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Show i Pop has not always been petted j and pampered historians reveal Dad has his ups and downs throughout history. He hasn't always been the popular guy who will be honored hon-ored on Father's Day, Sunday, June 18. Back in the Stone Ages, for example, the "head man" was a tyrant. As he grew older, one of his sons usually dispos-! dispos-! ed of him in a fierce hand-to-I hand battle, and then "took I over" the family. The first known tribute to fatherhood was made by El-mesu El-mesu of Babylon. It was written writ-ten on a clay tablet about 2000 B.C., and implored the gods to grant his father "good health and enduring days." In Biblical times, it was considered a crime, punishable by death, for a son to disagree with his father. Early Romans called down the curses of the ancestral Numina, or family gods, on children who cut themselves loose from paren-I paren-I tal authority. Among the ancient Greeks, when a son was old enough to marry, his father selected his wife for him with no questions ques-tions asked! The same belief in father's matrimonial wisdom wis-dom was held in India where children were betrothed in childhood, and sometimes a young man was not permitted to unveil his bride until after the wedding ceremony. But Indian women had their revenge. An old law decreed that if a father got into debt, his wife could sell him into slavery to pay off the creditors. credi-tors. And in the African Sudan, father definitely comes out second best. After bearing five children a wife may return to her parents leaving Pop to look after the kiddies. On Palau Island in the South Seas, the ruling matriarch can have any male executed if he even disturbs her contemplation. contempla-tion. And near Sumatra, Dad has mother-in-law problems right from the start. He has to go live with his wife's family. And if this weren't enough, children take their mother's name and only daughters inherit in-herit property. In the United States, statis-:ics statis-:ics show that women own an rer-increasing portion of the lational wealth. Pop's in danger dan-ger of becoming the "forgot-en" "forgot-en" man some sociologists be-ieve. be-ieve. But while he may be shorn of his tyrannical powers, the annual outpouring of affection with gifts and sentimental greeting cards shows that Pop's place in his family's heart is stronger than ever. |