Myths and legends of Phrygia

There are several Phrygia kings mentioned in Greek mythology, such as Godios, who is the famous maker of Godios knots; Midas, the son of Goldilocks. Some myths say that Tantalus was also the king of Phrygia.

The myth of Goldilocks is very interesting. Goldilocks was just a farmer at first. Once, while he was plowing the field, an eagle landed on his yoke. At that time, the Phrygians had no king, so they asked God who would be their king. The Oracle said that the first person they met on the ox cart was the king. Mr. and Mrs. Phrygia went out to look for it, and it turned out that this person was Goldilocks. After Goldilocks became king, he built a city named after him in central and western Anatolia (well, Goldilocks) as the capital of the kingdom of Phrygia.

The myth about Midas is also famous. Midas, the son of the goddess Sibelli, is the main object of worship of Godios and Phrygia. Cicero mentioned that ants brought food to Midas' mouth when he was a baby, which indicated that he would become a rich man in the future. Midas once sent the kidnapped Silenus back to Dionysus, the god of wine, and Dionysus gave him "golden touch" as a reward. But this made Midas almost starve to death, because everything he touched turned into gold, so he had to ask Dionysus to take back his magic. Later, Midas acted as a referee in the music competition between Apollo and Pan, and Apollo offended him because of the referee. In retaliation, Apollo made Midas grow a pair of donkey ears. Midas had to wear a Phrygia hat all day to cover his ears. His barber was afraid to tell the secret, but he was itchy, so he shouted to a cave, "The king has donkey ears!" " "Unexpectedly, a clump of reeds grew on this hole. When the wind blew, it sounded like" the king has donkey ears ",and finally MIDAS's secret was known to everyone.

Homer mentioned in the Iliad that Priam, king of Troy, helped the Phrygians resist the attack of Amazon when he was young. Priam's wife Cobb is the daughter of Demarce, king of Phrygia. During the Trojan War, Phrygia sided with Troy and sent soldiers to the war. It is mentioned that the leading figures of Fritsch runner-up are Ascani Uss and Forkus. Another main hero of Phrygia is Axe, who is Cobb's brother.

According to Herodotus, Egyptian Pharaoh Psamtik II tried to know what the oldest language in the world was. Psamtik isolated the two babies and kept them from contact with others; As a result, the first sound made by the baby happened to be the word "bread" in Phrygia. At that time, Pharaoh thought that the Phrygia people were the oldest people in the world.

After the collapse of the Hittite Empire in 12 BC, there was a political vacuum in Anatolia. As a result, many Indo-European-speaking nations and "maritime nations" moved into this area, forming an immigration tide. Among these immigrants, the Phrygia people established a kingdom with Goldie Umm as its capital in the 9th and 8th centuries. It is not clear what role the Phrygia played in the foreign invasion that led to the collapse of the Hittite Empire. Maybe they moved into this area after the demise of the Hittite Empire. Archaeologists discovered artifacts from this period in Anatolia, Xi.

Assyrian literature in the 8th century BC mentioned a Muhiki king, Tammy, which may be the historical origin of king Midas of Phrygia in Greek mythology. The inscription pointed out that Tammy was an ally of King Sargon II of Assyria. Around this period, the Phrygians had formed a powerful kingdom, trading with Mesopotamia and Greece. Archaeologists had discovered pottery in Phrygia before the 8th century.

At the beginning of the 7th century, the nomadic Simerians from the north invaded Anatolia on a large scale, destroying many local countries. The kingdom of Phrygia has also been severely hit. Herodotus reported that Goldie Umm, the capital of Phrygia, was occupied and burned by Sims in 696. Modern archaeological excavations have confirmed Herodotus' statement, and the remains show that the city of Umm in Goldie was severely damaged about 675 years ago. The most important discovery of the Umm site in Goldie is an ancient tomb with rich funerary objects, the so-called "King Midas's Tomb".

After the unified kingdom of Phrygia collapsed under the attack of Simeon, some small Phrygia countries took its place. The culture and art of Phrygia continued to develop after the demise of the kingdom. As for the Smesians, they stayed in Anatolia, but did not form their own country. About 620 years ago, the Lydians rose rapidly, driving out the Smilians and becoming the ruling force in Anatolia. Phrygia was incorporated into this short-lived Lydian empire. 585 years ago, the eastern half of the former kingdom of Phrygia became part of the kingdom of Miti, which expanded westward.

Cyrus the great conquered the kingdom of Lydia in 546, and Phrygia was placed under the jurisdiction of the Persian Empire. 52 1 years ago, after Darius I pacified the pack and became the ruler of the Persian Empire, it restored the ancient trade route of Phrygia and upgraded Phrygia to a province of the Empire. The capital of Phrygia during Persian rule was Darth Keelung. The culture of Phrygia stagnated under Persian rule.

At the beginning of the 4th century BC, the emerging Macedonian regime changed the political situation in Europe and Asia. The huge Persian Empire collapsed rapidly under the attack of King Alexander the Great of Macedonia. Alexander passed through Umm, the ancient capital of Phrygia, in 333 BC. According to the legend preserved by classical writers, he untied the famous knot of Godios there; It is said that the person who can untie this knot will rule the whole of Asia, and Alexander cut it off with his sword.

The period after Alexander the Great's death is called the Hellenistic period. His ministers launched a fierce struggle to carve up the huge territory he conquered, that is, the so-called "successor war". Anatolia is one of the focuses of controversy, and it has been owned by several successors (Antioch, Lakmagu and Seleucu). At this time, Celtic tribes from Europe (Greeks called them Galatians, that is, Gauls) invaded Asia Minor on a large scale, which made the situation even more chaotic. These barbarians ravaged the eastern half of Phrygia and eventually became the Celtic settlement, Galatia. The city of Umm in Goldie disappeared from history after being destroyed by the Celts. The Celts were quickly attacked by the Hellenistic country Pagama. Before 188, the western part of Phrygia was annexed by Pagama and became a part of the kingdom. 133 years ago, Attalus III, king of Pagama, who had no children, died. According to his will, Phrygia was taken to Rome with the kingdom of Pagama.

The Romans did not manage Phrygia as an independent political unit, but divided it into two parts and merged it into two provinces: the northeast merged into Galatia and the west merged into Asia. As a political entity, Phrygia disappeared from the map, but it was still used as a geographical name until the end of the Middle Ages.

culture

Phrygia people are famous admirers of the great mother God. According to Greek and Roman records, the great mother god whom Phrygia worships is Ciboule, who is the mother of all gods and all living things. In nature, Cybele is the goddess of high yield, which is closely related to agriculture. So after she was introduced to Greece and Rome, she quickly combined with the local land or agricultural goddess. Cybele's faith prevails in the Phrygia mountains, where she is called "Mother Mountain". But the earliest place to worship Cybele may be Lydia. The typical image of Cybele is wearing a long straight dress with a belt (called "poros") and a scarf all over her body. Later, Agola Kratos, a student of the great Greek sculptor Pheidias, created the image of the goddess Sibelli, which was widely accepted in the Aegean region and later in the Roman world. The Greek Cybele is more vivid and humanized: the goddess is placed on the lion with one hand and on the drum with the other.

Another important god worshipped by the Phrygians is Sabazios. The original meaning of Sabazios' name may be "Savior", and he is depicted as a heavenly father riding a horse (or sheep). The Greeks associated him with Zeus or Dionysus, and the Romans associated him with Jupiter.

Phrygia's bronze culture is very developed. Greek music once absorbed a lot of nutrition from Phrygia music. In Greek mythology, the music teacher of King Midas of Phrygia was orpheus himself. The myth about Marsua clearly shows the connection between Greek music and Phrygia music. Malthus is Satiri (or Silenus) who worships Cybertron. He dared to use musical instruments against Apollo. As a result, Apollo played completely Phrygia, and he easily defeated Marsua. According to the rules of the game, the loser should be disposed of at will, so Masuez was skinned alive, and Apollo deliberately hung his skin on the sacred pine tree in Cybertron.

Another unique culture of the Phrygia people is their hats: Phrygia hats. When the ancient Greeks portrayed Paris, the prince of Troy, they put a Phrygia hat on his head to show that he was not Greek. The hat MIDAS used to cover the donkey's ears is also a Phrygia hat. After Mithra, the ancient Iranian god, was introduced to Hellenistic countries and the Roman Empire, his image also became a man wearing a Phrygia hat. During the French Revolution, it was thought that slaves who were freed in ancient Rome would wear Phrygia hats, which became a symbol of freedom. This meaning has been used to this day, and the Phrygia hat, also known as the hat of freedom, appears on the national emblems of many Latin American countries.

The Phrygians accepted the alphabet invented by Phoenicians and used it to describe their own language. But the existing inscription of Phrygia has not been deciphered. Today's knowledge about Phrygia comes from ancient Greek records.