IGII34 18 Dedication at Delphi by the religious officials who led the Pythais

Dedication at Delphi by the religious officials who led the Pythais

IG II³ 4 18 Date: ca. 330-325 BC

The People of the Athenians dedicated (this) to Apollo.^[1] The religious officials (hieropoioi) who led the Pythais:^[2]

col. 1

Phanodemos son of Diyllos^VIII Boethos son of Nausinikos^V (5) Lykourgos son of Lykophron^VI Demades son of Demeas^III Klearchos son of Nausikles^X

col. 2

Glauketes son of Glaukos^IV Neoptolemos son of Antikles^VII (10) Kleochares son of Glauketes^I Hippokrates son of Aristokrates^IX Nikeratos son of Nikias^II.^[3]

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References:

IG II³ 4 18 (Translated text) (IG Online)

Syll.³ 296

F.Delphes III 1 511 (PHI)

Rutherford, State Pilgrims C10

Translation by: Chris de Lisle

Monument type: Base

Inscription type: Dedication (People)

Findspot: Delphi (Delphi Museum 2592)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] The inscription is on a square base with holes on top for a bronze tripod which would have been about 2 m. high. On the monument, see P. Amandry, BCH 98, 1974, 235‒36, fig. 49. On Attic inscriptions at Delphi, see IG II³ 4, 17 with notes. [2] The Pythais was an official Athenian pilgrimage to Delphi. Men stationed at the Altar of Zeus Astrapaios watched the sky for three days and three nights in each month over a three-month period. A Pythais was dispatched if they sighted lightning over Harma on the border with Tanagra. This happened rarely – "when there is lightning over Harma" was proverbial for "once in a blue moon" – and the Pythais of this inscription is the first attested since ca. 355 BC (Strabo 9.2.11, Isai. 7.27). This is the only occasion on which religious officials (hieropoioi) are expressly named as the leaders of the Pythais. On the route taken by the Pythais see D. Pirisino, in W. Friese et al., Ascending and Descending the Acropolis (2019), 191-219. The decision to commemorate the event with this monument and the eminence of the individuals who participated (see note 3) indicate that this Pythais was a particularly special event, and it has been speculated that it coincided with the dedication of the new temple of Apollo at Delphi. CID II, 32 seems to indicate a new beginning in the accounts of the Delphic naopoioi in the archon year of Charixenos (Chronologie delphique C27), which might reflect the rededication of the temple (probably 326/5). The emphasis placed on the event probably also reflects Athenian efforts to assert themselves on the international stage despite Macedonian hegemony. For other inscriptions relating to the Classical Pythais, see SEG 52.48a at n. 5; IG II³ 1, 533; IG II³ 4, 631, 632, 638, Agora XIX H34 = Ag. I 5476, 4th cent. boundary marker from Agora of road taken by Pythais; Parker, Polytheism, 83-87; Rutherford, 222-30, 306-307, 375-77. For other ostentatious Athenian religious embassies in this period, see Hypereides 4.24-26 (Dodona), Lykourgos F 13 (Delphi, cf. F 14 Delos), IG II³ 1, 375 (Nemea). The Pythais lapsed after 326 BC, but was revived on a grand scale at the end of the second century BC. On this Hellenistic Pythais, which took place in 138/7, 128/7, 106/5, and 97/6 BC, and involved hundreds of Athenian pilgrims, see F.Delphes III 2, 3 with notes. A much smaller state pilgrimage to Delphi, the Dodekais, was celebrated in the late first century BC and late first century AD, on which see F.Delphes III 2, 59 with notes. [3] Being outside Attica, the men's demotics are not used on this inscription, though they are all known from other sources and show that one member of the delegation was drawn from each tribe. A rough dating for the Pythais to 330/29-325/4 BC is provided by prosopography, including the death of Lykourgos in 325/4. Most of the men in this list are otherwise attested as wealthy and influential (D. Lewis, ABSA 50 [1955], 34). Phanodemos the Atthidographer (FGrH 325) was an important religious specialist prominent in the epigraphical record (IG II³ 1, 348). Lykourgos is the famous orator and financial administrator, Demades his political opponent (cf. IG II² 457 + 3207 with notes). Neoptolemos is mentioned as “exceptionally rich” in Demosthenes 21.215 and was responsible for a number of large religious donations in Athens in the 320s (cf. Plutarch Lives of Ten Orators 843F-844A; cf. IG II³ 4, 1057). Nikeratos was a descendant of Nikias, the famous general of the Peloponnesian War (cf. IG II³ 4, 33, ll. 37-38). Phanodemos, Demades, Lykourgos and Nikeratos were managers of the Amphiaraia in Oropos in 329/8 BC (IG II³ 1, 355). Phanodemos and Demades also appear among the contributors to a dedication to Amphiaraos of 328/7 BC (IG II³ 1, 360). Demades (and perhaps Glauketes (cf. IG II³ 4, 33, ll. 73-74)) was made proxenos of Delphi in Syll.³ 297 (F.Delphes III 4, 383). It is unclear whether this occurred before or after their participation in the Pythais. For a relief from the Delphian inscription honouring Demades see Lawton, Attic Document Reliefs, p. 18.

Added: 13 Mar 2018
Updated: 4 Apr 2024
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