Kykeon -- Ancient History Encyclopedia

Definition

Kykeon (from the Greek “to mix, stir”) was a beverage of water and barley (sometimes flavored with mint or thyme) popular among the working, 'lower’ class of ancient Greece. In Homer’s Illiad it is described as a mixture of water, barley, herbs and ground goat cheese (Book XI) and the drink is also mentioned in the Odyssey Book X when the sorceress Circe uses it, mixed with honey, to make her potion.

Kykeon is most famous for its use in the Rites of Demeter at the city of Eleusis where it was used by initiates to experience the mystery of death and rebirth in the ritual which has come to be known as The Eleusinian Mysteries. This mixture, however, differed significantly from the common drink in that it had psychoactive properties, most likely caused by the fungus Ergot on the barley gathered around Eleusis, which allowed participants in the Mysteries to reach a fuller understanding of their purpose in life and to shed their fear of death(as testimonials from ancient writers who participated in the Mysteries attest).

In the time of the Roman Empire Kykeon was still a popular drink made from water, wine, honey and barley with various herbs added to individual taste.

Written by Joshua J. Mark, published on 02 September 2009 under the following license: Creative Commons: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike. This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon this content non-commercially, as long as they credit the author and license their new creations under the identical terms.

Donate and help us!

We're a non-profit organisation and we need your help! This website costs money and research material isn't cheap either. We are supported only by our donors. Please consider donating; even small amounts help. Thank you!