IGII34 1001 Dedication to Demeter and the Paphian Girl by Hermione

Dedication to Demeter and the Paphian Girl by Hermione

IG II³ 4 1001 Date: 2nd century AD

Deo and the Paphian Girl, this carefully executed work was painted for the sake of piety (5)by Hermione.^[1] uninscribed space on cymatium Hermione [dedicated this].^[2]

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References:

IG II³ 4 1001 (Translated text) (IG Online)

SEG 48.259

Oliver and Dow, Greek Inscriptions 25 (PHI)

Agora XVIII 591

Translation by: Danielle Mackay

Images: Agora Excavations - (1)

Monument type: Base

Inscription type: Dedication (Private, Demeter and Kore), Metrical (elegiac couplets)

Findspot: Agora, north of the Library of Pantainos (Ag. I 562)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] This round white marble base or plinth was found in the Agora, north of the Library of Pantainos, and might originally have stood in the City Eleusinion (see AIUK 4.1 (BM: Cult Provisions) no. 1 and Agora XXXI) or perhaps the temple of Demeter Chloe on the southwest slope of the Acropolis (Geagan in Agora XVIII). The text is inscribed in fairly rough cursive letters, with an uneven ground line. Lines 1-5 are in elegiac couplets. In addition to being the dedicator of the votive, it seems that Hermione was its painter. Perhaps it took the form of a votive panel inserted into the top of the base. The first line is perhaps a label, identifying this work (for other ancient Greek female painters, see Pliny Nat. Hist. 35.147).

Deo is a poetic alternative name for Demeter. Her daughter Persephone is referred to as the Paphian Girl in this inscription, which seems to link or assimilate her with Aphrodite, who had a major cult at Paphos on Cyprus. It was not unusual for Aphrodite and Persephone to be assimilated during the Hellenistic period (Geagan in Agora XVIII). There are traces of an abandoned earlier attempt to cut the first line of this inscription above line 1 and an illegible graffito to the right of the inscription. [2] The final line is inscribed on the cymatium at the bottom of the base in smaller letters, perhaps added later.

Added: 6 Mar 2026
Updated: 6 Mar 2026
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ID: AIO_3652