Beyond Mysteries: the Local World of Ancient Eleusis

Situated at the crossroads between Athens, Boiotia, Megara, and Salamis, Eleusis was exposed to the changing fortunes in a connected world. From the Athenian perspective, Eleusis marked the fringes of their territory. From everybody else’s point of view, it was a destination or a gateway: to Athens, the Saronic region and the Aegean, Central Greece, or the Peloponnese. In the midst of these itineraries, the Eleusinians had their own ideas about the world writ-large. This volume delves into the local horizon of the site, its agents and stakeholders, the stories that moved them, and the places where interactions took place.

Hans Beck is Professor and Chair of Greek History at the University of Münster. He has published widely on local constellations in Central Greece and the Peloponnese, including Localism and the Ancient Greek City-State (Chicago, 2020). He is the recipient of the Anneliese Maier Research Prize and an Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.Sebastian Scharff holds a postdoctoral research fellowship in the Department of Humanities at the University of Trento. He has published extensively on Greek religion, interstate relations and ancient athletics, including Eid und Außenpolitik (Steiner, 2016) and Hellenistic Athletes (CUP, 2024).