DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4377#0090
420 TE1IENOS OF DEMETEB, PERSEPHONE,
the figure of Hekate, Plate LXXXIV. fig. 5), and
the Dcmeter rejoicing in the return of Persephone
(Plate LV.). This latter event is typified by the
small figure of Aphrodite Persephone (Plate LVIL),
■which Gerhard conjectures to have been the idol
of the Anthesteria.x This interesting statuette
forms a singular contrast to the rude and primitive
terminal type under which the same goddess is
represented Plate LVIII. fig. 1. It is Avorthy of
note, that in one of the Dircs, already alluded to,
ante, p. 382, Persephone is addressed as Dcspoina,
a name which Pausanias feared to make known to
the uninitiated/ The terracotta Plate LX., fig. 7,
probably represents the mystic cista borne on the
head of an aged priestess, such as those at the
temple of Demetcr at Ilermione, who, as Pausanias
tells us, alone were acquainted with the secret ob-
jects of worship.7. The discovery, therefore, of this
1 Gerhard, Anthesterien,—Berlin, 1S58, § 33.
>• viii. 37, § 6.
'■ Pausan. ii. 35 : Avro ie. o atfiovmv ixi w\iov ?/ r<<\\«, tyw fi£i'
OUK ttdov, 01/ /ai)v ovde at't)p iiWor, ovre Hivos . ■ • porai Sc !mn~un>
H innv at ypcitc "loaaiv. The secret objects here mentioned, which
Gerhard supposes to have been phallic, were, probably, concealed
in a cista. Those who bore such objects in the Athenian processions
were called afipr)<j>6pot' ai -atipi'njra <p(povtrai uvortipia. According to
the formula of Eleusinian initiation, as given by Clemens Alexandr.
Cohort, ad Gent. p. 18, ed. Potter, part of the ceremony consisted
in transferring certain mystic objects from the calathus to the
cista. In the temple of Persephone at Megalopolis, in Arcadia,
was a seated figure of Despoina, having on her knees the cista,
which she held with her right hand.—(Pausan. viii. 37, § 2.) At
Oncheion, in Arcadia, the Demeter Erinnys was also represented
with the cista. Gerhard, Mythologie, § 420, 3, thinks that in the
cista of Demeter a serpent was concealed, and in that of Dionysos,
n phallus. (See the Wilton Sarcophagus, Gerhard,. Autike Bild-
the figure of Hekate, Plate LXXXIV. fig. 5), and
the Dcmeter rejoicing in the return of Persephone
(Plate LV.). This latter event is typified by the
small figure of Aphrodite Persephone (Plate LVIL),
■which Gerhard conjectures to have been the idol
of the Anthesteria.x This interesting statuette
forms a singular contrast to the rude and primitive
terminal type under which the same goddess is
represented Plate LVIII. fig. 1. It is Avorthy of
note, that in one of the Dircs, already alluded to,
ante, p. 382, Persephone is addressed as Dcspoina,
a name which Pausanias feared to make known to
the uninitiated/ The terracotta Plate LX., fig. 7,
probably represents the mystic cista borne on the
head of an aged priestess, such as those at the
temple of Demetcr at Ilermione, who, as Pausanias
tells us, alone were acquainted with the secret ob-
jects of worship.7. The discovery, therefore, of this
1 Gerhard, Anthesterien,—Berlin, 1S58, § 33.
>• viii. 37, § 6.
'■ Pausan. ii. 35 : Avro ie. o atfiovmv ixi w\iov ?/ r<<\\«, tyw fi£i'
OUK ttdov, 01/ /ai)v ovde at't)p iiWor, ovre Hivos . ■ • porai Sc !mn~un>
H innv at ypcitc "loaaiv. The secret objects here mentioned, which
Gerhard supposes to have been phallic, were, probably, concealed
in a cista. Those who bore such objects in the Athenian processions
were called afipr)<j>6pot' ai -atipi'njra <p(povtrai uvortipia. According to
the formula of Eleusinian initiation, as given by Clemens Alexandr.
Cohort, ad Gent. p. 18, ed. Potter, part of the ceremony consisted
in transferring certain mystic objects from the calathus to the
cista. In the temple of Persephone at Megalopolis, in Arcadia,
was a seated figure of Despoina, having on her knees the cista,
which she held with her right hand.—(Pausan. viii. 37, § 2.) At
Oncheion, in Arcadia, the Demeter Erinnys was also represented
with the cista. Gerhard, Mythologie, § 420, 3, thinks that in the
cista of Demeter a serpent was concealed, and in that of Dionysos,
n phallus. (See the Wilton Sarcophagus, Gerhard,. Autike Bild-