CGRN 103 Decree concerning Eleusinian cults at Phrearrhioi

Decree concerning Eleusinian cults at Phrearrhioi

CGRN 103 Date: ca. 335-250 BC

. . . ^[1] . . . of the religious officials (hieropoiōn) . . . [for Demeter] Thesmophoros, a sow . . . . . . they shall set before . . . . . . the torch-holder (5) priestly dues (hiereōsuna), a thigh, a flank, a haunch . . . [the religious officials] and the herald shall have a feast . . . . . . they shall sacrifice a ram to Plouton . . . (for?) the demesmen with the others and . . . the altar in the Eleusinion . . . (10) of the acolytes (akolouthōm) the religious official shall release the . . . after the priestesses have made . . . of the Phrearrhians, they shall sacrifice to Demeter . . . . . . and to Kore a male bovine . . . and anything else they may wish . . . (15) is customary. And on the altars . . . thighs, pieces of the shoulders, half a head . . . thighs, pieces of the shoulders, half a head . . . on the altar in the Eleusinion . . . for the altar of Plouton priestly dues (hiereōsuna) . . . , (20) at the altars of the two goddesses for the priestess and . . . a flank, a haunch, three obols, of the victim (?) . . . provide wood for the pot . . . in the court of the Eleusinion . . . . . . a torch and of the . . . (25) they shall give a torch . . . . . . and of Iakchos . . . . . . on the seventh or seventeenth . . . . . . and of music . . . . . . the altar . . . (30) . . . . . . . . .

References:

CGRN 103 (Translated text) (CGRN)

SEG 35.113 (PHI)

SEG 36.206 (PHI)

SEG 63.110

SEG 65.152

Threatte II, 463

Lupu, NGSL 3

Translation by: Stephen Lambert, Feyo Schuddeboom

Monument type: Stele

Inscription type: Decree (deme Phrearrhioi?)

Findspot: near Anavyssos (Phrearrhioi) (EM 13384)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] This inscription contains what seems to be a decree of the deme Phrearrhioi making provisions for Eleusinian rites. As is clear from many inscriptions from Attic localities the cult of Demeter and associated deities (Kore, "the Girl", as commonly in Attic inscriptions, is Demeter's daughter, Persephone; Plouton and Iakchos also belong to the Eleusinian group) was widespread (another example in IG I³ 250, Paiania). It commonly reflected the pre-eminence of Eleusis in the cult of these deities, and apart from the cult buildings at Eleusis itself and the City Eleusinion, it is clear that many demes had their own local sanctuaries called "Eleusinion" and/or, as in the case of Piraeus (IG II² 1177), Thesmophorion, location for women's rites of Demeter, especially the Thesmophoria. The first lines of this inscription too concerned Demeter "Thesmophoros", though whether, as in Piraeus, there was a "Thesmophorion" in this deme, is unclear. The reference to a torch in this context (light was a feature of Eleusinian religion) is paralleled in the arrangements for the Thesmophoria in Cholargos, IG II² 1184, ll.15-16. For further discussion see CGRN 103. For other inscriptions relating to the Thesmophoria see IG II² 1177 (Piraeus); IG I³ 231, ll. 59-67 (City Eleusinion); IG II² 1363, ll. 2-7 (Eleusis); AIO 2841 (Melite/City Eleusinion). The date is early hellenistic, but the imperative forms in this decree which have been used as a basis for an early-third century dating are found occasionally from ca. 350 on (cf. L. Threatte, The Grammar of Attic Inscriptions II, 463), and it cannot be ruled out that this decree is another example of the intense attention to religious observance that characterised the Lykourgan period, cf. IG II³ 1, 447, with notes. For a recent detailed discussion accepting the early-3rd cent. date see S. M. Wijma, ZPE 187 (2013), 199-205 (= SEG 63.110). See now also the discussion of this inscription by I. Bultrighini, Demi attici della paralia (2015), 164-76 = SEG 65.152. [SDL]. Textual note. Our translation is based on the Greek text of CGRN, which is itself based largely on the text of Lupu.

Added: 3 Jan 2018
Updated: 6 Jan 2024
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ID: AIO_1324