The Greeks had no Sabbath days; but in each state were religious festivals which were celebrated at regular intervals. The Athenians set aside more than 50 days each year for the worship of the gods. Certain days in each month were sacred to some particular deity. The priest was not a holy man, nor was it requisite that he should have a • special educa tion for his office. Physical perfection was necessary to please the god. Sometimes the right to a was sold to the highest bidder. In Athens, the priest was often selected by lot. No elaborate consecration was necessary.
The Greeks prayed to the gods, for from the gods came all good things.* A prayer was offered when the youths entered the athletic contests or went hunting, and especially when they set out for war. The farmer prayed when he began to plow. Pericles is said never to have begun an oration without a prayer that he might °utter no unfitting word.' Women gen erally prayed to Demeter and Persephone. The votive offering was a gift in acknowledgment of some blessing. In later times it was either a thank-offering or the payment of a vow. Men healed from sickness would express their gratitude by dedicating an image to Asclepios; the victor in a contest by dedicating the wreath he had won, or a statue. The temple of Apollo on the island of Delos possessed 1,600 vessels of gold and silver that had been dedicated as votive offerings.
For a propitiatory sacrifice a black animal was ordinarily selected. Its head was bent to the earth, the throat cut, and the blood allowed to soak into the ground. No libations were poured.
In the Eleusinian Mysteries was taught the belief in a real life after death. °Thrice blessed they of men who see these mystic rites before they go to Hades' realm" (Sophocles). All Greeks believed in the continued existence of the soul; but those initiated into the Eleusinian mysteries felt that they would have the favor of Persephone, queen of the lower world. These mysteries were probably the most important form of worship in ancient Greece.
The Greeks conceived the word as the re sult of a development, in which the more com plex forms grew out of simpler forms. The gods themselves were descended from Heaven and Earth. Zeus was the god of the family. The stranger and the suppliant were under his protection. Hera, his wife, as goddess of marriage, was worshipped by women with initiative rites. Athena was the goddess of war. Under the name of Ergane she endowed women with skill in weaving and embroidering. The olive was her best gift to the Athenians. At the Panathenxic festival she was represented as the patron goddess of Athens, of its martial glory, its technical skill in manufacture and its political wisdom. Athena and Athens, the goddess and the city, were practically one. The man who died in battle for the city died in the service of the goddess. Unless one bears in mind the power which the city exercised over the imagination of the citizen, the most un-, portant strain in Greek religion and religious art will not be recognized. Apollo, the embodi ment of youth, was worshipped by boys on ar riving at maturity. The Delphic Appollo was patron of prophecy, music and the healing art. To Artemis women prayed for help in child birth. She was the only god to whom wild beasts were ever sacrificed. Hunters prayed for her blessing. Of all the sea gods, Poseidon was the only one who had a seat in the Olympian council. The usual victim at his altar was the
bull. The rearing of horses was his special care. The heavenly bodies were not worshipped in Greece, except in Rhodes the sun (Helios) was the chief deity. Demeter, originally