The End of Eleusinia

Tonight will end Eleusinia and begin the sacrifices to ‘the Heroines.’ What I have been be able to find out is that this deals with the Heroine cults, which started in the 8th century B.C. Below is a bit of info about this holiday, which is pretty interesting.

Heroes and heroines, ancient Greek

From: Handbook to Life in Ancient Greece, Updated Edition.

Dead men and women (real or imaginary) who were worshipped as superhuman. Their cults were usually centered on their actual (or supposed) burial place, although sometimes a cult proliferated because more than one place claimed to possess a particular tomb. Exceptions included heroes such as Heracles, whose worship was widespread, often more like a god than a hero. Methods of worship and sacrifice to heroes and heroines were similar to that for gods of the underworld, so that dark-colored animals were usually chosen for sacrifice, and libations and sacrifices were performed in a pit or on a low altar. Sometimes gods and goddesses whose cults had dwindled came to be regarded as heroes and heroines instead. Not all heroes and heroines appear in myths, and any myths are often irrelevant to their cults. Sacrifices to “the heroines” by the Attic deme Erchia took place on the 19th day of the month Metageitnion, and on the 14th day of the month Pyanopsion.

 You will see that these heroes and heroines were considered underworld deities, which is pretty interesting. I figure that it’s due to the fact that their dead.