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Article THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES. -IV. Page 1 of 11 →
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The Ancient Mysteries. -Iv.
THE ANC ^
THE COffNECTIOff OF THE SIXTH iUNEID OF VIBGIL WITH THE M 3 TSTEKIE & fCmtinued from p * 349 . ) Having now examined the narrative of the " G-oldieii Ass" of Apuleius , we come to the consideration of the celebrated descent to
the shades of Virgil s hero , ^ neas , in the sixth book of the j 3 Sneidj an inquiry into which will present us with a Mr account of the representations brought before candidates in the mysteries . And as the mysteries upon , which Virgil founded his narrative are no other than the celebrated Eleusinian mysteries / a brief account of tlieirorigin , by way of preface , may not be out of place . " The EleusiIiia / says Dr . Leonard Schmitz , " were a festival and
mysteries , originally celebrated only at Eleusis in Attica , in honour of Geres and Proserpine , and were considered by all who have ever had occasion to mention them either by this name or as they were frequently called , pm excellence ¦ " the Mysteries , " the holiest and most venerable of all that were celebrated in Greece . Various traditions
were current among the Greeks as to the origin of these mysteries . Some ascribed it to Musseus or Eumolpus , others to Erectheus , who they said , in a time of famine , supplied Attica with corn from Egypt , and at the same time imported the mysteries from that country . A third tradition ascribed the institution to Ceres herself , who , when wandering in search of her daughter Proserpine , was believed to have
come to Attica during the reign of Erectheus , to have supplied the inhabitants with corn , and to have instituted the mysteries at Eleusis . This last opinion seems to have generally prevailed among the ancients , and a stone called triste saxum or the stone of sorrow , was shown near the well Oallichorus , at Eleusis , on which Ceres was said to have rested when , overwhelmed with grief and fatigue , she arrived in Attica . Around this well , the Eleusinian women were
supposed to have first performed their chorus , and sung hymns to the goddess . A war is said to have broken out in the reign of Erectheus , between the inhabitants of Athens and Eleusis , in which the former were victorious ; but the latter , while acknowledging the superiority yol . v . 2 c
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Ancient Mysteries. -Iv.
THE ANC ^
THE COffNECTIOff OF THE SIXTH iUNEID OF VIBGIL WITH THE M 3 TSTEKIE & fCmtinued from p * 349 . ) Having now examined the narrative of the " G-oldieii Ass" of Apuleius , we come to the consideration of the celebrated descent to
the shades of Virgil s hero , ^ neas , in the sixth book of the j 3 Sneidj an inquiry into which will present us with a Mr account of the representations brought before candidates in the mysteries . And as the mysteries upon , which Virgil founded his narrative are no other than the celebrated Eleusinian mysteries / a brief account of tlieirorigin , by way of preface , may not be out of place . " The EleusiIiia / says Dr . Leonard Schmitz , " were a festival and
mysteries , originally celebrated only at Eleusis in Attica , in honour of Geres and Proserpine , and were considered by all who have ever had occasion to mention them either by this name or as they were frequently called , pm excellence ¦ " the Mysteries , " the holiest and most venerable of all that were celebrated in Greece . Various traditions
were current among the Greeks as to the origin of these mysteries . Some ascribed it to Musseus or Eumolpus , others to Erectheus , who they said , in a time of famine , supplied Attica with corn from Egypt , and at the same time imported the mysteries from that country . A third tradition ascribed the institution to Ceres herself , who , when wandering in search of her daughter Proserpine , was believed to have
come to Attica during the reign of Erectheus , to have supplied the inhabitants with corn , and to have instituted the mysteries at Eleusis . This last opinion seems to have generally prevailed among the ancients , and a stone called triste saxum or the stone of sorrow , was shown near the well Oallichorus , at Eleusis , on which Ceres was said to have rested when , overwhelmed with grief and fatigue , she arrived in Attica . Around this well , the Eleusinian women were
supposed to have first performed their chorus , and sung hymns to the goddess . A war is said to have broken out in the reign of Erectheus , between the inhabitants of Athens and Eleusis , in which the former were victorious ; but the latter , while acknowledging the superiority yol . v . 2 c