The Golden Bough (Third Edition, Vol. 7 of 12) - Mirrors

40 The Golden Bough (Third Edition, Vol. 7 of 12)[030]The goatskins in which the principal actors are disguised remindus of the identification of Dionysus with a goat: the infant, cradledin a winnowing-fan and taking its name from the implement,answers exactly to the traditions and the monuments whichrepresent the infant Dionysus as similarly cradled and similarlynamed: the pretence that the baby is a seven-months' childborn out of wedlock and begotten by an unknown father talliesprecisely with the legend that Dionysus was born prematurelyin the seventh month as the offspring of an intrigue between amortal woman and a mysterious divine father: 118 the same coarsesymbol of reproductive energy which characterised the ancientritual of Dionysus figures conspicuously in the modern drama:the annual mock marriage of the goatskin-clad mummer with thepretended bride may be compared with the annual pretence ofmarrying Dionysus to the Queen of Athens: and the simulatedslaughter and resurrection of the same goatskin-clad actor maybe compared with the traditional slaughter and resurrection of thegod himself. Further, the ceremony of ploughing, in which afterhis resurrection the goatskin-clad mummer takes a prominentpart, fits in well not only with the legend that Dionysus was thefirst to yoke oxen to the plough, but also with the symbolism ofthe winnowing-fan in his worship; while the prayers for plentifulcrops which accompany the ploughing accord with the omens ofan abundant harvest which were drawn of old from the mysticlight seen to illumine by night one of his ancient sanctuaries inThrace. Lastly, in the ceremony as observed at Kosti the givingof wine by the king's attendant is an act worthy of the wine-god:the throwing of seed by the king can only be interpreted, likethe ploughing, as a charm to promote the fertility of the ground;and the royal title borne by the principal masker harmonises wellsqq., who fully recognises the connexion of the modern Thracian ceremonieswith the ancient rites of Dionysus.118 Lucian, Dialogi Deorum, ix. 2; Apollodorus, Bibliotheca, iii. 4. 4.According to the latter writer Dionysus was born in the sixth month.