Kybele
/ˈkɪbəli/noun
A modern scholarly spelling of Cybele, the ancient Anatolian and Phrygian mother goddess later worshipped throughout the Greco-Roman world.
Did you know?Kybele’s ecstatic cult was served by the Galli, priests associated in Roman sources with ritual castration and gender-transgressive performance, especially during festivals for her lover Attis.
Etymological Timeline
2nd–1st Millennium BCE
Anatolian
Kubaba
“A goddess-name attested in ancient Anatolia, often regarded as a possible earlier form or influential predecessor of Kybele, though the exact relationship remains debated.”
Iron Age
Phrygian
Kybebe
“A Phrygian mother-goddess name associated with mountains, wild nature, fertility, and ecstatic worship.”
5th–4th Century BCE
Ancient Greek
Κυβέλη (Kybélē)
“The Greek name of the Anatolian Great Mother, later identified with the mountain goddess worshipped at Pessinus.”
1st Century BCE
Latin
Cybele
“The Roman form of the goddess’s name, especially associated with Magna Mater, the Great Mother.”
Modern English
English
Kybele
“A scholarly transliteration or variant spelling of Cybele, commonly used in discussions of the goddess’s Anatolian and Phrygian origins.”