The History and Antiquities of the Doric Race, Vol. 1 of 2Müller, Karl Otfried
History
The History and Antiquities of the Doric Race, Vol. 1 of 2
Müller, Karl Otfried
Dorians -- History; Greece -- Antiquities, Dorian; Greece -- History -- Dorian Invasions, approximately 1125-1025 B.C.
2. We will now examine the notions of other poets on the character of
Apollo as a revenging and punishing deity, in which light he is introduced
by Homer. Archilochus calls upon Apollo to “_punish and destroy the guilty
as he is wont to destroy them_.”(1230) Hipponax, the successor of
Archilochus in vituperative satiric poetry, prays that “Artemis and Apollo
may destroy thee;”(1231) and Æschylus, with manifest allusion to the name,
says, Ἀπόλλων ἀπώλεσας;(1232) which, however, can hardly entitle us to
infer that the name of Apollo was really derived from ἀπολεῖν;(1233) for
we should lose sight of one main point, viz., the object against which his
destructive powers were directed, or be reduced to consider him an
universal destroyer, a character which is ill adapted to mark the nature
of a divine being of any kind whatsoever. Apollo slays, indeed, but only
to inflict deserved punishment. At Megara was exhibited the tomb of
Corœbus, who had slain the Fury sent by Apollo against that town, to
punish the crimes of the fathers by destroying their children.(1234) After
this action, Corœbus was ordered to carry in his arms a tripod from Pytho,
and erect on the spot where he should fall down from exhaustion, a town
(Tripodiscus) and a temple to the god. This explains why many sacred fines
were at Corinth, Patara, and Amphipolis,(1235) paid into the temple of
Apollo, who thus appears, in some measure, as enforcing his own judgments.
Æschylus refers to his office of avenging murder, where he speaks of
Apollo, Pan, and Zeus, as the gods who send the Furies;(1236) Zeus as
ruler of the world, Pan as the dæmon that disorders the intellect, Apollo
as the god of punishment. Hence it was not without reason that the Romans
believed Apollo to be represented in a statue of the god Vejovis, a
terrible god, equipped with arrows.(1237) At least there is some connexion
between him and Apollo καταιβάσιος, “who darts down in the lightning;” to
whom the Thessalians vowed every year a hecatomb of men.(1238) At Argos it
was the custom immediately after death for the relations to sacrifice to
Apollo as a god of death; the priest of Apollo (the amphipolus) offered up
the victim, and for consuming the fragments of the sacrifice a new fire
was always kindled. On the thirtieth day afterwards a sacrifice was
offered to Hermes as the conductor of souls.(1239)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account