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 KOI 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 TOL<S q/ULepas 



Qvcev opBws, aXX' avta re /cat /carw KvooicoTrav 

 ''QCTT' aTreiXeii/ (prjcrlv avrrj TOUS Oeovs e/cacrrore 



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

 p. 33: 



"Ait i o' u\\o&ev a\\a Trapa.xX'ivuvo'a ^u 



As still her shifting visage changing turns 



By her we count the monthly round of morns. 



