IGII34 938 Dedication to Telesphoros by Aimilianos

Dedication to Telesphoros by Aimilianos

IG II³ 4 938 Date: 2nd-3rd centuries AD

To Telesphoros Aimilianos (dedicated this), having had a dream.^[1] uninscribed space

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References:

IG II³ 4 938 (Translated text) (IG Online)

IG II² 4541c + add. p. 353 (PHI)

Translation by: Chris de Lisle

Monument type: Base

Inscription type: Dedication (private, Telesphoros)

Findspot: In fields around Athens (EM 3468)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] Aimilianos dedicated this base, after receiving healing advice or treatment from Telesphoros in a dream. The bottom part of a plinth, which once supported a statue, is preserved on top of the base. Telesphoros was a healing god, depicted as a small child wearing a long hooded cloak (for images, see LIMC VII, sv. Telesphoros 1-89), who first appears in Pergamon in the Hellenistic Period, as a son of Asklepios. He probably has his roots in the Celtic ‘hooded spirits’ (genii cucullati) brought into Anatolia by the Galatians. The god’s name means something like “fulfillment-bringer,” and he seems to have been understood as a personification of the divine power through which Asklepios effected a cure (F. Steger, Asclepius: Medicine and Cult, 2018, 43). The god appears in the Athenian epigraphic record in the second century AD. IG II³ 4, 901 and 940 are dedications to him alongside Asklepios and Hygieia. IG II³ 4, 939 includes two extensive hymns to him. He appears in two ephebic catalogues (IG II² 2127 and IG II² 2227), which seem to indicate that they felt a special affinity for him. If there was a sanctuary of Asklepios in the Diogeneion gymnasium (see IG II³ 4 871 with notes), then he was probably worshipped there. Telesphoros becomes notably more common as an Athenian personal name from the mid-second century AD onwards (see Athenian Onomasticon). He appears on second century AD Athenian coinage (Agora XXVI 218 and 242) and lead tokens (Agora X L300a-i). In the Agora, many terracotta lamps depicting him have been found in late second and third century AD contexts (Agora VI 943-964; image on the Agora Excavations website), as well as two bronze statuettes (Agora B 384, 884; H. F. Sharpe, Hesperia 83, 2014, 166-67).

Added: 19 Aug 2025
Updated: 19 Aug 2025
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