Page:Greek and Roman Mythology.djvu/29

 THE ORIGIN OF MYTHS 15 rainbows, eclipses of the sun and moon, and the flight of birds, or to learn it from significant words and sounds ((fry/man, K/V^SoVe?, omind). From the omens were devel- oped in Greece the sign oracles of Zeus ; in Italy, the auspicia and the whole science of the augurs. From the words and sounds arose the oracular responses of Apollo. The inspection of the liver and other entrails of slain sacrificial animals grew up later out of the gen- eral requirement that an animal for sacrifice must be healthy and unblemished.