The
Eleusinian Mysteries were
initiations held every year for the
cult of
Demeter and
Persephone based at
Eleusis in
ancient Greece. They are the "most famous of the secret religious rites of ancient Greece". It is thought that their basis was an old
agrarian cult which probably goes back to the
Mycenean period (c. 1600 – 1100 BC) and it is believed that the cult of Demeter was established in 1500 BC. The mysteries represented the myth of the abduction of Persephone from her mother Demeter by the king of the underworld
Hades, in a cycle with three phases, the "descent" (loss), the "search" and the "ascent", with the main theme the "ascent" of Persephone and the reunion with her mother. It was a major festival during the Hellenic era, and later spread to
Rome. The name of the town, Eleusís, seems to be Pre-Greek and it is probably a counterpart with
Elysium and the goddess
Eileithyia.