86 Kafael Karsten, [N:o 1 



in many other respects, the Greek dramas are of much greater 

 importance for the student of early Greek religion than the 

 Homeric poems, which, as we ha ve seen, do not display a 

 really primitive stratum of thought. 



Numerous instances could be adduced to illustrate this 

 view. Significant is the passage in Aeschjdus' Eumenides 

 where Athene declares that „it 'is allotted to the åaci^ioveg to 

 arrange about everything that befalls men, and one who has 

 not experienced their afflictions does not know from whence 

 the misfortunes of life arise" ^). Similarly, throughout the 

 Persai the thought appears that the disaster, suffered by the 

 Persians during the war against Greece, was sent to them by 

 „an evil divine power coming from somewhere" ^). The poet 

 makes Atossa complain: „0, direful daemon, how have you 

 perverted the minds of the Persians" ^), and låter on the cho- 

 rus exclaims: „0 fateful daemon, with what weight of woe on 

 all the Persian race have they feet leapt" ! *) The storm which 

 rises on the sea and causes the destruction of the iieet is an 

 expression af divine anger ^), Families and individuals who are 

 visited with unexpected misfortunes or utterly overthrown 

 through dire catastrophes, like the Atreidans, are persecuted or 

 attacked by supernatural powers ^). The verb åai/^iovda) is used not 

 only of a person who is infatuated by some malevolent divine 

 power but also of one who is visited with heaven-sent evils '). 



With Sophocles the same ideas are conspicuous especially 

 in point of the misfortunes which befall king Oedipus and his 

 house. „Would not he speak aright", the unhappy king com- 



') Aesch. Eumen. 914 sqq. 



*) Aesch, Pers. 353: i]Q^ev név . . . rov Tcavrös ^(ayov . . . Kaxbg baC- 

 [J.CDV ^o&év. Ibid. 345 : mös baificov tls ycaTt<p&eLQe OTQatöv, etc. 



^) Ibid 467: co arvyvt balfxov, wg aQ "ipevaag (pQevöJv Ilégaag. 



*) Ibid. 515 : co övajtövi]rE öaiiiov, å'g åyav ^agvg jiobolv évi]kov Jiavrl 

 IleQaiycw yéveL. 



*) Aesch. Agam. 612: nmg yäg Xfyeig yetuwva vavTLicm éX&elv reXev- 

 TJiaai TE batfiåvcov xötoj; 



*) Aesch. Agam. 1445 : balfxov, dg éiinirveig böiuaat xal bicpvLoiai Tav- 

 raXLbeaai. Ibid. 1478 : baC^ova yévvqg rf/abe xLxXqaxcov. 1482 : n fiéyav 

 01X015 Tolobe baiuova xal ^aQV(xi]VLV alvelg. 1632 : baiuovog x^^V /^«C£t'« ^^' 

 OTvxiäg nenX^iyiiÉvoL. 



') Aesch. Coeph. 566 : baifiovä böjj-og xaxoig. 



