The mysteries were thinning the veil of enchantment that made the visible world for humans, and for the initiates of the Eleusinian mysteries, death and life were nothing more than two faces of a secret that remains the only foundation of reality, two temporary states of one eternal substance.
Eleusinian mysteries, which were held in early autumn in honor of the goddesses Demeter and Persephone, were the most sacred and revered ceremonies of ancient Greece. Established in the city of Eleusis, twenty kilometers from Athens, in the early Mycenaean period (15th-14th century BC), they lasted for nearly two thousand years.
The mysteries were a strictly closed religion of the clans, which later, when Eleusis came under Athenian rule (7th century BC), became the Athenian state cult. Over time, the cult expanded and took on a pan-Hellenic significance. All Hellenic philosophers, poets, artists, and statesmen were initiated into the Eleusinian wisdom, which left its mark in Their creation had a strong influence on the development of the Hellenic spirit and Hellenic thought.
Demeter was worshipped in all countries where the Greeks lived. She was depicted with sheaves of grain, baskets of fruits, and torches. The Romans equated her with Ceres, their goddess of vegetation and fertility of the fields. Later, her cult merged with the cult of Mother Earth Gaia, the goddess Rhea, and partly with the Phrygian Great Mother Cybele.
Eleusis was not the only place where annual festivities in honor of the goddess of grain and the yearly renewal of life were held. Similar rituals were characteristic of many centers of the ancient Eastern Mediterranean civilization, including the islands of Samothrace, Cyprus, and Crete. In all these regions, there were cults of one or another goddess of life, fertility, or harvest, whose worship involved purification and initiation rituals. The most similar to the Eleusinian mysteries were the so-called Thesmophoria. These rituals, which took place in late October (in the month of Pyanepsion), According to the ancient Greek calendar, only women attended the Eleusinian mysteries. The ceremonies involved fasting, purification, and a symbolic descent into the underworld to magically renew life from the realm of death.
The hymn to Demeter is the origin of the Eleusinian mysteries, which centers around the myth of Demeter, the goddess of the fertility of the land and agriculture, who taught humans how to cultivate the land. The hymn is attributed to Homer.
Demeter had a daughter named Kore (meaning “girl” or “daughter” in Greek) or Persephone. Persephone lived among the nymphs on the flower meadows of Nysa, spending her time picking flowers, dancing, and singing. On one occasion, while walking, she picked a narcissus, a flower of death, and the ground opened beneath her, and Hades, the god of the underworld, emerged from the depths, grabbed her, and disappeared with her into the abyss.
Desperate, Demeter wandered the world in search of her daughter until Helios, the all-knowing god of the Sun, revealed the secret of Persephone’s disappearance to her. Demeter then went to Olympus and asked Zeus, as the highest god, to return her daughter. Zeus sent his messenger Hermes to the realm of the dead, but it was already too late: Hades had meanwhile married Persephone and made her the queen of his underworld kingdom.
Demeter sadly left Olympus. She disguised herself as an old woman and thus came to the Virgin Spring in Eleusis. There, she was found by the daughters of King Celeus of Eleusis, who took her to their palace and hosted her, unaware that she was a goddess. Queen Metaneira took her as a nursemaid for her youngest son. In gratitude, she gave Celeus’ son Triptolemus the gift of grain and taught him how to cultivate the land. By her command, Triptolemus spread his knowledge throughout the world. For Celeus’ other son, Demophon, she destined immortality. With this goal in mind, every evening she would place the child in the fire to achieve immortality and eternal youth. Young Demophon made extraordinary progress. Metaneira tried to decipher the nursemaid’s secret and thus caught her one evening as she was putting the child in the fire. into the fire. At that moment, Demeter revealed herself in all her divine greatness. In her honor, Keleus built a magnificent sanctuary in Eleusis, which then became the center of her cult.
After the temple was built for her, Demeter settled there, but she was still inconsolable for her daughter, refusing to join the other gods on Olympus. Neglecting her divine duty, she unleashed a great infertile period on the world, which had disastrous consequences not only for humans but also for the gods. People stopped worshiping the gods and no longer offered them sacrifices. When the situation became unbearable, Zeus sent Hermes once again to the realm of the dead to negotiate with the god of the underworld. After giving Persephone a taste of seven pomegranate seeds to ensure her return, Hades reluctantly agreed to the obligation of allowing Persephone to live on earth with her mother two-thirds of the year, while Demeter had to agree to let Persephone live with her husband in the underworld for one-third of the year.
Since then, Persephone and Demeter have In spring, Persephone comes to the earth, and Demeter, delighted by her return, gives vitality to vegetation, so that the whole nature greets her with greenery and flowers. When towards the end of autumn Persephone returns to the underworld, Demeter, along with the entire nature, mourns and dresses in mourning attire.
Meaning of the myth:
The cyclical departure of Persephone to the underworld and her return to the earth symbolizes the winter death and the spring awakening of nature, the alternation of periods of activity and rest, life “here and beyond”. In honor of Demeter and Persephone, the Eleusinian Mysteries were held. The secret of seed, sprout, and sheaf was associated with the cult of these goddesses, as well as the secret of life and death, which became known only to those initiated into the mysteries. The grain is harvested and dead, but it brings seed and is reborn, which represents initiation, while the sheaf of grain is a symbol of resurrection.
Persephone symbolizes the parable: “Unless a seed falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” In the mysteries, she represented the initiate, the one who goes through the dead in order to be reborn, who passes through the underworld to reach heaven. The myth of Demeter and Kore, whom Hades captures, was also a symbol of the fate of the human soul. Demeter embodies the eternal creative cosmic forces, while Kore represents the human soul.
The purpose of the mysteries was to strengthen and prepare humans for their daily duties and life after death. The goal of the mysteries was to show the path to the gods, to the eternal essence of humanity, and to the creative living forces in nature that build our bodies and mysteriously act in the depths of our unconsciousness. Furthermore, their aim was to draw the initiates’ attention to the other side of life – death, as these two are naturally inseparable, like day and night, and form the completeness of existence.
Hysteria could be related to Egyptian mysteries.
Ceremony bearers
The cult was entrusted to a few of the most prominent families, and those families inherited the service until death. They appointed a hierophant or high priest who led the most mystical parts of the initiation ceremony. The hierophant had the exclusive right to enter the secret chamber, known as the anaktoron, where sacred objects (hiera) were kept.
The high priestess of Demeter shared the main role with the hierophant in guiding the mysteries. It was believed that she took on the role of Demeter in the sacred drama, reviving her anguish and desperate search for Persephone. The priestesses, known as “bees” (Panageis), had the task of transporting sacred objects from Eleusis to Athens and back. The Dadouchos, the torchbearer, played a significant role in the initiation ceremony. The Hieorokeryx was the messenger, whose booming voice called the initiates to silence so that the mysteries could begin. He also announced the order of strict silence. and about mysteries. And finally, the priest at the altar who was offering sacrifices to two goddesses.
Levels of initiation in the mysteries
The mysteries took place on three levels. The simplest level, intended for the general public, symbolized agricultural work; the second level, which included elements that were meant to depict and explain the death and rebirth of plants in nature, was also addressed to the people. The highest level of the mysteries was supposed to penetrate the secret of human life and the afterlife fate of man, and was only accessible to specially initiated participants.
Just as there were three levels of mysteries, there were also three degrees of initiation: minor mysteries (they were an introduction to the mysteries and represented purification or catharsis); major mysteries or telete (“making perfect”), and the highest degree was epopteia (“the highest consecration”).
Anyone could access the mysteries, men and women, provided that they had “hands unstained by blood, spoke Greek, […] “and a just life.” The introduction was carried out gradually, starting with small mysteries. Each initiate, mystes, would receive instructions from their guide mystagogos, who was from one of the Eleusinian families responsible for the cult.
Ceremonies
The grand celebration of the mysteries in Eleusis, which took place in early autumn, was preceded by smaller festivities, called the Lesser Mysteries, which took place in February (the month of Anthesterion, according to the ancient Greek calendar), when the first greenery would appear in Greece, and served as preparation for the Great Mysteries celebrated at the end of September (the month of Boedromion, according to the ancient Greek calendar).
The Lesser Mysteries were celebrated in the Athenian suburb of Agri, on the Ilisus Peninsula, where the ritual purification of the mystes took place. They would begin by offering sacrifices to Demeter and Kore. On the second day, the initiates would undergo ritual washing, which was supervised by a designated priest. The third day was the most important, as the consecration took place then. Thus prepared, the initiates could participate in the To approach the Great Mysteries.
The Mysteries were so revered that one month before their celebration, a universal holy peace would be declared, which all Greek states had to abide by.
On the eve of the festivities, on the 13th day of the month of Boedromion, the kistophores, accompanied by a multitude of celebrants, would bring consecrated statues from Eleusis to the sanctuary of Demeter in the Athenian agora, where those who had already been initiated into the Lesser Mysteries would gather. The ceremonies officially began on the 15th day of Boedromion and lasted for 9 days, with a prescribed series of rituals that the initiates had to follow in a precisely established order for each of those days.
The first day would start with a proclamation in the agora, announcing the events and inviting the initiates to participate. On the second day of the festivities, new members would ritually bathe in the sea, which “washes away all human impurities.” The third day was designated for offering sacrifices. On the 19th day of Boedromion, the participants of the mysteries would embark on a grand procession to the Holy Ce From Athens to Eleusis, carrying sacred objects. Records note that the number of participants would rise to ten thousand. At the forefront of the procession, a statue of the god Iacchus was carried, which would be returned to the sanctuary in Athens after the ceremony. Behind the carrier of Iacchus, there were other carriers of sacred objects, the most significant of which was the mystical chest (kistai mystika). The Mystae wore a wreath of myrtle, the flower of Persephone, on their heads, and held sheaves of grain and torches in their hands.
Accompanied by singing hymns and prayers, as well as jokes and laughter, the procession would only arrive in Eleusis late in the evening, illuminated by the glow of torches. The sixth day was intended for rest, purification, and fasting, which preceded the nocturnal ceremony. The fast was broken in the evening with the consumption of a special drink called kykeon, made from coarsely ground grain and water, mixed with fresh mint leaves.
The initiation of the first degree took place on the 21st of Boedromion, and the initiation of the second degree took place the following day. This happened in the Telesterion, the temple of Demeter and Kore, where the secrets of the Eleusinian Mysteries were revealed. Steria. The gathered devotees would gather in the Hall of Mystery, drink a ritual beverage, and witness the reenactment of the goddesses Demeter and Persephone and the god Hades’ drama from ancient times.
The mysteries left a deep and lasting impression on those who received their secrets. Pindar writes: “Blessed is he who goes underground after seeing what is there; he knows the end of life, and he also knows the divinely ordained beginning.”
After the night celebration, a day of rest followed. On the eighth day, rituals for the dead would take place. The ninth day was the final day of the festivities; on that day, wine would be ceremoniously poured onto the ground in honor of the gods, accompanied by the recitation of mysterious verses. At the end of the mysteries (23rd Boedromion), the participants were instructed to strictly remain silent about what they had seen and heard. Silence was the greatest reverence for what had been felt during the witnessing of the secrets.
The initiates would then return to Athens, individually or in groups. There was no organized procession on the way back. That was the end. time što su inicijati u misterijama bili obvezani pridržavati se određenih moralnih načela i voditi ispravan život. Inicijacija je također pružala priliku za osobni razvoj, samospoznaju i postizanje veće duhovne mudrosti. Ona je omogućavala pojedincima da otkriju dublje slojeve svoje duše i da se povežu sa svijetom duhova i božanstava. Inicijati su stjecali dublje razumijevanje svemira i njegove tajne, te su postajali svjesni svog vlastitog mjesta u velikom planu univerzuma. The mystery of the initiates, which applies to all mysterious initiations. Bonus intra – melior exi (“good I entered – better I exited”) is written on the mosaic floor of the temple of Aesculapius in Lambaesis, in present-day Algeria. The mysteries freed the initiated from the bondage of human weaknesses and directed them towards the improvement of their lives.
The significance of the mysteries was also the humanization of life. Cicero writes: … the mysteries have lifted us from a crude and wild life to human dignity and enriched us… we have learned the foundations of life, so we have learned not only to live a joyful life, but also to die with better hope. (De legibus II, 36).