On one occasion Zeus begot by the Earth a being which was at once man and woman, and was called Agdistis.

Dionysus put a sleeping potion in multi-gendered Agdistis’s drinking well and tied his foot to the male genitalia with a strong rope. When Agdistis awoke and tried to get free, Agdistis ripped the penis off. The blood from the severed penis fertilized the earth, and from that spot grew an almond tree.

When the nymph Nana was gathering the fruit of the almond tree, she put some almonds into her bosom, but they disappeared, and she became pregnant with Attis.

Attis was of such extraordinary beauty that Agdistis fell in love with him. His relatives, however, destined him to become the husband of the daughter of the king of Pessinus, and he went accordingly.

As the marriage song began, Agdistis appeared. All of the wedding guests were instantly driven mad, and both Attis and the king of Pessinus castrated themselves. The bride cut off her breasts.

Regretful, Agdistis obtained from Zeus the promise that the body of Attis should not decompose or disappear.