century BC terracotta figurine (pictured right) she is similarly attired and once carried a (wooden?) spear. Elsewhere in Greece, the cult of Bendis did not catch on. Just as in all other respects the Athenians continue to be hospitable to things foreign, so also in their worship of the gods; for they welcomed so many of the foreign rites that they were ridiculed for it by comic writers; and among these were the Thracian and Phrygian rites. (Strabo, Geography (1st century AD), 10.3.18) The "Phrygian rites" Strabo mentioned referred to the cult of Cybele that was also welcomed to Athens in the 5th century. Related deities The Athenians may have blended the cult of Bendis with the equally Dionysiac Thracian revels of Kotys, mentioned by Aeschylus and other ancient writers. Archaic female cult figures unearthed in Thrace (modern-day Bulgaria) have also been identified with Bendis. Bendida Peak on Trinity Peninsula in Antarctica is named after the goddess. References Sources "Bendis", William Smith (ed.) Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. 1. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1867. "Bendis (Thracian goddess)", The Editors. Encyclopedia Britannica, 20 Jul. 1998. Accessed 24 January 2022. Further reading Auffarth, Christoph (Tübingen). “Bendis”. In: Brill’s New Pauly. Antiquity volumes edited by: Hubert Cancik and Helmuth Schneider, English Edition by: Christine F. Salazar, Classical Tradition volumes edited by: Manfred Landfester, English Edition by: Francis G. Gentry. Consulted online on 02 July 2022 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e215260>. First published online: 2006; First print edition: 9789004122598, 20110510 Beschi, Luigi. "Bendis, the Great Goddess of the Thracians, in Athens". In: ORPHEUS - Journal of Indo-European and Thracian Studies. Институт за балканистика с Център по тракология - Българска академия на науките, 1990. pp. 29-36. Cerkezov, Valentin. "Iconography of the Thracian Goddess Bendis in the Tombstones with a "Funeral Feast" from Southern Thrace". In: Eirene: studia graeca et latina Nº 33, 1997, pp. 53-66. . https://www.degruyter.com/database/HBOL/entry/hb.10712435/html Janouchová, Petra. "The cult of Bendis in Athens and Thrace". In Graeco-Latina Brunensia. 2013, vol. 18, iss. 1, pp. 95-106. . Planeaux, Christopher. “The Date of Bendis’ Entry into Attica”. In: The Classical Journal 96, no. 2 (2000): 165–92. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3298122. External links "BENDIS - Thracian Goddess of the Moon & Hunting", Theoi Project, 2017. Accessed 24 January 2022. Culture in Classical Athens Lunar goddesses Dacian goddesses Greek goddesses Hunting goddesses Religion in ancient Athens Thracian goddesses Paleo-Balkan mythology