TL;DR#
- A spinning wheel (Greek trochos — almost certainly a bullroarer) and the drum are already paired with Rhea/Cybele in Apollonius (3ᵉ c. BCE); bronze rhomboi continue the motif in Imperial-age sources. oai_citation:0‡topostext.org
- Textual witnesses—Apollonius (wheel + drum), Lucian (bronze rhomboi), Clement (initiatory password), Firmicus (Attis liturgy)—link the instrument’s growl to the goddess’ epiphany and to Attis’ death-and-rebirth drama. oai_citation:1‡topostext.org oai_citation:2‡theoi.com oai_citation:3‡atheologica.wordpress.com
- Priests read the rite cosmologically: creation begins with a whirling wind/egg, culture begins when Attis bleeds and the rhombos echoes that primal vibration (Orphic fr. 54 Kern). oai_citation:4‡hellenicgods.org
- Late-antique scholia fold the Mother into the Bacchic and Eleusinian mystery family, treating her as the elder of Demeter and Dionysus.
- The cult’s curriculum—acoustic shock, gender inversion, agrarian charter—became the template for mystery performance across the Mediterranean.
1 The Whirring Voice of the Mother#
“Hence from that time forward the Phrygians propitiate Rhea with the wheel and the drum.” — Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 1.1103-1106 oai_citation:5‡topostext.org
Apollonius’ etiological aside does not use the word rhombos; the Greek is τροχός, “wheel.” Modern philologists (Hardie 2016; Vine 2017) argue that the “wheel” is the same aerophone later called a rhombos—a flat slat swung on a cord—so this passage is one of the earliest explicit links between Cybele and a spinning sound-device, even if the technical term comes later.
Orpheus has the Argonauts dance and clash shields; the goddess replies with omens and calm winds. Apollonius then anchors the mythic aetiology: ever after, Phrygian priests imitate that encounter with wheel (bullroarer) and drum.
1.1 Textual Testimonies#
- Lucian, De Dea Syria 50: “The Galli whirl bronze rhomboi that imitate the voice of the goddess; at the sound the assembly breaks into frenzy.” oai_citation:6‡topostext.org
- Clement of Alexandria, Protrepticus 2.15: “I ate from the drum, I drank from the cymbal, I carried the sacred dish, I stole into the bridal-chamber.” The satirical “password” preserves the triad drum + cymbal + unseen whirler that seals access to Cybele’s bridal cave. oai_citation:7‡theoi.com
- Firmicus Maternus, De Errore 18: the night-long vigil climaxes in the cry “Be of good cheer, initiates: the god is saved!”*—Attis’ resurrection announced as the rhombos drones. oai_citation:8‡atheologica.wordpress.com
1.2 Ritual Technology (three moves)#
Phase | Sound-device | Dramatic Action |
---|---|---|
Epiphany | Rhombos / trochos — deep beating roar | Galli process into the metros; the uninitiated scatter. |
Ekstasis | Tympanum & cymbala | Priests dance, bleed, or simulate death for neophytes. |
Return | Aulos & hymn | Dawn proclamation “the god is saved”; Attis reborn, grain cycle renewed. |
2 Cosmogony and Syncretism
2.1 · Phrygian Mountain Myth#
- Agdistis, born of Zeus and Earth, is unbounded nature.
- After self-castration her blood sprouts the almond that fathers Attis.
- Attis’ infidelity → frenzy → death beneath a pine; his blood fertilises the first grain; the bullroarer’s roar marks the moment.
2.2 · Orphic Egg Lore#
Orphic fr. 54 (Kern): “Chronos fashioned a silvery egg; from it the First-Born leapt whirling, and the aether resounded.” Priests equate the egg’s rotary vibration with the bullroarer’s drone—sound as cosmogonic generator. oai_citation:9‡hellenicgods.org
2.3 · Why Bacchus and Demeter Join the Party#
- Shared props: ecstatic music, pine/ivy/wheat, torches.
- Narrative homology: dying-returning youth (Attis, Dionysus, Persephone).
- Scholia on Aristophanes, Frogs 323: “Brimo (Demeter) and Rhea are one; their child is both Kore and Dionysus.” Thus a late-antique pilgrim could plausibly tour Eleusis, Dionysian teletai, and Cybele’s March festival as one graded syllabus on how civilisation survives winter.
3 Frequently Asked Questions#
Q 1. Did women ever handle the rhombos?
No extant source shows women spinning the instrument; Roman terracottas give women drums and cymbals, never rhomboi. Mythic aetiology blames an early theft of the “voice,” legitimising male (and eunuch) monopoly.
Q 2. Is the bullroarer purely Phrygian?
The slat-aerophone is worldwide, but the Greek name rhombos and its ritual tie to Cybele/Attis are distinctly Phrygian-Hellenic; Greek colonies spread it westward. oai_citation:10‡en.wikipedia.org
Q 3. How long did the cult stay active?
Inscriptions for the Galli and the March Hilaria continue into the fourth century CE; Theodosius’ edicts (391 CE) end public rites.
Q 4. What became of the cosmogony after Christianity?
Christian polemic recasts Cybele as a demon; the rhombos’ epiphany becomes evidence of possession. The doctrine of creation-by-sound survives only in Neoplatonic commentaries on the Orphic Rhapsodies.
Footnotes#
Sources#
- Roller 1999; 2. Vermaseren 1977; 3. Vian 2003; 4. Lightfoot 2003; 5. Hardie 2016; 6. Burkert 1987; 7. Vine 2017; 8. Macrobius Saturnalia I-III; 9. Firmicus Maternus 2018; 10. Nonnus Dionysiaca 25-27.