The Korybantes, called the Kurbantes in Phrygia, were the crested dancers who worshipped the Phrygian goddess Cybele with drumming and dancing. The Kuretes were the nine dancers who venerate Rhea, the Cretan counterpart of Cybele. Greek mythology comprises the collected narratives of Greek gods, goddesses, heroes, and heroines, originally created and spread within an oral-poetic tradition. ... The ancient Greeks proposed many different ideas about the primordial gods in their mythology. ... In Greek mythology, the Titans (Greek Τιτάν, plural Τιτᾶνες) are among a series of gods, some of whom opposed Zeus and the Olympian gods in their ascent to power. ... Statue of Zeus The Greek sculptor Phidias created the 12-m (40-ft) tall Statue of Zeus in about 435 bc. ... The Twelve Olympians, in Greek mythology, were the principal gods of the Greek pantheon, residing atop Mount Olympus. ... Marble sculpture of Pan copulating with a goat, recovered from Herculaneum Pan (Greek Παν, genitive Πανος) is the Greek god who watches over shepherds and their flocks. ... Hylas and the Nymphs by John William Waterhouse In Greek mythology, a nymph is any member of a large class of female nature spirits, sometimes bound to a particular location or landform. ... Apollo (Greek: Απόλλων, Apóllōn) is a god in Greek and Roman mythology, the son of Zeus and Leto, and the twin of Artemis (goddess of the hunt). ... Bacchus by Caravaggio The god Dionysus is occasionally confused with one of several historical figures named Dionysius, a theophoric name that simply means [servant] of Dionysus. ... The ancient Greeks had a large number of sea gods. ... In mythology chthonic (from Greek χθονιος-pertaining to the earth; earthy) designates, or pertains to, gods or spirits of the underworld, especially in Greek mythology. ... Statue of Heracles In Greek mythology, Heracles, or Heraklês (glory of Hera, Ἡρακλῆς) was the demigod son of Zeus and Alcmene, the grand-daughter of Perseus and the wife of Amphitryon. ... For other uses, see Achilles (disambiguation). ... The Trojan War was a war waged, according to legend, against the city of Troy in Asia Minor by the armies of the Acheans, following the kidnapping (or elopement) of Helen of Sparta by Paris of Troy. ... It has been suggested that Ulysses Bow be merged into this article or section. ... The Odyssey (Greek Ὀδυσσεία) is the second of the two great Greek epic poems ascribed to Homer, the first of which is the Iliad. ... Jason (Greek: Ίασων) is a hero of Greek mythology. ... In Greek mythology, the ram with the Golden Fleece (Okros Satsmisi in Georgian) was given to Nephele of Thessaly by Hermes for her to transport her children, Helle and Phrixus, away from Ino. ... For the constellation, see Perseus (constellation); for the Macedonian king, see Perseus of Macedon Perseus with the Head of Medusa Perseus was the son of Danae, the only child of Acrisius king of Argos. ... In Greek mythology, the Gorgons (terrible or, according to some, loud-roaring) were vicious female monsters with sharp fangs and hair of living, venomous snakes. ... Œdipus and the Sphinx, from an 1879 illustration from Stories from the Greek Tragedians by Alfred Church Oedipus (Greek , Oidipous, swollen-foot; rarely ; Latin Oedipus) or Œdipus was the mythical king of Thebes, son of Laius and Jocasta, who, unknowingly, killed his father and married his mother. ... The Oath of the Seven Chiefs, an 1897 illustration from Stories from the Greek Tragedians by Alfred Church Seven Against Thebes is a play by Aeschylus concerning the battle between Eteocles and the army of Thebes and Polynices and his supporters, traditional Theban enemies. ... 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In antiquity, Phrygia was a kingdom in the west central part of the Anatolian highlands, part of modern Turkey, from ca. ... 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... Rhea (she who flows) was the Titaness daughter of Uranus and of Gaia. ... Greece and Crete Crete, sometimes spelled Krete (Greek Κρήτη / Kriti) is the largest of the Greek islands and the fifth largest in the Mediterranean Sea. ...

The Corybantian dance as pictured in William Smith's Dictionary of Antiquities (SALTATIO article)

These male dancers in armor, kept time to a drum and the rhythmic stamping of their feet. Dance, according to Greek thought, was one of the civilizing activities, like wine-making or music. The dance in armor (the "pyrrhic dance" or pyrriche) was a male coming-of-age initiation ritual linked to a warrior victory celebration. Image File history File links Corybantian dance Woodcut from William Smiths Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, SALTATIO (Dance) article. ... Image File history File links Corybantian dance Woodcut from William Smiths Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, SALTATIO (Dance) article. ... Sir William Smith (1813 - 1893), English lexicographer, was born at Enfield in 1813 of Nonconformist parents. ... Title page A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities is single volume encyclopedia in English language first published in 1842. ...

The wild ecstasy of their cult can be compared to the female Maenads who followed Dionysus. Ovid in Metamorphoses says they were born from rainwater, Ouranos fertilizing Gaia, which might connect them with the Pelasgian Hyades. In Greek mythology, Maenads [MEE-nads] were female worshippers of Dionysus, the Greek god of mystery, wine and intoxication. ... Bacchus by Caravaggio The god Dionysus is occasionally confused with one of several historical figures named Dionysius, a theophoric name that simply means [servant] of Dionysus. ... Engraved frontispiece of George Sandyss 1632 London edition of Publius Ovidus Naso (Sulmona, March 20, 43 BC â€“ Tomis, now Constanta AD 17) Roman poet known to the English-speaking world as Ovid, wrote on topics of love, abandoned women, and mythological transformations. ... Gaia (land or earth, from the Greek Γαία; variant spelling Gaea—see also also Ge from Γη) is a Greek goddess personifying the Earth. ... Ancient Greek writers used the name Pelasgian to refer to groups of people who preceded the Greeks and dwelt in several locations in mainland Greece, Crete, and other regions of the Aegean as neighbors of the Hellenes. ... In Greek mythology, two different groups of people were referred to as the Hyades (the rainy ones). Pluvius (he who sends rain) was also used to describe them. ...

The Phrygian Korybantes were often confused with other ecstatic male confraternities, such as the Idaean Dactyls or the Cretan Kouretes, spirit-youths (kouroi) who acted as guardians of the infant Zeus. In the Greek telling of Zeus' birth, the Kouretes' ritual clashing spears and shields were interpreted as intended to drown out the infant god's cries, and prevent his discovery by his father Cronus. In Greek mythology, the Dactyls were the archaic race of small phallic male beings associated with the Great Mother, whether as Cybele or Rhea, spirit-men like the Curetes, Cabiri and Korybantes. ... Statue of Zeus The Greek sculptor Phidias created the 12-m (40-ft) tall Statue of Zeus in about 435 bc. ... Rhea tricking Cronus with a wrapped stone. ...

The French classicist Henri Jeanmaire has convincingly shown that both the Kouretes and Cretan Zeus (called "the greatest kouros" in Cretan hymns) were intimately connected with the transition of young men into manhood in Cretan cities (in Couroi et Courètes: essai sur l'éducation spartiate et sur les rites d'adolescence dans l'antiquité hellénique, Lille, 1939).

Korybantes or Kouretes also presided over the infancy of Dionysus, another god who was born as a babe, and of Zagreus, a Cretan child of Zeus. Bacchus by Caravaggio The god Dionysus is occasionally confused with one of several historical figures named Dionysius, a theophoric name that simply means [servant] of Dionysus. ... In Greek mythology, Zagreus was sometimes used as a name for Dionysus. ...

There are several "tribes" of Korybantes like the Kabeiroi, the Korybantes Euboioi, the Korybantes Samothrakioi e.t.c. Well known Korybantes are Hoplodamos and his Gigantes, and the Kourete-Titan Anytos. The Kabeiroi (Cabiri) in Greek myth were a race of gods or god-like beings, closely connected with Hephaistos and with the Mother Goddess. ... In Greek mythology, the Gigantes were giants who sprang forth from the blood of the wounded Uranus after he was castrated by Cronus. ... This page is about the moon of Saturn. ... In Greek mythology, Anytos was one of the offspring of the Titans. ...

Alternatives: Corybants (older English texts), Koryvandes (modern Greek transliteration).

External links

• Korybantes and Kuretes
• Long review (in English) of Paola Ceccarelli, La pirrica nell' antichità greco romana: Studi sulla danza armata, 1998