The Eternal Belief in Immortality & Worship of the Dead. James George Frazer

the dead, they contain the elements out of which such a worship might easily have been developed. The preservation of the bodies of the dead, or at least their skulls, in the houses, and the consultation of them as oracles, prove that the spirits of the dead are supposed to possess knowledge which may be of great use to the living; and the custom suggests that in other countries the images of the gods may perhaps have been evolved out of the mummies of the dead. Further, the dramatic representation of the ghosts in a series of striking and impressive performances indicates how a sacred and in time a secular drama may elsewhere have grown out of a purely religious celebration concerned with the souls of the departed. In this connexion we are reminded of Professor Ridgeway's theory that ancient Greek tragedy originated in commemorative songs and dances performed at the tomb for the purpose of pleasing and propitiating the ghost of the mighty dead.³⁰⁹ Yet the mortuary dramas of the Torres Straits Islanders can hardly be adduced to support that theory by analogy so long as we are ignorant of the precise significance which the natives themselves attached to these remarkable performances. There is no clear evidence that the dramas were acted for the amusement and gratification of the ghost rather than for the edification of the spectators. One important act certainly represented, and might well be intended to facilitate, the final departure of the spirit of the deceased to the land of souls. But the means taken to effect that departure might be adopted in the interests of the living quite as much as out of a tender regard for the welfare of the dead, since the ghost of the recently departed is commonly regarded with fear and aversion, and his surviving relations resort to many expedients for the purpose of ridding themselves of his unwelcome presence.

Footnote 274: (return)

      S. H. Ray, in Reports of the Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to Torres Straits, iii. (Cambridge, 1907) pp. 509–511; A. C. Haddon, "The Religion of the Torres Straits Islanders," Anthropological Essays presented to E. B. Tyler (Oxford, 1907), p. 175.

Footnote 275: (return)

      Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to Torres Straits, iv. 92 sqq., 144 sqq., v. 346, vi. 207 sqq.

Footnote 276: (return)

      A. C. Haddon, in Anthropological Essays presented to E. B. Tylor, p. 186.

Footnote 277: (return)

      Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to Torres Straits, vi. 254 sq.

Footnote 278: (return)

      Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to Torres Straits, vi. 254 sqq.

Footnote 279: (return)

      A. C. Haddon, in Anthropological Essays presented to E. B. Tylor, p. 181.

Footnote 280: (return)

      Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to Torres Straits, v. 355 sq., vi. 251; A. C. Haddon, in Anthropological Essays presented to E. B. Tylor, p. 179.

Footnote 281: (return)

      For authorities see the references in the preceding note.

Footnote 282: (return)

      Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to Torres Straits, vi. 253.

Footnote 283: (return)

      Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to Torres Straits, v. 248, 249.

Footnote 284: (return)

      Id., p. 250.

Footnote 285: (return)

      Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to Torres Straits, vi. 253; A. C. Haddon, in Anthropological Essays presented to E. B. Tylor, p. 180.

Footnote 286: (return)

      A. C. Haddon, l.c.

Footnote 287: (return)

      A. C. Haddon, op. cit. pp. 182 sq.; Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to Torres Straits, vi. 127.

Footnote 288: (return)

      A. C. Haddon, op. cit. p. 183.

Footnote 289: (return)

      T. C. Hodson, The Naga Tribes of Manipur (London, 1911), p. 43.

Footnote 290: (return)

      Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to Torres Straits, v. 355 sq., vi. 252. In the former passage Dr. Haddon seems to identify Boigu with the island of that name off the south coast of New Guinea; in the latter he prefers to regard it as mythical.

Footnote 291: (return)

      Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to Torres Straits, vi. 127.

Footnote 292: (return)

      Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to Torres Straits, v. 248 sq.

Footnote 293: (return)

      Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to Torres Straits, v. 250 sq.

Footnote 294: (return)

      Diodorus Siculus, i. 91.

Footnote 295: (return)

      Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to Torres Straits, v. 258.

Footnote 296: (return)

      Id., p. 362.

Footnote 297: (return)

      Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to Torres Straits, v. 252–256.

Footnote 298: (return)