Dedication to Enyalios by Eupolemos
GVCyr022
Trismegistos ID: 738915
Source Description
Repository
Apollonia Museum, inv. number unknown.
Support
Rectangular base of white-veined grey-blue marble, slightly chipped off at the upper left angle, with a large rectangular recess (0.325; 0.0245;0.12) for attachment on the upper side (0.575; 0.34;0.45).
Layout
Inscribed in four lines on the face.
Letters
0.009 (omicron) to 0.025 (beta); carefully cut letters pressed close to one another, without serifs; smaller round letters, larger beta and nu; slanting sigma, phi with small loop.
Place of Origin
Date
Between 283 and 250 B.C. (lettering, reign)
Findspot
Found by Montet in March 1954, at Port of Cyrene, later Apollonia pleiades; HGL : reused in a late house, above the Byzantine warehouses .
Last recorded Location
Seen by C. Dobias-Lalou several times from 1976 to 2010 at Sūsah : in the Apollonia Museum .
Text constituted from
Transcription from stone (CDL).
Bibliography
Chamoux, 1958 Chamoux, F., 1958, Epigramme de Cyrène en l'honneur du roi Magas, Bulletin de correspondance hellénique (BCH)82, 571-587 - see in bibliography , pp. 572-581, whence SEG Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum, Leiden, then Amsterdam, 1923-1971, then 1979- - see in bibliography , 17.817; Peek, 1972 Peek, W., 1972, Griechische Versinschriften aus der Cyrenaica aus Mauretanien und Numidien, Abhandlungen der sächsichen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig, phil.-hist. Klasse, 63.4, Berlin - see in bibliography , n. 4. Cf. Fraser, 1960 Fraser, P.M., 1960, Bibliography: Graeco-Roman Egypt, Journal of Egyptian Archeology, 46, 95-103 - see in bibliography , p. 100; Reynolds, 1976 Reynolds, J.M., 1976, The Inscriptions of Apollonia, in R.G. Goodchild, J. Griffiths Pedley, D. White, J.H. Humphrey (eds.), Apollonia, the port of Cyrene: excavations by the University of Michigan, 1965-1967, Libya Antiqua (LibAnt)Suppl. 4, Tripoli, 293-333 - see in bibliography , n. 2; Papazoglou, 1997 Papazoglou, F., 1997, Laoi et paroikoi: recherches sur la structure de la société hellénistique, Études d'Histoire Ancienne1, Beograd - see in bibliography , n. T 9, whence SEG Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum, Leiden, then Amsterdam, 1923-1971, then 1979- - see in bibliography , 47.2357; Dobias-Lalou, 1999 Dobias-Lalou, C., 1999, Polis et chôra en Cyrénaïque: le dossier épigraphique, in A. Laronde, J.-J. Maffre (eds.), Cités, ports et campagnes de la Cyrénaïque gréco-romaine: Actes de la journée d’études sur la Cyrénaïque organisée à Paris le 21 novembre 1992 par la Société Française d’Archéologie Classique, Karthago24, 141-146 - see in bibliography , whence SEG Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum, Leiden, then Amsterdam, 1923-1971, then 1979- - see in bibliography , 49.2352; Marquaille, 2001 Marquaille, C., 2001, The External Image of Ptolemaic Egypt, PhD dissertation, King's College, London - see in bibliography , pp. 70-71; Marquaille, 2003 Marquaille, C., 2003, The Ptolemaic ruler as a religious figure in Cyrenaica, Libyan Studies (LibStud), 34, 25-42 - see in bibliography , whence SEG Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum, Leiden, then Amsterdam, 1923-1971, then 1979- - see in bibliography , 53.2028; Dobias-Lalou, 2014 Dobias-Lalou, C., 2014, Des pierres qui parlent en vers. A propos des épigrammes grecques de Cyrénaïque, in A. Delattre, A. Lionetto, La Muse de l'éphémère. Formes de la poésie de circonstance de l'Antiquité à la Renaissance, Paris, 319-331 - see in bibliography , p. 329.
Text
| [Ἀσπ]ὶς Ἐνυαλίωι πρέπον ἄνθεμα καὶ φάλαρα ἵππων | ποικίλα· τὰν Νίκαν δὲ ἀνθέμεν Εὐπόλεμος
| φατὶ Μάγαι βασιλῆϊ καλὸν γέρας, ὄφρα ὑπὸ τᾶιδε | σκῆπτρά τε καὶ λαοὺς καὶ πτολίεθρα σαοῖ.
Apparatus
1 Chamoux, 1958 Chamoux, F., 1958, Epigramme de Cyrène en l'honneur du roi Magas, Bulletin de correspondance hellénique (BCH)82, 571-587 - see in bibliography [Ἀσπ]ὶς : Peek, 1972 Peek, W., 1972, Griechische Versinschriften aus der Cyrenaica aus Mauretanien und Numidien, Abhandlungen der sächsichen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig, phil.-hist. Klasse, 63.4, Berlin - see in bibliography [Αἰγ]ὶς
French translation
[Un bouclier] est pour Enyalios une consécration convenable, avec des plaques de harnais
scintillantes; quant à la Victoire, Eupolémos proclame
qu'il la consacre au roi Magas comme un beau privilège, afin que sous son patronage
il sauvegarde ses sceptres, ses peuples et ses cités.
(trad. Fr. Chamoux)English translation
[A shield] is for Enyalios a fitting offering, with glittering
cheek-pieces; as to the Victory, Eupolemos declares
that he dedicates her to king Magas as a fine gift, in order that with her help
he may save his sceptres, his peoples and his cities.
Italian translation
[Uno scudo] per Enyalios è offerta conveniente, e finimenti
scintillanti; la Vittoria, Eupolemos proclama
che la dedica al re Magas come speciale privilegio, in modo che con essa
i suoi scettri, i suoi popoli, le sue città egli salvi.
Arabic translation
[درع] لأجل إنياليوس، الهدية المناسبة ، مع أَلجِمَةٌ لامعةً لفكتوري (آلهة النصر). إفبيليموس صرح بأنه كان قد أهداها (تمثال فكتوري) إلى الملك ماجاس كأفضل هدية، أملاً في أن الملك ربما يستطيع بمساعدتها أن يحفظ صوَالجة (أي عُروشه) و شعبه ومدنه.
Commentary
The epigram dates from the royal period of Magas in Cyrene. C. Marquaille in her thesis suggests more precisely a date around 275 B.C. (cf. Marquaille, 2001 Marquaille, C., 2001, The External Image of Ptolemaic Egypt, PhD dissertation, King's College, London - see in bibliography , pp. 70-71).
There is no reason to supply the word for 'aegis' (cuirass), as proposed by Peek, instead of 'shield', which is an actual piece of the outfit of a soldier, as well as the metal discs decorating the harness of his horse. There are many examples of such dedications for Enyalios or Ares. For the cult of Ares in the Port of Cyrene, there is no sure parallel, his name being only possible in IGCyr062600.
A small statue of winged Nike ('Victory') was presumably attached on the top of the base and this offering was especially for king Magas, who was worshipped like the other kings of the Ptolemaic dynasty (see IGCyr020000). As he became king of Cyrenaica in 283 and died in 250, this dedication may be dated inside a short span of time.
Chamoux emphasized the careful composition of this poem and thought that it might be a work of Callimachus or a poet in his circle. Anyhow, there are subtle arguments relying Magas' with Philadelphos' own kingship, probably echoing their rivalry. So the verb 'to save' might allude to the former Ptolemy's epithet 'Soter'. As the last word of the epigram, it might be its point ( pace Fraser, 1960 Fraser, P.M., 1960, Bibliography: Graeco-Roman Egypt, Journal of Egyptian Archeology, 46, 95-103 - see in bibliography , p. 100).
At line 4, the plural for 'sceptres, peoples and cities' may be explained by a poetic amplification. However, λαοί may also have a precise meaning, referring to the semi-hellenised Libyan tribes (for which see Papazoglou, 1997 Papazoglou, F., 1997, Laoi et paroikoi: recherches sur la structure de la société hellénistique, Études d'Histoire Ancienne1, Beograd - see in bibliography , n. T 9).
Metrical analysis: two quite regular elegiac couplets.
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