Chapter VII: Hyacinth (5)

579 Thucydides, v. 70. 1. The use of the music, Thucydides tells us, was
not to inspire the men, but to enable them to keep step, and so to
march in close order. Without music a long line of battle was apt to
straggle in advancing to the charge. As missiles were little used in
Greek warfare, there was no need to hurry the advance over the
intervening ground; so it was made deliberately and with the bands
playing. The air to which the Spartans charged was called Castor’s
tune. It was the king in person who gave the word for the flutes to
strike up. See Plutarch, _Lycurgus_, 22.

580 Xenophon, _Respublica Lacedaem_. xi. 3; Aristophanes, _Lysistrata_,
1140; Aristotle, cited by a scholiast on Aristophanes, _Acharn._
320; Plutarch, _Instituta Laconica_, 24. When a great earthquake had
destroyed the city of Sparta and the Messenians were in revolt, the
Spartans sent a messenger to Athens asking for help. Aristophanes
(_Lysistrata_, 1138 _sqq._) describes the man as if he had seen him,
sitting as a suppliant on the altar with his pale face and his red
coat.

581 I have assumed that the sun shone on the Spartans at Thermopylae.
For the battle was fought in the height of summer, when the Greek
sky is generally cloudless, and on that particular morning the
weather was very still. The evening before, the Persians had sent
round a body of troops by a difficult pass to take the Spartans in
the rear; day was breaking when they neared the summit, and the
first intimation of their approach which reached the ears of the
Phocian guards posted on the mountain was the loud crackling of
leaves under their feet in the oak forest. Moreover, the famous
Spartan saying about fighting in the shade of the Persian arrows,
which obscured the sun, points to bright, hot weather. It was at
high noon, and therefore probably in the full blaze of the mid-day
sun, that the last march-out took place. See Herodotus, vii.
215-226; and as to the date of the battle (about the time of the
Olympic games) see Herodotus, vii. 206, viii. 12 and 26; G. Busolt,
_Griechische Geschichte_, ii.2 (Gotha, 1895) p. 673, note 9.

M147 Modes of stopping an earthquake by informing the god or giant that
there are still men on the earth.

582 S. Müller, _Reizen en Onderzoekingen in den Indischen Archipel_
(Amsterdam, 1857), ii. 264 _sq._ Compare A. Bastian, _Indonesien_
(Berlin, 1884-1889), ii. 3. The beliefs and customs of the East
Indian peoples in regard to earthquakes have been described by G. A.
Wilken, _Het animisme bij de volken van den Indischen Archipel_,
Tweede Stuk (Leyden, 1885), pp. 247-254; _id._, _Verspreide
Geschriften_ (The Hague, 1912), iii. 274-281. Compare _id._,
_Handleiding voor de vergelijkende Volkenkunde van
Nederlandsch-Indië_ (Leyden, 1893), pp. 604 _sq._; and on primitive
conceptions of earthquakes in general, E. B. Tylor, _Primitive
Culture_2 (London, 1873), i. 364-366; R. Lasch, “Die Ursache und
Bedeutung der Erdbeben im Volksglauben und Volksbrauch,” _Archiv für
Religionswissenschaft_, v. (1902) pp. 236-257, 369-383.

583 Epiphanius, _Adversus Haereses_, ii. 2. 23 (Migne’s _Patrologia
Graeca_, xlii. 68).

584 H. N. van der Tuuk, “Notes on the Kawi Language and Literature,”
_Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society_, N.S. xiii. (1881) p. 50.

585 J. G. F. Riedel, _De sluik- en kroesharige rassen tusschen Selebes
en Papua_ (The Hague, 1886), p. 398; compare _id._ pp. 330, 428.

586 G. Bamler, “Tami,” in R. Neuhauss’s _Deutsch Neu-Guinea_, iii.
(Berlin, 1911) p. 492.

587 Mrs. Leslie Milne, _Shans at Home_ (London, 1910), p. 54.

588 De St. Cricq, “Voyage du Pérou au Brésil par les fleuves Ucayali et
Amazone, Indiens Conibos,” _Bulletin de la Société de Géographie_
(Paris), ive Série, vi. (1853) p. 292.

589 Miss Alice Werner, _The Natives of British Central Africa_ (London,
1906), p. 56.

590 Mgr. Lechaptois, _Aux Rives du Tanganika_ (Algiers, 1913), p. 217.

591 Rev. J. Roscoe, _The Baganda_ (London, 1911), pp. 313 _sq._

M148 Conduct of the Bataks during an earthquake.

592 W. Ködding, “Die batakschen Götter und ihr Verhältniss zum
Brahmanismus,” _Allgemeine Missions-Zeitschrift_, xii. (1885) p.
405.

593 G. A. Wilken, “Het Animisme bij de volken van den Indischen
Archipel,” _Verspreide Geschriften_, ii. 279; H. N. van der Tuuk,
_op. cit._ pp. 49 _sq._

M149 Various modes of prevailing upon the earthquake god to stop.

594 J. G. F. Riedel, “De Topantunuasu of oorspronkelijke Volkstammen van
Central Selebes,” _Bijdragen tot de Taal- Land- en Volkenkunde van
Nederlandsch-Indië_, xxxv. (1886) p. 95.

595 John Williams, _Narrative of Missionary Enterprises in the South Sea
Islands_ (London, 1838), p. 379.

596 G. Turner, _Samoa_ (London, 1884), p. 211; Ch. Wilkes, _Narrative of
the United States Exploring Expedition_, New Edition (New York,
1851), ii. 131.

597 A. Schadenburg, “Die Bewohner von Süd-Mindanao und der Insel Samal,”
_Zeitschrift für Ethnologie_, xvii. (1885) p. 32.

598 W. Mariner, _Account of the Natives of the Tonga Islands_, Second
Edition (London, 1818), ii. 112 _sq._

599 Sangermano, _Description of the Burmese Empire_ (Rangoon, 1885), p.
130.

600 P. A. Kleintitschen, _Die Küstenbewohner der Gazellehalbinsel_
(Hiltrup bei Münster, N.D.), p. 336.

601 A. Pinart, “Les Indiens de l’État de Panama,” _Revue
d’Ethnographie_, vi. (1887) p. 119.

602 E. J. Payne, _History of the New World called America_, i. (Oxford,
1892) p. 469.

603 A. B. Ellis, _The Tshi-speaking Peoples of the Gold Coast_ (London,
1887), pp. 35 _sq._

M150 Religious and moral effects of earthquakes.

604 J. Jackson, in J. E. Erskine’s _Journal of a Cruise among the
Islands of the Western Pacific_ (London, 1853), p. 473. My friend,
the late Mr. Lorimer Fison, wrote to me (December 15, 1906) that the
name of the Fijian earthquake god is Maui, not A Dage, as Jackson
says. Mr. Fison adds, “I have seen Fijians stamping and smiting the
ground and yelling at the top of their voices in order to rouse
him.”

605 J. T. Nieuwenhuisen en H. C. B. von Rosenberg, “Verslag omtrent het
eiland Nias,” _Verhandelingen van het Bataviaasch Genootschap van
Kunsten en Wetenschappen_, xxx. (Batavia, 1863) p. 118; Th. C.
Rappard, “Het eiland Nias en zijne bewoners,” _Bijdragen tot de
Taal- Land- en Volkenkunde van Nederlandsch-Indië_, lxii. (1909) p.
582. In Soerakarta, a district of Java, when an earthquake takes
place the people lie flat on their stomachs on the ground, and lick
it with their tongues so long as the earthquake lasts. This they do
in order that they may not lose their teeth prematurely. See J. W.
Winter, “Beknopte Beschrijving van het hof Soerokarta in 1824,”
_Bijdragen tot de Taal- Land- en Volkenkunde van
Nederlandsch-Indië_, liv. (1902) p. 85. The connexion of ideas in
this custom is not clear.

M151 The god of the sea and of the earthquake naturally conceived as one.

606 On this question see C. Neumann und J. Partsch, _Physikalische
Geographie von Griechenland_ (Breslau, 1885), pp. 332-336. As to the
frequency of earthquakes in Achaia and Asia Minor see Seneca,
_Epist._ xiv. 3. 9; and as to Achaia in particular see C. Neumann
und J. Partsch, _op. cit._ pp. 324-326. On the coast of Achaia there
was a chain of sanctuaries of Poseidon (L. Preller, _Griechische
Mythologie_, i.4 575).

607 See Sir Ch. Lyell, _Principles of Geology_,12 ii. 147 _sqq._; J.
Milne, _Earthquakes_ (London, 1886), pp. 165 _sqq._

608 See, for example, Thucydides, iii. 89.

609 Strabo, viii. 7. 1 _sq._, pp. 384 _sq._; Diodorus Siculus, xv. 49;
Aelian, _Nat. Anim._ xi. 19; Pausanias, vii. 24. 5 _sq._ and 12,
vii. 25. 1 and 4.

610 Diodorus Siculus, xv. 49. 4 _sq._ Among the most famous seats of the
worship of Poseidon in Peloponnese were Taenarum in Laconia, Helice
in Achaia, Mantinea in Arcadia, and the island of Calauria, off the
coast of Troezen. See Pausanias, ii. 33. 2, iii. 25. 4-8, vii. 24. 5
_sq._, viii. 10. 2-4. Laconia as well as Achaia has suffered much
from earthquakes, and it contained many sanctuaries of Poseidon. We
may suppose that the deity was worshipped here chiefly as the
earthquake god, since the rugged coasts of Laconia are ill adapted
to maritime enterprise, and the Lacedaemonians were never a
seafaring folk. See C. Neumann und J. Partsch, _Physikalische
Geographie von Griechenland_, pp. 330 _sq._, 335 _sq._ For Laconian
sanctuaries of Poseidon see Pausanias, iii. 11. 9, iii. 12. 5, iii.
14. 2 and 7, iii. 15. 10, iii. 20. 2, iii. 21. 5, iii. 25. 4.

M152 Poisonous mephitic vapours.

611 Sir Ch. Lyell, _Principles of Geology_,12 i. 391 _sqq._, 590.

612 “Extract from a Letter of Mr. Alexander Loudon,” _Journal of the
Royal Geographical Society_, ii. (1832) pp. 60-62; Sir Ch. Lyell,
_Principles of Geology_,12 i. 590.

613 Sir Ch. Lyell, _l.c._

M153 Places of Pluto or Charon. The valley of Amsanctus.

614 Lucretius, vi. 738 _sqq._

615 Strabo, v. 4. 5, p. 244, xii. 8. 17, p. 579, xiii. 4. 14, p. 629,
xiv. 1. 11 and 44, pp. 636, 649; Cicero, _De divinatione_, i. 36.
79; Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ ii. 208. Compare [Aristotle,] _De mundo_, 4,
p. 395 B, ed. Bekker.

616 Servius on Virgil, _Aen._ vii. 84, who says that some people looked
on Mefitis as a god, the male partner of Leucothoë, to whom he stood
as Adonis to Venus or as Virbius to Diana. As to Mefitis see L.
Preller, _Römische Mythologie_3 (Berlin, 1881-1883), ii. 144 _sq._;
R. Peter, _s.v._ “Mefitis” in W. H. Roscher’s _Lexikon der griech.
und röm. Mythologie_, ii. 2519 _sqq._

617 Virgil, _Aen._ vii. 563-571, with the commentary of Servius; Cicero,
_De divinatione_, i. 36. 79; Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ ii. 208.

618 Letter of Mr. Hamilton (British Envoy at the Court of Naples), in
_Journal of the Royal Geographical Society_, ii. (1832) pp. 62-65;
W. Smith’s _Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography_, i. 127; H.
Nissen, _Italische Landeskunde_ (Berlin, 1883-1902), i. 242, 271,
ii. 819 _sq._ Another place in Italy infested by poisonous
exhalations is the grotto called _dei cani_ at Naples. It is
described by Addison in his “Remarks on Several Parts of Italy”
(_Works_, London, 1811, vol. ii. pp. 89-91).

M154 Sanctuaries of Charon or Pluto in Caria.

619 Strabo, xiv. 1. 11, p. 636.

620 Strabo, xiv. 1. 44, pp. 649 _sq._ A coin of Nysa shows the bull
carried to the sacrifice by six naked youths and preceded by a naked
flute-player. See B. V. Head, _Catalogue of the Greek Coins of
Lydia_, pp. lxxxiii. 181, pl. xx. 10. Strabo was familiar with this
neighbourhood, for he tells us (xiv. 1. 48, p. 650) that in his
youth he studied at Nysa under the philosopher Aristodemus.

M155 Sanctuary of Pluto at the Lydian or Phrygian Hierapolis.

621 Some of the ancients assigned Hierapolis to Lydia, and others to
Phrygia (W. M. Ramsay, _Cities and Bishoprics of Phrygia_, i.
(Oxford, 1895) pp. 84 _sq._

622 Strabo, xiii. 4. 14, pp. 629 _sq._; Dio Cassius, lxviii. 27. 3;
Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ ii. 208; Ammianus Marcellinus, xxiii. 6. 18.

M156 The hot springs and petrified cascades of Hierapolis.

623 Ammianus Marcellinus (_l.c._) speaks as if the cave no longer
existed in his time.

M157 The hot pool of Hierapolis with its deadly exhalations. M158 Deposits left by the waters of Hierapolis.

624 Strabo, xiii. 4. 14, pp. 629, 630; Vitruvius, viii. 3. 10. For
modern descriptions of Hierapolis see R. Chandler, _Travels in Asia
Minor_2 (London, 1776), pp. 228-235; Ch. Fellows, _Journal written
during an Excursion in Asia Minor_ (London, 1839), pp. 283-285; W.
J. Hamilton, _Researches in Asia Minor, Pontus, and Armenia_, i.
517-521; E. Renan, _Saint Paul_, pp. 357 _sq._; E. J. Davis,
_Anatolica_ (London, 1874), pp. 97-112; É. Reclus, _Nouvelle
Géographie Universelle_, ix. 510-512; W. Cochran, _Pen and Pencil
Sketches in Asia Minor_ (London, 1887), pp. 387-390; W. M. Ramsay,
_Cities and Bishoprics of Phrygia_, i. 84 _sqq._ The temperature of
the hot pool varies from 85 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit. The volcanic
district of Tuscany which skirts the Apennines abounds in hot
calcareous springs which have produced phenomena like those of
Hierapolis. Indeed the whole ground is in some places coated over
with tufa and travertine, which have been deposited by the water,
and, like the ground at Hierapolis, it sounds hollow under the foot.
See Sir Ch. Lyell, _Principles of Geology_,12 i. 397 _sqq._ As to
the terraces of Rotomahana in New Zealand, which were destroyed by
an eruption of Mount Taravera in 1886, see R. Taylor, _Te Ika A
Maui, or New Zealand and its Inhabitants_2 (London, 1870), pp.
464-469.

M159 Hercules the patron of hot springs.

625 Athenaeus, xii. 6. p. 512.

626 Aristophanes, _Clouds_, 1044-1054.

627 Scholiast on Aristophanes, _Clouds_, 1050; Scholiast on Pindar,
_Olymp._ xii. 25; Suidas and Hesychius, _s.v._ Ἡράκλεια λουτρά;
Apostolius, viii. 66; Zenobius, vi. 49; Diogenianus, v. 7; Plutarch,
_Proverbia Alexandrinorum_, 21; Diodorus Siculus, iv. 23. 1, v. 3.
4. Another story was that Hercules, like Moses, produced the water
by smiting the rock with his club (Antoninus Liberalis, _Transform._
4).

628 Apostolius, viii. 68; Zenobius, vi. 49; Diogenianus, v. 7; Plutarch,
_Proverbia Alexandrinorum_, 21.

629 Lucian, _Dialogi Deorum_, 13.

M160 Hot springs of Hercules at Thermopylae.

630 Strabo, ix. 4. 13, p. 428.

631 Herodotus, vii. 176; Pausanias, iv. 35. 9; Philostratus, _Vit.
Sophist._ ii. 1. 9.

632 Scholiast on Aristophanes, _Clouds_, 1050.

633 I have described Thermopylae as I saw it in November 1895. Compare
W. M. Leake, _Travels in Northern Greece_ (London, 1835), ii. 33
_sqq._; E. Dodwell, _Classical and Topographical Tour through
Greece_ (London, 1819), ii. 66 _sqq._; K. G. Fiedler, _Reise durch
alle Theile des Königreichs Griechenland_ (Leipsic, 1840-1841), i.
207 _sqq._; L. Ross, _Wanderungen in Griechenland_ (Halle, 1851), i.
90 _sqq._; C. Bursian, _Geographie von Griechenland_ (Leipsic,
1862-1872), i. 92 _sqq._

M161 Hot springs of Hercules at Aedepsus.

634 Thucydides, iii. 87 and 89; Strabo, i. 3. 20, pp. 60 _sq._; C.
Neumann und J. Partsch, _Physikalische Geographie von Griechenland_,
pp. 321-323.

635 Aristotle, _Meteora_, ii. 8, p. 366 A, ed. Bekker; Strabo, ix. 4. 2,
p. 425. Aristotle expressly recognized the connexion of the springs
with earthquakes, which he tells us were very common in this
district. As to the earthquakes of Euboea see also Thucydides, iii.
87, 89; Strabo, i. 3. 16 and 20, pp. 58, 60 _sq._

636 Plutarch, _Sulla_, 26.

637 Plutarch, _Quaest. Conviviales_, iv. 4. 1; _id._, _De fraterno
Amore_, 17.

638 As to the hot springs of Aedepsus (the modern _Lipso_) see K. G.
Fiedler, _Reise durch alle Theile des Königreichs Griechenland_, i.
487-492; H. N. Ulrichs, _Reisen und Forschungen in Griechenland_
(Bremen, 1840—Berlin, 1863), ii. 233-235; C. Bursian, _Geographie
von Griechenland_, ii. 409; C. Neumann und J. Partsch,
_Physikalische Geographie von Griechenland_, pp. 342-344.

639 Strabo, i. 3. 20, p. 60.

640 Athenaeus, iii. 4, p. 73 E, D.

M162 Reasons for the association of Hercules with hot springs.

641 The hot springs of Himera (the modern _Termini_) were said to have
been produced for the refreshment of the weary Hercules. See
Diodorus Siculus, iv. 23. 1, v. 3. 4; Scholiast on Pindar, _Olymp._
xii. 25. The hero is said to have taught the Syracusans to sacrifice
a bull annually to Persephone at the Blue Spring (_Cyane_) near
Syracuse; the beasts were drowned in the water of the pool. See
Diodorus Siculus, iv. 23. 4, v. 4. 1 _sq._ As to the spring, which
is now thickly surrounded by tall papyrus-plants introduced by the
Arabs, see K. Baedeker, _Southern Italy_7 (Leipsic, 1880), pp. 356,
357.

642 The splendid baths of Allifae in Samnium, of which there are
considerable remains, were sacred to Hercules. See G. Wilmanns,
_Exempla Inscriptionum Latinarum_ (Berlin, 1873), vol. i. p. 227,
No. 735 C; H. Nissen, _Italische Landeskunde_, ii. 798. It is
characteristic of the volcanic nature of the springs that the same
inscription which mentions these baths of Hercules records their
destruction by an earthquake.

643 H. Dessau, _Inscriptiones Latinae Selectae_, vol. ii. Pars i.
(Berlin, 1902) p. 113, No. 3891.

644 Speaking of thermal springs Lyell observes that the description of
them “might almost with equal propriety have been given under the
head of ‘igneous causes,’ as they are agents of a mixed nature,
being at once igneous and aqueous” (_Principles of Geology_,12 i.
392).

645 See above, p. 194.

M163 The hot springs of Callirrhoe in Moab.

646 S. I. Curtiss, _Primitive Semitic Religion To-day_ (Chicago, New
York, and Toronto, 1902), pp. 116 _sq._; Mrs. H. H. Spoer, “The
Powers of Evil in Jerusalem,” _Folk-lore_, xviii. (1907) p. 55. See
above, p. 78.

647 Josephus, _Antiquit. Jud._ xvii. 6. 5. The medical properties of the
spring are mentioned by Pliny (_Nat. Hist._ v. 72).

648 C. L. Irby and J. Mangles, _Travels in Egypt and Nubia, Syria and
the Holy Land_ (London, 1844), pp. 144 _sq._; W. Smith, _Dictionary
of Greek and Roman Geography_ (London, 1873), i. 482, _s.v._
“Callirrhoë”; K. Baedeker, _Syria and Palestine_4 (Leipsic, 1906),
p. 148; H. B. Tristram, _The Land of Moab_ (London, 1873), pp.
233-250, 285 _sqq._; Jacob E. Spafford, “Around the Dead Sea by
Motor Boat,” _The Geographical Journal_, xxxix. (1912) pp. 39 _sq._
The river formed by the springs is now called the Zerka.

M164 Prayers and sacrifices offered to the hot springs of Callirrhoe.

649 Antonin Jaussen, _Coutumes des Arabes au pays de Moab_ (Paris,
1908), pp. 359 _sq._ The Arabs think that the evil spirits let the
hot water out of hell, lest its healing properties should assuage
the pains of the damned. See H. B. Tristram, _The Land of Moab_
(London, 1873), p. 247.

M165 Worship of volcanic phenomena in other lands. M166 The great volcano of Kirauea in Hawaii.

650 W. Ellis, _Polynesian Researches_, Second Edition (London,
1832-1836), iv. 235 _sqq._ Mr. Ellis was the first European to visit
and describe the tremendous volcano. His visit was paid in the year
1823. Compare _The Encyclopaedia Britannica_,9 xi. 531.

651 W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 246 _sq._

M167 The divinities of the volcano. Offerings to the volcano. Priestess
impersonating the goddess of the volcano.

652 W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 248-250.

653 W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 207, 234-236. The berries resemble currants
in shape and size and grow on low bushes. “The branches small and
clear, leaves alternate, obtuse with a point, and serrated; the
flower was monopetalous, and, on being examined, determined the
plant to belong to the class _decandria_ and order _monogynia_. The
native name of the plant is _ohelo_” (W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 234).

654 W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 263.

655 W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 350.

656 W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 309-311.

657 W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iv. 361.

M168 Sacrifices to volcanoes. Human victims thrown into volcanoes. Annual
sacrifices to the volcano Bromo in Java.

658 Fernandez de Oviedo y Valdés, _Historia General y Natural de las
Indias_ (Madrid, 1851-1855), iv. 74.

659 A. C. Kruijt, _Het Animisme in den Indischen Archipel_ (The Hague,
1906), pp. 497 _sq._

660 W. B. d’Almeida, _Life in Java_ (London, 1864), i. 166-173.

661 J. H. F. Kohlbrugge, “Die Tĕnggĕresen, ein alter Javanischer
Volksstamm,” _Bijdragentot de Taal- Land- en Volkenkunde van
Nederlandsch-Indië_, liii. (1901) pp. 84, 144-147.

662 J. H. F. Kohlbrugge, _op. cit._ pp. 100 _sq._

M169 Other sacrifices to volcanoes.

663 I. A. Stigand, “The Volcano of Smeroe, Java,” _The Geographical
Journal_, xxviii. (1906) pp. 621, 624.

664 Pausanias, iii. 23. 9. Some have thought that Pausanias confused the
crater of Etna with the _Lago di Naftia_, a pool near Palagonia in
the interior of Sicily, of which the water, impregnated with naphtha
and sulphur, is thrown into violent ebullition by jets of volcanic
gas. See [Aristotle,] _Mirab. Auscult._ 57; Macrobius, _Saturn._ v.
19. 26 _sqq._; Diodorus Siculus, xi. 89; Stephanus Byzantius, _s.v._
Παλική; E. H. Bunbury, _s.v._ “Palicorum Iacus,” in W. Smith’s
_Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography_, ii. 533 _sq._ The author
of the ancient Latin poem _Aetna_ says (vv. 340 _sq._) that people
offered incense to the celestial deities on the top of Etna.

M170 No evidence that the Asiatic custom of burning kings or gods was
connected with volcanic phenomena.

665 See above, pp. 190 _sq._

666 On Mount Chimaera in Lycia a flame burned perpetually which neither
earth nor water could extinguish. See Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ ii. 236,
v. 100; Servius on Virgil, _Aen._ vi. 288; Seneca, _Epist._ x. 3. 3;
Diodorus, quoted by Photius, _Bibliotheca_, p. 212 B, 10 _sqq._, ed.
Im. Bekker (Berlin, 1824). This perpetual flame was rediscovered by
Captain Beaufort near Porto Genovese on the coast of Lycia. It
issues from the side of a hill of crumbly serpentine rock, giving
out an intense heat, but no smoke. “Trees, brushwood, and weeds grow
close round this little crater, a small stream trickles down the
hill hard bye, and the ground does not appear to feel the effect of
its heat at more than a few feet distance.” The fire is not
accompanied by earthquakes or noises; it ejects no stones and emits
no noxious vapours. There is nothing but a brilliant and perpetual
flame, at which the shepherds often cook their food. See Fr.
Beaufort, _Karmania_ (London, 1817), p. 46; compare T. A. B. Spratt
and E. Forbes, _Travels in Lycia_ (London, 1847), ii. 181 _sq._

667 In the foregoing discussion I have confined myself, so far as
concerns Asia, to the volcanic regions of Cappadocia, Lydia, and
Caria. But Syria and Palestine, the home of Adonis and Melcarth,
“abound in volcanic appearances, and very extensive areas have been
shaken, at different periods, with great destruction of cities and
loss of lives. Continual mention is made in history of the ravages
committed by earthquakes in Sidon, Tyre, Berytus, Laodicea, and
Antioch, and in the island of Cyprus. The country around the Dead
Sea exhibits in some spots layers of sulphur and bitumen, forming a
superficial deposit, supposed by Mr. Tristram to be of volcanic
origin” (Sir Ch. Lyell, _Principles of Geology_,12 i. 592 _sq._). As
to the earthquakes of Syria and Phoenicia see Strabo, i. 3. 16, p.
58; Lucretius, vi. 585; Josephus, _Antiquit. Jud._ xv. 5. 2; _id._,
_Bell. Jud._ i. 19. 3; W. M. Thomson, _The Land and the Book,
Central Palestine and Phoenicia_, pp. 568-574; Ed. Robinson,
_Biblical Researches in Palestine_,3 ii. 422-424; S. R. Driver, on
Amos iv. 11 (Cambridge _Bible for Schools and Colleges_). It is said
that in the reign of the Emperor Justin the city of Antioch was
totally destroyed by a dreadful earthquake, in which three hundred
thousand people perished (Procopius, _De Bello Persico_, ii. 14).
The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis xix. 24-28) has been
plausibly explained as the effect of an earthquake liberating large
quantities of petroleum and inflammable gases. See H. B. Tristram,
_The Land of Israel_, Fourth Edition (London, 1882), pp. 350-354; S.
R. Driver, _The Book of Genesis_4 (London, 1905), pp. 202 _sq._

M171 Results of the preceding inquiry. M172 Our knowledge of the rites of Adonis derived chiefly from Greek writers. M173 Festivals of the death and resurrection of Adonis. The festival at Alexandria. The festival at Byblus.

668 Plutarch, _Alcibiades_, 18; _id._, _Nicias_, 13; Zenobius, _Centur._
i. 49; Theocritus, xv. 132 _sqq._; Eustathius on Homer, _Od._ xi.
590.

669 Besides Lucian (cited below) see Origen, _Selecta in Ezechielem_
(Migne’s _Patrologia Graeca_, xiii. 800), δοκοῦσι γὰρ κατ᾽ ἐνιαυτὸν
τελετάς τινας ποιεῖν πρῶτον μὲν ὅτι θρηνοῦσιν αὐτὸν [scil. Ἄδωνιν]
ὡς τεθνηκότα, δεύτερον δὲ ὅτι χαίρουσιν ἐπ᾽ αὐτῷ ὡς ἀπὸ νεκρῶν
ἀναστάντι. Jerome, _Commentar. in Ezechielem_, viii. 13, 14 (Migne’s
_Patrologia Latina_, xxv. 82, 83): “_Quem nos_ Adonidem
_interpretati sumus, et Hebraeus et Syrus sermo_ THAMUZ (תמוז)
_vocat: unde quia juxta gentilem fabulam, in mense Junis amasius
Veneris et pulcherrimus juvenis occisus, et deinceps revixisse
narratur, eundem Junium mensem eodem appellant nomine, et
anniversariam ei celebrant solemnitatem, in qua plangitur a
mulieribus quasi mortuus, et postea reviviscens canitur atque
laudatur ... interfectionem et resurrectionem Adonidis planctu et
gaudio prosequens._” Cyril of Alexandria, _In Isaiam_, lib. ii.
tomus iii. (Migne’s _Patrologia Graeca_, lxx. 441), ἐπλάττοντο
τοίνυν Ἔλληνες ἑορτὴν ἐπὶ τούτῳ τοιαύτην. Προσεποιοῦντο μὲν γὰρ
λυπουμένῃ τῇ Ἀφροδίτῃ, διὰ τὸ τεθνάναι τὸν Ἄδωνιν, συνολοφύρεσθαι
καὶ θρηνεῖν; ἀνελθούσης δὲ ἐξ ᾅδου, καὶ μὴν καὶ ηὐρῆσθαι λεγούσης
τὸν ζητούμενον, συνήδεσθαι καὶ ἀνασκιρτᾶν; καὶ μεχρὶ τῶν καθ᾽ ἡμᾶς
καιρῶν ἐν τοῖς κατ᾽ Ἀλεξάνδρειαν ἱεροῖς ἐτελεῖτο τὸ παίγνιον τοῦτο.
From this testimony of Cyril we learn that the festival of the death
and resurrection of Adonis was celebrated at Alexandria down to his
time, that is, down to the fourth or even the fifth century, long
after the official establishment of Christianity.

670 Theocritus, xv.

671 W. Mannhardt, _Antike Wald- und Feldkulte_ (Berlin, 1877), p. 277.

672 Lucian, _De dea Syria_, 6. See above, p. 38. The flutes used by the
Phoenicians in the lament for Adonis are mentioned by Athenaeus (iv.
76, p. 174 F), and by Pollux (iv. 76), who say that the same name
_gingras_ was applied by the Phoenicians both to the flute and to
Adonis himself. Compare F. C. Movers, _Die Phoenizier_, i. 243 _sq._
We have seen that flutes were also played in the Babylonian rites of
Tammuz (above, p. 9). Lucian’s words, ἐς τὸν ἠέρα πέμπουσι, imply
that the ascension of the god was supposed to take place in the
presence, if not before the eyes, of the worshipping crowds. The
devotion of Byblus to Adonis is noticed also by Strabo (xvi. 2. 18,
p. 755).

M174 Date of the festival at Byblus. The anemone and the red rose the
flowers of Adonis. Festivals of Adonis at Athens and Antioch.

673 Lucian, _De dea Syria_, 8. The discoloration of the river and the
sea was observed by H. Maundrell on 17/27 March 1696/1697. See his
_Journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem, at Easter, __A.D.__ 1697_, Fourth
Edition (Perth, 1800), pp. 59 _sq._; _id._, in Bohn’s _Early Travels
in Palestine_, edited by Thomas Wright (London, 1848), pp. 411 _sq._
Renan remarked the discoloration at the beginning of February
(_Mission de Phénicie_, p. 283). In his well-known lines on the
subject Milton has laid the mourning in summer:—

“_Thammuz came next behind,_
_ Whose annual wound in Lebanon allur’d_
_ The Syrian damsels to lament his fate_
_ In amorous ditties all a summer’s day._”

674 Ovid, _Metam._ x. 735; Servius on Virgil, _Aen._ v. 72; J. Tzetzes,
_Schol. on Lycophron_, 831. Bion, on the other hand, represents the
anemone as sprung from the tears of Aphrodite (_Idyl._ i. 66).

675 W. Robertson Smith, “Ctesias and the Semiramis Legend,” _English
Historical Review_, ii. (1887) p. 307, following Lagarde. Compare W.
W. Graf Baudissin, _Adonis und Esmun_, pp. 88 _sq._

676 J. Tzetzes, _Schol. on Lycophron_, 831; _Geoponica_, xi. 17;
_Mythographi Graeci_, ed. A. Westermann, p. 359. Compare Bion,
_Idyl._ i. 66; Pausanias, vi. 24. 7; Philostratus, _Epist._ i. and
iii.

677 Plutarch, _Alcibiades_, 18; _id._, _Nicias_, 13. The date of the
sailing of the fleet is given by Thucydides (vi. 30, θέρους
μεσοῦντος ἤδη), who, with his habitual contempt for the superstition
of his countrymen, disdains to notice the coincidence. Adonis was
also bewailed by the Argive women (Pausanias, ii. 20. 6), but we do
not know at what season of the year the lamentation took place.
Inscriptions prove that processions in honour of Adonis were held in
the Piraeus, and that a society of his worshippers existed at Loryma
in Caria. See G. Dittenberger, _Sylloge Inscriptionum Graecarum_,2
Nos. 726, 741 (vol. ii. pp. 564, 604).

678 Ammianus Marcellinus, xxii. 9. 15.

M175 Resemblance of these rites to Indian and European ceremonies. The
death and resurrection of Adonis a mythical expression for the
annual decay and revival of plant life. Adonis sometimes taken for
the sun.

_ 679 The Dying God_, pp. 261-266.

680 In the Alexandrian ceremony, however, it appears to have been the
image of Adonis only which was thrown into the sea.

681 Apollodorus, _Bibliotheca_, iii. 14. 4; Scholiast on Theocritus, i.
109; Antoninus Liberalis, _Transform._ 34; J. Tzetzes, _Scholia on
Lycophron_, 829; Ovid, _Metamorph._ x. 489 _sqq._; Servius on
Virgil, _Aen._ v. 72, and on _Bucol._ x. 18; Hyginus, _Fab._ 58,
164; Fulgentius, iii. 8. The word Myrrha or Smyrna is borrowed from
the Phoenician (Liddell and Scott, _Greek Lexicon_, _s.v._ σμύρνα).
Hence the mother’s name, as well as the son’s, was taken directly
from the Semites.

682 W. Mannhardt, _Antike Wald- und Feldkulte_, p. 383, note 2.

683 Above, p. 9.

684 Jeremiah xliv. 17-19.

685 Scholiast on Theocritus, iii. 48; Hyginus, _Astronom._ ii. 7;
Lucian, _Dialog. deor._ xi. 1; Cornutus, _Theologiae Graecae
Compendium_, 28, p. 54, ed. C. Lang (Leipsic, 1881); Apollodorus,
_Bibliotheca_, iii. 14. 4.

686 The arguments which tell against the solar interpretation of Adonis
are stated more fully by the learned and candid scholar Graf
Baudissin (_Adonis und Esmun_, pp. 169 _sqq._), who himself formerly
accepted the solar theory but afterwards rightly rejected it in
favour of the view “_dass Adonis die Frühlingsvegetation darstellt,
die im Sommer abstirbt_” (_op. cit._ p. 169).

687 Bailly, _Lettres sur l’Origine des Sciences_ (London and Paris,
1777), pp. 255 _sq._; _id._, _Lettres sur l’Atlantide de Platon_
(London and Paris, 1779), pp. 114-125. Carlyle has described how
through the sleety drizzle of a dreary November day poor innocent
Bailly was dragged to the scaffold amid the howls and curses of the
Parisian mob (_French Revolution_, bk. v. ch. 2). My friend the late
Professor C. Bendall showed me a book by a Hindoo gentleman in which
it is seriously maintained that the primitive home of the Aryans was
within the Arctic regions. See Bâl Gangâdhar Tilak, _The Arctic Home
in the Vedas_ (Poona and Bombay, 1903).

688 Cornutus, _Theologiae Graecae Compendium_, 28, pp. 54 _sq._, ed. C.
Lang (Leipsic, 1881), τοιοῦτον γάρ τι καὶ παρ᾽ Αἰγυπτίοις ὁ
ζητούμενος καὶ ἀνευρισκόμενος ὑπὸ τῆς Ἴσιδος Ὄσιρις ἐμφαίνει καὶ
παρὰ Φοίνιξιν ὁ ἀνὰ μέρος παρ᾽ ἔξ μῆνας ὑπὲρ γῆν τε καὶ ὑπὸ γῆν
γινόμενος Ἄδωνις, ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀδεῖν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις οὔτως ὠνομασμένου τοῦ
Δημητριακοῦ καρποῦ. τοῦτον δὲ πλήξας κάπρος ἀνελεῖν λέγεται διὰ τὸ
τὰς ὗς δοκεῖν ληιβότειρας εἶναι ἢ τὸν τῆς ὕνεως ὀδόντα αἰνιττομένων
αὐτῶν, ὑφ᾽ οὖ κατὰ γῆς κρύπτεται τὸ σπέρμα. Scholiast on Theocritus,
iii. 48, ὁ Ἄδωνις, ἤγουν ὁ σῖτος ὁ σπειρόμενος, ἔξ μῆνας ἐν τῇ γῇ
ποιεῖ ἀπο τῆς σπορᾶς καὶ ἔξ μῆνας ἔχει αὐτὸν ἡ Ἀφροδίτη, τουτέστιν ἡ
εὐκρασία τοῦ ἀέρος. καὶ ἐκτότε λαμβάνουσιν αὐτὸν οἱ ἄνθρωποι.
Origen, _Selecta in Ezechielem_ (Migne’s _Patrologia Graeca_, xiii.
800), οἱ δὲ περὶ τὴν ἀναγωγὴν τῶν Ἑλληνικῶν μύθων δεινοὶ καὶ μυθικῆς
νομιζομένης θεολογίας, φασί τὸν Ἄδωνιν σύμβολον εἶναι τῶν τῆς γῆς
καρπῶν, θρηνουμένων μὲν ὅτε σπείρονται, ἀνισταμένων δέ, καὶ διὰ
τοῦτο χαίρειν ποιούντων τοὺς γεωργοὺς ὅτε φύονται. Jerome,
_Commentar. in Ezechielem_, viii. 13, 14 (Migne’s _Patrologia
Latina_, xxv. 83), “_Eadem gentilitas hujuscemodi fabulas poetarum,
quae habent turpitudinem, interpretatur subtiliter, interfectionem
et resurrectionem Adonidis planctu et gaudio prosequens: quorum
alterum in seminibus, quae moriuntur in terra, alterum in segetibus,
quibus mortua semina renascuntur, ostendi putat._” Ammianus
Marcellinus, xix. 1. 11, “_in sollemnibus Adonidis sacris, quod
simulacrum aliquod esse frugum adultarum religiones mysticae
docent_.” _Id._ xxii. 9. 15, “_amato Veneris, ut fabulae fingunt,
apri dente ferali deleto, quod in adulto flore sectarum est indicium
frugum_.” Clement of Alexandria, _Hom._ 6. 11 (quoted by W.
Mannhardt, _Antique Wald- und Feldkulte_, p. 281), λαμβάνουσι δὲ καὶ
Ἄδωνιν εἰς ὡραίους καρπούς. _Etymologieum Magnum_ _s.v._ Ἄδωνις
κύριον; δύναται καὶ ὁ καρπὸς εἶναι ἄδωνις; οἶον ἀδώνειος καρπός,
ἀρέσκων. Eusebius, _Praepar. Evang._ iii. II. 9, Ἄδωνις τῆς τῶν
τελείων καρπῶν ἐκτομῆς σύμβολον. Sallustius philosophus, “De diis et
mundo,” iv. _Fragmenta Philosophorum Graecorum_, ed. F. G. A.
Mullach, iii. 32, οἱ Αἰγύπτιοι ... αὐτὰ τὰ σώματα θεοὺς νομίσαντες
... Ἴσιν μὲν τὴν γῆν ... Ἄδωνιν δὲ καρπούς. Joannes Lydus, _De
mensibus_, iv. 4, τῷ Ἀδώνιδι, τουτέστι τῷ Μαΐῳ ... ἢ ὡς ἄλλοις,
δοκεῖ, Ἄδωνις μέν ἐστιν ὁ καρπός, κτλ. The view that Tammuz or
Adonis is a personification of the dying and reviving vegetation is
now accepted by many scholars. See P. Jensen, _Kosmologie der
Babylonier_ (Strasburg, 1890), p. 480; _id._,
_Assyrisch-babylonische Mythen und Epen_, pp. 411, 560; H. Zimmern,
in E. Schrader’s _Keilinschriften und das Alte Testament_,3 p. 397;
A. Jeremias, _s.v._ “Nergal,” in W. H. Roscher’s _Lexikon der
griech. und röm. Mythologie_, iii. 265; R. Wünsch, _Das
Frühlingsfest der Insel Malta_ (Leipsic, 1902), p. 21; M. J.
Lagrange, _Études sur les Religions Sémitiques_,2 pp. 306 _sqq._; W.
W. Graf Baudissin, “Tammuz,” _Realencyclopädie für protestantische
Theologie und Kirchengeschichte_; _id._, _Esmun und Adonis_, pp. 81,
141, 169, etc.; and Ed. Meyer, _Geschichte des Altertums_,2 i. 2.
pp. 394, 427. Prof. Jastrow regards Tammuz as a god both of the sun
and of vegetation (_Religion of Babylonia and Assyria_, pp. 547,
564, 574, 588). But such a combination of disparate qualities seems
artificial and unlikely.

M176 Tammuz or Adonis as a corn-spirit bruised and ground in a mill.

689 D. Chwolsohn, _Die Ssabier und der Ssabismus_ (St. Petersburg,
1856), ii. 27; _id._, _Ueber Tammûz und die Menschenverehrung bei
den alten Babylioniern_ (St. Petersburg, 1860), p. 38. Compare W. W.
Graf Baudissin, _Adonis und Esmun_, pp. 111 _sqq._

M177 The mourning for Adonis interpreted as a harvest rite.

690 M. J. Lagrange, _Études sur les Religions Sémitiques_2 (Paris,
1905), pp. 307 _sq._

691 Hence Philo of Alexandria dates the corn-reaping in the middle of
spring (Μεσοῦντος δὲ ἔαρος ἄμητος ἐνίσταται, _De special. legibus_,
i. 183, vol. v. p. 44, ed. L. Cohn). On this subject Professor W. M.
Flinders Petrie writes to me: “The Coptic calendar puts on April 2
beginning of wheat harvest in Upper Egypt, May 2 wheat harvest,
Lower Egypt. Barley is two or three weeks earlier than wheat in
Palestine, but probably less in Egypt. The Palestine harvest is
about the time of that in North Egypt.” With regard to Palestine we
are told that “the harvest begins with the barley in April; in the
valley of the Jordan it begins at the end of March. Between the end
of the barley harvest and the beginning of the wheat harvest an
interval of two or three weeks elapses. Thus as a rule the business
of harvest lasts about seven weeks” (J. Benzinger, _Hebräische
Archäologie_, Freiburg i. B. and Leipsic, 1894, p. 209). “The
principal grain crops of Palestine are barley, wheat, lentils,
maize, and millet. Of the latter there is very little, and it is all
gathered in by the end of May. The maize is then only just beginning
to shoot. In the hotter parts of the Jordan valley the barley
harvest is over by the end of March, and throughout the country the
wheat harvest is at its height at the end of May, excepting in the
highlands of Galilee, where it is about a fortnight later” (H. B.
Tristram, _The Land of Israel_, Fourth Edition, London, 1882, pp.
583 _sq._). As to Greece, Professor E. A. Gardner tells me that
harvest is from April to May in the plains and about a month later
in the mountains. He adds that “barley may, then, be assigned to the
latter part of April, wheat to May in the lower ground, but you know
the great difference of climate between different parts; there is
the same difference of a month in the vintage.” Mrs. Hawes (Miss
Boyd), who excavated at Gournia, tells me that in Crete the barley
is cut in April and the beginning of May, and that the wheat is cut
and threshed from about the twentieth of June, though the dates
naturally vary somewhat with the height of the place above the sea.
June is also the season when the wheat is threshed in Euboea (R. A.
Arnold, _From the Levant_, London, 1868, i. 250). Thus it seems
possible that the spring festival of Adonis coincided with the
cutting of the first barley in March, and his summer festival with
the threshing of the last wheat in June. Father Lagrange (_op. cit._
pp. 305 _sq._) argues that the rites of Adonis were always
celebrated in summer at the solstice of June or soon afterwards.
Baudissin also holds that the summer celebration is the only one
which is clearly attested, and that if there was a celebration in
spring it must have had a different signification than the death of
the god. See his _Adonis und Esmun_, pp. 132 _sq._

692 Diodorus Siculus, i. 14. 2. See below, vol. ii. pp. 45 _sq._

_ 693 Spirits of the Corn and of the Wild_, ii. 180 _sqq._, 204 _sqq._

M178 But probably Adonis was a spirit of fruits, edible roots, and grass
before he became a spirit of the cultivated corn.
M179 The propitiation of the corn-spirit may have fused with the worship
of the dead.

694 W. Mannhardt, _Mythologische Forschungen_ (Strasburg, 1884), pp. 1
_sqq._; _Spirits of the Corn and of the Wild_, i. 216 _sqq._

M180 The festival of the dead a festival of flowers.

695 T. B. Macaulay, _History of England_, chapter xx. vol. iv. (London,
1855) p. 410.

696 This explanation of the name _Anthesteria_, as applied to a festival
of the dead, is due to Mr. R. Wünsch (_Das Frühlingsfest der Insel
Malta_, Leipsic, 1902, pp. 43 _sqq._). I cannot accept the late Dr.
A. W. Verrall’s ingenious derivation of the word from a verb
ἀναθέσσασθαι in the sense of “to conjure up” (“The Name
Anthesteria,” _Journal of Hellenic Studies_, xx. (1900) pp.
115-117). As to the festival see E. Rohde, _Psyche_3 (Tübingen and
Leipsic, 1903), i. 236 _sqq._; Miss J. E. Harrison, _Prolegomena to
the Study of Greek Religion_2 (Cambridge, 1908), pp. 32 _sqq._ In
Annam people offer food to their dead on the graves when the earth
begins to grow green in spring. The ceremony takes place on the
third day of the third month, the sun then entering the sign of
Taurus. See Paul Giran, _Magie et Religion Annamites_ (Paris, 1912),
pp. 423 _sq._

697 E. Renan, _Mission de Phénicie_ (Paris, 1864), p. 216.

M181 Pots of corn, herbs, and flowers, called the gardens of Adonis.

698 For the authorities see Raoul Rochette, “Mémoire sur les jardins
d’Adonis,” _Revue Archéologique_, viii. (1851) pp. 97-123; W.
Mannhardt, _Antike Wald- und Feldkulte_, p. 279, note 2, and p. 280,
note 2. To the authorities cited by Mannhardt add Theophrastus,
_Hist. Plant._ vi. 7. 3; _id._, _De Causis Plant._ i. 12. 2;
Gregorius Cyprius, i. 7; Macarius, i. 63; Apostolius, i. 34;
Diogenianus, i. 14; Plutarch, _De sera num. vind._ 17. Women only
are mentioned as planting the gardens of Adonis by Plutarch, _l.c._;
Julian, _Convivium_, p. 329 ed. Spanheim (p. 423 ed. Hertlein);
Eustathius on Homer, _Od._ xi. 590. On the other hand, Apostolius
and Diogenianus (_ll.cc._) say φυτεύοντες ἢ φυτεύουσαι. The earliest
extant Greek writer who mentions the gardens of Adonis is Plato
(_Phaedrus_, p. 276 B). The procession at the festival of Adonis is
mentioned in an Attic inscription of 302 or 301 B.C. (G.
Dittenberger, _Sylloge Inscriptionum Graecarum_,2 vol. ii. p. 564,
No. 726). Gardens of Adonis are perhaps alluded to by Isaiah (xvii.
10, with the commentators).

M182 These gardens of Adonis were charms to promote the growth of
vegetation. The throwing of the “gardens” into water was a
rain-charm. Parallel European customs of drenching the corn with
water at harvest or sowing. Use of water as a rain-charm at harvest
and sowing.

699 In hot southern countries like Egypt and the Semitic regions of
Western Asia, where vegetation depends chiefly or entirely upon
irrigation, the purpose of the charm is doubtless to secure a
plentiful flow of water in the streams. But as the ultimate object
and the charms for securing it are the same in both cases, I have
not thought it necessary always to point out the distinction.

_ 700 The Dying God_, pp. 232, 233 _sqq._

_ 701 The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, i. 272 _sqq._

702 W. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus der Germanen und ihrer Nachbarstämme_
(Berlin, 1875), p. 214; W. Schmidt, _Das Jahr und seine Tage in
Meinung und Branch der Romänen Siebenbürgens_ (Hermannstadt, 1866),
pp. 18 _sq._ The custom of throwing water on the last wagon-load of
corn returning from the harvest-field has been practised within
living memory in Wigtownshire, and at Orwell in Cambridgeshire. See
J. G. Frazer, “Notes on Harvest Customs,” _Folk-lore Journal_, vii.
(1889) pp. 50, 51. (In the first of these passages the Orwell at
which the custom used to be observed is said to be in Kent; this was
a mistake of mine, which my informant, the Rev. E. B. Birks,
formerly Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, afterwards
corrected.) Mr. R. F. Davis writes to me (March 4, 1906) from
Campbell College, Belfast: “Between 30 and 40 years ago I was
staying, as a very small boy, at a Nottinghamshire farmhouse at
harvest-time, and was allowed—as a great privilege—to ride home on
the top of the last load. All the harvesters followed the waggon,
and on reaching the farmyard we found the maids of the farm gathered
near the gate, with bowls and buckets of water, which they proceeded
to throw on the men, who got thoroughly drenched.”

703 G. A. Heinrich, _Agrarische Sitten und Gebräuche unter den Sachsen
Siebenbürgens_ (Hermanstadt, 1880), p. 24; H. von Wlislocki, _Sitten
und Brauch der Siebenbürger Sachsen_ (Hamburg, 1888), p. 32.

704 G. Drosinis, _Land und Leute in Nord-Euböa_ (Leipsic, 1884), p. 53.

705 Matthäus Prätorius, _Deliciae Prussicae_ (Berlin, 1871), p. 55; W.
Mannhardt, _Baumkultus_, pp. 214 _sq._, note.

706 M. Prätorius, _op. cit._ p. 60; W. Mannhardt, _Baumkultus_, p. 215,
note.

707 H. Prahn, “Glaube und Brauch in der Mark Brandenburg,” _Zeitschrift
des Vereins für Volkskunde_, i. (1891) p. 186.

708 O. Hartung, “Zur Volkskunde aus Anhalt,” _Zeitschrift des Vereins
für Volkskunde_, vii. (1897) p. 150.

709 W. Kolbe, _Hessische Volks-Sitten und Gebräuche_ (Marburg, 1888), p.
51.

_ 710 Bavaria, Landes- und Volkskunde des Königreichs Bayern_, ii.
(Munich, 1863) p. 297.

711 E. H. Meyer, _Badisches Volksleben_ (Strasburg, 1900), p. 420.

712 J. Walter Fewkes, “The Tusayan New Fire Ceremony,” _Proceedings of
the Boston Society of Natural History_, xxvi. (1895) p. 446.

713 “Lettre du curé de Santiago Tepehuacan à son évêque,” _Bulletin de
la Société de Géographie_ (Paris), Deuxième Série, ii. (1834) pp.
181 _sq._

M183 Gardens of Adonis among the Oraons and Mundas of Bengal.

_ 714 The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 59 _sqq._

715 E. T. Dalton, _Descriptive Ethnology of Bengal_ (Calcutta, 1872), p.
259.

716 E. T. Dalton, _op. cit._ p. 188. As to the influence which trees are
supposed to exercise on the crops, see _The Magic Art and the
Evolution of Kings_, ii. 47 _sqq._

M184 Gardens of Adonis in Rajputana.

717 Lieut.-Col. James Tod, _Annals and Antiquities of Rajast’han_, i.
(London, 1829) pp. 570-572.

718 G. F. D’Penha, “A Collection of Notes on Marriage Customs in the
Madras Presidency,” _Indian Antiquary_, xxv. (1896) p. 144; E.
Thurston, _Ethnographic Notes in Southern India_ (Madras, 1906), p.
2.

M185 Gardens of Adonis in North-Western and Central India.

719 E. T. Atkinson, _The Himalayan Districts of the North-Western
Provinces of India_, ii. (Allahabad, 1884) p. 870.

720 W. Crooke, _Popular Religion and Folk-lore of Northern India_
(Westminster, 1896), ii. 293 _sq._ Compare Baboo Ishuree Dass,
_Domestic Manners and Customs of the Hindoos of Northern India_
(Benares, 1860), pp. 111 _sq._ According to the latter writer, the
festival of Salono [not Salonan] takes place in August, and the
barley is planted by women and girls in baskets a few days before
the festival, to be thrown by them into a river or tank when the
grain has sprouted to the height of a few inches.

721 Mrs. J. C. Murray-Aynsley, “Secular and Religious Dances,”
_Folk-lore Journal_, v. (1887) pp. 253 _sq._ The writer thinks that
the ceremony “probably fixes the season for sowing some particular
crop.”

_ 722 Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency_, xx. (Bombay, 1884) p. 454.
This passage was pointed out to me by my friend Mr. W. Crooke.

_ 723 Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency_, xx. 443, 460.

M186 Gardens of Adonis in Bavaria. Gardens of Adonis on St. John’s Day in
Sardinia.

_ 724 Bavaria, Landes- und Volkskunde des Königreichs Bayern_ (Munich,
1860-1867), ii. 298.

725 Antonio Bresciani, _Dei costumi dell’ isola di Sardegna comparati
cogli antichissimi popoli orientali_ (Rome and Turin, 1866), pp. 427
_sq._; R. Tennant, _Sardinia and its Resources_ (Rome and London,
1885), p. 187; S. Gabriele, “Usi dei contadini della Sardegna,”
_Archivio per lo Studio delle Tradizioni Popolari_, vii. (1888) pp.
469 _sq._ Tennant says that the pots are kept in a dark warm place,
and that the children leap across the fire.

M187 Gardens of Adonis on St. John’s Day in Sicily.

726 G. Pitrè, _Usi e Costumi, Credenze e Pregiudizi del Popolo
Siciliano_ (Palermo, 1889), ii. 271-278. Compare _id._, _Spettacoli
e Feste Popolari Siciliane_ (Palermo, 1881), pp. 297 _sq._ In the
Abruzzi also young men and young women become gossips by exchanging
nosegays on St. John’s Day, and the tie thus formed is regarded as
sacred. See G. Finamore, _Credenze, Usi e Costumi Abruzzesi_
(Palermo, 1890), pp. 165 _sq._

M188 In these Sardinian and Sicilian ceremonies St. John may have taken
the place of Adonis. Custom of bathing in water or washing in dew on
the Eve or Day of St. John (Midsummer Eve or Midsummer Day).
Petrarch at Cologne on St. John’s Eve.

727 R. Wünsch, _Das Frühlingsfest der Insel Malta_, pp. 47-57.

728 See above, pp. 10, note 1, 224 _sq._, 226.

729 J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 i. 490.

730 G. Finamore, _Credenze, Usi e Costumi Abruzzesi_, pp. 156-160. A
passage in Isaiah (xxvi. 19) seems to imply that dew possessed the
magical virtue of restoring the dead to life. In this passage of
Isaiah the customs which I have cited in the text perhaps favour the
ordinary interpretation of טל אורת as “dew of herbs” (compare 2
Kings iv. 39) against the interpretation “dew of lights,” which some
modern commentators (Dillmann, Skinner, Whitehouse), following
Jerome, have adopted.

731 G. Pitrè, _Feste patronali in Sicilia_ (Turin and Palermo, 1900),
pp. 488, 491-493.

732 G. Pitrè, _Spettacoli e Feste Popolari Siciliane_, p. 307.

733 Petrarch, _Epistolae de rebus familiaribus_, i. 4 (vol. i. pp. 44-46
ed. J. Fracassetti, Florence, 1859-1862). The passage is quoted by
J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 i. 489 _sq._

734 J. Grimm, _op. cit._ i. 489.

735 Letter of Dr. Otero Acevado, of Madrid, _Le Temps_, September 1898.

736 J. Lecœur, _Esquisses du Bocage Normand_ (Condé-sur-Noireau,
1883-1887), ii. 8; A. de Nore, _Coutumes, Mythes et Traditions des
provinces de France_ (Paris and Lyons, 1846), p. 150.

737 A. de Nore, _op. cit._ p. 20; Bérenger-Féraud, _Réminiscences
populaires de la Provence_ (Paris, 1885), pp. 135-141.

738 A. Breuil, “Du Culte de St. Jean Baptiste,” _Mémoires de la Société
des Antiquaires de Picardie_, viii. (1845) pp. 237 _sq._ Compare
_Balder the Beautiful_, i. 193 _sq._

739 Diego Duran, _Historia de las Indias de Nueva España_, edited by J.
F. Ramirez (Mexico, 1867-1880), ii. 293.

M189 The custom of bathing at midsummer is pagan, not Christian, in its
origin.

740 Augustine, _Opera_, v. (Paris, 1683) col. 903; _id._, Pars Secunda,
coll. 461 _sq._ The second of these passages occurs in a sermon of
doubtful authenticity. Both have been quoted by J. Grimm, _Deutsche
Mythologie_,4 i. 490.

741 E. Doutté, _Magie et Religion dans l’Afrique du Nord_ (Algiers,
1908), pp. 567 _sq._; E. Westermarck, “Midsummer Customs in
Morocco,” _Folk-lore_, xvi. (1905) pp. 31 _sq._; _id._, _Ceremonies
and Beliefs connected with Agriculture, Certain Dates of the Solar
Year, and the Weather_ (Helsingfors, 1913), pp. 84-86. See _Balder
the Beautiful_, i. 216.

M190 Old heathen festival of midsummer in Europe and the East. M191 Midsummer fires and midsummer couples in relation to vegetation.

_ 742 Balder the Beautiful_, i. 160 _sqq._

_ 743 The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 65 _sq._

_ 744 The Dying God_, p. 262.

745 L. Lloyd, _Peasant Life in Sweden_ (London, 1870), p. 257.

M192 Gardens of Adonis intended to foster the growth of vegetation, and
especially of the crops. Modes of divination at midsummer like the
gardens of Adonis.

_ 746 Balder the Beautiful_, i. 328 _sqq._, ii. 21 _sqq._

747 W. Mannhardt, _Baumkultus_, p. 464; K. von Leoprechting, _Aus dem
Lechrain_ (Munich, 1855), p. 183. For more evidence see _Balder the
Beautiful_, i. 165, 166, 166 _sq._, 168, 173, 174.

748 The use of gardens of Adonis to fertilize the human sexes appears
plainly in the corresponding Indian practices. See above, pp. 241,
242, 243.

749 G. Pitrè, _Spettacoli e Feste Popolari Siciliane_, pp. 296 _sq._

750 G. Pitrè, _op. cit._ pp. 302 _sq._; Antonio de Nino, _Usi e Costumi
Abruzzesi_ (Florence, 1879-1883), i. 55 _sq._; A. de Gubernatis,
_Usi Nuziali in Italia e presso gli altri Popoli Indo-Europei_
(Milan, 1878), pp. 39 _sq._ Compare L. Passarini, “Il Comparatico e
la Festa di S. Giovanni nelle Marche e in Roma,” _Archivio per lo
Studio delle Tradizioni Popolari_, i. (1882) p. 135. At Smyrna a
blossom of the _Agnus castus_ is used on St. John’s Day for a
similar purpose, but the mode in which the omens are drawn is
somewhat different. See Teofilo, “La notte di San Giovanni in
Oriente,” _Archivio per lo Studio delle Tradizioni Popolari_, vii.
(1888) pp. 128-130.

751 Matthäus Prätorius, _Deliciae Prussicae_ (Berlin, 1871), p. 56.

_ 752 The Dying God_, pp. 261 _sq._

_ 753 The Dying God_, pp. 233 _sqq._, 261 _sqq._

M193 Sicilian gardens of Adonis in spring.

754 G. Pitrè, _Spettacoli e Feste Popolari Siciliane_, p. 211.

755 Κήπους ὡσίουν ἐπιταφίους Ἀδώνιδι, Eustathius on Homer, _Od._ xi.
590.

756 Vincenzo Dorsa, _La tradizione Greco-Latina negli usi e nelle
credenze popolari della Calabria Citeriore_ (Cosenza, 1884), p. 50.

M194 Resemblance of the Easter ceremonies in the Greek Church to the
rites of Adonis.

757 C. Wachsmuth, _Das alte Griechenland im neuen_ (Bonn, 1864), pp. 26.
_sq._ The writer compares these ceremonies with the Eleusinian
rites. But I agree with Mr. R. Wünsch (_Das Frühlingsfest der Insel
Malta_, pp. 49 _sq._) that the resemblance to the Adonis festival is
still closer. Compare V. Dorsa, _La tradizione Greco-Latina negli
usi e nelle credenze popolari della Calabria Citeriore_, pp. 49
_sq._ Prof. Wachsmuth’s description seems to apply to Athens. In the
country districts the ritual is apparently similar. See R. A.
Arnold, _From the Levant_ (London, 1868), pp. 251 _sq._, 259 _sq._
So in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem the death and
burial of Christ are acted over a life-like effigy. See Henry
Maundrell, _Journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem at Easter, __A.D.__
1697_, Fourth Edition (Perth, 1800), pp. 110 _sqq._; _id._, in Th.
Wright’s _Early Travels in Palestine_ (London, 1848), pp. 443-445.

M195 Resemblance of the Easter ceremonies in the Catholic Church to the
rites of Adonis.

758 G. Pitrè, _Spettacoli e Feste Popolari Siciliane_, pp. 217 _sq._

759 G. Finamore, _Credenze, Usi e Costumi Abruzzesi_, pp. 118-120; A. de
Nino, _Usi e Costumi Abruzzesi_, i. 64 _sq._, ii. 210-212. At
Roccacaramanico part of the Easter spectacle is the death of Judas,
who, personated by a living man, pretends to hang himself upon a
tree or a great branch, which has been brought into the church and
planted near the high altar for the purpose (A. de Nino, _op. cit._
ii. 211).

760 The drama of the death and resurrection of Christ was formerly
celebrated at Easter in England. See Abbot Gasquet, _Parish Life in
Mediaeval England_, pp. 177 _sqq._, 182 _sq._

M196 The Christian festival of Easter perhaps grafted on a festival of
Adonis.

761 The comparison has already been made by A. Maury, who also compares
the Easter ceremonies of the Catholic Church with the rites of
Adonis (_Histoire des Religions de la Grèce Antique_, Paris,
1857-1859, vol. iii. p. 221).

M197 The worship of Adonis at Bethlehem. The Morning Star, identified
with Venus, may have been the signal for the festival of Adonis. The
Star of Bethlehem.

762 Jerome, _Epist._ lviii. 3 (Migne’s _Patrologia Latina_, xxii. 581).

763 Bethlehem is בית-לחם, literally “House of Bread.” The name is
appropriate, for “the immediate neighbourhood is very fertile,
bearing, besides wheat and barley, groves of olive and almond, and
vineyards. The wine of Bethlehem (‘Talhamī’) is among the best of
Palestine. So great fertility must mean that the site was occupied,
in spite of the want of springs, from the earliest times” (George
Adam Smith, _s.v._ “Bethlehem,” _Encyclopaedia Biblica_, i. 560). It
was in the harvest-fields of Bethlehem that Ruth, at least in the
poet’s fancy, listened to the nightingale “amid the alien corn.”

764 John vi. 35.

765 Above, p. 227.

766 Ammianus Marcellinus, xxii. 9. 14, “_Urbique propinquans in speciem
alicujus numinis votis excipitur publicis, miratus voces
multitudinis magnae, salutare sidus inluxisse eois partibus
adclamantis._” We may compare the greeting which a tribe of South
American Indians used to give to a worshipful star after its
temporary disappearance. “The Abipones think that the Pleiades,
composed of seven stars, is an image of their ancestor. As the
constellation is invisible for some months in the sky of South
America, they believe that their ancestor is ill, and every year
they are mortally afraid that he will die. But when the said stars
reappear in the month of May, they imagine that their ancestor is
recovered from his sickness and has returned; so they hail him with
joyous shouts and the glad music of pipes and war-horns. They
congratulate him on his recovery. ‘How we thank you! At last you
have come back? Oh, have you happily recovered?’ With such cries
they fill the air, attesting at once their gladness and their
folly.” See M. Dobrizhoffer, _Historia de Abiponibus_ (Vienna,
1784), ii. 77.

767 M. Jastrow, _The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria_, pp. 370 _sqq._;
H. Zimmern, in E. Schrader’s _Die Keilinschriften und das Alte
Testament_,3 p. 424.