Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review Volumes 32 and 33.djvu/433



This book forms a desirable supplement to Dr. Farnell's great work on The Cults of the Greek States, and it is characterised throughout by the same learning, sanity, and carefulness of presentation. Perhaps the most important part is the classification of hero types, these being divided into seven classes: (a) the hieratic type of hero-gods and heroine-goddesses whose name or legend suggests a cult-origin; (b) sacral heroes or heroines associated with a particular divinity, as apostles, priests, or companions; (c) heroes who are also gods, but with secular legend, such as Herakles, the Dioskouroi, Asklepios; (d) culture and functional heroes, the "Sondergötter" of Usener's theory, usually styled by the Greeks themselves; (e) epic heroes of entirely human legend; (f) geographical, genealogical, and eponymous heroes and heroines, transparent fictions for the most part, such as Messene and Lakedaimon; (g) historic and real personages. This classification will do much to reduce into order the tangled material for the investigation of these cults. The heroes who occupy the most space in this book are naturally Herakles, Asklepios, and the Dioskouroi, for the study of whom the evidence is for the first time collected and arranged. It is noteworthy to observe the return to the views of Euhemeros: "in its original application the name [Herakles] denoted an individual man; whether real or imaginary is a question that does not fall within the range of any possible decision. But we are enabled to say that