On The Structure of Greek Tribal Society: An Essay

?νδρ? κληδ?

λο? δ? ?? ?γ

κλωστ?ρα σ?

chy

e Of Parents During Life, A

the individual

nts. In the first place, the individual was absolutely committed to sacrifice all his personal feelings for the sake of the continuity of his ο?κο?, and this was his supreme duty. But whereas several ο?κοι traced t

he more immediate predecessors [pg 018] absorbed the memory of the more remote ancestor, it will be well to have a clear unde

his livin

that honour sho

ympia

of the

ods

ns and

Her

estral

soul; paying the debts due to them for the care and travail which they bestowed on us of old in the days of

ded to th

ndelible stain, such as wife-murder, that the debt of maintenance of the parent was cancelled.32 Yet even when the father had lost his right o

, without having done any of the customary rites due to the dead,

ty of th

tomb, and this retrospective attitude of the individual gives us the

in the Ordinances of Manu, where it is stated that a man "goes

rdinance

owed by the living member of a family to his manes, was to provide a

is born, a man becomes possessed of a son a

orn again on ea

should have a son, Manu said all those brothers

ent as regards the duties to the ma

son one attains endlessness, and through the son

ns of bad boats is the sort of reward one gets on crossin

g

ording

the same feeli

us, and not lie in the grave without a name, is only the love of continuance ... In this way they are immortal leaving [children's] children behind them, with whom they are one

ions thus find their explanation in his position as link, between the p

ars of his family in the family burying-place.38 If he had occasion to perform military service, he must serve in the tribe and the deme of his parent (στρατε?ειν ?ν τ? φυλ? κα? ?ν τ? δ?μ?).39 Before he can enter into his inheritance he must fulfil all the ordinances incumbent on one in his position, and in the Gortyn Laws it is [pg 021] stated that an adopted heir cannot partake of the property of his adoptive father unless he undertake

Of Providing M

ancestors, his work was only transitory and incomplete, unless he pr

nce of male

n of her husband's family, without breach of the former relations of husband and wife.42 This is the exact custom stated in the Ordinances of Manu [pg 022] (ix. 59), where it is laid down that a wife can be "commissioned" by her husband to bear him a son, but s

s of forlorn hopes nowadays would be inclined to pick out as comrades the unmarried men, as having least to sacrifice and fewest duties to forego. Wh

in somewhat similar manner. He

ing: and his wife and his children left behind, and his ο?κο? and κλ?

himself, yet if he leave children behind, his h

re shall be some one to carry the name of their house [pg 023] down to posterity, who shall perform al

ecessary for the direct transmission of blood and property. Sons entered upon their inheritance immediately on the death of their father, nor had he the power t

through a

sessed the property, and the sons born from the marriage succeeded thereto directly on attaining a certain age. The next of kin had in the meantime of course to represent his wife's father in all the religious observances, and was said to have power to live with the woman (κ?ριο? συνοικ?σαι τ? γυναικ?), but

l is to be found in th

e his daughter provide him a son:-'The offspring which may b

and, by her bearing a son, her father "becomes possessed of a

option).56 But this would be perfectly natural, if, as in Greece, her husban

arry the n

uty. Plato57 asks pardon for his imaginary legislator, if he shall be found to give the daughter of a man in marriage having regard only to the two conditions-nearness of kin, and the preservati

gh alread

heless the rules remained very strict. Isaeus states emphatically,59 "Often have men been compelled by law to give up their properly wedded wives, owing to their becoming ?π?κλη

eir children shall not be required to continue their

t a wise man marry her, through fear

n Is

ourselves marry Cleonymos' (our uncle's) daughters or give them away with their portions to others and all this our kinsh

s in the law

026] down to be followed where there were difficulti

the eldest. If there are no uncles but sons of uncles, she shall marry the son of her father's eldest brother. If there are more than o

he Ordinances of Manu. It is there stated that if there were more than one heiress, only on

f Gortyn

sue, and the judge shall condemn him to marry her in two months. If he will not marry her, according to

she does not wish to wait, she ... can marry whom she will of those who claim her of

shall have all the property and

' Will any marry her?' And if any one then marries her, he shall do it in thirty days

ntative [pg 027] for the deceased in hi

st the Is

have arisen amongst the Isr

of the children of Israel, shall be wife unto one of the family of the tribe of her father (?ν? τ?ν ?κ το? δ?μου

nded Moses, so did the

the daughters of Zelophehad, were married unto their

idow Without Child And The

proper not fo

k law could not inherit from her husband, whose property went to his father's or mother's relations; and only when it became a question of finding an heir to her son, and failing all near paternal kinsmen, could the [pg 028] inheritance pass through her, and then as the mother of her dead son, not as widow of her dead husband. Even then, be

eturned to

o her own family or whoever of her kindred was guardian (κ?ριο?

who was at once her protector and trustee. He was probably the head of the ο?κο?

revious owner; but in this case the husband may have been κ?ριο? of his own [

ry strictly defined.70 In the case of a man leaving a widow, she

nd must beget one son by her; he did not marry her, an

of near r

against the marriage of close relati

trate the family blood, and prevent her dowry or whatever property might come to her from going outside hi

han one in Homer of a man

already, of a wife being "commissioned" to bear children by another man into the family of her h

e among the

as the same as among the followers of Manu and the Greeks; and [pg 030] the custom

e dead shall not marry without unto a stranger: her husband's brother [i.e. next of kin] shall

reth shall succeed in the name of his brother tha

p to the gate unto the elders and say, 'My husband's brother refuseth to raise up unt

n shall his brother's wife come unto him in the presence of the elders, and loose his shoe from off his foot, and spit in hi

Israel, 'The house (ο?κο?) of h

se of

mary punishment. "And the thing that he did was evil in the sight of the Lord, and He slew him also."72 Afterwards, when it was reported to her father-in-law that Tamar had a child by some one not of his family, he was exceedingly wroth, and said, "Bring her forth and let her be burnt." Accordingly, after he had received his own "tokens" from her hand, [pg 031] his

ase o

osition of heiress through a sort of adoption by her mother-in-law Naomi, on her refusal to go back to her own people. "Where thou goest, I will go: where thou lodgest, I will lodge

ith new husbands, a course which seems always to have been open to wives in tribal communities. Orpah does so, but Ruth elects to remain with Naomi, and returning with her to Bethlehem takes her chance [pg 032] among the kindred of Elimelech. Happening to arrive at Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest, it so chances that Ruth goes forth to glean upon that part of the open field which belo

on the ne

his possession, then shall his kinsman (?γχιστε?ων) that is nex

in practice is g

rd of the Lord and said unto me, 'Buy my field, I pray thee, that is in Anathoth which is in the land o

στε??, i.e. within the reach of the claim on the next of kin, yet is

ut of the country of Moab selleth the parcel of land which was our brother Ehmelech's: and I thought to disclose it to thee, saying, "Buy it before them that sit here and before the elders of my people." If thou wilt redeem it, redeem it; but if thou wilt not redeem it, tell me that I may know; for there is none to redeem it beside thee, and I am after thee.' And he sai

d up my right of near kinship: for neither ought I to blot out the continuance (poster

Moreover Ruth, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, that the name of the dead be not cut off from among his brethren and from the g

rez whose mother Tamar, as quoted above, h

n by the women of Bethlehem to Naomi, saying, "There is a son born to Naomi," emphasising the

Elimelech their father was thus in jeopardy of extinction. If Naomi had come within the proper operation of the levirate, the next of kin ought to have married her, but by her adoption of Ruth as her daughter, she gave Ruth the positio

Daughter: Growth Of Adoption: Intr

iress must leave

if she set apart one of her sons to be heir to her father's house. But she must do this absolutely: her son must entirely leave her husband's house and be enfranchised in

farm and persuades her [pg 035] husband to emancipate their second son in

t of the dece

his place as son in the house of their deceased brother, and in absorbing the property into that of

having in similar wise is

custom o

curing an heir. It became almost a habit among the Athenians who had no sons, to adopt a

d henceforth based his relationship and rights of kinship from his new position as son of his adoptive father. This absolutely insured the childless man that his successor would

another ο?κο? so as not to share in the disgrace brought upon their family. In

on of the heir

remony of adoption consisted of an introduction to the kindred and to the anc

true as for

ation of the true blood of a son, and was e

, in it seems to have been accumulated a grea

emony a

hratores: he must give assurance on the sacrifices that the young man was born in lawful wedlock from free citizens. This done, and no one questioning his rights, the assembly proceeded to vote83 and if the vote was in his favour, then and not till then he was enr

uld have to state the grounds of his objection, and if he could not produce good reasons, he incurred a fine. If there was no objection, the unsacrifici

at G

ven in the Gortyn

bled, from the stone from which speeches are made. And the adopter shall give to hi

ather88 and shall inherit as in the law for true-born sons. But if he does not fulfil them according

e unless he left in the adoptive house a son to carry on the name to posterity. As long as he remained in the other ο?κο?, i.e. had not provided for his succession and

vide for the succession by leaving a son to follow him, the property we

in his place and that son died, he could not return

so in

dred. The adopting father offered a burnt-offering, and with recitation of hol

y religious duties; I take thee to c

the ceremony had taken place, was considered to have as completely lost

duction t

ights of property and an assumption of the full status of citizen. The word ληξιαρχικ?? is [pg 039] defined by Harpocration as meaning "capable of managing the ancestral estate

young man left the ranks of boyhood and dedica

tom of

ead and offer the hair to some god, and describes the young Theseus as ado

the hair of his head in front only (?κε?ρατο τ? πρ?σθεν μ?νον) Homer says the Abantes do:96 and this kind of tonsure (κουρ?) is called 'Theseis' because of him. Now the Abantes first shaved themselves in this manner, not in imitation of th

icated as an offering to the river Spercheios in case of his safe return.98 Knowing that this is impossible, in his grief at th

he custom with all the Greeks to

will "take his son away to Delphi to have his hair cut (?ποκε?ραι)," showing tha

ir they brought a large cup of wine to Herakles and, pouri

s to have varied. The Ordinances of Ma

th year103 of a Brahman, in the twenty-second of a Ks

been a very widely spread custom, symbolical in some way of devo

relating to the admission to tribal status, and to the devotion, so to speak, o

the jealously guarded purity of the tribal blood. Isaeus104 says that all relations (προσ?κοντε?), all the phratores, and most (ο? πολλο?) of the demesmen would know whom a man married, and

t was considered illegitimate,107 and could have

ability For

odshed rested on

r by the payment of a sufficient recompense. The incidence of the responsibility for murder and for payment of the recompens

scribed to the blood-money, which went to all

the funeral of the slain man and planted in his grave, which must be watched for three days.110 He must make proclamation of the foul deed at the tomb, and must undergo purificatory rites, himself

derer (μεταν?στη?) is said to have no value (he

paid: even for this it is that a man may well pray to have some kins

ead son: and so the manslayer for a great price abideth in his own land (?ν δ?μ?) and

murders with

penses, it seems probable that (as is definitely stated in some instances), if the murder was committed on a member of the same family or tribe as the murderer, [pg 043] the only way to wipe out the stain w

of his step-mother and was a

old, but having slain a good man of his ki

much folk together and fled across the sea, because the

ry (?ν? π?τρη) hath slain another and escapeth to a land of other folk (δ?μον ?λλων

ny are his relations (κασ?γνητοι) and kinsmen (?ται) in Argos:

whom there be not many avengers (?οσσητ?ρε?) behind, he fleeth leaving his kin

citizen a

etween citizen and citizen,-in this point also the inheritors of the sentiments of tribesmen. In

our land, not tortured, not

e innocent and unintentional homicide must needs flee at any rate for a year. The presence too of a man thus den

ed in the country (χ?ρα) of the deceased,

d that committed the crime was to

at, dying some days after, he charged his friends (ο?κε?οι) not to allow any of Thoudippos' people (τ?ν Θουδ?ππου) to app

ned he could be killed at sight by any one and with impunity.12

prosecute the murderer when he ought or proclaim him outlaw, he shall take upon himself [pg 045] the pollut

idal soul has given life for life and has laid to

man, it shall be slain to propitiate

th, it shall solemnly be cast out before witn

homicides amongst themselves, compen

sfaction for the life of a murderer which is guil

of blood that is shed therein but

to Croesus and a brother to Atys, Croesus' son. This Atys Adrastus has the terrible misfortune to slay, thereby incurring a three-fold pollution. He has brought down u

he commit

g