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Eleusinian Mysteries
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This photo of the Eleusinian Mysteries belongs to the Musée archéologique national of Athens. The Eleusinian Mysteries were some rather famous initiation ceremonies originating from the Greek town of Eleusis about 20 miles northwest of Athens.
The ceremonies and the cult behind these Mysteries were dedicated to Demeter, the goddess of agriculture and fertility, and her daughter Kore/Persephone. According to Greek mytholohy, Kore was, with the consent of Zeus, seized by Hades. But seeing that her mother Demeter was so deeply grieved at the loss of her that she did not attend her divine duties and, as a consequence of that, the grain would not grow, Zeus saw to it that Kore - who had, by now, received her additional name Persephone and the function of goddess of death - be allowed to return from the underworld... with the sole restriction that she would have to spend only two thirds of the year on the surface and the remaining third in the underworld with Hades.
Roots of Europe also concerns itself with Greek language and mythology and with mythology in general, especially by means of the subprojects:
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"Linguistic foundations for the reconstruction of Indo-European religion" by Peter Jackson and Anders Hultgård
