Kykeon (Gr. κυκεών, from κυκάω, "to stir, to mix") was an Ancient Greek drink made mainly of water, barley and herbs. It was used at the climax of the Eleusinian Mysteries to break a sacred fast, but it was also a favourite drink of Greek peasants. The Eleusinian Mysteries were annual initiation ceremonies for the cult of Demeter and Persephone based at Eleusis in ancient Greece. ... Fasting is the act of willingly abstaining from some or all food and in some cases drink, for a period of time. ...

Kykeon is mentioned in Homeric texts: the Iliad describes it as consisting of barley, water, herbs, and ground goat cheese (XV, 638–641). In the Odyssey, Circe adds some honey and pours her magic potion in it (X, 234). In the The Homeric Hymn to Demeter, the goddess refuses red wine but accepts kykeon made from water, barley and pennyroyal. Homer (Greek HómÄ“ros) was a legendary early Greek poet and aoidos (singer) traditionally credited with the composition of the Iliad and the Odyssey. ... The Iliad (Ancient Greek , Ilias) is, together with the Odyssey, one of two ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer, a supposedly blind Ionian poet. ... Odysseus and Nausicaä - by Charles Gleyre The Odyssey (Greek: , Odusseia) is one of the two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to the poet Homer. ... Circe, a painting by Edward Burne-Jones. ... A jar of honey, shown with a wooden honey server and scones. ... Binomial name Mentha pulegium L. The herb Pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium, family Lamiaceae), is a member of the mint genus; an essential oil extracted from it is used in aromatherapy. ...

It was supposed to have digestive properties. Hermes recommends it in Aristophanes' Peace (v. 712) to the hero who ate too much dry fruit and nuts. Aristocrats shunned it as a peasant drink. Theophrastus depicts in his Characters (IV, 2–3) a peasant whose thyme breath inconveniences his neighbours at the Ecclesia. Hermes bearing the infant Dionysus, by Praxiteles Hermes (Greek IPA: ), in Greek mythology, is the Olympian god of boundaries and of the travelers who cross them, of shepherds and cowherds, of orators and wit, of literature and poets, of athletics, of weights and measures and invention and commerce in general... Sketch of Aristophanes Aristophanes (Greek: , c. ... Theophrastus (Greek Θεόφραστος, 370 — about 285 BC), a native of Eressos in Lesbos, was the successor of Aristotle in the Peripatetic school. ... Species About 350 species, including: Thymus adamovicii Thymus bracteosus Thymus broussonetii Thymus caespititius Thymus camphoratus Thymus capitatus Thymus capitellatus Thymus carnosus Thymus cephalotus Thymus cherlerioides Thymus ciliatus Thymus cilicicus Thymus cimicinus Thymus comosus Thymus comptus Thymus doerfleri Thymus glabrescens Thymus herba-barona Thymus hirsutus Thymus hyemalis Thymus integer Thymus lanuginosus... Ecclesia can refer to: Ecclesia (sociology of religion) Ecclesia (ancient Athens) This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

In an attempt to solve the mystery of how so many people over the span of two millennia could have consistently experienced revelatory states during the culminating ceremony of the Eleusinian Mysteries, it has been posited that the barley used in the Eleusinian kykeon was parasitized by ergot, and that the psychoactive properties of that fungus triggered the intense experiences alluded to by the participants at Eleusis. The Eleusinian Mysteries were annual initiation ceremonies for the cult of Demeter and Persephone based at Eleusis in ancient Greece. ... Species About 50, including: Claviceps africanum Claviceps fusiformis Claviceps paspali Claviceps purpurea Ergot is the common name of a fungus in the genus Claviceps. ... Divisions Chytridiomycota Zygomycota Glomeromycota Ascomycota Basidiomycota Deuteromycota The fungi (singular fungus) are a kingdom of eukaryotic organisms. ...

Various modern attempts to duplicate the kykeon using ergot have yielded inconclusive results.

For more on the possibilities of the Kykeon's psychoactive properties, see entheogenic theories of the mysteries. The Eleusinian Mysteries were annual initiation ceremonies for the cult of Demeter and Persephone based at Eleusis in ancient Greece. ...

Bibliography

• French Armand Delatte, Le Cycéon, breuvage rituel des mystères d'Éleusis, Belles Lettres, Paris, 1955

External links

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