Eleusinian Gateways: Entrances to the Sanctuary of Demeter and Kore at Eleusis and the City Eleusinion in Athens Open Access

Palinkas, Jennifer Lynne (2008)

Permanent URL: https://etd.library.emory.edu/concern/etds/79407x975?locale=en%255D
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Abstract

The sanctuaries of Demeter and Kore at Eleusis and the City Eleusinion at Athens were joined by the sacred way and by the processions performed along this route during the festival of the Mysteries, when the sacred objects, cult personnel, and pilgrims moved between the two sacred spaces. The gateways to the sanctuaries, which directed prospective initiates in and out of the sanctuaries and on and off the sacred way, were volatile places both marking the connection between the sacred centers and signaling transitions, as pilgrims moved from one ritual context into another. Their form and decoration shaped the experience of prospective initiates and other participants. These entrances did not work in isolation, but were intimately connected with wall circuits, as well as other monuments and topographical features that shaped the actions of entrance. Between the 8th and 7th century B.C. and the 2nd century A.D., the design of the entrances and the pattern of the processional routes took several different forms, with each affecting the experience of the prospective initiate in particular ways. Re-evaluation of the archaeological and architectural evidence results in certain revised reconstructions for the entrances and processional routes through nine chronological phases, tracks the changes and continuities in the experience of the prospective initiates over time, and explores the interconnection of the sanctuaries through the experience of their entrances.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: Pre-Archaic Phase (late 8th and 7th century B.C.) Chapter 3: First Archaic Phase (600-550 B.C.) Chapter 4: Second Archaic Phase (550-508/7 B.C.) Chapter 5: Late Archaic and Early Classical Phase (508/7-460 B.C.) Chapter 6: Classical Phase (460-404/3 B.C.) Chapter 7: Late Classical Phase (4th Century B.C.) Chapter 8: The Hellenistic Period Chapter 9: The Late Republican Period (c. 50 B.C.) Chapter 10: The 2nd Century A.D Chapter 11: Conclusion Bibliography

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