The Corybants, originally of
Oriental origin though
most well known in their
Greco-Roman aspect, worshipped
Cybele, a
Phrygian fertility/
mother goddess.
Their
rites tended toward wild, usually
orgiastic, celebrations wherein they would
dance wildly to
flute and
drum music, two
instruments
sacred to Cybele. These
rituals,
rumored to have the ability to cure
insanity in
those participating, appear reminiscent to those
of
Bacchus (aka
Dionysus in
Greek), albeit
with less
alcohol and more
sex. Both
Aristophanes and
Euripides provide literary
supports for the similarity in rites, comparing
the Corybants as insane
hedonists to the
Bacchanale's/
Maenids' drunkenness.
Note that the ideas of "
sex" and
"
orgiastic" as used above must take
a somewhat loose interpretation - As part of
the Corybantic
initiation, male
petitioners
cut off their own
genitalia and sacrificed
them to
Attis, the
mortal love of Cybele
(the story of which closely parallels that of
Venus and Adonis).
To those familiar with the works of
H.P. Lovecraft,
the
Corybantic rituals form the most direct basis
of the followers of
Azathoth. Compare the following
two passages:
Azathoth gnaws shapelessly and ravenously amidst
the muffled, maddening beat of vile drums and the
thin, monotonous whine of accursed flutes
Stirred by the wild barbaric music of clashing cymbals,
rumbling drums, droning horns, and screaming flutes,
the inferior clergy whirled about in the dance with
waggling heads and streaming hair...
The first, by Lovecraft, refers to Azathoth. The second,
by Frazer, refers to the rites of Cybele as practiced
in
Pessinus.
Sources:
H.P. Lovecraft, "The Dream Quest of Unknown Kaddath"
Sir James George Frazer, "The Golden Bough"
http://www.o-r-g.org/~azaroth/azaroth.html
http://www.occultopedia.com/c/corybant.htm
http://www.4literature.net/Aristophanes/Wasps/
http://www.hfac.uh.edu/mcl/classics/Dion/Bacch.html