[74] _Sprengel’s_ “Neue Beiträge zur Völkerkunde,” (New Contributions to Ethnology), Bk. VII. p. 76. [75] In this connection may be cited the view which _Clement of Alexandria_, Ad Gentes p. 10., expresses as to the origin of Aphrodité: Ἡ μὲν ἀφρογενής τε καὶ κυπρογενὴς, ἡ Κινύρᾳ φίλη, τὴν Ἀφροδίτην λέγω, _τὴν φιλομηδέα, ὅτι μηδέων ἐξεφαάνθη_, μηδέων ἐκείνων τῶν ἀποκεκομμένων Οὐρανοῦ, τῶν λάγνων, τῶν μετὰ τὴν τομὴν τὸ κῦμα βεβιασμένων· ὡς ἀσελγῶν ὑμῖν μορίων ἄξιος Ἀφροδίτη γίνεται καρπὸς ἐν ταῖς τελεταῖς. (Now the foam-sprung, Cyprus-born goddess, the patroness of Cinyras, Aphrodité I mean, _she that loves the parts of a man, because from them she sprung_, to wit those parts that were lopped off from Uranus, those lewd parts which after their severance violated the sea-wave. Of such foul components is Aphrodité the worthy child in the mysteries). [76] _Minutoli_, “Reise zum Tempel des Jupiter Ammon,” (Journey to the Temple of Jupiter Ammon), p. 121.—_Münter_, “Religion der Babylonier,” (Religion of the Babylonians), p. 130. [77] Bk. II. ch. 48. “Description de l’Egypte” II. p. 411.—_Wyttenbach_, on Plutarch, Isid. p. 186. [78] Histories bk. II. ch. 64. Καὶ τὸ μὴ μίσγεσθαι γυναιξὶ ἐν ἱροῖσι, μηδὲ ἀλούτους ἀπὸ γυναικῶν ἐς ἱρὰ ἐσιέναι, οὗτοί εἰσι οἱ πρῶτοι θρησκεύσαντες· οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἄλλοι σχεδὸν πάντες ἄνθρωποι, πλὴν Αἰγυπτίων καὶ Ἑλλήνων, μίσγονται ἐν ἱροῖσι· καὶ ἀπὸ γυναικῶν ἀνιστάμενοι, ἄλουτοι ἐσέρχονται ἐς ἱρόν. (And the practice of not having intercourse with women in temples, and not going into temples unwashed after such intercourse, these practices they were the first to observe as a matter of religion; for almost all the rest of mankind, except Egyptians and Greeks, have sexual intercourse in temples). Comp. also _Clement of Alexandria_, Stromat. Bk. I. p. 361. [79] Geogr. Bk. XVII, ch. 46. Τῷ δὲ Διΐ, ὃν μάλιστα τιμῶσιν, εὐειδεστάτη καὶ γένους λαμπροτάτου παρθένος ἱερᾶται, ἃς καλοῦσι οἱ Ἕλληνες Παλλάδας· αὕτη δὲ καὶ παλλακεύει, καὶ σύνεστιν οἷς βούλεται, μέχρις ἂν ἡ φυσικὴ γένηται τοῦ σώματος κάθαρσις· μετὰ δὲ τὴν κάθαρσιν δίδοται πρὸς ἄνδρας. (And to Zeus, whom they reverence most, a maiden, most beautiful and of highest lineage, is consecrated, and these priestesses the Greeks call Pallades. And she acts as a courtesan, and lies with whom she pleases, until the natural purging (menstruation) of the body begins. And after this she is given in marriage). So here we find brought into connection with the Zeus of the Egyptians the same practice we observed amongst Asiatics in the Venus cult. [80] According to _Herodotus_, bk. II. 51., the Greeks borrowed the Phallic ritual under the form of the Hermae (pillars of Hermes) from the Pelasgians, by which name according to _Böttiger_, “Kunstmythologie,” (Mythology of Art), p. 213, Phoenicians should be understood. Comp. _Cicero_, De Nat. Deorum bk. III. ch. 22., and _Creuzer’s_ note on the passage.