Bendis

A Thracian mother goddess. Bendis was often identified with the huntress goddess Artemis and the moon goddess Hecate. She was also the goddess of healing.

Bendis first appeared in Athens during the Peloponnesian War, where she was Hellenised. An annual feast, Bendidea, was held in her honour. The geographer Strabo said that the rites and customs of the Bendidea were like those found in Thracian and Phrygian types of revelry - Bacchus (Dionysus) and Rhea (actually Cybele). The philosopher Plato also mentioned this festival in the dialogue between Adeimantus and Polemarchus of the Republic about a horse-race at night, where each rider carried a torch.

Her attributes included a Thracian-style pointed hat and boots made of fox-skin, and holding up a torch in one hand.