Attis: A Study of Castration

The ancient myths and legends extant about Phrygian Cybele and Attis, the rites and ceremonies of their worship, and especially the poem of Roman Catullus based on this material, if examined in the light of psychoanalytic theories regarding self-castration, are seen to express some of the oldest and most basic fears of humanity.

The cult of Cybele and Attis originated in Phrygia after the sixth century B.C., and by the fourth century its legends had assumed definite shape. A goddess of the earth, called variously Ma, Cybele, Agdistis, and Dindymene, was revered as the fecund mother of gods and all things; mistress of savage wild beasts and all nature. A god of vegetation, Attis, or Papas, was regarded sometimes as her lover, at other times as her son. Their worship was attended by eunuch priests, priestesses, and other followers who indulged in the wildest orgies.

The earliest legend about Cybele and Attis is related by Pausanias about 340 B.C. From the seed of Jove, which in sleep was spilled from him upon the earth, was born an hermaphrodite, Agdistis, upon whom the gods performed a surgical operation, cutting off the creature's external male genitals. From the severed parts grew an almond tree, the fruit of which a daughter of the river god Sangarius broke off and stuck into her bosom. She conceived and bore a son, Attis. He was exposed to die but was found and cared for by a he goat. The boy became a strikingly beautiful youth, with whom Agdistis fell in love. His friends, however, sent him to Pessinus to marry the king's daughter. As the wedding was being celebrated, Agdistis appeared and drove Attis and the king of Pessinus into such frenzy that they emasculated themselves. Later Agdistis repented her rash deed and obtained from Jupiter the request that the body of Attis should never waste away.

A similar story is told by Arnobius. Cybele was born from one of the stones called to life by Pyrrha and Deucalion on Mt. Agdos after the great flood had destroyed all ma