Mythology : The Great Mother

[Lokitama]

I opened up some books about Ancient Rome to get a proper history-check for one of my stories - story I'll re-write almost completely as the facts aren't true. One of them was The encyclopedia of Mythology, Collaboration of many historians under the direction of Arthur Cotterell. It's a book put together in the U.K.

So I checked up Ancient Rome's mythology, and stumbled on a really weird mythological fact : The Great Mother. Here's the extract roughly translated from French to English ( pardon the few errors here and there ):

MAGNA MATER ( The Great Mother ), a name given by the Romans to Cybele, Phrygian goddess of fertility, was a major divinity of Ancient Rome. Her cult was introduced in Rome around 204 b. J.-C. under an Oracle's advice. In a mythic story given to the Latin writer Arnobe ( IV° century b. J.-C. ), Cybele was born from a huge rock located in Phrygia.

One day, Zeus will try to sexually abuse Cybele and he'll spread his seed on the rock, from that Adgestis, son with a violent and unpredictable streak, was born. Bacchus will make Adgestis drink wine to drug him to sleep, and he'll grow vine branches on Adgestis' genitals. Once he came back to his senses, Adgestis will stumble on the branches and will rip off his own testicles. The blood spread on the ground will make a pomegranate tree grow up and one of his fruit will create a young girl. Attis, her child, will become dear to Cybele and Adgestis.

When the king of Phrygia will get Attis to marry one of his daughters, Adgestis, completely mad about this, will push the male at the ceremony to castrate themselves before doing so himself.

Elements linked to the self-mutilation and ecstatic trance was found back in the cultural practices of Magna Mater worshipers.

I was confused the whole time I read this. Still am.

... Go home Rome, you're drunk.

[Weronikus]

...Okay. Well, that was surely... Interesting. O.o
It is really confusing. I wouldn't be surprised if this myth WAS created by drunk men xD