Radish penalty

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The rhaphanidosis ( ancient Greek ἀπο-ραφανίδωσις , Ver-rettichung ' and ῥαφανιδόω , I punish with the radish' ) was at least in Athens , possibly in other parts of ancient Greece , applied corporal punishment , in which forces a radish root as a foreign body in the anus was inserted.

The radish punishment was applied to a moichós ( ὁ μοιχός ' adulterer ' ). In addition to the adulterer, anyone who had sexual intercourse outside of marriage with the daughter of the head of the household was also punished. If a moichós was caught in the act by the kyrios (guardian of the wife or daughter), according to the law, he could punish the moichós without fear of sanctions. In extreme cases, this punishment could be the killing of the moichós , but it could also include corporal punishment or just imprisonment for the purpose of demanding compensation. One of the possible penalties was the radish penalty. In this was moichos with a radish anal raped and pubic hair to him were removed with hot ash. In addition to the physical pain, there was the psychological humiliation of the violent penetration ( feminization ). The punishment was also something special, since otherwise Athenian citizens could not be punished with corporal punishment under current law; these punishments were reserved for children and slaves.

Referring to this punishment, the comedy poet Xenarchus scoffed at the fact that it was hardly possible for an Attic man to sleep with a strange married woman, when he always had to  think of Dracon's laws - and thus of this punishment. Also in the clouds of Aristophanes , two lawyers debate a caught moichós and its punishment, whereby the lawyer of the injured man wants to enforce the radish penalty. In the history of the plants of the philosopher and naturalist Theophrastus of Eresos , different types of radish are listed, whereby it can be assumed that the radish used for the punishment was the Corinthian subspecies, since this was of particular size.

Some modern researchers believe that not only radishes but also scorpion fish were used in the same way and for the same offenses. After rectal insertion, however, removal of the fish would hardly be possible without severe wounds because of the erect gills . Add to this the toxicity of the fish, which would cause slow, potentially fatal poisoning. Such a type of torture can hardly be assumed for Athens, as the British ancient historian David Cohen has shown.

The Roman poet Catullus (1st century BC) threatens his friend Aurelius with this punishment in his carmen XV if he should offend Catullus's " puer ":

Then woe to you, poor fellow, unfortunate one:
up your legs and onto that hole over there
that fish and turnips can stuff you for it!

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Giuseppe Cambiano : Becoming human. In: Jean-Pierre Vernant : The man of ancient Greece. Fischer, Frankfurt 1996, p. 102.
  2. ^ David Cohen: A note on Aristophanes and the Punishment of Adultery in Athenian Law. In: Journal of the Savigny Foundation for Legal History . Romance Department. Vol. 102, 1985, pp. 385-387.
  3. ↑ “ Ah tum te miserum malique fati, / quem attractis pedibus patente porta / percurrent raphanique mugilesque! ”Catullus: The Complete Poems. Latin and German . Edited by GP Gould. Newly translated by Carl Fischer. dtv, Munich 1987, p. 25.