Garner's Greek Mythology

EP 15: Eleusinian Mysteries - The Only Way To Save Your Butt

February 21, 2021 Patrick Garner Season 2 Episode 15
Garner's Greek Mythology
EP 15: Eleusinian Mysteries - The Only Way To Save Your Butt
Show Notes Transcript

 ... Welcome to Episode 15, where we travel back to Athens in our mythology time machine for one grand purpose: We seek to experience the famous Eleusinian Mysteries

The Mysteries were a must-attend, life-or-death ritual. Those who successfully participated were assured a pleasant afterlife. And those who did not attend were herded by Hades into a dismal place equivalent to Hell …

A gift to mortals by the goddess Demeter, the Eleusinian Mysteries were held in the town of Eleusis for more than a thousand years. They were so sacred that all who attended took vows of secrecy — and faced death sentences if they revealed what they saw.

Narrated by mythologist and best-selling author, Patrick Garner, Garner's Greek Mythology is unlike any other Greek history series.  Here these divine beings are viewed as if they were anything but mythical...

If you love these podcasts, you'll also enjoy new stories about the gods in Garner's novel Homo Divinitas, now available as an audio book on Amazon.com and Audible.com.

(Musical score includes selections from Fesliyan Studios and Free Sounds Library.  "Ambience, Large Crowd, A.wav" by InspectorJ (www.jshaw.co.uk) of Freesound.org, and "Booing and heckling", by Processaurus of Freesound.org)

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Tweet me comments at @Garner_images, or email any episode suggestions to patrickgarner@me.com


PODCAST #15 ... EleusinianMysteries- The Only Way To Save Your Ass

TODAY YOU STEP INTO MY MYTHOLOGY TIME MACHINE & WE MOTOR BACK TO THE AGE OF HEROES ... WELCOME ON BOARD. IN MOMENTS WE ARRIVE IN ANCIENT ATHENS ...

HA! WE'RE THERE. CATCHING OUR BREATH, WE STAND IN GREECE'S MOST ACCLAIMED CITY. WE LOOK LIKE EVERYONE AROUND US.

THE YEAR IS 400 B.C., ABOUT 2,400 YEARS AGO. WE'RE SURROUNDED BY MEN & WOMEN, ALL QUITE PREOCCUPIED.

BUT WHY ARE WE HERE? FOR CENTURIES CITIZENS IN ATHENS HAVE ATTENDED A SECRETIVE FESTIVAL CALLED THE ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES.

IT'S SEPTEMBER, NEAR THE AUTUMNAL EQUINOX ... WE JOIN ALMOST A THOUSAND ATHENIANS.

A ROAD CALLED THE SACRED WAY WINDS FROM THE CENTER OF ATHENS TO THE SMALL CITY OF ELEUSIS, ROUGHLY 14 MILES TO THE WEST.

IT'S A LONG DAY'S WALK, & WE'VE BEEN TOLD WE MUST FAST THROUGHOUT ... BUT THAT DOESN'T FAZE US: THIS INITIATION IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN THE WORLD.

NO ATHENIAN WHO BELIEVES IN THE GODS RISKS DYING BEFORE ATTENDING THIS EVENT. AND NO ONE AROUND US IS NOT A BELIEVER — 

EVERY GREEK KNOWS THAT ONCE YOU HAVE DIED, HADES CHOOSES YOUR FINAL RESTING PLACE.

HE SHEPARDS THOSE WHO'VE BEEN INITIATED IN ELEUSIS TOWARD GREEN MEADOWS. HE HERDS THOSE WHO HAVEN'T INTO DIMLY-LIT, BURNT FIELDS.

... SO WE GATHER AT DAWN WITH OTHER INITIATES. AND WE CALL OURSELVES MYSTAE, WHICH IN GREEK MEANS MYSTICS.

SUDDENLY ALL GOES QUIET: A PRIEST HITS A LARGE GONG ... ITS VIBRATIONS PIERCE US TO THE BONE. 

HE LIFTS A BANNER. ON IT ARE IMAGES OF WHEAT, CORN & BARLEY ... OTHER PRIESTS LIGHT CEREMONIAL TORCHES & ... ALL OF US BEGIN TO WALK TO THE WEST, TOWARD ELEUSIS.

YOUR HEART BEATS RAPIDLY BUT YOU REPRESS YOUR EXCITEMENT. YOU CAN SEE IN THE FACES OF THOSE AROUND US THAT THIS JOURNEY IS SOLEMN & SACRED. 

SOMEONE IN THE CROWD CRIES OUT, "WE'LL BE SAVED BEFORE THE WEEK ENDS!" A BOY ECHOES, "YES, YES! TO ELEUSIS!"

A WOMAN BESIDE YOU BEGINS TO CRY. YOU LOOK AT HER ... & RECOGNIZE TEARS OF JOY ...

WELCOME TO EPISODE 15 OF GARNER'S GREEK MYTHOLOGY. I'M YOUR HOST, MYTHOLOGIST & BEST-SELLING AUTHOR, PATRICK GARNER. 

YOU CAN READ MORE ABOUT MY NOVELS and ABOUT THIS PODCAST AT PATRICKGARNERBOOKS.COM. 

IN MY BOOK, HOMO DIVINITAS, THE GREAT GODDESS RECREATES THESE STRANGE MYSTERIES IN THE MODERN WORLD.

AS ALWAYS, THIS PODCAST SERIES WILL FOCUS ON ONE THING ... GREEK GODS, OF COURSE.

HERE THE ANCIENT GODS ARE NOT CONSIDERED IMAGINARY. HARDLY. INSTEAD, THEY, LIKE YOU, ARE HERE, NOW ...

THE ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES ... WHY ARE THEY CALLED MYSTERIES? ONE REASON IS THAT NO ONE WAS ALLOWED TO SPEAK ABOUT THEM.

ANYONE WHO REVEALED THE DETAILS FACED EITHER EXILE OR DEATH. CONSEQUENTLY, WE ONLY KNOW BROAD THEMES & LITTLE ELSE  ...

THE CEREMONY WAS CONDUCTED IN ELEUSIS FOR WELL OVER A THOUSAND YEARS. HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF GREEKS ATTENDED THE RITES. 

TO OUR KNOWLEDGE, ONLY TWO MEN VIOLATED THEIR VOWS OF SILENCE. ONE WAS DIAGORAS OF MELOS WHO WAS A POET, A SOPHIST & AN INFAMOUS ATHEIST.

IN 415 BC HE BEGAN TO MOCK THE GODS & WORSE, TO MOCK THE MYSTERIES. HE EVEN PERSUADED SOME ATHENIANS NOT TO ATTEND.

THAT WAS THE LAST STRAW ... ATHENS PASSED A DECREE AGAINST DIAGORAS. HE WAS WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE. HE FLED & WAS NEVER SEEN AGAIN ... 

THE ONLY OTHER MAN KNOWN TO BE AS FOOLISH WAS ALCIBIADES. YOU'LL REMEMBER HIM FROM THE EPISODE ON HERMES. 

ALCIBIADES WAS A CHARISMATIC ATHENIAN GENERAL & A FRIEND OF SOCRATES. AFTER A DRINKING PARTY THE NIGHT BEFORE HE WAS TO LEAD HIS MEN TO FIGHT IN SICILY ... HE RAN THROUGH THE STREETS OF ATHENS DESTROYING 100s OF HERMS.

THESE HERMS WERE HIGHLY SACRED TO ATHENIANS & IT WAS SAID THAT HE HAD ALSO MOCKED THE MYSTERIES.

ALTHOUGH HE WAS ALLOWED TO COMMAND THE FLEET THAT SAILED AT DAWN, WITHIN DAYS HE WAS CALLED BACK TO ATHENS & CHARGED WITH IMPIETY.

FEARING FOR HIS LIFE, HE, LIKE DIAGORAS, ESCAPED ... BUT UNLIKE DIAGORAS, WHO SIMPLY DISAPPEARED, ALCIBIADES REAPPEARED AS A SPARTAN TO FIGHT AGAINST THE ATHENIANS.

AS YOU CAN SEE FROM THE EXAMPLE OF THESE TWO MEN, ONE SIMPLY DID NOT QUESTION THE SACREDNESS & SIGNIFICANCE OF THE ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES ...

THESE MYSTERIES WERE INITIATED BY THE OLYMPIC GODDESS, DEMETER ... AT FIRST THEY WERE A CELEBRATION FOR THE RETURN OF HER DAUGHTER, PERSEPHONE

THEN THEY BECAME A PASSPORT TO A BETTER AFTERLIFE. DEMETER'S GIFT OF THANKS BECAME ONE OF THE GRANDEST FROM THE GODS TO MORTALS.

IN THE EPISODE ABOUT HADES, WE LEARNED THAT THE LORD OF THE UNDERWORLD KIDNAPPED PERSEPHONE.

SHE WAS BEAUTIFUL & WAS COURTED BY ALL THE GODS. BUT HADES KNEW SHE WOULD NEVER WILLINGLY AGREE TO LIVE WITH HIM BELOW THE EARTH.

SO ONE BRIGHT AFTERNOON AS SHE GATHERED FLOWERS IN A FIELD, HE SWEPT HER INTO HIS CHARIOT, HIS FOUR BLACK HORSES DOUBLING THEIR SPEED AS SHE TRIED TO ESCAPE.

SHE SCREAMED REPEATEDLY BUT ... TO NO AVAIL. WHEN DEMETER DISCOVERED HER MISSING, SHE BECAME INCREASINGLY DESPONDENT.

AFTER A YEAR OF SEARCHING, DEMETER LEARNED THE TRUTH:  PERSEPHONE WAS BEING HELD IN HADES' VAST PALACE.

IN DESPERATION DEMETER PERSUADED THE GODDESS HEKATE, WHO COULD EASILY SLIP BETWEEN WORLDS, TO HELP.  

HEKATE QUIETLY ENTERED THE UNDERWORLD & FOUND THAT PERSEPHONE HAD BEEN TAKEN & WAS HADES' WIFE.

HEKATE PERSUADED HADES TO RELEASE THE GIRL, MENTIONING QUIETLY THAT ZEUS WOULD BE UNHAPPY IF THEY COULDN'T REACH A COMPROMISE.

HADES AGREED, BUT HE WASN'T PLAYING IT STRAIGHT...  & HE TRICKED HIS WIFE. 

PERSEPHONE WAS UNAWARE THAT ANYONE WHO EATS WHILE UNDERGROUND ... CAN NEVER ESCAPE THE DARK REALM COMPLETELY.

HE GAVE HER A POMEGRANATE SEED, SAYING, "EAT THIS IF YOU GET HUNGRY." HALFWAY OUT OF THE UNDERWORLD SHE ATE IT & BECAME FOREVER BOUND TO HADES ... 

DEMETER WAS INFURIATED, THREATENING HADES WITH VIOLENCE ... AND EVENTUALLY, ZEUS INTERVENED & BROKERED A DEAL.

THE COMPROMISE STIPULATED THAT PERSEPHONE WOULD SPEND EIGHT MONTHS OF EVERY YEAR ABOVE GROUND ... BUT MUST RETURN TO HADES FOR THE OTHER FOUR.

DURING THOSE FOUR MONTHS WHILE SHE LIVES WITH HADES, THE EARTH EXPERIENCES WINTER. WHEN SHE RETURNS TO EARTH, SPRING ARRIVES.

BUT NOW WE RETURN TO ATHENS, WHERE THE PRIEST LEADS US OVER A NARROW BRIDGE CALLED THE KEPHISOS. TO OUR SHOCK THERE ARE BOYS & MEN WEARING MASKS WHO MOCK US AS WE PASS.

BEHIND THEM ARE DOZENS OF OTHER PEOPLE WHO SEEM TO BE EGGING THEM ON. THE INSULTS ARE BITING BUT WE CONTINUE. 

WE HEAR LATER THAT THIS VERBAL ABUSE IS A TRADITION, NOT UNLIKE A FRATERNITY OR SORORITY HAZING.

BEFORE ANOTHER HOUR HAS PASSED, MANY OF THE WOMEN HAVE BEGUN TO SING. THEY SING OF FERTILITY & BOUNTIFUL CROPS, RENEWAL & REBIRTH. 

AFTER FOUR OR FIVE VERSES, EVERYONE RAISES THEIR VOICES EVEN LOUDER, CHANTING, "... IAKKOS! IAKKOS!"

THE PROCESSION STOPS AT NOON. PRIESTS BEGIN TO WORK THEIR WAY THROUGH THE CROWD.

HELPERS TIE RED & WHITE RIBBONS TO THE RIGHT WRIST & LEFT ANKLE OF EACH OF US ... OVER AN HOUR PASSES BEFORE THEY FINISH.

THE PROCESSION BEGINS TO MOVE AGAIN. BY LATE AFTERNOON WE'VE PASSED THE BAY OF ELEUSIS, ALSO KNOWN AS THE BAY OF SHIPWRECKS. A BRACKISH SMELL OF SALT & DRYING SEAWEED BLOWS OFF THE WATER.

FINALLY, AHEAD OF US APPEARS THE TEMPLE COMPLEX, THE SANCTUARY OF DEMETER. NIGHT HAS ALMOST FALLEN & FIREBRANDS BURN EVERYWHERE.

WOMEN WEARING YELLOW GOWNS COME OUT OF THE COMPLEX. THEY STOP AT THE CARRIAGE, REVERENTLY LIFTING THE WOODEN STATUE & CARRYING IT ALOFT INTO A MASSIVE BUILDING.

THE BUILDING IS THE TELESTERION, OR THE HALL OF INITIATES. AND IT'S NOT JUST ANY BUILDING. IT'S THE LARGEST IN ALL OF GREECE & DESIGNED BY THE PARTHENON'S ARCHITECT.

WE'RE LED INTO THE BUILDING, THROUGH ITS WIDE DOORS & DOWN ITS POLISHED STEPS ... WE ENTER A VAST LOWER ROOM ILLUMINATED BY FLICKERING TORCHES.

AS SOON AS EVERYONE IS SETTLED, ATTENDANTS APPEAR CARRYING VATS OF A DARK, PUNGENT DRINK.

SOMEONE STANDING AT YOUR ELBOW WHISPERS, "IT'S KYKEON." THE DRINK IS FERMENTED & MADE FROM MASHED BARLEY.

SOME SAY THAT IT'S HALLUCINOGENIC. WE ACCEPT WIDE CUPS & DRINK HESITANTLY. THE LIQUID IS CLOYING & UNPLEASANT.

YOU WINK AT ME & SAY, "I DON'T FEEL ANYTHING, DO YOU?" BUT BEFORE I CAN ANSWER, THE ROOM BEGINS TO SWAY & EVERYONE IS SUDDENLY SHOUTING & PUSHING.

MORE KYKEON IS THRUST INTO OUR HANDS. LOVELY YOUNG ATTENDANTS ARE LAUGHING & ENCOURAGING US WITH, "DRINK UP! DRINK UP!"

LIGHTS ARE EXTINGUISHED. THERE ARE SCREAMS & CRIES. YOU BEGIN TO FEAR FOR YOUR LIFE. YOU BLACK OUT & WAKE UP, BLACK OUT & WAKE UP ... 

HOURS PASS. IN THE DARK SOMEONE GRABS YOUR LEGS & YOU SHAKE THEM OFF ... AT ANOTHER MOMENT YOU'RE WRESTLED TO THE GROUND & THEN RELEASED. IT'S TERRIFYING.

YOU CAN SEE NOTHING. YOUR ATTACKERS ARE SILENT, PERSISTENT ... AND THRU IT ALL THE ROOM IS ALTERNATELY FREEZING OR FIERCELY HOT. 

IN TIME THE CRAZINESS SEEMS TO PEAK. TORCHES ARE relit ONE-BY-ONE & THE VAST, CRYPT-LIKE ROOM SLOWLY QUIETS.

A PRIEST WEARING A MASK OF DEMETER MOUNTS A PODIUM & SHOUTS, "SLEEP IF ... IF ... IF YOU CAN!"

WE'RE EXHAUSTED & UNROLL THE BLANKETS WE'VE CARRIED ALL DAY. EVERYONE IS DOING THE SAME. BUT THRU THE NIGHT STRANGE SOUNDS CONTINUE. 

WE WAKE CONSTANTLY TO MACHINES GRATING , OR SCREAMS, OR FLUTES RASPING ... TUNELESS SONGS, THE WHINNYING OF HORSES, IRON BARS HITTING COBBLES ...

THEN ANOTHER MASKED PRIEST MOUNTS THE PODIUM & BEATS A GONG OVER & OVER ...

LET'S STEP AWAY FROM THE CHAOS OF THE CHAMBERS FOR A MOMENT ... WHAT'S HAPPENING? AND WHY?

LACTANTIUS, AN EARLY CHRISTIAN WRITER, SAID, "IN THE MYSTERIES OF DEMETER, ALL NIGHT LONG WITH TORCHES KINDLED, THEY SEEK PERSEPHONE  ..."

SO THE TORMENTED NIGHT IN THE HALL OF INITIATES REPRESENTS THE AGONY THAT PERSEPHONE'S MOTHER, DEMETER, EXPERIENCED DURING THE YEAR SHE SEARCHED FOR HER DAUGHTER. 

BUT LACTANTIUS IS NOT BELIEVED TO HAVE EVER ATTENDED THE MYSTERIES. HIS DESCRIPTION IS LIKELY HEARSAY.

ON THE OTHER HAND, PLUTARCH, A GREEK PRIEST BASED IN DELPHI, MAY WELL HAVE EXPERIENCED THE MYSTERIES DIRECTLY. HE'S ONE OF OUR FEW CREDIBLE SOURCES.

HE WROTE, "AT THE END OF THE INITIATIONS, A GREAT FLAME ROSE INTO THE AIR ABOVE THE CITY OF ELEUSIS ... SOUNDS & VOICES WERE HEARD THRU ALL THE AREA, AS FAR AS THE SEA

... A MIST SEEMED TO FORM & RISE FROM THE PLACE WHENCE THE SOUNDS CAME ... & MANY SAW APPARITIONS ..."

ENOUGH OF ANCIENT SOURCES ... NOW WE RETURN IN PERSON TO THE TELESTERION. REMEMBER, WE'RE MYSTICS & WE CROUCH IN THE DARK UNDERGROUND. 

WE'RE INTENDED TO BELIEVE WE'VE DIED & DESCENDED TO THE UNDERWORLD. WE'RE PERSEPHONE. THE TERRIBLE SOUNDS WE HEAR ARE THE SOUNDS OF THE DEAD.

THE CHIMERA FLOATING AROUND US ARE THE DEAD. ALL OF THESE APPARITIONS ARE THE LOST WHO FAILED TO BE PURIFIED IN ELEUSIS WHILE THEY LIVED.

WHERE'S OUR BELOVED PERSEPHONE? MANY OF THOSE AROUND US CALL HER THEIR "LOST GIRL." WILL WE, LIKE HEKATE, SUCCEED IN FINDING HER?

WE'VE BEEN PROMISED AN "UNSPEAKABLE LIGHT." WE AWAIT BEING REBORN LIKE PERSEPHONE WHEN SHE RISES UP FROM THE EARTH.

IN THE DARKNESS OF THE UNDERGROUND CHAMBERS, IN THE CENTER OF IT ALL, A LIGHT SUDDENLY ILLUMINATES A MAN & A WOMAN.

THEY'RE CLEARLY VISIBLE. AS OUR EYES ADJUST, WE'RE STUNNED TO SEE THAT THE TWO HAVE SET ASIDE THEIR ROBES & ... JOINED.

A DOZEN ATTENDANTS — ALL WOMEN — STAND AROUND THE PLATFORM. EACH HOLDS STAVES OF WHEAT & BARLEY & CORN.

AFTER MINUTES, THE TWO CRY OUT IN JOY. THEN THE UNDERGROUND CHAMBER AGAIN DESCENDS INTO DARKNESS. NO ONE DARES SPEAK. THE SILENCE BECOMES UNBEARABLE ...

THE LIGHT AGAIN RETURNS. THE MAN & THE WOMAN & ALL THE ATTENDANTS HAVE VANISHED.

INSTEAD, A CHILD SITS ON A GOLDEN PILLOW. ALMOST EVERYONE WATCHING SHOUTS, "PLOUTUS! PLOUTUS!" — THE NAME OF PERSEPHONE & HADES' OFFSPRING.

THE CHILD HOLDS A CORNUCOPIA, A HORN OF PLENTY ...  GRAPES SPILL OUT FROM ITS WIDE OPENING. 

ON A THRONE BESIDE THE BABY SITS A BEAUTIFUL GODDESS. WE'RE CERTAIN IT'S PERSEPHONE HERSELF.

WE LOOK AROUND: EVERYONE IS EITHER CRYING ... OR LAUGHING. WOMEN ARE SHOUTING, "THE LOST GIRL IS BACK!"

THAT'S ALL THE INFORMATION WE HAVE ABOUT WHAT WENT ON, BUT STILL, WE KNOW THE ESSENCE OF THE MYSTERIES. THEY MIRRORED THE PROMISE OF MANY RELIGIONS. 

WE KNOW THE THEMES: DEATH & REBIRTH, LOSS & RECOVERY, FERTILITY & A HORN OF PLENTY.

PERSEPHONE REPRESENTS DESCENT INTO THE UNDERWORLD ... HADES HAS SNATCHED HER UNEXPECTEDLY. HER DEATH IS UNTIMELY.

THRU A MIRACLE — THRU DIVINE INTERVENTION, THAT OF HEKATE & ZEUS — SHE'S REBORN. THE MIRACLE PROMISES THAT YOU, TOO, CAN BECOME IMMORTAL.

THAT PROMISE IS DEMETER'S BEQUEST TO MANKIND.

THE CROPS THAT SHE BLACKENED IN HER GRIEF WILL GROW AGAIN. FERTILITY IS ASSURED ...

LIFE CONTINUES ... & LIFE FOR THOSE WHO ATTEND THE MYSTERIES WILL GO ON EVEN AFTER DEATH ...

THERE'S ANOTHER ELEMENT TO THIS STORY, A GOD I HAVEN'T REVEALED WHO PLAYED A KEY ROLE IN ELEUSIS. YOU MAY HAVE ALREADY GUESSED. 

WE SPOKE ABOUT HIM AT LENGTH IN THE LAST EPISODE ... YES, IT'S DIONYSOS

REMEMBER ONE OF THE PILGRIMS MENTIONED THAT THE STATUE BEING HAULED IN THE CARRIAGE MIGHT NOT BE IAKKHOS?

HE INTIMATED THAT IT MIGHT BE DIONYSOS. AND IN FACT IT WAS ...

DURING THE MYSTERIES IT WAS DIONYSOS WHO INFUSED THE BARLEY DRINK, KYKEON, WITH ITS HALLUCINOGENIC QUALITIES. 

IN THE SAME WAY THAT DIONYSOS CREATED THE FRENZY AMONG THE WOMEN WHO JOINED HIM ON HIS RAVES, HE STIRRED TERROR ... & JOY AMONG THE MYSTICS.

HE WAS THE ETERNAL DANCER & HE SET THE STAGE FOR THE FINAL ACT. HE PREPARED THE GROUND, THE WAY, CREATING THE VISIONS & THE APPARITIONS SEEN BY ALL ...

DIONYSOS PLAYS A SIMILAR ROLE IN MY BOOK, HOMO DIVINITAS. IN IT, IN THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD, HE HELPS THE GREAT GODDESS RECREATE THESE SAME MYSTERIES ...

DEMETER'S GIFTS OF REVELATION & SALVATION LASTED WELL OVER A THOUSAND YEARS. 

YET IN 393 A.D., THE ROMAN EMPEROR THEODOSIS, A CHRISTIAN CONVERT, ENDED THE ANCIENT WAYS.

EVEN THE OLYMPIC GAMES DISAPPEARED. YOU MAY REMEMBER THAT THESE WERE SO IMPORTANT TO THE GREEKS THAT WARS WERE SUSPENDED SO THAT THE GAMES COULD GO ON.

THEODOSIS SIMULTANEOUSLY ORDERED THE DESTRUCTION OF THOUSANDS OF SACRED GROVES, TEMPLES & PLACES OF WORSHIP.

IN 395 THE TEMPLE AT ELEUSIS WAS DECOMMISSIONED, THE DOORS CLOSED, THE TREASURES STRIPPED FROM THE WALLS & THE PRIESTS SENT PACKING.

THEN, A MERE YEAR LATER, ELEUSIS WAS OVERRUN BY THE VISIGOTHS, A GERMANIC TRIBE THAT TORE DOWN THE ENTIRE COMPLEX, BUILDING AFTER BUILDING. 

THE END HAD COME. THE MYSTERIES WERE NEVER AGAIN CELEBRATED & ... THEIR DEEPEST SECRETS WERE FOREVER LOST.

IN OUR NEXT EPISODE WE MEET THE GODDESS CIRCE, A DAUGHTER OF HELIOS & HEKATE ... SHE'S THE BEAUTY WHO'S DEPICTED ON THE ARTWORK I USE FOR THIS PODCAST. 

BUT WHY CIRCE? SHE ENTERTAINED THE GREEK WARRIOR, ODYSSEUS AS HE RETURNED HOME FROM TROY ... AND ... THERE ARE THOSE WHO CLAIM ... SHE WAS THE FIRST WITCH.