Purification of this kind was, of course, even more necessary when some actual crime, such as a murder, even if an accidental one, had been committed, or any other action performed which would render a man unfit to come into the presence of the deity. In these cases an important part was also played by sacrifices, for it was an ancient belief--found also in the Jewish ritual--that sins could be laid on the victim, and in this way removed from the sinner. Special ceremonies were used on such occasions, such as purification by the blood of swine, since these animals were supposed to have a special lustral power. At Athens it was the custom to sacrifice sucking-pigs before the assembly of the people was held; the slaughtered animals were carried round the assembly, the seats sprinkled with their blood, and the bodies thrown into the sea. On a vase painting representing the purification of Orestes after the murder of his mother, Apollo himself holds a sucking-pig above the head of the murderer; a similar proceeding is represented by the vase painting Fig. 143, where the woman who is performing the lustral rites--probably a priestess--holds in her right hand a sucking-pig, in her left a basket with offerings, while three torches stand on the ground in front of her, the smoke of which also possessed purifying power. Similar ceremonies were observed by those who, according to a very common superstition, regarded themselves as bewitched, or who desired to protect themselves from the injurious influence of philtres or other witchcraft, or else to cure madness, which was traced to the wrath of the infernal gods; in these cases, Hecate was the goddess to be propitiated, and part of the curious ceremony consisted in carrying about young dogs. [Illustration: FIG. 143.] Next to prayer, the commonest observance was sacrifice. The anthropomorphic conception of the gods induced the Greeks to try to win their favour, [Illustration: FIG. 144.] as they would that of powerful princes, by means of gifts, in the belief that they would be more inclined to fulfil human wishes if they were propitiated by valuable presents. These gifts consisted in dedicatory offerings and also in sacrifices, and these had to be regularly offered in order to preserve the goodwill of the divinities. Generally speaking, any gift offered to the god might be regarded as a sacrifice; but, as a rule, this name was only applied to those offerings which were not to be a lasting possession of the god but were only given for momentary enjoyment, and must, as a rule, be destroyed, generally by means of fire. The idea underlying these sacrifices was the participation of the gods in the material possessions of men. The gifts included under the heading of offerings were not all of such a nature as to be destroyed at once; thus, first-fruits of the field, fruit, jars of cooked lentils, flowers, fillets, and other such things could not be regarded as real gifts, owing to [Illustration: FIG. 145.]