Music played an essential role in the performance of the Greater Mysteries. Hymns were an appropriate means of instilling religious enthusiasm in the mystai. During the procession that brought the sacred objects of Demeter from Athens to Eleusis, the participants sang hymns and danced at specific points along the way. The procession's arrival to the sanctuary was celebrated with dances and hymns accompanied by the flute. It is also possible that music played a role in the Telesterion on the two nights of the revelation of the Mysteries. The hierophant, however, had to have a good voice when he began to sing, following the tradition of the mythical founder of the genos of the Eumolpidae, Eumolpus. Therefore, there were certain officials in charge of performing the sacred music. The principal was hieraules, who played the flute and had under his supervision the hymnodoi (also referred to as hymnagogoi) and the hymnetriai. The hymnodoi seem to have come from the genos of Kerykes.

Pyre Γ. Black-figure lekythos [musician], ca. 500-480 BCE, Konstantina Kokkou-Vyridi, photograph, Εν Αθήναις Αρχαιολογική Εταιρεία © Η εν Αθήναις Αρχαιολογική Εταιρεία

Pyre B. Blac-figure censer [kitharode?], Konstantina Kokkou-Vyridi, photograph, Εν Αθήναις Αρχαιολογική Εταιρεία  © Η εν Αθήναις Αρχαιολογική Εταιρεία