Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/245

* MYSTERIES. 207 MYSTERY. ly in the rehearsal before the initiated (fiia-rai, niysta.i) of a sort of niiraele phiy. in whieli the rape of Cora, the surterinf^s of Uemeter, ami the final reunion of mother and daugliter, together with the bestowal of the art of agriculture on man by Demeter, were represented in dra- matic form. The initiation seems to have sym- bolized the redemption of the soul from the powers of the lower world and its reception by the goddess as pure. So far as can be learned from literature and art, the candidate was puri- fied by a sacrifice, which he himself brought, and, after fasting and preparation, wandered through a series of dai'k and confused passages, beset by terrifying sights and sounds, but emerg- ing at last into the light where he saw the goddesses. We know that candidates had to be initiated first into the Lesser ilysteries at Agr«, near Athens, six months before the ceremonies at Eleusis. The Mi/stw seem to include all. while those who had been fully received are sometimes called iirb-KTai., epoptai, 'those who see.' As to the public ceremonial, we are better informed. The Lesser 3l3'steries were celebrated in the month Anthesterion (approximately February). They were accompanied, like the (ircater Mys- teries, by a sacred truce. The Greater ilysteries were celebrated in Boedromion (approximately September) at Eleusis, though there was much preliminary ritual at Athens. On the 14th certain sacred relics (rd Upi, ta hiera) were brought from Eleusis to Athens and deposited in the Eleusinia: the next day seems to have been given to the gathering of the celebrants; on the Iflth the JIysta> went in procession to the beach at Phaleruni for solemn purification in the salt water; the 17th and 18th Avere filled with offer- ings and ceremonies at various sanctuaries in Athens; on the 19th, early in the day, the sacred procession escorted the image of lacchus and the sacred relics to Eleusis. At the bridge over the Cephissus jests and gibes were exchanged, and it was evening (hence the 20th in Greek reckon- ing) when they arrived at the great sanctuary. The following nights and days were given up to the performance of the saci-ed ritual and the ceremonies of initiation, which certainly made a strong impression on the spectators. On the 23d the ceremonies closed with a solemn pouring out of water from two earthen jars toward the east and west. It is certain that no dogmatic teaching formed part of the Eleusinian worship. The chief officials connected with this sanctuary were the Hierophant, who was always from the Eleusinian family of the Eumolpidie. and from the family of the Kerykes, the Dadouchos or torch-bearer, the Hierokeryx or herald, and the priest at the altar (6 i-rrl /Sw/xcJ kpe<j!, ho cpi homo hierens). In connection with the celebra- tion a sacred truce, extending from the full moon of the previous month to the tenth day of the following was proclaimed so that the ilvstoe could travel in security. Initiation was open to all ages and conditions, including even slaves, provided they were Hellenes (or later I?onians), and were free from any great crime. Eleusinian ' mysteries were celebrated on a smaller scale at Phlius, ^Megalopolis, and elsewhere, while at . - dania, in jlessenia. they appear in combination with the Samothracian w-orship of the Cabiri. ("nnsult: Jlommsen, Feste dcr fitadt Athrn (Leipzig. 1898) ; Nebe, De Mi/ftteriornm F.leu- siniwum Tempore et Adminiatratione Publica (Halle, ISSfi) ; Strube, llildcrhrcis von Eleusis (Leipzig, 1870. 1872); Foueart, liechcrches stir Vorifiiiie et la nulurc dvs mi/stires d'Eleiisis (Paris, 1895), and Lcs yraiHls mi/nteres d'Elcusis (ib., 1900), very valuable, though the author's theory of the Egyptian origin of the mysteries is not generally accepted; Gardner, -Vcie Chapters in Greek History (London, 1892), and the works cited under Eleu.sis. Next to the Eleusinian the most prominent were the Samothracian mysteries of the Cabiri or great gods. Originally these seem to have been two in number, though later we tind two god- desses added, and the four, Axieros, Axiokersa, Axiokersos, and Kasmilos, were identified by the grammarians with Demeter. Perse])hone, Hades, and Hermes. The rites were believed to afford protection against the perils of the sea, and were doubtless in early times largely confined to seamen. Consult: Conze, Archiioloijischc Untersuchuiiijcn auf Samothrake (Vienna, 1875-80). and Preller- Robert, Ch-iechische M ytholorjic. i. 2 (Berlin, 1894 )i. Another sanctuary of the Cabiri lay near Thebes, where we find the deities worshiped as Cabiros and Pais, or 'boy.' The objects found seem to indicate that these mysteries were or- giastic in character. See Athenische Mittheilun- gcii des deutschcn archaologischoi Instituts, vols. xiii. and xv. (Athens, 1888-90). In the course of iinie other mysteries, such as those of Isis, Sabazios, Mithras, and other Ori- ental deities, spread through the Greek world, and at all times there were jirivate sects, like the followers of Orpheus (q.v.), who professed to possess secret teachings which could insjure peace and happiness in the other world to those who followed their directions here. On the general subject of the Mysteries, consult in addition to the books named above: Petersen, Der gehcime Gottesdienst hei den Griechen (Ham- burg, 1848) ;Rohde,Psi/c/ie(3ded.,I^ipzig,I902) ; Aurich, Das anfike Mysterieituvsen in seinem Einfuss auf d<is Christ) iiliim (Gdttingen, 1894). MYSTERIES OF UDOLPHO. A novel by Mrs. Ann Radclifl'e (1794 1. This once popular romance tells of the Castle of L'dolpho in the Apennines, where terrific scenes of horror oectir. The victim of these supernatural events is an English girl, Emily Saint Aubyni, who is finally rescued by her lover, the Chevalier Velancourt. MYSTERY. The name given to a very early type of the mediieval drama, founded upon some part of the Bible narrative, and in England often used indiscriminately with that of miracle play (q.v.). The traditions of the ancient drama sur- vived to some extent the fall of the Western Empire, and on them were modeled religious plaj-s, intended less for acting than for reading. There is extant a Greek play entitled Xpurris llia-X'^v (The Passion of Christ), long attributed to Saint Gregory Nazianzen. but now thought to be of much later date, which follows the struc- ture of the ancient Greek drama. In the second half of the tenth century, Hroswitha or Roswitha (q.v.), a Benedictine nun of Gandersheim in Saxony, wishing to provide her sisters with a sub- stitute for Terence, who was widely read by the learned througlumt the Mi<ldle Ages, cast six martyrdoms in the form of the old Latin comedy. Through imitations of this kind, the classic drama may be said to have continued to exert some influence as late as 1200. But the main ira-