Editing Korybantes (section)

==Ecstatics==
The [[Phrygia]]n Korybantes were often confused by Greeks with other ecstatic male confraternities, such as the Idaean [[Dactyl (mythology)|Dactyls]] or the Cretan Kouretes, spirit-youths (''[[Kouros|kouroi]]'') who acted as guardians of the infant Zeus. In [[Hesiod]]'s telling of Zeus's birth,<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0020.tlg001.perseus-eng1:453-491 478&ndash;91].</ref> when Great Gaia came to Crete and hid the child Zeus in a "steep cave", beneath the secret places of the earth, on Mount Aigaion with its thick forests; there the Cretan Kouretes' ritual clashing spears and shields were interpreted by Hellenes as intended to drown out the infant god's cries, and prevent his discovery by his cannibal father [[Cronus]]. Emily Vermeule observed,

<blockquote>This myth is Greek interpretation of mystifying Minoan ritual in an attempt to reconcile their Father Zeus with the Divine Child of Crete; the ritual itself we may never recover with clarity, but it is not impossible that a connection exists between the Kouretes' weapons at the cave and the dedicated weapons at [[Arkalochori]]".<ref>Vermeule, "A Gold Minoan Double Axe" ''Bulletin of the Museum of Fine Arts'' '''57''' No. 307 (1959:4-16) p. 6.</ref></blockquote>

Among the offerings recovered from the cave, the most spectacular are decorated bronze shields with patterns that draw upon north Syrian originals and a bronze [[gong]] on which a god and his attendants are shown in a distinctly Near Eastern style.<ref>G.L. Hoffman, ''Imports and Immigrants: Near Eastern Contacts with Early Iron Age Crete'', 1997, noted by Robin Lane Fox, ''Travelling Heroes in the Epic Age of Homer'', 2008:157; "A bronze [[Tympanum (hand drum)|tympanum]], several cymbals, and sixty-odd shields, many finely decorated, evoke the dance of the Curetes, which is also depicted on the tympanum, even if the bearded god and his attendants are rendered in Oriental style", observes Noel Robertson, "The ancient Mother of the Gods. A missing chapter in the history of Greek religion", in Eugene Lane, ed. ''Cybele, Attis and Related Cults: Essays in Memory of M.J. Vermaseren'' 1996:248 and noted sources.</ref>

Korybantes also presided over the infancy of [[Dionysus]], another god who was born as a babe, and of [[Zagreus]], a Cretan child of Zeus, or child-doublet of Zeus. The wild ecstasy of their cult can be compared to the female [[Maenads]] who followed Dionysus.

[[Ovid]], in ''Metamorphoses'', says the Kouretes were born from rainwater ([[Uranus (mythology)|Uranus]] fertilizing [[Gaia (mythology)|Gaia]]). This suggests a connection with the [[Hyades (mythology)|Hyades]].

[[File:Curètes.jpg|thumb|230px|The Kouretes dancing around the infant [[Zeus]], as pictured in ''Themis'' by [[Jane Ellen Harrison]] {{smaller|(1912, p.&nbsp;23; see References section below)}}.]]