A live buffalo is next killed, and its flesh is divided among
the mandarins. According to one account, the effigy of the ox is
made of clay, and, after being beaten by the governor, is stoned by
the people till they break it in pieces, "from which they expect an
abundant year." Here the corn-spirit appears to be plainly
represented by the corn-filled ox, whose fragments may therefore be
supposed to bring fertility with them.
On the whole we may perhaps conclude that both as a goat and as a
bull Dionysus was essentially a god of vegetation. The Chinese and
European customs which I have cited may perhaps shed light on the
custom of rending a live bull or goat at the rites of Dionysus. The
animal was torn in fragments, as the Khond victim was cut in pieces,
in order that the worshippers might each secure a portion of the
life-giving and fertilising influence of the god. The flesh was
eaten raw as a sacrament, and we may conjecture that some of it was
taken home to be buried in the fields, or otherwise employed so as
to convey to the fruits of the earth the quickening influence of the
god of vegetation.
Pages:
1292
1293
1294
1295
1296
1297
1298
1299
1300
1301
1302
1303
1304
1305
1306
1307
1308
1309
1310
1311
1312
1313
1314
1315
1316