Eleusinian Mystery Tradition

Among the most influential and well-known

Greek mysteries were those of the Grain
mother and her daughter at Eleusis (21 km
northwest of Athens). They were also perhaps
the oldest dating !a"k !eyond the se#enth
"entury $.%.E. when the so-"alled &omeri"
&ymn to 'emeter was written in part to
a""ount for the origins of these rites at Eleusis.
The hymn relates the story of a young
(maiden( ()ore also known as *ersephone or
*roserpine) who is #iolently snat"hed away
and raped !y &ades god of the underworld
with the appro#al of his !rother +eus, -the
earth split open wide along the plain and from
it the lord host of many )ronos. son of many
names darted out on his immortal horses. &e
gra!!ed her resisting and s"reaming and took
her away in his golden "hariot/. The e"hoing
s"reams rea"h the maiden.s mother 'emeter
who in grief !egins the sear"h for her
daughter, -in anger at +eus shrouded in
"louds she deserted the gatherings of the gods
and went far from 0lympus to the "ities and
farms of men and for a long time disguised her
appearan"e/.
1t is this desperate sear"h that ultimately
!rings 'emeter in disguise to the town of
Eleusis among the mortals. There she
#olunteers to "are for )ing )eleos. son
('emophon). Metaneira the king.s wife offers
'emeter wine !ut she re2uests instead a drink
whi"h "ontinued as an important part of the
mysteries, the kykeon made from !arley
groats water and pennyroyal. As nurse
'emeter se"retly feeds the !oy the food of the
gods and pla"es him in a flame that will gi#e
him the status of a god apparently attempting
to fill some of the #oid left !y the a!sen"e of
her goddess daughter. 3hen 'emeter is
dis"o#ered !y the !oy.s mother Metaneira
(whi"h foils the plans to make 'emophon
immortal) the goddess re#eals herself in a
grand epiphany and demands that a temple
and an altar !e !uilt in her honour. -1 myself
will esta!lish rites so that hen"eforth you may
"ele!rate them purely and propitiate my
mind/.
'emeter.s ina!ility to find her daughter leads
her not only to a!andon her pla"e among the
0lympian gods !ut also to "ause ha#o" on
earth !y withdrawing her seed (she herself
represents the mature grain) from the earth.
The famine "auses further "haos !oth on earth
as humans !egin to waste away and in the
realm of the gods. The sym!ioti" relation
!etween humans and the gods is threatened
!y the destru"tion of humankind sin"e the
gods depend on humans. -glorious honour of
offerings and sa"rifi"es/. +eus king of the
gods must find a solution. At first he sends
se#eral messengers to "on#in"e 'emeter
!earer of fruit to lift the famine. 4et 'emeter
refuses anything !ut the return of her
daughter *ersephone (5 )ore). 6inally +eus
must find a "ompromise and so *ersephone is
returned to her mother. $ut &ades had se"retly
planted in *ersephone.s food a pomegranate
seed whi"h ensured her "onne"tion to the
underworld. The result is that *ersephone will
li#e with her mother for two-thirds of the year
when the fields were fruitful and in the -misty
darkness/ of the underworld for the third part
of the year when seeds did not grow.
'espite the fa"t that *ersephone will spend
part of the year with her new hus!and !eneath
the earth 'emeter and *ersephone were
o#er7oyed at their reunion, -with minds in
"on"ord they spent the whole day warming
their hearts and minds showering mu"h lo#e
on ea"h other and her mind found respite from
its griefs and they ga#e and re"ei#ed 7oys from
ea"h other/. The hymn finishes with the return
of agri"ultural fertility and 'emeter.s more
detailed introdu"tion of the -holy things/ and
-sa"red rites/ that were to !e performed in her
temple at Eleusis. These were mysteries
-whi"h it is for!idden to transgress to in2uire
into or to speak a!out for great re#eren"e of
the gods "onstrains their #oi"e. $lessed of
earth!ound men is he who has seen these
things !ut he who dies without fulfilling the
holy things and he who is without a share in
them has no "laim e#er on su"h !lessings
e#en when departed down to the moldy
darkness/. Those who were initiated in the
mysteries "ould "ount on spe"ial !lessings
gifts or !enefa"tions from the goddesses.
'espite this se"re"y surrounding 'emeter.s
rites at Eleusis we do know something a!out
the pu!li" dimensions of the festi#ities from
literature and ar"heology. 1nitiation was open
to all Greek-speaking men women and
"hildren who had not tainted their hands with
the !lood of another (murder). There were two
main festi#als asso"iated with the mysteries at
Eleusis, 1) the (lesser mysteries( in the month
of Anthesterion (6e!ruary) whi"h took pla"e in
Athens itself and were in some sense
preparatory for full initiation and 2) the
(greater mysteries( whi"h were "ele!rated in
the month of $oedromion (late 8eptem!er-
early 0"to!er) and were the more important of
the two. A final stage of initiation whi"h only
some a"hie#ed was the (#iewing( (epopteia)
whi"h took pla"e a year (or more) after the
main initiation of the greater mysteries (we
know little a!out the details)9 the mysteries at
8amothra"e also had a se"ondary (#iewing(
stage of initiation.
The greater mysteries at Eleusis lasted for nine
days. 1n preparation the youths (ephe!es)
!rought the sa"red o!7e"ts (under the dire"tion
of the &ierophant the re#ealer of the sa"red
o!7e"ts) from the inner-san"tum (Anaktoron) at
Eleusis !a"k to Athens (1:th of $oedromion).
Then the festi#al offi"ially !egan with a
pro"lamation !y the sa"red-announ"er
(&ierokery;) on the 1<th of the month. Those
who wished to !e initiated then !egan se#eral
days of preparation whi"h "entered on
purifi"ation in the sea and sa"rifi"ing piglets
(1=th). 0n the 1>th the important 1a""hos
pro"ession or parade from Athens to Eleusis
took pla"e. This in#ol#ed the initiates-to-!e
along with all the main fun"tionaries in the "ult
of Eleusis in"luding the hierophant the
priestess of 'emeter the male tor"h-!earer
the female tor"h-!earer assistants the
mystogogues (sponsors of ea"h potential
initiate) and others. 1t seems that 1a""hos was
a god that personified the 7oyous shout whi"h
the initiates-to-!e repeated as they pro"essed
towards Eleusis. Aristophanes. play The 6rogs
pro#ides a sense of the atmosphere and
a"ti#ities that took pla"e as part of this
pro"ession. The "hara"ters in the play speak of
the -"ra"kle and smell of tor"hes/ and the
dan"ing and singing that went on as the
parade made its way to Eleusis with the ritual
"ry, -1a""hos 1a""hos 1a""hos 0 1a""hos?/
@pon !reaking their preparatory fast it seems
that initiates would drink the kykeon whi"h
'emeter drank in the hymn in preparation for
the final "eremony.
The "ulmination of the festi#al was the
initiation proper whi"h took pla"e at night
within the "entral initiation-hall. E;"a#ations of
the Telesterion whi"h was 2uite large (ABm ;
2Cm in late si;th "entury $%E) re#eal
something of what went on there. %olumns
supported the raised stru"ture whi"h was
e2uipped with seating on the sides of the hall
where initiates-to-!e sat. 3ithin the hall was a
smaller re"tangular room the Anaktoron
whi"h would ha#e housed the sa"red o!7e"ts.
0nly the hierophant ("hosen from the Eumolpid
family) "ould enter into this room at a
parti"ular point in the initiation "eremony. &e
would then re#eal these o!7e"ts at the
"ulmination of the "eremony. Although we la"k
dire"t e#iden"e it seems likely that the story of
'emeter and )ore played some role in the
se"ret "eremonies. *arti"ipants likely
parti"ipated in a re-ena"tment of the myth and
identified with these di#ine figures espe"ially
with the grief of 'emeter in her sear"h and
with the 7oyous reunion of the two. 3e know
almost nothing a!out the rest of the
"eremonies sin"e an"ient authors who were
initiates were "areful not to let the se"ret out
and there were enfor"ed laws for re#ealing the
final se"rets of the mysteries.
Dater %hristian authors who were less
"on"erned with keeping the se"ret and were
also "riti"s of the pra"ti"es hint at some of the
key sym!ols and a"ti#ities that they felt were
in#ol#ed. &owe#er it is important to re"ogniEe
that the "hur"h fathers are in"lined not only to
"riti"iEe the mysteries !ut also to !lend
together (and distort) pra"ti"es asso"iated with
different mysteries. Fonetheless it is worth
mentioning that %lement of Ale;andria for
instan"e preser#es what he "laims is a formula
pronoun"ed !y the initiate-to-!e, -1 ha#e
fasted9 1 ha#e drunk the kykeon9 1 ha#e taken
from the "hest (kiste)9 ha#ing done the work9 1
ha#e pla"ed in the !asket (kalathos) and from
the !asket into the "hest/ (Meyer 1>=C,1=).
This seems to allude to the initiate.s handling
and #iewing of sa"red o!7e"ts. 0thers su"h as
&ippolytus draw attention to the agri"ultural
meaning of the a"ti#ities mentioning that the
"ry of -Gain? %on"ei#e?/ was "entral.
&ippolytus also suggests that the most sa"red
o!7e"t was in fa"t a single head of grain !ut
this again simply points to the well-known fa"t
that 'emeterHs mysteries were linked with the
agri"ultural "y"le and fertility. As in the
mysteries generally it was the atmosphere and
!roader "onte;t in whi"h the holy o!7e"ts were
#iewed--more so than the o!7e"ts themsel#es--
whi"h made this a highly signifi"ant e;perien"e
for the initiate.
3hen initiation into the Eleusinian mysteries
was "omplete the indi#idual initiates returned
to their homes throughout the Greek or Goman
worlds. Although not all initiates in the
Eleusinian mysteries 7oined with others to form
asso"iations there are indeed "lear "ases
where de#otees of 'emeter and )ore who also
engaged in their own lo"al mysteries (apart
from Eleusis) did form su"h groups.