DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.13851#0222
200
OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE.
quality of fire, which is thought to purify all things. Instead of the torch'
es, they sometimes used a branch of laurel, as we find in Pliny (1). Thug
Sozomen (2), where he speaks of Valeutinian following Julian into a pa-
gan temple, relates, that when they were about to enter, a priest
tivocs j*i*§fo'j£8« kdcte^v. vo(Aa> EXXriwx™ vregiepfUivs, holding certain green
boughs dropping water, besprinkled them after the Grecian manner, in-
stead of laurel, olive was sometimes used. Thus we find in Virgil ^3).
Idem ter socios pura circumtulit unda,
ftipargens rore levi et ramo felicis olivce.
Old Corinams compass'd thrice the crew,
And dipp'd an olive branch in holy dew. dhyden .
This custom of surrounding, here expressed, was so constant in purify
ing, that most of the terms which relate to any sort of purification, are
compounded with irtgl, around. Thus, w^ippxmiv, ntg^mvsvtut, nsgi-
Qii£vy rfegixyviQeu, &.c. The vessel, which contained the water of puri-
fication was termed negippettrygw. And the Latin word lustrare, which
signifies to purifrj or expiate, came hence to be a general word for any
sort of surrounding or encompassing. Thus it is used by Virgil (4) :
----dum montibus umbriz
Lustrabunl convexo—1---
Spondanus tells us, that before the sacrifices of the celestial gods, the
worshippers had their whole bodies washed, or if that could not be, at
least their hand? ; but for those that performed the sacred rites to the in-
fernal gods, a small sprinkling was sufficient. Sometimes the feet were
washed as well as the hands ; whence come^the proverbs, «v(Vro(£ XH^iV>
and uv'wTois iretflv, in Latin iltotis manibus, and illotis pedibus. which are
usually applied to men who undertake any thing without due care and
preparation. Porphyry (5) tells us there was a programma fixed up,
that no man should go beyond the ns£$av<rj?£«ov till he had washed his
hands ; and so great a crime was it accounted to omit this ceremony, that
Timarchides (6) hath related a story of one .Asterius, who was struck
dead with thunder, because he had approached the altar of Jupiter
with unwashed hands. Nor was this custom only used at solemn sacri-
fices, but also at the smallest parts of their worship. Hector tells us
he was afraid to make so much as a libation to Jupiter before he had
washed ;
Xsp^i tf' etviVro/j-zv A/'i'xs Guv niBoTTit cbjov.
A^OXoLI---(7).
I dread with unwash'd hands to bring.
My incens'd wine to Jove an offering'. j. a.
And Telemachus is said in Homer's Odysseis to have washed his hands
before he adventured to pray to the gods. This they did, out of a con-
ceit that thereby they were purified from their sins ; and withal signifying,
that nothing impure ought to approach the deities. On the same pecount
they sometimes washed their clothes, as Homer relates of Penelope be-
fore she offered prayers to the gods. The water used in purification
(1) Nat. Hist. lib. v. cap. 30. (4) iEncid. lib. I ver. 6JI.
(2) Histor. Eccles. lib. vi. p. 644. edit. Pa- (5) De victim*
ris. (G) Libro de Coroni?.
(3) Eaeii. lib. vi. ver. 229 (7) II. v, 266.
OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE.
quality of fire, which is thought to purify all things. Instead of the torch'
es, they sometimes used a branch of laurel, as we find in Pliny (1). Thug
Sozomen (2), where he speaks of Valeutinian following Julian into a pa-
gan temple, relates, that when they were about to enter, a priest
tivocs j*i*§fo'j£8« kdcte^v. vo(Aa> EXXriwx™ vregiepfUivs, holding certain green
boughs dropping water, besprinkled them after the Grecian manner, in-
stead of laurel, olive was sometimes used. Thus we find in Virgil ^3).
Idem ter socios pura circumtulit unda,
ftipargens rore levi et ramo felicis olivce.
Old Corinams compass'd thrice the crew,
And dipp'd an olive branch in holy dew. dhyden .
This custom of surrounding, here expressed, was so constant in purify
ing, that most of the terms which relate to any sort of purification, are
compounded with irtgl, around. Thus, w^ippxmiv, ntg^mvsvtut, nsgi-
Qii£vy rfegixyviQeu, &.c. The vessel, which contained the water of puri-
fication was termed negippettrygw. And the Latin word lustrare, which
signifies to purifrj or expiate, came hence to be a general word for any
sort of surrounding or encompassing. Thus it is used by Virgil (4) :
----dum montibus umbriz
Lustrabunl convexo—1---
Spondanus tells us, that before the sacrifices of the celestial gods, the
worshippers had their whole bodies washed, or if that could not be, at
least their hand? ; but for those that performed the sacred rites to the in-
fernal gods, a small sprinkling was sufficient. Sometimes the feet were
washed as well as the hands ; whence come^the proverbs, «v(Vro(£ XH^iV>
and uv'wTois iretflv, in Latin iltotis manibus, and illotis pedibus. which are
usually applied to men who undertake any thing without due care and
preparation. Porphyry (5) tells us there was a programma fixed up,
that no man should go beyond the ns£$av<rj?£«ov till he had washed his
hands ; and so great a crime was it accounted to omit this ceremony, that
Timarchides (6) hath related a story of one .Asterius, who was struck
dead with thunder, because he had approached the altar of Jupiter
with unwashed hands. Nor was this custom only used at solemn sacri-
fices, but also at the smallest parts of their worship. Hector tells us
he was afraid to make so much as a libation to Jupiter before he had
washed ;
Xsp^i tf' etviVro/j-zv A/'i'xs Guv niBoTTit cbjov.
A^OXoLI---(7).
I dread with unwash'd hands to bring.
My incens'd wine to Jove an offering'. j. a.
And Telemachus is said in Homer's Odysseis to have washed his hands
before he adventured to pray to the gods. This they did, out of a con-
ceit that thereby they were purified from their sins ; and withal signifying,
that nothing impure ought to approach the deities. On the same pecount
they sometimes washed their clothes, as Homer relates of Penelope be-
fore she offered prayers to the gods. The water used in purification
(1) Nat. Hist. lib. v. cap. 30. (4) iEncid. lib. I ver. 6JI.
(2) Histor. Eccles. lib. vi. p. 644. edit. Pa- (5) De victim*
ris. (G) Libro de Coroni?.
(3) Eaeii. lib. vi. ver. 229 (7) II. v, 266.