Note 535 — Chapter XVI · SOCIETY IN THE HEROIC AGE.

That the type of organisation which prevailed during the growth of Homeric poetry was agnatic may be inferred from the regular use of the word πάτρη and the (probably older) expression πατρὶς γαῖα, which perhaps originally denoted 'land of one's father' (the faeder eðel of Widsith, v. 96). But according to Plato (Republic, 575 D) the Cretans used μητρίς for πατρίς. Evidence for the prevalence of cognatic organisation in early times is furnished by certain words denoting relationship, especially ἀδελφός (originally 'uterine brother'), and a relic of the feeling that this form of relationship was closer seems to be preserved in Il. XXI 95. We may also take into account the formation of patronymics in -ιδᾱ, which appear to be extended from the feminine suffix -ιδ- by another suffix (-ᾱ-) also properly feminine. In the north-western dialects these names were declined as feminines (e.g. N. sg. Εχσοιδα, G. sg. Προκλειδας). One can hardly help suspecting that these names belonged originally to genealogies of the Lycian type.