The dying Attis From Ostia, shrine of Attis, 2nd- 3rd AD
When Cybele saw that Attis , a handsome shepherd whom she loved, was attracted to another woman, she caused in him an uncontrollable fury that led him to castrate himself.
The young man mutilated himself beneath a pine tree and bled to death, violets sprang from his blood, becoming symbols of the annual renewal of seasons.
The young man mutilated himself beneath a pine tree and bled to death, violets sprang from his blood, becoming symbols of the annual renewal of seasons.
The spread of his cult can be explained by its promise of individual redemption and by the mystery rites that accompanied the commemoration of his death and resurrection.