a city of Attica, four leagues from Athens, and close to the shore opposite the island of Salamis. Like most of the other cities of Greece, its origin is ascribed to various fabulous characters, and, among these, to Ogyges; a circumstance which at least proves it to be of the highest antiquity. In the earlier period of its history it seems to have been an independent state, and was even so powerful as to contest with Athens itself the palm of superiority. A considerable portion of its small territory was occupied by the plains of Thria, remarkable for their fertility, though the hopes of the husbandmen were not unfrequently disappointed, from the blight of the south wind. To the west was the Campus Rhaeum, where Ceres is said to have sown the first seeds of corn; and on its confines was the field called Orgas, planted with trees consecrated to Ceres and Proserpine. The temple of Eleusis, sacred to Ceres and her daughter, was considered as one of the most beautiful productions of the genius of Greece; it is said to have been founded by Pandion II., and Clemens Alexandrinus places it even 120 years earlier, in the reign of Lyceus. Its position and riches naturally exposed it to the attacks of the enemies of Attica, and though defended by a strong fortress, it was seldom able to make any lengthened resistance. Cleomenes, king of Sparta, dared to violate its sacred precincts; but if we may believe the statements of the Athenians, he was soon overtaken by the just vengeance of the gods, and seized with a sudden fit of madness. The Persians burnt it to the ground after the battle of Platæa; but scarcely had they evacuated the confines of Greece, when the Athenians determined to rebuild it with even more than its original magnificence. Ictinus, the architect of the Parthenon, was ordered to draw up the plan of the new edifice. He adopted the Doric order of architecture, without the erection of pillars in front of the building. We know not whether he lived long enough to carry his plan into execution; but it was during the splendid administration of Pericles, and under the cultivated taste of Phidias, that the temple of Eleusis was completed in all its magnificence. The mystic cell was begun by Coroebus, but he lived only to finish the lower row of columns, with their architraves. Metagenes, of the district of Xypete, added the rest of the entablature and the upper row of columns. Xenocles of Cholargus built the dome on the top. A portico was long afterwards added by Demetrius Eleuther, Phalereus, who employed for that purpose the architect Philo. This magnificent structure continued to exist for many centuries, till the destructive hordes of Alaric completed its overthrow in the year 396. The city immediately disappeared on the destruction of the temple, which had been its ornament and principal support; and upon the site nothing is now found but a miserable village called Lessina, amidst the ruins of the sacred edifice. But the coins of Eleusis are still common, and represent Ceres drawn by dragons or serpents. The inscription is EAETZI, or RAET, within a wreath of ears of corn.