Page:Modern Greek folklore and ancient Greek religion - a study in survivals.djvu/604

 having as a means to that end transformed himself into a snake. That story, it may safely be said, is presented by Clement in its worst light; but the statement, that in the ritual the deity was represented by a snake, obtains some corroboration from Theophrastus, who says of the superstitious man, that if he see a red snake in his house he will invoke Sabazius. Now the token of these mysteries for those who were being initiated in them was, according to Clement again, 'the god pressed to the bosom' ([Greek: ho dia kolpou theos]); which phrase he explains by saying that the god was represented as a snake, which was passed under the clothing and drawn over the bosom of the initiated 'as a proof of the incontinence of Zeus.' Clearly then the act of initiation was the symbolic wedding of the worshipper with the deity worshipped; and it is probable that the union which was symbolized in this life was expected to be realised in the next.

Finally in the orgiastic worship of Cybele the same religious doctrine is revealed. Here to Attis seems to be assigned the same part as to Adonis in the mysteries of Aphrodite. He is the beloved of the goddess; he is lost and mourned for as dead; he is restored again from the grave to the goddess who loved him. And in all this he appears to be the representative of all Cybele's worshippers; for the ritual of initiation into her rites, if once again we may avail ourselves of Clement's statements, is strongly imbued with the idea of marriage between the goddess and her worshipper. The several acts or stages of initiation are summarised in four phrases: 'I ate out of the drum; I drank out of the cymbal; I carried the sacred vessel; I entered privily the bed-chamber—[Greek: ek tympanou ephagon; ek kymbalou epion; ekerno-*phorêsa; hypo ton paston hypedyn]. In the passage from which these phrases are culled there appears to be a certain confusion between the rites of Cybele and those of Demeter; but the fact that Clement shortly afterwards gives another formulary of Demeter's ritual is sufficient proof that he meant this present formulary, as indeed the mention of kettle-drum and cymbal