Κύβειρος

Notes

1. Same entry, according to Adler, in the Ambrosian Lexicon (1777), but the headword is not found elsewhere in Greek. It is not derived from the root kub- used for dice and dice-playing (kappa 2591, kappa 2592, kappa 2602) with an extension -eiros, for that would be unparalleled. A similar word in Hesychius kappa3180, ko/beiros defined as 'jester, teaser, reviler', is also unattested elsewhere. It is likely that both come from a pre-Greek tri-consonantal stem *KBR, perhaps that of the Kabeiroi, who figured in mystery cults on Lemnos↗ and Samothrace and at (Greek) Thebes↗; cf. kappa 6. The followers of these cults might well be described as "shameless"; see W. Burkert, Greek Religion (English trans. 1985, German 1977) 281-5. Burkert also cites a dedication to the god who "jests" by the way as pointing to a burlesque element in the Lemnian cult (S. Follet, Revue philologique 48 (1974) 32-34). This would explain the glosses given by Hesychius.