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Posted By: wwh Corybantic - 03/20/02 02:32 PM
The definition given this word deserves a bit of discussion, which gives impression Corybant was an individulal.The word stretches definition of eponym. It referred to a group, as explained below.

Cybele, Latin name of a goddess native to Phrygia in Asia Minor and known to the Greeks as Rhea, the wife of the Titan Cronus and mother of the Olympian gods. Cybele was a goddess of nature and fertility who was worshiped in Rome as the Great Mother of the Gods. Because Cybele presided over mountains and fortresses, her crown was in the form of a city wall, and she was also known to the Romans as Mater Turrita. The cult of Cybele was directed by eunuch priests called Corybantes, who led the faithful in orgiastic rites accompanied by wild cries and the frenzied music of flutes, drums, and cymbals.



"Cybele," Microsoft(R) Encarta(R) 98 Encyclopedia. (c) 1993-1997 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Posted By: WhitmanO'Neill Re: Corybantic - 03/22/02 03:24 AM
Well, Dr. Bill, you see, it's really quite simple...there is the eponym and then there is the eponymes (e-po-neye-mees). The first is a singular name derivative, and the second is a group name derivative. Eponymes was once the God of Orgiastic Splendor among the Lexiconites (an ancient Latin/Greek mixed sect in what is now Macedonia), thus the group connotation.

And Cybele is Diana (and vice versa...YCLIU).

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