Idean dactyls
The Idaean dactyls ( Greek Δάκτυλοι Ἰδαῖοι Daktyloi Idaioi ) were demon-like figures in Greek mythology , to whom the discovery and first processing of iron and copper is ascribed.
The Ida Mountains in Phrygia were considered to be their home , where they were in the service of the Great Mother ( Rhea-Cybele ) and consequently were combined with the Curetes and Korybants as well as mixed with the Samothrak Kabiren and the Telchines . They were also transferred to the Ida of Crete .
The name dactylene is explained in various ways; most likely it relates to the artistry of these metallurgical ghosts of the forest mountains.
The Phrygian dactyls are named three:
- Kelmis (allegedly "smelter"),
- Damameneus ("hammer")
- Akmon ("anvil").
In Crete it was five or ten or a hundred.
It is easy to explain that the dactyls were at the same time competent for magicians and secret natural forces; They were also thought to be the inventors of all kinds of useful arts, for example musical sound and beat, for which the art of the blacksmith itself provided instructions.
literature
- Gian Andrea Caduff: Daktyloi Idaioi. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 3, Metzler, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-476-01473-8 , column 280 f.
- Ludwig von Sybel: Daktyloi . In: Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher (Hrsg.): Detailed lexicon of Greek and Roman mythology . Volume 1,1, Leipzig 1886, Col. 940 f. ( Digitized version ).
Web links
- Daktyloi & Kouretes in the Theoi Project (engl.)
