lesson 2- evidence/sources for the eleusinian mysteries

Question 1

We get our word ‘mystery’ from the Greek word ‘mysterion’ - what does ‘mysterion’ literally mean?

Answer 1

a ceremony or place of initiation

Question 2

What did mystery religion require its devotees to do?

Answer 2

go through a rite of initiation

Question 3

Who were the Eleusinian Mysteries devoted to the worship of?

Answer 3

demeter, her daughter persephone and an eleusinian hero named triptolemos

Question 4

What other name is Persephone often called and what does it mean?

Answer 4

‘kore’ meaning daughter

Question 5

How often and when were the Eleusinian mysteries celebrated?

Answer 5

twice a year and they were celebrated during march and september

Question 6

who had to undergo initiation?

Answer 6

everyone- men, women, slaves, and non citizens

Question 7

Who was excluded from initiation?

Answer 7

criminals and those who couldn’t speak greek

Question 8

How far was Eleusis from Athens?

Answer 8

13 miles west of athens

Question 9

What was special about Eleusis?

Answer 9

The township possessed rich agricultural land known as the rarian field where according to legend, corn was first sown by triptolemos

Question 10

At what point was Eleusis passed into Athenian state control?

Answer 10

around 600 BC

Question 11

At what point did the sanctuary reach its height of importance?

Answer 11

4th century BC

Question 12

During what period did it experience a revival?

Answer 12

2nd century BC

Question 13

In total how long were the mysteries celebrated at Eleusis?

Answer 13

over a thousand years

Question 14

What evidence do we have to suggest that the Eleusinian Mysteries presented as a serious rival to Christianity at one point?

Answer 14

Christian graffiti deface many of the monuments and because christian writers suggested the rituals connected to the sanctuary were disgusting and obscene.

Question 15

Why have the Eleusinian Mysteries attracted so much attention in the modern age?

Answer 15

the mysteries were unlike any other greek festival

Question 16

What made the Eleusinian Mysteries stand out from other civic festivals? (3 reasons)

Answer 16

1. Anybody could be initiated- as long as they spoke Greek and had not been involved in serious crimes such as murder.
2. Every participant able to pay a contribution could take part in an individual initiation after which his or her status was changed from being uninitiated to initiated. This status lasted for life
3. Initiates were not allowed to speak about what happened, in particular the revelation of the secret. This created distinction between those who knew and those who didn’t

Question 17

We do not know the actual secret itself, but what do we know for certain about the Eleusinian Mysteries?

Answer 17

The secret was shared in ceremony at the end of the festival but never actually revealed by the uninitiated. Revealing the secret to the non-initiated , or writing about it or speaking about it was considered a capital crime

Question 18

what was considered a capital crime?

Answer 18

revealing the secret to the non initiated, writing about it or speaking about it

Question 19

who was Alcibiades?

Answer 19

The Athenian leader

Question 20

What does the treatment of Alcibiades suggest about the connection between politics and religion?

Answer 20

He was accused of mocking the mysteries in his home together with his friends and some uninitiated people- he was convicted despite the fact he didn’t show up to court. Despite the fact he was the Athenian leader he was convicted- it doesn’t matter how powerful you are or your political status,if you go against religious rules you will be punished

Question 21

what did the initiated get out of the eleusinian mysteries?

Answer 21

-happiness- those who were not initiated were said to live in suffering and torture in the underworld
-knowledge of what happens in the underworld and when you die
-good harvest and crops
-eternal life in the elysian fields
-would have an initiated status which lasted for life

Question 22

what is the issue with the sources from pausanias?

Answer 22

he is a Greek author who avoids sharing any secrets about the eleusinian mysteries

Question 23

what are the issues with the sources from plato and plutarch?

Answer 23

they talk about philosophical discussions of the divine but again refrain from revealing any secrets about the mysteries

Question 24

what are the issues with early christian sources?

Answer 24

they believed that the mysteries were demonic and trivial, and therefore give an innaccurate, biased account.

Question 25

what does the homeric hymn to demeter quote about the eleusinian mystery cult?

Answer 25

“happy is he among men upon earth who has seen these mysteries”

Question 26

what was the mythical explanation for the eleusinian mysteries?

Answer 26

They are celebrated following the kidnapping of Demeter’s daughter, persephone who was captured by Hades into the underworld. Demeter searched everywhere for her daughter, and went to eleusis to rest after searching for her for days, and mourned for her for 9 days, causing a great famine (the eleusinian mysteries are celebrated for 9 days to represent the amount of time demeter mourned for persephone). To prevent the famine, zeus took persephone out of the underworld and agreed that she would spend 6 months of winter in the underworld and 6 months in the summer on the surface. Demeter then ordered a temple to be built in her honour at eleusis and in return persephone would teach the people rites and rituals which would be performed at eleusis

Question 27

what does isocrates quote about the eleusinian mysteries?

Answer 27

“demeter came to our land… gave these two gifts, the greatest in the world- the fruits of the earth…and the holy rite”

Question 28

what does sophocles quote about the eleusinian mysteries?

Answer 28

“those among mortals who have seen these rites before going to hades; for they alone have a life there, while others have every kind of misery”

Question 29

what does the fragment from a pindaric dirge quote about the eleusinian mysteries?

Answer 29

“prosperous is he who having seen these things passes below the earth. he knows the end of life and it’s god given beginning”