THE MAGICAL ORIGIN OF KINGS BY S ir JAMES GEORGE FRAZER HON. D.C.L , OXFORD; HON LL D ., GLASGOW ; HON. L1TT.D., DURHAM f e l l o w of T rin it y c o l l e g e , Ca m b r id g e MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON 1920 COPYRIGHT 1 First published under the title “ Lectures on the Early History o f the Kingship, 1905 Reissue 1920 TO EDMUND GOSSE IN GRATITUDE AND FRIENDSHIP PREFACE T he following lectures were delivered at Trinity College, Cambridge, in the Lent term of this year, under the title of “ The Sacred Character and Magical Functions of Kings in Early Society.” The general theory here sketched of the evolution of the Kingship formed the subject of two lectures given in London at the Royal Institution last May. In preparing the manuscript for the press I have made a few unim­ portant changes, mostly verbal, and added references to my authorities. Otherwise the lectures are printed as they were spoken. Substantially they consist of a series of extracts from the forthcoming third edition of my book The Golden Bough, which will contain fuller information on many points. Such prefatory remarks as I may have to make are reserved for that work, but I. cannot allow this volume to go forth without an acknowledgment of the debt I owe to my friend Mr. A. B. Cook, Fellow and Lecturer of Queens’ College, Cambridge. If I have been able to present my theory of the Arician kingship in a more probable, or at least a more precise, form than before, I owe the improvement chiefly to the stimulating vji viii PREFACE influence of his criticisms, which obliged me to reconsider the whole problem. Moreover, in working ojit my revised theory I have profited greatly by his ldirning and acumen, which he has generously placed at my disposal in the spirit of the good old maxim icoivk rk r&tf <}>tX(i)v. J. G. FRAZER. T rinity C ollege, C ambridge, i 6th August 1905. CONTENTS LECTURE I The history of institutions— Methods of the study— Reasons for preferring the inductive method— K ing of the Wood at Nemi— Characteristics of Diana at Nerm—Conversion of the festival of Diana into a feast of the Virgin M ary— EgerA— Virbius the mate of Diana— Summary of conclusions ...... Pages 1-27 LECTURE II Priestly kings in antiquity— Relation of Spartan kings to Castor and Pollux— Incarnate gods— Kings as magicians— Principles of magic— Law of Similarity and Law of Contact— Homoeopathic M agic and Contagious M agic — Both included under Sympathetic Magic — Examples o f Homoeopathic M agic— Magical images— Cures based on Homoeopathic M agic— Use o f Homoeopathic M agic in hunting and fishing— Negative M agic or taboo— Savage belief in magical telepathy ....... 28-59 LECTURE III Magical telepathy in war— Homoeopathic M agic in relation to plants, animals, inanimate things, and the dead—Siomoeopathic M agic used to annul evil omens— Examples of Contagious Magic— Magical contact between a wounded person and the weapon that hurt him— Magical contact of footprints— Public magicians develop.into kings— Rise of monarchy essential to the emergence of mankind from savagery ....... 60-88 X CONTENTS LECTURE IV T he institution o f a public order of magicians a great incentive to research — Public magicians expected to regulate the w & ther— h ik in g rain — M aking sunshine — M aking or calming wind — Tendency of magicians to develop into kings in Australia, New Guinea, and Melanesia— The evolution complete in Africa— Similar evolution among the Malays— Traces of it in Europe— The divinity of kings ...... Pages 89-128 LECTURE V Development of the magician into a god as well as a king— Incarnate human gods in Polynesia, Africa, and ancient Greece and Germany— Worship of the Brahmans in India— Human gods in Tibet and China— Divinity of the emperors of China and Japan— Worship of the kings of Babylon and Egypt— Summary of the evolution of the Kingship— K in g of the Wood at Nemi again considered— He seems to have been the mate of Diana, the two being considered as K in g and Queen of the W ood— Trees regarded as male and female— Marriages of trees and plants . 129-159 LECTURE VI Marriage of the powers of vegetation— M ay K in g and Queen in Germany and England— Marriage of the gods in ancient Babylon, Egypt, and Greece— Similar rites in ancient Sweden and Gaul— Marriage of water-gods to human brides— Stories of the Perseus and Andromeda type— T he Slaying o f the Dragon at Furth— St. Romain and the Dragon of Rouen . 160-193 LECTURE VII T he Sacred Marriage— Numa and Egeria— Kings o f Rome and Alba personified Jupiter, the god of the oak and the thunder— Sacred marriage of Jupiter and Juno perhaps enacted by the K in g and Queen o f Rome— Roman kings regarded as sons of the fire god by his wives the Vestal Virgins— Sacred fires and Vestal Virgins in Ireland and Peru . 194-228 CONTENTS xi LECTURE VIII Succession to Latin kingship in female line through marriage with king's dai^hter— Indifference to * paternity of kings— African* parallels— Sons of kings go abroad and reign in their wives’ country— Succession to kingdom through marriage with late king’s widow— Evidence of female kinship among European peoples— Roman kings o f plebeian or indigenous race— Abolition of kingship at Rome a patrician revolution — Attempt of Tarquin the Proud to alter succession from female to male line— Roman sovereignty partly hereditary, partly elective- personal qualities required in candidates for kingship— Possession o f princess and of cr^wn determined by athletic contest— K in g’s Flight at Rome ...... Pages 229*264 LECTURE IX The K in g’s Flight at Rome in relation to the Saturnalia— Human repre­ sentatives of Saturn killed \ t the Saturnalia— Violent deaths of Roman kings— Saturn and Jupiter— Summary o f conclusions as to the K ing of the Wood at Nemi— He represented Jupiter or Janus and mated with Diana— Janus or Dianus and Diana the equivalents of Jupiter and Juno— Reasons for putting the divine king to death— The K ing of Calicut an Indian parallel to the K in g of the Wood at Nemi ....... 265-297 INDEX . 299-309 LECTURE I The history of institutions— Methods of the study— Reasons for pre­ ferring the inductive method— King of the Wood at Nemi— Characteristics of Diana at Ncmi— Conversion of the festival of Diana into a feast of the Virgin Mary— Egeria— Virbius the mate of Diana— Summary of conclusions. • T he subject of these lectures is “ The Sacred Character and Magical Functions of Kings in Early Society.” But I must warn you at the outset that you will hear much less about kings than from the title of the lectures you might reasonably expect and perhaps wish to hear. The sacred character and magical functions of kings in early society cannot be understood without some know­ ledge of those general forms of superstition of which this aspect of the kingship is a particular expression; above all, we must acquaint ourselves with the elements of primitive magic, since the ancient king was often Jittle more than the chief magician of his tribe. Several lectures will therefore be devoted^ to explaining and illustrating the elements of magic, and during their discussion the king will apparently be lost sight of entirely. I mention this at the beginning in order to prevent disappointment. For the same reason, I wish I b 2 THE HISTORY OF INSTITUTIONS lect. to say that the greater part, though not the whole, of the lectures will consist merely of fresh examples or illustrations of principles which I have already stated and exemplified elsewhere; 1 and, lastly, that, apart from a few introductory remarks, the substance of all that I shall say will be published before long in the new edition of my book, which is now in the press. Before addressing myself to the special subject of the lectures, I desire to make a few general observations on the method I have followed in them. Anthropology, or the study of man, claims a place for itself among the sciences. O f that study or science the history of institutions, with which we are here con­ cerned, forms an important branch. It aims at tracing the growth, development, and decay of all human insti­ tutions from the earliest to the latest times, not merely recording the facts in chronological order, but referring them to their general causes in the physical and mental constitution of man and the influence of external nature. Now, if we are to pursue this study in a scientific spirit, we must endeavour to investigate the beliefs and customs o f mankind with the same rigorous impartiality with which, for example, the zoologist investigates the habits of bees and ants. To attain that impartiality is indeed much harder for the anthropologist than for the zoologist, for the customs and superstitions even of the lowest savages touch us far more nearly than the habits even of the highest animals. The continuity of human development has been such that most, if not all, of the 1 The Golden Bough, a Study in Magic and Religion, and edition, London, 1900. I THE SCIENTIFIC TEMPER 3 great institutions which still form the framework o f civilised society have their roots in savagery, and have been handed down to us in these later days through countless generations, assuming new outward forms in the process o f transmission, but remaining in their inmost core substantially unchanged.