The Eleusinian mysteries & rites. - The Masonic Trowel

THE RITUAL OF THE MYSTERIES 37
The hierophant was a revealer of holy things.
He was a citizen of Athens, a man of mature age,
and held his office for life, devoting himself wholly
to the service of the temple and living a chaste life,
to which end it was usual for him to anoint himself
with the juice of hemlock, which, by its extreme
coldness, was said to extinguish in a great measure
the natural heat. In the opinion of some writers
celibacy was an indispensable condition of the
highest branch of the priesthood ; but, according
to inscriptions which have been discovered, some at
any rate of the hierophants were married, so that,
in all probabihty, the rule was that during the
celebration of the Mysteries and, probably, for a
certain time before and after, it was incumbent
on the hierophant to abstain from all sexual inter-
course. Foucart is of opinion that celibacy was
demanded only during the celebration of the Mysteries,
although Pausanias states definitely otherwise. In
support of Foucart it may be stated that among
the inscriptions discovered at Eleusis there is one
dedicating a statue to a hierophant by his wife.
It was essential that the hierophant should be a
man of commanding presence and lead a simple
life. On being raised to the dignity he received
a kind of consecration at a special ceremony, at
which only those of his own rank were permitted to
be present, when he was entrusted with certain
secrets pertaining to his high office. Prior to this