days and at the present time, the Spring Festival arrests
attention. Having learnt the general characteristics of this Spring
Festival, we have now to turn to one particular case, the Spring
Festival of the Greeks. This is all-important to us because, as will be
seen, from the ritual of this and kindred festivals arose, we believe, a
great form of Art, the Greek drama.

FOOTNOTES:

[7] Chapter XII: "Periodicity in Nature."

[8] _Ibid._

[9] _De Ser. Num._ 17.

[10] Frazer, _Adonis, Attis, and Osiris_,^3 p. 200.

[11] Quoted by Dr. Frazer, _The Golden Bough_,^2 p. 203.

[12] E.K. Chambers, _The Mediaeval Stage_, I, p. 169.

[13] _The Golden Bough_,^2 p. 205.

[14] _The Golden Bough_,^2 p. 213.

[15] Resumed from Dr. Frazer, _Golden Bough_,^2 II, p. 104.

[16] _De Is. et Os._, p. 367.

[17] _De Aug. Scient._, III, 4.

[18] J.C. Lawson, _Modern Greek Folk-lore and Ancient Religion_, p. 573.

CHAPTER IV

THE SPRING FESTIVAL IN GREECE

The tragedies of AEschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides were performed at
Athens at a festival known as the Great Dionysia. This took place early
in April, so that the time itself makes us suspect that its ceremonies
were connected with the spring. But we have more certain evidence.
Aristotle, in his treatise on the Art of Poetry, raises the question of
the origin of the drama. He was not specially interested in primitive
ritual; beast dances and spring mummeries might even have seemed to him
mere savagery, the lowest form of "imitation;" but he divined that a
structure so complex as Greek tragedy must have arisen out of a simpler
form; he saw, or felt, in fact, that art had in some way risen out of
ritual, and he has left us a memorable statement.

In describing the "Carrying-out of Summer" we saw that the element of
real _drama_, real impersonation, began with the leaders of the band,
with the Queen of the May, and with the "Death" or the "Winter." Great
is our delight when we find that for Greek drama Aristotle[19] divined a
like beginning. He says:

"Tragedy--as also Comedy--was at first mere improvisation--the one
(tragedy) _originated with the leaders of the Dithyramb_."

The further question faces us: What was the Dithyramb? We shall find to
our joy that this obscure-sounding Dithyramb, though before Aristotle's
time it had taken literary form, was in origin a festival closely akin
to those we have just been discussing. The Dithyramb was, to begi