Nor must I omit to mention the assistance which I have derived from written sources. In recent times it has been a favourite amusement with Greeks of some education to compile little histories of the particular district or island in which they live, and many of these contain a chapter devoted to the customs and superstitions of the locality. From these, as also from the records of travel in Greece, particularly those of French writers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, I have culled much that is valuable.
Nearly ten years have passed since my return from Greece, and such leisure as they have allowed has been devoted to co-ordinating the piecemeal information which I personally obtained or have gathered from the writings of others, and to examining its bearing upon the life and thought of Ancient Greece. In the former half of this task I have but followed in the steps of Bernhard Schmidt and of Polites, who had already presented a coherent, if still incomplete, account of the folklore of Modern Greece, and my work has been mainly to check, to correct, and to amplify; but for the latter half I would ask the indulgent consideration which may fairly be extended to a pioneer. Analogies and coincidences in the beliefs and customs of modern and of ancient Greece have indeed been pointed out by others; but no large attempt has previously been made to trace the continuity of the life and thought of the Greek people, and to exhibit modern Greek folklore as an essential factor in the interpretation of ancient Greek religion.
It is my hope that this book will prove interesting not to Greek scholars only, but to readers who have little or no acquaintance with Greek. All quotations whether from the ancient or modern language are translated, and references to ancient and modern writers are distinguished by the use of the ordinary Latinised names and titles in the case of the former, and the retention of the Greek character for denoting the latter. As regards the transliteration of modern Greek words, I have made no attempt to represent the exact sound, except to indicate in some words the accented syllable and to make the obvious substitution of the English v for the Greek β; but to replace γ by gh and δ by dh, as is sometimes done, gives to words an uncouth appearance without assisting the majority of readers in their pronunciation.
It remains only to express my thanks to the reviser of my proofs, Mr W. S. Hadley of Pembroke College, but these are the hardest to express adequately. I was conscious of making no small demand on the kindness of the Tutor of a large College when I asked him to do me this service; and I am conscious now that any words in acknowledgement of his kindness are a poor expression of my gratitude for the generous measure of time and of trouble which he has expended on each page.
Lastly I would thank the Syndics of the University Press for their willingness to undertake the publication of this book, and the staff of the Press for their unfailing courtesy in the course of its preparation.
J. C. L.
Pembroke College,
Cambridge,
December 31, 1909.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
| PAGE | ||
| Preface | [vii]-[x] | |
| Chapter I. Introductory. | ||
| § 1. | Modern Folklore as a source for the study of Ancient Religion | [1]-[7] |
| § 2. | The survival of Ancient Tradition | [8]-[25] |
| § 3. | The survival of Hellenic Tradition | [25]-[36] |
| § 4. | The survival of Pagan Tradition | [36]-[64] |
| Chapter II. The Survival of Pagan Deities. | ||
| § 1. | The Range of Modern Polytheism | [65]-[71] |
| § 2. | Zeus | [72]-[74] |
| § 3. | Poseidon | [75]-[77] |
| § 4. | Pan | [77]-[79] |
| § 5. | Demeter and Persephone | [79]-[98] |
| § 6. | Charon | [98]-[117] |
| § 7. | Aphrodite and Eros | [117]-[120] |
| § 8. | The Fates | [121]-[130] |
| § 9. | The Nymphs | [130]-[162] |
| § 10. | The Queens of the Nymphs | [162]-[173] |
| § 11. | Lamiae, Gelloudes, and Striges | [173]-[184] |
| § 12. | Gorgons | [184]-[190] |
| § 13. | The Centaurs | [190]-[255] |
| § 14. | Genii | [255]-[291] |
| Chapter III. The Communion of Gods and Men. | [292]-[360] | |
| Chapter IV. The Relation of Soul and Body. | ||
| § 1. | The Modern Greek Vampire | [361]-[376] |
| § 2. | The Composition of the Superstition: Slavonic, Ecclesiastical, and Hellenic Contributions | [376]-[412] |
| § 3. | Revenants in Ancient Greece | [412]-[434] |
| § 4. | Revenants as Avengers of Blood | [434]-[484] |
| Chapter V. Cremation and Inhumation | [485]-[514] | |
| Chapter VI. the Benefit of Dissolution | [515]-[542] | |
| Chapter VII. the Union of Gods and Men | [543]-[606] | |
| General Index | [607]-[617] | |
| Index of Greek words and phrases | [618]-[620] | |