Dictionary of Greek and Roman antiquities. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

VLEUSINIA. ELEUSINTA. 4.53
At the time when the locai governments of the remsiled during the solemnities in the vestibule.
several townships of Attica were concentrated at (Seneca, Qzuaest. N1at. vii. 31.)
Athens, the capital became also the centre of reli- The great mysteries were celebrated every yeargion, and several deities who had hitherto only en- in the month of Boedromilion duri-ng ninre days,
joyed a local worship, were nowraised to the rank from the 15th to the 23d (Plut. Delseft,. 26
of national gods. This seems also to have been Meursius, Eleuesin. c. 21); both at Athens and
the case with the Eleusinian goddess, for in the Eleusis. The initiated were called E'7rdiral or
reign of Theseus we find mention. of a temple at Epuvpol. (Srlidas, s. v.) On the first day, those
Athens, called Eleusinion (Thucyd. ii. 17), pro- who had been initiated in the lesser Els usiiia,.
bably the new and national sanctuary of Demeter. assembled at Athens, whence its name was
Her priests and priestesses now became naturally yvpedr (Hesychll. s..); but strallners who wished,
attached to the national temple of the capital, to witness the celebration of' these nation:Il s(thousgh her original place of worship at Eleusis, lemnities likewise visited Atlens in greatt nnilllers.
with which so many sacred associations were con- at this season, and we find it expressly stated:
nected, still retained its importance and its special that Athens was crowd ed with visitors on the
share in the celebration of the national solemnities; occasion. (Maxim. Tyr. Dissrwt. 33. sl/h fi/.;
and thougth, as we shall see hereafter, the great Philostrat. Vit. Apoll. iv. 6.) On the secomld day:
Eleusinian festival was commenced at Athens, yet the mystae went in solemn procession to the seaa numerous procession always wvent, on a certain coast, where they underwent a puriification. HIence'day, to Eleusis: it was here that the most solemn the day was called "AXa3e uo-rai,- probably the
part of the sacred rites was performed. conventional phrase by which the sarystae were in.We must distinguish between the greater Eleu- vited to assemble for the purpose, (Hesyah. s.
sinia which were celebrated at Athens and Eleusis, Polyaen. iii. 11.) Suildas (s. v.'Ptrol: collmpare
and the lesser which were held at Agrae on the Panus. i. 38. ~ 2.) mentions two rivulets, called
Ilissus. (Steph. Byz, s, v.'Aypa.) From the tra- PeEtvoi, as the place to which the mystae awenlt in
dition respecting the institution of the lesser Eleu- order to be purified. Of the third dtaL scarcely
sinia, it seerns to be clear, that the initiation into anything is known with certainty; we only learn
the Eleusinian mysteries was originally confined to from Clemens of Alexandria (Potreipt. p. 11, ed..
Atticans only; for it is said that Heracles, before Potter) that it was a day of fasting, and that in
descending into the lower world, wished to be ini- the evening a frugal meal was taken, which con'
tiated, but as the law did not admit strangers, the sisted of cakes made of sesame and honey.
lesser Eleusinia were instituted in order to evade Whether sacrifices were offered on this day, as
the law, and not to disappoint the-great benefactor~ Meursius supposes, is uncertain; but that which
of Attica. (Schol. ad Alristopls. Plut. 846.) Other he assigns to it consisted of two kinds of sea-fish
legsends concerning the initiation of Heracles do (rTpiyAX- and jualv's, Athen. vii. p. 32.5), and of
not mention the lesser Eleusinia, but merely state cakes of barley grown in the Rharian plain. (Pains
that hle was adopted into the family of one Pylius, i. 38. ~ 6.) It may be, however, that this sacriinii order to beconle lawfully intitled to the initia- flee belonged to the fourth day, on which also the
tion. But both traditions in reality express the ca Ad0os KctdO3OS seems to have taken place. This
same tling, if we suppose that the initiation of was a procession with a basket containing pomeHI-eracles was only the first stage ir the real, ini- granates and poppy-seeds; it was carried on a
tiation; for the lesser Eleusinia were in reality waggon drawn by oxeli, amd women followed with
only a preparation (qr.potcdaOapTs, or 7rpoy'sEv0rrts) small mystic cases iii their hands. (Callim. /Hyms.
for the real mysteries. (Schol. ad Aristopi7.h 1. c.) in Cer.; Virg. G(eog. i. 166; Meursius, L. c. 25.)
After the time when the lesser Eleusinia are said On the fifth day, which appears to have been
to have been instituted, we no longer hear of the called the torch day (s'1 -wt X[a/uardwv. &oesjpa), the
exclusion of any one from the mysteries, except mystae, led by the a3o0q;xos, went in the evening
barbarians; and I-terodotus (viii. 65) expressly with torches to tile temple of Demeter at Eleuisis
states, that any Greek who wished it, might be where they seem to have remained during the
initiated. The lesser Eleusinia were held every following night. This rite rasprobably asymbolih
syear in the month of Anthesterion (Plut. Deussetr. cal representation of Demeter wvandering abomit'26), and, accordinig to some accounts, in honour of in search of Persephone, The sixth day, cailed
Persephone alone. Those who were initiated in Ialchos (Hesych. s. v.'IaecXo'-), was the most
theln bore the name of mystae (pif'Oal, Suidas, s. v. solemn of all. The statue of Iakchos, son of'Esriar-T7s), and had to wait at least another year Denmeter, adorned wvith a garland of myrtle and
before they caould be admitted to the great mys- bearing a torch in his halnd,. was carried along the
teries. The principrd rites of this first stage of sacred road (Plut. Alcib. 34; Etymol. Magn., and
initiation consisted in the sacrifice of a sow, which Suidas, s,.'Iepa'O8's) samidst joyous shouts
the mystae seem to have first wvashed in the Can- (iaieXi(esv) and songs, from the Cerameicus to
tharns (Aristoph. Acsarns. 703, with the Schol. Eleusis. (Aristoph. Ran. 315, &c.; Plut. Pho720, and Pacia, 368; Varro, De Re Rust. ii. 4; cion, 28, and Valcken. ad HIerod. viii. 65.)
Plut. Plsoc. 28), and in the purification by a priest, This solemn procession was accompanied by great
iwho bore the nalme of ITydranos. (Hesych. s. v. numbers of followers and spectators, and the'Trpavo's; Poly aen. v. 17.) The raystae had also story related by Herodotus is founded on the
to take an oath of secrecy, which was administered supposition that 30,000 persons walking alon,
to them by the mystagogus, also called iepopriv77s the sacred road on this occasion was nothitng
or rpopirgTs: they received some kind of pre- uncoummon. During the night from the sixth ta
paratory instruction, which enabled them after- the seventh day the mystae remained at EIeuwards to understand the mysteries which were sis, and were initiated into the last mysteries
revealed to them in the great Eleisinia; they wvere (Iro7rTe[a). Those who were neither e'ror'ar
not admitted into the sanctuary of Demeter, but wnor,rm w ere sent awyay by a herald. The
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