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The mocking of Ceres The British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum -
Landscape with Cyane handing out the scarf left by Proserpine in her pool to Ceres in tears. Léon Davent The British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum -
Landscape with Ceres sitting among ruins and being offered a drink by an old woman accompanied by her son Léon Davent The British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum -
The Abduction of Proserpina; Ceres is below, in a field, with arms outstretched Johann Wilhelm Baur The British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum
The narrative of Demeter’s journey to Eleusis, as described in ancient mythology, raises an intriguing question about her first resting place in her search for Persephone. While the Homeric Hymn describes Demeter finding solace under an olive tree next to the sacred Kallichoron well, Apollodorus, a second-century BCE writer, offers a different account. He mentions that Demeter paused at a stone called “agelastos”, meaning ‘unsmiling’ or ‘unlaughing’, near the Kallichoron, a name reflecting her profound grief over Persephone’s disappearance.
Determining the precise location of this stone, however, remains elusive in ancient sources. Pausanias, the ancient traveller, makes no mention of it, which might suggest its location within the forbidden confines of the sacred enclosure, as Pausanias respectfully omitted details about it. A noticeable irregular protrusion along the ceremonial path from the Lesser Propylaea to the Telesterion hints at a possible location for the Agelastos stone. This natural feature in the landscape, conspicuously preserved, could have been a point of reference for pilgrims en route to the temple complex. Directly opposite this site, a carved platform on the rock seems to corroborate this theory. It is plausible that this spot was utilised by mystai to observe rituals symbolising Demeter’s arrival and first moments in Eleusis.
