CORIBANTI

CORIBANTI. — Minor Greek deities, perhaps pre-Hellenic, originating in Phrygia. The Greeks described them as either autochthonous, or sons of the Idaean Dactyls, or of Cronus and Cybele, or of Helios and Athena, etc. They were often identified with the Curetes (since, like them, they foretold the future and had protected Zeus against Cronus), with the Dactyls, and with the Cabiri. They were said to perform miraculous healings. Their cult consisted of ecstatic dances: priests and initiates, excited by wild dances and shouts, the sound of cymbals, drums, and flutes, would wound one another. At Rome they were identified with the Lares.