IGII34 567 Choregic dedication of Agasias for the City Dionysia

Choregic dedication of Agasias for the City Dionysia

IG II³ 4 567 Date: ii AD

[These men, offspring] of kings, rushing forward in number, sceptre-bearers of [Marathon] and of the (tribe) of the Acharnians, and those whose namesakes were Hippothoon and Aigeus, trained as a chorus [of men] and thus Oineus stood out,^[1] (5) and [Aga]sias [led (them)], but the one who led Kekropia [and was archon, was . . . ], and Ar[en] played the pipes, . . . of a stout-hearted (kraterophronos) [maiden?]^[2] uninscribed space . . . was sponsor (echorēgei) . . . ^[3] . . .

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References:

IG II³ 4 567 (Translated text) (IG Online)

IG II² 3115 (PHI)

Peek, AVI 6

Follet and Peppas Delmousou, Dedicaces chorégiques 8

Translation by: Chris de Lisle

Monument type: Base

Inscription type: Dedication (choregic)

Findspot: Acropolis (north of the Parthenon) (EM 9809)
Findspot: Acropolis (EM 5750)
Findspot: Acropolis (EM 9517)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] This fragmentary triangular marble base is a Roman-period choregic dedication (see IG II³ 4, 558 with notes). The first seven lines are a poem in iambic trimeters, which is difficult to interpret. Though deliberately diverging in some details, we acknowledge debts to Hallof on IG Online and to Follet and Peppas Delmousou in our translation. The opening lines refer to several Athenian tribes as the "offspring of kings" (l. 1). This is vague, since almost all of the tribes claimed descent from kings, but is perhaps referring to the tribes mentioned in the following lines: Aiantis (the tribe containing Marathon), Oineis (the tribe containing Acharnai), Hippothontis, and Aigeis. "Rushing forward" (epiasson), a Homeric word used of charging warriors and swooping eagles, is appropriate for both the descendants of mythical kings and a dancing chorus. "In number" is probably a poetic substitution for "in good order" (eutaxia). The four tribes may have joined together in a single chorus (cf. IG II³ 4, 563), but then it is unclear how Oineis "stood out" (l. 4). Perhaps it was the tribe of the sponsor (Follet and Peppas Delmousou, p. 107). All choruses received a rank in Roman-period contests (Plut. Table Talk 10.1), so an alternative possiblity that the monument names Oineus as victor and the others as the first three runners up (cf. IG II³ 4, 566) [2] In ll. 5-6, the poem contrasts Agasias the sponsor (choregos literally "leader of the chorus") with the eponymous archon, leader of Athens as a whole (“Kekropia” is a poetic name for Athens). The archon's name would have appeared in l. 6. Aren the pipe-player is not otherwise attested. If the director (didaskalos) was named, this must have been in the lost portion of l. 7. “Stout-hearted” (kraterophron) is usually an epithet of Zeus and Herakles; IG II³ suggests that it here refers to Athena, but it is not clear why she is mentioned. [3] L. 8 and the lost lines following were in prose and would have named the sponsor, archon, director (didaskalos), flute-player, and perhaps also the victorious tribes.

Added: 30 Sep 2022
Updated: 30 Sep 2022
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