curse was pronounced upon
the entire people.

As the strictest secrecy prevailed among the initiated respecting these
rites, the exact nature of the symbols employed at the Thesmophorian
festivals is not known; it is believed, however, that it was the female
emblem of generation, and that this festival was held in honor of that
event which from the earliest times had been prophesied by those who
believed in the superior importance of the female, namely, that
unaided by the male power, a woman would bring forth, and that this
manifestation of female sufficiency would forever settle the question of
the ascendancy of the female principle. Through a return of the
ancient ideas of purity and peace, mankind would be redeemed from the
wretchedness and misery which had been the result of the decline of
female power. The dual idea entertained in the Thesmophorian worship
is observed in the fact that although Ceres, the Great Mother, was the
principal Deity honored, Proserpine, the child, was also comprehended,
and with its Mother worshipped as part of the Creator. Thus we observe
that down to a late date in the history of Grecian mythology the idea
of a Holy Mother with her child had not altogether disappeared as a
representation of the god-idea.

To prove the worthiness of the ideas connected with the Eleusinian
mysteries it is stated that "there is not an instance on record that the
honor of initiation was ever obtained by a very bad man."

In Rome these mysteries took another name and were called "the rites of
Bona Dea," which was but another name for Ceres. As evidence of their
purity we have the following:

"All the distinguished Roman authors speak of these rites and in terms
of profound respect. Horace denounces the wretch who should attempt to
reveal the secrets of these rites; Virgil mentions these mysteries with
great respect; and Cicero alludes to them with a greater reverence
than either of the poets we have named. Both the Greeks and the Romans
punished any insult offered to these mysteries with the most persevering
vindictiveness. Alcibiades was charged with insulting these religious
rites, and although the proof of his offense was quite doubtful, yet he
suffered for it for years in exile and misery, and it must be allowed
that he was the most popular man of his age."(103)

103) Chambers's Edinburgh Journal.

In Greece, the celebration of the Eleusinian mysteries was in the hands
of the Emolpidae,