Eleusinian mysteries

American  

plural noun

1. the mysteries, celebrated annually at Eleusis and Athens in ancient times, in memory of the abduction and return of Persephone and in honor of Demeter and Bacchus.

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Eleusinian mysteries British  

plural noun

1. a mystical religious festival, held in September at Eleusis in classical times, in which initiates celebrated Persephone, Demeter, and Dionysus

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Etymology

Origin of Eleusinian mysteries

First recorded in 1635–45

Example Sentences

This most female of novels is calculated to make the male reader feel like an involuntary voyeur, as if he had blundered into a contemporary version of the Eleusinian mysteries.

From Time Magazine Archive

Greece, Scene of the famed Eleusinian mysteries of ancient Greece lies 14 miles northwest of Athens.

From Time Magazine Archive

To most credit users the operations of the Fed are as incomprehensible as the Eleusinian mysteries.

From Time Magazine Archive

You remember how in the Eleusinian mysteries the initiated were led up to the truth through serious or pleasing symbols.

From Klytia A Story of Heidelberg Castle by Hausrath, Adolf

The Orphic priests described this "intermediate state" with graphic distinctness, surpassing that of the Eleusinian mysteries.

From Folkways A Study of the Sociological Importance of Usages, Manners, Customs, Mores, and Morals by Sumner, William Graham