IGII34 559 Choregic dedication of Oineis for the City Dionysia, honouring Philopappos

Choregic dedication of Oineis for the City Dionysia, honouring Philopappos

IG II³ 4 559 Date: 85/6-93/4 AD

The tribe Oineis, on account of those who competed ⟦well⟧ in the Dionysiac chorus,^[1] (honours) the archon and competition-director (agōnothetēn) of the Dionysia, Gaius Julius Antiochos Epiphanes Philopappos (5) of Besa, on account of his benefaction (euergesias) to them.^[2] Moiragenes was director (edidaske), Boulon was sponsor (echorēgei), both sons of Moiragenes of Phyle.^[3]

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The chairman (epestatei) was: Menandros (son of Menandros) (10) of Phyle.^[4] The chorus members were (echoreuon):^[5] Uninscribed space The pipe-player was: Philetos son of Meniskos of Kolonos.^[6]

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Apollonios of Oe, (15) Ampheotides of Lakiadai, Archikles of Lakiadai, Eunous of Acharnai, Eraton (son of Eraton) of Phyle, Metrodoros son of Primos, (20) Phidias son of Aphrodisios,

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Terpnos son of Gnaios, Eision son of Boulon,^[3] Philokrates son of Sokrates, Asklepiades son of Pankrates, (25)Aphrodisios son of Epigenes, Patrobios son of Alexandros, Mousaios son of Boulon,^[3]

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Euphrosynos son of Menophanes. Acharnians: (30) Demetrios son of Menneas, Hermias son of Apollonios, Iakinthos son of Zoilos, Mousikos son of Kleon, Menippos (son of Menippos), Apolloni(o)s (son of Apolloni(o)s), (35) Stephanos son of Euporos,

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Pamphilos son of Karpodoros, Phaustos son of Glaukias, From Oe: Apollonios son of Epiktetos, Epiktetos son of Apollonios. (40) Thriasians: Epichares son of Xen- The singing master was (emelopoiei) Mousikos.

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References:

IG II³ 4 559 (Translated text) (IG Online)

IG II² 3112 (PHI)

Follet and Peppas Delmousou, Dedicaces chorégiques 1

Translation by: Chris de Lisle

Images: Wikimedia Commons - (1)

Monument type: Base

Inscription type: Dedication (choregic), Dedication (tribe Oineis), Statue base (tribe Oineis)

Original location: Theatre of Dionysos

Findspot: Theatre of Dionysos (Athens Ephoria NK 280)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] This rectangular marble base is a Roman-period choregic dedication commemorating the participation of the tribe of Oineis in dithyrambic competitions at the City Dionysia (cf. IG II³ 4, 558 with notes). It differs from most choregic dedications of the Roman period in being dedicated by the tribe rather than the sponsor (choregos), in listing all the chorus-members, in lacking an epigram, and in being a rectangular statue base rather than a triangular tripod base. The absence of the tripod and the fact that the chorus is only said to have “competed well” (l. 1) indicates that they had not actually won. The text in ll. 1-7 is inscribed in much larger letters than the text in the five columns below. The base was found in situ at the Theatre of Dionysos. There is a rectangular cutting in the top of the base for a statue, probably of Philopappos. [2] Philopappos, whose name means “lover of his grandfather”, was the grandson of Antiochos IV Epiphanes Philokaiser, the last king of Kommagene (reigned 38, 41-72 AD). He was a Roman Senator, who served as suffect consul in 109 AD, and also received citizenship of Athens, where he was eponymous archon sometime between 85/6 and 92/3 AD (Follet and Peppas-Delmouzou, pp. 97-98) or ca. 93 AD (Byrne, RCA, pp. 309, 537). His massive funerary monument, the Philopappos Monument, still stands atop of the Hill of the Muses, now usually known as Philopappou Hill (cf. IG II² 3451 and D. E. E. Kleiner, The Monument of Philopappos in Athens, 1983). The role of competition-director (agonothetes) that Philopappos holds involved organising and funding a particular festival (cf. IG II³ 4, 518). It is not normally mentioned in Roman-period choregic dedications. Philopappos also served as competition-director and sponsor for all the tribes at the Dionysia on another occasion (Agora XV 312, Plut. Table Talk 1.10). The only other example of an individual combining the roles of archon and competition-director is the future emperor Hadrian in 111/2 AD (Dio Cassius 69.16.1), who seems to have taken Philopappos as a model for his own interactions with Athens (J. H. Oliver, Hesperia 20, 1951, 348). [3] The director (didaskalos), Moiragenes, and the sponsor, Boulon, were brothers. Boulon also appears in Agora XV 312, ll. 43-44 as the secretary of the prytany. Two members of the victorious chorus, Eision and Mousaios (ll. 22 and 27) appear to be his sons. [4] The position of chairman (epistates) is not otherwise attested in a choral context. [5] The heading for the list of members of the chorus appears in l. 11 of column 1, sandwiched between the chairman and the pipe-player. The actual list of members is to the right, in columns 2-5. The list is largely arranged by demotic: Phylasians in ll. 18-28, Acharnians in ll. 30-37, men of Oe in ll. 38-39 and a Thriasian in l. 40, but the arrangement is haphazard; for some demes, every member bears a demotic, while in others the names follow a title. The first four chorus members (ll. 14-16) appear out of deme order. The reason for this is unclear. In total, there are twenty-five or twenty-six chorus members (Apollonios of Oe appears to be listed twice, in ll. 14 and 38), half the size of the dithyrambic choruses of the Classical period (B. Kowalzig and P. Wilson, Dithyramb in Context, 2013, 15). As in the Classical period, they are all Athenian citizens, and unlike some later choruses (e.g., IG II³ 4, 563), they all belong to the same tribe. The presence of two sons of the sponsor (ll. 22 and 27) suggests that the chorus members were young, but, if Mousikos the singing master (melpopoios, ll. 41-42) is identical with the chorus member Mousikos son of Kleon of Acharnai (l. 33), they cannot have been children. Listing chorus members is rare in all periods, but for a possible classical example, see IG I³ 969. [6] Philetos the pipe-player also appears in Agora XV 312, l. 41-42 as the pipe-player of the Council and People. The ephebic trainer in IG II³ 4, 378 may be an ancestor.

Added: 30 Sep 2022
Updated: 27 Jun 2024
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