InGreek mythology, twosacred mountains are calledMount Ida, the "Mountain of the Goddess":Mount Ida inCrete, andMount Ida in the ancientTroad region of westernAnatolia (in modern-dayTurkey), which was also known as thePhrygian Ida in classical antiquity and is mentioned in theIliad ofHomer and theAeneid ofVirgil. Both are associated with themother goddess in the deepest layers of pre-Greek myth, in that Mount Ida in Anatolia was sacred toCybele, who is sometimes calledMater Idaea ("Idaean Mother"),[1] whileRhea, often identified with Cybele, put the infantZeus to nurse withAmaltheia at Mount Ida in Crete. Thereafter, his birthplace was sacred to Zeus, the king and father of Greek gods and goddesses.[2]
The termIda (Ἴδη) is of unknown origin. Instances ofi-da inLinear A probably refer to the mountain in Crete. Three inscriptions bear just the namei-da-ma-te (AR Zf 1 and 2, andKY Za 2), and may refer tomount Ida[3] or to themother goddess of Ida ( Ἰδαία μάτηρ). InIliad (Iliad, 2.821),Ἵδη (Ida) means "wooded hill", the name recalling themountain worship which was a feature of theMinoan mother goddess religion.[4] The name is related to that of thenymphIdaea, who, according toDiodorus Siculus, was the mother of the tenKuretes.[5]Idaea was also an epithet ofCybele. The Romans knew Cybele asMagna Mater ("Great Mother"), or asMagna Mater deorum Idaea ("great Idaean mother of the gods"), equivalent to the Greek titleMeter Theon Idaia ("Mother of the Gods, from Mount Ida").[6]Proclus considered it as the "mount of theIdeas", whence its etymology.[7]
Crete'sMount Ida is the island's highest summit, sacred to the GoddessRhea, and wherein lies the legendary Idaean cave (Ἰδαίον ἅντρον), in which babyZeus was concealed from his fatherCronus. It is one of a number of caves believed to have been the birthplace or hiding place ofZeus.[8] TheKouretes, a band of mythical warriors, undertook to dance their wild, noisy war dances in front of the cave, so that the clamour would keep Cronus from hearing the infant's crying. On the flank of this mountain is theAmari Valley, the site of expansion by the ancient settlement atPhaistos.[9] Its modern name isPsiloritis. The surrounding area and mountain used to be thickly wooded.
From the AnatolianMount Ida,Zeus was said to have abductedGanymede toOlympus. The topmost peak isGargarus, mentioned in theIliad. Zeus was located in the Altar of Zeus (near Adatepe,Ayvacık) during theTrojan War. The modernTurkish name for Mount Ida, Turkey, isKaz Dağı, pronounced[kazdaːɯ]. In theAeneid, a shooting star falls onto the mountain in answer to the prayer ofAnchises toJupiter (the Roman equivalent of Zeus).
