ITS EARLIEST STAGES. 137 



The Greeks adopted this calendar, and, in con- 

 sequence, considered the days of their month as 

 representing the changes of the moon : the last day 

 of the month was called evrj Kal vea, "the old and 

 new," as belonging to both the waning and the 

 reappearing moon 18 : and their festivals and sacri- 

 fices, as determined by the calendar, were con- 

 ceived to be necessarily connected with the same 

 periods of the cycles of the sun and moon. " The 

 laws and the oracles," says Geminus, "which di- 

 rected that they should in sacrifices observe three 

 things, months, days, years, were so understood." 

 With this persuasion, a correct system of intercala- 

 tion became a religious duty. 



The above rule of alternate months of 29 and 

 30 days, supposes the length of the months 29 days 

 and a half, which is not exactly the length of a 

 lunar month. Accordingly the Months and the 

 Moon were soon at variance. Aristophanes, in 

 " The Clouds," makes the Moon complain of the 

 disorder when the calendar was deranged. 



OVK ayeiv rd? yimepas 



/~v ' ^ * '/"I"" '\"\'' ' ' ^ ^ ** 



(Jvcev opuws, aX\ avw re /ecu KCITO) KvooicoTrav 

 ''Q<jT ctTretXelv <pri<j\v ctvrfi TOVS Oeovs e/ca<rroTe 



18 Aratus says of the moon, in a passage quoted by Geminus,, 

 p. 33: 



"Aiei B' u\\odev a\\a TrapctKXivovo-a 

 7repiT\\ r rai 



As still her shifting visage changing turns 

 By her we count the monthly round of morns. 



