AIUK3 no. 9 Funerary stele of Aphrodisia, also known as Epilampsis, daughter of Aphrodisios of Leukonoion

Funerary stele of Aphrodisia, also known as Epilampsis, daughter of Aphrodisios of Leukonoion

AIUK 3 (Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge) no. 9 Date: ca. 150-200 AD

Ἀφροδεισία ἡ καὶ Ἐπίλαμψις Ἀφρoδεισίου Λευκονοέος θυγάτηρ

Previous - Conze IV no. 1928 n. 1 Next - Conze IV no. 1963
Translated text

References:

AIUK 3 (Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge) no. 9 (Translated text) (AIUK) (AIO)

IG II² 6725 (PHI)

Conze IV no. 1930

Budde and Nicholls no. 133

von Moock no. 418

Translation by: Stephen Lambert

AIO Images: 1 2

Monument type: Stele

Inscription type: Funerary

Findspot: Piraeus? (Fitzwilliam Museum GR.5.1919)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] A video about this inscription is available on the AIO Youtube channel.

Like AIUK 2 (BSA) no. 14, this is an example of the figurative style of funerary monument that re-emerged in the Roman period, after a long pause following Demetrios of Phaleron’s funerary legislation of ca. 310 BC. Aphrodisia is depicted as an example of the “small Herculaneum woman type” (on which see J. Daehner ed., The Herculaneum Women: History, Context, Identities, 2007), facing to the front, her hair in the “melon-style” fashionable from the early Antonine through to the Severan period. Standing by her on the right in smaller scale a young long-haired servant girl gazes sadly up at the deceased, holding her head in her right hand in a gesture of grief, with her right elbow resting on her left hand; on the left is a kithara (lyre), possibly a mark of culture and education, possibly indicating that Aphrodisia was a professional musician. It is not possible to identify Aphrodisia’s father among the many attestations of the name Aphrodisios in the deme Leukonoion at this period. The practice of double naming, “Aphrodisia, also known as Epilampsis”, originated in Hellenistic Egypt and by ca. 150 AD is also found in Attica. Its significance in individual cases varies: sometimes the second name (“supernomen”) represents the translation of an original name into Greek (or Latin); sometimes it is a nick-name or other kind of informal name; sometimes the two names are the result of adoption, though there seems no clear-cut case of this in Attica. Here it may be the consequence of a naming strategy aimed at securing inheritances. For more detailed discussion of this monument see AIUK 3 (Cambridge), no. 9; for a general discussion of Attic funerary monuments, AIUK 3 (Cambridge), section 3; see also AIUK 2 (BSA) no.10 with notes.

Added: 3 Sep 2018
Updated: 20 Apr 2021
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