Themis, a study of the social origins of Greek ... - Warburg Institute

486 Themis [ch.
full-fledged divinity. In the passage already quoted 1 when
Patroklos runs to the ships, we have seen her hover on the verge
of divinity, and it is not a little curious that Homer here, in
his odd semi-conscious way, seems to feel that the gods grow out
of the assembly. Patroklos comes to the place
where was their assembly and their themis, whereby also were the altars of
their gods established.
These are the deol dyopaloi, dyojvtot.
Religion has in it then two elements, social custom, the
collective conscience, and the emphasis and representation of that
collective conscience. It has in a word within it two factors in-
dissolubly linked : ritual, that is custom, collective action, and
myth or theology, the representation of the collective emotion,
the collective conscience. And—a point of supreme importance
both are incumbent, binding, and interdependent.
Now it is in this twofold character and incumbency of religion
that its essence lies, and here too are found the characteristics that
delimit it from its near neighbours, morality and art. Morality is
the social conscience made imperative upon our actions, but
morality unlike religion, save on questions involving conduct,
leaves our thoughts free. Art, which is also, like religion, a
representation of the social conscience 2 , has no incumbencies.
She imposes no obligation on either action or thought. Her
goddess is Peitho not Themis.
We accept then Prof. Durkheim's 3 illuminating definition:—
Les phenomenes dits religieux consistent en croyances obligatoires
connexes de pratiques definies qui se rapportent a des objets donnes
dans les croyances.
It is of interest to note that Prof. Durkheim in his definition
never overtly says the word collective. The note and characteristic
1 Horn. II. loc. cit.
'iva. a(f> dyopTj re Oifus re
t\t)v, ttj 8ri kcli