The Ideology of the Eunuch Priest

Gender and History

Volumn 9, Issue 3, 1997, Pages 542-559

  Roller, Lynn E ^a  

^a NONE

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EID: 0345912415     PISSN: 09535233     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/1468-0424.00075     Document Type: Review

References (76)

1. Self-castration by eunuch priests is described in several ancient sources: Lucretius 2.621; Lucian, Dea Syria 51; Pliny, Natural History 35.1 65; Juvenal 6.514. Such descriptions emphasize the sensational aspect of self-castration, and some modern commentators have doubted whether castration could have been performed in this way, although our ancient sources are internally consistent on this point. Many commentators have assumed that men who acted thus were mentally deranged (e.g. Walter Burkert, Structure and History in Greek Mythology and Ritual [University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1979], p. 105), although ancient sources which describe self-castration give no support for this assumption. Valuable insight into the questions of how and why a man might choose to become a eunuch priest is provided by Serena Nanda and her studies of the eunuch priests of the Mother Goddess in contemporary India; see Neither Man nor Woman: The Hijras of India (Wadsworth, Belmont, CA, 1990), and "Hijras: An Alternative Sex and Gender Role in India", in Third Sex, Third Gender. Beyond Sexual Dimorphism in Culture and History, ed. Gilbert Herdt (Zone Books, New York, 1994), pp. 373-417; the Indian initiate to the Mother Goddess cult is castrated by a member of the community of emasculates, the hijras, with the initiate's full knowledge and consent; Nanda, Neither Man nor Woman, pp. 26-9.
2. Self-castration by eunuch priests is described in several ancient sources: Lucretius 2.621; Lucian, Dea Syria 51; Pliny, Natural History 35.1 65; Juvenal 6.514. Such descriptions emphasize the sensational aspect of self-castration, and some modern commentators have doubted whether castration could have been performed in this way, although our ancient sources are internally consistent on this point. Many commentators have assumed that men who acted thus were mentally deranged (e.g. Walter Burkert, Structure and History in Greek Mythology and Ritual [University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1979], p. 105), although ancient sources which describe self-castration give no support for this assumption. Valuable insight into the questions of how and why a man might choose to become a eunuch priest is provided by Serena Nanda and her studies of the eunuch priests of the Mother Goddess in contemporary India; see Neither Man nor Woman: The Hijras of India (Wadsworth, Belmont, CA, 1990), and "Hijras: An Alternative Sex and Gender Role in India", in Third Sex, Third Gender. Beyond Sexual Dimorphism in Culture and History, ed. Gilbert Herdt (Zone Books, New York, 1994), pp. 373-417; the Indian initiate to the Mother Goddess cult is castrated by a member of the community of emasculates, the hijras, with the initiate's full knowledge and consent; Nanda, Neither Man nor Woman, pp. 26-9.
3. Self-castration by eunuch priests is described in several ancient sources: Lucretius 2.621; Lucian, Dea Syria 51; Pliny, Natural History 35.1 65; Juvenal 6.514. Such descriptions emphasize the sensational aspect of self-castration, and some modern commentators have doubted whether castration could have been performed in this way, although our ancient sources are internally consistent on this point. Many commentators have assumed that men who acted thus were mentally deranged (e.g. Walter Burkert, Structure and History in Greek Mythology and Ritual [University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1979], p. 105), although ancient sources which describe self-castration give no support for this assumption. Valuable insight into the questions of how and why a man might choose to become a eunuch priest is provided by Serena Nanda and her studies of the eunuch priests of the Mother Goddess in contemporary India; see Neither Man nor Woman: The Hijras of India (Wadsworth, Belmont, CA, 1990), and "Hijras: An Alternative Sex and Gender Role in India", in Third Sex, Third Gender. Beyond Sexual Dimorphism in Culture and History, ed. Gilbert Herdt (Zone Books, New York, 1994), pp. 373-417; the Indian initiate to the Mother Goddess cult is castrated by a member of the community of emasculates, the hijras, with the initiate's full knowledge and consent; Nanda, Neither Man nor Woman, pp. 26-9.
4. Self-castration by eunuch priests is described in several ancient sources: Lucretius 2.621; Lucian, Dea Syria 51; Pliny, Natural History 35.1 65; Juvenal 6.514. Such descriptions emphasize the sensational aspect of self-castration, and some modern commentators have doubted whether castration could have been performed in this way, although our ancient sources are internally consistent on this point. Many commentators have assumed that men who acted thus were mentally deranged (e.g. Walter Burkert, Structure and History in Greek Mythology and Ritual [University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1979], p. 105), although ancient sources which describe self-castration give no support for this assumption. Valuable insight into the questions of how and why a man might choose to become a eunuch priest is provided by Serena Nanda and her studies of the eunuch priests of the Mother Goddess in contemporary India; see Neither Man nor Woman: The Hijras of India (Wadsworth, Belmont, CA, 1990), and "Hijras: An Alternative Sex and Gender Role in India", in Third Sex, Third Gender. Beyond Sexual Dimorphism in Culture and History, ed. Gilbert Herdt (Zone Books, New York, 1994), pp. 373-417; the Indian initiate to the Mother Goddess cult is castrated by a member of the community of emasculates, the hijras, with the initiate's full knowledge and consent; Nanda, Neither Man nor Woman, pp. 26-9.
5. Self-castration by eunuch priests is described in several ancient sources: Lucretius 2.621; Lucian, Dea Syria 51; Pliny, Natural History 35.1 65; Juvenal 6.514. Such descriptions emphasize the sensational aspect of self-castration, and some modern commentators have doubted whether castration could have been performed in this way, although our ancient sources are internally consistent on this point. Many commentators have assumed that men who acted thus were mentally deranged (e.g. Walter Burkert, Structure and History in Greek Mythology and Ritual [University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1979], p. 105), although ancient sources which describe self-castration give no support for this assumption. Valuable insight into the questions of how and why a man might choose to become a eunuch priest is provided by Serena Nanda and her studies of the eunuch priests of the Mother Goddess in contemporary India; see Neither Man nor Woman: The Hijras of India (Wadsworth, Belmont, CA, 1990), and "Hijras: An Alternative Sex and Gender Role in India", in Third Sex, Third Gender. Beyond Sexual Dimorphism in Culture and History, ed. Gilbert Herdt (Zone Books, New York, 1994), pp. 373-417; the Indian initiate to the Mother Goddess cult is castrated by a member of the community of emasculates, the hijras, with the initiate's full knowledge and consent; Nanda, Neither Man nor Woman, pp. 26-9.
6. Self-castration by eunuch priests is described in several ancient sources: Lucretius 2.621; Lucian, Dea Syria 51; Pliny, Natural History 35.1 65; Juvenal 6.514. Such descriptions emphasize the sensational aspect of self-castration, and some modern commentators have doubted whether castration could have been performed in this way, although our ancient sources are internally consistent on this point. Many commentators have assumed that men who acted thus were mentally deranged (e.g. Walter Burkert, Structure and History in Greek Mythology and Ritual [University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1979], p. 105), although ancient sources which describe self-castration give no support for this assumption. Valuable insight into the questions of how and why a man might choose to become a eunuch priest is provided by Serena Nanda and her studies of the eunuch priests of the Mother Goddess in contemporary India; see Neither Man nor Woman: The Hijras of India (Wadsworth, Belmont, CA, 1990), and "Hijras: An Alternative Sex and Gender Role in India", in Third Sex, Third Gender. Beyond Sexual Dimorphism in Culture and History, ed. Gilbert Herdt (Zone Books, New York, 1994), pp. 373-417; the Indian initiate to the Mother Goddess cult is castrated by a member of the community of emasculates, the hijras, with the initiate's full knowledge and consent; Nanda, Neither Man nor Woman, pp. 26-9.
7. Modern scholarship on eunuch priests is conveniently summarized by G. M. Sanders, Reallexikon für Antike und Christentum, 8 (Hiersemann, Stuttgart, 1972), pp. 984-1034, s.v. "Gallus"; see also Burkert, Structure and History, pp. 102-5, 108-11, both good examples of negative, judgemental attitudes towards the practice of sacred eunuchism. M. Beard, "The Roman and the Foreign: The Cult of the "Great Mother" in Imperial Rome", in Shamanism, History, and the State, ed. N. Thomas and C. Humphrey (University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, 1994) pp. 164-90, is an interesting, if atypical, effort to explore the paradox of simultaneous acceptance and repulsion that characterized the cult of the Mother Goddess and her eunuch priests.
8. Modern scholarship on eunuch priests is conveniently summarized by G. M. Sanders, Reallexikon für Antike und Christentum, 8 (Hiersemann, Stuttgart, 1972), pp. 984-1034, s.v. "Gallus"; see also Burkert, Structure and History, pp. 102-5, 108-11, both good examples of negative, judgemental attitudes towards the practice of sacred eunuchism. M. Beard, "The Roman and the Foreign: The Cult of the "Great Mother" in Imperial Rome", in Shamanism, History, and the State, ed. N. Thomas and C. Humphrey (University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, 1994) pp. 164-90, is an interesting, if atypical, effort to explore the paradox of simultaneous acceptance and repulsion that characterized the cult of the Mother Goddess and her eunuch priests.
9. Modern scholarship on eunuch priests is conveniently summarized by G. M. Sanders, Reallexikon für Antike und Christentum, 8 (Hiersemann, Stuttgart, 1972), pp. 984-1034, s.v. "Gallus"; see also Burkert, Structure and History, pp. 102-5, 108-11, both good examples of negative, judgemental attitudes towards the practice of sacred eunuchism. M. Beard, "The Roman and the Foreign: The Cult of the "Great Mother" in Imperial Rome", in Shamanism, History, and the State, ed. N. Thomas and C. Humphrey (University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, 1994) pp. 164-90, is an interesting, if atypical, effort to explore the paradox of simultaneous acceptance and repulsion that characterized the cult of the Mother Goddess and her eunuch priests.
10. Sanders, "Gallus", p. 988; Burkert, Structure and History, pp. 110-11; Will Roscoe, "Priests of the Goddess: Gender Transgression in Ancient Religion", History of Religions, 35 (1996), pp. 213-17.
11. Sanders, "Gallus", p. 988; Burkert, Structure and History, pp. 110-11; Will Roscoe, "Priests of the Goddess: Gender Transgression in Ancient Religion", History of Religions, 35 (1996), pp. 213-17.
12. Sanders, "Gallus", p. 988; Burkert, Structure and History, pp. 110-11; Will Roscoe, "Priests of the Goddess: Gender Transgression in Ancient Religion", History of Religions, 35 (1996), pp. 213-17.
13. For a summary of the evidence for the Mother's cult in Phrygia, see Lynn E. Roller, "Phrygian Myth and Cult", Source, 7 (1988), pp. 43-50. On the name of the Phrygian Mother Goddess and its transmission to Greece and Rome, see Claude Brixhe, "Le nom de Cybèle", Die Sprache, 25 (1979), pp. 40-5. The Phrygian cult images of the deity and their transmission to Greek images have been thoroughly explored by Fried- erike Naumann, Die Ikonographie der Kybele in der phrygischen und der griechischen Kunst. Istanbuler Mitteilungen, Beiheft 28 (E. Wasmuth, Tübingen, 1983). The most recent survey of the cult of the Mother Goddess, Maarten Vermaseren, Cybele and Attis (Thames & Hudson, London, 1977), gives a general introduction to the identity and cult practices of the goddess and her eunuch priests, but contains many errors and should be used with caution. An older work, Henri Graillot, Le culte de Cybèle, mère des dieux, à Rome et dans l'empire romaine (Fontemoing, Paris, 1912), is still of value.
14. For a summary of the evidence for the Mother's cult in Phrygia, see Lynn E. Roller, "Phrygian Myth and Cult", Source, 7 (1988), pp. 43-50. On the name of the Phrygian Mother Goddess and its transmission to Greece and Rome, see Claude Brixhe, "Le nom de Cybèle", Die Sprache, 25 (1979), pp. 40-5. The Phrygian cult images of the deity and their transmission to Greek images have been thoroughly explored by Fried- erike Naumann, Die Ikonographie der Kybele in der phrygischen und der griechischen Kunst. Istanbuler Mitteilungen, Beiheft 28 (E. Wasmuth, Tübingen, 1983). The most recent survey of the cult of the Mother Goddess, Maarten Vermaseren, Cybele and Attis (Thames & Hudson, London, 1977), gives a general introduction to the identity and cult practices of the goddess and her eunuch priests, but contains many errors and should be used with caution. An older work, Henri Graillot, Le culte de Cybèle, mère des dieux, à Rome et dans l'empire romaine (Fontemoing, Paris, 1912), is still of value.
15. For a summary of the evidence for the Mother's cult in Phrygia, see Lynn E. Roller, "Phrygian Myth and Cult", Source, 7 (1988), pp. 43-50. On the name of the Phrygian Mother Goddess and its transmission to Greece and Rome, see Claude Brixhe, "Le nom de Cybèle", Die Sprache, 25 (1979), pp. 40-5. The Phrygian cult images of the deity and their transmission to Greek images have been thoroughly explored by Fried-erike Naumann, Die Ikonographie der Kybele in der phrygischen und der griechischen Kunst. Istanbuler Mitteilungen, Beiheft 28 (E. Wasmuth, Tübingen, 1983). The most recent survey of the cult of the Mother Goddess, Maarten Vermaseren, Cybele and Attis (Thames & Hudson, London, 1977), gives a general introduction to the identity and cult practices of the goddess and her eunuch priests, but contains many errors and should be used with caution. An older work, Henri Graillot, Le culte de Cybèle, mère des dieux, à Rome et dans l'empire romaine (Fontemoing, Paris, 1912), is still of value.
16. For a summary of the evidence for the Mother's cult in Phrygia, see Lynn E. Roller, "Phrygian Myth and Cult", Source, 7 (1988), pp. 43-50. On the name of the Phrygian Mother Goddess and its transmission to Greece and Rome, see Claude Brixhe, "Le nom de Cybèle", Die Sprache, 25 (1979), pp. 40-5. The Phrygian cult images of the deity and their transmission to Greek images have been thoroughly explored by Fried- erike Naumann, Die Ikonographie der Kybele in der phrygischen und der griechischen Kunst. Istanbuler Mitteilungen, Beiheft 28 (E. Wasmuth, Tübingen, 1983). The most recent survey of the cult of the Mother Goddess, Maarten Vermaseren, Cybele and Attis (Thames & Hudson, London, 1977), gives a general introduction to the identity and cult practices of the goddess and her eunuch priests, but contains many errors and should be used with caution. An older work, Henri Graillot, Le culte de Cybèle, mère des dieux, à Rome et dans l'empire romaine (Fontemoing, Paris, 1912), is still of value.
17. For a summary of the evidence for the Mother's cult in Phrygia, see Lynn E. Roller, "Phrygian Myth and Cult", Source, 7 (1988), pp. 43-50. On the name of the Phrygian Mother Goddess and its transmission to Greece and Rome, see Claude Brixhe, "Le nom de Cybèle", Die Sprache, 25 (1979), pp. 40-5. The Phrygian cult images of the deity and their transmission to Greek images have been thoroughly explored by Fried- erike Naumann, Die Ikonographie der Kybele in der phrygischen und der griechischen Kunst. Istanbuler Mitteilungen, Beiheft 28 (E. Wasmuth, Tübingen, 1983). The most recent survey of the cult of the Mother Goddess, Maarten Vermaseren, Cybele and Attis (Thames & Hudson, London, 1977), gives a general introduction to the identity and cult practices of the goddess and her eunuch priests, but contains many errors and should be used with caution. An older work, Henri Graillot, Le culte de Cybèle, mère des dieux, à Rome et dans l'empire romaine (Fontemoing, Paris, 1912), is still of value.
18. Lynn E. Roller, "Attis on Greek Votive Monuments: Greek God or Phrygian?", Hesperia, 63 (1994), pp. 245-62.
19. Such statuettes include two small figurines of beardless males holding a bowl or a bird of prey, the standard symbols of the Phrygian Mother, from the Phrygian site of Gordion; Machteld J. Mellink, "Comments on a Cult Relief of Kybele from Gordion", in Beiträge zur Altertumskunde Kleinasiens, ed. R. M. Boehmer and H. Hauptmann (Philipp von Zabern, Mainz, 1983), p. 352, pl. 72; for two youthful beardless male musicians, a flutist and a lyre player, who flank a statue of the goddess from Boǧazköy, see Roller, "Phrygian Myth and Cult", p. 44, fig. 2; and for a silver statuette of a mature beardless male from Bayandir, near Elmali, a piece found together with a fine ivory statuette of the goddess, see Engin and llknur Özgen, Antalya Museum (Ana Basim A. S., Istanbul, 1988), p. 38, no. 41.
20. Such statuettes include two small figurines of beardless males holding a bowl or a bird of prey, the standard symbols of the Phrygian Mother, from the Phrygian site of Gordion; Machteld J. Mellink, "Comments on a Cult Relief of Kybele from Gordion", in Beiträge zur Altertumskunde Kleinasiens, ed. R. M. Boehmer and H. Hauptmann (Philipp von Zabern, Mainz, 1983), p. 352, pl. 72; for two youthful beardless male musicians, a flutist and a lyre player, who flank a statue of the goddess from Boǧazköy, see Roller, "Phrygian Myth and Cult", p. 44, fig. 2; and for a silver statuette of a mature beardless male from Bayandir, near Elmali, a piece found together with a fine ivory statuette of the goddess, see Engin and llknur Özgen, Antalya Museum (Ana Basim A. S., Istanbul, 1988), p. 38, no. 41.
21. Such statuettes include two small figurines of beardless males holding a bowl or a bird of prey, the standard symbols of the Phrygian Mother, from the Phrygian site of Gordion; Machteld J. Mellink, "Comments on a Cult Relief of Kybele from Gordion", in Beiträge zur Altertumskunde Kleinasiens, ed. R. M. Boehmer and H. Hauptmann (Philipp von Zabern, Mainz, 1983), p. 352, pl. 72; for two youthful beardless male musicians, a flutist and a lyre player, who flank a statue of the goddess from Boǧazköy, see Roller, "Phrygian Myth and Cult", p. 44, fig. 2; and for a silver statuette of a mature beardless male from Bayandir, near Elmali, a piece found together with a fine ivory statuette of the goddess, see Engin and llknur Özgen, Antalya Museum (Ana Basim A. S., Istanbul, 1988), p. 38, no. 41.
22. See Folkert von Straten, "Images of Gods and Men in a Changing Society: Self-identity in Hellenistic Religion", in Images and Ideologies: Self-definition in the Hellenistic World, ed. A. Bulloch, E. S. Gruen, A. A. Long and A. Stewart (University of California Press, Berkeley, Los Angeles and London, 1993), pp. 255-6, fig. 17.
23. Two inscriptions record the career of Tiberios Claudios Heras, active in the religious life of the community; he was chief priest of the goddess Meter nine times, along with six terms of service as priest of the Imperial cult and one as high priest of the koinon ('the community'). As chief priest of Meter he held the title of 'Attis', an honor which he shared with his son, Tiberios Claudios Deiotarus. For the inscriptions, see John Devreker and Marc Waelkens, Les fouilles de la Rijksuniversiteit te Gent a Pessinonte 1967-1973, I, Dissertationes Archaeologicae Gandenses 22 (De Tempel, Brugge, 1984), pp. 19-20 and p. 221, nos. 17, 18.
24. Two inscriptions record the career of Tiberios Claudios Heras, active in the religious life of the community; he was chief priest of the goddess Meter nine times, along with six terms of service as priest of the Imperial cult and one as high priest of the koinon ('the community'). As chief priest of Meter he held the title of 'Attis', an honor which he shared with his son, Tiberios Claudios Deiotarus. For the inscriptions, see John Devreker and Marc Waelkens, Les fouilles de la Rijksuniversiteit te Gent a Pessinonte 1967-1973, I, Dissertationes Archaeologicae Gandenses 22 (De Tempel, Brugge, 1984), pp. 19-20 and p. 221, nos. 17, 18.
25. A summary of the evidence for the earliest cult of the Greek goddess Meter is given by Martin P. Nilsson, Geschichte der griechischen Religion, II, 2nd edn (C. H. Beck, Munich, 1961), pp. 725-7; see also Lynn E. Roller, "The Great Mother at Gordion: the Hellenization of an Anatolian Cult", Journal of Hellenic Studies, 111 (1991), pp. 135-6.
26. A summary of the evidence for the earliest cult of the Greek goddess Meter is given by Martin P. Nilsson, Geschichte der griechischen Religion, II, 2nd edn (C. H. Beck, Munich, 1961), pp. 725-7; see also Lynn E. Roller, "The Great Mother at Gordion: the Hellenization of an Anatolian Cult", Journal of Hellenic Studies, 111 (1991), pp. 135-6.
27. On Meter's temple in Athens, see S. G. Miller, "Old Metroon and Old Bouleterion in the Classical Agora of Athens", in Studies in the Ancient Greek Polis, ed. Mogens Herman Hansen and Kurt Raaflaub (Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart, 1995) pp. 133-56 with earlier bibliography; the cult statue is discussed by G. I. Despines, (Hermes, Athens, 1971), pp. 111-23.
28. On Meter in Olympia, see K. Hitzl, Die Kaiserzeitliche Statuen, Ausstattung des Metroons, Olympische Forschungen 19 (De Gruyter, Berlin and New York, 1991), pp. 8-14. The worship of Meter in Thebes is described by the Greek poet Pindar, Pythian Odes 3.77-9. For the worship of Meter in Magnesia, see Plutarch, Themistokles 30.
29. On Meter in Olympia, see K. Hitzl, Die Kaiserzeitliche Statuen, Ausstattung des Metroons, Olympische Forschungen 19 (De Gruyter, Berlin and New York, 1991), pp. 8-14. The worship of Meter in Thebes is described by the Greek poet Pindar, Pythian Odes 3.77-9. For the worship of Meter in Magnesia, see Plutarch, Themistokles 30.
30. On Meter in Olympia, see K. Hitzl, Die Kaiserzeitliche Statuen, Ausstattung des Metroons, Olympische Forschungen 19 (De Gruyter, Berlin and New York, 1991), pp. 8-14. The worship of Meter in Thebes is described by the Greek poet Pindar, Pythian Odes 3.77-9. For the worship of Meter in Magnesia, see Plutarch, Themistokles 30.
31. The earliest testimonium to Meter as mother of the Greek gods is the sixth-century BCE Homeric Hymn 14.
32. H. S. Versnel, Ter Unus: Isis, Dionysos, Hermes: Three Studies in Henotheism (E. J. Brill, Leiden, 1990), pp. 103-5 (Adonis) and pp. 114-18 (Sabazios), discusses the testimonia for ancient Greek attitudes to these Asiatic deities.
33. See Demosthenes, On the Crown, 18.259-60, for a scornful assessment of those who participate in such ecstatic rites. For opposition specifically to deities of Asiatic origin, Demosthenes, On False Legislation 19.281; Josephus, Apionem 2.37.
34. See Demosthenes, On the Crown, 18.259-60, for a scornful assessment of those who participate in such ecstatic rites. For opposition specifically to deities of Asiatic origin, Demosthenes, On False Legislation 19.281; Josephus, Apionem 2.37.
35. See Demosthenes, On the Crown, 18.259-60, for a scornful assessment of those who participate in such ecstatic rites. For opposition specifically to deities of Asiatic origin, Demosthenes, On False Legislation 19.281; Josephus, Apionem 2.37.
36. The epigrams have been discussed as a group by A. S. F. Gow, "The Gallus and the Lion", Journal of Hellenic Studies, 80 (1960), pp. 88-93.
37. On the origin of the word "Gallos", see E. N. Lane, "The Name of Cybele's Priests the "Galloi", in Cybele, Attis and Related Cults: Essays in Memory of M. J. Vermaseren, ed. E. N. Lane (Brill, Leiden, 1996), pp. 117-33. Lane argues convincingly that the term Gallos first appears in the Greek language in the mid-third century BCE and that it derives from 'Galatian', referring to the Celtic tribes who invaded Anatolia in the third century BCE; these people eventually settled in Phrygia, becoming prominent in many of the older Phrygian centers of the Mother's worship, including Pessinous.
38. Attis is also the title used by the Phrygian Mother's priests in her shrine at Pessinous, Polybios 21.37.4-7; B. Virgilio, II 'Tempio Stato' di Pessinunte fra Pergamo e Roma nel II-I Secolo A.C. (Giardini, Pisa, 1981).
39. A god Attis first appears in Greek cult during the fourth century BCE (see Roller, "Attis on Greek Votive Monuments"), and his worship is widely attested during the Hellenistic period. The first certain indication of a religious festival honoring Attis, the Attideia, occurs in the Piraeus (the port city of Athens) in the second century BCE, see Robert Garland, The Piraeus from the Fifth to the First Century B.C. (Gerald Duckworth, London, 1987), pp. 129-31.
40. A god Attis first appears in Greek cult during the fourth century BCE (see Roller, "Attis on Greek Votive Monuments"), and his worship is widely attested during the Hellenistic period. The first certain indication of a religious festival honoring Attis, the Attideia, occurs in the Piraeus (the port city of Athens) in the second century BCE, see Robert Garland, The Piraeus from the Fifth to the First Century B.C. (Gerald Duckworth, London, 1987), pp. 129-31.
41. The events surrounding the arrival of the Magna Mater in Rome are complex and have been the subject of much controversy. An excellent discussion of the problem is given by Erich Gruen, "The Advent of the Magna Mater", in Studies in Greek Culture and Roman Policy (E. J. Brill, Leiden, 1990), pp. 5-33.
42. For a full review of the ancient evidence for the event, see E. Schmidt, Kultübertragungen (A. Topelmann, Giessen, 1909), p. 1, n. 1.
43. For a thorough discussion of the historical circumstances surrounding this event, see Gruen, "Advent of the Magna Mater".
44. Patrizio Pensabene, "Scavi nell'area del Tempio della Vittoria e del Santuario della Magna Mater sul Palatino", Archeologia Laziale, 9 (1988), pp. 54-67, summarizes the architectural history of the Magna Mater's Palatine temple. The goddess's principal Roman festival, the Megalesia, is vividly described by the Roman poets Lucretius, 6.621-43, and Ovid, Fasti 4.179-372. The nature of the Magna Mater's rites is discussed by K. Summers, "Lucretius' Roman Cybele", in Cybele, Attis and Related Cults: Essays in Memory of M. J. Vermaseren, ed. E. N. Lane (Brill, Leiden, 1996), pp. 337-65. On the Magna Mater's place in the Roman festival calendar, see H. H. Scullard, Festivals and Ceremonies of the Roman Republic (Thames & Hudson, London, 1981), pp. 97-100.
45. Patrizio Pensabene, "Scavi nell'area del Tempio della Vittoria e del Santuario della Magna Mater sul Palatino", Archeologia Laziale, 9 (1988), pp. 54-67, summarizes the architectural history of the Magna Mater's Palatine temple. The goddess's principal Roman festival, the Megalesia, is vividly described by the Roman poets Lucretius, 6.621-43, and Ovid, Fasti 4.179-372. The nature of the Magna Mater's rites is discussed by K. Summers, "Lucretius' Roman Cybele", in Cybele, Attis and Related Cults: Essays in Memory of M. J. Vermaseren, ed. E. N. Lane (Brill, Leiden, 1996), pp. 337-65. On the Magna Mater's place in the Roman festival calendar, see H. H. Scullard, Festivals and Ceremonies of the Roman Republic (Thames & Hudson, London, 1981), pp. 97-100.
46. Patrizio Pensabene, "Scavi nell'area del Tempio della Vittoria e del Santuario della Magna Mater sul Palatino", Archeologia Laziale, 9 (1988), pp. 54-67, summarizes the architectural history of the Magna Mater's Palatine temple. The goddess's principal Roman festival, the Megalesia, is vividly described by the Roman poets Lucretius, 6.621-43, and Ovid, Fasti 4.179-372. The nature of the Magna Mater's rites is discussed by K. Summers, "Lucretius' Roman Cybele", in Cybele, Attis and Related Cults: Essays in Memory of M. J. Vermaseren, ed. E. N. Lane (Brill, Leiden, 1996), pp. 337-65. On the Magna Mater's place in the Roman festival calendar, see H. H. Scullard, Festivals and Ceremonies of the Roman Republic (Thames & Hudson, London, 1981), pp. 97-100.
47. Patrizio Pensabene, "Scavi nell'area del Tempio della Vittoria e del Santuario della Magna Mater sul Palatino", Archeologia Laziale, 9 (1988), pp. 54-67, summarizes the architectural history of the Magna Mater's Palatine temple. The goddess's principal Roman festival, the Megalesia, is vividly described by the Roman poets Lucretius, 6.621-43, and Ovid, Fasti 4.179-372. The nature of the Magna Mater's rites is discussed by K. Summers, "Lucretius' Roman Cybele", in Cybele, Attis and Related Cults: Essays in Memory of M. J. Vermaseren, ed. E. N. Lane (Brill, Leiden, 1996), pp. 337-65. On the Magna Mater's place in the Roman festival calendar, see H. H. Scullard, Festivals and Ceremonies of the Roman Republic (Thames & Hudson, London, 1981), pp. 97-100.
48. Maarten Vermaseren, Corpus Cultus Cybelae Attidisque, vol. III (E. J. Brill, Leiden, 1977), illustrates a number of Attis figurines, nos. 12-14, 17-18, 32-8, 58-67, 78-85, 119-32, 151-61. The phallic figurines are nos. 13, 69-72.
49. Obsequens 44a.
50. Valerius Maximus 7.7.6. On this passage, see T. P. Wiseman, Catullus and his World: a Reappraisal (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1985), p. 204, and Beard, "The Roman and the Foreign", p. 177.
51. Valerius Maximus 7.7.6. On this passage, see T. P. Wiseman, Catullus and his World: a Reappraisal (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1985), p. 204, and Beard, "The Roman and the Foreign", p. 177.
52. Note also the Roman treatment of a hermaphrodite, who could not be legally recognized as a third gender, but had to be classified as either male or female; see Yan Thomas, "The Division of the Sexes in Roman Law", in A History of Women: From Ancient Goddesses to Christian Saints, ed. Pauline Schmidt Pantel (Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA and London, 1992), pp. 84-7.
53. In 102 BCE one of the Mother's priests at her shrine in Pessinous, entitled Battakes, came to Rome and petitioned to address the Senate in order to predict the Romans' victory and power in war. This petition met with a rather mixed reception, but when the plebeian tribune who opposed allowing the Phrygian priest to speak died of a fever shortly thereafter, the circumstance was seen as an omen of the goddess's power and created great public acclamation for the priest. We receive a vivid picture of the priest's colorful attire and his headdress, like a crown, considered particularly unsuitable for a Roman, but learn nothing of his gender and sexual status. Diodoros 36.13; Plutarch, Marius 17.5-6.
54. There is much additional material from later centuries on the eunuch priest, particularly in the literature of late antiquity. In late antique sources, however, the eunuch's gender and sexual status are couched as an element in the debate between pagan and Christian, a topic which deserves more discussion than I can give here.
55. This is well analyzed by Summers, "Lucretius' Roman Cybele".
56. Lucretius 2.614-17: "they assign Galli to her [the Great Mother] because those who violate the divinity of the Mother and are ungrateful to their parents are thought unworthy to bring living progeny into the light"; and 640-4: "they accompany the Great Mother with arms ... so that they may wish to defend the fatherland and be a source of protection and pride to their parents."
57. On the clubhouse of the Galli on the Palatine in Rome, see T. P. Wiseman, "Philodemus 26.3 G-P", Classical Quarterly, 32 (1982), pp. 475-6, and Wiseman, Catullus and his World, p. 204.
58. On the clubhouse of the Galli on the Palatine in Rome, see T. P. Wiseman, "Philodemus 26.3 G-P", Classical Quarterly, 32 (1982), pp. 475-6, and Wiseman, Catullus and his World, p. 204.
59. Note also the comments of Horace, Satires 1.2.119-22 (quoting Philodemus), on the Gallus as a suitable lover for a coy woman; see also Wiseman, Catullus and his World, p. 203.
60. Note also the comments of Horace, Satires 1.2.119-22 (quoting Philodemus), on the Gallus as a suitable lover for a coy woman; see also Wiseman, Catullus and his World, p. 203.
61. Moses I. Finley, Ancient Slavery and Modern Ideology (Penguin, Harmondsworth and New York, 1980), pp. 95-6; Wiseman, Catullus and his World, pp. 10-14, quoting Seneca, Controversies 4, Praef. 10: the role of receptive partner in sodomy was the mark of a slave or freedman.
62. Moses I. Finley, Ancient Slavery and Modern Ideology (Penguin, Harmondsworth and New York, 1980), pp. 95-6; Wiseman, Catullus and his World, pp. 10-14, quoting Seneca, Controversies 4, Praef. 10: the role of receptive partner in sodomy was the mark of a slave or freedman.
63. Moses I. Finley, Ancient Slavery and Modern Ideology (Penguin, Harmondsworth and New York, 1980), pp. 95-6; Wiseman, Catullus and his World, pp. 10-14, quoting Seneca, Controversies 4, Praef. 10: the role of receptive partner in sodomy was the mark of a slave or freedman.
64. Juvenal, Satires 6.511-26.
65. After Attis' castration (lines 4-7) the poet frequently uses the feminine forms of pronouns and adjectives to describe Attis. I have chosen to retain the masculine pronoun in this discussion, however, since it seems to me that Catullus is not exploring the character of a woman, but rather that of a man who is uncertain of his own gender identity.
66. This poem has been much discussed, which is hardly surprising given its powerful language and volatile subject matter, and numerous readings, political, religious and didactic, have been applied to it. My discussion does not pretend to place this poem in the context of Catullus' whole oeuvre, an effort which would be out of place in an essay devoted to the eunuch as cross-gendered body; rather, I am most interested in its use of the eunuch as a vehicle for personal reflections on gender roles. The best introductions to this poem for the general reader are the works of Michael Putnam, "The Art of Catullus 64", Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, 65 (1961), pp. 165-205, and "Catullus 11: Ironies of Integrity", Ramus, 3 (1974), pp. 70-86, and also Wiseman, Catullus and his World; an interesting reading is offered by S. A. Takács, "Magna Deum Mater Idaea, Cybele and Catullus' Attis", in Cybele, Attis and Related Cults: Essays in Memory of M. J. Vermaseren, ed. E. N. Lane (Brill, Leiden, 1996), pp. 367-86.
67. This poem has been much discussed, which is hardly surprising given its powerful language and volatile subject matter, and numerous readings, political, religious and didactic, have been applied to it. My discussion does not pretend to place this poem in the context of Catullus' whole oeuvre, an effort which would be out of place in an essay devoted to the eunuch as cross-gendered body; rather, I am most interested in its use of the eunuch as a vehicle for personal reflections on gender roles. The best introductions to this poem for the general reader are the works of Michael Putnam, "The Art of Catullus 64", Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, 65 (1961), pp. 165-205, and "Catullus 11: Ironies of Integrity", Ramus, 3 (1974), pp. 70-86, and also Wiseman, Catullus and his World; an interesting reading is offered by S. A. Takács, "Magna Deum Mater Idaea, Cybele and Catullus' Attis", in Cybele, Attis and Related Cults: Essays in Memory of M. J. Vermaseren, ed. E. N. Lane (Brill, Leiden, 1996), pp. 367-86.
68. This poem has been much discussed, which is hardly surprising given its powerful language and volatile subject matter, and numerous readings, political, religious and didactic, have been applied to it. My discussion does not pretend to place this poem in the context of Catullus' whole oeuvre, an effort which would be out of place in an essay devoted to the eunuch as cross-gendered body; rather, I am most interested in its use of the eunuch as a vehicle for personal reflections on gender roles. The best introductions to this poem for the general reader are the works of Michael Putnam, "The Art of Catullus 64", Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, 65 (1961), pp. 165-205, and "Catullus 11: Ironies of Integrity", Ramus, 3 (1974), pp. 70-86, and also Wiseman, Catullus and his World; an interesting reading is offered by S. A. Takács, "Magna Deum Mater Idaea, Cybele and Catullus' Attis", in Cybele, Attis and Related Cults: Essays in Memory of M. J. Vermaseren, ed. E. N. Lane (Brill, Leiden, 1996), pp. 367-86.
69. This poem has been much discussed, which is hardly surprising given its powerful language and volatile subject matter, and numerous readings, political, religious and didactic, have been applied to it. My discussion does not pretend to place this poem in the context of Catullus' whole oeuvre, an effort which would be out of place in an essay devoted to the eunuch as cross-gendered body; rather, I am most interested in its use of the eunuch as a vehicle for personal reflections on gender roles. The best introductions to this poem for the general reader are the works of Michael Putnam, "The Art of Catullus 64", Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, 65 (1961), pp. 165-205, and "Catullus 11: Ironies of Integrity", Ramus, 3 (1974), pp. 70-86, and also Wiseman, Catullus and his World; an interesting reading is offered by S. A. Takács, "Magna Deum Mater Idaea, Cybele and Catullus' Attis", in Cybele, Attis and Related Cults: Essays in Memory of M. J. Vermaseren, ed. E. N. Lane (Brill, Leiden, 1996), pp. 367-86.
70. On this point, see Paul W. Harkins, "Catullus 63 and 64", Transactions of the American Philological Association, 90 (1959), pp. 102-11; Eve Adler, Catullan Self- Revelation (Arno Press, New York, 1981), pp. 130-3; Micaela Janan, When the Lamp Is Shattered: Desire and Narrative in Catullus (Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale and Edwardsville, 1994), pp. 104-7.
71. On this point, see Paul W. Harkins, "Catullus 63 and 64", Transactions of the American Philological Association, 90 (1959), pp. 102-11; Eve Adler, Catullan Self-Revelation (Arno Press, New York, 1981), pp. 130-3; Micaela Janan, When the Lamp Is Shattered: Desire and Narrative in Catullus (Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale and Edwardsville, 1994), pp. 104-7.
72. On this point, see Paul W. Harkins, "Catullus 63 and 64", Transactions of the American Philological Association, 90 (1959), pp. 102-11; Eve Adler, Catullan Self- Revelation (Arno Press, New York, 1981), pp. 130-3; Micaela Janan, When the Lamp Is Shattered: Desire and Narrative in Catullus (Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale and Edwardsville, 1994), pp. 104-7.
73. The narrator's status as outcast mimics the status of a real slave in Rome, as Cybele becomes the domina, the mistress, both of Catullus' mind and of his body; cf. Wiseman, Catullus and his World, p. 181.
74. On the role of the Magna Mater and the Galli in the Aeneid, see the excellent discussion by T. P. Wiseman, "Cybele, Virgil and Augustus", in Poetry and Politics in the Age of Augustus, ed. T. Woodman and D. West (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1984), pp. 117-28.
75. Some aspects of sacred eunuchism are discussed in Third Sex, Third Gender. Beyond Sexual Dimorphism in Culture and History, ed. Gilbert Herdt (Zone Books, New York, 1994), especially the chapter by Nanda, 'Hijras', discussing eunuch attendants on the Mother Goddess in contemporary India, and one by Kathryn M. Ringrose, "Living in the Shadows: Eunuchs and Gender in Byzantium", also in Third Sex, Third Gender, pp. 85-109, on eunuchs in the Byzantine court, who claimed a special status of chastity because of their asexual condition.
76. Some aspects of sacred eunuchism are discussed in Third Sex, Third Gender. Beyond Sexual Dimorphism in Culture and History, ed. Gilbert Herdt (Zone Books, New York, 1994), especially the chapter by Nanda, 'Hijras', discussing eunuch attendants on the Mother Goddess in contemporary India, and one by Kathryn M. Ringrose, "Living in the Shadows: Eunuchs and Gender in Byzantium", also in Third Sex, Third Gender, pp. 85-109, on eunuchs in the Byzantine court, who claimed a special status of chastity because of their asexual condition.