EUMOLPUS. The priestly clan of the Eumolpidae at Eleu sis (see MYSTERY) claimed descent from a certain Eumolpus ("good or strong singer;" i.e., priest who can chant his litanies clearly and well), an obvious personification of their hereditary functions. As might be expected in the case of so shadowy a figure, his legend fluctuates greatly, so much so that three Eumolpi have been assumed, quite unnecessarily, however. (I) Being a "sweet singer," he is naturally connected with Thrace, the coun try of Orpheus (q.v.). He is son of Poseidon and Chione ("Snow girl"), daughter of Boreas; after sundry adventures he becomes king in Thrace, is invited to help the Eleusinians in their war with Erechtheus (q.v.), and is killed in the war. (2) As one of the originators of the Eleusinian mysteries, he is an Eleusinian, a son of Earth, father of Kerux, the mythical ancestor of the Kerukes (see MYSTERY), taught the mysteries by Demeter her self. (3) Since Orpheus and all his following were closely con nected with mysteries of all sorts, Eumolpus is son, father or pupil of Musaeus. Further confusion is introduced by his being sometimes called son, not father, of Kerux, possibly a reflection of some old dispute over precedence between the two clans. As a priest, he purifies Heracles from the blood of the Centaurs, and also initiates him; as connected with the Orphic circle, he is a culture-hero, maker of various advances in the useful and fine arts. His tomb was shown both at Eleusis and in Athens.
See Engelmann in Roscher's Lexikon s.v. (authorities) . EUNAPIUS, Greek sophist and historian, was born at Sardis, A.D. 347. At Athens he became a favourite pupil of Proaeresius the rhetorician, and later taught rhetoric. Initiated into the Eleu sinian mysteries, he was admitted into the college of the Eumol pidae and became hierophant. He was the author of Lives of the Sophists (Bloc ciLXovo4)cov Kai o'oOtarwv), still extant, and a con tinuation of the history of Dexippus (q.v.). Of the latter only excerpts remain, but the facts are largely incorporated in the work of Zosimus. It embraced the history of events from A.D 270-404. The Lives of the Sophists is valuable as the only source for the history of contemporary neo-Platonism. Both works are marked by hostility to Christianity.