^l An important trinity, and with parallels in other mythologies, as to them was assigned the triple division of the cosmos into the sky, the sea, and the underworld. Cf. Homer, Il. xv. 189, Cf. also the Homeric hymn 16.7 and Preller, Gk. Myth3, pp. 86 f.

²Compare the 3 Parcae of the Romans, the 3 Norns, guardians of destiny, of the Scandinavian mythology and "the Sisters Three" of Shakespeare.

³Cf. Sen. Ben. i. 32 tres Gratiae, sorores, manibus inplexis, etc.

⁴Cf. a very sacred form of oath. Cf. also Richard M. Meyer, Altgermanische Religionsgeschichte (1910), p. 176: "Alt scheint (wie bei den Hellenen) die Dreizahl der 'Schwurg6tter': Thor, Odin, Frey wie denn auch sonst (wie ilberall) Triaden begegnen"; p. 634: "927 n. Chr. alte islandische Eidformel (Frey, Njord, Thor)." Note also Reinach, loc. cit., p. 118: "the triad, Sky, Earth, and Sea, is used in the formula of a Celtic oath." Cf. also p. 65 infra.

⁶Cf. Ovid Metamorph. vii. 94, triformis Hecate; Sen. Agam. 841, triformis Geryon; Hor. C. i. 27. 23, triformis Chimaera, and Milton, "Goddess Triform, I own thy triple spell"; Swinburne, "Being treble in thy divided deity."

⁷Cf. Shakespeare: "Cerberus, that three headed canis," and you are not like Cereberus, three gentlemen at once, are you?"

⁸Compare also the slav god, Triglav, and of Reinach, op. cit., 145. According to p. 118 the Celts also had a three-headed god. For the Thriae, the three nymphs, "discoverers of the three magic counters," → Robbins, Class. Phil., XI (1916), p. 287.

...So also the serpent of Ares had not only 3 tongues, but 3 rows of teeth (Ovid Metamorph) iii. 34; Stat. Theb. v. 509; Val. Flacc. ii. 500); Zeus' thunderbolt was trifuricated;¹ not only Hercules' club (Ovid Fasti i. 575), but also the club of Theseus (Her. iv. 115) was 6-knotted, and last, but not least, is to be cited the sacred tripod² of the priestess of Apollo at Delphi. So also the Aloidae, when 3 X 3 years of age were 3 X 3 cubits in width and 3 X 3 X 3 cubits in height. Note also the threefold distribution in the early account of the fall of Troy into preparation, siege, and wanderings, each lasting a decade (Grote Hist. Gr., I. 269), that Hector's body was thrice dragged round the walls of Troy (Verg. Aen. I 483; Prop. iii. 2. 28), that Helenus told Odysseus that to take Troy 3 things were necessary (assistance of Neoptolemus, bow and arrows of Hercules, the possession of the Palladium), that the Maenads were divided into three bands,³ that there were 3 varieties of the dramatic chorus of Dionysus, as well as 3 principal Doric choruses, that the tragic art of Athens, as also the comic, had its three great representatives, that the idea of a trilogy was introduced by Aeschylus, the "three unities" by Aristotle. Furthermore, "the Attic theatre never, in its most palmy days, exceeded three solo actors" (Freytag, Tech. of the Drama, (p. 148), Aristotle's Rhetoric ⁴ consisted of three books, and there were 3 kinds of oratory, 3 schools of rhetoric (Cic. Inv. ii. 6 f.; Quint. iii. 1. 8 f.), according to varro, "tria Theologiae genera," a threefold division of daylight and a threefold division of darkness, as also of the month, besides a sacrifice of 3 animals sacrifices 3 days after the funeral a triple offering to the dead, of honey, milk, and wine (Soph. Antig. 431), etc. ⁵ But satis superque.

...3 Parcae, a festival, the Armbarvalia, lasting 3 days, a college of pontifices augurs, and of the Epulones, each consisting originally of 3 members, and a cult of Liber, Ceres, Libera.¹ Note also Placidus, to Stat. Theb. i. 108: "triam Furiarum" tres memorat potestates: sitis, morbi, famesque"; and to iii. 511: "Proserpinam" .... e malo punico gustasse tria grana." A few more illustrations may also be noted: the fact that there were 3 principal assemblies of the people, a triple line of battle, a triple division of the month (as among the Greeks), tria nomina (the characteristic of a liber homo), the triclinium with its 3 couches and its 3 places on each, and the Roman custom, as of the Greeks, of eating 3 meals a day.

The number 3 plays a prominent part in ritualistic observances,² as when the priest, as an act of ceremonial purification, thrice sprinkles the mourners with pure water (Verg. Aen. vi. 229), and when the pious Aeneas thrice invokes the departed spirit of his friend Deiphobus (ibid., 506.) Similarly, the enchantress, Medea, "thrice purifies Jason with fire, thrice with water, and thrice with sulphur" (Ovid Metamorp. viii. 261).³

¹A Greek triad, in origin. Cf. Cic. N.D. ii. 62. The worship of this triad lasted for over 285 years, a temple being dedicated to their worship in 449 B.C., silver statues being erected to in them 197, and prayers offered in their temple in 174 (Livy iii. 55. 7; xxiii. 25. 7; xli. 28. 2).

²As early as Rome's third king expiatory rites were celebrated for 3 X 3 days (Livy i. 31. 4). For the other Novendiale cf. Porphyr. to Hor. Ep. xvii. 48: nam novendiale dicitur 8acrificium, quod mortuo nona fit die, qua 8epultus est. The ritualistic 3 was also common in the Germanic realm: "Alles, was im altern Ritual wurzelt, muss dreimal geschehen.... Nur wenn es dreimal geschieht, hat man Erfolg erwartet."—J. Hoops, loc. cit.

³Cf. Soph. Antig. 431, and Verg. Aen. ix. 329; xi. 188; Horace Ep. i. 1. 37; C. iii. 22. 3; Ovid Metamorph. iv. 753; Fast. ii. 572; iii. 563; vi. 155, 753; Tib. i. 5. 14; iii. 12. 14; Stat. Theb. iv. 465, etc.

But perhaps the most remarkable glorification of the number 3 is to be found in the celebration of the Ludi Speculares in 17 B.C. with expiatory rites lasting 3 nights and 3 days, the ceremonies opening with a sacrifice by Augustus of 3 X 3 kids and 3 X 3 lambs on 3 different alters and ending on the 3d day of June. The festival proper was preceded by 3 days of purification, followed by 3 expiatory offerings of 3 different kinds, concluded with a poem by Horace, sung by 3 X 3 X 3 boys and 3 X 3 X 3 girls. The 3 nights were dedicated to 3 divinities, so the 3 days; 3 X 3 X 3 cakes of 3 different kinds were thrice offered, and on the 3d night 3 sacrifices were made. With this use of 3 at a pagan festival may be compared its use of the great church hymn, the Dies Irae, composed of 3 X 3 X 3 stanzas, each consisting of 3 verses and a triple rhyme. Triple repetition of the same act is also observed in the consultation of lots, as in Caes. B.G. i. 53. 7; Tib. i. 3. 11; Tac. Germ. 10, etc., and in the triple clapping of hands to indicate approval, or in cheering, as in Hor. C. ii. 17. 26; Prop. iii. 10.4; Mart. iii. 46. 8, etc. Cf. "to give three cheers."

Turning to matters far remote, we find the same tendency manifesting itself in the bibulous realm (cf. "three sheets in the wind"): in drinking the law (a mystica lex, Auson. Gryph.) was to drain 3 glasses or 3 X 3 (Hor. C. iii. 19. 11; Petron. 136).

In charms also the number 3 was considered to be of great potency. This particular variety may therefore be denominated the Therapeutic 3. The field is so large that a few illustrations will have to suffice. It is interesting to note that no less a person than the great Caesar, "as soon as he had taken his seat in the carriage, was accustomed to repeat a certain formula 3 times in order to secure safety in his journey" (Plin. Nat. Hist. xxviii. 21). So also the Enchantress, Medea, indulges in a 3-fold incantation in order to put to sleep the dragon of the 3-forked tongue, and, as a preliminary to invoking divine aid, "3 nights before the full moon thrice turns about and thrice sprinkles water on her head before crying out a 3-fold supplication to Hecate of the 3 forms (Ovid Metamorph. vii. 153; 190). No less interesting is the account in Vergil (Ecl. viii. 74 f.) of the means resorted to by the shepherdess to rekindle the fire of love in the heart of one whose ardor had lost some of its fervor: she first twines 3 threads of 3 different hues round the wax image which she had made of her lover, and then carries it 3 times round the altar. Her maid assists by making 3 love-knots of the 3 threads. (Cf. also Prop. iv. 6. 7; p. 65 infra.) Tibullus acting on this principal enjoins his ladylove to "chant the love-charm thrice and spit¹ and spit thrice when the spell is done" (i. 2. 54; cf. also Petron. 131). This spitting feature is a common element in many climes. In Folk-lore IV, 63, we are told that "to this day in India, when women see a falling star they spit thrice to scare the demon."

Cf. Nicholson, "The Saliva Superstition," Harv. STud., VIII (1897); Grendon, "Anglo-Saxon Charms," Journ. Am. Folk-Lore, XXII (1909), 105-227; Wuttke, Der deutsche Volksaberglaube (1860), p. 138, etc., and Eugene Tavenner, "Three as a magic number in Latin Literature," Trans. Am. Phil. Assn., XLVII (1916), 117 f.

But we are not without illustrations from nearer home. illustrations from nearer home. In cosmopolitan New York City it is a not uncommon custom for certain small boys, to spit 3 times whenever they see a dead animal lying in the street,in order not to "eat it on their bread for supper," or, in case a foreign object gets into the eye, to lift the eyelid and spit 3 times. Ben Johnson, it should be noted here, says "Spit three times for luck" (Epig. 134). Pliny is our authority (N.H. xxviii. 36) for the statement that "it was customary to spit on the ground 3 times after taking a dose of medicine" to insure its efficacy (cf. also xxiv, 172 and 181). While the scientist might justify this measure on the ground of psychological therapeutics, he could hardly do so in this remedy for boils: "spit 3 times on them when they first appear"; or in the following, which Pliny prudently introduces by "they say"; "if any one while washing his feet will touch his eyes 3 times with the water, he will be be free from all diseases and ailments of the eye" (§ 44). To be cured of the gout was not so simple, as we learn from Varro (R.R. i. 2. 27) that one must chant a certain formula 3 X 3 X 3 times and with every time spit.

These uses of the number 3 can be more easily understood and appreciated when studied in the light of the usage of other nations. Furthermore, a similarity in usage shows the homogeneity of the human mind. As there were trinities in the classical world, so also we find them in India, where the great Hindu trinity, the Trimurti (Brahma, Siva, Vishnu), three deities worshiped collectively, is best known. Each god had 3 incarnations, those of Vishnu being connected with the Deluge (Max Mueller, India, p. 144) and "Vishnu's Three Strides" covering the heavens was a tale oft told. It is interesting also to note that Siva's emblem, like Poseidon's, was a trident,¹ and that the Hindu priest, as the last step to render the victim sacred, thrice turns round it with a lighted torch.

¹For the trisula of the Buddhists cf. Thomas Wilson, The Swastika (1896), pp. 962 f.

But Buddhism went still farther: "out of the five last Buddhas of the earlier teaching there grew up five mystic trinities" (Ency. Brit.¹¹, XVI, 97). There was also a trinity of Vedic gods (Agni, Indra, Surya). And Babylon had two divine triads, Egypt many, the chief being that composed of Osiris, Isis, and Horus. The triadic system was also a prominent feature in the religion of the Chaldeans, Mongolians, Phrygians, and Scythians. According to Herodotus (viii. 137) "the first man of the Scythians was a son of Zeus and had 3 sons." The multiple of 3 appears in the Zend Avesta (Spiegel, III, lxix), where we are told that Ahriman produced 99,999 diseases, and that one of the gods had a bodyguard of 99,999 fravashi.¹ It is also to be noted that the triplicity of the cosmos (heaven, earth, water), found in the classic realms, is also a feature of the Japanese doctrine, Taoism, each realm having its own special ruler, and, to go no farther, we may note the great Germanic triad,² Wodan, Thorr, and Donar. Tacitus' statement (Germ. 2) is peculiarly interesting, to the effect that the primitive man, Mannus, had 3 sons and from these sprang the three main tribes of Germany, with which may be compared the account in Genesis (9:19): "Of Noah's 3 sons was the whole earth overspread." Somewhat different different is the account that the first man in the Isle of Man had 3 legs that the Scandinavian goddess of the dead, Hel, first appeared on the earth.³ According to the Gaelic account of the Argonautic expedition, there were 3 Argonauts who changed themselves into 3 hawks and by this means were successful in securing 3 of the apples of the Hesperides, in spite of the fact that the 3 daughters of the king had transformed themselves into 3 ospreys and pursued them.⁴

¹ For its use in the Germanin realm cf. Meyer, loc. cit.: "Neun ist Odins Zahl."

² The earliest triad consisted of Ingo, Irmin, and Isto, the "drei urgermanische Hauptgötter" (the Mercurius, Mars, Hercules, of Tac. Germ. 9).—R. M. Meyer, loc. cit.,pp. 195. Cf. also p. 530: "die Dreizahl ist Lieblingszahl," and the "literature" there cited; also J. Hoops, loc. cit. It is interesting to note that the family motto of Bismarck was "In Trinitate Robur," the arms a clover leaf and 3 oak leaves, and that contemporary caricature pictures him with 3 hairs on his head.

³ Note also the Scandinavian Tree of Life, Yggdrasil, with its 3 roots going down to 3 realms.

⁴ For the Celtic fondness for triads cf. Charles Squire's Celtic myths and legends. Cf. also Grendon, "Anglo-Saxon Charms," loc. cit.

In the realm of folklore the number 3 was particularly prolific, manifesting itself in the triple repetition of the same act. The illustrations from all lands are so numerous that only an abbreviated selection is possible. From Clare, Ireland, comes the interesting remedy for removing warts: "rub a stolen scrap of meat three times round each wart name of each person of the Trinity," a curious mixture of pagan mysticism and modern Christianity.¹ An interesting parallel to the custom referred to by Vergil (viii. 78 f.) is recorded by Frazer (III, 304): threads with 3 knots are still used in Argyleshire to cure internal ailments of man or beast, and highland sorcerers use 3 strings of 3 different colors with 3 knots in each as a charm against the evil eye (VI, 154); and a parallel to the Roman Ambarvalia is cited from Dahomey, Africa, where the custom prevailed "of every three years carrying around the city the serpent god, Danbe, to rid its inhabitants of their ills and ailments" () Folk-Lore, XVIII, 268).

In oaths and vows² (though differing in ethical value, alike in this respect) the tendency to indulge in "threes" is also marked. In India, e.g., it is the regular custom to emphasize both oaths and vows by repeating them 3 times (Folk-Lore X, 410), and Usener (p. 45) says that "from his earliest youth he has heard Catholics when greatly excited cry out 'Jesus, Maria, Josef,"' and adds "we curse 'in drei Teuffels Namen."'

¹Folk-Lore, XXII, 571. Compare the Anglo-Saxon charm (op. cit., p. 187) for recovering stolen cattle: "pray three times toward the East and say thrice Crux Christi ab oriente reducat" and similarly toward each point of the compass; to remove a strange swelling: "sing the Paternoster three times and say Fuge, diabolus, Christus te sequitur," and repeat again this formula three times; and (p. 199), and a charm against infectious diseases: "over the patient sing three times Matheus me ducat, Marcus me conservet, Lucas me liberet, Johannes me adiuvet, semper, Amen," etc. For an illustration nearer home compare Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn (chap. i) "to keep witches away I got up and turned around in my tracks three times and crossed my breast every time." Cf. also Folk-Lore, XVII, 70; XIX, 315, 434, 456; XX, 77, 346; XXII, 345, 474; XXIII, 191; Frazer, loc. cit., VII, 198; XI, 180, 184; Wuttke, loc. cit.; Henry Williams, Curious Facts, pp. 69, 139, 150, 197, 318, and Lease, Livy (1914), p. 216, note.