Myth

The worship of two major deities of the Greek pantheon, Demeter and Persephone, has been directly linked since prehistoric times to Eleusis, the sacred city of Attica, one of the most important religious centers in Greece, which retained its sanctity for two millennia and spread the worship of the Eleusinian gods throughout the ancient world.

The oldest written text referring to the primitive worship of Demeter is the Homeric Hymn (second half of the 7th century BC)4, which recounts the passions and deeds of the goddess, according to the local tradition of Eleusis: Hades, with the consent of Zeus, kidnapped Demeter's daughter Persephone while she was playing with the Oceanids in a flowery meadow. Because neither mortal nor immortal heard her voice, Demeter, accompanied by Hecate, went to Helios and begged him, as the overseer of the earth, to inform her of her daughter's fate. Helios confessed the truth, and the goddess was so angry with Zeus, the father of the gods, that she did not return to Olympus. After transforming herself into an old woman, she wandered through cities and fields, unknown among the people. Then she arrived in Eleusis and sat down at the "Parthenion well," "where the citizens were watered in the shade," known as the Kallichoro well. There she was met by the four daughters of the king of Eleusis, Keleous, who asked her where she had come from and why she was not seeking hospitality in the city. The goddess, concealing her identity, replied that she was from Crete, that she had been captured by bandits, that she had escaped from Thorikos, and begged to be allowed to serve, as befits a woman of her age, in a house in Eleusis and raise a child, if someone would entrust one to her.

Historical introduction

Archaeological excavations have brought to light evidence proving human presence in this area as early as the Early Helladic period (2800-2000 BC)8
A sanctuary and settlement dating back to before 1580 BC (Middle Helladic period 2000-1580 BC) were also revealed by archaeological excavations, while during the Mycenaean period (1580-1100 BC) the settlement is clearly attested, both on the hill and in the finds from the western cemetery. In the area of the Telesterion in particular, research has brought to light the remains of a megaron-type building, which many identify as the first temple of Demeter.
When the Mycenaean civilization was overthrown by the Dorians, the last branch of the Indo-Europeans moved southward (c. 1100 BC), and the center of political and military power in ancient Greece shifted from Mycenae to Argos and Sparta, Attica and Eleusis appear to have suffered great destruction.

Throughout this period, known as the Proto-Geometric period, which lasted three centuries, Eleusis was not completely abandoned and the cult of Demeter continued to be practiced. Perhaps the palace of the Mycenaean period also continued to be used.

D. Filios uncovered parts of buildings used for religious purposes, mainly retaining walls that supported the area of the Mycenaean megaron temple of the goddess, dating back to the Geometric Period (around 700 BC), further proof of the continuous worship of Demeter. During the time of Solon (650-600 BC), a sanctuary was built, enclosed by a high wall. Peisistratos (550-510 BC) extended the boundaries of the wall and formed the Telesterion.

Despite its important strategic position and the fact that it was a major stronghold of Athens, Eleusis failed to prevent the Spartan king Cleomenes from plundering the temple of Demeter before the Persian Wars, nor did it manage to stop Xerxes during the Persian Wars, who set it on fire, along with the rest of Attica. In the middle of the 5th century, Eleusis was established as a pan-Hellenic sanctuary, while Cimon, in 470 BC, had drawn up plans for the renovation of the Telesterion. After the peace of 445 BC, the reconstruction of the sanctuary was completed on the initiative of Pericles himself. People from all over the world flocked to Eleusis at this time to experience the grandeur of the cult of Demeter and the political power of Athens.

During the Peloponnesian War, Sparta respected the sanctuary, as did many other conquerors later on, even though the raids against the city and its inhabitants were often devastating. After the end of the Peloponnesian War, Eleusis became an important center for military operations when it broke away from Athens during the period of the Thirty Tyrants (403-400 BC). When they were defeated by General Thrasybulus, the Tyrants withdrew to Eleusis to resist until they received help. They exterminated those Eleusinians they did not trust, but this new calamity did not last long. Immediately after their fall, Eleusis was inhabited by friends of the Thirty, who no longer wished to remain in Athens. Eleusis remained a strong fortress of Athens until the Macedonian period (4th-3rd century BC).

During the Roman period, Eleusis regained the glory and splendor of the Classical era. The Roman emperors favored not only the sanctuary but also the city. The Small Propylaea date back to the time of the consul Appius Claudius Pulcher (54 BC). The Hadrianic aqueduct, which started from the springs of Phyle and ended at the sanctuary, as well as the bridge at the intersection of the Sacred Way and the National Road, are works of Emperor Hadrian, who was initiated into the Mysteries in 125 AD. The Great Propylaea, as well as the paving of the square, are attributed to Emperor Marcus Aurelius (121-180 AD).

People from all corners of the Greco-Roman world flocked to Eleusis at this time to find religious and philosophical truth about the beginning and purpose of human life and the fate of the soul after death.

With the dominance of Christianity, the worship of Demeter was endangered. Four hundred years after the establishment of the Christian religion, the priests of Demeter desperately held on to the torches of their mystical worship. And perhaps the light would have continued to shine for a long time to come if the sanctuary had not been destroyed and the goddess's devout servants had not been burned at the stake by Alaric and the Visigoths in 395 AD. In 392 AD, the Byzantine emperor Theodosius II explicitly banned the celebration of the Mysteries in an effort to combat idolatry and definitively establish the new religion. This marked the end of the renowned but secret source of worship of the Eleusinian gods, which for hundreds of years had offered people peace of mind and bliss of the soul after death.

During the Byzantine era, writers refer to Eleusis as a "small village." Under Justinian, the fortress of Eleusis was repaired to resist the barbarians of the North. During the Frankish occupation, it was subjugated along with Attica and Boeotia to the Franks (French, Catalans, Florentines). The "Frankish tower" to the west of the acropolis was built shortly after the Frankish conquest, on ancient foundations and with stones from ancient buildings (it has now been demolished).

Before the Turkish conquest, the area had been deserted due to constant persecution, raids, captivity, and abductions in the 14th and 15th centuries. The desolation helped the Albanian Tosks, between 1418 and 1425, to build their huts and cultivate the land. During the 17th century, the area was once again deserted by pirates, and the Albanians withdrew to the present-day village of Mandra. When he visited Eleusis in February 1676, he reported that he found the plain cultivated, but saw no dwellings and no permanent residents. The place began to be permanently inhabited again in the early 18th century by the descendants of the old inhabitants, who came mainly from the western foothills of Kithairon.

The chronicle of the excavations

The Society of Dilettanti, an English society interested in antiquities, managed in 1811, when Greece was still under Turkish rule, after many arduous efforts, to obtain permission from the Sultan for an initial investigation of the sanctuary. Eleusis was handed over to the archaeological spade. The expedition was led by SIR WILLIAM GELL and architects John Peter Grandy and Francis Redford. They arrived in Eleusis in 1812 and, despite the adversities they faced, managed to clear the Great Propylaea and the temple of Artemis Propylaea. They also managed to identify the temple of the goddess, although their observations about the shape of the temple proved to be inaccurate.

In 1860, new research in the Propylaea area was conducted by the French archaeologist FR. LENORMANT, but these were quickly halted due to lack of funds. Icheopp&i also conducted an excavation on the orders of the Ministry of Public Education on the Sacred Way.

In 1882, systematic excavation of the sanctuary of Eleusis began under the auspices of the Archaeological Society of Athens. With the assistance of the Greek State, the houses of the villagers on the hill were purchased and demolished. Dimitrios Filios began the research and managed to almost completely clear the large temple of Demeter. His colleague, German architect Willhelm Dorpfeld, accompanied the excavations with the first complete architectural plans. The reports of these excavations between 1882 and 1890 provide a detailed picture of the dramatic discovery of the ruins of this pan-Hellenic sanctuary of antiquity. Filios was succeeded by Professor Andreas Skias, who between 1894 and 1907 mainly investigated the courtyard of the sanctuary, the Geometric cemetery, and the prehistoric remains on the southern slope of the hill. In 1917, Konstantinos Kourouniotis took over the excavation and uncovered many important features of the sanctuary.

Kourounotis was funded from 1830 onwards with an "annual generous grant," as he himself states, from the Rockefeller Foundation and the American School of Archaeology, on the initiative of its director, Edward Capps. The financial support allowed Kourouniotis to conduct large-scale excavations and complete his exploration of the sanctuary. His collaborators were architect Ioannis Traulos, curator of antiquities Ioannis Threpsiadis, and professor Georgios Bakalakis.

After Kourouniotis' death, the Archaeological Society continued the excavations with Professor Anastasios Orlandos, architect Ioannis Traulos, and Professor Georgios Mylonas.

The systematic study and research of the sanctuary of Demeter and Kore continues today by the Archaeological Society, with Professor Georgios Mylonas and architect Ioannis Traulos, who add, year after year, the decades of experience and dedication of renowned researchers to the sacred site of the Eleusinian Sanctuary.