5.1 Flashcards
What type of shrine was Eleusis
Panhellenic
How far from Athens was Eleusis
15 miles
Which goddesses are the Eleusinian Mysteries associated with?
How do they relate to one another?
Demeter and Kore (Persephone)
mother & daughter
What did participants in the eleusinion mysteries expect to recieve?
Particular blessings for participation
What is a key source for understanding the mythology underpinning the Eleusinian Mysteries?
Homeric Hymn to Demeter (7th Century)
Within the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, where does Demeter rest in disguise?
King Keleus’ palace at Eleusis
Within the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, what do the gods beg Demeter to do?
End a worldwide drought
Within the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, Who reveals that Zeus had agreed to marry Kore to Hades?
The sun
Within the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, what is the compromise made by Zeus?
Kore will remain with Demeter for 2/3 of the year and Hades for the last (winter)
Who were the Eleusinian mysteries to be kept secret from?
all except initiates
What does the Homeric Hymn to Demeter end with?
Promises to initiates: happiness on earth and in the afterlife; and wealth
What was revealing the Eleusinian mysteries?
a crime
Who was nearly sentenced to execution?
According to who?
What for?
in what?
Aeschylus
Aristotle
revealing the Eleusinian secrets
a play
Later, who did not worry about divulging secrets?
Christian writers
Why are christian writers not fully reliable?
Their agenda was to discredit mystery cults
What was the name for the windowless hall?
Date of earliest form?
and current?
What did it contain?
What was in the middle?
The Telesterion
9th Cent
5th Cent
stands for initiates
a platform called the Anaktoron (regarded as an inner shrine)
Where did Demeter rest?
The Callichoron Well
what is the name for a sacred retaining wall around a cave?
What is significant about it?
Ploutoneion
It is where Hades (pluto) is believed to have appeared
What were the conditions for being initiated into the Eleusinian mysteries? (2)
What is the source for this?
Had to speak Greek
Could not have been polluted by bloodguilt (murder)
Aristophanes’ Frogs
An inscription from what yaer details the initiation process?
c.460BC
What should be gone through in spring, according to a 460BC inscription?
And in autumn?
And a year later?
To?
by?
The ‘lesser mysteries’
‘Great Mysteries’
return to Eleusis
complete the initiation process
repeating the same ceremonies as before but in a different role
At the Great Mysteries:
intiates where purified where?
then walked to where?
wearing what?
As shown in what?
Following what?
Athens
Eleusis
Myrtle leaves
The Ninnion Tablet
a statue of lacchus
When did they arrive in the Great Mysteries?
what was there?
suggested in which Aristophanes play?
evening
revelling
Frogs
What does Aristotle think happens after the revelling?
What is likely?
the initiates do not learn but experience something
Some sort of search for Kore
What was the lead priest called?
Meaning?
hierophant
demonstrater of sacred things
What was the revelation called?
meaning?
the epopteia
viewing
A search for Kore is likely, fitting the evidence of the homeric hymn and what else?
apparent darknes of the windowless telesterion
Who also points to a search for Kore?
Specifically?
Year?
said?
Christian writers
Lactantius
4th Century AD
‘Persephone is sought with lighted torches’
Who suggests a drama involving blindfolds is possible?
Why?
Clinton (2010)
Mystes - meaning initiate - can have the sense of blindfolding
What does the Homeric Hymn promise to initiates?
ploutos (wealth)
Who says that a birth is enacted with an ear of corn in a secret ceremony?
Hippolytus, A christian writer, 3rd Century
What do Parker (2005) and Clinton think?
the child born in the secret ceremony may be ploutos (wealth) associated with agriculture (the ear of corn)
What did Parker (2005) and Clinton think the ceremony symbolised?
The renewed life enjoyed by the earth after Demeter’s reunion with Kore
Which prescribed source was found at Eleusis?
Year?
The Ninnion Tablet
c.370BC
Who are the two left facing females on the Ninnion tablet?
Goddesses
Who seems to be arriving on the Ninnion tablet?
What do they have with them?
Travelling initiates
Staffs and sacks
Who is the central male figure likely to be
Iacchus
Who thinks that the bottom row shows arrival at eleusis?
Clinton (2010)
What does Clinton think about the Ninnion tablet?
If he is right, what does it tell us about the content of the mysteries themselves?
The bottom row shows arrival at eleusis, Demeter seated. Top row shows Demeter reunited with Kore
Nothing.
What did Tiverios (2008) think about the Ninnion tablet?
sees whole thing as an arrival scene only
Who sees the Ninnion tablet as an arrival scene only?
Tiverios (2008)
What does Simon (1983) think about the Ninnion tablet?
it is to do with the Haloa festival and is unrelated to the mysteries
Who thinks the Ninnion tablet is about another festival and unrelated to the mysteries?
Simon (1983)
What does Mitropoulos (2017) think about the Ninnion tablet?
it shows the revelation of the secret.
Who thinks the Ninnion tablet shows the revelation of the secret?
Mitropoulos et al (2017)
Why is Mitropoulos’ view unlikely?
the prohibition againt revealing the mysteries
Which elements of the Eleusinian mysteries must have made them special for the individual? (3)
focused on drama, prepared for over period of time, shrouded in secrecy
Which promises were personal to individuals?
a blessed afterlife and wealth in this life
What did Aristophanes’ Frogs suggest about personal experience of the divine?
one needed to behave properly towards other, not just be initaited, to obtain afterlife blessings
What did CLINTON think the reunion of Demeter and Kore was a symbol of?
death and rebirth into a glorious afterlife
