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<title><idno type="filename">CGRN 232</idno>: <rs type="textType" key="oracle">Oracle</rs> concerning the mysteries at Andania</title>
<author>Jan-Mathieu Carbon</author>
<author>Vinciane Pirenne-Delforge</author>
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<authority>Collection of Greek Ritual Norms, Collège de France - University of Liège.</authority>
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<p>Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike International License <ref target="http://creativecommons.org/" type="external">4.0</ref>.</p><p>All citation, reuse or distribution of this work must contain somewhere a link back to the DOI (<idno type="DOI">https://doi.org/10.54510/CGRN232</idno>), 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).</p></availability>
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<p>Grey-white limestone <rs type="objectType" key="stele">stele</rs>, broken at the bottom.</p>
<p><dimensions>
<height unit="cm">55</height>
<width unit="cm">30-31</width>
<depth unit="cm">19</depth>
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<p>The letters of line 17 are intentionally taller than the others and the word χρησμός is centered.</p>
<p>Letters: <height unit="cm">1</height>.</p>
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<p><origDate notBefore="-0100" notAfter="-0050">ca. 100-50 BC (or ca. 20-24 AD)</origDate>
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<p><desc>Justification: for the earlier dating, lettering (Volgraff). But there is no certainty, which would be ideally based on prosopography, language or style. The other date is based on <ref target="http://cgrn.ulg.ac.be/CGRN_222/">CGRN 222</ref>, for which see the justification there.</desc></p>
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<provenance>
<p><ref target="http://pleiades.stoa.org/places/570106" type="external"><placeName key="Argos" n="Peloponnese">Argos</placeName></ref>. The stone was found at the site of the sanctuary of Apollo Pythaeus on the hill of Prophitis Ilias (wrongly called "Aspis" by modern travellers). Museum of Argos.</p>
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<language ident="grc">Ancient Greek</language>
<language ident="lat">Latin</language>
<language ident="fre">French</language>
<language ident="ger">German</language>
<language ident="gre">Modern Greek</language>
<language ident="ita">Italian</language>
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<change>Revised by XX in 20XX.</change>
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<div type="bibliography">
<head>Bibliography</head>
<p>Edition here based on Dittenberger <bibl type="abbr" n="SIG³">SIG³</bibl> 735, with the transcription and ph. from ed. pr. <bibl type="author_date" n="Vollgraff_1909">Vollgraff 1909</bibl>: 175 and 445.</p>
<p>Cf. also: <bibl type="author_date" n="Piérart_1990">Piérart 1990</bibl>, Appendix 2;
<bibl type="author_date" n="Gawlinski_2012">Gawlinski 2012</bibl>: 13-16 and Appendix.</p>
<p>Further bibliography: <bibl type="author_date" n="Piolot_1999">Piolot 1999</bibl>;
<bibl type="author_date" n="Deshours_2006">Deshours 2006</bibl>: 66-72;
<bibl type="author_date" n="Themelis_2007">Themelis 2007</bibl>;
<bibl type="author_date" n="Pirenne-Delforge_2010">Pirenne-Delforge 2010</bibl>;
<bibl type="author_date" n="Badoud_2015">Badoud 2015</bibl>: 113-115 and 452-453 no. 72. </p>
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<lb xml:id="line_1" n="1"/><w lemma="ἐπί">ἐπὶ</w> <w lemma="γραμματεύς">γραμματέος</w> τῶν
<lb xml:id="line_2" n="2"/><name type="group"><w lemma="σύνεδρος">συνέδρων</w></name> Ἱέρωνος τοῦ
<lb xml:id="line_3" n="3"/><space quantity="1" unit="character"/> Ἐπικύδεος,
<lb xml:id="line_4" n="4"/><name type="personnel"><w lemma="ἱερεύς">ἱερέος</w></name> δὲ τοῦ <name type="epithet" key="Pythaeus"><w lemma="Πυθαεύς">Πυθαέος</w></name>
<lb xml:id="line_5" n="5"/><space quantity="1" unit="character"/> Δαμοσθένεος τοῦ Νικοκρά
<lb xml:id="line_6" n="6" break="no"/>τεος Παιονίδα,
<lb xml:id="line_7" n="7"/><space quantity="1" unit="character"/> <name type="personnel"><w lemma="προμάντις">προμαντίων</w></name> δὲ Σωιβίου τοῦ
<lb xml:id="line_8" n="8"/><space quantity="2" unit="character"/> Σωιβίου, Ἀντιγένεος τοῦ
<lb xml:id="line_9" n="9"/><space quantity="2" unit="character"/> Πολυκράτεος Ναυπλιαδᾶν
<lb xml:id="line_10" n="10"/><space quantity="1" unit="character"/> <w lemma="γραφεύς">γροφέων</w> δὲ Θερσαγόρου τοῦ
<lb xml:id="line_11" n="11"/><space quantity="2" unit="character"/> Νικοφαέος, Φιλοκλέος τοῦ
<lb xml:id="line_12" n="12"/><space quantity="2" unit="character"/> Ξενοφάντου Δμαιππιδᾶν
<lb xml:id="line_13" n="13"/><space quantity="1" unit="character"/> <name type="personnel"><w lemma="πυρόφορος">πυροφόρου</w></name> Τιμαγόρου τοῦ Χα
<lb xml:id="line_14" n="14" break="no"/><space quantity="2" unit="character"/> ριτίμου Κλεοδαίδα,
<lb xml:id="line_15" n="15"/><space quantity="1" unit="character"/> <name type="personnel"><w lemma="προμάντις">προμάντιος</w></name> Φιλοκρατείας
<lb xml:id="line_16" n="16"/><space quantity="2" unit="character"/> τᾶς Λυσίωνος Αἰθαλέες·
<lb xml:id="line_17" n="17"/><space quantity="4" unit="character"/> <name type="oracle"><name type="authority"><w lemma="χρησμός">χρησμός</w></name></name> <space quantity="4" unit="character"/>
<lb xml:id="line_18" n="18"/><space quantity="1" unit="character"/> ὁ <w lemma="γίγνομαι">γενόμενος</w> τᾷ <w lemma="πόλις">πόλει</w> τῶν <name type="ethnic" key="Messenia"><w lemma="Μεσσήνιος">Μεσ
<lb xml:id="line_19" n="19" break="no"/><space quantity="2" unit="character"/> σανίων</w></name> <w lemma="ἀναγράφω">ἀνεγράφη</w> <w lemma="κατά">κατὰ</w> τὸ <name type="authority"><w lemma="ψήφισμα">ψά
<lb xml:id="line_20" n="20" break="no"/><space quantity="2" unit="character"/> φισμα</w></name> τῶν <name type="authority"><name type="title"><w lemma="ἄρχων">ἀρχόντων</w></name></name> καὶ <name type="group"><w lemma="σύνεδρος">συνέ
<lb xml:id="line_21" n="21" break="no"/><space quantity="2" unit="character"/> δρων</w></name>, <name type="invocation"><w lemma="μαντεύω">μαντευομένου</w></name> Μνασιστρά
<lb xml:id="line_22" n="22" break="no"/><space quantity="2" unit="character"/> του τοῦ <name type="personnel"><w lemma="ἱεροφάντης">ἱεροφάντα</w></name> <w lemma="περί">περὶ</w> τᾶς <name type="sacrifice"><w lemma="θυσία">θυσί
<lb xml:id="line_23" n="23" break="no"/><space quantity="2" unit="character"/> ας</w></name> καὶ τῶν <name type="festival"><w lemma="μυστήριον">μυστηρίων</w></name>·
<lb xml:id="line_24" n="24"/><space quantity="1" unit="character"/> ὁ θεὸς <name type="authority"><name type="oracle"><name type="speechAct"><w lemma="χράω">ἔχρησε</w></name></name></name>· <name type="epithet" key="Megas"><w lemma="μέγας">Μεγάλοις</w></name> <name type="deity" key="generic"><w lemma="θεός">Θε
<lb xml:id="line_25" n="25" break="no"/><space quantity="2" unit="character"/> οῖς</w></name> <name type="epithet" key="Karneios"><w lemma="Κάρνειος">Καρνείοις</w></name> <name type="sacrifice"><w lemma="καλλιερέω">καλλιεροῦντι</w></name> <w lemma="κατά">κα
<lb xml:id="line_26" n="26" break="no"/><space quantity="2" unit="character"/> τὰ</w> τὰ <name type="authority"><w lemma="πάτριος">πάτρια</w></name>· <name type="speechAct"><w lemma="λέγω">λέγω</w></name> δὲ καὶ <name type="ethnic" key="Messenia"><w lemma="Μεσσήνιος">Μεσ
<lb xml:id="line_27" n="27" break="no"/><space quantity="2" unit="character"/> <supplied reason="lost">σανί</supplied>ο<supplied reason="lost">ι</supplied>ς</w></name> <w lemma="ἐπιτελέω">ἐπ<supplied reason="lost">ι</supplied>τελεῖν</w> τὰ <name type="festival"><w lemma="μυστήριον">μυστή
<lb xml:id="line_28" n="28" break="no"/><space quantity="2" unit="character"/> <supplied reason="lost">ρια</supplied></w></name> <gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/>
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<div type="translation" xml:lang="eng">
<head>Translation</head>
<p>Under the secretary of the <foreign>synedroi</foreign> Hieron, son of Epikydes; priest of the Pythaeus: (5) Damosthenes, son of Nikokrates, (from the phatra of the) Paionidai; <foreign>promanteis</foreign>: Soibios, son of Soibios, Antigenes, son of Polykrates, (from the <foreign>phatra</foreign> of the) Baupliadai; (10) secretaries: Therssagoras, son of Nikophaes, Philokles, son of Xenophantos, (from the <foreign>phatra</foreign> of the) Dmahippidai; <foreign>pyrophoros</foreign>: Timagoras, son of Charitimos, (from the <foreign>phatra</foreign> of the) Kleodaidai; (15) <foreign>promantis</foreign>: Philokrateia, daughter of Lysion, (from the <foreign>phatra</foreign> of the) Anthaleis.</p>
<p>Oracle:The one given to the city of the Messenians has been transcribed according to the (20) decree of the archons and the <foreign>synedroi</foreign>, with Mnasistratos, the hierophant, consulting about the sacrifice and the mysteries: the god proclaimed "(It is better) for (Mnasistratos ?) to continue sacrificing beautifully to the Great Gods (25) Karneioi, in accordance to the ancestral custom. I also command the Messenians to celebrate the mysteries [...]".</p>
</div>
<div type="translation" xml:lang="fre">
<head>Traduction </head>
<p>Sous le secrétaire des synèdres Hieron, fils d'Epikydès; prêtre du Pythaeus : (5) Damosthenès, fils de Nikokratès, (de la <foreign>phatra</foreign>) des Paionidai; <foreign>promanteis</foreign> : Soibios, fils de Soibios, Antigenès, fils de Polykratès, (de la <foreign>phatra</foreign>) des Baupliadai; (10) secrétaires : Thersagoras, fils de Nikophaès, Philoklès, fils de Xenophantos, (de la <foreign>phatra</foreign>) des Dmahippidai; <foreign>pyrophoros</foreign> : Timagoras, fils de Charitimos, (de la <foreign>phatra</foreign>) des Kleodaidai; (15) <foreign>promantis</foreign> : Philokrateia, fille de Lysion, (de la <foreign>phatra</foreign>) des Aithaleis. </p>
<p>Oracle: Celui rendu à la cité des Messéniens a été gravé selon le (20) décret des archontes et des synèdres, Mnasistratos, le hiérophante, consultant à propos du sacrifice et des mystères : le dieu a proclamé "(Il est meilleur pour Mnasistratos ?) de continuer à accomplir de beaux sacrifices pour les Grands Dieux (25) Karneioi selon les coutumes ancestrales. J'enjoins également les Messéniens de célébrer les mystères [...]".</p>
</div>
<div type="commentary">
<head>Commentary</head>
<p>As preserved, the text contains at least two main parts: a detailed preamble denoting an official enactment of the city of Argos (lines 1-16), and the inscribed record of an oracle of Apollo Pythaeus given to a certain Mnasistratos, called “the hierophant”, on behalf of the people of Messene (lines 18-28). The first part of the text notably provides the names of the various officials in charge of the oracle at the time of Mnasistratos’s consultation: the priest, two <foreign>promanteis</foreign>, two secretaries, a <foreign>pyrophoros</foreign> and the prophetess (also called <foreign>promantis</foreign>). All are also identified by their patronym and the name of their respectives phratries (at Argos, called <foreign>phatra</foreign>). The second preserved part of the inscription, concretely headed by the word χρησμός, engraved in a separate line and in larger letters, contains another brief heading or summary (lines 18-23), followed by a transcription of the oracular response itself (lines 24-28). The exact question asked by Mnasistratos is not reported, but only a summary of his enquiry is preserved here, in lines 21-22: μαντευομένου... περὶ τᾶς θυσίας καὶ τῶν μυστηρίων. Mnasistratos thus consulted the oracle at Argos on the subject of "the sacrifice and the mysteries"; see below. Moreover, this second heading explicitly refers to the decree issued by the Argive officials (archons and <foreign>synedroi</foreign>, see the heading at lines 1-3 for the secretary of the <foreign>synedroi</foreign>) concerning the consultation. The decree itself was perhaps engraved below the oracle. Unfortunately, the stone breaks off where part of the oracular response probably continued and the rest is now lost.</p>
<p>This document forms an essential part of the famous dossier of the "mysteries of Andania", attested by Pausanias (4.27.5; 4.33.4-5), as well as by a remarkable inscription regulating the performance of a festival for the "Great Gods" held in the sanctuary of Apollo Karneios, the Karneiasion, at Andania near Messene (see <ref target="http://cgrn.ulg.ac.be/CGRN_222/">CGRN 222</ref>). The oracle delivered by Apollo Pythaeus at Argos is a crucial element in the analysis of this dossier, especially regarding the context of its elaboration. The Mnasistratos who consulted the oracle at Argos certainly belongs to the Messenian elite (Deshours, p. 70; Themelis, p. 523) and, in the regulation of the mysteries of Andania, the same name designates a rich benefactor deeply involved in the celebration. As most agree, the names belong to the same individual, who was thus instrumental in the elaboration of the cult at Andania. The title of “hierophant” attributed to Mnasistratos in the present inscription (cf. line 22) has supported the hypothesis that Mnasistratos was member of a sacerdotal family in Messene; these <foreign>hierophantes</foreign> can be presumed to have been in charge of the mysteries, at least since the refoundation of the city in 371 BC. In this perspective, Mnasistratos will have "given" the city of Messene the sacred objects kept in his family for centuries (<ref target="http://cgrn.ulg.ac.be/CGRN_222/">CGRN 222</ref>, lines 11-13, with commentary), after consulting the oracle of Apollo in Argos (cf. e.g. Zunino, p. 324; Deshours, p. 75-77). In this view, Mnasistratos will apparently have renounced the office of hierophant (in <ref target="http://cgrn.ulg.ac.be/CGRN_222/">CGRN 222</ref>, he bears no such title) and the cult at Andania will accordingly have become completely public. However, contemporaneous tendencies in the devolution of sacerdotal charges point in the opposite direction of this interpretation (Pirenne-Delforge, p. 232; <foreign>contra</foreign> Gawlinski, p. 14-16). Moreover, the wording of the oracle opens up the perspective of a creation of the mysteries in the early 1st century BC or in AD 24 (according to the chosen date for the regulation), even if the unfortunate breaking of the bottom of the stone does not give any certainty to any view on this matter (cf. Piolot; Pirenne-Delforge; cf. <ref target="http://cgrn.ulg.ac.be/CGRN_222/">CGRN 222</ref>, for further discussion, and see also below, Commentary on lines 24-28).</p>
<p>Lines 1-3: The inscription is dated according to the secretary of the <foreign>synedroi</foreign> and, in lines 19-21, we are told that these officials and the archontes have issued a decree regarding the consultation (notably, as we can infer, prescribing that it be officially inscribed in the sanctuary of Apollo Pythaeus). There is no mention of the assembly, as is expected in an oligarchic government under Roman rule (Vollgraff, p. 177). Apart from this heading and the later reference, the decree is now lost.</p>
<p>Lines 4-6: Pythaeus is Apollo’s cult-title, here associated to the mention of his priest. According to Pausanias (2.24.1), Pythaeus is the name of a man who came from Delphi and built the temple; as Pausanias writes, another cult-title of the god was Deiradiotes, “because the place is named Deiras ("Ridge")” (the same cult-title is mentioned by a fragmentary Roman inscription, see Vollgraff, p. 448-449 no. 16, line 11). See also above on the Provenance. Beyond this etymology proposed by Pausanias, Pythaeus appears to be an Argive variant of Pythios, the “Delphic” epithet of the oracular god in the Greek world (see the detailed discussion of Piérart, p. 323-326). </p>
<p>Lines 7-16: An early Hellenistic inscription concerning some repairs in the oracular sanctuary of Apollo Pythaeus refers to two <foreign>promanteis</foreign> and two secretaries (ca. 340 BC: Pouilloux, p. 63, lines 1, 4; ca. 325-275 BC: Piérart; Badoud, no. 72). These officials are also present here, with the priest mentioned above, the “bearer of (sacrificial) fire”, and the woman called <foreign>promantis</foreign>. The female <foreign>promantis</foreign> is apparently the prophetess or γυνὴ προφητεύουσα mentioned by Pausanias (2.24.1), who describes the particular modalities of her inspiration: once a month, a female lamb was slaughtered and its blood was drunk by the prophetess, thus causing her to become inspired. The title <foreign>promantis</foreign> normally refers to the prophet or prophetess of an oracle (as here, for the only female official of the sanctuary; cf. e.g. the female μάντις, probably linked to Dodona, at <ref target="http://cgrn.ulg.ac.be/CGRN_40/">CGRN 40</ref>, Apollonia). It may seem somewhat puzzling, however, that the same title was given to the pair of men who, with the secretaries, were apparently in charge of administrative functions; however, these officials may also have had religious duties to perform in the oracular sanctuary.</p>
<p>Lines 17-21: This part of the text describes the context of the consultation: apparently acting in an official capacity for the city, Mnasistratos enquired “about the sacrifice and the mysteries” to the oracle, who apparently responded directly to the city (see line 25) and the Messenians as a group (lines 26-27). This official and public character of the consultation no doubt explains the fact that the archons and the <foreign>synedroi</foreign> issued an official decree on this occasion and that the oracle was formally recorded as a result. </p>
<p>Lines 24-28: The oracular response begins with a typical formula, ὁ θεὸς ἔχρησε. The sense of the first clause of the divine command, pithily formulated (see below), is generally clear: Mnasistratos has asked about "the sacrifice" (περὶ τᾶς θυσίας, lines 22-23) and the god's reply is that the traditional sacrifice ("according to ancestral custom", κατὰ τὰ πάτρια, lines 25-26) is to continue to be offered to the “Great Gods Karneioi”. This phrase underlines the traditional character of this aspect of the cult at Andania and the formulation regarding the divine recipients echoes the reference to the “Great Gods for whom the mysteries are celebrated” in the sanctuary called Karneiasion, i.e. the sanctuary where Apollo Karneios is also honoured (see <ref target="http://cgrn.ulg.ac.be/CGRN_222/">CGRN 222</ref>). While some scholars have interpreted Καρνείοις as a reference to the festival of the Karneia (Volgraff, Piérart), the interpretation as a cult-title remains more convincing (Deshours, p. 69; discussion also in Piolot). Yet the prescription regarding the sacrifice perhaps appears to be abbreviated. Vollgraff (p. 179) understood καλλιεροῦντι as a Doric form of the third person plural present indicative, whose implicit subject would therefore be the Messenians (cf. lines 26-27); this is possible, but a verb in the present indicative is not readily expected in an oracular response (rather the future, an imperative, or an infinitive as we later find in line 27). Alternatively, καλλιεροῦντι can be read as a present participle in the masculine/neuter dative singular, which would perhaps follow an implicit response of the type λῶιον καὶ ἄμεινον ("it is better and more advantageous for ... to ..."), a formulation that is frequently found in oracular questions and responses (cf. e.g. <ref target="http://cgrn.ulg.ac.be/CGRN_240/">CGRN 240</ref>, line 1, the Delphic responses given to Mnesiepes from Paros). If this second interpretation is correct, the subject who must continue to perform the traditional sacrifice should likely be Mnasistratos (not, e.g., the feminine πόλις); though this is largely left implicit, the oracle might then have confirmed that the hierophant would remain the principal sacrificial agent in the matter of the traditional sacrifice to the Great Gods Karneioi. On the verb καλλιερέω, which means to ensure the beautiful and thereby divinely pleasing and auspicious character of the sacred rites (ἱερά), see here <ref target="http://cgrn.ulg.ac.be/CGRN_156/">CGRN 156</ref> (Mykonos), line 20; this is a common feature of oracular discourse, as attested by the recurrent formula θύειν καὶ καλλιερεῖν <foreign>vel sim</foreign> (cf. again <ref target="http://cgrn.ulg.ac.be/CGRN_240/">CGRN 240</ref>, Paros, lines 4-5, and <ref target="http://cgrn.ulg.ac.be/CGRN_244/">CGRN 244</ref>, Chios, lines 6-7, 21). The second, partly extant clause of the oracle relates to a different aspect of Mnasistratos' enquiry: the mysteries (cf. line 23). The verb λέγω which begins this marks a strong oral pronouncement and thereby denotes a command of the god to the Messenians in this respect: the mysteries are to be performed; the phrasing καὶ Μεσ[σανί]ο[ι]ς may support the idea of a change of subject, from the Mnasistratos to the Messanians, in this part of the oracle. Overall, the formulation, which contrasts with the preceding clause, may point to the innovative character of this prescription. However, this issue remains a matter of debate: while some argue that Apollo is hereby confirming the restoration of ancient mysteries at Andania, whose concrete objects were kept in a sacerdotal family represented by Mnasistratos, for others, the god is validating the inauguration of mysteries supported by the rich and erudite citizen of Messene (see further above). Valuable information in this regard may have been provided in the continuation of the inscription.</p>
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