DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.13851#0305
OF the religion op greece.
283
*A Kcttvx <?' ilnit lu^ (figaa-et <^u,o-fAdLrttt
Ai^ce wpit stiSEg'. sit; tTjj to<T' Is"' aico?.
But what new dreams this present night affords,
If that will profit, to the sky I'll tell.
The doing this they called <x,7r(mi\w.tfba.\, d<$o£wxc>!mti(!6a.i, and «Votp;tSiJ-
§at Evvi^ov o-^tv, or ctTrtrgoiriafydtScti tu jjXi'iJ, &c.
But before they were permitted to approach the divine altars, they
were obliged to purify themselves from all the pollutions of the night:
whence, in J2schylus (1), one saith
Etts/ ^'aVerjjv, %%igo7y >cct\xip'pois
"E.-^aZfa. rrnyK;, cruv &u»7r6hti> ^ipi
Bmucf 7rgo<rimv, ci.7roTQ07ra.ici; £<zI{aoo~:
Q'».ao-ct Swsu vrtKctvov.
As first I rose, I to the river went,
And wash'd away those foul impurities
Which had my body stain'd ; this being done,
The holy fanes I sought, and offer'd up
A sacrifice to the deliv'ring gods. b. d.
iEneas, in Virgil, is purified after the same manner, taking water out of
the river in his hands (2) :
--rite cavis undam defiuminc palmis
Sustulit.-■--
Then water in his hollow palm he took
From Tiber's flood. dkydz.m
But Silius has introduced one washing his whole body (3) :
---sub lucem id visa secundsnt
Oro coelicola et vivopurgo in ainne.
I cleanse myself in running streams, and pray
My dreams may lucky prove.
It appears from Persius (4), that it was usual amongst the Romans to dip
their heads five times in water before morning prayer.
Hate sancU utposcas Tiberino in gurgite mergis,
Mani caput bis terque, et noctemjluminepurgas.
And lest your pray'r should speak a sinful mind,
You purge away the filthiness you find
Procur'd by night; you to the Tiber go,
And down into the flood you flouncing bow
Five times your head.--
CHAP. XIV.
of divination by sacrifices.
Divination by sacrifices, called 'is^ojxayrsia, or <S£«o'x»an'a, was divided
into different kinds, according to the diversity of the materials offered to
the gods. They first made conjectures from the external parts and mo-
tions of the victim ; then from its entrails, from the flame in which it was
(1) Persis, (2) jEneid. lib. viii. ver. 69. (3) Lib. vai. (4) Sat. ii. ver. IS.
!
283
*A Kcttvx <?' ilnit lu^ (figaa-et <^u,o-fAdLrttt
Ai^ce wpit stiSEg'. sit; tTjj to<T' Is"' aico?.
But what new dreams this present night affords,
If that will profit, to the sky I'll tell.
The doing this they called <x,7r(mi\w.tfba.\, d<$o£wxc>!mti(!6a.i, and «Votp;tSiJ-
§at Evvi^ov o-^tv, or ctTrtrgoiriafydtScti tu jjXi'iJ, &c.
But before they were permitted to approach the divine altars, they
were obliged to purify themselves from all the pollutions of the night:
whence, in J2schylus (1), one saith
Etts/ ^'aVerjjv, %%igo7y >cct\xip'pois
"E.-^aZfa. rrnyK;, cruv &u»7r6hti> ^ipi
Bmucf 7rgo<rimv, ci.7roTQ07ra.ici; £<zI{aoo~:
Q'».ao-ct Swsu vrtKctvov.
As first I rose, I to the river went,
And wash'd away those foul impurities
Which had my body stain'd ; this being done,
The holy fanes I sought, and offer'd up
A sacrifice to the deliv'ring gods. b. d.
iEneas, in Virgil, is purified after the same manner, taking water out of
the river in his hands (2) :
--rite cavis undam defiuminc palmis
Sustulit.-■--
Then water in his hollow palm he took
From Tiber's flood. dkydz.m
But Silius has introduced one washing his whole body (3) :
---sub lucem id visa secundsnt
Oro coelicola et vivopurgo in ainne.
I cleanse myself in running streams, and pray
My dreams may lucky prove.
It appears from Persius (4), that it was usual amongst the Romans to dip
their heads five times in water before morning prayer.
Hate sancU utposcas Tiberino in gurgite mergis,
Mani caput bis terque, et noctemjluminepurgas.
And lest your pray'r should speak a sinful mind,
You purge away the filthiness you find
Procur'd by night; you to the Tiber go,
And down into the flood you flouncing bow
Five times your head.--
CHAP. XIV.
of divination by sacrifices.
Divination by sacrifices, called 'is^ojxayrsia, or <S£«o'x»an'a, was divided
into different kinds, according to the diversity of the materials offered to
the gods. They first made conjectures from the external parts and mo-
tions of the victim ; then from its entrails, from the flame in which it was
(1) Persis, (2) jEneid. lib. viii. ver. 69. (3) Lib. vai. (4) Sat. ii. ver. IS.
!