we only gather that there was a kind of Mystery Play on
the sacred legend; that there were fastings, vigils, sacrifices, secret
objects displayed, sacred words uttered; and that thence such men as
Pindar and Sophocles received the impression that for them, in this and
the future life, all was well, was well for those of pure hearts and
hands. The "purity" may partly have been ritual, but was certainly
understood, also, as relating to excellence of life. Than such a faith
(for faith it is) religion has nothing better to give. But the extreme
diligence of scholars and archaeologists can tell us nothing more
definite. The impressions on the souls of the initiated may have been
caused merely by that dim or splendid religious light of the vigils, and
by association with sacred things usually kept in solemn sanctuaries.
Again, mere buffoonery (as is common in savage Mysteries) brought the
pilgrims back to common life when they crossed the bridge on their return
to Athens; just as the buffooneries of Baubo brought a smile to the sad
lips of Demeter. Beyond this all is conjecture, and the secret may have
been so well kept just because, in fact, there was no secret to keep.
{59}

Till the end of the present century, mythologists did not usually employ
the method of comparing Greek rites and legends with, first, the
sympathetic magic and the fables of peasant folk-lore; second, with the
Mysteries and myths of contemporary savage races, of which European folk-
lore is mainly a survival. For a study of Demeter from these sides (a
study still too much neglected in Germany) readers may consult
Mannhardt's works, Mr. Frazer's "Golden Bough," and the present
translator's "Custom and Myth," and "Myth, Ritual, and Religion." Mr.
Frazer, especially, has enabled the English reader to understand the
savage and rural element of sympathetic magic as a factor in the Demeter
myth. Meanwhile Mr. Pater has dealt with the higher sentiment, the more
religious aspect, of the myth and the rites. I am not inclined to go all
lengths with Mr. Frazer's ingenious and learned system, as will be seen,
while regretting that the new edition of his "Golden Bough" is not yet
accessible.

If we accept (which I do not entirely) Mr. Frazer's theory of the origin
of the Demeter myth, there is no finer example of the Greek power of
transforming into beauty the superstitions of Barbarism. The explanation
to which I refer is contained in Mr. J. G. Frazer's