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M YSTER I ES M YTHOLOG Y. 



early period. They were designed to interpret those 

 mythological fables and religious rites, the true 

 meaning of which it was thought expedient to con- 

 ceal from the people. They were perhaps necessary 

 in those times, in which the superstitions, the errors, 

 and the prejudices of the people could not be openly 

 exposed without danger to the public peace. Upon 

 this ground they were tolerated and protected by the 

 state. Their first and fundamental law was a pro- 

 found secrecy. In all mysteries there were dramatic 

 exhibitions, relating to the exploits of the deities, in 

 whose honour they were celebrated. The most im- 

 portant Greek mysteries were, 1. the Eleusinian 

 (described in the article Eleusis). 2. The Samo- 

 tliracian, which originated in Crete and Phrygia, 

 and were celebrated in the former country in honour 

 of Jupiter. From these countries they were intro- 

 duced among the Thracians or Pelasgians in the 

 island of Samothrace, and extended from thence 

 into Greece. They were celebrated sometimes in 

 honour of Jupiter, sometimes of Bacchus, and some- 

 times of Ceres. (For further information respecting 

 the Samothracian mysteries, see Cabiri.) 3. The 

 Dionysia, which were brought from Thrace to 

 Thebes, and were very similar to the former. They 

 were celebrated every second year. The transition 

 of men from barbarism to civilization was likewise 

 represented in them. The women were clothed in 

 skins of beasts. With a spear (thyrsus) bound with 

 ivy in their hands, they ascended mount Cithaeron, 

 where, after the religious ceremonies, wild dances 

 were performed, which ended with the dispersion of 

 the priestesses and the initiated in the neighbouring 

 woods. They had also symbols, chiefly relating to 

 Bacchus, who was the hero of these mysteries. 

 These celebrations were forbidden in Thebes, even 

 in the time of Epaminondas, and afterwards in all 

 Greece, as prejudicial to the public peace and morals. 

 4. The Orphic, chiefly deserving mention as the 

 probable foundation of the Eleusinian. 5. The mys- 

 teries of Isis (q. v.) were not in vogue in Greece, but 

 were very popular in Italy, particularly in Rome. 

 An excellent work upon mysteries is St Croix's 

 Recherches historiques et critiques sur les Mysteres 

 du Paganisme (second edition, revised by Sylv. de 

 Sacy, Paris, 1817, 2 vols.). 



MYSTERIES, or more properly MIRACLES ; a 

 kind of rude drama, which was a favourite spectacle 

 in the middle ages, represented at solemn festivals. 

 The subjects were of a religious character, and the 

 ecclesiastics were at first the performers and authors. 

 They were called mysteries and miracles, because 

 they taught the mysterious doctrines of Christianity, 

 and represented the miracles of the first founders ot 

 the faith, of the saints and martyrs. (See France, 

 Literature of, division Dramatic Poetry.) The first 

 play of this sort, specified by name, appears to have 

 been St Catharine, written, according to Matthew 

 Paris, by Geoffrey, a Norman, about 1110. They 

 sometimes lasted several days. Thus we hear oi 

 one which lasted eight days, and contained the 

 greater part of the scripture history. The Corpus 

 Christ!, the famous Coventry mystery, begins with 

 the creation, and ends with the judgment day. The 

 passion of Christ, the slaughter of the innocents (in 

 Hawkins's Origin of the English Drama), &c., are 

 among the subjects represented. The Mysteries 

 were superseded by the Moralities (q. v.). 



MYTHOLOGY (from ^, tradition, tale, fable, 

 and Xoyas). The mythology of a nation is the whole 

 body of its traditions respecting its gods, or fabulous 

 heroes. The mythology of the Greeks and Romans 

 is most commonly indicated by this word, because, 

 for a long time, it was almost the only one investi- 

 gated ; but, of late, attention has also been bestowed 



on the mythologies of other nations, as of the Hin- 

 doos, the northern tribes of early Europe, &c. 

 Whether mythological fables are to be considered 

 mainly as the invention of crafty priests, or allegori- 

 cal expositions of truth, or gross conceptions of 

 divine things formed by the ignorant, or as founded 

 on historical facts, which have been varied and exag- 

 gerated by tradition, embellished by poetry, and 

 purposely altered by cunning, they still retain their 

 interest for the historian, to whom it is equally 

 important to study the wide aberrations of mankind 

 in the search for truth, as their successful attempts 

 to attain it. Erroneous notions, which influence the 

 belief and conduct of men for centuries, must have 

 some broad foundation in human nature, and afford 

 the means of tracing the progress of its gradual 

 development. The errors of mythology have their 

 counterpart in politics and science ; and we should 

 no more think of rejecting it, as unworthy of study, 

 on account of its absurdities, than we should of turn- 

 ing from the study of the feudal system, because of 

 its glaring inconsistency with the true principles of 

 government. If we wish to arrive at truth, we must 

 investigate the causes of error. 



In the article Metamorphosis, we have spoken of 

 the constant wish of man to explain what surrounds 

 him, to find causes for effects. This wish, deeply 

 implanted in our soul to raise us above brutes, and 

 make us intelligent beings, united with the natural 

 disposition, or, rather, necessity of all nations, in the 

 early stages of their history, to speak symbolically ; 

 their ignorance of the causes of natural phenomena ; 

 the ever-varying reports of tradition ; the peculiar 

 fondness of some tribes for poetical embellishments ; 

 the selfish purposes to which some individuals will 

 always turn the credulity of their brethren ; but, 

 above all, the necessity of the human heart to ac- 

 knowledge and adore a supernatural power (the 

 conception of which must be accommodated to the 

 state of cultivation) these causes sufficiently explain 

 the origin of mythologies, particularly if we take into 

 account the blending together of the traditions of 

 different tribes, by means of migrations, &c. Inde- 

 pendently of the illustrations which they afford of the 

 state of morality and religion at given periods, the 

 various mythologies are interesting on account of the 

 historical facts which they frequently contain, though 

 disguised by tradition, or the conclusions to which 

 they lead, as to the connexion of different nations, at 

 certain periods, or the contrary. As to Greek 

 mythology, investigations have been carried on, of 

 late, with greater zeal in Germany than in any other 

 country ; and two very distinct theories respecting it 

 have found adherents. Creuzer, standing at the 

 head of one party, understands by the word mytho- 

 logy " the symbolical religious poetry of the whole 

 ancient world, which, being founded partly on a 

 common language which nature suggests to all, 

 partly derived from a common source, forms one 

 inseparable whole." Godfrey Hermann, another 

 eminent German philologist, however, considers 

 mythology as the science that teaches what notions 

 were the basis of particular symbols in a particular 

 nation. In the article Creuzer, a somewhat fuller 

 account of his view of mythology is given. Her- 

 mann's view is contained in his letter to Creuzer, on 

 the Nature and Treatment of Mythology (Leipsic, 

 1819), which was preceded by the Letters on Homer 

 and Hesiod, especially on the Theogony (Heidelberg, 

 1818). A critical analysis only can enable us to 

 understand the nature, origin, and connexion of the 

 mythological fables. The nature of the subject itself 

 must determine how it is to be treated; that is to 

 say, how the true meaning is to be found out from 

 symbolical expressions, or distorted representations. 



