ABSTRACT
The custom of adoption is primitive, and well attested in the records of tribal society. The ceremony of adoption is described as an imitation of childbirth, and adoption is a special rite of initiation. The practice of adoption, which grew out of tribal custom, is now capable of being used to counter the lingering rights of clansmen to inherit the property of the adopter. As the oikos developed within the clan, and as the aristocratic state developed out of the basis of tribal institutions, the right of the clansmen to a share of the inheritance would become more and more formal. The existence of the oikos, moreover, presupposes special religious and social obligations, such as would be associated with the maintenance of the estate, of family ties and duties, and the upkeep of rites at the founder's tomb. The adoption is to take place in the agora, when the citizens are assembled, from the stone from which proclamations are made.
