Elements of The Religious
Beliefs of The Ancient
Greeks - [cont.]

The worship of the gods in this period assumes a different form and a new element enters into religion, that of mysticism. Faith, in other words, from a simple evolved into a composite form, and the faithful were called upon to partake of mystical sacred rites which purified and at the same time conveyed an eschatological promise, a promise that answered to the needs of the Greek intellect which had sought the secret or mystery of death and the after life, something which had so preoccupied the thoughts of mankind from the very dawn of civilization.

Apollo, Demeter, and Dionysos were the deities of a specially developed religious cult. We will not speak at great length of Apollonian religion in such a brief summary. Apollo and his worship are closely associated with Delphi and that which has been called the Delphic Idea, and suffice it to say here that the Greeks who sought a divine court of justice, an authority above that of man, which could advise them how to act, gave Apollo this responsibility. And Apollo gladly helped mankind both by means of his oracle and [p. 110] through his representatives the seers and the priests of the sanctuary.

In his wisdom [actually that of the priests], Apollo advised all the faithful to worship the gods in accordance to the laws of the cities in which they resided or in accordance with their ancestral traditions. The seers and interpreters of the god of light were clever men who never interfered with the customs and lore of the people or of each city, but allowed the leaders of those cities to apply the existing laws which they had practiced for centuries.

Apollo gave good advice and his counsels were well thought out, for at Delphi had been assembled all the world's intelligence since people had hastened hither not only from Greek lands but from Etruria, and Lydia, and Mesopotamia, and Rome to see the god's advice, revealing at the same time their own secrets. This intelligence was collected and assembled by the priests and passed on orally or in written form to their successors. Thus their knowledge was up to date, grew, and at the same time their wisdom became even greater.

Apollo was also the god of purification and one of his better known duties was the expiation of sin for murder. It was Apollo who cleansed Orestes of the taint of his murder of his mother Clytemnestra, for it was Apollo also who had advised him to avenge the murder of his father. But Apollo [and his priests] soon understood how much it was in their interest that the state or the agencies of justice in the respective cities should assume the punishment of murderers in order that the sons or other kinsmen of the victim not seek to avenge in vendetta fashion the blood so unjustly spilt. Thus the god through the mouth of his priests ordered the states and cities themselves to handle the punishment of the guilty, and they obeyed his counsel by writing down the respective laws regarding murder.

The moral precepts that came from the Delphic oracle, as contained in the maxims 'Know Thyself', and 'Nothing in Excess', are a reflection of the high moral standards of the [p. 111] prophets of the god and the preference for Apollo shown by the worshippers is yet another moral lesson which raised the stature of the deity in the eyes of the faithful.

But the worship of Apollo did not contain the elements of mysticism found in the Demeter cult. The single most important ceremony in honour of the goddess was that known as the Eleusinian Mysteries.

Concerning these Mysteries, in particular the ceremonial and the ritual aspects, we know very little. The secrecy which the initiates were sworn to keep has been indeed well-kept, and no one has ever revealed these rites to the profane or the uninitiated. And it is very striking that anyone could be initiated into the Mysteries provided that he had not fallen into serious sin, whether they be slaves, political leaders, men or women. Of all the persons known in history the only to be refused explicitly although he expressed the wish to be inducted into the Mysteries was Nero, although he was the all-powerful Emperor of the Roman Empire.

Dozens of books have been written by distinguished historians and archeologists and all they could do at best was to speculate on the mystical nature of the cult. Of these conjectures, we should note the most important, the more accepted, once we have spoken of those few aspects of the worship which we know are factual.

In accordance with the beliefs of archeologists and scholars of Greek religion, the ritual of Eleusis had its origins in Mycenaean times. The Mycenaean megaron or palace which has been uncovered in recent years had often been built on the basis of a consistent architectural plan. It was a large square room with pillars supporting the roof and with carved seats in the surrounding stone on three sides, intended for the initiates. This would indicate that the mysteries were performed in the age of the kings and were carried on by the Eleusinian house of the Eumolpidae, the successors of the kings. From the house of the Eumolpidae was chosen the Hierophant or chief priest traditionally for as long as the worship of Demeter lasted at Eleusis.

The deities honoured at Eleusis were four in number consisting of two pairs. The first pair was Demeter and Kore, or put in another way, Mother and Virgin, and the second coupe consisted of the god and goddess. To these two couples were later added heroes so that the divinities became trinities. Thus Triptolemus was added to the first pair and Euboulos to the second.

The priesthood of Eleusis was complicated. The chief priest was the Hierophant who was a member of the house of the Eumolpidae and held the hereditary office for life. The Hierophant was the only one who could reveal to the initiated the mysterious shrines, and was the only person allowed to enter the palace or the earthly residence of the goddess. The Hierophant, with other members of his family, was the person who interpreted the unwritten laws which defined the mysteries and passed the ruling on those cases in which the ceremony had not been properly conducted. His sanctity was so universal that he had the right to set up a statue of himself in the sanctuary and he alone could decide whether a candidate was eligible for acceptance into the mysteries. He was dressed in striking robes, was most imposing in appearance, and when he appeared at the palace as the doors opened wide, he caused a great sensation and much awe on the part of the faithful.

Assistants of the Hierophant were the two high priests who served the goddess and the [p. 112] kore. These were also chosen from the Eumolpidae family and their offices were likewise hereditary.

The priestess of Demeter, another sacred official of nearly equal importance as the Hierophant, was required to be a member of the house of Eumolpidae or the Pheilidae. Her office was also hereditary and she resided in the sacred dwelling which carried her name. She received from each initiate of the greater and lesser Eleusinia an obol, and she acted the parts of Demeter and Kore in the religious ceremony.

In addition to the Hierophant and the priestesses there were minor priests and priestesses such as the Panageis [sacrosancts], women also known as the honey bees who were something in the order of contemporary nuns, the Daduchos or torch bearer, the Hierokeryx or herald, the Exegetae [expounders], Iachhagogos, the Hydranos, Neochoros, and the 'vestal youth'. The latter was either a youth or maiden of very tender age selected from Athens, from an aristocratic family, who was initiated into the mysteries at the expense of the city. According to the belief, this boy or girl represented the 'hopes of the city'.

The candidates for initiation into the mysteries were known as 'mystae' or initiates and were guided by the 'mystagogue' or initiators. The ceremony of the mysteries, the orgies, took place in the 'telesterion' or house of initiation. The initiation fee was high and it would appear that it was over fifteen drachnas. This money was divided among the various priests and officials and included the cost of a swine to be sacrificed by the initiate to the goddess.

The principal deities involved in the mysteries were Demeter, Kore or Persephone, and Pluto or Hades. Euboulos and Triptolemos on the other hand had a very small or almost no part in the mysteries.

The mysteries entailed various stages of initiation. According to the tradition, these were five in number, 1] Purification 2] Instruction in the ritual, mystical communication or communion 3] Exhibition or discovery and looking upon the mysterious shrines 4] Crowning, or placing of the chaplet on the head was the sign of initiation, and 5] The happiness that arises from communion with the goddess. According to other authorities, the stages were three in number, since the fourth belonged in fact to the second and third stages, and the final stage was part of the first and second stage.

The mysteries were divided into the lesser and greater Eleusinia. The former took place in Athens in the early Spring, in the month Anthesterion which corresponded roughly with the middle of the months February and March. The lesser Eleusinia took place on the eastern banks of the Ilissus in Athens. Its ritual is not absolutely known. But we can be rather sure that it was a preliminary to the greater Eleusinia and that at these ceremonies Kore or Persephone was principally honoured, while Demeter accompanied her as a sort of honoured guest. The lesser Eleusinia or the service performed at Agrae, a suburb of Athens, was under the supervision of the Hierophant and probably included the purification rites, hymns, and sacrifices, or perhaps a baptism in the waters of the Ilissus. It is more than likely that the ritual ended with the drinking of the Cyceon or strenghthening potion [see Glossary] that concluded the period of fasting which we can be certain was part of the purification ceremony.

The greater Eleusinia took place every year, but every fourth year was celebrated with special pomp and splendour and was known as the Penteterica [quinquennial]. The greater Eleusinia were celebrated in the month Boedromion which corresponds roughly with our months September-October. In these mysteries all the Greek cities were invited to attend, and later Rome was added. The cities sent representatives to the Eleusinia and for a period of 55 days a truce was declared throughout Greece.

The embassies from the various cities and the initiates gathered in Athens and on the 15th of the month Boedromion the celebrations began. On the 14th, the eve of the opening of the ceremonies, the priesthood of Eleusis carried from the temple of Eleusis with great solemnity the sacred relics of Demeter to Athens, and on the opening day of the celebration the Archon Basileus [see Glossary] exercised a general superintendance over the whole of the public worship and summoned the people to the festive gathering at the Poikile Stoa [Painted Porch]. The first day was known as the 'Agyrmos' on account of the assembly. In the agora or market place the pronouncement was made to the effect that all those who had clean hands and spoke Greek would be eligible for initiation into the mysteries. Barbarians were excluded. In the Roman period, initiation was extended to Romans.

The second day was allotted to further purification when the initiates were summoned to the sea. The neophytes went therefore down to the seashore either at Phaleron or Piraeus and bathed and cleansed themselves in the clear blue waters of the Saronic Gulf and at the same time purified the swine which were to be sacrificial victims to the goddess. The cleansing and purification took place at the sea since according to Greek religion the sea had greater power of cleansing and purification than fresh water.

The third day was one of sacrifice. The Archon Basileus, his deputy, and four supervisors before the representatives of the other cities and the Athenians sacrificed to the goddess of the Eleusinian mysteries and gave prayer for the senate, the demes, and the [p. 114] peoples of the Athenian commonwealth. Following the sacrifices by the Archon Basileus, there came the sacrifices on the part of the embassies of other cities.

The Epidauria were celebrated on the fourth day in honour of Aesclepius to mark his legendary delayed purification. According to the tradition, the god had arrived late from Epidaurus to take part in the Eleusinian Mysteries and when he finally did get to Athens, the ceremonies of the first three days had already taken place. Thus for his sake the announcement, the purification rites, and the sacrifices were repeated. But in this celebration the place of the Archon Basileus was taken by the Eponymous Archon [see Glossary].

The fifth day was devoted to the procession, or the return to Eleusis. The participants gathered at the Dipylon, dressed in their festive garb, and formed a very impressive and magnificent procession in which all the Athenian officials took part with the youths [ephebes] dressed in black mantles, with round shields, and carrying spears on their heads. The neophytes with their initiators, adorned with wreathes of myrtle, and dressed in festive robes, held in their hands the mystical bacchi which were branches of myrtle bound with threads of wool. The procession in the early years moved on foot and the only beast of burden allowed to participate was the donkey which carried the chattels. Later on, however, wagons were permitted to take part in the procession, but this custom was abolished in the 4th Century B.C. Wagons were allowed only for the priests and for transporting the sacred objects of the goddess. The procession moved off from Athens at the crack of dawn with a wooden statue of Iacchos in the lead holding a torch, and wreathed in myrtle, and took the road from the Dipylon to Eleusis which was known a little further out as the Sacred Way, and led down to the sea.

The first stop of the procession was the bridge at the Reitoi lakes [the modern Kumundouru]. There the ceremony of Crocuses took place. The descendants of the mythical Crocus would bind to their left foot and the right hand of those to be initiated in the mysteries a crocus which was a ribbon of saffron-coloured wool which guarded them from the evil spirits.

Before arriving at their destination, the procession passed over the Kifissus stream of Eleusis. On the bridge there awaited them men with their faces covered to avoid recognition, for these men cast invective and taunts against the officials who took part in the procession. These insults were known as 'gefirismoi' or 'bridge insults' and in all likelihood were abominable, the purpose being to humble the lordly and the powerful in order that they would not fall victim to the jealously and envy of the evil spirits.

After this, the procession, with lighted torches [for nightfall had already come] reached the edge of the sacred precinct. There, in accordance to the accepted view, Iacchos was received with cries of joy and was set in place, and the initiates, the initiators, and all the participants in the procession sang and danced the night through to honour the goddess.

On the sixth day, known as the Ritual, the 20th Boedromion, the festivities began at night. The faithful had rested during the day from the long journey, and fasted, cleansed themselves, and made the appropriate sacrifices to the goddesses. The fasting was in memory of that of Demeter who had abstained from food in the course of her search for Persephone, and ended with the drinking of the cyceon or strengthening potion, again in memory of the goddess who has asked for this drink when she had reached Eleusis. [p. 115]

The main sacrifice to Demeter, Persephone, and the other goddesses of Eleusis was made by the Archon Basileus who at the same time prayed for the prosperity and protection of Athens and her people. The ephebes [young men] also made sacrifice.

What precisely took place in the course of the initiation rites is unknown, for the secret has been well kept, and the only source of information one possibly could get was from the initiates themselves, but only that information which was not part of the mysteries.

After performing the sacrifices, the initiates donned their finest garb which they had brought for the purpose and changed their wreaths for fresher ones with ribbons. When the initiators certified that the candidates had fulfilled all the required formalities, they led the neophytes into the temple to begin the ceremony of full initiation.

It appears that the ritual ceremony consisted of three distinct parts, the 'dromena' or the ceremony of seeking the Maiden [Kore] and the sacred representation, the 'deiknyomena' or that ceremony in which the sacred relics and objects were exposed to the initiates, and the 'legomena' or those things that were uttered by the priests and the initiators.

The 'dromena' were performances of the story of Demeter and Persephone. The performance must have been very impressive and in all probability the neophytes were not simple viewers but took part in the drama. Where the 'dromena' actually were performed has preoccupied the scholars at great length. The most probable site was in the Telesterion or house of initiation. Was the performance, however, limited only to the seizure of Persephene, Demeter's wanderings which ended at the very place wherein the initiates were now found, and the reunion of Mother and daughter, or were there other scenes?

According to the views of the great authority on the Eleusinian Mysteries, P. Foucart, the 'dromena' also contain an imaginative journey into the underworld where in the darkness the initiates would have perceived specters which frightened and terrorized them. Thence they would move on to the Elysian Fields where they would see in a mystical light the remarkably blissful and pleasant fields and those happily settled dwellers, in order to obtain some inkling of the happiness that awaited the faithful of the goddess in the future life. But this view is rejected by later scholars who maintain that nowhere, neither in the Telesterion wherein Foucart places the site of the 'journey', nor in any other part of the sacred precinct are there any edifices or subterranean structures which could accommodate [p. 116] the appropriate machinery for an elaboration of the lower world and the appearance of the spectres. The same scholars argue that the fear and terror undergone by the initiates was due to the simple performance of the sacred drama in conjunction with the lighting and blacking out of the sources of light, the hymns, and the prayers.

Some scholars maintain that the 'dromena' also included a performance of the sacred marriage. But this is also rejected by most archeologists who satisfy themselves with the statement that, even if the 'dromena' included other performances or other events, this cannot be proved.

Although we may know a few things about the 'dromena' or the performances, our knowledge of the 'legomena' or those things which were uttered by the priests and imitators is so limited that we must confine ourselves to conjecture only. The archeologists argue that the 'legomena' ceremony was very brief, but it must have been of great significance. Foucart believed that these were instructions given to the neophytes for their entry to the lower world after their death. This was of course of utmost importance to the initiates for it assured them that their 'life' in the next world would be pleasant and free of all worry and cares.

But most archeologists reject such an explanation. On the contrary, they maintain that the 'legomena' must have been ritual formulae which explained to the initiates what precisely was happening before their eyes. They add that these formulae were of great significance, otherwise the priests of the Eleusinian Mysteries would not have required that the initiates understand Greek.

The 'deiknyomena' or the sacred objects and relics which the initiates were exposed to are not known. The most important of these may have been the shrines. The holy of holies was shown to the initiates by the Hierophant [hence the name--he who shows the shrines]. The Hierophant stood before the 'temple' or palace flooded in light before the dazzled eyes of the initiates, and pointed out to them the holy of holies which was so sacred as to preclude the possibility of any initiate revealing the secret to the uninitiated.

The seventh day, on the night of the 21st/22nd Boedromion. After the second day at Eleusis, the initiates rested in preparation for the ritual of the final night of the mysteries. With the disclosure of the sacred altar, the initiation came to an end and the initiate to the second degree in the supervision next went to the Epoptae or supervisors. The supervision was the second and the highest stage of the initiation and always took place a year after the first initiation.

The eighth and final day was spent by the initiates at Eleusis. It was devoted to the dead. Two special vessels known as the 'plemochoe' [see Glossary] were filled with water and the festival was brought to a close by pouring libations from these cups to the earth. The day was named the Plemochoe after the vessels. The remainder of the day was spent by the initiates in dancing and song to honour the goddess.

On the ninth day, the 23rd Boedromion, the initiates were free to return to their homes. The return was not made in procession and each person was free to depart for his city by any means he wished or had available.

Our knowledge of the Eleusinian Mysteries is very limited indeed, and the efforts made to disentangle the mystery which surrounds them have not borne fruit. The last of the [p. 117] Hierophants of Demeter took his secrets with him.

The power and the influence of the Eleusinian Mysteries was due, as the great scholar of Greek religion Professor Nielson says, to the fact that there was no dogma, only sacred practices which elevated the religious fervour. They possessed a myth that touched the deepest chords of human nature.

Human nature was deeply concerned with the after life. The worship of Demeter was full of promise and her hymn was a reminder of these promises. The hymn says somewhere,

'Blessed are those of who on earth
Saw these things [the mysteries] with their own eyes.
But he who has not been initiated and did not
Take part in these, shall never have the same share of goods
In this cold realm of darkness.'

It appears that in the Eleusinian Mysteries the ideas of the underworld played a dominant role. As Aristophanes says in the Frogs, only those who have been initiated and had lived a devout and pious life could expect the sun to shine upon them in the lower regions.

The Eleusinian Mysteries appear to have satisfied absolutely the innermost desires of the human heart, and the initiated returned from Eleusis with the fear of the unknown expunged to a great degree, and with their hopes soaring in the expectation that their lot in the world of the shades would be much better than that of the uninitiated. Sophocles points out,

'Thrice-blessed are those mortals who
Having seen the rituals leave for Hades, for
They can be sure of a good life there. As for
The Others, only evil awaits them.'

Professor G. Mylnas, in his book 'Eleusis and the Eleusinian Mysteries', writes, 'When we read all that the great men of antiquity had said, and when we consider the remarkable edifices and monuments which personalities such as Peisistratus, Kimon, Pericles, Hadrian, Marcus Aurelius, and other had built, we are forced to believe that the Eleusinian Mysteries were not a common immature creation prepared by the priests to deceive the unlettered, the common folk, and ordinary people, but a philosophy of life which contained a meaning and a substance, providing a morsel of truth to the human soul filled with anxiety. This faith becomes even more strengthened when we read in Cicero that Athens gave nothing more remarkable or more divine to the world than the Eleusinian Mysteries'.

And Professor Mylnas concludes, "Let us remember again that the ritual of Eleusis endured some 2000 years and that for two millennia mankind was sustained and ennobled by this ritual. When we recall this fact, we will realize the significance and the meaning of Eleusis, and the worship of Demeter in the pre-Christian era." [p. 118]