“In the accusation of Socrates
it was Meletus who laid the indictment before the Archon Basileus… Soon after
the death of Socrates, the Athenians repented of their injustice, and Meletus
was stoned to death as one of the authors of their folly.” A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and
mythology William Smith, ed.
“Aeschylus was
accused of impiety before the court of the Areiopagus, and that he would have
been condemned but for the interposition of his brother Ameinias, who had
distinguished himself at the battle of Salamis. According to some authors this
accusation was preferred against him, for having in some of his plays either
divulged or profanely spoken of the mysteries of Ceres. According to others,
the charge originated from his having introduced on the stage the dread
goddesses, the Eumenides, which he had done in such a way as not only to do
violence to popular prejudice, but also to excite the greatest alarm among the
spectators. Now, the Eumenides contains nothing which can be considered as a
publication of the mysteries of Ceres, and therefore we are inclined to think
that his political enemies availed themselves of the unpopularity he had
incurred by his Chorus of Furies, to get up against him a charge of
impiety, which they supported not only by what was objectionable in the Eumenides,
but also in other plays not now extant” William Smith
(The Athenians) uneasy at being disturbed in their
hereditary superstitions, soon found reasons for complaint.
Anaxagoras, therefore, was accused of
impiety. …it was only owing to the influence and eloquence of Pericles that he
was not put to death… The philosopher now went to Lampsacus, and it seems to
have been during his absence that the second charge of
μηδισμὸς was brought against him, in consequence of which he
was condemned to death. He is said to have received the intelligence of his
sentence with a smile, and to have died at Lampsacus at the age of seventy-two.
The inhabitants of this place honoured Anaxagoras not only during his lifetime,
but after his death also.”
William Smith
“The impeachment of Protagoras had been founded on his book
on the gods, which began with the statement: "Respecting the gods, I am
unable to know whether they exist or do not exist." The impeachment was
followed by his banishment.” William
Smith
“Whether he (Stilpo)
was in earnest in his antagonism to the popular polytheistic faith, and whether
and how the Areiopagus in Athens stepped in, cannot be gathered” William Smith
“whether justly or not, with considerable suspicion, and he (Euripides) had already been assailed
with a charge of impiety in a court of justice, on the ground of the well-known
line in the Hippolytus (607), supposed to be expressive of mental
reservation. (Arist. Rhet. 3.15.8.) He did not live long to enjoy the honours
and pleasures of the Macedonian court, as his death took place in B. C. 406.
Most testimonies agree in stating that he was torn in pieces by the king's
dogs,” William Smith
“A man named Pythonicus charged Alcibiades with having divulged and profaned the Elensinian
mysteries; and another man, Audrocles, endeavoiured to connect this and
sismilair offeinces with the mutilation of the Hermae…At Athens sentence of
death was passed upon him, his property confiscated, and a curse pronounced
upon him by the ministers of religion…a monument erected to his memory at
Melissa, the place of his leath, and a statue of him erected thereon by the
emperor Hadrian, who also instituted certain yearly sacrifices in his honour.” William Smith
“Diagoras (of Melos)
… was involved, by the democratical party in a lawsuit about impiety (
διαβολῆς τνχὼν ἐπ̓ ἀσεβείᾳ), and he thought it advisable to escape its result by
flight. Religion seems to have been only the pretext for that accusation, for
the mere fact of his being a Melian made him an object of suspicion…There is no
doubt that Diagoras paid no regard to the established religion of the people,
and he may occasionally have ridiculed it; but he also ventured on direct
attacks upon public institutions of the Athenian worship, such as the
Eleusinian mysteries, which he endeavoured to lower in public estimation, and
he is said to have prevented many persons from becoming initiated in them.”
William Smith
Callias had but little hope in this case, he brought against
him (
Andocides) the charge of having
profaned the mysteries and violated the laws respecting the temple at Eleusis.
(
De Myst. § 110, &c.) The orator pleaded his case in the oration
still extant,
On the Mysteries (
περὶ τῶν μυστηρίων), and was acquitted.
William Smith
“The movements which commenced in Grecce against Macedonia
after
Alexander's
death, B. C. 323, endangered also the peace and security of
Aristotle…. To bring a political
accusation against him was not easy…. He was accordingly accused of impiety (
ἀσεβείας) … The charge was grounded on his having addressed a
hymn to his friend Hermias as to a god, and paid him divine honours ..
Aristotle, however, knew his danger sufficiently well to withdraw from Athens…
we have the account, that his mortal remains
were transported to his native city Stageira, and that his memory was honoured
there, like that of a hero, by yearly festivals of remembrance.” William Smith
