The mystery cult of Eleusis had roots in ancient initiation rituals of the divine child, in the person of the pais aph’hestias(“boy of the hearth”). In the myth of Demeter and Persephone, after Persephone is abducted by Hades, her mother, Demeter, allowed the earth to become infertile and barren as she searched everywhere for her lost daughter. In Eleusis she disguised herself as a nurse maid and cared for the child Demophon, son of the king there. When she attempted to give the child immortality by dipping him into fire, she was discovered and had to reveal herself as Demeter. A temple was built for the goddess at Eleusis and in time the mystery cult evolved there. By sometime in the sixth century BCE, the cult was taken over by the city state of Athens and involved secret initiation rites in an inner sanctum facing which was a magnificent hall. A priestess of Demeter lived in the sanctuary. The rites began with a ritual bath and 3 days of fasting, followed by a procession to...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Bibliography
Graf, F. (1987). Eleusinian mysteries. In M. Eliade (Ed.), The encyclopedia of religion (Vol. V, pp. 83–84). New York: Macmillan.
Jung, C. G., & Kerenyi, C. (1949, 1959). Essays on a science of mythology: The myth of the divine child and the mysteries of Eleusis. Princeton, NJ: Bollingen. 1971.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this entry
Cite this entry
Leeming, D.A. (2014). Eleusinian Mysteries. In: Leeming, D.A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6086-2_199
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6086-2_199
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-6085-5
Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-6086-2
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science