The Eleusinian Mysteries was the most famous festival of all. This festival included a Hall of Initiation at the town of Eleusis, where the initiates were shown various secrets-never taught to them using words. The initiates were sworn to secrecy. On the few occasions that the vow was broken, the Mysteries were relayed to an audience through a public performance. This was usually in the form of a dramatic dance that was sacred to the gods.
Behind all the mystery, there laid the myth that seemed to be the basis of the entire festival. (For more information on Greek Gods and their myths, click on Myths). The myth is as follows:
Hades, the Lord of the Underground, was in love with Kore, the daughter of Demeter, the corn mother. One day he kidnapped her and carried her off to the underground. Demeter was hysterical and searched for Kore day and night carrying a torch with her as she went along. The earth suffered from famine and drought because the big torch was in the sky, and the corn mother was not producing any food.
At last she came to Eleusis, disguised as an old woman. While she was in Eleusis, she was treated kindly by the King and Queen, and made a nanny to their son. To show her thanks, Demeter decided to make the baby immortal, and every night she burned his mortality away in the fire burning in the fire place. But one night, the Queen saw her baby lying in the fire and screamed with terror. Demeter then broke away from the family, revealed her true form and announced that the baby would now be mortal like other ordinary men.
Meanwhile, an agreement had been reached between
her and the other gods: If Kore had eaten no food while in the
world of the dead, she could return to her mother. But if she
had, she must still be the wife of Hades. Hades had tricked Kore
into eating a few seeds of pomegranate, and this turned out to
be enough to keep her in the underground forever. However, a compromise
was reached that Kore would stay with him for part of the year,
but spend the rest above ground with her mother.
This myth is actually what was acted out in the form
of a dance showing what happens year after year. Just as Kore,
the corn-maiden, goes underground for part of the year, so does
corn seed. When it is time, it comes back up above ground in the
form of corn ( this is just about the time that Kore would come
back to visit her mother). This is an example of a festival where
the Greeks showed thanks for their food, and prayed for good harvests
in the future.
These are the remains of the sanctuary of Demeter and Kore, and is the center for the Eleusinian Mysteries.