# Myth, Ritual, and Religion/Volume 2

MYTH, RITUAL, AND RELIGION.
Ballantyne Press
BALLANTYNE HANSON AND CO. EDINBURGH AND LONDON
MYTH, RITUAL, AND RELIGION.
BY
ANDREW LANG.
VOL. II.
LONDON:
LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.
1887.
All rights reserved.
CONTENTS. →← :
| CHAPTER XII. ||
| GODS OF THE LOWEST RACES | 1 |
| Gods of Australia—Chiefly birds—Yet with moral interests—Bushmen gods—Cagn, the grasshopper—Hottentot gods—"Wounded knee," a dead sorcerer—Melanesian gods—Qat and the spider—Aht and Maori beast-gods and men-gods—Samoan form of totem-gods—One god incarnate in many animal shapes—One for each clan—They punish the eating of totems. | |
| CHAPTER XIII. ||
| AMERICAN DIVINE MYTHS | 36 |
| Novelty of the "New World"—Different stages of culture represented there—Question of American Monotheism—Authorities and evidence cited—Myths examined: Eskimo, Ahts, Thlinkeets, Iroquois, the Great Hare—Dr. Brinton's theory of the hare—Zuni myths—Transition to Mexican mythology. | |
| CHAPTER XIV. ||
| MEXICAN DIVINE MYTHS | 65 |
| European eye-witnesses of Mexican ritual—Diaz, his account of temples and gods—Sahagun, his method—Theories of the god ​Huitzilopochtli—Totemistic and other elements in his image and legend—Illustrations from Latin religion—"God-eating"—The Calendar—Other gods—Their feasts and cruel ritual—Their composite character—Parallels from ancient classical peoples—Moral aspects of Aztec gods. |
| CHAPTER XV. ||
| THE MYTHOLOGY OF EGYPT | 82 |
| Antiquity of Egypt—Guesses at origin of the people—Chronological view of the religion—Permanence and changes—Local and syncretic worship—Elements of pure belief and of totemism—Authorities for facts—Monuments and Greek reports—Contending theories of modern authors—Study of the gods, their beasts, their alliances, and mutations—Evidence of ritual—A study of the Osiris myth and of the development of Osiris—Savage and theological elements in the myth—Moral aspects of the religion—Conclusion. | |
| CHAPTER XVI. ||
| GODS OF THE ARYANS OF INDIA | 125 |
| Difficulties of the study—Development of clan-gods—Departmental gods—Divine patronage of morality—Immorality mythically attributed to gods—Indra—His love of Soma—Scandal about Indra—Attempts to explain Indra as an elemental god—Varuna—Ushas—The Asvins—Their legend and theories about it—Tvashtri—The Maruts—Conclusions arrived at. | |
| CHAPTER XVII. ||
| GREEK DIVINE MYTHS | 163 |
| Gods in myth, and God in religion—The society of the gods like that of men in Homer—Borrowed elements in Greek belief—Zeus—His name—Development of his legend—His bestial shapes explained—Zeus in religion—Apollo—Artemis—Dionysus—Athene—Aphrodite—Hermes—Demeter—Their names, natures, rituals, and legends—Conclusions. | ​ |
| CHAPTER XVIII. ||
| HEROIC AND ROMANTIC MYTHS | 282 |
| A new class of myths—Not explanatory—Popular tales—Heroic and romantic myths—(1.) Savage tales—(2.) European Contes—(3.) Heroic myths—Their origin—Diffusion—History of their study—Grimm's theory—Aryan theory—Benfey's theory—Ancient Egyptian stories examined—Wanderung's theorie—Conclusion. | |
| APPENDIX A. ||
| FONTENELLE'S FORGOTTEN COMMON-SENSE | 321 |
| APPENDIX B. ||
| REPLY TO OBJECTIONS | 325 |
| APPENDIX C. ||
| MR. LEWIS MORGAN AND THE AZTECS | 346 |
| APPENDIX D. ||
| THE HARE IN EGYPT | 350 |
| INDEX. | 357 |
ERRATA.
Vol. II.
| Page | v, | line | 4, | for "Aht" read "Tongan." |
| „ | 17, | „ | 4, | for "mere" read "more." |
| „ | 69, | „ | 27, | for "Athens" read "Athene." |
| „ | 196, | „ | 12, | for "to Apollo, Pythius, the monster" read "to Apollo Pythius, the monster." |
| „ | 206, | „ | 11, | for "gods" read "god." |
| „ | 213, | „ | 16, | for "Hirpini" read "Hirpi." |
| „ | 263, | „ | 7, | for "Des Bellay" read "Du Bellay." Note, for "Eireicone" read "Eiresione." |
| „ | 288, | „ | 6, | for "their" read "that;" for "and" read "or." |