Greek Texts & Translations

Read the law.Law

The deceased shall be laid out in the house in any way one chooses, and they shall carry out the deceased on the day after that on which they lay him out, before the sun rises. And the men shall walk in front, when they carry him out, and the women behind. And no woman less than sixty years of age shall be permitted to enter the chamber of the deceased, or to follow the deceased when he is carried to the tomb, except those who are within the degree of children of cousins; nor shall any woman be permitted to enter the chamber of the deceased when the body is carried out, except those who are within the degree of children of cousins.

43.63The law does not allow any woman except female relatives within the degree of cousinship to enter the chamber where the deceased lies, and it permits these same women to follow to the tomb. Now Phylomachê, the sister of Polemon, the father of Hagnias, was not cousin to Hagnias, but aunt; for she was sister to Polemon, the father of Hagnias. But Eubulides, the son of this woman, was cousin on his father's side to Hagnias, whose inheritance is in question. And the mother of this boy here was the daughter of Eubulides. 43.64These female relatives the law commanded to be present at the laying out of the deceased, and to follow to the tomb, not the mother of Macartatus nor the wife of Theopompus; for she was in no way related to Hagnias, but was of another tribe, the Acamantis, and of another deme, that of Prospalta, so that she was not even apprised in any way at the time Hagnias lay dead. 43.65It is surely a most outrageous result that these men are scheming to bring about, that forsooth we and the women of our family should inherit the body of Hagnias, when he was dead, and should perform all the proper rites, as being relatives and nearest of kin, but that Macartatus should claim the right to possess the estate of the dead Hagnias, though he belongs to the house of Stratius and is descended from Apolexis, daughter of the Prospaltian and sister of Macartatus. But this is neither just nor righteous, men of the jury.

43.66Now please read the words of the oracle brought from Delphi, from the shrine of the god, that you may see that it speaks in the same terms concerning relatives as do the laws of Solon.Oracle

May good fortune attend you. The people of the Athenians make inquiry about the sign which has appeared in the heavens, asking what the Athenians should do, or to what god they should offer sacrifice or make prayer, in order that the issue of the sign may be for their advantage. It will be well for the Athenians with reference to the sign which has appeared in the heavens that they sacrifice with happy auspices to Zeus most high, to Athena most high, to Heracles, to Apollo the deliverer, and that they send due offerings to the Amphiones; ^note that they sacrifice for good fortune to Apollo, god of the ways, to Leto and to Artemis, and that they make the streets steam with the savour of sacrifice; that they set forth bowls of wine and institute choruses and wreathe themselves with garlands after the custom of their fathers, in honor of all the Olympian gods and goddesses, lifting up the right hand and the left, and that they be mindful to bring gifts of thanksgiving after the custom of their fathers. And ye shall offer sacrificial gifts after the custom of your fathers to the hero-founder after whom ye are named; and for the dead their relatives shall make offerings on the appointed day according to established custom.unknown

43.67You hear, men of the jury, that Solon in the laws and the god in the oracle use the same language, bidding the relatives to perform rites for the departed on the proper days. But neither Theopompus nor the defendant Macartatus cared at all for these things; they cared only for this, that they might retain possession of what does not belong to them, and to complain that after having had the estate for so long, they must now defend their title to it. I should have thought, men of the jury, that one who unjustly keeps in his possession the property of another, should not make complaints if he has kept it in his possession longer than is right, but should be grateful, not to us, but to fortune, that so many unavoidable delays have occurred in the interim, so that he is not brought to trial until now.

43.68Our opponents, then, men of the jury, are men of this stamp; they care nothing either for the extinction of the house of Hagnias, or for all the rest of their lawless deeds; men, who, O Zeus and the gods—but why should one mention the other things relative to them? There would be much indeed to tell of. But one thing which they have brought to pass is the most lawless and the most abominable, and most clearly proves that they care for nothing except their profit. 43.69For no sooner had Theopompus got the award of the estate of Hagnias in the manner which you have heard, than he at once gave proof that he knew well that he was in possession of what in no sense belonged to him. The thing which was of the greatest value on the farms belonging to Hagnias, and which was most admired by the neighbors and by everybody else, was the olive trees. These they dug up and rooted out, more than a thousand trees, from which a large quantity of oil was produced. These trees our opponents rooted out and sold, and received a huge sum of money. And they did this while the estate of Hagnias was still subject to adjudication in accordance with the very law which had permitted them to cite the mother of this boy here.