Kabeiri
Introduction
In Greek mythology, the Cabeiri or Cabiri (Ancient Greek: Κάβειροι, Kábeiroi),
also transliterated Kabeiri or Kabiri, were a group of enigmatic chthonic
deities. They were worshiped in a mystery cult closely associated with that of
Hephaestus, centered in the north Aegean islands of Lemnos and possibly Samothrace
at the Samothrace temple complex — and at Thebes. In their distant origins the Cabeiri
and the Samothracian gods may include pre-Greek elements, or other non-Greek elements,
such as Thracian, Tyrrhenian, Pelasgian,Phrygian or Hittite. The Lemnian cult was always
local to Lemnos, but the Samothracian mystery cult spread rapidly throughout the Greek
world during the Hellenistic period, eventually initiating Romans.
The ancient sources disagree about whether the deities of Samothrace were Cabeiri or not;
and the accounts of the two cults differ in detail. But the two islands are close to each
other, at the northern end of the Aegean, and the cults are at least similar, and neither
fits easily into the Olympic pantheon: the Cabeiri were given a mythic genealogy as sons
of Hephaestus and Cabeiro. The accounts of the Samothracian gods, whose names were secret,
differ in the number and sexes of the gods: usually between two and four, some of either
sex. The number of Cabeiri also varies, with some accounts citing four (often a pair of
males and a pair of females), and some even more, such as a tribe or whole race of Cabeiri,
often presented as all male.
The Cabeiri were also worshipped at other sites in the vicinity, including Seuthopolis in
Thrace and various sites in Asia Minor. According to Strabo, Cabeiri are most honored in
Imbros and Lemnos but also in other cities too.
Myth
In myth, the Cabeiri bear many similarities to other fabulous races, such as the Telchines of
Rhodes, the Cyclopes, the Dactyls, the Korybantes, and the Kuretes. These different groups were
often confused or identified with one another since many of them, like the Cyclopes and Telchines,
were also associated with metallurgy.
Diodorus Siculus said of the Cabeiri that they were Idaioi dactyloi ("Idaian Dactyls"). The Idaian
Dactyls were a race of divine beings associated with the Mother Goddess and with Mount Ida, a mountain
in Phrygia sacred to the goddess. Hesychius of Alexandria wrote that the Cabeiri were karkinoi ("crabs").
The Cabeiri as Karkinoi were apparently thought of as amphibious beings (again recalling the Telchines).
They had pincers instead of hands, which they used as tongs (Greek: karkina) in metalworking.
Membership
- ~ Rufus Rufinus
- ~ Iovita Glaucia (captives of Cercyon)
- ~ Glaucia Aquila (captives of Cercyon)
