CGRN 141

Date :

ca. 250 BC

Justification: lettering (Lupu).

Provenance

Lindos . Found in 1982 in the yard of a private house, Lindos town. Now in the Archaeological Museum of Rhodes (inv. no. E 2273).

Support

Small plaque (or stele) of Lartian marble. The stone is broken above, below and to the right, but all of these breaks appear to be relatively minor. Only the left side and the back (rough-picked) are intact.

Height: 20 cm
Width: 21 cm
Depth: (bottom) 7.5 - (top) 9 cm

Layout

Letters: 14-17 mm high; round letters: 12-13 mm high.

Bibliography

Edition here based on Lupu NGSL 16, with ph. figs. 25-26.

Cf. also: SEG 38, 786.

Text

[..^?..]
Ἀπόλλωνι ενο[...]
χίμαρος· θυέτ[ω]
τῶν φυλετᾶ[ν]
ὁ γεραίτατ[ος]·
5τὰ θυθέντ[α αὐτεῖ]
καταχρῆ[σθαι].
^vacat

Translation

[...] to Apollo [...] a male kid. Let the eldest of the tribesmen sacrifice it. (5) What has been sacrificed is to be consumed [on the spot].

Traduction

[...] à Apollon [...] un chevreau. Que l'aîné des membres de la tribu fasse le sacrifice. (5) Ce qui a été sacrifié est consommé [sur place].

Commentary

By its terse content and general form, the document is extremely similar to the numerous excerpts from a sacrificial calendar known on Rhodes and at Lindos itself: see here CGRN 62 and CGRN 63, for two early examples from Lindos, with further discussion and references. That being said, the document entirely lacks a date, which differentiates it from the other excerpts known. This date would have been expected in lines anterior to the first one preserved, as would an identification of the tribe mentioned in this text (line 3), for instance as a heading before the date in the genitive plural: see e.g. CGRN 117 (Λάκων); CGRN 154 (Ποντωρέων, a deme of Ialysos).

There are two possible solutions. Lupu argues that not much is missing above the break at the top of the stone, which does indeed appear fairly even. In other words, the first idea would be that we have here a type of sacrifical prescription which is similar yet at the same time different to the calendar extracts, whose context (and date) would have been more or less self-evident: cp. CGRN 153 (Mainyros; but there are very few instances of this type of prescription on Rhodes). To our mind, the second alternative is preferable: this is another excerpt from the local calendar; the break at the top has regrettably caused the disappearance of the identification of the Lindian tribe in question and of the date of the sacrifice to Apollo.

Lines 1-2: The traces following the mention of Apollo are best interpreted as an epithet. The most likely candidate, though still otherwise unattested at Lindos, would be Enolmos (sitting on the tripod), as discussed by Lupu (cf. also LSJ s.v.), but no certainty is possible. Though goats are often sacrificed to Apollo, the young he-goat (one winter-born, i.e. less than a year-old) is not the most typical sacrifice, but is attested in at least a few cases. It is permitted as a sacrifice to Apollo Apotropaios at Cyrene along with other goats: CGRN 99, lines 6-7. A sacrifice to Apollo at Thorikos in the month Boedromion involves a χίμαρος κριτός, CGRN 32, line 20. Cf. also the sacrifice of an ἔριφος (among other animals) to Apollo Karneios in the calendar from Miletupolis: CGRN 83, line 11.

Lines 3-4: For the eldest male member of a group as the 'priest' and sacrificial agent, a common traditional practice in families and other kinship groups, see here CGRN 104 (Halikarnassos), lines 19-20.

Lines 5-6: For this phrase, recurring in the Lindian excerpts, see CGRN 62, lines A4, B5. It denotes the requirement that a meal happen on the spot and an implicit interdiction to carry away portions, which is usually spelled out more explicitly (and more negatively) by the phrase οὐ (ἀπο)φορά vel sim.; see more widely, CGRN 32, with Commentary to lines 10-12 and further references.

Publication

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike International License 4.0 .

All citation, reuse or distribution of this work must contain somewhere a link back to the DOI (https://doi.org/10.54510/CGRN141), as well as the year of consultation (see “Home” for details on how to cite or click “Export Citation” to create a reference for this specific file).

Authors

Jan-Mathieu Carbon
Saskia Peels
Vinciane Pirenne-Delforge

How To Cite

Brief citation of the Greek text : CGRN 141, lines x-x.

Reference to the file as a critical study of the inscription : Jan-Mathieu Carbon, Saskia Peels et Vinciane Pirenne-Delforge, "CGRN 141: Excerpt from the sacrificial calendar (?) at Lindos (concerning Apollo)", in Collection of Greek Ritual Norms (CGRN), 2017-, consulted on April 19, 2024. URL: http://cgrn.ulg.ac.be/file/141/; DOI: https://doi.org/10.54510/CGRN141.

Full citation of the CGRN in a list of abbreviations or a bibliography is the following : Jan-Mathieu Carbon, Saskia Peels-Matthey, Vinciane Pirenne-Delforge, Collection of Greek Ritual Norms (CGRN), 2017-, consulted on April 19, 2024. URL: http://cgrn.ulg.ac.be; DOI: https://doi.org/10.54510/CGRN0.

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	    				<author>Jan-Mathieu Carbon</author>
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	    		<author>Vinciane Pirenne-Delforge</author></titleStmt>
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				<depth unit="cm">(bottom) 7.5 - (top) 9</depth>
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				<p>Edition here based on Lupu <bibl type="abbr" n="NGSL">NGSL</bibl> 16, with ph. figs. 25-26.</p>
				    
				<p>Cf. also: <bibl type="abbr" n="SEG">SEG</bibl> 38, 786. </p>
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<lb/><gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="line"/>
	    					
<lb xml:id="line_1" n="1"/><name type="deity" key="Apollo"><w lemma="Ἀπόλλων">Ἀπόλλωνι</w></name> <orig>εν<unclear>ο</unclear></orig><gap quantity="3" reason="lost" unit="character" precision="low"/>
	    				
<lb xml:id="line_2" n="2"/><name type="animal" key="goat"><name type="gender"><w lemma="χίμαρος">χίμαρος</w></name></name>· <name type="sacrifice"><w lemma="θύω">θυέτ<supplied reason="lost">ω</supplied></w></name>
	    					
<lb xml:id="line_3" n="3"/>τῶν <name type="group"><w lemma="φυλέτης">φυλετᾶ<supplied reason="lost">ν</supplied></w></name>
	    					
<lb xml:id="line_4" n="4"/>ὁ <name type="person"><w lemma="γεραιός">γεραίτατ<supplied reason="lost">ος</supplied></w></name>·
	    					
<lb xml:id="line_5" n="5"/>τὰ <name type="sacrifice"><w lemma="θύω">θυθέντ<supplied reason="lost">α</supplied></w></name> <w lemma="αὐτοῦ"><supplied reason="lost">αὐτεῖ</supplied></w>
	    					
<lb xml:id="line_6" n="6"/><name type="meal"><w lemma="καταχράομαι">καταχρ<unclear>ῆ</unclear><supplied reason="lost">σθαι</supplied></w></name>.
	    				
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					[...] to Apollo [...] a male kid. Let the eldest of the tribesmen sacrifice it. (5) What has been sacrificed is to be consumed [on the spot].
					</ab>
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					[...] à Apollon [...] un chevreau. Que l'aîné des membres de la tribu fasse le sacrifice. (5) Ce qui a été sacrifié est consommé [sur place].
					</ab>
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						<head>Commentary</head>    
						
<p>By its terse content and general form, the document is extremely similar to the numerous excerpts from a sacrificial calendar known on Rhodes and at Lindos itself: see here <ref target="CGRN_62">CGRN 62</ref> and <ref target="CGRN_63">CGRN 63</ref>, for two early examples from Lindos, with further discussion and references. That being said, the document entirely lacks a date, which differentiates it from the other excerpts known. This date would have been expected in lines anterior to the first one preserved, as would an identification of the tribe mentioned in this text (line 3), for instance as a heading before the date in the genitive plural: see e.g. <ref target="CGRN_117">CGRN 117</ref> (Λάκων); <ref target="CGRN_154">CGRN 154</ref> (Ποντωρέων, a deme of Ialysos).</p>
						
<p>There are two possible solutions. Lupu argues that not much is missing above the break at the top of the stone, which does indeed appear fairly even. In other words, the first idea would be that we have here a type of sacrifical prescription which is similar yet at the same time different to the calendar extracts, whose context (and date) would have been more or less self-evident: cp. <ref target="CGRN_153">CGRN 153</ref> (Mainyros; but there are very few instances of this type of prescription on Rhodes). To our mind, the second alternative is preferable: this is another excerpt from the local calendar; the break at the top has regrettably caused the disappearance of the identification of the Lindian tribe in question and of the date of the sacrifice to Apollo.</p>
						
<p>Lines 1-2: The traces following the mention of Apollo are best interpreted as an epithet. The most likely candidate, though still otherwise unattested at Lindos, would be Enolmos (sitting on the tripod), as discussed by Lupu (cf. also <bibl type="abbr" n="LSJ">LSJ</bibl> s.v.), but no certainty is possible. Though goats are often sacrificed to Apollo, the young he-goat (one winter-born, i.e. less than a year-old) is not the most typical sacrifice, but is attested in at least a few cases. It is permitted as a sacrifice to Apollo Apotropaios at Cyrene along with other goats: <ref target="CGRN_99">CGRN 99</ref>, lines 6-7. A sacrifice to Apollo at Thorikos in the month Boedromion involves a χίμαρος κριτός, <ref target="CGRN_32">CGRN 32</ref>, line 20. Cf. also the sacrifice of an ἔριφος (among other animals) to Apollo Karneios in the calendar from Miletupolis: <ref target="CGRN_83">CGRN 83</ref>, line 11.</p>
						
<p>Lines 3-4: For the eldest male member of a group as the 'priest' and sacrificial agent, a common traditional practice in families and other kinship groups, see here <ref target="CGRN_104">CGRN 104</ref> (Halikarnassos), lines 19-20.</p>
						
<p>Lines 5-6: For this phrase, recurring in the Lindian excerpts, see <ref target="CGRN_62">CGRN 62</ref>, lines A4, B5. It denotes the requirement that a meal happen on the spot and an implicit interdiction to carry away portions, which is usually spelled out more explicitly (and more negatively) by the phrase οὐ (ἀπο)φορά vel sim.; see more widely, <ref target="CGRN_32">CGRN 32</ref>, with Commentary to lines 10-12 and further references.
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