The Religion of Eleusis

Eleusinian religion, the highest form of Greek popular religion; scanty knowledge of the mystery rites; unreliability of the accounts by Christian authors; modern interpretations referring to sexual symbols; our knowledge of the deities and of the myths; Mycenaean origin of the Eleusinian cult; two triads--Demeter, Kore, and Triptolemos and "the God" (Plouton), "the Goddess" (Persephone), and Eubouleus; representations in art; Homeric Hymn to Demeter; legend of Eubouleus and the sacrifice of the pig; aetiological character of the Homeric Hymn referring to the preliminary rites; rape of Kore refers to storing of corn in subterranean silos at time of threshing; Plouton, the god of wealth (the store of corn); fetching of corn at autumn sowing is the ascent of Kore; Plouton as god of the underworld--burial jars; Greek Corn Maiden and pre-Greek queen of the underworld; second ascent of Kore in the sprouting of the new crop; reuniting of Mother and Maid in the autumn sowing is kernel of the mysteries; the ear of corn; Triptolemos, the hero of agriculture and of civilized life; the Eleusinian ideas of peace and piety; happiness in the underworld a repetition of the mystery celebration; sprouting of the new crop a symbol of the eternity of life in successive generations; monuments showing that individual edification came to the fore in the fourth century B.C.; accretion of Dionysiac elements