Page:Modern Greek folklore and ancient Greek religion - a study in survivals.djvu/581

 For what said men of light and learning among the ancients , men who knew the whole truth and the whole Spirit of her worship? 'Thrice happy they of men that have looked upon these rites ere they go to Hades' house; for they alone there have true life, the rest have nought there but ill .' So Sophocles, in language clearly recalling that of the so-called Homeric hymn to Demeter; and in harmony with him Pindar: 'Happy he that hath seen those rites ere he go beneath the earth; he knoweth life's consummation, he knoweth its god-given source .' And surely such consummation of life should be in that paradise, where 'mid meadows red with roses lieth the space before the city's gates, all hazy with frankincense and laden with golden fruits,' where 'the glorious sun sheds his light while night is here '; for to this belief even Aristophanes subscribes, neither daring nor wishing to make mock of the blessed ones who in the other world have part in the god-beloved festival, and wend their way with song and dance through the holy circle of the goddess, a lawn bright with flowers, meadows where roses richly blossom—on whom alone in their night-long worship the sun yet shines and a gracious light, for that they have learnt the mysteries and dealt righteously with all men.

Here then are the three great masters of lyric poetry, of tragedy, and of comedy in substantial agreement; and the hopes which they hold out are not the mere exuberance of poetic fancy, for sober prose affirms the same beliefs. What says Isocrates? 'Demeter being graciously minded towards our forefathers because of their services to her, services of which none but the initiated may hear, gave us the greatest of all gifts, first, those fruits of the earth which saved us from living the life of beasts, and secondly, that rite which makes happier the hopes of those that participate therein concerning both the end of life and their whole existence; and our city proved herself not only god-beloved but also loving toward mankind, in that, having become mistress of such blessings, she grudged them not to the rest of the