Taylor - Eleusianian and Bacchic Mysteries.pdf - Platonic Philosophy

Bacchic Mysteries. 129life] is implied." Flspt youv rqv evavnav cavj-7) TTJS Kop7] dpirayv] [AoftoXoysiTai ysvs3-6 STJ xaftoSoc sa-i twv (J/o/CDV.*And asthe abduction of Proserpina was exhibited inthe dramatic representations of the Mysteries, as is clear from Apuleius, it indisputably follows, that this represented the descentof the soul, and its union with the dark tenement of the body.descent of the soul, and itsIndeed, if the ascent andcondition whileconnected with a material nature, were represented in the dramatic shows of the Mysteries, it is evident that this was implied bythe rape of Proserpina. And the formerpart of this assertion is manifest from Apuleius, when describing his initiation, he says,in the passage already adduced : "Iapproached the confines of death, and havingtrodden on the threshold of Proserpina,/ returned, having been carried through allthe elements" And as to the latter part, ithas been amply proved, from the highestauthority,course.in the first division of this dis*De Diis et Mundo, p. 251.