CHAPTER VIII.

THE GRECIAN GENS.

Early Condition of Grecian Tribes.—Organized into Gentes.—Changes in the Character of the Gens.—Necessity for a Political System.—Problem to be Solved.—The Formation of a State.—Grote’s Description of the Grecian Gentes.—Of their Phratries and Tribes.—Rights, Privileges and Obligations of the Members of the Gens.—Similar to those of the Iroquois Gens.—The Office of Chief of the Gens.—Whether Elective or Hereditary.—The Gens the Basis of the Social System.—Antiquity of the Gentile Lineage.—Inheritance of Property.—Archaic and Final Rule.—Relationships between the Members of a Gens.—The Gens the Center of Social and Religious Influence. 215