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.

---

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

---

Etymology

Origin of Eleusinian mysteries

First recorded in 1635–45

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Eleusinian mysteries

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

Against all intrusion upon its rites, the physiological laboratory in England and America maintains as successful an opposition as ever characterized the Eleusinian mysteries of the pagan world.

From An Ethical Problem Or, Sidelights upon Scientific Experimentation on Man and Animals by Leffingwell, Albert

The orator Andocides and his companions were tried and imprisoned for impiety in violating the Eleusinian mysteries.

From Greek Women by Carroll, Mitchell