IGII34 513 Choregic dedication from Rhamnous

Choregic dedication from Rhamnous

IG II³ 4 513 Date: ca. 325-300 BC

Megakles son of Megak[les] of [Rha]mnous dedicated (this) to Themis, having been crowned by the demesmen^[1] on account of his justice (dikaiosunēs), and having won victories as gymnasiarch with boys and men when Kallisto was priestess,^[2] and as theatrical sponsor (chorēgōn) in comedy when Pheidostrate was priestess of Nemesis.^[3] Chairestratos son of Chairedemos^[4] (5) of Rhamnous made (this).

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References:

IG II³ 4 513 (Translated text) (IG Online)

IG II² 3109 (PHI)

I Rhamnous 120 (PHI)

Csapo and Wilson II, 241-2

Translation by: Stephen Lambert, Matthew Hewitt

Images: Wikimedia Commons - (1)

Monument type: Base

Inscription type: Dedication (choregic), Dedication (gymnasiarch), Dedication (Themis)

Findspot: Rhamnous (small temple) (NM 231)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] This inscription is on a statue base discovered in the small temple (or treasury) at the sanctuary of Nemesis in Rhamnous, a deme on the north-eastern frontier of Attica. The statue, which survives (see image on Wikimedia commons), is usually identified as the goddess Themis, the recipient of the dedication.

The dedicator, Megakles of Rhamnous, commemorates three specific achievements. He first celebrates his receipt of a crown from his fellow demesmen, who had apparently awarded him an honorific decree on account of his justice (dikaiosyne), a trait particularly apt for the goddess he is honouring, who was a personification of lawful propriety (Makres, in Fontaine and Scafuro Oxford Handbook of Greek and Roman Comedy, 2013, 85). Added to this are records of his agonistic victories, when serving liturgical functions as gymnasiarch and theatrical sponsor (choregos). Though the wording of the dedication does not make this quite clear, it may imply that the honours awarded by the demesmen were partly or wholly on account of his services as gymnasiarch.

Of the three attested types of gymnasiarchy (cf. IG II³ 4, 426), this one appears to be "adult" (rather than "ephebic") and on the earlier "Classical" model of a liturgy, rather than the later "Hellenistic" model of a public office. It will have entailed sponsorship of torch races (lampadēdromiai). Cf. IG II³ 4, 331, n. 3.

In Classical Athens, a choregos was responsible for financing a dramatic production. Megakles’ choregic victory in comedy was almost certainly won at the local Dionysia festival (see Csapo and Wilson, 234-38, on the Dionysia and the theatre at Rhamnous; in general on dedications from the Rural Dionysia see IG II³ 4, 498, with notes). An inscribed theatre seat, IG II³ 4, 514, also attests to the comedic competition in Rhamnous.

Though some have raised the possibility that this dedication dates as late as the early third century BC (cf. Csapo and Wilson, 241), the style of the sculpture and the letter forms are both consistent with a date in the later 4th century BC, which is also consistent with what is known of the sculptor (see below n. 4), the priestesses named (see below nn. 2 and 3) and the character of the liturgies commemorated, which are most comfortably dated prior to the reforms of Demetrios of Phaleron (317-307 BC). [2] In IG II³ 4, 1419 one Sostratos is recorded as dedicator of two thrones found in the smaller temple at Rhamnous, one to Nemesis in the priestesshood of Kallisto, and one to Themis in the priestesshood of Pheidostrate. Combined with the evidence of our inscription this would seem to imply that Pheidostrate was a successor of Kallisto, and that both were priestesses of Nemesis and Themis. [3] The priestess Pheidostrate is perhaps identifiable with the Pheidostrate daughter of Eukolos of Pithos, and wife (?) of Andropheles son of Nikostratos of Rhamnous, commemorated on an inscription added to the funerary peribolos of Diogeiton at Rhamnous, I Rhamnous 245 (= SEMA 806). Eukolos and Andropheles are not attested elsewhere and there is no known connection between these persons and the family of Diogeiton. [4] The sculptor is identifiable with the Chairestratos son of Chairedemos of Rhamnous who was councillor (bouleutēs) in IG II³ 1, 360 (l. 48, though it has also been suggested that the councillor was the sculptor's homonymous grandfather).

Added: 9 May 2022
Updated: 15 Jul 2022
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ID: AIO_2462