The following is the text as preserved to us; the slabs on which it is inscribed are broken, and there are consequent lacunae.

“Io, Kouros most great, I give thee hail, Kronian, lord of all that is wet and gleaming, thou art come at the head of thy Daimones.  To Dikte for the year, Oh march, and rejoice in the dance and song,

“That we make to thee with harps and pipes mingled together, and sing as we come to a stand at thy well-fenced altar.

“Io, &c.

“For here the shielded Nurturers took thee, a child immortal, from Rhea, and with noise of beating feet hid thee away.

“Io, &c.

“And the Horai began to be fruitful year by year, and Dikè to possess mankind and all wild living things were held about by wealth-loving Peace.

“Io, &c.

“And the Horai began to be fruitful year by year, and Dikè to possess mankind and all wild living things were held about by wealth-loving Peace.

“Io, &c.

“To us also leap for full jars, and leap for fleecy flocks, and leap for fields of fruit, and for hives to bring increase.

“Io, &c.

“Leap for our cities, and leap for our sea-borne ships, and leap for our young citizens, and for goodly Themis.”

This hymn is most extraordinarily interesting; it places beyond all doubt what was the root intention of this ceremonial dance; it was designed to stimulate the reproductive energies of Nature, to bring into being fruitful fields, and vineyards, plenteous increase in the flocks and herds, and to people the cities with youthful citizens; and the god is entreated not merely to accept the worship offered, but himself to join in the action which shall produce such fair results, to leap for full jars, and fleecy flocks, and for youthful citizens.

The importance of movement, notably of what we may call group movement, as a stimulant to natural energies, is thoroughly recognized among primitive peoples; with them Dance holds a position equivalent to that which, in more advanced communities, is assigned to Prayer.  Professor von Schroeder comments on this, “Es ist merkwürdig genug zu sehen wie das Tanzen nach dem Glauben primitiver Völker eine ähnliche Kraft und Bedeutung zu haben scheint wie man sie auf höheren Kulturstufen dem inbrünstigen Gebete zuschreibt."[15] He cites the case of the Tarahumara Indians of Central America; while the family as a whole are labouring in the fields it is the office of one man to dance uninterruptedly on the dance place of the house; if he fails in his office the labour of the others will be unsuccessful.  The one sin of which a Tarahumara Indian is conscious is that of not having danced enough.  Miss Harrison, in commenting on the dance of the Kouretes, remarks that among certain savage tribes when a man is too old to dance he hands on his dance to another.  He then ceases to exist socially; when he dies his funeral is celebrated with scanty rites; having ‘lost his dance’ he has ceased to count as a social unit.[16]