The herald., 1896-06-14
eptune as provoker Of earthquakes is

Neptune as provoker Of earthquakes is
still evident at such times, by the say
ing that God is shaking his hair"
Belief in three fates (Mora) is universal.
They determine the future of every
child. They are pictured in the minds Of
the peasants as three wrinkled old wom
en- who live In mountain caves. They
always enter a house containing a very
young baby. When they are expected
all furniture Is set aside that they may
not trip, banquet of honey cakes, bread
and wine Is spread, and gold often is
displayed, showing that even the de-
craes Of Fate can be affected by money.
Wealth, piety, and all this world S goods
are at the disposal of the Moral One
may not speak of a child's beauty lest
he mar it. Marks on the skin are con-
sidered to be the DEGREES of the Fates
Sometimes these Moral are sought by
girls who wish to hasten their wedding
day. In the early part of the century
their supposed caves were found about
Athens ITSELF It is told that Dodwell,
the traveller. allowed his patient donkey
to consume the honey cake offerings
which were lying In the cave known as
the prison of Socrates.
All Greeks believe in the presence Of
a personal angel who receives the soul
as it comes from the mouth, and, after
forty days, conducts it to God The
CIldLIhCIcIISllC Ol IIllS PtTSOudl utdIH-
angel are Strikingly like those Of
Hermes, who conducted souls to the
other world. In the minds Of most of
the peasants the hereafter is merely the
old sunless Hades, an unutterably
cheerless abode which has no commune
cation with the gay, sunny world above.
No marvel is it that the dying Klept,
sorrowing that he will no more see he
light of day, will no more hear the sweet
do Af hn 1pipn fr,Ir 70 In,
mands his son to make a little window
In his grave that he may hear the song
Of the nightingale when the spring re-
turns. Another strange conception is
the common belief in q death-angel who
reminds one Of Charon, the ferryman
of Styx. Indeed, the modern name is
almost identical; for this death messen-
ger Is known as Charos. He is repre-
sented as a pale, sad old man who rides
a black horse. All his clothes are black
and even the flowers which grow in his
pathway are of this somber hue. The
traditions surrounding him are uncan-
ny. 'The young he drives before him,
the old he drags behind, and little chill
dren are slung In his saddle" Some
times he is skeleton with a scythe.
Occasionally he appears In the old char
acter of ferryman. In many parts of
the country they still place gold coin
in the mouth Of the dead-to pay the
fare to Charos. The leaders of the
church in northern Greece tried to dis
suade the peasants by telling them that
a coin inscribed with letters from the
Koran was unfit to be carried before the
God of the Christians.
1t is quite common belief that IN the
under world souls stand about waiting
to catch news from the latest arrivals.
This accounts for the practice of Whis-
pering messages into the ears of the
dead. A Greek funeral is strange sight
and one not easily forgotten. Looking
from my window one morning in Athens.
I saw a long line of soldiers, priests and
boys on their way to the cemetery. The
coffin lid was decked with flowers and
carried a short distance ahead Of the
coffin, which was open, so that any pass
er by could look upon the corpse. In
some parts of the country feast is held
at the grave. In the Peloponnesus, fun
eral cakes are baked and eaten by the
relatives of the third. ninth and for
tieth days after burial.
All over the land Christian churches
are erected on the sites of heather tenn
pies. There are several churches to a
st. Demetrius, who is the guardian of
agriculture. Another curious survival
of an old god is found in the tradition
of one st. Dionysus of Naxos, the patron
of the vine. The story Is recorded that
when young st. Dionysus was travelling
in Greece he came upon a beautiful vine,
which he wished to carry to Naxos. Fear
ing that the sun would wilt the delicate