Mysteries of the Cabiri
The Great Gods of Samothrace.
“Perhaps no part of heathen mythology is involved in a greater degree of obscurity, than the Mysteries of the Cabiri.”1
Samothrace was the home of the Sanctuary of the Great Gods, a site of important Hellenic and pre-Hellenic religious ceremonies. The identity and nature of the deities venerated at the sanctuary remains largely enigmatic, in large part because it was taboo to pronounce their names. Literary sources from antiquity refer to these ‘Great Gods’ under the collective name of Cabeiri or Cabiri.2
These Samothracian mysteries, celebrated on the island of Samothrace for perhaps as many as a thousand years, were the focus of a cult which attracted worshippers from the entire Greek and Roman world. The great order of the ancient Cabiri flourished long before Greece had emerged from barbarism, and before Rome existed. After the decline of the mysteries in the fourth century AD, the island and its rites were almost forgotten.3
The traditional account from antiquity is that Samothrace was first inhabited by Pelasgians and Carians, and later Thracians.4 Other sources mention the Trojans.5 Although their origins remain uncertain, results of archaeological excavations have led some experts to conclude that the Pelasgians had migrated from Asia Minor.6
