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

510 Themis [oh.
sutures of his skull his soul was let loose. And, as his soul went forth, it
was mixed with pure and pleasant and lightsome air, and it seemed for the
first time to take breath, and seemed to expand and be more spacious than
before, like a sail swollen with the wind.
Then follows a long account of the revelation vouchsafed to
Timarchos, which included the whole cosmos and the daimones
pervading the cosmos, all of which was explained by an invisible
voice.
Finally,
The voice ceased speaking, and Timarchos turned round to see who whs
the speaker. But a sharp pain seized his head, as though his skull were
being pressed together, so that he lost all sense and understanding. In a
little while he recovered and found himself in the mouth of the cave of
Trophonios, where he had first lain down 1 .
Sokrates, when he was told all this, was much annoyed that he
had not heard about it before Timarchos died, so that he might
have questioned him on his experiences. We share the annoyance
of Sokrates.
'
In the Hybristika we saw that the rite de passage was
emphasized, expressed, represented by a change of clothes. In
the rites of Trophonios the transit from one state to another is
still more drastically enacted. After purification the suppliant
goes down into a chasm, slips through a hole feet foremost, is
swirled away, has a vision, comes back through the hole reversed.
Without exaggeration, he may surely be said to have accomplished
a rite de passage. In the rites of Trophonios we seem to see the
thing presented pictorially, physically, geographically; the rites
are, as M. van Gennep 2 would say, preliminal, liminal, postliminal.
But it may fairly be asked, Are we justified in comparing
the rites of Trophonios to rites of initiation ? Are they not
expressly and merely certain curious ceremonies in relation to
the consultation of a primitive oracle ?
It may be noted in passing that the suppliant was attended
by boys who were citizens, and that they were about thirteen
years of age, that is they had just attained puberty. But happily
we have evidence more definite.
(3) In his treatise on the Face in the Orb of the Moon,
1 Plut. de Genio Socr. xxn. sub Jin.
2 Les Rites de Passage, 1909, p. 14 ' le schema complet des rites de passage
comporte en theorie des rites preliminaires (separation), liminaires (marge) et^osf-
Uminaires (agregation) .