Editing Eumolpidae

{{short description|Family of priests who maintained the Eleusinian Mysteries}}
{{for|the leaf beetle subfamily|Eumolpinae}}
{{More citations needed|date=December 2009}}
The '''Eumolpidae''' {{IPAc-en|ˌ|j|uː|ˈ|m|ɒ|l|p|ᵻ|d|iː}} ({{langx|grc|Εὐμολπίδαι}}, ''Eumolpidai'') were a family of priests at [[Eleusis]] who maintained the [[Eleusinian Mysteries]] during the [[Hellenistic Greece|Hellenic era]]. As [[hierophant]]s, they popularized the cult and allowed many more to be initiated into the secrets of [[Demeter]] and [[Persephone]].<ref>{{cite book|title=A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities|editor=Smith, William|year=1842|pages=399–400|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w1vVPbrHidAC&pg=PA399}}</ref>

The legendary genealogy of the Eumolpidae cast them as descendants of [[Eumolpus]], one of the first priests of [[Demeter]] at Eleusis, through his second son, [[Herald-Keryx]]. Eumolpus, "untainted by blame" is named among the archaic leaders of Eleusis in the ''[[Homeric Hymn to Demeter]]'' 149–156. Through Eumolpus, they were supposedly related to either [[Poseidon]] or [[Hermes]]. The last legitimate [[hierophant]] at Eleusis, just before the extinguishing of the mysteries at the time of [[Alaric I|Alaric]]'s invasion in 396 CE, traced his descent from Eumolpos.<ref>[[Eunapios]]' biography of Maximos the Neoplatonist is the source, quoted at length by Carl Kerenyi, ''Eleusis: Archetypal Image of Mother and Daughter'' 1967:17.</ref> The other family with a hereditary Eleusinian priesthood were the [[Kerykes]].

==See also==
*[[List of Greek deities]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Jon D. Mikalson, ''Ancient Greek Religion'' (Wiley-Blackwell, 2010), p.&nbsp;83 [https://books.google.com/books?id=8o6xxlwbldcC&dq=eumolpidae&pg=PA83 online.]
* Bill Thayer has republished many entries from ''A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities'' (Smith, William, ed. 1875) online, including [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/SMIGRA*/Eumolpidae.html the entry on Eumolpidae]

[[Category:Eleusinian hierophants]]


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