Telesterion: Temple of Demeter and Persephone (Eleusis, Greece)

Telesterion: Temple of Demeter and Persephone (Eleusis, Greece)

Sanctuary of Demeter (Eleusis, Greece)

Eleusinian mysteries

Eleusis (Greece)

Temples, Greek--Greece

Demeter (Greek deity)

Ancient Greek religion

Homeric hymn to Demeter

Persephone (Greek deity)

This photograph depicts the Telesterion, the ancient temple dedicated to the goddesses Demeter and Persephone. Located in Eleusis, Greece, the Telesterion was home to one of the most popular Mystery Cults of the ancient Greco-Roman world: i.e. the Eleusinian Mysteries. The myth associated with the Eleusinian Mysteries is recorded in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, which is an etiological myth describing the reason for the four seasons. In sum, Demeter's daughter, Persephone, was abducted by the god of the underworld, Hades. Refusing to let the young goddess return to her mother, Demeter - the goddess responsible for the growing of grains and other dry plants - refused to allow plants to grow. Zeus, the father of Persephone, convinced his brother, Hades, to return the girl to her mother for two-thirds of the year, and it was believed Persephone emerged from the underworld in Eleusis.

Proctor, Christopher

03-June-2007

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English

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CG0036

Attikē (Greece)

1500 BCE – 396 CE

Born Digital