In connection with the torches it cannot be forgotten that some, though possibly not all, the sittings of the court of the Areopagos took place by night, doubtless in honour of the underworld goddesses who presided. In Lucian’s time, at least, these sittings were almost proverbial. He says of a man perceiving with difficulty[643], ‘unless he chance to be stone-blind or like the Council of the Areopagos which gives its hearing by night’: and again in the _Hermotimus_[644] ‘he is doing it like the Areopagites who give judgment in darkness.’ To these sittings in the night-time it may be that Athene refers when she says[645] ‘This court I set, untouched of gain, revered, Alert, a wakeful guard o’er those who sleep.’ The garments of crimson or purple dye point to a ritual of placation and the service of the underworld. This is clearly shown in the details given by Plutarch[646] of the rites of placation performed annually for those who fell in the battle of Plataea. ‘On the 16th day of the month Maimakterion the archon of Plataea, who on other days may not touch iron nor wear any garment that is not white, puts on a crimson chiton and taking a hydria and girded with a sword goes to the sepulchres. There with water from the spring he washes the stelae and anoints them with myrrh; he slays a black bull, prays to Zeus and Hermes Chthonios, and invokes to the banquet and the bloodshed the heroes who died for Greece.’ The crimson-purple is blood colour[647], hence it is ordained for the service of the dead. It has already been noted (p. 144) that Dion[648] when he took the great oath in the Thesmophorion identified himself with Kore of the underworld by putting on her crimson robe and holding a burning torch. Purple, Pliny[649] tells us, was employed when gods had to be appeased. The purple robes, the torches, the night-time, above all the σφάγια, point to a dread underworld ritual, a ritual that shows clearly that the darker side of the Venerable Ones was not far remote from the Erinyes. But Aeschylus, whose whole mind is bent on a doctrine of mercy, naturally emphasizes the brighter side of their functions and worship. Athene[650] herself knows that they are underworld goddesses, that they must have low-lying altars and underground dwellings; only so seated will they ever feel really at home. She remembers even that for their feast they must have the wineless sacrifice that drives them mad[651]; but she bids them leave this madness, and they for their part promise that the earth, their kingdom as vengeful ghosts, shall cease to drink the black blood of citizens. Henceforth they will be content with the white side of their service[652]. ‘From this great land, thine is the sacrifice Of first-fruits offered for accomplishment Of marriage and for children[653].’ [Illustration: FIG. 57.]