custom to mock the passers-by from the carriage. In fact, this part of the festival bore the character of a merry carnival; many people appeared in costume as Horae, Nymphs, Bacchantes, etc., and crowded gaily around the triumphant car on which the statue of _Dionysos-Eleutheros_, which had been fetched from its temple on the previous day, was conducted to the town. On the way religious rites were observed at various places sanctified by legend. At one place the _Basilinna_, that is, the wife of the Archon Basileus, had to sit on the car next the statue of Dionysus, for on this day she was the bride of the god, and thus, on her wedding-car, she entered the Lenaeon, where a mystic sacrifice was offered for the welfare of the State in the innermost part of the temple, by the Basilinna, together with the fourteen ladies of honour appointed for this purpose by the Archon (γεραραί). These took a solemn oath to the queen before the ceremony took place, and in so doing followed an ancient formula inscribed on stone columns in the temple. After the sacrifice, with which other secret ceremonies were connected, followed the symbolical marriage of the Basilinna and Dionysus. While these sacred ceremonies, to which but few were admitted, were taking place in the interior of the temple, the other celebrants enjoyed themselves in different ways. On the next day the actual Pitcher Feast took place--the great banquet, with the drinking contest, that followed it. At this great public feast the Archon-Basileus was superintendent of the festival, but the State defrayed the expenses, originally, probably, in kind, but afterwards in such a way that each citizen received a fixed sum of money, and with this supplied his food and also the can of pure wine which stood in front of everyone, and gave its name to this day. Both the banquet and the drinking contest were probably held in the theatre in the Lenaeon, where the chief priest of Dionysus had to provide cushions, tables, and other conveniences. A proclamation by the herald, in ancient style, introduced the most interesting event--the drinking contest. At a signal given by a trumpet, all who took part in it set their pitchers to their mouths, and the judges allotted the victory to him who first emptied his; the prize consisted in a skin of wine, cakes, or something of the kind. Besides this public banquet there were also private hospitalities, provided by those who preferred to celebrate the day by themselves in the circle of a few intimate friends, and here, too, much drinking went on; the Sophists, in particular, who received their honorarium and presents on this day, were in the habit of inviting their acquaintances to a feast. Thus things went on merrily till the beginning of the night; then each guest took his pitcher and the wreath of fresh flowers which he had worn at the feast to the sanctuary of _Dionysos-Eleutheros_, that was divided off with a rope, and here the wreaths were handed to the