88 Rafael Karsten. [N:o 1 



the early Greeks they were quite unfamiliar, and even among 

 the tragedians the notion of cruel gods who take pleasure in 

 visiting man with undeserved evil sometimes appears simply 

 in a striking way. Significant on this point are especially the 

 words which pious Sophocles puts in the mouth of Philoctete : 

 „No evil thing has beeu known to perish ; no, the gods take 

 tender care of such, and have a stränge joy in turning back 

 from Hades all things villainous and knavish, while they are 

 ever sending away the just and the good out of life. How 

 am I to deem of these things, or wherein shall I praise them, 

 when praismg the ways of the gods I find that the gods are 

 evil" 1), Stränge as such words may seem to us they are the 

 natural result of sad experiences of life and of the conclusion, 

 which occurs even to primitive man, that a bad effect must 

 have a bad cause. 



The belief that all human afifairs are under the control 

 of supernatural powers and that especially misfortunes and 

 disappointments are due to their mysterious action was in fact 

 deeply rooted in the Hellenic mind. This is also shown by 

 the great care taken to perform the due propitiatorj' rites and 

 sacrifices to the gods before every important enterprise. 

 Unsuccess in war, famine, pestilence, and other ills were 

 generally ascribed to the anger of some neglected deity. Plato 

 in this respect mentions a significant instance. A war had 

 been carried on between the Athenians and the Lacedaemoni- 

 ans and the former löst every battle by land and sea and ne- 

 ver gained any victory. The Athenians, being annoyed and 

 perplexed how to find a remedy for their troubles, decided to 

 send and inquire at the shrine of Ammon. Their envoj^s were 

 also to ask why the gods always granted the victory to the 

 Lacedaemonians althouöh the Athenians offer them more and 



•) Soph. Philoct. 446: 



énsl ovöév 7tw xaXöv ■yaTiöiXEXO, 

 åXk' EV nEQiarÉXXovcsiv avrä öatfioveg 

 ■nai nas Ta ^ev navovQya yioi naXiv^Qi^Tj 

 XatQovn åvaarQé(povtES é^ "Aiöov, ra öe 

 ölxata xal rå XQV'^'^' änoaTÉXkova' det. 

 Tcov XQ'I T:C&Ea&aL ravta, ttov (YaivElv, orav 

 Ta &eI' ETtatvcöv rovg &eovs evqco xa^xovs; 



