These poems were recited at rhapsodic contests together with those of Homer and Hesiod, and Orphic hymns were used in the Eleusinian mysteries.'
The architect was Mnesicles; the material Pentelic marble, with Eleusinian blackstone for dados and other details.
Demeter and Proserpine were worshipped together by the Athenians at the greater and less Eleusinian festivals, held in autumn and spring respectively.
In the Eleusinian mysteries Proserpine no doubt played an important part.
The frieze consisted of white marble figures in relief, affixed to a background of black Eleusinian stone.