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Triptolemus /ˌtrɪpˈtɒlɪməs/ (Template:Lang-el), also known as Buzyges (Template:Lang-el), was a hero in Greek mythology, central to the Eleusinian Mysteries. Triptolemus' parentage is debated across sources

He was either a mortal prince and the eldest son of King Celeus of Eleusis and Metanira, or according to [Psuedo-]Apollodorus, Panyasis believed he was the son of Eleusis while Pherecydes believed he was the son of the divine son of Gaia and Oceanus (Ocean and Earth).

or the grandson of Hermes through Eleusis (cite).

He was the ancestor to a royal priestly caste of the Eleusinian Mysteries, who claimed to be Buzygae (Βουζύγαι), that taught agriculture and performed secret rites and rituals, of which Pericles was its most famous descendant.

Mythology

The Abduction of Persephone (rename section)

While Demeter, in the guise of an old woman named Doso, was searching for her daughter Persephone (Kore), who had been abducted by Hades (Pluto), she received a hospitable welcome from Celeus. He asked her to nurse Demophon—"killer of men", a counterpart to Triptolemus— and Triptolemus, his sons by Metanira.

Demeter saw Triptolemus was sick and fed him her breast milk and placed him under the hot coals of a fire. Not only did this recover his strength but he grew instantly into manhood.

As a gift to Celeus, in gratitude for his hospitality, Demeter secretly planned to make Demophon immortal by placing him in the flames of the hearth to strip him of his mortal flesh. With each day Demophon grew but she was unable to complete the ritual because she was discovered burying the babe in the fire. Instead, Demeter gifted Triptolemus a chariot drawn by winged dragons and wheat, representative of the gift of agriculture. Demeter taught Triptolemus the art of agriculture and shared with him how to conduct her rites and taught him her mysteries. From Triptolemus, the rest of Greece learned to plant and reap crops as he flew across the land on his chariot wafting the wheat through the air to sow crops across the inhabitied earth. Demeter and Persephone, once restored to her mother, cared for him, and helped him complete his mission of educating the whole of Greece in the art of agriculture. (cite)

In the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, Triptolemus is not a son of Celeus and Metanira but rather known as a king who serves justice, and Demeter is asked to nurse their only son Demophon. Rather than nurse Demophon, Demeter anoints him with ambrosia, the food of the gods, breathes on him gently while holding him to her chest, and places him within the flames of fire during the night, all in an effort to make him immortal. Demeter is foiled in her plan in this retelling as well.

Triptolemus was equally associated with the bestowal of hope for the afterlife associated with the expansion of the Eleusinian Mysteries (Kerenyi 1967 p 123).

Adventures of the hero (weird section; where did this information come from)

When Triptolemus taught King Lyncus of the Scythians, the arts of agriculture, Lyncus refused to teach it to his people and then tried to murder Triptolemus. As punishment, Demeter turned Lyncus into a lynx. King Charnabon of the Getae also made an attempt on Triptolemus' life, killing one of his dragons to prevent his escape. Demeter intervened again, replacing the dragon and condemning Charnabon to a life of torment. Upon his death, Charnabon was placed in the stars as the constellation Ophiuchus, said to resemble a man trying to kill a serpent, as a warning to mortals who would think to betray those favoured by the gods.

Triptolemus on a 2nd-century Roman sarcophagus (Louvre Museum).

Eleusinian Mysteries

In the archaic Homeric Hymn to Demeter, Triptolemus is briefly mentioned as one of the original priests of Demeter, one of the first men to learn the secret rites and mysteries of Eleusinian Mysteries: Diocles, Eumolpos, Celeus and Polyxeinus were the others mentioned of the first priests.

The role of Triptolemus in the Eleusinian mysteries was exactly defined: "he had a cult of his own, apart from the Mysteries. One entered his temple on the way to the closed-off sacred precinct, before coming to the former Hekataion, the temple of Artemis outside the great Propylaia" (Kerenyi). In the 5th-century bas-relief in the National Museum, Athens (illustration), which probably came from his temple, the boy Triptolemus stands between the two Goddesses, Demeter and the Kore, and receives from Demeter the ear of grain (of gold, now lost).

Porphyry (On Abstinence IV.22) ascribes to Triptolemus three commandments for a simple, pious life: "Honor your parents", "Honor the gods with fruits"—for the Greeks, "fruits" would include the grain—and "Spare the animals" (Kerenyi, p128).

Triptolemus is also depicted as a young man with a branch or diadem placed in his hair, usually sitting on his chariot, adorned with serpents. His attributes include a plate of grain, a pair of wheat or barley ears and a scepter.

Celeus or the peasant Dysaules may be substituted for Triptolemus as the primordial Eleusinian recipient of the first gifts of the Mysteries.