Kakōsis
(
κάκωσις). In the Attic law,
κάκωσις signifies one of the following kinds of ill-treatment:
1.
The ill-treatment of parents by their children (
κάκωσις
γονέων), the term
γονεῖς including also
grandparents and great-grandparents. Refusal to supply the parents with means of support or
to bury them with proper honours at death, equally with actual abuse or disobedience, formed
instances of
κάκωσις. An illegitimate child, however, was
not liable to this action.
2.
Infidelity or ill-treatment of wives by their husbands (
κάκωσις
γυναικῶν), including also the neglect of the law of Solon by which the husband
was bound to visit his wife three times every month, at least, if she
were an heiress (
Plut. Sol. 30). In the comedy
of Cratinus, called the
Wine Flask (
Πυτίνη),
Comedy was represented as the wife of Cratinus, who brought an action against him because he
neglected her and devoted all his attention to the wine-flask (Schol.
ad
Equit. 399).
3.
Injury committed against orphans or widows (
κάκωσις τῶν ὀρφανῶν
καὶ χηρευουσῶν γυναικῶν), who were all considered to be under the especial
protection of the chief archon.
All cases of
κάκωσις belonged to the jurisdiction of the
chief archon in the case of citizens, or to the polemarch in the case of
metoeci (Meier,
Att. Process, p. 269; Perrot,
Essai sur le
Droit Public, p. 264). If a person wronged in any way orphans, heiresses, or widows,
the archon could inflict a fine himself; or, if he considered the person deserving of greater
punishment, could bring him before the Heliaea. Any private individual could also accuse
parties guilty of
κάκωσις by means of laying an information
(
εἰσαγγελία) before the chief archon, though sometimes the
accuser proceeded by means of a regular indictment (
γραφή),
with an
ἀνάκρισις before the archon. Those who accused
persons guilty of
κάκωσις incurred no danger, as was usually
the case if the defendant was acquitted and they did not obtain the fifth part of the votes
of the dicasts.
The punishment does not appear to have been fixed for the different cases of
κάκωσις, but it was generally severe. Those found guilty of
κάκωσις γόνεων lost their civil rights (
ἀτιμία), but were allowed to retain their property; if the
κάκωσις consisted in beating their parents, the hands of the
offenders might even be cut off.