IGII34 475 Choregic dedication of Aristom- for the Thargelia, 384/3 BC

Choregic dedication of Aristom- for the Thargelia, 384/3 BC

IG II³ 4 475 Date: 384/3 BC

Aristom- . . . son of . . . of Perithoidai, serving as sponsor (chorēgōn), was victorious for Oineis (and) Pandionis^[1] in the men's competition,^[2] Philophron son of Philokrates was director (edidaske),^[3] Oiniades son of Pronomos was pipe-player,^[4] Dietrephes (384/3) was archon.^[5]

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References:

IG II³ 4 475 (Translated text) (IG Online)

IG II² 3064 (Fr. b) (PHI)

SEG 18.69 (Fr. a) (PHI)

Agelidis, Weihgeschenke 68

Agora XVIII 178

Translation by: Claudio Huayna Avila

Images: Agora Excavations - (1)

Monument type: Base

Inscription type: Dedication (choregic)

Fragment a - Findspot: Agora (Ag. I 5051)
Fragment b - Findspot: House between Acropolis and Areopagos (Lost)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] This marble base is part of a set of fifth- and fourth-century choregic dedications commemorating victories in dithyrambic competitions at the Thargelia festival (see IG I³ 963-966, IG II³ 4, 473-496, SEG 61.70, IG II³ 4, 545, and perhaps IG I³ 959, 967, 968, II² 3027, IG II³ 4, 436, 449, 451, 455, 458, 461, 472, 546, 548-551), similar to the choregic dedications erected for the City Dionysia (on which, and on choregic monuments generally, see IG II³ 4, 460 with notes).

The Thargelia, associated with Apollo Pythios and celebrated on the 6th and 7th of the month of Thargelion (mid-spring), was a festival of purification and propitiation that was also related to the ripening corn and agriculture. As R. Parker puts it (Miasma, 1996, 25): "on 6th Thargelion, bad things were driven out, while on 7th Thargelion, good things were carried in." On the first day, two people were expelled as scapegoats (pharmakoi) for the community (Diog. Laert. 2.44; Harp. φ 5, s. v. pharmakos; Phot. Bibl. 279, 534a), and the victories over the Trojans (Damastes FGrH 5 F7; Hellanikos FGrH 4 F152a) and Persians were commemorated (Ael. VH 2.25). For this day, a sacrifice to Demeter Chloe is also attested by one scholium to Soph. OC 1600. Cf. IG I³ 246, l. 22. On the second day, an offering of first fruits of unripe grain, the thargelos, was made (see n. 2); the eiresione (a laurel branch entwined with wool, cf. Paus. Att. ε 17 Erbse; FGrH 362 F1, both cited in Eust. Il. 22.496, p. 1283.7; for its association with the Thargelia, cf. R. Parker in Polytheism and Society, 2005, 204-205) was carried in a procession in honour of the Sun and Seasons through the newly cleansed city to the Pythion outside the old city walls (Plut. Quaest. Conv. 717d; Hesych. θ 104, s. v. thargelia; Porph. Abst. 2.7.1; Ath. Pol. 56.5); the trierarchs who had outfitted the trireme in their care most quickly were announced (cf. IG II² 1629a, ll. 196ff.); and, at least in the Classical period, competitions in the dithyramb were held (probably at the Pythion).

The existence of the Pythion (temple of Apollo Pythios) in the southeast part of the city, near to the Olympieion (temple of Zeus Olympios), is already attested in Thuc. 2.15.2 and in Paus. 1.19.1-2, both of which clearly emphasize the topographical relation between the two precincts. It is noteworthy that Pausanias mentions a statue of Apollo Pythios immediately after referring to the sanctuary of Apollo Delphinios (cf. A. Matthaiou in Epainos. Luigi Beschi, 2011, 259, who argues that Pausanias' wording might indicate the existence not only of a statue, but also a sanctuary of Apollo Pythios). As suggested by Pausanias' description and a decree from the year 129/8 (SEG 21.469 = Sokolowski LSS 14, ll. 26-27), the Pythion might have been located in an open area called "the gardens" (kepoi), a place by the Olympieion and the right bank of the river Ilissos (cf. P. Wilson in The Greek Theatre and Festivals, 2007, 163, who advocates the idea of this complex as a suitable area for the dithyrambic performances). The location of the Pythion around this area is further supported by the discovery of eighteen choregic dedications for the Thargelia in and around Ioseph ton Rogon street (IG I³ 963; IG II³ 4, 477, 478, 480-491, 493, 495, and SEG 61.70 - the majority of which were found in secondary use built into walls, except for SEG 61.70 [in situ], and probably IG I³ 963, IG II³ 4, 480, 481, 490, 491, 493) and particularly two inscriptions related to the cult of Apollo Pythios (a decree for the cult of Apollo, SEG 21.469 [probably in situ], and a small joining fragment of a sixth-century altar of Apollo Pythios dedicated by Peisistratos the elder, IG I³ 948 [in situ]; cf. Thuc. 6.54). For the findspots of Thargelia dedications, cf. map in IG II³ 4 fasc. 1, p. 182, and on the location of the Pythion, see Travlos in Pictorical Dictionary of Ancient Athens, 1971, 100ff., 402, 578; P. Wilson, 2007, 153ff.; E. Greco in Kermátia Philías: Timitikós tómos gia ton Ioánni Tourátsoglou, 2009, 291-297; A. Matthaiou, 2011, 259-271, and on the Thargelia generally, see I Eleusis 67, IG II² 1138, Sokolowski, LSS 14, and Parker, 2005, 203-204, 481-483).

This is the first well-preserved Thargelia dedication to follow the henceforth usual formula for naming the commemorated parties. Victory is attributed to the winning sponsor (choregos), who is listed first with patronymic and demotic, in the nominative case, followed by the two victorious tribes, the most distinctive element for the recognition of Thargelia dedications, in the dative case. This contrasts with the City Dionysia dedications, in which the victory is usually attributed to a single tribe and not to the sponsor (cf. IG II³ 4, 460). When identifiable, the sponsor’s own tribe always comes first. The competition category is next, followed by the director, the pipe-player and finally, the archon. [2] The performances of the Thargelia consisted of contests in the dithyramb - choral dancing and singing (Souda, s. v. Pythion, P. Wilson, 2007, 163ff.; according to Jebb in Bacchylides: The Poems and Fragments, 1905, 235 and Maehler in Die Lieder des Bakchylides, II: Die Dithyramben und Fragmente, 1997, 212, Bacchylides 18, the Theseus, is perhaps the only surviving text from one of these contests). There were two categories, one of men and one of boys, with five choruses of fifty people in each category (cf. Antiph. 6.22; P. Wilson, in The Athenian Institution of the Khoregia, 2000, 119). Each tribe provided one sponsor (choregos) every year for one of the two performance categories. In the following year, each tribe would presumably have had the obligation to provide a sponsor for the other category (cf. Ath. Pol. 56.3; for further discussion, cf. Rhodes, A Commentary on the Aristotelian Athenaion Politeia, 624; P. Amandry in BCH 101 [1997], 166 n. 4). Every tribe thus had choral representation in both categories (Ath. Pol. ibid.). There is little information regarding the judging process in choral competitions at either the Thargelia or the City Dionysia. However, it is possible that, like the theatrical competitions at the City Dionysia, there were ten tribal judges, one per tribe (cf. I Eleusis 67 with notes). This inscription was set up prior to the fixed tribe pairing arrangement, under which Oineis competed with Aiantis, and Pandionis alongside Akamantis (cf. IG II³ 4, 480). For more on this choral competition, see P. Amandry, 1997, 165-202; P. Wilson, 2007, 150-182.

A large majority of the dedications commemorate victories in the boys’ contest (IG I³ 966; SEG 61.70; IG II³ 4, 478-485, 487-491, 493-494, cf. 545). This might reflect the importance of participation in choruses as part of boys’ education (paideia). According to P. Wilson (2007, 157-58), the prominence of the boys' category can be connected with the presentation of the first fruits, also associated with a stew, the thargelos (Suda Θ 49, s. v. thargelia, pictured on SEG 57.156).

Victors in the contest received a large bronze tripod, which was mounted on top of the choregic dedication. There is a slot for the foot of the tripod in the top of this base. Those awarded in the boys' category may have stood 2.1-2.8 metres in height (P. Amandry, 1977, 202). They were set up in the Pythion by their victorious sponsors on an inscribed base. Victory was a source of prestige; like their Dionysiac counterparts, Thargelian sponsors and their friends referred to their dedications at the Pythion when speaking in court, in order to demonstrate civic virtue (e.g. Isaios 5.41, 7.40; Pl. Gorg. 472a). [3] The term directorship (didaskalía) could exclusively refer to choral training with no further implications of poetic composition (cf. Xen. Mem. 3.4.4; Pl. Gorg. 501e), making it uncertain whether those who trained these choruses, as in the case of Philophron, were always poets who composed and taught the lyrics and music used in the competition. When discussing Pantakles’ role as director, Aristotle (Didaskaliai F 624 Rose) indicates that he was a poet (cf. IG I³ 967). Many directors came to Athens to work at the Thargelia from well-known centres of music and poetic composition, such as Thebes (IG II³ 4, 482), Phleious (IG II³ 4, 486), Megara (IG II³ 4, 488), east Lokrian Opous (IG II³ 4, 489, 493), Sikyon (IG II³ 4, 494), and Athens (IG II³ 4, 476, 478, 496). That those from Athens are not referred to by their demotic is remarkable (for a possible explanation, see IG II³ 4, 460 with notes). Among all the Thargelian directors, largely unknown outside the epigraphic evidence, a certain Eukles stands out as the most successful director at the Thargelia for the boys’ competition (cf. IG II³ 4, 480 with notes). For further discussion on the directors in dithyrambic competitions, cf. IG II³ 4, 460 with notes. [4] This is the earliest dated Thargelia dedication naming a pipe-player (cf. IG II³ 4, 474). As well as the directors (see n. 3), a variety of pipe-players came to the Thargelia from well-known centres of music and poetic composition, such as Thebes (IG II³ 4, 474, 475, 488, 489), Tegea (IG II³ 4, 476, 493), Argos (IG II³ 4, 482, 484), and Sikyon (IG II³ 4, 483, 485, 486, 494). Oiniades (Stephanis, Dionysiakoi Technitai 1988, no. 1932) is the only pipe-player listed with a patronymic (cf. IG II³ 4, 488), probably because his father was one of Greece's most famous pipe-players, Pronomos of Thebes (cf. Anth. Pal. 16.28). Like his father, Oiniades also composed both lyrics and music, working in partnership with the director, who was responsible for training the chorus (cf. Douris FGrH 76 F36; P. Wilson, 2007, 162). [5] The eponymous archon is not only mentioned to date the monument, but also for his connection to the festival, since he was responsible for assigning sponsors at the Thargelia, as he did for the City Dionysia (Ath. Pol. 56.3).

Added: 14 Mar 2022
Updated: 28 Mar 2024
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