GoddessGreece

Power Points of Eleusius: The Demeter Well

At last. Against all odds (see previous post), we were standing on the site where the Eleusinian Mysteries were performed. Like good little tourists, we decided to hike straight up to the Site Museum and get oriented and then come down and go over the ruins. This was not to be.

First we were attracted to the remains of what had once been a stoa, a long Greek porch, where pilgrims probably rested after their long walk from Athens.

The Stoa of Attalos formed the east side of the Athenian agora, or market place. This distinctively Greek architectural form was essentially a porch lined with columns. They not only formed graceful entryways into buildings, but also provided shade and shelter for weary pilgrims, market stalls, or pedestrians. This is a reconstruction of the original which was built in 150BCE.

Then, as we headed for a huge set of steps that were on the way to the museum we were drawn to their lower left-hand corner.

The source of the attraction was a Demeter Well.

This stairway was built around the Demeter Well. You can’t see it, but it’s tucked behind that left corner. The Site Museum is that building on the hill.
Demeter Well
Above the Demeter Well. Yes, that’s me with my husband, Craig (in yellow) and Dan. Wendy is the photographer. Some of the Greek photos you will be seeing are hers.

I had seen these before in Sicily at Agrigento and a particularly powerful one at the Rock of Ceres (the Roman Demeter) in the central town of Enna. The Rock of Ceres is another well-situated site. It overlooks the Goddess’s wheat fields and the place where the Sicilians say Hades nabbed her daughter, Persephone.

Enna, Scicily, overlooking wheat fields. Scicily and Egypt were the bread baskets of the Roman Empire. You can just see The Rock of Ceres to the right of the town.

The wells were built by the early chthonic (underworld) cult of Demeter. As far as I’ve been able to guess, they serve the same purpose as any other temple—they provide a link to the deity worshiped there. That was certainly the case here. Power surged out of that innocent looking hole and wrapped around me–grounding, soothing, and thrilling. I understood why they had it roped off. The urge to get closer was nearly irresistible. It didn’t surprise me in the least when a sign next to the well informed me that this was the point around which the entire site had been built.

And then I thought, Well duh! Of course there’s a Demeter Well here. The Eleusinian Mysteries were all about the myth of Demeter and her daughter Persephone, and how Persephone’s Uncle Hades, the dark lord of the underworld, blasted out of the earth in his fiery chariot pulled by two ebony stallions, scooped her up,

Does anyone know who painted this?

and made her queen of the underworld.

Persephone/Isis and Hades/Sarapis from the Temple of the Egyptian Dieties in Gortyn, Crete. They now live in the Archeological Museum in Heraklion, Crete.

Demeter searched the world over for her daughter and finally came to Eleusina, the ancient town over which modern Elefsina was built.

This is one of my favorite images of Demeter. It’s small and intimate, unlike the grand statues of her that we usually see. She was holding a cornucopia. Some of it still remains.This is also in the Archeological Museum of Heraklion.
Knossos, 1st-2nd century CE

She sat by the well, disguised as an old, decrepit woman, and was given comfort by the daughters of King Celeus. They took her home and their mother gave the disguised goddess her infant son, Triptolemus, to care for. But when the queen found the old woman holding him over the flames in the midst of a ritual that would have made him immortal, she, of course, went ballistic and snatched her baby out of the fire. Demeter scolded the queen and revealed herself in all her glory. King Celeus was so awed that he built a fabulous temple for her in which her most sacred rituals were performed.

Demeter and Persephone with Triptolemus. Another version of the myth says that when Triptolemus got older, Demeter came down in a winged chariot pulled by dragons, took him up to Mt Olympus and taught him all the secrets of agriculture and food preservation. When he returned to teach these to his people, he built Demeter’s Temple at Eleusius. Relief from Eleusius, 440BCE

Seeing the Demeter Well at the site of the Eleusinian Mysteries was an electrifying reminder that from 400BCE until 200CE the Greek religion, and specifically the cult of Demeter, was a powerful, inspiring force in all the lands around the Mediterranean Sea.

To be continued…

2 thoughts on “Power Points of Eleusius: The Demeter Well

  1. It is interesting to me that the sacred can be minimized by some, and forgotten, yet those who know can feel the sacred energy still.

    I wonder if the Greeks fail to know their own roots as the Middle East residents fail to know about Inanna.

    It is absolutely wonderful to travel with you to these spots. so much thanks for your going and for your feeling the sacred, and for then sharing it with us. Many blessings….

    1. The sacred constantly surrounds us and washes through us, and we seldom notice it as we rush through our daily routines. But it’s a bit more concentrated at certain places. If we don’t catch its faint whisper in our everyday lives it is less likely that we will catch it at the power points.

      I also think some places speak more strongly to one person than they would to someone else. The spots that I talk about are the ones I noticed. I’m sure I passed many others by.

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