| Greek Name |
Transliteration |
Latin Spelling |
Translation |
| Κυαμιτης |
Kyamitês |
Cyamites |
Bean-Man (kyamos) |
KYAMITES (or Cyamites) was a demi-god or hero of the Eleusinian mysteries who presided over the cultivation of beans (or more specifically of the broad bean, species Vicia faba). Kyamites sometimes occurs in Athenian vase-painting and sculptures amongst the Eleusinian companions of the goddess Demeter.
ENCYCLOPEDIA
CYAMI′TES (Kuamitês), the hero of beans, a mysterious being, who had a small sanctuary on the road from Athens to Eleusis. No particulars are known about him, but Pausanias (i. 37. § 3) says, that those who were initiated in the mysteries or had read the so-called Orphica would understand the nature of the hero.
Source: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.
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Pausanias, Description of Greece 1. 37. 4 (trans. Jones) (Greek travelogue C2nd A.D.) :
"On the road [to Eleusis near the River Kephissos (Cephissus) in Attika] stands a small temple called that of Kyamites (Cyamites). I cannot state for certain whether he was the first to sow beans, or whether they gave this name to a hero because they may not attribute to Demeter the discovery of beans. Whoever has been initiated at Eleusis or has read what are called the Orphica knows what I mean."
Sources:
- Pausanias, Description of Greece - Greek Travelogue C2nd A.D.
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