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Natali, 6, 8:1'ceterum Parmenidis sententia est cum dexterae partes semina dederint, tunc filios esse patri consimiles, cum laevae, tunc matri'; Aetius, 5, 11, 2 [D 422]: Παρμένιδης ὅταν μὲν ἀπὸ τοῦ δεξιοῦ μέρους τῆς μήτρας ὁ γόνος ἀποκριθῆι, τοῖς πατράσιν, ὅταν δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀριστεροῦ, ταῖς μητράσιν (sc. ὅμοια τὰ τέκνα γίνεσθαι).

From Lactantius we obtain still another idea, which differs slightly in detail from those already given, but which rests upon the same fundamental principle. In the preceding statements the semen from the right side of the male was considered as entering the right side of the uterus in order to produce a boy and the same with the left for a girl. Lactantius, however, states that if the male semen, that is from the right side, enters the left side of the uterus a male will still result, but he will have certain feminine characteristics. Similarly female semen, that is from the left side, falling on the male side of the uterus, will produce a female, but with masculine characteristics: Lactantius, De Opificio 12, 12:2 'dispares quoque naturae hoc modo fieri putantur: cum forte in laevam uteri partem masculinae stirpis semen inciderit, marem quidem gigni opinatio est, sed quia sit in femina parte conceptus aliquid in se habere femineum supra quam decus virile patiatur, vel formam insignem vel nimium candorem vel corporis levitatem vel artus delicatos, vel staturam brevem vel vocem gracilem vel animum imbecillum vel ex his plura. item si partem in dexteram semen feminini generis influxerit, feminam quidem procreari, sed quoniam in masculina parte concepta sit, habere in se aliquid virilitatis ultra quam sexus ratio permittat, aut valida membra aut immoderatum longitudinem aut fuscum colorem aut hispidam faciem aut vultum indecorem aut vocem robustam aut animum audacem aut ex his plura.'

Aristotle (De Animal Gen. 4, 765) opposes all these views, and declares that they have been proved false by actual obser

1 Cf. Diels, l. c., p. 116, § 54.

2 Diels, l. c., p. 116, § 54.

vation and experiment. He states, however, that a possible cause for a child being a male or female is the difference in the amount of heat and cold involved. This, he adds, might account for the theory of the right and left, as the right side of the body is naturally warmer than the left, and therefore the semen from that side would be warmer and hence more liable to produce a male: (765 b.) τὸ μὲν οὖν θερμότητα καὶ ψυχρότητα αἰτίαν οἴεσθαι τοῦ ἄρρενος καὶ τοῦ θήλεος καὶ τὸ τὴν ἀπόκρισιν ἀπὸ τῶν δεξιῶν γίνεσθαι ἤ τῶν ἀριστερῶν, ἔχει τινὰ λόγον. θερμότερα γὰρ τὰ δεξιὰ τοῦ σώματος τῶν ἀριστε ερῶν, καὶ τὸ σπέρμα τὸ πεπεμμένον θερμότερον, τοιοῦτον δὲ τὸ συνεστός, γονιμώτερον δὲ τὸ συνεστὸς μᾶλλον.

RIGHT SIDE AS THE POSITION OF HONOR

The right side is the position of honor: Suetonius, Tiberius, 6, 20: ‘Dehinc pubescens Actiaco triumpho currum Augusti comitatus est, sinisteriore funali equo cum Marcellus Octaviae filius dexteriore veheretur'; Sallust, Jug. 11, 3; Suetonius, Nero, 13, 12 ; Euripides, Orestes, 474: ἄγετέ με· πρὸς γὰρ δε δεξιὰν αὐτοῦ θελω | στὰς ἀσπάσασθαι, χρόνιος εἰσιδὼν φίλον.

From a statement of Xenophon, however, we would have to conclude that among the Persians the usual practice was reversed, and that the left side took precedence over the right: (Cyrop. 8, 4, 3) ὡς δ ̓ ἦλθον οἱ κληθέντες ἐπὶ τὸ δεῖπνον, οὐχ ὅπου ἔτυχεν ἕκαστον ἐκάθιζεν, ἀλλ' ὃν μὲν μάλιστα ἐτίμα, παρὰ τὴν ἀριστερὰν χεῖρα, ὡς εὐεπιβουλευτοτέρας ταύτης οὔσης, ἢ τῆς δεξιᾶς, τὸν δὲ δεύτερον παρὰ τὴν δεξιὰν, τὸν δὲ τρίτον πάλιν παρὰ τὴν ἀριστερὰν, τὸν δὲ τέταρτον παρὰ τὴν δεξιάν,

According to Fryklund,2 "Le côté de la main droite est le côté de la main adroite, forte, véritable, le côté de la main qui promet, etc. et par là le côté d'honneur et de préférence. L'origine est peut-être religieuse cf. Schrader (Reallexikon der

1 Cf. Diels, l. c., p. 175, § 81.

2 l. c., p. 56.

indogermanischen Altertumskunde), p. 309: 'Für den Süden wie für den Norden Europas wird von den Alten die Sitte bezeugt, sich bei dem Gebet zu den Göttern nach der rechten Seite zu werden. In merkwürdiger übereinstimmung hat sich hieraus bei Indern und Kelten die Gewohnheit entwickelt einer zu ehrenden Persönlichkeit die rechte Seite zuzuwenden.'" The custom, however, which made the right side the position of honor, probably had its origin merely in the general precedence, due to its associations, of the right. Instead of being the cause, it is more likely that the religious practice was a secondary outgrowth of this very usage.

An instance of the practice of turning towards the right when praying to or addressing the gods is found in Plautus, Curc. 70: si deos salutas, dextrovorsum censeo'; cf. Pliny, Nat. Hist. 28, 25; also Plutarch, Camillus, 131 F: TaûT' eiπÒv, καθάπερ ἐστὶ Ῥωμαίοις ἔθος ἐπευξαμένοις καὶ προσκυνήσασιν ἐπὶ δεξιὰ ἐξελίττειν, ἐσφάλη περιστρεφόμενος ; Plutarch, Plato, 203 B.1

Here might be mentioned the habit of placing the right hand on the mouth at the completion of a prayer. This must have indicated reverence: Pliny, Nat. Hist. 28, 25: 'In adorando dextram ad osculum referimus totumque corpus circumagimus, quod in laevom fecisse Galliae religiosius credunt.' Quite similar is Apuleius, Met. 4, 28, 300: 'multi denique civium et advenae copiosi, quos eximii spectaculi rumor studiosa celebritate congregabat, inaccessae formonsitatis admiratione stupidi et admoventes oribus suis dexteram pri<m>ore digito in erectum pollicem residente <ea>m ut ipsam prorsus deam Venerem religiosis <venerabantur> adorationibus ' ; Ovid, Her. 7, 130.

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cf.

The right hand was used in offering libations to the gods: Vergil, Aen. 8, 273: quare agite, o iuvenes, tantarum in munere laudum | cingite fronde comas et pocula porgite

1Cf. K. O. Müller, Die Etrusker, 2, p. 144; Valeton, De Mod. Auspic. Rom., pp. 297 and 314.

dextris,

communemque vocate deum et date vina volentes';

Vergil, Aen. 8, 278; Ovid, Met. 14, 276.

Significant are the lines from Septimius Serenus 6,1 where when the offering is made to the gods of the lower world, the left hand is used: 'inferis manu sinistra | immolamus pocula.'

ἐπιδέξια AND ἐπαρίστερα AS ORDERS OF PROCEDURE

In Athenaeus we find the expression ἐπιδέξια πίνειν. Thus 10, 464: πρὸς οὓς λεκτέον ὅτι τρόποι εἰσὶ πόσεων κατὰ πόλεις ἴδιοι, ὡς Κριτίας παρίστησιν ἐν τῇ Λακεδαιμονίων Πολιτείᾳ διὰ τούτων· ὁ μὲν Χίος καὶ Θάσιος ἐκ μεγάλων κυλίκων ἐπιδέξια· ὁ δ ̓ Αττικὸς, ἐκ μικρῶν ἐπιδέξια· ὁ δὲ Θετταλικὸς, ἐκπώματα προπίνει ὅτῳ ἂν βούλωνται μεγάλα Λακεδαιμόνιοι δὲ τὴν παρ' αὐτῷ ἕκαστος πίνει, ὁ δὲ παῖς ὁ οἰνοχόος, ὅσον ἂν ἀποπίῃ. τοῦ δ ̓ ἐπιδέξια πίνειν μνημονεύει καὶ ̓Αναξανδρίδης ἐν ̓Αγροίκοις, οὕτως Α. τίνα δὴ παρεσκευασμένοι πίνειν τρόπον ἐστὲ νυνί; λέγετε. Β. τίνα τρόπον πίνειν | ἡμεῖς ; τοιοῦτον οἷον ἂν καὶ σοὶ δοκῇ. | Α. βούλεσθε δήπου τὸν ἐπιδέξια πάτερ, | λέγειν ἐπὶ τῷ πίνοντι; Β. τὸν ἐπιδέξια λέγειν ; ̓́Απολλον, ὡσπερεὶ τεθνηκότι; cf. Athenaeus, 13, 600 e.

For an explanation of the nature of this manner of drinking, it would be well to compare two other passages: Homer, Odyss. 21, 141: ὄρνυσθ' ἑξείης ἐπιδέξια πάντες ἑταῖροι, | ἀρξάμενοι τοῦ χώρου ὅθεν τέ περ οἰνοχοεύει: Plato, Symposium, 223: ἐξεγρόμενος δὲ ἰδεῖν τοὺς μὲν ἄλλους καθεύδοντας καὶ οἰχομένους, ̓Αγάθωνα δὲ καὶ ̓Αριστοφάνη και Σωκράτη ἔτι μόνους ἐγρηγορέναι καὶ πίνειν ἐκ φιάλης μεγάλης ἐπὶ δεξιά.

By comparing these two passages with those from Athenaeus just quoted, we see that the method represented by ἐπιδέξια πίνειν was probably one in which the banqueters drank in turn, starting from the man occupying the chief position at the table, then passing to the person on his right, then to the

1 Baehrens, Poet. Lat. Min. 6, p. 385.

'Ed. Schweighäuser, 4, p. 200.

one on the right of the latter, and so on.1 1 In the Symposium (l. c.) there was but one vessel, which was evidently passed between the three men. It is not necessary, however, to suppose that this was always the case, although the custom might well have originated in some such practice of passing a single drinking cup around the whole company. The reason for its being passed from left to right is evidently because thus the guests would drink in the order of precedence, as we have already seen that the right hand side was the most honored. Thus drinking éπidéžia may have been especially suited to solemn occasions and have been used chiefly when it was desired to impart a spirit of solemnity. Plato in the Symposium (1. c.) would then have intended to impart a ludicrous effect.2

Homer (Iliad, 1, 597) proves that this same order was followed in filling the cups: αὐτὰρ ὁ τοῖς ἄλλοισι θεοῖς ἐνδέξια πᾶσιν | οἰνοχόει, γλυκὺ νέκταρ ἀπὸ κρητῆρος ἀφύσσων.

With such an origin the midéia became a regular order of procedure in other matters besides drinking: Homer, Iliad, 7, 183: κήρυξ δὲ φέρων (κλῆρον) ἀν' ὅμιλον ἁπάντῃ | δεῖξ' ἐνδέξια πᾶσιν ἀριστήεσσιν ̓Αχαιῶν; Plato, Symposium, 177 D: δοκεῖ γὰρ μοι χρῆναι ἕκαστον ἡμῶν λόγον εἰπεῖν ἔπαινον Ερωτος ἐπὶ δεξιὰ ὡς ἂν δύνηται κάλλιστον . . . ; ib. 214 B and C; 222 E.

As eidéia stood for the correct way of doing anything, so èπаρíστeρа came to have the opposite meaning of doing a thing in the wrong way: Aristophanes, Birds, 1567: OÛTOS, Tí δρᾷς; ἐπ' ἀριστέρ͵ οὕτως ἀμπέχει; ] οὐ μεταβαλεῖς θοἰμάτιον ¿8 éπì deţiά;3 Cf. Herodotus, 2, 36.

3

Interesting in this connection, as showing the general idea of ill-omen attached to anything which departed from the regular and usual, is the practice which was frequently fol

2

1 Cf. Schweighäuser, Athenaeus, Vol. 11, p. 29; note on 10, 464.

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Jevons, Indo-European Modes of Orientation,' Classical Review, 10 (1896), p. 23 holds a different view.

Cf. Blaydes, note on this passage.

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