gods amongst themselves, but of two conceptions of good and of evil existing for themselves, and transferred as two princi ples to beings of equal power. Here we have at once good and evil spirits with inferior and dependent beings. The idea of sorcery, and the belief connected with it, are also of later and probably foreign origin,-partly through the speculations of philosophers, partly through the residence of Greeks in Persia and Egypt. Foreign ideas were now introduced under cover of the names of native gods, by which the later mythology and the demonology therein contained are to be explained. Thus, for instance, native gods were made guardians of magic; but at the same time the foreign portion remained visible, the more so as, the path being once opened, similar ideas were attracted. The magic systems, therefore, came from Higher Asia to Egypt, and the magic arts were connected and incorporated with the traditions of Colchis. Colchis and Medea, Iberia, Assyria, Chaldæa, gave their names to magic herbs,—“Karà papμaкa φαμί φυλλάσσειν, Ασσυρίω παρά ξείνοιο μαθοῖσα” (Theocr. i. 162).—Iberia, Colchis venenorum ferax, Hor.; malæ herbæ Medeæ, flammis Colchicis, Hor.; Phariacæ gramina terræ, Ovid.

The Thessalonians are mentioned as the most diligent exorcisers of magic, under the form of sorcery, after the invasion of the Persians,- "Thessalæ urbes, quarum cognomen diu obtinuit, magia :" Plin. xxx. 1. Menander ridiculed the Thessalian sorceresses, who, it is said, endeavoured to draw down the moon; 66 quæ sidera excantata voce Thessala, lunamque cœlo deripit:" Hor. Ep. v. 45. Thessaly was rich in magical plants. "Media Thessaliæ loca, quæ artis magicæ nativa cantamina totius orbis consono ore celebrentur," Apul. The residence of the Persians in Thessaly was of long duration; many traditions may be traced, as, for instance, that of the physician Chiron, Jason, to the coarser Thessalian mind. In Suidas we find a direct reference of this kind-namely, that Medea, in her journey through the air, let fall pápμaka in a casket in Thessaly. It is not, however, our object to enter more fully into the subject of

sorcery.

That the celebrated secrets of Samothrace reach back to

the highest antiquity is certain; and although, according to Schelling's investigations, the words Axinros, Axiocerses, &c., lead us to conclude upon something foreign and magical, yet we must believe, whatever the origin, that true magic was a species of natural philosophy. Writers collectively shew that the mysteries, demonology and sorcery, stood in connection with each other. That their foundation was most intimately connected with the unfolding religion of the country is clear from the above. Priestcraft was the nurse of civilization, and we cannot doubt that it alone possessed the highest knowledge, and preserved it from profanation in the service of the gods, and also mysteriously enveloped its use before the people: on this account unknown effects and appearances were looked upon as synonymous with magic, a belief which has continued to our time. That a knowledge of the powers of nature was taught in the mysteries in connection with the sacred healing art, and that wonderful cures were often performed in the temples, is an undisputed fact. Whether we look upon Orpheus or Musæus, as is usual, as the possessors of great knowledge of nature, and the founders of these mysteries, or not, we shall find that their names are so intimately incorporated with all ideas of those mysteries that they may well stand for the representatives of natural science and magic. For Orpheus, the son of the muse Calliope, and according to some of Apollo, is represented, even before the Trojan war, as a prophetic bard, and such a wonder-worker, that not only animals but also the trees followed him, and that he commanded the storms and tempests. He had been in Egypt and the East, (and with the Argonauts to Colchis) and returned home with the knowledge he had obtained there. Musæus, as successor or disciple of Orpheus, is said, as a poet and philosopher, to have introduced religious ceremonies according to the instructions of Orpheus: miraculous cures are also ascribed to him.

The mysteries became celebrated after the time of Pythagoras, who was universally believed to be a magician initiated into the Egyptian mysteries. Although Orpheus and Pythagoras were called by some sorcerers (Pausan. Eliac. 221), yet the mysteries remained quite reconcileable

with religion, and no one doubted their sanctity, which is the more proved by the fact that at a later period those who were convicted of sorcery (abuse of magic) were excluded from the Eleusinian mysteries. It is probable that in the increasing corruption of the state religion, the mysteries fell into decay, and demonology became mixed up with the foreign mysteries; the popular inclination leaned towards sorcery, instead of towards the earlier religious magic; and much was spoken of the Dea Syria. According to Wachsmuth, this may have been especially the case in the mysteries of Hecate, in Ægina. This suspicion of foreign contamination arises from the fact that aid was sought from the national gods against the power of sorcery, and to dispel its charms. At a later time, almost all kinds of sorcery were known; such as the aerial journey of Abaris upon a javelin given him by Apollo (Iamblich, in vita Pythag. c. 28); we hear of injury done to cattle, and gardens, against which Phallus, sacred to Priapus (a divinity of later date) is the protector; of the evil eye-Baokavía. Canina guards children in the cradle (Lactantius, i. 19); and Pliny (xxviii. 3, 4) has named many remedies, particularly herbs, against bewitchment, but adds: magorum hæc commenta sunt." Varro and Plato mention amulets (Re repub. 4); Petronius speaks of threads; Virgil of garlands; Theocritus of spittle; words and sentences, which, as is usual, were of foreign derivation. To these belong the so-called Ephesian letters, "Ephesiæ litteræ" (Athen. xii. p. 171: épec. yрaμμ. Hesych.) for instance, Aski, Kataski, Tetrax, &c.; in sickness such words were repeated, even where there was no sorcery to combat, such as those of Cato: Daris, dardaries, astaris, ista, pista, sista (Plin. 28; Horat. Ep. v. 71). I have already spoken of magical soothsaying, which the Greeks divided into four classes;-the symbols of birds, voices, agreeing occurrences, and sacrifices.

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Although by degrees sorcery, as a later science, threatened more and more to supersede magic, yet it was always regarded with contempt, and its practice proscribed as something unholy, as well as the belief that sickness could be cured by natural means, without the aid of the gods or religious ceremonies. Sickness was regarded as directly

sent by the gods, and therefore only to be cured by religious ceremonies. Thus, for instance, Hippocrates (De morbo sacro) states that in this disease the imitation of goats, the bleating and contraction of the right side, was ascribed to Cybele; violent shouting to Neptune; purging to Hecate; foaming and stamping to Mars; terror and starting up from the bed to the pursuits of Hecate. We see from this account of Hippocrates that the spasmodic appearances of epilepsy are indicated and ascribed to various spirits, as occasionally has been the case in the present age.

Although we find the Greeks endeavouring to cure diseases by ceremonies and by means of the prayers of the priests, yet natural remedies were not the less to be used according to their advice, but with inverse power-for healing, and not for the production of disease by sorcery. It was understood that everything must be obtained from the gods, or their confidants the priests, and that nature was subject to the gods; everything contrary to this belief was considered as foreign and sacrilegious, and called yoŋria.

The development of natural philosophy, which was decried as foreign, and which taught an unconditional belief in the influence of the gods, spread even among the philosophers. The celebrated men who travelled in Egypt and Asia to gather knowledge, such as Pythagoras, Empedocles, Democritus, and Plato, were accused of having brought sorcery back with them; as we find in Plato (De leg. xii.), where he speaks of the government of the universe and the course of nature; so that it happened to them as to Roger Bacon, Albertus Magnus, Galileo, and many others. To ascribe anything to nature and her powers alone, and to leave the gods out of the question, was placed under the ban as an unholy work. In Apulejus (De magia, p. 32, edit. Hip.) we find the following detailed passage: "Verum hæc ferme communi quodam errore imperitorum philosophis objectantur; ut partim eorum, qui corporis causas meras et simplices rimantur, irreligioses putent, eoque agant deos abnuere, ut Anaxagoram et Leucippum, et Democritum et Epicurum, cæterosque rerum naturæ patronos; partim autem, qui providentiam mundi curiosius vestigant et impensius deos celebrant, eos vero vulgo magos nominent, quasi facere etiam sciant, quæ

sciant fieri, ut olim fuere Epimenides et Orpheus et Pythagoras et Osthanes. A dein similiter suspecta Empedoclis καθαρμοί, Socratis Dæmonion, Platonis τὸ ἀγαθὸν.”

Though the popular voice was raised against false magic, and though general opinion was averse to free philosophical speculation, yet religious culture was still more opposed to it. The government rested upon the native religious culture, and with all its attention to foreign affairs it was obliged to regard internal arrangements first. The introduction of foreign goods and of new customs, contrary to the established ones, or in any way destructive of them, was therefore unlawful and punishable. The priests might, perhaps, with just indignation, have held the abuse of magic and the arts of sorcery in abhorrence, and self-interest naturally weighed down the scale. For every priesthood of every age has maintained its rights and privileges jealously. The philosophers must therefore have guarded themselves from saying anything openly against the worship of the native gods: Digoras was banished as a denier of God, and Socrates accused of having introduced new gods. According to Demosthenes, a Samian sorceress, Theoris was burned in Athens (In Arist. i.) Even Plato declared against sorcery, and wished to imprison those who practised it (De leg. 6). Magic and sorcery were, therefore, for a long time only practised in secret. But with the increase of internal confusion, and a more intimate connection with foreign countries, especially with A sia, after Alexander's invasions, watchfulness no longer availed; the patriotic separation of the various Greek states declined, and magic gained greater freedom from restraint in the degree of its decline and corruption.

Those beautiful institutions of the mysteries from which the physician, as well as the priest and statesman, might have learned much, like the history of the infancy of mankind lose themselves in obscurity: the sacred groves have disappeared; the temples of Hellas lie prostrate in the dust, and solitary travellers pass by, or robber hordes infest, the sacred spots where the gods lived among men, and imparted to them counsel and assistance for the relief of their afflictions. But we find that sufficient still remains, partly in direct accounts, partly in the songs of poets, who only uttered