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'In [[Greek mythology]], the '''Dactyls''' (from [[Greek language|Greek]] Δάκτυλοι "[[finger]]s") were the archaic mythical race of small [[phallus|phallic]] male beings associated with the [[Mother Goddess|Great Mother]], whether as [[Cybele]] or [[Rhea (mythology)|Rhea]]. Their numbers vary, but often they were ten spirit-men so like the three [[Korybantes|Curetes]],<ref>"When Zeus was born, Rhea entrusted the guardianship of her son to the Dactyls of Ida, who are the same as those called Curetes."[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] 5.7.6</ref> the [[Cabiri]] or the [[Korybantes]] that they were often interchangeable.<ref>Kerenyi, ''The Gods of the Greeks'' 1951:83-85;</ref> The Dactyls were both ancient smiths and healing magicians. In some myths, they are in [[Hephaestus]]' employ, and they taught metalworking, mathematics, and the alphabet to humans. When Rhea, the mother of the gods, knew her time of delivery was come, she went to the sacred cave on [[Mount Ida]]. As she squatted in labor she dug her fingers into the earth ([[Gaia (mythology)|Gaia]]), which brought forth these ''daktyloi Idaioi'' (Δάκτυλοι Ἰδαῖοι "Idaean fingers"),<ref>"The many ''Daktyloi Idaioi'' of Crete. They were born in the Diktaion cave by the Nymph Ankhiale as she clutched the earth of Oaxos [in Krete] with both her hands." ''[[Argonautica]]'', i.1122</ref> thus often ten in number, or sometimes multiplied into a race of ten tens. Three is just as often given as their number. They are sometimes instead numbered as thirty-three. When Greeks offered a most solemn oath, often they would press their hands against the earth as they uttered it. ==Idaean Dactyls== {{redirect|Idaean Dactyls|the Ancient Greek poem|Idaean Dactyls (poem)}} The Dactyls of Mount Ida in [[Phrygia]] invented the art of working metals into usable shapes with fire;<ref>"Hesiod says that those who are called the Idaean Dactyls taught the smelting and tempering of iron in Crete," ([[Pliny's Natural History]]); the passage in [[Hesiod]] itself has not survived. </ref> [[Walter Burkert]] surmises that, as the societies of lesser gods mirrored actual cult associations, guilds of smiths corresponded to the ''daktyloi'' in real life.<ref>Burkert, ''Greek Religion'' 1985:173.</ref> They also discovered iron. Three Phrygian Dactyls, in the service of the Great Mother as ''Adraste'' (Ἀδράστη), are usually named '''[[Acmon (Dactyl)|Acmon]]''' (the [[anvil]]), '''Damnameneus''' (the [[hammer]]), and '''Celmis''' ([[casting]]). Of Celmis, [[Ovid]] (in ''[[Metamorphoses (poem)|Metamorphoses]]'' iv) made a story that when Rhea was offended at this childhood companion of [[Zeus]], she asked Zeus to turn him to diamond-hard [[adamant]], like a tempered blade. Zeus obliged. Later Greek attempts to justify and rationalize the relationships of Dactyls, Curetes and Corybantes were never fully successful. [[Strabo]] says of the mythographers: "And they suspect that both the Kouretes and the Korybantes were offspring of the ''Daktyloi Idaioi''; at any rate, the first hundred men born in Crete were called Idaian Daktyloi, they say, and these were born of nine Kouretes, for each of these begot ten children who were called Idaian Daktyloi." (Strabo, ''Geography'' 10.3.22) The [[Cabiri]] (''Kabeiroi'') whose sacred place was on the island of Samothrace, were understood by [[Diodorus Siculus]]<ref>Diodorus, 5.64.4.</ref> to have been Idaean dactyls who had come west from Phrygia and whose magical practices had made local converts to their secret cult. An Idaean dactyl named '''Herakles''' (perhaps the earliest embodiment of [[Heracles|the later hero]]) originated the [[Olympic Games]] by instigating a race among his four "finger" brothers. This Herakles was the "thumb"; his brothers were '''[[Aeonius]]''' (forefinger), '''[[Epimedes]]''' (middle finger), '''[[Jasius]]''' (ring finger/healing finger), and '''[[Idas]]''' (little finger). ==Rhodian Dactyls== On Rhodes, [[Telchines]] were the name given to similar [[chthonic]] men, nine in number, remembered by Greeks as dangerous [[Underworld]] smiths and magicians, and multiplied into an entire [[Autochthon (ancient Greece)|autochthonous]] race that had reared [[Poseidon]] but had been supplanted by [[Apollo]] in his [[Helios]] role. ==Cretan Dactyls== In Crete, three Dactyls bore names suggestive of healing: '''Paionios''' (later associated with [[Asclepius]]), '''Epimedes''', and '''Iasios'''. It was said that they had introduced the smithing of copper and iron. Of [[Iasion]] it was told ([[Hesiod]], ''Theogony'' 970) that he lay with [[Demeter]], a stand-in for Rhea, in a thrice-ploughed field and the Goddess brought forth [[Plutus|Ploutos]], "wealth", in the form of a bountiful harvest. Zeus struck down this impious archaic figure with a [[thunderbolt]]. This is all of the public version of this myth that survives. Doubtless, initiates must have known more. ==See also== *[[Ephesia Grammata]] *[[Goetia]] *[[Magic in the Greco-Roman world]] *[[Zeus]] ==Notes== {{reflist}} ==References== *[[Karl Kerenyi]]. ''The Gods of the Greeks'', 1951. ==External links== *[http://www.theoi.com/Georgikos/Kouretes.html Theoi Project - Kouretes] [[Category:Greek mythology]] [[Category:Greek legendary creatures]] [[Category:Cretan mythology]] [[Category:Cybele]] [[bg:Дактил (митология)]] [[br:Daktyloi]] [[ca:Dàctils]] [[cs:Daktylové]] [[de:Idäische Daktylen]] [[el:Ιδαίοι Δάκτυλοι]] [[es:Dáctilo (mitología)]] [[fr:Dactyles]] [[ko:다크틸로이]] [[it:Dattili]] [[hu:Daktüloszok]] [[ml:ഡാക്ടിലുകൾ]] [[pl:Daktylowie]] [[pt:Dáctilos]] [[ru:Дактили]] [[tr:Dactyller]] [[uk:Дактилі]] [[zh:达克堤利]]'