Such a book as this can be nothing more than a sketch; in it the scholar will miss many topics which might well have been included. Of such omissions I am fully conscious; but limitations of subject and of space forced me to select those themes which seemed most significant in the development of the religious ideas of the ancient world. It is not possible for me to acknowledge all my obligations to others. I wish, however, to express here my gratitude to Professor C. P. Parker, who has shared his knowledge of Plato with me; to Professor J. H. Ropes, who has helped me on many points in my last two lectures, where I especially needed an expert’s aid; and to Professor C. N. Jackson, who has read the entire book in manuscript and by his learning and judgment has made me his constant debtor. The criticism which these friends have given me has been of the greatest assistance even when I could not accept their views; and none of them is responsible for my statements. The translations of Aeschylus are by A. S. Way, Macmillan, 1906-08; those of Euripides are from the same skilled hand, in the Loeb Classical Library, Heinemann, 1912; for Sophocles I have drawn on the version by Lewis Campbell, Kegan Paul, Trench and Company, 1883; and for Thucydides and Plato I have used the classic renderings of Jowett with slight modifications in one or two passages. In an appendix will be found selected bibliographies for each lecture. To these lists I have admitted, with one or two exceptions, only such books as I have found useful from actual experience; and few articles in periodicals have been named. CLIFFORD HERSCHEL MOORE. CAMBRIDGE, MASS. August 1, 1916. CONTENTS PAGE I. HOMER AND HESIOD 3 II. ORPHISM, PYTHAGOREANISM, AND THE MYSTERIES 40 III. RELIGION IN THE POETS OF THE SIXTH AND FIFTH CENTURIES B.C. 74 IV. THE FIFTH CENTURY AT ATHENS 109 V. PLATO AND ARISTOTLE 144 VI. LATER RELIGIOUS PHILOSOPHIES 183 VII. THE VICTORY OF GREECE OVER ROME 221 VIII. ORIENTAL RELIGIONS IN THE WESTERN HALF OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 257 IX. CHRISTIANITY 296 X. CHRISTIANITY AND PAGANISM 326 APPENDIX I (BIBLIOGRAPHIES) 361 APPENDIX II (SPECIMEN OF ROMAN CALENDAR) 370 INDEX 373 THE RELIGIOUS THOUGHT OF THE GREEKS THE RELIGIOUS THOUGHT OF THE GREEKS I HOMER AND HESIOD