FDIII2 12 + Add. p. 287 List of Pythaist-boys participating in the second Hellenistic <i>Pythais</i> at Delphi, 128/7 BC

List of Pythaist-boys participating in the second Hellenistic Pythais at Delphi, 128/7 BC

F.Delphes III 2 12 + Add. p. 287 Date: 128/7 BC

For Good Fortune.^[1] In the archonship of Pyrrhos at Delphi, and in Athens of Dionysios after Lykiskos (128/7), the following were dispatched by the People of the Athenians as Pythaist-[boys] (puthaiistai paides)^[2]

col. 1

Pamphilos son of Artemon (5)Apollodoros and Leotichos sons of Sosibios Nikanor son of Nikanor Timotheos son of Timotheos Charimedes son of Phanteas (10)Pistokrates son of Satyros Dorotheos son of Dorotheos Kratermos son of Athenades [Sara]pion son of Demetrios -enes son of Anaxikrates (15)[Timokl]es son of Hipparchos - son of Aga-

col. 2

Medeios son of Medeios^[3] (5)Dionysios and Niketes sons of Athenobios^[4] Hermogenes son of Kallistratos Attinas son of Herakleides Timostratos son of Ariston (10)Hermokles son of Kleidamos Nikolaos son of Aischron Lykophron son of Menekrates Antigonos son of Alexandros Sositheos son of Sosipatros (15)Androkles son of Philistion Alexandros son of Ne-

col. 3

Polykleitos son of Alexandros (5)Agenor son of Apollonios Pasion son of Hermaiskos [Dionysi]os son of Theobios Marsyas son of Zenon Ariarathes son of Attalos (10)Asklepiades son of Xenon Chairimenes son of Xenon Sosigenes son of Sosigenes Xenodikos son of Lysimachos Charikles son of Theogenes (15)Nikarchos son of - - son of -nios

col. 4

Straton son of Rhinon (5)Boulon son of Leostratos Kallippos son of Demetrios Marsyas son of Theron Heliodoros son of Heliodoros Androkles son of Lykiskos (10)Sostratos son of Klearchos Nikophon and Philodromos sons of Philodromos, sons of Ismenios^[5] ⟦Polykleitos son of Alexandros⟧.^[6]

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Greek text

References:

F.Delphes III 2 12 + Add. p. 287 (Translated text) (PHI) (AIO)

Syll.³ 697c

Tracy, Pythaïs Inscriptions pp. 190-1

Tracy, ALC 257

Kühn, Pythais-Prozession pp. 321-322

Translation by: Banban Wang

Monument type: Block (Wall)

Inscription type: List of names (Pythaist-boys)

Findspot: Delphi (Athenian Treasury, south wall, in situ) (Delphi Museum 131)
Findspot: Delphi (Athenian Treasury, south wall, in situ) (Delphi Museum 303)
Findspot: Delphi (Athenian Treasury, south wall, in situ) (Delphi Museum 193)
Findspot: Delphi (Athenian Treasury, south wall, in situ) (Delphi Museum 188)
Findspot: Delphi (Athenian Treasury, south wall, in situ) (Delphi Museum 304)
Findspot: Delphi (Athenian Treasury, south wall, in situ) (Delphi Museum 181)
Findspot: Delphi (Athenian Treasury, south wall, in situ) (Delphi Museum 256)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] Textual Note: AIO includes readings and supplements in ll. 2–3, col. 3, ll. 15–16 ([Ν]ικαρ[χος ... | ...]νίου), col. 4, l. 4 (Σ[τρ]ά[τω]ν Ῥί[νων]ος) from F.Delphes III 2, add. p. 287; in col. 3, l. 8 ([Μαρ]σύας) from Tracy, BCH 99, 1975, 191.

This is a list of 47 names of Pythaist-boys who participated in the second Hellenistic Pythais at Delphi, which took place in 128/7 BC. It was inscribed on two horizontally joined blocks in the southern wall of the Athenian Treasury, below the list of Pythaist-boys of the first Pythais of 138/7 BC (F.Delphes III 2, 11). On the Hellenistic Pythais and the Treasury, see F.Delphes III 2, 3 and on Attic inscriptions at Delphi, see IG II³ 4, 17 with notes. The first three lines, which serve as a prescript, were inscribed across both blocks, aligned to the left with large letterspaces. G. Daux, Delphes au II^e et au I^er siècle, 1936, 524 (followed by Tracy, ALC, 257) notes that the script of this inscription is distinct from other texts in the second Pythais: for instance, the alpha was written here with four rather than three strokes (cf. also F.Delphes III 2, 8, with notes). [2] Pythaist-boys participated in the Pythais procession as part of a chorus under the direction of a chorus director (didaskalos chorou, cf. F.Delphes III 2, 11, l. 20 and F.Delphes III 2, 47, l. 8). They may have sung the hymns and paians during the procession (see Pöhlmann and West, Greek Music 20-21). Lists of Pythaist-boys survive from all four Pythaides: F.Delphes III 2, 11 (138/7 BC), F.Delphes III 2, 15 (106/5 BC), and F.Delphes III 2, 17 (97/6 BC). Participation was a mark of status, as fathers of several boys listed here also participate in the Pythais as cavalrymen or theoroi, and many of the boys would later become ephebes and Pythaists (see below). On Pythaist-boys, see S. Kühn, Pythais-Prozession, 2018, 150-151. It is not clear how the names were grouped or ordered as boys from different demes are listed together, while those from the same deme are often separated (e.g., Attinas in col. 2, l. 8 and Polykleitos in col. 3, l. 4 were both from Phlya). This may be connected to the omission of demes and tribes in contemporary Delphian proxeny decrees for Athenians (e.g., F.Delphes III 2, 93). [3] Medeios was the eponymous archon in Athens in 101/0 and for three consecutive years from 91/0 to 89/8 BC (IG II² 1713, ll. 9-11), as well as priest of Poseidon Erechtheus (Ps. Plut. X. Orat. 843b). His role in funding the fourth Pythais (97/6 BC) is shown by IG II² 2336, in which his name appears - erased and reinscribed - four times (ll. 183-189); see also S. Tracy, IG II² 2336, Contributors of First Fruits for the Pythais, 1982, 66 (= SEG 32.218) and E. Culasso Gastaldi, Cahiers Glotz 14, 2003, 261-62 (also AIO Papers 2, 19-20). Medeios' irregular and unlawful later archonships are connected with the chaotic constitutional situation that led to the Athenians' disastrous decision to oppose the Romans in the First Mithridatic War (C. Habicht, Athens, 301-302). [4] Dionysios and Niketes are brothers (cf. IG II² 1963 with note on "ephebic twins") and their father Athenobios participated in this Pythais as cavalryman. Niketes would become an ephebe in 117/6 BC (IG II² 1109); both Dionysios and Niketes participated in the third Pythais (106/5 BC) as cavalrymen (F.Delphes III 2, 28: not inscribed side-by-side as here). Dionysios was later manager (epimeletes) of the market of Delos in 98/7 BC (I Délos 1711, when the Medeios of the previous note was the epimeletes of Delos), and the brothers appear to have been mint magistrates around 97/6 BC (C. Habicht, Chiron 21, 1991, 11). On this family see K. Karila-Cohen in J.-Chr. Couvenhes et al. eds., Mélanges offerts à André Laronde, 2012, 395-409. Other boys who later appear as ephebes include Dorotheos (col. 1, l. 11) and Xenodikos (col. 3, l. 13) in the ephebic catalogue of 122/1 BC (IG II² 1006 + SEG 38.114, col. 4, l. 118 and col. 3, l. 135 respectively); Androkles (col. 2, l. 15), Sosigenes (col. 3, l. 12, with doubt) and Charikles (col. 3, l. 14) in a list of pre-ephebes (mellepheboi, see IG II³ 4, 367, at ll. 13, 19, 14 respectively) around 120 BC; and Leotichos (col. 1, l. 6), Timotheos (col. 1, l. 8), Charimedes (col. 1, l. 9), Hermokles (col. 2, l. 10), Agenor (col. 3, l. 5), and Sosigenes (col. 3, l. 12) in the ephebic list of 118/7 BC (IG II² 1008, col. 1, l. 124; col. 3, l. 104; col. 3, l. 125; col. 3, l. 127; col. 1, l. 100; col. 4, l. 108 respectively); and Kratermos (col. 1, l. 12) in the ephebic list of 116/5 BC (IG II² 1009, col. 4, l. 67). As these boys undertook their ephebic training around ten years later but not in the same year, it appears that they served as Pythaist-boys around the age of ten, but that this age criterion was only loosely enforced (as was the case for the ephebate, see É. Perrin-Saminadayar, Éducation, culture et société à Athènes, 2007, 399-400). On the family links in these name lists, see also F. Delphes III 2, 3 and notes. [5] The brothers Nikophon and Philodromos might have been sons of Philodromos son of Nikophon who was a sacred delegate (theoros) of the Athenian artists’ association in this Pythais (F.Delphes III 2, 47, l. 7; on the artists, see IG II² 1320 with notes). The patronym 'sons of Philodromos' breaks the layout of the list and was clearly added afterwards. The erroneous patronym '(sons of) Ismenios' was not erased when this correction was made. [6] The last line was inscribed by a different hand and was later erased (F.Delphes III 2, p. 21). Since the name Polykleitos son of Alexandros already appears in col. 3, l. 4, it seems likely that it was duplicated in error and later erased (but see S. Tracy, BCH 99, 1975, 191).

Added: 3 Dec 2023
Updated: 3 Dec 2023
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