Chapter III: The Communion of Gods and Men (4)

[805] In the _Iliad_ it is not found. Cf. Bouché Leclercq, _Hist. de la Divination_, I. p. 156.

[806] Hom. _Od._ XVII. 114 ff. Cf. also _Od._ XX. 98 ff.

[807] For examples see Herod. V. 72, VIII. 114, IX. 64, 91; Xenoph. _Anab._ I. 8. 16. Cf. Bouché Leclercq, _op. cit._ I. p. 157. The word φήμη is in some of these passages used in the sense of κληδών.

[808] Paus. VII. 22. 2, 3.

[809] Le Bas et Waddington, _Voyage Archéologique_, V. 1724^a.

[810] Paus. IX. 11. 7. Cf. Bouché Leclercq, _Hist. de la Divin._ I. p. 159 and II. p. 400.

[811] Paus. _ibid._

[812] The proper precaution is prescribed in the couplet, ’στὸ δρόμο σὰν ἰδῆς παπᾶ, | κράτησ’ τ’ ἀρχίδι̯α σου καλά. _Si per viam sacerdoti occurres, testiculos tuos teneto._

[813] γαϊδοῦρι με συμπάθειο, ‘a donkey, with your leave.’ So also often in mentioning the number ‘three,’ and sometimes with ‘five.’

[814] Aristoph. _Aves_, 720.

[815] _Eccles._ 792.

[816] Theophr. _Char._ 16. 1.

[817] _Ibid._

[818] _op. cit._ 16. 3.

[819] Cf. Suidas, s.v. οἰωνιστική.

[820] Bouché Leclercq, _op. cit._ I. p. 129.

[821] Assuming derivation from οἶος, as υἱωνός from υἱός, κοινωνός from κοινός.

[822] Plutarch, _de solertia animalium_, cap. 20 (p. 975).

[823] Bouché Leclercq, _Hist. de la Divin._ I. p. 133-4.

[824] e.g. Hom. _Il._ XXIV. 310.

[825] Hom. _Il._ VIII. 247.

[826] _Etymol. Magn._ p. 619, s.v. οἰωνοπόλος.

[827] Apoll. Rhod. III. 930.

[828] Ovid, _Metam._ II. 548 sqq.

[829] Hom. _Od._ XV. 526.

[830] Hom. _Il._ X. 274.

[831] Plutarch, _Pyth. Orac._ cap. 22.

[832] Paroemiogr. Graec. I. pp. 228, 231, 352.

[833] περὶ ὠμοπλατοσκοπίας καὶ οἰωνοσκοπίας.

[834] Suid., _Lexicon_, s.v. οἰωνιστική.

[835] _op. cit._ § 2.

[836] Cf. Bouché Leclercq, _op. cit._ I. p. 140, note 2.

[837] Hesiod, _Works and Days_, 745.

[838] The identification of the birds named by even the more intelligent peasants is necessarily uncertain. The name κουκουβάγια is seemingly onomatopoeic, suggesting the hooting of the owl, but is generally reserved to the brown owl.

[839] _op. cit._ § 2.

[840] In the dialects of Scyros and other Aegean islands, κ before the sounds of ε and ι is regularly softened to τσ. The ρ has, as often, suffered metathesis.

[841] Hom. _Od._ XV. 524 ff.

[842] Derivation from χαρά, instead of Χάρος, and πουλί is possible, but less likely. It would then be an euphemistic name, ‘bird of joy.’ An owl named στριγλοποῦλι (on which see above, p. 180) appears to be a semi-mythical bird chiefly found in Hades; it is possibly identical with ‘Charon’s bird.’

[843] Cf. Ἐμαν. Μανωλακάκης, Καρπαθιακά, p. 126.

[844] _Il._ VII. 184.

[845] _Od._ XVII. 365.

[846] _Il._ I. 597.

[847] Βικέντιος Κορνάρος, Ἐρωτόκριτος, p. 320.

[848] Aristot. _Hist. An._ IX. 1.

[849] Cf. Aesch. _Sept._ 24, Soph. _Antig._ 999 sqq.

[850] Origen, _contra Cels._ IV. 88.

[851] _Homeric Hymn to Demeter_, 46.

[852] e.g. Passow, _Popul. Carm._ nos. 122, 123, 213, 232, 234, 235, 251 _et passim_.

[853] A. Luber in a monograph _Die Vögel in den historischen Liedern der Neugriechen_, pp. 6 ff., notes the impossibility of determining in many cases whether a real bird or a scout is meant.

[854] Passow, _Popul. Carm._ no. 415, vv. 5-7. Cf. 413, 414.

[855] _Ibid._ no. 410.

[856] ξεφτέρι (probably a diminutive from ὀξύπτερος), a ‘falcon,’ is a favourite name for the warrior, just as the humbler πουλί, ‘bird,’ is used for ‘scout.’

[857] With reference to Ibrahim’s Egyptian troops.

[858] Passow, _Popul. Carm._ no. 256.

[859] Cic. _de Divin._ I. 52, II. 12, 15, 16, 17. Cf. Bouché Leclercq, _Hist. de la Divin._ I. p. 167.

[860] Plato, _Tim._ 71 c.

[861] Philostr. _Vit. Apollon._ VIII. 7. 49-52. Cf. Bouché Leclercq, _op. cit._ I. p. 168.

[862] For authorities on this point see Bouché Leclercq, _op. cit._ I. p. 170.

[863] Cf. _ibid._ p. 169.

[864] K. O. Müller (_die Etrusker_, II. p. 187) places the introduction of the custom in the sixth century B.C.

[865] Bybilakis, _Neugriechisches Leben_, p. 49 (1840).

[866] Περὶ ὠμοπλατοσκοπίας καὶ οἰωνοσκοπίας, § 1.

[867] Λαμπρίδης, Ζαγοριακά, p. 210. No details are given.

[868] Λαμπρίδης, Ζαγοριακά, p. 176.

[869] The writer does not actually mention the two things in connexion. He belongs to that class of modern Greek writers who exhibit their own intellectual emancipation by deploring or deriding popular superstitions, and wastes so much energy therein that he fails to note such points of interest. But, since it is not probable that the peasants of Epirus eat meat more often than other Greek peasants, the connexion of the sacrifice and the divination may, I think, be assumed.

[870] Certain details of the art as practised in Macedonia are given by Abbott, _Macedonian Folklore_, p. 96. But, as they may in part be due to Albanian influence there, I have not made use of them.

[871] Περὶ ὠμοπλατοσκοπίας κ.τ.λ. _l. c._

[872] Reading ἄλλα γὰρ for ἀλλὰ γὰρ of Codex Vindobonensis, as published in _Philologus_, 1853, p. 166.

[873] The word is ῥάχις. This in relation to the body generally means the ‘spine,’ but can be used of any ridge (as of a hill), and so here, I suppose, of the ridge of bone along the shoulder-blade.

[874] So I understand the somewhat obscure sentence, εἰ μὲν γὰρ μεταξὺ τοῦ ὠμοπλάτου δύο ὑμένες ἐξ ἀμφοτέρων μερῶν τῆς ῥάχεως κ.τ.λ., conjecturing οἱ before μεταξὺ, where Codex Vindob. has corruptly εἰ.

[875] _Prom. Vinct._ 493.

[876] Pausan. VI. 2. 5.

[877] Tatian, _adv. Graecos_, I. Cf. Bouché Leclercq, _Hist. de la Divin._ I. p. 170.

[878] In Zagorion in Epirus, the ram is sacrificed on the entrance of the bride to her new home (cf. the sacrifice of a cock mentioned below). Λαμπρίδης, Ζαγοριακά, p. 183.

[879] Curtius Wachsmuth, _Das alte Griechenland im Neuen_, p. 86.

[880] In Macedonia the weasel is said on the contrary to be a good omen. Abbott, _Macedonian Folklore_, p. 108.

[881] Λαμπρίδης, Ζαγοριακά, p. 203.

[882] Theophr. _Char._ 16.

[883] Theocr. _Id._ II. 35.

[884] So too in antiquity apparently according to Propertius IV. (V.) 3. 60; Ovid (_Heroid._ XIX. 151) on the contrary reckons it a good omen.

[885] Theocr. _Id._ III. 37 ἄλλεται ὀφθαλμός μευ ὁ δεξιός· ἆρά γ’ ἰδησῶ | αὐτάν; the order of the words, it will be seen, justifies the emphasis which I have given to δεξιός and to αὐτάν.

[886] _Dialog. Meretric._ 9. 2.

[887] The significance of right and left in this case is reversed in Macedonia (cf. Abbott, _Macedonian Folklore_, p. 112). But in all these instances I am only giving what I have found to be the commonest form of the superstition in Greece as a whole.

[888] Abbott, _Macedonian Folklore_, p. 111.

[889] The word ψοφῶ is properly used only of the dying of animals.

[890] ἐπέπταρε πᾶσιν ἔπεσσιν.

[891] Hom. _Od._ XVII. 539 ff. Cf. Xenoph. _Anab._ III. 2. 9 and Catull. XLV. 9 and 18.

[892] See above, p. 304.

[893] Καμπούρογλου, Ἱστ. τῶν Ἀθηναίων, III. p. 22.

[894] e.g. at the oracle of Hermes Agoraeus at Pherae the enquirer performed the whole ceremony required and obtained his response without the intervention of any priest or seer. Cf. above, p. 305.

[895] See above, p. 121.

[896] See above, p. 55.

[897] Cf. an article by Ἀντ. Μηλιαράκης, τὸ ἐν Ἀμοργῷ Μαντεῖον τοῦ Ἁγίου Γεωργίου τοῦ Βαλσαμίτου, in Περιοδικὸν τῆς Ἑστίας, no. 411, 13th Nov. 1883.

[898] Le Père Robert (Sauger), _Histoire nouvelle des anciens ducs et autres souverains de l’Archipel_ (Paris, 1699) pp. 196-198. Cf. Tournefort, _Voyage du Levant_, I. pp. 281 ff.; Sonnini de Magnoncourt, _Voyage en Grèce et en Turquie_, vol. I. p. 290.

[899] Bouché Leclercq, _Hist. de la Divin._ I. p. 187.

[900] Pausan. III. 23. 8.

[901] _De sacrificiis_, p. 12.

[902] _Ibid._ cap. 2.

[903] Plato, _Sympos._ p. 188.

[904] Hom. _Il._ IX. 497 ff.

[905] See above, pp. 322-3 and 326.

[906] See above, p. 265.

[907] See above, pp. 58-9.

[908] Ancient offerings of this type, as found at Epidaurus, should not I think be grouped all together as thank-offerings; many of them belonged probably to the propitiatory class.

[909] See above, p. 121.

[910] See above, p. 145.

[911] See above, p. 201.

[912] Formerly (and again latterly) called Thera.

[913] Le père Richard, _Relation de ce qui s’est passé à Sant-Erini_, p. 23.

[914] Called by him ὄρος τοῦ ἁγίου Στεφάνου; but the fact that there is only this one mountain in the island and that it still has a chapel of St Stephen on it places the identification beyond all doubt.

[915] This phrase as noted down by me from memory along with the rest of the story immediately after my interview is, I believe, verbally exact. The old man’s words were ἐσκεφτήκαμε λοιπὸν κι’ ἀποφασίσαμε νὰ στείλουμε ἄνθρωπο ’στὸν Ἅγι’ Νικόλα, γιὰ νά τον παρακαλέσῃ νὰ ἐπιτυχαίνουνε τὰ καράβι̯α μας στὸν πόλεμο.

[916] See above, p. 55.

[917] The term ὁ θεός could not have been intended to apply to St Nicolas; although the saints are practically treated as gods, they are not so spoken of. See above, pp. 42 ff.

[918] Plutarch, _Pelop._ 21 (p. 229).

[919] Porph. _de Abstin._ 27 and 54.

[920] Tzetz. _Hist._ XXIII. 726 ff.

[921] Cf. Πολίτης, Μελέτη, II. p. 341.

[922] Ραζέλης, Μυρολόγια, p. 16. Πολίτης, Μελέτη, II. 343.

[923] _Popul. Carm._ no. 373.

[924] Ραζέλης, Μυρολόγια, p. 36. Cf. Πολίτης, Μελέτη, II. p. 342. The line runs μαντατοφόρος φρόνιμος ’ποῦ πάει ’στὸν κάτω κόσμο.

[925] Eur. _Hec._ 422-3.

[926] Verg. _Aen._ II. 547 sqq.

[927] Diodor. Sic. V. 28.

[928] e.g. Fauriel, _Chants de la Grèce Moderne, Discours Prélimin._ p. 39. Rennell Rodd, _Customs and Lore of Mod. Greece_, p. 129.

[929] Dora d’Istria, _Les Femmes en Orient_, Bk. III. Letter 2.

[930] Plutarch, _Vita Solon._ 20.

[931] Hom. _Il._ XXIV. 719-775.

[932] Plato, _Leg._ VII. p. 801.

[933] An edict of the year 1662 preserved in the record-office ( ἀρχαιοφυλακεῖον) of Zante was shown and interpreted to me by Mons. Λεωνίδας Χ. Ζώης, whose courtesy I wish here to acknowledge. The record-office contains much valuable material for the study of the period of Venetian supremacy in the Heptanesos.

[934] Soph. _Antig._ 29; Eur. _Hec._ 30; cf. also Soph. _Antig._ 203-4 τάφῳ μήτε κτερίζειν, μήτε κωκῦσαί τινα, and _Philoct._ 360.

[935] Hom. _Il._ XIX. 301-2.

[936] Κωνστ. Κανελλάκης, Χιακὰ Ἀνάλεκτα, pp. 335-6.

[937] See below, pp. 555 ff.

[938] Herodot. IV. 94.

[939] For the evidence see Miss Harrison, _Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion_, pp. 96 ff.

[940] Cf. Paus. VIII. 38. 7 and Porphyr. _de abstinentia_, II. 27.

[941] Paus. VIII. 2. 6 and VIII. 38. 7 and Frazer’s note _ad loc._

[942] Paus. VIII. 38. 7.

[943] Tylor, _Primitive Culture_, I. p. 458.

[944] Tylor, _Primitive Culture_, I. p. 462.

[945] See above, p. 264.

[946] Paus. VIII. 38. 7.

[947] Schol. ad Ar. _Eq._ 1136 in explanation of the word δημόσιοι.

[948] Tzetzes, _Hist._ XXIII. 726 ff. quoting Hipponax’ authority on most points.

[949] Miss Harrison, _Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion_, pp. 95 f.

[950] _op. cit._ p. 108.

[951] Serv. ad Verg. _Aen._ III. 75 as translated by Miss Harrison, _op. cit._ p. 108.

[952] _op. cit._ p. 100.

[953] Luc. _Nek._ 7.

[954] Eur. _Phoen._ 944.

[955] _op. cit._ p. 100.

[956] _op. cit._ p. 108.

[957] Lysias, _c. Andoc._ 108. 4 as translated by Miss Harrison, _op. cit._ p. 97

[958] _Ran._ 734, _Equ._ 1405 and fragm. 532 (from Miss Harrison, _op. cit._ p. 97).