right [or law] am I. My words are well considered, my deeds are not
equaled, to bring low those that were high, to humble the proud, to
expel insolence. If a succeeding ruler considers my words, which I have
written in this my inscription, if he do not annul my law, nor corrupt
my words, nor change my monument, then may Shamash lengthen that king's
reign, as he has that of me, the king of righteousness, that he may
reign in righteousness over his subjects. If this ruler do not esteem my
words, which I have written in my inscription, if he despise my curses,
and fear not the curse of God, if he destroy the law which I have given,
corrupt my words, change my monument, efface my name, write his name
there, or on account of the curses commission another so to do, that
man, whether king or ruler, patesi [priest-viceroy] or commoner, no
matter what he be, may the great God [Anu], the Father of the gods, who
has ordered my rule, withdraw from him the glory of royalty, break his
sceptre, curse his destiny. May Bel, the lord, who fixeth destiny, whose
command cannot be altered, who has made my kingdom great, order a
rebellion which his hand cannot control; may he let the wind of the
overthrow of his habitation blow, may he ordain the years of his rule in
groaning, years of scarcity, years of famine, darkness without light,
death with seeing eyes be fated to him; may he [Bel] order with his
potent mouth the destruction of his city, the dispersion of his
subjects, the cutting off of his rule, the removal of his name and
memory from the land. May Belit, the great Mother, whose command is
potent in E-Kur [the Babylonian Olympus], the Mistress, who hearkens
graciously to my petitions, in the seat of judgment and decision [where
Bel fixes destiny], turn his affairs evil before Bel, and put the
devastation of his land, the destruction of his subjects, the pouring
out of his life like water into the mouth of King Bel. May Ea, the great
ruler, whose fated decrees come to pass, the thinker of the gods, the
omniscient, who maketh long the days of my life, withdraw understanding
and wisdom from him, lead him to forgetfulness, shut up his rivers at
their sources, and not allow corn or sustenance for man to grow in his
land. May Shamash, the great Judge of heaven and earth, who supporteth
all means of livelihood, Lord of life-courage, shatter his dominion,
annul his law, destroy his way, make vain the march of his troops, send
him in his visions forecasts of the uprooting of the foundations of his
throne and of the destruction of his land. May the condemnation of
Shamash overtake him forthwith; may he be deprived of water above among
the living, and his spirit below in the earth. May Sin [the moon-god],
the Lord of Heaven, the divine father, whose crescent gives light among
the gods, take away the crown and regal throne from him; may he put upon
him heavy guilt, great decay, that nothing may be lower than he. May he
destine him as fated, days, months and years of dominion filled with
sighing and tears, increase of the burden of dominion, a life that is
like unto death. May Adad, the lord of fruitfulness, ruler of heaven and
earth, my helper, withhold from him rain from heaven, and the flood of
water from the springs, destroying his land by famine and want; may he
rage mightily over his city, and make his land into flood-hills [heaps
of ruined cities]. May Zamama, the great warrior, the first born son of
E-Kur, who goeth at my right hand, shatter his weapons on the field of
battle, turn day into night for him, and let his foe triumph over him.
May Ishtar, the goddess of fighting and war, who unfetters my weapons,
my gracious protecting spirit, who loveth my dominion, curse his kingdom
in her angry heart; in her great wrath, change his grace into evil, and
shatter his weapons on the place of fighting and war. May she create
disorder and sedition for him, strike down his warriors, that the earth
may drink their blood, and throw down the piles of corpses of his
warriors on the field; may she not grant him a life of mercy, deliver
him into the hands of his enemies, and imprison him in the land of his
enemies. May Nergal, the mighty among the gods, whose contest is
irresistible, who grants me victory, in his great might burn up his
subjects like a slender reed-stalk, cut off his limbs with his mighty
weapons, and shatter him like an earthen image. May Nin-tu, the sublime
mistress of the lands, the fruitful mother, deny him a son, vouchsafe
him no name, give him no successor among men. May Nin-karak, the
daughter of Anu, who adjudges grace to me, cause to come upon his
members in E-kur, high fever, severe wounds, that cannot be healed,
whose nature the physician does not understand, which he cannot treat
with dressing, which, like the bite of death, cannot be removed, until
they have sapped away his life.
May he lament the loss of his life-power, and may the great gods of
heaven and earth, the Anunnaki altogether inflict a curse and evil upon
the confines of the temple, the walls of this E-barra [the Sun temple of
Sippara], upon his dominion, his land, his warriors, his subjects and
his troops. May Bel curse him with the potent curses of his mouth that
cannot be altered, and may they come upon, him forthwith.
THESEUS FOUNDS ATHENS
B.C. 1235
PLUTARCH
The founding of the city of Athens, apart from the mythological
lore which ascribes its name to Athené, the goddess, is credited by
the Greeks to Sais, a native of Egypt. The real founder of Athens,
the one who made it a city and kingdom, was Theseus; an
unacknowledged illegitimate child. The usual myth surrounds his
birth and upbringing.
King Ægeus, of Attica, his father, had an intrigue with Æthra.
Before leaving, Ægeus informed her that he had hidden his sword and
sandals beneath a great stone, hollowed out to receive them. She
was charged that should a son be born to them and, on growing to
man's estate, be able to lift the stone, Æthra must send him to his
father, with these things under it, in all secrecy. These
happenings were in Troezen, in which place Ægeus had been
sojourning.
All came about as expected. Theseus, the son, lifted the stone,
took thence the deposit and departed for Attica, his father's home.
On his way Theseus had a number of adventures which proved his
prowess, not the least being his encounter with and defeat of
Periphetes, the "club-bearer," so called from the weapon he used.
Theseus had complied with the custom of his country by journeying
to Delphi and offering the first-fruits of his hair, then cut for
the first time. This first cutting of the hair was always an
occasion of solemnity among the Greeks, the hair being dedicated to
some god. It will be remembered that Homer speaks of this in the
_Iliad_.
One salient fact must be borne in mind in Grecian history, which is
that it was a settled maxim that each city should have an
independent sovereignty. "The patriotism of a Greek was confined to
his city, and rarely kindled into any general love for the common
welfare of Hellas."[22]
[Footnote 22: Smith.]
A Greek citizen of Athens was an alien in any other city of the
peninsula. This political disunion caused the various cities to
turn against each other, and laid them open to conquest by the
Macedonians.
As he [Theseus] proceeded on his way, and reached the river Cephisus,
men of the Phytalid race were the first to meet and greet him. He
demanded to be purified from the guilt of bloodshed, and they purified
him, made propitiatory offerings, and also entertained him in their
houses, being the first persons from whom he had received any kindness
on his journey.
It is said to have been on the eighth day of the month Cronion, which is
now called Hecatombaion, that he came to his own city. On entering it he
found public affairs disturbed by factions, and the house of Ægeus in
great disorder; for Medea, who had been banished from Corinth, was
living with Ægeus, and had engaged by her drugs to enable Ægeus to have
children. She was the first to discover who Theseus was, while Ægeus,
who was an old man, and feared every one because of the disturbed state
of society, did not recognize him. Consequently she advised Ægeus to
invite him to a feast, that she might poison him.
Theseus accordingly came to Ægeus's table. He did not wish to be the
first to tell his name, but, to give his father an opportunity of
recognizing him, he drew his sword, as if he meant to cut some of the
meat with it, and showed it to Ægeus. Ægeus at once recognized it,
overset the cup of poison, looked closely at his son, and embraced him.
He then called a public meeting and made Theseus known as his son to the
citizens, with whom he was already very popular because of his bravery,
It is said that when the cup was overset the poison was spilt in the
place where now there is the enclosure in the Delphinium, for there
Ægeus dwelt; and the Hermes to the east of the temple there they call
the one who is "at the door of Ægeus."
But the sons of Pallas, who had previously to this expected that they
would inherit the kingdom on the death of Ægeus without issue, now that
Theseus was declared the heir, were much enraged, first that Ægeus
should be king, a man who was merely an adopted child of Pandion, and
had no blood relationship to Erechtheus, and next that Theseus, a
stranger and a foreigner, should inherit the kingdom. They consequently
declared war.
Dividing themselves into two bodies, the one proceeded to march openly
upon the city from Sphettus, under the command of Pallas their father,
while the other lay in ambush at Gargettus, in order that they might
fall upon their opponents on two sides at once. But there was a herald
among them named Leos, of the township of Agnus, who betrayed the plans
of the sons of Pallas to Theseus. He suddenly attacked those who were
in ambush, and killed them all, hearing which the other body under
Pallas dispersed. From this time forth they say that the township of
Pallene has never intermarried with that of Agnus, and that it is not
customary amongst them for heralds to begin a proclamation with the
words "Acouete Leo," (Oyez) for they hate the name of Leo because of the
treachery of that man.
Shortly after this the ship from Crete arrived for the third time to
collect the customary tribute. Most writers agree that the origin of
this was, that on the death of Androgeus, in Attica, which was ascribed
to treachery, his father Minos went to war, and wrought much evil to the
country, which at the same time was afflicted by scourges from heaven
(for the land did not bear fruit, and there was a great pestilence, and
the rivers sank into the earth).
So that as the oracle told the Athenians that, if they propitiated Minos
and came to terms with him, the anger of heaven would cease and they
should have a respite from their sufferings, they sent an embassy to
Minos and prevailed on him to make peace, on the condition that every
nine years they should send him a tribute of seven youths and seven
maidens. The most tragic of the legends states these poor children when
they reached Crete were thrown into the Labyrinth, and there either were
devoured by the Minotaur or else perished with hunger, being unable to
find the way out. The Minotaur, as Euripides tells us, was:
"A form commingled, and a monstrous birth,
Half man, half bull, in twofold shape combined."
So when the time of the third payment of the tribute arrived, and those
fathers who had sons not yet grown up had to submit to draw lots, the
unhappy people began to revile Ægeus, complaining that he, although the
author of this calamity, yet took no share in their affliction, but
endured to see them left childless, robbed of their own legitimate
offspring, while he made a foreigner and a bastard the heir to his
kingdom.
This vexed Theseus, and determining not to hold aloof, but to share the
fortunes of the people, he came forward and offered himself without
being drawn by lot. The people all admired his courage and patriotism,
and Ægeus finding that his prayers and entreaties had no effect on his
unalterable resolution, proceeded to choose the rest by lot. Hellanicus
says that the city did not select the youths and maidens by lot, but
that Minos himself came thither and chose them, and that he picked out
Theseus first of all, upon the usual conditions, which were that the
Athenians should furnish a ship, and that the youths should embark in it
and sail with him, not carrying with them any weapon of war; and that
when the Minotaur was slain, the tribute should cease.
Formerly, no one had any hope of safety; so they used to send out the
ship with a black sail, as if it were going to a certain doom; but now
Theseus so encouraged his father, and boasted that he would overcome the
Minotaur, that he gave a second sail, a white one, to the steersman, and
charged him on his return, if Theseus were safe, to hoist the white one,
if not, the black one as a sign of mourning. But Simonides says that it
was not a white sail which was given by Ægeus, but "a scarlet sail
embrued in holm oak's juice," and that this was agreed on by him as the
signal of safety. The ship was steered by Phereclus, the son of
Amarsyas, according to Simonides.
When they reached Crete, according to most historians and poets, Ariadne
fell in love with Theseus, and from her he received the clew of string,
and was taught how to thread the mazes of the Labyrinth. He slew the
Minotaur, and, taking with him Ariadne and the youths, sailed away.
Pherecydes also says that Theseus also knocked out the bottoms of the
Cretan ships, to prevent pursuit. But Demon says that Taurus, Minos'
general, was slain in a sea-fight in the harbor, when Theseus sailed
away.
But according to Philochorus, when Minos instituted his games, Taurus
was expected to win every prize, and was grudged this honor; for his
great influence and his unpopular manners made him disliked, and scandal
said that he was too intimate with Pasiphaë. On this account, when
Theseus offered to contend with him, Minos agreed. And, as it was the
custom in Crete for women as well as men to be spectators of the games,
Ariadne was present, and was struck with the appearance of Theseus, and
his strength, as he conquered all competitors. Minos was especially
pleased, in the wrestling match, at Taurus's defeat and shame, and,
restoring the children to Theseus, remitted the tribute for the future.
As he approached Attica, on his return, both he and his steersman in
their delight forgot to hoist the sail which was to be a signal of their
safety to Ægeus; and he in his despair flung himself down the cliffs and
perished. Theseus, as soon as he reached the harbor, performed at
Phalerum the sacrifices which he had vowed to the gods if he returned
safe, and sent off a herald to the city with the news of his safe
return.
This man met with many who were lamenting the death of the king, and, as
was natural, with others who were delighted at the news of their safety,
and who congratulated him and wished to crown him with garlands. These
he received, but placed them on his herald's staff, and when he came
back to the seashore, finding that Theseus had not completed his
libation, he waited outside the temple, not wishing to disturb the
sacrifice. When the libation was finished he announced the death of
Ægeus, and then they all hurried up to the city with loud lamentations:
wherefore to this day, at the Oschophoria, they say that it is not the
herald that is crowned, but his staff, and that at the libations the
bystanders cry out, "Eleleu, Iou, Iou!" of which cries the first is used
by men in haste, or raising the pæan for battle, while the second is
used by persons in surprise and trouble.
Theseus, after burying his father, paid his vow to Apollo, on the
seventh day of the month Pyanepsion; for on this day it was that the
rescued youths went up into the city. The boiling of pulse, which is
customary on this anniversary, is said to be done because the rescued
youths put what remained of their pulse together into one pot, boiled it
all, and merrily feasted on it together. And on this day also the
Athenians carry about the Eiresione, a bough of the olive tree garlanded
with wool, just as Theseus had before carried the suppliants' bough, and
covered with first-fruits of all sorts of produce, because the
barrenness of the land ceased on that day; and they sing,
"Eiresione, bring us figs,
And wheaten loaves, and oil,
And wine to quaff, that we may all
Rest merrily from toil."
However, some say that these ceremonies are performed in memory of the
Heracleidæ, who were thus entertained by the Athenians; but most writers
tell the tale as I have told it.
After the death of Ægeus, Theseus conceived a great and important
design. He gathered together all the inhabitants of Attica and made them
citizens of one city, whereas before they had lived dispersed, so as to
be hard to assemble together for the common weal, and at times even
fighting with one another.
He visited all the villages and tribes, and won their consent, the poor
and lower classes gladly accepting his proposals, while he gained over
the more powerful by promising that the new constitution should not
include a king, but that it should be a pure commonwealth, with himself
merely acting as general of its army and guardian of its laws, while in
other respects it would allow perfect freedom and equality to every one.
By these arguments he convinced some of them, and the rest knowing his
power and courage chose rather to be persuaded than forced into
compliance.
He therefore destroyed the prytanea, the senate house, and the
magistracy of each individual township, built one common prytaneum and
senate house for them all on the site of the present acropolis, called
the city Athens, and instituted the Panathenaic festival common to all
of them. He also instituted a festival for the resident aliens, on the
sixteenth of the month, Hecatombaion, which is still kept up. And
having, according to his promise, laid down his sovereign power, he
arranged the new constitution under the auspices of the gods; for he
made inquiry at Delphi as to how he should deal with the city, and
received the following answer:
"Thou son of Ægeus and of Pittheus' maid,
My father hath within thy city laid
The bounds of many cities; weigh not down
Thy soul with thought; the bladder cannot drown."
The same thing they say was afterward prophesied by the Sibyl concerning
the city, in these words:
"The bladder may be dipped, but cannot drown."
Wishing still further to increase the number of his citizens, he invited
all strangers to come and share equal privileges, and they say that the
words now used, "Come hither all ye peoples," was the proclamation then
used by Theseus, establishing as it were a commonwealth of all nations.
But he did not permit his state to fall into the disorder which this
influx of all kinds of people would probably have produced, but divided
the people into three classes, of Eupatridæ or nobles, Geomori or
farmers, Demiurgi or artisans.
To the Eupatridæ he assigned the care of religious rites, the supply of
magistrates for the city, and the interpretation of the laws and customs
sacred or profane; yet he placed them on an equality with the other
citizens, thinking that the nobles would always excel in dignity, the
farmers in usefulness, and the artisans in numbers. Aristotle tells us
that he was the first who inclined to democracy, and gave up the title
of king; and Homer seems to confirm this view by speaking of the people
of the Athenians alone of all the states mentioned in his catalogue of
ships.
Theseus also struck money with the figure of a bull, either alluding to
the bull of Marathon, or Taurus, Minos' general, or else to encourage
farming among the citizens. Hence, they say, came the words, "worth
ten," or "worth a hundred oxen." He permanently annexed Megara to
Attica, and set up the famous pillar on the Isthmus, on which he wrote
the distinction between the countries in two trimeter lines, of which
the one looking east says,
"This is not Peloponnesus, but Ionia,
and the one looking west says,
"This is Peloponnesus, not Ionia."
And also he instituted games there, in emulation of Heracles; that, just
as Heracles had ordained that the Greeks should celebrate the Olympic
games in honor of Zeus, so by Theseus' appointment they should celebrate
the Isthmian games in honor of Poseidon.
THE FORMATION OF THE CASTES IN INDIA
B.C. 1200
GUSTAVE LE BON[23] W.W. HUNTER
The institution of caste was not peculiar to India. In Rome there
was a long struggle over the connubium. Among the Greeks the right
of commensality, or eating together, was restricted. In fact, the
phenomena of caste are world-wide in their extent. In India the
priests and nobles contended for the first place. India had
progressed along the line of ethnic evolution from a loose
confederacy of tribes into several nations, ruled by kings and
priests, and the iron fetters of caste were becoming more rigidly
welded. At first the father of the family was the priest. Then the
chiefs and sages took the office of spiritual guide, and conducted
the sacrifices. As writing was unknown, the liturgies were learned
by heart, and handed down in families. The exclusive knowledge of
the ancient hymns became hereditary, as it were. The ministrants
increased in number, and thus sprang up the powerful priestly
caste.
[Footnote 23: Translated from the French by Chauncey C.
Starkweather.]
Then the warrior class arose and grew strong in numbers and power,
becoming differentiated from the agriculturists, and forming the
military caste. The husbandmen drifted into another caste, and the
three orders were rigidly separated by a cessation of
intermarriage.
At the bottom came the Sudras, or slave bands, the servile dregs of
the population. In course of time, from various influences, the
third class became almost eliminated in many provinces. From the
cradle to the grave these cruel barriers still intervene between
the strata of the people, relentless as fate and insurmountable as
death.
GUSTAVE LE BON
In ancient times the power of kings [in India] was only nominal. In the
Aryan village, forming a little republic, the chief, bearing the name of
rajah, was secure in his fortress, exercising full sway. Such was the
political system prevailing in India through all the ages, and which has
always been respected by the conquerors, whoever they might be. So, for
so many centuries back we see arise the first elements of an
organization which still endures.
We find here also the beginnings of that system of castes, which, at
first indistinct and floating, when the classes sought only to be
distinguished from each other, was to become so rigid, when it was
constituted under the influence of ethnological reasons, as to dig
fathomless abysses between the races.
In the Vedas may be traced the progression of the distance between the
priests and the warriors, at first slight, and then increasing more and
more. The division of functions did not stop there. While the
sacrificing priest was consecrating himself more exclusively day by day
to the accomplishment of the sacred rites and to the composition of
hymns; while the warrior passed his days in adventurous expeditions or
daring feats, what would have become of the land and what would it have
produced if others had not applied themselves without ceasing, to
cultivate it? A third class became distinct, the agriculturists.
In one of the last hymns of Rig Veda these three classes appear,
absolutely separated and already designated by the three words Brahmans,
Kchatryas, Vaisyas.
The fourth class, that of the Sudras, was to arise later and to include
the mass of conquered peoples when the latter joined the circle of Aryan
civilization. The classes, hitherto mingling, now became rigidly
separated castes.
The most important of these divisions, and that which was first formed,
was the one between the priests and the warriors. The Brahmans,
intermediaries between men and the gods, soon became more and more
exacting, and finally considered themselves as entirely superior beings
and were accepted as such.
The distinction between the warriors and the agriculturists also soon
became marked, arising doubtless rather from a difference in fortune
than in functions.
The war chief, who returned laden with booty, covered himself with rings
of gold, rich vestments, and gleaming arms. He became "rajah," that is
to say "shining," for such was the meaning of the word at the Vedic
epoch.
Still no absolute barrier between the classes had arisen. They mingled
to offer sacrifices, and sometimes ate in common.
Heredity of office and profession began to be established. The sacred
songs were handed down in families, as were also the functions of the
sacrificers. And here among the Vedic Aryans are seen in process of
elaboration the germs of the institution which later gained so much
power in India and which dominates it still with apparent immutability.
The system of castes has been the corner-stone of all the institutions
of India for two thousand years. Such is its importance, and so
generally is it misunderstood, that it will be well briefly to explain
its origins, sources, and consequences. A system, the result of which is
to permit a handful of Europeans to hold sway over two hundred and fifty
millions of men deserves the attention of the observer.
The system of castes has existed for more than twenty centuries in
India. It doubtless had its origin in the recognition of the inevitable
laws of heredity. When the white-skinned conquerors, whom we call
Aryans, penetrated India, they found, in addition to other invaders of
Turanian origin, black, half-savage populations whom they subjugated.
The conquerors were half-pastoral, half-stationary tribes, under chiefs
whose authority was counterbalanced by the all-powerful influence of the
priests whose duty it was to secure the protection of the gods. Their
occupations were divided into classes, that of Brahmans or priests,
Kchatryas or warriors, and Vaisyas, laborers or artisans. The last class
was perhaps formed by the invaders anterior to the Aryans, whom we have
just mentioned.
These divisions corresponded, as is evident, to our three ancient
castes, the clergy, the nobility, and the third estate. Beneath these
classes was the aboriginal population, the Sudras, forming three
quarters of the whole population.
Experience soon revealed the inconveniences which might rise from the
mixture of the superior race with the inferior ones, and all the
proscriptions of religion tended thereafter to prevent it. "Every
country which gives birth to men of mixed races," said the ancient
law-giver of the Hindus, the sage Manu, "is soon destroyed together with
those who inhabit it." The decree is harsh, but it is impossible not to
recognize its truth. Every superior race which has mingled with another
too inferior has speedily been degraded or absorbed by it.