AIUK46 no. 79 Epigram commemorating the Athenians who fell at the battle of Poteidaia

Epigram commemorating the Athenians who fell at the battle of Poteidaia

AIUK 4.6 (BM, Funerary Monuments) no. 79 Date: 432 BC

At Pot[eidaia these Athenians died?].

Immortal . . . to mark out excellence (areten) . . . and the strength of their forefathers . . . (5)a victory fine in war they got as their memorial when they perished.

Aither received the souls (phsuchas), and earth the bodies of these men; and around the gates of Poteidaia were they severed. And of their foes, some have their share of a tomb, others fled and set their wall as the surest hope of life.

(10)This city and People of Erechtheus longs for these men, who before Poteidaia died in the front ranks (promachois), sons of the Athenians; but casting their lives into the scales, they drew the lot of excellence (areten) and brought glory (eukleisan) to their country. (trans. adapted from Bowie)^[1]

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Greek text

References:

AIUK 4.6 (BM, Funerary Monuments) no. 79 (Translated text) (AIUK) (AIO)

IG I³ 1179 (IG Online)

GIBM I 37

Conze II no. 1155

Peek, GVI, no. 20

Agora XVII 16

CEG 1, no. 10

Clairmont, Patrios Nomos, no. 41

Tsagalis, 219, 290

Axon 512 (Axon)

Translation by: Robert Pitt

AIO Images: 1

Images: Agora Excavations - (1)
Ohio - (1)

Monument type: Block

Inscription type: Funerary (Public), Metrical (elegaic couplets)

Fr. a - Findspot: Athens, near the Academy (BM 1816,0610.348)
Fr. b - Findspot: Agora over the east end of the Middle Stoa (Ag. I 2277)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] This epigram for the war dead in the British Museum was excavated by Elgin's agents near the Academy (cf. AIUK 4.1, no. 2). A further small fragment (b), discovered in the Agora in the 20th century, contains the right end of ll. 11-13. On this genre of inscription see IG I³ 1147.

The Battle of Poteidaia on the Chalkidike peninsula on the north coast of the Aegean took place in 432 BC after the city, a tribute paying ally, revolted from Athens with the help of the Corinthians. The events are narrated by Thucydides, who reports that the Athenian losses numbered 150 and included the general Kallias (Thuc. 1.63). The names of the dead could have fit onto a single stele set upon this base (originally ca. 1.34 m long). The high quality epigram is remarkable both for its reflection of civic attitudes about the war dead and for the eschatological idea of the separation of body and soul at death. References to the actual battle or sphere of war were no doubt common among the casualty lists, the epigrams being written for specific events. The text gives a specific detail about the battle itself: that some of the enemy fled behind their walls, an aspect perhaps recorded in dispatches that became known more widely in Athens. The idea that aither takes the souls of the dead is in many ways a Pre-Socratic concept that blurs the lines between mortals and gods, although we hear about the soul separating from the body at death as early as Homer (Iliad 16.856). A similar separation can be seen in a funerary inscription from the mid-fourth century BC (IG II² 11466): “The soul of Eurymachos and his exceeding intelligence are held by the fluid aither; his body by this tomb”. Earth taking the bodies of the fallen can be seen as a direct reference to the bringing back of these men to be buried in Athenian soil, linked as that is with the common notion of the autochthony of the Athenians (the myth that they were born from the earth). Although the line calling the Athenians the people of Erechtheus is restored here, this epic title appears in a further fragmentary casualty list epigram (IG I³ 1174). That the warriors fought ‘”in the front ranks” (promachois) is most appropriate for a people whose patron goddess Athena was worshipped as Promachos. For more detailed discussion of the inscription see AIUK 4.6 (BM, Funerary Monuments), no. 79.

Added: 6 Apr 2022
Updated: 18 Mar 2025
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