AIUK46 no. 76 Funerary monument of Tryphera

Funerary monument of Tryphera

AIUK 4.6 (BM, Funerary Monuments) no. 76 Date: ii-iii AD

col. i

Once the gold of her hair she would proudly wear, her graceful gaze shined brilliantly, her snow-white face and cheeks brightened, and the sweetest mouth uttered the most delicate of sounds, (5)through ivory teeth and scarlet lips.

col. ii

To the beauty of her body she added all sorts of virtues (aretēn); Such a child the attractive Kilikia bore for the strong Eutychides. In the earth here rests twenty-five-year-old Tryphera. This tomb was raised by Hermeros, born to the father Aristomachos and the mother Orphe, (10)out of love for his wedded wife. (Trans. Wypustek, adapted)^[1]

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Greek text

References:

AIUK 4.6 (BM, Funerary Monuments) no. 76 (Translated text) (AIUK) (AIO)

IG II² 12828 (PHI)

GIBM I 128

Peek, GVI, no. 746

Translation by: Robert Pitt

AIO Images: 1 2 3

Monument type: Block

Inscription type: Funerary

Findspot: Athens, recorded at the church of St. George Alexandrinos (BM 1816,0610.366)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] This inscription in the British Museum was acquired by Lord Elgin (cf. AIUK 4.1, no. 2), but was recorded in Athens as early as the 17th century in the church of St. George Alexandrinos, just east of the Theatre of Dionysos. The block upon which Hermeros had this love poem inscribed to his late wife Tryphera appears architectural and was likely part of a large built tomb monument. The name Kilikia is unique anywhere, and might suggest a Cilician origin, since the word is only found epigraphically as a personification of that region. The inclusion of the deceased's age is rare on Greek gravestones (cf. no. 15 and no. 75) but is more common in epigrams and in the Roman period, often when the deceased was notably young, as here, or old. The style of this verse and the choice of vocabulary is notably Homeric, such as "lily-white skin" (cf. Iliad 13.830), and "wedded wife” (Iliad 1.114; see discussion in AIUK 4.3B (BM Ephebic), pp. 32-33). For more detailed discussion of the inscription see AIUK 4.6 (BM, Funerary Monuments), no. 76.

Added: 6 Apr 2022
Updated: 6 Apr 2022
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