Thus we may take it as certain that even the greater deities of the
calendar, Janus, Jupiter, Mars, Quirinus, and Vesta, were not thought of
as existing in any sense in human form, nor as personal beings having
any human characteristics. The early Romans were destitute of
mythological fancy, and as they had never had their deities presented to
them in visible form, could hardly have invented such stories about
them as sprang up in a most abundant crop when Greek literature and
Greek art had changed their mental view of divinity. Roman legends were
occupied with practical matters, with kings and the foundation of
cities; and even among these it is hardly possible to detect those which
may be really Roman, for they are hidden away, like rude ancient
frescoes, under the elaborate decorations of the Greek artists, who
seized upon everything that came to hand, including the old deities
themselves, to amuse themselves and win the admiration of their dull
pupils at Rome. He who would appreciate the difficulty of getting at the
original rude drawings must be well acquainted with the decorative
activity of the Alexandrian age.

Thus we might well presume _a priori_ that the old Roman gods were not
conceived as married pairs, nor as having children; and this is indeed
the conclusion at which we have arrived after half a century or more of
most careful and conscientious investigation by a series of German
scholars. But quite recently in this country the contrary view has been
put forward by an author of no less weight than Dr. Frazer; and another
eminent Cambridge scholar, Mr. A. B. Cook, evidently inclines to the
same view. I should in any case be reluctant to engage in controversy
with two valued personal friends; but it is just possible that in what
follows I may be able to throw some faint light on the evolution of the
idea of marriage among divine beings; and on the strength of this I am
content for the moment to be controversial. Dr. Frazer's arguments, with
strictures on my opinions, will be found in an appendix to his book on
_Adonis,_ _Attis_, _Osiris_, 2nd edition.

In pure animism the spirits are nameless; when their residence and
functions are more clearly recognised they acquire names, and these
names are naturally masculine or feminine among peoples whose language
is not genderless, as was the case with the Sumerians of
Babylonia.[298] This would seem to be the first step on the path to a
personal conception of di