[478] Pausan. i. 38. 3. Ἐλευσίνιοί τε ἀρχαῖοι, ἅτε οὐ προσόντων
σφισι γενεαλόγων, ἄλλα τε πλάσασθαι δεδώκασι καὶ μάλιστα ἐς τὰ
γένη τῶν ἡρώων. See Heyne ad Apollodôr. iii. 15, 4. “Eumolpi
nomen modo communicatum pluribus, modo plurium hominum res et
facta cumulata in unum. Is ad quem Hercules venisse dicitur,
serior ætate fuit: antiquior est is de quo hoc loco agitur ...
antecessisse tamen hunc debet alius, qui cum Triptolemo vixit,”
etc. See the learned and valuable comments of Lobeck in his
Aglaophamus, tom. i. p. 206-213: in regard to the discrepancies
of this narrative he observes, I think, with great justice (p.
211), “quo uno exemplo ex innumerabilibus delecto, arguitur
eorum temeritas, qui ex variis discordibusque poetarum et
mythographorum narratiunculis, antiquæ famæ formam et quasi
lineamenta recognosci posse sperant.”
In the Homeric Hymn to Dêmêtêr, the most ancient testimony before
us,—composed, to all appearance, earlier than the complete
incorporation of Eleusis with Athens,—Eumolpus appears (to repeat
briefly what has been stated in a previous chapter) as one of the
native chiefs or princes of Eleusis, along with Triptolemus, Dioklês,
Polyxeinus and Dolichus: Keleos is the king, or principal among these
chiefs, the son or lineal descendant of the eponymous Eleusis himself.
To these chiefs, and to the three daughters of Keleos, the goddess
Dêmêtêr comes in her sorrow for the loss of her daughter Persephonê:
being hospitably entertained by Keleos she reveals her true character,
commands that a temple shall be built to her at Eleusis, and prescribes
to them the rites according to which they are to worship her.[479] Such
seems to have been the ancient story of the Eleusinians respecting
their own religious antiquities: Keleos, with Metaneira his wife, and
the other chiefs here mentioned, were worshipped at Eleusis, and from
thence transferred to Athens as local gods or heroes.[480] Eleusis
became incorporated with Athens, apparently not very long before the
time of Solôn; and the Eleusinian worship of Dêmêtêr was then received
into the great religious solemnities of the Athenian state, to which
it owes its remarkable subsequent extension and commanding influence.
In the Atticized worship of the Eleusinian Dêmêtêr, the Eumolpids and
the Kêrŷkes were the principal hereditary functionaries: Eumolpus, the
eponym of this great family, came thus to play the principal part in
the Athenian legendary version of the war between Athens and Eleusis.
An oracle had pronounced that Athens could only be rescued from his
attack by the death of the three daughters of Erechtheus; their
generous patriotism consented to the sacrifice, and their father put
them to death. He then went forth confidently to the battle, totally
vanquished the enemy, and killed Eumolpus with his own hand.[481]
Erechtheus was worshipped as a god, and his daughters as goddesses,
at Athens.[482] Their names and their exalted devotion were cited
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