rance of the swine
of Eubuleus. It follows from this that the casting of the pigs
into the vaults at the Thesmophoria formed part of the dramatic
representation of Proserpine's descent into the lower world; and
as no image of Proserpine appears to have been thrown in, we may
infer that the descent of the pigs was not so much an accompaniment
of her descent as the descent itself, in short, that the pigs were
Proserpine. Afterwards, when Proserpine or Demeter (for the two are
equivalent) became anthropomorphic, a reason had to be found for the
custom of throwing pigs into caverns at her festival; and this was
done by saying that when Pluto carried off Proserpine, there happened
to be some swine browsing near, which were swallowed up along with
her. The story is obviously a forced and awkward attempt to bridge
over the gulf between the old conception of the corn-spirit as a
pig and the new conception of her as an anthropomorphic goddess. A
trace of the older conception survived in the legend that when the
sad mother was searching for traces of the vanished Proserpine, the
footprints of the lost one were obliterated by the footprints of a
pig; originally, we may conjecture, the footprints of the pig were the
footprints of Proserpine and of Demeter herself. A consciousness of
the intimate connection of the pig with the corn lurks in the legend
that the swineherd Eubuleus was a brother of Triptolemus, to whom
Demeter first imparted the secret of the corn. Indeed, according to
one version of the story, Eubuleus himself received, jointly with his
brother Triptolemus, the gift of the corn from Demeter as a reward
for revealing to her the fate of Proserpine. Further, it is to be
noted that at the Thesmophoria the women appear to have eaten swine's
flesh. The meal, if I am right, must have been a solemn sacrament or
communion, the worshippers partaking of the body of the god."

8. Estimation of the pig in India

We thus see how the pig in ancient Greece was worshipped as a
corn-deity because it damaged the crops and subsequently became
an anthropomorphic goddess. It is suggested that pigs are offered
to Bhainsasur by the Hindus for the same reason. But there is no
Hindu deity representing the pig, this animal on the contrary being
regarded as impure. It seems doubtful, however, whether this was
always so. In Rajputana on the stone which the Regent of Kotah set up
to commemorate the abolition of forced taxes were carved the