Great Eleusinian Relief

Great Eleusinian Relief

Greek: Ανάγλυφο Ελευσινίων Μυστηρίων
File:Marble Votive Relief of Eleusenian Deities, the So-called Big Eleusenian Relief, Found at Eleusis, Attica, c. 440-430 BC (27877308223).jpg The marble relief in the NAMA
Completion date	c. 430-420 BC
Catalogue	No 126
Subject	Demeter and Persephone bless Triptolemus
Dimensions	220 cm × 152 cm (87 in × 60 in)
Condition	Intact
Location	National Archaeological Museum, Athens
Owner	Greece
Website	https://www.namuseum.gr

The Great Eleusinian Relief (Greek: Μεγάλο Ανάγλυφο Ελευσινίων Μυστηρίων) is a large marble relief kept in the National Archaeological Museum, Athens in Greece. It depicts a scene of the Eleusinian Mysteries with the principal deities, Demeter, Persephone and the hero Triptolemus. The large relief was unearthed in the town of Eleusis, which was an important center for the worship of Demeter and Persephone, in 1859.

History

The relief has been dated to mid-fifth century BC, around 430-420 BC, and it was made for religious use, rather than votive as evidenced from the numerous Roman copies created during the Roman period. It was discovered in Eleusis in 1859 at the sanctuary of Demeter, near a church dedicated to Saint Zacharias.

Description

The relief is made of Pentelic marble, and it is 2,20 m. tall, 1,52 m. wide, and 15 cm thick. It depicts the three most important figures of the Eleusianian Mysteries; the goddess of agriculture and abundance Demeter, her daughter Persephone queen of the Underworld and the Eleusinian hero Triptolemus, the son of Queen Metanira, in what appears to be a rite. Triptolemus stands in the center, the two goddesses surrounding him on the left and right.

The goddess on the left is dressed in a leg-length sleeveless chiton and himation (a type of cloak), holds a sceptre in her left hand, while with her right one she hands Triptolemus some unidentified object made of copper, probably ears of corn. The child Triptolemus reaches to receive the goddess's gift with his right hand, while holding his robe with his left. The goddess on the right rests her weight her right leg, and wears a foot-long chiton and a rich pleated himation. In her left hand she holds a large torch reaching the ground, while with her right she touches the head of Triptolemus, perhaps originally holding some sort of wreath, or blessing the boy. It is generally accepted that the goddess on the left is Demeter and the one in the right is Persephone, but arguments for the opposite have also been expressed. Namely, it has been noted that the right figure is dressed more lightly like a maiden, whereas the right figure sports the rich garments suitable for an older woman.

Copies

The original relief had several copies made of it during Roman times, many of which survive; a copy of it is kept at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, embedded from ten Roman fragments of the first century BC and the first century AD. Another modern copy is exhibited in the Archaeological Museum of Eleusis in Eleusis, a town near Athens, where the original was excavated.

Gallery

• Great Eleusinian Relief
• Roman copy of the Great Eleusinian relief hosted by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.jpg

  Roman copy in the MET.

• Demeter2 MKL1888.png

  Engraving of the relief.

• GER replica Eleusis 04.jpg

  Replica in Eleusis.

See also

• Aphrodite of Syracuse
• Poseidon of Melos
• Diadumenos

External links

• Media related to at Wikimedia Commons