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Eleusis
Elefsina ( el, Ελευσίνα ''Elefsina''), or Eleusis (; Ancient Greek: ''Eleusis'') is a suburban city and municipality in the West Attica regional unit of Greece. It is situated about northwest from the centre of Athens and is part of its metropolitan area. It is located in the Thriasio Plain, at the northernmost end of the Saronic Gulf. North of Elefsina are Mandra and Magoula, while Aspropyrgos is to the northeast. It is the site of the Eleusinian Mysteries and the birthplace of Aeschylus. Today, Elefsina is a major industrial centre, with the largest oil refinery in Greece as well as the home of the Aeschylia Festival, the longest-lived arts event in the Attica Region. On 11 November 2016, Elefsina was named the European Capital of Culture for 2021. Etymology The word Eleusis first appears at the Orphic hymn «Δήμητρος Ελευσινίας, θυμίαμα στύρακα». Also Hesychius of Alexandria reports that the older name for Eleusis was Saesara ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eleusinian Mysteries
The Eleusinian Mysteries ( el, Ἐλευσίνια Μυστήρια, Eleusínia Mystḗria) were initiations held every year for the cult of Demeter and Persephone based at the Panhellenic Sanctuary of Elefsina in ancient Greece. They are the "most famous of the secret religious rites of ancient Greece". Their basis was an old agrarian cult, and there is some evidence that they were derived from the religious practices of the Mycenean period.Dietrich (1975) ''The origins of Greek Religion''. Bristol Phoenix Press pp. 166, 167 Walter Burkert. (1985)''Greek Religion''. Harvard University Press. p. 285 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 being the ''ascent'' () of Persephone and the reunion with her mother. It was a major festival during the Hellenic era, and later spread to Rome. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Persephone
In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Persephone ( ; gr, Περσεφόνη, Persephónē), also called Kore or Cora ( ; gr, Κόρη, Kórē, the maiden), is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. She became the queen of the underworld after her abduction by and marriage to her uncle Hades, the king of the underworld.Martin Nilsson (1967). ''Die Geschichte der Griechische Religion'' Vol I pp 462–463, 479–480 The myth of her abduction, her sojourn in the underworld, and her temporary return to the surface represents her functions as the embodiment of spring and the personification of vegetation, especially grain crops, which disappear into the earth when sown, sprout from the earth in spring, and are harvested when fully grown. In Classical Greek art, Persephone is invariably portrayed robed, often carrying a sheaf of grain. She may appear as a mystical divinity with a sceptre and a little box, but she was mostly represented in the process of being carried off by Hades. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Demeter
In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Demeter (; Attic Greek, Attic: ''Dēmḗtēr'' ; Doric Greek, Doric: ''Dāmā́tēr'') is the Twelve Olympians, Olympian goddess of the harvest and agriculture, presiding over crops, grains, food, and the fertility (soil), fertility of the earth. Although she is mostly known as a grain goddess, she also appeared as a goddess of health, birth, and marriage, and had connections to the Greek Underworld, Underworld. She is also called Deo (). In Greek tradition, Demeter is the second child of the Titans Rhea (mythology), Rhea and Cronus, and sister to Hestia, Hera, Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus. Like her other siblings but Zeus, she was swallowed by her father as an infant and rescued by Zeus. Through her brother Zeus, she became the mother of Persephone, a fertility goddess. One of the most notable Homeric Hymns, the ''Homeric Hymn to Demeter'', tells the story of Persephone's abduction by Hades and Demeter's search for her. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aeschylus
Aeschylus (, ; grc-gre, Αἰσχύλος ; c. 525/524 – c. 456/455 BC) was an ancient Greek tragedian, and is often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek tragedy is largely based on inferences made from reading his surviving plays. According to Aristotle, he expanded the number of characters in the theatre and allowed conflict among them. Formerly, characters interacted only with the chorus.The remnant of a commemorative inscription, dated to the 3rd century BC, lists four, possibly eight, dramatic poets (probably including Choerilus, Phrynichus, and Pratinas) who had won tragic victories at the Dionysia before Aeschylus had. Thespis was traditionally regarded the inventor of tragedy. According to another tradition, tragedy was established in Athens in the late 530s BC, but that may simply reflect an absence of records. Major innovations in dramatic form, credited to Aeschylus by Aristot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Celeus
Celeus or Keleus (Ancient Greek: Κελεός ''Keleós'') was the king of Eleusis in Greek mythology, husband of Metaneira and father of several daughters, who are called Callidice, Demo, Cleisidice and Callithoe in the ''Homeric Hymn to Demeter'', and Diogeneia, Pammerope and Saesara by Pausanias. Mythology In the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, Celeus was one of the original priests of Demeter, one of the first people to learn the secret rites and mysteries of Demeter's cult the Eleusinian Mysteries. Diocles, Eumolpos, Triptolemus and Polyxeinus were the others of the first priests. While Demeter was searching for her daughter, having taken the form of an old woman called Doso, she received a hospitable welcome from Celeus, the king of Eleusis in Attica. He asked her to nurse Demophon, his youngest son by Metaneira. As a gift to Celeus, because of his hospitality, Demeter planned to make Demophon immortal by burning his mortal spirit away in the family hearth ever ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Deme
In Ancient Greece, a deme or ( grc, δῆμος, plural: demoi, δημοι) was a suburb or a subdivision of Classical Athens, Athens and other city-states. Demes as simple subdivisions of land in the countryside seem to have existed in the 6th century BC and earlier, but did not acquire particular significance until the reforms of Cleisthenes in 508 BC. In those reforms, enrollment in the citizen-lists of a deme became the requirement for citizenship; prior to that time, citizenship had been based on membership in a phratry, or family group. At this same time, demes were established in the main city of Athens itself, where they had not previously existed; in all, at the end of Cleisthenes' reforms, Classical Athens, Athens was divided into 139 demes, to which one can be added Berenikidai (established in 224/223 BC), Apollonieis (201/200 BC), and Antinoeis (added in 126/127). The establishment of demes as the fundamental units of the state weakened the ''genos, gene'', or aristo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saronic Gulf
The Saronic Gulf (Greek: Σαρωνικός κόλπος, ''Saronikós kólpos'') or Gulf of Aegina in Greece is formed between the peninsulas of Attica and Argolis and forms part of the Aegean Sea. It defines the eastern side of the isthmus of Corinth, being the eastern terminus of the Corinth Canal, which cuts across the isthmus. The Saronic Islands in the gulf have played a pivotal role in the history of Greece, with the largest, Salamis, naming a significant naval battle in the Greco-Persian wars. The Megara Gulf makes up the northern end of the Saronic Gulf. The capital of Greece, Athens, lies on the north coast of the Saronic Gulf. Etymology The origin of the gulf's name comes from the mythological king Saron who drowned at the Psifaei lake (modern Psifta). The Saronic Gulf was a string of six entrances to the Underworld, each guarded by a chthonic enemy in the shape of a thief or bandit. History The Battle of Salamis, just to the west of modern-day Piraeus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ploutonion
A ploutonion ( grc, Πλουτώνιον, lit. "Place of Plouton") is a sanctuary specially dedicated to the ancient Greek god Plouton (i.e., Hades). Only a few such shrines are known from classical sources, usually at locations that produce poisonous emissions and were considered to represent an entrance to the underworld. * At Eleusis, the ploutonion was near the north entrance to the sacred district (''temenos''). It was built by Peisistratos in the 6th century BC and rebuilt two centuries later, when the Eleusinian mysteries were at the height of their influence. The cave was the traditional site of the birth of the Divine Child Ploutos. * The Greek geographer Strabo mentioned three sites as having a ploutonion. One was on a hill between Tralleis and Nysa. Its precinct encompassed a sacred grove, a temple dedicated to Plouton and Persephone, and an adjoining cave called the Charonion, after the ferryman of the dead. According to Strabo, it "possesses some singular physica ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thriasio Plain
The Thriasio Plain ( el, Θριάσιο Πεδίο, translit=Thriasio Pedio) is a plain in western Attica, immediately to the west of Athens, in Greece. It is bounded by Mount Egaleo to the east, Mount Parnitha to the north, Mount Pateras to the west, and the Bay of Elefsina to the south. History The Thriasio Plain owes its name to the ancient deme of Thria ( el, Θρία), one the demes of ancient Athens. The largest town in the plain was Eleusis (modern-day Elefsina), location of the famous Eleusinian Mysteries. In Greek mythology, when the goddess Athena won the contest for control of Attica over Poseidon, Poseidon flooded the plain in wrath, until called to order by Zeus. In antiquity, as today, the area was connected to central Athens by two passes: the Sacred Way ( el, Ιερά Οδός) to the west, today used by the main Athens–Corinth highway, and another pass to the northwest nowadays used by the Attiki Odos highway. During the Peloponnesian War (431– ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Magoula, Attica
Magoula ( el, Μαγούλα) is a suburban town of Athens and former community (pop. 4,992 in 2011) of West Attica, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Elefsina, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 18.134 km2. Magoula is located 2 km east of Mandra, 5 km north of Elefsina and 21 km northwest of central Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh List .... The municipal unit of Magoúla also includes the village of Néos Póntos (pop. 257). Magoula is served by a station on the Athens Airport–Patras railway. Motorway 6 runs southeast of the town. Historical population Gallery File:Agios Dimitrios church in Magoula.jpg, Agios Dimitrios orthodox church in Magoula File:Tradition ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aspropyrgos
Aspropyrgos ( el, Ασπρόπυργος) is a suburb of Athens, and a municipality in the West Attica regional unit, Attica, Greece. The municipality had a population of 30,251 at the 2011 census. It has an area of 101.983 km2. Etymology The name 'Aspropyrgos' is derived from the Greek words , meaning 'white', and , meaning 'castle' or 'tower'. Geography Aspropyrgos is located 15 km northwest of the city center of Athens in the Thriasio Plain. It is 5 km northeast of Elefsina, near the Saronic Gulf coast. Mount Parnitha forms its northern border, and the Aigaleo hills its southeastern border. The Elefsina Military Airbase lies to its west. The main street is Dimokratias ('Democracy') Avenue. Aspropyrgos can be accessed from the Motorway 6 (Elefsina - Athens International Airport) and the Motorway 65 (Ano Liosia - Aspropyrgos). It is also accessible through the Motorway A6 exit 4. (The industrial area is in the southeastern part of Aspropyrgos. The Aspropyrgos ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aeschylia Festival
Aeschylia Festival is the annual artistic festival of the city of Elefsina in West Attica, Greece. Creation The institution of the artistic events that take place in Elefsina was established in 1975 and owes its name to the ancient Greek tragedian Aeschylus, who originated from the city. The responsibility of the organizing lies with the municipality of Elefsina and a large number of volunteers. Art events This annual artistic event takes place at the end of Summer and at the beginning of Autumn (usually beginning at the end of August and lasting until early September). The main program contains a large number of events from various areas such as theatre plays, music concerts, dances, visual art exhibitions and installations, cinema projections and others. With the passage of time the program is being enriched and now it constitutes a very important cultural event, not only for the town of Elefsina but for the wider region of Attica. Location The vast majority of the events t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
_480-460_BC_(Sk_1761)_1.JPG "Click for more on -> Persephone")
.jpg "Click for more on -> Ploutonion")
