SACRIFICES OF THE GREEKS. 451 
“ And should one 
In all our army tear thee from the dead, 
May he, thus base, unburied, basely die, 
An exile from his home, with all his race, 
As utterly cut off, as I now cut 
This braided lock.” * 
Herodotus gives an account of an Egyptian sacrifice in which a magical 
transference takes place.t He says—“ The following is their manner of sacrifice: 
They lead the victim, marked with their signet, to the altar where they are 
about to offer it, and setting the wood alight, pour a libation of wine upon the 
altar in front of the victim, and at the same time invoke the god. Then they 
slay the animal, and cutting off his head, proceed to flay the body. Next they 
take the head, and heaping imprecations on it, if there is a market-place and a 
body of Greek traders in the city, they carry it there and sell it instantly; if, 
however, there are no Greeks among them, they throw the head into the river. 
The imprecation is to this effect—They pray that if any evil is impending over 
those who sacrifice, or over universal Egypt, it may be made to fall upon that 
head.” { Such magical transference is totally unknown to the Greeks. 
There is one passage to which I must allude before I leave this part of my 
subject. It occurs in the Cidipus Coloneus, vv. 498, 499, and is brought 
prominently forward by Lasautx. It runs thus :—“ For I think that one soul 
paying § these offerings is sufficient, instead of ten thousand, if it lend a willing 
presence.” This statement has been deemed something extraordinary ; but if 
taken in its connection it states a recognised sentiment among the Greeks. 
Cidipus has come into the precincts of the Eumenides, and he is bound to offer 
them sacrifice. He is, however, personally unable, and he asks one of his 
daughters to go and give the offering instead of him. In asking her he utters 
the lines quoted. It merely means that, in presenting an offering to a god, one 
willing worshipper is as good as ten thousand. The sacrifice was really paid 
by Cidipus ; the daughter is the mere representative minister. There is not a 
trace of substitution here. 
' ITJ.—TuarrD PERIOD, FROM THE TIME OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT TILL THE FOURTEENTH 
CENTURY, P.C. 
In my third period I take both pagan and Christian writers together. The 
ideas which during this period prevailed in regard to sacrifice were intimately 
connected with the singular religious movements of the time, and with the 
peculiar condition of society. I can only indicate here that at this period 
* y. 1179, Prof. Puumprre’s Translation. + Herod. ii.c. 39. | + Rawxrnson’s Translation. 
§ The reading éxtivovoayv is a questionable emendation ; but the point has no bearing on our 
present subject. 
VOL. XXVII. PART IV. 6D 
