Editing Eleusinion (section)

==Function and activities==
{{main|Eleusinian Mysteries}}
The Eleusinion was the Athenian base of the cult of Demeter and Kore at [[Eleusis]] in western Attica. It was one of several sanctuaries in the city of Athens that linked the city to a cult in an outlying area of Attica, alongside the sanctuary of Artemis of [[Brauron]] atop the Acropolis and that of Dionysius of [[Eleutherae]] on the south slopes of the Acropolis.{{sfn|Miles|1998|p=22}}

At the start of the Eleusinian Mysteries, sacred objects were brought from Eleusis to the Eleusinion by the [[ephebes]]. They were stored there for the first five days of the festival. During this time people who wished to be initiated into the Eleusinian mysteries gathered in the Eluesinion to undergo the "pre-initiation" (''myesis'') under the guidance of members of the two Eleusinian [[genos|clans]], the [[Eumolpidae]] and the [[Kerykes]].{{sfn|Miles|1998|pp=2 n. 5, 64}} Aside from this, non-initiates were not allowed to enter the inner part of the sanctuary, which was demarcated by the inner propylon.{{sfn|Miles|1998|pp=12, 91}} On the sixth day of the festival, a great procession took them back to Eleusis, where they were revealed to the initiates at the culmination of the mysteries.{{sfn|Miles|1998|p=1}} After the mysteries, the [[Council of Five Hundred]] met in the Eleusinion in order to review the conduct of the festival.{{sfn|Miles|1998|p=2 n. 5}}

The Eleusinion was probably also one of the sites where women celebrated the [[Thesmophoria]] festival.{{sfn|Miles|1998|p=22}}{{sfn|Miles|1998|p=83}}

Two inscriptions from the late fourth century BC and one from the first century BC honour wealthy Athenian men for preparing ritual meals in honour of Plouton.<ref>{{cite web |title=IG II² 1933 |url=https://epigraphy.packhum.org/text/4167 |website=PHI Greek Inscriptions |access-date=27 August 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=IG II² 1934 |url=https://epigraphy.packhum.org/text/4168 |website=PHI Greek Inscriptions |access-date=27 August 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=IG II² 1935 |url=https://epigraphy.packhum.org/text/4169 |website=PHI Greek Inscriptions |access-date=27 August 2023}}</ref> From the late Hellenistic period, these meals may have been held in the circular building in section II.{{sfn|Miles|1998|p=83}}

During the games at the [[Great Panathenaea]] festival, several cavalry races were held on the Panathenaic Way, with their end point at the Eleusinion.{{sfn|Miles|1998|pp=84-85}} In the second century BC, these included a chariot race and the [[apobates]].{{sfn|Miles|1998|p=85}}

===Votive deposits===
Seventh century BC votive deposits consist of terracotta figurines, miniature vessels, pottery, spindles, loomweights, and disks.{{sfn|Miles|1998|p=18}} The figurines are called "columnar females" because the body is formed from a long column that flares out at the bottom to represent a skirt. There are two outstretched arms and a ball for the head that was pinched to make the nose. Sometimes breasts were added.{{sfn|Miles|1998|p=19}} They differ from the figurines found in contemporary deposits elesewhere in the Agora, which are mostly horses and shields.{{sfn|Miles|1998|p=19}} 
[[File:Plemochoe MET sf41162257.jpg|thumb|A 5th-century BC [[plemochoe]] (lid missing), a typical Eleusinian dedication.]]
[[File:The upper part of one of the caryatids that flanked the Lesser Propylaea of Eleusis, made in Attica in about 50 BC, Eleusis Museum (16172984501).jpg|thumb|Plemochoe depicted on the front of a cista supported by a [[caryatid]], at Eleusis.]]
A pottery vessel called a ''plemochoe'' ({{langx|grc|πλημοχόη}}) is a common votive find in the sanctuary from the beginning of the 4th century BC until the end of the 2nd century BC. They consist of a high foot supporting a  wide bowl, ranging in diameter from 0,024 metres to 0.26 metres, with a handle on either side. Originally they had peaked lids with holes in them. They are rarely decorated and are made of soft or coarse clay, suggesting that they were only intended to be used once. They are depicted on the relief from the inner propylon and a similar relief from Eleusis. A large marble plemochoe (0.62 metres high) was found in Section II of the Eleusinion, suggesting an association specifically with the shrine of Plouton. In processions, women carried them on top of their heads. According to [[Athenaeus of Naucratis|Athenaeus]], on the last day of the Eleusinian Mysteries two plemochoae were filled with liquid and then tipped over, one to the west and one to the east, while a magic formula was recited.<ref>Athenaeus, ''Deipnosophistai'' 11.496a</ref> Their close connection with the Eleusinian cult is shown by the fact that they are rarely found in any context aside from the Eleusinion and the sanctuary of Demeter and Kore at Eleusis. In many cases they were buried in holes specifically cut for them in the bedrock, a chthonian setting, which corroborates the association with Plouton.{{sfn|Pollitt|1979}}{{sfn|Miles|1998|pp=95-103}}

From the fifth century BC through the 4th century AD, various individuals dedicated monuments in the sanctuary, mostly statues. Twenty-six inscribed bases from these statues are known, of which the earliest is a dedication of two crowns by the priestess Lysistrate around 450 BC.<ref>{{cite web |title=IGI3 953: Dedication of two crowns in the City Eleusinion by the priestess Lysistrate |url=https://www.atticinscriptions.com/inscription/IGI3/953 |website=Attic Inscriptions Online |access-date=27 August 2023 |language=en}}</ref>{{sfn|Miles|1998|p=66}} Of the rest, eleven were dedicated in the 4th century BC, one in the 3rd century BC, five in the 2nd century BC, four in the 1st century BC (including a herm of [[Phaedrus the Epicurean]]), and one each in the first four centuries AD.{{sfn|Miles|1998|pp=67, 84}} Nineteen pieces of sculpture have been recovered, including thirteen votive reliefs. Most of these depict Demeter and Kore and belong to the 4th century BC. Three depict Triptolemus; others show the Eleusinian heroes Iacchus, Eubouleus, and Ploutus; and two show [[Hecate]]. There are also fragments from two marble torches.{{sfn|Miles|1998|pp=67-68}} By the second century BC, the priestesses of Demeter and Kore had the right to erect a painted portrait of themselves in the temple of Demeter and Kore.<ref name="AXVI277">{{cite web |title=Agora XVI 277 |url=https://epigraphy.packhum.org/text/233185?&bookid=395&location=1700 |website=PHI Greek Inscriptions |access-date=27 August 2023}}</ref>{{sfn|Miles|1998|p=66}}

===Administration===
The administration of the Eleusinion was regulated by the Athenian state and the [[genos|clans]] of the Eumolpidae and Kerykes. The highest-ranking officials were the priestess of Demeter and Kore and the [[hierophant]], both of whom came from the Eumolpid clan and held office for life.{{sfn|Miles|1998|p=66}}

[[Andocides]] says that regulations for the Eleusinion were included in the mid-sixth century BC laws of [[Solon]].<ref>Andocides, ''On the Mysteries'' 1.111</ref> Literary sources and inscriptions make regular references to regulations and ritual norms.{{sfn|Miles|1998|pp=64-65}} These regulations tend to treat the City Eleusinion, a smaller Eleusinion at [[Phalerum]], and the sanctuary of Demeter and Kore at Eleusis as a single unit. The surviving inscribed regulations from the City Eleusinion are:{{sfn|Miles|1998|pp=64-65}}
* ''IG'' I<sup>3</sup> 231–232, ca. 510-500 BC, apparently consolidating earlier regulations;
* ''IG'' I<sup>3</sup> 6, ca. 475-450 BC, regulating many aspects of the cult;<ref>{{cite web |title=AIUK4.2 no. 1: Regulations concerning the Eleusinian Mysteries |url=https://www.atticinscriptions.com/inscription/IGI3/6 |website=Attic Inscriptions Online |access-date=27 August 2023 |language=en}}</ref>
* ''I Eleusis'' 30 ("the Koroibos decree"), ca. 450 BC, on cult finances;<ref>{{cite web |title=I.Eleusis 30 |url=https://epigraphy.packhum.org/text/346490 |website=PHI Greek Inscriptions}}</ref>
* ''Agora'' XVI 56, ca. 350 BC, detailed regulations of all aspects of the cult;<ref>{{cite web |title=Agora XVI 56[1] |url=https://epigraphy.packhum.org/text/232800 |website=PHI Greek Inscriptions |access-date=27 August 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Agora XVI 56[2] |url=https://epigraphy.packhum.org/text/232801 |website=PHI Greek Inscriptions |access-date=27 August 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Agora XVI 56[3] |url=https://epigraphy.packhum.org/text/232802 |website=PHI Greek Inscriptions |access-date=27 August 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Agora XVI 56[4] |url=https://epigraphy.packhum.org/text/232803|website=PHI Greek Inscriptions |access-date=27 August 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Agora XVI 56[4] |url=https://epigraphy.packhum.org/text/232804 |website=PHI Greek Inscriptions |access-date=27 August 2023}}</ref>
* ''I Eleusis'' 250, ca. 100 BC, regulating the Eleusinian procession;<ref>{{cite web |title=''I.Eleusis'' 250 |url=https://epigraphy.packhum.org/text/346712 |website=PHI Greek Inscriptions |access-date=27 August 2023}}</ref>
* ''IG'' II<sup>2</sup> 1078, ca. AD 220, regulating the [[ephebe]]s' participation in the Eleusinian procession<ref>{{cite web |title=AIUK 4.2 no. 17: On the conveyance of sacred objects for the Eleusinian Mysteries |url=https://www.atticinscriptions.com/inscription/IGII2/1078 |website=Attic Inscriptions Online |access-date=27 August 2023 |language=en}}</ref>

Numerous decrees whose topics touched in Eleusinian matters were also erected in the sanctuary.{{sfn|Miles|1998|p=65}} Thirty such decrees have been found, of which between 17 and 21 are honorific.{{sfn|Miles|1998|p=65}} Most of these belong to the Hellenistic period and honour the organisers of the Eleusinian Mysteries.{{sfn|Miles|1998|p=84}}

In the late fifth and fourth centuries BC, inscribed inventories listing all the cult's assets were erected annually by a board of ''epistatai'', who were responsible for the finances of the Eleusinian cult.<ref name="IGI33867">''IG'' I<sup>3</sup> 386-387</ref>{{sfn|Miles|1998|pp=64-65}}