314 MYTH AND SCIENCE. 



another form. Music, which was always becoming 

 more elaborate, continued to be the highest inspira- 

 tion, a divine power, an external and harmonious 

 manifestation of celestial beings, of eternal life, and 

 the order of the world. This conception was 

 shadowed forth in the Pythagorean theory of the 

 mythical harmony of the spheres : that school re- 

 garded the world as a musical system, an harmonious 

 dance of planets. 



The fetishtic and mythical origin common to all 

 the arts is clearly shown by the fact that at a period 

 relatively advanced, but still very remote, they were 

 formulated in the temple, a symbolic representation 

 of their deities, to be found even among the most 

 primitive peoples. The evolution of the arts towards 

 a more rational conception, divested of mythical and 

 religious influence, took the form of releasing each art 

 from bondage to the temple, and enabling it to assume 

 a more distinct, free, and secular personality, an evolu- 

 tion which was however somewhat difficult and slow in 

 the case of vocal and instrumental music. Although 

 in our own time it has achieved a field for itself, yet 

 in oratorios and ecclesiastical music the old concep- 

 tion remains. 



The joys of the Elysian fields and of Paradise, as 

 rewards of the good and faithful after death, varying 

 in details with the moral and mythical beliefs of 

 various peoples, were heightened by concerts and 

 musical symphonies, as, owing to natural evolution 



