The Eleusinian mysteries & rites.

THE ELEUSINIAN
MYSTERIES & RITES

DUDLEY WRIGHT

THE ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES
AND RITES

THE ELEUSINIAN
MYSTERIES ^ RITES

BY

DUDLEY WRIGHT

INTRODUCTION BY THE
REV. J. FORT NEWTON, D.Litt., D.D.

Past Grand Chaplain of the Grand Lodge of lowa^ U.S.tA.

THE THEOSOPHICAL PUBLISHING HOUSE

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PREFACE

AT one time the Mysteries of the various nations
were the only vehicle of religion throughout
the world, and it is not impossible that the very
name of religion might have become obsolete but
for the support of the periodical celebrations which
preserved all the forms and ceremonials, rites and
practices of sacred worship.

With regard to the connection, supposed or real,
between Freemasonry and the Mysteries, it is a
remarkable coincidence that there is scarcely a single
ceremony in the former that has not its corresponding
rite in one or other of the Ancient Mysteries. The
question as to which is the original is an important
one to the student. The Masonic antiquarian
maintains that Freemasonry is not a scion snatched
with a violent hand from the Mysteries— whether
Pythagorean, Hermetic, Samothracian, Eleusinian,
Drusian, Druidical, or the Uke—but is the original
institution, from which all the Mysteries were derived.

8 ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES AND RITES

In the opinion of the renowned Dr. George Ohver :
*' There is ample testimony to estabhsh the fact that
the Mysteries of all nations were originally the same,
and diversified only by the accidental circumstances
of local situation and pohtical economy." The
original foundation of the Mysteries has, however,
never been established. Herodotus ascribed the
institution of the Eleusinian Mysteries to Egyptian
influences, while Pococke declares them to have been
of Tartar origin, and to have combined Brahminical
and Buddhistic ideas. Others are equally of opinion
that their origin must be sought for in Persia, while
at least one writer — and who, in these days, will
declare the theory to be fanciful? — ventures the
opinion that it is not improbable that they were
practised among the Atlanteans.

The Eleusinian Mysteries — those rites of ancient
Greece, and later of Rome, of which there is historical
evidence dating back to the seventh century before
the Christian era— -bear a very striking resemblance
in many points to the rituals of both Operative and
Speculative Freemasonry. As to their origin, beyond
the legendary account put forth, there is no trace.
In the opinion of some writers of repute an Egyptian

PREFACE 9

source is attributed to them, but of this there is no
positive evidence. There is a legend that St. John
the EvangeUst — a character honoured and revered
by Freemasons — was an initiate of these Mysteries.
Certainly, more than one of the early Fathers of the
Christian Church boasted of his initiation into these
Rites. The fact that this is the first time that an
attempt has been made to give a detailed exposition
of the ceremonial and its meaning in the EngHsh
language will, it is hoped, render the articles of
interest and utility to students of Masonic lore.

As to the influence of the Mysteries upon Christi-
anity, it will be seen that in more than one instance
the Christian ritual bears a very close resemblance
to the solemn rites of the Latin and Greek Mysteries.

The Bibliography at the end does not claim to be
exhaustive, but it will be found to contain the principal
sources of our knowledge of the Eleusinian Mysteries.

DUDLEY WRIGHT.
Oxford.

CONTENTS

PAGE
PREFACE . . . . . . .7

INTRODUCTION . . . . . • '3

I. THE ELEUSINIAN LEGEND . . . -I?

II. THE RITUAL OF THE MYSTERIES . . '27

III. PROGRAMME OF THE GREATER MYSTERIES . 48

IV. THE INITIATORY RITES . . . .64

V. THEIR MYSTICAL SIGNIFICANCE . . -94

BIBLIOGRAPHY ..... IO9

INTRODUCTION

BY

The Rev. J. FORT NEWTON, D.Litt., D.D.,

Past Grand Chaplain of the Grand Lodge of Iowa.

FEW aspects of the history of the human spirit
are more fascinating than the story of the
Mysteries of antiquity, one chapter of which is told in
the following pages with accuracy, insight, and charm.
Like all human institutions, they had their foundation
in a real need, to which they ministered by dramatizing
the faiths and hopes and longings of humanity, and
evoking that eternal mysticism which is at once the
joy and solace of man as he marches or creeps or
crowds through the welter of doubts, dangers, disease,
and death, which we call our life.

Once the sway of the Mysteries was well-nigh
universal, but towards the end of their power they
fell into the mire and became corrupt, as all things
human are apt to do, the Church itself being no
exception. Yet at their best and highest they were

13

14 ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES AND RITES

not only lofty and noble, but elevating and refining,
and that they served a high purpose is equally clear,
else they had not won the eulogiums of the most
enlightened men of antiquity. From Pythagoras to
Plutarch the teachers of old bear witness to the service
of the Mysteries, and Cicero testified that what a man
learned in the house of the Hidden Place made him
want to live nobly, and gave him happy thoughts for
the hour of death.

The Mysteries, said Plato, were established by men
of great genius, who, in the early ages, strove to teach
purity, to ameliorate the cruelty of the race, to exalt
its morals and refine its manners, and to restrain
society by stronger bonds than those which human
laws impose. Such being their purpose, he who gives
a thought to the life of man at large will enter their
vanished sanctuaries with sympathy ; and if no
mystery any longer attaches to what they taught —
least of all to their ancient allegory of immortality
— there is the abiding interest in the rites, drama,
and symbols employed in the teaching of wise and
good and beautiful truth.

What influence the Mysteries had on the new,
uprising Christianity is hard to know, and the issue
is still in debate. That they did influence the early
Church is evident from the writings of the Fathers —
more than one of whom boasted of initiation — and
some go so far as to say that the Mysteries died at
last, only to live again in the ritual of the Chjurch.

INTRODUCTION 15

St. Paul in his missionary journeys came in contact
with the Mysteries, and even makes use of some
of their technical terms in his Epistles, the better
to show that what they sought to teach by drama
can be known only by spiritual experience. No
doubt his insight is sound, but surely drama may
assist to that realization, else public worship might
also come under ban.

Of the Eleusinian Mysteries in particular, we have
long needed such a study as is here offered, in which
the author not only sums up in an attractive manner
what is known, but adds to our knowledge some
important details. An Egyptian source has been
attributed to the Mysteries of Greece, but there is
little evidence of it, save as we ma}^ conjecture
it to have been so, remembering the influence of
Egypt upon Greece. Such influences are difficult
to trace, and it is safer to say that the idea and use
of Initiation — as old as the Men's House of primitive
society— was universal, and took different forms in
different lands.

Such a study has more than an antiquarian interest,
not only to students in general, but especially to the
men of the gentle Craft of Freemasonry. If we
may not say that Freemasonry is historically
descended from the instituted Mysteries of antiquity,
it does perpetuate, to some extent, their ministry
among us. At least, the resemblance between those
ancient rites and tjae ceremonials of both Operative

16 ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES AND RITES

and Speculative Freemasonry are very striking ;
and the present study must be reckoned as not the
least of the services of its author to that gracious
Craft.

The City Temple, London, E.C.

The Eleusinian Mysteries
and Rites

THE ELEUSINIAN LEGEND

THE legend which formed the basis of the
Mysteries of Eleusis, presence at and par-
ticipation in which demanded an elaborate form
or ceremony of initiation, was as follows : —

Persephone (sometimes described as Proserpine
and as Cora or Kore), when gathering flowers, was
abducted by Pluto, the god of Hades, and carried
off by him to his gloomy abode ; Zeus, the brother
of Pluto and the father of Persephone, giving his
consent. Demeter (or Ceres), her mother, arrived
too late to assist her child, or even catch a ghmpse
of her seducer, and neither god nor man was able,
or willing, to enlighten her as to the whereabouts
of Persephone or who had carried her away. For
nine nights and days she wandered, torch in hand,
in quest of her child. Eventually, however, she
heard from Helios (the sun) the name of the seducer

2 17

18 ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES AND RITES

and his accomplice. Incensed at Zeus, she left
Olympos and the gods, and came down to scour the
earth disguised as an old woman.

In the course of her wanderings she arrived at
Eleusis, where she was honourably entertained by
Keleos, the ruler of the country, with whom, and
his wife Metanira, she consented to remain in order
to watch over the education of Demophon, who had
just been born to the aged king and whom she
undertook to make immortal.

Long was thy anxious search
For lovely Proserpine, nor didst thou break
Thy mournful fast, till the far-fam'd Eleusis
Received thee wandering.

Orphic Hymn,

The city of Eleusis is said to derive its name from
the hero Eleusis, a fabulous personage deemed by
some to have been the offspring of Mercury and
Daira, daughter of Oceanus, while by others he was
claimed as the son of Oxyges.

Unknown to the parents Demeter used to anoint
Demophon by day with ambrosia, and hide him by
night in the fire like a firebrand. Detected one night
by Metanira, she was compelled to reveal herself as
Demeter, the goddess. Whereupon she directed
the Eleusinians to erect a temple as a peace-offering,
and, this being done, she promised to initiate them
into the form of worship which would obtain for

THE ELEUSINIAN LEGEND 19

them her goodwill and favour. " It is I, Demeter,
full of glory, who lightens and gladdens the hearts of
gods and men. Hasten ye, my people, to raise,
hard by the citadel, below the ramparts, a fane,
and on the eminence of the hill, an altar, above the
wall of CaUichorum. I will instruct you in the rites
which shall be observed and which are pleasing
to me."

The temple was erected, but Demeter was still
vowing vengeance against gods and men, and because
of the continued loss of her daughter she rendered
the earth sterile during a whole year.

What ails her that she comes not home ?

Demeter seeks her far and wide ;
And gloomy-browed doth ceaseless roam

From many a morn till eventide.
" My life, immortal though it be,
Is naught ! " she cries, " for want of thee,

Persephone — Persephone ! "

The oxen drew the plough, but in vain was the
seed sown in the prepared ground. Mankind was
threatened with utter annihilation, and all the gods
were deprived of sacrifices and offerings. Zeus
endeavoured to appease the anger of the gods, but
in vain. Finally he summoned Hermes to go to
Pluto and order him to restore Persephone to her
mother. Pluto yielded, but before Persephone left
she took from the hand of Pluto four pomegranate
pips w^ich he offered her as sustenance on her journey.

20 ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES AND RITES

Persephone, returning from the land of shadows,
found her mother in the temple at Eleusis which had
recently been erected. Her first question was
whether her daughter had eaten anything in the land
of her imprisonment, because her unconditional
return to earth and Olympos depended upon that.
Persephone informed her mother that all she had
eaten was the pomegranate pips, in consequence of
which Pluto demanded that Persephone should
sojourn with him for four months during each year,
or one month for each pip taken. Demeter had no
option but to consent to this arrangement, which
meant that she would enjoy the company of Per-
sephone for eight months in every year, and that
the remaining four would be spent by Persephone
with Pluto. Demeter caused to awaken anew '' the
fruits of the fertile plains," and the whole earth
was re-clothed with leaves and flowers. Demeter
called together the princes of Eleusis — Triptolemus,
Diodes, Eumolpus, Polyxenos, and Keleos — and
initiated them " into the sacred rites — most venerable
— into which no one is allowed to make enquiries
or to divulge ; a solemn warning from the gods seals
our mouths."

Although secrecy on the subject of the nature of
the stately Mysteries is strictly enjoined, the writer
of the Homeric Hymn to Demeter makes no secret
of the happiness which belonged to all who became
initiates : " Happy is he who has been received

THE ELEUSINIAN LEGEND 21

unfortunate he who has never received the initiation
nor taken part in the sacred ordinances, and who
cannot, alas ! be destined to the same lot reserved
for the faithful in the darkling abode."

The earhest mention of the Temple of Demeter at
Eleusis occurs in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter,
which has already been mentioned. This was not
written by Homer, but by some poet versed in
Homeric lore, and its probable date is about
600 B.C. It was discovered a little over a hundred
years ago in an old monastery library at Moscow,
and now reposes in a museum at Leyden.

In this Homeric Hymn to Demeter, Persephone
gives her own version of the incident as follows :
" We were all playing in the lovely meadows —
Leucippe, and Phaino, and Electra, and lanthe,
and Mehte, and lache and Rhodeia, and Callinhoe,
and Melobosis, and laneira, and Acast^, and Admete,
and Rhodope, and Plouto, and winsome Calypso, and
Styx, and Urania, and beautiful Galaxam^. We
were playing there and plucking beautiful blossoms
with our hands ; crocuses mingled, and iris, and
hyacinth, and roses, and lilies, a marvel to behold,
and narcissus, that the wide earth bare, a wile for
my undoing. Gladly was I gathering them when
the earth gaped beneath, and therefrom leaped the
mighty prince, the host of many guests, and he bare
me against my will, despite my grief, beneath the
earth, in his golden chariot ; and shrilly did I cry."

22 ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES AND RITES

The version of the legend given by Minucius Fehx
is as follows : ** Proserpine, the daughter of Ceres
by Jupiter, as she was gathering tender flowers in
the new spring, was ravished from her dehghtful
abode b}^ Pluto ; and, being carried from thence
through thick woods and over a length of sea, was
brought by Pluto into a cavern, the residence of
departed spirits, over whom she afterwards ruled
with absolute sway. But Ceres, upon discovering
the loss of her daughter, with lighted torches and
begirt with a serpent, wandered over the whole earth
for the purpose of finding her, till she came to Eleusis ;
there she found her daughter, and discovered to
the Eleusinians the plantation of corn.''

According to another version of the legend, Neptune
met Ceres when she was in quest of her daughter,
and fell in love with her. The goddess, in order to
escape from his attentions, concealed herself under
the form of a mare, when the god of the sea trans-
formed himself into a horse to seduce her, with which
act she was so highly offended that after having
washed herself in a river and reassumed human
form, she took refuge in a cave, where she lay concealed.
When famine and pestilence began to ravage the earth,
the gods made search for her everywhere, but could
not find her until Pan discovered her and apprised
Jupiter of her whereabouts. This cave was in Sicil}^
in which country Ceres was known as the black
Ceres, or the Erinnys, because the outrages offered

THE ELEUSINIAN LEGEND 23

her by Neptune turned her frantic and furious.
Demeter was depicted in Sicily as clad in black,
with a horse's head, holding a pigeon in one hand
and a dolphin in the other.

On the submission of Eleusis to Athens, the
Mysteries became an integral part of the Athenian
religion, so that the Eleusinian Mysteries became a
Panhellenic institution, and later, under the Romans,
a universal worship, but the secret rites of initiation
were well kept throughout their history.

Eleusis was one of the twelve originally independent
cities of Attica, which Theseus is said to have united
into a simple state. Leusina now occupies the site,
and has thus preserved the name of the ancient
city.

Theseus is portrayed by Virgil as suffering eternal
punishment in Hades, but Proclus writes concerning
him as follows : " Theseus, and Pirithous are fabled
to have ravished Helen, and to have descended to
the infernal regions — i.e. they were lovers of in-
telhgible and visible beauty. Afterwards Theseus
was liberated by Pericles from Hades, but Pirithous
remained there because he could not sustain the
arduous attitude of divine contemplation."

Dr. Warburton, in his Divine Legation of Moses,
gives it as his opinion that Theseus was a hving
character who once forced his way into the Eleusinian
Mysteries, for which crime he was imprisoned on
earth and afterwards damned in the infernal regions.

24 ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES AND RITES

The Eleusinian Mysteries seem to have constituted
the most vital portion of the Attic religion, and
always to have retained something of awe and solem-
nity. They were not known outside Attica until
the time of the Median wars, when they spread to
the Greek colonies in Asia as part of the constitution
of the daughter states, w^here the cult seems to have
exercised a considerable influence both on the
populace and on the philosophers. Outside Eleusis
the Mysteries were not celebrated so frequently nor
on so magnificent a scale. At Celeas, where they
were celebrated every fourth year, a hierophant, who
was not bound by the law of celibacy, as at Eleusis,
was elected by the people for each celebration.
Pausanias is the authority for a statement by the
Phliasians that they imitated the Eleusinian Mysteries.
They maintained, however, that their rendering
was instituted by Dysaules, brother of Celeus, who
went to their country after he had been expelled
from Eleusis by Ion, the son of Xuthus, at the time
when Ion was chosen commander-in-chief of the
Athenians in the war against Eleusis. Pausanias
disputed that any Eleusinian was defeated in battle
and forced into exile, maintaining that peace was
concluded between the Athenians and the Eleusinians
before the war was fought out, even Eumolpus
himself being permitted to remain in Eleusis. Pau-
sanias, also, while admitting that Dysaules might
have gone to Phlias for some cause other than that

THE ELEUSINIAN LEGEND 25

admitted by the Phliasians, questioned whether
Dysaules was related to Celeus, or, indeed, to any
illustrious Eleusinian family. The name of Dysaules
does not occur in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter,
where are enumerated all who were taught the ritual
of the Mysteries by the goddess, though that of
Celeus is mentioned : —

She showed to Triptolemus and Diodes, sniiter of horses
And mighty Eumolpus and Celeus, leader of people.
The way of performing the sacred rites and explained
to all of them the orgies.

Nevertheless, according to the Phhasians, it was
Dysaules who instituted the Mysteries among them.

The Pheneatians also had a sanctuary dedicated
to Demeter, which they called Eleusinian, and in
which they celebrated the Mysteries in honour of
the goddess. They had a legend that Demeter
went thither in her wanderings, and that, out of
gratitude to the Pheneatians for the hospitality
they showed her, she gave them all the different
kinds of pulse, except beans. Two Pheneatians —
Trisaules and Damithales — built a temple to Demeter
Thesuria, the goddess of laws, under Mount Cyllene,
where were instituted the Mysteries in her honour
which were celebrated until a late period, and which
were said to be introduced there by Naus, a grandson
of Eumolpus.

" Much that is excellent and divine," wrote Cicero,
" does Athens seem to me to have produced and

26 ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES AND RITES

added to our life, but nothing better than those
Mysteries by which we are formed and moulded
from a rude and savage state of humanity ; and,
indeed, in the Mysteries we perceive the real principles
of life, and learn not only to live happily, but to die
with a fairer hope." Every manner of writer —
religious poet, worldly poet, sceptical philosopher,
orator — all are of one mind about this, that the
Mysteries were far and away the greatest of all the
rehgious festivals of Greece.

II

THE RITUAL OF THE MYSTERIES

THE Eleusinian Mysteries, observed by nearly
all Greeks, but particularly by the Athenians,
were celebrated .yearly at Eleusis, though in the
earlier annals of their history they were celebrated
once in every three years only, and once in every
four years by the Celeans, Cretans, Parrhasians,
Pheneteans, Phliasians, and Spartans. It was the
most celebrated of all the rehgious ceremonies of
Greece at any period of the country's history, and
was regarded as of such importance that the Festival
is referred to frequently simply as " The Mysteries."
The rites were guarded most jealously and carefully
concealed from the uninitiated. If any person
divulged any part of them he was regarded as having
offended against the divine law, and by the act he
rendered himself hable to divine vengeance. It
was accounted unsafe to abide in the same house
with him, and as soon as his offence was made public
he was apprehended. Similarly, drastic punishment
was meted out to any person not initiated into
the Mysteries who chanced to be present at their

27

28 ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES AND RITES

celebration, even through ignorance or genuine
error.

The Mysteries were divided into two parts — the
Lesser Mysteries and the Greater Mysteries. The
Lesser Mysteries were said to have been instituted
when Hercules, Castor, and Pollux expressed a desire
to be initiated, they happening to be in Athens
at the time of the celebration of the Mysteries by
the Athenians in accordance with the ordinance
of Demeter. Not being Athenians, they were in-
eligible for the honour of initiation, but the diffi-
culty was overcome by Eumolpus, who was desirous
of including in the ranks of the initiated a man of
such power and eminence as Hercules, foreigner
though he might be. The three were first made
citizens, and then as a preliminary to the initiation
ceremony as prescribed by the goddess, Eumolpus
instituted the Lesser Mysteries, which then and
afterwards became a ceremony preliminary to the
Greater Mysteries, as they then became known,
for candidates of alien birth. In later times this
Lesser Festival, celebrated in the month of Anthes-
terion at the beginning of spring, at Agra, became a
general preparation for the Greater Festival, and
no persons were initiated into the Greater Mysteries
until they had first been initiated into the Lesser.

With regard to Hercules, there is a legend that
on a certain time Hercules wished to become a
member of one of the secret societies of antiquity.

THE RITUAL OF THE MYSTERIES 29

He accordingly presented himself and applied in
due form for initiation. His case was referred to
a council of wise and virtuous men, who objected
to his admission on account of some crimes which
he had committed. Consequently he was rejected.
Their words to him were : " You are forbidden to
enter here ; your heart is cruel, your hands are
stained with crime. Go ! repair the wrong you have
done ; repent of your evil doings, and then come
with pure heart and clean hands, and the doors of
our Mysteries shall be opened to you." The legend
goes on to say that after his regeneration he returned
and became a worthy member of the Order.

The ceremonies of the Lesser Mysteries were
entirely different from those of the Greater Mysteries.
The Lesser Mysteries represented the return of
Persephone to earth — which, of course, took place
at Eleusis ; and the Greater Mysteries represented
her descent to the infernal regions. The Lesser
Mysteries honoured the daughter more than the
mother, who was the principal figure in the greater
Mysteries. In the Lesser Mysteries, Persephone was
known as Pherrephatta, and in the Greater Mysteries
she was given the name of Kore. Everything was,
in fact, a mystery, and nothing was called by its
right name. Lenormant says that it is certain that
the initiated of the Lesser Mysteries carried away
from Agra a certain store of religious knowledge
which enabled them to understand the symbols

30 ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES AND RITES

and representations which were displayed after-
wards before their eyes at the Greater Mysteries at
Eleusis.

The object of the Lesser Mysteries was to signify
occultly the condition of the impure soul invested
with a terrene body and merged in a material nature.
The Greater Mysteries taught that he who, in the
present life, is in subjection to his irrational part,
is truly in Hades. If Hades, then, is the region of
punishment and misery, the purified soul must
reside in the region of bliss, theoretically, in the
present life, and according to a deific energy in the
next. They intimated by gorgeous mystic visions
the fehcity of the soul, both here and hereafter,
when purified from the defilements of a material
nature and consequently elevated to the realities
of intellectual vision.

The Mysteries were supposed to represent in a
kind of moral drama the rise and establishment of
civil society, the doctrine of a state of future rewards
and punishments, the errors of polytheism, and the
Unity of the Godhead, which last article was after-
wards demonstrated to be their famous secret.
The ritual was produced from the sanctuary. It
was enveloped in symbolical figures of animals
which suggested a correspondence which was utterly
inexplicable to the uninitiated.

K. O. Mliller, in his History of the Literature of
Ancient Greece, says : —

THE RITUAL OF THE MYSTERIES 31

** All the Greek religious poetry treating of death
and the world beyond the grave refers to the deities
whose influence was supposed to be exercised in
this dark region at the centre of the earth, and were
thought to have little connection with the political
and social relations of human life. These deities
formed a class apart from the gods of Olympus
and were comprehended under the name of the
Chthenian gods (gods of the underworld). The
mysteries of the Greeks were connected with the
worship of those gods alone. That a love of im-
mortality first found a support in a belief in these
deities appears from the fable of Persephone, the
daughter of Demeter. Every year at the time of
harvest, Persephone was supposed to be carried
from the world above to the dark dominions of the
invisible King of Shadows, and to return every
spring in youthful beauty to the arms of her mother.
It was thus that the ancient Greeks described the
disappearance and return of vegetable life in the
alternations of the seasons. The changes of Nature,
however, must have been considerable in typifying
the changes in the lot of man ; otherwise Persephone
would have been merely a symbol of the seed com-
mitted to the ground and would not have become
queen of the dead. But when the goddess of inani-
mate nature had become queen of the dead, it was
a natural analogy, which must have early suggested
itself, that the return of Persephone to the world

32 ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES AND RITES

of light also denoted a renovation of life and a new
birth in man. Hence the Mysteries of Demeter,
and especially those celebrated at Eleusis, inspired
the most elevated and animating hopes with regard
to the condition of the soul after death."

No one was permitted to attend the Mysteries
who had incurred the sentence of capital punishment
for treason or conspiracy, but all other exiles were
permitted to be present and were not molested in
any way during the whole period of the Festival.
No one could be arrested for debt during the holding
of the Festival.

Scarcely anything is known of the programme
observed during the course of the Lesser Mysteries.
They were celebrated on the 19th to 21st of the
month Anthesterion, and, like the Greater Mysteries,
were preceded and followed by a truce on the part
of all engaged in warfare. The same officials presided
at both celebrations. The Lesser Mysteries opened
with a sacrifice to Demeter and Persephone, a portion
of the victims offered being reserved for the members
of the sacred families of Eumolpus and Keryce.
The main object of the Lesser Mysteries was to
put the candidates for initiation in a condition of
ritual purification, and, according to Clement of
Alexandria, they included certain instructions and
preparations for the Greater Mysteries. Like the
Eleusinian Mysteries, properly so called, they included
dramatic representations of the rape of Persephone

THE RITUAL OF THE MYSTERIES 33

and the wanderings of Demeter ; in addition, accord-
ing to Stephen Byzantium, to certain Dionysian
representations.

Two months before the full moon of the month
of Boedromion, sphondophoroi or heralds, selected
from the priestly families of the Eumolpides and
Keryces, went forth to announce the forthcoming
celebration of the Greater Mysteries, and to claim
an armistice on the part of all who might be waging
war. The truce commenced on the 15th of the
month preceding the celebration of the Mysteries and
lasted until the loth day of the month following the
celebration. In order to be vaHd the truce had to
be proclaimed in and accepted by each Hellenic city.

All arrangements for the proper celebration of
the Mysteries, both Lesser and Greater, were in the
hands of the families of Eumolpides and Keryces.
These were ancient Eleusinian families, whose origin
was traced back to the time when Eleusis was inde-
pendent of Athens, and the former family survived
as a priestly caste down to the latest period of Athe-
nian history. Its member possessed the hereditary
and the sole right to the secrets of the Mysteries.
Hence the recognition by the State of the exclusive
right and privilege of these families to direct the
initiations and to provide each a half of the religious
staff of the temple. The Eumolpides held so eminent
a place in the Mysteries that Cicero mentions them
alone, to the exclusion of the Keryces.

3

34 ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES AND RITES

Pausanias relates that, following a war between
the Eleusinians and the Athenians, when Erectheus,
King of Athens, conquered Immaradus, son of
Eumolpus, the subdued Eleusinians, in making
their submission, stipulated that they should remain
custodians of the Mysteries, but in all other respects
were to be subject to the Athenians. This tradition
is disputed by more modern writers, but it was
accepted by the Athenians and acted upon generally,
and the right of the two families solely to prepare
candidates for initiation was recognized by a decree
of the fifth century B.C., the privilege being confirmed
afterwards at a convention between the representa-
tives of Eleusis and Athens. The Eumolpides
were the descendants of a mythical ancestor, Eumol-
pus, son of Neptune, who is first mentioned in the
time of Pisastrus. On the death of Eumolpus
according to one legend, Ceryx, the younger of the
sons, was left. But the Keryces claimed that
Ceryx was a son of Hermes by Aglamus, daughter
of Cecrops, and that he was not a son of Eumolpus.

The members of the family of Eumolpides had
the first claim upon the flesh of the sacrificed animals,
but they were permitted to give a portion to any one
else as a reward or recompense for services rendered.
But when a sacrifice was offered to any of the infernal
divinities, the whole of it had to be consumed by
the fire. Nothing must be left. All religious
problems relating to the Mysteries which could

THE RITUAL OF THE MYSTERIES 35

not be solved by the known laws were addressed
to the Eumolpides, whose decision was final.

The meaning of the name " Eumolpus " is "a
good singer," and great importance was attached
to the quality of the voice in the selection of the
hierophant, the chief officiant at the celebration
of the Mysteries and at the ceremony of initiation,
and who was selected from the family of the Eumol-
pides. It was essential that the formulae disclosed
to the initiates at Eleusis should be pronounced with
the proper intonation, for otherwise the words would
have no efficacy. Correct intonation was of far
greater importance than syllabic pronunciation.

An explanation of this is given by Maspero,
who says : " The human voice is pre-eminently
a magical instrument, without which none of the
highest operations of art can be successful : each
of its utterances is carried into the region of the
invisible and there releases forces of which the general
run of people have no idea, either as to their existence
or their manifold action. Without doubt, the real
value of an evocation lies in its text, or the sequence
of the words of which it is composed, and the tone
in which it is enunciated. In order to be efficacious,
the conjuration should be accompanied by chanting,
either an incantation or a song. In order to produce
the desired effect the sacramental melod}^ must be
chanted without the variation of a single modulation :
one false note, one mistake in the measure, the

36 ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES AND RITES

introversion of any two of the sounds of which it
is composed, and the intended effect is annulled.
This is the reason why all who recite a prayer or
formula intended to force the gods to perform certain
acts must be of true voice. The result of their
effort, whether successful or unsuccessful, will depend
upon the exactness of their voice. It was the voice,
therefore, which played the most important part
in the oblation, in the prayer of definite request,
and in the evocation — in a word, in every instance
where man sought to seize hold of the god.''

Apart from a " true voice " the words were merely
dead sounds. The character of the voice plays
an important part in many religions. The Vedas
contain in them many invocations and hymns which
no uninitiated Brahman can recite : it is only the
initiate who knows their true properties and how
to put them into use. Some of the hymns of the
Rig-Veda, when anagrammatically arranged, will yield
all the secret invocations which were used for magical
purposes in the Brahmanical ceremonies. Some
Parsees pay much attention to what is called dzdd
dwd or " free voice." It is recorded in Moslem
tradition that a revelation came to the venerated
Arabian prophet resembling " the tone of a bell."
The effects which low, monotonous chanting pro-
duce on nervous people and children are well known.
Even animals and serpents are amenable to the
influence of sound.

THE RITUAL OF THE MYSTERIES 37

The hierophant was a revealer of holy things.
He was a citizen of Athens, a man of mature age,
and held his office for life, devoting himself wholly
to the service of the temple and living a chaste life,
to which end it was usual for him to anoint himself
with the juice of hemlock, which, by its extreme
coldness, was said to extinguish in a great measure
the natural heat. In the opinion of some writers
celibacy was an indispensable condition of the
highest branch of the priesthood ; but, according
to inscriptions which have been discovered, some at
any rate of the hierophants were married, so that,
in all probabihty, the rule was that during the
celebration of the Mysteries and, probably, for a
certain time before and after, it was incumbent
on the hierophant to abstain from all sexual inter-
course. Foucart is of opinion that celibacy was
demanded only during the celebration of the Mysteries,
although Pausanias states definitely otherwise. In
support of Foucart it may be stated that among
the inscriptions discovered at Eleusis there is one
dedicating a statue to a hierophant by his wife.
It was essential that the hierophant should be a
man of commanding presence and lead a simple
life. On being raised to the dignity he received
a kind of consecration at a special ceremony, at
which only those of his own rank were permitted to
be present, when he was entrusted with certain
secrets pertaining to his high office. Prior to this

38 BLEUSINIAN MYSTERIES AND RITES

ceremonj^ he went through a special purificatory
rite, immersing himself in the sea, an act to which
the Greeks attribute^ great virtue. He had to be
exemplary in his moral conduct, and was regarded
by the people as being particularly holy. The
quahfications of a hierophant were so high that the
office could not be regarded as hereditary, for it
would have been an exception to find both father
and son in possession of the many various and high
quahfications regarded as essential to the holding
of the office. The robe of the hierophant was a
long purple garment ; his hair, crowned with a
wreath of myrtle, flowed in long locks over his
shoulders, and a diadem ornamented his forehead.
At the celebration of the Mysteries he was held to
represent the Creator of the world. He alone was
permitted to penetrate into the innermost shrine
in the Hall of the Mysteries — the holy of hohes,
as it were — and then only once during the celebration
of the Mysteries, when, at the most solemn moment
of the whole mystic celebration, his form appeared
suddenly to be transfigured with light before the
rapt gaze of the initiated. He alone was permitted
to reveal to the fully initiated the mystic objects,
the sight of which marked the completion of their
admission into the community. He had the power
of refusing admission to those applicants whom he
deemed unfit to be entrusted with the secrets. He
was not inactive during the intervals between the

THE RITUAL OF THE MYSTERIES 39

celebrations of the Mysteries. It was his duty to
superintend the instruction of the candidates for
initiation, who for that purpose were divided into
groups and instructed by officials known as mysta-
gogues. The personal name of the hierophant
was never mentioned. It was supposed to be
unknown, " wafted away into the sea by the
mystic law," and he was known only by the title
of the office which he bore.

An interesting inscription was found some years
ago at Eleusis, engraved on the base of a statue
erected to a hierophant : " Ask not my name ; the
mystic rule (or packet) has carried it away into the
blue sea. But when I reach the fated day, and go
to the abode of the blest, then all who care for me
will pronounce it." One of his sons had written
below this inscription, after the death of the hiero-
phant : " Now we, his children, reveal the name of
the best of fathers, which, when aHve, he hid in the
depths of the sea. This is the famous Apollonius."
There is extant an epigram by a female hierophant,
which runs : " Let my name remain unspoken :
on being shut off from the world when the sons of
Cecrops made me hierophantide to Demeter, I
myself hid it in the vasty depths." Eunapius,
in Vita Maxim, says : "I rmLj not tell the name of
him who was then hierophant, for it was he who
initiated me." The manner in which the name was
committed to the sea was either by the immersion

40 ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES AND RITES

of the bearer or by writing the name on a leaden
tablet, which was cast into the sea. The holy name,
by which the hierophant was afterwards known,
was derived from the name of some god or bore
some ritualistic meaning. Sometimes the hierophant
was known simply by the title of his office with
the addition of his father's name. The rule as to
the public mention of the former name of the hiero-
phant was occasionally transgressed, and there is
the instance of the atheistic philosopher Theodorus
addressing a hierophant by his discarded name
of Lacrateides, and also of Deinias, who was put
into prison for the offence of addressing a hierophant
by his discarded family name.

Lucian refers to this in one passage in Lexiphanes :
" The first I met were a torch-bearer, a hierophant,
and others of the initiated, hahng Deinias before
the judge, and protesting that he had called them
by their names, though he well knew that, from the
time of their sanctification, they were nameless,
and no more to be named but by hallowed names."

In the Imperial Inscriptions we find the titles
substituted for the proper names. ^ The hierophant

I From two inscriptions found at Eleusis it would
appear that it was customary to make the name public
after the death of the hierophant. It seems also to
have been the practice to make the name known to the
initiate under the pledge of secrecy. Sir James Frazer
thinks that the names were, in all probability, engraved
on tablets of bronze or lead and then thrown into deep
water in the Gulf of Salamis.

THE RITUAL OF THE MYSTERIES 41

was compelled to avoid contact with the dead
in the same manner as the Cohanim of the Jewish
faith, and with certain animals reputed to be unclean.
Contact with any person from whom blood was
issuing also caused impurity. He was assisted by
a female hierophant, or hierophantide — an attendant
upon the goddess Demeter and her daughter Perse-
phone. She also was selected from the family of the
Eumolpides and was chosen for life. She was
permitted to marry, and several inscriptions mention
the names of children of hierophantides. On her
initiation into this high degree she was brought
forward naked to the side of a sacred font, in which
her right hand was placed, the priest declaring her
to be true and holy and dedicated to the service
of the temple. The special duty of the female
hierophant was to superintend the initiation of
female aspirants, but she was present throughout
the ceremony and played some part in the initiation
of the male candidates. An inscription on the tomb
of one hierophantide mentions to her glory that
she had set the myrtle crown, the seal of mystic
communion, on the heads of the illustrious initiates,
Marcus Aurelius and his son, Commodus. Another
gloried in the fact that she had initiated the Emperor
Hadrian.

Next in rank to the hierophant and hierophantide
came the male and female dadouchos, who were
taken from the family of the Keryces. They were

42 ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES AND RITES

the torch-bearers, and their duty consisted mainly
in carrying the torches at the Sacred Festival.
They also wore purple robes, myrtle crowns, and
diadems. They were appointed for life, and were
permitted to marry. The male dadouchos particu-
larly was associated with the hierophant in certain
solemn and public functions, such as the opening
address to the candidates for initiation and in the
pubUc prayers for the welfare of the State. The
office was frequently handed down from father to
son. Until the first century B.C. the dadouchos
was never addressed by his own personal name,
but always by the title of his office.

The hierocceryx, or messenger of holy tidings,
was the representative of Hermes, or Mercury,
who, as the messenger of the gods, was indispensable
as mediator whenever men wished to approach the
Immortals. He also wore a purple-coloured robe
and a myrtle crown. He was chosen for life from
the family of the Keryces. He made the necessary
proclamations to the candidates for initiation into
the various degrees, and in particular enjoined them
to preserve silence. It was necessary for him to have
passed through all the various degrees, as his duties
necessitated his presence throughout the ceremonial.

The phaidantes had the custody of the sacred
statues and the sacred vessels, which they had to
maintain in good repair. They were selected from
one or other of the two sacerdotal families.

THE RITUAL OF THE MYSTERIES 43

Among the other officials were : The Hknophori,
who carried the mystic fan ; the hydranoi, who
purified the candidates for initiation by sprinkhng
them with holy water at the commencement of
the Festival ; the spondophoroi, who proclaimed
the sacred truce, which was to permit of the peaceful
celebration of the Mysteries ; the pyrphoroi, who
brought and maintained the fire for the sacrifices ;
the hieraules, who played the flute during the time
the sacrifices were being offered — they were the
leaders of the sacred music, who had under their
charge the hymnodoi, the hymnetriai ; the neokoroi,
who maintained the temples and the altars ; the
panageis, who formed a class between the ministers
and the initiated. Then there were the " initiates
of the altar," who performed expiatory rites in the
name and in the place of all the initiated. There
were also many other minor officials, by the general
name of melissae — i.e. bees, perhaps so-called be-
cause bees, being makers of honey, were sacred to
Demeter. The diluvian priestesses and regenerated
souls were called " bees." All these officials had
to be of unblemished reputation, and wore myrtle
crowns while engaged in the service of the temple.

The officials, whose duty it was to take care that
the ritual was punctiliously followed in every detail,
included nine archons, who were chosen every year
to manage the affairs of Greece. The first of these
was always the King, or Archon Basileus, whose

44 ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES AND RITES

duty at the celebration of the Mysteries it was to
offer prayers and sacrifices, to see that no indecency
or irregularity was committed during the Festival,
and at the conclusion to pass judgment on all offenders.
There were also four epimeletae, or curators, elected
by the people, one being appointed from the Eumol-
pides, another from the Keryces, and the remaining
two from the rank and file of the citizens ; and ten
hieropoioi, whose duty it was to offer sacrifices.
It may be worthy of remark here that Epimenides
of Crete, who flourished about the year 600 B.C.,
is said by Diogenes Laertius, in his life of that philo-
sopher, to have been the first to perform expiatory
sacrifices and lustrations in fields and houses and to
have been the first to erect temples for the purpose
of sacrifice.

The sacred symbols used in the ceremonies were
enclosed in a special chamber in the Telestrion, or
Hall of Initiation, known as the Anactoron, into
which the hierophant alone had the right to penetrate.
During the celebration of the Mysteries they were
carried to Athens veiled and hidden from the gaze
of the profane, whence they were taken back to
Eleusis. It was permitted only to the initiated to
look upon these " hiera," as they were called. These
sacred objects were in the charge of the Eumolpides
family.

Written descriptions, however graphic or eloquent,
convey but a faint impression of the wonderful

THE RITUAL OF THE MYSTERIES 45

scenes that were enacted ; Aristides says that what
was seen rivalled anything that was heard. Another
writer has declared : " Many a wondrous sight
may be seen and not a few tales of wonder may be
heard in Greece ; but there is nothing on which
the blessing of God rests in so full a measure as
the rites of Eleusis and the Olympic games." For
nine centuries — that period of time being divided
almost equally between the pre-Christian and
Christian eras — they were the Palladium of Greek
Paganism. In the latter part of their history,
when the restrictions as to admission began to be
relaxed, and in proportion to that relaxation, their
essential religious character disappeared, they
became but a ceremony, their splendour being their
principal attraction, until finally they degenerated
into a mere superstition. Julian strived in vain to
infuse new life into the vanishing cult, but it was too
late — the Eleusinian Mysteries were dead.

The Athenians were pious in the extreme, and
throughout the period that initiation was limited
to that race the reputation of Eleusis was maintained,
although pilgrims from various and remote parts
of the world visited it at the season of the Mysteries.
When the Eleusinian Mysteries were taken to Rome,
as they were in the reign of Hadrian, they contracted
impurities and degenerated into riot and vice ;
the spirituality of their teachings did not accompany
the transference or it failed to be comprehended

46 ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES AND RITES

Although the forms of initiation were still symbolical
of the original and noble objects of the institution,
the licentious Romans mistook the shadow for the
substance, and while they passed through all the
ceremonies they were strangers to the objects for
which they were framed.

In A.D. 364, a law prohibiting nocturnal rites was
pubhshed by Valentinian, but Praetextatus, whom
Julian had constituted governor of Achaia, prevailed
on him to revoke it, urging that the lives of the
Greeks would be rendered utterly unsupportable
if he deprived them of this, their most holy and
comprehensive festival. Much has been made by
some writers of the fact that the ceremonies were
held at night, but in the early days of Christianity also
it was the custom for Christians to forgather either
at night or before daybreak, a circumstance which
led to their assemblies being known as anteUicani
and themselves as lucifugce or " light-haters," by
way of reproach. About the beginning of the fifth
century Theodosius the Great prohibited and almost
totally extinguished the pagan theology in the Roman
Empire, and the Eleusinian Mysteries suffered in
the general destruction. It is probable, however,
that the Mysteries were celebrated secretly in spite
of the severe edicts of Theodosius and that they were
partly continued through the dark ages, though
stripped of their splendour. It is certain that many
rites of the pagan religion were performed under

THE RITUAL OF THE MYSTERIES 47

the dissembled name of convivial meetings, long
after the publication of the Emperor's edicts, and
Psellius informs us that the Mysteries of Ceres existed
in Athens until the eighth century of the Christian
era and were never totally suppressed.

The Festival of the Greater Mysteries — and this
was, of course, by far the more important — began on
the 15th of the month of Boedromion, corresponding
roughly with the month of September, and lasted
until the 23rd of the same month. During that
time it was unlawful to arrest any man present,
or present any petition except for offences committed
at the Festival, heavy penalties being inflicted
for breaches of this law, the penalties fixed being a
fine of not less than a thousand drachmas, and some
assert that transgressors were even put to death.

Ill

PROGRAMME OF THE GREATER
MYSTERIES

THE following is the programme of the" Greater
Mysteries," which extended over a period of
ten days. The various functions were characterized
by the greatest possible solemnity and decorum,
and the ceremonies were regarded as " religious "
in the highest interpretation of that term.

First Day. — The first day was known as the
" Gathering," or the " Assembly," when all who
had passed through the Lesser Mysteries assembled
to assist in the celebration of the Greater Mysteries.
On this day the Archon Basileus presided over all
the cults of the city, and assembled the people at
a place known as the Poikile Stoa. After the Archon
Basileus, with four assistants, had offered up sacri-
fices and prayers for the welfare of Greece, the follow-
ing proclamation was made by the Archon Basileus,
wearing his robe of office : —

•' Come, whoever is clean of all pollution and whose
soul has not consciousness of sin. Come, whosoever
hath lived a hfe of righteousness and justice. Come

PROGRAMME OF GREATER MYSTERIES 49

all ye who are pure of heart and of hand, and whose
speech can be understood. Whosoever hath not
clean hands, a pure soul, and an intelligible voice
must not assist at the Mysteries."

The people were then commanded by the hiero-
phant to wash their hands in consecrated water,
and the impious were threatened with the punishment
set forth in the law if they were discovered, but
especially, and this in any case, with the implacable
anger of the gods. The hierocceryx then impressed
upon all the duty of observing the most rigid secrecy
with respect to what they might witness, and bade
them to be silent throughout the ceremonies, and
not utter even an exclamation. The candidates for
initiation assembled outside the temple, each under
the guidance and direction of the mystagogue,
who repeated these instructions to the candidates.
Once within the sacred enclosure all the initiates
were subject to a purification by fire ceremonial.
All wore regalia special to the occasion. This is
evident from the wording of inscriptions which
have been discovered, but particulars of the regalia
are wanting. We know that extravagant and costly
dresses were regarded by Demeter with disfavour,
and that it was forbidden to wear such in the temple.
Jewellery, gold ornaments, purple-coloured belts,
and embroideries were also barred, as were robes
and cloths of mixed colours. The hair of women
had to fall down loose upon the shoulders, and must

4

50 ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES AND RITES

not be in plaits or coiled upon the head. No woman
was permitted to use cosmetics.

Second Day. — The second day was known as
Halade My sice, or "To the sea, ye mystae," from
the command which greeted all the initiates to go
and purify themselves by washing in the sea, or
in the salt water of the two consecrated lakes, called
Rheiti, on what was known as " The Sacred Way."
The priests had the exclusive right of fishing in these
lakes. A procession was formed, in which all joined
and made their way to the sea or the lakes, where
they bathed and purified themselves. This general
purification was akin to that practised to this day
by the Jews at the beginning of the Jewish year.
The day was consecrated to Saturn, into whose
province the soul is said to fall in the course of its
descent from the tropic of Cancer. Capella compares
Saturn to a river, voluminous, sluggish, and cold.
The planet signifies pure intellect, and Pythagoras
symbolically called the sea a tear of Saturn. The
bathing was preceded by a confession, and the
manner in which the bathing was carried out and
the num.ber of immersions varied with the degree
of guilt which each confessed. According to Suidas,
those who had to purify themselves from murder
plunged into salt water on two separate occasions,
immersing themselves seven times on each occasion.
On returning from the bath all were regarded as
** new creatures," the bath being regarded as a

PROGRAMME OF GREATER MYSTERIES 51

laver of regeneration, and the initiates were clothed
in a plain fawn-skin or a sheep-skin. The purification,
however, was not regarded as complete until the
following day, when there was added the sprinkling
of the blood of a pig sacrificed. Each had carried
to the river or lake a little pig, which was also puritied
by bathing, and on the next day this pig was sacrificed.
The pig was offered because it was very pernicious
to cornfields. On the Eleusinian coinage the pig,
standing on a torch placed horizontally, appears
as the sign and symbol of the Mysteries. On this
day also some of the initiated submitted to a special
purification near the altar of Zeus Mellichios on
the Sacred Way. For each person whom it was
desired to purify an ox was sacrificed to Zeus Melli-
chios, the infernal Zeus, the skin of the animal was
laid on the ground by the dadouchos, and the one
who was the object of the lustration remained there
squatting on the left foot.

Third Day. — On the third day pleasures of every
description, even the most innocent, were strictly
forbidden, and every one fasted till nightfall, when
they partook of seed cakes, parched corn, salt,
pomegranates, and sacred wine mixed with milk
and honey. The Archon Basileus, assisted again
by the four epimeletae, celebrated, in the presence
of representatives from the allied cities, the great
sacrifice of the Soteria for the well-being of the
State, the Athenian citizens, and their wives and

52 ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES AND RITES

children. This ceremony took place in the Eleusinion
at the foot of the Acropolis. The day was known
as the Day of Mourning, and was supposed to com-
memorate Demeter's grief at the loss of Persephone.
The sacrifices offered consisted chiefly of a mullet
and of barley out of Rharium, a field of Eleusis.
The oblations were accounted so sacred that the
priests themselves were not permitted, as was usual
in other offerings, to partake of them. At the con-
clusion of the general ceremony each one individually^
sacrificed the little pig purified in the sea the night
before.

The hog of propitiation offered to Frey was a
solemn sacrifice in the North of Europe and in
Sweden, down to modern times, the custom has been
preserved by baking, on Christmas Eve, a loaf
or cake in the form of a hog.

Fourth Day. — The principal event of the fourth
day was a solemn procession, when the holy basket
of Ceres (Demeter) was carried in a consecrated
cart, the crowds of people shouting as it went along,
" Hail, Ceres ! " The rear end of the procession was
composed of women carrying baskets containing
sesamin, carded wool, grains of salt, corn, pome-
granates, reeds, ivy boughs, cakes known as poppies,
and sometimes serpents. One kind of these cakes
was known as " ox-cakes " ; they were made with
little horns and dedicated to the moon. Another
kind contained poppy seeds. Poppy was used in

PROGRAMME OF GREATER MYSTERIES 53

the ceremonies because it was said that some grains
of poppy were given to Demeter upon her arrival
in Greece to induce sleep, which she had not enjoyed
from the time of the abduction of Persephone.
Demeter is invariably represented in her statues
as being very rotund, crowned with ears of corn,
and holding in her hand a branch of poppy.

Fifth Day. — The fifth day was known as the
Day of Torches, from the fact that at nightfall
all the initiates walked in pairs round the temple
of Demete at Eleusis, the dadouchos himself leading
the procession. The torches were waved about
and changed from hand to hand, to represent the
wanderings of the goddess in search of her daughter
when she was conducted by the light of a torch
kindled in the flames of Etna.

Sixth Day. — lacchos was the name given to
the sixth day of the Festival. The " fair young
god," lacchos, or Dionysos, or Bacchus, was the son
of Jupiter and Ceres, and accompanied the goddess
in her search for Persephone. He also carried a
torch, hence his statue has always a torch in the
hand. This statue, together with other sacred
objects, were taken from the lacchion, the sanctuary
of lacchos in Athens, mounted on a heavy rustic
four-wheeled chariot drawn by bulls, and, accompanied
by the lacchogogue and other magistrates nominated
for the occasion, conveyed from the Kerameikos,
or Potter's Quarter, to Eleusis by the Sacred Way

54 ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES AND RITES

in solemn procession. It was on this day that the
solemnity of the ceremonial reached its height.
The statue, as well as the people accompanying
it, were crowned with myrtle, the people dancing
all the way along the route, beating brass kettles
and playing instruments of various kinds and singing
sacred songs. Halts were made during the procession
at various shrines, at the site of the house of Phytalus,
who, it was said, received the goddess into his house,
and, according to an inscription on his tomb, she
requited him by reveaUng to him the culture of the
fig ; particularly at a fig-tree which was regarded
as sacred, because it had the renown of being planted
by Phytalus ; also upon a bridge built over the
river Cephissus, by the side of which Pluto descended
into Hades with Persephone, where the bystanders
made themselves merry at the expense of the pilgrims.
At each of the shrines sacrifices and libations were
offered, li37mns sung, and sacred dances performed.
Having passed the bridge, the people entered Eleusis
by what was known as the Mystical Entrance.
Midnight had set in before Eleusis was reached, so
that a great part of the journey had to be accompHshed
by the light of the torches carried by each of the
pilgrims, and the nocturnal journey was spoken
of as the ** Night of Torches " by many ancient
authors. The pitch and resin of which the torches
were composed were substances supposed to have
the virtue of warding off evil spirits. The barren

PROGRAMME OF GREATER MYSTERIES 55

mountains of the Pass of Daphni and the surface of
the sea resounded with the chant, " lacchos, O
lacchos ! " At one of the halts the Croconians,
descendants of the hero Crocon, who had formerly
reigned over the Thriasian Plain, fastened a saffron
band on the right arm and left foot of each one in
the procession. lacchos was always regarded as
a child of Demeter, inasmuch as the vine grows
out of the earth. Various symbols were carried by
the people, who numbered sometimes as many as
from thirty to forty thousand. These symbols
consisted of winnowing fans — the " Mystic Fan of
lacchos," plaited reeds and baskets, both relating
to the worship of the goddess and her son. The fan,
or van, as it was sometimes called, was the instru-
ment that separates the wheat from the chaff, and
was regarded also as an emblem of the power which
separates the virtuous from the wicked. In the
ancient paintings by Bellori two persons are repre-
sented as standing by the side of the initiate. One
is the priest who is performing the ceremony, who is
represented as in a devout posture, and wearing a
veil, the old mark of devotion, while another is
holding a fan over the head of the candidate. In
some of the editions of Southey's translation of the
Mneid the following lines appear : —

Now learn what arms industrious peasants wield
To sow the furrow's glebe, and clothe the field :

56 ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES AND RITES

The share, the crooked plough's strong beam, the wain
That slowly rolls on Ceres to her fane :
Hails, sleds, light osiers, and the harrow's load,
The hurdle, and the mystic van of God.

The distance covered by the procession was twenty-
two kilometres, but Lycurgus ordered that if any
woman should ride in a chariot to Eleusis she should
be mulcted in a line of 8,000 drachmas. This was
to prevent the richer women from distinguishing
themselves from their poorer sisters. Strange to
relate, the wife of Lycurgus was the first to break
this law, and Lycurgus himself had to pay the fine
which he had ordained. He not only paid the
penalty, but gave a talent to the informer. Immedi-
ately upon the deposit of the sacred objects in the
Eleusinion, at the foot of the Acropolis, one of the
Eleusinian priests solemnly announced their arrival
to the priestess of the tutelary goddess of Athens —
Pallas Athene. Plutarch, in commenting upon lucky
and unlucky days, says that he is aware that un-
lucky things happen sometimes on lucky days,
for the Athenians had to receive a Macedonian
garrison " even on the 20th of Boedromion, the
day on which they led forth the mystic lacchos."

Seventh Day. — On the seventh day the statue
was carried back to Athens. The return journey
was also a solemn procession, and attended with
numerous ceremonies. Halts were again made at
several places, like the " stations " of Roman Catholic

PROGRAMME OF GREATER MYSTERIES 57

pilgrimages, when the inhabitants also fell temporarily
into line with the procession. For those who remained
behind at Eleusis the time was devoted to sports,
the combatants appearing naked, and the victors
were rewarded with a measure of barley, it being a
tradition that that grain was first sown in Eleusis.
It was also regarded as a day of solemn preparation
by those who were to be initiated on the following
night. The return journey was conducted with
the same splendour as the outward journey. It
comprised comic incidents, the same as on the
previous day. Those who awaited the procession
at the bridge over the Athenian river Cephisson
exchanged all kinds of chaff and buffoonery with
those who were in the procession, indulging in what
was termed " bridge fooling." These jests, it is
said, were to recall the tactful measures employed
by a maidservant named lambe to rouse Demeter
from her prolonged sorrowing. There is a strange
contradiction in the various statements made by
the ancient writers as to what was permissible and
what was forbidden during the ceremonies. Demeter,
when in search of her daughter, broke down with
fatigue at Eleusis, where she sat down on a well,
overwhelmed with grief. It was strictly forbidden
to any of the initiated to sit down on this well lest
it should appear that they were mimicking the
weeping goddess. Yet the mimicking of the jests
of lambe were part of the ceremonial of the

58 ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES AND RITES

Mysteries. According to the ancient writers the
" jests," so-called, would be regarded to-day as in
bad taste.

Having thus spoken, she drew aside her garments
And showed all that shape of the body which it is

improper to name — the growth of puberty.
And with her own hand lambe stripped herself under

the breasts.
Blandly then the goddess laughed and laughed in her

mind.
And received the glancing cup in which was the

draught.

During the Peloponnesian war the Athenians were
unable to obtain an armistice from the Lacedaemonians
who held Decelea, and it became necessary to send
the statue of lacchos and the processionists to
Eleusis by sea. Plutarch says : " Under these
conditions it was necessary to omit the sacrifices
usually offered all along the road during the passing
of lacchos."

Eighth Day. — The eighth day was called Epi-
daurion, because it happened once that iEsculapius,
coming from Epidaurius to Athens, desired to be
initiated, and had the Lesser Mysteries repeated for
that purpose. It therefore became customary to
celebrate the Lesser Mysteries a second time upon
this day, and to admit to initiation any such approved
candidates who had not already enjoyed the privilege.
There was also another reason for the repetition of

PROGRAMME OF GREATER MYSTERIES 59

the initiatory rites then. The eighth day was re-
garded as symbohcal of the soul falHng into the
Kmar orbi, and the repeated initiation, the second
celebration of that sacred rite, was symbolical of
the soul bidding adieu to everything of a celestial
nature, sinking into a perfect oblivion of her divine
origin and pristine felicity, and rushing profoundly
into the region of dissimilitude, ignorance, and error.
The day opened with a solemn sacrifice offered to
Demeter and Persephone, which took place within
the peribolus. The utmost precision had to be
observed in offering this sacrifice as regarding the age,
colour, and sex of the victim, the chants, perfumes,
and libations. The acceptance or rejection of a
sacrifice was indicated by the movements of the
animal as it approached the altar, the vivacity of
the flame, the direction of the smoke, etc. If these
signs were not favourable in the case of the first
victim offered, other animals must be slain until
one presented itself in which all the signs were favour-
able. The flesh of the animal offered was not allowed
to be taken outside the sacred precincts, but had
to be consumed within the building. The following
is said to have been an Invocation used during
the celebration of the Mysteries : —

Daughter of Jove, Persephone divine,

Come, blessed queen, and to these rites incline ;

Only-begotten, Pluto's honoured wife,

O venerable goddess, source of life ;

60 ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES AND RITES

Tis thine in earth's profoundities to dwell.

Fast by the wide and dismal gates of hell.

Jove's holy offering, of a beauteous mien,

Avenging goddess, subterranean queen.

The Furies' source, fair-hair'd, whose frame proceeds

From Jove's ineffable and secret seeds.

Mother of Bacchus, sonorous, divine.

And many form'd, the parent of the vine.

Associate of the Seasons, essence bright.

All-ruling virgin, bearing heav'nly light.

With fruits abounding, of a bounteous mind,

Horn'd, and alone desir'd by those of mortal kind.

O vernal queen, whom grassy plains delight.

Sweet to the smell, and pleasing to the sight :

Whose holy forms in budding fruits we view,

Earth's vig'rous offspring of a various hue :

Espous'd in autumn, life and death alone

To wretched mortals from thy pow'r is known :

For thine the task, according to thy will,

Life to produce, and all that lives to kill.

Hear, blessed Goddess, send a rich increase

Of various fruits from earth, with lovely Peace ;

Send Health with gentle hand, and crown my life

With blest abundance, free from noisy strife ;

Last in extreme old age the prey of death,

Dismiss me willing to the realms beneath.

To thy fair palace and the blissful plains

Where happy spirits dwell, and Pluto reigns.

Ninth Day. — The ninth day was known as the
Day of Earthen Vessels, because it was the custom
on that day to fill two jugs with wine. One was
placed towards the East and the other towards
the West, and after the repetition of certain mystical
formulae both were overthrown, the wine being

PROGRAMME OF GREATER MYSTERIES 61

spilt upon the ground as a libation. The first of
these formulae was directed towards the sky as a
praj^er for rain, and the second to the earth as
a prayer for fertility.

The words used by the hierophant to denote the
termination of the celebration of the Mysteries —
Conx Om Pax : " Watch and do no evil " — are said
to have been Egyptian, and were the same as those
used at the conclusion of the Mysteries of Isis. This
fact is sometimes used as an argument in favour
of the Egyptian origin of the Eleusinian Mysteries.

Tenth Day.— On the tenth day the majority of
the people returned to their homes, with the excep-
tion of every third and fifth year, when they remained
behind for the Mystery Plays and Sports, which
lasted from two to three days.

The Eleusinian Games are described by the rheto-
rician Aristides as the oldest of all Greek games.
They are supposed to have been instituted as a
thank-offering to Demeter and Persephone at the
conclusion of the corn harvest. From an inscription
dating from the latter part of the third century B.C.
sacrifices were offered to Demeter and Persephone
at these games. They included athletic and musical
contests, a horse race, and a competition which
bore the name of the Ancestral or the Hereditary
Contest, the nature of which is not known, but
which it is thought may have had its origin in a
contest between the reapers on the sacred Rharian

62 ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES AND RITES

plain to see which should first complete his allotted
task.

The ancient sanctuary in which the Mysteries
were celebrated was burnt by the Persians in 480
or 479 B.C., and a new sanctuary was built — or,
at least, begun — under the administration of Pericles.
Plutarch says that Coroebus began the Temple of
Initiation at Eleusis, but only lived to finish the lower
rank of columns with their architraves ; Metagenes,
of the ward of Xypete, added the rest of the entabla-
ture and the upper row of columns, and that Xenocles
of Cholargus built the dome on the top. The long
wall, the building of which Socrates says he heard
Pericles propose to the people, was undertaken
by Callicrates. Cratinus satirized the work as
proceeding very slowly : —

Stone upon stone the orator has pil'd

With swelling words, but words will build no walls.

According to some writers the Temple was planned
by Tetinus, the architect of the Parthenon, and
Pericles was merely the overseer of the building.
We are told by Vitruvius that the Temple at Eleusis
consisted at first of one cell of vast magnitude,
without columns, though it was probable that it was
meant to be surrounded in the customary manner ;
a prostyle, however, only was added, and that not
until the time of Demetrius Phalereus, some ages
after the original structure was erected. It is

PROGRAMME OF GREATER MYSTERIES

probable that the uncommon magnitude of the cell,
added to the various and complicated rites of initia-
tion to the Eleusinian Mysteries, of which it was
the scene, prevented its being a peristyle, the expense
of which would have been enormous. The Temple
was one of the largest of the sacred edifices of Greece.
Its length was 68 metres, its breadth 54*66 metres
and its superficial area 3716-88 square metres. The
monumental altar of sacrifice was placed in front
of the fagade, close by the eastern angle of the
enclosure. According to Virgil the words " Far
hence, O be ye far hence, ye profane ones," were
inscribed over the main portal.

In the fourth century of the Christian era the
Temple of Eleusis was destroyed by the Goths, at
the instigation of the monks, who followed the
hosts of Alaric.

The revenues from the celebrations must have
been considerable. At both the Lesser Mysteries
and the Greater Mysteries a charge of one obole
a day was demanded from each one attending, which
was given to the hierophant. The hieroccerj^x
received a half-obole a day, and other assistants
a similar sum. In current coinage an obole was of
the value of a fraction over ijd.

IV
THE INITIATORY RITES

TWO important facts must be set down with
regard to the Mysteries : first, the general
custom of all Athenian citizens, and afterwards
of all Greeks generally, and eventually of many
foreigners, to seek admission into the Eleusinian
Mysteries in the only possible manner — viz. by
initiation ; and, second, the scrupulous care exer-
cised by the Eumolpides to ensure that only persons
duly qualified, of irreproachable — or, at any rate,
of circumspect, character passed the portals. In
the earlier days of the Mysteries it was a necessary
condition that the candidates for initiation should
be free-born Athenians, but in course of time this
rule was relaxed, until eventually strangers (as
residents outside Athens were called), ahens, slaves,
and even courtesans, were admitted, on condition
that they were introduced by a mystagogue, who
was, of course, an Athenian. An interesting inscrip-
tion was discovered a few years ago demonstrating
the fact that the public slaves of the city were initiated
at the public expense. From historical records we

64

THE INITIATORY RITES 65

learn that Lysias was enabled without difficulty
to secure the initiation of his mistress, Metanira,
who was then in the service of the courtesan Nicareta.
There always prevailed, however, the strict rule
that no one could be admitted who had been guilty
of murder or homicide, wilful or accidental, or who
had been convicted of witchcraft, and all who had
incurred the capital penalty for conspiracy or treason
were also excluded. Nero sought admission into
the Eleusinian Mysteries, but was rejected because of
the many slaughters connected with his name.
Antoninus, when he would purge himself before the
world of the death of Avidius Cassius, elected to
be initiated into the Eleusinian Mysteries, it being
recognized at that time that none was admitted into
them who was justly guilty of heinous immorality
or crime.

Apollonius of Tyana was desirous of being admitted
into the Eleusinian Mysteries, but the hierophant
refused to admit him on the ground that he was a
magician, and had intercourse with divinities other
than those of the Mysteries, declaring that he would
never initiate a wizard or throw open the Mysteries
to a man addicted to impure rites. Apollonius
retorted : *' You have not yet mentioned the chief
of my offences, which is that, knowing, as I do,
more about the initiatory rites than you do yourself,
I have nevertheless come to you as if you were wiser
than I am." The hierophant, when he saw that the

5

66 ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES AND RITES

exclusion of Apollonius was not by any means popu-
lar with the crowd, changed his tone and said :
" Be thou initiated, for thou seemest to be some
wise man that has come here." But Apollonius
replied : "I will be initiated at another time, and
it is (mentioning a name) who will initiate me."
Hereon, says Philostratus, he showed his gift of
prevision, for he glanced at the one who succeeded
the hierophant he addressed, and presided over
the temple four years later when Apollonius was
initiated.

Persons of both sexes and of all ages were initiated,
and neglect of the ceremony came to be regarded
almost in the light of a crime. Socrates and Demonax
were reproached and looked upon with suspicion
because they did not apply for initiation. Persians
were always pointedly excluded from the ceremony.
Athenians of both sexes were granted the privilege
of initiation during childhood on the presentation
of their father, but only the first degree of initiation
was permitted. For the second and third degrees
it was necessary to have arrived at full age. The
Greeks looked upon initiation in much the same light
as the majority of Christians look upon baptism.
So great was the rush of candidates for initiation
when the restrictions were relaxed that Cicero was
able to write that the inhabitants of the most distant
regions flocked to Eleusis in order to be initiated.
Thus, it became the custom with all Romans, who

THE INITIATORY RITES 67

journeyed to Athens to take advantage of the oppor-
tunity to become initiates. Even the Emperors
of Rome, the official heads of the Roman rehgion,
the masters of the world, came to the Eumolpides
to proffer the request that they might receive the
honour of initiation and become participants in the
Sacred Mysteries revealed by the goddess.

While Augustus, who was initiated in the year
21 B.C., did not hesitate to show his antipathy
towards the religion of the Egyptians, towards
Judaism and Druidism, he was always scrupulous in
observing the pledge of secrecy demanded of initiates
into the Eleusinian Mysteries, and on one occasion,
when it became necessary for some of the priests
of the Eleusinian temple to proceed to Rome to
plead before his tribunal on the question of privilege,
and in the course of the evidence to speak of certain
ceremonial in connection with the Mysteries of
which it was not lawful to speak in the presence
of the uninitiated, he ordered every one who had
not received the privilege of initiation to leave the
tribunal so that he and the witnesses alone remained.
The Eleusinian Mysteries were not deemed inimical
to the welfare of the Roman Empire as were the
religions of the Egyptians, Jews, and ancient Britons.

Claudius, another imperial initiate, conceived the
idea of transferring the scene of the Mysteries to
Rome, and, according to Suetonius, was about to put
the project into execution, when it was ruled that it

68 ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES AND RITES

was obligatory that the principal scenic presentation
of the Mysteries must be celebrated on the ground
trodden by the feet of Demeter and where the goddess
herself had ordered her temple to be erected.

The initiation of the Emperor Hadrian (who
succeeded where Claudius had failed, in introducing
the celebration of the Mysteries into Rome) took
place in a.d. 125, when he was present at the Lesser
Mysteries in the spring and at the Greater Mysteries
in the following autumn. In September, a.d. 129,
he was again at Athens, when he presented himself
for the third degree, as is known from Dion Cassius,
confirmed by a letter written by the Emperor himself,
in which he mentions a journey from Eleusis to
Ephesus made by him at that time. Hadrian is
the only imperial initiate, so far as is known, who
persevered and passed through all three degrees.
Since he remained at Eleusis as long as it was
possible for him to do so after the completion of
his initiation, it is not rash to assume that he
was inspired by something more than curiosity or
even by a desire to show respect.

It is uncertain whether the Emperor Antonin
was initiated, although from an inscription it seems
probable that he was and that he should be included
in the Hst of imperial initiates. Both Marcus
Aurelius and Commodus, father and son, were
initiated at the same time, at the Lesser Mysteries
in March, a.d. 176, and at the Greater Mysteries in

THE INITIATORY RITES 69

the following September. Septimius Severus was
initiated before he ascended the throne.

There was, as stated, three degrees, and the ordi-
nary procedure with regard to initiation was as
follows : —

In the month of Anthesterion, the flower month
of spring, corresponding with February-March, an
appUcant could, if approved, become an initiate
into the first degree at the celebration of the Lesser
Mysteries and take part in their celebration at the
Eleusinion at Agra, near to Athens. The ceremony
of initiation into this first degree was on a far less
imposing scale than the ceremony of initiation into
the second and third degrees at the Greater Mysteries.
The candidate, however, had to keep chaste and
unpolluted for nine days prior to the ceremony,
which each one attended wearing crowns and garlands
of flowers and observed by offering prayers and
sacrifices. Immediately previous to the celebration
the candidates for initiation were prepared by the
Mystagogues, the special teachers selected for the
purpose from the families of the Eumolpides and
Keryces. They were instructed in the story of
Demeter and Persephone, the character of the
purification necessary and other prehminary rites,
the fast days, with particulars of the food permissible
and forbidden to be eaten, and the various sacrifices
to be offered by and for them under the direction of
the mystagogues.

70 ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES AND RITES

Without this preparation no one could be admitted
to the Mysteries. There was, however, neither
secret doctrine nor dogmatic teaching in this prehmi-
nary instruction. Revelation came through contem-
plation of the sacred objects displayed during the
ceremonies by the hierophant, the meaning of which
was communicated by means of the mystic formulae ;
but the preparation demanded of the initiates,
the secrecy imposed, the ceremonies at which the
initiates assisted, all of which were performed in
the dead of night, created a strong impression and
lively hope in regard to the future life. No other
cult in Greece, still less the cold Roman religion,
had anything of the kind, or approaching to it,
to offer. Fasting from food and drink for a certain
period before and after initiation was essential,
but the candidates did not attach to this act any
idea of maceration or expiation of faults : it was
simply the reproduction of an event in the life of
the goddess, and undergone in order that the body
might become more pure. Bowls or vases of con-
secrated or holy water were placed at the entrance
of the temple for the purposes of aspersion. In
cases of special or particular impurity an extra
preparation extending over two or three days longer
became necessary, and unctions of oil or repeated
immersions in water were administered. The out-
ward physical purity, the result of immersion prior
to initiation, was but the symbol of the inward

THE INITIATORY RITES 71

purity which was supposed to result from initiation.
One of the duties of the mystagogues was to see that
the candidates were in a state of physical cleanliness
both before and throughout the ceremony. According
to inscriptions which have been discovered there
appear to have been temples or buildings set apart
for the cleansing of candidates from special im-
purities. Initiation into the Lesser Mysteries only
permitted the neophyte to go as far as the outer
vestibule of the temple.

In the following autumn, if of full age and approved
by the hierophant, the neophyte could be initiated
into the Greater Mysteries, into the second degree,
that of Mysta. This, however, did not secure
admission to all the ceremonies performed during
the celebration of the Greater Mysteries. A further
year, at least, had to elapse before the third degree,
that of Epopta, was taken, before he could see with
his own eyes and hear with his own ears, all that
took place in the temple during the celebration of
the Mysteries. Even then, there was one part of
the temple and one portion of the ceremony which
could be entered and witnessed only by the hierophant
and hierophantide.

According to Plutarch, Demetrius, when he was
returning to Athens, wrote to the republic that on
his arrival he intended to be initiated and to be
admitted immediately, not only to the Lesser Mys-
teries, but to the Greater as well. This was unlawful

72 ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES AND RITES

and unprecedented, though when the letter was
read, Pythodorus, a torch-bearer, was the only
person who ventured to oppose the demand, and
his opposition was entirely ineffectual. Stratocles
procured a decree that the month of Munychion
should be reputed to be and called the month of
Anthesterion, to give Demetrius the opportunity
for the initiation into the first degree. This was
done, whereupon a second decree was issued by which
Munychion was again changed into Boedromion,
and Demetrius was admitted to the Mysteries of
the next degree. Philippides, the poet, satirized
Stratocles in the words : " The man who can con-
tract the whole year into one month," and Demetrius,
with reference to his lodging in the Parthenon, in
the words : " The man who turns the temples into
inns and brings prostitutes into the company of the
virgin goddess."

The design of initiation, according to Plato, was
to restore the soul to that state from which it fell,
and Proclus states that initiation into the Mysteries
drew the souls of men from a material, sensual,
and merely human hfe and joined them in communion
with the gods. " Happy is the man," wrote Euripides,
" who hath been initiated into the Greater Mysteries
and leads a Hfe of piety and religion," and Aristo-
phanes truly represented pubhc opinion when he
wrote in The Frogs : " On us only does the sun
dispense his blessings ; we only receive pleasure from

THE INITIATORY RITES 73

his beams ; we, who are initiated, and perform
towards citizens and strangers all acts of piety and
justice." The initiates sought to imitate the alle-
gorical birth of the god. The epoptae were supposed
to have experienced a certain regeneration and to
enter upon a new state of existence, and they were
fantastically deemed to have acquired a great increase
of light and knowledge. Hitherto they had been
exoteric and profane ; now they had become esoteric
and holy.

Jevons, in his Introduction to the Study of Religion,
says that no oath was demanded of the initiate, but
that silence was observed generally as an act of
reverence rather than as an act of purposed conceal-
ment. There seems, however, to be conclusive
evidence that an oath of secrecy was demanded of
and taken by the candidates for initiation, at any
rate, into the second and third degrees, if not into
the first degree. Moreover, there are on record
several prosecutions of citizens for having broken
the pledge of secrecy they had given. ^Eschylus
was indicted for having disclosed in the theatre
certain details of the Mysteries, and he only escaped
punishment by proving that he had never been
initiated and, therefore, could not have violated
any obligation. A Greek scholiast says that in five
of his tragedies ^schylus spoke of Demeter and
therefore may be supposed in these cases to have
touched upon subjects connected with the Mysteries,

74 ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES AND RITES

and Heraclides of Pontus says that on this account
he was in danger of being killed by the populace if
he had not fled for refuge to the altar of Dionysos
and been begged off by the Areopagites and acquitted
on the ground of his exploits at Marathon. An
accusation was brought against Aristotle of having
performed a funeral sacrifice in honour of his wife
in imitation of the Eleusinian ceremonies. Alci-
biades was charged with mimicking the sacred
Mysteries in one of his drunken revels, when he
represented the hierophant ; Theodorus, one of
his friends, represented the herald ; and another,
Polytion, represented the dadouchos ; other com-
panions attending as initiates and being addressed
as mystae. The information against him ran : —

" Thessalus, the son of Cimon, of the ward of
Lacais, accuseth Alcibiades, the son of Clinian, of
the ward of Scambonis, of sacrilegiously offending
the goddess Ceres and her daughter, Persephone,
by counterfeiting their Mysteries and showing them
to his companions in his own house, wearing such a
robe as the high priest does when he shows the holy
things ; he called himself high priest ; as did Poly-
tion torch-bearer ; and Theodorus, of the ward of
Thyges, herald ; and the rest of his companions
he called persons initiated and Brethren of the
Secret ; therein acting contrary to the rules and
ceremonies estabhshed by the Eumolpides, the
Heralds and Priests at Eleusis."

THE INITIATORY RITES 75

Alcibiades did not appear in answer to the charge,
and he was condemned in his absence, an order
being made that his goods were to be confiscated.
This occurred in 415 B.C. and the incident created
quite a panic, as many prominent citizens, Andocides
included, were impUcated. " This man," said the
accuser of Andocides, " vested in the same costume
as a hierophant, has shown the sacred objects to
men who were not initiated and has uttered words
which it is not permissible to repeat." Andocides
admitted the charge, but turned king's evidence,
and named certain others as culprits with him.
He was rewarded with a free pardon under a decree
which Isotmides had issued, but those whom he
named were either put to death or outlawed and
their goods were confiscated. Andocides afterwards
entered the temple while the Mysteries were in
progress and was charged with breaking the law in
so doing. He defended himself before a court of
hehasts, all of whom had been initiated into the
Mysteries, the president of the court being the
Archon Basileus. The indictment was lodged by
Cephisius, the chief prosecutor, with the Archon
Basileus, during the celebration of the Greater
Mysteries and while Andocides was still at Eleusis.
Andocides was acquitted, and it is stated that
Cephisius having failed to obtain one-fifth of the
votes of the court, the result, according to the
law, was that he had to pay a fine of a thousand

76 ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES AND RITES

drachmas and to suffer permanent exclusion from
the Eleusinian shrine. Diagiras was accused of
raiUng at the sanctity of the Mysteries of Eleusis
in such a manner as to deter persons from seeking
initiation, and a reward of one talent was offered
to any one who should kill him or two talents to
any one who should bring him alive. The Greek
talent was of the value of about £200.

An ancient theme of oratorical composition and
one set even in the sixth century of the Christian
era ran : —

*' The law punishes with death whoever has dis-
closed the Mysteries : some one to whom the initiation
has been revealed in a dream asks one of the initiated
if what he has seen is in conformity with reality :
the initiate acquiesces by a movement of the head ;
and for that he is accused of impiety."

Every care, therefore, was taken to prevent the
secrecy of the Mysteries from being broken and the
ceremonial becoming known to any not initiated.
Details have, nevertheless, come to light in various
ways, but chiefly through the ancient writings and
inscriptions. Step b}/ step and piece by piece the
diligent researcher has been rewarded by the dis-
covery of disconnected and isolated fragments which,
by themselves, supply no precise information, but,
taken in the aggregate, form a perfect mosaic. Though
it was strictly forbidden to reveal what took place
within the sacred enclosure and in the Hall of Initia-

THE INITIATORY RITES 77

tion, it was permissible to state clearly the main
object of initiation and the advantages to be derived
from the act. Not only was the breaking of the
obligation of secrecy given by an initiate visited
with severe, sometimes even with capital, punish-
ment, but the forcing of the temple enclosure by
the uninitiated, as sometimes happened, was an
offence of an equally impious and heinous character.
By virtue of the unwritten laws and customs dating
back to the most remote periods the penalty of
death was frequently pronounced for faults not
grave in themselves, although the forcing of the
temple enclosure was, of course, a grave crime,
but because they concerned religion. It was pro-
bably by virtue of those unwritten laws that the
priests ordered the death of two young Arcananians
who had penetrated, through ignorance, into the
sacred precincts. They happened inadvertently to
mix with the crowd at the season of the Mysteries
and to enter the temple, but the questions asked
by them, in consequence of their ignorance of the
proceedings, betrayed them, and their intrusion was
punished with death. This was in 200 B.C., and
Rome made war upon Philip V of Macedonia on
the complaint of the government of Athens against
that king who wished to punish them for having
rigorously applied the ancient laws to those two
offenders, who were found guilty merely of entering
the sanctuary at Eleusis without having previously

78 ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES AND RITES

been initiated. No judicial penalty, however, was
meted out to the fanatical Epicurean eunuch who,
with the object of proving that the gods had no
existence, forced himself blaspheming into that part
of the sanctuary into which the hierophant and the
hierophantide alone had the right of entry. <^lianus
states that a divine punishment in the form of a
disease alone overtook him. Horace declared that
he would not risk his life by going on to the water
with a companion who had revealed the secret of
the Mysteries.

The two days prior to initiation into the second
and third degrees were spent by the candidates in
solitary retirement and in strict fasting. It was
a " retreat " in the strictest sense of the word.
Fasting was practised, not only in imitation of the
sufferings of Demeter when searching for Persephone,
but because of the danger of the contact of holy
things with unholy, the clean with the unclean.
This also is one of the reasons why it was held to
be impious even to speak of the Mysteries to one
who had not been initiated and especially dangerous
to allow such unclean and profane persons to take
any part, even that of a viewer, in the ceremonies.
Hence the punishment meted out by the State was in
lieu of, or to avert, the divine wrath which such
pollution might bring on the community at large.

At the entrance to the temple tablets were placed
containing a list of forbidden foods. The list included

THE INITIATORY RITES 79

several kinds of fish — the whistle-fish, gurnet, crab,
and mullet. In all probabihty the whistle-fish
is that known as Scicena aquila, a Mediterranean
fish that makes a noise under the water which has
been compared to bellowing, buzzing, purring, or
whistling, the air bladder being the sound-producing
organ. The fish was greatly esteemed by the Romans.
There is a large ScicBna, not aquila, though very
like it, in the Fish Gallery of the British Museum
(Natural History) opposite the entrance from the
Zoological Library. The whistle-fish and crab were
held to be impure, the first because it laid its
eggs through the mouth, and the second because it
ate filth which other fish rejected. The gurnet was
rejected because of its fecundity as witnessed in its
annual triple laying of eggs, but, according to some
writers, it was rejected because it ate a fish which
was poisonous to mankind. It may well be that
other fish were interdicted, but Porphyry was probably
exaggerating when he said that all fish were forbidden.
Birds bred at home, such as chickens and pigeons,
were also on the banned list, as were beans and
certain vegetables which were forbidden for a mystical
reason which Pausanias said he dare not reveal
save to the initiated. The probable reason was that
they were connected in some way with the wander-
ings of Demeter. Pomegranates were, of course,
forbidden, from the incident of the eating of the
pomegranate seeds by Persephone.

80 ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES AND RITES

The candidates were carefully instructed in these
rules before the beginning of the celebration. Origi-
nally the instruction of the candidates was in the
hands of the hierophant, who, following the example
of his ancestor, Eumolpus, claimed the privilege
of preparing the candidates as well as that of com-
municating to them the knowledge of the divine
Mysteries. But the continually increasing number
of candidates made it necessary to employ auxiliary
instructors, and this particular work was handed
over to the charge of the mystagogues, who prepared
the candidates either singly or in groups, the hiero-
phant reserving to himself the general direction
of the instruction. In the course of the initiation
ceremony certain words had to be spoken by the
candidates, and these were made known to them
in advance, although, of course, apart from their
context.

Admission to the second degree took place during
the night between the sixth and seventh days of
the celebration of the Mysteries, the candidates
being led blindfolded into the temple and the ceremony
opened with prayers and sacrifices by the second
Archon. The candidates were crowned with myrtle
wreaths, and, on entering the building, they purified
themselves in a formal manner by immersing their
hands in the consecrated water. Salt, laurel-leaves,
barley, and crowns of flowers were also employed
in the purification. The priests, vested in their

THE INITIATORY RITES 81

sacerdotal garments, then came forward to receive
the candidates. This initial ceremony took place
in the outer hall of the temple, the temple itself
being closed. A herald then came forward and
uttered the proclamation : " Begone ye profane.
Away from here, all ye that are not purified, and
whose souls have not been freed from sin." In
later years this formulary was changed, and in its
stead the herald proclaimed : "If any atheist, or
Christian, or Epicurean, is come to spy on the orgies,
let him instantly retire, but let those who believe
remain and be initiated, with good future." It
was the final opportunity for the retirement of any
who were not votaries who had by chance entered
the precincts : if discovered afterwards the punish-
ment was death. In order to make certain that no
intruders remained behind all who were present
had to answer certain specified questions. Then
all again immersed their hands into the consecrated
water and renewed their pledge of secrecy. The
candidates for initiation then took off their ordinary
garments and put on the skins of young does. This
done, the priests wished them joy of all the happiness
their initiation would bring them, and then left
the candidates alone. Within a few minutes the
apartment in which they were was plunged in total
darkness. Lamentations and strange noises were
heard ; terrific peals of thunder resounded, seemingly
shaking the very foundations of the temple ; vivid

6

82 ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES AND RITES

flashes of lightning Ut up the darkness, rendering

it more terrible, while a more persistent light from

a fire displayed fearful forms. Sighs, groans, and

cries of pain resounded on all sides, like the shrieks

of the condemned in Tartarus. The novitiates

were taken hold of by invisible hands, their hair

was torn, and they were beaten and thrown to the

ground. Then a faint light became visible in the

distance and a fearful scene appeared before their

eyes. The gates of Tartarus were opened and the

abode of the condemned lay before them. They

could hear the cries of anguish and the vain regrets

of those to whom Paradise was lost for ever. They

could, moreover, witness their hopeless remorse :

they saw, as well as heard, all the tortures of the

condemned. The Furies, armed with relentless

scourges and flaming torches, drove the unhappy

victims incessantly to and fro, never letting them

rest for a moment. Meanwhile the loud voice

of the hierophant, who represented the judge of

the earth, could be heard expounding the meaning

of what was passing before them, and warning and

threatening the initiates. It may well be imagined

that all these fearful scenes were so terrifying that

very frequently beads of anguish appeared on the

brows of the novices. Howling dogs and even

material demons are said actually to have appeared

to the initiates before the scene was changed. Proclus,

in his Commentavy on Alcihiades, says : " In the rtiost

THE INITIATORY RITES 83

holy of the Mysteries, before the presence of the god,
certain terrestrial demons are hurled forth, which
call the attention from undefiled advantages to
matter. ' ' At length the gates of Tartarus were closed,
the scene was suddenly changed, and the innermost
sanctuary of the temple lay open before the initiates
in dazzling light. In the midst stood the statue
of the goddess Demeter brilliantly decked and
gleaming with precious stones ; heavenly music
entranced their souls ; a cloudless sky overshadowed
them ; fragrant perfumes arose ; and in the distance
the privileged spectators beheld flowering meads,
where the blessed danced and amused themselves
with innocent games and pastimes. Among other
writers the scene has been described by Aristophanes
in The Frogs : —

Heracles. The voyage is a long one. For you will
come directly to a very big lake of abysmal depth.

Dionysos. Then how shall I get taken across it ?

Heracles. In a little boat just so high : an old man
who plies that boat will take you across for a fee
of two oboles.

Dionysos. Oh dear ! How very powerful those two
oboles are all over the world. How did they manage
to get here ?

Heracles. Theseus brought them. After this you will
see serpents and wild beasts in countless numbers
and very terrible. Then a great slough and over-
flowing dung ; and in this you'll see lying any one
who ever yet at any place wronged his guest or
be^t his mother, or smote his father's jaw, or swore

84 ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES AND RITES

an oath and foreswore himself. . . . And next a
breathing of flutes shall be wafted around you, and
you shall see a very beautiful light, even as in this
world, and myrtle groves, and happy choirs of
men and women, and a loud clapping of hands.

Dionysos. And who are these people, pray ?

Heracles. The initiated.

It was regarded as permissible to describe certain
scenes of the initiation, and this has been done by
many writers, but a complete silence was demanded
as to the means employed to realize the end, the
rites and ceremonies in which the initiate took part,
the emblems which were displayed, and the actual
words uttered, and the slightest contravention of
this rule rendered the offender liable to the strongest
possible condemnation and chastisement.

In the course of the ceremony the hierophant
asked the candidates a series of questions, to which
written answers had been prepared and committed
to memory by the candidates. The holy Mysteries
were revealed to them from a book called Petroma,
a word derived from petra, 3. stone, and so called
because the writings were kept between two cemented
stones which fitted in to each other. The Pheneatians
used to swear by and on the Petroma. The domed
top held within it a mask of Demeter which the
hierophant wore at the celebration of the Mysteries,
or during part of the ceremonial. The garments
worn by the initiates during the ceremony were
accounted sacred and equal to incantations and

THE INITIATORY RITES 85

charms in their power to avert evils. Consequently
they were never cast off until torn and tattered.
Nor was it usual, even then, to throw them away,
but it was customary to make them into swaddling
clothes for children or to consecrate them to Demeter
and Persephone.

Admission to the third degree took place during
the night between the seventh and eighth days
of the celebration of the Greater Mysteries. This,
the final degree, with the exception of those called
to be hierophants, was known as the degree of
Epopta. Exactly in what the ceremonial consisted,
save in one particular presently to be described,
is unknown. Hippolytus is practically the only
authority for the main incident of the degree. Certain
words and signs were, however, communicated to
the initiated which, it was stated, would, when pro-
nounced at the hour of death, ensure the eternal
happiness of the soul.

The most solemn part of the ceremony was that
which has been described by some writers as the
hierogamy, or sacred marriage of Zeus and Demeter,
although some have erroneously referred to it as
the marriage of Pluto and Persephone. During
the celebration of the Mysteries the hierophant and
hierophantide descended into a cave or deep recess
and, after remaining there for a time, they returned
to the assembly, surrounded seemingly by flames,
and the hierophant, displaying to the gaze of the

86 ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES AND RITES

initiated an ear of corn, exclaimed with a loud voice :
'* The divine Brimo has given birth to the holy child
Brimos : The strong has brought forth strength."
The scene was dramatic and symbolical, and there
could have been nothing material in the incident.
The torches of the multitude were extinguished
while the throng above awaited with anxious suspense
the return of the priest and priestess from the murky
place into which they had descended, for they believed
their own salvation to depend upon the result of the
mystic congress. The charges brought against the
Eleusinian Mysteries of rioting and debauchery
during their Grecian history are brought by those
who were not permitted to share their honours,
or who were prejudiced in favour of some other
form of religion. In the opinion of the majority
of contemporary writers these charges were wholly
gratuitous, and they maintain that the Eleusinian
Mysteries produced a sanctity of manners and a
cultivation of virtue. They could not, of course,
make a man virtuous against his will and Diogenes,
when asked to submit to initiation, replied that
Pataecion, a notorious robber, had obtained initiation.
" The Athenians," says Hippolytus, " in the
initiation of Eleusis, show to the epoptae the great,
admirable, and most perfect mystery of the epoptae :
an ear of corn gathered in silence." The statement
is so clear as to leave no doubt whatever on the
subject ; indeed, it has never been called into question.

THE INITIATORY RITES 87

The presentation of the ear of corn was regarded as
a special, indeed the most important, feature of the
Mysteries of Eleusis, and it was reserved for the
final degree. Much has been made of this incident
by many who can see no beauty in pre-Christian
or non-Christian systems of religion, their comments
being based mainly on a statement of Gregory
Nazianus, who stands almost alone in discerning
lewdness in the Eleusinian ceremonial. He says :
** It is not in our religion that you will find a seduced
Cora, a wandering Demeter, a Keleos, and a Trip-
tolemus appearing with serpents ; that Demeter is
capable of certain acts and that she permits others.
I am really ashamed to throw light on the nocturnal
orgies of the initiations. Eleusis knows as well
as the witnesses the secret of the spectacle, which
is with reason kept so profound."

Apart from this isolated statement the Eleusinian
Mysteries have not been charged, as many other
ancient rites were, with promoting and encouraging
immorality. In his account of the doings of the
false prophet Alexander of Abountichos, Lucian
describes how the impostor instituted rites which
were a close parody of those celebrated at Eleusis,
and he narrates the details of the travesty. Among
the mimetic performances were not only the epiphany
and birth of a god but the enactment of a sacred
marriage. All preliminaries were gone through, and
Lucian says that but for the abundance of hghted

88 ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES AND RITES

torches the marriage would actually have been
consummated. The part of the hierophant was
taken by the false prophet himself. From the
travesty it is evident that in the genuine Mysteries,
in silence, in darkness, and in perfect chastity the
sacred marriage was symbolized and that immediately
afterwards the hierophant came forward and stand-
ing in a blaze of torchlight made the announcement
to the initiates.

The name Brimo, expressed at full length Obrimo,
seems to be a variation of the compound term Ob-
Rimon, " the lofty serpent goddess."

The birth of Brimo ; and the mighty deeds

Of the Titanic hosts ; the servitude

Of Jove ; and the mysterious mountain rites

Of Cybele, when with distracted pace she sought

Through the wide world the beauteous Proserpine ;

The far-fam'd labours of the Machian Hercules ;

Th' Idean orgies ; and the giant force

Of the dread Corybantes ; and the wanderings

Of Ceres, and the woes of Prosperpine :

With these I sung the gifts of the Cabiri ;

The Mysteries of Bacchus ; and the praise

Of Lemnos, Samothrace, and lofty Cyprus,

Fair Adonean Venus ; and the rites

Of dread Ogygian Praxidice ;

Arinian Minerva's nightly festival ;

And Egypt's sorrow for the lost Osiris.

Orphic Hymn.

Dr. Jevons maintains that this ear of corn was
the totem of Eleusis, and this view has been adopted

THE INITIATORY RITES 89

by M. Reinach, who says : " We find in the texts
a certain trace not only of the cult but of the adora-
tion and the exaltation (in the Christian meaning
of the word) of the ear of corn." But he has omitted
to quote the texts on which he relies for this assertion.
It would be interesting to know why, among all the
plants which die and revive in the course of a year,
wheat was chosen for preference, why the ear more
than the grain, why it should be emphasized that
it was gathered, for what reason the spectacle was
reserved for the epoptae, and in what manner it
secured or ensured for the individual a bUssful
existence after death. The demonstration pre-
supposes that the preceding rites were leading up
to this supreme display.

After this demonstration the epoptae partook of
barley meal flavoured with pennyroyal, as a solemn
form of communion with Demeter. According to
Eustathius, the compound was a kind of thick
gruel, half-solid, half-liquid. This done, each of
the initiated repeated after the hierophant the
following words : "I have fasted, I have drank
' cyceon.' I have taken from the cystos, and after
having tasted of it I placed it in the calathos. I
again took it from the calathos and put it back in
the cystos." This formula, notwithstanding its
length, is said to have been the password leading
to the third degree.

Justin Martyr gives the oath of initiation as

90 ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES AND RITES

follows : ** So help me heaven, the work of God
who is great and wise : so help me the word of
the Father which he spake when he established
the whole universe in his wisdom/'

With this ceremony the third degree ended, save
that the epoptae were placed upon exalted seats,
around which the priests circled in mystic dances,
The day succeeding admission into the final degree
was regarded as a rigorous fast, at the conclusion
of which the epoptae drank of the mystic cyceon
and ate of the sacred cakes.

According to Theo of Smyrna, the full or complete
initiation consisted of five steps or degrees, which
he sets out as follows : —

" Again, philosophy may be called the initiation
into true sacred ceremonies, and the tradition of
genuine mysteries ; for there are five parts of initia-
tion ; the first of which is previous purgation, for
neither are the Mysteries communicated to all who
are willing to receive them, but there are certain
characters who are prevented by the voice of the
crier, such as those who possess impure hands and
an inarticulate voice, since it is necessary that such
as are not expelled from the Mysteries should first
be refined by certain purgations, but after purgation
the tradition of the sacred rite succeeds. The
third part is denominated inspection. And the fourth,
which is the end and design of inspection, is the
binding of the head and fixing the crown, so that the

THE INITIATORY RITES 91

initiated may, by this means, be enabled to communi-
cate to others the sacred rites in which he has been
instructed. Whether after this he becomes a torch-
bearer, or an interpreter of the Mysteries, or sustains
some other part of the sacerdotal ofhce. But the
fifth, which is produced from all these, is friendship
with divinity, and the enjoyment of that felicity
which arises from intimate converse with the gods.
According to Plato, purification is to be derived from
the five mathematical disciplines, viz. arithmetic,
geometry, stereometry, music, and astronomy."

Apuleius is represented as saying to himself : —

** I approached the confines of death ; and, having
crossed the threshold of Proserpine, I at length
returned, borne along through all the elements.
I beheld the sun shining in the dead of night with
luminous splendour : I saw both the infernal and
the celestial gods. I approached and adored them."

Themistius represents initiation in the following
words : —

" Entering now the mystic dome, he is filled with
horror and amazement. He is seized with solicitude
and a total perplexity. He is unable to move a
step forward ; and he is at a loss to find the entrance
to that road which is to lead him to the place he
aspires to. But now, in the midst of his perplexity,
the prophet (hierophant) suddenly lays open to him
the space before the portals of the temple. Having
thoroughly purified him, the hierophant now dis-

92 ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES AND RITES

doses to the initiated a region all over illuminated
and shining with a divine splendour. The cloud and
thick darkness are dispersed ; and the mind, which
before was full of disconsolate obscurity, now emerges,
as it were, into day, replete with light and cheerful-
ness, out of the profound depth into which it had
been plunged."

The fee for initiation was a minimum sum of
fifteen drachmas (a drachma being of the value of
7|d.), in addition to which there were the usual
honoraria to be bestowed upon the various officials,
to which reference has already been made. Pre-
sumably, also, gifts in kind were made to the
principal officials, for an inscription of the fifth
century b c, found at Eleusis, reads : —

" Let the Hierophant and the Torch-bearer com-
mand that at the Mysteries the Hellenes shall offer
first-fruits of their crops in accordance with ancestral
usage. ... To those who do these things there shall
be many good things, both good and abundant crops,
whoever of them do not injure the Athenians, nor
the city of Athens, nor the two goddesses."

The Telestrion or Hall of Initiation, sometimes
called " The Mystic Temple," was surrounded on all
sides by steps, which presumably served as seats
for the initiated w^hile the sacred dramas and pro-
cessions took place on the floor of the hall. These
steps were partly built in and partly cut in the solid
rock ; in later times they appear to have been covered

THE INITIATORY RITES 93

with marble. There were two doors on each side
of the hall with the exception of the north-west,
where the entrance was cut out of the solid rock, a
rock terrace at a higher level adjoining it. This
was probably the station of those not yet admitted
to full initiation. The roof of the hall was carried
by rows of columns which were more than once
renewed. The Hall itself did not accommodate
more than four thousand people. The building was
perhaps more accurately described by Aristophanes,
who called it : " The House that welcomed the
Mystae," and he carefully distinguished it from the
Temple of Demeter. It was not the dwelling-place
of any god, and it, therefore, did not contain any
holy image. It was built for the celebration of a
definite ritual, and the Eleusinian Hall of Initiation
was therefore the only known church of antiquity,
if by that term we mean the meeting-place of the
congregation.

Mr. James Christie, in his work on Greek Vases,
contends that the phantasmal scenes in the
Mysteries were shown by transparencies, such as
are yet used by the Chinese, Javanese, and Hindus.

THEIR MYSTICAL SIGNIFICANCE

LIFE, as we know it, was looked upon by the
ancient philosophers as death. Plato considered
the body as the sepulchre of the soul, and in the
Cratylus acquiesces in the doctrine of Orpheus that
the soul is punished through its union with the body.
Empedocles, lamenting his connection with this
corporeal world, pathetically exclaimed : —

For this I weep, for this indulge my woe,

That e'er my soul such novel realms should know.

He also calls this material abode, or the realms
of generation,

a joyless region.
Where slaughter, rage, and countless ills reside.

Philolaus, the celebrated Pythagorean, wrote : " The
ancient theologists and priests testify that the soul
is united with the body for the sake of suffering
punishment, and that it is buried in the body as in
a sepulchre " ; while Pythagoras himself said :
" Whatever we see when awake is death, and when
asleep a dream/'

94

THEIR MYSTICAL SIGNIFICANCE 95

This is the truth intended to be expressed in the
Mysteries. Sallustius, the neo-Platonic philosopher,
in his treatise Peri Theon kai Kosmou, " Concerning
the gods and the existing state of things," explains
the rape of Persephone as signifying the descent of
the soul. Other writers have explained the real
element of the Mysteries as consisting in the relations
of the universe to the soul, more especially after
death, or as intimating obscurely by splendid visions
the felicity of the soul here and hereafter when
purified from the defilements of a material nature.
The intention of all mystic ceremonies, according
to Sallustius, was to conjoin the world and the gods.
Plotinus says that to be plunged into matter is to
descend and then fall asleep. The initiate had to
withstand the daemons and spectres, which, in later
times, illustrated the difficulties besetting the soul
in its approach to the gods, so also the Uasarian
had to repel or satisfy the mystic crocodiles, vipers,
avenging assessors, daemons of the gate, and other
dread beings whom he encountered in his trying
passage through the valley of the shadow of death.
Pindar, speaking of the Eleusinian Mysteries, says :
" Blessed is he who, on seeing those common concerns
under the earth, knows both the end of Hfe and the
given end of Jupiter. '*

Psyche is said to have fallen asleep in Hades through
rashly attempting to behold corporeal beauty, and
the truth intended to be taught in the Eleusinian

96 ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES AND RITES

Mysteries was that prudent men who earnestly
employed themselves in divine concerns were, above
all others, in a vigilant state, and that imprudent
men who pursued objects of an inferior nature
were asleep, and engaged only in the delusion of
dreams ; and that if they happened to die in this
sleep before they were aroused they would be
afflicted with similar, but still sharper, visions in
a future state.

Matter was regarded by the Egyptians as a certain
mire or mud. They called matter the dregs or
sediment of the first life. Before the first purifica-
tion the candidate for initiation into the Eleusinian
Mysteries was besmeared with clay or mud which
it was the object of the purification to wash away.
It also intimated that while the soul is in a state
of servitude to the body it lives confined, as it were,
in bonds through the dominion of this Titanic life.
Thus the Greeks laid great stress upon the advantages
to be derived from initiation. Not only were the
initiates placed under the protection of the State,
but the very act of initiation was said to assist in
the spreading of goodwill among men, keep the soul
from sin and crime, place the initiates under the
special protection of the gods, and provide them
with the means of attaining perfect virtue, the power
of living a spotless life, and assure them of a peace-
ful death and of everlasting bHss hereafter. The
hierophants assured all who participated in the

THEIR MYSTICAL SIGNIFICANCE 97

Mysteries that they would have a high place in
Elysium, a clearer understanding, and a more
intimate intercourse with the gods, whereas the
uninitiated would for ever remain in outer darkness.
Indeed, in the third degree the epoptse were said
to be admitted to the presence of and converse
with the goddesses Demeter and Persephone, under
whose immediate care and protection they were
said to be placed. Initiation was referred to
frequently as a guarantee of salvation conferred
by outward and visible signs and by sacred formulae.

The Lesser Mysteries were intended to symbolize
the condition of the soul while subservient to the
body, and the liberation from this servitude, through
purgative virtues, was what the wisdom of the Ancients
intended to signify by the descent into Hades and
the speedy return from those dark abodes. They
were held to contain perfective rites and appearances
and the tradition of the sacred doctrines necessary
to the perfection or accomplishment of the most
splendid visions. The perfective part, said Proclms^
precedes initiation, as initiation precedes inspection.

" Hercules," said Proclus also in Plat. Polit., " being
purified by sacred initiations and enjoying undefiled
fruits, obtained at length a perfect establishment
among the gods " ; that is, freed from the bondage
of matter ascending beyond the reach of its hands.

Plutarch wrote : —

" To die is to be initiated into the great mysteries,

7

98 ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES AND RITES

. . . Our whole life is but a succession of errors, of
painful wanderings, and of long journeys by tortuous
ways, without outlet. At the moment of quitting
it, fears, terrors, quiverings, mortal sweats, and
a lethargic stupor come and overwhelm us ; but,
as soon as we are out of it, we pass into delightful
meadows, where the purest air is breathed, where
sacred concerts and discourses are heard ; where,
in short, one is impressed with celestial visions.
It is there that man, having becomie perfect through
his new initiation, restored to liberty, really master
of himself, celebrates, crowned with myrtle, the most
august mysteries, holds converse with just and pure
souls, and sees with contempt the impure multitude
of the profane or uninitiated, ever plunged and
sinking itself into the mire and in profound darkness."

Dogmatic instruction was not included in the
Mysteries ; the doctrine of the immortality of the
soul traces its origin to sources anterior to the rise
of the Mysteries. At Eleusis the way was shown
how to secure for the soul after death the best
possible fate. The miracle of regeneration, rather
than the eternity of being, was taught.

Plato introduces Socrates as saying : "In my
opinion those who established the Mysteries, v/hoever
they were, were well skilled in human nature. For
in these rites it was of old signified to the aspirants
that those who died without being initiated stuck
fast in mire and filth ; but that he who was

THEIR MYSTICAL SIGNIFICANCE 93

purified and initiated should, at his death, have
his habitation with the gods."

Plato, again, in the seventh book of the Republic
says : "He who is not able by the exercise of his
reason to define the idea of the good, separating it
from all other objects and piercing as in a battle
through every kind of argument ; endeavouring
to confute, not according to opinion but according
to evidence, and proceeding with all these dialectical
exercises with an unshaken reason — he who cannot
accomplish this, would you not say that he neither
knows the good itself, nor anything which is properly
demonstrated good ? And would you not assert
that such a one when he apprehended it rather
through the medium of opinion than of science, that
in the present life he is sunk in sleep and conversant
with delusions and dreams ; and that before he is
roused to a vigilant state he will descend to Hades,
and be overwhelmed with sleep perfectly profound ? ' '

Olympiodorus, in his MS. Commentary on the
Georgias of Plato, says of the Elysian fields : *' It
is necessary to know that the fortunate islands are
said to be raised above the sea. . . . Hercules is
reported to have accomplished his last labour in
the Hesperian regions, signifying by this that, having
vanquished an obscure and terrestrial life, he after-
wards lived in open day — that is, in truth and resplen-
dent light. So that he who in the present state
vanquishes as much as possible a corporeal life^

100 ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES AND RITES

through the exercise of the cathartic virtues, passes
in reality into the fortunate islands of the soul,
and lives surrounded with the bright splendours of
truth and wisdom proceeding from the sun of good."

The esoteric teaching was not, of course, grasped
by all the initiates ; the majority merely recognized or
grasped the exoteric doctrine of a future state of
rewards and punishments. Virgil, in his description,
in the jEneid, of the Mysteries, confines himself to
the exoteric teaching. iEneas, having passed over the
Stygian lake, meets with the three-headed Cerberus.
By Cerberus must be understood the discriminative
part of the soul, of which a dog, by reason of its
sagacity, is an emblem. The three heads signify
the intellective, dianoetic, and doxatic po\^-ers.
" He dragg'd the three-mouth'd dog to upper day "
— i.e. by temperance, continence, and other virtues
he drew upwards the various powers of the soul.
The teaching of the Mysteries was not in opposition
to the ordinary creed : it deepened it rather, revived
it in a spiritual manner and gave to religion a force
and a power it had not hitherto possessed.

The fable of Persephone, as belonging to the
Mysteries, was properly of a mixed nature, composed
of all four species of fable — theological, physical,
animistic, and material. According to the arcana
of ancient theology, the Coric order — i.e. that
belonging to Persephone — is twofold, one part
supermundane and the other mundane.

THEIR MYSTICAL SIGNIFICANCE 101

Proclus says : " According to the rumour of theo-
logists, who deUvered to us the most holy Eleusinian
Mysteries, Persephone abides on high, in those
dwelHngs of her mother which she prepared for her
in inaccessible places, exempt from the sensible
world. But she hkewise dwells with Pluto, adminis-
tering terrestrial concerns, governing the recesses
of the earth and imparting soul to beings which
are of themselves inanimate and dead."

The Orphic poet describes Persephone as " the
life and the death of mortals," and as being the
mother of Eubuleus or Bacchus by an ineffable
intercourse with Jupiter. Porphyry asserts that
the wood pigeon was sacred to her and that she was
the same as Maia, or the great mother, who is usually
claimed as the parent of the Arkite god Mercury.

According to Nosselt the following may be taken
as the meaning of the myth of Demeter and her
lost daughter : " Persephone, the daughter of the
all-productive earth (Demeter), is the seed. The
earth rejoices at the sight of the plants and flowers,
but they fade and wither, and the seed disappears
quickly from the face of the earth when it is strewn
on the ground. The dreaded monarch of the under-
world has taken possession of it. In vain the mother
searches for her child, the whole face of nature
mourns her loss, and everything sorrows and grieves
with her. But, secretly and unseen, the seed
develops itself in the lap of the earth, and at length

102 ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES AND RITES

it starts forth : what was dead is now aUve ; the
earth, all decked with fresh green, rejoices at the
recovery of her long-lost daughter, and everything
shares in the joy."

Demeter was worshipped in a twofold sense
by the Greeks, as the foundress of agriculture and as
goddess of law and order. They used to celebrate
yearly in her honour the Thesmorphoria, or Festival
of Laws. According to some ancient writers the
Greeks, prior to the time of Demeter and Triptolemus,
fed upon the acorns of the ilex, or the evergreen
oak. Acorns, according to Virgil, were the food
in Epiros, and in Spain, according to Strabo. The
Scythians made bread with acorns. According to
another tradition, before Demeter's time, men neither
cultivated corn nor tilled the ground, but roamed
the mountains and woods in search for the wild
fruits which the earth produced. Isocrates wrote :
" Ceres hath made the Athenians two presents of
the greatest consequence : corn, which brought
us out of a state of brutahty ; and the Mj^steries,
which teach the initiated to entertain the most
agreeable expectations touching death and eternity.'*
The coins of Eleusis represented Demeter in a car
drawn by dragons or serpents which were sometimes
winged. The goddess had two ears of corn in her
right hand or, as some imagined, torches, indicating
that she was searching for her daughter. George
Wheler, in his Journey into Greece, published in

THEIR MYSTICAL SIGNIFICANCE 103

1682, says : " We observed many large stones covered
with wheat-ears and bundles of poppy bound together ;
these being the characters of Ceres." At Copenhagen
there is a statue representing Demeter holding poppies
and ears of corn in her left hand. On a coin of
Lampsacus of the fourth century B.C., Persephone
is described in the act of rising from the earth.

According to Taylor, the Platonist, Demeter in
the legend represents the evolution of that self-
inspective part of our nature which we properly
determine intellect, and Persephone that vital,
self-moving, and animate part which we call soul.
Pluto signifies the whole of our material nature,
and, according to Pythagoras, the empire of this god
commences downwards from the Galaxy or Milky
Way.

Sallust says that among the mundane divinities
Ceres is the deity of the planet Saturn. The cavern
signifies the entrance into mundane life accomplished
by the union of the soul with the terrestrial body.
Demeter, who was afraid lest some violence be offered
to Persephone on account of her inimitable beauty,
conveyed her privately to Sicily and concealed her
in a house built on purpose by the Cyclops, while
she herself directed her course to the temple of
Cybele, the mother of the gods. Here we see the
first cause of the soul's descent, viz. her desertion
of a Hfe wholly according to intellect, occultly signi-
fied by the separation of Demeter and Persephone.

104 ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES AND RITES

Afterwards Jupiter instructed Venus to go and betray
Persephone from her retirement, that Pluto might
be enabled to carry her away, and, to prevent any
suspicion in the virgin's mind, he commanded
Diana and Pallas to bear her company. The
three goddesses on arrival found Persephone at
work on a scarf for her mother, on which she had
embroidered the primitive chaos and the formation
of the world. Venus, says Taylor, is significant
of desire, which, even in the celestial regions (for
such is the residence of Persephone until she is
ravished by Pluto), begins silently and fraudulently
in the recesses of the soul. Minerva is symbolical
of the rational power of the soul ; and Diana repre-
sents nature, or the merely natural and vegetable
part of our composition, both ensnared through
the allurements of desire.

In Ovid we have Narcissus, the metamorphosis
of a youth who fell a victim to love of his own cor-
poreal form. The rape of Persephone, according
to the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, was the immediate
consequence of her gathering this wonderful flower.
By Narcissus falhng in love with his shadow in the
limpid stream we behold the representation of a
beautiful soul, which, by prolonged gaze upon the
material form, becomes enamoured of a corporeal
life and changed into a being consisting wholly
of the mere energies of nature. Plato, forcing his
passage through the earth, seizes on Persephone

THEIR MYSTICAL SIGNIFICANCE 105

and carries her away, despite the resistance of
Minerva and Diana, who were forbidden by Jupiter
to attempt her dehverance after her abduction.
This signifies that the lapse of the soul into a material
nature is contrary to the genuine wish and proper
condition. Pluto having hurried Persephone into
the infernal regions, marriage succeeds. That is
to say, the soul having sunk into the profoundities
of a material nature, unites with the dark tenement
of the material body. Night is with great beauty
and propriety introduced, standing by the nuptial
couch and confirming the oblivious league. That
is to say, the soul, by union with a material body,
becomes familiar with darkness and subject to the
empire of night, in consequence of which she dwells
wholly with delusive phantoms and till she breaks
her fetters is deprived of the perception of that
which is real and true.

The nine days of the Festival are said to be signifi-
cant of the descent of the soul. The soul, in falling
from her original, divine abode in the heavens,
passes through eight spheres, viz. the inerratic sphere
and the seven planets, assuming a different body and
employing different energies in each, finally becoming
connected with the sublunary world and a terrene
body on the ninth. Demeter and the foundation
of the art of tillage are said to signify the descent
of intellect into the realms of generation, the
greatest benefit and ornament which a material

106 ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES AND RITES

nature is capable of receiving. Without the
possibihty of the participation of intellect in the
lower material sphere nothing but an irrational and
a brutal life would subsist.

But, according to some writers, the initiates into
the third degree were taught that the gods and
goddesses were only dead mortals, subject while
alive to the same passions and infirmities as them-
selves ; and they were taught to look upon the
Supreme Cause, the Creator of the Universe, as
pervading all things by His virtue and governing
all things by His power. Thus the meaning of
Mystes is given as " one who sees things in disguise,"
and that of Epopt as " one who sees things as they
are, without disguise." The Epopt, after passing
through the ceremonial of exaltation, was said to
have received Autopsia, or complete vision. Virgil
declared that the secret of the Mysteries was the
Unity of the Godhead, and Plato owned it to be
" difficult to find the Creator of the Universe, and,
when found, impossible to discover Him to all the
world." Varro, in his Vv^ork Of Religions, says that
'■ there were many truths which it was inconvenient
for the State to be generally known ; and many
things which, though false, it was expedient the
people should believe, and that, therefore, the Greeks
shut up their Mysteries in the silence of their sacred
enclosures." The Mysteries declared that the future
life was not the shadowy, weary existence which

THEIR MYSTICAL SIGNIFICANCE 107

it had hitherto been supposed to be, but that through
the rites of purification and sacrifices of a sacramental
character man could secure a better hope for the
future. Thus the Eleusinian Mysteries became the
chief agent in the conversion of the Greek world
from the Homeric view of Hades to a more hopeful
belief as to man's state after death. Tully pro-
mulgated a law forbidding nocturnal sacrifices in^
which women were permitted to take part, but
made an express exception in favour of the Eleu-
sinian Mysteries, giving as his reason : " Athens-
hath produced many excellent, even divine inventions
and applied them to the use of life, but she has given
nothing better than those Mysteries by which we
are drawn from an irrational and savage life and
tamed, as it were, and broken to humanity. They
are truly called Initia, for they are indeed the
beginnings of a life of reason and virtue."

Secrecy was enjoined because it was regarded as
essential that the profane should not be permitted
to share the knowledge of the true nature of Demeter
and Persephone, as if it were known that these
goddesses were only mortal women their worship
would become contemptible. Cicero says that it
was the humanity of Demeter and Persephone,,
their places of interment, and several facts of a like
nature that were concealed with so much care..
Diagoras, the Melian, was accounted an atheist
because he revealed the real secret of the Eleusiniaa

108 ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES AND RITES

Mysteries. The charge of atheism was the lot of
any who communicated a knowledge of the one,
only God. Pindar says, referring to the Mysteries :
*' Happy is he who has seen these things before
leaving this world : he realizes the beginning and
the end of Ufe, as ordained by Zeus " ; and Sophocles
wrote : " Oh, thrice blessed the mortals, who, having
■contemplated these Mysteries, have descended to
Hades ; for those only will there be a future life
of happiness — the others there will find nothing but
suffering."

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