IGII34 433 Choregic dedication (Panathenaia and City Dionysia)

Choregic dedication (Panathenaia and City Dionysia)

IG II³ 4 433 Date: ca. 370 BC ?

Face A (front)

. . . Relief . . . serving as sponsor (chorēgōn) for the [pyrrhichistai] of the Relief boys at the Great Relief Panathenaia.^[1]

Face B (right)

. . . ? of Pallene (sponsor) [at the Dionysia] (5)in the City . . . was victorious. Amymon [of Sikyon was director (edidaske)?].

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References:

IG II³ 4 433 (Translated text) (IG Online)

SEG 23.103 (PHI)

SEG 47.202 (PHI)

SEG 57.178

Agelidis, Weihgeschenke 102

Translation by: Stephen Lambert

Monument type: Base

Inscription type: Dedication (choregic)

Findspot: Athens (NM 3854)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] One of the competitive events at both the Little and Great Panathenaia involved a dance in armour, the pyrrhiche (competitors = "pyrrhichistai"), supposedly first danced by Athena to celebrate her victory over the Titans (Dion. Hal. 7.72.7). The event, which was organised in three age classes, for boys (paidon), beardless youths (ageneion), and men (andron), was supported financially in Classical Athens by wealthy Athenian sponsors (choregoi), who, as with e.g. the competition in dithyramb at the City Dionysia (see IG II³ 4, 460) and Thargelia (see IG II³ 4, 475), might commemorate their victories by a dedication, probably on the Acropolis (the prize for victory was a bovid, Isok. 5.36, IG II² 2311, ll. 72-74). The reference to "pyrrhichistai" is largely restored in the text of this dedication, but that competition is implied by the relief, which runs through the middle of the text on Face A, and depicts three competitors, one armed with a shield and helmet standing behind another, unarmed, but with a third competitor standing on his shoulders, armed with a shield and spear. The inscription on the right side commemorates a (subsequent?) victory (by the same or a related sponsor?) at the City [Dionysia]. The precise context of the latter victory is uncertain, but the reference in l. 7 may be to the tragic poet, Amymon of Sikyon, whose first victory dated apparently to ca. 369 BC (TrGF I 123, p. 284, cf. P. Tebt. 695 II, l. 5 = TrGF I, p. 56; P. J. Wilson, ZPE 118, 1997, 174-78, and The Athenian Institution of the Khoregia, 2000, 236-37). The other two extant dedications commemorating victories in the pyrrhiche are IG II³ 4, 434 and 435. The most recent discussion of the event is J. L. Shear, Serving Athena (2021), 45-50, 357-60.

Added: 14 Mar 2022
Updated: 7 Jan 2024
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ID: AIO_2337