[6] Triptolemus is depicted as a young man with a branch or diadem placed in his hair, usually sitting on his chariot, adorned with serpents.

While Demeter, in the guise of an old woman[8] named Doso,[9] was searching for her daughter Persephone (Kore), who had been abducted by Hades (Pluto),[10] she received a hospitable welcome from Celeus, the King of Eleusis.

[11] 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.

[16] 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.

[17] Triptolemus traveled to Scythia on his dragon drawn chariot to teach King Lyncus and the Scythians the art of agriculture.

[20] Triptolemus shared with him cultivated corn and taught him how to found a city, which Eumelus named Aroe from the tilling of soil or fertile land.

[21]The Eleusinian Mysteries were initiations held every year for the cult of Demeter and Persephone based at the Panhellenic Sanctuary of Eleusis in ancient Greece.

[14] According to Xenophon, Triptolemus first shares the rites of Demeter and Persephone with Heracles, the traditional ancestor of the Spartan kings, and the Dioscuri, twin deities Castor and Pollux.

[23] Triptolemus' role at Eleusis is unique as he was one of the first men to learn the mystic rites and was a pupil of Demeter who was charged with bringing agriculture to humankind.

Triptolemus was said to be 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.