χοὰς χέασθαι. χοαί were offered to the gods of the under-world (cp. 1599), or to the dead (Ant. 431), as “σπονδαί” to the gods above. “λοιβαί” usu.=“σπονδαί”, but=“χοαί” in El. 52 (to the dead). So Aesch. Eum. 107 “χοὰς ἀοίνους”, of the Eumenides. The midd. verb as Od. 10.518 “（ χοὴν χεῖσθαι ）”, and Aesch. Pers. 219 “χρὴ χοὰς ι γῇ τε καὶ φθιτοῖς χέασθαι”. The verb with cogn. acc. gives solemnity, as in “θυσίαν θύειν, σπονδὰς σπένδειν”, etc. πρὸς πρώτην ἕω, not meaning, of course, that the time must be dawn. On the contrary it was an ancient custom that sacrifices to the “χθόνιοι” and to the dead should not be offered till after midday: Etym. M. 468 “ἀπὸ δὲ μεσημβρίας ἔθυον τοῖς καταχθονίοις”, and in Aesch. Eum. 109 Clytaemnestra speaks of sacrificing to the Eum. by night, “ὥραν οὐδενὸς κοινὴν θεῶν”. The schol. here says that persons performing expiatory rites (“ἐκθύσεις”) or purifications (“καθαρμοί”) faced the East (as the region of light and purity), quoting El. 424 f., where Electra “ἡλίῳ ι δείκνυσι τοὔναρ”, and Cratinus “ἐν Χείρωνι” (the title of the comedy was “Χείρωνες”, Bothe, Frag. Com. p. 47): “ἄγε δὴ πρὸς ἕω πρῶτον ἁπάντων ἵστω καὶ λάμβανε χερσὶ ι σχῖνον μεγάλην”,—the squill being used in purifications. Statues of gods were oft. set to face the East (Paus. 5.23.1, etc.): also, victims about to be sacrificed (Sen. Oed. 338). Cp. the precept of Zoroaster “"to face some luminous object while worshipping god"” (Max Müller, Chips 1. 175). Conversely, in pronouncing solemn curses the priests faced the West,—waving red banners: [Lys.] In Andoc. § 51 “στάντες κατηράσαντο πρὸς ἑσπέραν καὶ φοινικίδας ἀνέσεισαν”.
This text is part of:
Sophocles: The Plays and Fragments, with critical notes, commentary, and translation in English prose. Part II: The Oedipus Coloneus. Sir Richard C. Jebb. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. 1899.
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