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

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

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

He took an active part in public affairs, and was four times exiled; the first time along with Alcibiades, for profaning the Eleusinian mysteries.

From The New Gresham Encyclopedia. Vol. 1 Part 2 Amiel to Atrauli by Various

It was unusual to burn the bodies of very young children. face dignus arcana: i.e. worthy of initiation into the Eleusinian mysteries.

From Readings from Latin Verse With Notes by Bushnell, Curtis C.