148 TABOO AND GENETICS 



fertility of the fields and abundant harvest, (i.) 

 It was also an important part of the ritual in 

 the Phrygian cults, the cult of the Phoenician 

 Astarte, and the Aphrodite cults. These mys- 

 tery rehgions were widely current in the Graeco- 

 Roman world in pre-Christian times. The cult 

 of Demeter and Dionysius in Greece and Thrace ; 

 Cybele and Attis in Phrygia ; Atagartes in 

 Cihcia ; Aphrodite and Adonis in Syria ; Ashtart 

 and Eshmun (Adon) in Phoenicia ; Ishtar and 

 Tammuz in Babylonia ; Isis, Osiris and Serapis 

 in Egypt, and Mithra in Persia — all were 

 developed along the same lines. (2.) The 

 custom of the sacrifice of virginity to the gods, 

 and the institution of temple prostitution, also 

 bear witness to the sacred atmosphere with 

 which the sex act was surrounded among the 

 early historic peoples. (3.) It was this idea 

 of the mysterious sanctity of sex which did 

 much to raise woman to her position as divinity 

 and fertility goddess. 



The dedication of virgins to various deities, 

 of which the classic example is the institution 

 of the Vestal Virgins at Rome, and the fact that 

 at Thebes and elsewhere even the male deities 

 had their priestesses as well as priests, are 

 other indications that at this time woman was 

 regarded as divine or as capable of ministering 

 to divinity. The prophetic powers of woman 

 were universally recognized. The oracles at 



