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

Port of Cyrene, later Apollonia .

Date

Between 283 and 250 B.C. (lettering, reign)

Findspot

Found by Montet in March 1954, at Port of Cyrene, later Apollonia : 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 , pp. 572-581, whence SEG , 17.817; Peek, 1972 , n. 4. Cf. Fraser, 1960 , p. 100; Reynolds, 1976 , n. 2; Papazoglou, 1997 , n. T 9, whence SEG , 47.2357; Dobias-Lalou, 1999 , whence SEG , 49.2352; Marquaille, 2001 , pp. 70-71; Marquaille, 2003 , whence SEG , 53.2028; Dobias-Lalou, 2014 , 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  [Ἀσπ]ὶς : Peek, 1972  [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 , 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 , 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 , n. T 9).

Metrical analysis: two quite regular elegiac couplets.

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