,transcriber's ,note ,superscript text is indicated by caret signs1 e4g4 ,mt ,pelion4 ,the text includes diacritics which may not display well in all software1 e4g4 the inverted breve in 4 ,,modern ,,greek ,,folklore ,,and ,,ancient ,,greek ,,religion ,,cambridge ,,university ,,press ,london3 ,,fetter ,,lane1 ,e4,c4 ,c4 ,f4 ,,clay1 ,,manager ,illustration ,edinburgh3 #ajj1 ,,princes ,,street ,berlin3 ,a4 ,,asher ,,and ,,co4 ,leipzig3 ,f4 ,a4 ,,brockhaus ,new ,york3 ,g4 ,p4 ,,putnam',s ,,sons ,bombay and ,calcutta3 ,,macmillan ,,and ,,co41 ,,ltd4 ,all rights reserved ,,modern ,,greek ,,folklore ,,and ,,ancient ,,greek ,,religion ,a ,,study ,,in ,,survivals ,,by ,,john ,,cuthbert ,,lawson1 ,m4,a4 ,,fellow ,,and ,,lecturer ,,of ,,pembroke ,,college1 ,,cambridge1 ,,formerly ,,craven ,,student ,,of ,,the ,,university ,cambridge3 at the ,university ,press #aiaj ,cambridge3 ,,printed ,,by ,,john ,,clay1 ,m4,a4 ,,at ,,the ,,university ,,press ,,piis ,,manibus ,,roberti ,,alexandri ,,neil ,,laborum ,,adhortante ,,ipso ,,susceptorum ,,hunc ,,dedicavi ,,fructum4 ,,preface4 ,this book is the outcome of work undertaken in ,greece during my two years' tenure of the ,craven ,studentship from #ahih to #aijj4 ,it is therefore my first duty gratefully to commemorate ,john1 ,lord ,craven1 to whose benefactions of two and a half centuries ago ,i owed my opportunity for research4 ,the scheme of work originally proposed was the investigation of the customs and superstitions of modern ,greece in their possible bearing upon the life and thought of ancient ,greece2 and to the ,managers of the ,craven ,fund at that time1 with whom was associated ,mr ,r4 ,a4 ,neil of ,pembroke ,college to whose memory ,i have dedicated this book1 ,i render hearty thanks for their willingness to encourage a venture new in direction1 vague in scope1 and possibly void of result4 ,the course of research proposed was one which required as the first condition of any success considerable readiness in speaking and understanding the popular language1 and to the attainment of this my first few months were necessarily devoted4 ,when once the ear has become accustomed to the modern pronunciation1 a knowledge of ancient ,greek makes for rapid progress2 and some three or four months spent chiefly in the cafs of small provincial towns rendered me fairly proficient in ordinary conversation4 ,subsequent practice enabled me also to follow conversations not intended for my ear2 and on more than one occasion ,i obtained from the talk of peasants thus overheard information which they might have been chary of imparting to a stranger4 ,the time at my disposal however1 after ,i had sufficiently mastered the language1 would have been far too short to allow of any complete enquiry into the beliefs and customs of the country1 had it not been for the existence of two books1 ,das ,volksleben der ,neugriechen und das ,hellenische ,alterthum by ,bernhard ,schmidt1 and by ,professor ,polites of ,athens ,university1 which at once supplied me with a working knowledge of the subject which ,i was studying and suggested certain directions in which further research might profitably be pursued4 ,my debt to these two books is repeatedly acknowledged in the following pages2 and if ,i have given references to ,schmidt's work more frequently than to that of ,polites1 my reason is not that ,i owe less to the latter1 but merely that the former is more generally accessible4 ,in pursuit of my task ,i followed no special system4 ,i have known of those who professed to obtain a complete knowledge of the folklore of a given village in the course of a few hours' visit1 and whose method was to provide themselves with an introduction to the schoolmaster1 who would generally be not even a native of the place1 and to read out to him a formidable questionnaire1 in the charitable and misplaced expectation that the answers given would be prompted not by courtesy and loquacity1 which are the attributes of most ,greeks1 but by veracity1 which is the attribute of few4 ,the formal interview with paper and pencil is in my opinion a mistake4 ,the #8educated' ,greek whose pose is to despise the traditions of the common-folk will discourse upon them no less tediously than inaccurately for the sake of having his vapourings put on record2 but the peasant who honestly believes the superstitions and scrupulously observes the customs of which he may happen to speak is silenced at once by the sight of a note-book4 ,apart however from this objection to being interviewed1 the countryfolk are in general communicative enough4 ,they do not indeed expect to be plied with questions until their own curiosity concerning the new-comer has been satisfied1 and even then any questions on uncanny subjects must be discreetly introduced4 ,but it is no difficult matter to start some suitable topic4 ,a wedding1 a funeral1 or some local fte perhaps is in progress1 and your host is eager to have the distinction of escorting you to it and explaining all the customs appropriate to the occasion4 ,you have been taken to see the village-church1 and some offering there dedicated1 to which you call attention1 elicits the story of some supernatural #8seizure' and miraculous cure4 ,you express a desire to visit some cave which you have observed in the mountain-side1 and the dissuasion and excuses which follow form the prelude to an account of the fearful beings by whom it is haunted4 ,your guide crosses himself or spits before fording a stream1 and you enquire1 once safely across1 what is the particular danger at this spot4 ,your mule perhaps rolls with your baggage in the same stream1 and the muleteer's imprecations suggest luridly novel conceptions of the future life4 ,much also may be effected by playing upon patriotism or vanity or1 let it be confessed1 love of lucre4 ,you relate some story heard in a neighbouring village or praise some custom there observed1 and the peasant's parochial patriotism is up in arms to prove the superiority of his native hamlet4 ,you show perhaps some signs of incredulity 7but not until your informant is well launched upon his panegyric71 and his wounded pride bids him call in his neighbours to corroborate his story4 ,or again you may hint at a little largesse1 not of course for your host--only witches and the professional reciters of folk-tales and ballads are entitled to a fee--but on behalf of his children1 and he may pardon and satisfy what might otherwise have seemed too inquisitive a curiosity4 ,such are the folk to whom ,i am most beholden1 and how shall ,i fitly acknowledge my debt to them8 ,their very names maybe were unknown to me even then1 or at the most a #8,john' or #8,george' sufficed2 and they in turn knew not that ,i was in their debt4 ,you1 muleteers and boatmen1 who drove shrewd bargains for your services and gave unwittingly so much beside1 and you too1 cottagers1 who gave a night's lodging to a stranger and never guessed that your chatter was more prized than your shelter1 how shall ,i thank you8 ,not severally1 for ,i cannot write nor could you ever read the list of acknowledgements due2 but to you all1 ,georges and ,johns1 ,demetris and ,constantines1 and rare anachronistic ,epaminondases1 in memory of services rendered unawares1 greeting from afar and true gratitude6 ,nor must ,i omit to mention the assistance which ,i have derived from written sources4 ,in recent times it has been a favourite amusement with ,greeks of some education to compile little histories of the particular district or island in which they live1 and many of these contain a chapter devoted to the customs and superstitions of the locality4 ,from these1 as also from the records of travel in ,greece1 particularly those of ,french writers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries1 ,i have culled much that is valuable4 ,nearly ten years have passed since my return from ,greece1 and such leisure as they have allowed has been devoted to co-ordinating the piecemeal information which ,i personally obtained or have gathered from the writings of others1 and to examining its bearing upon the life and thought of ,ancient ,greece4 ,in the former half of this task ,i have but followed in the steps of ,bernhard ,schmidt and of ,polites1 who had already presented a coherent1 if still incomplete1 account of the folklore of ,modern ,greece1 and my work has been mainly to check1 to correct1 and to amplify2 but for the latter half ,i would ask the indulgent consideration which may fairly be extended to a pioneer4 ,analogies and coincidences in the beliefs and customs of modern and of ancient ,greece have indeed been pointed out by others2 but no large attempt has previously been made to trace the continuity of the life and thought of the ,greek people1 and to exhibit modern ,greek folklore as an essential factor in the interpretation of ancient ,greek religion4 ,it is my hope that this book will prove interesting not to ,greek scholars only1 but to readers who have little or no acquaintance with ,greek4 ,all quotations whether from the ancient or modern language are translated1 and references to ancient and modern writers are distinguished by the use of the ordinary ,latinised names and titles in the case of the former1 and the retention of the ,greek character for denoting the latter4 ,as regards the transliteration of modern ,greek words1 ,i have made no attempt to represent the exact sound1 except to indicate in some words the accented syllable and to make the obvious substitution of the ,english v for the ,greek 2 but to replace by gh and by dh1 as is sometimes done1 gives to words an uncouth appearance without assisting the majority of readers in their pronunciation4 ,it remains only to express my thanks to the reviser of my proofs1 ,mr ,w4 ,s4 ,hadley of ,pembroke ,college1 but these are the hardest to express adequately4 ,i was conscious of making no small demand on the kindness of the ,tutor of a large ,college when ,i asked him to do me this service2 and ,i am conscious now that any words in acknowledgement of his kindness are a poor expression of my gratitude for the generous measure of time and of trouble which he has expended on each page4 ,lastly ,i would thank the ,syndics of the ,university ,press for their willingness to undertake the publication of this book1 and the staff of the ,press for their unfailing courtesy in the course of its preparation4 ,j4 ,c4 ,l4 ,,pembroke ,,college1 ,,cambridge1 ,december #ca1 #aiji4 ,,table ,,of ,,contents4 ,,page ,,preface vii-x ,,chapter ,i4 ,,introductory4 #a4 ,modern ,folklore as a source for the study of ,ancient ,religion #a-g #b4 ,the survival of ,ancient ,tradition #h-be #c4 ,the survival of ,hellenic ,tradition #be-cf #d4 ,the survival of ,pagan ,tradition #cf-fd ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,,the ,,survival ,,of ,,pagan ,,deities4 #a4 ,the ,range of ,modern ,polytheism #fe-ga #b4 ,zeus #gb-gd #c4 ,poseidon #ge-gg #d4 ,pan #gg-gi #e4 ,demeter and ,persephone #gi-ih #f4 ,charon #ih-aag #g4 ,aphrodite and ,eros #aag-abj #h4 ,the ,fates #aba-acj #i4 ,the ,nymphs #acj-afb #aj4 ,the ,queens of the ,nymphs #afb-agc #aa4 ,lamiae1 ,gelloudes1 and ,striges #agc-ahd #ab4 ,gorgons #ahd-aij #ac4 ,the ,centaurs #aij-bee #ad4 ,genii #bee-bia ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,,the ,,communion ,,of ,,gods ,,and ,,men4 #bib-cfj ,,chapter ,,iv4 ,,the ,,relation ,,of ,,soul ,,and ,,body4 #a4 ,the ,modern ,greek ,vampire #cfa-cgf #b4 ,the ,composition of the ,superstition3 ,slavonic1 ,ecclesiastical1 and ,hellenic ,contributions #cgf-dab #c4 ,revenants in ,ancient ,greece #dab-dcd #d4 ,revenants as ,avengers of ,blood #dcd-dhd ,,chapter ,v4 ,,cremation ,,and ,,inhumation #dhe-ead ,,chapter ,,vi4 ,,the ,,benefit ,,of ,,dissolution #eae-edb ,,chapter ,,vii4 ,,the ,,union ,,of ,,gods ,,and ,,men #edc-fjf ,,general ,,index #fjg-fag ,,index ,,of ,,greek ,,words ,,and ,,phrases #fah-fbj ,,chapter ,i4 ,,introductory4 #a4 ,,modern ,,folklore ,,as ,a ,,source ,,for ,,the ,,study ,,of ,,ancient ,,religion4 ,the sources of information most obviously open to the student of ancient ,greek religion are the ,art and the ,literature of ancient ,greece2 and the idea that modern ,greece can have any teaching to impart concerning the beliefs of more than two thousand years ago seems seldom to have been entertained4 ,just as we speak of ancient ,greek as a dead language1 and too often forget that many of the words and inflexions in popular use at the present day are identical with those of the classical period and even of the ,homeric age1 while many others1 no longer identical1 have suffered only a slight modification1 so are we apt to think of ,greek paganism as a dead religion1 and do not enquire whether the beliefs and customs of the modern peasant may not be a direct heritage from his classical forefathers4 ,and yet1 if any such heritage exist1 there is clearly a fresh source of knowledge open to us1 from which to supplement and to correct the lessons of ,art and ,literature4 ,art1 by its very nature1 serves rather as illustration than as proof of any theory of ancient religion4 ,sculpture has preserved to us the old conceptions of the divine personalities4 ,vase-paintings record many acts of ritual and scenes of worship4 ,architectural remains allow us to restore in imagination the grandeur of holy places4 ,but these things are only the externals of religion3 they need an interpreter1 if we would understand the spirit which informed them3 and however able the interpreter1 the material with which he deals is so small a remnant of the treasures of ancient art1 that from day to day some fresh discovery may subvert his precariously founded theories4 ,though all would acknowledge how fruitful in religious suggestion the evidence of art has proved when handled by competent critics1 none would claim that that evidence either in its scope1 which the losses of time have limited1 or in its accuracy1 which depends upon conjectural interpretation1 is a complete or infallible guide to the knowledge of ancient religion4 ,from literature more might be expected1 and more indeed is forthcoming1 though not perhaps where the modern mind1 with its tendency to methodical analysis1 would look for it4 ,if anyone should attempt to classify ancient ,greek literature in modern fashion1 under the headings of religion1 science1 history1 drama1 and so forth1 he would remark one apparent deficiency4 ,while history1 philosophy1 and poetry of every kind are amply represented and1 however much has perished to be read no more1 the choicest blossoms and richest fruit of ,greek toil in these fields have been preserved to us1 religion seems at first sight to have been almost barren of literary produce4 ,the department of religion pure and simple would have little beyond an ,hesiodic ,theogony or some ,orphic ,hymns to exhibit1--and even these have little enough bearing upon real religion4 ,in short1 it is not on any special branch of ,greek literature1 but rather upon the whole bulk thereof1 that the student of ,greek religion must rely4 ,he must recognize that a religious spirit pervades the whole2 that there is hardly a book in the language but has some allusion to religious beliefs and customs1 to cults and ceremonies and divine personalities4 ,and while recognizing this1 he must still admit the fact that nowhere is there found any definite exposition of accepted beliefs as a whole1 any statement of doctrine1 any creed which except a man believe he cannot be saved4 ,how are we to reconcile these two facts1--the constant presence of religion in all ,greek literature1 and the almost total absence of any literature appertaining to religion only8 ,the answer to this question must be sought in the character of the religion itself4 ,greek religion differed from the chief now existing religions of the world in its origin and development4 ,it had no founder4 ,its sanction was not the ipse dixit of some inspired teacher4 ,it possessed nothing analogous to the ,gospel of ,jesus ,christ1 or the ,koran4 ,it was a free1 autochthonous growth1 evolved from the various hopes and fears of a whole people4 ,if we could catch a glimpse of it in its infancy1 we should probably deny to it the very name of religion1 and call it superstition or folklore4 ,great teachers indeed arose1 like ,orpheus1 advocating special doctrines and imposing upon their followers special rules of life4 ,great centres of religious influence were developed1 such as ,delphi1 exercising a general control over rites and ceremonies4 ,but no single preacher1 no priesthood1 succeeded in dominating over the free conscience of the people4 ,nothing was imposed by authority4 ,in belief and in worship each man was a law unto himself2 and so far as there were any accepted doctrines and established observances1 these were not the subtle inventions of professional theologians or an interested priesthood1 but were based upon the hereditary and innate convictions of the whole ,greek race4 ,the individual was free to believe what he would and what he could2 it was the general1 if vague1 consensus of the masses which constituted the real religion of ,greece4 ,the vox populi fully established itself as the vox dei4 ,again in this popular religion1 when it had emerged from its earliest and crudest form and had reached the definitely anthropomorphic stage in which we know it1 we can discern no trace of any tendency towards monotheism4 ,the idea of a single supreme deity1 personal or impersonal1 appealed only to some of the greatest thinkers3 the mass of the people remained frankly polytheistic4 ,for this reason the development of ,greek religion proceeded on very different lines from that of ,hebrew religion4 ,the earliest ,jewish conception of a ,god #8walking in the garden in the cool of the day' was certainly no less anthropomorphic than the ,homeric presentation of the ,olympian deities3 but the subsequent growth of ,judaism was like that of some tall straight palm tree lifting its head to purer air than is breathed by men2 whereas ,greek religion resembled rather the cedar spreading wide its branches nearer the earth4 ,the ,jew1 by concentrating in one unique being every transcendent quality and function1 exalted gradually his idea of godhead far above the anthropomorphic plane3 the ,greek multiplied his gods to be the several incarnations of passions and powers and activities pertaining also1 though in less fulness1 to mankind4 ,it is obvious that in point of simplicity and consistency the monotheistic system must prove superior4 ,as the worshipper's intellectual and spiritual capacities develop1 he discards the older and cruder notions in favour of a more enlightened ideal4 ,abraham's crude conception of the deity as a being to whom even human sacrifice would be acceptable was necessarily rejected by an humaner age to whom was delivered the message #8,i will have mercy and not sacrifice4' ,in the growth of ,greek polytheism1 on the contrary1 the new did not supersede the old1 but was superimposed upon it4 ,fresh conceptions were expressed by the creation or acceptance of fresh gods1 but the venerable embodiments of more primitive beliefs were not necessarily displaced by them4 ,the development of humaner ideas in one cult was no bar to the retention of barbarous rites by another4 ,the same deity under different titles of invocation 77 was invested with different and even conflicting characters3 and reversely the same religious idea found several expressions in the cults of widely different deities4 ,the forms of worship1 viewed in the mass1 were of an inconsistent and chaotic complexity4 ,human sacrifice1 we may be sure1 was a thing abhorrent to the majority of the cults of ,zeus3 yet ,lycaean ,zeus continued to exact his toll of human life down to the time of ,pausanias#a4 ,the worship of ,dionysus embodied something of the same religious spirit which pervaded the teachings of ,orpheus and the mysteries of ,demeter1 and came to be closely allied with them3 yet neither the austerity of ,orphism nor the real spirituality of the ,eleusinian cult succeeded in mitigating the wild orgies of the ,bacchant or in repressing the savage rite of omophagia in which drunken fanatics tore a bull to pieces with their teeth4 ,aphrodite was worshipped under two incompatible titles3 in the rle of the #8,heavenly' 771 says ,artemidorus#b1 she looks favourably upon marriage and childbirth and the home life1 while under her title of #8,popular' 77 she is hostile to the matron1 and patroness of laxer ties4 ,it is needless to multiply illustrations4 ,the forms in which the religious spirit of ,greece found embodiment are beyond question confused and mutually inconsistent4 ,the same religious idea might be expressed in so great a variety of rites1 and the same divine personality might be associated with so great a variety of ideas1 that no formal exposition of ,greek religion as a whole was possible4 ,the verbal limitations of a creed1 a summa theologiae1 would have been too narrow for the free1 imaginative faith of ,greece4 ,it was a necessary condition of ,hellenic polytheism that1 as it came into being without any personal founder1 without any authoritative sacred books1 so in its development it should be hampered and confined neither by priestcraft nor by any literature purely and distinctively religious4 ,the spirit which manifested itself in a myriad forms of worship could not brook the restraint of any one form of words4 ,and not only would it have been difficult to give adequate expression to the essential ideas of ,greek religion1 but there was no motive for attempting the task4 ,those of the philosophers who dealt with religion wrote and taught for the reason that they had some new idea1 some fresh doctrine1 to advance4 ,plato certainly abounds in references to the popular beliefs of his age3 but his object is not to expound them for their own sake3 rather he utilizes them as illustration and ornament of his own philosophical views3 his treatment of them in the main is artistic1 not scientific4 ,in fact there was no one interested in giving to popular beliefs an authoritative and dogmatic expression4 ,there was no hierarchy concerned to arrest the free progress of thought or to chain men's minds to the faith of their forefathers4 ,a summary of popular doctrines1 if it could have been written1 would have had no readers1 for the simple reason that the people felt their religion more truly and fully than the writer could express it3 and few men have the interests of posterity so largely at heart1 as to write what their own contemporaries will certainly not read4 ,thus it appears that there was neither motive nor means for treating the popular religion in literary form3 to formulate the common-folk's creed1 to analyse the common-folk's religion1 was a thing neither desired nor feasible4 ,but because we observe an almost total absence of distinctively religious literature1 we need not for that reason be surprised at the constant presence of religious feeling in all that a ,greek wrote or sang4 ,rather it was consistent with that freedom and that absence of all control and circumscription which we have noted1 that religion should pervade the whole life of the people1 whose hearts were its native soil1 and should consequently pervade also the literature in which their thoughts and doings are recorded4 ,for religion with them was not a single and separate department of their civilisation1 not an avocation from the ordinary pursuits of men1 but rather a spirit with which work and holiday1 gaiety and gloom1 were alike penetrated4 ,we should be misled by the modern devotion to dogma and definite formulae of faith1 were we to think that so vague a religion as ,greek polytheism was any the less an abiding force1 any the less capable of inspiring genuine enthusiasm and reverence4 ,it is not hard to imagine the worshipper animated for the time by one emotion only1 his mind void of all else and flooded with the one idea incarnate in the divine being at whose altar he sat in supplication4 ,it is impossible really to misdoubt the strength and the depth of ,greek religious sentiment1 however multifarious and even mutually contradictory its modes of display4 ,a nation who peopled sky and earth and sea with godlike forms2 who saw in every stream and glen and mountain-top its own haunting1 hallowing presence1 and1 ill-content that nature alone should do them honour1 sought out the loveliest hills and vales in all their lovely land to dedicate there the choicest of their art2 who consecrated with lavish love bronze and marble1 ivory and gold1 all the best that wealth could win and skill adorn1 in honour of the beings that were above man yet always with him1 majestic as ,zeus1 joyous as ,dionysus1 grave as ,demeter1 light as ,aphrodite1 yet all divine2 such a nation1 though it knew nought of inspired books and formulated creeds1 can be convicted of no shortcoming in real piety and devotion4 ,their gods were very near to those whom they favoured2 no communion or intercourse was beyond hope of attainment2 gods fought in men's battles1 guided men's wanderings1 dined at men's boards1 and took to themselves mortal consorts2 and when men grew degenerate and the race of heroes was no more1 gods still held speech with them in oracles4 ,religious hopes1 religious fears1 were the dominant motive of the people's whole life4 ,it was in religion that sculpture found its inspiration1 and its highest achievements were in pourtraying deities4 ,the theatre was a religious institution1 and on the stage1 without detriment to reverence1 figured the ,eumenides themselves4 ,religious duties were excuse enough for ,sparta to hang back from defending the freedom of ,greece4 ,religious scruples set enlightened ,athens in an uproar1 because a number of idols were decently mutilated4 ,religious fears cost her the loss of the proudest armament that ever sailed from her shores4 ,a charge of irreligion was pretext enough for condemning to death her noblest philosopher4 ,in everything1 great and small1 the pouring of libations at the feast1 the taking of omens before battle1 the consulting of the ,delphic oracle upon the most important or most trivial of occasions1 the same spirit is manifest4 ,religion used or abused1 piety or superstition1 was to the ,greeks an abiding motive and influence in all the affairs of life4 ,it is chiefly of these definite doings and customs that literature tells us1 just as art depicts the mise-en-scne of religion4 ,yet it would be inconceivable that a people who displayed so strong and so abundant a religious feeling in all the circumstances and tasks of life1 should not have pondered over the essential underlying questions of all religion1 the nature of the soul and the mystery of life and death4 ,literature tells us that to their poets and philosophers these problems did present themselves1 and many were the solutions which different thinkers propounded3 but of the general sense of the people in this respect1 of the fundamental beliefs which guided their conduct towards gods and men in this life and prompted their care for the dead1 literature furnishes no direct statement3 its evidence is fragmentary1 casual1 sporadic4 ,everywhere it displays the externals1 but it leaves the inner spirit veiled4 ,literature as well as art needs an interpreter4 ,it is precisely in this task of interpretation that the assistance offered by the folklore of ,modern ,greece should be sought4 ,it should be remembered that there is still living a people who1 as they have inherited the land and the language1 may also have inherited the beliefs and customs1 of those ancients whose mazes of religion are bewildering without a guide who knows them4 ,among that still living people it is possible not only to observe acts and usages1 but to enquire also their significance3 and though some customs will undoubtedly be found either to be mere survivals of which the meaning has long been forgotten1 or even to have been subjected to new and false interpretations1 yet others1 still rooted in and nourished by an intelligent belief1 may be vital documents of ancient ,greek life and thought4 #b4 ,,the ,,survival ,,of ,,ancient ,,tradition4 ,there may perhaps be some few who1 quite apart from the continuity of the ,hellenic race1 a question with which ,i must deal later1 would be inclined to pronounce the quest of ancient religion in modern folklore mere lost labour4 ,the lapse1 they may think1 of all the centuries which separate the present day from the age of ,hellenic greatness would in itself disfigure or altogether efface any tradition of genuine value4 ,such a view1 however1 is opposed to all the lessons that have of late years been gained from a more systematic study of the folklore of all parts of the world4 ,certain principles of magic and certain tendencies of superstition seem to obtain1 in curiously similar form1 among peoples far removed both in racial type and in geographical position4 ,it is sometimes urged by way of explanation that the resources of the primitive mind are necessarily so limited1 that many coincidences in belief and custom are only to be expected1 and that therefore the similarity of form presented by some superstitions of widely separated peoples is no argument in favour of their common origin4 ,but1 for my part1 when ,i consider such a belief as that in the ,evil ,eye1 which possesses1 ,i believe1 an almost world-wide notoriety1 ,i find it more reasonable to suppose that it was a tenet in the creed of some single primitive people1 of whom many present races of the world are offshoots1 and from whom they have inherited the superstition1 than that scores or hundreds of peoples1 who had long since diverged in racial type and dwelling and language1 should subsequently have hit upon one uniform belief4 ,indeed it may be that in the future the study of folklore will become a science of no less value than the study of language1 and that by a comparison of the superstitions still held by various sections of the human race it will be possible to adumbrate the beliefs of their remotest common ancestors as clearly as1 by a comparison of their various speeches1 the outlines of a common ancestral language have been1 and are being1 traced4 ,the data of folklore are in the nature of things more difficult to collect1 more comprehensive in scope1 and more liable to misinterpretation1 than the data of linguistic study2 but none the less1 when once there are labourers enough in the field1 it is not beyond hope that the laws which govern the tradition and modification of customs and beliefs may be found to be hardly less definite than the laws of language4 ,but comparative folklore is outside my present purpose4 ,i assume only1 without much fear of contradiction1 that many of the popular superstitions and customs and magical practices still prevalent in the world date from a period far more remote than any age on which ,greek history or archaeology can throw even a glimmering of light4 ,if then ,i can show that among the ,greek folk of to-day there still survive in full vigour such examples of primaeval superstition as the belief in #8the evil eye' and the practice of magic1 ,i shall have established at least an antecedent probability that there may exist also vestiges of the religious beliefs and practices of the historical era4 ,the fear of #8the evil eye' 7 1 or simply #c17 is universal among the ,greek peasantry1 and fairly common though not so frankly avowed among the more educated classes4 ,the old words and are still in use1 but and #d1 direct formations from the word 1 are more frequently heard4 ,it would be difficult to say on what grounds this power of #8overlooking1' if ,i may use a popular ,english equivalent1 is usually imputed to anyone4 ,old women are most generally credited with it1 but not so much owing to any menacing appearance as because they are the chief exponents of witchcraft and it is only fitting that the wise woman of a village should possess the power of exercising the evil eye at will4 ,these form therefore quite a distinct class from those persons whose eyes are suspected of exerting naturally and involuntarily a baneful influence4 ,in the neighbourhood of ,mount ,hymettus it appears that blue eyes fall most commonly under suspicion3 and this is the more curious because in ,attica1 with its large proportion of ,albanian inhabitants1 blue eyes are by no means rare4 ,possibly1 however1 it was the native ,greeks' suspicion of the strangers who settled among them1 which first caused this particular development of the belief in this district4 ,myself possessing eyes of the objectionable colour1 ,i have more than once been somewhat taken aback at having my ordinary salutation 7' 1 #8health to you1'7 to some passing peasant answered only by the sign of the ,cross4 ,fortunately in other localities ,i never to my knowledge inspired the same dread2 had it been general1 ,i should have been forced to abandon my project of enquiring into ,greek folklore2 for the risk of being #8overlooked' holds the ,greek peasant1 save for a few phrases of aversion1 in awe-stricken silence4 ,my impression is that any eyes which are peculiar in any way are apt to incur suspicion1 and that in different localities different qualities1 colouring or brilliance or prominence1 excite special notice and1 with notice1 disfavour4 ,the evil eye1 it would seem1 is a regular attribute both of the ,gorgon and of the wolf2 for both1 by merely looking upon a man1 are still believed to inflict some grievous suffering1--dumbness1 madness1 or death2 and yet there is little in common between the narrow1 crafty eye of the wolf and either the prominent1 glaring eyes in an ancient ,medusa's head or the passionate1 seductive eyes of the modern ,gorgon1 unless it be that any fixed unflinching gaze is sufficient reason for alarm4 ,some such explanation will best account for the strange vagary of superstition which brings under the category of the evil eye two classes of things which seemingly would have no connexion either with it or with each other1 looking-glasses and the stars4 ,to look at oneself in a mirror is1 in some districts1 regarded as a dangerous operation1 especially if it be prolonged4 ,a bride1 being specially liable to all sinister influences1 is wise to forego the pleasure of seeing her own reflection in the glass2 and a woman in child-bed1 who is no less liable1 is deprived of all chance of seeing herself by the removal of all mirrors from the room4 ,the risk in all cases is usually greatest at night1 and in the town of ,sinasos in ,cappadocia no prudent person would at that time incur it#e4 ,the reflection1 it would seem1 of a man's own image may put the evil eye upon him by its steady gaze3 and it was in fear of such an issue that ,damoetas1 in the ,idylls of ,theocritus1 after criticizing his own features reflected in some glassy pool1 spat thrice into his bosom that he might not suffer from the evil eye#f4 ,the belief in a certain magical property of the stars akin to that of the evil eye is far more widely held4 ,they are1 as it were1 the eyes of night1 and in the darkness #8overlook' men and their belongings as disastrously as does the human eye in the day-time4 ,just as a woman after confinement is peculiarly liable to the evil eye and must have amulets hung about her and mirrors removed from her room1 so must particular care be taken to avoid exposure to stellar influence4 ,sonnini de ,magnoncourt1 who had some medical experience in ,greece1 speaks authoritatively on this subject4 ,according to the popular view1 he says1 she must not let herself be #8seen by a star'2 and if she goes out before the prescribed time1--according to this authority1 only eight days1 but now preferably forty days1 from the birth of the child1--she is careful to return home and to shut herself up in her room by sunset1 and after that hour to open neither door nor window1 for fear that a star may surprise her and cause the death of both mother and child#g4 ,so too in the island of ,chios1 if there is occasion to carry leaven from one house to another1 it must be covered up1--in the day-time #8to prevent it from being seen by any strange eye1' at night #8to prevent it from being seen by the stars'3 for if it were #8overlooked' by either1 the bread made with it would not rise#h4 ,such customs show clearly that the stars are held to exercise exactly the same malign influence as the human eye3 the same simple phrases denote in ,greek the operation of either1 and the #8overlooking' of either has the same blighting effect4 ,the range of this mischievous influence--for ,i now take it that the evil eye and the stars are indistinguishable in their ill effects--is very large4 ,human beings are perhaps most susceptible to it4 ,in some districts#i indeed new-born infants up to the time of their baptism are held to be immune2 till then they are the children of darkness1 and the powers of darkness do not move against them4 ,but in general no one at any moment of his life is wholly secure4 ,amulets however afford a reasonable safety at ordinary times2 it is chiefly in the critical hours of life1 at marriage and at the birth of children1 that the fear of the evil eye is lively and the precautions against it more elaborate4 ,animals also may be affected4 ,horses and mules are very commonly protected by amulets hung round their necks1 and this is the original purpose of the strings of blue beads with which the cab-horses of ,athens are often decorated4 ,the shepherd too has cause for anxiety on behalf of his flock1 and1 when a bad season or disease diminishes the number of his lambs1 is apt to re-echo the pastoral complaint1 ,nescio quis teneros oculus mihi fascinat agnos#aj4 #8,some jealous eye 8o'erlooks0 my tender lambs4' ,and the pernicious influence makes itself felt in even a lower scale of life4 ,in the neighbourhood of ,sparta1 where there is a considerable silk industry1 the women believe that silk-worms are susceptible of mischief from the evil eye2 and the same superstition is recorded by de ,magnoncourt from ,chios4 ,of inanimate things1 those most easily damaged in a similar way are leaven1 salt1 and vinegar1--as being possessed of quickening or preservative properties to which the blighting1 destructive power of the evil eye or of the stars is naturally opposed4 ,the precautions to be observed in carrying leaven from house to house have already been noticed4 ,equal care is required in the making of the bread4 ,it often happens1 so ,i have been told1 that when a woman is kneading1 some malicious neighbour will come in1 ostensibly for a chat1 and put the evil eye upon the leaven2 and unless the woman perceives what is going on and averts disaster by a special gesture which turns the evil influence against the intruder1 nothing to call bread will be baked that day4 ,similarly it is unwise to borrow or to give away either salt or vinegar at night#aa2 but if it is necessary1 it is prudent to take precautions to prevent its exposure to the stars1 which may even be cheated of their prey by some such device as calling the vinegar 77 #8syrup' 77 in asking for it#ab4 ,further1 an object which has been exposed to the stars may even carry the infection1 as it were1 to those who afterwards use it4 ,for this reason the linen and clothes of a mother and her new-born infant must never be left out of doors at night#ac4 ,the precaution1 as ,i have said1 most commonly adopted is the wearing of amulets4 ,the articles which have the greatest intrinsic virtue for this purpose are garlic1 bits of blue stone or glass often in the form of beads1 old coins1 salt1 and charcoal3 but many other things1 by their associations1 may be rendered efficacious4 ,the stump of a candle burnt on some high religious festival1 or a shred of the ,holy ,shroud used on ,good ,friday1 is by no means to be despised2 and the bones of a bat or a snake's skin over which a witch has muttered her incantations acquire thereby an equal merit4 ,but such charms as these are objets de luxe2 the ordinary man contents himself with the commoner articles whose virtue is in themselves4 ,no midwife1 ,i understand1 would go about her business without a plentiful supply of garlic4 ,it is well that the room should be redolent of it1 and a few cloves must be fastened about the baby's neck either at birth or immediately after the baptism4 ,blue beads are in general use for women1 children1 and animals4 ,if men wear them1 they are usually concealed from view4 ,but mothers value them above all1 because in virtue of their colour-- is modern ,greek for #8blue'--they ensure an abundant supply of milk 77 unaffected by the evil eye or any other sinister potency4 ,salt and charcoal are most conveniently carried in little bags with a string to go round the neck4 ,an effective charm consists of three grains of each material with an old coin4 ,but many other things are also used2 when ,i have been permitted to inspect the contents of such a bag1 ,i have found strange assortments of things1 pebbles1 pomegranate-seeds1 bits of soap1 leaves of basil and other plants1 often hard to recognize through age and dirt and grease4 ,one scientifically-minded man recommended me sulphate of copper4 ,special occasions also have special precautions proper to them4 ,at a wedding1 the time of all others when envious eyes are most likely to cause mischief1 the bridegroom commonly carries a black-handled knife slipped inside his belt#ad1 and the bride has an open pair of scissors in her shoe or some convenient place1 in order that any such evil influence may be #8cut off4' ,but some of these magical safeguards concern not only the evil eye1 but ghostly perils in general1 and will claim notice in other connexions4 ,if1 however1 through lack of precautions or in spite of them1 a man suspects that he is being #8overlooked1' he must rely for protection on the resources with which nature has provided him4 ,the simplest thing is to spit1--three times for choice1 for that number has magical value1--but on oneself1 not at the suspected foe4 ,theocritus was scrupulously correct1 according to the modern view1 in making his shepherd spit thrice on his own bosom4 ,another expedient1 though no garlic be at hand to give effect to the words1 is to ejaculate1 ' 1 #8garlic in your eyes6' ,or use may be made of an imprecation considered effective in many circumstances of danger1 1 #8may you devour your own head6' ,lastly there is the 1 a gesture of the hand1--first raised with the fist closed and then suddenly advanced either with all the fingers open but bent1 or with the thumb and little finger alone extended1--which returns the evil upon the offender's own head with usury4 ,but1 in spite of these manifold means of defence1 the evil eye has its victims2 some malady seizes upon a man1 for which no other cause can be assigned2 and the question of a cure arises4 ,here the ,church comes to the rescue1 with special forms of prayer1 commonly known as 1 provided for the purpose4 ,the person affected goes to the church1 or1 if the case be serious1 the priest comes to his house1 the prayers are recited1 and the sufferer is fumigated with incense4 ,also if there happens to be a sacred spring or well1 as it is called1 in the precincts of any church near1--and there are a fair number of churches in ,greece which derive both fame and emolument from the possession of healing and miracle-working waters#ae1--the victim of the evil eye is well-advised to drink of them4 ,there are some1 however1 who rate the powers of a witch more highly than those of a priest1 and prefer her incantations to the prayers of the ,church4 ,she knows1 or is ready to improvise1 forms of exorcism 71 7 for all kinds of affliction4 ,a typical example#af begins1 as do many of the incantations of witchcraft1 with an invocation of ,christ and the ,virgin and the ,trinity and the twelve ,apostles2 then comes a complaint against the grievous illness which needs curing2 next imprecations upon the man or woman responsible for causing it2 and finally an adjuration of the evil eye to depart from the sufferer's #8head and heart and finger-nails and toe-nails and the cockles of the heart1 and to begone to the hills and mountains#ag' and so forth2 after all which the ,lord's prayer or any religious formula may be repeated ad libitum4 ,during the recitation of some such charm1 the witch fumigates her patient either with incense1 or1--what is more effectual where a guess can be made as to the identity of the envious enemy1--by burning something belonging to the latter1 a piece of his clothing or even a handful of earth from his doorway#ah4 ,or again1 if the patient is at a loss to conjecture who it is that has harmed him1 recourse may be had to divination4 ,a familiar method is to burn leaves or petals of certain plants1--basil and gillyflower being of special repute#ai1--mentioning at the same time a number of names in succession4 ,a loud pop or crackling denotes that the name of the offender has been reached1 and the treatment can then proceed as described above4 99 99 99 99 99 ,no less widespread in ,greece than the belief in the evil eye1 and equally primitive in character1 is the practice of magic4 ,few villages1 ,i believe1 even at the present day do not possess a wise woman 774 ,often indeed1 owing to the spread of education and the desire to be thought #8,european' and #8civilised1' the inhabitants will indignantly deny her existence1 and affect to speak of witches as things of the past4 ,but in times of illness or trouble they are apt to forget their pretensions of superiority1 and do not hesitate to avail themselves of the lore inherited from their superstitious forefathers4 ,for the most part women are the depositaries of these ancient secrets1 and the knowledge of charms1 incantations1 and all the rites and formularies of witchcraft is handed down from mother to daughter4 ,but men are not excluded from the profession4 ,the functions of the priest1 for example1 are not clearly distinguished from those of the unconsecrated magician4 ,at a baptism1 which often takes place in the house where the child is born and not at the church1 the priest opens the service by exorcising all evil spirits and influences from the four corners of the room by swinging his censer1 but the midwife1 who usually knows something of magic1 or one of the god-parents1 accompanies him and makes assurance doubly sure by spitting in each suspected nook4 ,moreover if a priest lead a notoriously evil life or chance to be actually unfrocked1 the devil invests him with a double portion of magical power1 which on any serious occasion is sure to be in request4 ,but1 apart from the clergy who owe their powers to the use or abuse of their office1 there are other men too here and there who deal in witchcraft4 ,they are usually specialists in some one branch1 and professors of the white art rather than of the black1--one versed in popular medicine and the incantations proper to it1 another in undoing mischievous spells1 another in laying the restless dead4 ,the general practitioners1 causing disease as often as curing it1 binding with curses as readily as loosing from them1 are for the most part women4 ,i shall not attempt to enumerate here all the petty uses of magic of which ,i have heard or read3 indeed an exhaustive treatment of the subject1 even for one who had devoted a lifetime to cultivating an intimacy with ,greek witches1 would be hardly possible2 for their secrets are not lightly divulged1 and new circumstances may at any time require the invention of new methods4 ,i propose only to describe some of the best known and most widely spread practices1 some beneficent1 others mischievous4 ,most of them will be seen to be based on the primitive and worldwide principle of sympathetic magic1--the principle that a relation1 analogy1 or sympathy existing1 or being once established1 between two objects1 that which the one does or suffers1 will be done or suffered also by the other4 ,if it be desired to cause physical injury or death to an enemy1 the simplest and surest method is to make an image of him in some malleable material1--wax1 lead1 or clay1--and1 if opportunity offer1 to knead into it or attach to it some trifle from the enemy's person4 ,three hairs from his head are a highly valuable acquisition1 but parings of his nails or a few shreds of his clothing will serve3 or again the image may be put in some place where his shadow will fall upon it as he passes4 ,these refinements of the practice1 however1 are not indispensable2 the image by itself will suffice4 ,this being made1 the treatment of it varies according to the degree of suffering which it is desired to inflict4 ,acute pain may be caused to the man by driving into his image pins or nails4 ,this device is popularly known as 1 #8pinning' or #8nailing1' and many variations of it are practised4 ,one case recorded in some detail was that of a priest's wife who from her wedding-day onward was a prey to various pains and ills4 ,the priest tried in vain to relieve them by prayer1 and finally called in a witch to aid him4 ,after performing certain occult rites of divination1 she informed him that he must dig in the middle of his courtyard4 ,there he found a tin1 which on being opened revealed an assortment of pernicious charms1--one of his wife's bridal shoes with a large nail through it1 a dried-up bit of soap 7presumably from the bridal bath7 stuck full of pins1 a wisp of hair 7probably some of the bride's combings7 all in a tangle1 and lastly a padlock4 ,the nail and pins were at once pulled out and the hair carefully disentangled1 with the result that the woman was freed from her pains and her complicated ailments4 ,but the padlock could not be undone1 and was thrown away into the sea1 with the result that the woman remained childless4 ,the bride had been #8nailed' 77 by a rival4 ,in this case1 it is true1 no waxen or leaden image was used1 but the principle is the same4 ,the use of an image is only preferable as allowing the maker of it to select any part of the body which he wishes to torture4 ,another method of dealing with the image is to melt or wear it away gradually2 if it be of wax or lead1 it may be seared with a red-hot poker1 or placed bodily in the fire2 if it be of clay1 it may be scraped with a knife1 or put into some stream which will gradually wash it away4 ,accordingly as it is thus wasted away1 slowly or rapidly1 so will the person whom it represents waste and die4 ,this is in principle the same system as that adopted by ,simaetha in the ,idyll of ,theocritus to win back the love of ,delphis4 #8,even as ,i melt this wax1' she cries1 #8with ,god's help1 so may the ,myndian ,delphis by love be straightway molten#bj'2 and she too used in her magic rites a fringe from ,delphis' cloak1 to shred and to cast into the fierce flame4#ba ,only1 in her case1 the incantation turned what might have been a death-spell into a love-charm4 ,love and jealousy are still the passions which most frequently suggest the use of magic4 ,occult methods are necessary to the girl whose modesty prevents her from courting openly the man on whom her heart is set1 and not less so to her who would punish the faithlessness of a former lover4 ,the following are some recorded recipes#bb for winning the love of an apathetic swain4 ,obtain some milk from the breasts of a mother and daughter who are both nursing male infants at the same time1 or1 in default of that1 from any two women both nursing first-born male infants2 mix it with wheat-flour and leaven1 and contrive that the man eat of it4 ,repeat therewith the following incantation3 1 1 #8,as the infants now cry and throb with desire for the milk which fails them1 so may ,n4 throb with desire for ,m4' ,take a bat or three young swallows1 and roast to cinders on a fire of sticks gathered by a witch at midnight where cross-roads meet3 at the same time repeat the words1 1 1 1 1 #8,as the bat writhes1 quivers1 and throbs1 so may ,n4 turn1 and his heart quiver and throb with desire for ,m4' ,the ashes of the bat are then to be put into the man's drink4 ,take a bat and bury it at cross-roads2 burn incense over it for forty days at midnight2 dig it up and grind its spine to powder4 ,put the dust in the man's drink as before4 ,such are some of the magic means of winning love2 and the rites1 while involving as much cruelty to the bat as was suffered by the bird of witchcraft1 the 1 in the ancient counterpart of these practices1 are at any rate1 save for the ashes in the man's liquor1 innocuous to him4 ,but the weapon of witchcraft wherewith a jealous woman takes vengeance upon a man who has forsaken her or who has never returned her affection and takes to himself another for his bride1 is truly diabolical4 ,this is known as the spell of #8binding' 7 or #bc74 ,its purpose is to fetter the virility of the husband and so to prevent the consummation of the marriage4 ,the rite itself is simple4 ,either the jealous girl herself or a witch employed by her attends the wedding1 taking with her a piece of thread or string in which three loops have been loosely made4 ,during the reading of the gospel or the pronouncement of the blessing1 she pulls the ends of the string1 forming thereby three knots in it1 and at the same time mutters the brief incantation1 1 ' 1 #8,i bind ,n4 and ,m4 and the ,devil betwixt them4' ,the thread is subsequently buried or hidden1 and unless it can be found and either be burnt or have the knots untied1 there is small hope for the man to recover from his impotence4 ,there is no doubt1 ,i think1 that the extreme fear in which this spell is held has in some cases so worked upon the bridegroom's nerves as to render the #8binding' actually effective1 just as extreme faith in miraculous icons occasionally effects cures of nervous maladies#bd4 ,sonnini de ,magnoncourt vouches for a case1 known to him personally1 in which the effect of this terror continued for several months1 until finally the marriage was dissolved on the ground of non-consummation1 and the man afterwards married another wife and regained his energy#be4 ,i myself have more than once been told of similar cases1 in which however divorce was not sought 7it is extremely rare in ,greece7 but the spell was broken by the finding of the thread or by countervailing operations of magic4 ,in ,aetolia1 where this superstition is specially rife1 ,i knew of a priest1 a son of ,belial by all accounts1 who made a speciality of loosing these binding-spells4 ,by his direction the afflicted man and his wife would go at sunset to a lonely chapel on a mountain-side1 taking with them food and a liberal supply of wine1 with which to regale themselves and the priest till midnight4 ,at that hour they undressed and stood before the priest1 who pronounced over them some form of exorcism and benediction1--my informant could not give me the words4 ,they then retired to rest on some bedding provided by the priest on the chapel-floor1 while he recited more prayers and swung his censer over them4 ,i was assured that more than one couple in the small town where ,i was staying confessed to having obtained release from the spell by a night thus spent and with the extreme simplicity of the peasants of that district thought no shame to confess it4 ,and this is the more easily intelligible1 because1 as we shall see later#bf1 the practice of 1 sleeping in some holy place with a view to being cured of any ailment1 is as familiar to ,christians of to-day as it was to their pagan ancestors4 ,but pure magic too1 no less than these quasi-,christian methods1 may effect the loosing of the bond1 even without the discovery of the knotted thread which is the source of the mischief4 ,in a recent case on record1 a witch1 having been consulted by a couple thus distressed1 took them to the sea-shore1 bade them undress1 bound them together with a vine-shoot1 and caused them to stand embracing one another in the water until forty waves had beaten upon them#bg4 ,on the significance of the details of this charm no comment is made by the recorder of it2 but they deserve1 ,i think1 some notice4 ,the vine-shoot1 like the olive-shoot1 is a known instrument of purification1 and is sometimes laid on the bier beside the dead during the lying-in-state 774 ,salt is likewise possessed of magical powers to avert all evil influences1--we have noticed the use of it in amulets to protect from the evil eye1--and the sea is therefore more efficacious than a river for mystic purposes4 ,forty is the number of purification2 the churching of women takes place on the fortieth day from the birth1 whence the ,greek word for to #8church' is 1--from 1 #8forty4' ,lastly the beating of the waves seems intended to drive out by physical compulsion the devil or any power of evil by which husband and wife are kept apart4 ,in view of this danger it is natural that ample precautions should be taken at every wedding4 ,during the dressing of the bride or the bridegroom1 it is customary to throw a handful of salt into a vessel of water1 saying1 1 771 #8,as the salt dissolves1 so may all enemies dissolve4' ,the black-handled knife worn by the bridegroom in his belt1 and the pair of scissors put in the bride's shoe or sometimes attached to her girdle1 both of which have been noticed as safeguards against the evil eye1 serve also to #8cut' this magic bond of impotence4 ,sometimes too a pair of scissors and a piece of fisherman's net are put in the bridal bed4 ,in ,acarnania and ,aetolia1 and it may be elsewhere1 a still more primitive custom prevails2 both bride and bridegroom wear an old piece of fishing-net1--in which therefore resides the virtue of salt water1--round the loins next to the body2 and from these bits of netting are afterwards made amulets to be worn by any children of the marriage4 ,such customs are likely long to continue among the simpler folk of modern ,greece1 who frankly and innocently wish the bride at her wedding reception #8seven sons and one daughter4' ,but it is not only for ailments induced by malicious magic that magical means of cure or aversion are used4 ,the whole of popular medicine is based upon the knowledge of charms and incantations4 ,many simples and drugs are of course known and employed2 but it is still generally believed1 as it was in old time1 that #8there would be no good in the herb without the incantation#bh4' ,for the most ordinary diseases are credited to supernatural causes1 and there is no ill to which flesh is heir1--from a headache to the plague1--without some demon responsible for it4 ,a nightmare and the sense of physical oppression which often accompanies it are not traced to so vulgar a cause as a heavy supper1 but are dignified as the work of a malicious being named #bi1 who in the dead of night delights to seat himself on the chest of some sleeper1 and by his weight produces an unpleasant feeling of congestion4 ,material for a similar personification has been found also in the more terrible pestilences by which ,greece has from time to time been visited4 ,it is still believed among the poorest folk of ,athens that in a cleft on the ,hill of the ,nymphs1 undisturbed even by the modern observatory on its summit1 there lives a gruesome sisterhood1 a trinity of she-devils1 1 1 and 1--,cholera1 ,smallpox1 and ,plague4 ,granted then that illness in general is the malicious work of supernatural beings1 common reason recommends the employment of supernatural means to defeat and expel them4 ,forms of exorcism have in past times been provided by the ,church and are still in vogue2 but here1 as in other matters1 the functions of the priest are shared with the witch1 and an old woman versed in the traditional lore of popular medicine is as competent as any bishop to cast out the devils of sickness4 ,nor do the popular incantations differ much in substance from the ecclesiastical4 ,the witch knows better than to try to cast out devils in the ,devil's name1 and her exorcisms contain invocations of ,god and the saints of the same character as those sanctioned by the ,church2 only in her accompanying rites and gestures there is a picturesque variety which is lacking in the swinging of the priest's censer4 ,the details of the rites and the full forms of incantation are in general extremely difficult to obtain4 ,the witches themselves are always reticent on such points1 and ,i have known one plead1 by way of excuse for her apparent discourtesy in withholding information1 that the virtue of magic was diminished in proportion as the knowledge of it was disseminated4 ,one cure1 however1--a cure for headache--will sufficiently illustrate the principle on which the healing art among the common-folk generally proceeds4 ,this cure is based upon the assumption that the tense and bruised feeling of a bad headache is due to the presence of some demon within the skull1 and that the room which he occupies must have been provided by distention of the head1--which will therefore measure more in circumference while it aches than when the demon has been exorcised4 ,this is demonstrated in the course of the cure4 ,the witch takes a handkerchief and measures with it the patient's head4 ,doubling back the six or eight inches of the handkerchief that remain over1 she puts in the fold three cloves of garlic1 three grains of salt1 or some other article of magical virtue1 and ties a knot4 ,then waving the handkerchief about the patient's head1 she recites her form of exorcism1--but usually in a tone so low and mumbling that the bystanders cannot catch the words4 ,the exorcism being finished1 she again measures the head1 and this time the knot1 which marks the previous measurement1 is found to overlap1 by two or three inches it may be1 the other end of the kerchief1--a sure sign that the intruding demon has been expelled and that the head having returned to its natural dimensions will no longer ache#cj4 ,the exact words of the incantation which should accompany this rite ,i could not obtain2 but ,i make little doubt that in substance they would differ little from a ,macedonian formula recently published3-- #8,for megrim and headache3 #8,write on a piece of paper3--,god of ,abraham1 ,god of ,isaac1 ,god of ,jacob1 loose the demon of the megrim from the head of ,thy servant4 ,i charge thee1 unclean spirit which ever sittest in the head of man1 take thy pain and depart from the head3 from half-head1 membrane1 and vertebra1 from the servant of ,god1 ,so-and-so4 ,stand we fairly1 stand we with fear of ,god4 ,amen#ca4' ,in this instance we have the formula but not1 it seems1 the rite which should accompany it2 for the mere act of committing the words to paper is hardly likely to be deemed sufficient4 ,probably the paper would be laid under the pillow at night1 or1 as ,i have known in other cases1 would be burnt1 and its ashes taken as a sedative powder4 ,the various charms which we have so far considered are directed towards the hurt or the healing of man3 but external nature is also responsive to magic spells4 ,it is rumoured that there are still witches who have power to draw down the moon from the heavens by incantation2 but a more useful ceremony1 designed to draw down the clouds upon a parched land1 may still be actually witnessed4 ,the most recent case known to me was in the ,april of #ahii1 when the rite was carried out some few days1 unfortunately1 after ,i had left the district by the people of ,larissa4 ,the custom is known all over the north of ,greece--in ,epirus#cb1 ,thessaly1 and ,macedonia1--and also it is said among some of the ,turks1 ,wallachs1 and ,servians2 to the south of those regions and in the islands of the ,aegean ,i heard nothing of it4 ,a boy 7or sometimes1 it is said1 a girl#cc7 is stripped naked and then dressed up in wreaths and festoons of leafage1 grass1 and flowers1 and1 escorted by a troop of children of his own age1 goes the round of the neighbourhood4 ,he is known as the 1 and his companions sing as they go1 ,perpera goes his way ,and to ,god above doth pray1 ,rain1 ,o ,god1 a gentle rain1 ,shed1 ,o ,god1 a gentle shower1 ,that the fields may give their grain1 ,and the vines may come to flower1 and so forth in such simple strain#cd4 ,at each doorway and more particularly at every spring and well1 which it is the special duty of the ,perpera to visit1 anyone who will may empty a vessel of water over the boy1 to whom some compensation for his drenching is usually made in the form of sweetmeats or coppers4 ,the word has been the subject of considerable discussion4 ,by-forms 1 1 and also occur4 ,the first two are of the nature of diminutives2 the last-named is a corrupt form used only1 so far as ,i know1 in one district of ,epirus1 and means a #8garden-poppy4' ,the perversion of the word has in this district 7,zagorion7 affected the rite itself2 for it is considered necessary for this flower to be used largely in dressing up the chief actor in the ceremony#ce4 ,but the most general1 and1 as ,i think1 most correct form is 7or 74 ,with the ancient word 1 derived from the ,latin perperus and used in the sense of #8boasting' or #8ostentation1' it can1 ,i feel1 have no connexion2 and ,i suggest that it stands for 1 with the same abbreviation as in for 1 #8walk1' and subsequent assimilation of the first two syllables4 ,if my conjecture is right1 the word originally meant nothing more than a #8procession round' the village2 next it became confined in usage to a procession for the particular purpose of procuring rain2 and finally1 the words #cf and having been lost from popular speech1 it was taken to be the name of the boy who plays the uncomfortable part of vegetation craving water4 ,and indeed it would seem likely that the song which forms part of the ceremony was actually first composed at a time when was still understood in the sense of #8procession'3 for in every recorded version known to me it would be still possible to interpret the word in this meaning without detriment to the context4 ,the rite itself as an example of sympathetic magic requires no commentary3 a simpler application of the principle that like produces like could not be found4 99 99 99 99 99 ,other examples of primitive customs and beliefs still prevalent in ,greece might easily be amassed3 but ,i have preferred to select these few for detailed treatment rather than to glance over a larger number1 in order that they may the more clearly be seen to belong to certain types of superstition found the whole world over and therefore presumably dating from prehistoric ages3 for if the population of ,greece has proved a good vehicle for the transmission of superstitions so primaeval1 it will surely follow that there is nothing extravagant in hoping to learn also from their traditions something of the religion of historic ,hellas4 #c4 ,,the ,,survival ,,of ,,hellenic ,,tradition4 ,there may however be some who1 while admitting that mere lapse of time need not have extinguished ancient ,hellenic ideas1 will be disposed to question the likelihood1 even the possibility1 of their transmission on racial grounds4 ,the belief in the evil eye and the practice of sympathetic magic were once1 they may say1 the common property of the whole uncivilised world2 and though the inhabitants of modern ,greece have inherited these old superstitions and usages1 there is nothing to show from what ancestry they have received the inheritance4 ,the population1 it may be urged1 has changed2 the ,greeks of to-day are not ,hellenes2 their blood has been contaminated by foreign admixture1 and with this admixture may have come external1 non-,hellenic traditions2 has not ,fallmerayer stoutly maintained that the modern inhabitants of ,greece have practically no claim to the name of ,hellenes1 but come of a stock ,slavonic in the main1 though cross-bred with the offscourings of many peoples8 ,the historical facts from which ,fallmerayer argued are not to be slighted4 ,it is well established#cg that1 from the middle of the sixth century onwards1 successive hordes of ,slavonic invaders swept over ,greece1 driving such of the native population as escaped destruction into the more mountainous or remote districts2 that in the middle of the eighth century1 when the numbers of the ,greek population had been further reduced by the great pestilence of #gdf1 #8the whole country1' to use the exact phrase of ,constantine ,porphyrogenitus#ch1 #8became ,slavonic and was occupied by foreigners'2 that the ,slavonic supremacy lasted at least until the end of the tenth century2 that thereafter a gradual fusion of the remnants of the ,greek population with their conquerors began1 but proceeded so slowly that at the beginning of the thirteenth century the #8,franks1' as the warriors of ,western ,christendom were popularly called1 found ,slavonic tribes in ,elis and ,laconia quite detached from the rest of the population1 acknowledging indeed the supremacy of the ,byzantine government1 but still employing their own language and their own laws2 and finally that the amalgamation of the two races was not complete even by the middle of the fifteenth century1 for the ,turks at their conquest of ,greece found several tribes of the ,peloponnese1 especially in the neighbourhood of ,mount ,taygetus1 still speaking a ,slavonic tongue4 ,if then1 as is now generally admitted1 ,fallmerayer's conclusions were somewhat exaggerated1 it remains none the less an historical fact that there is a very large admixture of ,slavonic blood in the veins of the present inhabitants of ,greece4 ,the truth of this is moreover enforced by the physical characteristics of the people as a whole4 ,travellers conversant alike with ,slavs and with modern ,greeks have affirmed to me their impression that there is a close physical resemblance between the two races2 and while ,i have not the experience of ,slavonic races which would permit me to judge of this resemblance for myself1 it certainly offers the best explanation of my own observations with regard to the variations of physical type in different parts of the ,greek world4 ,in the islands of the ,aegean and in the promontory of ,maina1 to which the ,slavs never penetrated1 the ancient ,hellenic types are far commoner than in the rest of the ,peloponnese or in ,northern ,greece4 ,not a little of the charm of ,tenos or ,myconos or ,scyros lies in the fact that the grand and impassive beauty of the earlier ,greek sculpture may still be seen in the living figures and faces of men and women3 and if anyone would see in the flesh the burly1 black-bearded type idealised in a ,heracles1 he need but go to the south of the ,peloponnese1 and among the ,maniotes he will soon be satisfied3 for there he will find not merely an occasional example1 as of reversion to an ancestral type1 but a whole tribe of swarthy1 stalwart warriors1 whose aspect seems to justify their claim that in proud1 though poverty-stricken1 isolation they have kept their native peninsula free from alien aggression1 and the old ,laconian blood still pure in their veins4 ,the ordinary ,greek of the mainland1 on the other hand1 is usually of a mongrel and unattractive appearance2 and in view of the marked difference of the type in regions untouched by the ,slavs1 ,i cannot but impute his lack of beauty to his largely ,slavonic ancestry4 ,yet even in the centre of the ,peloponnese where the ,slavonic influence has probably been strongest1 the pure ,greek type is not wholly extinct4 ,i remember a young man who acted as ostler and waiter and in all other capacities at a small khan on the road from ,tripolitza to ,sparta1 who would not have been despised as a model by ,praxiteles2 and elsewhere too1 now and again1 ,i have seen statuesque forms and classic features1 less perfect indeed than his1 but yet proclaiming beyond question an ,hellenic lineage2 so that ,i should hesitate to say that in any part of ,greece the population is as purely ,slavonic as in ,maina or many of the islands it is purely ,greek4 ,but1 as ,i think1 the exact proportion of ,slavonic and of ,hellenic blood in the veins of the modern ,greeks is not a matter of supreme importance4 ,even if their outward appearance were universally and completely ,slavonic1 ,i would still maintain that they deserve the name of ,greeks4 ,though their lineage were wholly ,slavonic1 their nationality1 ,i claim1 would still be ,hellenic4 ,for the nationality of a people1 like the personality of an individual1 is something which eludes definition but which embraces the mental and the moral as well as the physical4 ,a man's personality is not to be determined by knowledge of his family and his physiognomy alone2 and similarly racial descent and physical type are not the sole indices of nationality4 ,even if a purely ,slavonic ancestry had dowered the inhabitants of ,greece with a purely ,slavonic appearance1 yet1 if their thoughts and speech and acts were1 as they are1 ,greek1 ,i would still venture to call them ,greek in nationality4 ,ce n'est que la peau dont l',ethiope ne change pas4 ,but the people of modern ,greece do not actually present so extreme a case of acquired nationality4 ,they are partly ,greek in race3 and if it should appear that they are wholly ,greek in nationality1 the explanation must simply be that the character1 no less than the language1 of their ,hellenic ancestors was superior in vitality to that of the ,slavs who intermarried with them1 and alone has been transmitted to the modern ,greek people4 ,what1 then1 is the national character at the present day8 ,the first feature of it which casual conversation with any ,greek will soon bring into view is that narrow patriotism which was so remarkable a trait in the ,greeks of old time4 ,if he be asked what is his native land 771 his answer will be1 not ,greece nor any of the larger divisions of it1 but the particular town or hamlet in which he happened to be born3 and if in later life he change his place of abode1 though he live in his new home ten or twenty years1 he will regard himself and be regarded by the native-born inhabitants as a foreigner 774 ,or again if a man obtain work for a short time in another part of the country1 or if a girl marry an inhabitant of a village half a dozen miles from her own1 the departure is mourned with some of those plaintive songs of exile in which the popular muse delights4 ,nor are there lacking historical cases in which this narrow love of country has produced something more than fond lamentations2 the boast of the ,maniotes that they have never acknowledged alien masters is in the main a true boast1 and it was pure patriotism which nerved them in their long struggle with the ,turks for the possession of their rugged1 barren1 storm-lashed home4 ,it was patriotism too1 narrow and proud1 that both sustained the heroic outlaws of ,souli in their defiance of ,ottoman armies1 and also1--because they disdained alliance with their ,greek neighbours1--contributed to their final downfall4 ,but so tenacious and indomitable a courage is in modern1 as it was in ancient1 ,greece the exception rather than the rule4 ,the men of ,maina and of ,souli are comparable to the ,spartans3 but in no period of ,greek history has steadfast bravery been commonly displayed4 ,yet1 in spite of the humiliating experiences of the late ,graeco-,turkish war1 the ,greek people should not be judged devoid of courage4 ,but theirs is a courage which comes of impulse rather than of self-command2 a courage which might prompt a charge as brilliant as that of ,marathon1 but could not cheerfully face the hardships of a campaign2 a courage which might turn a slight success into a victory1 but could not save a retreat from becoming a rout4 ,it must be acknowledged also that the rank and file are in general more admirable than their officers4 ,the bravery of the men1 impulsive and short-lived though it be1 is inspired by a real devotion of themselves to a cause2 whereas among the officers self-seeking and even self-saving are conspicuous faults4 ,even the really courageous leaders seldom have a single eye to the success of their arms4 ,their plans are marred by petty jealousies4 ,the same rivalries for the supreme command which embarrassed the ,greeks of old in defending their liberty against ,persia1 were repeated in the struggles of the last century to throw off the ,turkish yoke4 ,and if in both cases the ,greeks were successful1 in neither was victory due to the unity and harmony of their leaders1 but rather to that passionate hatred of the barbarians which stirred the people as a whole4 ,indeed1 not only in war but in all conditions of life1 any personal eminence or distinction has been apt to turn the head of a ,greek4 #8,the abundant enjoyment of power or wealth1' said the ancients not without knowledge of the national character1 #8begets lawlessness and arrogance'2 and in humbler phrase the modern proverb sums up the same qualities of the race1-- 1 1 #8a good servant and a bad master4' ,in all periods of ,greek history there have been few men who have attained to power without abusing it4 ,the honour of being returned to the ,greek ,parliament upsets the mental balance of a large number of deputies4 ,without any more intimate knowledge of politics than can be obtained from second-rate newspapers1 they believe themselves called and qualified to lead each his own party1 with the result--so it is commonly said--that no government since the first institution of parliament has ever had an assured majority in the ,house1 and on an average there have been more than one dissolution a year4 ,the modern parliament is as unstable an institution as the ancient ecclesia of ,athens when there was no longer a ,pericles to control it1 and its demagogues are as numerous4 ,even the petty eminence of a village schoolmaster proves to be too giddy a pinnacle for many4 ,such an one thinks it necessary to support his position--which owing to the ,greek love of education is more highly respected perhaps than in other countries--by a pretence of universal knowledge and a pedantry as lamentable as it is ludicrous4 ,i remember a gentleman who boasted the title of ,professor of ,ancient ,history in the gymnasium or secondary school of a certain town1 who called to me one day as ,i was passing a caf where he and some of his friends were sitting1 and said that they were having a pleasant little discussion about the first ,triumvirate1 and had recalled the names of ,cicero and ,caesar1 but could not at the moment remember the third party4 ,could ,i help them8 ,i hesitated a moment1 and then resolved to risk it and suggest1 what was at least alliterative if not accurate1 the name of ,cato4 #8,of course1' he answered1 #8how these things do slip one's memory sometimes6' ,yet this ,professor posed as an authority on many subjects outside his own province of learning1 and frequently when ,i met him would insist on talking dog-,latin with an ,italian pronunciation1 a medium in which ,i found it difficult to converse4 ,in this readiness to discourse on any and every subject and to display attainments in and out of season1 he and the class of which he is typical are the living images of the less respectable of the ancient ,sophists4 ,and in pedantry of language too they fairly rival their famous prototypes4 ,the movement in favour of an artificial revival of ancient ,greek has already been of long duration1 and has had a detrimental effect upon the modern language4 ,the vulgar tongue has a melodious charm1 while many classical words1 in the modern pronunciation1 are extremely harsh and uncouth4 ,the object of the movement is to secure an uniform #8pure' speech1 as they call it1 approximate to that of ,plato or of ,xenophon2 and the method adopted is to mix up ,homeric and other words of antiquarian celebrity with literal renderings of modern ,french idioms1 inserting datives1 infinitives1 and other obsolete forms at discretion4 ,to aid in this movement is the task and the delight of the schoolmasters3 and such is their devotion to this linguistic sophistry1 that they are not dismayed even by the ambiguity arising from the use of ancient forms indistinguishable in modern speech4 ,the two old words and have now no difference in sound3 yet the schoolmaster uses them and inculcates the use of them1 with the lamentable result that the children are not taught to distinguish meum and tuum even in speech4 ,and here again the character of the modern ,greek reflects that of his ancestors4 ,honesty and truthfulness are not the national virtues4 ,to lie1 or even to steal1 is accounted morally venial and intellectually admirable4 ,it is a proof of superior mother-wit1 than which no quality is more valued in the business of everyday life4 ,almost the only things in ,greece which have fixed prices are tobacco1 newspapers1 and railway-tickets4 ,the hire of a mule1 the cost of a bunch of grapes1 the price of meat1 the remuneration for a vote at the elections1--such matters as these are the subject of long and vivacious bargaining1 and if the money does not change hands on the spot1 the bargain may be smilingly repudiated and an attempt made1 on any pretext which suggests itself1 to extort more4 ,yet there is a certain charm in all this2 for1 if a man get his own price1 it is not so much the amount of his profit which pleases him as his success in winning it2 and if he fail1 he takes a smaller sum with perfect good humour and increased respect for the man who has outwitted him4 ,anyone may be honest2 but to be 1 as they say1 shrewd1 wide-awake1--this is ,greek and admirable4 ,the contrast of an ,aristides with a ,themistocles is the natural expression of ,greek thought4 ,moral uprightness and mental brilliance are not to be expected of one and the same man2 and for the most part the ,greeks now as in old time praise others for their justice and pride themselves on their cunning4 ,the acme of cleverness is touched by him who can both profit by dishonesty and maintain a reputation for sincerity4 ,but1 while truthfulness and fair dealing are certainly rare1 there is one relation in which the most scrupulous fidelity is unfailingly shown4 ,the obligations of hospitality are everywhere sacred4 ,the security and the comfort of the guest are not in name only but in actual fact the first consideration of his host4 ,however unscrupulous a ,greek may be in his ordinary dealings1 he never1 ,i believe1 harbours for one moment the idea of making profit out of the stranger who seeks the shelter of his roof4 ,for hospitality in ,greece1 it must be remembered1 means not the entertainment of friends and acquaintances who are welcome for their own sake or from whom a return in kind may be expected1 but real 1 a generous and friendly welcome to a stranger unknown yesterday and vanished again to-morrow4 ,to each unbidden chance-comer the door is always open4 ,for lodging he may chance to have an incense-reeking room where the family icons hang1 or a corner of a cottage-floor barricaded against the poultry and other inmates2 for food1 hot viands rich in circumambient oil1 or three-month-old rye-bread softened in a cup of water2 but among rich and poor alike he is certain of the best which there is to give4 ,even where there are inns available1 the stranger will constantly find that the first native of the place to whom he puts the ,aristophanic enquiry #ci--which inn is of least entomological interest--will constitute himself not guide but host and will place the resources of his own house freely at the service of the chance-found visitor4 ,the reception accorded by ,eumaeus to ,odysseus1 in its revelation of human--and also of canine--character1 differs in no respect from that which may await any traveller at the present day4 ,as ,odysseus approached the swineherd's hut1 #8suddenly the yelping dogs espied him1 and with loud barking rushed upon him1 but ,odysseus guilefully sat down and let fall his staff from his hand#dj4' ,such is the opening of the scene2 and many1 ,i suppose1 must have wondered1 as they read it1 wherein consisted ,odysseus' guilefulness4 ,a shepherd of ,northern ,arcadia resolved me that riddle4 ,i had been attacked on a mountain-path by two or three of his dogs1--#8like unto wild beasts#da1' as ,homer has it1--and the combat may have lasted some few minutes when the shepherd thought fit to intervene4 ,sheep-dogs are of course valued in proportion to their ferocity towards any person or animal approaching the flock1 and a taste of blood now and again is said to keep them on their mettle4 ,fortunately matters had not reached that point2 but none the less ,i suggested to the man that he might have bestirred himself sooner4 #8,oh1' he replied1 #8if you are really in difficulties1 you should sit down'2 and when ,i showed some surprise1 he explained that anyone who is attacked by sheepdogs has only to sit down and let go his walking-stick or gun or other offensive weapon1 and the dogs1 understanding that a truce has been called1 will sit down round him and maintain1 so to speak1 a peaceful blockade#db4 ,on subsequent occasions ,i tested the shepherd's counsel1 beginning prudently with one dog only and1 as ,i gained assurance1 raising the number3 it is uncomfortable#dc to remain sitting with a bloodthirsty ,molossian hound at one's back1 ready to resume hostilities if any suspicious movement is made2 but ,i must own that1 in my own fairly wide experience1 ,greek dogs1 as they are sans peur in combat1 are also sans reproche in observing a truce4 ,the traveller may fare worse than by following the example of guileful ,odysseus4 ,but if the scene of the encounter be not a mountain-path but the approach to some cottage1 the dogs' master will1 like ,eumaeus1 hasten to intervene1 #8chiding them and driving them this way and that with a shower of stones#dd1'--;for the ,greek dog does not heed mere words1--and again like ,eumaeus will assure his visitor that he himself would have been #8covered with shame#de' if the dogs had done his guest any hurt4 ,then he will conduct his guest into his cottage and bid him take his fill of bread and wine before he tells whence he is come and how he has fared#df3 for ,greek hospitality spares the guest the fatigue of talking until he is refreshed4 ,the visitor therefore sits at his ease1 silent and patient1 while his host catches and kills such beast or fowl as he may possess1 cuts up the flesh in small pieces1 threads these on a spit1 and holds them over the embers of his fire till they are ready to serve up#dg3 similarly1 in ,homeric fashion1 he mixes wine and water#dh2 and then1 all the preparations being now complete1 he urges his guest to the meal#di4 ,thus the hospitality of to-day1 in its details no less than in its spirit1 recalls the hospitality of the ,homeric age4 ,the supreme virtue of the ancient ,greek remains the supreme virtue of the modern1 and a familiarity with the manners of the present day alone might suffice to explain why ,paris who stole another man's wife was execrable but ,admetus who let his own wife die for him could yet win admiration4 ,the one broke the laws of hospitality2 the other1 by hiding his loss and entertaining his guest1 upheld them4 ,a comparative estimate1 such as ,i have essayed1 of the characters of ,greeks of old and ,greeks of to-day is perhaps evidence of a somewhat intangible nature to those who are not personally intimate with the people3 but no foreigner1 even though he were totally ignorant of the modern language1 could chance upon one of the many festivals of the country without remarking that there1 in humbler form1 are re-enacted many of the scenes of ancient days4 ,the 1 as they call these festivals1--diminutives1 both in name and in form1 of the ancient 1--present the same medley of religion1 art1 trading1 athletics1 and amusement which constituted the ,olympian games4 ,the occasion is most commonly some saint's-day1 and a church or a sacred spring 77 the centre of the gathering4 ,art is represented by the contests of local poets or wits in improvising topical and other verses1 and occasionally there is present one of the old-fashioned rhapsodes1 whose number is fast diminishing1 to recite to the accompaniment of a stringed instrument still called the #ej the glorious feats of some patriot-outlaw 77 in defiance of the ,turks4 ,then there are the pedlars and hucksters strolling to and fro or seated at their stalls1 and ever crying their wares--fruit1 sausages1 confectionery of strange hues and stranger taste1 beads1 knives1 cheap icons ranging in subject from likenesses of patron-saints to gaudy views of hell1 and all manner of tin-foil trinkets representing ships1 cattle1 and parts of the human body for dedication in the church4 ,then in some open space there will be a gathering of young men1 running1 wrestling1 hurling the stone2 yonder others1 and with them the girls1 indulge in the favourite recreation of ,greece1 those graceful dances1 of which the best-known1 the #ea1 and probably others too1 are a legacy from dancers of old time4 ,it is impossible to be a spectator of such scenes without recognising that here1 in embryonic form1 are the festivals of which the famous gatherings of ,olympia and ,nemea1 ,delphi and the ,isthmus1 were the full development4 ,and it may well happen too that the observant onlooker will descry also the rudiments of ancient drama4 ,often1 as is natural in so mountainous and rugged a country1 the only level dancing-place which a village possesses is a stone-paved threshing-floor hewn out of the hill-side4 ,hither on any festal occasion1 be it a saint's-day or one of the celebrations which naturally follow the ingathering of harvest or vintage1 the dancers betake themselves4 ,here too a small booth or tent1 still called 1 is often rigged up1 to which they can retire for rest or refreshment1 while on the slopes above are ranged the spectators4 ,the circular threshing-floor is the orchestra1 the hill-side provides its tiers of seats1 the dancers1 who always sing while they dance1 are the chorus2 add only the village musician twanging a sorry lyre1 and in the intervals of dancing an old-fashioned rhapsode reciting some story of bygone days1 or1 it may be1 two village wits contending in improvised pleasantries1 and the rudiments of ancient ,tragedy or ,comedy are complete4 ,other illustrations might easily be amassed4 ,on ,march #ast the boys of ,greece still parade the village-streets with a painted wooden swallow set on a flower-decked pole1 and sing substantially the same #8swallow-song' 77#eb as was sung in old time in ,rhodes#ec4 ,on ,may #ast the girls make wreaths of flowers and corn which1 like the ancient 1 must be left hanging over the door of the house till next year's wreaths take their place4 ,the fisherman still ties his oar to a single thole with a piece of rope or a thong of leather1 as did the mariners of ,homer's age#ed4 ,the farmer still drives his furrows with an ,hesiodic plough4 ,such are a few of the survivals which bear witness to the genuinely ,hellenic nationality of the inhabitants of modern ,greece3 and last1 but not least1 there is the language1 which1 albeit no index of race1 is most cogent evidence of tradition4 ,to the action of thought upon language there corresponds a certain reaction of language upon thought3 it is impossible to speak a tongue which contains1 let us say1 the word 7modern ,greek for a #8nymph'7 without possessing also an idea of the being whom that word denotes4 ,therefore even if the whole population of ,greece were demonstrably of ,slavonic race1 the fact that it now speaks ,greek would go far to support its claim to ,hellenic nationality3 for its adoption of the ,greek language would imply its assimilation of ,greek thought4 ,but1 quite apart from the evidence of custom and language1 the occasional perpetuation of the ancient ,greek physical type and the general survival of the ancient ,greek character plainly forbid so extreme a supposition as that of ,fallmerayer3 no traveller familiar with the modern ,greek peasantry could entertain for a moment the idea that at any period the whole of ,greece became ,slavonicized1 but1 whatever might be the historical arguments for such a theory1 would reject it1 on the evidence of his own eyes1 as ludicrously exaggerated4 ,fusion of race1 no doubt1 there has been2 but in that fusion the ,hellenic element must have been the most vital and persistent2 for if the present population of ,greece is of mixed descent1 in its traditions at least it is almost purely ,hellenic4 #d4 ,,the ,,survival ,,of ,,pagan ,,tradition4 ,it appears then that notwithstanding the immigration of ,slavonic hordes1 and notwithstanding also1 it may be added1 the influences exercised in later periods by #8,franks1' ,genoese1 ,venetians1 and ,turks1 the traditions of the inhabitants of ,greece still remain singularly pure2 and their claim to ,hellenic nationality is justified by their language1 by their character1 and by many secular aspects of their civilisation4 ,but in the domain of religion it might reasonably be expected that a large change would have taken place4 ,there is the obstinate fact1 it may be thought1 that the ,greeks are now and have long been ,christian4 ,did not the new religion dispossess and oust the ancient polytheism8 ,are we to look for pagan customs in the hallowed usages of the ,greek ,church8 ,what can the simple ,christian peasant of to-day1 subject from his youth up to ecclesiastical influence1 know of the religion of his distant ancestors1--of those fundamental beliefs which guided their conduct towards gods and men in this life1 and inspired their care for the dead8 ,on the conduct of man towards his fellow-men in this life the influence of ,christianity appears to have been as great as that of paganism was small4 ,duty towards one's neighbour hardly came within the purview of ,hellenic religion4 ,if we look at the supreme acts of worship in ancient times1 we cannot fail to be struck by the disunion of the religious and the ethical4 ,a certain purity was no doubt required of those who attended the mysteries of ,eleusis2 but by that purity was meant physical cleanliness and1 strangely enough1 a pure use of the ,greek language1 just as much as any moral temperance or rectitude2 and the required condition was largely attained by the use or avoidance of certain foods and by bathing in the sea4 ,their cleanliness in fact was of the same confused kind1 half physical and half moral1 as that which the inhabitants of ,tenos were formerly wont1 and perhaps still continue1 to seek on ,s4 ,john the ,baptist's day 7,june #bd7 by leaping thrice through a bonfire and crying #8,here ,i leave my sins and my fleas#ee'3 and it was acquired by means equally material4 ,there is nothing conspicuously ethical in such a purity as this4 ,if moreover1 as has been well argued#ef1 a state of ecstasy was the highest manifestation of religious feeling1 and this spiritual exaltation was the deliberate aim and end of ,bacchic and other orgies1 it must be frankly avowed that religion in its highest manifestations was not conducive to what we call morality4 ,the means of inducing the ecstatic condition comprised drunkenness1 inhalation of vapours1 wild and licentious dancing4 ,with physical surexcitation came1 or was intended to come1 a spiritual elevation such that the mind could visualise the object of its desire#eg and worship1 and enjoy a sense of unity therewith4 ,on the savagery and debauchery which accompanied these religious celebrations there is no need to enlarge4 ,the ,bacchae of ,euripides1 with all its passion for the beauty of holiness1 is a standing monument to the excesses of frenzy3 and that these were no mere figment of the poet's imagination nor a transfiguration of rites long obsolete1 is proved by a single sentence of a sober enough writer of later times1 #8,the things that take place at nocturnal celebrations1 however licentious they may be1 although known to the company at large1 are to some extent condoned by them owing to the drunkenness#eh4' ,there were of course certain sects1 such as the ,orphic1 who1 in strong contrast with the ordinary religion1 upheld definite ethical standards1 preaching the necessity of purification from sin1 and advocating moral and even ascetic rules of life4 ,yet1 in spite of this1 we find a certain amalgamation of ,orphic and ,bacchic mysteries4 ,and why8 ,simply because both sects alike had a single end in view1 a spiritual exaltation in which the soul might transcend the things of ordinary life1 and see and commune with its gods4 ,what did it matter if the means to that end differed8 ,the one sect might reduce the passions of the body by rigid abstinence2 the other might deaden them with a surfeit of their desire2 but1 whether by prostration or by surexcitation1 the same religious end was sought and gained1 and that end justified means which we count immoral4 ,in effect the morality of a man's life counted for nothing as compared with his religion4 ,participation in the mysteries ensured blessings here and hereafter which an evil life would not forfeit nor a good life1 without initiation1 earn4 #8,thrice blessed they of men1 who look upon these rites ere they go to ,hades' home3 for them alone is there true life there1 and for the others nought but evil#ei4' ,it was this that made ,diogenes scoffingly ask1 #8,what1 shall the thief ,pataecion have a better lot than ,epaminondas after death1 because he has been initiated#fj8' ,seemingly religion and morality were to the ,greek mind divorced1 or rather had never been wedded4 ,religion was concerned only with the intercourse of man and god3 the moral character of the man himself and his relations with his fellows were outside the religious sphere4 ,indeed it would have been hard for the ancients to regard morality as a religious obligation1 when immorality was freely imputed to their gods4 ,this was a real obstacle to the ethical improvement of the people at large1 and was recognised as such by many thinkers4 ,pindar strove to expurgate mythological stories which brought discredit on the morals of ,olympus4 ,plato would have banished the evil records of ,homeric theology from his ideal state1 and ridicules ,musaeus for forming no more lofty conception of future bliss than #8eternal drunkenness4' ,epicurus defended his own attitude towards the gods on the plea that there was #8no impiety in doing away with the popular gods1 but rather in attaching to the gods the popular ideas of them#fa4' ,in effect1 in order to reconcile religion with the teaching of ethics1 the would-be preacher of morality had either openly to discard a large amount of the popular theology or else to have recourse to adaptation and mystical interpretation of so artificial and arbitrary a kind that it could gain no hold upon the simple and spontaneous beliefs of the common-folk4 ,yet even among the ordinary men of those days there must have been some who1 though they did not aspire to instruct their fellow-men1 yet in hours of sober reason and cool judgement cannot have viewed unabashed the inconsistencies of a religion whose gods were stained with human vices4 ,but such thoughts1 we may suppose1 were swept away1 as men approached their sanctuaries and their mysteries1 by a flood of religious fervour4 ,passion in such moments defeated reason4 ,emotion1 susceptibility1 imagination1 impetuosity1 powers of visualisation regarded among western nations as the perquisite of the inebriate1 powers of ecstasy not easily distinguished from hysteria1--such were the mental conditions essential to the highest acts of worship2 by these1 and not by sober meditation1 the soul attained to the closest communing and fullest union with that god whose glory for the nonce outshone all pale remembrance of mere moral rectitude and alone was able to evoke every supreme emotion of his worshipper4 ,if then morality was ever to be imposed and sanctioned by religion1 a wholly new religion had to be found4 ,this was the opportunity of ,christianity4 ,paganism1 in some of its most sacred rites1 had availed itself even of immoral means to secure a religious end3 ,christianity gave to ethics a new and higher status1 and was rather in danger of making religion wholly subservient to morality4 ,that it was difficult to bring the first converts to the new point of view1 is evident from the rebukes administered by ,s4 ,paul to the ,corinthians1 who seem not only to have indulged in many gross forms of vice in everyday life1 but even to have made the most sacred of ,christian services an occasion for gluttony and drunkenness#fb4 ,in all then that concerns the ethical standards of the people1 our study of modern ,greece will contribute little to the understanding of ancient thought or conduct4 ,christianity has fenced men about with a rigid moral code1 and has exerted itself to punish those who break bounds4 ,duty towards man is now recognised as the complement of duty towards ,god2 and any one who by a notoriously evil life has outraged the moral laws of conduct1 is liable to be deprived by excommunication of the established means of worship4 ,the frailties of the ,greek character remain indeed such as they always were3 but now religion at least enjoins1 if it cannot always enforce1 the observance of a moral code which includes the eighth commandment1 and ,pataecion1 though he go regularly to church1 yet lacks something4 ,but while the ,church had an open field in matters of morality and had no system of ethics based on ,hellenic religion to combat in introducing her higher views of man's duty towards his fellow-men1 in the province of pure religion and of all that concerns the relations of man with his ,god or gods she necessarily encountered competition and opposition4 ,primarily the contest between paganism and ,christianity might have been expected to resolve itself into a struggle between polytheism and monotheism3 but as a matter of fact that simple issue became considerably complicated4 ,the minds of the educated classes had become confused by the subtleties of the ,gnostics1 who sought to find1 in some philosophical basis common to all religions1 an intellectual justification for accepting ,christianity without wholly discarding earlier religious convictions4 ,this however was a matter of theology rather than of religion1 appealing not to the heart but to the head3 and so far as the common-folk were concerned we may safely say that such speculations were above their heads4 ,yet for them too the issue was confused in two ways4 ,the first disturbing factor was the attitude adopted by each of the two parties1 pagan and ,christian1 towards the object of the other's worship4 ,the pagans--so catholic are the sympathies of polytheism--were ready enough to welcome ,christ into the number of their gods4 ,tertullian tells us that the emperor ,tiberius proposed the apotheosis of ,christ#fc4 ,hadrian is said to have built temples in his honour#fd4 ,alexander ,severus had in his private chapel statues of ,christ1 ,abraham1 and ,orpheus#fe2 and a similar association of ,homer1 ,pythagoras1 ,christ1 and ,s4 ,paul is noted by ,s4 ,augustine#ff4 ,since then there is no reason for supposing that the common-folk were more exclusive in their religious sympathies than the upper classes1 it may safely be inferred that the average ,pagan was willing to admit ,christ to a place among the gods of ,greece4 ,the ,christians on the other hand did not attack paganism by an utter denial of the existence of the old gods4 ,they sought rather to ridicule and discredit them by pointing out the inconsistencies of pagan theology1 and by ransacking mythology for every tale of the vices and misdoings of its deities4 ,they even appealed to the testimony of ,homer himself to show that the so-called gods 77 of the ,greek folk were mere demons 77#fg1--;for since ,homer's day the latter word had lost caste4 ,such methods1 had they been wholly successful1 might have produced similar results to those which followed the conflict of two religions in the early ages of ,greece4 ,as the ,titanic dynasty of gods had fallen before the ,olympian ,zeus1 and in their defeat had come to be accounted cruel and malicious powers rightly ousted from heaven by a more just and gracious deity1 so too in turn might the whole number of the pagan gods have been reduced to the status of devils to act as a foil to the goodness of the ,christian ,god4 ,but this did not happen4 ,one reason perhaps was that ,christianity came provided with its own devil or devils1 and the pagans were naturally averse from placing the gods whom they had been wont to venerate in the same category with spirits so uncompromisingly evil4 ,the main reason however must be found in the fact that the ,church had nothing to offer to the pagans in exchange for the countless gods of the old religion whom she was endeavouring to displace and to degrade4 ,indeed the real difficulty of the ,christian ,church was the tolerant spirit of the ,greek people4 ,they would not acknowledge that any feud existed4 ,they were ready to worship the ,christian ,god3 but they must have felt that it was unreasonable of the ,christian missionaries to ask them to give up all their old gods merely because a new god had been introduced4 ,even if their gods were all that the ,christians represented them to be--cruel1 licentious1 unjust--that was no reason for neglecting them2 rather it furnished a stronger motive for propitiating them and averting their wrath by prayer and sacrifice4 ,tolerant themselves1 they must have resented a little the intolerance of the new religion4 ,such being the attitude of the two parties1 it may be doubted whether the ,church would have made much headway in ,greece1 had it not been for a fresh development in her own conditions4 ,and this development was the second disturbing factor in what should have been the simple struggle between monotheism and polytheism4 ,christianity1 as understood by the masses1 became polytheistic on its own account4 ,it is true that the authorities of the ,greek ,church have always taught that the angels and saints are not to be worshipped in the same sense as ,god4 ,ecclesiastical doctrine concedes to them no power to grant the petitions of men at their own will3 they can act as intermediaries only between man and the ,almighty2 yet while they cannot in their own might fulfil the requests which they hear1 their intervention as messengers to the throne of ,god is deemed to enhance the value of man's prayers and wellnigh to ensure their acceptance4 ,but such a doctrine is naturally too subtle for the uninstructed common-folk3 and just as ,christ had been admitted to the ranks of the ,greek gods1 so were the saints1 it would seem1 accepted as lesser deities or perhaps heroes4 ,whatever their precise status may have been1 they at any rate became objects of worship2 and a religion which admits many objects of worship becomes necessarily a form of polytheism4 ,now while the ,church did not sanction this state of things by her doctrine1 there can be no doubt that she condoned it by the use to which she put it4 ,the attempt to crush paganism had so far failed1 and there was no longer any thought of a combat outrance between the two religions4 ,violence was to give way to diplomacy2 and the chief instrument of the ,church's diplomacy was the worship of the saints4 ,it became her hope to supplant paganism by substituting for the old gods ,christian saints of similar names and functions2 and the effects of this policy are everywhere in evidence in modern ,greece4 ,thus ,dionysus was displaced by ,s4 ,dionysius1 as a story still current in ,greece testifies4 #8,once upon a time ,s4 ,dionysius was on his way to ,naxos3 and as he went he espied a small plant which excited his wonder4 ,he dug it up1 and because the sun was hot sought wherewith to shelter it4 ,as he looked about1 he saw the bone of a bird's leg1 and in this he put the plant to keep it safe4 ,to his surprise the plant began to grow1 and he sought again a larger covering for it4 ,this time he found the leg-bone of a lion1 and as he could not detach the plant from the bird's leg1 he put both together in that of the lion4 ,yet again it grew and this time he found the leg-bone of an ass and put plant and all into that4 ,and so he came to ,naxos4 ,and when he came to plant the vine--for the plant was in fact the first vine--he could not sever it from the bones that sheltered it1 but planted them all together4 ,then the vine grew and bore grapes and men made wine and drank thereof4 ,and first when they drank they sang like birds1 and when they drank more they grew strong as lions1 and afterwards foolish as asses#fh4' ,the disguise of the ancient god is thin indeed4 ,his name is changed by an iota1 but his character not a jot4 ,s4 ,dionysius is god of the vine1 and even retains his predecessor's connexion with ,naxos4 ,it is perhaps noteworthy too that in ,athens the road which skirts the south side of the ,acropolis and the theatre of ,dionysus is now called the street of ,s4 ,dionysius the ,areopagite4 ,i was once corrected by a ,greek of average education for speaking of the theatre of ,dionysus instead of ascribing it to his saintly namesake4 ,demeter again1 although as we shall see later she still survives as a distinct personality1 has been for the most part dispossessed by ,s4 ,demetrius4 ,his festival1 which falls in ,october and is therefore remote from harvest-time1 is none the less celebrated with special enthusiasm among the agricultural classes2 marriages too are especially frequent on that day#fi4 ,similarly ,artemis1 though she too is still known to the common-folk in some districts1 has in the main handed over her functions to a saint of the other sex1 ,artemidos4 ,theodore ,bent has recorded a good instance of this from the island of ,keos 7modern ,zea74 ,there is a belief throughout ,greece that weakly children who show signs of wasting have been #8struck by the ,nereids1'--by nymphs1 that is1 of any kind1 whether terrestrial or marine4 #8,in ,keos1' says ,bent1 #8,s4 ,artemidos is the patron of these weaklings1 and the church dedicated to him is some little way from the town on the hill-slopes2 thither a mother will take a child afflicted by any mysterious wasting1 8struck by the ,nereids10 as they say4 ,she then strips off its clothes and puts on new ones1 blessed by the priest1 leaving the old ones as a perquisite to the ,church2 and then if perchance the child grows strong1 she will thank ,s4 ,artemidos for the blessing he has vouchsafed1 unconscious that by so doing she is perpetuating the archaic worship of ,artemis1 to whom in classical times were attached the epithets 1 1 2 and now the ,ionian idea of the fructifying and nourishing properties of the ,ephesian ,artemis has been transferred to her ,christian namesake#gj4' ,it might have been added that in this custom are reflected not only those general attributes of the tendance of children which ,artemis shared with many other deities1 but possibly also her power to undo any mischief wrought by her handmaidens1 the nymphs#ga4 ,again there is every reason to suppose that ,s4 ,elias#gb whose chapels crown countless hilltops is merely the ,christian successor to ,helios1 the ,sun4 ,the two names1 which have only a moderate resemblance in the nominative1 coincide for modern pronunciation in the genitive2 and the frequency with which that case was needed in speaking of the church or the mountain-peak dedicated to one or the other may have facilitated the transition4 ,besides inheriting the mountain sanctuaries at which the worship of the ,sun may have persisted from a very early age1 ,s4 ,elias has also taken over the chariot of his predecessor1 and thunder is sometimes attributed to the rolling of its wheels4 ,in other cases1 without any resemblance of names1 identity of attributes or functions suggested the substitution of saint for pagan deity4 ,hermes who in old times was the chief #8angel' or messenger of the immortals 7 7 was naturally succeeded by the archangel ,michael1 upon whom therefore devolves the duty of escorting men's souls to ,hades2 and to this day the men of ,maina tell how the archangel1 with drawn sword in his hand instead of the wand of his prototype1 may be seen passing to and fro at the mouth of the caves of ,taenarus through which ,heracles made his ascent with ,cerberus from the lower world1 and which is still the best-known descent thereto4 ,the supplanting of ,hermes by ,michael is well illustrated in the sphere of art also by a curious gem4 ,the design is an ordinary type of ,hermes with his traditional cap1 and at his side a cock1 the symbol of vigilance and of gymnastic sport2 by a later hand has been engraved the name #8,michael'2 the cock remained to be interpreted doubtless as the ,christian symbol of the awakening at the last day of them that sleep#gc4 ,the conversion of pagan temples or of their sites to the purposes of ,christianity tells the same tale4 ,the virgin goddess of ,athens ceded the ,parthenon to the ,blessed ,virgin of the ,christians4 ,the so-called ,theseum1 whether ,theseus or ,heracles was its original occupant1 was fitly made over to the warrior ,s4 ,george3 but none the less what seems to have been an old pagan festival1 known as the 7,latin rosalia7#gd1 continues to this day to be celebrated with dancing and feasting in its precincts4 ,the ,church of the ,annunciation at ,tenos1 so famous throughout the ,greek world for its miracles of healing1 stands on the foundations of ,poseidon's ancient sanctuary1 and includes in its precincts a holy spring 77 whose healing virtues1 we can hardly doubt1 were first discovered by the pagans3 for ,poseidon was worshipped in ,tenos under the title of the #8healer' 77#ge4 ,indeed throughout the length and breadth of the land the traveller will find churches built with the material of the old temples or superimposed upon their foundation1 and cannot fail to detect therein evidence of a deliberate policy on the part of the ,church4 ,but in her attempts to be conciliatory she became in fact compromised4 ,it was politic no doubt to encourage the weaker brethren by building churches on sites where they had long been wont to worship3 it was politic to smooth the path of the common-folk by substituting for the god whom they had worshipped a patron-saint of like name or attributes4 ,but in so doing the ,church practically condoned polytheism4 ,she drove out the old gods from their temples made with hands1 but did not ensure the obliteration of them from men's hearts4 ,the saints whom she set up in the place of the old deities were certain to acquire the rank of gods in the estimation of the people and1 despite the niceties of ecclesiastical doctrine1 to become in fact objects of frank and open worship4 ,the adoption of the old places of worship made it inevitable that the old associations of the pagan cults should survive and blend themselves with the new ideas1 and that the churches should more often acquire prestige from their heathen sites than themselves shed a new lustre of sanctity upon them4 ,in effect1 paganism was not uprooted to make room for the planting of ,christianity1 but served rather as an old stock on which a new and vigorous branch1 capable indeed of fairer fruit but owing its very vitality to alien sap1 might be engrafted4 ,bitterly and despondently did the early ,fathers of the ,church1 and above all ,s4 ,john ,chrysostom1 complain of the inveteracy of pagan customs within the pale of the ,church1 while a kind of official recognition was given to many superstitions which were clearly outside that pale1 if only by the many forms of exorcism directed against the evil eye or prescribed for the cure of those possessed by pagan powers of evil#gf4 ,for illustration we need not fall back upon the past history of the ,greek ,church2 even to-day she has not succeeded in living down the consequences of her whilom policy of conciliation4 ,the common-folk indeed profess and call themselves ,christian2 their priesthood is a ,christian priesthood2 their places of worship are ,christian churches2 they make the sign of the cross at every turn2 and the names of ,god and ,christ and the ,virgin are their commonest ejaculations4 ,but with all this external ,christianity they are as pagan and as polytheistic in their hearts as were ever their ancestors4 ,by their acceptance of ,christianity they have increased rather than diminished their number of gods3 in their conception of them and attitude towards them they have made little advance since the ,homeric ,age3 and practically all the religious customs most characteristic of ancient paganism1 such as sacrifice1 the taking of auspices1 and the consultation of oracles1 continue with or without the sanction of the ,church down to the present day4 ,these are strong statements to make concerning even the humblest and most ignorant members of the ,holy ,orthodox ,church3 but ,i shall show1 ,i think1 that they do not exceed the warranty of facts4 ,first of all then the peasant believes himself to be ever compassed about by a host of supernatural beings1 who have no relation with his ,christian faith1 and some of whom he unconsciously acknowledges1 by the very names that he applies to them1 as #8pagan' beings and #8outside' the ,christian fold#gg4 ,to all of these--and they are a motley crew1 gods and demons1 fairies and dragons--he assigns severally and distinctly their looks1 their dispositions1 their habitations1 and their works4 ,to some of them he prays and makes offerings2 against others he arms and fortifies himself in the season of their maleficence2 but all of them1 whether for good or ill1 are to him real existent beings2 no phantoms conjured up by trepidation of mind1 but persons whose substance is proved by sight and hearing and touch4 ,nothing is more amazing in the peasantry of modern ,greece than their familiarity with these various beings4 ,more than once ,i have overheard two peasants comparing notes on the ghostly fauna of their respective districts2 and the intimate and detailed character of their knowledge was a revelation in regard to their powers of visualisation4 ,it is the mountaineers and the mariners who excel in this2 but even the duller folk of the lowlands see much that is hidden from foreign eyes4 ,once however ,i did see a nymph--or what my guide took for one--moving about in an olive-grove near ,sparta2 and ,i must confess that had ,i possessed an initial faith in the existence of nymphs and in the danger of looking upon them1 so lifelike was the apparition that ,i might have sworn as firmly as did my guide that it was a nymph that we had seen1 and might have required as strong a dose as he at the next inn to restore my nerves4 ,the initial faith in such things1 which the child acquires from its mother1 is no doubt an important factor in the visualisation2 but it is certainly strange that often in ,greece not one man only but several together will see an apparition at the same moment1 and even agree afterwards as to what they saw4 ,these beings then are not the mere fanciful figures of old wives' fables1 but have a real hold upon the peasant's belief and a firm place in his religion4 ,to the objects of ,christian worship or veneration--,god and ,christ and the ,virgin together with the archangels and all the host of saints--have been accorded the highest places and chiefest honours3 but beside them1 or rather below them1 yet feared and honoured too1 stand many of the divine personalities of the old faith1 recognised and distinguished still4 ,artemis1 ,demeter1 and ,charon1 as well as ,nymphs and ,gorgons1 ,lamiae and ,centaurs1 have to be reckoned with in the conduct of life2 while in folk-stories the memory at least of other deities still survives4 ,to these remnants of ancient mythology the next chapter will be devoted2 the purely pagan element in the modern polytheism may be sufficiently illustrated here by a few curious cases of the use even of the word #8god' 77 in reference to other than the ,god of ,christendom4 ,in ,athens1 down to recent times1 there was a fine old formula of blessing in vogue--and who shall say but that among the simpler people it may still be heard8--which combined impartially the one ,god and the many3-- ' #gh1 #8,god fit thee to find favour with gods and men6' ,in the island of ,syra1 according to ,bent#gi1 it was #8a common belief amongst the peasants that the ghosts of the ancient ,greeks come once a year from all parts of ,greece to worship at ,delos1 444 and even to-day they will reverently speak of the 8god in ,delos40' ,another writer mentions a similar expression as used in several parts of the mainland1 though only it would seem as an ejaculation1 or #8by the god of ,crete#hj6' ,in the island of ,santorini 7the ancient ,thera7 ,i personally encountered a still more striking case of out-spoken polytheism4 ,i chanced one day upon a very old woman squatting on the extreme edge of the cliff above the great flooded crater which1 though too deep for anchorage1 serves the main town of the island as harbour--a place more fascinating in its hideousness than any ,i have seen4 ,wondering at her dangerous position1 ,i asked her what she was doing2 and she replied simply enough that she was making rain4 ,it was two years since any had fallen1 and as she had the reputation of being a witch of unusual powers and had procured rain in previous droughts1 she had been approached by several of the islanders who were anxious for their vineyards4 ,moreover she had been prepaid for her work--a fact which spoke most eloquently for the general belief in her2 for the ,greek is slow enough 7as doubtless she knew7 to pay for what he has got1 and never prepays what he is not sure of getting4 ,true1 her profession had its risks1 she said2 for on one occasion1 the only time that her spells had failed1 some of her disappointed clients whose money she had not returned tried to burn her house over her one night while she slept4 ,but business was business4 ,did ,i want some rain too8 ,to ensure her good will and further conversation1 ,i invested a trifle1 and tried to catch the mumbled incantations which followed on my behalf4 ,of these however beyond a frequent invocation of the ,virgin 7 7 and a few words about water and rain ,i could catch nothing2 but ,i must acknowledge that her charms were effectual1 for before we parted the thunder was already rolling in the distance1 and the rain which ,i had bought spoilt largely the rest of my stay in the island4 ,the incantations being finished1 she became more confidential4 ,she would not of course let a stranger know the exact formula which she employed2 that would mar its efficacy3 she vouchsafed to me however with all humility the information that it was not by her own virtue that she caused the rain1 but through knowing #8the god above and the god below' 7 74 ,the latter indeed had long since given up watering the land2 he had caused shakings of the earth and turned even the sea-water red4 ,the god above also had once rained ashes when she asked for water1 but generally he gave her rain1 sometimes even in summer-time4 ,one thing she could not make out--who was the god that caused the thunder2 did ,i know8 ,i evaded the question1 and our theological discussion went no further1 for the god of thunder was making his voice heard more threateningly1 and the old witch would not stay to make his acquaintance at closer quarters4 ,the physical interpretation of these references to the god above and the god below is not difficult4 ,at the present day there are said to be three springs1 and three only1 in the whole island2 nor are they of much use to the inhabitants2 indeed the only one which ,i saw was dry save for a scanty moisture barely sufficient to keep the rock about it green and mossy3 and in fact the population depends entirely upon rain-water stored up in large underground cisterns or reservoirs4 ,clearly the god below no longer gives water2 but that there may have been more spring-water prior to the great eruptions of #ahff is very probable2 for the people still call certain dry old torrent-beds by which the island is intersected #8rivers' 771 and real rivers with water in them figure also in several of the local folk-stories4 ,the perversity of the god above in sending ashes on one occasion instead of rain may also be understood in reference to the same eruptions1 of which the old woman gave me a vivid description4 ,but the theology itself is more interesting than its material basis4 ,this witch--a good ,christian1 they told me1 but a little mad1 with a madness however of which sane vine-growers were eager enough to avail themselves--acknowledged certainly three gods3 the unknown thunder-god was clearly distinct from the god of the rain who was known to her3 and there was also the god of the waters under the earth1 in whose service she had perhaps followed the calling of a water-finder1 and to whom she ascribed1 as did the ancients to ,poseidon1 the shaking of the earth4 ,polytheism then even in its purely pagan form is not yet extinct in ,greece4 ,in the disguise of ,christianity1 we shall see1 it is everywhere triumphant4 ,among the ,christian objects of worship--for ,i have already explained that by the common-folk the saints are worshipped as deities--the ,trinity and the ,virgin occupy the highest places1 rivalled perhaps here and there by some local saint of great repute for miracles1 but nowhere surpassed4 ,it is the ,virgin indeed who1 in ,pashley's opinion1 #8is throughout ,greece the chief object of the ,christian peasant's worship#ha'2 and certainly1 ,i think1 more numerous and more various petitions are addressed to her than to any person of the ,trinity or to any saint4 ,but the ,trinity1 or at any rate ,god 7 7 and ,christ 7 71 as the peasants say1--for the ,holy ,ghost is hardly a personality to them and is rarely named except in doxologies and formal invocations--are of almost equal importance1 and are so closely allied with the ,virgin that it is difficult to draw distinctions4 ,but while the ,church has thus secured the first place for her most venerated figures1 the influence of pagan feeling is clearly seen in the popular conception of this #8,god4' ,his position is just such as that of ,zeus in the old rgime4 ,he is little more than the unnamed ruler among many other divinities4 ,his sway is indeed supreme and he exercises a general control2 but his functions are in a certain sense limited none the less1 and his special province is the weather only4 1 said the ancients1 and the moderns re-echo their thought in words of the same import1 1 #8,god is raining1' or 1 #8,god is throwing water#hb4' ,so too the coming and going of the daylight is described as an act of ,god2 1 or 1 1 say the peasants1 #8,god has dawned' or #8has darkened4' ,when it hails1 it is ,god who #8is plying his sieve1' #hc 4 ,when it thunders1 #8,god is shoeing his horse1' ' 1 or1 according to another version#hd1 #8the hoofs of ,god's horse are ringing1' ' 4 ,or again the roll of the thunder sometimes suggests quite another idea2 #8,god is rolling his wine-casks1' ' #he1 or 4 ,and once again1 because a ,greek wedding cannot be celebrated without a large expenditure of gunpowder1 the booming of the thunder suggests to some that #8,god is marrying his son' or #8,god is marrying his daughters1' #hf1 or #hg4 ,such expressions as these#hh are in daily use among the ,greek peasantry3 and nothing could reveal more frankly the purely pagan and anthropomorphic conception of ,god which everywhere prevails4 ,the ,god of ,christendom is indistinguishable from the ,zeus of ,homer4 ,a line from a ,cretan distich1 in which ,god is described as ' #hi1 #8,he that gathereth the clouds and thundereth and raineth1' exhibits a popular conception of the chief deity unchanged since ,zeus first received the epithets and 1 #8cloud-gatherer1' #8thunderer on high4' ,but even in the province of the weather ,god has not undivided control4 ,the winds are often regarded as persons acting at their own will2 and of the north wind in particular men speak with respect as ,sir ,boreas 7 71 for as in ,pindar's time he is still #8king of the winds#ij4' ,so too the whirlwind is the passing of the ,nereids1 and the water-spout marks the path of the ,lamia of the sea4 ,even the thunder is not always the work of ,god1 but some say that the prophet ,elias is #8driving his chariot1' or #8pursuing the dragon4' ,the more striking and irregular phenomena in short are governed by the caprice of lesser deities--,christian saints or pagan powers--while ,god directs the more orderly march of nature4 ,when however we turn from the external world to the life of man1 we find the functions of the supreme ,god even more closely circumscribed or--to put it in another way--more generally delegated to others4 ,the daily course of human life with all its pursuits and passions is under the joint control of the saints and some of the old ,hellenic deities4 ,of the latter1 as ,i have said1 another chapter must treat3 but it should be remembered that the peasant does not draw a hard and fast line of distinction between the two classes with whom for clearness' sake ,i am bound to deal separately4 ,thus ,charon in many of the folk-songs which celebrate his doings is made to represent himself as a messenger of ,god1 charged with the duty of carrying off some man's soul and unable to grant a respite#ia4 ,he is occasionally addressed even as ,saint ,charon#ib2 and his name constantly occurs in the epitaphs of country churchyards4 ,a story too in ,bernhard ,schmidt's collection#ic illustrates well the way in which pagan and ,christian elements are thus interwoven3-- #8,there was once an old man who had been good his whole life through4 ,in his old age therefore he had the fortune to see his good angel 7 72 who said to him--for he loved him well--8,i will tell thee how thou mayest be fortunate4 ,in such and such a hill is a cave2 go thou in there and ever onward till thou comest to a great castle4 ,knock at the gate1 and when it is opened to thee thou wilt see a tall woman before thee1 who will straightway welcome thee and ask thee of thine age and business and estate4 ,answer only that thou art sent by me3 then will she know the rest40 ,even so did the old man3 and the woman within the earth gave unto him a tablecloth and bade him but spread it out and say 8,in the name of the ,father and of the ,son and of the ,holy ,ghost10 and lo6 everything that he wished would be found thereon4 ,and thus it came to pass4 #8,now when the old man had oft made use of it1 it came into his heart to bid the king unto his house3 who1 when he saw the wonder-working cloth1 took it from the old man4 ,but because he was no virtuous man1 the cloth did not its task in his hands2 wherefore he threw it out of the window and straightway it turned to dust4 ,so the old man went again to the woman in the hill1 and she gave him this time a hen that laid a golden egg every day4 ,when the king heard thereof1 he had the hen too taken away from the old man4 ,howbeit in his keeping she laid not1 and so he threw the hen also out of window1 and she likewise turned to dust4 ,so in his anger he bade seize the old man forthwith and cut off his head4 #8,but scarce was this done when there appeared before the king the ,mistress of the ,earth and of the ,sea--for she was the woman in the hill--and when she had told him in brief words what awaited him after this life in requital for his wickedness1 she stamped with her foot upon the ground1 which swallowed up the castle with the king and all that was therein4 ,but the old man that was slain had entered into ,paradise4' ,in this story the ,mistress of the ,earth and of the ,sea 7 7 is1 as we shall see later#id1 none other than ,demeter3 but pagan as she is1 she works in accord with the good angel 7who is evidently her inferior71 and orders the old man to invoke the ,trinity4 ,thus the peasant does not conceive of any antagonism between his pagan and his ,christian objects of worship2 and both classes are equally deserving of study by those interested in ancient ,greek religion4 ,for while every minutest trait or detail of the modern peasant's conception of those ancient deities1 who1 though despoiled of temples and organised worship1 still survive1 may throw some new ray of light on the divine personalities and the myths of old time1 yet a more broad and comprehensive view of the outlines of ancient religion may be obtained by contemplating the worship of ,christian saints who1 though deficient often in personal significance1 nevertheless by their possession of dedicated shrines and of all the apparatus of a formal cult occupy more exactly the position of the old gods and heroes4 ,the saints then1 as ,i have remarked above1 have a large share in the control of man's daily life4 ,the whole religious sense of the people seems to demand a delegation of the powers of one supreme ,god to many lesser deities1 who1 for the very reason perhaps that they are lower in the scale of godhead1 are more accessible to man4 ,under the name of saints lies1 hardly concealed1 the notion of gods4 ,in mere nomenclature ,christianity has had its way2 but none of the old tendencies of paganism have been checked4 ,the current of worship has been turned towards many new personalities2 but the essence of that worship is the same4 ,the ,church would have its saints be merely mediators with the one ,god2 but popular feeling has made of them many gods2 their locality and scope of action are defined in exactly the old way2 vows are made to the patron-saint of such and such a place2 invocations are addressed to him in virtue of a designated power or function4 ,local titles are often derived merely from the town or district in which the church stands1 as ,our ,lady of ,tenos1 or ,s4 ,gerasimos of ,cephalonia4 ,in other cases they have reference to the surroundings of the sanctuary4 ,the chapel of the ,virgin in the monastery of ,megaspelaeon consists of a large cave at the foot of some towering cliffs1 and the dedication is to our ,lady of the ,golden ,cave 7 74 ,in this case the word #8golden' is an imaginative addition1 for the interior is peculiarly dark3 but the dedication has been borrowed1 owing to the repute of the original shrine1 by churches which have not even a cave to show4 ,in ,amorgos ,s4 ,george has the title of ,balsamites1 derived from the balsam which covers the hill-side on which stands his church4 ,in ,paros several curious dedications are mentioned by ,bent1 which he renders as ,our ,lady of the ,lake1 ,our ,lady of the ,unwholesome ,place1 and ,s4 ,george of the ,gooseberry#ie4 ,in ,athens there is a church of which the present dedication is said to be due to a fire which blackened the icon of the ,virgin1 who is known on this account as ,our smoke-blackened ,lady 7 71 or1 it may be1 ,our ,lady of the smoky head1 according as the second half of the compound is connected with the ,turkish word for #8black' or the now obsolete ,greek word 1 #8head#if4' ,titles denoting functions are equally numerous and quaint4 ,in ,rhodes the ,archangel ,michael is invoked as 1 patron of the wine-press#ig4 ,s4 ,nicolas1 who has supplanted ,poseidon1 often assumes the simple title of #8sailor' 774 ,s4 ,john the ,hunter 77 owns a monastery on ,mt ,hymettus4 ,in ,cimolus there is a church of ,our ,guiding ,lady 7 7#ih4 ,,ss4 ,costas and ,damien1 the physicians1 are known as the ,moneyless 771 because their services are given gratis4 ,s4 ,george at ,argostli has been dubbed the ,drunkard 77#ii--thus furnishing a notable parallel to the hero celebrated in old time at ,munychia as #ajj--;because on his day1 ,nov4 #crd1 the new wine is commonly tapped and there is much drinking in his honour4 ,in other cases the actual name of the saint has determined his powers or character without further epithet4 ,s4 ,therapon is invoked for all kinds of healing 773 ,s4 ,eleutherios 7with an echo possibly of ,eilythuia7 to give deliverance 77 to women in childbirth3 ,s4 ,james1 in ,melos1 owing to a phonetic corruption of into 1 to cure deafness#aja4 ,s4 ,elias1 the successor of the sun-god 771 has power over drought and rain4 ,s4 ,andrew 77 is implored to make weakly children #8strong' 774 ,s4 ,maura1 in ,athens1 requires that no sewing be done on her day under pain of warts 7locally known as 71 which if incurred can only be cured by an application of oil from her lamp#ajb4 ,s4 ,tryphon resents any twisting 77 of thread1 as in spinning1 on his day2 and on the festival of ,s4 ,symeon expectant mothers must touch no utensil of daily toil1 above all nothing black2 for ,s4 ,symeon #8makes marks' 7 71 and a birth-mark would inevitably appear on the child4 ,if however a woman offend unwittingly1 she must lay her hands at once on that part of the body where the birth-mark will be least disfiguring to the child4 ,these are only a small selection of the saints whom the peasant seeks to propitiate1 and it may be noted in passing that among them there are some characters1 as among the ancient deities1 either immoral as ,s4 ,george the ,drunkard1 or unamiable as ,s4 ,maura1 ,s4 ,tryphon1 and ,s4 ,symeon4 ,but a better idea of the multitude of the popular deities may perhaps be conveyed by giving a list of those worshipped in a single island with the functions there ascribed to them4 ,here is the catalogue given by a native of ,cythnos#ajc4 ,the ,virgin 77 is invoked on any and every occasion1 and the ,,ss4 ,anargyri 7,costas and ,damien7 in all cases of illness4 ,s4 ,pantelemon is a specialist in eye-diseases1 ,s4 ,eleutherios in obstetrics1 ,s4 ,modestes in veterinary work1 ,s4 ,vlasios in ulcers etc4 ,s4 ,charalampes and ,s4 ,varvara 77 deliver from pestilences1 and ,s4 ,elias from drought4 ,the power of protecting children from ailments is ascribed to ,s4 ,stylianos1 and that of saving sailors from the perils of the sea to ,s4 ,nicolas1 ,s4 ,sostes1 and the ,,ss4 ,akindyni 774 ,s4 ,tryphon deals with noxious insects1 ,s4 ,john the ,baptist with ague1 ,s4 ,menas with loss of goods1 ,s4 ,paraskeve 7,friday7 with headache3 while ,s4 ,aekaterine 7,catherine7 and ,s4 ,athanasios assist anxious mothers to marry off their daughters4 ,as in the multiplicity of the objects of worship1 so too in the mental attitude of the worshipper1 there is little change since first were written the words 1 #8,gifts win the gods4' ,there are certain great occasions1 it is true1 now as in old days1 on which religious feeling attains a higher level1 and the mercenary expectation of blessings is forgotten in whole-hearted adoration of the blesser4 ,but in general a spirit of bargaining tempers the peasant's prayer1 and a return is required for services rendered4 ,a sketch of the religious sentiments of the ,sphakiotes given by the head of a ,cretan monastery is worth reproducing1 for it is typical of the whole ,greek folk4 #8,the faith1' he writes1 #8of these highlanders in ,jesus ,christ is sincere in every way1 reverent1 deep-seated1 and unshaken1 but unfortunately it is not free from superstitious fancies which mar this otherwise great merit4 ,many of them are fully persuaded that ,god1 ,our ,lady1 and the ,saints go to and fro unseen above their heads1 watch each man's actions1 and take part in his quarrels1 like the gods of ,homer4 ,they are under an obligation to work constant miracles1 to vindicate and avenge1 to listen readily to each man's requests and petitions1 whether they be just or no4 ,many of the people go off cattle-lifting or on other wrongful enterprises1 and at the same time call upon ,our ,lady1 or any other saints of repute as wonder-workers1 to assist them1 and as payment for success promise them gifts6 ,to some of the ,saints they attribute greater power and grace than to the ,god who glorified them4 ,in the same way they show greater reverence for this or that church or icon1 and bring presents from great distances1 in the belief that it has miraculous powers1 without understanding that ,faith works miracles equally in all places#ajd4' ,such is the verdict of an educated priest of the ,greek ,church who deplores the polytheism and idolatry of the common-folk among whom he lives1 and who in so doing speaks with the authority of intimate knowledge4 ,nor can the justice of the verdict be questioned by any one who has entered one of the more highly reputed churches of ,greece and observed the votive offerings which adorn or disfigure it4 ,for these offerings are of two qualities just as the motives which inspire them are twofold4 ,there are the genuine thank-offerings1 selected for their beauty or worth1 which commemorate gratefully some blessing received2 of such the treasury of the ,church of the ,annunciation in ,tenos is full--gold and silver plate1 bibles and service-books in rich bindings studded with jewels1 embroideries of ,oriental silk unmatched in skill and splendour4 ,but there is another class1 the propitiatory offerings designed to place the offerer in a special way under the protection of the saint4 ,most characteristic among these are the shreds of infected clothing sent by some sick person to the church of the particular saint whose healing power he invokes4 ,just as in the province of magic the possession of a strip of a man's clothing gives to the witch a control over his whole person1 so in the religious sphere the dedication of some disease-laden rag from the body of the sufferer places him under the special care of the saint4 ,in the church of #8,s4 ,john of the ,column' at ,athens the ancient pillar round which the edifice has been built is always garnished with dirty rags affixed by a daub of candle-grease2 and if the saint cures those who send these samples of their fevers1 he must certainly kill some of those who visit his sanctuary in person4 ,to this class of offerings belong also the bulk of the silver-foil trinkets which are so cheap that the poorest peasant can afford one for his tribute1 and so abundant that at ,tenos out of this supply of metal alone have been fashioned the massive silver candelabra which light the whole church4 ,these trinkets are models of any object which the worshipper wishes to commend to the special attention of the saint4 ,at ,tenos they most frequently represent parts of the human body1 for there the ,virgin is above all a goddess of healing2 but a vast assortment of models of other objects committed to her care may also be seen--horses and mules1 agricultural implements1 boats1 sheaves of corn to represent the harvest1 bunches of grapes in emblem of the vintage2 there is no limit to the variety2 anything for which a man craves the saint's blessing is thus symbolically confided to her keeping4 ,doubtless among them there are a number of thank-offerings for mercies already received2 ,i remember in particular a realistic model of a ,greek coasting steamer with a list attached giving the names of the captain and crew who dedicated it in gratitude for deliverance from shipwreck4 ,it may even be that some few of the models of eyes and limbs are thank-offerings for cures effected1 and in beauty or worth are all that the peasant's artistic sense desires or his purse affords4 ,but the majority of them1 as ,i have said1 are the gifts of those whose prayers are not yet answered and who thus keep before the eyes of the saint the maladies which crave her healing care4 ,other offerings again may be dedicated with either motive4 ,candles and incense are equally suited to win a favour or to repay one4 ,but whether the motive be propitiation or gratitude1 the whole system is a legacy of the pagan world and permeated with the spirit of paganism4 ,everywhere the ,christian disguise of the old religion is easily penetrable2 the ,church for instance has forbidden the use of graven images1 and only in one or two places do statues or even reliefs survive3 but the painted icons which are provided in their stead satisfy equally well the common-folk's instinct for idolatry4 ,vows conditional upon the answering of some prayer usually conform outwardly at least to ,christian requirements4 ,scores of the small chapels with which the whole country is dotted have been built in payment of such a vow2 and often a boy may be seen dressed in a miniature priest's costume1 because in some illness his mother devoted him to the service of ,god or of some saint for a number of years if only he should recover4 ,but the idea of bargaining by vows is more pagan than ,christian1 and sometimes indeed an even clearer echo of ancient thought is heard1 as when a girl vows to the ,virgin a silver girdle if she will lay her in her lover's arms#aje4 ,miracles again are expected of the higher powers in return for man's services to them2 for as the proverb runs1 1 1 #8it is a sorry saint who works no wonders4' ,and wonders are worked as the people expect--some in appearance1 some in fact4 ,a sham miracle is annually worked by the priests of a church near ,volo in ,thessaly4 ,within the walls1 still easily traced1 of the old town of ,demetrias on a spur of ,mount ,pelion stands an unfinished church dedicated to the ,virgin4 ,here on the ,friday after ,easter there is a concourse from all ,thessaly to see the miracle4 ,at the east end of the church1 on the outside1 a square tank has been sunk ten or twelve feet below the level of the church floor1 exposing1 on the side formed by the church wall1 ancient foundations--perhaps of some temple where the same miracle was worked two thousand years ago4 ,the miracle consists in the filling of this tank with water2 but seeing that under the floor of the church itself there are cisterns to which a shaft in each aisle descends1 and that the tank outside1 sunk1 as has been said1 to a lower level1 undisguisedly derives its water from a hole in the foundations of the church1 there is less of the marvellous in the fact that the priests by opening some sluice fill the tank than in the simple faith with which the throng from all parts presses to obtain a cupful of the miraculously fertilizing but withal muddy liquid4 ,the women drink it1 the men carry it home to sprinkle a few drops on cornfield or vineyard4 ,genuine miracles1 at any rate of healing1 seem to be well established4 ,after personal investigation and enquiry at the great festival of ,tenos ,i concluded that some faith-cures had actually occurred4 ,some travellers#ajf indeed have been inclined to scoff at these miracles and to write them down mere fabrications of interested priests4 ,but in an official #8,description of some of the miracles of the wonder-working icon of the ,annunciation in ,tenos' the total number claimed down to the year #ahih is only forty-four1 that is to say not an average even of one a year2 and a large majority of the cases detailed--including twelve cases of mental derangement1 eleven of blindness1 and ten of paralysis1 none of them congenital1--might ,i suppose come under the category of nervous diseases for which a faith-cure is possible2 while several of the remainder1 such as the case of a man who at first sight of the icon coughed up a fish bone which had stuck in his throat for two years1 do not pass the bounds of belief2 and even if the priests do sometimes set false or exaggerated rumours afloat1 it must be conceded that the peasant1 who has faith enough to believe their stories1 has also faith enough1 if faith-cures ever occur1 to render such a cure possible in his case4 ,indeed no one who has been to the great centres of miraculous healing can fail to be impressed by the unquailing faith of the pilgrims4 ,year by year they come in their thousands1 bringing the maimed and the halt and the blind1 and1 more pitiful still1 the hopelessly deformed1 for whose healing a miracle indeed were needed4 ,year by year these are laid to sleep in the church or in its precincts on the eve of the festival4 ,year by year they are carried where the shadow of the icon as it passes in procession may perchance fall on them4 ,year by year they are sprinkled with water from the holy spring4 ,and year by year most of them depart as they came1 maimed and halt and blind and horribly misshapen4 ,yet faith abides undimmed2 hope still blossoms2 and they go again and again until they earn another release than that which they crave4 ,the very dead1 it is said1 have ere now been brought from neighbouring islands1 but the icon has not raised them up4 ,there are but few indeed whose faith has made them whole2 but for my part ,i do not doubt that a boy's sight was restored at ,tenos in the year that ,i was there 7#ahii71 or that similar occurrences are well established at such shrines as that of the ,virgin at ,megaspelaeon1 of ,s4 ,george in ,scyros1 or of ,s4 ,gerasimos in ,cephalonia4 ,closely bound up with these miraculous cures is the old pagan practice of 1 sleeping in the sanctuary of the god whose healing touch is sought4 ,at ,tenos the majority of the pilgrims who come for the festival of ,lady-day can only afford to stop for the one night which precedes it4 ,the sight then is strange indeed4 ,the whole floor of the church and a great part of the courtyard outside is covered with recumbent worshippers4 ,with them they have brought mattresses and blankets for those of the sick for whom a stone floor is too hard2 by their side is piled baggage of all descriptions1 cooking utensils1 loaves of bread1 jars of wine or water1 everything in fact necessary for a long night's watch or slumber4 ,and on this mass of close-packed suffering worshippers the doors of the church are locked from nine in the evening till early next morning4 ,shortly before the closing-hour ,i picked my way with difficulty in the dim light over prostrate forms from the south to the north door4 ,the atmosphere was suffocating and reeked with the smoke of wax tapers which all day long the pilgrims had been burning before the icon4 ,every malady and affliction seemed to be represented2 the moaning and coughing never stopped3 and ,i wondered1 not whether there would be any miraculous cures1 but how many deaths there would be in the six or seven hours of confinement before even the doors were again opened4 ,but this is the practice at its worst4 ,where there is more time available1 there is nothing insanitary in it4 ,in the list of cures at ,tenos1 to which ,i have alluded1 there are many cases in which the patient spent not one night only but several months in the church4 ,as a typical case ,i may take that of a sailor who while keeping look-out on a steamer in the harbour of ,patras had some kind of paralytic seizure4 ,he was taken to ,tenos and for four months suffered terribly4 ,then about midday at ,easter he had fallen asleep and heard a voice bidding him rise4 ,he woke up and asked those about him who had called him2 they said no one2 so he slept again4 ,this happened twice4 ,the third time on hearing the voice he opened his eyes and saw entering the church a woman of unspeakable beauty and brilliance1 and at the shock he rose to his feet and began to walk2 and the same day accompanied the festival procession round the town to the astonishment of all the people4 ,when ,i was in ,scyros ,i heard of an equally curious case of a long-deferred cure which had recently taken place and was the talk of the town4 ,for seven consecutive years a man from ,euboea had brought his wife1 who was mad1 to the church of ,s4 ,george to #8sleep in' for forty days4 ,shortly before ,i arrived the last of these periods was just drawing to a close1 when one night both the man and his wife saw a vision of ,s4 ,george who came and laid his hand on her head2 and in the morning she woke sane4 ,of her sanity when ,i saw her--for they were still in the island1 paying1 ,i think1 some vow which the man had made--,i had no doubt2 and the evidence of the people of the place who for seven years previously had seen her mad seemed irrefragable4 ,the instances which ,i have cited are from the records of churches which have succeeded to the reputation possessed by ,epidaurus in antiquity4 ,these owing to the enthusiasm which their fame inspires are probably the scenes of more faith-cures than humbler and less known sanctuaries4 ,but in every church throughout the land the observance of the custom may occasionally be seen2 for in the less civilised districts at any rate it is among the commonest remedies for childish ailments for a mother to pass the night with her child in the village church4 ,we shall notice in later chapters the remnants of other pagan institutions which the ,greek ,church has harboured--an oracle established in a ,christian chapel and served by a priest--a church-festival at which sacrifice is done and omens are read--the survival of ancient #8mysteries' in the dramatic celebration of ,good ,friday and ,easter4 ,for the present enough has been said to show that1 even within the domain of what is nominally ,christian worship1 the peasant of to-day in his conception of the higher powers and in his whole attitude towards them remains a polytheist and a pagan4 ,and as in this aspect of religion1 so in that other which concerns men's care for the dead and their conception of the future life1 the persistence of pagan beliefs and customs is constantly manifest4 ,the ancient funeral usages are undisturbed2 and in the dirges which form part of them the heaven and the hell of ,christianity seem almost unknown3 #8the lower world' 7 71 over which rules neither ,god nor the ,devil but ,charon1 is the land to which all men alike are sped4 ,but there is no need to dilate upon these matters yet4 ,it is clear enough already1 ,i hope1 that the fact of ,greece being nominally a ,christian country should not preclude the hope of finding there instructive survivals of paganism4 ,the ,church did not oust her predecessor4 ,by a policy of conciliation and compromise she succeeded indeed in imposing upon ,hellenic religion the name of ,christianity and the ,christian code of morality and all the external appanages of ,christian worship3 but in the essentials of religion proper she deferred largely to the traditional sentiments of the race4 ,she utilised the sanctuaries which other associations had rendered holy2 she permitted or adopted as her own the methods by which men had approached and entreated other gods than hers2 she condoned polytheism by appropriating the shrines of gods whom men had been wont to worship to the service of saints whom they inevitably would worship as gods instead2 and even so she failed to suppress altogether the ejected deities4 ,the result is that for the peasant ,christianity is only a part of a larger scheme of religion4 ,to the outside observer it may appear that there are two distinct departments of popular religion1 the one nominally ,christian1 devoted to the service of ,god and the ,saints1 provided with sanctuaries and all the apparatus of worship1 served by a regular priesthood1 limited by dogma and system2 the other concerned with those surviving deities of pre-,christian ,greece to whom we must next turn1 free in respect of its worship alike from the intervention of persons and the limitations of place1 obedient only to a traditional lore which each may interpret by his own feelings and augment by his own experience4 ,but the peasant seems hardly sensible of any such contrast4 ,his ,christian and his pagan deities consort amicably together2 prayer and vow and offering are made to both1 now to avert their wrath1 now to cajole them into kindness2 the professed prophets of either sort1 the priests and the witches1 are endowed with kindred powers2 everywhere there is overlapping and intertwining4 ,and when the very authorities of the ,greek ,church have adopted or connived at so much of pagan belief and custom1 how should the common-folk distinguish any longer the twin elements in their blended faith8 ,their ,christianity has become homogeneous with their paganism1 and it is the religious spirit inherited from their pagan ancestors by which both alike are animated4 ,,footnotes3 #a ,,viii4 #ch4 #g4 #b ,oneirocr4 ,,ii4 #cd and #cg4 #c i4e4 77771 diminutive of 4 #d ,also locally 1 a word whose origin ,i cannot trace4 #e 4 4 1 1 p4 #ij4 #f ,theocr4 ,id4 ,,vi4 #ci4 #g ,sonnini de ,magnoncourt1 ,voyage en ,grce et en ,turquie1 vol4 ,,ii4 p4 #ii4 #h 4 1 1 p4 #cfj1 cf4 1 1 vol4 ,,iii4 p4 #adf4 #i ,in ,athens1 among other places1 cf4 1 1 vol4 ,,iii4 p4 #fi4 #aj ,verg4 ,ecl4 ,,iii4 #ajc4 #aa ,in ,sinasos the rule is strict in regard to both1 cf4 4 4 1 1 pp4 #hc1 #ic4 #ab 1 4 1 vol4 ,,iii4 p4 #adf4 #ac ,ibid4 p4 #fd4 #ad ,cf4 1 4 1 vol4 ,,iii4 p4 #da4 #ae ,the ,church of the ,annunciation1 for example1 in ,tenos1 possesses an as well as its miraculous icon4 ,this spring was in high repute before the icon was discovered1 cf4 1 4 1 p4 #ajb 7a translation of ,salonis1 ,voyage ,tine 7,paris #ahji774 ,the icon was discovered only just before the ,greek ,war of ,independence4 #af 1 4 1 vol4 ,,iii4 p4 #e4 #ag ,the banishment of suffering etc4 to the mountains is an idea to be met with in ancient ,greek literature1 cf4 ,orphic ,hymn1 no4 #ai1 1 1 ' 4 #ah ,cf4 4 4 1 1 p4 #hg4 #ai ,ibid4 p4 #hh4 #bj ,theocr4 ,id4 ,,ii4 #bh4 #ba ,ibid4 #ec4 #bb 1 4 4 vol4 ,,iii4 p4 #ba4 #bc ,this is probably the modern form of 1 #8entanglement4' ,the change of initial to is not rare in dialect1 cf4 for 7 7 #8miserable'2 and 1 with sound of ,english v1 is regularly lost before 4 #bd ,see below1 pp4 #fj ff4 #be ,voyage en ,grce et en ,turquie1 ,,ii4 #adj4 #bf ,below1 pp4 #fa ff4 #bg 1 4 1 vol4 ,,iii4 p4 #fj4 #bh ,plato1 ,charm4 #h 7p4 #aee74 #bi ,the name is probably derived from the ancient 1 with metathesis of the nasal sound4 ,if means congestion of the throat1 the modern formation in - would mean #8one who causes congestion1'--apparently of other parts besides the throat4 ,the by-forms and seem to have been influenced by a desire to connect the name with 1 #8heavy4' ,under the ancient name of this demon1 #8,ephialtes1' ,suidas gives also a popular name of his day1 1 a word borrowed from late ,latin and apparently connected with babulus 7baburrus1 baburcus1 babuztus7 #8foolish1' #8mad4' ,babutsicarius should then be the sender of foolish or mad dreams4 ,suidas however may be in error2 see below p4 #bag4 #cj ,i learnt the details of this cure in ,aetolia2 a different version of it is recorded from ,cimolos by ,theodore ,bent1 ,the ,cyclades1 pp4 #ea ff4 #ca ,abbott1 ,macedonian ,folklore1 p4 #cfc4 #cb 1 1 pp4 #agb ff4 #cc ,passow 7,popularia ,carmina1 ,index1 s4v4 7 speaks of a girl only4 ,he was perhaps influenced by the feminine form of the word4 #cd ,many versions of the song have been collected1 but with little variation in substance4 ,passow gives three versions1 ,pop4 ,carm4 nos4 #caa-cac4 #ce 1 1 pp4 #agb ff4 #cf belongs to the dialect of the ,tsakonians as spoken at ,leonidi1 but is otherwise obsolete4 #cg ,for authorities etc4 see ,finlay1 ,hist4 of ,greece1 vol4 ,,iv4 pp4 #aa ff4 7cap4 #a1 #c74 #ch ,de ,themat4 ,,ii4 #be4 ,finlay1 op4 cit4 ,,iv4 #ag4 #ci ,arist4 ,frogs1 #aad4 #dj ,hom4 ,od4 ,,xiv4 #bi-ca4 #da ,ib4 #ba4 #db ,i am indebted to ,mr ,l4 ,whibley for pointing out to me two records of this fact by ,english travellers of last century1 ,w4 ,mure 7,journal of a ,tour in ,greece1 #ahdb1 vol4 ,i4 p4 #ii71 and ,w4 ,g4 ,clark 7,peloponnesus1 #aheh1 p4 #bcg74 #dc ,perhaps this is the 7,od4 #ad4 #cb7 which ,odysseus would have endured for some time but for the intervention of ,eumaeus4 ,otherwise the line must have been inserted by someone who did not appreciate the guile of ,odysseus4 #dd ll4 #ce-f4 #de l4 #ch4 #df ll4 #de-g4 #dg ll4 #gb-g4 #dh l4 #gh4 #di ll4 #gi-hj4 #ej ,in some islands the old word also is still used4 #ea ,c4,i4,g4 vol4 ,i4 p4 #gij 7,no4 #afbe1 l4 #dg7 7from ,carditsa1 anc4 ,acraephia1 in ,boeotia74 #eb ,for examples see ,passow1 ,popul4 ,carm4 nos4 #cje-cji4 #ec ,athen4 ,,viii4 #cfj ,c4 #ed ,cf4 ,hom4 ,od4 #d4 #ghb4 #ee 1 4 4 1 1 p4 #hg 7transl4 of ,dr ,m4 ,salonis1 ,voyage ,tine 7,paris1 #ahji774 #ef ,rohde1 ,psyche1 vol4 ,,ii4 pp4 #i ff4 #eg 1 ,philo1 de vita contempl4 #b4 p4 #dgc ,m41 cited by ,rohde l4c4 #eh ,artemidorus1 ,oneirocr4 ,,iii4 #fa4 #ei ,soph4 ,fr4 #gec4 #fj ,diog4 ,laert4 ,vita ,diog4 #f4 #ci4 #fa apud ,diog4 ,laert4 ,x4 #abc4 #fb #a ,cor4 ,,xi4 #ba4 #fc ,apolog4 cap4 #e4 #fd ,lampridius 7,hist4 ,aug47 ,alex4 cap4 #bi f4 #fe ,ibid4 #ff de ,haeres4 cap4 #h4 ,for the references ,i am indebted to ,pouqueville1 ,voyage de la ,grce1 vol4 ,,vi4 p4 #acf4 #fg ,clem4 ,alex4 ,protrept4 cap4 iv4 #ee 7p4 #ag ,sylb474 #fh ,i have given the story in the form in which ,i heard it told by a peasant on board a boat in the ,euripus4 ,he was a native1 ,i think1 of ,euboea1 and being uneducated probably knew the story by oral tradition4 ,a slightly longer form has1 however1 been published by ,hahn 7,griech4 ,mrchen1 vol4 ,,ii4 no4 #gf7 and by 7 1 p4 #dc74 #fi 1 4 4 ,,iii4 p4 #afd4 #gj ,bent1 ,the ,cyclades1 p4 #deg4 #ga ,see below1 pp4 #afi f4 #gb ,i am unable to determine whether this saint is the prophet ,elijah of the ,old ,testament1 or a ,christian hermit of the fourth century4 ,the ,greeks themselves differ in their accounts4 #gc ,maury1 in ,revue ,archologique1 ,i4 p4 #ejb4 #gd ,according to ,pouqueville 7,voyage de la ,grce1 ,,ii4 p4 #agj7 the rosalia was formerly celebrated both at ,parga in ,epirus and ,palermo in ,sicily4 ,the festival at ,athens falls on ,easter ,tuesday1 and a large number of peasants come in from the country to attend it4 #ge ,clem4 ,alex4 ,protrept4 #cj4 #gf ,see ,j4 ,m4 ,neale1 ,history of the ,holy ,eastern ,church1 p4 #ajdb4 #gg ,see below1 pp4 #ff ff4 #gh 1 4 4 ,,iii4 p4 #afj4 #gi ,the ,cyclades1 p4 #cai4 #hj ,b4 ,schmidt1 ,das ,volksleben der ,neugriechen1 p4 #bh4 #ha ,travels in ,crete1 vol4 ,i4 p4 #bej4 #hb ,schmidt 7,volksleben der ,neugr4 p4 #ca7 records also the phrase 1 parallel with ,strepsiades' joke 7,ar4 ,nub4 #cgc7 ' 4 #hc ,the word is extremely rare1 but 1 ,i was told1 is a coarse kind of sieve4 ,the expression is from ,boeotia4 #hd ,from ,arachova on ,parnassus1 ,schmidt1 ,das ,volksleben der ,neugr4 p4 #cc4 #he ,from ,cyprus4 #hf ,from ,zacynthos1 ,schmidt1 op4 cit4 p4 #cb4 #hg ,from the island of ,syme1 near ,rhodes4 #hh ,there is a good discussion of them by in for #ahhj1 pp4 #ehe-fjh1 #ffe-fgh1 #gfb-ggc1 from which some of my examples are taken4 ,i have noted the provenance of the rarer expressions4 #hi ,passow1 ,pop4 ,carm41 ,distich4 ,amat4 #bdb1 quoted by ,schmidt 7op4 cit4 p4 #cj71 who notes the ,homeric parallel4 #ij ,pyth4 ,,iv4 #aha 7#cbb71 4 #ia ,see e4g4 ,passow1 ,pop4 ,carm4 nos4 #dbf-dcb1 and below1 pp4 #aja-ajd4 #ib 4 4 1 1 p4 #aei4 #ic ,mrchen1 etc41 no4 #ai4 #id pp4 #ia ff4 #ie ,the ,cyclades1 p4 #cgc4 #if ,there is some likelihood that the title is a mere corruption of an older title which had a quite different meaning2 but ,i am concerned only with the existing title as popularly interpreted4 #ig ,ross1 ,reisen auf den ,griech4 ,inseln1 ,,iv4 p4 #gd4 #ih ,bent1 ,cyclades1 p4 #df4 #ii ,so also in ,paros1 ,bent1 ,cyclades1 p4 #cgc4 #ajj ,athenaeus1 ,,ii4 #ci ,c4 #aja ,bent1 ,cyclades1 p4 #gb4 #ajb 1 4 4 ,,iii4 p4 #aec4 #ajc 4 1 1 p4 #aca4 #ajd 4 1 1 p4 #fi4 #aje ,cf4 a couplet quoted by ,pashley1 ,travels in ,crete1 p4 #bec4 1 1 1 ' 4 #ajf e4g4 ,bent1 ,the ,cyclades1 p4 #bdi4 ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,,the ,,survival ,,of ,,pagan ,,deities4 #a4 ,,the ,,range ,,of ,,modern ,,polytheism4 ,thus far we have considered paganism in its bearing and influence upon modern ,greek ,christianity4 ,we have seen how the ,church1 in endeavouring to widen her influence1 countenanced many practices and conciliated many prejudices of a people whose temperament needed a multitude of gods and whose piety could pay homage to them all1 a people moreover to whom the criterion of divinity was neither moral perfection nor omnipotence4 ,from the ethical standpoint some of the ancient gods were better1 some worse than men3 in point of power they were superhuman but not almighty4 ,some indeed claimed that there was no difference in origin between mankind and its deities4 #8,one is the race of men' sang ,pindar #8with the race of gods2 for one is the mother that gave to both our breath of life3 yet sundered are they by powers wholly diverse1 in that mankind is as naught1 but heaven is builded of brass that abideth ever unshaken#ajg4' ,one in origin1 they are diverse in might4 ,the test of godhead is power sufficing to defy death4 ,rightly therefore did ,homer make #8deathless' and #8everbeing' his constant epithets for the gods4 ,immortality alone is the quality which distinguishes them in kind and not merely in degree from men1 and makes them worthy of worship4 ,a people wedded to such conceptions were naturally ready enough to install new immortals of whom they had not known before1 but reluctant to depose in their favour those whom they and their forefathers had known and served4 ,dangers were to be apprehended from neglect2 blessings were to be secured by tendance4 ,greater honour might be paid to one god1 less to another2 but from no immortal should service be wholly withheld3 even unconscious oversights should be remedied by offerings #8to an unknown god4' ,such in its essence was the popular religion1 inconsistent it may be and not deeply intellectual1 but in sympathies very broad--broad enough to encompass the worship of all immortals1 broad as the earth and the sky and the sea wherein they dwelt and moved4 ,so vital and so deep-seated in the hearts of the common-folk are these religious tendencies1 that even at the present day when the word #8,christian' has become a popular synonym for #8,greek' in contradistinction not only with #8,mohammedan1' but even sometimes with #8,western' or #8,catholic' or with #8,protestant1' and when horror would be excited by any imputation of polytheism1 there are yet recognised a large number of superhuman and for the most part immortal beings1 whom the ,church has been able neither to eradicate from the popular mind nor yet to incorporate under the form of saints or devils in her own theological system4 ,these beings1 whether benignant to man or maleficent1 are all treated as divine4 ,in ancient times the common people had probably little appreciation of the various grades of divinity2 indeed it was one of the seven sages1 we are told1 who first differentiated ,god and the lesser deities and the heroes#ajh2 and at the present day the common-folk are certainly no more subtle of understanding than they were then4 ,god and the ,saints and these pagan powers are all feared and worshipped in the several ways traditionally suited to each2 but the fact of worship proclaims them all alike to be gods4 ,the origin of the non-,christian deities1 even if we were unable to identify any of them with the gods of classical ,greece1 would be clearly enough proved by some of the general terms under which all of them are included4 ,those who use these terms indeed no longer appreciate their significance2 for all sense of antagonism between the pagan and ,christian elements in the popular religion has1 as we have seen1 long been lost4 ,but the words themselves are a relic of the early days in which the combat of ,christianity with the heathen world was still stern4 ,among the most widespread of these terms is the word #aji 7i4e4 71 the #8extraneous' powers1 clearly an invention of the early ,christians4 ,the phrase #8those that are without' 7 or 7 was used by ,s4 ,paul first#aaj and afterwards generally by the ,fathers of the ,church to denote men of all other persuasions4 ,in the fourth century ,basil of ,caesarea employed the adjective also in a corresponding sense#aaa4 ,this word no doubt became popular1 and hence 1 #8the extraneous ones1' became a convenient term by which to denote comprehensively all those old divinities whose worship the ,church disallowed but even among her own adherents could not wholly suppress4 ,another comprehensive term equally significant1 if not so commonly used1 is #aab1 #8the pagan ones4' ,this is in use in the ,ionian islands and some parts of the mainland1 but ,i have not met with it nor found it understood in the ,peloponnese or in the islands of the ,aegean ,sea#aac4 ,in ,cephalonia it is chiefly1 though not exclusively1 applied to a species of supernatural beings usually called callicntzari 77 of whom more anon3 the reason of this restriction may be either the fact that these monsters--to judge from the folk-stories of the island--so far outnumber there all other kinds of #8pagan' beings that this one species has almost appropriated to itself the generic name1 or that in old time1 when the word 1 #8pagan1' was still understood in the sense which we attribute to it1 these monsters were deemed specially #8pagan' because1 as we shall see later1 they delight in disturbing a season of ,christian gladness4 ,but elsewhere the term1 still employed in what must have been its original meaning1 comprises all kinds of non-,christian deities2 and in earlier times #8the pagan ones' was probably as frequent an expression as its synonym #8the extraneous ones4' ,to these may perhaps be added the rare appellation recorded by ,schmidt#aad1 3 for if the derivation from 1 #8fraud1' #8deceit1' be right1 it will mean #8the false gods4' ,besides these three names1 which indicate the pre-,christian origin of these deities1 there are several others--some in universal usage1 others local and dialectic1--which represent them in various aspects4 ,as a class of #8divinities' they are called 3 as #8apparitions1' whose precise nature often cannot be further determined1 or and1 in ,crete1 #aae3 as swift and #8sudden' in their coming and going1 #aaf3 as ghostly and passing like a vision1 3 as denizens1 for the most part1 of the air1 3 and from their similarity to angels1 4 ,it may seem strange that the first and the last of these terms1 and 1 should be practically interchangeable2 for the ,church at any rate did her best in early days to make the former understood in the sense of #8demons' or #8devils' rather than #8deities4' ,but the attempted change of meaning seems to have failed to make much impression on a people who did not view goodness as an essential of godhead2 and in later times the ,church herself1 or many of her less educated clergy at any rate1 surrendered to the popular ideas4 ,father ,richard#aag1 a ,jesuit resident during the seventeenth century in the island of ,santorini1 mentions the case of an old ,greek priest who had long made a speciality of exorcism and was prepared to expel angels and demons alike from the bodies of those who were afflicted by them4 ,the priest when questioned by the ,jesuit as to what distinction he drew between demons and angels1 replied that the demons came from hell1 while the angels were 1 a species of arial being2 but while he maintained a theoretical difference between them1 his practice betrayed a belief that both were equally harmful4 ,exorcism had to be employed in cases of #8angelic' as well as of #8demoniacal' possession2 and ,father ,richard details the cruelties and tortures inflicted upon a woman suspected of the former in order to make the pernicious angelic spirit within her confess its name4 ,the characters of and are in fact the same1 and the subtle theological distinctions which might be drawn between them are naturally lost on a people who see them treated even by the priests as equally baneful4 ,a few other local or dialectic names remain to be noticed4 ,two of them1 and 1 denote properly two several species of supernatural beings--the former being the genii of fixed places#aah1 and the latter arial beings chiefly concerned with the passage of men from this world to the next#aai--;and are only loosely and locally employed in a more comprehensive sense4 ,the name 1 recorded from ,philiatr in ,messenia1 is apparently a diminutive form from a root meaning #8terrible#abj4' ,a ,cretan word is of less certain etymology1 but if1 as has been surmised1 it has any relation with the verb 1 #8to go down to the underworld1' and hence #8to fall into a trance1' 7#8entranced' spirits being thought temporarily to have departed thither17 it may denote either denizens of the lower world or beings who frighten men into a senseless and trance-like state#aba4 ,next come the two words and 1 of which ,i believe the interpretation is one and the same4 ,bernhard ,schmidt#abb1 whose work ,i have constantly consulted in this and later chapters1 would derive the former from a middle-,greek word #abc1 equivalent to the ancient 1 a fantastic animal of ,aristophanic fame2 but it was explained to me in ,scyros to be a jocose euphemism as applied to supernatural beings and to denote properly parasitic insects4 ,the implied combination of superstitious awe in avoiding the name of supernatural things with a certain broad humour in substituting what is1 to the peasant1 one of the lesser annoyances of life is certainly characteristic of the ,greek folk2 and the accuracy of the explanation given to me is confirmed by the fact that in the island of ,cythnos the other word1 1 is recorded to bear also the meaning of #8insects#abd4' ,the joke1 if such it be1 must date from a long time back and in its prime must have enjoyed a widespread popularity2 for at ,archova on the slopes of ,parnassus1 a place far distant from ,scyros1 the word is employed in the sense of supernatural beings by persons who apparently are quite ignorant of its original meaning#abe4 ,to these difficult terms must be added a few euphemisms of a simple nature-- 7i4e4 7 #8the enviable ones' in one village of ,tenos#abf1 and in many places such general terms as #8the noble1'-- #8our brothers1'-- #8the fortunate ones1'-- #8the joyful ones4' ,these evasions of a more direct nomenclature are very frequent1 and1 since the choice of epithet is practically at the discretion of the speaker1 it would be impossible to compile a complete list of them4 ,how far each of these names may be applied in general to all the classes of pagan gods and demons and monsters whom ,i am about to describe is a question which ,i cannot determine4 ,on the one hand many of the names1 as we have seen1 are purely local1 confined to a few villages or districts or islands and unknown and unintelligible elsewhere3 and on the other hand some of these supernatural beings themselves are equally local1 and my information concerning them has been gathered from widely separated regions of the ,greek world4 ,hence it follows that while the several terms which ,i have explained are comprehensive in local usage and include all the supernatural beings locally recognised1 it is impossible to say whether the users of them would think fit to extend them to the deities of other districts4 ,probably they would do so2 but only for the most widely current terms1 and 1 can ,i claim with assurance anything like universal application4 ,the surviving pagan deities fall naturally into two classes4 ,there are the solitary and individual figures such as ,demeter1 and there is the gregarious and generic class to which belong for example the ,nymphs4 ,an exceptional case may occur in which some originally single personality has been multiplied into a whole class4 ,the ,lesbian maiden ,gello1 who1 according to a superstition known to ,sappho#abg1 in revenge for her untimely death haunted her old abodes preying upon the babes of women whose motherhood she envied1 is no longer one but many2 the place of a maiden1 whom death carried off ere she had known the love of husband and children1 has been taken by withered witch-like beings who none the less bear her name and resemble her in that they light1 like ,harpies1 upon young children and suck out their humours#abh4 ,but in the main the division holds2 there are single gods and there are groups of gods4 ,of the former1 in several cases1 there is very little to record4 ,such memory of them as still lingers among the people is confined perhaps to a single folk-story out of the many that have been preserved4 ,in such cases ,i do not feel entire confidence that the reference is a piece of genuine tradition2 in spite of the popular form in which the stories are cast1 it is always possible that1 owing to the spread of education1 some scholastic smatterings of ancient mythology have been introduced by the story-teller4 ,there are certainly plenty of tales to be heard about ,alexander the ,great which are drawn from literary sources2 and it is possible that two stories published by ,schmidt which contain apparent reminiscences of ,poseidon and of ,pan are vitiated1 from the point of view of folklore1 in the same way4 ,fortunately the cases in which this reserve must be felt are few and in the nature of things unimportant3 for1 though proof of genuine tradition would be interesting1 yet a single modern allusion is not likely to throw any light on the ancient conception of a deity or his cult4 ,where on the other hand modern folklore is more abundant--and in the case of the groups of lesser deities above all there is ample store of information--it is possible that study of the popular conceptions of to-day may illumine our understanding of ancient religion4 #b4 ,,zeus4 4 ,to ,zeus1 the ancient father of gods and men1 belongs precedence2 but there is in truth little room for him in the modern scheme of popular religion4 ,his functions have been transferred to the ,christian ,god1 and his personality merged in that of the ,father whom the ,church acknowledges4 ,but though he is no longer a deity1 the ancient conception of him has imposed narrow limitations upon the character of his successor4 ,we have noted already that the ,god now recognised exercises the same general control1 as did formerly ,zeus1 over all the changes and chances of this mortal life1 but has1 again resembling ,zeus1 for his special province only the regulation of the more monotonous phases of nature and the weather4 ,the more unusual phenomena1 and among them sometimes even the thunder1 to which ,s4 ,elias has pretensions1 are delegated to saints or to non-,christian deities2 but for the most part the thunder remains the possession of ,god1 as it was always that of ,zeus2 and its more important concomitant1 the lightning1 is never1 ,i think1 attributed to ,s4 ,elias1 but is wielded by ,god alone4 ,the very name of this weapon which the ,christian ,god has inherited is suggestive of the ,olympian rgime4 ,much has been heard lately of the double-headed axe as a religious symbol which seems to have been constantly associated1 especially in ,crete1 with the worship of ,zeus4 ,the modern ,greek word for what we call the thunderbolt is 7a syncopated form of by loss of one of two concurrent syllables beginning with the same consonant71 and means literally a #8lightning-axe4' ,the weapon therefore which the supreme ,god wields is conceived as an axe-shaped missile2 and1 though in the ancient literature which has come down to us we may nowhere find the word used of the thunderbolt1 there is no reason why the modern word should not be the expression of a conception inherited from antiquity and so furnish a clue to what in itself seems a simple and suitable explanation of the much-canvassed symbol4 ,again the divine associations of the thunderbolt now as in the reign of ,zeus are attested by the awe in which men and cattle1 trees and houses1 which have been struck by lightning1 are universally held--awe of that primitive kind which does not distinguish between the sacred and the accursed4 ,it is sufficient that particular persons or objects have come into close contact with divine power2 that contact sets them apart2 they must not do common work or be put to common uses4 ,in old days any place which had been struck was distinguished by the erection of an altar and the performance of sacrifice1 but at the same time it was left unoccupied and1 save for sacrificial purposes1 untrodden#abi2 it was both honoured and avoided4 ,in the case of persons however the sense of awe verged on esteem4 #8,no one1' says ,artemidorus1 #8who has been struck by lightning is excluded from citizenship2 indeed such an one is honoured even as a god#acj4' ,the same feeling is still exhibited4 ,the peasant makes the sign of the cross as he passes any scorched and blackened tree-trunk2 but if a man has the fortune to be struck and not killed1 he may indulge a taste for idleness for the rest of his life--his neighbours will support him--and enjoy at the same time the reputation of being something more than human4 ,but in spite of the reverent awe which the victim of the lightning excites1 the thunderbolt is often viewed now1 as in old time1 as the instrument of divine vengeance4 ,the people of ,archova1 when they see a flash1 explain the occurrence in the phrase 1 #8,he has burnt up some devil1' and the implied subject of the verb1 as in most phrases describing the weather1 is undoubtedly ,god#aca4 ,the same idea1 in yet more frankly pagan garb1 is well exhibited in a story from ,zacynthos#acb1 which is nothing but the old myth of the war of the ,titans against ,zeus with the names of the actors omitted4 ,the gist of it is as follows4 ,the giants once rebelled against ,god4 ,first they climbed a mountain and hurled rocks at him2 but he grasped his thunderbolts 7 7 and threw them at the giants1 and they all fell down from the mountain and many were killed4 ,then one whose courage was still unshaken tied reeds together and tried to reach to heaven with them 7for what purpose1 does not appear in the story2 but folk-tales are often somewhat inconsequent1 and this vague incident is probably an imperfect reminiscence of the legend of ,prometheus72 but the lightning burnt him to ashes4 ,then his remaining companions made a last assault1 but the lightning again slew many of them1 and the rest were condemned to live all their life long shut in beneath a mountain4 ,this story is one of those which in themselves might be suspected of scholastic origin or influence2 but it so happens that practically the same story has been recorded from ,chios also1 with the slight addition that there the leader of the giants' assault has usurped the name of ,samson4 ,such corroboration from the other end of the ,greek world goes far to establish the genuine nature of the tradition4 ,thus though ,zeus has been generally superseded by the ,christian ,god1 his character and mythic attributes have left a strong and indelible mark upon the religion of to-day4 ,the present conception of ,god is practically identical with the ancient conception of the deity who was indeed one among many gods and yet in thought and often also in speech the god par excellence4 ,christianity has effected little here beyond the suppression of the personal name ,zeus4 ,all this1 no doubt1 illustrates the fusion of paganism with ,christianity rather than the independent co-existence of deities of the separate systems4 ,but there are two small facts in virtue of which ,i have given to ,zeus a place among the pagan deities whose distinct personality is not yet wholly sunk in oblivion4 ,the men of ,archova1 as we have noticed above1 still swear by the #8god of ,crete1' who can be no other than ,zeus2 and in ,crete itself there was recently1 and may still be1 in use the invocation 1 #8,hearken to me1 ,o god ,zeus#acc4' ,such expressions1 though their original force is no longer known by those who use them1 are none the less indications that perhaps not many generations ago ,zeus was still locally recognised and reverenced as a deity distinct from the ,christian ,god1 to whom indeed everywhere he can only gradually have ceded his position and his attributes4 #c4 ,,poseidon4 ,for the survival of any god of the sea in the imagination of the ,greek people ,i cannot personally vouch4 ,though ,i have been among the seafaring population in many parts1 ,i have never heard mention of other than female deities4 ,that which ,i here set down rests entirely on the authority of ,bernhard ,schmidt4 ,in his collection of folk-stories there is one from ,zacynthos1 entitled #8,captain ,thirteen1' which runs as follows#acd3--;,a king who was the strongest man of his time made war on a neighbour4 ,his strength lay in three hairs on his breast4 ,he was on the point of crushing his foes when his wife was bribed to cut off the hairs1 and he with thirteen companions was taken prisoner4 ,but the hairs began to grow again1 and so his enemies threw him and his companions into a pit4 ,the others were killed by the fall1 but he being thrown in last1 fell upon them and was unhurt4 ,over the pit his enemies then raised a mound4 ,he found however in the pit a dead bird1 and having fastened its wings to his hands flew up and carried away mound and all with him4 ,then he soared high in the air until a storm of rain washed away the clay that held the feathers to his hands1 and he fell into the sea4 #8,then from out the sea came the god thereof 7 7 and struck him with a three-pronged fork 7 7' and changed him into a dolphin until such time as he should find a maiden ready to be his wife4 ,the dolphin after some time saved a ship-wrecked king and his daughter1 and the princess by way of reward took him for her husband and the spell was broken4 ,other characteristics of this trident-bearing sea-god are1 according to the same authority#ace1 that he is in form half human and half fish2 that his wealth1 consisting of all treasures lost in the sea1 is so great that he sleeps on a couch of gold2 and that he rides upon dolphins4 ,thus ,poseidon1 it appears1 7or it may be ,nereus17 has survived locally in the remembrance of the ,greek people as a deity unconnected with ,christianity4 ,far more generally however his functions have been transferred to ,s4 ,nicolas1 whose aid is invariably invoked by seamen in time of peril1 and who has acquired the byname of #8sailor' 77#acf4 ,the allusion to the sea-god and his trident in the story which ,i have repeated must1 ,i think1 be accepted with some reserve as being possibly a scholastic interpolation4 ,i cannot find confirmation of it in any other folk-story1 and moreover the latter part of the tale is familiar to me in another form4 ,the hero is usually a young prince who goes out to seek adventures in the world1 not a king who has already a wife at home2 and his transformation into a dolphin is effected by some malicious witch into whose toils he falls4 ,but while for these reasons ,i do not put the story forward as certain evidence of the survival of ,poseidon in the popular memory1 ,i have recounted it at some length because it is an excellent type of current folk-tales1 and from a study of it1 if we may now leave ,poseidon and make a brief digression1 we may appreciate the relation existing between such stories and the myths of antiquity4 ,the king who was the strongest man of his time has a classical prototype in the ,messenian leader ,aristomenes4 ,he too was thrown with his comrades into a pit by his enemies1 the ,spartans1 and alone escaped death from the fall1 being borne up on the wings of eagles4 ,again1 the idea of a man's strength residing in a certain hair or hairs is well known in ancient mythology2 and although it is by no means peculiar to the ,greeks1 but is common to many peoples of the world1 we may fairly suppose that the modern ,greek has not borrowed it from outside1 but has inherited it from those ancestors among whose myths was the story of ,scylla and ,nisus4 ,lastly1 in the incident of the hero fastening wings to his arms with clay and his subsequent fall into the sea there are all the essentials of the legend of ,icarus4 ,here then combined in one modern folk-story we find the motifs of three separate ancient myths4 ,and from it and others of like nature--for in the collection from which ,i have borrowed it there are several stories in which such figures as ,midas1 the ,sphinx1 and the ,cyclopes are easily recognised--an inference may be drawn as to the real relation of ancient mythology to modern folk-stories4 ,certain themes must have existed from time immemorial1 and these have been worked up into tales by successive generations of raconteurs with ever-varying settings4 ,fresh combinations of motifs have been and are still being tried2 fresh embroidery of detail may be added by each artist2 only the theme in its plainest form1 the mere groundwork of story1 remains immutable4 ,this at the same time explains the wide variations of the same myth even among the ancients themselves1 and warns us not to judge of the value of a modern folk-story or folk-song by the closeness of its resemblance to any ancient myth which may have been preserved to us in literature4 ,it was naturally the most finished and artistic presentment of the story which appealed to the taste of educated men and thus became the orthodox classical version2 but there is every likelihood that before the story reached the stage of acknowledged perfection much that was primitive had been suppressed as inartistic1 and much that was not traditional had been added by the poet's imagination4 ,the unlettered story-teller1 endowed with less fancy and ignorant of the conventions of art1 is a far trustier vehicle of pure tradition2 for though he feels himself at liberty to compose variations of the original theme1 he certainly has less power and generally less inclination to do so2 for it is on exactness of memory and even verbal fidelity to the traditional form of the story that the modern story-teller chiefly prides himself4 ,hence the modern folk-story1 straight from the peasant's lips in a form almost verbally identical with that in which successive generations of peasants before him narrated it1 may contain more genuinely primitive material than a literary version of it which dates from perhaps two thousand years or more ago4 #d4 ,,pan4 ,a story1 again from the same collection#acg1 runs in brief as follows3--,once upon a time a priest had a good son who tended goats4 ,one day #8,panos' gave him a kid with a skin of gold4 ,he at once offered it as a burnt-offering to ,god1 and in answer an angel promised him whatsoever he should ask4 ,he chose a magic pipe which should make all hearers dance4 ,so no enemy could come near to touch him4 ,the king however sent for him1 and the goatherd1 after making the envoys dance more than once1 voluntarily let himself be taken4 ,the king then threw him into prison1 but he had his flute still with him1 and when he played even houses and rocks danced1 and fell and crushed all save him and his4 #8,the whole business1' concludes the story1 #8was arranged by ,panos to cleanse the world somewhat of evil men4' ,here the pastoral scene and the gift of the magic pipe 7not by ,panos himself1 it is true1 but indirectly thanks to him7 suggest a genuine remembrance of ,pan4 ,it was from him that #8bonus ,daphnis' learnt the art of music4 ,the form which the name has assumed is the chief difficulty4 ,the modern nominative1 if formed in the same way as in other words of the same declension1 would naturally be ,panas 771 and the unusual termination arouses some suspicion that the narrator of the story had heard of ,pan from some literary source and1 as often happens in such cases1 had got the name a little wrong4 ,but if the tale be a piece of genuine tradition1 the conclusion of it is remarkable4 ,the moral purpose ascribed to the deity seems to indicate a loftier conception of him than that which is commonly found in ancient art and literature4 ,but the popular tradition embodied in the legend is not therefore necessarily at fault2 indeed it may be more true to the conception of ,pan which prevailed among the common-folk in old days than were the portraits drawn and handed down by the more educated of their contemporaries4 ,the patron-god of ,arcadian shepherd-life would naturally have seemed a rude being to the cultured ,athenians of the fifth century1 who but for his miraculous intervention in the battle of ,marathon would never have honoured him with a temple4 ,but among his original worshippers it may well be that1 besides presiding over the increase of their flocks1 as did ,demeter over the increase of their fields1 he was deemed to resemble her also in the possession of more exalted attributes1 so that there was cause indeed for lamentation over that strange message #8,great ,pan is dead#ach4' ,but perchance ,pan is not dead yet1 or if dead not forgotten4 ,and as this solitary modern story1 if it be genuine1 testifies to a longlived remembrance of his better qualities1 so in the demonology of the middle ages a sterner aspect of his ancient character still secured to him men's awe4 ,theocritus#aci gave voice to a well-known superstition when he made the goat-herd say3 #8,nay1 shepherd1 it may not be2 in the noontide we may not pipe2 'tis ,pan that we fear'2 for in his rage if roused from his midday slumber he was believed to strike the intruder with #8panic' terror3 and it was this superstition which influenced the translators of the ,septuagint when they rendered the phrase1 which in our ,bible version of the ,psalms#adj appears as #8the destruction that wasteth at noonday1' by the words 4 ,by the latter half of this phrase the memory of ,pan was undoubtedly perpetuated2 for in certain forms of prayer quoted by ,leo ,allatius#ada in the seventeenth century1 among the perils from which divine deliverance is sought is mentioned more than once this #8midday demon'2 and a corresponding #8daemon meridianus#adb' found a place of equal dignity among the ghostly enemies of ,roman ,catholics4 ,perhaps even yet in the pastoral uplands of ,greece some traveller will hear news of ,pan4 #e4 ,,demeter ,,and ,,persephone4 ,of few ancient deities has popular memory been more tenacious than of ,demeter2 but in different districts the reminiscences take very different forms4 ,there are many traces of her name and cult1 and of the legends concerning both her and her daughter2 but in one place they have been ,christianised1 in another they have remained pagan4 ,in so far as she has affected the traditions of the ,church1 a male deity1 ,s4 ,demetrius1 has in general superseded her4 ,under the title of 1 #8belonging to the dry land1' he has in most districts taken over the patronage of agriculture2 while his inherited interest in marriage receives testimony from the number of weddings celebrated1 especially in the agricultural districts1 on his day4 ,but at ,eleusis1 the old home of ,demeter's most sacred rites1 the people1 it seems1 would not brook the substitution of a male saint for their goddess1 and yielded to ecclesiastical influence only so far as to create for themselves a saint ,demetra 7 7 entirely unknown elsewhere and never canonised4 ,further1 in open defiance of an iconoclastic ,church1 they retained an old statue of ,demeter1 and merely prefixing the title #8saint' to the name of their cherished goddess1 continued to worship her as before4 ,the statue was regularly crowned with garlands of flowers in the avowed hope of obtaining good harvests1 and without doubt prayer was made before it as now before the pictures of canonical saints4 ,this state of things continued down to the beginning of the nineteenth century4 ,then1 in #ahja1 two ,englishmen1 named ,clarke and ,cripps1 armed by the ,turkish authorities with a license to plunder1 perpetrated an act unenviably like that of ,verres at ,enna1 and in spite of a riot among the peasants of ,eleusis removed by force the venerable marble2 and that which was the visible form of the great goddess on whose presence and goodwill had depended from immemorial ages the fertility of the ,thriasian plain is now a little-regarded object catalogued as #8,no4 ,,xiv1 ,fitzwilliam ,museum1 ,cambridge1 7much mutilated7#adc4' ,saint ,demetra however1 though lost to sight1 was yet dear to the memory of the village-folk2 and in spite of the devastation of old beliefs and legends which the much-vaunted progress and education of ,greece have committed in the more civilised districts without conferring any sensible compensation1 the antiquarian ,lenormant found in #ahfj an old ,albanian#add priest who when once reassured that no ridicule was intended1 recited to him the following remarkable legend#ade3 #8,s4 ,demetra was an old woman of ,athens1 kind and good1 who devoted all her little means to feeding the poor4 ,she had a daughter who was beautiful past all imagining2 since 8lady ,aphrodite0 7 '7 none had been seen so lovely4 ,a ,turkish lord of the neighbourhood of ,souli1 who was a wicked man and versed in magic1 saw her one day combing her hair1 which was of golden hue and reached to the very ground1 and became passionately enamoured of her4 ,he bided his time1 and having found his chance of speaking with her tried to seduce her4 ,but she being as prudent as she was beautiful1 repulsed all the miscreant's advances4 ,thereupon he resolved to carry her off and put her in his harem4 ,one ,christmas night1 while ,demetra was at church1 the ,turk 7 7 forced the door of her house1 seized the girl who was at home alone1 carried her off in spite of her cries of distress1 and holding her in his arms leapt upon his horse4 ,the horse was a wonderful one2 it was black in colour2 from its nostrils it breathed out flames1 and in one bound could pass from the ,east unto the ,west4 ,in an instant it had carried ravisher and victim right to the mountains of ,epirus4 ,when the aged ,demetra came back from church1 she found her house broken into and her daughter gone2 great was her despair4 ,she asked her neighbours if they knew what had become of her daughter2 but they dared not tell her aught1 for they feared the ,turks and their vengeance4 ,she turned her enquiries to the tree that grew before her house2 but the tree could tell her nothing4 ,she asked the sun1 but the sun could give her no help2 she asked the moon and the stars1 but from them too she learnt nothing4 ,finally the stork that nested on the house-top said to her3 8,long time now we have lived side by side2 thou art as old as ,i4 ,listen2 thou hast always been good to me1 thou hast never disturbed my nest1 and once thou didst help me to drive away the bird of prey that would have carried off my nestlings4 ,in recompense ,i will tell thee what ,i know of the fate of thy daughter2 she was carried off by a ,turk mounted on a black horse1 who took her towards the ,west4 ,come1 ,i will set out with thee and we will search for her together40 ,accompanied by the stork1 ,demetra started2 the time was winter2 it was cold1 and snow covered the mountains4 ,the poor old woman was frozen and could hardly walk2 she kept asking of all those whom she met1 whether they had seen her daughter1 but they laughed at her or did not answer2 doors were shut in her face and entrance denied her1 for men love not misery2 and she went weeping and lamenting4 ,in this manner however she dragged her limbs as far as ,lepsna 7the modern form of the name ,eleusis72 but1 arriving there1 she succumbed to cold and weariness and threw herself down by the roadside4 ,there she would have died1 but that by good luck there passed by the wife of the khodja-bachi 7or head man of the village71 who had been to look after her flocks and was returning4 ,marigo--such was her name--took pity on the old woman1 helped her to rise and brought her to her husband1 who was named ,nicolas#adf4 ,the khodja-bachi was as kind as his wife2 both welcomed as best they could the poor sorrow-stricken woman1 tended her and sought to console her4 ,to reward them ,s4 ,demetra blessed their fields and gave them fertility4 ,nicolas1 the khodja-bachi1 had a son handsome1 strong1 brave1 and practised1 in a word the finest pallikar of all the country side4 ,seeing that ,demetra was in no condition to continue her journey1 he offered to set to work to recover her daughter1 asking only her hand in recompense4 ,the offer was accepted1 and he set out accompanied by the faithful stork who would not abandon the undertaking4 ,the young man walked for many days without finding anything4 ,at last one night1 when he was in a forest right among the mountains1 he caught sight of a great bright light at some distance4 ,towards this he hastily bent his steps1 but the point from which the light came was much further off than he had at first imagined2 the darkness had deceived him4 ,eventually however he arrived there1 and to his great astonishment found forty dragons lying on the ground and watching an enormous cauldron that was boiling on the fire4 ,undismayed by the sight1 he lifted the cauldron with one hand1 lit a torch1 and replaced the vessel on the fire4 ,astounded by such a display of strength1 the dragons crowded round him and said to him1 8,you who can lift with one hand a cauldron which we by our united efforts can scarcely carry1 you alone are capable of carrying off a maiden whom we have long been trying to lay our hands on1 and whom we cannot seize because of the height of the tower wherein a magician keeps her shut up40 ,the son of the khodja-bachi of ,lepsna perceived the impossibility of escape from these monsters4 ,accompanied by the forty dragons1 he approached the tower1 and after having examined it1 he asked for some large nails1 which he took and drove into the wall1 so as to form a kind of ladder1 and which he kept pulling out again as he ascended to prevent the dragons from following him4 ,having arrived at the top and with some difficulty entered at a small window there1 he invited the dragons to ascend as he had done1 one by one1 which they did1 thus giving him time to kill each as it arrived while the next was climbing up1 and to throw it over the other side of the tower1 where there were a large court1 a splendid garden1 and a fine castle4 ,thus rid of his dangerous guardians1 he went down into the interior of the tower and found there ,s4 ,demetra's daughter1 whose beauty at once inspired him with the most ardent love4 ,he was kneeling at her feet when suddenly the magician appeared1 and in a fury of anger threw himself upon the young man1 who met him bravely4 ,the former was of superhuman strength1 but ,nicolas' son was not inferior to him4 ,the magician had the power to transform himself into any thing he might choose2 he changed successively into a lion1 into a serpent1 into a bird of prey1 into fire--hoping under some one of these forms to wear his adversary out2 but nothing could shake the courage of the young man4 ,for three days the combat continued4 ,the first day the magician seemed beaten1 but the next he regained his advantage2 at the end of the day's struggle he killed his young opponent1 and cut his body into four quarters1 which he hung on the four sides of the tower4 ,then elated by his victory1 he did violence to ,demetra's daughter1 whose chastity he had hitherto respected4 ,but in the night the stork flew away to a great distance to fetch a magic herb which it knew1 brought it back in its beak1 and rubbed with it the young man's lips4 ,at once the pieces of his body came together again and he revived4 ,great was his despair when he learnt what had taken place after his defeat2 but he only threw himself upon the magician with the greater fury the third day1 to punish him for his crime4 ,once again the young man1 it seemed1 was on the point of being vanquished1 when suddenly he conceived the happy idea of invoking the ,panagia1 vowing that if victorious he would become a monk at the monastery of ,phaneromne#adg4 ,the divine protection which he had invoked gave him strength and he succeeded in throwing his adversary3 the stork1 who had aided him so much1 at once attacked the fallen magician and picked out his eyes2 then with its beak pulled out a white hair noticeable among the black curls that covered his head4 ,on this hair depended the life of the ,turkish magician1 who immediately expired4 ,his conqueror1 taking with him the girl1 brought her back to ,lepsna1 just at the season when spring was coming and the flowers were beginning to appear in the fields4 ,then he went1 as he had vowed1 and shut himself up in the monastery4 ,s4 ,demetra1 having received back her daughter1 went away with her4 ,what became of them afterwards1 no one knows2 but since that time the fields of ,lepsna1 thanks to the blessing of the ,saint1 have not ceased to be fertile4' ,it would be superfluous to point out the numerous details of this legend which accord explicitly with the account of the rape of ,persephone in the ,homeric hymn4 ,the interspersion of ,christian ideas and reminiscences of ,turkish domination and stories of fabulous monsters may strike oddly on the ear unacquainted with the vagaries of ,greek folk-stories4 ,yet the most sceptical could not doubt that the tradition which forms the groundwork of the legend is none other than the old myth1 or that the four chief actors in the drama are none other than ,demeter and ,core1 ,pluto and ,triptolemus4 ,pluto1 masked as a ,turkish agha1 is perhaps the least readily recognisable2 yet in one way as a relic of ancient tradition the part he plays is the most remarkable in the whole legend4 ,it is to ,souli in ,epirus that he carries off the maiden4 ,now this is the district of the ancient ,cocytus and ,acheron2 here was one of the descents to the lower world2 here ,aidoneus held sway2 and here1 in one version of the myth#adh1 was laid the scene of the rape of ,persephone by that god4 ,hence the claims of two separate localities to the same mythological distinction seem by some means to have become incorporated in the single modern legend4 ,in the same part of ,epirus1 according to ,lenormant1 a similar story to that which he heard at ,eleusis concerning ,s4 ,demetra's daughter1 is told1 mutatis mutandis1 of ,s4 ,demetrius3 but since either a sense of propriety or a want of knowledge prevented him from publishing the details of it1 the mere statement that it existed is of no great value4 ,but the legend which he narrates in full may ,i think be accepted as genuine without corroboration on the grounds of its own structure4 ,lenormant has indeed been accused of mala fides in his own department of archaeology and of tampering with some of the inscriptions which he published2 but even if this charge could be substantiated1 ,i should doubt whether he had either the inclination to invent a legend which he only mentions in a cumbrous foot-note1 or the ability to fuse ancient and modern ideas into so good an imitation of the genuine folk-story4 ,in my judgement the construction of the legend is practically proof of its genuinely popular origin4 ,thus ,eleusis and1 in a lesser degree1 the many places where ,s4 ,demetrius has succeeded to the chief functions of ,demeter have hardly yet lost touch with the ancient worship of the goddess1 ,christianised in form though it may be4 ,but ,arcadia too1 where alone of all the ,peloponnese the indigenous population were secure from the ,achaean and ,dorian immigrations and maintained in seclusion the holiest of ,pelasgian cults1 preserves to the present day in story and in custom some vestiges of the old religion2 and here they are less tinged with ,christian colour4 ,near the city of ,pheneos1 which according to ,pausanias#adi was the scene of mysteries similar to those enacted at ,eleusis1 there are some underground channels by which the waters of ,lake ,pheneos are carried off1 soon to reappear as the river ,ladon4 ,these channels were believed by ,pausanias himself to be artificial--the work of ,heracles1 it was said1 who also constructed a canal close by1 traces of which are still visible3 but according to another authority#aej they were the passage by which ,pluto carried off ,persephone to the infernal regions4 ,some memory of the latter belief seems still to linger among the people of ,phoni 7the modern form of ,phenes71 who call these subterranean vents 1 #8the holes of the devil1' and who further believe that it is through them that the spirits of the dead pass to the lower world4 ,my guide informed me also that the rise or fall of the waters of the lake--the level varies to an extraordinary degree--furnishes an augury as to what rate of mortality may be expected in the village4 ,if the water is high1 the lower world is for the time being congested and requires no more inhabitants2 if it sinks1 the lower world is empty1 and thirsts for fresh victims4 ,the connexion of such beliefs with the cult of ,persephone1 though vague1 is probably real2 but how general they may be among the present villagers ,i cannot say2 ,dodwell#aea apparently heard nothing of them except the name of #8the devil's holes1' and the explanation of this name which was given to him took the form of a story about a conflict between the devil and a king of ,phoni1 in which the former hurled explosive balls of grease at his adversary1 one of which set him on fire and drove his body right through the base of the mountain which rises from the lake's edge1 leaving thereafter an escape for the waters4 ,there is certainly nothing in common between this story1 which ,leake also heard in a slightly different version#aeb1 and the beliefs communicated to me2 and ,i suspect that it is a comparatively modern aetiological fable designed perhaps to satisfy the curiosity of children concerning the name4 ,the belief that the subterranean channel is a descent to the lower world is more clearly a vestige of the old local cult of ,kore4 ,again in the neighbourhood of ,phigalia there is current among the peasantry a curious story which ,i tried in vain to hear recited in full1 but only obtained in outline at second-hand4 ,i cannot consequently vouch for its accuracy1 but such as it is ,i give it4 ,there once were a brother and sister1 of whom the former was very wicked and a magician1 while the latter was very virtuous and beautiful4 ,her beauty was indeed so wonderful1 that her brother became enamoured of her4 ,in her distress she fled to a cave near ,phigalia1 hoping to elude his pursuit2 but the magician straightway discovered her4 ,then being at her wits' end how to save herself from the unholy passion which her beauty inspired1 she prayed to be turned into some beast4 ,her prayer was straightway granted1 but the wicked magician had power to change himself likewise4 ,so when they had both been changed into several shapes he at length overcame her4 ,but no sooner was the infamous deed done1 than the ,panagia caused an earthquake1 and the roof of the cave fell and destroyed both brother and sister together4 ,a story of incest necessarily ends at the present day among the highly moral countryfolk of ,greece with punishment inflicted by some ,christian deity3 but for the rest the story is practically the same as that which ,pausanias heard concerning ,poseidon and his sister ,demeter in the same district#aec4 ,in the old version1 which ,pausanias gives very briefly1 there is only one transformation mentioned1 that of ,demeter into a mare and of ,poseidon into a horse2 but it is at least noteworthy that the statue of horse-headed ,demeter which commemorated this incident is said to have had #8figures of snakes and other wild animals' fixed on its head2 and possibly1 if ,pausanias had given a fuller version of the myth1 we should find that these figures related to other transformations which ,demeter had tried in vain before in equine form she was finally forced to yield4 ,the mention of the cave in the modern story is also significant2 for though the cave in the ancient version is not the scene of the rape1 it was there that ,demeter hid herself in her anger afterwards and there too that the statue of horse-headed ,demeter was set up4 ,it would be interesting to know whether the horse is one of the forms assumed in the modern story2 perhaps some other traveller will be fortunate enough to hear the tale in full4 ,in northern ,arcadia ,i also learnt that the flesh of the pig1 in respect of which the ordinary ,graeculus fully deserves the epithet esuriens1 is taboo2 and the result of eating it is believed to be leprosy4 ,it might be supposed that this superstition has resulted from contact with ,mohammedans2 but such an explanation would not account for the confinement of it to one locality--and that a mountainous and unprofitable district where intercourse with the ,turks must have been small2 and further the ,greek would surely have found a malicious pleasure1 the most piquant of sauces1 in eating that which offended the two peoples whom he most abhors1 ,turks and ,jews4 ,on the other hand1 if we suppose this fear of swine's flesh to be a piece of native tradition1 its origin may well be sought in the ritual observances of the old cult of ,demeter and her daughter1 to whom the pig was sacred and in whose honour it was sacrificed once only in each year1 at the festival of the ,thesmophoria#aed4 ,there are many instances among different peoples of the belief that skin diseases1 especially leprosy1 are the punishment visited upon those who eat of the sacred or unclean animal2 for the distinction between sacred and unclean is not made until a primitive sense of awe is inclined by conscious reasoning in the direction either of reverence or of abhorrence#aee4 ,thus in ,egypt1 the land from which the ,pelasgians1 if ,herodotus#aef might be believed1 derived the worship of ,demeter1 it was held that the drinker of pig's milk incurred leprosy#aeg2 and we may reasonably suppose that the same punishment threatened those ,egyptians who tasted of pig's flesh save at their one annual festival when this was enjoined#aeh4 ,now the ,thesmophoria resembled this ,egyptian festival in that it was an annual occasion for sacrificing pigs and for partaking therefore of their flesh2 if then the worshippers of ,demeter1 like the ,egyptians1 were forbidden to use the pig for food at other times1 and if the penalty for disobedience in ,greece too was believed to be leprosy1 the present case of taboo in ,arcadia--the only one known to me in modern ,greece--may be a survival from the ancient cult4 ,but apart from these traces of the worship of ,demeter and ,kore in ,christian worship1 in folk-story1 and in custom1 traces which constitute in themselves cogent proof of the firm hold on the popular mind which the goddesses twain must long have kept1 there exists in the belief of the ,greek peasantry a personal ,power1 a living non-,christian deity1 who still inspires awe in many simple hearts and who may reasonably be identified with one or rather perhaps with both of them4 ,for it must not be forgotten that the mother and the daughter were in origin and symbolism one4 ,the idea of life's ebb and flow1 of nature's sleeping and waking1 is expressed in them severally as well as conjointly4 ,it would be impossible to analyse the complete myth and1 even if a purely physical interpretation were sought1 to express in physiological terms the two persons and the parts which they play3 for certain ideas find duplicate expression4 ,either ,demeter's retirement to some dark cave or the descent of ,persephone to the underworld might have represented alone and unaided the temporary abeyance of earth's productive powers4 ,yet it was with good reason that the myth expanded as it were spontaneously until the spirit of life1 that pervades not only the cornfield but all that is animal and human too1 was pourtrayed in double form2 not because the mere physical fact of the decay and the revival of vegetation needed larger symbolism for its due expression1 but because in the tie of mother and daughter and all that it connotes was fitly represented that by which the life-spirit works among the higher orders of created things1 that which goes before life's manifestations and outlasts its vanishings1 the spirit of love4 ,of all such ideas as these the modern peasant1 needless to say1 is wholly innocent4 ,he has learnt from his ancestors of a woman beautiful1 reverend1 deathless1 who dwells within a mountain of his land1 and who by her dealings with mankind has proved her real and divine puissance4 ,her name is no more uttered1 perchance because it is too holy for men of impure lips2 they speak only of #8the ,mistress4' ,she is a real person1 not the personification of any natural force4 ,the tiller of the land foresees his yearly gain from cornfield and vineyard2 the shepherd on the mountain-side expects the yearly increase of his flock2 but by neither is any principle inferred therefrom1 much less is such a principle personified2 the blessing which rests on field and fold is the work of a living goddess' hands4 ,flesh and blood she is1 even as they themselves1 but immortal and very mighty1 nobler than many of whom the priests preach1 stronger to help the good and to punish the wicked4 ,simple people they are1 who still believe such things1 and ignorant2 yet less truly ignorant than some half-educated pedants of the towns who vaunt their learning in chattering of #8,ceres' rather than of #8,demeter' and1 misled by ,roman versifiers who at least had an excuse in the exigencies of metre1 misinterpret the name as a mere synonym for corn4 ,happily however the influence of the schools--for it is amongst the schoolmasters that the worst offenders in this respect are to be found--is not yet all-reaching1 and in the remoter villages tradition is still untainted4 ,there without fear of ridicule men may still confess their faith in the great compassionate goddess4 ,it was in ,aetolia that ,i first recognised the popular belief in this deity4 ,there ,i heard tell of one who was called 1 #8the mistress of the world4' ,her dwelling was in the heart of a mountain1 the means of access to it a cave1 but where situated1 the peasants either did not know or feared to tell4 ,her character indeed was ever gracious and kindly1 but it may be they thought she would resent a foreigner's approach4 ,in her power was the granting of many boons1 but her special care was the fertility of the flocks and the abundance of the crops1 including in that district tobacco4 ,this revelation convinced me of the accuracy of what ,i had previously suspected only in ,north ,arcadia and in ,messenia4 ,in both those regions ,i had heard occasional mention among the peasants of one whose title was simply 1 #8the ,mistress4' ,the word had always struck me as curious1 for in ordinary usage it is obsolete and the mistress of a house or whatever it may be is always 7i4e4 74 ,knowing however that the ,church had preserved the title among those under which the ,virgin may be invoked1 ,i was disposed at first to think that the dedication of some church in the neighbourhood had influenced the people to use the rare name instead of the ordinary #8,panagia4' ,but when ,i enquired where the church of #8the ,mistress' was1 the answer was #8she has none'3 and yet1 on making subsequent enquiries of other persons1 ,i found that there was a church of the ,panagia close by4 ,clearly then it was not in the ecclesiastical sense that the title was being used4 ,more than this ,i failed to elicit--the peasants of the ,peloponnese are on the whole more suspicious and secretive than those of northern ,greece--but ,i have little doubt that this goddess is the same as she who in ,aetolia bears a title more colloquial in form but identical in meaning4 ,the existence of this deity among the survivals of the old religion has never1 ,i think1 been observed by any writer on the subject of ,greek folk-lore4 ,but in ,bernhard ,schmidt's collection of popular stories and songs there is evidence1 whose value he himself did not recognise1 to corroborate it4 ,one of the songs#aei from ,zacynthos contains the lines3 ' ' ' 1 1 ' 1 4 #8,they wrought in me1 even ,god and the ,virgin and the ,mistress of the world1 and ,i fought with ,turks and with ,albanians3 a thousand ,i slew1 a thousand yea and two thousand4' ,the editor of this song omits from his translation and does not even mention in his notes the last phrase of the first line1 assuming1 ,i suppose1 that the ,virgin is mentioned twice over under two different titles2 but it is at least possible that three persons are intended4 ,god and the ,virgin belong to the category of ,christian deities2 the third may be the pagan goddess already discovered in ,messenia1 ,arcadia1 and ,aetolia2 if so1 the collocation of her name along with those of the highest ,christian powers is strong testimony to the reverence with which the people of ,zacynthos too were wont1 and perhaps still continue1 to regard her4 ,in ,schmidt's stories again yet another variation of the title occurs4 ,in one1 which has already been narrated in full#afj1 #8the ,mistress of the earth and of the sea' 7 7 rewards a poor man1 on the recommendation of his good angel1 with miraculous gifts1 and when he is slain by an envious king1 herself appears and sends down the tyrant quick into the pit where punishment for his wickedness awaits him4 ,another1 in which the same ample appellation is used1 runs in brief as follows#afa3 #8,once upon a time a king on his return from a journey gave to his eldest son as a present a picture of 8the ,mistress of the earth and of the sea40 ,the prince was so dazzled by her beauty that he resolved to seek her out and make her his wife4 ,he accordingly consulted a witch who told him how to find the palace where the ,mistress of earth and sea lived1 and warned him also that before he could secure the fulfilment of his desire two tasks would be set him1 the first to shatter a small phial carried by a dove in its beak without injuring the bird1 the second to obtain the skin of a three-headed dragon4 ,she also provided him with a magic bow wherewith to perform the first labour1 and with two hairs from the dragon's head1 by means of which he would be magically guided to the monster's lair4 ,arrived there he should glut it with a meal of earth which he was to carry with him1 and then slay it as it slept4 ,thus forewarned and forearmed the prince set out and passing through a cave1 of which the witch had told him1 came to the palace4 ,the ,mistress having enquired of him his errand at once set him to perform the two tasks4 ,these he accomplished1 and she returned with him as his wife to his own land4 ,but they did not live peaceably together1 and one day the ,mistress of earth and sea in her anger bade the waters overflow the whole land1 so that all mankind was drowned while she herself hovered above in the air and looked on4 ,then when the waters subsided1 she descended to the earth and made new men by sowing stones2 and thereafter she ruled again as before over the whole world4' ,both these stories hail1 as does the song of which a few lines are cited above1 from ,zacynthos1 and there is therefore good reason for believing that in that island the same #8,mistress' was recently acknowledged as at this very day is venerated in those parts of the mainland which ,i have mentioned4 ,taking the common factors in these several traditions and beliefs1 we are led at once to identify the goddess to whom they relate with ,demeter4 ,first1 the simplest form of her title1 1 of which the others are merely elaborations1 is that which ,demeter commonly shared with ,persephone in old time2 and that the title has been handed down from antiquity is shown clearly by the fact that the word is in ordinary usage obsolete4 ,since then it is unlikely that in the course of tradition such a title should be transferred 7save1 owing to ,christian influence1 in the case of the ,virgin1 who has locally no doubt superseded one of the goddesses twain and appropriated her byname71 the word itself declares in favour of the identification of this still living deity with ,demeter4 ,secondly1 her dwelling-place is consistently in the modern accounts the heart of a mountain1 and the passage to it a cave4 ,such precisely1 according to ,pausanias1 was the habitation of ,demeter in ,mt ,elaon#afb2 and the same idea is reflected in her whole cult2 for1 though in the classical period she had temples built like those of other deities1 yet her holy of holies1 as befitted a ,chthonian deity1 was always a subterranean hall 77 or palace 771 an artificial and glorified cavern4 ,thirdly1 the modern deity is in character benevolent1 therein differing markedly from many of the pagan powers whom we have yet to consider and also from several of the ,christian saints4 ,once only1 in the second of the stories from ,zacynthos1 does she appear in angry mood1 when she destroys all mankind by a flood4 ,to the actual means of destruction employed too much importance must not be attached4 ,the motif of the flood is common in modern ,greek folk-tales4 ,in the islands of the ,aegean ,i encountered it several times1 the fullest version being one which ,i heard in ,scyros4 ,the story as told there was exactly that of ,deucalion1 save that in deference to biblical tradition he was named ,noah and1 by a slight anachronism1 it was the ,panagia instead of ,themis who counselled him to create fresh men by throwing stones over his shoulder4 ,i was also taken to see the place where the flood was at its highest1 a narrow glen through which runs a small stream1 whose high sloping banks are certainly a mass of half-fossilised animal and vegetable matter2 and ,i was escorted to the hill-top on which ,noah's caque finally rested4 ,such a theme is easily worked into a story of the deity1 usually benevolent though she be1 who is #8,mistress of the earth and of the sea'2 and apart from the means of punishment so appropriately adopted by a goddess who rules the sea1 this single outburst of somewhat unreasonable anger on the part of the modern deity against all mankind is singularly like the old-time ,demeter's resentful retirement into the depths of her cave1 until #8all the produce of earth was failing and the human race was perishing fast from famine#afc4' ,yet otherwise the ancient goddess too was benevolent and gracious to man4 ,fourthly1 in ,aetolia at any rate and probably also in the ,peloponnese1 where however ,i failed to extract definite information1 the modern goddess is the quickener of all the fruits of the earth1 and in functions therefore corresponds once more with the ancient conception of ,demeter4 ,on these grounds the identification seems to me certain4 ,this being granted1 the permanence of tradition concerning the dwelling-place of ,demeter raises a question which ,i approach with diffidence1 feeling that an answer to it must rest with others more competent than myself in matters archaeological4 ,first1 is the tradition as old as that of the personality of the goddess8 ,it is hard to suppose otherwise2 for the primitive mind would scarcely conceive of a person without assigning also an habitation2 and the habitation actually assigned is of primitive enough character--a cave in a mountain-side4 ,where then was ,demeter worshipped by the ,pelasgians in the ,mycenaean age8 ,that she was a deity much reverenced by the dwellers in the ,argive plain is certain2 small idols believed to represent ,demeter ,kourotrophos have been found at ,mycenae#afd2 others1 of which the identification is more certain1 at ,tiryns#afe2 and at ,argos1 in later times1 ,demeter continued to be worshipped under the title ,pelasgian#aff4 ,was a mere cavern then her only home8 ,or did ,mycenae lavish some of its gold on building her a more worthy temple8 ,may not the famous bee-hive structures which have passed successively for treasuries and for tombs of princes prove to be 1 temples of ,chthonian deities such as ,demeter8 ,it is true that in some humbler structures of the same type1 such as those at ,mendi and ,thoricus1 clear evidences of inhumation have been found2 but ,i question whether it is permissible to draw from this fact the inference that those magnificent structures also1 the so-called ,treasuries of ,atreus and of ,minyas1 were in reality tombs4 ,it would seem reasonable to suppose that dwelling-places for the dead beneath the earth and for earth-deities may have been constructed on the same plan1 but that the abodes dedicated to immortals were more imposing than those destined for dead men4 ,this hypothesis appears to me more consistent with the evidence of the actual sites at ,mycenae and ,orchomenos than the commonly accepted view that the inner chamber of the #8,treasury of ,atreus' was a place of burial4 #8,in the centre of the ,mycenaean chamber1' says ,schuchhardt#afg1 #8there is an almost circular depression three feet in diameter and two feet in depth1 cut into the rocky ground4 ,in spite of its unusual shape1 we must recognise in it the actual site of the grave4' ,was it a royal posture to lie curled up like a cat8 ,and if so1 what of a similar depression in the floor of the #8,treasury of ,minyas' at ,orchomenos8 #8,almost in the centre of the treasure-room'--,i again quote ,schuchhardt#afh--#8was a long hole in the level rock1 nine inches deep1 fifteen inches broad and nineteen inches long1 which'--must be recognised as the sepulchre of a royal baby8 ,no1 our faith is not to be so severely taxed2--#8which must have served to secure some monument4' ,may we not1 with more consistency1 extend the same explanation to ,mycenae8 ,and what then were the monuments8 ,may they not have been images of the deity set up in the most natural place1 the centre of the outer or the inner sanctuary8 ,again1 the actual shape of the buildings is important4 ,ethnologists tell us that it is ultimately derived from a type of dwelling commonly occupied by primitive man1 a circular wattle-hut with conical top2 or even more directly1 as some would have it1 from a similarly shaped abode which the ancient ,phrygians used to excavate in the ground1 constructing the top of withies laced over beams converging to the apex and covered over with earth1 while they tunnelled out an approach from one side where the ground sloped conveniently away#afi4 ,from this it is argued that the domed chambers of ,mycenae must be tombs1 on the ground that #8men in all ages have fashioned the dwellings of the dead in accordance with those of the living2 but the dead are conservative1 and long after a new generation has sought a new home and a new pattern for its houses1 the habitations of the dead are still constructed in ancestral fashion#agj4' ,i readily admit conservatism in all religious matters2 but how does the argument touch ,mycenae8 ,archaeologists1 and among them ,schuchhardt himself#aga1 are agreed that the shaft-graves in the citadel are earlier in date than the bee-hive structures of the lower town4 ,there was therefore a breach in the continuity of the ancestral fashion4 ,reversion to a disused fashion is a very different thing from conservatism in upholding an unbroken usage4 ,but even supposing that there were good evidence of the uninterrupted continuity of this type of sepulchre1 may not the temples of ,chthonian deities have been built on the same plan8 ,the use of the old word suggests that the sanctuary of ,demeter and ,persephone1 though subterranean1 was modelled on the dwellings of men1 and1 to borrow an argument1 religious conservatism may well have preserved for the gods' abodes the hut-like shape of primitive man's dwellings long after a new type of house had become general among mortals4 ,concrete instances of this actually existed in much later times#agb4 ,in ,rome the temple of ,vesta was of this primitive shape1 and so also most probably was the ,prytaneum of ,athens1 which1 though not a temple1 contained the sacred hearth of the whole community and a statue of ,hestia#agc4 ,demeter then1 as one of the deities of primitive ,greece1 might well have been provided with a temple constructed on the same primitive pattern as that of ,vesta1 but subterranean1 as would befit a ,chthonian deity1 and thus analogous to the cave wherein she had been wont to dwell4 ,the large domed chamber would be her megaron1 wherein her worshippers assembled just as guests assembled in the megaron of a prince4 ,the small square apartment1 where such exists1 opening on one side of the main room1 might be the or #8bedchamber1' an inner sanctuary which temples of later ages also possessed4 ,the approach or #8dromos' would represent the natural cave which had given access to her fabled palace in the bowels of the earth4 ,finally1 on such a view of these buildings1 it would not be difficult to explain ,pausanias' belief that they were treasuries#agd4 ,treasuries only1 we may be sure1 they were not2 for they would not have been built outside the walls of the citadel4 ,but temples in later times were used as depositories for treasure2 the would-be thief shrank apparently from the further crime of sacrilege2 and it is not unlikely that in a more primitive age1 when superstitious awe was certainly no less strong1 while robbery far from being a crime was an honourable calling1 men should have secured their treasure by storing it in some inviolable sanctuary4 ,indeed it may be to such a custom that ,homer alludes in speaking of #8all that the stone threshold of the archer1 even ,phoebus ,apollo1 doth enclose within at rocky ,pytho#age4' ,if then this practice prevailed in ,mycenaean1 as it did in later1 times1 ,pausanias would be recording a tradition which was partially right2 and it is not hard to see how1 when ,mycenae's greatness had suddenly1 as it seems1 declined and her population perhaps had migrated for the most part to ,argos1 later generations1 familiar in their new settlements with that different type of temple only which afterwards became general1 might have forgotten the sacred character of the bee-hive structures and have remembered only the proverbial wealth once stored by the kings of ,mycenae within them4 ,there remains one point to which ,i may for the moment direct attention here1 reserving the development of the religious idea contained in it for a later chapter4 ,the main theme of the second of the stories from ,zacynthos was the seeking of the ,mistress in marriage by a young prince4 ,now if this story stood alone1 it would not be right to lay much stress upon it2 for the adventures of a young prince in search of some far-famed bride form the plot of numerous ,greek folk-tales2 and it would be possible to suppose that the real divine personality of the ,mistress had been partially obscured in the popular memory before such a story became connected with her name4 ,but the same motif as it happens is repeated in two stories1 one ,greek and the other ,albanian1 in von ,hahn's collection#agf4 ,the name of #8the ,mistress' does not indeed occur2 the deity is called in both #8the beautiful one of the earth#agg4' ,but her identity is made quite clear in the ,albanian story1 which evidently must have been borrowed from the ,greek and is therefore admissible as good evidence1 by the mention of #8a three-headed dog that sleeps not day nor night' by which she is guarded4 ,this is undoubtedly the same monster as the hero of the ,zacynthian story was required to kill--the three-headed snake2 and while the ,albanian story1 in making the beast a guardian of the subterranean abode whom the adventurer must slay before he can reach #8the beautiful one1' is better in construction and1 incidentally1 more faithful to old tradition#agh than the ,greek version which makes the slaying an useless task arbitrarily imposed1 yet in both portraits of the monster we can recognise ,cerberus--half dog1 half snake4 ,but of him more anon2 #8the beautiful one of the earth' whom he guards can be none other than ,persephone4 ,thus there are three modern stories which record the winning of ,demeter or ,persephone in marriage by a mortal lover4 ,is this a relic of ancient tradition8 ,there was the attempt of ,pirithous to seize ,persephone for his wife2 but that failed1 and moreover was judged an impious deed for which he must suffer punishment4 ,yet there is also the story of ,iasion who was deemed worthy of ,demeter's love4 ,wedlock then even with so great a deity as ,demeter or her daughter was not beyond mortals' dream or reach4 ,thus much ,i may notice now2 when ,i come to examine more closely the ancient worship of these goddesses1 ,i shall argue that the idea of a marriage-union between them and human kind was the most intimate secret of the mysteries1 and that in such folk-tales as those which ,i have here mentioned is contained the germ of a religious conception from which was once evolved the holiest of ancient sacraments4 #f4 ,,charon4 ,there is no ancient deity whose name is so frequently on the lips of the modern peasant as that of ,charon4 ,the forms which it has now assumed are two1 and 1 analogous to the formations and from the ancient 3 for in late ,greek at any rate the declension of followed that of #agi4 ,the two forms do not seem to belong to different modern dialects1 for they often appear in close juxtaposition in the same folk-song4 ,the shorter form however is the commoner in every-day speech1 and ,i shall therefore employ it4 ,about ,charos the peasants will always1 according to my experience1 converse freely4 ,neither superstitious awe nor fear of ridicule imposes any restraint4 ,they feel perhaps that the existence of ,charos is one of the stern facts which men must face2 and even the more educated classes retain sometimes1 ,i think1 an instinctive fear of making light of his name1 lest he should assert his reality4 ,for ,charos is ,death4 ,he is not now1 what classical literature would have him to be1 merely the ferryman of the ,styx4 ,he is the god of death and of the lower world4 ,hades is no longer a person but a place1 the realm over which ,charos rules4 ,but the change which has befallen the old monarch's name is the only change in the ,greek conception of that realm4 ,it is still called #8the lower world' 7 or 71 and even the name ,tartarus 7now 1 with the addition frequently of 7 still may be heard4 ,nor is the character of the place altered4 ,its epithet #8icy-cold1' 1 is well-nigh as constant in modern folk-songs as was the equivalent in ,homer's allusions to ,hades' house1 while the picturesque word 1 #8thick with spiders'-webs1' repeats in thought the ,homeric 1 #8mouldering4' ,such is ,charos' kingdom1 and hither he conveys men's souls which he has snatched away from earth4 ,here with him dwells his mother1 a being1 as one folk-song tells#ahj1 more pitiful than he1 who entreats him sometimes1 when he is setting out to the chase1 to spare mothers with young children and not to part lovers new-wed4 ,he has also a wife1 ,charntissa or ,chrissa1 who as the name itself implies is merely a feminine counterpart of himself without any distinct character of her own4 ,a son of ,charos is also mentioned in song1 for whose wedding-feast #8he slays children instead of lambs and brides as fatlings#aha1' and to whose keeping are entrusted the counter-keys of ,hades#ahb4 ,adopted children are also counted among his family1 but these are of those whom he has carried from this world to his own home#ahc4 ,the household is completed by the three-headed watch-dog1 of whom however remembrance is very rare4 ,yet in two stories in the last section we recognised ,cerberus1 and even the less convincing of the embodiments there presented1 that which represented him as a three-headed snake rather than dog1 is not devoid of traces of ancient tradition4 ,the hero who would slay the monster has to cross a piece of water--the sea instead of the river ,styx--in order to reach an island where is the monster's lair2 and there arrived1 he sees #8looking out from a hole three heads with eyes that flash fire and jaws that breathe flames#ahd4' ,this is ,cerberus without doubt2 and if the story calls him #8serpent' rather than #8dog1' ancient mythology and art alike justify in part the description2 for his mother was said to be ,echidna1 and he himself is found pourtrayed with the tail of a serpent and a ring of snakes about his neck4 ,schmidt himself appears to have overlooked the testimony of this story and of that also from the collection of von ,hahn in which1 as ,i have pointed out1 we have a modern picture of ,cerberus guarding the realm of ,persephone2 for he speaks of some remarkable lines from a song which he himself heard in ,zacynthos as an unique mention of ,cerberus1 and questions the genuine nature of the tradition4 ,all doubt is however removed by the corroborative evidence contained in the two stories already mentioned and by the fact that a three-headed dog belonging to ,charos was recently heard of by a traveller in ,macedonia#ahe4 ,the lines themselves are put in the mouth of ,charos3-- 1 ' 1 4 1 1 4 '' 1 1 1 #ahf4 #8,a savage dog have ,i1 who guards us all1 and when he sees me he rages and fain would devour me4 ,a three-headed dog is he1 and he burns like fire2 his claws are sharp and his tail is long2 from his eyes he gives forth flame and from his mouth burning heat2 long is his tongue and grim his teeth4' ,here at least recognition of ,cerberus must be immediate2 every detail of the description1 save for the characteristically modern touch which makes ,charos afraid of his own dog1 is in accord with classical tradition4 ,such is the household of ,charos1 so far as a description may be compiled from a few scattered allusions2 his own portrait varies more1 in proportion as there are more numerous attempts in every part of ,greece to draw it4 ,sometimes he is depicted as an old man1 tall and spare1 white of hair and harsh of feature2 but more often he is a lusty warrior1 with locks of raven-black or gleaming gold--just as ,hades in old time was sometimes 1 sometimes 1--who rides forth on his black steed by highway or lonely path to slay and to ravage3 #8his glance is as lightning and his face as fire1 his shoulders are like twin mountains and his head like a tower#ahg4' ,his raiment is usually black as befits the lord of death1 but anon it is depicted bright as his sunlit hair#ahh1 for though he brings death he is a god and glorious4 ,his functions are clearly defined4 ,he visits this upper world to carry off those whose allotted time has run1 and guards them in the lower world as in a prison whose keys they vainly essay to steal and to escape therefrom4 ,but the spirit in which he performs those duties varies according as he is conceived to be a free agent responsible to none or merely a minister of the supreme ,god4 ,which of these is the true conception is a question to which the common-folk as a whole have given no final answer2 and the character of ,charos consequently depends upon the view locally preferred4 ,those who regard him as simply the servant and messenger of ,god1 find no difficulty in accommodating him to his ,christian surroundings2 for1 as ,i have said1 the peasant does not distinguish between the ,christian and the pagan elements in his faith which together make his polytheism so luxuriant4 ,we have already seen ,charos' name with the prefix of #8saint#ahi'2 and though this ,christian title is not often accorded him1 yet his name appears commonly on tomb-stones in ,christian churchyards4 ,at ,leondi1 on the east coast of the ,peloponnese1 ,i noted the couplet3 1 4 #8,me too ,charos pitied not but took1 even me the fondly-cherished flower of my home4' ,so too in popular story and song he is represented as working in concord with the ,angels and ,archangels1 to whom sometimes falls the task of carrying children to his realm#aij4 ,indeed one of the archangels1 ,michael1 who as we saw above has ousted ,hermes1 the escorter of souls1 and assumed his functions1 is charged with exactly the same duties as ,charos in the conveyance of men's souls to the nether world1 so that in popular parlance the phrases #8he is wrestling with ,charos' 7 7#aia and #8he is struggling with an angel' 77#aib are both alike used of a man in his death-agony4 ,this ,christianised conception of ,charos has not been without influence in softening the lines of the character popularly ascribed to him4 ,the duties imposed upon him by the will of ,god are sometimes repugnant to him1 and he would willingly spare those whom he is sent to slay4 ,one folk-story related to me exhibits him even as a friend of man3-- #8,once upon a time there were a man and wife who had had seven children all of whom died in infancy4 ,when an eighth was born1 the father betook himself to a witch and enquired of her how he might best secure the boy's life4 ,she told him that the others had died because he had chosen unsuitable godparents1 and bade him on this occasion ask the first man whom he should meet on his way home to stand sponsor for the child4 ,he accordingly departed1 and straightway met a stranger riding on a black horse1 and made his request to him4 ,the stranger consented1 and the baptism at once took place2 but no sooner was it over than he was gone without so much as telling his name4 ,ten years passed1 and the child was growing up strong and healthy4 ,then at last the father again encountered the unknown stranger1 and reproached him with having been absent so long without ever making enquiry after his godson4 ,then the stranger answered1 8,better for thee if ,i had not now come and if thou neededst not now learn my name4 ,i am ,charos1 and because ,i am thy friend#aic1 am come to warn thee that thy days are well-nigh spent40 ,thereupon ,charos led him away to a cave in the mountain-side1 and they entered and came to a chamber where were many candles burning4 ,then said ,charos1 8,see1 these candles are the lives of men1 and yonder are thine and thy son's40 ,then the man looked1 and of his own candle there were but two inches left1 but his son's was tall and burnt but slowly4 ,then he besought ,charos to light yet another candle for him ere his own were burnt away1 but ,charos made answer that that could not be4 ,then again he besought him to give him ten years from the life of his son1 for he was a poor man1 and if he died ere his son were grown to manhood1 his widow and orphan would be in want4 ,but ,charos answered1 8,in no way can the decreed length of life be changed4 ,yet will ,i show thee how in the two years that yet remain to thee thou mayest enrich thyself and leave abundant store for thy wife and child4 ,thou shalt become a physician4 ,it matters not that thou knowest nought of medicine1 for ,i will give thee a better knowledge than of drugs4 ,thine eyes shall ever be open to see me2 and when thou goest to a sick man's couch1 if thou dost see me standing at the bed-head1 know then that he must die1 and say to them that summoned thee that no skill can save him2 but if thou dost see me at the foot of the bed1 know that he will recover2 give him therefore but pills of bread if thou wilt1 and promise to restore him40 ,then did the man thank ,charos1 and went away to his home4 ,now it chanced that the only daughter of the king lay grievously sick1 and all the doctors and magicians had been called to heal her1 but they availed nothing4 ,then came the poor man whom ,charos had taught1 and went into the room where the princess lay1 and lo6 ,charos stood at the foot of her bed4 ,then he bade the king send away the other physicians1 for that he alone could heal her4 ,so he himself went home and mixed flour and water and came again and gave it to the king's daughter1 and soon she was recovered of her sickness4 ,then the king gave him a great present1 and his fame was spread abroad1 and many resorted to him1 and soon he was rich4 ,thus two years passed1 and at the end thereof he himself lay sick4 ,and he looked and saw ,charos standing at the head of his bed4 ,then he bade his wife turn the bed about1 but it availed nothing2 for ,charos again stood at his head1 and caught him by the hair1 and he opened his mouth to cry out1 and ,charos drew forth his soul#aid4' ,again the unwillingness of ,charos to execute the harsh decrees of ,god is illustrated in numerous folk-songs4 ,most often it is some brave youth1 shepherd or warrior1 a lover of the open air1 who excites his compassion2 for the same notes of regret which ,sophocles made melodious in the farewell of ,ajax to the sunlight1 to his house in ,salamis1 even to the streams and springs of the ,trojan land which brought his death1 ring clear and true in modern folk-song too from the lips of dying warriors4 ,such were the last words of the outlaw-patriot 77 ,zedros3 #8,farewell1 ,olympus1 now farewell1 and all the mountain-summits1 ,farewell1 my strongholds desolate1 and plane-trees rich in shadow1 ,ye fountains with your waters cool1 and level plains low-lying4 ,farewell ,i bid the swift-winged hawks#aie1 farewell the royal eagles1 ,farewell for me the sun ,i love and the bright-glancing moonlight1 ,that lighted up my path wherein to walk a warrior worthy#aif4' ,such laments are not lost upon ,charos1 the servant of ,god1 but he must needs turn a deaf ear to prayers for a respite4 ,clear and final comes his answer1 almost in the same words in every ballad#aig1 1 1 ' 1 ' ' 4 #8,no respite can ,i give1 brave sir1 for ,i am straitly chargd2 ',tis ,god that sent me here to thee1 sent me to take thy spirit4' ,sometimes then the doomed man will seek to tempt ,charos with meat and drink1 that he may grant a few hours' delay1 but against offers of hospitality he is obdurate4 ,or again his victim refuses to yield to death #8without weakness or sickness' and challenges him to a trial of athletic skill1 in wrestling or leaping1 whereon each shall stake his own soul4 ,and to this ,charos sometimes gives consent1 for he knows that he will win4 ,so they make their way to the #8marble-paved threshing-floor1' the arena of all manly pursuits2 and there the man perchance leaps forty cubits1 yet ,charos surpasses him by five2 or they wrestle together from morn till eve1 but at the last bout ,charos is victor4 ,one hero indeed is known to fame1 whose exploits make him the ,heracles of modern ,greece1 ,digenes the ,cyprian1 who wrestled with ,charos for three nights and days and was not vanquished4 ,but then #8there came a voice from ,god and from the ,archangels1 8,charos1 ,i sent thee not to engage in wrestlings1 but that thou should'st carry off souls for me#aih40' ,and at that rebuke ,charos transformed himself into an eagle and alighted on the hero's head and plucked out his soul4 ,the other and more pagan conception of ,charos excludes all traits of kindness and mercy2 and men do not stint the expression of their hatred of him4 ,he is #8black1' #8bitter1' #8hateful' 7#aii1 1 74 ,he is the merciless potentate of the nether world1 independent of the ,god of heaven1 equally powerful in his own domain1 but more terrible1 more inexorable3 for his work is death and his abode is ,hades4 ,thence he issues forth at will1 as a hunter to the chase4 #8,against the wounds that ,charos deals herbs avail not1 physicians give no cure1 nor saints protection#bjj4' ,his quarry is the soul of man2 #8where he finds three1 he takes two of them1 and where he finds two1 takes one1 and where he finds but one alone1 him too he takes#bja4' ,sometimes he is enlarging his palace1 and he takes the young and strong to be its pillars2 sometimes he is repairing the tent in which he dwells1 and uses the stout arms of heroes for tent-pegs and the tresses of bright-haired maidens for the ropes2 sometimes he is laying out a garden1 and he gathers children from the earth to be the flowers of it and young men to be its tall slim cypresses2 more rarely he is a vintager1 and tramples men in his vat that their blood may be his red wine1 or again he carries a sickle and reaps a human harvest4 ,but most commonly he is the warrior preminent in all manner of prowess--archer1 wrestler1 horseman4 ,once a bride boasted that she had no fear of ,charos1 for that her brothers were men of valour and her husband a hero2 then came ,charos and shot an arrow at her1 and her beauty faded2 a second and a third arrow1 and he stretched her on her death-bed#bjb4 ,often in the pride of strength have young warriors laughed ,charos to scorn2 then has he come to seize the strongest of them1 and though the warrior strain and struggle as in a wrestling-match1 yet ,charos wearies not but wins the contest by fair means or foul3 for he is no honourable foe1 but dishonest above thieves1 more deceitful than women#bjc3 he seizes his adversary by the hair and drags him down to ,hades4 ,even more striking is the picture of ,charos as horseman riding forth on his black steed to the foray1 and it is this conception which has inspired one of the finest achievements of the popular muse3-- ,why stand the mountains black and sad1 their brows enwrapped in darkness8 ,is it a wind that buffets them8 is it a storm that lashes8 ,no1 'tis no wind that buffets them1 nor 'tis no storm that lashes2 ,but 'tis great ,charos passing by1 and the dead passing with him4 ,he drives the young men on before1 he drags the old behind him1 ,and at his saddle-bow are ranged the helpless little children4 ,the children cling and cry to him1 the old men call beseeching1 8,good ,charos1 at some hamlet halt1 halt at some cooling fountain2 ,there let the young men heave the stone1 the old men drink of water1 ,there let the little children go agathering pretty posies40 8,no1 not at hamlet will ,i halt1 nor yet at cooling fountain1 ,lest mothers come draw water there and know their little children1 ,lest wife and husband meet again and there be no more parting40 ,such is the more pagan presentment of the modern ,charos1 a tyrant as absolute in his own realm as ,god in heaven1 a veritable #bjd as was ,hades of old1 but hard of heart1 heedless of prayer1 delighting in cruelty4 ,at first sight then the ,charos of modern ,greece would seem to have little in common with the ,charon of ancient ,greece beyond the name and some connexion with death3 and ,fauriel1 in the introduction to his collection of popular songs1 pronounces the opinion that in this case the usual tendencies of tradition have been reversed1 in that it is the name that has survived1 while the attributes have been changed#bje4 ,to this judgement ,i cannot subscribe4 ,i suspect that in ancient times the literary presentation of ,charon was far more circumscribed than the popular1 and that out of a profusion of imaginative portraitures as varied as those seen in the folk-songs of to-day one aspect of ,charon became accepted among educated men as the correct and fashionable presentment4 ,hades was1 in literature1 the despot of the lower world1 and for ,charon no place could be found save that of ferryman4 ,but this1 ,i think1 was only one out of the many guises in which the ancient ,charon was figured by popular imagination2 for at the present day the remnants of such a conception are small1 in spite of the fact that there has remained a custom which should have kept it alive--the custom of putting a coin in the mouth of the dead4 ,only in one folk-song1 recorded from ,zacynthos1 can ,i find the old literary representation of ,charon as ferryman of the ,styx unmistakably reproduced4 ,the following is a literal rendering3--#8,across the river that none may ford ,charos was passing1 and one soul was on the bank and gave him greeting4 8,good ,charos1 long life to thee1 well-beloved2 take me1 even me1 with thee1 take me1 dear ,charos6 ,a poor man's soul was ,i1 even of a poor man and a beggar2 men left me destitute and ,i perished for lack of a crumb of barley-bread4 ,no last rites did they give me1 they gave me none1 poor soul1 not even a farthing in my mouth for thee who dost await me4 ,poor were my children1 poor and without hope2 destitute were they and lay in death unburied1 poor souls4 ,them thou did'st take1 good ,charos1 them thou did'st take1 ,i saw thee1 when thy cold hand seized them by the hair4 ,take me too1 ,charos1 take me1 take me1 poor soul2 take me yonder1 take me yonder1 no other waiteth for thee40 ,thus cried to him the poor man's soul1 and ,charos made answer1 8,come1 soul1 thou art good1 and ,god hath pitied thee40 ,then took he the soul and set her on the other bank1 and spreading then his sail he sped far away#bjf4' ,in another song#bjg of the same collection1 hailing also from ,zacynthos1 there may be a reminiscence of the same old tradition4 ,in it ,charos has a caque with black sails and black oars and goes to and fro--whence and whither is not told--with cargoes of the dead4 ,but more probably the imagery is borrowed from seafaring2 the ,greek peasant would hardly imagine a caque plying on a river2 the streams of his own country will seldom carry even a small bark4 ,a sea-voyage on the other hand is1 especially in the imagination of islanders1 the most natural method of departure to a far-off country4 ,from the sea certainly comes the metaphor in a funeral dirge from ,zacynthos in which the mourner asks of the dead1 ' ' 2#bjh #8,in what boat wilt thou be and at what haven wilt thou land8' ,this too is claimed by ,schmidt#bji as a reminiscence of ,charon's ferry--somewhat unfortunately2 for the next line continues1 1 #8,that thy mother may come and ransom thee again4' ,now in another dirge#baj also heard by ,schmidt in the same island1 this idea is worked out even more fully3 the mother cries to the master of the ship that bears away her lost son not to sell him1 and offers high ransom for him2 but the dead man in answer bids her keep her treasure2 #8not till the crow doth whiten and become a dove1 must thou1 mother mine1 look for me again4' ,clearly the imagery is borrowed not from the ferry-boat of ,charon plying for hire1 but from a descent of pirates who carry men off to hold them to ransom or to sell them for slaves4 ,in neither dirge is ,charos actually named1 but doubtless he is understood to be the captain of the pirates2 for in more than one dirge of ,laconia and ,maina he is explicitly called 1 a corsair#baa4 ,here then we have yet another presentation of the modern ,charos2 but of ,charon the ferryman there is no sure remembrance except in one song from ,zacynthos4 ,nor again1 save in that one song1 is the river of death imagined as an impassable barrier2 it is rather a stream of ,lethe3 no boatman is needed to carry the dead across2 but mention is made only of #8the loved ones1 that pass the river and drink the water thereof1 and forget their homes and their orphan children#bab'--;just as in the mountains there are #8springs in marble grots1 whereat the wild sheep drink and remember no more their lambs#bac4' ,it is the drinking of the water1 not the passing of the stream1 which frees the dead from aching memories3 the picture is wholly different from that of a river which cannot be crossed but by grace of the ferryman4 ,the general oblivion into which the ancient conception of ,charon has fallen is the more remarkable1 as ,i have said1 in view of the survival of a custom which in antiquity was closely associated with it4 ,in parts of ,macedonia1 ,thrace1 and ,asia ,minor the practice prevails#bad1 or till recently prevailed1 of placing in the mouth 7or more rarely on the breast7 of the dead a small coin1 which in the environs of ,smyrna is actually known as 1 passage-money#bae4 ,in the ,cyclades and in parts of the ,greek mainland ,i myself have met aged persons who could recall the existence of the custom3 a century or two ago it was probably frequent4 ,but there is less evidence that the coin was commonly intended for ,charos4 ,protodikos indeed1 the authority for the existence of the custom in ,asia ,minor1 writing in #ahfj1 says expressly that the coin was designed for ,charos as ferryman2 and the name of #8passage-money' locally given to the coin tends to confirm the statement of a writer whom ,i have found in some other matters inaccurate4 ,another authority#baf moreover1 writing also in #ahfj1 states that at ,stenimachos in ,thrace #8until a short time ago' the coin was laid in the mouth of the dead actually for ,charos2 nor can there be any question that the classical interpretation of the custom survived long in ,zacynthos1 as is evidenced by the complaint of the poor man's soul in the song translated above1 ' 1 1 ' 1 #8,no last rites did they give me1 they gave me none1 poor soul1 not even a farthing in my mouth for thee 7,charos7 who awaitest me4' ,yet ,schmidt1 who recorded these lines from ,zacynthos1 found that the actual custom was barely remembered there4 ,he met indeed1 in #ahfc1 one old woman aged eighty-two1 who as a child had known the practice of putting a copper in the mouth of the dead as also that of laying a key on the corpse's breast2 but of the purpose of the coin she knew nothing2 the key she believed to be useful for opening the gates of ,paradise4 ,for myself1 though ,i have heard mention of the use of the coin1 ,i have never known it to be associated with ,charos4 ,i incline therefore to the opinion that in most places where the custom is or has recently been practised1 it has outlived the interpretation which was in classical times put upon it4 ,but was the classical interpretation a true index to the origin of the custom8 ,was it anything more than an aetiological explanation of a custom whose significance even in an early age had already become obscured by lapse of time8 ,one thing at least has been made certain by the modern study of folklore1 namely that a custom may outlive not only the idea which gave it birth but even successive false ideas which it has itself engendered in the minds of men who have sought vainly to explain it4 ,when therefore ,lucian#bag stated that #8they put an obol in the dead man's mouth as boat-fare for the ferryman1' it is possible that he was recording a late and incorrect interpretation of a custom which had existed before the rle of ferryman had ever been invented for ,charon4 ,further if that interpretation had been in the main a literary figment1 it would have been natural for the original meaning of the custom to be still remembered among the unlettered common-folk of outlying districts4 ,there are plenty of cases in modern ,greece in which different explanations of the same custom are offered in different localities4 ,in spite therefore of the fact that one view only found expression in classical literature1 there is no antecedent improbability in the supposition that an older view may have been handed down even to recent generations in the purer oral traditions of the common-folk4 ,once only1 from a fellow-traveller in the ,cyclades1 did ,i obtain any explanation at all of the use of the coin1 #bah1 #8it is useful because of the arial ones4' ,this sounds vague enough1 but nothing more save gestures of uncertainty could ,i elicit4 ,was the coin useful1 in his view1 as a fee to be paid to #8the arial ones' on the soul's journey from this world to the next1 or as a charm against the assaults of such beings8 ,that was the question to which ,i sought an answer from him1 but in vain4 ,for myself ,i cannot determine in which sense the dark saying was actually meant4 ,the former would accord well with one local belief of the present day1 if only my informant had specified one particular kind of arial beings who are believed to take toll of departing souls2 but to this ,i shall return in a later section of this chapter#bai4 ,the second interpretation of the words1 however1 whether they were intended in that sense by the speaker or not1 furnishes what will be shown by other evidence to be the key to the origin of the custom4 ,a coin is often used as a charm against sinister influences#bbj4 ,in this case then it may have been a prophylactic against arial spirits4 ,why then is it generally put in the dead man's mouth8 ,not1 ,i think1 because the mouth is a convenient purse1 as seems to be assumed in the classical interpretation of the custom1 but because the mouth is the entrance to the body4 ,the peasants of to-day believe as firmly as men of the ,homeric age that it is through the mouth that the soul escapes at death4 ,the phrase ' 1 #8with the soul between the teeth1' is the popular equivalent for #8at the last gasp'2 and in the folk-songs the same idea constantly recurs2 #8open thy mouth1' says ,charos to a shepherd whom he has thrown in wrestling1 #8open thy mouth that ,i may take thy soul#bba4' ,now the passage by which the soul makes its exit1 is naturally the passage by which evil spirits 7or the soul#bbb1 if it should return17 would make their entrance2 and1 as we shall see later1 there is a very real fear among the peasantry that a dead body may be entered and possessed by an evil spirit4 ,clearly then the mouth1 by which the spirit would enter1 is the right place in which to lay the protective coin4 ,the interpretation which ,i suggest gains support from some points in modern usage4 ,in ,macedonia1 according to one traveller#bbc1 the coin which formerly used to be laid in the corpse's mouth was ,turkish and bore a text from the ,koran1 an aggravation of the pagan custom which was made a pretext for episcopal intervention#bbd4 ,now clearly1 if the coin had in that district been designed as payment for the services of ,charos as ferryman1 there would have been no motive for preferring one bearing an inscription from the ,mohammedan scriptures1 which assuredly could not enhance the coin's value in the eyes of ,charos3 but if the coin was itself employed as a charm against evil spirits1 the sacred text might well have been deemed to add not a little to its prophylactic properties4 ,thus the character of the particular type of coin chosen indicates that the coin in itself too was at one time viewed as a charm2 a charm moreover whose effect would be precisely that of the key which in the island of ,zacynthos was also laid upon the dead man's breast2 for the key was certainly not designed1 as ,schmidt's informant would have it1 to open the gates of ,paradise1 but1 like any other piece of iron1 served originally to scare away spirits4 ,the use of a coin as well as of a key in that island was merely meant to make assurance doubly sure4 ,again1 in many places throughout ,greece1 where this use of a coin is no longer known1 a substitute of more ,christian character has been found4 ,on the lips of the dead is laid either a morsel of consecrated bread from the ,eucharist#bbe1 or more commonly a small piece of pottery--a fragment it may be of any earthenware vessel--on which is incised the sign of the cross with the legend 4 4 4 4 7#8,jesus ,christ conquers'7 in the four angles#bbf4 ,here the choice of the inscribed words of itself seems to indicate the intention of barring the dead man's mouth against the entrance of evil spirits2 and as final proof of my theory ,i find that in both ,chios#bbg and ,rhodes#bbh1 where a wholly or partially ,christianised form of the custom prevails1 the charm employed is definitely understood by the people to be a means of precaution against a devil entering the dead body and resuscitating it4 ,nor must the mention of a devil in this connexion be taken as evidence that the ,chian and ,rhodian interpretation of the custom is not ancient4 ,i shall be able to show in a later chapter that the idea of a devil entering the corpse is only the ,christian version of a pagan belief in a possible re-animation of the corpse by the soul#bbi4 ,but there is yet another variety of the custom1 in which no coin and no ,mohammedan nor ,christian#bcj symbol is used1 but a charm whose magic properties were in repute long before ,mohammed1 long before ,christ1 probably long before coinage was known to ,greece4 ,again a piece of pottery is used1 but the symbol stamped upon it is the geometrical figure pentagram1 the #8pentacle' of mediaeval magic lore4 ,in ,greece it is now known as 1 but of its properties1 beyond the fact that it serves as a charm#bca1 the people have nothing to say4 ,in the mediaeval and probably in the yet earlier magic of ,europe and the ,east it is one of the commonest figures1 appearing sometimes as ,solomon's seal1 sometimes as the star which led the wise men to ,bethlehem1 sometimes1 in black colouring1 as a symbol of the principle of evil1 and correspondingly1 in white1 as the symbol of the principle of good4 ,but though the figure has been known to the magicians of many nations and many epochs1 there is no reason to suppose that it is in recent times or from other races that the ,greeks have learnt it3 for it was known too by the ancient ,greeks1 who noted among its more intelligible properties the fact that the five lines composing it can be drawn without removing pencil from paper4 ,the ,pythagoreans1 who called it the #bcb1 are known to have attached to it some mystic value4 ,there is a reasonable likelihood therefore that the symbol has been handed down in ,greece as a magical charm--for we have seen how many other methods of magic have survived--from the time of ,pythagoras4 ,further back we cannot penetrate2 yet--vixere fortes ante ,agamemnona1 and there were professors of occult sciences before ,pythagoras4 ,was it then he who first discovered the figure's mystic value8 ,or did he merely adopt and interpret in his own way a symbol which for long ages before him had been endowed with magical powers8 ,was it perhaps this figure1 graven on some broken potsherd1 which long before coinage supplied a more ready charm protected the corpse from possession by evil spirits1 or rather1 in those days1 from reanimation by the soul8 ,who shall say8 ,the belief1 which has found its modern expression in the engraving of ,christian or ,mohammedan texts on prophylactic coins or pottery and in barring with them the door of the lips which gives access to the corpse1 is certainly primitive enough in character to date from the dimmest prehistoric age4 ,if my suggestion as to the origin of the custom is correct1 it was only the accident of a coin being commonly used as the prophylactic charm1 which caused the classical association of the custom with ,charon2 and1 once disembarrassed of this association1 the popular conception of ,charon in antiquity is more easily studied4 ,the literary presentation of him in the guise of a ferryman only is a comparatively late development4 ,the early poets know nothing of him whatever in any character4 ,the first literary reference to him was apparently in the ,minyad1 an epic poem of doubtful but not early date1 of which two lines referring to the descent of ,theseus and ,pirithous to the lower world ran thus3 #8,there verily the ship whereon the dead embark1 even that which the aged ,charon as ferryman doth guide1 they found not at its anchorage#bcc4' ,these are the lines by which ,pausanias believed that ,polygnotus had been guided when painting the figure of ,charon in his famous representation of the nether world at ,delphi4 ,thenceforth this was the one orthodox presentation of ,charon in both literature and art4 ,euripides and ,aristophanes in numerous passages#bcd both alike conform to it1 and the painters of funeral vases were equally faithful4 ,but there is evidence to show that this was not the popular conception of ,charon1 or at any rate not the whole of it4 ,phrases occur 7and were probably current in classical times7 which seem to imply a larger conception of ,charon's office and functions4 ,the #8door of ,charon' 7 #bce or #bcf7 was that by which condemned prisoners were led out to execution4 ,the #8staircase of ,charon' 7 #bcg7 was that by which ghosts in drama ascended to the stage1 as if they were appearing from the nether world4 ,to ,charon likewise were ascribed in popular parlance many caverns of forbidding aspect1 particularly those that were filled with mephitic vapours-- #bch1 #bci1 #bdj4 ,finally is ,plutarch's#bda rendering of the ,latin ,orcini1 the sobriquet given to the low persons whom ,caesar brought up into the ,senate4 ,these uses point to a popular conception of ,charon larger than classical art and literature reveal1 and justify ,suidas' simple identification of ,charon with death#bdb4 ,moreover once in ,euripides1 for all his strict adherence to the conventional literary characterisation of ,charon1 a glimpse of popular thought is reflected in the person of ,death 77 and the part which he plays in the ,alcestis4 ,first1 in the altercation between ,apollo and ,death over the fate of ,alcestis1 there occur the words1 #8,take her and go thy way2 for ,i know not whether ,i should persuade thee'2 to which ,death answers1 #8,persuade me to slay those whom ,i must8 nay1 'tis with this that ,i am charged' 7 #bdc74 ,can it be a mere coincidence that1 in modern folk-song1 when some doomed man seeks to persuade ,charos to grant a respite1 he answers1 #8,nay1 brave sir1 ,i cannot2 for ,i am straitly charged'8 ,the very word #8charged1' 1 the modern form of 1 repeats the word placed by ,euripides in the mouth of ,death4 ,secondly1 ,death appears in warrior-guise1 just as does ,charos most commonly in modern folk-songs2 he is girt with a sword#bdd1 and it is by wrestling#bde that ,heracles vanquishes him and makes him yield up his prey4 ,is this again a mere coincidence8 ,or was ,euripides1 in his personification of ,death1 utilising the character popularly assigned to ,charon8 ,it looks indeed in one line as if the poet had almost forgotten that he was not using the popular name also2 otherwise there is no excuse for the inelegance of making ,death inflict death#bdf4 ,it is hardly surprising that the copyist of one#bdg of the extant manuscripts of the ,alcestis was so impressed with the likeness of ,death to ,charon as he knew him1 that he altered the name of the dramatis persona accordingly4 ,in the ,anthology again ,charon appears several times#bdh acting in a more extended capacity than that of ferryman2 as in modern folk-songs1 he actually seizes men and carries them off to the nether world4 ,one epigram is particularly noticeable as seeming to have been suggested by a passage of the ,alcestis4 #8,is there then any way whereby ,alcestis might come unto old age8' asks ,apollo2 and ,death answers1 #8,there is none2 ,i too must have the pleasure of my dues4' #8,yet1' says ,apollo1 #8thou wilt not get more than the one soul1'--be it now or later4 ,and similarly the epigram from the ,anthology1 save that ,death is frankly named ,charon4 #8,charon ever insatiable1 why hast thou snatched away ,attalus needlessly in his youth8 ,was he not thine1 an he had died old8' ,clearly1 it would seem1 ,euripides knew a popular conception of ,charon other than that which literary and artistic tradition had crystallised as the orthodox presentation1 but rather than break through the conventions by bringing ,charon on the stage otherwise than as ferryman1 he had recourse to a purely artificial personification of death4 ,but the conception of ,charon as lord of death can be traced yet further back than the time of ,euripides4 ,hesychius states that the title #bdi was shared by two gods1 ,charon and ,uranus4 ,charon therefore1 as son of ,acmon and brother of ,uranus1 is earlier by two long generations of gods than ,zeus himself1 and belongs to the old ,pelasgian order of deities4 ,was ,charon then the god of death among the old ,pelasgian population of ,greece1 before ever the name of ,hades or ,pluto had been invented or imported8 ,yes1 if the corroboration from another ,pelasgian source1 the ,etruscans1 is to count for anything4 ,on an ,etruscan monument figures the god of death with the inscription #8,charun'#bej2 and the same person is frequently depicted on urns1 sarcophagi1 and vases#bea4 ,usually the door of the nether world is to be seen behind him2 either he is issuing forth to seek his prey1 or he is about to enter there with a victim who stands close beside him1 his hand clasped in that of wife or friend to whom he bids farewell#beb4 ,in appearance he is most often an old bearded man 7though a more youthful type is also known7 bearing an axe or mallet1 and more rarely a sword as well1 wherewith he pursues men and slays them#bec4 ,in effect the ,etruscan ,charun closely corresponds with the modern ,greek ,charos in functions as well as in name4 ,the coincidence allows of one explanation only4 ,the ,greeks of the present day must have inherited their idea of ,charos from ancestors who were closely connected with the ,etruscans and to whom ,charon was the god of death who came to seize men's souls and carry them off to his realm in the nether world4 ,these ancestors can only have been the original ,pelasgian population of ,greece4 ,in classical times the primitive conception of ,charon was in abeyance4 ,hades had assumed the reins of government in the nether world2 and a literary legend1 which confined ,charon to the work of ferryman1 had gained vogue and supplanted or rather temporarily suppressed the older conception4 ,but this version1 it appears1 never gained complete mastery of the popular imagination1 and to the common-folk of ,greece from the ,pelasgian era down to this day ,charon has ever been more warrior than ferryman1 and his equipment an axe or sword or bow rather than a pair of sculls4 ,more is to be learnt of the real ,charon of antiquity from modern folk-lore than from all the allusions of classical literature4 #g4 ,,aphrodite ,,and ,,eros4 ,in the story of ,s4 ,demetra communicated to ,lenormant at ,eleusis and narrated above1 we have already had one instance of the preservation of ,aphrodite's name4 #8,since the lady ,aphrodite 7 #87 none had been seen so lovely' as ,s4 ,demetra's daughter4 ,another story related to ,perrot#bed by an ,attic peasant in the year #aheh contains both the name of the goddess and some reminiscences of her worship4 ,the gist of it is as follows4 ,there once was a very beautiful queen1 by name ,aphrodite1 who had a castle at ,daphni 7just half-way on the road from ,athens to ,eleusis7 and also owned the heights of ,acro-,corinth2 these two places she had caused to be connected by a subterranean way which passed under the sea4 ,now there were two kings both of whom were smitten with her beauty and sought her hand in marriage4 ,she herself favoured one of them and hated the other2 but not wishing to declare her preference and so arouse the anger of the rejected suitor1 she announced that she was about to build a palace on the height of ,acro-,corinth1 and would set her suitors each a task to perform2 one should build the fortifications round the summit1 the other should sink a well to provide the castle with water#bee2 and she promised her hand to the suitor who should first complete his task4 ,now she supposed the sinking of the well to be the lighter task and therefore assigned it to the suitor whom she favoured2 but he met with unforeseen difficulties1 and his rival meanwhile made steady progress with the walls4 ,at last they were wellnigh built1 and it remained only to put in place the keystone over the main gate4 ,then ,aphrodite1 marking the danger1 went with winning words and smiles and bade the builder lay aside his tools1 for the prize was now safely in his grasp1 and led him away to a grassy spot where she beguiled him so long with tender words and caresses1 that the other suitor meanwhile redoubling his efforts pierced the rock and found water in plenty4 ,in this story the character1 as well as the name1 of the queen is that of the ancient goddess2 but there are other points too deserving of notice4 ,perrot points out that in the neighbourhood of the modern monastery at ,daphni there stood in antiquity a temple of ,aphrodite#bef2 and to this fact ,schmidt#beg1 in commenting on the story1 adds that on the summit of ,acro-,corinth also there was a sanctuary of the goddess#beh1 while he accounts for the mention of that place in an ,attic story by the fact that ,corinth was specially famous for the worship of ,aphrodite4 ,no other vestiges of the actual name1 so far as ,i know1 are to be found1 save that among certain ,maniote settlers in ,corsica the corrupt derivative1 #bei 7which would perhaps be better spelt 7 was until recent times at any rate applied to an equally corrupt class of women1 votaries of 4 ,in a few stories however from ,zacynthos#bfj the same goddess is prettily described as #bfa1 #8the ,mother of ,love1' a title competent in itself to establish her identity4 ,the first of these stories tells how a poor maiden fell in love with a youth of high degree1 and went to the ,mother of ,love to ask her help4 ,the latter promised to ask the assistance of her son ,eros 77 when he came home4 ,next morning went ,eros with bow and arrows and sat at the maiden's door till the swain passed by4 ,then suddenly he shot his arrow at him1 and the young man loved the maiden and took her to wife4 ,another yet more remarkable story introduces us to the garden of ,eros1 whither a prince once went to fetch water to cure the blindness of the king1 his father4 #8,there at the entrance he beheld a woman that was the fairest upon earth2 she sat at the gate and played with a boy who had wings and in his hand held a bow and many arrows4 ,the garden was full of roses1 and over them hovered many little winged boys like butterflies4 ,in the midst of this garden was a spring1 whence the healing water flowed4 ,as the king's son drew near to this spring1 he espied therein a woman white as snow and shining as the moon2 and it was in very truth the moon that bathed there4 ,beside the spring sat a second woman of exceeding beauty who was the ,mother of ,eros 7 74' ,she gave him the water and her blessing1 and his father was healed4 ,the distinct reminiscence of ,artemis in this story will be noticed later#bfb2 here we need only notice a few points in the story relating to ,eros and his mother4 ,the description of the #8boy who had wings and in his hand held a bow and many arrows' is simply and purely classical1 according exactly with the ,orphic address to him as 1 #bfc4 ,the #8woman at the gate who was the fairest upon earth' is in all probability the same as #8the ,mother of ,eros' beside the spring1 the single personality1 by some vagary in the transmission of the story1 having become duplicated4 ,the roses1 of which the garden was full1 are the flower always sacred to ,aphrodite1 the sweetest emblem of love2 and over these it is fitting that the #8little winged boys' should hover1 brothers as it were of ,eros1 ever-fresh embodiments of love1 to all of whom1 in antiquity1 ,aphrodite was mother#bfd4 ,these folk-tales present sufficient evidence that the memory of the name and attributes of ,aphrodite survived locally until recent times to warrant the conclusion that her worship1 like that of other pagan deities1 possessed vitality enough to compete for a long while with ,christianity for the favour of the common-folk2 but as a personality she is no longer present1 ,i think1 to their consciousness2 she is at most only a character in a few folk-stories--if indeed the present generation has not forgotten even these4 ,for my part1 ,i never heard mention of her in story or otherwise1 although her son1 the winged ,eros1 is often named in the love-songs which form a large part of the popular poetry4 ,vows and offerings which would in former days have been made to ,aphrodite are now made either to suitable saints who have taken her place1 such as ,s4 ,catharine#bfe1 or to the ,fates 771 who were from of old associated with her4 ,according to a fragment of ,epimenides#bff1 #8golden ,aphrodite and the deathless ,fates' were daughters of ,cronos and ,euonyme4 ,their sisterly relation was recognised also in cult4 ,near the ,ilissus once stood a temple containing an old wooden statue 77 of ,heavenly ,aphrodite with an inscription naming her #8eldest of the ,fates' 7 7#bfg4 ,so venerable a shrine must in old time have witnessed many a petition for success in love2 and when we bear in mind the ancient inscription of the statue1 it is interesting to find that among the girls of ,athens until recent times the custom prevailed of visiting the so-called #8hollow hill#bfh' 7 7 in the immediate neighbourhood to offer to the ,fates cakes with honey and salt and to consult them as to their destined husbands#bfi4 ,sacred also to ,aphrodite in old days was a cave in the neighbourhood of ,naupactus1 frequented particularly by widows anxious to be remarried#bgj4 ,at the present day a cave at the foot of ,mt ,rigani1 which may probably be identified as the old sanctuary1 is the spot to which girls repair in order to consult the ,fates on the all-absorbing question#bga4 ,thus it seems that #8golden ,aphrodite' has disappeared from the old sisterly group of deities1 and that #8the deathless ,fates' alone remain to receive prayers and to grant boons which once fell within the province rather of ,aphrodite4 ,to the ,fates we must now turn4 #h4 ,,the ,,fates4 ,the custom of taking or sending offerings to a cave haunted by the ,fates1 of which we have just seen two examples1 is widely extended among the women of ,greece4 ,in ,athens1 besides the #8hollow hill1' two or three of the old rock-dwellings round about the ,hill of the ,muses were formerly a common resort for the same purpose1 and the practice though rarer now is not yet extinct#bgb4 ,among the best-known of these resorts is the so-called ,prison of ,socrates4 ,dodwell1 in his account of his travels in ,greece at the beginning of last century1 states that he found there #8in the inner chamber1 a small feast consisting of a cup of honey and white almonds1 a cake on a little napkin1 and a vase of aromatic herbs burning and exhaling an agreeable perfume#bgc'2 and the observance of the custom is known to have continued in that place down to recent years#bgd4 ,the same practice1 ,i was informed at ,sparta1 is known at the present day to the peasant-women of the surrounding plain1 who will undertake even a long and wearisome journey to lay a honey-cake in a certain cave on one of the eastern spurs of ,tagetus4 ,other places in which to my own knowledge the custom still continues are ,agrinion in ,aetolia and neighbouring districts1 the villages of ,mt ,pelion in ,thessaly1 and the island of ,scyros2 and from the testimony of many other observers ,i conclude that it is1 or was till recently1 universal in ,greek lands4 ,nor does there seem to be much variety in the subjects on which the peasant-women consult the ,fates3 with the girls matrimony1 with the married women maternity1 is the perpetually recurring theme4 ,everywhere also honey in some form is an essential part of the offering by which the ,fates' favour is to be won4 ,the acceptance of this offering1 and therefore also the success of the prayers which accompany it1 are occasionally1 as in the cave near ,sparta which ,i have mentioned1 inferred from omens provided by the dripping of water from the roof of the cave2 but more usually the realisation of the conjugal aspirations is not assured1 unless a second visit to the sanctuary1 three days or a month later1 proves that the sweetmeats have been accepted by the ,fates and are gone4 ,this1 ,i am told1 occurs with some frequency4 ,dodwell mentions that his donkey ate some#bge2 and considering the character of the offerings--cakes and honey for the most part1 for only in the #8hollow hill' at ,athens was salt added thereto--it is not surprising if the ,fates find many willing proxies1 human and canine as well as asinine4 ,at the moment when these delicacies are proffered1 an invocation is recited4 ,this may take the form of a metrical line1 1 1 1 #8,kind ,fates1 ordain my fate1 for ,i bring you good fare1' or may be a simple prose formulary1 1 #bgf1 #8,fates above all ,fates1 and ,fate of ,n41 come ye1 ,i pray1 and eat1 and ordain anew the fate of ,n41 that she may have a good fate4' ,various other versions are also on record1 one of which will be considered later2 but these two examples illustrate sufficiently for the present the simple ,homeric tenour of such prayers4 ,the words which ,i have quoted1 it must be admitted1 give clear expression to the hope that the ,fates may revise the decrees which they have already pronounced on the fortunes of the suppliant4 ,nevertheless that such a hope should be fulfilled is contrary to the general beliefs of the people4 ,the ,fates1 they know1 are inexorable so far as concerns the changing of any of their purposes once set2 for1 as their proverb runs1 1 1 #8what the ,fates write1 that they make not unwritten#bgg4' ,they are not1 it would appear1 subordinate1 as ,charon is sometimes deemed to be1 even to the supreme ,god2 ,i can find no song or story that would so present them4 ,they are absolute and irresponsible in the fashioning of human destiny4 ,but the ,greek peasants are not the first who have at the same time believed both in predestination and in the efficacy of prayer4 ,perhaps all unconsciously they reconcile the ideas as did ,aeschylus of old3 1 ' #bgh1 #8,destiny hath long been abiding its time1 but in answer to prayer may come4' ,but even without any intuition of so hard a doctrine the peasant-women may justify their prayers and offerings by the hope that1 though the ,fates will detract nothing from the fulfilment of whatsoever they have spoken or written1 they may be willing to add thereto such supplement as shall modify in large measure the issue4 ,for the ,fates are as ,greek in character as their worshippers1 and stories are not wanting to illustrate the shifts to which they have stooped in order practically to invalidate without formally cancelling their whilom purpose4 #8,once upon a time a poor woman gave birth to a daughter1 and on the third night after the birth the ,fates came to ordain the child's lot4 ,as they entered the cottage they saw prepared for them a table with a clean cloth and all manner of sweetmeats thereon4 ,so when they had partaken thereof and were content1 they were kindly disposed toward the child4 ,and the first ,fate gave to her long life1 and the second beauty1 and the third chastity4 ,but as they went forth from the cottage1 the first of them tripped against the threshold1 and turning in wrath towards the infant pronounced that she should be always an idler4 ,now when she was grown up1 she was so beautiful that the king's son would have her to wife4 ,as the wedding-day drew near1 her mother and her friends chided her because she delayed to make her wedding dress2 but she was idle and heeded not4 ,soon came the eve of the wedding1 and she wept because the prince would learn of her idleness and refuse to take her to wife4 ,now the ,fates loved her1 and saw her tears and pitied her4 ,therefore they came suddenly before her1 and asked why she wept2 and she told them all4 ,then sat they down there and spun and weaved and embroidered all that night1 and in the morning they arrayed her in a bridal dress decked with gold and pearls such as had never been seen4 ,presently came the prince1 and there was much feasting and dancing1 and she was far the most beautiful of all the company4 ,and because he saw her lovely dress and knew how much toil it must have cost her to array herself thus for him1 he granted her the favour of doing no more work all her days#bgi4' ,this story1 besides illustrating well the finality of every word pronounced by the ,fates and the means which they may employ to mitigate their own severity1 is typical too of the ideas generally accepted concerning the ,fates4 ,their number is three#bhj1 and they are seen in the shape of old women1 one of whom at least is always engaged in spinning4 ,of the remaining two1 one is sometimes seen bearing a book wherein to record in writing the decrees which the three jointly utter1 while the other carries a pair of scissors wherewith to cut the thread of life at the appointed time2 or again sometimes these two also are spinning1 one of them carrying a basket of wool or a distaff and the other fashioning the thread4 ,this association of the ,fates with spinning operations is commemorated in certain popular phrases by the comparison of man's life to a thread4 #8,his thread is cut' or #8is finished' 7 or 7 is a familiar euphemism for #8he is dead'3 and again1 with the same ultimate meaning but a somewhat different metaphor1 the people of ,arachova use the phrase ' #bha1 #8his spindle is wound full1'--an expression which seems to imply the idea that the ,fates apportion to each man at birth a mass of rough wool from which they go on spinning day by day till the thread of life is completed4 ,according to ,fauriel#bhb1 a reminiscence of the ,fates is also to be found in a personification of the plague 7 71 which in the tradition of some districts is not represented as a single demon but has been multiplied into a trio of terrible women who pass through the towns and devastate them1 one of them carrying a roll on which to write the names of the victims1 another a pair of scissors wherewith to cut them off from the living1 and the third a broom with which to sweep them away4 ,he assigns however no reason for identifying the deadly trio with the ,fates1 and it is more natural1 if any link with antiquity here exists1 to connect them with the ,erinyes#bhc or other similar deities4 ,in fact their resemblance to the ,fates1 save for some superficial details1 is small4 ,the ,fates1 though inexorable when once their decree is pronounced1 are never wantonly cruel4 ,their displeasure may indeed be aroused by neglect1 as we shall shortly see1 to such an extent that they will visit the sins of the fathers upon the children4 ,but1 when men treat them with the consideration and the reverence due to deities1 they are unfailingly kindly1 and deserve the title by which they are sometimes known1 1 #8the good ladies4' ,for this name is not an euphemism concealing dread and hatred1 but an expression of genuine reverence2 such at any rate is my judgement1 based on many conversations with the common-folk in all parts of ,greece--for on this topic for some reason there is far less reticence than on many others4 ,and indeed if the character of the ,fates were believed to be cruel1 their aspect also would be represented as grim and menacing2 whereas they are actually pourtrayed as deserving almost of pity rather than awe by reason of their age and their infirmity4 ,the occasion on which the ,fates have most often been seen by human eyes and on which1 even though invisible1 they never fail to be present1 is the third night 7or as some say the fifth night#bhd7 after the birth of a child4 ,provision for their arrival is then scrupulously made4 ,the dog is chained up4 ,any obstacles over which the visitors might trip in the darkness are removed4 ,the house-door is left open or at any rate unlatched4 ,inside a light is kept burning1 and in the middle of the room is set a low table with three cushions or low stools placed round it--religious conservatism apparently forbidding the use of so modern an invention as chairs1 for at the lying-in-state before a funeral also cushions or low stools are provided for the mourners4 ,on the table are set out such dainties as the ,fates love1 including always honey2 in ,athens formerly the essentials were a dish of honey1 three white almonds1 a loaf of bread1 and a glass of water#bhe2 and ready to hand1 as presents from which the goddesses may choose what they will1 may be laid all the most costly treasures of the family1 such as jewellery and even money1 in token that nothing has been spared to give them welcome4 ,these preparations made1 their visit is awaited in solemn silence2 for none must speak when the ,fates draw near4 ,most often they are neither seen nor heard2 but sometimes1 it is said1 a wakeful mother has seen their forms as they bent over her child and wrote their decrees on its brow--for which reason moles and other marks on the forehead or the nose are in some places called #bhf1 #8writings of the ,fates'2 sometimes she has heard the low sound of their voices as they consulted together over the future of the child2 nay more1 she has even caught and understood their speech2 yet even so her foreknowledge of the infant's fate is unavailing2 she may be aware of the dangers which await its ripening years1 but though forewarned she is powerless to forearm2 against destiny once pronounced all weapons1 all wiles1 are futile4 ,neglect of any of the due preparations for the visit of the ,fates may excite their wrath and cause them to decree an evil lot for the child4 ,this idea is the motif of many fables current in ,greece4 ,a typical example is furnished by the following extract from a popular poem in which a man whose life has brought him nothing but misery sees in a vision one of the ,fates and appeals to her thus3 #8,i beg and pray of thee1 ,o ,fate1 to tell me now1 my lady1 ,then when my mother brought me forth1 what passd at my bearing8' ,and she makes answer3 #8,then when thy mother brought thee forth1 'twas deep and bitter winter1 ,eleven days o' the year had run when anguish came upon her4 ,thereon#bhg ,i robed me and did on this raiment that thou sest1 ,and had it in my heart to cry 8,long life to thee and riches40 ,ah1 but the night was deep and dark1 yea wrappd thick in darkness1 ,and hail and snow were driving hard1 and angry rain was lashing2 ,from mire to mud1 from mud to mire1 so lay my road before me1 ,and as ,i went1--a murrain on't1--against your well ,i stumbled2 ,nay1 sirrah1 an thou believest not1 scan well the scars ,i carry4 ,two cursed hounds ye had withal1 hounds from the ,lombard country1 ,and fierce upon me sprang the twain1 and fierce as wolves their baying4 ,then cursd ,i thee full bitterly1 a curse of very venom1 ,that no bright day should ever cheer thy miserable body1 ,that thou shouldst burn1 that thou shouldst burn1 and have no hope of riddance1 ,that joy should ever 'scape thy clasp1 and sorrow dog thy goings1 ,that thine own kin should slander thee and thy friends rail upon thee1 ,nor strangers nor thy countrymen know aught of love toward thee4 ,yet1 hapless man1 not thine the sin2 thy parents' was the sinning1 ,that chaind not those hounds right fast to a corner of their dwelling2 ,well is it said by men of old1 well bruit they loud the saying1 8,the fathers eat of acid things1 and the bairns' teeth fall aching40 ,have patience then1 ,o hapless man1 a year or twain of patience1 ,and there shall come a happy day when all thy woes shall vanish2 ,for all thy bitterness of soul thou shalt find consolation1 ,thy dreams of beauty and of wealth thou shalt at last encompass#bhh4' ,the ,fates1 it has been already said1 are three in number2 why so1 it seems impossible to determine4 ,it may be that the functions discharged by them fell readily into a three-fold division2 thus in the district of ,zagorion in ,epirus1 one ,fate #8spins the thread' 7 7 which determines the length of life1 the second apportions good fortune1 and the third bad#bhi4 ,or again1 the division may have been made in such a way that one ,fate should preside over each of the three great events of human experience1 birth1 marriage1 and death4 ,the term #8fate' 77#bij is often used by women as a synonym for marriage 77--in curious contrast with the man's more optimistic description of his wedding as 1 #8joy'2 and a ,greek proverb1 used of a very ignorant man1 1 #8he does not know the three evils of his ,fate1' to wit birth1 marriage1 and death1 carries the connexion of fate with these three events a little further4 ,but such distributions of functions are probably posterior to the choice of the number4 ,three was always a sacred number1 and the ancients delighted in trinities of goddesses#bia4 ,but besides the three great ,fates we must recognise also in modern ,greece the existence of lesser ,fates1 attached each to a single human life4 ,this is a slight extension of the main belief1 and consists really in the personification of the objective fate which the three great ,fates decree4 ,just as each man is believed to have his good guardian-angel and1 by antithesis but with less biblical warranty1 his bad angel1 so too he is accompanied by his own personal ,fate4 ,but these lesser ,fates are only faint replicas of the great trinity1 and ,i doubt whether they are believed to have any independent power of their own2 they would seem to be mere ministers who carry out the original decrees of the three supreme ,fates4 ,often in the popular songs it is impossible to tell whether it is the lesser personal ,fate or one of the great trio who is addressed4 ,for in such lines as1 1 1 1 ' 1 #bib1 #8,i pray thee1 good ,fate1 send me not to a strange land1 but if it be my lot to be sent1 let me not die there1' the form of address 7literally #8my ,fate'7 implies no personal possession1 but is the same as that employed in praying to ,god or the ,virgin1 1 4 ,but in definite forms of incantation1 composed for recitation along with propitiatory offerings1 the great ,fates and the lesser ,fate of the individual suppliant are coupled in a way which shows the difference in importance between them4 ,the former are called #8the ,fates over all ,fates' 7 71 as in the plain prose formulary quoted above2 the latter is merely the ,fate of this or that person4 ,whether these inferior ,fates were known also in the classical period is a question which ,i am unable to answer2 but that the belief in them is certainly of no recent growth is proved by an incantation more elaborate than those given above and on internal evidence very old3-- '' 1 1 1 ' 1 #bic4 #8,from ,olympus1 even from the summit1 from the three heights of heaven1 where dwell the ,fates of all ,fates and my own ,fate1 may she hearken and come4' ,the version of the formula which ,i have given is only one out of several which have been recorded from various parts of ,greece#bid1 and there can be no doubt that the original was a widely-esteemed incantation4 ,i have given the most intelligible2 but the mere fact that some of the others1 through verbal corruption in the course of tradition1 have become almost meaningless1 is strong proof of the antiquity of the original4 ,there are however two clear marks of antiquity in the version before us4 ,the mention of ,olympus as the abode of deities carries us back at once to the classical age2 and the word in the sense of #8summit' is no less suggestive of a very early date4 ,the ancient word 1 used in this sense by ,aeschylus#bie and by ,herodotus#bif1 is obsolete now in the spoken language4 ,but is evidently either a dialectic form of it 7with the common interchange of and 7 or else a corrupt form1 not understood by those who continued to use it in this incantation1 and assimilated1 by way of assonance1 to 4 ,further one of the other versions gives the word as #big1 where the original is retained but the lost before 1 which now universally has the sound of the ,english v4 ,a comparison of the two forms therefore establishes beyond question the fact that the somewhat rare classical word 1 in its known meaning of #8summit1' was the original form4 ,hence the incantation1 containing both a mention of ,olympus as the seat of deities and an old classical word long since disused1 cannot but date from very early times4 ,possibly therefore the belief in subordinate ,fates1 attached each to one human being1 was known to the common-folk of the classical age4 ,but1 be this as it may1 the popular conception of the great ,trinity of ,fates has persisted unchanged for more than a score of centuries--and who shall say for how many more8 ,here the literary tradition of classical times was evidently faithful to popular traditions4 ,the number of the ,fates is still the same as in ,hesiod's day#bih2 they are still depicted as old and infirm women1 as they were by the poets at any rate in antiquity1 though in ancient art1 for beauty's sake1 they are apt to be figured as more youthful2 it is still their task #8to assign to mortal men at their birth1' as ,hesiod knew1 #8both good and ill#bii'2 the functions of ,clotho who spun the thread of life1 of ,lachesis who apportioned destiny1 and of ,atropos whom none might turn from her purpose1 are still the joint functions of the great ,three2 the book1 the spindle1 and an instrument for cutting the thread of life are still their attributes4 ,there is little new therefore to be learnt from the study of the ,fates in modern folk-lore4 ,the lesson which it teaches rather is the continuity of the present with the past4 ,but there is one point to which special attention may perhaps be directed--the belief that the ,fates invariably visit each child that is born in order to decree its lot4 ,i do not wish to engage in the controversy which has raged round the identification of the figures in the east pediment of the ,parthenon2 but those who would recognise among them the three ,fates may fairly draw a fresh argument from the strength of this popular belief4 ,it is only fitting that at the birth of ,athena from the head of ,zeus the ,fates should be present2 for even ,zeus himself1 said ,aeschylus#cjj1 might not escape their decree4 #i4 ,,the ,,nymphs4 ,of all the supernatural beings who haunt the path and the imagination of the modern ,greek peasant by far the most common are the ,nymphs or #8,nereids' 774 ,the name itself occurs in a multitude of dialectic varieties#cja1 but its meaning is everywhere uniform1 and more comprehensive than that of the ancient word4 ,it is no longer confined to nymphs of the sea1 but embraces also their kindred of mountain1 river1 and woodland4 ,there is no longer a ,nereus1 god of the sea1 to claim the ,nereids as his daughters1 denizens like himself of the deep2 and the connexion of their name with the modern word for #8water' 77 is not understanded of the common-folk4 ,hence there has been nothing to restrain the extension of the term 1 and it has entirely superseded1 in this sense1 the ancient 1 which in modern speech can only mean #8a bride4' ,the familiarity of the peasants with the ,nereids is more intimate than can be easily imagined by those who have merely travelled1 it may be1 through the country but have no knowledge of the people in their homes4 ,the educated classes of course1 and with them some of the less communicative of the peasants1 will deny all belief in such beings and affect to deride as old wives' fables the many stories concerning them4 ,but in truth the belief is one which even men of considerable culture fail sometimes to eradicate from their own breasts4 ,a paper on the ,nereids 7the nucleus of the present chapter7 was read by me in ,athens at an open meeting of the ,british ,school2 and no sooner was it ended than an ,athenian gentleman whose name is well known in certain learned circles throughout ,europe rose hurriedly crossing himself and disappeared without a word of leave-taking4 ,as for the peasants1 let them deny or avow their belief1 there is probably no nook or hamlet in all ,greece where the womenfolk at least do not scrupulously take precautions against the thefts and the malice of the ,nereids1 while many a man may still be found ready to recount in all good faith stories of their beauty and passion and caprice4 ,nor is it a matter of faith only2 more than once ,i have been in villages where certain ,nereids were known by sight to several persons 7so at least they averred72 and there was a wonderful agreement among the witnesses in the description of their appearance and dress4 ,i myself once had a ,nereid pointed out to me by my guide1 and there certainly was the semblance of a female figure draped in white and tall beyond human stature flitting in the dusk between the gnarled and twisted boles of an old olive-yard4 ,what the apparition was1 ,i had no leisure to investigate2 for my guide with many signs of the cross and muttered invocations of the ,virgin urged my mule to perilous haste along the rough mountain-path4 ,but had ,i inherited1 as he1 a belief in ,nereids together with a fertile gift of mendacity1 ,i should doubtless have corroborated the highly-coloured story which he told when we reached the light and safety of the next village2 and the ready acceptance of the story by those who heard it proved to me that a personal encounter with ,nereids was really reckoned among the possible incidents of every-day life4 ,the awe in which the ,nereids are held is partially responsible1 without doubt1 for the many adulatory by-names by which they are known4 ,now and again indeed a peasant1 when he is suffering from some imagined injury at their hands1 may so far speak his mind concerning them as to call them #8evil women' 7 or 73 but in general his references are more diplomatic and conciliatory in tone4 ,he adopts the same attitude towards them as did his forefathers towards the ,furies2 and1 though the actual word #8,eumenides' is lost to his vocabulary1 the spirit of his address is unchanged4 #8,the ,ladies' 7 71 #8,our ,maidens' 7 71 #8,our good ,queens' 7 71 #8,the kind-hearted ones' 7 71 #8,the ladies to whom we wish joy' 7 71 or most commonly of all #8,our good ,ladies' 7 or 7#cjb1--such is the wonted style of his adulation1 in which the frequent use of the word 7the plural of 1 i4e4 7 is a heritage from his ancestors who made dedications #8to the lady nymphs' 7 74 ,yet it may be questioned whether these by-names are wholly euphemistic2 for mingled with the awe which the ,nereids inspire there is certainly an element of admiration and1 ,i had almost said1 of affection in the feelings of the common-folk toward them4 ,the ,nereids are conceived as women half-divine yet not immortal1 always young1 always beautiful1 capricious at best1 and at their worst cruel4 ,their presence is suspected everywhere2 grim forest-depth and laughing valley1 babbling stream and wind-swept ridge1 tree and cave and pool1 each may be their chosen haunt1 the charmed scene of their dance and song and godlike revelry4 ,the old distinctions between the nymphs according to their habitations still to some extent hold good2 there are nymphs of the sea and nymphs of the streams1 tree-nymphs and mountain-nymphs2 but in characteristics these several classes are alike1 in grace1 in frolic1 in wantonness4 ,of all that is light and mirthful they are the ideal2 of all that is lovely the exquisite embodiment2 and their hearts beneath are ever swayed by fierce gusts of love and of hate4 ,the beauty of the ,nereids1 the sweetness of their voices1 and the grace and litheness of their movements have given rise to many familiar phrases which are eloquent of feelings other than awe in the people's minds4 #8,she is fair as a ,nereid' 7 71 #8she has the eyes1 the arms1 the bosom of a ,nereid' 7 1 1 71 #8she sings1 she dances1 like a ,nereid' 71 1 71--such are the compliments time and again passed upon a bride1 whose white dress and ornaments of gold seem to complete the resemblance4 ,possibly the twofold usage in antiquity of the word is responsible for a still surviving association of bridal dress with the ,nereids2 it is at any rate to the peasants' mind an incontestable fact that white and gold are the colours chiefly affected by ,nereids in their dress#cjc4 ,only in one particular is the beauty of the ,nereids ever thought to be marred2 in some localities they are said to have the feet of goats or of asses#cjd2 as for instance the three ,nereids who are believed to dance together without pause on the heights of ,tagetus4 ,but this is a somewhat rare and local trait1 and must have been transferred to them1 it would seem1 from ,pan and his attendant satyrs1 with whom of old they were wont to consort2 in general they are held to be of beauty unblemished4 ,their accomplishments include1 besides singing and dancing1 the humbler arts of the good housewife4 #8,she cooks like a ,nereid' 7 7 and #8she does house-cleaning like a ,nereid' 7 7 are phrases of commendation#cje occasionally heard4 ,but chiefly do they excel in the art of spinning#cjf2 and so well known is their dexterity therein that a delicate kind of creeper with which trees are often festooned is known in the vulgar tongue under the pretty name of 1 #8,nereid-spinnings4' ,the attribute indeed is natural and obvious2 for the popular conception of the nymphs is but an idealisation of the peasant-women1 to whom1 whether sitting in the sunlight at their cottage-door or tending their sheep and goats afield1 the distaff is an ever constant companion4 ,but1 easy though it is to account for the trait1 some interest1 if no great measure of importance1 attaches to its consonance with the ancient characterisation of ,nymphs4 ,to the ,nereids proper#cjg a golden spindle was specially assigned2 and in the cave of the ,naiads in ,ithaca might be seen1 in ,odysseus' day1 the kindred occupation of weaving1 for #8therein were great looms of stone whereon the nymphs wove sea-purple robes1 a wonder to behold#cjh4' ,as might be expected of beings so divinely feminine1 their relations with men and with women are very different2 in the one case there is the possibility of love2 in the other the certainty of spite4 ,it is necessary therefore to examine their attitude towards either sex separately4 ,the marriage of men with ,nereids not only forms the theme of many folk-stories current in ,greece1 but in the more remote districts is still regarded as a credible occurrence4 ,even at the present day the traveller may hear of families in whose ancestry of more or less remote date is numbered a ,nereid4 ,a ,thessalian peasant whom ,i once met claimed a ,nereid-grandmother1 and little as his looks warranted the assumption of any grace or beauty in so near an ancestor--he happened to have a squint--his claim appeared to be admitted by his fellow-villagers1 and a certain prestige attached to him4 ,hence the epithet #8,nereid-born' 7 or 7 frequently heard in amatory distichs#cji may formerly have been not merely an exaggerated compliment to the lady's beauty1 but a recognition of high birth calculated to conciliate the future mother-in-law4 ,nor is it men only whose susceptibilities are stirred by the beauty of the ,nereids2 even animals may fall under their spell4 ,a shepherd of ,scopelos told me that in the neighbouring island of ,ioura1 which he frequented with his flocks for pasturage1 he once tamed a wild goat1 which after a time began to behave very oddly4 ,all night long it would remain with the rest of his flock1 but in the daytime it persistently strayed away from the pasture to the neighbourhood of a ,nereid-haunted cave on the bare and rocky hillside1 and from want of food became very thin4 ,the goat1 he believed1 was enamoured of a ,nereid and pining away from unrequited love4 ,but it is from the old folk-stories rather than from the records of contemporary or recent experience that the character of the ,nereids as lovers or wives is best learnt4 ,and herein they are not models of womanhood2 passion indeed they feel and inspire2 they suffer1 they even seek the caresses of the young and brave2 but true wives they will not long remain4 ,constancy and care are not for them2 the longing for freedom and the breezes of heaven1 the memory of rapid tuneful dance1 are hot within them2 they leave the men whose strength and valour snared their hearts1 they forsake their homes and children1 and on the wings of the wind are gone1 seeking again their etherial unwearied fellows4 ,yet they do not altogether forget their children2 for motherhood is presently more to them than mirth2 ever and anon they steal back to visit their homes and bless their children with the gifts of beauty and wealth which their touch can bestow1 and even stay to mend their husbands' clothes and clean the house1 vanishing again however before the man's return4 ,only in one case have ,i heard of a nymph's continued intimacy with a man throughout his life1 and that strangely enough not in a folk-story but in recent experience4 ,their relations1 it must be acknowledged1 were illicit1 for he had a human wife and family2 but it was commonly reported that his rise from penury to affluence and the mayoralty of his native village was the work of a ,nereid in a cave near by1 who of her love for him enriched the produce of his land and shielded his flocks from pestilence4 ,in the popular stories which deal with the marriages of ,nereids1 the bridal fashion of their dress1 which has already been noticed1 is often an essential feature of the plot4 ,in one tale it is said explicitly that the supernatural quality of the ,nereids lies not in their persons but in their raiment#caj2 and for this reason a prince1 smitten with love of the youngest of three sister ,nereids but knowing not how to win her1 is counselled by a wise woman1 to whom he confides his perplexity1 to lie in wait when they go to bathe in their accustomed pool and to steal the clothes of his inamorata1 who would then follow him to recover her loss and so be in his power to take to wife4 ,but there is greater delicacy and1 as we shall see1 more certain antiquity also in the commoner version of the episode1 in which a kerchief alone is possessed of the magic powers ascribed above to the whole dress4 ,and in this detail of costume the resemblance of bride and ,nereid still holds good2 for no wedding-dress would be complete without a kerchief either wrapped about the bride's head or pinned upon her breast or carried in her hand to form a link with her neighbour in the chain of dancers#caa4 ,of the stories which have for their motif the theft of such a kerchief from a ,nereid#cab the following ,messenian tale is a good example4 #8,once upon a time there was a young shepherd who played the pipes so beautifully that the ,nereids one night carried him off to the threshing-floor where they danced and bade him play to them4 ,at first he was much afraid and thought that some evil would overtake him from being in their company and speaking with them4 ,but gradually1 as he grew accustomed to his strange surroundings and the ,nereids showed themselves kind to him and grateful for his piping1 he took courage again and night after night made his way to the spot which they haunted and made music till cock-crow4 ,now it so happened that one of the ,nereids was beautiful beyond the rest1 and the shepherd loved her and determined to make her his wife4 ,but inasmuch as the ,nereids danced all night long without pause while he piped1 and at dawn vanished to be seen no more until the next night's dance began1 he knew not what to do4 ,so at last he went to an old woman and told her his trouble1 and she said to him1 8,go again to-night and play till dawn is near2 then before the cock crows#cac1 make a dash and seize the kerchief in the ,nereid's hand1 and hold it fast4 ,and though she change into terrible shapes1 be not afraid2 only hold fast until she take again her proper form2 then must she do as thou wilt40 ,the young man therefore went again that night and played till close on dawn4 ,then as the ,nereid passed close beside him1 leading the dance1 he sprang upon her and grasped the kerchief4 ,and straightway the cock crew1 and the other ,nereids fled2 but she whose kerchief he had seized could not go1 but at once began to transform herself into horrible shapes in hope to frighten the shepherd and make him loose his hold4 ,first she became a lion1 but he remembered the witch's warning and held fast for all the lion's roaring4 ,and then the ,nereid turned into a snake1 and then into fire#cad1 but he kept a stout heart and would not let go the kerchief4 ,then at last she returned to her proper form and went home with him and was his wife and bore him a son2 but the kerchief he kept hidden from her1 lest she should become a ,nereid again4' ,in this story there are two ancient traits especially noteworthy4 ,the power of transformation into horrible shapes is precisely the means of defence which the ,nereid ,thetis once sought to employ against ,peleus2 the forms of wild beast and of fire1 which she assumed according to ancient myth1 are the same as ,nereids now adopt2 and the instructions now given to hold fast until the ,nereid resume her proper shape are the same as ,chiron1 the wise ,centaur1 gave once to ,peleus#cae4 ,it is true that in the ancient story it is the person of ,thetis that ,peleus was bidden to grasp1 while in the modern tale the shepherd's immediate object is to retain hold of the kerchief only4 ,but this feature of the story too is an interesting witness to antiquity1 although in ,thetis' history it does not appear4 ,ancient art has left to us several representations#caf of nymphs with veil-like scarves worn on the head or borne in the hand and floating down the breeze2 and the magic properties inherent in them are exemplified by ,ino's gift1 or rather loan1 to ,odysseus4 ,the scarf imperishable 7 7 which she bade him gird about his breast and have no fear of any suffering nor of death1 was not his own to keep after he reached the mainland2 in accordance with her behest #8he loosed then the goddess' scarf from about him1 and let it fall into the river's salt tide1 and a great wave bore it back down the stream1 and readily did ,ino catch it in her hands'#cag4 ,here ,ino's anxiety and strait command as to the return of her veil are most easily understood by the aid of the modern belief which makes the possession of the scarf or kerchief the sole1 or at least the chief1 means of godlike power4 ,in ,cythnos at the present day it is the 1 or scarf worn about the head1 which alone is believed to invest ,nereids with their distinctive qualities#cah2 and if the modern scarf is a lineal descendant of the ,homeric type such as ,ino wore--for even in feminine dress fashions are slow to change in the ,greek islands#cai--the epithet #8imperishable' may have unsuspected force1 as implying that the scarf confers a semblance of divinity on its owner and not vice versa4 ,in such of the stories of the above type as do not end with the marriage of the ,nereid#cbj the sequel is not encouraging to other adventurers4 ,for though she be a good wife in commonplace estimation--and the ,greek view of matrimony is in general commonplace to the verge of sordidness--though her skill in domestic duties be as proverbial as her beauty1 she either turns her charms and her cunning to such account as to discover the hiding-place of her stolen kerchief1 or1 failing this1 so mopes and pines over her work that her husband worn down by her sullenness and persistent silence decides to risk all if he can but restore her lightheartedness4 ,then though he have taken an oath of her that she will not avail herself of her recovered freedom1 but will abide with him as his wife1 her promise is light as the breeze that bears her away with fluttering kerchief1 and he is alone4 ,but fickleness is not the worst of the ,nereids' qualities in their dealings with men4 ,in malice they are as wanton as in love4 ,woe betide him who trespasses upon their midday carnival or crosses their nightly path2 dumbness1 blindness1 epilepsy1 and horrors of mutilation have been the penalties of such intrusion1 though the man offend unwittingly2 for the ,nereids are tiger-like in all1 in stealth and cruelty as in grace and beauty2 and none who look upon their radiance can guess the darkness of their hearts4 ,terrible was the experience of a ,melian peasant1 who coming unawares upon the ,nereids one night was bidden by them to a cave hard by1 where they feasted him and made merry together and did not deny him their utmost favours2 but when morning broke1 they sent him to his home shattered and impotent4 ,if such be sometimes the results of their seeming goodwill and proffered companionship1 how much more fearful a thing must be their enmity6 ,let a man but intrude upon their revels in some sequestered glen1 or sleep beneath the tree that shelters them1 or play the pipe beside the river where they bathe1 and in such wrath they will gather about him#cba1 that the eyes which have looked upon them see no more1 and the voice that cries out is thenceforth dumb1 and madness springs of their very presence4 ,but if the ,nereids are fickle and treacherous in their dealings with men1 towards women they are consistently malicious4 ,especially on two occasions must every prudent peasant-woman be on her guard against their envy--at marriage and in child-birth4 ,for though the ,nereids themselves prove no true wives1 so jealous are they of the joys of wedlock1 that if a bride be not well secured from their molestation1 they will mar the fruition of her love1 or else1 where they cannot prevent1 they will endeavour at the least to cut short the happiness of motherhood1 slaying with fever the woman whose bliss has stirred their malevolence1 yet sparing always the child and even blessing it with beauty and wealth4 ,the means by which women most commonly protect themselves on these occasions are the wearing of amulets2 the fastening of a bunch of garlic over the house-door2 the painting of a cross in black upon the lintel 7this custom may be a ,christianised form of the ancient practice1 mentioned by ,photius#cbb1 of smearing houses with pitch at the birth of children as a means of driving away powers of evil72 and1 if any strange visitants are heard about the house at night1 the maintenance of strict silence4 ,but steps are also sometimes taken to appease the ,nereids2 offerings of food1 in which honey is the essential ingredient1 are set out for them1 and formerly in ,athens#cbc to this a bride used to add two chemises out of her trousseau4 ,such precautions after a confinement are regularly continued for forty days4 ,it would appear that in ancient times this was the period during which women were held to be specially exposed to the evil eye and all other ghostly and sinister influences#cbd1 including probably1 as now1 the assaults of nymphs2 and in modern usage the duration of the time of peril is so well established that the word 1 literally to #8accomplish forty 77 days1' is used technically of the churching of women at the end of that period2 while a more frankly pagan survival is to be found in the fact that for forty days no right-minded mother will cross the threshold of her own house to go out1 nor enter a neighbour's house1 without stepping on the door-key1 that being the most easily available piece of iron1 a metal1 which in the folk-lore of ancient ,greece#cbe1 as in that of many other countries1 was a charm and safeguard against the supernatural4 ,it is not however the mothers only1 who need protection from the ,nereids1 but the children also1 and that too throughout their childhood2 yet not against the same perils2 for the mother is liable to malicious injuries2 the child is safe indeed from wilful hurt1 but it may be stolen by ,nereids4 ,we have already seen how ,nereids who have wed with mortal men1 though faithless to their husbands1 are yet drawn home now and again by love of their children4 ,and such of them too as have never yielded to human embrace are yet instinct with a strange yearning to possess a mortal woman's prettiest little ones2 on one child they exert a fascination which unhappily proves fatal to it2 another they seize with open violence2 or again they set stealthily in some cradle a babe of pure ,nereid birth--a changeling that by some weird fatality is weakly and doomed to die--and carry off to the woods and hills the human infant1 in whom they delight1 to be their playmate and their fosterling4 ,in a history of the island of ,pholegandros1 the writer1 a native of the place1 accounts for the multitude of small chapels in the island on the ground of the peasants' anxiety each to have a saint close to his property to defend him from such raids by ,nereids and other kindred beings#cbf4 ,the wife of a priest at ,chalandri in ,attica related to ,ross#cbg a story in point4 #8,i had a daughter1' she said1 #8a little girl between twelve and thirteen years old1 who showed a very strange disposition4 ,though we all treated her kindly1 her mood was always melancholy1 and whenever she got the chance she ran off from the village up the wooded spurs of the mountain 7,brilessos74 ,there she would roam about alone all day long1 from early morning till late evening2 often she would take off some of her clothes and wear but one light garment1 so as to be less hindered in running and jumping4 ,we dared not stop her1 for we saw quite well that the ,nereids had allured her1 but we were much distressed4 ,it was in vain that my husband took her time after time to the church and read prayers over her4 ,the ,panagia 7the ,virgin7 was powerless to help4 ,after the child had been thus afflicted a considerable while1 she fell into yet deeper despondency1 and at last died--a short time ago4 ,when we buried her1 the neighbours said1 8,do not wonder at her death2 the ,nereids wanted her2 it is but two days since we saw her dancing with them40' ,such was the view taken by a ,greek priest and his wife concerning the cause of their daughter's death about two generations ago2 and at the present day the traveller may hear of similar events in recent experience4 ,an important point to notice is that the child's death was thought to be due1 not to any malevolence on the part of the ,nereids1 but to their desire to have her for their own1 a desire more happily gratified in cases of which ,i have several times heard where the child has not died but has simply disappeared4 ,thus in ,arcadia ,i was once assured that a small girl had been carried off by ,nereids in a whirlwind1 and had been found again some weeks after on a lonely mountain side some five or six hours distant from her home in a condition which showed that she had been well fed and well cared for in the interval4 ,but certainly the snatching away of children by the ,nereids1 whether this mean death or only disappearance1 is still a well-accredited fact in the minds of many of the common-folk4 ,they still remain too simple and too closely wedded to the beliefs of their forefathers to need the old exhortation#cbh1 #8,trust ye the fables of yore3 'tis not ,death1 but the ,nymphs of the river ,seeing your daughter so sweet stole her to be their delight4' ,they believe still that the ,nereids have befriended their children1 even while they weep for their own loss4 ,whatever mischief the ,nereids work upon man1 woman1 or child1 be it death or loss of faculties or merely deportation from home to some haunted spot1 #8seized' 7 or 7 is the word applied to the victim4 ,the compound #cbi1 #8,nereid-seized1' also occurs1 exactly parallel in form as well as equivalent in meaning to the ancient as used by ,plato4 #8,now listen to me1' says ,socrates to ,phaedrus#ccj1 #8in silence2 for in very truth this seems to be holy ground1 so that if anon1 in the course of what ,i say1 ,i suffer a 8seizure0 7 71 you must not be surprised4' ,such speech1 save for its disregard of the acknowledged peril1 might be held in all seriousness by a peasant of to-day4 ,in ,socrates' mouth it is intended merely as a happy metaphor2 but its point and appropriateness are lost on those who do not both know the superstition to which he alludes and at the same time recall the mise-en-scne#cca of the dialogue4 ,the two friends have crossed the ,ilissus and are stretched on a grassy slope in the shade of a lofty plane-tree1 beneath which is a spring of cool water pleasant to their feet as is the light breeze to their faces in the heat of the summer noon4 ,the spot must surely be a favourite haunt of the rural gods1 and indeed the statues close at hand attest its dedication to ,pan and to the ,nymphs4 ,in such a situation there would be1 according to modern notions1 three distinct grounds for apprehending a #8seizure4' ,the neighbourhood of water is throughout ,greece dreaded as the most dangerous haunt of ,nereids#ccb1 so that few peasants will cross a stream or even a dry torrent-bed without making the sign of the cross4 ,hardly less risky is it to rest in the shade of any old or otherwise conspicuous tree4 ,if in addition to this the time of day be noon1 it is not merely venturesome to trespass on such spots1 but inexcusably foolhardy2 for the hour of midday slumber is fraught with as many terrors as the night#ccc4 ,any or all of these popular beliefs may have been present to ,plato's mind as he wrote this passage2 for the ancients numbered among those ,nymphs1 by whom ,socrates was likely to be #8seized1' both ,naiads and ,dryads1 who might be expected to resent and to punish any intrusion upon their haunts in stream or tree2 while1 as regards the hour of noon1 the fear felt in old time of arousing ,pan#ccd from his siesta may well have extended also to ,nymphs1 who on this spot beside the ,ilissus1 as commonly elsewhere1 were named his comrades4 ,the same kind of #8seizure' was denoted formerly by the phrase ' #cce1 #8he has it 7i4e4 a stroke or seizure7 from without1' and the modern compound '#ccf bears obviously a kindred meaning4 ,the exact significance of in this relation is difficult to determine4 ,either it is only another example of the usage already noted in discussing the term and implies the activity of one of those supernatural beings who exist side by side with the powers of ,christianity and are by their very name proved to be pagan2 or else it indicates a difference in the mode of injury by two classes of supernatural foes1 the difference between #8seizure' and #8possession4' ,certainly no story is known to me of #8possession' by ,nereids in the same sense as by devils4 ,the latter take up their abode within a man and are subject to exorcism2 the seizure by ,nereids is conceived rather as an external act of violence4 ,this is made clear by several terms locally used of seizure4 #8,he has been struck' 7 or 71 #8he has been wounded' 771 #8he has had hands laid upon him' 77 are typical expressions1 to which is sometimes added #8by ,nereids' or #8by evil women#ccg4' ,such phrases clearly convict the ,nereids of assault and battery rather than of undue mental influence upon their victims4 ,moreover the ,nereids1 and with them all the surviving pagan deities1 are pictured by the peasant in corporeal form1 whereas the angels--and there are bad angels1 who #8possess' men1 as well as good--are in common speech as well as in the formal dedications of churches known as 1 #8the ,bodiless ones4' ,there is then an essential difference in the nature of these two classes of beings1 which justifies the supposed distinction in their methods of working4 ,for #8possession' proper is the injury inflicted1 or rather infused1 by spirits pure and simple2 external #8seizure' is the work of corporeal beings4 ,and this distinction was recognised in comparatively early times2 for ,john of ,damascus#cch in speaking of 1 a peculiarly maleficent kind of witch 7of whom more anon71 notes as singular the fact that sometimes they appear clothed in bodily form and sometimes as mere spirits 7 74 ,it is then to the second interpretation of the phrase ' 1 as implying external and bodily violence1 that the balance of argument1 ,i think1 inclines4 ,the precautions which may be taken against injury by ,nereids have already been briefly noticed4 ,amulets1 garlic1 the sign of the cross1 the invocation of saints--all these are common and suitable prophylactics4 ,but above all1 in the actual moment when imminent danger is suspected1 the lips1 as ,phaedrus was reminded by ,socrates1 and also the eyes should be close shut2 for in general the principle obtains that the particular organ by which there is converse or contact with the ,nereids is most likely to be impaired or destroyed4 ,apart from this1 there is no precaution more specially adapted for self-defence against the ,nereids than against the evil eye or any other baneful influence2 and with these ,i have already dealt#cci4 ,but when these precautions are neglected or fail1 the mischief wrought by the ,nereids is not necessarily permanent2 there are several cures which may be tried4 ,sometimes prayers 7but not1 so far as ,i know1 a formal exorcism such as the ,greek ,church provides for diabolic possession7 are recited by a priest over the sufferer in the church of some suitable saint2 or a trial may be made of sleeping in a church which possesses a wonder-working icon4 ,sometimes an offering of honey-cakes sent or carried to the spot where the misfortune occurred suffices to turn the ,nereids from their wrath and wins them to undo the hurt that they have done2 on such an errand however the bearer of the offering must beware of looking back to the place where he has once deposited it1 lest a worse fate overtake him than that which he is trying to dispel#cdj4 ,theodore ,bent#cda gives full details of such an offering made in the island of ,ceos4 #8,for those1' he writes1 #8who are supposed to have been struck by the ,nereids when sleeping under a tree1 the following cure is much in vogue4 ,a white cloth is spread on the spot1 and on it is put a plate with bread1 honey1 and other sweets1 a bottle of good wine1 a knife1 a fork1 an empty glass1 an unburnt candle1 and a censer4 ,these things must be brought by an old woman who utters mystic words and then goes away1 that the ,nereids may eat undisturbed1 and that in their good humour they may allow the sufferer to regain his health4' ,how mystic may be the words of a ,cean witch1 ,i cannot say2 but the formula to be used by mothers in ,chios in the event of a similar misfortune to a child is extremely simple3 #8,good day to you1 good queens1 eat ye the little cakes and heal my child'-- 1 1 ' #cdb4 ,but the most frequent and most efficacious method of cure 7with which the offering of honeycakes may be combined7 is for the sufferer to revisit the scene of his calamity at the same hour of the same day in week1 month1 or year1 when by some capricious reversal of fate the presence of the ,nereids is apt to remove the hurt which it formerly inflicted4 99 99 99 99 99 ,thus far ,i have dealt with the main characteristics of nymphs in general3 it remains to consider the several classes into which they were anciently divided2 and though for the most part the old appellations1 ,nereids1 ,naiads1 ,oreads1 and ,dryads1 have either disappeared or else changed their form or meaning1 we shall find that the old division of them into these four main classes according to their habitation still to some extent survives4 ,the ,nereids1 whose name is now extended to comprise all kinds of nymphs1 are in the ancient and proper sense of the term among the rarest of whom the peasant speaks4 ,but here and there mention is made of genuine sea-nymphs1 and also of their queen1 the ,lamia of the ,sea#cdc1 who has superseded ,amphitrite4 ,in #ahbf a villager of ,argolis described to ,soutzos1 the historian of the ,greek revolution#cdd1 a true ,nereid4 ,her hair was green and adorned with pearls and corals2 often by moonlight she might be seen dancing merrily on the surface of the sea1 and in the daytime she would come to dry her clothes upon the rocks near the mills of ,lerna4 ,these1 ,i may add from my own knowledge1 are reputed to be haunted by ,nereids down to this day4 ,happily a peasant of that period cannot be suspected of any education2 he was not recalling a piece of repetition mastered at school when he spoke of viridis ,nereidum comas#cde1 but knew by tradition from his ancestors what ,horace learnt of them by study4 ,in the ,greek town of ,sinasos also1 in ,cappadocia1 a class of sea-nymphs is popularly recognised and distinguished under the name 1 a word said by the recorder of it to be derived from a ,cappadocian word zab meaning the #8sea#cdf4' ,but of the districts known to me the most fertile in stories of sea-nymphs is the province of ,maina1 the middle of the three peninsulas south of the ,peloponnese4 ,one such story attaches to a fine palm-tree growing on the beach at ,limni1 a small port on the west coast of the peninsula4 ,a full version of it has been published#cdg1 but as it is long and not peculiarly instructive1 ,i content myself with an abridgement of it4 ,a fisherman of ,limni was sleeping one summer night in his boat2 at midnight he suddenly awoke to find ,nereids rowing him out to sea1 but happily1 remembering at once that ,nereids drown any one whom they catch looking at them1 he lay quiet as if asleep4 ,the boat travelled like lightning1 and soon they reached ,arabia2 and having shipped a cargo of dates1 the ,nereids started home again4 ,as they were returning1 one ,nereid proposed to drown the man2 but the others replied that he had not opened his eyes to see them1 and that they owed him a debt besides for the use of his boat4 ,finally they arrived at some unknown place and unloaded the dates2 and then in a flash the fisherman found himself back at the shore by the monastery of ,limni1 and #8the she-devils1 the ,nereids1' gone4 ,as he baled out his boat1 he found one date2 but suspecting that it had been left intentionally by the ,nereids to cause him trouble1 he threw it1 not into the sea1 for fear his fishing should suffer1 but ashore4 ,and since the date had been handled by supernatural beings 7'71 it could not perish1 but took root where it fell2 and hence the palm-tree on the shore to this day4 ,these same sea-nymphs-- --play also a part in the daily life of the people of this district#cdh4 ,it is said that every ,saturday night these ,nereids join battle with the ,nereids of the mountains1 and according as these or those win1 their protgs1 the upland or the maritime population1 are found on ,sunday morning in higher or lower spirits1 booty-laden or despoiled4 ,it is indeed an imaginative folk which can thus make its deities responsible for drunken brawls and sober thefts2 but some of them have humour enough to smile at their own imaginings4 ,a class of maleficent beings known to the inhabitants of ,tenos1 ,myconos1 ,amorgos1 and other islands of the same group under the name of or #cdi1 have been reckoned as sea-nymphs by several writers1 who would derive the name from ' 7i4e4 71 the #8sea-shore#cej4' ,but there is no evidence advanced to show that the common-folk regard them as a species of ,nereid2 and there is1 on the contrary1 evidence of their identity with certain female demons whose name more commonly appears in the form #cea1 and with whom ,i shall deal later4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the ,oreads are no longer known under their old name1 but their existence is still recognised throughout the mainland of ,greece4 ,their change of name is the result merely of a change in the ordinary word for #8mountain4' ,anciently was usual1 rare2 now the peasant uses commonly 1 and although understood everywhere and occurring in popular poetry comes less readily to his lips4 ,hence the ,oreads are now called #ceb 7sc4 7 or #cec 7#8the mountain-nymphs' or #8the maidens of the mount'74 ,these mountain-nymphs delight in dance and merriment even more than their kin of the rivers and of the sea4 ,in ,maina indeed they seem to have become infected with the pugnacious character of the people1 for as we have seen they there do battle with the sea-nymphs each ,saturday night4 ,but in general frolic is more to their taste than fighting4 ,on the heights of ,tagetus are three ,oreads1 well known to the dwellers in the plain of ,sparta1 who dance together without pause4 ,on the summit of ,hymettus too there is a flat space1 called in the modern ,attic dialect a and in shape #8round like a threshing-floor1' where ,nereids of the mountain dance at midday#ced4 ,above all in the uplands of ,acarnania and ,aetolia many are the hollows or tree-encircled level spaces which the shepherds will point out as 1 #8threshing-floors' where the nymphs make merry2 for a threshing-floor1 it must be remembered1 is the usual resort for dancing1 wrestling1 and all those amusements for which a level space is required4 ,nymphs of the same kind are known also in ,crete4 ,a curious story of a wedding procession in which they took part was there narrated to ,pashley#cee1 and his informant's words are recorded by him in the original dialect4 #8,once upon a time a man told me that two men had once gone up to the highest mountain-ridges1 where wild goats live1 and sat by moonlight in a grassy hollow#cef 771 in the hopes of shooting the goats4 ,and there they heard a great noise1 and supposed that there were men come to get loads of snow to carry to ,canea4 ,but when they drew nearer1 they heard violins and cithers and all kinds of music1 and such music they had never heard4 ,so they knew at once that these were no men but an assemblage of divine beings 7 74 ,and they watched them and saw them pass at a short distance from where they were sitting1 clothed in all manner of raiment1 and mounted some on grey horses and some on horses of other colours1 and they could make out that there were men and women1 afoot or riding1 a very host4 ,and the men were white as doves1 and the women very beautiful like the rays of the sun4 ,they saw too that they were carrying something in the way that a dead body is carried out4 ,forthwith the mountaineers determined to have a shot at them as they passed before them4 ,they had heard also a song of which the words were 8,go we to fetch a bride1 a lady bride1 ,from the steep rock1 a bride that is alone40 ,and they made up their minds and fired a shot at them4 ,thereupon those that were in front cried out with one voice1 8,what is it80 and those behind answered1 8,our bridegroom is slain1 our bridegroom is slain40 ,and they wept and cried aloud and fled4' ,in regard to this story it may be noted that a male form of ,nereid 77 is sometimes mentioned1 and here such are undoubtedly implied4 ,the necessity of finding husbands for the ,nereids naturally presents itself to the minds of the old women who are the chief story-tellers1 and the demand is met by an assorted supply of young men1 male ,nereids1 and devils4 ,as consorts of the last-mentioned1 the ,nereids enjoy in many places the title of 1 #8she-devils'2 and it was on the ground of such unions that a peasant-woman of ,acarnania once explained to me the belief1 held in her own village1 that ,nereids were seen only at midday4 ,how should the devils their husbands let such beautiful women be abroad at night8 ,it is on the mountain-nymphs also that the peasants most frequently lay the responsibility for whirlwinds#ceg1 by which children or even adults are said to be caught up and carried from one place to another#ceh1 or to their death4 ,some such fate1 we must suppose1 in ancient times also was held to have befallen a seven-year-old boy on whose tomb was written1 #8,tearful ,hades with the help of ,oreads made away with me1 and this mournful tomb that has been builded nigh unto the ,nymphs contains me#cei4' ,the habit of travelling on a whirlwind1 or more correctly perhaps of stirring up a whirlwind by rapid passage1 has gained for the nymphs in some districts secondary names--in ,macedonia 1 in ,gortynia #cfj--which might almost seem to constitute a new class of wind-nymphs4 ,but so far as ,i know the faculty of raising whirlwinds1 though most frequently exercised by ,oreads1 is common to all nymphs4 ,in ,athens whirlwinds are said to occur most frequently near the old ,hill of the ,nymphs#cfa3 and women of the lower classes1 as they see the spinning spiral of dust approach1 fall to crossing themselves busily and to repeating ' #cfb 7or ' 71 #8,honey and milk in your path6' ,this incantation is widely known as an effective safeguard against the ,nereids in their rapid flight1 and must in origin1 it would seem1 have been a vow4 ,this supposition is confirmed by the fact that in ,corfu#cfc a few decades ago the peasantry used to make actual offerings of both milk and honey to the ,nereids1 and that ,theocritus also associates these two gifts in vows made to the nymphs and to ,pan4 #8,i will set1' sings ,lacon1 #8a great bowl of white milk for the nymphs1 and another will ,i set full of sweet oil'2 to which ,comatas in rivalry rejoins1 #8,eight pails of milk will ,i set for ,pan1 and eight dishes of honey in the honeycomb#cfd4' ,the gift of honey is of special significance4 ,in every recorded case which ,i know of offerings to ,nereids in modern ,greece honey is expressly mentioned1 and seems indeed to be essential2 and it is probably from their known preference for this food that at ,kastoria in ,macedonia they have even received the by-name1 1 #8the honeyed ones#cfe4' ,and if we look back over many centuries we may find a hint of the same belief in ,homer's description of the cave of the ,naiads in ,ithaca1 wherein #8are bowls for mixing and pitchers of stone1 and there besides do bees make store#cff4' ,for it is well established that honey was the special offering made to the indigenous deities of ,greece before the making of wine such as ,homer's heroes quaff had yet been discovered#cfg4 ,perchance then even in distant pre-,homeric days men vowed1 as now they vow1 honey and milk to the nymphs whose swift passing was the whirlwind1 and felt secure4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the memory of the tree-nymphs is still green throughout ,greece4 ,from ,aegina their ancient name is recorded as still in use#cfh2 and in parts of ,epirus1 ,thessaly1 ,macedonia1 and ,thrace1 as well as in several islands of the ,aegean ,sea1 ,chios1 ,cimolos1 ,cythnos1 and others1 there is a word employed which is1 ,i believe1 formed from the same root and once denoted the same class of beings4 ,this word is found in the forms #cfi1 #cgj1 #cga1 #cgb and1 in ,chios1 in a neuter form #cgc4 ,it has been suggested indeed by one writer#cgd that this word has nothing to do with ,dryads1 but that its root is - 7better perhaps written - as in the ancient 1 since1 so far as the sound of the vowel in modern ,greek is concerned1 the philologist may write 1 1 1 1 1 or 1 as seemeth him best71 in the sense of #8fierce1' #8bitter'2 and support for this derivation is sought in a somewhat vague statement of ,hesychius who explains the word by the phrase 1 #8the evil-doers in the country'3 but whether he took to be the proper name of some class of demons1 or an adjective synonymous with 1 does not appear4 ,but even on the grounds of form alone 7which grounds will be considerably strengthened when we come to consider signification71 it appears better to derive this group of words from or more immediately from 1 #8a coppice'2 for in ancient literature mention is made of #8,artemis of the coppice' and #8nymphs of the coppice' 7 #cge and 7#cgf1 of a particular nymph named ,drymo#cgg1 of a #cgh worshipped in ,pamphylia1 and of ,apollo invoked at ,miletus under the title #cgi4 ,in the last two instances the title may be supposed to have had reference merely to the surroundings of a particular sanctuary2 but in relation to ,artemis and the nymphs the epithet clearly suggests their woodland haunts4 ,in present-day usage the words which we are considering almost universally denote1 not nymphs or any other supernatural beings1 but the first few days of ,august1 which are observed in a special way4 ,the number of these days varies from three in ,sinasos#chj1 in ,carpathos#cha1 and in ,syme 7an island north of ,rhodes71 to five in ,cythnos#chb and ,cyprus#chc1 and six in most other places where they are specially observed4 ,there are two rules laid down for this observance1 though in some places only one of the two is in force3 no tree may be peeled or cut 7this is the usual practice for obtaining mastic and resin72 and the use of water for washing either the person or clothes is prohibited2 neither is it permitted to travel by water during this period4 ,in the interests of personal cleanliness it is unfortunate that the month of ,august should have been selected for this abstention2 by that time even the ,greeks find the sea tepid enough to admit of bathing without serious risk of chill1 and it is a pity therefore that a penalty should be inflicted upon bathers during the first week of the only month in which ablutions extend beyond the pouring of a small jug of water over the fingers4 ,howbeit the decrees stand1 and as surely as there is transgression thereof1 skin will blister and peel off1 clothes will rot#chd1 and trees will wither4 ,the severity of these pains has in ,cyprus changed the name of these days from into 1 #8the evil days of ,august#che4' ,now among a people so superstitious as the ,greeks it is reasonable to suppose that days thus marked by special abstinences were originally sacred to some deities4 ,washing and tree-cutting at this season must1 we may assume1 have been offences against some supernatural persons whose festival was then observed and who avenged its profanation2 and the supernatural persons most nearly concerned would naturally be the tree-nymphs and the water-nymphs4 ,the association or even confusion of these two classes of nymphs is very common both in ancient literature and in modern belief1 and is indeed a natural consequence of the fact that the finest trees1 such as that plane under which sat ,socrates and ,phaedrus1 grow only in the close vicinity of water4 ,it would have puzzled even ,socrates to say whether the ,nymphs by whom he might be seized would be more probably ,dryads or ,naiads4 ,homer himself1 to go yet further back1 suggests the same association1 for he tells of #8a spreading olive-tree and nigh thereto' the cave of the ,naiads in ,ithaca4 ,again in later times we find a dedication by one ,cleonymus to #8,hamadryads1 daughters of the river'#chf2 and though an ingenious critic would replace by 7nymphs of the ,arcadian river ,anigrus71 ,i believe the fault to lie with ,cleonymus and not with the manuscript2 for the place where he makes his dedication is beneath pine-trees 7 74 ,at the present day the same tendency towards confusion of the two classes is common4 ,this was well illustrated to me by some peasants of ,tenos4 ,ten minutes' walk from the town there is a good spring from which a remarkable subterranean passage cut through the solid rock carries the water to supply the town4 ,the spring is within a cave1 artificially enlarged at the entrance1 over which stands a fine fig-tree4 ,standing outside while a companion entered first1 ,i noticed that our guides 7for several persons had escorted us out of curiosity or hospitality7 were distinctly perturbed1 and ,i heard one say to another1 #8,see1 he is going in1 he is not afraid4' ,inferring thence that the place was haunted1 and remembering that mid-day1 the hour at which we happened to be there1 was fraught with special peril1 ,i determined to test my guides1 and so sat down under the fig-tree4 ,then remarking that the sun was hot at noon1 ,i invited them to come and sit in the shade and smoke a cigarette4 ,but the bait was insufficient2 they would stand in the sun rather than approach either the spring or the tree1 though they were ready enough to accept cigarettes when ,i moved out of the zone of danger4 ,afterwards by enquiries made elsewhere ,i learnt that the spot was the reputed home of ,nereids--but whether their abode was tree or water1 who should say8 ,close neighbours in their habitations1 indistinguishable in their appearance and attributes1 it is pardonable to confuse those sister nymphs1 #8,centum quae siluas1 centum quae flumina seruant#chg4' ,it is exactly this kind of confusion of the two classes of nymphs which has produced the twofold injunctions for the observance of the days known as 3 for evidence is forthcoming that this word originally denoted a class of nymphs and not1 as generally now1 their ,august festival4 ,from ,stenimachos in ,thrace comes the statement that by the people there understand female deities who live in water and are always hostile to man1 but specially dangerous only during the first six days of ,august#chh4 ,here the name 1 if the derivation which ,i prefer is right1 points to the identification of these beings with the ancient ,dryads2 while their watery habitations proclaim them rather ,naiads4 ,reversely again in ,syme1 where the word is not in use1 there are certain nymphs known as who live in mountain-torrents1 in trees1 and elsewhere1 and who are seen only at mid-day and at midnight during the first three days of ,august2 but1 far from being hurtful to men1 they may even themselves be captured by certain magical ceremonies and employed as servants in the house for a period1 after which the spell is broken and they return again to their homes4 ,their name #chi1 said to be formed from #chi1 the local name for the month of ,august1 clearly means #8anti-washing1' and at once identifies them with those ,naiads whose festival1 as ,i believe1 has rendered the waters sacred and therefore harmful if disturbed during these days2 but on the other hand their dwelling-places include trees4 ,these two pieces of evidence from places so wide apart as ,stenimachos and ,syme are reinforced by a popular expression formerly1 and perhaps still1 in use1 #cij1 #8the 8drymes0 have seized him'2 where the word denoting #8seizure' is one of those already noted as proper to #8seizure' by nymphs4 ,from the usage of the word therefore as well as from its formation we may conclude that the word is the modern equivalent of the ancient 3 and the widely-spread custom of abstaining both from tree-cutting and from the use of water during the early days of ,august is a survival of an old joint festival of wood-nymphs and water-nymphs4 ,but it is not in the relics of ancient worship only that traces of the ,dryads are now to be found4 ,the traveller in ,greece will commonly hear that such and such a tree is haunted by a ,nereid4 ,particularly famous in ,north ,arcadia is a magnificent pine-tree on the path from the monastery of ,megasplaeon to the village of ,solos4 ,my muleteer enthusiastically compared it to the gigantic tree which is believed to uphold the world2 and piously crossed himself1 as we passed it1 for fear of the nymph who made it her home4 ,in general the trees thus reputed are the fruit-bearing trees which were comprehensively denoted by the term 1 from which the ,dryads took their name--the fig-tree1 the olive1 the holly-oak#cia1 and the plane4 ,such trees1 especially when conspicuous for age or for luxuriance1 are readily suspected to be the abode of ,nereids4 ,one ,nereid only1 it would seem1 is assigned to each tree 7though1 if her retreat be violated1 she may swiftly call others of her kind to aid her in taking vengeance71 and with the life of the tree her own life is bound up4 ,for a nymph is not immortal4 ,her span of life far exceeds that of man1 but none the less it is measured4 #8,a crow lives twice as long as a man1 a tortoise twice as long as a crow1 and a ,nereid twice as long as a tortoise4' ,such is a popular saying which ,i heard from an unlettered peasant of ,arcadia1 to whom evidently had been transmitted orally through many centuries a version of ,hesiod's lines1 #8,verily nine times the age of men in their prime doth the croaking raven live2 and a stag doth equal four ravens2 and 'tis three lives of a stag ere the crow grows old2 but the phoenix hath the life of nine crows2 and ye1 fair-tressed ,nymphs1 daughters of aegis-bearing ,zeus1 do live ten times the phoenix' age#cib4' ,commenting on this passage1 ,plutarch takes the word in the phrase 1 which ,i have rendered as #8nine times the age of men in their prime1' to be used as the equivalent of 1 a year2 and1 making a sober computation on this basis1 discovers that the limit of life for nymphs and daemones in general is #igbj years4 ,but he then admits that the mass of men do not allow so long a duration1 and quotes by way of illustration a phrase from ,pindar1 444 1 according to which the nymphs are allotted a term of life commensurate with that of a tree2 hence1 it is added1 the compound name 1 ,dryads whose lives are severally bound up with those of the trees which they inhabit#cic4 ,other ancient authorities concur4 ,sophocles markedly calls the nymphs of ,mt ,cithaeron #8long-lived' 771 not #8immortal'#cid3 ,pliny certifies the finding of dead ,nereids on the coasts of ,gaul during the reign of ,augustus#cie3 ,tzetzes cites from the works of ,charon of ,lampsacus the story of an ,hamadryad who was in danger of being swept away and drowned by a swollen mountain-torrent#cif3 and1 to revert to yet earlier authority1 in one of the ,homeric ,hymns ,aphrodite rehearses to ,anchises the whole matter#cig4 ,speaking of the son whom she will bear to him1 she says3 #8,so soon as he shall see the light of the sun1 he shall be tended by deep-bosomed nymphs of the mountains1 even those that dwell upon this high and holy mount4 ,these verily are neither of mortal men nor of immortal gods4 ,long indeed they live and feed on food divine1 and they have strength too for fair dance amid immortals2 yea1 and with them have the watchful ,slayer of ,argus and such as ,silenus been joined in love within the depths of pleasant grots4 ,but at the moment of their birth1 there spring up upon the nurturing earth pines1 may be1 or oaks rearing high their heads1 good trees and luxuriant1 upon the mountain-heights4 ,far aloft they tower2 sanctuaries of immortals they are called1 and men hew them not with axe#cih4 ,but so soon as the doom of death stands beside them1 first the good trees are dried up at the root and then their bark withers about them and their branches fall away1 and therewith the soul of the nymphs too leaves the light of the sun4' ,so my ,arcadian friend was true to ancient tradition both in his estimate of the life of ,nereids and in his belief1 thereby implied1 that they are mortal4 ,nor is other modern testimony wanting4 ,there are popular stories still current concerning ,nereids' deaths4 ,one has been recorded in which a ,nereid is struck by ,god with lightning and slain as a punishment for stealing a boy from his father1 and her sister nymphs in terror restore the child#cii4 ,a pertinent confession of faith has also been heard from the lips of a ,cretan peasant4 ,in explanation of the name 1 #8,nereid-grot1' attached to a cave near his village1 he had related a story of a ,nereid who was carried off from that spot and taken to wife by a young man1 to whom she bore a son2 but as she would never open her lips in his presence1 he went in despair to an old woman who advised him to heat an oven hot and then taking the child in his arms to say to the ,nereid1 #8,speak to me2 or ,i will burn your child1' and so saying to make show of throwing the child into the oven4 ,he did as the old woman advised2 but the ,nereid saying only1 #8,you hound1 leave my child alone1' seized it from him and disappeared4 ,and since the other ,nereids would not admit her again to their company in the cave1 as being now a mother1 she took up her abode in a spring close by2 and there she is seen two or three times a year holding the child in her arms4 #8,after hearing this tale1' says the recorder of it1 #8,i asked the old peasant who told it me1 how long ago this had happened4' ,he replied that he had heard it from his grandfather1 and guessed it to be about a hundred and sixty years4 #8,my good man1' said the other1 #8would not the child have grown up in all that time8' #8,what do you suppose1 sir8' he answered2 #8are those to grow up so easily who live from a thousand to fifteen hundred years8#djj' ,how this period was computed by the ,cretan peasant1 or whether it was computed at all on any system known to him1 is not related2 but very probably the longevity of trees was the original basis of the calculation2 for the peasants will often point out some old contorted olive-trunk as a thousand or more years old2 ,i was once even taken to see a tree reputed to have been planted by ,alexander the ,great4 ,but at any rate it is clear that both in ancient and in modern times the nymphs have always been believed to be subject to ultimate death1 and however the tenure of life may be determined in the case of the others1 the ,dryads have without doubt been generally reckoned coeval with the trees that are their homes4 ,an exception to this rule must however be made in the case of ,nereid-haunted trees which do not die a natural death1 but are felled untimely4 ,a ,nymph's life is not to be cut short by a humanly-wielded axe4 ,in the ,homeric ,hymn indeed1 which ,i have quoted1 we learn that men hew not such trees with steel2 and the same might1 ,i think1 be said at the present day with certainty of those trees which are known to be haunted4 ,but the unknown is ever full of risk2 and the woodcutter of the ,north ,arcadian forests1 mindful of the sacrilege which he may commit and fearful of the vengeance wherewith it may be visited1 takes such precautions as piety suggests4 ,with muttered appeals to the ,panagia or his own patron-saint and with much crossing of himself he fills up the moments between each bout of hewing at any suspected tree 7unfortunately the finest timber on which he plies his axe is also the most likely to harbour a ,nereid7 and finally as the upper branches sway and the tree trembles to its fall1 he runs back and throws himself down with his face to the ground1 in silence which not even a prayer must break1 lest a ,nereid1 passing out from her violated abode1 hear and espy and punish4 ,for1 as has been said before1 nothing is more sure than that he who speaks in the hearing of a ,nereid loses from thenceforth the power of speech2 while the practice of hiding the face in the ground is not a foolish imitation of the ostrich1 but is prompted by the belief that a ,nereid is most prone to injure those who by look1 word1 or touch have of their own act1 though not always of their own will1 placed themselves in communication or contact with her#dja4 ,these precautions appertaining to the lore of modern ,greek forestry indicate a belief that1 when a tree is hewn down1 its death does not involve the death of the ,nereid within it1 but that she escapes alive and vengeful4 ,and herein once more there is agreement between the beliefs of modern and of ancient ,greece4 ,apollonius ,rhodius tells the story of the want and penury which befell ,paraebius for all his labours4 #8,verily he was paying a cruel requital for the sin of his father2 who once when he was felling trees1 alone upon the mountains1 made light of the prayers of an ,hamadryad4 ,for she with tears and passionate speech strove to soften his heart1 that he should not hew the trunk of her coeval oak1 wherein she lived continuously her whole long life2 but he right foolishly did fell the tree1 in pride of his young strength4 ,wherefore the ,nymph set a doom of fruitless toil thereafter on him and on his children#djb4' 99 99 99 99 99 ,the ,naiads1 of whose ancient name1 so far as ,i know1 no trace remains in the dialects of to-day1 are not less numerous than other nymphs and as much to be feared4 ,the peasants speak of them usually as #8,nereids of the river' or #8of the spring' 7 or 72 and only in one place1 ,kephalvryso 7#8,fountain-head'7 in ,aetolia1 did ,i find a distinctive by-name for them4 ,this was the word #djc1 which ,i take to be a half-humorous euphemism meaning #8the ,parched ,ones'2 but1 so far as sound is concerned1 it would be equally permissible to write ' 7past participle of ' ,latin respuo7 and to interpret therefore in the sense of #8the ,abominable ,ones4' ,the latter appellation however seems to me too outspoken in view of the awe in which the ,naiads are everywhere held4 ,wherever fresh water is1 whether in mountain-torrent or reservoir1 in river or village-well1 there is peril to be feared2 no careful mother will send her children at noontide to fetch water from the spring1 or1 if they are sent1 they must at least spit thrice into it before they dip their pitchers1 nor will she suffer them to loiter beside a stream when dusk has fallen2 no cautious man will ford a river without crossing himself first on the brink4 ,the actual dwelling-place of these nymphs may be either the depths of the water itself or some cave beside the stream4 ,homer gave to the ,naiads of ,ithaca for their habitation a grotto1 wherein were everflowing waters#djd2 and though in some cases the nymphs who haunt the mountain caves may as well be ,oreads as ,naiads1 ,i have preferred to deal with them in this place2 for usually it is river-gods who have hollowed out these rocky homes for their daughters1 and in many such caves may be seen the everflowing waters that attest the ,naiads' birthright4 ,some such places1 whether springs or caves1 have1 as might be expected1 attained greater fame or notoriety than others2 some special incident starts a story about them which from generation to generation rolls on gathering it may be fresh volume4 ,a typical story--typical save only for the absence of tragedy1 since the ,naiads are wont to drown by mistake those whom they carry off--was heard by ,leo ,allatius#dje from what he considered a trustworthy source4 #8,some well-to-do people of ,chios were taking a summer holiday in the country en famille1 when a pretty little girl of the party got separated from the rest and ran off to a well at a little distance4 ,amusing herself1 as children will1 she leant forward over the well1 and as she was looking at the water in it1 was1 without perceiving it1 insensibly lifted by some force and pushed into the well4 ,her relations saw her carried off1 and running up1 perceived the girl amusing herself on the top of the water as if she were seated on a bed4 ,thereupon her father1 emboldened by the sight1 tried to climb down into the well1 but was pulled in by some force and set beside his child4 ,in the meantime some of the others had brought a ladder1 which they lowered into the well and bade the man ascend4 ,catching up his daughter in his arms1 he mounted the ladder safe and sound1 and to the amazement of all1 though father and daughter had been all that time in the water1 they came out with clothes perfectly dry1 without so much as a trace of dampness4 ,the seizure of the girl and her father they attributed to ,nereids1 who were said to haunt that well4 ,the girl too herself asserted that while she was hanging over the well1 she had seen women sporting on the surface of the water with the utmost animation1 and at their invitation had voluntarily thrown herself in4' ,this story1 though it ends happily1 bears a marked resemblance to that of ,hylas4 ,it is specially noted that the child had a pretty face1 and this without doubt is conceived as impelling the ,nereids to seize her4 ,it is of little consequence that their home is1 in this case1 a mere well instead of #8a spring1' as ,theocritus#djf pictures it1 #8in a hollow of the land1 whereabout grew rushes thickly and purple cuckoo-flower#djg and pale maidenhair and bright green parsley and clover spreading wide'2 for the ancients also attributed nymphs to their wells#djh4 ,such stories are sometimes causes1 sometimes effects1 of the not uncommon place-names 1 #dji1 #8,nereid-spring1' #8,nereid-cave4' ,two such caves1 to which the additional interest attaches of having been in classical times also regarded as holy ground1 are found on ,parnassus and on ,olympus4 ,the former is the famous ,corycian cave sacred in antiquity to ,pan and the ,nymphs#daj and still dreaded by the inhabitants of the district as an abode of ,nereids#daa4 ,the latter is thought to be the ancient sanctuary of the ,pierian ,muses1 and the peasants of the last generation held the place in such awe that they refused to conduct anyone thither for fear of being seized with madness#dab4 ,it is right to add that the tenants of this cavern were called by the vague name 1 which would comprise not only ,nereids1 but presumably the ,muses also1 if any remembrance of them survives in the district2 but the fear of being seized with madness suggests the ordinary conception of nymphs4 ,in neither of these instances of course can it be claimed that ,naiads rather than ,oreads are the possessors of the cave2 but as ,i have said the peasants generally employ the wide appellation #8,nereids' or some yet vaguer name1 and do not discriminate between the looks and the qualities of the several orders of nymphs4 ,it is only by observing local and occasional distinctions that ,i have been able to trace some survivals of the four main ancient classes4 ,in general the #8,nereid' of to-day is simply the #8,nymph' of antiquity4 #aj4 ,,the ,,queens ,,of ,,the ,,nymphs4 ,travelling once in a small sailing-boat from the island of ,scyros to ,scopelos ,i overheard an instructive conversation between one of my two boatmen and a shepherd whom we had taken off from the small island of ,sknzoura4 ,the occasion of our touching there1 namely pursuit by pirates 7from whom the ,north ,aegean is not yet wholly free1 though their piracies are seldom of a worse nature than cattle-lifting from the coasts and islands71 had certainly had an exciting effect upon my boatman's nerves1 and1 as darkness fell1 the shepherd responded to his companion's mood1 and their talk ranged over many strange experiences4 ,very soon they were exchanging confidences about the supernatural beings with whom they had come into contact2 and among these figured two who are the queens respectively of the nymphs of land and of sea4 ,of these deities one only was known to each of the speakers1 but on comparing notes they agreed that the two personalities were distinct4 ,the landsman told of one whom he named #8the queen of the mountains' 7 7 who with a retinue of ,nereids was ever roaming over the hills or dancing in some wooded dell4 ,in form she was as a ,nereid1 but taller and more glistening-white than they2 and as she surpassed her comrades in beauty1 so did she also excel in cruelty towards those who heedlessly crossed her path4 ,the sailor on the other hand had both seen and heard one whom he called #8the queen of the shore' 7 74 ,most often she stands in the sea with the water waist-high about her1 and sings passionate love-songs to those who pass by on the shore4 ,then must men close fast their eyes and stop their ears2 for1 if they yield to her seductions1 the bridal bed is in the depths of the sea and she alone rises up again to tempt yet others with her fatal love4 ,the former is without question she of whom ,homer sang1 #8,in company with her do mirthful nymphs 444 range o'er the land4444 ,high above them all she carries her head and brow1 and full easily is she known1 though they all be beautiful'#dac4 ,nigh on three thousand years ago was composed this graceful epitome of beliefs still current to-day2 for1 though the name of ,artemis is no longer heard1 her personality remains4 ,the peasants in general describe rather than name her4 ,in ,zacynthos she is called #8the great lady' 7 7#dad2 in ,cephalonia and in the villages of ,parnassus she is distinguished simply as #8the chief' or #8the greatest' of the ,nereids#dae2 in either ,chios or ,scopelos 7,i cannot say which1 for my shepherd had been born in the former but was then living in the latter7 her title is #8,queen of the mountains4' ,in ,aetolia however ,i was fortunate enough to hear an actual name assigned1 1 #8the lady ,beautiful1' where the shift of the accent in as compared with the adjective is natural to the formation of a proper name1 and the feminine termination in -1 almost obsolete now1 argues an early origin4 ,the name therefore in its present form may have come down unchanged from classical times2 but1 whatever its age1 we may at least hear in it an echo of the ancient cult-title of ,artemis1 1 #8most beautiful'#daf4 ,the same deity1 ,i suspect1 survived also until recently1 under a disguised form but with a kindred name1 in ,athens3 for the folk there used to tell of one whom they named #8,saint ,beautiful' 7 71 but to whom no church was ever dedicated#dag2 her canonisation was only popular4 ,the account which ,i received in ,aetolia of this #8lady ,beautiful' agreed closely with the description already given of #8the queen of the mountains4' ,in appearance and in character she is but a ,nereid on a larger scale4 ,all the beauty and the frowardness so freely imputed to the nymphs are superlatively hers2 there is no safety from her2 on hillside1 in coppice1 by rivulet1 everywhere she may be encountered2 the tongue that makes utterance in her presence is thenceforth tied1 and the eyes that behold her are darkened4 ,the punishment that befell ,teiresias of old for looking upon ,athena as she bathed still awaits those who stray by mischance beside some sequestered pool or stream where the ,nereids and their queen are wont to bathe in the heat of noon4 ,such a spot1 favoured in olden time by ,artemis and her attendant ,naiads1 was the ,cretan river ,amnisos#dah2 and it was probably no mere coincidence1 but a good instance rather of the continuity of local tradition1 that in comparatively recent times her personality and perhaps even her old name were still known in the district4 ,it is recorded that in the sixteenth century both priests and people of the district declared that at a pretty little tarn near the ,gulf of ,mirabella they had seen #8,diana and her fair nymphs' lay aside their white raiment and bathe and disappear in the clear waters#dai4 ,it would have been highly interesting to know the name of the goddess which the ,italian writer translated as #8,diana4' ,though it is true that in ,italy#dbj ,diana herself was still worshipped in magical nightly orgies as late as the fourteenth century1 it is scarcely likely that the ,italian name had been adopted in ,crete4 ,more probably the slovenly fashion of miscalling ,greek deities by ,latin names was as common then as now2 and in this instance a piece of valuable evidence has thereby been irretrievably lost4 ,yet the traditional connexion of ,artemis with this district of ,crete warrants the assumption that the leader of the nymphs of whom the story tells was in personality1 if not also in name1 the ancient ,greek goddess1 and no ,italian importation4 ,distinct reference to the bathing of ,artemis is also made in a story which has already been related in connexion with ,aphrodite and ,eros#dba4 ,a prince1 who had journeyed to the garden of ,eros to fetch water for the healing of his father's blindness1 saw in the spring there #8a woman white as snow and shining as the moon4 ,and it was in very truth the moon that bathed here4' ,the last sentence1 provided always that it be free from modern scholastic contamination1 is an unique example of the survival of ,artemis in the rle of the moon2 while the healing properties of the spring in which she bathes offer a coincidence1 certainly undesigned1 with the powers of the goddess whom her worshippers of yore besought to #8banish unto the mountain-tops sickness and suffering'#dbb4 ,whether #8the lady ,beautiful' is known now also in her ancient huntress-guise1 is a point not readily determined4 ,in ,aetolia certainly ,i once or twice heard mention of her hunting on the mountains1 but without feeling sure whether the word #8hunt' was being used literally or in metaphor4 ,expressions borrowed from the chase are not uncommon in the language1 and the particular verb 1 #8,i hunt1' is in the vernacular used of anything from rabbit-shooting to wife-beating4 ,the injuries inflicted by ,artemis on those who trespass upon her haunts might possibly be denoted by the same term4 ,on the other hand it is not in the character of #8the lady ,beautiful1' as it is in that of the #8hunter' ,charos1 to seek men out and slay them2 men may fall chance victims to the sudden anger of the goddess1 but they are the chosen quarry of the other's prowess2 he is a true #8hunter' of men1 and1 try as they will to evade him1 he still pursues2 but ,artemis strikes none who turn aside from her path4 ,i incline therefore to believe that the word #8to hunt' was intended literally when ,i heard it used of #8the lady ,beautiful1' and that the ancient ,artemis' love of the chase is not forgotten by the ,aetolian peasantry4 ,such are the reminiscences of ,artemis which ,i have been able to gather in a few districts of modern ,greece4 ,but it is clear that down to the seventeenth century the goddess was much more widely known4 ,leo ,allatius#dbc1 writing about the year #afcj1 after giving a good description of the ,nereids1 plunges abruptly into a long quotation from ,michael ,psellus1 from which and from ,allatius' own comments on it some information about the ,queen of the ,nereids may be gleaned4 ,the passage in question runs as follows1 the comments and explanations in brackets being my own3-- #8 4 ,supply 4 7,apparently a proverb1 #8,fair mother1 fine son1' to the usage of which ,psellus gives some religious colour47 ,for the ,virgin that brought forth was wonderfully fair1 dazzling in the brightness of her graces1 and her son was exceeding beautiful1 fair beyond the sons of men4 7,notwithstanding however the religious significance of the proverb1 he at once condemns the use of it47 ,as a matter of fact1 the phrase is due to faulty speech4 ,for the popular language has perverted the saying4 ,it is right to say 7#8fair lady of the mountains'72 but the people have made the saying 7#8fair mother1 fine son'74 7,there is no distinction in sound1 according to the modern pronunciation1 between and 47 ,hence we see that the popular imagination had once fashioned1 quite unreasonably1 a female deity whose domain was the mountains and who as it were disported herself upon them4444 ,there is no deity called #8fair lady of the mountains1' nor is the so-called ,barychnas a deity at all but a trouble arising in the head from heartburn or ill-digested food1 444 which is also known as ,ephialtes4' ,here ,psellus is rambling in his dissertation as wildly as though his own head were affected by this demoniacal ailment4 ,which ,allatius observing comments thus3-- #8,what has ,barychnas or ,babutzicarius#dbd or if you like ,ephialtes to do with the fair lady of the woods or the mountains 7pulcram nemorum sive montium78 ,from them men suffer lying abed2 whereas attacks such as we have said are made by ,callicantzarus#dbe1 ,burcolacas#dbf1 or ,nereid1 occur in the open country and public roadways4444 ,and ,psellus himself knew quite well that the #8fair lady of the mountains' was nothing other than those who are commonly called the #8fair mistresses'#dbg 7i4e4 ,nereids71 who have nothing on earth to do with ,barychnas and ,ephialtes4' ,the argument of this strangely confused passage is happily beside our mark1 and we need not puzzle1 with ,psellus1 over the demonology of dyspepsia4 ,his interpretation of the phrase ,i have even ventured to omit1 for a devious path of wilful reasoning leads only to the conclusion that it means the tree on which ,christ was crucified4 ,the only method in his mad medley of medicine and theology is the intention to refute the popular belief in a beautiful goddess who haunted the mountains4 ,some details of the belief may be gathered from ,allatius' criticism of the argument4 ,psellus mentions only the title 1 but ,allatius amplifies it in the phrase pulcram nemorum sive montium1 implying thereby that in his own time ,artemis--for it can be none other--was associated as much with woodland as with mountain2 while her intimate connexion with the ,nereids is adduced as a matter of common knowledge4 ,the somewhat loose phrase by which ,allatius indicates this fact--pulcram montium nihil aliud esse quam eas quas vulgus vocat pulcras dominas--must not be read in any strict and narrow sense4 ,the beautiful lady of the mountains is1 he means1 just such as are the ,nereids2 but she is a definite person1 distinguished as of old among her comrades by supreme grace and loveliness4 ,the statements of ,leo ,allatius1 based as they are in the main upon his own recollections of his native ,chios1 find remarkable corroboration in a history of the same island written a little earlier by one ,jerosme ,justinian#dbh4 ,in the main the history is purely fabulous1 taking its start from a point1 if my memory serves me rightly1 many centuries earlier than the ,deluge2 but the reference to contemporary superstitions may ,i think be trusted4 ,previously to the passage which ,i translate1 the writer has been telling the tale of the building of a wonderful tower by king ,scelerion of ,chios1 wherein to guard his daughter ,omorfia 7,beauty7 and three maids of honour with her until such time as he should find a husband worthy of her2 how the workmen never left the tower till it was finished2 how the master-mason threw down his implements from the top and himself essayed to fly down on wings of his own contrivance1 which however failed to work as he had hoped1 with the result that he fell into the river below the castle and was drowned2 and how his ghost was seen there every first of ,may at midday4 ,this story1 which may be taken as a fair type of the whole #8history1' leads1 by its mentions of apparitions on ,may #ast1 to the following passage#dbi3-- #8,they have also another foolish belief1 that near the tower are to be seen three youthful women1 clothed in white1 who invite passers-by to throw themselves into the river and get some cups of gold and silver which by diabolical illusion are seen floating on the water1 in the hope that going into the river they may be drowned in a whirlpool called by the ,greeks ,chiroclacas1 the water of which penetrates beneath the mountain as far as the precipice where the princess still shows herself4 ,further1 there is no manner of doubt that the three ladies who appear to the inhabitants of the place are those spirits who make their dwelling in the water1 assuming the form of women1 and called by the ancients ,nereides or ,negiardes2 the good women are so abused by these illusions that on the first of ,may they are wont to make crosses on their doors1 saying that the goddess of their mountains is due to come and visit them in their houses1 and that without this mark she would not come in2 likewise they say that she would slay any one who should go to meet her4 ,and so they give her the name of #8good1' being obliged by the fear in which they hold her to give her this title of honour4 ,some people are of opinion that this goddess is one of the ,oread nymphs who dwell in the mountains4444' ,this #8goddess of the mountains' whom they call #8good' 7i4e4 probably 7 is beyond doubt the same who was known to ,psellus and to ,allatius as 1 #8the beautiful lady of the mountains1' and to my pastoral informant as 1 #8the queen of the mountains'2 and in general the conception of her is the same as continues locally to the present day4 ,one statement indeed ,i cannot explain1 namely that the women make crosses on their doors with the purpose of attracting the goddess to their houses2 for ,i have already mentioned the same use of the symbol for the contrary purpose of keeping the ,nereids out#dcj4 ,possibly as regards this detail of the #8foolish belief' the grand seigneur was wrongly informed4 ,but in other respects1 in the close association of the goddess with the ,oreads or other nymphs1 in the fear which she inspired1 in the belief that she slew those who ventured upon her path1 the ,chian record is in complete agreement with the description which ,i have given from oral sources4 ,in terror1 as in charm1 the ,nereids' queen is foremost4 ,a contrary view however is taken by ,bernard ,schmidt#dca1 who states that she is pictured by the commonfolk as gentler and friendlier to man than her companions1 and even disposed to check their light and froward ways4 ,on such a point1 ,i freely admit1 local tradition might well vary2 but in this particular case ,i am inclined to think that ,schmidt fell into the error of confusing the wild-roaming1 nymph-escorted goddess of hill and vale and fountain with that other goddess who dwells solitary in the heart of the mountain1 dispensing blessings to the good and pains to the wicked1 and in the conception of whom we found an aftermath of the ancient crop of legends concerning ,demeter and ,kore4 ,surely this grand and lonely figure1 #8the ,mistress of the ,earth and of the ,sea1' is in every trait different from the lovely1 capricious1 cruel #8,queen of the ,mountains4' ,indeed the very circumstance of both presentations being known in one and the same district--as1 to my own knowledge1 in ,aetolia1 and1 on ,schmidt's own showing1 in ,zacynthos#dcb--proves that two divine persons1 in type and in character essentially different1 are here involved1 and not merely two accidental and local differentiations of the same deity4 ,doubtless in the more #8civilised' parts of ,greece 7to use the word beloved of the half-educated town-bred ,greek71 in the parts where old beliefs and customs are falling into decay and contempt while nothing good is substituted for them1 even the lower classes have lost or are losing count and memory of many of those powers whom their forefathers acknowledged2 but in the more favourably sequestered villages1 let us say1 of ,aetolia1 where superstition still fears no mockery1 no peasant would commit the mistake of confounding his ,demeter with his ,artemis4 ,between majestic loneliness and frolicsome throng1 between dignified beauty and bewitching loveliness1 between gentleness and lightness1 between love of good and wanton merriment1 between justice and caprice1 the gulf is wide4 ,but while the modern ,artemis is the leader of her nymphs in mischief and even in cruelty1 it must not be thought that she is always a foe to man4 ,in ,aetolia #8the lady ,beautiful' is quick to avenge a slight or an intrusion2 but for those who pay her due reverence she is a ready helper and a giver of good gifts4 ,health and wealth lie in her hand1 to bestow or to withhold1 as in the hands of the ,nereids4 ,hence even he whom her sudden anger has once smitten may regain her favour by offerings of honey and other sweetmeats on the scene of his calamity4 ,and probably peace-offerings with less definite intent have been or still are in vogue2 for it is reported that presents used to be brought to the cross-roads in ,zacynthos at midday or midnight simply to appease #8the great lady' and her train#dcc1 a survival surely of the ancient banquets of ,hecate surnamed 1 #8,goddess of the ,cross-roads4' ,in some cases hesitation may be felt in pronouncing an opinion whether it is for ,artemis and the nymphs or for the ,fates#dcd 77 that these gifts are intended2 and in the category of the doubtful must be included all those cases where the dedication of the offerings is merely to the #dce1 #8good ladies1' no further information being vouchsafed4 ,several writers1 including the ,german ,ross and the ,greek ,pittakis1 appear to have assumed without sufficient enquiry that none but the ,nereids could be thus designated2 but as a matter of fact1 the same euphemistic title is occasionally given also to the ,fates#dcf2 and while ,i incline to trust the experience and judgement of ,ross in the general statement which he makes concerning such offerings at ,athens1 ,thebes1 and elsewhere#dcg1 the accuracy of ,pittakis#dch on the other hand is challenged by the actual spot which he is describing when he identifies the #8good ladies' with the ,nereids2 for the place was none other than the so-called #8prison of ,socrates1' which the testimony of many travellers concurs in assigning to the ,fates4 ,but1 though some of the evidence concerning offerings demands closer scrutiny before it can have any bearing upon the continued belief in the existence of ,artemis1 there are certainly some corners of ,greece in which that goddess is still worshipped4 #8,the great lady1' #8the ,queen of the mountains1' #8the lady ,beautiful' are the various titles of a single goddess whose beauty and quick anger have ever since the heroic age held the ,greek folk in awe and demanded their reverence2 and until the inroads of ,european civilisation destroy with the weapon of ridicule all that is old in custom and creed1 ,artemis will continue to hold some sway over hill and stream and woodland4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the other queen1 of whom my boatman spoke1 #8the ,queen of the ,shore1' she who stands in the shallows and by her beauty and sweet voice entices the unwary to share her bed in the depths of the sea1 must ,i think be identified with a being who is more commonly called #8the ,lamia of the ,sea' or #8the ,lamia of the ,shore4' ,a popular poem#dci from ,salonica1 in which these two titles are found side by side1 tells of a contest between her and a young shepherd4 ,one day1 in disregard of his mother's warning1 he was playing his pipes upon the shore1 when the ,lamia appeared to him and made a wager with him that she would dance longer than he would go on playing4 ,if he should win1 he should have her to wife2 if she should win1 she was to take all his flocks as the prize4 ,three days the shepherd played1 three whole nights and days2 then his strength failed him1 and the ,lamia took his sheep and goats and left him destitute4 ,this poem has some points in common with a belief said to be held in the district of ,parnassos1 that if a young man--especially one who is handsome--play the flute or sing at mid-day or midnight upon the shore1 the ,lamia thereof emerges from the depths of the sea1 and with promises of a happy life tries to persuade him to be her husband and to come with her into the sea2 if the young man refuse1 she slays him#ddj2 and presumably1 though this is not mentioned1 if he consent1 she drowns him4 ,the same ,lamia1 it is recorded#dda1 is also known on the coasts of ,elis as a dangerous foe to sailors2 for her work is the waterspout and the whirlwind1 whereby their ships are engulfed4 ,among the ,cyclades too the same belief certainly prevails 7though ,i have never obtained there any details concerning the character of the ,lamia72 for on seeing a waterspout the sailors will exclaim1 #8the ,lamia of the ,sea is passing' 7 71 and sometimes stick a black-handled knife into the mast as a charm against her#ddb4 ,in these somewhat meagre accounts of the ,lamia of the ,sea1 there are several points in harmony with the general conception of ,nereids4 ,she is beautiful2 she seeks the love of young men1 even though that love mean death to them2 she is sweet of voice and untiring in dance2 and she passes to and fro in waterspout or whirlwind4 ,it is not surprising then to find that in ,elis she is actually named queen of the ,nereids#ddc1 that is1 without doubt1 of the sea-nymphs only1 since she herself has her domain only in the sea4 ,and the title #8queen of the shore' which ,i learnt of my boatman from ,scyros points to the same belief2 for as we found ,artemis1 #8queen of the mountains1' to be the leader of all the ,nereids of the land1 so should #8the queen of the shore' be ruler over the ,nereids of the sea4 ,how far this conception of the ,lamia of the ,sea accords with classical tradition1 it is impossible to decide4 ,only in one passage1 a fragment of ,stesichorus#ddd1 is there any evidence of the connexion of a ,lamia with the sea4 ,there the marine monster1 ,scylla1 was made #8the daughter of ,lamia1' a phrase which has given rise to the conjecture that the ancients like the moderns1 as we shall see in the next section1 recognised more than one species4 ,a marine ,lamia would supply the most natural parentage for ,scylla2 and if her mother may be identified with the modern ,lamia of the ,sea1 the foe of ships and creator of the waterspout1 the character of ,scylla is true to her lineage4 ,but the other traits in the character of the modern ,lamia of the ,sea can hardly be hers by such ancient prescription4 ,it is difficult to suppose that ,stesichorus pictured ,scylla's mother as a thing of beauty2 and the charm of the modern ,lamia's love-songs which seduce men to their death is perhaps an attribute borrowed from the ,sirens4 ,it is therefore in virtue of acquired rather than original qualities that the ,lamia of the ,sea has come to be queen of the sea-nymphs4 #aa4 ,,lamiae1 ,,gelloudes1 ,,and ,,striges4 ,the three classes of female monsters1 of whom the present section treats1 have ever since the early middle ages#dde been constantly confounded1 and the special attributes of each assigned promiscuously to the others4 ,this is due to the fact that all three possess one pronounced quality in common1 the propensity towards preying upon young children2 and wherever this horrible trait has absorbed1 as it well may1 the whole attention of mediaeval writer or modern peasant1 the distinctions between them in origin and nature have become obscured4 ,yet sufficient information is forthcoming1 if used with discrimination1 to enable some account to be given of each class separately4 ,the ,lamiae are hideous monsters1 shaped as gigantic and coarse-looking women for the most part1 but1 with strange deformities of the lower limbs such as ,aristophanes attributed to a kindred being1 the ,empusa#ddf4 ,their feet are dissimilar and may be more than two in number2 one is often of bronze1 while others resemble those of animals--ox1 ass1 or goat#ddg4 ,tradition relates that one of these monsters was once shot by a peasant at ,koropon1 a village in ,attica1 and was found to measure three fathoms in length2 and her loathsome nature was attested by the fact that1 when her body was thrown out in a desert plain1 no grass would grow where her blood had dripped#ddh4 ,the chief characteristics of the ,lamiae1 apart from their thirst for blood1 are their uncleanliness1 their gluttony1 and their stupidity4 ,the details of the first need not be named1 but would still furnish a jest for ,aristophanes in his coarser mood as they did of old#ddi4 ,their gluttony is clearly proved by their unwieldy corpulence4 ,their stupidity is best shown in their sorry management of their homes2 for even the ,lamiae have their domestic duties1 being mated usually1 according to the folk-tales#dej1 with dragons 771 and making their abode in caverns and desert places4 ,they ply the broom so poorly that #8the ,lamia's sweeping' 7 7 has become a proverb for untidiness#dea2 they are so ignorant of bread-making that they put their dough into a cold oven and heap the fire on top of it#deb2 they give their dogs hay to eat1 and bones to their horses#dec4 ,but they have at least the redeeming virtue of sometimes showing gratitude to those who help them out of the ill plight to which their ignorance has brought them#ded4 ,their stupidity also is regarded by the ,greeks as a cause of honesty4 ,though they are often rich1 as being the consorts of dragons whose chief function it is to keep guard over hidden treasure1 they have not the wit to keep their wealth1 but foolishly keep their word instead4 ,athenian tradition tells of a very rich ,lamia 7known by the name of 1 perhaps better written 1 a proper name formed from 1 #8foolish'71 who used to walk about at night1 seizing and crushing men whom she met till they roared like bulls4 ,but if her victim kept his wits about him and snatched her head-dress from her1 she would1 in order to get it back1 promise him both life and wealth1 and keep her word#dee4 ,such aspects of the ,lamiae however are by no means universally acknowledged2 nine peasants out of ten1 ,i suspect1 could give no further information about their character than that they feed on human flesh and choose above all new-born infants as their prey4 ,hence comes the popular phrase 7employed1 it would appear1 in more than one district of ,greece7 in reference to children who have died suddenly1 #def1 #8the ,child has been strangled by the ,lamia4' ,but in general ,i think the ravages of ,lamiae have ceased to inspire much genuine fear in the peasants' minds4 ,one there was1 so ,i heard1 near ,kephalvryso in ,aetolia1 whose dwelling-place1 a cave beside a torrent-bed1 was to some extent dreaded and avoided4 ,but in most parts the ,lamia only justifies the memory of her existence by serving to provide adventures for the heroes of folk-stories2 by lending her name1 along with ,empusa and ,mormo 7who still locally survive#deg71 as a terror with which mothers may intimidate naughty children1 or by furnishing it as a ready weapon of vituperation in the wordy warfare of women4 ,the word ,lamia1 which has survived unchanged in form down to the present day save that the by-forms 1 and are locally preferred1 did not originally it would seem indicate a species of monster but a single person4 ,lamia according to classical tradition was the name of a queen of ,libya who was loved by ,zeus1 and thus excited the resentment of ,hera1 who robbed her of all her children2 whereupon the desolate queen took up her abode in a grim and lonely cavern1 and there changed into a malicious and greedy monster1 who in envy and despair stole and killed the children of more fortunate mothers#deh4 ,but a plural of the word1 indicating that the single monster had been multiplied into a whole class1 soon occurs4 ,philostratus#dei in speaking of #8the ,empusae1 which the common people call ,lamiae and ,mormolykiae1' says1 #8,now these desire indeed the pleasures of love1 but yet more do they desire human flesh1 and use the pleasures of love to decoy those on whom they will feast4' ,a plural such as is here used might of course be merely a studied expression of contempt for vulgar superstitions2 but the latter part of the quotation seems to give a fair summary of the character of ancient ,lamiae4 ,this is illustrated by a gruesome story1 narrated by ,apuleius#dfj1 of two ,lamiae who1 in vengeance for a slight of the love proffered by one of them to a young man named ,socrates1 tore out his heart one night before the eyes of his companion ,aristomenes4 ,of these two main characteristics of the ancient ,lamiae1 the one1 lasciviousness1 has come to be mainly imputed in modern times to the ,lamia of the ,sea1 the single deity who rules the sea-nymphs2 while the craving for human flesh is the most marked feature of the terrestrial tribe of ,lamiae4 ,but the latter certainly are the truest descendants of the ancient ,lamia1 and occupy a place in popular belief such as she held of old2 for few1 it would seem1 stood then in any serious fear of the ,lamia2 the testimony of several ancient writers#dfa 7the story of ,apuleius notwithstanding7 proves that more than two thousand years ago she had already fallen to the level of bogeys which frighten none but children4 ,,gelloudes4 ,in my account of the ,nereids properly so-called1 reference was made to certain beings known in the ,cyclades as or and reckoned by several writers#dfb among the nymphs of the sea4 ,in this they certainly have the support of popular etymology2 for in ,amorgos ,theodore ,bent#dfc heard that #8an evil spirit lived close by1 which now and again rises out of the sea and seizes infants2 hence it is called ,gialo 7from #dfd1 the sea 7sic774' ,but it is1 ,i think1 only an erroneous association by the inhabitants of the ,cyclades of two like-sounding words which has caused the to be regarded as marine demons2 ,bent's information transposes cause and effect4 ,elsewhere in ,greece there are known certain beings called or 1 female demons with a propensity to carry off young children and to devour them2 and it is strange that so careful an authority on ,greek folk-lore as ,bernhard ,schmidt should not have recognised that the name employed in some of the ,cyclades is only a dialectic form of the commoner #dfe with an euphonetic prefixed as in the case of and 4 ,enquiry in ,tenos revealed to me the fact1 not mentioned1 though perhaps implied1 in the statement of ,bent1 that the are there believed to feed upon the children whom they carry off4 ,this trait at once confirms their identity with the 1 and renders it impossible to class them as a form of nymph4 ,it is of course believed that nymphs of the sea or of rivers1 when they carry off human children to their watery habitations1 do incidentally drown them1 but by an oversight and not of malice prepense4 ,but savagely to prey upon human flesh--for all the nymphs' wantonness and cruelty1 that is a thing abhorrent from their nature and inconceivable in them4 ,this horrid propensity proves the or to be a separate class of female demons4 ,the chief authority on these malignant beings is ,leo ,allatius#dff1 who both quotes a series of passages which enable us to trace the development of the belief in them1 and also tells a story which is the only source of evidence concerning other of their characteristics than their appetite for the flesh of infants4 ,their prototype1 mentioned1 we are told1 by ,sappho1 was the maiden ,gello1 whose spectre after her untimely end was said by the people of ,lesbos to beset children and to be chargeable with the early deaths of infants#dfg4 ,the individuality of this ,gello continued to be recognised to some extent as late as the tenth century#dfh2 for ,ignatius1 a deacon of ,constantinople1 in his life of the ,patriarch ,tarasius named her as a single demon1 though he added that the crime of killing children in the same way was also imputed to a whole class of witches4 #8,hence1' comments ,allatius1 #8it has come about that at the present day ,striges 7i4e4 the witches of whom ,ignatius speaks71 because they practise evil arts upon infants and by sucking their blood or in other ways cause their death1 are called ,gellones#dfi4' ,in the story also which exhibits the chief qualities of this demon1 her name 7in the form 7 appears still as a proper name4 ,but the multiplication of the single demon into a whole class dates from long before the time of ,allatius4 ,john of ,damascus in the eighth century used the plural as a popular word1 the meaning of which he took to be the same as that of ,striges 772 and ,michael ,psellus too in the eleventh century evidently regarded these two words as interchangeable designations of a class of beings 7whether of demons or of witches1 he leaves uncertain72 for after an exact account of the ,striges and their thirst for children's blood1 he says that new-born infants who waste away 7as if from the draining of their blood by these ,striges7 are called #dgj1 #8,gello-eaten4' ,the story of ,leo ,allatius#dga1 which sets forth the chief qualities of ,gello1 is a legend of which the ,saints ,sisynios and ,synidoros are the heroes4 ,the children of their sister ,melitene had been devoured by this demon1 and they set themselves to capture her4 ,she1 to effect her escape1 at once changed her shape1 and became first a swallow and then a fish2 but1 for all her slippery and elusive transformations1 they finally caught her in the form of a goat's hair adhering to the king's beard4 ,then addressing to her the words #8,cease1 foul ,gello1 from slaying the babes of ,christians1' they worked upon her fears until they extorted from her a confession of her twelve and a half names1 the knowledge of which was a safeguard against her assaults4 ,it is this list of names in which the various aspects of her activity appear4 ,the first is 1 one of the forms of the name ,gello2 the second #dgb1 the name of a kind of ,lamia2 the third or #8blood-sucker'2 the fourth 1 probably #8stony-hearted'2 the fifth 1 for she can fly as a bird in the air2 the sixth 1 for she can swim as a fish in the sea2 the seventh #dgc1 probably meaning #8stooping like a kite on her prey'2 the eighth 1 #8insatiable'2 the ninth 1 for she can lurk like a snake in the earth2 the tenth #dgd1 possibly #8soaring like a lark in the air'2 the eleventh #dge1 #8snatcher of souls'2 the twelfth 1 #8strangler of children'2 and the half-name 1 the kind of witch whereof the next section treats4 ,whether these names are anywhere still remembered as a mystic incantation1 or all the qualities which they imply still imputed to the ,gelloudes1 ,i cannot say4 ,but a modern cure for such of the demon's injuries as are not immediately fatal has been recorded from ,amorgos4 #8,if a child has been afflicted by it1 the mother first sends for the priest to curse the demon1 and scratches her child with her nails2 if these plans do not succeed1 she has to go down at sunset to the shore1 and select forty round stones brought up by forty different waves2 these she must take home and boil in vinegar1 and when the cock crows the evil phantom will disappear and leave the child whole#dgf4' ,,striges4 ,the ,striges1 though often confused with ,lamiae and with ,gelloudes1 are essentially different from them4 ,the two classes with which ,i have dealt are demons2 the ,striges1 in the modern acceptation of the term1 are women who possess the power to transform themselves into birds of prey or other animals2 and it is only the taste for blood1 shared by them with those demons1 which has created the confusion4 ,the ,striges moreover cannot1 like the ,lamiae or ,gelloudes1 be claimed either as an original product of the ,greek imagination or as the exclusive property of ,greek superstition at the present day4 ,the ,albanians have a word 1 and the people of ,corsica a term strega1 both of which denote a witch of the same powers and propensities as are feared in ,greece2 and it is likely that all of them--,greeks1 ,albanians1 ,corsicans--have borrowed the conception from ,italy4 ,the ancient ,greeks indeed had a word identical with the strix of ,latin1 but the shrieking night-bird denoted by it was not1 so far as ,i can discover1 invested by ,greek imagination with any terrors4 ,in ,italy on the contrary the ,strix was widely feared as a bloodthirsty monster in bird-form4 ,pliny evidently supposed it to be some actual bird1 though he doubted the fables concerning it4 #8,the strix1' he says1 #8certainly is mentioned in ancient curses2 but what kind of bird it may be1 is not ,i think agreed#dgg4' ,perhaps in those #8ancient curses' it was invoked to inflict such punishment upon enemies as it once meted out to ,otos and ,ephialtes for their attempt upon ,diana's chastity#dgh4 ,the notion however that ,striges were not really birds but witches in bird-form early suggested itself and found an exponent in ,ovid#dgi4 #8,voracious birds1' he says1 #8there are 444 that fly forth by night and assail children who still need a nurse's care1 and seize them out of their cradles and do them mischief4 ,with their beaks they are said to pick out the child's milk-fed bowels1 and their throat is full of the blood they drink4 ,striges they are called 444 and whether they come into being as birds or are changed thereto by incantation1 and the ,marsian spell transforms old women into winged things1'--such are their ways4 ,this was probably the state of the superstition when the ,greeks added ,striges to their own list of nightly terrors2 and the very form of the word in modern ,greek1 or 7being apparently a diminutive1 strigula1 such as spoken ,latin would readily have formed from the literary form strix71 testifies to the borrowing of the belief4 ,in ,greece the latter of the two ways in which ,ovid explained the origin of the ,strix seems to have been generally accepted as correct4 ,it is true that the modern ,greeks still have a real bird called #dhj 7either some kind of owl or the night-jar71 which not only loves twilight or darkness in the upper world but is also said to haunt the gloomy demesnes of ,charos below--thereby revealing perhaps some slight evidence of its relationship to the strix which tormented the brother giants2 but the ,strigla has long ceased to be a real bird1 and 7apart from the confusion with a ,lamia or ,gello7 is always a witch4 ,the condition of the belief in the eighth century is noticed by ,john of ,damascus#dha4 #8,there are some of the more ignorant who say that there are women known as ,striges 771 otherwise called ,geloudes4 ,they allege that these are to be seen at night passing through the air1 and that when they happen to come to a house they find no obstacle in doors and bolts1 but though the doors are securely locked make their way in and throttle infants4 ,others say that the ,strix devours the liver and all the internal organs of the children1 and so sets a short limit to their lives4 ,and they stoutly declare1 some that they have seen1 and others that they have heard1 the ,strix entering houses1 though the doors were locked1 either in bodily form or as a spirit only4' ,again in the eleventh century ,michael ,psellus noticed the same superstition1 though as we have seen his language suggests some confusion of ,striges with ,gelloudes4 ,but he is really describing the faculty of the former to assume the shape of birds when he says1 #8,the superstition obtaining nowadays invests old women with this power4 ,it provides them with wings in their extreme age1 and represents them as settling#dhb unseen upon infants1 whom1 it is alleged1 they suck until they exhaust all the humours in them'#dhc4 ,leo ,allatius1 by whom this passage is cited1 produces both from his own experience and from the testimony of others several instances of such occurrences1 and mentions also the various precautions taken against them4 ,these include all-night watches1 lamps suspended before the pictures of patron-saints1 amulets of garlic or of coral1 and the smearing of oil from some saint's lamp on the face of the child or invalid4 ,it will suffice however to quote his general description of the ,striges according to the beliefs of the seventeenth century4 ,striges 771 he tells us in effect1 are old women whom poverty and misery drive to contract an alliance with the devil for all evil purposes2 men are little molested by them1 but women and still more commonly children1 being a weaker and easier prey1 suffer much from them1 their breath alone#dhd being so pernicious as to cause insanity or even death4 ,they are especially addicted to attacking new-born babes1 sucking out their blood and leaving them dead1 or so polluting them by their touch that what life remains to them is never free from sickness4 ,it will have been noticed in this last account of the ,striges1 that the range of their activity is somewhat enlarged1 so that women as well as children fall victims to them4 ,at the present day1 though they are believed to prey chiefly upon infants1 even grown men are not immune1 as witness a story#dhe from ,messenia4 ,once upon a time a man was passing the night at the house of a friend whose household consisted of his wife and mother-in-law4 ,about midnight some noise awakened him1 and listening intently he made out the voices of the two women conversing together4 ,what he heard terrified him1 for they were planning to eat himself or his host1 whichever proved the fatter4 ,at once he perceived that his friend's wife and mother-in-law were ,striges1 and knowing that there was no other means of escaping the danger that was threatening him1 he determined to try to save himself by guile4 ,the ,striges advanced towards the sleeping men and took hold of their guest's foot to see if it was heavy1 and consequently fat and good for eating2 he however1 understanding their purpose1 raised his foot of his own accord as they took it in their hands and weighed it1 so that it felt to them as light as a feather1 and they let it drop again disappointed4 ,then they took hold of the foot of the other man who was sleeping1 and naturally found it very heavy4 ,delighted at the result of their investigation1 they ripped open the wretched man's breast1 pulled out his liver and other parts1 and threw them among the hot ashes on the hearth to cook4 ,then noticing that they had no wine1 they flew to the wine-shop1 took what they wanted and returned4 ,but in the interval the guest got up1 collected the flesh that was being cooked1 stowed it away in his pouch1 and put in its place on the hearth some animal's dung4 ,the ,striges however ate up greedily what was on the hearth1 complaining only that it was somewhat over-done4 ,the next day the two friends rose and left the house2 the victim of the previous night was very pale1 but he did not bear the slightest wound or scar on his breast4 ,he remarked to his companion that he felt excessively hungry1 and the other gave him what had been cooked during the night1 which he ate and found exceedingly invigorating2 the blood mounted to his cheeks and he was perfectly sound again4 ,thereupon his friend told him what had happened during the night1 and they went together and slew the ,striges4 ,this story exhibits all the essential qualities of ,striges4 ,the pair of them are women1 and one at least1 the mother-in-law1 is old2 they choose the night for their depredations2 they can assume the form of birds1 for #8they flew1' it is said1 to the wine-shop2 and their taste for human flesh is the motif of the story4 ,it must however be acknowledged that as the area of the ,striges' activities has become somewhat extended1 so also has the ancient limitation of the term to old women become locally somewhat relaxed4 ,in many parts of ,greece a belief is held that certain infants are liable to a form of lycanthropy2 and female infants so disposed are sometimes called ,striges4 ,a story from ,tenos#dhf1 narrated in several versions1 concerns an infant princess who was a ,strigla4 ,every day one of the king's horses was found to have been killed and devoured in the night4 ,the three princes1 her brothers1 therefore kept watch in turn2 and it fell to the fortune of the youngest of them1 owing to his courage and skill1 to detect the malefactor4 ,about midnight he heard a noise1 and fired into the middle of a cloud that seemed to hang over the horses1 thereby so wounding his sister that the mark observed on her next day betrayed her nightly doings4 ,not daring however to accuse her to his father1 he fled from home with his mother to a place of safety1 while the girl remained undisturbed in her voracity and consumed one by one all the people of the town4 ,but in other places where the same belief prevails1 as we shall see later1 these enfants terribles1 who may be of either sex1 are called not ,striges but by some such name as #8callicantzaros1' #8vrykolakas1' or #8gorgon'2 and this variety of names is in itself a proof that1 while the idea of infant cannibals is widespread1 no exact verbal equivalent now exists1 and each of the several names used is only requisitioned to supply the deficiency4 ,a child can indeed enjoy the title of ,strigla by courtesy2 only an old woman can possess it of right4 ,thus the old ,graeco-,roman fear of ,striges still remains little changed4 ,the ,church has repeatedly forbidden belief in them#dhg2 legislation has prohibited in times past the killing of them#dhh4 ,but the link of superstition between the past and the present is still unbroken2 and witch-burning is an idea which in any secluded corner of ,greece might still be put into effect#dhi4 #ab4 ,,gorgons4 ,the modern conception of the ,gorgon 7 7 or ,gorgons 77--for popular belief seems to vary locally between recognising one or more such beings--is extremely complex4 ,of my own knowledge ,i can unfortunately contribute nothing new to what has been published by others concerning them2 for though ,i have several times heard ,gorgons mentioned1 and always on further enquiry found them to be terrible demons who dwell in the sea1 it has so chanced that ,i have been unable to get any more explicit information on the subject4 ,the present section is therefore1 so far as the facts are concerned1 a compilation from the researches of others1 especially of ,prof4 ,polites of ,athens ,university4 ,a ,gorgon is represented as half woman1 half fish4 ,rough sketches on the walls of small taverns and elsewhere may often be observed1 depicting a woman with the tail of a fish1 half emerging from the waves1 and holding in one hand a ship1 in the other an anchor2 sometimes also she is armed with a breastplate#dij4 ,similar designs are also to be seen tattooed upon the arms or breasts of men of the lower classes1 especially among the maritime population4 ,the ,gorgons themselves are to be encountered in all parts of the sea2 but their favourite resort1 especially on ,saturday nights1 is reputed to be the ,black ,sea1 where if one of them meets a ship1 grasping the bows with her hand she asks1 #8,is king ,alexander living8' ,to this the sailors must reply #8he lives and reigns1' and may add #8and he keeps the world at peace1' or #8and long life to you too6'2 for then the awful and monstrous ,gorgon in gladness at the tidings transforms herself into a beautiful maiden and calms the waves and sings melodiously to her lyre4 ,if on the contrary the sailors make the mistake of saying that ,alexander is dead1 she either capsizes the ship with her own hand or by the wildness of her lamentations raises a storm from which there is no escape nor shelter#dia4 ,the mention of ,alexander the ,great in these stories of the ,gorgons1 as also sometimes in connexion with the ,nereids1 is unimportant2 it is not an instance of purely oral tradition1 but has its source in the history of ,alexander by ,pseudocallisthenes#dib1 of which there exist paraphrases in the popular tongue4 ,the interest of such fables lies in the association of beauty and melody as well as of horror with the ,gorgons1 and in the rle of marine deity which they play4 ,in general however it is upon the monstrous and terrifying aspect of the ,gorgons that the common-folk seize1 so that the name ,gorgon is metaphorically applied to ill-favoured and malevolent women#dic4 ,thus in ,rhodes it is used of any large fierce-looking virago#did2 in ,cephalonia 7where also the word 1 ,medusa1 survives in the same sense7 of any lady conspicuously ill-featured#die4 ,allusion too has already been made to the case where a child possessed by a mania of bloodthirstiness is occasionally called a ,gorgon#dif4 ,but there is another and fresh aspect of the ,gorgon's nature suggested by the use of the word in ,cythnos4 ,there it is metaphorically applied to depraved women#dig2 and this isolated usage is in accord with one description of the ,gorgon which has come down from the middle ages4 ,this description forms part of a poem entitled #8,the ,physiologus#dih' 7written in the most debased ecclesiastical ,greek and supposed to date from before the thirteenth century71 which gives a fantastic account of the habits of many birds and beasts among which the ,gorgon is included4 #8,the ,gorgon is a beast like unto a harlot2 the hair of her head is all auburn2 the ends thereof are as it were heads of snakes2 and her body is bare and smooth1 white as a dove1 and her bosom is a woman's with breasts fair to behold2 but the look of her face brings death2 whatsoever looks upon her falls down and dies4 ,she dwells in the regions of the ,west4 ,she knows all languages and the speech of wild beasts4 ,when she desires a mate1 she calls first to the lion2 for fear of death he draws not near to her4 ,again she calls the dragon1 but neither does he go2 and even so all the beasts both small and great4 ,she pipes sweetly and sings with charm beyond all2 lastly she utters human voice3 8,come1 sate fleshly desire1 ye men1 of my beauty1 and ,i of yours40 ,the men1 knowing then their opportunity against her1 lay snares that she may lose her pleasure2 and stand afar off1 that they may not see her1 and raise their voice and cry and say unto her3 8,dig a deep pit and put thy head therein1 that we may not die and may come with thee40 ,she straightway then goes and makes a great hole and puts her head therein and leaves her body2 from the waist downward it is seen naked2 so she remains and awaits the pains of lewdness4 ,the man goes from behind1 cuts off her head1 holds it face downward1 and places it in a vessel1 and if he meet dragon or lion or leopard1 he shows the head1 and the beasts die4' ,these modern or mediaeval descriptions of the ,gorgons1 though they are by no means consistent one with another1 offer four main aspects in which the modern ,gorgon may be compared with the creatures of ancient mythology4 ,her face is terrible either in its surpassing loveliness or in its overwhelming hideousness4 ,she possesses the gift of entrancing melody4 ,she is voluptuous4 ,she dwells in the sea4 ,the first aspect may be derived directly from the ancient conception of the ,gorgons4 ,the word itself is a name formed from the adjective and means simply #8fierce' or #8terrible' in look1 without implying anything of beauty or the opposite2 while of ,medusa1 the ,gorgon par excellence1 tradition relates that once she was a beautiful maiden beloved of ,poseidon1 and that it was only through the wrath of ,athena that her hair was changed into writhing snakes and her loveliness lost in horror4 ,moreover in ancient works of art the representation of the ,gorgon's head varies from a type of cruel beauty to a grinning mask4 ,but it is also possible that the idea of their beauty is due to a confusion of ,gorgons with ,sirens1 from whom1 as we shall see1 certain traits have certainly been borrowed4 ,these traits are the two next aspects of the modern ,gorgons which we have to consider1 the sweetness of their singing and their voluptuousness4 ,these were the essential qualities of the ,sirens1 and have undoubtedly been transferred to the ,gorgons no less than to the ,lamia of the ,sea#dii4 ,possibly also from the same source comes the mixed shape1 half woman and half fish1 in which the ,gorgon is now pourtrayed4 ,the ,sirens were indeed originally terrestrial1 dwelling in a meadow near the sea1 yet not venturing in the deep themselves1 but luring men to shipwreck on the coast by the spell of their song2 and an echo perhaps of this conception1 though the ,sirens themselves are no longer known1 lives on in a folk-song which pictures the enchantment of a maiden's love-song wafted to seafarers' ears from off the shore3 #8,thereby a ship was passing with sails outspread4 ,sailors that hearken to that voice and look upon such beauty1 forget their sails and forsake their oars2 they cannot voyage any more2 they know not how to set sail#ejj4' ,but by the sixth century#eja the traditional habitat of the ,sirens had changed4 #8,the ,sirens1' says an anonymous work on monsters and great beasts1 #8are mermaids1 who by their exceeding beauty and winning song ensnare mariners2 from the head to the navel they are of human and maidenly form1 but they have the scaly tails of fishes#ejb4' ,this description establishes an unquestionable connexion between the ,sirens and the modern ,gorgons4 ,but the fourth aspect of the ,gorgons on which ,i have to touch1 their connexion with the sea1 is not1 ,i think1 to be explained as another loan from the ,sirens4 ,on the contrary the ,gorgons were it would seem deities of the sea1 when the ,sirens were still dwellers upon the shore2 and it was their originally marine character which enabled them to absorb the qualities once attributed to the ,sirens4 ,thus according to ,hesiod#ejc the three ,gorgons were daughters of the sea-deities ,phorcys and ,ceto1 and their home was at the western bound of ,ocean4 ,further one of their number1 ,medusa1 was loved by the sea-god ,poseidon1 and gave birth both to the horse ,pegasus whose name may be a derivative of 1 #8water-spring1' and whose resort was certainly the fountain of ,pirene#ejd1 and also to ,chrysaor whose bride was #8,callirrhoe1 daughter of far-famed ,ocean4' ,whether this mythological problem is capable of solution in terms of natural phenomena#eje does not here concern us2 but it is a straightforward and necessary inference from these genealogical data1 that an early and intimate connexion existed between the ,gorgons and the sea4 ,and here art comes to the support of literature4 ,in the ,national ,museum of ,athens are two vases of about the sixth century1 depicting ,gorgons in the company of dolphins4 ,the first1 an early ,attic amphora#ejf represents the three ,gorgons1 of whom ,medusa appears headless1 surrounded by a considerable number of them4 ,the second1 a kylex#ejg with offset lip of the ,kleinmeister type1 pourtrays a single ,gorgon with a dolphin on either side4 ,these artistic presentments furnish the strongest possible corroboration of ,hesiodic lore1 and justify the assertion that from the earliest times the ,gorgons were deities of the sea4 ,it was clearly then in virtue of their own marine character that they were able later to usurp also the place of the ,sirens4 ,but the ,sirens are not the only ancient beings who have contributed to the formation of the popular conception of modern ,gorgons4 ,in one story#ejh the personality of ,scylla is unmistakeable beneath the disguise of name4 ,this fusion is the more natural in that ,scylla was from the beginning#eji a monster of the sea1 whose form1 according to ,vergil#eaj1 terminated like that of latter-day ,gorgons in a fish's tail2 a monster too fully as terrible in her own way as any ,gorgon4 ,the following extract from the story contains all that is pertinent4 #8,so the lad departed and tramped on for twenty hours4 ,then he came to a village by the sea1 and saw some men busy lading a boat with oil1 and they were carrying on board each one a barrel4 ,when he drew near to them1 he said1 8,can you carry but one barrel at a time1 my good fellows8 ,see how many ,i will carry40 ,so saying1 he took a barrel on each shoulder1 and placed them in the boat4 ,then said the captain to him1 8,thank you1 my lad0 7for he was afraid of him71 8come and have some food40 8,no1 thank you1 captain10 he replied1 8,i do not want any4 ,but when you are passing yonder straits1 please take me along with you40 ,the captain was delighted to do so1 for in the sea at that place there was a ,gorgon1 and from every boat that passed she took one man as toll and devoured him1 or else swamped the whole boat4 ,so they set out1 and as they were going the captain said to the lad1 8,take a turn at the tiller1 my boy1 that we may go and sleep1 for we are tired40 ,accordingly they went below--to sleep1 so they pretended--and the lad remained at the helm4 ,suddenly the boat stopped4 ,he was looking about on each side when he heard a voice behind him4 ,he turned at once and saw a beautiful woman with golden hair1 who said to him1 8,give me my tribute40 8,what tribute80 replied the lad4 8,the man whom ,i devour from each boat that passes40 8,give me your hand10 said the lad to her4 ,straightway without demur she gave it to him1 and tried to pull him down into the sea4 ,at this the lad grew angry4 8,come up1 you she-devil1 come up here10 he cried1 and dashed her upon the deck4 ,then he belaboured her soundly1 and said to her3 8,swear to me that you will never molest man again1 or ,i will not let you go40 8,i swear10 she said1 8by my mother the sea and by my father ,alexander1 that ,i will molest none40 ,then he threw her back into the sea4' ,apart from the description of the ,gorgon in this story1 as in others1 as a #8beautiful woman with golden hair1' the tradition which has contributed chiefly to the invention of the episode is the ancient myth of ,scylla and1 we may perhaps add1 of ,charybdis2 for here too the straits are the scene of alternative horrors1 either the devouring of one man out of the crew or the sinking of the whole craft4 ,but in spite of the fusion of both ,scylla and the ,sirens with the ,gorgons in the crucible of popular imagination1 analysis of the complex modern conception still reveals two elements in the ,gorgons' nature which vindicate their claim to their ancient name1 their association with the sea and the terror that they inspire4 #ac4 ,,the ,,centaurs4 4 ,,plato1 ,phaedrus1 #g4 ,the ,callicntzari 77 are the most monstrous of all the creatures of the popular imagination1 and none are better known to the ,greek-speaking world at large2 for even where educated men have ceased to believe in them1 they still figure in the stories told and retold to children with each recurring ,new ,year's ,day2 and1 among the peasants1 many reach manhood or womanhood without outgrowing their early fears of them4 ,the name ,callicantzaros itself appears in many dialectic and widely differing forms1 and there are also a multitude of local by-names4 ,of the former ,i shall treat later in discussing the origin of the word ,callicantzaros1 while the by-names1 being for the most part descriptive of the appearance or qualities of these monsters1 will be mentioned as occasion requires4 ,but even where other local names are in common use1 some form of the word ,callicantzaros is almost always employed as well1 or at least is understood4 ,as in the nomenclature1 so too in the description of the ,callicantzari1 one locality differs very widely from another4 ,and this cannot be merely a result of the wide distribution of the belief in them2 for the ,nereids certainly are equally widely known1 and yet their appearance and habits are1 broadly speaking1 everywhere the same4 ,the extraordinary divergences and even contradictions in different accounts of the ,callicantzari demand some other explanation than that of casual variation4 ,that explanation1 as ,i shall show later1 lies in their identity with the ancient ,centaurs4 ,but before ,i discuss their origin1 ,i must attempt as general a description of their appearance and habits as the vast variation of local traditions permits4 ,in revising this description ,i have had the advantage of consulting ,prof4 ,polites' new work on the traditions of modern ,greece#eaa1 from which ,i have learnt some new facts1 and have obtained on several points confirmation from a new source of what ,i had myself heard or surmised4 ,i take this opportunity of gratefully acknowledging my indebtedness to him4 ,in describing the ,callicantzari1 although the diversities of their outward form are almost endless1 two main classes of them must be distinguished1 because corresponding with that physical division there is also a marked difference in character4 ,the two classes differ physically in stature1 and1 while all ,callicantzari are essentially mischievous in character1 the mischief wrought by the larger sort is often of a malicious and even deadly order1 while the smaller sort are more frolicsome and harmless in their tricks4 ,the larger kind vary from the size of a man to that of a gigantic monster whose loins are on a level with the chimneypots4 ,they are usually black in colour1 and covered with a coat of shaggy hair1 but a bald variety is also sometimes mentioned4 ,their heads and also their sexual organs are out of all proportion to the rest of their bodies4 ,their faces are black2 their eyes glare red2 they have the ears of goats or asses2 from their huge mouths blood-red tongues loll out1 flanked by ferocious tusks4 ,their bodies are in general very lean1 so that in some districts the word ,callicantzaros is applied metaphorically to a very lean man#eab2 but a shorter and thickset variety also occurs4 ,they have the arms and hands of monkeys1 and their nails are as long again as their fingers and curved like the talons of a vulture4 ,they are sometimes furnished with long thin tails4 ,they have the legs of a goat or an ass1 or sometimes one human leg and one of bestial form2 or again both legs are of human shape1 but the foot so distorted that the toes come where the heel should be#eac4 ,hence it is not surprising that they are often lame1 but even so they are swift of foot and terrible in strength4 #8,they devour their road at the pace of ,pegasus1' wrote ,leo ,allatius#ead2 and at the present day several by-names bear witness to their speed4 ,in ,samos they are called #eae1 #8those who make good speed'2 in ,cyprus #eaf1 #8the wanderers'2 in ,athens they have the humorous title 1 formed from the proverbial expression ' 1 #8he has needles in his buttocks1' said of any one who cannot sit still1 but is always on the move#eag4 ,their strength also has earned them one by-name1 reported from ,kardamle in ,maina1 1 said to be formed from the ,turkish tselik 7#8iron'71 in the sense of #8strong as iron#eah4' ,all or any of the features which ,i have mentioned may be found in the person of a single ,callicantzaros2 but it must be allowed also that no one of them is essential4 ,for sometimes the ,callicantzaros appears in ordinary human form without so much as a cloven hoof to distinguish him from ordinary mankind1 or again completely in animal shape4 ,in one place they are described as #eai1 savages but human in appearance1 while in another they are #ebj1 #8savage quadrupeds4' ,yet in general the ,callicantzari are neither wholly anthropomorphic nor wholly theriomorphic1 but a blend of the two4 ,in a story of some men at ,athens who dressed themselves up as ,callicantzari1 it is said that they blacked their faces and covered themselves with feathers#eba4 ,again two grotesque and bestial clay statuettes from the ,cabirium near ,thebes and now in the ,national ,museum at ,athens1 were identified by peasants as ,callicantzari#ebb2 an identification ,i have also met with when questioning peasants about similar objects in local museums2 in one case it was a ,satyr and in another a ,centaur which my guide identified as a ,callicantzaros4 ,on the whole ,i should say that the goat contributes more than any other animal to the popular conception of these monsters4 ,besides having the legs and the ears of goats1 as was noted above1 they are sometimes said to have their horns also2 and in ,chios their resemblance to goats is so clearly recognised that in one village they have earned the by-name of #ebc1 which by formation should mean #8men who have to do with goats 771' though it has apparently been appropriated to the designation of beings who are in form half goat and half man4 ,there are however districts1 as we shall see later1 in which some other animal than the goat forms the predominant element in the monstrous ensemble4 ,the smaller sort of ,callicantzari is rarer than the large1 but their distribution is at any rate wide4 ,they are the predominant type in north-west ,arcadia1 in the district about ,mount ,parnassus1 and at ,oeno#ebd on the southern shore of the ,black ,sea4 ,they are most often human in shape1 but are mere pigmies1 no taller than a child of five or six4 ,they are usually black1 like the larger sort1 but are smooth and hairless4 ,they are very commonly deformed1 and in this respect the strange beasts on which they ride are like them4 ,at ,arachova#ebe1 on the slopes of ,parnassus1 every one of them is said to have some physical defect4 ,some are lame2 others squint2 others have only one eye2 others have their noses or mouths1 hands or feet set all askew2 and as a cavalcade of them passes by night through the village1 one is to be seen mounted on a cock and his long thin legs trail on the ground as he rides2 another has a horse no bigger than a small dog2 another1 the tiniest of them all1 is perched on an enormous donkey's back1 and when he falls off cannot mount again2 and others again ride strange unknown beasts1 lame1 one-eyed1 or one-eared like their masters4 ,callicantzari of this type are usually harmless to men4 ,they play indeed the same boisterous pranks as their larger brethren1 but perhaps owing to their insignificant size are an object of merriment rather than of fear4 ,but1 as ,i shall show later1 there is reason to believe that they are not the original type of ,callicantzari4 ,it is only by a casual development of the superstition1 that these grotesque hobgoblins have been locally substituted for the grim and gaunt monsters feared elsewhere4 ,they form1 as it were1 a modern and expurgated edition of the larger sort of ,callicantzari1 to whom ,i now return4 ,the ,callicantzari appear only during the or #8period of twelve days' between ,christmas and ,epiphany#ebf4 ,the rest of the year they live in the lower world1 and occupy themselves in trying to gnaw through or cut down the great tree 7or in other accounts the one or more columns7 on which the world rests4 ,each ,christmas they have nearly completed their task1 when the time comes for their appearance in the upper world1 and during their twelve days' absence1 the supports of the world are made whole again4 ,even during their short visit to this world1 they do not appear in the daytime4 ,from dawn till sunset they hide themselves in dark and dank places--in caves or beneath mills--and there feed on such food as they can collect1 worms1 snakes1 frogs1 tortoises1 and other unclean things4 ,but at night they issue forth and run wildly to and fro1 rending and crushing those who cross their path4 ,destruction and waste1 greed and lust mark their course4 ,now they break into some lonely mill1 terrify and coerce the miller into showing them his store1 bake for themselves cakes thereof1 befoul with urine all that they cannot use1 and are gone again4 ,now they pass through some hamlet1 and woe to that house which is not prepared against their coming4 ,by chimney and door alike they swarm in1 and make havoc of the home2 in sheer wanton mischief they overturn and break all the furniture1 devour the ,christmas pork1 befoul all the water and wine and food which remains1 and leave the occupants half dead with fright or violence4 ,now it is a wine shop that they enter1 bind the publican to his chair1 gag him with dung1 break open each cask in turn1 drink their fill1 and leave the wine running4 ,now they light upon some belated wayfarer1 and make sport of him as their fancy leads them4 ,sometimes his fate is only to dance all night with the ,callicantzari and to be let go at cockcrow unscathed2 for these monsters despite their uncouth shape delight in dancing1 and to that end often seek the company of the ,nereids2 but more often men are sorely torn and battered before they escape1 and women are forcibly carried off to be the monsters' wives4 ,in some accounts they even make a meal of their human prey4 ,the fact that the activities of the ,callicantzari are always limited to the night-time has given them a special claim to the name or #ebg1 formed from 1 #8the hour before cockcrow1' for then it is that their excesses and depredations have reached their zenith2 but the word cannot correctly be called a by-name of the ,callicantzari1 for it is also1 if more rarely1 applied to other nocturnal visitants4 ,the only redeeming qualities in these creatures' characters1 from the point of view of men who fall into their clutches1 are their stupidity and their quarrelsomeness4 ,they have indeed a chieftain who sometimes tries to marshal and to discipline them1 and who is at least wise enough to warn them when the hour of their departure draws near4 ,but in general #8the ,great ,callicantzaros#ebh1' as he is called1 or #8the lame demon#ebi1' is too like the rest of them to be of much avail2 and indeed his place is not at the head of the riotous mob where he might control them1 but he limps along1 a grotesque and usually ithyphallic figure1 in the rear4 ,thus in the popular stories it often happens that either the ,callicantzari go on quarrelling about the treatment of some man or the possession of some woman whom they have captured1 or else their prisoner is shrewd enough to keep them amused1 until cock-crow brings release4 ,for at that sound 7or1 to be more precise1 at the crowing of the third cock1 who is black and more potent to scare away demons than the white and red cocks who precede him#ecj7 they vanish away1 like all terrors of the night in ancient#eca as well as modern times1 to their dark lairs4 ,the tales told by the peasants about the ,callicantzari are extremely numerous1 though there is a certain sameness about the main themes4 ,three types of story however are deserving of notice1 to illustrate the character of the ,callicantzari and the ways in which they may be outwitted and eluded4 ,the first type may be represented by a tale told to me in ,scyros in explanation of the name of a cave some half-hour distant from the town4 ,both the cave itself and that part of the path which lies just below it are popularly called 1 #8the ,callicantzaros' foot4' ,my enquiries concerning the name elicited the following story1 which seems incidentally to explain how the ,great ,callicantzaros came to be lame4 #8,once upon the eve of ,epiphany a man of ,scyros was returning home from a mill late at night1 driving his mule before him laden with two sacks of meal4 ,when he had gone about half-way1 he saw before him some ,callicantzari in his path4 ,realising his danger1 he at once got upon his mule and laid himself flat between the two sacks and covered himself up with a rug1 so as to look like another sack of meal4 ,soon the ,callicantzari were about his mule1 and he held his breath and heard them saying1 8,here is a pack on this side and a pack on that side1 and the top-load in the middle1 but where is the man80 ,so they ran back to the mill thinking that he had loitered behind2 but they could not find him and came back after the mule1 and looked again1 and said1 8,here is a pack on this side and a pack on that side1 and the top-load in the middle1 but where is the man80 ,so they ran on in front fearing that he had hasted on home before his mule4 ,but when they could not find him1 they returned again1 and said as before1 and went back a second time towards the mill4 ,and thus it happened many times4 ,now while they were running to and fro1 the mule was nearing home1 and it so happened that when the beast stopped at the door of the man's house1 the ,callicantzari were close on his track4 ,the man therefore called quickly to his wife and she opened the door and he entered in safety1 but the mule was left standing without4 ,then the ,callicantzari saw how he had tricked them1 and they knocked at the door in great anger4 ,so the woman1 fearing lest they would break in by force1 promised to open to them on condition that they should first count for her the holes in her sieve4 ,to this they agreed1 and she let it down to them by a cord from a window4 ,straightway they set to work to count1 and counted round and round the outermost circle and never got nearer to the middle2 nor could they discover how this came to pass1 but only counted more and more hurriedly1 without advancing at all4 ,meanwhile dawn was breaking1 and so soon as the neighbours perceived the ,callicantzari1 they hurried off to the priests and told them4 ,the priests immediately set out with censers and sprinkling-vessels in their hands1 to chase the ,callicantzari away4 ,right through the town the monsters fled1 spreading havoc in their path and hotly pursued by the priests4 ,at last when they were clear of the town1 one ,callicantzaros began to lag behind1 and by a great exertion the foremost priest came up to him and struck him on the hinder foot with his sprinkling vessel4 ,at once the foot fell off1 but the ,callicantzaros fled away maimed though he was4 ,and thus the spot came to be known as 8the ,callicantzaros' foot40' ,this story consists of three episodes4 ,the first1 in which the driver of the mule outwits the ,callicantzari by lying flat on the animal's back and making himself look like a sack of meal1 occurs time after time in the popular tales with hardly any variation2 indeed it often forms in itself the motif of a whole story1 in which1 as soon as the man reaches his home1 the cock crows and the ,callicantzari flee4 ,the second episode in which the wife effects some delay by bargaining with the ,callicantzari that they shall count the holes in a sieve1 is also fairly common1 but the difficulty which the monsters find1 in every other version of which ,i know1 is that they dare not pronounce the word #8three1' and so go on counting #8one1 two1' #8one1 two' till cock-crow#ecb4 ,the third episode in which the priests chase away the ,callicantzari is not often found in current stories1 but the belief that the or #8hallowing' which takes place on the morning of ,epiphany is the signal for the final departure of the ,callicantzari is firmly held throughout ,greece4 ,this ceremony consists primarily in #8blessing the waters'--whether of the sea1 of rivers1 of village-wells1 or1 as at ,athens1 of the reservoir--by carrying a cross in procession to the appointed place and throwing it in2 but in many districts also the priests afterwards fill vessels with the blest waters1 and with these and their censers make a round of the village1 sprinkling and purifying the people and their houses and cornfields and vineyards4 ,the fear which the ,callicantzari feel of this purification is embodied in some rough lines which they are supposed to chant as they disappear at ,twelfth-night3 1 1 ' ' 1 ' #ecc4 ,quick1 begone6 we must begone1 ,here comes the pot-bellied priest1 ,with his censer in his hand ,and his sprinkling-vessel too2 ,he has purified the streams ,and he has polluted us4 ,in the actual tales however as told by the people the intervention of the priests is not a common episode4 ,more often the story ends in a rescue effected by neighbours armed with firebrands1 of which the ,callicantzari go in mortal terror1 or simply with the crowing of the black cock4 ,the second type of story deals with the adventures of a girl sent by her wicked stepmother to a mill during the dangerous ,twelve ,days1 nominally to get some corn ground1 but really in the hope that she will fall a prey to the ,callicantzari4 ,having arrived at the mill the girl calls in vain to the miller to come and help unload her mule1 and entering in search of him finds him bound to his chair or dead with fright and the ,callicantzari standing about him4 ,they at once seize the girl1 and begin to quarrel which shall have her for his own4 ,but the girl keeps her wits1 and says that she will be the wife of the one who brings her the best bridal array4 ,so they disperse in search of fine raiment and jewels4 ,meanwhile she sets to work to grind the corn1 and each time a ,callicantzaros returns with presents1 she sends him on a fresh errand for something more4 ,finally the corn is all ground1 and she quickly loads the mule with two sacks1 one on either side1 clothes herself in the gold and jewels which the ,callicantzari have brought1 mounts the mule and lies flat on the saddle covered over with a sack1 and eluding the ,callicantzari who pursue her1 like the muleteer in the previous story1 reaches home in safety4 ,the wicked stepmother seeing that her plans have miscarried and that her stepdaughter is now rich while her own daughter is poor1 determines to send the latter the next evening to the mill4 ,she too finds the mill occupied by the ,callicantzari1 but not being so shrewd as her half-sister either falls a victim to the lust of the monsters1 or is killed and eaten by them1 or1 in one version#ecd1 is stripped of her own clothes1 dressed in the skin of her mule which the ,callicantzari have killed and flayed1 and sent home with a necklace of the mule's entrails about her neck4 ,the third type of story1 one which is known all over ,greece1 introduces us to the domestic circle of a ,callicantzaros4 ,a midwife is roused one night during the ,twelve ,days by a furious rapping at her door1 and1 imagining that the call is urgent1 slips on her clothes in haste without enquiring who it is that needs her services1 and stepping out of her door finds herself face to face either with an unmistakeable ,callicantzaros who seizes her and carries her off1 or else with a man unknown to her who subsequently proves to be a ,callicantzaros#ece4 ,on their way to his home he bids her see to it that the child with which his wife is about to present him be male2 in that case he will reward her handsomely2 but if a female child be born1 he will devour the midwife4 ,arrived at the cave or house where the ,callicantzaros dwells1 the midwife goes about her task1 and the ,callicantzaros' wife is soon delivered of a child2 but to the midwife's horror it is female4 ,her wits however do not desert her1 and she quickly devises a scheme for her escape4 ,taking a candle1 she warms it and fashions from the wax a model of the male organs and fastens it to the child4 ,then calling the ,callicantzaros1 she tells him that a fine male child is born and holds up the infant for him to see4 ,thereat he is content and bids her swaddle it4 ,this done1 she craves leave to go home1 and the ,callicantzaros1 true to his word1 rewards her with a sack of gold and lets her go4 ,the conclusion of the story varies4 ,in some versions1 the fraud is discovered before the midwife reaches her home1 the ,callicantzaros curses the gold which he has given her1 and when she opens her sack she finds nothing but ashes4 ,in others1 she reaches home in safety with the gold and by magic means breaks the power of the ,callicantzaros over his gift2 and when he arrives at her door in hot pursuit1 she has already taken all precautions against his entrance and lies secure and silent within4 ,the wife of the ,callicantzaros here mentioned is in some stories pictured as being of the same monstrous species as himself1 in others as an ordinary woman whom he has seized and carried off4 ,but1 apart from these stories in which she is a necessary persona dramatis1 she has no hold upon the popular imagination4 ,a feminine word1 or 1 has been formed in this case just as the word #ecf has been formed as masculine of ,nereid 771 and female ,callicantzari are as rare and local as male ,nereids4 ,their existence is assumed only as complementary to that of their mates4 ,security from the ,callicantzari is sought by many methods1 some of them ,christian in character1 others magical or pagan4 ,foremost among ,christian precautions is the custom of marking a cross in black upon the house-door on ,christmas ,eve2 and the same emblem is sometimes painted upon the various jars and vessels in which food is kept to ensure them against befouling by the ,callicantzari1 and even upon the forehead of infants1 especially if they are unbaptised1 to prevent them from being stolen or strangled#ecg by the monsters4 ,if in spite of these precautions the inmates of any house are troubled by them1 the burning of incense is accounted an effectual safeguard4 ,for out-door use1 if a man is unfortunate enough to encounter ,callicantzari1 an invocation of the ,trinity or the recitation of three ,paternosters is recommended4 ,but precautions of a more pagan character are often preferred to these or combined with them4 ,ordinary prudence demands that the fire be kept burning through all the ,twelve ,days1 to prevent the ,callicantzari entering by the chimney1 and the usual custom is to set one huge log on end up the chimney1 to go on burning for the whole period4 ,in addition to this a fire is sometimes kept burning at night close by the house-door4 ,certain herbs also1 such as ground-thistle#ech1 hyssop1 and asparagus#eci1 may be suspended at the door or the chimney-place1 as magical charms4 ,if even then there is reason to suspect that ,callicantzari are prowling round the house1 the golden rule is to observe strict silence and1 above all1 not to answer any question asked from without the door2 for it is commonly believed that the ,callicantzari1 like the ,nereids1 can deprive of speech any who have once talked with them4 ,at the same time it is wise to make up the fire1 throwing on either something which will crackle like salt or heather#edj1 or something which will smell strong1 such as a bit of leather1 an old shoe1 wild-cherry wood#eda1 or ground-thistle2 for the stench of these is as unbearable to the ,callicantzari as that of incense4 ,such at any rate is the current explanation of the purpose of these malodorous combustibles2 but in view of the notorious gullibility of the ,callicantzari ,i am tempted to surmise that both the crackling and the smell were originally intended to pacify them for a while with the delusive hope that a share of the ,christmas pork1 their favourite food1 was being prepared for them4 ,for certainly even now propitiatory presents to the ,callicantzari are not unknown4 ,at ,portari and other villages of ,mount ,pelion it is the custom to hang a rib or other bone from the pork inside the chimney #8for the ,callicantzari1' but whether as a means of appeasement or of aversion the people seem no longer to know3 in ,samos however the first sweetmeats made at the ,new ,year are placed in the chimney avowedly as food for the ,callicantzari#edb1 and in ,cyprus waffles and sausages are put in the same place as a farewell feast to them on the ,eve of ,epiphany#edc4 ,moreover in earlier times the custom of appeasing them with food was undoubtedly more widespread2 for in places where1 so far as ,i know1 the custom itself no longer exists1 a few lines supposed to be sung by the ,callicantzari on the eve of their departure are still remembered1 in which they ask for #8a little bit of sausage1 a morsel of waffle1 that the ,callicantzari may eat and depart to their own place#edd4' ,but propitiation of the ,callicantzari1 in spite of this evidence of offerings made to them1 is certainly not now so much in vogue as precautions against them2 and it is perhaps simpler to suppose that the choice of crackling or odorous fuel was originally prompted by the intention of conveying to the ,callicantzari a plain warning that the fire within the house was burning briskly2 for apart from the ,christian means of defence--crosses1 incense1 invocations and the general purification on the morning of ,epiphany--it may be said that the one thing which they really fear is fire4 ,everywhere it is held that so long as a good fire is kept burning on the hearth the ,callicantzari cannot gain access to the house by their favourite entrance2 and that the utmost they will venture is to vent their urine down the chimney in the hope of extinguishing the fire4 ,for this reason the wood-ashes from the hearth1 which are generally stored up and used in the washing of clothes1 are during the ,twelve ,days left untouched1 and after the purification at ,epiphany are carried out of the house2 but in some districts#ede1 though the ashes are not thought suitable for ordinary use1 they are not thrown away as worthless impurities1 but1 owing ,i suppose to their contact with supernatural beings1 are held to be endowed with magically fertilising properties and are sprinkled over the very same fields and gardens which the priests have sprinkled with holy water4 ,again there are not a few stories current#edf in which a ,callicantzaros1 attracted to some house at ,christmas-tide by the smell of roasting pork1 has been put to rout by having the hot joint or the spit on which it was turning thrust in his face4 ,in one version also of the song which the ,callicantzari are supposed to sing as they depart1 #8the pot-bellied priest with censer and sprinkling-vessel' is accompanied by his wife carrying hot water to scald them#edg4 ,in other stories again the rescue of a man from the clutches of ,callicantzari is effected by his neighbours with fire-brands as their only weapons2 and where such help cannot be obtained1 a man may sometimes free himself merely by ejaculating 1 1 1 #8sticks1 logs1 and brands ablaze6' for the very thought of fire will sometimes scare the monsters away4 ,other safeguards are also mentioned2 you are recommended for instance to keep a black cock in the house1 or you may render the ,callicantzaros harmless by binding him with a red thread or a straw rope#edh2 but the latter method would in most cases be like putting salt on a bird's tail4 ,such1 on a general view1 are the monsters whose origin ,i now propose to examine2 and the first step in the investigation must be to account for the extraordinary variations in shape exhibited by the ,callicantzari in different districts4 ,i have already observed that the ,callicantzari are sometimes conceived to be of ordinary human form1 but that more commonly there is an admixture of something beast-like4 ,among the animals which are laid under contribution1 first comes the he-goat1 from which the ,callicantzari borrow ears1 horns1 and legs4 ,almost equally common is a presentment of ,callicantzari with the ears and the legs of an ass combined with a body in other respects human2 or again the head of an ass1 according to ,pouqueville#edi1 may be combined with the body and legs of a man4 ,in other districts again the wolf has once been a factor in the conception of ,callicantzari4 ,thus in ,messenia1 in ,cynouria 7a district in the east of ,laconia71 and in parts of ,crete#eej the ,callicantzari are called also 1 in which the first half of the compound name is undoubtedly 1 #8wolf4' ,similarly in some parts of ,macedonia ,callicantzari are often called simply #8wolves' 771 and both names are also applied metaphorically to any particularly ill-favoured man#eea4 ,resemblances to apes are also mentioned1 particularly in the long1 lean1 hairy arms of the ,callicantzari2 and ,pouqueville speaks also of their monkey-like tails#eeb4 ,next from ,phoenici in ,epirus comes the suggestion that ,callicantzari may resemble squirrels2 for there they have the two by-names and #eec1 in which it is not hard to recognise the two ancient ,greek names for the squirrel1 and 4 ,concerning the local character of these ,i have no information2 but it is fairly safe to surmise that they possess the power1 commonly ascribed to the smaller sort of ,callicantzari1 of climbing with great dexterity the walls and roofs of houses in order to gain access by the chimney4 ,finally in ,myconos1 as noted above1 the ,callicantzari are described as #8savage four-footed things'--a description which need not exclude some human attributes any more than it does in the savage four-footed ,centaurs of ancient art1 but implies it would seem at least a predominance of the bestial over the human element4 ,what then is the explanation of these wide divergences of type8 ,the answer is really very simple and final4 ,the ,callicantzari were originally believed to possess the power1 which many supernatural beings share1 of transforming themselves at their pleasure into any shape4 ,the shapes most commonly assumed differed in different districts1 and gradually1 as the belief in the metamorphosis of ,callicantzari here1 there1 and almost everywhere was forgotten1 what had once been the commonest form locally assumed by ,callicantzari became in the several districts their fixed and only form4 ,the correctness of this explanation was first proved to me by information obtained from the best source for all manner of stories and traditions about the ,callicantzari1 the villages on ,mount ,pelion4 ,there ,i was definitely told that the ,callicantzari are believed to have the power of assuming any monstrous shape which they choose2 and the accuracy of this statement is1 ,i find1 now confirmed by information obtained independently by ,prof4 ,polites#eed from one of these same villages1 ,portari2 he adds that there the shapes most frequently affected by ,callicantzari are those of women1 bearded men1 and he-goats4 ,further evidence of the same belief existing also in ,cyprus is adduced by the same writer4 #8,the ,planetari 771' so runs the popular tradition which he quotes from a work which ,i have been unable to consult1 #8who are also called in some parts of ,cyprus ,callicantzari1 come to the earth at ,christmas and remain all the ,twelve ,days4 ,they are seen by persons who are #eee 7i4e41 to give the nearest equivalent1 #8fey'74 ,sometimes they appear as dogs1 sometimes as hares1 sometimes as donkeys or as camels1 and often as bobbins4 ,men who are #8fey' stumble over them1 and stoop down to pick them up1 when suddenly the bobbin rolls along of its own accord and escapes them4 ,further on it turns into a donkey or camel and goes on its way4 ,the man is deceived 7by its appearance7 and mounts it1 and the donkey grows as tall as a mountain and throws the man down from a great height#eef1 and he returns home half-dead1 and if he does not die outright1 he will be an invalid all his life#eeg4' ,linguistic evidence is also forthcoming that the same belief in the metamorphosis of these monsters was once held both in ,epirus and in ,samos4 ,the by-name 1 recorded from ,phoenici1 proves more than the squirrel-form of ,callicantzari2 it implies that that shape is not natural but assumed4 ,from the ancient word 1 comes by natural formation an hypothetical verb 1 #8,i become a squirrel1' and thence the existing substantive or 7for this difference in vocalisation is negligible in modern ,greek7 meaning #8that which has turned into a squirrel4' ,similarly in ,samos the by-name means #8those that have turned into evil men4' ,whether the belief implied by these names is still alive in ,epirus1 ,i do not know2 in ,samos it has apparently died out1 for the word is popularly there interpreted to mean #8those who do evil to men#eeh'--;a meaning which the formation really precludes4 ,since then the belief that ,callicantzari possess the power of metamorphosis either obtains now or has once obtained in places as far removed from one another as ,phoenici in ,epirus1 ,mount ,pelion1 ,samos1 and ,cyprus1 it is reasonable to conclude that this quality was in earlier times universally attributed to them1 and therewith the whole problem of their multifarious presentments in different districts is at once solved4 ,the next question which arises is this2 if the various forms in which the ,callicantzari are locally represented are1 so to speak1 so many disguises assumed by them at their own will1 what is the normal form of the ,callicantzaros when he is not exercising his power of self-transformation8 ,on reviewing the various shapes assumed1 one fact stands out clearly2 it is the animal attributes of the ,callicantzari which are variable1 while the human element in their composition 7with a possible exception in the case of the #8savage quadrupeds' of ,myconos7 is constant4 ,but the variation of form results1 as has been shown1 from the power of transformation4 ,therefore the animal characteristics1 which are variable1 are the characteristics assumed at pleasure by the ,callicantzari1 and the constant or human element in their composition indicates their normal form4 ,in other words1 the ,callicantzaros in his original and natural shape was anthropomorphic1 as indeed he is sometimes still represented to be4 ,and here too1 while the various types of ,callicantzari are still before us1 it is worth while to notice1 at the cost of a short digression1 a curious principle which seems to govern the representation of ,callicantzari in those districts in which the belief in their power of metamorphosis has been lost4 ,on ,mount ,pelion and in ,cyprus the shapes which the ,callicantzari are said to assume at will are those of known and familiar objects--in the former place of women1 bearded men1 and he-goats1 in the latter of dogs1 hares1 donkeys1 and camels--but always complete and single shapes whether of man or beast2 on the other hand in the large majority of places in which the remembrance of this power of transformation is lost1 the ,callicantzari are represented in fanciful and abnormal shapes--hybrids as it were between men and such animals as goat1 ass1 or ape4 ,what appears to have happened in these cases is that1 as the belief in the metamorphosis of ,callicantzari was lost from the local folklore1 a sort of compensation was made by depicting them arrested in the process of transformation1 arrested halfway in the transition from man to beast4 ,now there are very few parts of ,greece in which this change in the superstition has not taken place2 and each island of the ,greek seas1 each district of the ,greek mainland--,i had almost said each village1 for the folklore like the dialect of two villages no more than an hour's journey apart may differ widely--may be fairly considered to furnish separate instances on which a general principle can be founded4 ,the law then which seems to me to have governed the evolution of ,greek folklore is this1 that a being of some single1 normal1 and known shape who has originally been believed capable of transforming himself into one or more other single1 normal1 and known shapes1 comes to be represented1 when the belief in his power of transformation dies out1 as a being of composite1 abnormal1 and fantastic shape1 combining incongruous features of the several single1 normal1 and known shapes4 ,how wide may be the application of this principle1 ,i cannot pretend to determine2 but obviously it may supply the solution of certain puzzles in ancient ,greek mythology4 ,the goddess ,athene1 to take but one instance1 is in ,homer regularly described as 1 an epithet which1 though interpreted by ancient artists in the sense of #8blue-eyed' or #8gray-eyed1' seems1 in view of ,athene's connexion with the owl1 to have meant originally #8owl-faced'2 for the sake of argument at any rate1 without entering into the controversy on the subject1 let me assume this2 let it be granted that the goddess was once depicted as a maiden with an owl's face4 ,how is this hybrid form to be explained8 ,if our principle holds here1 the explanation is that in a still earlier stage of ,greek mythology the goddess ,athene was wont to transform herself into an owl and so manifest herself to her worshippers1 just as in early ,christian tradition it is recorded that once #8the ,holy ,ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove#eei4' ,but this digression is long enough4 ,later in this chapter ,i shall have occasion to return to the principle which has been formulated4 ,at present the ,callicantzari are calling4 ,thus far our investigation has shown us that the ,callicantzari were originally anthropomorphic1 possessing indeed and exercising the power of transmutation into beast-form1 but in their natural and normal form completely human in appearance4 ,what therefore remains to be determined is whether these beings were anthropomorphic demons or simply men4 ,on this point there is a direct conflict of evidence at the present day4 ,the very common tradition that the ,callicantzari come from the lower world at ,christmas and are driven back there by the purification at ,epiphany2 the fact that they are often mentioned under the vague names and which have already been discussed#efj1 and that their leader is sometimes called 1 #8the halting demon'2 the belief that they are fond of dancing with the ,nereids1 and sometimes exercise also a power1 proper to the ,nereids1 of taking away the speech of those who speak in their presence2 these and other such considerations might be thought abundantly to prove that the ,callicantzari were a species of demon4 ,but on the other hand there is equally abundant evidence of the belief that ,callicantzari are men who are seized with a kind of bestial madness which often effects a beast-like alteration in their appearance4 ,this madness is not chronic1 but recurrent with each returning ,christmas1 and the victim of it displays for the time being all the savage and lustful passions of a wild animal4 ,the mountaineers of ,south ,euboea for example have acquired the reputation of being ,callicantzari and are much feared by the dwellers on the coast4 ,a remarkable feature in this form of the superstition is the idea that the madness is congenital4 ,children born on ,christmas-day1 or according to some accounts on any day between ,christmas and ,epiphany1 are deemed likely to become ,callicantzari4 ,this1 it is naively said1 is the due punishment for the sin of a mother who has presumed to conceive and to bring forth at seasons sacred to the ,mother of ,god2 whence also the children are called or #8feast-stricken4' ,in ,chios1 in the seventeenth century1 this superstition was so strong that extraordinary methods of barbarism were adopted to render such children harmless4 ,they were taken1 says ,leo ,allatius#efa1 to a fire which had been lighted in the market-place1 and there the soles of their feet were exposed to the heat until the nails were singed and the danger of their attacks obviated4 ,a modern and modified form of this treatment is to place the child in an oven and to light a fire outside to frighten it1 and then to ask the question1 #8,bread or meat8' ,if the child says #8bread1' all is well2 but if he says #8meat1' he is believed to be possessed by a savage craving for human flesh1 and the treatment is continued till he answers #8bread#efb4' ,these infant ,callicantzari are particularly prone1 it is said1 to attack and kill their own brothers and sisters4 ,hence comes the by-name by which they are sometimes known1 1 #8brother-eaters1' as also1 according to ,polites' interpretation1 the name 1 which is an equivalent for ,callicantzari in several islands of the ,aegean ,sea4 ,this word ,polites holds to be the plural of the name ,cain1 and to denote #8brother-slayers'2 but inasmuch as a longer form appears side by side with in ,carpathos#efc1 ,i hesitate to accept this interpretation of the one while the other remains to me wholly unintelligible4 ,at any rate to the people themselves the word has ceased to convey any idea of murderous propensities2 for in the island of ,syme1 where the name is in use1 the beings denoted by it are held to be harmless#efd4 ,the issue before us is well summarised in two popular traditions which ,polites adduces from ,oeno and from ,tenos1 and which are in clear mutual contradiction4 ,the tradition of ,oeno begins thus3 #88,leave-us-good-sirs0 7--7 is the name which we give them 7the ,callicantzari71 though they are really evil demons 774' ,the tradition of ,tenos opens with the words3 #8,the ,callicantzari are not demons 7'7#efe2 they are men2 as ,new ,year's ,day approaches1 they are stricken with a fit of madness and leave their houses and wander to and fro4' ,how are we to decide which of these two traditions is the older8 ,the evidence in favour of either is at the present day abundant2 the two chief authorities on the subject1 ,schmidt and ,polites1 both acknowledge this2 and1 in my own experience1 ,i should have difficulty in saying which view of the ,callicantzari ,i have the more frequently heard expressed4 ,on the mainland they are most commonly demons2 in the islands of the ,aegean1 more usually human4 ,but in a matter of this kind it would be of no value to count heads2 even if the whole population of ,greece could be polled on the question1 the view of the majority would have no more value than that of the minority4 ,the issue must be decided on other than numerical grounds4 ,and clearly the first consideration which suggests itself must be the nature of the earliest evidence on the subject4 ,the earliest authority then is ,leo ,allatius#eff1 and his statement is in brief as follows4 ,children born in the octave of ,christmas are seized with a kind of madness2 they rage to and fro with incredible swiftness2 and their nails grow sharp like talons4 ,to any wayfarer whom they meet they put the question #8,tow or lead8' ,if he answer #8tow1' he escapes unhurt2 if he answer #8lead1' they crush him with all their power and leave him half-dead1 lacerated by their talons4 ,thus far the testimony of ,leo ,allatius distinctly favours the belief that ,callicantzari are human and not demoniacal in origin2 but at the same time it must be admitted that his statement was probably founded upon the particular traditions of his native island only and carries therefore less weight4 ,the barbarous custom however which he next proceeds to describe is of some importance4 ,he states that children born during the dangerous period between ,christmas and ,new ,year had the soles of their feet scorched until the nails were singed and so they could not become ,callicantzari4 ,now there is a small but obvious inconsistency in this statement4 ,persons who scratch one another use1 presumably1 not their toe-nails but their finger-nails2 and animals likewise employ the fore feet and not the hind feet4 ,to scorch the feet therefore1 and particularly the soles of the feet1 is not a logical method of preventing the growth of talons4 ,but on the other hand the treatment adopted might well be supposed to prevent the development of hoofs1 such as in many parts of ,greece the ,callicantzari are still believed to have4 ,in other words1 the custom which ,leo ,allatius describes was not properly understood in his time4 ,but a custom which has ceased to be properly understood and has had an inaccurate interpretation set upon it is necessarily of considerable age4 ,already therefore in the first half of the seventeenth century the custom which ,allatius describes was of some antiquity2 and the belief that children turn into ,callicantzari1 which is implied alike by the original meaning and by the later interpretation of the custom1 was equally ancient4 ,in ,chios then at any rate the human origin of ,callicantzari is a very old article of faith4 ,but more important for our consideration is the answer to be made to the following question2 is it more probable1 that ,callicantzari1 if they were originally demons1 should have come in the belief of many people to be men1 or that1 being originally men1 they should have assumed in the belief of many people the rank of demons8 ,here1 if ,i may trust the analogy of other instances in ,greek folklore1 my answer is decided4 ,i know of no case in which a demon has lost status and been reduced to human rank2 but ,i can name three several cases in which beings originally human have been elevated to the standing of demons4 ,the human maiden ,gello was the prototype of the class of female demons now known as ,gelloudes4 ,striges 77 are properly old women who by magical means can transform themselves into birds1 but they too both in mediaeval and in modern times are frequently confused with demons4 #8,arabs' 771 as the name itself implies1 were originally nothing but men of colour1 but they now form1 as will be shown in the next section1 a recognised class of genii4 ,and if we turn from modern ,greek folklore to ancient ,greek religion1 there also we find the tendency in the same direction4 ,there men in plenty are elevated to the rank of hero1 demon1 or god1 but the degradation of a demon to human rank is a thing unknown4 ,in view of this strongly marked principle of ,greek superstition or religion1 it is impossible to come to any other conclusion than that the ,callicantzari were originally not demons but men--men who either voluntarily or under the compulsion of a kind of madness chose or were forced to assume the shape and the character of beasts4 ,having thus disposed of the problem presented by the various types of ,callicantzari1 we must next investigate the origin of the name itself4 ,this investigation too is not a little complicated by the fact that the dialectic varieties of the name are fully as manifold and divergent as the various shapes which the monsters are locally believed to assume4 ,there can be few words in the ,greek language which better illustrate the difference in speech between one district and another4 ,the most general form of the word1 and one which is either used side by side with other dialectic forms or at least is understood in almost every district1 is the form which ,i have used throughout this chapter or1 to transliterate it1 ,callicantzaros2 but in reviewing all the dialectic varieties of the word1 ,i find that there are only two out of the fourteen letters composing this word1 which do not1 in one dialect or another1 suffer either modification of sound or change of position4 ,the consonant in the first syllable and the vowel in the third are the only constant and uniform elements common to all dialects4 ,these dialectic forms demand consideration for the reason that some of the derivations proposed take as their starting-point not the common form but one of the rarer by-forms--a method which is evidently open to objection when it is seen1 as the accompanying table of forms will show1 that 1 besides being the common and normal form1 is also the centre from which all the dialectic varieties radiate in different directions4 ,in compiling my list of forms1 however1 ,i may abbreviate it by the omission of those which are a matter of calligraphic rather than of phonetic distinction4 ,thus the first two syllables of are often written - or -1 but since and represent exactly the same sound and is very seldom distinguished from 1 ,i have uniformly written - even where my authority for the particular form uses some other spelling4 ,on the other hand1 as regards the use of or 1 between which there is a real if somewhat subtle difference in sound1 ,i have retained the particular form which ,i have found recorded4 ,starting then from the normal form ----1 which ,i thus dismember for convenience of reference to its five syllables1 ,i may classify the changes which the word undergoes in various dialects as follows3 7#a7 ,the insertion of in the second syllable1 giving in the place of 4 7#b7 ,the prefixing of to the first syllable1 giving for 4 ,with this ,bernhard ,schmidt well compares the modern for 1 and for 4 7#c7 ,the complete suppression of the second syllable1 or the retention of the only as a faintly pronounced y4 7#d7 ,combined with1 and consequent upon1 the suppression of the second syllable1 the change of to in the first syllable1 or the interchange of the in the first syllable with the in the fifth4 7#e7 ,the loss of either in the third syllable or in the fourth4 7#f7 ,the change of the in the first syllable to 4 7#g7 ,the change of the in the third syllable to 1 1 1 or 4 ,instances of this are most frequent in combination with the changes under 7#d74 7#h7 ,the interchange of the in the third syllable with the 7or 7 in the fourth4 ,the thus produced becomes 4 7#i7 ,the formation of diminutive neuter forms ending in - instead of the masculine forms in -1 with the consequent shift of accent from the third to the fourth syllable1 the - representing -4 ,these neuter forms occur chiefly in the plural4 ,further it may be noted that the formation of the nominative plural of the masculine forms shows some variation2 the ordinary form is in - with the accent on the antepenultimate as in the nominative singular2 a second form has the same termination but with the accent shifted to the penultimate1 as commonly happens in some dialects with words of the second declension 7e4g4 with plural 7 by assimilation to the other cases of the plural2 while a third form has the anomalous termination - 7e4g4 in ,cephallenia1 with plural 74 ,the following genealogical table exhibits the dialectic progeny of the normal form 4 ,the numeral or numerals placed against each form refer to the classification of phonetic changes as above4 ,beneath each form is noted the name of one place or district 7though of course there are usually more7 in which it may be heard1 or1 failing the provenance1 the authority for its existence4 7with which and 7,cythnos and ,melos7 may be considered identical7 ---------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------- ------------------------------- 7#a7 7#e7 7#e7 7#b7 7#c7 7#f7 7#h7 71 1 7,cyprus7 7,cythera7 7,ionian ,islands7 and 7#c7 7,gortynia and 7,pyrgos in ,tenos p4 #fg7 7,lesbos1 etc47 ,cynouria1 districts and ,western shores of the ,peloponnese7 of ,black ,sea7 ---------------------------------------- -------------- 7#f1 #e7 77 77 71 1 7#b1 #g1 #i7 7,sciathos7 7#b1 #c1 #g1 #i7 7#b1 #c1 #g7 ,,ii4 p #abde7 7,arachova on 7,arachova on ,parnassus7 ,parnassus7 ----------------------- 7#h1 #d7 ---------------------------------------- ----------------- 7#h1 #c1 #e7 7,oeno on ,s4 shore 7,tenos7 of ,black ,sea7 7#d7 7#c1 #g7 7#d7 7,stenimachos in 7,arachova on 7,scyros7 ,roumelia7 ,parnassus7 ---------------------------------------- ----------- 7#d1 #g7 7#d1 #g7 7#d1 #g7 7,zagorion in 7,ophis1 on ,s4 shore 7,cythnos7 ,epirus7 of ,black ,sea7 ,albanian 77 d- 7#d1 #g1 #i7 7cf4 ,hahn1 ,alban4 ,stud41 7,portari on ,vocabulary1 s4v47 ,mt ,pelion7 and ,turkish karakndjolos ,this table of dialectic forms1 which was originally based mainly upon the information of ,schmidt#efg and my own observations and has now been enlarged with the aid of ,polites' new work#efh1 is even so probably far from complete2 nor have ,i included in it1 for reasons to be stated1 the following forms3 #efi 77 which is apparently an abbreviated diminutive formed from the first two syllables of - with a neuter termination1 and is therefore a nickname rather than a strict derivative3 which ,bent#egj represents to be the usual form in ,naxos and ,paros1 but ,i hesitate to accept without confirmation from some other source3 #ega1 a ,macedonian form1 and 1 a diminutive form from the district of ,cynouria1 both so extraordinarily corrupt that ,i can find no place for them in the table3 1 which has been thought to be with the first two syllables reversed in order--a change to which ,i can find no parallel--but is1 as ,i shall show later1 a distinct and very important compound of the word 3 and lastly #egb which has nothing at all to do with etymologically1 but is an euphemistic and not particularly good pun upon it1 really meaning the #8sailors of a galleon#egc' 7,turkish qlioundji71 and humorously substituted for the dreaded name of the ,callicantzari4 ,to conclude this compilation1 it must be added that the wives of ,callicantzari are denoted by feminine forms with the termination - or -1 and their children by neuter forms ending in - or - in place of the masculine -4 ,from a careful analysis of this material two main facts seem to emerge4 ,first1 the form 1 the commonest in use1 is also the centre from which the other dialectic forms diverge in many directions2 and therefore if one of the rarer dialectic forms be selected as the parent-form and the basis of any etymological explanation1 the advocate of the particular etymology not only assumes the burden of showing how his original form came to be so generally superseded by the form 1 but also will require many more steps in his genealogical table of existing varieties of the word4 ,secondly1 the words and 7if1 as ,i hold1 they cannot be connected through the mediation of the form 7 show that we have to deal with a compound word of which the second half is 3 and corroboration of this view is afforded by the existence of a form of the uncompounded word in the dialect of ,cynouria1 where #egd 77--i4e4 a diminutive form of with prefixed and lost--is used side by side with the words and to denote the same beings4 ,in view of the latter inference1 or perhaps even apart from it1 there is no need to delay long over a derivation propounded by a ,greek writer1 ,oeconomos1 whose theory1 that #8callicantzaros' is a corruption of the ,latin #8caligatus' or perhaps of #8calcatura1' suggests a vision of a monster in hob-nailed boots which does more credit to its author's imagination than to his knowledge of philology4 ,a suggestion which deserves at any rate more serious consideration is that of ,bernhard ,schmidt#ege who holds that the word is of ,turkish origin and passed first into ,albanian and thence into ,greek--reversing1 that is1 the steps indicated in the above table4 ,but to this there are several objections1 each weighty in itself1 and cumulatively overwhelming4 ,first1 if the ,turkish word karakondjolos be the source from which the multitude of ,greek forms1 including in that case #egf are derived1 it ought to be shown how the ,turkish word itself came to mean anything like #8were-wolf#egg4' ,it is compounded1 says ,schmidt1 of kara1 #8black1' and kondjolos which is connected with koundjul1 a word which means a #8slave of the lowest kind#egh4' ,but before that derivation can be accepted1 it should be shown what link in thought may exist between a slave even of the lowest and blackest variety and a were-wolf1 and also how the supposed ,turkish compound came to have the ,greek termination -4 ,secondly1 the theory that the ,greeks borrowed the word1 and presumably also the notion which it expressed1 from the ,turks contravenes historical probability4 ,for when did the supposed borrowing take place8 ,evidently not before the ,ottoman influence had made itself thoroughly felt in ,eastern ,europe not only in war but in peace2 for only those peoples who are living side by side in friendly1 or at the least pacific1 relations1 are in a way to exchange views on the subject of were-wolves or any other superstitions2 and in the case of the ,greeks and the ,turks such intercourse would certainly have been retarded by religious as well as racial animosity4 ,presumably then1 even if the transference of the word from the ,turkish to the ,greek language had been direct and not1 as ,schmidt somewhat unnecessarily supposes1 through the medium of ,albanian1 two or three generations must have elapsed after the ,ottoman occupation of ,chios in #aeffegi1 and the seventeenth century must have well begun1 before the ,greeks of that island even began to adopt the new word and the new superstition involved in it4 ,yet the form of the word familiar to ,leo ,allatius since the beginning of that century1 when he lived as a boy in ,chios1 was not karakondjolos or anything like it1 but callicantzaros2 while the belief that children born in the octave of ,christmas became ,callicantzari was of such antiquity in ,chios that a custom founded upon it had already come1 as ,i have shown1 to be misinterpreted4 ,indeed1 as the same writer tells us1 the ,callicantzari and their haunts and habits were so familiar to the people of ,chios that two proverbs of the island referred to them4 ,one1 which was addressed to persons always appearing in the same clothes-- 1 #8put on something new because of the ,callicantzari'--is more than a little obscure2 it would seem to imply that the clothes which were being worn would hardly be worth the while even of the mischief-loving ,callicantzari to tear2 but in any case the very existence of an obscure proverb is evidence that the ,callicantzaros and all his ways had long been a matter of common knowledge4 ,the second saying-- 1 #8,you have come down from the ,three ,streams1' or in another version1 ' 2 #8,why not go to the ,three ,streams8'--was addressed to mad persons1 because1 as ,allatius explains1 #8the ,three ,streams' was a wild wooded place in ,chios reputed to be the haunt of ,callicantzari4 ,historically then the theory that the people of ,chios borrowed from the ,turks the name and the conception of the ,callicantzari is untenable4 ,another piece of historical evidence against ,schmidt's theory is that the ,callicantzaros of the present day appears to be identical with the #8baboutzicarios' whereof ,michael ,psellus#ehj discoursed in the eleventh century4 ,he himself indeed1 with his usual passion for explaining away popular superstitions1 affirms that #8baboutzicarios' is the same as #8ephialtes1' the demon who punishes gluttony with nocturnal discomfort and a feeling of oppression2 and in that view he was followed by ,suidas#eha and other lexicographers2 but he states two important points in the popular superstition which he combats3 the #8baboutzicarios' appears only in the octave of ,christmas2 and it is at night that he meets and terrifies men4 ,moreover the name itself is1 ,i suspect1 derived from the ,low-,latin babuztus#ehb meaning #8mad1' and indicates the existence then of the belief which is so largely held to-day1 that the monstrous apparitions of ,christmastide are really men smitten with a peculiar kind of madness4 ,thus all the information which ,psellus gives about the #8baboutzicarios' tallies with modern beliefs concerning the ,callicantzaros1 and militates against the supposition that the ,greeks are indebted for this superstition to the ,turks4 ,finally there is positive evidence that the ,turks borrowed the word in question from the ,greeks2 for the time at which they used to fear the advent of the karakondjolos--whether the superstition still remains the same1 ,i do not know--was fixed not by their own calendar but by that of the ,christians4 ,an article written on the subject of the ,turkish calendar early in last century contains this statement3 #8,the ,turks have received this fabulous belief from the ,greeks1 and they say that this demon1 whom the former call ,kara ,kondjolos and the latter ,cali ,cangheros1 exercises his sway of maleficence and mischief from ,christmas-day until that of the ,epiphany#ehc4' ,clearly the ,turks would not have fixed the time for the appearance of the karakondjolos by the ,christian festivals if they had not borrowed the whole superstition from the ,greeks2 and indeed the very termination in - of the ,turkish form of the word betrays its ,hellenic origin4 ,the proposed ,turkish derivation of the word must therefore be rejected as finally as ,oeconomos' ,latin derivation1 and it remains only to deal with those which treat the word as genuinely ,greek4 ,the first of these is that proposed by ,coras#ehd1 who made the word a compound of and 4 ,the formation1 as might be expected of so great a scholar1 is irreproachable2 for the phonetic change of to 2 is seen in the development of the modern word 7a hedgehog7 from the ancient 4 ,but the meaning obtained is less satisfactory4 ,what has a #8good' or #8beautiful beetle' to do with a ,callicantzaros such as ,i have described8 ,the question remains without an answer4 ,and yet some of ,coras' followers in recent times have thought triumphantly to vindicate his view by pointing out that in the dialect of ,thessaly #8a species of large horned beetle' is known as 4 ,now ,i am aware that elsewhere in ,greece stag-beetles are called 1 which is undoubtedly a modern form of the ancient and illustrates once more the phonetic change involved in ,coras' derivation2 and ,i can believe that the ,thessalian peasantry with a certain rustic humour sometimes call them instead4 ,but what light does this throw on the supposed development of meaning8 ,the view which these disciples of ,coras appear to hold1 namely that the ,callicantzari1 who are known and feared throughout ,greek lands and even beyond them in ,turkey and in ,albania1 were called after an alleged ,thessalian species of ,coleoptera1 would be fitly matched by a theory that the ,devil was so named after a species of fish or a printer's assistant or a patent fire-lighter4 ,the same objection holds good as against ,polites' first view#ehe4 ,taking the word as his starting-point1 instead of the common and central form 1 he proposed to derive the word from 1 #8wolf1' and 1 #8beetle4' ,but though the resulting hybrid might be a monster as hideous as the worst of ,callicantzari1 these creatures so far as ,i know show no traits suggestive of entomological parentage4 ,but since ,polites himself has long abandoned this view1 there is no need to criticize it further4 ,his next pronouncement on the subject#ehf banished both wolf and beetle and seemed to recognise the necessity of keeping the main form to the fore4 ,but while he naturally assumed to be the first half of the compound1 he could only set down as an unknown foreign1 perhaps ,slavonic1 word4 ,but in his latest publication#ehg he relinquishes this position and falls back once more on a dialectic form which is reported to be in use at the village of ,pyrgos in ,tenos and at some places on the western shores of the ,black ,sea4 ,this word he believes to be a compound1 of which the second half is connected with a ,byzantine word 1 meaning a kind of boot1 and the still existing1 if somewhat rare1 word1 1 #8a boot-maker1' while the first half is to be either 1 #8fine1' or 1 #8a hoof#ehh4' ,the former alternative provides easily the form or1 as would be almost more likely1 1 meaning #8one who wears fine boots'2 while in the other alternative there results a supposed original form 1 meaning #8one who has hoofs instead of boots1' whence1 by suppression of the third syllable1 comes the existing word 1 or again1 by loss of the first syllable1 a supposed form which developed into 4 ,on the score of formation the former alternative is unassailable2 but the latter1 with its supposed loss of syllables1 is more questionable4 ,the loss of a first syllable is common enough in modern ,greek1 where it consists of a vowel only 7e4g4 #ehi for 1 for 1 etc471 but the supposed loss of the syllable would1 ,i think1 be hard to parallel4 ,again the loss of a syllable in the middle of a word is fairly common either through the suppression of the vowel 7or 1 which is not distinguished from in sound7 as in for 1 for 1 etc41 or else when two concurrent syllables begin with the same consonant1 as in 1 #8a thunderbolt1' for 1 but the loss of the syllable from the form is a bold hypothesis4 ,but on the score of meaning both alternatives are alike unconvincing4 ,polites indeed cites one or two popular traditions in which the ,callicantzari are represented as wearing wooden or iron shoes--wherewith no doubt the better to kick and to trample their victims2 and such footgear might1 ,i suppose1 be described ironically as #8nice boots4' ,but to find in this occasional trait the origin of the word ,callicantzaros#eij appears to me a counsel of despair4 ,nor does the other alternative commend itself to me any more4 ,it is of course a widely accepted belief--and one by the way which contradicts the traditions just mentioned--that the ,callicantzari have feet like those of an ass or a goat4 ,but in describing such a creature no one surely would be likely to say that it had hoofs #8instead of boots'--#8instead of feet' would be the natural and reasonable expression4 ,to suppose that the ,callicantzari 7or rather1 to use the hypothetical form1 the 7 are so named because their boot-maker provides them with hoofs instead of detachable foot-gear1 is little short of ludicrous4 ,but though neither of the proposed derivations will1 ,i think1 win much acceptance1 the historical evidence which ,polites adduces in support of his views forms a valuable contribution to the study of this subject4 ,the inferences which he draws therefrom may not be correct2 but the material which he has collected is of high interest4 ,singling out of the many traditions concerning the ,callicantzari the widely1 and perhaps universally1 prevalent belief that their activities are confined to the ,twelve ,days between ,christmas and ,epiphany1 he argues that if we can discover the origin of this limitation1 we shall be in a fair way to discover also whence came the conception of the ,callicantzari themselves4 ,accordingly he traces the history of winter festivals in ,greece1 starting from the period in which the ,greeks1 in deference to their ,roman masters1 adopted the festivals known as the ,saturnalia1 the ,brumalia1 and the ,kalndae 7for so the celebration of the ,kalends of ,january was called by the ,greeks7 in place of their own old festivals such as the ,kronia and some of the festivals of ,dionysus4 ,the change however was more one of name than of method of observance#eia4 ,the pagan orgies which marked these festal days were strongly denounced by the ,fathers of the ,church from the very earliest times4 ,in the first century of our era1 ,timothy1 bishop of ,ephesus1 met with his martyrdom in an attempt to suppress such a festival4 ,at the end of the fourth century ,s4 ,john ,chrysostom and1 after him1 ,asterios1 bishop of ,amasea1 loudly inveighed against the celebration of the ,kalandae4 ,at the end of the seventh century the sixth ,oecumenical ,council of the ,church promulgated a canon forbidding all these pagan winter-festivals4 ,but still in the twelfth century1 as ,balsamon testifies#eib1 the old abuses continued unabated2 and there are local survivals of such festivals at the present day4 ,the most prominent feature of these celebrations was that men dressed themselves up in various characters1 to represent women1 soldiers1 or animals1 and thus disguised gave themselves up to the wildest orgies4 ,at ,ephesus it is clear that these orgies included human sacrifice1 and that ,bishop ,timothy was on one occasion the victim2 for we are told by ,photius that he met with his death in trying to suppress #8the polluted and blood-stained rites of the ,greeks#eic'2 and the same writer speaks of --so this particular ceremony was called--as a #8devilish and abominable festival#eid' in which men #8took delight in unholy things as if they were pious deeds#eie4' ,and again another account of the same celebration tells how men with masks on their faces and with clubs in their hands went about #8assaulting without restraint free men and respectable women1 perpetrating murders of no common sort and shedding endless blood in the best parts of the city1 as if they were performing a religious duty 7 7#eif4' ,at ,amasea1 according to ,asterios1 at the beginning of the fifth century1 things were not much better4 ,the peasants1 he says1 who come into the town during the festival #8are beaten and outraged by drunken revellers1 they are robbed of anything they are carrying1 they have war waged upon them in a time of peace1 they are mocked and insulted in word and in deed#eig4' ,here too the custom of dressing up was in vogue among those who took part in the festival--women's dress being especially affected4 ,again in the seventh century the points specially emphasized by the canon of the ,church are that #8no man is to put on feminine dress1 nor any woman the dress proper to men1 nor yet are masks1 whether comic1 satyric1 or tragic1 to be worn'2 and the penalty for disregard of this ordinance was to be excommunication4 ,yet for all these fulminations the old custom continued4 ,the author of #8the ,martyrdom of ,s4 ,dasius#eih1' writing perhaps as late as the tenth century1 speaks of the festival of the ,kronia as still observed in the old way3 #8on the ,kalends of ,january foolish men1 following the custom of the 7pagan7 ,greeks1 though they call themselves ,christians1 hold a great procession1 changing their own appearance and character1 and assuming the guise of the devil2 clothed in goat-skins and with their faces disguised1' they reject their baptismal vows and again serve in the devil's ranks4 ,and still in the twelfth century these practices obtained not only among the laity but even among the clergy1 some of whom1 in the words of ,balsamon#eii1 #8assume various masks and dresses1 and appear in the open nave of the church1 sometimes with swords girt on and in military uniform1 other times as monks or even as quadrupeds4' ,several instances of the continuance of this custom in modern times have been collected by ,polites#fjj and others2 the savage orgies of old time have indeed dwindled into harmless mummery2 but their most constant feature1 the wearing of strange disguises1 remains unchanged2 and the occasion too is still a winter-festival1 either some part of the ,twelve ,days or the carnival preceding ,lent4 ,from certain facts concerning these modern festivals it will be manifest that some relation exists between the mummers who celebrate them and the ,callicantzari4 ,in ,crete1 where the ,new ,year is thus celebrated1 the mummers are called 1 while in ,achaia a fuller form of the same word1 1 is a by-name of the ,callicantzari4 ,at ,portari on ,mount ,pelion1 each night of the ,twelve ,days1 a man is dressed up as an #8,arab1' wearing an old cloak and having bells affixed to his clothes4 ,he goes the round of the streets with a lantern2 and the villagers explicitly state that this is done 1 #8because of the ,callicantzari1' i4e41 says ,polites1 as a means of getting rid of them4 ,at ,pharsala there is a sort of play at the ,epiphany1 in which the mummers represent bride1 bridegroom1 and #8,arab'2 the ,arab tries to carry off the bride1 and the bridegroom defends her4 ,in some parts of ,macedonia similar mumming takes place at the ,new ,year2 in ,belbents the men who take part in it are called #8,arabs'2 at ,palaeogratsana they have the name 7evidently another compound of 1 but one which ,i cannot interpret72 formerly also #8at ,kozane and in many other parts of ,greece1' according to a ,greek writer in the early part of the nineteenth century1 throughout the ,twelve ,days boys carrying bells used to go round the houses1 singing songs and having #8one or more of their company dressed up with masks and bells and foxes' brushes and other such things to give them a weird and monstrous look4' ,this custom is evidently identical with one which ,i myself saw enacted in ,scyros at the carnival preceding ,lent4 ,the young men of the town array themselves in huge capes made of goat-skin1 reaching to the hips or lower1 and provided with holes for the arms4 ,these capes are sometimes made with hoods of the same material which cover the whole head and face1 small holes being cut for the eyes but none for purposes of respiration4 ,in other cases the cape covers the shoulders only1 leaving the head free1 and the young man contents himself with the blue and white kerchief1 which is the usual head-gear in ,scyros1 and a roughly made domino4 ,a third variety of cape is provided with a hood to cover the back of the head1 while the mask for the face is made of the skin of some small animal such as a weasel1 of which the hind legs and tail are attached to the hood1 while the head and forelegs hang down to the breast of the wearer2 eye-holes are cut in these as in the other forms of mask4 ,these capes are girt tightly about the waist with a stout cord or strap1 from which are hung all round the body a large number of bronze goat-bells1 of the ordinary shape but of extraordinary dimensions1 some measuring as much as ten inches for the greatest diameter4 ,the method by which these bells are attached to the belt is remarkable1 and is designed to permit a large number of them to be worn without being in any way muffled by contact with the cape4 ,each bell is fastened to one end of a curved and springy stick of about a foot in length1 and the other end is inserted behind the belt from above2 the curve and elasticity of the stick thus cause the bell to hang at some few inches distance from the body1 free to jangle with every motion of the dancer4 ,some sixty or seventy of these bells1 of various sizes1 are worn by the best-equipped1 and the weight of such a number was estimated by the people of the place as approximately a hundredweight--no easy load with which to dance over the narrow1 roughly-paved alleys of #8steep ,scyros4' ,those however who lack either the prowess or the accoutrements to share in the glorious fatigue do not abstain altogether from the festivities2 even the small boys beg1 borrow1 or steal a goat-bell and attach it to the hinder part of their person in lieu of a tail1 or1 at the worst1 make good the caudal deficiency with a branch from the nearest tree4 ,thus in various grades of goat-like attire the young men and boys traverse the town1 stopping here and there1 where the steep and tortuous paths offer a wider and more level space1 to leap and dance1 or anon at some friendly door to imbibe spirituous encouragement to further efforts4 ,in the dancing itself there is nothing peculiar to this festival2 the swinging amble1 which is the gait of the more heavily equipped1 is prescribed by the burden of bells and the roughness of roads4 ,the purpose of the leaping and dancing is solely to evoke as much din as possible from the bells2 and prodigious indeed is the jarring and jangling in those narrow alleys when the troupe of dancers leap together into the air1 as high as their burdens allow1 and come down with one crash4 ,since ,i first published#fja an account of these festivities in ,scyros1 similar celebrations of carnival-time have been reported from other places2 at ,sochos in ,macedonia#fjb the scene is almost identical with that which ,i have described2 in the district of ,viza in ,thrace a primitive dramatic performance was recently observed in which the two chief actors wore similar goat-skins1 masks1 and bells1 and had their hands blackened#fjc2 and again at ,kost in the extreme north of ,thrace there is mummery of the same kind#fjd4 ,a scene of the same sort was formerly enacted in ,athens also during the carnival1 and was known by the expressive name 7i4e4 71 #8,the ,riotings4' ,a man dressed up as a bear used to rush through the streets followed by a crowd of youths howling and clashing any noisy instruments that came to hand4 ,that this ceremony was originally of a religious character is shown not only by its association with the season of ,lent1 but by an accessory rite performed on the same occasion4 ,wooden statues1 actually called as late as the time of the ,greek ,war of ,independence1 were carried out in procession2 and the well-being of the people was believed to be so bound up with the due performance of these rites1 that even during the ,revolution1 when ,athens was in the hands of the ,turks1 a native of the place is said to have returned from ,aegina1 whither he had fled for safety1 in order to play the part of the bear and to carry out the xoana for the general good#fje4 ,the close connexion of these several modern customs1 whether the occasion of them is the ,twelve ,days or ,carnival-time1 cannot be doubted4 ,the variation of date is of old standing2 for the canon of the ,church1 on which ,balsamon#fjf comments1 condemns certain pagan festivals on ,march #ast 7approximately the carnival time7 along with the ,kalandae and ,brumalia2 and the similarity of the dresses1 masks1 bells1 and other accoutrements proper to both occasions proves the substantial identity of the festivals4 ,a comparison of these allied modern customs can only lead to one conclusion4 ,the use of the same word to denote the mummers in ,crete and the ,callicantzari in ,achaia2 the name for these mummers at ,palaeogratsana2 the custom of blackening the face1 which is clearly indicated by the employment of the name #8,arab' in this connexion2 the monstrous and half-animal appearance produced by masks1 foxes' brushes1 goat-skins1 and suchlike adornments2 the attempted rape of the bride by the #8,arab' in the play at ,pharsala--all furnish contributory evidence that the mummers themselves represent ,callicantzari4 ,only at ,portari is the significance of the custom somewhat confused2 there the #8,arab' in his old cloak and bells has long ceased to represent a ,callicantzaros1 and has actually been provided with a lantern with which to scare the ,callicantzari away4 ,the mummers then represent ,callicantzari2 the question which remains to be answered is whether the mumming was the cause or the effect of the belief in ,callicantzari4 ,polites1 in support of his theory that the name ,callicantzari1 in its earliest form1 meant either #8wearers of nice boots' or #8possessors of hoofs instead of boots1' claims that the mummers first suggested to the ,greek imagination the conception of the ,callicantzari 7it is not indeed anywhere mentioned in the above traditions that the feet or the footgear of the mummers were in any way remarkable1 but we may let that pass71 and that the fear which their riotous conduct inspired in earlier times gradually elevated them in men's minds to the rank of demons4 ,this1 he urges1 is the reason why these demons are feared only during the ,twelve ,days1 the period when such mumming was in vogue4 ,in confirmation of his view ,polites cites some of the evidence concerning the human origin of the ,callicantzari1 mentioning both the fairly common belief that men turn into ,callicantzari1 and the rarer traditions that a ,callicantzaros resumes his human shape if a torch be thrust in his face and that the transformation of men into ,callicantzari can be prevented by certain means4 ,with this evidence ,i have already dealt1 and ,i agree with ,polites that in it there survives a genuine record of the human origin of the ,callicantzari4 ,but of course on the further question1 whether the particular men thus elevated to the dignity of demons were the mummers of ,christmastide1 it has no immediate bearing4 ,as a second piece of corroboration1 he adduces another derivation hardly more felicitous than those with which ,i have already dealt4 ,the word on which he tries his hand this time is or --the name of the mummers in ,crete and of the ,callicantzari in ,achaia4 ,here again1 with a certain perversity1 he selects the worse form of the two1 1 which is evidently a syncopated form of the other1 and proceeds to derive it from the ,spanish gambujo1 #8a mask1' leaving the subsequent development of totally inexplicable4 ,for my own part ,i consider it far more probable that the word is a humorously compounded name1 of which the second half is the word #fjg 7an ,arabic word which has passed1 probably through ,turkish1 into ,greek7 meaning #8chimney1' and that the whole by-name has reference simply to the common belief that ,callicantzari try to extinguish the fire on the hearth and thus to gain access to the house by the chimney4 ,as to the meaning of -1 the first half of the compound1 ,i can only hazard the conjecture that it is connected with the verb 1 which ordinarily means to blight1 to wither1 to dry up1 and so forth1 though its passive participle1 1 is said by ,skarlatos#fjh to be applied to clothes which are #8difficult to wash4' ,if then the compound is a descriptive title of the ,callicantzari1 meaning those who render the chimney difficult to wash1 the coarse and eminently rustic humour of the allusion to their habits needs no further explanation2 and it is the mummers of ,crete who owe their name to the ,callicantzari1 not vice versa4 ,while therefore ,i acknowledge and appreciate to the full the value of ,polites' researches into the history of the ,twelve ,days1 the inferences which he draws from the material collected seem to me no more sound than the derivations which they are designed to corroborate4 ,my own interpretation of the historical facts which ,polites has brought together is as follows4 ,the superstitions and customs connected by the modern folk with the ,twelve ,days are undoubtedly an inheritance from ancestors who celebrated the ,brumalia and other pagan festivals at the same season of the year4 ,these ancient festivals1 though ,roman in name1 probably differed very little in the manner of their observance from certain old ,greek festivals1 chief among which was some festival of ,dionysus4 ,this is rendered probable both by the date of these festivals and by the manner of their celebration4 ,for the worship of ,dionysus was practically confined to the winter-time2 at ,delphi his cult superseded that of ,apollo during the three winter months#fji2 and at ,athens the four festivals of ,dionysus fell within about the same period--the rural ,dionysia at the end of ,november or beginning of ,december1 the ,lenaea about a month later1 the ,anthesteria at the end of ,january1 and the ,great ,dionysia at the end of ,february4 ,as for the manner of conducting the ,latin-named festivals1 ,asterios' description of the ,kalndae in the fifth century plainly attests the ,dionysiac character of the orgies1 and ,balsamon1 in the twelfth1 was so convinced1 from what he himself witnessed1 of their ,bacchanalian origin1 that he actually proposed to derive the name ,brumalia from #faj 7by which he meant 7 a surname of ,dionysus4 ,the mumming then1 which is still customary in some parts of ,greece during the ,twelve ,days1 is a survival apparently of festivals in honour of ,dionysus4 ,further the mummers dress themselves up to resemble ,callicantzari4 ,but the worship of ,dionysus presented a similar scene2 #8those who made processions in honour of ,dionysus1' says ,ulpian1 #8used to dress themselves up for that purpose to resemble his companions1 some in the guise of ,satyrs1 others as ,bacchae1 and others as ,sileni#faa4' ,the mummers therefore of the present day have1 it appears1 inherited the custom of dressing up from the ancient worshippers of ,dionysus and are their modern representatives2 and from this it follows that the ,callicantzari whom the modern mummers strive to resemble are to be identified with those motley companions of ,dionysus whom his worshippers imitated of old4 ,the more closely these two identifications are examined1 the more certain they will appear4 ,take for example ,mller's general description#fab of the celebration of ,dionysus' festivals4 #8,the swarm of subordinate beings--,satyrs1 ,panes1 and ,nymphs--by whom ,bacchus was surrounded1 and through whom life seemed to pass from the god of outward nature into vegetation and the animal world1 and branch off into a variety of beautiful or grotesque forms1 were ever present to the fancy of the ,greeks2 it was not necessary to depart very widely from the ordinary course of ideas1 to imagine that dances of fair nymphs and bold satyrs1 among the solitary woods and rocks1 were visible to human eyes1 or even in fancy to take a part in them4 ,the intense desire felt by every worshipper of ,bacchus to fight1 to conquer1 to suffer1 in common with him1 made them regard these subordinate beings as a convenient step by which they could approach more nearly to the presence of their divinity4 ,the custom1 so prevalent at the festivals of ,bacchus1 of taking the disguise of satyrs1 doubtless originated in this feeling1 and not in the mere desire of concealing excesses under the disguise of a mask2 otherwise1 so serious and pathetic a spectacle as tragedy could never have originated in the choruses of these satyrs4 ,the desire of escaping from self into something new and strange1 of living in an imaginary world1 breaks forth in a thousand instances in these festivals of ,bacchus4 ,it is seen in the colouring the body with plaster1 soot1 vermilion1 and different sorts of green and red juices of plants1 wearing goats' and deer skins round the loins1 covering the face with large leaves of different plants2 and lastly in the wearing masks of wood1 bark1 and other materials1 and of a complete costume belonging to the character4' ,to complete this description it may be added that #8drunkenness1 and the boisterous music of flutes1 cymbals and drums1 were likewise common to all ,dionysiac festivals#fac4' ,which of all these things is missing in the mediaeval or modern counterpart of the festival8 ,the blackening of the face or the wearing of the masks1 the feminine costume or beast-like disguise1 the boisterous music of bells1 the rioting and drunkenness--all are reproduced in the celebration of ,kalandae and ,brumalia or in the mumming of the ,twelve ,days4 ,the mummers are the worshippers of a god1 whose name however and existence they and their forefathers have long forgotten4 ,and again are not the ,callicantzari faithful reproductions of the ,satyrs and ,sileni who ever attended ,dionysus8 ,their semi-bestial form with legs of goat or ass affixed to a human trunk1 their grotesque faces and goat-like ears and horns1 their boisterous and mischievous merriment1 their love of wine1 their passion for dancing1 above all in company with ,nereids1 the indecency of their actions and sometimes of their appearance1 their wantonness and lust--all these widely acknowledged attributes of the ,callicantzari proclaim them lineal descendants of ,dionysus' motley comrades4 ,such is my interpretation of the facts collected by ,polites1 and it differs from that which he has advanced in the reversal of cause and effect4 ,starting from the fact that dressing up in various disguises was the chief characteristic of the ,kalandae and ,brumalia and is perpetuated in the mumming of the ,twelve ,days1 but failing to carry his researches far enough back and so to discover the absolute identity of these festivals with the ancient ,dionysia1 he holds that the generally prevalent custom of dressing up in monstrous and horrible disguises at a given period of the year--a custom which he leaves unexplained--was the cause of the belief in the activity of monstrous and horrible demons at that period2 those who had once been simply human mummers were exalted to the ranks of the supernatural1 but still betrayed their origin by the possession of a name which meant either #8wearers of nice boots' or else #8hoofed and not booted4' ,in my view on the contrary the identity of the modern mumming with the ancient ,dionysia is indisputable2 and just as in ancient times the belief in the ,satyrs and ,sileni was the cause of the adoption of satyr-like disguises in the ,dionysia1 so in more recent times1 when the ,satyrs1 ,sileni1 and others came to be included in the more comprehensive term ,callicantzari1 it was the belief in the ,callicantzari which continued to cause the wearing of similar disguises during the ,twelve ,days4 ,and this interpretation of the facts explains no less adequately than that of ,polites the reason why the activities of the ,callicantzari are limited to the ,twelve ,days4 ,that which was in ancient times the special season for the commemoration of ,dionysus and his attendants has now with the very gradual but still real decline of ancient beliefs become the only season4 ,this is natural and intelligible enough in itself2 but1 if a parallel be required1 ,greek folklore can provide one4 ,no one will suppose that the ,dryads of ancient ,greece were feared during the first six days of ,august only1 though it is likely enough that they had a special festival at that time2 but in modern folklore these are the only days on which1 in many parts of ,greece1 any survival of the ,dryads' memory can be found#fad4 ,moreover the identification of the ,callicantzari with the ,satyrs and other kindred comrades of ,dionysus elucidates a modern custom which ,i noticed earlier in this chapter but did not then explain--the rare1 but known1 custom of making offerings to the ,callicantzari4 ,the sweetmeats1 waffles1 sausages1 and even the pig's bone which are occasionally placed in the chimney for the ,callicantzari correspond1 it would seem1 with offerings formerly made to ,dionysus and shared by his train of ,satyrs4 ,possibly even the choice of pork 7usually in the shape of sausages7 or1 in the more rudimentary form of the survival1 of a pig's bone1 dates from the age in which the proper victim for ,dionysus at the ,anthesteria was a sow2 but of course it may only have been determined by the fact that pork is the peasant's ,christmas fare and therefore the most ready offering at that season4 ,how then1 it will be asked1 does the conclusion here reached1 namely that the ,callicantzari are1 in many districts1 the modern representatives of the ,satyrs and other kindred beings1 square with that other conclusion previously drawn from another set of facts1 namely that the ,callicantzari were originally not demons but men who either voluntarily or under the compulsion of a kind of madness assumed the shape and the character of beasts8 ,the reconciliation of these two apparently antagonistic conclusions depends primarily on the derivation of the name ,callicantzari4 ,now the conditions which in my opinion that derivation should satisfy1 have already been indicated in my discussion of dialectic forms and in my criticism of the several derivations proposed by others2 but it will be well to summarise them here4 ,they are four in number4 ,first1 the derivation of this word1 as of all others1 must involve only such phonetic changes as find parallels in other words of the language4 ,secondly1 it must recognise the commonest form as being also the central and original form from which the many dialectic forms in the above table have diverged4 ,thirdly1 it must explain this form as a compound of a word --presumably with 4 ,for1 in dialect1 there exists a word 1 which is used as a synonym with and is evidently in form a diminutive of the word 1 and likewise there exists another synonym 1 which cannot be formed from by an arbitrary shuffling of syllables but is a separate compound of --presumably with 4 ,fourthly1 and consequently on the last-named condition1 the word 1 whether alone or in composition with either or 1 must possess a meaning adequate to denote the monsters who have been described4 ,all these conditions are satisfied in the identification of the word with the ancient word 4 ,the phonetic change herein involved will1 to any who are not familiar with the pronunciation of modern ,greek1 appear more considerable than it really is4 ,in that pronunciation it must be remembered that the accent1 which indicates the syllable on which stress is laid1 is everything1 and ancient quantity is nothing2 and further that the ancient diphthongs au and eu have come to be pronounced respectively as av or af and ev or ef4 ,the change of sound in this case may therefore be fairly measured by the difference between kndvrs and kndzrs in ,british pronunciation#fae4 ,the phonetic modifications therefore which require notice are the substitution of for in the first syllable1 the introduction of a after the 1 and the loss of the v-sound before the 4 ,the change from to is very common in ,greek1 especially 7by assimilation it would seem7 where the following syllable1 as in the word before us1 has an for its vowel4 ,thus is constantly to be heard instead of 7light71 for 7a loom71 - for - in compound verbs4 ,the insertion of 7or 7 after is certainly a less common change1 but parallels can be found for this also4 ,the ancient word 7grasshoppers7 appears in modern ,greek as 4 ,a word of ,latin origin#faf 7,i stretch7 has an equally common by-form 4 ,the classical word 7a chisel7 has passed1 through a diminutive form 1 into the modern 4 ,the word 7embroideries7 has a dialectic form #fag4 ,from the adjective 7grey1 brown1 dusky7 are formed substantives and 7a stain or daub74 ,the substantive 7sulkiness1 sullenness7 is probably to be identified with the ancient 4 ,the two most frequently employed equivalents for #8mad' or #8crazy'-- and --are probably of kindred origin--an insertion of in the former having produced first and thence 774 ,finally there is some likelihood that the word 1 in a botanical sense in which it is now used1 is to be identified with the ancient plant-name or 4 ,the former indeed now denotes a kind of juniper1 while the later is of course our #8centaury'2 but this difference in meaning is not1 ,i think1 fatal to the identification of the words4 ,at the present day the common-folk are extraordinarily vague in their nomenclature of natural objects4 ,in travelling about ,i made a practice of asking my guides and others the names of flowers and birds and suchlike2 and my general experience might fairly be summed up by saying that the average peasant divides all birds which he does not eat into two classes2 the larger ones are hawks1 and the smaller are--#8little birds1 ,god knows what'2 and an accompanying shrug of the shoulders indicates that the man does not care2 while most flowers can be called either violets or gilly-flowers at pleasure4 ,even therefore when a peasant of superior intelligence knows that is now the name of a kind of juniper1 it does not follow that that name has always belonged to it1 and has not been transferred to it from some plant formerly used1 let us say1 for a like purpose4 ,in this case it is known that both juniper and some kind of centaury were formerly used for medicating wine#fah1 and the wine treated with either was prescribed as #8good for the stomach#fai4' ,hence a confusion of the two plants is intelligible enough among a peasantry not distinguished by a love of botanical accuracy4 ,but ,i place no reliance upon this possible identification2 the cases previously cited furnish sufficient analogies4 ,further it may be noted that in the first two examples of this insertion of or a certain change in the consonants of the next syllable accompanies it4 ,the in becomes 1 the in is reduced to 4 ,in the same way1 it seems1 when was inserted after the of 1 the sound of vr was reduced to r only1 though certainly the loss of the v-sound might have occurred1 apart from any such predisposing modification1 as in the common word 7,i know7 for 4 ,since then the etymological conditions of the problem are satisfied by the identification of the word with the ancient 1 it remains only to show that the name of #8,centaurs' fitly belongs to the monsters whom ,i have described2 and my contention will be that the simple word 1 #8,centaur1' surviving now only in the dialectic diminutive form 1 adequately expresses every sort and condition of ,callicantzaros that has been depicted2 that 1 the general word1 of which so many dialectic varieties occur1 being simply an euphemistic compound of with such as we have previously seen in the title given to the ,nereids1 expresses precisely the same meaning as the simple word 1 #8,centaur'2 and that originally denoted one species only of the genus ,centaur1 namely a ,callicantzaros whose animal traits were those of a wolf4 ,what then did the ancients mean by the word #8centaur'8 ,the mention of the name is apt to carry away our minds to famous frieze or pediment1 where in one splendidly impossible creation of art the excellences of man1 his head and his hands1 are wed with the horse's strength and speed4 ,this was the species of ,centaur which the great sculptors and painters in the best period of ,greek ,art chose to depict1 and these among educated men became the ,centaurs par excellence4 ,yet even so it was not forgotten that they formed only one species1 and were strictly to be called 1 #8horse-centaurs4' ,moreover two other species of ,centaur are named in the ancient language1 or fish-centaurs1 and or ass-centaurs4 ,of the former nothing seems to be known beyond the mere name1 but this matters little inasmuch as they can assuredly have contributed nothing to the popular conception of the wholly terrestrial ,callicantzari4 ,the ass-centaurs will prove of more interest4 ,but the list of ancient species of ,centaur does not really stop here4 ,no other compounds of the word ,centaur may exist1 but none the less there were other ,centaurs--other creatures1 that is1 of mixed human and animal form4 ,chief among these were the ,satyrs1 who as pourtrayed by early ,greek art might equally well have been called #8hippocentaurs1' and in the presentations of ,greco-,roman art deserved the name1 if ,i may coin it1 of #8tragocentaurs4' ,and the ,greeks themselves recognised this fact4 #8,the evidence of the coins of ,macedonia1' says ,miss ,jane ,harrison#fbj1 #8is instructive4 ,on the coins of ,orreskii1 a centaur1 a horse-man1 bears off a woman in his arms4 ,at ,lete close at hand1 with a coinage closely resembling in style1 fabric1 weight the money of the ,orreskii and other ,pangaean tribes1 the type is the same in content1 though with an instructive difference of form--a naked ,satyr or ,seilenos with the hooves1 ears and tail of a horse seizes a woman round the waist4444 ,this interchange of types1 ,satyr and ,centaur1 is evidence about which there can be no mistake4 ,satyr and ,centaur1 slightly diverse types of the horse-man1 are in essence one and the same4' ,nor was the recognition of this fact confined to ,macedonia4 ,a famous picture by ,zeuxis1 representing the domestic life of ,centaurs1 with a female ,centaur 7a creature about as rare as a female ,callicantzaros7 suckling her young1 pourtrayed her in most respects1 apart from her sex1 conventionally1 but gave her the ears of a ,satyr#fba4 ,and reversely ,nonnus ventured to describe the #8shaggy ,satyrs' as being1 #8by blood1 of ,centaur-stock#fbb4' ,in view then of this close bond between the two types of half-human half-animal creatures1 it would be natural that1 when the specific name ,satyr was lost1 as it has been lost1 from the popular language1 while the generic term ,centaur survived in the form ,callicantzaros1 the ,satyrs should have been amalgamated with those who from of old had professed and called themselves ,centaurs2 and with the ,satyrs1 ,i suppose1 went also the ,sileni4 ,thus the word ,centaur1 in spite of the narrowing tendencies of ,greek art which selected the hippocentaur as the ideal type1 was always comprehensive in popular use1 and perhaps became even wider in scope as time went on and the distinctive appellations of ,satyrs and suchlike were forgotten2 but it is also possible that from the very earliest times the distinction between ,satyrs and ,centaurs was merely an artistic and literary convention1 and that in popular speech the name ,centaur was applied to both without discrimination4 ,but it does not really concern us to argue at length the question whether the common-folk in antiquity never distinguished1 or1 having once distinguished1 subsequently confused the ,satyrs and the ,centaurs4 ,it is just worth noticing that it was in art of the ,greco-,roman period1 so far as ,i can discover1 that horse-centaurs first began to be represented along with ,satyrs and ,sileni in the entourage of ,dionysus2 and if this addition to the conventional treatment of such scenes was made1 as seems likely1 in deference to popular beliefs1 the date by which the close association of the two classes was an accomplished fact and confusion of them therefore likely to ensue is approximately determined4 ,at some date therefore probably not later than the beginning of our era1 the generic name of ,centaur comprised several species of half-human1 half-animal monsters1 of whom the best known were horse-centaurs1 ass-centaurs1 ,satyrs1 and ,sileni2 and each of these species1 it will be seen1 has contributed something to one or other of the many types of the modern ,centaurs1 the ,callicantzari4 ,the horse-centaur1 which was the favourite species among the artists of ancient times1 has curiously enough had least influence upon the modern delineation of ,callicantzari4 ,the only attribute which they seem to have received chiefly from this source is the rough shaggy hair with which they are usually said to be covered2 #8shaggy' is ,homer's epithet for the ,centaurs#fbc1 and the hippocentaurs of later art retained the trait2 for it is specially noted by ,lucian that in ,zeuxis' picture the male hippocentaur was shaggy all over1 the human part of him no less than the equine#fbd4 ,the ass-centaur on the contrary is rarely mentioned by ancient writers1 but has contributed largely to some presentments of the ,callicantzari4 ,aelian mentions the name1 in the feminine form 1 but the monster to which he applies it1 although true to its name in that the upper part of its body is human and the lower part asinine1 is not a creation of superstitious fancy1 but1 as is evident from other facts which he mentions1 some species of ape known to him1 none too accurately1 from some traveller's tale4 ,the locus classicus on the subject of genuine supernatural ass-centaurs is a passage in the ,septuagint translation of ,isaiah#fbe3 1 --#8,and demons shall meet with ass-centaurs and they shall bring help one to another2 there shall ass-centaurs find rest for themselves and be at rest4' ,here our ,revised ,version runs3--8,the wild beasts of the desert shall meet with the wolves 7,heb4 #8howling creatures'71 and the satyr shall cry to his fellow2 yea1 the night-monster shall settle there40 ,the comparison is instructive4 ,it is clear from the context that the ,septuagint translators were minded to give some ,greek colouring to their rendering even at the expense of strict accuracy2 for in the previous verse1 where our ,revised ,version employs the word #8jackals1' the ,septuagint introduces beings whose voices are generally supposed to have been more attractive1 the ,sirens4 ,the use of the word #8ass-centaurs' cannot therefore have been prompted by any pedantic notions of literal translation4 ,the creatures1 for all the lack of other literary warranty1 must have been familiar to the popular imagination4 ,and what may be gleaned from the passage concerning their character8 ,apparently they are the nearest ,greek equivalent for #8howling creatures' and for #8night-monsters'2 and such emphasis in the ,greek is laid upon the statement that they will #8find rest for themselves and be at rest1' that they must surely in general have borne a character for restlessness4 ,these restless noisy monsters of the night1 in shape half-human and half-asinine1 are clearly in character no less than in form the prototypes of some modern ,callicantzari4 ,of the many traits inherited by the ,callicantzari from the ,satyrs and ,sileni1 the usual comrades of ,dionysus1 ,i have already spoken4 ,so far as outward appearance is concerned1 the ,satyrs as they came to be pourtrayed in the later ,greek art are clearly responsible for the goat-type so common in the description of the ,callicantzari1 while a reminiscence of the ,sileni may perhaps be traced in the rarer bald-headed type4 ,but as regards their manner of life1 which as ,i have shown bears many resemblances to that of the ,satyrs--their boisterous merriment and rioting1 their love of wine1 their violence1 and their lewdness--these traits cannot of course be referred to the ,satyrs any more than to the hippocentaurs or for that matter to the onocentaurs who were probably no more sober or chaste than their kindred4 ,rather it was the common possession of these qualities by the several types of half-human and half-bestial monsters that allowed them to be grouped together under the single name of ,callicantzari4 ,thus the conclusion drawn from an historical survey of those ancient festivals which are now represented by the ,twelve ,days1 namely that the ,callicantzari are the modern representatives of ,dionysus' monstrous comrades1 is both corroborated and amplified by the etymological identification of the ,callicantzari 7or in the simple and unadorned form1 the 7 with the ,centaurs1 of whom the ,satyrs and the ,sileni are species4 ,the remaining modern name on which ,i have to touch readily explains itself in the light of what has already been said4 ,if the word is the modern form of 1 and if by the name #8,centaur' was denoted a being half-human and half-animal both in shape and in character1 then the name clearly should mean a creature half-man half-wolf1 such as the ancients might have called a lycocentaur1 but did actually name 4 ,lycocantzaros then etymologically should mean the werewolf--a man transformed either by his own power or by some external influence into a wolf4 ,the idea of lycanthropy has probably been familiar to the peasants of ,greece continuously from the earliest ages down to the present day1 either surviving traditionally like so many other beliefs1 or possibly stimulated by actual experiences2 for lycanthropy is not a mere figment of the imagination1 but is a very real and terrible form of madness1 under the influence of which the sufferer believes himself transformed 7and by dress or lack of it tries to transfigure himself7 into a wolf or other wild animal1 and in that state develops and satisfies a craving for human flesh4 ,outbreaks of it were terribly frequent in the east of ,europe during the ,middle ,ages1 especially among the ,slavonic populations2 and it is not likely that ,greece wholly escaped this scourge4 ,but whether the idea received some such impetus or no1 it was certainly known to the ancient ,greeks1 and is not wholly forgotten at the present day4 ,this was curiously betrayed by some questions put to an ,american archaeologist by an ,arcadian peasant4 ,among the items of falsehood vended as news by the ,greek press he had seen1 but owing to the would-be classical style had failed to understand1 certain allegations concerning the cannibalistic habits of ,red ,indians2 and the points on which he sought enlightenment were1 first1 whether they ran on all fours1 and1 secondly1 whether they went naked or wore wolf-skins4 ,in effect the only form of savagery familiar to his mind was that of the werewolf4 ,now here1 it might be thought1 is the clue by which to explain the first conclusion which we reached1 namely1 that the ,callicantzari were originally men capable of transformation into beasts4 ,the name or werewolf1 it might be urged1 involved the idea of such transformation2 and the idea originally associated with the one species was extended to the whole tribe of ,callicantzari4 ,at first sight such an explanation is attractive and appears tenable2 but maturer consideration compels me to reject it4 ,in the first place1 although the word cannot etymologically have meant anything but werewolf when it was first employed1 at the present day in the few districts where the name may be heard1 in ,cynouria1 in ,messenia1 and1 so far as ,i can ascertain1 in ,crete1 it involves no idea of the transformation of men into beasts2 it is merely a variant form for and in no way distinguished from it in meaning1 and the ,callicantzari in those districts are demons of definite hybrid form1 not men temporarily transformed into beasts4 ,and conversely in the ,cyclades and other places where the belief in this transformation of men is prevalent1 the compound seems to be unknown1 and 7or some dialectic form of the same word7 is in vogue4 ,since then in many places where the generic name ,callicantzari is alone in use1 the human origin of these monsters is maintained1 while in those few districts where the specific name ,lycocantzari is also used that human origin is denied1 it is hard to believe that in this respect the surviving ideas concerning the genus can be the outcome of obsolete ideas concerning the species4 ,secondly1 if for the sake of argument it be granted that the ,callicantzari had always been demons1 how came the werewolf1 the 1 whose very name proved him half-human1 to change that name to 8 ,how came a man who occasionally turned into a wolf to be classified as one species in a genus of beings who ex hypothesi were not human even in origin1 but demoniacal8 ,we should have to suppose that the peasants of that epoch in which the change of name occurred did not distinguish between men and demons--which1 as ,euclid puts it1 is absurd2 wherefore the supposition that the ,callicantzari had always been regarded as demons until werewolves were admitted to their ranks cannot be maintained4 ,rather the point of resemblance between the earliest ,callicantzari and werewolves1 which made the amalgamation of them possible1 must have been the belief that both alike were men transformed into animals4 ,since then the belief in the metamorphosis of men into ,callicantzari existed before that epoch--a quite indeterminate epoch1 ,i am afraid--in which the word fell into desuetude#fbf and was replaced by 1 where are we to look for the origin of the idea8 ,since the ,callicantzari bear the name of the ,centaurs1 it is obvious that the enquiry must be carried yet further back1 and that the ancient ideas concerning the ,centaurs' origin must be investigated4 ,pindar touches often upon the ,centaur-myths2 what view did he take of the ,centaurs' nature8 ,were they divine in origin or human8 ,we shall see that he held no settled view on the subject4 ,both traditions concerning the origin of the ,centaurs were familiar to him just as both traditions still prevail in modern accounts of the ,callicantzari2 sometimes he follows the one1 sometimes the other4 ,on the one hand the ,centaur ,chiron is consistently described as divine4 #8,fain would ,i1' says ,pindar#fbg1 #8that ,chiron 444 wide-ruling scion of ,cronos the son of ,ouranos were living and not gone1 and that the ,beast of the wilds were ruling o'er the glens of ,pelion'2 and again he names him #8,chiron son of ,cronos#fbh' and #8the ,beast divine#fbi4' ,in ,pindar's view ,chiron1 be he ,beast or ,god1 is certainly not human2 and if he is once named by the same poet #8the ,magnesian ,centaur#fcj1' the epithet need only perhaps declare his habitation4 ,his divinity is plainly asserted1 and the legend that he resigned the divine guerdon of immortality in order to deliver ,prometheus accords with ,pindar's doctrine4 ,but on the other hand the story of ,ixion as told by ,pindar reveals another tradition4 ,ixion himself was human2 for his presumptuous sin of lusting after the wife of ,zeus #8swiftly he suffered as he1 mere man1 deserved1 and won a misery unique#fca4' ,the son of ,ixion therefore by a nebulous mother could not be divine4 ,the cloud wherewith in his delusion he had mated #8bare unto him1 unblest of the ,graces1 a monstrous son1 a thing apart even as she1 with no rank either among men or where gods have their portion2 him she nurtured and named ,centauros2 and he in the dales of ,pelion did mate with ,magnesian mares1 and thence there sprang a wondrous warrior-tribe like unto both their parents--like to their dams in their nether parts1 and the upper frame their sire's#fcb4' ,the first ,centaur then1 the founder of the race1 though only half-human in origin1 was in no respect divine4 ,how then came ,chiron1 one of that race1 to be divine8 ,the two traditions are inconsistent4 ,pindar as a poet was not troubled thereby2 he chose now the one1 now the other1 for his art to embroider4 ,but in the science of mythology the discrepancy of the two traditions is important4 ,once more we must carry our search further back--to ,hesiod and to ,homer4 ,the former1 in placing the battle of the ,lapithae and the ,centaurs among the scenes wrought on the shield of ,heracles#fcc1 says never a word to suggest that either set of combatants were other than human2 the contrast between them lies wholly in the weapons they use4 ,the ,lapithae have their leaders enumerated1 ,caineus1 ,dryas1 ,pirithous1 and the rest2 the ,centaurs in like manner are gathered about their ,chieftains1 #8huge ,petraeos and ,asbolos the augur and ,arctos and ,oureios and black-haired ,mimas and the two sons of ,peukeus1 ,perimedes and ,dryalos4' ,the account reads like a description of a fight between two tribes1 one of them equipped with body-armour and using spears1 the other more primitive and armed only with rude wooden weapons4 ,to this representation of the ,centaurs ,homer also1 in the ,iliad1 consents2 for1 though he names them ,pheres or #8,beasts1' it is quite clear that this is the proper name of a tribe of men--men who dwelt on ,mount ,pelion and were hardly less valiant than the heroes who conquered them4 #8,never saw ,i1' says ,nestor1 #8nor shall see other such men as were ,pirithous and ,dryas1 shepherd of hosts1 and ,caineus and ,exadios and godlike ,polyphemus and ,theseus1 son of ,aegeus1 like unto the immortals4 ,mightiest in sooth were they of men upon the earth1 and against mightiest fought1 even the mountain-haunting ,pheres1 and fearfully they did destroy them#fcd4' ,and again we hear how ,pirithous #8took vengeance on the shaggy ,pheres1 and drave them forth from ,pelion to dwell nigh unto the ,aethices#fce4' ,apart from the name #8,pheres1' which will shortly be examined1 there is nothing in these passages any more than in that of ,hesiod to suggest that the conflict of the ,lapithae and the ,centaurs means anything but the destruction or expulsion of a primitive and wild mountain-tribe by a people who1 in the wearing of body-armour1 had advanced one important step in material civilisation4 ,yet in some respects the tribe of ,centaurs were1 according to ,homer1 at least the equals of their neighbours2 for ,chiron1 #8the justest of the ,centaurs#fcf1' was the teacher both of the greatest warrior1 ,achilles#fcg1 and of the greatest physician1 ,asclepios#fch4 ,the only passage of ,homer which has been held to imply that the ,centaurs were not men comes not from the ,iliad but from the ,odyssey#fci-- --which ,miss ,harrison#fdj translates #8,thence 'gan the feud 'twixt ,centaurs and mankind1' inferring therefrom the non-humanity of the ,centaurs4 ,it is however legitimate to take the word in a stricter sense1 and to render the line1 #8,thence arose the feud between ,centaurs and heroes1' to wit1 the heroes ,pirithous1 ,dryas1 and others2 and the inference is then impaired4 ,but in any case the ,iliad1 the earlier authority1 consistently depicts both ,chiron and the other ,centaurs as human4 ,the tradition of a divine origin must have arisen between the date of the ,iliad and the time of ,pindar1 and from then until now popular opinion must have been divided on the question whether the ,centaurs1 the ,callicantzari1 were properly men or demons4 ,but one part of the conclusion at which we first arrived1 namely that ,callicantzari were originally men1 is justified by ,homer's and ,hesiod's testimony4 ,what then of the other part of that conclusion8 ,there is ancient proof that the ,callicantzari were originally men2 but what witness is there to the metamorphosis of those men into beasts8 ,the ,centaurs' alternative name1 ,pheres4 ,an ethnological explanation of this name has recently been put forward by ,prof4 ,ridgeway#fda4 ,concluding from the evidence of the ,iliad that #8the ,pheres are as yet nothing more than a mountain tribe and are not yet conceived as half-horse half-man1' he points out1 on the authority of ,pindar1 that ,pelion was the country of the ,magnetes#fdb and that ,chiron not only dwelt in a cave on ,pelion1 but is himself called a ,magnete#fdc4 #8,it is then probable1' he continues#fdd1 #8that the ,centaur myth originated in the fact that the older race 7the ,pelasgians7 had continued to hold out in the mountains1 ever the last refuge of the remnants of conquered races4 ,at first the tribes of ,pelion may have been friendly to the 7,achaean7 invader who was engaged in subjugating other tribes with whom they had old feuds2 and as the ,norman settlers in ,ireland gave their sons to be fostered by the native ,irish1 so the ,achaean ,peleus entrusted his son to the old ,chiron4 ,nor must it be forgotten that conquering races frequently regard the conquered both with respect and aversion4 ,they respect them for their skill as wizards1 because the older race are familiar with the spirits of the land4444 ,on the other hand1 as the older race have been driven into the most barren parts of the land1 and are being continually pressed still further back1 and have their women carried off1 they naturally lose no opportunity of making reprisals on their enemies1 and sally forth from their homes in the mountains or forests to plunder and in their turn to carry off women4 ,the conquering race consequently regard the aborigines with hatred1 and impute to them every evil quality1 though when it is necessary to employ sorcery they will always resort to one of the hated race4' ,then follow a series of instances from various parts of the world which amply justify this estimate of the relations between conquerors and conquered4 ,but in applying the principle thus obtained to the case of the ,centaurs ,prof4 ,ridgeway goes a little further4 #8,as it is therefore certain that aboriginal tribes who survive in mountains and forests are considered not only possessed of skill in magic1 but as also bestial in their lusts1 and are even transformed into vipers and wild beasts by the imagination of their enemies1 we may reasonably infer from the ,centaur myth that the ancient ,pelasgian tribes of ,pelion and ,ossa had been able to defy the invaders of ,thessaly1 and that they had from the remotest times possessed these mountains4 #8,we can now explain why they are called ,pheres1 ,centauri and ,magnetes4 ,scholars are agreed in holding that ,pheres 77 is only an ,aeolic form for 1 8wild beasts40 ,such a name is not likely to have been assumed by the tribe itself1 but is rather an opprobrious term applied to them by their enemies4 ,centauri was probably the name of some particular clan of ,magnetes#fde4' ,prof4 ,ridgeway then1 as ,i understand1 believes the ,centauri to have been named ,pheres or #8,beasts' by their enemies because they were bestial in character1 and supports his view by the statement which ,i have italicised4 ,on this point ,i join issue4 ,first1 the phrase in question is based upon one only out of the many instances which he adduces as evidence of the relations between invaders and aborigines--and that the most dubious1 for it depends upon a somewhat arbitrary interpretation of a passage#fdf of ,procopius4 #8,he wrote1' says ,prof4 ,ridgeway#fdg1 #8in the sixth century of ,britain thus3 8,the people who in old time lived in this island of ,britain built a great wall1 which cut off a considerable portion of it4 ,on either side of this wall the land1 climate and everything are different4 ,for the district to the east of the wall enjoys a healthy climate1 changing with the seasons1 being moderately warm in summer and cool in winter4 ,it is thickly inhabited by people who live in the same way as other folk40 ,after enumerating its natural advantages he then proceeds to say that 8,on the west of the wall everything is quite the opposite2 so that1 forsooth1 it is impossible for a man to live there for half-an-hour4 ,vipers and snakes innumerable and every kind of wild beast share the possession of that country between them2 and what is most marvellous1 the natives say that if a man crosses the wall and enters the district beyond it1 he immediately dies1 being quite unable to withstand the pestilential climate which prevails there1 and that any beasts that wander in there straightway meet their death40 #8,there seems little doubt that the wall here meant is the ,wall of ,hadrian1 for the ancient geographers are confused about the orientation of the island4 #8,it is therefore probable that the vipers and wild beasts who lived beyond the wall were nothing more than the ,caledonians1 nor is it surprising to learn that a sudden death overtook either man or beast that crossed into their territory4' ,that a native ,british statement made in the sixth century to the effect that the country beyond ,hadrian's wall was pestilential in climate and infested with vipers1 snakes1 and wild beasts1 should be considered as even probable evidence that either the ,romans or the natives of ,britain regarded the ,caledonians as noxious animals1 is to me surprising4 ,the question whether the ,centaurs were called ,pheres because of their bestial repute among neighbouring tribes must be decided independently of that inference and on its own merits4 ,secondly then1 was there anything bestial in the conduct of the ,centaurs1 as known to ,homer1 which could have won for them the name of #8,beasts'8 ,all that ancient mythology tells of their conduct may be briefly summarised2 they fought with the men and carried off the women of neighbouring tribes1 and occasionally drank wine to excess4 ,were the ,achaeans then such ardent abstainers that they dubbed those who indulged too freely in intoxicants #8,beasts'8 ,did the invaders of ,greece and the assailants of ,troy hold fighting so reprehensible8 ,or was it the ,centaurs' practice of carrying off the women of their enemies which convicted them of #8bestial lust'8 ,in all ages surely humanum est errare1 but in that early age the practice was not only human but manly2 the enemy's womenfolk were among the rightful prizes of a raid4 ,there is nothing then in mythology to warrant the belief that the ,centaurs' moral conduct was such as to win for them1 in that age1 the opprobrious name of #8,beasts4' ,and here ,art supports ,mythology2 for clearly the representation of the ,centaurs in semi-animal form cannot be dissociated from their name of ,pheres2 the same idea must lie at the root of both4 ,if then the name ,pheres was given to the ,centaurs because of their violence or lust1 the animal portion of them in the representations of early ,greek ,art should have been such as to express one or both of those qualities4 ,but what do we find8 ,in discussing the development of the horse-centaur in art1 ,miss ,harrison#fdh points out that though in horse-loving ,athens1 by the middle of the fifth century ,b4,c41 the equine element predominated in the composite being1 #8in archaic representations the reverse is the case4 ,the ,centaurs are in art what they are in reality1 men with men's legs and feet1 but they are shaggy mountain-men with some of the qualities and habits of beasts2 so to indicate this in a horse-loving country they have the hind-quarters of a horse awkwardly tacked on to their human bodies4' ,now the particular #8qualities and habits of beasts1' if such there be1 in the ,centaurs must be their violence and lust4 ,are these then adequately symbolised by #8the hind-quarters of a horse awkwardly tacked on to their human bodies'8 ,in scenes of conflict1 in the archaic representations1 it is the human part of the ,centaur which bears the brunt of the fight1 and the weapon used is a branch of a tree1 the primitive human weapon2 the ,centaur fights as a man fights4 ,if he had been depicted with horns or teeth or claws as his weapons of offence1 then the animal part of him would fairly symbolise his bestial violence2 but who could discover a trace of pugnacity in his equine loins and rump1 hind legs and tail8 ,or again if pugnacity is not the particular quality which caused the ,centaurs to be named #8,beasts' and to be pourtrayed in half-animal form1 is it their lewdness which art thus endeavoured to suggest8 ,surely1 if the early artists had understood that the name ,pheres was a contemptuous designation of a tribe bestial in their lust1 ,greek taste was not so intolerant of ithyphallic representations that they need have had recourse to so cryptic a symbol as the hind-quarters of a horse4 ,but if it be supposed that1 while a sense of modesty1 unknown to later generations1 deterred those early artists from a more obvious method of expressing their meaning1 the idea of the ,centaurs' lewdness was really present to their minds1 then ,chiron too falls under the same condemnation and is tainted with the same vice as the rest4 #8,a black-figured vase1' says ,prof4 ,ridgeway1 propos of the virtues1 not of the vices1 of this one ,centaur1 #8shows the hero 7,peleus7 bringing the little ,achilles to ,chiron1 who is depicted as a venerable old man with a white beard and clad in a long robe from under the back of which issues the hinder part of a diminutive pony1 the equine portion being a mere adjunct to the complete human figure#fdi4' ,so far then as the animal part is concerned1 the representation of ,chiron in early art differs no whit from that of other ,centaurs1 and the quality1 which is symbolised by the equine adjunct in these1 is imputed to him also4 ,yet to convict of bestial lust the virtuous ,chiron1 the chosen teacher of great heroes1 is intolerable4 ,in effect1 no explanation of the name ,pheres in mythology and of the biform representation of the ,centaurs in art can be really satisfactory which does not reckon with ,chiron1 the most famous and #8the most just' of the ,centaurs1 as well as with the rest of the tribe4 ,some characteristic common to them all--and therefore not lust or any other evil passion--must be the basis of any adequate interpretation of the name #8,beasts4' ,if then the name ,pheres cannot have been an opprobrious term applied to the ,pelasgian tribe of ,centauri by the ,achaean invaders in token of their lusts or other evil qualities1 can it have been a term of respect8 ,it may not now sound a respectful title2 but in view of that ethnological principle which ,prof4 ,ridgeway enunciates1 namely #8that conquering races frequently regard the conquered both with respect and aversion1' the enquiry is worth pursuing4 ,the principle itself seems to me well established2 it is only his application of it in the particular case of the ,centaurs to which ,i have demurred4 ,the conquering race1 he shows1 are apt to respect the conquered for their skill as wizards4 ,this certainly holds true in the case before us4 ,chiron was of high repute in the arts of magic and prophecy4 ,it was from him that ,asclepios learned #8to be a healer of the many-plaguing maladies of men2 and thus all that came unto him whether plagued with self-grown sores or with limbs wounded by the lustrous bronze or stone far-hurled1 or marred by summer heat or winter cold--these he delivered1 loosing each from his several infirmity1 some with emollient spells and some by kindly potions1 or else he hung their limbs with charms1 or by surgery he raised them up to health#fej4' ,and it was ,chiron too to whom ,apollo himself resorted for counsel1 and from whom he learned the blissful destiny of the maiden ,cyrene#fea4 ,nor was ,chiron the only exponent of such arts among the ,centaurs2 for ,hesiod names also ,asbolos as a diviner4 ,if then the tribe of ,centaurs enjoyed a reputation for sorcery1 could this have won for them the name of #8,beasts'8 ,can it have been that1 in the exercise of their magic powers1 they were believed able to transform themselves into beasts8 ,within the limits of ,greek folk-lore we have already once encountered such a belief1 namely in the case of the #8,striges1' old witches capable of turning themselves into birds of prey2 and in the folk-lore of the world at large the idea is extremely frequent4 ,there is no need to encumber this chapter with a mass of recorded instances2 the verdict of the first authority on the subject is sufficient4 ,according to ,tylor#feb1 the belief #8that certain men1 by natural gift or magic art1 can turn for a time into ravening wild beasts' is #8a widespread belief1 extending through savage1 barbaric1 classic1 oriental1 and mediaeval life1 and surviving to this day in ,european superstition4' #8,the origin of this idea1' he says1 #8is by no means sufficiently explained1' but he notes that #8it really occurs that1 in various forms of mental disease1 patients prowl shyly1 long to bite and destroy mankind1 and even fancy themselves transformed into wild beasts4' ,whether such cases of insanity are the cause or the effect of the belief1 he does not determine2 but he adds1 what is most important to the present issue1 that #8professional sorcerers have taken up the idea1 as they do any morbid delusion1 and pretend to turn themselves and others into beasts by magic art'2 and1 later on#fec1 citing by way of illustration a passage of the ,eclogues#fed1 in which ,vergil #8tells of ,moeris as turning into a wolf by the use of poisonous herbs1 as calling up souls from the tombs1 and as bewitching away crops1' he points out that in the popular opinion of ,vergil's age #8the arts of the werewolf1 the necromancer or 8medium10 and the witch1 were different branches of one craft4' ,if then the ,centaurs were a tribe of reputed sorcerers and also obtained the secondary name of #8,beasts1' the analogy of worldwide superstitions suggests that the link between these two facts is to be found in their magical power of assuming the shape of beasts4 ,what particular beast-shape the ,centaurs most often affected need not much concern us4 ,the analogy1 on which my interpretation of the name ,pheres rests1 makes certainly for some shape more terrifying than that of a horse2 and the word itself also denotes wild and savage beasts rather than domestic animals4 ,but the horse-centaur1 though it monopolised art1 was not the only form of centaur known1 nor1 if we may judge from modern descriptions of the ,callicantzari1 had it so firm a hold on the popular imagination as some other types4 ,possibly its very existence is due only to the aesthetic taste of a horse-loving people4 ,pindar certainly knew of one ,centaurus earlier in date and far more monstrous than the horse-centaurs which artists chose to depict1 and provided a genealogy accordingly4 ,moreover in the passage of ,hesiod which ,i have quoted above and which1 by its agreement with the ,iliad as to the human character of the ,centaurs1 is proved to embody an early tradition1 there is at least a suggestion of a more savage form assumed by the ,centaurs4 ,several of their names in that passage#fee seem to indicate various qualities and habits which they possessed4 ,one is called ,petraeos1 because the ,centaurs lived in rocky caves or because they hurled rocks at their foes2 another is ,oureios1 because they were a mountain-tribe2 then there are the two sons of ,peukeus1 so named because the ,centaurs' weapons were pine-branches4 ,and why is another named ,arctos8 ,is it not because the ,centaurs assumed by sorcery the form of bears8 ,there is some probability then that the equine type of ,centaur1 the conventional ,centaur of ,greek ,art1 was a comparatively late development1 and that the remote age which gave to the ,centaurs the name of ,pheres believed rather that that tribe of sorcerers were wont to transform themselves into the more monstrous and terrible shapes of bears and other wild beasts4 ,but if the particular animal which ,greek artists selected as a component part of their ,centaurs is thus of minor importance1 the fact that their ,centaurs were always composite in conception1 always compounded of the human and the animal1 is highly significant4 ,in discussing the various types of ,callicantzari in various parts of ,greece1 we found that1 where there exists a belief in their power of metamorphosis1 they are stated to appear in single and complete shapes1 while1 where the belief in their transformation is unknown1 they are represented in composite shapes2 and having previously concluded that the belief in their metamorphosis was a genuine and original factor in the superstition1 we were led to formulate the principle1 that a being of some single1 normal1 and known shape who has originally been believed capable of transforming himself into one or more other single1 normal1 and known shapes1 comes to be represented1 when the belief in his power of transformation dies out1 as a being of composite1 abnormal1 and fantastic shape1 combining incongruous features of the several single1 normal1 and known shapes4 ,now the horse-centaur of ,greek ,art is a being of composite1 abnormal1 and fantastic shape1 combining incongruous features of man and animal4 ,if then the principle based on facts of modern ,greek folk-lore may be applied to the facts of ancient ,greek folk-lore1 the horse-centaur of ,greek ,art replaced a completely human ,centaur capable of transforming himself into completely animal form4 ,moreover ,i am inclined to think that such a development was likely to occur in the representations of art even more readily than in verbal descriptions4 ,for even if the artist belonged to an age which had not yet forgotten that the ,centaurs were human beings capable of turning themselves by sorcery into beasts1 how was he to distinguish the ,centaur in his picture either from an ordinary man1 if the ,centaur were in his ordinary human shape1 or from a real animal1 if the ,centaur were in his assumed shape8 ,he might of course have drawn an ordinary man and have inscribed the legend1 #8,this is a ,centaur capable of assuming other forms'2 or he might have drawn an ordinary animal with the explanatory note1 #8,this is not really an animal but a ,centaur in disguise4' ,but if such expedients did not satisfy his artistic instincts1 what was he to do8 ,surely his only course was to depict the ,centaur in his normal human shape1 and by some animal adjunct to indicate his powers of transformation4 ,and that is what he did2 for in the earliest art the fore part of the ,centaur is a complete human figure1 and the hind part is a somewhat disconnected equine appendage#fef4 ,nor is this artistic convention without parallel in ancient ,greece4 ,at ,phigalea there was once1 we are told1 an ancient statue of ,demeter represented as a woman with the head and mane of a horse2 and the explanation of this equine adjunct was that she had once assumed the form of a mare#feg4 ,in other words1 the power of transformation was indicated in art by a composite form4 ,hence indeed it is not unlikely that the very method which early artists adopted of indicating the ,centaurs' power to assume various single forms1 being misunderstood by later generations among whom the ,centaurs' human origin and faculty of magical transformation were no longer predominant traditions1 contributed not a little to the conception of ,centaurs in an invariable composite form2 and that later art1 by blending the two incongruous elements into a more harmonious but less significant whole1 confirmed men in that misunderstanding1 until the old traditions became a piece of rare and local lore4 ,thus on three separate grounds--the analogy of world-wide superstition which attributes to sorcerers the power of assuming bestial form2 the tendency detected in modern ,greek folk-lore to replace beings of single shape1 but capable of transforming themselves into other single shapes1 by creatures of composite shape2 and the contrast between the horse-centaurs of archaic art and those of the ,parthenon--we are led to the same conclusion1 namely that the ,centaurs were a tribe of reputed sorcerers whose most striking manifestation of power1 in the eyes of their ,achaean neighbours1 was to turn themselves into wild beasts4 ,the name ,pheres was then in truth a title of respect1 a title in no way derogatory to the virtuous ,chiron1 who1 if he exercised his magical powers chiefly in mercy and healing1 shared doubtless with the other ,centaurs the miraculous faculty of metamorphosis4 ,our first conclusion then concerning the ,callicantzari1 namely that they were originally men capable of turning into beasts1 was no less correct than the second conclusion which showed them as the modern representatives of ,dionysus' attendant ,satyrs and ,sileni4 ,where the beliefs in their human origin and in their power of metamorphosis still prevail1 ,greek tradition has preserved not only the name but the essential character of the ancient ,centaurs4 ,does it seem hardly credible that popular tradition should still faithfully record a superstition which dates from before ,homer and yet is practically ignored by ,greek literature8 ,still if the fidelity of the common-folk's memory is guaranteed in many details by its agreement with that which literature does record1 it would be folly to disregard it where literature is silent or prefers another of the still prevalent traditions4 ,let us take only ,apollodorus' account#feh of the fight of ,heracles with the ,centaurs and mark the several points in which it confirms the present beliefs about the ,callicantzari4 ,the old home1 he says1 of the ,centaurs before they came to ,malea was ,pelion2 ,pelion is now the place where above all others stories of the ,callicantzari are rife2 and in the neighbouring island of ,sciathos it is believed#fei that they come at ,christmas not from the lower world1 but from the mainland1 the old country of the ,magnetes2 even local associations then seem to have survived1 just as in the modern stories about ,demeter from ,eleusis and from ,phigaleia4 ,heracles was entertained in the cave of the ,centaur ,pholos2 the ,callicantzari likewise live in caves during their sojourn on earth1 and their hospitality1 though never sought1 has been endured4 ,the ,centaur ,pholos ate raw meat1 though he provided his guest with cooked meat2 the ,callicantzari also regale themselves on uncooked food#ffj1 toads and snakes for the most part1 but in one ,messenian story also raw dogs'-flesh#ffa4 ,heracles broached a cask of wine1 and ,pholos' brother ,centaurs smelt it and swarmed to the cave on mischief bent2 the ,callicantzari have the same love of wine and the same malevolence4 ,the first of the ,centaurs to enter the cave were put to flight by ,heracles with fire-brands1 and his ordinary weapon1 the bow1 was not used by him save to complete the rout2 fire-brands are the right weapons with which to scare away the ,callicantzari4 ,surely1 when such correspondences as these attest the integrity of popular tradition for some two thousand years1 there is nothing incredible in the supposition that there had been equal integrity in popular 7as opposed to artistic and literary7 traditions for another thousand years or more before that4 ,thus then it appears that in some districts of modern ,greece1 in which there prevail the beliefs that the ,callicantzari are1 in their normal form1 human and that they are capable of transforming themselves into beasts1 popular tradition dates from the age in which the ,achaean invaders credited the ,pelasgian tribe of ,centauri with magical powers and in token of one special manifestation thereof surnamed them ,pheres4 ,in other districts1 where the ,callicantzari are represented as demoniacal and not human and as monsters of mixed rather than of variable shape1 the popular memory goes back to a period somewhat less remote1 that period in which a new conception1 encouraged perhaps unwittingly by archaic art1 became predominant in classical art and literature1 with the further result1 we must suppose1 that in the minds of some of the common-folk too monsters of composite shape took the place of the old human wonder-working ,centaurs4 ,and yet again in other districts1 where the ,christmas mummers in the guise of ,callicantzari are the modern representatives of those worshippers of ,dionysus who dressed themselves in the guise of ,satyrs or ,sileni1 the traditions which survive are mainly those of a post-classical age in which the half-human half-animal comrades of ,dionysus lost their distinctive names and were enrolled in the ,centaurs' ranks4 ,finally in the few districts where language at least testifies that werewolves have also been numbered among the ,callicantzari1 popular belief1 though preserving much that is ancient1 may have been modified by a superstition1 or rather by an actual form of insanity1 which was particularly prevalent in the ,middle ,ages4 ,such have been in different districts and periods the various developments of a superstition which originated in the reputation for sorcery enjoyed by a ,pelasgian tribe inhabiting ,mount ,pelion in a prehistoric age2 and the complexity of modern traditions concerning the ,callicantzari is due to the fact that they do not all date from one epoch but comprise the whole history of the ,centaurs4 #ad4 ,,genii4 ,the tale of deities is now almost told4 ,there remain only a few miscellaneous beings1 identical or1 at the least1 comparable with the creations of ancient superstition1 who may be classed together under the name of #ffb 7anciently 7 or1 to adopt the exact ,latin equivalent1 genii4 ,the ,greek word1 which in classical times served as a fair equivalent for any sense of our word #8elements1' became from ,plato's time onward a technical term in physics for those first beginnings of the material world which ,empedocles had previously called and other philosophers 4 ,the physical elements however were commonly supposed to be haunted each by its own peculiar spirit1 and hence among the later ,platonists the term became a technicality of demonology rather than of natural science#ffc4 ,every component part of the visible universe was credited with an invisible genius1 a spirit whose being was in some way bound up with the existence of its abode2 and the term was transferred from the material to the spiritual4 ,but though the ,platonists invented and introduced this new sense of the word1 its widespread acceptance was probably not their work1 but a curious accident resulting from misinterpretation of early ,christian writings4 ,in ,st ,paul's ,epistles#ffd there occurs several times a phrase1 1 #8worldly principles1' which was apparently a little too cultured for many of those who heard or read it4 ,it conveyed to their minds probably no more than #8being enslaved to weak and beggarly elements#ffe' conveys to the ,british peasant of to-day4 ,what more natural then than that the commentator should accept the word in the sense given to it by the ,platonists1 and that the common-folk who heard his exposition should readily identify the whom they were bidden no longer to serve with the lesser deities and local genii to whose service they had long been bound--to whose service moreover in spite of the supposed injunction they have always continued faithful8 ,the ,church1 they would have felt1 acknowledged the existence of these beings2 ecclesiastical authority endorsed ancestral tradition2 and since such beings existed1 it were folly to ignore them2 nay1 since the ,church declared that they were powers of evil1 it was but prudent to propitiate them1 to appease their malevolence4 ,thus came to be reckoned by every right-minded peasant among his regular demoniacal entourage4 ,and so they remain--some of them hostile to man1 some benevolent1 but all alike wild1 uncontrollable spirits--so that ,st ,paul's phrase even appears in one folk-song metaphorically as a description of wild and wilful young men#fff4 ,thus the very origin of the term rendered it comprehensive in meaning4 ,even the greater deities of ancient ,greece were1 in a sense1 local--the occupants of prescribed domains2 ,poseidon might logically be called the genius of the sea1 ,demeter of the corn-land2 while lesser deities were always associated with particular spots and often unknown elsewhere4 ,but mediaeval usage of the word and of its derivatives tended to widen the meaning of the word yet more4 ,a verb #ffg was formed which properly meant to settle a genius in a particular place--either a beneficent genius to act as tutelary deity1 or an evil genius whose range of activity would thus be circumscribed within known and narrower limits2 but it was used also in a larger sense to denote the exercise of any magical powers4 ,a corresponding adjective #ffh was applied to anyone who had dealings with genii or familiar spirits1 and more vaguely to wizards in general4 ,thus the famous magician ,apollonius of ,tyana is described as a #8,pythagorean philosopher with power over genii' 7 7#ffi2 and two out of his many miracles may be taken as typical of his exercise of the power4 ,once1 it is recorded1 he was summoned to ,byzantium by the inhabitants and there #8he charmed 77 snakes and scorpions not to strike1 mosquitoes totally to disappear1 horses to be quiet and not to be vicious either towards each other or towards man2 the river ,lycus also he charmed 77 not to flood and do damage to ,byzantium#fgj4' ,in the first part of this passage the verb is undoubtedly used in a very lax sense1 for snakes1 scorpions1 mosquitoes1 and horses can hardly have been conceived to have their own several genii or guardian-spirits upon whom magic could be exercised2 but the charming of the river ,lycus certainly suggests the restraining of the or genius of the river within settled bounds4 ,this stricter sense of the word however comes out more clearly in relation to good genii who were settled by magical charms in any given object or place4 ,hence even the word reverted to a material sense1 and was sometimes employed to mean a #8talisman#fga'--;an object1 that is1 in which resided a genius capable of averting wars1 pestilences1 and suchlike4 ,genii of this kind1 we are told1 were settled by the same ,apollonius in the statues throughout ,constantinople#fgb1 where the belief in their efficacy seems to have been generally accepted2 for there was to be seen there a cross in the middle of which was #8the fortune of the city1 namely a small chain having its ends locked together and possessed of power to keep the city abounding in all manner of goods and to give her victory ever over the nations 7or heathen71 that they should have strength no more to approach and draw nigh thereto1 but should hold further aloof from her and retreat as though they had been vanquished4 ,and the key of the chain was buried in the foundations of the pillars#fgc' on which the cross rested4 ,the locked chain was probably the magical means by which the tutelary genius of the city was kept at his post4 ,but these wide and vague usages of the word and its derivatives have now for the most part disappeared4 ,leo ,allatius#fgd still used in the sense of #8magician1' but ,i have not found it in modern ,greek4 ,a remnant of the verb #fge is seen in the past participle 1 which at the present day is applied in its true sense to objects #8haunted by genii4' ,and the word 1 though locally extended in scope so as to become in effect synonymous with or #fgf1 comprising all non-,christian deities irrespectively of their close connexion with particular natural phenomena1 still maintains in its more strict1 and ,i think more frequent1 usage the meaning of genii4 ,the term thus provided by the ,platonists and popularised accidentally by the ,church is a convenience in the classification of demons2 for the ancient ,greeks had no popular word which was exactly equivalent2 they had to choose between the vague term which implied nothing of attachment to any place or object1 and the special designation of the particular kind of genius4 ,the ,latin tongue was in this respect better supplied4 ,it must not however be inferred that the introduction of the useful term into the demonological nomenclature of ,greece marked any innovation in popular superstition4 ,the ,greeks no less than the ,romans had from time immemorial believed in genii4 ,that scene of the ,aeneid#fgg1 in which1 while ,aeneas is holding a memorial feast in honour of his father1 a snake appears and tastes of the offerings and itself in turn is honoured with fresh sacrifice as being either the genius of the place or an attendant of the hero ,anchises1 is throughout ,greek in tone2 and the comment of ,servius thereupon1 #8,there is no place without a genius1 which usually manifests itself in the form of a snake1' revives a hundred memories of sacred snakes tended in the temples or depicted on the tombs of ancient ,greece4 ,moreover several of the supernatural beings whom ,i have already described1 and whose identity with the creatures of ancient superstition is established1 are essentially genii4 ,the ,lamia is the genius of the darksome cave where she makes her lair2 the ,gorgon1 of the straits where she waylays her prey2 and1 most clearly of all1 the ,dryads are the genii of the trees which they inhabit4 ,for the life of each one of them is bound up with the life of the tree in which she dwells2 and still as in old time1 so surely as the tree decays away with age1 her life too is done and #8her soul leaves therewith the light of the sun#fgh4' ,the woodman of to-day therefore speaks with the utmost fidelity to ancient tradition when he calls the trees where his ,nereids dwell 1 #8trees haunted by genii'2 such innovation as there has been is in terminology only4 ,one word of caution only is required before we proceed to the consideration of various species of genii not yet described4 ,it must not be assumed that all genii1 on the analogy of the tree-nymphs1 die along with the dissolution of their dwelling-places2 the existence of the genius and that of the haunted object are indeed always closely and intimately united1 but not necessarily in such a manner as to preclude the migration of the genius on the dissolution of its first abode into a second4 ,the converse proposition however1 that any object could enjoy prolonged existence after the departure from it of the indwelling power1 may be considered improbable4 ,the genii with whom ,i now propose to deal fall into five main divisions according to their habitations4 ,these are first buildings1 secondly water1 thirdly mountains1 caves1 and desert places1 fourthly the air1 fifthly human beings4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the genii of buildings are universally acknowledged in ,greece4 ,the forms in which they appear are various2 this may partly be explained by the belief that they possess the power of assuming different shapes at will2 but it is certain also that their normal shape is in some measure determined by the nature of the building--house1 church1 or bridge--of which each is the guardian4 ,the genius of a house appears almost always in the guise of a snake1 or1 according to ,leo ,allatius#fgi1 of a lizard or other reptile4 ,it is believed to have its permanent dwelling in the foundations1 and not infrequently some hole or crevice in a rough cottage-floor is regarded as the entrance to its home4 ,about such holes peasants have been known to sprinkle bread-crumbs#fhj2 and ,i have been informed1 though ,i cannot vouch as an eye-witness for the statement1 that on the festival of that saint whose name the master of a house bears1 he will sometimes combine services to both his ,christian and his pagan tutelary deities1 substituting wine for the water on which the oil of the sacred lamp before the saint's icon usually floats1 and pouring a libation of milk--for the older deities disapprove of intoxicants--about the aperture which leads down to the subterranean home of the genius4 ,if it so happen that there is a snake in the hole and the milky deluge compels it speedily to issue from its hiding-place1 its appearance in the house is greeted with a silent delight or with a few words of welcome quietly spoken4 ,for on no account must the #8guardian of the house1' #fha or #fhb1 as it is sometimes called1 be frightened by any sound or sudden movement4 ,much less of course must any physical hurt or violence be done to it2 the consequences of such action1 even though it be due merely to inadvertence1 are swift and terrible2 the house itself falls1 or the member of the family who was guilty of the outrage dies in the self-same way in which he slew the snake#fhc4 ,these beliefs and customs are probably all of ancient date4 ,theophrastus#fhd notes how the superstitious man1 if he sees a snake in the house1 sets up a shrine for it on the spot4 ,the observation also of such snakes was a recognised department of #8domestic divination' 77 on which one ,xenocrates--not the disciple of ,plato--wrote a treatise#fhe4 ,they were probably known as 1 #8guardians of the house' 7a name which is identical in meaning with the modern 71 for it is thus at any rate that ,hesychius#fhf designates the great snake which ,herodotus#fhg tells us was #8guardian 77 of the acropolis' at ,athens1 and which1 by leaving untouched the honey-cake with which it was fed every month1 proved to the ,athenians1 when the second ,persian invasion was threatening them1 that their tutelary deity had departed from the acropolis1 and decided them likewise to evacuate the city4 ,thus the few facts that are recorded about this belief in antiquity accord so exactly with modern observations1 that from the minuter detail of the latter the outlines of the former may safely be filled in4 ,the genii of churches most commonly are seen or heard in the form of oxen--bulls for the most part#fhh1 but also steers and heifers#fhi4 ,they appear1 like all genii1 most frequently at night1 and1 according to one authority1 #8are adorned with various precious stones which diffuse a brightness such as to light the whole church4' #8,they are seldom harmful1' continues the same writer#fij2 #8the few that are so--called simply --do not dare to make their abode within the churches1 but have their lairs close to them in order to do hurt to church-goers4444 ,near ,calamta1 on a mountain-side1 there is a chapel of ease dedicated to ,st ,george4 ,the peasants narrate that at each annual festival held there on ,april #bcrd a genius used to issue forth from a hole close by and to devour one of the festal gathering4 ,after some years the good people1 seeing that there was no remedy for this annual catastrophe1 decided to give up the festival4 ,but a week before the feast ,st ,george appeared to them all simultaneously in a dream1 and assured them that they should suffer no hurt at the festival1 because he had sealed up the monster4 ,and in fact they went there and found the hole closed by a massive stone1 on which was imprinted the mark of a horse's hoof2 for ,st ,george1 willing that the hole should remain always closed1 had made his horse strike the stone with his hoof4 ,thenceforth the saint has borne the surname 7from the #8shoe' or #8hoof' of a horse7 and up to this day is shewn the hoof-mark upon a stone4' ,harmless genii however are more frequently assigned to churches1 exercising a kind of wardenship over them and taking an interest in the parishioners4 ,at ,marousi1 a village near ,athens1 there is a church which is still believed to have a genius1 in the form of a bull1 lurking in its foundations2 and when any parishioner is about to die1 the bull is heard to bellow three times at midnight4 ,a church in ,athens used to claim the same distinction1 and the bellowing of the bull there is said to have been heard within living memory at the death of an old man named ,lioules#fia4 ,other churches also in ,athens1 not to be outdone1 pretended to the possession of genii in the shapes of a snake1 a black cock1 and a woman1 who all followed the bull's example and emitted their appropriate cries thrice at midnight as a presage of similar events#fib4 ,why the genii of churches in particular appear mostly as bulls1 ,i cannot determine4 ,when the genius of a river manifests itself in that form1 the connexion with antiquity is obvious2 for river-gods1 who ex vi termini are the genii of the rivers whose name they share1 were constantly pourtrayed of old in the form of bulls4 ,all that can be said is that the type of genius is old1 though its localisation is new and difficult to explain4 ,the genii of bridges cannot properly1 ,i suppose1 be distinguished from the genii of those rivers or ravines which the bridges span4 ,they are usually depicted as dragons or other formidable monsters1 and they are best known for the cruel toll which they exact when the bridge is a-building4 ,the original conception is doubtless that of the river-god demanding a sacrifice1 even of human life1 in compensation for men's encroachment upon his domain4 ,the most famous of the folk-songs which celebrate such a theme is associated with #8the ,bridge of ,arta1' but many versions#fic of it have been published from different districts1 and in some the names of other bridges are substituted2 in ,crete the story is attached to the #8shaking bridge' over a mountain torrent near ,canea#fid2 in the ,peloponnese to #8the ,lady's bridge' over the river ,ladon#fie2 in the neighbourhood of ,thermopylae to a bridge over the river ,hellda#fif2 in the island of ,cos to the old bridge of ,antimachia#fig4 ,the song1 in the version#fih which ,i select1 runs thus3 #8,apprentices three-score there were1 and craftsmen five and forty1 ,for three long years they laboured sore to build the bridge of ,arta2 ,all the day long they builded it1 each night it fell in ruin4 ,the craftsmen fall to loud lament1 th' apprentices to weeping3 8,alas1 alas for all our toil1 alack for all our labour1 ,that all day long we're building it1 at night it falls in ruin40 ,then from the rightmost arch thereof the demon gave them answer3 8,an ye devote not human life1 no wall hath sure foundation2 ,and now devote not orphan-child1 nor wayfarer1 nor stranger1 ,but give your master-craftsman's wife1 his wife so fair and gracious1 ,that cometh late toward eventide1 that cometh late toward supper40 ,the master-craftsman heard it well1 and fell as one death-stricken2 ,a word anon he writes and bids the nightingale to carry3 8,tarry to don thy best array1 tarry to come to supper1 ,tarry to go upon thy way across the bridge of ,arta40 ,the nightingale heard not aright1 and carried other message3 8,hurry to don thy best array1 hurry to come to supper1 ,hurry to go upon thy way across the bridge of ,arta40 ,lo1 there she came1 now full in view1 along the dust-white roadway2 ,the master-craftsman her espied1 and all his heart was breaking2 ,e'en from afar she bids them hail1 e'en from afar she greets them3 8,gladness and health1 my masters all1 apprentices and craftsmen6 ,what ails the master-craftsman then that he is so distressd80 8,nought ails save only that his ring by the first arch is fallen2 ,who shall go in and out again his ring thence to recover80 8,master1 be not so bitter-grieved1 ,i will go fetch it for thee2 ,let me go in and out again thy ring thence to recover40 ,not yet had she made full descent1 not halfway had descended2 8,draw up the rope1 prithee goodman1 draw up the cable quickly1 ,for all the world is upside down1 and nought have ,i recovered40 ,one plies the spade to cover her1 another shovels mortar1 ,the master-craftsman lifts a stone1 and hurls it down upon her4 8,alas1 alas for this our doom1 alack for our sad fortune6 ,three sisters we1 and for all three a cruel fate was written4 ,one went to building ,donavi1 the next to build ,avlna1 ,and ,i1 the last of all the three1 must build the bridge of ,arta4 ,even as trembles my poor heart1 so may the bridge-way tremble1 ,even as my fair tresses fall1 so fall all they that cross it60 8,nay1 change1 girl1 prithee change thy speech1 and utter other presage2 ,thou hast one brother dear to thee1 and haply he may pass it40 ,then changd she her speech withal1 and uttered other presage3 8,as iron now is my poor heart1 as iron stand the bridge-way1 ,as iron are my tresses fair1 iron be they that cross it6 ,for ,i've a brother far away1 and haply he may pass it40' ,but while the most famous examples of sacrifice to genii are connected with bridges1 the custom in a less criminal form than that which the folk-songs celebrate is common throughout ,greece to-day4 ,in building a house or any other edifice1 the question of propitiating the genius already in possession of the site and of inducing it to become the guardian of the building is duly considered4 ,sacrifice is done4 ,the peace-offering1 according to the importance of the building and the means of the future owner1 may consist of an ox1 a ram1 a he-goat1 or a cock 7or1 less commonly1 of a hen with her brood#fii71 preferably of black colour1 as were in old time victims designed for gods beneath the earth4 ,the selected animal is in ,acarnania and ,aetolia#gjj taken to the site1 and there its throat is cut so that the blood may fall on the foundation-stone1 beneath which the body is then interred4 ,in some other places#gja it suffices to mark a cross upon the stone with the victim's blood4 ,in the same district the practice of taking auspices from the victim--from the shoulder-blade in the case of a ram and from the breast-bone in the case of a cock--is occasionally combined with the sacrifice1 but is not essential to the ceremony4 ,but animals1 though they are the only victims actually slaughtered upon the spot1 are not the only form of peace-offering4 ,even at the present day when1 added to the power of the law1 a sense of humanity1 or a fear of being pronounced #8uncivilised1' tends to deter the peasantry even of the most outlying districts from actually satisfying the more savage instincts of hereditary superstition1 there still exists a strong feeling that a human victim is preferable to an animal for ensuring the stability of a building4 ,fortunately therefore for the builder's peace of mind1 the principles of sympathetic magic offer a compromise between actual murder and total disregard of the traditional rite4 ,it suffices to obtain from a man or woman--an enemy for choice but1 failing that1 #8out of philanthropy' as a ,greek authority puts it1 any aged person whose term of life is well-nigh done--some such object as a hair or the paring of a nail1 or again a shred of his clothing or a cast-off shoe1 or it may be a thread or stick#gjb marked with the measure either of the footprint or of the full stature of the person1 and to bury it beneath the foundation-stone of the new edifice4 ,by this proceeding a human victim is devoted to the genius of the site1 and will die within the year as surely as if an image of him were moulded in wax and a needle run through its heart4 ,another variation of the same rite consists in enticing some passer-by to the spot and laying the foundation-stone upon his shadow4 ,in ,santorini ,i myself was once saved from such a fate by the rough benevolence of a stranger who dragged me back from the place where ,i was standing and adjured me to watch the proceedings from the other side of the trench where my shadow could not fall across the foundations4 ,nor are the invited guests immune2 unenviable therefore is the position of those persons who are officially required to assist at the laying of the foundation-stones of churches and other public buildings4 ,the demarch 7or mayor7 of ,agrinion informed me that1 according to the belief of the common-folk in the neighbourhood1 his four immediate predecessors in office had all fallen victims to this their public duty2 and he described to me the concern and consternation of his own women-folk when he himself had recently braved the ordeal4 ,he honestly allowed too that he had kept his shadow clear of the dangerous spot4 ,so much importance is attached to these foundation-ceremonies that the ,church has provided a special office to be read alike for cathedral or for cottage2 and the priest who attends for this purpose is sometimes induced to pronounce a blessing on the animal that is to be sacrificed4 ,this however is the more expensive rite2 the victim has to be bought1 and the priest expects a fee for blessing it2 whereas the immolation of a shadow-victim costs nothing1 is more efficacious as being equivalent to a human sacrifice1 and provides an excellent means for removing an enemy with impunity4 ,the sacrificial ceremony is also sometimes performed on other occasions than those of the laying of foundation-stones4 ,in ,athens a precept of popular wisdom enjoins the slaughtering of a black cock when a new quarry is opened#gjc2 and an interesting account is given by ,bent#gjd of a similar scene at the launching of a ship in ,santorini4 #8,when they have built a new vessel1 they have a grand ceremony at the launching1 or benediction1 as they call it here1 at which the priest officiates2 and the crowd eagerly watch1 as she glides into the water1 the position she takes1 for an omen is attached to this4 ,it is customary to slaughter an ox1 a lamb or a dove on these occasions1 according to the wealth of the proprietor and the size of the ship1 and with the blood to make a cross on the deck4 ,after this the captain jumps off the bows into the sea with all his clothes on1 and the ceremony is followed by a banquet and much rejoicing4' ,here it is reasonable to suppose that the captain by jumping into the sea goes through the form of offering himself as a sacrifice to the genius of the sea1 and that the animal actually slaughtered is a surrogate victim in his stead4 ,the strength of these superstitions to-day1 as gauged by the shifts and compromises to which the peasants resort in order to satisfy their scruples1 goes far to guarantee the historical accuracy of such ballads as #8the ,bridge of ,arta4' ,not of course that each of the numerous versions with all its local colouring is to be taken as evidence of human sacrifice in each place named2 exactitude of detail cannot be claimed for them4 ,but as a faithful picture of the beliefs and customs prevalent not more perhaps than two or three centuries ago they deserve full credence4 ,both the wide dispersion of the several versions1 and also the skill with which in each of them the action of the master-builder evokes feelings not of aversion but rather of pity for a man of whom religious duty demanded the sacrifice of his own wife1 furnish plain proof of the domination which the superstition in its most gruesome form once exercised2 and the intentions of the modern peasants1 if not their acts1 testify to the same overwhelming dread of genii4 ,that the ceremonies which ,i have described are in general of the nature of sacrifices to genii is beyond question4 ,in the version of #8the ,bridge of ,arta' which ,i have translated1 both the genius and the victim whom he demands appear as dramatis personae4 ,again1 in some districts the word #8sacrifice' 7#gje or #gjf7 is actually still applied to the rite4 ,finally1 though the victims are of various kinds and the forms in which a genius may appear equally various1 the distinction between the two is as a rule kept clear2 cases of a single species of animal serving for both genius and victim--of the genius for example appearing as a cock or of the chosen victim being a snake--are extremely rare4 ,confusion of the two nevertheless does occur2 the original genius of the site is sometimes forgotten1 and the victim is conceived to be slain and buried in order that from the under-world it may exercise a guardianship over the building which is its tomb4 ,thus in one version of #8the ,bridge of ,arta1' inferior in many respects to that which ,i have translated1 the complaint of the master-craftsman's wife contains the line 1 #gjg1 #8,three sisters we1 and all the three they took for guardian-demons4' ,probably the same confusion of thought was responsible for the representation of the genius of a church in ,athens in the shape of a cock1 which is the commonest kind of victim2 and possibly too the bulls which are so frequently the guardians of churches were originally the victims considered most suitable for the foundation of such important edifices4 ,this error of belief has undoubtedly been facilitated by the use of a word which in its mediaeval meanings has already been discussed--the verb 4 ,this1 as ,i have pointed out1 meant strictly #8to provide 7a place or object7 with a genius4' ,but in modern usage it can take an accusative of the victim devoted to a genius no less than of the place provided with a genius4 ,in ,zacynthos and ,cephalonia1 says ,bernhard ,schmidt#gjh1 the phrase 1 for example1 meaning #8,i devote a lamb' to the genius1 is in regular use2 and so too in the above rendering of #8the ,bridge of ,arta1' the phrase which ,i have translated #8an ye devote not human life' is in the ,greek ' 4 ,now verbs of this form are in both ancient and modern ,greek usually causative4 ,the ancient and modern mean #8,i make 7an object7 clear' 773 the ancient and modern mean #8,i make 7an object7 gold' 774 ,similarly is readily taken to mean #8,i make 7an animal or person7 the genius' 77 of a place4 ,if therefore this word continued to be applied to the rite of slaughtering an animal at foundation-ceremonies in any place where the true purport of the custom1 as often happens1 had been forgotten1 language itself would at once suggest that erroneous interpretation of the custom of which we have seen examples2 the victim would be raised to the rank of genius4 ,this development of modern superstition supplies a clue for tracing the evolution of ancient ,greek religion1 which has hitherto been missed by those who have dealt with the subject#gji4 ,they have generally compared with the modern ,greek superstition similar beliefs and customs prevalent throughout the ,balkans and even beyond them1 and have thence inferred that the practice of sacrificing to the genii of sites selected for building was of ,slavonic importation4 ,the wide distribution of the superstition in the ,balkans1 especially among the ,slavonic peoples1 is a fact2 but the inference goes too far4 ,to ,slavonic influence ,i impute the recrudescence of the superstition in its most barbarous form1 involving human sacrifice1 during the ,middle ,ages4 ,ancient history1 even ancient mythology1 contains no story so suggestive of barbarity as one brief statement made by ,suidas3 #8,at ,st ,mamas there was a large bridge consisting of twelve arches 7for there was much water coming down71 and there a brazen dragon was set up1 because it was thought that a dragon inhabited the place2 and there many maidens were sacrificed#gaj4' ,the date of the events to which the passage refers cannot be ascertained2 but ,i certainly suspect it to be subsequent to the ,slavonic invasion of ,greece4 ,yet even so the ,slavs did not initiate a new custom but merely stimulated the native belief that genii required sacrifice in compensation for the building of any edifice on their domains4 ,this belief dated from the ,homeric age--nay1 was already old when the ,achaeans built their great wall with lofty towers1 a bulwark for them and their ships against the men of ,ilium4 #8,thus1' we read1 #8did they labour1 even the long-haired ,achaeans2 but the gods sitting beside ,zeus that wieldeth the lightning gazed in wonder on the mighty work of the bronze-clad ,achaeans4 ,and to them did ,poseidon the earth-shaker open speech3 8,father ,zeus1 is there now one mortal on the boundless earth1 that will henceforth declare unto immortals his mind and purpose8 ,seest thou not that contrariwise the long-haired ,achaeans have built a wall to guard their ships and driven a trench about it1 and have not offered unto the gods fair sacrifice8 ,verily their wall shall be famed far as ,dawn spreads her light2 and that which ,i with ,phoebus ,apollo toiled to build for the hero ,laomedon will men forget40 ,and unto him spake ,zeus that gathereth the clouds1 sore-vexed3 8,fie on thee1 thou earth-shaker whose sway is wide1 for this thy word4 ,well might this device of men dismay some other god lesser than thou by far in work and will2 but thou verily shalt be famed far as ,dawn spreads her light4 ,go to2 when the long-haired ,achaeans be gone again with their ships unto their own native land1 break thou down their wall and cast it all into the sea and cover again the vast shore with sand1 that so the ,achaeans' great wall may be wiped out from thy sight#gaa40' ,and later in the ,iliad we read of the fulfilment2 how that the rivers of the ,trojan land were marshalled and led by ,poseidon1 his trident in his hands1 to the assault of the wall that #8had been fashioned without the will of the gods and could no long time endure#gab4' ,the whole passage finds its best commentary in modern superstition4 ,poseidon1 though a great god1 is the local genius2 to him belongs the shore where the ,greek ships are assembled1 to him too the land where he had built the town of ,ilium2 to him therefore were due sacrifices for the building of the wall4 ,but the god whose fame is known far as ,dawn spreads her light deserves the rebuke administered by ,zeus for his pettiness of spirit4 ,an ordinary local genius1 #8some god far lesser than he in work and will1' might justly wax wrathful at the neglect of his more limited prerogatives4 ,yet even so the wall was doomed to endure no long time4 ,then as now the divine law ran1 #8,an ye devote not hecatombs1 no wall hath sure foundation4' ,in this passage there is of course no suggestion of a local genius in animal shape2 the anthropomorphic tendency of ,homeric religion was too strong to admit of that4 ,but since we know from ,theophrastus' sketch of the superstitious man and from other sources that in the classical age genii of houses and temples were believed to appear in the form of snakes1 we may without hesitation assign the same belief to earlier ages4 ,such a superstition could not in the nature of things have sprung up after an anthropomorphic conception of the gods dominated all religion1 but must necessarily have been a survival from pre-classical and pre-,homeric folklore4 ,but1 though ,homer speaks of the genius only as a #8lesser god' without further description1 he implies clearly that the present custom of doing sacrifice to such a being for the foundation of any building was then in existence4 ,did the sacrifice ever involve human victims8 ,a positive and certain answer cannot1 ,i suppose1 be made2 but bearing in mind the many ancient traditions of human sacrifice in ,greece and even the occasional continuance of the practice in the most civilised and enlightened age#gac ,i cannot doubt it4 ,i suspect that1 if we could obtain an earlier version of the story of ,iphigenia than has come down to us1 we should find that the wrath of ,artemis had no part in it1 but that human sacrifice was offered to the ,winds or other genii of the air--that the #8maiden's blood' was1 in the words of ,aeschylus1 #8a sacrifice to stay the winds#gad1' #8a charm to lull the ,thracian blasts#gae1' that and nothing more4 ,but a story still more strongly evidential of the custom is told by ,pausanias#gaf4 ,in the war between ,messenia and ,sparta1 when the ,messenians had been reduced to extremities1 #8they decided to evacuate all their many towns in the open country and to establish themselves on ,mount ,ithome4 ,now there was there a town of no great size1 which ,homer1 they say1 includes in the ,catalogue--8,ithome steep as a ladder40 ,in this town they established themselves1 extending its ancient circuit so as to provide a stronghold large enough for all4 ,and apart even from the fortifications the place was strong2 for ,ithome is as high as any mountain in the ,peloponnese and1 where the town lay1 was particularly inaccessible4 ,they determined also to send an envoy to ,delphi1' who brought them back the following oracle3 ,a maiden pure unto the nether powers1 ,chosen by lot1 of lineage ,aepytid1 ,ye shall devote in sacrifice by night4 ,but if ye fail thereof1 take ye a maid ,e'en from a man of other race as victim1 ,an he shall give her willingly to slay4 ,and the story goes on to tell how in the end ,aristodemus devoted his own daughter1 and she became the accepted victim4 ,here ,pausanias1 it will be noticed1 does not give any reason for the sacrifice being required4 ,but three points in his narrative are highly suggestive4 ,the story of the sacrifice follows immediately upon the mention of the building of new fortifications--and the foundation of what was to be practically a new city was eminently a question on which to consult the ,delphic oracle2 the powers to whom sacrifice is ordered are designated merely as 1 the nearest equivalent in ancient ,greek to genii2 and the time of the sacrifice is to be night1 when1 according to modern belief1 genii are most active4 ,if then modern superstition can ever teach us anything about ancient religion1 it supplies the clue here4 ,the maiden was to be sacrificed to the genii of ,mount ,ithome to ensure the stability of the new fortifications4 ,now if my interpretation of this story is right and the practice of human sacrifice to genii was known in ancient ,greece1 the transition from the worship of genii in the form of snakes or dragons to the worship of tutelary heroes or gods in human likeness is readily explained on the analogy of a similar transition in modern belief4 ,what was originally the victim was mistaken for the genius4 ,the same confusion of thought1 by which1 in one version of #8the ,bridge of ,arta1' the genius in person demands a human victim and yet afterwards the victim speaks of herself as becoming the genius of the bridge1 can be detected even in the oracle given to the ,messenians4 #8,if ye fail to find a maid of the blood of the ,aepytidae1' it said1 #8ye may take the daughter of a man of other lineage1 provided that he give her willingly for sacrifice4' ,why the condition8 ,why #8willingly' only8 ,because1 ,i think1 even the ,delphic oracle halted between two opinions--between the conception of the maiden as a victim to appease angry genii and the belief that the dead girl herself would become the guardian-daemon of the stronghold4 ,let us read another story from ,pausanias#gag3 #8,at the base of ,mount ,cronius1 on the north side 7of the ,altis at ,olympia71 between the treasuries and the mountain1 there is a sanctuary of ,ilithyia1 and in it ,sosipolis1 a native daemon of ,elis1 is worshipped4 ,to ,ilithyia they give the surname 8,olympian10 and elect a priestess to minister to her year by year4 ,the old woman too who waits upon ,sosipolis is bound by ,elean custom to chastity in her own person1 and brings water for the bathing of the god and serves him with barley-cakes kneaded with honey4 ,in the front part of the temple1 which is of double construction1 is an altar of ,ilithyia1 and entrance thereto is public2 but in the inner part ,sosipolis is worshipped1 and only the woman who serves the god may enter1 and she only with her head and face covered by a white veil4 ,and while she does so1 maidens and married women wait in the temple of ,ilithyia and sing a hymn2 incense of all sorts is also offered to him1 but no libations of wine4 ,an oath also at the sanctuary of ,sosipolis is taken on very great occasions4 #8,it is said that when the ,arcadians had once invaded ,elis1 and the ,eleans lay encamped opposite to them1 a woman came to the generals of the ,eleans1 with a child at her breast1 and said that1 though she was the mother of the child1 she offered it1 bidden thereto by dreams1 to fight on the side of the ,eleans4 ,and those in command1 trusting the woman's tale1 put the child in the forefront of the army naked4 ,then the ,arcadians came to the attack1 and lo6 straightway the child was changed into a serpent4 ,and the ,arcadians1 dismayed at the sight1 turned to flight1 and were pressed by the ,eleans1 who won a signal victory and gave to the god the name of ,sosipolis 78saviour of the state074 ,and at the place where the serpent disappeared in the ground after the battle they set up the sanctuary2 and along with him they took to worshipping ,ilithyia1 because she was the goddess who had brought the boy into the world4' ,is this story complete1 or did ,pausanias' informants suppress one material point out of shame8 ,how came a mortal infant to assume the form of a serpent which is proper only to apparitions from the lower world8 ,the missing episode is1 ,i believe1 the sacrifice of the child1 which having been offered willingly became after death a daemon friendly to the ,eleans and fought1 in the form of a serpent1 on their side4 ,human sacrifice before a battle was not unknown in ancient ,greece#gah1 but by ,pausanias' time the inhabitants of ,elis might well have hesitated to impute to their forefathers so barbarous a custom1 and have modified the story by omitting even that incident which alone could make it harmonise with ancient religious ideas#gai4 ,a similar view has been taken of another story of ,pausanias#gbj1 also from ,elis4 #8,oxylus 7the king of ,elis71 they say1 had two sons ,aetolus and ,laias4 ,aetolus died before his parents and was buried by them in a tomb which they caused to be made exactly in the gate of the road to ,olympia and the sanctuary of ,zeus4 ,the cause of their burying him thus was an oracle which forbade the corpse to be either within or without the city4 ,and up to my time the governor of the gymnasium still makes annual offerings to ,aetolus as a hero4' ,commenting on this passage ,dr ,frazer#gba says1 #8,the spirit of the dead man was probably expected to guard the gate against foes4444 ,it is possible that in this story of the burial of ,aetolus in the gate we have a faded tradition of an actual human sacrifice offered when the gate was built4' ,certainly the facts that ,aetolus was young and that he was not head of the royal house make his elevation to the rank of tutelary hero after death difficult to understand on any other hypothesis2 and it should be noted too that the oracle1 in obedience to which his tomb was made in the gateway1 probably came1 as the preceding context suggests1 from ,delphi1 that same shrine which was responsible for the sacrifice of ,aristodemus' daughter in the ,messenian war4 ,thus there is some probability that in ancient1 as in modern1 ,greece the genius was sometimes superseded by the victim offered to him1 but bequeathed to his successor something of his own character4 ,the victim1 now become a hero1 manifested himself in the old-established guise of a serpent1 and1 if we may judge from the case of ,sosipolis at ,olympia1 continued to be fed with honey-cakes1 the same food which had been considered the appropriate diet for the original snake-genii such as those dwelling in the ,erechtheum4 ,but1 when once the transition of worship was well advanced1 the power to assume serpent-form was naturally extended to all tutelary heroes and even to gods2 to have been sacrificed was no longer the sole qualifying condition4 ,the hero ,cychreus went to the help of the ,athenians at ,salamis in the form of a serpent#gbb4 ,two serpents were the incarnations of the heroes ,trophonius and ,agamedes at the oracle of ,lebadea#gbc4 ,amphiaraus was represented by a snake on the coins of ,oropus4 ,an archaic relief of the sixth century ,b4,c4 in the ,museum of ,sparta1 to which ,miss ,harrison has recently called attention1 represents #8a male and a female figure seated side by side on a great throne-like chain4444 ,worshippers of diminutive size approach with offerings--a cock and some object that may be a cake1 an egg1 or a fruit4444 ,it is clear that we have 444 representations of the dead1 but the dead conceived of as half-divine1 as heroized--hence their large size as compared with that of their worshipping descendants4 ,they are 1 8,better and ,stronger ,ones40 ,the artist of the relief is determined to make his meaning clear4 ,behind the chair1 equal in height to the seated figures1 is a great curled snake1 but a snake strangely fashioned4 ,from the edge of his lower lip hangs down a long beard1 a decoration denied by nature4 ,the intention is clear2 he is a human snake1 the vehicle1 the incarnation of the dead man's ghost#gbd4' ,in this relief the offerings depicted also are1 ,i think1 no less instructive than the bearded snake4 ,if we may suppose that the somewhat indeterminate object1 cake1 egg1 or fruit1 was intended for a honey-cake1 the offerings combine that which was the accustomed food of snake-genii in ancient times with a cock1 the victim most frequently sacrificed to the same genii at the present day4 ,of gods1 ,asclepius1 perhaps because he began life as a hero1 was most frequently represented in serpent-form4 ,it was in this guise that he came to ,sicyon1 ,epidaurus ,limera1 and ,rome#gbe2 and in later times ,lucian tells a humorous tale of how an impostor effected by trickery a supposed re-incarnation of ,asclepius in snake-form before the very eyes of the people out of whose superstitions he made a living and indeed a fortune#gbf4 ,here again1 if we may argue from modern custom1 the serpent-form carried with it the traditional offering of a #8cock to ,asclepius4' ,but other gods too had sometimes their attendant snakes1 as had ,asclepius at ,epidaurus2 and in every case it is likely that the particular god had originally dispossessed a primitive snake-genius1 but inherited from him and retained for a time in local cults the form of a snake2 until1 as the conception of the gods became more and more anthropomorphic1 the snake ceased to be a manifestation of the god himself and became merely his minister or his symbol4 ,even ,zeus himself1 under the title of ,meilichios1 is proved by two reliefs found at the ,piraeus to have been figured for a time by his worshippers as a snake#gbg4 ,in many such cases doubtless the substitution of the cult of a new and named god for that of a primitive and nameless genius explains adequately the incomer's inheritance and temporary retention of the snake-form2 but in the case of tutelary heroes1 above all1 the analogy of modern folk-lore1 in which the human victim is sometimes erroneously elevated to the rank of guardian-genius1 supplies1 ,i think1 the right clue to the process by which in ancient times the snake came to be the recognised incarnation of the spirits of dead men and heroes4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the genii of water1 to whom we now turn1 are sometimes imagined in the form of dragons or of bulls1 but more often by far in human or quasi-human shape4 ,an exception to the general rule must of course be made in the case of the genii of bridges1 if1 as ,i suppose1 they were originally identical with the genii of those rivers which the bridges span2 for these1 as ,i have said1 are usually dragons4 ,but if in this case there is a difference in outward appearance1 there is a general agreement at any rate in characteristics2 for the genii of water are no less hostile to man than those who demand human sacrifice as the price of their permission to build a bridge4 ,at ,kephalvryso in ,aetolia the genii of a river were described to me as red1 grinning devils who might often be seen sitting in the bed of the stream beneath the water4 ,they were believed to mate with ,lamiae who infested several caves on the bank of the river2 and together these two kinds of monster would feed on the bodies of men whom they had dragged into the river and drowned4 ,but far more frequently the genii of water1 and especially of wells1 appear in the form of ,arabs 771 and may be seen sometimes smoking long pipes in the depths4 ,they have the power of transforming themselves into any shape4 ,at one time they assume dragon-form and terrorise a whole country side2 at another they adopt the guise of a lovely maiden weeping beside a well1 and1 on pretence of having dropped into it a ring1 induce gallant and unwary men to descend to their death#gbh2 for when once the ,arab has entrapped them in his well he feeds upon them or smokes them in lieu of tobacco in his pipe4 ,how ,arabs have come to find a place among the genii of modern ,greece is a question which must be answered in one of two ways4 ,either during the ,turkish domination of ,greece the ,arab slaves1 who were to be found in every wealthy house1 were suspected by the ,christian population of possessing magical powers1 and from being magicians were elevated1 as the ,striges often were in mediaeval and modern ,greece1 to the rank of demons2 or else they are another example of the transmutation of victims into genii4 ,for several reasons ,i incline to the latter explanation4 ,first1 these ,arabs are most commonly associated with wells1 and for the sinking of a well1 no less than for the erection of a building or the opening of a quarry1 a victim would naturally be required4 ,secondly1 an animal victim is for choice of a black or dark colour1 and1 by parity of reasoning1 among human victims an ,arab 7or other man of dark colour1 for the word ,arab is used popularly of all such7 would be preferable to a white man4 ,thirdly1 it was reported from ,zacynthos only a generation ago that a strong feeling still existed there in favour of sacrificing a ,mohammedan or a ,jew at the foundation of important bridges and other buildings#gbi2 and there is a legend of a black man having been actually immured in the bridge of an aqueduct near ,lebadea in ,boeotia#gcj4 ,lastly1 ,i heard from a shepherd belonging to ,chios the story of a house in that island haunted by beings whom he called indifferently ,arabs#gca and vryklakes4 ,he himself had been mad for eight months from the shock of seeing them1 and four of his friends who visited the house to discover the cause of his disaster were similarly afflicted4 ,the demons were finally laid to rest by an old man driving a flock of goats through the house#gcb4 ,now vryklakes1 with whom ,i shall deal at length later on1 are persons resuscitated after death who issue from their graves2 and among those who are predisposed to such reappearance are men who have met with a violent death4 ,the identification therefore of ,arabs with vryklakes in this story suggests that an ,arab victim sacrificed at the foundation of some building might become the genius of it--not in this case the beneficent guardian of it1 but owing to his violent death a malicious and hurtful monster4 ,on this evidence ,i incline to the view that the ,arabs who now form a class of genii were originally the human victims preferred at the sinking of wells--a piece of engineering1 it must be remembered1 of first-rate importance in a country as dry as ,greece--and that1 when once these genii had become associated with water1 the popular imagination soon assigned them to rivers and natural springs no less than to wells4 ,the genii of rivers sometimes appear also in the shape of bulls1 though as ,i have already remarked this type of genius is far more commonly associated with churches4 ,possibly in some cases the fact that the church was built in the neighbourhood of some sacred spring1 whose miraculous virtue was of older date and repute than ,christianity1 first caused the transference2 but at any rate some rivers still retain this type of genius1 the type under which river gods were regularly represented in ancient times4 ,in this connexion a story entitled #8the ox-headed man#gcc' and narrated to me at ,goni in the island of ,santorini deserves mention4 ,a princess and a poor girl once agreed that when they were married1 if of their respective first-born the one should be a boy and the other a girl1 these two should be married4 ,now1 as it chanced1 princess and peasant-maid were both wed on the same day1 but for a long time both remained childless4 ,then at last they prayed to the ,panagia1 the princess for a child even if it were but a girl1 the peasant for a son even if he were but half a man2 and their prayers were answered2 for the poor woman bore a son with the head of an ox1 while the princess was blest with a beautiful daughter4 ,when the two children were grown up1 the poor woman went one day to claim the fulfilment of the agreement1 and the princess1 or rather now the queen1 went to ask her husband4 ,he however objected to the suitor on the grounds of personal appearance1 and stipulated that he should at least first perform certain feats to prove his worthiness4 ,the first task was to build a palace of pearls1 the second to plant the highest mountain of ,santorini 7 1 #8central mountain1' as it is locally called7 with trees1 and the third to border all the roads of the island with flowers4 ,for each labour one single night was the limit of time4 ,but the ox-headed man was equal to the work1 and having accomplished it came riding on a white horse to claim his bride4 ,the king however1 who had imposed these three labours in full assurance that the unseemly suitor would fail1 now flatly refused to abide by his promise1 and the man retired disconsolate and disappeared none knew whither4 ,the young princess was much affected at the unfair treatment of her lover1 and each day she grew more and more melancholy4 ,but finally she hit upon a means of cheering herself4 ,she proposed to her father that they should leave the palace and start an inn1 not for money1 but for the sake of the amusement to be derived from the stories and witty sayings of the guests4 ,the king consented1 and the inn was set up4 ,now one day a boy who had been fishing dropped his rod into the river1 and having dived in after it came to a flight of stairs at the bottom4 ,having walked down forty steps1 he entered a large room where sat the ox-headed man1 who talked with him and told him that he was waiting there for a princess who came not4 ,the boy then returned without hurt1 and on his way home had to pass the inn4 ,having turned in there1 he was asked by the princess to tell her something amusing4 ,he replied however that he knew no stories1 but would recount to her an adventure which had just befallen him4 ,in the course of the story the princess recognised that what the boy called the genius of the river 7 7 could be no other than her lover1 and having been straightway conducted to the spot1 found and married the ox-headed man1 and in his palace under the river lived happily ever afterwards--8but0 7as ,greek fairy-tales often end7 8we here much more happily40 ,it is curious that ,santorini of all places should be the source of this story2 for the island does not possess a stream4 ,locally however certain gullies by which the island is intersected are known as rivers 77#gcd1 and after unusually heavy rain they might perhaps form torrents2 at any rate one known as #8the evil river' 7 7 is frequently mentioned in popular traditions as a real river4 ,possibly the tradition is accurate2 for the volcanic nature of the island would readily account for the disappearance of a single stream#gce4 ,but the importance of the story lies in the mention of an ox-headed man as genius of a river4 ,the fact that he is made the son of a peasant-woman need not concern us2 the first part of the story is probably adapted from some other folk-tale with a view to account for the wooing of a princess by so ill-favoured a suitor4 ,in the latter part we have a more ancient motif1 the wedding of a mortal maid with a river-god4 ,if only it were mentioned in this tale that1 besides the power of performing miraculous tasks1 the bull-headed man had the faculty1 which modern genii possess1 of transforming himself into other shapes1 we should have a complete parallel 7save in the princess' willingness to wed7 with the wooing of ,deianira by the river-god ,achelous2 8for he10 says she1 8in treble shapes kept seeking me from my sire1 coming now in true bull-form1 now as a coiling serpent of gleaming hues1 anon with human trunk and head of ox#gcf40 ,the genii of rivers have not1 it would seem1 changed their forms and attributes1 save for the admission of ,arabs to their number1 from the age of ,sophocles to this day4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the third class of genius which we have to notice is terrestrial1 inhabiting mountains1 rocks1 caves1 and any other grim and desolate places4 ,these genii are the most frequent of all1 and are known as dragons4 ,not of course that all dragons are terrestrial2 the dragon-form has already been mentioned among the forms proper to the genii of springs and wells1 and also as a shape assumed at will by the ,arabs who more frequently occupy those haunts4 ,but terrestrial genii1 in whatever place they make their lair--and no limit can be set to such places--are far most commonly pictured as dragons2 and ,i have therefore preferred to speak of the dragons in general here1 rather than among the genii of either buildings or water4 ,the term or #gcg indicates to the ,greek peasant a monster of no more determinate shape than does the word #8dragon' to ourselves4 ,the ,greek word however differs1 and has always differed1 from the ,english form of it in one respect1 namely that it is often employed in a strict and narrow sense to denote a #8serpent' as distinguished from a small snake 7in modern ,greek 1 i4e4 1 the diminutive of the ancient 74 ,on the other hand1 a ,greek #8dragon1' in the widest sense of the term1 is sometimes distinctly anthropomorphic in popular stories1 and is made to boil kettles and drink coffee without any sense of impropriety4 ,it is in fact only from the context of a story that it is possible to determine in what shape the dragon is imagined2 in general it is neither flesh nor fowl nor good red devil2 heads and tails1 wings and legs1 teeth and talons1 are assigned to it in any number and variety2 it breathes air and fire indifferently2 it sleeps with its eyes open and sees with them shut2 it makes war on men and love to women2 it roars or it sings1 and there is little to choose between the two performances2 for the lapse of centuries1 it seems1 has in no wise mellowed its voice#gch4 ,the stories of the common-folk are full of these monsters' savagery and treachery#gci2 for it is the dragons1 above all other supernatural beings1 who provide the wandering hero of the fairy-tales with befitting adventures and tests of prowess4 ,a common motif of such stories is provided by the belief that dragons are the guardians of buried treasure4 ,when a man in a dream has had revealed to him the whereabouts of buried treasure1 his right course is to go to the spot without breathing to anyone a hint of his secret1 and there to slay a cock or other animal such as is offered at the laying of foundation-stones1 in order to appease the genius 7which is almost always a dragon1 though an ,arab is occasionally substituted7 before he ventures to disturb the soil4 ,this is the very superstition which ,artemidorus had in mind when he interpreted dreams about dragons to denote #8wealth and riches1 because dragons make their fixed abode over treasures#gdj4' ,having complied with these conditions the digger may hope to bring gold to light2 but if he have previously betrayed to anyone his expectations or have failed to propitiate the dragon1 the old proverb is fulfilled1 #gda1 his treasure turns out to be but ashes 774 ,the guardianship likewise of gardens wherein flow #8immortal waters' or grows #8immortal fruit' is the province of dragons4 ,in ,tenos a typical story concerning them is told in several versions#gdb4 ,the hero of them all bears the name of or #8,jack' 7a familiar diminutive of 1 #8,john'7--a name commonly given in ,greek fairy-tales to the performer of ,heraclean feats4 ,the hero who1 after discovering that his youngest sister is a ,strigla1 has fled with his mother1 the queen1 from the palace where they were in imminent danger of being devoured#gdc1 comes to a castle occupied by forty dragons4 ,the prince straightway attacks them single-handed and slays1 so he thinks1 all of them1 but in reality one has only feigned to be dead and so escapes to a hole beneath the castle1 of which ,jack now becomes the master4 ,the remaining dragon however ventures forth1 when the prince is gone out to the chase1 and makes love to the queen1 and after a while dragon and queen knowing that the prince would be incensed at their intrigue conspire to kill him4 ,to this end the queen on her son's return pretends to be ill1 and in response to his enquiries tells him that the only thing that can heal her is #8immortal water#gdd1' which1 as her paramour1 the dragon1 knows1 is to be found only in a distant garden guarded by one or more other dragons4 ,the prince at once undertakes to obtain the desired remedy1 and is directed by a witch 7who in some versions appears as the impersonation of his or #8,fortune'7 whither to go and how to deal with the dragons4 ,these accordingly he slays or eludes1 and so returns home unhurt bringing the immortal water4 ,then once more the dragon and the queen take counsel together1 and the pretence of illness is repeated with a demand this time for some immortal fruit or herb#gde known to be guarded in the same way as the water2 and once more the prince sets out and circumvents the dragons in some new fashion4 ,between such stories and the ancient fable of ,heracles' journey to the land of the ,hesperides in search of the golden apples1 and of his victory over the guardian-dragon ,ladon1 the connexion is self-evident4 ,whether that connexion is one of direct lineage1 is less certain4 ,more probably1 ,i think1 a form of this same story was already current in an age to which the name of ,heracles was as unknown as that of the modern ,jack2 and just as the story of ,peleus and ,thetis became the classical example of the winning of a nymph to wife by a mortal man#gdf1 so the myth1 by which the exploit of bearing off wonderful fruit from the custody of a dragon was numbered among the labours of ,heracles1 is nothing more than the authorised version1 so to speak1 of a fairy-tale that might have been heard of winter-nights in ,greek cottage-homes any time between the ,pelasgian and the present age4 99 99 99 99 99 ,daemons of the air1 the fourth class of genius which we have to consider1 have been acknowledged ever since the time of ,hesiod and doubtless from a period far anterior to that4 ,in his theology it was the lot of the first race of men in the golden age to become after death daemons #8clothed in air and going to and fro through all the world' as good guardians of mortal men4 ,but the goodness which ,hesiod attributes to the genii of the air was never1 ,i suspect1 an essential trait in their character4 ,in ,hesiod it is a corollary of the statement that they are the spirits of men who belonged to the golden age2 but there is no reason to suppose that the common-folk ever regarded them as more beneficent than other gods and daemons4 ,at any rate at the present day the 1 or genii of the air1 are no better disposed towards mankind than any other supernatural beings4 ,of this class as a whole little can be said4 ,the word is applied to almost any apparition too vague and transient to be more clearly defined4 ,it suggests something #8clothed in air1' something less tangible1 less discernible1 than most of the beings whom the peasant recognises and fears4 ,the limits of its usage are hard to fix4 ,it may properly include a ,nereid whose passing through the air is the whirlwind1 and it will equally certainly exclude a callicantzaros or a dragon4 ,yet even the ,nereids are more substantial than the genii of the air in their truest form2 for the assaults of ,nereids upon men and women are made1 as we have seen1 from without#gdg1 while genii of the air are more often supposed to #8possess' men in the same way as do devils1 and to be liable to exorcism4 ,but1 if the class as a whole is too vague and shadowy in the popular imagination to be capable of exact description1 one division of it is more clearly defined and has a generally acknowledged province of activity4 ,these particular arial genii are known as ,telonia 7 or1 more rarely1 74 ,they cannot claim equal antiquity with some of their fellows1 for they are1 it would seem1 a by-product of ,christianity1 with a certain accretion however of pagan superstition4 ,the origin of the name ,telonia is not in dispute4 ,it means frankly and plainly #8custom-houses4' ,such is the bizarre materialism of the ,greek imagination that the soul in its journeys no less than the body is believed to encounter the embarrassment of custom-houses4 ,an institution which of all things mundane commands least sentiment and sympathy has actually found a place in popular theology4 ,many of the people indeed at the present day1 as ,i know from enquiry1 have ceased to connect their two usages of the word2 but others accept as reasonable the belief that the soul in its voyage after death up from the earth to the presence of ,god must bear the scrutiny of arial customs-officers4 ,but1 apart from modern belief1 the apotheosis of the douane is amply proved by passages cited by ,du ,cange#gdh from early ,christian authors4 #8,some spirits1' says one#gdi1 #8have been set on the earth1 and some in the water1 and others have been set in the air1 even those that are called 8arial customs-officers0 7 74' ,another#gej speaks of #8the ,judge and the prosecutions by the toll-collecting spirits4' ,yet another#gea explains the belief in fuller detail3 #8as men ascend1 they find custom-houses guarding the way with great care and obstructing the soaring souls1 each custom-house examining for one particular sin1 one for deceit1 another for envy1 another for slander1 and so on in order1 each passion having its own inspectors and assessors#geb4' ,again a prayer for the use of the dying contains the same idea3 #8,have mercy on me1 all-holy angels of ,god ,almighty1 and save me from all evil ,telonia1 for ,i have no works to weigh against my wrong-doings#gec4' ,appeal in support of this belief was made even to the authority of ,christ as given in the words1 #8,thou fool1 this night they require thy soul of thee#ged1' where the commentators explained the vague plural as implying some such subject as #8toll-collectors' or #8custom-house officers#gee4' ,but the belief does not stop here4 ,one does not pass the custom-houses of this world1 or at any rate of ,greece1 without some expenditure in duty or in douceur2 and the same apparently holds true of the celestial custom-houses4 ,hence in some places the belief has generated a practice1 or1 to speak more exactly1 has breathed a new spirit into the old practice of providing the dead with money4 ,my view of the origin of this practice has already been explained2 ,i have given reasons for holding that the coin placed in the mouth of the dead was simply a charm to prevent evil spirits from entering1 or the soul from re-entering1 into the body1 and that the interpretation of the custom1 according to which the coin was the fee of the ferryman ,charon1 was of comparatively late date4 ,at the present day ,charon in the rle of ferryman is almost forgotten2 but in his place the ,telonia seem locally to have become the recipients of the fee1 and the old custom has thus received a second and equally erroneous explanation4 ,this may have been the idea in the mind of my informant who vaguely said that a coin placed in the mouth of the dead was #8good because of the arial beings#gef4' ,if the particular arial beings whom he had in mind were the ,telonia1 he no doubt thought of the coin as a fee payable to them1 though in that case it is somewhat strange that he should not have used the name which actually denotes their toll-collecting functions4 ,but from other sources at any rate comes evidence of a less ambiguous kind that the idea of paying the ,telonia for passage is1 or has been1 a real motive in the minds of the peasantry4 ,in ,chios 7where however the object actually placed in the mouth of the dead is clearly understood as a precaution against a devil entering the body7 it is believed that the soul after death remains for forty days in the neighbourhood of its old habitation1 the body1 and then making its way to ,hades has to pass the ,telonia4 ,happy the soul that makes its voyage on ,friday1 for then the activities of the ,telonia 7who in the conception of the islanders are clearly evil spirits and not1 as sometimes1 the ministers of ,god7 are restrained4 ,but1 to appease the ,telonia and to ensure the safe passage of the soul1 money is distributed to the poor#geg4 ,the same usage obtains also at ,sinasos in ,cappadocia1 and there the money so distributed is actually called 1 #8duty paid at the customs#geh4' ,the fact that in both these cases the money is now given in alms instead of being buried with the body is clearly a result of ,christian influence2 before that change was effected1 it is reasonably likely that the widely-known practice of placing a coin in the mouth of the dead was explained in some places1 though erroneously1 by the belief that the dead must pay their way through the arial custom-houses4 ,the term 1 #8passage-money1' by which1 in the neighbourhood of ,smyrna1 is denoted the coin still in that district buried with the dead1 has reference possibly to the same ,telonia rather than to ,charon#gei4 ,another and wholly different aspect of the ,telonia concerns the living and not the dead1 while it still exhibits them as true genii of the air4 ,any striking phenomena of the heavens at night1 such as shooting-stars or comets1 are believed to be manifestations of the ,telonia#gfj2 but most dreaded of all is the phenomenon known to us as ,st ,elmo's light1 the flame that sometimes flickers in time of storm about the mast-head and yards4 ,this light1 the ,greek sailor thinks1 portends an immediate onset of malevolent arial powers1 whom he straightway tries to scare away by every means in his power1 by invocation of saints and incantation against the demons1 by firing of guns1 and1 best of all1 by driving a black-handled knife 7which is in the ,cyclades thought doubly efficacious if an onion has recently been peeled with it7 into the mast4 ,for he no longer discriminates as did the ,greek mariner of old2 then the appearance of two such flames was greeted with gladness as a manifestation of the ,dioscuri1 the saviours from storm and tempest1 and evil was portended only if there appeared a single flame1 the token of ,helena#gfa1 who wrecked as surely as her twin brothers guarded2 now the phenomenon in any form bodes naught but ill4 ,this change is probably due to ,christian influences2 the seaman no longer looks to any pagan power for succour in time of peril2 he accounts ,st ,nicholas his friend and saviour2 and the ,telonia1 who in this province of their activity represent the older order of deities1 have become by contrast man's enemies4 ,other vague and incorrect usages of the term ,telonia are also recorded4 ,sometimes it may be heard as a synonym for 1 any non-,christian deities4 ,in ,myconos it is said to have been applied to the genii of springs#gfb4 ,in ,athens men used to speak of ,telonia of the sea1 who like the ,callicantzari were abroad only from ,christmas until the blessing of the waters at ,twelfth-night2 and during this time ships were wont to be kept at anchor and secure from their attacks#gfc4 ,a belief is also mentioned by ,pouqueville#gfd1 in a very confused passage1 that children who die unbaptised become ,telonia2 but the statement is corroborated by ,bernhard ,schmidt#gfe1 who adduces information of the same belief existing in ,zacynthos4 ,the idea at the root of it probably was that unbaptised children could not pass the celestial customs1 and were detained there on their road to the other world in order to assist in obstructing the passage of other souls4 ,but these are local variations of the main belief1 and1 so far as ,i can see1 are of little importance4 ,in general the ,telonia are a species of arial genius1 and their two activities consist in the collecting of dues from departed souls and assaults upon mariners4 99 99 99 99 99 ,there remain only for consideration the genii of human beings1 or the attendant spirits to whom is committed in some way the guidance of men's lives4 ,to some of them the name genius 7i4e4 7 would hardly perhaps be extended by the peasants2 but they all bear the same kind of relation towards men1 and may therefore conveniently be grouped together for discussion4 ,the best example which ,i know of an acknowledged genius attached to a man is in a story in ,hahn's collection#gff1 which tells of an old wizard whose life was bound up with that of a ten-headed snake which lived beneath a threshing-floor4 ,here the monstrous nature of the genius is doubtless intended to match the character of the wizard2 ordinary men1 unversed in magic1 may have genii of a less complex pattern4 ,thus the snake which so commonly acts as genius to a house is also in many cases regarded as the genius of the head or some other member of the household4 ,when therefore the death-struggle of any person is prolonged1 this is sometimes set down to the unwillingness of the genius to permit his death2 and in extreme cases of protracted agony recourse has before now been had to a priest1 who1 entering the sick man's room alone1 reads a special prayer for the sufferer's release1 and by virtue of this solemn office causes the house-snakes1 who are pagan genii1 to burst#gfg4 ,with their disruption of course the soul of the dying man is at once set free4 ,but the guardian spirits of whom the peasants most commonly speak belong to the personnel of ,christian theology or demonology1 and are therefore not actually numbered among genii4 ,these are angels1 two of whom are allotted to each man1 the one good 7 7 and the other bad 7 74 ,but though the designation genius is not applied to them1 in functions angels and genii do not differ4 ,to them belongs the control of a man's life1 the one guiding him in the way of righteousness1 and the other diverting him to the pitfalls of vice4 ,their presence is ever constant1 but seldom visible4 ,sometimes indeed1 in stories at any rate1 we hear of the good angel appearing to a man and rewarding him in his old age for a virtuous life#gfh2 and in general men born on ,saturday1 1 are reputed to be #gfi and endowed with special powers of seeing and dealing with the supernatural4 ,but most commonly the power to see the guardian angel is granted only to the dying1 and the vision is a warning that the end is near4 ,so1 when the gaze of a dying man becomes abstracted and fixed1 they say in some places 1 or in one word #ggj1 #8he sees his angel1' or again #gga1 #8he is terrified of an angel4' ,in these expressions it is not clear which of the two angels is intended2 but1 to judge from other expressions1 popular belief recognises the activity of the one or the other according to the peace or pain of the death4 #8,he is borne away by an angel1' #ggb1 suggests a quiet passing1 as of ,lazarus who was carried by the angels into ,abraham's bosom2 while the word 1 #8he is fighting with an angel1' an expression used in ,laconia of a protracted death-struggle1 and again #ggc1 #8he was stricken by an angel1' a term which denotes a sudden death1 argue rather the presence of the evil angel4 ,another kind of genius sometimes associated with men is the 7the modern form of 71 the #8shadow' personified4 ,the phrase 1 #8he has a good shadow1' is used of a man who enjoys good fortune1 and he himself is described sometimes as #ggd1 #8good-shadowed1' that is1 #8lucky4' ,but apparently a man may also get into trouble with this shadow no less than with an angel4 ,the word 1 #8he has been trampled upon by his shadow#gge1' is used occasionally of a man who has been stricken down by some sudden1 but not necessarily fatal1 illness such as epilepsy or paralysis4 ,this personification of the shadow as genius is perhaps responsible in some measure for the fear which the peasant feels of having the foundation-stone of a building laid upon his shadow2 but1 as ,i have said above1 the principle of sympathetic magic will explain the cause of fear without this supposition4 ,to these genii might reasonably be added the ,fate 7 or1 more rarely1 7 of each individual4 ,but these lesser ,fates1 as well as the great ,three1 have already been discussed1 and there is nothing to add here save that by virtue of the close connexion of each lesser ,fate with the life of one man these too might be numbered among genii4 ,the same belief in a guardian-deity presiding over each human life is to be found throughout ancient ,greek literature4 ,in ,homer the name for such a genius is 7at any rate if it be of an evil sort71 in later writers --both of them vague terms which embrace other kinds of deities as well1 yet not so vague but that with the aid of context we can readily discover in them the equivalent of the #8guardian-angel' or other modern genius4 ,from ,homer onwards the word is regularly used of the allotment of each human life from the moment of birth to one of these guardians1 and the belief in their attendance upon men throughout1 and even after1 life seems to have had general acceptance4 ,in the ,iliad the wraith of ,patroclus is made to speak of the hateful ,ker to whom he was allotted at the hour of birth#ggf1 and the ,ker here mentioned is not1 ,i think1 merely fate in the abstract but as truly a person as that baneful ,ker of battle and carnage #8who wore about her shoulders a robe red with the blood of heroes#ggg4' ,after ,homer the word is preferred1 but there is no change in the idea4 ,the famous saying of ,heraclitus1 1 #8the god that guides man's lot is character1' is in no wise dark1 but ,plato throws even clearer light upon the popular belief in guardian-daemons4 #8,it is said that at each man's death his daemon1 the daemon to whom he had been allotted for his lifetime1 has the task of guiding him to some appointed place#ggh1' where the souls of men must assemble for judgement4 ,here the words #8it is said' indicate the popular source of the doctrine2 and this is confirmed by another passage in which ,plato#ggi protests against the fatalism involved in the allotment of souls to particular daemons1 and prefers to hold that the soul may choose its own guardian4 ,again in a fragment of ,menander there is a simple statement of the belief in a form which robs fatalism of its gloom3 ,beside each man a daemon takes his stand ,e'en at his birth-hour1 through life's mysteries ,a guide right good#ghj4 ,but there were others who did not take so cheerful a view1 at any rate of their own guardian-deities2 #8alas for the most cruel daemon to whom ,i am allotted#gha' is a complaint of a type by no means rare in ,greek literature1 and the word came as readily as to men's lips#ghb4 ,from these passages it is evident that in general each man was believed to have one1 and only one1 attendant genius1 and his happiness or misery to depend on the character of the guardian allotted to him by fate4 ,but sometimes this injustice of destiny was obviated by a belief similar to the modern belief in both good and bad angels in attendance on each man4 ,the comment of ,servius on ,vergil's line1 #8,quisque suos patimur manes#ghc1' sets forth this view3 #8when we are born two ,genii are allotted to us1 one who exhorts us to good1 the other who perverts us to evil4' ,as in modern so in ancient times these genii were rarely visible to the men whom they guarded4 ,the genius of ,socrates1 which1 like those of other men past and present1 had been1 so he held1 divinely appointed to wait upon him from his childhood onward#ghd1 spoke to him indeed in a voice which he could hear#ghe 7just perhaps as the priestess of ,delphi heard the voice of ,apollo#ghf71 but ever remained unseen4 ,,footnotes3 #ajg ,pindar1 ,nem4 ,,vi4 #a 1 444 ,the opening phrase is often1 even usually1 translated #8one is the race of men1 another the race of gods4' ,whether 444 was ever used in ,greek for 444 1 ,i doubt2 but even if it be possible1 the emphasis 444 444 must to my mind be an emphasis upon unity1 and the first mention of divergence comes equally strongly in 4444 #ajh ,stobaeus1 ,sentent4 p4 #bgi1 444 1 1 4 #aji ,for dialectic variations of the form1 see ,schmidt1 ,das ,volksleben der ,neugr4 p4 #ia4 #aaj ,i4 ,cor4 v4 #ab1 ,i4 ,tim4 iii4 #g1 and elsewhere4 #aaa ,basil ,,iii4 #idd ,a 7,migne1 ,patrol4 ,graec4 vol4 ,,xxix474 #aab ,pouqueville1 ,voyage de la ,grce1 ,i4 p4 #cai1 writes #8,pagania4' #aac ,in ,andros the word is used 7in the singular 7 to denote an unbaptised child4 ,cf4 4 1 1--1 1 p4 #de4 #aad op4 cit4 p4 #ib1 referring to ,du ,cange1 fraus1 p4 #aega4 #aae 4 4 1 ,,ii4 p4 #abb4 #aaf ,schmidt1 op4 cit4 p4 #ig4 #aag ,relation de ce qui s'est pass de plus remarquable ,sant-,erini1 isle de l',archipel1 depuis l'etablissement des ,pres de la ,compagnie de ,jesus en icelle 7,paris1 #afeg71 p4 #aib ff4 #aah ,see below1 pp4 #bee ff4 #aai ,see below1 pp4 #bhd-g4 #abj ,cf4 ,hesych4 1 1 1 2 and 1 1 1 4 #aba ,bybilakis1 ,neugriechisches ,leben1 p4 #af1 and in the periodical 1 ,,iv4 p4 #eag4 #abb op4 cit4 p4 #ib4 #abc ,steph4 ,thesaur4 s4v4 #abd 4 1 anno #ahfa1 p4 #ahea1 quoted by ,schmidt1 loc4 cit4 #abe ,schmidt1 op4 cit4 p4 #ib4 #abf ,ibid4 #abg ,zenob4 ,cent4 ,,iii4 #c4 ,cf4 ,hesych4 and ,suidas1 s4v4 4 #abh ,cf4 ,leo ,allatius1 de quor4 ,graec4 opin4 cap4 ,,iii4 ad fin41 quoting ,mich4 ,psellus1 4 #abi ,artemidorus1 ,oneirocritica1 ,bk ,,ii4 cap4 #i1 p4 #ij4 #acj ,ibid4 p4 #ia4 #aca ,schmidt1 ,das ,volksleben der ,neugr4 p4 #cc4 #acb ,schmidt1 ,mrchen1 etc4 p4 #aca4 #acc ,soutzos1 ,hist4 de la ,rvolution ,grecque1 p4 #aeh4 ,cf4 ,schmidt1 ,das ,volksleben1 p4 #bg4 #acd ,schmidt1 ,mrchen1 etc4 no4 ,,xi4 #ace ,schmidt1 ,das ,volksleben der ,neugriechen1 p4 #ace4 #acf 7periodical7 ,,xvi4 p4 #ech1 4 #acg ,b4 ,schmidt1 ,mrchen1 etc4 no4 ,,xx4 #ach ,plutarch1 de defect4 orac4 #ag4 #aci ,idyll4 ,i4 #ae4 #adj ,ps4 #ia4 #f4 #ada ,de quorumdam ,graecorum opinationibus1 cap4 ,,viii4 #adb ,du ,cange1 ,lex4 med4 et infim4 ,latin1 s4v4 #adc ,clarke1 ,catalogue of ,sculptures in ,fitzwilliam ,museum1 ,cambridge4 #add ,the population of ,eleusis1 as of many villages in ,attica1 is mainly ,albanian2 but they have inherited many of the old ,greek superstitions and customs4 #ade ,lenormant1 ,monographie de la voie sacre leusinienne1 p4 #cii ff4 #adf 8,the diminutive in ,albanian of ,nicolas is ,kolio3 in the choice of this name is there not a reminiscence of that of ,celeus80--so ,lenormant in a note4 ,the suggestion does not appear to me very probable4 #adg ,opposite ,eleusis in ,salamis4 #adh ,euseb4 ,chron4 p4 #bg4 ,plut4 ,vita ,thes4 ,,xxxi4 ad fin4 #adi ,paus4 ,,viii4 #ae4 #aej ,conon1 ,narrat4 #ae4 #aea ,tour through ,greece1 ,,ii4 p4 #ddj4 #aeb ,travels in the ,morea1 ,,iii4 p4 #adh4 #aec ,paus4 ,,viii4 #db4 #a-d1 and #be4 #e4 #aed ,schol4 in ,ar4 ,ran4 #dda4 ,aelian1 ,hist4 ,anim4 ,x4 #af4 #aee ,frazer1 ,golden ,bough1 ,,ii4 #dd ff4 7#bnd edit474 #aef ,herod4 ,,ii4 #aga4 #aeg ,aelian1 l4c4 #aeh ,herod4 ,,ii4 #dg4 ,plut4 ,isis et ,osiris1 #h 7,moral4 #ced74 ,aelian1 l4c4 #aei ,mrchen etc4 ,song no4 #ef4 #afj ,above1 p4 #ec4 #afa ,schmidt1 ,mrchen etc4 no4 ,,vii4 #afb ,paus4 ,,viii4 #db4 #a ff4 #afc ,paus4 ,,viii4 #db4 #b4 #afd ,schuchhardt1 ,schliemann's ,excavations 7tr4 ,sellers71 p4 #bif4 #afe ,ibid4 #aff ,paus4 ,,ii4 #bb4 #a4 #afg op4 cit4 p4 #adg4 #afh op4 cit4 p4 #cjb4 #afi ,schuchhardt1 op4 cit4 p4 #aea1 and ,leaf's introduction1 p4 ,,xxvii4 ,cf4 ,frazer in ,journal of ,philology1 ,,xiv4 #ade ff4 #agj ,schuchhardt1 op4 cit4 p4 #aea4 #aga op4 cit4 p4 #cjc4 #agb ,frazer in ,journal of ,philology1 ,,xiv4 pp4 #ade ff4 #agc ,paus4 ,i4 #ah4 #c4 #agd ,id4 ,,ix4 #cf4 #age ,iliad ,,ix4 #djd-e4 #agf ,griech4 und ,albanesische ,mrchen1 nos4 #fc and #ig4 #agg #8die ,schne der ,erde' in von ,hahn's translation4 ,unfortunately the original does not appear in ,pio's 1 for which the ,,mss4 of von ,hahn provided the material4 #agh ,cf4 ,plut4 ,vita ,thes4 #ca1 ad fin4 #agi ,for references see ,schmidt1 ,das ,volksleben der ,neugr4 p4 #bbb4 #ahj ,passow1 ,popul4 ,carm4 ,graeciae recentioris4 ,carm4 no4 #djh4 #aha 1 1 p4 #afi4 #ahb ,passow1 op4 cit4 no4 #dbc4 #ahc 1 1 p4 #bij4 #ahd ,bernhard ,schmidt1 ,mrchen etc4 p4 #ha4 #ahe ,kindly communicated to me by ,mr ,g4 ,f4 ,abbott1 author of ,macedonian ,folklore4 #ahf ,b4 ,schmidt1 ,mrchen etc4 ,song no4 #ci4 #ahg ,cf4 ,passow1 no4 #dbh4 #ahh ,ibid4 no4 #dcj4 #ahi ,above1 p4 #ec4 #aij e4g4 ,passow1 no4 #dbg4 #aia ,cf4 ,schmidt1 ,das ,volksleben1 p4 #bcj4 #aib ,this expression which ,i have heard several times is not noticed by ,schmidt or ,polites4 ,they give1 however1 1 #8he is being stricken by an angel1' and other phrases meaning to see1 to fear1 to be carried away by1 an angel1 all in the same sense4 ,see ,schmidt1 op4 cit4 #aha1 and 1 1 444 #cjh4 #aic 4 ,the word expresses the relationship in which a godfather stands to the parents of his godson4 #aid ,this story1 as ,i have told it1 is not a literal translation1 for ,i could not take down the original4 ,but notes which ,i set down after hearing it enable me to reproduce it in a form which certainly contains the whole substance and many actual phrases of the version which ,i heard4 #aie ,probably meaning the brigand's #8comrades4' ,the term 1 #8hawk1' is commonly so applied4 #aif 1 op4 cit4 p4 #bdf 7from 1 4 4 p4 #eg74 #aig e4g4 ,passow1 ,popul4 ,carm4 nos4 #dbf-dbi4 #aih 1 1 vol4 ,,iii4 p4 #dh4 ,cf4 1 op4 cit4 p4 #bci4 #aii ,the word for #8black' includes the sense of #8grim1' #8gloomy1' #8sorrowful4' ,tears are commonly described as #8black1' 4 #bjj ,passow1 op4 cit4 distich no4 #aaee4 #bja ,cf4 ,passow1 no4 #djh4 #bjb ,cf4 ,passow1 nos4 #dad1 #dae1 #dag4 #bjc ,passow1 no4 #dbd4 #bjd ,aesch4 ,eum4 #bcg4 #bje ,fauriel1 ,chants populaires de la ,grce ,moderne1 ,discours prliminaire1 p4 #he4 #bjf ,schmidt1 ,mrchen etc4 ,song no4 #ch4 #bjg ,ibid4 no4 #cg4 #bjh ,schmidt1 ,mrchen etc4 ,song no4 #g4 #bji ,das ,volksleben1 p4 #bcg4 #baj ,mrchen etc4 ,song no4 #aj4 #baa 1 444 p4 #bgb4 #bab ,passow1 no4 #cga4 #bac 1 4 1 p4 #ag4 ,cf4 ,schmidt1 op4 cit4 p4 #bcf4 #bad ,so in some districts of ,macedonia up to the present day2 ,abbott1 ,macedonian ,folklore1 p4 #aic4 #bae 1 ' 1 p4 #ad4 ,the form which the writer gives can hardly be popular4 ,it might be1 as ,schmidt points out1 in the local dialect4 ,i have given the form which the word would assume in most districts4 #baf in the periodical 1 ,,xi4 p4 #ddi4 ,cf4 ,schmidt1 op4 cit4 p4 #bch4 #bag 1 #aj4 #bah ,for this term see above1 p4 #fh1 and below1 p4 #bhc4 #bai ,below1 p4 #bhe4 #bbj ,see above1 p4 #ac4 #bba ,passow1 no4 #dcb4 #bbb ,this is shown later to be the first form of the superstition4 ,see below1 pp4 #dcc-d4 #bbc ,newton1 ,travels and ,discoveries in the ,levant1 ,i4 p4 #bhi 7cited by ,schmidt1 das ,volksleben1 p4 #bci74 #bbd ,the use of the coin1 quite apart from any such variation of the custom1 was forbidden by several councils of the ,church between the #dth and #gth centuries1 cf4 1 etc4 p4 #bfi4 #bbe ,cf4 ,ricaud1 ,annales des conciles gnraux et particuliers 7#aggc71 vol4 ,i4 p4 #fed 7from 1 1 p4 #bfi74 #bbf ,according to ,bent 7,cyclades1 p4 #cfc7 the object used thus in ,naxos is a wax cross with the initial letters 4 4 4 engraved upon it1 and it still bears the old name 1 #8fare4' #bbg 4 1 1 pp4 #cce and #cci4 #bbh ,newton1 ,travels and ,discoveries in the ,levant1 ,i4 p4 #bab4 ,the exact details of the custom in each place are given below1 p4 #djf4 #bbi ,see below1 pp4 #dcc-d4 #bcj ,in ,rhodes1 according to ,newton1 l4c41 the ,christian symbol 4 4 4 4 is combined with that to which ,i now come1 the #8pentacle4' #bca ,cf4 1 1 ,i4 #egc1 where it is said that in ,myconos the symbol is sometimes carved on house doors to keep vrykolakes 7on which see below1 cap4 ,,iv47 from troubling the inmates at night4 #bcb ,cf4 ,lucian1 1 #e4 #bcc apud ,pausan4 x4 #bh4 #a4 #bcd e4g4 ,eur4 ,alc4 #beb1 #cfa1 ,heracl4 #dcb1 ,arist4 ,ran4 #ahd ff41 ,lysistr4 #fjf1 ,plut4 #bgh4 #bce ,suidas s4v4 #bcf ,pollux1 #h1 #ajb4 #bcg ,pollux1 #d1 #acb4 #bch ,strabo1 #egi4 #bci ,ibid4 #fcf #bdj ,ibid4 #fdi4 #bda ,plut4 ,anton4 #af4 #bdb 1 s4v4 #bdc ,eur4 ,alc4 #dh1 #di4 #bdd ,ibid4 #gd-f4 #bde ,ibid4 #aada-b4 #bdf ,ibid4 #ej4 #bdg ,codex ,vaticanus1 no4 #iji4 ,cf4 ,schmidt1 das ,volksleben1 p4 #bbc1 whence the majority of these references are borrowed4 #bdh ,,vii4 #fjc and #fga2 ,,xi4 #acc4 ,cf4 ,schmidt1 l4c4 #bdi s4v4 #bej ,gerhard1 die ,gottheiten der ,etrusker1 p4 #ef2 ,mller1 die ,etrusker1 ,,ii4 #ajb4 #bea ,ambrosch1 de ,charonte ,etrusco1 pp4 #b1 #c4 #beb ,ibid4 p4 #h4 #bec ,ibid4 pp4 #d-g2 and ,maury in ,revue ,archologique1 ,i4 #ffe1 and ,,iv4 #gia4 #bed ,annuaire de l',association pour l'encouragement des tudes grecques en ,france1 no4 ,,viii4 7#ahgd71 p4 #cib ff4 #bee ,both fortifications and well are actual features of ,acro-,corinth up to the present day4 #bef ,pausan4 ,i4 #cg1 ad fin42 ,perrot1 l4c4 ,cf4 ,frazer1 ,pausanias1 ,,ii4 #dig4 #beg ,mrchen etc4 ,introduction1 p4 #ce4 #beh ,cf4 ,bursian1 ,geographie von ,griechenland1 ,,ii4 p4 #ag4 #bei ,vrto1 ,mlange ,no-hellenique4 #bfj ,schmidt1 ,mrchen etc4 nos4 #af-ah4 #bfa ,ibid4 p4 #aac 7note #b74 #bfb ,see below1 p4 #afe4 #bfc ,orph4 ,hymns1 #eg 7#eh71 #b4 #bfd ,orph4 ,hymns1 #ee1 #h4 4 ,for representations in ancient art of many 1 cf4 ,philostr4 ,eikones1 p4 #chc 7#ggj74 #bfe ,see above1 p4 #eg4 #bff ,tzetzes1 ,schol4 on ,lycophron1 #djf4 #bfg ,pausan4 ,i4 #ai4 #b4 ,cf4 ,c4 ,i4 ,g4 no4 #addd1 and ,orph4 ,hymn1 #ee 7#ed71 #d4 #bfh ,apparently the old subterranean passage by which competitors entered the stadium4 #bfi ,mentioned by ,pouqueville1 ,voyage en ,grce1 ,v4 p4 #fg1 and confirmed by many other writers4 #bgj ,pausan4 ,x4 #ch4 #f4 #bga ,pouqueville1 op4 cit4 ,,iv4 p4 #df4 #bgb 1 1 ,i4 p4 #bbb1 ,,iii4 p4 #aef4 1 444 p4 #bbg4 #bgc ,dodwell1 ,tour through ,greece1 ,i4 #cig4 #bgd 1 l4c4 #bge l4c4 #bgf 1 4 4 ,i4 p4 #bbb4 #bgg ,cf4 1 #8,it was my written lot1' i4e4 destiny1 and other similar phrases cited by ,schmidt1 das ,volksleben1 p4 #bab1 and 1 1 pp4 #bah1 #bai4 #bgh ,choeph4 #dfd-e1 which the ,scholiast annotates thus1 444 #bgi ,i regret to say that ,i cannot trace the source of this story4 ,i incline to think that ,i took it from some publication1 but it is possible that it was narrated to me personally4 #bhj ,except in ,zacynthos1 according to ,schmidt 7,volksleben1 p4 #baa71 where they number twelve4 #bha ,schmidt1 ,volksleben1 p4 #bbj4 #bhb ,chants populaires de la ,grce moderne1 ,discours prliminaire1 p4 #hc4 #bhc ,according to ,bent 7,cyclades1 pp4 #bib and #dcg71 the name ,erinyes is still applied by the people of ,andros and of ,kythnos to the evil spirits who cause consumption4 #bhd ,so ,pouqueville1 ,voyage de la ,grce1 ,,vi4 p4 #afj4 #bhe 1 4 41 ,,iii4 pp4 #fg1 #fh4 #bhf ,cf4 1 444 p4 #bah4 #bhg ,the visit of the ,fate on the day of birth instead of the third day after is unusual4 #bhh ,from 1 4 4 ,i4 pp4 #caj1 #caa4 #bhi ,schmidt1 das ,volksleben1 p4 #bab4 #bij ,cf4 of the #8destined' bridegroom1 in ,hom4 ,od4 ,,xvi4 #cib4 #bia ,cf4 ,miss ,harrison1 ,prolegomena to the ,study of ,greek ,religion1 pp4 #bhf ff4 #bib ,passow1 no4 #che4 #bic ,heuzey1 ,le mont ,olympe1 p4 #aci4 ,i have introduced a few alterations of spelling1 mostly suggested by ,schmidt1 das ,volksleben1 p4 #bbi 7note71 e4g4 for 1 in order to restore the rather rough metre4 #bid 7 444 p4 #bbh1 note #a7 gives the following references3 ,wordsworth1 ,athens and ,attica1 p4 #bbh2 4 1 #ahfh1 p4 #adgi2 ,passow1 ,popul4 ,carm4 p4 #dca1 besides those to which ,i have referred in other notes4 #bie ,persae1 #fei4 #bif ,,vii4 #bah4 #big 1 who recorded this version in 4 1 no4 #cj 7#aheb71 p4 #fec1 spelt the word erroneously 2 the sound of and being identical in modern ,greek1 ,i have substituted the latter4 #bih ,theog4 #bag and #ijd4 #bii ,theog4 #bag4 #cjj ,prom4 ,vinct4 #eaf ff4 #cja ,leo ,allatius 7de quorumdam ,graec4 opinationibus1 cap4 xx47 quotes from ,mich4 ,psellus 7#aath century7 the ancient form as then in use4 ,he himself 7ibid4 cap4 xix47 employs the form which was probably the dialectic form of his native ,chios4 ,bern4 ,schmidt 7,das ,volksleben der ,neugriechen1 pp4 #ih-i7 has brought together a large number of variants now in use1 in which the accent fluctuates between the and the 1 the first vowel is indifferently 1 or 1 the two consecutive vowels are sometimes contracted to 1 sometimes more distinctly separated by the faintly pronounced letter 1 and lastly an euphonetic is occasionally prefixed to the word4 ,hence forms as widely distinct as and often occur4 ,du ,cange1 it may be added1 gives the form 7with interchange of the and the inserted 72 but since his information is seemingly drawn entirely from ,leo ,allatius1 there is reason to regard it as merely his own error in transcribing 4 #cjb ,an attempt has been made by one authority on the folk-lore of ,athens 71 1 ,i4 pp4 #bah and #bbb71 to distinguish from 4 ,he maintains that in ,athens the latter were never regarded as maleficent beings1 and must therefore be distinguished from the dread 1 whom he seeks to identify1 on no better ground than the euphemistic name1 with the ,eumenides4 ,a folk-story1 however1 which he himself records 7ibid4 p4 #cai71 how a was married to a prince1 whose eyes she had blinded to all other women1 and how after living with him for a while she disappeared finally in a whirlwind1 reveals in her all the usual traits of a ,nereid1 and thus defeats the writer's previous contention4 ,but apart from this a little enquiry on the subject outside the limits of ,athens would have set at rest his doubts as to the identity of the two4 ,it is quite possible that formerly in ,athens1 as now elsewhere1 it was usual to employ the euphemism in referring to the ,nereids in their more mischievous moods2 only in that way can ,i explain his idea that the ,nereids were never maleficent4 #cjc ,cf4 ,passow1 ,distich #fib2 ,pashley1 ,travels in ,crete1 vol4 ,,ii4 p4 #bcc2 1 ,,xiv4 p4 #eff2 ,bern4 ,schmidt1 ,das ,volksleben1 p4 #ajd4 #cjd ,cf4 ,bern4 ,schmidt1 ,das ,volksleben1 p4 #aje4 #cje ,the latter is quoted by ,bern4 ,schmidt1 ,das ,volksleben1 p4 #ajf1 from the dialect of ,arachova near ,delphi4 #cjf ,cf4 ,bern4 ,schmidt1 l4 c42 ,bybilakis1 ,neugriechisches ,leben1 p4 #ac4 #cjg ,pind4 ,nem4 ,v4 #cf4 #cjh ,hom4 ,od4 #ac4 #ajb ff4 #cji ,cf4 e4g4 ,passow1 ,popularia ,carmina1 ,distichs #eeb-c4 #caj ,hahn1 ,griech4 ,mrchen1 vol4 ,i4 no4 #ae4 #8,ihre ganze ,kraft steckt aber in den ,kleidern1 und wenn man ihnen die wegnimmt1 so sind sie machtlos4' #caa ,to form a chain of dancers the leader1 who occupies the extreme right1 is linked to the second in the row by a kerchief1 while the rest merely join hands4 ,more freedom of motion is thus allowed to the chief performer4 #cab ,cf4 also ,hahn1 ,griech4 ,mrchen1 vol4 ,,ii4 no4 #gg4 4 1 1 p4 #abc4 #cac ,the crowing of the third cock is more usually the signal for the departure of ,nereids and their kind4 ,it is commonly held that the white cock crows first1 the red second1 and the black third4 ,the last is a sure saviour from the assaults of all manner of demons4 #cad ,similar transformations occur in a ,cretan story1 the forms assumed being those of dog1 snake1 camel1 and fire4 1 1 p4 #fi4 #cae ,cf4 ,apollodorus1 ,,iii4 #ac4 #e4 #caf ,bern4 ,schmidt1 ,das ,volksleben1 p4 #ajd1 quoting ,ritschl1 ,ino ,leucothea1 ,pl4 ,i41 ,,ii4 7#a and #b71 ,,iii42 and referring to a sarcophagus in the ,corsini ,gallery at ,rome1 figured in ,monum4 ,ined4 vol4 ,,vi4 ,pl4 ,,xxvi4 #cag ,hom4 ,od4 #e4 #cdf sqq4 and #dei sqq4 #cah 4 1 1 p4 #abc4 #cai ,the women of ,scopelos on certain festal occasions wear a dress which may well be the same as the classical 1 a loose pleated robe falling from the shoulders and widening as it falls1 so that their figures resemble a fluted column too broad at the base and too tapering at the top4 #cbj ,hahn1 ,griechische ,mrchen1 vol4 ,,ii4 no4 #hc4 1 1 p4 #fi4 #cba ,cf4 a folk-song quoted by ,ross1 ,reisen auf ,inseln1 ,,iii4 p4 #ahj1 1 ' 1 ' 1 '1 #8,go not up to the solitary tree1 go not down to the lowlands1 beside the torrent above play not thy pipes1 lest the ,nereids of the stream come and swarm thick about thee4' #cbb ,lexicon1 s4v4 1 77 4 #cbc 1 1 ,,iii4 p4 #cb4 #cbd ,cf4 ,welcker1 ,kleine ,schriften1 #c4 #aig-i2 ,rohde1 ,psyche1 ,i4 p4 #cfj1 note #a4 #cbe ,cf4 ,hom4 ,od4 ,,xi4 #dh ff4 and ,eustathius1 ad loc4 #cbf 4 4 1 1 p4 #bi4 #cbg ,reisen auf ,inseln1 etc4 ,,iii4 pp4 #aha-b4 #cbh ,c4,i4,g41 no4 #fbja 7from ,bern4 ,schmidt1 ,das ,volksleben1 etc4 p4 #abb note74 1 4 #cbi 4 1 1 p4 #abi4 ,there are also compounds and with the same meaning4 #ccj ,plato1 ,phaedr4 ,,xv4 7#bch ,d74 #cca ,ibid4 #bbi ,a1 ,b2 #bcj ,b2 #bdb ,a2 #bgi ,b4 #ccb ,cf4 ,leo ,allatius1 ,de quor4 ,graec4 opin4 cap4 xx4 #8potissimum si fluentis aquarum solum irrigetur4' #ccc ,to this belief ,i attribute the origin of the phrase 1 #8an 7evil7 hour overtook him' 7,leo ,allatius1 op4 cit4 xix471 employed euphemistically in reference to #8seizure' by the ,nereids1 and of the kindred imprecation1 ' 1 #8may an evil hour overtake you' 7,bern4 ,schmidt1 op4 cit4 p4 #ig71 which gains in force and elegance by its reversal of an ordinary phrase of leave-taking1 4 #ccd ,see above1 p4 #gi4 #cce ,leo ,allatius1 op4 cit4 xix4 #ccf ,from ,epirus1 ,bern4 ,schmidt1 op4 cit4 p4 #abj4 ,see above1 p4 #adb1 note #b4 #ccg ,cf4 ,bern4 ,schmidt1 op4 cit4 p4 #abj4 #cch ,i4 p4 #dgc 7,migne1 ,patrolog4 ,graeco-,lat4 vol4 ,,xciv4 p4 #afjd74 #cci ,see above1 p4 #ac4 #cdj ,cf4 ,hahn1 ,griech4 ,mrchen1 ,vol4 ,,ii4 no4 #hj4 #cda ,the ,cyclades1 p4 #deg4 #cdb 4 1 1 p4 #cfi4 #cdc 4 ,cf4 the periodical ,,iv4 p4 #ggc1 and ,wachsmuth1 ,das alte ,griechenland im ,neuen1 p4 #cj4 ,see also below1 pp4 #aga ff4 #cdd ,histoire de la ,rvolution grecque1 p4 #bbh note4 #cde ,hor4 ,carm4 ,,iii4 #bh4 #aj4 #cdf 4 1 1 p4 #ij4 #cdg 4 1 1 pp4 #dc sqq4 #cdh ,cf4 1 ,,iv4 p4 #ffi 7#ahhj74 #cdi ,so according to ,theodore ,bent 7,cyclades1 p4 #dif7 but perhaps inaccurately4 #cej ,so ,bern4 ,schmidt1 op4 cit4 p4 #aja1 following in 1 #ahfa1 p4 #ahbf2 and ,bent1 loc4 cit4 #cea ,in this view ,prof4 of ,athens ,university1 whom ,i consulted1 concurs with me4 #ceb ,cf4 1 ,,iv4 p4 #ffi1 1 444 p4 #ig4 #cec ,cf4 ,bern4 ,schmidt1 ,das ,volksleben1 etc4 p4 #aja4 #ced 1 4 1 ,i4 p4 #bbc4 #cee ,travels in ,crete1 ,,ii4 pp4 #bcb-d4 #cef ,i cannot vouch for the accuracy of my translation of this word1 which ,i have never seen or heard elsewhere4 #ceg ,cf4 ,leo ,allatius1 op4 cit4 cap4 xix4 #ceh ,cf4 4 1 ,,iii4 p4 #eji4 ,hahn1 ,griech4 ,mrchen1 vol4 ,,ii4 no4 #ha4 #cei ,c4,i4,g4 no4 #iig 7from ,bern4 ,schmidt1 op4 cit4 p4 #abb note74 #cfj 1 ,,iv4 p4 #gfe4 ,the origin of the second part of the compound is unknown4 #cfa 1 #aheb1 p4 #fdg4 #cfb ,cf4 1 1 ,,iii4 p4 #aef4 #cfc ,theotokis1 ,dtails sur ,corfou1 p4 #abc4 #cfd ,theocr4 ,id4 v4 #ec-d and #eh-i4 #cfe ,kindly communicated to me by ,mr ,abbott1 author of ,macedonian ,folklore4 #cff ,hom4 ,od4 ,,xiii4 #aje-f4 #cfg ,see ,miss ,harrison1 ,prolegomena to the study of ,greek ,religion1 p4 #dbc4 #cfh 1 1 p4 #gfh4 #cfi 4 1 1 p4 #aca and 1 ' 1 s4v4 4 #cgj 1 in 1 ,,xi4 p4 #dgb2 cf4 ,bern4 ,schmidt1 op4 cit4 p4 #acj4 #cga ,cited by ,bern4 ,schmidt1 ibid4 from 1 4 4 #ahfc1 p4 #ee4 ,this reference ,i have been unable to verify4 #cgb ,in ,macedonia4 #cgc 4 1 1 p4 #cei4 #cgd ,wachsmuth in ,rhein4 ,mus4 #ahgb4 #cge ,orph4 ,hymns1 #cf 7#ce71 #ab4 #cgf ,alexis1 ,fragm4 ,fab4 ,incert4 #fi4 #cgg ,verg4 ,georg4 ,,iv4 #ccf4 #cgh ,tzetzes1 ,lycophron1 #ecf4 #cgi ibid4 #ebb4 #chj 4 4 1 1 p4 #he4 #cha 4 1 1 p4 #ahi4 ,in ,carpathos however the three middle and three last days of ,august are added4 #chb 4 1 1 p4 #aca4 #chc 1 1 vol4 ,i4 p4 #gaj4 #chd ,theodore ,bent 7,cyclades1 p4 #agd7 says that the word is used in ,sikinos to mean actually the sores on limbs1 and in other islands the holes in linen caused by washing during ,aug4 #a-f4 ,but as he appears to have been unaware that usually means the days themselves1 ,i question the accuracy of his statement4 #che 1 1 ,i4 p4 #gaj1 who derives the word from and 774 #chf ,anthol4 ,palat4 ,,vi4 #ahi4 #chg ,verg4 ,georg4 ,,iv4 #chc4 #chh 1 in 1 ,,xi4 p4 #dgb4 #chi ,i give both these words as ,i received them1 but cannot account for the abnormal accents4 and either or would be usual4 ,as regards the whole form 1 it cannot ,i think be a dialectic change of 1 but is probably a pun upon it with reference to the custom of not washing during the first days of the month4 #cij 1 1 s4v4 4 #cia ,modern 1 ancient 4 #cib ,hesiod1 ,fragm4 apud ,plutarch4 ,de ,orac4 ,defect4 p4 #dae4 #cic ,cf4 also ,schol4 ad ,apoll4 ,rhod4 ,,ii4 #dgi1 where ,mnesimachus is quoted for the same opinion4 #cid ,o4 ,t4 #ajii4 #cie ,nat4 ,hist4 ,,ix4 cap4 #e4 #cif ,lycophron1 #dhj4 #cig ,hom4 ,hymns1 ,,iii4 #bef sqq4 #cih ' ' 4 ,these two lines 7#bfg-h7 have fallen under suspicion because1 it is urged1 the word is in direct contradiction of what has been said as to the intermediate position of nymphs between mortals and immortals4 ,this criticism is due to careless reading4 ,the lines do not mean that each tree is called the of an immortal nymph1 but that a number of trees1 each inhabited by a nymph1 often form together the of an immortal god4 ,a sanctuary of ,artemis1 for example1 might well be surrounded by trees which each harboured one of her attendant nymphs4 #cii ,hahn1 ,griech4 ,mrchen1 ,,ii4 no4 #hd4 ,cf4 also no4 #eh4 #djj 1 1 pp4 #fi1 #gj4 #dja ,this belief however is not universal in ,greece2 in some few districts a ,nereid now1 like a wolf in ancient times1 is safer seen first than seeing first4 #djb ,apoll4 ,rhod4 ,argon4 ,,ii4 #dgg sqq4 #djc i4e4 past participle passive of 7anc4 74 #djd ,hom4 ,od4 ,,xiii4 #ajc-d4 #dje ,de quorumdam ,graec4 opinat4 cap4 xix4 #djf ,id4 ,,xiii4 #ci sqq4 #djg ,so ,i translate on the authority of a muleteer whom ,i hired at ,olympia2 the modern form is 4 ,it may be added that in ,greece the cuckoo-flower is often of a dark enough shade to justify the epithet 4 #djh ,artem4 ,oneirocr4 ,,ii4 #bg4 #dji ,cf4 ,bern4 ,schmidt1 op4 cit4 p4 #ajb4 1 1 p4 #fi4 4 4 1 ,,ii4 p4 #abb4 #daj ,inscription on rock at entrance now barely legible4 ,cf4 ,paus4 ,x4 #cb4 #e1 ,strabo ,,ix4 #c1 ,aesch4 ,eum4 #bb4 #daa ,cf4 ,ulrichs1 ,reisen und ,forschungen in ,griechenland1 ,i4 p4 #aai1 ,bern4 ,schmidt1 op4 cit4 p4 #ajc4 #dab ,heuzey1 ,le mont ,olympe et l',acarnanie1 pp4 #bjd-e4 #dac ,hom4 ,od4 ,,vi4 #aje4 #dad ,bern4 ,schmidt1 ,das ,volksleben1 p4 #ajg4 ,the title must not be confused with the title 7see above p4 #hi71 which belongs to ,demeter4 #dae ,ibid4 #daf ,cf4 ,paus4 ,,viii4 #ce4 #h1 whence it appears probable that the nymph was once identical with ,artemis2 see ,preller1 ,griech4 ,mythol4 p4 #cjd4 #dag 1 4 4 ,i4 p4 #bbg4 #dah ,apoll4 ,rhod4 ,,iii4 #hgg4 ,callim4 ,hymn to ,artemis1 #ae4 #dai ,from ,onorio ,belli1 ,descrizione dell' isola di ,candia1 in ,museum of ,classical ,antiqu41 vol4 ,,ii4 p4 #bga4 ,cf4 ,b4 ,schmidt1 op4 cit4 p4 #ajh4 ,spratt1 ,trav4 in ,crete1 ,i4 p4 #adf4 #dbj ,du ,cange1 ,gloss4 med4 et infim4 ,latin4 s4v4 ,diana4 #dba ,above1 p4 #aai4 #dbb ,orph4 ,hymn #cf 7#ce7 ad fin4 #dbc ,de quor4 ,graec4 opinat4 cap4 xx4 #dbd ,for these two names see above1 p4 #ba4 #dbe ,for the ,callicantzari see below1 p4 #aij4 #dbf ,for ,burcolakes or ,vrykolakes see below1 cap4 ,,iv4 #dbg pulcras dominas1 a translation of the ,nereids' title 1 ibid4 cap4 ,,xix4 #dbh ,the title-page of this exceedingly rare work runs as follows3-- ,la description et histoire de l'isle de ,scios ou ,chios par ,jerosme ,justinian ,gentil'homme ordinaire de la chambre du ,roy ,tres-,chrestien1 fils de ,seigneur ,vincent ,justinian1 l'un des ,seigneurs de la dite ,isle1 ,chevalier de l'ordre de sa ,majest1 ,conseiller en son ,conseil d',estat et ,priv1 et ,ambassadeur extraordinaire du ,roy1 auprez de ,sultan ,selin1 ,grand ,seigneur de ,constantinople4 ,m4,d4,,vi4 ,in the copy formerly belonging to the historian ,finlay and now in the possession of the ,british ,school of ,archaeology at ,athens is found a note by ,finlay as follows3--#8,joh4 ,wilh4 ,zinkeisen in ,geschichte des osmanischen ,reiches in ,europa 7,gotha1 #ahed71 vol4 ii4 p4 #ij1 note #b1 mentions a second printed copy as existing in the ,mazarine ,library at ,paris1 and a manuscript copy in possession of ,justiniani family at ,genoa4 ,the date according to ,zinkeisen should be not ,,mdvi but ,,mdcvi4' ,there is no designation of the press or place from which the volume issued4 #dbi op4 cit4 bk vi4 p4 #ei4 #dcj ,see above1 p4 #adj4 #dca ,das ,volksleben der ,neugriechen1 pp4 #ajg and #abc4 #dcb ,compare ,mrchen1 etc4 ,song #ef and ,stories #g1 #ai1 with ,das ,volksleben1 p4 #abc4 #dcc ,bern4 ,schmidt1 ,das ,volksleben1 p4 #abi4 #dcd ,see above1 p4 #aba4 #dce ,also in one word or 4 #dcf ,cf4 1 444 p4 #bbg2 ,pouqueville1 ,voyage en ,grce1 ,,vi4 p4 #afj2 and above1 p4 #abe4 #dcg ,reisen auf dem griech4 ,inseln1 ,,iii4 pp4 #de and #ahb4 #dch ,in 4 1 #aheb1 p4 #fdh4 #dci ,passow1 ,pop4 ,carm4 ,graec4 ,recent4 no4 #ebd4 #ddj ,bern4 ,schmidt1 op4 cit4 p4 #acj4 #dda ,curt4 ,wachsmuth1 ,das alte ,griechenland im ,neuen1 p4 #ca4 ,cf4 also 1 ,,iv4 p4 #ggc 7#ahhj74 #ddb ,cf4 ,theodore ,bent1 ,the ,cyclades1 p4 #add1 who mentions also the custom of shooting at the waterspout as a precaution4 #ddc ,curt4 ,wachsmuth1 op4 cit4 p4 #cj4 #ddd ,schol4 ad ,apoll4 ,rhod4 ,,iv4 #hbh1 cited by ,wachsmuth1 loc4 cit4 #dde ,for passages from authors of the #aath century and onwards see ,leo ,allatius1 ,de quor4 ,graec4 opin4 cap4 iii41 and ,grimm1 ,deutsche ,mythologie1 ,,ii4 #ajab4 #ddf ,aristophanes1 ,frogs1 #bic4 #ddg ,bern4 ,schmidt1 op4 cit4 p4 #acc4 #ddh 1 4 4 ,i4 p4 #bbd4 #ddi ,vespae1 #aagg1 and ,pax1 #geh4 #dej e4g4 ,hahn1 ,griech4 ,mrchen1 no4 #d4 #dea 1 444 p4 #aic4 #deb ,hahn1 ,griech4 ,mrchen1 no4 #d4 ,cf4 1 l4c4 #dec 1 l4c4 #ded e4g4 ,hahn1 ,griech4 ,mrchen1 nos4 #d and #cb4 #dee 1 4 4 ,,iii4 p4 #aef4 #def 4 1 #aheb1 p4 #fec1 and 4 4 4 ,,ii4 p4 #ace4 #deg ,a few instances are collected by ,bern4 ,schmidt1 op4 cit4 p4 #ada4 #deh ,see ,preller1 ,griech4 ,myth4 p4 #fah4 #dei 1 ,,iv4 #be 7p4 #gf74 #dfj ,metamorph4 ,i4 cap4 #aa-ai4 #dfa ,lucian1 ,philopseudes1 #b4 ,strabo1 ,i4 p4 #ai4 ,schol4 ad ,arist4 ,vesp4 #aagg4 #dfb ,see above1 pp4 #adg-h4 #dfc ,the ,cyclades1 p4 #dif4 #dfd ancient 1 #8the shore4' #dfe ,the differences in sound between and before 1 and between and 1 are negligible4 ,in many words and dialects there are none4 #dff ,de quor4 ,graec4 opinat4 cap4 iii4-viii4 #dfg ,zenob4 ,cent4 ,,iii4 #c4 ,suidas s4v4 7a proverb74 ,hesych4 s4v4 4 #dfh ,the date is approximate only2 for the authorship of the work in question is1 ,i understand1 disputed4 #dfi ,this is merely a ,latinised plural form2 the ,greek plural regularly ends in -4 #dgj ,this word is recorded as still in use by ,wachsmuth1 ,das alte ,griechenland im ,neuen1 p4 #gh4 #dga op4 cit4 cap4 viii4 #dgb ,cf4 above1 p4 #agd1 where however the accent is given as belonging to the first syllable4 ,the actual spelling in ,allatius is 4 ,the word in form also occurs in conjunction with the mention of ,striges and ,geloudes in a ,,ms4 of obtained by ,dr ,w4 ,h4 ,d4 ,rouse4 ,see ,folklore1 vol4 ,x4 no4 #b1 p4 #aea4 #dgc ,probably from ,low ,latin #8burdo' milvus1 a kite4 #dgd ,compounded from ,low ,latin #8bardala' alauda1 a lark4 ,a form occurs in a similar list of names cited by ,dr ,rouse from a ,,ms4 on magic4 ,see ,folklore1 l4c4 p4 #afb4 ,the names said to have been extorted by the ,archangel ,michael begin there with 1 1 and belong clearly to a similar female demon4 #dge ,the spelling in the text of ,allatius before me is 4 #dgf ,theo4 ,bent1 ,the ,cyclades1 p4 #dif4 #dgg ,pliny1 ,nat4 ,hist4 ,,xi4 #ci4 #dgh ,hyginus1 ,fabul4 #bh1 emend4 ,barth4 #dgi ,fasti1 ,,vi4 #aca ff4 #dhj ,the same apparently as the of ,hesychius4 ,the ,greek peasants are very vague about the names of any birds other than those which they eat4 #dha ,i4 p4 #dgc 7 71 ,migne1 ,patrol4 ,graeco-,lat4 vol4 ,,xciv41 p4 #afjd4 #dhb ,the word is which suggests rather the #8possession' of children by ,striges as by devils4 ,this however could hardly represent fairly the popular belief4 #dhc ,quoted by ,leo ,allatius1 op4 cit4 cap4 iii4 #dhd ,so also in ,albania1 ,hahn1 ,alb4 ,studien1 ,i4 #afc4 #dhe ,from 1 444 pp4 #agi-aha4 #dhf 4 1 1 pp4 #bic sqq4 #dhg ,du ,cange1 ,gloss4 med4 et infim4 ,latin4 s4vv4 #8,diana' and #8,striga4' #dhh ,ibid4 #dhi ,a witch of ,santorini told me that she had a narrow escape from being burnt for a much less heinous crime1 failure to get rain4 ,see above1 p4 #di4 #dij in 1 ,,ii4 p4 #bfa 7#ahgh74 #dia 1 ibid4 p4 #bfj4 #dib 1 ibid4 pp4 #bff-h4 #dic 1 1 s4v4 71 l4c474 #did 4 1 #ahfj1 p4 #abgb 71 l4c474 #die 1 ,,ii4 p4 #aia 71 l4c474 #dif 4 1 1 pp4 #bic ff4 ,cf4 above1 p4 #ahc4 ,the forms used are 1 1 and 4 #dig 4 1 #ahga1 p4 #ahdc 7 l4c474 #dih ,published by ,e4 ,legrand in ,collection de monuments de la langue no-hellnique1 no4 #af1 from two ,,mss4 nos4 #ibi and #icj in ,paris 7,bibliothque ,nationale74 #dii ,see above1 p4 #agc4 #ejj ,passow1 ,carm4 ,popul4 no4 #ccg4 #eja ,the date assigned is1 ,i believe1 not certain1 but is not of great importance4 #ejb ,de monstris et beluis1 edited by ,berger de ,xivrey in ,traditions ,tratologiques1 p4 #be4 1 l4c4 #ejc ,theog4 #bgj-bhh4 #ejd ,cf4 ,pind4 ,ol4 ,,xiii4 #ij4 #eje ,kuhn in ,zeitschrift fr vergleichende ,sprachforschung1 vol4 ,i4 pp4 #dfj-a1 connects with and ,sanskr4 garya1 garyana1 in sense of #8the noise of the waves4' ,cf4 ,maury1 ,hist4 des relig4 de la ,grce antique1 ,i4 p4 #cjc4 #ejf ,no4 #ajjb1 found at ,athens2 date #fjj ,b4,c4 or earlier4 #ejg ,no4 #ecd1 from ,corinth2 date about #eej ,b4,c4 #ejh 1 l4c4 p4 #bfi4 #eji ,hom4 ,od4 ,,xii4 #gc ff4 #eaj ,aen4 ,,iv4 #cbg4 #eaa 1 part ii4 of the series 4 #eab 1 1 ,,ii4 p4 #abic4 #eac 1 1 ,,ii4 #abie4 #ead ,de quor4 ,graec4 opinat4 cap4 ix4 #eae 1 4 ,,ii4 #abde4 #eaf ,ibid4 ,,ii4 #abde4 ,it might equally well however1 as ,polites suggests1 mean #8deceivers1' from the active 1 #8to lead astray4' #eag ,so explained by 1 op4 cit4 #abdg4 #eah ,ibid4 ,,ii4 #abde4 #eai 1 4 ,i4 p4 #cgj 7from ,syra74 #ebj ,ibid4 ,,ii4 #abic 7from ,myconos74 #eba 1 4 4 ,i4 p4 #bcj4 #ebb 1 4 ,,ii4 p4 #abia4 ,in the ,museum they are numbered #ajccc-d4 #ebc 1 1 p4 #cfg4 #ebd 1 4 ,,ii4 p4 #acbc4 #ebe ,schmidt1 ,das ,volksleben1 p4 #adh1 and 1 4 ,i4 p4 #ccc4 #ebf ,leo ,allatius 7,de quor4 ,graec4 opinat4 cap4 ix47 makes the period a week only1 ending on ,new ,year's ,day4 #ebg ,for dialectic varieties of this name from ,macedonia1 the ,peloponnese1 ,crete1 and some of the ,cyclades1 see 1 41 ,,ii4 #abef4 #ebh or 4 ,also1 according to 1 4 ,i4 p4 #cfi1 4 ,in ,constantinople 7acc4 to 1 4 ,i4 #cdc7 he has a proper name 1 which however ,i cannot interpret satisfactorily4 #ebi 1 or simply 1 4 ,cf4 ,b4 ,schmidt1 ,das ,volksleben1 pp4 #aeb-d4 #ecj ,the sequence of these cocks varies locally2 their order is sometimes black1 white1 red4 #eca ,lucian1 ,philops4 cap4 #ad4 #ecb ,so ,leo ,allatius1 ,de quor4 ,graec4 opin4 cap4 ix4 #ecc ,several other versions in the same vein are recorded1 cf4 ,b4 ,schmidt1 ,das ,volksleben1 p4 #aea1 1 4 ,i4 pp4 #ccg-da and ,,ii4 p4 #acje4 #ecd 1 4 ,i4 p4 #cgb4 #ece ,for this version see 1 4 4 ,i4 p4 #bbi4 #ecf ,see above1 p4 #adi4 #ecg 1 4 ,i4 p4 #cch 7from ,samos74 #ech ,mod4 ,gk 1 ,anc4 4 #eci 4 1 #ahfb1 p4 #aiji4 #edj 1 4 ,i4 #cdg4 #eda ,ibid4 ,i4 #cef4 #edb ,ibid4 ,i4 #cch4 #edc ,ibid4 ,i4 #cdb4 #edd 1 1 1 1 ' 4 ,for other versions see ,b4 ,schmidt1 ,das ,volksl4 p4 #aej1 and 1 1 ,i4 #cdb4 #ede ,cf4 1 4 4 ,,iii4 #aed4 #edf ,cf4 1 1 ,i4 p4 #ceg4 #edg ,ibid4 ,,ii4 p4 #acjh4 #edh ,abbott1 ,maced4 ,folklore1 p4 #gd4 #edi ,voyage de la ,grce1 ,,vi4 p4 #aeg4 #eej 4 4 4 1 ,,ii4 pp4 #acg-ada4 #eea 4 1 1 p4 #ci4 1 4 ,,ii4 #abea note #b4 #eeb loc4 cit4 #eec 1 4 4 ,,iii4 pp4 #ff and #aef4 #eed 1 i4 p4 #ccd4 #eee ,the word means literally men whose attendant genii 7 1 on which see the next section7 are #8light' 7 7 instead of being solid and steady4 ,the temperament of such persons is ill-balanced in ordinary affairs1 but peculiarly sensitive to supernatural influences2 it often involves the gift of second sight and other similar faculties4 #eef ,supernatural donkeys with the same habits are known also in ,crete under the name of 7prob4 formed from 1 #8on one's back1' the position in which the rider soon finds himself74 #eeg 1 4 ,i4 p4 #cdb1 from 4 1 4 4 p4 #ab4 #eeh 1 4 ,i4 #cch4 #eei ,luke iii4 #bb4 #efj ,cf4 above1 p4 #fg4 #efa ,de quorundam ,graec4 opinat4 cap4 ,x4 #efb 1 1 ,,ii4 p4 #abhf4 #efc 4 1 1 p4 #acj4 #efd 1 ,i4 p4 #cdd4 #efe ,the word which is sometimes heard in the ,cyclades is1 ,i suspect1 merely a corrupt form of 7on which see above1 p4 #fg72 some writers however have derived it from the root of 4 ,but at any rate in usage it denotes the same class of beings as the commoner form 4 #eff op4 cit4 cap4 ,x4 ,actually the earliest reference to the ,callicantzari which ,i have found occurs in ,la description et histoire de l'isle de ,scios ou ,chios by ,jerosme ,justinian1 p4 #fa1 where he says1 ,ils tiennent 444 qu'il y a de certains esprits qui courent par les grands chemins1 et sont nommez ,calican1 ,saros4 ,but inasmuch as he does not record even the name correctly1 his statement that these beings are esprits can have little weight as against that of ,leo ,allatius4 #efg ,das ,volksleben1 p4 #adc4 #efh 1 ,i4 pp4 #cca-ha1 and ,,ii4 pp4 #abdb-d4 #efi 1 4 ,,ii4 #abeg4 #egj ,the ,cyclades1 pp4 #cfj and #chh4 ,bent does not seem to have known the ordinary form 4 #ega ,abbott1 ,maced4 ,folklore1 p4 #gc4 #egb 1 1 p4 #bji4 #egc ,in this1 the ordinary1 sense the word appears twice in ,passow's ,popularia ,carm4 nos4 #adb and #bjj4 ,see also his index1 s4v4 4 ,the ,turks themselves borrowed the word qlioum 7our #8galleon'7 from the ,franks4 #egd 1 4 ,,ii4 pp4 #abdb and #abdd4 #ege ,das ,volksleben1 p4 #add4 #egf ,schmidt1 it should be said1 was dubious about the existence of this form4 #egg ,in ,bianchi1 ,dict4 ,turc- fr4 ,,ii4 p4 #dfi1 it is translated #8loup-garou1' ,schmidt1 l4c4 #egh ,schmidt1 l4c4 note #b1 #8esclave de la plus mauvaise espce4' #egi ,the previous relations between the ,giustiniani1 who controlled the ,genoese chartered company in ,chios1 and the ,ottoman ,empire seem to have been purely commercial4 #ehj ,quoted by ,leo ,allat4 de quor4 ,graec4 opinat4 cap4 ix4 and published in full by 4 #eha ,if this was the origin of ,suidas' information1 as seems almost certain in view of its inaccuracy1 his date cannot be earlier than that of ,psellus 7flor4 circa #ajej74 #ehb d',arnis1 ,lexicon ,med4 et ,infim4 ,latin41 explains babuztus 7with other forms babulus1 baburrus1 and baburcus7 by the words stultus1 insanus4 #ehc ,j4 ,b4 ,navon1 ,rouz ,nam1 in the periodical ,fundgruben ,orients1 ,vienna1 #ahad1 vol4 ,,iv4 p4 #adf1 quoted by 1 1 ,,ii4 p4 #abdi1 note #a4 #ehd 1 ,,iv4 p4 #baa4 #ehe ,in the periodical 1 #ahff1 ,,xvi4 p4 #dec4 #ehf 1 p4 #gc1 note #f4 #ehg 1 ,,ii4 pp4 #abeb-c4 #ehh ,the word or is a diminutive form from the ,latin caliga4 ,besides its original meaning #8shoe1' it has acquired now the sense of #8hoof4' ,the transition was clearly through the sense of #8horse-shoe1' as witness the verb 1 #8,i shoe a horse4' #ehi ,this word has to be written with to give the v-sound of following 4 ,the drops1 and the cannot then be used alone1 for except after and it is sounded as a vowel4 #eij ,polites backs up this meaning by deriving baboutzicarios 7on which see above1 p4 #bag7 from 7,arabic bbouch7 #8a shoe1' but reluctantly refuses to accept the identification of 7above1 p4 #bae7 with 1 a maker of or #8wooden shoes4' 4 ,,ii4 #abec4 #eia ,their ,greek character is strongly emphasized by ,balsamon1 pp4 #bcj-a4 7,vol4 #acg of ,migne1 ,patrol4 ,gr4-,lat47 #eib loc4 cit4 #eic ,photius1 ,biblioth4 #bed1 pp4 #dfh-i1 ed4 ,bekker1 4 #eid ,ibid4 4 #eie ,ibid4 4 #eif ,usener1 ,acta ,s4 ,timothei1 p4 #aa 7,bonn74 #eig ,migne1 ,patrol4 ,gr4-,lat4 ,vol4 #dj1 p4 #bbj4 #eih ,edited by ,cumont4 #eii ,balsamon1 loc4 cit4 #fjj 1 ,,ii4 pp4 #abgc-d4 ,to this work ,i am indebted for most of my instances of these celebrations during the #8,twelve ,days4' #fja ,annual of the ,british ,school at ,athens1 ,,vi4 p4 #abe4 #fjb ,abbott1 ,macedonian ,folklore1 p4 #ca4 #fjc ,r4 ,m4 ,dawkins1 in ,journal of ,hellenic ,studies1 ,vol4 #bf1 ,part ,,ii4 7#aijf71 p4 #aic4 #fjd ,dawkins1 op4 cit4 p4 #bja1 referring to a pamphlet1 1 4 1 ,constantinople1 #ahgc1 p4 #bb4 #fje 1 4 4 ,,iii4 p4 #afb4 #fjf loc4 cit4 #fjg ,the word is certainly in my experience rare1 and is not given in ,skarlatos' ,lexicon4 ,but it occurs e4g4 in a popular tradition from ,thessaly concerning the ,callicantzari1 in 1 1 ,i4 p4 #cef4 #fjh ' 1 s4v4 4 #fji ,plutarch1 de apud ,delphos1 #i 7p4 #chi74 #faj ,balsamon1 p4 #bca 7,migne1 ,patrol4 ,gr4-,lat4 ,vol4 #acg74 #faa ,ulpian1 ad ,dem4 p4 #bid4 ,cf4 also ,balsamon1 loc4 cit4 #fab ,mller and ,donaldson1 ,history of the ,literature of ,ancient ,greece1 ,i4 p4 #chb4 #fac ,smith1 ,dictionary of ,greek and ,roman ,antiquities1 s4v4 ,dionysia4 #fad ,see above1 p4 #aea4 #fae ,i write d in the place of the ,greek 1 which when following always has the sound of ,english d4 #faf ,it is probably formed from 1 #8a tent1' which clearly comes from the ,latin4 ,some however derive directly from the anc4 ,gk 4 ,the question of origin however does not affect my illustration of the later change of into 4 #fag ,heard in ,sciathos and kindly communicated to me by ,mr ,a4 ,j4 ,b4 ,wace4 #fah ,pliny1 ,nat4 ,hist4 xxv4 #f2 ,dioscor4 v4 #de2 ,sophocles ,byzant4 ,lexicon1 s4v4 4 #fai ,marcellus ,empir41 cap4 #bj 7p4 #aci74 #fbj ,prolegomena to the ,study of ,greek ,religion1 p4 #chj4 #fba ,lucian1 ,zeuxis1 cap4 #f4 #fbb ,nonnus1 ,dionys4 #ac4 #dd 1 4 ,this reference ,i owe to ,miss ,harrison1 l4 c4 #fbc ,iliad1 ,,ii4 #gdc4 #fbd ,lucian1 ,zeuxis1 cap4 #e4 #fbe ,isaiah xxxiv4 #ad4 #fbf ,i cannot of course absolutely affirm that the word is extinct in every dialect even now2 but the only suggestion of its use which ,i can find is in a story of ,hahn's collection 7,alban4 und ,griech4 ,mrch4 ,,ii4 #ahi71 where the ,german translation has the strange word #8,wolfsmann4' #fbg ,pyth4 ,,iii4 #a-d4 #fbh ,ibid4 ,,iv4 #aae4 #fbi ,ibid4 ,,iv4 #aai4 #fcj ,ibid4 ,,iii4 #de4 #fca ,pyth4 ,,ii4 #bi4 #fcb ,pyth4 ,,ii4 #db-dh4 #fcc ,hesiod1 ,shield of ,heracl4 #agh-ahh4 #fcd ,hom4 ,il4 ,i4 #bfb-h4 #fce ,hom4 ,il4 ,,ii4 #gdc4 #fcf ,il4 ,,xi4 #hcb4 #fcg ,ibid4 #fch ,il4 ,,iv4 #bai4 #fci ,hom4 ,od4 ,,xxi4 #cjc4 #fdj ,prolegomena to the ,study of ,greek ,religion1 p4 #chb4 #fda ,early ,age of ,greece1 ,i4 pp4 #agc ff4 #fdb ,pyth4 ,,iv4 #hj4 #fdc ,pyth4 ,,iii4 #de4 #fdd ,early ,age of ,greece1 ,i4 pp4 #age-f4 #fde ,ridgeway1 ,early ,age of ,greece1 ,i4 p4 #agh4 #fdf ,de bello ,gothico1 ,,iv4 #bj 7,niebuhr1 #ahcc1 p4 #efe74 #fdg ,early ,age of ,greece1 ,i4 pp4 #agg-h4 #fdh ,prolegomena to the ,study of ,greek ,religion1 p4 #chb4 #fdi ,ridgeway1 ,early ,age of ,greece1 ,i4 p4 #agd4 ,the vase in question is figured by ,colvin in ,journ4 of ,hellenic ,studies1 ,vol4 ,i4 p4 #aca1 ,pl4 #b1 and by ,miss ,harrison1 ,prolegomena etc4 p4 #chd4 #fej ,pind4 ,pyth4 ,,iii4 #de ff4 7transl4 ,myers74 #fea ,pind4 ,pyth4 ,,ix4 #ca ff4 #feb ,primitive ,culture1 ,vol4 ,i4 p4 #cjh4 ,for a mass of instances1 see pp4 #cjh-cae4 #fec ,op4 cit4 ,i4 p4 #cab4 #fed ,verg4 ,ecl4 ,,viii4 #ie4 #fee ,hesiod1 ,shield of ,heracles1 #agh ff4 ,cf4 also the names and 7suggesting 1 the fir-tree from which their weapons were made7 in ,apollodor4 ,,ii4 #e4 #d4 ,the name in ,hesiod1 meaning #8soot1' ,i cannot interpret2 for it is hard to suppose that the ancient ,centaurs1 like the ,callicantzari1 came down the chimney4 ,but the word is possibly corrupt2 for ,ovid 7,met4 ,,xii4 #cjg7 refers to an augur ,astylus among the ,centaurs4 #fef ,cf4 ,miss ,j4 ,harrison1 ,prolegomena to the ,study of ,greek ,religion1 pp4 #chc-d4 #feg ,paus4 ,,viii4 #db4 #a-d4 ,cf4 ,,viii4 #be4 #e4 #feh ,apollodorus1 ,,ii4 #e4 #d4 #fei 1 1 ,i4 p4 #cci4 #ffj ,stories of their coming to cook frogs etc4 at the hearths of men occur1 but only confirm the general belief that they have no fires of their own at which to cook1 and are in general afraid of fire4 #ffa 1 1 ,,ii4 pp4 #abig and #accg4 #ffb ,the shift of accent is due to the synizesis of the syllables --1 pronounced now as -y4 #ffc ,du ,cange1 s4v4 4 #ffd ,coloss4 ii4 #c and #bj2 ,galat4 iv4 #c and #i4 #ffe ,galat4 iv4 #i4 #fff ,passow1 ,popul4 ,carm4 no4 #ebd4 ,according to 71 s4v47 is sometimes a term of abuse2 on that statement ,i base my interpretation of the folk-song4 #ffg ,du ,cange1 s4v4 #ffh ,du ,cange1 s4v4 #ffi ,georg4 ,cedrenus 7circ4 #ajej7 ,historiarum ,compendium1 p4 #aig 7edit4 ,paris74 #fgj ,cedrenus1 ibid4 #fga pro eo quod 7whence by ,arabic corruption our #8talisman'7 vocant ,graeci1 usurpant alii4 ,du ,cange1 ibid4 #fgb ,codinus 7#aeth century71 de ,originibus ,constantinop4 p4 #cj 7edit4 ,paris7 #fc4 #fgc ,codinus1 ibid4 p4 #bj4 #ci4 #fgd ,de quor4 ,graec4 opinat4 cap4 ,,xxi4 #fge ,the active of the verb also survives in a special sense1 for which see below1 p4 #bfg4 ,the modern form is 3 cf4 for 1 etc4 #fgf ,see above1 p4 #fi4 #fgg ,verg4 ,aen4 ,v4 #hd ff4 #fgh ,homeric ,hymn to ,aphrodite1 #bgb4 ,cf4 above1 p4 #aef4 #fgi ,de quor4 ,graec4 opinat4 cap4 ,,xxi4 #fhj ,b4 ,schmidt1 ,das ,volksleben1 p4 #ahe4 #fha i4e4 1 with initial attached 7first in the accusative7 from the article 77 preceding4 ,this is the ordinary word for #8the master of a house4' #fhb i4e4 4 ,the word is used in ,cythnos and ,cyprus4 ,cf4 1 1 p4 #abd4 1 1 ,,iii4 p4 #bhf4 #fhc ,for detailed stories in point1 see ,leo ,allatius1 l4 c41 ,b4 ,schmidt1 op4 cit4 pp4 #ahf1 #ahg4 #fhd ,char4 #af4 #fhe ,suidas1 s4vv4 and 4 #fhf s4v4 4 #fhg ,,viii4 #da4 #fhh ,cf4 ,passow1 ,popul4 ,carm41 ,index1 s4v4 4 #fhi 1 1 p4 #acd4 #fij 1 l4 c4 #fia 1 4 4 ,,iii4 p4 #aee4 #fib 1 op4 cit4 ,i4 #bbf4 #fic e4g4 ,passow1 ,popul4 ,carm4 nos4 #eaa1 #eab4 #fid 1 1 p4 #bdg 7from 1 op4 cit4 p4 #ada74 #fie 1 ibid4 #fif 1 4 1 pp4 #bh-cj 71 ibid474 #fig ,w4 ,h4 ,d4 ,rouse in ,folklore1 ,june1 #ahii 7,vol4 x4 no4 #b71 pp4 #ahb ff4 #fih ,passow1 no4 #eaa1 and 1 1 p4 #geg4 #fii ,so ,bern4 ,schmidt1 ,das ,volksleben1 p4 #aif4 1 4 1 p4 #ic1 mentions also a dog4 #gjj ,so also in ,zacynthos and ,cephalonia4 ,bern4 ,schmidt1 op4 cit4 p4 #aif4 #gja e4g4 in ,cimolus1 ,bent1 ,the ,cyclades1 p4 #de4 #gjb ,cf4 ,ricaut1 ,hist4 de l'glise grecque1 pp4 #cfi-gj4 #gjc 1 4 4 ,,iii4 p4 #adh4 #gjd ,the ,cyclades1 p4 #acb4 #gje 1 1 p4 #ach4 #gjf ,ricaut1 ,hist4 de l'glise grecque1 p4 #cfg 7from 1 ibid474 #gjg 1 4 1 p4 #bh4 #gjh ,das ,volksleben1 p4 #aif1 note #b4 #gji ,since this was written1 a new work of ,prof4 ,polites 7 1 7 has come into my hands1 and ,i find that he has modified his views4 ,cf4 below1 pp4 #bgb-c1 where ,i insert a suggestion made by ,polites1 op4 cit4 ,,ii4 p4 #ajhi4 #gaj ,suidas1 1 s4v4 4 ,the statement is corroborated by ,codinus1 1 p4 #cj1 who adds to the human victims #8multitudes of sheep and oxen and fowls4' ,from 1 1 p4 #ada1 note #a4 #gaa ,hom4 ,il4 ,,vii4 #ddb ff4 #gab ,hom4 ,il4 ,,xii4 #c-cc4 #gac ,see below1 p4 #bgc4 #gad ,agam4 #bad4 #gae ,agam4 #adah4 #gaf ,,iv4 #i4 #a-e4 #gag ,,vi4 #bj4 #b-e4 #gah ,porphyrius1 ,de abstinentia1 ,,ii4 #ef4 ,plutarch1 ,themistocles1 #ac4 #gai ,this view of the story ,i take from 1 1 ,,ii4 p4 #ajhi4 #gbj ,v4 #d4 #d4 #gba ,pausanias' ,description of ,greece1 ,,iii4 p4 #dfh4 #gbb ,pausanias1 ,i4 #bf4 #a4 #gbc ,schol4 ad ,aristoph4 ,nubes1 #ejh4 #gbd ,miss ,jane ,harrison1 ,prolegomena to the ,study of ,greek ,religion1 p4 #cbg ff4 #gbe ,see ,roscher1 ,lexicon d4 ,mythol4 ,i4 #bdfh ff4 #gbf ,lucian1 ,alexander vel ,pseudomantis1 cap4 ,,xiv4 #gbg ,see ,miss ,jane ,harrison1 ,prolegomena to the ,study of ,greek ,religion1 pp4 #ag-bj1 where the two reliefs in question are reproduced4 #gbh ,for ballads dealing with this theme1 see 1 1 p4 #acc1 and 1 1 no4 #dea4 #gbi ,bern4 ,schmidt1 ,das ,volksleben1 p4 #aig4 #gcj ,ibid4 p4 #aih4 #gca ,he used a neuter form1 1 which ,i have not found elsewhere4 #gcb ,a similar method of laying vryklakes is reported from ,samos by 71 ,i4 #ehj74 ,in this case a wizard #8took three calves born at one birth and drove them three times round the churchyard1 saying some magic words4' #gcc 4 ,the story as ,i give it is not a verbatim report of what ,i heard2 as usual1 ,i had to rely on my memory at the time and make notes afterwards4 #gcd ,this is the form which ,i heard used constantly in the island instead of the more common 774 #gce ,this however must have been prior to the middle of the #agth century2 for a history of the island published in #afeg says1 #8cette ,isle 444 n'est arrouse d'aucun ruisseau ou fontaine4' ,pre ,franois ,richard1 ,relation de ce qui s'est pass ,santorini1 p4 #ce4 #gcf ,soph4 ,trach4 #aj ff4 #gcg ,formed from the ancient as and from 4 ,cf4 above1 p4 #ih4 ,there is a feminine or 4 #gch ,cf4 ,philostr4 ,vit4 ,apollon4 ,,iii4 #h4 ,aelian1 de natur4 anim4 ,,xvi4 #ci4 ,bern4 ,schmidt1 ,das ,volksleben1 p4 #aia4 #gci ,only one variety of dragon1 the or #8ground-dragon1' is often harmless4 ,it is of pastoral tastes and consorts with the ewes and she-goats1 and is more noted among the shepherds for its lasciviousness than for any other quality4 #gdj ,artem4 ,oneirocr4 ,,ii4 #ac 7p4 #aja74 ,cf4 ,festus1 #fg1 #ac4 #gda ,lucian1 ,philopseudes1 cap4 ,,xxxii4 ,zenobius1 ,cent4 ,,ii4 #a4 ,the same punishment is in one story inflicted by a ,callicantzaros on a midwife who had deceived him into believing that his newborn child was male4 ,after sending her away with a sackful of gold1 he discovered her deceit1 and on her arrival at home the gold had turned to ashes4 ,see above1 p4 #aii4 #gdb 4 1 7published first in 4 4 1 ,vol4 ,v4 pp4 #bgg sqq474 #gdc ,for the first half of this story1 see above1 p4 #ahc4 #gdd 1 op4 cit4 pp4 #bii and #cae4 #gde e4g4 1 #8immortal apples1' op4 cit4 pp4 #caa and #caf4 1 #8immortal water-melon1' pp4 #big and #cae4 1 #8immortal gilly-flower1' p4 #cag4 ,the translation of this last is correctly that which ,i have given1 but the peasants all over ,greece will call almost any bright and scented flower by this same name4 #gdf ,see above1 p4 #acg4 #gdg ,cf4 above1 pp4 #adc-d4 #gdh ,glossar4 med4 et infim4 ,graecitatis 7p4 #aeda71 s4v4 4 #gdi ,ibid41 ,damasc4 ,hierodiac4 ,serm4 #c4 #gej ,ibid41 ,maximus ,cythaer4 ,episc4 #gea ,ibid41 ,georg4 ,hamartolus4 #geb 7for which ,i read with ,bern4 ,schmidt1 das ,volksleben1 p4 #agb74 #gec ,ibid41 ,euchologium4 #ged ,luke xii4 #bj4 #gee ,du ,cange1 ibid4 1 1 1 etc4 #gef ,see above1 p4 #aaj4 #geg 4 1 1 pp4 #cfb-c4 #geh 4 4 1 1 p4 #ha4 #gei ,see above1 p4 #aji4 #gfj ,testimony to the same belief is cited by ,du ,cange 7s4v4 7 from an anonymous astronomical work4 #gfa ,for references see ,preller1 ,griech4 ,mythol4 ,,ii4 #aje-f4 #gfb ,villoison1 ,annales des voyages1 ,,ii4 p4 #ahj1 cited by ,b4 ,schmidt1 das ,volksleben1 p4 #agd1 note #d4 #gfc 1 4 4 ,,iii4 p4 #aff4 #gfd ,voyage de la ,grce1 ,,vi4 p4 #aed4 #gfe ,das ,volksleben1 p4 #agc4 #gff ,griech4 ,mrch4 ,vol4 ,,ii4 no4 #fd4 #gfg ,cf4 1 4 1 ,,iii4 p4 #gg4 #gfh ,cf4 above1 p4 #ec4 #gfi ,for this term see above1 p4 #bjd4 #ggj ,b4 ,schmidt1 ,das ,volksleben1 p4 #ahj4 #gga ,ibid4 note #f4 #ggb ,op4 cit4 p4 #aha4 #ggc ,op4 cit4 p4 #aha4 #ggd ,op4 cit4 p4 #ahb4 #gge ,i cannot vouch for the accuracy of this translation4 ,the word might possibly mean #8he has had his shadow trampled on1' and has been hurt indirectly through an injury inflicted upon his shadow-genius4 #ggf ,hom4 ,il4 ,,xxiii4 #gi4 #ggg ,il4 ,,xviii4 #ece-h4 #ggh ,plato1 ,phaedo1 p4 #ajg ,d4 #ggi ,rep4 p4 #fag ,d1 ,e4 ,cf4 #fbj ,d1 ,e4 #ghj ,meineke1 ,fragm4 ,com4 ,graec4 ,,iv4 p4 #bch4 #gha ,theocr4 ,,iv4 #dj4 #ghb ,i do not of course wish to imply that in the every-day usage of these words the thought of a guardian-genius was present to men's minds2 but the first formation of them can only have sprung from this belief4 #ghc ,aen4 ,,vi4 #gdc4 #ghd ,plato1 ,theag4 #abh ,d4 #ghe ,ibid4 ,e4 #ghf ,both ,plato 7,apol4 #dj ,a7 and ,xenophon 7,mem4 ,i4 #a4 #b-d71 compare ,socrates' converse with his genius with or #8inspiration4' ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,,the ,,communion ,,of ,,gods ,,and ,,men4 -- ' -- 4 ,,plato1 ,symposium1 p4 #ahh4 ,the short sketch which has been given of the attitude of the ,greek peasantry towards the ,christian ,godhead and all the host of assistant saints1 and also the more detailed account of those pagan deities or demons whom the common-folk's awe1 not unmingled with affection1 has preserved from oblivion through so many centuries1 have1 ,i hope1 justified the statement that the religion of ,greece both is now1 and--if a multitude of coincidences in the very minutiae of ancient and modern beliefs speak at all for the continuity of thought--from the dawn of ,greek history onward through its brief bright noontide to its long-drawn dusk and night illumined even now only by borrowed lights has ever been1 a form1 and a little changed form1 of polytheism4 ,whatever be the merits and the demerits of such a religion in contrast with the worship of one almighty ,god1 most thinkers will concede to it the property of bringing the divine element within more easy comprehension of the majority of mankind4 ,proper names1 limited attributes1 definite duties and spheres of work--these give a starting point from which the peasant can set out towards a conception of gods4 ,he himself bears a name1 he himself has qualities1 he himself performs his round of work2 and though his name be writ smaller than that of the being whom he strives to imagine--though his virtues and perhaps his vices be less pronouncedly white and black--though his daily task be more trivial--yet in one and all of these things he stands on common ground with his deities2 they differ from him in degree rather than in kind2 he has but to picture a race of beings somewhat stronger and somewhat nobler than the foremost of his own fellow-men1 and these whom he thus imagines are gods4 ,a single spirit omniscient and omnipotent is too distant1 too inaccessible from any known ground4 ,lack of the capacity to form or to grasp lofty ideals carries with it at least the compensation of closer intimacy with the supernatural and the divine4 ,it may therefore be expected that in the course of the intellectual and spiritual development of any primitive people1 the more accurately they learn to measure their own imperfections and limitations1 and the more imaginatively they magnify the wisdom and power of their gods1 the wider and more impassable grows the chasm that divides mortal from immortal1 human from divine2 communion of man and god becomes less frequent1 less direct4 ,such certainly was the experience of the ,greek nation in some measure2 but1 owing probably to an innate and persistent vanity which at all times has made the race blind to its own failings1 that experience was less acute than in the case of other peoples4 ,there had been days indeed when their gods walked the earth with men and counselled them in troubles and fought in their battles2 there had been days when the chiefest of all the gods sought a hero's aid against his giant foes2 there had been days when men and women might aspire even to wedlock with immortals1 and to possess children half-divine4 ,in those days too death was not the only path by which the heavens or the house of ,hades might be gained4 ,kings and prophets1 warriors and fair women passed thither by grace of the gods living and unscathed2 nay1 even personal skill or prowess emboldened minstrel and hero to match themselves with the gods below1 and wielding of club or sweeping of lyre sufficed to open the doors for their return to earth4 ,but those days soon passed2 men walked and spoke and held open fellowship with the gods no more2 the very poetry and imagination of the ,greek temperament so fast outstripped in rapidity of development the growth of material or moral resources1 that the rift between their religious ideals and the realities of their life and character ever widened1 until the daily and familiar intercourse of their ancestors with the gods seemed to them a condition of life irretrievable and thenceforth impossible4 ,this result was observed and remarked by the ,greeks themselves1 but the process by which it had come about was not agreed4 ,to one school of thought1 it was the degeneracy of mankind through successive ages--the golden age in which men lived as gods and passed hence1 as it were in sleep1 to become spirits clothed in air1 administering upon earth the purposes of mighty ,zeus--the silver age wherein childhood was still long and innocent1 and1 though men's riper years brought cares and quarrels and indifference to holy things1 yet when the earth covered them they were called blessed and received a measure of honour--the bronze age when all men's minds were set on war and their stalwart arms were busy with brazen weapons1 and by each other's hands they were sent down to the chill dark house of ,hades and their names were no more known--the age of heroes who were called half-divine1 who fought in the ,theban and the ,trojan wars1 and when the doom of death overtook them were granted a life apart from other men in the islands of the blest1 because they had been nobler and more righteous than those of the age of bronze and had stemmed for a time the current of degeneracy--the fifth age in which the depravity of man grows apace and soon there will be nought but discord between father and son1 and no regard will be paid to guest nor comrade nor brother1 and children will slight their aged parents1 and the voice of gods will be unknown to them#ghg--to one school of thought1 ,i say1 it was simply and solely this decline of the human race1 swift and only once checked1 that was held accountable for their estrangement from the powers above them4 ,but such thinkers were in a minority4 ,humility and self-dissatisfaction were and are qualities foreign to the ordinary ,greek4 ,he observed the wide gulf that separated him from those whom he worshipped1 but without any sense of unworthiness1 without any depression of spirit4 ,he was not despondent over his own shortcomings and limitations1 but was filled rather with a larger complacency in the thought that1 incapable though he might be to reproduce actually in his own life and character much of the beauty and nobility of his gods1 he was so gifted in mind and godlike in understanding1 that in his moments of highest imagination and most spiritual exaltation he could soar to that loftier plane whereon was enacted all the divine life1 and could visualise his gods and feel the closeness of their presence4 ,the motive of the highest acts of ,greek worship seems to have been not the self-abasement of the worshipper and the glorification of the worshipped1 but rather an obliteration of the distinctions between man and god1 and a temporary attainment by the human of spiritual equality and companionship with the divine4 ,the votary of ,bacchus in his hours of wildest ecstacy enjoyed so completely this sense of equality and of real union with the god1 that even to others it seemed fitting that he should be called by the god's own name#ghh4 ,but the hours1 in which the ,greeks of the historical age attained by a sort of religious frenzy such intimacy with their gods as their ancestors were famed to have enjoyed all their life long1 were few and far between4 ,the means of communion had become in general less direct1 less personal4 ,yet even so the desire for communion continued unabated1 and the belief in it still pervaded every phase of life4 ,intellectual progress had curiously little effect upon the dominant religious ideas4 ,a strongly conservative attachment to ancient tradition and custom was strangely blended with that progressive spirit which made the intellectual development of the ,athenians unique in its swiftness1 as in its scope1 among all peoples known to history4 ,their minds welcomed new speculations1 new doctrines2 but their hearts clung to the old unreasonable faith4 ,ancestral ideas remained for them the sole foundation of religion4 ,each poet or philosopher in drama or in dialogue1 each man in his own heart1 was free to build upon it and to ornament his superstructure as he would2 and his work found a certain sanction in the appeal which it made to other men's sense of truth and of beauty4 ,but for the foundation the fiat of antiquity had been pronounced and was immutable4 ,plato's reasoned exposition of the soul's immortality culminates in an ,apocalypse ratified by the old mythology2 and a quotation from ,homer ever served to quash or to confirm the subtlest argument4 ,that the foundation-stone was not1 in the estimate of reason1 well and truly laid1 that the basis of religion was insecure1 must have been obvious to many4 ,pindar saw it1 and1 by refusing to impute to the gods any deed or purpose which his own heart condemned as ungodly1 strove to repair its defects2 ,euripides too saw it1 and scoffed at those who would build on so unstable a base4 ,but the mass of men1 though they also must have seen1 were little troubled1 it would seem1 either to demolish or to repair4 ,they accepted the old beliefs and ceremonies because they were sanctioned by the authority or the experience of past ages2 and if sober reasoning and criticism exposed flaws and inconsistencies therein1 what matter8 ,they were1 as they still are1 a people incapable of any mental equilibrium2 the mood of the hour swayed them now to emotions1 now to reasonings2 they did not cultivate consistency2 they could not sit still and preserve an even balance between the passions of the heart and the judgements of the intellect1 but threw their whole selves into the one scale1 and the other for the moment was as vanity4 ,in the whole complex and irrational scheme of religion thus accepted1 nothing was more highly valued than the means by which divine counsel was obtained for the conduct both of public and of private affairs4 ,omens were regularly taken before battle1 at the critical moment when we should prefer to trust experience and generalship4 ,oracles were consulted as to the sites for planting colonies1 in cases where a surveyor's report might have seemed more decisive4 ,but the efficacy of these old methods of consulting the gods went almost unchallenged4 ,it seems seldom to have occurred to men's minds that those untoward signs in the victim's entrails1 which perhaps delayed tactics on which victory depended1 were the symptoms of an internal disease and not the handiwork of a deity1 or that the inferior and ambiguous verse1 in which the gods condescended to give counsel1 more often confused than confirmed human judgement4 ,even of the philosophers1 according to ,cicero#ghi1 two only1 ,xenophanes and ,epicurus1 went so far as to deny the validity of all means of communion2 and ,socrates1 for all his questioning and testing of truth1 obeyed without question the whispered warnings of a daemon1 and in deference to the ambiguous exhortations of a vision spent some of his last days in turning ,aesop's fables into verse1 that so he might go into the presence of the gods with his conscience clear4 ,thus1 though men no longer expected to look upon the faces or to hear the voices of the gods1 they still felt them to be close at hand1 easy of access1 ready to counsel1 to warn1 to encourage2 and the methods of communion1 in proportion as they stand condemned by reason1 commend so much the more the steady faith of the people who used them and never doubted their efficacy4 ,the answer of the ordinary man to those critics1 who questioned the validity of divination merely because they could not understand the way in which it operated1 is well expressed by ,cicero3 #8,it is a poor sort of cleverness to try to upset by sophistry facts which are confirmed by the experience of ages4 ,the reason of those facts ,i cannot discover2 the dark ways of ,nature1 ,i suppose1 conceal it from my view4 ,god has not willed that ,i should know the reason1 but only that ,i should use the means#gij4' ,the ,greek nation saw many philosophies rise and fall1 but it clung always to the religion which it had inherited4 ,the doctrines of ,plato and ,aristotle1 ,zeno and ,epicurus1 became for the ,greek people as though they had never been2 but the old polytheism of the ,homeric and earlier ages lived4 ,faith justified by experience was a living force2 the conclusions of reason a mere fabrication4 ,and an essential part of that polytheism which was almost instinctive in the ,greeks was their belief in the possibility of close and frequent communion with their gods4 ,now the means of communion between men and gods are obviously twofold--the methods by which men make their communications to the gods1 and the methods by which the gods make their communications to men4 ,the former class of communications involve for the most part questions or petitions2 the latter are mainly the responses thereto2 and it would seem natural to consider them in that order4 ,but inasmuch as more is known of the ancient methods by which the gods signified their will to men than of the reverse process1 it will be convenient first to establish the unity of modern folklore with ancient religion in this division of the subject1 and afterwards to discuss how any modern ideas concerning the means open to man of communicating with the gods may bear upon the less known corresponding department of ancient religion4 ,for if we find that the theory no less than the practice of divination1 that is1 of receiving and interpreting divine messages1 has been handed down from antiquity almost unchanged1 there will be a greater probability that1 along with the general modern system of sacrifices or offerings which accompany men's petitions1 a curious conception of human sacrifice in particular which ,i once encountered is also a relic of ancient religion4 ,the survival of divination then in its several branches first claims our attention4 ,the various modes employed are for the most part enumerated by ,aeschylus#gia in the passage where ,prometheus recounts the subjects in which he claimed to have first instructed mankind3 dreams and their interpretation2 chance words 77 overheard1 often conveying another meaning to the hearer than that which the speaker intended2 meetings on the road 7 71 where the person or object encountered was a portent of the traveller's success or failure in his errand2 auspices in the strict sense of the word1 observations1 that is1 of the flight and habits of birds2 augury from a sacrificial victim1 either by inspection of its entrails or by signs seen in the fire in which it was being consumed4 ,to these arts ,suidas#gib adds #8domestic divination' 77--the interpretation of various trivial incidents of domestic life--palmistry 771 and divination from the twitching of any part of the body 774 ,finally of course there was direct inspiration 771 either temporary1 as in an individual seer1 or permanent1 as at the oracle of ,delphi4 ,whether the common-folk ever distinguished the comparative values of these many methods of divination may well be doubted4 ,the ,delphic oracle1 ,i suspect1 attained its high prestige more because it was ready to supply immediately on demand a more or less direct and detailed answer to a definite question1 than because personal inspiration was held to be in any way a surer channel for divine communications than were other means of divination4 ,some thinkers indeed1 chiefly of the ,peripatetic school#gic1 were inclined to draw distinctions between #8natural' and #8skilled' divination#gid4 ,the #8natural' methods1 including dreams and all direct inspiration1 were accepted by them2 the #8skilled' methods1 those which required the services of a professional augur or interpreter1 were disallowed4 ,but the division proposed was in itself bad--for dreams do not by any means exclusively belong to the first class1 but probably in the majority of cases require interpretation by experts--and1 apart from that consideration1 the distinction was the invention of a philosophical sect and not an expression of popular feeling4 ,there is nothing to show that the common-folk1 believing as they did in the practicability of communion with their gods1 esteemed one means of divination as intrinsically more valuable than another4 ,nor was there any logical reason for such discrimination4 ,granted that there were gods superior to man in knowledge and in power and also willing to communicate with him1 no restriction could logically be set upon the means of communication which they might choose to adopt4 ,there was no reason why they should speak by the mouth of a priestess intoxicated with mephitic vapours or disturb men's sleep with visions rather than use the birds as their messengers or write their commandment on the intestines of a sacrificial victim4 ,a certain justification for accepting some means of divination1 such as intelligible dreams1 and for suspecting others1 might certainly have been found in distrust of any human intermediary2 vagrant and necessitous oracle-mongers infested the country2 and even the priestess of ,delphi1 as history shows1 was not always superior to political and pecuniary considerations4 ,but experience of fraud did not apparently teach distrust2 the fact that oracles and other means of divination were undoubtedly often abused did not cause the ,greek people to reject the proper use of them2 down to this day all the chief methods of ancient divination still continue4 ,in some cases1 we shall see1 the modern employment of such methods is a mere survival of ancient custom without any intelligent religious motive2 but in others there is abundant evidence that the modern folk are still actuated by the feelings which so dominated the lives of their ancestors--the belief in1 and the desire for1 close and frequent communion with the powers above4 ,direct inspiration is a gift which at the present day a man is not inclined to claim for himself1 though he will often attribute it to another2 for it implies insanity4 ,but though the gift is not therefore envied1 it is everywhere respected4 ,mental derangement1 which appears to me to be exceedingly common among the ,greek peasants1 sets the sufferer not merely apart from his fellows but in a sense above them4 ,his utterances are received with a certain awe1 and so far as they are intelligible are taken as predictions4 ,he is in general secure from ill-treatment1 and though he do no work he is not allowed to want4 ,the strangest case which ,i encountered was that of a man1 unquestionably mad1 who wandered from place to place and seemed to be known everywhere4 ,i met him in all three times1 in ,athens1 in ,tenos1 and in ,thessaly4 ,he had no fixed home1 did no work1 and was usually penniless2 but a wild manner1 a rolling eye1 and an extraordinary power of conducting his part of a conversation in metrical1 if not highly poetical1 form sufficed to obtain for him lodging1 food1 and clothing1 and even a free passage1 it appeared1 on the ,greek coasting steamers4 ,whether the long monologues in verse in which he sometimes indulged were also improvisations1 ,i could not of course tell2 but once to have heard and seen his delivery of them was to understand why1 among a superstitious people1 he passed for a prophet4 ,he was a modern type of those old seers whose name was believed by ,plato to have been formed from the verb 1 #8to be mad'2 his frenzy really gave the appearance of inspiration4 ,dreams furnish a more sober and naturally also a more general means of communion with the gods2 and the belief in them as a channel of divine revelation is both firmly rooted and widely spread4 ,this indeed is only natural4 ,the change from paganism to ,christianity1 even if it had been more thorough and complete than it actually has been1 would probably not have affected this article of faith4 ,so long as a people believe in any one or more deities not wholly removed from human affairs1 it is logically competent for them to regard their dreams as a special communication to them from heaven2 and ,christianity1 far from repudiating the old pagan idea1 confirmed it by biblical authority4 ,the ,greek ,church1 as we shall see1 has made effective use of it4 ,the degree of importance universally attached in old time to dreams is too well known to all students of ,greek literature to call for comment4 ,artemidorus' prefatory remarks to his ,oneirocritica1 or #8,treatise on the interpretation of dreams1' and his criticism of former exponents of the same science1 would alone prove that public interest in the subject must indeed have been great to stimulate so serious and so large a literature4 ,there is the same practical evidence of a similar interest in modern ,greece4 ,books of the same nature are sought after and consulted no less eagerly now than then4 ,a new edition of some 1 or #8,great ,dream-interpreter1' figures constantly in the advertisements of ,athenian newspapers1 and the public demand for such works is undeniable4 ,in isolated homesteads1 to which the ,bible has never found its way1 ,i have several times seen a grimy tattered copy of such a book preserved among the most precious possessions of the family1 and honoured with a place on the shelf where stood the icon of the household's patron-saint and whence hung his holy lamp4 ,one of the pieces of information most frequently imparted to men in dreams is the situation of some buried treasure4 ,the precautions necessary for unearthing it1 namely complete reticence as to the dream1 and the sacrifice of a cock1 have already been mentioned#gie4 ,this kind of dream has been utilized by the ,greek ,church4 ,there is no article of ecclesiastical property of more value than a venerable icon2 to any church or monastery which aspires to become a great religious centre an ancient and reputable icon1 competent to work miracles1 is indispensable4 ,now the most obvious way of obtaining such pictures is1 it seems1 to dig them up4 ,a few weeks underground will have given the right tone to the crudest copy of crude ,byzantine art1 and all that is required1 in order to determine the spot for excavation1 is a dream on the part of some person privy to the interment4 ,it was on this system that the miracle-working icon of ,tenos came to be unearthed on the very day that the standard of revolt from ,turkey was raised1 thus making the island the home of patriotism as well as of religion4 ,and this is no solitary example2 the number of icons exhumed in obedience to dreams is immense2 wherever the traveller goes in ,greece1 he is wearied with the same reiterated story1 and if the picture in question happens to be of the ,panagia1 there is often an appendix to the effect that the painter of it was ,st ,luke--an attribution which can only have been based on clerical criticism of the style4 ,inspection is now difficult2 the old pagan custom of covering venerable statues with gold or silver foil by way of thank-offering#gif has1 to avoid idolatry1 been transferred to icons2 and in many cases only the faces and the hands of the saints depicted are left visible1 the outlines of the rest of the picture being merely incised upon the silver foil4 ,but1 with inspection thus limited1 the layman does not detect in any crudity of style a sufficient reason why the saintly painter1 if only he could have foreseen the ordinary decoration of ,greek churches1 should have had his productions put out of sight in the ground4 ,nevertheless the story of the origin of the icon is believed as readily as the story of its finding4 ,nor is it only in stories that the discovery of icons in obedience to dreams is heard of4 ,during my stay in ,greece a village schoolmaster embarrassed the ,education ,office by applying for a week's holiday in order to direct a party of his fellow-villagers in digging up an icon of which he had dreamt1 and to build a chapel for it on the spot4 ,it was felt that a body concerned with religious as well as secular instruction ought not to commit the impiety of refusing such a request1 but it was feared that other schoolmasters would be encouraged to dream4 ,besides those visions which are concerned with the finding of treasure or of icons1 that class of dream also may be noticed in which is given some divine communication as to the healing of the sick4 ,many a time ,i have met in some sanctuary of miraculous repute peasants from a far-off village1 who have travelled from one end of ,greece to another1 bringing wife or child1 in the faith that mind will be restored or sickness healed2 time after time their story is the same1 that they were bidden in a dream to go and tarry so many days in such a church1 and they have started off at once1 obedient to what they feel to be a promise of divine help1 begging their way may be for many days1 but unflinchingly hopeful4 ,and then comes the long sojourn in a strange village1 for a mere visit is not always enough2 weeks and months they wait1 sleeping each night in the holy precincts and if possible at the foot of the icon1 hoping and believing that some mysterious virtue of the place will heal the sufferer1 or at the least that in a fresh dream they will be told what is next to be done4 ,and if nothing happen--for now and then rest or change of air or1 it may be1 faith#gig effects the cure desired--they return home with hope lessened but belief unshaken1 ready to obey again if another message be vouchsafed to them from the dream-land of heaven4 ,such dreams as these are regarded as spontaneous revelations of the divine will1 granted possibly in response to prayer1 but in no way controlled or procured by any previous action of the dreamer4 ,but there is one curious custom1 observed by the girls of ,greece1 by which dreams are deliberately induced as a means of foreknowing their matrimonial destinies4 ,on the eve of ,st ,catharine's day#gih most appropriately1 for she is the patroness of all marrying and giving in marriage1 but sometimes also on the first day of ,lent#gii1 the girls knead and bake cakes 77 of which1 as their name implies1 the chief ingredient is salt4 ,by consuming undue quantities of this concoction1 and often by assuaging the consequent thirst with an equally undue quantity of wine1 they produce a condition of body eminently suited to cause a troubled sleep1 and1 their minds being already absorbed in speculations on marriage1 it is little wonder if their dreams reveal to them their future husbands4 ,how far this custom is now taken seriously1 ,i cannot determine2 in some districts it has certainly degenerated into a somewhat disreputable game4 ,but the fact that the intoxication of the girls is tolerated on this occasion among a peasantry whose men even are seldom drunk except on certain religious occasions--on ,easter-day and after funerals--proves clearly that the custom was once1 as ,i think it sometimes is now1 a genuinely religious rite and an acknowledged means of divination4 ,a modification of this custom1 preferred in some districts as obviating alike the unpleasant process of eating salt-cake and the disreputable sequel thereto1 substitutes for dreaming two other ancient methods of divination--divination by drawing lots1 a primitive system common to many peoples but employed nevertheless even by established oracles#hjj in ancient ,greece1 and divination from chance words overheard by the diviner1 a method which is1 ,i think1 more exclusively ,hellenic4 ,for this form of the custom also salt-cakes are required1 but only a morsel of each is eaten1 and the remainder of the cake is divided into three portions1 to which are tied respectively red1 black1 and blue ribbands4 ,each girl then places her three pieces under her pillow for the night1 and in the morning draws out one by chance4 ,the red ribband denotes a bachelor1 the black a widower1 and the blue a stranger1 that is to say some one other than a fellow-villager4 ,then1 in order to supplement with fuller detail the indications of the lot1 the girl takes her stand in the door-way of the cottage and listens to the casual conversation of the neighbours or the passers-by2 and the first name1 trade1 occupation1 and suchlike which she hears mentioned are taken to be those of her future husband4 ,another similar custom1 practised only by girls and not necessarily taken more seriously than a game of forfeits1 preserves in its modern name #hja the old word 1 and the purpose of the custom is to obtain that which ,homer#hjb actually denoted by 1 a presage drawn from chance words4 ,the preliminaries of the ceremony are as follows4 ,on the eve of the feast of ,st ,john the ,baptist#hjc a boy 7who for choice should be the first-born of parents still living7 is sent to fetch fresh water from the spring or well4 ,this water is known as 1 #8speechless water1' because the boy who brings it is forbidden to speak to anyone on his way4 ,each girl then drops into the vessel of water some object such as a coin1 a ring1 or1 most frequently1 an apple as her token4 ,the vessel is then closed up and left for the night on the roof of a house or some other open place #8where the stars may see it4' ,the proceedings of the next morning vary4 ,according to one traveller#hjd1 each girl first takes out her own apple--for he mentions only this token--and then draws off some of the water into a smaller vessel4 ,this vessel is then supported by two other girls on the points of their four thumbs and begins to revolve of its own accord4 ,if it turn towards the right1 the girl may expect to marry as she wishes2 if to the left1 otherwise4 ,also1 he says1 they wash their hands with this water and then go out into the road1 and take the first name they hear spoken as that of their future husband4 ,this latter part of the ceremony is true to the meaning of the word and is a genuine instance of divination from chance words4 ,but neither this nor the former part as described by ,magnoncourt is generally practised now4 ,the usual procedure is either for the boy who fetched the water or for the girls in rotation to plunge the hand in and draw out the first object touched1 improvising or reciting at the same time some couplet favourable or adverse to the love or matrimonial prospects of her who shall be found to own the forthcoming object2 and so in turn1 until each girl has received back her token and learnt the presage of her fate4 ,the recitation of possibly prepared distichs by those who are taking part in the ceremony is certainly a less pure method of divination than the earlier practice described by ,magnoncourt4 ,the prediction is deliberately provided1 and the element of chance or of divine guidance is confined to the drawing of the token4 ,the older method exhibits more clearly the relation of the modern custom to the superstitious observation of from the time of the ,odyssey#hje onwards4 ,thus when ,odysseus heard the suitors threaten to take the beggar ,irus to ,epirus1 #8even to the tyrant ,echetus the destroyer of all men1' he hailed the chance words as a divine ratification of his hope that soon the suitors should take their own journey to another destroyer of all men1 even the tyrant of the nether world1 and #8he rejoiced in the presage' 7 7#hjf4 ,the same method of divination was frequently employed in the classical age also1 and that too not only privately#hjg but even by public oracles4 ,it was thus that ,hermes ,agoraeus at ,pherae made response to his worshippers4 ,the enquirer presented himself towards evening before the statue of the god1 burnt incense on the hearth1 filled with oil and lighted some bronze lamps that stood there1 placed a certain bronze coin of the local currency upon the altar1 whispered his question into the ear of the statue1 and then at once holding his hands over his ears made his way out of the agora4 ,once outside1 he removed his hands1 and the first words which greeted his ears were accepted as the god's response to his question#hjh4 ,a primitive statue of ,hermes with the surname existed also at ,pitane#hji1 which place may be the actual site of that #8sanctuary of chance utterances' 7 7 to which1 according to ,pausanias#haj1 the people of ,smyrna resorted for oracles4 ,and at ,thebes again ,apollo ,spodios gave his replies in like manner#haa4 ,clearly then in antiquity divination from chance words was a well-established religious institution2 and at the present day1 though the practice is rarer1 its character is unchanged4 ,the religious nature of the two customs which ,i have described is shown by their association with the festivals of ,st ,catharine and ,st ,john the ,baptist2 and though in different localities or periods a certain amount of divination by the lot or other means has been mixed up with divination from chance words1 the latter obviously forms the essence of both rites1 supplying as it does to the one its very name1 and supplementing in the other the meagre indications of the lot with more detailed information4 ,a girl may learn from the colour of the ribband attached to the piece of salt-cake which she happens to draw whether her future husband is bachelor1 widower1 or stranger2 but only from the chance utterance accepted as an answer to her own secret questionings can she learn the name and home and occupation and appearance of her destined husband4 ,the next branch of divination1 the science of reading omens of success or failure in the objects which a traveller meets on his road1 is still largely cultivated4 ,in old days indeed it was so elaborate a science that a treatise1 as ,suidas tells us1 could be written on this one method of divination alone4 ,possibly the same feat might be accomplished at the present day if a complete collection were made of all the superstitions on the subject of #8meeting' 77 in all the villages of ,greece4 ,how instructive the results might be1 ,i cannot forecast2 but at any rate the task is beyond me1 and ,i must content myself with mentioning a few of the commonest examples4 ,to meet a priest is always unlucky1 and for men even more so than for women1 for1 unless they take due precautions as they pass him#hab1 their virility is likely to be impaired2 and the omen is even worse if the priest happen to be riding a donkey1 for even the name of that animal is not mentioned by some of the peasants without an apology#hac4 ,to meet a witch also is unfortunate1 and since any old woman may be a witch1 it is wise to make the sign of the cross before passing her4 ,a cripple is also ominous of failure in an enterprise4 ,on the other hand to meet an insane person is usually accounted a good omen1 for insanity implies close communion with the powers above4 ,to meet a woman with child is also fortunate1 for it indicates that the journey undertaken will bear fruit2 and the peasant by way of acknowledgement never fails to bow or to bare his head1 and if he be exceptionally polite may wish the woman a good confinement4 ,of animals those which most commonly forebode ill are the hare1 the rat1 the stoat1 the weasel1 and any kind of snake4 ,in ,aetolia superstition is so strong regarding these that the mere sight of one of them1 or indeed of the trail of a snake across the path1 is enough to deter many a peasant from his day's work and to send him back home to sit idly secure from morn till night2 and even the more stout-hearted will cross themselves or spit three times before proceeding4 ,that some of these beliefs date from classical times is certain4 ,aristophanes1 playing upon the use of 1 #8a bird1' in the sense of #8omen1' rallies the ,athenians upon calling #8a meeting a bird1 a sound a bird1 a servant a bird1 and an ass a bird#had'2 and there can be little doubt that the ass belonged then as now to the category of objects ominous to encounter on the road2 and the same author#hae1 corroborated in this case by ,theophrastus' portrait of the superstitious man#haf1 speaks to the dread inspired by a weasel crossing a man's path4 ,the snake too1 it can hardly be doubted1 was1 owing perhaps to its association with tombs1 an object of awe to the superstitious out of doors as well as within the house#hag4 ,on the other hand an insane person apparently was in ,theophrastus' time not as now an omen of good but of evil1 to be averted by spitting on the bosom#hah4 ,but though the modern interpretations of such omens may not be identical in every respect with the old1 enough has been said to show that the science of divining from the encounters of the road is still flourishing4 ,the observation of birds is in many cases closely allied with the last method of divination2 for naturally the peasant as he goes on his way is as quick to notice the birds as any other object which he encounters4 ,but since auspices may also be taken under other conditions1 it will be well to observe the old line of demarcation1 and to treat this branch of augury1 as it was treated in ancient handbooks#hai1 separately4 ,moreover the attitude of the modern folk towards these two branches of divination justifies the division4 ,the superstitions which ,i have just recorded are somewhat blindly and unintelligently held2 but in the taking of auspices proper the ordinances of ancient lore which the people follow are felt by them to be doubly sanctioned--by reason as well as by antiquity2 they apprehend the theory on which their practice is based--the idea that birds are better suited than any other animate thing1 by virtue both of their rapid flight and of their keen and extended vision1 to be the messengers between gods and men4 ,in practice this branch of divination is still concerned chiefly with the large and predatory birds to which alone was originally applied the term 4 #8,the largest1 the strongest1 the most intelligent1 and at the same time those whose solitary habits gave them more individual character1' says a ,french writer#hbj1 #8were deliberately preferred by the diviners of antiquity as the subjects of their observation4 ,for these and these only was reserved at first the name 1 8solitary bird#hba10 or bird of presage'2 and he goes on to suggest that the ,oriental belief in the magical power of blood to revivify the souls of the dead and to stimulate prophecy influenced the selection for a prophetic rle of carnivorous birds such as might indeed often feed on the entrails of those very victims from which sacrificial omens were taken4 ,but the reasons assigned by ,plutarch for the pre-eminence of birds among all other things as the messengers of heaven apply with so special a force to the special class of birds selected1 that it seems unnecessary to search out reasons more abstruse4 #8,birds1' he says#hbb1 #8by their quickness and intelligence and their alertness in acting upon every thought1 are a ready instrument for the use of ,god1 who can prompt their movements1 their cries and songs1 their pauses or wind-like flights1 thus bidding some men check1 and others pursue to the end1 their course of action or ambitions4 ,it is on this account that ,euripides calls birds in general 8heralds of gods10 while ,socrates speaks of making himself 8a fellow-servant with swans40' ,in this special class of ominous birds the principal group1 says the same ,french writer#hbc1 was composed of the eagle 771 the messenger#hbd of ,zeus1 the #8most perfect of birds#hbe'2 the vulture 771 which closely rivalled even the king of birds#hbf2 the raven 771 the favourite and companion of ,apollo1 a bird so much observed that there were specialists 77 who studied no other species2 and the carrion-crow 771 transferred from the service of ,apollo to that of ,hera#hbg or ,athene#hbh4 ,these1 it may safely be said1 were observed at all periods4 ,of others1 various species of hawk 71 7--in particular that known as 1 acting in ,homeric times as the #8swift messenger of ,apollo#hbi' and thus rivalling the raven--and with them the heron#hcj 77 enjoyed in early times great respect1 but gradually fell out of favour with the augur4 ,but as these disappeared from the canon of ornithological divination1 certain other birds were admitted1 the wren#hca 7 or 71 the owl 77#hcb1 the dubiously identified with our #8rail' 7crex rallus1 ,linn471 and the woodpecker 774 ,the continuity of the art of taking auspices is at once obvious when it is found that the birds which the modern peasant most frequently observes are of the very same class which furnished the ,homeric gods with their special envoys4 ,eagles1 vultures1 hawks1 ravens1 crows--these are still the chief messengers of heaven1 and only one other bird can claim equality with them1 that bird which in classical times symbolised wisdom1 the owl4 ,of the methods pursued by the professional augurs in ancient ,greece unfortunately less is known4 ,the best treatise on the subject is that of ,michael ,psellus#hcc1 written in the eleventh century2 but probably ancient works on the subject1 such as that of ,telegonus to which ,suidas#hcd refers1 were then extant and contributed the bulk of his information4 ,but even so it is the broad principles rather than the detailed application of them which ,psellus presents1 and on them we must in the main rely in comparing the modern science with the ancient4 ,first of all the species of bird under observation had to be ascertained2 for the characters of different species were held to be so various that birds as closely cognate as the raven and the crow employed wholly contrary methods of communication with mankind4 #8,if as we go out of our house to work1' says ,psellus#hce1 #8we hear the cry of a raven behind or of a crow in front1 it forebodes anxieties and difficulties in our business1 while if a crow fly past and caw on the left or a raven do likewise on the other side1 it gives hope and confidence4' ,the crow then was not subject even to the rule concerning right and left which applied1 so far as ,i know1 to all other birds1 but1 thanks to some innate contrariety1 reversed the normal significance of position1 and therewith also of cry and of flight#hcf4 ,such exceptions even to the most general rules made the accurate identification of species an indispensable preliminary to successful augury4 ,the same primary condition still holds4 ,the diviner must be able to distinguish the cawing of a crow settled on his roof from that of a jackdaw2 the former is an omen of death1 as perhaps it was in ,hesiod's day#hcg1 to some member of his family1 the latter heralds the coming of a letter from a friend abroad4 ,again he must be able to distinguish the brown owl 77 from the tawny owl 77#hch2 the message of the former may be good or bad1 as we shall see1 according to its actions1 while the latter brings only presages of woe4 ,the species having been identified1 there remained1 according to ,psellus#hci1 four possible points in the behaviour of the bird itself 7all of them liable to be modified in significance by the position of the observer7 to be noticed and interpreted2 these were its cry 7anciently or 71 its flight 771 its posture when settled 7 or 71 and any movement or action performed by it while thus settled 774 ,these divisions are still recognised in modern augury4 ,the cry is observed in the case of many birds4 ,the scream of an eagle is a warning of fighting or conflict to come4 ,the croak of a raven1 especially if it be thrice repeated1 while the bird is flying over a house or a village1 is a premonition of death to one of the inmates4 ,the laugh of the woodpecker1 owing ,i suppose to its mocking sound1 is a sign that an intrigue against some one's person or pocket is in train4 ,the repeated call of the cuckoo within the bounds of a village forebodes an epidemic therein4 ,flight is chiefly observed in the case of the birds of prey4 ,the successful swoop of an eagle upon its prey1 or the rapid determined flight of a hawk in pursuit of some other bird1 is an encouragement to the observer 7provided of course that the birds are seen on his right hand7 to pursue untiringly any enterprise in which he is engaged1 and is a promise of success and profit therein4 ,in ,scyros ,i once pointed out to my guide a large hawk chasing a flock of pigeons1 which he at once hailed as a good omen and watched carefully as long as it was in sight2 and when ,i asked him what kind of hawk it was1 he promptly replied that that kind was known as --the goshawk1 ,i believe4 ,this word is a modern form of the ancient #hdj1 and a closely similar incident is mentioned in the ,odyssey1 when this bird1 the #8swift messenger of ,apollo1' is seen by ,telemachus on the right1 tearing a pigeon in its talons and scattering its feathers to the ground1 and is taken to foreshow the fate that awaits ,eurymachus#hda4 ,the position occupied and the posture are observed above all in the case of owls4 ,the #8brown owl' 771 perched upon the roof of a house and suggesting by its inert posture that it is waiting in true oriental fashion for an event expected within a few days1 forebodes a death in the household2 but if it settle there for a few moments only1 alert and vigilant1 and then fly off elsewhere1 it betokens merely the advent and sojourn there of some acquaintance4 ,another species of owl1 our #8tawny owl' ,i believe1 known popularly as or #8,charon's bird#hdb1' is1 as the name suggests1 a messenger of evil under all circumstances1 whether it be heard hooting or be seen sitting in deathlike stillness or flitting past like a ghost in the gathering darkness4 ,the casual actions and movements of birds are less observed now than the cry1 flight1 and posture2 nor am ,i aware of any auspices being drawn therefrom with regard to any matters of higher importance and interest than the prospective state of the weather4 ,for such humdrum prognostication poultry#hdc serve better than the more dignified birds--perhaps because their movements on the ground are more easily observed--and by pluming themselves1 by scratching a hole in which to dust themselves over1 and by roosting on one leg or with their heads turned in some particular direction foretell rain1 fine weather1 or a change of wind4 ,all these auspices are further modified1 as in ancient times1 by the position of the observer in reference to the bird observed4 ,the right hand side is the region of good omen1 whether the bird be seen or heard2 and if it be a case of the bird crossing the path of the observer1 passage from left to right is to be desired1 on the principle that all is well that ends well2 flight from right to left indicates a decline of good fortune4 ,motion towards the right1 it may be noted1 has always been the auspicious direction in ,greece4 ,in that direction1 according to ,homer1 the herald carried round the lot which had been shaken from the helmet1 to be claimed by that ,chieftain whose token it might prove to be#hdd2 in that direction ,odysseus in beggar-guise proceeded round the board1 asking alms of the suitors#hde2 in that direction even the gods passed their wine#hdf4 ,and in like manner at the present day wine is passed1 cards are played1 and at weddings bride and bridegroom are led round the altar1 from left to right4 ,thus then in modern augury too1 if the eagle's scream1 which forebodes fighting1 be heard on the right1 the hearer will come well out of it1 but if on the left1 he is like to be worsted4 ,if the woodpecker laugh on the right1 the hearer may proceed with full confidence to cheat his neighbour1 but if the sound come from the left1 he must be wary to baffle intrigues against himself4 ,if the hawk pursue its prey on the right or across a man's path from left to right1 he may take the pursuer as the type of himself and go about the work in hand with assurance of success2 but if the omen be on the other side or in the other direction1 some enemy is the hawk and he himself is the pigeon to be plucked4 ,the interpretation of auspices is also affected by number4 ,a single or twice repeated cry of a bird may be of good omen1 but1 if the same note be heard three times1 the meaning may be reversed4 ,this applies in ,cephallenia1 as ,i was told1 to the case already mentioned of a raven flying over a house2 one or two croaks are a presage of security or plenty1 but three are a warning of imminent death4 ,in this detail a pronounced change of feeling towards the number three is responsible for what must1 ,i think1 be a contravention of the ancient rules in the case4 ,according to ,michael ,psellus1 an even number of cries from the crow were lucky and an odd number unlucky2 but the crow1 as we have seen1 was perverse and abnormal2 reversing therefore the rule in the case of other birds1 we find that an odd number of croaks from a raven should be lucky4 ,but the number three1 which in old times was lucky1 is now universally unlucky2 the peasant often will apologize for having to mention the number2 and ,tuesday1 being called 1 the #8third day' of the week1 is the unlucky day4 ,but if in this case the significance of a particular number has changed1 the principle of taking number into consideration is indubitably ancient4 ,moreover there are some cases in which even the particular application of the old principle holds good4 ,the first1 almost the only1 literary poet of modern ,greece 7as distinguished from the many composers of unwritten ballads71 who found beauty in the popular beliefs and music in the vulgar tongue1 makes his heroine thus divine her own death3 ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' #hdg4 8,and the little birds that have come consorting close together are a sign that soon ,i am to be wed in ,hades4 ,i see that ,erotocritus has died in a strange land1 and his soul has come to seek me1 to mingle with me40 ,here neither the species of the birds nor their cry nor flight is taken into account2 the whole significance of the omen turns on the close company which they kept4 ,and for the method of interpreting it we can go back to ,aristotle4 #8,seers observe whether birds settle apart or settle together2 the former indicates enmity1 the latter mutual peace#hdh4' ,lastly1 as regards practical augury from birds at the present day it may be laid down as a rule that any extraordinary phenomenon1 exciting in the simple peasant's mind more alarm than curiosity1 passes for a bad omen4 ,the hen that so far forgets her sex as to crow like a cock falls under suspicion and the knife at once4 ,to the professional diviner of old time probably such incidents were less distressing2 he could observe such striking anomalies in as calmly judicial a spirit as the details of more ordinary occurrences4 ,but at the present day1 though there are magicians in plenty1 there are no specialists1 to my knowledge1 in the science of auspices4 ,the modern peasant does not entice the birds with food to a special spot1 as did ,teiresias#hdi1 in order to listen to their talk and to gain from them deliberately the knowledge of things that are and things that shall be4 ,but amateur though he be1 lacking in power of minute observation and in science of detailed interpretation1 such rudiments of the art as he possesses are an heritage from the old ,hellenic masters of divination4 ,so far then as the broad principles of practical auspice-taking are concerned1 the proofs of the identity of modern with ancient methods are sufficiently complete2 and it remains only to show that the modern practice of this art is not a mere inert survival of customs no longer understood but is in truth informed by the same intelligent religious spirit as in antiquity4 ,what that spirit was1 is admirably defined in that passage of ,plutarch which ,i have already quoted1 in which he claims that the quickness of birds and their intelligence and their alertness to act upon every thought qualify them1 beyond all other living things1 for the part of messengers between gods and men4 ,celsus too in his polemics against ,christianity1 made frank confession of the old faith3 #8,we believe in the prescience of all animals and particularly of birds4 ,diviners are only interpreters of their predictions4 ,if then the birds 444 impart to us by signs all that ,god has revealed to them1 it follows of necessity that they have a closer intimacy than we with the divine1 that they surpass us in knowledge of it1 and are dearer to ,god than we#hej4' ,indeed it might seem that there was hope of birds knowing that which a god sought in vain to learn4 ,to ,demeter enquiring for her ravished child #8no god nor mortal man would tell the true tale1 nor came there to her any bird of omen as messenger of truth#hea4' ,in effect1 the special aptitude of birds to carry divine messages to men was never questioned in ancient ,greece2 it was a very axiom of religion1 without which the whole science of auspices would have been a baseless fabrication4 ,now it would have been no matter of surprise for us1 if practical augury had still been in vogue at the present day and the theory had been forgotten2 if the customs born of a belief in the prophetic power of birds had1 with the inveteracy of all custom1 outlived the parent principle4 ,rather it is surprising that among all the perplexity and bewilderment of thought caused by the long series of changes1 religious1 political1 and social1 through which ,greece has passed1 this recognition of birds as intermediaries between heaven and earth has abated none of its force or its purity1 neither vanquished by the direct antagonism of ,christianity1 nor contaminated by the influx of ,slavonic or other foreign thought4 ,yet so it is2 and the perusal of any collection of modern folk-songs will show that the idea is fully as familiar now as in the literature of old time4 ,a few examples may be cited2 and in selecting them ,i shall exclude from consideration those many ,klephtic ballads which open with a conversation between three #8birds#heb'2 for the word #8bird' 77 seems to have become among the ,klephts a colloquial equivalent for #8spy' or #8scout1' suggested perhaps by the qualities of intelligence1 alertness1 and speed required1 and it is admittedly#hec impossible in many cases to determine whether the term has its literal or its conventional meaning4 ,moreover these openings of ballads have passed into a somewhat set form2 and formulae are no more proof of the continuance of belief than mummies of the continuance of life4 ,but1 even with the range of trustworthy evidence thus limited1 the residue of popular poetry contains ample store of passages in which birds are recognised as the best messengers between this world and another4 ,and here1 as we shall see1 the reiteration of the idea is not uniform in expression2 the thought has not been crystallised into a number of beautiful but inert phrases2 it is still alive1 still young1 still procreative of fresh poetry4 ,there is a well-known folk-song1 recorded in several versions1 which tells how a young bride1 trusting in the might of her nine brothers and in her husband's valour1 boasted that she had no fear of ,charos4 #8,a bird1 an evil bird1 went unto ,charos1 and told him1 and ,charos shot an arrow at her and the girl grew pale2 a second and a third he shot and stretched her on her death-bed#hed4' ,the special bird in the poet's mind was1 one may surmise1 #8,charon's bird1' the tawny owl1 which as ,i have noted is always a messenger of evil4 ,in another poem a bird issues from the lower world and brings doleful tidings to women who weep over their lost ones4 #8,a little bird came forth from the world below2 his claws were red and his feathers black1 reddened with blood and blackened with the soil4 ,mothers run to see him1 and sisters to learn of him1 and wives of good men to get true tidings4 ,mother brings sugar1 and sister scented wine1 and wives of good men bear amaranth in their hands4 8,eat the sugar1 bird1 and drink of the scented wine1 and smell the amaranth1 and confess to us the truth40 8,good women1 that which ,i saw1 how should ,i tell it or confess it8 ,i saw ,charos riding in the plains apace2 he dragged the young men by the hair1 the old men by their hands1 and ranged at his saddle-bow he bore the little children#hee40' ,nor is it only between earth and the nether world that birds carry tidings to and fro2 earth and heaven are equally united by their ministry4 ,an historical ballad1 belonging to the year #ahbe1 when ,ibrahim ,pasha had just occupied the fortress of ,navarino and other places in the ,morea and was about to join in investing ,mesolonghi1 gives to this idea unusually imaginative treatment2 for the bird which brings from heaven encouragement and prophecies of future success 7one of which was literally fulfilled in the battle of ,navarino two years later7 is an incarnation of the soul of a fallen ,greek warrior4 #88,would ,i were a bird0 7,i said71 8that ,i might fly and go to ,mesolonghi1 and see how goes the sword-play and the musketry1 how fight the unconquered falcons#hef of ,roumelie40 ,and a bird of golden plumage warbled answer to me3 8,hold1 good ,george2 an thou thirstest for ,arab#heg blood1 here too are infidels for thee to slay as many as thou wilt4 ,dost see far away yonder the ,turkish ships8 ,charos is standing over them1 and they shall be turned to ashes40 8,good bird1 how didst thou learn this that thou tellest me80 8,a bird ,i seem to thee to be1 but no bird am ,i4 ,yon island that ,i espied for thee afar belongeth to ,navarino2 'twas there ,i spent my last breath a-fighting4 ,tsamados am ,i1 and unto the world have ,i come2 from the heavens where ,i dwell ,i discern you clearly1 yet yearn to see you face to face40 8,nay1 what shouldest thou see now among us in our unhappy land8 ,knowest thou not what befell and now is in the ,morea80 8,good ,george1 be not distraught1 consent not to despair2 though the ,morea fight not now1 a time will come again when they will fight like wild beasts and chase their foe4 ,piteously shall bones lie scattered before ,mesolonghi1 and there shall the lions of ,suli rejoice40 ,and the bird flew away and went up to the heavens#heh4' ,such an identification of the winged messenger with the soul of a dead man does not represent the ordinary thought of the people2 it is a conceit peculiar to this ballad2 but the very fact that the dead warrior is made to assume the guise of a bird in order to communicate with his living comrades shows how strong is the popular feeling that birds are the natural intermediaries between earth and heaven4 ,thus then the ancient belief that birds are among the most apt instruments of divine and human communion has survived as little impaired by lapse of ages as the practical science of augury founded upon it4 ,perhaps indeed it has even fared better2 for practical augury has1 ,i suspect1 suffered from the paucity or extinction of professional augurs1 who alone could be expected to remember and to transmit to their successors all the complex details of their art1 whereas the old faith may even have gained thereby2 for history1 ,i suppose1 is not void of instances in which the professional exponents of a religion have fostered its forms and have starved its spirit1 forgetting their ministry in their desire for mastery1 and making their office the sole gate of communion with heaven4 ,but1 be that as it may1 such decline as there may have been from the complete and elaborate system of auspices which the ancients possessed is not at any rate due to any abatement of the ancient belief in the mediation of birds4 ,not of course that the peasant1 when he draws an omen from the eagle's stoop or the raven's croak1 pauses at all to reflect on the general principle by which his act is guided2 his recognition of the principle is then as formal and unconscious as is his avowal of ,christianity when he crosses himself4 ,but if ever in meditative mood he seeks the reason and basis of his auspice-taking1 he falls back1 as the popular poetry proves1 on the doctrine that the powers above and below have chosen birds as their messengers to mankind4 ,doubtless many other peoples have held or still hold kindred beliefs2 but the fact that in ,modern ,greece the same class of birds is observed as in ,ancient ,greece and that the same broad principles of interpretation are followed is sufficient warranty that the underlying belief is also a genuinely ,hellenic heritage4 ,the next method of divination to be considered1 that namely in which omens were obtained from sacrifice1 was anciently divided into two branches2 in one the diviner concerned himself with the dissection of the victim1 and based his predictions on the appearance of various internal parts2 in the other1 special portions of the victim were consumed by fire1 and omens were read in the flame or smoke therefrom4 ,of the latter ,i have discovered no trace in ,modern ,greece2 but the former still survives in some districts4 ,naturally however this mode of divination is less frequently practised than that with which ,i have just dealt4 ,the cry or the flight of birds can be observed without let or hindrance in the course of daily work1 and1 what is more important still1 without cost2 while this method involves the slaying of a victim1 and is consequently confined to high days and holidays when the peasants eat meat4 ,but when occasion offers or even demands the performance of the rite1 the presages drawn therefrom are the more valued because they are less readily to be obtained4 ,and the value attached to them is by no means diminished because the method pursued is less intelligent than the taking of auspices4 ,in the latter case1 as we have seen1 the common-folk have a reasonable basis for their actions in the universal belief that birds are by nature qualified to act as messengers between gods and men2 in the former the peasants are more blindly and mechanically repeating the practices of their forefathers4 ,they would be hard put to it to say how it comes to pass that divine counsels should be found figured in the recesses of a sheep's anatomy4 ,but in their very inability to answer this question1 no less than in their acceptance of the means of communion1 they resemble their ancestors2 for1 with all their love of enquiry1 they too practised the art without answering conclusively or unanimously the questionings of their own hearts concerning it4 ,one theory advanced was that the anatomical construction of the victim was directly affected by the prayers and religious rites to which it was subjected4 ,another held the internal symptoms to be inexorable and immutable1 and saw divine agency only in the promptings of the sacrificer's mind and his choice of an animal whose entrails were suitably inscribed by nature#hei4 ,a third view1 advocated by ,plato1 was that the liver was as a mirror in which divine thought was reflected2 during life this divine thought might remain hidden as tacit intuition or be manifested in prophetic utterance2 after death the divine visions contemplated by the soul were left recorded in imagery upon the liver1 and faded only by degrees#hfj4 ,the obvious objection to this theory was its too practical corollary1 that human entrails would be the most interesting to consult4 ,less barbarous therefore in consequences1 if also less exquisite in idea1 was the fourth doctrine1 propounded by ,philostratus1 that the liver had no power of presage unless it were completely emancipated from the passions and surrendered wholly to divine influence--a condition best fulfilled by animals of peaceful and apathetic temperament#hfa4 ,but while these theories were built up and knocked down1 the practices which they were meant to explain continued firm and unshaken4 ,the fact seems to be that the custom of consulting entrails was not native to ,greece4 ,in ,homeric times the liver was not dissected in search of omens1 and such observations as were made were directed to the brightness of the flame and the ascent of the smoke from burnt offerings and not to any malformation or discoloration of the victim's inward parts4 ,all that could be learnt was whether the sacrifice1 and therefore also the prayers accompanying it1 were accepted or rejected4 ,the complexities of post-,homeric divination from burnt sacrifice and the whole system of inspecting the entrails seem to have been a foreign importation4 ,whether the source was ,etruscan1 ,carian1 ,cyprian1 ,babylonian1 or ,egyptian1 does not here concern us#hfb2 the practices were in origin foreign to ,greece1 and the ancients1 in referring the invention of them to ,delphus1 son of ,poseidon1 to ,prometheus1 to ,sisyphus1 or to ,orpheus#hfc1 were guilty not only of sheer fabrication but of manifest anachronism#hfd4 ,homer convicts them4 ,it is then the foreign origin of these methods of divination which explains the attitude of the ancient ,greeks towards them4 ,it was a practice1 not a theory--a custom1 not an idea--a conglomeration of usages1 not a coherent and reasoned system--which was introduced from abroad4 ,the ,greeks accepted it readily as furnishing them with one more means to that communion with their gods which to them was a spiritual necessity4 ,the principle of the machinery employed was unknown to them2 but what matter8 ,its operation was commended by the experience of others and soon tested by their own4 ,the unknown principle long continued to excite interest1 conjecture1 speculation1 among the educated and enlightened1 but their failures to reach any final and unanimous conclusion never moved them to dispute the tested fact4 ,and if this was the attitude of the educated1 the common-folk of those days must surely have been in the same position as the people of to-day--gladly accepting the usage and avowedly ignorant of the principle4 ,such blind acquiescence during so many centuries may seem indeed a disparagement of the ,greeks' intelligence2 but it is equally a testimonial to their religious faith2 it is the things which defy reasoning that are best worth believing2 and among these the ,greeks have steadfastly numbered the writing of divine counsels on the sacrificial victim's inward parts4 ,the actual methods now pursued are also an inheritance from the ancient world4 ,the animal from which the ,klephts a century ago are said to have taken omens most successfully was the sheep1 and the portion of its anatomy on which the tokens of the future were to be read was the shoulder-blade4 ,the questions to which an answer was most often sought were1 as might be surmised from the life of the enquirers1 questions of war4 #8,in this connexion1' says a ,greek writer#hfe of the first half of last century1 when stories of the ,klephts' life might still be heard from their own lips1 #8the shoulder-blade of a young lamb is 444 a veritable ,sibylline book2 for its condition enables men to ascertain beforehand the issue of an important engagement1 the serious losses on each side1 the strength of the enemy1 the reinforcements to be expected1 and indeed the very moment when danger threatens'2 and he recounts1 by way of illustration1 the story of a ,thessalian band of ,klephts1 whose captain1 in the security of his own fastness1 was sitting divining in this way2 suddenly he sprang up with the exclamation1 #8,the ,turks have caught us alive1' and at the head of his troop had only just time to break through the ,turkish forces which were already surrounding them4 ,that this method of divination was derived directly and with little deviation from the old system of inspecting shoulder-blades 77 as known to ,michael ,psellus can hardly be doubted4 #8,if the question be of war1' he says1 #8a patch of red observed on the right side of the shoulder-blade1 or a long dark line on the left1 foreshows a great war2 but if both sides present their normal white appearance1 it is an omen of peace to come#hff4' ,but the days of patriot-outlaws are over now1 and the questions submitted to the arbitrament of ovine shoulder-blades are of more peaceful bent4 ,it is the shepherd now1 and not the warrior1 who thus resolves the uncertainties of the future4 ,it is the vicissitudes of weather1 not of war1 that interest him2 the birth of lambs1 not the death of ,turks4 ,it is of plague1 pestilence1 and famine threatening his flock1 not of battle and murder and sudden death for himself1 that he seeks forewarning4 ,but the same instrument of divination supplies the answers4 ,my own knowledge of its use is obtained entirely from ,acarnania and ,aetolia2 but the practice is also recorded from ,zagorion in ,epirus#hfg1 and prevails too1 ,i have been told1 among the shepherds of ,elis4 ,the opportunity for it is1 as ,i have said1 offered only by certain feast-days1 when the peasants indulge in meat4 ,on other occasions1 when the shepherds kill only in order to sell in the towns1 divination cannot be undertaken2 for it is only after cooking that the meat can be properly removed from the bone so as to leave it clean and legible4 ,there is therefore no doubt an economical reason for confining this practice to certain religious festivals2 but this consideration must not be allowed to obscure the genuinely religious character of the rite itself4 ,in ,zagorion1 at the festivals in honour of the patron-saint of each village or monastery1 sheep are brought and slain in the enclosure of the particular sanctuary1 and are called #hfh1 a plural evidently of the ,hebrew word #8corban1' a thing devoted to the service of ,god2 thus both name and ceremony proclaim this custom a genuine survival of sacrifice2 and it is apparently from the shoulder-blades of these victims that omens are drawn#hfi4 ,a similar case of divination by sacrifice came to my knowledge in ,boeotia1 though whether the shoulder-blade or some other part of the victim furnished the predictions1 ,i could not ascertain4 ,while looking round a small museum at ,skimitri ,i had happened to stop before a relief representing a man leading some animal to sacrifice1 and heard the custodian1 a peasant of the place1 remark to another peasant1 evidently a stranger to the district1 who had followed me in1 #8,that is just like what we do'2 and he then explained that at a church of ,st ,george1 somewhere in the neighbourhood1 there was an annual festival at which a similar scene took place4 ,the villagers of the country-side congregate early on the morning of ,st ,george's day round the church1 each man bringing a kid or a lamb2 service in the church having been duly performed1 the priest comes out and blesses each of the animals in turn1 after which they are killed and roasted and a feast is held accompanied by some kind of divination from the victims4 ,such in brief was the custodian's account2 but1 when ,i intervened in the conversation with a question about the method of divining1 he would say nothing more4 ,the ,boeotians are still boorish4 ,but what ,i had already overheard exhibits clearly enough the religious character of the rite2 and ,i do not doubt that in ,aetolia and ,acarnania also the peasants handle the sheep's shoulder-blade in an equally religious mood4 ,their very indulgence in meat is due to the religious occasion2 much more therefore the divination which reveals to them the mind of those powers whom they worship4 ,in the art of interpreting the particular marks upon the shoulder-blade ,i cannot claim to be an adept4 ,the few facts which ,i managed to discover were that in general spots and blurs upon the bone are prognostications adverse to the hopes of the enquirer1 and that a clean white surface always gives full security3 that different portions of the bone are scrutinised for answers to different classes of questions2 thus the prospects of the lambing season are indicated on the projecting ridge of the bone1 and the weather-forecast on the flat surfaces on either side of it1 marks on the right side 7the bone being held horizontally with what is naturally its upper end towards the diviner7 being favourable signs1 and those on the left ill-omened3 and finally that a pestilence is foreshown by a depression in the surface of the bone4 ,the science1 ,i was told1 is extremely complex and elaborate2 but ,i never had the fortune to meet any peasant who was considered an expert in it2 the best exponents of it are to be found among the mountain shepherds1 and since these are constantly shifting their grazing grounds it is no easy matter to fall in with one both able and willing to unfold the full mysteries of the art4 ,how to distinguish in interpretation markings of different sizes1 shapes1 and colours ,i never discovered#hgj4 ,but the little which ,i learnt agrees in the main with the ancient method as described by ,michael ,psellus#hga4 #8,those1' he says1 #8who wish to avail themselves of this means of divination1 pick out a sheep or lamb from the flock1 and1 after settling in their mind or saying aloud the question which they wish to ask1 slay the victim and remove the shoulder-blade from the carcase4 ,this--the organ of divination as they think--they bake thoroughly upon hot embers1 and having stripped it of the flesh find on it the tokens of that issue about which they are enquiring4 ,the answers to different kinds of questions are learnt from different parts#hgb4 ,questions of life or death are decided by the projection of the ridge#hgc2 if this is clean and white on both sides1 a promise of life is thereby given2 but if it is blurred1 it is a token of death4 ,weather-forecasts again are made from inspection of the middle part of the shoulder-blade2 if the two membrane-like surfaces which form the middle of the shoulder-blade on either side of the ridge#hgd are white and clean1 they indicate calm weather to come2 while1 if they are thickly spotted1 the reverse is to be expected4' ,here1 it will have been noticed1 no mention is made of any discrimination between the markings on the right and on the left sides of the bone2 but this1 ,i suspect1 is an omission on the part of ,psellus1 for so simple a principle of ancient divination is hardly likely to have been excluded from consideration in this case4 ,in other respects the information which ,i obtained tallies closely with his account2 the clean and white appearance of the bone was then1 as it is now1 a reassuring omen2 then1 as now1 the prospects of the weather were to be learnt from the flat surface on either side of the ridge2 then1 as now1 the question of life or death1 which from the shepherd's point of view becomes most acute at each lambing season1 was settled by reference to the ridge of the bone4 ,to judge then from the few principles of the art known to me1 divination from the shoulder-blade1 besides being still recognised as a religious rite1 is conducted on the same lines by ,aetolian and ,acarnanian peasants as it was by those ancient augurs to whose hand-books probably ,psellus was indebted for his knowledge4 ,another animal utilised in the same district for purposes of divination is the pig2 but in this case the prophetic organ is not the shoulder-blade but the spleen4 ,this is removed from the fresh carcase before the rest of the flesh is cut up or cooked in any way1 and omens are taken from the roughness or discoloration of its surface4 ,the questions which may be decided by this means are very various--the prospects of weather1 of crops1 and of vineyards1 the success of journeys and other enterprises1 the advisability of a contemplated marriage1 and so forth4 ,of the exact details of the art ,i know even less than in the last case2 the facts which ,i learned were these1 that a smooth surface is a good omen1 just as it was in the case of other internal organs in the time of ,aeschylus#hge1 while certain roughnesses portend obstacles and difficulties in a journey or enterprise1 and further that certain abnormal blotches of colour give warning of blight and mildew on crops and vines4 ,proficiency in the science1 ,i was told1 is commonest among the inhabitants of the low-lying cultivated or wooded districts of ,acarnania where large herds of half-wild swine are kept2 and hence it is natural that the predictions sought in this way are chiefly concerned with agricultural and social interests1 whereas the omens obtained from the sheep's shoulder-blade by shepherds living solitary lives in the mountains deal with few issues other than the prospects of the flock4 ,but this difference between the two methods of divination is circumstantial rather than essential2 either method can1 ,i believe1 in the hands of experts be used for answering almost any questions4 ,divination from the pig's spleen is1 ,i think1 undoubtedly ancient4 ,it appears to be a solitary survival of the 1 or #8inspection of entrails1' which in ancient ,greece would seem to have been the commonest method of divining from the sacrificial victim4 ,among the animals embarrassed with prophetic entrails the pig indeed was not ordinarily reckoned2 but ,pausanias mentions that the people of ,cyprus discovered its value#hgf1 and it seems actually to have furnished responses to the highly reputable oracle of ,paphos#hgg4 ,how it has come to pass that modern ,acarnania should preserve a custom peculiar to ancient ,cyprus1 is a problem that ,i cannot solve2 but it can hardly be questioned that here again we have an old religious rite still maintained as a proven means of communion with those powers in whose knowledge lies the future4 ,divination from sacrifice also forms part of the preliminaries of a wedding in many districts4 ,on the day before the actual ceremony#hgh the first animal for the feast is killed by the bridegroom with his own hand4 ,the proper victim is a young ram1 though in case of poverty a more humble substitute is permitted4 ,this1 after being in some districts blessed by the priest who receives in return a portion of the victim1 is made to stand facing eastward1 and the bridegroom endeavours to slaughter it with a single blow of an axe4 ,omens for the marriage are taken from the manner and the direction in which the blood spirts out2 and a further investigation is sometimes made as to whether the tongue is bitten or the mouth foaming1 each sign finding its own interpretation in the lore of the village cronies#hgi4 ,the substitute allowed for the ram is a cock4 ,where the peasants avail themselves of this economy1 the killing is usually deferred until after the wedding service1 and is performed on the doorstep of the bridegroom's house before the bride is led in4 ,the bird is held down on the threshold by the best man1 and the bridegroom1 having been provided with a sharp axe1 tries to sever the cock's neck at one blow4 ,here too the man's dexterity counts for something2 for the peace or the agony in which the victim is despatched belongs to that class of omens which in antiquity also were drawn from the demeanour of the animal before and during the act of sacrifice1 and were taken not indeed to furnish a detailed answer to any question preferred but to indicate the acceptance or the rejection of the offering and the accompanying petitions4 ,it is however the effusion of blood and the muscular convulsions of the decapitated bird which are most keenly observed2 for from these signs1 ,i was told1 the old women of the village profess to determine such points of interest as the chastity of the bride1 the supremacy of the husband or the wife in the future mnage1 and the number and sex of children to be born4 ,all this information can in most places where the rite prevails be obtained without any dissection of the victim such as would have been customary in antiquity2 but in ,aetolia and ,acarnania the peasants continue faithful to what are probably ancient methods even in this detail2 there the breast-bone of the fowl is treated both at weddings and on other religious occasions as a poor man's legitimate substitute for the ovine shoulder-blade1 which it sufficiently resembles in the possession of a ridge with flat surfaces on either side suitable for divine inscriptions4 ,but it is not upon coincidences of practical detail1 instructive as they are in proving the unity of modern with ancient ,greece1 that ,i wish most to insist4 ,if it is clear that the victims often blest by the priests at weddings and on other religious occasions are really felt by the people to be sacrifices1 then the practice of divining from them1 whatever the exact method pursued1 is once more distinct evidence of the belief that the powers above are able and willing to hold close communion with men4 ,among the minor methods of divination we may notice first what ,suidas calls or #8domestic divination'2 under this head he includes such incidents as the appearance of a weasel on the roof1 or of a snake1 the spilling of oil1 honey1 wine1 water1 or ashes1 and the crackling of logs on the fire4 ,the subject was expounded apparently in a serious treatise by one ,xenocrates2 but it is difficult to suppose that there was any scientific system governing so heterogeneous a conglomeration of incidents2 the treatise was probably no more than a compilation of possible occurrences with disconnected regulations for interpreting each of them4 ,many events of a like trivial nature are observed at the present day1 and the interpretations set upon some of them are demonstrably ancient4 ,a weasel seen about the house1 just as on the road1 is significant of evil#hhj1 more especially if there is in the household a girl about to be married2 for the weasel 77 was once1 it is said1 a maiden destined to become1 as the name implies1 a #8little bride1' but in some way she was robbed of her happiness and transformed into an animal2 its appearance therefore augurs ill for an intended wedding4 ,a snake on the contrary is of good omen when seen in the house2 for it is the guardian-genius watching over its own4 ,the orientation of a cat when engaged in washing its face indicates the point of the compass from which wind may be expected4 ,a mouse nibbling a hole in a bag of flour is in ,zagorion#hha as distressing a portent as it was to the superstitious man of ,theophrastus#hhb4 ,a dog howling at night in or near the house portends a death in the neighbourhood1 as it did in the time of ,theocritus3 #8,hark1' cries ,simaetha1 #8the dogs are barking through the town4 ,hecate is at the cross-ways4 ,haste1 clash the brazen cymbals#hhc'2 only instead of the cymbals it is customary to use an ejaculation addressed to the dog1 #8may you burst' 7 71 or #8may you eat your own head' 7 74 ,again1 to take another class of the domestic incidents mentioned by ,suidas1 the spilling of oil is universally an evil omen1 and the spilling of wine a good omen2 the former foreshadows poverty1 the latter plenty4 ,the upsetting of water is also a presage of good success1 especially on a journey2 but in this connexion1 as a later chapter will show1 it often passes out of the sphere of divination1 which should rest on purely fortuitous occurrences1 into that of sympathetic magic4 ,the crackling of logs on the fire1 which ,suidas mentions1 remains to-day also an incident to be duly noted4 ,generally it appears to mean that good news is coming or that a friend is arriving1 but1 if sparks and ashes are thrown out into the room1 troubles and anxieties must be expected4 ,the spluttering of a lamp or candle also usually foretells misfortune#hhd4 ,omens as to marriage also may be obtained on the domestic hearth4 ,two leaves of basil are put together upon a live coal2 if they lie as they are placed and burn away quietly1 the marriage will be harmonious2 if there is a certain amount of crackling1 the married life of the two persons represented by the leaves will be disturbed by quarrels2 if the leaves crackle fiercely and leap apart1 there is an incompatibility of temper which renders the projected alliance undesirable4 ,these are but a few instances of domestic divination1 and a much longer list might easily be compiled4 ,but while ,i know that many of the peasants do indeed observe such occurrences seriously enough to act upon the supernatural warnings thereby conveyed1 yet the religious character of these methods of divination is less demonstrable than that of divination from birds or from sacrifice2 and ,i may content myself with indicating1 by a few illustrations only1 the continuity of ,greek superstition in both this and those other minor branches of divination to which ,i now pass4 ,palmistry1 according to ,suidas1 was an ancient art1 and a hand-book of it was composed by one ,helenos4 ,the signs of the future were read in the lines of the palm and of the fingers as in modern palmistry4 ,this science is still kept up by some of the old women in ,greece1 but real proficiency therein is as in other countries chiefly attained by the gypsies 771 who follow a nomadic life in the mountains and have very little intercourse with the native population4 ,divination from involuntary movements of various parts of the body--1 as ,suidas calls it1 on which one ,poseidonios was a leading authority--is still very generally practised1 and evidently has deviated hardly at all from ancient lines4 ,the twitching of a man's eye or eyebrow is a sign that he will soon see some acquaintance--an enemy1 if it be the left eye that throbs1 a friend1 if it be the right2 and this clearly was the principle which the goat-herd of ,theocritus followed when he exclaimed1 #8,my eye throbs1 my right eye2 oh6 shall ,i see ,amaryllis herself8'#hhe ,similarly the buzzing or singing of a man's ears is an indication that he is being spoken of by others1 just as it was in the time of ,lucian#hhf2 and1 according to the usual principle1 the right ear is affected in this manner by praise and kindly speech1 the left by backbiting and slander4 ,again1 if the palm of the right hand itch1 it shows that a man will receive money2 and reversely1 if the left palm itch1 he will have to pay money away#hhg4 ,so too1 if the sole of the right or of the left foot itch1 it is a premonition of a journey successful or unsuccessful4 ,omens of this kind fall with uncomfortable frequency to the lot of those who have to find a night's lodging in ,greek inns or cottages4 ,to the same category belong hiccoughing and sneezing4 ,the hiccough 771 as also in ,macedonia choking over food or drink#hhh1 is a sign that some backbiter is at work1 and the method of curing it is to guess his name4 ,sneezing is a favourable omen1 but the particular interpretation of it depends on alternative sets of circumstances4 ,if anyone who is speaking is interrupted by a sneeze1 whether his own or that of another person present1 whatever he is saying is held to be proved true by the occurrence4 ' 1 cry the listeners1 7or 71 #8,health to you1 and you speak 7or he speaks7 truth4' ,if however no one present is in the act of speaking when the sneeze is heard1 the first phrase only is used1 #8,health to you1' or by way of facetious variant1 1 #8,may your mother-in-law die like a dog#hhi4' ,in either case the prayer for good health can benefit only the sneezer2 but in the former1 that member of the company who is speaking at the time may obtain corroboration of the statement which he is making from the omen produced by another4 ,this part of the belief is very strongly held2 and anyone who is in the unfortunate position of having his word doubted or of being compelled to prevaricate will be better advised to conjure up a sneeze than to expostulate or to swear4 ,both these interpretations of sneezing date from ancient times4 ,the old equivalent of #8,health to you' was 1 #8,preserve him1 ,zeus'2 but such expressions are common to many nations and not distinctively ,hellenic4 ,the other interpretation of sneezing1 as a confirmation of words which are being uttered1 is of more special interest1 and has been handed down from the ,homeric age4 #8,let but ,odysseus come1' says ,penelope1 #8and reach his native land1 and soon will he and his son requite the violent deeds of these men4' #8,thus she spake1' continues the passage1 #8and ,telemachos sneezed aloud2 and round about the house rang fearfully2 and ,penelope laughed1 and quickly then she spake winged words to ,eumaeus3 8,go now1 call the stranger here before me4 ,dost thou not see how my son did sneeze in sanction of all my words#hij8 ,for this should utter death come upon the suitors one and all1 nor should one of them escape death and destruction#hia40' ,among other instruments of divination occasionally used are eggs1 molten lead1 and sieves4 ,eggs are chiefly used to decide the prospects of a marriage4 #8,speechless water'#hib is fetched by a boy1 and the old woman who presides over such operations pours into it the white of an egg4 ,if this keeps together in a close mass1 the marriage will turn out well2 but if it assumes a broken or confused shape1 troubles loom ahead4 ,in antiquity the science was probably more extended2 for a work on egg-divining 77 was attributed to ,orpheus4 ,a similar rite may be performed with molten lead instead of white of egg1 and it suffices to pour it upon any flat surface#hic4 ,divination with a sieve--the ancient --also continues1 ,i have been told1 but ,i know no details of the practice4 ,thus then the chief methods of learning the gods' will as practised in antiquity have been reviewed1 and are found to be perpetuated in substantially the same form down to the present day2 and not only is the form the same but in many of them the same religious spirit is manifest4 ,the principal difference lies in the paucity of professional diviners now2 experts assuredly in some branches there still are1 but augury alone would now1 ,i think1 be a precarious source of livelihood4 ,advice from the village priest would in so many cases be cheaper and no less valued than that of the soothsayer4 ,and as with persons so with places4 ,the pagan temples in which oracles were given have been largely superseded by ,christian churches1 and possibly the peasants are more inclined to pay for masses which will secure the fulfilment of their wishes than for oracular responses which may run counter to them4 ,still even so oracles have not yet entirely ceased2 and in discussing those which survive we shall find once more a coincidence both in form and spirit between ancient and modern ,greek religion4 ,an oracle1 it must be remembered1 is simply a place set apart for the practice of divination2 the method of obtaining responses has always varied in different places1 and the mediation of a professional diviner1 though usual1 cannot be regarded as essential#hid4 ,those caves therefore where women make offerings of honey-cakes to the ,fates#hie and pray for the fulfilment of their conjugal hopes are really oracles1 provided that there is some means of learning there whether the prayer is accepted or rejected4 ,and this is often the case2 most commonly the answer is inferred--on what principle of interpretation1 ,i do not know--from the dripping of water or the detachment and fall from the roof of a particle of stone2 and in ,aetolia ,i was told of a cave in the neighbourhood of ,agrinion in which the nature of the response is determined by the behaviour of the bats which frequent it4 ,if they remain hanging quiescent from the roof and walls1 the suppliant's hopes will be realised2 but if they be disturbed by his or1 more often1 her intrusion and flutter round confusedly1 the ,fates are inexorably adverse4 ,but besides these modest and unpretentious oracles there still survives in the island of ,amorgos an oracle of a higher order ensconced in a church and served by a priest4 ,the saint under whose patronage this pagan institution has continued to flourish is ,st ,george1 here surnamed ,balsamites#hif4 ,to the right on entering the church is seen a large squared block of marble hollowed out so as to have the form of an urn inside1 and highly polished4 ,it stands apparently on the natural rock1 and is roofed over with a dome-shaped lid capable of being locked4 ,at the present day the mouth of the urn is also covered by a marble slab with a hole pierced through it and fitted with a plug2 but this was not observed by travellers of the seventeenth century and is probably a recent addition4 ,there is also a discrepancy in the various accounts of the working of the oracle1 the older authorities stating that the answers were given by the rise and fall of the water in the vessel1 while the modern custom is to interpret the signs given by particles of dust1 insects1 hairs1 bits of dry leaf1 and suchlike floating in a cupful of water drawn from the urn#hig4 ,the description given by a ,jesuit priest of ,santorini1 ,robert ,sauger by name1 of what he himself witnessed in ,amorgos towards the end of the seventeenth century may be taken as trustworthy1 inasmuch as he elsewhere shows himself an accurate observer and certainly was not tempted in the present case to exaggerate the wonders of the rival ,church4 #8,the cavity1' he says1 #8fills itself with water and empties itself of its own accord1 and it is impossible to imagine what gives the water this motion and where it has a passage2 for1 besides being very thick1 the marble is so highly polished inside and its continuity of surface is so unbroken that it is impossible to detect the tiniest hole or the least unevenness1 saving always the opening at the top which is always kept locked4 ,additionally astonishing is the fact that within the space of one hour the urn fills and empties itself visibly several times2 at one moment you see it so full that the water overflows1 and a moment afterwards it becomes so dry that it appears to have had no water in it at all4 #8,superstition is rife everywhere4 ,any ,greeks who have a voyage to make do not fail to come and consult the ,urn4 ,if the water is high in it1 they set off gaily1 promising themselves a good passage4 ,but if the ,urn is without water1 or the water is low in it1 they draw therefrom a bad omen for the success of their journey1 and do not go1 or1 if business makes it imperative1 go unwillingly4 #8,this alleged miracle1 which is so famed throughout all ,greece1 is a source of much gain to the priest who has charge of the ,church of ,st ,george2 for the concourse of ,greeks there is incessant2 people come thither from great distances1 some in all seriousness to advise themselves of the future1 others to see the thing with their own eyes1 and a certain number to amuse themselves and to have a laugh1 as ,i have had several times1 at the credulity of these folk#hih4' ,whatever may have been the original method of oracular response--and ,i suspect that1 while the presence or the absence of water furnished a plain #8yea' or #8nay' to the enquirer1 a more detailed reply always depended upon the observation and interpretation of any foreign particles floating in the urn--the faith of the people in its virtue is still intense4 ,it can indeed no longer claim a reputation throughout all ,greece2 but the inhabitants of ,amorgos and the maritime population of neighbouring islands still consult it regularly and seriously concerning voyages1 business matters1 marriage1 and other cares and interests2 nor are questioners from farther afield altogether unknown4 ,this oracular property of water was well known in antiquity4 ,in this branch of divination1 says ,bouch ,leclercq1 use was made #8of springs and streams which were felt to be endowed with a kind of supernatural discernment4 ,certain waters were accorded the property of confirming oaths and exposing perjury4 ,the water of the ,styx1 by which the ,olympian gods swore1 is the prototype of these means of test1 among which may be mentioned the spring of ,zeus ,orkios1 near ,tyane1 and the water-oracle of the ,sicilian ,palici#hii4' ,so too water-deities such as ,nereus and ,proteus were believed to exercise special prophetic powers2 and ,ino possessed in the neighbourhood of ,epidaurus ,limera a pool into which barley-cakes were thrown by those who would consult her2 if these offerings sank1 she was held to have accepted them and to favour the enquirer2 if they floated1 his hopes would be disappointed#ijj4 ,the present oracle of ,amorgos is of a higher order than this2 its method is more complex1 and its responses are more detailed4 ,it should surely have ranked high even among the oracles of old1 of which1 both in the reverence which it inspires and in the medium which it employs1 it is a true descendant4 99 99 99 99 99 ,having thus examined the means by which the gods deign to communicate with men1 and having seen that both in form and in spirit the ancient means of communion have been preserved almost unchanged1 we have now to consider the means by which men approach the gods and communicate to them their hopes and petitions4 ,the first and most obvious method1 one common to all religions1 is of course prayer2 but the use of this channel just because it is so universal cannot be claimed as a proof of religious unity between ancient and modern ,greece4 ,it is rather in what we should deem the accompaniments of prayer that evidence of such unity must be sought4 ,the ancient ,greeks were not in general content with prayer only4 ,it was not customary to approach the gods empty-handed4 ,the poor man indeed1 according to ,lucian#ija1 appeased the god merely by kissing his right hand2 but the farmer brought an ox from the plough1 the shepherd a lamb1 the goat-herd a goat1 and others incense or a cake4 #8,thus it looks1' he says1 #8as if the gods do nothing at all gratis1 but offer their commodities for sale to men2 one may buy of them health1 for instance1 at the cost of a calf1 wealth for four oxen1 a kingdom for a hecatomb1 a safe return passage from ,ilium to ,pylos for nine bulls1 and the crossing from ,aulis to ,ilium for a princess--a high price certainly1 but then ,hecuba was bidding ,athene twelve cows and a dress to keep ,ilium safe4 ,one must suppose however that they have plenty of things to dispose of at the price of a cock1 a garland1 or even a stick of incense#ijb4' ,that this is a fair account of the externals of ,greek ritual can hardly be questioned2 for ,plato too1 in more serious mood1 says that #8the mutual communion between gods and men' is established by #8sacrifices of all kinds and the various departments of divination#ijc4' ,the #8various departments of divination' are clearly the means by which the gods communicate with men2 and #8sacrifices of all kinds' therefore represented to ,plato's mind the means by which men communicate with their gods4 ,prayer1 he seems to have felt1 was a necessary incident in sacrifice1 rather than sacrifice an unnecessary adjunct to prayer4 ,now the word 1 which we commonly translate #8sacrifice1' was a term of very wide meaning in ancient ,greek4 ,in ,homer the word was used of making any offering to the gods1 and never denoted1 though naturally it sometimes connoted1 the slaughtering of animals--an act properly expressed by the verb 4 ,and in later times the substantive was still applied to almost any religious festival1 at which undoubtedly some offerings1 but not necessarily animal sacrifices1 were always made4 ,when therefore ,plato speaks of 1 #8all sacrifices1' he is clearly expressing his recognition of the fact that sacrifices 77 are manifold in kind--and if in kind1 therefore also in intention2 for different rituals are the expressions of different religious motives4 ,communion with the gods was in general terms the object of all offerings made to them by men2 but the particular aspect of such communion varied4 ,offerings1 we may suppose1 were rarely if ever made purely for the benefit of the gods without any self-seeking on the part of the worshipper4 ,even when a sacrifice to some god was merely a pretext for social entertainments--and how frequently this was the case is shown by the fact that 1 #8fond of sacrificing1' came to mean simply #8hospitable'--it is reasonable to suppose that the presentation to the god of the less edible portions of the victim was accompanied at least by an 1 #8be propitious1' by way of grace before the meal2 and at more strictly religious functions1 at which the guests1 if there were any1 were secondary to the god1 the dedication of the offering undoubtedly included a declaration of the offerer's motive4 ,as regards the character of that motive in most cases1 ,lucian is right2 it was frankly and baldly commercial4 ,homer does not blink the fact2 for ,phoenix even commends to the notice of ,achilles the open mind displayed by the gods towards an open-handed suppliant4 #8,verily even the gods may be turned1 they whose excellence and honour and strength are greater than thine2 yet even them do men1 when they pray1 turn from their purpose with offerings of incense and pleasant vows1 with fat and the savour of sacrifice1 whensoever a man hath transgressed and done amiss#ijd4' ,and so ,greek feeling has ever remained4 ,offerings are the ordinary means of gaining access to the gods1 of buying their goodwill and buying off their anger4 ,the ordinary medium of exchange in such commerce was1 when ,greece was avowedly pagan1 food1 and is1 now that ,greece is nominally ,christian1 candles3 for religion1 ever conservative1 keeps up the otherwise obsolete system of barter between men and gods1 even though the priests of those gods are enlightened enough to accept of a secular modern currency4 ,but the particular commodities in which the barter is made are of little consequence as compared with the spirit which has always animated such dealings4 ,the substitution of candles for meat is practically the only modification which ,christianity has effected in this department of religion4 ,even this change in detail does not affect the whole range of such operations2 candles are not by any means the only offerings of which the ,church takes cognisance4 ,in dealing with the question of divination1 we have seen cases in which on some religious occasion1 saint's-day or wedding1 the priest blesses a genuinely sacrificial victim#ije4 ,we have seen too that at the laying of foundation stones1 a religious ceremony conducted by a priest of the ,church1 some animal is immolated to appease the genius of the site#ijf4 ,we have seen again how the ,church permits or encourages the dedication of those silver-foil models of various objects--ships and houses1 corn-fields and vineyards1 eyes and limbs--which serve at once to propitiate the saint to whom they are offered and1 on the principle of sympathetic magic1 to place the object1 thus represented as it were by proxy1 under the saint's special care2 and how also the same kind of models are frequently dedicated as thank-offerings#ijg2 so that indeed1 in default of an inscription announcing the motive of the offerer1 no one can decide how any given offerings of this kind should be classified#ijh4 ,then too in those religious rites which have survived without ecclesiastical sanction the use and the purpose of food-offerings remain unchanged4 ,the favour of the ,fates is bought by offerings of cakes in order that they may bestow upon the women who thus propitiate them the blessing of children#iji4 ,nereids who have #8seized' children are known to withdraw their oft-times baneful influence when the mother takes a present of food to the scene of the calamity and cries to them with an ,homeric simplicity1 #8,eat ye the little cakes1 good queens1 and heal my child#iaj4' ,even the malice of ,callicantzari may sometimes be averted by a present of pork#iaa4 ,thus with or without the ratification of the ,church the old offerings still continue to be made in the self-same form2 and even where other substitutes have been devised1 the spirit which animates the dedication of them is unchanged--a spirit essentially commercial2 it matters little whether the suppliant is trying to buy blessings or to get the punishment which he has deserved commuted for a fine1 or again whether he is speculating in future favours or settling in accordance with a vow for favours received2 in each case there is the quid pro quo1 the bargaining that the ,greek has never been able to forego1 not even in his religion4 ,but while the spirit thus manifested is not wholly admirable and perhaps deserved the ridicule of ,lucian1 it is highly instructive4 ,the sacrifices or offerings are the means by which the worshipper gets into touch with the worshipped1 the vehicle for his thanks or petitions2 the possibility of bargaining implies intercourse2 commerce is a form1 even though it be the lowest form1 of communion4 ,but that there were other kinds of sacrifice which represented higher aspects of the communion between men and gods in ancient ,greece is certain4 ,the commonly accepted classification of ancient sacrifices recognises three main groups--the sacramental1 the honorific1 and the piacular4 ,of the sacramental class1 in which--by a development1 it appears1 of totemism--some sacred animal1 representing the anthropomorphic god who has superseded it in men's worship1 is consumed by the worshippers in order that by eating the flesh and drinking the blood they may partake of the god's own life and self1 no trace1 so far as ,i know1 can now be found in the popular religion4 ,the honorific class comprises the majority of those offerings which might with less euphemism be called commercial2 those however which are prompted by the desire to expiate sin1 or rather to buy off the punishment which sin has merited1 would1 ,i suppose1 fall under the head of piacular4 ,but the line drawn between the honorific and the piacular seems to me far from clear1 for reasons which will be discussed in the remainder of this chapter4 ,the view of sacrifice which ,i am about to propound1 and which would modify chiefly our conception of so-called piacular sacrifice in antiquity1 was suggested to me by a story which ,i had from the lips of an aged peasant of the village of ,goni 7the #8,corner'7 in the island of ,santorini#iab4 ,in talking to me of the wonders of his native island he mentioned among other things a large hall with columns round it which had long since been buried--presumably by volcanic eruption4 ,this hall was of magnificent proportions1 #8as fine1' to use the old man's own description1 #8as the piazza of ,syra or even of ,athens4' ,it was situated between ,kamri1 an old rock-cut shelter in the shape of an exedra at the foot of the northern descent from the one mountain of the island 7 71 and a chapel of ,st ,george in the strip of plain that forms the island's east coast4 ,so far my informant's veracity is beyond dispute2 for in an account of the island written by a resident ,jesuit in the middle of the seventeenth century ,i afterwards discovered the following corroboration#iac4 #8,at the foot of this mountain#iad are seen the ruins of a fine ancient town2 the huge massive stones of which the walls were built are a marvel to behold2 it must have taken some stout arms and portentous hands to handle them4444 ,among these ruins have been found some fine marble columns perfectly complete1 and some rich tombs2 and among others there are four which would bear comparison in point of beauty with those of our kings1 if they were not damaged2 several marble statues in ,roman style lie overturned upon the ground4 ,on the pedestal of the statue of ,trajan there is still to be read at the present day a very fine ,greek panegyric of that powerful ,emperor1 as also on that of the statue of ,marcus ,antoninus4' ,thus much as guarantee of the old man's bona fides1 which even excavation on the spot1 however desirable from an archaeological standpoint1 could not more clearly establish than the ,french writer's corroborative testimony2 now for the story associated by the aged narrator with this wonderful buried hall4 ,at the time of the revolution1 he said1 a number of the ,greek ships assembled off ,kamri 7where a fair anchorage exists71 and he with some fellow-islanders all since dead was going to fight in the cause of ,greek freedom4 ,naturally enough there was great excitement and trepidation in this remote and quiet island at the thought of adventure and war4 #8,so we thought things over1' he continued1 #8and decided to send a man to ,st ,nicolas to ask him that our ships might prosper in the war#iae4' ,they accordingly seized a man and took him to this large hall4 ,there they cut off his head and his hands1 and carried him down the steps into the hall1 whereupon ,god appeared with a bright torch in his hand1 and the bearers of the body dropped it1 and all present fled in terror4 ,there are few grounds on which to argue for or against the credibility of this story4 ,historically ,thera along with some other islands is recorded to have maintained the position of a neutral by paying contributions to both sides2 but that does not in any way militate against the supposition that a few young men from the island were patriotic enough to volunteer for service in some of the ,greek ships which may have touched--perhaps to secure that contribution--at ,santorini4 ,the story itself was narrated to me1 ,i am persuaded1 in all good faith1 and the old man really believed himself to have taken part in the events described4 ,his age would certainly have permitted him to fight as a young man in the revolution2 he himself estimated 7in the year #ahii7 that he had lived more than a century1 and other old men of the village who were well past their threescore years and ten reckoned him senior to themselves by a full generation2 moreover his own reminiscences of the war argued a personal share in the fighting4 ,but whether the savage episode which he described was really a prelude to that most savage war1 or some traditional event of the island's history post-dated and inserted in the most glorious epoch of modern ,greek history1 is a question which cannot be finally determined4 ,chronology to a peasant who does not know the year of his own birth is naturally a matter of some indifference1 and excitability of imagination coupled with the habit1 or rather the instinct1 of self-glorification in the ,greek character1 would account for an unconscious and not intentionally dishonest transference of the stirring events of earlier days to a date at which their narrator could have personally participated in them2 there is no one so easily deceived by a ,greek as himself1 and no one half so honestly4 ,yet on the whole ,i incline to believe the story4 ,fortunately the chronological exactitude and detailed precision of the story do not much matter4 ,accurate or inaccurate in itself it contains a clear expression of the view held by the old peasant of the purpose of human sacrifice4 #8,we thought things over and decided to send a man to ,st ,nicolas to ask him that our ships might prosper in the war4' ,this is our text1 and its very terseness and directness of expression prove how familiar and native to the speaker's mind was this aspect of sacrifice4 ,the human victim was simply and solely a messenger4 ,st ,nicolas1 to whom he was sent1 has supplanted ,poseidon1 as has been remarked above#iaf1 in the government of the sea and the patronage of sailors2 but how he came to be associated with the hall which was deemed a right place for the sacrifice1 unless perhaps he had succeeded to the possession of the site of some temple of ,poseidon1 ,i cannot say4 ,it is of little avail to press for further elucidation of a peasant's story4 ,i would gladly have learnt more about the hall now wholly buried but then partially at least visible above ground1 into which none the less a descent by steps is mentioned2 ,i would gladly have learnt more about the appearance of ,god with a bright torch in his hand1 and what was the significance to the peasant's mind of the appearance of ,god himself#iag 7 7 instead of ,st ,nicolas to whom the messenger was sent4 ,these uncertainties and obscurities must remain4 ,the only additional fact which ,i elicited was that the man taken and sent to ,st ,nicolas was in ,greek parlance a #8,christian1' that is to say neither a ,turk nor a member of the ,roman ,church which has long held a footing in the island4 ,there was therefore no admixture of either racial or religious hatred in the feelings which prompted1 as it is alleged1 this human sacrifice4 ,if then the story be accepted1 the motive assigned must be accepted with it2 but if the story be discredited1 the motive assigned has still a value4 ,for even if the old man had deliberately invented the tale and claimed complicity in so ghastly a deed1 whence could he have obtained that conception of human sacrifice which furnished the motive of the action8 ,it is inconceivable that he should have evolved the idea from personal meditations on the subject of sacrifice4 ,it is equally inconceivable that he could have obtained it from any literary source2 for he could not read1 and the only book of which he could have had any knowledge would have been the ,bible1 to which this view of sacrifice is unknown4 ,the only source from which he could have received the idea is native and oral tradition4 ,so distinct an expression of the idea is naturally rare1 because human sacrifice is not an every-day topic of conversation among peasantry2 but such a theory of sacrifice is perfectly harmonious with that chord of ,greek religion of which several notes have already been struck4 ,to obey dreams1 to enquire of oracles1 to observe birds1 to hear omens in chance words1 to read divine messages in the flesh of sacrificial victims1 to make presents to the powers above for the purpose of securing blessings or averting wrath--these are the ways of a people from whose mind the primitive belief in close contact and converse with their gods has not been expelled by the invasion of education2 whose religion has not paid the price of ennobling its conceptions and elevating its ideals by making the worshipper feel too acutely his debasement and his distance from the godhead2 whose instinctive judgement divides the domain of faith from the domain of reason1 and accepts poetical beauty rather than logical probability as the evidence of things unseen4 ,true indeed it is that of all the practices by which this people's belief in intercourse with their gods is attested none is so remarkable as acquiescence or complicity in murder prompted solely by the belief that the victim by passing the gates of death can carry a message in person to one in whose power the future lies4 ,but all that is painful and gruesome in such a deed only accentuates the more the unflinching faith of a people who1 not in blind devotion to custom nor in fear of a prophet's command1 but intelligently and of piety prepense1 could sacrifice a compatriot and co-religionist to ensure the safe carriage of their most urgent prayers4 ,if tragedy consists in the conflict of deep emotions1 and religion in obeying the divine rather than the human1 few deeds have been more tragic1 none more religious than this4 ,in that scene at ,aulis when the warrior-king gave up his child at the prophet's bidding to stay the wrath of ,artemis against his host1 the tragedy was indeed intensified by the strength of the human tie between the sacrificer and the victim2 but blind and awe-struck submission to a prophet's decree is less grandly religious than clear-sighted recognition and courageous application of the belief that the dead pass immediately into the very presence of the gods4 ,here are the two given conditions3 first1 the urgency of the present or the peril of the future requires that a request for help be safely conveyed at all costs to that god or saint in whose province the control of the danger lies2 secondly1 the safest way of sending a message to that god or saint is by the mouth of a human messenger whose road is over the pass of death4 ,there is only one solution of that problem4 ,and if it is true that only some eighty years ago the problem was solved at so cruel a cost1 then the faith of this people in their communion with those on whose knees the future lies is more intense1 more vital1 more courageous than that of more ,western nations whose religion has long been subordinated or at least allied to morality1 and whose acts of worship are all well-regulated and eminently decorous4 ,human sacrifice is known to have been practised in ancient ,greece and the custom probably continued well into the ,christian era4 ,what was the motive which prompted the continuance of so cruel a rite8 ,was it the same as that which the old peasant of ,santorini assigned for the performance of a like act in his own experience--that conception of the victim as a messenger with which he can have been familiar only from native and oral tradition8 ,assuredly some strong religious motive must have compelled the ancients to a rite which in the absence of such motive would have been an indelible stigma upon their civilisation1 refuting all their claims to emancipation of thought and freedom of intellect1 and branding them the very bond-slaves of grossest superstition4 ,even though they lived on the marches of the ,east where human life is of small account1 the horror of the rite is in too vivid a contrast with ,hellenic enlightenment for us to see in it a mere callous retention of an unmeaning and savage custom2 but that horror is at least mitigated if underlying the practice there was some deep religious motive1 if a genuine faith in the possibility of direct intercourse with heaven exalted above the sacredness of human life the sacred privilege of sending a messenger to present the whole people's petition before their god4 ,but while it is easy to perceive that such a motive is in harmony with that belief in the possibility of the communion of man with ,god which is so pronounced a feature in the religion of the ancient ,greeks no less than in that of their descendants1 it is a far harder task actually1 to prove that this motive was the one acknowledged justification for human sacrifice4 ,ancient literature is extremely reticent on the whole subject2 the very fact of the existence of the rite is known chiefly from late writers1 ,plutarch#iah1 ,porphyry#iai1 and ,tzetzes#ibj2 and anything like a discussion of the motives which underlay it is nowhere to be found4 ,this reticence however was prompted1 we may suppose1 simply and solely by the patent barbarity of the act2 it in no way impugns the latent beauty of the motive4 ,rather the persistence in a rite which did violence to men's humaner feelings and moral sense proves the strength of the appeal which the motive for it must have addressed to their religious convictions4 ,there was no place for shame in the belief that death was the road by which alone a human messenger could gain immediate access to the gods2 but if a messenger were required to go at regular intervals1 the regular occurrence of deaths required murder4 ,this1 ,i think1 was the cause of shame and reticence4 ,now if this very simple analysis of the feelings which almost barred the discussion or even mention of human sacrifice by ancient authors is correct1 we should expect to find that1 where death occurred naturally and not by human intervention1 the conception of the dying or the dead as messengers to the unseen world would find ready and unembarrassed expression4 ,and especially is this to be expected among the ,greeks with whom grief has never imposed a check upon garrulity1 but rather the loudness of the lamentation has always been the test of the poignancy of the sorrow4 ,it is therefore in funeral-dirges and such-like that we must look for the expression of this idea4 ,an organised ceremony of lamentation is at the present day an essential part of every ,greek funeral1 and many dirges sung on such occasions have been collected and published4 ,in these the conception of the departed as a messenger1 or even as a carrier of goods1 abounds#iba4 ,a ,laconian dirge runs thus3 #8,a prudent lady1 a virtuous wife1 willed and resolved to go down to ,hades4 8,whoso has words0 7she cried7 8let him say them1 and messages1 let him send them2 whoso has a son there unarmed1 let him send his arms2 whoso has son there a scribe1 let him send his papers2 whoso has daughter undowered1 let him send her dowry2 whoso has a little child1 let him send his swaddling clothes40'#ibb ,the same thought inspires a dirge in ,passow's collection#ibc1 in which the thoughts of a dead man1 round whose body the women are sitting and weeping1 are thus expressed3 #8,why stand ye round about me1 all ye sorrowing women8 ,have ,i come forth from ,hades1 forth from the world below8 ,nay1 now am ,i making ready1 now am ,i at the point to go4 ,whoso hath word1 let him speak it1 and message1 let him tell it2 whoso hath long complaint1 let him write and send it4' ,and again in another funeral-song a dead man is described as a #8trusty courier bound for the world below#ibd4' ,this sentiment1 so frequently and so clearly expressed in the modern dirges1 is of ancient descent4 ,polyxena1 about to be sacrificed at ,achilles' tomb1 is made by ,euripides to address to her mother the question1 #8,what am ,i to say from thee to ,hector or to thy aged husband8'1 and ,hecuba answers1 #8,my message is that ,i am of all women most miserable#ibe4' ,and it is the same genuinely ,hellenic thought which ,vergil attributes to ,neoptolemus when he answers ,priam's taunts of degeneracy with the words1 #8,these tidings then thou shalt carry1 and shalt go as messenger to my sire1 the son of ,peleus2 forget not to tell him of my sorry deeds and that ,neoptolemus is no true son4 ,now die#ibf4' ,and it is not only in the poetry of ancient and modern ,greece but also in the actual customs of the people that this idea has found expression4 ,at the present day funerals are constantly treated by the peasants as real opportunities of communicating with their dead friends and relatives4 ,whether the custom is ever carried out exactly as it once was by the ,galatae1 who used to write letters to the departed and to lay them on the pyre of each new courier to the lower world#ibg1 ,i cannot definitely say2 but a proverbial expression used of a person dangerously ill1 1 #8he is collecting letters for the dead1' lends colour to the supposition that either now or in earlier days this form of the custom is or has been in vogue4 ,but in general now certainly the messages are not written but verbal4 ,it is a common custom1 noticed by many writers on ,greek folklore#ibh1 for the women who assist in the ceremonial lamentation which precedes the interment to insert in the dirges1 which they each in turn contribute1 messages which they require the newly-dead to deliver to some departed person whom they name1 or1 according to a slightly different usage1 to whisper such messages secretly in the ear of the dead either immediately before the body is borne away to the church#ibi1 or1 where women are allowed to attend the actual interment1 at the moment of #8the last kiss' 7 71 which forms an essential and very painful part of the ,eastern rite4 ,the antiquity of this custom appears to me to be as certain as anything which is not explicitly stated in ancient literature can be4 ,for in every detail of ancient funeral usage known to us there is so complete a coincidence with modern usage that it would be absurd not to supplement records of the past by observation of the present4 ,actually to establish that identity in every particular is beyond the scope of the present chapter and must be reserved until later2 but my assertion may be justified here by reference to three points in ,solon's legislation on the subject of funerals4 ,that legislation was directed against three practices to which mourners were addicted in this ceremonial lamentation of which ,i have been speaking--laceration of the cheeks and breast1 the use of set and premeditated dirges1 and lamentation for any other than him whose funeral was in progress#icj--;customs which all still flourish4 ,the laceration is quite a common feature of such occasions4 ,indeed in some districts the women nearest of kin to the deceased are almost thought to fail in their duty to him if they do not work themselves up into an hysterical mood and testify to the wildness of their grief by tearing out their hair and scratching their cheeks till the blood flows4 ,such a display of agony1 it must be remembered1 comes easy to the ,greeks3 for their temperament is such that1 even when the fact of the bereavement has moved them little1 the rle of the bereaved excites them to the most dramatic excesses4 ,men rarely if ever now take part in this scene1 and are certainly not guilty of such transports2 for their usual method of mourning is to let their hair grow instead of tearing it out1 and to avoid laceration by forswearing the razor4 ,again1 the use of set dirges1 composed or adapted beforehand to suit the estate and circumstances of the deceased1 is almost universal2 and so essential to the funeral-rite is the formal lamentation that there are actually women whose profession it is to intone dirges and who are hired for the occasion4 ,these professional mourners 7 or 7 take their seats round the corpse in order of seniority and assist the wife1 mother1 sisters1 cousins1 and aunts1 who also take their seats according to degree of kinship 7the head of the bier being of course the place of honour71 to keep up an incessant flow of lamentation4 ,the scene differs in no detail1 save that the hired mourners now are always women1 from that which was enacted round the body of ,hector4 ,there too #8they set singers to lead the lamentation1' and of the women present it was ,andromache1 the wife1 who began the wailing1 ,hecuba1 the mother1 who followed next1 and ,helen whose voice was heard third and last#ica4 ,the singers who led the lamentation were probably then as now hired1 for ,plato speaks of paid minstrels at funerals using a particular style of music known as ,carian#icb--;a custom suggestive of antiquity2 and in all probability the singing of set dirges1 which ,solon tried to suppress1 was the recognised business of professional and paid mourners2 for dirges premeditated by the relatives would have been less objectionable1 one may suppose1 than their hysterical improvisations4 ,what success his legislation obtained in ,athens cannot now be ascertained2 but the custom was undoubtedly universal in ,greece1 and with the exception of the ,ionian islands1 where the ,venetians imitated ,solon in sternly repressing what they regarded as a scandal and a grave offence against public decency#icc1 all parts of ,greece still to some extent retain it2 and it is likely long to survive for the simple reason that lamentation has always been held by the ,greeks to be as essential to the repose of the dead as burial4 ,there is more than hazard in the repeated collocation of 1 1 #8unwept1 unburied1' in the tragedians#icd2 there is the religious idea that the dead need a twofold rite1 both mourning and interment4 ,the third point in the funeral customs to which ,solon demurred was that mourners attending the ceremony of lamentation misused the occasion by wailing again for their own dead and neglecting him whose death had brought them together4 ,this practice was known to the ,homeric age2 for while ,brises #8tore with her hands her breast and smooth neck and fair face' and with shrill wailing and tears made lament over ,patroclus1 #8the women joined their groans to hers1 for ,patroclus in form1 but each really for their own losses#ice4' ,there is no intention of satire here2 it is simply a nave touch in the picture of a familiar and pathetic scene4 ,patroclus' death furnished the excuse and the occasion for tears1 but most of those tears--pent up till they might flow freely and without shame--were shed for nearer sorrows1 dearer losses4 ,to-day the manner is the same4 ,in some districts1 as in ,chios#icf1 a woman's desire to lament again over her own dead is recognised as so legitimate that etiquette merely prescribes that she first must make mention of the present dead and afterwards she is free to mourn for whom she will2 and indeed throughout ,greece the opportunity for rehearsing former sorrows is rarely neglected4 ,now when in these details that have been enumerated 7as well as in many others such as the washing1 arraying1 and crowning of the dead body1 the antiquity of which will be treated in another chapter#icg7 that portion of ancient usage which is known from literary sources is found surviving1 point for point identical1 as a portion of modern usage1 then the defect of ancient literary sources is best and most reasonably supplemented from present observations4 ,thus we know from the ,iliad that the women of the ,homeric age used ,patroclus' funeral as an occasion for renewing their wailing over their own losses2 we know too from ,plutarch that in ,solon's age the same practice had attained such excessive proportions that legislation intervened to check it2 the only detail which we are not told is whether the mourners in commemorating thus their own dead friends were wont to entrust messages for them to him about whose bier they were assembled4 ,but when the ancient picture of funeral-usage corresponds thus in every distinguishable trait with the living scenes of to-day1 clearly the right way of restoring that which is obscured or obliterated in the picture is to go and to see still enacted in all its traditional fulness that very scene which the remnants of ancient literature imperfectly pourtray4 ,and by going and seeing we learn this--that one strongly marked characteristic of funeral-rites is the belief1 both expressed in words and evidenced in acts1 that he whose death has brought the mourners together is a messenger who can and will carry tidings to those who have preceded him to the world below4 ,then on looking back we may feel confident that that aspect of death1 which prompted ,polyxena to ask what message she should bear from ,hecuba to ,hector and to ,priam1 was no mere poetic conceit imagined by ,euripides1 but a common feature of the popular religion4 ,the belief that the passing spirit is a sure and unerring messenger to another world has ever been the property of the ,hellenic people4 ,since then this belief existed in ancient times and the practice of human sacrifice also existed1 it remains to enquire whether the two were correlated as cause and effect1 as in my story from ,santorini4 ,in this enquiry the reticence of ancient literature on the subject precludes1 as ,i have pointed out1 actual certainty2 but a passage from ,herodotus offers a clue which is worth following up4 ,in speaking of the ,getae1 a ,thracian people1 he remarks that they believe in their own immortality4 #8,they hold that they themselves do not die1 but the departed go to dwell with a god named ,zalmoxis4444 ,and every four years they choose one of their own number by lot and despatch him as messenger to ,zalmoxis1 enjoining upon him the delivery of their various requests4 ,the manner of sending him is this4 ,some of them are set to hold up three spears1 while others take their emissary by his arms and by his legs and swinging him up into the air let him fall upon the spear-points4 ,if he be pierced by them mortally1 they consider that their god is favourable to them2 but if death do not result1 they lay the blame on the messenger himself and give him a bad name2 but having censured him they despatch another man instead4 ,their injunctions are given to the messenger before he is killed#ich4' ,now no one can fail to notice that ,herodotus' own interest in this custom centres not in the idea which prompted it but in the manner of carrying it out4 ,his account of it reads as if he knew his ,greek readers to be familiar enough with the conception of human sacrifice as a means of sending a messenger to some god2 but he seems to be contrasting the method adopted with some rite of which they were cognisant4 ,tacit comparisons of foreign customs with those of ,greece occur all through ,herodotus' work4 ,the points which he here seems to emphasize are1 first1 that the messenger of the ,getae was one of themselves1 not a prisoner of war or a slave2 secondly1 that impaling was the ritual mode of death--a mode which the ,greeks held in abhorrence and would never have employed2 and1 thirdly1 that the messages were committed to the victim's charge before and not after death4 ,the inference therefore is that ,herodotus and the ,greeks for whom he was writing were accustomed to some rite which was inspired by the same motive but was differently executed1 the messenger being other than a citizen1 the method of sacrifice less barbarous to their minds than impaling1 and the messages being whispered1 as at funerals1 in the dead victim's ear2 for of course1 if the newly-dead could carry tidings to men in the other world1 they could equally well carry petitions to gods4 ,moreover my contention that ,herodotus had in mind some ,greek rite1 with which he was contrasting that of the ,getae1 is borne out by the passage immediately following1 in which the idea of comparison comes to the surface4 ,this ,zalmoxis1 he continues1 according to the ,greeks of the ,hellespont and the ,euxine1 was in origin not a god but a man4 ,he served for a time as a slave to ,pythagoras in ,samos1 but having gained his liberty and considerable wealth returned to ,thrace and tried to reclaim his countrymen from savagery and ignorance4 ,the ways of life and the doctrines which he inculcated were such as he had derived from intercourse with ,greeks and above all with ,pythagoras1 whose teachings concerning immortality and a future life in a happier land he both preached and 7by the trick of hiding himself for three years in a subterranean chamber and then re-appearing to those who had believed him dead7 illustrated in his own person4 ,this story is neither accepted nor rejected by ,herodotus1 but1 estimating ,zalmoxis to have been of much earlier date than ,pythagoras1 he inclines slightly to the view that ,zalmoxis was really a native god of the ,getae4 ,if we may assume this view to be correct1 what significance is to be attached to the story of ,zalmoxis' relations with ,pythagoras8 ,evidently it is one of those fictions by which the ancient ,greeks loved to bring the great figures of history into contact and personal acquaintance4 ,pythagoras and ,zalmoxis were two names with which was associated the doctrine of immortality2 some story therefore of their meeting was desirable4 ,and since ,pythagoras was ,greek1 ,zalmoxis barbarian1 the legend that the slave ,zalmoxis was instructed by his master ,pythagoras was more flattering to ,hellenic pride than the idea that ,pythagoras in his travels should have borrowed so important a doctrine from a foreign religion2 and if chronology did not concur--well1 imagination always had precedence of accuracy4 ,to the ,greeks who invented the tale fitness was of more account than fact2 and for us who dismiss the actual story as mere fiction their sense of its fitness remains instructive4 ,it shows that the ,greeks recognised the existence of specially close relations between the religion of the ,getae and their own--relations attested probably not only by their common acceptance of the doctrine of immortality1 for that was the property of other peoples too1 but also by some resemblance between the rites of the ,getae which were based upon that doctrine and similar rites practised1 as ,herodotus hints1 by themselves4 ,then again if the motive which we have found operating in ,herodotus' time among the ,getae and operating also less than a century ago among the peasants of ,santorini was not the motive which prompted the ancient ,greeks to human sacrifice1 how can we account for the long perpetuation of the practice8 ,it is practically certain that it was tolerated in ,athens during the period of her ascendency and highest enlightenment#ici2 but the repugnance which it inspired is proved by the reticence which almost concealed the fact from posterity4 ,it was practised apparently in honour of ,lycaean ,zeus in the time of ,pausanias#idj2 but the horror of it closed his lips concerning this #8secret sacrifice4' ,suppose then that the motive for this sacrifice had been the sating of a wolf-like god--for so ,pausanias seems to have understood the epithet #ida--with human flesh2 could such a rite have continued in any part of ,greece for some six centuries after it had become repugnant at least in ,athens8 ,was the supposed motive so sublime that it was held to hallow or even to mitigate the barbarity of the act8 ,or did the custom live on without motive when an anthropomorphic ,zeus had superseded the old wolf-like deity8 ,custom1 it is true1 often outlives its parent belief2 but custom itself is not invulnerable nor deathless if it has to battle against sentiments irreconcilably opposed to that original belief4 ,if the purpose of propitiating a wolf-god with human flesh was rendered null and void by the modifications which the conception of ,lycaean ,zeus had undergone1 how could the crude and savage rite have still flourished in the uncongenial soil of an humaner civilisation--unless of course some new stream of religious thought1 instead of the original motive1 had watered and revived it8 ,the very fact that so hideous a custom was so long maintained in civilised ,greece argues that1 whatever the original motive of it may have been1 only some strong religious belief in the necessity of it could have saved it from extinction in the historical age4 ,surely it was some convincing plea of justification1 and not mere acquiescence in the inveteracy of custom1 which caused ,pausanias1 though he could not bring himself to describe or to discuss the horrid sacrifice1 yet to conclude his brief allusion to it with the words1 #8as it was in the beginning and is now1 so let it be#idb4' ,my reasons then for suggesting that one motive which led to human sacrifice in ancient ,greece was the belief that the victim could carry a petition in person to the gods are threefold4 ,first1 that motive was recognised as sufficient by a peasant of ,santorini1 who can only have inherited the idea1 just as all the ideas of divination have been inherited1 from the ancient world4 ,secondly1 ,herodotus appears to contrast the method of such sacrifice among the ,getae with the method of some similar rite familiar to his audience and to imply that the motive in each case was the same4 ,thirdly1 without an adequate motive--and it is hard to see what other motive could have been adequate in the case which ,i have taken--it is almost inconceivable that human sacrifice should have continued1 in spite of the repugnance which it certainly excited1 for so long a time4 ,for these reasons ,i submit that the known belief of the ancients that the dead could serve as messengers to the other world and their known custom of making human sacrifice were correlated in the minds of thinking men in the more civilised ages as cause and effect4 ,the reservation1 #8in the minds of thinking men in the more civilised ages1' is necessary2 for ,i am at a loss how to determine whether the belief in question was the original motive of the custom or a later justification of the custom when its original motive had been forgotten4 ,either the belief was coeval with the custom1 and both were inherited together from ancestors belonging to that #8lower barbaric stage' of culture in which #8men do not stop short at the persuasion that death releases the soul to a free and active existence1 but they quite logically proceed to assist nature by slaying men in order to liberate their souls for ghostly uses#idc'2 or on the other hand the custom of human sacrifice originated in some other motive 7such as satisfying the appetite of a beast-like god7 and remaining itself unchanged1 while the conception of the god was gradually humanised until his beast-form and therewith the original purpose of the sacrifice were lost to memory1 embarrassed a more enlightened and humaner age until a new justification for it was found in the messenger-functions of the dead4 ,in support of the former supposition it may be mentioned that tribes far more barbarous than the ,getae 7who may have benefited from ,greek civilisation7 have evolved the particular ghostly use of dead men's souls which we are considering4 ,in ,dahome1 according to ,captain ,burton1 not only are a large number of wives1 eunuchs1 singers1 drummers1 and soldiers slaughtered at the king's funeral1 that they may wait on him in another world1 but #8whatever action1 however trivial1 is performed by the 7new7 king1 it must dutifully be reported to his sire in the shadowy realm4 ,a victim1 almost always a war-captive1 is chosen2 the message is delivered to him1 an intoxicating draught of rum follows it1 and he is dispatched to ,hades in the best of humours#idd4' ,there is therefore no objection to the supposition that the ,hellenic people too from the days of prehistoric savagery were constantly actuated by this motive4 ,on the other hand it is equally admissible to think that some cruder motive first led the population of ,greece to adopt the custom of human sacrifice1 and that it was only comparatively late in their history1 in an age when men's humaner instincts were offended by the atrocity of the rite and religious speculation on the subject of the soul's immortality was rife1 that the old custom was invested with a new meaning4 ,herodotus clearly recognised the connexion between the rite of the ,getae and the doctrine of immortality which was bound up with the names of ,zalmoxis and ,pythagoras2 and it is possible that in ,greece too the later justification of human sacrifice was founded on the same doctrine4 ,it would have been an irony of fate truly if a doctrine not indeed founded1 ,i think1 but largely expounded by ,pythagoras1 who forbade his followers to kill even animals for the purposes of food1 should have been so construed as to furnish a plea for the immolation of men2 but it is quite clear that a belief in the activity of the soul after death1 superimposed upon the desire for close communion between men and gods1 might have had that issue4 ,but1 as ,i have said1 ,i see no means of deciding at what date the correlation of the conception of the dead as messengers and the custom of human sacrifice as cause and effect first entered men's minds2 but that in the historical age that correlation was acknowledged seems to me highly probable4 ,such a view would certainly have militated against the substitution of animal for human victims2 for only a man would have been felt to be capable of understanding the message and of delivering it to the god to whom he was sent4 ,this perhaps is the reason why the use of a surrogate animal--though early introduced1 as one version of the story of ,iphigenia proves--never met with universal acceptance1 and why also at the present day there remains a vague but real feeling that for the proper laying of foundations a human victim is preferable to beast or bird#ide4 ,to single out particular instances of ancient sacrifice in which this motive may have operated is1 owing to the general absence of data concerning the ritual1 well-nigh impossible4 ,the sacrifice to ,lycaean ,zeus was performed upon an altar before which1 according to ,pausanias#idf1 there stood two columns and upon them two gilded eagles2 and we may surmise that as the eagles represented to his mind the messengers sent by ,zeus to men1 so did the human victim represent the messenger of men to ,zeus4 ,but this can be only a conjecture1 for ,pausanias' silence admits of no more4 ,of the ceremony connected with the pharmakos1 or human scape-goat1 at ,athens and elsewhere somewhat more is known4 ,certain persons ungainly in appearance and debased in character were maintained at the public expense1 in order that1 if any calamity such as a pestilence should befall the city1 they might be sacrificed to purify the city from pollution4 ,these persons were called 1 #8scape-goats1' or 1 #8purifications#idg4' #8,if calamity overtook a city through divine wrath1 whether it were famine or pestilence or any other bane1' a pharmakos was led out to an appointed place for sacrifice4 ,cheese1 barley-cake1 and dried figs were given to him4 ,he was smitten seven times on the privy parts with squills and wild figs and other wild plants2 and finally he was burnt with fire upon fuel collected from wild trees1 and the ashes were scattered to the winds and the sea#idh4 ,at ,athens1 it appears1 this rite was performed1 not under the stress of occasional calamity1 but annually as part of the ,thargelia1 and was therefore associated with ,apollo#idi4 ,all this evidence1 with corroboration from other sources than those to which ,i have referred1 has recently been set forth by ,miss ,harrison1 who certainly has made out a strong case for the view which she thus summarises3 #8,the leading out of the pharmakos is then a purely magical ceremony based on ignorance and fear2 it is not a human sacrifice to ,apollo or to any other divinity or even ghost1 it is a ceremony of physical expulsion#iej4' ,in other words1 the pharmakos was treated as an incarnation of the polluting influence from which the city was suffering2 and his expulsion 7which only incidentally involved his death7 was the means of purification4 ,but there are certain points in the practice which incline me to put forward another view of the pharmakos4 ,his mission undoubtedly was to purify the city2 but the question to my mind is whether he was expelled as a personification of the pollution or was led out and despatched to the other world as a messenger on the city's behalf to petition ,apollo or some other deity for purification from the defilement4 ,it might1 ,i think1 have been this ,greek rite which was present to ,herodotus' mind when he was describing human sacrifice among the ,getae4 ,he was apparently familiar1 we saw1 with the conception of the human victim as a messenger2 and the contrasts in method which seem to have struck him most would certainly have been provided by the ceremony of the pharmakos4 ,the ,getae chose the victim by lot from among themselves2 the ,athenians apparently selected some deformed or criminal slave--one of the very scum of the population4 ,the ,getae impaled their messenger upon the spears of warriors2 the ,athenians treated the pharmakos as a burnt-sacrifice4 ,the ,getae entrusted their messages to the victim before he was slain2 did the ,athenians perchance whisper their petitions for purification in the ear of the dead pharmakos as he lay on the pyre8 ,was he the messenger whose treatment ,herodotus had in mind8 ,there are certain points in the ritual itself which make for that view4 ,the pharmakos was maintained for a time at the public cost4 ,why so8 ,a kindred custom of ,marseilles in ancient times supplies the answer4 #8,whenever the inhabitants of ,marseilles suffer from a pestilence1 one of the poorer class offers himself to be kept at the public expense and fed on specially pure foods4 ,after this has been done he is decorated with sacred boughs and clad in holy garments1 and led about through the whole city to the accompaniment of curses1 in order that upon him may fall all the ills of the whole city1 and thus he is cast headlong down#iea4' ,the pharmakos was therefore publicly maintained in order that he might be purified by diet4 ,again1 we know1 the pharmakos was provided before the sacrifice with cheese1 barley-cake1 and dried figs--pure food1 it would seem1 with which to sustain himself on his journey to the other world4 ,again1 he was smitten seven times on the privy parts with squills and branches of wild fig and other wild plants4 ,why with squill and wild fig8 ,because plants of this kind were purgative1 as ,miss ,harrison#ieb very clearly points out4 ,among other evidences of the existence of this idea1 ,lucian#iec makes ,menippus relate how before he was allowed to consult the oracle of the dead he was 8purged and wiped clean and consecrated with squill and torches40 ,and why on the privy parts8 ,because sexual purity was required4 ,when ,creon was bidden to sacrifice a son for the salvation of his city in a time of calamity such as commonly called for the sacrifice of a pharmakos1 ,haemon was refused because of his marriage#ied1 and ,menoeceus was the only pure victim4 ,and why beaten at all8 ,because again1 as ,miss ,harrison shows#iee1 the act of beating was expulsive of evil and pollution4 ,so then the chief part of the ritual was devoted to purifying the pharmakos himself4 ,but if the pharmakos was thus himself made pure1 how could his expulsion purify the city8 ,how could a man deliberately cleansed by every religious or magical device serve as the embodiment of that pollution of which the city sought to be rid8 ,miss ,harrison#ief seeks to explain this difficulty on the grounds of that combination of the notions #8sacred' and #8accursed1' #8pure' and #8impure1' which the savage describes in the word #8taboo4' ,but the notion of #8taboo1' though complex1 is not illogical2 anything supernatural1 which when properly used or respected is holy1 is logically enough believed to be fraught with a curse for those who misuse or disregard it4 ,but deliberately to purify that which is to be the embodiment of defilement is not the outcome of a complex but logical primitive notion2 it is simply illogical4 ,the view of the rite then which ,i propose is briefly this4 ,the pharmakos was originally a messenger1 representative of a whole people1 carrying to some god their petition for deliverance from any great calamity2 and1 that he might be fitted to enter the presence of the god1 he was purified1 like ,menippus before he was allowed to approach even an oracle1 by every known means4 ,but the office of pharmakos did not always remain a post of honour4 ,it was naturally not coveted by those who found any pleasure in life2 and gradually the duty devolved upon the lowest of the low4 ,instead of an ,iphigenia or a ,menoeceus the people's chosen representative was some criminal or slave1 and the personality of the messenger overshadowed the character of his office4 ,the original purport of the rite was forgotten4 ,instead of being honoured as the people's ambassador1 specially purified for his mission of intercession with the gods1 he was deemed an outcast by whose removal the people could rid themselves of pollution4 ,thus the religious rite lost its true motive and degenerated into a magical ceremony of riddance4 ,that this debased idea was the vulgar interpretation of the rite in historical ,athens is absolutely proved by a passage from ,lysias' speech against ,andocides3 #8,we needs must hold that in avenging ourselves and ridding ourselves of ,andocides we purify the city and perform apotropaic ceremonies and solemnly expel a pharmakos and rid ourselves of a criminal2 for of this sort the fellow is#ieg4' ,but the whole ritual forms a protest against that idea4 ,its keynote was the sanctification1 not the degradation1 of the pharmakos4 ,in ,marseilles indeed the people's change of attitude towards the messenger whom they so scrupulously purified had gone so far that imprecations upon him were substituted for the prayers which he should have been bidden to carry2 but in ,athens and in ,ionia the ritual itself1 so far as we know1 contained no suggestion of contempt or hatred of the victim4 ,it was only the appearance and the character of those who were selected as pharmakoi which made of the word a term of vulgar abuse such as we find it to be in ,aristophanes#ieh2 for the scattering of the victim's ashes to the winds and waves must not be interpreted as an act denoting any abhorrence of the dead man4 ,its significance is rather this4 ,religious motives had involved an act of bloodshed1 and the people who had performed it as a religious duty were1 like ,orestes1 none the less guilty of blood4 ,in any case of blood-guilt it was held prudent for the guilty party to take precautions against his victim's vengeance2 and one means to this end was1 as we shall see later1 to burn the body and scatter its ashes4 ,in the modern story from ,santorini there is a precaution mentioned which has precisely the same object2 the victim's hands1 as well as his head1 were cut off4 ,this1 as ,i shall show later1 is a survival of the old or mutilation of murdered men1 by which they were rendered innocuous1 if they should return from the grave1 and incapable of vengeance upon their murderers4 ,there is then1 ,i repeat1 nothing in the ritual itself which suggests any contempt or hatred of the victim1 as there assuredly would have been if from the first he had been the incarnation of the city's defilement4 ,possibly then the pharmakos was originally a messenger from men to gods1 sent in any time of great calamity and peril2 possibly too this significance of the rite had not in ,herodotus' time been wholly supplanted by the lower view to which ,lysias gave utterance4 ,lysias was addressing a jury and abusing an opponent2 a vulgar and base presentment of the pharmakos suited the occasion4 ,but sober and reflective men may still have read in the ritual its early meaning and have recognised in the pharmakos1 for all his sorry appearance1 the purified representative of a people sent by them to lay their prayers before some god4 ,this1 ,i am aware1 is a suggestion and no more4 ,to prove the existence of this motive underlying any given case of human sacrifice in ancient times is1 owing to the meagre character of the data1 impossible4 ,but since at any rate the conception of the dead as messengers was known to the ancients--for that much1 ,i think1 ,i have proved--the suggestion deserves consideration4 ,if it be right1 it shows that even the most ugly and repulsive ceremonies of ,greek worship need not be regarded as damning refutation of the beauty of ,greek religion4 ,though the act of human sacrifice is horrible1 the motive for it may have been sublime4 ,where else in the civilised world is the faith which whispers messages in a dead ear8 ,who shall cast the first stone at those who in this faith dared to speed their messenger upon the road of death8 ,surely such a deed is the crowning act of a faith which by dreams and oracles1 by auspices and sacrificial omens1 has ever sought after communion with the gods4 ,yet no1 that faith aspired even higher2 another chapter will treat of a sacrament which foreshadowed not merely the colloquy of men with gods as of servants with masters1 but a closer communion between them1 the communion of love2 for1 as ,plato says in the text which heads this chapter1 #8all sacrifices and all the arts of divination1 wherein consists the mutual communion of gods and men1 are for nought else but the guarding and tending of ,love4' ,,footnotes3 #ghg ,hesiod1 ,works and ,days1 #ahe1 with reading 4 #ghh and 1 cf4 ,eur4 ,h4 ,f4 #aaai4 #ghi ,de divinatione1 ,i4 #c4 #gij op4 cit4 ,i4 #ah4 #gia ,prom4 ,vinct4 #dhe-ii4 #gib ,suid4 ,lex4 s4v4 4 #gic ,cic4 de ,divin4 ,i4 #d4 #gid ,ibid4 ,i4 #f and #ah4 #gie ,above1 p4 #bha4 #gif ,cf4 ,lucian1 ,philopseudes1 #ai and #bj4 #gig ,see above p4 #fj4 #gih ,nov4 #bf4 #gii 1 1 ,,iii4 p4 #ai4 #hjj ,cf4 ,cic4 de ,divinat4 ,i4 #ah4 #hja ,the shift of accent is curious4 ,it may be some result of dialect1 but is not explained4 #hjb e4g4 ,hom4 ,od4 ,,xviii4 #aaf4 #hjc ,at midsummer4 ,the name of the custom is sometimes given as a title to the saint himself2 and from his willingness to enlighten enquirers concerning their future lot he is also named sometimes 7the enlightener7 and 7from 1 #8lot' or #8destiny'71 4 4 1 1 p4 #hf4 #hjd ,sonnini de ,magnoncourt1 ,voyage en ,grce et en ,turquie1 ,,ii4 pp4 #abf-g4 #hje ,in the ,iliad it is not found4 ,cf4 ,bouch ,leclercq1 ,hist4 de la ,divination1 ,i4 p4 #aef4 #hjf ,hom4 ,od4 ,,xvii4 #aad ff4 ,cf4 also ,od4 ,,xx4 #ih ff4 #hjg ,for examples see ,herod4 ,v4 #gb1 ,,viii4 #aad1 ,,ix4 #fd1 #ia2 ,xenoph4 ,anab4 ,i4 #h4 #af4 ,cf4 ,bouch ,leclercq1 op4 cit4 ,i4 p4 #aeg4 ,the word is in some of these passages used in the sense of 4 #hjh ,paus4 ,,vii4 #bb4 #b1 #c4 #hji ,le ,bas et ,waddington1 ,voyage ,archologique1 ,v4 #agbd;a4 #haj ,paus4 ,,ix4 #aa4 #g4 ,cf4 ,bouch ,leclercq1 ,hist4 de la ,divin4 ,i4 p4 #aei and ,,ii4 p4 #djj4 #haa ,paus4 ibid4 #hab ,the proper precaution is prescribed in the couplet1 ' 1 ' ' 4 ,si per viam sacerdoti occurres1 testiculos tuos teneto4 #hac 1 #8a donkey1 with your leave4' ,so also often in mentioning the number #8three1' and sometimes with #8five4' #had ,aristoph4 ,aves1 #gbj4 #hae ,eccles4 #gib4 #haf ,theophr4 ,char4 #af4 #a4 #hag ,ibid4 #hah op4 cit4 #af4 #c4 #hai ,cf4 ,suidas1 s4v4 4 #hbj ,bouch ,leclercq1 op4 cit4 ,i4 p4 #abi4 #hba ,assuming derivation from 1 as from 1 from 4 #hbb ,plutarch1 de solertia animalium1 cap4 #bj 7p4 #ige74 #hbc ,bouch ,leclercq1 ,hist4 de la ,divin4 ,i4 p4 #acc-d4 #hbd e4g4 ,hom4 ,il4 ,,xxiv4 #caj4 #hbe ,hom4 ,il4 ,,viii4 #bdg4 #hbf ,etymol4 ,magn4 p4 #fai1 s4v4 4 #hbg ,apoll4 ,rhod4 ,,iii4 #icj4 #hbh ,ovid1 ,metam4 ,,ii4 #edh sqq4 #hbi ,hom4 ,od4 ,,xv4 #ebf4 #hcj ,hom4 ,il4 ,x4 #bgd4 #hca ,plutarch1 ,pyth4 ,orac4 cap4 #bb4 #hcb ,paroemiogr4 ,graec4 ,i4 pp4 #bbh1 #bca1 #ceb4 #hcc 4 #hcd ,suid41 ,lexicon1 s4v4 4 #hce op4 cit4 #b4 #hcf ,cf4 ,bouch ,leclercq1 op4 cit4 ,i4 p4 #adj1 note #b4 #hcg ,hesiod1 ,works and ,days1 #gde4 #hch ,the identification of the birds named by even the more intelligent peasants is necessarily uncertain4 ,the name is seemingly onomatopoeic1 suggesting the hooting of the owl1 but is generally reserved to the brown owl4 #hci op4 cit4 #b4 #hdj ,in the dialects of ,scyros and other ,aegean islands1 before the sounds of and is regularly softened to 4 ,the has1 as often1 suffered metathesis4 #hda ,hom4 ,od4 ,,xv4 #ebd ff4 #hdb ,derivation from 1 instead of 1 and is possible1 but less likely4 ,it would then be an euphemistic name1 #8bird of joy4' ,an owl named 7on which see above1 p4 #ahj7 appears to be a semi-mythical bird chiefly found in ,hades2 it is possibly identical with #8,charon's bird4' #hdc ,cf4 4 1 1 p4 #abf4 #hdd ,il4 ,,vii4 #ahd4 #hde ,od4 ,,xvii4 #cfe4 #hdf ,il4 ,i4 #eig4 #hdg 1 1 p4 #cbj4 #hdh ,aristot4 ,hist4 ,an4 ,,ix4 #a4 #hdi ,cf4 ,aesch4 ,sept4 #bd1 ,soph4 ,antig4 #iii sqq4 #hej ,origen1 contra ,cels4 ,,iv4 #hh4 #hea ,homeric ,hymn to ,demeter1 #df4 #heb e4g4 ,passow1 ,popul4 ,carm4 nos4 #abb1 #abc1 #bac1 #bcb1 #bcd1 #bce1 #bea et passim4 #hec ,a4 ,luber in a monograph ,die ,vgel in den historischen ,liedern der ,neugriechen1 pp4 #f ff41 notes the impossibility of determining in many cases whether a real bird or a scout is meant4 #hed ,passow1 ,popul4 ,carm4 no4 #dae1 vv4 #e-g4 ,cf4 #dac1 #dad4 #hee ,ibid4 no4 #daj4 #hef 7probably a diminutive from 71 a #8falcon1' is a favourite name for the warrior1 just as the humbler 1 #8bird1' is used for #8scout4' #heg ,with reference to ,ibrahim's ,egyptian troops4 #heh ,passow1 ,popul4 ,carm4 no4 #bef4 #hei ,cic4 de ,divin4 ,i4 #eb1 ,,ii4 #ab1 #ae1 #af1 #ag4 ,cf4 ,bouch ,leclercq1 ,hist4 de la ,divin4 ,i4 p4 #afg4 #hfj ,plato1 ,tim4 #ga c4 #hfa ,philostr4 ,vit4 ,apollon4 ,,viii4 #g4 #di-eb4 ,cf4 ,bouch ,leclercq1 op4 cit4 ,i4 p4 #afh4 #hfb ,for authorities on this point see ,bouch ,leclercq1 op4 cit4 ,i4 p4 #agj4 #hfc ,cf4 ibid4 p4 #afi4 #hfd ,k4 ,o4 ,mller 7die ,etrusker1 ,,ii4 p4 #ahg7 places the introduction of the custom in the sixth century ,b4,c4 #hfe ,bybilakis1 ,neugriechisches ,leben1 p4 #di 7#ahdj74 #hff 1 #a4 #hfg 1 1 p4 #baj4 ,no details are given4 #hfh 1 1 p4 #agf4 #hfi ,the writer does not actually mention the two things in connexion4 ,he belongs to that class of modern ,greek writers who exhibit their own intellectual emancipation by deploring or deriding popular superstitions1 and wastes so much energy therein that he fails to note such points of interest4 ,but1 since it is not probable that the peasants of ,epirus eat meat more often than other ,greek peasants1 the connexion of the sacrifice and the divination may1 ,i think1 be assumed4 #hgj ,certain details of the art as practised in ,macedonia are given by ,abbott1 ,macedonian ,folklore1 p4 #if4 ,but1 as they may in part be due to ,albanian influence there1 ,i have not made use of them4 #hga 444 l4 c4 #hgb ,reading for of ,codex ,vindobonensis1 as published in ,philologus1 #ahec1 p4 #aff4 #hgc ,the word is 4 ,this in relation to the body generally means the #8spine1' but can be used of any ridge 7as of a hill71 and so here1 ,i suppose1 of the ridge of bone along the shoulder-blade4 #hgd ,so ,i understand the somewhat obscure sentence1 4441 conjecturing before 1 where ,codex ,vindob4 has corruptly 4 #hge ,prom4 ,vinct4 #dic4 #hgf ,pausan4 ,,vi4 #b4 #e4 #hgg ,tatian1 adv4 ,graecos1 ,i4 ,cf4 ,bouch ,leclercq1 ,hist4 de la ,divin4 ,i4 p4 #agj4 #hgh ,in ,zagorion in ,epirus1 the ram is sacrificed on the entrance of the bride to her new home 7cf4 the sacrifice of a cock mentioned below74 1 1 p4 #ahc4 #hgi ,curtius ,wachsmuth1 ,das alte ,griechenland im ,neuen1 p4 #hf4 #hhj ,in ,macedonia the weasel is said on the contrary to be a good omen4 ,abbott1 ,macedonian ,folklore1 p4 #ajh4 #hha 1 1 p4 #bjc4 #hhb ,theophr4 ,char4 #af4 #hhc ,theocr4 ,id4 ,,ii4 #ce4 #hhd ,so too in antiquity apparently according to ,propertius ,,iv4 7,v47 #c4 #fj2 ,ovid 7,heroid4 ,,xix4 #aea7 on the contrary reckons it a good omen4 #hhe ,theocr4 ,id4 ,,iii4 #cg ' 2 the order of the words1 it will be seen1 justifies the emphasis which ,i have given to and to 4 #hhf ,dialog4 ,meretric4 #i4 #b4 #hhg ,the significance of right and left in this case is reversed in ,macedonia 7cf4 ,abbott1 ,macedonian ,folklore1 p4 #aab74 ,but in all these instances ,i am only giving what ,i have found to be the commonest form of the superstition in ,greece as a whole4 #hhh ,abbott1 ,macedonian ,folklore1 p4 #aaa4 #hhi ,the word is properly used only of the dying of animals4 #hij 4 #hia ,hom4 ,od4 ,,xvii4 #eci ff4 ,cf4 ,xenoph4 ,anab4 ,,iii4 #b4 #i and ,catull4 ,,xlv4 #i and #ah4 #hib ,see above1 p4 #cjd4 #hic 1 4 1 ,,iii4 p4 #bb4 #hid e4g4 at the oracle of ,hermes ,agoraeus at ,pherae the enquirer performed the whole ceremony required and obtained his response without the intervention of any priest or seer4 ,cf4 above1 p4 #cje4 #hie ,see above1 p4 #aba4 #hif ,see above1 p4 #ee4 #hig ,cf4 an article by 4 1 1 in 1 no4 #daa1 #acth ,nov4 #ahhc4 #hih ,le ,pre ,robert 7,sauger71 ,histoire nouvelle des anciens ducs et autres souverains de l',archipel 7,paris1 #afii7 pp4 #aif-aih4 ,cf4 ,tournefort1 ,voyage du ,levant1 ,i4 pp4 #bha ff42 ,sonnini de ,magnoncourt1 ,voyage en ,grce et en ,turquie1 vol4 ,i4 p4 #bij4 #hii ,bouch ,leclercq1 ,hist4 de la ,divin4 ,i4 p4 #ahg4 #ijj ,pausan4 ,,iii4 #bc4 #h4 #ija ,de sacrificiis1 p4 #ab4 #ijb ,ibid4 cap4 #b4 #ijc ,plato1 ,sympos4 p4 #ahh4 #ijd ,hom4 ,il4 ,,ix4 #dig ff4 #ije ,see above1 pp4 #cbb-c and #cbf4 #ijf ,see above1 p4 #bfe4 #ijg ,see above1 pp4 #eh-i4 #ijh ,ancient offerings of this type1 as found at ,epidaurus1 should not ,i think be grouped all together as thank-offerings2 many of them belonged probably to the propitiatory class4 #iji ,see above1 p4 #aba4 #iaj ,see above1 p4 #ade4 #iaa ,see above1 p4 #bja4 #iab ,formerly 7and again latterly7 called ,thera4 #iac ,le pre ,richard1 ,relation de ce qui s'est pass ,sant-,erini1 p4 #bc4 #iad ,called by him 2 but the fact that there is only this one mountain in the island and that it still has a chapel of ,st ,stephen on it places the identification beyond all doubt4 #iae ,this phrase as noted down by me from memory along with the rest of the story immediately after my interview is1 ,i believe1 verbally exact4 ,the old man's words were ' ' ' 1 4 #iaf ,see above1 p4 #ee4 #iag ,the term could not have been intended to apply to ,st ,nicolas2 although the saints are practically treated as gods1 they are not so spoken of4 ,see above1 pp4 #db ff4 #iah ,plutarch1 ,pelop4 #ba 7p4 #bbi74 #iai ,porph4 de ,abstin4 #bg and #ed4 #ibj ,tzetz4 ,hist4 ,,xxiii4 #gbf ff4 #iba ,cf4 1 1 ,,ii4 p4 #cda4 #ibb 1 1 p4 #af4 1 1 ,,ii4 #cdc4 #ibc ,popul4 ,carm4 no4 #cgc4 #ibd 1 1 p4 #cf4 ,cf4 1 1 ,,ii4 p4 #cdb4 ,the line runs ' ' 4 #ibe ,eur4 ,hec4 #dbb-c4 #ibf ,verg4 ,aen4 ,,ii4 #edg sqq4 #ibg ,diodor4 ,sic4 ,v4 #bh4 #ibh e4g4 ,fauriel1 ,chants de la ,grce ,moderne1 ,discours ,prlimin4 p4 #ci4 ,rennell ,rodd1 ,customs and ,lore of ,mod4 ,greece1 p4 #abi4 #ibi ,dora d',istria1 ,les ,femmes en ,orient1 ,bk4 ,,iii4 ,letter #b4 #icj ,plutarch1 ,vita ,solon4 #bj4 #ica ,hom4 ,il4 ,,xxiv4 #gai-gge4 #icb ,plato1 ,leg4 ,,vii4 p4 #hja4 #icc ,an edict of the year #affb preserved in the record-office 7 7 of ,zante was shown and interpreted to me by ,mons4 4 1 whose courtesy ,i wish here to acknowledge4 ,the record-office contains much valuable material for the study of the period of ,venetian supremacy in the ,heptanesos4 #icd ,soph4 ,antig4 #bi2 ,eur4 ,hec4 #cj2 cf4 also ,soph4 ,antig4 #bjc-d 1 1 and ,philoct4 #cfj4 #ice ,hom4 ,il4 ,,xix4 #cja-b4 #icf 4 1 1 pp4 #cce-f4 #icg ,see below1 pp4 #eee ff4 #ich ,herodot4 ,,iv4 #id4 #ici ,for the evidence see ,miss ,harrison1 ,prolegomena to the ,study of ,greek ,religion1 pp4 #if ff4 #idj ,cf4 ,paus4 ,,viii4 #ch4 #g and ,porphyr4 de abstinentia1 ,,ii4 #bg4 #ida ,paus4 ,,viii4 #b4 #f and ,,viii4 #ch4 #g and ,frazer's note ad loc4 #idb ,paus4 ,,viii4 #ch4 #g4 #idc ,tylor1 ,primitive ,culture1 ,i4 p4 #deh4 #idd ,tylor1 ,primitive ,culture1 ,i4 p4 #dfb4 #ide ,see above1 p4 #bfd4 #idf ,paus4 ,,viii4 #ch4 #g4 #idg ,schol4 ad ,ar4 ,eq4 #aacf in explanation of the word 4 #idh ,tzetzes1 ,hist4 ,,xxiii4 #gbf ff4 quoting ,hipponax' authority on most points4 #idi ,miss ,harrison1 ,prolegomena to the ,study of ,greek ,religion1 pp4 #ie f4 #iej op4 cit4 p4 #ajh4 #iea ,serv4 ad ,verg4 ,aen4 ,,iii4 #ge as translated by ,miss ,harrison1 op4 cit4 p4 #ajh4 #ieb op4 cit4 p4 #ajj4 #iec ,luc4 ,nek4 #g4 #ied ,eur4 ,phoen4 #idd4 #iee op4 cit4 p4 #ajj4 #ief op4 cit4 p4 #ajh4 #ieg ,lysias1 c4 ,andoc4 #ajh4 #d as translated by ,miss ,harrison1 op4 cit4 p4 #ig #ieh ,ran4 #gcd1 ,equ4 #adje and fragm4 #ecb 7from ,miss ,harrison1 op4 cit4 p4 #ig74 ,,chapter ,,iv4 ,,the ,,relation ,,of ,,soul ,,and ,,body4 #a4 ,,the ,,modern ,,greek ,,vampire4 ,the division of the human entity into the two parts which we call soul and body has been so universally recognised even among the most primitive of mankind that the idea of it must have been first suggested by the observation of some universal phenomenon--most probably the phenomenon of unconsciousness whether in sleep1 in fainting1 in trance1 or in death4 ,if it had been man's lot to pass in this world a life of activity unbroken by sleep or exhaustion1 and thereafter to be translated like ,enoch or ,ganymede to another world1 so that the spectacle of a body lying inert and senseless could never have been forced upon men's sight1 the first impulse to speculation concerning that impalpable something1 the loss of which severs men from converse with the waking1 active world1 might never have been given1 and the duality of human nature might never have been conceived4 ,but death above all overtaking each in turn has forced in turn the mourners for each to muse on the future condition of these two elements which1 united1 make a man1 and1 disjoined1 leave but a corpse4 ,does neither or does one or do both of them continue8 ,and1 continuing1 what degree of intelligence and of power has either or have both8 ,are they for ever separated1 or will they be re-united elsewhere8 ,such are the questions that must have vexed1 as they still vex1 the minds of many when their eyes were confronted by the spectacle of death4 ,for some indeed a means of answering or of quieting such searchings of heart has been found in the acceptance of religious dogma4 ,but ancient ,greek religion1 the faith or superstition in which the ,hellenic people1 defiant alike of destructive and of constructive philosophy1 lived and moved and had their being1 was not dogmatic2 the very priests were guardians and exponents of ceremonies rather than preachers of doctrine2 there was no organised hierarchy committed to one set creed and prepared to assert the divine revelation of a single formulated answer to these questions4 ,the sum total of orthodoxy amounted to little more than a belief in gods2 and each man was free to believe what he would1 evil as well as good1 concerning them1 and to find for himself hope or despair4 ,in determining therefore the views to which the mass of the common-folk inclined with regard to the relations of soul and body1 little assistance can be obtained in the first instance from those personal opinions which literature has preserved to us1 opinions emanating from poets and philosophers who were not of the people but consciously above them1 and who set themselves some to expose1 others to reform1 the popular religion1 but few simply to maintain it4 ,the conservative force of the ancient religion lay in the inherited and almost instinctive beliefs of the common-folk2 oral tradition weighed more with them than philosophic reasoning1 and their tenacity of customs as barbarous even as human sacrifice defied the softening influences of an humaner civilisation4 ,that these characteristics of the ancient ,greek folk are stamped equally upon the people of to-day is a fact which every page of this book has confirmed2 and it is therefore by analysis of modern beliefs and customs relative to death that ,i propose to discover the fundamental ideas held by the ,greek people from the beginning concerning the relations between soul and body4 ,for ,i venture to think that the great teachers of antiquity1 whose doctrines dominate ancient literature1 were often more widely removed by their genius1 than are the modern folk by the lapse of centuries1 from the peasants of those early days1 and that the oral tradition of a people who have instinctively clung to every ancient belief and custom is even after more than two thousand years a safer guide than the contemporary writings of men who deliberately discarded or arbitrarily modified tradition in favour of the results of their own personal speculations4 ,first then the peasants of modern ,greece must furnish our clue to the popular beliefs of antiquity2 afterwards we may profitably consider the use and handling of those beliefs in ancient literature4 ,to this end ,i shall examine first and necessarily at some length a certain abnormal condition of the dead about which very definite ideas are everywhere held2 for the abhorrence and dread with which the abnormal state is regarded will be an accurate measure of the eagerness with which the opposite and normal state is desired2 and further in this desire to promote and to secure the normal condition of the departed will be found the motive of various funeral-customs4 ,this abnormal condition of the dead is a kind of vampirism4 ,it is believed that under certain conditions a dead body is withheld from the normal process of corruption1 is re-animated1 and revisits the scenes of its former life1 sometimes in a harmless or even kindly mood1 but far more often bent on mischief and on murder4 ,the superstition as it now stands is by no means wholly ,greek or wholly popular4 ,two extraneous influences1 the one ,slavonic and the other ecclesiastical1 have considerably modified it4 ,but in the present section ,i shall confine myself to describing the appearance1 nature1 habits1 and proper treatment of the ,greek vampire as he is now conceived2 the work of analysing the superstition and of separating the pure ,hellenic metal from the extraneous alloys with which in its now current form it is contaminated will occupy the next section2 and the two which follow will be devoted to showing that the native residue of superstition was in fact well known to the ancient ,greeks and was utilised to no small extent in their literature4 ,the best accounts of this superstition and of the savage practices to which it led are furnished by writers of the seventeenth century4 ,at the present day1 though the superstition is far from extinction1 the more violent outbreaks of it are comparatively rare2 and1 although stories dealing with it may frequently be heard1 it might perhaps be difficult to piece together any complete and coherent account of the ,greek vampire without a previous knowledge obtained from writers of two or three centuries ago4 ,in such stories as ,i myself have heard ,i have found nothing new1 and have often missed something with which older narratives had made me familiar4 ,in the seventeenth century some parts of ,greece would seem to have been infested by these vampires4 ,the island of ,santorini 7the ancient ,thera7 acquired so enduring a notoriety in this respect1 that even at the present day #8to send vampires to ,santorini#iei' is a proverbial expression synonymous with #8owls to ,athens' or #8coals to ,newcastle'2 and the inhabitants of the island enjoyed so wide a reputation as experts in dealing with them1 that two stories recently published#ifj1 one from ,myconos and the other from ,sphaki in ,crete1 actually end with the despatch of a vampire's body to ,santorini for effective treatment there4 ,the justice of this reputation will shortly appear2 for one of the best accounts of the superstition was written by a ,jesuit residing in the island1 to whom the resurrection of these vampires seemed an unquestionable1 if also inexplicable1 phenomenon of by no means rare occurrence4 ,nowadays cases of suspected vampirism are much less common1 and ,i can count myself very fortunate to have once witnessed the sequel of such a case4 ,but of that more anon4 ,the most common form of the ,greek name for this species of vampire is #ifa1 and in order to avoid on the one hand continual qualification of the word #8vampire' 7which ,i have used hitherto as the nearest though not exact equivalent7 and on the other hand confusion of the ,greek with the ,slavonic species from which in certain traits it differs1 ,i prefer henceforth to adopt a transliteration of the ,greek word1 and1 save where ,i have occasion to speak of the purely ,slavonic form of vampire1 to employ the name vryklakas 7plural vryklakes#ifb74 ,the first of those writers of the seventeenth century whose accounts deserve attention is one to whose treatise on various ,greek superstitions reference has already frequently been made1 ,leo ,allatius4 #8,the vrykolakas1' he writes#ifc1 #8is the body of a man of evil and immoral life--very often of one who has been excommunicated by his bishop4 ,such bodies do not like those of other dead men suffer decomposition after burial nor turn to dust1 but having1 as it appears1 a skin of extreme toughness become swollen and distended all over1 so that the joints can scarcely be bent2 the skin becomes stretched like the parchment of a drum1 and when struck gives out the same sound2 from this circumstance the vrykolakas has received the name 78drumlike074' ,into such a body1 he continues1 the devil enters1 and issuing from the tomb goes about1 chiefly at night1 knocking at doors and calling one of the household4 ,if such an one answer1 he dies next day2 but a vrykolakas never calls twice1 and so the inhabitants of ,chios 7whence ,allatius' observations and information were chiefly derived7 secure themselves by always waiting for a second call at night before replying4 #8,this monster is said to be so destructive to men1 that appearing actually in the daytime1 even at noon--and that not only in houses but in fields and highroads and enclosed vineyards--it advances upon them as they walk along1 and by its mere aspect without either speech or touch kills them4' ,hence1 when sudden deaths occur without other assignable cause1 they open the tombs and often find such a body4 ,thereupon #8it is taken out of the grave1 the priests recite prayers1 and it is thrown on to a burning pyre2 before the supplications are finished the joints of the body gradually fall apart2 and all the remains are burnt to ashes4444' #8,this belief1' he pursues1 #8is not of fresh and recent growth in ,greece2 in ancient and modern times alike men of piety who have received the confessions of ,christians have tried to root it out of the popular mind4' ,as evidence of this statement he adduces a nomocanon1 or ordinance of the ,greek ,church1 of uncertain authorship3 #8,concerning a dead man1 if such be found whole and incorrupt1 the which they call vrykolakas4 #8,it is impossible that a dead man become a vrykolakas1 save it be that the ,devil1 wishing to delude some that they may do things unmeet and incur the wrath of ,god1 maketh these portents1 and oft-times at night causeth men to imagine that the dead man whom they knew before#ifd cometh and speaketh with them1 and in their dreams too they see visions4 ,other times they see him in the road1 walking or standing still1 and1 more than this1 he even throttles men4 #8,then there is a commotion and they run to the grave and dig to see the remains of the man 444 and the dead man--one who has long been dead and buried--appears to them to have flesh and blood and nails and hair 444 and they collect wood and set fire to it and burn the body and do away with it altogether4444' ,then1 after denying the reality of such things1 which exist in imagination 7 7 only1 the nomocanon with some inconsistency continues3 #8,but know that when such remains be found1 the which1 as we have said1 is a work of the ,devil1 ye must summon the priests to chant an invocation of the ,mother of ,god1 444 and to perform memorial services for the dead with funeral-meats#ife4' ,allatius then leaving the nomocanon pronounces his own views4 #8,it is the height of folly to deny altogether that such bodies are sometimes found in the graves incorrupt1 and that by use of them the ,devil1 if ,god permit him1 devises horrible plans to the hurt of the human race4' ,he therefore advocates the burning of them1 always accompanied by prayers4 ,to the fact of non-decomposition he cites several witnesses--among them ,crusius#iff who narrates the case of a ,greek's body being found by ,turks in this condition after the man had been two years dead and being burnt by them4 ,moreover ,allatius himself claims to have been an eye-witness of such a scene when he was at school in ,chios4 ,a tomb having for some reason been opened at the church of ,st ,antony1 #8on the top of the bones of other men there was found lying a corpse perfectly whole2 it was unusually tall of stature2 clothes it had none1 time or moisture having caused them to perish2 the skin was distended1 hard1 and livid1 and so swollen everywhere1 that the body had no flat surfaces but was round like a full sack#ifg4 ,the face was covered with hair dark and curly2 on the head there was little hair1 as also on the rest of the body1 which appeared smooth all over2 the arms by reason of the swelling of the corpse were stretched out on each side like the arms of a cross2 the hands were open1 the eyelids closed1 the mouth gaping1 and the teeth white4' ,how the body was finally treated or disposed of is not related4 ,the next writer whose testimony deserves notice and respect is ,father ,franois ,richard1 a ,jesuit priest of the island of ,santorini1 to whose work on that island reference has above been made#ifh4 ,agreeing with ,allatius in his description of the appearance of vrykolakes1 he adds thereto many instances of their unpleasantly active habits4 ,his whole narrative bears the stamp of good faith1 but is too long to translate in full2 and ,i must therefore content myself with a prcis of it1 indicating by inverted commas such phrases and sentences as are literally rendered4 ,the ,devil1 he says#ifi1 works by means of dead bodies as well as by living sorcerers4 #8,these bodies he animates and preserves for a long time in their entirety2 he appears with the face of the dead1 traversing now the streets and anon the open country2 he enters men's houses1 leaving some horror-stricken1 others deprived of speech1 and others again lifeless2 here he inflicts violence1 there loss1 and everywhere terror4' ,at first ,i believed these apparitions to be merely the souls of the dead returning to ask help to escape the sooner from ,purgatory2 but such souls never commit such excesses--assault1 destruction of property1 death1 and so forth4 ,it is clearly then a form of diabolical possession2 for indeed the priests with the bishop's permission employ forms of exorcism4 ,they assemble on ,saturday 7the only day on which vrykolakes rest in the grave and cannot stir abroad7 and exhume the body which is suspected4 #8,and when they find it whole1 fresh1 and full of blood1 they take it as certain that it was serving as an instrument of the ,devil4' ,they accordingly continue their exorcisms until with the departure of the ,devil the body begins to decompose and gradually to lose #8its colour and its embonpoint1 and is left a noisome and ghastly lump4' ,so rapid was the decomposition in the case of a ,greek priest's daughter1 ,caliste by name1 that no one could remain in the church1 and the body was hastily re-interred2 from that time she ceased to appear4 ,when exorcisms fail1 they tear the heart out1 cut it to pieces1 and then burn the whole body to ashes4 ,at ,stampalia 7,astypalaea71 he proceeds1 a short time before my arrival 7about the middle of the seventeenth century7 five bodies were so treated1 those of three married men1 a ,greek monk1 and a girl4 ,in ,nio 7,ios7 a woman who was confessing to me affirmed that she had seen her husband again fifty days after burial1 though already his grave had been once changed and the ordinary rites performed to lay him4 ,he began however again to torment the people1 killing actually some four or five2 so his body was exhumed for the second time and was publicly burnt4 ,only two years ago they burnt two bodies in the island of ,siphanto for the same reason2 #8and rarely does a year pass in which people do not speak with dread of these false resuscitations4' ,in ,santorini a shoemaker named ,alexander living at ,pyrgos became a vrykolakas2 he used to frequent his house1 mend his children's shoes1 draw water at the reservoir1 and cut wood for the use of his family2 but the people became frightened1 exhumed him1 and burned him1 and he was seen no more4444 ,in ,amorgos these vrykolakes have been seen not only at night but in open day1 five or six together in a field1 feeding apparently on green beans4 ,i heard1 continues the holy father1 from the ,abb of the famous monastery of ,amorgos1 that a certain merchant of ,patmos1 having gone abroad on business1 died4 ,his widow sent a boat to bring his body home4 ,now it so happened that one of the sailors sat down by accident upon the coffin and to his horror felt the body move4 ,they opened the coffin therefore and found the body intact4 ,their fears being thus confirmed1 they nailed up the coffin again and handed it over to the widow without a word and it was buried4 ,but soon the dead man began to appear at night in the houses1 violent and turbulent to such a degree that more than fifteen persons died of fright or of injuries inflicted by it4 ,the exorcisms of priests and monks proved useless1 and they thought best to send back the body whence it had been brought4 ,the sailors however unshipped it at the first desert island#igj and burnt it there1 after which it was seen no more4 ,the ,abb considered this possession by the devil to be a proof of the truth of the ,greek persuasion1 alleging that no ,mohammedan or ,roman ,catholic ever became a vrykolakas#iga4 ,this however is not strictly accurate1 for in ,santorini a ,roman priest1 who had apostatized and turned ,mohammedan and who for his many crimes was finally hanged1 appeared after death and was only disposed of by burning4 ,another case was that of ,iannetis ,anapliotis of the same island1 an usurer who about a year before his death repented of his misdeeds and made what amends he could2 he also left his wife an order to pay anything else justly reclaimed from him4 ,she however though giving much in charity did not pay his debts4 ,it was just six weeks after his death when she refused to satisfy some just claim for repayment1 and immediately he began to appear in the streets and to molest above all his own wife and relatives4 ,also he woke up priests early in the morning1 telling them it was time for matins1 pulled coverlets off people as they slept1 shook their beds1 left the taps of wine-barrels running1 and so on4 ,one woman was so frightened in broad day-light as to lose the power of speech for three days1 and another whose bed he shook suffered a miscarriage4 ,then at length his name was published--for as a man of some position he had till then been spared4 ,exorcism was tried in vain by the ,greek priests4 ,then by my advice the widow paid off all her husband's debts and made due restitution4 ,also she had the body exhumed and exorcised a second time4 ,on this occasion ,i saw it1 but it did not look like a real vrykolakas2 for1 though the hands were whole and parchment-like1 the head and the entrails were to some extent decomposed4 ,at the end of the ceremony of exorcism the priests hacked the body to pieces and buried it in a new grave4 ,from this time the vrykolakas never re-appeared1 but this was due1 in my opinion1 to the restitution made1 not to the treatment of the body4 ,there are in ,greek cemeteries dead bodies of another kind which after fifteen or sixteen years--sometimes even twenty or thirty--are found inflated like balloons1 and when they are thrown on the ground or rolled along1 sound like drums2 for this reason they have the name #igb 7drum74444 ,the common opinion of the ,greeks is that this inflation is a sure sign that the man had suffered excommunication2 and indeed ,greek priests and bishops add always to the formula of excommunication the curse1 1 #8and after death to remain indissoluble#igc4' ,in a manuscript from the ,church of ,st ,sophia at ,thessalonica1 he continues1 ,i found the following3 1 4 1 4 #igd 7sic71 4 1 4 #8,he who has left a command of his parents unfulfilled or is under their curse has only the front portions of his body preserved4 #8,he who is under an anathema looks yellow and his fingers are wrinkled4 #8,he who looks white has been excommunicated by divine laws4 #8,he who looks black has been excommunicated by a bishop4' ,from this account it is manifest that ,father ,richard1 with the experience acquired by residence in ,santorini1 drew a distinction not known to ,leo ,allatius between two classes of dead persons4 ,those1 who though not subject to the natural law of decomposition lay quiescent in their graves1 were merely or #8drum-like'2 while vrykolakes proper were addicted also to periodical resurrection4 ,and the extract with which he concludes his description shows that the authorities of the rival ,church pretended to powers of even more subtle discrimination between different species of incorrupt corpses4 ,the importance of ,father ,richard's distinction will appear later2 there was originally a difference in the usage of the two words1 although not precisely the difference which he makes2 but by the middle of the seventeenth century popular speech rarely discriminated between them4 ,to the common-folk1 whose views ,leo ,allatius fairly presents1 any body which was withheld from decomposition for any cause was at least a potential vrykolakas1 even if its power of resurrection was not known to have been exerted and no act of violence had been traced to it4 ,for further attestation of the prevalence and the violence of this superstition it would be easy to quote many graphic accounts by other writers1 such as ,robert ,sauger#ige1 another ,jesuit of ,santorini1 or the traveller ,tournefort#igf4 ,but it will suffice to call as witness ,paul ,lucas1 whose observations concern a part of the ,greek world remote enough from either ,chios or ,santorini1 the island of ,corfu4 #8,some persons1' he says1 #8who seem possessed of sound good sense speak of a curious thing which often happens in this place1 as also in the island of ,santorini4 ,according to their account dead persons return and show themselves in open day1 going even into the houses and inspiring great terror in those who see them4 ,in consequence of this1 whenever one of these apparitions is seen1 the people go at once to the cemetery to exhume the corpse1 which is then cut in pieces and finally is burnt by sentence of the ,governors and ,magistrates4 ,this done1 these quasi-dead return no more4 ,monsieur ,angelo ,edme1 ,warden and ,governor of the island1 assured me that he himself had pronounced a sentence of this kind in a case where upwards of fifty reasonable persons were found to testify to the occurrence#igg4' ,the superstition1 which had so firm a grip upon the ,greeks of two or three centuries ago1 has by no means relaxed its hold at the present day1 in spite of the efforts made by the higher authorities civil and ecclesiastical1 native and foreign1 to suppress those savage and gruesome ceremonies to which it leads4 ,the horrible scenes of old time1 when the suspected body was dragged from its grave and dismembered by a panic-stricken and desperate mob1 when the heart1 as sometimes happened1 was torn out and boiled to shreds in vinegar1 or when the ghastly remains were burnt on a public bonfire1 have certainly become rarer4 ,the administrative action of the ,venetians in the ,ionian ,islands in requiring proof to be furnished of the vrykolakas' resuscitation1 and official sanction to be obtained for exhuming and burning the body2 the more vigorous suppression of such acts by the ,turks in the ,aegean ,islands#igh and probably also on the mainland2 the somewhat half-hearted condemnation of the superstition by the ,greek ,church1 which1 as we shall see later1 maintained the belief in the non-decomposition of excommunicated persons and notorious sinners1 hesitated between denying and explaining the further notion that such persons were liable to re-animation1 but certainly endeavoured to repress or to mitigate the atrocities to which that notion led2 and at the present day the forces of law and order as represented on the one hand by the police and on the other by modern education1 the chief fruit of which is a desire to appear #8civilised' in the eyes of ,europe2 all these influences combined have certainly succeeded in reducing the proportions of the superstition and curtailing the excesses consequent upon it4 ,thus in some places the old practice of burning corpses which fail to decompose within the normal period--and it must be remembered that exhumation after three years' burial is an established rite of the ,church in ,greece--has been definitely superseded by milder expedients4 ,in ,scyros the body is carried round to forty churches in turn and is then re-interred1 while in parts of ,crete1 in ,cythnos#igi1 and1 ,i believe1 in some other ,aegean ,islands the custom is to transfer the body to a grave in some uninhabited islet1 whence its return is barred by the intervening salt water4 ,none the less the superstition itself still holds a firm place among the traditional beliefs of modern ,greece4 ,witness the following account of it from a history#ihj of the district of ,sphaki in ,crete written by the head of a monastery there and published in #ahhh3 #8,it is popularly believed that most of the dead1 those who have lived bad lives or who have been excommunicated by some priest 7or1 worse still1 by seven priests together1 #iha7 become vrykolakes#ihb2 that is to say1 after the separation of the soul from the body there enters into the latter an evil spirit1 which takes the place of the soul and assumes the shape of the dead man and so is transformed into a vrykolakas or man-demon4 #8,in this guise it keeps the body as its dwelling-place and preserves it from corruption1 and it runs swift as lightning wherever it lists1 and causes men great alarms at night and strikes all with panic4 ,and the trouble is that it does not remain solitary1 but makes everyone1 who dies while it is about1 like to itself1 so that in a short space of time it gets together a large and dangerous train of followers4 ,the common practice of the vrykolakes is to seat themselves upon those who are asleep and by their enormous weight to cause an agonizing sense of oppression4 ,there is great danger that the sufferer in such cases may expire1 and himself too be turned into a vrykolakas1 if there be not someone at hand who perceives his torment and fires off a gun1 thereby putting the blood-thirsty monster to flight2 for fortunately it is afraid of the report of fire-arms and retreats without effecting its purpose4 ,not a few such scenes we have witnessed with our own eyes4 #8,this monster1 as time goes on1 becomes more and more audacious and blood-thirsty1 so that it is able completely to devastate whole villages4 ,on this account all possible haste is made to annihilate the first which appears before it enter upon its second period of forty days#ihc1 because by that time it becomes a merciless and invincible dealer of death4 ,to this end the villagers call in priests who profess to know how to annihilate the monster--for a consideration4 ,these impostors proceed after service to the tomb1 and if the monster be not found there--for it goes to and fro molesting men--they summon it in authoritative tones to enter its dwelling-place2 and1 as soon as it is come1 it is imprisoned there by virtue of some prayer and subsequently breaks up4 ,with its disruption all those who have been turned into vrykolakes by it1 wherever they may be1 suffer the same lot as their leader4 #8,this absurd superstition is rife and vigorous throughout ,crete and especially in the mountainous and secluded parts of the island4' ,so too another well-informed ,greek writer1 who has published a series of monographs upon the ,cyclades1 says in one of them#ihd3 #8,the ignorant peasant of ,andros believes to this day that the corpse can rise again and do him hurt2 and is not this belief in vrykolakes general throughout ,greece8' ,to that question ,i might without hesitation answer #8yes1' even on the grounds of my own experience only2 for the places in which ,i have heard vrykolakes mentioned1 not merely in popular stories#ihe such as are told everywhere1 but with a very present and real sense of dread1 include some villages on the west slopes of ,mount ,pelion1 the village of ,leonidi on the east coast of the ,peloponnese1 ,andros1 ,tenos1 ,santorini1 and ,cephalonia4 ,the wide range and general prevalence of the superstition in modern times being thus established1 it remains only to record a few recent cases in which the peasants1 in defiance of law and order1 have gone the length of exhuming and burning the suspected body4 ,theodore ,bent#ihf states that a few months before his visit to ,andros 7somewhat over twenty years ago7 the grave of a suspected vrykolakas was opened by a priest and the body taken out1 cut into shreds1 and burnt4 ,in ,january of #ahie at ,mantode in ,euboea a woman was believed to have turned vrykolakas and to have caused many deaths1 and the peasants resolved to exhume and burn her--but it is not stated whether the resolve was actually carried out#ihg4 ,in #ahii1 when ,i was in ,santorini1 ,i was told that two or three years previously the inhabitants of ,therasia had burnt a vrykolakas1 and when ,i visited that island the incident was not denied but the responsibility for it was laid upon the people of ,santorini4 ,in #aijb there was a similar case of burning at ,gourzomisa near ,patras#ihh4 ,these are certain and well-attested instances of the continuance of the practice1 and1 regard being had to the secrecy which such breaches of the law necessarily demand1 it is not unreasonable to suppose that even now a year seldom passes in which some village of ,greece does not disembarrass itself of a vrykolakas by the traditional means1 cremation#ihi4 ,of the causes by which a man is predisposed to become a vrykolakas some mention has already been made in the passages which have been cited from various writers above2 but before ,i conclude this account of the superstition as it now is and has been since the seventeenth century1 and proceed to analyse its composite nature1 it may be convenient to give a complete list of such causes4 ,the majority of these are recognised all over ,greece and are familiar to every student of modern ,greek folklore1 and ,i shall not therefore burden this chapter with references to previous writers whose observations tally exactly with my own2 for rarer and more local beliefs ,i shall of course quote my authority4 ,the classes of persons who are most liable to become vrykolakes are3 7#a7 ,those who do not receive the full and due rites of burial4 7#b7 ,those who meet with any sudden or violent death 7including suicides71 or1 in ,maina#iij1 where the vendetta is still in vogue1 those who having been murdered remain unavenged4 7#c7 ,children conceived or born on one of the great ,church-festivals#iia1 and children stillborn#iib4 7#d7 ,those who die under a curse1 especially the curse of a parent1 or one self-invoked1 as in the case of a man who1 in perjuring himself1 calls down on his own head all manner of damnation if what he says be false4 7#e7 ,those who die under the ban of the ,church1 that is to say1 excommunicate4 7#f7 ,those who die unbaptised or apostate#iic4 7#g7 ,men of evil and immoral life in general1 more particularly if they have dealt in the blacker kinds of sorcery4 7#h7 ,those who have eaten the flesh of a sheep which was killed by a wolf#iid4 7#i7 ,those over whose dead bodies a cat or other animal has passed#iie4 ,the provenance and the significance of these various beliefs concerning the causes of vampirism will be discussed in the next section4 #b4 ,,the ,,composition ,,of ,,the ,,superstition4 ,,slavonic1 ,,ecclesiastical1 ,,and ,,hellenic ,,contributions4 ,vrykolakes are not ghosts4 ,such is the first observation which ,i am compelled to make and which the reader of the last chapter might well consider superfluous4 ,but so many ,greek writers1 and with them even ,bernhard ,schmidt#iif1 have fallen into the error of comparing ancient ghost-stories with modern tales about vrykolakes1 without apparently recognising the essential and fundamental difference between them1 that some insistence upon the point is necessary4 ,that a definite and close relation does indeed subsist between the ancient belief in wandering spirits and the modern belief in wandering corpses1 ,i readily admit1 and with that relation ,i shall deal later2 but the issue before us can only be kept clear by remembering that vrykolakes are not ghosts4 ,there is absolute unanimity among the ,greek peasants in their belief that the corpse itself is the vrykolakas1 and even the work of re-animating the corpse is generally credited not to the soul which formerly inhabited it1 but to the ,devil4 ,thus it appears that whereas most peoples believe to some extent in the return of the ghosts or spirits of the dead1 the ,greeks fear rather the return of their bodies4 ,if then we can determine what part1 if any1 of this superstition is genuinely ,hellenic1 we shall have gained a step in our knowledge of the ideas popularly held in ancient ,greece concerning the condition and the relations of soul and body after death4 ,the view which ,i take is briefly this1 that though ,slavonic influence is very conspicuous in the modern superstition as ,i have described it1 yet the whole superstition has not been transplanted root and branch from ,slavonic to ,greek soil1 but the growth1 as we now see it and as the writers of the seventeenth century saw it1 is the result of the grafting of ,slavonic branches upon an ,hellenic stock2 and further1 that before that process began the old pagan ,greek element in the superstition had been modified in certain respects by ecclesiastical influence4 ,this is the view which ,i propose to develop in this section2 and my method will be to work back from the modern superstition1 removing first the ,slavonic and then the ecclesiastical elements in it1 and so leaving a residue of purely ,hellenic belief4 ,to ,slavonic influence is due first of all the actual word vrykolakas1 the derivation of which need not long detain us4 ,patriotic attempts have indeed been made by ,greeks to deny its ,slavonic origin1 the most plausible being that of ,coras#iig1 who selecting the local form sought to identify it with a supposed ancient form 7 1 71 a #8bugbear' or #8hobgoblin' of some kind4 ,but there need be no hesitation in pronouncing this suggestion wrong and in asserting the identity of the modern ,greek word with a word which runs through all the ,slavonic languages4 ,this word is in form a compound of which the first half means #8wolf' and the second has been less certainly identified with dlaka1 the #8hair' of a cow or horse4 ,but1 however the meaning of the compound has been obtained1 it is1 in the actual usage of all ,slavonic languages save one1 the exact equivalent of our #8were-wolf#iih4' ,that one exception is the ,serbian language in which it is said to bear rather the sense of #8vampire#iii4' ,if this is true1 the reason for the transition of meaning lies probably in the belief current among the ,slavonic peoples in general that a man who has been a were-wolf in his lifetime becomes a vampire after death#ajjj4 ,yet in general there is no confusion of nomenclature4 ,although the depredations of the were-wolf and of the vampire are similar in character1 the line of demarcation between the living and the dead is kept clear1 and the great mass of the ,slavonic peoples apply only to the living that word from which the ,greek vrykolakas comes1 and to the dead the word which we have borrowed in the form #8vampire#ajja4' ,now among the ,greeks the latter word is almost unknown2 in parts of ,macedonia indeed where the ,greek population lives in constant touch with ,slavonic peoples1 a form or has been adopted and is used as a synonym of vrykolakas in its ordinary ,greek sense#ajjb2 but in ,greece proper and in the ,greek islands the word #8vampire' is1 so far as ,i can discover1 absolutely non-existent1 and it is vrykolakas which ordinarily denotes the resuscitated corpse4 ,in discriminating therefore between the ,slavonic and the ,greek elements in the modern ,greek superstition it is of some importance to determine in which sense the ,greeks originally borrowed the word vrykolakas which at the present day they in general employ in a different sense from that which both etymology and general ,slavonic usage accord to it4 ,was it originally borrowed in the sense of #8were-wolf' or in the sense of #8vampire'8 ,among ,slavonic peoples the only one said to have transferred the word vrykolakas from its original meaning to that of #8vampire' is the ,serbian2 and the ,greeks therefore1 in order to have borrowed the word in that sense1 would have had to borrow direct from the ,serbian language4 ,but linguistic evidence renders that hypothesis untenable4 ,all the many ,greek dialectic forms of the word vrykolakas concur in showing a liquid 7 or 7 in the first syllable2 while ,serbian is among the two or three ,slavonic languages which have discarded that liquid4 ,it follows therefore that the ,greeks borrowed the word from some ,slavonic language other than ,serbian1 and consequently from some language which used and still uses that word in the sense of #8were-wolf4' ,further1 there is evidence that in the ,greek language itself the word vrykolakas does even now locally and occasionally bear its original significance4 ,this usage indeed is flatly denied by ,bernhard ,schmidt1 who1 having accurately distinguished the were-wolf and the vampire1 states that #8the modern ,greek vrykolakas answers only to the latter#ajjc4' ,this pronouncement however was made in the face of two strong pieces of independent evidence to the contrary1 which ,schmidt notices and dismisses in a footnote#ajjd4 ,the first witness is ,hanush#ajje1 who was plainly told by a ,greek of ,mytilene that there were two kinds of vrykolakes1 the one kind being men already dead1 and the other still living men who were subject to a kind of somnambulism and were seen abroad particularly on moonlight nights4 ,the other authority is ,cyprien ,robert#ajjf1 who describes the vrykolakes of ,thessaly and ,epirus thus3 #8,these are living men mastered by a kind of somnambulism1 who seized by a thirst for blood go forth at night from their shepherd's-huts1 and scour the country biting and tearing all that they meet both man and beast4' ,to these two pieces of testimony--strong enough1 it might be thought1 in their mutual agreement to merit more than passing notice and arbitrary rejection--,i can add confirmation of more recent date4 ,in ,cyprus1 during excavations carried out in the spring of #ahii under the auspices of the ,british ,museum1 the directors of the enterprise heard from their workmen several stories dealing with the detection of a vrykolakas4 ,the outline of these stories 7to which ,tenos furnishes many parallels#ajjg1 though in these latter ,i have not found the word vrykolakas employed7 is as follows4 ,the inhabitants of a particular village1 having suffered from various nocturnal depredations1 determine to keep watch at night for the marauder4 ,having duly armed themselves they maintain a strict vigil1 and are rewarded by seeing a vrykolakas4 ,thereupon one of them with gun or sword succeeds in inflicting a wound upon the monster1 which however for the nonce escapes4 ,but the next day a man of the village1 who had not been among the watchers of the night1 is observed to bear a wound exactly corresponding with that which the assailant of the vrykolakas had dealt2 and being taxed with it the man confesses himself to be a vrykolakas4 ,similarly on the borders of ,aetolia and ,acarnania1 in the neighbourhood of ,agrinion1 ,i myself ascertained that the word vrykolakas was occasionally applied to living persons in the sense of were-wolf1 although there as elsewhere it more commonly denotes a resuscitated corpse4 ,lycanthropy1 as has been observed in a previous chapter#ajjh1 is in ,greece often imputed to children4 ,in the district mentioned this is conspicuously the case4 ,if one or more children in a family die without evident cause1 the mother will often regard the smallest or weakliest of the survivors--more especially one in any way deformed or demented--as guilty of the brothers' or sisters' deaths1 and the suspect is called a vrykolakas4 ' 1 #8you are a vrykolakas and have devoured your brother1' is the charge hurled at the helpless infant1 and ill-treatment to match is meted out in the hope of deterring it from its bloodthirsty ways4 ,in effect from four widely separated parts of the ,greek world--,mytilene1 ,cyprus1 the neighbourhood of ,agrinion1 and the district of ,thessaly and ,epirus--comes one and the same statement1 that to the word vrykolakas is still1 or has recently been1 attached its etymologically correct meaning #8were-wolf'2 and1 since these isolated local usages cannot be explained otherwise than as survivals of an usage which was once general1 they constitute a second proof that the ,greeks originally adopted the word in the sense in which the vast majority of the ,slavonic races continue down to this day to employ it4 ,but while it is thus certain that the ,greeks first learnt and acquired the word vrykolakas in the sense of #8were-wolf1' it is equally certain that the main characteristics of the monster to which that name is now applied are those of the ,slavonic #8vampire4' ,the appearance and the habits of the re-animated corpse according to ,slavonic superstition differ hardly at all from those described in the last chapter4 ,indeed the question is not so much whether the ,greeks are indebted to the ,slavs in respect of this belief1 as what is the extent of their indebtedness4 ,is the whole superstition a foreign importation1 or is it only partly alien and partly native8 ,the former alternative is rendered improbable in the first place by the fact that the ,greeks have not adopted the word #8vampire4' ,if the whole idea of dead men remaining under certain conditions incorrupt and emerging from their graves to work havoc among living men had been first communicated to them by the ,slavs1 they must almost inevitably have borrowed the name by which the ,slavs described those men4 ,but since in fact they did not adopt the ,slavonic name #8vampire1' it is probable that they already possessed in their own language some word adequate to express that idea1 and therefore possessed also some native superstition concerning resuscitation of the dead which ,slavonic influence merely modified4 ,further1 there is positive evidence that such a word or words existed2 for there have been1 and still are1 dialects which employ a word of ,greek formation in preference not merely to the word #8vampire1' which seems to be unknown in ,greece proper1 but even to the misapplied ,slavonic word vrykolakas4 ,thus ,leo ,allatius was familiar with the word 1 #8drum-like1' but whether in his day it belonged especially to his native island ,chios#ajji or was still in general usage1 he does not record4 ,at the present day it survives only1 so far as ,i know1 in ,cythnos1 where also 1 #8incorrupt1' is used as another synonym#ajaj4 ,from ,cythera are reported three names1 1 1 and #ajaa1 evidently ,greek in formation but to me1 ,i must confess1 unintelligible4 ,in ,cyprus 7where1 as we have seen1 the word vrykolakas may still bear its old sense #8were-wolf'7 the revenant is named #ajab1 because his swollen appearance suggests that he has #8put on flesh1' or more rarely #ajac1 perhaps with the idea that he has become the #8genius' 77#ajad of some particular locality4 ,again1 from the village of ,pyrgos in ,tenos is reported the word #ajae meaning apparently one who #8sits up' in his grave4 ,finally1 in ,crete the name popularly employed is #ajaf1 the origin of which is not certain4 ,bernhard ,schmidt#ajag1 following ,koras#ajah1 derives it from and 7 ancient ,greek 71 #8lose1' #8destroy1' and would have it mean accordingly #8destroyer4' ,i would suggest that derivation from and the root -1 #8gape1' #8yawn1' is at least equally probable1 inasmuch as other local names such as 1 #8drumlike1' and 1 #8fleshy1' have reference to the monster's personal appearance1 and the #8gaper' in like manner would be a name eminently suitable to a creature among whose features are numbered by ,leo ,allatius #8a gaping mouth and gleaming teeth#ajai4' ,the same name was some forty years ago#ajbj1 and probably still is1 used in ,rhodes1 and in a ,rhodian poem of the fifteenth century occurs both in its literal sense and as a term of abuse#ajba4 ,this secondary usage however is in no way a proof that the word meant originally #8destroyer' rather than #8gaper'2 for by the fifteenth century there can be little doubt that the revenant was everywhere an object of horror1 and therefore his name1 whatever it originally meant1 furnished a convenient term of vituperation4 ,but one thing at least is clear1 that 1 whichever interpretation of it be right1 is certainly a word of ,greek origin no less than the others which ,i have enumerated4 ,now all these dialectic ,greek names are found1 it will have been observed1 only in certain of the ,greek islands1 while on the mainland vrykolakas has come to be universally employed4 ,but it was the mainland which was particularly exposed to ,slavonic immigration and influence1 while islands like ,crete and ,cyprus were practically immune4 ,hence1 while the mainland gradually adopted a ,slavonic word1 it was likely enough that some of the islands should retain their own ,greek terms1 even though in the course of their relations with the mainland they became acquainted also with the new ,slavonic word4 ,these insular names for the vrykolakas may therefore be regarded as survivals from a pre-,slavonic period1 and1 though they are now merely dialectic1 it is reasonable to suppose that one or more of them formerly held a place in the language of mainlanders and islanders alike4 ,but the existence of such words presupposes the existence of a belief in some kind of resuscitated beings denoted by them4 ,in other words1 the ,greeks when first brought into contact with the ,slavs already possessed a belief in the re-animation and activity of certain dead persons1 which so far resembled the ,slavonic belief in vampirism1 that the ,slavonic vampire could be adequately denoted by some ,greek word or words already existing and there was no need to adopt the ,slavonic name4 ,i claim then to have established two important points3 first1 that the word vrykolakas was originally borrowed by the ,greeks from the ,slavs in the sense of #8were-wolf1' though now it is almost universally employed in the sense of #8vampire'2 secondly1 that1 whatever ideas concerning vampires the ,greeks may have learnt from the ,slavs1 they did not adopt the ,slavonic word #8vampire' but employed one of those native ,greek words1 such as or 1 which are still in local usage2 whence it follows that some superstition anent re-animated corpses existed in ,greece before the coming of the ,slavs4 ,these points being established1 ,i am now in a position to trace the development of the superstition in ,greece from the time of the ,slavonic immigrations onward1 and to show how it came to pass that1 whereas in the tenth century1 let us say1 when the ,greeks had had ample time to imbibe ,slavonic superstitions1 vrykolakas meant a #8were-wolf1' and a #8vampire' was denoted by or some other ,greek word1 nowadays vrykolakas almost always means a #8vampire' and is well-nigh obsolete4 ,the ,slavs brought with them into ,greece two superstitions1 the one concerning were-wolves and the other concerning vampires4 ,the old ,hellenic belief in lycanthropy was apparently at that time weak--confined perhaps to a few districts only--for the ,greeks borrowed from the invaders their word vrykolakas in the place of the old #ajbb1 by which to express the idea of a #8were-wolf4' ,they also learnt the ,slavonic superstition concerning vampires1 but in this case did not borrow the word #8vampire' but expressed the notion adequately by means of one of those words which now survive only in insular dialects--adequately1 ,i say1 but not exactly4 ,for--and here ,i must anticipate what will be proved later--the ,greeks denoted by those words a revenant but not a vampire4 ,they believed in the incorruptibility and the re-animation of certain classes of dead men1 but they did not impute to these revenants the savagery which is implied by the name #8vampire4' ,the dead who returned from their graves acted1 it was held1 as reasonable men1 not as ferocious brutes4 ,this did not of course exclude the idea that a revenant might return to seek revenge where vengeance was due2 he was not necessarily peaceable2 but if he exacted even the life of one who had wronged him1 the act of vengeance was reasonable4 ,to the proof of this1 as ,i have said1 ,i shall come later on2 here ,i will only point out that the names which survive in the island-dialects are perfectly consistent with my view4 ,of the words 1 #8drumlike1' 1 #8fleshy1' 1 #8genius1' 1 #8sitting up' in the grave1 and1 if my interpretation is right1 1 #8gaper1' not one suggests any inherent ferocity in the resuscitated dead4 ,nevertheless1 when the ,greeks first heard of the ,slavonic #8vampire1' they naturally regarded it merely as a new and particularly vicious species of the genus revenant4 ,their own words for the genus implied no idea beyond that of the resuscitation of the dead1 and were therefore no less applicable to the uniformly ferocious ,slavonic variety than to the more reasonable and human type with which they themselves were familiar4 ,they therefore did not require the word #8vampire1' but were content at first to comprise all revenants1 whatever their character1 under one or other of the existing ,greek names4 ,subsequently however1 it appears1 a change took place4 ,the ,slavonic superstition concerning were-wolves included then1 we may suppose1 as it includes now#ajbc1 the idea that were-wolves become after death vampires4 ,the ,greeks1 who borrowed from the ,slavs the very name of the were-wolf1 must therewith have learnt that these vrykolakes as they then called them were among the classes of men who were liable to vampirism2 and in this particular case it would surely have seemed natural to them that the revenant should be conspicuous for ferocity4 ,the conduct of a reasonable being could not be expected after death from one who in his lifetime had suffered from lycanthropic mania2 or rather1 if there could be any reason in his conduct1 the most reasonable and consistent thing would be for him to turn vampire4 ,thus one class of revenants came to be distinguished in the now composite ,greek superstition by its wanton and blood-thirsty character2 and in order to mark this distinction in speech also the ,greeks1 it would seem1 began to call one who from a were-wolf had become a genuine vampire by the same name after as before death1 vrykolakas1 while to the more reasonable and human revenants they still applied some such term as 1 #8drumlike4' ,by the seventeenth century the superstition had undergone a further change1 which is reflected in the usage of the word 4 ,in proportion as the horror of real vrykolakes had grown and spread1 the very memory of the more innocent kind of revenants had faded1 until the genus revenant was represented only by the species vrykolakas4 ,the word was indeed still known1 but ,leo ,allatius was undoubtedly following the popular usage of his time when he made it synonymous with vrykolakas2 for those narratives of the seventeenth century from which ,i have quoted above make it abundantly clear that the common-folk had come to suspect all revenants alike of predatory propensities4 ,this change in popular beliefs placed the ,church in an awkward predicament1 and was the cause of a marked divergence between the popular and the clerical usages of the word 4 ,it had long been claimed that a sentence of excommunication was binding upon a man even beyond death and could arrest the natural process of decomposition2 indeed the formula officially employed ended1 as ,father ,richard of ,santorini notes1 with the phrase1 #8and after death to remain indissoluble4' ,but when the fear of real vampires spread over ,greece1 the priests would naturally have been unwilling to be held responsible for the resuscitation of such pests1 while they were equally unwilling to diminish the terrors of excommunication by omitting the final imprecation4 ,their only course therefore was to emphasize what seems indeed to have been always the authorised doctrine of the ,church1 that excommunicated persons remained indeed incorrupt and #8drum-like1' but were not1 like vrykolakes1 subject to diabolical re-animation4 ,it is ,father ,richard's acceptance of this clerical view which explains why1 writing as he did some few years after ,leo ,allatius1 he distinguished the two words which ,leo had treated as synonymous1 making resuscitation the criterion of the vrykolakas and stating that the #8drum-like' body1 though withheld from natural decay1 lay quiet in its grave4 ,but the ecclesiastical doctrine made no impression upon the popular belief2 to this very day the common-folk regard any corpse which is found incorrupt as a potential vrykolakas1 and excommunication is everywhere numbered among the causes of vampirism4 ,thus it has come to pass that any revenants other than the savage vrykolakes are well-nigh forgotten1 and in most districts their very name is no longer heard4 ,the word vrykolakes1 which first meant were-wolves1 came to denote also the vampires into which were-wolves changed1 and gradually1 as these vampires by exciting men's horror and concentrating on themselves the people's attention became the predominant class of revenants1 ousted from the very speech of ,greece as a whole the old ,greek names for the more harmless sort1 and established itself as the regular equivalent of revenant4 ,such is my solution of the somewhat complex problem of nomenclature2 and in presenting it ,i have incidentally stated my view that the genuinely ,greek element in the modern superstition is a belief in the incorruptibility and re-appearance of dead persons under certain special conditions1 and that the imported and now dominant element is the ,slavonic belief that the resuscitation of the dead renders them necessarily predatory vampires4 ,this ,i now have to prove4 ,it is a well-established characteristic of the ,slavonic vampire that his violence is directed first and foremost against his nearest of kin4 ,the same trait is so pronounced too in the modern ,greek vrykolakas that it has given rise to the proverb1 1 #8the vrykolakas begins with his own beard'--a saying which carries a double meaning1 so a peasant told me4 ,it may be taken literally1 inasmuch as the vrykolakas usually appears bald and beardless2 but the words 1 #8his beard1' are popularly understood as a substitute1 half jocose and half euphemistic1 for 1 #8his family4' ,in other words1 this most deadly of pagan pests1 like the most lively of ,christian virtues1 begins at home4 ,such being the acknowledged and even proverbial habits of the vrykolakas1 nothing1 it might be supposed1 could be more repugnant and fearful to the near relations of a dead man than the possibility that he would turn vrykolakas and return straightway to devour them4 ,the first sufferers from such an eventuality would be the man's own kinsfolk1 the next his acquaintances and fellow-villagers1 but he himself would appear to be aggressor rather than sufferer4 ,nevertheless1 in face of this consideration1 there is no more commodious form of curse in popular usage than the ejaculation of a prayer that the person who has incurred one's displeasure may be withheld from corruption after death and return from his grave4 ,i have heard it extended even to a recalcitrant mule2 but it is also used gravely by parents as an imprecation of punishment hereafter upon undutiful children4 ,a few samples of this curse will not be out of place1 as showing at once its frequency and its range#ajbd4 1 #8,may the earth not receive him'3 1 #8,may the ground not consume him'3 #ajbe1 #8,may the earth not digest thee'3 ' #ajbf1 #8,may the black earth spew thee up'3 1 #8,mayest thou remain incorrupt'3 1 #8,may the earth not loose thee' 7i4e4 not let thy body decompose73 1 #8,may the ground reject thee'3 #ajbg1 #8,mayest thou become 7after death7 like a log 7in solidity7'3 '' 1 #8,may the ground spew him out'--this last phrase being made more terrible by being a parody1 as it were1 of the prayer uttered by the mourners at every ,greek funeral '' 1 #8,may ,god forgive him4' ,such are the popular forms of the curse2 and akin to them are the ecclesiastical imprecations1 with which the formula of excommunication used to end3 1 #ajbh1 #8,and after death thou shalt be bound 7i4e4 incorrupt7 eternally1 even as stone and iron'2 or1 in a shorter form1 #ajbi1 #8,and after death bound and indissoluble4' ,here1 it will be observed1 the ,church spoke only of incorruptibility1 but several of the popular expressions contain explicit mention of resuscitation as well2 and the very forms of the curse which ,i have quoted show how closely knit together1 how almost identical1 are these two notions in the mind of the peasants4 ,that which the earth will not #8receive1' she necessarily #8rejects'2 that which she does not #8consume' or #8digest1' she necessarily #8spews up4' ,the man whose body does not decompose is necessarily a revenant4 ,now curses1 it must be remembered1 among a primitive people are considered as operative1 and not merely expletive2 each bullet of malediction deliberately aimed is expected to find its billet2 each imprecation seriously uttered has a magical power of fulfilling itself4 ,that this belief is firmly held by the ,greek folk is sufficiently proved by certain quaint solemnities enacted beside the deathbed4 ,it is a common custom#ajcj for a dying man to put a handful of salt into a vessel of water1 and when it is dissolved to sprinkle with the liquid all those who are present1 saying1 ' 1 1 #8,as the salt dissolves1 so may my curses dissolve4' ,by this ceremony all persons whom he has cursed are released from the bonds of an imprecation which after death he would no longer be able to revoke or annul4 ,then in turn the relations and friends formally pronounce their forgiveness of aught that the dying man has done to their hurt4 ,thus pardoning and pardoned the sick man may expect a short and easy passing2 and1 if the death-struggle be prolonged1 it is taken as a sign that some one whom he has injured has not forgiven him4 ,accordingly the friends and kinsmen1 having decided among themselves who the delinquent must be1 send to fetch him1 if he be still living1 in order that he too may pronounce his forgiveness and so smooth the passage of the parting soul4 ,if however he be dead1 a portion of his shroud or of his ashes is brought and burnt1 and the sick man1 who needs his forgiveness ere he can die in peace1 is fumigated with the smoke therefrom4 ,since then curses in general are regarded by the ,greek folk no less than by other primitive peoples as effective instruments of wrath which work out their own fulfilment1 the particular curses which we are considering1 when they are gravely uttered1 do seriously contemplate the possibility of the person cursed becoming after death a revenant and are designed to bring about that future state4 ,but1 if already at the time when such imprecations first became popular it had been believed that their effect was to render the corpse1 whose decay was arrested and whose resuscitation was assured1 a wanton and blood-thirsty monster1 preying first of all upon his nearest of kin1 the question of relationship or no relationship between the curser and the cursed would necessarily have been taken into account4 ,on the one hand1 where a man was in no degree akin to the object of his wrath1 he would have welcomed the opportunity of including his enemy's whole family in his vengeance by causing him to return and devour them4 ,for in ,greece recrimination is wholly unsparing1 and no man pretending to any elegance or taste in the matter of abuse could neglect to level his taunts and threats and curses at least as much against the relatives--especially the female relatives--of his enemy as against the man himself4 ,just as the tenderest blessings among the peasants are prayers1 not for him to whom they wish well1 but rather for those whom he has loved and lost1 so that the beggar's thanks are often #8,may ,god forgive your father and your mother' 7which1 however it may sound1 is not intended otherwise than graciously7 or again1 prettier still in its vague genderless plural which no translation can adequately render1 '' 1 #8,may ,god forgive your dead1' so the harshest and bitterest of curses are vented1 not upon the man who has excited them1 but upon those who are nearest and dearest to him4 ,and bitterness in cursing being as much a part of the ,greek character as gentleness in blessing1 it is almost inconceivable that1 if any idea of real vampirism had originally been associated with revenants1 the merest novice in malediction could have missed the opportunity of adding to his imprecations of incorruptibility and resuscitation a prayer that his enemy might devastate with horrid carnage the home of those who mourned him4 ,yet not one of the curses which ,i have quoted above suggests any savagery to be shown by the resuscitated body2 not one of them hints at the blood-thirsty predatory character of the modern vrykolakas2 nay1 most significant of all1 not one of them contains the word vrykolakas1 nor have ,i ever heard or found recorded1 so far as ,i can remember1 any form of the curse in which that word appears#ajca4 ,now this is certainly not due to any difficulty of language in using the word1 for there is a convenient enough verb formed from it1 1 #8,i turn vampire1' and 1 #8,may you turn vampire1' should commend itself as both sonorous and compendious4 ,the reason why all mention and all thought of the ordinary vrykolakas are lacking in these curses must rather be that1 when they first came into vogue1 revenants were not yet credited with the savage character which under ,slavonic influence they afterwards acquired2 and that1 when the word vrykolakas was introduced1 the old traditional forms of curse underwent no modification1 but were bandied to and fro by boys with the same glib uniformity as by their fathers before them4 ,they had been cast in set forms before the idea of vampirism had been introduced and when men believed only in reasonable and usually harmless revenants4 ,on the other hand1 where the curser was akin to the cursed1 the nearer the tie of blood the more incomprehensible would be the attitude of one who by an imprecation should recall from the grave so malignant a thing as the modern vrykolakas1 only to fall himself perhaps the first victim to its blood-thirstiness4 ,if the phrase #8,may the earth reject thee' had suggested anything beyond simple resuscitation1 if there had been any resemblance in character between the ,greek revenant and the ,slavonic vampire1 such an imprecation would have been impossible where close kinship existed2 it would at once recoil with fatal force upon the curser's own head2 above all1 that most solemn curse1 the curse of parent upon child1 would have been the first to #8come home to roost'2 and yet the use of such parental imprecations is both celebrated in ballad and not unknown1 ,i am told1 in actual experience4 ,once more then the use of these curses is explicable only on the hypothesis that the original ,greek revenants were not the formidable monsters now known as vrykolakes1 and that1 when under ,slavonic influence the popular conception of them changed1 the old set phrases of commination--coins1 as it were1 of speech1 struck in the mint of the original superstition--continued current in spite of their inconsistency with the new ideas4 ,these colloquial survivals of the original ,greek superstition are at once a proof and a measure of its later contamination4 ,the ,greeks had believed in reasonable human revenants2 the ,slavs taught them to believe in brutish inhuman vampires4 ,this conclusion is confirmed by the ballad to which ,i have just referred2 in it a mother's imprecation recalls her son from the grave2 the revenant1 who is the protagonist in a most dramatic story1 is1 as will be seen1 of the type which ,i claim to have been the original ,greek type and exhibits no ,slavonic traits4 ,the ballad#ajcb1 which as an important document ,i translate at length1 runs as follows3 ,mother with children richly blest1 nine sons and one dear daughter1 ,the darling of thy heart was she1 and fondly did'st thou tend her2 ,for full twelve years thou guardedst her1 and the sun looked not on her1 ,but in the dusk thou bathedst her1 by moonlight trim'dst her tresses1 ,by evening-star and morning-star her curls in order settest4 ,and lo6 a message brought to thee1 from ,babylon a message1 ,bidding thee wed thy child afar1 afar in a strange country2 ,eight of her brethren will it not1 but ,constantine doth hearken3 --#8,nay1 mother1 send thine ,aret1 send her to that strange country1 ,that country whither ,i too fare1 that land wherein ,i wander1 ,that ,i may find me comfort there1 that ,i may find me lodging4' --#8,prudent art thou1 my ,constantine1 yet ill-conceived thy counsel3 ,if there o'ertake me death1 my son1 if there o'ertake me sickness1 ,if there hap bitterness or joy1 who shall go bring her to me8' ,he made the ,saints his witnesses1 he gave her ,god for surety1 ,if peradventure there come death1 if haply there come sickness1 ,if there hap bitterness or joy1 himself would go and bring her4 ,now when they had sent ,aret to wed in the strange country1 ,there came a year of heaviness1 a month of ,god's displeasure1 ,and there befell the ,pestilence1 that the nine brethren perished2 ,lone as a willow in the plain1 lone1 desolate their mother4 ,over eight graves she beats her breast1 o'er eight makes lamentation1 ,but from the tomb of ,constantine she tears the very grave-stones3 --#8,rise1 ,i adjure thee1 ,constantine1 'tis ,aret ,i long for2 ,thou madest the ,saints thy witnesses1 thou gavest me ,god for surety1 ,if there hap bitterness or joy1 thyself would'st go and bring her4' ,forth from the mound that covered him the stern adjuring drave him2 ,he takes the clouds to be his steed1 the stars to be his bridle1 ,the moon for escort on his road1 and goes his way to bring her4 ,he leaves the mountains in his wake1 he gains the heights before him1 ,he finds her 'neath the moonlight fair combing her golden tresses4 ,e'en from afar he bids her hail1 cries from afar his message3 --#8,up1 ,aretola1 up and come1 for lo6 our mother needs thee4' --#8,alack1 alack1 dear brother mine1 what chance hath then befallen8 ,if haply 'tis an hour of joy1 let me go don my jewels1 ,if bitterness1 speak1 ,i will come and tarry not for robing4' --#8,up1 ,aretola1 up and come1 and tarry not for robing4' ,beside the way whereon they passed1 beside the road they travelled1 ,they heard the singing of the birds1 they heard the birds a-saying3 --#8,who hath e'er seen a maiden fair by a dead man escorted8' --#8,didst hear1 my brother ,constantine1 what thing the birds are saying8 8,who hath e'er seen a maiden fair by a dead man escorted80' --#8,nay1 foolish birds1 let them sing on1 nor heed their idle chatter4' ,anon as they went faring on1 yet other birds were calling3 --#8,what woeful sight is this we see1 so piteous and so plaintive1 ,that lo6 as comrades on their way1 the dead escort the living8' --#8,didst hear1 my brother ,constantine1 what thing the birds are saying8 8,that lo6 as comrades on their way1 the dead escort the living40' --#8,nay1 what are birds8 let them sing on1 nor heed their idle chatter4' --#8,ah1 but ,i fear thee1 brother mine1 thou savourest of censing4' --#8,nay1 at the chapel of ,saint ,john we gathered yester even1 ,and the good father hallowed us with incense beyond measure4' ,and yet again as they fared on1 yet other birds were crying3 --#8,o ,god1 great ,god omnipotent1 great wonders art thou working2 ,so gracious and so fair a maid with a dead man consorting6' --#8,didst hear1 my brother ,constantine1 what thing the birds are saying8 ,tell me1 where are those locks of thine1 thy trimly-set mustachio8' --',twas a sore sickness fell on me1 nigh unto death it brought me1 ,and spoiled me of my golden locks1 my trimly-set mustachio4' ,lo6 they are come2 but locked their home1 the door fast barred and bolted1 ,and all the windows of their home in spider-webs enshrouded4 --#8,op'n1 prithee1 open1 mother mine1 'tis ,aret thy daughter4' --#8,an thou art ,charon1 go thy way1 for ,i have no more children2 ,my one1 my little ,aret1 bides far in the strange country4' --#8,op'n1 prithee1 open1 mother mine1 'tis ,constantine that calls thee2 ,i made the ,saints my witnesses1 ,i gave thee ,god for surety1 ,if there hap bitterness or joy1 myself would go and bring her4' ,scarce had she passed to ope the door1 and lo6 her soul passed from her4 ,the versions of this ballad which have been collected are very numerous#ajcc1 and some of them differ so widely from others in language as not to have a single line in common4 ,that which ,i have selected for translation is one of the most complete1 presenting fairly all the essential points of the story1 and free from the eccentricities which some versions have developed4 ,at the same time it must be allowed that here the mother's curse is only implied by her action of tearing up the gravestones and adjuring ,constantine to rise1 whereas in one or two versions1 otherwise inferior1 it is clearly and forcibly expressed4 ,thus in one#ajcd her words run3 1 1 1 ' 4 #8,may ,constantine become as rock1 yea even as stone1 and have no loosing 7i4e4 dissolution71 for that he sent my ,areto to a strange land4' ,and in another#ajce3 1 ' ' 4 #8,may all my other sons have 8loosing0 and ,constantine be not 8loosed10 for that he let my ,aret be taken afar to a strange country4' ,again1 another version#ajcf ends1 not with the arrival of ,aret in time to close her dying mother's eyes1 but with the revoking of the curse upon ,constantine in gratitude for the fulfilment of his oath3 #8 ' '4' ' 4 #8,may the earth where thou liest loose thee and thy tomb consume thee4' ,scarce had she finished her speech and he became but a handful of earth4 ,clearly then the curse1 which in this story is conceived as binding ,constantine's body and driving him forth from the grave and which must be revoked before his body can be loosed by natural decay1 is one of that class which we have been considering2 but the story confers the further advantage of letting us see such a curse in operation4 ,constantine is presented as a revenant1 but not of the modern type2 for what turn must the story have taken if he had been a normal vrykolakas8 ,his first act would have been to devour his nearest of kin--his mother1 who was tearing up his grave-stones and cursing him3 and his next1 if he had troubled to go as far as ,babylon1 to make a like end of ,aret4 ,and what do we actually find8 ,constantine acts not only as a reasonable man in seeking to allay his sister's suspicions1 but also as a good man in keeping his oath4 ,he is driven forth from the grave on a quest which 7in most versions of the story7 earns him no thanks from those whom he benefits2 he does his weary mission and 7in most versions7 goes back again to the cold grave from which the curse had raised him4 ,our sympathy is engaged by ,constantine no less than by his mother4 ,he too is a sufferer1 first stricken down in his youth by pestilence1 and then cursed because his oath remained unfulfilled4 ,he claims our pity1 and in this differs fundamentally from the ordinary vrykolakas which could only excite our horror4 ,furthermore it is noteworthy that in the many versions of this poem1 just as in the popular curses which ,i have quoted1 the word vrykolakas is nowhere found#ajcg4 ,hence ,i am inclined to believe that the original poem1 from which have come so many modern versions1 differing widely in many respects1 but agreeing completely in the exclusion both of the ,slavonic word vrykolakas and of all the suggestions of horror which surround it1 was composed in a period anterior to the intrusion of ,slavonic ideas2 and that the modern versions therefore1 which prove their fidelity to the spirit of the original precisely by having refused admittance to anything ,slavonic1 furnish that which we are seeking1 the purely and genuinely ,greek element in the now composite superstition4 ,that ,greek element then is the conception of the revenant as a sufferer deserving even of pity1 the very antithesis in character of the ,slavonic vampire1 an aggressor exciting only loathing and horror4 ,in the composite modern ,greek superstition1 as described in the last chapter1 the ,slavonic element is clearly predominant4 ,but the conclusion to which my analysis of the superstition has now led1 explains what would otherwise have been almost inexplicable1 the existence of a few stories in which the revenant1 though called vrykolakas1 is none the less represented as harmless or even amiable4 ,one such case is mentioned in ,father ,richard's narrative#ajch--the case of a shoemaker in ,santorini1 who having turned vrykolakas continued to frequent his house1 mend his children's shoes1 draw water at the reservoir1 and cut wood for the use of his family2 and though it is added that the people became frightened and exhumed and burned him1 this was only a measure of precaution dictated by their experience of other vrykolakes2 no charge was brought against this particular revenant4 ,it might also be supposed that the vrykolakes of ,amorgos1 mentioned next in the same narrative1 who were seen in open day five or six together in a field feeding apparently on green beans1 were of the less noxious kind2 but they may of course have been carnivorous also4 ,another story1 recently published#ajci1 records how a native of ,maina1 also a shoemaker by trade1 having turned vrykolakas issued from his grave every night except ,saturday1 resumed his work1 and continued to live with his wife1 whose pregnancy forced her to reveal the truth to her neighbours4 ,when once this was known1 many accusations1 it is true1 were brought against the vrykolakas2 but the story at least recognises some domestic and human traits in his character4 ,but a much more remarkable tale#ajdj is told of a field-labourer of ,samos who was so devoted to the farmer for whom he worked1 that when he died he became a vrykolakas and continued secretly to give his services4 ,at night he would go to the farm-buildings1 take out the oxen from their stall1 yoke them1 and plough three acres while his master slept2 in the daytime an equal piece of work was done by the master--so that incidentally the oxen were nearly killed4 ,the neighbours however having had their suspicions aroused by the rapidity of the work1 which the farmer himself could in no wise explain1 kept watch one night1 and having detected the vrykolakas opened his grave1 found him1 as would be expected1 whole and incorrupt1 and burned him4 ,such stories as these testify that the old and purely ,greek conception of revenants is not quite extinct even in places where the only name for them is the ,slavonic word vrykolakes4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the ,slavonic element in the modern superstition having been now removed1 it remains to consider what was the attitude of the ,church towards the ,greek belief in revenants and what effect her teaching had upon it4 ,i have already pointed out that the ,jesuit1 ,father ,richard1 discriminated between vrykolakes and certain bodies called #8drums1' which were found incorrupt after many years of burial4 ,this distinction he had no doubt learnt from clergy of the ,greek ,church2 for1 while the common-folk held that those whom the earth did not receive and consume were necessarily ejected by her1 or1 in other words1 that a dead man whose body did not decay was necessarily also a revenant1 the ,church distinguished1 as we shall see1 between belief in incorruptibility and belief in resuscitation1 inculcating the former1 and varying between condonation and condemnation of the latter4 ,these two ideas must therefore be handled separately4 ,the incorruptibility of the body of any person bound by a curse was made a definite doctrine of the ,orthodox ,church4 ,in an ecclesiastical manuscript1 seen by ,father ,richard1 were specifications of the discoloration and other unpleasant symptoms by which the precise quality of that curse--parental1 episcopal1 and so forth--which had arrested the decay of a corpse might be diagnosed2 and in one of the forms of absolution which may be read over any corpse found in such a condition there is a clause which provides for all possible cases without requiring expert diagnosis3 #8,yea1 ,o ,lord our ,god1 let ,thy great mercy and marvellous compassion prevail2 and1 whether this ,thy servant lieth under curse of father or mother1 or under his own imprecation1 or did provoke one of ,thy holy ministers and sustained at his hands a bond that hath not been loosed1 or did incur the most grievous ban of excommunication by a bishop1 and through heedlessness and sloth obtained not pardon1 pardon ,thou him by the hand of me ,thy sinful and unworthy servant2 resolve ,thou his body into that from which it was made2 and stablish his soul in the tabernacle of saints#ajda4' ,but the curse to which the ,church naturally gave most prominence and attached most weight was the ban of excommunication2 and therefore1 consistently with the accepted doctrine1 the formula of excommunication ended by sentencing the offender to remain whole and undissolved after death--a condition from which the body was not freed unless and until absolution was read over it and the decree of excommunication thereby rescinded4 ,this doctrine was held to have the authority of ,christ's own teaching#ajdb4 ,the power which was conferred upon the apostles in the words1 #8,whatsoever ye shall bind on earth1 shall be bound in heaven2 and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth1 shall be loosed in heaven#ajdc1' was believed to have been so transmitted to their successors1 the bishops#ajdd of the ,church1 that they too had the faculty of binding and loosing men's bodies--that is1 of arresting or promoting their decomposition after death4 ,such an interpretation of the text was facilitated by the very simplicity of its wording2 for 1 in modern ,greek 1 #8loose1' expresses equally well the ideas of dissolution and of absolution1 while 1 in modern ,greek 1 #8bind1' embraces their respective opposites4 ,a nomocanon de excommunicatis#ajde1 promulgated in explanation of the fact that excommunication sometimes failed to produce its expected result1 presents clearly the authorised doctrine and at the same time illustrates effectively the twofold usage of the words #8loosing' and #8binding4' #8,concerning excommunicated persons1 the which suffer excommunication by their bishops and after death are found with their bodies 8not loosed0 774 #8,certain persons have been justly1 reasonably1 and lawfully excommunicated by their bishops1 as transgressors of the divine law1 and have died in the state of excommunication without amending their ways and receiving forgiveness1 and have been buried1 and in a short time their bodies have been found 8loosed0 77 and sundered bone from bone4444 #8,now this is exceeding marvellous that he who hath been lawfully excommunicated should after his death be found with his body 8loosed0 7 7 and the joints thereof sundered4444' ,this #8exceeding marvellous' occurrence was therefore submitted to the consideration of learned divines1 whose verdict was to the effect that any excommunicated person whose body did not remain whole had no more hope of salvation1 because he was no longer in a state to be #8loosed' and forgiven by the bishop who had excommunicated him#ajdf1 but had become already #8an inheritor of everlasting torment4' #8,but1' continues the nomocanon formulated by these theologians1 #8they that are found excommunicate1 to wit1 with their bodies whole and 8not loosed0 771 these stand in need of forgiveness1 in order that the body may attain unto freedom from the 8bond0 77 of excommunication4 ,for even as the body is found 8bound0 77 in the earth1 so is the soul 8bound0 77 and tormented in the hands of the ,devil4 ,and whensoever the body receive forgiveness and be 8loosed0 77 from excommunication1 by power of ,god the soul likewise is freed from the hands of the ,devil1 and receiveth the life eternal1 the light that hath no evening1 and the joy ineffable4' ,the whole doctrine of the physical results both of excommunication and of absolution appeared to ,leo ,allatius to be indisputable1 and he mentions#ajdg several notable cases in which the truth of it was demonstrated4 ,athanasius1 ,metropolitan of ,imbros1 is quoted as recording how at the request of citizens of ,thasos he read the absolution over several incorrupt bodies1 #8and before the absolution was even finished all the corpses were dissolved into dust4' ,a similar case was that of a converted ,turk who was subsequently excommunicated at ,naples1 and had been dead some years before he obtained absolution and dissolution at the hands of two ,metropolitans4 ,more remarkable still was a case in which a priest1 who had pronounced a sentence of excommunication1 afterwards turned ,mohammedan1 while the victim of his curse1 though he had died in the ,christian faith1 remained #8bound4' ,the matter was reported to the ,patriarch ,raphael1 and at his instance the ,turk1 though after much demur1 read the absolution over the ,christian's body1 and towards the end of the reading1 #8the swelling of the body went down1 and it turned completely to dust4' ,the ,turk thereupon embraced ,christianity once more1 and was put to death for doing so4 ,most graphic of all is a story attributed to one ,malaxus#ajdh4 ,the ,sultan having been informed--among other evidences of the power of ,christianity--that the bodies of the excommunicated never obtained dissolution till absolution was read over them1 bade seek out such an one and absolve him4 ,the ,patriarch of the time accordingly made enquiries1 which resulted in his hearing of a priest's widow who had been excommunicated by a predecessor1 the ,patriarch ,gennadius4 ,her story was that having been rebuked by him for prostitution she publicly charged him with an attempt to seduce her4 ,gennadius had answered the charge by praying aloud one ,sunday in the presence of all the clergy1 that1 if her accusation were true1 ,god would pardon her all her sins and give her happiness hereafter and let her body1 when she died1 dissolve2 but1 if the charge were slander and calumny against himself1 then by the will and judgement of ,almighty ,god he exercised his power of severing her from the communion of the faithful1 to remain unpardoned and incorruptible4 ,forty days afterwards she had died of dysentery and having been buried remained incorrupt4 ,exhumed at the ,sultan's instance the body was found to be still sound and whole1 of a dark colour and with the skin stretched like the parchment of a drum4 ,it was then removed and kept for a certain time under the ,sultan's seal1 until the ,patriarch decided to absolve it4 ,as he read the absolution the crackling of the body as it broke up could be heard from within the coffin4 ,it was then again kept for a few days under the ,sultan's seal1 and when finally the coffin was opened the body was found #8dissolved and decomposed1 having at last obtained mercy4' ,and the ,sultan was so impressed by the miracle that he is recorded to have exclaimed1 #8,certainly the ,christian religion is true beyond all question4' ,suchlike stories1 together with the formula of excommunication and the nomocanon above quoted1 prove conclusively that the ,church did not merely acquiesce in one part of the popular superstition but authoritatively sanctioned it and utilised it for her own ends4 ,the incorruptibility of the dead body under certain conditions was made an article of faith and an instrument of terrorism1 which1 as will appear later#ajdi1 the ill-educated peasant-priests did not scruple to wield widely as an incentive to baptism1 a deterrent from apostasy1 and a challenge to repentance4 ,the name by which ecclesiastical writers designated a person whose body was thus #8bound' by excommunication1 was one which has already been explained1 #ajej or1 in another form1 #ajea--swollen until the skin is as tight as a drum4 ,this word1 which now survives1 so far as ,i know1 only in one island1 and in the seventeenth century1 to judge by ,leo ,allatius' reference to it1 was certainly less common than the word vrykolakas1 had probably at one time1 before ,slavonic influence was felt1 belonged to the popular as well as to the ecclesiastical vocabulary2 and it was1 ,i suspect1 borrowed by the ,church from popular speech at the same time as she borrowed from popular superstition the idea of dead bodies being #8bound' and withheld from corruption by a curse4 ,at what date this appropriation took place ,i cannot determine2 but it must certainly have been before ,slavonic influence was widely felt2 for1 when once the ,greek revenant had acquired the baneful characteristics of the ,slavonic vampire1 the clergy would surely never have claimed as a new thing the power to #8bind' the dead by excommunication1 when the laity 7and indeed many of their own calling too7 believed that persons so #8bound' became rampant and ravening vrykolakes4 ,the belief must therefore have been incorporated in ecclesiastical doctrine at a time when the ,greek people spoke of the incorrupt dead as 1 #8drumlike1' and conceived of them as reasonable revenants4 ,the process by which the belief came to obtain the sanction of the ,church is not hard to guess4 ,the ambiguity of the words 1 #8loose1' and 1 #8bind1' may well have been the starting-point4 ,if1 on the one hand1 the apostles1 or the bishops who succeeded them1 treated certain sins as #8having no forgiveness neither in this world nor the world to come1' and in the exercise of their power to bind and to loose included in their formula of excommunication some such phrase as ,leo ,allatius records1 1 #8and after death never to be 8loosed0' 7meaning thereby #8absolved'72 while1 on the other hand1 the ,greek people were hereditarily familiar with a pagan belief that the dead bodies of persons who lay under a curse were not #8loosed' 7in the sense of #8dissolved'72 then the common-folk for their part would necessarily have understood the ecclesiastical curse as a sentence of #8non-dissolution'2 while the clergy would have been less than ,greek if they had not seen1 and more than ,greek if they had not seized1 the handle which popular superstition gave them1 and by adding to their accustomed formula 7 1 #8after death never to be 8loosed0'7 such apparently innocent words as #ajeb1 #8even as stone and iron1' substituted the idea of #8dissolution' for that of #8absolution' and definitely committed the ,church to the old pagan doctrine4 ,if this conjecture as to the process by which the popular belief became an article of the ,orthodox faith be correct1 a further suggestion may be made as to the date at which the process began4 ,if the word #8loosing' was misunderstood by the ,greeks when used in the formula of excommunication1 it would equally have been misunderstood in the words of ,christ1 #8,whatsoever ye shall bind on earth1 shall be bound in heaven2 and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth1 shall be loosed in heaven#ajec4' ,was it then the knowledge that these words were commonly misinterpreted by the ,greeks which led the author of the fourth ,gospel to reproduce them in a less equivocal form3 8,whosesoever sins ye remit1 they are remitted unto them2 and whosesoever sins ye retain1 they are retained#ajed08 ,this would indicate an early date indeed4 ,yet the date matters little as compared with the main fact that the ecclesiastical doctrine of the incorruptibility of excommunicated persons was at some time borrowed from paganism4 ,the other half of the popular superstition1 namely that those whose bodies were #8bound' by excommunication or otherwise1 and whom the earth did not #8receive1' were ejected by her and re-appeared as revenants1 caused the ,church some embarrassment4 ,sometimes the alleged resuscitation of such persons was condemned as a mere hallucination of timorous and superstitious minds2 at other times it was accepted as a fact and explained as a work of the ,devil designed to lead men astray1 and acting upon this idea the clergy often lent their services to absolve and to dissolve the suspected corpse4 ,leo ,allatius#ajee reflects both these views and shows their effect upon the conduct of the clergy4 ,after describing the actual appearance of such bodies1 which gained for them the name 1 #8drumlike1' he introduces the second half of the superstition by saying that into such bodies the devil enters1 and issuing from the tomb goes about working all manner of destruction2 and he adds that when the body is exhumed1 #8the priests recite prayers1 and the body is thrown on a burning pyre2 before the supplications are finished1 the joints of the body gradually fall apart1 and all the remains are burnt to ashes4' ,yet shortly afterwards he states1 #8,this belief is not of fresh and recent growth in ,greece2 in ancient and modern times alike men of piety who have received the confessions of ,christians have tried to root it out of the popular mind4' ,there is a clear contrast between the conduct of #8the priests' in one passage and that of the #8men of piety' in the other4 ,the clergy did not as a body adopt a single and consistent attitude towards the popular superstition4 ,similar inconsistency marks the nomocanon concerning vrykolakes1 from which ,i have given selections along with the rest of ,leo's account in the last section2 these passages1 for convenience of reference1 are here repeated3 #8,concerning a dead man1 if such be found whole and incorrupt1 the which they call vrykolakas444 #8,it is impossible that a dead man become a vrykolakas save it be that the ,devil1 wishing to delude some that they may do things unmeet and incur the wrath of ,god1 maketh these portents and oft-times at night causeth men to imagine that the dead man whom they knew before cometh and speaketh with them1 and in their dreams too they see visions4 ,other times they see him in the road1 walking or standing still1 and1 more than this1 he even throttles men4 #8,then there is a commotion and they run to the grave and dig to see the remains of the man 444 and the dead man--one who has long been dead and buried--appears to them to have flesh and blood and nails and hair 444 and they collect wood and set fire to it and burn the body and do away with it altogether4444' ,then1 after denying again the reality of such things which exist 1 in imagination only1 the nomocanon continues3 #8,but know that when such remains be found1 the which1 as we have said1 is a work of the ,devil1 ye must summon the priests to chant an invocation of the ,mother of ,god1 444 and to perform memorial services for the dead with funeral meats4' ,the self-contradiction of the pronouncement is exposed in the phrases which ,i have italicised4 ,clearly if such remains are found and the dead man is so affected by the work of the ,devil that special services for his repose#ajef are required1 the theory of hallucination is untenable4 ,but this very inconsistency of the nomocanon1 though according to ,allatius it is of uncertain authorship1 proves it1 as ,i will show1 a very valuable document of the ,church's traditional teaching on this matter4 ,s4 ,anastasius ,sinaita1 who became bishop of ,antioch in #efa and died in #eii1 refers to revenants in a passage which1 literally rendered1 runs as follows#ajeg3 #8,again it appears that devils1 by means of false prophets who obey them and with their aid work signs and heal bodily diseases to the delusion of themselves and others1 present even a dead man as risen again1 and 7in his person7 talk with the living1 in imagination 7 74 ,for a devil enters into the dead body of the man1 and moves it1 presenting the dead man risen again as it were in answer to the foolish prayer of the deceiver4 ,and the evil spirit talks as it were in the person of the dead man with him whom he is deluding1 telling him such things as he himself wishes to tell and answering also further questions4444' ,in this passage ,anastasius is clearly thinking of revenants called up by sorcerers2 in his time1 when the first ,slavonic invaders had only just entered ,greece and anything like friendly intercourse between the two races was still a thing of the future1 the conception of a real vampire was not yet known to the ,greeks of ,greece proper1 much less to those of ,antioch2 and it is easy therefore to believe that the calling up of harmless revenants was then a recognised department of witchcraft1 which afterwards lost its attractions4 ,the particular circumstances however to which ,anastasius refers are of minor importance2 the interest of the passage lies in its inconsistency of thought1 which results indeed in a certain confusion of language2 for to say that #8it appears that devils 444 present even a dead man as risen again1 and talk with the living in imagination1' would be not a little obscure1 if the context did not throw light upon the meaning4 ,more lucidly expressed the ideas are these3 men see a dead person apparently risen from his grave and able to talk with them2 the raising of the dead is the work of a devil 7whose modus operandi is described in the second sentence72 the talking is also done by the devil 7as explained in the third sentence72 and finally the whole thing is an hallucination4 ,here then are the same contradictory doctrines as in the nomocanon2 the resuscitation of the dead man is the work of a devil who enters into the corpse and moves it and raises it from the grave2 and yet it is the #8imagination' of the men who see it which is at fault4 ,but it can be no casual coincidence that ,s4 ,anastasius in the sixth century and a nomocanon which was quoted as authoritative in the seventeenth attempted to combine two incompatible doctrines concerning the re-appearance of the dead4 ,rather is it proof that from a very early age the ,church remained halting between two opinions2 and the attitude adopted towards the superstition by the clergy1 some of whom1 according to ,leo ,allatius1 had long tried to root it out of the popular mind1 while others rendered aid in absolving suspected corpses1 naturally varied according as they personally believed that revenants 7including vrykolakes7 were a figment of the people's imagination or a real work of the ,devil4 ,now of these two ecclesiastical views1 which are really alternative and incompatible although attempts were made to combine them1 the former has clearly had little or no effect upon the people2 in spite of the efforts of the #8men of piety who received the confessions of ,christians#ajeh' to extirpate the superstition1 it remains vigorous1 as we have seen1 down to this day4 ,but the explanation of the phenomenon as a work of the ,devil was readily entertained2 even educated men were convinced of it4 #8,it is the height of folly1' says ,leo ,allatius1 speaking for himself1 #8to deny altogether that such bodies are sometimes found incorrupt in the graves1 and that by use of them the ,devil1 if ,god permit him1 devises horrible plans to the hurt of the human race'2 and similarly ,father ,richard opens his account of vrykolakes with the statement that the ,devil sometimes works by means of dead bodies which he preserves in their entirety and re-animates4 ,as for the common-folk1 the explanation accorded so well with the diabolical characteristics of the vrykolakas that they could hardly have failed to accept it4 ,the popularisation of this view is well illustrated by a local interpretation set upon a custom which ,i have already discussed1 the so-called custom of #8,charon's obol4' ,i have shown that the practice of placing a coin or other object in the mouth of the dead continues down to the present day2 that the classical notion1 that the coin was intended as payment for the ferryman of the ,styx1 was only a temporary and probably local misinterpretation of the custom2 and that the coin or other object employed was really a charm designed to prevent any evil spirit from entering 7or possibly the soul from re-entering7 the dead body4 ,now in ,chios and in ,rhodes this original intention has not been forgotten1 and is combined with the belief in vrykolakes4 ,in the former island the woman who prepares the corpse for burial places on its lips a cross of wax or cotton-stuff1 and the priest also during the funeral service prepares a fragment of pottery to be laid in the same place by marking on it the sign of the cross and the letters ,i4 ,x4 ,n4 ,k4 7 1 #8,jesus ,christ conquers'71 both of them with the avowed purpose of preventing any evil spirit from entering the dead body and making of it a vrykolakas#ajei4 ,in ,rhodes a piece of ancient pottery1 inscribed with the same words but marked with the pentacle#ajfj instead of the cross1 is placed in the mouth of the dead for the same purpose#ajfa4 ,clearly then in these two islands this ecclesiastical view has been fully accepted by the people2 and what ,i can illustrate by customs in these cases ,i know to be equally true of ,greece in general4 ,whenever an explanation is sought of the resuscitation of the dead1 the answer1 if any be forthcoming1 lays the responsibility for it on the ,devil4 ,this opinion1 as ,i have said1 is abundantly justified by the conduct of modern vrykolakes2 but ,i am inclined to think that it was held also1 by the ,church at any rate1 in the pre-,slavonic age when revenants were of a less diabolical character4 ,the actual practice of excommunication was thought to have been instituted by ,st ,paul#ajfb1 who twice speaks of #8delivering persons unto ,satan#ajfc4' ,the early ecclesiastical interpretation of this phrase is clearly given by ,theodoretus#ajfd2 commenting upon the sentence1 8,to deliver such an one unto ,satan for the destruction of the flesh1 that the spirit may be saved in the day of the ,lord ,jesus10 he draws special attention to the fact that the body1 and not the soul1 is to be subjected to diabolic affliction1 and then adds1 #8,we are taught by this1 that those who are excommunicated1 that is to say1 severed from the body of the ,church1 will be assailed by the devil when he finds them void of grace4' ,in other words1 the bodily punishment inflicted by the act of excommunication was #8possession' by the devil4 ,now ,theodoretus1 it is true1 says nothing in this passage as to the continuance of the punishment after death4 ,but clearly if demoniacal possession was the effect of excommunication1 and if also1 as we have seen1 the sentence of excommunication remained valid after death1 it must have followed that the dead body no less than the living body was possessed of the devil2 and if the devil in possession of the corpse chose to agitate it and drive it out of the grave1 the dead demoniac was at once a revenant4 ,there is therefore some probability that1 though the ,church never threatened the excommunicated with resuscitation but only with incorruptibility1 she may at a very early date have offered this explanation of their alleged re-appearance2 and the theory of diabolical agency may have gained popular approval from the first2 for resuscitation was originally viewed by the ,greek people as a calamity befalling the dead man1 not as a source of danger to the living2 and therefore an ecclesiastical doctrine1 that it was by delivering an offender unto ,satan that the curse of the ,church rendered him a revenant1 would have been felt to be a perfectly satisfactory1 if novel1 explanation of the process by which a known cause1 imprecation1 produced its known effect1 resuscitation4 ,but1 whatever the date at which the theory of diabolical possession was first developed and disseminated1 the ,church1 and the ,church only1 was responsible for it4 ,the ,devil is a ,christian conception1 just as the vampire is ,slavonic4 ,both must go1 if the modern superstition is to be stripped of its accretions1 and the genuinely ,hellenic elements discovered4 ,what then remains8 ,simply the belief that the bodies of certain classes of persons did not decay away in their graves but returned therefrom1 and the feeling that such persons were sufferers deserving of pity4 ,what then were the classes of persons so affected1 according to the original ,greek superstition8 ,the classes now regarded as liable to become vrykolakes were enumerated at the end of the last section4 ,but both ,slavonic and ,christian influences have been felt here1 as in the rest of the superstition4 ,i must therefore take those classes one by one1 and indicate the origin of each4 ,none of them will require long discussion2 their provenance is in many cases self-evident4 7#a7 ,those who have not received the full and due rites of burial4 ,here there can be no reason for supposing any alien influence2 on the contrary1 the high importance attached by the ancient ,greeks to funeral-rites is everywhere apparent4 ,it was these which ,patroclus' spirit returned to implore2 these which ,antigone risked her life to give4 ,the sin of ,clytemnestra culminated in that she #8dared to bury her husband without mourning or lamentation#ajfe'--;an essential part of the ,greek funeral2 and again in historical times ,lysander's honour was tarnished not so much because he put to death some prisoners of war1 but because #8he did not throw earth even upon their dead bodies#ajff4' ,what effect such neglect was anciently believed to have upon the dead is a question to be considered later2 but the general idea is plainly ,hellenic4 7#b7 ,those who meet with any sudden or violent death 7including suicides71 or1 in ,maina1 where the vendetta is still in vogue1 those who having been murdered remain unavenged4 ,the most important element in this class is formed by those who have been murdered1 especially when1 as in ,maina1 they are believed to return from the grave with the purpose of seeking revenge upon their murderers4 ,such an idea1 as will be shown later1 is thoroughly consonant with ancient views of bloodguilt4 ,but it appears also from a passage of ,lucian#ajfg that any #8violent' or #8sudden1' as opposed to #8natural1' death was commonly held to debar the victim from rest no less effectually than actual murder4 ,the whole class may therefore be accepted as ,hellenic1 and may probably be considered to have always comprised all persons whose lives were cut short suddenly before their proper hour had come4 7#c7 ,children conceived or born on one of the great ,church-festivals1 and children still-born4 ,the first division of this class may be variously explained2 either the child may be supposed to suffer for the sin committed by its parents on a day when the ,church enjoins continence1 or else the notion1 that children born between ,christmas and ,epiphany are subject to lycanthropy#ajfh and therefore also1 according to ,slavonic views1 to vampirism1 has become associated with other church-festivals also4 ,children still-born are probably to be numbered among victims of #8sudden' death4 ,thus the first division1 being of ecclesiastical or ,slavonic origin1 is to be set aside2 the second may probably be included in a larger ,hellenic class already considered2 neither therefore requires any further discussion4 7#d7 ,those who die under a curse1 especially the curse of a parent1 or one self-invoked1 as in the case of a man who in perjuring himself calls down on his own head all manner of damnation if what he says be false4 ,the dread which a curse1 above all a parent's curse1 excited in the ancient ,greeks is well known4 ,no one can have read ,aeschylus' story of the house of ,atreus1 nor followed with ,sophocles the fortunes of ,oedipus and his children1 without perceiving therein the working of a curse that claims fulfilment and cannot be averted4 ,the idea therefore here involved is purely ,hellenic4 7#e7 ,those who die under the ban of the ,church1 that is to say1 excommunicate4 ,this class is an ecclesiastical variety of the last4 7#f7 ,those who die unbaptised or apostate4 ,the apostate is of course ipso facto excommunicate1 even though no formal sentence have been pronounced against him4 ,the unbaptised have probably been included by priestcraft for purposes of intimidation2 baptism is commonly held to prevent children from becoming were-wolves1 and therefore also vrykolakes at death4 7#g7 ,men of evil and immoral life in general1 more particularly if they have dealt in the blacker kinds of sorcery4 ,clerical influence is clearly discernible here1 but is not1 ,i think1 responsible for the whole idea4 ,a story from ,zacynthos#ajfi records how the treacherous murderer of a good man was first smitten by a thunderbolt so that he lost both his sight and his reason1 and after his death was turned by ,god into a vrykolakas as a punishment for his crime1 and has so remained for a thousand years4 ,here1 in spite of the word vrykolakas being used1 the revenant is represented1 like ,constantine in the popular ballad1 as a sufferer4 ,this idea has been shown to be pre-,slavonic--and incidentally it is not a little curious that the story itself claims to date from a thousand years ago1 when this idea was only beginning to be ousted by ,slavonic superstition4 ,but if the idea of #8punishment' is old1 the idea that the punishment was merited by a crime must be equally old4 ,for this reason1 and for others which will be developed later1 ,i hold that the perpetrators of certain deadly sins were from early times regarded as accursed and subject to the same punishment as befell those on whom a curse had actually been called down4 ,the ,church1 ,i think1 merely added to the number of those sins1 and at the same time undertook the task of pronouncing in many cases the curse which they had earned4 7#h7 ,those who have eaten the flesh of a sheep which was killed by a wolf4 ,this class is purely ,slavonic in origin4 ,to become a were-wolf in consequence of having eaten flesh which a wolf's fangs have infected with madness is to a simple mind rational enough2 and a were-wolf becomes after death a vampire4 ,further the belief1 so far as ,i know1 belongs only to ,elis1 one of the districts where ,slavonic ascendancy was most complete and continued longest4 7#i7 ,those over whose dead bodies a cat or other animal has passed4 ,this class also is ,slavonic4 ,the jumping of a cat over a dead body is still believed by some ,slavonic peoples to be a cause of vampirism#ajgj1 while in ,greece the idea is rare and local only4 ,thus out of the many conditions by which1 in modern belief1 a man is predisposed to turn vrykolakas1 only three can be genuinely ,hellenic3 first1 lack of burial2 second1 a sudden or violent death2 and third1 a parental or other curse1 or such sin as renders a man accursed4 ,the revenant therefore was regarded1 as we inferred also from the story of ,constantine and ,aret1 as a sufferer4 ,his suffering might be the result of pure mischance1 as in the case of sudden death1 or of neglect on the part of those whose duty it was to lament and to bury him1 or again of some sin of his own which had merited a curse4 ,but whether he was the victim of sheer misfortune or of punishment1 he was still a sufferer1 an object to excite the pity of mankind in general1 although in special cases1 as when he had been murdered or had not received the last offices of love at the hands of his kinsfolk1 he might reasonably be feared by those who had injured him as an avenger4 ,since then in the pre-,slavonic period the general feeling towards revenants was a feeling of pity1 the treatment of them in that period requires investigation4 ,starting once more from the modern superstition1 we find that the treatment of vrykolakes by the ,greeks differs widely from that accorded by the ,slavs to vampires4 ,the ,slavonic method is generally to pierce the suspected corpse with a stake of aspen or whitethorn1 taking care to drive it right through the heart at one blow4 ,the usual ,greek method is to burn the body4 ,the ,greeks therefore1 who learnt from the ,slavs all that is most horrible in their conception of vrykolakes1 none the less thought that they knew a better way of disposing of these new-found pests than that which was practised by their teachers4 ,convinced by foreign influence of the danger1 they relied on a native method of obviating it4 ,they would not impale the vrykolakas2 they would burn him4 ,clearly there must have been some strong conviction and assurance in the heart of a people who1 freshly persuaded of the peril threatening them at the hands of so loathly and savage a monster1 yet chose to pursue their own method of combating it rather than to adopt the foreign and repugnant practice of impaling the dead4 ,that conviction plainly was that cremation1 by ensuring the immediate and complete dissolution of the body1 put an end to all relations of the dead with the living2 and their confidence in it can only have been based upon their own experience in the treatment of the ,greek species of revenants4 ,cremation then was the means by which the ,greek folk had always been wont to succour those of the dead who suffered from incorruptibility and resuscitation4 ,such a custom would not1 so far as ,i can judge1 have encountered any serious ecclesiastical opposition4 ,the ,church1 it is true1 in her earlier days had condemned cremation as a pagan rite1 and with the spread of ,christianity inhumation became the ordinary rite4 ,but in the case of those who1 having been buried1 yet returned from the grave1 since the ,christian rite had proved of no avail1 some concession to pagan traditions would have been natural4 ,many of the clergy1 as we have seen1 condoned cremation in the case of vrykolakes as a measure of self-defence2 surely they would equally have allowed it as an act of charity to more innocent men to whom the earth had denied dissolution and death had brought no repose4 ,thus the actual custom of burning dates from the pre-,slavonic era2 it is only the motive of the act which is changed4 ,formerly men felt pity for the revenant1 and sought to promote his dissolution in order to release him from a state of suffering2 now1 as for some centuries past1 men feel only horror of the vrykolakas1 and seek to promote his dissolution in order to release themselves from a state of peril4 ,hence no doubt came the more horrible barbarities occasionally inflicted on the corpse2 to tear out the heart1 to boil it in vinegar1 to tear the body to shreds--these are the acts of a panic-stricken and vindictive people eager to torment their foe before annihilating him4 ,but in the old custom of cremation there was nothing inhumane2 it was the merciful act of a people who had compassion upon the unquiet dead and gave to them1 in solicitude for their welfare1 that boon of bodily dissolution by which alone they were finally severed from the living and admitted to the world of the departed4 #c4 ,,revenants ,,in ,,ancient ,,greece4 ,the ,slavonic and the ecclesiastical elements have now been removed from the modern ,greek superstition1 and the ,hellenic residue is briefly this3 the human body sometimes remains incorruptible in the earth1 and in this state is liable to resuscitation2 persons so affected stand as it were halfway between the living and the dead1 resembling the former when they walk the earth1 and the latter when they are lying quiet in their graves or1 if unburied1 elsewhere2 during their periods of resuscitation they act as reasonable human beings1 but their whole condition is pitiable1 and the most humane way of treating them is to burn their bodies2 disintegration being thus secured1 they return no more to this world1 but are numbered among the departed4 ,further the causes of such a condition are threefold--lack of burial1 sudden death1 and execration or deadly sin deserving of it4 ,the only question which we have left unsolved is that of the agency by which the body is resuscitated4 ,the ,devil is now held responsible2 but the ,devil is a ,christian1 not a pagan1 conception4 ,my purpose in the present section is1 first1 to verify by the aid of classical literature the conclusions which have been reached1 and1 secondly1 to solve the one problem which remains4 ,there is1 so far as ,i know1 only one story in ancient literature which contains anything like a full account of a revenant4 ,this is related by ,phlegon#ajga1 a freedman of ,hadrian2 and the narrator professes to have been an eye-witness of the occurrences which he describes4 ,in his story are embodied most of those very ideas which on wholly other grounds have been argued to form the genuine ,hellenic element in the modern superstition concerning vrykolakes1 and ,i shall therefore reproduce it at length4 ,unfortunately however the beginning of the story is lost1 and therewith possibly the cause assigned for the strange conduct of the resuscitated corpse which plays the heroine's part4 ,what remains of the story opens abruptly with a weird scene in the guest-chamber of the house of ,demostratus and his wife ,charito4 ,their daughter ,philinnion had been dead and buried somewhat less than six months1 when one evening she was observed by her old nurse in the guest-chamber1 where a young man named ,machates was lodged1 to all appearances alive4 ,the nurse at once ran to the girl's parents and bade them come with her and see their child4 ,charito however was so overcome by the tidings that she first fainted and then wept hysterically for her lost daughter and finally began to abuse the old woman1 calling her mad and ordering her out of the room2 but the nurse expostulated with spirit1 and ,charito at last went with her4 ,in the meanwhile however ,philinnion and her lover had retired to rest1 so that when the mother arrived she could not obtain a good view of her2 but from the peep which she got of the girl's clothes and the shape of her face she thought that she recognised her daughter4 ,then1 feeling that she could not at that hour ascertain the truth of the matter1 she decided to keep quiet until morning1 and then to rise betimes and surprise the girl if still there1 or1 failing that1 to extort from ,machates the whole truth4 ,but when dawn came the girl had gone away unobserved1 and ,charito began to take ,machates to task1 telling him the whole story and imploring him to confess the truth and to keep nothing back4 ,the young man 7who seems to have been unaware that ,charito had lost a daughter named ,philinnion7 was much distressed1 and at first would only admit that such was indeed the name of the girl whom they had seen2 but afterwards he told the whole story of the girl's visits to him1 mentioning that she had said that she came without her parents' knowledge4 ,to confirm his story1 he produced the gold ring which she had given him and her breast-band which she had left behind on the previous night4 ,these were at once recognised by ,charito as having belonged to her daughter1 and with a loud cry she rent her clothes and loosed her hair and threw herself upon the ground beside the tokens and began making lamentation anew4 ,her example was soon followed by others of the family as if in preparation for a funeral1 and ,machates1 at his wits' end how to quiet them1 promised to let them see the girl if she should come to him again4 ,that night accordingly they kept watch1 and at the usual hour the girl came1 went into ,machates' room1 and sat down upon the bed4 ,the young man himself was now anxious to learn the truth2 he could not wholly credit the supposition that it was a dead woman who had come so regularly1 and who had eaten and drunk with him and lain at his side1 and thought rather that the real ,philinnion's tomb had been robbed and the booty sold to the father of the girl1 whoever she might be1 who visited him4 ,no sooner therefore was she come than he quietly summoned the watchers4 ,the girl's parents at once entered1 and were for a while dumb with astonishment at the sight of her1 and then threw their arms round her with loud cries4 ,then said ,philinnion1 #8,o my mother and father1 it was wrong of you to grudge me three days with this man here in my own home and doing no harm4 ,and so1 because of your meddlesomeness1 you shall mourn for me anew1 and ,i shall go away again to my appointed place4 ,for it is by divine consent that ,i have done thus4' ,scarcely had she spoken when she became a corpse and her body lay stretched upon the bed in the sight of all4 ,confusion and loud lamentation at once ensued1 and before long the rumour had got about the town and was reported to the narrator of the story1 ,phlegon1 who appears to have held some official position4 ,to him at any rate it fell to keep order during the night among the excited townsfolk1 and early next morning he was present at a crowded meeting in the theatre1 at which it was decided to inspect first of all the family vault in which ,philinnion had been laid4 ,the vault having been opened1 on all the shelves1 save that appropriated to ,philinnion1 were found bodies or bones2 but on hers there was nothing except an iron ring belonging to ,machates and a gilt cup--presents which she had received from him at her first visit4 ,horror-stricken the party left the vault and went straight to ,demostratus' house1 and in the guest-chamber saw the girl stretched upon the floor4 ,thence they returned to another public assembly as crowded as the first1 at which one ,hyllus1 who was reputed not only the best seer of the place but also a clever diviner#ajgb and possessed of a comprehensive knowledge of other branches of the profession1 advised that the girl's body should be taken outside the boundaries of the town and should be burnt to ashes--it was inexpedient1 he said1 for her to be buried in the town--and that certain propitiatory rites1 accompanied by a general purification1 should be paid to ,hermes ,chthonios and the ,eumenides4 ,the strange episode ended with the acceptance of this advice by the townspeople and the suicide of ,machates4 ,this story was known to ,father ,richard of ,santorini#ajgc1 who recognised in it an ancient case parallel to some which he himself had witnessed or learnt from other eye-witnesses in his own times4 ,even the harmless character of ,philinnion did not appear to him incompatible with the popular conception of vrykolakes4 ,indeed1 as we saw above1 he himself mentions1 among the many instances known to him1 one in which a shoemaker of ,santorini1 having turned vrykolakas1 manifested no vicious tendencies1 but rather the greatest affection and solicitude for his wife and children4 ,nor again is the incident of ,philinnion's intercourse with ,machates unparalleled in modern times4 ,many travellers and writers#ajgd have concurred in recording the belief that the vrykolakas sometimes revisits his widow1 or does violence to other women in their husbands' absence1 or even marries again in some place where he is unknown1 and that of such unions children have been born4 ,indeed in the ,middle ,ages this belief seems to have spread even beyond the confines of ,greece2 for a ,roman priest1 early in the seventeenth century1 sums up the views of his ,church on the subject as follows#ajge3 #8,devils1 though incorporeal and spiritual1 can take to themselves the bodies of dead men 444 and in such bodies can have intercourse with women1 as commonly with striges#ajgf and witches1 and by such union can even beget children4' ,this statement would be a fair ecclesiastical summary of modern ,greek belief4 ,in ,thessaly ,i myself was told of a family in the neighbourhood of ,domoko1 who reckoned a vrykolakas among their ancestors of the second or third generation back1 and by virtue of such lineage inherited a special skill 7such as is more commonly ascribed to 1 #8men born on a ,saturday1' when vrykolakes usually rest in their graves1 or to #ajgg1 those who are in close touch with a #8familiar spirit1'7 in dealing with those vrykolakes which from time to time troubled the country-side2 indeed they had been summoned1 ,i was assured1 even to remote districts for consultation as specialists4 ,the story of ,philinnion was not overlooked by ,bernhard ,schmidt1 but he does not appear to have recognised in it anything more relevant than in the ancient ghost-stories 7gespenstergeschichten7 among which he reckons it#ajgh4 ,most emphatically this is no ghost-story4 ,the distinction between ghosts and ,greek revenants is of a primary and universal nature1 patent to all who can discriminate between soul and body4 ,in this story ,philinnion acts as a revenant and is treated as a revenant2 the inspection of the vault in which her body had been laid and the purpose of her nocturnal visits to ,machates furnish conclusive evidence of her corporeal resuscitation2 and the method of disposing of her corpse is the method generally approved and employed in the case of revenants--cremation4 ,in effect all that remains of the story is in complete accord with what ,i have claimed on other grounds as the ,hellenic element in the modern superstition2 only one detail is wanting--the cause of ,philinnion's resuscitation--and if we had the first part of the story1 it is not unlikely that in it we should find that her early death had been also sudden or violent4 ,clearly then the belief in revenants was known in ,greece in the age of ,hadrian4 ,a casual allusion to the same superstition occurs also in ,lucian#ajgi4 #8,i know of a man1' says a doctor named ,antigonus1 #8who rose again twenty days after he was buried2 ,i attended him after his resurrection as well as before his death4' #8,but how was it1' rejoins another1 #8that in twenty days the body did not decompose or in any case the man perish of hunger8' ,unfortunately no answer is given and the subject drops1 but the man in question was clearly a corporeal revenant and not a mere ghost4 ,a reference to the same vulgar belief is also seemingly intended by ,aristophanes in the ,ecclesiazusae1 where the personal appearance of one of the reprobate old women calls forth the exclamation1 #8,is yon an ape be-plastered with white lead1 ,or an old hag uprisen from the dead8'#ajhj ,the passage is of course too brief to make any such allusion certain2 but it becomes highly probable if it can be shown from other sources that the superstition was popularly current in ,aristophanes' time4 ,this ,i can do4 ,the fixity of popular phrases of imprecation has been amply demonstrated in the last section#ajha4 ,a large selection of curses1 all conceived in the same spirit1 furnished1 by their contrast with some features of the now contaminated superstition1 a clue for the detection of the ,slavonic elements therein4 ,these imprecations1 we learnt1 were based upon the purely ,hellenic belief1 and had remained unaffected by the foreign influence which had modified and in some respects almost transformed it4 ,spoken often in a moment of passion1 springing spontaneously and familiarly to the lips1 too hasty to be informed by conscious thought1 such curses have been handed down from generation to generation as fixed expressions subject to none of the changes which come of deliberate reflection4 ,though the old beliefs have been altered by the infusion of alien doctrines1 the old curses stand fast in bold antagonism to all foreign lore1 true records of a superstition now garbled1 coins stamped with the effigy and superscription of by-gone thought1 but current still4 ,as the simplest types of these old-established curses may be taken the two phrases1 1 #8,may the earth not receive him1' and 1 #8,may the earth cast him out4' ,the one is negative in form1 the other positive1 but both equally suggest1 in the peasant's mind1 both the incorruptibility of the body and its resuscitation4 ,can a prototype of these curses be found in ancient literature8 ,if so1 in view of the general continuity of ,greek belief and custom1 we shall be justified in concluding that1 as those ancient curses are identical with the modern1 so the superstition which suggested them in old time is identical with that part of the modern superstition on which they are now based4 ,two examples of these curses are furnished by ,euripides4 ,in a scene where ,orestes conjures his comrade ,pylades to leave him and not to involve himself in the meditated act of vengeance1 the latter replies#ajhb1 #8,never may the fruitful earth receive my blood1 nor yet the gleaming air1 if ever ,i turn traitor to thee and save myself and forsake thee6' ,in like tone rings out ,hippolytus' assertion of his innocence toward his father#ajhc3 #8,now by ,zeus the judge of oaths and by the earth beneath our feet1 ,i swear that never have ,i touched thy marriage-bed1 nor would have willed it nor conceived the thought4 ,may ,i verily perish without glory and without name1 cityless and homeless1 an outcast and wanderer upon the earth1 yea and in death may neither sea nor earth receive my flesh1 if ,i have proved false6' #8,may the earth not receive my flesh6' ,such is the common burden of the two oaths2 such the final chord struck by ,hippolytus in that symphony of imprecations with which he vindicates his innocence2 such too would be the strongest oath by which any peasant of to-day might bind himself4 ,the very words have scarcely varied in a score of centuries2 who then will venture to claim that their purport is changed8 ,is it not clear that just as in later times the ,church1 by incorporating the popular curse in her formula of excommunication1 seized the weapons of paganism and turned them against those rebels and infidels whom her own direst fulminations had no power to dismay1 so ,euripides1 conscious that no imaginings of his own art could suffice to excite in his hearers that horror which the climax of self-execration demanded1 did not disdain #8the touchings of things common1' but turned to tragic use a popular curse which then1 as now1 pierced home to every heart8 ,it would be strange indeed if words1 which since early in the ,christian era have continuously implied a belief in the indissolubility and resuscitation of those who die accursed1 should be held to have borne some other meaning a few centuries earlier4 ,thus then ,euripides1 by the identity of his language with that of to-day1 discovers most conspicuously his knowledge of that which on other grounds ,i have shown to be the ,hellenic element in the superstition concerning vrykolakes4 ,but he was not alone in employing it for dramatic purposes4 ,in the pages of ,sophocles too and of ,aeschylus there are passages which only a knowledge of this superstition can adequately explain4 ,first among these is the climax of that speech in which ,oedipus1 blind and outcast1 denounces his undutiful son3 #8,begone1 abhorred and renounced of me thy father1 thou basest villain1 and take with thee these curses that ,i call down upon thee1 that thou win not with thy spear that land of thine own kin1 nor yet return ever again to the vale of ,argos1 but that thou and he that drave thee forth1 smiting and smitten1 fall each by a brother's hand4 ,such is my curse2 yea1 and ,i call on ,tartarus1 in whose hated gloom my father lies1 to drive thee from his home#ajhd4' ,the last phrase of this denunciation1 1 ' 1 is that with which ,i am concerned4 ,it is an old-established difficulty4 ,commentators have translated variously #8to remove thee from thy home1' #8to take thee away to his home1' #8to give thee another home'2 but in effect they are all agreed in trying to make the words refer to removal from this to the nether world1 or1 in one word1 to death4 ,now even if the word could in this context bear any of the meanings ascribed to it1 such an euphemism following upon the explicit threat that ,polynices should be slain by his own brother's hand would be an imbecile anticlimax2 but ,i question the very possibility of the supposed usage4 ,it is true that an emigrant from one place becomes an immigrant into another2 but that cannot justify the interchange of the two terms4 ,tartarus is here besought1 as plainly as language can express it1 to drive ,polynices out1 not to take him in4 ,there can be only one explanation of that prayer4 ,polynices' death has already been foretold2 but his father's curse pursues him beyond death4 ,tartarus1 in whose keeping the dead should lie1 is conjured to drive him forth from the home of the dead1 even as the peasants now pray that the earth may cast out those whom they hate4 ,and the context shows clearly that the curse was so understood by ,polynices4 ,turning to ,antigone and ,ismene with impassioned entreaty he implores them--them at least1 though all others forsake him and turn against him--if so be his father's cruel imprecations come to fulfilment and they1 his sisters1 ever return to their home1 not to leave him dishonoured1 but to lay him in the grave and to grant him the guerdons of the dead#ajhe4 ,why then this insistence1 unless the father's curse had extended beyond death8 ,merely to introduce a reference to the plot of the ,antigone8 ,clearly more than that4 ,polynices was to die bound by his father's curse1 slain by his brother's hand1 doubly debarred1 if modern beliefs be a key to ancient1 from dissolution and from reception into the nether world4 ,the words of his father's invocation of ,tartarus had conveyed to his mind the certainty of a doom outlasting death1 that ,tartarus should not receive him1 but reject him from the home of the dead4 ,only one faint gleam of hope was left1 that by the fulfilment of those last offices of love toward the departed1 which were for all men a passport to the lower world1 he1 burdened and bound with a father's curse1 both slayer and slain of his own brother1 might yet be not debarred from his last home1 but free to enter into rest4 ,thus ,sophocles in language less popular1 but hardly less clear1 than that of ,euripides proclaims that the belief in the non-dissolution or rejection of the body by the earth and the powers under the earth was a terror as potent then as it is now1 and an ever effective weapon of malediction4 ,aeschylus had gone even further1 and1 by enlisting this terror among the threats uttered on behalf of a dead man by a god in his most holy sanctuary1 had claimed as it were for the popular superstition the highest religious sanction4 ,in the ,choephori#ajhf ,orestes is made to review in a speech as difficult as it is powerful the motives which are urging him on to the requital of blood with blood4 ,most cogent among these motives is the explicit command issued from ,apollo's ,delphic shrine1 bidding him not spare his father's murderess1 mother though she be1 and foretelling the direst penalties for disobedience4 ,and what are these penalties8 ,first1 the physical torment of #8blains that leap upon the flesh and with savage jaws eat out its erstwhile vigour'2 second1 the mental horror of coming madness1 #8the arrow that flieth in darkness winged by the powers of hell with the curse of fallen kindred1 even raving and vain terror born of the night'2 third1 banishment from home and city1 with no place at friendly board1 no part in drink-offering and sacrifice2 and yet one penalty more wherein should culminate the threatened agonies1 #8to die at last with none to honour1 none to love him1 damned1 even in the doom that wastes all1 to know no corruption4' ,of the earlier penalties and of their intimate connexion with one branch of this popular superstition ,i shall have occasion to speak later4 ,here ,i have only to justify the new rendering which ,i have given to the last lines of the passage1 ' #ajhg4 ,it has generally been held that is here metaphorically used of the wasting or withering of the body through physical suffering1 the first penalty1 or1 it may be1 through mental distress1 the second4 ,in other words1 the last line of the passage merely sums up in a concise expression a penalty1 or penalties1 previously detailed4 ,on the same view it is but consistent to regard as a similar summary of the third penalty4 ,stripped of these recapitulations and vain repetitions ,apollo's final threat amounts to--what8 1 #8to die in course of time4' ,a blood-curdling and unique climax of human suffering in very truth6 ,and this a last threat after leprosy and madness and outcast loneliness8 ,surely rather a promise of release and rest4 ,but let the anti-climax pass4 ,whence comes the alleged metaphorical meaning of 1 so foreign to its normal use8 ,how comes it to denote the wasting of disease1 and what authority has this supposed use8 ,its mainstay apparently is a single passage in a pseudo-,demosthenic speech1 which1 in describing the cowardly assault of a young man upon an old1 depicts the aggressor as and his victim as #ajhh4 ,but here the metaphor1 whatever may be thought of its elegance or of its likelihood to excite mirth rather than indignation1 is at least clearly explained both by its antithesis and by its context2 and are terms properly applied to #8fresh' fish or meat1 to the same commodities #8preserved' by drying or pickling1 and we understand at once that the old man is represented to be dried and shrivelled in appearance4 ,such is the support for the alleged ,aeschylean usage of without the same antithesis to illuminate its meaning4 ,are we then to understand that all the fulminations and thunderings of ,apollo's oracle dwindle away into an appeal to ,orestes' pride in his personal appearance and a warning that leprosy will render him as unattractive as a bloater8 ,or1 if it be claimed that the slow painful process of wasting is suggested rather than its ultimate effect1 is it reasonable that a word which properly denotes artificial preservation should be used metaphorically of natural decay8 ,this is not metaphor1 but metamorphosis4 ,let us then abandon far-fetched explanations2 let us conceive it possible that ,aeschylus used the word in the sense which it normally bore in relation to the human body--#8preserved from corruption1' like the mummies of ,egypt--and further that he placed the word in immediate juxtaposition with it in order to emphasise the more strikingly the contrast between the threatened #8non-corruption' and the ordinary #8wasting' powers of death4 ,so understood1 the final penalty presents a true climax4 ,as the victim is to be excluded in his lifetime from all intercourse with the living1 so in his death1 by the withholding of that dissolution without which there is no entrance to the lower world1 he is to be cut off from communion with the dead4 ,he is to die with none to honour him with the rites due to the dead1 none to love him and shed the tears that are their just meed1 but even in that last doom which consumes all others is damned to be withheld from corruption4 ,as #8,euripides the human' uses the common phrase of to-day #8,may the earth not receive1' so ,aeschylus the divine anticipates the ecclesiastical formula1 #8and after death thou shalt be indissoluble4' ,the same contrast between the all-wasting functions of death and the #8bound' condition of the damned now becomes intelligible in two other passages of ,aeschylus4 ,in the ,supplices the king of the ,pelasgians1 who is beset by the daughters of ,danaus with the twofold claim of kinsfolk and suppliants1 and besought to deliver them from the lust and violence of their pursuers1 acknowledges himself in a sore strait4 ,if he rescue his suppliants1 he may involve his people in war2 if he refuse to hearken1 he fears that1 as a tacit accomplice in the violence and pollution#ajhi threatened1 he may make to himself #8the ,god of all destruction a stern ,avenger ever present1 an ,avenger that sets not free the dead even in ,hades' home#ajij4' ,again in the ,eumenides1 when ,orestes having slain his mother is no longer seeking for vengeance but flying therefrom with no hope of safety save in the promises of ,apollo whose will he has done1 the band of pursuing ,furies1 like to be presently thwarted by that god1 yet comfort their black hearts with the assurance of future retribution4 #8,yea1' cries one1 #8me doth ,apollo vex1 but ,orestes shall he not redeem2 though he flee from me beneath the earth1 there is no freeing for him1 but because of his blood-guiltiness he shall find another in my stead to visit his pollution on his head#ajia4' ,the conception of future punishment in these two passages is clearly the same4 ,what then is meant by the fear that even the dead may not be set free8 and who is #8the ,god of all destruction' who is named in the first passage as the author of that punishment8 ,the answer has already been found4 #8,the all-destroying1 ,god' 7 7 is none other than the #8all-wasting doom' 7 7 of ,apollo's oracle--,death personified instead of death abstract2 and ,death's refusal #8to set free' the dead is to be interpreted in the light of ,apollo's warning to ,orestes that1 if he fail in his duty to his murdered sire1 he will himself in death be #8damned to incorruption4' ,the language employed is indeed vaguer and more allusive2 the word 1 #8to set free1' might suggest many ideas besides bodily #8freeing' or dissolution2 yet it may be noticed that this is the very word which the above-quoted#ajib nomocanon de excommunicatis uses interchangeably with the more common in this very sense4 ,only for us1 who have not in our hearts the same faiths and fears quick to vibrate in response to each touch of religious awe1 is a commentary needed2 for a ,greek audience the suggestion contained in 1 above all in its implied contrast with 1 fully sufficed4 ,thus then we have found two passages of ,euripides containing imprecations almost identical in form with the curses that may be heard from the lips of modern ,greek peasants2 we have found a similar passage in ,sophocles which has hitherto proved a difficulty to commentators simply because they have tried to pervert the meaning of the word 1 when its normal sense will make the phrase a parallel to those of ,euripides and of modern ,greece2 and finally in the ,choephori of ,aeschylus--here again by reading a word in its proper sense--we have found religious sanction claimed for the belief which underlies these imprecations--the belief that the fate to be most dreaded by mankind after death is incorruptibility and resuscitation4 ,it remains to examine the supposed causes of this dreaded fate1 and to see whether the three causes which1 when we discussed the modern classes of men liable to become vrykolakes1 appeared to be ,hellenic--namely1 lack of burial1 violent death1 and parental or other execration or any sin deserving it--actually figure as causes in ancient ,greek literature4 ,it will be convenient to consider the last-mentioned first4 ,an instance of formal execration has already been provided4 ,no better example than the curse called down by ,oedipus upon his son could be desired4 ,but it was suggested above that in certain other cases1 even where no actual imprecation had been uttered1 men were accounted accursed2 and indeed it would be an absurdity that a son who acted undutifully towards his father should fall a victim to his curse1 but that one1 let us say1 who slew his father and gave him no time to pronounce the damning words1 should go scatheless4 ,from the earliest times1 ,i believe1 there were held to be certain deadly sins1 sins against the few primitive god-given principles of right and wrong1 which brought their own curse4 ,among these was numbered from the first the murder of a kinsman4 ,to this ,hesiod#ajic adds others which were so regarded in his day4 #8,equal is the guilt when one ill treateth the suppliant and the stranger1 or goeth up unto his brother's bed1 444 or sinneth against orphan children and heedeth not1 or chideth his old father1 who hath passed the gloomy gates of age1 and raileth upon him with hard words2 against such an one verily ,zeus himself is wroth1 and at the end layeth upon him stern retribution for his unrighteous deeds4' ,a more civilised age included all murder in the list2 and later again the ,church seems to have extended it until #8transgressors of the divine law' might become ipso facto excommunicate and accursed4 ,to ,aeschylus the chief of such sins was unquestionably the murder of a close kinsman2 but other sins also1 especially those involving pollution 771 rendered the perpetrator liable to the same punishment as followed upon a formal imprecation4 ,and this view was not of ,aeschylus' own invention2 it must have belonged to the popular religion4 ,otherwise it would be impossible to explain how the ,greek ,church in the ,middle ,ages had come to adopt almost the same views as ,aeschylus4 ,for what said the ,church8 ,the nomocanon quoted in the last section#ajid teaches that persons who #8have been justly1 reasonably1 and lawfully excommunicated by their bishops1 as transgressors of the divine law1 and have died in the state of excommunication1 without amending their ways and receiving forgiveness1' may be expected to remain whole and incorrupt after death4 ,but another ecclesiastical document#ajie shows clearly that a formal sentence of excommunication was not essential to this result2 a distinction is drawn between him whose corpse appears white1 showing that he was #8excommunicated by the divine laws1' and him whose corpse is black1 showing that he was #8excommunicated by a bishop4' ,clearly then the ,church taught that certain #8transgressors of the divine law' might become automatically excommunicate4 ,certain deadly sins deserved the ecclesiastical curse and1 whether it were pronounced or not1 incurred the same punishment after death4 ,the list of such sins was certainly extended by the ,church so as to include1 for example1 apostasy1 omission of baptism1 the more reprehensible acts of sorcery1 and suicide1 which was1 and still is sometimes1 a bar to ,christian burial4 ,but at the same time the number of those sins which were actually left to work out their own curse was probably diminished2 the ,church constituted herself judge1 and in most cases formally sentenced the sinner to that punishment which the sin alone1 without her condemnation1 was popularly believed to entail4 ,if then we strip this doctrine of its ecclesiastical dress and put out of sight the intervention of an hierarchy arrogating to itself the office of binding and loosing1 there remains the simple belief that certain transgressors of the divine law1 certain sinners of deadly sins1 were ipso facto accursed and condemned to incorruption4 ,is not this precisely the ,aeschylean doctrine8 ,pelasgus1 if he should consent unto the violence of those suitors who sought the daughters of ,danaus in unhallowed wedlock1 if he should defy ,zeus the ,god of suppliants and set at naught those other deities at whose altar his kinswomen sat--would not he indeed be a transgressor of the divine law8 ,he acknowledges it himself1 and1 conformably to the doctrine enunciated1 anticipates that ,death himself will turn ,avenger and free him not when dead4 ,orestes1 owing to his murdered father the sacred duty of vengeance and expressly urged by ,apollo to perform it--would not he too be a transgressor of the divine law1 if he should fail or flag in his enterprise of blood8 ,fitly then did ,apollo threaten him that after manifold troubles in life he should die damned to incorruption4 ,the same ,orestes1 viewed now not from ,apollo's standpoint but from that of the ,erinyes1 bloodguilty with his mother's murder--had he not perpetrated a deadly sin1 was he not a transgressor of the divine law8 ,rightly then may his foes exult that he shall not escape1 but1 though he be fled from them beneath the earth1 still #8hath he no freeing4' ,in fine1 ,aeschylus agrees1 save for the mediaeval multiplication of deadly sins1 with the doctrine of the ,church2 and this agreement is proof that in the popular creed of ,greece1 from which both ,aeschylus and the ,church must have borrowed1 the commission of certain sins has always involved the penalty of incorruptibility1 whether the curse which those sins merited had been formally pronounced or no4 ,the actual source and operation of such unspoken curses will be considered in the next section4 ,the other two causes1 lack of burial and violent death1 may be considered together2 for the whole trend of ancient literature in regard to both these calamities is the same1 namely1 that they caused the return of the dead man's spirit--of his spirit only1 be it noted1 and not of his body4 ,it is the ghost of ,patroclus which in the ,iliad#ajif appears to ,achilles and demands the funeral-rites due to his body2 it is the ghost of ,elpenor which in the ,odyssey#ajig makes the same claim upon ,odysseus2 it is the ghost of ,polydorus which in the ,hecuba#ajih of ,euripides bemoans his body cast away in the sea4 ,again it is the ghost of ,clytemnestra which in the ,eumenides#ajii of ,aeschylus comes seeking vengeance for her violent death2 and ,lucian in the ,philopseudes#aajj gives special prominence to this cause of the soul's unrest4 #8,perhaps1 ,eucrates1' says one of the speakers in the dialogue1 #8what ,tychiades means is this1 that the only souls which wander about are those of men who met with a violent death--anyone1 for example1 who hanged himself1 or was beheaded or impaled1 or departed this life in any other such way--but that the souls of those who died a natural death do not wander2 if that is his theory1 it cannot be lightly dismissed4' ,it is needless to multiply examples#aaja2 literary tradition1 from ,homer down to ,lucian1 is all in favour of the re-appearance of the soul1 and not of the body1 as the result of either lack of burial or violent death4 ,it is perfectly clear then that there is a considerable discrepancy between the ancient literary view and the modern popular creed4 ,ancient literature is extremely reticent on the subject of bodily resuscitation occasioned solely by a violent death#aajb or by lack of burial4 ,in ,phlegon's story it is indeed probable that the cause of ,philinnion's re-appearance was a violent death2 but the first part of the narrative is missing1 and no such statement is actually made4 ,in modern beliefs1 on the contrary1 there is little or no trace of the idea that the dead return for these causes in purely spiritual form4 ,the very conception of ghosts is weak and indefinite among the peasantry4 ,i have certainly been told by peasants of cases in which a person at the point of death has appeared1 presumably in spiritual form1 to friends at a distance2 and there is a fairly common belief1 seemingly derived from the ,bible1 that at ,easter many of the graves are opened and release for a time the spirits of the dead4 ,but it is a significant fact that there is not even a name for ghosts which cannot be equally well applied to any supernatural apparitions4 ,the thought of them in general seems to be nothing more definite than a vague uneasiness in the minds of timid women and children at that hour when #8a faint erroneous ray1 ,glanced from the imperfect surfaces of things1 ,flings half an image on the straining eye4' ,there is no fixed creed or tradition here4 ,in an account of the definite superstitions of modern ,greece ghosts are a quantit ngligeable4 ,but1 while ancient literature and modern superstition are thus in direct conflict on one point1 they are agreed in making lack of burial and violent death the causes of a certain unrest on the part of the dead2 and though the one usually attributes that unrest to the ghost1 and the other to the corpse1 their agreement in all else could not surely be a mere casual coincidence2 there must be a connexion to be discovered between them4 ,the consistency of the popular view which has obtained practically throughout the ,christian era has already been established4 ,the ,church found the ,greek people already firmly convinced that the two causes which we are considering1 no less than formal execration or execrable sin1 led to bodily incorruption and resuscitation4 ,the only moot point is what agency was held to produce the resuscitation before the ,church taught that it was the work of the ,devil4 ,but can equal consistency be claimed for ancient literature8 ,it has just now been shown that the tragedians recognised that a curse or a deadly sin led to the resuscitation of the body2 and yet they make lack of burial and violent death lead rather to the re-appearance of a ghost4 ,why then this discrimination between the effects produced by causes all of which in more recent popular belief produce the same effect8 ,my answer is that popular belief in antiquity was the same as popular belief now in respect of all the causes1 but that literary propriety forbade more than a mere verbal reference to so gross a superstition as bodily resuscitation4 ,when a dead man was required in literature to re-appear1 he was conventionally pourtrayed as a ghost1 not as a walking corpse2 and the convention was1 ,i think1 right and necessary4 ,for let it be granted for a moment that the popular belief of to-day dates from the earliest times1 and that then as now the revenant was popularly pictured as a monster #8swollen and distended all over so that the joints can scarcely be bent2 the skin being stretched like the parchment of a drum1 and when struck giving out the same sound4' ,could even ,homer have re-animated the dead ,patroclus1 with this unearthly ghastliness added to his wounds and to his mangling by the chariot1 and have brought him to ,achilles in the darkness of the night1 without exciting in his breast horror instead of pity and loathing for love8 ,euripides again was greatly daring when he assigned the prologue of a tragedy to ,polydorus' ghost2 but even he could not have restrained the unquenchable mirth of his audience1 if his play had opened with a soliloquy by an agitated corpse4 ,epic and dramatic propriety must have demanded some refinement of so grossly material a conception4 ,the canons of drama1 we know1 would not allow the enactment of a murder on the stage before the eyes of the spectators2 would it then have been compatible with the restraint of ,greek art to represent the murdered body as a revenant8 ,aeschylus himself1 the lover of weird misbegotten shapes1 would have recoiled from such an enterprise4 ,but those same canons did permit a verbal description of the murder2 and similarly the tragedians permitted themselves to refer1 in imprecations and suchlike1 to the horror of bodily resuscitation4 ,the case then stands thus4 ,references are1 as we have seen1 made by the tragedians to the possibility of men becoming revenants1 whereas they shrank from presenting the actuality4 ,but the references to the possibility occur1 chiefly at any rate1 in imprecations1 with the result that at first sight a curse would seem to have been the only recognised cause of bodily resuscitation in ancient times2 whereas the most famous literary examples of the actual re-appearance of the dead--,clytemnestra and ,polydorus in tragedy1 or1 if we go back to ,homer1 ,patroclus and ,elpenor--happen to be cases in which the cause was lack of burial or a violent death1 with the result that literary tradition inclined to substitute ghosts for the corporeal revenants of the popular creed in these two cases4 ,such is my explanation of the discrepancy2 and the probability of it is warranted by three considerations--first1 that ,greek ,tragedy does contain one or two references to the possible resuscitation of other than the accursed--second1 that ,plato modifies the popular notions concerning the accursed in almost the same way that the tragedians modified the fate of the unburied and of those slain by violence--third1 that the literary tradition concerning ghosts is in itself inconsistent and bears the marks of arbitrary modification4 ,the most important reference in ,tragedy occurs in the ,choephori1 where ,orestes and ,electra pray their murdered father to rise from the grave in bodily form#aajc4 ,this passage1 together with a close parallel from ,sophocles1 will be fully discussed later#aajd4 ,here ,i need only point out the justification by ,aeschylus of my theory that the substitution of ghost for revenant is a necessary literary convention4 ,he suggests verbally the possible uprising of the murdered ,agamemnon as a revenant2 but1 when it comes to an actual presentation of the murdered ,clytemnestra on the stage1 his dramatis persona is a ghost4 ,next1 ,plato1 in a well-known passage of the ,phaedo#aaje1 speaks of the souls of dead men having actually been seen in the form of shadowy apparitions haunting the neighbourhood of tombs--souls1 he explains1 which have not been fully cleansed and freed from the visible material world1 but still have some part therein and hence are themselves visible2 and1 he adds1 these are the souls of the wicked1 which are compelled to wander thus in punishment for their former evil life4 ,naturally ,plato of all men--and of all his works in the ,phaedo--could not accept the notion that the body under any conditions remained incorruptible2 his whole doctrine is imbued with his belief that the gross and material perishes1 and only the pure and spiritual endures4 ,when therefore he came to utilise the popular doctrine1 which the tragedians had endorsed1 that certain sinners were condemned to incorruption1 some modification of the idea was necessary2 and accordingly he makes the wicked to wander as ghosts1 not as corporeal revenants1 just as ,homer and the tragedians seem to have done in the case of the unburied and those who had met their death by violence4 ,plato's extension of the literary tradition suggests that its earlier development had been such as ,i have indicated4 ,lastly1 the literary tradition1 as represented by earlier writers than ,plato1 is by no means uniform4 ,if it had been a definite religious doctrine1 and not merely a literary convention1 that the unburied returned as ghosts1 the presentment of ,patroclus and of ,polydorus should have been in all respects similar4 ,but what do we find8 ,each certainly appears as a ghost and asks for burial2 but there the resemblance ends4 ,according to ,homer#aajf the spirit of ,patroclus1 in craving burial of his body1 declares that1 ere that rite be performed1 the spirit itself cannot pass the gates of ,hades but is held aloof by the spirits of the other dead1 and moreover that having once passed it can no more return to this world4 ,according to ,euripides#aajg1 familiar though he must have been with ,homer's teaching1 the spirit of ,polydorus had passed within the gates of ,hades and by permission of the nether gods had returned to demand the burial of his body4 ,homer's reason for the soul's anxiety about the body's burial is none too convincing in itself2 for it only raises a further question3 if death means the final separation of soul from body1 and the lower world is tenanted by souls only--for so ,homer at any rate teaches--why should the denizens of that world make the admission of a newly-sped soul conditional upon the burial of the body which it had finally quitted8 ,but1 what is more important1 ,homer's reason1 such as it is1 is flatly disavowed by ,euripides1 who yet advances no reason of his own why the spirit of ,polydorus1 having once passed into ,hades' halls1 should have any further interest in its old carnal tenement4 ,this disagreement can only mean that ,homer and ,euripides were not following an acknowledged doctrine of popular religion in representing ,patroclus and ,polydorus in the form of ghosts2 for in that case they would surely have agreed with the popular doctrine1 and therefore also with each other1 in assigning a reason for the ghost's interest in the burial of its discarded body4 ,either then there was no popular belief on the whole subject--which is incredible--or else it was such as literary propriety forbade them to follow4 ,now if the popular belief was that the unburied appeared as corporeal revenants1 their eagerness for burial is intelligible2 but if a ghost be substituted by literary convention for the revenant1 a good reason for such eagerness becomes hard to find4 ,hence the inconsequence of ,homer's reason2 hence the silence of ,euripides4 ,but if1 as now seems likely1 the substitution of mere ghost for bodily revenant was a literary convention1 it by no means follows that that convention is valueless as a guide to the popular beliefs of the time4 ,it may represent a part of those beliefs1 though not the whole4 ,the established doctrines on this whole subject were not remodelled by the tragedians save in obedience to the laws of their art4 ,this we definitely know2 for the causes which they assign for the unrest of the dead are numbered among the popularly received causes which remain to this day2 and even the idea of physical resuscitation was retained and effectively utilised by them within certain limitations4 ,clearly then they kept what they could1 and only changed what they must4 ,judicious selection rather than arbitrary invention was the method by which the literary tradition was established4 ,since then that tradition uniformly speaks of the soul's return1 while discrepancies only arise in accounting for the soul's interest in the corpse1 was it perhaps only in the latter respect that literary tradition parted company with popular belief8 ,did the spirit as well as the body of the dead play some part in the popular superstition8 ,did the common-folk too hold that1 after the separation of soul from body at death1 the soul itself under certain conditions returned from its flight towards the house of ,hades--returned however not to appear alone in ghostly guise1 but to re-animate the dead body and raise it up as a revenant8 ,was this the popular doctrine from which literature selected1 recording the soul's return1 but suppressing the re-animation of the body1 and thereby creating for itself the difficulty of explaining the soul's interest in the body8 ,the hypothesis commends itself as providing at the same time an answer to the one question which remained unanswered in the last section4 ,we saw that1 through ecclesiastical influence1 ,christian ,greece has long assigned the work of resuscitating the dead to the ,devil4 ,but to whom or to what did pagan ,greece previously assign it8 ,surely in the whole range of ,greek mythology it were hard to find any supernatural being either specially suited or probably condemned to such a task4 ,the soul is1 prima facie1 the most appropriate and likely agent4 ,but there is even stronger evidence than this4 ,the probable becomes proven when we turn back to the only full pagan account of a bodily revenant1 the story of ,philinnion4 ,what are her words1 when she is discovered by her parents8 #8,mother and father1 it was wrong of you to grudge me three days with this man here in my own home and doing no harm4 ,and so1 because of your meddlesomeness1 you shall mourn for me anew1 and ,i shall go away to my appointed place4 ,for it is by divine consent that ,i have done thus4' ,and how is her threat of going away fulfilled8 #8,scarce had she spoken when she became a corpse1 and her body lay stretched upon the bed in the sight of all4' ,the words #8,i shall go away' were therefore intended by the writer to mean #8,my soul will go away'2 for the body remained4 ,clearly then1 in the belief of that age1 resuscitation of the dead meant the re-animation of the body by the soul which had been temporarily separated from it4 ,in the light of this fact ,plato's reference to the wandering of the souls of the wicked is found to approximate more nearly to the popular superstition4 ,such souls1 he says1 have been seen in the neighbourhood of tombs2 and they are visible because they are not cleansed and freed from the visible and material world#aajh1 but participate therein4 ,what then is the particular material thing in which they participate and which keeps them near the tombs8 ,evidently the body whose impurities they contracted in life1 the body from which they are not cleansed and freed4 ,plato admits only participation1 not re-animation2 but in all else he adheres to the genuine popular belief4 ,the same idea furnishes also what ,i believe to be the true explanation of the custom of the so-called #8,charon's obol4' ,the coin or other object placed in the mouth of the dead was originally1 ,i have argued#aaji1 a charm to prevent the entry of some evil spirit or the re-entry of the soul into the corpse4 ,in ,chios and in ,rhodes1 as we have seen1 this is the popular explanation still given--the particular spirit against whom the precaution is taken being1 owing to ,christian influence1 a devil4 ,but if1 as is likely1 a devil has merely been substituted for the soul1 while the rest of the superstition has remained unchanged1 it follows that the precaution was originally directed against the return of the soul1 and so was a means of ensuring bodily dissolution2 for1 though ,i cannot actually prove it1 it is natural to suppose that re-animation was not the result1 but the cause1 of incorruption4 ,to sum up1 the conclusions which have been reached stand thus3--,death1 according to the popular religion of ancient ,greece1 was not a final separation of body and soul2 in certain cases the body remained incorrupt and the soul re-animated it4 ,this condition1 in which the dead belonged neither to this nor to the nether world1 was one of misery2 and bodily dissolution was to be desired4 ,dissolution could in no case be properly effected without the rite of interment or cremation4 ,the unburied therefore formed one class of revenants4 ,but even due interment did not necessarily produce dissolution2 a sudden or violent death rendered the body incorruptible1 presumably because the proper hour had not yet come for the soul to leave it2 an imprecation withheld the body from decay by its own #8binding' power2 and finally1 the commission of a deadly sin1 above all of murder1 rendered the sinner subject to the same dire fate as if the curse which his sin merited had actually been pronounced4 ,the only unfailing method of dissolution was cremation4 #d4 ,,revenants ,,as ,,avengers ,,of ,,blood4 ,the conclusions which have now been reached show1 among others1 the somewhat surprising result1 that the popular religion of ,greece both ancient and modern has always comprised the belief that both the murdered and the murderer were doomed to the same unhappy lot after death4 ,the murderer1 in the class of men polluted and accursed by heinous sin1 and his victim1 in the class of those who have met with violent deaths1 have alike been regarded as pre-disposed to become revenants4 ,the two facts thus simply stated constitute a problem which deserves investigation4 ,it can be no accident that two classes of men1 so glaringly contrasted here1 should be believed to share the same fate hereafter4 ,some relation between the two beliefs must surely subsist4 ,the solution to which the mind naturally leaps is the idea that in some way retributive justice causes the murderer to be punished with the selfsame suffering as he has brought upon his victim2 that1 as blood calls for blood1 so the resuscitation of the murdered calls for the resuscitation of the murderer2 that the old law1 1 #8as a man hath wrought1 so must he suffer1' is not limited to this world nor fully vindicated by the mere shedding of the murderer's blood1 but dooms him to become1 like his victim1 a revenant from the grave4 ,such an explanation of the two facts before us is1 it may almost be said1 obviously and self-evidently right1 so far as it goes2 but the proof of its correctness is best to be obtained by going further1 so as not merely to indicate the appropriateness of the murderer's punishment1 but to discover also the agency whereby it is inflicted2 for1 if it can be established that according to the popular belief it is the murdered man himself who1 in the form of a revenant1 plagues his murderer1 then the retributive character of all the murderer's sufferings both here and hereafter will be manifest4 ,the most striking testimony to the existence of such a belief is to be found in a gruesome practice to which1 we are told1 murderers in old time were addicted--the practice of mutilating 77 the murdered man by cutting off his hands and feet1 and either placing them under his armpits or tying them with a band 77 round his breast4 ,what object was had in view in so disposing of the severed extremities1 if indeed our information as to the act itself be correct1 remains uncertain2 perhaps indeed that information amounts to nothing more than a faulty conjectural interpretation of the word itself1 which might equally well mean to sever the arms from the body at the armpit and to treat the lower limbs in similar fashion4 ,but at any rate the intention of the whole act of mutilation is known and clear2 the murderer sought to deprive his victim of the power to exact vengeance for his wrongs4 ,clearly then the vengeance apprehended was not that of a disembodied spirit entreating the gods to act on its behalf or appearing in visions to its surviving kinsfolk and urging them to requite the murderer1 but the vengeance of a bodily revenant with feet swift to pursue and hands strong to strike4 ,on no other grounds is the mutilation of the dead body intelligible4 ,but if any doubt could still rest upon this interpretation of the old custom1 it must be finally dispersed by a consideration of the one instance of the same custom known to me in modern times4 ,this occurs in a story which ,i have already related#aaaj--the story of a human sacrifice in ,santorini at the time of the ,greek ,war of ,independence1 as narrated to me by an old man of the island who claimed to have himself taken part in the affair4 ,according to his narrative not only the head of the victim was cut off but also his hands1 and in that order4 ,why then this mutilation of the dead body8 ,that question ,i put in vain to the old man2 he had obliged me by giving me his reminiscences1 but he had no intention of letting himself be cross-questioned upon them4 ,yet the real answer is not hard to conjecture4 ,santorini is the most famous haunt of vrykolakes in the whole of ,greece1 and familiarity with them has bred in the minds of the islanders no contempt for them1 but rather a more lively terror4 ,nowhere therefore is any expedient for combating the powers of the vrykolakas more likely to be remembered and adopted4 ,since then the human victim in the story is not represented as a willing victim1 but was evidently seized and slain by violence1 his slayers1 in performing their task1 must have recognised that he would in all probability turn vrykolakas1 and in their mutilation of his corpse 7a deed inexpressibly repugnant to ,greek feeling now as in old time7 can only have been actuated by the hope of thus incapacitating the revenant for his otherwise sure and terrible vengeance4 ,the reason then why the murderer as well as the murdered becomes a revenant is plain4 ,the victim1 rising from his grave in bodily substance1 pursues his enemy with untiring rancour until he brings him to the same sorry state as that to which he himself has come4 ,such1 ,i venture to say1 has been the conviction deep down in the hearts of the ,greek people from the earliest times down to this day4 ,a custom1 which consists in a deliberate and sacrilegious act of mutilation1 more ghastly than murder itself1 perpetrated upon the helpless dead1 and which yet has continued unchanged throughout the changes and chances which the ,greek people have undergone for more than a score of centuries1 can only be based upon the most immutable of superstitious beliefs and dreads1 and reveals more unerringly than even the whole literature of ,greece the fundamental ideas of the ,greek people concerning the avenging of blood4 ,the murdered man in bodily shape avenges his own wrongs4 ,but while the existence of this belief is thus established by the best evidence of all1 namely the fact that men have continued to act upon it1 the views of ancient writers on the subject of blood-guilt are not on that account to be neglected2 on the contrary1 the whole literature bearing thereupon1 and above all the story of the house of ,atreus as told by ,aeschylus1 much as they have been studied1 deserve fresh consideration just for the very reason that our judgement of them must be modified by this new fact4 ,starting with the knowledge of the part which the murdered man himself played according to popular belief in securing the punishment of his murderer1 we are enabled more fully to appreciate the genius of ,aeschylus in so handling a superstition which1 like other things primitive in ,greek religion1 was still venerated by an age which could discern its grossness1 that1 without either losing the religious sympathies of his audience by too wide a departure from venerable traditions1 or offending their artistic taste by too close an adherence to primitive crudities1 he wrought out of that material the fabric of the greatest of tragedies4 ,what we shall find in thus studying anew some of the literature of the subject is a modification of the grosser elements in the popular superstition such as the last section has already prepared us to expect4 ,we saw there how restricted was the use which the tragedians and others dared to make of the popular belief in corporeal revenants of any kind2 we saw that dramatic propriety absolutely forbade the introduction of a dead man to play a part otherwise than in the form of a ghost2 and yet more than once we found1 especially as the climax of some imprecation1 a verbal allusion to the belief in incorruptibility and bodily resuscitation4 ,and now similarly we shall see that the tragedians allowed themselves no greater license in dealing with revenants in quest of vengeance than in dealing with the more innocuous sort2 we shall see that dramatic propriety forced them to find some other agency than that of the bodily revenant whereby the vengeance of ,agamemnon upon ,clytemnestra1 and of ,clytemnestra upon ,orestes1 might be executed2 but we shall find withal that here again there are a few verbal references to the uprising of the dead themselves as avengers of their own wrongs1 and moreover that1 though in the actual development of the plot they can have no part save only that of a ghost1 and some other avenger is made to act on their behalf1 yet it is they themselves who instigate and urge him to his task4 ,the bodily activity of the murdered man is suppressed1 save for some few hints1 as a thing too gross for representation by tragic art2 but at the same time fidelity to old religious tradition is in a way maintained by proclaiming his personal1 though ghostly1 activity in inciting and even compelling others to avenge him4 ,the clearest references to the bodily activity of the murdered man occur in precisely the same connexion in both ,aeschylus and ,sophocles--in a prayer offered by ,agamemnon's children at their dead father's tomb4 ,in ,sophocles the occasion is that scene in which ,electra rebukes her sister for bearing ,clytemnestra's peace-offerings to ,agamemnon's tomb--peace-offerings1 be it noted1 which in themselves imply that the dead man is still a powerful foe to his murderess--and bids her instead thereof join with ,electra herself in laying a lock of hair upon the tomb2 and then come the notable lines1 1 #aaaa1 #8and falling at his tomb beseech thou him to come from out the earth in his own strength a kindly helper unto us against his foes4' ,no one1 ,i suppose1 can misdoubt the emphasis which falls on 1 #8his very self'2 and to the ,greek mind the #8very self' was not a disembodied spirit1 but a thing of flesh and bones and solid substance4 ,unless ,sophocles was hinting verbally at that which he durst not represent dramatically--the resurrection of the dead man in bodily substance as an avenger of his own wrongs--the word could have had no meaning for his hearers4 ,the parallel passage in ,aeschylus comes from the prayer of ,orestes and ,electra beside their father's grave#aaab4 #8,o ,earth1' cries ,orestes1 #8send up1 ,i pray thee1 my father to watch o'er my fight'2 and ,electra makes response1 #8,o ,persephone1 grant thou him still his body's strength unmarred1' 1 ' ' 4 ,it has been customary among translators and commentators to render as if the second half of the compound were negligible2 yet ,i can find no instance in which the word denotes anything but beauty of bodily shape4 ,let ,aeschylus' own usage of it elsewhere be the index of his meaning here4 ,the ,chorus of the ,agamemnon1 musing on the fate of those who have fallen at ,ilium1 tell how in place of some there have been sent home to their kin mere parcels of ashes1 #8while others1 about the walls where they fell1 possess sepulchres of ,trojan soil1 in comeliness of shape unmarred'-- ' #aaac4 ,my rendering then of is right and cannot be evaded4 ,aeschylus1 like ,sophocles in the preceding passage1 lightly yet surely1 by the use of a single word1 hints at the popular belief that the murdered man may rise again in bodily form to wreak his own vengeance4 ,once again then the tragedians have come to our aid in the unravelling of this superstition4 ,from them we learnt that incorruptibility and resuscitation were as great a terror to their contemporaries as they are to the modern peasants of ,greece1 and that actually the same imprecations of that calamity were in vogue then as at this day2 and now again we receive from them corroboration of that which the horrible practice of mutilating a murdered man's corpse had already revealed1 namely1 that some of the dead who returned from their graves were believed to go to and fro1 not in mere vain and pitiable wanderings1 but with the fell purpose of revenging themselves upon their murderers4 ,the general tendency however of ,greek literature1 as we saw in the last section1 was to replace the bodily revenant by a mere ghost4 ,in many cases the consequences of this literary modification were comparatively small2 the ghost of ,polydorus for example can sustain the part of pleading plaintively for burial no less effectively1 perhaps indeed even more so1 than a lusty revenant4 ,but the case of revenants bent upon vengeance was different2 the consequences of substituting a mere spirit were far-reaching2 the part to be played consisted not in piteous words but in stern work2 and for this part so frail and flimsy a creature as the ,greeks pictured the ghost to be was absolutely unfitted4 ,the only means of escaping from this difficulty was to represent the dead man as employing some instrument or agent of retribution2 and accordingly1 where the gross popular superstition would have had the murdered man emerge from his grave in bodily form to chase and to slay his murderer1 literature in general confined the dead man to the unseen world and allowed him only to work by less directly personal means--sometimes by the hands of his next of kin1 in other cases by a curse either automatically operative or executed by demonic agents4 ,but it is important to observe that1 whatever the means employed1 literature cleaves to the old traditions1 so far as artistic taste permits1 by conceding to the murdered man the power of instigating the agents and controlling the instruments of his vengeance4 ,his power is made spiritual instead of physical2 but his personal activity is still recognised2 he remains the prime avenger of his own wrongs4 ,these indirect methods of retribution must now be examined severally4 ,as regards the part taken by the next of kin to the murdered man in furthering the work of vengeance1 ,i find no reason to suppose that literature deviated in any way from popular tradition4 ,the idea of the vendetta is essentially primitive and at the same time perfectly harmonious with the belief that the murdered man is capable of executing his own revenge4 ,the acknowledged power of the dead man has never in the minds of the ,greek people served as an excuse for his kinsmen to sit idle2 rather it has been an incentive to them to assist more strenuously in the task of vengeance1 lest they themselves also should fall under the dead man's displeasure4 ,on this point ancient lore and modern lore are completely agreed4 ,the best exponents of this view at the present day are a people who can claim to be the most distinctively ,hellenic inhabitants of the ,greek mainland4 ,the peninsula which terminates in the headland of ,taenarum is the home of a race which is historically known to be of more purely ,greek descent than the inhabitants of any other district1 and which both in physical type and in social and religious customs stands apart--the ,maniotes4 ,among their customs is the vendetta1 and the beliefs on which it rests are in brief as follows4 ,a man who has been murdered cannot rest in his grave until he has been avenged1 but issues forth as a vrykolakas athirst for his enemy's blood2 for1 in ,maina1 one who has turned vrykolakas for this cause is still credited with some measure of reasonableness4 ,to secure his bodily dissolution and repose1 it is incumbent upon the next of kin to slay the murderer or1 at the least1 some near kinsman of the murderer4 ,until that be done1 the son 7to take the most common instance7 lies under his dead father's curse2 and1 if he be so craven or so unfortunate as to find no opportunity for vengeance1 the curse under which he has lived clings to him still in death1 and he too becomes a vrykolakas4 ,the ,maniote doctrine then amounts to this1 that the murdered man rises from his grave to execute his own vengeance1 which consists in bringing upon his murderer the same fate as he himself has suffered through his enemy's deed--a violent death and consequently resuscitation2 but at the same time he demands the assistance of his nearest kinsman1 under pain of suffering a like fate hereafter if his efforts in the cause of vengeance are feeble or fruitless4 ,thus the belief in powerful and vindictive revenants forms the very mainspring of the vendetta4 ,to this view both ,euripides and ,aeschylus subscribe in telling the story of ,orestes4 ,in the former we have the answer made by ,orestes himself to the tirade of ,tyndareus#aaad against the vendetta3 #8,nay1 if by silence1' he says1 #8,i had consented unto my mother's deeds1 what would my dead sire have done to me8 ,would he not have hated me and made me the sport of ,furies8 ,hath my mother these goddesses at her side to help her cause1 and hath not he that was more despitefully used8'#aaae ,surely no clearer statement could be made of ,orestes' apprehension that1 if he should fail in the duty which his dead father imposed upon him1 the dead man would turn other ministers of his vengeance upon his cowardly son1 to plague him1 as if he were an accomplice1 with the same punishment as had been designed for the actual author of the murder4 ,and similarly in ,aeschylus we have the retort of ,orestes to his mother's last warning before he slays her4 #8,beware1' she says1 #8the fiends thy mother's wrath shall rouse'2 and he answers1 #8,but1 an ,i flag1 how should ,i 'scape my sire's8'#aaaf ,thus according to the ancient tragedians the vendetta of ,orestes was prompted by the same beliefs and fears as still stir the ,maniotes thereto4 ,so far then as concerns the vengeance for ,agamemnon's death1 ancient drama added no new element to the popular beliefs1 but was able to satisfy the requirements of art by judicious selection from them4 ,the idea1 to which the ,maniotes still cling1 that the murdered man in the form of a revenant avenges his own wrongs1 is1 save for the rare verbal allusions which we have noticed1 rejected1 and forms no part of the plot2 but the belief1 that fear of the dead man's wrath is a cogent motive to action on the part of his kinsman1 is retained4 ,and here it is interesting to observe that ,aeschylus even justifies his rejection of the first half of the popular doctrine1 and that too by a plea perfectly satisfactory to the popular mind4 ,agamemnon's case was peculiar4 ,not only had he been murdered1 but his dead body according to ,aeschylus1 who is followed in this by ,sophocles#aaag1 had been mutilated 77 by his murderers4 ,the effect of such mutilation1 as we have seen1 was to render the revenant powerless to wreak vengeance with his own hands4 ,hence the work devolving upon ,orestes would have been1 in popular esteem1 doubled2 if murder alone had been committed1 he would have worked in conjunction1 as it were1 with the dead man2 but the super-added mutilation incapacitated the dead man for bodily work1 and placed the whole burden of retribution on the shoulders of his son4 ,this1 plainly put1 is the meaning of the words spoken by the ,chorus in the ,choephori to ,orestes3 #8,yea1 and he was mutilated1 for thou must know the worst4 ,cruel was she in the slaying of him1 cruel still in the burial1 in that she thought to make his doom a burden past bearing upon thy life#aaah4' ,thus it may be claimed that ,aeschylus1 in the peculiar conditions of the case which he here presents1 follows unswervingly the popular doctrine4 ,it is only ,euripides who can fairly be said to have really suppressed anything in this part of the story without troubling to justify himself by the circumstances of ,agamemnon's fate4 ,but even ,euripides1 though he simply ignores in his plot the possibility of ,agamemnon's bodily resuscitation1 is faithful to the doctrine that the next of kin was actuated in seeking vengeance not by simple piety but by a lively fear of the dead man's wrath4 ,moreover1 this conception of the relations subsisting between the murdered man and his nearest kinsman did not merely furnish the motif of some fine passages of ,tragedy2 it served also a more prosaic purpose1 and actually formed the basis first of ,attic law concerning blood-guilt1 and then of ,plato's ,laws in the same connexion4 ,at ,athens1 as is well known1 the duty of prosecuting a murderer 7or homicide7 was imposed by law upon the nearest relative of the murdered man4 ,but the obligation was not only legal2 it was also1 and indeed primarily1 religious4 ,the law did no more than affirm and regulate a custom which religious tradition had long established4 ,to this fact ,antiphon especially bears witness in certain passages#aaai with which ,i must deal more fully later2 but the whole tenor of his appeals to the religious feelings and fears of the jury is strictly in accord with the ,maniote doctrine of the present day1 save that in one small point he takes a more merciful view4 ,in ,maina it is held that1 if the next of kin fail to avenge the dead man1 no matter to what cause the failure be due1 he falls a prey to the dead man's wrath4 ,antiphon on the contrary asserts that1 if the next of kin have honestly done his best to bring the murderer to justice1 he will not be punished for failure therein2 and yet he does not represent the dead man as inactive in such a case1 but dares to threaten the jury that the murdered man's anger will now descend1 not upon his kinsman who has loyally striven to avenge him1 but upon the jury who1 by unjustly acquitting and harbouring#aabj the murderer1 make themselves accomplices in his crime and sharers in his pollution4 ,this difference of opinion however is of minor importance1 and seems to be almost a necessary result of different social conditions4 ,in ancient ,athens the next of kin was required to proceed against the murderer by legal means1 and not to commit a breach of law and order by personal violence4 ,in modern ,maina the kinsman who should have recourse to law and call in the police would be accounted a recreant2 public opinion requires him to find an opportunity1 openly or by ambush1 of slaying the murderer with his own hand2 this is to be his life's work1 if need be1 and the possibility of failure1 save through want of enterprise and energy1 is hardly contemplated4 ,but as regards the main issue1 namely the belief that the dead man himself is the prime avenger of his own wrongs and that his kinsman acts only under his instigation as an assistant in the work1 modern superstition has the entire support both of the drama and of the law of ancient ,athens4 ,further corroboration is perhaps unnecessary2 yet ,plato's legislation in the matter of homicide must not be passed over2 for it possesses this peculiar interest and importance of its own1 that it was confessedly based upon a religious doctrine which ,plato esteemed #8old even among the traditions of antiquity#aaba4' ,from what source he obtained the doctrine he does not definitely say2 but1 from a mention of ,delphi in the passage immediately preceding as the supreme authority in all matters of purification from blood-guilt1 it may fairly be surmised that this too is a piece of ,delphic lore4 ,at any rate ,plato accepted it as an authoritative pronouncement to which the homicide must pay due heed4 #8,the doctrine1' says ,plato1 #8is that one who has lived his life in the spirit of a free man and meets with a violent death is wroth1 while his death is yet recent1 against the man who caused it1 and when he sees him going his way in the places where he himself was wont to move1 he strikes#aabb him with the same quaking and terror with which he himself has been filled by the violence done to him1 and in his own confusion confounds his enemy and all his doings to the utmost of his power1 aided therein by the slayer's own conscience4 ,and that is why it is right that the doer of the deed should in deference to the sufferer withdraw for the full space of the year1 and should keep clear of the whole country which the dead man had frequented as his native land2 and if the dead man be a foreigner the slayer must hold aloof from the foreigner's country for the same period4 ,such then is the law2 and1 if a man voluntarily observe it1 the dead man's nearest kinsman1 whose duty it is to look to all this1 must respect the slayer1 and will do right to be at peace with him2 but1 if the slayer disregard this law and either presume to enter holy places and to sacrifice before he be purified1 or1 again1 refuse to fulfil the allotted period in retirement1 the nearest of kin must proceed against him on a charge of homicide1 and1 if a conviction be obtained1 the penalties are to be doubled4 ,but if the nearest of kin do not seek vengeance for the deed1 it is held that the pollution devolves upon him1 and that the sufferer 7i4e4 the dead man7 turns upon him the suffering 7i4e4 that which the homicide himself should have incurred71 and anyone who will may bring a suit against him and obtain a sentence of banishment for five years#aabc4' ,now for a right appreciation of this passage it must be borne in mind that ,plato introduces his old tradition propos of unintentional homicide4 ,the actual penalties therefore are of a milder nature than those with which we have hitherto been concerned4 ,indeed it is not the difference in the penalties which should cause any surprise1 but rather that an unintentional act should be punished at all2 and it would seem perhaps that in citing this doctrine ,plato sought to justify himself in retaining a provision of ,attic law which at first sight appeared unjust4 ,in ,athens#aabd1 we know1 the involuntary homicide was required not only to undergo purification but to withdraw for a whole year from the country of the man whom he had slain4 ,the hardship of this was manifest1 and yet ,plato acquiesced in the righteousness of it for the reason apparently that the year's retirement#aabe was not a penalty imposed by the state1 but a satisfaction which1 according to religious tradition1 the dead man demanded and might even himself enforce4 ,plato in fact recognises no less frankly than others the personal activity of the slain man4 ,he differs indeed in limiting the duration of that activity1 when he says that the dead man's anger is hot against the slayer only while his death is still recent1 and when by the provisions of his law he implies that the victim's desire for vengeance is fully satisfied by the slayer's withdrawal for the space of one year4 ,but this difference is completely explained by the fact that ,plato introduces the tradition in connexion with unintentional homicide1 whereas previously we have had it treated in relation to wilful murder4 ,reasonably enough the man who has been accidentally slain is represented as angry only for a time1 while the victim of deliberate murder nourishes a wrath implacable4 ,the one drives the author of his misfortune into exile for a year and then repents him of the evil2 the other dogs his enemy with vengeance not only for a year but throughout his life and even after death2 and indeed ,plato himself1 when he passes from the subject of involuntary homicide to that of deliberate murder1 proves his recognition of this difference by his enactments2 for1 at any rate in the most heinous case1 namely the murder of a near kinsman1 he expressly states#aabf that the old principle #8as a man hath done1 so must he suffer' admits of no abatement2 the guilty man must die1 and his body be left unburied4 ,but ,i must not yet enter upon a discussion of the actual punishments inflicted4 ,here ,i am only concerned to point out how completely ,plato's #8old doctrine' harmonises with that which we have learnt from other sources concerning the personal activity of the dead man4 ,first we read that the dead man terrifies and confounds the slayer to the utmost of his power1 with the aid of the slayer's own conscience2 and then again that his next of kin is under an obligation to obtain satisfaction for him1 and is punished by him if he neglects that duty4 ,clearly the slayer's own conscience is no more than an instrument--a somewhat ineffective instrument1 one might think1 in a case of unintentional homicide--and the next of kin is no more than a minister1 both of them employed and directed by the dead man himself4 ,he it is who exacts his own vengeance4 ,the other literary method of mitigating the crude popular belief in a bodily revenant hunting down his enemy was to treat the murderer's punishment as the result of a curse4 ,such a curse was denoted usually by the word 1 which may perhaps be more exactly rendered by the phrase #8a manifestation of wrath 77' on the part of some supernatural being#aabg1 whether a god or the departed spirit of a man2 when once provoked by deadly sin such as the murder of a kinsman or refusal of burial1 this curse was held to cleave to the tainted family from generation to generation4 ,in the case of blood-guilt1 which we are at present considering1 the curse1 as was said above1 was held either to work spontaneously or to be executed by some powers of the nether world4 ,the former view is more rarely adopted1 but is clearly enough indicated in one or two passages of ancient literature4 ,plato in the ,phaedrus speaks of most grievous sicknesses and sufferings being produced in certain families as the consequence of ancient curses 7 7#aabh2 and from the reminiscences and verbal echoes of ,euripides' ,orestes which appear in the passage#aabi it is abundantly clear that the particular family which ,plato had in mind was the blood-guilty house of ,atreus4 ,here then there is no mention of any gods1 no suggestion that the curse was executed by them or in the first instance proceeded from them4 ,and the negative evidence of ,plato's silence concerning the gods is turned to certainty by the positive statement of ,aeschylus that1 if a son neglect the task of vengeance1 #8betwixt him and the gods' altars standeth the unseen barrier of his father's wrath#aacj'2 for if1 in the case of the kinsman who by neglecting the duty of vengeance has made himself a partaker in the guilt and pollution of the murderer1 the ,wrath 77 by which he is punished both proceeds from the dead man and1 far from needing the gods' furtherance in order to take effect1 stands as it were on guard to hold the polluted man aloof from their altars1 then surely the ,wrath which pursues the murderer himself must emanate from the same source and possess the same spontaneous efficacy4 ,the dead man himself then both launches the curse and controls its course2 and probably it was in deference to this doctrine that ,plato formulated his own law1 that1 even in the case of a father being killed by his own son1 the dying man might with his last breath remit the curse which such a deed incurred and exempt his son from all except the purifications and the temporary retirement imposed in cases of involuntary homicide#aaca4 ,but more frequently the execution of the curse is conceived to be the work of certain powers of the nether world4 ,these powers however do not act on their own initiative2 they are instigated to the task of vengeance by the murdered man himself4 ,here1 no less than in the other renderings of the old tradition1 the sufferer himself is the supreme avenger of his own sufferings4 ,the most famous example of this conception is furnished by the plot of the ,eumenides4 ,the ,furies are represented as the servants of ,clytemnestra1 faithful witnesses to her wrongs1 exactors of blood for blood on her behalf#aacb4 ,when they slumber and allow ,orestes to escape the while1 her ghost approaches them in no suppliant manner for all their godhead1 but chides them and urges them afresh1 like hounds1 upon the quarry's trail#aacc4 ,and1 most significant of all1 there is one passage in which they say of themselves that the name whereby they are known in their home beneath the earth is the name of ,curses 77#aacd2 they are in fact the personification of those curses which a murdered man himself directs against his murderer4 ,nor is this notion confined to drama4 ,xenophon is little prone to poetic imaginings2 yet he can find an argument for the immortality of the soul in what he considers an established fact of human experience1 namely1 that the spirits of those who have been unjustly slain inspire terrors in their murderers' hearts and #8send against them' certain #8avengers of blood' 7 #aace74 ,and elsewhere again and again we hear of the same avengers under a variety of names--1 1 --names which will receive consideration later and by their very meaning and usage will confirm once more my contention that1 by whatever instrument or agency the murder is represented as being avenged1 ancient literature only departed from the primitive belief in bodily revenants executing their own vengeance at the one point at which the grossness of popular superstition must have offended educated sensibilities1 and followed the old tradition as faithfully as might be in conceding to the dead man1 if not bodily1 yet personal1 activity4 ,the same popular beliefs1 mutatis mutandis1 probably attached also to another class of revenants1 dead men whose bodies had not received due burial4 ,the necessary modifications of the superstition would be two in number4 ,first1 the anger of the dead man would not endure for ever1 unless his body had been so treated that burial was no longer possible1 but would cease with the performance of that which he returned to demand2 and secondly1 he would not be represented as using for his agent his next of kin1 who in most cases of the kind would be the very person responsible to him for the neglect of burial4 ,literature therefore had here no choice of versions2 the bodily re-appearance of the dead man was reckoned too gross an idea2 the employment of his nearest kinsman to act on his behalf became in this case impossible2 a curse was the only expedient4 ,and this is the expedient which we actually find adopted4 ,in the ,iliad ,hector adjures ,achilles not to fulfil his threat of throwing his dead body to the dogs and to the fowls of the air1 but to give him burial1 #8lest1' he says1 #8,i become a cause of the gods' wrath against thee'-- #aacf--;and the self-same phrase is put into the mouth of ,elpenor's spirit in the ,odyssey when he craves due burial of ,odysseus#aacg4 ,the same idea occurs once more in ,pindar's reference to ,phrixus1 who bade go unto the halls of ,aeetes 7for there in a strange land he had died1 and had not received the burial-rites of his own country7 and bring his spirit to rest1 and whose bidding ,jason is besought by ,pelias to fulfil1 for that #8already doth old age wait upon me2 but with thee the blossom of youth is but burgeoning1 and thou canst put away the wrath of powers beneath#aach4' ,in each of these passages then the actual enforcement of the dead man's will is by means of a curse or #8manifestation of wrath'--for the same word 7or 7 is used2 in each case also1 as it happens1 the curse does not operate automatically but is executed by gods--the method preferred also1 as we saw1 in cases of blood-guilt2 but here also1 as there1 the personal activity of the dead man is frankly acknowledged2 the phrase of ,homer #8lest ,i become 444' and that of ,pindar #8,phrixus doth bid 444' clearly suggest that the gods were instigated to intervene by the sufferer himself4 ,the case then stands thus4 ,we learnt in the last chapter that the unburied dead no less than the murdered were popularly believed to become revenants4 ,we have since learnt that the murdered1 in the capacity of revenants1 were popularly believed to avenge their own wrongs with their own hands1 but that ancient literature commonly presents a modified version of that belief according to which the personal activity indeed of the dead man is recognised1 but the instrument of his vengeance is a curse executed by demonic agents4 ,we find now that literature assigns also to the unburied dead the same personal activity in punishing those whose neglect has caused their suffering1 and by the same means4 ,the reasonable inference is that here too we have a modified version of a popular belief that the unburied1 like the murdered1 not only became revenants1 which we know1 but1 in the capacity of revenants1 themselves punished those who refused or neglected to render them their due funeral rites4 ,thus the same principle governed the whole system of the punishment incurred by men who were guilty either of murder or of leaving the dead unburied--the principle that the dead man whom they had injured in either of these ways himself requited those injuries4 ,hence1 when we proceed to examine the actual punishments inflicted1 we need no longer concern ourselves with the fact that literature attributes the infliction now to the nearest kinsman of the dead man and anon to some divine avenger2 but1 whatsoever instrument or agency is employed1 we know that the dead man himself was believed to control and direct it1 and therefore that the punishment thus effected was conceived to be such as the dead man himself willed and1 in popular belief1 could with his own hands enforce4 ,thus in the ,oresteia the punishment of ,clytemnestra is actually effected by ,orestes1 and again the punishment of ,orestes is entrusted to the ,furies2 but ,orestes is only the minister of his dead father1 carrying out the work of retribution under pain of incurring the same punishment himself if by inaction he should consent unto his mother's crime2 and the ,furies in like manner are only the servants of the dead ,clytemnestra1 instigated by her to their pursuit4 ,the slaying of ,clytemnestra and the sufferings of ,orestes are the punishments which the dead ,agamemnon and the dead ,clytemnestra1 even in the literary version of the story1 impose1 and1 in a more primitive and gross form of it1 might themselves have inflicted4 ,but before examining the nature of those punishments in detail1 it will be well to recall the fact that to the eyes of the ancient ,greeks murder or homicide always presented itself in two distinct aspects#aaci4 ,regarded from one point of view1 it was the gravest possible injury to the man who was slain4 ,viewed from the other1 it was a source of #8pollution' 71 1 71 an abomination to the gods and a peril to living men2 for the taint of bloodshed was conceived as a contagious physical malady1 which the polluted person by touch or even by speech#aadj might communicate to his fellow-men1 and not to them only1 but to places which he visited1 the market1 the harbours1 the temples#aada2 nay1 even the sanctity of the gods' images was not proof against the contamination of his bloodstained hands#aadb4 ,in brief1 the two aspects of homicide were the moral and the religious aspects2 and both moral and religious atonements were required4 ,the wrong done to the dead man was requited by the sufferings which he in turn imposed2 the pollution1 being primarily a state of religious disability 7for it involved1 as ,plato says#aadc1 the enmity of the gods71 was removed by a religious ceremony of purification4 ,how clearly marked was this distinction in antiquity is evident from ,plato's laws on homicide1 as a brief consideration of two or three special cases will show4 ,first1 in the most venial case of homicide1 where a man had killed his own slave1 he incurred no punishment at all1 but was bound none the less to get himself purified#aadd4 ,secondly1 in cases of the utmost enormity1 as where a man wilfully murdered his father or mother1 religion provided no means of purification4 ,blood-guilt in general was #8hard to cure'2 but parricide belonged to the class of sins #8incurable#aade4' ,such a murderer therefore must die1 for1 as ,plato says1 #8there is no other kind of purification' in this case than the paying of blood for blood4 ,religious purification in the ordinary sense of the word was refused1 but the extreme punishment was demanded4 ,thirdly1 in the majority of cases of blood-guilt1 where both purification and punishment were required1 the two were clearly independent of each other4 ,the purification of the involuntary homicide was to precede the year's retirement#aadf4 ,the religious ceremony cleansed the man from pollution1 but could no more exempt him from making satisfaction to the dead man whom he had wronged1 than absolution of sin pronounced in the ,christian confessional can exempt from the legal consequences of crime4 ,the ,delphic priesthood itself1 if we may trust the testimony of ,aeschylus1 claimed no more than the power to cleanse2 for ,apollo himself1 holding ,orestes guilty of manslaughter though not of murder1 after granting him religious purification1 does not intervene to save him from that exile which even the unintentional homicide was bidden by ,attic law to undergo2 nay1 he even acquiesces in the necessity of ,orestes' flight1 bids him not faint before his wanderings are done1 and promises only to set a limit thereto and to free him from the pursuing ,furies in the end#aadg4 ,the distinction between the pollution and the injury1 and between the purification and the punishment1 being thus clearly recognised1 it is necessary1 in investigating the relations between the dead man and his murderer1 to set the purely religious aspect of blood-guilt on one side1 and to treat the punishments inflicted upon the murderer simply as the settling of an account between man and man4 ,one point only as regards the pollution need be borne in mind1 namely1 that purification was granted to the homicide in the interests of gods and men whose abodes would otherwise be defiled by his presence1 and that the dead man could not conceivably derive any satisfaction therefrom4 ,on the contrary1 his desire for vengeance would naturally lead him to interpose #8the unseen barrier of his wrath' betwixt the guilty man and those altars of the gods where alone purification could be won1 and thus to keep his enemy still polluted2 for his pollution1 just because it was a peril to his fellowmen1 carried with it the punishment of utter solitude until he was cleansed4 ,when therefore1 as will appear later1 the murdered man is described not only as an avenger of his own wrongs1 but as one who strives to keep alive the religious defilement of the murderer1 there is no confusion of the moral and the religious aspects of murder1 but rather the injured man is conceived as wreaking his vengeance by every possible means1 not only directly by the sufferings which he can personally inflict1 but also indirectly by the privation which the state of pollution necessarily involves4 ,the nature of the direct acts of vengeance1 which are now to be examined1 can best be learnt from that passage of the ,choephori which depicts the horrible penalties awaiting ,orestes if by inaction he should make himself a consenter to the crime of ,clytemnestra4 ,we have already learnt that in such a case the defaulting kinsman incurred precisely the same punishment as he should have assisted to inflict on the actual murderer4 ,that therefore with which ,orestes was threatened was that to which ,clytemnestra was already condemned4 ,the punishments named are those with which1 according to popular superstition1 a murdered man1 risen in bodily substance from the grave1 could requite his enemy4 ,for no one1 ,i suppose1 would suggest that ,aeschylus1 who followed popular tradition so scrupulously in all that did not absolutely conflict with dramatic propriety1 invented for himself the whole scheme of penalties here set forth4 ,that he was bound to modify the means whereby the punishments were inflicted1 in order to avoid the incongruity of a revenant upon the stage1 we already know and shall see again2 but how closely he adhered to the popularly accepted scheme of punishments1 even when he was forced to find some new means of inflicting them1 will incidentally be shown by that detailed examination to which his list of penalties must now be subjected4 ,the first penalty is the physical torment of leprous blains that consume the body and age the sufferer prematurely4 ,at first we are inclined to wonder why leprosy is selected by the dead man as his means of retaliation against his enemy2 but a little reflection will lead us to guess that in this particular act of vengeance ,aeschylus could not actually reproduce the popular doctrine4 ,the common-folk believed in the bodily activity of the dead2 and1 if they believed also that bodily sufferings were part of the punishment which the murderer incurred1 the two beliefs must surely have been correlated2 the physical sufferings of the murderer must have been conceived to be caused by the physical activity of the murdered2 or1 to put it more plainly1 if we may elucidate ancient superstition by the aid of modern1 the murdered man1 in the form of a revenant bent on vengeance1 was believed to leap upon his victim and rend him with his teeth and suck out his very life-blood4 ,clearly ,aeschylus could not commit himself to so crude a presentation of a revenant2 he could not conjure up before his audience the spectacle of the dead ,agamemnon athirst for actual blood2 but equally clearly he knew that popular superstition1 and had it in his mind when he depicted the horrors of leprosy4 ,for the bodily assault of a revenant he substituted a natural malady engendered by a dead man's unseen wrath2 but he described the operation of that malady in language suggested by the popular presentment of a personal avenger more reasonable indeed in his purpose but scarcely less ferocious in his acts than a ,slavonic vampire--#8blains that leap upon the flesh and with savage jaws eat out its erstwhile vigour#aadh4' ,the means of inflicting the punishment is changed1 but the actual punishment of the murderer is the same as if it were not leprosy but in very truth a vampire1 which leapt upon him and gnawed his flesh and drained his life-blood4 ,so faithful is ,aeschylus to the crude popular idea of a retribution which required that he who had spilled another's blood should have his own blood drunk by his victim4 ,the second penalty is the mental agony of one whom #8madness and vain terror sprung of the darkness do shake and confound#aadi4' ,here again the punishment is in strict accord with that law that a man must suffer as he has wrought4 ,that old tradition recorded and revered by ,plato1 on which ,i have already touched1 taught that every man who was slain by violence was himself filled thereby with quaking and terror and confusion of spirit1 and accordingly sought his revenge in terrifying and confounding the slayer4 ,no clearer commentary on the lines of ,aeschylus could be desired4 ,plato explains how the terror and the confusion--for he employs the selfsame words as ,aeschylus--by which the murderer is overwhelmed are the exact counterpart of the mental anguish which his violence brought upon his victim4 ,aeschylus then once again was following closely an old tradition of the popular religion4 ,it matters not at all that in this case he names the ,erinyes as the agents1 just as previously he made leprosy the instrument1 of the dead man's vengeance4 ,the actual sufferings which the murderer must undergo are in this case also identical in character with those which he caused to his victim4 ,the third punishment of the blood-guilty man consists in wandering friendless and outcast2 and this again is no arbitrary invention of ,aeschylus1 but was clearly prescribed by that old tradition which1 in ,plato's reckoning1 justified the legal imposition of a year's retirement even upon those who had shed blood involuntarily4 ,where then is that correspondence1 which our examination of the first two penalties has led us to expect1 between this third punishment and the sufferings of the dead man who exacts it8 ,is there the same nicety of retribution8 ,clearly so4 ,the dead man became in popular belief a revenant1 a wanderer from out the grave1 pitiable in his loneliness1 cut off from all friendly intercourse with living men1 not yet admitted to the fellowship of the departed1 the sorriest of outcasts4 ,such was the misery to which the murderer by his act of violence had brought his victim2 such therefore too the misery which the murderer himself must taste in his wanderings and loneliness here on earth1 though it were but a foretaste of more consummate misery hereafter4 ,truly even in life the murderer was made to suffer as he had wrought4 ,and then comes the fourth penalty1 death2 for though ,aeschylus1 in the list of punishments which we have now before us1 touches but lightly on this1 the most obvious form of retribution1 yet elsewhere he repeatedly affirms1 and many another re-echoes1 the doctrine that blood cries for blood#aaej4 ,perhaps in this passage he felt that by depicting the gnawing pangs of leprosy he had sufficiently proclaimed the sure approach of death2 perhaps he passed it by as a slight thing in comparison with the horror that yet remained to be told4 ,for death did not close the tale of punishments2 the blood-guilty man1 so chant the ,furies1 #8though he be dead is none too free#aaea4' ,and so we pass to the last requirement of vengeance1 that the outcast shall have no friend to honour his dead body with the due funeral-rites1 whereby alone the desired dissolution could be secured1 but is doomed to lie unburied1 incorruptible4 ,such is my interpretation of the closing lines of the passage before us2 and there is no need to repeat the defence of my contention that the word must be understood in its literal and proper sense4 ,but it will not be out of place to note here how1 in the ,eumenides1 ,aeschylus' mind was still pervaded by the same popular belief4 ,the word means1 in the literal sense in which ,i have taken it1 to be withheld from corruption by some process of curing or drying2 and1 fantastic though it may seem1 it is that process of #8drying1' if ,i may use the word1 which the ,furies are charged by ,clytemnestra to carry out against her murderer4 ,let ,aeschylus' own words prove it4 ,hear first how ,clytemnestra's ghost with her last words spurs on the ,furies to this special task3 ' ' 1 1 1 1 #aaeb4 #8,up and pursue6 let thy breath lap his blood ,with sering reek1 as were thy bowels a furnace1 ,till he be shrivelled in the redoubled chase4' ,and the ,furies prove by their threats to ,orestes that they are not unmindful of their charge4 #8,nay1 in return for the blood thou hast shed1 thou must give me to suck the red juices from thy living limbs4 ,thyself must be my meat1 my horrid drink4' #8,yea1 while thou livest1 ,i will drain thee dry1 ere ,i hale thee 'neath the earth#aaec4' ,and the same thought is emphasized yet again in that binding-spell which the ,furies chant to draw him whom they already account their prey from his vain refuge at ,athene's altar3 1 1 1 1 1 1 #aaed4 #8,over our victim thus chant we our spell1 ,rocking and wrecking the torturd soul1 ,the jubilant song of ,avengers1 ,fettering the soul with no 'witchments of lute1 ,a spell as of drought#aaee upon mortals4' ,such is the wild1 weird refrain of the ,furies' incantation2 and in its closing phrase are re-echoed the closing words of ,clytemnestra's charge4 ,will anyone then venture to say that ,aeschylus had no special reason for thus repeating thrice within the compass of some two hundred lines the same threat8 ,for the punishment threatened is substantially the same1 though the means of inflicting it vary4 ,now it is the breath of the ,furies which shall scorch up the victim's very blood2 now it is their lips that shall suck him dry2 now a magic spell to parch and shrivel him2 but ever the effect is the same2 the bloodguilty man shall lie in death a sere and sapless carcase1 already #8damned to incorruption#aaef even in that doom which wastes all else4' ,and the only reason which ,i can conceive for the poet's insistence upon this thought is that here again1 as in all the former punishments1 he was reproducing a popular belief substantially the same then as it is in ,maina now1 namely1 that the murdered man1 having become a revenant1 sucked his murderer's blood and made him also in his turn a revenant4 ,nor is ,aeschylus the only ancient authority for the idea of some such retribution after death4 ,plato1 in a passage of the ,phaedrus already cited1 contemplates the activity of a murdered man's wrath 77 not only in the present time but also hereafter#aaeg2 and in his ,laws there is a provision1 not assuredly of his own devising but dating from the very beginning of ,greek legislation1 which can only have been designed to insure the complete vengeance of the murdered man on his murderer even beyond death4 ,a man convicted of the wilful murder of a near kinsman#aaeh was punishable not only with death but with a further penalty3 #8the attendants of the jury and the magistrates having killed him shall cast out his corpse naked at an appointed cross-roads without the city1 and all the magistrates1 representing the whole city1 shall take each a stone and cast it upon the head of the corpse and thereby free the whole city from guilt1 and thereafter they shall carry the corpse to the borders of their land and cast it out1 in accordance with the law1 unburied#aaei4' ,now the law1 we know1 in ordaining the penalty of death1 ordained it as a satisfaction of the murdered man's claims to vengeance4 ,the ,state1 so to speak1 sided with the dead man and assisted him to exact blood for blood4 ,again the stoning of the dead body by representatives of the city was intended1 we are expressly told1 to free the whole city from guilt--from guilt1 that is1 in the eyes of the murdered man1 who might otherwise visit his wrath upon the city as though it had consented to the crime or had too lightly punished it4 ,can it then be supposed that the ,state was actuated by any other motive in carrying out the rest of the penalty8 ,it was surely still in deference to the murdered man's desires that the murderer's corpse was left unburied4 ,to refuse burial was the surest means of condemning the man to resuscitation and thereby of satisfying his former victim's uttermost demands4 ,thus our detailed examination of the ,aeschylean catalogue of penalties establishes beyond doubt that of which we had already had some evidence1 namely1 that all the punishments which were inflicted on the murderer--and1 in popular belief1 inflicted by the murdered man on his own behalf--were an exact reproduction of the sufferings which the murdered man himself had undeservingly endured1 and culminated therefore1 as they should1 in the blood-guilty man becoming1 like his victim1 a revenant4 ,the main problem then of this section is now fully solved2 but incidentally much light has been thrown upon the character ascribed by the ,greek people in antiquity to those revenants who were not merely pitiable sufferers but were active in bringing a like doom upon those who had wronged them4 ,and the character of these ,avengers approximates very closely to that of the modern vrykolakes4 ,true1 there is one fundamental difference2 the ancient ,avenger directed his wrath solely against the author of his sufferings1 or at the most extended it only to those who1 owing to him the duty of furthering his vengeance1 had proved lax and cowardly therein2 the modern vrykolakas is unreasoning in his wrath and plagues indiscriminately all who fall in his way4 ,but the actual sufferings which the vrykolakas inflicts are identical with those which furnished ,aeschylus with his tale of threatened horrors4 ,modern stories there are in plenty1 which tell how the vrykolakas springs upon his victim and rends him and drinks his blood2 how sheer terror of his aspect has driven men mad2 how1 in order to escape him1 whole families have been driven forth from their native island to wander in exile#aafj2 how death has often been the issue of his assaults2 and how those whom a vrykolakas has slain become themselves vrykolakes4 ,only his unreasoning and indiscriminate fury is necessarily of ,slavonic origin2 his acts are the acts of those ancient revenants whose own wrongs rightfully made them the ,avengers of blood4 ,apart from the one ,slavonic trait1 the characters of the vrykolakas and the ancient ,avenger are identical4 ,and perhaps this identity is most clearly seen in the one case in which the old ,avenger punished not only the immediate author of his own wrongs1 but a whole community which had subsequently given the guilty man an asylum4 ,we have noticed how ,antiphon ventured to threaten an ,athenian jury with such punishment at the hands of the dead man if they wrongfully acquitted his murderer4 ,in the same spirit ,aeschylus makes the ,furies1 as the agents of the dead ,clytemnestra1 menace the whole land of ,attica with a venomous curse that shall blast man and beast and herb in revenge for the wresting of ,orestes from their grasp#aafa4 ,and such too is the dread which in the ,phoenissae of ,euripides stirs ,creon to make to the blood-guilty ,oedipus this appeal3 #8,nay1 remove thee hence3 verily 'tis not in scorn that ,i say this1 nor in enmity to thee1 but because of thine ,avengers1 in fear lest the land suffer some hurt#aafb4' ,in such cases the punishments with which a whole community is threatened1 although still a reasonable measure1 approach most nearly to the indiscriminate violence of the modern vrykolakas4 ,for the fulfilment of such threats as these we must turn to the ,supplices of ,aeschylus1 and there we shall find a description of just such a devastation as is said to have been suffered by the inhabitants of ,santorini and many other places in the seventeenth century4 ,the story of ,aeschylus tells how #8there came unto the ,argive land1 from the shore of ,naupactus1 ,apis1 son of ,apollo1 both healer and seer1 and cleansed the land of monsters that destroyed mankind1 even of those that ,earth1 tainted with the pollutions of blood shed of old1 sent up in wrath to work havoc1 fearsome as a dragon-brood to dwell among#aafc4' ,what then were these monsters8 ,i will venture to say that any ,greek peasant of to-day1 could he but read and understand the ,aeschylean description1 would furnish a better commentary upon those lines than the most learned discourse thereon that any scholar has written2 and his commentary would be summed up in the one word vrykolakes4 ,for1 vigorous as the description is1 its vigour comes less of dramatic word-building than of fidelity to the horrors of popular superstition1 and no other single passage could so fully establish the unity of ancient and modern belief4 ,for while the actual language contains all the words#aafd which in antiquity were bound up with the superstition--the #8pollution' which comes of bloodshed1 the #8wrath' which follows thereon and in which ,earth herself is here made to share1 and the #8sending up' by ,earth of the ,avengers--the thought of the passage is a faithful reflection of what the ,greek peasants still believe1 that a violent death is among the chief causes of resuscitation1 that the earth sends up the dead man raging to deal destruction1 and that with others of his kind he consorts and conspires in veritable dragon-bands2 and men still tell of gifted seers and healers1 such as ,apis1 summoned in hot haste to panic-stricken hamlets to allay the pest4 ,the of ,aeschylus1 #8the monsters that destroy mankind1' are indeed but little removed from the modern vrykolakes4 ,is it not then clear also on what sources ,aeschylus drew for his picture of the ,furies themselves8 ,we have seen how1 for dramatic purposes1 they were substituted for a revenant wreaking his own vengeance4 ,clytemnestra herself in bodily form should have been the ,avenger1 if popular superstition had not been in this respect too gross2 but the ,erinyes take her place in the actual execution of vengeance1 and she herself appears only as a ghost to instigate them to their work4 ,but1 when that substitution was effected1 did not ,aeschylus clearly transfer to the ,erinyes the whole character and even the appearance popularly attributed to the human ,avenger8 ,they are black and loathly to look upon#aafe2 their breath is deadly to approach#aaff2 the smell of blood is a joy to them#aafg2 they follow like hounds upon their victim's trail#aafh2 they torment him both body and soul#aafi2 they fasten upon his living limbs and gorge themselves with his blood#aagj2 and if any would harbour him from their pursuit1 the venom of their wrath falls like a plague upon the land1 and devastates it#aaga2 they are monsters1 #aagb--;and the recurrence of this word is significant--abhorrent alike to gods and to men#aagc4 ,the description is surely not that which ,aeschylus would himself have invented for beings who should come afterwards to be worshipped as #8revered goddesses1' 4 ,the difficulty of that transition in the play itself cannot but arrest the attention of every reader2 it is a difficulty which even the genius of ,aeschylus could not remove4 ,why then did he draw so loathsome a portrait of the ,erinyes in the earlier part of the play8 ,why did he create that difficulty8 ,the reason1 ,i suggest1 was that he followed once more1 and this time almost too faithfully1 the popular traditions1 and1 while he would not represent a real revenant on the stage1 transferred to those demonic agents1 by whom the work of vengeance was vicariously performed1 all the attributes popularly associated with the prototypes of the modern vrykolakas4 ,thus then the history of the modern belief in vrykolakes has been fully traced4 ,the ancients also believed that for certain causes--the same causes in the main as are still assigned--men were doomed to remain incorruptible after death and to rise again in bodily form from their graves1 and that one class of these revenants1 those namely who had wrongs of their own to avenge1 inflicted upon their enemies 7and upon any who shielded or harboured them7 the same sufferings as are now generally believed to be inflicted in an unreasoning manner by all classes of vrykolakes alike upon mankind at large1 with no justification1 such as a natural desire for vengeance might afford1 in the case of those whose resuscitation is not the outcome of any injury or neglect at the hands of other men1 and with no discrimination between friend and foe on the part of those who have real wrongs to avenge4 ,remove the unreasoning element in the character of the vrykolakas1 and the revenant in which the folk of ancient ,greece believed remains4 ,but1 if they believed in him1 they must have called him by some name4 ,aeschylus' phrase 1 #8monsters that destroy mankind1' is a description rather than a name4 ,what were the reasonable vrykolakes of ancient ,greece called8 ,that is now the one question which must be answered in order to make our enquiry complete4 ,briefly my answer is this1 that the particular class of revenants with which the present section has mainly dealt1 the ,avengers of blood1 were known by three several names1 1 1 and 1 but that literature contains no word which could serve as a collective designation for all classes alike4 ,i hope however to show that the ,greek language was not originally defective in this respect1 but that the term 1 although regularly used from the fifth century onwards in the narrow sense of an ,avenger1 had originally a wider application and denoted simply a revenant4 ,now the interpretation which ,i give to these three words is not that which is commonly accepted4 ,anyone who will turn to a lexicon will find that to each of the three is assigned a double signification in connexion with blood-guilt4 ,all three are said to denote either a god who punishes the blood-guilty or the blood-guilty man who is punished4 ,thus a god1 it is alleged1 may be called 7literally a #8polluter'7 because he punishes the polluted--a somewhat obvious misnomer2 or again 1 because he #8does not forget' but punishes the sinner--a derivation which1 as ,i shall show later1 cannot be accepted2 or thirdly 1 as the being who was #8turned to' by the murdered man and was besought to avenge his cause--a somewhat circuitous way for the word to arrive at its active sense of #8,avenger4' ,and1 secondly1 a man1 it is said1 was called when1 being himself polluted1 he was liable to be #8a polluter' of other men with whom he came in contact--a view which is certainly defensible2 as one whose sin #8could not be forgotten'--an interpretation almost beyond the pale of serious discussion2 and because1 being blood-guilty1 he #8turned towards' some god for purification--an explanation which may be right--whence the word came to denote in general a polluted person who still needed purification4 ,thus in my view1 as ,i have indicated1 the greater part of the information in the lexicons with regard to these three words is inaccurate2 and my reasons for disputing the received interpretations will be set forth point by point as ,i offer my own interpretations in their stead4 ,in dealing with the first group of meanings assigned to the three words1 by which they came1 somehow or other1 to be used with the common active signification of #8,avenger1' my main contention will be that1 as regards their primary and strictest usage1 all three words were applied not to gods but to men--men who1 having been murdered1 sought to requite their murderers--and were only secondarily extended to the agents1 whether divine or human1 to whom those dead men committed the task of vengeance2 but ,i shall also endeavour to show1 as regards the literal meaning of the three words severally1 that the interpretation by means of which their final sense of #8,avenger' has generally been elicited from them is in each case wrong1 and that1 in the case of the word in particular1 a right understanding of its original meaning gives very important results4 ,and in dealing with the second group of meanings1 by which the three words are said to denote three only slightly different aspects of one and the same person--a murderer who is as polluted and spreading pollution1 as pursued by vengeance1 and as still needing purification--,i shall maintain that these alleged uses of the first two words do not exist1 and1 as regards the third1 ,i will offer a suggestion1 but a suggestion only1 as to the means by which it acquired this signification which it unquestionably bore4 ,it will be convenient to deal first with and as being parallel in usage throughout1 and to reserve for later consideration4 ,the clearest example of that which ,i take to be the original usage of is furnished by ,euripides4 ,in that scene of mutual recrimination between ,medea and ,jason1 after that in revenge for her husband's faithlessness she has slain their children1 there comes at last from her lips the brutal taunt1 as she points to the dead1 #8,they live no more3 that truth at least will sting thee'2 and ,jason answers1 #8,nay1 but they live1 to wreak vengeance on thy head 7 7#aagd4' ,no language could be more simple1 more explicit4 ,the very children who lay there murdered at ,medea's feet1 they and none other should be the ,miastores1 the ,avengers of their own foul deaths4 ,but of course the word has other applications also4 ,when ,aeschylus#aage made the ,erinyes threaten that even when ,orestes should have fled beneath the earth1 he should find another ,avenger 77 to plague him in their stead1 the whole tenor of the passage compels us to understand that that other ,avenger is some deity or demon of the nether world--a divine1 not a human1 ,miastor1 though at the same time one who will act1 like the ,erinyes themselves1 on behalf of the murdered ,clytemnestra4 ,and1 yet again1 the same term is applied to a living man1 when1 as next of kin to him who has been murdered1 he is in duty bound to exact vengeance4 ,this time ,sophocles is our authority1 and the person of whom the word is used is ,orestes4 #8,oft1' says ,electra to ,clytemnestra1 #8oft hast thou reproached me with saving him to take vengeance upon thee 7 7#aagf4' ,these three passages then illustrate the threefold application of the name ,miastor1 and the question to be answered is which represents the primary usage of the word4 ,to multiply instances of each or any would be of no avail2 the question is not of the frequency of each usage2 the commonest is not necessarily the earliest4 ,how then is the question to be answered8 ,it is1 ,i think1 already answered4 ,we have seen that in popular belief the murdered man was the prime avenger of his own wrongs1 and that even in literature1 when the execution of vengeance is wholly transferred either to the nearest kinsman or to some demonic power1 the murdered man is still recognised as the principal and the others are only his agents4 ,it is this relation between them which settles the question4 ,a principal does not act in the name of his agents1 but the agents in the name of their principal4 ,the name ,miastor therefore belonged first to the dead man himself1 and was only extended afterwards to those who wrought vengeance on his behalf4 ,so much for the usage of the word4 ,next1 how did it acquire the meaning of #8,avenger1' which it undoubtedly possessed8 ,this can be only a matter of opinion4 ,but since it appears to me unscholarly and illogical to suppose that a word1 which on the grounds of formation must have first meant #8one who causes pollution1' could have come to mean #8one who punishes pollution1' ,i may at least offer an alternative suggestion4 ,the murdered man1 ,i admit1 can hardly be said to have #8caused' the pollution of his murderer1 or at any rate he could only have caused it involuntarily4 ,but he might well be regarded as active in debarring the murderer from the means of purification and in keeping the pollution1 as it were1 fresh and virulent1 with intent to isolate his enemy and to ban him from the abodes of his fellow-men4 ,and some indication of such an activity is afforded by the ,erinyes--acting1 as always1 on ,clytemnestra's behalf2 they refuse to acknowledge the purification granted by ,apollo to ,orestes1 and they say moreover that their task is to #8keep dark and fresh the stain of blood#aagg4' ,the murdered man may therefore have been believed1 if not actually to cause and to create1 yet at least to promote and to re-create1 the pollution of his foe1 and1 by keeping the stains of blood as it were from fading or being cleansed away1 to wreak some part of his vengeance4 ,in this way the transition from the sense of #8polluter' to that of #8avenger' is at least1 ,i submit1 intelligible4 ,this however is only a side-issue4 ,the important point is that the word ,miastor1 however it may have come to mean #8,avenger1' was primarily applied to the revenant himself1 and only secondarily to any god4 ,the next name to be considered1 1 is commonly accounted a synonym of 1 denoting in actual usage a #8god of vengeance1' and meaning literally #8one who does not forget' blood-guiltiness4 ,i too hold it to be a synonym of ,miastor1 but to denote therefore primarily not a god but a human revenant seeking vengeance1 and only afterwards1 by a transference of usage1 a god or living man acting in the name of the dead2 while1 as for the supposed derivation1 ,i count it absolutely untenable4 ,and first as regards the application of the word2 after what has been1 ,i hope1 a fairly exhaustive study of the passages of classical literature in which it occurs1 ,i am bound to confess that1 though the instances of its use are far more numerous than those of ,miastor1 ,i am still unable to select three passages and to say #8,here are my proofs of the triple application of the word4' ,indeed all that ,i can prove by the evidence of any single passage taken alone is curiously enough the existence of what ,i take to have been the rarest of the three usages--the application of the name ,alastor to the kinsman of the dead man1 as being the agent of his vengeance4 ,just as ,sophocles speaks of ,orestes being preserved as a ,miastor to take vengeance on ,clytemnestra for his father's death1 so does ,aeschylus make the same ,orestes name himself an ,alastor on the score of the vengeance which he has taken4 #8,queen ,athene1' he prays1 #8at ,loxias' bidding am ,i come2 receive thou me graciously1 avenger as ,i am1 no murderer1 nor of defiled hand 444 1 1 ' #aagh4' ,such1 ,i am convinced1 is the right rendering of the passage4 ,the lexicons indeed cite the line as an example of the alleged passive meaning of --one who suffers from divine vengeance1 an accursed wretch#aagi2 and ,i acknowledge that such a meaning would make passable sense of the passage2 for ,orestes was indeed suffering from the vengeance of the ,erinyes4 ,but ,i hold1 and ,i shall endeavour to prove later1 that never possessed a passive meaning1 and ,i claim moreover that the active meaning of #8,avenger1' which ,i attribute to the word here as elsewhere1 is immensely preferable in itself4 ,for ,orestes throughout pleads justification#aahj2 he has avenged murder1 not committed it2 he has discharged a duty to his dead sire1 not perpetrated a wanton crime against his mother2 he slew her indeed1 but his motive was pious1 and the ordaining of his act divine4 ,on the grounds therefore1 first1 of the word's own active meaning1 secondly1 of the whole trend of ,orestes' defence of his conduct1 and last1 but by no means least1 of the exact parallel furnished by ,sophocles' use of the word ,miastor1 ,i am confident that ,alastor as applied by ,orestes to himself means an #8,avenger4' ,that the word however was not primarily applied to the kinsman acting on behalf of the murdered man will be universally conceded2 in the vast majority of passages some supernatural being is clearly intended4 ,but it has been too hastily assumed that the supernatural avengers were always gods or demons2 that they were often so conceived ,i do not doubt2 but1 as a matter of fact1 ,i have discovered no single passage of classical literature which can be said finally and absolutely in itself to demand that interpretation4 ,in many instances the probabilities are in favour of the ,alastores being regarded as a class of avenging demons2 in many others it is equally good or even better to suppose that they are the dead men themselves in person4 ,what then are the foundations upon which the received notion1 that the ,alastores were always gods1 is based8 ,it might perhaps be urged that the word ,alastor found a place among the many epithets and titles conferred by worshippers upon ,zeus#aaha in order to indicate the particular exercise of his all-reaching power which their hearts desired4 ,it might also be urged that ,clement of ,alexandria names the ,alastores among those classes of gods whom the pagan ,greeks had evolved from the naughtiness of their own imagination as types and personifications of the baser human passions#aahb4 ,but neither of these facts can serve to substantiate the contention that the ,alastores were primarily and necessarily gods4 ,the occasional use of a word as an epithet of ,zeus cannot be held to prove the general appropriation of that word to a class of lesser gods2 while the statement of ,clement is the statement of a man designedly vilifying the whole ,greek religion1 neither appreciating nor desirous to appreciate its refinements1 but willing rather to overwhelm it utterly1 its better and its worse elements alike1 with the torrent of his invective and reprobation4 ,to him the ,alastores appeared as supernatural beings instinct with the pagan passion of revenge1 false gods therefore or devils1 fit objects whereon to pour out the vials of righteous wrath and ,christian scorn4 ,he was not concerned to be wholly just or wholly accurate4 ,indeed the very sources from which he drew the idea that the ,alastores were gods are still open to us2 it is the ,greek ,tragedians whom he holds guilty of this naughty invention2 it is the ,greek ,tragedians who remain for us the fountain-head of information concerning these ,avengers1 and who will on examination make it clear that they were not primarily or necessarily gods4 ,the single passage in ,greek ,tragedy which has been often regarded as evidence in favour of ,clement's classification of ,alastores among gods is on fuller enquiry rather a refutation of that view4 ,in the ,persae of ,aeschylus the messenger1 who reports to the queen the disaster which has befallen the ,persian fleet1 sets it down to supernatural agency3 1 #aahc4 ,this has generally been taken to mean that the beginning of the disaster was due to the sudden appearance of #8some vengeful or malicious deity4' ,but elsewhere in ,tragedy is treated not as adjective but as substantive2 and1 since there is no compulsion to suppose other than the ordinary use of the word here1 it appears better to translate the phrase #8some ,avenger or some malicious god4' ,in other words the real1 if unemphatic1 contrast implied in the phrase is not between and --no contrast is possible there#aahd--;but between and 4 ,the inference therefore is rather that the ,alastor in this passage was not conceived as a deity4 ,there are other passages of ,greek ,tragedy also in which the balance of probability seems to me to incline towards interpreting the name ,alastor in the sense of a revenant and not of a god4 ,two such occur in the ,medea of ,euripides--the same play1 be it noted1 which contains that perfectly plain statement that the dead children of ,medea are themselves the ,miastores who will punish her4 ,the first is in the scene in which ,medea works herself up to the perpetration of her crime4 ,passionate love of her children1 passionate jealousy and fury against their father1 alternate in tragic turmoil1 until the tense agony of spirit is let loose in that fierce oath1 #8,no1 by the ,avengers that lurk deep in hell1 ,ne'er shall it come to pass that ,i should leave ,my children to mine enemies' despite4 ,most surely they must die2 and since they must1 ',twas my womb bare them1 'tis my hand shall slay#aahe4' ,strong and terrible would be the oath even if the ,alastores1 whose wrath ,medea thus defies1 were gods or spirits2 but the force and the horror are doubled1 if the ,alastores here are of the same order as those whom ,jason names ,miastores but a little later in the same drama1 and if therefore among those ,avengers1 in whose name the murderous oath was sworn1 were soon to be numbered those very children whom ,medea loved best and yet bound herself to slay most foully4 ,the second passage occurs in ,jason's outburst of fury against ,medea when he first learns her crime4 #8',tis thine ,avenger whom the gods have let light on me2 for truly thou didst slay thine own brother at his own hearth1 or ever thou didst set foot in ,argo's shapely hull#aahf4' ,surely we are meant to understand that the dead ,absyrtus is himself the ,alastor--for one ,alastor only is named this time1 and that too as distinct from the gods 77--and that ,jason diverted to himself a portion of the dead man's wrath by wedding the blood-guilty woman4 ,again then the interpretation of ,alastor in the same sense in which1 only a little later in the same scene1 ,miastor is undoubtedly employed is1 if not necessary1 yet vastly preferable4 ,to review here all the passages of ,greek ,tragedy in which the word may advantageously be so understood1 when at the same time no single one of them constitutes a final proof of my view1 would be to encumber this enquiry to no purpose2 but ,i may perhaps be permitted to select one instance from a story of blood-guilt other than that of which ,medea is the centre4 ,this shall be from that scene in the ,hercules ,furens in which the hero1 sane now and overwhelmed with horror at the ghastly slaughter of his own children which in a moment of sudden madness he had wrought1 receives from ,theseus some measure of consolation and advice4 ,early in that colloquy1 ere yet ,theseus has had time to soothe the sufferings or to guide the course of his stricken friend1 ,heracles cries to him in bitterness of soul1 ,theseus1 hast view'd my triumph o'er my children8 and ,theseus answers with gentle simplicity1 ,i heard1 and now ,i see the woes thou showst me4 ,and then follow the lines3 4 ' 2 4 ' 2 2 4 '1 '1 ' 4 4 #aahg4 ,her4 ,why then hast bared my head before the ,sun8 ,thes4 ,nay1 wherefore not8 canst thou--mere man--taint godhead8 ,her4 ,yet flee thyself1 risk not my taint of blood-guilt4 ,thes4 ,where love joins1 bloodshed to no vengeance moves4 ,it is the connexion and significance of the last two lines which ,i wish briefly to discuss4 ,theseus has used the word #8taint' 771 and ,heracles at once seizes on it1 emphasizes it1 and warns his friend to begone lest he be contaminated2 and then ,theseus answers 7to give a literal rendering7 #8,no ,avenger of blood proceeds from them that love against them that love4' ,what does this mean8 ,the line is often translated as if ,theseus meant1 #8,no1 ,i will stay1 for though an ,avenger of blood may probably pursue you1 ,heracles1 ,i have no fear that he will touch me who love you as a friend#aahh4' ,a generous and sympathetic utterance indeed6 ,and how consistent with that fine burst of feeling with which he had but a moment before refused to be warned away3 #8,why warn'st thou me of blood with hand uplift8 ,in fear lest ,i be tainted by thy speech8 ,nought reck ,i of ill fortune at thy side ,where once 'twas good2 that hour must draw my heart ,when thou didst bring me safe from death to light2 ,nay1 ,i hate friends whose gratitude grows old1 ,i hate the man that will enjoy good hap ,but will not face foul weather with his friend#aahi4' ,is this the man whose words1 spoken but a moment later1 shall be interpreted to mean1 #8,i will not run away1 because the danger that threatens my friend cannot hurt me'8 ,the thought is deeper1 more generous1 than that4 ,theseus is thinking not of himself1 but of his friend4 ,it is the word #8pollution1' used first by himself and caught up by ,heracles1 which arrests his attention4 ,was his friend #8polluted' by a deed of blood1 wrought in madness1 expiated in tears8 ,polluted8 ,yes1 in the sense that religious purification was required#aaij4 ,he cannot deny the pollution4 ,but could the deed also be punished as the murder of close kinsfolk was wont to be punished8 ,could the children1 albeit slain by their own father's hand1 desire revenge upon him who loved them and was loved of them8 #8,no1' he answers boldly1 #8pollution 77 there is1 but no ,alastor1 no ,avenger of blood1 can come from them that love against them that love4' ,how then does ,theseus picture the ,alastor who1 but for the bond of love between the father and his dead children1 would seek vengeance for their death8 ,the phrase which he uses is ambiguous--perhaps deliberately ambiguous-- 444 4 ,it may mean equally well #8no one of those who love' or #8no one coming from those who love4' ,but when the close correspondence of 1 #8pollution1' and #8avenger1' is noted in this passage1 and when it is also remembered that the dead children of ,medea are elsewhere plainly named ,miastores1 it is hard to suppose that an audience familiar with the belief that the dead themselves avenged their own wrongs would not have interpreted the ambiguous phrase to mean #8none of these children shall rise up from the grave as an ,alastor1 for love is stronger than vengeance4' ,but such doubt as still remains is set at rest when we turn from the usage of the word ,alastor to its origin and enquire how it obtained the sense of #8,avenger4' ,what is its derivation8 ,two conjectures seem to have been made by the ancients and are recorded by early commentators and lexicographers#aaia4 ,the one connects the word with the root of 1 #8,i escape notice1' and extracts a meaning in a variety of ways1 leaving it open to choice1 for example1 whether it shall mean a god whose notice nothing escapes or a man who commits acts which cannot escape some god's notice4 ,the other conjecture refers the word to the root of 1 #8,i wander4' ,it is between these two proposed derivations that our choice lies2 nor can we obtain much help from the greatest modern authorities4 ,curtius#aaib unhesitatingly adopts the latter1 ,brugmann#aaic the former1 nor does either of them so much as mention the possibility of the alternative4 ,i must therefore discuss the question without reference to these authorities1 knowing that1 if ,i run counter to the one1 ,i have the countenance of the other4 ,is then 1 in the sense of a #8non-forgetter1' a possible formation from the root of 8 ,my own answer to that question is a decided negative1 and my reasons are as follows4 ,substantives denoting the agent and formed with the suffix - 7--7 can only be so formed direct from a verb-stem1 as from or appearing in etc41 from the stem of 1 answering to the verb 1 to 4 ,it is among these and other such examples that ,brugmann places the anomalous 1 to be connected with 1 4 ,but evidently1 in order that may be parallel1 let us say1 to 1 we must postulate the existence of an impossible verb - or -1 #8,i non-forget4' ,nor would it mend matters to suppose1 first1 the formation1 direct from 1 of a nomen agentis of the form 1 a #8forgetter'2 for the privative - appears only in adjectives and adverbs and in such verbs and substantives as are formed directly from them1 as from etc41 and cannot be prefixed at pleasure to a substantive or verb not so formed2 could no more be formed from an hypothetical substantive #aaid1 than could an hypothetical verb - be formed from 4 ,etymologically then the derivation of from - privative and the root of is impossible1 and its sense of #8,avenger' was not developed from the meaning #8one who does not forget4' ,on the other hand1 to the connexion of with the verb 1 #8to wander1' no exception can be taken4 ,not only is the formation simple1 but an exact parallel is forthcoming4 ,as the substantive stands to the verb 1 so does the substantive stand to a by-form of 1 which is fairly frequent in ,tragedy1 #aaie4 ,it follows then that meant originally a #8wanderer4' ,but1 when once that primary meaning is discovered1 there can be no further doubt as to the primary application of the term4 ,of the three possible exactors of vengeance--the revenant himself1 some demonic agent1 and the nearest kinsman--the first alone could be aptly described as a #8wanderer'2 moreover we know that the murdered man was actually so conceived1 and that1 among the punishments by which he sought to make his murderer suffer the same lot as he himself endured1 one of the most conspicuous was the punishment of wandering and exile4 ,the name ,alastor therefore1 like ,miastor1 denoted first of all the dead man himself1 and was only secondarily extended to human or divine agents seeking vengeance on his behalf4 ,it remains only to enquire how the meaning #8,avenger' was evolved from the meaning #8,wanderer1' and so completely superseded it that the name ,alastores was extended to those agents who were in no obvious sense #8,wanderers' but simply #8,avengers4' ,the first occurrence of the word is in the ,iliad1 as the proper name of a ,greek warrior#aaif4 ,this fact tends to show that the word had as yet acquired none of that ill-omened sense which it undoubtedly bears in ,greek ,tragedy4 ,it was used rather1 we may believe1 in its original and literal sense of #8wanderer1' and the adoption of such a word as a proper name is entirely consistent with the principles of ,homeric nomenclature4 ,hector1 ,nestor1 ,mstor1 are famous names of the same class4 ,otherwise than as a proper name the word is not used in ,homer1 nor does it occur at all again1 so far as ,i am aware1 before the time of ,aeschylus4 ,it is during this interval then that the evolution of meaning must have taken place2 for by the age of ,aeschylus the idea of vengeance--and vengeance of a horrible kind--had become the ordinary signification of the word4 ,my view then is that the intervening centuries had witnessed a gradual differentiation of the several words which alike originally meant a #8wanderer1' a differentiation such that remained the ordinary and general term1 while was little by little restricted to the wanderer from the dead1 the revenant2 and that subsequently from meaning a revenant of any and every kind it became limited to that single class of revenants whose wanderings were guided by the desire for revenge--the class to whom the name ,miastores had always belonged4 ,some evidence for the first stage in this development of meaning is furnished by the ,tragic usage of the verb from which the substantive is derived2 for in both its forms1 and 1 it continued to be applied to any of the restless dead1 when the substantive 1 as ,i conceive1 had come to be appropriated to the ,avenger only4 ,indeed it might almost be thought that both ,aeschylus and ,euripides had an inkling of the derivation and earlier meaning of the substantive2 for while idiom debarred them from using in the large sense of any revenant1 they certainly used the corresponding verb in contexts which suggest that those who thus #8wander' were not imagined by them as vague impalpable ghosts1 but possessed for them rather the real substance and physical traits of a revenant4 ,thus in the ,eumenides1 though ,clytemnestra could not be permitted to play the part of a revenant and appears only as a ghost1 yet the more gross and popular conception of her is clearly present to the poet's mind4 ,though a ghost1 she points to the wounds which her son's hands inflicted#aaig2 though a ghost1 she is made to exhort the ,erinyes to vengeance #8on behalf of her very soul' 7 7#aaih4 ,strange gestures and strange language indeed1 if the so-called ghost had been conceived as a mere disembodied soul6 ,but the popular conception of the revenant penetrated even here4 ,and was it not the same conception which suggested the phrase 1 #8,i wander in dishonour#aaii'8 ,in the popular belief1 as we know1 the murderer was bound to wander after death1 suffering as he had wrought2 and it is as a murderess#abjj that ,clytemnestra avows herself condemned to shameful wanderings4 #8,to wander1' 1 sums up the suffering which the murderer1 like his victim1 must incur after death4 ,it is likely then that the name too was originally applied to any #8wanderer'--whether murderer or murdered--before it acquired the connotation of vindictiveness and so became appropriated to the latter only4 ,again ,euripides uses the same verb of one whose body has not received burial4 ,this time there is no connexion with blood-guilt at all1 but the lines are simply the plaint of captive wife for husband slain in battle3 #8oh beloved1 oh husband mine1 dead art thou and wanderest unburied1 unwatered with tears'-- 1 1 #abja4 #8,to wander unburied'--could there be a simpler description of a revenant8 ,does not the whole misery of the unburied dead consist in this--that they must wander8 ,it is almost inconceivable then that the name ,alastor1 #8wanderer1' should have been originally applied only to a single class of the wandering dead--to those whose wanderings were directed towards vengeance1 and not also to those whose wanderings were more aimless1 more pitiable1 whose whole existence might have been summed up in that one word #8wandering4' ,at some time then between the age of ,homer and that of ,aeschylus ,alastor1 ,i hold1 meant simply revenant4 ,how then shall we explain that caprice of language which1 according to this ,tragic usage1 permitted all the unhappy dead to be said #8to wander' 71 71 but apparently forbade them to be collectively named #8wanderers' 778 ,how did ,alastor acquire its sense of #8,avenger' and become restricted to one class of revenant only8 ,it might be sufficient answer to point out that those revenants who were bent on avenging their own wrongs are likely always to have occupied a prominent place in popular superstition simply because they inspired most terror in the popular mind2 other revenants were harmless1 and1 as harmless1 liable to be little regarded and seldom named2 and the most conspicuous class might thus have appropriated to itself the name which properly belonged to all4 ,but there is another influence which1 if it did not cause1 may at least have facilitated and quickened the change--the influence of the word 1 #8unforgotten1' which1 as ,i have noted above1 was commonly and naturally1 in an age when etymology was not science but guess-work1 connected with 4 ,etymologically the two words have nothing in common2 but that is no obstacle to the supposition that1 in their usage1 their casual but close similarity of form rendered the meaning of the one susceptible to the influence of the other4 ,nay more1 the fact that the two words1 it matters not how erroneously1 were actually in early times referred to a common origin#abjb warrants the suggestion that such influence had been exercised4 ,now always remained in meaning true to its derivation4 ,itself employed in the passive sense1 #8unforgotten1' it seems to have made over the active meaning1 #8unforgetting1' #8vindictive' 7which1 on the analogy of and a score of similar forms1 it should naturally have possessed71 to the apparently kindred word 4 ,this adventitious meaning accorded well with the popular conception of the most conspicuous class of #8wanderers' from the grave--those whose wanderings had a vindictive aim2 and thus1 by the help of the accidental resemblance of two words1 it seems to have come to pass that the term ,alastores ceased to be applicable to all kinds of revenants and denoted only the #8,avengers4' ,at this point it became in fact synonymous with ,miastores1 and1 like that word1 enlarged its scope so as to denote not only the prime ,avenger1 the revenant himself1 but also any divine or human agents employed by him as subsidiary ,avengers4 ,so much then for the first meaning which the lexicons attach to the words ,alastor and ,miastor2 the second interpretation of them1 in relation to a blood-guilty man1 may be more briefly treated4 ,alastor in this passive sense is alleged to mean a man who suffers from the vengeance of one who is an ,alastor in the active sense2 and ,miastor to mean a man who is himself polluted and therefore pollutes those with whom he associates4 ,as regards ,alastor1 this explanation stands already condemned by the fact that it pre-supposes the derivation from 1 and even then it does fresh and incredible violence to language2 a sane philologist may commit the error of deriving from and making it mean #8one who does not forget'2 but only the maddest could dream of interpreting it as #8one who does deeds which others do not forget4' ,but1 if in spite of this we trouble to turn up the references which the lexicons give under this heading1 it is obvious at once that there is no more support for such a meaning in idiomatic usage than in etymological origin4 ,three references are cited4 ,the first is to that passage of the ,eumenides in which ,orestes declares himself 1 #abjc1 a phrase which means1 as ,i have already shown1 #8an avenger1 not a murderer4' ,this then should be classified as an example of the active1 not of the hypothetical passive1 meaning of ,alastor4 ,of the other two passages1 one is from the ,ajax of ,sophocles1 where the hero in his anger and despair speaks of the guileful enemies who robbed him of his prize as ,alastores#abjd1 and the other a passage from ,demosthenes in which he criticizes ,aeschines for applying the word as an opprobrious name to ,philip of ,macedon#abje4 ,but in what possible sense could either ,ajax' enemies or ,philip of ,macedon be described as #8suffering from ,avengers'8 ,on the contrary1 at the times when the word ,alastor was applied to them1 their success should surely have suggested that they were favoured by heaven1 and their opponents rather were the sufferers4 ,what then was the meaning of the word thus opprobriously employed8 ,a meaning1 ,i answer1 very little removed from that of #8,avenger' and arising out of it4 ,for how was the ,avenger--be he the revenant himself or a demon acting on his behalf--constantly pictured8 ,was it not as a fiend tormenting with every torment the object of his wrath1 plaguing him1 maddening him1 sucking his very blood8 ,little wonder then if the justice of that vengeance was sometimes obscured in men's minds by their horror of it1 and if the word ,alastor suggested to them a fiend1 a merciless tormentor4 ,in that sense ,ajax might well apply the name to his enemies1 and ,aeschines to ,philip4 ,nor are other instances of it lacking4 ,demosthenes himself1 for all his criticism of ,aeschines' vulgarity in calling ,philip 1 #8a foreign devil1' used the same word of ,aeschines and his friends#abjf2 again1 in ,sophocles1 the lion of ,nemea for the loss and havoc that he inflicted is unique among beasts that perish in having merited the same sorry title-- 1 the #8herdsmen's ,tormentor#abjg'2 and indeed1 apart from living men and animals1 there are many instances in ,tragedy#abjh in which the word ,alastor1 applied to some supernatural foe1 revenant or demon1 may be more appropriately rendered by #8fiend' or #8tormentor' than by #8avenger4' ,and the same thing is true1 ,i hold1 of the word ,miastor4 ,the theory of the lexicons1 namely1 that the word denotes a polluted and blood-guilty man because such an one is inevitably a #8polluter' of others1 is certainly not intrinsically bad2 for it recognises the primary meaning of the word1 #8polluter1' and bases the secondary meaning #8polluted' upon a right understanding of the old belief that pollution was contagious4 ,but at the same time it gives some occasion to wonder why the word should have been diverted from its most natural meaning in order to denote that which the cognate word already expressed more simply4 ,moreover1 when examination is made of those passages which are claimed as examples of such an usage1 the theory becomes wholly unnecessary4 ,the two most specious examples are two passages from ,aeschylus#abji and ,euripides#abaj1 in both of which the persons called ,miastores are ,aegisthus and ,clytemnestra4 ,now the authors of ,agamemnon's death were certainly polluted1 and might with justice have been called --that is admitted4 ,but because they might have been called and actually are called 1 it does not follow that1 though the words have the same root1 they also bear the same meaning4 ,obviously the word #8fiends1' if ever has that sense1 would be an equally apt description of the murderous pair4 ,the choice therefore between these two renderings here must be guided by more certain examples of usage elsewhere4 ,two may be selected as eminently clear4 ,in one ,orestes calls ,helen #abaa1 where the word cannot mean a #8polluted wretch1' for the construction postulates an active meaning in ,miastor2 nor yet can the phrase be intelligibly rendered #8the polluter of ,greece1' for there was no pollution involved in the warfare which ,helen had caused2 clearly ,orestes means #8the tormentor of ,greece1' the fiend who had proved the bane of ships and men and cities4 ,in the other passage ,peleus applies the word to ,menelaus3 #8,i look upon thee1' he says1 #8as on the murderer--the fiend-like destroyer 7' 7--of ,achilles#abab4' ,here again ,miastor clearly bears an active sense1 and at the same time cannot be rendered #8polluter4' ,menelaus had brought upon ,achilles not pollution but death1 and the word ,miastor explains the word #8murderer' 77 which precedes it--explains that the murder laid to ,menelaus' charge was not the open violence of a stronger foe1 but resembled the death-dealing of some lurking fiend4 ,in these two passages then the interpretation of ,miastor in the sense of #8fiend1' #8tormentor1' #8destroyer1' is necessary and proven2 and1 this being known1 common reason bids us read more ambiguous scriptures in the light thus obtained4 ,there is therefore no call to suppose that ever meant #8polluted'2 from the active meaning #8,avenger' it developed1 like ,alastor1 the broader sense of #8,tormentor' or #8,fiendish ,destroyer'2 and these meanings completely satisfy the conditions of ,tragic and other usage of the words4 ,there remains the word 1 to which the lexicons1 ,i admit1 rightly ascribe a twofold meaning4 ,it is clearly used both of the ,avenger of blood and also of the blood-guilty person who is seeking purification4 ,but as regards both the means by which the first signification was obtained1 and the primary application of the word in that signification1 ,i join issue4 ,the second meaning is more satisfactorily explained1 and my criticism of it will not go beyond an alternative suggestion4 ,the lexicons elucidate the first meaning as follows3 he to whom one turns1 especially with supplications1 or the god to whom the murdered person turns for vengeance1 hence an avenger1 like 444 hence also of the manes of murdered persons1 visiting with vengeance1 implacable4 ,the objections to this explanation are obvious4 ,it may well be questioned whether is at all likely to have had any passive meaning--as it were a person who #8is turned to'--when the verb itself was1 so far as ,i can ascertain1 never so used2 and further1 if a god had really been called because the murdered man turned for vengeance to him1 the extension of the term to the manes of murdered persons must imply a conception of the murdered man turning for vengeance towards--himself4 ,this is not a little cumbrous2 and for my part ,i deny the existence of any passive sense of 4 ,i do however find two senses of the word1 the one active1 corresponding to the transitive use of the verb or 7for the middle as well as the active voice might be used transitively1 as will shortly appear71 the other middle1 corresponding to the ordinary usage of the middle 4 ,thus the active meaning of will be turning something towards or against someone2 the middle meaning1 turning oneself towards someone4 ,the active usage is best illustrated by a passage of ,aeschines1 in which he accuses ,demosthenes of wilful perjury in calumniating him1 and then appeals to the jury in these words-- 7 7 #abac2 #8,will you then allow this perjurer1 who has turned upon his own head 7for ,i pray that it be not on the city7 the anger of the gods in whose name he swore1 to continue in your midst8' ,here the very brevity of the ,greek1 which ,i am compelled to expand in translation1 proves that ,aeschines' audience were perfectly familiar with an active meaning of with an evil connotation1 #8turning some misfortune or punishment or vengeance upon someone4' ,the middle sense of is equally clearly exhibited by ,aeschylus1 who in telling the story of ,thyestes says that after his banishment by his brother ,atreus he came again #abad1 #8turning himself 7as a suppliant7 towards the hearth' of his father's home1 so that his own life at least was spared out of respect for the place4 ,thus the two meanings of the word are established1 and it remains only to show how they were specially used in connexion with blood-guilt4 ,in the active sense was primarily applied1 ,i hold1 like ,miastor and ,alastor1 to the murdered man himself1 who #8turned' his wrath #8against' the murderer1 or1 if it so happened1 against the next of kin who had failed in his duty of bringing the murderer to justice4 ,it is precisely thus that ,plato uses the verb in recording the old tradition in which he apparently reposed so much faith as to base his own laws upon it4 #8,if the nearest of kin1' so runs the passage1 #8do not seek vengeance for the deed1 it is held that the pollution devolves upon him1 and that the sufferer 7i4e4 the dead man7 turns upon him the suffering 7i4e4 that which the homicide himself should have incurred71 and anyone who will may bring a suit against him1 etc4#abae' ,the words which ,i have italicised are in the ,greek 1 where the middle presumably was preferred to the active because the sufferings which the dead man inflicts are1 as we already know and as the language of the particular phrase itself suggests1 exactly those which he himself suffers4 ,this usage of the verb1 though it is distinctly rare and probably a technicality of religion or law1 is so perfectly clear in this one example#abaf1 that there should be no hesitation about understanding the cognate word in the same sense4 ,and indeed one lexicographer1 ,photius1 shows that he did so understand it2 for he tells us that ,zeus was sometimes invoked under this title1 as turning against murderers the pollution 7including perhaps the punishments7 of their crime3 444 1 7sc4 7#abag--such are his actual words1 and this time of course the verb is rightly in the active1 for ,zeus is in no way personally concerned but acts only in the interests of the dead man4 ,clearly then it was in virtue of this active meaning that came to be practically a synonym of ,miastor and ,alastor in the sense of an ,avenger of blood4 ,once more then we return to the same question which has been propounded and answered with regard to those two other names--to whom was the term primarily applied8 ,i find the application of it more restricted than that of the other two words4 ,it was used of the dead man himself1 and it was used of demons avenging his cause2 but it was never used#abah of the next of kin in the character of avenger--and that for the very good reason that when the word was applied to a living man it bore an entirely different meaning1 which has yet to be discussed1 the meaning of #8blood-guilty4' ,a few examples of each usage must be given4 ,both ,antiphon and ,aeschylus apply the word to murdered men2 ,antiphon1 in a speech in which the kinsman1 who has1 as in duty bound1 undertaken the prosecution of the murderer1 claims that1 if the jury wrongfully acquit1 the dead man will not become 1 an ,avenger1 against his kinsmen who have done their best in his service1 but will visit his anger on the jury for condoning and thereby sharing the blood-guilt#abai2 ,aeschylus1 in that list of penalties which has been discussed1 when he depicts the #8madness and vain terror1' which will befall ,orestes if he fail in his task1 as an arrow that flieth in darkness sped by powers of hell #8at the behest of fallen kindred that turn their vengeance upon him' 7 #abbj74 ,but equally clearly in other passages the ,avenger indicated is not the murdered man1 but some divine being4 ,antiphon again is an authority for this usage4 ,twice1 in a context similar to that which has just been noticed1 he speaks not of the murdered man himself becoming an ,avenger1 but of certain divine powers--whom he also calls 1 the powers that deal with sin--acting as ,avengers 77 of the dead#abba4 ,and similarly in later time ,pausanias also speaks of #8the pollution 77 incurred by ,pelops and of the ,avenger 77 of ,myrtilus#abbb4' ,since then there is no question but that the word was actually applied both to dead men and to gods1 to which of the two did it refer primarily8 ,we already know the answer4 ,the dead man himself1 as a revenant1 was the prime and proper ,avenger of his own wrongs2 demons of vengeance acted only in his name1 as his subordinates and agents4 ,to him therefore the name primarily belonged4 ,and even if we had not already learnt this from other sources1 the passage of ,aeschylus1 to which ,i have just referred1 might well guide us to the same conclusion4 ,the arrow that flieth in darkness is sped indeed1 he says1 #8by powers of hell' 7 7--the demonic agents of the dead--but #8at the behest of fallen kindred4' ,the activity both of the principal and of the agent is recognised in the same passage1 and either might have been called 3 but1 because the activity of both was plainly asserted1 ,aeschylus reserved the name for the one to whom it primarily belonged1 the murdered man1 who turns his wrath1 who turns indeed those powers of hell who execute his wrath1 against his enemies4 ,there now remains for consideration only the second meaning of 2 how could a word1 which in reference to dead men or to deities meant #8an ,avenger of blood1' bear1 in relation to living men1 the sense of #8blood-guilty'8 ,very likely the dictionaries are right in accepting the explanation of this use which ,hesychius#abbc and others give4 ,we have seen one case#abbd in which the word clearly has a middle sense #8turning oneself towards' a place or a person in supplication2 and there is no difficulty in supposing that the word was used technically in the same sense of a blood-guilty man who turned to some god or to some sanctuary in quest of purification4 ,this1 ,i say1 is very probably the right explanation4 ,but ,i may perhaps offer an alternative explanation which ,i do not count preferable but merely possible4 ,the active meaning of 1 #8turning something upon someone1' might conceivably have produced this sense of #8blood-guilty' as well as the other sense #8an ,avenger of blood4' ,as the dead man was held to turn something1 namely his wrath1 against his enemy1 so might the murderer have been pictured as trying to turn something1 namely the pollution which he had incurred1 upon some object and so to cleanse himself therefrom4 ,now the chief feature in the ,delphic ceremony of purification was the slaying of a sucking-pig#abbe4 ,this may of course have been merely a propitiatory sacrifice2 but it is possible also that the animal was really a surrogate victim for the murderer himself1 that by laying his polluted hand on its head he transferred the religious uncleanness from himself to it1 and that1 by the subsequent slaughter of the now blood-guilty animal1 he vicariously satisfied the old law that blood could only be washed out by blood4 ,this is only a conjecture1 and ,i leave others to judge of its probability2 but1 if the ceremony had followed the lines which ,i have suggested1 it is easily intelligible that1 in the technical language of religion1 the murderer who sought to turn his own pollution upon the victim might have been called 4 ,thus then the problem of the ancient nomenclature of revenants is solved1 and the results are briefly these3 all revenants were originally called 1 #8,wanderers'2 but subsequently that name was restricted only to the vengeful class of revenants1 to which the names and had always belonged2 and for the more harmless and purely pitiable revenants no name remained1 but men said of such an one simply1 #8,he wanders4' ,,footnotes3 #iei ,heard by me from a fisherman of ,myconos4 #ifj 1 1 ,i4 pp4 #egc and #eic4 #ifa ,the list of dialectic forms compiled by ,bern4 ,schmidt 7das ,volksleben der ,neugriechen1 p4 #aeh7 comprises1 besides that which ,i have adopted as in my experience the most general1 the following3 1 1 1 1 1 1 4 ,to these may be added from ,syme 71 1 ,i4 #fja71 1 from ,cythnos 71 1 p4 #abe71 and an occasional diminutive form such as 4 ,the is often doubled in spelling4 #ifb ,a plural in -1 -1 with accent either paroxytone or proparoxytone1 also occurs4 #ifc ,de quorumdam ,graecorum opinationibus1 cap4 #ab sqq4 #ifd 1 leg4 4 #ife ,for these memorial services 77 and the appropriate funeral-meats 77 see below1 pp4 #ecd ff4 #iff ,the reference given by ,allatius is to ,turco-,grecia1 ,bk #h1 but ,i cannot find the passage4 #ifg ,with this description compare a phrase used in a recent ,athenian account of a vrykolakas1 1 #8like a 7distended7 wine-skin1' 1 4 ,i4 #ege4 #ifh ,see p4 #cci4 #ifi ,relation de ce qui s'est pass de plus remarquable a ,sant-,erini ,isle de l',archipel1 depuis l'tablissement des ,peres de la compagnie de ,jesus en icelle 7,paris1 ,,mdclvii471 cap4 ,,xv4 pp4 #bjh-bbf4 #igj ,in many places at the present day it is believed that vrykolakes 7and sometimes other supernatural beings7 cannot cross salt water4 ,hence to bury 7not burn7 the corpse in an island is often held sufficient4 #iga ,some modern authorities state that ,turks are believed to be more subject to become vrykolakes than ,christians4 ,schmidt 7,das ,volksleben1 p4 #afb7 appears to me to overstate this point of view1 which ,i should judge to be rarer and more local than its contrary4 ,even where found1 it is unimportant1 being a mere invention of priestcraft for purposes of intimidation4 ,see below1 pp4 #djj and #dji4 #igb ,evidently a local form of 7 1 cf4 ,du ,cange1 ,med4 et infim4 ,graec41 s4v4 71 with metathesis of the nasal4 ,cf4 the word above4 #igc ,to this phrase ,i return later4 #igd leg4 4 #ige ,histoire nouvelle des anciens ducs et autres souverains de l',archipel1 pp4 #bee-f 7,paris1 #afii74 #igf ,voyage du ,levant1 ,i4 pp4 #aeh ff4 7,lyon1 #agag74 ,cf4 also ,salonis1 ,voyage ,tine 7,paris1 #ahji71 translated by 4 4 1 as 1 pp4 #aje ff4 #igg ,paul ,lucas1 ,voyage du ,levant 7la ,haye1 #agje71 vol4 ,,ii4 pp4 #bji-baj4 #igh ,cf4 ,tournefort1 ,voyage du ,levant1 ,i4 p4 #afd 7,lyon1 #agag74 #igi 4 1 1 p4 #abe4 #ihj 4 1 1 pp4 #gb-c4 #iha ,the writer points out in a note the correspondence of the number of priests who assemble for 1 the anointing of the sick with oil4 #ihb ,the ,cretan word used throughout this passage is - 7plur4 -71 on which see below1 p4 #chb4 #ihc 4 ,i have given what ,i take to be the meaning of a popular word otherwise unknown to me4 #ihd 4 1 4--1 1 p4 #ef4 #ihe ,good examples may be found in ,bern4 ,schmidt1 ,mrchen1 etc41 no4 #g1 and 1 1 ,i4 #eij sqq4 #ihf ,the ,cyclades1 p4 #bii4 #ihg 1 1 ,i4 p4 #egg4 #ihh ,ibid41 p4 #egh4 #ihi ,in ,scyros and in ,cythnos1 as ,i have noted above1 this means of riddance has given place to milder remedies4 ,but in the former ,i heard of fairly recent cases of vampirism1 and in the latter1 according to 71 p4 #abe71 the names of several persons 7including one woman7 who became vrykolakes are still remembered4 #iij ,communicated to me by word of mouth in ,maina4 #iia 7see above1 p4 #bjh71 who are commonly regarded as subject to lycanthropy in life and continue the same predatory habits as vampires after death4 #iib ,bern4 ,schmidt1 ,das ,volksleben1 p4 #afb 7from ,archova74 #iic ,this belief belongs chiefly1 in my experience1 to the ,cyclades4 #iid ,curt4 ,wachsmuth1 ,das alte ,griechenland im ,neuen1 p4 #aag 7from ,elis74 #iie ,ibid4 p4 #aad 7from ,elis74 ,bern4 ,schmidt1 op4 cit4 p4 #afb 7,parnassus district74 1 1 ,i4 #egh 7,calvryta74 #iif ,das ,volksleben der ,neugriechen1 p4 #agj4 #iig ,this derivation is reviewed and rejected by ,bern4 ,schmidt1 ,das ,volksleben etc41 p4 #aeh4 #iih ,cf4 ,miklosich1 ,etym4 ,wrterbuch d4 ,slav4 ,spr41 p4 #chj1 s4v4 99velk1 ,old ,slav41 vlk1 wolf4444 ,old ,slav41 vlkodlak2 ,slovenian1 volkodlak1 vukodlak1 vulkodlak2 ,bulg41 vrkolak2 ,kr41 vukodlak2 ,serb41 vukodlak2 ,cz41 vlkodlak2 ,pol41 wilkodak2 ,little ,russian1 vokoak2 ,white ,russian1 vokoak2 ,russian1 volkulak2 ,roum4 velkolak1 verkolak2 ,alb41 vurvolak2 cf4 ,lith41 vilkakis4 #8,der vlkodlak ist der ,werwolf der ,deutschen1 woraus m4 ,lat4 guerulfus1 mannwolf1 der in ,wolfgestalt gespenstisch umgehende ,mann4' ,the second half of the compound is less certainly identified with dlaka1 ,old ,slav41 ,new ,slav41 ,serb41 #8hair' 7of cow or horse74 ,i am indebted for this note to the kindness of ,mr ,e4 ,h4 ,minns1 of ,pembroke ,college1 ,cambridge4 ,it will be found to corroborate the view pronounced by ,b4 ,schmidt1 ,das ,volksleben der ,neugriechen1 p4 #aei4 #iii ,bern4 ,schmidt1 ,das ,volksleben der ,neugriechen1 p4 #afj 7with note #a74 #ajjj ,ralston1 ,songs of the ,russian people1 p4 #dji4 #ajja ,whether this word is originally ,slavonic appears to be uncertain1 but it is at any rate found in all ,slavonic languages and is proved by the forms which it has assumed to have been in use there for fully a thousand years4 ,this note also ,i owe to my friend1 ,mr ,minns4 #ajjb ,abbott1 ,macedonian ,folklore1 p4 #bag4 #ajjc ,das ,volksleben d4 ,neugr4 p4 #aei4 #ajjd ,ibid4 note #b4 #ajje ,mannhardt's ,zeitschrift f4 d4 ,mythol4 und ,sittenk4 ,,iv4 #aie4 #ajjf ,les ,slaves de ,turquie1 ,i4 p4 #fi 7,paris1 #ahdd74 #ajjg ,cf4 above1 p4 #ahc4 #ajjh ,cf4 pp4 #ahc and #bjh4 #ajji ,in ,chios at the present day the word vrykolakas is in general usage1 except that in the village of ,pyrgi1 owing to a confusion of vrykolakes and callicantzari1 a local name of the latter is applied also to the former4 ,cf4 1 1 p4 #cfg1 and see above p4 #aic4 #ajaj 4 1 1 p4 #abe4 ,the two words are given in the neuter plural and 1 as equivalents of the word vrykolakas which1 in the form 1 is also employed4 #ajaa ,the periodical 1 vol4 #ab1 no4 #bgh1 p4 #cce and vol4 #ac1 no4 #cjh1 p4 #eje1 cited by ,schmidt1 op4 cit4 p4 #afj4 #ajab ,schmidt1 op4 cit4 p4 #afj1 referring to 7periodical71 ,,iii4 p4 #eci2 1 1 ,i4 p4 #egd4 #ajac 1 ibid4 #ajad ,cf4 above1 p4 #bgg4 #ajae in 1 #ahfa1 p4 #ahbh4 ,schmidt interprets the word as #8der ,aufhockende1' one who sits upon and crushes his victims1 a habit sometimes ascribed to vrykolakes1 but more often to callicantzari4 ,my own interpretation has the support of many popular stories1 in which1 when the exhumation of a vrykolakas takes place1 he is found sitting up in his tomb4 ,see e4g4 1 1 ,i4 p4 #eij4 #ajaf ,cf4 1 1 p4 #bg 7,athens1 #ahdb72 4 1 1 pp4 #gb-c4 #ajag ,op4 cit4 p4 #afj4 #ajah 1 ,,ii4 p4 #aad4 #ajai ,os hians1 dentes candidi1 cf4 above1 p4 #cfg4 #ajbj ,the word is mentioned by ,newton1 ,travels and ,discoveries in the ,levant1 ,i4 p4 #bab4 ,i have been unable to obtain any more recent information4 #ajba 7,the ,black ,death of ,rhodes71 ll4 #bfg and #egi1 published in ,wagner's ,medieval ,greek ,texts1 ,i4 p4 #agi 7from ,schmidt1 op4 cit4 p4 #afj1 note #d74 #ajbb ,i have shown above 7pp4 #bci ff47 that in certain districts the word was superseded by a new ,greek compound 2 but this new term was probably always confined1 as it now is1 to the vocabulary of a few districts only1 while the ,slavonic word vrykolakas enjoyed a wider vogue4 #ajbc ,see above1 p4 #cgh4 #ajbd ,i quote my authority only for choice specimens which ,i have not myself heard4 ,variations may be found in almost any work bearing on popular speech or belief4 #ajbe 4 4 1 ,,ii4 #abc 7from ,crete74 #ajbf ,ibid4 #ajbg 4 4 1 1 p4 #aii 7from ,sinasos in ,asia ,minor74 #ajbh ,christophorus ,angelus1 ,de statu hodiernorum ,graecorum1 cap4 #be4 #ajbi ,cf4 above1 p4 #cgj4 #ajcj ,in the details of my account of this custom ,i follow 1 1 pp4 #aac-aad4 ,but it prevails also in substantially the same form in many places besides ,cythnos4 #ajca ,i have been at some pains to make wide enquiries on this point1 but have found no example4 #ajcb ,the version which ,i translate is ,no4 #eag in ,passow's ,popularia ,carmina ,graec4 recent4 #ajcc ,prof4 has collected seventeen in a monograph entitled 7originally published in the 4 4 74 #ajcd 1 op4 cit4 p4 #dc 7,version ,no4 #d1 ll4 #ah1 #ai74 #ajce ,the periodical 1 #ahfb1 vol4 #ac1 p4 #cfg 7 1 op4 cit4 p4 #ff1 no4 #ag1 ll4 #ai1 #bj74 #ajcf 4 4 1 1 p4 #afd 7from ,sinasos in ,asia ,minor74 #ajcg ,i make this statement with as full confidence as can be felt in any such negation1 after perusing nearly a score of versions4 #ajch ,see above1 p4 #cfh4 #ajci 1 1 ,i4 p4 #ehi4 #ajdj ,ibid4 p4 #eia4 #ajda ,goar1 ,eucholog4 p4 #fhe4 #ajdb ,cf4 ,leo ,allatius1 ,de quor4 ,graecorum opinat4 ,,xiii4 ,balsamon1 ,i4 #efi 7,migne74 ,epist4 ,s4 ,niconis1 quoted by ,balsamon1 ,,ii4 p4 #ajif 7ed4 ,paris1 #afbj74 ,christophorus ,angelus1 cap4 #be4 #ajdc ,s4 ,matthew xviii4 #ah4 #ajdd ,the power of excommunicating belonged to priests as well as to bishops1 but they might not exercise it without their bishop's sanction4 ,cf4 ,balsamon1 ,i4 #bg and #efi 7,migne74 #ajde ,quoted by ,leo ,allatius1 ,de quor4 ,graec4 opinat4 ,,xiii4 and ,,xiv4 #ajdf ,the reversal of the decree of excommunication by the same person who had pronounced it was always preferred1 largely as a precaution against an excommunicated person obtaining absolution too easily4 ,cf4 ,balsamon1 ,i4 #fd-e and #dcg 7,migne74 #ajdg op4 cit4 cap4 ,,xv4 ,cf4 also ,christophorus ,angelus1 7,cambridge1 #afai71 cap4 #be1 where is told the story of a bishop who was excommunicated by a council of his peers1 and whose body remained #8bound1 like iron1 for a hundred years1' when a second council of bishops at the same place pronounced absolution and immediately the body #8turned to dust4' #ajdh ,according to ,georgius ,fehlavius1 p4 #eci 7 #dbb7 of his edition of ,christophorus ,angelus1 ,de statu hodiernorum ,graecorum 7,lipsiae1 #afgf71 ,emanuel ,malaxus was the writer of a work entitled ,historia ,patriarcharum ,constantinopolitanorum1 which ,i have not been able to discover4 ,it was apparently used by ,crusius for his ,turco-,grecia2 for the story here told is narrated by him in two versions 7,i4 #ef and ,,ii4 #cb1 pp4 #bg and #acc ed4 ,basle7 and he alludes also 7p4 #aea7 to a story concerning ,arsenios1 ,bishop of ,monemvasia1 which likewise according to ,fehlavius 7l4c47 was narrated by ,malaxus4 #ajdi ,see below1 p4 #dji4 #ajej ,christophorus ,angelus 7op4 cit4 cap4 #be7 vouches for the early use of this word by one ,cassianus1 whom he describes as 4 ,i cannot identify this author4 #ajea ,du ,cange1 ,med4 et infim4 ,graec41 s4v4 4 #ajeb ,christophorus ,angelus1 l4c4 #ajec ,matthew xviii4 #ah4 #ajed ,john xx4 #bc4 #ajee ,see above1 p4 #cfe4 #ajef ,the word 1 which ,i have rendered with verbal correctness #8memorial services1' really implies more1 and corresponds to a mass for the repose of the dead4 #ajeg ,anastasius ,sinaita1 in ,migne's ,patrologia ,gr4-,lat41 vol4 #hi1 #bgi-bhj4 #ajeh i4e4 the 1 as they were called1 the more discreet and #8spiritual' priests who alone were authorised by their bishops to discharge this function4 ,cf4 ,christophorus ,angelus1 op4 cit4 cap4 #bb4 #ajei 4 1 1 pp4 #cce and #cci4 #ajfj ,on this symbol see above1 pp4 #aab f4 #ajfa ,newton1 ,travels and ,discoveries in the ,levant1 ,i4 p4 #bab 7#ahfe74 7,cf4 ,b4 ,schmidt1 das ,volksleben1 p4 #afd47 #ajfb ,cf4 ,christophorus ,angelus1 op4 cit4 cap4 #be 7init474 #ajfc ,i4 ,cor4 v4 #e and ,i4 ,tim4 i4 #bj4 #ajfd ,theodoretus1 on ,i4 ,cor4 v4 #e 7,migne1 ,patrologia ,gr4-,lat41 vol4 #hb1 #bfa74 #ajfe ,aesch4 ,choeph41 #dcb-c4 #ajff ,paus4 ,,ix4 #cb4 #f4 #ajfg ,philopseudes1 cap4 #bi4 #ajfh ,see above1 p4 #bjh4 #ajfi 1 1 ,i4 p4 #egf4 #ajgj ,ralston1 ,songs of the ,russian people1 p4 #dab4 #ajga ,mirabilia1 cap4 ,i4 #ajgb ,by #8seer' ,i render 1 a man directly inspired2 by #8diviner' 1 one who is skilled in the science of interpreting signs and omens4 #ajgc ,relation de ce qui s'est pass de plus remarquable a ,sant-,erini etc41 p4 #bac4 ,he calls ,philinnion a ,thessalian girl1 and makes ,machates come from ,macedonia4 ,but his reference to the story contains a patent inaccuracy 7for he speaks of the girl being buried a second time1 whereas she was burnt71 and in all probability he was quoting from memory1 not from a more complete text than that now preserved4 #ajgd ,see ,pashley1 ,travels in ,crete1 ,,ii4 p4 #bba2 ,carnarvon1 ,reminiscences of ,athens and the ,morea1 p4 #afb2 ,schmidt1 das ,volksleben1 p4 #afe2 1 1 ,i4 pp4 #ehi1 #eia and #eic2 1 1 p4 #abe4 #ajge ,alardus ,gazaeus1 ,commentary on ,ioh4 ,cassianus1 ,collatio1 ,,viii4 #ba 7,migne1 ,patrologia1 ,ser4 ,i4 vol4 #di74 #ajgf ,on #8striges' see above1 pp4 #agi ff4 #ajgg ,on this word see above1 p4 #bhh4 #ajgh ,das ,volksleben der ,neugriechen1 p4 #agj1 with note #a4 #ajgi ,philopseudes1 cap4 #bf4 #ajhj ,ar4 ,eccles41 #ajgb-c4 #ajha ,see above1 pp4 #chg-ia4 #ajhb ,eur4 ,or41 #ajhf4 #ajhc ,eur4 ,hipp41 #ajch4 #ajhd ,soph4 ,o4 ,c41 #achc ff4 #ajhe ,soph4 ,o4 ,c41 #adje4 #ajhf #bfa-big4 #ajhg ,aesch4 ,choeph41 #bhg-h4 #ajhh 1 ,i4 p4 #ghh4 is a necessary correction of the of the ,,mss4 #ajhi ,cf4 l4 #cff 4 #ajij ,aesch4 ,suppl41 #djg ff4 #ajia ,aesch4 ,eum41 #agc ff4 reading ' 4 #ajib ,see above1 p4 #cih4 #ajic ,works and ,days1 #cbe ff4 #ajid ,see above1 p4 #cig4 #ajie ,see above1 p4 #cgj4 #ajif ,hom4 ,il4 ,,xxiii4 #fi ff4 #ajig ,hom4 ,od4 ,,xi4 #ea ff4 #ajih ,eur4 ,hec4 #a-eh4 #ajii ,aesch4 ,eum4 #id ff4 ,it must be observed1 however1 that ,clytemnestra's restlessness is represented as being due to her being a murderess quite as much as to her having been violently slain4 ,there was a double cause4 ,see below1 p4 #dgd4 #aajj cap4 #bi4 #aaja ,other references are given by ,schmidt1 das ,volksleben1 p4 #afi1 among them ,servius on ,virg4 ,aen41 ,,iv4 #chf and ,heliod4 ,aethiop41 ,,ii4 #e4 #aajb ,certain hints however are to be found1 on which see below1 pp4 #dch-i4 #aajc ,aesch4 ,choeph4 #dhj ff4 #aajd ,see below1 pp4 #dch-i4 #aaje p4 #ha ,c1 ,d4 #aajf ,iliad ,,xxiii4 #fe ff4 #aajg ,eurip4 ,hecuba #a ff4 #aajh as opposed to 4 #aaji ,see above1 pp4 #aaj ff4 #aaaj ,see above1 p4 #cdj4 #aaaa ,soph4 ,el4 #dec-d4 #aaab ,aesch4 ,choeph4 #dhj-a4 #aaac ,aesch4 ,ag4 #dee4 #aaad ,eur4 ,or4 #dia-eda4 #aaae ,ibid4 #ehj ff4 #aaaf ,aesch4 ,choeph4 #ibd-e4 ,cf4 also #bic4 #aaag ,soph4 ,el4 #dde4 #aaah ,aesch4 ,choeph4 #dci ff4 #aaai ,antiphon1 pp4 #aai1 #abe1 and #abf4 #aabj ,cf4 below1 p4 #dei4 #aaba ,plato1 ,leges1 #hfe ,d1 4 #aabb ,the word 1 which in this passage seems clearly transitive1 is perhaps a verbal reminiscence of the old language in which ,plato had heard the tradition4 #aabc ,plato1 ,leges1 #hfe ,d ff4 #aabd ,cf4 ,demosth41 in ,aristocr41 pp4 #fcd and #fdc4 #aabe ,the word technically used of this withdrawal without formal sentence of banishment was 1 or simply 7cf4 in the above passage of ,plato71 or1 as again in the same passage1 2 whereas legal banishment was denoted by 4 #aabf ,plato1 ,leges1 #hgb ,d ff4 #aabg ,in early ,greek1 as witness the first line of the ,iliad1 the use of 1 was less restricted than in later times2 but the word1 even in ,homer occurs only1 ,i think1 in the phrase 4 ,see below1 p4 #ddi4 #aabh ,plato1 ,phaedrus1 #di1 p4 #bdd ,d4 #aabi ,cf4 especially ,eur4 ,or4 #bha-b1 as pointed out by ,bekker in his note on ,plato1 ,phaedrus1 l4c4 #aacj ,aesch4 ,choeph4 #bic4 #aaca ,plato1 ,leges1 #hfi ,a 7,bekker's text72 cf4 also #hfi ,e4 #aacb ,see ,aesch4 ,eum4 #aja and #cag ff42 cf4 ,eur4 ,or4 #ehc4 #aacc ,ibid4 #id-aci4 #aacd ,ibid4 #dag4 #aace ,xenoph4 ,cyrop4 ,,viii4 #g1 #ah4 #aacf ,hom4 ,il4 ,,xxii4 #ceh4 #aacg ,hom4 ,od4 ,,xi4 #gc4 #aach ,pind4 ,pyth4 ,,iv4 #bhj ff4 #aaci ,cf4 ,plato1 ,leges1 ,,ix4 passim1 and especially p4 #hga4 #aadj ,cf4 ,aesch4 ,eum4 #bhe and #ddh ff4 #aada ,plato1 ,leges1 #hfh ,a and #hga ,a4 #aadb ,cf4 ,aesch4 ,eum4 #dde4 #aadc ,plato1 ,leges1 #hga ,b4 #aadd ,ibid4 #hfe ,c4 #aade ,cf4 ,plato1 ,leges1 p4 #hed ,a1 4 #aadf ,cf4 ,plato1 ,leges1 #hff-hgd1 passim4 #aadg ,aesch4 ,eum4 #gd ff4 #aadh ,aesch4 ,choeph4 #bhj-a4 #aadi ,aesch4 ,choeph4 #bhh-i4 #aaej ,cf4 especially ,aesch4 ,choeph4 #djj ff4 #aaea ,aesch4 ,eum4 #ccf1 ' 4 #aaeb ,aesch4 ,eum4 #acg-i4 #aaec ,ibid4 #bfd-g4 #aaed ,ibid4 #cbh ff41 and again #cdc ff4 #aaee ,this rendering of the word has been challenged1 but has the support of the ,scholiast who explains it by the words 1 7the hymn7 which dries and withers men4 #aaef ,the tense of in the phrase from which ,i started 7,choeph4 #bif7 is hereby explained4 #aaeg ,plato1 ,phaedrus1 #bdd ,e1 4 #aaeh ,plato's list is #8father1 mother1 brother1 sister1 or child1' ,leges1 ,,ix4 #hgc ,a4 #aaei ,plato1 ,leges1 ,,ix4 #hgc ,b4 #aafj ,cf4 especially ,tournefort1 ,voyage du ,levant1 ,i4 p4 #afc1 who was an eye-witness of such an occurrence in ,myconos4 #aafa ,cf4 ,aesch4 ,eumen4 #ghj ff41 and 7for the withdrawal of the curse7 #ich ff4 #aafb ,eur4 ,phoen4 #aeib ff4 ,the word here translated #8avengers' is 1 which is fully discussed below1 pp4 #dfe ff4 #aafc ,aesch4 ,suppl4 #bfb ff41 reading in #bff 1 the emendation of ,porson4 #aafd l4c4 #bfe-f1 444 444 4 #aafe ,aesch4 ,eum4 #eb4 #aaff ,aesch4 ,eum4 #ec1 #acg-i4 #aafg ,ibid4 #bed4 #aafh ,ibid4 #ge1 #aaa1 #aca1 #bdf-g4 #aafi passim4 #aagj #ahc-d1 #bfd4 #aaga ,ibid4 #ghj ff41 #ich ff4 #aagb ,ibid4 #fdd4 #aagc ,ibid4 #gj1 #gc1 #fdd4 #aagd ,eur4 ,med4 #acgj4 #aage ,aesch4 ,eum4 #agg4 #aagf ,soph4 ,el4 #fjc4 #aagg ,aesch4 ,eum4 #cdi1 reading 4 #aagh ,aesch4 ,eum4 #bcf4 #aagi ,l4 and ,s4 s4v4 #aahj ,cf4 ,aesch4 ,choeph4 #ajbf ff41 and ,eumen4 passim4 #aaha ,cf4 ,preller1 ,griech4 ,mythol41 ,i4 p4 #ade 7edit4 #d1 ,carl ,robert74 #aahb ,clem4 ,alex4 ,protrept4 ,,ii4 #bf4 #aahc ,aesch4 ,pers4 #cec4 #aahd ,this fact is recognised by ,geddes in his edition of the ,phaedo1 in the course of his note 7p4 #bhj ff47 on the difficulty concerning the words in cap4 #cc 7p4 #he ,d74 ,he does not however infer that the words really contrasted are and 1 but claims for the particle an epexegetic sense 7#8or1 in other words1'7 besides its usual disjunctive sense 7#8or else'74 ,i am far from being satisfied that the epexegetic use of existed at all in ,classical ,greek1 which idiomatically employed in that way4 ,at any rate its existence is not proved by the other passages which ,geddes cites--,aesch4 ,pers4 #dcj and ,soph4 ,phil4 #icd--where the perhaps equals vel rather than aut1 but has none of the epexegetic sense of sive4 #aahe ,eur4 ,med4 #ajei ff4 #aahf ,eur4 ,med4 #accc ff4 #aahg ,eur4 ,h4 ,f4 #abbi ff4 #aahh ,cf4 ,paley1 in his note to elucidate this dialogue4 ,it should be added however that in a second note on the same page1 dealing with this line only1 he apparently contradicts his previous explanation4 #aahi ,eur4 ,h4 ,f4 #abah ff4 #aaij ,cf4 #acbd4 #aaia ,see ,eustath4 on ,il4 ,,iv4 #bie4 #aaib ,gk ,etymol4 #edg4 #aaic ,vergleichende ,grammatik1 ,,ii4 #abb4 #aaid ,the nearest parallel could only be the dubious form in ,hesiod1 ,w4 and ,d41 #cec4 ,but that form1 if correct1 is probably best treated as adjective 7giftless7 not as substantive 7non-giver74 #aaie ,i am indebted to ,mr ,p4 ,giles1 of ,emmanuel ,college1 for pointing out to me that the analogy with is mentioned in the last edition of ,meyer's ,griechische ,philologie4 #aaif ,hom4 ,il4 ,,iv4 #bie1 1 1 4 ,the hiatus in the third foot has been made the basis of a suggestion1 to which ,mr ,p4 ,giles has kindly called my attention1 that should begin with a digamma4 ,there is however no need for the supposition1 since hiatus after the trochaic caesura is not infrequent 7e4g4 ,il4 ,i4 #efi7 and some license is generally allowed in any case in the metrical treatment of proper names2 moreover1 in ,il4 ,,viii4 #ccc1 we have a line which makes against the original existence of a digamma in the word4 #aaig ,aesch4 ,eum4 #ajc4 #aaih ,aesch4 ,eum4 #aad4 #aaii ,aesch4 ,eum4 #ih4 #abjj ,this is distinctly stated in the passage1 though of course her own violent death might equally well have been given as a cause of #8wandering4' #abja ,eur4 ,tro4 #ajbc4 #abjb ,cf4 ,plutarch1 de defect4 orac41 cap4 #ae 7p4 #dah74 #abjc ,aesch4 ,eum4 #bcf1 cf4 above1 p4 #dff4 #abjd ,soph4 ,ajax1 #cgc4 #abje ,demosth4 de ,falsa ,legat41 p4 #dch1 #bh4 #abjf ,demosth4 de ,corona1 #bif1 p4 #cbd4 #abjg ,soph4 ,trach4 #ajib4 #abjh e4g4 ,eur4 ,iph4 in ,aul4 #hgh2 ,phoen4 #aeej2 ,el4 #igi2 ,or4 #affh4 #abji ,choeph4 #ibh4 #abaj ,electra1 #fgg4 #abaa ,eur4 ,or4 #aehd4 #abab ,eur4 ,andr4 #fad4 #abac ,aeschines1 ,de falsa legatione1 #afh 7p4 #di74 ,cf4 #afb 7p4 #dh74 #abad ,aeschylus1 ,agam4 #aehg4 #abae ,plato1 ,leges1 ,,ix4 p4 #hff ,b1 cf4 above1 p4 #dde4 #abaf ,so far as ,i can discover1 it is a solitary example of the use in ,classical ,greek2 but ,i very strongly suspect that in ,antiphon1 p4 #abg 7init471 should be read instead of 4 ,a man accused of murder is saying1 1 1 ' 1 4 ,the sense is1 #8,if ,i were really guilty of this murder and yet owing to the feeble case presented by the prosecutor ,i were acquitted by you1 my escape would bring the ,avenger of the dead man upon the prosecutor and not on you2 whereas1 if you condemn me wrongly when ,i am innocent1 it will be on you and not on him that ,i1 after death1 shall turn the wrath of the ,avengers4' ,clearly is required to answer 1 and it could have no more natural object than 1 the special word denoting the wrath which follows on bloodguilt4 #abag ,photius1 s4v4 4 #abah ,i venture upon this emphatic negation1 not so much because ,i have found no such usage in my reading of ,greek literature1 as because the line of the ,eumenides in which ,orestes calls himself 1 1 would be hopelessly ambiguous if such an usage had been possible4 #abai ,antiphon1 #aai4 #f4 #abbj ,aesch4 ,choeph4 #bhg4 #abba ,antiphon1 #abe4 #cb and #abf4 #ci4 #abbb ,pausan4 ,,ii4 #ah4 #b4 #abbc ,hesychius1 s4v4 4 #abbd ,aesch4 ,agam4 #aehg2 see above1 p4 #dhj4 #abbe ,cf4 ,aesch4 ,eum4 #bhc and #dej4 ,,chapter ,v4 ,,cremation ,,and ,,inhumation4 ,the discussion of those abnormal cases of after-death existence1 to which the last chapter has been devoted1 has disclosed to us the fact that in all ages of ,greece the condition most to be dreaded by the dead has been incorruptibility and the boon most to be desired a sure and quick dissolution2 and that of the two methods by which the living might promote the disintegration of the dead1 cremation and inhumation1 the former alone has been accounted infallible4 ,what benefit in the future existence was in old time thought to accrue to those whose bodies had been duly dissolved1 and to be withheld from revenants1 is a question which may conveniently be adjourned for a while4 ,first we must verify the results obtained from the study of the abnormal by consideration of the normal2 we must see whether ordinary funeral usage has had for its sole object the dissolution of the dead in the interests of the dead2 and what1 if any1 distinction has been made between inhumation and cremation as a means of securing that object4 ,now diverse methods of disposing of the dead1 especially among a primitive folk1 would naturally suggest diverse religious purposes to be served thereby1 diverse conceptions of the future estate of the dead1 or of their future abode1 or of their future relations with the living2 and for my part ,i do not doubt that1 if our eyes could pierce the darkness of a long distant past which neither history nor even archaeology has illumined1 we should see that the peoples who first used cremation and inhumation side by side in ,greece were in so doing animated by diverse religious sentiments4 ,but ,i hold also that in no period of which we have any cognisance have the ,greeks regarded inhumation and cremation as means to different religious ends2 but that1 whichever funeral-method has been employed1 one and the same immediate object has always been kept in view1 the dissolution of the dead body1 and one and the same motive 7save in the quite exceptional circumstances where a scare of vrykolakes has temporarily arisen7 has always prompted the mourners thereto1 the motive of benefiting the dead4 ,but1 while the object in view was single and constant1 there would have been no inconsistency in making a certain distinction between the two methods available4 ,on the contrary1 if the sole object was the disintegration of the dead body1 the surer and quicker means of attaining it should logically have been preferred4 ,cremation therefore might legitimately have been reckoned a superior rite to inhumation2 for it cannot but have been recognised that the disintegration of the body is more rapidly and unfailingly effected by the action of fire than by the action of the soil4 ,it is true indeed that the solvent action of the earth upon the buried body--even with all due allowance for the absence of any coffin in many cases--is popularly regarded as far more rapid than it can actually be4 ,the period usually reckoned by the common-folk as the limit of time requisite for complete dissolution is forty days4 ,this is stated clearly enough in a few lines of a song of lamentation heard in ,zacynthos3 ' ' 1 1 1 #abbf4 #8,and within the forty days1 they 7the dead7 are severed joint from joint1 their bright hair falls away1 their dark eyes fall out1 and asunder go trunk and head4' ,the ,zacynthian muse is horribly explicit2 its utterances need no interpreter2 itself rather gives the true interpretation of certain customs which are wide-spread in modern ,greece and appear to date from pre-,christian days4 ,the fortieth day after death is almost universally observed in ,greece as one on which the relations of the deceased should provide a memorial feast4 ,there are indeed other fixed days for the like commemoration and #8forgiveness#abbg' of the dead1 but these all fall at periods of three1 or a multiple of three1 days1 weeks1 months1 or years1 from the date of death4 ,these1 ,i think1 have been selected in deference to the mysterious virtue of the number three#abbh1 and not improbably multiplied by the importunities of a penurious priesthood1 to whom some half-dozen hearty meals in the course of the year do not appear an inappropriate remuneration for their services at death-bed and burial4 ,but the fortieth day was originally devoted to this purpose1 it may reasonably be supposed1 because it was the last opportunity of setting before the dead man's neighbours and acquaintances savoury meat such as their soul loved1 that they might eat thereof and #8loose' the dead man from any curse wherewith in his lifetime they had bound him2 if dissolution was not to be retarded1 the fortieth day was in popular reckoning the last opportunity for absolution4 ,from this it should follow that any memorial feasts held later#abbi than the fortieth day are of purely ecclesiastical contrivance2 and the correctness of this inference is attested by a curious local usage which clearly distinguishes the popular and the ecclesiastical feasts4 ,at ,sinasos in ,asia ,minor two classes of commemorations are recognised4 ,the one is called 1 #8little baskets1' from the method in which food is distributed to the poor2 this is held on the fortieth day4 ,the other has usurped the name 1 which commonly belongs to all memorial-feasts1 and is held on the three anniversaries of the death 7for1 after the third1 exhumation generally takes place1 and no further memorial-feasts are needed7 and consists in the presentation of an ornamental dish of boiled wheat 77 at the church and the reading of a service#abcj4 ,in other words1 the fortieth day is the popular festival1 and the observances of later dates are ecclesiastical4 ,clearly the reason for this distinction must lie in the fact that the common-folk believe1 as the song from ,zacynthos shows1 that dissolution is normally complete by the fortieth day1 while the ,church has prudently fixed the date1 after which exhumation is permissible1 at the end of the third year4 ,presumably then a period of forty days was the old pagan period1 for which the ,church has tried1 with partial success1 to substitute three years4 ,several other small pieces of evidence point to the wide distribution of this popular notion4 ,in ,sinasos#abca1 once more1 and also in ,patmos#abcb1 the fees paid to the priests for memorial services derive their name from the word #8forty' 771 as if the fortieth day were the limit2 after that date1 apparently1 though my authorities are not explicit on the point1 the priests have for their remuneration only the dish of boiled wheat or other presents in kind4 ,in ,crete1 if a dead man is suspected of turning vrykolakas soon after his death1 the people are anxious to deal with him before he enters upon his second period of forty days#abcc2 for then all hope of natural dissolution is past1 and he becomes as it were a confirmed vampire4 ,in ,scyros1 the old custom of burning such corpses as were found on exhumation at the end of three years 7or1 in case of a panic1 earlier7 to be still whole1 and were therefore suspected of vampire-like proclivities1 has been replaced by the milder expedient of carrying the body round to forty churches in turn and then re-interring it1 in the hope1 as it seems1 that each of the forty saints1 whose sanctuaries have been honoured with a visit and a certain consumption of candles1 will in return take a proportionate share in #8loosing' the suppliant dead--or1 it may be1 in the more mathematical expectation that the work effected in cases of ordinary burial by one funeral-service in forty days1 will be achieved by forty funeral-services in one day4 ,whichever be the calculation on which the practice has been based1 the number of churches to be visited is clearly governed by the number of days requisite1 in popular belief1 for ordinary dissolution4 ,but with all this reputed rapidity of the earth in #8loosing' the dead bodies committed to her care1 the action of fire is incontrovertibly more rapid4 ,in hours1 not in days1 may be counted the period of disintegration on the pyre4 ,and as it is quicker1 so also is it far surer4 ,no body that has been burned can wander as a revenant over the earth1 while for the buried there is no perfect assurance of dissolution4 ,some curse1 some crime1 the violence of their death1 or the deficiency of their funeral rites1 each and all of these may keep their bodies #8bound' and indissoluble4 ,cremation then is indisputably in theory the preferable means of securing to the dead that boon which they most desire2 and ,i hold that in the practice of the ,greek people there are signs that this preference was felt4 ,there are then two propositions to be established by reference to the actual funeral methods of ,ancient and ,modern ,greece2 first1 that from the earliest ages of which we have cognisance cremation and inhumation have been identical in their religious purpose2 second1 that a preference for cremation1 considered as a means to the single religious end1 has been manifested4 ,the first thing needful in this twofold investigation is to understand the terms1 which are to be used1 in the sense in which the ,greek understood them4 ,cremation means to us the consumption of the corpse by fire2 inhumation the laying of the corpse out of sight in the earth2 and unless one or other of those acts had been really performed1 we should not consider that a funeral had taken place4 ,but the ,greeks judged rather by the intention than by the act4 ,in certain cases1 in which the actual digging of a grave was impossible1 ancient usage prescribed a ceremonial substitute4 ,the sprinkling of a handful of dust over a dead body was held to constitute burial4 ,such was all the funeral that ,antigone could give to ,polynices#abcd2 such the minimum of burial enjoined by ,attic ,law on any who chanced upon a dead body lying unburied#abce2 such1 according to ,aelian1 #8the fulfilment of some mysterious law of piety imposed by ,nature' not only upon man but even on some of the brute creation1 in such sort that the elephant1 if he find one of his own kind dead1 gathers up some earth in his trunk and sprinkles it over the prostrate carcase#abcf4 #8,the fulfilment of some mysterious law of piety'--,aelian's phrase accurately summarises the ,greek view of burial4 ,to us it is a necessary and decent method of disposing of the dead4 ,to the ,greeks it was something more--a provision for their dimly discerned welfare2 and the intention of the living mattered so much more than the performance1 that1 in cases where real burial could not be given1 a mere ceremony suggestive of burial was considered competent to ensure the same end4 ,again in the case of a man drowned at sea or having met his death in any way which precluded the possibility of his body being brought home for burial1 a means has always been found for fulfilling #8the mysterious law of piety4' ,still1 as in old time1 the cenotaph serves the same end as the real sepulchre4 ,a lay-figure1 dressed if possible in some clothes of the dead man1 receives on his behalf the full rite of burial#abcg2 and if enquiry be made1 to what purpose this empty ceremony1 the answer is not slow in coming1 1 #8to the end that the dead man may be dissolved'2 nor can ,i doubt that the same formal rite in old time served the same end4 ,and let no practical-minded critic here interpose the objection that a dead body lying unburied1 exposed to sun and rain1 must decompose at least as rapidly as one that has been buried2 ,i have myself tried the effect of that criticism on the ,greek peasants with instructive results4 ,once my suggestion was promptly met with a flat and honest denial--the most simple and final of answers1 for1 be it remembered1 it is with the honest beliefs of the peasant1 and not with physical facts1 that we are dealing4 ,another time there was a pause1 and then came the deliberate answer1 1 1 #8the corpse becomes putrid1 but is not 8loosed04' ,there was a distinction in the peasant's mind between natural decomposition and the dissolution effected by a religious rite4 ,but more often it has been pointed out to me that my apparently reasonable suggestion was really unpractical2 a dead body left unburied would never suffer natural decay1 but would be a prey to the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air2 the vultures circling yonder overhead convicted me of unreason4 ,and the answer could not but recall the threats of ,achilles against ,hector1 or the fears of ,antigone for ,polynices1 that dogs and carrion-birds should feast upon the corpse4 ,so then it is perhaps a logical as well as an honest belief which the ,greeks have always held1 that dissolution of the body is afforded by one of two rites and by no third means4 ,now one of these rites1 inhumation1 might on occasion be reduced to a mere ceremonial observance1 the scattering of a handful of dust over the body1 or the interment of an effigy in its stead4 ,was the other rite1 cremation1 ever so reduced8 ,could the roar and crackle of the blazing pyre be ceremonially replaced by a small flame lighted in proximity to the dead body8 ,did the kindling of a fire1 however incapable of consuming the dead body1 constitute cremation in the same sense that a handful of earth1 incapable of concealing the dead body1 constituted interment8 ,prima facie there is nothing wild in the supposition2 it is consistent with the ,greek conception of the funeral-rite1 which looked rather to the intention than to the act2 the proven fact of ceremonial inhumation guarantees the likelihood of ceremonial cremation4 ,i take it therefore as a working hypothesis1 and base its subsequent claim to be accepted as a fact on its ability to explain consistently a long series of phenomena in ,greek funeral usage4 ,my first proposition1 that from the earliest ages of which we have cognisance cremation and inhumation have served the same religious end1 would have had an initial obstacle to surmount but for ,professor ,ridgeway's work on the ethnology of early ,greece4 ,diverse methods of disposing of the dead would at first sight1 as ,i have said1 suggest diverse conceptions of after-death existence4 ,but ,professor ,ridgeway has shown conclusively1 to my mind1 that inhumation was the rite of the autochthonous ,pelasgian people of ,greece1 and that cremation was introduced by the ,achaean immigrants#abch4 ,now it is improbable of course that these two peoples1 when they first came into contact1 held similar views concerning the hereafter4 ,but the entry of the ,achaean element was1 according to all evidence1 a long process of infiltration rather than a sudden invasion4 ,the beginnings of it are conjecturally placed well back in the third millennium before ,christ#abci4 ,there was ample time therefore1 even before the later ,mycenaean or the ,homeric age1 for differences of religious sentiment as between the two races to dwindle or to vanish1 while the two rites of cremation and inhumation1 with the inveteracy of all custom1 still survived4 ,thus there is no initial objection to the view that in any period known to us those who used cremation and those who used inhumation were animated by the same religious ideas2 and at the same time ,i am relieved of the necessity of combating both the old theory that cremation was adopted by the ,greeks as a convenient substitute for inhumation during some period of migration or nomadic life1 and ,rohde's more recent theory#abdj that fear of the spirits of the dead1 which were believed to hover about graves where their bodies lay buried1 led men to adopt cremation as a means of annihilating the body and thereby ridding themselves of the unwelcome spirit4 ,both those theories fail1 apart from certain intrinsic defects1 because they are attempts to explain a thing which never took place--a supposed substitution of cremation for inhumation between the ,mycenaean and the ,homeric ages4 ,professor ,ridgeway has shown that the ,mycenaean rite was that of the ,pelasgians2 the ,homeric rite that of the ,achaeans4 ,it is an accident only that our earliest information respecting the two rites happens to be drawn from different periods of time2 the real distinction between the two was a racial distinction2 from the age when the ,achaeans first entered ,greece down to the ,christian era cremation and inhumation were both continuously practised4 ,the positive evidence for my view that these two rites were mere racial survivals1 which had already1 in the earliest ages known to us1 ceased to differ in religious import1 is to be found not only in the fact that in historical times1 or even earlier1 the two rites were used side by side by the people of a single city in the same cemetery1 but in an early tendency to fuse the two rites into one and to give to the same body the double treatment of cremation and inhumation combined2 for clearly the only condition under which two such rites could be amalgamated must have been that there had ceased to be any conflict of religious significance between them4 ,how early this fusion began it is difficult to determine2 but it is at least worth while to note a point which is apt to be overlooked1 that the ,homeric funeral-rite comprised inhumation4 ,cremation certainly was the main part of the rite1 the actual means by which the corpse was disintegrated2 but the funeral was not complete until the ashes had been collected and inhumed#abda4 ,this is an act of ceremonial inhumation just as much as the burial of an effigy dressed in a dead man's clothes4 ,moreover it is possible that the ,mycenaean funeral-rite sometimes comprised an act of ceremonial cremation4 ,to review here the archaeological evidence for some use of fire in ,mycenaean graves is unnecessary2 it will suffice to quote from the summary given by ,rohde#abdb as the basis of his theory--to which ,i by no means assent--that a vigorous #8soul-cult1' involving propitiatory offerings to the dead1 was a religious feature of that age4 #8,traces of smoke1 remnants of ash and charcoal1 point to the fact that the dead bodies were laid on the spot where were burnt those offerings to the dead which had previously been made in the tomb4444 ,on the ground1 or sometimes on a specially prepared bed of flints1 the offerings were burnt1 and then1 when the fire had gone out1 the bodies were laid on top and covered over with sand1 lime1 and stones4' ,now the fact that in ,mycenaean graves gifts were actually consumed by fire while the corpse was left to the process of natural decay is indisputable2 but1 if the fire employed had no further purpose1 the practice of the ,mycenaean age would be unique4 ,the custom of all later ages was to treat the corpse and the gifts alike1 to burn both or to bury both4 ,this is implied in ancient literature#abdc1 and confirmed by modern excavations2 for funeral-urns seldom contain any remnants of gifts2 which means that the gifts had been consumed on the pyre with the body1 but that only the bones were collected and stored in the urn2 whereas in graves the gifts are constantly found buried with the body and intact4 ,further the custom of burning both body and gifts is the old ,achaean custom1 as described by ,homer in the funeral of ,patroclus2 and it would seem probable that the custom of interring both body and gifts intact was the original ,pelasgian custom4 ,was then the use of fire in these ,mycenaean graves the first step in the fusion of the ,achaean and ,pelasgian rites8 ,again1 the body was observed to lie on top of the burnt gifts4 ,what is the meaning of this superimposition8 ,according to ,rohde the fire which consumed the gifts was allowed to go out1 and the bodies were then laid on the cold ashes4 ,but manifestly this cannot be proved4 ,all that we know is that the fire did not consume the bodies4 ,no one can assert that they were untouched by flame or ember and that the smell of fire did not pass over them4 ,was then the act of laying the body on top of the burnt or burning gifts an act of ceremonial cremation8 ,these questions ,i cannot answer2 but one thing is clear4 ,either the fusion of the ,achaean and ,pelasgian rites had already begun1 or else1 in their original forms1 they both comprised usages which greatly facilitated their subsequent fusion4 ,when we pass on to the ,dipylon-period1 there is no longer any doubt4 ,cremation and inhumation were practised both severally side by side and also conjointly as a single rite4 ,the evidence on which ,i mainly rely is derived from two series of excavations1 those of ,philios#abdd at ,eleusis and those of ,brckner and ,pernice#abde in the ,dipylon cemetery at ,athens4 ,the autochthonous population of ,attica naturally adhered in the main to the old ,pelasgian rite of inhumation4 ,yet at ,eleusis1 even according to ,philios who strangely belittles the importance of his own discoveries#abdf1 there was one certain case of cremation2 and in the ,dipylon cemetery also was found one urn which could be dated with equal certainty4 ,one or two other probable cases have also been recorded by others#abdg4 ,clearly then as early as the eighth century ,b4,c4 cremation was sometimes used1 side by side with inhumation1 as the effective means of disintegrating the dead body4 ,and there is equally sure proof that the two rites were also employed conjointly1 in the sense that a ceremonial act of inhumation followed actual cremation1 or a ceremonial act of cremation accompanied actual inhumation4 ,a conspicuous instance of the former is the one certain case of actual cremation recorded by ,brckner and ,pernice#abdh4 ,a bronze urn containing the calcined bones of a boy or girl had been deposited not in a mere hole dug to fit it1 but in a grave fully prepared as if for the reception of a corpse4 ,the measurements of the grave were of normal size2 in it had been laid1 along with the urn1 gifts of the usual nature--an amphora1 two boxes1 a bowl1 and a jug2 and above the grave1 in a prepared space considerably wider than the actual grave1 stood one of the large ,dipylon-vases4 ,in every respect the interment had been carried out as if it were the interment of an unburnt body4 ,an attempt had been made so to combine the two rites of cremation and inhumation that neither should seem subordinate to the other4 ,instances of the other sort1 in which ceremonial cremation accompanied actual inhumation1 are furnished by ,philios' excavations at ,eleusis4 ,speaking of the large earthenware jars which often served as coffins for children1 he says1 #8,whereas the bones contained in these vessels were unburnt1 all round the vessels in the soil traces of burning were abundant and varied#abdi4' ,now these traces of fire cannot have been due to the burning of gifts brought subsequently to the interment2 for that custom naturally resulted in a stratum of burnt soil above the grave4 ,but here the traces were #8all round the vessels1 in the soil4' ,apparently then we have here a practice parallel to that of ,mycenaean times4 ,the body was interred and obtained its actual dissolution by natural decay2 but before the interment a fire was kindled in the grave1 and among the flames or on the embers the body in its coffin-jar was laid and covered over with the soil4 ,whether at ,eleusis1 as at ,mycenae1 the funeral-gifts were consumed in that fire1 we do not know for certain2 but since it is undoubtedly rare to find any gift along with the child's body in these vessels1 it is reasonable to suppose that the few gifts--few1 because all the circumstances of these funerals seem humble--were burnt#abej just as were the grander offerings at ,mycenae4 ,at any rate these cases reveal an intention of associating fire with the buried body1 of adding to the rite of interment a ceremonial act of cremation4 ,the tendency towards fusion of the two funeral rites has now been traced through the pre-historic era2 it is in the historic period that the fusion appears most general and most complete4 ,i will take as typical instances a number of graves1 ranging in date from the sixth to the fourth century1 opened by the two ,german excavators on whose narrative ,i have largely relied for the ,dipylon-period#abea4 ,these graves numbered somewhat under two hundred4 ,in the classification of them there appears the important item--forty-five graves in which the body had been actually burned4 ,in other words1 in approximately a quarter of the cases observed the rites of cremation and inhumation had been combined1 and that too in such a way that both elements1 fire and earth1 might well have seemed to share together the work of dissolution4 ,neither method is here exalted to sole efficacy1 neither is degraded into mere ceremony4 ,the balance of importance is adjusted1 and the two acts which form the composite funeral-rite are recognised as equal4 ,indeed there are no longer two distinct acts2 they have coalesced2 the moment and the act of laying the body in the earth are also the moment and the act of laying the body on the pyre4 ,amalgamation is complete4 ,having traced the history of ,greek funeral-usage down to this point1 ,i may now fairly claim1 first1 that my working hypothesis--the practice of ceremonial cremation as the counterpart of ceremonial inhumation--is justified by the single and consistent explanation which it affords of the phenomena which ,i have noticed 7and ,i may add that ,i shall have occasion to explain other phenomena in the latter half of this chapter in the same way72 secondly1 if that explanation be accepted1 ,i may claim that the only condition under which the two rites could have been employed both severally as alternatives and conjointly as one composite rite was that the religious purpose underlying them both was one and the same4 ,and this purpose1 if there is any meaning in the stories of ,patroclus1 ,elpenor1 ,polynices1 and ,polydorus1 was to give to the dead that which they most craved1 a speedy dissolution4 ,the evidence for this unity of purpose is1 ,i hope1 already sufficient2 but confirmation may be found1 if required1 in the smaller details of funeral-custom4 ,it is1 ,i believe1 a received principle of textual criticism that1 in estimating the relation of two manuscripts of a given author1 coincidence in minutiae is the true criterion of their common origin or other close kinship1 and its testimony is not to be outweighed by a few conspicuous divergences4 ,so too1 ,i think1 in estimating the mutual relation of two rites1 the coincidence of all the minor circumstances connected with them is of more significance than one large and evident contrast between them4 ,such a contrast1 let it be granted1 exists between cremation and inhumation when employed separately4 ,yet it would be a rash and faulty judgement1 ,i hold1 which should at once infer thence that the two rites were informed by different religious ideas4 ,the minute coincidences claim examination4 ,if all that preceded and accompanied and followed the actual disposal of the corpse1 whether by burning or by burial1 exhibited uniformity in scheme and in scope2 if the washing and the anointing1 the arraying and the crowning1 were performed with the same tender care whether the body was destined for the cold1 slow earth or for the rapid flame2 if from the death-chamber1 where the body had lain in state and the kinsfolk1 grouped in order of dearness about it1 had paid in turn their debt of lamentation1 the same sad pomp escorted the dead whether to the pyre or to the grave2 if the same gifts--the same provision as it seems for bodily comfort--were mingled as ashes with the ashes of the dead or were consigned intact with the body yet intact to the will and keeping of the earth2 then1 whichever means the mourners chose for effecting the actual dissolution of the fleshly remains1 their religious attitude towards death and their conception of the hereafter must have been single and constant4 ,space forbids me to enter into the evidence for the uniformity of all this detail in all periods of ,greek life4 ,i will confine myself to two illustrations4 ,the first shall be the prothesis or lying-in-state of the body with the solemn lamentation of the kinsfolk1 for the most part women1 grouped about it4 ,i have elsewhere#abeb described the scene2 ,i have only to illustrate here the universality of it as the prelude alike to cremation and to inhumation1 alike in ,ancient and in ,modern ,greece1 alike amid pagan and amid ,christian surroundings4 ,in the ,mycenaean age the bodies of the dead were sumptuously arrayed--probably with a view to the lying-in-state2 more than that cannot be actually asserted of the earliest epoch4 ,but in the ,homeric age1 as at the funeral of ,hector#abec1 the custom is seen already fully developed4 ,in the ,dipylon-age the scene described by ,homer is found depicted on the great vases that served as monuments over the graves#abed4 ,a little later1 the legislation of ,solon is directed against the excesses to which the rite of solemn lamentation led#abee4 ,next1 an orator of ,athens is found declaiming against the wrongs done to him by the thirty tyrants1 who1 not content with having put his brother to death1 had actually refused the use of any of the three houses belonging to the family and had forced them to lay out the body in a hired hut#abef4 ,again we have the ridicule of ,lucian directed against the discordant scene of useless misery#abeg4 ,in strange company with him appears ,st ,chrysostom upbraiding ,christians for their extravagances of grief and threatening them with excommunication if they continue to call in heathen women to act as professional mourners#abeh4 ,centuries passed without diminution of the custom1 and the ,venetians during their occupation of the ,ionian islands enacted laws#abei in the spirit of those formulated by ,solon more than two thousand years before4 ,of this custom it might well be said1 #8et vetabitur semper et retinebitur1' for it still maintains its old vogue and vitality1 and is the necessary prelude of every peasant's funeral to-day4 ,my second illustration is a far more trivial circumstance1 but not on that account less significant--the use of the foliage of the olive as a couch for the dead1 whether on the bier which conveyed him to the grave or on the funeral-pyre4 ,the reason for choosing olive-leaves does not concern us2 there may have been1 as ,rohde suggests#abfj1 some idea of purification connected with it2 but it is only the wide-spread use of it which ,i have to illustrate4 ,among the ashes of those small pyres1 on which the dead were laid in ,mycenaean sepulchres1 were recognised charred olive-leaves#abfa4 ,lycurgus in curtailing the funeral-rites of ,sparta bade his countrymen wrap their dead for burial in the red military cloak 7as became a race of warriors7 and in olive-leaves#abfb4 ,the ,pythagoreans1 who objected to cremation#abfc1 laid their dead to rest on a bed of leaves gathered from myrtle1 poplar1 and olive#abfd4 ,an ,attic law forbade the felling of certain olive-trees under penalty of a fine of a hundred drachmae per tree1 but contained a saving-clause exempting cases in which olive-wood was wanted for funerals#abfe4 ,this permission points to a special use of olive-wood as fuel for the pyre1 for1 if a few branches or sprays only had been needed for decking out the bier1 there would have been no question of felling whole trees4 ,it was probably then this custom which ,sophocles also had in mind1 when the messenger1 who brought the news of ,polynices' tardy funeral1 was made by him to specify #8fresh-plucked olive-shoots' as the material of the pyre#abff4 ,again1 in a number of sarcophagi found by ,fauvel outside the gates of ,athens on the road to ,acharnae the skeleton was observed to lie #8on a thick bed of olive-leaves#abfg4' ,in the second century of our era the custom of placing olive-branches on the bier still prevailed#abfh2 and at the present day the olive is often conspicuous at the funerals of peasants1 either in the garland about the dead man's head or in the decoration of the bier4 ,thus the uniformity of detail in funerals1 whether the main rite was cremation or inhumation1 no less than the tendency to amalgamate these two into a single rite1 proves that1 from the earliest ages known to us1 their religious purpose had been identical--to give to the dead that speedy bodily dissolution which they desired4 ,but in spite of this unity of purpose1 one or other rite doubtless continued long through force of custom to hold predominance in particular districts4 ,in ,attica it was perhaps not until the sixth or even the fifth century that the ,pelasgian rite had entirely lost the support of ancestral tradition4 ,but then and thenceforward the two methods appear to have been judged simply as methods1 and the estimate of their respective merits was little affected by the old racial differences4 ,but this does not mean that the methods were judged wholly on their religious merits--on their adaptability to the single religious purpose4 ,cost and convenience were necessarily factors in determining the choice between them4 ,thus the question of cost must often have decided the poorer classes to choose inhumation2 and in that portion of the ,dipylon cemetery to which ,i have already referred1 it was actually found that1 out of the graves in which no evidence of cremation was found1 more than a hundred were of a poor character1 mere shafts in the earth1 or at the best walled with rough brick-built sides1 while only thirteen were of a costly style--sepulchres built with slabs of stone1 or regular sarcophagi4 ,and similarly other practical considerations must often have turned the scale in favour of the one or the other rite4 ,the soldiers who fell at ,marathon were simply interred1 presumably because to dig a trench and to raise a mound in the middle of the plain was a more feasible task than to collect masses of fuel from the surrounding hill-sides2 but the victims of the plague at ,athens were with good reason cremated4 ,nevertheless1 where none of these external causes operated1 there are signs that cremation was held in somewhat higher esteem than inhumation4 ,the story went that ,solon's body was burnt1 by way of honour seemingly1 and his ashes scattered over that island which he had won back for ,athens4 ,and we hear of cremation being accorded1 apparently again as the more honourable rite1 to other great men such as ,dionysius1 the famous tyrant of ,syracuse1 and ,timoleon1 her deliverer4 ,but more conclusive is the evidence of literature1 where not only the act itself is named1 but a clear indication of the feeling of the actors is given4 ,according to ,aeschylus1 the dead body of ,agamemnon1 king though he was1 was merely hidden away in the ground by his blood-guilty wife2 even in death she would show him no pity1 do him no honour4 ,but in ,sophocles the dying ,heracles is laid on a funeral-pyre1 and the dead ,polynices1 to whom ,antigone was perforce content to give the most meagre form of interment1 obtains from ,creon1 when at last too late he repents1 the full rite of cremation4 ,and the tone too in which ,herodotus once speaks of the two rites is significant3 #8the funeral-rites of well-to-do ,thracians1' he says1 #8are as follows3 the body lies in state for three days1 and they slaughter all manner of victims and make good cheer1 when once the preliminary lamentation is done2 and then they dispose of the body by cremation or merely by interment'-- 1 #abfi4 ,the #8merely' plainly betrays ,herodotus' own feeling that well-to-do persons might be expected to have the advantage of cremation4 ,in the following centuries the preference for cremation would seem to have become even more pronounced2 for though both rites still continued in use1 separately as well as conjointly1 ,lucian was able to call cremation the distinctively ,hellenic rite#abgj4 ,but more marked still was the feeling in favour of cremation among those who upheld the old ,greek religion when first they had to face the invasion of ,christianity4 #8,the heathen for the most part1' says ,bingham#abga1 #8burned the bodies of the dead in funeral piles1 and then gathered up the bones and ashes1 and put them in an urn above ground3 but the ,christians abhorred this way of burying2 and therefore never used it1 but put the body whole into the ground4' ,the conflict over this matter was bitter4 ,the pagans taunted the ,christians with fearing that1 if their bodies were reduced to ashes by cremation1 they would be incapacitated for the vaunted resurrection#abgb1 and as a final injury to ,christian martyrs sometimes burnt their bodies and scattered the ashes to the winds#abgc4 ,the ,christians in retaliation condemned the rite of cremation as in appearance an act of cruelty to the dead body#abgd1 and ridiculed the pagans for first #8burning up their dead in a most savage manner and then feasting them in a manner most gluttonous1 using the flames alike for their service and for their injury#abge'--;for their service in cooking them a funeral-meal1 for their injury in consuming them to ashes4 ,the two now conflicting rites continued in use until the end of the fourth century of our era2 for reference is made to them in the laws of ,theodosius#abgf4 ,but cremation must have been on the decrease2 for ,macrobius early in the fifth century says that in his time the practice had fallen into entire desuetude1 and all he knew of it was from reading#abgg4 #8,it is most probable1' says ,bingham1 #8that the heathen custom altered by degrees from the time of ,commodus the ,emperor2 for ,commodus himself and many of his friends were buried by inhumation and not by burning 444 and from that time the custom of burning might decrease till at last under the ,christian emperors1 though without any law to forbid it1 the contrary custom entirely prevailed1 and this quite dwindled into nothing4' ,if this view be correct1 it will mean that the old preference for cremation exhibited by the adherents of paganism was only excited to temporary intensity by a spirit of antagonism towards ,christianity1 and that they soon returned to the old way of thinking and recognised inhumation as a method alternative1 if slightly inferior1 to cremation4 ,when the bitterness of religious strife was over1 and pagans and ,christians lived more at peace together1 the former may readily have resumed the practice of interment1 which after all was their own heritage from dim ages long before the dawn of ,christianity4 ,but though ,macrobius in the fifth century speaks of cremation as then in disuse1 the memory of it cannot have passed away so soon4 ,only a few generations were to lapse before the infusion of a ,slavonic population into ,greece4 ,among the superstitions which these intruders disseminated was one which concerned the resuscitated dead4 ,the ,greeks1 as we have seen1 themselves held a superstition on which the horrid imaginings of the ,slavs were soon grafted2 the common-folk became haunted by the dread of vrykolakes4 ,how then did they deal with the bodies of such dead persons as were suspected8 ,not by adopting the ,slavonic custom of impaling them1 but by a revival of cremation4 ,the advantage which that rite possessed over burial was remembered2 by its aid the dissolution of the dead could be rendered quick and sure4 ,thus cremation came once more into use as a means to the same end as in old time--the quick dissolution of the dead body2 but the motive for promoting that dissolution was1 under the altered conditions1 itself altered4 ,instead of love it was fear2 instead of solicitude for the welfare of the dead1 it was anxiety for the protection of the living4 ,yet even so1 the act of burning the vrykolakas was a purely defensive1 not an offensive1 measure4 ,it was not an act of hostility or reprisal1 but merely a necessary act of self-preservation1 which inflicted no hurt on the revenant but simply interposed an impassable barrier between the living and the dead4 ,the motive was fear2 there was little or nothing of hatred mixed with it4 ,this is made clear by the fact that cremation has been used even in recent times in a case which had nothing whatsoever to do with the belief in vrykolakes1 and where the sole motive was the old desire to serve the interests of the dead4 ,the occasion was the evacuation of ,parga in #ahai4 ,the inhabitants of that town had long defied the ,turks1 but the end was at hand1 and it was only by the intervention of the ,english that they were saved from the tender mercies of ,ali ,pasha4 ,the ,english offered them asylum in the ,ionian ,islands and obtained from the ,porte on their behalf a sum of money which fully indemnified them for the houses and lands which they abandoned4 ,but in spite of the terms obtained1 the emigrants never forgave the ,english for treacherously selling to the ,turks1 as they said1 the home which they had defended so stoutly and so long#abgh4 ,this evacuation of ,parga forms the theme of some ballads which have been preserved#abgi4 ,one of them runs as follows3 #8,bird of black tidings1 that art come from yon confronting coastland1 ,tell me what mean those sobs of woe1 those dismal lamentations1 ,that rise aloud from ,parga's walls and shake the very mountains4 ,hath the ,turk overwhelmd her1 do fire and sword consume her8' #8,the ,turk hath not o'erwhelmd her1 nor fire and sword consume her2 ,the men of ,parga have been sold1 as ye sell goats and oxen1 ,and all must hie them thence to dwell in miserable exile4 ,they must leave all1 the homes they love1 the tombs of their own fathers1 ,the shrine whereat they bowed the knee1 for infidels to trample4 ,women in anguish rend their hair and beat their bare white bosoms1 ,old men lift up their quavering voice in dismal lamentation1 ,priests amid flowing tears strip bare the churches where they worshipped4 ,dost see the glare of yonder fire8 the pall of smoke above it8 ,there are they burning dead men's bones1 the bones of valiant warriors1 ,who made the hosts of ,turkey quail and fired their captain's palace#abhj4 ,yonder1 ,i tell thee1 many a son his father's bones is burning1 ,lest the ,lipid#abha light on them1 lest ,turk upon them trample4 ,dost hear the wailing manifold wherewith the woodlands echo8 ,dost hear the beating of the breast1 the dismal lamentation8 ',tis that the parting hour has come1 to part them from their country2 ,they kiss her very stones1 they clasp her dust in fond caresses4' ,the incident in this ballad with which we are concerned is the exhumation and burning of the remains of those dead warriors who had valiantly maintained the liberty of their native town2 and there need be little doubt that the incident is actually historical1 for the story is confirmed by a second ballad in the same collection#abhb2 but in any case all that concerns us here is the fact that the motive for such an act was known and appreciated by the authors of the two ballads4 ,now in order to understand this motive1 it must be remembered that the general custom of the ,church in ,greece is to exhume the bones of the dead at the expiration of three years from the time of burial1 when dissolution is expected to be complete4 ,hence the kinsfolk for whose remains the men of ,parga were concerned were those who had been recently buried and could not yet have attained complete dissolution4 ,they feared that the ,turks would disturb and desecrate the graves and thus obstruct the proper course of natural decay2 and they therefore decided to adopt the alternative method of disintegration1 and by cremation to effect speedily and surely that end which1 without friends at hand to guard the graves from the molestation of foes and infidels1 could not be secured by leaving the dead to the slow action of the earth4 ,this decision then reveals a clear recognition of the superiority of cremation over inhumation as a means of compassing the final dissolution of the dead2 and equally clear is the motive for seeking that end2 it was not fear on their own account--to that feeling indeed the men of ,parga had proved themselves strangers--but simply love and respect for the brave men who had fought1 and perhaps had fallen1 in the defence of freedom4 ,since then the exhumation and cremation of the dead constituted in this case an act of love towards them1 the same action in the case of suspected vrykolakes can never have been an act of hostility4 ,it was rather a measure beneficial alike to the living and to the dead4 ,to the living it gave immunity from the assaults of vrykolakes1 and this without doubt was commonly the uppermost or indeed the only thought in the minds of those who had recourse to it2 but to the dead too it gave repose4 ,and indeed ,i cannot but suppose that this is the reason why the ,greeks1 when first confronted with the horror of vrykolakes1 chose to burn them rather than to follow the ,slavonic custom of impaling them4 ,to impale them might have given security to the living1 but it appeared as an act of cruelty and hostility against the dead4 ,cremation1 by effecting immediate dissolution and the consequent severance of the dead from this world1 was bound to give equal security to the living1 and at the same time was an act of mercy and kindness to the dead4 ,in effect1 the new motive of dread which came along with ,slavonic influence never excluded the old motive of love which inspired the sons of warriors at ,parga no less than the chief of ,homeric warriors at his comrade's funeral1 and perhaps will1 if occasion arise1 prove itself not yet extinct4 ,cremation1 though often in recent times employed primarily as a safeguard for the living1 has all along been felt to confer also a benefit on the dead1 an even surer and speedier benefit than inhumation secured4 ,now if this feeling existed1 and if there existed also from early times1 as ,i have shown to be probable1 a system of combining cremation of a ceremonial kind with actual inhumation1 it might reasonably be expected that many who recognised the superior merit of cremation1 but had not the means to carry out so costly a rite in full1 would have availed themselves of the inexpensive ceremonial practice4 ,this1 ,i believe1 is what occurred1 and in this ,i shall seek the explanation of a custom which1 like the practice of real cremation1 has been bequeathed by ,ancient to ,modern ,greece4 ,in the funerals of ,ancient ,greece the procession1 which escorted the dead body from the room where it had lain in state to the pyre or the grave1 carried torches4 ,where cremation was to be employed1 these were doubtless used for kindling the pyre2 the fire brought from the dead man's home in this world was used to speed him on his way to the next4 ,but when inhumation was practised1 what became of these torches8 ,was the fire brought from the dead man's home put to no purpose8 ,or were the torches thrown into the grave along with him8 ,that we cannot tell1 for the torches were quickly perishable4 ,but there is one object commonly found in tombs which is suggestive of the association of fire with the buried body4 ,that common object is a lamp4 ,here again we cannot tell whether that lamp was lighted when it was put in the grave4 ,some that have been dug up have certainly been in use1 for they bear marks of the flame2 but of course they may have been in every-day use before they were devoted to the service of the dead4 ,yet the few facts known would at least fit the theory that the procession which carried out the dead man carried also fire from his home to the grave1 and that either the torches themselves or a lamp lighted from them was put in the grave beside the body4 ,if that view were correct1 it would further be note-worthy that most of the lamps found are of little intrinsic value and of late date#abhc4 ,now the fact that they are mostly worthless implies that they were often given by poor persons1 or1 if the other contents of the grave be of value1 that the lamp was not brought as a gift for its intrinsic worth or beauty1 but for some practical purpose2 while the fact that they are mainly of late date means that the practice of putting them in the graves increased in frequency during the period which begins with the fifth century ,b4,c4--that is to say1 during that period in which we have already noted an increasing preference for cremation4 ,further the increase in the frequency of lamps makes it improbable that they are to be reckoned as part and parcel of the ordinary furniture of a grave2 for the lekythi and other vases which were the ordinary gifts to the dead had already in the fifth century assumed a conventional character4 ,any fresh departure therefore after that century1 or any increase in the frequency of one particular object among the contents of graves1 must be a sign of some new or more strongly marked feeling towards the dead4 ,now all these facts and inferences are intelligible on one hypothesis2 and that hypothesis is that the lamps found in the graves were put there lighted and burning1 as the ceremonial minimum of the rite of cremation for which a growing preference is evident during some four centuries before the ,christian era4 ,when we pass on to the early days of ,christianity1 a similar series of facts meets our view4 ,the ,church officially rejected and reprobated the practice of cremation4 ,converts therefore were bound to use inhumation2 and this obligation probably excited the less repugnance1 in that interment was no new thing to them1 but had always been alternative1 if slightly inferior1 to cremation4 ,but while even cheerfully obeying the law of the ,church thus far1 they clung to many of the details of their old funeral-custom1 some of which were allowed by the ,church1 others disallowed4 ,the practice of laying out the dead in rich and choice robes continued and called down strong rebuke from ,st ,jerome#abhd2 the excessive lamentation and the use of hired mourners at the lying-in-state provoked ,st ,chrysostom to threats of excommunication#abhe2 yet both these customs still obtain4 ,but the custom of carrying torches in the funeral-procession was continued without even a protest on the part of the ,church4 ,perhaps it was felt to be a harmless concession to ancient custom2 perhaps then as now ecclesiastical taste even favoured the consumption of many candles in religious ceremonies4 ,at any rate the fact is clear that the pagan custom of carrying torches in the procession held a place also in ,christian ritual4 ,what was the reason for which the common people held to their old custom8 ,the torches were not needed any longer to kindle pyres2 for actual cremation was abolished by the ,church4 ,nor were they needed to give light to the procession2 for ,christian funerals1 except in times of persecution1 took place in open daylight4 ,the reason was1 ,i believe1 that by means of these torches fire was carried along with the dead from his home to his grave1 and that there a ceremonial act1 a semblance of cremation1 was combined with the rite of inhumation4 ,and there are some indications that the fire brought to the grave-side was actually associated in some way with the dead body4 ,in a disquisition #8about them that sleep1' which passed for a work of ,st ,athanasius#abhf1 there is a recommendation to burn a mixture of oil and wax at the grave of the dead2 and though the practice inculcated is disguised as #8a sacrifice of burnt-offering to ,god1' it is possible to attribute it to a less ,jewish and more ,greek motive1 a desire to keep up the old custom of cremation1 be it only in a ceremonial form4 ,again we have evidence that the custom of burning lights at the graves of the dead was commonly followed for some non-,christian purpose2 for the ,council of ,eliberis saw fit to forbid it under pain of excommunication#abhg4 ,this non-,christian purpose will explain itself in the light of some modern customs4 ,there is a custom well known in ,modern ,greece which consists in the maintenance of what is called #8the unsleeping lamp' 7 74 ,a fair general idea of it may be given by saying that after a funeral a light is kept continuously burning either in the room where death took place or at the grave for a period of either forty days or three years4 ,this variation in time and place requires examination4 ,in customs1 as in other things1 there is a right way and a wrong way2 variety in observance is not original2 there is a proper time and a proper place4 ,first then1 which is the proper place for this particular custom1 the chamber of death or the grave-side8 ,the localities1 in which that form of the custom which ,i shall show to be correct in this particular has come most conspicuously under my own observation1 are ,archova1 a village near ,delphi2 ,leondi on the east coast of ,laconia2 a cemetery in the ,thriasian plain belonging1 ,i think1 to the village of ,kalvia2 and the island of ,aegina4 ,in the last-mentioned it is an ordinary lantern which is used2 it is placed at the head of the grave1 and for forty days after the funeral is so trimmed and tended that the flame is not once extinguished4 ,at ,archova and in the ,thriasian plain each grave is provided with an erection capable of sheltering a naked light4 ,some of the erections are like doll's-houses with door and windows complete2 others are mere boxes2 others again are no more than a few tiles or flat stones set on edge to form a square and covered over with a roof of the same material4 ,at ,archova the lamps contained in these erections are tended both evening and morning1 and the obligation to keep them burning uninterruptedly for three years1 until the exhumation of the body1 is strongly felt and scrupulously discharged4 ,in the ,thriasian plain the light is kept burning with equal care1 but ,i am uncertain for what period4 ,at ,leondi some shelters of the same kind as those described are in use2 but there are also more elaborate tombs at the head of which is built a small recess below the level of the ground or at any rate under the slab of stone or marble which covers the grave1 and in this recess1 which is closed with a small door allowing the passage of air through its chinks1 is placed #8the unsleeping lamp4' ,here again the lights are kept burning until the exhumation takes place1 and the lamps are fed and trimmed every evening4 ,at ,gytheion a device not dissimilar1 though ruder1 was formerly employed2 among some old graves1 now neglected1 from which1 it appeared1 the bones of the dead had never been exhumed1 ,i noticed several plastered over with a rough concrete in which was sunk at the head of the grave an iron vessel1 like a sauce-pan docked of its handle2 this vessel had presumably served the purpose of sheltering a light4 ,such then is the main aspect of this custom2 but the preliminary details also require notice4 ,the fire with which to light the #8unsleeping lamp' must not be kindled on the spot beside the grave1 but is conveyed from the house of the deceased4 ,there1 in general1 the moment that death takes place or at any rate so soon as the body is laid out in state1 candles or lamps are lighted and are placed at the head and at the foot of the couch on which the body reposes4 ,these are kept burning until the funeral-procession is ready to start1 and along with the procession either the same lights or other tapers and candles lighted from them are carried to the grave2 and here the same fire which was burning in the house of the dead is transmitted to the #8unsleeping lamp' at the grave4 ,this ,i believe to be the correct form of the custom1 but ,i must notice other varieties and give my reasons for regarding them as less authentic4 ,it is stated in a reliable treatise on the island of ,chios#abhh1 that there the people keep a lamp burning for forty nights in the room where a death has taken place1 thinking that the soul wanders for forty nights before it goes down to ,hades4 ,the interpretation given evidently implies that the lamp is intended to give light to the spirit of the dead if in the course of its nightly wanderings it visits its former home4 ,now so far as the ,chian form of the custom is concerned1 some such meaning might reasonably be assigned to it4 ,but what of the more usual form of the custom by which the lamp is kept burning both night and day8 ,a disembodied spirit1 if it resemble an ordinary man1 may reasonably be supposed to need a candle to see its way at night1 but surely it needs none in the day-time2 yet it is only the custom of burning the light all day long as well as at night that can have gained for it the name of #8the unsleeping lamp1' the lamp that is never extinguished4 ,here then is a visible defect in the ,chian manner of observing the custom and likewise in the ,chian manner of interpreting it2 and a custom defective and misinterpreted in one important detail is open to suspicion in others4 ,so far therefore as ,chios is concerned1 no great importance attaches to the fact that there the chamber of death is the place where the remnants of the custom are observed4 ,but there are other parts of ,greece in which the death-chamber is the place for the #8unsleeping lamp1' and where the lamp still deserves that designation inasmuch as it is kept burning both day and night until the fortieth day after the funeral1 and is not1 as in ,chios1 lighted afresh each night4 ,in such districts1 ,i believe1 the custom has long ceased to bear any meaning1 and being on the wane has for convenience undergone a change4 ,it is still felt to be obligatory to keep the flame that is lighted as soon as death has occurred burning constantly for forty days1 but the work of tending it has been found to be more conveniently performed at home than in the grave-yard4 ,the necessity to transmit the flame to the grave1 to keep it continuously in close proximity to the dead1 is no longer felt4 ,this form of the custom can then be accounted for as a relaxation of that which ,i have put forward as the old and correct form2 whereas on the other hand if the room where death occurred had originally been the proper place for maintaining the #8unsleeping lamp1' it would be impossible to account for the transference of the custom to the grave-side1 where special shelters or receptacles must be made for the protection of the flame and where more trouble is needed to feed and to trim the lamps day by day4 ,archova and ,leondi where most pains are taken in the observance of the custom--and that not for forty days only but for three years--have the best claim to be regarded as the true exponents of the old custom4 ,the proper place for the #8unsleeping lamp' is the grave-side4 ,but there is a variation also1 as ,i have said1 in the period of time during which this custom is kept up in different districts4 ,in some it is a period of forty days1 in others a period of three years2 and in this respect there is a divergence between the usages even of those places which in other details have been shown to adhere faithfully to the old custom2 for at ,archova and ,leondi the longer period is customary1 in ,aegina the shorter4 ,it is in this very variation that we find a clue to the meaning and purpose of the custom4 ,in the earlier part of this chapter ,i showed1 by quotation from a popular dirge and by the consideration of various customs connected with death1 that in the belief of the common-folk the dissolution of a dead body is effected by the fortieth day after burial4 ,on the other hand the ,church has more prudently fixed three years as the time required for dissolution1 the period which must elapse before the body may be exhumed4 ,thus there are two periods1 fixed respectively by popular opinion and by ecclesiastical authority1 between which there is a choice2 the vox populi and the vox ,dei are here in disagreement2 and according as preference is locally given to the one or to the other mandate1 so is a period of forty days or a period of three years locally believed to be that required for the dissolution of the body4 ,but these two periods are also those between which there is a local variation in the custom of maintaining the #8unsleeping lamp4' ,hence it is reasonably to be inferred that the #8unsleeping lamp' is in some way closely connected with the dissolution of the body4 ,moreover this connexion is actually recognised by the common-folk themselves1 as witness the following two couplets from a funeral-dirge4 ,the words are put1 as so often in the dirges1 in the mouth of the dead man1 who in this instance is supposed to be young and to be addressing his forlorn lady-love4 #8,and when the priests with solemn song march toward the grave with me1 ,steal thou out from thy mother's side and light me torches three2 ,and when the priests shall quench again those lights for me1--ah then1 ,then1 like the breath of roses1 sweet1 thou passest from my ken#abhi4' ,these lines are based on a belief which is fairly general among the ,greek peasants1 that consciousness of1 and concern for1 the things of this world are not broken off finally at the moment of death1 but continue in some degree until the body of the dead is completely dissolved4 ,here the memories of love are spoken of as lasting until the priests quench the burning lights1 which can be none other in the context than the #8unsleeping lamp'--for three1 the number mentioned1 is merely a number of peculiar virtue and has no special force4 ,it follows then that the quenching of the lights is understood in the passage to denote the accomplishment of that process of dissolution1 which1 though it mean the cessation of all intercourse with this upper world1 is yet earnestly desired4 ,here in fact are plain words of popular poetry which recognise the connexion of the #8unsleeping lamp' with the dissolution of the body1 and make the quenching of the one signify the completion of the other4 ,it is going but a short step further to suppose that the presence of the lamp's flame at the grave was originally intended to advance the process of dissolution--or1 in other words1 that the maintenance of the #8unsleeping lamp' at the grave until the body is finally dissolved is an act of ceremonial cremation4 ,this supposition gains yet more in probability when we compare with the custom of the #8unsleeping lamp' another not dissimilar custom which obtains in ,zacynthos4 ,there1 as elsewhere1 candles or lamps are lighted about the dead body while it is lying in state1 and fire from them is carried to the grave4 ,but1 arrived there1 instead of lighting an #8unsleeping lamp1' the bearers of the candles drop them into the grave beside the corpse4 ,in this we have a close parallel to the ancient custom of putting a lamp1 probably enough1 as ,i have suggested1 a lighted lamp1 into the grave2 and at the same time it cannot but be intimately connected with the custom of the #8unsleeping lamp1' the purpose of which is now known to concern the dissolution of the dead body4 ,i claim then that the series of customs which we have reviewed1 exhibiting as they do an intention to associate fire in some close way with the buried body and1 as in the modern form of the custom1 to associate it therewith until the process of dissolution is complete1 find a common explanation in the continuance of a practice already exemplified in earlier ages1 the practice of ceremonial cremation in conjunction with the full burial rite4 ,nor is this explanation open to attack on the ground that a mere lamp lighted near the dead body bears so little outward resemblance to real cremation4 ,to the outside observer the ceremonial act may seem a mere travesty of that for which it is substituted2 but to the persons concerned the presence of fire1 in however small a volume1 may have seemed sufficient2 for in all ritual it is not the act1 but the intention1 which has value4 ,i have already pointed out how interment was occasionally reduced to an equally ineffective minimum2 but ,i may perhaps cite a still closer parallel--another case in which a lamp is thought to have done duty for a real fire4 ,there was in old time a custom1 to which several ancient writers refer#abij1 of keeping a lamp burning both day and night in the ,prytaneum or in the chief temple of a ,greek city2 and both ,athens and ,tarentum are said to have had these lamps so constructed that they could hold a supply of oil sufficient to last a whole year4 ,such lamps1 it has been suggested#abia1 represented the fire on the city's hearth which was not allowed to go out4 ,the purpose of the lamp was clearly not to give light--for then it need not have been kept burning by day as well as by night--but it was a labour-saving appliance for keeping the sacred fire ever burning4 ,the small flame was in fact a rudimentary fire4 ,thus all that ,i am supposing is that a lamp could represent a real fire just as well at the tomb as in the ,prytaneum4 ,if then my explanation of the modern custom is right1 the fact that the common-folk1 though they have for many centuries employed inhumation as the ordinary ,christian rite1 have clung at the same time to a ceremonial form of cremation which they still connect in some way with the dissolution of the buried corpse1 is additional proof of the favour with which the quicker and surer rite was formerly1 and perhaps here and there still is1 regarded4 ,thus then the study of ordinary funeral-usage has confirmed the conclusions drawn in preceding chapters from the study of a certain abnormal state of after-death existence4 ,as incorruptibility was the greatest bane to the dead1 so dissolution was the greatest boon that the living could give them4 ,this dissolution was to be effected by one of two methods1 cremation and inhumation1 which in theory were alternative but in practice were frequently combined4 ,the combination of them was due in the first instance to the amalgamation of two races to which they respectively appertained2 but in later times the racial difference between the two rites was obliterated1 and they were judged on their own merits1 with the result that a preference for cremation manifested itself in funeral-usage4 ,this preference was due to a recognition that cremation was a quicker and surer method of dissolution1 and is itself strong testimony to the desire to effect dissolution4 ,the end to which both rites were directed was the same1 but since one led to that end more quickly and surely than the other1 it was rightly preferred4 ,further the motive which prompted the living to effect the dissolution of the dead was not in general selfish2 for dissolution1 as we have seen1 was a boon to the dead4 ,that complete severance from this world1 which came with the dissolution of the body1 was in some way for the benefit of the dead4 ,patroclus sought for it1 and ,achilles granted his petition through love2 and some three thousand years later the men of ,parga are found effecting the rapid dissolution of their kinsfolk with the same motive4 ,only in one set of circumstances was the selfish motive of fear in operation1 namely1 where1 the resuscitated dead were1 by the influence of ,slavonic superstition1 invested with the character of malignant blood-thirsty monsters against whom self-defence was imperative1 and whose complete severance from this world was desirable as a safeguard for the living4 ,but such circumstances were the exception4 ,the rule was that cremation and inhumation alike were means to the dissolution of the dead and their complete severance from this world1 and the motive which prompted living men to seek that end was love of the dead who would in some way benefit thereby4 ,,footnotes3 #abbf ,bern4 ,schmidt1 ,lieder1 ,mrchen1 ,sagen etc41 ,folk-song no4 #cc4 #abbg ,cf4 above1 p4 #chi4 #abbh ,see above1 p4 #cjg1 note #a1 and p4 #cac4 #abbi ,the feasts at earlier dates1 as on the third and ninth days1 will be shown later to be popular in origin4 ,see below1 pp4 #ecj ff4 #abcj 4 4 1 1 p4 #hb4 #abca ,op4 cit4 p4 #ha4 ,the form here is 4 #abcb 4 4 4 1 ,,iii4 p4 #ccg4 ,the form is 4 #abcc ,see above1 p4 #cgc4 #abcd ,soph4 ,antig4 #bef4 ,cf4 ,jebb's note ad loc41 from which ,i take the further references4 #abce ,aelian1 ,var4 ,hist4 ,v4 #ad4 #abcf ,aelian1 ,hist4 ,anim4 ,v4 #di4 #abcg ,cf4 ,fauriel1 ,chants de la ,grce ,moderne1 ,discours ,prliminaire1 p4 #dj2 4 1 1 p4 #df4 #abch ,early ,age of ,greece1 ,vol4 ,i4 cap4 #g4 #abci ,bury1 ,history of ,greece1 p4 #da4 #abdj ,rohde1 ,psyche1 cap4 ,i4 #abda ,hom4 ,il4 ,,vi4 #dag ff41 ,,xxiii4 #beb ff41 ,,xxiv4 #gia ff42 ,od4 ,,xi4 #gb ff4 and ,,xii4 #aa ff4 #abdb ,psyche ,i4 pp4 #ca-cb4 #abdc ,cf4 ,lucian1 ,de ,luctu #ad1 4 #abdd ,described in 4 #ahhi1 pp4 #aga ff4 #abde ,described in ,athen4 ,mittheilungen1 #ahic1 pp4 #gc-aia4 #abdf ,the perusal of ,philios' narrative leaves the impression that several cases of cremation were discovered4 ,yet in his concluding summary he says3 8,burial1 not burning1 of the dead was in those times the more prevalent custom1 since in one case and one only can we admit that the corpse was not buried but burnt40 ,i note that ,brckner and ,pernice 7op4 cit4 p4 #adi7 in referring to ,philios' results tacitly soften his rigid #8one and one only' into the more supple #8one or two4' ,for justification of this see ,philios1 op4 cit4 pp4 #agh1 #agi1 #ahj1 #ahe4 #abdg ,hirschfeld1 in ,annali1 #ahgb1 pp4 #ace1 #afg1 cited by ,brckner and ,pernice op4 cit4 p4 #adh4 1 in 1 #ahgc-d1 p4 #ag4 #abdh ,op4 cit4 pp4 #ia ff4 #abdi ,op4 cit4 p4 #agh4 #abej ,brckner and ,pernice take this view of the fact1 though the words which they use are coloured by their acceptance of ,rohde's theory of propitiatory offerings to the dead4 #8,vor der ,beerdigung1 so scheint es nach den ,funden des ,herrn ,philios1 sind an der ,grabsttte des fteren ,brandopfer dargebracht worden4' ,op4 cit4 p4 #aea4 #abea ,see op4 cit4 pp4 #gh-i4 #abeb ,see above1 p4 #cdg4 #abec ,il4 ,,xxiv4 #gai ff4 #abed ,cf4 ,athen4 ,mittheil4 #ahic1 p4 #ajc4 #abee ,plutarch1 ,solon #bj4 #abef ,lysias1 ,or4 ,,xii4 #ah1 #ai4 #abeg ,lucian1 de ,luctu1 #ab and #ac4 #abeh ,hom4 #cb in ,mat4 p4 #cjf4 #abei ,preserved among the archives of ,zante1 which the kindness of ,mr ,leonidas ,zos enabled me to inspect4 #abfj ,psyche1 ,i4 pp4 #bji and #cfj4 ,from this source ,i draw several of the following references4 #abfa ,tsountas in 4 #ahhh1 p4 #acf4 #abfb ,plut4 ,lycurg4 #bg4 #abfc ,iambl4 ,vit4 ,pythag4 #aed4 #abfd ,pliny1 ,n4 ,h4 ,,xxxv4 #afj4 #abfe ,dem4 ,orat4 #dc #ga4 #abff ,antig4 #abja4 ,prof4 ,jebb in his note on this passage expresses the opinion that the were not fuel3 in view of the ,attic law above cited ,i am inclined to dissent4 ,he also takes in ,ar4 ,eccles4 #ajca to mean #8olive twigs' and not1 as more usual1 #8vine-shoots4' ,i pass by the passage as doubtful evidence4 #abfg ,ross1 ,arch4 ,aufs4 ,i4 #ca4 #abfh ,artemid4 ,oneirocr4 ,,iv4 #eg4 #abfi ,herod4 ,v4 #h4 #abgj ,lucian1 de ,luctu1 #ba4 #abga ,antiquities of the ,christian ,church1 ,bk ,,xxiii4 cap4 #b1 whence ,i take the following references4 #abgb ,minucius1 p4 #cb4 #abgc ,acta ,tharaci ap4 ,baron4 an4 #bii1 n4 ,,xxi41 ,ammian4 ,marcell4 lib4 ,,xxii4 p4 #bda1 ,euseb4 lib4 ,,viii4 cap4 #f4 #abgd ,tertull4 ,de ,anima1 cap4 #ea4 #abge ,tertull4 de ,resur4 cap4 #a4 #abgf ,cod4 ,th4 lib4 ,,ix4 tit4 #ag de ,sepulcris violatis1 leg4 #f4 #abgg ,saturnal4 lib4 ,,vii4 cap4 #g4 #abgh ,see ,finlay1 ,history of ,greece1 vol4 ,v4 pp4 #bgd-f4 #abgi ,passow1 ,popularia ,carm4 ,graeciae recentioris1 nos4 #bbb-bbd4 ,i translate here no4 #bbb4 #abhj ,so ,i interpret1 but without certainty1 the words 1 literally #8and they burnt the ,vizir4' #abha ,the ,lipides were an ,albanian tribe employed by the ,turks4 #abhb ,no4 #bbc4 #abhc ,actual data on this point are difficult to obtain2 but archaeologists whom ,i consulted in ,greece were all agreed1 that lamps are more frequent in graves of late date1 most frequent in the ,greco-,roman period4 #abhd ,hieron4 ,vita ,pauli #d1 cap4 #ff4 #abhe ,chrysostom1 ,hom4 #cb in ,mat4 p4 #cjf4 #abhf ,cited by ,durant1 de ,ritibus1 lib4 ,i4 cap4 ,,xxiii4 n4 #ad 7p4 #bce74 ,i have been unable to discover the original passage4 ,cf4 ,bingham1 op4 cit4 ,,xxiii4 #c4 #abhg ,see ,bingham1 ,antiquities of the ,christian ,church1 ,bk ,,xxiii4 cap4 #c ad fin4 #abhh 4 4 1 1 p4 #cda4 #abhi ,these lines1 or others in the same tenor1 are well known among the professional 7women hired to mourn at funerals74 ,the version which ,i here follow is given by ,passow1 ,popul4 ,carm4 no4 #cgg ,a4 ' 1 '' ' ' 1 ' 4 #abij ,theocritus ,,xxi4 #cf f42 ,athenaeus #gjj ,d2 ,pausan4 ,i4 #bf4 #g4 #abia ,frazer1 in ,journ4 of ,philol4 ,,xiv4 #ade ff4 ,,chapter ,,vi4 ,,the ,,benefit ,,of ,,dissolution4 ,thus far the investigation of customs and beliefs in ancient and modern times relating to the treatment of the dead has established the fact that the dissolution of the body was a thing eagerly to be desired in the interests of the dead4 ,with complete disintegration the summum bonum of the dead1 so far as it was in the power of their surviving friends to win it for them1 was secured4 ,it remains to consider in what way the dead profited thereby4 ,now ,i have hitherto spoken designedly of dissolution as a benefit1 not to the souls of the dead nor to their bodies1 but simply #8to the dead' without further specification4 ,it will now limit the range of discussion as to the nature of the summum bonum to which dissolution gave access1 if we can first answer the old question1 cui bono8 ,is it the body alone or the soul alone or both conjointly on which the benefit is conferred8 ,this question once answered1 we shall have eliminated a certain number of possible conceptions of future happiness4 ,that the body alone might have been the recipient of the whole benefit is an idea which no one will entertain4 ,was it then the soul alone to which the dissolution of the body brought gain8 ,death1 as we have learnt1 was not a complete and final severance of soul from body2 the soul might re-enter and re-animate the corpse4 ,was dissolution then believed to complete the severance8 ,the deliverance of the soul from the bondage of the body1 the divorce of spirit from matter1 is an idea which has appealed and does appeal to many1 and would therefore furnish a motive of considerable intrinsic probability for the treatment which the ,greek people have consistently accorded to their dead2 the dissolution of the body1 it might be supposed1 was desired and hastened in order that the soul might be freed from its last link with this material world and pass away winged and unburdened towards things ethereal4 ,but such an explanation savours too much of philosophy and too little of popular religion4 #8,the rehearsal of death1' that is of the severance of soul from body1 was according to ,socrates the proper occupation of the philosopher2 and death itself was welcome to him as a final release of the soul1 the true self1 from the fetters of physical existence4 ,but the very emphasis which the whole of the ,phaedo gives to this idea1 the insistence of ,socrates that his real self is that which converses with his friends and seeks to convince them of his views1 and not the corpse which they will soon be burying or burning as seemeth them good#abib1 suggest1 if anything1 that in the popular religion the severance of soul from body was not desired1 and the true self was not conceived as a thing apart from body4 ,at any rate the reason for desiring dissolution must be sought from more popular sources4 ,i return therefore to a passage#abic on which ,i have already touched more than once1 the earliest passage of extant literature1 in which a dead man is represented as craving the dissolution of his body4 ,why was it that the soul of ,patroclus desired so urgently the last rites for his body8 ,was it for the benefit of his soul only8 ,popular religion1 as we have seen1 did not reckon death a final severance of soul and body2 for the soul might return and re-animate the body4 ,was then dissolution believed to complete the severance1 annihilating the body and emancipating the soul8 ,did the future happiness of the soul depend upon such emancipation8 ,did ,patroclus1 in the case before us1 crave dissolution in order that his soul1 finally severed from his body1 might find happiness8 ,homer certainly peoples the lower world with souls only1 severed from their former bodies4 ,it is clearly the soul only of ,patroclus which will pass the gates of ,hades1 when once his request for the burial of his body has been fulfilled2 for it is #8the souls1 the semblances of the dead#abid1' who bar his entrance thereto meanwhile4 ,but those souls are not happy souls4 ,the house of ,hades is not a place of happiness2 it is dank1 murky1 mouldering2 and the souls themselves are not of a nature to enjoy anything2 they are feeble1 impotent wraiths1 mere semblances of men1 all doomed to the same miserable travesty of life2 the bodies from which they are now severed were their real selves#abie1 and there remain now only impalpable joyless phantoms4 #8,sooner1' cries the spirit of ,achilles to ,odysseus1 #8would ,i be a serf bound to the soil1 in the house of a portionless man whose living were but scant1 than lord over all the dead that are perished#abif'2 for the old valour even of ,achilles avails him no more2 his soul fares in the house of ,hades even as all others fare2 all alike are doomed to everlasting futility in a land of everlasting gloom4 ,fitly is the soul of ,patroclus said to have sped1 at the moment of death1 towards ,hades' realm #8bewailing its fate in that it had left vigour and manhood#abig4' ,how then comes it that anon the same soul is eager to pass the gates of ,hades8 ,surely the wanderings of the dead ,patroclus1 whether in the form of a revenant as the popular belief would have had it1 or1 according to ,homer's version1 as a disembodied spirit1 would hardly be more pitiable than the lot which he in common with all the dead must suffer below4 ,why then this eagerness8 ,i can find nothing in ,homer to justify it2 it appears to me wholly inconsistent with the ,homeric conception of the under-world4 ,and this inconsistency is of wide bearing4 ,the cases of ,patroclus and ,elpenor are not isolated4 ,the same eagerness for dissolution on the part of the dead has1 as we have seen1 been steadily recognised in all the relations between the living and the dead from the days of ,homer until now4 ,that which is at variance with the ,homeric conception of the hereafter is not merely the petition of ,patroclus1 but the idea on which the funeral-customs of a whole people have been based for nearly three thousand years4 ,such a discrepancy cannot but force upon us the question how far the ,homeric conception of the hereafter was the popular conception4 ,that the whole picture of the house of ,hades and of the condition of the departed therein was not an ,homeric invention is1 ,i suppose1 indisputable4 ,its two main features are the gloom of the place and the lack of distinction between the lots of those who dwell there#abih4 ,of these the first at any rate is frequent enough in later literature1 and indeed held so firm a place in the ,greek mind that #8to see the light' became synonymous with #8to live in this upper world'2 and even down to the present day both ideas live on4 ,the constant epithets which ,homer applies to the house of ,hades1 #8cold' 77 and #8mouldering' 771 are exactly reproduced in the epithets with which ,hades1 now a place instead of a person1 is described in modern dirges--1 #8frozen1' and 1 #8thick with spiders' webs'#abii2 and the same uniform misery of all the departed is likewise a common theme in the many songs that deal with ,charon and the lower world4 ,all this could not have been effected by the influence of ,homer alone1 great though it was1 if he had himself invented the whole conception4 ,it is clear that he utilised a conception which was before his time1 and still is1 a popular conception4 ,but there is equally good evidence of a totally different presentation of the future state4 ,a fragment of one of ,pindar's dirges contradicts the ,homeric description of the lower world in every point4 #8,upon the righteous the glorious sun sheddeth light below while night is here1 and amid meadows red with roses lieth the space before their city's gate1 all hazy with frankincense and laden with golden fruits2 and some take their joy in horses and feats of prowess1 and others at the draught-board1 and others in the music of lutes1 and among them every fair flower of happiness doth blossom2 and o'er that lovely land spreadeth the savour of all manner of spices that be mingled with far-gleaming fire on the gods' altars#acjj4' ,so then this under-world is not cold and murky1 but is warmed and lighted by the sun2 its inhabitants are not frail spirits incapable of joy1 but take their pleasure as aforetime in the world above2 nor is the lot of all the same1 for it is only the righteous who enjoy this bliss4 ,the popular character of this conception is equally clear4 ,the distinction between the varying fortunes of the dead--the hope of happiness for some in contrast with the universal misery of the ,homeric under-world--is an idea which finds expression throughout ancient literature2 and if the house of ,hades often remains none the less a place of gloom1 that is because the abode of the righteous is often transferred to the islands of the blest1 and the dark under-world left as a place of punishment for the wicked4 ,at the present day too the same ideas are widely current among the common-folk4 ,it is true that the dirges more generally pourtray the lower world as wrapped in ,homeric gloom1 and the condition of the departed as monotonously miserable2 but the express purpose of these dirges1 recited beside the dead body before it is carried out to burial1 is to excite the mourners to a frenzy of grief1 and the professional dirge-singer 7for there are still women in some parts of ,greece who follow that calling7 would soon lose her work if1 instead of harrowing the feelings of the mourners1 she took upon herself to comfort them2 her whole business is to move to tears those whom the bereavement itself has left unmoved1 or to stimulate to fresh outbursts of lamentation those who are already spent with sorrow4 ,but in a few folk-songs is found the more cheerful belief that the departed still continue the pursuits which they followed in this life#acja2 while as for their abode1 any peasant who should have the ,pindaric description of the future home of the blessed explained to him1 would unhesitatingly identify it with that which he himself calls ,paradise4 ,some points perhaps in that description would surprise him no less than they would please him1 as for example the permission to play draughts1 but they would not obscure his recognition2 the place of fair flowers and fruits and scents could be none other than ,paradise4 8,the people of modern ,greece10 says a ,greek writer#acjb1 444 8unable to comprehend the idea of spiritual joys1 consider ,paradise a place of largely material and sensuous pleasures4 ,the ,paradise of the ,greek folk is watered by great rivers1 444 and in it there grow trees which diffuse odours sweet past telling4444 ,agreeably with this reception of the idea of ,paradise by the people1 the fathers of the church also were compelled to describe ,paradise in terms of the senses as well as of the spirit1 thus making certain concessions to popular feeling and ideas4 #8,some1' says ,john of ,damascus#acjc1 #8have imagined a sensuous ,paradise1 others a spiritual ,paradise4 ,for my part ,i think that1 just as man himself has been created with senses as well as with spirit1 so the most holy close 7 7 to which he has access appeals alike to the senses and to the spirit4'0 ,the compromise in this passage is cleverly justified1 but it has not lasted2 the pagan part of it alone has survived1 and the ,paradise of the modern folk is none other than that abode which ,pindar described4 ,even the rivers thereof1 which are naturally desired above all things by the inhabitants of a dry and dusty land1 were probably not absent from ,pindar's picture2 for ,plutarch1 to whom we owe the preservation of the fragment1 passes in one passage from actual quotation of the opening lines to a mention of smooth and tranquil rivers flowing through the land#acjd2 and in the kindred picture of the ,islands of the ,blest1 which ,pindar paints elsewhere1 he does not omit to mention the water wherewith the golden flowers are refreshed#acje2 for in his eyes too water was the best of earth's gifts1 even as gold was the brightest of wrought treasures#acjf4 ,it was this high appreciation of water which first informed a custom prevalent all over ,greece on the occasion of funerals4 ,as the bier passes along the road1 the friends and neighbours of the dead man empty at their doorway or from their windows a vessel of water1 and usually throw down the vessel itself to be broken on the stones of the road4 ,this custom is evidently very old1 for in some places the use of the water1 the very essence of the rite1 has become obsolete1 and all that remains of the custom is the breaking of a piece of crockery4 ,and even though in most places the custom is observed in full1 its meaning has generally been forgotten1 and curious conjectures have been made to explain it4 ,some interpret the custom as a symbol of that which has befallen the dead man2 the vessel is his body1 the water is his soul2 the pouring out of the water symbolises the vanishing of the soul1 and the dead body will fall to pieces like the broken crock4 ,others say that they pour out the water #8in order to allay the burning thirst of the dead man#acjg1' a notion ominously suggestive of the boon which ,dives sought of ,lazarus4 ,but the real purpose of the rite is still known in some of the ,cyclades1 where exactly the same custom is followed also on the occasion of a man's departure from his native village#acjh1 to live1 as they say1 in exile4 ,and the purpose is to promote the well-being of the dead or of the exile in the new land to which he is going4 ,the pouring out of the water is in fact a rite of sympathetic magic designed to secure that the unknown land shall also be well-watered and pleasant and plentiful2 and the breaking of the vessel which held the water is due1 ,i suppose1 to a feeling that an instrument which has served a magical purpose must not thereafter be put to profane and mundane uses4 ,this custom then in itself bears witness how wide-spread is1 or has been1 the conception of the other world as a land of delight wherein the pleasant things of this world shall still abound4 ,thus then it must be acknowledged that two contradictory popular conceptions of the hereafter have survived side by side as a twofold inheritance from the ancient world4 ,the one pervades the whole of ,homer2 the other is best expounded in a fragment of ,pindar#acji2 and the fundamental difference between them is this1 that the one consigns all the dead alike to gloom and misery1 while the other distinguishes between the future fortunes of the righteous and the unrighteous1 and holds out the hope of happiness in a yet brighter world than this4 ,whence came these two conceptions8 ,the world which ,homer describes is the ,achaean world1 and ,i suspect that his under-world is likewise the ,achaean under-world4 ,the ,achaean religion1 as exhibited in ,homer1 is in no way profound4 ,the gods are only ,achaean princes on a yet grander scale1 endowed with immortality4 ,men's relations with them are eminently simple and practical2 sacrifice is expected if prayers are to be answered4 ,but both gods and men are concerned with this upper world only2 death closes all relations between them4 ,the gods are unconcerned1 unless it be for some special favourite2 they live on ,olympus as aforetime amid feasting1 quarrelling1 laughter1 and love2 but men leave these pursuits and pastimes1 and go down to the misery of ,hades' house2 their souls which fled lamenting from their limbs at the hour of death still exist1 else could they not appear to living men in the visions of night2 but their existence is all misery1 for they lack all that made this life pleasant4 ,their joys had been the joys of a strenuous1 full-blooded life1 the joys of battle1 of feasting1 of song1 of comradeship2 and these joys were no more4 ,the future existence of the soul was1 to the ,achaeans1 simply the negation of the present bodily life4 ,but the religion of a later age was by no means so simple4 ,the ,homeric gods were still worshipped in the old way1 and received their sacrifices in exchange for favours desired or granted4 ,but there was another element in religion of which ,homer shows little trace--an element of awe and mystery4 ,homer indeed names the ,erinyes as beings concerned with the punishment of certain sins2 but he shows no knowledge of that awful doctrine of blood-guilt which ,aeschylus associates with them2 the murdered man's power of vengeance is wholly ignored2 for among the ,achaeans the next of kin might accept a price at the hands of the murderer1 and allow him to remain in the land#acaj1 without himself incurring any pollution or any manifestation of his dead kinsman's wrath4 ,again ,homer knows indeed of ,demeter as a goddess connected with the crops2 but there is nothing in his casual mention of her to suggest that the mysteries of her worship transcended the rites of all the ,olympian gods4 ,yet no one1 ,i suppose1 would imagine that these profounder elements in ancient religion were of post-,homeric growth or could possibly have been evolved from the transparently simple religion of the ,achaeans4 ,on the contrary it is known that the more mysterious rites and doctrines of the ,greek religion were a legacy from the ,pelasgians4 ,that the mysteries of ,demeter were ,pelasgian in origin is proved by the localities in which her worship most flourished1 and is corroborated by the explicit statement of ,herodotus#acaa1 who was disposed to refer other mystic cults also to the same source#acab4 ,in fact the co-existence1 or even the conflict1 of the old ,pelasgian and the newer ,achaean religions is constantly recognised in ancient literature1 and to the ,pelasgian is ascribed all that most touched men's hearts1 be it with awe or with pity--with awe as in the conflict between the ,erinyes and the new dynasty of gods whom ,apollo and ,athene represent1 with pity in the dolorous struggle of ,prometheus against the tyrant ,zeus4 ,the ,pelasgian religion1 with all its horrors1 drew the real sympathies of the mystic ,aeschylus2 he could worship in deepest reverence ,demeter and her mysteries#acac2 he could worship perhaps even the #8reverend goddesses1' horrible though they were in their displeasure2 but his heart must have been cold towards the usurping ,olympian gods4 ,there is true insight in that passage of ,aristophanes#acad where ,aeschylus summarises the benefits conferred by great poets on the ,greek race1 and praises ,homer1 the ,achaean poet1 for his lessons in discipline and valour and warfare1 but ,orpheus1 sometimes reputed the founder of the ,pelasgian mysteries1 for instituting religious rites and teaching men to abstain from bloodshed4 ,and the feelings of ,aeschylus were the feelings of his countrymen4 ,the ,athenians boasted of a great ,achaean goddess as the foundress and patroness of their city1 but their personal hopes of future happiness centred in the ,pelasgian ,demeter4 ,the same generation of ,athenians listened with delight to ,aristophanes' ridicule of those gods whom ,homer accounted greatest1 and were aghast at the thought that the mysteries had been profaned4 ,the ,achaean gods1 it would seem1 made good figure-heads for the official religion of the state2 they served as majestic patrons of a city1 or of a great national festival where religion was of less real account than horse-racing1 athletics1 and commerce2 but the hearts of the people clave to the older1 more awful1 more mysterious deities of the ,pelasgians1 and the holiest sanctuaries#acae were those which had been holy long before the intrusion of the ,achaean gods4 ,it was to this ,pelasgian element in ,hellenic religion that the doctrine of future rewards and punishments belonged2 for1 as we shall see more fully in the next chapter1 participation in the ,pelasgian mysteries of ,demeter at ,eleusis was held to be an earnest of future bliss1 from which the impure or uninitiated were excluded4 ,thus then there were two popular conceptions of the future life--the ,achaean conception of universal misery in a cold and gloomy under-world1 and the ,pelasgian conception which distinguished between the lots of the righteous and the unrighteous1 and held out to some men the promise of bliss4 ,now with the former conception1 as we have already seen1 the belief that the dead eagerly desired dissolution is utterly inconsistent2 none could be in haste to pass the gates of ,hades with the prospect of nothing but misery within4 ,but where there were hopes of happiness1 the eagerness for dissolution as a means of attaining thereto is at once intelligible4 ,this desire then1 which has constantly pervaded the mind of the ,greek people and has furnished the single motive of their funeral-rites down to the present day1 is of ,pelasgian origin2 and if ,homer borrowed it and incongruously combined it with a purely ,achaean presentation of the under-world1 we must no more judge of its real meaning by the ,homeric setting of it than we would form an opinion of the place of the ,erinyes or of ,demeter in ,greek religion by ,homer's occasional references to them4 ,the fact then that ,homer1 in accordance with the ,achaean religion1 considered the dissolution of the body to mean the annihilation of the body and represented the soul as alone entering into the lower world is wholly immaterial to the present enquiry4 ,it is the ,pelasgian conception of future bliss with which we are concerned2 for that alone can account for the eagerness of the dead to obtain dissolution4 ,what then are the blissful occupations of the righteous in the other world8 #8,some1' says ,pindar1 #8take their joy in horses and feats of prowess1 and others at the draught-board1 and others in the music of lutes4' ,clearly these dead are very different beings from the souls which peopled the ,homeric under-world4 ,athletics could be no pastime for feeble unsubstantial spirits2 the game of draughts would be ill suited to them that have no mind in them#acaf2 and those whose thin utterance is like the squeak#acag of a bat would get and give little pleasure by singing to the lute4 ,no2 the pursuits of the dead as depicted by ,pindar are the pursuits which men of flesh and blood enjoy2 and the abode in which they dwell1 the paradise of flowers and fruits and sweet odours1 is an abode to gladden men of flesh and blood4 ,but a people whose ideal of future bliss lay in bodily enjoyments cannot surely have looked forward to the annihilation of the body and the survival of the soul alone2 the joys which they anticipated hereafter presupposed the continuance of some kind of bodily existence4 ,such a notion moreover cannot but seem more in harmony with the whole spirit of the ,greek world than the ,homeric doctrine of the survival of the soul only4 ,a nation so conspicuous for their love of human beauty and their delight in the human form could not have viewed the extinction thereof with any feeling other than the most poignant regret--a feeling which1 as we know1 the ,homeric doctrine did actually inspire in those who accepted it4 ,the more thoughtful and hopeful religion of the ,pelasgians1 unless it had anticipated the philosophy of ,plato in decrying the body and exalting the soul--an idea of which there is no trace--was bound to give promise that body as well as soul should survive death and dissolution4 ,again it may fairly be claimed that in any religion of a profounder character than the ,achaean1 in any religion which contains some positive ideas of the future life and does not view it merely as the negation of the present life1 that which men hope to become in the future state is something more similar to the deity or deities in whom they believe4 ,their conception of godhead and their conception of their own condition after death are of necessity founded upon the same ideal of happiness--a happiness which the gods already enjoy and which men hope to share4 ,the ,buddhist looks forward to the day when he shall become like his deity--even one with his deity--clean from the grossness of matter1 free from bodily desires and necessities1 spirit unalloyed4 ,the ,christian believes in a ,god who became man and survived the death of man not in the form of a spirit only but with flesh and bones1 and he himself looks forward to the resurrection of the body4 ,socrates held that wisdom and goodness were one and pertained to the soul only1 and the ,god into whose presence his soul would pass after death was #8the good and wise ,god1' rightly called ,hades1 that is1 the invisible and spiritual1 with whom the soul has kinship#acah4 ,but what of the ordinary ,greek8 ,his gods were not invisible or spiritual4 ,pelasgian and ,achaean deities alike were beings of flesh and blood1 robust1 active1 sensuous2 they ate and drank1 they waked and slept1 they married1 they begot or bore children4 ,such was the ,greek's conception of godhead1 such his ideal of blessedness4 ,how then should he look forward to the annihilation of the body with any feeling but dismay8 ,how could his hopes of future bliss not involve of necessity a belief in the survival of both body and soul8 ,i suggest then that the dissolution of the body1 which the dead so eagerly desired1 far from being regarded as a final and complete severance of soul and body1 was in the ,pelasgian religion the means of their re-union in another world4 ,death was only a temporary severance of the two entities which together form a living man capable of enjoying physical pleasures4 ,the soul at the moment of death went down to the nether world in advance1 or1 it may be1 as is sometimes held by the peasants of modern ,greece#acai1 hovered about the body until its dissolution was complete4 ,but the dead body certainly remained in this world1 at the place where it lay evident to men's eyes2 it could not pass to the other world at once2 it could not ever pass thither without the assistance of friends still living2 it was too gross and too impotent1 bereft of the soul1 to make its own way to the home of the dead4 ,therefore upon the survivors was imposed the sacred charge of resolving it into elements more refined1 and of enabling it thus to pass out of human touch and sight to a home which the soul could reach unaided4 ,when this process was effected by inhumation1 the period of forty days required for complete dissolution was the critical period in the dead man's existence2 if the body was #8bound' and indissoluble for any cause and the soul re-entered it before the proper time1 the revenant was a pitiable wanderer1 sharing in the joys neither of this world nor of the next2 the mourners therefore took such measures as they could to prevent that calamity1 by entertaining the acquaintances of the dead man and prevailing upon them to revoke any curses wherewith he was bound1 and by laying in the dead man's mouth a charm which should bar the soul's re-entry4 ,when cremation was employed1 the dissolution of the body was more speedy and more sure2 and it is not therefore difficult to understand that the ,pelasgians1 conscious though they must have been that in religion they were as far in advance of the ,achaeans as in material civilisation they were behind1 should have early adopted the use of fire in the interests of the dead4 ,but no matter which rite was employed1 the ultimate effect was the same2 the heavy1 helpless corpse that had been laid upon the pyre or in the grave vanished1 and nought but the bones remained4 ,whither then had it vanished8 ,how had the visible become invisible8 ,surely by passing from this visible world to the world invisible4 ,there is nothing to suggest that this disappearance meant to the ,greeks annihilation2 that word indeed had no counterpart in their speech2 the strongest term of the ,greek language by which one might attempt1 and would still fail1 to render the word #8annihilate1' would be or 1 #8to make unseen4' ,and on the other hand their conception of future happiness in another world is positive evidence that they believed dissolution to mean not annihilation1 but the vanishing of the body to be re-united with the soul in the unseen world4 ,i am of course far from suggesting that these views which ,i have sketched formed a definite religious doctrine to which every ,greek would have subscribed4 ,no people have evinced greater liberty of thought on religious matters2 no people have been less hampered by hierarchical limitations and the claims of authority2 nowhere have wider divergences of religious opinion been tolerated2 nowhere else have the advocates of material philosophies and of spiritual philosophies been brought into sharper contrast and yet held in equal repute4 ,but it is not with the vagaries of individuals and the new departures of great thinkers that ,i am concerned2 my purpose is simply to trace the general trend of thought as regards the relation of body and soul after death among the mass of the ,greek people4 ,and in so doing ,i fully realise the danger of over-statement4 ,probably the mass of mankind in religious matters perform many acts without full consciousness of their motive2 they instinctively follow tradition without enquiring into the meaning and the mutual relation of the customs with which they comply2 and if ever they try to justify to their reason the acts to which instinct prompts them1 they may be at a loss to form a consistent theory out of the several motives which they would assign to the several acts4 ,if therefore ,i try not only to disengage from among the network of religious and philosophical speculation a thread of simple popular belief1 but also to present that thread unknotted and continuous1 ,i may be attempting that which the mass of the ,greek people seldom and with difficulty performed for themselves4 ,to enunciate as a doctrine that which may have been a subconscious or only partially realised belief--to present as a consistent theory ideas which1 separately apprehended1 formed the acknowledged motives of separate acts1 but whose mutual relations were seldom investigated--to formulate in words that which may have been no more than a vague aspiration of men's hearts--this is necessarily to over-state4 ,there lies the danger4 ,but for my part1 while admitting that in all probability there was among the ,greek people of old1 as among the ,greek people and others too to-day1 a large amount of unintelligent religion1 ,i claim that some such conception as ,i have outlined of the relation between soul and body and of their future existence is the only possible explanation of the manifold customs and beliefs relating to death and dissolution which have been discussed1 and fairly represents the general trend of thought among the inheritors of the ,pelasgian religion4 ,this conclusion is not a little strengthened by the evidence of a custom common to both ancient and modern ,greece1 which presupposes the continuance of physical desires and needs after death4 ,to make a present of food indicates a belief on the part of the donor that the recipient can eat2 to make a present of clothing implies a belief that the recipient has a body to be covered2 and it is these two things1 food and clothing1 the elementary requisites of living men1 which have most constantly been brought1 either at the time of the funeral or later1 as gifts to the dead4 ,other gifts there were also in different ages2 treasures of wrought gold for the princes of ,mycenae2 articles of the toilet for ,athenian ladies whose first care even beyond the grave would be their complexion2 toys for the children4 ,but while each grave that is opened may tell its own story1 humorous or pathetic1 of those tastes and pursuits of the occupant for which the same provision was made in the next world as in this1 it is in the supply of the common necessaries of all mankind that the popular ,greek notions concerning the dead are most clearly revealed2 for the custom has continued without intermission or sensible alteration down to this day4 ,in the ,mycenaean age the dead were supplied with a store of food at the time of the funeral1 but there is no evidence to show whether the gifts were renewed subsequently#acbj4 ,i incline to suppose that they were2 for the belief of later ages in some sort of bodily existence after death has already been traced back to the ,pelasgians2 and the custom of later ages therefore of continuing to supply the dead with bodily necessaries was probably derived from the same source4 ,but in any case the ,mycenaean custom of providing food for the dead at the time of the funeral is sufficient proof that the dead were thought to have bodily needs1 and therefore also bodily existence4 ,the ,achaeans of the ,homeric age seldom presented the dead man with gifts of food at the funeral1 and never apparently afterwards4 ,the only gift1 if such it can be called1 which was commonly burned along with the dead body was the warrior's own armour2 but it is so natural1 quite apart from any religious motive1 for a soldier's body to be laid out arrayed in its wonted accoutrements and to have1 as it were1 a military funeral1 that little importance can attach to it4 ,other gifts were rare4 ,the funeral of ,patroclus is quite exceptional1 and1 like the return of ,patroclus' soul with its urgent petition for burial1 seems wholly inconsistent with the ,homeric presentment of after-death existence4 ,the soul being doomed to a shadowy impotent semblance of life could have no part in physical needs or pleasures#acba4 ,nor does ,homer enlighten us as to the purpose of the abundant gifts1 which included not only food but slaughtered dogs and horses#acbb2 he speaks only of providing #8all that it beseemeth that a man should have when he goeth beneath the murky gloom#acbc4' ,indeed ,i question whether ,homer had any clear conception of their utility2 they seem rather to have been vaguely honorific2 and since the custom of making such gifts is neither usual in ,homer nor in harmony with his idea of future existence1 ,i hold it likely that once again he was drawing upon the ,pelasgian religion in order to give to the last rites of ,patroclus the maximum of splendour4 ,the ,dipylon-period puts an end to all uncertainty2 thenceforward down to the present day the ,greek custom of providing the dead with the necessaries of bodily life will be found to have been uniform and continuous4 ,there has been no interruption of the simple practice of providing the dead with food both at the time of the funeral and at stated intervals thereafter4 ,for the ,dipylon-period this has been proved by the contents of the graves and by the strata of burnt soil observed at ,eleusis#acbd above them4 ,the same phenomena continue to present themselves also in the case of later graves at ,athens1 certainly down to the third century ,b4,c41 and1 though any detailed description of graves of a still later date is hard to find1 the custom unquestionably still prevailed2 for literary evidence1 overlapping that of archaeology at the start1 carries on our knowledge of the custom into the ,christian era4 ,the ,choephori of ,aeschylus takes its very name from the practice of pouring wine or other beverages on the graves of the dead for them to consume2 and the word was specially applied to this kind of libation as opposed to the or wherewith gods were propitiated4 ,similarly the ,greek language possessed a special word for gifts of food 7or other perishable gifts such as flowers7 brought to the graves of the dead2 these were called in strict contrast with the sacrifices 71 etc47 by which gods were appeased#acbe4 ,these presents of food were regularly made on two occasions at least after the funeral2 there were the brought1 according to modern computation1 on the second day1 and the on the eighth day3 how regular was the custom of bringing them may be judged from the passing references of ,aristophanes#acbf1 ,isaeus#acbg1 and ,aeschines#acbh4 ,in addition to these two meals there were others either on the thirtieth day after the funeral or on the thirtieth of each month--for the interpretation to be put on the term #acbi seems doubtful--also #accj1 apparently a birthday-feast given to the dead1 and #acca to commemorate the anniversary of the death4 ,the exact details of date however are of minor importance2 the significant fact is this1 that at certain intervals after the well-known or funeral-feast1 held on the day of burial1 other meals were served to the dead2 and the ,greek words themselves corroborate the view that #8meals1' not #8sacrifices1' is the right term to use2 for as the funeral-feast is 1 so also the are called by ,artemidorus#accb not but 4 ,these meals1 being burnt over the place where the dead body lay1 or being deposited unburnt in some large vase set up at the head of the grave1 were thereby devoted to the use of the dead and became in that curious half-way sense between #8sacred' and #8accursed' for which our language has no equivalent save the imported word #8taboo'--objects devoted to a sacred purpose and bringing the curse of desecration on anyone who should pervert them to another use4 ,the ,greek language then was careful to mark the difference between gifts presented to the dead and propitiatory offerings made to the gods2 and the difference was observed1 not because the presents differed in kind1 but because the conceptions of their purposes were different4 ,the gods demanded sacrifices under pain of their displeasure2 the dead needed food as living men need it1 and their friends supplied it1 not in fear1 but in love4 ,these old pagan customs were at first discountenanced by the ,church#accc4 ,but the common people clung to them with great tenacity#accd1 and after a while they appear to have received even official encouragement2 for ,st ,anastasius ,sinaites1 bishop of ,antioch during the latter half of the sixth century1 enjoined the observance of them1 and in so doing used some of the old names by which the customs were known in pre-,christian times4 #8,perform1' he wrote1 #8the offices of the third day 77 for them that sleep1 with psalms and hymns1 because of him who rose from sleep on the third day1 and the offices of the ninth day 77 to remind those that yet live of them that have fallen asleep1 and the offices of the fortieth day according to the old law and form 7for even so did the people mourn for ,moses71 and the offices of the anniversary in memory of the dead1 with gifts from his substance to the poor as a remembrance of him#acce4' ,in this passage the cloak of ,christian decency which ,st ,anastasius provided does not entirely cover the nakedness of heathen superstition4 ,there is indeed much aetiological skill in the saint's manipulation of ,biblical references2 but the and practised in his day1 despite the addition of ,christian prayers and hymns1 were without doubt the same in essence as those to which ,aristophanes and others allude--meals provided for the dead2 for such indeed they still remain4 ,at the present day the funeral service usually concludes with a distribution of baked-meats and wine to the company assembled at the grave-side1 and a share of both is given to the dead4 ,in some districts this function means more than the serving of light refreshments1 and the grave-side becomes the scene of a substantial meal1 from which however meat is excluded2 for1 owing to ,christian ideas of fasting1 it is generally held to be #8spiritual' for the mourners to abstain from meat for the period of forty days4 ,it is to this meal at the graveside that the word seems to be properly applied1 in the sense of a #8feast of blessing1' and it obviously corresponds with the term 1 #8blessed1' which was in antiquity1 and still remains1 the ,greek equivalent of our #8deceased' or #8late4' ,subsequently1 in the evening after the funeral or even on two or three evenings thereafter1 the nearer friends and relatives of the dead assemble for another funeral-feast4 ,this meal1 which in ancient times was called the is now commonly known as the #accf or #8comforting4' ,it is held in the house of the nearest relative#accg1 as was done in the time of ,demosthenes#acch1 and its modern name seems to indicate that the #8consolation' of the bereaved is its chief purpose2 and certainly some temporary solace is on many such occasions poured into the mourners' breasts2 for the ,greek peasants1 always abstemious save on certain great festivals such as ,easter and these funeral-parties1 make no scruple of drinking and pressing their host to drink until a riotous cheerfulness prevails4 ,but though the feast is designed to assuage the grief of the living1 the dead are not forgotten2 for a special portion of food is often sent to the grave from the house of mourning before the guests of the evening arrive4 ,thus1 though the dead is not felt to have any part in the actual #8feast of comforting'--for this feast is really provided by the guests1 who bring their own contributions of food and wine1 while the host provides only the accommodation for the company#acci--yet the physical needs of the departed are satisfied on this first day beneath the earth in the same measure as when he was above ground4 ,two meals are provided1 one immediately after the funeral1 the other in the evening4 ,nor is the nature of this food lacking in interest4 ,locally indeed many varieties may be found1 the gifts including such ordinary comestibles as bread1 cheese1 olives1 caviare of the baser sort1 pilf 7the well-known ,turkish dish of which the main ingredients are rice and oil71 and probably indeed anything1 save meat1 which the peasant's larder can supply2 but the most generally approved viand is a specially baked flat cake spread with honey4 ,now it will be remembered that jars of honey were among the gifts of food on the pyre of ,patroclus#acdj1 but a more striking coincidence is to be found in ,aristophanes' mention of a or honey-cake in connexion with a funeral4 #8,what1' says ,lysistrata mockingly to the old deputy 771 #8what do you mean by not dying8 ,you shall have room to lie2 you can buy a coffin2 and ,i myself will knead you a honey-cake at once#acda4' ,from this passage it would appear that not only has the custom of providing food for the dead remained in force from very early days1 but even the kind of food has not changed in more than two thousand years4 ,the honey-cake1 though no longer known as 1 in reference to its chief attraction1 but #acdb1 #8soul-cake1' in reference to the occasion of its making1 is still apparently prepared according to a classical recipe1 and sweetness still gratifies the palate of the dead4 ,the dates subsequent to the funeral at which food is provided for the dead have already#acdc been mentioned4 ,where the custom is most fully observed1 these are the third1 sixth1 ninth1 and fortieth days1 the last days of the third1 sixth1 and ninth months1 and three anniversaries1 the last of the three being also usually the day for the exhumation of the bones4 ,but in many villages the custom is less extended1 and it is held sufficient to observe in this way the third1 ninth1 and fortieth days#acdd and the first anniversary4 ,this minimum of modern practice1 it will be observed1 is the exact tale of days recommended for observance by ,st ,anastasius1 and without doubt the sanction of the ,church has helped to preserve the custom4 ,the ,church likewise is wholly responsible for the name by which these days are known1 or #8memorial-feasts'2 and it would be wrong to infer therefrom that the peasants attach no meaning to these rites save that which the name #8memorial-feast' suggests4 ,rather it would seem that the ,church in permitting the continuance of a pagan custom tried to diminish its significance4 ,the words of ,st ,anastasius make it clear that such was his attitude4 ,he bids that the anniversary be observed #8in memory of the dead1 with gifts from his substance to the poor as a remembrance of him'2 and the repetition contained in the phrase shows in what aspect he wished the custom to be viewed4 ,but as a matter of fact the real purpose of the custom was not to keep green the memory of the dead by charitable distributions of his goods1 but partly1 as we have seen1 to induce those persons who were invited to the feast to forgive the dead man and to revoke any curses with which they had bound him1 and partly to minister to the dead man's own bodily needs2 and in spite of ecclesiastical influence to the contrary1 this twofold purpose is still generally recognised1 and that portion of the food which is not consumed by the company invited or by the priests1 but is actually left on the grave1 is honestly intended as nourishment for the dead body there interred4 ,this motive was fully appreciated by a ,french traveller of the seventeenth century2 describing these grave-side feasts1 he says1 #8,frequent presents of cakes1 wine1 rice1 fruits1 and other eatables1 decked out with flowers and ribbons1 are taken to the tomb4' ,there1 he continues1 the priest blesses the food and takes a good share of it1 and a feast is then held #8wherein they seek to make the dead man participate as well#acde4' ,thus even now1 after centuries of ,christianity1 there seems to be no change of feeling among the common-folk1 and their intention1 or one part of it1 is still best summed up in the phrase of ,euripides1 #8to render sustenance unto the dead#acdf4' ,the food proper to these meals subsequent to the day of the funeral is known as 4 ,it consists of grain1 usually wheat1 boiled whole1 and thus closely resembles the ,english #8frumenty4' ,it is sometimes garnished and made more palatable by the addition of sugar ornaments1 almonds1 raisins1 and pieces of pomegranate1 but the essential thing is boiled grain#acdg4 ,how the word obtained this meaning is not known to me#acdh2 but the food itself is quite probably a legacy from the ancient world4 ,the silicernium or funeral-feast of the ,romans took its name apparently from siliquae1 some kind of pulse1 which must therefore be supposed to have formed the chief dish2 and beans are at the present day an important part of the funeral-meats in ,sardinia#acdi4 ,it is not unlikely therefore that the use of boiled beans or grain in the service of the dead is an old custom common to the coasts of the ,mediterranean4 ,the honey-cake on the day of the funeral is of ancient prescription2 the boiled wheat on later occasions may equally well be so4 ,at any rate the principle of supplying the dead with meals both at the funeral and on certain fixed days thereafter remains absolutely unchanged1 and the custom is still understood to be a means of ministering to the bodily needs of the dead4 ,and as with the gifts of food1 the ancient 1 so also with the gifts of drink1 the ancient 4 ,it is on record that among the ,greeks of ,macedonia1 ,cappadocia1 and other outlying districts#acej1 the custom of pouring out red wine on the graves of the dead at the so-called memorial-feasts is still sedulously observed2 and though ,i have nowhere witnessed the practice1 ,i have been told on good authority that in ,aegina also and in some parts of ,crete it is in vogue4 ,for the use of water ,i can myself answer2 and it is not a little interesting to observe that while the dates on which food is set before the dead man have been somewhat conventionally limited in number1 water1 the prime necessary of life1 is often taken to the grave daily#acea up to the fortieth day4 ,again1 in the matter of providing clothing for the dead1 ancient practice is well known4 ,a store of raiment was buried with the dead1 and so great a store that it was necessary for ,solon to impose a legal limit by which three outer garments 77 were named as the maximum#aceb4 ,but this restriction applied only to the actual funeral1 and did not prohibit renewed gifts of clothing at subsequent dates4 ,to judge from a passage of ,thucydides1 this was an annual duty4 ,the ,plataeans1 in their appeal to the ,lacedaemonians for protection1 are made to plead their performance of this kindness as a claim upon ,spartan gratitude4 #8,turn your eyes1' they say1 #8to the tombs of your fathers1 who fell in the ,persian wars and were buried in our land4 ,year by year we were wont to do them honour at the public charge with gifts of clothing and all else that is customary#acec4' ,some vestiges of this custom remain to the present day4 ,the dead are commonly dressed in their best clothes for the lying-in-state and for the procession to the grave1 during which1 it must be remembered1 the body is always carried on an open bier1 exposed to view4 ,often too these clothes are buried with the dead2 but sometimes when1 as among the poorer peasant-women1 the richly-embroidered festival dress is too costly a thing thus to abandon1 and is handed down as an heirloom from mother to daughter1 the body is stripped at the grave-side of its fine array2 and indeed so far1 ,i am told1 has the custom degenerated in ,athens and some of the other towns1 that costumes of special magnificence may be hired from the undertakers and sent back from the churchyard to them4 ,in such cases the old meaning of the custom is lost1 and a vulgar desire for pomp and parade has taken its place4 ,but among the simpler folk of the country this is not the case2 for1 apart from the custom of burying the dead in their best clothes1 there is in the folk-songs mention of gifts of clothing and other necessaries of life sent by the hand of one recently dead to those who have gone before#aced4 ,it appears then that the ancient custom of providing for the bodily wants of the departed is still alive1 still significant2 and surely it is incredible that a people who for more than two thousand years have continued to resort to the graves in which the dead bodies of their friends are laid1 and there to set out meat and drink and clothing and other things suited to their erstwhile needs and pursuits1 could all along have believed that these gifts were vanity1 that the food could not strengthen1 the wine could not cheer1 the clothing could not warm the departed1 but that they lay henceforth cold1 tasteless1 insentient4 ,for if men had so believed1 then a custom1 not merely lacking the alliance of religious belief1 but standing in perpetual antagonism to it1 could not have held its ground1 as this custom has done1 century after century with vigour unabated4 ,rather the continuity of the custom might alone prove1 even if other considerations had not guided us to the same conclusion1 that the departed were held to possess a nature no less corporeal1 an existence no less material1 than that which belonged both to living men and to the gods whom they hoped to resemble even more closely hereafter4 ,the same food as men ate was offered to the gods in sacrifice that they too might eat2 why bring it to the dead1 if they had no power to eat8 ,the wine that men drank was poured out for the gods in libation1 that they too might drink2 why waste it upon the soil of the grave1 if the dead had no power to drink8 ,a robe such as ,athenian women wore was presented to ,athene year by year1 that she might wear it2 why furnish the dead with gifts of raiment1 if it must rot unworn8 ,it is impossible to evade the conclusion that the same bodily needs and propensities were ascribed by the ,greek folk to the departed as to living men and to deathless gods4 ,thus then the people of ,greece are shown to have pursued constantly two aims in their treatment of the dead--to ensure the dissolution of the body1 and also to provide the body with the necessaries of existence4 ,unless therefore anyone is prepared to suppose that the ,greek people have been constantly actuated by two conflicting motives1 the desire to annihilate and the desire to keep alive1 dissolution cannot have meant to them annihilation1 but rather a modification of the conditions of bodily existence2 and that modification can only have meant that the existence of the body in this world indeed ended--for the substance laid in the grave vanished--but continued in another world4 ,but if bodily existence continued in that other world whither the soul too sped1 the body and the soul having reached the same place would surely not be imagined to remain separate1 but to be re-united4 ,the eagerness for dissolution meant therefore eagerness for the re-union of body and soul4 ,and there is a good means of testing the popular belief even as regards this last step4 ,if the body and soul were really believed to be re-united as soon as dissolution was complete1 the dead man in the lower world would assuredly be as well able to take care of himself as he had been while dwelling in this world1 and the obligation of his relatives to provide him with food would cease1 although of course they might1 voluntarily and without any compulsion of duty1 continue their gifts#acee4 ,but it would be at any rate permissible1 on this theory1 to discontinue all care for the dead when once his body was no longer helpless but restored to its activity by re-union with the soul2 and it is to be expected that the ,greek people should sometimes avail themselves of the exemption from the task of feeding and otherwise tending the dead4 ,such action would be the natural outcome of the belief that dissolution meant the re-union of body and soul2 and if ,i can show that such action has been or is commonly taken1 the existence of the belief will have borne the best test1 the demonstration of a custom arising from it4 ,the period required for dissolution1 according to common belief1 is either forty days or three years--the former being the really popular period1 while the latter was fixed indeed by the ,church but in many districts has been popularly accepted4 ,hence1 if my views are correct1 the meals provided for the dead and all other marks of care ought to cease sometimes at the fortieth day and sometimes at the third anniversary4 ,as regards the present time1 ,i do not know of any place1 though it would not surprise me to hear of one1 in which the so-called memorial feasts are discontinued after the fortieth day2 but ,i have already cited evidence to show that the memorial-feasts of later date are definitely ecclesiastical in origin1 and even retain to this day in one district a distinctly ecclesiastical tone#acef4 ,therefore before a necessitous priesthood had succeeded in extending the custom1 the ministration to the bodily wants of the dead clearly did cease when dissolution was popularly supposed to be complete4 ,this conclusion is fortified by a most striking piece of evidence4 ,the priests' interest has naturally been limited to the food and wine supplied to the dead2 for a supply of water they have not been dependent upon the perquisites of their office4 ,hence it comes that the water1 which1 as ,i noted above1 is often supplied to the dead day by day1 without any accompanying provision of food1 ceases to be brought after the fortieth day4 ,the wants of the dead man have been assiduously satisfied until1 in popular reckoning1 his dissolution is complete1 and ecclesiastical influence has had no motive for encouraging a longer continuance of the custom so far as water is concerned4 ,the fortieth day then was without doubt the old popular limit of the time during which the supply of all kinds of provision was obligatory4 ,nowadays1 on the contrary1 the presents of food to the dead are generally continued up to the third anniversary1 when exhumation takes place4 ,then1 if the evidence of men's eyes assures them that dissolution has been duly effected--that the body is gone and only the white bones remain--there is no further thought or provision for the dead2 but in the rare cases in which the disintegration of the corpse is not yet complete1 the relatives are not freed from their obligations4 ,i witnessed a remarkable case of this kind at ,leondi on the east coast of ,laconia4 ,two graves had just been opened when ,i arrived1 and the utmost anxiety prevailed because in both cases there was only partial decomposition--in one case so little that the general outline of the features could be made out--and it was feared that one or both of the dead persons had become vrykolakes4 ,the remains1 when ,i saw them1 had been removed to the chapel attached to the burial-ground4 ,meanwhile the question was debated as to what should be done with them4 ,dissolution must be effected both in the interests of the dead themselves and in those of the whole community4 ,extraordinary measures were required4 ,the best measure--,i am reporting what ,i actually heard--the best measure next to prayer 7which had been tried without effect7 was to burn the remains1 and the bolder spirits of the village counselled this plan2 but this would have been a breach of law and order1 and the authorities of the place would have none of it4 ,the priest proposed re-interment2 but here the relatives objected4 ,they had had trouble enough and expense enough2 they had kept #8the unsleeping lamp' burning at the grave1 and had provided all the memorial feasts2 they would not consent to re-inter the body and to be at the same charge for an indefinite time1 without knowing when the corpse might be properly #8loosed' and their tendance of it over4 ,they would find some way of dissolving it1 and that speedily4 ,and so indeed they did2 and ,i1 for a short time1 was a spectator of the scene4 ,on the floor of the chapel there were two large baskets containing the remains2 there were men seated beside them busy with knives2 and there were women kneeling at wash-tubs and scouring the bones that were handed to them with soap and soda4 ,the work continued for two days4 ,at the end of that time the bones were shown white and clean4 ,all else had disappeared--had probably been burnt in secret1 but the secret was kept close4 ,it was therefore claimed and allowed that dissolution was complete4 ,the attitude adopted by the relatives on this occasion makes it perfectly clear that all the care expended on the dead is obligatory up to the time of dissolution1 but no longer4 ,so long as the fleshly substance remains in this world1 provision of food must be made for it2 when it has disappeared and only the bones are left1 the departed cease to be dependent upon their surviving relatives1 and no further anxiety is felt for their welfare4 ,nor must it be supposed that the cleaning and whitening of the bones in the case which ,i have described had anything to do with a desire to preserve the bones as relics of the dead4 ,such a custom is indeed well known in ,greek monasteries2 at ,megasplaeon1 for instance1 the wealthiest and most famous monastery of ,greece proper1 there is an ossuary in which the monks take great pride4 ,on one side1 ranged against the wall1 stands a large triangular heap of skulls2 the opposite wall is decorated with cleverly-designed geometrical figures carried out in other bones2 while in a corner perhaps may be seen a basket or two full of material awaiting the decorator's convenience4 ,my guide1 ,i remember1 pointed out to me the skulls of many of the distinguished monks of past time1 and indicated with great satisfaction the spot which he had bespoken for his own4 ,but the usage of monastic bodies has in truth little bearing upon the popular semi-pagan beliefs and customs2 the practice of storing up the bones of members of a religious order in an ossuary is more closely akin to the old custom of preserving relics of saints and martyrs2 it is to the usage of the common-folk in such matters that we must look4 ,and what do they do with the white or whitened bones8 ,they throw them away and expend no more care upon them4 ,at ,leondi itself1 close beside the fenced-in burial-ground1 but unprotected from the intrusion of man or beast1 there is a square open pit into which the bones of many generations have been tipped like rubbish1 lying at random in confusion as they fell4 ,nor is this a solitary case4 ,in far-away ,sciathos ,i recall the same scene as at ,leondi--a chapel set on a wooded hill1 the churchyard about it neatly kept and the graves of the recently buried well-tended1 but just beyond its precincts a rough hole in the ground open to sun and rain1 and #8some two fathoms of bones1' as a peasant said jestingly1 lying in neglect and disarray4 ,these pits1 which are to be seen throughout ,greece1 are indeed dignified by the ,church with the name of cemeteries 7#aceg72 but they command no respect on the part of the peasant4 ,he will cross himself as he passes chapel or enters churchyard1 but he will jest over the depository of outcast bones4 ,in a word1 when it is seen that every trace of the dead body save only the white bones has disappeared1 the common-folk exchange their extraordinary devotion to the duties of tending the dead for a total unconcern4 ,and the reason for this can only be that the dead body no longer lies helpless and dependent for its existence upon the sustenance which they from time to time provide1 but has vanished to a land where1 re-united with the soul1 it regains its activity and independence4 ,such1 ,i believe1 is the trend of religious thought which1 almost insensibly1 has guided the actions of the ,greek people from the ,pelasgian age until now in their treatment of the dead2 the benefit which they have sought to confer upon the dead by the dissolution of their bodies has been the re-union of body with soul and the resumption of that active bodily life which death had for a time suspended4 ,,footnotes3 #abib ,plato1 ,phaedo #aae ,c ff4 #abic ,hom4 ,il4 ,,xxiii4 #fe ff4 #abid ,hom4 ,il4 ,,xxiii4 #gb4 #abie ,cf4 the constant contrast of and 1 as in ,iliad ,i4 #c-d1 and twice in the passage before us1 ,il4 ,,xxiii4 #fe f4 and #ajf f4 #abif ,hom4 ,od4 ,,xi4 #dhi ff4 #abig ,hom4 ,il4 ,,xvi4 #heg4 #abih ,the few inconsistencies in the ,odyssey1 such as the physical punishment of ,tityos1 ,tantalos1 and ,sisyphos 7,od4 ,,xi4 #egf ff471 or again the mention of the #8asphodel mead' 7,od4 ,,xi4 #eci1 ,,xxiv4 #ac71 are unimportant4 ,they are1 ,i think1 adventitious ,pelasgian elements in the ,homeric scheme of the future life1 and it may be noted that the ,iliad is singularly free from them1 while in ,odyssey1 ,bk ,,xi41 where they chiefly occur1 they are obviously incongruous with the general conception of the lower world4 #abii ,see above1 p4 #ii4 #acjj ,pindar1 ,fr4 #abi 7#ie74 #acja ,see above1 p4 #cde4 #acjb 1 1 p4 #djg ff4 #acjc 4 4 #aa 7#be72 ,migne1 ,patrolog4 7ser4 ,graec47 ,vol4 ,,xciv4 p4 #iaf4 #acjd ,plutarch1 de occult4 viv4 cap4 #g1 cited by ,bergk in ,lyrici ,graeci1 ad loc4 #acje ,pind4 ,ol4 ,,ii4 #acd4 #acjf ,pind4 ,ol4 ,i4 #a4 #acjg 4 #acjh ,cf4 ,theodore ,bent1 ,the ,cyclades1 p4 #bbj4 #acji ,this is of course only one out of several passages in which ,pindar speaks of the future life1 and he does not adhere to any one doctrine2 elsewhere1 as in ,ol4 ,,ii41 his views are coloured largely by ,pythagorean or ,orphic eschatology1 although there is a close resemblance between the isles of the blest there described 7#abf-ace7 and the abode depicted in this fragment4 #acaj ,hom4 ,il4 ,,ix4 #fcb ff4 #acaa ,herod4 ,,ii4 #ea4 #acab ,herod4 ,,ii4 #aga4 #acac ,aristoph4 ,frogs1 #hhd4 #acad ,op4 cit4 #ajcb ff4 #acae ,a conspicuous example is ,delphi1 where the ,achaean god ,apollo had usurped the place of some oracular deity of the ,pelasgians1 cf4 ,plutarch1 de defect4 orac4 cap4 #ae p4 #dah4 ,see ,miss ,harrison1 ,proleg4 to the ,study of ,greek ,religion1 pp4 #aac f4 #acaf ,il4 ,,xxiii4 #ajd4 #acag ,il4 ,,xxiii4 #aja4 #acah ,plato1 ,phaedo1 cap4 #bi 7p4 #hj ,d74 #acai ,cf4 4 4 1 1 p4 #cda4 #acbj ,rohde 7,psyche ,i4 cap4 #a7 contends that the discovery of an altar1 of the type used in the worship of ,chthonian deities1 superimposed upon one ,mycenaean grave1 proves both that offerings to the dead were continued after the interment and also that the offerings were of a propitiatory character4 ,on this slight foundation he rears the edifice of his theory that a vigorous soul-cult flourished in ,mycenaean and earlier ages4 ,accordingly he views all gifts to the dead1 including those made at the time of the funeral1 as offerings intended to propitiate departed souls1 although he is forced to admit that from the ,homeric age onwards there is no evidence that fear of the dead was a feature of ,greek religion2 the offerings made1 on his view1 to the soul of ,patroclus were merely1 he holds1 a #8survival1' a custom no longer possessed of any meaning4 ,the accident of an altar belonging to some ,chthonian deity having been found above the grave of some man seems to me insufficient basis for any theory4 #acba ,the blood which in the ,odyssey is used to attract the souls of the dead and is given to ,teiresias to drink forms1 ,i imagine1 part of a magic rite1 which has no connexion with the present point4 #acbb ,i omit the twelve ,trojan prisoners2 the slaughter of these is clearly stated to have been an act of revenge4 ,see ,il4 ,,xxiii4 #bb f4 #acbc ,il4 ,,xxiii4 #ej4 #acbd 1 in 4 #ahhi1 p4 #ahc4 ,possibly also at ,athens1 cf4 ,brckner and ,pernice1 in ,athen4 ,mittheil4 #ahic1 pp4 #hi-ij4 #acbe ,i am not overlooking the fact that were also made to ,chthonian deities 7cf4 ,pausan4 ,,viii4 #cd4 #c71 but there was a distinction in character even between these and those made to the dead4 ,wine1 for example1 was excluded from the former and included in the latter4 ,possibly in origin was the ,pelasgian rite1 the ,achaean4 #acbf ,lysist4 #faa4 #acbg ,menecl4 #df and ,ciron #ee 7p4 #gc4 #bf74 #acbh ,ctesiphon1 #bbf 7p4 #hf4 #e74 #acbi ,pollux ,,viii4 #adf2 ,harpocrat4 s4v4 4 #accj ,herod4 ,,iv4 #bf4 #acca ,artem4 ,oneirocr4 ,,iv4 #hc4 #accb loc4 cit4 #accc ,bingham1 ,antiq4 of ,christian ,church1 ,bk #bc1 cap4 #c4 #accd ,see ,chrysostom1 ,homily #dg in #a ,cor41 p4 #efe4 #acce ,anastasius1 ,quaestio ,,xxii41 in ,migne1 ,patrolog4 ,graeco-,lat4 ,vol4 ,,lxxxix4 #bhh4 #accf ,known also as 7#8the warming'7 according to ,bybilakis1 ,neugriech4 ,leben1 p4 #fg4 #accg ,according to ,bybilakis1 loc4 cit41 in the dead man's house4 ,this1 naturally1 would be the usual case4 #acch p4 #cba4 #be4 #acci ,hence it is probable that the ancient also was conducted on the principle of the 4 #acdj ,hom4 ,il4 ,,xxiii4 #agj4 ,cf4 also the use of 1 ,hom4 ,od4 ,,xi4 #bg1 and ,eur4 ,or4 #aae4 ,cf4 also ,aesch4 ,pers4 #fad4 #acda ,ar4 ,lys4 #eii ff4 #acdb ,in some villages of ,chios1 the diminutive or a word is used 74 1 1 p4 #ccg74 ,the commoner form is that of ,crete 7cf4 ,bybilakis1 op4 cit4 p4 #fi71 ,kasos1 and other ,asiatic islands 71 ' 1 p4 #ag7 etc4 #acdc ,see above1 pp4 #dhf-g4 #acdd ,called respectively 1 1 and 4 #acde ,sonnini de ,magnoncourt1 ,voyage en ,grce et en ,turquie1 ,vol4 ,,ii4 p4 #aec4 #acdf ,eur4 ,or4 #aji4 #acdg ,cf4 ,suidas s4v4 1 4 ,the spelling with is preferable4 #acdh ,the classical meaning of was #8small coins4' ,the scholiast on ,aristoph4 ,plut4 #gfh mentions among the thrown over a new slave on his introduction to the household4 ,these consisted mainly of sweetmeats1 etc4 7cf4 op4 cit4 #gih7 whence apparently ,hesychius 7s4v4 7 explains that word by 4 ,more probably small coins were thrown along with various sweetmeats2 for the kindred custom of throwing over a bride on her entry into her new home has continued down to the present day1 and these certainly now comprise small change as well as sticky edibles4 #acdi ,gregorovius1 ,wanderings in ,corsica1 etc4 7tr4 ,muir71 ,,ii4 p4 #df4 #acej 1 ' 1 p4 #ag4 4 4 1 1 p4 #ib4 #acea ,cf4 ,bybilakis1 ,neugriechisches ,leben1 p4 #fg4 #aceb ,plutarch1 ,vita ,solon4 cap4 #ba4 #acec ,thucyd4 ,,iii4 #eh4 #d4 #aced ,see above1 p4 #cde4 #acee ,this occurred in old time in the case of heroes1 whose offerings are called and 1 like those of other dead men2 but since the state and not the individual provided for them1 the gifts were made not for a time only1 but regularly year after year4 #acef ,see above1 pp4 #dhg f4 #aceg ,as opposed1 in correct speech1 to 1 the place of preliminary interment4 ,but the two terms are often confused4 ,,chapter ,,vii4 ,,the ,,union ,,of ,,gods ,,and ,,men4 ,the similitude of death with sleep is an idea of ancient date and of wide distribution1 which for many of mankind1 whatever be the creed professed1 has mitigated the fears or lightened the uncertainties which attach to the cessation of this life4 ,adopted by the founder of the ,christian religion as an illustration of the doctrine that men #8shall rise again with their bodies1' the thought has become a part of the heritage of ,christendom1 and in our own language the word #8cemetery' bears testimony to it4 ,but the idea had been evolved by pagan thought long centuries before the dawn of ,christianity1 and probably enough by the thinkers and poets of many nations independently one of another4 ,in the oldest literature of ,greece we meet with the thought already fully developed and evidently familiar4 #8,to sleep an iron slumber#aceh' is already in ,homeric language a simple and natural synonym for #8to die'2 and so too we are told that in the far off golden age men #8died as it were overborne by sleep#acei4' ,and in yet plainer terms1 where ,death and ,sleep are personified1 they are spoken of as twin brethren#acfj1 the children of ,night#acfa4 ,this conception seems too to have been a favourite in art#acfb1 and provided one of the scenes on the renowned chest of ,cypselus#acfc4 ,when we turn to the folk-songs of the present day1 we cannot of course hope to find the imagery of ,death and ,sleep pourtrayed as infants sleeping in the lap of ,night1 nor indeed1 so far as ,i know1 are they even described as brothers2 for the personification of them by the modern peasants is rare4 ,but the old resemblance between them is still recognised1 and1 quite apart from ,christian influence1 the thought finds natural expression in those largely pagan improvisations of mourning in which the name of ,charon is to be heard more frequently than the name of ,god4 ,it will suffice to quote but one stanza from one of the most simple and touching of these funeral-songs3 ' 1 1 1 1 #acfd4 ,not dead lies the maiden1 ,doubt not1 but behold her1 ',tis sleep doth enfold her ,in slumber profound4 ,now this idea1 born in some long-forgotten pagan age1 fostered by ,homer and ,hesiod and no less tenderly by the ,christian ,church1 familiar to every ,greek mind for full three thousand years1 harmonizes well with the belief that body as well as soul survives death4 ,beyond the superficial resemblance in the inert figures of the dead man laid out for burial and of one who sleeps soundly1 there was another and profounder resemblance in the manner of their waking to fresh activity1 the one in this world1 the other in the under-world4 ,homer1 with his belief that the soul alone1 survives1 notes only the first resemblance4 ,the twofold property of laying men to sleep and of raising them therefrom resided fitly in the wand of ,hermes the escorter of the dead2 but though he escorted men's souls to the house of ,hades and might at will summon their souls thence#acfe1 there is no suggestion of a bodily awakening from the sleep of death4 ,but ,virgil1 even in his close imitation of ,homer1 adds to the ,homeric description of ,hermes' wand one phrase of his own4 #8,therewith doth he summon forth from ,orcus the pale spirits of the dead1 and others doth he send down to gloomy ,tartarus2 therewith he giveth sleep and taketh it away'--so far does ,virgil follow ,homer1 but he adds--#8and unsealeth men's eyes from death#acff4' ,the ,homeric picture is enriched by a new thought1 foreign to the ,achaean religion but proper to that other belief which inspired ,pindar's description of the future life1 the thought that after death and dissolution1 men's eyes should open upon a brighter world and a life of renewed bodily activity4 ,such was the thought with which the pagans of ancient ,greece had comforted themselves long before ,christianity availed itself of the same imagery4 ,but the ,hellenic religion went yet further1 and found in this thought not only peace and contentment but vivid joy4 ,the sleep of death was the means whereby men should attain to closer communion with their gods4 ,the grave was a bed1 but a bed of delight rather than of rest1 a bridal bed4 ,they should not sleep alone1 but in the very embrace of the gods to whom in this life they had striven to draw nigh4 ,the darkness of the tomb was but the wedding-night4 ,full union in the other world should be the consummation of partial communion in this4 ,the marriage of men with their gods was the ideal to which ,greek piety dared aspire4 ,such an ideal may well seem bold even to the verge of impious presumption4 ,but ,greek religion1 even in its highest developments1 was the natural and spontaneous expression of the beliefs and hopes of a whole people2 it differed from all the great religions of the modern world in having no founder4 ,great teachers no doubt arose1 as ,orpheus or ,pythagoras1 who influenced the course of religious thought2 but they were not the founders of new religions4 ,the old self-grown faiths of the people were the stocks upon which they grafted1 as it would seem1 even their new doctrines2 they founded schools indeed1 but schools which did not sever themselves from the received religion and become sects4 ,the ,orphic mysteries differed so little from the old ,pelasgian mysteries of ,eleusis that ,orpheus was sometimes even reputed to be their founder too2 yet1 as we shall see1 the ,eleusinian rites were merely one presentment of a conception common to the whole ,greek people4 ,if then this ideal of marriage between men and gods in the future life was no invented or imported doctrine1 but simply the highest development of purely popular aspirations towards close communion with the gods1 its audacity is less surprising4 ,from time immemorial down to this day#acfg ,greece has had its popular stories of nuptial union even in this life between gods and mortal women1 between goddesses and mortal men2 and educated ,greeks1 who could not credit such occurrences in their own times1 might well believe that a joy1 which had been granted to the brave men and fair women of a former and better age even during their life-time upon earth1 was still reserved for the righteous in the world to come4 ,pausanias tells us with a wonderful simplicity that in his time owing to the increase of iniquity in all the world no one was changed from a man into a god1 and that the wrath of the gods against the unrighteous was laid up against the time when they should quit this earth#acfh4 ,if then there was believed to be a postponement of punishment for those who offended the gods1 there might well be a reservation of blessedness for those who pleased them4 ,it would have imposed no strain upon the faith of such as ,pausanias to look forward to the enjoyment in a future life of the same bliss as had been enjoyed in old time upon earth by men #8who by reason of their uprightness and piety sat at the same hospitable board as gods1 and whom the gods openly visited with honour for their goodness even as they visited the wicked with their displeasure#acfi1' men who1 as many an old legend told1 had shared not the board only but even the bed of deities4 ,this curious ,greek conception of death as a form of marriage was first borne in upon me by the funeral-dirges of the modern peasants4 ,examples may be found in any collection of ,greek folk-songs4 ,the actual expression of the thought varies considerably1 but it would probably be hard to find in ,greece any professional mourner in whose elaborations the idea did not occupy an important place4 ,it is utilised with equal frequency in regard to persons of either sex1 whether married or unmarried at the time of death4 ,the two following specimens from ,passow's collection are fairly representative4 #8,ah me6 ah me6 the hours of youth and days all past and over1 ,haply shall they return again1 those hours of youth regretted8' #8,nay when the crow dons plumage white1 when crow to dove is changd1 ,then only shall they come again1 those hours of youth lamented4' #8,oh fare ye well1 high mountain-tops and fir-trees rich in shadow1 ,for ,i must go to marry me1 to take a wife unto me2 ,the black earth for my wife ,i take1 the tombstone as her mother ,and yonder little pebbles all her brethren and her sisters#acgj4' ,here evidently we have the funeral-dirge of an old man1 and1 as is usual in these poems1 a large part of the words are put into his mouth4 ,in this fragment the first two lines are the dead man's complaint1 the next two are an answer returned to him1 and then again he takes up his parable4 ,the second example which ,i will give is from a lamentation for a young girl4 ,the first few lines are addressed by the father and mother to their dead child1 and with a quaint directness contrast the gloom of the lower world with the simple joys of a peasant's life here above2 while the last three lines are an answer put into the dead girl's mouth4 #8,dear child1 there where thou purposest to hie thee down1 in ,hades1 ,there1 sure1 no cock doth ever crow1 nor hen is heard a-clucking1 ,there is no spring of water found1 nor grass in meadows growing4 ,art hungered8 nought thou tastest there2 athirst8 there nought thou drinkest2 ,would'st lay thee down and take thy rest8 of sleep no fill thou takest4 ,then stay1 dear child1 in thine own house1 stay then with thine own kindred4' #8,nay1 ,i may not1 dear father mine and mother deep-beloved1 ,yesterday was my marriage-day1 late yestere'en my wedding1 ,hades ,i for my husband have1 the tomb for my new mother#acga4' ,in this dirge1 it may be noticed1 there is no complaint on the part of the dead girl2 the lamentation and the gloomy description of ,hades are assigned to her parents4 ,and indeed her reply is1 ,i think1 intended to be by way of consolation4 ,it is true that she does not deny their cheerless prognostications nor attempt to paint a brighter picture of the nether world1 but she represents her death as no greater breaking of old ties than is marriage2 at an actual marriage indeed the same kind of distressful presages are chanted by the girl's companions1 and even the bride herself is bound by propriety to exhibit a sullen and regretful demeanour4 ,very true of ,greek marriages and of ,greek funerals is the proverb1 ' ' #acgb1 #8,mourning hath its mirth and joy its tears4' ,but the consolatory tone is far more pronounced in some other passages from the same collection4 ,a good example is found in the message which a ,klepht--one of those patriot-outlaws who struggled against ,turkish domination--is made to send1 as he lies dying1 to his mother3 #8,go1 tell ye now my mother dear1 my mother sore-afflicted1 ,ne'er to await me home again1 ne'er to abide my coming2 ,yet tell her not that ,i am slain1 tell her not ,i am fallen2 ,nay1 tell her then that ,i am wed--wed in these wilds so weary4 ,the black earth for my wife ,i took1 the hard rock my bride's mother1 ,and all the little pebbles here ,i took for my new kindred#acgc4' ,the feeling displayed in these lines 7which are credited by ,passow to the town of ,livadia 77 in ,boeotia7 finds closely similar expression in a recently-published ,macedonian folk-song4 ,the latter however is not a mere copy of the former4 ,its metre is different1 and further it is a folk-song of the romantic order1 whereas the lines which ,i have quoted belong to an historical ballad4 ,a youth is lowered by his brothers1 so runs the story1 into a well to get water for them1 but the well proves to be haunted by a snake-like monster 7#acgd7 from whom they try in vain to rescue him4 ,in this plight he cries to them3 #8,oh leave me1 brothers1 leave me1 go ye on your way1 ,and say not to my mother dear that ,i am dead1 ,but tell her1 brothers1 tell her how that ,i am wed2 ,the black earth for my wife ,i took1 the tombstone my bride's mother1 ,and all these little blades of grass her brethren and her sisters#acge4' ,even more remarkable in its total absence of grief is a fragment given by ,passow under the title of #8the ,wedding in ,hades4' ,the lamentation--for technically at least the poem falls into the class of #8dirges'--is sung by a mother for her son1 and she speaks of her own mother1 who is already dead and in the nether world1 as making preparation for the boy's wedding in ,hades4 #8,my mother maketh glad to-day1 she maketh my son's wedding1 ,she goeth for water to the springs1 for snow unto the mountains1 ,to fruit-wives in their garden-plots for apples and for quinces4 8,ye springs10 she saith1 8give water cool1 and give me snow1 ye mountains1 ,ye fruit-wives in your garden-plots1 give apples and give quinces4 ,for unto me a dear one comes down from the world above us2 ,not from a strange land cometh he1 nor from among strange people1 ,he is the child of mine own child1 right dear and deep-beloved40#acgf' ,from these passages and from many others conceived in the same spirit it will readily be seen that the thought of death as a kind of marriage1 however mystical it may seem to us1 is familiar to the modern ,greek peasants4 ,nor has that thought become crystallised into a set form of words to be repeated without heed or understanding of their meaning4 ,the very variety of treatment given to the idea proves that we are not dealing with a mere traditional expression or unmeaning commonplace1 but with a vital belief still capable of stirring the ballad-maker's imagination4 ,further it is this thought which almost alone strikes a note of cheerfulness and of hope in the popular dirges4 ,the usual picture of the lower world is nothing but gloom and despair4 ,it is a place of darkness on which the sun never shines1 a place of ice and snow1 and full of cob-webs4 ,there are no churches there with bright golden icons2 no quoits for the young men to throw2 no looms for the women to ply4 ,hunger is not appeased1 thirst not quenched1 and sleep is denied4 ,all is mourning and regret for the warm stirring life of the upper world1 and anxious fears for wife or children left behind4 ,happy those who are allowed even to taste of the river of death1 and to forget their homes and orphaned little ones4 ,thus with strange medley of ancient and modern is the dirge-singer wont to describe that lower world to which all the dead without distinction go4 ,yet even into these dirges1 which--in order to excite the mourners to wilder displays of grief--purposely emphasize the gloomiest aspects of death1 there is allowed to enter the one cheering thought that the departed for whom lamentation is made is not dead nor yet fallen on eternal sleep1 but wedded in a new world2 and it is worthy of notice that it is with this thought that many of the dirges end1 as if this one consolation and hope were designed to assuage the pangs of sorrow which the first part of the dirge had excited4 ,thus a brief study of the modern ,greek dirges reveals to us the curious fact that a mystic conception of death is widely prevalent among the simple-minded peasants of ,greece1 and that1 with all their navet in pourtraying the horrors of the lower world1 it is from a recondite doctrine that they draw consolation4 ,how came they to be the stewards of a doctrine so strange1 so remote from the primitive simplicity of their ordinary life8 ,once more we must look back to a pre-,christian antiquity1 and seek again in ,greek ,tragedy the evidence of popular belief4 ,just as ,aeschylus above all others has preserved to us the awful doctrine of future retribution for the deadly sin of blood-guilt1 so from ,sophocles we may learn the more comfortable doctrine that death1 while it involves a parting from friends in this upper world1 is also the means of drawing nearer1 in an union as it were of wedlock1 to the denizens of the lower world4 ,the locus classicus for this conception is the ,antigone4 ,throughout the latter part of that play1 when once the doom of ,antigone has been pronounced1 the thought of her death as a wedding1 and of the rock-hewn tomb where she is to be immured as a bridal-chamber1 finds repeated and emphatic expression4 ,of course it may be said that ,antigone was the promised bride of ,haemon1 and that the poet in speaking of her tomb as a bridal-chamber was seeking to accentuate the pathetic contrast between her hopes and her destiny4 ,that is true2 but perhaps it is not the whole truth2 perhaps ,sophocles rather utilised the evident pathos of the situation for the purpose of covert allusion to doctrines which were in themselves unspeakable1 such as ,herodotus would have passed over with the words 4 ,for we must not forget that the majority of an ,athenian audience1 initiated as they naturally would be in the ,eleusinian mysteries1 were familiar with religious teachings of which none might make explicit mention in the pages of literature open to the profane1 but at which a poet might well hint in words which beneath their superficial meaning hid a truth intelligible to such as had ears to hear4 ,aeschylus indeed had once ventured too far in his allusions to the mysteries#acgg2 but there is no improbability1 or rather there is on that account an increased probability1 in the supposition that a discreet and veiled allusion to unspeakable doctrines was permitted to the ,tragic poet4 ,let us turn to the actual passages of the ,antigone4 ,the first suggestion of the thought comes ironically enough1 though it is but a faint suggestion1 from the lips of ,creon1 who to ,ismene's exclamation1 8,wilt thou indeed bereave thine own son of her80 retorts 8',tis ,hades' part to arrest this wedding#acgh40 ,the thought is taken up later by the ,chorus1 who1 after their hymn in honour of unconquerable ,love1 revert to words of pity for the woman there before them1 and tell how they can no longer check the founts of tears1 when they behold ,antigone drawing near to #8the bed-chamber where all must sleep' 7 7#acgi4 ,here the expression of the idea is becoming plainer1 and it is no accident that the word 1 so commonly used of the bride-chamber1 is here selected4 ,but yet clearer words are to follow2 for ,antigone herself1 in response to these words of compassion from the ,chorus1 interprets more boldly that at which they hint4 #8,me doth ,hades1 with whom all must sleep1 bear off yet alive to ,acheron's shore1 me that have had no part in wedlock1 whose name hath never rung forth in bridal hymn1 but 'tis ,acheron ,i shall wed#achj4' ,nor does this clear pronouncement stand alone2 thrice more1 as the play advances1 the same thought is echoed in unmistakeable tones4 ,first comes the opening of that half impassioned1 half sophistic1 speech of ,antigone1 from which some critics would delete her argumentative estimate of a brother's claims as against those of a husband2 but the removal of those lines would still leave intact that outburst1 #8,oh tomb1 oh bride-chamber1 oh cavernous abode of everlasting durance#acha4' ,and then again in the speech of the messenger1 who bears tidings of the fate of both ,antigone and her lover1 the same thought is pressed upon us with double insistence4 ,first he tells how1 having given ,polynices his full rites of burial1 they turned to go next #8unto the vaulted chamber where on couch of rock the maiden should be wed with ,hades' 7 71 and from afar is heard the voice of loud lament beside #8the bridal chamber unhallowed by funeral rites' 7 #achb74 ,and later in the same narrative1 when we have heard how that voice of loud lament was stilled1 ,haemon is pictured as lying dead in ,antigone's dead embrace1 having won his bridal's fulfilment only in ,hades' house 7 ' 7#achc4 ,the reiteration of a single thought through all this series of passages is most remarkable4 ,what does it mean8 ,did ,sophocles intend merely to enhance the tragedy of ,antigone's doom by constant comparison of that which might have been with that which was8 ,or did each phrase in which the thoughts of marriage and of death were blended contain a further and a subtler appeal to his hearers' emotions8 ,did each phrase strike also a note which set vibrating in his listeners' hearts responsive chords of mystic hope8 ,for my part1 as ,i draw near the end of these studies in ,greek religion1 ,i find it more and more difficult to set down as mere casual coincidences the close resemblances between ,greece in the past and ,greece in the present4 ,i have found a belief in the supernatural beings of ,ancient ,greece still swaying the minds of the modern peasants2 ,i have seen the customs of antiquity repeated alike in the small acts of every-day life and in the ceremonies of its greater events2 ,i have heard the same thoughts expressed in almost the same turns of phrase as in ancient literature2 ,i have traced the popular conceptions of the present day concerning the relations of body and soul1 and their existence after death1 back to native pre-,christian sources4 ,have ,i then not a right1 am ,i not bound1 to abjure coincidence and to claim for the past and the present real identity8 ,when ,i find in ,sophocles the same thought1 almost the same words1 which may be gathered to-day from the lips of any unlettered lament-maker the whole ,greek world over1 ,i am compelled by my conviction of the continuity of all things ,greek to believe that ,sophocles adapted to his own use a thought which in his time even as now was uttered in many a funeral-dirge1 and that while the phrases of the ,antigone gained in his hands a new lustre from the pathos of their setting1 they themselves were not new nor the invention of ,sophocles' genius1 but an old heritage of the ,greek race4 ,maybe it was that same thought which gave birth to the strange and but partially known legend of the death of ,hymenaeus himself in the first moment of his wedded delight#achd2 maybe it was in the same spirit that ,prometheus foretold how ,zeus himself should make such a marriage as should cast him down from his throne of tyranny and he be no more seen1 in fulfilment of the curse uttered by ,cronos when he was cast down into the unseen world#ache4 ,but1 it may be said1 the forebodings of ,prometheus are generally taken to refer to a future marriage with ,thetis1 not with death2 and ,pindar's reference to ,hymenaeus is vague and fragmentary2 and the lines of ,sophocles' ,antigone have plenty of human pathos1 without reading into them any religious doctrine2 let your contention at least have the support of sober prose which shows its meaning on the surface4 ,so be it4 ,artemidorus in his hand-book to the interpretation of dreams claims as a recognised religious principle the correlation of marriage and death4 ,to dream of the one is commonly a prognostication of the other4 ,but let us hear his own words4 8,if an unmarried man dream of death1 it foretells his marriage2 for both alike1 marriage and death1 have universally been held by mankind to be #8fulfilments' 772 and they are constantly indicated by one another2 for the which reason also if sick men dream of marriage1 it is a foreboding of death#achf40 ,and again3 #8if a sick person dream of sexual intercourse with a god or goddess 4441 it is a sign of death2 for it is then1 when the soul is near leaving the body which it inhabits1 that it foresees union and intercourse with the gods#achg4' ,and yet once more3 #8since indeed marriage is akin to death and is indicated by dreaming of death1 ,i thought it well to touch upon it here4 ,if a sick man dreams of marrying a maiden1 it is a sign of his death2 for all the accompaniments of marriage are exactly the same as those of death#achh4' ,the gist of these passages is unmistakeable2 in clear and straightforward terms is enunciated the principle that death and marriage are so intimately associated that to dream of the one may portend the happening of the other4 ,here is the doctrine which we sought to elicit from the poetry of ,sophocles and from the dirges of modern peasants1 stated in plain prosaic language4 ,death is akin to marriage1 and1 as death approaches1 men's souls foresee a wedded union with gods4 ,but ,artemidorus does not merely vouch for the existence of this mystic doctrine2 he suggests also1 to those who will weigh his words1 that the doctrine was generally recognised and widely-spread3 #8for all the accompaniments of marriage1' he says1 #8are exactly the same as those of death4' ,what were these accompaniments8 ,seemingly ,artemidorus had in mind certain customs which he had enumerated a little earlier1 namely #8an escort of friends1 both men and women1 and garlands and scents and unguents and an inventory of goods#achi' 7i4e4 either the marriage settlement or the last will and testament74 ,it is then owing to this similarity between marriage-customs and funeral-customs that #8if a sick man dreams of marrying a maiden1 it is a sign of death4' ,but previously we heard that if a sick person dreamt of commerce with a god or goddess1 it was a sign of death1 because1 as death approached1 the soul foresaw union and intercourse with the gods4 ,how far do these statements agree8 ,in both cases the interpretation of the dream is the same--to dream of marriage forebodes death--while the reasons for that interpretation are differently given according as the partner in the dreamt-of union is divine or human4 ,but1 though differently given1 these reasons are not mutually inconsistent4 ,in the one case the reason assigned is an idea--the idea that by death men were admitted to wedded union with their gods4 ,in the other case the reason assigned is a custom--the custom of giving to the dead rites similar to the marriage-rites4 ,in effect then the two reasons assigned are one and the same in spirit2 for the #8custom' is merely the practical expression of the #8idea'2 it was because men believed that the dead attained to a wedded union with their gods1 that they made the funeral-rites resemble the rites of marriage4 ,and clearly this custom of assimilating the accompaniments of death to those of marriage could never have been general1 as ,artemidorus suggests1 unless the belief1 on which that custom was founded1 had also been generally received and widely spread4 ,it will be worth while then to institute an enquiry into the customs generally observed both in ancient and modern times at weddings and at funerals4 ,our comparison of ancient literature with modern folk-songs1 illumined by the statements of ,artemidorus1 has established the fact that death and marriage were very intimately associated in thought by some of the ancient writers as they are by many of the modern peasants4 ,custom will be found to tell the same tale1 and will prove how generally accepted was this idea4 ,for in point after point which ,artemidorus does not mention in his brief enumeration--and without reckoning1 as he does1 such purely business matters as the inventory of goods--we shall find that the ceremonies incidental to a funeral have now1 and had in old time1 a curiously close resemblance to the ceremonies incidental to marriage2 and1 so finding1 we may be confident that they were informed by a general and wide-spread belief that to die was but to marry into ,hades' house4 ,let us review them briefly and in order#acij4 ,the first ceremony in both functions alike was1 and is1 a solemn ablution4 ,before a ,greek wedding both bride and bridegroom have always been required to bathe themselves1 usually in water specially fetched from some holy spring4 ,at ,athens in old time1 according to ,thucydides1 the spring frequented for this purpose was ,callirrho#acia2 and similarly the ,thebans had resort to the ,ismenus#acib1 the maidens of the ,troad to the ,scamander#acic1 and the inhabitants of other districts to some spring or river of local repute#acid4 ,and at the present day in ,athens it is still from ,callirrho 7when there is any water there7 that the poorer classes fill the bridal bath2 while many a village has its own sacred well or fountain 77 to which recourse is regularly had for this same purpose4 ,and this wedding-ablution1 common1 as it would thus appear1 to the ,greeks of all ages1 has its counterpart in the funeral-ablution1 a ceremony likewise observed in all ages4 ,thus ,sophocles makes ,antigone speak of having washed with her own hands the dead bodies of father1 mother1 and brother#acie2 and ,lucian in a mocking tone refers to the same practice as general in his day#acif4 ,at the present day the same rite is practically universal in ,greece4 ,in some places1 and most notably in ,crete1 special magnificence is given to the ceremony by the use of warm wine instead of water2 in others1 as ,macedonia#acig1 the custom has dwindled away1 and all that remains of it is a perfunctory moistening of the dead man's face with a piece of cotton-wool soaked in wine4 ,but in general the old custom remains unchanged4 ,thus we see that from ancient times down to the present day a ceremony of ablution has held a place in the preliminaries alike of a marriage and of a funeral4 ,again in this matter of washing there is one detail of special interest4 ,the water for the bridal bath was in old times fetched by a boy or girl#acih closely related to the bride or the bridegroom1 and the 1 as the bearer was called1 is still an important figure in the wedding ceremonial of the present day4 ,nowadays1 so far as ,i know1 the bearer is always a boy1 and further it is essential that both his parents be still living4 ,the therefore has always been closely associated with the marriage-rite4 ,but in antiquity the same water-bearer appears in another connexion4 #8,it was customary1' we hear1 #8to fetch water 77 also for those who died unmarried1 and that the figure of a water-bearer 77 should be set up over their tomb4 ,the figure was that of a boy with a pitcher#acii4' ,here we have a clear case of the importation of a ceremony closely connected with marriage into the funeral-rites of the unmarried4 ,how are we to explain this custom8 ,on what religious conception was it based8 ,clearly1 it seems1--in view of that constant association of death and marriage which we have observed in ancient literature and modern folk-song--no other interpretation can well be maintained than that1 for those who died unwed1 death itself was the first and only marriage which they experienced1 and that to such1 ere they were laid in ,hades' nuptial-chamber1 there ought to be given those same rites which were held to be a fitting preparation for entrance into the estate of wedlock in this world#adjj4 ,the ceremonial ablutions being concluded1 there came next the rites of anointing and arraying whether for marriage or for burial4 ,as regards the cosmetics1 we might feel well assured1 even without the direct testimony of ,aristophanes#adja1 that they were freely used in ancient weddings2 and ,i myself have experienced a sense of suffocation from the same cause at weddings in modern ,greece4 ,similarly at ancient funerals the original purpose of the lecythi was without doubt to contain the choice perfumes for the anointing of the dead#adjb2 and the custom of anointing is still well known4 ,then again in the matter of dress1 the colour usually considered correct#adjc both for marriage and for burial was white1 and1 even if this cannot be said to have been universally the case1 at any rate there was1 and there still continues to be1 no less pomp and ornament in the dress of the dead body#adjd than in the array of bride and bridegroom4 ,in this connexion too we may notice the use of the actual bridal-dress in the funerals of betrothed girls and of young wives4 ,that this practice was known in antiquity is proved by a passage of ,chariton#adje1 in which the heroine of his story1 ,callirrho1 whose first adventure1 soon after her wedding1 consists in being carried out to burial while unconscious but not dead1 is described as #8dressed in bridal array'2 and exactly the same custom may be witnessed in ,greece to-day#adjf4 ,in fact not only may the person of the dead be seen dressed as for a wedding1 but in the folk-songs we hear of the tomb itself being adorned like the home to which the bride should have been led4 #8,came her lover to her bedside1 stooped him down1 and met her kiss2 ,low and faint to his ear only1 whispered she1 her message this3 8,when ,i pass away1 my lover1 deck thou out my tomb for me1 ,as thou would'st have decked the home where wedded ,i should dwell with thee#adjg40' ,yet another point of coincidence between the ceremonial of marriage and of funeral is the wearing of a crown4 ,in ancient times #8chaplets1' says ,becker#adjh1 #8were certainly worn both by bride and bridegroom1' and in modern usage they are as essential to the marriage ceremony as the wedding-rings4 ,at a certain point in the service1 it is the duty of the best man1 assisted by the chief bridesmaid1 to keep exchanging the rings from the hands of the bride and bridegroom1 and in like manner to exchange the crowns which they wear from the head of one to the head of the other2 and as the rings are always worn afterwards1 so the two crowns are carefully preserved and hung up together in the new home4 ,equally well-established is the use of garlands in ancient funerals#adji1 and1 if not quite universal at the present day#adaj1 they are at any rate commonly employed in the funerals of women and children4 ,in ,macedonia it is actually the bridal crown which is worn for burial by anyone who was betrothed or newly married#adaa4 ,worthy of notice too is the not uncommon spectacle of an apple1 quince#adab1 or pomegranate laid among the flowers with which the bier is adorned2 for all these three fruits have their special significance in relation to marriage4 ,the classical custom of throwing an apple into a girl's lap as a sign of love is a method of wooing still known to the rustic swain4 ,it is not indeed regarded as a highly respectable method1 but perhaps neither in old times was it so2 for then1 as now1 the more well-conducted youths seem to have had their wooing1 if such it may be called1 carried on through the agency of an elderly lady 7in ancient ,greek 1 in modern 7 whose negotiations were chiefly addressed to the parents on either side1 and whose conversation smacked more of dowry than of love4 ,the quince and the pomegranate however are employed without any offence to propriety4 ,the former is in some districts the food of which the newly-married pair are required to partake together at their first entry into their new home2 and it is hoped that the sweetness of the fruit will so temper their lips that nothing but sweet words will ever be addressed by the one to the other4 ,to the open-minded observer it might appear that acidity rather than sweetness was the chief characteristic of the quince1 and that1 if the qualities of the fruit are found to affect the tones of those who eat it1 they would be better advised1 as is the custom in some villages1 to substitute for the quince a well-sugared cake or a dish of honey4 ,but the pomegranate is far more commonly used than the quince1 and in a variety of ways4 ,sometimes the bride and bridegroom eat together of it2 elsewhere the bridegroom proffers it to the bride as his first gift on her entrance to their home1 and she alone eats of it2 or again she may be required to hurl it down and scatter its seeds over the floor4 ,the second of these methods of using the pomegranate at marriage is1 it will be remembered1 of venerable antiquity2 it was a seed of this fruit which ,hades gave to ,persephone to eat1 that when she visited again the upper world she might not remain there all her days with reverend1 dark-robed ,demeter1 but return to her home in the nether world#adac2 and similarly at the ,argive ,heraeum1 the bride of ,zeus was represented by ,polyclitus holding in one of her hands the fruit of the pomegranate1 concerning which1 says ,pausanias1 there is a mystic story not to be divulged#adad4 ,here again then is found the same close association of death and marriage4 ,the three fruits1 apple1 quince1 and pomegranate1 each of which possesses a special use and purport in the preliminaries or the actual ceremony of marriage1 are also the fruits most commonly laid upon the bier1 in token1 as it must appear1 that death is but a marriage into the unseen world4 ,in the light of such customs we can read with fuller understanding that simple and yet mystic dirge1 #8,the ,wedding in ,hades'3 #8,my mother maketh glad to-day1 she maketh my son's wedding1 ,she goeth for water to the springs1 for snow unto the mountains1 ,to fruit-wives in their garden-plots for apples and for quinces444#adae4' ,thus in point after point the rites of marriage and the rites of death among ,greeks both past and present have been found to coincide2 and the number of these points of coincidence is too large to admit of their being referred to accident2 design is evident4 ,we are bound to suppose either that marriage-ceremonies were deliberately transferred to the funeral-rite1 or that funeral-ceremonies were deliberately transferred to the marriage-rite4 ,which supposition shall we prefer8 ,there can be no real question4 ,it is impossible to conceive of a people so cynical or so distempered as to darken the wedding-day with grim reminders of death4 ,but to transfer some of the usages of marriage to the funeral-scene was to infuse one ray of hope where all else was sorrow and darkness1 to teach that1 though the dead and the mourners might grieve for their parting1 yet by that parting from the old home the dead was to enter upon a new life1 a life of wedded happiness1 in the unseen world4 ,for indeed if there were no such intention as this1 what was the meaning of the set up over the grave of the unmarried1 what the purpose of adorning the dead with wedding-garment and wedding-crown8 ,these two acts at least are no accidents2 they reveal a studied purpose of assimilating the usages of death to the usages of marriage2 and if that purpose underlay two of the customs enumerated1 there is good warrant for the belief that in all the coincidences between marriage-rites and funeral-rites the same thought was operating--that very thought which has been found to be the common property of the ,greek race1 from one of the masters of ancient tragedy down to the humblest peasant of our day4 ,custom past and present1 ancient literature1 modern folk-song1 all agree in their presentment of death as a marriage into the house of ,hades4 ,on this popular and withal recondite conception of death were founded1 ,i believe1 the highest religious aspirations of the ancient ,greeks4 ,such as had served their gods piously and purely in this life might hope to win a closer union1 as of wedlock1 with those gods in the life hereafter4 ,to them there could be neither blasphemy nor presumption in their hope2 for to pious believers the fabled experience of their own ancestors in this life was a warrant for aspiring themselves to the same bliss at least hereafter2 what had been1 might be again4 ,nay1 more2 not only was the belief that the highest bliss of the hereafter consisted in the marriage of men with their gods free from all reproach of impiety1 but it was the logical development of two religious sentiments which we have already reviewed--the desire for close communion between gods and men1 and the belief that men after death and dissolution would still enjoy1 like their gods1 corporeal existence4 ,a previous chapter has been devoted to a detailed examination of the means whereby men in their daily life sought to maintain communication with the powers above them--oracles from which all might enquire and win inspired response2 interpretation of the flight and cries of birds that were the messengers of heaven2 reading of the signs written by the finger of some god on the flesh of the victim presented to him2 divination from sight and sound and dream2 sacrifice whereby some message of prayer might be sent with speed and safety to the god who had power to fulfil it4 ,and in general it will1 ,i think1 be admitted that the main tendency of ,greek religious thought was to draw gods and men nearer together1 alike by an anthropomorphic conception of the gods and by an apotheosis of human beauty2 that it was to subserve this end that ,art became the handmaid of ,religion1 and strove to express the divine in terms of the human1 to discover in man the potentialities of godhead4 ,all religious hope and ambition and effort turned upon communion with the gods4 ,how then in the next world should hope be fulfilled1 ambition satisfied1 effort rewarded8 ,what should be the glorious consummation8 ,marriage was the closest communion between mortals in this world2 marriage1 so sang the poets1 bound gods together in closest communion4 ,men's aspirations for communion with their gods could find no final satisfaction save in marriage4 ,to the few1 we may suppose--men of refined and reflective mind1 capable of imagining spiritual joys--this marriage of men and gods was but a mystic1 figurative expression for the union of man's soul with the soul of ,god1 a thought as chastened and innocent of all sensuous connotation as the thought of many a woman who in a later era1 withdrawn from the world1 has comforted her loneliness with the hope of being the bride of ,christ4 ,but the many1 ,i suspect1 flinched not before a bold and literal interpretation of the thought1 and1 believing that1 when death and physical dissolution were past1 body as well as soul survived in another world1 dared dream that having passed the gates of mortality into the demesne of the immortals they should be wedded1 body and soul1 in true wedlock with those deities who by veiled communion with them in this world had prepared them for sight and touch and full fruition hereafter4 ,but1 it will be asked1 where in all ,greek literature can we find a statement1 where even a hint1 of this strange doctrine8 ,nowhere a statement2 often a hint2 for these were things not to be divulged to the profane4 ,to those alone who were initiated into the ,mysteries was the doctrine revealed1 and even to them1 it may be1 in parables only whose inner meaning each must probe for himself4 ,there have of course been those who have made light of the mysteries of the old ,greek religion1 and have seen in them nothing but the impositions of a close hierarchy playing upon the ignorance and credulity and fear of the common-folk4 ,but when we consider the veneration in which the more famous mysteries were held for many centuries1 when we remember that ,eleusis was respected and left inviolate not only by the ,lacedaemonians and other ,greek peoples when they invaded ,attic territory1 but even by the ,persians who had dared to devastate the ,acropolis1 and in later times by the yet ruder ,celts1 then it is easier to believe that we are dealing with a great religious institution based upon solid principles and vital doctrines which deserved a wide-spread and long-continued reverence from mankind1 than that it was all the elaborate and empty hoax of a crafty priesthood4 ,nor again does the view which makes ,demeter simply a corn-goddess and the ,eleusinian mysteries a portentous harvest-thanksgiving--and that apparently somewhat premature--require any long or serious consideration4 ,corn indeed was one of the blessings given by ,demeter to this upper world of living men2 perhaps in the very earliest ages of her worship this was the sum total of the boons which men sought of her2 doubtless even in her fully-developed mysteries a part of men's thanks were still for the garnered harvest of the last year and for the promise which the green fields gave of her bounty once more to be renewed2 for even in the nineteenth century of the ,christian era her statue amid the ruins of ,eleusis was still associated by the peasants with agriculture1 and the removal of it1 they apprehended1 would cause a failure of the crops#adaf4 ,but in old time this was not all4 ,to speak of ,demeter as a mere personification of cereals is to advocate a partial truth little better than the cynical falsehood which makes her only the stalking-horse of designing priests4 ,for what said men of light and learning among the ancients#adag1 men who knew the whole truth and the whole ,spirit of her worship8 #8,thrice happy they of men that have looked upon these rites ere they go to ,hades' house2 for they alone there have true life1 the rest have nought there but ill#adah4' ,so ,sophocles1 in language clearly recalling that of the so-called ,homeric hymn#adai to ,demeter2 and in harmony with him ,pindar3 #8,happy he that hath seen those rites ere he go beneath the earth2 he knoweth life's consummation1 he knoweth its god-given source#adbj4' ,and surely such consummation of life should be in that paradise1 where #8mid meadows red with roses lieth the space before the city's gates1 all hazy with frankincense and laden with golden fruits1' where #8the glorious sun sheds his light while night is here#adba'2 for to this belief even ,aristophanes subscribes1 neither daring nor wishing to make mock of the blessed ones who in the other world have part in the god-beloved festival1 and wend their way with song and dance through the holy circle of the goddess1 a lawn bright with flowers1 meadows where roses richly blossom--on whom alone in their night-long worship the sun yet shines and a gracious light1 for that they have learnt the mysteries and dealt righteously with all men#adbb4 ,here then are the three great masters of lyric poetry1 of tragedy1 and of comedy in substantial agreement2 and the hopes which they hold out are not the mere exuberance of poetic fancy1 for sober prose affirms the same beliefs4 ,what says ,isocrates8 #8,demeter 444 being graciously minded towards our forefathers because of their services to her1 services of which none but the initiated may hear1 gave us the greatest of all gifts1 first1 those fruits of the earth which saved us from living the life of beasts1 and secondly1 that rite which makes happier the hopes of those that participate therein concerning both the end of life and their whole existence2 and our city proved herself not only god-beloved but also loving toward mankind1 in that1 having become mistress of such blessings1 she grudged them not to the rest of the world1 but gave to all men a share in that she had received#adbc4' ,of this passage ,lobeck#adbd was disposed to make light1 and that for the reason that ,isocrates in another passage#adbe1 with less orthodoxy perhaps and more charity1 in speaking of the pious and upright in general1 employs part of the same phrase which in the passage before us he applies to the initiated only4 ,all good men1 he says1 have happier hopes #8concerning their whole existence'2 virtue1 that is1 may expect a reward1 vice a punishment1 either here or hereafter4 ,are these fair grounds on which to condemn his reference to the mysteries as a meaningless common-place8 ,if any comment is to be made upon this repetition of a well-known phrase1 would it not be fairer to note that in reference to the mysteries he speaks of men's happier hopes not only generally--#8concerning their whole existence' 7 7 but also specifically--#8concerning the end of life' 7 71 and thus echoes the words of ,pindar above quoted1 #8he knoweth the consummation of life' 7 78 ,nor is there any dearth of other authorities to prove that it was after death that the hopes of the initiated should #8be emptied in delight4' ,let us hear ,aristides4 #8,nay1 but the benefit of the 7,eleusinian7 festival is not merely the cheerfulness of the moment and the freedom and respite from all previous troubles1 but also the possession of happier hopes concerning the end1 hopes that our life hereafter will be the better1 and that we shall not lie in darkness and in filth--the fate that is believed to await the uninitiated#adbf4' ,such seem to have been the general terms in which the benefits of the mysteries might be recommended to the profane4 ,the same ideas1 almost the same phrases1 occur again and again4 ,witness the well-known story of ,diogenes the ,cynic1 who1 when urged by a young man to get himself initiated1 answered1 #8,it is strange1 my young friend1 if you fancy that by virtue of this rite the publicans will share with the gods the good things of ,hades' house1 while ,agesilaus and ,epaminondas lie in filth#adbg4' ,or again let us read the advice of ,crinagoras to his friend3 #8,set thy foot on ,cecropian soil1 that thou may'st behold those nights of ,demeter's great mysteries1 which shall free thee from care among the living1 and1 when thou goest where most are gone1 shall make thy heart lighter#adbh4' ,and with equal seriousness ,cicero1 who in his ideal state would forbid all nocturnal rites as tending towards excesses1 would except the ,eleusinian mysteries1 not only because of their humanising and cheering influence upon men's life in this world but also because they furnish better hopes in death#adbi4 ,such are the most important passages bearing upon the religious as opposed to the temporal and agricultural aspects of ,demeter's worship1 such the general terms in which the blessings flowing therefrom were overtly described by men who knew the details of the covert doctrine4 ,the information contained in them amounts to this3 the initiated received in the mysteries a hope1 a pledge1 perhaps a foretaste1 of the future bliss reserved for them only2 the profane should lie in filth and outer darkness2 the blessed should dwell in pleasant meadows1 and the sun should shine bright upon them2 they should be god-beloved1 and should share with the gods the good things of the next world4 ,now obviously these vague and general promises are conceived in the tone and the spirit of that popular religion which had sprung from the very heart of the ,hellenic folk4 ,the pleasant meadows where the initiated should dwell are none other than that place which appears once as the asphodel mead1 anon as the islands of the blessed or as part of the under-world1 and is now named ,paradise4 ,the light which illumines even the night-time of the blessed is the necessary contrast to the murky gloom of a nether abode1 conceived almost in the spirit of ,homer1 where the profane must lie as in a slough4 ,and finally the close communion of the blessed with gods who love them is the consummation of those hopes which the whole ,hellenic people entertained1 and of those efforts which the whole ,hellenic people put forth1 to attain to close intercourse in this life with the gods whom they worshipped4 ,clearly then the general promises1 whose inner mysteries were revealed only to the initiated1 were based upon the old ideals1 the innate beliefs1 the traditional hopes1 in a word1 the natural and spontaneous religion of the ,hellenic race4 ,and1 as at ,eleusis1 so probably in other mysteries4 ,in a famous passage ,theo ,smyrnaeus#adcj compares the successive steps to be taken in the study of philosophy with the several stages of initiation in mysteries1 and ,lobeck#adca in his examination of the passage has shown that the reference is not to the mysteries of ,eleusis1 or at any rate not to them only4 ,it is probable enough that ,theo was speaking of mysteries in general1 both public and private1 in most of which there were1 doubtless1 several grades of initiation1 and he may even have selected the details of his illustration 7for it is an analogy only1 not an argument1 in which he is engaged7 from different rites4 ,yet for his fifth and final stage of initiation1 beyond even #8open vision' 77 and #8exposition' 7 or 71 he names that bliss which is the outcome of the earlier stages1 the bliss of being god-beloved and sharing the life of gods 7 74 ,the recurrence of the word in the above passages1 whether in reference to the ,eleusinian or to other mysteries1 cannot but excite attention2 and we shall not ,i think go far astray if we take the last phrase of ,theo ,smyrnaeus1 #8the bliss of being god-beloved and sharing the life of gods1' as an epitome of the somewhat vague and general promises held out to the profane as an inducement to initiation4 ,this was the fulfilment of those #8happier hopes'--to use another recurrent phrase--of which the initiated might only speak in guarded fashion4 ,the exact interpretation of this phrase1 as we shall have reason to believe when we consider the separate rites in detail1 was the great mystic secret4 ,but of that more anon2 for the present let us suppose that the general assurances openly given concerning both the ,eleusinian and other mysteries are fairly summed up in the promise #8of being god-beloved and of sharing the life of gods4' ,such a promise appealed to those innate hopes of the whole ,greek race which manifested themselves in their constant striving after close intercourse and communion with their gods2 in other words1 the happier hopes concerning the hereafter1 which the mysteries sought to appropriate and to reserve to the initiated alone1 had for their basis the natural religion of the ,hellenic folk4 ,to admit this is necessarily to admit the validity of ,lobeck's refutation of those critics who have sought to father on the mysteries1 usually on those of ,eleusis1 doctrines and ideas foreign to1 or even incompatible with1 popular ,greek religion--pantheism1 the emanation of the human soul from the soul of ,god1 the transmigration of souls1 the ,platonic theory of ideas1 the unity of ,god omnipotent and omniscient#adcb1 and such-like religious products of different ages and different climes4 ,for if we were to accept the view that the teaching of the mysteries was a thing apart from the ordinary trend and tenor of the popular religion1 then we should be compelled to regard those general promises of future bliss 7which were in truth1 as we have just seen1 based upon popular religion7 as a fraudulent bait designed to entice men away from their old beliefs and to ensnare them in dogma and priestcraft2 and if any would impute fraud1 there awaits them the task of convicting ,pindar1 ,sophocles1 ,aristophanes1 ,isocrates1 and others who wrote of that which they knew1 of conspiracy to deceive4 ,but while the promises held forth by the ,eleusinian and other mysteries1 and therefore also the doctrines which elucidated those vague promises1 were a product of the popular religion1 those doctrines themselves were not a matter of popular knowledge4 ,the very fact of initiation1 the death-penalty inflicted upon the profane who by any means penetrated to the scene of the mysteries1 the wild indignation excited in ,athens by a charge of mocking the mystic rites1 the scrupulous privacy observed in investigating that charge before a court composed of the initiated only--all these are proofs that ,eleusis was the school of secret beliefs and hopes held in deep veneration by those to whom the knowledge of them was vouchsafed4 ,secret doctrines existed2 that which had sprung from the beliefs of the many had become the property of the few4 ,how can this be explained8 ,the explanation is not difficult4 ,the worship of ,demeter and possibly many other rites which were afterwards called #8mysteries' were the most holy part of the religion of the ,pelasgians2 and when the ,achaeans1 a people of strange tongue and strange religion1 came among them1 the ,pelasgians would not admit them to a knowledge of their rites but thenceforth performed those rites in secrecy4 ,this is proved by two facts4 ,first1 the rites which at ,eleusis1 in ,samothrace1 and among the ,cicones in ,thrace1 the country of ,orpheus1 were imparted as mysteries to the initiated only1 were in ,crete open to all and there was no obligation to secrecy concerning them#adcc4 ,secondly1 at ,eleusis at any rate the purity required of candidates for initiation was not only physical and spiritual1 as secured by ablution and abstinence1 but also linguistic2 it was necessary #adcd1 to speak the ,greek language purely4 ,these two facts taken together solve the difficulty4 ,before the coming of the ,achaeans the whole ,pelasgian population whether of the ,greek mainland or of such an island as ,crete celebrated the rites of ,demeter openly4 ,in ,crete1 where no ,achaeans penetrated1 the old custom naturally continued unchanged4 ,on the mainland the influx of a people of strange tongue and strange religion necessitated secrecy in the native rites1 lest the presence of men who knew not ,demeter should profane her worship2 the right of entry therefore at her festivals was decided by the simplest test of ,achaean or ,pelasgian nationality1 the test of speech2 and in later times1 when the ,achaeans had acquired the ,pelasgian speech#adce1 the customs thus established were not abolished2 the rites of ,demeter remained #8mysteries' to be conducted in secret1 and the ,shibboleth was still exacted4 ,since then we may not seek in the teachings of the mysteries anything alien from the spirit of the popular religion1 the scope of our enquiry is more limited and its course more clear4 ,the secret to be discovered is something which had been evolved from the popular religion1 some intensification and higher development of those hopes and beliefs1 yearnings and strivings1 which have continuously marked the religious life of the ,greek folk4 ,now the mass of the ,greek people have always hoped and believed1 as their care for the dead has constantly shown1 that beyond death and dissolution lay a life in which body and soul should be re-united and restored to their old activity2 the mysteries might well confirm the initiated in that expectation and picture to them the happy habitations where they should dwell4 ,again the mass of the ,greek people have always yearned and striven by manifold means in this life for close communion with their gods2 the mysteries might well be a sacrament which afforded to the initiated both a means and a pledge of enjoying in the next world1 to which body as well as soul should pass1 the closest of all communion with their gods1 the union of wedlock4 ,let it then be supposed that the two main ideas of the mysteries1 whether expounded in speech or represented in ritual1 were these--bodily survival after death1 and marriage of men with gods2 what would have been the natural attitude of ,christians towards these doctrines8 ,for it is in the light of the charges brought by early ,christian writers against the mysteries that such a supposition must first be examined4 ,the doctrine of the immortality of the body as well as of the soul was evidently little exposed to ,christian attacks2 and it may have been because the ,christian doctrine of the resurrection had much in common with the old ,greek doctrine1 that ,st ,paul found among his audience on the ,areopagus some who did not mock1 but said #8,we will hear thee again of this matter4' ,but with the further doctrine of marriage between men and gods ,christianity could have no sympathy1 but would inevitably regard it as offensive both in theology and in morality1 as implying the existence of a plurality of gods1 and as savouring of that sensuality1 which above all other sin the apostle to the ,gentiles set himself to combat4 ,and it is in fact upon these two points that the mass of the accusations brought by early ,christian writers against ,greek paganism hinge and hang4 ,these were the points at which ,greek religion seemed to its assailants most readily vulnerable1 and against which they sought to use as weapons the very language of paganism itself4 ,just as ,clement of ,alexandria#adcf seeks to prove out of the mouth of ,homer1 who speaks of the gods in general as #adcg1 that the ,greek gods are confessedly mere demons 7for the word had seemingly deteriorated in meaning71 that is to say1 abominable and unclean spirits1 enemies of the one true ,god1 so too the words and 1 used by the pagans of their #8unspeakable' mysteries1 were misinterpreted by the ,christians with one consent and became a handle for convicting the old religion of #8unnameable' impurities4 ,with the question of polytheism however we are not further concerned2 whether the ,hellenic gods were true gods1 as their worshippers held1 or devils1 as ,clement thought1 or non-existent1 as many will think to-day1 matters not2 all that we need to know in this respect is known1 namely1 that the mysteries1 like the popular religion1 acknowledged a plurality of gods2 for in the ,eleusinian drama alone several gods played a part4 ,it is rather the frequent and violent charges of impurity which call for investigation4 ,a few examples will suffice for the present4 ,a comprehensive denunciation is that of ,eusebius1 who charges the pagans with celebrating1 #8in chant and hymn and story and in the unnameable rites of the mysteries1 adulteries and yet baser lusts1 and incestuous unions of mother with son1 brother with sister#adch4' ,and again he says1 #8,in every city rites and mysteries of gods are taught1 in harmony with the mythical stories of old time1 so that even now in these rites1 as well as in hymns and odes to the gods1 men can hear of marriages of the gods1 and of their procreation of children1 and of dirges for death1 and of drunken excesses1 and of wanderings1 and of passionate love or anger#adci4' ,equally outspoken is ,clement of ,alexandria in his #8,exhortation to the heathen4' ,some specific statements in that work concerning the mysteries of several gods1 though they support the general charges of impurity1 may be postponed for later examination4 ,it will be enough here to adduce the phrases in which1 after denouncing those who1 whether in the mysteries of the temples or the paintings with which their own houses were adorned1 loved to look upon the lusts of gods 7he risks even the word 71 and #8regarded incontinence as piety1' ,clement reaches the climax of his invective3--#8,such are your models of voluptuousness1 such your creeds of lust1 such the doctrines of gods who commit fornication with you2 for1 as the ,athenian orator says1 what a man wishes1 that he also believes#addj4' ,this brutal directness of ,clement is however hardly more effective than the elegant innuendo of ,synesius in dealing with the same subject4 ,commenting on the secrecy of the nocturnal rites1 he describes them as celebrated at #8times and places competent to conceal #adda'--;a phrase which ,i despair of rendering1 for the #8unspeakable acts' to which #8divine frenzy' led1 are those which are either too holy or too infamous to be named4 ,these few typical passages amply demonstrate that alike by insinuation and by open accusation the ,christian writers conspired to brand the mysteries with the infamy of deeds unnameable4 ,what is the explanation of this organised campaign of calumny8 ,some have supposed that the ,christian writers in general confused the public and the private mysteries1 and that1 aware of the license which characterized the latter1 they included all in one condemnation4 ,but this explanation appears at any rate inadequate4 ,we have seen how ,cicero distinguished sharply between the ,eleusinian mysteries1 in which he had participated and for which he felt reverence1 and other nocturnal rites which gave shelter to all manner of excess4 ,it is difficult therefore to suppose that in later times the ,christian writers should all have fallen unwittingly into the error of confusing all mysteries together2 and no less difficult to imagine that1 if they recognised how far removed were the most respected of the public mysteries from the baser private orgies1 they should have deliberately exposed themselves to the charge of ignorance of the subject concerning which they presumed to preach4 ,clement of ,alexandria was too shrewd a disputant so to stultify himself4 ,nor again is it a sufficient explanation to say that the strain and excitement of such mysteries as those of ,eleusis were responsible for a certain amount of subsequent indiscretion4 ,let it be granted that many of those who had witnessed the solemn rites were guilty afterwards of drunkenness and licentiousness#addb2 yet these would be no grounds for convicting the mysteries themselves of impurity2 to so perverted a charge the heathen might well have answered that rioting and drunkenness had not been unknown at the ,christians' most solemn service2 and indeed the same argument could up to this day be used against the ,greek celebration of ,easter4 ,no2 the charges of impurity were brought against the mysteries themselves1 not against the incidental misdoings of some who had witnessed them4 ,it must have been either the doctrines taught or the dramatic representations by means of which they were taught that furnished the ,christian writers with a handle for accusation4 ,now if1 as ,i have supposed1 the doctrine of the marriage of men with their gods was the cardinal doctrine of the mysteries 7for the other doctrine of bodily survival is merely preliminary and subordinate to this71 and if some dramatic representation was given as a means of instilling into men's minds the hope of attaining to that summit of bliss1 it is not difficult to see what an opening the mysteries gave to their opponents for the charges which were actually brought4 ,the ultimate bliss promised to the initiated was in general terms said to consist in #8being god-beloved and dwelling with the gods1' and this phrase1 we are supposing1 signified to the initiated themselves an assurance that their gods would admit them even to wedlock with them in the future life4 ,it required then no great ingenuity in the way of misrepresentation for ,clement1 if he had but an inkling of the secret doctrine1 to denounce the heathen and their beliefs in that opprobrious phrase1 #8,such are the doctrines of gods that commit fornication with you4' ,this champion of ,christianity knew no chivalry1 gave no quarter1 disdained no weapon1 held no method of attack too base or insidious1 if only he could wound and crush his heathen foes4 ,it was his part to pervert1 to degrade1 to blaspheme their whole religion2 and that which they held most sacred was marked out for his most virulent scorn4 ,naturally to those who drew near with pure and reverent minds the mysteries wore a very different aspect4 ,that which ,clement misnamed lust1 they felt to be love2 where he saw only degradation1 they recognised a wonderful condescension of their gods4 ,for in the words of that religion which ,clement preached #8to the pure all things are pure'2 and it was purification which the initiated sought by abstinence and ablution during the first part of the ,eleusinian festival before they were admitted to their holy of holies4 ,indeed if we would understand at all the spirit in which the ancient ,greeks approached the celebration of the mysteries1 we should do well to turn our attention for a little to the modern ,greek celebration of ,holy ,week and ,easter2 for this is1 so to speak1 the ,christian counterpart of the old mysteries1 and seems to owe much to them4 ,it so happens that ,easter falls in the same period of the year as did the great ,eleusinian festival--the period when the re-awakening of the earth from its winter sleep suggests to man his own re-awakening from the sleep of death2 and it is probable that the ,church turned this coincidence in time to good account by making her own festival a substitute for the festival of ,demeter or other kindred rites1 and even by modelling her own services after the pagan pattern2 for it would seem that the ,church1 when once her early struggles had secured her a firm position1 exchanged hostility for conciliation1 and sought to absorb rather than to oust paganism4 ,her complaisance is clearly seen in the ceremonies of ,good ,friday and ,easter2 for1 with all her severe repression of the use of idols 7whose place however is well supplied by the pictures which are called icons71 she has permitted the use of a sculptured figure at this one festival1 and even down to this day ,christ is represented in some localities#addc in effigy2 and it can hardly be doubted that the purpose of this concession was to make the ,christian festival as dramatic and attractive as the pagan mysteries celebrated at the same season4 ,again the absorption of pagan ideas is well illustrated by the belief still prevalent among the peasants that the ,easter festival1 like the cult of ,demeter1 has an important bearing upon the growth of the crops4 ,a story in point was told to me by one who had travelled in ,greece#addd4 ,happening to be in some village of ,euba during ,holy ,week1 he had been struck by the emotion which the ,good ,friday services evoked2 and observing on the next day the same general air of gloom and despondency1 he questioned an old woman about it2 whereupon she replied1 #8,of course ,i am anxious2 for if ,christ does not rise to-morrow1 we shall have no corn this year4' ,in other details too there is a close correspondence between the pagan and the ,christian festivals4 ,as a period of abstinence was required of the mystae1 so during ,lent and still more strictly during ,holy ,week the ,greek peasants keep a fast which certainly predisposes them to hysterical emotion during the services2 and en revanche1 just as the initiated are said to have indulged themselves too freely when the mysteries were over1 so the modern peasants1 when the announcement of the ,resurrection has been made1 disperse in haste to feast upon their ,easter lamb1 and while it is still a-cooking experience the inevitable effects of plentiful wine on an empty stomach4 ,again1 just as the rites of ,eleusis were nocturnal1 so the chief services of ,holy ,week are those of the ,friday night and the ,saturday night2 and it may be that the torch-light processions which close the services on those two nights are related to the of ,eleusis4 ,but these are minor details2 it is in the actual services of ,good ,friday and ,easter that the most striking resemblance to the ,eleusinian mysteries is found1 and the spirit in which the worshippers approach may still be the same now as then4 ,let me briefly describe the festival as ,i saw it in the island of ,santorini1 or1 to give it the old name which has revived in modern times1 ,thera4 ,the ,lenten fast was drawing to a close when ,i arrived4 ,for the first week it is strictly observed1 meat1 fish1 eggs1 milk1 cheese1 and even olive-oil being prohibited1 so that the ordinary diet is reduced to bread and water1 to which is sometimes added a nauseous soup made from dried cuttle-fish or octopus2 for these along with shellfish are not reckoned to be animal food1 as being bloodless4 ,during the next four weeks some relaxation is allowed2 but no one with any pretensions to piety would even then partake of fish1 meat1 or eggs2 the last-mentioned are stored up until ,easter and then1 being dyed red1 are either eaten or--more wisely--offered to visitors4 ,then comes #8the ,great ,week' 7 71 and with it the same strict regulations come into force as during the first week of ,lent4 ,it was not hard to perceive that for most of the villagers the fast had been a real and painful abstinence4 ,work had almost ceased2 for there was little energy left4 ,leisure was not enjoyed2 for there was little spirit even for chatting4 ,everywhere white1 sharp-featured faces told of real hunger2 and the silence was most often broken by an outburst of irritability4 ,in a few days time ,i could understand it2 for ,i too perforce fasted2 and ,i must own that a daily diet of dry bread for djeuner and of dry bread and octopus soup for dinner soon changed my outlook upon life4 ,little wonder then if these folk after six weeks of such treatment were nervous and excitable4 ,such was the condition of body and mind in which they attended the long service of ,good ,friday night4 ,service ,i have said1 but drama were a more fitting word1 a funeral-drama4 ,at the top of the nave1 just below the chancel-step1 stood a bier and upon it lay the figure of the ,christ1 all too death-like in the dim light4 ,the congregation gaze upon him1 reverently hushed1 while the priests' voices rise in prayer and chant as it were in lamentation for the dead ,god lying there in state4 ,hour after hour passes4 ,the women have kissed the dead form1 and are gone4 ,the moment has come for carrying the ,christ out to burial4 ,the procession moves forward--in front1 the priests with candles and torches and1 guarded by them1 the open bier borne shoulder-high--behind1 a reverent1 bare-headed crowd4 ,the night is dark and gusty4 ,it rains1 and the rugged1 tortuous alleys of the town are slippery4 ,it is late1 but none are sleeping4 ,unheeding of wind and rain1 the women kneel at open door or window1 praying1 swinging censers1 sprinkling perfume on the passing bier4 ,slowly1 haltingly1 led by the dirge of priests1 now in darkness1 now lighted by the torches' flare and intermittent beams from cottage doorways1 groping at corners1 stumbling in ill-paved by-ways1 the mourners follow their ,god to his grave4 ,the circuit of the town is done4 ,all have taken their last look upon the dead4 ,the sepulchre is reached--a vault beneath the church from which the funeral started4 ,the priests alone enter with the bier4 ,there is a pause4 ,the crowd waits4 ,the silence is deep as the darkness1 only broken here and there by a deep-drawn sigh4 ,is it the last depth of anguish1 or is it well-nigh relief that the long strain is over8 ,the priests return4 ,in silence the crowd have waited1 in silence they disperse4 ,it is finished4 ,but there is a sequel on the morrow4 ,soon after dark on ,easter-eve the same weary yet excited faces may be seen gathered in the church4 ,but there is a change too2 there is a feeling abroad of anxiety1 of expectancy4 ,hours must yet pass ere midnight1 and not till then is there hope of the announcement1 #8,christ is risen6' ,the suspense seems long4 ,to-night there is restlessness rather than silence4 ,some go to and fro between the church and their homes2 others join discordantly in the chants and misplace the responses2 anything to cheat the long hours of waiting4 ,midnight draws near2 from hand to hand are passed the tapers and candles which shall light the joyful procession1 if only the longed-for announcement be made4 ,what is happening there now behind those curtains which veil the chancel from the expectant throng8 ,midnight strikes4 ,the curtains are drawn back4 ,yes1 there is the bier1 borne but yesternight to the grave4 ,it is empty4 ,that is only the shroud upon it4 ,the words of the priest ring out true1 #8,christ is risen6' ,and there behind the chancel1 see1 a second veil is drawn back4 ,there in the sanctuary1 on the altar-steps1 bright with a blaze of light stands erect the figure of the ,christ who1 so short and yet so long a while ago1 was borne lifeless to the tomb4 ,a miracle1 a miracle6 ,quickly from the priest's lighted candle the flame is passed4 ,in a moment the dim building is illumined by a lighted taper in every hand4 ,a procession forms1 a joyful procession now4 ,everywhere are light and glad voices and the embraces of friends1 crying aloud the news #8,christ is risen' and answering #8,he is risen indeed4' ,in every home the lamb is prepared with haste1 the wine flows freely2 in the streets is the flash of torches1 the din of fire-arms1 and all the exuberance of simple joy4 ,the fast is over2 the dead has been restored to life before men's eyes2 well may they rejoice even to ecstasy4 ,for have they not felt the ecstasy of sorrow8 ,this was no tableau on which they looked1 no drama in which they played a part4 ,it was all true1 all real4 ,the figure on the bier was indeed the dead ,christ2 the figure on the altar-steps was indeed the risen ,christ4 ,in these simple folk religion has transcended reason2 they have reached the heights of spiritual exaltation2 they have seen and felt as minds more calm and rational can never see nor feel4 ,and the ancient ,greeks1 had not they too the gift of ecstasy1 the faculty to soar above facts on the wings of imagination8 ,when the drama of ,demeter and ,kore was played before the eyes of the initiated at ,eleusis1 were not they too uplifted in mind until amid the magic of night they were no longer spectators of a drama but themselves had a share in ,demeter's sorrow and wandering and joy8 ,for the pagan story is not unlike the ,christian story in its power to move both tears and gladness4 ,as now men mourn beside the bier of ,christ1 so in old time may men have shared ,demeter's mourning for her child who though divine had suffered the lot of men and passed away to the ,house of ,hades4 ,as now men rejoice when they behold the risen ,christ1 so in old time may men have shared ,demeter's joy when her child returned from beneath the earth1 proving that there is life beyond the grave4 ,but the old story taught more than this4 ,not only did ,kore live in the lower world1 but her passing thither was not death but wedding4 ,therefore just as now the resurrection of ,christ1 who though divine is the representative of mankind1 is held to be an earnest of man's resurrection1 so the wedded life of ,kore in the nether world may have been to the initiated an assurance of the same bliss to be vouchsafed to them hereafter4 ,what was there then in this drama of ,demeter and ,kore at which the ,christian writers could take offence or cavil8 ,we do not of course know in what detail the story was represented2 but the pivot on which the whole plot turned was necessarily the rape of ,kore4 ,now it appears that in the play the part of ,adoneus was taken by an hierophant and the part of ,kore by a priestess2 and it was the alleged indecency resulting therefrom which the fathers of the ,church most severely censured4 ,asterius1 after defending the ,christians from the charge of worshipping saints as if they had been not human but divine1 seeks to turn the tables on his pagan opponents by accusing them of deifying ,demeter and ,kore1 whom he evidently regards as having once been human figures in mythology4 ,then he continues1 #8,is not ,eleusis the scene of the descent into darkness1 and of the solemn acts of intercourse between the hierophant and the priestess1 alone together8 ,are not the torches extinguished1 and does not the large1 the numberless assembly of common people believe that their salvation lies in that which is being done by the two in the darkness#adde8' ,again it was objected against the ,valentinians by ,tertullian that they copied #8the whoredoms of ,eleusis#addf1' and from another authority we learn that part of the ceremonies of these heretics consisted in #8preparing a nuptial chamber' and celebrating #8a spiritual marriage#addg4' ,these two statements1 read in conjunction1 form a strong corroboration of the information given by ,asterius2 and we are bound to conclude that the scene of the rape of ,kore was represented at ,eleusis by the descent of the priest and priestess who played the chief parts into a dark nuptial chamber4 ,now it is easy enough to suppose1 as ,sainte-,croix suggests#addh1 that public morals were safeguarded by assigning the chief rles in the drama to persons of advanced age1 or1 as one ancient author states#addi1 by temporarily and partially paralysing the hierophant with a small dose of hemlock4 ,whether each of the initiated was at any time conducted through the same ritual is uncertain4 ,in the formulary of the ,eleusinian rites1 as recorded by ,clement of ,alexandria--#8,i fasted2 ,i drank the sacred potion 772 ,i took out of the chest2 having wrought 77 ,i put back into the basket and from the basket into the chest#adej'--the expression #8having wrought' has been taken to be an euphemism denoting the same mystic union as between hierophant and priestess#adea4 ,if this view is correct1 it would imply no doubt that full initiation required the candidate to go through the whole ritual in person2 in this case it must be presumed that some precaution such as the dose of hemlock was taken in the interests of morality4 ,but the mere fact that a scene of rape should form any part of a religious rite1 was to the ,christians a stumbling-block4 ,this was their insurmountable objection to the mysteries1 and they were only too prone to exaggerate a ceremony1 which with reverent and delicate treatment need have been in no way morally deleterious1 into a sensual and noxious orgy4 ,the story1 how ,demeter's beautiful and innocent daughter was suddenly carried off from the meadow where she was gathering flowers into the depths of the dark under-world1 spoke to them only of the violence and lust of her ravisher ,adoneus4 ,but the legend might bear another complexion4 ,kore1 as representative of mankind or at least of the initiated among mankind1 suffers what seems the most cruel lot1 a sudden departure from this life in the midst of youth and beauty and spring-time2 and ,demeter searches for her awhile in vain1 and mourns for her as men mourn their dead4 ,yet afterward it is found that there is no cruelty in ,kore's lot1 for she is the honoured bride of the king of that world to which she was borne away2 and ,demeter is comforted1 for her child is not dead nor lost to her1 but is allowed to return in living form to visit her4 ,what then must have been the #8happier hopes' held out to those who had looked on the great drama of ,eleusis8 ,what was meant by that prospect of being #8god-beloved and sharing the life of gods'8 ,how came it that the assembly of the initiated believed their salvation to lie in the union of ,hades and ,persephone1 represented in the persons of hierophant and priestess1 in the subterranean nuptial-chamber8 ,what was the bearing of the legend dramatically enacted upon these hopes and prospects and beliefs8 ,surely it taught that not only was there physical life beyond death1 but a life of wedded happiness with the gods4 ,and the same doctrine seems to be the motif of many other popular legends and of mysteries founded thereon2 its settings and its harmonies may be different1 but the essential melody is the same4 ,at ,eleusis ,demeter's daughter was the representative of mankind1 for she went down to the house of ,hades as is the lot of men4 ,but ,crete had another legend wherein ,demeter was the representative deity with whom mankind might hope for union4 ,was it not told how ,iasion even in this life found such favour in the goddess' eyes that she was #8wed with him in sweet love mid the fresh-turned furrows of the fat land of ,crete#adeb'8 ,and happiness such as was granted to him here was laid up for all the initiated hereafter2 else would there be no meaning in those lines1 #8,blessed1 methinks1 is the lot of him that sleeps1 and tosses not1 nor turns1 even ,endymion2 and1 dearest maiden1 blessed ,i call ,iasion1 whom such things befell1 as ye that be profane shall never come to know#adec4' ,surely that which is withheld from the profane is by implication reserved to the sanctified1 and to them it is promised that they shall know by their own experience hereafter the bliss which ,iasion even here obtained4 ,it was1 ,i think1 in this spirit and this belief that the ,athenians in old time called their dead #8,demeter's folk#aded'2 for the popular belief in the condescension of the ,mistress1 great and reverend goddess though she was1 was so firmly rooted1 it would seem1 that even to this day the folk-stories1 as we have seen1 still tell how the #8,mistress of the earth and of the sea1' she whom men still call ,despoina and reverence for her love of righteousness and for her stern punishment of iniquity1 has yet admitted brave heroes to her embrace in the mountain-cavern where1 as of old in ,arcady1 she still dwells#adee4 ,nor did the cults of ,demeter and ,kore monopolise these hopes and beliefs4 ,in the religious drama of ,aphrodite and ,adonis1 in the ,sabazian mysteries1 in the holiest rites of ,dionysus1 in the wild worship of ,cybele1 the same thought seems ever to recur4 ,it matters little whether these gods and their rites were foreign or ,hellenic in origin4 ,if they were not native1 at least they were soon naturalised1 and that for the simple reason that they satisfied the religious cravings of the ,greek race4 ,the essential spirit of their worship1 whatever the accidents of form and expression1 was the spirit of the old ,pelasgian worship of ,demeter2 and therefore1 though ,dionysus may have been an immigrant from northern barbarous peoples1 the ,greeks did not hesitate to give him room and honour beside ,demeter in the very sanctuary of ,eleusis4 ,similar1 we may well believe1 was the lot of other foreign gods and rites4 ,whencesoever derived1 they owed their reception in ,greece to the fact that their character appealed to certain native religious instincts of the ,greek folk4 ,once transplanted to ,hellenic soil1 they were soon completely ,hellenized2 those elements which were foreign or distasteful to ,greek religion were quickly eradicated or of themselves faded into oblivion1 while all that accorded with the ,hellenic spirit throve into fuller perfection2 for the character of a deity and of a cult depends ultimately upon the character of the worshippers4 ,it is fair therefore to treat of ,aphrodite as of a genuinely ,greek deity2 for1 though she may have entered ,greece from ,eastern lands1 doubtless long before the ,homeric age her worship no less than her personality was permeated with the spirit of genuinely ,greek religion4 ,too well known to need re-telling here is the story of how--to use the words of ,theocritus once more--#8the beautiful ,cytherea was brought by ,adonis1 as he pastured his flock upon the mountain-side1 so far beyond the verge of frenzy1 that not even in his death doth she put him from her bosom#adef4' ,such was the plot of one of the most famous religious dramas of old time4 ,and what was its moral for those who had ears to hear8 ,surely that the beloved of the gods may hope for wedlock with them in death4 ,it was certainly in this sense that ,clement of ,alexandria understood certain other mysteries of ,aphrodite1 though1 needless to say1 he puts upon them the most obscene construction4 ,after relating in terms unnecessarily disgusting the legend of how by the very act of ,uranus' self-mutilation the sea became pregnant and gave birth from among its foam to the goddess ,aphrodite1 he states that #8in the rites which celebrate this voluptuousness of the sea1 as a token of the goddess' birth there are handed to those that are being initiated into the lore of adultery 7 7 a lump of salt and a phallus2 and they for their part present her with a coin1 as if they were her lovers and she their mistress 7 7#adeg4' ,thus ,clement2 but those who are willing to see in the mysteries of the ,greek religion something more than organised sensuality will do well to reflect whether that which ,clement calls #8being initiated into the lore of adultery' was not really an initiation into those hopes of marriage with the gods of which we have already found evidence in the popular religion1 and whether the goddess' symbolic acceptance of her worshippers as lovers does not fit in exactly with that bold conception of man's future bliss4 ,the symbolism indeed1 if ,clement's statement is accurate1 was crude and even repellent1 but its significance is clear2 and those who approached these mysteries of ,aphrodite in reverent mood need not have been repelled by that which modern taste would account indecent in the ritual4 ,greek feeling never erred on the side of prudery2 men were familiar with the ,hermae erected in the streets and with the symbolism of the phallus in religious ceremonies1 and tolerated the publication of literature--be it the comedy of ,aristophanes or ,clement's own exhortation to the heathen--which neither as a source of amusement nor of instruction would be tolerated now4 ,the particular mysteries to which ,clement alludes in this passage seem to have been concerned with the story of ,aphrodite's birth1 and though it is difficult to conjecture how that story can have been made to illustrate and to inculcate the doctrine of the marriage of men and gods1 the information given by ,clement with respect to the ritual makes it clear that such was their object4 ,but in that other rite of the same goddess1 that namely which celebrated the story of ,adonis1 the whole motif of the drama was the continuance of ,aphrodite's love for him after his death1 a love so strong that it prevailed upon the gods of the lower world to let him return for half of every year to the upper world and the arms of his mistress4 ,here1 though expressed in different imagery1 is the same doctrine as that which underlay the drama of ,eleusis4 ,here again is an illustration1 or rather1 for those who were capable of religious ecstasy1 a proof1 of the doctrine that the dead yet lived1 and in that life were both in body and in soul one with their gods4 ,for #8thrice-beloved ,adonis who even in ,acheron is beloved#adeh' was the type and forerunner of all those who had part in his mysteries4 ,in another version this legend of ,adonis is brought into even closer relation with the ,eleusinian mysteries by the introduction of ,persephone#adei4 ,to her is assigned the part of a rival to ,aphrodite1 and being equally enamoured of the beautiful ,adonis she is glad of his death whereby he is torn from the arms of ,aphrodite in the upper world1 and enters the chamber of the nether world where her love in turn may have its will2 but in the end ,aphrodite descends to the house of ,hades1 and a compact is arranged between the two goddesses by which each in turn may possess ,adonis for half the year4 ,this version of the story is cruder1 but its teaching is obviously the same--,adonis1 the favourite of heaven in this life1 and the precursor of all who by initiation in the mysteries win heaven's favour1 survives in the lower world with both body and soul unimpaired by death1 and is admitted to wedlock with the great goddess of the dead4 ,the same doctrine again seems to have been the basis of certain mystic rites associated with ,dionysus4 ,from the speech against ,neaera attributed to ,demosthenes we learn that at ,athens there was annually celebrated a marriage between the wife of the chief magistrate 7 7 and ,dionysus4 ,the solemnity was reckoned among things #8unspeakable'2 foreigners were not permitted to see or to hear anything of it2 and even ,athenian citizens1 it seems1 might not enter the innermost sanctuary in which the union of ,dionysus with the #8queen' 77 was celebrated#adfj4 ,there were however present and assisting in some way fourteen priestesses 771 dedicated to the service of the god and bound by special vows of chastity4 ,these priestesses1 we are told1 corresponded in number to the altars of ,dionysus#adfa1 and they were appointed by the archon whose wife was wed with ,dionysus#adfb4 ,there our actual knowledge of the facts ends2 but there is material enough on which to base a rational surmise4 ,the correspondence between the number of priestesses bound by vows of purity and the number of the altars suggests that in this custom is to be sought a relic of human sacrifice4 ,the selection of the priestesses by the magistrate who held the title of #8king' suggests that in bygone times it had been the duty of the king1 as being also chief priest1 to select fourteen virgins who should be sacrificed on ,dionysus' altars and thereby sent to him as wives4 ,subsequently maybe1 as humanity gradually mitigated the wilder rites of religion1 the number of victims was reduced to one2 and later still the human sacrifice was altogether abolished1 and1 instead of sending to ,dionysus his wife by the road of death1 the still pious but now more humane worshippers of the god contented themselves with a symbolic marriage between him and the wife of their chief magistrate4 ,the conception of human sacrifice as a means of sending a messenger from this world to some power above1 which receives clear expression in that modern story from ,santorini which ,i have narrated in an earlier chapter#adfc1 was1 ,i have there argued1 known also to the ancient ,greeks2 and the same means of communication may equally well have been employed for the despatch of a human wife to some god4 ,plutarch appears to have been actually familiar with this idea4 ,in a passage in which he is attempting to vindicate the purity and goodness of the gods and1 it must be added withal1 their aloofness from human affairs1 he claims that all the religious rites and means of communion are concerned1 not with the great gods 771 but with lesser deities 77 who are of varying character1 some good1 others evil1 and that the rites also vary accordingly4 8,as regards the mysteries10 he says1 8wherein are given the greatest manifestations or representations 7 7 of the truth concerning #8daemons1' let my lips be reverently sealed1 as ,herodotus has it02 but the wilder orgies of religion1 he argues1 are to be set down as a means of appeasing evil #8daemons' and of averting their wrath2 the human sacrifices of old time1 for example1 were not demanded nor accepted by gods1 but were performed to satisfy either the vindictive anger of cruel and tormenting #8daemons1' or in some cases 8the wild and despotic passions 77 of #8daemons' who could not and would not have carnal intercourse with carnal beings4 ,just as ,heracles besieged ,oechalia to win a girl1 so these strong and violent #8daemons1' demanding a human soul that is shut up within a body1 and being unable to have bodily intercourse therewith1 bring pestilences and famines upon cities and stir up wars and tumults1 until they get and enjoy the object of their love40 ,and reversely1 he continues1 some #8daemons' have punished with death men who have forced their love upon them2 and he refers to the story of a man who violated a nymph and was found afterwards with his head severed from his body#adfd4 ,the whole passage betrays clearly enough what was the popular belief which ,plutarch here set himself so to explain as to safeguard the goodness of the gods2 but perhaps the end of it is the most significant of all4 ,plutarch forgets that a nymph1 if she is a #8daemon1' is by his own hypothesis incapable of bodily intercourse2 in this case then his attempted explanation is not even logically sound1 and his conception of a purely spiritual #8daemon' is a failure2 but at the same time1 save for this invention1 he is following the popular belief of both ancient and modern ,greece that carnal intercourse between man and nymph is possible but is fraught with grave peril to the man#adfe4 ,it is impossible then to doubt that in the earlier part of the passage he was explaining away a popular belief by means of the same hypothesis4 ,he himself would hold that spiritual #8daemons' demanded human sacrifice because they lusted after a soul or spirit confined out of their reach in a body until death severed it therefrom2 but the popular belief1 which he is at pains to emend1 was that corporeal gods demanded human sacrifice because they lusted after the person who1 by death1 would be sent1 body and soul1 to be wed with them4 ,there is good reason then to suppose that in old time death may have been even inflicted as the means of effecting wedlock between men and gods2 and that the mystic rite of union between ,dionysus and the wife of the ,athenian magistrate was based on the same fundamental idea as the mysteries of ,demeter and ,persephone or of ,aphrodite4 ,though in this instance1 when once human sacrifice had been given up1 all suggestion of death was1 so far as we know1 removed from the solemnity1 yet the repetition year by year of a ceremony of marriage between the god and a mortal woman representing his worshippers might still keep bright in their minds those #8happier hopes' of the like bliss laid up for themselves hereafter4 ,this particular rite escaped the notice1 or at any rate the malice1 of ,clement2 but ,dionysus does not for all that go unscathed4 ,clement fastens upon a legend concerning him1 which1 however widely ancient ,greek feeling in the matter of sex differed from modern1 cannot but have seemed to some of the ancients#adff themselves to be a reproach and stain upon the honour of their god4 ,the story of ,dionysus and ,prosymnus1 as told by ,clement#adfg1 must be taken as read4 ,but those who will investigate it for themselves will see that the same idea of death being followed by close intercourse with the gods is present there also4 ,that this was the inner meaning of the peculiarly offensive story is shown by a curious comment of ,heraclitus upon it1 which ,clement quotes-- #adfh1 #8,hades and ,dionysus are one'2 whence it follows that union with ,dionysus is a synonym for that #8marriage with ,hades' which elsewhere1 in both ancient and modern times1 is a common presentment of death4 ,again in the ,sabazian mysteries1 which some connect with ,dionysus and others with ,zeus1 the little that is known of the ritual favours the view that here also the motif was the marriage of the deity with his worshippers4 ,according to ,clement#adfi1 the subject-matter of these mysteries was a story that ,zeus1 having become by ,demeter the father of ,persephone1 seduced in turn his own daughter1 having as a means to that end transformed himself into a snake4 ,that story1 it may safely be said1 is presented by ,clement in its worst light2 but the statement1 that in the ritual the deity was represented by a snake1 obtains some corroboration from ,theophrastus1 who says of the superstitious man1 that if he see a red snake in his house he will invoke ,sabazius#adgj4 ,now the token of these mysteries for those who were being initiated in them was1 according to ,clement#adga again1 #8the god pressed to the bosom' 7 72 which phrase he explains by saying that the god was represented as a snake1 which was passed under the clothing and drawn over the bosom of the initiated #8as a proof of the incontinence of ,zeus4' ,clearly then the act of initiation was the symbolic wedding of the worshipper with the deity worshipped2 and it is probable that the union which was symbolized in this life was expected to be realised in the next4 ,finally in the orgiastic worship of ,cybele the same religious doctrine is revealed4 ,here to ,attis seems to be assigned the same part as to ,adonis in the mysteries of ,aphrodite4 ,he is the beloved of the goddess2 he is lost and mourned for as dead2 he is restored again from the grave to the goddess who loved him4 ,and in all this he appears to be the representative of all ,cybele's worshippers2 for the ritual of initiation into her rites1 if once again we may avail ourselves of ,clement's statements1 is strongly imbued with the idea of marriage between the goddess and her worshipper4 ,the several acts or stages of initiation are summarised in four phrases3 #8,i ate out of the drum2 ,i drank out of the cymbal2 ,i carried the sacred vessel2 ,i entered privily the bed-chamber-- #adgb4 ,in the passage from which these phrases are culled there appears to be a certain confusion between the rites of ,cybele and those of ,demeter2 but the fact that ,clement shortly afterwards gives another formulary of ,demeter's ritual is sufficient proof that he meant this present formulary1 as indeed the mention of kettle-drum and cymbal#adgc suggests1 to apply to the mysteries of ,cybele#adgd4 ,it appears then that the final act or stage of initiation consisted in the secret admission of the worshipper to the bed-chamber of the goddess4 ,such ritual can have borne only one interpretation4 ,it clearly constituted a promise of wedded union between the initiated and their deity4 ,viewed in this light even the emasculation of the priests of ,cybele may more readily be understood2 it may have been the consecration of their virility to the service of the goddess1 a final and convincing pledge of celibacy in this life1 in return for which they aspired to be blest by wedlock with their goddess hereafter4 ,the mention of the goddess' bed-chamber in the above passage is of considerable interest4 ,the 7or 7 in relation to a temple meant the same thing as it often meant in relation to an ordinary house1 an inner room or recess screened off1 and in particular a bridal chamber4 ,such provision for the physical comfort of the deity was probably not rare4 ,pausanias tells us that on the right of the vestibule in the ,argive ,heraeum there was a couch 77 for ,hera#adge1 and he seems to speak of it as if it were a common enough piece of temple furniture4 ,so too at ,phlya in ,attica1 where were held the very ancient mystic rites #8of her who is called the ,great1' there was a bridal chamber 771 where1 it has rightly been argued1 there #8must have been enacted a mimetic marriage#adgf4' ,again ,clement of ,alexandria speaks of a of ,athena in the ,parthenon1 and makes it quite clear by the story which he relates that he understood the word in the sense of bed-chamber4 ,the story is also for other reasons worth recalling1 because it shows how the religious conception of marriage between men and gods was readily extended to the worship of other deities than those whose mysteries we have sought to unravel1 and at the same time furnishes the only case known to me in which that mystic belief was prostituted to the base uses of flattery4 ,the occasion was the reception accorded by the ,athenians to ,demetrius ,poliorcetes4 ,not content with hailing him as a god in name1 they went so far in their mean-spirited subjection as to set up a temple1 at the place where he dismounted from his horse on entering their city1 to ,demetrius the ,descender 77#adgg1 while on every side altars were erected to him4 ,but their grossest piece of flattery was a master-piece of grotesque impiety1 and met with a fitting reward4 ,a marriage was arranged between him 7the most notorious profligate of his age7 and ,athena4 #8,he however1' we are told1 #8disdained the goddess1 being unable to embrace the statue1 but took with him to the ,acropolis the courtesan ,lamia1 and polluted the bed-chamber of ,athena1 exhibiting to the old virgin the postures of the young courtesan#adgh4' ,even that contemptuous response to the ,athenians' flattery did not abash them1 but1 finding that he did not favour their acknowledged deity1 they determined to deify his acknowledged favourite1 and erected a temple to ,lamia ,aphrodite#adgi4 ,but such travesties of holy things were rare2 and this one notorious case excited the contempt alike of the man#adhj to whom the flattery was paid and of all posterity--a contempt which teaches1 hardly less clearly than the indignation excited a century earlier by the supposed profanation of the mysteries1 in what reverence and high esteem the idea of marriage between men and gods was generally held4 ,even ,lucian1 in whom reverence was a less pronounced characteristic than humour1 condemns seriously enough a parody of the mysteries of ,eleusis which occurred in his own day2 and his account of it at the same time shows once more that the marriage of men and gods was the very essence of the mysteries4 ,the impostor ,alexander1 he says1 instituted rites with carrying of torches 77 and exposition of the sacred ceremonies 77 lasting for three days4 8,on the first there was a proclamation1 as at ,athens1 as follows3 #8,if any atheist1 ,christian1 or ,epicurean hath come to spy upon the holy rites1 let him begone1 and let the faithful be initiated with heaven's blessing4' ,then first of all there was an expulsion of intruders4 ,alexander himself led the way1 crying #8,out with ,christians1' and the whole multitude shouted in answer #8,out with ,epicureans4' ,then was enacted the story of ,leto in child-bed and the birth of ,apollo1 and his marriage with ,coronis and the birth of ,asclepius2 and on the second day the manifestation of ,glycon and the god's birth#adha4 ,and on the third day was the wedding of ,podalirius and ,alexander's mother2 this was called the ,torch-day1 for torches were burnt4 ,and finally there was the love of ,selene and ,alexander1 and the birth of his daughter now married to ,rutilianus#adhb4 ,our ,endymion-,alexander was now torch-bearer and exponent of the rites4 ,and he lay as it were sleeping in the view of all1 and there came down to him from the roof--as it were ,selene from heaven--a certain ,rutilia1 a very beautiful woman1 the wife of one of ,caesar's household-officers1 who was really in love with ,alexander and was loved by him1 and she kissed the rascal's eyes and embraced him in the view of all1 and1 if there had not been so many torches1 worse would perhaps have followed 7 7#adhc40 ,the inferences which may be drawn from this narrative are1 first1 that the mysteries in general1 while reproducing in some dramatic form the whole story of the deities concerned1 culminated in the representation of a mystic marriage between men and gods2 7the birth of a child was also represented or announced in this parody1 as we know that it was at ,eleusis#adhd1 but it had1 ,i am inclined to think1 no mystic significance otherwise than as proof of the consummation of that marriage27 and1 secondly1 that the wild charges of indecency brought by early ,christian writers against the mysteries are baseless2 for ,lucian condemns a much lesser license in this parody than that which they attributed to the genuine rites4 ,thus our examination of the mysteries1 so far as they are known to us1 tends to prove that the doctrines revealed in them to the initiated were simply a development of certain vaguer popular ideas which have been prevalent among the ,greek folk from the classical age down to our own day4 ,the people entertained hopes that this physical life would continue in a similar form after death2 the mysteries gave definite assurance of that immortality by exhibiting to the initiated ,persephone or ,adonis or ,attis restored from the lower world in bodily form2 and though that exhibition was in fact merely a dramatic representation1 yet to the eyes of religious ecstasy it seemed just as much a living reality as does the risen ,christ in the modern celebration of ,easter4 ,the people again were wont to think and to speak of death as a marriage into the lower world2 the mysteries showed to the initiated certain representatives of mankind who by death1 or even in life1 had been admitted to the felicity of wedlock with deities1 and thereby confirmed the faithful in their happier hopes of being in like manner themselves god-beloved and of sharing the life of gods4 ,since then there is good reason to believe that this was in effect the secret teaching of the mysteries1 it would naturally be expected that human marriage should have been reckoned as it were a foretaste of that union with the divine which was promised hereafter1 and also that death should have been counted the hour of its approaching fulfilment2 in other words1 if my view of the mysteries is correct1 it would almost inevitably follow that the mysteries should have been brought into close association both with weddings and with funerals4 ,this expectation is confirmed by the facts4 ,an ordinary wedding was treated as something akin to initiation into the mysteries4 ,an inscription of ,cos#adhe1 relating to the appointment of priestesses of ,demeter1 mentions among other duties certain services on the occasion of weddings2 and the brides1 who are the recipients of these services1 are divided into two classes1 and 1 the maidens who1 are being #8initiated1' and the widows who are being married again2 a woman's first marriage in fact is called by a religious document her initiation1 and ,demeter's priestesses are charged therewith4 ,nor was this usage or idea confined to ,cos2 ,plutarch speaks of services rendered by the priestess of ,demeter in the solemnisation of matrimony as part of an #8ancestral rite#adhf'2 while the term was commonly used both of the mystic rites and of marriage1 and might denote the newly-wed#adhg4 ,the same thought seems also to have inspired another custom associated with marriage4 ,the newly-wed1 we hear1 sometimes attended a representation of the marriage of ,zeus and ,hera#adhh1 an which formed the subject of mystic drama or legend all over ,greece#adhi4 ,the widely extended cults of ,hera under the titles of ,maiden 7 or 7 and of ,bride 7 or 7 appear to have been closely interwoven2 indeed for a full appreciation of the ,greek conception of the goddess they must be treated as complementary4 ,they are well interpreted by ,farnell4 ,rejecting the theory of physical symbolism1 he suggests #8a more human explanation4 ,hera was essentially the goddess of women1 and the life of women was reflected in her2 their maidenhood and marriage were solemnised by the cults of ,hera and ,hera or 1 and the very rare worship of ,hera might allude to the not infrequent custom of divorce and separation#adij4' ,with1 ,hera the ,widow we are not here concerned1 but only with the higher conceptions of ,zeus and ,hera as expressed in the representation of the #8sacred marriage'2 the bride and bridegroom who looked upon that saw in it1 we may be sure1 not a symbolical representation of the seasons and the productive powers of the earth1 but rather the divine prototype of human marriage4 ,it reminded them that deities1 like mortals1 were married and given in marriage1 and it imparted to their wedding a sacramental character1 making it at once a foretaste and a gage of that close communion with the gods which1 when death the dividing line between mortals and immortals should once be passed1 awaited the blessed among mankind4 ,other small points too suggest the same trend of thought4 ,the preliminaries of a wedding often comprised a sacrifice to ,zeus ,teleios and ,hera ,teleia#adia1 and were called being the #8preliminaries of initiation' into that mystery1 of which the sacred marriage1 enacted before the now wedded pair1 was the full revelation#adib4 ,again these preliminaries always included the solemn ablution#adic of which ,i have spoken above1 and in this resembled the preparations for admittance to the mysteries4 ,moreover an instance is recorded in which this ablution was itself invested with the significance of a wedding between the human and the divine4 ,the maidens of the ,troad before marriage were wont to unrobe and bathe themselves in the ,scamander2 and the prayer which they made to the river-god1 whose bed they entered1 was1 #8,receive thou1 ,scamander1 my virginity#adid4' ,finally the first night on which the wedded pair came together was known as the #8mystic night' 7 7#adie1 a term not a little suggestive of the great night of ,demeter's mysteries when to the eyes of the initiated was displayed the secret proof and promise of wedlock between men and gods hereafter4 ,in short the ceremonies of a wedding by one means or another proclaimed it to be a form of initiation1 and the estate of marriage was to the ,greeks1 as our prayer-book calls it1 #8an excellent mystery4' ,hence naturally followed the belief that the unmarried and the uninitiated shared the same fate in the future life4 ,one conception of the punishment of the uninitiated was1 according to ,plato#adif1 that they should carry water in a sieve to a broken jar2 and this1 as is well known1 was also the lot of the ,danaids in the nether world4 ,commenting on these facts ,dr ,frazer says1 #8,it is possible that the original reason why the ,danaids were believed to be condemned to this punishment in hell was not so much that they murdered1 as that they did not marry1 the sons of ,aegyptus4 ,according to one tradition indeed they afterwards married other husbands 7,paus4 ,,iii4 #ab4 #b72 but according to another legend they were murdered by ,lynceus1 apparently before marriage 7,schol4 on ,euripides1 ,hecuba1 #hhf74 ,they may therefore have been chosen as types of unmarried women1 and their punishment need not have been peculiar to them but may have been the one supposed to await all unmarried persons in the nether world#adig4' ,a passage of ,lucian1 which appears to have been overlooked in this connexion#adih1 converts the view of the ,danaids which ,dr ,frazer considers possible into a practical certainty4 ,the passage in point forms the conclusion of that dialogue in which ,poseidon with the aid of ,triton plots and carries out the rape of ,amymone1 the ,danaid4 ,she has just been seized and is protesting against her abduction and threatening to call her father1 when ,triton intervenes3 #8,keep quiet1 ,amymone1' he says1 #8it is ,poseidon4' ,and the girl rejoins1 #8,oh1 ,poseidon you call him1 do you8' and then turning to her ravisher1 #8,what do you mean1 sirrah1 by handling me so roughly1 and dragging me down into the sea8 ,i shall go under and be drowned1 miserable girl4' ,and ,poseidon answers1 #8,do not be frightened1 you shall come to no harm2 no1 ,i will strike the rock here1 near where the waves break1 with my trident1 and will let a spring burst up which shall bear your name1 and you yourself shall be blessed and1 unlike your sisters1 shall not carry water when you are dead 7 7#adii4' ,the whole point of ,poseidon's answer clearly depends upon the existence of a well-known belief that the ,danaids were punished hereafter for remaining unmarried and that the punishment took the form of vainly fetching water for that bridal bath which was a necessary preliminary to a wedding2 ,amymone shall have a very thorough bridal bath1 and the spring that bears her name shall be a monument of it1 while she herself shall be #8blessed' by wedlock with ,poseidon2 thus shall she escape the fate of the unmarried4 ,clearly then there was no distinction between the uninitiated and the unmarried2 both alike were doomed vainly to fetch water for those ablutions which preceded initiation into the mysteries or into matrimony2 and once again the conception of marriage as a mystic and sacramental rite akin to the rites of ,eleusis is clearly revealed4 ,it may further be noted here that this idea of the punishment of the unmarried completely explains the custom1 on which ,i have already touched1 of erecting a water-pitcher 77 over the grave of unmarried persons4 ,this intimated1 according to ,eustathius#aejj1 that the person there buried had never taken the bath which both bride and bridegroom were wont to take before marriage4 ,but this must not be taken to mean that the water-pitcher was erected as a symbol of the punishment which the dead person was supposed to be undergoing2 this was not an idea which his relatives and friends1 even if they had held it1 would have wished to blazon abroad4 ,one might as soon expect to find depicted on a modern tombstone the worm that dieth not and the fire that is not quenched4 ,no2 the water-pitcher was not a symbol1 it was an instrument2 for my part ,i have little faith in the existence of any symbols in popular religion which are not in origin at least instruments2 and the purpose to which this instrument was put was to supply the dead person with that wedding-bath which he had not taken in life1 and without which he would vainly strive in the under-world to prepare himself for divine wedlock4 ,the water-pitcher was not commemorative1 but preventive1 of future punishment4 ,its erection was not a warning to the living1 but a service to the dead4 ,thus then the evidence for the intimate association of the mysteries1 or of the main idea which runs through them1 with human weddings is complete and1 ,i hope1 convincing2 and the custom of the water-pitcher1 which concludes it1 fitly introduces at the same time the evidence for the association of the same idea with funerals4 ,this is equally plentiful4 ,the vague conception of death as a wedding1 which as ,i have shown was elaborated in the mysteries1 has of course already been exemplified in all those passages of ancient literature and modern folk-songs which ,i have adduced1 and ,i have found in it also the motive for the assimilation of funeral-customs to the customs of marriage4 ,but the evidence that the actual doctrines of the mysteries1 in which more definite expression was given to that vague idea1 were closely associated with death and funeral-custom is to be found rather in epitaphs and sepulchral monuments4 ,the tone of the epitaphs may be sufficiently illustrated by a single couplet3 #aeja4 #8,i1 ,gorgippus1 lived not to look upon a bridal bed ere ,i went down to the chamber of bright-haired ,persephone which none may escape4' ,there is naturally here a note of lament1 as befits any epitaph1 and more especially that of one who dies young and unmarried2 but none the less there is an anticipation--justified1 we may think1 if we will1 by some ceremony of bridal ablution performed for the dead man by his friends--that his death is a wedding with the goddess of the under-world2 and indeed the phrase 1 #8the bridal chamber of ,persephone1' recurs with some frequency in this class of epitaphs#aejb4 ,considered collectively1 such epitaphs would suggest a distinctly offensive conception of ,persephone2 but in each taken separately1 as it was composed1 it will be allowed1 ,i think1 that if there is supreme audacity1 there is equal sublimity4 ,it is just these qualities which give pungency to a blasphemous parody of such epitaphs1 in which the wit of ,ausonius exposes the worst possible aspect of a religious conception which to the pure-minded was wholly pure4 ,my apology for quoting lines which ,i will not translate must be the fact that a caricature is often no less instructive than a true portrait4 ,the mock epitaph concludes as follows3 ,sed neque functorum socius miscebere vulgo ,nec metues ,stygios flebilis umbra lacus3 ,verum aut ,persephonae ,cinyreius ibis ,adonis1 ,aut ,jovis ,elysii tu catamitus eris#aejc4 ,ausonius in jest bears an unpleasant resemblance to ,clement in earnest2 both perverted to their uttermost a doctrine which commanded nothing but reverence from faithful participants in the mysteries4 ,akin to these epitaphs are certain tablets which recently have been fully discussed by ,miss ,jane ,harrison#aejd1 and have been shown to be of ,orphic origin4 ,they were buried with the dead1 and for this reason were more outspoken in their references to the mystic doctrines than was permissible in epitaphs exposed to the vulgar gaze4 ,the most complete of these tablets is one which was found near ,sybaris1 and1 with the exception of the last sentence of all1 the inscription is in hexameter verse4 ,miss ,harrison1 to whose work ,i am wholly indebted for this valuable evidence1 translates as follows#aeje3 #8,out of the pure ,i come1 ,pure ,queen of ,them ,below1 ,eukles and ,eubouleus and the other ,gods immortal4 ,for ,i also avow me that ,i am of your blessed race1 ,but ,fate laid me low and the other ,gods immortal 444 starflung thunderbolt4 ,i have flown out of the sorrowful weary ,wheel4 ,i have passed with eager feet to the ,circle desired4 ,i have sunk beneath the bosom of ,despoina1 ,queen of the ,underworld4 ,i have passed with eager feet from the ,circle desired4 ,happy and ,blessed ,one1 thou shalt be ,god instead of mortal4 ,a kid ,i have fallen into milk4' ,the gist of the document which the dead man takes with him is then briefly this4 ,he claims to have been pure originally and of the same race as his gods2 but as a man he was mortal and exposed to death1 and in this respect differed from his gods4 ,he states however that he has performed certain ritual acts which entitle him to be re-admitted to the pure fellowship of the gods now that death is passed4 ,and the answer comes1 #8,thou shalt be ,god instead of mortal4' ,now here ,i wish to consider one only of these ritual acts--that one of which the meaning is clearest-- ' 1 which means1 if ,i may give my own rendering1 #8,i was admitted to the embrace of ,despoina1 ,queen of the under-world4' ,the phrase is one which repeats the idea which we have already seen expressed in the formulary of ,cybele's rites1 #aejf1 #8,i was privily admitted to the bridal chamber1' and in the token of the ,sabazian mysteries1 #aejg1 #8the god pressed to the bosom'2 and ,lucian's final phrase in his account of ,alexander's mock-mysteries shows a kindred phrase1 #aejh1 as an euphemism of the same kind#aeji4 ,the ,orphic therefore no less than others based his claim to future happiness on the fact that he had performed a ritual act1 of the nature of a sacrament1 which constituted a pledge that the wedlock between him and his goddess foreshadowed here should be consummated hereafter4 ,even more abundant evidence is furnished by sepulchral monuments2 and in support of my views ,i cannot do better than quote two high authorities who coincide in their verdict upon the meaning of the scenes represented4 ,in reference to those scenes #8in which death is conceived in the guise of a marriage' ,furtwngler writes3 #8,the monuments belonging to this class are extraordinarily numerous1 and exhibit very different methods of treating the idea which they carry out4 ,a relief upon a sarcophagus from the ,villa ,borghese shows the ,god of the dead in the act of carrying down the fair ,kore to be his bride in the lower world4 ,above the steeds of his chariot1 which are already disappearing into the depths of the earth1 flies ,eros as guide4 ,the bride however appears to be going only under compulsion and after some struggle2 the look of the bridegroom expresses sternness rather than gentleness2 and the mother who sits with face averted seems to exclude all thoughts of the daughter's return4 ,only in the torches which the guide carries in his hand1 in the snakes which are looking upward1 and in the observant attitude of ,hecate1 can a suggestion of the return be found4 #8,on another sarcophagus--from ,nazzara--which represents the same marriage-journey1 ,eros is not merely the guide of the steeds1 but aids the bridegroom in carrying off ,kore1 so that in this case the struggle with death takes purely the form of a struggle with love4 ,at the same time the mother is driving along with her chariot1 thereby signifying the renewal of life1 which is yet more clearly betokened in the ploughman and the sower at her side4 #8,in a yet gentler spirit we see the same journey conceived in a vase-painting from lower ,italy4 ,here there is a look of gentleness on ,hades' face2 the bride accompanies him gladly1 and even takes an affectionate farewell of her mother1 who appears to acquiesce in her departure4 ,in this case too ,eros is flying above the horses1 and is turned towards the lovers1 while in front of him there flies a dove1 the bird sacred to the goddess of love4 ,hecate with torches guides the steeds2 near at hand waits ,hermes to escort the procession2 and above the whole scene the stars are shining1 as if to indicate the new life in the region of death4 #8,in another form1 exalted to a yet higher holiness1 the same marriage is repeated in the sphere of ,dionysus-worship4 ,thus on a cameo in the ,vatican1 ,dionysus is represented driving with his bride1 ,ariadne1 in a brightly-decked triumphal car4 ,holy rapture is manifested on the features of both1 and on top of the chariot stands a ,cupid directing it4 ,dionysus is arrayed in the doe-skin1 and holds in his left hand a thyrsus1 in his right a goblet2 ,ariadne is carrying ears of corn and poppy-heads1 and has her hair wreathed with vine-leaves4 ,the car is drawn by ,centaurs of both sexes1 with torches1 drinking-horns1 and musical instruments4 ,the idea which underlies this scene is the reproduction of ,life out of ,death2 ,hades has issued forth again for a new marriage-bond with ,kore in the realm of light1 appearing now rejuvenated in the form of ,dionysus1 just as his bride assumes the form of ,ariadne1 and because the power of death is broken behind him1 his car likewise becomes a triumphal car4 #8,just as the marriage of ,zeus in the realm of light became a type for men in this life1 so the marriage of ,hades1 or of ,dionysus representing him1 developed into a similar prototype for the dead4 ,since that which is true of ,death bears directly upon the actual dead1 it was quite natural that gradually the process of death came to be considered in general as a wedding with the deities of death4 ,with this conception too harmonize those wedding-scenes which are so common and conspicuous on funeral monuments1 as well as the often-recurring scenes from the joyous cycle of ,dionysus-myths#aeaj4' ,two brief comments may be made upon this passage4 ,first1 ,furtwngler clearly recognises in ,dionysus a mere substitute for ,hades1 and thus confirms my interpretation of the strange legend concerning ,dionysus and ,prosymnus#aeaa4 ,we noticed that the somewhat obscure observation of ,heraclitus 7as quoted by ,clement7 upon that story contained the words #8,dionysus and ,hades are one and the same'2 and we now see that in art too the same identification was made1 and that the marriage of a mortal with ,dionysus was used to typify the future marriage of the dead with their gods4 ,the reason for this identification seems simply to be that the cults in which the two gods figured1 although differing in outward form1 were felt to express one and the same idea--namely the conception of death as a form of marriage2 and the tendency to identify in such cases was carried so far that the god ,dionysus was even1 we are told1 identified with the mortal ,adonis#aeab1 presumably because the worship of each1 as ,i have shown above1 turned upon this one cardinal doctrine4 ,secondly1 ,furtwngler points out that the marriage of ,zeus and ,hera represented for living men the same doctrine as the marriage of ,hades and ,persephone 7or of ,dionysus and ,ariadne7 represented for the dead4 ,the truth of this is well illustrated by the close resemblance between ,aristophanes' picture of ,hera's wedding and those funeral monuments and vases which ,furtwngler describes2 for there too #8golden-winged ,eros held firm the reins1 and drave the wedding-car of ,zeus and blessed ,hera#aeac4' ,in other words1 this ,olympian marriage was only one among several mystic marriages which all conveyed1 though in diverse form1 the same lesson1 that marriage was the perfection of divine life no less than of human life1 and therefore that hereafter when men1 or at any rate the blessed and initiated among men1 should come to dwell with their gods1 no bond of communion between gods and men could be perfect short of the marriage-bond4 ,it was natural enough that the drama of ,hera's wedding with ,zeus should most often have been chosen to be played at an ordinary wedding1 because it would not obtrude thoughts of death upon a joyous event with such insistence as most of the other religious legends which reposed upon the same fundamental doctrine2 but sometimes1 we know1 it was the priestesses of ,demeter who officiated at wedding-ceremonies1 and in those cases it cannot be doubted that it was ,persephone and not ,hera who was the divine prototype of the bride1 and the thought that her wedding was a wedding with the god of death could not have been excluded4 ,at funerals1 on the other hand1 the story of ,zeus and ,hera which was preferred at weddings owing to its less obvious allusion to death1 would for that same reason have found less favour than those other marriage-legends in which the identity of death with marriage was more clearly enunciated2 and of these1 owing to the exceptional reverence in which the ,eleusinian mysteries were held1 the story of ,persephone seems to have been among the most frequent4 ,yet in the picture drawn by ,aristophanes at which we have just glanced1 for one subtle touch which suggests the connexion of ,hera's wedding with human weddings1 there is another subtle touch which suggests its relation with human death4 ,the first is an epithet applied to ,eros who drove the wedding-car--the epithet 1 used of one who has both parents living#aead4 ,the allusion to human weddings is clear4 ,it was no doubt imperative in old time1 as it still is1 in ,greece1 that anyone who attended upon a bride or bridegroom1 as for instance the bearer of water for the bridal bath1 should have both parents living2 and the use of the same term in reference to ,eros1 the attendant upon ,zeus and ,hera1 marks the intimate connexion between the divine marriage and the marriage of living men and women4 ,but another epithet in the passage conveys no less clear an allusion to the marriage of those1 whom men call dead1 with their deities4 ,hera is named 1 a word which1 meaning #8favoured by ,god1' may seem strangely applied to one who herself was divine#aeae4 ,but it was selected by ,aristophanes for a good reason2 by the word was commonly denoted that future bliss which the initiated believed to consist in wedlock with their deities4 ,like 1 #8god-beloved1' the term 1 #8blessed1' was1 so to speak1 a catch-word of the mysteries#aeaf2 and the application of it to ,hera in ,aristophanes' ode brings the legend of ,hera's marriage into rank with those other wedding-stories whose actual plot hinged upon the identity of death and marriage4 ,thus though one legend might be more appropriate in its externals to one occasion1 and another legend to another occasion1 the ultimate and fundamental idea of them all was single and the same4 ,this view is boldly championed by the second authority whom ,i proposed to quote upon the subject of mystic marriage-scenes depicted on funeral-monuments4 #8,the idea1' says ,lenormant1 #8of mystic union in death is frequently indicated in the scenes represented upon sarcophagi and painted vases4 ,but for the most part the idea is expressed there only in an allusive manner1 which depends upon the identification which this marriage-scene established between the dead person and the deity1 by means of such subjects as the carrying off of ,cephalus by ,aurora1 or ,orithyia by ,boreas1 or the love-story of ,aphrodite and ,adonis#aeag4' #8,thus1' he explains1 #8a girl carried off 7by death7 from her parents was simply a bride betrothed to the infernal god1 and was identified with ,demeter's maiden daughter1 the victim of the passion and violence of ,hades2 a young man cut off by an early fate figured as the beautiful ,adonis1 snatched away by ,persephone from the love of ,aphrodite1 and brought1 in spite of himself1 to the bed of the queen of the lower world#aeah4' ,the identification which ,lenormant sees in these several instances is an identification1 ,i suppose1 not of personalities but of destinies4 ,the popular religion of ancient ,greece shows little trace of any pantheistic view which would have contemplated the absorption of the personality of the dead man or woman into that of any god or goddess4 ,indeed the very number of the personally distinct deities with whom1 on such an hypothesis1 the dead would have been identified1 as well as that continuance of sexual difference in the future life which is postulated by the very doctrine before us1 precludes all thought of personal identification4 ,rather it is the future destiny of the dead person which was identified with the destiny of the deity or hero whose marriage was represented on sarcophagus or cippus or commemorative vase#aeai4 ,the lot of ,kore or ,ariadne or ,orithyia prefigured the lot of mortal women hereafter2 the fortunes of ,adonis or ,cephalus typified those of mortal men2 and all the marriage-scenes alike1 whatever the differences of presentation1 revealed the hope and the promise of wedlock hereafter between mankind and their deities4 ,but ,lenormant mentions one vase-painting#aebj in which this fundamental doctrine is taught not by parables of mythology1 but more overtly and directly4 ,the scene depicted is the marriage of a youth1 whose name1 ,polyetes1 is in pathetic contrast with his short span of years spent upon earth1 with a goddess ,eudaemonia 7or #8,bliss'7 in the lower world4 ,in this deity ,lenormant sees #8the infernal goddess under an euphemistic name4' ,nor could any more significant name have been used4 ,it has already been pointed out that was a term much favoured by the initiated in the mysteries1 and was openly used by them to denote that future bliss which secretly was understood to consist in divine wedlock4 ,hence the scene upon this vase would at once suggest to those who were familiar with the doctrines of the mysteries1 that the youth1 being presumably of the number of the initiated1 had found in death the realisation of his happy hopes and had entered into blissful union with the goddess of the lower world4 99 99 99 99 99 ,to sum up briefly3 we have seen alike in the literature of ancient ,greece and in the folk-songs of modern ,greece that death has commonly been conceived by the ,hellenic race in the guise of a wedding2 a review of marriage-customs and funeral-customs both ancient and modern has re-affirmed the constant association of death and marriage1 and has shown how deep-rooted in the minds of the common people that idea must have been which produced a deliberate assimilation of funeral-rites to the ceremonies of marriage4 ,next we investigated the connexion of the mysteries with the popular religion1 and saw reason to hold that1 far from being subversive of it or alien to it1 they inculcated doctrines which were wholly evolved from vaguer popular ideas always current in ,greece4 ,finally we traced in many of those legends1 on which the dramatic representations of the mysteries are known to have been based1 a common motif1 the idea that death is the entrance for men into a blissful estate of wedded union with their deities4 ,and this religious ideal not only satisfies the condition of agreement with1 and evolution from1 those popular views in which death figured somewhat vaguely as a form of wedding1 but also proves to be the natural and necessary outcome of two religious sentiments with which earlier chapters have dealt2 first1 the ardent desire for close communion with the gods1 and secondly1 the belief that men's bodies as well as their souls survived death and dissolution2 for if the body by means of its disintegration rejoined the soul in the nether world1 and the human entity was then complete1 enjoying the same substantial existence1 the same physical no less than mental powers1 which it had enjoyed in the upper world1 and which the immortal gods enjoyed uninterrupted by death1 then1 since the same rite of marriage was the consummation both of divine life and of human life1 men's yearning for close communion with their gods required for its ideal and perfect satisfaction the full union of wedlock2 and the sacrament which assured men of this consummation was the highest development of the whole ,greek religion1 the mysteries4 ,such a sacrament and such aspirations might well have offended even those ,christians of early days1 if such there were1 who were willing to deal sympathetically with paganism2 that those who were its declared enemies1 and were ready to use against it the weapons of perversion and vituperation1 found in this conception a vulnerable point1 is readily understood4 ,it is true indeed that in the very idea which they most vilified there was a certain curious analogy between the new religion and the old4 ,just as paganism allowed to each man or woman individually the hope of becoming the bridegroom or the bride of one of their many deities1 so ,christianity represented the ,church1 the whole body of the faithful collectively1 as the bride of its sole deity4 ,but the analogy is superficial only4 ,the bond of feeling which united the ,church with ,god was very differently conceived from that which drew together the pagans and their deities4 ,the chastened #8charity' 77 of the ,christians had little in common with the passionate love 77 with which the ,greeks of old time had dared look upon their gods4 ,theirs was the ,love that #8held firm the reins and drave the wedding-car of ,zeus and blessed ,hera#aeba'2 the ,love that hovered above the steeds of ,hades and changed for ,persephone the road of death into a road to bliss2 the ,love whom #8no immortal may escape nor any of mankind whose life passeth it as a day1 but whoso hath him is as one mad#aebb'2 and the only true consummation of such love was wedlock4 ,this conception necessarily implied the equality of men with their gods in the future life2 and that future equality was sometimes represented as no more than a return to that which was in the beginning4 #8,one is the race of men with the race of gods2 for one is the mother that gave to both our breath2 yet are they sundered by powers wholly diverse1 in that mankind is as naught1 but heaven is builded of brass that abideth ever unshaken#aebc4' ,so sang ,pindar of the past and of the present2 but the ,orphic tablet which has been already quoted carries on the thought into the future3 #8,out of the pure ,i come1 ,pure ,queen of ,them ,below1 ,eukles and ,eubouleus and the other ,gods immortal4 ,for ,i also avow me that ,i am of your blessed race1 ,but ,fate laid me low4444' ,so far with ,pindar4 ,but the dead man's claims do not end there3 #8,i was admitted to the embrace of ,despoina1 ,queen of the ,underworld'2 already had he received a foretaste of that divine wedlock which implied equality with the gods2 and so there comes the answer1 #8,happy and ,blessed ,one1 thou shalt be ,god instead of mortal4' ,this idea commended itself even to thinkers who did not believe in bodily survival after death4 ,plato1 in the ,phaedo1 where above all things is taught the perishable nature of the body and the immortality of the soul alone1 yet avails himself of the belief that the pure among mankind shall attain even to godhead hereafter4 ,to him the pure are not the initiated indeed1 but the earnest strivers after wisdom4 ,in his theory of retributive metempsychosis he surmises that those who have followed the lusts of the flesh shall hereafter enter the ranks of asses and other lustful beasts2 that those who have wrought violence shall enter the ranks of wolves and hawks and kites2 that those who have practised what is popularly accounted virtue1 but without true understanding1 shall enter the ranks of harmless and social creatures1 bees1 wasps1 and ants1 or even the ranks of men once more4 #8,but into the ranks of gods none may enter without having followed after wisdom and so departing hence wholly pure--none save the lover of knowledge#aebd4' ,what precise meaning ,plato attached to his phrase #8to enter the ranks' 7 or 71 to which he adheres throughout the passage1 is a question which agitated the ,neoplatonists#aebe somewhat needlessly4 ,the phrase is intended either literally throughout or allegorically throughout4 ,if it be allegorical1 the meaning must be that all human souls shall enter again into human bodies1 but that they shall start this new phase of existence with the qualities of lust1 violence1 respectability1 or real virtue and purity1 acquired in the previous life--merely resembling1 as nearly as men may1 asses1 wolves1 bees1 or gods4 ,now as regards the first three classes1 this allegorical interpretation1 if a little forced1 is feasible enough2 but what of the fourth class8 ,shall the soul which has attained purity1 the very negation of fleshliness in ,plato's view1 suffer re-incarnation and struggle once more against the flesh8 ,surely the allegorical explanation is at once condemned4 ,the phrase was intended literally#aebf4 ,plato signified the re-incarnation of the lustful1 the violent1 and the merely respectable1 in the forms of animals of like character1 and he signified--,i must not say the re-incarnation1 for ,plato's gods were spiritual and not carnal--but the regeneration of the pure in the form of gods4 ,and in the same spirit ,plutarch too contemplated the possibility of some men's souls becoming first heroes1 and from heroes rising to the rank of #8daemons1' and from #8daemons' coming to share1 albeit but rarely1 in real godhead#aebg4 ,thus even the highest aspirations of the most spiritually-minded of pagan thinkers owed much to the purely popular religion4 ,the ,orphic tablet links up the popular conception of death as a wedding with the ,platonic conception of the deification of the soul4 #8,i was admitted to the embrace of ,despoina1 ,queen of the underworld'3 #8,happy and ,blessed ,one1 thou shalt be ,god instead of mortal4' ,but if ,plato1 even in his conception of a purely spiritual life hereafter1 owed something to the popular religion1 he drew upon it far more freely in his conception of ,love4 ,in the ,symposium one speech after another culminates in the assertion of that belief which found its highest expression in the mysteries4 #8,so then ,i say1' says ,phaedrus1 #8that ,love is the most venerable of the gods1 the most worthy of honour1 the most powerful to grant virtue and blessedness unto mankind both in life and after death#aebh4' ,and in the same tone too ,eryximachus3 #8,he it is that wields the mightiest power and is the source for us of all blessedness and of our power to have loving fellowship both with one another and with the gods that are stronger than we#aebi4' ,and finally ,aristophanes3 ,it is ,love1 #8who in this present life gives us most joys by drawing like unto like1 and for our hereafter displays hopes most high1 if we for our part display piety towards the gods1 that he will restore us to our erstwhile nature and will heal us and will make us happy and blessed#aecj4' ,this is not ,platonic philosophy but popular religion4 ,phrase after phrase reveals the origin of this conception of ,love4 ,the hopes most high were the hopes held forth by the mysteries2 the blessedness and the loving fellowship with gods were the fulfilment of those hopes4 ,in such language did men ever hint at the joys to which their mystic sacraments gave access4 ,and ,plato here ventures yet further4 ,the author of those high hopes1 the founder of that blessedness1 he proclaims1 is none other than ,love--,love that appealed not to the soul only of the initiated1 but to the whole man1 both soul and body--,love that meant not only the yearning after wisdom and holiness and spiritual equality with the gods1 but that same passion which drew together man and woman1 god and goddess--the passion of mankind for their deities1 fed in this life by manifold means of communion and even by sacramental union1 satisfied hereafter in the full fruition of wedded bliss4 ,,footnotes3 #aceh ,il4 ,,xi4 #bda4 #acei ,hes4 ,w4 and ,d4 #aaf4 #acfj e4g4 ,hom4 ,il4 ,,xvi4 #ded and #fgb2 ,,xiv4 #bca4 #acfa ,hes4 ,theog4 #bab1 #gef4 #acfb ,see ,preller1 ,griech4 ,myth4 ,i4 #fij ff4 #acfc ,paus4 ,v4 #ah4 #a4 ,cf4 ,,iii4 #ah4 #a4 #acfd ,passow1 ,popul4 ,carm4 ,,cccxcvi4 #acfe ,hom4 ,od4 ,,xxiv4 #a4 #acff ,virg4 ,aen4 ,,iv4 #bdb ff4 #acfg ,see above1 pp4 #if ff4 and pp4 #acd ff4 #acfh ,paus4 ,,viii4 #b4 #e4 #acfi ,paus4 ibid4 #d4 #acgj ,passow1 ,pop4 ,carm4 no4 #cfd4 #acga ,passow1 ,pop4 ,carm4 no4 #cgd4 #acgb ,the word 1 7#8joy'71 as ,i have pointed out elsewhere1 is indeed often used technically of marriage4 #acgc ,passow1 ,pop4 ,carm4 no4 #ch 7ll4 #ac-ah7 and also nos4 #fe1 #aeb1 #ahj4 #acgd ,see above1 pp4 #bee ff4 #acge ,abbott1 ,macedon4 ,folklore1 p4 #bee4 #acgf ,passow1 ,pop4 ,carm4 no4 #cgj4 ,the phrase 1 which ,i have inadequately rendered as #8maketh glad1' is technically used of marriage4 ,see above1 p4 #abg4 #acgg ,for authorities see ,lobeck1 ,aglaoph4 ,i4 pp4 #gf ff4 #acgh ,soph4 ,antig4 #egd-e4 ,i do not know how much stress may be laid on the repetition of the pronoun in these two lines 7viz4 and 72 but the lines follow closely on that in which ,creon bids ,ismene speak no more of ,antigone as 1 and an ironical stress might well be laid by ,creon on the word as he uses it1 which would suggest to his audience its antithesis 4 #acgi ,soph4 ,antig4 #hjd-e4 #achj ibid4 #haj-af4 #acha ibid4 #hia-b4 #achb ibid4 #abjc-g4 #achc ibid4 #abdj-a4 #achd ,pindar1 ,fragm4 #aci 7,bergk74 #ache ,aesch4 ,prom4 #idj ff4 #achf ,oneirocr4 ,,ii4 #di4 ,the word denotes here not merely a #8rite1' but a #8consummation' by which a man becomes 4 ,see below1 p4 #eia4 #achg ibid4 ,i4 #hj4 ,to translate the passage more fully is not convenient2 ,i append the original3 1 4 #achh ibid4 ,,ii4 #fe4 #achi ,oneirocr4 ,,ii4 #di4 #acij ,the majority of the references to ancient usage given below are borrowed from ,becker's ,charicles4 #acia ,thuc4 ,,ii4 #ae4 #acib ,eur4 ,phoen4 #cdg4 #acic ,aeschines1 ,epist4 ,x4 p4 #fhj4 #acid ,cf4 ,pollux1 ,,iii4 #dc4 #acie ,soph4 ,antig4 #ija4 #acif ,de ,luctu1 #aa4 #acig ,abbott1 ,macedonian ,folklore1 p4 #aic4 #acih ,for a discussion of this point see ,becker1 ,charicles pp4 #dhc-d4 #acii ,harpocrat4 s4v4 4 1 4 4 ,the same words are repeated by ,photius and ,suidas4 ,with it appears necessary to supply 4 ,cf4 ,pollux ,,viii4 #ff ' 1 4444 ,for other references see ,becker1 ,charicles p4 #dhd4 ,this information1 as regards the emblem used1 is held to be incorrect4 ,the was not a boy bearing a pitcher1 but the pitcher itself4 ,see ,frazer1 ,pausanias1 vol4 ,v4 p4 #chh4 #adjj ,for this view see ,frazer1 ,pausanias1 vol4 ,v4 p4 #chi4 #8,it may be suggested that originally the custom of placing a water-pitcher on the grave of unmarried persons 444 may have been meant to help them to obtain in another world the happiness they had missed in this4 ,in fact it may have been part of a ceremony designed to provide the dead maiden or bachelor with a spouse in the spirit land4 ,such ceremonies have been observed in various parts of the world by peoples1 who1 like the ,greeks1 esteemed it a great misfortune to die unmarried4' #adja ,plut4 #ebi4 #adjb ,cf4 ,lucian1 de ,luctu #aa4 #adjc ,for a discussion of the point in relation to funerals see ,becker1 ,charicles pp4 #che f4 and in relation to marriage pp4 #dhf f4 #adjd ,lucian1 de ,luctu #aa4 #adje ,i4 #f4 #adjf ,cf4 ,passow1 ,popul4 ,carm4 ,graec4 ,recent4 no4 #dae1 and ,tournefort1 ,voyage du ,levant1 ,i4 p4 #aec1 who describes a dead woman1 whose funeral he witnessed1 as #8pare la ,grque de ses habits de nces4' #adjg ,passow1 ,popul4 ,carm4 #cgh4 #adjh ,charicles p4 #dhg4 #adji ,lucian1 de ,luctu #aa4 ,aristoph4 ,lysist4 #fjb etc4 #adaj ,the influence of the ,church was against the use of garlands in early times and perhaps suppressed it in some districts4 ,cf4 ,minucius1 p4 #aji #8,nec mortuos coronamus4 ,ergo vos 7the heathen7 in hoc magis miror1 quemadmodum tribuatis exanimi aut non sentienti facem aut non sentienti coronam3 cum et beatus non egeat1 et miser non gaudeat floribus4' ,the first non is clearly to be deleted4 #adaa ,cf4 ,abbott1 ,macedonian ,folklore1 p4 #aic4 #adab ,cf4 ibid4 p4 #aig4 #adac ,hom4 ,hymn4 in ,demet4 #cgb ff4 ,hence the pomegranate was treated as #8an accursed thing' in the worship of ,demeter at ,lycosura1 ,paus4 ,,viii4 #cg4 #g4 #adad ,paus4 ,,ii4 #ag4 #d4 #adae ,see above1 p4 #edh4 #adaf ,see above1 p4 #hj4 #adag ,the following references are in the main taken from ,lobeck1 ,aglaophamus4 #adah ,soph4 ,fragm4 #gai 7,dind474 #adai ,hom4 ,hymn4 ad ,cer4 #dhj ff4 #adbj ,pind4 ,fragm4 #acg 7,bergk74 #adba ,id4 ,fragm4 #abi4 ,see above1 p4 #eah4 #adbb ,aristoph4 ,ranae #ddj-dei4 #adbc ,isocr4 ,paneg4 p4 #df4 #adbd ,aglaoph4 ,i4 p4 #gj4 #adbe 1 p4 #aff4 #adbf ,aristid4 ,eleusin4 #bei 7#ded74 #adbg ,julian4 ,or4 ,,vii4 #bch4 ,the same story in similar words recurs in ,diog4 ,laert4 ,,vi4 #ci and ,plut4 de ,aud4 ,poet4 ,,ii4 p4 #ba ,f4 #adbh ,crinagoras1 ,ep4 ,,xxx4 #adbi ,cic4 de ,leg4 ,,ii4 #cf4 #adcj ,mathem4 ,i4 p4 #ah1 ed4 ,buller4 #adca ,aglaoph4 ,i4 pp4 #ci f4 #adcb ,see ,lobeck1 ,aglaoph4 ,i4 pp4 #f ff4 #adcc ,diodorus1 v4 #gg4 ,cf4 ,miss ,harrison1 ,prolegomena to the ,study of ,greek ,religion1 p4 #efg4 #adcd ,for references on this point1 see ,lobeck1 ,aglaophamus1 ,i4 #ad ff4 #adce ,for the evidence that the ,achaeans adopted the language of the ,pelasgians1 and not vice vers1 see ,ridgeway1 ,early ,age of ,greece1 vol4 ,i4 p4 #fca ff4 #adcf ,protrept4 #ee4 #adcg ,hom4 ,il4 ,i4 #bba f4 #adch ,euseb4 ,demonstr4 ,evang4 ,v4 #a1 #bfh ,e4 #adci ,praep4 ,evang4 ,,xv4 #a1 #ghh ,c4 #addj 4 #fa4 #adda ,synes4 de ,prov4 ,,ii4 #abd ,b4 #addb ,cf4 ,artemid4 ,oneirocr4 ,bk ,,iii4 cap4 #fa4 #addc ,in ,thera1 as ,i myself witnessed1 and until recently at ,delphi4 ,greeks with whom ,i have spoken of this custom have often seen or heard of it somewhere4 #addd ,i regret that my notes contain no mention of my informant's name4 ,i must apologise to him for the omission4 #adde ,asterius1 ,encom4 in ,,ss4 ,martyr4 in ,migne1 ,patrolog4 ,graeco-,lat4 vol4 ,,xl4 p4 #cbd4 #addf ,adv4 ,valentin4 cap4 ,i4 #addg ,eusebius1 ,hist4 ,eccles4 ,,iv4 #aa4 ,cf4 ,sainte-,croix1 ,recherches sur les ,mystres1 #bnd ed41 ,i4 p4 #cff4 #addh loc4 cit4 #addi ,origen ,philosophumena1 p4 #aae 7ed4 ,miller71 p4 #agj 7ed4 ,cruice74 ,cf4 ,miss ,j4 ,harrison1 ,proleg4 to ,study of ,gk ,relig4 p4 #edi4 #adej ,clem4 ,alex4 ,protrept4 ,,ii4 #ah4 #adea ,dieterich1 ,eine ,mithras-,liturgie1 p4 #abe1 cited by ,miss ,j4 ,harrison1 ,proleg4 to ,study of ,gk ,relig4 p4 #aee1 note #c4 #adeb ,hesiod1 ,theog4 #igj f4 ,cf4 ,hom4 ,od4 ,v4 #abe4 #adec ,theocr4 ,id4 ,,iii4 #di ff4 7,a4 ,lang's translation74 #aded ,plutarch1 de fac4 in orb4 lun4 #bh1 cited by ,miss ,harrison1 ,proleg4 to ,study of ,gk ,relig4 p4 #bfg4 #adee ,see above1 pp4 #ia f4 and #if ff4 #adef ,theocr4 ,id4 ,,iii4 #df ff4 #adeg ,protrept4 #ad4 #adeh ,theocr4 ,id4 ,,xv4 #hf4 #adei ,orph4 ,hymn4 ,,lvi42 ,bion1 ,id4 ,i4 #e4 #ed2 ,lucian1 ,dial4 deor4 ,,xi4 #a2 ,macrob4 ,saturn4 ,i4 #ba2 ,procop4 in ,esai4 ,,xviii4 p4 #beh4 ,cf4 ,lenormant1 ,monogr4 de la voie sacre leusin41 where many other references are given4 #adfj ,dem4 1 pp4 #acfi-acga et passim4 ,cf4 ,arist4 4 4 #c4 #adfa ,etymol4 ,mag4 #bbg4 #cf4 #adfb ,hesych4 s4v4 4 #adfc ,see above1 pp4 #cci ff4 #adfd ,plutarch1 de defectu orac4 cap4 #ad 7p4 #dag74 #adfe ,see above1 p4 #aci4 #adff ,not so1 however1 to ,artemidorus4 ,cf4 ,oneirocr4 ,i4 #hj4 #adfg ,protrept4 #cd4 #adfh l4 c4 #adfi ,protrept4 #af4 #adgj ,theophr4 ,char4 #bh 7ed4 ,jebb74 #adga l4 c4 #adgb ,clem4 ,alex4 ,protrept4 ,,ii4 #ae4 #adgc ,the cymbal certainly belonged to ,demeter also 7see ,miss ,harrison1 op4 cit4 p4 #efb7 but not1 ,i think1 the kettle-drum4 #adgd ,psellus 7,quaenam sunt ,graecorum opiniones de daemonibus1 #c1 ed4 ,migne7 refers the formulary to the rites of ,demeter and ,kore4 ,but ,i cannot agree with ,miss ,j4 ,harrison 7,prolegomena to the ,study of ,greek ,religion1 p4 #efi7 as to the importance of ,psellus' testimony in any respect4 ,he appears to me to give no more than a rsum of information derived from ,clement's ,protreptica1 misunderstood and even more confused4 #adge ,paus4 ,,ii4 #ag4 #c4 #adgf ,miss ,j4 ,harrison1 op4 cit4 p4 #ecf1 commenting on ,philosophumena1 ed4 ,cruice1 v4 #c4 #adgg ,a title under which both ,zeus and ,hermes were known2 see ,aristoph4 ,pax1 #db1 and ,schol4 ibid4 #fdi4 #adgh ,clem4 ,alex4 ,protrept4 #ed4 #adgi ,athen4 ,,vi4 p4 #bec ,a4 ,shortly afterwards he quotes a song 7#bec ,d7 in which it is the name of ,demeter which is coupled with that of ,demetrius4 #adhj ,athen4 ,,vi4 #bec ,a1 and #bfa ,b4 #adha ,glycon was ,alexander's new god1 a re-incarnation of ,asclepius1 born in the form of a snake out of an egg discovered by ,alexander4 #adhb ,a superstitious old ,roman entrapped by ,alexander4 #adhc ,lucian1 ,alexander seu ,pseudomantis1 cap4 #ch-ci 7,,ii4 #bdd ff474 #adhd ,see ,miss ,j4 ,harrison1 op4 cit4 pp4 #edi ff4 #adhe ,paton1 ,inscr4 of ,cos1 #chf1 cited by ,rouse1 ,greek ,votive ,offerings1 p4 #bdf4 #adhf ,plutarch1 ,conjug4 ,praec4 ad init4 #adhg ,schol4 ad ,soph4 ,antig4 #abda4 #adhh ,photius1 ,lex4 ,rhet4 ,vol4 ,,ii4 p4 #fgj 7ed4 ,porson71 cited by ,farnell1 ,cults of the ,greek ,states1 ,i4 p4 #bde4 #adhi ,for the chief references1 see ,farnell1 loc4 cit4 #adij ,farnell1 op4 cit4 p4 #aia4 #adia ,diod4 ,sic4 ,v4 #gc2 ,pollux ,,iii4 #ch4 ,cf4 ,farnell1 op4 cit4 p4 #bdf4 #adib ,pollux1 l4 c4 7 7 4 #adic ,cf4 ,plutarch1 ,amator4 ,narrat4 #a1 where the girls of ,haliartus are said to have bathed themselves in the spring ,cissoessa immediately before making the sacrifices just mentioned1 and evidently as part of the same ritual4 #adid ,aeschines ,epist4 #aj1 p4 #fhj4 #adie ,chariton ,,iv4 #d4 #adif ,gorgias1 p4 #dic ,b4 #adig ,frazer1 ad ,pausan4 ,x4 #ca4 #i 7vol4 ,v4 p4 #chi74 #adih ,i cannot pretend to have gone into the whole literature of the subject1 but ,i find no reference to this passage either in ,dr ,frazer's ,pausanias1 l4 c41 or in ,miss ,harrison's ,proleg4 to ,study of ,gk ,relig4 pp4 #fad ff41 where the same topic is fully discussed4 #adii ,lucian1 ,dial4 ,marin4 #f4 #c4 #aejj ,eustath4 ad ,hom4 ,il4 ,,xxiii4 #ada4 #aeja ,anthol4 ,pal4 ,,vii4 #ejg4 #aejb ,for other examples see ,lenormant1 ,monographie de la voie sacre leusinienne1 pp4 #ej f41 where also the above example is quoted4 #aejc ,auson4 ,epitaph4 no4 #cc4 #aejd ,prolegomena to ,study of ,gk ,religion1 pp4 #egc ff4 #aeje op4 cit4 p4 #ehf2 ,kaibel1 ,c4,i4,g4,i4,s41 #fda4 #aejf ,see above1 p4 #ehf4 #aejg ,see above1 p4 #ehf4 #aejh ,see above1 p4 #ehi4 #aeji ,i am forced by these considerations to dissent from ,miss ,harrison's view as expressed op4 cit4 p4 #eid1 #8,here the symbolism seems to be of birth rather than of marriage1' and again #8this rite of birth or adoption 444'3 and indeed this view seems hardly to tally with that which she suggests later 7p4 #fjj71 8,burial itself may well have been to them 7the ,pythagoreans7 as to ,antigone a mystic marriage3 #8,i have sunk beneath the bosom of ,despoina1 ,queen of the ,underworld4'0 #aeaj ,furtwngler1 ,die ,idee des ,todes1 p4 #bic4 #aeaa ,see above1 p4 #ehe4 #aeab ,plutarch1 ,sympos4 ,,iv4 #e4 #c4 #aeac ,aristoph4 ,aves1 #agcg4 #aead ,cf4 ,schol4 ad ,aristoph4 l4 c4 #aeae ,this1 ,i am aware1 is not an unique case4 ,plato applies the same epithet to the gods as a whole1 but above all to ,eros1 clearly1 ,i think1 with something of the same significance4 ,see ,plato1 ,sympos4 #ba1 p4 #aie ,a4 #aeaf ,cf4 ,theo ,smyrnaeus1 ,math4 ,i4 #ah2 ,aristid4 ,eleusin4 p4 #dae2 ,plato1 ,phaedrus1 p4 #dh4 #aeag ,lenormant1 ,monographie de la voie sacre leusinienne1 p4 #ed4 #aeah l4 c4 #aeai ,for a long list of such monuments dealing with the story of ,persephone1 see ,clarac1 ,muse de ,sculpt4 anc4 at mod4--#8,bas-reliefs ,grecs et ,romains1' pp4 #bji-aj4 #aebj ,monographie de la voie sacre leusinienne1 p4 #ef4 #aeba ,aristoph4 ,aves1 #agcg4 #aebb ,soph4 ,antig4 #ghg ff4 #aebc ,pind4 ,nem4 ,,vi4 init4 #aebd ,plato1 ,phaedo1 cap4 #cb1 p4 #hb ,b1 ,c4 #aebe ,see ,geddes' notes ad loc4 #aebf ,for other evidence confirming this view1 see ,geddes' notes ad loc4 #aebg ,plutarch1 de defect4 orac4 cap4 #aj1 p4 #dae4 #aebh ,plato1 ,symp4 #g1 p4 #ahj4 #aebi ibid4 #ae1 p4 #ahh4 #aecj ibid4 #ai1 p4 #aic4 ,,general ,,index ,ablutions1 at weddings and at funerals1 #eee ,aborigines1 regarded as wizards1 #bdh2 their relations with invaders1 #bdd ,absolution1 and dissolution1 #dja2 of the dead1 #cif ff4 ,achaeans1 religion of1 #eba f4 ,adonis1 story of1 #ehb2 story of1 how interpreted1 #ehj2 as type of the initiated1 #ehb ,aeschylus1 popular beliefs utilised by1 #dcg ff41 #dei f42 religious sympathies of1 #ebc ,aetolus1 story of1 #bgc ,agamemnon1 as revenant1 #dch ,alastor1 application of word1 #dfe ff42 as proper name 7in ,homer71 #dgc2 as term of abuse1 #dgg2 derivation of word1 #dga2 development of meaning of word1 #dge f42 meaning of1 #dgf2 original meaning of1 #dgb ,alastores1 #dfb ff42 not originally deities1 #dfg ff4 ,allatius1 on vrykolakes1 #cfd ff4 ,amorgos1 oracle of1 #ccb ,amulets1 #ab-ac1 #ba1 #adj ,amymone1 story of1 #eic ,ancient language1 attempted revival of1 #cj ,angels1 exorcism of1 #fh2 good and bad1 #bhh2 worship of1 #db ,animals1 unlucky species of1 #cjg ,anointing1 of the dead1 #eeg ,anthropomorphic conception of ,god1 #eb ,antigone1 as #8bride of ,acheron1' #eea ,antiphon1 on blood-guilt1 #ddc ,aphrodite1 #aag-abj2 #8eldest of the ,fates1' #abj2 mystic rites of1 #ehj ,apis1 story of1 #dei ,apollonius of ,tyana1 #beg ,apostasy1 #dji ,apple1 symbolic usage of1 #eeh #8,arabs' 7a class of demons71 #baa1 #bgf f42 identified with vrykolakes 7q4v471 #bgg ,ariadne1 story of1 how represented on sepulchral monuments1 #eih ,aristomenes1 #gf ,arrogance of ,greeks1 #bi ,art1 in relation to religion1 #a ,artemidorus1 on death and marriage1 #eec ff4 ,artemis1 #afc-aga2 as huntress1 #afe2 as the ,moon1 #afe2 bathing of1 #afd-e2 displaced by ,s4 ,artemidos1 #dd2 modern character of1 #afi2 offerings to1 #agj ,asclepius1 in serpent-form1 #bgd f42 re-incarnation of1 in mock-mysteries1 #ehi ,ass-centaurs1 #bce and #bcg f4 ,athene1 and the owl1 #bjg2 succeeded by ,virgin ,mary1 #de ,athenians1 religious sympathies of1 #ebc ,attis1 #ehf ,augury 7see ,auspices7 ,august1 certain days sacred to ,nymphs1 #aeb ,auspices1 #cjh ff42 affected by number1 #cac2 from any movement of birds1 #caa2 from cry of birds1 #caa2 from flight of birds1 #caa2 from posture of birds1 #caa2 modified by position of observer1 #cab ,avengers1 dead persons as1 #dch ,avengers of ,blood1 ancient names for1 #dfb ff42 their resemblance to modern vrykolakes1 #deh ,axe1 double-headed1 as religious symbol1 #gb #8,baboutzicarios1' #bag ,bacchic rites1 #ch ,baptism1 exorcisms at1 #ae2 neglect of1 #dji ,beast-dances1 #bbd ff4 ,bed-chambers1 in temples1 #ehg ,beehive tombs1 original use of1 #id ,bells1 worn at popular festivals1 #bbd ff4 #8,binding' and #8loosing1' #cig ,binding-spells1 #ai2 means of loosing1 #ai ,birds1 as messengers1 in modern ballads1 #caf f42 as messengers of particular gods1 #cji2 colloquial application of word1 #cae2 in popular ballads1 #cae2 still acknowledged as messengers of heaven1 #cae2 which classes observed for auspices 7q4v471 #cjh f42 why selected for divination1 #cjh ,black-handled knife1 as charm1 #bhf ,blessing the waters1 #aig ,blood-guilt1 ancient conception of1 #dea2 ,attic law concerning1 #ddc2 penalties for1 #dec2 ,plato's legislation concerning1 #ddd ,blue beads1 as amulets1 #ab ,body and soul1 relation of1 #cfa ff41 #ebf ff42 re-union of1 #ech ,bones of the dead1 how treated after exhumation1 #edj f4 ,boreas1 #eb ,breast-bone of fowl1 divination from1 #cbg ,bridal customs 7see ,wedding1 ,marriage7 #8,bridge of ,arta1' ,the1 #bfb f4 ,brumalia 7in ,greece71 #bba ,burial 7see also ,cremation1 ,inhumation72 demanded by ghosts1 #dca2 lack of1 #djg f41 #dbg1 #ddi2 lack of1 as punishment1 #deg ,buzzing in ear1 as omen1 #cbi ,callicantzari1 #aij-bee2 afraid of fire1 #bjb2 beast-like elements in1 #bjc2 compared with ,centaurs1 #bec2 demons or men81 #bjg-baa2 description of1 #aia2 description of smaller species of1 #aic2 development of superstition concerning1 #bed2 dialectic forms of name1 #baa ff42 footgear of1 #bba2 general habits of1 #aid2 how outwitted1 #aif-bjj2 identified with ,centaurs1 #bce2 identified with were-wolves1 #bjh2 offerings to1 #bja1 #bcb2 originally anthropomorphic1 #bjf2 origin of name1 #baa ff42 power of transformation possessed by1 #bjd1 #bdj2 precautions against1 #bjj-bjb2 resembling ,satyrs and ,centaurs1 #aib2 sources of their features and attributes1 #bcg ff42 stories concerning1 #aif-bjj2 their activity limited to ,christmastide1 #bba2 their relation to ,satyrs1 etc41 #bbi ff42 two main classes of1 #aia2 variously represented1 #aij2 whether demons or men originally1 #bji ff42 wives of1 #bjj ,callicantzaros1 ,the ,great1 #aie ,callirrho1 as sacred spring1 #eee ,candles1 thrown into grave at funeral1 #eab #8,captain ,thirteen1' a folk-story1 #ge ,carnival1 celebrations of1 #bbd ff4 ,cat1 jumping over dead person1 #daj2 omens drawn from1 #cbh ,caves1 haunted by ,nymphs1 #afj ,cenotaphs1 #dij ,centauros1 son of ,ixion1 #bdb ,centaurs 7see ,callicantzari71 #aij-bee2 and ,lapithae1 #bdb2 as wizards1 #bdh f42 compared with ,callicantzari1 #bec2 general character of1 #bdf2 ,heracles' fight with1 #bec2 how represented in ,art1 #bdg2 in ,hesiod1 #bdb2 in ,homer1 #bdc2 in ,pindar1 #bda2 popular conception of1 how affected by ,art1 #beb2 ,prof4 ,ridgeway's view of1 #bdd ff42 various species of1 #bce1 #bcg2 whether human or divine in origin1 #bda ff42 why called #8,beasts1' #bde ff4 ,cephalus1 #fja ,cerberus1 #ig1 #ii ,character of modern ,greeks1 #bh ff4 ,charms1 #bhf ,charon1 #ih-aag2 addressed as #8,saint1' #ec2 ancient literary presentation of1 #ajf2 as ferryman1 earliest mention of1 #aad2 brother to ,uranos1 #aaf2 identified with ,death1 #aad ,charon's obol1 #ajh1 #bhe2 as charm to prevent soul from re-entering body1 #dcd2 custom of1 how interpreted1 #dje f4 ,charos1 appearance of1 #ajj2 as agent of ,god1 #aja-d2 as archer1 #aje2 as ferryman1 #ajg2 as godfather1 story of1 #ajb2 as horseman1 #aje2 as pirate1 #ajg-h2 as warrior1 #aje2 as wrestler1 #ajd1 #aje2 ,christianised character of1 #aja2 coin as fee for1 #aji2 functions of1 #aja2 household of1 #ii2 in connexion with ,christianity1 #aja2 originally ,pelasgian deity1 #aaf2 pagan character of1 #aje ,charun1 ,etruscan god1 #aaf ,child-birth1 precautions against ,nereids observed at1 #adj2 precautions at1 #aj-aa ,children1 conceived or born on ,church-festivals1 how afflicted1 #djh2 liable to lycanthropy1 #bjh2 preyed upon by ,gelloudes1 #agg2 preyed upon by ,striges1 #aha2 stricken by ,nereids1 how treated1 #ade2 suspected of lycanthropy1 how treated1 #baj ,chiron1 #bda ff41 #bdh2 as magician and prophet1 #bdh f4 ,cholera1 personified1 #bb ,christ1 accepted as new deity by pagans1 #da #8,christian1' popular usage of word1 #ff ,christianity1 became polytheistic1 #db2 and paganism1 #cf ,church1 influenced by paganism1 #egb f4 ,churching of women1 #bj ,clement of ,alexandria1 on the ,mysteries1 #egj1 #egb2 on rites of ,aphrodite1 #eha ,clytemnestra1 ghost of1 #dgd ,cock1 as victim1 #cbf ,cocks1 superstitions concerning1 #aie ,coin1 as charm1 #aaa2 placed in mouth of dead persons1 #ajh1 #dje2 placed in mouth of dead persons1 various substitutes for1 #aab #8,comforting1' feast of1 #ecc ,common origin of gods and men1 #fe ,communion with gods1 philosophers' views of1 #bif ,conquering and conquered races1 relations of1 #bdd ,conservatism1 religious1 #ie1 #bie1 #ccg #8,constantine and ,aret' 7ballad71 #cia f4 ,continuity of ,greek life and thought1 #eeb ,convention1 literary1 #dbi ,corpse1 re-animation of1 #aab 7see ,re-animation1 ,resuscitation7 ,corycian cave1 #afa ,courage of ,greeks1 #bh ,cremation 7see also ,funeral-rites71 #dhe ff42 ceremonial1 #dif1 #eab2 ceremonial substitute for1 #dia2 ,christian attitude towards1 #eja2 combined with inhumation1 #did2 disuse of1 #eja f42 for disposing of revenants in ,ancient ,greece1 #daf2 for disposing of vrykolakes1 #daa2 in theory preferable to inhumation1 #dhh f42 in recent times1 #ejc2 introduced by ,achaeans1 #dia2 motives for1 #ejb f42 preferred to inhumation1 #ejj f42 revival of1 #ejb2 serving same religious end as inhumation1 #dia ff4 ,crockery broken at funerals1 #ebj ,crow1 #cji2 exception to ordinary rules of divination1 #caj ,curses1 #chg ff41 #dji2 diagnosed by their effects1 #cif2 executed by demonic agents1 #ddh2 fixity of1 #dag2 in ,euripides1 #dah2 in ,sophocles1 #dai2 operation of1 #ddg2 parental1 #cia ff42 revoking of1 #chh f4 ,custom-dues1 for passage of soul to other world1 #bhe ,customs-officers1 celestial1 #bhd ,cybele1 rites of1 #ehf ,daemons1 ,plutarch's theory of1 #ehc f4 ,danaids1 as types of unmarried women1 #eib ,dances1 #cd ,dead1 messages to the1 #cde2 worship of the1 #ebi note #a ,dead persons1 as messengers to the other world1 #cdd ff42 what kinds of food presented to1 #ecc f4 ,deadly sins1 #dbe ff4 ,death1 as penalty for bloodguilt1 #dee2 conceived as a form of marriage1 by ,sophocles1 #edi ff42 conceived as a form of marriage1 in modern dirges1 #edf ff42 conceived as a wedding with ,persephone1 #eie2 how personified in the ,alcestis1 #aae2 in correlation with marriage1 #eec2 represented as a wedding on sepulchral monuments1 #eig f42 sudden or violent1 #djh1 #dbg ,death-struggle1 #bhh1 #bhi2 how eased1 #chi ,decomposition 7see ,dissolution7 ,degeneracy of mankind1 #bid ,deities1 gregarious or solitary1 #gj2 non-,christian1 how denoted1 #fg2 pagan1 local names for1 #fi #8,delivering unto ,satan1' #djf ,demeter 7see also ,mysteries of ,demeter71 #gi-ih2 and ,poseidon1 modern story of1 #hf2 as corn-goddess1 #efb2 character of1 #ib2 ,cretan legend of1 #egi2 displaced by ,s4 ,demetrius1 #dd2 dwelling-place of1 #ib2 evidence for identity of1 #ib2 her priestesses officiating at weddings1 #eij2 horse-headed1 #hg1 #beb2 in ,homer1 #ebb2 in modern story1 #ed2 modern functions of1 #ic2 modern titles of1 #hi2 modern worship of her statue1 #hj2 mysteries of 7see ,mysteries72 represented by ,s4 ,demetrius1 #gi2 stories of her union with men1 #egi f42 story of1 compared with story of ,christ1 #egf2 where originally domiciled1 #ic-if ,demeter and ,persephone1 modern legend of1 #hj2 symbolism of myth concerning1 #hh2 unity of1 #hh ,demetrius ,poliorcetes1 story of1 #ehg ,demons1 exorcism of1 #fh ,despoina1 #egi2 marriage with1 #eif ,deucalion1 #ic ,devils1 entering bodies of dead men1 #daf2 exorcism of1 #fh ,devil1 responsible for resuscitation of dead persons1 #djb #8,diana1' #afd ,dionysus1 and ,prosymnus1 story of1 #ehe2 displaced by ,s4 ,dionysius1 #dc2 festivals of1 #bbh-bcj2 identified with ,adonis1 #eii2 identified with ,hades1 #ehe1 #eii2 in scenes on sepulchral monuments1 #eih f42 marriage of the #8queen' with1 #ehc2 mystic rites of1 #ehb ,dioscuri1 #bhf ,dipylon-cemetery1 excavations in1 #did ,dirges1 #cdg2 character of modern1 #edi2 examples of modern1 #edf ff42 purpose of1 #eai1 #edi ,diseases1 caused by demons1 #bb ,dishonesty of ,greeks1 #ca ,disintegration 7see ,dissolution7 ,dissolution1 and absolution1 #dja2 best secured by cremation1 #ejb2 desire for1 a feature of ,pelasgian religion1 #ebd2 distinguished from annihilation1 #ebe1 #ech2 summary of ancient views concerning1 #ebf2 time required for1 #dhf ff42 why desired1 #eae ff4 ,divination1 at weddings1 #cbf2 by chance words1 #cjc ff42 by lot1 #cjc2 by sacrifice1 #bfd1 #cah2 #8domestic1' #cbg2 from birds 7see also ,auspices71 #cjh ff42 from breast-bone of fowl1 #cbg2 from chance words1 in antiquity1 #cje2 from demeanour of victim1 #cbf2 from eggs1 #cca2 from involuntary movements of limbs1 etc41 #cbi2 from meetings on the road1 #cjf2 from pig's spleen1 #cbe2 from sheep's shoulder-blade1 #cba ff42 from sieves1 #cca2 from water1 #ccb f42 methods of1 compared1 #bih2 suggested divisions of1 #bih2 various branches of1 #bih ,dog howling at night1 significance of1 #cbh ,dogs1 #cb ,donkey1 ill-omened1 #cjg ,dragons1 as guardians of buried treasure1 #bha2 in folk-story1 #hb2 popular conception of1 #bhj2 story of1 #bha f4 ,drama1 primitive1 #bbd-f2 restrictions of1 #dbi2 rudiments of1 #ce ,dreams1 #cjj ff42 deliberately induced1 #cjc2 ecclesiastical use of1 #cja ,dress1 at weddings and at funerals1 #eeg #8,drumlike' 7as description of dead bodies7 7see 71 #cgj ,drunkenness1 when permissible1 #cjc1 #ecc ,dryads1 #aea ,eagle1 #cji ,easter1 #ege f42 celebration of1 #egb ff4 ,ecstasy1 in ancient religion1 #cg2 religious1 #bid f41 #egf ,eleusinian mysteries 7see ,mysteries of ,demeter7 ,eleusis1 excavations in cemetery at1 #die ,empusa1 #agd1 #age ,entrails1 inspection of victim's1 #cbj1 #cbe ,ephialtes1 #ba 7note #b7 ,epiphany1 observance of1 #aig2 superstitions concerning1 #bba ,equality of men and gods1 #fjd ,erinyes 7see ,furies7 ,eros1 #aah-abj #8,eternal drunkenness1' #ci ,ethical influence of ,christianity1 #ci ,eudaemonia1 as goddess1 #fjb ,eumaeus1 reception of ,odysseus by1 #cb ,euphemistic names for deities1 #fi1 #gj ,euripides1 popular form of imprecation utilised by1 #dah ,evil ,eye1 amulets against1 #ac2 animals affected by1 #aa-ab2 cures for maladies caused by1 #ad2 effects of1 #aj2 inanimate things affected by1 #ab2 in ,greece1 #i-ae2 means of averting1 #ad2 persons affected by1 #aa2 to whom attributed1 #i-aj2 widespread belief in1 #h ,excommunication 7see also #8binding' and #8loosing'71 #dja2 causing non-dissolution1 instances of1 #cih ff42 effects of1 #chf1 #cif ff42 origin of1 #djf2 pagan influence on doctrine of1 #dja f4 ,execration 7see ,curses1 ,imprecations7 ,exhumation1 #edj2 at end of three years1 #dhg ,exile1 as punishment of homicide1 #dde1 #dee ,exorcism1 by witch1 #ad-ae #8,fair ,lady of the ,mountains1' #aff ,faith-cures1 #fj1 #fb ,fallmerayer1 #be ,fasts1 strictly observed1 #egd ,fate1 #bhi ,fates1 the1 #abj-acj2 appearance of1 #abd2 at birth of ,athena1 #acj2 character of1 #abe2 distribution of functions among1 #abg2 functions of1 #abd1 #abg2 inexorability of1 #abb2 invocations of1 #abb1 #abh2 number of1 #abd2 offerings to1 #abj1 #aba1 #abe2 prayer to1 #abc2 seen or heard1 #abe-f2 the lesser1 #abg-h2 visits of1 #abe2 wrath of1 #abf ,festival-dress1 as heirloom from mother to daughter1 #ecg ,festivals1 popular1 #cd1 #ce2 survival of pagan1 #bba ff4 ,fire1 kept burning at grave-side1 #ejg ff42 omens drawn from1 #cbh ,fishing-net1 as prophylactic1 #ba ,five1 ominous number1 #cjg 7note #a7 ,flood1 modern traditions of the1 #ic ,folklore1 antiquity of1 #h2 as clue to ancient religion1 #g2 laws of1 #h ,folk-stories and ancient myths1 relation of1 #gf ,foreign cults naturalised in ,greece1 #ehj ,forestry1 superstitions relating to1 #aeh ,fortieth day after death1 customs and beliefs concerning1 #dhf ff4 ,foundation-stone1 ceremonial of laying1 #bfd ,funeral-customs1 #cde ff41 #dif ff42 assimilated to marriage-customs1 #efj2 compared with marriage-customs1 #eed ff42 in relation to the ,mysteries1 #eic f4 ,funeral-feasts 7see also ,memorial ,feasts71 #ecb f4 ,funeral-meats1 #ecc f41 #ece f4 ,funeral-rites1 ,christian and pagan contrasted1 #eja2 ,homeric1 #dib2 in ,dipylon-period1 #did2 ,mycenaean1 #dic2 purpose of1 #dhe ff42 why necessary for due dissolution of body1 #dij ,funerals1 ,solon's regulations concerning1 #cdf ff4 ,funeral-usage1 summary of conclusions concerning1 #eac f4 ,furies1 as agents of ,clytemnestra1 #ddh2 as personified ,curses1 #ddh2 in ,homer1 #ebb2 origin of ,aeschylus' conception of1 #dfj f4 ,furtwngler1 on death conceived as wedding1 #eig ,future life1 ,achaean conception of1 #eba f42 conceived in general as resembling life of gods1 #ebe2 ,homeric conception of1 #eaf ff42 material character of1 #ebd2 modern conceptions of1 #eah f42 ,pindaric conception of1 #eah ,garlands1 at weddings and at funerals1 #eeg f4 ,garlic1 as prophylactic1 #adj #8,garlic in your eyes1' #ad ,gello1 #ga2 by-names of1 #agi2 story of1 #agg ,gelloudes1 #agf-i1 #baa2 activities of1 #agi2 cure for injuries inflicted by1 #agi ,genii1 #bee-bia2 confused with victims offered to them1 #bfg1 #bga ff41 #bgf f42 definition of1 #bef2 how related to the place or object which they inhabit1 #bei2 in form of bulls1 #bfa f41 #bgg2 in form of dragons1 #bfb1 #bhj2 in form of snakes1 #beh1 #bei1 #bgb f42 in ,homer1 #bfi2 in human shape1 #bge2 mating with ,lamiae1 #bgf2 of air1 #bhc ff42 of bridges1 #bfb2 of buildings1 #bei-bge2 of churches1 #bfa2 of houses1 #bei2 of human beings1 #bhg ff42 of mountains and caves1 etc41 #bhj ff42 of water1 #bge ff42 offerings to1 #bfj1 #bgd2 sacrifice to1 #bfb ff42 sacrifice to1 in ,ancient ,greece1 #bfi ff4 ,gennadius1 story of1 #cii ,getae1 human sacrifice among the1 #cej ,ghosts1 asking for burial of body1 #dca2 conventionally substituted for revenants in ancient literature1 #dbi2 haunting neighbourhood of tombs1 #dcj f41 #dcc2 in ancient literature1 #dbg2 a modern ,greek notions concerning1 #dbh ,giants1 story of1 #gc ,gifts to the dead1 #dic1 #ebh ff42 how regarded by the ,church1 #eca f42 in form of clothing1 #ecf f42 in form of drink1 #ecf2 in form of food1 #ecc ff42 in modern ,greece1 #ecb2 in the classical-period1 #ecj f42 in the ,dipylon-period1 #ecj2 in the ,homeric ,age1 #ebi2 in the ,mycenaean ,age1 #ebi2 motive for1 #eca1 #ecg2 on what days presented1 #ecj f42 until what date continued1 #eci f4 ,goat-skins1 worn at certain popular festivals1 #bbc ff4 ,god1 as controller of weather1 in popular phrases1 #ea2 modern applications of word1 #dh #8,god of ,crete1' #gd ,godhead1 ancient view of1 #fe2 attainable by men1 #fjd f4 ,gods1 character of ,greek1 #ebf2 ,greek conception of1 #bib f4 ,good ,friday1 #egb ff41 #egd f4 ,gorgons1 #ahd-aij2 and ,scylla1 #ahh2 appearance of1 #ahd2 as deities of the sea1 #ahh2 character of1 #ahe2 compared with ,sirens1 #ahg2 depravity of1 #ahe-f ,gorgon1 meaning of the word1 #ahf ,goshawk1 #caa ,guardian-angels1 #bhh ,guardian-spirits1 in ancient ,greece1 #bij ,hades1 #ig2 house of1 how conceived by ,homer1 #eag2 modern presentment of1 #eah1 #edi ,hair1 as source of strength1 #gf2 cf4 #hc ,hare1 unlucky to meet1 #cjg ,hawks1 #cji ,headache1 magical cure of1 #bb ,healing1 miraculous1 #fj1 #cjb ,hebrew religion1 contrasted with ,greek1 #c ,helena1 #bhf ,helios1 displaced by ,s4 ,elias1 #dd ,hemlock1 #egh ,hera1 as type of women1 #eia2 cults of1 #eia2 wedding of1 #eii ,heracles1 #dfi ,hermes ,agoraeus1 oracle of1 #cje ,hermes1 as escorter of the dead1 #edd2 succeeded by ,s4 ,michael1 #de ,heroes1 in form of serpents1 #bgc ,heron1 #cji ,hesiodic ,ages of mankind1 #bid ,hesperides1 #bhb ,hiccough1 as omen1 #ccj ,hippolytus1 oath of1 #dah ,holy ,ghost1 rarely named by peasants1 #ea ,holy ,week1 #egb ff4 ,homicide1 ,delphic tradition concerning1 #ddd1 #dhj2 ,plato's legislation concerning1 #dea ,honey-cakes1 as diet of genii1 #bgd ,honey1 as food for the dead1 #ecc2 chief offering to ,nymphs1 #aej2 offered to the ,fates1 #aba ,hospitality of ,greeks1 #ca ,human sacrifice1 #bfb ff41 #bgc1 #bgf2 a modern conception of1 #cda ff42 as means of sending a wife to some god1 #ehc2 long-continued in ,ancient ,greece1 #cdc2 modern story of1 #cci1 #dcf2 substitute for1 #ehc ,humour1 popular sense of1 #fi ,hylas1 modern parallel to story of1 #afa ,hymenaeus1 legend of1 #eeb ,iasion1 as type of the initiated1 #egi ,icarus1 #gf ,icons1 #cja ,idolatry1 popular inclination towards1 #ei ,image1 magical treatment of1 #af ,immorality of ancient deities1 #ci ,immortal fruit1 #bha f42 waters1 #bha ,immortality1 doctrine of1 #cej f4 ,imprecations 7see also ,curses71 #chg ff4 ,incantation1 against whirlwinds1 #aej ,incorruptibility 7see also ,vrykolakes71 #chd2 ancient imprecations of1 #dag ff42 ,apollo's threat of1 #dba2 as punishment of blood-guilt1 #def2 ecclesiastical view concerning1 #cif ,inhumation 7see also ,funeral-rites71 #dhe ff42 ceremonial substitutes for1 #dhi f42 combined with cremation1 #did2 serving same religious end as cremation1 #dia ff42 the ,pelasgian rite1 #dia ,initiated1 future happiness of the1 #efc f42 hopes of the1 #egh f4 ,ino1 parallel to story of1 #ach ,insanity1 popular view of1 #bii ,inspiration1 #bii ,interment 7see ,inhumation7 ,intoxication1 when permitted1 #cjc1 #ecc ,iphigenia1 sacrifice of1 #bgj ,iron1 as prophylactic1 #adj ,islands of the ,blest1 #ebj ,itching of hand or foot1 as omen1 #ccj ,ixion1 #bdb ,kalndae 7festival of the ,kalends of ,january71 #bba ,ker1 #bhi f4 ,key laid on breast of corpse1 #aji1 #aab ,knife1 black-handled1 as charm1 #bj1 #agb ,kore 7see also ,persephone72 as representative of the initiated1 #egh2 story of1 how represented on sepulchral monuments1 #eig f4 ,laceration of checks1 etc41 at funerals1 #cdf ,lamentation1 at funerals1 #cdg #8,lame ,demon1' ,the1 #aie ,lamia1 ancient conception of1 #age2 of the ,sea1 #aga2 responsible for water-spouts1 #agb ,lamiae1 #agd-f2 character of1 #agd2 mated with genii1 #bgf ,lamp1 in ,prytaneum1 #eac2 #8,the ,unsleeping1' #ejh2 thrown into grave at funeral1 #eab2 why placed in graves1 #eje f4 ,language1 as evidence of tradition1 #ce ,law governing evolution of ,greek folklore1 #bjf ,leaven1 damaged by ,evil ,eye1 #ab ,left hand1 unlucky1 #cab ,left to right1 lucky direction1 #cab ,lenormant1 on death conceived as a wedding1 #fja ,leprosy1 penalty for eating pig's flesh1 #hg2 why named by ,aeschylus among penalties of blood-guilt1 #dec f4 ,lightning1 as instrument of ,god's vengeance1 #gc2 persons and objects struck by1 #gc ,literature1 in relation to religion1 #b #8,loosing1' #cig2 equivalent to both #8absolution' and #8dissolution1' #dja ,love1 as the bond of feeling between men and deities1 #fjc2 in relation to the doctrine of the ,mysteries1 #fjf ,love-charms1 #ah ,lucian1 on offerings to gods1 #cce ,lycaean ,zeus1 #ceb ,lycanthropy1 #bjh1 #bci f42 in children1 #chj2 infants liable to1 #ahc ,lying-in-state1 #dig ,madness1 #bii2 among penalties of blood-guilt1 #ded ,magic1 #ae-be2 sympathetic1 #af1 #eba ,maniotes1 the1 #dda ,mankind1 of same race as gods1 #fe1 #fjd ,marriage and death1 correlation of1 #ecc ,marriage1 arranged by ,athenians between ,athene and ,demetrius ,poliorcetes1 #ehg f42 as #8initiation1' #eij2 association of the ,mysteries with1 #eij f42 binding-spells to prevent consummation of1 #ai2 mimetic1 as culminating point of ,mysteries1 #ehi2 mimetic1 enacted in many cults1 #egg-ehg2 of men with deities1 #ede ff42 of men with deities1 as a religious doctrine1 #efj f42 of men with deities1 as mystic doctrine 7summary71 #fjb f42 the ,sacred 7 71 #eia ,marriage-customs1 compared with funeral-customs1 #eed ff42 transferred to the funeral-rite1 #efj ,masks worn at popular festivals1 #bbb ff4 ,matrimonial prospects1 divination concerning1 #cjc ,meat1 excluded from funeral-repasts1 #ecb ,medea1 #dfc1 #dfh ,medicine1 popular1 #ba ,megrim1 cure of1 #bc ,memorial-feasts1 #dhf ff42 dates of1 #ecd2 real purpose of1 #ecd f42 significance of the dates of1 #eci ,men elevated to rank of daemons1 #baa ,messages to the dead1 #cdd ff4 ,metamorphosis 7see ,transformation7 ,metempsychosis1 ,plato's theory of1 #fjd f4 ,miastor1 application of word1 #dfc f42 meaning of1 #dgg ff42 original meaning of word1 #dfe ,miastores1 #dfb ff4 ,midday1 dangers of1 #gi ,miracles1 expected by common-folk1 #ei2 genuine1 #fj2 sham1 #fj ,mirrors1 superstition concerning1 #aj #8,mistress1 ,the1' #hi2 marriage of1 #ig #8,mistress of the ,earth and of the ,sea1' #ed1 #ia1 #egi ,monotheism1 compared with polytheism1 #dj2 no popular tendency towards1 #c ,morality1 little connected with ancient religion1 #cg ,mormo1 #age ,mountain-nymphs1 #adh ,mourners1 conduct of1 #cdg2 professional1 #cdg ,mouse1 omens drawn from1 #cbh ,mouth1 as exit of soul1 #aaa ,mummers1 at ,christmastime and at ,carnival1 #bbc ff42 representing ,callicantzari1 #bbg ,mumming1 a survival of ,dionysiac festivals1 #bbi ff4 ,murder of kinsman1 #dbe2 legal punishment for1 #deg ,murdered men as avengers 7see ,avengers1 ,revenants7 ,murdered persons1 avenging their own wrongs1 #dcg ff42 bodily activity of1 #dch2 future lot of1 #dcd f42 mutilation of1 #dce2 personal activity of1 #ddj ff42 returning in bodily form1 #dch ,murderers1 future punishment of1 #dcd ff42 penalties incurred by1 #dec ff4 ,mutilation of murdered persons1 #dce ,mysteries1 alleged impurity of1 #efi f42 allusions to1 in ,tragedy1 #eej2 associated with funerals1 #eid f42 associated with wedding-rites1 #eij f42 benefits secured by participation in1 #ch2 ,christian attitude towards1 #efi2 containing no doctrine alien to popular religion1 #efg2 grades of initiation in1 #eff2 main doctrines of the1 #efi2 openly performed in ,crete1 #efh2 of ,aphrodite1 #eha f42 of ,cybele1 #ehf2 of ,demeter1 7see below ,mysteries of ,demeter72 of ,dionysus1 #ehb2 parodied by the false prophet ,alexander1 #ehh f42 ,sabazian1 #ehe2 summary of doctrines taught by1 #ehi f42 summary of argument concerning1 #fjb f42 their doctrines kept secret1 #efg2 their promises summarised by ,theo ,smyrnaeus1 #eff ,mysteries of ,demeter1 ,achaeans excluded from1 #efg f42 ancient references to1 #efc f42 ,christian attitude towards1 #egh2 compared with modern celebration of ,holy ,week and ,easter1 #egb ff42 dramatic nature of1 #egg2 their effect on spectators1 #egf2 held in great veneration1 #efb f42 how understood by participants1 #egh f42 ,pelasgian in origin1 #efg2 safeguards of morality in1 #egg f42 specific charge of impurity against1 #egg2 test of linguistic purity imposed at ,eleusis1 #efh2 their kinship with ,christian beliefs1 #egf2 their promises based on ideas of popular religion1 #efe2 their promises summarised1 #efe ,naiads1 #aei #8,nailing1' magical rite1 #ag ,nationality1 #bg ,nereids 7see also ,nymphs1 ,sea-nymphs1 ,mountain-nymphs1 ,tree-nymphs1 and ,water-nymphs71 #acj ff42 animals susceptible to influence of1 #ace2 appearances of1 #aca2 bride-like appearance of1 #acc2 by-names of1 #acb2 called #8she-devils1' #adi2 children carried off by1 #aej2 confusion of different species1 #aec2 consorts of1 #adi2 cruelty of1 #aci2 cures for mischief done by1 #ade2 depart at cock-crow1 #acg2 description of1 #acb-d2 domestic accomplishments of1 #acc2 dress of1 #acc2 famed for skill in spinning1 #acd2 festival of1 #aec2 forms of name1 #acj 7note #c72 general precautions against1 #add2 in old signification1 #adf2 inconstancy of1 #ace1 #ach2 longevity of1 #aef2 magical kerchief of1 #acf2 male1 #adi2 means of protection against1 #adj2 not immortal1 #aef2 offerings to1 #adj1 #aej2 responsible for whirlwinds1 #aej2 #8seizure' by1 #adb2 story of wedding-procession of1 #adi2 supernatural qualities in dress of1 #acf2 theft of children by1 #ada2 their love of children1 #adj2 their marriage with men1 #acd2 their relations with men1 #acd-i2 their relations with women1 #aci2 transformation of1 #acg2 widespread belief in1 #aca2 with feet of goat or ass1 #acc ,nether world 7see ,under-world7 ,nomocanon de excommunicatis1 #cig ,nomocanon concerning vrykolakes1 #cfe1 #djb f4 ,non-dissolution 7see also ,vrykolakes71 #cff2 ancient imprecations of1 #dag ff4 ,numbers1 lucky and unlucky1 #cac ,nymphs 7see also ,nereids71 #acj ff42 not immortal1 #aef2 punishment for violence done to1 #ehd2 seizure by1 #adb ,oedipus1 curse pronounced by1 #dai ,offerings1 how affected by ,christianity1 #ccg2 to ,artemis1 #agj2 to ,callicantzari1 #bja2 to genii1 #bgd2 to gods1 motive of1 #cce1 #ccf f42 to ,nereids1 #adj2 to ,saints1 #eh1 #ccg2 to the dead 7see ,gifts71 #dic ,oil1 spilling of1 as omen1 #cbh ,olive1 foliage or wood used in funerals1 #dih f4 ,olympus1 as abode of the ,fates1 #abh ,omens 7see ,divination72 from dripping of water1 #aba ,oracle of ,amorgos1 #ccb ,oracles1 #cje1 #cca ff4 ,orchestra1 #ce ,oreads1 #adh ,orestes1 how spurred on to vengeance1 #dda f42 with what penalties threatened by ,apollo1 #dba ,orithyia1 #fja ,orphics1 #ch ,orphic tablets1 #eie f4 ,owl-faced ,athene1 #bjg ,owls1 #cji1 #caj1 #caa #8,ox-headed man1' ,the1 7popular story71 #bgh ,pagan customs1 inveteracy of1 #df2 deities1 how denoted1 #fg ,palmistry1 #cbi ,pan1 #gg-i ,panagia1 portraits of1 #cja ,paradise1 popular conception of1 #eai ,parga1 evacuation of1 #ejc ,parthenon1 ,christian use of1 #de2 figures in east pediment of1 #acj ,patriotism of ,greeks1 #bh ,patroclus1 funeral of1 #cdh f41 #ebi ,patroclus' ghost1 #dbi2 why desirous of burial1 #eaf ,pausanias1 on human sacrifice1 #cec ,pedantry of ,greeks1 #cj ,pelasgians1 religion of1 #ebb f4 ,peleus 7see ,thetis7 ,pentacle1 #aac1 #djf ,perpera1 #bd ,persephone 7see also ,kore1 ,demeter72 #8bridal-chamber' of1 #eie ,pharmakos1 #cee ff4 ,pheneos1 ,lake1 #he #8,pheres1' #bdc ,philinnion1 story of1 #dac1 #dcc ,phlegon1 story of revenant narrated by1 #dab ff4 ,phlya1 mystic rites at1 #ehg ,physique of ,modern ,greeks1 #bf1 #bg ,pig's flesh1 taboo1 #hg2 spleen1 used for divination1 #cbe ,plague1 personified1 #bb2 personified as trio of female demons1 #abd ,pollution1 #dbe2 ancient conception of1 #dea2 of bloodguilt1 #dde ,polydorus1 ghost of1 #dbi ,polynices1 doom of1 #dbj ,polytheism1 compared with monotheism1 #dj2 merits of1 #bib2 modern1 #dg1 #dh2 popular bent towards1 #ed ,pomegranate1 symbolic usage of1 #eeh ff4 ,poseidon1 #ge-gg2 as healer1 #df #8,possession1' by angels or devils1 #fh2 by devils1 #add2 by the devil1 as punishment1 #djf ,poultry1 divination from1 #cab ,prayer1 usually accompanied by offerings1 #cce ,predestination1 #abb ,priest1 unlucky to meet1 #cjf ,prometheus1 legend of1 #gd ,prometheus' prophecy of ,zeus' downfall1 #eeb ,prytaneum of ,athens1 shape of1 #if ,psellus1 on divination1 #cba1 #cbd ,pulcra montium1 #afg ,punishment after death1 #dai ff4 ,purification1 from bloodguilt1 #dea1 #dhc2 means of1 #ceg ,purity1 confusion of physical and moral1 #cg ,pythagoras and ,zalmoxis1 #cea #8,queen of the ,mountains1' ,the1 #afc #8,queen of the ,shore1' ,the1 #afc ,quince1 symbolic usage of1 #eeh f4 ,rail 7ornith471 #cji ,rain-charm1 #bc ,rain-making1 #di ,ram1 as victim1 #cbf ,rat1 unlucky to meet1 #cjg ,raven1 #cji ,re-animation 7see also ,resuscitation1 ,vrykolakes71 #chd2 of corpses left unburied1 #ddi2 of dead body by the soul1 #dcb ff4 ,religion1 ,achaean and ,pelasgian elements in1 #ebb f42 character of ,greek1 #b1 #bid1 #cfa f41 #ede2 complexity of ,greek1 #d ,religious feeling1 dominance of1 #e-g2 literature1 absence of1 #b-e ,resuscitation 7see also ,re-animation1 ,vrykolakes71 #chh2 of dead persons1 how viewed by the ,church1 #djb ff42 of dead persons1 summary of ,hellenic belief concerning1 #dcd ,retribution1 doctrine of future1 #ebc2 exactitude of1 #dec ff42 law of1 #dce ,revenants 7see also ,vrykolakes72 ancient names for1 #dfb ff42 ancient ,greek instances of1 #dab ff42 as ,avengers of blood1 #dcd ff42 as ,avengers of blood1 summary of ancient belief concerning1 #dfa2 as ,avengers of blood1 their traits transferred to the ,furies1 #dfj2 called up by sorcerers1 #djd2 contrasted with ghosts1 #dbg2 different species of1 #chd2 distinguished from ghosts1 #daf2 exacting their own vengeance1 in ancient literature1 #dch2 ,greek conception of1 #cid2 harmless type of1 #cid f42 ,hellenic conception of1 #dab2 in ancient literature1 #dcj1 #dch f4 ,rhapsodes1 #cd ,richard1 le ,pre1 on vrykolakes1 #cfg ,ridgeway1 on cremation and inhumation1 #dia ,right hand1 lucky1 #cab #8,riotings1' ,the1 #bbf ,river-gods1 #bgg1 #bhj ,rohde1 on cremation1 #dib rosalia1 #de ,sabazian mysteries1 #ehe ,sabazius1 in form of snake1 #ehf ,sacrifice 7see also ,human ,sacrifice71 #cce ff42 at launching of ship1 #bff2 at laying foundation-stone1 #bfd2 at opening of quarry1 #bfe2 at weddings1 #cbf2 human1 #bfb ff42 to genii1 #bgf2 to genii1 ,slavonic influence upon1 #bfh ,sacrifices1 classification of1 #cch ,sacrificial omens1 #cai ,saints1 functions of1 #ee2 functions suggested by names of1 #ef2 offerings made to1 #eh2 sometimes reputed immoral or malign1 #ef2 substituted for ancient gods1 #dc2 with titles denoting locality1 function1 etc41 #ee2 worship of1 #db ,s4 ,artemidos1 cures children #8struck by the ,nereids1' #dd2 successor to ,artemis1 #dd #8,saint ,beautiful1' #afd ,s4 ,catharine1 #cjc ,s4 ,demetra1 at ,eleusis1 #hj2 ,eleusinian legend of1 #hj ,s4 ,demetrius1 successor to ,demeter1 #dd ,s4 ,dionysius1 successor to ,dionysus1 #dc ,s4 ,elias1 responsible for thunder1 #eb2 successor to ,helios1 #dd ,s4 ,elmo's light1 #bhf ,s4 ,george1 displacing ,theseus or ,heracles1 #de2 legend concerning1 #bfa #8,s4 ,john of the ,column1' #eh ,s4 ,john the ,baptist1 #cg1 #cjd ,s4 ,luke1 as painter1 #cja ,s4 ,michael1 successor to ,hermes1 #de ,s4 ,nicolas1 #cdj2 patron of sailors1 #bhg2 superseding ,poseidon1 #ge ,salt-cake1 #cjc ,salt1 dissolving of1 as magical ceremony1 #chh f4 ,satan1 delivering persons unto1 #djf ,saturnalia 7in ,greece71 #bba ,satyrs and ,centaurs1 closely related1 #bcf ,satyr-dances1 #bbi ,scylla1 replaced by modern ,gorgon1 #ahh2 parentage of1 #agc ,scyros1 faith-cure at1 #fb ,sea-nymphs1 #adf #8,seizure1' by ,nymphs1 #adb ,serpents1 as incarnations of heroes1 #bgd ,shadow1 as genius1 #bhi ,shadow-victims1 #bfe #8,she-devils1' ,nereids so called1 #adi ,sheep-dogs1 #cb ,shooting-stars1 #bhf ,shoulder-blade of sheep1 used for divination1 #cba ff4 ,sieve1 employed to detain ,callicantzari1 #aif-g ,sieves1 divination from1 #cca ,sileni1 #bcj ,silicernium1 #ece ,sins1 deadly1 #dji f41 #dbe ff4 ,sirens1 #ahg ,slavonic immigrations1 #bf2 influence on belief in vampires1 #cgf ff4 ,sleep and ,death1 #edc ,sleeping in churches1 #fa ,small-pox1 personified1 #bb ,snake1 as genius of ,acropolis1 #bfj2 auspicious in house1 #cbh2 bearded1 #bgd2 unlucky to meet on road1 #cjg ,snakes1 as manifestations of deities1 #bge ,snake-form1 assumed by genii 7see ,genii7 ,sneezing1 as omen1 #ccj ,socrates' familiar spirit1 #bia ,sophocles1 popular form of imprecation utilised by1 #dai ,sorcery1 punishment of1 #dji ,sosipolis1 story of1 #bgb ,souls 7see ,ghosts7 ,soul and body1 relations of1 #cfa ff41 #ebf ff42 re-union of1 #ech ,soul-cult1 ,rohde's theory of1 #ebi1 note #a ,soul1 emancipation of1 #eae f42 ,homeric conception of1 #eag f42 ,socrates' teaching concerning1 #eaf ,spitting1 to avert malign influences1 #ad1 #cjg ,stars1 baneful influence of1 #aj1 #aa ,stoat1 unlucky to meet1 #cjg ,striges1 #agi-ahd1 #baa2 ,italian origin of1 #ahj2 intercourse of devils with1 #daf2 precautions against1 #aha2 prey upon children1 #aha2 stories concerning1 #ahb-c ,strigla1 #bhb ,sucking-pig1 as victim1 #dhc ,suicides1 #djh ,sun1 relics of worship of1 #dd ,surrogate ,victims1 #cee ,swallow-song1 #ce ,sympathetic magic1 #bfd ,taboo1 #hg1 #ceg ,taenarus1 descent to ,hades at1 #de ,tartarus1 #ih ,telonia1 #bhd2 local usages of name1 #bhg ,temples1 as treasuries1 #if2 converted to churches1 #de ,tenos1 ,church of ,annunciation at1 #de1 #eh2 faith-cures at1 #fj2 miraculous icon of1 #cja ,thargelia1 #cef #8,the ,beautiful ,one of the ,earth1' #ig #8,the ,great ,lady1' #afc #8,the ,lady ,beautiful1' #afc #8,the ,lamia of the ,sea1' #aga #8,the ,lamia of the ,shore1' #aga #8,the ,mistress1' #hi2 marriage of1 #ig ,theseum1 ,christian use of1 #de ,theseus1 #dfi ,thesmophoria1 #hg ,thetis1 modern parallel to story of1 #acg ,thracians1 funeral-rites of1 #ejj ,thread of life1 #abd ,three1 ominous number1 #cjg 7note #a71 #dhg ,thunderbolt1 #gb ,thunder-god1 #ej ,timothy1 ,bishop of ,ephesus1 martyrdom of1 #bbb ,titans1 story of1 #gc ,titles of saints1 sources of1 #ee ,tolerance of pagans1 #db ,torches1 at funerals1 #eje ff4 ,traditions1 popular and literary1 #dcb ,trance1 #fi ,transformation1 magic power of1 #hf1 #bdi2 power of1 attributed to genii1 #bgf2 power of1 how indicated in ,art1 #bea ,transmigration of souls1 ,plato's theory of1 #fjd f4 ,treasure1 guarded by dragons1 #bha ,treasury of ,atreus1 original use of1 #id ,tree1 supporting the world1 #aee ,tree-nymphs1 #aea2 confused with water-nymphs1 #aec2 woodcutters' precautions against1 #aeh ,trees1 not to be cut or peeled on certain days in ,august1 #aeb ,tuesday1 unlucky day1 #cac ,tutelary genii1 fed on honey-cakes1 #bgd #8,twelve ,days1' ,the1 #bba ,twitching of eyebrow1 as omen1 #cbi ,unburied 7see ,burial1 lack of7 ,under-world 7see also ,future life72 ,homeric conception of1 #eag f42 modern presentment of1 #edi ,uninitiated1 future fate of the1 #efc f41 #eib ,unmarried1 funeral-rite of the1 #eef2 future fate of the1 #eib #8,unsleeping ,lamp1' ,the1 #edj ,vampires 7see ,vrykolakes72 characteristics of ,slavonic1 #chg2 modern ,greek conception of1 #cfc ff42 ,slavonic treatment of1 #daj f4 ,vampirism1 causes of1 #cge1 #djg ff42 imprecations of1 #chg2 instances of1 #cfg ff42 widespread belief in1 #cga ff4 ,vendetta1 #ddj ff4 ,vengeance for blood-guilt1 extended to whole communities1 #dei2 for homicide1 ,delphic tradition concerning1 #ddd ff4 ,vengeance for murder1 effected by a curse1 #ddf f42 effected by demonic agents1 #ddh2 exacted by murdered person1 #dce ff42 incumbent on next-of-kin1 #ddj2 legally incumbent on next-of-kin1 #ddc f42 methods of1 #dec ff4 ,vesta1 temple of1 #if ,victim1 as messenger1 #cdj ff42 elevated to rank of genius1 #bfg ff41 #bgf ,vintage-festival1 #ce ,virgin1 worship of the1 #ea ,virginity1 consecrated to river-god1 #eib ,virility1 affected by magical spell1 #ai ,visualisation1 peasants' powers of1 #dg ,votive offerings1 character of1 #eh ,vows1 #ei ,vrykolakas1 ,greek equivalents for word1 #cha f42 how originally employed in ,greek1 #cgh2 occasionally used in sense of #8were-wolf1' #cgi f42 origin of word1 #cgg2 original meaning of word1 #cgg f42 ,slavonic forms of word1 #cgg 7note #b7 ,vrykolakes 7see also ,incorruptibility1 ,resuscitation1 ,revenants1 ,vampires1 ,vampirism71 #cfa ff42 attitude of authorities towards belief in1 #cga f42 belief in them not wholly ,slavonic1 #cha2 capable of sexual commerce1 #dae f42 classes of persons liable to become1 #cge1 #djg ff42 close resemblance of ancient revenants to1 #deh2 corporeal nature of1 #cgf2 cremation of1 substitutes for1 #dhh2 ecclesiastical view of1 #chf1 #cif ff42 ,greek treatment of1 #daj f41 #ejb2 ,hellenic element in conception of1 #djg2 how disposed of1 #cga f42 lineage traced from1 #daf2 modern ,greek conception of1 #cfc ff42 nomocanon concerning1 #cfe1 #djb2 not to be confused with ghosts1 #cgf2 occasional barbarities inflicted upon1 #dab2 original ,greek type of1 #cia ff42 peculiar method of treating1 #edj2 recent cases of the burning of1 #cgd2 recent ,cretan account of1 #cgb2 resuscitated by the ,devil1 #dje f42 ,slavonic influence upon conception of1 #cgf ff42 stories of1 #cfh ff42 widespread belief in1 #cga ff41 #cgd ,vultures1 #cji #8,wanderers1' #dgc ,washing1 prohibited on certain days of ,august1 #aeb ,water1 immortal1 #bha2 miraculous1 #fj2 oracular property of1 #ccd2 pouring out of1 as magic rite1 #ebj2 salt1 bars passage of supernatural beings1 #cfh 7note #a71 #cgb2 #8speechless1' #cjd1 #cca2 spilling of1 as omen1 #cbh supplied daily to the dead1 #eci2 #8,water-bearer1' the1 #eef1 #eib f4 ,water-nymphs1 #aei2 confused with tree-nymphs1 #aec2 precautions against1 #afj ,water-pitcher 7see also ,water-bearer71 #eid ,water-spout1 caused by ,lamia of the ,sea1 #eb2 superstitions concerning1 #agb ,weasel1 unlucky to meet1 #cjg2 why unlucky to see1 #cbg ,weather1 chief province of ,god1 #ea ,wedding1 #8,the ,sacred1' #eii f42 in ,hades1 ,the1 7ballad71 #edh ,wedding-customs 7see ,marriage-customs7 ,wedding-dress1 as funeral-garb of betrothed girls or young wives1 #eeg ,weddings1 precautions at1 #ac2 precautions against magic at1 #bj2 sacrifice and divination at1 #cbf ,wedding-scenes on funeral-monuments1 #eig f41 #fja f4 ,were-wolves1 #bci2 and vampires1 #cgg f42 become vampires after death1 #che ,whirlwinds1 caused by nymphs1 #eb1 #aej2 safeguard against1 #aej ,winds1 personified1 #eb ,wine1 passed from left to right1 #cab2 spilling of1 as omen1 #cbh ,winter festivals1 #bba ff4 ,witch1 as rain-maker in ,santorini1 #di ,witchcraft1 male and female exponents of1 #ae1 #af ,witches1 #ae ,woodpecker1 #cji ,wooing1 how conducted1 #eeh ,wren1 #cji ,zalmoxis1 #cej f4 ,zeus1 #gb-gd2 ,lycaean1 #ceb2 ,meilichios1 #bge2 ,prostropaeus1 #dha2 survival of name1 #gd ,,index ,,of ,,greek ,,words ,,and ,,phrases 1 #fjc 1 #fh 1 #bhh 1 #bhi 1 #bhi 1 #bhi 1 #bhi 1 #aig 1 #adg1 #agf 1 #dea 1 1 #gj 1 #bjh 1 #fh1 #bhc 1 #aaf 1 1 #ejh 1 #dgb1 #dgd 1 #dgd 7see ,alastor71 #dfb f41 #dfe ff4 1 #bjd1 #bhh 1 #dhb 1 #aee 1 #cha1 #cig 1 #ai 1 #fjj 1 #chb 1 #adb 1 #cha 1 #bje 7note #a7 1 #aej 1 #aej 7proverb71 #bha 1 #cjf 1 #dde 7in ,soph4 ,o4 ,c4 #achc ff471 #dai 1 #efi 1 #bgf 1 #eah 1 #efi 1 #gb 1 1 #add 1 #aah 1 #cgh 1 #ehc 1 1 #afc 1 1 #afc 1 #i 1 #i 1 #ad 1 #i 7note #b7 1 #cgh 1 #cfd 1 #ba 1 #cfd 1 #cij 1 #adh1 #agg 1 #eca 1 #ehc 1 #adg1 #agf 1 #agh 1 #bjg 1 #ahd 1 #abf 1 #eff 1 1 #ge 1 #efi 77 1 #da 1 #fh 1 #gi 1 #abg 1 #cig 1 #ai 1 #ij 1 #cig 1 #egi 1 #adi 1 1 #bhj 7proverb71 #dce 1 #aea 1 #aea 1 #fa 1 #fh 1 #ce 1 #dbd 1 #ecj1 #eca 1 #eca1 #ecb 1 #bih 1 #adc 1 #adc 1 #fg 1 #bjh 1 #eff 1 #egh 1 #fjc 1 1 #aah 1 #fjj 1 #dci 1 #eah ' 1 #adc 1 #adf 1 #fi 1 #fi 1 personification of1 #aae 1 modern applications of word1 #dh 1 #eff 1 #cce 1 #cce 1 #ecj 1 #eia 1 #eff 1 #bce 1 #bhi 1 #bhi 1 #ah 1 #bce 1 #bjh 1 #efh 1 #cee 1 #bji 1 #bje 1 #aec 1 1 #acb 1 to whom applied1 #aga 1 1 #afd 1 1 #aff 1 #bae 1 #bbj 1 #bac 1 #bac 1 #bae 1 #bjj 1 derivation of1 #bcb ff42 dialectic varieties of form of1 #baa ff42 proposed derivations of1 #bae ff42 table of dialectic forms of1 #bad 1 #bjj 1 #acb 1 #aib 1 1 #gj 1 #bhi 1 1 #abe1 #acb 1 1 #gj 1 1 #afc 1 #bbc1 #bbg 1 #bai 1 #dhg 1 #fi 1 #bcc 1 #ag 7see ,vrykolakes71 #cgb 1 #chb 1 #ece 7note #d7 1 #bai 1 #aic 1 #bbc1 #bbg 1 #bjc 1 #bhi 1 #caa 7epithet of ,hermes71 #cjf 1 1 #cjd 1 #bih 1 #cjd 1 #dfj 1 #edb 1 #dhg1 #ece 1 #eif 1 #abi 7proverbial71 #abd 1 #abi 1 #cca 1 #caj1 #caa 1 #cbb 1 1 #bjg 1 #eah 1 #eah 1 1 #afc 1 1 #hi 1 1 #ed1 #ia 1 #aib 1 1 #cha 1 #ecj 1 #eef1 #eid 1 #ceb 1 #bda1 #chd 1 #bjc1 #bae 1 #bci f4 1 #cig 1 #cig 7proverb71 #cdf 7proverbial71 #abd 1 #ecb 1 #ecb 1 #aef 1 1 #aah 1 #bih 1 #dce f41 #ddb 1 #cei 1 1 #i 1 #i 1 #i 1 #id 1 #ecc 1 #ddg1 #ddi 1 #dbe1 #dea 7see ,miastor71 #dfb ff4 1 #dhg1 #ecd 1 #bhi 1 #abj1 #abb1 etc4 7or 71 1 #agd 1 1 #cdg 7see ,dirges7 1 #dea 1 #ad 1 #eca 1 #adh 1 #acj 1 #adi 1 #acd 1 #acd 1 #acd 1 #bfj 1 #cgj 1 #aca 1 #adb 1 #cbh 1 #aie 1 #fh 1 #afj 1 #cag 7note #a7 1 #bbf 1 1 #ad 1 #fg1 #bjg 7proverb71 #chg 1 #ehf 1 #bih1 #cbg 1 #bfj 1 #cjh 1 #bce1 #bcg f4 1 #cjg 1 7proverbial saying71 #abb 1 #fg1 #bjg 1 #ddh 1 #bih1 #cbi 1 #cd 1 #bd 1 #ecc 1 #adb 1 #aie 1 #if1 #ehg 1 #ehg 1 #aac 1 #aac 1 #aji1 #bhf 1 #eca1 #ecb 1 #bd 7title of ,s4 ,george71 #bfa 1 #adb 1 #gj 1 #aib1 #bjd 1 #adh 1 #dig 1 #eeh 1 #eeh 1 1 #dgi 1 #dfb f41 #dgi ff4 1 #eia 1 1 #cjd 7note #c7 1 #bbd1 #bbf 1 #de 1 #bhh 1 1 #dhh 7notes #a and #b7 1 #bj 1 #chb 7see 71 #bac 1 #bae 1 #bae 1 #ce 1 #bjc1 #bje ' 1 #ad 1 #fi 1 #cbe 1 #ecj 77 7see ,genii72 comprehensive usage of1 #fi 1 development of meaning of1 #bee ff42 1 7,st ,paul71 #bee-f 1 #edh 1 #bfg 1 #bef 1 #bef 1 #beh1 #chb 1 #add 71 71 #ahj-a 1 #ahj 1 #cd 1 #ccf 1 #fh 7proverbial71 #abd 1 1 #bbf 7,aesch4 ,choeph4 #bhh71 #dba1 #def 1 #eia 1 1 #eij 1 #eec 1 comprehensive usage of1 #fi 1 #bhf 7proverb71 #agd 1 #bfj 1 #eca 1 #ecj1 #ecb 1 1 #he 1 #caa 1 #aib 1 #fh 1 #cfe1 #cgj1 #cha1 #che f41 #djj 7see also 71 #djj 1 #bhi 1 #eic 1 1 #cjd 7note #c7 1 #fh 1 1 #cee 1 1 #ad 1 #fh 1 #bde1 #bej 1 #bha 7note #b7 1 #caj 1 #ig 1 #ig 1 1 #gj 1 #aad 1 #aad 1 #bih 1 meaning of1 #afa 7note #b7 1 #ce 1 #ecj 1 #ecd 1 #cba 1 #cca 1 #adc ,,cambridge3 ,,printed ,,by ,,john ,,clay1 ,m4,a4 ,,at ,,the ,,university ,,press4 ,transcriber's ,note ,the following apparent errors have been corrected3 p4 #eh sanctuary in person changed to sanctuary in person4 p4 #fj 7note7 footnote number inserted p4 #he 7note7 ,conon1 ,narrat4 #ae changed to ,conon1 ,narrat4 #ae4 p4 #ii 7note7 footnote number inserted p4 #aje 7note7 'sorrowful4 changed to 'sorrowful4' p4 #adh 444 changed to 444 p4 #aea the honeyed ones#cfe4' changed to 'the honeyed ones#cfe4' p4 #cfj guarding and tending of ,love' changed to guarding and tending of ,love4' p4 #dgf 7note7 cap4 #ae 7p4 #dah7 changed to cap4 #ae 7p4 #dah74 p4 #fjh smaller species of #aic changed to smaller species of1 #aic p4 #fji time required for entry placed in alphabetical order p4 #faf supplied daily to the dead entry placed in alphabetical order ,inconsistent or archaic spelling1 hyphenation and punctuation have otherwise been kept as printed4