The Corycian Cave system is a Neolithic ritual site and sanctuary on Mount Parnassus used from c. 4000 BCE. To ancient Greeks it's home to Pan, the goat-legged god of the wild, and the legendary Bee Nymphs.
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For the early Greeks, the Corycian Cave is the boundary between wilderness and culture. The cave is at an accessible level, below the dangers of the mountain peak, but too steep for horses. Corycian Cave is the home of wild god Pan.
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The lover of Pan is the nymph Echo, whose call resonates through the caverns. Enormous limestone formations, drips, echoes, steam and rumblings in the ground are activities of the gods. The pilgrim experience is a humbling one.
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It's a place of ritual and mythology,
"... where nymphs are possessed and tamed by the gods..."
Wright, John Henry (1906). "The Origin of Plato's Cave"
The archaic homeland of pastoral god Pan is Arcadia, on the central Peloponnese. Pan is a patron of rural people. As few valuable items are found in the cave, many historians assume it's an offering place for herders and homestead farmers.
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Excavations of the cave uncover over 22,000 astragals, each made from the talus or large ankle bone of sheep and goats. Astragals are also called knucklebones. Variously marked, they're used for games and in astragalomancy, or divination by casting the bones.
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Of those found, 2,500 are smoothed down and pierced as pendants, with 36 set in lead and two in gold. Archeologists also find rings, bronze figurines, ceramics, metal objects and wind instruments such as the auloi, a set of two reed pipes.
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Pastoral offerings to the Gods include butter, cheese, milk and honey. The food of the Greek Gods, ambrosia, is made with honey, in some versions identified as a divine form of honey mead.
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In Greek myth honey is discovered by the nymph Melissa (Bee). From Mycenean times (c. 1600 BCE) honey is offered to the Gods. Bees are associated with the Delphic oracle and Sun God Apollo. The oracular priestess of Delphi is sometimes called a bee.
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In nature bees hover over water especially on hot days. Besides drinking the water they bring as much as they can back to the hive, where it's spread over beeswax cells containing larvae. The vibration of the bees' wings then cool the larval cells and the rest of the hive.
A medium of divination in ancient lore, water is also a portal to other realms. The habit of bees to hover over water or congregate near water connects them to divine wisdom. In art the Bee Nymphs or Thriae are shown as women with the lower bodies of bees.
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The Thriae Bee Nymphs support Sun God Apollo in his ventures. When Apollo fights the female monster Delphyne, the Nymphs shout to give the god strength. Delphyne is guardian of the Delphic Oracle on Mount Parnassus, placed there by mother goddess Gaia.
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Pytho is the original name of Delphi and the monster is Python. Ethylene gas, the breath or aura of the dragon, emerges from a natural geologic vent. A priestess sits on a coned stone over the vent and raves while other priestesses interpret her words in verse.
After killing the monster, Apollo takes possession of the oracle. It becomes the Delphic Oracle of Apollo. The Bee Nymphs have powers of divination and truth. They teach Apollo the arts of divination by casting lots. "Lots" may be dice, sticks, stones or animal bones.
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The nymphs help Apollo develop his adult powers. In various tales the Bees teach him divination by casting lots or cleromancy, or as Naiads they teach him wisdom through mantic pebbles, ie casting stones. Casting mantric pebbles is a type of cleromancy.
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In the Homeric Hymns, Apollo says,
There are certain holy ones, sisters born — three virgins gifted with wings: their heads are besprinkled with white meal, and they dwell under a ridge of Parnassus. These are teachers of divination apart from me, the art which I practiced while yet a boy following herds, though my father paid no heed to it.
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From their home they fly now here, now there, feeding on honey-comb and bringing all things to pass. And when they are inspired through eating yellow honey, they are willing to speak truth; but if they be deprived of the gods' sweet food, then they speak falsely, as they swarm in and out together.
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The Delphic shrine of Apollo is on Parnassus, about 20 km (12.4 mi) from the cave. Apollo interacts with the Bee Nymphs and learns their wisdom. With Apollo the nymph Corycia has a son, Lycorus. Melaina is th mother of Delphos, also Apollo's son.
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The town of Delphi is later named for him. Kleodora's son Parnassus is by the god Poseidon, and he becomes the namesake of Mount Parnassus. Poseidon's ancestral homeland is also Arcadia, where he's worshipped as a horse god and freshwater deity.
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The Corycian Cave features in the mythological battle of Zeus and Typhon. A mythical snake-man beast, Typhon is born of Earth and Tartarus (the infernal regions). He fights the Olympians, especially Zeus.
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Zeus injures Typhon. Typhon fights back, wounding Zeus. Typhon imprisons Zeus in the Corycian Cave, guarded by Delphyne. Finally Hermes, brother of Apollo, and Aegipan free Zeus, who rises to defeat Typhon. Zeus is also worshiped in the Corycian Cave.
Corycia of the three Bee Nymphs is first called Daphnis (Daphne) meaning laurel. The slopes of Parnassus are home to the bay laurel (Laurus nobilis), the only edible laurel of the family. Daphnis is a priestess of Gaia gifted with oracular vision.
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When Apollo pursues Daphnis she cries for help from Gaia, who turns her into a laurel tree. The laurel is considered to be a sacred herb of oracles, although Laurus nobilis has no known visionary compounds. The leaves secrete extra nectar, much beloved by bees.
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