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[114] θεμιστεύει, ‘is lord and master over.’ Cp. Aristot. Eth.10. 10. 13, where he is speaking of the freedom that law does not reach, “καὶ ζῇ ἕκαστος ὡς βούλεται κυκλωπικῶς θεμιστεύων παίδων ἠδ᾽ ἄλοχου”. The reading “ἀλόχου” there is remarkable as a v. l.; probably the common reading ἀλόχων does not intentionally express the notion of polygamy, but is assimilated in number and sound to “παίδων”. Cp. also Plat. Pol.1. 2.§ 7 “πᾶσα γὰρ οἰκία βασιλεύεται ὑπὸ τοῦ πρεσβυτάτου . . καὶ τοῦτ᾽ ἔστιν ὃ λέγει Ὅμηρος ‘θεμιστεύει δὲ ἕκαστος παίδων ἠδ᾽ ἀλόχων”.’ Plato, de Legg. 680, quotes this description of the Cyclopes as an illustration of the earliest form of family government, in which men were “πατρονομούμενοι καὶ βασιλείαν πασῶν δικαιοτάτην βασιλευόμενοι”. There is a sort of irony in describing the Cyclopes as knowing no “θέμιστες”, but “θεμιστεύει ἕκαστος”. Laws imply Society: the Cyclopes are a law to themselves.

Homer's Odyssey. W. Walter Merry. James Riddell. D. B. Monro. Oxford. Clarendon Press. 1886-1901.

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  • Commentary references from this page (2):
    • Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, 1180a
    • Plato, Laws, 680
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