Eleusis Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Ubiquitous in ancient Greek culture, the ethical principle of xenía may broadly translate as hospitality to strangers, doing so through taking interpersonal, political, and architectural form. Since xenía includes the accommodation of foreign guests, some evidence of xenía in architecture is logically found in houses and hostels, but surprisingly more evidence surrounds Athens’ Theatre of Dionysus, on stage in Aristophanes’ Peace and Euripides’ Cyclops, and off stage through the architects elected to look after the sanctuary of the theatre. This paper reveals the principle of xenía permeating the professional work of the architect to such a degree that Vitruvius and Demosthenes would reproach even slight digressions from the principle, and Vitruvius would call the education of xenía the most valuable thing to outlast a shipwreck.

- by
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- Classics, Architectural History, Architectural Theory, Hospitality

The paper studies the creation of public space from the reuse of old industrial buildings within the urban fabric of modern cities. The example that it analyses is the old oil mill of Elefsina, a coastal city of Attica that has been inhabited since ancient times and is due to become the cultural capital of Europe in 2021. In antiquity, Elefsina was one of the five holy cities of Ancient Greece, connected to Athens through the “Holy Road.” Then, in the 19th and 20th centuries, it became a powerful industrial centre of Greece, and the subsequent abandonment of industrial uses created a strong heterotopia, caught between antiquities and its industrial heritage, as reflected in the public space of the city. Firstly, the paper explores the possibilities of converting industrial shells into public spaces, noting their comparative advantages over other urban gaps in cities. Then, it describes the evolution of public space in the city of Elefsina concerning the changes that occurred in that area due to residential and industrial development. Emphasis is given to the last two centuries when the most significant and most important changes occurred. The research focuses on the area of the old oil mill concerning the rest of the urban fabric through maps created during field research in the area. It studies the possibility of producing public space that follows already formed spaces through the transformation of old industrial buildings. It also examines the transformation of the industrial building into a public space with beneficial uses. Indeed, the oil mill now functions as a social capacitor where numerous events and artistic activities have taken place every summer for the last 43 years as part of the Aeschylia Festival. Finally, it presents valuable conclusions about the production of public space from the reuse of old industrial buildings.

In the mystery cult sanctuaries the initiation rite took place within a building conventionally called telesterion. So far the relationship between this specific function and the corresponding architectural typology has not been purpose of studies. In this article the occurrence of the term telesterion in literary and epigraphic sources will be discussed and a catalogue of archaeologically recognisable buildings for initiation into the mysteries will be presented, in order to highlight their planimetric and functional features.

- by Tommaso Serafini
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- Classical Archaeology, Greek Archaeology, Mystery cult, Greek Architecture

Over the last thirty years, a sensory turn is observed that has affected Classics and its cognate disciplines. This online conference, hosted by the University of Erfurt, will provide an intellectual platform for a new in-depth approach on the application of the sensory methodology into the emotional experiences of the mystery cults. While mystery cults have been studied by diverse methodological frameworks, there has not been a dedicated conference, workshop, or volume on the application of sensory studies into the effect of the sensory experience of initiatory rituals (e.g., procession, singing of hymns, ecstatic dances, water-cleansing, sacrificial rituals) in eliciting various emotions in the ancient worshippers who participated in specific mystery cults. The term “Multi-Sensory Experience” serves as a guiding principle and thread that invites the modern researcher to consider and reflect on the multiple senses through which the ancient worshipper could experience a mystery cult. For the ancient Greek and Roman worshippers, just as it is for us, religion was a multi-sensory experience. This conference, therefore, aims to delve into certain aspects of the ancient mystery cults and investigate the emotional impact of these rituals through the new sensory methodology: how the basic somatic senses (e.g., sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch) of the ancient people affected their emotions as a result of their participation in the ancient mysteries? To receive the link to participate, please register by email at aikaterini-iliana.rassia@uni-erfurt.de.

- by Caroline J . Tully
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- Paganism, Ancient Greek Religion, Greek Myth, Eleusis

To the left of the Panathenaic Way as it winds up the steep northern slope of the Athenian Akropolis lies the City Eleusinion, a sanctuary of Demeter and Kore, linked ritually with Eleusis. When the Eleusinian Mysteries were held each September, the Sacred Objects brought on foot by priestesses from Eleusis were deposited in the City Eleusinion and kept there while the festival began and during the initial rituals in the Agora and in Piraeus. The Eleusinion and its Temple of Triptolemos are noted by Pausanias (although he was forbidden in a dream to describe it thoroughly). Excavations by the American School of Classical Studies in Athens during the late 1930s and 1950s uncovered the forecourt of the sanctuary, and the architecture, inscriptions, sculpture and other finds are presented in this volume. The book includes a chapter on the plemochoe, a ritual vessel used in the Eleusinian Mysteries.

- by Margaret M. Miles
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- Greek sanctuaries, Cult of Demeter and Kore, Athenian Agora, Alcibiades

The sanctuaries of Demeter and Kore at Eleusis and the City Eleusinion at Athens were joined by the sacred way and by the processions performed along this route during the festival of the Mysteries, when the sacred objects, cult personnel, and pilgrims moved between the two sacred spaces. The gateways to the sanctuaries, which directed prospective initiates in and out of the sanctuaries and on and off the sacred way, were volatile places both marking the connection between the sacred centers and signaling transitions, as pilgrims moved from one ritual context into another. Their form and decoration shaped the experience of prospective initiates and other participants. These entrances did not work in isolation, but were intimately connected with wall circuits, as well as other monuments and topographical features that shaped the actions of entrance.

- by Cayetano Juver Calvo
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- Eleusis

Despite the fact that the newly founded Greek State was primarily interested in the recovery and preservation of antiquities in Athens, its capital, the archaeological site of Eleusis with its increased popularity, particularly among European travellers of the 18th and 19th centuries, constituted a major issue for the General Ephorate of Antiquities in its effort to protect it from looters and destruction. The organised effort to uncover the Eleusinian remains was initiated by the Archaeological Society at Athens during the 1880s and 1890s. The expropriation of buildings that would secure the unhindered excavation of the Eleusinian sanctuary, as well as the systematic investigation of the site from 1882 until the 1980s was planned, funded and implemented by the Society. This is also the case with the construction, organisation and refurbishment of the archaeological museum of Eleusis, which was erected in 1888-1890, whereas in 1892 its first annex was completed.
The Society’s excavations at Eleusis went on throughout the course of the 20th century. Following Dimitrios Filios, director of the excavation became Andreas Skias. He was succeeded by Konstantinos Kourouniotis, Ioannis Threpsiadis, Georgios Mylonas, Ioannis Travlos and Michalis Kosmopoulos. Besides the Archaeological Society, active at Eleusis has also been the corresponding department of the Greek Archaeological Service, which has undertaken several excavations outside the limits of the officially declared archaeological site. These excavations have uncovered significant evidence with regards to the ancient settlement and its cemeteries, the road network, workshops and farming facilities, the water supply system etc.

2013, όταν το παρόν συναντά.... το παρελθόν στην ανασκαφή για τη διάνοιξη της σιδηροδρομικής γραμμής Αθηνών-Πειραιά, για την εγκατάσταση του εργοστασίου αεριόφωτος στο Γκάζι, για την αποξήρανση της λίμνης Κωπαϊδας, για την αποκάλυψη του Παναθηναϊκού Σταδίου, για τη θεμελίωση σχολείων και για τις εγκαταστάσεις των Ολυμπιακών Αγώνων του 1896. Ρυμοτομικά Σχέδια της πόλης του Πειραιά και της Ελευσίνας.

- by Sofia Fragoulopoulou
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- History, Cultural Studies, Archaeology, Architecture

Yapılan bu çalışmada, Tanrıça Demeter ve kızı Persephone’nin mitosu ışığında şekillenen Eleusis gizem kültü çerçevesinde Arkaik Çağ’da kadınların katıldığı ritüeller Demeter’e Hymnos eseri temel alınarak incelenmeye çalışılmıştır.
MÖ yaklaşık 600 yılına tarihlenen Demeter’e Hymnos adlı yapıtta tanrıçalar olarak birlikte anılan Demeter ve kızı Persephone’nin gizemleri konu alınır. Homerosçu Hymnos’lar arasında çok önemli bir yere sahip olan 495 dizelik eser, Eleusis kenti ve çevresinden yayılan gizemlerin ana kaynağı niteliğini taşır.
Hellen toplumunda daima geri planda kalarak, başta vatandaşlık hakkı olmak üzere tüm hak ve hürriyetlerden mahrum bırakılan kadın figürü, Anadolu’dan gelen anaerkil öğelerin de etkisiyle tanrıça ibadetlerinde kendine yer bularak dinsel alanda yükselişe geçmiştir. Dalga dalga yayılan bu durum kadınların bir araya gelerek çeşitli ritüellere katılmasıyla kolektif bir hal almıştır.

- by Ayca Parlar
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- Cult of Demeter and Kore, Rituals, Eleusis, Festival of Eleusis

The monetarization of the markets accelerated in the 5th century BCE led to the monetarization of the cults. The mercantile logic and money-oriented society shaped the transaction between the worshippers and the cults of Demeter. The relationship to deities was regulated by ‘do ut des’, i.e. one gives something so that the deity may give something in return. The epigraphic sources from the 5th and 4th centuries BCE give insight into the finances of the Eleusinian cult and illustrate the extent of monetarization of the cult of Demeter.

- by A.M. Sara Karatas
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- Classical Archaeology, Ancient Greek Religion, Mystery cult, Greek Sicily
- by Sven Schipporeit
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- Ancient Greek Religion, Greek Architecture, Ionia, Cult of Demeter and Kore
- by Ioulia Kaoura
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- Archaic Architecture, Eleusis

Les Mystères d'Eleusis sont à tel point présents dans l'histoire athénienne que l'historiographie moderne y voit plutôt des certitudes que des problèmes. Il n'y a qu'à rappeler la place d'Eleusis dans les récentes analyses archéologiques et historiques de l'époque géométrique, ou bien le grand débat des années '60 du siècle passé autour des questions du régionalisme attique, du rôle de l'appropriation des rites et des fêtes d'Eleusis par la cité archaïque dans la construction imaginaire de l'unité athénienne, pour prouver que les rapports entre le sanctuaire d'Eleusis et Athènes représentent depuis longtemps une pièce importante du dossier de l'histoire de la cité.

- by Zoe Petre
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- Greek Tragedy, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides

The present research focuses on the bluish-black Eleusinian stone that was used as building and/or decorative stone in monuments of Attica (Eleusis and Athens), Olympia, Delphi and Delos from Archaic to Roman times. A petrological and sedimentological study has been performed in order to determine the geological characterisitcs and the origin of the stone. The Eleusinian stone has been identified as grey biomicritic limestone of Cenomanian-Turonian age, derived from the Pelagonian Unit, with fragments of rudists, echinoderms, and benthonic foraminifers. It is also characterized with very low porosity, fluctuating colour (from dark grey to light grey) and traces of organic carbon. The identification of the different qualities of the Eleusinian stone will essentially contribute to repair and restoration purposes of the ancient monuments.

- by Ελένη Τζιλιγκάκη and +1
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- Geology, Building Materials (Archaeology), Athens and Attica, Eleusis
- by Jacobo Storch de Gracia
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- Historia y Arqueología Andina, Atenas, Eleusis, Delfos

Hegel’s poem Eleusis (1796) implies a paradox in trying to combine a critique of language as inadequate for expressing the Absolute with a plea for keeping a secret. Dialectics suggests that the secret is the poem itself in its performance. I show that Eleusis envisions a certain view of history that entails a pessimistic relation to actuality and a utopian longing for the new community of those who keep secrecy. Unearthing the Christian inspiration that drives the development of the main ideas to be found in Eleusis helps to demonstrate that it is on this community enacted by the poem that the secret of the Eleusinian mysteries and, generally, the destiny of the Absolute, would further depend. In an intersubjective and thus truly dialectical way the poem should open itself towards interpretations that could ruin its initial message. This fragility remains a distinctive feature of Hegel’s speculative poetry and lends it the hope of remaining a ‘secret as secret.’

- by Ivan Boldyrev
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- German Literature, Philosophy Of Religion, Romanticism, Poetry

This paper argues that the rebuilding of the forecourt at Eleusis under Marcus Aurelius reflects the cultural currents of the Second Sophistic. The arrangement of the buildings, the close copies of 5th century BC originals, and Roman aesthetic values contribute to this effect. Celebration of the Eleusinian Mysteries was Athens’ most prestigious festival and the continuity demonstrated here projected the Athenian past forward even under Roman rule.

- by Margaret M. Miles
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- Second Sophistic, Visual Rhetoric, Marcus Aurelius, Roman Architecture

Mysterienkulte werden meist als eine sehr persönliche Form der Religiösität angesehen.

- by Soi Agelidis
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- Classics, Greek Archaeology, Ancient Greek Religion, Greek religion (Classics)
- by Mark Beumer
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- Religion, History, Mythology, Jewish Mysticism

Index of unpublished PhD thesis

The first conference was organised in the knowledge the study of Roman sculpture in Greece still has a great way to go, for despite the wealth and quality of the surviving monuments it has never been undertaken systematically. The response from the academic community to that first conference and the subsequent publication of its proceedings suggests that, current adverse conditions in Greece notwithstanding, it is most definitely worth organising a second meeting on a related topic. This meeting will focus on the study of sculptural monuments within the geographical territory of modern Greece from the beginning of the Roman era (2nd c. BC) to Late Antiquity (5th c. AD). The papers that will be presented are expected to contribute to the advancement of two main questions.

- by Florian Klauser
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- Cultural Studies, Sculpture, Ancient Roman Social History, Culture and Context

The decree concerns the sacred land (ἱερὰ ὀργάς) of the sanctuary of Demeter and Kore at Eleusis and focuses on two related but distinct issues: the definition of the boundaries of the sacred land and the possibility for the future of renting and farming - or of not renting and leaving fallowed - the land immediately beyond the boundaries of the sacred land and already cultivated in the past. The decree is an important document in many respects. First of all it attests the disputes between Athens and Megara for the control of the Eleusinion’s sacred land, adding to the accounts of the attidographers Philochorus and Androtion and referring to the existence of a former decree connected to the sacred land and proposed by a certain Philocrates. Moreover, it confirms the existence of the practice of renting the sacred land in mid-fourth century BC – mentioned in other contemporary inscriptions and urged by Xenophon in his Poroi. It also offers some useful elements for the dating of the Eleusinion’s restoration works. Finally, it provides evidence for the consultation of the Delphic oracle and sheds light on Athenian democratic procedure in the middle of the 4th century BC.

- by Florian Klauser and +1
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- Ancient History, Cultural History, Architecture, Religion and Politics
- by Monica Berti
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- Greek Epigraphy, Greece, Athens, Athens and Attica (Neolithic to Archaic)
- by Ivan Prchlík
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- Ancient History, Roman History, Roman Historiography, Eunapius
- by Felipe Perissato
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- Ancient Topography (Archaeology), Roman Greece, Eleusis, Mysteries of Eleusis

Boysal başkanlığında arkeolojik kazılar yapılmış, Geç Geometrik, Geç Klasik ve Roma dönemlerine ait mezarların bulunduğu alanın çevresinde Muğla Müze Müdürlüğü başkanlığında yapılan çalışmalarda ise temel seviyesinde tam planı mevcut olmayan bir yapı kalıntısı açığa çıkartılmıştır. Bu yapı kalıntısının köşesine yakın bir konumda, taban üstü seviyede bir Asklepios heykelciği ele geçmiştir. Yılanlı asa ile birlikte tasvir edilen heykelcik, Eleusis tipine aittir. Stratonikeia heykeltıraşlık eserleri içerisinde biri gymnasion buluntusu, diğeri ise buluntu yeri belli olmayan iki adet Asklepios torsosunun varlığı bilinmesine rağmen Stratonikeia koroplastik sanatı içerisinde Asklepios figürini ele geçmemiştir. Bu nedenle Bozukbağ Asklepios Heykelciği ve konteksti, Stratonikeia ve çevresindeki Asklepios kültünün varlığını gösteren tam bir eser ve kazı buluntusu olması nedeniyle ayrı bir öneme sahiptir. Bu çalışmanın konusunu oluşturan, Roma Dönemi kopyası Asklepios heykelciği buluntu yeri ve stil özelliklerine göre MS II. yüzyılın ikinci yarısı-III. yüzyılın ilk yarısına tarihlendirilmiştir.

- by Nihal Durnagölü
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- Ancient Caria, Asklepios, Karia, Stratonikeia
- by DOMINGO SOLA ANTEQUERA
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- Asklepios, Eleusis, Arte Griego, Arquitectura griega

Η μεταβιομηχανική ελληνική πόλη αποτελεί ένα εκτεταμένο και εξαιρετικά ενδιαφέρον πεδίο επιστημονικής έρευνας. Η βιομηχανία στην Ελευσίνα έπαιξε σημαντικό ρόλο στο χαρακτήρα της πόλης, εξίσου σημαντικό με την αρχαία της ιστορία. Η διεθνής εμπειρία έδωσε πολλά παραδείγματα επιτυχούς αποκατάστασης και επαναχρησιμοποίησης βιομηχανικών χώρων. Το εργοστάσιο του Κρόνου, με την καίρια θέση του στο παραλιακό μέτωπο και τα υπέροχα κτίρια, αποτελεί μια κρίσιμη ευκαιρία για την πόλη της Ελευσίνας. Τα κτίρια του είναι εξαιρετικά παραδείγματα βιομηχανικής αρχιτεκτονικής που κυριαρχούν στον ορίζοντα της Ελευσίνας. Τέσσερις δεκαετίες μετά το κλείσιμο του, το εργοστάσιο παραμένει εγκαταλελειμμένο. Το ΥΠΕΧΩΔΕ (τώρα Υπουργείο Έρευνας και Τεχνολογίας) χαρακτήρισε ως διατηρητέα δύο κτίρια του συγκροτήματος Κρόνος: το κτίριο διοίκησης/σπίτι/χημείο και το αποστακτήριο. Έκτοτε, υπήρξε εκτεταμένη αδράνεια που απειλεί τα κτίρια του εργοστασίου λόγω μη χρήσης, αφαίρεσης δομικών υλικών, βανδαλισμού και παντελούς έλλειψης συντήρησης. Τα τελευταία χρόνια, υπάρχει μια μεγάλη προσπάθεια για το χαρακτηρισμό του συνόλου ή, τουλάχιστον, τμήμα αυτού ως μνημείο από το Υπουργείο Πολιτισμού και Αθλητισμού. Η ομάδα μας με μια σειρά δράσεων και δραστηριοτήτων προσπαθεί να συμβάλλει στη διάσωση, προβολή και επανάχρηση του συγκροτήματος «Κρόνος»: • Διεξήγαμε εκτεταμένη έρευνα για να επικυρώσουμε τη σημασία του εργοστασιακού συγκροτήματος και να υποστηρίξουμε όσους ζητούν τη διατήρησή του. • Παρουσιάσαμε την περίπτωση του Κρόνου σε σχετικά διεθνή συνέδρια, διοργανώσαμε δημόσιες παρουσιάσεις κάνοντας μια ανοιχτή έκκληση για τη διάσωσή του, και παρείχαμε πληροφορίες σχετικά με το θέμα σε μέσα μαζικής ενημέρωσης. • Υποβάλαμε επισήμως, με τον αριθ. Πρωτ. 4964/31-07-2017 έγγραφό μας, τους φακέλους της έρευνας και των φωτογραφιών μας στο Υπουργείο Πολιτισμού και Αθλητισμού για διευκόλυνση των υπηρεσιών του. Προτείνουμε πιθανές λύσεις επανάχρησης του βιομηχανικού συγκροτήματος του Κρόνου, στο πλαίσιο ενός μεγαλύτερου σχεδίου ανάπλασης του αστικού τοπίου, λαμβάνοντας υπόψη και τις ανάγκες της τοπικής κοινωνίας. Ελπίζουμε ότι ο Δήμος Ελευσίνας και η συνδιοργάνωση της Πολιτιστικής Πρωτεύουσας της Ευρώπης για το 2021 θα αποτελέσουν μια ευκαιρία επιβίωσής του Κρόνου.

- by Christos Lampropoulos and +1
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- Industrial Archaeology, Greece, Winery, Eleusis