Plutarch, Quaestiones Romanae, ed. William W. Goodwin, 23

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[23]

Question 23.

Why do they sell things which pertain to funerals in the temple of Libitina, seeing they are of opinion that Libitina is Venus?

Solution. Was it that this was one of the wise institutions of King Numa, that they might learn not to esteem these things irksome nor fly from them as a defilement? Or rather is it to put us in mind that whatever is born must die, there being one Goddess that presides over them that are born and those that die? And at Delphi there is the statue of Venus Epitymbia (on a tomb), to which at their drink-offerings they call forth the ghosts of the deceased.

Quaestiones Romanae. Plutarch. ed. William W. Goodwin. Boston. 1874.

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Funding provided by The National Endowment for the Humanities.

Current edition Perseus

Roman Questions (English) (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.)

Editions (2)

Αἴτια Ῥωμαϊκά Perseus (Plutarch. Moralia, Vol. IV. Babbitt, Frank Cole, editor. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1936 (printing).) — 23 focus

[23] διὰ τί τὰ πρὸς ¹ τὰς ταφὰς πιπράσκουσιν ἐν 269b τῷ τεμένει τῷ Λιβιτίνης νομίζοντες Ἀφροδίτην εἶναι τὴν Λιβιτίνην;

πότερον καὶ τοῦτο τῶν Νομᾶ τοῦ βασιλέως φιλοσοφημάτων ἕν ἐστιν, ὅπως μανθάνωσι μὴ δυσχεραίνειν τὰ τοιαῦτα μηδὲ φεύγειν ὡς μιασμόν;

ἢ μᾶλλον ὑπόμνησίς ἐστι τοῦ φθαρτὸν εἶναι τὸ γεννητόν, ὡς μιᾶς θεοῦ τὰς γενέσεις καὶ τὰς τελευτὰς ἐπισκοπούσης; καὶ γὰρ ἐν Δελφοῖς Ἀφροδίτης ἐπιτυμβίας ἀγαλμάτιόν ἐστι πρὸς ὃ ² τοὺς κατοιχομένους ἐπὶ τὰς χοὰς ἀνακαλοῦνται.

Κεφαλαίων καταγραφή Ῥωμαϊκά Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarchi Chaeronensis Moralia, Vol IΙ. Vernardakēs, Grēgorios N., editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1889.) — 23 focus

[23] διὰ τί τὰ πρὸς ¹ τὰς ταφὰς πιπράσκουσιν 269b ἐν τῷ τεμένει τῷ Λιβιτίνης, νομίζοντες Ἀφροδίτην εἶναι τὴν Λιβιτίνην; πότερον καὶ τοῦτο τῶν Νομᾶ τοῦ βασιλέως φιλοσοφημάτων ἕν ἐστιν, ὅπως μανθάνωσι μὴ δυσχεραίνειν τὰ τοιαῦτα μηδὲ φεύγειν 25 ὡς μιασμόν ἢ μᾶλλον ὑπόμνησίς ἐστι τοῦ φθαρτὸν εἶναι τὸ γεννητόν, ² ὡς μιᾶς θεοῦ τὰς γενέσεις καὶ τὰς τελευτὰς ἐπισκοπούσης; καὶ γὰρ ἐν Δελφοῖς Ἀφροδίτης ἐπιτυμβίας ἀγαλμάτιόν ἐστι πρὸς ὃ τοὺς κατοιχομένους ἐπὶ τὰς χοὰς ἀνακαλοῦνται.

Translations (1)

The Roman Questions Perseus (Plutarch. Moralia, Vol. IV. Babbitt, Frank Cole, translator. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1936 (printing).) — 23 focus

[23] Why do they sell articles for funerals in the precinct of Libitina, whom they identify with Venus?¹

Is this also one of the philosophic devices of king Numa, that they should learn not to feel repugnance at such things nor shun them as a pollution?

Or is it rather a reminder that whatever is born must die, since one goddess presides over births and deaths? For in Delphi there is a little statue of Aphrodite of the Tomb, to which they summon the departed to come forth for the libations.

Plutarch Quaestiones Romanae 23

ed. William W. Goodwin

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Question 23.

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