Columbia Encyclopedia

Attis

(Encyclopedia)Attis ´ts [key] or Atys´– [key], in Phrygian religion, vegetation god. When Nana ate the fruit of the almond tree, which had been generated by the blood of either Agdistis or of Cybele, she ...

Atys

(Encyclopedia)Atys: see Attis.

Agdistis

(Encyclopedia)Agdistis: see Attis; Cybele.

Adonis

(Encyclopedia)阿多尼斯d´ns, dn´s(例子),在希腊神话中,很棒iful youth beloved by Aphrodite and Persephone. He was born of the incestuous union of Myrrha (or Smyrna) and Cinyras, king of Cyprus. A...

Tammuz

(Encyclopedia)Tammuz tä´mz [key], ancient nature deity worshiped in Babylonia. A god of agriculture and flocks, he personified the creative powers of spring. He was loved by the fertility goddess Ishtar, who, a...

Cybele

(Encyclopedia)Cybele sb´l [key], in ancient Asian religion, the Great Mother Goddess. The chief centers of her early worship were Phrygia and Lydia. In the 5th cent. BC her cult was introduced into Greece, w...

phallic worship

(Encyclopedia)phallic worship fl´k [key], worship of the reproductive powers of nature as symbolized by the male generative organ. Phallic symbols have been found by archaeological expeditions all over the wor...

Great Mother Goddess

(Encyclopedia)Great Mother Goddess, in ancient Middle Eastern religions, mother goddess, the great symbol of the earth's fertility. She was worshiped under many names and attributes. Similar figures have been known...

Catullus

(Encyclopedia)Catullus (Caius Valerius Catullus)ktl´s [key], 84? BC–54? BC, Roman poet, b. Verona. Of a well-to-do family, he went c.62 BC to Rome. He fell deeply in love, probably with Clodia, sister of C...

Osiris

(Encyclopedia)Osiris s´rs [key], in Egyptian religion, legendary ruler of predynastic Egypt and god of the underworld. He was the son of the sky goddess Nut and the earth god Geb. The great benefactor of man...