Library of universal knowledge Volume 2 - Tapa blanda

Reseña del editor

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1898 Excerpt: ... refined ages of Greece, all the genius of the sculptor was employed in making those beautiful statues which have remained unsurpassed to this day. The altars in the Grecian temples were usually lower than the statues of the gods. They were heaps of earth, ashes or stone, arranged in the form of an oblong square. Some were made of horn or brick, while others, more beautiful and splendid, were overlaid with gold. Some were designed for sacrifices made with fire. Animals were offered upon others to appease or propitiate the deity. Cakes, fruits or inanimate things were only placed upon others. Temples, statues and altars were regarded as sacred. The privilege of protecting offenders was granted to many of them. The Greek poets often allude to this practice. Thus says Euripides: "The wild beast is protected by the rocks, And vile slaves by the altars of the gods." The priests were not expected to teach lessons of morality. They only taught that the gods required slavish adulation, and an outward show of reverence for them from their worshipers, who were rewarded with the divine favor in proportion to the quantity and costliness of their offerings. Besides the public religious services there were certain mysterious rites, performed only in secret by those who had been initiated, in honor of particular divinities. The most remarkable of these mystical observances were those already noticed as celebrated at Eleusis, in Attica, in honor of Demeter and Proserpine, and known as the Eleusinian Mysteries. All who were initiated in them were bound by the most solemn oath never to reveal them. It was considered a crime even to speak of them to the uninitiated. Those who were initiated in them were regarded as under the special protection of the gods. Only Athe...