Eleusinian Mysteries

Hades (; , , later ), in the ancient Greek religion and mythology, is the god of the dead and riches and the King of the underworld, with which his name became synonymous. Hades was the eldest son of Cronus and Rhea, although this also made him the last son to be regurgitated by his father. He and his brothers, Zeus and Poseidon, defeated, overthrew, and replaced their father's generation of gods, the Titans, and claimed joint sovereignty over the cosmos. Hades received the underworld, Zeus the sky, and Poseidon the sea, with the solid earth, which was long the domain of Gaia, available to all

In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Persephone ( ; , classical pronunciation: ), also called Kore () or Cora, is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. She became the queen of the underworld after her abduction by her uncle Hades, the king of the underworld, who later took her into marriage. The myth of her abduction, her sojourn in the underworld, and her cyclical return to the surface represents her functions as the embodiment of spring and the personification of vegetation, especially grain crops, which disappear into the earth when sown, remain hidden for a period, sprout from the earth, a

god in Roman religion, Plouton in Greek

secret religious rites in ancient Greece

In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, Minthe or Mintha () is an underworld naiad associated with the river Cocytus. She was beloved by and mistress to Hades, the king of the underworld, but she was transformed into a mint plant by either his wife Persephone or her mother Demeter. The plant was also called by some as hedyosmos (), which means "sweet-smelling".

thumb|Iacchus (?), with a torch in each hand, on the Ninnion Tablet, 350s BC, [[National Archaeological Museum of Athens 11036.]]

thumb|Circe and Odysseus, white-ground lekythos by the Athena Painter, ca. 490–480 BC. From Eretria National Archaeological Museum in Athens, 1133.|250px|right Kykeon (, ; from , ; "to stir, to mix") was an Ancient Greek drink of varied description. Some were made of water, barley and naturally occurring substances. Others were made with wine and grated cheese. It is widely believed that kykeon refers to a psychoactive brew, as in the case of the Eleusinian Mysteries. A kykeon was used at the climax of the Eleusinian Mysteries to break a sacred fast, but it is also mentioned as a favourite dri

thumb|upright=1.5|Votive relief depicting the hierophant of the Eleusinian Mysteries addressing [[Demeter and Persephone, 2nd century AD, Ancient Agora of Athens Museum Greece.]]

thumb|Terracotta kernos from the Cycladic period (ca. 2000 BCE), found at [[Melos]] thumb|In this votive plaque depicting elements of the Eleusinian Mysteries, a female figure (top center of rectangular portion) wears a kernos on her head

thumb|244px|A Baubo Greek terracotta figurines|terracotta figurine of the Priene type, holding a [[lyre. From Priene, Anatolia.]]

mythological Greek character, deity of the underground

thumb|upright=1.5|Remains of the Eleusinion, seen from the southeast. The platform at left is the northern end of the Temple of Triptolemus. The masonry wall in the background is the Post-Herulian Wall, which runs along the western boundary of the sanctuary. Eleusinion (), also called the City Eleusinion () was a sanctuary on the lower part of the north slope of the Acropolis in Athens, Greece, dedicated to Demeter and Kore (Persephone). It was the central hub of Eleusinian Mysteries within Athens and the starting point for the annual procession to Eleusis, in the northwest of Attica. Religiou

Iambe (Ancient Greek: Ἰάμβη means 'banter'), in Greek mythology, was a Thracian woman, daughter of Pan and Echo, granddaughter of Hermes, and a servant of Metaneira, the wife of Hippothoon. Others call her a slave of Celeus, king of Eleusis.

ancient road from Athens to Eleusis

thumb|247x247px|General view of the site of the Telesterion in Eleusis thumb|200x200px|Another View of Telesterion (Initiation Hall), Center for the Eleusinian Mysteries, [[Eleusis]] The Telesterion ("Initiation Hall" from Gr. τελείω, "to complete, to fulfill, to consecrate, to initiate") was a great hall and sanctuary in Eleusis, one of the primary centers of the Eleusinian Mysteries. The hall had a fifty-five yard square roof that could cover three-thousand people, but no one revealed what happened during these events beyond there being "something done, something said, and something shown".

thumb|This marble head, sometimes thought to be the work of Praxiteles, probably depicts Eubuleus In ancient Greek religion and myth, Eubuleus or Eubouleus (Ancient Greek Εὐβουλεύς Eubouleus means "good counsel" or "wise in counsel") is a god known primarily from devotional inscriptions for mystery religions. The name appears several times in the corpus of the so-called Orphic gold tablets spelled variously, with forms including Euboulos, Eubouleos and Eubolos. It may be an epithet of the central Orphic god, Dionysus or Zagreus, or of Zeus in an unusual association with the Eleusinian Mysterie

Ascalabus (Ancient Greek: Ἀσκάλαβος), in Greek mythology, was a son of Misme.

Clay tablet depicting Greek mysteries

thumb|Ploutonion at Hierapolis|Pluto's Gate ("Old Plutonion" adjacent to the Temple of Apollo) at [[Hierapolis]] A ploutonion (, lit. "Place of Plouton") is a sanctuary specially dedicated to the ancient Greek god Plouton (i.e., Hades). Only a few such shrines are known from classical sources, usually at locations that produce poisonous emissions and were considered to represent an entrance to the underworld.

Daduchos or Daduchus, or Dadouchos (; "torch-bearer", from δᾶις+ἔχω) is an epithet of Artemis, and notably of Demeter seeking her lost daughter (Persephone) with a torch. It was also an epithet of Hekate, a goddess frequently associated with torches. This title was given in the Rhodes Island in Greece. It was also the title of the second priest (ranking after the Hierophant) at the Eleusinian Mysteries, an office inherited in several families of Athens.

Greek museum

ancient Greek vase

relief in the National Archaeological Museum, Athens

thumb|400px|Dionysian scene on a 3rd-century AD sarcophagus In ancient Greek religion, an orgion (ὄργιον, more commonly in the plural orgia) was an ecstatic form of worship characteristic of some mystery cults. The orgion is in particular a cult ceremony of Dionysos (or Zagreus), celebrated widely in Arcadia, featuring "unrestrained" masked dances by torchlight and animal sacrifice by means of random slashing that evoked the god's own rending and suffering at the hands of the Titans. The orgia that explained the role of the Titans in Dionysos's dismemberment were said to have been composed by