DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4098#0640
PLAIN OF ELEUSIS. 585
There was no embellishment which architecture, sculpture, and
painting, could combine, that was not exuberantly bestowed upon
those attractive superstitions and impressive mysteries—
" Quae frustra cupiunt audire profani!"1
In order to have a general view of Eleusis and its plain, I walked
to an insulated hill, called Magoula, of moderate height, and
situated about two miles to the east of the village. The way to it
led by the remains of a small ancient aqueduct, and across the
dry channel of a torrent, which is probably the Eleusinian Cephissos.
Some vestiges of antiquity, with the foundations of a bridge, are
found upon its banks. We know from Sj'ncellus,2 that the Ce-
phissos often inundating the Eleusinian plain, a bridge was built
over it by Hadrian. The source of this river is near Gyphto-Kastro,
at the foot of Cithasron ; and it enters the Thriasian plain, at a
place called Saranta Potamoi, or the Forty Rivers, a name which
was suggested by the numerous involutions of the stream.
The plain is in general flat; but the uniformity of its appearance
is a little diversified by some scattered olive'trees and balania oaks.
When I had reached the summit of the eminence above-men-
tioned, I perceived the foundations of an ancient square tower,
regularly constructed with blocks of Eleusinian marble. This high
around commands a view of Eleusis, and its plain, with Mount Aiga-
leos Mount Kerata, the island of Salamis, and the Peloponnesos.
The coins of Eleusis are common, and represent Ceres in a car
drawn by dragons or serpents, which are sometimes winged ; she has
two ears of corn in her right hand, or as some imagine torches,
which indicate that she is searching for her daughter. The reverse
of these coins is a sow, the emblem of fertility, which was sacrificed
to the goddess. The inscription is EAEYEL or EAEY. within a wreath
composed of ears of corn.3
i Catul. Eleg. 65. ~ Chron. p. 349. Paris edit.
» They are third and fourth brass. See Haym. Thes. Brit. vol. 1. tab. 21. fig. 12.
vol. i. 4 r
There was no embellishment which architecture, sculpture, and
painting, could combine, that was not exuberantly bestowed upon
those attractive superstitions and impressive mysteries—
" Quae frustra cupiunt audire profani!"1
In order to have a general view of Eleusis and its plain, I walked
to an insulated hill, called Magoula, of moderate height, and
situated about two miles to the east of the village. The way to it
led by the remains of a small ancient aqueduct, and across the
dry channel of a torrent, which is probably the Eleusinian Cephissos.
Some vestiges of antiquity, with the foundations of a bridge, are
found upon its banks. We know from Sj'ncellus,2 that the Ce-
phissos often inundating the Eleusinian plain, a bridge was built
over it by Hadrian. The source of this river is near Gyphto-Kastro,
at the foot of Cithasron ; and it enters the Thriasian plain, at a
place called Saranta Potamoi, or the Forty Rivers, a name which
was suggested by the numerous involutions of the stream.
The plain is in general flat; but the uniformity of its appearance
is a little diversified by some scattered olive'trees and balania oaks.
When I had reached the summit of the eminence above-men-
tioned, I perceived the foundations of an ancient square tower,
regularly constructed with blocks of Eleusinian marble. This high
around commands a view of Eleusis, and its plain, with Mount Aiga-
leos Mount Kerata, the island of Salamis, and the Peloponnesos.
The coins of Eleusis are common, and represent Ceres in a car
drawn by dragons or serpents, which are sometimes winged ; she has
two ears of corn in her right hand, or as some imagine torches,
which indicate that she is searching for her daughter. The reverse
of these coins is a sow, the emblem of fertility, which was sacrificed
to the goddess. The inscription is EAEYEL or EAEY. within a wreath
composed of ears of corn.3
i Catul. Eleg. 65. ~ Chron. p. 349. Paris edit.
» They are third and fourth brass. See Haym. Thes. Brit. vol. 1. tab. 21. fig. 12.
vol. i. 4 r