IGII34 512 Choregic dedication from Thorikos

Choregic dedication from Thorikos

IG II³ 4 512 Date: ca. 350-325 BC

Democharides for comedy,^[1] Speusiades was actor (hupokrites); Demochares for tragedy, -odoros was actor (hupokrites);^[2] (5)-ades for comedy,^[3] . . . was actor (hupokrites). . . . dedicated (this)^[4] [to Dionysos?].^[5]

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References:

IG II³ 4 512 (Translated text) (IG Online)

SEG 56.231

SEG 34.174 (PHI)

Csapo and Wilson II, 269-72

Translation by: Matthew Hewitt

Monument type: Base

Inscription type: Dedication (choregic), Dedication (Dionysos?)

Original location: Thorikos

Findspot: Thorikos (Laurion Museum inv. 231)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] This dedication from Thorikos, located in the south-east of the Attic peninsula, commemorates three theatrical productions, most likely in the context of the local Dionysia festival also referred to in AIO 847 (l. 31). On dedications from the Rural Dionysia see IG II³ 4, 498, with notes. The dedicators here are almost certainly the financial sponsors (choregoi) of the plays. For other inscriptions relating to the theatre at Thorikos, see SEG 34.107, with notes; for another choregic dedication from the deme, IG I³ 1027bis.

This marble base, which likely supported a small statue or column, stood in the theatre at Thorikos, one of the oldest known permanent theatres in the Greek world (Cf. AIO 847 n. 15; Csapo and Wilson, 253-55). There is some uncertainty as to whether the dedication commemorates competitive victories, or simply the plays that were staged in a particular year (Cf. J. Bingen [=SEG 34.174]). A unique aspect of this inscription is the significant attention paid to actors (hypokritai), alongside the choregoi. These are presumably the lead actors in these productions, and Csapo and Wilson suggest that, at Thorikos, the lead actor of a troupe may have been directly responsible for the staging of a play, and hence the administration of the choregos’ funds, fulfilling the role undertaken by the director (didaskalos) in the City Dionysia. It has been suggested, on the basis of the similarities in the names of Democharides and Demochares, that the three choregoi in this inscription might have been related. Democharides can be identified with a prominent individual, also from Thorikos, named several times in a curse tablet (SEG 58.265), while Demochares might be identified in a contemporary funerary monument (IG II² 6218). [2] Bingen suggests [The]odoros (the name of a celebrated attested actor) or [Di]odoros as possible resolutions for the name of the second hypokrites. [3] [Archi]ades, the name of another Thorikian named on the same curse tablet as Democharides (see n. 1), is a possible restoration for the third choregos. [4] Possible restorations for the first word in line 7 are [χορηγήσα]ντες ‘having served as sponsors (choregoi)’, or [νικήσα]ντες 'having been victorious'. [5] This reading of the final line is suggested by Csapo and Wilson, on the basis of the observation of a sigma and an iota by Kazuhiro Takeuchi.

Added: 9 May 2022
Updated: 27 Jun 2022
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ID: AIO_2388