This revolution of principles was perhaps the
completest revolution humanity has ever known.
A long road, marked by numerous compromises and limitations, led from
casual intercourse to the final establishment of the monogamous system.
Free intercourse had been sanctioned by the gods, who suffered no
restrictions and modifications, and sacrifices in the shape of a
temporary universal unfettering of instinct were required to pacify
their anger and reconcile them to the new system. The first and most
important of these compromises was the temple-prostitution practised by
many nations in Asia Minor, the Greek Archipelago, India and Babylonia.
Many a girl gained in this way the marriage portion which enabled her
later on to find a husband, to whom she invariably remained strictly
loyal. Thus all religious requirements were satisfied. At first this was
an annually recurring rite, but gradually it became an isolated ceremony
in the life of every female individual. "In the place of the annual
surrender," says Priester, "we now have a single act; the hetaerism of
the matrons is succeeded by the hetaerism of the maids; instead of being
practised during marriage, it is practised in spinsterhood; the blind
surrender has given way to a yielding to certain individuals.
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