IGII34 331 Dedication of an (ephebic?) gymnasiarch commemorating victory in a torch-race

Dedication of an (ephebic?) gymnasiarch commemorating victory in a torch-race

IG II³ 4 331 Date: after 334/3 BC?

Relief . . . (sg.) dedicated (this)^[1] having won the torch-race^[2] as gymnasiarch.^[3]

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References:

IG II³ 4 331 (Translated text) (IG Online)

IG II² 2974 (PHI)

SEG 50.192

GIBM I 41

Henderson, Springtime, T1.29

Translation by: Peter Liddel, Polly Low, Sjoukje M. Kamphorst

Monument type: Plaque

Inscription type: Dedication (gymnasiarch), Dedication (ephebic?)

Findspot: Athens (BM 1864,0220.11)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] The plaque carries a relief, which establishes the ephebic context of the inscription. From left to right, it depicts three young men in conversation; the eponymous hero of a tribe (?), who crowns another young man holding a torch; and an altar. On dedications by ephebes at this period see IG II³ 4, 329 with notes. [2] The dedicant won a torch-race. The festival context is uncertain. (There were torch-races at the Panathenaia, cf. SEG 50.192, but the ephebes are not known to have participated). [3] In the Classical democracy the gymnasiarchy was a liturgy which entailed sponsorship of athletic competitions at festivals, similar to the choregia for performance competitions. For dedications by adult gymnasiarchs at this period see IG II³ 4, 426 - 431. It appears from this inscription, and especially from IG II³ 4, 336, that there was an ephebic version of the liturgy in which wealthier ephebes took on the sponsorship of competitive events involving their fellow ephebes. In this way the ephebic system mirrored the structure of adult society, preparing the ephebes for roles they would perform in later life. In the Hellenistic period the adult gymnasiarchy appears to have been transmuted from a liturgy into a public office, cf. IG II³ 4, 369.

Added: 2 Jan 2019
Updated: 14 Dec 2021
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