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

16 The Hymn of the Kouretes [ch.
resurrection ritual was well enough as a mystery, but in the third
century A.D. not for publication even in a ritual Hymn.
In the study of Greek religion it is all important that the
clear distinction should be realized between the comparatively
permanent element nfthr ritunil nnd ijir-hiftinr; manifold
charact er of the myth"! In the case before us we have a uniform
ritual, the elements ot ; which we have disentangled—the armed
dance over the child, the mimic death and rebirth ;
but the myth
shifts ; it is told variously of Zagreus, Dionysos, Zeus, and there is
every variety of detail as to how the child is mimetically killed
and how the resurrection is effected. To understand the religious
intent of the whole complex it is all important to seize on the
permanent ritual factors.
This does not, however, imply, as is sometimes supposed,
that ritual is prior to myth ; they probably arose together.
Ritual is the utterance of an emotion, a thing felt, in action, myth
in words or thoughts. They arise pari passu. The myth is not
at first aetiological, it does not arise to give a reason; it is repre-
sentative, another form of utterance, of expression. When the
emotion that started the ritual has died down and the ritual
though hallowed by tradition seems unmeaning, a reason is sought
in the myth and it is regarded as aetiological 1 .
We have now to ask what is the meaning of this extraordinary
ritual. Why is a child or young man subjected to mimic rites of
death and resurrection ?
The orthodox explanation is that the child is a sort of vege-
tation spirit or corn-baby, torn to pieces in winter, revived in
spring. I do not deny that in the myth there is an element of
Corn- or rather Year-baby, but the explanation cannot be regarded
as satisfactory, as it fails to explain the Kouretes, and the Titans
disguised with white clay.
I offer a simpler and I think more complete explanation.
Every single element, however seemingly preposterous, in both the
ritual and myth of Zagreus can be explained I believe by the
analogy of primitive rites of tribal initiation.
1 This point will become clearer when (in chapter n.) the psychology of the
bp&lievov, the ritual act, is examined. The general relation of myth to ritual is
reserved for chapter viii.