36 HUMAN DISSECTION. ITS DRAMA AND STRUGGLE 



also present were the Tithrasian gorgons, capable of tearing kid- 

 neys and entrails to pieces. In contrast to this, nothing but bliss 

 existed for the saved who were pure, holy and righteous. 



The Orphic doctrine addressed itself to the individual; it set 

 forth a plan of salvation by which a man could purify himself; 

 it permitted the offering of sacraments and mystic rites whereby 

 he could partake of the divine nature; its myth and ceremony ex- 

 cited the emotions and its primitive theology offered to thinkers 

 a solution of the problems of god, the universe and man. It had an 

 important influence on the development of the hell of Christianity 

 even to the Middle Ages (Moore, '13). 



G. The Romans 



The Romans took much of their mythology, religious art and 

 philosophy from the Greeks. Each human had his personal deity 

 who was conceived as operating in specific spheres of nature and 

 life. The oldest order of the gods were Janus, Jupiter, Mars, 

 Quirinus and Vesta. Religion was at first treated as an institu- 

 tion by the state. At the time of the monarchy, the king was head 

 and priests officiated. When church and state separated, the col- 

 lege of Pontifices assumed control of the church. Ceremonies pre- 

 vailed and offerings were made both publicly and privately; images 

 of gods and their symbolization were unknown and no divine 

 dwellings existed. By the year 205 B.C., the whole Greek pantheon 

 was annexed to the Roman religion. 



For these people, there existed a nether world of the dead, 

 especially for their forefathers. Spirits of ancestors were thought 

 to watch over each house and avenge infractions of family or- 

 dinances. They possessed no clear-cut idea of the state after death 

 including that of retribution. Populating their own world were 

 ghosts, spectres and bogeys. By means of aversive rites and offer- 

 ings, they attempted to keep them at bay. 



Even some of the priests were not permitted to come in con- 

 tact with a dead body, approach a grave, touch or even name 

 things associated with death and the nether world: such as goats, 

 dogs, beans and ivy. 



At the beginning of the Christian era, the worship of deified 

 emperors was developed, Julius Caesar being the first. This prac- 



