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ht be laid by demoniacal or other malignant agency； and as the Thargelia at which he was annually sacrificed was an early harvest festival celebrated in May； we must recognise in him a representative of the creative and fertilising god of vegetation。 The representative of the god was annually slain for the purpose I have indicated； that of maintaining the divine life in perpetual vigour； untainted by the weakness of age； and before he was put to death it was not unnatural to stimulate his reproductive powers in order that these might be transmitted in full activity to his successor； the new god or new embodiment of the old god； who was doubtless supposed immediately to take the place of the one slain。 Similar reasoning would lead to a similar treatment of the scapegoat on special occasions； such as drought or famine。 If the crops did not answer to the expectation of the husbandman； this would be attributed to some failure in the generative powers of the god whose function it was to produce the fruits of the earth。 It might be thought that he was under a spell or was growing old and feeble。 Accordingly he was slain in the person of his representative； with all the ceremonies already described； in order that； born young again； he might infuse his own youthful vigour into the stagnant energies of nature。 On the same principle we can understand why Mamurius Veturius was beaten with rods； why the slave at the Chaeronean ceremony was beaten with the agnus castus （a tree to which magical properties were ascribed）； why the effigy of Death in some parts of Europe is assailed with sticks and stones； and why at Babylon the criminal who played the god scourged before he was crucified。 The purpose of the scourging was not to intensify the agony of the divine sufferer； but on the contrary to dispel any malignant influences by which at the supreme moment he might conceivably be beset。
Thus far I have assumed that the human victims at the Thargelia represented the spirits of vegetation in general； but it has been well remarked by Mr。 W。 R。 Paton that these poor wretches seem to have masqueraded as the spirits of fig…trees in particular。 He points out that the process of caprification； as it is called； that is； the artificial fertilisation of the cultivated fig…trees by hanging strings of wild figs among the boughs； takes place in Greece and Asia Minor in June about a month after the date of the Thargelia； and he suggests that the hanging of the black and white figs round the necks of the two human victims； one of whom represented the men and the other the women； may have been a direct imitation of the process of caprification designed； on the principle of imitative magic； to assist the fertilisation of the fig…trees。 And since caprification is in fact a marriage of the male fig…tree with the female fig…tree； Mr。 Paton further supposes that the loves of the trees may； on the same principle of imitative magic； have been simulated by a mock or even a real marriage between the two human victims； one of whom appears sometimes to have been a woman。 On this view the practice of beating the human victims on their genitals with branches of wild fig…trees and with squills was a charm intended to stimulate the generative powers of the man and woman who for the time being personated the male and the female fig…trees respectively； and who by their union in marriage； whether real or pretended； were believed to help the trees to bear fruit。
The interpretation which I have adopted of the custom of beating the human scapegoat with certain plants is supported by many analogies。 Thus among the Kai of German New Guinea； when a man wishes to make his banana shoots bear fruit quickly； he beats them with a stick cut from a banana…tree which has already borne fruit。 Here it is obvious that fruitfulness is believed to inhere in a stick cut from a fruitful tree and to be imparted by contact to the young banana plants。 Similarly in New Caledonia a man will beat his taro plants lightly with a branch； saying as he does so； I beat this taro that it may grow； after which he plants the branch in the ground at the end of the field。 Among the Indians of Brazil at the mouth of the Amazon； when a man wishes to increase the size of his generative organ； he strikes it with the fruit of a white aquatic plant called aninga； which grows luxuriantly on the banks of the river。 The fruit； which is inedible； resembles a banana； and is clearly chosen for this purpose on account of its shape。 The ceremony should be performed three days before or after the new moon。 In the county of Bekes； in Hungary； barren women are fertilised by being struck with a stick which has first been used to separate pairing dogs。 Here a fertilising virtue is clearly supposed to be inherent in the stick and to be conveyed by contact to the women。 The Toradjas of Central Celebes think that the plant Dracaena terminalis has a strong soul； because when it is lopped； it soon grows up again。 Hence when a man is ill； his friends will sometimes beat him on the crown of the head with Dracaena leaves in order to strengthen his weak soul with the strong soul of the plant。
These analogies； accordingly； support the interpretation which； following my predecessors W。 Mannhardt and Mr。 W。 R。 Paton； I have given of the beating inflicted on the human victims at the Greek harvest festival of the Thargelia。 That beating； being administered to the generative organs of the victims by fresh green plants and branches； is most naturally explained as a charm to increase the reproductive energies of the men or women either by communicating to them the fruitfulness of the plants and branches； or by ridding them of the maleficent influences； and this interpretation is confirmed by the observation that the two victims represented the two sexes； one of them standing for the men in general and the other for the women。 The season of the year when the ceremony was performed； namely the time of the corn harvest； tallies well with the theory that the rite had an agricultural significance。 Further； that it was above all intended to fertilise the fig…trees is strongly suggested by the strings of black and white figs which were hung round the necks of the victims； as well as by the blows which were given their genital organs with the branches of a wild fig…tree； since this procedure closely resembles the procedure which ancient and modern husbandmen in Greek lands have regularly resorted to for the purpose of actually fertilising their fig…trees。 When we remember what an important part the artificial fertilisation of the date palm…tree appears to have played of old not only in the husbandry but in the religion of Mesopotamia； there seems no reason to doubt that the artificial fertilisation of the fig…tree may in like manner have vindicated for itself a place in the solemn ritual of Greek religion。
If these considerations are just； we must apparently conclude that while the human victims at the Thargelia certainly appear in later classical times to have figured chiefly as public scapegoats； who carried away with them the sins； misfortunes； and sorrows of the whole people； at an earlier time they may have been looked on as embodiments of veget