Golden Bough. Part VI. The Scapegoat

The ninth book in The Golden Bough Series. With The Scapegoat the general discussion of the theory and practice of the Dying God is brought to a conclusion. The aspect of the subject with which we are here chiefly concerned is the use of the Dying God as a scapegoat to free his worshippers from the troubles of all sorts with which life on earth is beset. Frazer sought to trace this curious usage to its origin, to decompose the idea of the Divine Scapegoat into the elements out of which it appear