Pre-1800 / Ancient Text

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Hymn to Demeter

The Homeric Hymn to Demeter (7th-6th century BCE) is the founding myth of the Eleusinian Mysteries. Disguised as an old woman, Demeter drinks kykeon (barley meal, water, and mint) and later teaches the Eleusinians the 'awful mysteries.'

c. 650–550 BCE (this translation published 1914)

Ancient Text

Homer

Exhortation to the Greeks (Chapter II, on the Eleusinian and Related Mysteries)

Exhortation to the Greeks, ch. II

Clement of Alexandria's chapter from his Exhortation to the Greeks (c. 195 CE), exposing Greek mystery religions including the Eleusinian rites. He quotes the complete verbal formula recited over the kykeon and recounts the myth of Demeter and Baubo.

c. 195 CE (this translation 1867/1885)

Ancient Text

Clement of Alexandria