EpiDoc XML:
GVCyr0022
Trismegistos ID:
738898
Support: Limestone stele surmounted by a pediment with acroteria (out of which two are now lost) and projecting moulding below it; a hole on the front face does not affect the inscription (w: 0.30 × h: 0.69 × d: 0.075).
Layout: Inscribed on front face on 2 lines with axial layout, then 2 groups of 4 lines aligned at left and separated by a vacat (width 0.30).
Letters: Lines 1-2: 0.023; l. 3 on: 0.008-0.015; no serifs, smaller round letters, slanting sigma.
Date: Late fourth or early third century BC (lettering).
Findspot: Found before 1935 at Ptolemais ➚, at the time port of Barka: plausibly from the West Necropolis.
Place of origin: Findspot.
Last recorded location: Seen by G. Oliverio before 1935 at Al Marj Barce Museum. Not seen by GVCyr team; studied from photograph.
Text constituted from: Transcription from editor.
Oliverio 1933-1936, pp. 257-258 fig. 102-102a and De Sanctis 1937, whence SEG, 9.362; Peek 1955, n. 1912; Peek 1960, n. 444 and p. 321; CEG, n. 680; GVCyr 002 ➚. Cf. Bazama – Reynolds 1978-1979, p. 260, whence SEG, 37.1714; Dobias-Lalou 2018, pp. 199 and 204-206, whence SEG 68.1745.
3: ὂς Peek 1955: ἇ̣ς̣ Oliverio 1933-1936 || πάν[τα] Oliverio 1933-1936, Peek 1955: πάν[τᾳ] De Sanctis 1937, SEG9
6: ἄγαγες De Sanctis 1937, SEG9, Peek 1955: ἄγαγ'ἐς Oliverio 1933-1936
8: τὸν ἕστεργες: τὸν Ἑσπερίδ̣ο̣ς̣ Oliverio 1933-1936, SEG9; τὸν ἔστερίσ̣α̣ς Peek 1955
Arata fille de Kallikratès, d'Euhespérides.
Vieillard, maître de la barque aux bons bordages, qui dans ta navigation
franchis les limites du fleuve sous la nuit ombreuse,
as-tu jamais vu une vertu surpassant celle d'Arata, s'il est vrai que
tu l'as débarquée sur la rive sinistre?
Jamais plus tu ne verras ta patrie aux enfants délicats, l'Hespéride,
ni l'époux que tu chérissais, jamais pour ton enfant
tu ne prépareras la couche nuptiale. Ah vraiment, la divinité,
Arata, a fixé pour toi une glaçante malédiction!
Arata daughter of Kallicrates, from Euesperides.
Old man, master of the well-planked boat, who sails
through the limits of the river under the shady night,
did you ever see a virtue higher than that of Arata, if you did
bring her to the gloomy shore?
Never will you see again your country with delicate children, Hesperis,
nor will you see your beloved husband, nor will you for your child
prepare a bridal couch. Truly, a deity,
Arata, decided for you an icy malediction!
Arata figlia di Kallikrates, di Euesperides.
E tu vecchio, signore della barca dal robusto fasciame, che nella notte fosca
da una sponda all'altra percorri il fiume,
hai mai visto una virtù superiore a quella di Arata, se davvero
l'hai condotta alla riva oscura?
Né più mai la tua patria vedrai dai delicati fanciulli, l'Hesperis,
né il tuo sposo che amavi, né a tua figlia
preparerai il letto nuziale. Ah davvero, la divinità,
Arata, ti ha destinato una maledizione di ghiaccio!
أراتا ابنة كاليكراتيوس من يوسبيريديس. الرجل العجوز، سيد القارب ذو المجاديف الجيدة، الذي يبحر عبر حدود النهر تحت جُنح الظلام (الليل المظلم)، هل رأيت من قبل فضيلة أعلى (مرتبة) من فضيلة أراتا، إذا رأيت ذلك أحضرها إلى الشاطئ الكئيب؟ لن تري أبدًا بلدك، هيسبيريس، مرة أخرى بوجود أطفال حساسين (مرهفي الإحساس)، ولن ترين زوجك الحبيب ولا (يُمنكنك) تحضيرإو تجهيز أريكة الزفاف لطفلك. حقًا يا أراتا، المُؤله، قدر لك لعنه باردة (شديدة)!
Oliverio only mentioned Ptolemais as the provenance of the stele. Bazama-Reynolds attributed the stele to the small necropolis developed along the road issuing from the Northern gate of the city-wall at West, where they found a number of similar steles. Ptolemais was at the time not yet a city with that name, but only a harbour for Barka. The stele should be the most ancient inscription from this site.
This well made epigram develops the theme of malediction by playing on the name of the deceased woman 'Arata', which etymologically means 'accursed', directly through the use of ἀρά and indirectly through two puns based on the assonance with the interrogative particle ἇρα and with ἀρετά 'virtue'. More at Dobias-Lalou 2018.
This woman was from Euesperides and died at Ptolemais, where she was buried.
Metrical analysis: after a title (ll. 1-2), eight text-lines, which are so many verse-lines, forming four elegiac couplets. The space on the stone marks the limit between the two pairs of couplets, which is also the limit between two enunciation modes, the first part addressing Charon the ferryman, the second addressing the deceased Arata.
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All citation, reuse or distribution of this work must contain a link back to DOI: https://doi.org/10.60760/unibo/igcyrgvcyr2 and the filename (IGCyr000000 or GVCyr000), as well as the year of consultation.
