Archæologiæ græcæ: or, The antiquities of Greece. By John Potter, M.A. and Fellow of Lincoln College, Oxon

CHAPTER II. Of the Ceremonies in Sickness, and Death.

WHEN any Person was seiz'd with a dangerous Distem∣per, it was usual to fix over their Doors a Branch of Rhamn, and Lawrel-trees: Which Custom is mention'd by Laërtius in his Life of Bion the Boristhenise;

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Bion the Post of's Door doth grace With Rhamn and Daphne's Plant; For Fear of Death in his sad Case He nothing now will want.

Mr. Abell.

The former of these Plants seems design'd to keep off evil Spi∣rits, against which it was reputed a sovereign Amulet; and on that account sometimes joyn'd with the Epithet 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉; as in this Fragment of Euphorio,

—〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉

Produc'd the Rhamn, against mischievous Ills An Antidote.—

The Lawrel was joyn'd to it to render the God of Physick pro∣pitious, who, they thought, could design no Harm to any Place, where he found the Monument of his beloved Daphne; these Boughs they term'd 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 (a) 1.1.

It may not be improper to observe in this Place, that all sud∣den Deaths of Men were imputed to Apollo; wherefore, Hector having lain unbury'd twelve Days, and being by the especial Fa∣vour of Heaven preserv'd fresh and free from Corruption, He∣cuba resembles him to one dead not of a ling'ring and wearing Distemper, but by a sudden Death; the former being thin and con∣sum'd away, the latter fat and fleshy (a) 1.2;

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Now fresh and glowing e'en in Death thou art, And fair as he, who falls by Phoebus Dart.

The sudden Death of Women was attributed to Diana; whence Glaucus in the same Poet, speaking of Hippodamia (b) 1.3,

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Incens'd Diana her depriv'd of Life.

Again, Achilles wishes that Briseis had been snatch'd away by a sudden Death, rather than have been the occasion of Dissention between him and Agamemnon (c) 1.4;

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Oh! that Diana her had kill'd, on Board When first I carry'd her, Lyrnessus overthrow'd.

The Poet has explain'd his own Meaning in another Place (d) 1.5; where Eumaeus reports, that in the Isle of Syria the Inhabitants ne∣ver die of lingring Distempers, but, being arriv'd to a good old Age, drop into their Graves without any previous Torment;

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No Plague, no Famine do's their Lives impair, No pois'nous Ills those happy Mortals fear,

Healthy and strong they see the Verge of Age, Then venerably old they quit the Stage; Apollo and Diana stop their Breath, Shooting unerring Shafts well fraught with Death.

Mr. Abell.

Again, Ulysses enquires of his Mother in the Regions below, whe∣ther she resign'd her Life under a tedious Disease, or Diana's Hand (a) 1.6;

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This I desire, dear Mother, you'd relate, By what unhappy Destiny, what Fate You posted hither to this gloomy Coast, And all th' Endearments of the World have lost; Whether Diana with relentless Dart, (That sportfull Deity) transfix'd your Heart, Or if you did your vital Breath expire By ling'ring Pain, or pestilential Fire?

Mr. Abell.

Other Instances may be produc'd to the same purpose: The Ground of this Opinion was Apollo's being usually taken for the Sun, and Diana for the Moon; which Planets were believ'd to have a great Influence upon human Life (b) 1.7.

All dead Persons were thought to be under the Jurisdiction of the Infernal Deities, and therefore no Man could resign his Life, 'till some of his Hairs were cut to consecrate him to them: Hence Euripides introduces Death with a Sword, going to cut off some of the Hair of Alcestis, whom the Fates had adjudg'd to die in∣stead of her Husband Admetus (c) 1.8;

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I'm come to loose the brittle Tie of Life, And send her to th' Infernal Mansions hence;

This Sword is to initiate the Rites By cutting off the fatal Lock, on which Lyes the last Struggle of her panting Breath.

Mr. Abell.

Which Passage is imitated by Virgi•• (a) 1.9, where he tells, us that Dido, ridding her self out of the World before her Time, had not her Hair cut off by Proserpine, and therefore struggled some Time, as unable to resign her Life, 'till Iris was commission'd from Iuno to do her that kind Office (b) 1.10;

Tum Iuno ommipotens, longum miserata dolorem, Difficilesque obitus, Irin demisit Olympo, Quae luctantem animum, nexosque resolveret artus; Nam, quia nec fato, merita nee morte peribat, Sed misera ante diem, subitoque accensa jurore, Nondum illi starvum Proserpina vertice crinem Abstulerat, Stygioque caput damnaverat Orco: Ergb Iris croceis per caelum roscida pennis, Mille trahens varios adverso sole colores, Devolat, & supra caput astitit; "Hunc ego Diti "Sacrum jussa fero, teque isto corpore solvo:" Sic ait, & dextra crinem secat; omnis & und Dilapsus calor, atque in ventos vita recessit.

Then Iuno, grieving that she shou'd sustain A Death so ling'ring, and so full of Pain, Sent Iris down to free her from the Strife Of lab'ring Nature, and dissolve her Life; For, since she dy'd, not doom'd by Heav'n's Decree, Or her own Crime, but human Casualty, And Rage of Love, that plung'd her in Despair, The Sisters had not cut the topmost Hair, (Which Proserpine and they can only know) Nor made her sacred to the Shades below; Downward the various Goddess took her flight, And drew a thousand Colours from the Light, Then stood above the dying Lover's Head, And said, "I thus devote thee to the Dead; "This Off'ring to th' Infernal Gods I bear," Thus while she spoke, she cut the fatal Hair, The struggling Soul was loos'd, and Life dissolv'd in Air.

Mr. Dryden.

What was the Ground of this Opinion cannot be certainly defin'd; but it seems not improbable that it proceeded from a Ceremony at

Sacrifices, wherein they cut some of the Hairs from the Victim's Fore-head, and offer'd them to the Gods as First-fruits of the Sa∣crifice; whence some imagine the same was thought to be done by Death upon Men sent as Victims to the Infernal Gods.

When they perceiv'd the Pangs of Death coming upon them, they made supplication to Mercury, whose Office it was to convey the Ghosts to the Regions below: An Instance hereof we have in a Cean Matron, who being about to ridd her self of Life by a Draught of Poison, first call'd upon Mercury to grant her a plea∣sant Journey, and convey her to a commodious Habitation in Pluto's Dominions (a) 1.11.

Their Friends and Relations, perceiving them at the Point of resigning their Lives, came close to the Bed where they lay, to bid them Farewel, and catch their dying Words, which they ne∣ver repeated without Reverence: The want of Opportunity to pay this Compliment to Hector furnishes Andromache with Matter of La∣mentation, which she thus expresses (b) 1.12,

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I saw him not when in the Pangs of Death, Nor did my Lips receive his latest Breath, Why held he not to me his dying Hand? And why receiv'd not I his last Command? Something he wou'd have said had I been there, Which I shou'd still in sad Remembrance bear; For I cou'd never, never Words forget, Which Night and Day I wou'd with Tears repeat.

Mr. Congreve.

They kiss'd and embrac'd the dying Person, so taking their last Farewell; which Custom was very ancient, being deriv'd from the Eastern Nations; for we find in the Holy Writings, that Jo∣seph fell upon his Father Jacob's Neck, when he lay upon his Death∣bed, and kiss'd him (c) 1.13. They endeavour'd likewise to receive in their Mouth his last Breath, as phansying his Soul to expire with it, and enter into their Bodies: And at the Time of his Departure, it was customary to beat brazen Kettles, which was thought an ex∣cellent Method to drive away evil Spirits, and Phantasms, whose aiery Forms were not able to endure so harsh a Noise (d) 1.14; thus they imagin'd the dead Man's Ghost secur'd from Furies, and quietly convey'd to a peacefull Habitation in the Elysian Fields:

For 'twas an old Opinion, that, there being two Mansions in the Infernal Regions, one on the Right-hand pleasant and de∣lightfull, the other on the Left appointed for the Souls of wick∣ed Wretches, the Furies were always ready to hurry departed Souls to the Place of Torment: Virgil has an Allusion to this Phansy (a) 1.15,

Hic locus est, partes ubi se via sindit in ambas, Dextera, quae Ditis magni sub mania tendit, Hac iter Elysium nobis; at loeva malorum Exercet paenas, & ad impia Tartara mittit.

'Tis here in diff'rent Paths the Way divides, The Right to Pluto's golden Palace guides, The Left to that unhappy Region tends, Which to the Depth of Tartarus descends, The Seat of Night profound, and punish'd Fiends.

Mr. Dryden.

Death and all Things concerning it were ominous and ill-boding, and are therefore frequently express'd in soft'ning Terms: To di•• is commonly term'd 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, to which the Latin denasci answers: Sometimes 'tis call'd 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, to depart; and the Dead, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉: So also Chio in an Epistle to Plato saith, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, I will depart out of the World: In the same Sence we find the Latin Word abitio, which is a synonymous Term for Death (b) 1.16; and abiit; as when Pliny writes, that Virginius Rufus plenus annis abiit, plenus honoribus (c) 1.17, departed full of Years, and Honours: Thus also the Greeks use 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, i.e. he once liv'd; and the Ro∣mans vixit, and fuit; thus Virgil,

—Fuit Ilium, & ingens Gloria Teucrorum.—

Glory did once attend the Dardan State, It's Spires then glitter'd, and it's Chiefs were great.

Tibullus, with several others, hath us'd the same Expression (d) 1.18;

Vivite falices, memores & vivite nostri, Sive erimus, seu not fata suisse velint.

In a blest Series may your Lives glide on, If while I live, or when I'm dead and gone, One tranhent Glance you'll on my Mem'ry cast, And in soft Accents say, He's gone and past.

Mr. Abell.

Sometimes they use 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, and 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉: Thus Homer (a) 1.19,

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Ye dire Avengers of all perjur'd Slaves, When once they're dead, and cover'd in their Graves.

Again (b) 1.20,

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—The Ghosts of th' Dead.

But the most frequent are Names taken from Sleep, to which Death bears a near Resemblance; whence the Poets seign them to be Brothers, and 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, or 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 are commonly us'd for dying; thus Callimachus (c) 1.21;

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Saon th' Acanthian, Dicon's Son, hard by In everlasting Sleep wrapt up doth lie.

In another Place (d) 1.22;

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The common Debt of all Mankind she sleeps.

Orpheus hath us'd the same Metaphor in his Argonauticks,

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Agniades, thou art in soft Repose Lock'd up.—

Many other like Passages occurr both in profane and inspir'd Wri∣ters; and so common was this Way of speaking with the primi∣tive Christians, that their Burying-places were call'd 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, which is a Term of the same Sence with Lycophron's 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 (e) 1.23;

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To th' sleeping Place of Sithon's Daughter.

Notes

• (a) 1.1

  E••ymclogici Auctor.
• (a) 1.2

  Iliad. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. v. 757.
• (b) 1.3

  Iliad 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 v 225.
• (c) 1.4

  Iliad. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. v. 59
• (d) 1.5

  Odyss. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. v 406.
• (a) 1.6

  Odyss. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. v. 170.
• (b) 1.7

  Heraclides (vel potius Herachtus) Ponticus de Al∣legor. Homer, Eustathius Il. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. v. 205. & Il. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. v. 59. &c.
• (c) 1.8

  A••cestid. v. 74.
• (a) 1.9

  Macrobius Saturnal. lib. V. cap. XIX
• (b) 1.10

  Aeneid. IV. v. 694.
• (a) 1.11

  Valerius Maximus lib. II. cap. VI.
• (b) 1.12

  Iliad. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. v. 743.
• (c) 1.13

  Genes cap. L.
• (d) 1.14

  Theocriti Schaisastes.
• (a) 1.15

  Aen. VLv. 540.
• (b) 1.16

  Festus.
• (c) 1.17

  Lib. II Epist I.
• (d) 1.18

  Lib. III Eleg. V.
• (a) 1.19

  Iliad. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• (b) 1.20

  Odyss. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• (c) 1.21

  Epigram. XV.
• (d) 1.22

  Epigram. XXII.
• (e) 1.23

  Cassandr. v. 583.