

  The Newsletter
  To Project Information >

  

Castration of Zeus (1)

 Printable view
Topics (move over topic to see place in topic list)

04 Religious and philosophical literature and poetry
02 Religious and ideological symbols and iconographic motifs
01 Religious and ideological doctrines and imagery
03 Religious festivals, cults, rituals and practices



 		Keywords
castration
cults
mysteries
Period
2nd century CE
Roman Empire 		Channel
Christian-Greek philosophers and scholars

Text
Clement of Alexandria, Protreptikos 2.15.2:
The mysteries of Demeter commemorate the amorous embraces of Zeus with his mother Demeter, and the wrath of Demeter … on account of which she is said to have received the name Brimo (= the Grim one); also the supplication of Zeus, the drink of bile, the tearing out the heart of the victims, and unspeakable obscenities. The same rites are performed in honour of Attis and Cybele and the Corybantes by the Phrygians, who have spread it abroad how that Zeus tore off the testicles of a ram, and then brought and flung them into the midst of Demeter’s lap, thus paying a sham penalty for his violent embrace by pretending that he had mutilated himself.

Source (list of abbreviations)
Clement of Alexandria, Protreptikos 2.15.2

Bibliography

Butterworth 1960, 34-35Butterworth, G. W. Clement of Alexandria with an English Translation. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, London: Heinemann 1960.

Amar Annus


URL for this entry: http://www.aakkl.helsinki.fi/melammu/database/gen_html/a0001165.php

Illustrations
No pictures

^
T
O
P