IGII31 1002 Honours for the priestess of Aglauros

Honours for the priestess of Aglauros

IG II³ 1 1002 Date: 250/49 BC

In the archonship of Polyeuktos (250/49), in the second prytany, of Erechtheis^III, for which Chairephon son of Archestratos of Kephale^VII was secretary. On the eleventh of Metageitnion, the eleventh of the (5) prytany. Principal Assembly. Of the presiding committee Kleidemos son of Phrynon of Phlya was putting the vote and his fellow presiding committee members. The Council and People decided. Demostratos son of Aristophanes of Paiania proposed: concerning the report (10) of Aristophanes son of the priestess of Aglauros^[1] about the sacrifices which she made at the initiatory rituals (eisitētēriois) to Aglauros and Ares and Helios and the Horai and Apollo and the other gods for whom it is traditional, for good (15) fortune, the Council shall decide: that the presiding committee (proedrous) who are to preside at the next Assembly shall put the matter on the agenda as an item of the sacred business and submit the opinion of the Council to the People, that it seems good to the Council that (20) the Council and People receive the benefits that occurred in the sacrifices for the health and preservation of the Council and the Athenian People and children and women, and on behalf of king Antigonos and queen (25) Phila and their descendants; and since the priestess of Aglauros made the introductory sacrifices (ta eisagōgeia) and the sacrifices appropriate to her, and took care of the good order (eutaxias) of the all-night revel (pannuchidi), and adorned the table, (30) to praise the priestess of Aglauros, Timokrite daughter of Polynikos of Aphidna and to crown her with a foliage crown for her piety towards the gods; and the prytany secretary (35) shall inscribe the decree on a stone stele and stand it in the sanctuary of Aglauros; and for the inscription of the stele the board of administrators (tous epi tēi dioikēsei)^[2] shall allocate the expenditure accrued.

The Council (40) the People (crown) the priestess Timokrite

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References:

IG II³ 1 1002 (Translated text) (IG Online)

SEG 33.115 (PHI)

Priests and Priestesses, 8

Women and the Polis, 159-61 no. 10

Translation by: Sean Byrne

Images: Acropolis Museum - (1)

Monument type: Stele

Inscription type: Decree (Council and People)

Original location: Acropolis (Sanctuary of Aglauros)

Findspot: Acropolis (Sanctuary of Aglauros) (Acropolis Museum 13372)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] The discovery of this stele in situ, in its original base, during excavations of the eastern slope of the Acropolis revealed the location of the sanctuary of Aglauros, which had hitherto been placed on the northwest slope. Since Pausanias 1.18.2 locates the sanctuary of Aglauros in relation to several important landmarks (the Anakeion, Prytaneion, and probably the Theseion), none of which have been identified archaeologically, this has important implications for the topography of Athens (G. S. Dontas, Hesperia 52, 1983, 48-63 = SEG 33.115). In myth, Aglauros (sometimes Agraulos) was one of the three daughters of Kekrops, the first king of Athens, along with Herse and Pandrosos, who were given a chest containing the infant Erichthonios by Athena and warned not to open it. When Aglauros and Herse opened it anyway, they were driven mad and jumped off the Acropolis to their doom. In cult, Pandrosos was particularly associated with service as an arrhephoros, a rite of passage for Athenian girls (see IG II² 3488 with notes), while Aglauros' sanctuary was the site where the ephebes swore their oath (Demosth. 19.303, cf. RO 88), an important rite of passage for young men (see Parker, Polytheism and Society at Athens, 433-434). For another decree in honour of a priestess of the Aglauros, see IG II³ 1, 1373. For discussion of the social, religious and gender aspects of this decree and others honouring priestesses (cf. IG II³ 1, 1026) see Priests and Priestesses. For a collection of Greek inscriptions honouring women, including priestesses, see Women and the Polis (which includes 70 Athenian decrees not yet on AIO).

This decree illustrates well how a priestess such as Timokrite might be supported by her male relations in processes in the Council and Assembly, in which women normally played no role. The decree is based on the report of the priestess's son, Aristophanes (10). The proposer's relationship to the priestess is not made explicit, but from his name, Demostratos son of Aristophanes of Paiania (8-9), a known individual (cf. Davies, APF 3276), we may infer that he was probably the priestess' husband and accordingly her kyrios (her legal master, guardian, or "lord"). This aspect of decrees honouring priestesses is also well illustrated by IG II³ 1, 1026. The relationship between a priestess and her husband did not determine her eligibility for polis priesthoods, but appears to have determined the eligibility of the probable deme priestess honoured by AIO 2841. On the Athenian Aglaurion see also SEG 58.145. [2] This is the only time in this period of Macedonian control (262–229 B.C.) that we find a board of administrators, as opposed to a single administrator, arranging for the payment for the inscription of a decree.

Added: 25 May 2015
Updated: 17 Sep 2024
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