CGRN 54

Sacrificial regulation concerning preliminary offerings to various deities associated with Asclepius in Piraeus

Date :

ca. 400-350 BC

Justification: overall lettering (Curbera). Face A: lines 1-10 are not much later than the beginning of the 4th century (Koehler, lettering). Lines 11-18 are written in a different hand, perhaps contemporaneously (Koehler), perhaps somewhat later (Ziehen, Sokolowski). The texts on faces B, C and D are still more recent.

Provenance

Piraeus . Now in the Museum of Piraeus.

Support

Tabella of pentelic marble broken at the lower part. The stone is inscribed on all four faces. Face D is not polished.

  • Height: 52 cm
  • Width: 21 cm
  • Depth: 11 cm

Layout

Lines 1-10 are stoichedon 17, the rest is non stoichedon.

Letters:

Line 1: 13 mm high.

Lines 2-10: 8 mm high.

Lines 11-12: 18 mm high.

Lines 13-18: 12 mm high.

Bibliography

Edition here based on Kirchner IG II² 4962.

Other editions: Koehler IG II 1651; Curbera IG II³ 4, 1773.

Cf. also: Ziehen LGS II 18; Sokolowski LSCG 21; AIO , with another English translation and commentary.

Further bibliography: Herzog 1931; Wilamowitz 1931-1932; Edelstein - Edelstein 1945; Kearns 1994; Parker 1996; Bruit Zaidman 2005; Pirenne-Delforge 2011; Lamont 2015.

Text

Face A
θεοί.
κατὰ τάδε προθύεσθα-
ι· Μαλεάτηι πόπανα τρ-
ία· Ἀπόλλωνι πόπανα τ-
5 ρία· Ἑρμῆι πόπανα τρί-
α· Ἰασοῖ πόπανα τρία· Ἀ-
κεσοῖ πόπανα τρία· Πα-
νακείαι πόπανα τρία·
Κυσὶν πόπανα τρία· Κυ-
10 νηγέταις πόπανα τρί(α).
vacat
Εὐθύδημος
Ἐλευσίνιος
ἱερεὺς Ἀσκληπιο̑
τὰς στήλας ἀνέθηκ[ε]
15 τὰς πρὸς τοῖς βωμοῖς
ἐν αἷς τὰ πόπανα πρότερος
ἐξηικάσατο ἃ χρὴ πρ[ο]-
θύεσθ[αι ..?..]
Face B
Ἡλίωι
ἀρεστῆρ[α]
κηρίον.
Μνημο-
5σύνηι
ἀρεσ[τῆ]-
ρα
κηρίον.
νηφάλ[ι]-
10 οι τρε̑ς
βωμοί.
Face C
[νη]φάλιοι
τρε̑ς
βωμοί.
vacat
Face D
νηφάλιοι.

Translation

Face A

Gods. Make preliminary sacrifices according to the following: to Maleatas, three round cakes; to Apollo, three round cakes; (5) to Hermes, three round cakes; to Iaso, three round cakes; to Akeso, three round cakes; to Panakeia, three round cakes; to Dogs, three round cakes; (10) to the Hunters with Dogs, three round cakes.

Euthydemos of Eleusis, priest of Asclepius, has erected the steles by the (15) altars on which he first put a semblance of the round cakes that need to be preliminarily sacrificed.

Face B

To Helios, a cake, a honeycomb; (5) to Mnemosyne, a cake; a honeycomb; (10) three wineless altars.

Face C

Three wineless altars.

Face D

Wineless (altars).

Traduction

Face A

Dieux. Faire des sacrifices préliminaires conformément à ceci : au Maleatas, trois gâteaux ronds; à Apollon, trois gâteaux ronds; (5) à Hermès, trois gâteaux ronds; à Iaso, trois gâteaux ronds; à Akeso, trois gâteaux ronds; à Panacée, trois gâteaux ronds; aux Chiens, trois gâteaux ronds; (10) aux Chasseurs avec chiens, trois gâteaux ronds.

Euthydemos d'Éleusis, prêtre d'Asclépios, a érigé les stèles auprès des (15) autels sur lesquels, le premier, il a placé une représentation des gâteaux qu'il convient d'offrir en sacrifice préliminaire.

Face B

À Helios, un gâteau, un rayon de miel; à Mnémosyne, un gâteau, un rayon de miel; trois autels sans vin.

Face C

Trois autels sans vin.

Face D

(Autels) sans vin.

Commentary

This stele, found at Piraeus and inscribed at different times during the 4th century, prescribes the preliminary offering of cakes to diverse gods associated with Asclepius. Lamont has argued that the sanctuary of the god in Piraeus was probably the first founded in Attica, ca. 422-419 BC. The precise context of the offerings is not well understood. Perhaps the offerings are made 'prior' to incubation, perhaps the text refers to an animal sacrifice to Asclepius (for references to the scholarly discussion, cf. Lupu NGSL, p. 64). The document is part of a group of mostly short inscriptions found in Piraeus (CGRN 53, CGRN 77), elsewhere in Attica (CGRN 73, Halimous) and in the city (CGRN 95, some of them coming from the Asklepieion on the south slope of the Acropolis: CGRN 72, CGRN 133, CGRN 134 and CGRN 135), which prescribe the (preliminary) offering of cakes to various divinities.

Face A was inscribed at the beginning of the 4th century. Face B was inscribed somewhat later. The regulation starts with the injunction to make a preliminary sacrifice (προθυέσθαι) of round cakes (πόπανα) to various deities.

Face A

Line A2: On the προθύματα and this sanctuary, see Ar. Ploutos 659-748.

Lines A3-4: Apollo and Maleatas are two separate gods here. The name Maleatas on its own is not attested elsewhere in Attica (save some uncertain references, cf. Parker, p. 182 n. 105). For the role of the god Apollo Maleatas at Epidauros, and his association with Asclepius, see Herzog, p. 46.

Line A5: Hermes was associated with Asclepius and the incubation ritual, because he was the bringer of dreams (Wilamowitz, II, p. 227).

Lines A6-8: Akeso, Iaso, Panakeia (Parker: "Curer, Healer and All-heal") were the daughters of Asclepius and goddesses with speaking names, who had to do with the healing process. As Edelstein and Edelstein explain, when the cult for the god Asclepius was still relatively new and not yet considered all-powerful, other gods were included in the ritual, in order to strengthen the profile of the god (II, p. 186). Here, "Iaso, Aceso and Panacea symbolized this extension and intensification of the might of the hero of old" (II, p. 89).

Lines A9-10: According to Wilamowitz, these "dogs" were infernal powers (II, p. 390). Farnell thought that they were sacred dogs kept in the temple, and that the priest had proposed a wild and savage thing in expounding sacrifice to them, a "sacerdotal silliness" mocked in a comic fragment (p. 144). More credibly, this sacrifice should be linked to a Hellenistic myth (cf. Apollodorus, Jacoby FGrH 244 F 138, Paus. 2.26.3-5, cf. Edelstein - Edelstein, p. 72-73, 227). According to this story, Asclepius was exposed as a baby, suckled or guarded by a dog, until a group of hunters with dogs found him (Edelstein - Edelstein, p. 227 n. 7; Parker, p. 181-183). A figurative representation of this story by the Meidias painter (LIMC s.v. Asklepios 868 no. 1) shows that the myth was already circulating in Athens by the late 5th century.

Lines A11-18: It is unclear whether these lines were inscribed slightly later than lines 1-10. Apparently, some uncertainty concerning the nature of the πόπανα to be sacrificed had arisen. These lines record the dedication of a set of stelae by the priest of Asclepius, Euthydemos of Eleusis, and which were placed at the altars. These stelae apparently contained a graphic image (εἰκών) of the appropriately shaped and sized πόπανα. For the priest Euthydemos, cf. also CGRN 46, a decree of Athens which also cites his authority concerning προθύματα in the cult of Asclepius in Piraeus (for further discussion of this text and its iconographic parallels, see Lamont).

Face B

Lines B1-8: According to Sokolowski, Helios and Mnemosyne can be mentioned in relation to incubation cults, though in what capacity they are invoked here is not clear. The offerings of the cake ἀρεστήρ and honeycomb often go together: CGRN 53, found at Piraeus, prescibes ἀρεστῆρας and κηρία for the Moirai; CGRN 95, found at Athens, prescibes an ἀρεσ[τῆ-]ρα and a κηρίον for Mnemosyne; CGRN 87 found on Samos, prescribes ἀρεστῆρας and κηρία for Kourotrophos and Hermes. The name of the cake called ἀρεστήρ is derived from the verb ἀρέσκω "to appease, conciliate" and should be seen as a propitiatory gesture. Bruit Zaidman, p. 38 explains that honey has an 'appeasing' function too.

Lines B9-12: The adjective νηφάλιος, "unmixed with wine", is combined with various nouns (e.g. κρατήρ, θυσίαι, cf. LSJ s.v. νηφάλιος) to refer to an offering of this type. In this case the βωμοί are metonymically referred to as νηφάλιοι. Τhree wineless altars are mentioned, cp. Polemon Hist. 42: Ἀθηναῖοι ... νηφάλια μὲν ἱερὰ θύουσι Μνημοσύνῃ, Μούσῃ, Ἠοῖ, Ἡλίῳ, Σελήνῃ, Νύμφαις, Ἀφροδίτῃ Οὐρανίᾳ. Perhaps the third god (besides Helios and Mnemosyne) is to be found among these candidates. On offerings called νηφάλια, see Pirenne-Delforge.

Faces C and D are later than face A, but the relative dates of engraving of C-D with respect to B cannot be reconstructed. On Faces C and D we find brief and elusive iterations of the prescription of 'wineless' (altars).

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/CGRN54), 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 54, lines x-x.

Reference to the file as a critical study of the inscription : Jan-Mathieu Carbon, Saskia Peels et Vinciane Pirenne-Delforge, "CGRN 54: Sacrificial regulation concerning preliminary offerings to various deities associated with Asclepius in Piraeus", in Collection of Greek Ritual Norms (CGRN), 2017-, consulted on December 21, 2024. URL: http://cgrn.ulg.ac.be/file/54/; DOI: https://doi.org/10.54510/CGRN54.

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 December 21, 2024. URL: http://cgrn.ulg.ac.be; DOI: https://doi.org/10.54510/CGRN0. 

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                            The stone is inscribed on all four faces. Face D is not polished.</p>
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                                <height unit="cm">52</height>
                                <width unit="cm">21</width>
                                <depth unit="cm">11</depth>
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                            <p>Line 1: <height unit="mm">13</height>.</p>
                            <p>Lines 2-10: <height unit="mm">8</height>.</p>
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                        <p><desc>Justification: overall lettering (Curbera). Face A: lines 1-10 are not much later than the beginning of the 4th century (Koehler, lettering). Lines 11-18 are written in a different hand, perhaps contemporaneously (Koehler), perhaps somewhat later (Ziehen, Sokolowski). The texts on faces B, C and D are still more recent.</desc></p>
                       
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        <body>	
            <div type="bibliography">
                <head>Bibliography</head>
               
                    <p>Edition here based on Kirchner <bibl type="abbr" n="IG II²">IG II²</bibl> 4962.</p>
                <p> Other editions: Koehler <bibl type="abbr" n="IG II">IG II</bibl> 1651; Curbera <bibl type="abbr" n="IG II³">IG II³</bibl> 4, 1773.</p>
                
                    <p> Cf. also:
                        Ziehen <bibl type="abbr" n="LGS II">LGS II</bibl> 18; 
                        Sokolowski <bibl type="abbr" n="LSCG">LSCG</bibl> 21;
                        <ref target="https://www.atticinscriptions.com/inscription/CGRN/54" type="external">AIO</ref>, with another English translation and commentary.</p>
                
                    <p> Further bibliography:
                        <bibl type="author_date" n="Herzog 1931">Herzog 1931</bibl>;
                        <bibl type="author_date" n="Wilamowitz 1931-1932">Wilamowitz 1931-1932</bibl>;
                        <bibl type="author_date" n="Edelstein - Edelstein 1945">Edelstein - Edelstein 1945</bibl>;
                        <bibl type="author_date" n="Kearns 1994">Kearns 1994</bibl>;
                        <bibl type="author_date" n="Parker 1996">Parker 1996</bibl>;
                        <bibl type="author_date" n="Bruit Zaidman 2005">Bruit Zaidman 2005</bibl>;
                        <bibl type="author_date" n="Pirenne-Delforge 2011">Pirenne-Delforge 2011</bibl>;
                        <bibl type="author_date" n="Lamont 2015">Lamont 2015</bibl>.</p>
                </div>
            
            <div type="edition">
                <head>Text</head>
           
                
                    <ab subtype="face" n="A">Face A
<lb xml:id="line_A1" n="A1"/> <name type="deity" key="generic"><w lemma="θεός">θεοί</w></name>.
                        
<lb xml:id="line_A2" n="A2"/> <w lemma="κατά">κατὰ</w> <w lemma="ὅδε">τάδε</w> <name type="sacrifice"><w lemma="προθύω">προθύεσθα
                            
<lb xml:id="line_A3" n="A3" break="no"/> ι</w></name>· <name type="deity" key="Maleatas"><w lemma="Μαλέατας">Μαλεάτηι</w></name> <name type="bakery"><w lemma="πόπανον">πόπανα</w></name> <w lemma="τρεῖς">τρ
                                
<lb xml:id="line_A4" n="A4" break="no"/> ία</w>· <name type="deity" key="Apollo"><w lemma="Ἀπόλλων">Ἀπόλλωνι</w></name>  <name type="bakery"><w lemma="πόπανον">πόπανα</w></name>   <w lemma="τρεῖς">τ
                                    
<lb xml:id="line_A5" n="A5" break="no"/> ρία</w>·  <name type="deity" key="Hermes"><w lemma="Ἑρμῆς">Ἑρμῆι</w></name>   <name type="bakery"><w lemma="πόπανον">πόπανα</w></name> <w lemma="τρεῖς">τρί
                                        
<lb xml:id="line_A6" n="A6" break="no"/> α</w>·   <name type="deity" key="Iaso"><w lemma="Ἰασώ">Ἰασοῖ</w></name>   <name type="bakery"><w lemma="πόπανον">πόπανα</w></name>  <w lemma="τρεῖς">τρία</w>·   <name type="deity" key="Akeso"><w lemma="Ἀκεσώ">Ἀ
                                            
<lb xml:id="line_A7" n="A7" break="no"/>  κεσοῖ</w></name>   <name type="bakery"><w lemma="πόπανον">πόπανα</w></name> <w lemma="τρεῖς">τρία</w>·   <name type="deity" key="Panakeia"><w lemma="Πανάκεια">Πα
                                                
<lb xml:id="line_A8" n="A8" break="no"/> νακείαι</w></name>   <name type="bakery"><w lemma="πόπανον">πόπανα</w></name> <w lemma="τρεῖς">τρία</w>·
                                        
<lb xml:id="line_A9" n="A9"/>   <name type="deity" key="Kynes"><w lemma="κύων">Κυσὶν</w></name> <name type="bakery"><w lemma="πόπανον">πόπανα</w></name>   <w lemma="τρεῖς">τρία</w>·   <name type="deity" key="Kynegetai"><w lemma="κυνηγέτης">Κυ
                                            
<lb xml:id="line_A10" n="A10" break="no"/> νηγέταις</w></name> <name type="bakery"><w lemma="πόπανον">πόπανα</w></name> <w lemma="τρεῖς">τρί(α)</w>.
                                         
<lb/> <space quantity="1" unit="line"/> 
                    
<lb xml:id="line_A11" n="A11"/>  Εὐθύδημος
                                        
<lb xml:id="line_A12" n="A12"/>   <name type="ethnic" key="Eleusis"><w lemma="Ἐλευσίνιος">Ἐλευσίνιος</w></name>
                                        
<lb xml:id="line_A13" n="A13"/>    <name type="personnel"><w lemma="ἱερεύς">ἱερεὺς</w></name>   <name type="deity" key="Asclepius"><w lemma="Ἀσκληπιός">Ἀσκληπιο̑</w></name>
              
<lb xml:id="line_A14" n="A14"/> τὰς   <objectType key="stele"><w lemma="στήλη">στήλας</w></objectType>  <name type="genericOffering"><w lemma="ἀνατίθημι">ἀνέθηκ<supplied reason="lost">ε</supplied></w></name>
                                        
<lb xml:id="line_A15" n="A15"/>   τὰς   <w lemma="πρός">πρὸς</w>  τοῖς  <name type="structure"><w lemma="βωμός">βωμοῖς</w></name>
                                        
<lb xml:id="line_A16" n="A16"/>  <w lemma="ἐν">ἐν</w>  <w lemma="ὅς">αἷς</w>  τὰ   <name type="bakery"><w lemma="πόπανον">πόπανα</w></name>  <w lemma="πρότερος">πρότερος</w>
                                        
<lb xml:id="line_A17" n="A17"/>   <w lemma="ἐξεικάζω">ἐξηικάσατο</w> <w lemma="ὅς">ἃ</w>  <w lemma="χράω">χρὴ</w>   <name type="sacrifice"><w lemma="προθύω">πρ<supplied reason="lost">ο</supplied>
                                            
<lb xml:id="line_A18" n="A18" break="no"/>  θύεσθ<supplied reason="lost">αι</supplied></w></name> <gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/>
                        
                </ab>
                <lb/> <space quantity="1" unit="line"/> 
                
<ab subtype="face" n="B">Face B
                    
<lb xml:id="line_B1" n="B1"/>   <name type="deity" key="Helios"><w lemma="ἥλιος">Ἡλίωι</w></name>
                    
<lb xml:id="line_B2" n="B2"/>   <name type="bakery"><w lemma="ἀρεστήρ">ἀρεστῆρ<supplied reason="lost">α</supplied></w></name>
                    
<lb xml:id="line_B3" n="B3"/>  <name type="liquid"><w lemma="κηρίον">κηρίον</w></name>.
                    
<lb xml:id="line_B4" n="B4"/>  <name type="deity" key="Mnemosyne"><w lemma="Μνημοσύνη">Μνημο
    
<lb xml:id="line_B5" n="B5" break="no"/>σύνηι</w></name>
                    
<lb xml:id="line_B6" n="B6"/>  <name type="bakery"><w lemma="ἀρεστήρ">ἀρεσ<supplied reason="lost">τῆ</supplied>
                    
<lb xml:id="line_B7" n="B7" break="no"/> ρα</w></name>
                    
<lb xml:id="line_B8" n="B8"/>  <name type="liquid"><w lemma="κηρίον">κηρίον</w></name>.
                    
<lb xml:id="line_B9" n="B9"/>  <name type="liquid"><w lemma="νηφάλιος">νηφάλ<supplied reason="lost">ι</supplied>
                        
<lb xml:id="line_B10" n="B10" break="no"/> οι</w></name> <w lemma="τρεῖς">τρε̑ς</w>
                    
<lb xml:id="line_B11" n="B11"/>  <name type="structure"><w lemma="βωμός">βωμοί</w></name>.         
                </ab>
                
<ab subtype="face" n="C">Face C
                    
<lb xml:id="line_C1" n="C1"/>  <name type="liquid"><w lemma="νηφάλιος"><supplied reason="lost">νη</supplied>φάλιοι</w></name>
                    
<lb xml:id="line_C2" n="C2"/> <w lemma="τρεῖς">τρε̑ς</w>
                    
<lb xml:id="line_C3" n="C3"/>  <name type="structure"><w lemma="βωμός">βωμοί</w></name>.
  
                <lb/> <space quantity="1" unit="line"/>
                </ab>  
              
                <ab subtype="face" n="D">Face D
                   
<lb xml:id="line_D1" n="D1"/>  <name type="liquid"><w lemma="νηφάλιος">νηφάλιοι</w></name>.
               </ab>	
                
            </div>
            <div type="translation" xml:lang="eng">
                <head>Translation</head>
                                  
                <p>Face A</p> 
                <p>Gods. Make preliminary sacrifices according to the following: to Maleatas, three round cakes; to Apollo, three round cakes; (5) to Hermes, three round cakes; to Iaso, three round cakes; to Akeso, three round cakes; to Panakeia, three round cakes; to Dogs, three round cakes; (10) to the Hunters with Dogs, three round cakes.</p> 
                <p>Euthydemos of Eleusis, priest of Asclepius, has erected the steles by the (15) altars on which he first put a semblance of the round cakes that need to be preliminarily sacrificed.</p>
                    
                <p>Face B</p> 
                <p>To Helios, a cake, a honeycomb; (5) to Mnemosyne, a cake; a honeycomb; (10) three wineless altars.</p>
                    
                <p>Face C</p>
                <p>Three wineless altars.</p>
                    
                <p>Face D</p>
                <p>Wineless (altars).</p>
                  
                    
            </div>
            <div type="translation" xml:lang="fre">
                <head>Traduction </head>
                
                <p>Face A</p>
                <p>Dieux. Faire des sacrifices préliminaires conformément à ceci : au Maleatas, trois gâteaux ronds; à Apollon, trois gâteaux ronds; (5) à Hermès, trois gâteaux ronds; à Iaso, trois gâteaux ronds; à Akeso, trois gâteaux ronds; à Panacée, trois gâteaux ronds; aux Chiens, trois gâteaux ronds; (10) aux Chasseurs avec chiens, trois gâteaux ronds.</p> 
                <p>Euthydemos d'Éleusis, prêtre d'Asclépios, a érigé les stèles auprès des (15) autels sur lesquels, le premier, il a placé une représentation des gâteaux qu'il convient d'offrir en sacrifice préliminaire.</p>
                    
                <p>Face B</p> 
                <p>À Helios, un gâteau, un rayon de miel; à Mnémosyne, un gâteau, un rayon de miel; trois autels sans vin.</p>
                    
                <p>Face C</p>
                <p>Trois autels sans vin.</p>
                    
                <p>Face D</p>
                <p>(Autels) sans vin.</p>
                
            </div>
            <div type="commentary">    
                <head>Commentary</head>    
                
                <p>This stele, found at Piraeus and inscribed at different times during the 4th century, prescribes the preliminary offering of cakes to diverse gods associated with Asclepius. Lamont has argued that the sanctuary of the god in Piraeus was probably the first founded in Attica, ca. 422-419 BC. The precise context of the offerings is not well understood. Perhaps the offerings are made 'prior' to incubation, perhaps the text refers to an animal sacrifice to Asclepius (for references to the scholarly discussion, cf. Lupu <bibl type="abbr" n="NGSL">NGSL</bibl>, p. 64). The document is part of a group of mostly short inscriptions found in Piraeus (<ref target="http://cgrn.ulg.ac.be/CGRN_53">CGRN 53</ref>, <ref target="http://cgrn.ulg.ac.be/CGRN_77">CGRN 77</ref>), elsewhere in Attica (<ref target="http://cgrn.ulg.ac.be/CGRN_73">CGRN 73</ref>, Halimous) and in the city (<ref target="http://cgrn.ulg.ac.be/CGRN_95">CGRN 95</ref>, some of them coming from the Asklepieion on the south slope of the Acropolis: <ref target="http://cgrn.ulg.ac.be/CGRN_72">CGRN 72</ref>, <ref target="http://cgrn.ulg.ac.be/CGRN_133">CGRN 133</ref>, <ref target="http://cgrn.ulg.ac.be/CGRN_134">CGRN 134</ref> and <ref target="http://cgrn.ulg.ac.be/CGRN_135">CGRN 135</ref>), which prescribe the (preliminary) offering of cakes to various divinities. </p>

<p>Face A was inscribed at the beginning of the 4th century. Face B was inscribed somewhat later. The regulation starts with the injunction to make a preliminary sacrifice (προθυέσθαι) of round cakes (πόπανα) to various deities. </p> 
                    
<p>Face A</p>
                
<p>Line A2: On the προθύματα and this sanctuary, see Ar. <title>Ploutos</title> 659-748.</p>
                
<p>Lines A3-4: Apollo and Maleatas are two separate gods here. The name Maleatas on its own is not attested elsewhere in Attica (save some uncertain references, cf. Parker, p. 182 n. 105). For the role of the god Apollo Maleatas at Epidauros, and his association with Asclepius, see Herzog, p. 46.</p>
                    
<p>Line A5: Hermes was associated with Asclepius and the incubation ritual, because he was the bringer of dreams (Wilamowitz, II, p. 227).</p>
                    
<p>Lines A6-8: Akeso, Iaso, Panakeia (Parker: "Curer, Healer and All-heal") were the daughters of Asclepius and goddesses with speaking names, who had to do with the healing process. As Edelstein and Edelstein explain, when the cult for the god Asclepius was still relatively new and not yet considered all-powerful, other gods were included in the ritual, in order to strengthen the profile of the god (II, p. 186). Here, "Iaso, Aceso and Panacea symbolized this extension and intensification of the might of the hero of old" (II, p. 89).</p>
                    
<p>Lines A9-10: According to Wilamowitz, these "dogs" were infernal powers (II, p. 390). Farnell thought that they were sacred dogs kept in the temple, and that the priest had proposed a wild and savage thing in expounding sacrifice to them, a "sacerdotal silliness" mocked in a comic fragment (p. 144). More credibly, this sacrifice should be linked to a Hellenistic myth (cf. Apollodorus, Jacoby <bibl type="abbr" n="FGrH">FGrH</bibl> 244 F 138, Paus. 2.26.3-5, cf. Edelstein - Edelstein, p. 72-73, 227). According to this story, Asclepius was exposed as a baby, suckled or guarded by a dog, until a group of hunters with dogs found him (Edelstein - Edelstein, p. 227 n. 7; Parker, p. 181-183). A figurative representation of this story by the Meidias painter (<bibl type="abbr" n="LIMC">LIMC</bibl>  s.v. Asklepios 868 no. 1) shows that the myth was already circulating in Athens by the late 5th century.</p>

<p>Lines A11-18: It is unclear whether these lines were inscribed slightly later than lines 1-10. Apparently, some uncertainty concerning the nature of the πόπανα to be sacrificed had arisen. These lines record the dedication of a set of stelae by the priest of Asclepius, Euthydemos of Eleusis, and which were placed at the altars. These stelae apparently contained a graphic image (εἰκών) of the appropriately shaped and sized πόπανα. For the priest Euthydemos, cf. also <ref target="http://cgrn.ulg.ac.be/CGRN_46">CGRN 46</ref>, a decree of Athens which also cites his authority concerning προθύματα in the cult of Asclepius in Piraeus (for further discussion of this text and its iconographic parallels, see Lamont).</p>
                    
<p>Face B</p>
                
<p>Lines B1-8: According to Sokolowski, Helios and Mnemosyne can be mentioned in relation to incubation cults, though in what capacity they are invoked here is not clear. The offerings of the cake ἀρεστήρ and honeycomb often go together: <ref target="http://cgrn.ulg.ac.be/CGRN_53">CGRN 53</ref>, found at Piraeus, prescibes ἀρεστῆρας and κηρία for the Moirai; <ref target="http://cgrn.ulg.ac.be/CGRN_95">CGRN 95</ref>, found at Athens, prescibes an ἀρεσ[τῆ-]ρα and a κηρίον for Mnemosyne; <ref target="http://cgrn.ulg.ac.be/CGRN_87">CGRN 87</ref> found on Samos, prescribes ἀρεστῆρας and κηρία for Kourotrophos and Hermes. The name of the cake called ἀρεστήρ is derived from the verb ἀρέσκω "to appease, conciliate" and should be seen as a propitiatory gesture. Bruit Zaidman, p. 38 explains that honey has an 'appeasing' function too.</p>
                    
<p>Lines B9-12: The adjective νηφάλιος, "unmixed with wine", is combined with various nouns (e.g. κρατήρ, θυσίαι, cf. <bibl type="abbr" n="LSJ">LSJ</bibl> s.v. νηφάλιος) to refer to an offering of this type. In this case the βωμοί are metonymically referred to as νηφάλιοι. Τhree wineless altars are mentioned, cp. Polemon Hist. 42: Ἀθηναῖοι ... νηφάλια μὲν ἱερὰ θύουσι Μνημοσύνῃ, Μούσῃ, Ἠοῖ, Ἡλίῳ, Σελήνῃ, Νύμφαις, Ἀφροδίτῃ Οὐρανίᾳ. Perhaps the third god (besides Helios and Mnemosyne) is to be found among these candidates. On offerings called νηφάλια, see Pirenne-Delforge.</p>
                    
<p>Faces C and D are later than face A, but the relative dates of engraving of C-D with respect to B cannot be reconstructed. On Faces C and D we find brief and elusive iterations of the prescription of 'wineless' (altars).</p>    
                    
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