DOI chapter:
Division A: The Agora and adjacent buildings lying to the west and north of the Acropolis, from the city gate to the Prytaneion
DOI chapter:Section V
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61302#0268
96
MYTHOLOGY AND MONUMENTS
DIV. A
The mere fact of this multiplex local tradition shows that the
worship of Triptolemos was a widespread and popular one. A late
author 176 expressly says that “ all men set up shrines and altars to
Triptolemos; to him were attributed such time-honoured saws 177
as ‘ honour of parents,’ and ‘ worship the gods with the fruits of
the earth,’ ” which in reality he had borrowed from the more
primitive morality of the Bouzygos. Triptolemos seemed in
later days to be what his name by a false etymology was thought
to indicate, the “ thrice plougher.” Sir C. Newton, in his
account of the agriculture of Mytilene, notes that “the olive
requires the earth in which it grows to be ploughed or dug
not less than three times a year.” It has already been seen
that the art of vase-painting in the fifth and fourth centuries
and contemporary sculpture know Triptolemos nowhere as the
ploughman, but only as the messenger of Demeter, seated on
the winged car. But it is also, as will be seen, very prob-
able that his name may have been connected with the three
“ sacred ploughings ” of the Athenians — the first of which
was, as Plutarch178 tells us, at Skiron, the remembrance
of the most ancient of the seed-sowings ; the second on the
Rarian plain ; the third below Pelis, called the Bouzygion, or
oxen-yoking. Of these the most sacred is the nuptial seed-
sowing and ploughing, with a view to the birth of children. Here,
it may be noted, the functions of Triptolemos seem to touch on
the more plain-spoken ritual of Eubouleus.
Meantime other local traditions of parentage must be noted.
The name Trochilos points to a version of the myth that arose
in connection with art; the “ wheelman” must surely have come
in when the winged car of Triptolemos was well established.
The tradition of Musaeus looks like a fanciful and somewhat care-
less genealogy. Gaia was of course, conveniently enough, the
mother of Triptolemos ; and Okeanos, in the form of Poseidon, was
closely linked with Eleusis. He is present, as has been seen, on
the vase of Hieron to watch Triptolemos go forth and as father of
Eamolpos. The Orpheus tradition emphasises the plough; Tripto-
lemos, the “ thrice plougher,” is learnedly made to be son of the
double-furrow, Dysaules. Dysaules was brother to Keleos ; so here
we come very near the Attic tradition. At Keleai, in the Corinthian
territory, Pausanias came upon the Dysaules legend in full force,
and he notes its difference from that of Eleusis 179—“ They say
that Dysaules, the brother of Keleos, came to their country
and established there rites when he was driven from Eleusis by
MYTHOLOGY AND MONUMENTS
DIV. A
The mere fact of this multiplex local tradition shows that the
worship of Triptolemos was a widespread and popular one. A late
author 176 expressly says that “ all men set up shrines and altars to
Triptolemos; to him were attributed such time-honoured saws 177
as ‘ honour of parents,’ and ‘ worship the gods with the fruits of
the earth,’ ” which in reality he had borrowed from the more
primitive morality of the Bouzygos. Triptolemos seemed in
later days to be what his name by a false etymology was thought
to indicate, the “ thrice plougher.” Sir C. Newton, in his
account of the agriculture of Mytilene, notes that “the olive
requires the earth in which it grows to be ploughed or dug
not less than three times a year.” It has already been seen
that the art of vase-painting in the fifth and fourth centuries
and contemporary sculpture know Triptolemos nowhere as the
ploughman, but only as the messenger of Demeter, seated on
the winged car. But it is also, as will be seen, very prob-
able that his name may have been connected with the three
“ sacred ploughings ” of the Athenians — the first of which
was, as Plutarch178 tells us, at Skiron, the remembrance
of the most ancient of the seed-sowings ; the second on the
Rarian plain ; the third below Pelis, called the Bouzygion, or
oxen-yoking. Of these the most sacred is the nuptial seed-
sowing and ploughing, with a view to the birth of children. Here,
it may be noted, the functions of Triptolemos seem to touch on
the more plain-spoken ritual of Eubouleus.
Meantime other local traditions of parentage must be noted.
The name Trochilos points to a version of the myth that arose
in connection with art; the “ wheelman” must surely have come
in when the winged car of Triptolemos was well established.
The tradition of Musaeus looks like a fanciful and somewhat care-
less genealogy. Gaia was of course, conveniently enough, the
mother of Triptolemos ; and Okeanos, in the form of Poseidon, was
closely linked with Eleusis. He is present, as has been seen, on
the vase of Hieron to watch Triptolemos go forth and as father of
Eamolpos. The Orpheus tradition emphasises the plough; Tripto-
lemos, the “ thrice plougher,” is learnedly made to be son of the
double-furrow, Dysaules. Dysaules was brother to Keleos ; so here
we come very near the Attic tradition. At Keleai, in the Corinthian
territory, Pausanias came upon the Dysaules legend in full force,
and he notes its difference from that of Eleusis 179—“ They say
that Dysaules, the brother of Keleos, came to their country
and established there rites when he was driven from Eleusis by