Chapter VII: Hyacinth (2)

113 Eusebius, _Vita Constantini_, iii. 58; Socrates, _Historia
Ecclesiastica_, i. 18. 7-9; Sozomenus, Historia Ecclesiastica, v.
10. 7. Socrates says that at Heliopolis local custom obliged the
women to be held in common, so that paternity was unknown, “for
there was no distinction of parents and children, and the people
prostituted their daughters to the strangers who visited them” (τοῖς
παριοῦσι ξένοις). The prostitution of matrons as well as of maids is
mentioned by Eusebius. As he was born and spent his life in Syria,
and was a contemporary of the practices he describes, the bishop of
Caesarea had the best opportunity of informing himself as to them,
and we ought not, as Prof. M. P. Nilsson does (_Griechische Feste_,
Leipsic, 1906, p. 366 n.2), to allow his positive testimony on this
point to be outweighed by the silence of the later historian
Sozomenus, who wrote long after the custom had been abolished.
Eusebius had good reason to know the heathenish customs which were
kept up in his diocese; for he was sharply taken to task by
Constantine for allowing sacrifices to be offered on altars under
the sacred oak or terebinth at Mamre; and in obedience to the
imperial commands he caused the altars to be destroyed and an
oratory to be built instead under the tree. So in Ireland the
ancient heathen sanctuaries under the sacred oaks were converted by
Christian missionaries into churches and monasteries. See Socrates,
_Historia Ecclesiastica_, i. 18; _The Magic Art and the Evolution of
Kings_, ii. 242 _sq._

114 Athanasius, _Oratio contra Gentes_, 26 (Migne’s _Patrologia Graeca_,
xxv. 52), γυναῖκες γοῦν ἐν εἰδωλείοις τῆς Φοινικῆς πάλαι
προεκαθέζοντο, ἀπαρχόμεναι τοῖς ἐκεῖ θέοις ἑαυτῶν τὴν τοῦ σώματος
αὐτῶν μισθαρνίαν, νομίζουσαι τῇ πορνειᾳ τὴν θέον ἑαυτῶν ἰλάσκεσθαι
καὶ εἰς εὐμενείαν ἄγειν αὐτὴν διὰ τούτων. The account of the
Phoenician custom which is given by H. Ploss (_Das Weib_,2 i. 302)
and repeated after him by Fr. Schwally (_Semitische
Kriegsaltertümer_, Leipsic, 1901, pp. 76 _sq._) may rest only on a
misapprehension of this passage of Athanasius. But if it is correct,
we may conjecture that the slaves who deflowered the virgins were
the sacred slaves of the temples, the _ḳedeshim_, and that they
discharged this office as the living representatives of the god. As
to these _ḳedeshim_, or “sacred men,” see above, pp. 17 _sq._, and
below, pp. 72 _sqq._

_ 115 The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs_, translated and edited by
R. H. Charles (London, 1908), chapter xii. p. 81.

116 Lucian, _De dea Syria_, 6. The writer is careful to indicate that
none but strangers were allowed to enjoy the women (ἡ δὲ ἀγορὴ
μούνοισι ξείνοισι παρακέεται).

_ 117 The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, i. 30 _sq._

118 Herodotus, i. 93 _sq._; Athenaeus, xii. 11, pp. 515 _sq._

119 W. M. Ramsay, “Unedited Inscriptions of Asia Minor,” _Bulletin de
Correspondance Hellénique_, vii. (1883) p. 276; _id._, _Cities and
Bishoprics of Phrygia_, i. (Oxford, 1895) pp. 94 _sq._, 115.

120 Strabo, xi. 14. 16, p. 532.

121 Strabo, xii. 3. 32, 34 and 36, pp. 557-559; compare xii. 2. 3, p.
535. Other sanctuaries in Pontus, Cappadocia, and Phrygia swarmed
with sacred slaves, and we may conjecture, though we are not told,
that many of these slaves were prostitutes. See Strabo, xi. 8. 4,
xii. 2. 3 and 6, xii. 3. 31 and 37, xii. 8. 14.

M26 The Asiatic Mother Goddess a personification of all the reproductive
energies of nature. Her worship perhaps reflects a period of sexual
communism.

122 On this great Asiatic goddess and her lovers see especially Sir W.
M. Ramsay, _Cities and Bishoprics of Phrygia_, i. 87 _sqq._

123 Compare W. Mannhardt, _Antike Wald- und Feldkulte_, pp. 284 _sq._;
W. Robertson Smith, _The Prophets of Israel_, New Edition (London,
1902), pp. 171-174. Similarly in Camul, formerly a province of the
Chinese Empire, the men used to place their wives at the disposal of
any foreigners who came to lodge with them, and deemed it an honour
if the guests made use of their opportunities. The emperor, hearing
of the custom, forbade the people to observe it. For three years
they obeyed, then, finding that their lands were no longer fruitful
and that many mishaps befell them, they prayed the emperor to allow
them to retain the custom, “for it was by reason of this usage that
their gods bestowed upon them all the good things that they
possessed, and without it they saw not how they could continue to
exist.” See _The Book of Ser Marco Polo_, translated and edited by
Colonel Henry Yule, Second Edition (London, 1875), i. 212 _sq._ Here
apparently the fertility of the soil was deemed to depend on the
intercourse of the women with strangers, not with their husbands.
Similarly, among the Oulad Abdi, an Arab tribe of Morocco, “the
women often seek a divorce and engage in prostitution in the
intervals between their marriages; during that time they continue to
dwell in their families, and their relations regard their conduct as
very natural. The administrative authority having bestirred itself
and attempted to regulate this prostitution, the whole population
opposed the attempt, alleging that such a measure would impair the
abundance of the crops.” See Edmond Doutté, _Magie et Religion dans
l’Afrique du Nord_ (Algiers, 1908), pp. 560 _sq._

124 Clement of Alexandria, _Protrept._ ii. 14, p. 13, ed. Potter;
Arnobius, _Adversus Nationes_, v. 19; compare Firmicus Maternus, _De
errore profanarum religionum_, 10.

125 In Hebrew a temple harlot was regularly called “a sacred woman”
(_kĕdēsha_). See _Encyclopaedia Biblica_, _s.v._ “Harlot”; S. R.
Driver, on Genesis xxxviii. 21. As to such “sacred women” see below,
pp. 70 _sqq._

M27 The daughters of Cinyras.

126 Clement of Alexandria, _Protrept._ ii. 13, p. 12, ed. Potter;
Arnobius, _Adversus Nationes_, v. 19; Firmicus Maternus, _De errore
profanarum religionum_, 10.

127 Apollodorus, _Bibliotheca_, iii. 14. 3.

M28 The Paphian dynasty of the Cinyrads.

128 Apollodorus, _Bibliotheca_, iii. 14. 3. I follow the text of R.
Wagner’s edition in reading Μεγασσάρου τοῦ Ὑριέων βασιλέως. As to
Hyria in Isauria see Stephanus Byzantius, _s.v._ Ὑρία. The city of
Celenderis, on the south coast of Cilicia, possessed a small harbour
protected by a fortified peninsula. Many ancient tombs survived till
recent times, but have now mostly disappeared. It was the port from
which the Turkish couriers from Constantinople used to embark for
Cyprus. As to the situation and remains see F. Beaufort, _Karmania_
(London, 1817), p. 201; W. M. Leake, _Journal of a Tour in Asia
Minor_ (London, 1824), pp. 114-118; R. Heberdey und A. Wilhelm,
“Reisen in Kilikien,” _Denkschriften der kais. Akademie der
Wissenschaften, Philosoph.-historische Classe_, xliv. (1896) No. vi.
p. 94. The statement that the sanctuary of Aphrodite at Paphos was
founded by the Arcadian Agapenor, who planted a colony in Cyprus
after the Trojan war (Pausanias, viii. 5. 2), may safely be
disregarded.

129 Tacitus, _Hist._ ii. 3; _Annals_, iii. 62.

130 Tacitus, _Hist._ ii. 3; Hesychius, _s.v._ Ταμιράδαι.

131 Pindar, _Pyth._ ii. 13-17.

132 Tyrtaeus, xii. 6 (_Poetae Lyrici Graeci_, ed. Th. Bergk,3 Leipsic,
1866-1867, ii. 404); Pindar, _Pyth._ viii. 18; Plato, _Laws_, ii. 6,
p. 660 E; Clement of Alexandria, _Paedag._ iii. 6, p. 274, ed.
Potter; Dio Chrysostom, _Orat._ viii. (vol. i. p. 149, ed. L.
Dindorf); Julian, _Epist._ lix. p. 574, ed. F. C. Hertlein;
Diogenianus, viii. 53; Suidas, _s.v._ Καταγηράσαις.

133 Schol. on Pindar, _Pyth._ ii. 15 (27); Hesychius, _s.v._ Κινυράδαι;
Clement of Alexandria, _Protrept._ iii. 45, p. 40, ed. Potter;
Arnobius, _Adversus Nationes_, vi. 6. That the kings of Paphos were
also priests of the goddess is proved, apart from the testimony of
ancient writers, by inscriptions found on the spot. See H. Collitz,
_Sammlung der griechischen Dialektinschriften_, i. (Göttingen, 1884)
p. 22, Nos. 38, 39, 40. The title of the goddess in these
inscriptions is Queen or Mistress (Ϝανασ(σ)ἀς). It is perhaps a
translation of the Semitic Baalath.

134 Plutarch, _De Alexandri Magni fortuna aut virtute_, ii. 8. The name
of the gardener-king was Alynomus. That the Cinyrads existed as a
family down to Macedonian times is further proved by a Greek
inscription found at Old Paphos, which records that a certain
Democrates, son of Ptolemy, head of the Cinyrads, and his wife
Eunice, dedicated a statue of their daughter to the Paphian
Aphrodite. See L. Ross, “Inschriften von Cypern,” _Rheinisches
Museum_, N.F. vii. (1850) pp. 520 _sq._ It seems to have been a
common practice of parents to dedicate statues of their sons or
daughters to the goddess at Paphos. The inscribed pedestals of many
such statues were found by the English archaeologists. See _Journal
of Hellenic Studies_, ix. (1888) pp. 228, 235, 236, 237, 241, 244,
246, 255.

135 Tacitus, _Hist._ ii. 4; Pausanias, viii. 24. 6.

136 Plutarch, _Cato the Younger_, 35.

M29 Incest of Cinyras with his daughter Myrrha, and birth of Adonis.
Legends of royal incest—a suggested explanation.

137 Ovid, _Metam._ x. 298 _sqq._; Hyginus, _Fab._ 58, 64; Fulgentius,
_Mytholog._ iii. 8; Lactantius Placidius, _Narrat. Fabul._ x. 9;
Servius on Virgil, _Ecl._ x. 18, and _Aen._ v. 72; Plutarch,
_Parallela_, 22; Schol. on Theocritus, i. 107. It is Ovid who
describes (_Metam._ x. 431 _sqq._) the festival of Ceres, at which
the incest was committed. His source was probably the
_Metamorphoses_ of the Greek writer Theodorus, which Plutarch
(_l.c._) refers to as his authority for the story. The festival in
question was perhaps the Thesmophoria, at which women were bound to
remain chaste (Schol. on Theocritus, iv. 25; Schol. on Nicander,
_Ther._ 70 _sq._; Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ xxiv. 59; Dioscorides, _De
Materia Medica_, i. 134 (135); compare Aelian, _De natura
animalium_, ix. 26). Compare E. Fehrle, _Die kultische Keuschheit im
Altertum_ (Giessen, 1910), pp. 103 _sqq._, 121 _sq._, 151 _sqq._ The
corn and bread of Cyprus were famous in antiquity. See Aeschylus,
_Suppliants_, 549 (555); Hipponax, cited by Strabo, viii. 3. 8, p.
340; Eubulus, cited by Athenaeus, iii. 78, p. 112 F; E. Oberhummer,
_Die Insel. Cypern_, i. (Munich, 1903) pp. 274 _sqq._ According to
another account, Adonis was the fruit of the incestuous intercourse
of Theias, a Syrian king, with his daughter Myrrha. See Apollodorus,
_Bibliotheca_, iii. 14. 4 (who cites Panyasis as his authority); J.
Tzetzes, _Schol. on Lycophron_, 829; Antoninus Liberalis,
_Transform._ 34 (who lays the scene of the story on Mount Lebanon).
With the corn-wreaths mentioned in the text we may compare the
wreaths which the Roman Arval Brethren wore at their sacred
functions, and with which they seem to have crowned the images of
the goddesses. See G. Henzen, _Acta Fratrum Arvalium_ (Berlin,
1874), pp. 24-27, 33 _sq._ Compare Pausanias, vii. 20. 1. _sq._

138 A list of these cases is given by Hyginus, _Fab._ 253. It includes
the incest of Clymenus, king of Arcadia, with his daughter Harpalyce
(compare Hyginus, _Fab._ 206); that of Oenomaus, king of Pisa, with
his daughter Hippodamia (compare J. Tzetzes, _Schol. on Lycophron_,
156; Lucian, _Charidemus_, 19); that of Erechtheus, king of Athens,
with his daughter Procris; and that of Epopeus, king of Lesbos, with
his daughter Nyctimene (compare Hyginus, _Fab._ 204).

139 The custom of brother and sister marriage seems to have been
especially common in royal families. See my note on Pausanias, i. 7.
1 (vol. ii. pp. 84 _sq._); as to the case of Egypt see below, vol.
ii. pp. 213 _sqq._ The true explanation of the custom was first, so
far as I know, indicated by J. F. McLennan (_The Patriarchal
Theory_, London, 1885, p. 95).

M30 The Flamen Dialis and his Flaminica at Rome.

140 Aulus Gellius, x. 15. 22; J. Marquardt, _Römische Staatsverwaltung_,
iii.2 (Leipsic, 1885) p. 328.

141 Priestesses are said to have preceded priests in some Egyptian
cities. See W. M. Flinders Petrie, _The Religion of Ancient Egypt_
(London, 1906), p. 74.

_ 142 The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 179, 190 _sqq._

_ 143 The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 268 _sqq._

_ 144 The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, i. 12 note 1.

M31 Priestesses among the Khasis of Assam.

145 Major P. R. T. Gurdon, _The Khasis_ (London, 1907), pp. 109-112, 120
_sq._

M32 Sacred marriage of a priest and priestess as representatives of the
Sun-god and the Earth-goddess. Marriage of the Sun-god and
Earth-goddess acted by a priest and his wife.

_ 146 The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 191 _sqq._

_ 147 The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 148.

148 The late Rev. P. Dehon, S.J., “Religion and Customs of the Uraons,”
_Memoirs of the Asiatic Society of Bengal_, vol. i. No. 9 (Calcutta,
1906), pp. 144-146.

149 For more evidence see _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_,
ii. 97 _sqq._

M33 Cinyras beloved by Aphrodite. Pygmalion and Aphrodite. The
Phoenician kings of Cyprus or their sons appear to have been
hereditary lovers of the goddess. Sacred marriage of the kings of
Paphos. Sons and daughters, fathers and mothers of a god.

150 Lucian, _Rhetorum praeceptor_, 11; Hyginus, _Fab._ 270.

151 Clement of Alexandria, _Protrept._ ii. 33, p. 29, ed. Potter.

152 W. H. Engel, _Kypros_, ii. 585, 612; A. Maury, _Histoire des
Religions de la Grèce Antique_ (Paris, 1857-1859), iii. 197, note 3.

153 Arnobius, _Adversus Nationes_, vi. 22; Clement of Alexandria,
_Protrept._ iv. 57, p. 51, ed. Potter; Ovid, _Metam._ x. 243-297.
The authority for the story is the Greek history of Cyprus by
Philostephanus, cited both by Arnobius and Clement. In Ovid’s
poetical version of the legend Pygmalion is a sculptor, and the
image with which he falls in love is that of a lovely woman, which
at his prayer Venus endows with life. That King Pygmalion was a
Phoenician is mentioned by Porphyry (_De abstinentia_, iv. 15) on
the authority of Asclepiades, a Cyprian.

154 See above, p. 42.

155 Probus, on Virgil, _Ecl._ x. 18. I owe this reference to my friend
Mr. A. B. Cook.

156 In his treatise on the political institutions of Cyprus, Aristotle
reported that the sons and brothers of the kings were called “lords”
(ἄνακτες), and their sisters and wives “ladies” (ἄνασσαι). See
Harpocration and Suidas, _s.v._ Ἄνακτες. Compare Isocrates, ix. 72;
Clearchus of Soli, quoted by Athenaeus, vi. 68, p. 256 A. Now in the
bilingual inscription of Idalium, which furnished the clue to the
Cypriote syllabary, the Greek version gives the title Ϝάναξ as the
equivalent of the Phoenician _Adon_ (אדן). See _Corpus Inscriptionum
Semiticarum_, i. No. 89; G. A. Cooke, _Text-book of North-Semitic
Inscriptions_, p. 74, note 1.

157 Josephus, _Contra Apionem_, i. 18, ed. B. Niese; Appian, _Punica_,
i; Virgil, _Aen._ i. 346 _sq._; Ovid, _Fasti_, iii. 574; Justin,
xviii. 4; Eustathius on Dionysius Periegetes, 195 (_Geographi Graeci
Minores_, ed. C. Müller Paris, 1882, ii. 250 _sq._).

158 Pumi-yathon, son of Milk-yathon, is known from Phoenician
inscriptions found at Idalium. See G. A. Cooke, _Text-book of
North-Semitic Inscriptions_, Nos. 12 and 13, pp. 55 _sq._, 57 _sq._
Coins inscribed with the name of King Pumi-yathon are also in
existence. See G. F. Hill, _Catalogue of the Greek Coins of Cyprus_
(London, 1904), pp. xl. _sq._, 21 _sq._, pl. iv. 20-24. He was
deposed by Ptolemy (Diodorus Siculus, xix. 79. 4). Most probably he
is the Pymaton of Citium who purchased the kingdom from a dissolute
monarch named Pasicyprus some time before the conquests of Alexander
(Athenaeus, iv. 63, p. 167). In this passage of Athenaeus the name
Pymaton, which is found in the MSS. and agrees closely with the
Phoenician Pumi-yathon, ought not to be changed into Pygmalion, as
the latest editor (G. Kaibel) has done.

159 G. A. Cooke, _op. cit._ p. 55, note 1. Mr. Cooke remarks that the
form of the name (פגמלין instead of פמייתן) must be due to Greek
influence.

160 See above, p. 41.

161 Clement of Alexandria, _Protrept._ ii. 13, p. 12; Arnobius,
_Adversus Nationes_, v. 9; Firmicus Maternus, _De errore profanarum
religionum_, 10.

162 That the king was not necessarily succeeded by his eldest son is
proved by the case of Solomon, who on his accession executed his
elder brother Adoni-jah (1 Kings ii. 22-24). Similarly, when
Abimelech became king of Shechem, he put his seventy brothers in
ruthless oriental fashion to death. See Judges viii. 29-31, ix. 5
_sq._, 18. So on his accession Jehoram, King of Judah, put all his
brothers to the sword (2 Chronicles xxi. 4). King Rehoboam had
eighty-eight children (2 Chronicles xi. 21) and King Abi-jah had
thirty-eight (2 Chronicles xiii. 21). These examples illustrate the
possible size of the family of a polygamous king.

_ 163 The Dying God_, pp. 160 _sqq._

164 The names which imply that a man was the father of a god have proved
particularly puzzling to some eminent Semitic scholars. See W.
Robertson Smith, _Religion of the Semites_,2 p. 45, note 2; Th.
Nöldeke, _s.v._ “Names,” _Encyclopaedia Biblica_, iii. 3287 _sqq._;
W. W. Graf Baudissin, _Adonis und Esmun_, pp. 39 _sq._, 43 _sqq._
Such names are Abi-baal (“father of Baal”), Abi-el (“father of El”),
Abi-jah (“father of Jehovah”), and Abi-melech (“father of a king” or
“father of Moloch”). On the hypothesis put forward in the text the
father of a god and the son of a god stood precisely on the same
footing, and the same person would often be both one and the other.
Where the common practice prevailed of naming a father after his son
(_Taboo and the Perils of the Soul_, pp. 331 _sqq._), a divine king
in later life might often be called “father of such-and-such a god.”

_ 165 The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, i. 418 _sq._

166 A. Erman, _Aegypten und aegyptisches Leben im Altertum_ (Tübingen,
N.D.), p. 113.

167 L. Borchardt, “Der ägyptische Titel ‘Vater des Gottes’ als
Bezeichnung für ‘Vater oder Schwiegervater des Königs,’ ” _Berichte
über die Verhandlungen der Königlich Sächsischen Gesellschaft der
Wissenschaften zu Leipzig, Philolog.-histor. Klasse_, lvii. (1905)
pp. 254-270.

M34 Cinyras, like King David, a harper. The use of music as a means of
prophetic inspiration among the Hebrews.

168 F. C. Movers, _Die Phoenizier_, i. 243; Stoll, _s.v._ “Kinyras,” in
W. H. Roscher’s _Lexikon der griech. und röm. Mythologie_, ii. 1191;
1 Samuel xvi. 23.

169 1 Chronicles xxv. 1-3; compare 2 Samuel vi. 5.

170 W. Robertson Smith, _The Prophets of Israel_2 (London, 1902), pp.
391 _sq._; E. Renan, _Histoire du peuple d’Israel_ (Paris, 1893),
ii. 280.

171 1 Samuel x. 5.

172 2 Kings iii. 4-24. And for the explanation of the supposed miracle,
see W. Robertson Smith, _The Old Testament in the Jewish Church_2
(London and Edinburgh, 1892), pp. 146 _sq._ I have to thank
Professor Kennett for the suggestion that the Moabites took the
ruddy light on the water for an omen of blood rather than for actual
gore.

M35 The influence of music on religion.

173 1 Samuel xvi. 14-23.

174 J. H. Newman, _Sermons preached before the University of Oxford_,
No. xv. pp. 346 _sq._ (third edition).

175 It would be interesting to pursue a similar line of inquiry in
regard to the other arts. What was the influence of Phidias on Greek
religion? How much does Catholicism owe to Fra Angelico?

M36 The function of string music in Greek and Semitic ritual.

176 Pindar, _Pyth._ ii. 15 _sq._

177 On the lyre and the flute in Greek religion and Greek thought, see
L. R. Farnell, _The Cults of the Greek States_ (Oxford, 1896-1909),
iv. 243 _sqq._

178 Pindar, _Pyth._ i. 13 _sqq._

179 This seems to be the view also of Dr. Farnell, who rightly connects
the musical with the prophetic side of Apollo’s character (_op.
cit._ iv. 245).

M37 Traditions as to the death of Cinyras.

180 Hyginus, _Fab._ 242. So in the version of the story which made
Adonis the son of Theias, the father is said to have killed himself
when he learned what he had done (Antoninus Liberalis, _Transform._
34).

181 Scholiast and Eustathius on Homer, _Iliad_, xi. 20. Compare F. C.
Movers, _Die Phoenizier_, i. 243 _sq._; W. H. Engel, _Kypros_, ii.
109-116; Stoll, _s.v._ “Kinyras,” in W. H. Roscher’s _Lexikon der
griech. und röm. Mythologie_, ii. 1191.

182 Anacreon, cited by Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ vii. 154. Nonnus also refers
to the long life of Cinyras (_Dionys._ xxxii. 212 _sq._).

_ 183 Encyclopaedia Britannica_,9 xiv. 858.

M38 Sacred prostitution of Western Asia.
M39 Theory of its secular origin.

184 L. R. Farnell, “Sociological hypotheses concerning the position of
women in ancient religion,” _Archiv für Religionswissenschaft_, vii.
(1904) p. 88; M. P. Nilsson, _Griechische Feste_ (Leipsic, 1906),
pp. 366 _sq._; Fr. Cumont, _Les religions orientales dans le
paganisme Romain_2 (Paris, 1909), pp. 361 _sq._ A different and, in
my judgment, a truer view of these customs was formerly taken by
Prof. Nilsson. See his _Studia de Dionysiis Atticis_ (Lund, 1900),
pp. 119-121. For a large collection of facts bearing on this subject
and a judicious discussion of them, see W. Hertz, “Die Sage vom
Giftmädchen,” _Gesammelte Abhandlungen_ (Stuttgart and Berlin,
1905), pp. 195-219. My attention was drawn to this last work by
Prof. G. L. Hamilton of the University of Michigan after my
manuscript had been sent to the printer. With Hertz’s treatment of
the subject I am in general agreement, and I have derived from his
learned treatise several references to authorities which I had
overlooked.

M40 The theory does not account for the religious character of the
custom,

185 Above, p. 37.

186 Above, p. 38. Prof. Nilsson is mistaken in affirming (_op. cit._ p.
367) that the Lydian practice was purely secular: the inscription
which I have cited proves the contrary. Both he and Dr. Farnell
fully recognize the religious aspect of most of these customs in
antiquity, and Prof. Nilsson attempts, as it seems to me,
unsuccessfully, to indicate how a practice supposed to be purely
secular in origin should have come to contract a religious
character.

M41 Nor for the prostitution of married women.

187 Above, p. 37.

188 Above, pp. 36 _sq._, 38.

189 Hosea iv. 13 _sq._

M42 Nor for the repeated prostitution of the same women.

190 Above, pp. 37 _sqq._

M43 Nor for the “sacred men” beside the “sacred women”.

191 See above, pp. 17 _sq._

M44 And is irreconcilable with the payment of the women.

192 L. di Varthema, _Travels_ (Hakluyt Society, 1863), pp. 141, 202-204
(Malabar); J. A. de Mandlesloe, in J. Harris’s _Voyages and
Travels_, i. (London, 1744), p. 767 (Malabar); Richard, “History of
Tonquin,” in J. Pinkerton’s _Voyages and Travels_, ix. 760 _sq._
(Aracan); A. de Morga, _The Philippine Islands, Moluccas, Siam,
Cambodia, Japan, and China_ (Hakluyt Society, 1868), pp. 304 _sq._
(the Philippines); J. Mallat, _Les Philippines_ (Paris, 1846), i. 61
(the Philippines); L. Moncelon, in _Bulletins de la Société
d’Anthropologie de Paris_, 3me Série, ix. (1886) p. 368 (New
Caledonia); H. Crawford Angas, in _Verhandlungen der Berliner
Gesellschaft für Anthropologie, Ethnologie und Urgeschichte_, 1898,
p. 481 (Azimba, Central Africa); Sir H. H. Johnston, _British
Central Africa_ (London, 1897), p. 410 (the Wa-Yao of Central
Africa). See further, W. Hertz, “Die Sage vom Giftmädchen,”
_Gesammelte Abhandlungen_, pp. 198-204.

193 Herodotus, i. 93; Justin, xviii. 5. 4. Part of the wages thus earned
was probably paid into the local temple. See above, pp. 37, 38.
However, according to Strabo (xi. 14. 16, p. 532) the Armenian girls
of rich families often gave their lovers more than they received
from them.

194 This fatal objection to the theory under discussion has been clearly
stated by W. Hertz, _op. cit._ p. 217. I am glad to find myself in
agreement with so judicious and learned an inquirer.

M45 The practice of destroying virginity has sometimes had a religious
character.

195 L. di Varthema, _Travels_ (Hakluyt Society, 1863), p. 141; J. A. de
Mandlesloe, in J. Harris’s _Voyages and Travels_, i. (London, 1744)
p. 767; A. Hamilton, “New Account of the East Indies,” in J.
Pinkerton’s _Voyages and Travels_, viii. 374; Ch. Lassen, _Indische
Alterthumskunde_, iv. (Leipsic, 1861), p. 408; A. de Herrera, _The
General History of the Vast Continent and Islands of America_,
translated by Captain J. Stevens (London, 1725-1726), iii. 310, 340;
Fr. Coreal, _Voyages aux Indes Occidentales_ (Amsterdam, 1722), i.
10 _sq._, 139 _sq._; C. F. Ph. v. Martius, _Beiträge zur
Ethnographie und Sprachenkunde Amerika’s_, i. (Leipsic, 1867) pp.
113 _sq._ The first three of these authorities refer to Malabar; the
fourth refers to Cambodia; the last three refer to the Indians of
Central and South America. See further W. Hertz, “Die Sage vom
Giftmädchen,” _Gesammelte Abhandlungen_, pp. 204-207. For a
criticism of the Malabar evidence see K. Schmidt, _Jus primae
noctis_ (Freiburg im Breisgau, 1881), pp. 312-320.

196 Lactantius, _Divin. Institut._ i. 20; Arnobius, _Adversus Nationes_,
iv. 7; Augustine, _De civitate Dei_, vi. 9, vii. 24; D. Barbosa,
_Description of the Coasts of East Africa and Malabar_ (Hakluyt
Society, 1866), p. 96; Sonnerat, _Voyage aux Indes Orientales et à
la Chine_ (Paris, 1782), i. 68; F. Liebrecht, _Zur Volkskunde_
(Heilbronn, 1879), pp. 396 _sq._, 511; W. Hertz, “Die Sage vom
Giftmädchen,” _Gesammelte Abhandlungen_, pp. 270-272. According to
Arnobius, it was matrons, not maidens, who resorted to the image.
This suggests that the custom was a charm to procure offspring.

197 R. Schomburgk, in _Verhandlungen der Berliner Gesellschaft für
Anthropologie, Ethnologie und Urgeschichte_, 1879, pp. 235 _sq._;
Miklucho-Maclay, _ibid._ 1880, p. 89; W. E. Roth, _Studies among the
North-West-Central Queensland Aborigines_ (Brisbane and London,
1897), pp. 174 _sq._, 180; B. Spencer and F. J. Gillen, _Native
Tribes of Central Australia_ (London, 1899), pp. 92-95; _id._,
_Northern Tribes of Central Australia_ (London, 1904), pp. 133-136.
In Australia the observance of the custom is regularly followed by
the exercise of what seem to be old communal rights of the men over
the women.

M46 Sacred women in the Tamil temples of Southern India. Such women are
sometimes married to the god and possessed by him.

198 J. A. Dubois, _Mœurs, Institutions et Cérémonies des Peuples de
l’Inde_ (Paris, 1825), ii. 353 _sqq._; J. Shortt, “The Bayadère or
dancing-girls of Southern India,” _Memoirs of the Anthropological
Society of London_, iii. (1867-69) pp. 182-194; Edward Balfour,
_Cyclopaedia of India_3 (London, 1885), i. 922 _sqq._; W. Francis,
in _Census of India, 1901_, vol. xv., _Madras_, Part I. (Madras,
1902) pp. 151 _sq._; E. Thurston, _Ethnographic Notes in Southern
India_ (Madras, 1906), pp. 36 _sq._, 40 _sq._ The office of these
sacred women has in recent years been abolished, on the ground of
immorality, by the native Government of Mysore. See _Homeward Mail_,
6th June 1909 (extract kindly sent me by General Begbie).

199 Edgar Thurston, _Castes and Tribes of Southern India_ (Madras,
1909), iii. 37-39. Compare _id._, _Ethnographic Notes in Southern
India_ (Madras, 1906), pp. 29 _sq._ In Southern India the maternal
uncle often takes a prominent part in the marriage ceremony to the
exclusion of the girl’s father. See, for example, E. Thurston,
_Castes and Tribes of Southern India_, ii. 497, iv. 147. The custom
is derived from the old system of mother-kin, under which a man’s
heirs are not his own children but his sister’s children. As to this
system see below, Chapter XII., “Mother-kin and Mother Goddesses.”

200 E. Balfour, _op. cit._ ii. 1012.

201 Francis Buchanan, “A Journey from Madras through the countries of
Mysore, Canara, and Malabar,” in J. Pinkerton’s _Voyages and
Travels_, viii. (London, 1811), p. 749.

M47 In Travancore the dancing-girls are regularly married to the god.

202 N. Subramhanya Aiyar, in _Census of India, 1901_, vol. xxvi.,
_Travancore_, Part i. (Trivandrum, 1903), pp. 276 _sq._ I have to
thank my friend Mr. W. Crooke for referring me to this and other
passages on the sacred dancing-girls of India.

M48 Among the Ewe peoples of West Africa the sacred prostitutes are
regarded as the wives of the god.

203 A. B. Ellis, _The Ewe-speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast of West
Africa_ (London, 1890), pp. 140 _sq._

204 A. B. Ellis, _op. cit._ p. 142.

M49 The human wives of the python-god.

205 A. B. Ellis, _op. cit._ pp. 148 _sq._ Compare Des Marchais, _Voyage
en Guinée et à Cayenne_ (Amsterdam, 1731), ii. 144-151; P. Bouche,
_La Côte des Esclaves_ (Paris, 1885), p. 128. The Abbé Bouche calls
these women _danwés_.

206 A. B. Ellis, _op. cit._ p. 60; Des Marchais, _op. cit._ ii. 149
_sq._

M50 Supposed connexion between the fertility of the soil and the
marriage of women to the serpent.

207 Des Marchais, _Voyage en Guinée et à Cayenne_ (Amsterdam, 1731), ii.
146 _sq._

208 W. Bosman, “Description of the Coast of Guinea,” in J. Pinkerton’s
_Voyages and Travels_, xvi. (London, 1814), p. 494.

209 W. Bosman, _l.c._ The name of Whydah is spelt by Bosman as Fida, and
by Des Marchais as Juda.

M51 Human wives of a snake-god among the Akikuyu.

210 MS. notes, kindly sent to me by the author, Mr. A. C. Hollis, 21st
May, 1908.

M52 Sacred men as well as women in West Africa: they are thought to be
possessed by the deity.

211 A. B. Ellis, _The Ewe-speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast_, pp.
142-144; Le R. P. Baudin, “Féticheurs ou ministres religieux des
Nègres de la Guinée,” _Les Missions Catholiques_, No. 787 (4 juillet
1884), p. 322.

212 A. B. Ellis, _op. cit._ pp. 150 _sq._

_ 213 La Côte des Esclaves_, pp. 127 _sq._

214 A. B. Ellis, _op. cit._ p. 147.

M53 Similarly among the Tshi peoples of the Gold Coast there are sacred
men and women, who are supposed to be inspired by the deity.

215 A. B. Ellis, _The Tshi-speaking Peoples of the Gold Coast of West
Africa_ (London, 1887), pp. 120-138.

216 A. B. Ellis, _op. cit._ p. 121.

217 A. B. Ellis, _op. cit._ pp. 120 _sq._, 129-138. The slaves, male and
female, dedicated to a god from childhood are often mentioned by the
German missionary Mr. J. Spieth in his elaborate work on the Ewe
people (_Die Eẇe-Stämme: Material zur Kunde des Eẇe-Volkes in
Deutsch-Togo_, Berlin, 1906, pp. 228, 229, 309, 450, 474, 792, 797,
etc.). But his information does not illustrate the principal points
to which I have called attention in the text.

M54 In like manner the sacred prostitutes of Western Asia may have been
viewed as possessed by the deity and married to the god.

_ 218 The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 129-135.

219 Herodotus, i. 181 _sq._ It is not clear whether the same or a
different woman slept every night in the temple.

220 H. Winckler, _Die Gesetze Hammurabi_2 (Leipsic, 1903), p. 31, § 182;
C. H. W. Johns, _Babylonian and Assyrian Laws, Contracts, and
Letters_ (Edinburgh, 1904), pp. 54, 55, 59, 60, 61 (§§ 137, 144,
145, 146, 178, 182, 187, 192, 193, of the Code of Hammurabi). As to
these female votaries see especially C. H. W. Johns, “Notes on the
Code of Hammurabi,” _American Journal of Semitic Languages and
Literatures_, xix. (January 1903) pp. 98-107. Compare S. A. Cook,
_The Laws of Moses and the Code of Hammurabi_ (London, 1903), pp.
147-150.

221 C. H. W. Johns, “Notes on the Code of Hammurabi,” _l.c._, where we
read (p. 104) of a female votary of Shamash who had a daughter.

_ 222 Code of Hammurabi_, § 181; C. H. W. Johns, “Notes on the Code of
Hammurabi,” _op. cit._ pp. 100 sq.; S. A. Cook, _op. cit._ p. 148.
Dr. Johns translates the name by “temple maid” (_Babylonian and
Assyrian Laws_, _Contracts, and Letters_, p. 61). He is scrupulously
polite to these ladies, but I gather from him that a far less
charitable view of their religious vocation is taken by Father
Scheil, the first editor and translator of the code.

223 Any man proved to have pointed the finger of scorn at a votary was
liable to be branded on the forehead (_Code of Hammurabi_, § 127).

224 See above, pp. 66, 69.

225 Herodotus, i. 182.

226 A. Wiedemann, _Herodots Zweites Buch_ (Leipsic, 1890), pp. 268 _sq._
See further _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 130
_sqq._

227 Strabo, xvii. 1. 46, p. 816. The title “concubines of Zeus (Ammon)”
is mentioned by Diodorus Siculus (i. 47).

228 Diodorus Siculus, i. 47.

M55 Similarly the sacred men (_ḳedeshim_) of Western Asia may have been
regarded as possessed by the deity and as acting and speaking in his
name.

229 The ἱερόδουλοι, as the Greeks called them.

230 I have to thank the Rev. Professor R. H. Kennett for this important
suggestion as to the true nature of the _ḳedeshim_. The passages of
the Bible in which mention is made of these men are Deuteronomy
xxiii. 17 (in Hebrew 18); 1 Kings xiv. 24, xv. 12, xxii. 46 (in
Hebrew 47); 2 Kings xxiii. 7; Job xxxvi. 14 (where _ḳedeshim_ is
translated “the unclean” in the English version). The usual
rendering of _ḳedeshim_ in the English Bible is not justified by any
of these passages; but it may perhaps derive support from a
reference which Eusebius makes to the profligate rites observed at
Aphaca (_Vita Constantini_, iii. 55; Migne’s _Patrologia Graeca_,
xx. 1120); Γύνιδες γοῦν τινες ἄνδρες οὐκ ἄνδρες, τὸ σέμνον τῆς
φύσεως ἀπαρνησάμενοι, θηλείᾳ νόσῳ τὴν δαίμονα ἱλεοῦντο. But probably
Eusebius is here speaking of the men who castrated themselves in
honour of the goddess, and thereafter wore female attire. See
Lucian, _De dea Syria_, 51; and below, pp. 269 _sq._

231 Strabo, xi. 4. 7, p. 503.

232 Drexler, in W. H. Roscher’s _Lexikon der griech. und röm.
Mythologie_, _s.v._ “Men,” ii. 2687 _sqq._

233 It is true that Strabo (_l.c._) speaks of the Albanian deity as a
goddess, but this may be only an accommodation to the usage of the
Greek language, in which the moon is feminine.

234 Florus, _Epitoma_, ii. 7; Diodorus Siculus, Frag. xxxiv. 2 (vol. v.
pp. 87 _sq._, ed. L. Dindorf, in the Teubner series).

M56 Resemblance of the Hebrew prophets to the sacred men of Western
Africa.

235 Above, pp. 52 _sq._

236 1 Kings xix. 16; Isaiah lx. 1.

237 1 Kings xx. 41. So in Africa “priests and priestesses are readily
distinguishable from the rest of the community. They wear their hair
long and unkempt, while other people, except the women in the towns
on the seaboard, have it cut close to the head.... Frequently both
appear with white circles painted round their eyes, or with various
white devices, marks, or lines painted on the face, neck, shoulders,
or arms” (A. B. Ellis, _The Tshi-speaking Peoples of the Gold
Coast_, p. 123). “Besides the ordinary tribal tattoo-marks borne by
all natives, the priesthood in Dahomi bear a variety of such marks,
some very elaborate, and an expert can tell by the marks on a priest
to what god he is vowed, and what rank he holds in the order. These
hierarchical marks consist of lines, scrolls, diamonds, and other
patterns, with sometimes a figure, such as that of the crocodile or
chameleon. The shoulders are frequently seen covered with an
infinite number of small marks like dots, set close together. All
these marks are considered sacred, and the laity are forbidden to
touch them” (A. B. Ellis, _The Ewe-speaking Peoples of the Slave
Coast_, p. 146). The reason why the prophet’s shoulders are
especially marked is perhaps given by the statement of a Zulu that
“the sensitive part with a doctor [medicine-man] is his shoulders.
Everything he feels is in the situation of his shoulders. That is
the place where black men feel the Amatongo” (ancestral spirits).
See H. Callaway, _The Religious System of the Amazulu_, part ii. p.
159. These African analogies suggest that the “wounds between the
arms” (literally, “between the hands”) which the prophet Zechariah
mentions (xiii. 6) as the badge of a Hebrew prophet were marks
tattooed on his shoulders in token of his holy office. The
suggestion is confirmed by the prophet’s own statement (_l.c._) that
he had received the wounds in the house of his lovers (בית מאהבי);
for the same word lovers is repeatedly applied by the prophet Hosea
to the Baalim (Hosea, ii. 5, 7, 10, 12, 13, verses 7, 9, 12, 14, 15
in Hebrew).

238 1 Samuel ix. 1-20.

239 H. Callaway, _The Religious System of the Amazulu_, part iii. pp.
300 _sqq._

240 See above, pp. 52 _sq._

241 1 Samuel ix. 9. In the Wiimbaio tribe of South-Eastern Australia a
medicine-man used to be called “_mekigar_, from _meki_, ‘eye’ or ‘to
see,’ otherwise ‘one who sees,’ that is, sees the causes of maladies
in people, and who could extract them from the sufferer, usually in
the form of quartz crystals” (A. W. Howitt, _The Native Tribes of
South-East Australia_, London, 1904, p. 380).

242 That the prophet’s office in Canaan was developed out of the
widespread respect for insanity is duly recognized by Ed. Meyer,
_Geschichte des Altertums_,2 i. 2. p. 383.

M57 Inspired prophets at Byblus.

243 W. Max Müller, in _Mitteilungen der Vorderasiatischen Gesellschaft_,
1900, No. 1, p. 17; A. Erman, “Eine Reise nach Phönizien im 11
Jahrhundert v. Chr.” _Zeitschrift für Āgyptische Sprache und
Altertumskunde_, xxxviii. (1900) pp. 6 _sq._; G. Maspero, _Les
contes populaires de l’Égypte Ancienne_,3 p. 192; A. Wiedemann,
_Altägyptische Sagen und Märchen_ (Leipsic, 1906), pp. 99 _sq._; H.
Gressmann, _Altorientalische Texte und Bilder zum Alten Testamente_
(Tübingen, 1909), p. 226. Scholars differ as to whether Wen-Ammon’s
narrative is to be regarded as history or romance; but even if it
were proved to be a fiction, we might safely assume that the
incident of the prophetic frenzy at Byblus was based upon familiar
facts. Prof. Wiedemann thinks that the god who inspired the page was
the Egyptian Ammon, not the Phoenician Adonis, but this view seems
to me less probable.

244 1 Samuel ix. 6-8, 10; 1 Kings xiii. 1, 4-8, 11, etc.

245 1 Samuel ii. 22. Totally different from their Asiatic namesakes were
the “sacred men” and “sacred women” who were charged with the
superintendence of the mysteries at Andania in Messenia. They were
chosen by lot and held office for a year. The sacred women might be
either married or single; the married women had to swear that they
had been true to their husbands. See G. Dittenberger, _Sylloge
Inscriptionum Graecarum_2 (Leipsic, 1898-1901), vol. ii. pp. 461
_sqq._, No. 653; Ch. Michel, _Recueil d’Inscriptions Grecques_
(Brussels, 1900), pp. 596 _sqq._, No. 694; _Leges Graecorum Sacrae_,
ed. J. de Prott, L. Ziehen, Pars Altera, Fasciculus i. (Leipsic,
1906), No. 58, pp. 166 _sqq._

M58 “Holy men” in modern Syria.

246 Hosea ix. 7.

247 Jeremiah xxix. 26.

248 S. I. Curtiss, _Primitive Semitic Religion To-day_ (Chicago, New
York, Toronto, 1902), pp. 150 _sq._

249 S. I. Curtiss, _op. cit._ p. 152. As to these “holy men,” see
further C. R. Conder, _Tent-work in Palestine_ (London, 1878), ii.
231 _sq._: “The most peculiar class of men in the country is that of
the Derwîshes, or sacred personages, who wander from village to
village, performing tricks, living on alms, and enjoying certain
social and domestic privileges, which very often lead to scandalous
scenes. Some of these men are mad, some are fanatics, but the
majority are, I imagine, rogues. They are reverenced not only by the
peasantry, but also sometimes by the governing class. I have seen
the Kady of Nazareth ostentatiously preparing food for a miserable
and filthy beggar, who sat in the justice-hall, and was consulted as
if he had been inspired. A Derwîsh of peculiar eminence is often
dressed in good clothes, with a spotless turban, and is preceded by
a banner-bearer, and followed by a band, with drum, cymbal, and
tambourine.... It is natural to reflect whether the social position
of the Prophets among the Jews may not have resembled that of the
Derwîshes.”

M59 The licence accorded to such “holy men” may be explained by the
desire of women for offspring.

250 S. I. Curtiss, _op. cit._ pp. 116 _sq._

251 S. I. Curtiss, _op. cit._ pp. 118, 119. In India also some
Mohammedan saints are noted as givers of children. Thus at
Fatepur-Sikri, near Agra, is the grave of Salim Chishti, and
childless women tie rags to the delicate tracery of the tomb, “thus
bringing them into direct communion with the spirit of the holy man”
(W. Crooke, _Natives of Northern India_, London, 1907, p. 203).

M60 Belief that men and women may be the offspring of a god.

252 1 Samuel i.

253 Genesis vi. 1-3. In this passage “the sons of God (or rather of the
gods)” probably means, in accordance with a common Hebrew idiom, no
more than “the gods,” just as the phrase “sons of the prophets”
means the prophets themselves. For more examples of this idiom, see
Brown, Driver, and Briggs, _Hebrew and English Lexicon_, p. 121.

254 For example, all Hebrew names ending in _-el_ or _-iah_ are
compounds of El or Yahwe, two names of the divinity. See G. B. Gray,
_Studies in Hebrew Proper Names_ (London, 1896), pp. 149 _sqq._

255 Brown, Driver, and Briggs, _Hebrew and English Lexicon_, p. 1028.
But compare _Encyclopaedia Biblica_, iii. 3285, iv. 4452.

256 A trace of a similar belief perhaps survives in the narratives of
Genesis xxxi. and Judges xiii., where barren women are represented
as conceiving children after the visit of God, or of an angel of
God, in the likeness of a man.

257 J. Spieth, _Die Ewe-Stämme_ (Berlin, 1906), pp. 446, 448-450.

M61 The saints in modern Syria are the equivalents of the ancient Baal
or Adonis.
M62 Belief in the physical fatherhood of God not confined to Syria. Sons
of the serpent-god.

258 For more instances see H. Usener, _Das Weihnachtsfest_2 (Bonn,
1911), i. 71 _sqq._

259 G. Dittenberger, _Sylloge Inscriptionum Graecarum_,2 vol. ii. pp.
662, 663, No. 803, lines 117 _sqq._, 129 _sqq._

260 Pausanias, ii. 10. 3 (with my note), iii. 23. 7; Livy, xi. Epitome;
Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ xxix. 72; Valerius Maximus, i. 8. 2; Ovid,
_Metam._ xv. 626-744; Aurelius Victor, _De viris illustr._ 22;
Plutarch, _Quaest. Rom._ 94.

261 Aristophanes, _Plutus_, 733; Pausanias, ii. 11. 8; Herodas,
_Mimiambi_, iv. 90 _sq._; G. Dittenberger, _Sylloge Inscriptionum
Graecarum_,2 vol. ii. p. 655, No. 802, lines 116 _sqq._; Ch. Michel,
_Recueil d’Inscriptions Grecques_, p. 826, No. 1069.

262 Pausanias, ii. 10. 3, iv. 14. 7 _sq._

263 Pausanias, ii. 10. 4.

264 Pausanias, ii. 11. 5-8.

265 Suetonius, _Divus Augustus_, 94; Dio Cassius, xlv. 1. 2. Tame
serpents were kept in a sacred grove of Apollo in Epirus. A virgin
priestess fed them, and omens of plenty and health or the opposites
were drawn from the way in which the reptiles took their food from
her. See Aelian, _Nat. Hist._ xi. 2.

266 Pausanias, iv. 14. 7; Livy, xxvi. 19; Aulus Gellius, vi. 1;
Plutarch, _Alexander_, 2. All these cases have been already cited in
this connexion by L. Deubner, _De incubatione_ (Leipsic, 1900), p.
33 note.

267 Aelian, _De natura animalium_, vi. 17.

M63 Women fertilized by stone serpents in India.

268 H. V. Nanjundayya, _The Ethnographical Survey of Mysore_, vi.
_Komati Caste_ (Bangalore, 1906), p. 29.

M64 Belief that the dead come to life in the form of serpents.

269 T. Arbousset et F. Daumas, _Voyage d’Exploration au Nord-Est de la
Colonie du Cap de Bonne-Espérance_ (Paris, 1842), p. 277; H.
Callaway, _Religious System of the Amazulu_, part ii. pp. 140-144,
196-200, 208-212; J. Shooter, _The Kafirs of Natal_ (London, 1857),
p. 162; E. Casalis, _The Basutos_ (London, 1861), p. 246; “Words
about Spirits,” (_South African_) _Folk-lore Journal_, ii. (1880)
pp. 101-103; A. Kranz, _Natur- und Kulturleben der Zulus_
(Wiesbaden, 1880), p. 112; F. Speckmann, _Die Hermannsburger Mission
in Afrika_ (Hermannsburg, 1876), pp. 165-167; Dudley Kidd, _The
Essential Kafir_ (London, 1904), pp. 85-87; Henri A. Junod, _The
Life of a South African Tribe_ (Neuchatel, 1912-1913), ii. 358 _sq._

270 W. A. Elmslie, _Among the Wild Ngoni_ (London, 1899), pp. 71 _sq._

271 O. Baumann, _Usambara und seine Nachbargebiete_ (Berlin, 1891), pp.
141 _sq._

272 S. L. Hinde and H. Hinde, _The Last of the Masai_ (London, 1901),
pp. 101 _sq._; A. C. Hollis, _The Masai_ (Oxford, 1905), pp. 307
_sq._; Sir H. Johnston, _The Uganda Protectorate_ (London, 1904),
ii. 832.

273 M. W. H. Beech, _The Suk_ (Oxford, 1911), p. 20.

274 A. C. Hollis, _The Nandi_ (Oxford, 1909), p. 90.

275 H. R. Tate, “The Native Law of the Southern Gikuyu of British East
Africa,” _Journal of the African Society_, No. xxxv. April 1910, p.
243.

276 E. de Pruyssenaere, _Reisen und Forschungen im Gebiete des Weissen
und Blauen Nil_ (Gotha, 1877), p. 27 (_Petermann’s Mittheilungen,
Ergänzungsheft_, No. 50). Compare G. Schweinfurth, _The Heart of
Africa_3 (London, 1878), i. 55. Among the Bahima of Ankole dead
chiefs turn into serpents, but dead kings into lions. See J. Roscoe,
“The Bahima, a Cow Tribe of Enkole in the Uganda Protectorate,”
_Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xxxvii. (1907), pp. 101
_sq._; Major J. A. Meldon, “Notes on the Bahima of Ankole,” _Journal
of the African Society_, No. xxii. (January 1907), p. 151. Major
Leonard holds that the pythons worshipped in Southern Nigeria are
regarded as reincarnations of the dead; but this seems very
doubtful. See A. G. Leonard, _The Lower Niger and its Tribes_
(London, 1906), pp. 327 _sqq._ Pythons are worshipped by the
Ewe-speaking peoples of the Slave Coast, but apparently not from a
belief that the souls of the dead are lodged in them. See A. B.
Ellis, _The Ewe-speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast of West Africa_,
pp. 54 _sqq._

277 G. A. Shaw, “The Betsileo,” _The Antananarivo Annual and Madagascar
Magazine, Reprint of the First Four Numbers_ (Antananarivo, 1885),
p. 411; H. W. Little, _Madagascar, its History and People_ (London,
1884), pp. 86 _sq._; A. van Gennep, _Tabou et Totémisme à
Madagascar_ (Paris, 1904), pp. 272 _sqq._

278 “Religious Rites and Customs of the Iban or Dyaks of Sarawak,” by
Leo Nyuak, translated from the Dyak by the Very Rev. Edm. Dunn,
_Anthropos_, i. (1906) p. 182. As to the Sea Dyak reverence for
snakes and their belief that spirits (_antus_) are incarnate in the
reptiles, see further J. Perham, “Sea Dyak Religion,” _Journal of
the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society_, No. 10 (December,
1882), pp. 222-224; H. Ling Roth, _The Natives of Sarawak and
British North Borneo_ (London, 1896), i. 187 _sq._ But from this
latter account it does not appear that the spirits (_antus_) which
possess the snakes are supposed to be those of human ancestors.

279 George Brown, D.D., _Melanesians and Polynesians_ (London, 1910),
pp. 238 _sq._

M65 Serpents which are viewed as ancestors come to life are treated with
respect and often fed with milk.

280 Rev. E. Casalis, _The Basutos_ (London, 1861), p. 246. Compare A.
Kranz, _Natur- und Kulturleben der Zulus_ (Wiesbaden, 1880), p. 112.

281 A. C. Hollis, _The Masai_ (Oxford, 1905), p. 307.

282 A. C. Hollis, _The Nandi_ (Oxford, 1909), p. 90.

283 Mervyn W. H. Beech, _The Suk, their Language and Folklore_ (Oxford,
1911), p. 20.

284 H. R. Tate (District Commissioner, East Africa Protectorate), “The
Native Law of the Southern Gikuyu of British East Africa,” _Journal
of the African Society_, No. xxxv., April 1910, p. 243. See further
C. W. Hobley, “Further Researches into Kikuyu and Kamba Religious
Beliefs and Customs,” _Journal of the Royal Anthropological
Institute_, xli. (1911) p. 408. According to Mr. Hobley it is only
one particular sort of snake, called _nyamuyathi_, which is thought
to be the abode of a spirit and is treated with ceremonious respect
by the Akikuyu. Compare P. Cayzac, “La Religion des Kikuyu,”
_Anthropos_, v. (1910) p. 312; and for more evidence of milk offered
to serpents as embodiments of the dead see E. de Pruyssenaere and H.
W. Little, cited above, p. 83, notes 1 and 2.

285 Rev. J. Roscoe, _The Baganda_ (London, 1911), pp. 320 _sq._ My
friend Mr. Roscoe tells me that serpents are revered and fed with
milk by the Banyoro to the north of Uganda; but he cannot say
whether the creatures are supposed to be incarnations of the dead.
Some of the Gallas also regard serpents as sacred and offer milk to
them, but it is not said that they believe the reptiles to embody
the souls of the departed. See Rev. J. L. Krapf, _Travels,
Researches and Missionary Labours in Eastern Africa_ (London, 1860),
pp. 77 _sq._ The negroes of Whydah in Guinea likewise feed with milk
the serpents which they worship. See Thomas Astley’s _New General
Collection of Voyages and Travels_, iii. (London, 1746) p. 29.

M66 The Greeks and Romans seem to have shared the belief that the souls
of the dead can be reincarnated in serpents.

286 L. Preller, _Römische Mythologie_3 (Berlin, 1881-1883), ii. 196
_sq._; G. Wissowa, _Religion und Kultus der Römer_2 (Munich, 1912),
pp. 176 _sq._ The worship of the _genius_ was very popular in the
Roman Empire. See J. Toutain, _Les Cultes Païens dans l’Empire
Romain_, Première Partie, i. (Paris, 1907) pp. 439 _sqq._

287 Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ xxix. 72. Compare Seneca, _De Ira_, iv. 31. 6.

288 Apollodorus, _Bibliotheca_, iii. 5. 4; Hyginus, _Fab._ 6; Ovid,
_Metam._ iv. 563-603.

289 Plutarch, _Cleomenes_, 39.

290 Porphyry, _De vita Plotini_, p. 103, Didot edition (appended to the
lives of Diogenes Laertius).

291 Plutarch, _Cleomenes_, 39; Scholiast on Aristophanes, _Plutus_, 733.

292 Herodotus, viii. 41; Plutarch, _Themistocles_, 10; Aristophanes,
_Lysistra_, 758 _sq._, with the Scholium; Philostratus, _Imag._ ii.
17. 6. See further my note on Pausanias, i, 18, 2 (vol. ii. pp. 168
_sqq._).

293 Sophocles, _Electra_, 893 _sqq._; Euripides, _Orestes_, 112 _sqq._

_ 294 Mittheilungen des Deutsch. Archäo log. Institutes in Athen_, iv.
(1879) pl. viii. Compare _ib._ pp. 135 _sq._, 162 _sq._

295 Above, pp. 84 _sq._

296 E. de Pruyssenaere, _l.c._ (above, p. 83, note 1).

297 See C. O. Müller, _Denkmäler der alten Kunst_2 (Göttingen, 1854),
pl. lxi. with the corresponding text in vol. i. (where the eccentric
system of paging adopted renders references to it practically
useless). In these groups the female figure is commonly, and perhaps
correctly, interpreted as the Goddess of Health (Hygieia). It is to
be remembered that Hygieia was deemed a daughter of the serpent-god
Aesculapius (Pausanias i. 23. 4), and was constantly associated with
him in ritual and art. See, for example, Pausanias, i. 40. 6, ii. 4.
5, ii. 11. 6, ii. 23. 4, ii. 27. 6, iii. 22. 13, v. 20. 3, v. 26. 2,
vii. 23. 7, viii. 28. 1, viii. 31. 1, viii. 32. 4, viii. 47. 1. The
snake-entwined goddess whose image was found in a prehistoric shrine
at Gournia in Crete may have been a predecessor of the
serpent-feeding Hygieia. See R. M. Burrows, _The Discoveries in
Crete_ (London, 1907), pp. 137 _sq._ The snakes, which were the
regular symbol of the Furies, may have been originally nothing but
the emblems or rather embodiments of the dead; and the Furies
themselves may, like Aesculapius, have been developed out of the
reptiles, sloughing off their serpent skins through the
anthropomorphic tendency of Greek thought.

M67 The serpents fed at the Thesmophoria may have been deemed
incarnations of the dead. Reluctance to disturb the Earth Goddess or
the spirits of the earth by the operations of digging and ploughing.
Hence agricultural operations are sometimes forbidden.

298 Scholia on Lucian, _Dial. Meretr._ ii. (_Scholia in Lucianum_, ed.
H. Rabe, Leipsic, 1906, pp. 275 _sq._). As to the Thesmophoria, see
my article, “Thesmophoria,” _Encyclopaedia Britannica_,9 xxiii. 295
_sqq._; _Spirits of the Corn and of the Wild_, ii. 17 _sqq._

299 A. S. Gatschet, _The Klamath Indians of South-Western Oregon_
(Washington, 1890), p. xcii.

300 Washington Matthews, “Myths of Gestation and Parturition,” _American
Anthropologist_, New Series, iv. (New York, 1902) p. 738.

_ 301 Central Provinces, Ethnographic Survey_, iii. _Draft Articles on
Forest Tribes_ (Allahabad, 1907), p. 23.

302 J. J. M. de Groot, _The Religious System of China_, v. (Leyden,
1907) pp. 536 _sq._

303 W. Crooke, _Natives of Northern India_ (London, 1907), p. 232.

304 J. Spieth, _Die Ewe-Stämme_ (Berlin, 1906), p. 796.

305 J. E. Erskine, _Journal of a Cruise among the Islands of the Western
Pacific_ (London, 1853), pp. 245 _sq._

M68 Graves as places of conception for women.

306 Persons initiated into the mysteries of Sabazius had a serpent drawn
through the bosom of their robes, and the reptile was identified
with the god (ὁ διὰ κόλπου θέος, Clement of Alexandria, _Protrept._
ii. 16, p. 14, ed. Potter). This may be a trace of the belief that
women can be impregnated by serpents, though it does not appear that
the ceremony was performed only on women.

307 See above, p. 78. Among the South Slavs women go to graves to get
children. See below, p. 96.

308 S. I. Curtiss, _Primitive Semitic Religion To-day_, pp. 115 _sqq._

309 A. C. Kruijt, _Het Animisme in den Indischen Archipel_ (The Hague,
1906), P. 398.

M69 Reincarnation of the dead in America and Africa.

_ 310 Relations des Jésuites_, 1636, p. 130 (Canadian reprint, Quebec,
1858). A similar custom was practised for a similar reason by the
Musquakie Indians. See Miss Mary Alicia Owen, _Folk-lore of the
Musquakie Indians of North America_ (London, 1904), pp. 22 _sq._,
86. Some of the instances here given have been already cited by Mr.
J. E. King, who suggests, with much probability, that the special
modes of burial adopted for infants in various parts of the world
may often have been intended to ensure their rebirth. See J. E.
King, “Infant Burial,” _Classical Review_, xvii. (1903) pp. 83 _sq._
For a large collection of evidence as to the belief in the
reincarnation of the dead, see E. S. Hartland, _Primitive Paternity_
(London, 1909-1910), i. 156 _sqq._

311 Mary H. Kingsley, _Travels in West Africa_ (London, 1897), p. 478.