Καβειροι
Mysterious divinities whose main shrine was in Samothrace, though they were widely worshipped, evem, according to Herodotus, at Memphis in Egypt. The mythographers of the classical world give widely differing accounts both of their descent and of their essential nature. Hephaestus is most commonly cited, either as their father or at least their ancestor. Acusilaus says that Hephaestus had by Cabiro a son, Cadmilus, who was supposed to have fathered in due course the three Cabiri, who were themselves the fathers of the Nymphs known as the Cabirides. Pherecydes says that the Cabiri were the sons of Hephaestus and Cabiro, the latter being the daughter of Proteus. According to both versions, the Nymphs named Cabirides, three in number, were the sisters of the Cabiri (also three in number). Other authors maintain that there were seven Cabiri and that their father had been the Phoenician Sydyk; in this case, Asclepius would have been their brother. A tradition dating back to Mnaseas of Patara names four of the Cabiri: Axiierus, Axiokersa, Axiokersus and Cadmilus; in Greek mythology these were identified respectively with Demeter, Persephone, Hades and Hermes and in Roman mythology with Jupiter, Mercury, Juno and Minerva; but in this tradition their genealogy is not identified. In this version Cabiri was nothing more than a mystical and functional name for the celestial beings invoked and this is how the Cabiri came to be sometimes identified with Jason and Dardanus, the children of Zeus and Electra who were also heroes especially associated with Samothrace.
The Cabiri, as divinities of the mysterious character, could not be named with impunity; they were generally referred to as 'the great gods'. One commentary cites, in addition to the names mentioned above, Alcon and Eurymedon, a 'pair' of Cabiri, the sons of Cabiro and Hephaestus. In the Roman period, the Cabiri were generally regarder as a triad, overlapping with the three Roman divinities Jupiter, Minerva and Mercury. There are virtually no myths about the Cabiri. They are said to have been present at the birth of Zeus on the acropolis of Pergamon and this account is consistent with their identification as demons forming part of the retinue of Rhea. They were the servants of the goddess and because of this were often confused with the Corybantes and Curetes. After the classical era ended they seem to have been regarded as protectors of navigation, with functions similar to those of the Dioscuri, whom they had some affinities with.
{E2 DICTIONARY OF CLASSICAL MYTHOLOGY}
Table of Sources
- Strabo 10, 3, 19f
- schol. on Apoll. Rhod. Arg. 1, 917
- Aelius Aristides, Or. 53, 5, II p. 469 Keil
- Philo Bybl. fragment 2, 27, Müller FHG III p. 569
- Nonnus, Dion. 14, 17ff.
- Hdt. 3, 37
- Varro, LL 5, 58
- Serv. on Virgil, Aen. 3, 12; 264; 8, 679