Translated by Catherine Proppe, April 26, 2016
48. Σαβαζίου, θυμίαμα ἀρώματα.
To Sabazios
Divine connection: aromatics
Κλῦθι, πάτερ, Κρόνου υἱέ, Σαβάζιε, κύδιμε δαῖμον,
I call father Kronos’[1] sacred son, Sabazios[2], glorious divine power,
ὃς Βάκχον Διόνυσον, ἐρίβρομον, εἰραφιώτην,
Bacchian[3] Dionysian, blasted forth, then with a needle
μηρῶι ἐγκατέραψας, ὅπως τετελεσμένος ἔλθηι
Thigh-insewn[4] in order to fulfill your coming forth.
Τμῶλον ἐς ἠγάθεον παρὰ Ἵππαν καλλιπάρηιον.
Tmolian[5] divine leader of the rites of fair Ipta[6],
ἀλλά, μάκαρ, Φρυγίης μεδέων, βασιλεύτατε πάντων,
Blessed Phrygian power, whose rule extends over all,
εὐμενέων ἐπαρωγὸς ἐπέλθοις μυστιπόλοισιν.
Graciously confer your aid for those who come to the mystic city.
[1] Kronos, Sabazios’ father, is the immortal God of time. Sabazios’ mother is Rhea, Goddess of flow.
[2] Sabazios is a Phrygian (modern Turkey) God, literally: “synchronized (Σα) + basis (βά) + spark (ζ) + divine power (ιε).”
One might connect Sabazios’ name with the word “celebration” as his worship is associated with music and dancing and uproarious behavior akin to what someone might experience at a modern rock concert where the crowd is singing and dancing and shouting along with the music, creating a transcendant sense of oneness with the music and with the crowd.
The name Sabazios (Σαβάζιε) is similar to sabazo (σαβάζω): to shatter, shake violently, scatter, suggesting that shaking things up a bit is part of the function of the deity.
The uproarious rites of Sabazios are closely tied to the rites of Kybele/Rhea, the Phrygian Mother of the Goddesses and Gods. Sabazios is equated by many writers with the Greek Dionysos, God of wine and its effects.
"Sabazios: He is the same [God] as Dionysos. He acquired this form of address from the rite pertaining to him; for the barbarians call the bacchic cry sabazein. Hence some of the Greeks too follow suit and call the cry sabasmos; thereby Dionysos [becomes] Sabazios. They also used to call saboi those places that had been dedicated to him and his Bacchants." (Drawn from the Scholia to Aristophanes, Birds 873, Suda online s.v. Sabazios, trans. Alex Gottesman
http://www.stoa.org/sol-bin/search.pl?search_method=QUERY&login=Catherine&enlogin=e069b45cc154d46ec045891d5ad7189c&page_num=1&user_list=LIST&searchstr=Sabazios&field=any&num_per_page=25&db=REAL
W. W. How, J. Wells in A Commentary on Herodotus says that Sabazios and Dionysos are one and the same: “The true home of Dionysus was in Southern Thrace between the Axius and the Hebrus, where he had many local names, e. g. Sabazius. His cult was closely related to the Cybele cult of the kindred Phrygians (Rohde, Psyche, ii. 1; Ramsay on Μήν, C. and B. i. 105; and in general, Farnell, G. C. v. 85 f.).” http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0028:book=5:chapter=7&highlight=sabazius
Strabo in Geography 10.3.15 says that “Sabazius also belongs to the Phrygian group and in a way is the child of the Mother, since he too transmitted the rites of Dionysus.220” http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Strab.+10.3.15&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0198
Many authors speak to the influence and connection of the Phrygian rites of the Mother of the Goddesses and Gods and the rites of Dionysos/Sabazios.
From Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854)
William Smith, LLD, Ed., “Phrygia”:
“The religious ideas of the Phrygians are of great interest and importance, and appear to have exercised a greater influence upon the mythology of the Greeks than is commonly supposed, for many a mysterious tradition or legend current among the Greeks must be traced to Phrygia, and can be explained only by a reference to that country. Truly Phrygian divinities were Cybele (Rhea or Agdistis), and Sabazius, the Phrygian name for Dionysus.” http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0064:entry=phrygia-geo&highlight=sabazius
Strabo in Geography 10.3.13 says that Pindar “bears witness to the common relationship between the rites exhibited in the worship of Dionysus among the Greeks and those in the worship of the Mother of the [Goddesses and G]ods among the Phrygians, for he makes these rites closely akin to one another…
“Euripides does likewise, in his Bacchae (55-72) citing the Lydian usages at the same time with those of Phrygia, because of their similarity: ‘But ye who left Mt. Tmolus, fortress of Lydia, revel-band of mine, women whom I brought from the land of barbarians as my assistants and travelling companions, uplift the tambourines native to Phrygian cities, inventions of mine and mother Rhea.’
“And again, ‘happy he who, blest man (sic), initiated in the mystic rites, is pure in his (sic) life, . . . who, preserving the righteous orgies of the great mother Cybele, and brandishing the thyrsus on high, and wreathed with ivy, doth worship Dionysus. Come, ye Bacchae, come, ye Bacchae, bringing down205 Bromius,206[G]od, the child of [G]od, out of the Phrygian mountains into the broad highways of Greece.’
“And again, in the following verses he connects the Cretan usages also with the Phrygian: ‘O thou hiding-bower [where Zeus was hid] of the Curetes, and sacred haunts of Crete that gave birth to Zeus, where for me [the leader of the Chorus] the triple-crested [referring to their triple-rimmed helmets] Corybantes [the Phrygian priests of Cybele] in their caverns invented this hide-stretched circlet [the tambourine], and blent its Bacchic revelry with the high-pitched, sweet-sounding breath of Phrygian flutes, and in Rhea's hands placed its resounding noise, to accompany the shouts of the Bacchae, and from Mother Rhea frenzied Satyrs obtained it and joined it to the choral dances of the Trieterides [Triennial Festivals], in whom Dionysus takes delight.’”
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Strab.+10.3.13&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0198
[3] Bacchos and Dionysos are names of the immortal God of wine and its effects. Bacchos literally means base (Β) + transcending (ά) + core (κ) + foundation (χ) + entity (ο) + ν.” Dionysos literally means “directing (Δ) + divine-power (ι) + entity (ό) + of tipping-points (ν) + purely (υ) + synchronized (σ) + ον.”
[4] Dionysos was expelled from the womb of his mortal mother, Semele, when she was consumed by the lightning of Zeus. Zeus then sewed the fetal Dionysos into his thigh to complete gestation.
In the Lexicon, the word Semele (σεμέλη) is associated with the word for toad (φρύνη) as “παρὰ Φρυνίχῳ,” or, like a toad (φρῡνοειδής). It is interesting to note that some toads lay their eggs in bunches like grapes and the male “common midwife toad” twines the eggs around his thighs until they are ready to hatch.
Meer- (μηρ-), in addition to meaning “thigh” also means twine/cord and may refer to the practice of tying grape vines.
When lightning strikes a row of grape vines, re-growth will begin at the base of the vine. (p. 22 What is Killing my Vines? Plant Failure in New Vineyards, Bill Cline, Plant Pathology Department North Carolina State University Horticultural Crops Research Station Castle Hayne, NC
http://www.smallfruits.org/CoAgentTraining/Sept06Training/No6Part2_vine_death_14sep06.pdf This is a type of “natural” pruning. Pruning grape vines results in a better yield.
Semelos (Σέμελος) is Laconian for kochlias (κοχλίας), which means anything that twists spirally, such as a screw or snail shell or vine tendril. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphibian#mediaviewer/File:Alytes_obstetricans_almogavarii_-_male_with_eggs_2.jpg )
[5] Mount Tmolos, south of Sardis and just west of ancient Philadelphia (in modern Turkey), was the location of an important ancient temple of Kybele, the immortal Mother of the Goddesses and Gods (Herodotus 5.100-101).
[6] Ipta (Ἵπτα) is the immortal Phrygian (modern Turkey) Goddess (associated with the Mother Goddess Rhea/Kybele) who, according to Orphic tradition, fostered Dionysos when he was born from the thigh of Zeus.
48. Σαβαζίου, θυμίαμα ἀρώματα.
To Sabazios
Divine connection: aromatics
Κλῦθι, πάτερ, Κρόνου υἱέ, Σαβάζιε, κύδιμε δαῖμον,
I call father Kronos’[1] sacred son, Sabazios[2], glorious divine power,
ὃς Βάκχον Διόνυσον, ἐρίβρομον, εἰραφιώτην,
Bacchian[3] Dionysian, blasted forth, then with a needle
μηρῶι ἐγκατέραψας, ὅπως τετελεσμένος ἔλθηι
Thigh-insewn[4] in order to fulfill your coming forth.
Τμῶλον ἐς ἠγάθεον παρὰ Ἵππαν καλλιπάρηιον.
Tmolian[5] divine leader of the rites of fair Ipta[6],
ἀλλά, μάκαρ, Φρυγίης μεδέων, βασιλεύτατε πάντων,
Blessed Phrygian power, whose rule extends over all,
εὐμενέων ἐπαρωγὸς ἐπέλθοις μυστιπόλοισιν.
Graciously confer your aid for those who come to the mystic city.
[1] Kronos, Sabazios’ father, is the immortal God of time. Sabazios’ mother is Rhea, Goddess of flow.
[2] Sabazios is a Phrygian (modern Turkey) God, literally: “synchronized (Σα) + basis (βά) + spark (ζ) + divine power (ιε).”
One might connect Sabazios’ name with the word “celebration” as his worship is associated with music and dancing and uproarious behavior akin to what someone might experience at a modern rock concert where the crowd is singing and dancing and shouting along with the music, creating a transcendant sense of oneness with the music and with the crowd.
The name Sabazios (Σαβάζιε) is similar to sabazo (σαβάζω): to shatter, shake violently, scatter, suggesting that shaking things up a bit is part of the function of the deity.
The uproarious rites of Sabazios are closely tied to the rites of Kybele/Rhea, the Phrygian Mother of the Goddesses and Gods. Sabazios is equated by many writers with the Greek Dionysos, God of wine and its effects.
"Sabazios: He is the same [God] as Dionysos. He acquired this form of address from the rite pertaining to him; for the barbarians call the bacchic cry sabazein. Hence some of the Greeks too follow suit and call the cry sabasmos; thereby Dionysos [becomes] Sabazios. They also used to call saboi those places that had been dedicated to him and his Bacchants." (Drawn from the Scholia to Aristophanes, Birds 873, Suda online s.v. Sabazios, trans. Alex Gottesman
http://www.stoa.org/sol-bin/search.pl?search_method=QUERY&login=Catherine&enlogin=e069b45cc154d46ec045891d5ad7189c&page_num=1&user_list=LIST&searchstr=Sabazios&field=any&num_per_page=25&db=REAL
W. W. How, J. Wells in A Commentary on Herodotus says that Sabazios and Dionysos are one and the same: “The true home of Dionysus was in Southern Thrace between the Axius and the Hebrus, where he had many local names, e. g. Sabazius. His cult was closely related to the Cybele cult of the kindred Phrygians (Rohde, Psyche, ii. 1; Ramsay on Μήν, C. and B. i. 105; and in general, Farnell, G. C. v. 85 f.).” http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0028:book=5:chapter=7&highlight=sabazius
Strabo in Geography 10.3.15 says that “Sabazius also belongs to the Phrygian group and in a way is the child of the Mother, since he too transmitted the rites of Dionysus.220” http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Strab.+10.3.15&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0198
Many authors speak to the influence and connection of the Phrygian rites of the Mother of the Goddesses and Gods and the rites of Dionysos/Sabazios.
From Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854)
William Smith, LLD, Ed., “Phrygia”:
“The religious ideas of the Phrygians are of great interest and importance, and appear to have exercised a greater influence upon the mythology of the Greeks than is commonly supposed, for many a mysterious tradition or legend current among the Greeks must be traced to Phrygia, and can be explained only by a reference to that country. Truly Phrygian divinities were Cybele (Rhea or Agdistis), and Sabazius, the Phrygian name for Dionysus.” http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0064:entry=phrygia-geo&highlight=sabazius
Strabo in Geography 10.3.13 says that Pindar “bears witness to the common relationship between the rites exhibited in the worship of Dionysus among the Greeks and those in the worship of the Mother of the [Goddesses and G]ods among the Phrygians, for he makes these rites closely akin to one another…
“Euripides does likewise, in his Bacchae (55-72) citing the Lydian usages at the same time with those of Phrygia, because of their similarity: ‘But ye who left Mt. Tmolus, fortress of Lydia, revel-band of mine, women whom I brought from the land of barbarians as my assistants and travelling companions, uplift the tambourines native to Phrygian cities, inventions of mine and mother Rhea.’
“And again, ‘happy he who, blest man (sic), initiated in the mystic rites, is pure in his (sic) life, . . . who, preserving the righteous orgies of the great mother Cybele, and brandishing the thyrsus on high, and wreathed with ivy, doth worship Dionysus. Come, ye Bacchae, come, ye Bacchae, bringing down205 Bromius,206[G]od, the child of [G]od, out of the Phrygian mountains into the broad highways of Greece.’
“And again, in the following verses he connects the Cretan usages also with the Phrygian: ‘O thou hiding-bower [where Zeus was hid] of the Curetes, and sacred haunts of Crete that gave birth to Zeus, where for me [the leader of the Chorus] the triple-crested [referring to their triple-rimmed helmets] Corybantes [the Phrygian priests of Cybele] in their caverns invented this hide-stretched circlet [the tambourine], and blent its Bacchic revelry with the high-pitched, sweet-sounding breath of Phrygian flutes, and in Rhea's hands placed its resounding noise, to accompany the shouts of the Bacchae, and from Mother Rhea frenzied Satyrs obtained it and joined it to the choral dances of the Trieterides [Triennial Festivals], in whom Dionysus takes delight.’”
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Strab.+10.3.13&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0198
[3] Bacchos and Dionysos are names of the immortal God of wine and its effects. Bacchos literally means base (Β) + transcending (ά) + core (κ) + foundation (χ) + entity (ο) + ν.” Dionysos literally means “directing (Δ) + divine-power (ι) + entity (ό) + of tipping-points (ν) + purely (υ) + synchronized (σ) + ον.”
[4] Dionysos was expelled from the womb of his mortal mother, Semele, when she was consumed by the lightning of Zeus. Zeus then sewed the fetal Dionysos into his thigh to complete gestation.
In the Lexicon, the word Semele (σεμέλη) is associated with the word for toad (φρύνη) as “παρὰ Φρυνίχῳ,” or, like a toad (φρῡνοειδής). It is interesting to note that some toads lay their eggs in bunches like grapes and the male “common midwife toad” twines the eggs around his thighs until they are ready to hatch.
Meer- (μηρ-), in addition to meaning “thigh” also means twine/cord and may refer to the practice of tying grape vines.
When lightning strikes a row of grape vines, re-growth will begin at the base of the vine. (p. 22 What is Killing my Vines? Plant Failure in New Vineyards, Bill Cline, Plant Pathology Department North Carolina State University Horticultural Crops Research Station Castle Hayne, NC
http://www.smallfruits.org/CoAgentTraining/Sept06Training/No6Part2_vine_death_14sep06.pdf This is a type of “natural” pruning. Pruning grape vines results in a better yield.
Semelos (Σέμελος) is Laconian for kochlias (κοχλίας), which means anything that twists spirally, such as a screw or snail shell or vine tendril. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphibian#mediaviewer/File:Alytes_obstetricans_almogavarii_-_male_with_eggs_2.jpg )
[5] Mount Tmolos, south of Sardis and just west of ancient Philadelphia (in modern Turkey), was the location of an important ancient temple of Kybele, the immortal Mother of the Goddesses and Gods (Herodotus 5.100-101).
[6] Ipta (Ἵπτα) is the immortal Phrygian (modern Turkey) Goddess (associated with the Mother Goddess Rhea/Kybele) who, according to Orphic tradition, fostered Dionysos when he was born from the thigh of Zeus.
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