Some Rural Festivals and Ceremonies

Chapter VI.

Ἐν δ’ ἐτίθει νειὸν μαλακὴν πίειραν ἄρουραν,
Εὐρεῖαν, τρίπολον· πολλοὶ δ’ ἀποτῆρες ἐν αὐτῇ
Ζεύγεα δινεύοντες ἐλάστρεον ἔνθα καὶ ἔνθα.

Iliad, xviii. 541–43.

The subject of rural festivals is much too extensive for treatment in a limited space. Here reference will be made only to a few of those ceremonies which illustrate the principles recently elucidated from the folk-lore of Europe by Messrs. Frazer, Gomme, and Mannhardt.