EXCURSIONS OF AN EVOLUTIONIST 



should be subject to the approval of the tribe. 

 If any one individual does something that is 

 displeasing to the gods, the whole tribe is liable 

 to be punished for the misdeed of this one per- 

 son. This feeling was universal in ancient soci- 

 ety, and, until we realize how intense it was, we 

 shall be unable to understand some of the most 

 remarkable scenes of ancient history. Take, 

 for example, the frantic excitement which was 

 stirred up in Athens, just before the expedition 

 against Syracuse, by the mutilation of the rude 

 wayside statues of Hermes. It is impossible 

 for a modern man to understand this furious 

 excitement unless he duly considers the fact 

 that, in the minds of the Athenians, the whole 

 community and not merely the individual 

 criminals concerned was responsible to the 

 gods for this outrage. The whole community 

 might be visited by the angry gods with famine 

 and plague because of the misdeeds of a few of 

 its graceless members. 



This intense feeling of corporate responsi- 

 bility pervades all the life of ancient society, 

 and by keeping it in mind we shall understand 

 many occurrences which without this key we 

 should find incomprehensible. When we be- 

 think ourselves how far such deeply rooted 

 feelings propagate themselves in history, we 

 shall be inclined, I think, to find in this sense 

 of corporate responsibility the weightiest cause 

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