The ceremonial of the mysteries was ordained, particularly among the civilized and populous nations, in such a manner that it could not fail to excite the curiosity of the people, who naturally eagerly desire and seek to know what is held in secrecy. Legislators and hierophants rendered this curiosity more intense by the extremely stringent law of secrecy imposed upon those initiated. Thus the profane, namely, those uninitiated, were the more desirous to be acquainted with the mysteries, and thus they joined them in large numbers. Legislators gave to this spirit of secrecy the most specious pretext. It was proper, they said, to imitate the gods who concealed themselves from man's gaze, for the purpose of creating in his soul the desire to find them; and who have made the phenomena of nature a profound secret to them, in order to stimulate them to the study of the universe. Those initiated were not permitted to speak of the mysteries except among themselves. The penalty of death had been decreed against the one who would have revealed them, even without purpose; and also against any one who would have entered the sacred temple before having been previously initiated. Aristoteles was accused of impiety by the hierophant Eurymedon, for having sacrificed to the manes of his wife, according to the rite practiced in the worship of Ceres. He had to flee, and to retire at Chalcis to save his life; and in order to clear his name from this stain he ordered his heirs to erect a statue to Ceres. Eschyles, having been charged with having written about mysterious subjects, saved his life only by proving that he had never been initiated. The entry of the temple of Ceres, and the participation to her mysteries, were prohibited to the slaves, and to those whose birth was not legal; to women of ill fame, to the philosophers who denied a Providence, such as the Epicureans, etc. This interdiction was considered as a great deprivation, for it was generally believed among the people that initiation was the greatest blessing. In fact, those initiated were taught that they belonged to a class of privileged beings, and were the favorites of the gods. The priests of Samothrace credited their initiation by promising favorable winds, a speedy and safe navigation to travelers who were candidates to their mysteries. Those initiated to the mysteries of Orpheus believed that they were no longer under the rule of the evil principle; that initiation made them holy, and secured to them future happiness. After the ceremonies of the initiation the candidate thus answered to the priest: "I have rejected the evil and found the good." After that he considered himself, and was considered by his fellows, wholly purified.