The Mysteries were divided into two parts--the Lesser Mysteries and the
Greater Mysteries. The Lesser Mysteries were said to have been
instituted when Hercules, Castor, and Pollux expressed a desire to be
initiated, they happening to be in Athens at the time of the celebration
of the Mysteries by the Athenians in accordance with the ordinance of
Demeter. Not being Athenians, they were ineligible for the honour of
initiation, but the difficulty was overcome by Eumolpus, who was
desirous of including in the ranks of the initiated a man of such power
and eminence as Hercules, foreigner though he might be. The three were
first made citizens, and then as a preliminary to the initiation
ceremony as prescribed by the goddess, Eumolpus instituted the Lesser
Mysteries, which then and afterwards became a ceremony preliminary to
the Greater Mysteries, as they then became known, for candidates of
alien birth. In later times this Lesser Festival, celebrated in the
month of Anthesterion at the beginning of spring, at Agra, became a
general preparation for the Greater Festival, and no persons were
initiated into the Greater Mysteries until they had first been initiated
into the Lesser.
With regard to Hercules, there is a legend that on a certain time
Hercules wished to become a member of one of the secret societies of
antiquity. He accordingly presented himself and applied in due form for
initiation. His case was referred to a council of wise and virtuous men,
who objected to his admission on account of some crimes which he had
committed. Consequently he was rejected. Their words to him were: "You
are forbidden to enter here; your heart is cruel, your hands are stained
with crime. Go! repair the wrong you have done; repent of your evil
doings, and then come with pure heart and clean hands, and the doors of
our Mysteries shall be opened to you." The legend goes on to say that
after his regeneration he returned and became a worthy member of the
Order.
The ceremonies of the Lesser Mysteries were entirely different from
those of the Greater Mysteries. The Lesser Mysteries represented the
return of Persephone to earth--which, of course, took place at Eleusis;
and the Greater Mysteries represented her descent to the infernal
regions. The Lesser Mysteries honoured the daughter more than the
mother, who was the principal figure in the greater Mysteries. In the
Lesser Mysteries, Persephone was known as Pherrephatta, and in the
Greater Mysteries she was given the name of Kore. Everything was, in
fact, a mystery, and nothing was called by its right name. Lenormant
says that it is certain that the initiated of the Lesser Mysteries
carried away from Agra a certain store of religious knowledge which
enabled them to understand the symbols and representations which were
displayed afterwards before their eyes at the Greater Mysteries at
Eleusis.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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