Page:Greek and Roman Mythology.djvu/28

14 GREEK AND ROMAN MYTHOLOGY which one sustains toward a divinity, the obligation or duty which one feels toward him. 17. All purification (lustratio, from lud, Ka0ap/xds) relates originally to the body ; and water is the chief requisite in connection with it. Purification was, accordingly, con- sidered especially necessary in case of a murder attended with bloodshed, or of touching a dead person, though the idea of deliverance from guilt was not at first associated with it. For this purpose water from the sea or from a spring was preferred, because neither of these remains impure. Prayer is properly a simple request, the effect of which, however, can be heightened by the addition of a promise or a vow (e^x 7 ?? votum). Prescribed formulas were employed only because their success seemed to have shown that they, more than other words, were efficacious in influencing the gods to grant the desire expressed. 18. Anything that is likely to please a divinity may be offered as a gift (avdOrj/jLa). Appropriate gifts would be, first, such objects as are used in acts of worship or for the adornment of a temple ; secondly, such as possess a particular value for the person offering them. But the most common of all gifts to the gods was the offering of food and drink. Such offerings consisted of all the things that please the taste of man himself ; for originally physi- cal enjoyment was presupposed even in the case' of the gods. At a later time, by the burning of the offering, the vapor and smoke, at least, exhaling an agreeable odor, were made to ascend to the realm of the celestials. 19. Finally, as men gave expression to their will by signs or words, the effort was made to discover the will of the gods in omens (re/oara, ostenta), such as lightning,