IGII34 563 Choregic dedication of six tribes for the City Dionysia

Choregic dedication of six tribes for the City Dionysia

IG II³ 4 563 Date: After 121 AD

The namesakes (epōnumoi) of Ptolemy and Attalis' folk grasped victory, and the descendants of Hadrian's tribe, and the Aigeid crown-wearer, and the Pandeionidai, and the blood of the Erechtheidai, young men (kouroi) raising a shout. (5) They followed the multifold rhythms of Agathokles, with their feet, watching pipe-blowing Zosimos. . . . was archon of the Athenians and Tryphon prepared the song of . . . with a two-handed harp. [And . . . all around is] Lady Sponsorship (Choragia), and all around is Victory, (10)[and all around is the noble] splendour (aglaia) of the tripod.^[1]

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References:

IG II³ 4 563 (Translated text) (IG Online)

IG II² 3118 (PHI)

Follet and Peppas Delmousou, Dedicaces chorégiques 11

Translation by: Chris de Lisle

Monument type: Base

Inscription type: Dedication (choregic)

Findspot: Theatre of Dionysus (EM 8353)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] This small triangular marble base is a Roman-period choregic dedication, probably commemorating a victory in a dithyrambic contest at the City Dionysia (see IG II³ 4, 558 with notes). The whole surviving text is in elegiac couplets and there is no space above or below it for the prose text which usually accompanies the epigram on Roman-period choregic dedications. A long inscription on another face, which has been totally erased, might be the missing prose text or from a previous use of the base.

The poem names six victorious tribes: Ptolemais, Attalis, Hadrianis, Aigeis, Pandionis and Erechtheis, who had performed together as a chorus of young men (ll. 1-4). They danced according to the direction of Agathokles, who was probably the chorus' director (didaskalos) and the pipe-player was Zosimos (ll. 5-6). The poem then names the archon, whose name is lost, and Tryphon, who either played a harp or organised for someone whose name is lost to play the harp before the chorus came on stage (ll. 7-8). There are no other references to a harpist in Roman-period choregic inscriptions. The poem ends on a triumphant note, emphasising sponsorship (choragia), victory, and the tripod, which was awarded to the victorious chorus and would have stood on top of this monument (ll. 9-10). The victorious sponsor (choregos) might be Tryphon or a name that appeared in the lost space in l. 9. The named individuals all bear very common names, meaning that they cannot be identified with other attested individuals. The loss of the archon’s name in l. 7 means that the inscription cannot be precisely dated, but it must post-date the establishment of Hadrianis in 121 AD.

The six victorious tribes had probably formed a single joint-chorus. This would mean that there had been only two choruses in the contest. This may have been done for reasons of cost, a shortage of citizens to be chorus members, or limited time for the competition. There are other possible examples of choruses composed of multiple tribes from the Roman period (IG II³ 4, 565-567). The classical Thargelia, in which choruses of two tribes were normal (see IG II³ 4, 475) may have provided a precedent. There is a hole near the centre of the upper surface of the base for inserting a tripod.

Added: 30 Sep 2022
Updated: 30 Sep 2022
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