The Eleusinian Mysteries was probably the most successful Mystery Cults in the ancient Mediterranean, spanning centuries of active practise. Initiates reguarly journeyed from places as far as Italy and Asia Minor to be inducted. It is also one of the most ‘successful’ Mystery Cults because what the initiate actually learned or was shown, is still a mystery today.
It is only from the evidence we have from writings and accounts of the surrounding rituals, that we can attempt to piece together how an initiate became inducted into a Mystery that promised a better life after death than the Fields of Asphodel.
The origins of the Mysteries is based on the goddesses Demeter and Persephone. Though there is debate on whether they were always mother and daughter or a representation of maiden and mother, the rituals focused on the journey and travails of Persephone’s abduction to the Underworld and Demeter’s search for her daughter as told in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter.
The Mysteries were split into two main festivals, the Lesser Mysteries and the Greater Mysteries.
The Lesser Mysteries were thought to have been created in order to allow the initiation of Hercules, Castor & Pollux because they were not native Athenians. However, by the time the Mysteries were well established, the Lesser Mysteries rituals were a requirement for all those to sought initiation.
The Lesser Mysteries took place during Anthesterion (end of February/early March), and probably consisted of intense purification rituals, which included ablutions from the river Illissos and the drinking of Kykeon (a barley and pennyroyal mixture drunk by Demeter). These were thought to purify the material body and the soul so that they were ready for the next stage of initiation. A liknon (winnowing fan) was waved over the heads of initiates to symbolise the ‘separation of the chaff from the wheat/pollution from the spirit.’
There were also dramatic reenactments of the abduction of Persephone, who was picking flowers in the springtime when she was kidnapped by Haides. She was returned to Demeter in the springtime, which brought fertility back to the earth. This fertile time of year served as a reminder of the goddesses’ links with the agricultural cycle, especially in the growing of grain. At this time in the year, the grain fields would be well on their way to being established properly after an Autumn sowing.
The Greater Mysteries occurred during Boedromion (mid-late September) which places it at the end of the agricultural year, after the wheat harvest in June and the re-sowing of seed.
The Greater Mysteries’ ritual was performed over a nine to ten day period, which was supposed to reflect Demeter’s nine days of wandering in search of her daughter.
The first day, the 15th of the month, was called the agyrmos (The Gathering or Assembly). Everyone who had completed the Lesser Mysteries was assembled at the sanctuary for further purification rites ‘by fire’. They were also reminded of the dire consequences for those who disclosed the nature of the Mysteries to the uninitiated.
The second day was known as Halade Mustai (to the sea intiands), which was the command for the initiates to go and bathe in the purifying waters of the sea, or the two consecrated lakes of saltwater known as Rheiti, which were located along the Sacred Way between Eleusis and Athens. Before bathing, transgressions were confessed to a pig, that was then sacrificed as a scapegoat to cleanse the initiates.
The third day was the Day of Mourning (Iereia devro), and was supposed to remind the initiates of Demeter’s grief at the loss of her daughter. Because of this, all pleasure was denied and the participants fasted until nightfall, when they broke the fast with seed cakes, corn, salt, pomegranates, and mixed wine. Sacrifices were made to bless the polis and offered as a holocaust (given solely to the gods, with none eaten by people). Pigs that had been purified the day before in the salt water were sacrificed on this day to complete the purification.
The fourth day was known as the Asclepia (in celebration of Asclepius’ arrival from Epidaurus to be initiated). It consisted of a great procession in which the holy baskets of Demeter were paraded. These baskets contained Kistai (secret things). What was contained in these baskets has never been disclosed and theories range from fertility symbols such as phalloi, to grain stalks, and/or reaping implements such as the sickle.
On the fifth day, the Day of Torches, initiates walked in pairs around the temple at night fall carrying torches. The waving of the torches was to represent the wanderings of Demeter in her search across the world.
On the sixth day, the Day of Iakkhos, a statue of Iakkhos (possibly a form of Dionysos) was taken in a procession spanning 14 miles from Athens to Eleusis. Dances and sacrifices occurred all along this route, and torches were lit at nightfall to ward away evil spirits. To indicate that an initiate had completed this distance, a saffron band was attached to their left ankle.
On the seventh day, the statue of Iakkhos was carried back to Athens and some initiates competed in games. After the games, comedic events occurred to recall Iambe’s attempts to cheer Demeter. At a main bridge along the Sacred Way, there were also the telling of rude jokes.
The eighth day, Epidaurion, was a repeat of the celebration of Asclepius’ initiation into the Mysteries. It was the last part of the purification rituals, which separated the soul from the material realm. Sacrifices were made to Demeter and Persephone in a a very strict manner, so that everything was perfect. The aporrheta (the unrepeatables) were completed on this day. The dromena (things done), which involved the reenactment of the myth. The deiknumena (things seen), where the priest showed the initiates the sacred kistai. And the legomena (things said), in which the sacred knowledge was disclosed.
The ninth day was known as the Day of Earthen Vessels, where a jug of wine was placed at the East and West directions of the sanctuary. After recitations of sacred formula for rain and fertility, the jars were broken and the wine spilled on the earth as a libation. The initiates were finally shown the sacred objects and a metamorphosis of the participant into an initiate occurred. An all night feast followed, along with dances and libations to the dead.
On the tenth day, people were free to return to their homes, but every third and fifth year the Eleusinian Games were held, which included music, athletics, and horse racing.
The final stage of initiation (epopeya) was only available after an individual had waited a year after the second stage. Here the priest and priestess celebrated the hierogamy (sacred marriage) of Zeus and Demeter. They descended into a recess of the temple and all the torches were extinguished. When they returned, the torches were re-lit, and the priest proclaimed that “the divine Brimo has given birth to the holy child Brimos. The strong has brought forth strength.” (Brimo is an epithet that translates to ‘angry’ or ‘terrifying’, a name that is applied to formidable goddesses like Demeter Erinyes, Persephone and the Furies.) He then cut an ear of wheat in a great silence, possibly to represent the symbols of life and death recurring within the life cycle, both human, animal, and plant.
“Growing, thriving, blossoming is brought to a halt with the cutting of the harvester’s sickle; and yet in the ear of corn cut down there lies the force for new life.” - Burkert, Greek Religion, page 288.
These final initiates could now take part in the festival unsupervised, and they were thought to have ascended to a new state of divine understanding.
The Hymn to Demeter tells us;
“Whoever on this earth has seen these is blessed. but he who has no part in the holy rites has another lot as he wastes away in dank darkness.”
Though we have no definite evidence of exactly what went on during these Mysteries, we can extrapolate that they were a response to the finality and unknowable nature of death.They reflect closely the descent of Persephone into the Underworld, and her eventual return, an ever occurring cycle that could possibly reflect the hope that the soul was eternal, even for mortals.
Religion in the Ancient Greek City - P. Cartledge (1994)
Mystery Inquisitors; Performance, Authority and Sacrilege at Eleusis - R. Gagne (2009)
Greek Religion - Walter Burkert (1985)
The Homeric Hymns Translated by Apostolos N. Athanassakis
