Plutarch, Quaestiones Romanae, Frank Cole Babbitt (Translator), 73

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[73] Why was it forbidden to priests that had any sore upon their bodies to sit and watch for birds of omen?

Is this also a symbolic indication that those who deal with matters divine should be in no way suffering from any smart, and should not, as it were, have any sore or affection in their souls, but should be untroubled, unscathed, and undistracted?

Or is it only logical, if no one would use for sacrifice a victim afflicted with a sore, or use such birds for augury, that they should be still more on their guard against such things in their own case, and be pure, unhurt, and sound when they advance to interpret signs from the gods?¹ For a sore seems to be a sort of mutilation or pollution of the body.

Quaestiones Romanae. Plutarch. Frank Cole Babbitt (Translator). Cambridge, MA. 1936.

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Current edition Perseus

The Roman Questions (English) (Plutarch. Moralia, Vol. IV. Babbitt, Frank Cole, translator. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1936 (printing).)

Editions (2)

Αἴτια Ῥωμαϊκά Perseus (Plutarch. Moralia, Vol. IV. Babbitt, Frank Cole, editor. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1936 (printing).) — 73 focus

281c

διὰ τί δʼ ἀπείρητο τοῖς ἕλκος ἔχουσιν ἱερεῦσιν ἐπʼ οἰωνῶν καθέζεσθαι ¹;

πότερον καὶ τοῦτο σύμβολόν ἐστι τοῦ μηδὲν δακνομένους μηδʼ οἷον ἕλκος ἴδιον καὶ πάθος ἔχοντας ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ τὰ θεῖα χρηματίζειν, ἀλλʼ ἀλύπους καὶ ἀκεραίους καὶ ἀπερισπάστους ὄντας;

ἢ κατὰ λόγον ἐστίν, εἰ μήθʼ ἱερείῳ χρήσαιτʼ ἄν τις ἕλκος ἔχοντι πρὸς θυσίαν μήτʼ ὄρνισι πρὸς οἰωνισμόν, ἔτι μᾶλλον ἐφʼ ἑαυτῶν φυλάττεσθαι τὰ τοιαῦτα, καὶ καθαροὺς γενομένους καὶ ἀσινεῖς καὶ ὁλοκλήρους ἐπὶ τὰ παρὰ τῶν θεῶν σημαινόμενα βαδίζειν; τὸ γὰρ ἕλκος ἔοικε πήρωσὶς ² τις εἶναι 281d καὶ μιασμὸς τοῦ σώματος.

Κεφαλαίων καταγραφή Ῥωμαϊκά Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarchi Chaeronensis Moralia, Vol IΙ. Vernardakēs, Grēgorios N., editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1889.) — 73 focus

[73] διὰ τί δʼ ἀπείρητο τοῖς ἕλκος ἔχουσιν ἱερεῦσιν ἐπʼ οἰωνῶν καθέζεσθαι;¹ πότερον καὶ 15 τοῦτο σύμβολόν ἐστι τοῦ μηδὲν δακνομένους μηδʼ οἷον ἕλκος ἴδιον, καὶ πάθος ἔχοντας ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ τὰ θεῖα χρηματίζειν, ἀλλʼ ἀλύπους καὶ ἀκεραίους καὶ ἀπερισπάστους ὄντας· ἢ κατὰ λόγον ἐστίν, εἰ μήθʼ ἱερείῳ χρήσαιτʼ ἄν τις ἕλκος ἔχοντι πρὸς θυσίαν 20 μήτʼ ὄρνισι πρὸς οἰωνισμόν, ἔτι μᾶλλον ἐφʼ ἑαυτῶν φυλάττεσθαι τὰ τοιαῦτα, καὶ καθαροὺς γενομένους καὶ ἀσινεῖς καὶ ὁλοκλήρους ἐπὶ τὰ παρὰ τῶν θεῶν σημαινόμενα βαδίζειν; τὸ γὰρ ἕλκος ἔοικε πήρωσίς 281d τις εἶναι καὶ μιασμὸς τοῦ σώματος. 25

Translations (1)

Roman Questions Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarch's Morals, Vol. II. Goodwin, William W., editor; Chauncy, Isaac translator. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company; Cambridge: Press of John Wilson and Son, 1874.) — 73 focus

[73]

Question 73.

Why were priests that had sores about them forbid to use divination.

Solution. Is not this a significant sign that, whilst they are employed about divine matters, they ought not to be in any pain, nor have any sore or passion in their minds, but to be cheerful, sincere, and without distraction? Or it is but rational, if no man may offer a victim that hath a sore, nor use such birds for soothsaying, that much more they should themselves be free from these blemishes, and be clean, sincere, and sound, when they go about to inspect divine prodigies; for an ulcer seems to be a mutilation and defilement of the body.

Notes on the current edition

The Roman Questions

1. Cf. Moralia, 383 b; Leviticus, xxii. 17-21.

Plutarch Quaestiones Romanae 73

Frank Cole Babbitt (Translator)

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