Kykeon

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Demeter drinks the Kykeon of Metaneira and is mocked by ascalabos (painting by Adam Elsheimer , 1562).

Kykeon ( ancient Greek κυκεών 'mixture', 'mixture' from κυκάω 'mix', 'stir') was a mixed drink made of grain and water in ancient Greece. An exact composition cannot be given. For Homer it consists of barley barley ( ἄλφιτον ), grated goat cheese and pramnian wine . The kykeon prepared for Odysseus by the sorceress Kirke also contained honey. This preparation was probably rather thick and mushy, as it is called sitos ( σῖτος 'food') and not as in the Ilias potos ( πότος 'drink').

In the Homeric hymn it is the drink that Metaneira gives to Demeter, exhausted by the desperate search for Persephone , who was stolen by Hades . Metaneira had initially offered the goddess wine, which she had refused and instead asked for a kykeon made from water, barley and polei mint ( γλήχων or βλήχων , from which κυκεὼν βληχωνίας ). Because of this myth of the Demeter drink, it was a corresponding kykeon that the initiates of the Mysteries of Eleusis consumed first after fasting .

Karl Kerényi points out the significance of Demeter's rejection of wine: According to Heraklit Dionysus , the god of wine, is identical with Hades , the god of the underworld and kidnapper of Demeter's daughter:

Because if it weren't for Dionysus to whom they organize the procession and sing the Phalloslied, it would be a very shameful act. Hades is one with Dionysus, to whom they romp and celebrate Shrovetide!

And it would really be very inappropriate if Demeter broke her funeral fast with the drink that is the gift of the kidnapper of the daughter and her offender.

Polei mint was already used as an abortion agent in ancient times. Aristophanes makes a corresponding suggestion. This effect is probably not intended for the Demeter drink, since Polei mint was also a completely normal component of ancient cuisine and is mentioned several times in Apicius , for example .

However, assumptions have been made about further components of the kykeon drunk in Eleusis , since an overwhelming experience of enlightenment was consistently reported, which would reliably have occurred with all participants in the mysteries . Therefore, the theory was discussed that the visions were a drug effect caused by substances related to LSD contained in the ergot fungus ( ergine and ergometrine ). Other plants and correspondingly other entheogenic substances were also discussed, but ultimately such arguments can only remain speculation, as there is neither corresponding tradition nor material evidence in the form of archaeological finds.

It was further argued that an indication of the use of entheogenic substances in the Greek cult was 415 BC. BC charges against Alkibiades for profaning the Mysteries of Eleusis. This was interpreted to mean that Alkibiades and his friends had a kind of "drug party" with the psychoactive substance used in Eleusis in his house. Plutarch's literal indictment does not contain anything of the kind, but refers to the fact that Alcibiades and his comrades aped the rite. Alcibiades would have called himself high priest in appropriate clothing, someone else would have made the torchbearer, etc. So here, too, it is only a matter of speculation.

literature

  • Armand Delatte: Le Cycéon, breuvage rituel des mystères d'Éleusis. Belles Lettres, Paris 1955
  • Ralph M. Rosen: Hipponax Fr. 48 Dg. and the Eleusinian Kykeon. In: The American Journal of Philology , Vol. 108, No. 3 (Herbst, 1987), pp. 416-426
  • R. Gordon Wasson , Albert Hofmann , Carl AP Ruck : The Road to Eleusis: Unveiling the Secret of the Mysteries. New York 1978. German edition: The way to Eleusis. The secret of the mysteries. Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt am Main 1990, ISBN 3-518-38258-6
  • Peter Webster, Daniel M. Perrine, Carl AP Ruck: Mixing the Kykeon. In: ELEUSIS. Journal of Psychoactive Plants and Compounds New Series 4, 2000 PDF

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Homer Iliad 11.624, 11.641
  2. Homer Odyssey 10.234, 290, 316
  3. Homeric Hymn 2 To Demeter 205 ff.
  4. Fragments of the pre-Socratic Heraklit fr. 15th
  5. ^ Karl Kerényi: The Mysteries of Eleusis. Rhein Verlag, Zurich 1962, p. 54.
  6. Aristophanes The Peace 712
  7. Plutarch Alcibiades March 22