DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.13851#0321
of the religion of greece,
299
There is a parallel passage in Gvid's letter to Livia :
Jupiter ante dedit fati mala signa futuri,
Flammifera petiit cum tria templa manu.
Of future fate Jove's signals patent stand,
Three temples struck by his name-darting hand. c. s.
To avert unlucky omens given by thunder, it was usual to make a liba-
tion of wine, pouring it forth in cups. And they stood in so much fear of
lightning, that they adored it, as Pliny (1) observes. They endeavoured
to avert its malignant influences, by hissing and whistling at it, which
they called ■ko-xtto^siv, as appears from Aristophanes (2), when he saith,
xoTv dwsfo^ea, if I cast forth lightning, TrowTrucrtjifi, they will hiss ; where the
scholiast observes, that it was usual ralg urgccnecls 7ro7r7ruQiv, to hiss at the
lightning. In places which had suffered by thunders, altars were erect-
ed, and oblations made to avert the anger of the gods ; and after that, no
man adventured to touch or approach them. Hence Artemidorus (3) ob-
serves, that by the thunder obscure places were made eV/a^jxa, remarka-
ble, by reason of the altars and sacrifices which were there presented to
the gods ; and that, on the contrary, places which had been frequented,
became E^f/<a 5 esCara, desert and solitary; xSslg ya£ ev at/ref? StargiSsw in
3-sXsr because no man would, after that accident, stay there. At Rome,
places affected by thunder were inclosed by a public officer ; and the
fragments of the thunderbolt, if any such could be found, were carefully
buried, lest any person should be polluted by touching them. And it was
farther customary, to atone for any thing which was thunderstruck, b)'
sacrificing a sheep, which being called bidens, the thing affected by thun-
der came to be termed bidental, as the scholiast observes from the follow-
ing passage of Persius (4).
An quia totfibris avium, Ergenndque jubente,
Tristejacet lucis, eviiandwnque bidental ?
What makes thee a sad object of our eyes
Fit for Ergenna's prayer and sacrifice ?
What well fed offerings to appease the God,
What powerful present to procure a nod,
Hast thou in store ? drydek.
CHAP. XVL
of divination by lots.
Of lots there were four sorts, viz. political, military, lusorious, and di-
vinatory : the three first do not at all concern my present purpose, how-
ever treated of by some in this place. Of the prophetical, there were
divers sorts, two of which were most in use, viz. 2<n#oji*av<rsi'a and KXtj-
2<nj(ofjt<*v<r£i'*, was a sort of divination by verses, wherein it was usual to
take fatidical verses, and having wrote them upon little pieces of paper,
to put them into a vessel and so draw them out, expecting to read their
(1) Lib. xxviii. cap. ii. (2) Vespis. (3) Oneirocrit. lib. ii. (4) Satir. ii. ver. 26.
299
There is a parallel passage in Gvid's letter to Livia :
Jupiter ante dedit fati mala signa futuri,
Flammifera petiit cum tria templa manu.
Of future fate Jove's signals patent stand,
Three temples struck by his name-darting hand. c. s.
To avert unlucky omens given by thunder, it was usual to make a liba-
tion of wine, pouring it forth in cups. And they stood in so much fear of
lightning, that they adored it, as Pliny (1) observes. They endeavoured
to avert its malignant influences, by hissing and whistling at it, which
they called ■ko-xtto^siv, as appears from Aristophanes (2), when he saith,
xoTv dwsfo^ea, if I cast forth lightning, TrowTrucrtjifi, they will hiss ; where the
scholiast observes, that it was usual ralg urgccnecls 7ro7r7ruQiv, to hiss at the
lightning. In places which had suffered by thunders, altars were erect-
ed, and oblations made to avert the anger of the gods ; and after that, no
man adventured to touch or approach them. Hence Artemidorus (3) ob-
serves, that by the thunder obscure places were made eV/a^jxa, remarka-
ble, by reason of the altars and sacrifices which were there presented to
the gods ; and that, on the contrary, places which had been frequented,
became E^f/<a 5 esCara, desert and solitary; xSslg ya£ ev at/ref? StargiSsw in
3-sXsr because no man would, after that accident, stay there. At Rome,
places affected by thunder were inclosed by a public officer ; and the
fragments of the thunderbolt, if any such could be found, were carefully
buried, lest any person should be polluted by touching them. And it was
farther customary, to atone for any thing which was thunderstruck, b)'
sacrificing a sheep, which being called bidens, the thing affected by thun-
der came to be termed bidental, as the scholiast observes from the follow-
ing passage of Persius (4).
An quia totfibris avium, Ergenndque jubente,
Tristejacet lucis, eviiandwnque bidental ?
What makes thee a sad object of our eyes
Fit for Ergenna's prayer and sacrifice ?
What well fed offerings to appease the God,
What powerful present to procure a nod,
Hast thou in store ? drydek.
CHAP. XVL
of divination by lots.
Of lots there were four sorts, viz. political, military, lusorious, and di-
vinatory : the three first do not at all concern my present purpose, how-
ever treated of by some in this place. Of the prophetical, there were
divers sorts, two of which were most in use, viz. 2<n#oji*av<rsi'a and KXtj-
2<nj(ofjt<*v<r£i'*, was a sort of divination by verses, wherein it was usual to
take fatidical verses, and having wrote them upon little pieces of paper,
to put them into a vessel and so draw them out, expecting to read their
(1) Lib. xxviii. cap. ii. (2) Vespis. (3) Oneirocrit. lib. ii. (4) Satir. ii. ver. 26.