An historical study of Athenian verse epitaphs from the sixth through the fourth centuries BC. (PhD Toronto Univ.)

An Historical Study of Athenian Verse Epitaphs from the Sixth through the Fourth Centuries BC

by

Julia Lougovaya

A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Ph.D. Graduate Department of Classics University of Toronto

©by Julia Lougovaya (2004)

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An Historical Study of Athenian Verse Epitaphs from the Sixth through the Fourth Centuries BC Ph.D. 2004 Julia Lougovaya Department of Classical Studies University of Toronto

ABSTRACT This dissertation explores the social and historical significance of Attic verse epitaphs from their appearance in the second quarter of the sixth century to the late fourth century. By examining verse epitaphs in context (both archeological and literary), the thesis assesses the way in which various strata of society commemorated the dead; it thereby permits acquaintance with a wider range of people than found in literary sources. The material under investigation consists primarily of verse epitaphs edited by P.A. Hansen in Carmina Epigraphica Graeca, with the addition of a few recent discoveries. Since this dissertation

considers the archeological context of inscriptions, including the appearance of the inscription, type and location of the monument, etc., it also makes extensive use of archeological data. Chapter One is a study of archaic Attic verse epitaphs. During this period, the practice was confined to the elite, whether Athenians or foreign residents in Athens, and inscribing verse on a funerary monument was one of the features of elite display at a burial site. The tradition ceased around 500 BC when this type of display, which was associated with elite families during the reign of the Athenian tyrants, was either forbidden or deemed inappropriate following the liberation from tyranny and the reforms of Kleisthenes. Chapter Two investigates fifth century Athenian public verse inscriptions. It argues that during a period of at least fifty years (from the reforms of Kleisthenes to at least the mid 460s or even later) the Athenians did not inscribe public funerary monuments with verse epitaphs. Instead, there developed a special genre of inscriptional verse which I call public commemorative or celebratory epigrams. At some point in the mid fifth century the practice

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ABSTRACT

of inscribing verse epitaphs resumed in Athens, in commemoration of those who were granted the honor of public burial by the Athenians. Chapter Three opens with discussion of the reappearance of private grave monuments inscribed with verse epitaphs, and then analyzes verse epitaphs of the later classical period, often in comparison with and contrast to the archaic tradition.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The completion of this thesis was made both possible and enjoyable by the help of many people. My dissertation committee comprised outstanding scholars of various fields who were always ready to share their expertise, Emmet Robbins and Jonathan Burgess in early Greek poetry, and John Traill in the thorny field of Greek epigraphy. Joseph Day's critical comments were very helpful at the final stage of the project. Above all, my supervisor, Malcolm Wallace, contributed to all aspects of my thesis, and has been a most helpful teacher and colleague. My ideas have not always been shared by members of my committee, and I take full responsibility for the views expressed in this study, as well as for any mistakes. I owe many thanks to the Department of Classics at the University of Toronto for providing scholarly and material support during my time as a graduate student, and to Ann-Marie Matti and Coral Gavrilovic for their kind assistance in all practical matters associated with my work at the Department, which was often conducted long-distance. My indefinite gratitude goes to my family for their unflagging support, especially to my father, Michael Bronstein, who helped me in all computer matters, my husband, Rodney Ast, who discussed and read my study, offered numerous insightful comments, and helped in every possible way, to our younger daughters, Alitsia and Aglaia, the source of constant joy, and to our older daughter, Marfa, without whose resourcefulness I would never have been able even to start this work.

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LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

Table 1. Archaic Attic Epitaphs, p. 223. Figure 1. Outline of the stele ofMnasitheios from Akraiphia, p. 57. (After Andreiomenou 2000, p. 85, fig. 1. Drawing by R. Posamentir. Courtesy ofR. Posamentir.) Figure 2. Upper part of the stele of Mnasitheios with reconstructed finial, p. 59. (After Andreiomenou 2000, p. 89, fig. 4. Drawing by R. Posamentir. Courtesy ofR. Posamentir.) Figure 3. Drawing of the gravestone and epitaph for Philon, CEG 76, p. 80. (After Kourouniotes 1897, col. 151, fig. 5.) Figure 4. Drawing of the gravestone and epitaph for Pleistias, CEG 77, p. 81. (After Kourouniotes 1897, col. 152, fig. 6.) Figure 5. Periboloi in Section A of the Kerameikos, p. 159. (After Garland 1982, p. 137, fig. 2. Reproduced with permission of the British School at Athens.) Figure 6. Peribolos of Koroibos of Melite (A 20), p. 160. (After Brueckner 1909, p. 105, fig. 66.) Figure 7. Peribolos ofDionysios ofKollytos (A3), CEG 593, p. 161. (After Brueckner 1909, p. 66, fig. 37.)

V

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ABBREVIATIONS

CAT = Chr. Clairmont, Classical Attic Tombstones, Kilchberg 1993--. CEG = Carmina epigraphica Graeca Carmina epigraphica Graeca: saeculorum VIII-V a.Chr.n., P.A. Hansen, ed., Berlin and New York 1983. Carmina epigraphica Graeca: saeculi IV a. Chr. n. (CEG 2), P.A. Hansen, ed., Berlin and New York 1989. DAA = A. E. Raubitschek, Dedications from the Athenian Akropolis; a catalogue of the inscriptions of the sixth and fifth centuries B. C., Archaeological Institute of America 1949. FGE

=

Further Greek Epigrams: Epigrams before A.D. 50 from the Greek Anthology and Other Sources not included in 'Hellenistic Epigrams' or 'The Garland of Philip ', D. L. Page, ed., rev. and prepared for publication by R. D. Dawe and J. Diggle, Cambridge 1981.

IEG2 = M. L. West, Iambi et Elegi Graeci ante Alexandrum Cantati, 2nd ed., Oxford 1998. IGAA = L. H. Jeffery, "The Inscribed Gravestones of Archaic Attica," BSA 57, 1962, pp. 115-153. IGLPalermo = M. T. Manni Piraino, Iscrizioni greche lapidarie del Museo di Palermo, "SIKELIKA. Collana di monografie pubblicate dal Centra Siciliano di Studi Storico-Archeologici 'Biagio Pace', Serie Storica," 6. Palermo 1973. LGPN =Lexicon of Greek Personal Names LGPN I: Aegean Islands, Cyprus, Cyrenaica, P. M. Fraser and E. Matthews, eds., Oxford 1987. LGPN II: Attica, M. J. Osbome and S. B. Byrne, eds., Oxford 1994. LGPN III.A: Peloponnese, Western Greece, Sicily, and Magna Graecia, P. M. Fraser and E. Matthews, eds., Oxford 1997. LGPN III.B: Central Greece: From the Megarid to Thessaly, P. M. Fraser and E. Matthews, eds., Oxford 2000. LSAG = L. H. Jeffery, The Local Scripts of Archaic Greece, ed. rev. with a supplement by A. W. Johnston, Oxford 1990. ML

R. Meiggs and D. M. Lewis, A Selection of Greek Historical Inscriptions to the End of the Fifth Century, Oxford 1969.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ii

ABSTRACT ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

IV

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

V

ABBREVIATIONS

VI

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1

INTRODUCTION CHAPTER ONE. ARCHAIC ATTIC VERSE EPITAPHS

10

1. Early Archaic Burial Practice to ea. 600 BC

10

Prior to ea 600 BC, 10. Changes ea. 600 BC, 12. Solon's Funerary Legislation, 14.

2. Archaic Attic Verse Epitaphs in Context

15

Typology of Monuments Associated with Verse Epitaphs, 15. Display and Layout of Archaic Attic Verse Epitaphs, 17. Verse vs Prose, 18.

3. Commemorated Deceased

18

Death in War, 19. Virtues of the Deceased, 22. Origin of the Deceased, 26. Untimely Death, 29. Other Expressions of Grief, 37.

38

4. ChiefMourner Identity of the ChiefMoumer, 38. Grief of the ChiefMoumer, 44.

5. Address to a Passer-by and Reflections

45

6. Monument

47

Sight of the Monument, 47. Sculptors' Signatures on Monuments with Verse Epitaphs, 48.

60

7. Meter and Literary Context Meters Employed in Archaic Attic Epitaphs, 60. Metrical Anomalies, 62. Excluded Inscriptions, 63. Literary Elegy and Verse Epitaph, 66. The Meaning of Elegos, 67. Inscriptional Evidence for Threnodic Elegy, 69. Literary Elegy and Verse Epitaph, Revisited, 72.

8. Disappearance of Verse Epitaphs in Attica ea. 500 BC

74

Post-Solonian Funerary Legislation, 74. After the Disappearance: Athenians and Athenians(?) Outside Attica, 80.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER TWO. PUBLIC VERSE EPITAPHS AND COMMEMORATIVE EPIGRAMS Introduction

84 84

1. Literary Evidence to 479 BC

85

Chalkis, ea. 507-501 BC, 85. Marathon 490 BC, 87. Artemisium and Salamis, 91. Plataia, 91.

2. Inscriptional Evidence to 480/479 BC

92

IG 13 1142 (1}, 92. The Persian Wars Epigrams, IG 13 503/504 (2 and 3), 93.

3. Public Commemorative Epigrams: Features and Further Examples

104

The Tyrannicides Epigram (430), 105. The Eion Epigrams, 105. The Eurymedon Epigram, 107.

4. Evidence for the Burial of the War Dead in Athens

112

5. Patrios Nomos

113

6. Public Verse Epitaphs

125

Bringing Ta 6cna Home or Burying on the Battlefield: (a) Individual Burials, (b) Collective Burial, 114. Burying the War Dead Publicly (Bru.lOoic;x}, 117. Prothesis and Ekphora, 119. Epitaphios Logos, 120. Patrios Nomos Reconsidered, 121. Evidence from Pausanias and Plato, 122. The Epitaph for Argive Casualties (135), 125. Epitaphs for Distinguished Foreign Individuals (11, 12, 469), 126. The Epitaph for Athenians who Fell at the Hellespont (6), 129. The Koroneia Epitaph (5), 131. Fragmentary Verse Epitaphs of the mid Fifth Century, 134. The Potidaia Epitaph, 134. An Epitaph for Athenian Cavalrymen (4}, 136. A New Epitaph for Athenian Cavalrymen, 138. Public Epitaphs in the Late Fifth Century, 143.

CHAPTER THREE. ATTIC VERSE EPITAPHS OF THE LATER CLASSICAL PERIOD Introduction

144 144

1. Reappearance of Private Athenian Verse Epitaphs

145

Private Verse Epitaphs in the Fifth Century, 145. Date and Causes of the Reappearance ofPrivate Athenian Verse Epitaphs, 149.

2. Later Classical Attic Verse Epitaphs in Context

157

Periboloi, 157. Typology of Classical Grave Stelai, 158. Display and Layout of Verse Epitaphs, 15 8. Verse Epitaphs Associated with Large Periboloi, 159. Members of Propertied Families, 165.

3. Commemorated Deceased

168

Death in War, 168. Virtues of the Deceased, 171. Origin of the Deceased, 174. Activities of the Deceased: (a) Soothsaying and Priesthood, (b) Medicine, (c) Theater and Music, (d) Craftsmanship, (e) Occupations of Foreigners, 175. Untimely Death and Death in Old Age, 198. Grievous Fate, 200. viii

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

4. ChiefMoumer

200

5. Addresses and Reflections

203

6. Monument

205

7. Peculiarities of Poetic Diction and Meter

205

The Bridal Chamber of Persephone, 205. Gods and Personifications, 207. Meter, 208.

CONCLUSION

209

BIBLIOGRAPHY

212

TABLE

223

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INTRODUCTION

1. Verse Epitaphs as a Subject of Social History The purpose of a funerary monument is both to mark a burial site and to perpetuate the memory of the deceased. In Homer, the place of burial is a physical entity, generally marked in some way, and the memory of the deceased lives on not in written memorials but in songs and legends. Earthen mounds over the graves of heroes tell unwritten tales about those buried beneath them, as we fmd in the Iliad where, before engaging in a duel, Hector imagines his opponent's death and the tomb that will be a source of stories for future generations and will perpetuate the memory of a fallen hero of the Trojan War: crfi~a

Te oi xevwmv enlnAaTei 'EAAT)CJTIOVTCt>. Kai lTOTE TIS eilTlJOI Kat 0\I'IYOVUJV av8pt:Jnwv VTJt lTOAVKAi)YSt lTAEUJV eni oivona lTOVTOV" avSp6s ~ev TObE on~a lTciAat KaTaTe8VT)WTOS, OV lTOT' aptCJTEVOVTa KaTEKTaVE <paiSt~OS "EKTWp. (7.86-91) ... and so that they might heap a mound over him by the wide Hellespont. And someone will say, even one of those not yet born, as he sails on a many-benched ship over the wine-colored sea: "This is the tomb of the man who died long ago, whom glorious Hektor once killed as he was doing deeds ofvalor."

Elsewhere in the Iliad grave mounds serve as landmarks, as, for example, in the case of Ilos' tomb, which is conspicuously situated before the walls of Troy (e.g.,

It. 11.166). In

the Odyssey, Elpenor bids Odysseus to bum his corpse, bury the ashes, heap up a mound and place his oar on top of it, so that future people may learn

(eooo~evotot

nv8eo8at) his

story (Od. 11. 74-78). Legends are likely to have been attached to such markers, which served as a sign, the significance of which was transmitted in songs about the heroes. With the appearance of writing in the eighth century or so, Greeks began to inscribe grave markers, uniting the physical object and spoken word. Writing on the grave marker was meant, first of all, to identify the grave; it indicated possession, much as other kinds of early inscriptions designated the property of gods or men. 1 Simply to identify the marker as funerary and to associate it with a particular individual, a word such as

on~a

or CJTTJATJ

and the name of the deceased would have sufficed. But virtually from the beginning of the tradition of sepulchral inscriptions, we find in Greece something more elaborate than simple 1

LSAG, pp. 61-62; Scodell992, p. 58.

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INTRODUCTION

2

labels. Some epitaphs aimed already then at the preservation of the memory of the deceased through narration of circumstances surrounding the death and burial of the commemorated person, through bestowal of praise, references to the burier, and descriptions of the monument. Mere labeling of the grave was generally the purview of short prose records, while the conveyance of a brief account intended to perpetuate the deceased's memory appears to have been possible exclusively in verse. Interestingly, both prose and verse epitaphs existed concurrently, and early verse epitaphs do not show any sign of having derived from prose records. From the moment that they first appeared, verse epitaphs represented an effort on the part of survivors to keep the memory of the deceased alive, and this effort does not seem to have been considered the result of some religious obligation to the dead, nor was it because of some practical concern about marking the grave with a record that would simply identify it. Verse epitaphs were rather a social gesture through which the burier sought to capture the attention of the reader and perpetuate the memory of the deceased. The claim on memory made in a verse epitaph was a status claim and it was exercised only by a fraction of the society. The circle of people constituting this fraction was, however, wider than the elite ofwhom we are generally informed by our other, mainly literary, sources, and analysis of epitaphs allows one to investigate how this wider circle of people wanted to represent the deceased (and living) members of their families. Verse epitaphs can be expected to follow certain patterns, primarily because their subject matter is limited to the purpose of sepulchral inscription (identification of the burial and commemoration of the deceased) and because they are designed to be consumed by a fairly wide circle of literate people (and thus to conform to these people's expectations). At the same time, an epitaph, when considered along with the monument and burial complex, is unique in belonging to a certain burial and is meant to be memorable. The room between normative requirements and originality or individualization in verse epitaphs is very narrow, but the ways in which both the normative requirements and individualization are carried out reflect broad social norms and demonstrate what was deemed by certain circles of people at certain periods of time to be especially praiseworthy or grievous, and thus worthy of being committed to what was perceived as eternal memory. This study of verse epitaphs therefore aims to be a contribution to Greek social history.

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INTRODUCTION

3

2. State of Scholarship and Objectives

The employment of verse in documenting a burial constitutes a status claim, but the content of these claims may vary by time and place and can involve various social strata. I confine my study of Greek sepulchral epigrams to Attic verse epitaphs from the earliest attestation to the reign of Demetrios of Phaleron in 317-307 BC, when the practice of inscribing them significantly decreased, and I intend to investigate how and by whom these status claims were made at different points within this period. In doing this, I hope to identify some of the tastes and norms of people who are often omitted from literary sources. To gain further insight into these tastes and norms, I have chosen also to examine the inscriptions in their archeological context, since verse epitaphs do not exist in isolation, but are incised on grave monuments and constitute part of the larger display at a burial site. The study of funerary inscriptions as part of the monuments on which they appear was pioneered by L. H. Jeffery, whose article "The Inscribed Gravestones of Archaic Attica" (IGAA) remains indispensable for any investigation of archaic Attic funerary inscriptions.2

Christoph Clairmont' s examination of the correlation between verse epitaphs and funerary reliefs represents a rare attempt to consider both the physical appearance of the monument and the text of the epitaph. 3 There are also several general studies, both literary and archeological, that do not deal specifically with verse epitaphs but help situate them in their historical context. The excellent introduction to Greek burial practices by Donna Kurtz and John Boardman surveys different types of burials and the development of funerary monuments from the Bronze Age through the Hellenistic period.4 Robert Garland's The Greek Way ofDeath briefly covers the general topic of what the Greeks did with their deadfrom attitudes about death to ceremonies surrounding interment of the body-and provides valuable references to the most relevant ancient literary sources. 5 Ian Morris' recent work, Death-Ritual and Social Structure in Classical Antiquity, looks at the social structure of ancient society through evidence provided by archeology, suggesting how, for example, archeological fmds from a given cemetery can contribute to our knowledge of a particular 2

Although Jeffery was not concerned with verse epitaphs in particular, many of the gravestones that she discusses actually carry verse epitaphs (simply because, as we will see, there are more verse epitaphs extant from archaic Attica than prose). 3 Clairmont 1970. Although Clairmont's approach is potentially useful, the study is handicapped by the isolated treatment of the monuments under investigation from the broader tradition of inscriptional verse epitaphs. 4 Kurtz and Boardman 1971. 5 Garland 1985.

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4

INTRODUCTION

society and its beliefs about death. 6 In addition to these general studies, there has also been more specialized work done on Greek sculptured funerary monuments by archeologists and art historians like Hans Diepolder, Friis Johansen, Gisela Richter, and Christoph Clairmont. 7 The general topic of Greek epigrams has been widely studied, too, with recent interest particularly in the epigrams of the Hellenistic period, 8 Simonides and the Simonidea, 9 the origin of elegy, 10 and even in the interaction between the written word and its reader, or the "anthropology of reading." 11 Of the scholarship that deals more specifically with sepulchral verse inscriptions, Joseph Day's investigation of how people of the archaic period might have perceived a funerary monument inscribed with an epigram is a good example of a study that fruitfully combines both the archeological and literary approaches. 12 Ute Ecker' s work is valuable for its identification of literary parallels to archaic Greek epitaphs/ 3 while Christian Breuer' s book provides interesting discussion of the representation of values in funerary reliefs and epigrams in the fourth through the second centuries BC. 14 In addition to these contributions, there are of course collections of inscribed verses,

which often include valuable notes or commentaries.

Peter A. Hansen's Carmina

Epigraphica Graeca ( CEG) provides the most reliable texts of sepulchral inscriptions, which are accompanied by brief bibliographies and notes, and it therefore serves as a very good basis for the study of Greek epitaphs. 15 Among older collections, the most relevant for my work have proven to be Georg Kaibel's Epigrammata Graeca ex lapidibus collecta and Epigrammata by FriedHi.nder and Hoffleit, in which the editors, through lucid translations and thoughtful commentaries, clearly show how they have understood each text. 16

6 Morris 1992a. Although the book investigates primarily early Greek material and treats at some length funerary monuments of the archaic and classical periods, the chapter on epitaphs (pp. 156-173) deals exclusively with late Latin funerary inscriptions. 7 Diepolder 1931; Johansen 1951; Richter 1960, 1961 and 1968; Clairmont 1970, and CAT, which is a monumental work that deserves the gratitude of scholars, despite its numerous infelicities. 8 Kathryn Gutzwiller's influential book which investigates the Hellenistic epigram in its broader historical context was published in 1998; in 2000 the Department of Greek and Latin at the University of Groningen conducted a workshop on the Hellenistic epigram, the proceedings of which appeared two years later (Harder et al. 2002); for the past few years the University ofLeiden has been supporting and updating a web site with an extensive bibliography on Greek epigrams (http://www.gltc.leidenuniv.nl/). 9 E.g., Molyneux 1992, Ceccarelli 1996, Boedeker and Sider 2001. 10 Bowie 1986 and 1990, Lewis 1987, Cassio 1994. 11 Svenbro 1993, Sourvinou-lnwood 1996. 12 Day 1989. 13 Ecker 1990. 14 Breuer 1995. 15 Although Hansen does not provide archeological information, he usually refers to the relevant publications. 16 It is noteworthy that Merkelbach and Stauber's new collection of inscriptional verses from Asia Minor (1998--) perhaps best resembles the collection ofFriendlander and Hoffleit.

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INTRODUCTION

5

3. Chronological Divisions

My study of Attic verse epitaphs is divided chronologically into three parts which correspond to three chapters. In Chapter One I treat the period from the earliest attested Attic sepulchral inscription in the second quarter of the sixth century to the cessation of the practice of inscribing verse epitaphs in Attica ea. 500. During this period verse epitaphs were associated with monuments of grandeur, and the tradition of inscribing them was practiced by elite Athenian families. In Chapter Two I concentrate on the fifth century, a period which exhibits some interesting developments: no Athenian verse epitaph is attested from ea. 500 to the mid fifth century, but during this time there emerges a special genre of commemorative epigrams, unassociated with either funerary or dedicatory monuments, which celebrates the achievements, primarily military, of the Athenian state; by the middle of the fifth century the tradition of inscribing verse epitaphs is seen to resume, but these inscriptions are initially restricted to public monuments set up by the Athenian state to honor those who fell at war and who were honored with public burials. In Chapter Three I examine later classical developments, concentrating on the period from the end of the Sicilian disaster, when the practice of inscribing private grave markers with epitaphs resumed in Athens, to the legislation of Demetrios of Phaleron between 317 and 307 BC. 4. Categories of Analysis of Private Verse Epitaphs

The material covered in Chapters One and Three permits similar treatment, and I have therefore divided the two chapters into similar categories. This arrangement will, I hope, highlight similarities and differences between the archaic period, when the practice of inscribing verse epitaphs was engaged in by elite families at Athens, and the later classical period, when families of various social strata opted for verse epitaphs. I also hope to illustrate some of the reasons for the appearance and disappearance of the practice in Athens, which when viewed against the background of the rest of Greece is a remarkable phenomenon: during the sixth and fourth centuries the tradition of inscribing verse epitaphs was nowhere as widespread as at Athens, yet no other state seems to have abstained from this practice to the degree that the Athenians did during the major part of the fifth century. The pattern exhibited at Athens can be interpreted only through better understanding of what commemoration with verse signified at various times, how it was carried out and what circles of people would practice it. In order to assist this understanding my analysis of Chapters One and Three has been framed by the following categories:

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INTRODUCTION

6

Appearance and Reappearance of Verse Epitaphs. I investigate the concomitant social and historical factors that preceded and accompanied the appearance (in the sixth century) and reappearance (at the end of the fifth century) of the tradition of inscribing verse epitaphs. Context. I discuss the locations and typology of grave monuments associated with verse epitaphs, the principles of display of an inscription, its legibility and other aspects of architectural epigraphy. The grandeur of monuments in the archaic period points to the class of people that could afford them; in the later classical period, however, the correlation between the grandeur of a monument and the status of the family that commissioned it is more ambiguous, since a simple stele with a verse epitaph could be set up over the grave of a member of a propertied family. Despite this ambiguity, I offer a methodology that to some extent identifies features of the kinds of verse epitaphs that were commissioned by affluent families in the later classical period and, by identifying these features, helps to define what was normative for those with few financial constraints who could presumably afford whatever was considered finest. Commemorated Deceased. Verse epitaphs generally praise and lament the deceased, as well as include some biographical information that was deemed especially memorable, such as the deceased's origin, age, occupation, or cause of death.

While death on the

battlefield is always praised and death at a young age is always lamented, other patterns in the expressions of grief and praise and in the characterization of the deceased change over time and reflect changes in the circles of people who inscribed verse epitaphs, as well as changes in what people perceived to be most memorable and appropriate for a gravestone. Chief Mourner. From a legal point of view, the heir or kyrios ofthe deceased was generally responsible for funerary arrangements, as well as for setting up the funerary monument. From a practical standpoint, however, several members of the family could participate, as well as individuals outside the family, such as friends or compatriots. References to these people in verse epitaphs would enhance the social aspect of commemoration, since the epitaph might mention the grief of people who had neither legal nor practical involvement in actually setting up the monument. I call those who are said to mourn the deceased the chief mourners. In the archaic period, epitaphs usually identify the person who was responsible for the monument, and parents by far outnumber other relations as chief

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INTRODUCTION

7

mourners. In the later classical period, Athenian verse epitaphs often mention various relations of the deceased but avoid singling out the person responsible for the burial, rather speaking of those who have been left behind to grieve the loss of the deceased. Address to the Passer-by and Reflections. Monuments and verse epitaphs were generally designed to be seen and read not only by the family but by any literate passer-by. The epitaphs, especially archaic, would directly address the passer-by and ask him to lament the deceased, sometimes supplying a reason for the request. Reflections and gnomic expressions were perhaps also meant to emphasize the universality of the message on the gravestone. In the later classical period, the address to the passer-by became rare, while the address to the deceased was widespread and seems to have been one way of creating a more private atmosphere in the implicit dialogue between the reader and the deceased. Monument. Verse epitaphs identify the object on which they are incised, and not surprisingly they usually include such pointers as T68e

crfi~-ta,

or

~-tVfi~-ta,

or demonstratives such as

ev86:8e or Tij8e, among others. Archaic epitaphs more often draw attention to the monument (T68e

crfi~-ta,

or

~-tVfi~-ta):

"this is the monument of so-and-so," "so-and-so set up this

monument for so-and-so," etc., while later classical epitaphs mention the burial site in relation to the deceased and employ the demonstratives ev8a8e or Tijbe, "so-and-so lies here," "the earth here covers the body of so-and-so," etc. The monument can sometimes be described as beautiful, especially in archaic verse epitaphs, and archaic grave markers are sometimes signed by sculptors, which is never the case in the later classical period. Meter and Poetic Diction. Here I discuss the literary quality of the epitaphs, which can vary from outstanding to barely an awareness of formal metrical conventions. It becomes clear, for example, that in the archaic period those who chose to have a verse epitaph inscribed could ensure that it complied with the requirements of content, diction, and meter; when there are serious flaws in the "meter" of an archaic epitaph, I believe that the inscription was not intended to be verse. The situation is very different in the later classical period, when we have epitaphs which the composers clearly intended as verse, but failed to execute as such. Departures from the formal requirements of literary poetry reflect, in my view, the incompetence of the composer and not conscious literary experimentation. The fact that

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INTRODUCTION

8

"higher" genres of poetry did influence verse epitaphs will become clear, and, in Chapter One, I attempt to analyze the relation between literary elegy and elegiac epitaphs. 5. Public Epitaphs and Commemorative Epigrams in the Fifth Century

Chapter Two of my thesis investigates Athenian public verse inscriptions. In it, I suggest that the practice of inscribing private verse epitaphs in archaic Athens was so firmly associated with elite families during the time of the Peisistratids that after liberation from tyranny and the reforms of Kleisthenes it was either forbidden or simply considered inappropriate. I hope to demonstrate, moreover, that the practice was not simply transferred from the realm of private to public commemoration, but was entirely avoided for approximately half a century.

During that period there developed a specific genre

of commemorative monuments with epigrams that celebrated the achievements of the Athenian state, or its best representatives, but that were neither dedicatory nor funerary. In addition to this, I investigate in this chapter the tradition of public burial of the war dead and the emergence in the mid fifth century of verse epitaphs honoring those who received public funerals; from here I proceed to discuss in some detail extant public verse epitaphs. 6. Material

The main body of material under study here are the verse epitaphs found in the two volumes of CEG; unless otherwise indicated, I reproduce the texts of CEG (the numbers of which are printed in bold), with the omission of Hansen's metrical signs in the lacunae, which I render simply with dashes.

The dates are also those of CEG unless

specified otherwise. Texts which are not in CEG (mainly prose epitaphs or verse epitaphs that were made public after the publication of the collection) will be referred to by their IG or SEG numbers. In my study of public Athenian epigrams from the fifth century, I

also include a few texts that survive only in the literary tradition, primarily in the Simonidea. These texts are cited as Simonidea (Simon.) in accordance with Denys Page's Further Greek Epigrams (FGE). Translations of verse epitaphs are mine; for other sources,

translations are mine unless specified otherwise. My criteria for considering an inscription to be an Athenian verse epitaph are, for the archaic material, more rigorous than those of CEG. I include only those epitaphs about which we can be fairly certain that they were metrical (whereas Hansen appears to include

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INTRODUCTION

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all texts that might have been metrical). 17 For fourth century epitaphs, I follow Hansen's corpus, without the addition of any new categories. My policy may seem to be somewhat of a double standard and is explained by the difference in nature of archaic verse inscriptions from those of the later classical period. In the former period, verse epitaphs consistently comply with certain formal requirements of content, diction and meter, and those which fail to do so are most likely not to have been intended as metrical. In the latter period, there is a fair number of epitaphs that are clearly intended as verse but have numerous metrical flaws or anomalies (such as the employment of a single pentameter). The intention to produce a verse epitaph is revealed in some cases only by the employment of certain words and expressions that are generally characteristic of verse epitaphs, while the rest of the epitaph may not conform at all to elementary metrical norms. Whereas CEG is the primary source for the inscriptions, information on the physical appearance of a monument and the layout of an inscription is drawn either from IG or from publications of individual texts. Where possible, I also try to refer to reproductions of monuments in the recent Catalogue of Attic Tombstones by Clairmont, as well as to those in other editions. I give measurements for most of the archaic stones, because with them the dimensions are often important for understanding the type and grandeur of the monument. For the later classical material, however, I describe the type of monument where possible, but offer fewer details about physical features. The reason for the different approach to the two periods is that in the later classical period we encounter a higher number, greater variety and more complicated typology of monuments; a survey of the material is therefore more effective than detailed analysis. For the fifth century, I provide some description of and archeological information about better preserved monuments (as in the case of the socalled Metro Stele), but generally avoid going into detail about those monuments that survive fragmentarily (e.g. the Koroneia or Potidaia monuments).

As with archaic

monuments, the study of each monument here is accompanied by references to more detailed archeological reports.

17

I also apply such categories as "unclear," "likely verse," ''prose with poetic color" for archaic Attic verse epitaphs about which little can be said with any certainty. The category of each archaic text is, moreover, identified in the table {Table 1) that is appended to my study.

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CHAPTER ONE. ARCHAIC ATTIC VERSE EPITAPHS

1. Early Archaic Attic Burial Practice to ea. 600 BC

A brief survey of some features of the burial customs in Attica during the early archaic period is needed, in order to provide context for our understanding of the practice of marking grave sites with monuments bearing verse epitaphs. First, I will outline archaic Attic burial customs prior to the appearance of grave markers with verse epitaphs, and then will attempt to point out some significant changes in burial customs that occurred ea. 600 BC and contributed to the emergence of a certain typology of grave markers which came to be associated with verse epitaphs. To pinpoint the peculiarity of the Athenian practice of material display at burial sites after 600 BC, I will need to discuss the evidence both at the local (Athenian) and at the panhellenic level. Prior to ea. 600 BC Early Attic archaic burial sites fall short of the grandeur of burials of the previous epoch, the Geometric period. 1 Although cremation remained the most common type of burial in seventh century Attica, its typology changed from the so-called secondary (in which the corpse was cremated on a pyre outside the burial pit) to the so-called primary cremation (in which the corpse was cremated inside the pit). As a result of this change, "both the ash amphora and the stately vase above the grave pit were eliminated. " 2 The wealthiest burials comprised elaborately constructed pits, in which the cremation was performed, which were subsequently covered by a low and broad tumulus or rectangular mound. At some distance from the grave, under or beside the earthen mound, there could be an offering trench. The offerings were deposited and burnt during the funeral ceremony, and the trenches were closed and never used again. The size of some of the offering trenches, which reached 12 m in length, and the fmds, which included the fmest examples of Protoattic pottery, testify to the grandeur of the funeral ceremonies. 3 Earthen mounds, which covered the most distinctive burials, 1

Knigge 1991, pp. 16-24; Kurtz and Boardman 1971, pp. 49-67. Knigge 1991, p. 26. 3 Whitley 1994, pp. 213-30; Kurtz and Boardman 1971, pp. 68-90. The rich finds from funerary deposits contrast with the poor votive deposits found in seventh century Attica, which, in turn, look especially meager in comparison with seventh century votive deposits in such places as Corinth, Argos or Olympia. Whitley (1994, pp. 217-218, 224 and passim) points out that this fact, coupled with the lack of evidence for major temple or 2

10

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were large constructions, varying in size from 4 to 10 m in diameter, and were often crowned by relatively small ceramic markers, craters or libation vessels; some tumuli were marked by modest stone stelai. In comparison, in some other areas of Greece material display at seventh century burial sites attained greater grandeur and elaboration than in Attica; for example, the grave of Menecrates in Corcyra (143) was marked by a large tumulus which was covered with dressed stone and which was probably surmounted by a figure of a lion. 4 In the practice of marking gravestones with epitaphs, some areas of Greece such as Corinth and her northwestern colonies were more advanced than Attica, too. At some point in the early seventh century the Greeks started to employ not just gravestones, which they must have had earlier (Homeric epic clearly attests the use of grave markers), but also inscribed grave markers. 5 The practice of inscribing grave markers with the name of the deceased dates in Greece to an early period and is illustrated by a primitive type of ofn..ta, a rough stone marker bearing the name of the deceased; these were found, for example, in Thera, and date to the seventh century. 6 Jeffery compares the practice of marking the grave of the dead with the instinct of "marking ... personal property, of men or of deities," 7 which accounts for the majority of the earliest Greek inscriptions, and can be also compared to the identifying inscriptions that accompany depictions on vases. This type of inscription I will call a record or label type, since it identifies the object on which it is written as the grave marker of the person who was buried there. In the majority of cases these inscriptions provide the name of the deceased and sometimes also the name of the one who carried out the burial and set up the monument.

Almost simultaneously with the

appearance of the practice of recording the name on a grave marker, there appeared an interest in doing something more than simply labeling. Along with record type epitaphs, there existed in the seventh century more elaborate verse epitaphs in hexameters such as, for example, the very epic sounding epitaph for Amiades from Corcyra (145, ea. 600?):

sanctuary constructions, indicates that the Athenians of the seventh century may have had little concern for public cult. Public cult practice, however, might have involved use of perishable items, such as cattle; but it is an important consideration that whatever concern the Athenians had for public cult, they did not use their wealth to express it in any lasting material form. 4 For restoration of this impressive monument, see Mataranga 1994. 5 Scodel (1992, pp. 60-61) even argues that the passages in Homer that are reminiscent of epitaphs, such as//. 6.459-60 or 7.89-91, reflect an already existing tradition of sepulchral inscriptions, which might have come to Greece from the Near East. 6 E.g., /G XII 3.771 1-aBi!la, /G XII 3.783 'ETE6KATJIO. 7 LSAG, p. 62.

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001-la T6Be 'ApvtaBa· xaponos T6vB' OAEicrev "Apes (3apvci~-tevov napa vavcrllv en' 'Apa8801o phofatm, TIOAAolv aplOTEV(f)ovTa KaTa OTOVOfEOav CxfVTcXV8 This is the grave of Arniadas. Ares with flashing eyes destroyed him as he fought by the ships at the streams of Aratthos, displaying the valor amid groaning shouts of war.

Seventh century Attic inscriptions of various genres are not particularly impressive m comparison with inscriptions from other parts of Greece. A couple of seventh century Attic epitaphs are in the tradition of the record type, and are cut on unpretentious grave markers. One is a crude marble stele which bears an epitaph on the shaft beside what might be the traces of a rudimentary relief, IG 13 1194: 'EvtaAo 8vyaTpos 2novBiBol Kepa~-tos crTeAe. The inscription gives the name of a deceased female, followed by two male names, one of which is her father's and the other perhaps her husband's.

The second one is a rough

triangular slab of limestone that bears the name of the deceased in the genitive case, IG 13 1247: 'EmxapiBo. Both stelai are small and roughly finished; their lettering is, to borrow the expression from IG 13, haud dissimilis. They are much closer to the tradition of crude record inscriptions on Thera than to the more refined practice of sepulchral inscriptions in Corinth and her northwestern colonies. In respect to funerary inscriptions, therefore, Attica appears to have been a backwater in the seventh century, but this situation changed drastically in the sixth century. As writing became more widespread, a stone epitaph was increasingly used. Approximately in the second quarter of the sixth century, Athenians started to have funerary epigrams incised on grave markers, and after that archaic Attica ended up producing by far the highest number of sepulchral verses in Greece. Changes ea. 600 BC Ca. 600 Attic funerary practice began to change.

Large tumuli became rare; 9

rectangular mounds were substituted with so-called built tombs (or house-tombs), which became smaller towards the middle of the century, especially in Athens. 10 The number of offering trenches declined, first in Athens and then in the Attic countryside, and beginning in 8

For epic phrasing of the type found in this epitaph, see I/. 16. 669: ... lTOTOI-IOlO po1Jot; 24.256:

... [3opVcXI-IEVOV lTEpl OOTV; 7.89-90: avSpos 1-lEV T65e Oi'j!-10 ... ov lTOT' CxplOTEVOVTO; Od. 11. 383: ... OTOV6EOOOV CxOTi)V. 9

There are some exceptions, the most notable of which is the so-called South Hill in the Kerameikos, see Section 8. It has, however, no offering trench. 10 Kurtz and Boardman 1971, pp. 79-83.

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the mid-sixth century they became very rare. 11 At the same time, more attention started to be paid to lasting elaborate grave markers. In the Late Geometric period monumental grave markers were represented by Dipylon vases, which disappeared in early archaic times and were replaced by smaller kraters during the seventh century. The renewal of interest in monumental form is first attested towards the end of the seventh century in the employment of larger ceramic grave markers, which reached approximately one meter in height, 12 and slightly later in the appearance of large limestone stelai. In the early sixth century, marble kouroi began to serve as grave markers, 13 and the most advanced, of which numerous examples exist, are dated to the period from ea. 575 on. 14 The changes that occurred around 600 in the funeral complexes in the area of the Kerameikos have been explained as a problem of space: there was little room for large tumuli, and built tombs were being constructed directly adjacent to and on top of each other and earlier structures. 15 This explanation also suggests that the number of people who opted to bury their dead in certain areas such as by the city gates increased in the first half of the sixth century, that is that certain burial grounds (such as the Kerameikos) at certain centers (such as Athens) gained some special significance and prestige, and consequently were running out of space, since too many people wanted to have burial plots there. The same tendency, however, is visible outside the city of Athens in the Attic countryside, where space should not have been a consideration, and this fact suggests that simply different patterns of display were adopted. Grave markers, which had now been scaled down in size, acquired grandeur by other means. They were set up at prominent locations, such as along roads, and featured either stelai, often with a statue of a sphinx on top, or statues of kouroi or korai, which were set up on a pillar or stepped base. These monuments were meant to be observed by any passerby, whom they would impress more by the quality of their artwork than by their sheer 11

For discussion of the development of offering trenches in the Kerameikos, see Ktibler 1959, pp. 87-92. Knigge 1991, p. 27 and fig. 22. 13 It is still an open question when marble kouroi started to be used as grave markers. Knigge (1991, p. 27) casts doubt on the idea that the so-called Dipylon Gate Head, ea. 600-590?, belonged to a funerary statue, since the size of this statue would have been considerably greater than life-size, which puts it rather in the company of statues of youths from sanctuaries. The recent finding of the so-called "Kuros vom Heiligen Tor," in the opinion of Niemeier, proves that this kouros, which is also over life-size, along with the Dipylon Gate kouros and the kouros from the Metropolitan Museum in New York, form a series ofkouroi that were used as grave markers as early as ea. 600 (Niemeier 2002, pp. 47-53). The new kouros (and also the Dipylon and New York kouroi), however, was found reused, which prevents us from securely establishing both the original context and date of the statue. 14 Richter 1960, p. 59. 15 Kurtz and Boardman 1971, p. 82. 12

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scale. In the preceding century, the finest grave goods were deposited in offering trenches and were not meant to be seen ever again. The splendid monuments of the early sixth century were designed for the permanent display of the taste, status and wealth of the families to whom they belonged. As at any period, reverent burial constituted part of the duty that the living owed the dead, but only a fraction of the population could and would articulate this duty by means of an enduring and splendid grave marker. In both the seventh and sixth centuries this fraction of the population in Athens was perhaps fairly small, and the change in funerary display pertained probably not to the number of families who could and would spend lavishly on funerary arrangements but rather to kinds of material display. It appears to be significant that the increasing employment of the written word in the second quarter of the sixth century to identify a grave marker followed closely or coincided with the shift in emphasis from a grandiose funeral ceremony with rich offerings to an elaborate and prominently located grave marker, that is from a display confined in time (rituals) and to a particular audience (those present at the ceremony) to one that was permanent (statue or stele) and publicly accessible (for any passerby to behold). Solon's Funeracy Legislation Changes observed in the archeological evidence for funerary practices in Athens naturally lead scholars to seek a correlation between these changes and the Solonian funerary legislation16 which is attested in three separate, albeit relatively late, sources, [Demosthenes] 43.62, Cicero De legibus 2.59, and Plutarch Solon 21. [Demosthenes] alludes to Solon's stipulation concerning funerary arrangements (such as place and time) and to the restrictions on the participation of women in the prothesis and ekphora; Cicero claims that 16

Morris' attempt to demonstrate that the existence of Solon's funerary legislation finds no support in the archeological record since "[t]here is no particular break in Athenian burial customs around 600 B.C." (1992b, p. 37) is not convincing. Such phenomena as the disappearance of offering trenches and diminution in the size of the tumuli and built tombs, coupled with the appearance of sculptured stelai and statues, seem undeniable, even if they cannot be dated precisely. Morris' argument for the continued increase from 700 through the late sixth century in the scale of grave markers in Athens rests on the existence of the so-called Mound G (for a short description of this tumulus see Knigge 1991, pp. 105-106), which is dated ea. 560, and appears to provide evidence that sixth century tumuli were no smaller than their seventh century predecessors. This tumulus in fact can be seen as a counter example to Morris' argument. Although there have been various suggestions for the identity of the family whose members were associated with this mound, all scholars agree that the burial was exceptional and Kiibler, who excavated the mound, even thought that it might have been Solon's own tomb (Kiibler 1959, p. 85; Kiibler 1976, pp. 5-21). The mound stands out, precisely because the practice of erecting large tumuli was by then no longer current. The development of archaic Attic grave stelai, from the earlier composite to later monolithic type, also contradicts the theory of continuous increase of material display at burial sites.

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Solon limited expenditure on funerary attire and musicians, and forbade mourners from lacerating their cheeks and staging /essum funeris, which he explains as lugubris eiulatio. Plutarch gives the most detailed account of several laws that aimed to curb license and disorder at funerals (particularly that caused by women) by lessening funerary expenses and prohibiting mourners from lacerating themselves and from lamenting anyone else but the person being buried. 17 Literary evidence, therefore, depicts Solon's funerary legislation as a) curtailing expenses for the funerary ceremony; b) restricting the ceremony to a certain place and time; c) limiting attendance and restraining emotional outbursts of women. Plutarch explains the reforms as an attempt to end the feuding between the families of Kylon and Megakles which followed the assassination of the former by the latter (Solon 12). 18 Archeological evidence, as we saw, does suggest that the emphasis in material display at the burial site was, at least in some respects, transferred from funerary ceremonies to permanent and impressive grave markers. The scaling down of funerary ceremony would correspond to the spirit of the Solonian legislation, but I would be hesitant to assert that it was Solonian legislation that caused aristocratic funerary display to include grave markers of grandeur. Solon's laws and the archeologically documented changes in funerary display might well represent various facets of an emerging social and political situation in which restrictions on outbursts of human emotion and regulation of material display at certain ceremonies started to play a bigger role. 2. Archaic Attic Verse Epitaphs in Context

Typology of Monuments Associated with Verse Epitaphs The majority of archaic Attic epitaphs was inscribed on the bases of either a statue or of an elaborate stele. Earlier statues were primarily standing kouroi or korai, but in the last third of the sixth century there also appeared seated figures and equestrian statues. Marble and limestone were employed, but so far there is no evidence for the use of bronze statues in funerary markers. The stelai were tall, fairly narrow dressed slabs of marble or limestone with a depiction on the shaft that might be rendered in low relief, incision or paint. The stelai of the first three quarters of the sixth century comprised a separate base and fmial, 17

See the excellent and brief account in Garland 1989, pp. 3-5, as well as Engels 1998, pp. 77-96. Alexiou (1974, p. 21) puts it well: "In the inflammatory atmosphere of the blood feud between the families of Megakles and Kylon that was raging in Solon's time, what more effective way could there be to stir up feelings of revenge than the incessant lamentation at the tomb by large numbers of women for 'those long dead'?" 18

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often in the shape of a sphinx, whereas the stelai of the last third of the century had a simpler finial which was carved in one piece with the shaft, but retained separate bases. The height and thickness of these later so-called monolithic stelai were less than those of the earlier so-called composite stelai. The narrow shaft of a stele was most conducive to the depiction of a standing figure in profile; in the majority of cases it is a figure of a standing young man who is turned to the right. Mature men are also sometimes represented, and towards the end of the century there appeared the type of an older man leaning on a staff, occasionally accompanied by a dog. 19 In at lest one case the main male figure is attended by a smaller female one. 20 In the lower part of the stele, below the principal composition, there could be a separate field with another depiction in relief or painted; 21 these panels are sometimes called predellae, on the analogy with medieval altar compositions. Capitals of the composite stelai could be decorated additionally with carved or painted scenes. Women never appear on their own on the narrow shaft stelai, but at the end of the sixth century there developed a type of wide, thin stelai that did depict seated women, perhaps with attendants. Although a surviving epitaph can rarely be securely identified with a particular monument, the remaining base often preserves traces of joints from which it is possible to guess the original type and scale of the monument. The monuments that are associated with verse epitaphs in archaic Attica, primarily sculpture in the round and tall stelai, must have been distinguished by their cost. Indeed, many of these monuments are of island marble, which had to be transported to Athens. More importantly, they were often the best examples of sculpture of the period and were wrought by leading sculptors of the day, some of whom even signed their works. 22 Besides cost, setting up such grave markers required considerable knowledge and appreciation of aesthetic norms on the part of the families who would commission them. Inscribing a grave marker with a verse epitaphand virtually all archaic Attic verse epitaphs were inscribed on the grave markers of grandeur-was confined to a circle of people who knew poetic norms well and could afford conspicuous monuments, which were distinguished both by their cost and aesthetic qualities. 19

See the discussion of the man-and-dog type in Clairmont 1970, pp. 28-31. The so-called boy-and-girl stele from the Metropolitan Museum depicts a young man and a girl, see Richter 1961, pp.27-29, no. 37. 21 These scenes may include some cavalry motives (Richter 1961, figs. 128, 154, 159, etc.), or a depiction of a Gorgon (figs. 83 and 84). 22 See Section 6. 20

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The proportion of these people to the entire population of Attica must have been small, and we may regard them as members of the elite. Display and Layout of Archaic Attic Verse Epitaphs Grave markers consisted of sculpture in the round or stelai, which were often mounted on stepped bases oflimestone or marble. Verse epitaphs were most often incised on the front surface of the upper block of a stepped base. A stepped base could have three or four blocks, each measuring approximately 0.3 m in height, which means that the surface that included the epitaph would be elevated enough to assist reading. Sometimes epitaphs were inscribed on the predella in the lower part of the main shaft. Archaic Attic funerary inscriptions never appear to have been placed on the sculpture itself, as is often the case with Attic dedicatory inscriptions or funerary inscriptions in other parts of Greece. Beginning with the earliest extant examples, the writing in verse epitaphs is neat and careful, and letters are generally large, ranging from 0.025 m to 0.04 m; sometimes traces of paint over the incised letters and guidelines are preserved. Punctuation marks might be employed to mark the end of a verse (e.g. 13, 19, 51), but more often they separate words or groups of closely joined words, for example XatpeOEI-lO

=T68e oe11a =TraTep eoTe[oe I 8]av6vTos =(14, line 1).

These

marks must have been meant to assist the reader, since the texts were continuous and empty spaces were avoided-a feature characteristic of the archaic "carpeting" style of writing. As a result of this style, both words and verses were often divided at line end. In a few cases, the splitting of words between lines is avoided by the calculated spacing of the letters (e.g. 24, 27), which must have required the investment of particular care in the arrangement of the inscription. At least in one case (24) the inscribed face of the base is framed with double incisions to underscore the decorative appearance of the inscribed surface. Generally, much effort was put into making a verse epitaph at once a decorative part of the tombstone and a presenter of the most legible text possible. The act of reading an early Attic epitaph did not require much deciphering or walking around the monument/3 and any passer-by, assuming he was literate, could quite easily see and read the inscription. 23

Contrast the Attic practice with, for example, the dedication at Delphi, LSAG, p. 103, no. 4.

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Verse vs Prose IG I3 lists 101 private epitaphs that date from the beginning of the practice to before

ea. 500-480, when the tradition of inscribing private epitaphs was interrupted. Three texts, 1245, 1264, and 1273 are of an entirely unclear nature and might well be non-sepulchral, while one epitaph (29) is not included in JG I3 because it is inscribed a clay tablet. Thus, there are 99 archaic epitaphs, which I divide into the following categories: verse (43), likely-verse (9), unclear (18), prose (26), and prose with some poetic features (3). 24 The ratio of verse epitaphs to all epitaphs in archaic Attica is between 53% and 64%, depending on whether we count only verse or both verse and likely-verse against the total number of epitaphs, excluding those that are unclear (that is either a proportion of 43 to 81 or 52 to 81). Although my criteria for considering an epitaph metrical are somewhat more restrictive than those in the collections of Peek or even Hansen, since I distinguish categories of "unclear" and "likely verse" epitaphs/5 the resulting ratio of verse to all epitaphs in archaic Attica (at the very least, halfl) is higher than it would be at any other time and in any other place in Greece. Notwithstanding the fact that precise dating is unattainable, the relative distribution of verse and prose epitaphs during the sixth century is clearly uneven, with patterns being different in the period before ea. 525 from those at the end of the century. 26 In the earlier period the percentage of verse to all epitaphs is higher than in the last decades of the century. A relatively high number of inscriptions in the "unclear" category might somewhat skew the results, but the general tendency for verse to outnumber prose epitaphs in the earlier period is undeniable.

It appears, therefore, that when the practice of inscribing grave markers

appeared and became widespread in Attica in the second and third quarters of the sixth century, most people who chose to commemorate their dead with a lasting inscription preferred to do so in metrical form. Towards the end of the century the practice of marking the grave monument with a prose epitaph (usually recording just the name of the deceased) became equally or even more common. 3. Commemorated Deceased

The primary purpose of any epitaph is to identify and lament the loss of the deceased, and to keep his or her memory alive. When archaic Attic verse epitaphs tell more than

24

See Table I. See Introduction and Table 1. 26 The date of ea. 525 is artificial and does not correspond to any historical date. 25

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the identity of the deceased and the chief mourner, they most commonly expand to add expressions of praise or grief. They can supply some personal information, such as the origin, if it was not Athens, of the deceased, and in some cases they address the passer-by and ask him or her to join in the lament. Some epitaphs also include references to and short descriptions of the burial or the monument. Analysis of the elements of verse epitaphs provides us with some idea of what was perceived to be most memorable and praiseworthy about the deceased and of what was felt most grievous about his or her fate. Death in War Death on the battlefield is the supreme sacrifice of self to society, the supremely memorable and praiseworthy act. It can fall to both the young and old, but when it comes to the young it is the most grievous fate. Death in war, that is on behalf of others, is more than a private family matter and arouses the grief of everybody; Tyrtaeus describes how the entire community of an archaic city laments the one who fell on the battlefield:

Tov

s· 6AoOOI.I[E8a]. 113

The epitaph is inscribed on the upper block of the stepped base (H. 0.398 m, W. 0.535 m, Th. 0.252 m) which carried a stele, the cutting for which measures L. 0. 45 m, W. 0.11 m. For a photograph, see Viviers 1992,p. 138,fig.33. 114 The epitaph is incised on a block (H. 0.19 m, W. 0.735 m, Th. 0.58 m) of the base, which perhaps carried a stele--since the epitaph is incised on a wide face of the block, Jeffery thinks that the base was probably surmounted by a stele rather than by a kouros, IGAA, p. 147, no. 67, fig. 41 c-d. The base of the monument of Neilonides (42) also had the epitaph inscribed on a wide face (W. 0.715 m, Th. 0.631 m) and supported a statue of a kouros; thus there is, in my opinion, a good possibility that the monument ofKleoites included a kouros. 115 I print the reading ofHansen, CEG 11, p. 301, no. 68, in which he adjusts his earlier text to accord with Day's examination of the stone.

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I. ARCHAIC ATIIC VERSE EPITAPHS

48

At the monument of the deceased Kleoites, child of Menesaichmos, as you look, lament, since he died in the flower of his beauty.

It has been much debated whether both epitaphs employ the imperative forms of the verb

oiKTipc.:> (oiKTtpov and oiKTtpe, respectively) or the first person oiKTipc.:>, but in either case the lamentation is accompanied and enhanced by the reader's viewing of the monument. The grief is also emphasized by additional descriptions of the deceased: Smikythos destroyed the hope of those dear to him; Kleoites was in the flower of his youth--presumably KaA6s refers to the age group, approximately 15 to 25 years old. It might be significant that the epitaphs for Smikythos and for Kleoites allude to the deceased as members of closer circlesthat of their families and friends-than is customary in those Athenian epitaphs which address the passer-by with the request to lament the deceased (13, 27, 28, 34). This consideration suggests to me that the verbs of lament in both epitaphs are rather employed in the first person form than in the imperative, and are meant to evoke some sense of the closeness of the circle of mourners, the friends and relatives of the deceased, who were responsible for burying and setting up the grave monuments. I will return to this question later. In a few other cases the monument itself is described with an epithet denoting beauty,

KaA6v (18, 26) or xapiev (42), and such a description seems to suggest some pride on the part of the chief mourner in setting up a seemly monument wrought by a famous sculptor. Interestingly, while KaA6s is a common word in archaic verse epitaphs, employed to describe either the deceased or his/her monument and burial, the word can hardly be found in later classical epitaphs. 116 Sculptors' Signatures on Monuments with Verse Epitaphs Many archaic funerary monuments, including those that bore verse epitaphs, are signed by sculptors, and in some cases a reference to the artist has been incorporated into the verse epitaph itself. The issue of artistic signatures on gravestones has been a subject of epigraphical, literary and archeological studies, and indeed it pertains to all these fields. The epigraphical approach to the question is exemplified by the groundbreaking study 116

Hansen lists three occurrences, of which one (548) is a possible restoration flagged by a question mark; the next one (ei TO KaAwe nap' EvpVI-lEf>OVTcl noT' ayAaov ~Aeoav ii[3nv ~-tapv6:~-tevot Mi)Swv To;ocp6pwv np6~-taxots aiXI-lllTa(, nei;o( TE Kat c.0Kvn6pwv eni VllWV, KclAAlOTOV 8' CxpETiiS 1-lViil-l' EAllTOV cp8tl-lEVOl. Line 3 of this literary epigram was used to restore the lacuna in A 1, 50 but the syntax of the resulting sentence in A I differs from that of Simon. 46. Indeed, OKvn6pov eni veov nav8a:Alwv oTeq>aVOIOIV (13.69) and K:Ae1w I navSaMs E!lais eveoTa~[ev cppaoiv (13.229); note that in the first example the quantity of the second alpha in nav8a:Ai]s is long, and, apart from the new epigram, this appears to be the only attested occurrence of the root -Sa: :A-, which theoretically should derive from the short aorist stem, and should therefore also be short. 50 Hiller was the first who proposed to emend verse 3 on the basis of Simon. 46, but his suggestion was all but ridiculed by everyone expect Gomme; Hiller's insight was proved correct (shortly after his death) by the discovery of the fragment of the later copy. 49

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11. PUBLIC VERSE EPITAPHS AND COMMEMORATIVE EPIGRAMS

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in A I should be introduced by the article oi, to render the sense "the infantrymen and those (= the men) upon the ships." In Greek, the article might have been assimilated through crasis to the connecting Kai, resulting in [xot 6Kvrr6pov ElTt veo]v, or it could have been written in front of 6KvTI6pov, resulting in [Kat hoKvTI6pov ElTt veo]v. The later copy does not exclude either possibility. 51 The consequence of the variant Kat hoKvTI6pov is that it increases the number of letters in the missing part of A I, which is written stoichedon, by one letter, and this change in the number of missing letters might be important for restoration of the first couplet of the inscription. The text is believed to be missing 9 letters; if there was hoKvTI6pov, and not OKVTI6pov, the lacuna is 10 letters long. I have not inspected the stone, and so my suggestion is based on purely philological parallels, but the discovery of the New Simonides with its 6:86:]~aTov KEXVTat KAeos (IEG2 Simon. 11.15) is very attractive. The problem is that it is one letter too long: if we

restore the opening verse of A I as avSpov TovS' apETe[s KEXVTal KAELOS aq>8ljTOV] aiei on the basis of the New Simonides, we would need to postulate a lacuna of eleven letters. Perhaps, one can consider KEXVTO in place of KEXVTat, but it seems somewhat less plausible. The later copy also suggests that epigram A I was re-inscribed on a monument of different shape and (probably) type. The re-inscribed dedication of the Chalkidian and Boiotian spoils altered the order of the verses, but the shape of the base, on which it was incised, must have been close to the original base, and therefore the layout of the inscription, a couplet per line, was not changed.

The later copy of A I shows that the

epigram was inscribed by verse, not by couplet, as on the original monument. It seems possible, therefore, that only A I was re-inscribed (on a monument that was different from the original), since we hear echo of it in Simon. 21, which was likely a literary piece. What is remarkable is that there is no trace of the other epigrams of the Persian Wars monument in the later literary tradition, and, considering the scale of this monument, I fmd this absence surprising. A theory that postulates reconstruction of the monument sometime in the fifth or fourth century with transferal of only the text of A I might lend a possible explanation for the absence. 51

I failed to find any instance ofxoi that would be followed by a vowel, but this can be due to the low number of surviving attestations of xoi.

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3. Public Commemorative Epigrams: Features and Further Examples Thus far I have looked at possible evidence for verse epitaphs to Athenians who fell during the Persian Wars of 490 and 480-4 79 and have failed to find any sound attestation of such a genre. All the epigrams that I analyzed or mentioned were either dedicatory or commemorative, and the survey allows now a better definition of the latter. Commemorative epigrams celebrate an achievement or a victory, and commemorate, in the sense of praising, a person or event as worthy of remembrance, but are not associated in any explicit way with burials or dedications. They might include elements of narrative and sometimes point to precise historical details, but their genre is distinct from that of both verse epitaphs and dedications.

Years ago, FriedHinder suggested that the epigram commemorating the

deed ofthe tyrannicides (which I discuss below) was a new type of poem for a new type of monument, which could be called a "national political monument," but he did not delineate the features of the new genre, nor did he adduce more examples of it. 52 Day, in his study of epigrams commemorating the tyrannicides, touches upon some common features of Athenian epigrams that were inscribed on public monuments of the early democracy, but the topic of various genres is not addressed in his article. 53

Most

genres, however, exist in connection with others, and features of a genre in any particular period depend on the presence (or absence) of other genres. It is one of the important features of Athenian commemorative monuments and epigrams that they were set up and inscribed during the period when both private and public funerary monuments with verse epitaphs were absent. As for dedications, the tradition of inscribing an epigram on a votive monument continued from the previous century, and the number of verse dedications (and dedicated objects) seems even to increase significantly at the end of the sixth and beginning of the fifth centuries, in comparison with the earlier period. 54 The content of verse dedications started to admit of greater variety, too. 55 Most sixth century dedications are very matter-of-fact and can be described as "record" inscriptions: they inform the reader of who dedicated the object, to what god, and why the dedication was made; as I discussed earlier, they sometimes have metrical mistakes and often are executed with less care than verse epitaphs (for example, 52

Friedliinder 1938, p. 90. Day 1985b, esp. pp. 31-34. 54 Keesling 2003, pp. 36-62. 55 For example, 227 asks the goddess to be benevolent to the donor so that he could make another dedication; 243 narrates the peculiar circumstances of the vow; 266 employs elevated ceremonial language. 53

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193, 195, 209). Yet the epigram that was inscribed on the Athenian dedication of spoils from

Chalkis (179 = Simon. 3, ea. 507-501), while retaining conventional elements, is striking in its employment of poeticisms, even if they are partly drawn from earlier poetry. Three important features of the attitude of Athenians during the earlier fifth century towards inscribing epigrams on monuments can be summarized thus: 1) burials were not marked by monuments bearing verse inscriptions; 2) public and private votive monuments were often accompanied by elaborate epigrams; 3) there appeared a special genre of commemorative monuments which were inscribed with commemorative epigrams. At this point, I wish to illustrate the genre of commemorative epigrams with further examples. The Tvrannicides Epigram (430) The epigram (430=Simon. 1)56 that was incised on the base of the monument depicting Harmodios and Aristogeiton is the quintessential commemorative type:

LE

~ey'

'ABeva(otcn cp6os yeve' hev(K' 'AptoTo-J

Lyehov hhnrapxov KTeive KalJ hap~6BtOLSJ I [------------------------------- ] [------------ na]Tp[Ba yev e8hev. A great light came to the Athenians when Aristogeiton and Harmodius killed Hipparchus made their homeland ...

The honorands, Harmodios and Aristogeiton, are dead, but the monument is not a monument marking their burial and the epigram is not an epitaph. Evidently, the monument is also not a dedication to any particular god or gods. The verses commemorate the exploit of the Tyrannicides as the bestowal of liberty on the people of Athens, and notably it is with the triumphant reference to the Athenians that the epigram starts. The epigram is not only unconventional because of its genre, but also in its diction. Whoever was responsible for composing it, whether Simonides or some other poet, was undoubtedly a skillful poet. Presented with a name that could not possibly fit a hexameter or a pentameter, he came up with the trick of dividing the name of Aristogeiton between two verses. 57 The Eion Epigrams The so-called Eion epigrams (Simon. 40), which are preserved in the literary tradition, can also be included among commemorative verse inscriptions: 56

It is irrelevant for my discussion whether the preserved epigram stood on the base of the earlier group by Antenor or of the later group by Kritios and Nesiotes, or on both. 57 On difficulties of accommodating proper names in verse, see Kassel 1975, esp. pp. 213-214, where he discusses the trick of dividing between two verses a name that is impossible to scan.

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11. PUBLIC VERSE EPITAPHS AND COMMEMORATIVE EPIGRAMS

(a)

5

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eK noTe TficrBe n6ATJOS &11' 'ATpefBlJm Mevecr8evs nye'ho ~a8eov T pculKOV 01-lnEBfov, ov noS' "01-lTJPOS E