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A tall, quadrangular
The text is inscribed in stoichedon 20 on Faces A and C; stoichedon 18 on Face B; stoichedon 19 on Face D.
Letters:
Encoded for EpiDoc schema 8.17 on 25-02-2014 by J.-M. Carbon
Edition here based on Rougemont
Cf. also:
Ziehen
Further bibliography:
Face C
(...) This is the law concerning (20) funerary matters: do not put in (the tomb) more than 30 drachmae's worth, whether (objects) bought or (brought from) home. The broad shroud is to be grey (or dark). (25) If one contravenes any of these rules, he will pay 50 drachmes, unless he swears on the tomb that he did not put anything more. Let one place only one mattress underneath (the deceased) and (30) place only one pillow. The covered corpse will be carried in silence and nowhere set down in the bends (of the road), (35) and no lamentations will be made outside the house before they arrive at the tomb; there, [...] let it be until the [...] is placed. (40) On the tombs of the previously deceased there is to be no dirge or lamentation, but each is to head back home except those who shared the hearth of the deceased and his paternal uncles, (45) his parents-in-law, his descendants and his sons-in-law. No wailing or lamentation will take place on the next day, the tenth day or the year anniversary. (50) If one contravenes any of these written rules, [...]
Face D
[...] drachma [...] The following (occasions for) banquets are customary (legal): Apellai, Boukatia, Heraia, Dadaphoria, (5) Poitropia, 7th and 9th of Bysios, Eukleia, Artamitia, Laphria, Theoxenia, Telchinia, (10) Dioskoureia, Megalartia, Herakleia, and even if he himself sacrifices an animal, and if he assists a new mother (for a sacrifice), and if he is present with a stranger and (15) they sacrifice animals, and if he happens to be serving in the five-day office (?). If one contravenes any of these written rules, the
The following is also written at (30) Phanateus in the rock, inside: "Phanotos gave to following as a dowry to his daughter Boupyga:" the half-sheep, (35) (the) female kid from the twelve-animal sacrifice, the skins (of the sacrifices) for Pronaia, the skins for Lykeios, the female leading (?) calf.
For any circumstance, whether private or public, (40) the person making preliminary sacrifices or consulting the oracle (?) is to provide what is written to the Labyadai. The following are the sacrifices of the Labyadai: in the month of Apellaios, (45) to Dionysus, during the Boukatia to Zeus Patroos and to Apollo the first-offering and the Labyadai are to hold a symposion together. The other (50) banquets take place in their proper time.
Face C
(...) Ceci est la réglementation (20) en matière funéraire. On ne mettra pas (dans la tombe) pour plus de 35 drachmes, tant en achats qu'(en objets pris) à la maison. La couverture épaisse sera brune. (25) Si l'on transgresse l'une de ces dispositions, on paiera 50 drachmes d'amende, à moins de jurer sur la tombe qu'on n'y a pas mis davantage. On placera (sous le mort) un seul matelas et (30) on ajoutera un seul oreiller. On portera le mort emballé, en silence. On ne le déposera nulle part aux tournants de chemin (?) (35) et on ne se lamentera pas hors de la maison avant d'arriver au tombeau; là [...] qu'il soit jusqu'à [...] est placé. (40) Sur les tombeaux des morts plus anciens, on ne fera pas de thrène ni de lamentation: on rentrera chacun chez soi, excepté ceux qui vivaient au foyer du mort, ainsi que ses oncles paternels, (45) beaux-parents, descendants et gendres. Ni le lendemain, ni le dixième jour, ni les jours anniversaires, on ne gémira ni se lamentera. (50) Si l'on transgresse l'une de ces dispositions [...]
Face D
[...] drachme [...] Les banquets suivants sont obligatoires : Apellai, Boukatia, Heraia, Dadaphoria, (5) Poitropia, 7 et 9 Bysios, Eukleia, Artamitia, Laphria, Theoxenia, Telchinia, (10) Dioskoureia, Megalartia, Herakleia — cela même si l'on sacrifie soi-même un animal, même si l'on assiste une accouchée (pour un sacrifice), même si l'on a auprès de soi des hôtes (15) qui sacrifient un animal, même si l'on se trouve en fonction de cinq jours (?). Si l'on transgresse une de ces dispositions, que les damiurges (20) et tous les autres Labyades mettent le contrevenant à l'amende et que les Quinze procèdent au recouvrement. S'il conteste la mise à l'amende, qu'il prête le (25) serment de règle et il sera tenu quitte. Si les magistrats convoquent une assemblée et qu'on y manque, on paiera une obole d'amende. Et si on la trouble, on paiera une obole d'amende.
Inscription gravée aussi à (30) Phanateus, sur le rocher, en dedans : « Dot constituée par Phanotos à sa fille Boupyga » : les demi-moutons, (35) (la) chevrette prélevée sur la dodékaïde, les peaux (des sacrifices) pour la Pronaia, les peaux pour le Lykeios et la velle de tête (?).
Quiconque, soit à titre privé, soit à titre public, (40) offre le sacrifice préliminaire et consulte l'oracle (?) doit fournir aux Labyades les articles énumérés. Sacrifices des Labyades : au mois d'Apellaios, (45) à Dionysos, le jour des Boukatia à Zeus Patroos, et l'on consacre alors les prémices à Apollo; et les Labyades tiennent ensemble un symposion. Les (50) autres banquets se tiendront en leur temps.
(traduction adaptée de A. Jacquemin - D. Mulliez - G. Rougemont
It has long been proposed that the character of the group Labyadai known from this inscription and another partial, though much earlier copy at Delphi (cf.
As we have it, the dossier of regulations of the Labyadai preserved on the cippus at Delphi is thus a composite document, formed from many sources. It contains reinscribed copies, for instance of the Panopeus/Phanoteus rupestral inscription, and perhaps other copies too, such as decrees and other documents belonging to the group. Face A is essentially concerned with the office of ταγός, apparently the chief magistrate of the group and appointed annually. As the fragmentary beginning of this side state, his official was to respect both the laws of the city of Delphi and the laws and customs of Labyadai; he was to swear an oath to Zeus Patroos (lines A13-18); there follows also a lengthy decree of the Labyadai which is concerned with the duties and responsabilities of the ταγός, which especially include the annual bringing and receiving of
The portion of face C included here, lines 19-52, is a self-standing section of the inscription, probably continuing to lines D 1-2. It is headed as a "Law concerning the offerings for the dead", i.e. concerning funerals and other funerary rites. We find Jacquemin et al.'s translation of the word ἐντόφια as "mobilier funéraire" rather reductive; cp.
Face D is the most subdivided facet of the dossier. After the concluding lines continuing from face C, a substantial section (lines D2-29) begins with the heading "The following are the customary (normative) feasts" of the Labyadai. What essentially follows (lines D3-17) is a list of all the occasions on which the Labyadai needed to gather, which appears to preserve a chronological order according to the calendar of Delphi (for a helpful overview, cf. esp. Rougemont, p. 58). Participation in these feasts or festivals seems to have been obligatory for all members, even if they wished to have their own individual sacrifices or even during special circumstances (lines D12-17); failure to comply with this enforced participation, also in assemblies of the group, resulted in a fine (lines 17-29). Another section of this face transcribes, according to its heading, "The inscription written at Phanoteus, on the rock, inside" (see above; and below, lines D29-43); to the copy of the inscription is appended a rule confirming or appropriating the privileges granted by it in favour of the Labyadai. Finally, a further section entitled "The sacrifices of the Labyadai" (lines D43-51) concludes the inscription, reprising some of the content of the first section on face D, but adding a few further precisions concerning the sacrifices undertaken by the group during festivals taking place at Delphi.
Face C
Lines C20-24 and 29-31: For the objects placed in the tomb and for the στρῶμα as a cloth placed underneath the corpse, see here CGRN 35 (Iulis), lines 2-4. For the light-coloured or white cloths used in funerary rituals, see again the text from Iulis.
Lines C31-39: As noted above, the emphasis in the regulations here is strikingly on the silence (σιγᾶι) necessary during the funerary procession, until the tomb is reached. An interesting passage is lines 33-35, where it is stated that the bier for carrying the corpse may not be set down "on any of the bends" or "turns" of the road. In the general context of the regulation, this clause may have sought to prevent the participants from stopping anywhere along their path, thus leading to a corresponding loss of decorum, i.e. a possible occasion for lamentation. Alternatively or even additionally, the clause may be viewed as seeking to prevent the possible spread of
Lines C39-50: This passage concerns rites for the dead after the funeral has already taken place. For the close circle of kinship participating in funerary rites, cf. here CGRN 35 (Iulis), lines 18-27, and cp. the apocryphal (but nonetheless plausible) law cited in [Dem.] 43.62-63. For commemorative rites following the funeral, subsequently occuring here on the next day, the tenth day, and other anniversaries, see again CGRN 35 (Iulis), face B, and CGRN 108 (Gambreion), lines 9-11 (there they must be accomplished within a deadline of three months).
Face D
Line D3: Apellaios is the first month of the calendar of Delphi and the Apellai, in honour of Apollo (cf.
Line D4: Following Dittenberger, Rougemont (p. 58) notes that the Boukatia will almost certainly have fallen on 10 Boukatios, the second month of the local calendar, since an assembly of the group is attested on this specific date (lines A19-21 in the preamble of the decree; cp. A41-42; 9 Boukatios, the day preceding the meeting, is also possible). As is clear from lines D43-51, the group offered sacrifices to Zeus Patroos and Apollo on this day, perhaps including oxen given the name of the festival, but notably featuring, according to lines D43-51, an offering of first-offerings (τὰν ἀκροθίνα) and a symposion for collective drinking. For the cult of gods called by the epithet "ancestral", i.e.
Lines D5-7: The Poitropia took place in the following month, the eponymous Poitropios. Again, almost nothing is known about these rites (cp. Rougemont), though the name of the month suggests that it had a connection with rites of purification (ποιτρόπιος = προστρόπαιος, and see
Lines D7-8: A series of three festivals of Artemis are mentioned here: Eukleia, Artamitia and Laphria (see again Rougemont, p. 59, with refs.). For Eukleia, a common epithet for the goddess, see possibly here CGRN 107 (Kalaureia), lines 1-10. Note however that the Laphria are not necessarily tied to Artemis: Laphrios is notably found as an epithet of Apollo, e.g. Str. 10.2.21 and
Line 9: The festival of the Theoxenia took place in Theoxenios (month 9). This was a major celebration, probably in honour of several gods, in the sanctuary of Delphi: see Amandry 1939 and 1944-1945 for the sources, across a broad chronological spectrum. For the ritual of
Lines D10-11: As mentioned above, the Dioskoureia and Megalartia fell after the Telchinia, in the period between the Theoxenia (month 9) and the Herakleia (month 11). The Dioskoureia are otherwise unknown. The Megalartia were an agricultural festival in honour of Demeter with this epithet, literally Demeter "of the Big Breads". The same festival probably occurs in the sacrificial calendar of the city of Eleutherna CGRN 210, line B3, where the goddess receives "small cakes" (no doubt with a wish to make them "grow"). The Herakleia and the cult of Heracles are of course perfectly at home in Delphi, and the festival is attested in another inscription of the 3rd century BC,
Lines 12-17: This part of the regulations of the Labyadai is particularly noteworthy: the group apparently defined stringent conditions to ensure the mandatory participation of the members in the feasts of the group, even if they opt to perform rites as private individuals. The latter might include offering a separate sacrifice, assisting a woman who has given birth (and wishes to offer a sacrifice) or a foreigner who offers a sacrifice (see again Rougemont, p. 60-61 for discussion).
Lines D29-43: The inscription of Phanateus/Panopeus transcribed here, is presented as a bequest or a dowry by one Phanotos to his daughter Boupyga. For the original inscription inscribed on a rock face (though not "inside", mysteriously) at Panopeus/Phanoteus, see now Rousset et al.: no. 1, with a detailed discussion. Rousset et al. rightly underline the uniqueness of a dowry list which consisted of sacrificial portions, and raise the possibility that we are dealing here with a sort of legendary gift, by the local eponym, Phanotos, which provided a mythical justification for the sacrificial portions awarded to the descendants of Phanotos, and thence to the group of the Labyadai. The portions listed were long thought obscure, and some remain so, despite the detailed attempts at elucidation of Rousset et al. First, come
Lines D43-51: Two further specifications on sacrificials occasions are listed here, apparently underlining private sacrifices held by the group during larger festivals at Delphi: sacrifices to Dionysus in month Apellaios; sacrifices at the Boukatia to Zeus Patroos and to Apollo (see above at line D4). For Dionysus, cp. also a Hellenistic dedication to the god inscribed at Phanoteus/Panopeus (Rousset et al.: no. 3).
Lines D49-51 essentially refer back to the chronological list of the feasts of the Labyadai in lines D2-11.