res. Again, in the rites of
Dionysus Zagreus, a bull was torn to pieces and eaten. From this arose
the myth of Dionysus Zagreus as a son of Zeus and Persephone changed
into a bull and eaten by the Titans. He is born again under the name
of Dionysus, yet carries horns on his forehead, evident signs of his
animal origin. Thus different strata of religion and belief meet and
blend and necessitate the growth of explanatory myths.

But we must not allow the newer recognition of the part played by
misinterpretation in the development of myths to obscure the genuine
role of naive reflection upon the phenomena of nature. Yet the savage
imagination was limited by the experience at its command. The Homeric
hymn to Helios "looks on the sun as a half-god, almost a hero, who had
once lived on earth." Still more naive are legends which make it a
beast which has once been trapped. Myths arise to account for
eclipses, the waxing and waning of the moon, sunset, etc. The
explanation of the rainbow as a sign of a covenant between Yahweh and
Noah, is an excellent example of a nature-myth introduced as a part of
a legend.

There are many other sources of myths. Around all striking events,
such as the first punishment of homicide, legends arise. Bellerophon
and Ixion are compelled to flee into exile. Again, the facts and
ritual of death are a fruitful center for the working of the
imagination. The _sheol_ of the Hebrews is first the grave; and only
later does it become even the shadowy underworld which is pictured in
Isaiah.

But our purpose is not to present an exhaustive {19} analysis of the
types of myth which early man wove about the world in which he found
himself. What it is important to grasp is the slow growth from an
almost animal state of ignorance to a more enlightened, moral, and
socially ordered life. This evolution took time, and such progress as
was made was always in danger of being overthrown by the hardening of
myth and cult into a strait-jacket of superstition and hysterical fear.
This danger was always great just because reason could secure no firm
foothold upon reality. Man's life was one of constant fear. He felt
himself assailed by evil spirits and surrounded by taboos and laws, to
violate which meant disaster. When we glance over history, we find
only two things which have shown promise of power to raise man out of
this slough of fear,--ethical monotheism and reason. How far is this a
genuine an