Ecstasy in the Graeco-Roman
Mysteries
Coralie Drosoulla Thomson
JUNE 2018
UNIVERSITEIT VAN AMSTERDAM Graduate school of Humanities
Master’s programme: Classics and Ancient Civilisations Supervisor: Rianne Hermans
Second reader: Jan Willem Van Henten Student number: 11783176
Contents
Introduction...2
Eleusinian Mysteries...9
Introduction and origins...9
Cult in Greece...11
Cult in Rome...15
Descriptions of ecstasy...18
Reaching ecstasy and evidence of it...20
Poppy...23
Conclusion...25
Dionysiac and Bacchic Mysteries...26
Introduction and origins...26
Cult in Greece...29
Cult in Rome...33
Descriptions of ecstasy...36
Reaching ecstasy and evidence of it...39
Wine...41
Conclusion...42
Mysteries of Cybele and Attis...44
Introduction and origins...44
Cult in Greece...47
Cult in Rome...49
Descriptions of ecstasy...54
Reaching ecstasy and evidence of it...56
Music...60
Conclusion...62
Conclusion...64
Images...66
Introduction
The study of the individual experience of ancient religion has been an upcoming interpretation in recent years, with interest moving away from the public religion of the state towards a more individualistic and tailored experience of religion that the ancients had access to.1 As outlined by Jorg
Rüpke, individuals had a wide variety of experiences to choose from, serving a variety of construed purposes, and mystery cults provided an experience and doctrine that the civic religion did not.2 This provided an
appeal for individuals who wanted a more personal and direct relationship to the divine, or were searching for more religious certainty. The death and resurrection aspect that is present in the mystery religions of Eleusis, Orpheus, Dionysus, and Cybele and Attis all promise some improvement in both the afterlife and this life. The gaining of the secret knowledge that was only privy to the initiates gave the individual a ritual change of status that was personal rather than social.3 Katherina Waldner emphasises this
individual change of state further by presenting the mysteries from the perspective of the ancient philosophers, who employed mystery initiations as a way to explain individual spiritual and mental ascensions of state.4
One common feature that many of the mystery religions in the Roman empire shared within their individual experience was the ritual experience of ecstasy. Throughout ancient literature we hear of orgiastic maenads, and worshippers working themselves into an ecstatic frenzy in order to honour their gods. Whether the rituals included ecstatic frenzy, or a more profane and cathartic state of euphoria, a change of state was induced that was so genuine and reliable that it was experienced by all initiates present, potentially contributing to the endurance of the cults for
1 Jorg Rupke, On Roman Religion: Lived Religion and the Individual in Ancient
Rome (Cornell University Press, 2016). 1-8.
2 Ibid.
3 Katherina Waldner, “Dimensions of Individuality in Ancient Mystery Cults: Religious Practice and Philosophical Discourse,” in The Individual in the Religions
of the Ancient Mediterranean, by Jorg Rupke (Oxford: Oxford University Press,
2013), 215–242.
millennia; the sincerity of the experience was essential to the notion of mystery cults in general. Furthermore, in the case of Eleusis, the initiation into the mysteries was designed to be life-changing and unforgettable, an experience that would remain with the individual – we do not hear of underwhelming occurrences. However, how exactly our ancestors induced this state of ecstasy and spiritual enlightenment has rarely been explored by scholars. Mystery religions centred around a mutual relationship with the gods, this is particularly evident in tablets and Orphic gold leaves detailing information and prayers for the underworld.5 Georg Luck
highlights this exchange in the case of magic, stating that such belief in an exchange relied on results – for which ‘drugs’ could provide a reliable physical or psychological effect.6
The experience of ecstasy is fundamentally individual, and we see a variety of forms manifest in the ancient world; Plato in particular outlines the different forms of mania, evidence for the awareness of varying experiences.7 It seems clear to me that the use of psychoactive
substances present the easiest mechanism for reaching an ecstatic state. It is completely reasonable that ecstasy could be reached without substance aid, for example through meditation and trance, hypnotic and repetitive actions and stimulation from the outside environment.8
However, this is a fundamentally difficult process, with shamans and monks training for many years in order to experience this altered state of consciousness. Yet, we hear of the ancient participators in these mystery cults reaching this state of ecstasy seemingly easily, in one-off situations;
5 Alberto Bernabé et al., Redefining Dionysos (Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 2013). 23-35.
6 Here I use the word ‘drugs’ to refer to substances administered that produce a physiological or psychological effect – I interchange the ‘drugs’ and psychoactive or psychotropic substances throughout. Moreover, the use of the word
entheogens is more complex – it refers to a substance that is used in and produces a religious or spiritual effect. In the case of this thesis, all terms are fitting. Georg Luck, Arcana Mundi: Magic and the Occult in the Greek and Roman
Worlds : A Collection of Ancient Texts / Transl., Ann., and Introd. by Georg Luck,
2nd ed. (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006). 479.
7 Plato, Phaedrus, 265b.
8 Anna-Leena Siikala, “The Siberian Shaman’s Technique of Ecstasy,” Scripta
therefore, it certainly makes the use of entheogens possible. Reaching ecstasy through substances may not be the only method, but it certainly presents the easiest, thus, for a religious experience en-masse such as was experienced in the mysteries by members of the public who were not shamans, drugs would have presented the most reliable form.
Ritual ecstasy is not merely an ancient phenomenon, across the modern world the state of ecstasy for religious experience and ritual is still occurring. We have concrete evidence of psychoactive substances to induce these altered states of consciousness being used today, and originating millennia ago. Native cultures of the amazon use the sacred brew ayahuasca in shamanic ritual, a fundamental ritual entheogen that has evidence of being used as early as 9000 BC; archaeological artefacts from Chavin in Peru show snuffing devices with traces of DMT residue, and a sculpture depicting the use of it.9 North African wall paintings from the
ninth to seventh millennia B.C. depict mushroom humanoids, holding fungi, often in dancing positions (fig.1).10 Whilst scholars are willing to
admit the crucial influence and part that hallucinogenic plants have played in South American culture and shamanic religion, there is a distinct unwillingness to acknowledge similar use and evidence for ancient Western and Mediterranean culture, due to the taboo of drugs in modern society.11 Yet, as the most accessible and least processed form of
hallucinogenic, the significance that the ancients applied to mushrooms and fungi should not be ignored: the term for mushrooms to the Greeks
9 DMT (N, N-Dimethyltryptamine) is the psychoactive component in the sacred brew Ayahuasca. It is found in various plants across the world, and is a
particularly strong psychoactive substance, being used to induce hallucinogenic religious states for millennia. H. Umit Sayin, “The Consumption of Psychoactive Plants in Ancient Global and Anatolian Cultures During Religious Rituals: The Roots of the Eruption of Mythological Figures and Common Symbols in Religions and Myths,” NeuroQuantology 12, no. 2 (May 31, 2014): 276–296.
10 Giorgio Samorini, “New Data on the Ethnomycology of Psychoactive
Mushrooms,” International Journal of Medicinal Mushrooms 3, no. 2–3 (2001): 257–278.
11 The view that the ancient Greeks and Romans did not make use of narcotics in a ‘magical’ context is becoming increasingly out-dated, with Georg Luck
providing a comprehensive list of plants of a narcotic and psychoactive nature that are referenced in the ancient world. Luck, Arcana Mundi. 479-89.
was ‘food of the gods’ (broma theon).12 Divine, or sacred food is present
throughout religion. Often this is because of the metaphor that it presents: food (or drink) is taken into the body, just as the divine is.13 Additionally, it
is understandable that in prehistoric times, if a substance was consumed that provided the individual with psychoactive effects, that it could be conceived as being divine, or providing a divine connection or knowledge – such is the case if one is to believe the hypothesis of Soma as Amanita
muscaria amongst ancient Indians.14 We also see divinities representing
substances in Greek myth, for example, the tearing apart of Dionysus by the Titans has been suggested to symbolise the ‘violent’ aspect of crushing the grapes in wine-making.15
The spiritual enlightenment of initiation rites and ecstatic ritual that ancient authors attest to, in addition to the sacred sacraments that are also often referenced (for example the kykeon), make mystery cults the most promising aspect of Graeco-Roman religion for the use of psychoactive substances within ritual. Therefore, it is my goal within this thesis to explore the possibilities for the use of entheogenic plants within the mystery cults of the Roman world. Although I will be focussing on the cults that were used by the Romans, and the representations of these cults from a Roman perspective, due to the fundamentally secret nature of the cults and therefore scarcity of evidence, information from throughout the existence of the cults will be utilised. Due to the endurance of these mysteries, with their roots stretching far beyond Roman times, I believe that the rites must have maintained something alluring about them that
12 Heinrich Päs, “Eleusis, Plato, Magic Mushrooms,” in The Perfect Wave: With
Neutrinos at the Boundary of Space and Time (Cambridge, United Kingdom:
Harvard University Press, 2014), 7–16. Rosemarie Taylor-Perry, The God Who
Comes: Dionysian Mysteries Revisited (Algora Publishing, 2003). 124.
13 Ava Santos et al., “Embodiment in Religious Knowledge,” Journal of Cognition
and Culture 5, no. 1 (March 1, 2005): 14–57.
14 The connections of the ancient deity and ritual drink to the mushroom fly agaric are certainly persuasive, with there being little doubt that that drink was psychoactive, and descriptions fitting the fungi. The Frits Staal, “How a
Psychoactive Substance Becomes a Ritual: The Case of Soma,” Social Research 68, no. 3 (2001): 745–778.
15 Jan N. Bremmer, “Greek Maenadism Reconsidered,” Zeitschrift für Papyrologie
manifested in the experiences provided by the cult. This is relevant to the study presented by Rüpke, as this may well have been one of the many individual opportunities that was available in the tailored experience that the mysteries embodied.16 Moreover, it is too not a far stretch to suggest
that the ancients of the Western world used plants with psychoactive properties for both religious and other purposes; we know that they were aware of ‘magical’ plant properties from Homeric times.
“The Lotus-eaters, a race that eat the flowery lotus fruit […] Those who ate the honeyed fruit of the plant lost any wish to come back and bring us news. All now they wanted was to stay where they were with the Lotus-eaters, to browse on the lotus, and to forget all thoughts of return.”17
The Lotus-eaters passage within the Odyssey is clear evidence for the knowledge and use of narcotic plants in ancient Greece, and a race whom the ancients liked to attribute to North Africa – the eastern connotations of drug use will be a reoccurring theme.18
Due to the numerous mystery cults that were active in ancient Rome, I cannot analyse all of them. Hence, I have chosen to closely examine the Eleusinian mysteries, Dionysiac and Orphic mysteries, and the worship of Cybele and Attis. I have chosen these particular cults due to their shared Eastern origins and the references to ecstatic ritual that ancient authors and representations have shown. The connections the cults have to each other may also be helpful in regards to my study – for example Burkert suggests a lineage for the Eleusinian mysteries that goes back to eighth century Crete, and has ties to the Great Mother Cybele, not to mention the clear connections with Dionysiac cult.19 There are literary
references that support this, such as Demeter’s claim that she hails from Crete, in the Homeric Hymn, however, if this is the case, it is unlikely that
16 Rupke, On Roman Religion. 1-8.
17 Homer, Odyssey 9.85-97. Translation by E. V. Rieu.
18 Simon Hornblower, Antony Spawforth, and Esther Eidnow, eds., “Lotus-Eaters,”
The Oxford Classical Dictionary (Oxford University Press, 2012).
19 Walter Burkert, Ancient Mystery Cults, Carl Newell Jackson lectures (Cambridge, Mass. [etc.: Harvard University Press, 1987). 102-5.
the cult would have remained unchanged.20 I believe that the Eastern
origins of the cults may prove more fruitful in my search for the use of entheogens than the representation of the cult in Greece and Rome alone, due to the motif of ‘magic’ herbs and witches coming from the East, which can be found throughout Greek and Roman literature. For example, Medea’s status as an Eastern princess from Colchis is essential to her literary role, she possesses magical knowledge and is consistently met with distrust. As a literary topos that persisted throughout Greek and then Roman literature, I believe that it cannot be without semblance, and that the connotations of this towards cults of the same origins should be investigated.
“It was one of many drugs (φάρμακα) which had been given to the daughter of Zeus by an Egyptian woman, Polydamna, the wife of Thon. The fertile soil of Egypt is very rich in herbs, many of which are beneficial in solution, though many are poisonous.”21
This passage from the Odyssey attributes Helen’s Nepenthe to an Egyptian origin. This Eastern and African connection to wisdom of plants and drugs continued into the Roman empire, with Virgil ascribing knowledge of spells and arcane knowledge to Dido and a Massylian priestess, with the opiate knowledge of poppy seeds being stated:
“I have been in touch with a priestess from [Aethiopia], a Massylian, who once, as warden of the Hesperides’ sacred close, was used to feed the dragon which guarded their orchard of golden apples, sprinkling its food with moist honey and sedative poppy-seeds.”22
Virgil is associating arcane knowledge with African origin and firmly stating the narcotic effects of the poppy, which is although not Eastern, still retains the aspect of the Other. This becomes increasingly relevant in
20 I discuss the origins for each of the mysteries at the beginning of each chapter.
21 “τοῖα Διὸς θυγάτηρ ἔχε φάρμακα μητιόεντα,ἐσθλά, τά οἱ Πολύδαμνα πόρεν, Θῶνος παράκοιτιςΑἰγυπτίη, τῇ πλεῖστα φέρει ζείδωρος ἄρουρα230φάρμακα, πολλὰ μὲν ἐσθλὰ μεμιγμένα πολλὰ δὲ λυγρά·” Homer, Odyssey 4.225-31.
relation to poppy iconography within mystery cults, which shall be discussed, and also in accordance to attributing the origin of magical knowledge to the Other.23 This motif of drug knowledge from the East and
Africa adds to the mistrust and hesitation to accept cults and peoples from those locations. The adoption of Magna Mater and the subversive rites and method of worship is a paradigm of this. In addition to the ‘otherness’ perceived amongst these mysteries, each possesses an attribute of a dying and resurrected deity – Persephone’s descent and return from the underworld, Dionysus’ death and rebirth, Orpheus’ katabasis, and the castration, death and resurrection of Attis. This is essential to the archaic vegetation elements of the cults, adding to the connotations of a sacred plant or fungi that also undergo a yearly death and rebirth, an aspect of mystery cults that has received great scholarly interest since the publish of Frazer’s The Golden Bough.24 In addition to the attribution of substances
to the ‘Other’ as being a literary topos, there appear to be more connotations in iconography and myth linking religious practice to psychoactive substances.25 We see this especially in ancient Egypt, which
is fitting with the literary topos. Nymphaea caerulea (the blue lotus), is a known psychoactive, and is depicted being used in rituals upon the frescos of ancient Egyptian tombs, and in early papyri, moreover, the opium poppy is often represented alongside the lotus.26 The pharmacological
knowledge of Egyptian priests is well attested to, with their medicinal knowledge relying greatly on plants, thus, the attribution of ‘magical’ knowledge to the East, by ancient Greek and Roman authors may not be
23 In relation to the Other, I primarily discuss the relation of the literary attribution of the mysteries to the Other – due to the nature of arcane and mysterious knowledge that the Other is described to possess. Therefore, the implication of the mystic aspects are relevant.
24 Sir James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, Abridged edition. (Mineola, N.Y: Dover Publications, 2002).
25 Stephen R. Berlant, “The Entheomycological Origin of Egyptian Crowns and the Esoteric Underpinnings of Egyptian Religion,” Journal of Ethnopharmacology 102, no. 2 (November 2005): 275–288.
26 Tutankhamon’s tomb even contained a relief depicting a large nymphaea and two mandrakes. Elisabetta Bertol et al., “Nymphaea Cults in Ancient Egypt and the New World: A Lesson in Empirical Pharmacology,” Journal of the Royal Society
far from the truth.27 Due to similarities between the Egyptian mysteries,
especially those of Osiris, this higher likelihood of the use of psychotropic substances in Egypt may be indicative of the same use within the Greek and Roman mysteries.
Due to the intensely secret nature of the rites and rituals of mystery cults, the evidence for ritual in general, let alone the potential use of
pharmaka is particularly scant. Therefore, for my investigation into the
drug use within mystery cult ritual, a multi-disciplinary study is necessary. Contemporary accounts referring to the rites, from religious commentators such as Pausanias will be particularly useful, however for insights into the more secret aspects of the cults, the scarce and often problematic evidence of sacred myths and hymns shall also be analysed. When examining the literary and archaeological representations of psychoactive plants in myth relating to the mysteries, caution must be applied as the connections can only be tenuous at best. Nonetheless, in some cases myths can be used to interpret the mysterious rites of the cults, and scholars such as Frazer emphasise that myths were often devised to explain aspects of cultic ritual, for example, the castration of the Galli and Attis’ self-castration.28 Unfortunately much of the evidence referring to the
mysteries are from non-historical texts, or they are only mentioned in passing.
I believe that these tenuous connections can be strengthened by references to confirmed shamanic and ritual uses of psychoactive substances. We have evidence for the use of hallucinogenic mushrooms and DMT in modern shamanic rituals, that have continued to be used since prehistoric times. If ancient civilisations elsewhere in the world discovered and utilised the psychoactive properties of plants, and used them in a religious context, then there is a possibility that the medically and
27 Neveen H Aboelsoud, “Herbal Medicine in Ancient Egypt,” Journal of Medicinal
Plants Research 4, no. 2 (2010): 82–86.
28 Frazer, The Golden Bough. 460-1. Of course, not every ritual requires an explanatory myth, however it is clear that ancient authors were also intrigued by the origin of rituals. For example, Ovid wonders why the Galli take money during the Megalensia festival: “tell me,’ I say, ‘why she [Cybele] requests small
pharmacologically advanced ancestors of ancient Greece and Rome did the same. This does not provide definite answers by any means, but similarities may be indicative of those in the Mediterranean.
If ‘drugs’ were used in a religious context, the mysteries of Eleusis, Bacchus and Magna Mater seem to be the most optimistic. These mysteries offered a unique form of worshipping their deities in comparison to state religion, the rituals were centred on the experience of the individual, and often subversive in nature. Furthermore, the continued participation and reverence of the cults into the Roman era is indicative of both religious and recreational motivations across social classes and cultures. With the explicit references to ecstasy and an altered state of consciousness, it leads me to question whether that was one of the elements behind the reasons for individual choosing to participate in the mysteries, and how genuine this state was.
Eleusinian Mysteries
It is only fitting that I begin my study into the ecstatic ritual of mystery cults with the most enduring and revered of the Graeco-Roman mysteries: the initiation at Eleusis. Ancient sources are unanimous in their portrayal of a vision and religious state that was experienced during the epopteia: this was the culmination of the initiation and the moment where the ecstatic, spiritual opening of the eyes occurred.29 Whilst for decades
scholars have attempted to reconstruct the events of the initiation, with a general consensus that ecstatic rite occurred during the mysteries, very little research has been made into the actual cause of the ecstasy – and how three thousand individuals simultaneously underwent mass spiritual experience. Thus, it is my intention within this chapter to use the few portrayals of the cult in ancient literature and art to explore the experience of ecstasy that was the culmination of the mysteries at Eleusis, and the possibility that an entheogenic substance was used in order to reach that state. Moreover, did this contribute to the motivation of the individual?
The origins of the rites have been a source of intrigue to many scholars, with the cult having connections to archaic Greek religion from the bronze age, and lasting throughout the Roman empire until the sack of Eleusis by Alaric in 395 AD.30 Michael Cosmopoulos presents an in depth
study into the origins of Eleusis, analysing the archaeology of the site from the early bronze age until antiquity.31 Cosmopoulos suggests the origin of
the cult developing from two indigenous anthropological models, both fitting with the connection to the realm of the dead and world of the grain, with both Demeter and Persephone being related to prehistoric fertility and vegetative deities.32 This is due to his rejection that the origins of the
cult lie in diffusion from another location – Cosmopoulos is of the firm belief that the mysteries originated from a prehistoric Mycenaean version
29 Jan N. Bremmer, Initiation into the Mysteries of the Ancient World, Münchner Vorlesungen zu antiken Welten; Bd. 1 (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2014). 11-16.
30 Hugh Bowden, Mystery Cults in the Ancient World (London: Thames & Hudson, 2010). 26-9.
31 Michael B. Cosmopoulos, Bronze Age Eleusis and the Origins of the Eleusinian
Mysteries (New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2015).
of the cult. This is particularly relevant, as the ancient origins of the cult may shed light on the possible connections to the cult and psychoactive substances such as mushrooms and the opium poppy. Therefore, despite this study primarily focussing on the representation of ecstatic mystery rites during the Roman empire, the scant nature of the evidence due to the secrecy of the cult necessitates the use of evidence throughout the cults duration, and within the mythological and prehistorical roots. We have archaeological evidence for the continued interest and participation of the cult during the Roman empire in architectural additions to the sanctuary.33 This continued interest, especially by the elite, leads me to
question whether there was an aspect of recreational participation in the later years. Why would so many Romans partake in the rituals, and continue to include reference to them in their literature, if the mysteries did not offer an alluring and worthwhile experience? Over the two thousand years that the mysteries operated, it is highly probable that changes and developments were made to the ritual over time, and when using earlier sources to interpret the ritual in Roman times it is important to remember this. Nonetheless, the sheer scarcity of the evidence makes it near impossible to identify changes within the mysteries over the course of its duration.34
Contrary to the other mysteries that I have chosen to analyse in this thesis, the Eleusinian mysteries were composed of two annual events: The Lesser and Greater mysteries. These formed the initiation for the participants of the cult, as opposed to less structured and more frequent ritual in the other cults. In addition, the mystery was unique to other Greek festivals, due to the inclusiveness of the ritual – any Greek-speaking individual who could afford the mysteries could participate.35 The only
other requirement was purity:
33 Most notable is the ‘major Hadrianic monumentalisation of the space’, and a large involvement by Marcus Aurelius in the reconstruction of sanctuary buildings and shrines. Ibid. 147-51.
34 Bremmer, Initiation into the Mysteries of the Ancient World. 2-8.
35 Jan N. Bremmer, Initiation into the Mysteries of the Ancient World, Münchner Vorlesungen zu antiken Welten ; Bd. 1 (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2014). 2-3
“During his tour of Greece he came to Athens, where the Eleusinian Mysteries were being held, but dared not participate when a herald ordered all impious and criminal persons present to withdraw before the ceremonies began.”36
The mysteries were exceedingly sacred and extreme punishment awaited anyone who revealed the secrets of the ritual, resulting in very little contemporary evidence.37 The primary sources that may be utilised are
references to the cult in ancient commentary, such as within Plutarch or Pausanias; however, references to the cult in other literature like drama and poetry may be helpful, due to the added artistic licence and freedom afforded. The Homeric Hymn to Demeter will also be analysed as it details the origin story of the cult, and hence likely possesses many allusions to the ritual and origins.
The mystery of Eleusis was the initiation that took place every year in Autumn at Eleusis, and was in honour of Demeter and her daughter Persephone (or Kore), two goddesses whose myth was centralised on the explanation of the seasons and agriculture. Demeter (or Ceres as she came to be called in Rome) was the primary agricultural goddess, with her daughter Persephone (or Kore, later Proserpina) was originally a revered goddess of the underworld, who later became essential to the female ‘coming of age’ rites, and in relation to the seasons and agricultural worship.38 This is also fitting with Michael Cosmopoulos’ statement that
Demeter’s status as mater dolorosa (the sorrowful mother) is her prime role, and therefore her connections to death and the afterlife are
36 Suetonius, Nero, 34. Translation by Robert Graves.
37 Gagnéé, claims that in Athens, “almost every contemporary trial of impiety for which we do have evidence, in fact, is tied to the accusation of Mystery
profanations at Eleusis.” Whether fact or a literary topos, this highlights the level of secrecy and sacredness that the mysteries held in Athens. Renaud Gagnéé, “Mystery Inquisitors: Performance, Authority, and Sacrilege at Eleusis,” Classical
Antiquity 28, no. 2 (2009): 211–247.
38 Ann Suter’s extensive study on the Homeric Hymn details the roles of Persephone and Demeter, coming to the conclusion that Persephone was originally the prime goddess worshipped at Eleusis, with her agricultural connections arising later. Ann Suter, The Narcissus and the Pomegranate: An
Archaeology of the Homeric Hymn to Demeter (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan
Press, 2002). In addition, references to Persephone in Homer only refer to her status as a chthonic deity. Homer, Odyssey, 10.491; 11.47; 213; 386; 635.
foremost.39 The myth, as described within the Homeric Hymn to Demeter
(our first complete account of it, becoming canonical thereafter), is as follows: Persephone, the maiden daughter of Demeter, was picking flowers (the narcissus in the Hymn), when the earth split, and Hades carried her to the underworld. Demeter searched everywhere for her, before arriving at Eleusis disguised as an old woman hailing from Crete. Here, she nursed the young prince (in Ovid’s version with poppy juice), until she was interrupted by his mother, when Demeter revealed her true identity, she demanded a temple and taught them the secret rites which were consecrated in her honour. Due to Persephone’s loss, Demeter caused a famine until Zeus came to the agreement that Persephone could return if she had not eaten food of the underworld (she had tasted the pomegranate). A compromise was then made that Persephone would spend half of the year with her mother on earth, and half in the underworld with Hades – thus the cycle of the seasons.40
Cult in Greece
The mysteries of Eleusis were centred around prosperity in this life, and hope for the next, the gift of agriculture was dependant on the return of Persephone from the underworld and the performance of her second gift: the secret rites of Eleusis.41 Before analysing the possibilities for the use of
a psychoactive substance during the mysteries, it is necessary to present a brief reconstruction of the initiation and moment of ecstasy within the ritual. Many scholars have attempted to reconstruct the events, and it is an aspect of the mysteries that has been repeatedly covered. However, Jan Bremmer’s account is the most critical of sources and cautious, hence, the source that I will primarily use in briefly recounting the events.
In mid-September, over 3000 initiates assembled at Athens with their sacrificial pigs, before the procession to the sanctuary at Eleusis.42
39 Cosmopoulos, Bronze Age Eleusis and the Origins of the Eleusinian Mysteries. 14-5.
40 Homeric Hymn to Demeter.
41 Bowden, Mystery Cults in the Ancient World. 26-7.
Bremmer suggests that the sacrifices were made the next day, and that after sunset the main event of the initiation would commence in the
telesterion – it was here that ancient authors unanimously concur that
something was seen during the initiation.43 I will discuss the descriptions
and representations of the ecstasy experienced below. Bremmer states that there were two nights of initiatory activities, and that the highest grade would have taken place on the second, thus, the references to events connected to the searching for Persephone would have occurred during the first night.44 Therefore, the second night was the pinnacle
moment of the initiation where the initiate became the initiated and the secrets were revealed; the epopteia occurred at this point. After this culminating experience, the final day consisted primarily of festivities and sacrifices – before the initiates returned, now ‘blessed’ with the knowledge of the mysteries.
“Blessed is he of men on earth who has beheld them, whereas he that is uninitiated in the rites, or he that has had no part in them, never enjoys a similar lot down in the musty dark when he is dead.”45
The Homeric Hymn to Demeter is undoubtedly one of the greatest insights into the mysteries. As the foundation story to the cult, and composed in the seventh century BC, it is our earliest written testimony to the rites.46
Multiple works have been devoted to connecting the hymn to the mysteries as a prototype for the rites and solidifying the connotations between them.47 However, there are aspects of the poem in regards to
substances and ritual that can be related to the mysteries that have often been overlooked. Caution must be applied when making theoretical connections between the hymn and historical events, but, as the hymn
43 The telesterion was the great initiatory hall, with a small chapel (Anaktoron) in the centre. Ibid. 8-9.
44 Ibid. 9-11.
45 Homeric Hymn to Demeter, 480-4.
46 Helene P. Foley, The Homeric “Hymn to Demeter” (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1994).
47 Ibid.; Nicholas James Richardson, The Homeric hymn to Demeter (Oxford [Eng. etc.: Clarendon Press, 1974); Suter, The Narcissus and the Pomegranate.
presents the foundation story for the rites, emphasis can certainly be placed on the allegorical meanings of events within the narrative. As with other Homeric literature of the time, language and content was not by accident. Furthermore, the centrality of Eleusis in the hymn has been stressed by Robert Parker, who states that the initiates essentially re-enacted the events of the hymn, which was compiled of fragmentary myth in order to reaffirm the importance of Eleusis to the myth.48
At the beginning of the hymn, Persephone is described picking the narcissus flower, when the ground opens, and she is abducted by Hades.49
As the first event in the hymn, the importance should not be overlooked. This motif of a maiden being abducted whilst picking flowers is relative to other abduction myths such as Europa, Helen and Oreithyia.50 This
becomes particularly relevant when considering Plato’s references to the Eleusinian mysteries in his dialogue Phaedrus.51 The connections to the
mysteries are then furthered, with the reference to Oreithyia’s abduction by Boreas ‘while she was playing with pharmakeía’. This term is particularly relevant as it translates as ‘use of drug’.52 Oreithyia was
amongst the motif of the ‘maiden abducted whilst picking flowers’, along with Persephone; in addition, the mythological lineage of Oreithyia names her grandson as the first hierophant of Eleusis.53 This connection is
tenuous of course, however what is important is the topos of maidens being abducted whilst picking flowers.54 Of course this is also metaphorical
of the coming of age of a maiden, with the plucking of the flower symbolising coming to maturity; the relevance of this within the hymn to the myth of Demeter and Persephone is emphasised throughout Suter’s
48 Robert Parker, “The ‘Hymn to Demeter’ and the ‘Homeric Hymns,’” Greece &
Rome 38, no. 1 (1991): 1–17.
49 Hymn to Demeter, 5-20.
50 Richardson, The Homeric hymn to Demeter. 141.
51 See below.
52 Plato, Phaedrus, 229c-d. Pharmaceia can also be translated to mean ‘the use of drugs’, which could further link the demise of Oreithyia to an ecstatic rapture from an intoxicating drug.
53 Richardson, The Homeric hymn to Demeter. 141.
54 Michael A. Rinella, “Supplementing the Ecstatic: Plato, the Eleusinian Mysteries and the Phaedrus,” Polis: The Journal for Ancient Greek Political
study.55 However, this connection to a drug-induced slumber or death and
the abduction should not be overlooked. In addition, the flower that Persephone picks – the narcissus, has been etymologically linked to ‘numbness’ from which our word ‘narcotic’ arose; this could be seen as an allusion to Persephone’s abduction being drug-induced.56 Richardson
suggests the relationship of the narcissus to a motif in folk-literature: that the magic flower is a key that opens the earth, revealing the underworld and its hidden treasures.57 This can certainly be interpreted in relation to a
sacred flower or plant being used to open up the initiates to the treasures of the underworld, especially relevant in a mystery so connected to rebirth and the underworld. What increases the significance of Persephone’s picking of the narcissus, as that it is the first event of the hymn.58
As referenced earlier, Plato’s Phaedrus has connections to the Eleusinian mysteries through reference to Oreithyia’s grandson being the first hierophant of Eleusis. However, there are many more parallels to the mysteries within Phaedrus. The dialogue is Plato’s primary discussion on the divine madness of love, and how the correct philosophical treatment of it can lead one to the revelation that is true Beauty; as a particularly abstract and theoretical text, the constant reference to mystery cult mania makes the philosophy more tangible as it is placed within a religious context that is contemporaries would have been familiar with. Michael Rinella uses the terms ‘phasmata’, ‘epopteia’ and ‘myesis’ as evidence for Plato’s intentional conflation between the visions of Eleusinian mysteries and initiation into viewing true beauty.59 This is a parallel between the
initiation by Diotima and initiation into the mysteries within Symposium. These connections are continued throughout the dialogue, and the fact that Phaedrus is a discussion on the madness and ecstasy of love should not be ignored.60 Attesting further to this connection is this quote:
55 Suter, The Narcissus and the Pomegranate.
56 Max Nelson, “Narcissus: Myth and Magic,” The Classical Journal 95, no. 4 (2000): 363–389.
57 Richardson, The Homeric hymn to Demeter. 144.
58 Suter, The Narcissus and the Pomegranate. 1-2.
59 Rinella, “Supplementing the Ecstatic” 65-7.
60 The connections between the philosophical doctrine of love and beauty in
“[madness] gives prophecies and takes refuge in prayers to the gods and in worship, discovering mystic rites and purifications…”61 Rinella connects
this form of madness and ecstasy further to the Eleusinian mysteries through the setting of the dialogue, which he reminds us occurs at Agrai – the location of the lesser mysteries.62 Due to the fame of the rites, the
contemporary audience would have likely made this connection. Thus, now that the connections between Plato’s Phaedrus and Eleusis have been established, a passage referring to physical symptoms of the initiand witnessing ‘the truth’ could have further meaning and will be discussed below.
Before examining literary sources about the mysteries in Rome, first I will briefly explore the archaeology of the site in relation to an ecstatic experience. Unlike the mysteries of Dionysus and Magna Mater, the Eleusinian mysteries were completely restricted to a singular site. I believe this is relevant due to the controlled experience that the hierophants could have produced – the mystery was revealed within the telesterion. However, I do think that some scholars have placed too much emphasis on the archaeology of the site, because both the general site and telesterion underwent significant changes, with the telesterion only being established in the sixth century, when we know the rites extended far before that.63
Moreover, similar rites were participated in, in other locations; so too much emphasis on the archaeology should not be made in my opinion.64
references. Plato’s figure of Diotima takes on the role of mystagogue and
metaphorically initiates Socrates into the mysteries of love, in conflation with the mysteries at Eleusis. Nancy Evans, “Diotima and Demeter as Mystagogues in Plato’s Symposium,” Hypatia 21, no. 2 (May 1, 2006): 1–27; Cristina Ionescu, “The Transition from the Lower to the Higher Mysteries of Love in Plato’s
Symposium,” Dialogue: Canadian Philosophical Review / Revue canadienne de
philosophie 46, no. 1 (ed 2007): 27–42.
61 Plato, Phaedrus, 244d.
62 Ibid. 229c; Rinella, “Supplementing the Ecstatic.” 66-7.
63 Evans details the various changes made to the site over its endured use. Nancy A. Evans, “Sanctuaries, Sacrifices, and the Eleusinian Mysteries,” Numen 49, no. 3 (2002): 227–254. 244-5.
64 “Celeae is some five stades distant from the city, and here they celebrate the mysteries in honour of Demeter, not every year but every fourth year. The
initiating priest is not appointed for life, but at each celebration they elect a fresh one, who takes, if he cares to do so, a wife. In this respect their custom differs from that at Eleusis, but the actual celebration is modelled on the Eleusinian
Nancy Evans stresses the uniqueness of the telesterion – its architecture with a ‘building within a building’ structure, and seating along all four walls, with the seating directed at the anaktoron (central structure) and the open space around it.65 This does suggest a physical reveal of
something, however, the use of entheogens and a physical vision are not mutually exclusive – indeed, a substance could have been used to enhance the vision, or vice versa. Perhaps the nature of the seating is of more importance, as the substance, if we look to opiates, may have been a physical relaxant also, therefore necessitating a seated position for the initiation. DMT may have also been appropriate in this case, due to the incredible intense nature of the experience afforded by the psychoactive, this is attested to in shamanic ritual.66 Furthermore, Bremmer also
acknowledges the fact that it is unlikely that all participants would have been able to view the central scene, for which the shouting of the hierophant signalling the beginning of the event would have been essential.67
Cult in Rome
The continued participation and interest in the Eleusinian mysteries is evident. This can be illustrated by the interest in preserving the sanctuary by notable Romans, such as Cicero’s associate Appius who paid for the construction of the inner Propylaia of the sanctuary.68 Furthermore,
Augustus participated in the mysteries on multiple occasions:
“he was therefore initiated into the mysteries of the two goddesses, which were held out of season on account, they say, of Augustus, who also was an initiate.”69
rites. The Phliasians themselves admit that they copy the “performance” at Eleusis. They say that it was Dysaules, the brother of Celeüs, who came to their land and established the mysteries.” Pausanius, Corinth, 14.
65 Evans, “Sanctuaries, Sacrifices, and the Eleusinian Mysteries.” 227-54.
66 F. J. Carod-Artal, “Hallucinogenic Drugs in Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican Cultures,” Neurología (English Edition) 30, no. 1 (January 1, 2015): 42–49.
67 Bremmer, Initiation into the Mysteries of the Ancient World. 14-16.
68 CIL III, 547. T. Leslie Shear, “Athens: From City-State to Provincial Town,”
Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens 50,
no. 4 (1981): 356–377. 538.
“Augustus showed great respect towards all ancient and long-established foreign rites, but despised the rest. Once, for example, after becoming an adept in the Eleusinian Mysteries at Athens, he judged a case at Rome in which the privileges of the priests of the Attic Ceres were questioned.”70
Augustus’ interest in the mysteries can be seen represented in the literature of the age, where we see both the myth and ideology of Eleusis manifest in the works of prolific poets, such as Ovid and Virgil.71
Ovid’s Fasti is an essential source for the interpretation of the myth and ritual. As a work devoted to the religious calendar of Rome, Ovid’s inclusion of the myth of Demeter and Persephone is essential to the portrayal of the cult in Rome.72 Ovid presents his version of the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, following the same narrative. However, there are
certain changes that he makes to the myth, that I believe are particularly relevant for the mysteries. Firstly, before recounting it, he tells us: “The context demands that I present The Virgins Rape. You will learn some things and recognise more.”73 Obviously, he expects his audience to
recognise the tale, however, is it possible that by ‘learn’ he is referring to allusions to the secret rites? These are the following diversions from the Homeric version that he makes:
“The pied earth beamed with different flowers […] one [handmaiden] picks marigolds, or spots the violet-beds; Or clips the tops of poppies with her nail.”74
“Outside the small house she plucks from the rustic soil a delicate, soporific poppy. Plucking it (they say) she tasted it
70 Suetonius, Augustus, 93.
71 The participation of the emperors in the mysteries have been discussed by various scholars: Francesco Camia, “Cultic and Social Dynamics in the Eleusinian Sanctuary Under the Empire,” in Empire and Religion, ed. Elena Muñiz Grijalvo, Juan Manuel Cortés Copete, and Lozano Gomez (Brill, 2017), 45–66. Michael C. Hoff, “Civil Disobedience and Unrest in Augustan Athens,” Hesperia: The Journal
of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens 58, no. 3 (1989): 267–276;
A. J. Spawforth and Susan Walker, “The World of the Panhellenion. I. Athens and Eleusis,” The Journal of Roman Studies 75 (1985): 78–104.
72 Ovid, Fasti, 4.393-628. Translation by A. J. Boyle.
73 Ibid. 4.16-7.
forgetfully. […] Gentle Ceres abstains and offers you warm milk to drink child, with sleep-inducing poppies.”75
Ovid first replaces the Narcissus that Proserpina picks with a variety of other flowers, including the poppy. The importance of this is furthered when looking at the later passage where Ovid has Ceres consume narcotic poppy juice, and give it to Triptolemus. Ovid’s literature obviously possesses an element of entertainment, however, he is also deliberate and learned – this could certainly be read as an allusion to the use of poppies within Eleusinian rites, whether it actually happened or not. To further this, we know that Demeter’s consumption of the kykeon in the Homeric Hymn is representative of the rite at Eleusis (or at least explanatory of it), and her gift to Triptolemus is one of the mysteries. Therefore, the inclusion of narcotic (‘tasted it forgetfully’, ‘sleep-inducing poppies’) poppies that are consumed by Ceres, should not be glossed over; especially when taking into account the argument that her consumption of the kykeon was indicative of the beverage’s use within the mysteries. Ovid is also including this reference to the consumption of poppies within his religious text – it is intended to be observed with at least some religious connotations.
Ovid is not the only epic poet of the empire to place emphasis on the mysteries. The katabasis of Aeneas in book six of the Aeneid, has been examined in the context of the Eleusinian mysteries by Bremmer and Luck, with convincing comparisons drawn – the necessity of the Sibyl as a
mystagogue, the purification rituals, Proserpina’s central role and the
procession of future Roman’s all mirror aspects of the mysteries.76 The
revealing of secret knowledge is also stated by the Sibyl: “let it be right for me to tell what I have been told, let it be with your divine blessing that I reveal what is hidden deep in the mists beneath the earth.”77 Here the
75 Ibid. 4.531-47.
76 Jan Bremmer, “The Golden Bough: Orphic, Eleusinian, and Hellenistic-Jewish Sources of Virgil’s Underworld in Aeneid VI,” Kernos. Revue internationale et
pluridisciplinaire de religion grecque antique, no. 22 (January 1, 2009): 183–208;
Georg Luck, “Virgil and the Mystery Religions,” The American Journal of Philology 94, no. 2 (1973): 147–166.
Sibyl is playing the role of hierophant and mystagogue, revealing the mysteries to Aeneas. Additionally, the argument Luck makes in regards to the Minoan relief on the doors of the temple of Apollo is particularly persuasive for the argument that the mysteries originated in prehistoric Crete; with Daedalus consecrating the temple after he fled from Crete, and creating Minoan mythological scenes.78
The ghostly apparitions and terrors that are described by Plato and Plutarch can also be seen within Aeneid 6. When Aeneas first steps into the underworld – the beginning of his epiphany – he is beset upon by terrifying apparitions.79 After he has witnessed the horrors, he reaches ‘the
land of joy’, an embodiment of the hope for a joyful afterlife that the Eleusinian mysteries gave to its initiates.80 Orpheus is also found here,
furthering the connections to the mysteries, and the benefits afforded.81
Additionally, the emphasis that the passage was a vision, as opposed to a physical experience is stressed by Virgil, when Aeneas and the Sibyl leave the underworld through the Gate of Ivory, the gate where dreams and visions pass through.82 Moreover, the individual experience of Aeneas is
stressed, when the Sibyl prevents the other Trojans from joining him: “Stand apart, all you who are unsanctified […] you, Aeneas, must enter upon your journey.”83 What then follows is an individual experience, led by
a mystagogue, culminating in visions and epiphanies of the secrets of the underworld, where it is Proserpina who receives the primary offering of the golden bough.
Evidently, the mysteries remained relevant during the empire. Unlike the mysteries of Cybele and Dionysus, the portrayals retained their aura of reverence, despite their Greek origin. Furthermore, due to the rites being confined to the sanctuary at Eleusis, the motivation to travel to partake in them speaks for itself. This addition of religious travel to the ritual, and the fact that the secret of the rites was maintained, highlights how impressive
78 Ibid. 6.15-32. Luck, “Virgil and the Mystery Religions.” 153-4.
79 Virgil, Aeneid, 6.270-90.
80 Ibid. 6.637.
81 Orpheus’ connections to mystery cults is presented in the following chapter.
82 Virgil, Aeneid, 6.893-900.
and sacred the ritual continued to be. Surely this speaks for the life changing experience that the ritual provided?84
Descriptions of ecstasy
As previously shown, the connections between the mysteries and Plato’s
Phaedrus and Symposium are clear, and in one passage, a description of
ecstasy is presented:
“But when one who is fresh from the mystery, and saw much of the vision, beholds a godlike face or bodily form that truly expresses beauty, first there comes upon him a shuddering and a measure of awe which the vision inspired, and then reverence as at the sight of a god […] Next, with the passing of the shudder, a strange sweating and fever seizes him [...] [while his soul] throbs with ferment in every part [experiencing, like the pains of growth] ferment and a painful irritation [...] [but soon he] is filled with joy […] [Though] the whole soul is round about stung and goaded into anguish […] [it soon has] refreshment and respite from [these] stings and sufferings, and at that moment tastes a pleasure that is sweet beyond compare.”85
This physical reaction to the epopteia of the truth (and reveal of the mysteries) has been taken as evidence for side-effects of the consumption of an entheogen by Wasson, due to the similarities of the symptoms to ergot side-effects.86 This, however, is an unsubstantiated connection,
especially to one substance in particular. However, coupled with the language of phasmata which refers to the sights of ghostly apparitions, as opposed to dramatic sights at the mystery, suggests a genuine change of mental state. We can also assume that Plato is not just relating the effects of seeing true beauty to the mysteries, as Plutarch also attests to the physical effects prior to the ritual: “subsequently, before the climax
84 “For among the many excellent and indeed divine institutions which your Athens has brought forth and contributed to human life, none, in my opinion, is better than those mysteries. For by their means we have been brought out of our barbarous and savage mode of life and educated and refined to a state of
civilization; and as the rites are called “initiations,” so in very truth we have learned from them the beginnings of life, and have gained the power not only to live happily, but also to die with a better hope.” Cicero, De Legibus, 2.36.
85 Plato, Phaedrus, 251a-e.
[come] all the terrors – shuddering, shivering, sweating and amazement.”87 Plutarch was composing in the late first and early second
centuries A.D., which suggests that the nature of the ritual was sustained into the Roman period. Furthermore, by connecting the Eleusinian mysteries to the realisation of true beauty and search for philosophical truth, Plato is emphasising the religious import of the Greater mystery, and a spiritual or enlightening vision. It is an intangible sight that is compared. The pharmakon references that occur throughout the dialogue and are stressed by Rinella make the possibility for a drug-induced ecstasy at Eleusis very real.88 This is particularly relevant when coupled with
descriptions of psychedelic mushroom consumption in modern ritual, in the Kuma tribe: “Prescribed fits of shaking, shivering, or trembling have been reported from many parts of Papua New Guinea.”89 The reference to
a physical reaction before the revelation of the mystery could be indicative of side-effects of substance consumption.
We see allusions to the physical aspect of the mystery in Virgil also. As described above, there are numerous connections between the Aeneid and the mysteries, especially within Aeneas’ katabasis. Therefore, it could bear semblance that the Sibyl experiences a moment of ecstasy prior to Aeneas’ epiphany. “At that moment, as she spoke in front of the doors, her face was transfigured, her colour changed, her hair fell in disorder about her head and she stood there with heaving breast and her wild heart bursting in ecstasy.”90 This could be representative of the hierophant of the
mysteries, shouting at the moment of the climax of the initiation, before the epopteia, and reminiscent of the hierophant standing in front of the doors of the anaktoron.91
Another source related to the mysteries that signals the use of an entheogen, as opposed to a physical vision, is the profanation of the
87 Plutarch, fragment 178 in Bremmer, Initiation into the Mysteries of the Ancient
World. 13.
88 Rinella, “Supplementing the Ecstatic.” 61-78.
89 Marie Reay, “Ritual Madness Observed: A Discarded Pattern of Fate in Papua New Guinea,” The Journal of Pacific History 12, no. 1 (1977): 55–79.
90 Virgil, Aeneid, 6.48-50.
mysteries that occurred in the fifth century B.C. Plutarch tells us: “Alcibiades and Theodorus made Poulytion’s party a Telesterion with their mimicry of the torch ceremony and the initiation ritual.”92 Clearly,
Alcibiades could not have literally made the symposium in question a
telesterion, thus, it is the experience of the mysteries that Plutarch is
referring to. We cannot know for sure what was involved in this initiation ritual, but, its portability is relevant. If the vision was a re-enactment, or grand, sacred hiera were revealed, then that would not have been possible in the setting of a dinner party.93 The consumption of a psychoactive
substance, however, may have been. The motivation to take part in these mysteries illegally must have been substantial, as, per Gagnéé, the risk was great, and accusations of impiety of the mysteries were frequent.94
This also presents a recreational aspect of the Eleusinian mysteries – by partaking in them outside of the festival and sanctuary at Eleusis, Alcibiades was going against the religious order of both the city and Demeter herself. Therefore, the mysteries must have possessed both recreational and portable elements – for which the use of a psychoactive substance does fit. Additionally, if the substance was consumed within a beverage – such as the kykeon, then it would be particularly suitable for use at a symposium.
Reaching ecstasy and evidence of it
92 Plutarch, Moralia, 621.C. Thucydides also recounts the events: “There they found that the galley Salaminia had come from Athens for Alcibiades—to order him to come home and make his defence against the charges which the city was bringing—and for certain of the soldiers also, some of them having been
denounced with him as guilty of profanation with regard to the mysteries, and some also with regard to the Hermae. For after the armament sailed, the
Athenians had been pursuing with no less zeal than before their investigation of what had been done in the matter of the mysteries as well as the Hermae.” Thucydides, 53.
93 It is worth noting, that if these were sacred hiera, kept in the Anaktoron, it would not have been possible to re-enact at a symposium.
94 Gagnéé, “Mystery Inquisitors: Performance, Authority, and Sacrilege at Eleusis.” 217-22.
A state of ecstasy and higher consciousness was evidently reached during the Eleusinian mysteries. This experience endured throughout the cult’s existence, however, how did the hierophants of Eleusis so reliably produce this? Unlike Magna Mater and Dionysus’ mysteries, we do not hear of clashing music, dancing, or wine (indeed the participants even abstained of wine prior to the ritual),95 neither do we hear of other stimulating factors
from the outside environment, as they were confined to the telesterion. Due to the crowded number of people there was not much room for movement or other factors in which to induce the ecstasy. We know that psychoactive mushrooms have been used, and are continued to be used, in various ritual practices across the world.96 In addition, due to the
narcotic effects of opium, and the literary references to a similar effect in the ritual, I believe that any iconographical references to both should be considered.
On a relief found in Pharsalus, Thessaly, we see two women depicted that appear to hold two mushroom-shaped objects in reverence, one towards the mouth (fig.1). The figures have been identified as Persephone and Demeter by scholars, and the items in their hands (which they appear to be exchanging) as relevant to the mysteries, the third item has been suggested to be a pouch holding seeds perhaps.97 However, whilst the
items in the hands look very much like mushrooms, it cannot be sure whether the two women are indeed Persephone and Demeter, and their identity as priestesses should also be considered.
Evidence for the ecstatic culmination of the ritual being due to the ingestion of an entheogen is in no ways conclusive, however there are a variety of references to the cult by ancient authors, and allegorical references to a psychoactive substance in the mythology of the mystery. One of the most persuasive and indicative factors in support of the ingestion of an entheogen is that we know a sacred barley potion called the kykeon was drunk prior to the initiation in the telesterion.98 The
kykeon was an ancient nutritious beverage, with the contents varying –
95 See above, like Demeter in the Homeric Hymn.
96 See introduction and chapter 3.
the primary ingredient was barley, with wine and goats cheese often being added.99 The connection of the kykeon to a psychotropic drug has been
met with great controversy (although no wine was involved in the mysteries).100 As a nutritious beverage often attributed to hospitality and a
recreation of Demeter’s consumption of the drink within the hymn, many classicists are unwilling to entertain the idea that a narcotic was added to it.101 However, the addition of a psychotropic or pharmakon to the kykeon
is not a far stretch when taking into account how ancient civilisations treated their wine; as early as Homeric literature, we see powerful drugs being added to wine. 102 Kykeon – the sacred drink of barley, mint
(pennyroyal) and water, is also not as innocent as it perhaps appears:103
“[Circe] prepared them a mixture of cheese, barley-meal, and yellow honey flavoured with Pramnian wine. But into this dish she introduced a noxious drug to make them lose all memory of their native land […] they had pigs’ heads and bristles and they grunted like pigs; but their minds were as human as they had been before.”104
This transformation of Odysseus’ men into pigs can be read as allegorical for a hallucination, perhaps in connection to the secret ingredient for the
kykeon. However, this is tentative and either way the passage shows that
the addition of potent drugs or herbs to such drinks was not unheard of. Moreover, the moly that Odysseus consumes as a preventative to the drug has been connected to Galanthus Nivalis – this is would be particularly
98 Hymn to Demeter 206-11; Clem. Alex. Protr. 2.18; Orphic hymn, frg. 52; Ovid,
Fasti, 4.545-7. Ovid also mentions the breaking of the initiand’s fast at nightfall
(when the ritual in the telesterion began) “because she ended her hunger at nightfall, initiates eat when the stars appear.” Ovid, Fasti, 4.325.
99 In the Iliad, the drink is used as a form of nourishment and thirst quenching. “The servant like a goddess in demeanour grated a goats milk cheese over the wine upon a brazen grater, and sifted in the white barley-meal.” Homer, Iliad, 11.638-40. The reference to the servant’s goddess-like demeanour could also be a reference to the ritual use of the kykeon.
100 George Mylonas, Eleusis and the Eleusinian Mysteries (Princeton University Press, 1961). 260.
101 Suter, The Narcissus and the Pomegranate, 78; Hugh Bowden, Mystery Cults
in the Ancient World (London: Thames & Hudson, 2010), 103-5; Cosmopoulos, Bronze Age Eleusis and the Origins of the Eleusinian Mysteries. 19-20.
102 See chapter 2.
103 Suter, The Narcissus and the Pomegranate. 83
indicative of the advanced pharmacological knowledge that the ancient Greeks had as early as the eighth century.105
Furthermore, a reference to the barley drink by Hipponax, could have narcotic connotations:
“I will surrender my grieving soul to an evil end, if you do not send me a bushel of barley as quickly as you can, so that I may make a potion from the groats to drink as a cure (φάρμακον) for my suffering.”106
Rosen presents a close analysis of this fragment, highlighting the references to Eleusinian ritual and potential psychotropic properties.107 The kykeon will be a cure for his suffering, but how? Various possibilities are
presented: the kykeon will simply cure his hunger as food, in a medical sense against illness, in the Homeric version as a genuine psychotropic drug, and in a ritual context as associated with Demeter’s relief from grief and suffering.108 Clearly, no singular denotation is intended, but the
combined refences certainly present the possibility that the kykeon had more purpose within the ritual than symbolising Demeter’s consumption. Additionally, it is worth remembering that Hipponax’s audience would have likely known of the beverage’s various properties and uses.
There have been various modern suggestions to what the psychoactive agent within the kykeon could be – proposals from psychoactive Mediterranean mushrooms to ergot and opiates have been made.109 Whilst not a sufficiently critical study, Road to Eleusis argues that
the ergot Claviceps Purpurea that is present on rye, barley and wheat is
105 Andreas Plaitakis and Roger C. Duvoisin, “Homer’s Moly Identified as Galanthus Nivalis L.: Physiologic Antidote to Stramonium Poisoning,” Clinical
Neuropharmacology 6, no. 1 (March 1983): 1–6.
106 “κακοῖσι δώσω τὴν πολύστονον ψυχήν,ἢν μὴ ἀποπέμψῃς ὡς τάχιστά μοι κριθέωνμέδιμνον, ὡς ἂν ἀλφίτων ποιήσωμαικυκεῶνα πίνειν φάρμακον πονηρίης.” Hipponax, frg. 39. Loeb trans.
107 Ralph M. Rosen, “Hipponax Fr. 48 Dg. and the Eleusinian Kykeon,” The
American Journal of Philology 108, no. 3 (1987): 416–426.
108 “The kykeon recalls Demeter's drink in Dem., and evokes the ritual activities associated with her rites, includ- ing fasting, imbibing the kykeon, and ritual
aischrologia […] the kykeon as an ancient, magical potion associated explicitly in
Homer with psychotropic pharmaka.” Ibid. 425-6.
109 Wasson et al., The Road to Eleusis; “Eleusis, Plato, Magic Mushrooms” (Harvard University Press, 2014).
the most hopeful option.110 More recent studies have attempted to improve
on this, due to the criticism that the poisonous side-effects of the ergot would render it inappropriate, and they have been able to conclude that a correct method (and simple for archaic ancestors) of dissolving the ergot removes the majority of the toxicity whilst leaving the hallucinogenic properties.111 The persuasive aspect of this suggestion however, is that the
use of barley in the potion is confirmed by the evidence, with the cereal being the essential ingredient. Additionally, Demeter’s status as an agricultural deity, and the iconographical representation of wheat and barley in visual portrayals of her (fig. 4). Barley was a sacred to Demeter, and the aspect of the potion that is clearly most relevant to the ideology of the myth, therefore it would be suitable if the characteristic of the potion that caused the sacred experience, was, or resembled, barley.
Moreover, the ear of corn and wheat, rather than representing ergot, could be connected to the phalaris grass – a known releaser of DMT.112
DMT could present a possibility in regards to the substance used, due to its use amongst shamanic rituals, and the intensely spiritual effect it has been known to have. As stated, Demeter is often depicted with an ear of wheat, which bears a remarkable similarity to phalaris; whilst phalaris does not have the same ideological and religious connections to the mysteries, the visual similarities and overlap between the two should not be dismissed (fig.8). The profound nature of the DMT experience, also appears to be consistent with an epopteia.113
110 Wasson et al., The Road to Eleusis.
111 Frederick R. Dannaway, Alan Piper, and Peter Webster, “Bread of Heaven or Wines of Light: Entheogenic Legacies and Esoteric Cosmologies,” Journal of
Psychoactive Drugs 38, no. 4 (December 2006): 493–503.
112 See chapter two for similarities regarding the thyrsus (and wheat), to phalaris and the pineal gland, and the potential use of DMT.
113 After experiencing Ayahuasca in a ritual context, individuals attested to the profound and life-changing altered states of consciousness they reached. Paulo Cesar Ribeiro Barbosa, Joel Sales Giglio, and Paulo Dalgalarrondo, “Altered States of Consciousness and Short-Term Psychological After-Effects Induced by the First Time Ritual Use of Ayahuasca in an Urban Context in Brazil,” Journal of Psychoactive Drugs 37, no. 2 (June 2005): 193– 201.
