Women celebrated Demeter among themselves, gathering in a sanctuary on the hill, near the meeting-place of the Assembly (Pnyx). Women had their own organization for this purpose, under the leadership of two female "Rulers." It lasted three days:

•   On the first, known as "the way up," they made their way in a procession to the sanctuary, carrying cult implements, food, and piglets for the sacrifice that probably took place in the evening or at night. The piglets were thrown into the "pits of Demeter and Kore." Women known as the Bailers fetched up the decayed remains and placed them on the altars. (A myth explains that when Kore sank into the earth, the pigs of the swineherd Eubouleus were swallowed up as well.)

•   The second day is called "day of fasting." The women stay in seclusion, without tables or chairs, and make beds on the ground from withies and other plants supposed to have an anaphrodisiac effect. They imitate the state prior to the discovery of civilization.

•   On the third day the fasting comes to an end with sacrifices and a great meat banquet. The "Goddess of Beautiful Birth" is invoked. At some point during the festival the women exchange obscene speech and perhaps consume "cakes" in the shape of female genitals. (Compare with the function of Iambe in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter.)
 

The sanctuary of Eleusis (where Demeter, according to the myth, was reunited with her daughter) was at a distance of some fourteen miles from Athens. Recently archaeologists have concluded that, in addition to the Mysteries, Thesmophoria festivals were also celebrated at Eleusis, because pit-like structures are attached to the foundations of the porch of the Telesterion (Hall of Mysteries).

The Mysteries were similar to the Thesmophoria in that they too were directed toward agrarian prosperity, but at the same time they aimed to fulfil for the initiate the hope of a better lot in the underworld. A fragment by Sophocles says,"Thrice blessed are those among men who, after beholding these rites, go down to Hades. Only for them is there life."

In the course of the Mysteries worshippers perhaps viewed the myth of Demeter and Kore enacted in dramatic form. The St. Petersburg vase (see handout) may represent the characters of this ritual drama. It may have started with the separation of Demeter (sitting on the Mirthless Rock) and Kore (sitting in sorrow in Hades). Iacchus (2 on the vase) leads the initiates to Eleusis, and Eubouleus (9) leads Kore from Hades to Eleusis. To the right of Iacchus and to the left of Eubouleus respectively sit Triptolemus (3) and Athena (8), who together symbolize the generous invitation of Athens to all Hellenes to participate in this Athenian festival. In the center mother (5) and daughter (6) are reunited. Figures 4 and 7 are, respectively, Dionysus and Heracles, two famous initiates in the Mysteries.

Initiation was in two stages. The Lesser Mysteries were dedicated to Persephone. The initiates wore wreaths and carried in procession branches of myrtle. A woman bore on her head the sacred "tray" with held a variety of seeds and grains to symbolize Demeter's gifts. Day by day the events of the Greater Mysteries were the following:

 1) The ephebes escorted the "sacred things" in boxes from Eleusis to the City Eleusinion.

 2) The hierophant (priest who "reveals the sacred things") has the sacred herald make the announcemen5. A command was given, "Hither the victims," and a sacrifice was performed.

 3) Another command : "To the sea, initiates!" They bathed in the sea with their piglets.

 4) This day commemorated Asclepius' late arrival at the Mysteries (his cult was introduced in Athens on this day in 420 BCE). Following a procession there was a second major sacrifice and an all-night celebration in honor of Asclepius.

 5) A day of rest?

6) The great crowd of initiates set out, led by Iacchus, whose statue was carried on the way to Eleusis. He was invoked in the ritual cry, Iakkhe! At some distance from Eleusis they were joined by the ephebes who provided an escort for the rest of the way. As the members of the procession crossed the river Cephisus, a group of people standing by the bridge mocked and insulted them. Upon arrival at the sanctuary there was a Reception of Iacchus. The initiates danced by the Callichoron Well (Well of the Beautiful Dances, the Sacred Well) in honor of Demeter and Kore.

7) A day of rest, with secret rites in the evening.

The following reconstruction of the ritual drama is conjectural, based primarily on paintings. The initiates filed into the sanctuary, and perhaps could see the area of the Mirthless Rock illuminated by their torchlights. Lamentations came from the precinct. They passed by and walked up to the Telesterion. There they deposited their piglets in the pits and then wandered about outside the Telesterion in search of Kore. Each initiate was guided by a leader. All the while the hierophant ("He who shows sacred things") sounded a gong, summoning Kore. The second-year initiates caught a glimpse of mother and daughter reunited. The Two Goddesses and Eubuleus entered the Telesterion. Then the Hall of the Mysteries opened, and the initiates entered, passing from darkness to an immense space blazing with light coming from thousands of torches. The goddesses were perhaps visible again to the initiates on a platform. Divine initiates, such as Heracles and Dionysus, may appear in the sacred drama, as well as Triptolemus. As the new initiates left the Hall, perhaps a special vision was revealed to the Second-Year initiates. A Christian writer speaks of a display of grain and the birth of a child. This child was perhaps Ploutos ("Wealth"). 8) A day of sacrifice and festivity. Bulls were sacrificed to Demeter and Kore, and many other animals, especially pigs, were sacrificed by individuals on the altars of the Two Goddesses located in the forecourt of the sanctuary. 9) The initiates returned to Athens. On the final day of the festival two vessels were poured out, one facing east, the other west, into the pits attached to the Telesterion. 10) The Athenian Council met in the City Eleusinion, in a traditional session on the day after the Mysteries.

Demeter, Kore and Zeus Eubouleus are worshipped together in connection with the Thesmophoria.
 

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