ELEUSIS ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM

Established in 1890, this small museum (Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο Ελευσίνας/Archaiologiko Mousio Elefsinas) houses the discoveries made in the sanctuary of Elefsina and has benefited from a meticulous presentation since its reopening in 2023. The terrace offers beautiful views of the Gulf of Elefsina and the island of Salamis, the site of the great Greek naval victory over the Persians in 480 B.C. It is also home to a splendid ^2nd-century sarcophagus decorated with bas-reliefs depicting the mythological episode of the hunt for the Calydon boar. The hall and the room on the right are devoted to the city of Eleusis (attached to Athens in the ^8th century BC) and its archaic rites: statues, merchants' and pilgrims' objects, funerary urns and stelae, skeletons... Note the torso of a kouros (c. 525 BC) and the large "amphora" (c. 525 AD)C.) and the large "Polyphemus amphora" (^mid-7th century B.C.) featuring the episode from The Iliad in which Ulysses and his companions blind the Cyclops Polyphemus.

Runaway girl and Initiation stele. The room on the left marks the start of a tour of the Eleusinian mysteries, with a centerpiece right at the entrance: the "Fleeing Maiden", a small statue from the early^5th century BC depicting Persephone trying to escape from Hades. It was damaged during the Persian invasion of 480 BC. On the right is the stele of Demeter and Persephone (c. 500 BC): the goddess on her throne receives her daughter from the underworld, holding a torch. On the left, note the votive statuette of a piglet (Roman period) evoking animal sacrifices during purification rituals. In the next room, two models retrace the evolution of the sanctuary. The penultimate room groups together the large statues, in particular that of Antinous (c. 130), Emperor Hadrian's Greek lover who was deified after his death, and the upper part of a caryatid from Little Propylaea (c. 50) bearing on its head the kistai, a basket in which sacred objects were carried during processions. Finally, the last space offers a glimpse into the Telesterion, where the mysteries were held, with two engraved columns, a headless statue of Demeter and, above all, the great Initiation stele (c. 440 BC). This 2.20 m-high marble plaque depicts Demeter accompanied by Persephone teaching agriculture to the legendary king of Eleusis, Triptolemus, so that it can be passed on to mankind.