The theatre of the Greeks Author:John William Donaldson Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III. UNION OK THE TWO ELEMENTS. THESPIS. Dcbbe un principe ne' tempi convmicnti dell'anno tcntrc occupati i popoli con fetle e spcttacoH; e perclti... more » ogni cilia e divita o in aril o in triba, debbe teuer conto di quclle univcnitii. Machiavelli. There can be little doubt that the worship of Bacchus was introduced into Attica at a very early period1: indeed it was probably the religion of the oldest inhabitants, who, on the invasion of the country by the lonians, were reduced, like the native Laconians, to the inferior situation of irep'toiKoi, and cultivated the soil for their conquerors. Like all other Pelasgiaus they were naturally inclined to a country life, and this perhaps may account for the elementary nature of their religion, which like themselves was thrown aside and despised by the ruling caste. In the quadripartite division of the people of Attica the old inhabitants formed the tribe of the Egicores or goatherds, who worshipped Dionysus with the sacrifice of goats. But though they were at first kept in a state of inferiority ami subjection, they eventually rose to an equality with the other inhabitants of the country. There are very many Attic legends which point to the original contempt for the goatherd's religion on the part of the other tribes, and their subsequent adoption of it. This is indicated by the freedom of slaves at the Dionysian festivals, by the reference of the origin of the religion to the town Eleutherse, by the marriage of the King Archon's wife to Bac- /UtC'Jf 1. On the early worship of Bacchus in Attica see Welcker? p. 194 fol. and Phil. Mus. II. p. 21)9—307. A chus1 ; and we may perhaps discover traces of a difference of castes in the story of Orestes at the Anthesteria. It was natural, therefore, that the jEgicores, when ...« less