Bendis was a Thracian goddess of the hunt whom the Greeks identified with Artemis, and hence with the other two aspects of the former Minoan Triple Goddess, Hecate and Persephone. She was a huntress, like Artemis, but was accompanied by dancing satyrs and maenads on a 5th Century red-figure stemless cup (at Verona). More than Olympian Artemis, Bendis remained a night-goddess, which linked her with Hecate . Thrace (Greek Θρᾴκη Thrákē, Bulgarian Тракия Trakija, Turkish Trakya) is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe spread over southern Bulgaria, northeastern Greece, and European Turkey. ... This article is about the Greek goddess. ... Hecate, Hekate (Hekátē), or Hekat was orginially a goddess of the wilderness and childbirth originating from Thrace. ... Bust of Persephone In Greek mythology, Persephone (Greek Περσεφόνη, Classical Greek Persephónē, Modern Greek Persefóni) was the queen of the Underworld, the Kore or young maiden, and the daughter of Demeter. ... Satyrs (Satyri) in Greek mythology are half-man half-beast nature spirits that haunted the woods and mountains, companions of Pan and Dionysus. ... In Greek mythology, Maenads [MEE-nads] were female worshippers of Dionysus, the Greek god of mystery, wine and intoxication. ...

Her cult was introduced into Attica by immigrant Thracian residents, and became so popular that in Plato's time (ca. 430 BCE) its festivities were naturalized as an official ceremonial of the city-state, called the Bendideia. Among the events were nightime torch-races on horseback, mentioned in Plato's Republic, 328: This article is about Attica in Greece. ... A republic is a state or country having a government whose political power depends solely on the consent of the people governed. ...

"You haven't heard that there is to be a torchlight race this evening on horseback in honor of the Goddess?” “On horseback?” said I. “That is a new idea. Will they carry torches and pass them along to one another as they race with the horses, or how do you mean?” “That's the way of it,” said Polemarchus, “and, besides, there is to be a night festival which will be worth seeing."

The 'Bendideia' also featured a solemn joint procession of Athenians and Thracians to the Goddess's sanctuary, located at the harbor of Piraeus. A red-figure cup (skyphos) (at Tübingen University), of ca 440-430, seems to commemorate the arrival of the newly-authorized cult; it shows Themis (representing traditional Athenian customs) and a booted and cloaked Bendis, who wears a Thracian fox-skin cap. Piraeus, or Peiraeus (Modern Greek: Πειραιά(ς) Pireá(s), Ancient Greek / Katharevousa: Πειραιεύς Pireéfs) is a city in the prefecture of Attica, Greece, located south of Athens. ... In classifying the pottery of Ancient Greece, a skyphos (plural skyphoi) is a two-handled deep wine-cup on a low flanged base or none. ...

A small marble votive stele of Bendis, ca. 350-325 BCE, found at Piraeus, (British Museum) shows the goddess and her worshippers in bas-relief. The image shows that the goddess has been strongly influenced by Athenian conceptions of Artemis: Bendis wears a short chiton like Artemis, but with an Asiatic snug-sleeved undergarment. She is wrapped in an animal skin like Artemis and has a spear, but has a hooded Thracian mantle, fastened with a brooch. She wears high boots. The main entrance to the British Museum The British Museum in London is the United Kingdoms - and one of the worlds - largest and most important museums of human history and culture. ...

Elsewhere in Greece, the cult of Bendis did not catch on.

"Just as in all other respects the Athenians continue to be hospitable to things foreign, so also in their worship of the gods; for they welcomed so many of the foreign rites that they were ridiculed for it by comic writers; and among these were the Thracian and Phrygian rites." --Strabo Geography (1st Century CE), 10.3.18.

The "Phrygian rites" Strabo mentioned referred to the cult of Cybele that was also welcomed to Athens in the 5th century. Strabo (squinty) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. ... Statue of Cybele in a chariot drawn by lions, in the Plaza de Cibeles, Madrid Originally a Phrygian goddess, Cybele (Greek Κυβέλη, sometimes given the etymology she of the hair if her name is Greek, not Phrygian, but more widely considered of Luwian origin, from Kubaba) (Roman equivalent: Magna Mater or...

The Athenians may have been blending the cult of Bendis with the equally Dionysiac Thracian revels of Kotys, mentioned by Aeschylus. Archaic female cult figures that are unearthed in Thrace or Bulgaria now tend to be identified with Bendis. Kotys was a Thracian goddess, worshipped with much revelry by both Thracians and Edonians. ... Aeschylus (525 BC—456 BC; Greek: Αισχυλος) was a playwright of ancient Greece. ...

Modern followers of the Goddess have revived a cult of Bendis. A goddess is a female deity, in contrast with a male deity known as a god. A great many cultures have goddesses, sometimes alone, but more often as part of a larger pantheon that includes both of the conventional genders and in some cases even hermaphroditic (or gender neutral) deities. ...

External links

• Perseus Digital Library.