On the Syrian Goddess
Also known as: De Dea Syria, Peri tes Syrias theou, The Syrian Goddess
A Greek prose account of the cult of the ‘Syrian Goddess’ Atargatis at Hierapolis, detailing myths, rites, priesthoods, and sacred symbols alongside local traditions and identifications with Greek deities.
Description
This ethnographic treatise describes the temple of the Syrian Goddess at Hierapolis (Bambyce/Manbog) and the paired worship of Atargatis and the storm-god Hadad. Cast in a traveler’s voice, it records architecture, altars, votives, oracular procedures, festivals, and stringent purity laws. Notably it recounts the myth of Derceto/Atargatis of Ascalon, the legend of Combabus and Queen Stratonice explaining the eunuch priesthood, and a local flood tradition tied to the sanctuary’s sacred lake and ropes said to moor an ancient ark. The author correlates the deities with Greek counterparts (Hera/Aphrodite and Zeus) and emphasizes sacred animals—especially fish and doves—while describing dramatic processions, self-castration rites, and pilgrimage practices that reveal a syncretic Near Eastern cult in the Roman imperial era.
Historiography
The work survives among Lucian’s corpus, though many scholars class it as pseudo-Lucian on stylistic and doctrinal grounds. Manuscript transmission places it with minor prose treatises; extant Greek text underlies multiple modern translations. Its antiquarian tone shaped later discussions of Syrian and Phoenician cults, and it has been mined for comparanda on Atargatis, eunuch priesthoods, and Greco-Oriental religious syncretism.
Date Notes
Traditionally attributed to Lucian of Samosata; authorship debated in modern scholarship. Describes contemporary rites at Hierapolis (Bambyce/Manbog) centered on Atargatis and Hadad.
Themes
Major Characters
- Atargatis
- Hadad
- Semiramis
Myths
- Cult of Atargatis at Hierapolis
- Semiramis and the Temple Foundation
- Sacred Lake and Fish Rites
- Self-Castration of the Galli
- Procession and Bathing of the Goddess
Facts
- Greek prose ethnography of the Hierapolis cult of Atargatis and Hadad.
- Traditionally ascribed to Lucian; many modern editors mark it as pseudo-Lucian.
- Records strict purity rules and pilgrimage customs around a sacred lake.
- Describes sacred fish and doves that may not be harmed or eaten.
- Includes the legend of Combabus and Queen Stratonice explaining eunuch priests.
- Reports self-castration rites performed by certain devotees.
- Relates a local flood tradition with an ark moored to the temple by ropes.
- Identifies Atargatis with Hera/Aphrodite and Hadad with Zeus in Greek terms.
- Key witness for Syrian religious syncretism in the Roman imperial Near East.
- Latin title "De Dea Syria"; Greek title "Peri tes Syrias theou".