Note 140 — Chapter II · THE ALEXANDRIAN DIVINITIES

All these ceremonies of the Anthesteria are reconstructed and described by M. Foucart, Culte de Dion. pp. 107-163. That the tearing in pieces of Dionysos and the consequent origin of man was taught in the Little Mysteries seems to follow from Pindar’s words (Threnoi Frag. X. 7, p. 102, Cod. Bö.) that those who have been initiated have seen “the God-given beginning of life.” Transmigration seems to have been also taught in them (see Plutarch, Consolatory Letter, § X.). There were therefore three degrees of initiation at Eleusis: (1) The Little Mysteries showing the history of Dionysos, (2) The Great Mysteries with the Rape of Persephone and the Wanderings of Demeter, and (3) The Epopsy (open to initiates of the second year only), showing the marriage of Zeus and Demeter and the birth of the new Dionysos.