The goddess Meter / Cybele plays a prominent role in the religious history of Asia Minor. Her cult spread from Phrygia westwards to the Aegean coast, where it found an entryway into the Greek pantheon. In the Hellenistic great kingdoms and the Roman imperial period, the cult of Meter / Cybele ultimately enjoyed broad diffusion in the entire Mediterranean region and beyond.

The symposium will address the origins and changes of the cult as well as chronological and geographical variants of the visual representations of Meter / Cybele. It is the goal to arrive at a nuanced view of this many-faceted and versatile goddess, whose form acquired such great significance in the ancient religions of the Mediterranean region.

Date:

November 24, 2017
start: 9:00 a.m.

Location:

OeAW, Theatersaal
(Sonnenfelsgasse 19, 1010 Vienna)

Programme:

9:00-18:30: Lectures

19:00: Public Key Note by Jan Bremmer (Rijksuniversiteit Groningen)
"Kubaba, Cybele and Magna Mater: the long journey of an Anatolian goddess to Rome"