deep in the caves of the Earth was washed by underground Water springing from it while she rose high in a rocky peak which was hidden by the Air of heaven and lit by the Fire of lightning. As the Great Goddess, was the female "transfunctional" deity who was the patron of reproduction in both nature and human society, as well as a patron deity of vegetation. The Mother Goddess, whose cult was likely of Near Eastern origin and whom the Thracians identified with the Phrygian goddess Cybele. The Scaeii and the Cebrenii assimilated with the Greek goddess Hera and held her as their supreme deity; a cult of "Hera" unconnected to that of Zeus was attested in Thrace, and a temple was dedicated to "Apollo" of Zerynthus and "Hera" on the Reskythian Mountain near the mouth of the Hebrus river; "Hera" was associated with "Apollo" again on one of the rhyta of the Panagyurishte Treasure, where she was depicted seated on a throne (which was a royal prerogative), with Apollo and Artemis standing near her. was also known as Tereia (, ), and she was worshipped under this name in a mountain near Lampsacus. Under Roman rule, was identified with the Greek and Roman goddesses Artemis and Diana. In Thracian mythology, personified the initial state of the world, which was at rest. The goddess then self-fertilised herself and gave birth to a first son, , who represented the male principle. Through the sacred marriage of and , another son, Orpheus, was born. This son personified the energies of the creation and set them free: thus, from the union of and her first son, all the potent elements of the world were fertilised, ensuring the continuation of life in the world. In the myth of the Hero , once he had defeated the Chaos-dragon, he entered in hierogamy with , through which the goddess became the divine granter of royal power of the kings. This claim of divine descent from the Great Mother Goddess is why numerous Thracian kings' names such as , , , and contained the terms , , and , meaning "mother," referring to the mother role of . Similarly, the royal names such as , , and were connected to another name of the Great Goddess, Kottyto. The name of the Odrysian king Teres I was also derived from another name of the Great Goddess, this