Eleusis: Archetypal Image of Mother and Daughter

Portada
Princeton University Press, 1991 - 257 páginas

The Sanctuary of Eleusis, near Athens, was the center of a religious cult that endured for nearly two thousand years and whose initiates came from all parts of the civilized world. Looking at the tendency to "see visions," C. Kerenyi examines the Mysteries of Eleusis from the standpoint not only of Greek myth but also of human nature. Kerenyi holds that the yearly autumnal "mysteries" were based on the ancient myth of Demeter's search for her ravished daughter Persephone--a search that he equates not only with woman's quest for completion but also with every person's pursuit of identity. As he explores what the content of the mysteries may have been for those who experienced them, he draws on the study of archaeology, objects of art, and religious history, and suggests rich parallels from other mythologies.

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Contenido

The Geographical and Chronological Setting
5
The Mysteries at the Time of Xerxes 480 BC and of Valentinian AD 364
7
Testimonies to the Beatitude of the Initiates
11
The End of the Mysteries
14
The Question of the Origins
16
The Mythological Setting
24
The Two Goddesses
25
The Myths concerning Demeter
28
On the Threshold of the Telesterion
80
In the Telesterion
86
The Eleusinian Version of the Visio Beatifica
93
Part Two
101
A Hermeneutical Essay on the Mysteries
103
The Uniqueness of the Eleusinian Mysteries
110
The Relation of the Mysteries to the Grain
118
Pomegranate and Vine
128

Rape and Mourning
32
Demeters Journey to Hades
40
The Lesser Mysteries and the Preparations for the Great Mysteries
43
What Happened by the Ilissos?
46
The Purification of Herakles
50
The Cost of Initiation
57
The Procession to Eleusis
58
The Secret of Eleusis
65
Through the Gateways and the Courtyard
70
Duality
142
Eubouleus
167
The Preparation and Effect of the Kykeon
175
Concerning the Vessels That Were Carried on the Head in the Procession
179
Abbreviations
187
Notes
189
Lists of Works Cited
215
Index
235
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