Editing Eleusinian Mysteries (section)

===Lesser Mysteries===
There were two Eleusinian Mysteries, the Greater and the Lesser. According to [[Thomas Taylor (neoplatonist)|Thomas Taylor]], "the dramatic shows of the Lesser Mysteries occultly signified the miseries of the soul while in subjection to the body, so those of the Greater obscurely intimated, by mystic and splendid visions, the felicity of the soul both here and hereafter, when purified from the defilements of a material nature and constantly elevated to the realities of intellectual [spiritual] vision." According to Plato, "the ultimate design of the Mysteries ... was to lead us back to the principles from which we descended, ... a perfect enjoyment of intellectual [spiritual] good."<ref>Taylor, p. 49.</ref>

The Lesser Mysteries took place in the month of [[Anthesterion]] – the eighth month of the [[Attic calendar]], falling in mid winter around February or March – under the direction of Athens' ''[[archon basileus]]''. In order to qualify for initiation, participants would sacrifice a piglet{{citation needed|date=November 2024}} to Demeter and Persephone, and then ritually purify themselves in the river Illisos. Upon completion of the Lesser Mysteries, participants were deemed ''mystai'' (initiates) worthy of witnessing the Greater Mysteries.