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Bell Krater: Bouzyges and the plow The Hephaistos Painter Harvard Art Museums © President and Fellows of Harvard College -
Triptolemus seated in winged chariot in the sanctuary of Eleusinium Alexis Louis Pierre Housselin The New York Public Library © The New York Public Library -
The story of Triptolemus Kunsthistorisches Museum ©KHM-Museumsverband -
Triptolemos (detail) (3/3) Berlin painter Badisches Landesmuseum, Karlsruhe © Badisches Landesmuseum -
The Thriasian Plain and Eleusis on the bay, E.S.E. from Mandra toward Athens, Greece. Underwood & Underwood Library of Congress © Library of Congress -
Chinese plate. A chariot with Roman deities (The scene on this plate, emblematic of Earth, derives from a series of popular prints depicting the four elements of earth, air, fire and water. The prints are themselves based on paintings by Francesco Albani The Philadelphia Museum of Art © The Philadelphia Museum of Art -
Triptolemus as ploughman O. Rubensohn Universität Heidelberg © Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg / Public Domain -
Triptolemos, Demeter and Core (or Persephone?) The Villa Giulia Painter The British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum -
View of the Bay of Eleusis from the hill which divides the Thriasian plain from that of Megara The British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum -
Red-figured hydria. The sending of Triptolemos [Pluto]. The Painter of London E183 The British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum -
Ceres, holding a scythe and reclining against a tree, with harvesting scene in background. Anonymous The British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum -
King Lyncus, stopped by Ceres as he was trying to murder Triptolemus. Sébastien Leclerc I The British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum -
Frieze-like composition with Ceres walking behind a plough drawn by a goat and sowing seeds. Pierre Brebiette The British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum -
Ceres, sitting on bundle of straw with two putti at her side, while others are harvesting a field in the background Pierre Parrocel The British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum -
Ceres and Erysichthon. Ceres seated in her chariot, gesturing towards Fames, seated naked on the ground to right; with Fames appearing in Erysichthon's bed chamber behind to left. Antonio Tempesta The British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum -
Ceres in a chariot drawn by a dragon, handing a scroll inscribed 'Compleat Body of Husbandry' to a farmer who drives a horse-drawn plough Benjamin Cole The British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum -
A forest with Pluto in his chariot, abducting Proserpine and taking her away from her companions Léon Davent The British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum -
Allegory of the Earth, with Ceres nourishing Triptolemus Charles-Josephe Natoire Musée du Louvre © RMN-Grand Palais (Musée du Louvre) - Thierry Le Mage
Travelling from Athens to Eleusis, one encounters the Thriasian plain on the Sacred Way’s right side. Encircled by Cithaeron to the north, Mount Egaleo to the east, Mount Pateras to the west, and Mount Parnitha to the northeast, the plain is traversed coastally by the Sacred Way along the Eleusis gulf. This primary route linking Athens to the Thriasian plain gave rise to the term “Thriasiai Pylai” (Thriasian Gates) for Dipylon, the Sacred Way’s commencement point in Kerameikos.
The plain, rich in agriculture with abundant grain, vineyards, and olive groves, benefited from the waters of the Eleusinian Cephissus. Its agricultural significance is mirrored in mythology, crediting Demeter with introducing agriculture here first.
Mythology also informs the name “Thriasic plain”. One narrative attributes it to the Thriae, winged nymphs skilled in divination using pebbles (thriae) in water, from whom Athena learned the art, inciting Apollo’s wrath. In response to this rivalry, Zeus affirmed Apollo’s sole right to divination. Agitated by this decision, Athena dispersed the pebbles across the plain. Another story traces the name to the fig leaf (thrion), rooted in the legend that Demeter gifted the first Attican fig tree to Phytalus in gratitude for his hospitality. A third interpretation links it to the hero Thriasios, venerated in the area as archaeological evidence in the east suggests.
The populous deme of Thria, encompassing the Thriasian plain’s eastern portion, remains an enigma in terms of its precise location. Aspropyrgos is hypothesised as its centre, though this is uncertain. Thria’s boundaries included the Rheitoi lakes, exclusive suppliers of fish and eels to Demeter’s priests, and were demarcated by the temples of Apollo Daphnephoros and Aphrodite on the border with the Hermos deme.
Agricultural activities on the Thriasian plain continued unabated until the early 20th century. However, the onset of industrialization and the establishment of Elefsina’s military airport transformed the region significantly.
