An historical study of athenian verse epitaphs from VI through IV BC

Jeffery, whose article "The Inscribed Gravestones of Archaic Attica" IGAA remains indispensable for any investigation of archaic Attic funerary inscriptions.2 Christoph Clairmont' s exam

An Historical Study of Athenian Verse Epitaphs from the Sixth through the Fourth Centuries BC

by Julia Lougovaya

A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements

for the degree of Ph.D

Graduate Department of Classics University of Toronto

©by Julia Lougovaya (2004)

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An Historical Study of Athenian Verse Epitaphs from the Sixth through the Fourth Centuries BC

Ph.D 2004 Julia Lougovaya Department of Classical Studies University of Toronto

under investigation consists primarily of verse epitaphs edited by P.A Hansen in Carmina Epigraphica Graeca, with the addition of a few recent discoveries Since this dissertation considers the archeological context of inscriptions, including the appearance of the inscription, type and location of the monument, etc., it also makes extensive use of archeological data

Chapter One is a study of archaic Attic verse epitaphs During this period, the practice was confined to the elite, whether Athenians or foreign residents in Athens, and inscribing verse on a funerary monument was one of the features of elite display at a burial site The tradition ceased around 500 BC when this type of display, which was associated with elite families during the reign of the Athenian tyrants, was either forbidden or deemed inappropriate following the liberation from tyranny and the reforms of Kleisthenes

Chapter Two investigates fifth century Athenian public verse inscriptions It argues that during a period of at least fifty years (from the reforms of Kleisthenes to at least the mid 460s or even later) the Athenians did not inscribe public funerary monuments with verse epitaphs Instead, there developed a special genre of inscriptional verse which I call public commemorative or celebratory epigrams At some point in the mid fifth century the practice

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The completion of this thesis was made both possible and enjoyable by the help

of many people My dissertation committee comprised outstanding scholars of various fields who were always ready to share their expertise, Emmet Robbins and Jonathan Burgess

in early Greek poetry, and John Traill in the thorny field of Greek epigraphy Joseph Day's critical comments were very helpful at the final stage of the project Above all, my supervisor, Malcolm Wallace, contributed to all aspects of my thesis, and has been a most helpful teacher and colleague My ideas have not always been shared by members of

my committee, and I take full responsibility for the views expressed in this study, as well

as for any mistakes

I owe many thanks to the Department of Classics at the University of Toronto for providing scholarly and material support during my time as a graduate student, and to Ann-Marie Matti and Coral Gavrilovic for their kind assistance in all practical matters associated with my work at the Department, which was often conducted long-distance

My indefinite gratitude goes to my family for their unflagging support, especially

to my father, Michael Bronstein, who helped me in all computer matters, my husband, Rodney Ast, who discussed and read my study, offered numerous insightful comments, and helped in every possible way, to our younger daughters, Alitsia and Aglaia, the source

of constant joy, and to our older daughter, Marfa, without whose resourcefulness I would never have been able even to start this work

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

Table 1 Archaic Attic Epitaphs, p 223

Figure 1 Outline of the stele ofMnasitheios from Akraiphia, p 57 (After Andreiomenou

2000, p 85, fig 1 Drawing by R Posamentir Courtesy ofR Posamentir.) Figure 2 Upper part of the stele of Mnasitheios with reconstructed finial, p 59

(After Andreiomenou 2000, p 89, fig 4 Drawing by R Posamentir Courtesy ofR Posamentir.)

Figure 3 Drawing of the gravestone and epitaph for Philon, CEG 76, p 80 (After

Kourouniotes 1897, col 151, fig 5.)

Figure 4 Drawing of the gravestone and epitaph for Pleistias, CEG 77, p 81 (After

Kourouniotes 1897, col 152, fig 6.) Figure 5 Periboloi in Section A of the Kerameikos, p 159 (After Garland 1982, p 137,

fig 2 Reproduced with permission of the British School at Athens.)

Figure 6 Peribolos of Koroibos of Melite (A20), p 160 (After Brueckner 1909,

p 105, fig 66.) Figure 7 Peribolos ofDionysios ofKollytos (A3), CEG 593, p 161 (After Brueckner

1909, p 66, fig 37.)

ABBREVIATIONS

CAT = Chr Clairmont, Classical Attic Tombstones, Kilchberg 1993

CEG = Carmina epigraphica Graeca

Carmina epigraphica Graeca: saeculorum VIII-V a.Chr.n., P.A Hansen, ed.,

Berlin and New York 1983

Carmina epigraphica Graeca: saeculi IV a Chr n (CEG 2), P.A Hansen, ed.,

Berlin and New York 1989

DAA = A E Raubitschek, Dedications from the Athenian Akropolis; a catalogue of the

inscriptions of the sixth and fifth centuries B C., Archaeological Institute of America 1949

FGE = Further Greek Epigrams: Epigrams before A.D 50 from the Greek Anthology

and Other Sources not included in 'Hellenistic Epigrams' or 'The Garland of Philip ', D L Page, ed., rev and prepared for publication by R D Dawe and

J Diggle, Cambridge 1981

IEG 2 = M L West, Iambi et Elegi Graeci ante Alexandrum Cantati, 2nd ed., Oxford 1998 IGAA = L H Jeffery, "The Inscribed Gravestones of Archaic Attica," BSA 57, 1962,

pp 115-153

IGLPalermo = M T Manni Piraino, Iscrizioni greche lapidarie del Museo di Palermo,

"SIKELIKA Collana di monografie pubblicate dal Centra Siciliano di Studi Storico-Archeologici 'Biagio Pace', Serie Storica," 6 Palermo 1973

LGPN =Lexicon of Greek Personal Names

LGPN I: Aegean Islands, Cyprus, Cyrenaica, P M Fraser and E Matthews, eds.,

Oxford 1987

LGPN II: Attica, M J Osbome and S B Byrne, eds., Oxford 1994

LGPN III.A: Peloponnese, Western Greece, Sicily, and Magna Graecia, P M Fraser

and E Matthews, eds., Oxford 1997

LGPN III.B: Central Greece: From the Megarid to Thessaly, P M Fraser and

E Matthews, eds., Oxford 2000

LSAG = L H Jeffery, The Local Scripts of Archaic Greece, ed rev with a supplement

by A W Johnston, Oxford 1990

ML R Meiggs and D M Lewis, A Selection of Greek Historical Inscriptions to the

End of the Fifth Century, Oxford 1969

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT ACKNOWLEDGMENTS LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES ABBREVIATIONS

TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION CHAPTER ONE

ARCHAIC ATTIC VERSE EPITAPHS

1 Early Archaic Burial Practice to ea 600 BC Prior to ea 600 BC, 10 Changes ea 600 BC, 12 Solon's Funerary

Death in War, 19 Virtues of the Deceased, 22 Origin of

the Deceased, 26 Untimely Death, 29 Other Expressions

of Grief, 37

4 ChiefMourner

Identity of the ChiefMoumer, 38 Grief of the ChiefMoumer, 44

5 Address to a Passer-by and Reflections

6 Monument Sight of the Monument, 47 Sculptors' Signatures on Monuments with Verse Epitaphs, 48

7 Meter and Literary Context Meters Employed in Archaic Attic Epitaphs, 60 Metrical Anomalies, 62 Excluded Inscriptions, 63 Literary Elegy and

Verse Epitaph, 66 The Meaning of Elegos, 67 Inscriptional

Evidence for Threnodic Elegy, 69 Literary Elegy and Verse

3 Public Commemorative Epigrams:

Features and Further Examples

The Tyrannicides Epigram (430), 105 The Eion Epigrams, 105

The Eurymedon Epigram, 107

4 Evidence for the Burial of the War Dead in Athens

5 Patrios Nomos Bringing Ta 6cna Home or Burying on the Battlefield: (a) Individual Burials, (b) Collective Burial, 114 Burying the War Dead Publicly (Bru.lOoic;x}, 117 Prothesis and Ekphora, 119

Epitaphios Logos, 120 Patrios Nomos Reconsidered, 121

Evidence from Pausanias and Plato, 122

104

112

113

The Epitaph for Argive Casualties (135), 125 Epitaphs for Distinguished Foreign Individuals (11, 12, 469), 126 The Epitaph for Athenians who Fell at the Hellespont (6), 129 The Koroneia Epitaph (5), 131 Fragmentary Verse Epitaphs of the mid Fifth Century, 134 The Potidaia Epitaph, 134 An

Epitaph for Athenian Cavalrymen (4}, 136 A New Epitaph for

Athenian Cavalrymen, 138 Public Epitaphs in the Late Fifth Century, 143

of the Reappearance ofPrivate Athenian Verse Epitaphs, 149

2 Later Classical Attic Verse Epitaphs in Context 157

Periboloi, 157 Typology of Classical Grave Stelai, 158

Display and Layout of Verse Epitaphs, 15 8 Verse Epitaphs

Associated with Large Periboloi, 159 Members of Propertied

Families, 165

Death in War, 168 Virtues of the Deceased, 171 Origin of the Deceased, 174 Activities of the Deceased: (a) Soothsaying

and Priesthood, (b) Medicine, (c) Theater and Music,

(d) Craftsmanship, (e) Occupations of Foreigners, 175 Untimely Death and Death in Old Age, 198 Grievous Fate, 200

TABLE OF CONTENTS

4 ChiefMoumer

5 Addresses and Reflections

6 Monument

7 Peculiarities of Poetic Diction and Meter

The Bridal Chamber of Persephone, 205 Gods and fications, 207 Meter, 208

Personi-CONCLUSION BIBLIOGRAPHY

INTRODUCTION

1 Verse Epitaphs as a Subject of Social History

The purpose of a funerary monument is both to mark a burial site and to perpetuate the memory of the deceased In Homer, the place of burial is a physical entity, generally marked in some way, and the memory of the deceased lives on not in written memorials but

in songs and legends Earthen mounds over the graves of heroes tell unwritten tales about

those buried beneath them, as we fmd in the Iliad where, before engaging in a duel, Hector

imagines his opponent's death and the tomb that will be a source of stories for future generations and will perpetuate the memory of a fallen hero of the Trojan War:

crfi~a Te oi xevwmv enlnAaTei 'EAAT)CJTIOVTCt>

Kai lTOTE TIS eilTlJOI Kat 0\I'IYOVUJV av8pt:Jnwv VTJt lTOAVKAi)YSt lTAEUJV eni oivona lTOVTOV"

avSp6s ~ev TObE on~a lTciAat KaTaTe8VT)WTOS,

OV lTOT' aptCJTEVOVTa KaTEKTaVE <paiSt~OS "EKTWp (7.86-91) and so that they might heap a mound over him by the wide Hellespont And someone will say, even one of those not yet born, as he sails on a many-benched ship over the wine-colored sea: "This is the tomb of the man who died long ago, whom glorious Hektor once killed as he was doing deeds ofvalor."

Elsewhere in the Iliad grave mounds serve as landmarks, as, for example, in the case of

Ilos' tomb, which is conspicuously situated before the walls of Troy (e.g., It 11.166) In

the Odyssey, Elpenor bids Odysseus to bum his corpse, bury the ashes, heap up a mound

and place his oar on top of it, so that future people may learn (eooo~evotot nv8eo8at) his

story ( Od 11 74-78) Legends are likely to have been attached to such markers, which

served as a sign, the significance of which was transmitted in songs about the heroes

With the appearance of writing in the eighth century or so, Greeks began to inscribe grave markers, uniting the physical object and spoken word Writing on the grave marker was meant, first of all, to identify the grave; it indicated possession, much as other kinds

of early inscriptions designated the property of gods or men.1 Simply to identify the marker

as funerary and to associate it with a particular individual, a word such as on~a or CJTTJATJ

and the name of the deceased would have sufficed But virtually from the beginning of the tradition of sepulchral inscriptions, we find in Greece something more elaborate than simple

1

LSAG, pp 61-62; Scodell992, p 58

INTRODUCTION 2

labels Some epitaphs aimed already then at the preservation of the memory of the deceased through narration of circumstances surrounding the death and burial of the commemorated person, through bestowal of praise, references to the burier, and descriptions of the monument Mere labeling of the grave was generally the purview of short prose records, while the conveyance of a brief account intended to perpetuate the deceased's memory appears to have been possible exclusively in verse Interestingly, both prose and verse epitaphs existed concurrently, and early verse epitaphs do not show any sign of having derived from prose records

From the moment that they first appeared, verse epitaphs represented an effort on the part of survivors to keep the memory of the deceased alive, and this effort does not seem to have been considered the result of some religious obligation to the dead, nor was it because of some practical concern about marking the grave with a record that would simply identify it Verse epitaphs were rather a social gesture through which the burier sought to capture the attention of the reader and perpetuate the memory of the deceased The claim on memory made in a verse epitaph was a status claim and it was exercised only by a fraction

of the society The circle of people constituting this fraction was, however, wider than the elite ofwhom we are generally informed by our other, mainly literary, sources, and analysis

of epitaphs allows one to investigate how this wider circle of people wanted to represent the deceased (and living) members of their families

Verse epitaphs can be expected to follow certain patterns, primarily because their subject matter is limited to the purpose of sepulchral inscription (identification of the burial and commemoration of the deceased) and because they are designed to be consumed by

a fairly wide circle of literate people (and thus to conform to these people's expectations)

At the same time, an epitaph, when considered along with the monument and burial complex,

is unique in belonging to a certain burial and is meant to be memorable The room between normative requirements and originality or individualization in verse epitaphs is very narrow, but the ways in which both the normative requirements and individualization are carried out reflect broad social norms and demonstrate what was deemed by certain circles of people at certain periods of time to be especially praiseworthy or grievous, and thus worthy of being committed to what was perceived as eternal memory This study

of verse epitaphs therefore aims to be a contribution to Greek social history

INTRODUCTION 3

2 State of Scholarship and Objectives

The employment of verse in documenting a burial constitutes a status claim, but the content of these claims may vary by time and place and can involve various social strata

I confine my study of Greek sepulchral epigrams to Attic verse epitaphs from the earliest attestation to the reign of Demetrios of Phaleron in 317-307 BC, when the practice of inscribing them significantly decreased, and I intend to investigate how and by whom these status claims were made at different points within this period In doing this, I hope to identify some of the tastes and norms of people who are often omitted from literary sources To gain further insight into these tastes and norms, I have chosen also to examine the inscriptions in their archeological context, since verse epitaphs do not exist in isolation, but are incised on grave monuments and constitute part of the larger display at a burial site

The study of funerary inscriptions as part of the monuments on which they appear was pioneered by L H Jeffery, whose article "The Inscribed Gravestones of Archaic Attica"

(IGAA) remains indispensable for any investigation of archaic Attic funerary inscriptions.2 Christoph Clairmont' s examination of the correlation between verse epitaphs and funerary reliefs represents a rare attempt to consider both the physical appearance of the monument and the text of the epitaph.3 There are also several general studies, both literary and archeological, that do not deal specifically with verse epitaphs but help situate them in their historical context The excellent introduction to Greek burial practices by Donna Kurtz and John Boardman surveys different types of burials and the development of funerary monuments from the Bronze Age through the Hellenistic period.4 Robert Garland's The Greek Way of Death briefly covers the general topic of what the Greeks did with their dead-

from attitudes about death to ceremonies surrounding interment of the body-and provides valuable references to the most relevant ancient literary sources.5 Ian Morris' recent work,

Death-Ritual and Social Structure in Classical Antiquity, looks at the social structure of

ancient society through evidence provided by archeology, suggesting how, for example, archeological fmds from a given cemetery can contribute to our knowledge of a particular

2 Although Jeffery was not concerned with verse epitaphs in particular, many of the gravestones that she discusses actually carry verse epitaphs (simply because, as we will see, there are more verse epitaphs extant from archaic Attica than prose)

3 Clairmont 1970 Although Clairmont's approach is potentially useful, the study is handicapped by the isolated treatment of the monuments under investigation from the broader tradition of inscriptional verse epitaphs

4 Kurtz and Boardman 1971

5 Garland 1985

INTRODUCTION 4

society and its beliefs about death 6 In addition to these general studies, there has also been more specialized work done on Greek sculptured funerary monuments by archeologists and art historians like Hans Diepolder, Friis Johansen, Gisela Richter, and Christoph Clairmont.7

The general topic of Greek epigrams has been widely studied, too, with recent interest particularly in the epigrams of the Hellenistic period,8 Simonides and the Simonidea,9 the origin of elegy, 10 and even in the interaction between the written word and its reader, or the "anthropology of reading."11 Of the scholarship that deals more specifically with sepulchral verse inscriptions, Joseph Day's investigation of how people of the archaic period might have perceived a funerary monument inscribed with an epigram is a good example of

a study that fruitfully combines both the archeological and literary approaches 12 Ute Ecker' s work is valuable for its identification of literary parallels to archaic Greek epitaphs/3 while Christian Breuer' s book provides interesting discussion of the representation of values in funerary reliefs and epigrams in the fourth through the second centuries BC.14

In addition to these contributions, there are of course collections of inscribed verses, which often include valuable notes or commentaries Peter A Hansen's Carmina Epigraphica Graeca ( CEG) provides the most reliable texts of sepulchral inscriptions, which

are accompanied by brief bibliographies and notes, and it therefore serves as a very good basis for the study of Greek epitaphs.15 Among older collections, the most relevant for my

work have proven to be Georg Kaibel's Epigrammata Graeca ex lapidibus collecta and Epigrammata by FriedHi.nder and Hoffleit, in which the editors, through lucid translations

and thoughtful commentaries, clearly show how they have understood each text.16

6

Morris 1992a Although the book investigates primarily early Greek material and treats at some length funerary monuments of the archaic and classical periods, the chapter on epitaphs (pp 156-173) deals exclusively with late Latin funerary inscriptions

7 Diepolder 1931; Johansen 1951; Richter 1960, 1961 and 1968; Clairmont 1970, and CAT, which is a monumental work that deserves the gratitude of scholars, despite its numerous infelicities

8 Kathryn Gutzwiller's influential book which investigates the Hellenistic epigram in its broader historical context was published in 1998; in 2000 the Department of Greek and Latin at the University of Groningen conducted a workshop on the Hellenistic epigram, the proceedings of which appeared two years later (Harder

et al 2002); for the past few years the University ofLeiden has been supporting and updating a web site with an

extensive bibliography on Greek epigrams (http://www.gltc.leidenuniv.nl/)

9 E.g., Molyneux 1992, Ceccarelli 1996, Boedeker and Sider 2001

Although Hansen does not provide archeological information, he usually refers to the relevant publications

16 It is noteworthy that Merkelbach and Stauber's new collection of inscriptional verses from Asia Minor (1998 ) perhaps best resembles the collection ofFriendlander and Hoffleit

INTRODUCTION 5

3 Chronological Divisions

My study of Attic verse epitaphs is divided chronologically into three parts which correspond to three chapters In Chapter One I treat the period from the earliest attested Attic sepulchral inscription in the second quarter of the sixth century to the cessation of the practice of inscribing verse epitaphs in Attica ea 500 During this period verse epitaphs were associated with monuments of grandeur, and the tradition of inscribing them was practiced by elite Athenian families In Chapter Two I concentrate on the fifth century, a period which exhibits some interesting developments: no Athenian verse epitaph is attested from ea 500 to the mid fifth century, but during this time there emerges a special genre of commemorative epigrams, unassociated with either funerary or dedicatory monuments, which celebrates the achievements, primarily military, of the Athenian state; by the middle

of the fifth century the tradition of inscribing verse epitaphs is seen to resume, but these

inscriptions are initially restricted to public monuments set up by the Athenian state to honor

those who fell at war and who were honored with public burials In Chapter Three I examine later classical developments, concentrating on the period from the end of the Sicilian

disaster, when the practice of inscribing private grave markers with epitaphs resumed in

Athens, to the legislation of Demetrios of Phaleron between 317 and 307 BC

4 Categories of Analysis of Private Verse Epitaphs

The material covered in Chapters One and Three permits similar treatment, and

I have therefore divided the two chapters into similar categories This arrangement will,

I hope, highlight similarities and differences between the archaic period, when the practice of inscribing verse epitaphs was engaged in by elite families at Athens, and the later classical period, when families of various social strata opted for verse epitaphs I also hope to illustrate some of the reasons for the appearance and disappearance of the practice in Athens, which when viewed against the background of the rest of Greece is a remarkable phenomenon: during the sixth and fourth centuries the tradition of inscribing verse epitaphs was nowhere as widespread as at Athens, yet no other state seems to have abstained from this practice to the degree that the Athenians did during the major part of the fifth century The pattern exhibited at Athens can be interpreted only through better understanding of what commemoration with verse signified at various times, how it was carried out and what circles of people would practice it In order to assist this understanding

my analysis of Chapters One and Three has been framed by the following categories:

INTRODUCTION 6

Appearance and Reappearance of Verse Epitaphs I investigate the concomitant social and historical factors that preceded and accompanied the appearance (in the sixth century) and reappearance (at the end of the fifth century) of the tradition of inscribing verse epitaphs

Context I discuss the locations and typology of grave monuments associated with verse epitaphs, the principles of display of an inscription, its legibility and other aspects of architectural epigraphy The grandeur of monuments in the archaic period points to the class of people that could afford them; in the later classical period, however, the correlation between the grandeur of a monument and the status of the family that commissioned it is more ambiguous, since a simple stele with a verse epitaph could be set

up over the grave of a member of a propertied family Despite this ambiguity, I offer a methodology that to some extent identifies features of the kinds of verse epitaphs that were commissioned by affluent families in the later classical period and, by identifying these features, helps to define what was normative for those with few financial constraints who could presumably afford whatever was considered finest

Commemorated Deceased Verse epitaphs generally praise and lament the deceased, as well as include some biographical information that was deemed especially memorable, such as the deceased's origin, age, occupation, or cause of death While death on the battlefield is always praised and death at a young age is always lamented, other patterns in the expressions of grief and praise and in the characterization of the deceased change over time and reflect changes in the circles of people who inscribed verse epitaphs, as well as changes in what people perceived to be most memorable and appropriate for a gravestone Chief Mourner From a legal point of view, the heir or kyrios ofthe deceased was generally responsible for funerary arrangements, as well as for setting up the funerary monument From a practical standpoint, however, several members of the family could participate,

as well as individuals outside the family, such as friends or compatriots References to these people in verse epitaphs would enhance the social aspect of commemoration, since the epitaph might mention the grief of people who had neither legal nor practical involvement in actually setting up the monument I call those who are said to mourn the deceased the chief mourners In the archaic period, epitaphs usually identify the person who was responsible for the monument, and parents by far outnumber other relations as chief

INTRODUCTION 7

mourners In the later classical period, Athenian verse epitaphs often mention various relations of the deceased but avoid singling out the person responsible for the burial, rather speaking of those who have been left behind to grieve the loss of the deceased

Address to the Passer-by and Reflections Monuments and verse epitaphs were generally designed to be seen and read not only by the family but by any literate passer-by The epitaphs, especially archaic, would directly address the passer-by and ask him to lament the deceased, sometimes supplying a reason for the request Reflections and gnomic expressions were perhaps also meant to emphasize the universality of the message on the gravestone In the later classical period, the address to the passer-by became rare, while the address to the deceased was widespread and seems to have been one way of creating a more private atmosphere in the implicit dialogue between the reader and the deceased

Monument Verse epitaphs identify the object on which they are incised, and not surprisingly they usually include such pointers as T68e crfi~-ta, or ~-tVfi~-ta, or demonstratives such as

ev86:8e or Tij8e, among others Archaic epitaphs more often draw attention to the monument

(T68e crfi~-ta, or ~-tVfi~-ta): "this is the monument of so-and-so," "so-and-so set up this monument for so-and-so," etc., while later classical epitaphs mention the burial site in relation to the deceased and employ the demonstratives ev8a8e or Tijbe, "so-and-so lies here," "the earth here covers the body of so-and-so," etc The monument can sometimes

be described as beautiful, especially in archaic verse epitaphs, and archaic grave markers are sometimes signed by sculptors, which is never the case in the later classical period

Meter and Poetic Diction Here I discuss the literary quality of the epitaphs, which can vary from outstanding to barely an awareness of formal metrical conventions It becomes clear, for example, that in the archaic period those who chose to have a verse epitaph inscribed could ensure that it complied with the requirements of content, diction, and meter; when there are serious flaws in the "meter" of an archaic epitaph, I believe that the inscription was not intended to be verse The situation is very different in the later classical period, when we have epitaphs which the composers clearly intended as verse, but failed to execute as such Departures from the formal requirements of literary poetry reflect, in my view, the incompetence of the composer and not conscious literary experimentation The fact that

INTRODUCTION 8

"higher" genres of poetry did influence verse epitaphs will become clear, and, in Chapter One,

I attempt to analyze the relation between literary elegy and elegiac epitaphs

5 Public Epitaphs and Commemorative Epigrams in the Fifth Century

Chapter Two of my thesis investigates Athenian public verse inscriptions In it, I suggest that the practice of inscribing private verse epitaphs in archaic Athens was so firmly associated with elite families during the time of the Peisistratids that after liberation from tyranny and the reforms of Kleisthenes it was either forbidden or simply considered inappropriate I hope to demonstrate, moreover, that the practice was not simply transferred from the realm of private to public commemoration, but was entirely avoided for approximately half a century During that period there developed a specific genre

of commemorative monuments with epigrams that celebrated the achievements of the Athenian state, or its best representatives, but that were neither dedicatory nor funerary

In addition to this, I investigate in this chapter the tradition of public burial of the war dead and the emergence in the mid fifth century of verse epitaphs honoring those who received public funerals; from here I proceed to discuss in some detail extant public verse epitaphs

6 Material

The main body of material under study here are the verse epitaphs found in the

two volumes of CEG; unless otherwise indicated, I reproduce the texts of CEG (the

numbers of which are printed in bold), with the omission of Hansen's metrical signs in the

lacunae, which I render simply with dashes The dates are also those of CEG unless specified otherwise Texts which are not in CEG (mainly prose epitaphs or verse epitaphs

that were made public after the publication of the collection) will be referred to by their

IG or SEG numbers In my study of public Athenian epigrams from the fifth century, I also include a few texts that survive only in the literary tradition, primarily in the Simonidea These texts are cited as Simonidea (Simon.) in accordance with Denys Page's

Further Greek Epigrams (FGE) Translations of verse epitaphs are mine; for other sources, translations are mine unless specified otherwise

My criteria for considering an inscription to be an Athenian verse epitaph are, for

the archaic material, more rigorous than those of CEG I include only those epitaphs about

which we can be fairly certain that they were metrical (whereas Hansen appears to include

Whereas CEG is the primary source for the inscriptions, information on the physical appearance of a monument and the layout of an inscription is drawn either from IG or

from publications of individual texts Where possible, I also try to refer to reproductions of

monuments in the recent Catalogue of Attic Tombstones by Clairmont, as well as to those

in other editions I give measurements for most of the archaic stones, because with them the dimensions are often important for understanding the type and grandeur of the monument For the later classical material, however, I describe the type of monument where possible, but offer fewer details about physical features The reason for the different approach to the two periods is that in the later classical period we encounter a higher number, greater variety and more complicated typology of monuments; a survey of the material is therefore more effective than detailed analysis For the fifth century, I provide some description of and archeological information about better preserved monuments (as in the case of the so-called Metro Stele ), but generally avoid going into detail about those monuments that survive fragmentarily (e.g the Koroneia or Potidaia monuments) As with archaic monuments, the study of each monument here is accompanied by references to more detailed archeological reports

17

I also apply such categories as "unclear," "likely verse," ''prose with poetic color" for archaic Attic verse epitaphs about which little can be said with any certainty The category of each archaic text is, moreover, identified in the table {Table 1) that is appended to my study

CHAPTER ONE ARCHAIC ATTIC VERSE EPITAPHS

1 Early Archaic Attic Burial Practice to ea 600 BC

A brief survey of some features of the burial customs in Attica during the early archaic period is needed, in order to provide context for our understanding of the practice of marking grave sites with monuments bearing verse epitaphs First, I will outline archaic Attic burial customs prior to the appearance of grave markers with verse epitaphs, and then will attempt to point out some significant changes in burial customs that occurred ea 600 BC and contributed

to the emergence of a certain typology of grave markers which came to be associated with verse epitaphs To pinpoint the peculiarity of the Athenian practice of material display at burial sites after 600 BC, I will need to discuss the evidence both at the local (Athenian) and at the panhellenic level

of the funeral ceremonies 3 Earthen mounds, which covered the most distinctive burials,

1 Knigge 1991, pp 16-24; Kurtz and Boardman 1971, pp 49-67

2

Knigge 1991, p 26

3 Whitley 1994, pp 213-30; Kurtz and Boardman 1971, pp 68-90 The rich finds from funerary deposits contrast with the poor votive deposits found in seventh century Attica, which, in turn, look especially meager in comparison with seventh century votive deposits in such places as Corinth, Argos or Olympia Whitley (1994,

pp 217-218, 224 and passim) points out that this fact, coupled with the lack of evidence for major temple or

I ARCHAIC ATIIC VERSE EPITAPHS ll

were large constructions, varying in size from 4 to 10 m in diameter, and were often crowned

by relatively small ceramic markers, craters or libation vessels; some tumuli were marked by modest stone stelai In comparison, in some other areas of Greece material display at seventh century burial sites attained greater grandeur and elaboration than in Attica; for example,

the grave of Menecrates in Corcyra (143) was marked by a large tumulus which was covered

with dressed stone and which was probably surmounted by a figure of a lion.4 In the practice

of marking gravestones with epitaphs, some areas of Greece such as Corinth and her western colonies were more advanced than Attica, too

north-At some point in the early seventh century the Greeks started to employ not just gravestones, which they must have had earlier (Homeric epic clearly attests the use of grave markers), but also inscribed grave markers.5 The practice of inscribing grave markers with the name of the deceased dates in Greece to an early period and is illustrated by a primitive type of ofn ta, a rough stone marker bearing the name of the deceased; these were found, for example, in Thera, and date to the seventh century.6 Jeffery compares the practice of marking the grave of the dead with the instinct of "marking personal property, of men

or of deities,"7 which accounts for the majority of the earliest Greek inscriptions, and can be also compared to the identifying inscriptions that accompany depictions on vases This type

of inscription I will call a record or label type, since it identifies the object on which it is written as the grave marker of the person who was buried there In the majority of cases these inscriptions provide the name of the deceased and sometimes also the name of the one who carried out the burial and set up the monument Almost simultaneously with the appearance of the practice of recording the name on a grave marker, there appeared an interest in doing something more than simply labeling Along with record type epitaphs, there existed in the seventh century more elaborate verse epitaphs in hexameters such as, for

example, the very epic sounding epitaph for Amiades from Corcyra (145, ea 600?):

sanctuary constructions, indicates that the Athenians of the seventh century may have had little concern for public cult Public cult practice, however, might have involved use of perishable items, such as cattle; but it is

an important consideration that whatever concern the Athenians had for public cult, they did not use their wealth to express it in any lasting material form

4 For restoration of this impressive monument, see Mataranga 1994

5

Scodel (1992, pp 60-61) even argues that the passages in Homer that are reminiscent of epitaphs, such as// 6.459-60 or 7.89-91, reflect an already existing tradition of sepulchral inscriptions, which might have come to Greece from the Near East

6 E.g., /G XII 3.771 1-aBi!la, /G XII 3.783 'ETE6KATJIO

7

LSAG, p 62

I ARCHAIC ATTIC VERSE EPITAPHS

001-la T6Be 'ApvtaBa· xaponos T6vB' OAEicrev "Apes

(3apvci~-tevov napa vavcrllv en' 'Apa8801o phofatm, TIOAAolv aplOTEV(f)ovTa KaTa OTOVOfEOav CxfVTcXV8 This is the grave of Arniadas Ares with flashing eyes destroyed him as he fought by the ships at the streams of Aratthos, displaying the valor amid groaning shouts of war

12

Seventh century Attic inscriptions of various genres are not particularly impressive m comparison with inscriptions from other parts of Greece A couple of seventh century Attic epitaphs are in the tradition of the record type, and are cut on unpretentious grave markers One is a crude marble stele which bears an epitaph on the shaft beside what might be the

traces of a rudimentary relief, IG 13 1194: 'EvtaAo 8vyaTpos 2novBiBol Kepa~-tos crTeAe

The inscription gives the name of a deceased female, followed by two male names, one of which is her father's and the other perhaps her husband's The second one is a rough

triangular slab of limestone that bears the name of the deceased in the genitive case, IG 13

1247: 'EmxapiBo Both stelai are small and roughly finished; their lettering is, to borrow

the expression from IG 13 haud dissimilis They are much closer to the tradition of crude record inscriptions on Thera than to the more refined practice of sepulchral inscriptions in Corinth and her northwestern colonies In respect to funerary inscriptions, therefore, Attica appears to have been a backwater in the seventh century, but this situation changed drastically in the sixth century As writing became more widespread, a stone epitaph was increasingly used Approximately in the second quarter of the sixth century, Athenians started to have funerary epigrams incised on grave markers, and after that archaic Attica ended up producing by far the highest number of sepulchral verses in Greece

Changes ea 600 BC

Ca 600 Attic funerary practice began to change Large tumuli became rare;9 rectangular mounds were substituted with so-called built tombs (or house-tombs), which became smaller towards the middle of the century, especially in Athens.10 The number of offering trenches declined, first in Athens and then in the Attic countryside, and beginning in

8

For epic phrasing of the type found in this epitaph, see I/ 16 669: lTOTOI-IOlO po1Jot; 24.256:

[3opVcXI-IEVOV lTEpl OOTV; 7.89-90: avSpos 1-lEV T65e Oi'j!-10 ov lTOT' CxplOTEVOVTO; Od 11 383:

OTOV6EOOOV CxOTi)V

9 There are some exceptions, the most notable of which is the so-called South Hill in the Kerameikos, see Section 8 It has, however, no offering trench

10 Kurtz and Boardman 1971, pp 79-83

I ARCHAIC ATIIC VERSE EPITAPHS 13

the mid-sixth century they became very rare 11 At the same time, more attention started to be paid to lasting elaborate grave markers In the Late Geometric period monumental grave markers were represented by Dipylon vases, which disappeared in early archaic times and were replaced by smaller kraters during the seventh century The renewal of interest in monumental form is first attested towards the end of the seventh century in the employment

of larger ceramic grave markers, which reached approximately one meter in height, 12 and slightly later in the appearance of large limestone stelai In the early sixth century, marble kouroi began to serve as grave markers, 13 and the most advanced, of which numerous examples exist, are dated to the period from ea 575 on.14

The changes that occurred around 600 in the funeral complexes in the area of the Kerameikos have been explained as a problem of space: there was little room for large tumuli, and built tombs were being constructed directly adjacent to and on top of each other and earlier structures.15 This explanation also suggests that the number of people who opted to bury their dead in certain areas such as by the city gates increased in the first half of the sixth century, that is that certain burial grounds (such as the Kerameikos) at certain centers (such

as Athens) gained some special significance and prestige, and consequently were running out

of space, since too many people wanted to have burial plots there The same tendency, however, is visible outside the city of Athens in the Attic countryside, where space should not have been a consideration, and this fact suggests that simply different patterns of display were adopted Grave markers, which had now been scaled down in size, acquired grandeur

by other means They were set up at prominent locations, such as along roads, and featured either stelai, often with a statue of a sphinx on top, or statues of kouroi or korai, which were set up on a pillar or stepped base These monuments were meant to be observed by any passerby, whom they would impress more by the quality of their artwork than by their sheer

11 For discussion of the development of offering trenches in the Kerameikos, see Ktibler 1959, pp 87-92

12 Knigge 1991, p 27 and fig 22

13

It is still an open question when marble kouroi started to be used as grave markers Knigge (1991, p 27) casts doubt on the idea that the so-called Dipylon Gate Head, ea 600-590?, belonged to a funerary statue, since the size

of this statue would have been considerably greater than life-size, which puts it rather in the company of statues

of youths from sanctuaries The recent finding of the so-called "Kuros vom Heiligen Tor," in the opinion of Niemeier, proves that this kouros, which is also over life-size, along with the Dipylon Gate kouros and the kouros from the Metropolitan Museum in New York, form a series ofkouroi that were used as grave markers as early

as ea 600 (Niemeier 2002, pp 47-53) The new kouros (and also the Dipylon and New York kouroi), however, was found reused, which prevents us from securely establishing both the original context and date of the statue

14

Richter 1960, p 59

15 Kurtz and Boardman 1971, p 82

I ARCHAIC ATIIC VERSE EPITAPHS 14

scale In the preceding century, the finest grave goods were deposited in offering trenches and were not meant to be seen ever again The splendid monuments of the early sixth century were designed for the permanent display of the taste, status and wealth of the families to whom they belonged As at any period, reverent burial constituted part of the duty that the living owed the dead, but only a fraction of the population could and would articulate this duty by means of an enduring and splendid grave marker In both the seventh and sixth centuries this fraction of the population in Athens was perhaps fairly small, and the change in funerary display pertained probably not to the number of families who could and would spend lavishly on funerary arrangements but rather to kinds of material display It appears to

be significant that the increasing employment of the written word in the second quarter of the sixth century to identify a grave marker followed closely or coincided with the shift in emphasis from a grandiose funeral ceremony with rich offerings to an elaborate and prominently located grave marker, that is from a display confined in time (rituals) and to

a particular audience (those present at the ceremony) to one that was permanent (statue or stele) and publicly accessible (for any passerby to behold)

Solon's Funeracy Legislation

Changes observed in the archeological evidence for funerary practices in Athens naturally lead scholars to seek a correlation between these changes and the Solonian funerary legislation16 which is attested in three separate, albeit relatively late, sources,

[Demosthenes] 43.62, Cicero De legibus 2.59, and Plutarch Solon 21 [Demosthenes] alludes

to Solon's stipulation concerning funerary arrangements (such as place and time) and to the

restrictions on the participation of women in the prothesis and ekphora; Cicero claims that

16 Morris' attempt to demonstrate that the existence of Solon's funerary legislation finds no support in the archeological record since "[t]here is no particular break in Athenian burial customs around 600 B.C." (1992b,

p 37) is not convincing Such phenomena as the disappearance of offering trenches and diminution in the size

of the tumuli and built tombs, coupled with the appearance of sculptured stelai and statues, seem undeniable, even if they cannot be dated precisely Morris' argument for the continued increase from 700 through the late sixth century in the scale of grave markers in Athens rests on the existence of the so-called Mound G (for a short description of this tumulus see Knigge 1991, pp 105-106), which is dated ea 560, and appears to provide evidence that sixth century tumuli were no smaller than their seventh century predecessors This tumulus in fact can be seen as a counter example to Morris' argument Although there have been various suggestions for the identity of the family whose members were associated with this mound, all scholars agree that the burial was exceptional and Kiibler, who excavated the mound, even thought that it might have been Solon's own tomb (Kiibler 1959, p 85; Kiibler 1976, pp 5-21) The mound stands out, precisely because the practice of erecting large tumuli was by then no longer current The development of archaic Attic grave stelai, from the earlier composite to later monolithic type, also contradicts the theory of continuous increase of material display at burial sites

I ARCHAIC A TIIC VERSE EPITAPHS 15

Solon limited expenditure on funerary attire and musicians, and forbade mourners from

lacerating their cheeks and staging /essum funeris, which he explains as lugubris eiulatio

Plutarch gives the most detailed account of several laws that aimed to curb license and disorder at funerals (particularly that caused by women) by lessening funerary expenses and prohibiting mourners from lacerating themselves and from lamenting anyone else but the person being buried.17 Literary evidence, therefore, depicts Solon's funerary legislation as a) curtailing expenses for the funerary ceremony; b) restricting the ceremony to a certain place and time; c) limiting attendance and restraining emotional outbursts of women Plutarch explains the reforms as an attempt to end the feuding between the families of Kylon

and Megakles which followed the assassination of the former by the latter (Solon 12).18 Archeological evidence, as we saw, does suggest that the emphasis in material display

at the burial site was, at least in some respects, transferred from funerary ceremonies to permanent and impressive grave markers The scaling down of funerary ceremony would correspond to the spirit of the Solonian legislation, but I would be hesitant to assert that it was Solonian legislation that caused aristocratic funerary display to include grave markers of grandeur Solon's laws and the archeologically documented changes in funerary display might well represent various facets of an emerging social and political situation in which restrictions on outbursts of human emotion and regulation of material display at certain ceremonies started to play a bigger role

2 Archaic Attic Verse Epitaphs in Context

Typology of Monuments Associated with Verse Epitaphs

The majority of archaic Attic epitaphs was inscribed on the bases of either a statue

or of an elaborate stele Earlier statues were primarily standing kouroi or korai, but in the last third of the sixth century there also appeared seated figures and equestrian statues Marble and limestone were employed, but so far there is no evidence for the use of bronze statues in funerary markers The stelai were tall, fairly narrow dressed slabs of marble or limestone with a depiction on the shaft that might be rendered in low relief, incision or paint The stelai of the first three quarters of the sixth century comprised a separate base and fmial,

17

See the excellent and brief account in Garland 1989, pp 3-5, as well as Engels 1998, pp 77-96

18 Alexiou (1974, p 21) puts it well: "In the inflammatory atmosphere of the blood feud between the families of Megakles and Kylon that was raging in Solon's time, what more effective way could there be to stir up feelings

of revenge than the incessant lamentation at the tomb by large numbers of women for 'those long dead'?"

I ARCHAIC ATIIC VERSE EPITAPHS 16

often in the shape of a sphinx, whereas the stelai of the last third of the century had a simpler finial which was carved in one piece with the shaft, but retained separate bases The height and thickness of these later so-called monolithic stelai were less than those of the earlier so-called composite stelai The narrow shaft of a stele was most conducive to the depiction of a standing figure in profile; in the majority of cases it is a figure of a standing young man who is turned

to the right Mature men are also sometimes represented, and towards the end of the century there appeared the type of an older man leaning on a staff, occasionally accompanied by

a dog.19 In at lest one case the main male figure is attended by a smaller female one.20 In the lower part of the stele, below the principal composition, there could be a separate field with another depiction in relief or painted;21 these panels are sometimes called predellae,

on the analogy with medieval altar compositions Capitals of the composite stelai could

be decorated additionally with carved or painted scenes Women never appear on their own

on the narrow shaft stelai, but at the end of the sixth century there developed a type of wide, thin stelai that did depict seated women, perhaps with attendants

Although a surviving epitaph can rarely be securely identified with a particular monument, the remaining base often preserves traces of joints from which it is possible to guess the original type and scale of the monument The monuments that are associated with verse epitaphs in archaic Attica, primarily sculpture in the round and tall stelai, must have been distinguished by their cost Indeed, many of these monuments are of island marble, which had to be transported to Athens More importantly, they were often the best examples of sculpture of the period and were wrought by leading sculptors of the day, some of whom even signed their works.22 Besides cost, setting up such grave markers required considerable knowledge and appreciation of aesthetic norms on the part of the families who would commission them Inscribing a grave marker with a verse epitaph-and virtually all archaic Attic verse epitaphs were inscribed on the grave markers of grandeur-was confined to a circle of people who knew poetic norms well and could afford conspicuous monuments, which were distinguished both by their cost and aesthetic qualities

These scenes may include some cavalry motives (Richter 1961, figs 128, 154, 159, etc.), or a depiction of

a Gorgon (figs 83 and 84)

22

See Section 6

I ARCHAIC AITIC VERSE EPITAPHS 17

The proportion of these people to the entire population of Attica must have been small, and

we may regard them as members of the elite

Display and Layout of Archaic Attic Verse Epitaphs

Grave markers consisted of sculpture in the round or stelai, which were often mounted

on stepped bases oflimestone or marble Verse epitaphs were most often incised on the front surface of the upper block of a stepped base A stepped base could have three or four blocks, each measuring approximately 0.3 m in height, which means that the surface that included the epitaph would be elevated enough to assist reading Sometimes epitaphs were inscribed

on the predella in the lower part of the main shaft Archaic Attic funerary inscriptions never appear to have been placed on the sculpture itself, as is often the case with Attic dedicatory inscriptions or funerary inscriptions in other parts of Greece Beginning with the earliest extant examples, the writing in verse epitaphs is neat and careful, and letters are generally large, ranging from 0.025 m to 0.04 m; sometimes traces of paint over the incised letters and guidelines are preserved Punctuation marks might be employed to mark the end of a verse (e.g 13, 19, 51), but more often they separate words or groups of closely joined words, for

example XatpeOEI-lO = T68e oe11a = TraTep eoTe[oe I 8]av6vTos = (14, line 1) These

marks must have been meant to assist the reader, since the texts were continuous and empty spaces were avoided-a feature characteristic of the archaic "carpeting" style of writing

As a result of this style, both words and verses were often divided at line end In a few cases, the splitting of words between lines is avoided by the calculated spacing of the letters (e.g 24, 27), which must have required the investment of particular care in the arrangement

of the inscription At least in one case (24) the inscribed face of the base is framed with double incisions to underscore the decorative appearance of the inscribed surface Generally, much effort was put into making a verse epitaph at once a decorative part of the tombstone and a presenter of the most legible text possible The act of reading an early Attic epitaph did not require much deciphering or walking around the monument/3 and any passer-by, assuming he was literate, could quite easily see and read the inscription

23

Contrast the Attic practice with, for example, the dedication at Delphi, LSAG, p 103, no 4

I ARCHAIC ATIIC VERSE EPITAPHS 18

Verse vs Prose

IG I3 lists 101 private epitaphs that date from the beginning of the practice to before

ea 500-480, when the tradition of inscribing private epitaphs was interrupted Three texts,

1245, 1264, and 1273 are of an entirely unclear nature and might well be non-sepulchral,

while one epitaph (29) is not included in JG I3 because it is inscribed a clay tablet Thus, there are 99 archaic epitaphs, which I divide into the following categories: verse (43), likely-verse (9), unclear (18), prose (26), and prose with some poetic features (3).24 The ratio

of verse epitaphs to all epitaphs in archaic Attica is between 53% and 64%, depending on whether we count only verse or both verse and likely-verse against the total number of epitaphs, excluding those that are unclear (that is either a proportion of 43 to 81 or 52 to 81) Although my criteria for considering an epitaph metrical are somewhat more restrictive than those in the collections of Peek or even Hansen, since I distinguish categories of "unclear" and "likely verse" epitaphs/5 the resulting ratio of verse to all epitaphs in archaic Attica (at the very least, halfl) is higher than it would be at any other time and in any other place in Greece Notwithstanding the fact that precise dating is unattainable, the relative distribution

of verse and prose epitaphs during the sixth century is clearly uneven, with patterns being different in the period before ea 525 from those at the end of the century.26 In the earlier period the percentage of verse to all epitaphs is higher than in the last decades of the century

A relatively high number of inscriptions in the "unclear" category might somewhat skew the results, but the general tendency for verse to outnumber prose epitaphs in the earlier period is undeniable It appears, therefore, that when the practice of inscribing grave markers appeared and became widespread in Attica in the second and third quarters of the sixth century, most people who chose to commemorate their dead with a lasting inscription preferred to do so in metrical form Towards the end of the century the practice of marking the grave monument with a prose epitaph (usually recording just the name of the deceased) became equally or even more common

26 The date of ea 525 is artificial and does not correspond to any historical date

I ARCHAIC ATTIC VERSE EPITAPHS 19

the identity of the deceased and the chief mourner, they most commonly expand to add expressions of praise or grief They can supply some personal information, such as the origin, if it was not Athens, of the deceased, and in some cases they address the passer-by and ask him or her to join in the lament Some epitaphs also include references to and short descriptions of the burial or the monument Analysis of the elements of verse epitaphs provides us with some idea of what was perceived to be most memorable and praiseworthy about the deceased and of what was felt most grievous about his or her fate

Death in War

Death on the battlefield is the supreme sacrifice of self to society, the supremely memorable and praiseworthy act It can fall to both the young and old, but when it comes to the young it is the most grievous fate Death in war, that is on behalf of others, is more than

a private family matter and arouses the grief of everybody; Tyrtaeus describes how the entire community of an archaic city laments the one who fell on the battlefield:

Tov s· 6Ao<pupovTat 1-1ev 61-1CJs ve01 fJSe yepovTEs, apyaAEc.vl Se n68c.vtncrcra KEKT)OE lTOAts (12 27-28)

In two archaic Attic verse epitaphs praise and grief for the young man who perished at war

is given more universal significance by a request to the passer-by, whoever he happens to be,

to join in the lamentation The first example is found in one of the fmest Attic verse epitaphs, which commemorates a certain Tettichos who perished at war (13, ea 575-550?):

[ehe acrT6]s TlS avep ehe xcrevosl aAo8ev eA8ov : Thtxov oiKTipals avSp' aya8ov napho,:

ev noAEI-lOl I <p811-1evov, veapav he!3ev 6Aecrav1Ta : TauT' CxlTOOVpCxl-lEVOl vecr8e ElTil npcry1-1' aya86v

Let anyone, whether townsman or foreigner from abroad, before going further pity noble Tettichos who died in war, having destroyed his tender youth Having performed your lamentation, proceed to worthy deeds

The inscription is incised on a block of island marble which was recovered in Sepolia, north of Athens The block might have been the top block of a stepped base, which would have been surmounted by a tall stele representing a warrior, although a kouros remains

a possibility 27 Jeffery calls the lettering of this inscription delicate and fine, reminiscent

of the inscribing style of the vase painter Sophilos in the second quarter of the sixth century:

27

IGAA, p 133, no 34, pl 38:a Richter thinks that the base consisted only of the surviving inscribed block,

that is it was not a stepped base, and discounts the possibility of its carrying a statue (1961, p 25, no 36, fig 203) The dimensions ofthe block are H 0.29 m, W 0.70 m, Th 0.53 m

I ARCHAIC A TIIC VERSE EPITAPHS 20

the epitaph is inscribed boustrophedon; the letters evenly cover the surface of the stone and,

as a result, verses and even words are split between lines, while punctuation marks signal verse ends and thus assist reading

Words of lament (the request to the passer-by to lament the deceased) and grief (the reference to the youth of Tettichos) dominate the epigram Praise is implied in the reference to Tettichos' death on the battlefield, but, otherwise, it is confmed to the formulaic avi]p aya86s, "noble and virtuous man." Tettichos' status as aya86s is also emphasized

by the final verse in which the passer-by himself is urged to proceed to npO:y1-1' aya86v Although the common meaning of the adjective aya86s might be "well-born," in the final verse it connotes something "praise-worthy," since it is to a praise-worthy act that the verse urges the passer-by to proceed

Another well known and well preserved epitaph commemorating a warrior is that for Kroisos (27, ea 540-530?):

crTe8t : Kal oiKTtpov : Kpoicro lnapa cre~-ta 8av6vTos : h6v I noT' ev\ lTPOI-ICxXOIS : oAeae I Sopos : , Apes

Halt and mourn by the tomb of the deceased Kroisos, whom, as he fought once28 on the front lines, fierce Ares destroyed

The verse is inscribed on the middle block of a stepped base of Parian marble, which was found in Southern Attica in Anavyssos, in an area that held numerous rich graves and yielded three kouroi.29

The base is associated with the so-called Anavyssos, or Kroisos, kouros,

a superb statue 2.01 m in height, which was found approximately in the same area and at

28

What TIOTE (translated here as "once") means in inscriptional epigrams has been the subject of some discussion Wade-Gery (1930, pp 72-82) suggests that the word indicates some significant lapse of time between

erection of the inscribed monument and the event which the epitaph refers to Page (FGE, pp 270-271),

however, argues that the composer of an epitaph intends it for posterity and is looking to the future reader, for whom the described event would have happened "once upon a time." Page adduces several examples of the employment of the word in private funerary inscriptions from various periods, which, he claims, "assure us that the composer was not including the word TIOTE in order to take account of some lapse of time between death and burial." The examples that Page cites, however, mask an important tendency in verse epitaphs before

ea 400, both at Athens as well as in other parts of Greece, namely that during this period TIOTE occurs almost exclusively in epitaphs for those who died in war; in later funerary verses the word can be used in various contexts It seems, therefore, that in earlier verses TIOTE is employed to elevate the message which is conveyed

by the epitaph, and Robbins (1990, pp 308-309) offers the compelling suggestion that in early inscriptions the employment of TIOTE raises the commemorated men to the level of epic heroes

29

IGAA, pp 143-146, no 57; for photographs of both the inscription and the kouros see, among others,

Clairmont 1970, pi 2; Viviers 1992, figs 27, 47-48 The dimensions of the block, which forms the front half

of the middle step ofthe base, are H 0.24 m, W 0.81 m, Th 0.51 m

I ARCHAIC ATTIC VERSE EPITAPHS 21

the same time as the base with the epitaph for Kroisos.30 The inscription preserves traces of red paint which must have alleviated the task of reading the letters; the engraver inserted punctuation marks and ensured that words were not divided between lines As in Tettichos' epitaph, the verse opens by addressing the passer-by with the request to stop and lament Kroisos, whom furious Ares-a rare reference to a god in archaic epitaphs destroyed The expression might have derived from Tyrtaeus' elegy in which immortal fame and memory

is promised to a man who gives up his life in battle for the sake of his land and people:

miSe lTOTE KAEOS ea8Aov CxlTOAAVTat ovS' OVOI-l' a\JToO, aAA' VlTO yiis nep ewv yivETat 6:8avaTOS,

OVTtv' aptOTEVOVTa 1-!EVOVTcX TE 1-!apVcXI-lEVOV TE yfis nept Kal nai8c.Jv 8o0pos "Aplls 6Aeallt (12.31-34) Although the epitaph, much in the spirit of epitaphs for those who died in war (as we have already seen in the epitaph for Tettichos), says nothing about Kroisos' family, fortunately for

us his very name might tell us something J effery suggests that this Kroisos was a son of the famous Alkmeon and was named Kroisos after the Lydian king, the great benefactor

of Alkmeon.31 Of course, our Kroisos might have been not a son but some other relation of Alkmeon; nevertheless, as J K Davies concurs, "there is no Athenian family with a better claim on the name than the Alkmeonidai."32

This family of splendid means and fme taste presents us with a characteristic example of what class of people in archaic Attica would choose to inscribe a verse epitaph

A fragmentary epitaph found in an unrecorded place in Attica (30, ea 535-530) must have commemorated a man who perished in war, but too little survives from what appears originally to have been a long verse inscription; even the meter of the epitaph cannot be determined The epitaph seems to have had some form of the verb aptaTevc.J which was preceded by OTE, and the juxtaposition of these two words indicates that in its praise

30 Although the kouros has been mounted on the base in the National Museum, there remains some doubt whether the two actually belong together, see IGAA, p 144 Furthermore, it cannot be ruled out that a base

of these dimensions, which was inscribed on the wide surface, supported a stele rather than a statue, so J Day,

per ep Richter is inclined to accept the joining of the base and the kouros (1960, pp 115 and 118-119, no 136)

"un chefmilitaire a la solde du pouvoir" who was killed probably at the beginning ofHippias' tyranny (p 124)

I ARCHAIC A TIIC VERSE EPITAPHS 22

of the deceased the epigram referred to death on the battlefield The epitaph was inscribed

on the marble base of a tall stele depicting a warrior in relief on the main shaft above quadrigae driven by two charioteers, which are incised in the predella; the stele was surmounted by a statue of a sphinx.33

Virtues ofthe Deceased Words of praise in archaic Attic verse epitaphs are few in number, limited in variety, and vague in meaning The commonest epithet to be applied to a man is aya86s, whether employed alone (13, 14, 42) or coupled with ow<ppc.Jv (16, 34, 36) The deceased of 31 (ea 540-520?) was haml:oes I vov TE Kat CxV?[pe]av exooxos heAlKlClS (lines 1-2); Xenophantos in 41 (ea 530-520?) is praised for his apeTi) and Oc.J<ppoouvTJ, and so is Anaxilas from Naxos in 58 (ea 51 0-500?) Towards the end of the century the variety of qualities alluded to in verse epitaphs becomes somewhat greater 67 and 69 (both ea 500?) present relatively long lists that include such characteristics as the traditional OW<ppc.JV,

along with the previously unattested EU~VVETOS, ~EVIKOS, lTlVVTOS, evoo~os, and 1TlOT6s;34 the ending of 69, naoav hexovT' apETEV, will become a cliche in later classical epitaphs (it

is conveniently adaptable to the deceased of both sexes: naoav EXCJJV or exovo' apETi)v)

In two cases the aristocratic origin of the deceased is mentioned: the Sarnian Leanax, son of Heragoras, is called yevva'los avi)p (52, ea 510?), and Ameinias in 78 (ea 480?) is commemorated for some virtue (the word for which is lost except for the last two letters) and for his yevea, "race."

One verse epitaph, which I include here (albeit not without some doubt that it is an epitaph), refers to the oocp(a of a iaTpOS aptOTOS (62, ea 510-500):

IJVEIJCl T68' Aiveo oocp(as iaTpo ap(oTo

This is a memorial to the wisdom of Aineias, an excellent doctor

The inscription is incised on a marble disk bearing a depiction of a seated bearded man I think the disk might actually be a dedication, because the language is typical of dedications,35 and there is no reference to the death of Aineias Furthermore, the dimensions

33 For the sphinx, see Richter 1961, p 29, no 38, figs 110-114, and for the stele, see pp 32-33, no 45, figs 126-128 For the inscription, see Clairmont 1974, p 224

34 See the discussion of 67 below

35

Cf dedications 252, 270, 272, etc

I ARCHAIC AITIC VERSE EPITAPHS 23

of this disk are much smaller (Dm 0.27 m, Th 0.02 m) than the only known inscribed disk that was certainly used to mark a grave (/G 13 1516; Dm 0.49 m, Th 0.05 m).36 If Aineias' disk, however, is funerary, his epitaph is the earliest example from Attica of an epitaph to a doctor, which is one of the most frequently mentioned occupations both in literary sources, beginning with Homeric epic, and verse epitaphs from the fourth century on 37

However few and vague are the words which are used in verse epitaphs to praise men, their variety is large in comparison with those used for a woman Women, who are commemorated in at least seven verse epitaphs, are usually lamented but very seldom praised Among inscriptional funerary verses, there is only one example, the epitaph for

a non-Athenian named Lampito (66), who is called aiool11, "respectful" or "seemly"-a common Homeric epithet which can be applied to women of different ages Another example of a verse epitaph that praises the woman it commemorates is the epitaph from Lampsakos for Archedike.38 The two couplet epitaph is quoted by Thucydides (6.59), while

Aristotle (Rhet 1367b) cites only verse 3, which he assigns to Simonides Although

Aristotle's ascription might (or might not) be the result of a later anecdotal tradition, there

is little ground to doubt that the verses cited by Thucydides were indeed inscribed at Lampsakos upon Archedike's tombstone:

avopos aptOTEVOOVTOS ev EAAaOt TWV eq) eaUTOU

· hrnlov 'ApxeBtKllV floe KeKev8e Kovts·

f)naTpos TE Kat CxVOpos aOeAcpwv T' ovoa TVpcXVVc.JV natOc.JV T' OVK f}pe , vouv es CxTao8aAtllV (=Simon 26a)

Here the earth covers Archedike the daughter of Hippias who excelled those of his time in Hellas Although she was a daughter, wife, sister and mother of tyrants, she did not lift her mind to arrogance

This epitaph is quite different from archaic Attic verse epitaphs in that it is more poetic and more opaque than an archaic epitaph In the opening verse Hippias appears to be highly

esteemed, but the second couplet seems to imply that tyrannoi are prone to aTao8aAtll,

from which Archedike, however, managed to abstain If the epigram were composed before

36 Clairrnont provides a good survey of arguments on both sides; he himself argues that the disk was votive (1970, pp 17-20)

37 Cf Od 17.384-387, and see Ch 3 Section 3 for my discussion of activities commemorated in later classical

~fii·~phls.d me u e It m my ana ysis o praise expressions ecause It IS tOr an · · I · f · b c Ath eman woman, a t oug I h h I exc u e It I d from my count of archaic Attic verse epitaphs because it was probably composed later (that is after the Persian Wars) than the period we generally designate "archaic," and during the time when the tradition to inscribe gravestones with verse epitaphs came to a halt in Athens

I ARCHAIC ATTIC VERSE EPITAPHS 24

the liberation of Lampsakos from tyrants, that is before 479, it would explain well the praise

of Hippias but not the implication that Archedike's husband, brothers and sons were tyrants and inclined to aTao8aAtll The latter is a strong word that denotes the committing

of arrogant acts without regard for their consequences In Herodotus 3.80 aTao8aAtll is directly connected with tyranny, and the speech of Otanes provides a background against which we can read Archedike's epitaphs:

KCJs B' 8:v Eill XPiil la KOTllPTlli IEVOV I IOUVapxlll, Tij E~EOTl aveu8vv~

lTOlEElV Ta (3ovAETat; Kal yap 8:v TOV aplOTOV avBpCJv lTClVTC JV OTclVTa es TOVTllV TflV apxi]v EKTOS TWV ecu86TCUV VOlll lclTCUV OTi]OElE 'EyytVETat l leV yap oi v(3pts V'TIO TWV nape6VTCUV aya8CJv, q>86vos Be apxii8ev El lq>VETat av8pwn~ l:ivo B' excuv Ta0Ta EXEl m]oav KOKOTllTO" Ta I IEV yap v(3pl KEKOPlli IEVOS epBet lTOAAa Kat aT6:o8aAa, Ta Be q>86v~

"How can a monarchy be a suitable thing? The monarch may do what he pleases, with none

to check him afterwards Take the best man on earth and put him outside of the thoughts that have been wont to guide him Outrageousness is bred in him by reason of the good things he has, and envy is basic in the nature of man He has these two qualities, then, and in them he has all evil Out of his satiety his outrageousness grows, and he does many appalling things out of that; but he does many out of envy, too." (trans Grene)

With Herodotus in mind, let us explore the possibility that the epitaph for Archedike was composed and incised after the liberation of Lampsakos, perhaps even a considerable time later-Archedike may have lived into the 460s or even 450s, 39 or the epitaph could have been inscribed not immediately after Archedike's death The reference to Hippias as aptoTevoas

ev 'EAAaBt TWV eq>' eaUTOV might simply mean that he excelled all other men of Greece

of his time; he was, that is, the most prominent man ofhis time The expression eq>' EOUTOV

might be a very carefully chosen qualifier of Hippias' excellence and a strong pointer to the past Hippias' reputation in Lampsakos might not have been that bad-after all, he was not a tyrant there At Lampsakos he could even have had the reputation of "a good king" and

of an exiled hero who, along with his family, was blackmailed into retreat when the children

of the family were caught being secretly transported out of the country.40 Archedike

therefore was the daughter of a man who once was the most powerful man in Greece, in the

distant and most famous city of Athens Archedike's brothers, husband and children, however, were tyrants in Lampsakos or perhaps in some other cities in the region

39 All what we know is that Archedike was married in or shortly after 514 (Thucydides 6.59), which suggests that she was born by ea 528

40 Herodotus 5.65

I ARCHAIC ATTIC VERSE EPITAPHS 25

Their wrong-doings, their ul3pts and cXTao8aA(ll, would have been well remembered and perhaps often commented on in Lampsakos After the fall of tyranny in Lampsakos and following the battle at Mykale, the tyrants presumably paid their TlotS (as I pointed out above,

CXTao8aA(ll denotes action with disregard for consequences and is often invoked in the context of retribution41

), but Archedike had no share in their irresponsible actions and never put her mind outside of the proper bonds, although, theoretically, she might have been tempted by all the power that surrounded her Having had no share in their arrogance, she was liable to no Ttots; still, her family affiliation was of course undeniable Perhaps her burial was arranged by a relative who was apprehensive of her "tyrannical" origin and chose to address the touchy issue openly and to dispel at once all possible accusations, so that no wrongs associated with the tyrants of Lampsakos would thwart the memory of Archedike The virtue of Archedike, which her epitaph praises, could have been described simply as

sophrosyne (which is the virtue most commonly singled out among women in verse

epitaphs of the fifth and fourth centuries), but it would not have protected her memory from associations with tyranny The open acknowledgement of her relations to the tyrants might have been the best way to mitigate the feelings of the people of Lampsakos towards a member of the family for which they were unlikely to feel much respect

Two more formal points should be mentioned The author of Archedike 's epigram does not use the formulaic language of epitaphs, but may rather have offered innovations that would be imitated later,42 and thus Aristotle's ascription of the epitaph to a famous poet is not surprising, even if it is by no means trustworthy (although it is not entirely impossible, since Simonides might have died as late as the mid-460s).43 The phrasing of the fourth verse is rather exceptional While the deceased is often praised for his or her virtue, or in one case

is said to have been virtuous in spirit and bravery (yap haml:oes vov Te Kal avo[pe]av

41 C£, for example, Theognis 735-736:

miTov E-rretTa mx:\1v Teiom KaKa, llTJB' h' 6Tiioow lTOTpO) chao8aAi011TOIOl yeVOIVTO KOK6V

The word and its cognates are applied regularly to the suitors in the Odyssey It denotes, on the one hand, their arrogance and irresponsibility, and, on the other, points to impending retribution

42 The expression nBe KEKev8e K6VI), for example, does not appear on stone before 400 BC, but becomes common in later funerary epigrams-and might have been coined in Archedike's epitaph

43 See Molyneux (1992, pp 307-341) for a brief assessment of various ancient and modern chronologies of Simonides' life

I ARCHAIC A ITIC VERSE EPITAPHS 26

exaoxos heAtKias, 31, ea 540-520?), employment of the term voOs to describe the character

or life of the deceased does not appear in archaic epitaphs

Origin of the Deceased

As a general rule, epitaphs speak of the origin of the deceased only when it differs from the place of burial Death far from home was viewed as a particularly deplorable fate, and it appears as one of the themes of special grief in the earliest Greek verse epitaphs (for

example, 143) Earliest surviving archaic Attic verse epitaphs which explicitly refer to

death far from the fatherland date to only the end of the sixth century; a few earlier

epitaphs to foreigners were in prose (for example, IG I3 1344 for a Karian, ea 525-520?,

IG 13 1349 for a Delian, ea 530?; IG 13 1372 for a Teian, ea 525-500?), and they simply stated the origin of the deceased It might have been the case that foreigners in Attica did not start putting verse epitaphs on funerary monuments until the last decades of the century, or if they did follow the practice earlier, perhaps they preferred not to indicate their origin and thereby make their epitaphs virtually indistinguishable from those that the Athenians would inscribe for their dead The latter scenario might be reflected in the epitaph for Neilonides,

son ofNeilon, apparently a non-Athenian (42, ea 525?):

I TiatOos NeAovos NeiAovioo eaT\ TO OEIJia

os )(\Jot {To} a[ya]Sotl {t} IJVEIJO ETIOlEI (sic) xalpiev

II "Evootos K[a]l T6vo' enoie

I This is the tomb of Neilonides son of Neilon who made a fine monument for his virtuous son as well

11 Endoios made this [tomb? statue?44] too

The epitaph seems45

to be somewhat below contemporary standards since Attic epitaphs of this period are generally executed with greater care The monument which bore the epitaph, however, must have been of considerable grandeur since it comprised a statue of a kouros and a base with a depiction of a seated man either in low relief or painted incision,46

and it was signed by Endoios, a sculptor so famous that later tradition believed him to be the pupil

44 The masculine T6v5E is rather unusual since most words denoting a monument are neuter (aiiJJa, IJViiJJa,

or even ayaAJJa); possible masculine words could be Kovpos (c£ 266) or TVJJ(3os

45 The inscription was obliterated before or during construction of the Themistoklean Walls and is hardly

legible, see IGAA, p 127, no.19, and DAA, pp 493-494

46 For a detailed discussion, including photographs and drawings of the monument, see Keesling 1999 The dimensions ofthe base are H 0.401, W 0.715 m, Th 0.631 m

I ARCHAIC A TIIC VERSE EPITAPHS 27

ofDaidalos (Pausanias 1.26.4) Hansen suggests that Neilon was a Samian,47 and if this is so,

it might perhaps explain the awkwardness of the verse: if it was Neilon who composed the epigram or at least collaborated and looked after the composition-he would not perhaps have been as skillful as members of the Athenian elite, since there does not appear to have been a tradition of inscribing verse epitaphs on Samos.48

Endoios was also responsible for the grave monument of Lampito, who was buried in Athens far from her fatherland (66, ea 500?):

e[v8a]5e <1>1[ -ea 10 -]Ios KaTe8eiKE Savocrav : J\[a! rrr.I]To ai5oiev yes chrlo lraTpo·tes :

"Ev801os e1roiecrev

Here Phi from (?) os buried seemly Lampito (?) who passed away far from her fatherland

Endoios made it

The epitaph is inscribed on the front surface of the upper block of the stepped base that once carried a wide stele.49 The name Lampito (which appears quite plausible since the letters/\, and TO are undoubtedly on the stone and are separated by enough space to accommodate

four letters) is attested twice for a Spartan (Herodotus 6.71 and in Aristophanes Lys.) and in

a later source for a Samian (Athenaeus 593 e-f) It is generally assumed that Samos is the likeliest origin of Lampito, because the epigram displays Ionic forms, namely ai5oiev and

TI"aTpotes; these forms, however, are Homeric and would probably be spelled so in the Attic

dialect, too, since the spelling with alpha seems to be characteristic only of proper Doric

dialects, such as that of Pindar or the Doric lyrics of Euripides In other words, these

adjectives are spelled with alpha in those dialects that would have spelled the genitive of yfi

as yas, not yes, as we have in the epitaph Thus, we can say that the dialect of Lampito's epitaph is not Doric, but it is impossible to determine whether it is Attic-Ionic or Eastern Ionic, as found on Samos It would help if we could decipher more of the first line, and it has

47 The uncommon name Neilon is attested in the 5th and 3rd centuries BC on Samos, LGPN I, s.v Nei:\c.uv Viviers (1992, pp 71-75) gathers a variety of evidence that plausibly suggests (although does not prove) that the family was oflonian, and more precisely Samian, origin

48 No verse epitaph of the 6th or 5th centuries survives from Samos, and the two surviving 4th century verse epitaphs are likely (683) or certainly (684) for Athenians who died on Samos, and were composed under Athenian influence; I do not include 685 her because it dates to ea 300?

49 See the detailed discussion of the base, with drawings and a photograph, in Vi viers 1992, pp 84-86, figs 8-10 The dimensions of the block, as in Viviers, are H 0.157 m, W 0.765 m, Th 0.292 m, whereas JG e 1380 provides somewhat smaller measurements, H 0.14 m, W 0.765 m, Th 0.24 m, and these are in agreement with

Jeffery's, IGAA, p 130, no 24

I ARCHAIC ATIIC VERSE EPITAPHS 28

been proposed50 to restore the name of the chief mourner as <l>t[ATta8es LcXI-lhos or

naphos, but other ethnics could fit, too Moreover, the first line of the text is very poorly preserved, and photographs show that only .8E and KA "fE6EKE (which can be either

KaTe8eKe or Ka\ e8nKe) are certain, and that the two letters following .8E might be <1>1, <l>A,

61, or 6A Didier Viviers, who examined the stone, reports that he was unable to find any traces of other letters 51 The content of the first line is therefore unclear and is of no help

in determining the origin of the chief mourner, which in any case could have been different from that of Lampito In the end, all that we know is that Lampito died far from her fatherland, and this was felt to be a particularly mournful fate 52

The epitaph for Leanax son ofHeragoras announces that he was Samian (52, ea 510?) Leanax' grave monument comprised a marble statue mounted on a stepped marble base, but the type of the statue has been debated Viviers convincingly argues that the statue likely represented a seated figure, because the original upper surface of the base and cutting for the stele were large and close to a square 53 The epitaph reads thus:

I es Lal-ltOlS yevvaios avnp VlTO OTJI-laTl Twt8e I

A@va~ 'Hpay6ps_c.:> KEtTat aTioTipo <ptAc.:>v

11 <l>!Aepyos eTiolncrev

Ill [Aeav ]~KTOS

I From among the Samians, a highborn man lies under this tomb, Leanax son of Heragoras, far from those dear to him

11 Philergos made it

Ill OfLeanax

Leanax' foreign origin is proudly stated in the first verse; it is also emphasized by the consistent employment of Ionic script in the epigram, which is also a feature of other

50 Wilhelm 1909, pp 33-35

51 Viviers 1992, pp 86-86

52

The words and expressions which are used to describe Lampito and her fate are highly poetic and frequently occur in Homeric epic (for example ev yailJ naTpwfl:l in Od 13.189, aiSoiTJ napaKOITIS in Od 3.451, etc.)

53 Viviers 1992, pp 103-108 He restores (p 106) the upper surface of the base as H 0.306 m L 0.945 m,

Th 1.01 m (p.Th 0.474-0.505 m); and of the cutting as L 0.705 m, W 0.77 (p.W 0.34-0.365 m), D 0.02 In fact, they could be even closer to a square, and in any event are very close to the dimensions of the base of Anaxilas' monument (58) which must have represented a seated figure (base H 0.30 m, L 0.92 m, Th 0.92 m; cutting L 0.73 m, W 0.73 m, D 0.03 m) It is impossible to know how the statue was turned and thus it is indeterminable which surface of the base was the front, but I follow the convention to call the surface with the epitaph and the signature (I and 11) the front, and the one with the name of the deceased {Ill) the side surface Viviers conveniently provides both a drawing and a photograph of the base of Leanax's monument (p 104, fig 17 and p 108, fig 18)

I ARCHAIC ATTIC VERSE EPITAPHS 29

surviving epitaphs to Samians in Athens (JG 13 1366, 1368, and probably 1367) The verse tells us that Leanax was buried far from his <piAot which perhaps means that his family remained on Samos and that Leanax himself did not settle in Athens, as seems to have been the case with Anaxilas (58) or Neilon and his family (ifNeilon was in fact a foreigner) Untimely Death54

The epitaph for Tettichos says that he was young when he died fighting Kroisos, judging from the fact the he was commemorated with a statue of a beautiful kouros, should not have been an old man, either Herodotus makes another Kroisos illustrate the perils and craziness of war by reference to the inverted order of burying (1.87):

ovBels yap o\hcu CxVOllTOS EOTl OOTIS TIOAEJ,lOV npo eipiJVllS aipeeTat"

ev 11ev yap Tlj oi naiBes Tovs naTepas 86::nTovm, ev oe Tc';) oi naTepes Tovs naiBas

For no one is, of himself, so foolish as to prefer war to peace; in the one, children bury their fathers; in the other, fathers their children (trans D Grene)

Untimely death and the burial of children by their parents represent the inversion of the natural order of life and death, a grievous fate which is frequently alluded to in verse epitaphs In some cases, especially when no parent is mentioned as the chief mourner, the deceased is explicitly said to have been young at the time of death: Tettichos (13 line 3)

"destroyed his tender youth,"55 Xenophantos ( 45), the deceased in 43 and that in 75 are called

acupos or 6:~ptos, and Phrasikleia is said to remain a kore forever (24) In verse epitaphs that tell us who was responsible for setting up the monument, parents by far outnumber other relatives as the chief mourners, and very few epitaphs say that the monument was set up by children for a parent, or by one spouse for another (see section 4)

One of the earliest Attic verse epitaphs commemorates Chairedemos son of

Amphichares (14, ea 560-550?):

XmpeBeJ,lo = T6Be oe11a = naTep eoTE[oe I 8]av6vTos =

'Av<ptx6::p<e>s = 6:ya8ov = naiBa 6jAo<pvp61Jevo[s =1

<l>aiBtllOS enoie

For the deceased Chairedemos, his father, Anphichares, set up this tomb, in grief for his noble son Phaidimos made it

54 For discussion of the theme of premature death in Greek verse epitaphs, see Griesmair 1966

55

Friedliinder and Hoffieit 1948, no 135

I ARCHAIC ATTIC VERSE EPITAPHS 30

The epitaph was incised boustrophedon on a stepped limestone base of either a stele or

statue.56 Phaidimos' signature, added in prose, indicates that the sculpture was of high quality The letters of the epitaph are well cut and punctuation marks separate words or small groups of words Chairedemos is called 6:ya86s, the most commonly employed epithet in archaic Attic verse epitaphs Most emphasis in the verse is placed not on praise but on lament for the deceased: the expression of mourning concludes the couplet The inverted order of burying is emphasized through the seemingly redundant references

to Amphichares as the father and Chairedemos as the child

Although untimely death is always one of the dominant subjects in epitaphs, it seems

to find particular prominence in the archaic period This impression might be partly due to the fact that other themes (such as, for example, death far from the fatherland, death at sea, death in childbirth) are rare or completely absent from archaic epitaphs, and partly,

as I mentioned above, to the fact that parents are the predominant chief mourners in archaic verse epitaphs Another important consideration might lie in the correlation between epigrams and the typology of grave markers that bore them: most archaic Attic verse epitaphs, especially earlier ones, are associated with monuments that probably included

a depiction of the deceased, either sculptural, in relief/round, or painted Epigrams not infrequently refer to the beauty of the monument, and even when they do not, it would be

a fair guess that the sculptured grave markers that accompanied the epitaphs were intended

to be impressive and pleasing to look at For Greeks of the archaic period beauty was associated with men of young or mature, but not old, age Only towards the end of the sixth century do there first appear dignified depictions of older men in monumental art, and only

in the late fifth century do representations of both older men and women become common and iconographically developed Burial sites of older people who were members of the elite must have been marked in some conspicuous but different, perhaps more conservative, way, such as, for example, with brick or limestone house-tombs, the construction of which continued throughout the sixth century, although on a smaller scale than in the seventh 57 Or, there could have been a plain stele with a sphinx; the absence of inscriptions does not allow

56 It might have been found in the Kerameikos, but this information depends on dealers' stories and is unreliable, see IGAA, pp 117-118, no 2 For a photograph of the base, see IGAA, pl 32:c; for a possible

restoration of the monument as a composite stele, see Richter 1961, p 26 '

57 See my analysis of 61 below