Pagina 528 di 734

And this is seen to be the course commonly pursued: to marriages

men commonly invite their relatives, because these are from a

common stock and therefore all the actions in any way pertaining

thereto are common also: and to funerals men think that relatives

ought to assemble in preference to other people, for the same

reason.

And it would seem that in respect of maintenance it is our duty

to assist our parents in preference to all others, as being their

debtors, and because it is more honourable to succour in these

respects the authors of our existence than ourselves. Honour

likewise we ought to pay to our parents just as to the gods, but

then, not all kinds of honour: not the same, for instance, to a

father as to a mother: nor again to a father the honour due to a

scientific man or to a general but that which is a father's due,

and in like manner to a mother that which is a mother's.