This case is puzzling for a variety of reasons. To begin with, homicide in
ancient Athens was not a crime against
the state. For the suit to come to trial, therefore,
it had to be a private case in which the "prosecutor" was seeking correction
for some injustice. Since this required that a relative of the deceased file
the suit, it is very likely that the King
Archon would dismiss the case on, what we might
call, procedural grounds. Any citizen could file a private
suit, however, if the murder created some type
of religious pollution contrary to the best interests of the state. In any
event, the facts surrounding the murderer's death are sufficiently murky
to cause reflection on the meaning of piety and whether prosecution of one's
own father is indeed holy!