On The Structure of Greek Tribal Society: An EssaySeebohm, Hugh E. (Hugh Exton)
History
On The Structure of Greek Tribal Society: An Essay
Seebohm, Hugh E. (Hugh Exton)
Greece -- History; Greece -- Law -- Antiquities; Greece -- Social life and customs; Land tenure -- Greece; Tribes
Numbers xxxvi. 8. “And every daughter that possesseth an
inheritance (LXX. ἀγχιστεύουσα κληρονομίαν) in any tribe of the
children of Israel, shall be wife unto one of the family of the
tribe of her father (ἐνὶ τῶν ἐκ τοῦ δήμου τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτῆς), that
the children of Israel may enjoy (ἀγχιστεύειν) every man the
inheritance of his fathers.
“Even as the Lord commanded Moses, so did the daughters of
Zelophehad.
“For Mahlah, Tirzah and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Noah, the
daughters of Zelophehad, were married unto their father’s
brother’s sons (LXX. τοῖς ἀνεψιοῖς αὐτῶν).”
§ 3. The Position Of The Widow Without Child And The Duties Of An Only
Daughter.
(M34) The _levirate_, or marriage with deceased husband’s brother, seems
to have had no place in Greek family law. The wife was of no _kin_
necessarily to the husband; and so it would not tend to strengthen the
transmission of blood if the next of kin married the widow on taking the
inheritance of his relative deceased without issue. The wife in Greek 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 inheritance
pass through her, and then as the mother of her dead son, not as widow of
her dead husband. Even then, being a woman, she had no right of enjoyment,
only of transmission. She could only inherit on behalf of her issue by a
second husband, and failing her issue the inheritance would pass to her
brothers and so on. In Greece the claim upon the δαήρ (Latin _levir_) for
marriage seems to have begun with his brother’s daughter, not his
brother’s widow.
(M35) The childless widow on the death of her husband had to return to her
own family or whoever of her kindred was guardian (κύριος) of her, and if
she wished, be given again in marriage by him.(65)
The woman at Athens even after marriage always retained her κύριος or
guardian,(66) who was at once her protector and trustee. He was probably
the head of the οἶκος to which she originally belonged—her next of kin—and
had great power over her.(67)
A case there is(68) where the heir to the property also takes the wife of
the previous owner; but in this case the husband may have been κύριος of
his own wife, and so could bequeath, or give her away to whomever he
liked.(69)
In the _Ordinances of Manu_, the limitations of the levirate are very
strictly defined.(70) In the case of a man leaving a widow, she must not
marry again, or she lost her place in heaven by his side.
But if she was childless, the next of kin of her husband must beget one
son by her; he did not _marry_ her, and his connection with her _ceased on
the birth of a son_.
(M36) The laws of Manu otherwise are strict against the marriage of close
relations; a restriction not found in Greece.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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