Cabeiri

/keuh buy"ruy/, n.

Cabiri.

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or Cabiri

Important group of deities, probably of Phrygian origin, worshiped in Asia Minor and in Macedonia and northern and central Greece.

In classical times there were two males, Axiocersus and his son Cadmilus, and two females, Axierus and Axiocersa. They were promoters of fertility and protectors of seafarers. The male pair, the more important, was often confused with the Dioscuri. The Cabeiri were also identified with the Great Gods of Samothrace, and their cult reached its height in the 4th century BC.

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▪ ancient deities

also spelled  Cabiri,  

      important group of deities, probably of Phrygian origin, worshiped over much of Asia Minor, on the islands nearby, and in Macedonia and northern and central Greece. They were promoters of fertility and protectors of seafarers. Perhaps originally indefinite in number, in classical times there appear to have been two male deities, Axiocersus and his son and attendant Cadmilus, or Casmilus, and a less-important female pair, Axierus and Axiocersa. These were variously identified by the Greeks with deities of their own pantheon. The cult included worship of the power of fertility, rites of purification, and initiation.

      The Cabeiri are often identified with the Great Gods of Samothrace, where the mysteries attracted great attention and initiation was looked upon as a general safeguard against misfortune. In the period after the death of Alexander the Great (323 BC), their cult reached its height.

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