Diotima and Demeter as Mystagogues in Plato's Symposium

@article{Evans2006DiotimaAD,
  title={Diotima and Demeter as Mystagogues in Plato's Symposium},
  author={Nancy A. Evans},
  journal={Hypatia},
  year={2006},
  volume={21},
  pages={1 - 27}
}
Like the goddess Demeter, Diotima from Mantineia, the prophetess who teaches Socrates about eros and the “rites of love” in Plato's Symposium, was a mystagogue who initiated individuals into her mysteries, mediating to humans esoteric knowledge of the divine. The dialogue, including Diotima's speech, contains religious and mystical language, some of which specifically evokes the female-centered yearly celebrations of Demeter at Eleusis. In this essay, I contextualize the worship of Demeter… 
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