1. Our intention in this chapter is to show that, besides the mythology, the ceremonies also of the worship of Apollo so agree and harmonize together, as to furnish a decisive proof of its regular and systematic development; after which we will endeavour to point out this agreement, and elucidate its relative bearings; although an attempt of this kind must necessarily be very imperfect, since the religion, which, in order to comprehend, we should regard with the ardour of devotion, is now merely the subject of cold and heartless speculation.
First, with regard to the sacrifices, it is remarkable, that in many of the principal temples a particular sanctity and importance was attributed to _bloodless_ offerings. At Delphi cakes and frankincense were consecrated in holy baskets;(1341) at Patara, cakes in the form of bows, arrows, and lyres, emblems both of the wrath and placability of the deity.(1342) At Delos, an altar, called the altar of the pious, stood behind the altar built of horns, on which were deposited only cakes of wheat and barley; this, according to tradition, was the only one on which Pythagoras sacrificed.(1343) In this island also at festivals were offered mallows and ears of corn;(1344) the simplest food of man, in remembrance of primitive simplicity and temperance. At Delphi the young women of Parnassus are said to have brought the first-fruits of the year to Apollo, immediately after the destruction of the Python.(1345) The pious offerings of the Hyperboreans, as has been remarked above, were the same as those last enumerated. And perhaps we may add to our list the custom, at the Attic autumnal festival of the Pyanepsia, of hanging grapes, fruits, and small jars of honey and oil, to branches of olive or laurel bound with wool, and carrying them to the doors of a temple of Apollo;(1346) though perhaps this rite belonged rather to Bacchus, the Sun, and the Hours,(1347) who shared the honour of this festival with Apollo.
2. The above offerings doubtless express the existence of a pure and filial relation, like that in which the Hyperboreans stood to Apollo; it being quite sufficient for persons in so innocent a state to give a constant acknowledgment of the benevolence and power with which the god defends and preserves them. But as the pure deity was himself supposed to be stained with blood, so might the minds of his worshippers become tainted with sin, and lose their internal quiet. When in this state, being as it were under the influence of a fiendlike and corrupting power (Ἄτη), the mind naturally wishes to put an end to its unhappy condition by some specific and definite act. This is effected by the solemn expiation and purification of the religion of Apollo. Expiatory rites were thus introduced into the regular system of worship, and formed a part of the ancient _jus sacrum._ It was soon however perceived that the usual routine of life sometimes needed the same ceremony, and hence expiatory _festivals_ were connected with the public worship of the god; by which not only individuals, but whole cities were purified. These festivals were naturally celebrated in the spring, when the storms of winter disappear, and nature bursts into fresh life.(1348) But in these the pious gifts of individuals no longer sufficed, nor even the sacrifice of animals; and the troubled mind seemed to require for its purification a greater sacrifice. At Athens, during the Thargelia, two men (or a man and a woman), adorned with flowers and fruits, having been rubbed over with fragrant herbs, were led in the most solemn manner, like victims, before the gate, and thrown with imprecations from the rock; but were in all probability taken up below, and carried beyond the borders. The persons used for these expiations (Φαρμακοὶ) were condemned criminals, whom the city provided for the purpose.(1349) This festival was common to all Ionians; it is particularly mentioned at Miletus(1350) and Paros;(1351) and the same rites were also practised in the Phocæan colony of Massalia.(1352) In Ionia the victims were beaten with branches of the fig-tree and with sea-onions; at the same time there was played on the flute a strain (called χραδίης), which, according to the testimony of Hipponax, was reduced by Mimnermus into elegiac measure.(1353) At Athens also the victims were crowned with figs and fig-branches, being probably the symbol of utter worthlessness. The antiquity of this manner of purification has been shown above, in our remarks upon the religious ceremonies of Leucadia.(1354)