"There was no priestly hierarchy either for Greece as a whole or for single cantons; not even among priests of the same in different cantons was there organized coöperation. Some popular or oracle might win more than local prestige and secure the protection and support of various neighboring states, but there the drift toward centralization and organization found its limit. At no time did there exist an organized authority which could formulate standards of faith or dictate the usages of religious etiquette. Ritual, seeking that which in matter and manner was believed to be well pleasing to the , followed the traditions of the individual shrines, and there were no better theologians than the poets."