MEANINGS OF ANCIENT MYTHS. 47 



in a creature uniting the attributes of the two ; and if the 

 tribe grows into a society, representations of such a crea 

 ture will become objects of worship. One of the cases 

 cited by Mr. McLennan may here be repeated in illustra 

 tion. &quot; The story of the origin of the Dikokamenni Kir- 

 gheez,&quot; they say, &quot; from a red greyhound and a certain 

 queen with her forty handmaidens, is of ancient date.&quot; 

 ]STow, if &quot; the red greyhound &quot; was the nickname of a man 

 extremely swift of foot (celebrated runners have been 

 similarly nicknamed among ourselves), a story of this 

 kind would naturally arise ; and if the metaphorical name 

 was mistaken for the actual name, there might result, as 

 the idol of the race, a compound form appropriate to the 

 story. &quot;We need not be surprised, then, at finding among 

 the Egyptians the goddess Pasht represented as a woman 

 with a lion s head, and the god Month as a man with the 

 head of a hawk. The Babylonian gods one having the 

 form of a man with an eagle s tail, and another uniting a 

 human bust to a fish s body no longer appear such un 

 accountable conceptions. We get feasible explanations, 

 too, of sculptures representing sphinxes, winged human- 

 headed bulls, etc. ; as well as of the stories about centaurs, 

 satyrs, and the rest. 



Ancient myths in general thus acquire meanings con 

 siderably different from those ascribed to them by com 

 parative mythologists. Though these last may be in part 

 correct, yet if the foregoing argument is valid, they can 

 scarcely be correct in their main outlines. Indeed, if we 

 read the facts the other way upward, regarding as sec 

 ondary or additional the elements that are said to be pri 

 mary, while we regard as primary certain elements which 

 are considered as accretions of later times, we shall, I 

 think, be nearer the truth. 



