The ancient Eleusinian mysteries get a new incarnation

In the perpetual rivalry between ancient Greek cities, one of the assets boasted by Athens was control of a numinous place called Eleusis, about 20km to its west. For centuries, seekers of illumination processed along the Sacred Way from the foot of the Acropolis to a seaside temple where they underwent a secret rite. It was forbidden on pain of death to disclose what happened. All that is known is that having fasted for three days, initiates would quaff a drink and then be presented with “things enacted, things shown, things said” that celebrated the return of the goddess Persephone from her abduction to the underworld.For the past year, modern Greece’s mandarins have tried to turn the location, now called Elefsina, into a new intangible asset, hosting their own wondrous variety of happenings, from multi-media installations and dance displays to a conference of scholars, including psychedelic medicine buffs, who debated the Eleusinian mysteries. Elefsina has been one of three European “capitals of culture” during 2023.