DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.13851#0600
572
or THE MISCELLANY CUSTOM* OF GREECE.
And on the bosom of (he earth shall flow
Streams from the heifer mountain-bred,
The grape's rich juice, and mix'd with these
The labour of the yellow bees,
Libations soothing to the dead. potter.
These were sometimes offered upon altars, which were commonly plac-
ed near the ancient sepulchres, with tables for the sacrificial feasts ;
sometimes they were poured forth upon the ground, or grave-stone, and.
together with a certain form of words, offered to the deceased ; thus
Helena desires Hermioneto address Clytetnnestra in her name (1) : the
water thus employed was termed Xxr^ov, ^6vi«v Xotfrov ; and at Athens,
iifovi^a (2). When persons died who had been married, there was a
custom for women to carry water to their graves, who from pouring it
forth were termed Ix^urpfeiai (3). When a young man or maid died, the
water was carried by a boy (4), or (which appears to some more proba-
ble) by a boy to the sepulchres of young men, by a maid to the sepulchres
of maids ; whence came the custom of erecting images, representing
maids with vessels of water upon the sepulchres of such as died in their
virginity, as was observed in the foregoing chapter, though I have there
interpreted this custom so as to agree with the former opinion. As for
those that died in their infancy, they were honoured with no libations,
nor had any right to the rest of the funeral solemnities (o).
These honours were paid the dead the ninth and thirtieth days after
burial (6), and repeated when any of their friends arrived that had been
absent at the solemnity, and upon all other occasions which required their
surviving relations to have them in memory : but some part of the month
Anthisterion seems to have been especially set apart for these ceremo-
nies in several of the Grecian cities. Athenaeus reports, in particular,
of the Apolloniatae (7), that they paid the dead the customary honours in this
month. Hesychius (8) likewise reports, that the same custom was observ-
ed at Athens ; and that they termed the days appointed for those solemnities
fwapaj gffcEgai, which were by others called «Vo<p£etOss (9), as being pollut-
edby their dedication to the dead, whose ghosts were thought to ascend
from their subterraneous habitations, to enjoy the kind entertainment
of their friends (10) ; the want hereof was thought a great calamity, and
therefore is reckoned by Cassandra among the manifold misfortunes of
the Trojans, that they should have no surviving friends to offer sacrifices
at their tombs.
'ouS'i nrpr.; tcL^m;
;E«-8' or<C otoTccv etlfjLO. yi fctpyiftttu.
-nor shall one friend remain
To stain their desert sepulchres with blood.
Upon these public days, they called over the names of their dead re-
lations one by one, excepting such as died under age, or forfeited their
titles to these honours, by dissipating their paternal inheritances, or
other crimes. There was likewise another time when they called over
the names of the dead, which being omitted in the foregoing chapters, I
shall speak of it in this place ; it was when they lost their friends in fo-
ri) Euripid. Oreste. v. 112; (6) Pollux, lib. iii. cap. 10.
f'2) Eustathius, Odyss d. (7) A£i>rvocro<p. lib. viii.
/3) Etyrnologici Anctor. (4) Idem. (8) Voce. Miaydi. <9) Suidas.
' i) Plutarchu?, lib. eonsola? ad uxorem. '10) LuciaDus EiricxcarSpii'.
or THE MISCELLANY CUSTOM* OF GREECE.
And on the bosom of (he earth shall flow
Streams from the heifer mountain-bred,
The grape's rich juice, and mix'd with these
The labour of the yellow bees,
Libations soothing to the dead. potter.
These were sometimes offered upon altars, which were commonly plac-
ed near the ancient sepulchres, with tables for the sacrificial feasts ;
sometimes they were poured forth upon the ground, or grave-stone, and.
together with a certain form of words, offered to the deceased ; thus
Helena desires Hermioneto address Clytetnnestra in her name (1) : the
water thus employed was termed Xxr^ov, ^6vi«v Xotfrov ; and at Athens,
iifovi^a (2). When persons died who had been married, there was a
custom for women to carry water to their graves, who from pouring it
forth were termed Ix^urpfeiai (3). When a young man or maid died, the
water was carried by a boy (4), or (which appears to some more proba-
ble) by a boy to the sepulchres of young men, by a maid to the sepulchres
of maids ; whence came the custom of erecting images, representing
maids with vessels of water upon the sepulchres of such as died in their
virginity, as was observed in the foregoing chapter, though I have there
interpreted this custom so as to agree with the former opinion. As for
those that died in their infancy, they were honoured with no libations,
nor had any right to the rest of the funeral solemnities (o).
These honours were paid the dead the ninth and thirtieth days after
burial (6), and repeated when any of their friends arrived that had been
absent at the solemnity, and upon all other occasions which required their
surviving relations to have them in memory : but some part of the month
Anthisterion seems to have been especially set apart for these ceremo-
nies in several of the Grecian cities. Athenaeus reports, in particular,
of the Apolloniatae (7), that they paid the dead the customary honours in this
month. Hesychius (8) likewise reports, that the same custom was observ-
ed at Athens ; and that they termed the days appointed for those solemnities
fwapaj gffcEgai, which were by others called «Vo<p£etOss (9), as being pollut-
edby their dedication to the dead, whose ghosts were thought to ascend
from their subterraneous habitations, to enjoy the kind entertainment
of their friends (10) ; the want hereof was thought a great calamity, and
therefore is reckoned by Cassandra among the manifold misfortunes of
the Trojans, that they should have no surviving friends to offer sacrifices
at their tombs.
'ouS'i nrpr.; tcL^m;
;E«-8' or<C otoTccv etlfjLO. yi fctpyiftttu.
-nor shall one friend remain
To stain their desert sepulchres with blood.
Upon these public days, they called over the names of their dead re-
lations one by one, excepting such as died under age, or forfeited their
titles to these honours, by dissipating their paternal inheritances, or
other crimes. There was likewise another time when they called over
the names of the dead, which being omitted in the foregoing chapters, I
shall speak of it in this place ; it was when they lost their friends in fo-
ri) Euripid. Oreste. v. 112; (6) Pollux, lib. iii. cap. 10.
f'2) Eustathius, Odyss d. (7) A£i>rvocro<p. lib. viii.
/3) Etyrnologici Anctor. (4) Idem. (8) Voce. Miaydi. <9) Suidas.
' i) Plutarchu?, lib. eonsola? ad uxorem. '10) LuciaDus EiricxcarSpii'.