Triptolemus

Triptolemus
For the moth, see Hemeroplanes triptolemus.

Buzyges and Dysaules redirect here. For the insect
genera, see Buzyges (buttery) and Dysaules (genus).
Triptolemus /trptlms/ (Greek: ,
Demeter saw Triptolemus was sick and fed him her breast
milk. Not only did he recover his strength but he instantly
became an adult. [1] As another gift to Celeus, in gratitude for his hospitality, Demeter secretly planned to make
Demophon immortal by burning away his mortal spirit in
the family hearth every night. She was unable to complete
the ritual because Metanira walked in on her one night.
Instead, Demeter chose to teach Triptolemus the art of
agriculture and, from him, the rest of Greece learned to
plant and reap crops. He ew across the land on a winged
chariot while Demeter and Persephone, once restored to
her mother, cared for him, and helped him complete his
mission of educating the whole of Greece in the art of
agriculture.
When Triptolemus taught Lyncus, King of the Scythians,
the arts of agriculture, Lyncus refused to teach it to his
people and then tried to kill Triptolemus. Demeter turned
King Lynchus into a lynx. Triptolemus was equally associated with the bestowal of hope for the afterlife associated with the expansion of the Eleusinian Mysteries
(Kerenyi 1967 p 123).
In the archaic Homeric Hymn to Demeter, Triptolemus is
briey mentioned as one of the original priests of Demeter, one of the rst men to learn the secret rites and
mysteries of Eleusinian Mysteries: Diocles, Eumolpos,
Celeus and Polyxeinus were the others mentioned of the
rst priests. The role of Triptolemus in the Eleusinian
mysteries was exactly dened: he had a cult of his own,
apart from the Mysteries. One entered his temple on
the way to the closed-o sacred precinct, before coming to the former Hekataion, the temple of Artemis outside the great Propylaia. (Kerenyi). In the 5th-century
bas-relief in the National Museum, Athens (illustration),
which probably came from his temple, the boy Triptolemus stands between the Two Goddesses, Demeter and
the Kore, and receives from Demeter the ear of grain (of
gold, now lost).
Triptolemus standing between Demeter and Kore, relief from the

National Archaeological Museum of Athens
lit. threefold warrior"; also known as Buzyges), in

Greek mythology always connected with Demeter of the
Eleusinian Mysteries, might be accounted the son of
King Celeus of Eleusis in Attica, or, according to the
Pseudo-Apollodorus (Bibliotheca I.V.2), the son of Gaia
and Oceanusanother way of saying he was primordial Porphyry (On Abstinence IV.22) ascribes to Triptolemus
man.
three commandments for a simple, pious life: Honor
your parents, Honor the gods with fruitsfor the
Greeks, fruits would include the grainand Spare the
animals (Kerenyi, p128).
1 Mythology
Triptolemus is also depicted as a young man with a branch
or diadem placed in his hair, usually sitting on his winged
chariot, adorned with serpents. His attributes include a
plate of grain, a pair of wheat or barley ears and a scepter.
While Demeter (in the guise of an old woman named

Doso) was searching for her daughter Persephone,
who had been abducted by Hades, she received a
hospitable welcome from Celeus. He asked her to
nurse Demophon"killer of men, a counterpart to
Triptolemus and Triptolemus, his sons by Metanira.
Celeus or the peasant Dysaules may be substituted for

Triptolemus as the primordial Eleusinian recipient of the
3 SEE ALSO
rst gifts of the Mysteries.
References
[1] William Godwin (1876). Lives of the Necromancers.

p. 37.
Kerenyi, Karl, 1967. Eleusis: Aretypal Image of

Mother and Daughter (Princeton:Bollingen Series
LXV.4)
See also
Indra
Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses
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Who is Triptolemus and what is his role in Greek mythology?

What did Demeter teach Triptolemus?

Triptolemus

For the moth, see Hemeroplanes triptolemus.

Triptolemus standing between Demeter and Kore, relief from the

lit. threefold warrior"; also known as Buzyges), in

While Demeter (in the guise of an old woman named

Celeus or the peasant Dysaules may be substituted for

rst gifts of the Mysteries.

[1] William Godwin (1876). Lives of the Necromancers.

Kerenyi, Karl, 1967. Eleusis: Aretypal Image of

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

Triptolemus Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triptolemus?oldid=655749945 Contributors: Kpjas, Bryan Derksen, Jan Hidders,

File:Commons-logo.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg License: ? Contributors: ? Original

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0

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