Kotys

Kotys (Ancient Greek: Κότυς Kótys) was a prominent Thracian goddess who was worshipped in a festival known as the Cotyttia. She was particularly worshipped among the Edones.[1] Suda mentioned that is was worshiped among the Corinthians.[2] The Greeks considered Kotys to be an aspect of Persephone.[3]

This article is about the Thracian goddess. For the surname, see Kotys (surname).
Greek vase painting depicting a goddess, probably either Bendis or Kotys, adorned in Thracian garb approaching a seated Apollo. Red-figure bell-shaped krater by the Bendis Painter, c. 380–370 BCE

Etymology

The name Kotys is believed to have meant "war, slaughter", akin to Old Norse Höðr "war, slaughter".[4]

Worship
Pencil illustration of Kotys by a twenty-first-century artist

Kotys's followers were known as baptes, which means "bathers,"[5] because their pre-worship purification ceremony involved an elaborate bathing ritual. Kotys was often worshipped during nocturnal ceremonies, which were associated with rampant insobriety and obscene behavior.[6] Her cult was very similar to the cult of the goddess Bendis.

Kotys was also worshiped at Corinth.[7][8]

gollark: I'm totally not biasing it.
gollark: Law of large numbers and all.
gollark: Interesting.
gollark: Of interacting bees, sort of, yes.
gollark: Yes it is. The autobias must evolve with society.

References
  1. Detschew, Dimiter. Die Thrakische Sprachreste. Wien, 1957: p. 258 (in German)
  2. Suda, ka.2171
  3. Bell, John (2003). Bell's New Pantheon or Historical Dictionary of the Gods, Demi Gods, Heroes. Kessinger Publishing. p. 156. ISBN 0-7661-7834-X.
  4. Also cognate: Irish cath "war, battle", early German Hader "quarrel", Greek kótos "hatred", Old Church Slavonic kotora "fight, brawl", Sanskrit śatru "enemy, nemesis", and Hittite kattu "spiteful". See Orel, Vladimir. A Handbook of Germanic Etymology. Leiden, Netherlands: Brill, 2003: 165.
  5. βάπτω, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus
  6. Cobham Brewer, Ebenezer (1894). Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable - Revised and Updated Edition. New York: Harper & Brothers. pp. 73.
  7. Suda Encyclopedia,kappa 2171
  8. Suda Encyclopedia, theta 381
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.