Eleusinian Mysteries were ancient Greek religious rituals performed annually at Eleusis, near Athens. Worshipers held the ceremonies to honor Demeter, the goddess of agriculture. The mysteries dramatized the myth of the kidnapping and return of Persephone, Demeter’s daughter, by Hades, god of the underworld. For an account of this myth, see Persephone . Though the secret meaning of the mysteries was never revealed, the rituals may have promised a blessed afterlife for those who were initiated into the mysteries.
See also Mysteries .
