Plutarch, Quaestiones Romanae, ed. William W. Goodwin, 52

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[52]

Question 52.

Why do they sacrifice a dog to Mana Geneta, and pray that no home-born should become good?

Solution. Is the reason that Geneta is a deity that is employed about the generation and purgation of corruptible things? For this word signifies a certain flux ( i.e. Mana from manare) and generation, or a flowing generation; for as the Greeks do sacrifice a dog to Hecate, so do the Romans to Geneta on the behalf of the natives of the house. Moreover, Socrates saith that the Argives do sacrifice a dog to Eilioneia (Lucina) to procure a facility of delivery. But what if the prayer be not made for men, but for dogs puppied at home, that none of them should be good; for dogs ought to be currish and fierce? Or is it that they that are deceased are pleasantly called good; and hence, speaking mystically in their prayer, they signify their desire that no home-born should die? Neither ought this to seem strange; for Aristotle says that it is written in the treaty of the Arcadians with the Lacedaemonians that none of the Tegeates should be made good on account of aid rendered to the party of the Lacedaemonians, i.e. that none should be slain.

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

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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).) — 52 focus

[52] διὰ τί τῇ καλουμένῃ Γενείτῃ Μάνῃ κύνα θύουσι καὶ κατεύχονται μηδένα χρηστὸν ἀποβῆναι τῶν οἰκογενῶν;

ἢ ὅτι δαίμων ἐστὶν ἡ Γενείτα περὶ τὰς γενέσεις καὶ τὰς λοχείας τῶν φθαρτῶν; ῥύσιν γάρ τινα σημαίνει τοὔνομα καὶ γένεσιν ἢ ῥέουσαν γένεσιν. 277b ὥσπερ οὖν οἱ Ἕλληνες τῇ Ἑκάτῃ, καὶ τῇ Γενείτῃ κύνα Ῥωμαῖοι θύουσιν ὑπὲρ τῶν οἰκογενῶν. Ἀργείους δὲ Σωκράτης φησὶ τῇ Εἰλιονείᾳ ¹ κύνα θύειν διὰ τὴν ῥᾳστώνην τῆς λοχείας. τὸ δὲ τῆς εὐχῆς πότερον οὐκ ἐπʼ ἀνθρώπων ἐστὶν οἰκογενῶν, μηδένα χρηστὸν γενέσθαι ἀλλὰ κυνῶν; χαλεποὺς γὰρ εἶναι δεῖ καὶ φοβεροὺς τοὺς κύνας.

ἤ διὰ τὸ χρηστοὺς ² κομψῶς ³ λέγεσθαι τοὺς τελευτῶντας αἰνιττόμενοι, διὰ τῆς εὐχῆς ⁴ αἰτοῦνται μηδένα τῶν συνοίκων ἀποθανεῖν; οὐ δεῖ δὲ τοῦτο θαυμάζειν· καὶ γὰρ Ἀριστοτέλης ἐν ταῖς Ἀρκάδων 277c πρὸς Λακεδαιμονίους συνθήκαις γεγράφθαι φησὶ μηδένα χρηστὸν ποιεῖν βοηθείας χάριν τοῖς λακωνίζουσι τῶν Τεγεατῶν, ὅπερ εἶναι μηδένα ἀποκτιννύναι.

Κεφαλαίων καταγραφή Ῥωμαϊκά Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarchi Chaeronensis Moralia, Vol IΙ. Vernardakēs, Grēgorios N., editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1889.) — 52 focus

[52] διὰ τί τῇ καλουμένῃ Γενείτῃ Μάνῃ κύνα θύουσι καὶ κατεύχονται μηδένα χρηστὸν ἀποβῆναι 15 τῶν οἰκογενῶν; ἦ ὅτι δαίμων ἐστὶν ἡ Γενείτα περὶ τὰς γενέσεις καὶ τὰς λοχείας τῶν φθαρτῶν; ῥύσιν γάρ τινα σημαίνει τοὔνομα καὶ γένεσιν ἢ ῥέουσαν 277b γένεσιν. ὥσπερ οὖν οἱ Ἕλληνες τῇ Ἑκάτῃ, καὶ τῇ Γενείτῃ κύνα Ῥωμαῖοι θύουσιν ὑπὲρ τῶν οἰκογενῶν. 20 Ἀργείους δὲ Σωκράτης ¹ φησὶ τῇ Εἰλιονείᾳ ² κύνα θύειν διὰ τὴν ῥᾳστώνην τῆς λοχείας. τὸ δὲ τῆς εὐχῆς πότερον οὐκ ἐπʼ ἀνθρώπων ἐστὶν οἰκογενῶν, μηδένα χρηστὸν γενέσθαι, ἀλλὰ κυνῶν· χαλεποὺς γὰρ εἶναι δεῖ καὶ φοβεροὺς τοὺς κύνας· ἢ διὰ ³ τὸ χρηστοὺς ⁴ κομψῶς ⁵ 25 λέγεσθαι τοὺς τελευτῶντας αἰνιττόμενοι, διὰ τῆς εὐχῆς αἰτοῦνται μηδένα τῶν συνοίκων ἀποθανεῖν; οὐ δεῖ δὲ τοῦτο θαυμάζειν καὶ γὰρ Ἀριστοτέλης ⁶ ἐν ταῖς Ἀρκάδων πρὸς Λακεδαιμονίους συνθήκαις 277c γεγράφθαι φησὶ μηδένα χρηστὸν ⁷ ποιεῖν βοηθείας χάριν τοῖς λακωνίζουσι τῶν Τεγεατῶν, ὅπερ εἶναι 5 μηδένα ἀποκτιννύναι.

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).) — 52 focus

[52] Why do they sacrifice a bitch to the goddess called Geneta Mana¹ and pray that none of the household shall become good?

Is it because Geneta is a spirit concerned with the generation and birth of beings that perish? Her name means some such thing as flux and birth or flowing birth.² Accordingly, just as the Greeks sacrifice a bitch to Hecatê,³ even so do the Romans offer the same sacrifice to Geneta on behalf of the members of their household. But Socrates⁴ says that the Argives sacrifice a bitch to Eilioneia by reason of the ease with which the bitch brings forth its young. But does the import of the prayer, that none of them shall become good, refer not to the human members of a household, but to the dogs? For dogs should be savage and terrifying.

Or, because of the fact that the dead are gracefully called the good, are they in veiled language asking in their prayer that none of their household may die? One should not be surprised at this: Aristotle,⁵ in fact, says that there is written in the treaty of the Arcadians with the Spartans: No one shall be made good⁶ for rendering aid to the Spartan party in Tegea: that is, no one shall be put to death.

Plutarch Quaestiones Romanae 52

ed. William W. Goodwin

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Question 52.

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