IGI3 458 Accounts of Pheidias' statue of Athena

Accounts of Pheidias' statue of Athena

IG I³ 458 Date: 445-438 BC

Fragment a

5 100 tal. 10

15 87 tal. 4652 dr. 5 ob.^[3]

2 tal. 743 dr.

Kichesippos of Myrrhinous was secretary to the overseers of the statue.^[1] Receipt from the treasurers^[2] to whom Demostratos of Xypete was secretary. Treasurers: Ktesion, Strosias, Antiphates, Menandros, Thymochares, Smokordos, Pheideleides. Uninscribed space

Gold was bought weight 6 tal. 1,618 dr. 1 ob. price of this Uninscribed space

Ivory was bought Uninscribed space

Fragment b

25 (≥) 31 tal. (≥) 147 dr. 1 ob. 30 (≥) 2 tal. (≥) 2000 dr.

. . . Expenses: gold was bought uncoined gold weight (≥) 41 dr. Croiseid staters (≥) 110 Price of both of these^[4]

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References:

IG I³ 458 (Translated text) (IG Online) (PHI)

ML 54A/2

LIMC Athena 212-33

Fornara, Translated documents 114A a

OR 135A/2

Translation by: Stephen Lambert, Robin Osborne

Images: Acropolis Museum - (1, 2)
Aleshire - (1)
Ohio - (1)
Wikimedia Commons - (1)

Monument type: Stele

Inscription type: Account

Fragment a - Findspot: Acropolis (Acropolis Museum EM 6738)
Fragment b - Findspot: Unknown (Acropolis Museum EM 637)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] Separate boards of epistatai were responsible for the construction of the Parthenon itself, its doors, and here for the colossal chryselephantine statue of Athena, which the Athenians commissioned from Pheidias (see further IG I³ 449). The word for "statue" here, agalma, connotes a "pleasing gift" to the goddess (cf. IG I³ 953, of about the same period). It was distinct from the ancient wooden statue of Athena which continued to be the focus of ritual, cf. IG I³ 7. The colossal size of the statue (for its appearance see LIMC Athena 212-33), called colloquially the "Parthenos" ("Maiden") by contemporaries (Aristophanes, Birds 670), determined the unusual form of the "Parthenon", including its width (8 rather than the usual 6 columns) and many other features. One of the two earliest of the seven fragments of the accounts of the statue (IG I³ 453-4) is firmly dated by the name of the secretary of the treasurers to 446/5, the other may date to 447/6 or 445/4. The accounts given here are the best preserved. Fr. a contains the complete account of one year, fr. b, which does not join fr. a, seems to belong to the following year, but the specific years can not be determined. For the final summary account of 438/7 BC see IG I³ 460. Most of the fragments show little sign of weathering, suggesting that they were displayed inside the Parthenon itself. Pheidias was apparently chosen to make the statue because he had earlier made a colossal bronze statue in commemoration of Athenian victories over the Persians (allegedly so tall it could be seen from Sounion, Paus. 1.28.2, Dem. 19.272). The success of his chryselephantine Athena led to his being commissioned to build a colossal chryselephantine statue of Zeus for the temple of Zeus at Olympia. [2] Of Athena. There were supposed to be ten treasurers of Athena, but only seven are listed here. On the significance of this source of funding for the acropolis building works see IG I³ 449 n. 6. [3] The cost of the gold indicates a ratio of the value of gold to the silver with which it was bought of 14 : 1 (the same ratio is found when surplus gold is sold off in IG I³ 449). [4] This apparently refers to the gold referred to above and to some other purchase recorded in the space between fragments a and b.

Added: 20 Jan 2016
Updated: 6 Aug 2024
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ID: AIO_1031