Mysteries at Eleusis: Images of Inscriptions

About this collection

The Mysteries at Eleusis: Images of Inscriptions collection consists of images of ancient inscriptions on stone from Eleusis. The images were created by Professor Kevin Clinton (Department of Classics) as well as the institutions holding the items. All the photographs are printed in Eleusis, The Inscriptions on Stone: Documents of the Sanctuary of the Two Goddesses and Public Documents of the Deme.

Historical context

The documents are all from the sanctuary of the Eleusinian Mysteries, at Eleusis, a town belonging to Athens. "The Mysteries," as they were officially called, are usually recognized today, as they were in ancient times, as one of the most important religious cults in ancient Greece. Walter Burkert, for example, wrote: "The words mystical, mystery, mysterious are still common today. Their origins are in the ancient Greek cult, in particular the most famous one, the Eleusinian Mysteries" (Homo Necans, 248).

The festival culminated in secret rites within the sanctuary of Demeter and Kore at Eleusis, which was located about fourteen miles west of Athens. Hundreds of people from all over the Greek world converged annually on Athens and Eleusis to take part in the sacred rites over the course of a week, and they were pledged to secrecy on penalty of death. Cicero said of the Mysteries that Athens had given to mankind "nothing finer..., and as they are called an initiation (initia), so indeed do we learn in them the basic principles of life, and from them acquire not only a way of living in happiness but also a way of dying with greater hope" (De legibus, 2.36).

Several Roman emperors, including Augustus, Hadrian, and Marcus Aurelius, made the journey to Eleusis and became initiates. By the end of antiquity the Mysteries had left their mark on Christianity, certainly in terminology, such as "mystery" (the word for "sacrament" in the Greek Orthodox Church), "mystagogue," "mystic," and probably in other significant ways, which remain a subject of debate. Thus mystery ritual constitutes a tradition that extends, in varying form, from Archaic Greece to our own day.

Using the collection

Unless otherwise noted, images in this collection are believed to be in the public domain. Digital reproductions in this collection are provided by Cornell University Library for private study, scholarship and research use only. In accordance with Greek and EU laws, additional permissions from the holding institution and/or The Hellenic Republic Ministry of Culture and Sports may be required for any reuse. For more information about these items, please contact Professor Kevin Clinton (Department of Classics) at kmc1@cornell.edu. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with persons desiring to use the item.

More information

Collection steward

(Vacant)

Metadata creation

Nora Dimitrova, Gregory Clinton, K. Clinton, Nancy Holcomb, Marty Kurth, Greg Nehler, Rick Silterra, Nancy Solla, Gale Halpern, Rick Silterra, David Jones

Funding

Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation; Faculty Grants for Digital Library Collections: Advancing E-Scholarship, awarded to Kevin Clinton in 2004.

Credits

This collection overview was last reviewed in 2025.