CHAPTER III

THE MYSTERIES OF ELEUSIS
The most important of the Greek Mysteries are those of Demeter Kore, of which the type par excellence is to be found in the mysteries of Eleusis, and the Bacchic mysteries. The latter were of a cruder and less exalted type, being spoken of with contempt by many writers of the philosophical age of Greece, whereas the former were regarded with universal reverence and respect.
It seems certain that the Greek cult of Demeter Kore is a modification of the Egyptian legend of Isis and Osiris, which in itself was an adaptation of an Eastern idea, altered by the Egyptians before being transmitted to the Greeks in the early dawn of history, and modified again by the latter to a form more consonant with the beauty-loving soul of the race. These transmissions of the religious idea have been confirmed by excavations1. The historic period of Eleusis begins not earlier than the sixth century B.c.
Since the mysteries formed part of the corporate life of Greece, and especially of Athens, and since the deities of the mysteries, Demeter, Kore or Persephone, with the ravisher Plouton (Pluto) in the background, are members of the pantheon of Greece in much the same way as other gods and goddesses, it may be difficult to understand why their worship should be shrouded in mystery. The answer probably lies partly in the folk customs of ancient and pre¬ historic times, and partly in the nature of the gods and goddesses worshipped. The rites of initiation, by which the youth of a tribe are admitted to manhood or citizenship, are of very ancient origin and are found in almost every 1 See specially G. Foucart, Les Mysteres d'lileusis, Paris, 1914.
12
FAMOUS SECRET SOCIETIES
civilization of which we have knowledge. The mysteries of Eleusis were almost certainly at first a tribal rite of the latter kind. Then Eleusis was conquered and absorbed by Athens, and the conception of the kinship necessary for initiation was extended to include Athenians and, later, in the days of the Athenian hegemony, all Hellenic races. It is worth noting at this point, however, that by the time of the conquest the mysteries must have already enjoyed more than merely local prestige, or they would almost certainly have been either absorbed or suppressed in favour of the worship of Athena, instead of which they persisted and became the official religion of the Attic state, tending rather to displace this worship than to be absorbed by it. This probably arose from the fact that the worship of Demeter, who is regarded as the earth-mother and the patroness of fertility of all kinds, was general in some form throughout the Hellene states, and blended with or absorbed the even older worship of Gasa, or Ge, an earlier form of earth-goddess. Athena, on the other hand, was too localized and too attached to the interests of a particular state to render her cult capable of wide extension.
The other principal reason for the secrecy of the cult lay in the connection of its deities with the underworld of the departed spirits, and the consequent danger which might be supposed to lie in incautious approach to them. Quite apart from its magical significance as an agriculture myth, the rape of Kore by Plouton, her descent into and resurrec¬ tion from the lower world, gave to her and her mother a peculiar connection with that world and a peculiar right to influence over the lot of the human soul after death.
The mysteries were exoteric and esoteric, the Lesser and the Greater. The mysta received the Lesser and six months later the Greater. If he wished to become an epopt, he took another degree at least a year later. Every Greek, whatever his social class, might be initiated as a mysta, and in the later times of the cult this privilege was also extended to bar¬ barians, but the number of epopts was always very limited.1
1 There is some evidence that at one time, after the conquest by Athens, the city attempted to render the Eleusinian mysteries the centre of a Hellene
THE MYSTERIES OF ELEUSIS 13
Even when Christianity became the state religion the initiations were continued. After the death of Julian the Apostate, Valentinian (ob. a.d. 374) wished to destroy the mysteries, but revoked his order at the request of Pretex- tatus, proconsul in Greece, “who represented to him that the Greeks would consider life as insupportable, were they not permitted to celebrate those most holy mysteries which bind together the human race.”* 1 This was but a short reprieve, however, for the mysteries were finally suppressed in the reign of Theodosius the Great (ob. a.d. 395).
This persistence of the cult in face of Christian opposition is one sign of how deeply it had entered into the national life; another is that if the secrets of the mysteries were ever revealed the traitor thereupon became liable to death and his goods to confiscation. Aeschylus, having been accused of revealing some part of the mysteries, only escaped punishment by proving he had not been initiated. Aristotle was forced into exile on an accusation of having committed the same crime. Of a certain philosopher, one Diagoras, more will be heard later.
The preparation of a candidate for initiation consisted for the most part in abstaining from certain kinds of food. Moral and physical purity was required, but a not too exacting connotation of the term accorded with the Greek ideas.
The Lesser Mysteries took place in the spring at Athens. The Greater Mysteries lasted for several days at Eleusis, and it was impossible to attend these ceremonies in any other place. This law had its advantages and disadvantages for the cult. It added to the fame of the temple and to its revenues, but restricted the initiates to the classes which could afford to dispose of a certain amount of time and money. It rendered propaganda impossible, so that the mysteries could not become a world religion, and were handicapped in competing with those of Isis, Mithra, and the Mother of the gods, Cybele.
cult. Two inscriptions of b.c. 450 or earlier announce one a three-months’ truce to allow the journey to Eleusis to be made in safety, and the other that offerings for the mysteries are invited from all the Hellene communities. The universal character of the mysteries, however, survived the Athenian hegemony.
1 Zozimus, History , Bk. IV.
14 FAMOUS SECRET SOCIETIES
The administration of the mysteries was in the hands of two families, the Eumolpidce and the Kerykes, of whom the former at least, in spite of the fact that the mysteries had become the state religion of Athens, were certainly Eleusin- ian. They survived as a hieratic caste down to the time of Plutarch, and the offices held by them, including that of hierophant, who alone could enter the inner shrine of the mysteries and exhibit the holy symbols to the mystae, were more important than those held by the Kerykes, and more¬ over carried with them a broad jurisdiction in social and religious offences throughout the Attic state.
The principal officers directing the ceremonies were the Hierophant, always chosen from the Eumolpidae, and hold¬ ing his office for life; the Dadoukos, the Torch-bearer, chosen from the Kerykes, also for life; the Hierokerux or Sacred Herald; and the Priestess of Demeter, who was chosen from the family of Philleides, and always resided at Eleusis within the temple enclosure.1 There were many others who call for no notice here. Considerable revenues were attached to all these posts.
As for the public part of the ceremonies, there were pro¬ cessions in which statues of the goddesses and various sacred objects were carried from Athens to Eleusis, the march being delayed and diversified by many ceremonies of a religious character. Finally, in the evening the uninitiated were called upon to withdraw from the precincts of the temple, and the mystical rites began. All we have been told by witnesses is that the mystae and epopts assembled outside the hall in the darkness, and waited for the doors to be opened. They were left waiting for a long time. At last light appeared shining through orifices in the temple-roof, and then the Torch-bearer appeared to bid them enter. The rest was silence.
This silence has, however, been broken by the researches of scholars. Clement of Alexandria (ob. 220) devoted a long passage to describing the mysteries, and since it has formed
1 It has not been determined whether the Hierophant and Chief Priestess had to be celibate. If this was not the case, they were on occasions, as will be seen later, obliged to enforce a temporal impotency by the use of hemlock.
THE MYSTERIES OF ELEUSIS 15
the basis on which much constructive criticism and research have increased our knowledge, it will now be quoted in full.
“Now, for it is time, I shall attack your orgies, full of deceptions and magic spells. If you are numbered among the initiated, you will the better recognize the ridiculousness of the fables for which you profess so much admiration. Why should I hesitate to declare openly what you conceal? Why should I blush to speak of what you are not ashamed to adore?
“Let us begin with Aphrodite, the goddess born of the foam of the sea, or if you like, the daughter of Cypre, the lover of Cinyras, of whom the poet says that she loves that from which she has sprung, alluding to the mutilation of Uranus and to that lascivious power which, even cut from the body, was able to do violence to the floods. Let us speak, then, of Aphrodite, worthy fruit of this impure seed. In the mysteries of this sea-born voluptuary, a lump of salt bears witness to the origin of the goddess, and the phallus is the emblem which teaches the mystae the art of adultery; moreover, these latter offer to Venus a piece of money, even as lovers do to a courtesan.
“I shall speak then of the mysteries of Demeter or Deo, of the love embraces that joined Jupiter with Deo his mother, of her rage against, which shall I say?. . . her son or her spouse. I shall recall the fact that because of this rage she was named Brimo, nor forget Jupiter’s expiatory sacrifice, nor the drink whereby he calmed the fury of Deo, nor the heart torn (from Dionysus), nor any similar infamous deed. All these are found in the mysteries which the Phrygians celebrate in honour of Attis, of Cybele and of the Corybantes; for does not everyone know that Jupiter tore out the twin organs of a ram and cast them in Deo’s lap as the lying pretence of a self-inflicted punishment for the outrage he had committed on her, as though he had muti¬ lated himself? In order to omit nothing, I add the sacra¬ mental words of this portion of the mystery, well knowing that they will make you smile, although the revelations I am
1 Clement of Alexandria (ob. circa 220) on the Mysteries of Eleusis (from the Proreptikos) .
l6 FAMOUS SECRET SOCIETIES
about to offer should not put you in any jesting humour:
‘ I have eaten from the drum ; I have drunk from the cymbal ; I have carried the cernos ; I have glided into the nuptial chamber .’ Are not these words absurb? What folly such mysteries !
“But my tale is not at an end. Deo becomes a mother, Kore comes to maturity, and thereupon Jupiter couples with Proserpine (Kore), his own daughter, after the rela¬ tions he had had with Deo, her mother and his; yea, as though he had forgotten his first act of incest, Jupiter deflowers Kore after having begotten her; to accomplish which deed he changes himself into a serpent and enlaces his daughter in his coils, a serpent in very deed!1 ‘The God Who Passes Through the Body’ (ho dia kolpon theos) is also the pass-word ( sumbolon ) used in the mysteries of Sabazius. So they style the serpent which glides through the folds of the initiates’ garments as if to remind them of Jupiter’s lewdness. However, Proserpine gives birth to a son shaped like a bull; to which birth an idolatrous poet alludes in the words: ‘The bull is son of the dragon, the dragon is father of the bull, it is the mysterious goad wielded by the ox-herd that the Bacchantes brandish in their hands.’ Meaning, I suppose, by the mysterious goad the narthex.
“If you like, I shall tell you how Proserpine was gathering flowers when Pluto carried her off, of how the earth opened and the swine of Eubuleus were swallowed up with the goddess, by reason of which in the Thesmophoria little holes are dug in the ground and little pigs thrown into them. It must be seen to be believed with what a variety of celebrations Thesmophoria, Scirophoria, Arrhephoria, the women march through the city in honour of this fable, and how many methods they find of bewailing the rape of Proserpine !
“Men are excluded from all these ceremonies; but the mysteries of Dionysus are foreign to human nature. While he was still a child the Curetes moved in a dance round his cradle, arms in hand, which did not prevent the Titans from getting access to him by a trick, when having attracted
1 i.e. in the Christian sense, as symbol of Satan.
THE MYSTERIES OF ELEUSIS 17
the young god by means of childish toys they tore him in pieces. . . . To show the trifling nature of this mystery it will be well to make known its emblems: knuckle-bones, ball, shoe, apple, top, mirror and woollen doll. However, Minerva carries off the heart of Dionysus (and because she carried this palpitating heart in her hands she is named Pallas) while the Titans are placing a caldron on the fire and throwing into it their victim’s limbs. . . . Jupiter punishes the Titans by striking them with his thunderbolt, and gathering up the limbs of Dionysus he orders his son Apollo to bury them. The latter, obeying Jupiter, carries the objects wherewith he is entrusted to Parnassus and pays funeral honours to the mangled corpse of the young god.
“ If you wish [to get at the origin of this fable], you must be present as an Epopt at the mysteries of the Corybantes. The Corybantes were three brothers ; one of them was slain by the other two, who having wrapped up the dead man's head in a purple cloth carried it on a bronze buckler to the foot of Mount Olympus where, after having crowned it, they buried it. In a word, this is the whole mystery: an assassination and a burial ! The priests of this cult and their followers wishing to heighten the miraculous part of this adventure, forbid the use of celery as a food, saying, this plant sprang from the blood of the slain Corybant. For a similar reason the women who take part in the Thesmo- phoria abstain from eating the seeds of the pomegranate; for they think that this fruit originated from the blood- drops of Dionysus scattered on the ground.
“Call the Corybantes Cabeiri, and you will have the Cabiric mystery. The Cabeiri also killed their brother; but in this case it is not the head but the phallus of Dionysus that they gather up in a basket; merchants in a new kind of wares, they carry this precious freight to Tvrrhenia, and there these runagates establish a truly respectable school of religion, teaching the Tyrrhenians to adore a phallus in a basket; so it is not without reason that some would like to give the name of Attis to Dionysus after his mutilation.
“And why should we be astonished that barbarians such as the Tyrrhenians should allow themselves to be taught
l8 FAMOUS SECRET SOCIETIES
such shameful legends in their initiation, when the Athenians and the rest of the Greeks, I am ashamed to say, have adopted myths so debased as that of Deo? Deo, wandering in search of her daughter Kore, arrives at Eleusis, a town in Attica, and to rest herself after her toils sits down on the margin of a well displaying all the signs of grief. To sit down, as the goddess did, in a similar place would be to imitate the mourning of Ceres (Deo), and that is why the initiated are advised to avoid doing such a thing.1
“Eleusis had as inhabitants at this time the original natives, Baubo, Eumolpus the shepherd, Triptolemus the cowherd, and Eubuleus the swineherd . . . whence came the families from whom the Athenians chose their hierophants. How¬ ever, not to interrupt my story, Baubo receives Deo into her house, and offers her the drink known as cyceon. But the goddess, overmastered by her grief, pushes away the cup, and refuses to drink; then Baubo, annoyed at this disdain¬ ful treatment, raises her garments and displays her com¬ plete nudity to Deo. The brow of the goddess grows unwrinkled at this sight, and having been moved to laughter she decides to accept the offered drink.
“That is what Athens hides in her mysteries (and do not seek to deny it) for I have on my side the description given by Orpheus. I shall quote you his verses, so as to produce as witness against such infamous proceedings the mysta- gogue in his own person:
‘“Saying these words, she raised her tunic, and showed in full view the lower part of her body which women con¬ ceal; beside her was Iacchus, the child, who, laughing, patted with his hand the part below Baubo’s bosom; at this sight Deo could not refrain from laughing, and she took the cup adorned with paintings wherein they had poured the cyceon.'1
“ [To this event refer] the sacramental words ( sunthema ) of the mysteries of Eleusis: ‘I have fasted; I have drunk the cyceon ; I have taken in the basket, and after work I have placed in the calathos, then from the calathos in the basket.’
1 Lenormant suggests that part of the irritation ceremonial copied this attitude of the goddess, whence the real reason for the prohibition.
THE MYSTERIES OF ELEUSIS 19
“What an admirable spectacle, and how suitable for a goddess !
“Initation worthy of the night (in which it is celebrated), worthy of the fire (kindled during it), worthy of the great heart or rather of the stupendous folly of the Erechthides, conjointly with the rest of the Greeks, who expect after death a lot very different from that which is awaiting them. Heraclitus of Ephesus predicted that the world would become the prey of flames, but to whom does this prophecy apply, if not to these night-birds, Bacchantes, magicians, maenads or initiates? The threat is meant for them, for nothing can be more impious than the mysteries they celebrate. It is a law without value, a vain opinion, and the mystery of the dragon is only a lie. The initiation attached to it is opposed to the true initiation, and is the work of men devoted to a false piety, and is without any real holiness. Nor have the mystic baskets more real worth than the rest. For I must unveil the sacred objects that they enclose and reveal the secret: cakes of sesame and wheaten flour, bannocks and biscuits with many pro¬ tuberances on their surfaces, lumps of salt, and a serpent, that is the stock-in-trade of Dionysus Bassareus; add to these, pomegranates and amulets shaped like a heart, rods and wreaths of ivy; nor forget the cheese-cakes and quinces; is not that all? This list resembles that of the mysterious symbols of Themis (considered as presiding over the Thesmophoria), a sprig of marjoram, a lamp, a knife, and above all a comb, which is as much as to say, in euphemistic and mysticaf language, the sexual parts of a woman.
“Formerly modesty counselled men to spread the silent veil of night over their pleasures; in actual fact, incon¬ tinence is displayed to the initiates during the sacred night, and the flame carried by the torch-bearer reveals our weaknesses. Quench this fire, O Hierophant; O Torch- bearer, blush for thy torches; for by means of them Iacchus is put to shame; allow the night to conceal the mysteries from every eye; render to the orgiastic revels the homage of darkness, for fire should not play the part of revealing those deeds which it is destined to punish!”
20 FAMOUS SECRET SOCIETIES
Charles Lenormant, in discussing this passage from Clement,1 has pointed out that it forms a complete unity in itself, is in a different style from his usual writing, and contains no quotations except from very old poems. He therefore concludes that Clement took this description from some pagan or philosophic source, and suggests for this a book known to have been written by Diagoras of Melos, a philosopher who spoke against the mysteries and thereby deterred many from seeking initiation, for which reason the Athenians would have brought him to trial. Diagoras saved himself by flight, and the Athenians set the price of a talent of gold upon his head. These events happened circa b.c. 429-23.
Whether Lenormant is right or wrong in attributing this fragment to Diagoras, there is little doubt that it does contain a great deal of esoteric matter from the mysteries. The rites seem to fall into three degrees or mystical dramas.
First: The fable of the institution of Agriculture, Demeter teaching men the cultivation of corn as a reward for their hospitality.
Secondly: The loves of Jupiter and Deo and Proserpine.
Thirdly : the mystic union of the Hierophant and Priestess with the intervention of Venus.
With these conclusions Monsieur G. Foucart {Op. cit) is more or less in agreement. He considers, however, that the allusions to the tympanum and cymbal refer to the mysteries of Cybele, whose worship was brought to Athens about b.c. 430; and he quotes Firmicus Maternus, who repeated the phrase in the text and completed it by the words: “I have become the mysta of Attis.” Lenormant, on the other hand, found in the tympanum the symbol of Jupiter’s incest with Deo; in the cymbal, his incest with Proserpine; and in the cernos,2 the emblem of Dionysus being torn to pieces by the Titans.
There is another passage about which these two scholars
1 Memoirs sur les representations qui avaient lieu dans les mysteres d Eleusis,
Academie des Inscriptions XXIV yjiSx).. _ _ _
2 The cernos was usually an earthenware vase, but that of Eleusis was a sieve or winnowing-basket.
THE MYSTERIES OF ELEUSIS 21
disagree. Foucart translates it : “I have fasted ; I have drunk the cyceon1; I have taken from the ciste2 and after having tasted have put in the calathos;3 I have taken again from the calathos and put into the ciste.” He finds here an allusion to a sacramental meal. Lenormant thinks it refers to a mystical cultivation of the Elysian Fields: “I have taken from the ciste the mystical seed, and after having laboured the earth have put the harvest in baskets, which I have again put into the ciste.”
There is undoubtedly room for diversity of opinion.
There remains to be discussed the curious passage, “I have glided into the nuptial chamber.” The best author¬ ities refer this to a part of the ceremonies, probably at the very end, when Venus would make her appearance, to be followed by the symbolic coupling of the Hierophant with the Priestess in the pastos. The representation was merely emblematical, not actual; and to ensure the rites against any violation of purity (nominally an indispensable con¬ dition in every participator in the ceremonies), both Heirophant and Priestess are said to have previously rendered themselves incapable of coition by means of draughts of hemlock. Whatever precautions might be taken, however, to introduce such an incident into the drama of the ritual was to challenge attack from religious opponents, who would ascribe to it anything but an innocent purpose. This is how the Christians saw the matter4:
“Are not the mysteries of Eleusis the most important part of thy creed? Do not the Athenians and all Greece flock together to celebrate these vain ceremonies? Is it not in them that one finds the darkened haunt where that intercourse of such good repute takes place between Hiero¬ phant and Priestess, the twain being quite alone? Are not all the torches extinguished there, while an innumerable
1 cyceon, a mixture of water, meal, honey, wine and cheese, flavoured with wild mint.
2 ciste, a cylindrical wicker basket with a cover.
1 calathos , a wicker basket spreading out at the top. These baskets were used to contain cakes.
‘Asterius, quoted by Foucart, Op. cit. p. 477.
22 FAMOUS SECRET SOCIETIES
crowd (of the initiated) stands awaiting its salvation from what is being done in the darkness by these two persons?”
As for the epoptai who formed the aristocracy of the cult, Saint Hippolytus, writing in the third century, is the only person who has given us a description of any of the ceremonies attaching to the grade of epopt.
The Athenians in the initiation of Eleusis display to the epopts the great, the admirable, the most perfect mystery of the supreme degree ( epoptikon ) : an ear of corn reaped in silence.”
The reference here to Demeter, who gave men the gift of corn, is unmistakable.
Some comment is now called for on the Arrhephoria, etc., mentioned by Clement in his attack. These were purely Athenian festivals, and his references to them were meant to cut Athenian superstition to the quick.
The Thesmophoria was the most important as well as the oldest and most wide-spread festival of Demeter, con¬ sidered as the goddess of agriculture and civilization. It was by no means confined to Athens.
“Thesmophorus,” law-bringer, is another title of the goddess, implying that laws are the natural outcome of society’s transition from the nomadic to the agricul¬ tural stage. In Athens this festival lasted for three days. Only married women were admitted and initiated.
The first day commemorated the kathodos, the descent of Kore to the underworld, and was characterized by a pro¬ cession through the city. On the second day the women taking part fasted, and sat around on the ground in attitudes of mourning, probably thus commemorating the absence of Kore in Hades. On the third day all the women resumed their cheerful demeanour, and spent the remainder of the festival in invoking the goddess to send them handsome children. At one point in the ritual the women gave them¬ selves up to mutual revilings; and at another they cast into a deep pit in the temple various objects, all apparently made of pastry, pigs, the female pudenda, serpents and pine-branches, and all alike emblems of fecundity. The debris of these offerings was afterwards collected from the
THE MYSTERIES OF ELEUSIS 23
pits and burnt on the altars, after which the ashes were re¬ moved to be mixed with seed-corn to ensure a good crop in the ensuing year.
An abstinence from sexual intercourse for a period of nine days was obligatory on those taking part in the festival. Many theories have been put forward to account for the ex¬ clusion of men from it, including the doubtful one of a matriarchal origin of the Greek polity, but the most plausible suggestion likens it to other early ceremonies performed by women because they were held to possess the stronger magic.
One more piece of ritual remains to be mentioned. At the conclusion of the Eleusinian mysteries the congregation was dismissed with the words Kogx Om Pax, which were long held to be inexplicable. _ It was finally pointed out1 that they are really pure Sanskrit, 'and are used by the Brahmins to this day in the form Ganscha, Om, Pacsha. The first signifies the object of our most ardent wishes; the second is used like amen; the third means change, course, duty, and is used in particular after pouring out water in honour of the gods.
On a muster of all the evidence the ritual of the Eleusinian mysteries may be stated to have consisted in the probable elements of a ceremonial meal, the representation of one or two mystery dramas, the exhibition of certain sacred ob¬ jects, after which came the logos (word), an address by the Hierophant. Although there is little evidence about the contents of this last, it is probable that, while the custom of the time or place might decide its subject and make it either a mere recital of ritual requirements or an attempt at a wider moral teaching, in many cases, there may have been a standard ritual.
The moral influence of the mysteries has been a matter of great controversy, at least in as far as the Eleusinian mysteries are concerned, for though most of the philosophers and serious writers of Greece tend to regard the Dionysiac worship, with its magical practices and unrestrained orgies, as debasing, all alike are agreed that the Eleusinian are
By Captain Wilford in Asiatic Researches , 1 798.
24
FAMOUS SECRET SOCIETIES
ennobling and purifying. On the other hand it seems doubtful whether any moral teaching were regularly or systematically given, though there may have been some in the preparation for initiation, and individual hierophants may have included moral precepts in their discourses, especially later in the history of the cult. The purity en¬ joined was probably, at least at first, ritual purity alone. There was little attempt to make a moral scrutiny of the candidates, though occasionally persons who were notori¬ ously guilty of serious crimes were denied admission; and it seems fair to add here that in the Samothracian mysteries some form of confessional discipline seems to have been enforced. The Amphictyonic decree of the second century b.c. does, on the other hand, speak of the mysteries as enforcing the lesson that “the greatest of human blessings is fellowship and mutual trust,” but it is possible that this refers more to the effect of the ceremonies than to any explicit teaching. The safest guide is probably Aristotle, who says that “ the initiated do not so much learn anything as feel certain emotions, and are put into a certain frame of mind.” If that frame of mind tended to make them better citizens, the rites were justified of their existence.