Celeans, Phliasians, as also by the Pheneatæ, Lacedæmonians,
Parrhasians, and Cretans; but more particularly by the people
of Athens, every fifth year at Eleusis in Attica, where it was
introduced by Eumolpus, B.C. 1356. It was the most celebrated of all
the religious ceremonies of Greece, whence it is often called, by
way of eminence, μυστηρια, _the mysteries_. It was so superstitiously
observed, that if any one ever revealed it, it was supposed that he
had called divine vengeance upon his head, and it was unsafe to live
in the same house with him. Such a wretch was publicly put to an
ignominious death. This festival was sacred to Ceres and Proserpine;
everything contained a mystery, and Ceres herself was known only
by the name of ἀχθεια, from the _sorrow_ and _grief_ (ἀχθος) which
she suffered for the loss of her daughter. This mysterious secrecy
was solemnly observed, and enjoined to all the votaries of the
goddess; and if any one ever appeared at the celebration, either
intentionally, or through ignorance, without proper introduction,
he was immediately punished with death. Persons of both sexes and
all ages were initiated at this solemnity, and it was looked upon
as so heinous a crime to neglect this sacred part of religion,
that it was one of the heaviest accusations, which contributed
to the condemnation of Socrates. The initiated were under the
more particular care of the deities, and therefore their life was
supposed to be attended with more happiness and real security than
that of other men. This benefit was not only granted during life,
but it was extended beyond the grave, and they were honoured with
the first places in the Elysian fields, while others were left to
wallow in perpetual filth and ignominy. As the benefits of expiation
were so extensive, particular care was taken in examining the
character of such as were presented for initiation. Such as were
guilty of murder, though against their will, and such as were
convicted of witchcraft, or any heinous crime, were not admitted,
and the Athenians suffered none to be initiated but such as were
members of their city. This regulation, which compelled Hercules,
Castor, and Pollux to become citizens of Athens, was strictly
observed in the first ages of the institution, but afterwards all
persons, barbarians excepted, were freely initiated. The festivals
were divided into greater and less mysteries. The less were
instituted from the following circumstance. Hercules passed near
Eleusis while the Athenians were celebrating the mysteries, and
desired to be initiated. As this could not be done because he
was a stranger, and as Eumolpus was unwilling to displease him on
account of his great power and the services which he had done to
the Athenians, another festival was instituted without violating
the laws. It was called μικρα, and Hercules was solemnly admitted
to the celebration and initiated. These less mysteries were observed
at Agræ, near the Ilissus. The greater were celebrated at Eleusis,
from which place Ceres has been called Eleusinia. In latter times
the smaller festivals were preparatory to the greater, and no person
could be initiated at Eleusis without a previous purification at
Agræ. This purification they performed by keeping themselves pure,
chaste, and unpolluted during nine days, after which they came and
offered sacrifices and prayers, wearing garlands of flowers, called
ἱσμερα, or ἱμερα, and having under their feet Διος κωδιον, _Jupiter’s
skin_, which was the skin of a victim offered to that god. The
person who assisted was called ὑδρανος, from ὑδωρ, _water_, which
was used at the purification, and they themselves were called μυϛαι,
_the initiated_. A year after the initiation at the less mysteries
they sacrificed a sow to Ceres, and were admitted in the greater,
and the secrets of the festivals were solemnly revealed to them,
from which they were called ἐφοροι and ἐποπται, _inspectors_. The
institution was performed in the following manner. The candidates,
crowned with myrtle, were admitted by night into a place called
μυϛικος σηκος, _the mystical temple_, a vast and stupendous building.
As they entered the temple they purified themselves by washing their
hands in holy water, and received for admonition that they were to
come with a mind pure and undefiled, without which the cleanness of
the body would be unacceptable. After this the holy mysteries were
read to them from a large book called πετρωμα, because made of _two
stones_, πετραι, fitly cemented together. After this the priest,
called Ἱεροφαντης, proposed to them certain questions to which they
readily answered. After this, strange and amazing objects presented
themselves to their sight; the place often seemed to quake, and
to appear suddenly resplendent with fire, and immediately covered
with gloomy darkness and ♦horror. Sometimes thunders were heard, or
flashes of lightning appeared on every side. At other times hideous
noises and howlings were heard, and the trembling spectators were
alarmed by sudden and dreadful apparitions. This was called αὐτοψια,
_intuition_. After this the initiated were dismissed with the
barbarous words of κογξ, ομπαξ. The garments in which they were
initiated were held sacred, and of no less efficacy to avert evils
than charms and incantations. From this circumstance, therefore,
they were never left off before they were totally unfit for wear,
after which they were appropriated for children, or dedicated to the
goddess. The chief person that attended at the initiation was called
Ἱεροφαντης, _the revealer of sacred things_. He was a citizen of
Athens, and held his office during life, though among the Celeans
and Phliasians it was limited to the period of four years. He was
obliged to devote himself totally to the service of the deities; his
life was chaste and single, and he usually anointed his body with
the juice of hemlock, which is said, by its extreme coldness, to
extinguish in a great degree the natural heat. The Hierophantes had
three attendants; the first was called δαδουχος, _torch-bearer_,
and was permitted to marry; the second was called κηρυξ, _a cryer_;
the third administered at the altar, and was called ὁ ἐπι βωμῳ. The
Hierophantes is said to have been a type of the powerful creator of
all things, Δαδουχος of the sun, Κηρυξ of Mercury, and ὁ ἐπι βωμῳ of
the moon. There were besides these other inferior officers, who took
particular care that everything was performed according to custom.
The first of these, called βασιλευς, was one of the Archons; he
offered prayers and sacrifices, and took care that there was no
indecency or irregularity during the celebration. Besides him
there were four others, called ἐπιμεληται, _curators_, elected by
the people. One of them was chosen from the sacred family of the
Eumolpidæ, the other was one of the Ceryces, and the rest were from
among the citizens. There were also 10 persons who assisted at this
and every other festival, called Ἱεροποιοι, because they _offered
sacrifices_. This festival was observed in the month Boedromion or
September, and continued nine days, from the 15th till the 23rd.
During that time it was unlawful to arrest any man or present any
petition, on pain of forfeiting 1000 drachmas, or, according to
others, on pain of death. It was also unlawful for those who were
initiated to sit upon the cover of a well, to eat beans, mullets, or
weasels. If any woman rode to Eleusis in a chariot, she was obliged
by an edict of Lycurgus to pay 6000 drachmas. The design of this law
was to destroy all distinction between the richer and poorer sort
of citizens. The first day of the celebration was called ἀγορμος,
_assembly_, as it might be said that the worshippers first met
together. The second day was called ἀλαδε μυσται, _to the sea, you
that are initiated_, because they were commanded to purify themselves
by bathing in the sea. On the third day sacrifices, and chiefly
a mullet, were offered; as also barley from a field of Eleusis.
These oblations were called Θυα, and held so sacred that the priests
themselves were not, as in other sacrifices, permitted to partake of
them. On the fourth day they made a solemn procession, in which the
καλαθιον, _holy basket of Ceres_, was carried about in a consecrated
cart, while on every side the people shouted χαιρε Δημητερ, _Hail,
Ceres!_ After these followed women, called κιστοφοροι, who _carried
baskets_, in which were sesamum, carded wool, grains of salt, a
serpent, pomegranates, reeds, ivy boughs, certain cakes, &c. The
fifth was called ἡ των λαμπαδων ἡμερα, _the torch day_, because on
the following night the people ran about with torches in their hands.
It was usual to dedicate torches to Ceres, and contend which should
offer the biggest in commemoration of the travels of the goddess,
and of her lighting a torch in the flames of mount Ætna. The sixth
day was called Ἰακχος, from Iacchus the son of Jupiter and Ceres,
who accompanied his mother in her search of Proserpine, with a
torch in his hand. From that circumstance his statue had a torch in
its hand, and was carried in solemn procession from the Ceramicus
to Eleusis. The statue with those that accompanied it, called
Ἰακχαγωγοι, were crowned with myrtle. In the way nothing was heard
but singing and the noise of brazen kettles, as the votaries danced
along. The way through which they issued from the city was called
Ἱερα ὁδος, _the sacred way_; the resting place Ἱερα συκη, from a
_fig tree_ which grew in the neighbourhood. They also stopped on a
bridge over the Cephisus, where they derided those that passed by.
After they had passed this bridge, they entered Eleusis by a place
called μυστικη εἰσοδος, _the mystical entrance_. On the seventh day
were sports, in which the victors were rewarded with a measure of
barley, as that grain had been first sown in Eleusis. The eighth day
was called Ἐπιδαυριων ἡμερα, because once Æsculapius, at his return
from Epidaurus to Athens, was initiated by the repetition of the
less mysteries. It became customary, therefore, to celebrate them a
second time upon this, that such as had not hitherto been initiated
might be lawfully admitted. The ninth and last day of the festival
was called Πλημοχοαι, _earthen vessels_, because it was usual to
fill two such vessels with wine, one of which being placed towards
the east, and the other towards the west, which after the repetition
of some mystical words, were both thrown down, and the wine being
spilt on the ground, was offered as a libation. Such was the manner
of celebrating the Eleusinian mysteries, which have been deemed the
most sacred and solemn of all the festivals observed by the Greeks.
Some have supposed them to be obscene and abominable, and that from
thence proceeded all the mysterious secrecy. They were carried from
Eleusis to Rome in the age of Adrian, where they were observed with
the same ceremonies as before, though perhaps with more freedom
and licentiousness. They lasted about 1800 years, and were at last
abolished by Theodosius the Great. _Ælian_, _Varia Historia_, bk. 12,
ch. 24.――_Cicero_, _de Legibus_, bk. 2, ch. 14.――_Pausanias_, bk. 10,
ch. 31, &c.――_Plutarch._
♦ ‘horrror’ replaced with ‘horror’
=Eleusis=, or =Eleusin=, a town of Attica, equally distant from
Megara and the Piræus, celebrated for the festivals of Ceres. _See:_
Eleusinia. It was founded by Triptolemus. _Ovid_, bk. 4, _Fasti_,
♦li. 507.――_Pausanias_, bk. 9, ch. 24.
♦ extraneous reference ‘5,’ removed
=Eleuther=, a son of Apollo.――――One of the Curetes, from whom a town
of Bœotia, and another in Crete, received their name. _Pausanias_,
bk. 9, chs. 2 & 9.
=Eleuthĕræ=, a village of Bœotia, between Megara and Thebes, where
Mardonius was defeated with 300,000 men. _Pliny_, bk. 4, ch. 7;
bk. 34, ch. 8.
=Eleuthĕria=, a festival celebrated at Platæa in honour of Jupiter
Eleutherius, or the asserter of liberty, by delegates from almost
all the cities of Greece. Its institution originated in this: After
the victory obtained by the Grecians under Pausanias over Mardonius
the Persian general, in the country of Platæa, an altar and statue
were erected to Jupiter Eleutherius, who had freed the Greeks from
the tyranny of the barbarians. It was further agreed upon in a
general assembly, by the advice of Aristides the Athenian, that
deputies should be sent every fifth year from the different cities
of Greece to celebrate Eleutheria, _festivals of liberty_. The
Platæans celebrated also an anniversary festival in memory of those
who had lost their lives in that famous battle. The celebration
was thus: At break of day a procession was made with a trumpeter at
the head, sounding a signal for battle. After him followed chariots
loaded with myrrh, garlands, and a black bull, and certain free
young men, as no signs of servility were to appear during the
solemnity, because they in whose honour the festival was instituted
had died in the defence of their country. They carried libations of
wine and milk in large-eared vessels, with jars of oil and precious
ointments. Last of all appeared the chief magistrate, who, though
not permitted at other times to touch iron, or wear garments of
any colour but white, yet appeared clad in purple; and taking a
water-pot out of the city chamber, proceeded through the middle of
the town with a sword in his hand, towards the sepulchres. There
he drew water from the neighbouring spring, and washed and anointed
the monuments; after which he sacrificed a bull upon a pile of
wood, invoking Jupiter and infernal Mercury, and inviting to the
entertainment the souls of those happy heroes who had perished in
the defence of their country. After this he filled a bowl with wine,
saying, “I drink to those who lost their lives in the defence of
the liberties of Greece.” There was also a festival of the same name
observed by the Samians in honour of the god of love. Slaves also,
when they obtained their liberty, kept a holiday, which they called
Eleutheria.
=Eleutho=, a surname of Juno Lucina, from her presiding over the
delivery of pregnant women. _Pindar_, _Olympian_, bk. 6.
=Eleutherocilĭces=, a people of Cilicia, never subject to kings.
_Cicero_, bk. 15, _Letters to his Friends_, ltr. 4; bk. 5, _Letters
to Atticus_, ltr. 20.
=Eleuthĕros=, a river of Syria, falling into the Mediterranean.
_Pliny_, bk. 9, ch. 10.
=Elĭcius=, a surname of Jupiter, worshipped on mount Aventine. _Ovid_,
_Fasti_, bk. 3, li. 328.
=Eliensis= and =Eliăca=, a sect of philosophers founded by Phædon
of Elis, who was originally a slave, but restored to liberty by
Alcibiades. _Diogenes Laërtius._――_Strabo._
=Elimēa=, or =Elimiotis=, a district of Macedonia, or of Illyricum
according to others. _Livy_, bk. 42, ch. 53; bk. 45, ch. 30.
=Elis=, a country of Peloponnesus at the west of Arcadia, and north
of Messenia, extending along the coast, and watered by the river
Alpheus. The capital of the country called _Elis_, now _Belvidere_,
became large and populous in the age of Demosthenes, though in the
age of Homer it did not exist. It was originally governed by kings,
and received its name from Eleus, one of its monarchs. Elis was
famous for the horses it produced, whose celerity was so often
known and tried at the Olympic games. _Strabo_, bk. 8.――_Pliny_,
bk. 4, ch. 5.――_Pausanias_, bk. 5.――_Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 5,
li. 494.――_Cicero_, _Letters to his Friends_, bk. 13, ltr. 26; _de
Divinatione_, bk. 2, ch. 12.――_Livy_, bk. 27, ch. 32.――_Virgil_,
_Georgics_, bk. 1, li. 59; bk. 3, li. 202.
=Eliphasii=, a people of Peloponnesus. _Polybius_, bk. 11.
=Elissa=, a queen of Tyre, more commonly known by the name of Dido.
_See:_ Dido.
=Elissus=, a river of Elis.
=Ellopia=, a town of Eubœa.――――An ancient name of that island.
=Elōrus=, a river of Sicily on the eastern coast, called after a king
of the same name. _Herodotus_, bk. 7, ch. 145.
=Elos=, a city of Achaia, called after a servant-maid of Athamas of
the same name.
=Elotæ.= _See:_ Helotæ.
=Elpēnor=, one of the companions of Ulysses, changed into a hog by
Circe’s potions, and afterwards restored to his former shape. He
fell from the top of a house where he was sleeping, and was killed.
_Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 14, li. 252.――_Homer_, _Odyssey_,
bk. 10, li. 552; bk. 11, li. 51.
=Elpinīce=, a daughter of Miltiades, who married a man that promised
to release from confinement her brother and husband, whom the laws
of Athens had made responsible for the fine imposed on his father.
_Cornelius Nepos_, _Cimon_.
=Eluīna=, a surname of Ceres.
=Elyces=, a man killed by Perseus. _Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 5,
fable 3.
=Elymāis=, a country of Persia, between the Persian gulf and Media.
The capital of the country was called Elymais, and was famous for a
rich temple of Diana, which Antiochus Epiphanes attempted to plunder.
The Elymeans assisted Antiochus the Great in his wars against the
Romans. None of their kings are named in history. _Strabo._
=Ely̆mi=, a nation descended from the Trojans, in alliance with the
people of Carthage. _Pausanias_, bk. 10, ch. 8.
=Elymus=, a man at the court of Acestes in Sicily. _Virgil_, _Æneid_,
bk. 5, li. 73.
=Elyrus=, a town of Crete. _Pausanias_, bk. 10, ch. 16.
=Ely̆sium= and =Elysii Campi=, a place or island in the infernal
regions, where, according to the mythology of the ancients, the
souls of the virtuous were placed after death. There happiness
was complete, the pleasures were innocent and refined. Bowers for
ever green, delightful meadows with pleasant streams, were the most
striking objects. The air was wholesome, serene, and temperate; the
birds continually warbled in the groves, and the inhabitants were
blessed with another sun and other stars. The employments of the
heroes who dwelt in these regions of bliss were various; the manes
of Achilles are represented as waging war with the wild beasts,
while the Trojan chiefs are innocently exercising themselves in
managing horses, or in handling arms. To these innocent amusements
some poets have added continual feasting and revelry, and they
suppose that the Elysian fields were filled with all the incontinence
and voluptuousness which could gratify the low desires of the
debauchee. The Elysian fields were, according to some, in the
Fortunate Islands on the coast of Africa, in the Atlantic. Others
place them in the island of Leuce; and, according to the authority
of Virgil, they were situate in Italy. According to Lucian, they
were near the moon; or in the centre of the earth, if we believe
Plutarch. _Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 6, li. 638.――_Homer_, _Odyssey_,
bk. 4.――_Pindar._――_Tibullus_, bk. 1, poem 3, li. 57.――_Lucian._
――_Plutarch_, ♦_de Consul._
♦ Unidentified, possible typo for ‘Consolatio ad Apollonium’
=Emăthia=, a name given anciently, and particularly by the poets, to
the countries which formed the empires of Macedonia and Thessaly.
_Virgil_, _Georgics_, bk. 1, li. 492; bk. 4, li. 390.――_Lucan_, bk.
1, li. 1; bk. 10, li. 50; bk. 6, li. 620; bk. 7, li. 427.――_Ovid_,
_Metamorphoses_, bk. 5, li. 314.
=Emăthion=, a son of Titan and Aurora, who reigned in Macedonia. The
country was called _Emathia_, from his name. Some suppose that he
was a famous robber destroyed by Hercules. _Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_,
bk. 5, li. 313.――_Justin_, bk. 7, ch. 1.――――A man killed at the
nuptials of Perseus and Andromeda. _Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 5,
li. 100.
=Emăthion=, a man killed in the wars of Turnus. _Virgil_, _Æneid_,
bk. 9, li. 571.
=Embătum=, a place of Asia, opposite Chios.
=Embolīma=, a town of India. _Curtius_, bk. 8, ch. 12.
=Emerĭta=, a town of Spain, famous for dyeing wool. _Pliny_, bk. 9,
ch. 41.
=Emessa= and =Emissa=, a town of Phœnicia.
=Emoda=, a mountain of India.
=Empĕdŏcles=, a philosopher, poet, and historian of Agrigentum in
Sicily, who flourished 444 B.C. He was the disciple of Telauges the
Pythagorean, and warmly adopted the doctrine of transmigration. He
wrote a poem upon the opinions of Pythagoras, very much commended,
in which he spoke of the various bodies which nature had given him.
He was first a girl, afterwards a boy, a shrub, a bird, a fish, and
lastly Empedocles. His poetry was bold and animated, and his verses
were so universally esteemed, that they were publicly recited at the
Olympic games with those of Homer and Hesiod. Empedocles was no less
remarkable for his humanity and social virtues than for his learning.
He showed himself an inveterate enemy to tyranny, and refused to
become the sovereign of his country. He taught rhetoric in Sicily,
and often alleviated the anxieties of his mind as well as the pains
of his body with music. It is reported that his curiosity to visit
the flames of the crater of Ætna proved fatal to him. Some maintain
that he wished it to be believed that he was a god, and, that his
death might be unknown, he threw himself into the crater and
perished in the flames. His expectations, however, were frustrated,
and the volcano, by throwing up one of his sandals, discovered to
the world that Empedocles had perished by fire. Others report that
he lived to an extreme old age, and that he was drowned in the sea.
_Horace_, bk. 1, ltr. 12, li. 20.――_Cicero_, _On Oratory_, bk. 1,
ch. 50, &c.――_Diogenes Laërtius_, _Lives and Opinions of Eminent
Philosophers_.
=Emperāmus=, a Lacedæmonian general in the second Messenian war.
=Empōclus=, an historian.
=Empŏria Punĭca=, certain places near the Syrtes.
=Emporiæ=, a town of Spain in Catalonia, now _Ampurias_. _Livy_,
bk. 34, chs. 9 & 16; bk. 26, ch. 19.
=Encĕlădus=, a son of Titan and Terra, the most powerful of all the
giants who conspired against Jupiter. He was struck with Jupiter’s
thunders, and overwhelmed under mount Ætna. Some supposed that he
is the same as Typhon. According to the poets, the flames of Ætna
proceeded from the breath of Enceladus; and as often as he turned
his weary side, the whole island of Sicily felt the motion, and
shook from its very foundations. _Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 3, li. 578,
&c.――――A son of Ægyptus.
=Enchĕleæ=, a town of Illyricum, where Cadmus was changed into a
serpent. _Lucan_, bk. 3, li. 189.――_Strabo_, bk. 7.
=Endeis=, a nymph, daughter of Chiron. She married Æacus king of
Agina, by whom she had Peleus and Telamon. _Pausanias_, bk. 2,
ch. 29.――_Apollodorus_, bk. 3, ch. 12.
=Endēra=, a place of Æthiopia.
=Endy̆mion=, a shepherd, son of Æthlius and Calyce. It is said that
he required of Jupiter to grant to him to be always young, and to
sleep as much as he would; whence came the proverb of _Endymionis
somnum dormire_, to express a long sleep. Diana saw him naked as he
slept on mount Latmos, and was so struck with his beauty that she
came down from heaven every night to enjoy his company. Endymion
married Chromia daughter of Itonus, or, according to some, Hyperipne
daughter of Arcas, by whom he had three sons, Pæon, Epeus, and Æolus,
and a daughter called Eurydice; and so little ambitious did he show
himself of sovereignty, that he made his crown the prize of the best
racer among his sons, an honourable distinction which was gained
by Epeus. The fable of Endymion’s amours with Diana, or the moon,
arises from his knowledge of astronomy, and as he passed the night
on some high mountain, to observe the heavenly bodies, it has been
reported that he was courted by the moon. Some suppose that there
were two of that name, the son of a king of Elis, and the shepherd
or astronomer of Caria. The people of Heraclea maintained that
Endymion died on mount Latmos, and the Eleans pretended to show
his tomb at Olympia in Peloponnesus. _Propertius_, bk. 2, poem 25.
――_Cicero_, _Tusculanæ Disputationes_, bk. 1.――_Juvenal_, satire 10.
――_Theocritus_, poem 3.――_Pausanias_, bk. 5, ch. 1; bk. 6, ch. 20.
=Enĕti=, or =Henĕti=, a people near Paphlagonia.
=Engȳum=, now _Gangi_, a town of Sicily freed from tyranny by Timoleon.
_Cicero_, _Against Verres_, bk. 3, ch. 43; bk. 4, ch. 44.――_Silius
Italicus_, bk. 14, li. 250.
=Enienses=, a people of Greece.
=Eniopeus=, a charioteer of Hector, killed by Diomedes. _Homer_,
_Iliad_, bk. 8, li. 120.
=Enīpeus=, a river of Thessaly, flowing near Pharsalia. _Lucan_,
bk. 6, li. 373.――――A river of Elis in Peloponnesus, of which Tyro
the daughter of Salmoneus became enamoured. Neptune assumed the
shape of the river god to enjoy the company of Tyro. _Ovid_,
_Amores_, bk. 3, poem 5.――_Strabo._
=Enispe=, a town of Arcadia. _Pausanias_, bk. 8, ch. 25.
=Enna=, now _Castro Janni_, a town in the middle of Sicily, with a
beautiful plain, whence Proserpine was carried away by Pluto. _Mela_,
bk. 2, ch. 7.――_Cicero_, _Against Verres_, bk. 3, ch. 49; bk. 4,
ch. 104.――_Ovid_, _Fasti_, bk. 4, li. 522.――_Livy_, bk. 24, ch. 37.
=Ennia=, was the wife of Macro, and afterwards of the emperor Caligula.
_Tacitus_, _Annals_, bk. 6, ch. 45.