1. Demeter Eleusinia Paige Hackney

2. Who was Demeter? Goddess of Harvest and fertility of crops Mother to Persephone (Kore, the maid) Homeric Hymn of Demeter

3. Mysteries Secret, initiation- type rituals Travel to be initiated We know very little Fasting, drinking and jesting Punishments for revealing mysteries Boedromion 15-22 “the awful mysteries not to be transgressed, violated, or divulged, because the tongue is restrained by reverence for the gods”

4. Mysteries Cont. Multiple sacrifices to multiple deities Male priests played a major role Hierophant Eumolpidae and Ceryces Lesser Mysteries

5. Sanctuary of Demeter Telesterion Planting grain Separation and reunion Brimus/Ploutos

6. “Demeter was kindly disposed of our ancestors, and she gave them two gifts which are the greatest: the fruits which make it possible for us to live not like animals, and the initiation, and those who partake of the initiation have sweeter hopes about the end od life and all eternity” -Panegyricus