UpDate - Vol. 12, No. 13, Page 3                       
December 3, 1992                                       
English and art; Jackson, Sasowsky collaborate on Eleusinian mysteries
                                                       
     Modern science may give us a complicated explanation for why the
seasons change, but the ancient Greeks knew better: They knew that
when summer gave way to fall, Persephone had been swept into Hades.
     Upon her daughter's kidnapping, Demeter-a vengeful goddess of
vegetation-plunged Earth into the desolation of winter, the Greeks
believed. When her daughter was freed, Demeter once again allowed the
corn to grow-and spring was born.                            
     This explanation of nature's regenerative way was the basis for
secret ceremonies thousands of Greeks performed until the 4th Century.
Assembling in Athens, the believers traveled 14 miles to Eleusis, 
where they sang, danced and performed untold rituals for nine
days--all in deference to their goddesses, explained Fleda Jackson, a
professor of English, and Norman Sasowsky, a professor of art.
     Jackson and Sasowsky said the rituals, known as the Eleusinian
mysteries, were "the best-kept secret of the ancient world." 
Participants who discussed the ceremonies were killed, they said. 
     Today, fortunately, things are a bit different. Science tells us
that the seasons change for other reasons, and citizens are free to
talk about what interests them. For Jackson and Sasowsky, it is the
Eleusinian mysteries.                                        
     Last spring, the professors embarked on a collaborative effort.
Inspired by the story of Demeter and Persephone, and other stories of
rebirth, the pair intended to create a "loosely connected series of
poems and images based on the few available facts about the mysteries
at Eleusis."                                                 
     During the summer, Jackson devised dozens of literary approaches
to the rituals, which had been documented in some anthropologic
research, while Sasowsky etched scores of images of Demeter and
Persephone's dramatic tale. This fall, their work has come to
fruition.                                                    
     Collected in a limited-edition manuscript, a series of 11 long
poems by Jackson and 10 drawings by Sasowsky tell a narrative about
the Eleusinian mysteries.                                    
     The poems begin with the introduction of Cleo, a priestess who
participates in the rituals. Cleo cries out at the loss of her own
daughter, while contemplating Demeter's loss of Persephone.  
     As the nine days of the mysteries pass, Cleo moves from her home
in Agrae-"so close to Athens that when the sun goes down, the city
seems to rise in front of me"-to Eleusis and back to Athens. She also
moves from being consumed with grief to surrendering her sorrow.
     Essentially, Cleo herself is reborn through the mysteries at 
Eleusis. Through her participation in rituals and her account of them,
she purges herself of grief and self-pity.                   
     Of the character, who reenters Athens joking and content, Jackson
said, "She's brought back the knowledge that, in order to be filled, a
person has to empty herself."                                
     Sasowsky's art, meanwhile, focuses on the Demeter and Persephone
myth.                                                        
     Starting with a portrait of Cleo, the images next depict Demeter
and the abduction of Persephone. Demeter's search for her daughter is
followed by Persephone's return and the mother and daughter's reunion.
The final image shows the world in bloom as the two are rejoined. 
     Sasowsky said the images are secondary to the poems in giving "a
voice" to the collection, but Jackson disagrees. "I think the images
could stand alone with incredible power," she said.          
     Both professors said the combination of words and images offered
a far more powerful rendering of the Eleusinian mysteries than either
medium could provide alone. The juxtaposition of a man's view of the
myth with a woman's view of the related rituals yielded its own rich
harvest, they said.                                          
                                        -Steven Steenkamer