Although we know a lot about art, philosophy, medicine, mathematics, and other sciences of ancient Greece, the cradle of Western culture and civilization, in the depths of time lies the heart of ancient Greece from which everything we know about this culture was born, and those are the mysteries. Almost all great artists, playwrights, philosophers, and military leaders were initiated into the mysteries, and it is thanks to them that we have Greek art, tragedy, and philosophy today.
However, mysteries are not exclusively Greek property, they have existed in various parts of the world throughout history, and there is not a single high culture that did not have them. In Greece itself, mysteries took place in different locations, the most famous being the Samothracian, Eleusinian, Theban, Orphic, etc. Despite their external differences, their roots and purpose are the same. But what were the mysteries really, is a question that is not easy to answer because they are difficult to compare with today’s religion, philosophy, art, human aspirations, and way of life.
The picture of our ancestors’ world is completely different from today’s. Today’s man is far more rational than he used to be. This rationality has resulted in great technological advancement and material prosperity in certain parts of the world. However, this rationality has taken away the intuition that was characteristic of the people of the past, it has taken away their sense of security in the existence of God, because neither of these can be “proved” by modern standards of evaluation and credibility.
While ancient people saw certain natural phenomena as expressions of the forces of nature, the deities themselves, we now see those same forces of nature as, for example, meteorological phenomena. In mythological books, we come across concepts such as the god of rain, the goddess of the earth, the god of wind… even with the terminology itself, we separate the natural reality into two parts: the god and the rain. However, in the past, the word rain signified a power that descended upon the earth, fertilized it, and gave it life. Understood in this way, rain had its origin in… In ancient times, divinity was perceived as divine and expressed itself like water falling from the sky. The names of ancient deities were words that denoted the specific aspect of nature for which the deity was responsible. For example, the Greeks did not speak of the goddess of the earth, but of Demeter, whose name means “Mother Earth.”
Our ancestors did not question the existence of God because they saw His presence in everyday life, in everything around them. However, this “insight” varied from person to person. Greek religion allowed for a breadth in which everyone could have their own vision of God without contradicting others. In other words, the depth of understanding was different. While an ordinary person saw the cyclicality of nature, the rebirth, the birth or death of life, in a particular myth – its external aspect, a devotee saw its deep, internal side – an expression of cosmic forces that touch the depths of a person’s soul and point to its role in this world as well as in the other. It was precisely for this reason that there existed mysteries, the esoteric heart of religion.
Herodotus says that mysteries were brought to Greece by Orpheus, the son of Apollo, who received the lyre with seven strings or the sevenfold initiation into the mysteries. According to Orpheus, all things originate from the great Principle which humans try to name, even though it is indescribable and unspeakable. The Orphic teachings speak of the divine nature and the transmigration of the human soul (metempsychosis). On the Orphic gold leaves found in tombs in southern Italy and Crete, verses are inscribed in which the soul is represented as the child of heaven and earth. Clement of Alexandria says that through the great mysteries, the evolution of the entire Universe was revealed “because through them, the initiates saw the nature and true essence of all things.” Their moral value is emphasized by Epictetus, while Plato says that their true goal was to return the soul to its primordial state, a state of perfection from which the soul had “fallen.”
Thus, the mysteries provided answers to the profound questions of life and death and transmitted knowledge. is about one God, the source from which everything originates and to which everything returns, the one who initiated creation and who is present in everything through various aspects, including the human soul. His power differentiates through multiple cosmic forces that act at visible levels of manifestation, and man could perceive this One through numerous forces of nature – deities that were present beside him.
The deities that appear in all Greek mysteries are Dionysus and Demeter. Taking into account what has been said earlier, we will try to penetrate the deeper symbolism and meaning of these deities.
Dionysus Zagreus
Dionysus was the son of the celestial Demeter and Zeus, or according to other sources, Persephone and Zeus. The myth says that Titans tore him apart and ate him, but in the last moment, his still living heart is saved by Athena who takes it to Zeus. He swallows Dionysus’ heart and incinerates the Titans with thunderbolts. From this ash, humankind emerged. This first Dionysus is called Zagreus, meaning torn apart, dismembered. Dion Zagrej represents the sacrifice of divinity, he had to die on one level to become present on another. The torn Zagrej lives in all beings. This is a divinity sacrificed to be able to manifest in countless souls. Humanity, which arose within itself, contains a part of the titanic and a part of the divine. The titanic part in humans pulls towards what is animalistic, while the other part, the Dionysian, represents the soul that eternally strives towards the heavens, eternally seeking lost unity.
Dionysus Bakho
With Semele, the daughter of the Theban king Cadmus, Zeus fathered a new Dionysus, the result of the union between a god and a mortal woman. Legend has it that while Semele was carrying Dionysus in her womb, Hera appeared to her and asked if Zeus had appeared to her in all his divine greatness, as he had done on their wedding day. Naive Semele could not resist this thought and on the next opportunity, she asked Zeus to fulfill any wish she desired. Zeus reluctantly agreed, but this turned out to be fatal. Namely, whenever the supreme god made a commitment, it would end Hello, he would swear by the waters of the River Styx that what has been said will be fulfilled and there is no turning back from it. In the tremendous light and subsequent lightning, the house burned down, Semele died, but Zeus managed to save Dionysus at the last moment by implanting the fetus in his thigh for it to fully develop there. Thus, Dionysus was born for the second time – no longer as Dionysus Zagreus, the son of the gods, but as the new Dionysus who carries both the divine and the human within himself. This Dionysus becomes a great devotee, the one who will show the way for people to return to the lost unity. He is the god of enthusiasm, passion that enables the soul to approach the heavens. This enthusiasm is represented by a simple symbol – wine. For the Greeks, wine was a symbol of a different state of consciousness, from mere intoxication to the highest ecstasy and divine inspiration. This younger Dionysus is cyclically renewed, rejuvenated, which is why he is also called the Resolvent and Liberator.
Therefore, every person has something of Zagreus, a divine spirit that craves. you in the body. Every human being has something of Bacchus, a human soul that can begin the journey of liberation from the shackles of the body, until the original purity of human being is restored.
Demeter
Her name literally means Mother Earth. She is, like Zeus, the daughter of Cronus and Rhea. Zeus entrusted her with the care of the fertility of the land. She taught people how to cultivate the land and brought them laws, which is why she is also called the legislator. In mythology, her symbolism and meaning are most pronounced through her relationship with her daughter Persephone. Demeter had a daughter with Zeus named Persephone or Kore, which means “young girl”. Once, when Persephone was playing with her nymph friends in the meadows of Nysa, the earth opened up in front of her, and from the abyss emerged Hades, the lord of the underworld, and abducted her. Demeter tried to find her daughter, wandering the world, calling out to her, but without success. Finally, the god Helios, the Sun who sees everything on his daily journey through the sky, revealed the secret of her disappearance to her. Demeter leaves. She goes to Olympus and asks Zeus to return her daughter, but Persephone has already tasted the pomegranate, a symbol of marriage, in the underworld, and there is no turning back. Demeter leaves Olympus, disguises herself as an old woman, and neglects her duties in endless sorrow. As she wanders, she reaches Eleusis where she becomes a nanny to the newly born son of King Celeus of Eleusis, without revealing her true identity. Famine and poverty prevail, animals cannot reproduce, fields are barren, people in their misery forget their own gods, no longer worshiping, everything becomes silent. When the situation becomes unbearable, Zeus sends his messenger Hermes to the underworld and an agreement is reached: Persephone will spend two-thirds of the year with her mother and one-third in the underworld with her husband. Demeter then returns to her duties and nature comes back to life. Later, as a gesture of gratitude to Celeus, who welcomed her to his court, Demeter will teach his son Triptolemus the skill of agriculture, and Celeus will commemorate it. to the surface are two different beings. The first Persephone represents innocence and ignorance, while the returning Persephone symbolizes enlightenment and self-awareness. Her journey into the underworld and subsequent return symbolize the cyclical nature of life and the eternal connection between the physical and spiritual realms. Ultimately, the myth of Demeter and Persephone serves as a reminder of the fundamental importance of balance and harmony between the divine and earthly forces for the continuation of life. ajci are not the same: one had to die for the other to be born in a different state of consciousness. Because of that, the initiates in the Eleusinian Mysteries identified themselves with Persephone.
When the myth says that Demeter entrusted Triptolemus with the knowledge of farming, it refers to the knowledge of the mysteries; he thus became the first initiate in Eleusis, with the task of passing on the knowledge to others.
Orphic Mysteries
The story of Orpheus, the ancient founder of Greek religion, begins in Thrace during a time that is difficult to define. It is said that during that dark period, cults of lesser deities dominated. People lived in fear of the lowest forms of witchcraft, terrifying nocturnal orgies, superstitions reigned, and the cults of the gods were degraded. Small communities of priests of solar cults lived in isolation and seclusion. In such an environment, Orpheus was born, who, by his very presence, was a contradiction to the time. He was handsome and his voice had the ability to touch every heart and bring The jeti in harmony. According to one source, he was the son of Apollo’s priestess, and according to another, the son of the Thracian Aegre and Calliope, the muse of epic poetry, which again connects him to Apollo as the leader of the muses.
Orpheus disappeared and everyone thought he was killed. Tradition speaks of his stay in Egypt, where he was initiated among the Egyptian priests. After twenty years, he returns to Greece with a mission to establish mysteries. Orpheus combines Dionysus’ and Zeus’ religion into a unique one. At that time, there were no special temples or buildings where the mysteries would take place. Everything happened outdoors, in nature, in deep valleys, forests, canyons, and underground passages. This knowledge reached the people through poetry and celebrations, and later through mystery theater, especially tragedy. From Thrace, this mystical impulse gradually spread through the Tempe valley and connected with Apollo’s sanctuary in Delphi.
Eleusinian Mysteries
The Eleusinian Mysteries are based on the myth of Demeter and Persephone, who It represents the fate of the human soul. The soul has lost direct contact with the gods, but still carries these forces within itself and can bring them to light from the depths. The mysteries showed a new path to the gods.
The consecration ceremony for the mysteries lasted nine days, of which the first six took place in Athens, and on the seventh day, they moved towards Eleusis, about twenty kilometers away. They would arrive at the sanctuary late in the evening. The consecrations for the first degree took place on the eighth day, and for the second degree on the ninth day.
From the scarce information left to us by the ancient writers, we can only speculate a few things: the initiates “would touch the wings of the goddess,” or “a light like the Eleusinian light would shine in their souls,” or “they became children of the goddess…” Liberation from the fear of the end of physical life was the result of experiencing the mysteries. The goal of the mysteries was to achieve virtue here in this earthly life, as well as faith in the afterlife.
At the end, the initiates took a vow of silence: they were not allowed to speak about what they had experienced.
The Significance of Mysteries
The initiates in the mysteries included individuals such as Solon, who brought laws to Athens, Themistocles, who instilled a belief in victory, Pericles, who demonstrated skill in leading people, Aeschylus and Sophocles, who left us with unparalleled and sublime symbolism of myth, Phidias, Lysippus and Praxiteles, whose vision of divinity was immortalized in stone, Herodotus, Plato, Plutarch, and many others. When Rome conquered Hellas with the sword, and Hellas conquered Rome with culture, emperors such as Augustus, Hadrian, Lucius Verus, Julian, and Galienus were initiated into the mysteries.
The mysteries were directly connected to life, as the experiences in the mysteries sought expression in the world of action. And vice versa: by living life, the initiate had the opportunity to care for their destiny after death.
The goddess went to the kings skilled in the law…
And she showed them…
Her sacred service and taught them the beautiful secrets
…
that are sacred, that no one may trample upon, hear,
or speak of,
for the fear of the gods binds his tongue…
Hymn to Demeter (Homer)
S
Fortunate is he who goes underground after seeing this;
He knows the end of life, and he also knows the beginning given by Zeus.
Pindar
Oh, thrice blessed are those who have seen secrets.
Sophocles
Demeter, you who have nurtured my soul,
Grant me the worthiness to be your confidant.
Aristophanes