Eleusinian Mysteries: Did you mean...?

The Rites of Eleusis, or the Eleusinian Mysteries, were the secret rituals of the mystery school of Eleusis and were observed regularly from c. 1600 BCE - 392 CE. Exactly what this mystic ritual was no one knows; but why the ancient Greeks...

Demeter, the Greek goddess of agriculture, bread, and grain is one of the oldest deities in the ancient Greek pantheon, and not only that, she was an incredibly important one as the goddess that guaranteed the fertility of the earth. With...

Kykeon (from the Greek “to mix, stir”) was a beverage of water and barley (sometimes flavored with mint or thyme) popular among the working, 'lower' class of ancient Greece. In Homer's Illiad it is described as a mixture of water, barley...

Demeter was one of the oldest gods in the ancient Greek pantheon. Demeter was a goddess of agriculture and guaranteed the fertility of the earth. She protected both farming and vegetation. The close connection with the earth was inherited...

Mystery cults, or mystery religions, were ancient religious associations characterized by secrecy and initiation rites. They typically surrounded one primary deity, but some mystery cults venerated multiple deities in their rites. Members...

Eleusis was a deme of Athens and most famous for its annual festival of the Mysteries in honour of Demeter and Persephone. The site was also an important fortress protecting Attica and held several other important festivals, notably the Thesmophoria...

This is the largest and most important votive relief found at Eleusis. It represents the Eleusinian deities in a scene of mysterious rituel. On the left Demeter, clad in a peplos and holding a scepter in her left hand, offers ears of wheat...

Terracotta votive plaque dedicated by Ninnion to the two great goddesses of Eleusis (Demeter and Persephone). Middle of 4th century BCE. (Archaeological Museum of Athens, Greece)

We know a lot about our past but some things, despite research, archaeology and endless debate, still remain largely unknown. This collection looks at some of the great unsolved mysteries from the ancient world to try and discover the facts...

The Mithraic Mysteries, also known as Mithraism, were a mystery cult in the Roman world where followers worshipped the Indo-Iranian deity Mithras (Akkadian for "contract") as the god of friendship, contract and order. The cult first appeared...