deceased, and they shall be under an obligation to put him to death,
but this may be done in any manner which they please. And if (which is
a rare occurrence, but does sometimes happen) a father or a mother in
a moment of passion slays a son or daughter by blows, or some other
violence, the slayer shall undergo the same purification as in other
cases, and be exiled during three years; but when the exile returns the
wife shall separate from the husband, and the husband from the wife, and
they shall never afterwards beget children together, or live under the
same roof, or partake of the same sacred rites with those whom they
have deprived of a child or of a brother. And he who is impious and
disobedient in such a case shall be brought to trial for impiety by any
one who pleases. If in a fit of anger a husband kills his wedded wife,
or the wife her husband, the slayer shall undergo the same purification,
and the term of exile shall be three years. And when he who has
committed any such crime returns, let him have no communication in
sacred rites with his children, neither let him sit at the same table
with them, and the father or son who disobeys shall be liable to be
brought to trial for impiety by any one who pleases. If a brother or
a sister in a fit of passion kills a brother or a sister, they shall
undergo purification and exile, as was the case with parents who killed
their offspring: they shall not come under the same roof, or share in
the sacred rites of those whom they have deprived of their brethren, or
of their children. And he who is disobedient shall be justly liable to
the law concerning impiety, which relates to these matters. If any one
is so violent in his passion against his parents, that in the madness
of his anger he dares to kill one of them, if the murdered person before
dying freely forgives the murderer, let him undergo the purification
which is assigned to those who have been guilty of involuntary homicide,
and do as they do, and he shall be pure. But if he be not acquitted, the
perpetrator of such a deed shall be amenable to many laws--he shall
be amenable to the extreme punishments for assault, and impiety, and
robbing of temples, for he has robbed his parent of life; and if a man
could be slain more than once, most justly would he who in a fit of
passion has slain father or mother, undergo many deaths. How can he,
whom, alone of all men, even in defence of his life, and when about to
suffer death