Expiation

for blood in

pp. 141-145.

is no longer πρоσтρóπаtos in this sense, having already made expiation, but simply ikéτns. (See Eum. 229, 275.)

23. As the avenging of blood had for its object the expulsion general, of the manslayer, so the rites of purification were designed to reinstate him in the society of his countrymen. Like the Jewish "cities of refuge" these rites were only applicable to the justifiable homicide, the wilful murderer was not allowed to

Ἱλασμοὶ and καθαρμοί,

return.

24. The first example of expiation from blood-guiltiness, according to the Ionian legends, was Ixion, the Phlegyan chieftain. He had slain his father-in-law, and wandered over the earth in wild frenzy, till Zeus himself became his cleanser. (Eum. 687.) Opposed in a manner to Ixion was Hercules, to whom the Dorian chiefs traced their origin; he several times has recourse to the rites of expiation, and always submits to its requirements, however severe and in Hesiod's karáλoyoi, Hercules' war against Pylos arises from a refusal on the part of Neleus to give him absolution.

25. There were two kinds of ceremonies which it was pp. 146–161. necessary for the homicide to observe: inaoμoì, "ceremonies of atonement," and kalapμoì, "ceremonies of purification.' In the former, the offerings were the same as those used in the worship of the dead-libations of water, honey-cakes (μeλíKрaта), and victims cut in pieces and burnt. The Deities to whom they were offered were unquestionably those of the lower world; Ζεὺς Μειλίχιος is the same as Ζεὺς Χθόνιος οι Αΐδης; for in the Attic worship of the Meilichian God the victims were swine, and the rites held at night, just as they were to the Chthonian. 26. Again, when iλaoμoì are offered to Apollo, we must understand not the Olympian Apollo, but rather the Chthonian Dragon, guardian of the old Earth-oracle; whom Apollo slew, and in whose memory the festival of the Delphinia was established.'

1 According to this, Apollo becomes identified with the Dragon actually slain by himself! a theory somewhat difficult to believe. Is it not more probable that he was worshipped as a Xeóvios eòs in his character of "the God of Plagues and Pestilence," in which character he slew the children of Niobe, &c. ?

We see, then, that in expiation for blood the following Deities had to be propitiated: Ζεὺς Μειλίχιος, Apollo Χθόνιος, the soul of the slain person, and the Erinnys proceeding from this soul.

27. These ceremonies were always based on the idea that the slayer must atone for the guilt by the forfeit of his own life. But this life was redeemable in various ways: 1st, by servitude, generally of eight years' duration, (as in the instances of Cadmus, who served Ares as the Dragon's father; of Apollo, who served Hades the invincible (äduntos) and Hecate; and of Hercules, mentioned in Esch. Agam. 1040). 2dly. By the substitution of a victim, symbolically denoting the surrender of the slayer's own life. Amongst the Greeks this victim was a ram, as amongst the Jews it was a goat; and we know that black rams were the ordinary sacrifice to the dead. See Eurip. Elect. 92, 513; Hor. Sat. i. 8. 28; Pausan. v. 13. 2.

28. The κаlaрuoù attached themselves closely to the ceremonies above described. Swine, the victims sacrificed to the infernal powers as peace-offerings, served also for the rites of purification. Sucking-pigs were slaughtered in such a way that the blood spirted on the manslayer's hands, and was thus supposed to wash away the human blood which clung to them. (Eum. 273. 427.) Water was also used as a means of purification (Eum. 430); thus Achelous, whose name denotes water, cleanses Alcmæon from his mother's blood, (Apollod. iii. 7. 5; comp. Pausan. ii. 31. 11.) The Deities to be invoked are the same as in the inaopoí: Zeus Meilichios is also Zeus Katharsios; and Apollo is peculiarly the God of Purification, and as such is addressed by the Priestess, Eum. vv. 62, 63.1

of Orestes,

29. The mythic tale of Orestes' residence at Delphi, whence Purification he sets out as avenger of blood, and whither he returns as pp. 161–165. πроσтρóπαιоs, in order to be cleansed by Apollo, is of very ancient origin. Several other places claimed the glory of his purification: Parrhasia in Arcadia (Eurip. Orest. 1646), Cerynœa

1 To be κaláρoio eol, it would appear that Zeus and Apollo must quit the Chthonian, and resume the celestial character.

Attic Courts

for the trial of Homi

cide, pp. 166 -176.

in Achaia, Trozen, and Rhegium. Eschylus himself implies that many different acts of cleansing had been performed on him :

πάλαι πρὸς ἄλλοις ταῦτ ̓ ἀφιερώμεθα

οἴκοισι, καὶ βοτοῖσι καὶ ῥυτοῖς πόροις.—Eum. v. 429.

30. During the long interval that elapses between vv. 225 and 226, Orestes is supposed to visit various countries beyond sea (comp. vv. 77, 241), and the allusion is probably to Rhegium: Eschylus omits all mention of the Tauric voyage, and the return with Iphigenia. When purified by Apollo, though no longer a polluted person, nor an outcast from society, he is not yet liberated from the Erinnyes: the deep resentment of his mother's Manes still remains, and the Gods alone can rescue him by a formal trial and acquittal.

31. Solon entrusted the judicial cognizance of homicide to two courts-the Areopagus and the Ephetæ. The Areopagus, composed of those citizens who had held the dignity of Archon, took charge of all trials for wilful murder, and was considered supreme. The Ephetæ (so called ὅτι ἐφιᾶσι τῷ ἀνδροφόνῳ τὸν åvdpnλáτnv) were fifty-one men, of noble birth and irreproachable character, all above fifty years of age, who held their sittings in one or other of the four courts of justice. In cases of manslaughter, they met at the Palladium; in cases of justifiable homicide, at the Delphinium, or sometimes at the Prytaneum; when a person had gone into temporary exile for manslaughter, they tried his cause at Phreatto or Zea. 32. But the tribunal of the Ephetæ gradually declined in public estimation; it was therefore natural that the ancient legends should all be made to redound to the glory of the Areopagus, nor would any Athenian conversant with history be surprised, that Orestes should be tried before that assembly. Yet we may think it strange that the legend of Orestes was attached to the Areopagus, and not to the Delphinium. The latter court took cognizance of all cases where a person pleaded justifiable homicide; and Demosthenes cites Orestes as an instance in point. 33. Never

theless, the Hill of Ares would seem a fitter tribunal in this case, than the temple of the Delphinian Apollo. The criminal brought before the latter is not one conscience-stricken on account of his deed; no Erinnys harasses him; but Clytemnestra, though legally slain by the avenger, yet, as a mother, has her Erinnyes and herein lies the significance of the Areopagus. It decides between these vengeful Goddesses and the object of their resentment: and this is proved both by the locality itself (for the Furies' temple was at the base of Mars' Hill), and also by the solemnities observed at the trial of Orestes.

"

proceedings

lus, pp.176

34. Every ancient court had its President (yeμov) to inves- Judicial tigate the cases presented; after receiving his sanction they were in Eschybrought up for trial. At Athens this office was held by the 181. Αρχων Βασιλεύς: in Æschylus it is filled by Athena, who appoints a jury, jury, "dat judices," as the Prætor at Rome. The pre-cognizance (ȧváкpiois) is exhibited in the scene where Athena inquires the name, office, and legal demands of each party (vv. 386-467). Whereupon she finds a true bill for both, and requires them to bring their witnesses and evidence into court. Refusing to admit the pókλnois (provocatio ad jusjurandum) in this case, the Goddess next introduces the suit, having convened her intended jury of Areopagites: the parties plead against each other in short sentences; and Apollo, as Orestes' advocate, explains the law. 35. After this comes the institution of the Areopagus (Ocoμòs, v. 462), which is perfectly appropriate in this place: for the judges are now to vote after serious deliberation and solemn oaths; and their inauguration must be considered as the central point of the Drama. The voting follows; and the numbers being found equal, Orestes is acquitted, before Athena has given her vote in his favour. For the much-disputed "Calculus Minervæ" is an imaginary ballot, not an actual one; the numbers being equal, a white pos is supposed to be added in favour of the accused; signifying that mercy naturally prevails over severity, in an equally balanced

case.

the Jus

pp.182-185.

=

Exegesis of 36. The Exegesis, at Athens, applied wholly to the unwritten Sacrum, law, or precedents handed down to posterity by oral tradition. Such persons as could best define these precedents were called ἐξηγηταὶ τῶν ἱερῶν καὶ ὁσίων (Interpretes Religionis), and their office was to expound this law (è§nyeîodai de jure sacro respondere). This office Apollo assumes in the Eumenides. 37. In pursuance of it, he first explains to Orestes the duty of vengeance (v. 565), and subsequently, in the same character, instructs the Areopagites on the unavoidable task that devolved. upon Orestes, as avenger of blood; and argues, that duty to the father required the sacrifice of the mother, as not being so near of kin to the son: a subtle plea, which was probably quite in character with the arguments usually put forward at Athens in such complex cases.

The Erinnyes; meaning of the

name, and

ception of

them, pp. 186 -191.

38. The word 'Epivùs (not 'Epivvùs, see Herm. Pref. to Antig. p. 19, and Blomf. Gloss. on èλiview, Prom. Vinct. 53) expresses mythic con- that "deep offence," "bitter displeasure," which ensues when sacred rights are violated by the persons who ought to have most respected them. In the early Greek poets this was particularly applied to near kindred, as father, mother, or elder brother; but the poor man, or the suppliant, if insolently treated, also had his Erinnyes. Afterwards the term became more restricted in meaning: parricide especially called forth an Erinnys, and Eschylus attributes one to the crime of neglecting the duties of an avenger of blood. The sensible manifestation of the Erinnys is Ara: when the suppressed feelings burst forth in sudden imprecations, as in the case of Edipus: hence Eschylus gives the Erinnyes the name of 'Apaí (Eum. 395). 39. According to the ancient Greek religion, which contemplated all human life as the working of a higher and supernatural agency, the Erinnys that required atonement, and the Erinnys that brought the mischief, were considered identical: though we are now obliged to distinguish them, and suppose the existence of Goddesses under the latter mode of expression; under the former, merely a human passion. Hesiod, in his Theogony, makes the outrage committed by Cronus on his father Uranus,