An examination of the Eleusinain
Mysteries relationship to Christianity
Introduction
The role of women
has been a topic of controversy for many years in many different contexts
throughout the entire world. However, when one looks back to the origins or
more explicitly to our originals, one can find that females are symbols of
power though this power has changed with time. The feminine power stems
specifically from the woman’s fertility and ability to give or take away life.
It has been said that the precedent to all actions is myth. Thus it is logical
to look back at the myths of the world to figure out how women play into
society and their roles within the family dynamics. This paper will look
specifically at the roles women play within the more popular religions of the
world as well as within the secular societies both present and past. While
there are many diverse myths that pertain to women in power, the one that is
perhaps the most useful in this sense in the Hymn to Demeter. This myth centralizes on the grain goddess Demeter
and her daughter Persephone.[1]
This ancient tale tells of the abduction of the daughter goddess and the
mother’s quest to find Persephone. It is a story of feminine power, tragedy,
and rebirth, physically and spiritually. Throughout history, Demeter and
Persephone’s story has been retold countless times through its transformation
in the initiation Rites of Eleusis, which was an ancient religious cult that
was based on the Hymn of Demeter.
The great novelist
James Joyce has shown the Great Mother, or Demeter, within his epic story of Ulysses, which is set in Dublin 1904.
Through Joyce’s work, it is possible to see how the Hymn to Demeter created the basis for the Christian Myth of Jesus
Christ’s death and rebirth and Homer’s The
Odyssey, thus creating essentially
the entire contemporary world, as we know it at least from the literary
perspective.
Within these
stories various characters, themes, and motifs represent Demeter and Persephone
in a myriad of ways that are essential to the argument that they are indeed the
originals of modern society. These two goddesses truly are the precedent to the
gods and heroes that we are familiar with in the patriarchal society of the
world. Within the pages of Joyce’s Ulysses,
Molly Bloom represents Demeter and Stephen Daedalus represents her daughter, Persephone.
In the Christian myth[2],
the Virgin Mary and Jesus represent Demeter and Persephone respectively.
However, the main difference between the Christian Myth and the Eleusinian
Mysteries stems from its patriarchal bent instead of the matriarchal. This
change has come from the alterations in values in society. Society over time
has become more industrialized instead of agricultural based thus the Grain
Goddess is not as revered. As the means of survival has changed, so have the
values that humans tend to elevate above others. Nonetheless, this difference
is important as it pertains to how exactly culture has been shaped and changed
since the days that the Eleusinian Mysteries were openly practiced. Even in
ancient days, the Eleusinian Mysteries’ secret rituals and symbols were guarded
diligently, which is why there is very little that is known definitively about
the ceremonies that took place in the temples (Meyer 18) . Within all
of these stories the true power that needs to be concentrated on is the powerful
relationship of the mother and child. As a patriarchal society, we often feel
that the father figure is the dominant figure within the household. However, as
can be seen by the stories that are going to be examined in this paper the
mother figure is truly the powerful entity that supports the power of the
father. In the later mythologies such as Christianity, the representation of
the Great Mother goddess is the figure that allows the father to have the power
as she steps back to support him.
The Hymn of Demeter
Before the
connections between the goddesses and their followers can be explained, the Hymn of Demeter must be told. The Homeric Hymn to Demeter depicts in great
detail the abduction of Persephone, Demeter’s quest to find her daughter within
the mortal world, and the subsequent outcome of the abduction of the goddess.
The King of the Underworld, Hades, abducts Persephone so she could become his
wife and the Queen of the Underworld (Ovid 129) . This
abduction took place unbeknownst to Demeter. After realizing that her daughter
was missing, Demeter spends nine days roaming the earth before being told that
Persephone had been taken to the Underworld. Upon learning this new
information, Demeter goes to the King of the Heavens, Zeus, and is told that
she will not be able to bring her daughter back. The marriage between Hades and
Persephone already had Zeus’ blessing. In revenge and desolation, Demeter roams
the Earth and causes a drought for the entire world. While on Earth, Demeter
interacts with humans and becomes the nursemaid to a young prince of Eleusis,
Demophoon. As the goddess grows closer to the mortals of Eleusis, she decides
to make her young charge immortal. She puts him into the fire every night in
order to burn off his earthly weaknesses. However, the child’s mother
interrupts her and Demophoon loses the opportunity to become one of the great
immortals. Demeter then leaves the company of the earthly inhabitants of
Eleusis and wanders once again. After wandering for some time, she has the king
of Eleusis, Demophoon’s father, build a temple for her at Eleusis. After its
construction, Demeter retires into the temple while making the drought and
famine increase, as does the mortal death toll. The famine has gotten so bad at
this point that many humans are dying off and the gods are no longer receiving
sacrifices from their earthly followers. Zeus sends the other gods one by one
to try and talk to Demeter and get her to end this plague she has inflicted
upon the inhabitants of Earth. She ignores all of his entreaties until the
Messenger God, Hermes, brings the news that her daughter will soon becoming
home to the Heavens of Olympus. However, after being reunited with her
daughter, it is soon made clear to Demeter that Persephone ate of the fruit of
the Underworld and must now spend part of her life there. Zeus intervenes so as
to not create another world famine by agreeing to make this banishment only
part of the year. It is decided that the young goddess will spend a third of
the year in the Underworld with her Deathly husband and the rest of the year
with her mother. After rejoicing at this news, Demeter goes back to Eleusis to
establish the Eleusinian Mysteries as a gift to mankind.
This is the basic
storyline of the Hymn of Demeter. Not
only does it serve as a way to explain the seasons of the natural world but it
also provides reasons for the belief in death and rebirth and the female role
in the life cycle. Humans have been able to relate to this story much more than
any other of the gods because Demeter and Persephone are the only gods who have
felt true loss and sorrow (Hamilton 54) .
The connection that humans can feel to the story is why it is such an essential
myth to human history.
“Like poetry and
music, mythology should awaken us to rapture, even in the face of death and the
despair we may feel at the prospect of annihilation. If a myth ceases to do
that, it has died and outlived it usefulness” (Armstrong 8) .
To understand the role of the
woman, all of the roles must be understood. In each of the myths there are
three members of trinity as well as three important phases of either the myth
or of the rituals. Within mythology and religion, three has become the basis of
power as it allows for a balance that cannot be otherwise found.
The Trinity
Within all of the
stories that have been explored and are to be explored, there is a power base
that can be found within a trinity. The trinity always consists of mother,
child, and father, which creates the archetypal family. In the ancient views of
the trinity, the trinity can be represented by two figures, male and female.
The male fulfills two roles in relationship to the woman. The first of which is
the consort in order to beget the child, which typically is a son (Shlain 6) .
The second role of the male is the son.
The male figure was thought to be smaller, younger, and weaker than the goddess
(Shlain 6) .
In the Eleusinian Mysteries, Zeus, King of the Heavens, portrays the
“father-figure”. Demeter is the goddess of marriage laws, fertility, and the
cycle of life, which are all aspects represented in Ulysses, The Odyssey, and the Christian myth. While death is a part
of the cycle she represents, it is not the portion that she is most focused on
until her daughter is taken from her. When Persephone is taken from her,
Demeter’s persona changes and she begins to cause many deaths to assert her
dominance over her male counterpart in order to gain what she wants and needs.
This makes her the most powerful member in the trinity as Tindall said about
Molly in Ulysses (Tindall 124) . “Stephen
Daedalus, Mr. Bloom, and Mrs. Bloom compose a trinity, the first member of
which is least important, the last most important, and the central one central”
(Tindall 124) .
While Tindall was right about Mrs. Bloom being the most important character,
Stephen Daedalus is not the least important character. In the realm of the
story, he may be but not in relation to the role that he plays in the
archetypal family unit. Within the unit, the child is portion that humans can
relate to while the mother is support. The father is what humans try to become.
For example, children or humans try to be like the King of the Gods Zeus. They
understand and need the nurturing of Demeter through her elements as well as
the Eleusinian Mysteries. Lastly, humans can relate to the trials, loss, and
confusion that Persephone felt when taken to the Underworld. The empathy that
can be felt for this goddess is what makes her more important than that of the
father. The same relationships are true of Ulysses.
In The Odyssey and the Christian myth,
there is a trinity at work though its various members’ role alters somewhat.
However, the obvious power has shifted from the maternal parental figure to the
paternal parental figure in these last two mythologies. With this close examination,
it can be seen that the power that supports the paternal figure is the
maternal. Without the maternal figure, the paternal figure would have
absolutely no power, as the cycle of life is dependent on the maternal instead
of the paternal.
In
The Odyssey, Ulysses, and the
Christian myth, the overt actions are very much dependent on the man. Looking
specifically at each one will show how they are all based on the role of the
woman. In The Odyssey, Ulysses and
Telemachus are the main figures of action but those of Penelope determine their
actions. The same is held true in Ulysses.
The relationship is much different in the Christian myth, however. In the
actual story, Mary does not gain the attention that is due to her when looking
at her power as the female mother. However, this attention is shown when
looking at the practices of the rituals that are still alive in the religion,
which is explored in more detail later. First Ulysses must be explored as its trinity has the closest
relationship to that of The Homeric Hymn
of Demeter.
Demeter & Molly Bloom
The
first pair of women that needs to be looked at is Molly Bloom and the goddess
Demeter. We must look at the connection
between Demeter and Molly Bloom as that provides the link between the remaining
representations of these goddesses. Molly serves as one of the trinity within
the confines of Ulysses. Her role is
the most important of the three with her husband acting as the connector
between her and the “Persephone” or Stephen Daedalus (Tindall 124). While being
just a female and a mother is not enough to link definitively Demeter and
Molly, it is a wonderful place to start. In his guide to understanding James
Joyce’s works, Tindall describes Molly as “the great Woman who, terrible and
adorable as the sea, is our beginning and our end and all around us” (127). Though
most of the novel does not center on the actions of Molly, the entire action of
the book centers on her through the actions of Leopold Bloom and Stephen
Daedalus. They are the representation of “every man” and the “common man” as
Joyce wanted to show the hero as being placed in reality. As they quest for
Molly, so does every man quests for her because she is the personification of
life as a symbol of fertility. She is the archetypal woman as is the goddess, Demeter.
Demeter is the Greek goddess of grain, fertility, and the cycle of life and
death. She is the ultimate power, as she not only controls the bringing of life
but the ending of it as well for humans as well as nature. It is upon her that
all other heavenly deities must depend, just as all other characters in Ulysses must depend on Molly. They need
her to give them purpose in life.
Within The Homeric Hymn to Demeter, after
losing her daughter, Demeter causes a drought on Earth. Through the power of
her drought, many followers of the other gods die thus weakening the power of
the other gods. Without followers and their sacrifices, gods cannot live. They
need the adoration of mortals to continue existing as fully as gods can. With this show of power, it becomes blatantly
obvious to all who have read The Homeric Hymn
of Demeter who the true power of the gods is. While Demeter is not often
thought of as the most powerful god when we now consider the Olympians, that
was obviously not how she was thought of in ancient times. The King of the
Gods, Zeus, had to beg to end the drought and the Lord of the Dead, Hades, had
to give into Demeter’s demands for her daughter to be returned. This relates
specifically back to the work of Joyce. While Bloom is the breadwinner and
patriarch of the family, he does not hold the true power. Ulysses tells the story of the common man, Leopold Bloom, in a
patriarchal society but he still must bow down to the power of the matriarch.
There are still
more connections that need to be made through Demeter and Molly. The character
Molly has been debated about for many years for many different reasons. The
first of which is that her character is somewhat obscene, rude, and crude. This
has caused many people to not particularly like reading Ulysses. However, this
is not the point of Ulysses that
James Joyce was trying to create. He made Molly this way as she represents an
actual woman. Within Molly’s very short actions and thoughts in the book, she
becomes the four cardinal points of all women. Just as Leopold represents
‘every-man’, Molly represents the sacred woman or the eternal virgin (Sexson) .
With these new representations the links become even stronger between Demeter,
Penelope, Mary, and Molly. By stating that Molly is a representation as the
eternal virgin, which is how Mary is often referred to in Christian mythology
Joyce is reinforcing the importance of the female deities’ power. He even makes
this direct inference in the last chapter of Ulysses that is named Penelope after Ulysses’ wife Penelope in The Odyssey.
Demeter & the Virgin Mary
Again
the first connection that needs to be made is with the Virgin Mary and Demeter.
Both are all powerful beings. They have both lost their child to the
Underworld. However, the time frames for these stories are not directly
coinciding. In order to completely understand the connection, one must look at
the implicit instead of just the explicit. Many differences do exist that need
to be explored between the myths in order to comprehend the similarities and
the meaning of those similarities.
The
first difference that needs to be explored is their position of mortality.
According to the actual myth that is written in the Bible, Mary was a mortal. However, the important thing to look at
is not how it is written but the need that she filled for the followers of the
religion. The Christian mythology was written for a more patriarchal society
thus she could not be the ultimate power. That alone had to rest with the
masculine God. But within the following religion of Christianity, specifically Catholicism,
Mary has been elevated to god-like status to be Queen over everything (Paul 274) . She is
invoked within many different rituals, customs, and sacraments that are
essential to the Catholic faith. She is often called the “Great Mother”, which
is a direct correlation with Demeter and Molly. Thus an apparent difference
between the two women can be shown to be a trivial matter that is of the
physical nature instead of the metaphysical as that is where myth tends be
located.
The
next difference that needs to be examined is that of the length of time that
the myth covers. The Christian myth tells of the life of Jesus, which is
approximately 35 years while Demeter’s story takes place in a relatively
shorter time of a couple of years. This proves to be inconsequential as the
pattern between the stories when it pertains to life, death, and the imparting
of knowledge is still the same.
The
last and one of the most important differences between Mary and Demeter is that
of the impartation of knowledge to their children. The word children here means
biological children as well as children within the religion that they
represent. Demeter tried passing on knowledge to Demophoon by making him
immortal (Foley 14) . Mary is the
“mother of men in no way obscures or diminishes this unique mediation of
Christ, but rather shows its power” (Paul 275) .
The impartation of knowledge is what leads to actualization of new religious
orders being created. Demeter gives the people of Eleusis the information that
they need to create the Eleusinian Mysteries. Demeter’s gift to mankind did not
teach them in the traditional sense but allowed the initiate to have an
experience that transcended earthly realities and mundane learning (Meyer 12) .
These Mysteries are created to help the common man through this life and to
give them a better experience in the next life. The Christian myth is very much
similar except that Jesus gives this knowledge to the people instead of
Demeter.
Helen & Demeter
As
anyone who has read The Odyssey
before knows, the story seems to center around the quest for home by Ulysses.
But what seems to escape most people’s attention is what is particularly
drawing him home. The power of his wife Penelope is the true force of the
novel. She may have the least amount of action of any character in the book,
but like Molly her power is internal. Throughout the novel, she is seen as
fighting off suitors and weaving and unweaving her tapestry. Once again,
Demeter can be linked to the main female of the book as her daughter can be
linked to the son. Their relationship is one of interest as it leads farther
away from the matriarchal mindset that the contemporary world has adopted. As
the Christian myth led the religious aspect of culture towards the patriarchal,
The Odyssey led us in the secular sense.
Penelope
is often thought of as a pillar of virtue. She represents the holiness that can
be found within a marriage and within the woman. As Demeter/Ceres is the
goddess of marital law, it is appropriate to assume that Penelope is a
personification of this goddess. Joyce even recognizes the link between Molly
and Penelope as he states within Ulysses, “away the palm of beauty from Argive
Helen and handed it to poor Penelope. Poor Penelope. Penelope Rich.” (149).
Joyce brings into play the figure of Helen who was thought to be the most
powerful woman in history because she was beautiful enough to start the Trojan
War. However, it can be seen that the power is given to Penelope because of her
virtue. The virtuous woman truly is the most powerful woman because she accepts
and acknowledges that power that is inherent in the female fertility.
The
combination of Molly, Helen, and Mary together create the whole personality of
Demeter. She is the great mother who avenges her daughter’s apparent death. She
is mean, loving, deceitful, vindictive, giving, mortal, and immortal. Not one
of these other women can represent her fully but combined she can be shown in
today’s society. But to be a true representation of the goddess, the sacred and
the secular must be shown, as must the beautiful and the obscene. With the
connection to Demeter firmly established, the role of the child must be
examined and explored.
Stephen Daedalus & Persephone
The role of
Persephone is a little more delineated than that of her mother. Persephone is
shown through the character of Stephen Daedalus. Right away, it is apparent
that the first difference comes from gender. However, when analyzing Joyce’s
works, one must look at the levels of knowledge below the explicit to the
implicit. The implicit is to focus on the characteristics of Stephen and
Persephone and their roles in relation to their “mother”. Both of them are
questing to find their way back to the mother. While in The Homeric Hymn to Demeter, it is Demeter that physically moves
towards her daughter, it is the opposite in Ulysses.
However, both are searching for each other, which is vital. They need to go
through trials in order to be reborn into their new form that can receive the
knowledge that they need. These are also the two characters that go to the
Underworld. Persephone literally goes to the Underworld when Hades kidnaps her.
Stephen goes to that dark place when he visits Mecklenburg Street. He falls off
of his feet while his companion; Mr. Bloom stands to help him up. “This footy
chapter is the lowest point of the day that must precede emergence into the
light” (Tindall 204). After they manage to get out of Circe’s traps, they
finally head home to Molly, where they are reborn. Just as when Persephone gets
home to Demeter, she has been reborn from the Underworld.
We
have now explored the connection between Ulysses
and The Homeric Hymn to Demeter.
However instead of answering the questions that relate to the role of the
woman, they have just opened up more avenues to explore. Ulysses draws deep connections with the Christian Myth of Jesus’
birth, death, and rebirth, which can obviously be traced back to earlier
origins. This creates a link between the matriarchal and patriarchal religions
that needs to be explored.
Persephone & Jesus
The goddess
Persephone and Jesus Christ are born of noble birth to immortal beings. Their
descent to the Underworld leads to great and terrible consequences for the
human race. The death of Jesus ends the era of good but gives way to his
rebirth and the birth of the Christian faith. The kidnap of Persephone
ultimately leads to the drought that caused hundreds of deaths but also the
creation of the Eleusinian Mysteries. Like with Mary, the Jesus' relationship
to Persephone is more indirect. The most obvious link to Jesus is to look at
Stephen, who is a representation of Persephone. In Ulysses, Stephen is the knowledgeable and intelligent character. He
is greater than the average man but still has not reached his full potential of
being knowledgeable, intelligent, and wise. This aligns directly with Jesus. In
his life, he was the knowledgeable one. He was the one that was greater than
the average man because of his wisdom and moral superiority. He became a hero
that we all know because of his knowledge that he was able to impart through
his parables that have been documented in the Bible. While Stephen has not reached the level of being documented
in the Bible, as did Jesus, he is obviously directly linked to this
mythological figure through their shared knowledge.
Telemachus & Persephone
Telemachus has
often been referred to as an earlier rendition of Stephen Daedalus in Joyce’s Ulysses. This draws an immediate
connection through Stephen to Persephone. However, there is a greater
connection that must be made between these two mythical characters. In Ulysses, Molly is who eventually save
Stephen and allows him to be reborn into the man that he needs to be. In The Odyssey, he is saved from a tragic
fate by the consumption of the moly plant. Obviously Molly and moly are very
similar spelling wise, which definitely did not escape the attention of Mr.
Joyce. The connection is reinforced by Joyce’s choice to name the first
chapters of Ulysses The Telemacho,
which is a blatant reference back to Telemachus as the first few chapters of The Odyssey pertain most particularly to
him. One thing that definitely does link Telemachus and Persephone is the quest
to become like their parent. In assuming the role of the man of the house,
Telemachus tries to become more like his parent as Persephone becomes more like
her mother when she becomes the wife of Hades.
The
relationship between Telemachus and Persephone is not as direct as some of the
other relationships that have been explored through this paper. Their
relationship is cemented to their respective connections to Stephen Daedalus.
He is the link that combines the two characters together. With Telemachus, the
shift from the female power to the male dominance can be seen. The Odyssey was written in a much closer
time period to that of the Hymn to Demeter.
As
was stated with Demeter, it takes Jesus, Stephen, and Telemachus to create the
goddess Persephone. It takes all three men to create a great enough combination
of her different roles. This is the only way for her to be represented in
society. Her loss of life, loss of mother, and giving of knowledge needs to be
shown but due to the changes in society had to be put into the male figure in
order for it still have importance. But when tracing it back to its origins, the
child role is decidedly female, as the child gets ready to replace her mother.
The
final member of the trinity is the father figure that is supported by the
mother. Within the myths that have been discussed so far the fathers include
Zeus, Leopold Bloom, Ulysses, and God. All of these men are individuals that
represent a part of human behavior that is important when looked at
individually. However, the portion of their lives that is vital is the way that
they center on the female power. None of them is able to complete their destiny
without the input and guidance from their female counterpart. God needed Mary
in order to raise his son and guide him into the Savior of Christianity.
Leopold needed Molly as the center of his life as well as to shape his ‘son’
Stephen into becoming his replacement. Ulysses needed Penelope to give him the
desire to return home as well as to protect his life at home. Zeus needed the
cooperation of Demeter in order to restore balance to the Earthly world as well
as the Heavenly world of Olympus. As can be seen in the various time periods
that each of these myths originated, the role and power of the woman varies. In
The Homeric Hymn to Demeter,
Demeter’s power is the greatest and then decreases into Penelope and then even
farther in the Christian Myth. Molly’s powers have the closest similarity to
those of Demeter, as Ulysses is the
story that is able to create the definitive link between all of these myths and
bridge the gap between the matriarchal and patriarchal societies.
Religious Repercussions: Eleusinian Mysteries
Now that we have
created the link between the characters of the Christian Myth and The Homeric Hymn to Demeter, we must
next explore the relationship between the two different initiation religions.
While both of these myths can be linked back to creation and apocalypse
stories, they are at their hearts initiation stories. Stories of birth, death,
and rebirth. Not only do they provide entertainment for their readers but they
also provide hope for the chance of rebirth for the follower. In the century before Christ’s birth, Cicero wrote,
“Nothing is higher than these mysteries. They have sweetened our characters and
softened our customs; they have made us pass from the condition of savages to
true humanity. They have not only shown us the way to live joyfully, but they
have taught us how to die with a better hope” (Hamilton 53) .
Christianity, specifically Catholicism, offers the same hope that the
Eleusinian Mysteries offered to its followers. “Just as this religious body
claims to be necessary for the eternal happiness of every man beyond the grave,
so that no man can be saved unless he is either a member of the Church or one
who has the intention or desire of entering this society” (Hallett 15) . Within the
Catholic faith, rebirth happens at the baptism, which was a factor within the
Initiation Rites of Eleusis. The purpose of both of these stories is to create
a better life for the initiate after death. However, there can be seen to be
benefits of being a member of the organization in this life. Some of these
benefits include greater wealth, bigger social community, and a just plain
happier existence.
As
Christianity, specifically Catholicism, is one of the largest organized
religions in the world, it becomes apparent that it does indeed have its roots
in The Homeric Hymn to Demeter. Humans alter the religion to coincide with the
needs of the people and the society. Religion and myth are fluid entities that
change as the needs of the people change. When The Homeric Hymn to Demeter was a more popular religion, humans
needed a religion that was matriarchal, agricultural, and more nurturing.
However, it becomes apparent that humans are now more drawn to the patriarchal
religious aspects of Christianity. However, they still need parts of the
matriarch, which explains why the Virgin Mary has been elevated to immortal
status. This explains the influence that Demeter and Persephone have had on the
religious views of the world.
Christian Initiation versus Eleusinian Initiation
We
next need to explore the societal comparisons between these stories. It has
been established that they are all a type of representation of The Homeric Hymn to Demeter. First let
us look at Christianity compared to that of the Eleusinian Mysteries. We know
from our earlier research that they are very similar within the confines of the
myth that created the rituals but it is important to look at the ritual to find
the similarities.
As
anyone who is familiar with Christianity is aware, the birth, death, and
rebirth of Jesus Christ are one of the most important aspects of the religion.
This portion of the religion is to be considered the initiation process of
Christianity. This symbolizes the hope that the followers can have for their
own spiritual and hopefully physical rebirth after this life has ended. There
are several different facets to this section of the Christian rituals. The most
prominent example of Christianity that most closely aligns with the Eleusinian
Mysteries is the Catholic religion. Within this branch of Christianity, there
are three sacraments[3]
that lead to the initiation into the new religion. These three sacraments are
baptism, confirmation, and Eucharist (O’Collins 70). “Together these three
sacraments constitute full initiation into Catholic life” (O’Collins 70). Within
the rites of Eleusinian Mysteries, there are also three different stages that lead
to full initiation. These three stages include the Lesser Mysteries, the
Greater Mysteries (Telete), and the Epopteia, or highest degree of initiation
(Mylonas 239). All three of these rites coincide with the respective rite of
Christianity. Within them you can see the similarities and differences that can
be traced back to the issue of patriarchal versus matriarchal societies.
Baptism & the Lesser Mysteries
Baptism is the
first sacrament of the initiation into the Christian religion. It can be found
in almost all branches of the Christian religion. This act symbolizes the
cleansing of the spirit and the rebirth of the Jesus. This helps to get the
initiates into the right place in their mind to accept their new life that is
connected with Jesus. With the celebration of the Baptism, followers celebrate
the death of an old life. Plato in context to the Eleusinian Mysteries said “To
die is to be initiated” (Eliade 111) .
Often this sacrament is done soon after birth but not necessarily. There are
often stories of older, mature individuals who wish to experience the sacrament
of baptism in their initiation process into Christianity.
The
symbolic baptism is also found within the rites of Eleusinian Mysteries as
well. It is found in the Lesser Mysteries, which served the purpose of initial
purification in order to complete the rest of the rites. This ritual happened
once a year in the spring. There is truly very little definitively known about
the Lesser Mysteries. The few things that are certain are that there was
fasting, sacrifices, sprinkling of water or even bathing in the water, and
singing of hymns (Mylonas 241). Both of these religions are initiation
religions because the initiate actively seeks the experience of dying, as did
the gods that they worship. Death and purification are essential for
experiences that transcend the possible into the impossible.
Confirmation & the Greater Mysteries
The
next step in both initiation rituals is Confirmation and the Greater Mysteries.
As with the first step in the process, there are many similarities between the
two religions. Confirmation is gone through after a child has reached the age
of conscious reasoning thus giving them time to learn how to live after being
reborn. This time frame is longer than that of the Eleusinian Mysteries. The
Greater Mysteries were held approximately 5-6 months after the Lesser Mysteries
were conducted. However, the length of time is not as important as what it
represents. The time is a representation of giving the initiate time to become
closer with the god(s) and learn how to live after being reborn from their old
life. The purpose of this Confirmation is to reaffirm the commitment and
connection with God and Jesus. At this point, it is thought that the gods
descend and become even more closely linked with the individual who is
undergoing Confirmation. This is due to the fact that the individual is making
the renewed and stronger decision to become one with the god or goddess and
initiate into the religion.
With the Greater
Mysteries, the goddesses became closer with the initiates as well. The Greater
Mysteries lasted much longer than the Lesser Mysteries by about three weeks. At
the beginning of this portion of initiation, some of the rituals from the
previous experiences were repeated such as the fasting, bathing, and singing.
However this was done to reaffirm the commitment to the goddesses. After
traveling to reach Eleusis, the ceremonies really began. At this point, we know
that there were three different aspects to the ceremonies. These three aspects
were dromena[4],
deiknymena[5],
legomena[6]
(Mylonas 261). During these rituals, it is thought that the story of The Homeric Hymn to Demeter was acted
out in order to bring the goddesses closer to the initiates. The objects shown
and the words that were spoken remain a mystery to this day, as this was one of
most closely guarded secrets in the history of the world. Scholars have made
various educated guesses over time but no definitive conclusion has been
arrived at.
Eucharist & Epopteia
The last stages of
the two initiation rituals are the Eucharist and the Epopteia. These two stages
bring the last bit of knowledge and power that the initiates need in order to
become one with the gods that they worship. In the Christian religion, this
section of the rituals symbolizes the last supper that Jesus shared with his
followers before his physical death. The reenactments of this event has the
followers of the Christian faith eating bread and drinking wine[7]
that represents the actual blood and body of Jesus Christ. In the Epopteia, there
truly is little known about what happens except that it is the closest that one
could become with the goddesses. Not everyone partook in this part of the
religion. It was an honor to be a part of the Epopteia as it is an honor to be
allowed to partake in the Eucharist. The only things that are truly known about
the Epopteia is that it took place during the end of the Greater Mysteries
within the very center of the temples with only the highest-ranking priests and
priestess and initiates participating. It is also known that this portion of
the Greater Mysteries was conducted for each individual than as a collective
ceremony as was done with the Lesser Mysteries (Godwin 34) . This is the
one main difference between the symbolism of the Eucharist and the Epoptia. The
Eucharist is celebrated by a group of Catholics at once however each persons’
experience is supposed to bring the Holy Spirit into them individually.
These
three parts of initiation have created an undeniable link between the Eleusinian
Mysteries and Christianity. The only difference that is of significance between
the two religions is the gender towards which the worship is focused on.
Obviously the Eleusinian Mysteries focus on the bond between the Mother and
Daughter while Christianity focuses on the bond between the Father and Son.
These are the focuses that are needed within the societies that practiced these
religions. But in each of them can be found a trace of the opposite gender. In
the Eleusinian Mysteries, there is the presence of male figures that still
require worship. Zeus is still King of the gods while Demeter and Persephone’s
story takes place. Mary is still the mother of Jesus when he is on Earth. Both
Zeus and Mary are needed to keep the balance between the genders. Humans need a
model of both genders to complete the trinity that is necessary for life. Ancient
people realized this need, which is why Demeter was never proclaimed Queen of
the gods and placed above Zeus, even though her power was greater. Whether it
was a conscious or subconscious realization, Catholics have realized this need
as well. That is why Mary has been elevated to the godlike status that she now
enjoys in the modern Catholic religion. However, the fact that she is based off
of Demeter has not been a widely known fact. The parallels between Demeter and
Mary, Jesus and Persephone, and the rites of both religions support the fact
that the Eleusinian Mysteries were the origins of Christianity in a matriarchal
society.
These
are three main phases of both the Eleusinian Mysteries as well as the
initiation into the Christian myth. As with the Demeter and Mary, there is a
bridge that can be found in Ulysses.
Within the pages of Ulysses, there is
three main parts of the book that initiates the reader into the world of
Leopold, Molly, and Stephen. When someone has fully entered into this world
they are able to be elevated to a new level of consciousness. Joyce created a
world that did not teach something new but allowed new meaning to come the
knowledge that the reader already possessed. This is the same purpose of both
Christianity and the Eleusinian Mysteries. Thus Ulysses is not only an introduction into the world of the religion
of the Eleusinian Mysteries and Christianity but it is also an initiation that
prepares the patriarchal societies to enter the secular world of the
matriarchal society.
Secular Repercussions of Patriarchal Societies
The epic book, Ulysses, has inspired many different
popular culture books, television shows, and movies. However, all of these
renditions have come to focus on the father-son relationship instead of the
mother’s role as the focal point of the family unit. Some popular examples of
current media that is based off of The
Odyssey include O Brother Where Art
Thou?, Apocalypse Now, and Cold
Mountain. All of these movies focus on the quest home but that is because
they were written by and for an audience that has a focus that is primarily on
the masculine factors of society. The female factors center on the continuation
of home, fertility, and nourishment as Penelope shows in The Odyssey. When approached in a more academic sense through other
disciplines, cultures that are more matriarchal inclined are referred to as
feminine while patriarchal are referred to as masculine. A masculine culture is
one that puts a high emphasis on competition, assertiveness, and achievements (Noe, Hollenbeck and Gerhart 463) . A feminine
society is one that values relationships, persevering the environment, and care
for the weak (Noe, Hollenbeck and Gerhart 463) . The change
from the masculine to the feminine started to occur around 1500 B.C and by the
fifth century A.D., female religions were basically gone from existence (Shlain 6) .
This change took place right around when the shift from the Eleusinian
Mysteries to Christianity occurred. Shlain
argues that this took place because of the invention of writing, which caused
the shift in values from relationships to the value of competition and success
(7).
Conclusion
As made clear by
the above arguments the Eleusinian Mysteries have had an enormous impact on
society. However, their impact has come through a rather indirect manner when
compared to the direct influences of Christianity, Homer, and Joyce. The Homeric Hymn to Demeter gave birth
to the idea of the female power of the trinity. Within all mythology there
needs to be a female, male, and child. This creates the archetypal family. The
base of power from this trinity was once centered on the female god but has now
shifted towards the male figure in order to adapt to the needs of the followers
of the mythology. However, because of the shift of feminine and masculine
cultures, the matriarch had to become the implicit power that supports the
explicit power of the patriarch. The valuation of high achievements and
competition over relationships and fertility caused this shift (Noe, Hollenbeck and Gerhart 463) .
The Homeric Hymn to Demeter is a prime
example of the female goddess holding the explicit power in the trinity. When
examining the trinity of James Joyce’s Ulysses
the powerful figure can be seen to be the female portion, Molly, of the trinity
which supports the male figure in his quest. The link to Ulysses supports the relationship between The Homer Hymn to Demeter and
Catholic Christianity. From the connections between the main characters in the
stories that inspired the religions and the rituals and beliefs of the
Eleusinian Mysteries and Catholicism, it becomes apparent that the two
religions are closely related. Christianity is based on a father-son
relationship while the Eleusinian Mysteries are based on the mother-daughter
relationship. These relationships are significant of the societies that worship
according to the rituals of their respective religion. The influence of the
Eleusinian Mysteries and The Homeric Hymn
to Demeter has spread even further than religion over the past several
thousand years.
The myth has
influenced the trinity that can be found in Homer’s The Odyssey. When The Odyssey
was written was around the time that the shift from the matriarchal society
to the patriarchal society. This is why Penelope’s role seems to be overlooked
when analyzed in comparison to that of Ulysses. But when looking at her role in
relation to that of Demeter and the Virgin Mary is becomes apparent that
Penelope is indeed the matriarchal support that Ulysses needs in order to
become the patriarchal figure that has inspired generations of literate
peoples. The Odyssey has been
reproduced many times throughout history in novels, plays, and movies thus
insuring the spread of The Homeric Hymn
to Demeter.
The next portion
of the trinity that has helped shape society is the child. The male child that is portrayed through Jesus, Stephen, and
Telemachus has replaced Persephone. This is due to the fact that the child of
the archetypal trinity needs to replace the parental figure, which is the overt
male. Persephone is thus represented through Jesus Christ, Stephen Daedalus,
and Telemachus. Being represented by these three males allows the female child
of the trinity to influence secular and religious societies in a patriarchal
world.
The final part of
the trinity is the father figure that has been shown to be represented by the
well-known heroes and gods. The male part of the trinity is the least important
as he shows what humans want to aspire to but never can. The child and the
mother are the figures that support and guide humans in their quest to become
more like the father. Due to the shift in priorities of society, the amount of
power that the members of the archetypal family have changed as society needed.
However, each member still plays the same role that it did thousands of years
ago in The Homeric Hymn to Demeter.
The mother is still the basis of the family unit and provides that support that
the father and child need whether it is in a religious or a secular context.
Thus Zeus, Leopold, God, and Ulysses can only have their power because of the
existence and support of Demeter, Molly, Mary, and Penelope.
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Godwin,
Joscelyn. Mystery Religions in the Ancient World. London: Harper &
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Hallett, Paul
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Hamilton,
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[1]
Demeter and Persephone are also referred to as Kore and Ceres in the myth as
well as other retellings of the story that can be found in works such as Ovid’s
Metamorphosis.
[2]
Christian Myth is meant to refer to the birth, death, and rebirth of Jesus as
Nazareth as it is in a literary sense. It is no way mean to trivialize or
validate the beliefs that accompany the religion, the Bible, or those who believe in its validity.
[3]
The word “Sacrament” originally referred to oath-taking consecration, or ritual
obligation (O’Collins 70).
[4]
Dromena means that which was enacted (Mylonas 261)
[5]
Deiknymena means the sacred objects that were shown (Mylonas 261)
[6]
Legomena means that words that were spoken (Mylonas 261).
[7] Or
juice, if under the age of 21 or does not want to partake in alcohol.
