2. The above offerings doubtless express the existence of a pure and filial relation, like that in which the Hyperboreans stood to Apollo; it being quite sufficient for persons in so innocent a state to give a constant acknowledgment of the benevolence and power with which the god defends and preserves them. But as the pure deity was himself supposed to be stained with blood, so might the minds of his worshippers become tainted with sin, and lose their internal quiet. When in this state, being as it were under the influence of a fiendlike and corrupting power (Ἄτη), the mind naturally wishes to put an end to its unhappy condition by some specific and definite act. This is effected by the solemn expiation and purification of the religion of Apollo. Expiatory rites were thus introduced into the regular system of worship, and formed a part of the ancient _jus sacrum._ It was soon however perceived that the usual routine of life sometimes needed the same ceremony, and hence expiatory _festivals_ were connected with the public worship of the god; by which not only individuals, but whole cities were purified. These festivals were naturally celebrated in the spring, when the storms of winter disappear, and nature bursts into fresh life.(1348) But in these the pious gifts of individuals no longer sufficed, nor even the sacrifice of animals; and the troubled mind seemed to require for its purification a greater sacrifice. At Athens, during the Thargelia, two men (or a man and a woman), adorned with flowers and fruits, having been rubbed over with fragrant herbs, were led in the most solemn manner, like victims, before the gate, and thrown with imprecations from the rock; but were in all probability taken up below, and carried beyond the borders. The persons used for these expiations (Φαρμακοὶ) were condemned criminals, whom the city provided for the purpose.(1349) This festival was common to all Ionians; it is particularly mentioned at Miletus(1350) and Paros;(1351) and the same rites were also practised in the Phocæan colony of Massalia.(1352) In Ionia the victims were beaten with branches of the fig-tree and with sea-onions; at the same time there was played on the flute a strain (called χραδίης), which, according to the testimony of Hipponax, was reduced by Mimnermus into elegiac measure.(1353) At Athens also the victims were crowned with figs and fig-branches, being probably the symbol of utter worthlessness. The antiquity of this manner of purification has been shown above, in our remarks upon the religious ceremonies of Leucadia.(1354)