University of Groningen The Importance of the Maternal Uncle and Grandfather in Archaic and

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University of Groningen

The Importance of the Maternal Uncle and Grandfather in Archaic and Classical Greece and
Early Byzantium
Bremmer, J.
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Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik
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Bremmer, J. (1983). The Importance of the Maternal Uncle and Grandfather in Archaic and Classical
Greece and Early Byzantium. Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik, 50, 173-186.
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THE IMPORTANCE OF THE MATERNAL UNCLE AND GRANDFATHER
IN ARCHAIC AND CLASSICAL GREECE AND EARLY BYZANTIUM
It i s a s t r i k i n g fact t h a t in many patriarchal and patrilineal societies
a special r e l a t i o n s h i p e x i s t s between a mother's brother (MoBr) and h i s
sister' s son (SiSo), and between the mother's f a t h e r (MoFa) and t h e daughter' s
.
son (DaSo) Social anthropologists have been studying t h i s r e l a t i o n s h i p for
2 1
more than f i f t y years. Some hundred years ago Bachofen d r e w p a r t i c u l a r
3 1
a t t e n t i o n to this t i e . The boldness of Bachofen's theories condemned h i s
s t u d i e s to the d u s t y shelves of libraries, 4 ' b u t h i s analysis of t h e avunculate
and the importance that was attached to the m a t e r n a l grandfather is s t i l l of
i n t e r e s t . He restricted himself to a f e w examples from Greek mythology, Homer,
Pindar, and Thucydides; b u t the material is c e r t a i n l y r i c h e r and will reward
f u r t h e r examination. The period over which we can follow t h e avunculate, more-
over, can be extended to early Byzantium. My investigation c o n t i n u e s an earlier
study in which I surveyed the Indo- European evidence. 5, I found t h a t t h e
special position of the maternal (as against paternal) u n c l e and grandfather,
1 ) This a r t i c l e is an expanded version of my contribution to a panel on
k i n s h i p at the 1981 Am.Philol.Assoc. Convention in San Francisco. For in-
formation and comments I would like to thank W-Burkert, Richard Buxton, Fritz
G r a f , A l b e r t H e n r i c h s , and Charles Segal who also corrected t h e E n g l i s h . I use
the following abbreviation:
Davies = J-Davies, Athenian Propertied F a m i l i e s (Oxford 1971).
2) See e s p e c i a l l y A.R.Radcliffe-Brownr Structure and Function in P r i m i t i v e
Society (London 1952) 15- 31 ( 19 24' ) ; J-GoodyrT he Mother's B r o t h e r and t h e
Sister's Son in West A f r i c a , %Royal Anthrop.Soc. 89 (1959) 61- 88; L. de
Heusch, The Debt of the Maternal Uncle, Man 9 ( 1 9 7 4 ) 609- 619; F-Martens, A
propos de l'oncle m a t e r n e l , L' Homme 1 5 (1975) 155-175: A-Kuper, Radcliffe-
Brown, Junod and the Mother's Brother in South Africar Man I (1976) 111- 115;
A.Adler, Avunkulat et marriage m a t r i l a t k a l en A f r i q u e noire, L ' Homme 16
(1976) 7- 27 (with the response by L. de Heusch, ibidem, 29- 47).
3) J.J.Bachofen, Antiquarische B r i e f e , Vols. I, II (Basel 1880, 1 8 8 5 ) , re-
printed in Johann Jakob Bachofens Gesamrnelte Werke, V o l . VIII, ed. by J.
DBrmann and W-Strasser (~asel/~tuttgar1t9 6 6 ) 5- 414. This volume c o n t a i n s
some f u r t h e r h i t h e r t o u n p u b l i s h e d " a n t i q u a r i a n " l e t t e r s on this subject, but
Bachofen's legacy to the university library of Basel s t i l l contains papers
amounting to about t e n thousand pages which may never see the light of the
day.
4 ) Except by F r i e d r i c h Engels, Bachofen was overlooked not o n l y by t h e
anthropologists mentioned i n note 2 , b u t also by E.Benveniste, Le vocabulaire
des institutions indo-europgennes I ( P a r i s 1969) 223- 237. For Bachofen and
matriarchy, see most recently S.Pembroke, Woman in Charge: the F u n c t i o n of
Alternatives in E a r l y Greek Tradition and the Ancient Idea of M a t r i a r c h y ,
Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld I n s t i t u t e s 30 (1967) 1- 36; H.J.Heinrichs
(ed.), Materialien zu Bachofens "Mutterrecht" ( F r a n k f u r t 1975) ; U-Wesel, D e r
Mythos von Matriarchat ( F r a n k f u r t 1 9 8 0 ) ; P.Vidal-Naquet, Le Chasseur n o i r
(Paris 1981 1 267-288.
5 ) J.Bremmer, Avunculate and Fosterage, Journ. Indo-European Studies 4
(1976) 45-78.
.
J Bremmer
which had been noted among many non - literate peoples, also occurred among
t h e Indo- Europeans. Subsequent s t u d i e s of the Roman, Germanic, and Celtic
6 1
material corroborated my conclusion. The present a r t i c l e will present in
detail the Greek evidence. Being t h e f i r s t to do so s i n c e Bachofen it can
hardly lay claim to completeness. We may safely assume t h a t more evidence of
t h i s n a t u r e lies hidden in a l l k i n d s of Greek texts.
I
In one of his still i n s p i r i n g essays Louis Gernet discussed the phenomenon
7 1
of fosterage, the education of boys outside the parental home. It is clear
from Gernet's material t h a t in all cases in which a family relationship
-
existed or was s p e c i f i e d , it was the m a t e r n a l grandfather never the paternal
r
8
one - who raised the child. In some cases t h e MoFa voluntarily undertook to
raise the boy; Iphidarnas reached m a t u r i t y in the house of h i s MoFa in Thrace
9 1
(Iliad XI.221f.); Neoptolemos grew up on the island of Scyros at the court
o f Achilles' father- in- law Lykomedes; l o ' Theseus w a s raised by his MoFa
P i t t h e u s in Troizen. 11' In other cases t h e stay w i t h the MoFa was occasioned
by sheer necessity. When the Messenian king Kresphontes was murdered, h i s
youngest son A i p y t o s managed to escape to h i s MoFa, the Arcadian king Kypselos,
12s
who raised him. Similarly, Adrastus had to flee to his MoFa, the k i n g of
Sicyon (Schol. Pind. Nem. 9.30a) .
In genera3,fosterage took place between the end of infancy and the be-
ginning of adulthood, when t h e young aristocrat returned home for the last
puberty rites, sometimes h i s investiture r i t e s . In a number of cases, how-
ever, the DaSo stayed on at h i s grandfather's court and succeeded to the
throne. It seems l i k e l y that in most of these examples t h e k i n g had no son
of his own. Herodotus (7.61; also see Apoll. 2.4.5) tells us t h a t Perseus
left h i s son by Andromeda with her father Kepheus, since the l a t t e r had no
6 ) Roman: J.Hallett, F a t h e r s and Daughters (Princeton 1983). Germanic: R.H.
Bremrner, The Importance of Kinship: Uncle and N e p h e w in 'Beowulf', Amsterdamer
Beitrage z . alteren Germanistik 15 (1980) 21-38. C e l t i c : G.Guastella, I
parentalia come t e s t o antropologico: l'avunculato nel mondo celtico e nella
famiglia d i Ausonio. Materiali e discussioni per l'analisi dei t e s t i classici
( P i s a ) 4 (1980) 97-124.
7 ) L.Gernet, Droit et socii?tC dans la grsce ancienne ( P a r i s 1955) 19-28. For
Indo-European parallels, see Bremmer ( n o t e 5 ) ; add Orkneyinga Saga 13; Geoffrey
of Monmouth Historia Regum B r i t a n n i a e 2.4; Hblfdanar saga svarta c.3.
81 In the extended family the paternal grandfather would be in t h e home.
E.Risch, Betrachtungen zu den indogermanischen Verwandtschaftsnarnen, Mus.Helv.
1 (1944, 115-122) 11 9 = K l e i n e S c h r i f t e n (Berlin/New York 1981) 651 observed
that there is no Indo-European term for paternal grandfather: he is just the
.
narfip
9) I. Espermann, Antenor, Theano, Antenoriden (Meisenheim 1 9 8 0 ) 74f.
completely overlooked t h e parallels for t h i s fosterage.
1 0 ) 11. XIX. 326f.; Soph. Ph. 239-244; Strabo 9.5.16; Apollod. Ep. 5.11.
11) Plut. Thes. 4; P a u s . 1.27.7.
1 2 ) For a l l sources, see O.Musso, E u r i p i d e : ~ r e s ' f o n t e( Milan 1 9 7 4 ) .
The Importance of the Maternal Uncle and Grandfather
male off- spring. S i m i l a r l y , Leukippos, the king of Sicyon, bequeathed t h e
throne to Peratos, his DaSo, because he only had a daughter (Paus. 2.5.7). In
Sicyon Polybos gave the throne to his DaSo Adrastus, who in turn l e f t t h e
throne to his DaSo Diomedes. 1 3 ) In t h e s e cases the DaSo apparently was believed
to succeed his grandfather at h i s death, b u t in Thebes Cadmos gave the throne
to his DaSa Pentheus when still alive, 1 4 ' and a similar situation is presup-
posed in Euripidest second Hippolytos, where Theseus evidently received the
Trozenian throne during P i t t h e u s ' life. 15' Finally, Hippothous, who had been
exposed after his mother had been impregnated by Poseidon, requested the kinq-
dom of h i s MoFa Kerkyon as his r i g h t f u l inheritance from Theseus (Hyg. Fab.
187)
This r i g h t of the DaSo to the throne seems to be reflected also in those
legends in which a king exposes a DaSo who is prop- hesied to succeed him one
3 6 )
day. The best known Greek case is perhaps Perseus, but outside Greece we
7 7 )
also have Cyrus, RamuPus and Remus, 18' Gilgarnesh [ A d . NA. 12.21), and
- -
13) Adrastus: Her. 5.67; Menaichmos FGrH 131 F 10; Paus. 2.6.6; Schol. 11,
11. 572. Diomedes: Eustathius 238, 22-26. Gernet (note 7) 24 r i g h t l y concluded
from 11. V.412 t h a t Diomedes, like Iphidamas (above), had married h i s maternal
aunt. Gernet, Anthropoloqie de la grdce a n t i q u e ( P a r i s 1968) 344- 359 (Mariages
de t y r a n s , 19541) and J.-P.Vernant, Mythe et socigtit en grece ancienne ( P a r i s
1974) 73f. [with more examples of the M o S i / ~ i S om arriage) consider this early
Greek matrimonial strategy a s typically aristocratic. However, in Classical
Greece aristocracies tended to avoid this type of marriage. P-Bourdieu,
Outline of a Theory of Practice (Cambridge 1977) 58-71 has shown that in
uncertain political and economic situations families t e n d to direct t h e i r
e f f o r t s towards the maintenance of the family, not i t s expansion. The uncle/
-
aunt niece/nephew marriages therefore strongly p o i n t to the Dark Ages when
these endogamic strategies will have been shared by aristocrats and peasants
alike.
1 4 ) Eur. Bacch. 43, 213. F.Vian, Les origines de Thdbes ( P a r i s 1963) 180
(who is followed by J.Roux on Eur. Bacch. 43) unnecessarily suggests t h a t
Pentheus only acts as a regent.
15) As is observed by W.S.Barrett, Euripides: Hippolytos (Oxford 1964) 33,
157. In order to avoid competition w i t h Phaedra's c h i l d r e n , Theseus s e n t H i p -
polytos to Troizen to be raised by his MoFa and to succeed him to the throne
(Paus. 1.22.2). According to Diod. Sic. 4.62, Hippolytos was educated by
Theseus' MoBr's (below 5 2 )
1 6 ) For Perseus, see more r e c e n t l y M.Werre-de Haas, Aeschylus' Dictyulci
(Leiden 1961) 5-10 (with all l i t e r a r y evidence); J.H.Oakleyr Danae and
Perseus on Seriphos, AJA 86 (1982) 111-115 (with full archeological biblio-
graphy)
=
17) Her. 1.107-122; Just. 1.4-6; G-Widengren, La lggende royale de l'Iran
a n t i q u e , in Hommages d G.Dumi!zil ( B r u s s e l 1960) 225-237; A.AlfBldi, D i e
Struktur des voretruskischen Romerstaates (Heidelberg 1974) 737-141.
18) The literature on the legend of Romulus and Remus is extensive, see
most r e c e n t l y G.Binder, Die Aussetzung des KBnigskindes Kyros und Romulus
(Meisenheim 1 9 6 4 ) ; H.Strasburqerr Zur Sage von der Griindung R o m s , SB Heidel-
berg, Philo.-hist.Klasse 1968,5 (Heidelberg 1968); J.Puhve1, Remus et f r a t e r ,
History of Religions 15 (1975) 146-157: A l f 6 l d i (note 171, 114-119; B.Liou-
G i l l e , Cultes "hi!rofques" romains (Paris 1980) 135-207; Bremmer, The Suodales
of Poplios Valesios, ZPE 47 (1982) 133-147.
.
Habis This particular type occurs only in classical a u t h o r s , although
20)
exposure legends are found from China to Southern A f r i c a .
In the examples mentioned so far the DaSo succeeded to the throne because
the MoFa did not have a (living) son. In a d d i t i o n , there are two more cases
where the DaSo inherited the t h r o n e , although a living, legal son existed.
These i n s t a n c e s are highly i n t e r e s t i n g since apparently l a t e r tradition felt
compelled to explain the particular reason why t h e existing son was passed
over, thus showing t h a t it considered this succession an oddity. The l o c a l
Trozenian a u t h o r Herophanes, whom Jacoby dates in the e a r l y Empire, observed
that Herrnion, the founder of Hermione, could never have been the son of a
leqitimate s o n of Phoroneus, but t h a t h i s f a t h e r must have been one of
-
Phoroneus' bastards; otherwise the Argive throne would never have gone to
-
. 21 3
Argos, the son of Phoroneus ' daughter Niabe (Paus. 2.16.1 )
A similar concern appears from a Homeric scholion which relates a William
Tell-like legend to explain why Sarpedon succeeded his MoFa Bellerophon whereas
Glaukos, the son of Bellerophon's s o n , went to Troy (11. V I . 1 9 9 f . ) . 22) I n t h e
last instance Bachofen naturally saw a survival of the great matriarchal
times, since Herodotus 7 3 rela tes t h a t the Lycians took their names from
t h e i r mother. But Simon Pembroke has d e f i n i t e l y shown from inscriptions that
t h e Lycians did no such thing. 23' The Greeks, on the other hand, used the
-
24s
rnetronymic to denote natural children. Herodotus' report therefore most
1 9 ) J u s t . 44.4; J.C.Bermejo Barrera, La f u n c t i o n r e a l en la mitologia
Tartesica. Gargoris, Habis y Aristeo, Habis 9 (1978) 215-232.
2 0 ) See the extensive surveys i n Binder ( n o t e 18) 123-250, summarized w i t h
some a d d i t i o n s and corrections by B i n d e r in K.Ranke (ed.), Enzyklopadie des
Marchens I ( B e r l i n / N e r v York 1977) 1048- 10 66; B .Lewis, The Sargon Legend
(Cambridge, Mass. 1980) 149-272.
21) P a u s . 2.34.5 = Herophanes FGrH 605 F 1 . W e have t h u s the following
s tema :
Pharoneus
Niobe x Zeus
Herrnion Argos
221 Schol. 11. XII.101; Eustathius 894,36. For the comparison with William
Tell, see S-Pembroke apud H-Erbse, Scholia Graeca in Horneri Iliadem, Vol. I11
( B e r l i n 1974) 319. Add to Pernhroke's bibliography: M.Beck, Wilhelrn Tell: Sage
oder Geschichte, Deutsches Archiv 36 ( 1980) 7-24.
2 3 ) S.Pembroke, Last of t h e Matriarchs, Journal of the Economic and Social
History of t h e O r i e n t 8 ( 1 9 6 5 ) 217-247.
24) For the Greek use of the rnetronymic, see most recently O.Masson, La plus
ancienne i n s c r i p t i o n crgtoise, in W.Meid et al. ( e d s . ) , Studies in Greek,
I t a l i c and Indo-European Linguistics offered to Leonard R.Palmer (Innsbruck
1976) 169-1 7 2 and BCH 99 (19 75) 221f. For later periods, see K.Kyrri, Kypriaka
k a i Ammochoosteia meletemata k a i dokima (Ammochoostos, Cyprus 1967) 143- 161;
N.P.Andriotis, D i e m i t t e l - und neugriechischen Metronymica, in Atti e Memorie
d e l VII Congresso I n t e r n . di Scienze Onomastiche, V o l . I11 (F lorence 1963)
59- 66.
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7: I
We w i l l return below ( 3 ) to this problem and close our discussion of the
MoFa with an example t h a t brings us to t h e MoBr, the maternal u n c l e . When
Odysseus is recognised by h i s scar, we hear t h e s t o r y of h i s youth. Just after
Odysseus' b i r t h his MoFa visited h i s house where E u r y k l e i a put t h e new-born
baby on the grandfather's knees. Autolykos gave Odysseus h i s name and asked
h i s parents to send him to his house when he had reached puberty in order t h a t
Odysseus may receive presents (Od. 1 9 . 4 0 1 . 4 1 2 ) . G e r n e t saw i n t h i s episode a
later development in which fosterage proper had already disappeared b u t the
28)
tie with the MoFa still remained in force. This p a r t i c u l a r visit, however,
occurs at t h e moment of reaching p u b e r t y , whereas in the case of fosterage
t h e boy always left his MoFa when he had reached puberty.
Gernet, moreover, neglected an important aspect of Odysseus' v i s i t . Twice
during t h e episode the sojourn is defined more precisely as t a k i n g place with
Autolykos and his sons, Odysseus' m a t e r n a l u n c l e s (Od. 19.394, 414, 418f.).
A l s o , it is the u n c l e s who accompany Odysseus on the f a t e f u l hunt in which he
had received h i s scar. 29' Similarly, during the Calydonian h u n t Meleager was
3 0 )
accompanied by the brothers of his mother A l t h a e a . A t h i r d hunt is even
more i n t e r e s t i n g since it implies a mistaken M U B ~ / S ~ Sr eOl a t i o n s h i p which
nevertheless confirms our point. Theano was the f o s t e r mother of Boeotus and
AeoLus, the n a t u r a l sons of Melanippe, who regarded Theano as t h e i r t r u e
mother. However, when Theano had children of her own, she arranged to have
her foster children killed by her own brothers. From E u r i p i d e s ' Melanippe
Desrnotis a messenger's description of t h e a c t u a l ambush, which t o o k place
during a h u n t , has been preserved in a B e r l i n papyrus. When Aeolus and Boeotus
recognised the attackers as t h e i r MoBr's (as they s t i l l erroneously thought),
they exclaimed: "B r o t h e r s of our dear mother, what are you about, t h a t we
catch you slaying those whom you should t r e a t so least of a l l ? For God's sake
31 1
do not s o ! "
In these cases the supervision by the MoBr most likely had an i n i t i a t o r y
significance, as probably also in other cases where a SiSo accompanied h i s
MoBr i n t o war. I note two examples: the most important commander of the
Myrmidonian fleet a f t e r Achilles was h i s SiSo Menesthios (11. XVI. 173-176;
Strabo 9.5.9). In the Delphic gymnasium - the place of education par excel-
l e n c e - Pausanias (10.10.2) s a w among t h e s t a t u e s of the commanders of the army
2 8 ) Gernet (note 7 ) , 2 6 .
.
29) Od. 19.429-431 For t h e initiatory significance of the wound in the
thigh, see Bsemmer, Heroes, Rituals and the Trojan War, Studi Storico-
Religiosi 2 (1978, 5- 38) 10-13.
30) 11. IX. 5 2 9 f Bacch. 5 . 9 7 f f . ; F.Bumer on (3v.Net. 8.273 ( w i t h full
bibliography). The i n i t i a t o r y significance of t h e hunt is well stressed by
R-Lonis, Guerre et religion en grsce d l'epoque classique (Paris 1979) 202.
31 ) E u r . fr. 495 N' = 664 Mette (Lustrum 23/24, 1981 / 8 2 ) , tr. D.Page, Greek
L i t e r a r y P a p y r i 111 (Loeb) 1 1 4 f . For the legend, see Hyg. Fab. 186.
The Importance of the Maternal Uncle and Grandfather
t h a t marched against Thebes besides Adrastus' one a l s o that of h i s SiSo
Hippomedon. 32' The educational activity of the MoBr, however, w a s not re-
-
s t r i c t e d o n l y to w a r . Bachofen o ~ e n e d h i s study of t h e avunculate w i t h
Daedalus' murder of h i s SiSo Talos. Apollodorus (3.15.8, tr. Frazer) gives
the f u l l e s t account: "Daedalus had f l e d from A t h e n s , because he had thrown
down from the acropolis Talos, the son o f h i s sister P e r d i x ; f o r Talos was
... 3 3 1
h i s p u p i l I I
We also have some other cases which are i n d i c a t i v e of a good relationship
between a MoBr and his SiSo. When Apollo wanted to persuade Hector he appeared
in the shape of his MoBr Asios (11. XVI. 71 7). At t h e end of t h e Trojan War
-
3 4 ) Creon purified h i s SiSo Amphitryon of
Prism s e n t for h i s SiSo Eurypylos.
35)
the killing of Electryon, and he helped him in h i s war a g a i n s t the Teleboans.
Kypselos' son Holaios accompanied the Heraclids to Messene where he i n s t a l l e d
his SiSo Aepytos (Paus. 8.5.7). F i n a l l y , when Atreus had k i l l e d Chrysippos,
he f l e d to his SiSo Eurystheus in Mycenae (Thuc. 1.9.2). Against a l l these
examples of a close tie w i t h the MoBr we have only one example of a similar
36 1
tie with the paternal uncle: Heracles and Iolaus.
The educational a c t i v i t y of the MoBr which is t e s t i f i e d for mythological
times survived i n t o the historical period. P i n d a r t w i c e mentions boys who
371
gained important victories in the same contest as t h e i r maternal uncles.
In the eighth Pythian (35-38) he tells us t h a t in the wrestling matches
Aristomenes followed in the s t e p s of h i s ~ a r ~ a 6 ~ h ~ p ~ o G c T h e o gwnheot owson at
Olympia and Kleitomachos who w a s an Isthmian victor. From the fifth Nemean
( 4 1 ) and sixth Isthmian ( 5 7 ) we learn of the Aeginetan couple Pytheas and
P h y l a k i d a s and t h e i r MoBr Euthymenos who a l l were victorious in the t r i a l of
strength . The connection can h a r d l y be f o r t u i t o u s , since we learn from the
f o u r t h Nemean (79- 81) t h a t Tirnasarchos asked P i n d a r for an ode on h i s deceased
MoBr Callicles; and in the seventh Isthmian ( 2 4 ) P i n d a r sings that Strepsiades
shares his glory with his homonymous uncle.
32) According to some t r a d i t i o n s Tydeus was the son of Periboia, the sister
of Kapaneus: Apollod. 3 . 6 . 3 ; Paus. 9.8.7, 10.10.3; Hyq. Fab. 70. In the
Germanic w o r l d the MoBr was r e g u l a r l y accompanied by his SiSo in battle,
see Bremmer (note 6), 33 note 55; add Hgkonar saga qbda c . 29; MagnGss saga
blinda 7, 10. The i n i a t o r y role of t h e MoBr which is prominent in many Indo-
-
European t r a d i t i o n s exempli g r a t i a I mention the legend of Caeculus of
Praeneste, the tale Peredur o f the Welsh Mabinogion, and t h e Germanic Vol-
-
sungasaga deserves f u r t h e r investigation.
. . .
3 3 ) Cf. Ov. M e t . 8.241 h u i c (Daedalus) t r a d i d e r a t docendam progeniem
germana suam (with Bbmer ad loc. for full bibliography).
34) Tiimpel, RE VI (1907) 1 3 4 8 w i t h a l l sources.
35) Apollod. 2.4.6; Schol.Lyc. 932.
36) Roscher, Mythol.Lex. 11.1 ( L e i p z i g 1890-97) 285- 289 w i t h all sources.
37) D-Roussel, Tribu et citi! (Paris 1976) 52f. n o t e s the importance of
the maternal family in Pindar b u t neglects the importance of the MoBr's
educational activities.
A l l these examples become more comprehensible if we assume t h a t the MoBr
had an a c t i v e hand i n his SiSo's education, and t h a t for the young nephew
the MoBr f u n c t i o n e d as the model par excellence for i m i t a t i o n . This relation-
s h i p also seems to have been a f a c t o r in the lives of some celebrated men:
B a c c h y l i d e s was the SiSo of Simonides, 38) Aeschylus was the MoBr of the
tragedian P h i l o k l e s (TGrF 24 P h i l o k l e s T 2 ) , the orator Demochares was the
SiSo of Dernosthenes (Davies, p. 1421, Speusippos succeeded h i s MoBr Plato as head
of t h e Academy, 39) and, finally, Callirnachus had a homonymous SiSo who was an
6nono~6c (Suda K 2 2 8 ) . We have perhaps one other example. Besides the great
E u r i p i d e s , we have t w o other tragedians w i t h the same name. Regarding the
first (TGrF 1 6 Euripides I), it is said that he was "older t h a n t h e famous
o n e . " Regarding t h e second (TGrF 17 E u r i p i d e s 111, the Suda (E 3694) informs
us t h a t he was roU nporipou & ~ E X ~ I L ~ O G CS.n e l 1 (ad loc.) t r a n s l a t e s &6~Xq1~6oGc
as filius fratris e i u s , but he may w e l l have been a SiSo. We have seen several
examples of poets being related to each other as MoBr and SiSo, 40) and we also
know that sonetimes s o n s w e r e named a f t e r t h e i r maternal u n c l e . 41 1
If it was natural that the MoBr served as t h e exernple f o r the boys d u r i n g
their youth and apparently also had an active hand in t h e i r education, it is
A
understandable that this role could reflect i t s e l f i n laws concerning adoption
or g u a r d i a n s h i p . And indeed in the Paws of Charondas t h e administration of
t h e e s t a t e was e n t r u s t e d to the father's family (below) b u t t h e upbringing of
the orphans to the mother's family, which in practice must normally havemeant
the MoBr or MoFa (Diod. Sic. 1 2 . 1 5 ) . I n Syracuse, Dionysius I1 claimed t h a t he
was t h e l e g a l guardian o f t h e son of his half-sister A r e t e ( p l a t . Ep. 7.345C3,
and in Gortyn the ma ter nal u n c l e s were entrusted with the bringing up of an
.
heiress (Gortyn Code VIII. 5 1 f f . , X11.13 Willets) In fact, we find this
a c t i v i t y already a t t e s t e d in mythological t i m e s . The island of Thera was
c o l o n i z e d by Procles and E u r y s t h e n e s together with t h e i r guardian MoBr T h e r a s
.
(Paus. 3.1 . 7 , 4 . 3 . 4 ) C r e o n functioned as guardian and regent for Eteocles
and Polyneices (Soph. OT. 1 4 1 8 ) . 4 2 )
38) For t h e evidence, see H-Maehler, Die Lieder des Bakchylides I (Leiden
1982) 6.
39) Plut. M . 1 O D = M.I.Parente, Speusippo: Frarnrnenti (NapoIi 1980) F 6 =
L.Tar$n, Speusippus of Athens ( L e i d e n 1981) T 25a; Plut. M. 491F-492A (F 5
Parente = T 24a Targn; Diog. Laert. 3.4 ( T 4 ~ a r h n;) Suid. C 928 (F 3
.
P a r e n t e = T 3 T a r h n )
40) Besides the poetic couples mentioned, a l s o note the couple Pacuvius
(SiSo) and Ennius (MoBr) : Plin. MH. 35.19.
4 1 ) Besides the already mentioned examples of Strepsiades and Callimachus,
note also Cirnon's son Peisianax (Davies, p . 3 0 5 ) , Dem. 39.32, 63.77. Naming
practices are neqlected in the s t u d i e s mentioned in n o t e 2, b u t among t h e
American slaves nephews were r e g u l a r l y named after t h e i r maternal u n c l e , see
H.Gutman, The Elack Family in Slavery and Freedom 1750-1925 (New York 1976)
200f, For a Germanic example, see Bremmer (note 6 ) 25.
42) A Germanic example: Haralds saga inn hsrfagra c. 1.
The Importance of the Maternal Uncle and Grandfather
In t h e fourth c e n t u r y we still f i n d examples of a good relationship
between MoBr and SiSo. When Aeschines (2.78) reminded the jury of his family
h i s t o r y , he mentioned the p o l i t i c a l behavior of h i s father and his MoBr
Cleoboulos, and concluded: "The s u f f e r i n g s of the city were therefore a house-
hold word w i t h us, familiar to my ears." Andocides (3.29) proudly mentions
t h a t a permanent accord was established with the Great King thanks to the
diplomacy of h i s MoBr E p i l y c u s . In Demosthenes' Against Olyrnpiodorus C a l -
listratus did not r i s k coming i n t o court and saying "unpleasant things of
one w h o is a brother of my wife and the uncle of my children" (Dern. 48.8,
tr. A.Murray, Loeb). Theomnestus, in the Against Neaera, related how he was
reproached for not seeking vengeance for the injuries done to h i s sister's
c h i l d r e n (Dem. 59.12). And in Isaeus' t h i r d oration on the e s t a t e of Pyrrhus
(3.26, 2 9 f . ) the maternal u n c l e s of P y r r h u s a l l declared t h a t they w e r e
summoned as witnesses to h i s wedding with the sister of Nicodernus. F i n a l l y ,
an example from Rhodes: the condottiere Mentor gave important commands to
.
h i s SiSo (Diod. Sic. 16.52.4)
We even have cases where two men, because they w e r e related and eminent
in an (almost) i d e n t i c a l f i e l d , w e r e assumed to be MoBr and SiSo, whereas
actually they were related in quite a different way. Regarding Panyassis and
( n
Herodotus,the Suds 248) gives two d i f f e r e n t genealogies. According to
one they w e r e cousins; according to the other they w e r e maternal u n c l e and
nephew:
Polyarchos
Polyarchos Lyxes
I I
Panyassis M e r ~ d o t u s Panyassis Rhoio (Dryo) = Lyxes
I
Heradotus
As Jacoby observed, the f a c t that in the second stemma the mother's name is
mentioned is suspicious, as the o n l y purpose served is determining the exact
n a t u r e of Herodotus and Panyassis' s relationship. 43) Apparently, a later
t r a d i t i o n considered t h e MoBr and SiSo's relationship as the more appropriate
one for these two eminent authors.
Our second example is Pericles and Alcibiades. Alcibiades' mother was
Pericles' cousin, but Diodorus (12.38.1), Valerius Maximus (3.1 ext. 1) and
the Suda (A 1280) a l l call Pericles the m a t e r n a l uncle of Alcibiades. 4 4 ) The
4 3 ) Jacoby, RE Suppl. 2 (1913) 217. J.P.Tzschirner, Panyasidis Halicarnas-
sei Heracleadis Fragments [Bratislava 1842) 1 4 combined t h e two t r a d i t i o n s
by making Dryo the sister of Panyassis. This is rightly rejected by V . J .
Matthews, Panyassis of Halikarnassos [Leiden 1974) 10, but h i s main argument
that an uncle/niece marriage was unlikely does not hold. Besides the examples
adduced by Gernet and Vernant ( n o t e 1 3 ) , see also Lys. 32.4; Is. 10.5; Dem.
44.10, 59.2, 22.
4 4 ) The whole problem has been misunderstood by P.J.Bicknel1, Studies in
Athenian P o l i t i c s and Genealogy (Wiesbaden 1972) 79.