Chapter I: Olympian and Chthonic Ritual

Mr Ruskin on the absence of fear in the Greek genius,
Religion, to writers of the fifth century B.C., mainly a
matter of festivals. In the _Euthyphron_ religion is ‘doing
business with the gods,’ a form of ‘tendance’ (θεραπεία).
Contrast of δεισιδαιμονία, ‘fear of spirits.’ Plutarch on
‘fear of spirits.’ Distinction drawn by Isocrates and others
between Olympian and apotropaic ritual. Contrast between
‘Tendance’ (θεραπεία) and ‘Aversion’ (ἀποτροπή). Sacrifice
to Zeus in Homer is a banquet shared. Contrast of the ritual
of the Diasia. The holocaust or uneaten sacrifice. Ritual
of the Diasia addressed primarily to an underworld snake.
Superposition of the Homeric Zeus. Evidence of art. The ‘Dian’
fleece, not the ‘fleece of Zeus’ but the fleece of magical
purification. Examination of the Attic calendar. The names of
festivals not connected with the names of Olympian divinities.
The ritual of these festivals belongs to a more primitive
stratum than that of the Olympians, pp. 1-31.