personal experience

Question 1

what is name for an initiate in a cult

Answer 1

mystes

Question 2

why did they do the eleusinian mysteries

Answer 2

• underwent death for a rehearsal of a real death
• gives you the realisation that death isnt a bad thing

Question 3

where is the myth behind the eleusinian mysteries found

Answer 3

told in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter

Question 4

story of homeric hymn to demeter

Answer 4

hades snatched persephone as condoned by zeus, but didnt have persephone’s approval
persephone ate pomegranate seeds = enough to ensure her in hades forever.
there was a deal struck where for 2/3 of the year, she’d return to the land of the living

Question 5

where is eleusis

Answer 5

15 miles west of athens

Question 6

What was day 1 of eleusinian mysteries

Answer 6

mystagogues and mysts assembled in the athenian agora
then the archon basileus read a proclamation calling forth initiates

Question 7

What was days 2-4 of eleusinian mysteries

Answer 7

they marched with sacrifical piglets to the sea to bathe them as a purification ritual

Question 8

What was day 5 of eleusinian mysteries x4

Answer 8

• processed from athens to eleusis
• carried out sacred dances, libations, sacrifices, hymns etc
• in the journey, roles reversed; the young mocked the old
• deities eg Aphrodite, Iacchus (god of initiates) were worshipped

Question 9

What was days 6-7 of eleusinian mysteries

Answer 9

• days of fasting and purification
• mysts drank kykeon (a hallucinogenic drink) to make them more susceptible to revelationary experience

Question 10

What was days 8-9 of eleusinian mysteries x4

Answer 10

• initiates wandered in the dark with torches in the sanctuary
• mean to represent demeter’s suffering and search for persephone (kore).
• possibly a simulation of their own death and what to expect
• blinding light at the Telesterion where the secret was revealed (epopteia)

Question 11

what was it called when the secret was revealed in the eleusinian mysteries

Answer 11

epopteia

Question 12

what was persephone also called in the eleusinian mysteries

Answer 12

kore

Question 13

source name for eleusinian mysteries

Answer 13

ninnion tablet

Question 14

one scene of the ninnion tablet x3

Answer 14

• source depicts a procession of initiates towards the two goddesses (demeter and persephone) who are seated.
• two figures who carry torches are intermediaries between mortals and gods and present initiates to the deities.
• the upper scene is Hekate (goddess of magic) while the young man in the lower scene is Iacchus

Question 15

two scene version of ninnion tablet x4

Answer 15

• upper scene is the lesser mysteries.
• the woman bearing a torch is Kore, who leads the initiates to her mother (Demeter) who is seated with a sceptre
• lower scene; Iacchus presents initiates to Demeter after their arrival to Eleusis
• persephone holds her torch high whilst iacchus lowers it for her (superior goddess)
• pediment is the all night party

Question 16

importance of the mysteries on a state level - isocrates, panegyricus

Answer 16

• gives a rally calling for greek unity under athenian leadership to fight the persians
  => talks about the persephone myth, and emphasises how it is shared with all men and central to the city.

Question 17

importance of the mysteries on a state level - andocides, on the mysteries

Answer 17

• he tried in court for mocking the mysteries, and others were exiled for it= sacred.

Question 18

who is asclepius in some myths

Answer 18

he is the son of apollo sometimes

Question 19

when was asclepius worhsipped

Answer 19

mostly during plagues

Question 20

what were votive offerings probably in the asclepieion

Answer 20

jewellery or carvings (prolly of body parts) were displayed

Question 21

what happened to votive offerings

Answer 21

annually, they were buried

Question 22

what happened at the asclepieion

Answer 22

• preparatory bathing and sacrifices
• INCUBATION - sleep in a stoa of the sanctuary. youd recieve dreams telling you how to be healed and then relay that to the physicians

Question 23

examples of other healing cults

Answer 23

sanctuary dedicated to a local god/hero in Oropos, Attica - Amphiarios

Question 24

inscription at the sanctuary of asclepius in Epidaurus

Answer 24

“Cleo was pregnant for five years. After she had been pregnant for five years she came as a suppliant to the god and slept in the sanctuary. As soon as she came out of the inner sanctuary and was outside the temple enclosure, she gave birth to a son”

Question 25

source for asclepieions

Answer 25

votive offering from the asclepieion

Question 26

x4 votive offering from the asclepieion on the island of melos

Answer 26

- made by Tyche ( a woman) - addressed to asclepious and his daughter Hygeia - marble relief - from 1st century AD, so 500 years after the cult was thriving and after roman takeover = longetivity

Question 27

votive offering at the asclepieion useful x5

Answer 27

- tyche (a woman) = women were also healed - marble is expensive = gratitude to gods and wealthy visitors - of leg = physical healing took place - asclepius and hygeia = people believed both of these gods were involved in the healing process - from 1st century AD, so 500 years after the cult was thriving and after roman takeover = longetivity

Question 28

votive offering at the asclepieion

Answer 28

- process of incubation - healing process - the physicians did this through snake venom or exercise and diet.

Question 29

how did physicians heal you in the asclepieions

Answer 29

- the snakes of asclepius were kept near to the bathing facility as their venom was used to cure illnesses - could prescribe exercise or diet