IGII34 500 Choregic dedication (Acharnai)

Choregic dedication (Acharnai)

IG II³ 4 500 Date: Before mid-4th cent. BC (?)

A Front Left^[1] Mnesistratos son of Misgon (and) Diopeithes son of Diodoros were sponsors (echorēgon), Dikaiogenes was director (edidasken).^[2]

A Front Right Mnesimachos son of Mnesistratos (and) Theotimos son of Diotimos were sponsors (echorēgon), Ariphron was director (edidasken), Polychares son of Komon was director (edidasken).^[3]

B Right Side Theotimos son of Diotimos, Mnesi- . . . [were sponsors (echorēgon)], Thersandros [was director (edidasken)].^[4]

Previous - Csapo and Wilson II, 43-5 Next - Csapo and Wilson II, 47-49

References:

IG II³ 4 500 (Translated text) (IG Online)

IG II² 3092 (PHI)

SEG 46.250 (PHI)

Agelidis, Weihgeschenke 55

Csapo and Wilson II, 45-7

Translation by: Stephen Lambert, Claudio Huayna Avila

Monument type: Epistyle (?)

Inscription type: Dedication (choregic)

Findspot: Church of Panagia Roiditissa (foot of east slope of Acropolis) (EM 10301)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] This choregic dedication was discovered built into the now-demolished Byzantine church of Panagia Roiditissa, at the foot of the Acropolis, close to the theatre of Dionysos. It comprises two joining blocks, perhaps from an epistyle, with two holes in the top. The monument records joint sponsorships (synchoregiai) by three related pairs of men who are identifiable as members of a prominent Acharnian family. The proximity of the findspot to the theatre of Dionysos might suggest that this is a choregic monument connected with the City Dionysia (on which see IG II³ 4, 460, with notes), but the naming of the choregoi without demotics, and the synchoregiai (cf. I Eleusis 53, with notes) indicate that the monument relates rather to the Acharnian “Rural” Dionysia (on this festival see IG II³ 4, 498, with notes; on the abundant evidence for theatrical activities in Acharnai, including a recently discovered theatre, see Csapo-Wilson II, 37-59; see below for other choregic dedications from Acharnai). Whether the monument was originally erected in the deme, or (less likely?) in the area of the city theatre, an area usually associated with choregic monuments of the City Dionysia, is unclear. It is perhaps best interpreted as commemorating the sponsorships of a single family, but Milanezi, Mémoire civique et comique des concours en l’honneur de Dionysos à Athènes, vol. 2, 2004, 233, suggests that it formed part of a larger catalogue of deme choregiai. The lettering and orthography, which is the same throughout, suggest a date for the monument before mid-fourth cent. BC. A Mnesimachos of Acharnai was public arbitrator (diaitetes), i.e. in his 60th year (Ath. Pol. 53.4) in 325/4 BC (IG II³ 4, 35, l. 96), though it is not certain that he was the Mnesimachos son of Mnesistratos of our l. 4. The first-listed synchoregia (1-3) may date as early as late-fifth cent. BC, if the tragic and dithyrambic poet Dikaiogenes (TrGF 52) was a contemporary of the Athenian tragic poet Agathon (TrGF 39), as is suggested by a scholium to Ar. Eccl. 1. The third-listed (ll. 8-10) will pre-date 391 BC, if the identification of Thersandros suggested below is correct. The genre of performances commemorated is uncertain and may not have been the same in every case. [2] Both choregoi are otherwise unknown. Diopeithes son of Diodoros, whose descendant seems to be attested in IG XII 9, 1242, l. 15 (ca. 325-300), is the only choregos listed on this monument for whom there is no known family connection with the others (cf. Humphreys, Kinship, 1016). [3] Mnesimachos son of Mnesistratos was perhaps the Mnesimachos of Acharnai who was co-dedicator to Asklepios and Hygieia ca. 330 BC (IG II³ 4, 713 = IG II² 4402), and ? arbitrator in 325/4 BC (see above). His son (?), Mnesistratos son of Mnesimachos of Acharnai, was member of a prominent city board in mid-fouth cent. BC (IG II³ 4, 63, l. 6). A Diotimos son of Mnesistratos is attested in a mining lease in 350/49 (Agora XIX P13, l. 69 = SEG 28.121), suggesting that there was a family connection between our synchoregos, Theotimos son of Diotimos, and his fellow-choregos, also son of a Mnesistratos (see further Humphreys, Kinship, 1015). Ariphon of Sikyon was a poet famous for having composed a paean to Health (TrGF 53, PMG 813, cf. IG II² 4533, ll. 9-18), which reinforces the identification of the co-dedicator of IG II³ 4, 713 = IG II² 4402 with our Mnesimachos. The “second” director Polychares son of Komon is otherwise unknown (Milanezi’s ingenious suggestion to read κωμω[ιδ]ὸς, “comic actor” or “comic poet”, in place of Κώμω[ν]ος, “son of Komon”, is unlikely, cf. Csapo-Wilson II, 47). The two directors might indicate that separate performances were supported by the same pair of sponsors. [4] No poet by the name of Thersandros is attested, but Csapo-Wilson suggest that he may be the pipe-player who was one of the most famous Ionian artists of his day, was hired along with the actors Kallipides and Nikostratos for a performance in Aeolis, and died ca. 391 BC (Stephanis, Dionysiakoi Technitai, 1988, no. 1193; Polyainos, Strat. 6.10, and Xen. Hell. 4.8.18-19; cf. Dem. 21.17 for an example of pipe-player/director).

For other choregic dedications from Acharnai see IG II³ 4, 510, 515. See also IG II³ 4, 234.

Added: 9 May 2022
Updated: 15 Jul 2022
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