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Who are the ‘Psoloeis’ and who the ‘Oleiae’
among the Boeotians?
They relate that the daughters of Minyas, Leucippê
and Arsinoê and Alcathoê, becoming insane, conceived a craving for human flesh, and drew lots for
their children.1 The lot fell upon Leucippe to contribute her son Hippasus to be torn to pieces, and
their husbands, who put on ill-favoured garments for
very grief and sorrow, were called ‘Grimy’ (Psoloeis);
[p. 223]
but the Minyads themselves were called ‘Oleiae,’
that is to say, ‘Murderesses.’ And even to-day
the people of Orchomenus give this name to the
women descended from this family ; and every year,
at the festival of Agrionia,2 there takes place a flight
and pursuit of them by the priest of Dionysus with
sword in hand. Any one of them that he catches he
may kill, and in my time the priest Zoïlus killed one
of them. But this resulted in no benefit for the
people of Orchomenus ; but Zoïlus fell sick from some
slight sore and, when the wound had festered for a
long time, he died. The people of Orchomenus also
found themselves involved in some suits for damages
and adverse judgements ; wherefore they transferred
the priesthood from Zoïlus's family and chose the
best man from all the citizens to fili the office.
Plutarch. Moralia. with an English Translation by. Frank Cole Babbitt. Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press. London. William Heinemann Ltd. 1936. 4.
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