Page:The Theatre of the Greeks, a Treatise on the History and Exhibition of the Greek Drama, with Various Supplements.djvu/30

 CHAPTER II. THE CONNECTED WORSHIP OF DIONYSUS, DEMETER AND APOLLO. '4tl re KXvTav Tr^fxirere x^P"'> ^^oi. PiNDAB. WHATEVER opinion may be entertained respecting the in- digenous character of other Greek deities, there cannot be the slightest doubt that the worship of Dionysus or Bacchus was of oriental origin, and that it was introduced into Greece by the Phoenicians, who, together with the priceless gift of the Semitic alphabet, imparted to the Pelasgian inhabitants of the Mediterra- nean coasts a knowledge of those forms of elementary worship which were more or less common to the natives of Canaan and Egypt. The mythical founder of Thebes, the Phoenician Cadmus, is con- nected with both of these innovations. For while he directly teaches the use of letters it is his daughter Semele, who, accord- ing to the tradition, in B.C. 1544 gives birth to Dionysus, the Theban wine-god ^ The genealogy of Cadmus connects him not only with Phoenicia, but also with Egypt, Libya, Cilicia, and Crete ^ And the historical interpretation of the legend is simply 1 Herod, v. 58; Diod. iii. 67, V. 57; Plia. H. N. vii. 56. 2 Herod, ii. 145. According to Herodotus, 11. 49, Cadmus himself was a wor- shipper of Dionysus, and taught this religion to Melampus. 3 The pedigree is as follows (Creuzer, Symbol, iv. p. 8) : Agenor, son of Neptune and Libya, in Phoenicia. ^ Telephassa. Cadmus ^ Harmonia. Phoenix. Cilix. Europa. Polydorus. Semele. Autonoe. Agave. Ino. ' Jupiter. J)ionysus.