DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.13851#0674
64fl
OF THE MISCELLANY CUSTOMS OF GREECE.
5
No crime was thought to be followed with more certain and inevitable
judgments than this ; for the furies and otbes- infernal deities were be-
lieved always ready to execute the curse of parents injured by their
children ; hence Telemachus in Homer refuses to force his mother Pene-
lope from his house, for fear of being haunted by the furies, and re-
proached by men(l) :
——-atAAatTe tPuijuaiv
A&itrs/, 'nru fjimnf g-uytpxi aH^itTiT Epmij;
"F.Ta-iTctt.'
How from my father should I vengeance dread ■
How would my mother curse my hated head !
And while in wrath to vengeful fiends she cries,
How from their hell would vengeful fiends arise !
Abhorr'd by all,accurs'd thy name would grow,
The earth's disgrace, and human kind my foe. pope.
Phoenix was remarkably punished when his father invoked the furies' as-
sistance against him (2):
--7ra.r»f> <f' tfjihs tdirlK1 his-diit,
TloKha KXTupiro ruytpd; tf' jsrsjcexAET' Epmvc,
Mhttcti yxintj-ui oinv k<p'&G-ta-8xi ft\oy vlov
'E^ t/j.e&iv yiynanx' &tai eT' {tsaeiov fcTragstj,
Ztv; t8 kxtci^QovIo;, ij STi<v» ri£pa-sp6v£(at.
My sire with curses loads my hated head,
And cries, " Ye furies ! barren be his bed."
Infernal Jove, the vengeful fiends below,
And ruthless Proserpine confirm'd his vow. pope.
Many other instances occur in authors, as those of Oedipus, Theseus,
and others produced by Plato (3), where he endeavours to make out that
the gods were always prepared to hear the prayers, and revenge the in-
juries of parents. Nor was the punishment of this crime only left to be
executed by the gods, but frequently inflicted by human appointment.
Solon ordered all persons who refused to make due provision for their
parents to be punished with (ari/xi'a) ignominy (4). The same penalty
was incurred by those who beat their parents. Neither was this confined
to their immediate parents, but equally understood of their grandfathers,
grandmothers, and other progenitors.
When persons admitted to appear for the office of archon were examin-
ed concerning their life and behaviour, one of the first questions inquir-
ed was. whether they had honoured their parents ; herein if they were
found faulty, their suit was rejected.
Yet there were some cases wherein that lawgiver excused children
from maintaining their parents, as when they had been bred up to no call-
ing or profession, whereby they might be enabled to subsist in the world ;
for the care and trouble of parents, in educating their children, being the
main foundation of those duties they were to expect from them, their de-
fault herein was thought to absolve the children from their allegiance. In
like manner, such as were prostituted by their parents, were not com-
pelled to maintain them (5). The sons of harlots were also declared to
lie under no obligation of relieving their fathers, because they who keep
(1) Odyss. [3'. v. 134. (3) De Legibus, lib. xi,
(2) Iliad, f. v. 454. (4) Laertius Solone.
(5) iEschines, Orat. in Timarch.
OF THE MISCELLANY CUSTOMS OF GREECE.
5
No crime was thought to be followed with more certain and inevitable
judgments than this ; for the furies and otbes- infernal deities were be-
lieved always ready to execute the curse of parents injured by their
children ; hence Telemachus in Homer refuses to force his mother Pene-
lope from his house, for fear of being haunted by the furies, and re-
proached by men(l) :
——-atAAatTe tPuijuaiv
A&itrs/, 'nru fjimnf g-uytpxi aH^itTiT Epmij;
"F.Ta-iTctt.'
How from my father should I vengeance dread ■
How would my mother curse my hated head !
And while in wrath to vengeful fiends she cries,
How from their hell would vengeful fiends arise !
Abhorr'd by all,accurs'd thy name would grow,
The earth's disgrace, and human kind my foe. pope.
Phoenix was remarkably punished when his father invoked the furies' as-
sistance against him (2):
--7ra.r»f> <f' tfjihs tdirlK1 his-diit,
TloKha KXTupiro ruytpd; tf' jsrsjcexAET' Epmvc,
Mhttcti yxintj-ui oinv k<p'&G-ta-8xi ft\oy vlov
'E^ t/j.e&iv yiynanx' &tai eT' {tsaeiov fcTragstj,
Ztv; t8 kxtci^QovIo;, ij STi<v» ri£pa-sp6v£(at.
My sire with curses loads my hated head,
And cries, " Ye furies ! barren be his bed."
Infernal Jove, the vengeful fiends below,
And ruthless Proserpine confirm'd his vow. pope.
Many other instances occur in authors, as those of Oedipus, Theseus,
and others produced by Plato (3), where he endeavours to make out that
the gods were always prepared to hear the prayers, and revenge the in-
juries of parents. Nor was the punishment of this crime only left to be
executed by the gods, but frequently inflicted by human appointment.
Solon ordered all persons who refused to make due provision for their
parents to be punished with (ari/xi'a) ignominy (4). The same penalty
was incurred by those who beat their parents. Neither was this confined
to their immediate parents, but equally understood of their grandfathers,
grandmothers, and other progenitors.
When persons admitted to appear for the office of archon were examin-
ed concerning their life and behaviour, one of the first questions inquir-
ed was. whether they had honoured their parents ; herein if they were
found faulty, their suit was rejected.
Yet there were some cases wherein that lawgiver excused children
from maintaining their parents, as when they had been bred up to no call-
ing or profession, whereby they might be enabled to subsist in the world ;
for the care and trouble of parents, in educating their children, being the
main foundation of those duties they were to expect from them, their de-
fault herein was thought to absolve the children from their allegiance. In
like manner, such as were prostituted by their parents, were not com-
pelled to maintain them (5). The sons of harlots were also declared to
lie under no obligation of relieving their fathers, because they who keep
(1) Odyss. [3'. v. 134. (3) De Legibus, lib. xi,
(2) Iliad, f. v. 454. (4) Laertius Solone.
(5) iEschines, Orat. in Timarch.