Note 1061 — Chapter XIII · MANES AND THE MANICHAEANS

The whole of this story, which is the reverse of edifying, is studied by M. Cumont, with the fullest references to the authorities, in his Cosmogonie Manichéenne before quoted, to which it forms Appendix I, under the heading “La Séduction des Archontes.” To this I must refer the reader, only remarking that, while I fully agree that the goddess in question is probably derived from the Mother of the Gods who under the name (inter alia) of Atargatis was worshipped throughout Asia Minor, I do not see that she had any connection with the “Virgin of Light” of the Pistis Sophia. This Virgin of Light did, indeed, pass into Manichaeism, but she had there a very different name and attributes from the Mother of the Gods. See p. 323, n. 4 infra.