In Greek mythology, Telete (/ˈtɛlɪtiː/; Ancient Greek: Τελετή, romanized: Teletḗ, lit. 'consecration') is the daughter of the wine-god Dionysus and Nicaea, a Naiad daughter of the river-god Sangarius and Cybele, a mother goddess.
| Telete | |
|---|---|
Goddess of festivity and rituals | |
 Telete and Dionysus in a mosaic from Zeugma Mosaic Museum | |
| Major cult center | Boeotia |
| Abode | Earth |
| Symbols | Thyrsus |
| Genealogy | |
| Parents | Dionysus and Nicaea |
| Siblings | Satyrus, several paternal half-siblings |
Mythology
editConcerning Telete's birth, it is related that Nicaea was ashamed of having been made pregnant by Dionysus, and even attempted to hang herself; nevertheless, in due time a daughter was born to her. The Horae were said to have served as midwives at Telete's birth.[1] Telete was destined by Dionysus to become a follower of himself and his son Iacchus, her half-brother.[2]
Pausanias mentions a statue of Telete in the sanctuary of the Heliconian Muses in Boeotia. Her image was next to that of Orpheus.[3]
Telete was associated with nighttime festivities and ritual dances in honor of Dionysus,[4] and has been interpreted as a goddess of initiation into the Bacchic rites.[5]
Notes
editReferences
edit- Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca translated by William Henry Denham Rouse (1863–1950), from the Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, 1940. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
- Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca. 3 Vols. W.H.D. Rouse. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1940–1942. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
- Pausanias, Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. ISBN 0-674-99328-4. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
- Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio. 3 vols. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
- Vollmer, Wilhelm. (1874). Wörterbuch der Mythologie. Stuttgart, p. 426.
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