m these countries they were introduced among the Thracians or Pelasgians
in the island of Samothrace, and extended thence into Greece. They were
sometimes celebrated in honor {33} of Jupiter, sometimes of Bacchus, and
sometimes of Ceres. 3. The _Dionysia_, which were brought from Thrace to
Thebes, and were very similar to the former. They were celebrated every
second year. The transition of men from barbarism to civilization was
likewise represented in them. The women were clothed in skins of beasts.
With a spear (_thyrsus_), bound with ivy, in their hands, they ascended
Mount Cithaeron; when, after the religious ceremonies, wild dances were
performed, which ended with the dispersion of the priestesses and the
initiated in the neighboring woods. They had also symbols, chiefly relating
to Bacchus, who was the hero of these mysteries. These celebrations were
forbidden in Thebes, even in the time of Epaminondas, and afterward in all
Greece, as prejudicial to the public peace and morals. 4. The _Orphic_,
chiefly deserving mention as the probable foundation of the Eleusinian. 5.
The mysteries of Isis, not in vogue in Greece, but very popular in
Rome.[31] The offspring of Egyptian priestcraft, they were instituted with
a view to aggrandize that order of men, to extend their influence, and
enlarge their revenues. To accomplish these selfish projects, they applied
every engine toward besotting the multitude with superstition and
enthusiasm. They taught them to believe that they were the distinguished
favorites of Heaven; that celestial doctrines had been revealed to them,
too holy to be communicated to the profane {34} rabble, and too sublime to
be comprehended by vulgar capacities. Princes and legislators, who found
their advantage in overawing and humbling the multitude, readily adopted a
plan so artfully fabricated to answer these purposes. The views of those in
power were congenial with those of the priests, and both united in the same
spirit to thus control the respect, admiration, and dependence, of the
million.

They made their disciples believe that in the next world the souls of the
uninitiated should roll in mire and dirt, and with difficulty reach their
destined mansion. Hence, Plato introduces Socrates as observing that "the
sages who introduced the Teletae had positively affirmed that whatever soul
should arrive in the infernal mansions _unhouselled_ and _unannealed_
should lie there immersed in mire and filth."--"An