Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

The Mysteries of Eleusis and Bacchus
The Mysteries of Eleusis and Bacchus
The Mysteries of Eleusis and Bacchus
Ebook153 pages2 hours

The Mysteries of Eleusis and Bacchus

Rating: 0 out of 5 stars

()

Read preview

About this ebook

These observances once represented the spiritual life of Greece, and were considered for two thousand years and more the appointed means for regeneration through an interior union with the Divine Essence. However absurd, or even offensive they may seem to us, we should therefore hesitate long before we venture to lay desecrating hands on what others have esteemed holy. We can learn a valuable lesson in this regard from the Grecian and Roman writers, who had learned to treat the popular religious rites with mirth, but always considered the Eleusinian Mysteries with the deepest reverence.

It is ignorance which leads to profanation. Men ridicule what they do not properly understand. Alcibiades was drunk when he ventured to touch what his countrymen deemed sacred. The undercurrent of this world is set toward one goal; and inside of human credulity-call it human weakness, if you please-is a power almost infinite, a holy faith capable of apprehending the supremest truths of all Existence. The veriest dreams of life, pertaining as they do to "the minor mystery of death,"have in them more than external fact can reach or explain; and Myth, however much she is proved to be a child of Earth, is also received among men as the child of Heaven. The Cinder-Wench of the ashes will become the Cinderella of the Palace, and be wedded to the King's Son.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateNov 12, 2018
ISBN9783748166498
The Mysteries of Eleusis and Bacchus
Author

Thomas Taylor

The translator of this work, Thomas Taylor, is known for his authoritative translations of the Platonists; he was practically the sole source of Neo-Platonic thought in the transcendentalist movement of New England. Iamblichus' Life of Pythagoras was a constant source of inspiration to the transcendentalists and a major influence on their writings throughout the Nineteenth Century. Taylor's work was enthusiastically acclaimed by Emerson, who referred to the translator as "a Greek born out of his time, and dropped on the ridicule of a blind and frivolous age."

Read more from Thomas Taylor

Related to The Mysteries of Eleusis and Bacchus

Related ebooks

Ancient Religions For You

View More

Related articles

Reviews for The Mysteries of Eleusis and Bacchus

Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
0 ratings

0 ratings0 reviews

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

    Book preview

    The Mysteries of Eleusis and Bacchus - Thomas Taylor

    2^book_preview_excerpt.htmlZMu+WA% j}@jDZ-dB,NU_?}"[AVA1b_sc 0UsoՓw_]vzqgcyobeƶzjc˼ɗx+//߼zӳˋW/~_=_.N*,W\^\<ק'~9}峋՛/Ϊ?zuu-Woߞ/}?!]ϻ{Ks}/Oňc8oUW Lsݻ2hm]r᤺sħd{[`MrVJ?:3΋ʥ MO6|7FXL g NØl+gfWZMeo?F_mҞ9rfx>Ċ T}jgZ j<^Ul-NR;ʦ4j1À$K%fP%1H-{:#vN,~sӇhL315W#܌\V?W,-=÷bլdzSLOެ _kcɗ}.Y ֎i=΄C!7 _]N>8QZ]Y5*`A07[=mB30c`s 3GW?ҩ9Ndl`m@+mߛMж9O`= <Aeh#$&%;L(ld/PWWvQ E4f a+"ZEXX]]s%^no{ {ڌEψ+ZJ/Ad &C0ڰ&s(iG.iB=[:QR0^H+/qi+q! ޚ@t=$u/aiQ'W GH+UJMD@i$rbZg8 _4zC[vPڴRs7ҠX&jo]|~m\OM 3\|tqzJʢ~RØX$んY^ֳD* =I51,){+`c .E+%5 ~NwMjM(Fcpi4g}!D (Y05%xL~e'h j 50jɲ/Vr,ֆmxNJ  Vfs5pGW,Đ&5SyI "\ @L]dڅK8r %CV)gHW\_ xN[Eh  ltOñSDkTW85Px#sE2f0VB sg;2 21$1jT%v$o K!K>~|[؂<$wX`pLhue|CS6R,]+hd}!B!s+xS;3Mkބ $Qj $rhAte(Ӱ+zMJ?H$"mA Ǚ Z0_ E㏧it魝@ZS5}@9Nop)81T`S6l6ׄ67W}&֬)Z ߛ6ȅz3?&3 f.\EWZ4c! j%C  S:TD*og{%yK:Ss@b8]x,-'KN@l+YF3䇰>^D!5X+K<#1eS34\y 1UR v)hyW78G5.pV@MD0<"0Lk w}W|ѦvKWl`^,^l,{}xkt7; ˾VoP\"p,йd/~as2\|,i`H\v;JZEsB ioǨ~T}+"*&#cȋ џn(Pi}H8mаCuaGǒx-c*P_gp)E/띎'˜tlw097qPNL!a[is˄-npmI쇴ɵKO7'r赣>}G-뱌>};C e0 V[c4ZvM"<{E#urF[X:iժ;o-Wz88ܛɕzN^>JN.rxRprex=zТ9ďڶ
eδ,%0 ?p-?ez|twrB5ga!ZԲLjf\=.f5n\fVE%{I_u>w"qء"*~=8e'7gˠZG>4+zFk49tDY70z&ۆ_Q-q_L :R0%\%nԄ[ى({ubMdBa5yPm!d!Kʽo?on_Aܕp/مD1jXhM 02OI]L?>>Qu: ŅMxon| ?F_WT7dƮѭW&}ޕR]Z}<\Sɛ W-$$`ob]RJ4͈MњR. gnc!3 APLO3.W:े/bMU,-bޯC+`fq6Y,svpUn}(Bt,愄s9*ϷʋѭKZϔ5H|CYHمNrñ g[}T=g<`]0ih0'+e2"M:jX|+8;! s6YF U@!IPGܘ2ji}A‰M;{ѿ7MvHvKd y$Pm|B 'ǖfs,W:x ~K %QkFrǛՀl9!s< R>KXA q5_ ONSW\0I̅la!HR`-+rxs\=9y1 \$MI^q@\(Ȯ'"8?XcZA.g,ÇSeJhϋAgEpuq1Oe8 l,O0 !K b-H, NCbsT;<t5Fk^&Apz
    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1