Maʿat and ΔIKH: Some Comparative Considerations of Egyptian and Greek Thought

Author(s): Vincent Arieh Tobin

Source: Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt, Vol. 24 (1987), pp. 113-121
Published by: American Research Center in Egypt
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 Macat and AIKH:
Some Comparative Considerations
of Egyptian and Greek Thought
Vincent Arieh Tobin
The position occupied by the concept of macat
in Egyptian thinking is, in the Greek outlook,
roughly paralleled by the term 5ikt|. These two
termsrepresentthe basis of the cosmic outlook of
their respectivecultures, and serve as a starting
point for the understandingof the Egyptian and
Greek attitudes toward nature, life, the world,
and the political system. In the development of
thought in the ancient world, both Egypt and
Greece made their own peculiar contribution;
and it is to our advantage to attempt to define
both the similarities and the differencesbetween
the two systemsof thought.
To maintain, however, that 5ikt| in the Greek
system is the equivalent of the Egyptian macatis
a mistaken oversimplification.To the Egyptian
mind, macat bound all things together in an
indestructible unity: the universe, the natural
world, the state, and the individual were all seen
as parts of the wider order generatedby macat.
The naturalresult of this was the conception of a
perfectcosmos thatcould not be totally destroyed.
Such is evident in the Old Kingdom text of
Ptah-hotep:
Greatis justice [macat],lasting in effect,
Unchallenged since the time of Osiris.1
Such a concept is obviously the basis of the
optimism that is so characteristicof the Old
Kingdom and that is seen throughout the text of
Ptah-hotep. The same optimistic reliance on
macat is even more obvious in the "Tale of the
Eloquent Peasant,"for thereit is the assuranceof
1 Translation by Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian
Literature(Berkeley:Universityof California)I 64.
113
the certaintyof macatthat enables the peasant to
continuehis questforjusticein his own situation:
Do macatfor the sakeof the Lordof macat,
The macatof whose macatendures.2
He furtherstates:
Speak macat, do macat,
For it is mighty, it is great,and it endures.3
What the Peasantin effectrelies on in his pleas is
not the idea that macat will be done auto-
matically,but ratheron the fact that the principle
of macat is everlasting and powerful. For this
reason it is the duty of political officials to act
accordingly. Justice in earthly affairs does not
occur of its own volition. Rather it must be
accomplished by the voluntary actions of man,
who is expected to act in accordancewith the
righteous order laid down and demanded by
macat. In such a manner the concept of macat
gives rise to a social conscience.
A similar idea concerning §ikt| may be seen in
the thought of Parmenides,who maintains that
"Dike does not release her fetters and allow
(anything) to come into being or to be destroyed,
but holds (all things)."4The function of 5ikt| in
this instance is akin to that of macatinsofar as it
functions as a regulating force to maintain the
2 Bl,304: ir mBHn nb mlct
nty wn mjct n m=ict.f
3 Bl,320-21: dd mSct ir mSH
dr ntt wr.s cS.sWjh.s
4 Parmenides, Fragments 8.13: ofrte yevsaGai out' 6Mua0ai
dvfjKsAiicr)xct?tdaaaa TteSritawaXk' e%ei.
114 JARCE XXIV (1987)
natural order. At the same time, however, 5iKr| gods are quite obviously no more than personi-
appears as a negative force, one that prevents fications of natural forces, human or otherwise.
change or development and holds the cosmos in The force of §ikt| in Homer, therefore,is some-
a staticsituation. Thus, in contrastto the positive thing that exists beyond the control of the gods,
effects of macat, which ensure the purposeful although at times they may act so as to imple-
righting of wrong, 5(kt| functions solely to main- ment it, and is, moreover, totally amoral. Per-
tain an established status quo, with no con- haps the most dramaticportrayalof this amoral
sideration as to whether it be right or wrong in a aspectof Homeric 5ikt| is found in the symbol of
moral sense. This amoral understandingof 5(kt| the two jars of Zeus:
appears to be the sense of the term in the Homeric
epics. Odyssey IV 691 mentions the Sikt] Beicov For two jars lie on the floorof Zeus
paai?v,f|(ov of
("dike godlike kings") in a context Of the gifts which he gives, one of evils, the
where 5ikt| must obviously be translated as other of blessings.
"habit"or "custom",this 5tKr)being to act either To whomsoeverZeus,who rejoicesin the
rightly or wrongly as they so desire, context thunderbolt,gives a mixture,
again making it clear that wrong action is often Such a man findssometimesevil, sometimes
more characteristicof rulers than right (Odyssey good;
IV 691f.). So also expressionssuch as 5ficbcov Sikt] But to whomsoeverhe gives of the baneful,
"the dike of slaves" (Odyssey XIV 59), 5tKrj him he makesinto a wretch,
yepovxcov "the dike of old men" (Odyssey And evil miserydriveshim over the sacred
XXIV 255), and Sikt] Ppoxcov"the dike of mor- earth,
tals" (OdysseyXI 218) make it clear that the term And he roamswildly, honoured by neither
5(kt| means no more than that which is estab- gods nor mortals.6
lished or customary. The last of these expres-
sions, 5ikt| ppoxcbv,refersspecifically to human No moral considerationscan be seen here, nor is
a
mortality, stronglynegative trait in the outlook thereany attemptby Homer to justify the actions
of Homeric thought. Yet Homeric man must of the god. Zeusactshere,seemingly,accordingto
accept even such negative situations and events, his own whim, and no justificationof his action
simply because they are ordained by the estab- is necessary.For Homer, this is no more and no
lished order of 5ikt|. The fact that they are thus less than 5tKT|.
orderedby 5iKr|makesthem inevitableand hence This negative aspect of 5ikt| stands in sharp
they must be accepted as in some degreeright or contrast to the positive characterof macat that
just. However, it must be noted that 5ikt| does enables the Peasant to pursue his claims for
not necessarilyordercertain things because they justice. So also, the whole tragic atmosphereof
are right; rather things are right and just solely the Iliad is starkly contrasted by the hopeful
because they are orderedby §ikt|. In Homeric optimism of Ptah-hotep, the Iliad being strongly
thought everything turns out according to its pervaded by the limiting power of 5ikt|, and
natural course, that is to say, in accordancewith Ptah-hotep being markedby a positive attitude
what is determined by 5iKr|,by natural order; toward the certaintyof a beneficentmacat. The
and not even the gods can change this.5 Even differentattitudes,moreover,may also be seen, at
when the gods do appear to interfere in the least partially, as products of the different en-
events of mortals, it is evident that what they vironmentsout of which both Homer and Ptah-
accomplish is no more than could be expected
in the given situation. In such instances the 6 Iliad XXIV 527-33:
Soioi yap T87ii0oi KaiaKeicnjaiev Aio<;ouSei
5 See, for example, Iliad XVI 433ff., where Zeus debates Scbpoovoia 8i8o)oi, koikg)v,eiepoc; 5s sdcov
whether or not he should save his mortal son Sarpedon from a) (lev k' anfieii;a(;ScbrjZei)QxepTmcepauvcx;,
death. Hera objects strenuously to the very idea that Zeus akXoxe \itv 18 KaKcp 6 ye Kupexai,oXkozz 5' eoG^cp"
should even think of saving a mortal man who has been a>8e K8xcov}ii)yp(bvScbrj,AxoPr|x6v80r)Ke,
doomed to death, an action of which the other gods could not Kai 8 Kaicf](3ou(3p(oaTi(; etc!x66va Slav e^auvei,
approve. cpoixa5' outs 9soTai Tsiuisvot; outs ppoxotoiv.
 MACATAND AIKH
hotep arose, the Homeric Iliad reflecting the
uncertain life of a barbaricwarrior society, and
the text of Ptah-hotep coming from a geographi-
cal location in which men weremore prone to be
conscious of the certain and unchanging order
that could be observed in the natural world
around them. This order in nature is perhaps
nowhere more graphicallyillustratedthan in the
"Hymn to the Aten" in Ay's tomb at Amarna,
where the natural order of macat is shown as
unified through the being and activity of the
Aten.
The Homeric expressionSikt]GsicovPaaiAf|cov
"dike of god-like kings" (Odyssey IV 691) also
deserves some further comment. As has been
pointed out, this expression implies no moral
responsibility on the part of the ruler. Likewise
in the actions of Agamemnonin the Iliad we see
no evidenceof any moralconscience.On the con-
trary, Agamemnon shows only a consciousness
of his own personalrights and prerogatives(esp.
Iliad I 100-187). For Agamemnon to act as he
does is no more than the 5ikt| ('"habit" or
"custom") of the Homeric kingship. This con-
ception of the rights and privileges of the ruleris
also portrayedin the characterof Agamemnonas
he appears in the Oresteiaof Aeschylus, and is
given further expression in the Antigone of
Sophocles when Creon asks: "Is not the state
considered the property of the ruler?"7In both
these instances it was the intention of the author
to point to the contrary through the course of
the drama, and to illustrate that 5iKr|had very
definite moral implications of the requirement
of righteous action. However, it must also be
admittedthat such moral implications belong to
a laterperiod of Greekthought and are in no way
inherent in the original concept of 5ikt). Despite
the implications of morality that had thus be-
come associatedwith the termSikt],Plato, in his
Republic, would later reject such connotations
and return to a concept of 51kt) as xa eaoxoi)
TTpaxxeiv ("to act according to one's own char-
acter").In this way he appears to return to the
earlier Homeric concept.8 Such an expression,
although related to macat insofar as it implies
7 Antigone 738: oo xoOKpaioCvTcx;f] tco^ic;voui^exai.
8 W. K. C. Guthrie, The Greeks and Their Gods (Boston,
1950) 127.
115
that everything is to be in its proper place and
act according to its proper nature, nevertheless
differs substantially from macat in the absence
of any innate moral overtones.
The Homeric picture of the 5ikt] of kings
contrastswith the Egyptian conception of king-
ship, of which the primary duty was the up-
holding by the king of the orderof creation that
had been establishedon the primeval mound at
the time of the creation.9Helck, interpretingthe
hieroglyph for macat(<*=*)as "base",sees macat
as the Grundlage ("foundation") of the world
and human life.10Hence, the Egyptian king was
regardedas playing what was basically a cosmic
role. This role seems to be signified by the cultic
ritual of the raisingof macat,a ritual symbolizing
that by the actions of the king everythingin the
world was in its proper order. The raising of
macatis probably best interpretedin this sense,
and not as "symbolicassistanceto the sun god to
internalize the breath of life" as has been sug-
gested.11In brief, the kingship in Egypt repre-
sented the effectivepower of the orderof macat.
This concept is strongly represented in the
PyramidTexts:
Heaven is content, the earth is joyful,
For they have heardthat Pepi has established
macatin the place of disorder[isft].12
Note that the opposite of macatis isft, a contrast
made elsewhere in Egyptian literature, for ex-
ample, in the "Prophecies of Neferty," and in
the "Complaints of Khakheperre-Sonb."13In
other instances macatis opposed by grg ("false-
hood").14The substitution of isft for macat, a
9 H. Brunner, "Gerechtigkeit als Fundament des Thrones,"
FT 8 (1958) 426-28.
10 W. Helck, LA III lllOf., s.v. "Maat."
11 I. Shirun-Grumach, "Remarks on the Goddess Maat,"
Pharaonic Egypt, the Bible, and Christianity (ed. S. Groll;
Jerusalem, 1985) 179.
12 PT 1775: pt htp.w tBm Bw ib
sdm.n.sn ddi Nfr-kB-rcmBctm st isft.
13 On Neferty see Helck, Die Prophezeiung des Njr.tj
(Wiesbaden, 1970) §XVe (p. 57); on Khakheperre-Sonb:
Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, I 145ff. (see esp. 149
n. 4).
14 I refer here especially to the Amarna texts where the
nobles of Akhenaten point out that macat is in their bodies
and that they, therefore, reject falsehood (grg). See, for
116 JARCE XXIV (1987)
situation so graphically described by Neferty,
gives rise to disorder in the land and in hu-
man affairs. This disorder, however, will be
righted by the coming of the good king, Ameny
(AmenemhetI):
Macatwill returnto her throne,
For evil will have been drivenaway.15
Thus by Egyptianthinking the king was expected
to be the effective agent of order in the state; in
fact, he "was the state by official doctrine."16In
the Greek systems there was no individual who
held such a position, except for the person of the
philosopher-king in the Republic of Plato, and
this, of course, was in a Utopian situation. (To
give due credit to the Greek mind, it must be
admittedthat an individual such as the Egyptian
king would have been out of keeping with the
more democraticaspirationsof the Greekideals,
at least as they developed at a later point in
classicalAthens.)Agamemnon,as he is portrayed
by both Homer and Aeschylus, definitely does
not reflectany conception of a king who is the
basis of all order.On the contrary,Homer'sIliad
portraysAgamemnon as a source of actual dis-
order. Hence, in terms of Egyptian thought,
Agamemnonappearsmore as the embodimentof
isft.
Despite the fact that 5iKT|in Greek thought is
not necessarily connected with the ruler so in-
separablyas macatin Egypt, Sikt]does sharewith
macat the characteristicthat it is regarded as
a principle of order in a positive sense. The
"Hymn to the Kouretes" from third century
b.c.e. Palaikastro in eastern Crete contains the
statement mi ppoxouc;AikcxKorcfjxe"and Dike
led mortals".17The context of the text as a whole
describesa state of order,peace, and prosperity,
all connectedwith the presenceof Zeusand Aiktj.
example, M. Sandman, Texts from the Time of Akhenaten
(Brussels, 1938) 91.18-19, 76.16-17, 77.1-2.
15 Helck, Die Prophezeiung des Nfr.tj:
iw rriDCt r lit r st.s
isft dr.ty r rivty.
16 J. A. Wilson,
"Egypt," Before Philosophy (by H. Frank-
fort et al.; Harmondsworth: Pelican, 1949) 98.
17 Line 24. See J. E. Harrison, Themis (Cleveland, 1912)
1-10.
In this text we see the positive side of the orderof
5iKT|,in contrast to its more negative presenta-
tion in the Homeric Iliad. In the same vein, the
Oresteiaof Aeschylusattemptsto portrayhuman
history as a process that leads to a definite end,
namely the establishment of a just order, in
which 5(kt| further implies a concept of moral-
ity. A similar concept of a purposeful divine
orderis also found in the Oedipus at Colonus of
Sophocles, as well as in King Oedipus by the
same author. In neither case does Sophocles
attempt to prove or explain this order;he simply
assumes its existence and assumes also that it is
an order that is moral and righteous. The
Antigone of Sophocles presents, as at least one
side of an argument,a conception of 5ikt| that is
somewhat more precise when Antigone herself
speaks of "Dike which dwells with the gods
below."18Aikt] in this context obviously refers
to the natural rights of the family and blood-ties
as opposed to the established statutes and laws
of the state. The point to be made here is not the
conflict between two systemsof right or legality,
but rather that Sophocles here presents a con-
cept of Aikt] as right based on ancient natural
principles. Such a concept of Aikt] is probably
closer to macat than other Sophoclean ideas
insofar as it falls back on a natural order of
human relationships rather than on legal codes
that have been established for the maintenance
of a particular political system. Aikt] in this
sense returnsto something more basic than mere
legal codes, and refers to a principle of order
that cannot be defined in terms of specific laws
and statutes. It can, however, demand that man
regulate his life and actions in accordancewith
it so as to produce a society that is just and
righteous. In such a sense Sophoclean 5ikt| in
the Antigone is shown to be a principle that
generatesorder and stability, as well as provid-
ing justice in society. In this instance, Sophocles
appears to refer to a concept that may well be
seen as the equivalent of the Egyptian macat, a
concept by which 5ikt| functions as a basis for
righteousness, order, and justice. The Eloquent
Peasantcould probablyhave just as well referred
18 Antigone 551: f) 5uvoiko<;tcov k&tcoGecovAikt).
 MACATAND AIKH
himself to this Sophoclean §(kt| as he did to
macat. Sophoclean thinking on 5ikt| thus ap-
pears to have advancedwell beyond the harsher
concept of the Homeric epics. However, it must
be remembered that Sophocles represents the
outstanding individual thinker, and that such a
concept was far from being inherent in the term
5ikt). Nor should we suppose that Sophocles
reflected the general ideas of his own day,
Sophoclean opinions not necessarily being the
acceptedGreekattitudes.
The most profoundof the Greekstatementson
the nature of 5ikt| was made by Aeschylus in his
Oresteia.The chorusof eldersin the Agamemnon
affirmof 5ikt| that it "guides everything to its
end."19The Agamemnon,however,is basicallya
drama that portrays the power of vengeance,
as does the second play of the trilogy, the
Choephoroi, although both dramas do contain
hints of a more positive and constructivefunc-
tion for the forceof 5ikt|. Nevertheless,the totality
of these two plays points to 8ikt| as a punitive
power, a forceof retributionthat guaranteesonly
punishment for the sinner. This concept of Sikt]
is supremelyevidentin the HomericIliad, where,
for example, the death of Hector at the hands of
Achilles appears as just retribution for Hector's
killing of Patroclus on the battlefield.20So also
the Greek phrase 5iKT|v(peuyeivmay be used of
the defendant in a court trial, with the obvious
implication that said defendantattemptsto avoid
5iKT]in its negative aspect of punishment. Like-
wise, the expression5iKr|vSiSovai,"to give dike"
19Agamemnon781:Tiav5' S7rixepjiavcofia.
20Iliad XXII 33Iff. This concept of retribution through
death on the battlefieldis perhapsone of the majorbasesof
the Homericoutlook on life, at least in the Iliad, the Odyssey
presentinga somewhatless tragicview. In the Iliad, however,
it is the warriorsocietyand the ideology of excellence(apexf))
on the battlefieldthat is the sole real value of life and that
thus becomes the basis of order (5iicn) in human society.
Homer, however, appears to accept this as the established
way, and makesno valuejudgmentabout it: "Whois good in
the Iliad ? Who is bad?Such distinctions do not exist; there
are only men suffering, warriors fighting, some winning,
some losing. . . . To condemnforce,or absolveit, would be to
condemn, or absolve, life itself" (R. Bespaloff,On the Iliad
[New York, 1947]48). This interpretationof the Iliad implies
that Homer'sfinal word on SIkt)is that it is entirelyamoral,
or, at least, that insofar as this is the established way of
things, it must be acceptedas just and right.
117
may be used of one who is punished for his
crime. This narrower sense of 5iKT|,combined
with more fatalistic overtones, is the one pre-
sented by Aeschylus in the first two divisions of
his Oresteia. Despite the grimness with which
this concept is portrayedin the Oresteia,thereis,
nevertheless, a certain positive element in it,
insofar as it assures certain punishment for the
wrongdoer."The scaleof dike keepswatch,"says
Aeschylus in the Choephoroi, and no escape is
possible.21 The only positive element herein,
however, is that the retribution to come is that
which is deservedand merited.Aikt]presentsno
constructiveelements thus far. By the end of the
Eumenides,however,§(kt| has becomea positive
principle, one designed to protect against in-
justice and to function as a creative force for
good, the grimly punitive Furies have been
transformedinto the beneficent Eumenides (see
Eumenides903ff.).Thus, through the processof
the trilogy, Aeschylushas attemptedto providea
positive interpretationfor the ancient constrain-
ing force of 5(kt|;and in so doing he approaches
more closely than any other Greekthinkerto the
positive values of the Egyptian macat.
The last of the three Greek dramatists,Euri-
pides, presents a striking contrast to the more
cosmic thought of Aeschylus.Euripides,perhaps
more of a realist, had little concern for all-
inclusive philosophical generalities. The main
emphases of his thought were two: the psycho-
logical makeup of the human individual and a
strongly pronounced conviction that evil will
always be punished- these two frequentlybeing
combinedwithin the samedrama.With regardto
the individual, Euripidestends to see Sikt]as the
implication that each man must accept and act
according to his own proper nature. Thus it is
in the Bacchae that Pentheus meets his down-
fall through denial of certain elements within
his own nature, the same being true of the
Hippolytus. In Medea and Elektra, Euripides
presents a picture of two individuals who at-
tempt to fulfill 5iKr|(justice), but, due to their
21 Choephoroi 61: portf)5' ETUGKOTreiSikck;.This same
conception of the inevitability of punishment is also a
frequent theme in the Hebrew prophets. See, for example,
Jeremiahxxxi:29-30 and Ezekielxviii.
118 JARCE XXIV (1987)
own warped psychological structures, succeed
only in committing horrifyingacts of vengeance.
The same is true of his drama Hecabe.22In
such cases, what Euripides in actuality does
(speaking in Egyptian terms)is present a situa-
tion where macat has been turned into isft.
At one point in his Trojan Women, however,
Euripides does approach close to some concept
of universal justice. Here Hecabe, addressing
Zeus as the necessity (dvdyKT|)of nature or
human intelligence (voO<;)-she herself does not
know which- proclaims:
Moving on a soundness path,
You guide all mortalaffairsaccordingto dike.25
Despite the nobility of Euripides'statementhere,
he does not approach the Egyptian macat,for his
intention in this context is solely the affirmation
that all evil will be eventuallypunished. Aikt]in
this sense, however, does no more than punish
the sinner, it does not restore the right. The
satisfactionexpressedby Hecabe in this instance
is due only to the hope that Helen will be
punished for her partin the Trojan war, and does
not contain any implication that she (Hecabe)
will be restoredto her own rightful position.
If we compare this latter concept of 5ikt| (by
which, according to Hecabe, the supremepower
regulates all mortal affairs) with the picture of
Amun-Re as he appearsin the Hymn of Suti and
Hor, we find in the latter the picture of a deity
who is the source of all universal order, cre-
ativity, and life.24By way of contrast, the 5iKT|
presented by Euripides in the Trojan Women
offers a universal order that is in effect no more
than one of retribution,no matterhow deserved
such retribution may be. Such can hardly be
taken as the basis for a positive and constructive
22 The situation in the Hecabe is somewhat different than
in Medea and Elektra. In the Hecabe, Euripides provides a
picture of a woman driven virtually mad by the injustice done
to her. Hence, despite the horror of her actions, one is able to
feel a certain amount of sympathy for her. There is, moreover,
even a certain degree of grim satisfaction at seeing the
criminal receive his due.
23 Trojan Women 887f.:
7rdvia yap Si' &\|/6(poi)
PaivcovKs^euBooKorea8iKr|vid 9vf|T' ayeu;.
24 The hymn is translated in Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian
Literature, II 86-89.
order such as may be seen in macat.Such too is
the description of macatgiven in the Ramesside
"Instructionof Amenemope":
Macatis a great gift of god,
He gives it to whom he wishes.25
While the context of these lines does seem to
imply a certain aspect of just retribution in
macat, at the same time the total context of
Amenemope implies that all will be well for the
man who lives according to correctprinciples.26
By way of contrast, the Euripidean concept of
5iKT]does not promise such. On the contrary,
Euripides'strong consciousnessof the wrong so
frequentlydone by man to man makes it highly
unlikely that he could ever have held a doctrine
that statedevil must eventuallybe set to right.
A further point of contrastbetween 5ikt| and
macatis to be found in the relationship of both
with death and the dead. To the Homeric mind
the most striking characteristicof the human
condition was its mortality. Man had to die
simply because he was man; immortality be-
longed to the gods alone. Thus, when Calypso
offers Odysseusimmortality,he refusesher prof-
fered boon, for no other reason than that he
wishes to returnto his home.27Underlying this is
the concept that man, since he is human, must
die. Immortality belongs only to the gods, and
hence Odysseus appears never to give even a
thought to such a possibility. Mortalityis part of
his verynature- of his proper5ikt|. This inevita-
bility of deathis expressedeven more graphically
elsewherein the Odyssey:
But indeed death, which is common to all,
not even the gods
25 Amenemope 21:5, 6, translated by Lichtheim, ibid., 158.
26 The description of macat as given by God to whomsoever
he desires recalls the symbolism of the two jars of Zeus in
Iliad XXIV 527-33. The gifts of Zeus, however, are entirely
arbitrary as to their content: they may contain either good or
evil. The thought of Amenemope, on the other hand, appears
as more positive. To receive macat from Amenemope' s god
appears as a blessing. Such cannot be said of the gifts that
Zeus gives from his two jars.
27 Odyssey V 208f.:
8v6d5e k' av36i[levcovaov ejioi x65e 5coua (pvAdaaoic;
dGdvaxoc;T'ei'ric;,. . .
 MACATAND AIKH
Are able to turn away from a man whom
they love,
When the destructivefate of far-reaching
death destroyshim.28
Sophocles also, like Homer, recognizes the in-
evitability of man's mortality, stressing it by its
inclusion in his famous ode on the greatnessof
man: ''Only from death can he not contrive
escape."29Even Aeschylus,with his highly posi-
tive cosmic outlook, cannot deny this fact, the
whole argument of both the Agamemnon and
the Choephoroi hinging upon death and the
horrorof the destructionof human life.
On the Egyptian side, we cannot state cate-
gorically that human mortality was not a cause
for fear. Zandee has shown that at times death
was regarded in a very negative sense by the
Egyptian.30This natural human reaction, how-
ever, does appear to be somewhat offset by the
28 Odyssey III 236-38:
aXX'f\ xoi Gdvaxovn&vouoitov oo8e Geoi Tiep
Kai (pi^cpdv5pi Sovaviai d^cdiceuev bnnoTe kev 8f)
Hoip' 6>iofi Ka0e>iT|aixavriXeyeof;Gavdioioc;.
Perhaps the most expressive and graphic Homeric description
of the inevitability of death is found in the Iliad VI 146-49:
oi'r| 7i8p(puAAcovyevef|, xoir] 8e Kai dvSpcov.
(pu^Aaid uev I'dvejiog %aiid5i(;%££l> fiXka Se 9' (3^r|
xr|>.s06o)aacpuei,eapo<;8' eTrtyiyvexaiwpr]*
'
(he,dvSpcovyevef) f\ [iev cpueif\ 8 d7co?if|ysi.
Just as are the generations of leaves, so are those of
men.
As for the leaves, the wind scatters some on the
ground, but the forest
When it blooms brings forth others, when the season
of spring comes;
So the generations of men, one is born and another
comes to its end.
This comparison of men with the leaves of the forest has the
effect of making human life, with its cycle of birth and death,
part of the wider order of nature. Human mortality, therefore,
must be seen as a natural aspect of life. Thus, Homeric man
can only accept his mortality as a natural part of the
established order, and hence it is an essential element of Slier).
Death and life, therefore, the two opposites, are bound
together by 8iKr|; but it is important to bear in mind that
death, although it is a natural aspect of man, represents the
total extinction of life. The Homeric underworld, as it is
described in Odyssey XI, can hardly be regarded as any kind
of positive afterlife. Even though some vague shadows and
shades are shown by Homer to exist, this existence is of no
consequence or vitality.
29 Antigone 36 If.: "Ai8a uovov (peu^eivouk STid^exai.
30 J. Zandee, Death as an Enemy according to Ancient
Egyptian Conceptions (Leiden, 1960).
119
very positive attitudes found throughout the
Egyptian mortuary texts. Since these are too
numerous to discuss in any detail, let us consider
only one at this point: Spell 20 of the Coffin
Texts:
Geb will open for you your blind eyes,
He has straightenedfor you your contracted
knees.
There will be given to you your heart[ib] of
your mother,
Your heart[/z^y] of your body,
Your ba which [was] on the earth,
Your corpsewhich [was] on the ground,
Breadfor your body,
Waterfor your throat,
And sweet air for your nostrils.31
This picture of the revitalized dead, fully
equipped with his bodily parts and all his
faculties, serves as a stark contrast with the
picture of the dead given in Book XI of Homer's
Odyssey. The Egyptian dead is portrayedas a
complete living person; the Homeric dead is
nothing but a dim shade, weak and incomplete.
Macat in Egypt extended even beyond death: it
made the dead a part of a wider order that
encompassedboth living and deceased,provided,
of course, that the deadwas proclaimedmi>chrw,
having lived his earthly life in accordancewith
macat.The moral piety engenderedby macatin
the individual thus determines his lot in the
next world. In Greek, and more specifically in
Homeric, thought, no such distinction is made.
The situation of the dead is all one and the
same. For the Greek mind the relevanceof 5iKT|
ends with death, its final statementbeing made
when man fulfills his mortality. Beyond death
SiKr)has no meaning, except to say that such is
the proper and correct way: the individual has
had a place in the order of the living, and is
31 CT II 56: wnn n.k Gb irty.k sp.ty
dwnn.n.f n.k niDSivt.kkrft
rdi.tw n.k ib.k n mwt.k
hjty.k n dt.k
blk hry tl
hjt.k hry sStw
t n ht.k
mw n hh.k
tpw ndm n srwt.k
120 JARCE XXIV (1987)
now finished - a sharp contrast to the Egyptian
macat, which continues to give the dead his
place in its universal order.
One final point remains to be made concerning
the nature of both macat and 5iKT|.The promi-
nence given to the actual deity Macat in Egyptian
religion, the fact that she is the object of a cult,
and the strong tendency to personify her seem to
indicate that to the Egyptian mind macat was
more than simply a personification of a principle
of order.32In Spell 80 of the Coffin Texts Macat,
identified with Tefnut, is presented as the
daughter of Atum (CT 32b-e), and Atum is told
by Nu:
Kiss your daughter Macat,
Placing her at your nose.
Your heart will live,
For she is not far from you.
Macat is your daughter,
With your son Shu, whose name is Ankh.
You will eat of your daughter MacatP
This very graphic description indicates a far
stronger personification of macat by the Egyptians
than of Sikt] by the Greeks. The Homeric epics
give no strong evidence of any tendency to per-
sonify 5ikt|, but in the Theogony (901f.) of
Hesiod it is stated that AiKr]is the daughter of
Zeus born to him by Themis, herself a personifica-
tion of social order. The intention of Hesiod in
this passage, however, appears not to be an
attempt to create out of Slier]a personal deity, but
rather to make a historical statement that the
concept of 5iKT|was the result of the development
of social laws and statutes combined with piety
directed toward a supreme god, Zeus. A theo-
logical significance also emerges here in the
move to connect §ikt| with the gods and bring it
32 For a discussion of Macat as a personal
goddess, see
Shirun-Grumach, "Remarks on the Goddess Maat," 173ff.
Spell 80 of the Coffin Texts has a particularly good picture of
macat personified (see esp. CT II.32b-36c).
33 CT 35c-g: sBt.kmSct
d.n.k s(t) r fnd.k
cnh ib.k
n hr st r.k
SDt.k pW TYIdH
hnc sj.k sw cnh rn.f
wnm.k m sit.k nijct
into their sphere of interest and influence. Aikt]
thus appears as a principle of universal order
that the gods, particularly Zeus, act to uphold.
Such a personification is probably better under-
stood as an allegory rather than a mythic symbol.
Macat's personification as daughter of Atum,
however, appears as more of a mythic symbol,
connecting macat to the gods, and giving her a
nature that is more tangible than that of 8ikt|.
Atum's placing of macat to his nose and his
eating of her both seem to indicate that she is to
be seen as an actual substance. This is the view of
Assmann, who sees macat as a pneuma-\ike and
life-giving substance.34 It is on this that the gods
live (CT VII 468e), just as Atum lives by breath-
ing and eating macat.
The Amarna texts give ample evidence that
macat should be interpreted more concretely than
as an abstract principle. The it ntr, Ay, for
example, states that Akhenaten placed macat in
his body,35and that his speech possessed macat.36
May also says that Akhenaten has placed truth in
his body, and Tutu states that the teaching
(sbSyt) and qualities (bit) of Akhenaten are within
him, and that therefore he will speak in accor-
dance with macat.37 In the text of Tutu, the
opposite of macat is grg (falsehood).38 On the
basis of such texts, it appears more reasonable to
interpret macat as neither a substance nor a
personal goddess, but rather as a quality that has
been personified by the mythic symbol of a
goddess, a quality upon which depends all order
and righteousness, and even life itself.
Let us contrast to this the Greek conception of
8iKr). Aikt], which had taken its beginning as a
principle of order, and only later evolved to the
point where it contained moral overtones, never
became a quality that could be an integral part of
the human character. Even in Aeschlyus, where
5iKr| may be seen as a positive force, it still
remains an abstract principle. Sophocles, in his
drama Ajax, points to the orderly change of the
times and seasons, and states that man too must
34 J. Assmann, LA II 759, s.v. "Gott."
35 Sandmann, Texts from the Time of Akhenaten, 91.18:
di.f mjct m ht.i.
36 Ibid., 93.2: r.i hr mBH.
37 Ibid., 60.2, 76.12, and 76.13 (iw r.dd.i m m3H n hm.f).
38 Ibid., 77.4: biv di.i grg m ht.i.
 MACATAND AIKH
practicethe same self-control (oocppovstv);39 but
this is to be basedon the intellectual principle of
understanding, not on a quality within the
personality. Human ethical behavior in Greek
thought, therefore,must be in accordancewith
8tKr|,although 5iKr|is not the direct cause of it.
For Greek thought individual morality depends
upon the qualities of dp8if| ("virtue", "excel-
lence") and GCOCppOGUvr) ("moderation", "self-
control"), the latter at least functioning as a
restraining power, in contrast to the creative
forceof macat.
An attempt at this point to examine the re-
lationships of macat and 5ikt| with the gods
would extend this study beyond its bounds. Let
us be content, therefore,to summarize,and state
simply that in Egypt macat was from the very
beginning inseparablytied to the gods: by it they
lived, and it was their primary concern to see it
fulfilled in the cosmos and in the lives of men. In
Greece,however,5ikt|, although an integral part
of the cosmic order, and restraining even the
conduct of the gods, was not originally a concern
of these gods. It is true that in the Homeric epics
we see that at times the gods do act to see that
the order of §ikt| is maintained and fulfilled.
Originally, however, such was not the concern
of the gods. Homer's attempt to give the gods
moral aspects was only the beginning of the
process of tying 5ikt| to them, a process that
would not reach its culmination until Aeschylus
and Sophocles. Euripides in his turn would re-
verse this accomplishment, and look for 5ikt|
outside the realm of the gods. Such for him was
a natural step, since in the thought of Euripides
the gods usually appearas outdated legends and
fables, more harmful than good in their effects
on mankind.
In conclusion, let us summarizeour compari-
son of macatand 5iKr|.These two concepts have
one basic point in common: they both express a
belief in universal order within the cosmos.
Macat,however,appearsto have been considered
as a moral force from the very beginning, while
39 Ajax 677: fjneTc;5e ntbc,oi) yvcooojieGaaco(ppoveiv.
121
5ikt|, by contrast,was originally amoral, receiv-
ing its moral connotations only as a result of
later development. With regard to the aspect of
justice, macatappearsas a benevolent and crea-
tive force, while Sikt] is essentially negative,
being the equivalent of restraint and punish-
ment. The realm of macatalso encompassesthe
realmof the deadas well as the living, while 5ikt]
essentially stops with death. Thus, in Egypt,
macat was seen as an all-encompassing power,
while among the Greek thinkersonly Aeschylus
approached such a concept in his idea of 5(kt|.
The Greek mind, in order to give expression to
all of the aspects indicated by the Egyptian
macat,had also to have recourseto such concepts
as Oe^ic;,|ioipa, acocppoauvr],and apexf). With
regard to the individual, macat appears as an
inner creativequality, which enables him to act
in a positive moral manner,while 5iKT|relatesto
the individual more as an external restraining
force,by whose principles he must abide through
his own abilities. The eventual result of this was
the general optimism so frequently seen in the
literatureof ancient Egypt. By way of contrast,
Greekliteratureoften presentsan outlook that is
essentially pessimistic. Such pessimism is espe-
cially to be noted in the Homeric Iliad and in the
dramatic works of Euripides. Even in the more
positive works of Aeschylusand Sophocles, such
pessimism is not totally absent, but, at least in
the latter, is only balanced by elements of opti-
mism, and even these are frequentlyconditional.
As a final comment, I would strongly suggest
that the Egyptian concept of an all-embracing
orderof macatshould perhaps be seen as one of
the sources of the monotheistic tendencies that
are encounteredin Egyptian religion, especially
during the New Kingdom. Among the Greek
poets, it was only Aeschyluswho appearsto have
come close to any conceptof ethical monotheism.
This, in turn, may also be seen as a result of his
conception of 5ikt|, a conception that suggests
many of the connotations of the Egyptian macat.
Saint Mary'sUniversity
Halifax