Greek Religion 1.2

Personal Experience of the Divine

What was the Thesmorphoria?

A female-only Athenian festival worshipping Demeter and Kore and celebrating fertility

What was unique about the Eleusinian Mysteries?

It was offered to the individual as a choice despite being a state festival

How were the healing cults of Asclepius part of personal religion?

They mostly catered to an individual's medical needs rather than to the good of a community

What did the initiation to the Eleusinian Mysteries include?

A preparation involving ritual cleaning and fasting, and an individual experience which ended with the revelation of the secret

What is the epopteia?

The revelation of the secret at the end of the Eleusinian Mysteries

What did the Eleusinian Mysteries offer after initiation?

Eternal life in the Elysian Fields after death, and the secret to better harvest

How were the Eleusinian Mysteries incorporated into Athenian civic religion?

They became a regular part of the sacred calendar fron the late 6th century onwards

Who could be initiated into the Eleusinian Mysteries?

Anybody (including women, slaves, and foreigners) who spoke Greek and had not been involved in serious crimes (murder)

What was the consequence of revealing the Eleusinian Mysteries secret?

Revealing the secret was a capital crime, punished with the death penalty

Who was accused of mocking the Eleusinian Mysteries?

Alcibiades. He was sent to court over it

When did Eleusis become a part of Athens?

7th century BC

What myth about the Mysteries does the Homeric Hymn to Demeter tell?

Demeter's daughter Persephone was abducted by Hades who brought her to the Underworld. After failing to find her daughter all day, Demeter decided to rest at Eleusis disguised as a mortal woman. She stayed at the palace of Keleus and Metanaira, the king and queen of Eleusis. On discovery of her true identity, Demeter ordered Metaneira and Keleus to build a temple in her honour in Eleusis, where she taught them the rites and rituals of the Mysteries.

What does the Homeric Hymn to Demeter say about the afterlife of Mysteries initiates?

'Happy is he among men upon earth who has seen these mysteries; but he who is uninitiated and who has no part in them, never has a lot of like good things once he is dead, down in the darkness and gloom.'

How does Socrates describe the rewards for Mysteries initiates in his Fragments 837?

'thrice fortunate are those among mortals who have seen these rites before going to Hades; for they alone have life there, while others have every kind of misery'

What play makes light of the Mysteries?

Aristophanes' Frogs

How is the Underworld depicted in Homer?

Very bleak; In Book 11 of the Odyssey, Achilles says 'I would rather work the soil as a serf on hire to some landless impoverished peasant than be King of all these lifeless dead'

SET SOURCE What is the Ninnion Tablet?

Date: 400-300 BC
Style: Red-figure plaque
Main image: Depiction of the cult of Eleusis, from left to right: initiates led by the god Iacchus are approaching the seated goddesses Demeter and Persephone
Current location: National Museum, Athens
Significance: Key visual source for the reconstruction of the ritual taking place at the Eleusinian Mysteries.

When were the 'Lesser Mysteries' celebrated?

spring

When were the 'Greater Mysteries' celebrated and for how long?

The autumn, over a period of nine days

What was a mystagogue?

An already initiated person who is also able to initiate others

What was a myst?

A person wishing to be initiated or in the process of being initiated

Who was the archon basileus?

King Archon responsible for all things sacred in Athens

Who was the hierophant?

Leading priest at the Eleusinian Mysteries, always drawn from the Eumolpidae family

What was kykeon?

Drink made from barley and pennyroyal, which may have psychotropic effects

What happened on the first day of Greater Mysteries celebrations?

Around 3000 people (both mystagogues and mysts) assembled in the Athenian agora. They were instructed by the archon basileus.

What happened on the second day of Greater Mysteries celebrations?

The whole group, including the sacrificial animals (piglets), marched to the seaside to bathe as a purification ritual.

What happened after the purification ritual in the Greater Mysteries?

A three day period of rest

What happened on the fourth day of Greater Mysteries celebrations?

The group assembled in the agora and formed a procession led by the priest and priestesses who carried the sacred objects to Eleusis

How long was the journey from the Athenian agora to Eleusis?

15 miles

What happened once they arrived at Eleusis?

It is not known exactly. There was probably fasting, drinking a special brew (kykeon), and a revelatory experience, likely the re-living of the myth of Demeter and Persephone

What is another suggestion for part of the initiation at Eleusis?

The simulation of your death to prepare the individual for what good they would encounter with a finale of blinding light at the Telesterion

How did the Mysteries ceremonies end?

The epopteia, the revelation of the mystery, the 'viewing' in the Telesterion of Eleusis

Where was Asclepius first mentioned?

Homer's Iliad

What was Asclepius defined in as Homer's Iliad?

A hero

What does Asclepius do in the Iliad?

He was taught by Chiron and named the 'blameless physician', brings his sons to heal the most seriously wounded of the Greeks

Why does Asclepius become perceived and worshipped as a god?

His cult spread widely from early on due to his nature as a healer

When would Asclepius' popularity surge?

During times of epidemics

When did the Athenians erect a new Asclepieion?

Around 420 BC, only a few years after a plague had devastated the city

Who are some famous victims of the Plague of Athens?

Thucydides (survived) and Pericles (died)

Where are the two most famous sanctuaries dedicated to Asclepius?

Epidaurus and Cos

What was the Asclepieion at Epidaurus famous for?

It was a centre for pilgrims seeking cure from a wide range of illnesses, who came from all over Greece

What was the sanctuary of Asclepius on Cos famous for?

Its school for physicians

What did a typical visit to a sanctuary of Asclepius include?

Preparatory bathing, sacrifices, and sleeping in the stoa of the sanctuary (known as incubation)

How could individuals be cured in the Asclepieion?

They could be cured by the god instantly, through surgery as instructed by the god and exercises by physicians, or through prescription of medicine or a specific diet and exercise

Where were the snakes of Asclepius kept?

Next to the bathing and healing facilities

SET SOURCE What was the votive offering to Asclepius from Tyche?

Anatomical votive relief from the Asclepieion on Melos, from Tyche
Date: 1st century AD
Style: Relief
Material: Marble relief
Current location: British Museum
Significance: An important example of a votive offering to Asclepius after cure was received in one of his sanctuaries

What miracle occured to Cleo at the Asclepieion of Epidaurus?

She was pregnant for 5 years, but gave birth to a toddler after sleeping in the sanctuary overnight

What votive offering did Cleo put up after her miracle at the Asclepieion?

'Wonder not at the greatness of this tablet but of the god, because he healed Cleo, after she had been pregnant and had carried the burden in her womb for five years, until she slept in the sanctuary'

Where was the healing sanctuary dedicated to the local hero/god Amphiareios located?

Oropos in Attica

What happened at the Amphiareion at Oropos according to Pausanius?

Worshippers and prospective incubants were required to sleep on the skin of a sacrificed ram

What was found at the Amphiareion at Oropos?

An altar inscribed with the names of fourteen different gods/heroes, a koimeterion used for incubation, a theatre building, and a fountain house

What was the oldest oracular sanctuary in Greece?

Dodona

Where was the oracle of Zeus at Dodona?

Epirus

What were oracular responses taken from at Dodona?

The rustling leaves of the sacred oak or from doves sitting in the tree

When is Dodona mentioned in Homer's Odyssey?

Odysseus claimed to have gone to Dodona in order to 'hear Zeus' will from the lofty oak'

What was the most common question asked at Dodona?

'Which god to pray to?'

What were the most common answer from the oracle at Dodona?

'Yes' or 'no'

What did the largest category of oracular questions from Dodona concern?

Travel and moving places

What does Ariston ask the oracle at Dodona concerning travel?

In the early 3rd century, he asks 'whether it is better and preferable for me and if I will be able to sail to Syracuse to the colony at a later point in time?'

What does Parminedes ask Zeus at Dodona concerning travel a century earlier?

'Whether he will fare better if he stays home'

What does Kleanor ask at Dodona concerning offspring?

In the 5th/4th century, he asks 'about offspring to inherit from Gonthe, the wife he has now?'

What does the slave Kittos ask at Dodona?

'Whether he will get the freedom from Dionysios that Dionysios promised him?'

How far did people travel to frequent the oracle of Dodona?

As far as Tarentum (southern Italy)