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Friends Presentation: “Secret Celebrations: the Festival of Demeter & Persephone at Eleusis” by Dr Annabel Florence
August 19, 2023 @ 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Friends Presentation Event
Secret Celebrations: the Festival of Demeter & Persephone at Eleusis” by Dr Annabel Florence
Everyone loves a good festival – the music, the food, the community spirit and the buzz of a crowd all there for one purpose. The ancient Greeks felt the same way and celebrated various festivals throughout the year. One in particular, famous for its secret rituals, attracted thousands of people from around the Mediterranean to the coastal town of Eleusis every year.
The Eleusinian Mysteries celebrated the goddess of fertility and agriculture, Demeter, and her daughter Persephone who was abducted by Hades. Participants were said to have witnessed a life-changing experience and took an oath never to reveal the secrets to which they had been exposed. Inspired by the annual Abbey festival and the Abbey Museum’s engraved gemstone of Demeter-Ceres, this lecture looks at the foundational myth of Demeter’s cult and the celebration of the Mysteries as well as the importance of this festival not just at Athens but throughout the ancient world.
Join the Abbey Museum Friends for this fascinating presentation. Includes a light afternoon tea.
IMPORTANT COVIDSAFE INFORMATION
Our facilities and staff will be well equipped to create the safest possible environment to minimise any possible risk of Covid-19 transmission.
Please see COVIDSAFE information below:
Please stay at home if you are experiencing symptoms related to COVID-19; such as a headache, fever, coughing or a sore throat.
If you have been diagnosed with Covid-19, please stay home until you have completed your 7-day isolation period and are no longer experiencing symptoms.
Please use the hand sanitiser stations provided or wash your hands with soap and water regularly.
Please practise good hygiene, this includes coughing and sneezing into your elbow, away from others.
If at any point during the event you begin to feel unwell, please immediately advise the closest staff member.