Note 56 — SECTION III.

Servius, in commenting on the “Mystica vannus Iacchi” of Virgil, observes, that the sacred rites of Bacchus pertained to the purification of souls, “Liberi patris sacra ad purgationem animarum pertinebant.” And elsewhere he says, “Animæ aere ventilantur, quod erat in sacris Liberi purgationis genus.” Euripides also, in Bacchis, exclaims,

Ω μακαρ οστις ευδαιμων τελετας Θεων

Ειδως, βιοταν αγιστευει,

Και θιασευεται ψυχαν,

Εν ορεσι βακχευων

Οσιοισι καθαρμοις.

i. e. “O blessed and happy he, who knowing the mysteries of the Gods, sanctifies his life, and purifies his soul, celebrating orgies in the mountains, with holy purifications.”