DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.13851#0206
in
df THE RELIGION OF GREECE
calamity was to be averted, or any great and uncommon blessing to be ob
tained, they had recourse to some of those who were consecrated to the
office of priesthood. Thus the pestilence could not be removed from the
Grecian army by any prayers or sacrifices, till they did
---cryiiv npitM & tjiaTSjf-tCxy
'Eg Xf>u<rnv--(1).
Carry a sacred hecatomb to Chryses, the priest of Apollo. At other
times, and in the absence of priests, it was customary for others to offer
prayers and sacrifices. Thus Eumenes is said to have done in Homer's
Odysseis, and the same is frequently done in other places by the heroes,
princes, or masters of the family ; it being customary for the most ho-
nourable person in the company to perform the religious rites. The
same method was observed by the patriarchs in the Holy Scriptures,
where we find oblations made by Cain, Abel, Noah, Abraham, Job, Ja-
cob, and others, till the time of Aaron's consecration to the priesthood,
after which it was reputed an act of sacrilege for private persons to in-
termeddle with any of the sacred rites.
Some of the priests obtained their office and dignity by inheritance.
This was the constant method in Egypt (2), amongst the Jews, the sacred
families at Athens, and in many other places. Some were appointed by
lots, others by the designation of the princes, and others by popular elec-
tions. And that this last method was very ancient, appears from Ho-
mer '3), where he speaks of Theano's being appointed priestess of Mi-
nerva by the Trojans :
Her the Trojans appointed to be priestess of Minerva , When Eustathius
observes, that she was yrs xhrigarv, sVs ex ys'vy;, ife evo? ijV^w.. «/vX°
v, ag woU'«ioi' Qatii, to nr'kyAoG £<As7«' neither appointed by lots, nor by right of
inheritance, nor by the designation of a single person, but, as the ancients
say, elected by the people. By which words he describes the several
ways of appointing priests, wbich were used by the ancient Greeks.
It was required, that whoever was admitted to this office, should be
sound and perfect in all his members, it being thought a dishonour to the
gods to be served by any one that was lame, maimed, or any other way
imperfect ; and therefore at Athens, before their consecration, it was ex-
amined whether they were M<pe\s7s, that is, perfect and entire, neither
having any defect, nor any thing superfluous (4.) In the same manner,
it is commanded by one of the Jewish laws, which in many things agree
with those of Athens, that no man that had a blemish of the seed of Aaron,
shall come nigh unto the altar (?)
Nor ought they to be perfect in body only, but upright in mind ;
nothing ought to approach the gods but what is pure and uncorrupt ;
therefore the priests lived temperately and chastely, abstaining even from
th6se pleasures which were allowable to other men ; insomuch that Euri-
pides tells us, that in Crete the prophets of Jupiter did not only deny
themselves the use of flesh meat, but forbore to eat any thing that was
boiled. Some were so rigid observers of the rules of chastity, that, like
the priests of the mothers of the gods at Samos, they dismembered them-
^1) Iliad. 6.. v. 99. (4) Hesychius, Etymologici Auctor. v. A(pc
(2) Herodotus Euterpe. Khs.
<3> 11 ('. v, 300. (5) Levit. xxi, 21. 23.
df THE RELIGION OF GREECE
calamity was to be averted, or any great and uncommon blessing to be ob
tained, they had recourse to some of those who were consecrated to the
office of priesthood. Thus the pestilence could not be removed from the
Grecian army by any prayers or sacrifices, till they did
---cryiiv npitM & tjiaTSjf-tCxy
'Eg Xf>u<rnv--(1).
Carry a sacred hecatomb to Chryses, the priest of Apollo. At other
times, and in the absence of priests, it was customary for others to offer
prayers and sacrifices. Thus Eumenes is said to have done in Homer's
Odysseis, and the same is frequently done in other places by the heroes,
princes, or masters of the family ; it being customary for the most ho-
nourable person in the company to perform the religious rites. The
same method was observed by the patriarchs in the Holy Scriptures,
where we find oblations made by Cain, Abel, Noah, Abraham, Job, Ja-
cob, and others, till the time of Aaron's consecration to the priesthood,
after which it was reputed an act of sacrilege for private persons to in-
termeddle with any of the sacred rites.
Some of the priests obtained their office and dignity by inheritance.
This was the constant method in Egypt (2), amongst the Jews, the sacred
families at Athens, and in many other places. Some were appointed by
lots, others by the designation of the princes, and others by popular elec-
tions. And that this last method was very ancient, appears from Ho-
mer '3), where he speaks of Theano's being appointed priestess of Mi-
nerva by the Trojans :
Her the Trojans appointed to be priestess of Minerva , When Eustathius
observes, that she was yrs xhrigarv, sVs ex ys'vy;, ife evo? ijV^w.. «/vX°
v, ag woU'«ioi' Qatii, to nr'kyAoG £<As7«' neither appointed by lots, nor by right of
inheritance, nor by the designation of a single person, but, as the ancients
say, elected by the people. By which words he describes the several
ways of appointing priests, wbich were used by the ancient Greeks.
It was required, that whoever was admitted to this office, should be
sound and perfect in all his members, it being thought a dishonour to the
gods to be served by any one that was lame, maimed, or any other way
imperfect ; and therefore at Athens, before their consecration, it was ex-
amined whether they were M<pe\s7s, that is, perfect and entire, neither
having any defect, nor any thing superfluous (4.) In the same manner,
it is commanded by one of the Jewish laws, which in many things agree
with those of Athens, that no man that had a blemish of the seed of Aaron,
shall come nigh unto the altar (?)
Nor ought they to be perfect in body only, but upright in mind ;
nothing ought to approach the gods but what is pure and uncorrupt ;
therefore the priests lived temperately and chastely, abstaining even from
th6se pleasures which were allowable to other men ; insomuch that Euri-
pides tells us, that in Crete the prophets of Jupiter did not only deny
themselves the use of flesh meat, but forbore to eat any thing that was
boiled. Some were so rigid observers of the rules of chastity, that, like
the priests of the mothers of the gods at Samos, they dismembered them-
^1) Iliad. 6.. v. 99. (4) Hesychius, Etymologici Auctor. v. A(pc
(2) Herodotus Euterpe. Khs.
<3> 11 ('. v, 300. (5) Levit. xxi, 21. 23.