#Eleusinian Mysteries

[flaroh]

Classicstober day 7: Persephone 🌸

[mythologyofthepoetandthemuse]

The worship of cereals was also a crucial part of the Eleusinian Mysteries. The nutritious grain participated in the Eleusinian drama but the way it was presented still remains secret. Some claim that the sprout blossomed miraculously during the ceremony, or in the end of the Mysteries, a hope for humans this gift of Demeter. In many other myths from other traditions, this rebirth of nature is connected with the death of a sacred creature, of a god, a supernatural sacrifice that was esteemed necessary by the archaic consciousness. In Greece, the death of the youth Zagreus took that form, the child of Persephone and Zeus, that was later reborn as Dionysus, and the circle eternal leading to the violent death of Adonis, lover of Aphrodite, which is also identified with vegetation. The murder of Osiris in Egypt by his twin brother Set (another Cain) and the dramatic quest of his sister and wife Isis to find his scattered pieces resembles that of Demeter trying to refind Persephone in her grief and worry, in both stories the natural world withers and dries while the goddesses lament. When finally the search for the lost loved person becomes fruitful then nature returns to fruition too.

Illustration by Willy Pogany

[kebriones]

Pictures from the Eleusis archaeological site (by yours truly, taken today)

Below on the left is the well that was made on the spot where Demeter sat after several days of searching for Persephone, and where the locals found her. Right is a huge column. Pictures don't really do justice to the size of the broken pieces you see around. These were massive buildings.

This flower which is everywhere:

Omg chibi column i love you so much:

Assorted photos: (i was really struggling today to take pics because the sun was too bright, my phone was dying and there were a lot of people around.)

[gwydpolls]

Time Travel Question 10: Ancient History III

These Questions are the result of suggestions from the previous iteration. I'm combining some similar ones, so some are going to be a little vague. I'm going to also split into a whole lot of different polls because there were so many good and creative ideas. (Seriously, I love the people of Tumblr).

Please add new suggestions for this category below if you have them for future consideration.

You are welcome to suggest specific things from the Library of Alexandria. There will be polls for that.

[templeof-demeter]

Day of Mourning

In antiquity, there may have been a day of mourning during the rites. This was meant to commemorate Demeter’s grief in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter. On this day many of the earthly pleasures were forbidden (including fasting for the day, with a specific meal in the night that consisted of cakes, corn, pomegranates, and a mixed wine/milk/honey) Participates offered red mullet and barley to her on this day.

In modernity I think that we can take some time out of our day to not only think of Demeter and her grief as a mother losing her daughter, but to think of the many women in our own history and to this day who loved and lost their daughters to patriarchal society and loveless marriage. I have little suggestions for specific ways to perform this, as this is just to sit down and remember; perhaps reading the Homeric Hymn to Demeter; Rape of Persephone, or learning about your own countries history of women’s rights and patriarchy.

Demeter and her grief are essential to her and Persephone’s mythology. Her grief caused our seasons and eventually our agriculture and way of life, grief caused great change on Olympus and for humanity, her stubbornness a wonderful trait and necessary to get her daughter back- even if only for half the year. We can learn so much from her story and her character, and we may mourn with her as Persephone goes back to Hades.

[mydearlybeloathed]

thinking about persephone again

[i encourage everyone to read the homeric hymn to demeter its my favorite piece of literature and i think about it frequently.]

thinking about how she was simply a young girl picking flowers. something that should have been her sanctuary. she's a goddess of life. her mother is demeter. why should she be cautious in the arms of the earth that built her?

about how she was betrayed by her father, her grandmother, and her uncle all in one day.

"He seized her against her will, put her on his golden chariot, 20 And drove away as she wept. She cried with a piercing voice, calling upon her father [Zeus], the son of Kronos, the highest and the best. But not one of the immortal ones, or of human mortals, heard her voice. Not even the olive trees which bear their splendid harvest."

those lines always crush me.

"So long as the earth and the star-filled sky were still within the goddess’s [Persephone’s] view, as also the fish-swarming sea [pontos], with its strong currents, 35 as also the rays of the sun, she still had hope that she would yet see her dear mother and that special group, the immortal gods. For that long a time her great noos was soothed by hope, distressed as she was."

noos means mind, if im correct. she still has hope in the gods. even after this terrible act upon her. at this point her innocence is still intact as she longs for her mother.

"And the Lady Mother [Demeter] heard her. 40 And a sharp akhos seized her heart."

if im not mistaken, akhos translates to a terrible grief. quaking rn this isn't a love story this is a tragedy.

over and over demeter begs for respect from her fellow gods and goddesses, pleading for help in the search for her daughter. and no one dared to listen to her until the wrath and will of demeter could no longer be ignored.

the wrath of a mother cast the earth in wilting death, and olympus could no longer ignore her.

and even then, when they called upon her, she did not listen till they threw down their pride and obeyed her.

and when they finally heed her words, hades obeys, but not without a trick. he litters persephone with sweet words of how he is to be good to her... until she rushes to leave, and the sharade falls flat.

“So then, Mother, I shall tell you everything, ........ I sprang up for joy, but he, stealthily, put into my hand the berry of the pomegranate, that honey-sweet food, and he compelled me by biē to eat of it."

biē.

biē translates to force/violence. I CANNOT BE NORMAL ABOUT THIS STORY. PERSEPHONE DID NOT CHOOSE THIS LIFE.

even when demeter does everything in her power, even when she forces the hand of olympus, the love of a mother is not respected by the gods. the patriarchy of olympus is very evident.

.

don't get me wrong, i enjoy many modern interpretations of hades and persephone. but ive yet to see one done right. but i didn't write a whole ass essay on why modern interpretations miss the point of the original story for nothing. shaking the bars of my enclosure rn.

i cannot wait to learn greek and latin ill be unstoppable once i can read it without a translation. one day ill be in the room where this discussion can be had and i can get all this passion out of my head.

[theoxenia]

We cannot talk about the initiates at the Eleusinian Mysteries learning the authoritative meaning of the events in the way that communicants learn the true meaning of the Eucharist. There were no authoritative texts that explained the Mysteries, and there was no mechanism by which initiates could be effectively taught what they meant. Instead, as Clement suggests, each initiate would have to think about their own experience and develop their own understanding of what they had been through. Experiencing the events a second time as an epoptes would no doubt help with this contemplation. And the initiates, who would be familiar with the story of the rape of Persephone, would quite probably relate their experiences to that story. But there was not necessarily an agreed relationship between the events of the Mysteries and the elements of the myth. If this is right, then we should think of the Homeric Hymn to Demeter itself as an exegetical reflection on the experience of being initiated, rather than simply using it as a key to work out what happened at Eleusis. It is striking that the focus of the hymn is not on the fate of Persephone but on the experience of Demophoon and the mortal household of his family in Eleusis.

Mystery Cults in the Ancient World by Hugh Bowden

[olgadealexandria]

🏺THE MYSTERIES OF ISIS: SYNCRETISM IN ANCIENT ROME PT.2🏺

Left: Priestess of Isis,John Cheere (18th century), National Trust Collection. Right: Priestess of isis, Museo Archaeologico Regionale, Palermo, Sicily.

As we've seen in the previous post, foreign gods made their way into Roman culture. In the case of Egyptian gods, they were usually adopted by the Greeks before arriving to the Italic peninsula.

In this post, we're going to talk about the mysteries of Isis. Unlike typical religious practices, which were often public services, mystery rites promised their followers a closer connection to a particular god.

Isis wasn't the only nor the first god to have a mystery rite. In fact, it surged as a way to honour the foreign godess in a somewhat "familiar" way.

The Eleusinian (honouring Demeter and Persephone, also known as Kore) and the Orphic mysteries (Orpheus) had an earlier development in Greek culture and would become the most famous mystery rites.

Wall painting depicting Isiac rites.

The practices of the cult was, as the name suggests, a mystery. Participants had to swear a vow of secrecy, and, as a consequence of its private character, many things are unknown to us.

The rites heavily focused on death and belief on the afterlife, and also recreated the myths surrounding the godess Isis, like the murder of Osiris.

One of the only accounts of the mysteries of Isis is depicted in The Golden Ass. In Book 11, Lucius, the protagonist, is transformed back into a human guided by the Egyptian goddess. In return, Lucius becomes part of the cult.

As other pagan cults and worships, the mystery rites died out when Christianity rose to power.

[athenepromachos]

Rear views of Lady Demeter and Queen Persephone from the east pediment of the Parthenon. Both goddesses sit on boxes which may be linked to the Eleusinian mysteries 🏛

[kore-siciliana]

UPG: On the nature of the gods, ancestors, and maybe also mystery cults

What is a god but many of the blessed dead coming together in an afterlife.  Many joined together across space and time to form a consciousness. Together they can speak and act and live.  To me that is the mystery cult.  What is a blessed afterlife but joining with a god.  And when you pray and libate to a god you become part of them.  In life and death you then can join with many gods and in life they live close to you. 

They love to come together around you.  Each time you pray and give offerings you add to them as a god.  You give part of yourself and those blessed dead that are always around us can join to become part of that god to be near you. 

Giving to a god is also a way to give to the blessed dead or our ancestors.  There then is a way that ancestral gods mean something.  Our ancestors can remember what it means to be part of a god they themselves sacrificed to.  Though I should say, that doesn’t mean you cannot worship gods who are not ancestral to you.  You still help a god come together around you by giving to them. 

So libate! The gods live and they live around us. They can hear and feel us and they are always with us.

[divinationsanctuary19]

20th of August- Eleusinia | Attic Calendar

Δημητηρ (Demeter) was the Olympian goddess of agriculture, grain and bread who sustained mankind with the earth's rich bounty. She presided over the foremost of the Mystery Cults which promised its intiates the path to a blessed afterlife in the realm of Elysium. Demeter was depicted as a mature woman, often wearing a crown and bearing sheafs of wheat or a cornucopia (horn of plenty), and a torch.

Homeric Hymn 2 to Demeter 1 ff (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic C7th or 6th B.C.) :

"I begin to sing of rich-haired Demeter reverend goddess (semne thea)--of her and her trim-ankled daughter [Persephone] whom Aidoneus (Haides) rapt away . . . Right blessed is he among men on earth whom they freely love: soon they do send Ploutos (Plutus, Wealth) as guest to his great house, Ploutos (Wealth) who gives wealth to mortal men. And now, queen of the land of sweet Eleusis and sea-girt Paros and rocky Antron, queen (potnia), giver of good gifts (aglaodoros), bringer of seasons (horephoros), lady (anassa) Deo, be gracious, you and your daughter all beauteous Persephone, and for my song grant me heart-cheering substance."

On the festival:

Eleusinia, ancient Greek festival in honour of Demeter (the goddess of agriculture), unconnected with the Eleusinian Mysteries despite the similarity of names. The Eleusinia, which included games and contests, was held every two years, probably in the month of Metageitnion (August–September). Every second festival had a particularly elaborate observance and was known as the Great Eleusinia. Its purpose was thanksgiving and sacrifice to Demeter for the gift of grain.

Source

Source

[mythologyofthepoetandthemuse]

Faces/Gods/Heroes participating in the Eleusinian drama: Although we may not know exactly how the plot unfolded or what roles each hero or god played we find these present (our source is ancient art depicting facets of the Mysteries): Triptolemus, first priest of the Mysteries and son of the Eleusinian King Celeus, goddess Demeter, mother of Persephone (usually mentioned as Kore), Persephone, queen of the Underworld, Dionysus in his role as Pluto, Semele, mother of Dionysus. Elsewhere we find: Demeter accompanied by the child Pluto and her daughter Persephone, the hero Eubouleus, Triptolemus, Herakles, Dionysus, again Dionysus' mother Semele. Other persons: Aphrodite, goddess of the divine marriage to happen, Hermes and Athena, liitle child Iacchus, Zeus in his throne, close to him Hera.

Art: Demeter and Persephone by John D Batten

[kebriones]

FREAKING TRIPTOLEMUS and his chariot which my entire family agrees looks like a wheelchair, which. The design potential!!!!

Pics from my eleusis visit from yesterday.

[pastellguts]

Eleusinian fam bein silly

[templeof-demeter]

Purifying beach bath

Generally, it is believed that initiates participated in a ritualistic bathing in the sea at night. Of course, we cannot strip down and bathe in a nearby body of water- but we can create a peaceful and ritualistic bath at home.

Here are some ideas:

• Instead of placing herbs loose in the bath, causing clogging, you can use mesh bagging and tie it to your faucet or place in the water to allow it to brew

• If you can only shower, consider getting a shower bomb!

• Light candles and play music you associate with Demeter, I played this album during my bath

• Be sure to research whatever herbs you use for your bath/shower prior, looking for purifying and cleansing herbs

• Spend time at a local beach in the afternoon/evening

• In classic purification and cleansing practice, visualize your energy being cleaned throughout or completely changed

[numinous-theo]

Homeric Hymn to Demeter

Interpretations of Religious and Socio-Cultural Significance

The Homeric Hymn to Demeter (circa 7th–6th century BCE) is one of the most significant literary works in Ancient Greek religion, offering profound insights into the myth of Demeter and Persephone, the establishment of the Eleusinian Mysteries, and the theological themes of life, death, and renewal.

Attributed to the Homeric Hymns, the poem serves as both a sacred narrative and a theological foundation for the Eleusinian Mysteries, one of the most important mystery cults in Ancient Greece

The Abduction of Persephone

Zeus, without Demeter’s knowledge, permits Hades, the god of the underworld, to abduct Persephone. While gathering flowers in a meadow, Persephone is seized by Hades and taken to the underworld. Her screams go unanswered except by Hekate and Helios, who later reveal the truth to Demeter.

Interpretations of Marriage

This myth can be interpreted as a reflection of ancient Greek societal norms and traditions surrounding marriage, where the man would take his bride away from her family and bring her to his home/household, or oikos, where she'd then become a part of the man's family.

This was an important rite of passage for both the man (who was often much older, around 30) and the woman (who was often much younger, around teenage years).

This bond represented not only their love, but also their family, a crucial institution that contributed to the development and maintenance of the polis.

Demeter's Search (and Grief)

Devastated by her daughter’s disappearance, Demeter wanders the earth in search of Persephone.

Disguising herself as a mortal, she withdraws from her divine role as the goddess of agriculture, causing a famine that threatens the survival of humanity.

The hymn is a profound exploration of maternal grief through Demeter’s relentless search for Persephone. Her anguish disrupts the natural order, illustrating the deep connection between divine emotions and the functioning of the cosmos.

Interpretations of Seasonal Changes

The hymn portrays a cosmic cycle of death and rebirth, with Persephone’s descent and return symbolizing the seasons: the barren winter (her time in the underworld) and the fertile spring and summer (her time on earth with Demeter).

The grief of Demeter is thought to represent the season of winter as Persephone spends the half or quarter (depending on the version) of each year with Hades in the Underworld.

This mythological symbolism of seasonal changes is also quite common among religious traditions and mythologies in the ancient world.

Interpretations connected to Marriage

The grief of Demeter is also thought to represent the grief of a mother after her daughter's marriage. Persephone's abduction is thought to have represented the daughter's transition into the man's household (oikos) and becoming a part of his family.

Demeter at Eleusis

Demeter arrives at Eleusis and is taken in by the household of King Celeus and Queen Metaneira, becoming the nursemaid for their son, Demophon. Attempting to make the child immortal by placing him in the fire, she is interrupted by Metaneira, revealing her divine identity. Demeter then instructs the people of Eleusis to build her a temple.

Eleusis, as a setting, became a holy site, with the Telesterion (initiation hall) serving as the cult’s sacred center. The hymn’s connection to Eleusis reinforced its cultural and religious significance.

The Reunion of Demeter and Persephone

Zeus, pressured by the famine, sends Hermes or Hekate (depending on the version of the myth) to the underworld to negotiate Persephone’s return.

Hades agrees but tricks Persephone into eating pomegranate seeds, binding her to the underworld for part of the year.

Persephone is reunited with Demeter, but her dual residency establishes the seasonal cycle.

The hymn reflects Greek religious concerns about divine justice, cosmic order, and humanity’s role within it. Persephone’s seasonal cycle reassures the faithful of the gods’ ability to maintain cosmic balance, despite temporary disruptions.

Foundation of the Eleusinian Mysteries

The hymn concludes with Demeter teaching the rites of the Eleusinian Mysteries to the people of Eleusis, ensuring the preservation of her worship and promising initiates a blessed afterlife.

The Mysteries promised initiates a deeper understanding of the mysteries of existence, offering hope for a blessed afterlife. This esoteric knowledge distinguished initiates from the uninitiated, who were believed to lack access to such spiritual insight.

Central to the Mysteries was the belief in the immortality of the soul. Initiates were taught to view death not as an end but as a transformation, aligning with the mythological journey of Persephone between the realms of life and death.

Held in spring at Agrai near Athens, the Lesser Mysteries served as a preparatory stage for the Greater Mysteries. Participants underwent preliminary purification rituals and initiations, paving the way for full participation in the Greater Mysteries.

Celebrated annually in September or October, the Greater Mysteries lasted for nine days and culminated in the central rites at Eleusis. These included processions, sacrifices, and secret rituals held in the Telesterion, the sacred hall of initiation.