own language, but with a very different idea; for the Greeks
applied it indiscriminately to every foreigner, to the civilized
inhabitants of Egypt and Persia, as well as to the rude tribes of
Scythia and Gaul.

The second bond of union was a community of religious rites and
festivals. From the earliest times the Greeks appear to have
worshipped the same gods; but originally there were no religious
meetings common to the whole nation. Such meetings were of
gradual growth, being formed by a number of neighbouring towns,
which entered into an association for the periodical celebration
of certain religious rites. Of these the most celebrated was the
AMPHICTYONIC COUNCIL. It acquired its superiority over other
similar associations by the wealth and grandeur of the Delphian
temple, of which it was the appointed guardian. It held two
meetings every year, one in the spring at the temple of Apollo at
Delphi, and the other in the autumn at the temple of Demeter
(Ceres) at Thermopylae. Its members, who were called the
Amphictyons, consisted of sacred deputies sent from twelve
tribes, each of which contained several independent cities or
states. But the Council was never considered as a national
congress, whose duty it was to protect and defend the common
interests of Greece; and it was only when the rights of the
Delphian god had been violated that it invoked the aid of the
various members of the league.

The Olympic Games were of greater efficacy than the amphictyonic
council in promoting a spirit of union among the various branches
of the Greek race, and in keeping alive a feeling of their common
origin. They were open to all persons who could prove their