AIUK45 no. 4 Dedication of an (ephebic?) gymnasiarch commemorating victory in a torch-race

Dedication of an (ephebic?) gymnasiarch commemorating victory in a torch-race

AIUK 4.5 (BM, Dedications) no. 4 Date: after 334/3 BC?

Relief [ὁ δεῖνα λ]αμπάδι νικήσας γυμνασιαρχῶν [ἀνέθηκεν].

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Translated text

References:

AIUK 4.5 (BM, Dedications) no. 4 (Translated text) (AIUK) (AIO)

IG II² 2974 (PHI)

IG II³ 4 331 (IG Online)

SEG 50.192

GIBM I 41

Henderson, Springtime, T1.29

Translation by: Stephen Lambert, Peter Liddel, Polly Low, Sjoukje M. Kamphorst

AIO Images: 1 2

Monument type: Plaque

Inscription type: Dedication (gymnasiarch), Dedication (ephebic?)

Findspot: Athens (BM 1864,0220.11)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] The plaque carries a relief, which appears to show two scenes. On the left there are at least four figures, who could be trainers or ephebes. On the right there is a larger figure looming over a shorter figure who holds an object over the altar. The larger figure (who may be the eponymous hero of the victorious tribe) appears to wear a spiked crown, which suggests the celebration of a victory. He may well be placing a wreath upon the head of the smaller figure. The object that the smaller figure holds over the altar is likely to have been a torch: fire for the sacrificial rites of the goddess was lit by the victor in athletic competitions, and we can infer that this is what is happening in this scene. On dedications by ephebes at this period see IG II³ 4, 329 with notes. [2] The dedicant won a torch-race. There is no consensus as to the festival at which this victory was won. Palagia and Shear identify the torch race represented here as that of the Panathenaia and the altar as one to Athena Polias, probably the end-point of the Panathenaiac torch-race (see O. Palagia, in Ἀγαθὸς Δαίμων: Mythes et Cultes: Études d’iconographie en l’honneur de Lilly Kahil, 2000, 403-408; J. L. Shear, Serving Athena, 2021, 199, 204, 274, 276-78). There were indeed torch-races at the Panathenaia (cf. SEG 50.192; IG II³ 4, 426), but it is not known for certain if ephebes participated. Alternatively, the gymnasiarch may have celebrated victory in some other torch-racing contest, e.g. along the lines of the one commemorated in IG II³ 4, 336, l. 2, recording an Erechtheid victory at Rhamnous by an ephebic gymnasiarch. [3] In the Classical democracy the gymnasiarchy was a liturgy which entailed sponsorship of athletic competitions at festivals, similar to the choregia for performance competitions. For dedications by adult gymnasiarchs at this period see IG II³ 4, 426 - 431. In the Hellenistic period the adult gymnasiarchy appears to have been transmuted from a liturgy into a public office, cf. IG II³ 4, 369. It appears from this inscription, and especially from IG II³ 4, 336, that there was also an ephebic version of the liturgy in which wealthier ephebes took on the sponsorship of competitive events involving their fellow ephebes. In this way the ephebic system mirrored the structure of adult society, preparing the ephebes for roles they would perform in later life.

The original findspot within Athens of this inscription is uncertain. However, it may have been set up at a tribal sanctuary in the city. If the relief celebrates an ephebic victory, that would suggest that the monument dates to the period after the re-organisation of the ephebate in 334/3. The letter-forms and style of the sculpture are compatible with a date in the late fourth century BC.

This inscription was acquired by the British Museum from the collection of Percy Clinton Smythe, sixth Viscount Strangford (1780-1855; British ambassador to the Porte at Constantinople between 1820 and 1824, cf. AIUK 4.2, no. 3). For fuller discussion of this inscription see AIUK 4.5 (BM, Dedications), no. 4.

Added: 2 Jan 2019
Updated: 24 Sep 2022
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ID: AIO_1665