IGII34 566 Choregic dedication of the People for the City Dionysia

Choregic dedication of the People for the City Dionysia

IG II³ 4 566 Date: mid-ii AD

It was a wonderful day when Diogenes [was sponsor (echorēgei)],^[1] since on the stage each one [showed] the peak of [his skill], [a comrade] of the godlike youth, Antinoos. Then the whole People of the Kekropidai erected me [as a prize,]^[2] (5) [since Praxag]ores held the reins of a [beautiful] chorus, while Gry[pon] led the men on with the rhythm [of the pipes,]^[3] [and when the herald came] announcing the good news, glory (kudos) attended those [whose namesakes were] Attalos and Akamas, [Antiochos and] Ptolemy, and Hadrian, (10) [and for this victory of Aias,] I stand here as the prize of honour (geras)^[4] uninscribed space [ . . . with beauty] and splendour he produced this, [and thus] was not unnoticed by [the lovely] Graces.^[5]

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References:

IG II³ 4 566 (Translated text) (IG Online)

IG II² 3117 (PHI)

MacClaren, Choragic Epigram 78-83

Peek, AVI 8 (PHI)

Follet and Peppas Delmousou, Dedicaces chorégiques 10

Translation by: Chris de Lisle

Monument type: Base

Inscription type: Dedication (choregic), Dedication (People)

Findspot: Asklepieion (EM 8351)
Findspot: Asklepieion (EM 8352)
Findspot: Unknown (EM 4591)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] This triangular marble base is a Roman-period choregic dedication, probably commemorating a victory in a dithyrambic contest at the City Dionysia (see IG II³ 4, 558 with notes). There are holes in the base’s upper surface for attaching a tripod. The text consists of six elegiac couplets of learned poetry. Two lines of the poem are modelled on victory poems by Simonides (l. 7 “glory attended” from Simonides 28 Page, l. 12 from Simonides 150 Bergk). These were found together in an early version of the Greek Anthology, an Imperial-period collection of Greek epigrams, suggesting that the author of this inscription sourced his exemplars from it (J. H. Molyneux, Simonides, 1992, 325). [2] Antinoos was the young lover of Hadrian. The inscription must postdate his death in 130 AD, after which he received widespread cult honours as an ideal youth. At Athens, he was closely associated with the ephebes (see AIUK 11 (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford), no. 10 with notes). The reference to him in this text is a poetic and topical way of referring to the chorus-members as young men, not an indication that they knew him personally or were competing in a festival in his honour (J. L. Shear in B. Kowalzig and P. Wilson, Dithyramb in Context, 2013, 394 n. 35). The inscription refers to itself in the first person, as is common inscribed poems. Kekropidai is a poetic name for the Athenians. It is unclear why the monument was erected by the people instead of the victorious sponsor, who usually did it. The poem may mean that the People had figuratively erected the monument by granting the victory to Diogenes. [3] Praxagores (a poetic variant of Praxagoras) was the director (didaskalos). The poem compares his relationship to the chorus with a charioteer using the reins to steer his horses, a common metaphor for aristocratic leadership and the most prestigious form of athletic competition (R. Brock, Greek Political Imagery, 2013, 86-88). Grypon (or possibly Tryphon) was most likely the flute-player. The sponsor (choregos) was Diogenes (l. 1). [4] Six tribes are named: Attalis, Akamantis, Ptolemais, Hadrianis, and probably Antiochis and Aiantis. This probably indicates a joint-chorus composed of multiple tribes (cf. IG II³ 4, 563), in which case the contest would probably have featured only two choruses – one composed of six tribes and another composed of seven. As reconstructed, however, the text seems to draw a contrast between the first five tribes which have earnt glory and the victory of Aiantis. All choruses received a rank in Roman-period contests (Plut. Table Talk 10.1), so it is possible that the monument names Aiantis as victor and the others as the first five runners up (Follet and Peppas-Delmousou, p. 111). [5] The final couplet named either the sculptor who made the tripod (Makres in IG II³) or the author of the poem (Peek), whose name is unfortunately lost.

Added: 30 Sep 2022
Updated: 30 Sep 2022
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ID: AIO_2573