{a) The mysteries of Eleusis. — Of the State cults the most famous were the mysteries of Eleusis and of Samothrace. The Eleusinian mysteries existed for at least 1.000 years, and were brought to an end in A.D. 395 by Alaric. The oldest documentary evidence of their existence is contained in the Hymn to Demeter (v. 274, 473-482), which may have been composed as early as the 7th cent. B.C. This poem narrates the story of the search of De- meter for her lost daughter Persephone, who while gathering flowers in a lonely field had been seized by Pluto and enthroned as his wife in his subter- ranean realm. Demeter, indignant at the outrage.
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MYSTERY, MYSTERIES
MYSTERY, MYSTERIES
clieckfd the spxouting of sown i;iain and ilopiived the fanner of his harvest until her daughter should be restored to her. The rich tields lay desolate until Zeus, fearing lest the people should perish with liung'er, commanded l^luto to surrender his bride to her mother. The unsiru|iulous ruler obeyed, but craftily induced I'ersephone to swallow the seed of the pomegranate, whose magic properties would comiiel lier annually to come back to him and remain in the uiuU^r world for a part of the year. Consequently rersephono returned to the world from which she had been stolen, and Demeter in lier joy released the powers of the seed, and taught tlie liappy Elensinians her sacred rites and mysteries. The myth clearly had its origin in a time when men were used to deify the energies of the vegetable world, and to see in its springing life the embodiment of the deity lierself. The gender of the deity was determined by causes which are still the sport of speculation ; but in the Eleusinian mysteries the corn deity was a goddess, Demeter, who, originally solitary in her glory, was subsequently associated with a second goddess, Kore or Persephone. Demeter may have been the original Mother Earth, but Frazer {GB', pt. v., Spirits o/ the Corn and of the Wild, i. 41), on the alleged authority of the Hymn to Demeter, regards her as separate from Mother Earth and as exclus- ively the personification of the ripened and har- vested grain ; while Kore represents the grain in its sown and sprouting state. As the corn goddess, reappearing from the soil, Kore naturally was re- lated to Demeter as otispring and daughter, and appropriately received her celebration and worship in the early spring. But the perplexities which attend the mj'ths will be dissipated only when the mythology of the old iEgean or Minoan civilization, which is just coming into view, is better known, for the myth of Demeter and the myth of Kore probably have their roots in it.
At the time of the composition of the hymn, Eleusis was a petty independent State, and cele- br.ated its mysteries without the co-operation of the neighbouring Athens. Its government then was in the hands of a ruler who combined in himself the powers of both priest and king, and who always belonged to the family of the Eumolpidse descended from Euraolpus, a supposed Thracian soldier and immigrant described in the hymn as founding the mysteries under the instructions of Demeter her- self. As a result of the conquest of Eleusis by Athens the mysteries became the ruling cult of the whole of Attica, and subsequently, through the supremacy of Athens, the chief cult of the Greek world. But the conservatism of religion kept it centred at Eleusis and under the supervision of the Eumolpidoe. The hierophant, or revealer and inter- preter of the sacred objects, was always chosen from this family, and was the object of such pro- found reverence that the mention of his name dur- ing his lifetime was a legal ottence. The quali- fications required for his election were advanced age, personal charm, and a beautiful voice, which was needed particularly for the recitation of the sacred formulae. As second, in rank, another priestly family, that of the Kerykes or ' Heralds,' shared the authority of the Eumolpidse. They were also the ' torch-bearers,' symbolizing under this term the search of Demeter for her lost daughter in the under world. These two families, the latter belonging to Athens, worked together for several centuries directing the mysteries, and apparently continuing in their co-operation the ancient council of Eleusis. With them were associated priestesses, few in number, belonging to the family of the Phillidie and enjoying a dignity almost equal to that of the priests themselves, and performing functions of an important character. But the
enumeration of these individuals does not exhaust the ollicial life of the cult. For there were .several olUcers, four in all, who were not of the priestly circle ; they were chosen by the people of Attica, and had under their care the financial atl'airs of tlii^ cult. Yet this arrangement did not exclude tlie priestly families, for one of tlieir number must always be a member of the financial committee. The polity of the mysteries is noticeable, for it had no intluence on the polity of the Christian Clmrch. Bratke, who believes that the mysteries, through the writings of Clement of Alexandria, strongly influenced the sacramental life of the Clmrch, ex- cludes their influence in relation to the otticial ordering of the Church (i)'/irix. 69off.). Itissingu- lar that, if tlieir intluence was so potent in her sac- ramental sphere, it should have failed to extend its activity to her polity also. But no sign of this activity is perceptible in the ecclesiastical otticial life. The Christian deaconess might be designated as corresponding to the Eleusinian priestess. But women performed important religious functions everywliere in the Western religious world, both in the State cults and in the mystery-religions, except the cult of Mithras ; and it is quite in keeping with their general recognition that they should assume some prominence in Christian wor- ship. They held in the primitive Church, how- ever, a position far less official than that allotted to the pagan priestess, and it was only after the lapse of several centuries that the deaconess ac- quired her limited sacerdotal character.