Plutarch's essays and miscellanies, Vol. 2 (of 5) : $b Comprising all his works collected under the title of "Morals"Plutarch
Philosophy
Plutarch's essays and miscellanies, Vol. 2 (of 5) : $b Comprising all his works collected under the title of "Morals"
Plutarch
Classical literature; Essays; Ethics; Philosophy
_Solution._ Is this the reason, that because May is between April
and June,—concerning which months they have an opinion that that is
sacred to Venus, this to Juno, both of them being nuptial Gods,—they
either take an opportunity a little before May, or tarry till it be
over? Or is it that in this month they offer the greatest expiatory
sacrifice, now casting the images of men from a bridge into the river,
and formerly men themselves? Moreover, it is by law required that the
Flaminica, the reputed priestess of Juno, should be most sourly sullen
during the time, and neither wash nor trim up herself. Or is it because
many of the Latins in this month offer oblations unto the dead? And
therefore perhaps they worship Mercury in this month, which from Maia
derives its name? Or, as some say, is May derived from elder age
(maior) and Juno from younger (iunior)? For youth is more suitable to
matrimony, as Euripides hath said,
Old age the Cyprian queen must ever shun,
And Venus from old men in scorn doth run.
Therefore they marry not in May, but tarry till June, which is
presently after May.
_Question 87._ Why do they part the hair of women when they are
married with the point of a spear?
_Solution._ What if it be a significant ceremony, showing that
they took their first wives in marriage by force of arms and war?
Or is it that they may instruct them that they are to dwell with
husbands that are soldiers and warriors, and that they should put on
such ornamental attire as is not luxurious or lascivious, but plain?
So Lycurgus commanded that all the gates and tops of houses should be
built with saw and hatchet, and no other sort of workmen’s instrument
should be used about them; yea, he rejected all gayety and superfluity.
Or doth this action parabolically intimate divorce, as that marriage
can be dissolved only by the sword? Or is it that most of these nuptial
ceremonies relate to Juno? For a spear is decreed sacred to Juno, and
most of her statues are supported by a spear, and she is surnamed
Quiritis, and a spear of old was called _quiris_, wherefore they
surname Mars Quirinus?
_Question 88._ Why do they call the money that is laid out upon
the public plays _lucar_?
_Solution._ Is it because there are many groves consecrated to the
Gods about the city, which they call _luci_, and the revenue of
these they expend upon the said plays?
_Question 89._ Why do they call the Quirinalia the Feast of Fools?
_Solution._ Was it because they set apart that day for those that
were unacquainted with their own curiae, as Juba saith? Or was it for
them that did not sacrifice with their tribes, as the rest did, in the
Fornicalia, by reason of business or long journeys or ignorance, so
that it was allowed to them to solemnize that feast upon this day?
_Question 90._ What is the reason that, when there is a sacrifice
to Hercules, they mention no other God and no dog appears within the
enclosure, as Varro saith?
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