first, the general custom of all Athenian citizens, and afterwards of
all Greeks generally, and eventually of many foreigners, to seek
admission into the Eleusinian Mysteries in the only possible
manner--viz. by initiation; and, second, the scrupulous care exercised
by the Eumolpides to ensure that only persons duly qualified, of
irreproachable--or, at any rate, of circumspect, character passed the
portals. In the earlier days of the Mysteries it was a necessary
condition that the candidates for initiation should be free-born
Athenians, but in course of time this rule was relaxed, until eventually
strangers (as residents outside Athens were called), aliens, slaves, and
even courtesans, were admitted, on condition that they were introduced
by a mystagogue, who was, of course, an Athenian. An interesting
inscription was discovered a few years ago demonstrating the fact that
the public slaves of the city were initiated at the public expense. From
historical records we learn that Lysias was enabled without difficulty
to secure the initiation of his mistress, Metanira, who was then in the
service of the courtesan Nicareta. There always prevailed, however, the
strict rule that no one could be admitted who had been guilty of murder
or homicide, wilful or accidental, or who had been convicted of
witchcraft, and all who had incurred the capital penalty for conspiracy
or treason were also excluded. Nero sought admission into the Eleusinian
Mysteries, but was rejected because of the many slaughters connected
with his name. Antoninus, when he would purge himself before the world
of the death of Avidius Cassius, elected to be initiated into the
Eleusinian Mysteries, it being recognized at that time that none was
admitted into them who was justly guilty of heinous immorality or crime.
Apollonius of Tyana was desirous of being admitted into the Eleusinian
Mysteries, but the hierophant refused to admit him on the ground that he
was a magician, and had intercourse with divinities other than those of
the Mysteries, declaring that he would never initiate a wizard or throw
open the Mysteries to a man addicted to impure rites. Apollonius
retorted: "You have not yet mentioned the chief of my offences, which is
that, knowing, as I do, more about the initiatory rites than you do
yourself, I have nevertheless come to you as if you were wiser than I
am." The hierophant, when he saw that the exclusion of Apollonius was
not by any means popular with the crowd, changed his tone and said: "Be
thou initiated, for thou seemest to be some wise man that has come
here." But Apollonius replied: "I will be initiated at another time, and
it is (mentioning a name) who will initiate me." Hereon, says
Philostratus, he showed his gift of prevision, for he glanced at the one
who succeeded the hierophant he addressed, and presided over the temple
four years later when Apollonius was initiated.
Persons of both sexes and of all ages were initiated, and neglect of the
ceremony came to be regarded almost in the light of a crime. Socrates
and Demonax were reproached and looked upon with suspicion because they
did not apply for initiation. Persians were always pointedly excluded
from the ceremony. Athenians of both sexes were granted the privilege of
initiation during childhood on the presentation of their father, but
only the first degree of initiation was permitted. For the second and
third degrees it was necessary to have arrived at full age. The Greeks
looked upon initiation in much the same light as the majority of
Christians look upon baptism. So great was the rush of candidates for
initiation when the restrictions were relaxed that Cicero was able to
write that the inhabitants of the most distant regions flocked to
Eleusis in order to be initiated. Thus it became the custom with all
Romans, who journeyed to Athens to take advantage of the opportunity to
become initiates. Even the Emperors of Rome, the official heads of the
Roman religion, the masters of the world, came to the Eumolpides to
proffer the request that they might receive the honour of initiation and
become participants in the Sacred Mysteries revealed by the goddess.
While Augustus, who was initiated in the year 21 B.C., did not hesitate
to show his antipathy towards the religion of the Egyptians, towards
Judaism and Druidism, he was always scrupulous in observing the pledge
of secrecy demanded of initiates into the Eleusinian Mysteries, and on
one occasion, when it became necessary for some of the priests of the
Eleusinian temple to proceed to Rome to plead before his tribunal on the
question of privilege, and in the course of the evidence to speak of
certain ceremonial in connection with the Mysteries of which it was not
lawful to speak in the presence of the uninitiated, he ordered every one
who had not received the privilege of initiation to leave the tribunal
so that he and the witnesses alone remained. The Eleusinian Mysteries
were not deemed inimical to the welfare of the Roman Empire as were the
religions of the Egyptians, Jews, and ancient Britons.
Claudius, another imperial initiate, conceived the idea of transferring
the scene of the Mysteries to Rome, and, according to Suetonius, was
about to put the project into execution, when it was ruled that it was
obligatory that the principal scenic presentation of the Mysteries must
be celebrated on the ground trodden by the feet of Demeter and where the
goddess herself had ordered her temple to be erected.
The initiation of the Emperor Hadrian (who succeeded where Claudius had
failed, in introducing the celebration of the Mysteries into Rome) took
place in A.D. 125, when he was present at the Lesser Mysteries in the
spring and at the Greater Mysteries in the following autumn. In
September, A.D. 129, he was again at Athens, when he presented himself
for the third degree, as is known from Dion Cassius, confirmed by a
letter written by the Emperor himself, in which he mentions a journey
from Eleusis to Ephesus made by him at that time. Hadrian is the only
imperial initiate, so far as is known, who persevered and passed through
all three degrees. Since he remained at Eleusis as long as it was
possible for him to do so after the completion of his initiation, it is
not rash to assume that he was inspired by something more than curiosity
or even by a desire to show respect.
It is uncertain whether the Emperor Antonin was initiated, although from
an inscription it seems probable that he was and that he should be
included in the list of imperial initiates. Both Marcus Aurelius and
Commodus, father and son, were initiated at the same time, at the Lesser
Mysteries in March, A.D. 176, and at the Greater Mysteries in the
following September. Septimius Severus was initiated before he ascended
the throne.
There was, as stated, three degrees, and the ordinary procedure with
regard to initiation was as follows:--
In the month of Anthesterion, the flower month of spring, corresponding
with February-March, an applicant could, if approved, become an initiate
into the first degree at the celebration of the Lesser Mysteries and
take part in their celebration at the Eleusinion at Agra, near to
Athens. The ceremony of initiation into this first degree was on a far
less imposing scale than the ceremony of initiation into the second and
third degrees at the Greater Mysteries. The candidate, however, had to
keep chaste and unpolluted for nine days prior to the ceremony, which
each one attended wearing crowns and garlands of flowers and observed by
offering prayers and sacrifices. Immediately previous to the celebration
the candidates for initiation were prepared by the Mystagogues, the
special teachers selected for the purpose from the families of the
Eumolpides and Keryces. They were instructed in the story of Demeter and
Persephone, the character of the purification necessary and other
preliminary rites, the fast days, with particulars of the food
permissible and forbidden to be eaten, and the various sacrifices to be
offered by and for them under the direction of the mystagogues.
Without this preparation no one could be admitted to the Mysteries.
There was, however, neither secret doctrine nor dogmatic teaching in
this preliminary instruction. Revelation came through contemplation of
the sacred objects displayed during the ceremonies by the hierophant,
the meaning of which was communicated by means of the mystic formulæ;
but the preparation demanded of the initiates, the secrecy imposed, the
ceremonies at which the initiates assisted, all of which were performed
in the dead of night, created a strong impression and lively hope in
regard to the future life. No other cult in Greece, still less the cold
Roman religion, had anything of the kind, or approaching to it, to
offer. Fasting from food and drink for a certain period before and after
initiation was essential, but the candidates did not attach to this act
any idea of maceration or expiation of faults: it was simply the
reproduction of an event in the life of the goddess, and undergone in
order that the body might become more pure. Bowls or vases of
consecrated or holy water were placed at the entrance of the temple for
the purposes of aspersion. In cases of special or particular impurity an
extra preparation extending over two or three days longer became
necessary, and unctions of oil or repeated immersions in water were
administered. The outward physical purity, the result of immersion prior
to initiation, was but the symbol of the inward purity which was
supposed to result from initiation. One of the duties of the mystagogues
was to see that the candidates were in a state of physical cleanliness
both before and throughout the ceremony. According to inscriptions which
have been discovered there appear to have been temples or buildings set
apart for the cleansing of candidates from special impurities.
Initiation into the Lesser Mysteries only permitted the neophyte to go
as far as the outer vestibule of the temple.
In the following autumn, if of full age and approved by the hierophant,
the neophyte could be initiated into the Greater Mysteries, into the
second degree, that of Mysta. This, however, did not secure admission to
all the ceremonies performed during the celebration of the Greater
Mysteries. A further year, at least, had to elapse before the third
degree, that of Epopta, was taken, before he could see with his own eyes
and hear with his own ears, all that took place in the temple during the
celebration of the Mysteries. Even then, there was one part of the
temple and one portion of the ceremony which could be entered and
witnessed only by the hierophant and hierophantide.
According to Plutarch, Demetrius, when he was returning to Athens, wrote
to the republic that on his arrival he intended to be initiated and to
be admitted immediately, not only to the Lesser Mysteries, but to the
Greater as well. This was unlawful and unprecedented, though when the
letter was read, Pythodorus, a torch-bearer, was the only person who
ventured to oppose the demand, and his opposition was entirely
ineffectual. Stratocles procured a decree that the month of Munychion
should be reputed to be and called the month of Anthesterion, to give
Demetrius the opportunity for the initiation into the first degree. This
was done, whereupon a second decree was issued by which Munychion was
again changed into Boedromion, and Demetrius was admitted to the
Mysteries of the next degree. Philippides, the poet, satirized
Stratocles in the words: "The man who can contract the whole year into
one month," and Demetrius, with reference to his lodging in the
Parthenon, in the words: "The man who turns the temples into inns and
brings prostitutes into the company of the virgin goddess."
The design of initiation, according to Plato, was to restore the soul to
that state from which it fell, and Proclus states that initiation into
the Mysteries drew the souls of men from a material, sensual, and merely
human life and joined them in communion with the gods. "Happy is the
man," wrote Euripides, "who hath been initiated into the Greater
Mysteries and leads a life of piety and religion," and Aristophanes
truly represented public opinion when he wrote in _The Frogs_: "On us
only does the sun dispense his blessings; we only receive pleasure from
his beams; we, who are initiated, and perform towards citizens and
strangers all acts of piety and justice." The initiates sought to
imitate the allegorical birth of the god. The epoptæ were supposed to
have experienced a certain regeneration and to enter upon a new state of
existence, and they were fantastically deemed to have acquired a great
increase of light and knowledge. Hitherto they had been exoteric and
profane; now they had become esoteric and holy.
Jevons, in his _Introduction to the Study of Religion,_ says that no
oath was demanded of the initiate, but that silence was observed
generally as an act of reverence rather than as an act of purposed
concealment. There seems, however, to be conclusive evidence that an
oath of secrecy was demanded of and taken by the candidates for
initiation, at any rate, into the second and third degrees, if not into
the first degree. Moreover, there are on record several prosecutions of
citizens for having broken the pledge of secrecy they had given.
Æschylus was indicted for having disclosed in the theatre certain
details of the Mysteries, and he only escaped punishment by proving that
he had never been initiated and, therefore, could not have violated any
obligation. A Greek scholiast says that in five of his tragedies
Æschylus spoke of Demeter and therefore may be supposed in these cases
to have touched upon subjects connected with the Mysteries, and
Heraclides of Pontus says that on this account he was in danger of being
killed by the populace if he had not fled for refuge to the altar of
Dionysos and been begged off by the Areopagites and acquitted on the
ground of his exploits at Marathon. An accusation was brought against
Aristotle of having performed a funeral sacrifice in honour of his wife
in imitation of the Eleusinian ceremonies. Alcibiades was charged with
mimicking the sacred Mysteries in one of his drunken revels, when he
represented the hierophant; Theodorus, one of his friends, represented
the herald; and another, Polytion, represented the dadouchos; other
companions attending as initiates and being addressed as mystæ. The
information against him ran:--
"Thessalus, the son of Cimon, of the ward of Lacais, accuseth
Alcibiades, the son of Clinian, of the ward of Scambonis, of
sacrilegiously offending the goddess Ceres and her daughter, Persephone,
by counterfeiting their Mysteries and showing them to his companions in
his own house, wearing such a robe as the high priest does when he shows
the holy things; he called himself high priest; as did Polytion
torch-bearer; and Theodorus, of the ward of Thyges, herald; and the rest
of his companions he called persons initiated and Brethren of the
Secret; therein acting contrary to the rules and ceremonies established
by the Eumolpides, the Heralds and Priests at Eleusis."
Alcibiades did not appear in answer to the charge, and he was condemned
in his absence, an order being made that his goods were to be
confiscated. This occurred in 415 B.C. and the incident created quite a
panic, as many prominent citizens, Andocides included, were implicated.
"This man," said the accuser of Andocides, "vested in the same costume
as a hierophant, has shown the sacred objects to men who were not
initiated and has uttered words which it is not permissible to repeat."
Andocides admitted the charge, but turned king's evidence, and named
certain others as culprits with him. He was rewarded with a free pardon
under a decree which Isotmides had issued, but those whom he named were
either put to death or outlawed and their goods were confiscated.
Andocides afterwards entered the temple while the Mysteries were in
progress and was charged with breaking the law in so doing. He defended
himself before a court of heliasts, all of whom had been initiated into
the Mysteries, the president of the court being the Archon Basileus. The
indictment was lodged by Cephisius, the chief prosecutor, with the
Archon Basileus, during the celebration of the Greater Mysteries and
while Andocides was still at Eleusis. Andocides was acquitted, and it is
stated that Cephisius having failed to obtain one-fifth of the votes of
the court, the result, according to the law, was that he had to pay a
fine of a thousand drachmas and to suffer permanent exclusion from the
Eleusinian shrine. Diagoras was accused of railing at the sanctity of
the Mysteries of Eleusis in such a manner as to deter persons from
seeking initiation, and a reward of one talent was offered to any one
who should kill him or two talents to any one who should bring him
alive. The Greek talent was of the value of about £200.
An ancient theme of oratorical composition and one set even in the sixth
century of the Christian era ran:--
"The law punishes with death whoever has disclosed the Mysteries: some
one to whom the initiation has been revealed in a dream asks one of the
initiated if what he has seen is in conformity with reality: the
initiate acquiesces by a movement of the head; and for that he is
accused of impiety."
Every care, therefore, was taken to prevent the secrecy of the Mysteries
from being broken and the ceremonial becoming known to any not
initiated. Details have, nevertheless, come to light in various ways,
but chiefly through the ancient writings and inscriptions. Step by step
and piece by piece the diligent researcher has been rewarded by the
discovery of disconnected and isolated fragments which, by themselves,
supply no precise information, but, taken in the aggregate, form a
perfect mosaic. Though it was strictly forbidden to reveal what took
place within the sacred enclosure and in the Hall of Initiation, it was
permissible to state clearly the main object of initiation and the
advantages to be derived from the act. Not only was the breaking of the
obligation of secrecy given by an initiate visited with severe,
sometimes even with capital, punishment, but the forcing of the temple
enclosure by the uninitiated, as sometimes happened, was an offence of
an equally impious and heinous character. By virtue of the unwritten
laws and customs dating back to the most remote periods the penalty of
death was frequently pronounced for faults not grave in themselves,
although the forcing of the temple enclosure was, of course, a grave
crime, but because they concerned religion. It was probably by virtue of
those unwritten laws that the priests ordered the death of two young
Arcananians who had penetrated, through ignorance, into the sacred
precincts. They happened inadvertently to mix with the crowd at the
season of the Mysteries and to enter the temple, but the questions asked
by them, in consequence of their ignorance of the proceedings, betrayed
them, and their intrusion was punished with death. This was in 200 B.C.,
and Rome made war upon Philip V of Macedonia on the complaint of the
government of Athens against that king who wished to punish them for
having rigorously applied the ancient laws to those two offenders, who
were found guilty merely of entering the sanctuary at Eleusis without
having previously been initiated. No judicial penalty, however, was
meted out to the fanatical Epicurean eunuch who, with the object of
proving that the gods had no existence, forced himself blaspheming into
that part of the sanctuary into which the hierophant and the
hierophantide alone had the right of entry. Ælianus states that a divine
punishment in the form of a disease alone overtook him. Horace declared
that he would not risk his life by going on to the water with a
companion who had revealed the secret of the Mysteries.
The two days prior to initiation into the second and third degrees were
spent by the candidates in solitary retirement and in strict fasting. It
was a "retreat" in the strictest sense of the word. Fasting was
practised, not only in imitation of the sufferings of Demeter when
searching for Persephone, but because of the danger of the contact of
holy things with unholy, the clean with the unclean. This also is one of
the reasons why it was held to be impious even to speak of the Mysteries
to one who had not been initiated and especially dangerous to allow such
unclean and profane persons to take any part, even that of a viewer, in
the ceremonies. Hence the punishment meted out by the State was in lieu
of, or to avert, the divine wrath which such pollution might bring on
the community at large.
At the entrance to the temple tablets were placed containing a list of
forbidden foods. The list included several kinds of fish--the
whistle-fish, gurnet, crab, and mullet. In all probability the
whistle-fish is that known as _Sciæna aquila_, a Mediterranean fish that
makes a noise under the water which has been compared to bellowing,
buzzing, purring, or whistling, the air bladder being the
sound-producing organ. The fish was greatly esteemed by the Romans.
There is a large _Sciæna_, not _aquila_, though very like it, in the
Fish Gallery of the British Museum (Natural History) opposite the
entrance from the Zoological Library. The whistle-fish and crab were
held to be impure, the first because it laid its eggs through the mouth,
and the second because it ate filth which other fish rejected. The
gurnet was rejected because of its fecundity as witnessed in its annual
triple laying of eggs, but, according to some writers, it was rejected
because it ate a fish which was poisonous to mankind. It may well be
that other fish were interdicted, but Porphyry was probably exaggerating
when he said that all fish were forbidden. Birds bred at home, such as
chickens and pigeons, were also on the banned list, as were beans and
certain vegetables which were forbidden for a mystical reason which
Pausanias said he dare not reveal save to the initiated. The probable
reason was that they were connected in some way with the wanderings of
Demeter. Pomegranates were, of course, forbidden, from the incident of
the eating of the pomegranate seeds by Persephone.
The candidates were carefully instructed in these rules before the
beginning of the celebration. Originally the instruction of the
candidates was in the hands of the hierophant, who, following the
example of his ancestor, Eumolpus, claimed the privilege of preparing
the candidates as well as that of communicating to them the knowledge of
the divine Mysteries. But the continually increasing number of
candidates made it necessary to employ auxiliary instructors, and this
particular work was handed over to the charge of the mystagogues, who
prepared the candidates either singly or in groups, the hierophant
reserving to himself the general direction of the instruction. In the
course of the initiation ceremony certain words had to be spoken by the
candidates, and these were made known to them in advance, although, of
course, apart from their context.