The Eleusinian mysteries & rites. - The Masonic Trowel

44 ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES AND RITES
duty at the celebration of the Mysteries it was to
offer prayers and sacrifices, to see that no indecency
or irregularity was committed during the Festival,
and at the conclusion to pass judgment on all offenders.
There were also four epimeletae, or curators, elected
by the people, one being appointed from the Eumol-
pides, another from the Keryces, and the remaining
two from the rank and file of the citizens ; and ten
hieropoioi, whose duty it was to offer sacrifices.
It may be worthy of remark here that Epimenides
of Crete, who flourished about the year 600 B.C.,
is said by Diogenes Laertius, in his life of that philo-
sopher, to have been the first to perform expiatory
sacrifices and lustrations in fields and houses and to
have been the first to erect temples for the purpose
of sacrifice.
The sacred symbols used in the ceremonies were
enclosed in a special chamber in the Telestrion, or
Hall of Initiation, known as the Anactoron, into
which the hierophant alone had the right to penetrate.
During the celebration of the Mysteries they were
carried to Athens veiled and hidden from the gaze
of the profane, whence they were taken back to
Eleusis. It was permitted only to the initiated to
look upon these " hiera," as they were called. These
sacred objects were in the charge of the Eumolpides
family.
Written descriptions, however graphic or eloquent,
convey but a faint impression of the wonderful