For a thousand years, people traveled to the small town of Eleusis in Attica in order to experience something profound, something that soothed their fears of death and enhanced their lives immeasurably. This most prestigious of mystery cults must have begun as a local rite open only to the people living nearby, but gradually it accommodated ever-larger numbers, including slaves and foreigners. Many secrets still surround the cult, for its hundreds of thousands of initiates kept their promise not to reveal what took place within the sanctuary. Still, a surprising amount is known from archaeological investigation of the once-inviolate precinct, the assertions of hostile Christian Fathers (which must be read with caution), and other scattered bits of information. The Eleusinian Mysteries had an important public component, and contemporary sources addressing this aspect of the rites, including inscriptions and vase paintings, are numerous.
In spite of the plentiful data (or perhaps because of it), many scholarly controversies surround the Mysteries. Debate centers on the date at which the Eleusinian cult was incorporated into Athenian religion (from the beginning, or not until the sixth century?), the relationship between the cult and the Homeric Hymn to Demeter (to what extent does the latter reflect an “Eleusinian” perspective?) and the significance of the Mycenaean remains found in the sanctuary (do they point to continuity of the cult from the Bronze Age?). The early Mycenaean Megaron B, located beneath the later Demeter temple or Telesterion, was distinguished from nearby houses by its stepped porch and the remains of frescoes within; Mycenaean figurines were found in the vicinity. Yet its function is not clearly established; it may have served as an elite residence, a cult building, or both. A curved Geometric wall outside Megaron B could be either the remains of a Geometric Demeter temple or a retaining wall added to the still-standing Bronze Age structure. In any case, the earliest unequivocal evidence of the cult are the massive eighth-century terrace and a wall enclosing the whole area, with a sacrificial pyre full of broken figurines, pottery, and ashes at the entrance.11
Eleusis lies at the edge of the Thriasian plain, the “bread basket” of Attica; it was bound to be of interest to the emerging polis.12 Legend tells of a war between the two towns when Erechtheus was king at Athens and Eumolpos, the first celebrant of the Mysteries, at Eleusis. The resulting settlement left financial control of the cult entirely in Athenian hands, while ritual responsibilities were shared between two aristocratic families, the Eumolpidai of
Eleusis and the Kerykes of Athens. The chief priest of the Mysteries, the Hierophant (Revealer of Sacred Things) was always a Eumolpid, while the Keryx (Herald) and Dadouchos (Torchbearer), other important officials, were both Kerykes. Second only to the Hierophant was the Priestess of Demeter and Kore, who might come from a number of different families. Hers was probably the oldest office associated with the cult, for her duties extended to several of the local, deme-level festivals of Demeter at Eleusis. Inscriptions reveal an ongoing struggle for ritual authority between the Hierophant and the Priestess of Demeter in the fourth century, when a Hierophant was convicted of impiety for usurping the Priestess’ right to preside at the Haloa. Many of the sacred personnel connected with the Mysteries seem to have held their offices for life, a fact that sets the Eleusinian priesthoods apart from most others among the Greeks.13
Initiation to the Mysteries required time, effort, and a cost that, while substantial, was not out of reach even for the poor. Those who wished to participate were expected to undergo a long period of preparation, beginning with the Lesser Mysteries in Anthesterion, seven months before the Eleusinian festival. Little is known of the Lesser Mysteries, but they took place in the suburb of Agrai at Athens in the sanctuary of Meter/Rhea, and they involved purification of candidates by bathing in the Ilissos river or through the use of the Dios koidion, a sacred fleece obtained by sacrificing a ram to Zeus Meilichios. Together with the Sacred Way that connected Athens to Eleusis, and the city Eleusinion between the agora and the northwest corner of the Akropolis, the Lesser Mysteries helped to cement the relationship between Athens and Eleusis and shaped the “Athenian” identity of the festival as a whole.
Candidates for initiation, or mustai (those whose eyes are closed), had to seek a sponsor from the Eumolpidai or Kerykes to guide their spiritual preparation, known as muesis. On 13 and 14 Boedromion (September/October), the hiera (sacred objects) were brought in procession from Eleusis to the Athenian Eleusinion, and their safe arrival was announced to the priestess of Athena on the Akropolis. Priestesses from Eleusis carried these objects in boxes on their heads, so they cannot have been large or heavy, but we know nothing else about them except that they played a central role in the climactic rite. The next day was the first day of the Mysteries proper, the Agyrmos (Gathering). All assembled in the agora for a formal proclamation by the Hierophant and Dadouchos. Anyone unable to speak Greek, ritually impure, or conscious of having committed a crime was asked to abstain from the rite. At this time the mustai probably paid their fees, which have been calculated as the equivalent of several days’ wages. The sixteenth of Boedromion was a day of purification. Directed by the heralds, the mustai brought piglets to Phaleron or Peiraieus, where they bathed in the sea and washed the animals. Each then sacrificed the piglet “on his/her own behalf.” The next day was allotted to major state sacrifices, and the eighteenth was the Epidauria, a subsidiary festival of Asklepios that began in 420 when the cult of Asklepios and Hygieia was introduced at Athens on this day.14
The nineteenth brought the great pompe (procession) and escort of the hiera back to Eleusis. Wearing garlands of myrtle and carrying bunches of myrtle twigs or bundles of provisions attached to the end of sticks, the mustai set out in a merry mood to walk about 22 km to the sanctuary. They were led by Iakchos, the god who personified the ritual cry “Iakche!” Because of the boisterous tone of the parade and similarity between the names Iakchos and Bakchos, the former began at an early date to be associated with Dionysos, yet he is a distinct Eleusinian deity.15 After arriving at the outer court of the sanctuary, where there was a temple of Artemis Propylaia (Before the Gateway) and the Eleusinian patron deity Poseidon, the mustai spent the rest of the evening celebrating the “reception of Iakchos” and singing and dancing at the well called Kallichoron (Place of Beautiful Dances). Perhaps this was also the day when kernoi, special offering trays equipped with cups of various seeds and grains, were presented to the goddess. The next day saw the offering of the pelanos, a massive cake of barley and wheat harvested from the sacred Rharian plain, and other sacrifices financed from the “first fruit” offerings (aparchai) tithed to Demeter and Kore. The mustai meanwhile fasted, and finally broke their fast with the kukeOin, a posset of barley water and an aromatic herb, pennyroyal. These actions, and others to follow, imitated the activities of Demeter when her daughter had disappeared; Demeter’s fast and request for the kukO>n is recorded in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter (2.208-10).
With evening began the secret part of the ritual, when the mustai were admitted into the confines of the sanctuary proper. This was situated on the southwest slope of the Eleusinian akropolis, and had two main components. First was the rocky cliff containing a cave that served as a cult place for Theos (God) and Thea (Goddess), the Eleusinian titles for Plouton and Persephone in their roles as king and queen of the dead. With them was worshiped a deity or hero named Eubouleus, whose role was similar to that of Hermes in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter: he is shown on vase paintings holding torches in the presence of Theos and Thea, ready to guide the goddess back to the upper world for a reunion with her grieving mother. The agelastos petros (Mirthless Rock), where Demeter is supposed to have sat mourning the loss of her daughter, was probably also in this rocky area. Passing by the cave with its small shrine, the mustai would have followed a path up to the principal structure, the initiation hall known to scholars as the Telesterion, but in Classical times called the ne(is (temple) or anaktoron (lord’s hall). Starting in the late seventh or early sixth century, a succession of ever-larger temples was built over the old Mycenaean Megaron B, each one containing an inner room whose position was kept constant. The design of this “temple” differs dramatically from those of other gods, for unlike most Greek temples, it was designed to hold a large number of people and includes seating around the walls.16
The sources give us only a glimpse of what took place in this room amid the forest of columns, the actual telete (mystery rite). Certainly the initiates were guided on an emotional path from confusion and grief to confidence and joy, and this progression seems to have corresponded to the events in a ritual drama depicting Kore’s return from the underworld and her reunion with Demeter. At a critical moment, the Hierophant appeared from the inner room in a blaze of torchlight to display the hiera to the onlookers. Those who had experienced the Mysteries in a previous year were permitted to remain in the Telesterion for a further revelation; such individuals were called epoptai (those who have seen). Following the climactic rites, bulls and pigs were sacrificed to the goddesses and other Eleusinian deities, while initiates used special vessels called plemochoai to pour libations of water toward the east and west.
On the day after the Mysteries concluded, the Athenian Council met in the city Eleusinion to review the conduct of the festival and deal with any infractions of sacred law; this custom was attributed to a law of Solon. The earliest votive deposits in the Eleusinion date to the seventh century, and it received architectural elaboration in the sixth. It contained a temple of Demeter and Kore, altars, and many inscribed decrees relating to the conduct of the Mysteries, as well as a temple of Triptolemos, the Eleusinian hero who is said to have introduced the knowledge of grain cultivation to the world, flying about in his winged chariot.17
Particularly in the period of empire, Athens promoted the Mysteries, along with the knowledge imparted by Triptolemos, as its unique gifts to the world. Heralds were sent to other cities to declare a sacred truce of fifty-five days, which allowed time for pilgrims to travel to Athens, be initiated, and return home. The first fruits decree (IG I3 78), issued c. 435, details the collection of an annual tithe of grain from every deme in Attica and the Athenian allies, and urges that every Greek city likewise join in the offering.18 We don’t know how many Greek cities heeded this rather high-handed request, but Athens clearly succeeded in securing for Eleusis a Panhellenic reputation and status, which it maintained until the end of antiquity. Even as the cult gained renown across the Greek world, however, the “Eleusinian version” of the Demeter/Kore myth remained surprisingly localized. Other cities often had their own versions of the myth that failed to be displaced because they, like the traditions at Eleusis, were venerable tales tied to local landmarks (wells, caves, or rocky outcroppings). Even the Homeric Hymn to Demeter reflects a generic, Panhellenized version of the Attic cult: Eubouleus, the titles Theos and Thea, and the Mirthless Rock are omitted from the story, while Tripto-lemos is barely mentioned.
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