light on the real meaning of the mysteries cele- brated at Eleusis.
We have no means of determining the extent of the influence of these mysteries. Numerous sanctuaries, dependent on the main sanctuary at Eleusis, arose in other parts of Greece. We hear of a sanctuary or chapel even in Italy. Of these daughter institutions we know but little that we can call trustworthy. The 'truce of God,' which suspended all hostilities during the Eleusinian cele- bration, was proclaimed in lands as distant as Syria and Egypt. Emperors, such as Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius, gladly became initiated adherents of the cult, and when Valentinian I., in the year 364, forbade religious celebrations at night, he was obliged to make an exception of the cere- monies at Eleusis. An influence so extensive makes it possible that St. Paul knew of the mysteries. But if he did, it is singular that he did not allude to them in his speech at Athens on Mars' HUl. The slightest apparent allusion to them would have been eagerly seized by those who affirm his famili- arity with mystery-religions. But his silence would seem to show that he knew little or nothing of the Eleusinian mysteries, or else viewed them with a disfavour which the courtesy of the moment com- pelled him to refrain from revealing. Their in- fluence on the Church can only be assumed, not proved. Svoronos, as quoted by De Jong (Das antike Mystcrienioesen, p. 29), afiirms that the Greek Church is the successor of the Eleusinian cult, that she borrowed much from Eleusis. If this be true, the act of borrowing could have taken place only at a comparatively late period. Examples of this act are found in her celebration of important cere- monies at night, in her processions with their icons, in the revealing of holy objects, in the confession of sins before the Eucharist, and in the adoration of the Virgin Mary. With these are supposed to correspond the initiation at night in Eleusis, the procession bearing the image of lacchos, the dis- closure of ' holy things' in the Telesterion, the ex- clusion of the unworthy, and the practice of con- fession at Samothrace, the mourning of Demeter, having for her Christian parallel the 'mater dolorosa,' and the worship of Demeter, whose cult ceased just before the worship (hijperdulia) of the Virgin assumed unusual importance, and, therefore, seems to have replaced that of Demeter. One could speak more confidently of the exactness of these similarities if one knew accurately what the cere- monies in the Telesterion really were. Moreover, the origin of the ceremonial customs and rites of the Greek can be traced and has been traced to other sources than to the cult at Eleusis ; and when more than one source can be ascribed to a practice, its assumed origin in a particular quarter is ren- dered doubtful. At all events, this comparison does not come within the limits of the primitive Cliurch, for such rites as make the comparison possible had not j'et been developed.
(4) The mysteries of Samothrace.— Xhs Samo- thracian mysteries are far less known to us than the Eleusinian. They get their name from the fact that their chief seat was in the island of Samothrace, which was an object of superstitious regard from prehistoric times to a comparatively late period. The cult itself is very ancient, and seems to be a relic of the religious life of the old Pelasgian or ^Egean civilization which flourished even as far as Sicily before the Greek civilization arose. The ruins of its ancient sanctuaries in Samothrace reveal remnants of the same massive, Cyclopean walls, which are fo\ind elsewhere in the islands and on the coasts of the Mediterranean. Its mysteries were important in ancient times, and from the 4th cent, rivalled the Eleusinian. They attained their greatest distinction under Philip
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and his queen Olj-mpia, who were initiated into them, and under the Ptolenijs, who patronized them and cared for their sacred buildings. Later the cult extended its influence among the citizens of the Roman Republic. Among its adherents were such Roman soldiers and leaders as M. Claudius Marcellus. We know little about its ceremonies and formulre, which is a misfortune, for such knowledge might have thrown light on the growth of the religious terminology which St. Paul found and used. They centred in the Kabeiroi, concern- ing whom we have only the most meagre informa- tion. They seem to have belonged to the class of spirits known as demons, goblins, and satyrs. Originally they were chthonian deities or gods of the under world, as the excavations on the island reveal. Their name is probably of Phoenician origin, for it appears to be connected with the Semitic Kabeirim, the ' mighty ones.' They were really gods native to the islands of the ^geau sea ; but inasmuch as they were gods of navigation, the Phoenician sailors naturally were interested in them and gave them the name by which they came to be generally known. On Samothrace they were called presumably Axieros, Axiokersos, Axiokersa, and Casmilos. Like all deities of in- determinate character, they were identified at various times with deities of another name. The possible atlinity of their mysteries with those of Eleusis led to the subsequent retirement of these barbaric names, and the substitution in the place of the first three of the names of Demeter, Kore, and Pluto or Hades. Cybele and Dionysus rival Demeter and Pluto as usurpers of the native Samothracian names. A worship of the Kabeiroi existed near Thebes also at an early period. Excavations of the sanctuary belonging to the cult have brought to light pottery dating from the end of the 5th and beginning of the 4th centuries B.C., which bears on its surface a figure apparently of Dionysus with the word 'Kabiros' written just above it. The god is evidently chthonic in char- acter. Probably the Kabeiroi were remotely deities of vegetation ; but their office in historic times was to safeguard the mariner. He who had been initiated into their mysteries and had the purple thread bound about his person was secure from the perils of the sea. 'W e know nothing more of tlieir mystic festival than that it was ecstatic, and that it contained a sacramental com- munion, if we accept H. Hepding's interpretation of a Samothracian inscription (Attis, seine My then und sein Kult, Giessen, 1903, p. 185). Nor is there any way of determining their influence on the development of the religious life which finally found its complete satisfaction in the Christian faith.