Eleusis and the Mysteries

Today we visited Eleusis - the site of the Eleusinian Mysteries where, for over a thousand years, believers were initiated into the Mysteries. We don't know a whole lot about what went on here because the initiates were sworn to secrecy - and if they revealed what they knew they would be put to death. It's an interesting cult - they believed that by receiving initiation into the Mysteries, a person would be assured a better afterlife. The instructions given to them would allow them to navigate the perils of the underworld and arrive at the Elysian fields (or something similar) and enjoy the rest of eternity. You all probably know this, but the Mysteries recognized Demetter and her daughter Persephone - the story of Persephone's abduction, Demetter's sorrow, and Persephone's eventual return to the upper world (although she has to spend a portion of every year with Hades in the underworld).

So, all we have to go on is the archaeology and the artistic representations found on votive and funerary monuments. Take a look:


This is the Telesterion, (well, what's left of it) where the initiation took place. Participants stood or sat on the bleachers while inside a covered building supported by 42 columns. You can see the column bases to the right. Judging from the size of the facilities, thousands of people could
be initiated at once.




Hand and arm gestures seem to have played a key role in the ceremonies. On this votive relief, two suppliants make a similar gesture with their left arms.





On this relief, Hades (on the far right), holds a bottle in his right arm, raised to the square, and his left arm holds a philae, a dish used for libations (why he'd make a libation to himself is anyone's guess, but it's a fairly common occurrence in Classical sculpture). Nest to him is his wife Persephone, and the suppliants (short figures) are at the left. Again, I think Hades' arm positions are interesting, as well as those of the suppliants. Suppliants are almost always shown with a hand over their chest and the other hand cupped to carry an offering to the god.






Here are Demetter (left) and Persephone (right). Persephone holds torches - important implements in the mysteries, while Demetter holds some sort of staff in her left hand and (arrows? grain?) who knows what in her right. These give some cryptic clues to what went on in these initiation ceremonies.









Here's my favorite relief - it's atop a stele with an inscribed decree for the building of a bridge along the sacred way. It shows (assumedly) scenes from the mysteries, including a woman on the left with the same left-arm-to-the-square position we saw before, a woman holding a couple of torches, and then, to the right, two figures (I think the third might be male) shaking hands - the one figure putting his/her hand on the other's shoulder, while the far-right figure makes the same left-arm-to-the-square sign.

So, there you have it. Some pictures and clues and not much else. Oh - I have a theory that the name of "Persephone" was a symbolic word of power. Names were tokens of power in the ancient world; knowing a god's name allowed a person to access that god's power and to call upon him/her in a way that it would get the message. A lot of the ancient sources avoid writing the name "Persephone" preferring, instead, Core - which means "girl" or "maiden." Is this because Persephone was associated with the underworld, and saying the name might bring bad luck? Perhaps. Similar taboos were associated with P.'s husband, Hades. But, on the other hand, P. is a sympathetic figure in the Mysteries, and it seems strange (to me) to have this widespread avoidance of saying/writing her name.

Good stuff.

I'm off to southern Greece / the Peloponnesus for the next ten days or so. I'll post a bunch when I return.