
__ ie 
SACRIFICES OF THE GREEKS. 429 
pious offerings smell. The meat and drink gratify the spirit. The spirit has 
satisfied himself wiith the wine.”* 
With the second theory the case is quite different. There is no heathen tribe 
of the present day that entertains the belief that the sinner ought to sacrifice 
himself in order to restore his unity with the Divine Being. And it may be 
questioned how far there is a real basis in man’s consciousness for the idea at 
all. Moreover, the proof of the theory in history is equally difficult. We should 
imagine that to establish the theory it would be necessary to prove that men 
at one time or another sacrificed themselves to propitiate the Divine Being. 
Then it is difficult to conceive the next stage. Is it maintained that men, out 
of a consciousness of sin, murdered other men to please the Divine Being? In 
a few cases there might be voluntary sacrifices, but in the majority of cases men 
would not willingly be sacrificed for the sake of others. And then it would be 
necessary to prove that those who offered up the human sacrifices regarded the 
sacrifices as innocent, while they looked upon themselves as guilty. It is still 
more difficult to deal with the third stage. If animal sacrifice is a substitute 
for human sacrifice, will there not be a consciousness that the animal sacrifice 
is defective, and that human sacrifices would be more appropriate? And if 
this idea is lost altogether, how can it be proved that animal sacrifices arose out 
of and were a substitute for human? 
These are only some of the difficulties which beset the proof of this theory, 
and I mention them because the principal defenders of the theory have not 
chosen to argue the matter out systematically. They appeal to the very exist- 
ence of animal sacrifice as if it were absurd in itself, and could have its origin 
only in a desire to procure a substitute for human; and they appeal to the fact 
_ of human sacrifices as if this single fact proved the theory. At the same time, 
they allow that though a truth underlies sacrifice, that truth was imperfectly 
apprehended, and that all the sacrifices of men, animal and human, were alike 
defective, inasmuch as moral innocence was wanting. 
TREATMENT OF GREEK SACRIFICES. 
In discussing the Greek sacrifices, I divide my authorities into three classes. 
First, I take Homer and Hesiod, then the writers during the classical period 
of Greek literature, and finally the writers during the decadence of Greek litera- 
ture, both heathen and Christian. You will find that the time of the witnesses 
is a very essential element in this investigation. Greek religion passed through 
many phases, and we must pay regard to this fact if we are to judge the 
doctrine of sacrifices aright. 
* Many instances are given in Tyxer’s “ Primitive Culture,” vol. ii. p. 341, and Sir Jony 
Luszocn’s “ Origin of Civilization” (sec. ed.), p. 269. 
