IGII34 591 Dedication to Bendis by Daos

Dedication to Bendis by Daos

IG II³ 4 591 Date: late iv - early iii BC (?)

Having been victorious in the torchrace, Daos dedicated to Bendis.^[1]

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References:

IG II³ 4 591 (Translated text) (IG Online)

SEG 39.210 (PHI)

Guicharrousse, Athènes en partage no. 7

Translation by: Stephen Lambert, Robert Parker

Monument type: Base

Inscription type: Dedication (athlete), Dedication (Bendis)

Findspot: Laurion (Kamarizas, ancient Maroneia)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] The text, a single hexameter verse, is inscribed above another, largely erased, version of the same text. On the cult of Thracian Bendis in Attica see IG I³ 136 with notes. This is the only evidence for its observance in the mining region of southern Attica, a region heavily populated by slaves and former slaves. The name Daos originates in the region of Bithynia or Mysia (O. Masson, Studia ... Mihailov, 1995, 325-28 = OGS III 239-42), and was a very popular slave name, attested also for metics, but never for an Athenian citizen (cf. K. Vlassopoulos, ZPE 175, 2010, 113-44, at 117 table 2, cf. 134). He was therefore most probably a non-citizen, possibly of servile origin. In any case he perhaps competed in the torch race on horseback at the Bendideia remarked on by Socrates at the opening of the Republic (see IG I³ 136 n. 1), a competition for which there is also evidence in a fourth-century relief depicting eight youths being led to Bendis by two older men, one of them holding a torch (BM 2155 = LIMC s.v. Bendis, 96 no. 3; R. Garland, Introducing New Gods, 1992, pl. 26). IG dates our dedication, following the first editor, P. G. Themelis, Horos 7, 1989, 23-29 (SEG 39.120) to the end-iv or beginning of iii BC. That may be right. The lettering is bland and undatable with any precision. However, it is tempting to ascribe it (and the BM relief?) to the period of Lykourgan regeneration of the Bendis cult for which there is other evidence (see LSCG 45 note 1).

Added: 12 Jul 2017
Updated: 27 Mar 2024
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