Éleusis (in Greek old Ἐλευσίς , in Greek modern Ελευσίνα / Elefsína ) is a Dème of the Attique located on the Golfe of Salamine, with approximately 20 kilometers in the North-West of Athens.

Mythology

According to Pausanias, the city draws its name from the hero Éleusis (wire of Hermes and the Océanide Daïra, or of Ogygos). When Perséphone, girl of Déméter, is removed by Hadès, Déméter comes in Éleusis where it meets the king of the place, Céléos. The son of this last, Triptolème, is the founder of the Mystères of Éleusis, agrarian worship returned to the Greek goddess of the agriculture, which will extend to all the Greece and, at the time Roman, with all the Roman Empire.

History

According to the tradition the city is attached to Athens at the time of the Synœcisme of Thésée. Actually, this fastening would date rather from the end of the {{VIIIe}} century or of the beginning of seventh century BC During the medic Guerres, in 480 - 479 av. J. - C., the city is devastated by the armies of Xerxès I {{er}} and the temple of Déméter is flaring. It is it again during the Peloponnesian War, when the Attic is invaded by the king Pleistoanax. Lastly, Éleusis is destroyed by the Visigoths of Alaric I {{er}} in 395 a. J. - C.