DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14696#0070
Death by lightning as euthanasia 23
incorruption... I imagine too that the divine substance [sulphur] gets its name
from the likeness of its smell to the fiery and pungent smell rubbed out of things
hit by lightning ; and it seems to me that this is why even dogs and birds
abstain from the bodies of those who have been struck by Zeus1.
Others inform us that victims of lightning were buried on the spot
where they fell2. Artemidoros says that a man so struck down, even
if poor, became suddenly famous. If a slave, he had fine clothing
put upon him, as though he were freed, and men approached him as
one honoured by Zeus. Nay more, every man struck by lightning
was treated as a god3.
(8) Death by lightning as euthanasia.
In this connexion it should be observed that various myths
represent death by lightning as a kind of euthanasia4. Kapaneus,
when struck, becomes ' a sacred corpse5' and receives ' a sacred
tomb6.' His pyre is described as 'Zeus' treasury7'—a remarkable
phrase, to which H. Usener has justly drawn attention8. When
Herakles' pyre had been kindled, thunderbolts fell from the sky and
consumed it: his friends, finding no bones, concluded that he had
gone from men to join the gods, and thereupon worshipped him as
a hero9. Asklepios was struck by a thunderbolt from Zeus, and
1 Plout. symp. 4. 1. 3.
2 Artemid. oneiroc7\ i. 9 ov yap oi KepavvwOevres fxeTaridevTai, dXX' oirov av vwb tov
irvpbs KaTa.\r)(pdQiaiv evravda QairTovTai. A law of Numa Pompilius enjoined that a man
killed by lightning should not be lifted higher than the knees, and should not have funeral
rites (Fest. p. 178 b 20 ff. Muller, p. 190, 7 ff. Lindsay itaque in Numae Pompili regis
legibus scriptum esse: 'si hominem fulminibus (Scaliger cj. fulmen Iovis) occisit, ne
supra genua tollito (C. O. Muller cj. tollitor).' et alibi: 'homo si fulmine occisus est, ei
iusta nulla fieri oportet.' Cp. Plin. nat. hist. 2. 145 hominem ita exanimatum cremari
(so codd. E.'2 p.: cremare codd. F. R.d.T.) fas non est, condi terra religio tradidit).
3 Artemid. oneirocr. 2. 9 67rei Kai 6 Kepavviodeis ai(fivi8iov irapaar)p.bT€pos ylyverai.. ./cat
'i(pao~Kov Hvai dyadbv SovXols to KepavvovaOai, ort oure beairbras 'iTi oi KepavvwdivTes ixov<JL1'
oiire Ka/Avovcri, Xafxirpa 5i i/xdrta avrols TrepiTiderai ws Kal rots iXevdepwdeicri, Kai irpoaiao-iv
aureus lis v-rrb Atos TeTi/xrjfievoLS oi dvOpwivoi a>s Kai rois e\evt)epwdtiai.v virb beairoTwv TeTifir]-
/x^ots (J. G. Reiff ad loc. : ' Ita cum Cod. B scripsi, qui tamen pfo wepiTiderai habet:
ewLTideraL. Libri hunc locum ita habebant: \a/j.Trpa 5(i ijiaTia avroZs irepLTLderai cl>s vnb
Stos TeTi/urj/xepois.^).. .oiiSels yap Kepavvwdeis dnpios eariv. bdev (bwov cod. B.) 76 Kai tbs
debs Tifiarai. Cp. Kyrillos katech. 13. 37 TroXvfxadris yevbixevo<z...iirL<JTbp.i<;e..'.'KK\7)vas e/c
tlov irap' avrols ixvdo\oyovp.evuv. avroi KeKepavvw/xevovs irpoaKWOvcnv. Kepavvbs 8e e£
ovpavwv ipxbp.evos ovk aKpirws epxerai. ei e/ceTf 01 tovs Kepavvicdevras deo/j.tae'is irpoo-KvvovvTes
ovk aicrx^V0VTaLi Tbv 9eo<pi\r) Kai vibv deov tov iaTavpwiJ.il>ov virep o~ov irpoo~Kvveiv aio~xvvV>
4 Rohde Psyche? i. 320 ff. 5 Eur. suppl. 935 ipbv <lis veKpbv.
6 lb. 981 Tv/j-fiov 8' iepbv.
7 lb. 1010 Aios 6-qcravpbv. F. Wieseler, followed by N. Wecklein, cj. opvbs drjaavpov—
a pointless alteration. Kapaneus, struck by the lightning, is charged with divinity and
treated as a Zeus incarnate.
8 H. Usener in the Rhein. Mus. 1905 lx. 10.
9 Diod. 4. 38.
incorruption... I imagine too that the divine substance [sulphur] gets its name
from the likeness of its smell to the fiery and pungent smell rubbed out of things
hit by lightning ; and it seems to me that this is why even dogs and birds
abstain from the bodies of those who have been struck by Zeus1.
Others inform us that victims of lightning were buried on the spot
where they fell2. Artemidoros says that a man so struck down, even
if poor, became suddenly famous. If a slave, he had fine clothing
put upon him, as though he were freed, and men approached him as
one honoured by Zeus. Nay more, every man struck by lightning
was treated as a god3.
(8) Death by lightning as euthanasia.
In this connexion it should be observed that various myths
represent death by lightning as a kind of euthanasia4. Kapaneus,
when struck, becomes ' a sacred corpse5' and receives ' a sacred
tomb6.' His pyre is described as 'Zeus' treasury7'—a remarkable
phrase, to which H. Usener has justly drawn attention8. When
Herakles' pyre had been kindled, thunderbolts fell from the sky and
consumed it: his friends, finding no bones, concluded that he had
gone from men to join the gods, and thereupon worshipped him as
a hero9. Asklepios was struck by a thunderbolt from Zeus, and
1 Plout. symp. 4. 1. 3.
2 Artemid. oneiroc7\ i. 9 ov yap oi KepavvwOevres fxeTaridevTai, dXX' oirov av vwb tov
irvpbs KaTa.\r)(pdQiaiv evravda QairTovTai. A law of Numa Pompilius enjoined that a man
killed by lightning should not be lifted higher than the knees, and should not have funeral
rites (Fest. p. 178 b 20 ff. Muller, p. 190, 7 ff. Lindsay itaque in Numae Pompili regis
legibus scriptum esse: 'si hominem fulminibus (Scaliger cj. fulmen Iovis) occisit, ne
supra genua tollito (C. O. Muller cj. tollitor).' et alibi: 'homo si fulmine occisus est, ei
iusta nulla fieri oportet.' Cp. Plin. nat. hist. 2. 145 hominem ita exanimatum cremari
(so codd. E.'2 p.: cremare codd. F. R.d.T.) fas non est, condi terra religio tradidit).
3 Artemid. oneirocr. 2. 9 67rei Kai 6 Kepavviodeis ai(fivi8iov irapaar)p.bT€pos ylyverai.. ./cat
'i(pao~Kov Hvai dyadbv SovXols to KepavvovaOai, ort oure beairbras 'iTi oi KepavvwdivTes ixov<JL1'
oiire Ka/Avovcri, Xafxirpa 5i i/xdrta avrols TrepiTiderai ws Kal rots iXevdepwdeicri, Kai irpoaiao-iv
aureus lis v-rrb Atos TeTi/xrjfievoLS oi dvOpwivoi a>s Kai rois e\evt)epwdtiai.v virb beairoTwv TeTifir]-
/x^ots (J. G. Reiff ad loc. : ' Ita cum Cod. B scripsi, qui tamen pfo wepiTiderai habet:
ewLTideraL. Libri hunc locum ita habebant: \a/j.Trpa 5(i ijiaTia avroZs irepLTLderai cl>s vnb
Stos TeTi/urj/xepois.^).. .oiiSels yap Kepavvwdeis dnpios eariv. bdev (bwov cod. B.) 76 Kai tbs
debs Tifiarai. Cp. Kyrillos katech. 13. 37 TroXvfxadris yevbixevo<z...iirL<JTbp.i<;e..'.'KK\7)vas e/c
tlov irap' avrols ixvdo\oyovp.evuv. avroi KeKepavvw/xevovs irpoaKWOvcnv. Kepavvbs 8e e£
ovpavwv ipxbp.evos ovk aKpirws epxerai. ei e/ceTf 01 tovs Kepavvicdevras deo/j.tae'is irpoo-KvvovvTes
ovk aicrx^V0VTaLi Tbv 9eo<pi\r) Kai vibv deov tov iaTavpwiJ.il>ov virep o~ov irpoo~Kvveiv aio~xvvV>
4 Rohde Psyche? i. 320 ff. 5 Eur. suppl. 935 ipbv <lis veKpbv.
6 lb. 981 Tv/j-fiov 8' iepbv.
7 lb. 1010 Aios 6-qcravpbv. F. Wieseler, followed by N. Wecklein, cj. opvbs drjaavpov—
a pointless alteration. Kapaneus, struck by the lightning, is charged with divinity and
treated as a Zeus incarnate.
8 H. Usener in the Rhein. Mus. 1905 lx. 10.
9 Diod. 4. 38.