n the main and at the outset, not the outcome of
intellectual illusion, not even the exercise of a "mimetic instinct,"
but simply, in its ultimate analysis, an utterance, a discharge of
emotion and longing.

But though the utterance of emotion is the prime and moving, it is not
the sole, factor. We may utter emotion in a prolonged howl, we may even
utter it in a collective prolonged howl, yet we should scarcely call
this ritual, still less art. It is true that a prolonged _collective_
howl will probably, because it is collective, develop a rhythm, a
regular recurrence, and hence probably issue in a kind of ritual music;
but for the further stage of development into art another step is
necessary. We must not only _utter_ emotion, we must _represent_ it,
that is, we must in some way reproduce or imitate or express the thought
which is causing us emotion. Art is not imitation, but art and also
ritual frequently and legitimately _contain an element of imitation_.
Plato was so far right. What exactly is imitated we shall see when we
come to discuss the precise difference between art and ritual.

* * * * *

The Greek word for a _rite_ as already noted is _dromenon_, "a thing
done"--and the word is full of instruction. The Greek had realized that
to perform a rite you must _do_ something, that is, you must not only
feel something but express it in action, or, to put it psychologically,
you must not only receive an impulse, you must react to it. The word for
rite, _dromenon_, "thing done," arose, of course, not from any
psychological analysis, but from the simple fact that rites among the
primitive Greeks were _things done_, mimetic dances and the like. It is
a fact of cardinal importance that their word for theatrical
representation, _drama_, is own cousin to their word for rite,
_dromenon_; _drama_ also means "thing done." Greek linguistic instinct
pointed plainly to the fact that art and ritual are near relations. To
this fact of crucial importance for our argument we shall return later.
But from the outset it should be borne in mind that in these two Greek
words, _dromenon_ and _drama_, in their exact meaning, their relation
and their distinction, we have the keynote and clue to our whole
discussion.

* * * * *

For the moment we have to note that the Greek word for rite, _dromenon_,
"thing done," is not strictly adequate. It omits a factor of prime
importa