The History and Antiquities of the Doric Race, Vol. 1 of 2Müller, Karl Otfried
History
The History and Antiquities of the Doric Race, Vol. 1 of 2
Müller, Karl Otfried
Dorians -- History; Greece -- Antiquities, Dorian; Greece -- History -- Dorian Invasions, approximately 1125-1025 B.C.
1. In turning from the history of the external affairs of the Dorians to
the consideration of their intellectual existence, our first step must be
to enquire into their religion; and for this purpose we will proceed to
analyse and resolve it into the various worships and ceremonies of which
it was composed, and to trace the origin and connexion of these as they
successively arose.
Now it may with safety be asserted, that the principal deities of the
Dorians were Apollo and Artemis, since their worship is found to have
predominated in all the settlements of that race; and conversely the Doric
origin can be either proximately or remotely traced wherever there were
any considerable institutions dedicated to the worship of Apollo; insomuch
that the adoration of this god may be shown from the most ancient
testimonies of mythology to have gradually advanced with the extension of
the Doric nation. Yet we are not to understand that the worship of Apollo
and the Doric race were so exactly co-extensive that the presence of the
latter always proves either the previous or actual existence of the
former. Indeed it is certain that in ancient as well as in modern times
the worship of particular gods was not only propagated by migration and
conquest, but that religious belief was also extended by peaceful
intercourse, and, as it were, by moral contact.
In order to rest the claims of the Doric race to the worship of Apollo on
a secure foundation, it is necessary first to give a direct contradiction
to all those statements which assert its connexion with any race not of
Hellenic descent. In the first place, then, Apollo was not a national
deity of the aboriginal _Pelasgic_ nations of Greece.(858) Had this been
the case, he would certainly have enjoyed frequent and distinguished
honours in those countries where the numbers of that race remained
undiminished; for example, in Arcadia. Now there were very few temples of
Apollo in Arcadia; and moreover, the founding of most of these was either
connected with a foreign hero, or else attributed to some external
influence.(859) Secondly, it has been supposed that the worship of this
god was introduced from the _East_ (an opinion founded chiefly on the
establishments of his religion in Lycia); but we shall presently show that
its institution in this quarter was in fact derived from the Dorians. To
this we may add, that amongst none of the _half-Grecian_ nations, for
example, the Leleges, Carians, Ætolians, Phrygians, and Thracians, the
worship of this god can be proved to have been national. The same may be
affirmed of the _Italian_ nations. Apollo never occurs in the ancient
_Etruscan_ religion. Nor was _Rome_ acquainted with this worship, until it
was introduced by the Sibylline oracles; a sacred spot was then allotted
on the Flaminian meadow; and the temple erected there (324 A.U.C.) was, up
to the time of Cicero, the only one in Rome.(860) Nay, that the Italians
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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