Honours for two young athletes
created: Transcription from stone (CDL).
source date: Probably end of second or beginning of first century BC
language: ar; en; fr; de; grc; grc-Latn; el; he
availability: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Deed Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. 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. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/)

[...], whence [...], 52.1839; [...] 034 [...], pp. 22-23, whence [...], 2021.562.

Cf. [...], pp. 197-198 and 208-209, whence [...] 68.1745.

Ὄρχαμον ἠϊθέων Διονυσίω υἱέα κοῦρον
ἄνδρασι μαρμαρέα φθέγγεται ἅδε λίθος·
πάντεσι δ' ἆρ' ὀνύχεσσιν δῶκεν οἱ ὠκέσιν ἵππος
στεψαμένωι τελέαν ἅρματι καμμονίαν·
οὐδέ μιν Ἑρμείαο σοφῶν ἀδαήμονα μύθων
πατρὶς ἐνὶ λιπαροῖς ἔτρεφε γυμνασίοις,
εὖ δὲ καὶ Ἡρακλῆϊ μεμηλότα· τοιγὰρ ἀέθλωι
ἔργα καὶ ἐκ Μουσᾶν εἶσα διανύσατο·
οὗ σ' ἵππω, τόσα φαμί, Νέων Καρνηΐω ἇδος,
εἰκόνα τυφθεῖσαν ὤπασαν Οὐρανίδαι.

Παῖδα Θεοχρήστοιο νέων ἀριδείκετον ἀνδρῶν
γράμμα καὶ ἐσσο̣μένοις φθέγγεται ὧδε βροτοῖς,
αἰνετὸν ἐν Μούσαισι, μεμηλότα δ’ Ἡρακλῆϊ,
στεψάμενον διδύμας κλῶνα διφρηλασίας,
πάππου Ἀριστάρχοιο φερώνυμον· ἦ γὰρ ὁ φύσας
υἱεῖ πατρώιαν τάνδ’ ὀνύμανε φάτιν·
ὦ πρὶν ἱαραὶ [...]ε[...]ιαι Ἑλλάδος ἁνυσθεῖσαι·
καὶ διὰ κυανέας στέλλεται αὖθις ἁλός·
οὗ σε πάλαι μέγα θάμβος ὄρωρεν, δῖα Κυράνα,
ἀθλητᾶν τοίους παῖδας ἀεξομέναν.

κοῦρον[^a1] δῶκεν οἱ ὠκέσιν[^a2] μιν[^1][^a3] ἔργα[^a4] οὗ σ' ἵππῳ[^a5] φαμὶ, Νέων Καρνηί̈ω ἇδος,[^a6] εἰκόνα τυφθεῖσαν ὤπασαν Οὐρανίδαι[^a7] παῖδα Θεοχρήστοιο νέων ἀριδείκετον ἀνδρῶν[^a8] ὧδε βροτοῖς[^2][^a9] ὦ πρὶν ἱαραὶ[^a10] [...]ε[...]ίαι Ἑλλάδος ἁνυσθεῖσαι[^a11] αὖθις ἁλός[^3][^a12] ὄρωρεν, δῖα Κυράνα[^a13] ἀεξομέναν[^a14]

[^a1: κοῦρον | [...]]

[^a2: δῶκεν οἱ ὠκέσιν | ἰσάνεμος]

[^a3: μιν | μὲν]

[^a4: ἔργα | εἶσα]

[^a5: οὗ σ' ἵππῳ | εὐίππω]

[^a6: φαμὶ, Νέων Καρνηί̈ω ἇδος, | φαμὶ Νέων Καρνηί̈ω ἇδος,]

[^a7: εἰκόνα τυφθεῖσαν ὤπασαν Οὐρανίδαι | εἰκόνα τυπῶσαι ὤπασαν Οὐρανίδαι | [...]]

[^a8: παῖδα Θεοχρήστοιο νέων ἀριδείκετον ἀνδρῶν | Δοίας Θευχρήστοιο Νέωνα κλειτὸν ὑπ'ὠδᾶς | κλεινὸν ἁμίλλας]

[^a9: ὧδε βροτοῖς | [...]]

[^a10: ὦ πρὶν ἱαραὶ | [...]]

[^a11: [...]ε[...]ίαι Ἑλλάδος ἁνυσθεῖσαι | [...]ε[...]ι δι᾿ Ἑλλάδος ἁνύσ[...] | [...] καὶ τέχναι Ἑλλάδος ἁνύσ[...]]

[^a12: αὖθις ἁλός | ἁλμαίας]

[^a13: ὄρωρεν, δῖα Κυράνα | ι[...]]

[^a14: ἀεξομέναν | ἀεξομέν[...]]

[^1: Bousquet's suggestion]

[^2: Bousquet's suggestion]

[^3: Bousquet's suggestion]

(a) Prince des jeunes gens, un garçon, fils de Dionysios,

est ici célébré à l'attention des hommes par la pierre de marbre ;

c'est que, de tous leurs sabots rapides, ses chevaux lui ont donné

avec son char la victoire parfaite dont il se couronna ;

les sages discours d'Hermès n'ont pas fait défaut dans les enseignements

dont sa patrie l'a nourri au sein de ses brillants gymnases,

non plus que le souci d'Héraclès ; il a donc accompli par la compétition athlétique

des exploits égaux à ceux qui lui vinrent des Muses.

C'est pourquoi —je n'en dis pas plus— à toi, Néôn, délice de Karnèios,

les dieux ouraniens ont accordé un portrait frappé.

(b) Le fils de Theokhrestos, fameux parmi les jeunes gens,

est ici par l'écrit célébré aussi à l'intention des mortels à venir:

loué chez les Muses, choyé d'Hèraklès,

il se couronna de la palme d'une double course de chars,

portant le nom de son aïeul Aristarkhos; en effet son père,

en le nommant, énonça pour son fils le renom ancestral :

"Ah, les [...] sacrés de la Grèce autrefois accomplis !";

Et à son tour il s'élance à travers la mer bleu sombre.

C'est pourquoi depuis longtemps s'est élevée une grande admiration pour toi, divine Cyrène,

qui nourris de tels fils d'athlètes.

(a) Prince of the youngsters, a boy, son of Dionysios,

is being celebrated here at the attention of men by the marble stone;

for by means of all their quick hooves, his horses gave him

with his chariot the perfect victory with which he crowned himself;

Hermes' wise discourses were not failing in the education

given by his home-city in its luxurious gymnasiums,

neither was he deprived of Heracles' concern; he thus accomplished through gymnic competition

feats equal to those provided by the Muses.

That is why —be it my last word— you, Neon, Karneios' delight,

was granted by the Ouranian gods a struck image.

(b) The son of Theuchrestos, famous amongst the young men,

is here celebrated through the inscription also for the mortals to come:

praised amongst the Muses, cared for by Heracles,

he crowned himself with the palm of a double chariot race,

wearing the name of his grandfather Aristarchos; indeed his father,

when naming him, spelled for his son the ancestral fame:

'Oh, the sacred [...] of Greece once accomplished!'

And in turn he sets out across the dark blue sea.

That is why a great amazement has long since arisen towards you, divine Cyrene,

who brings up such sons of athletes.

(a) Principe dei giovani, un ragazzo, figlio di Dionysios,

all’attenzione degli uomini è qui celebrato dalla pietra di marmo;

grazie infatti a tutti i loro zoccoli veloci, i suoi cavalli gli hanno donato

con il cocchio la vittoria perfetta con la quale si è incoronato;

i saggi discorsi di Hermes non sono mancati negli insegnamenti

di cui la patria l'ha nutrito nei suoi splendidi ginnasi,

e nemmeno la cura di Eracle; ha dunque ottenuto

risultati eguali nella competizione atletica e grazie alle Muse.

Per questo – sia la mia ultima parola – a te Neon, delizia di Karneios,

gli dèi urani hanno concesso una immagine coniata.

(b) Il figlio di Theochrestos, illustre tra i giovani,

e qui celebrato dall'iscirizione anche per i mortali a venire,

lodato presso le Muse, accudito da Eracle,

che si è incoronato con la palma di una doppia corsa coi carri,

portando il nome del nonno Aristarchos; perché il padre,

dandogli il nome, determinò per il figlio la fama ancestrale:

“Oh le sacre [...] della Grecia una volta ottenute!”

e a sua volta lui si prepara per il cupo mare blu;

per questo da tempo si è levata grande l’ammirazione per te, divina Cirene,

che allevi tali figli di atleti.

The added line, which C. Dobias-Lalou in the first publication considered illusory, may be detected on the ancient photograph. The lettering is later, the layout does not match the full width available and the lettering, especially the final omega, seems to belong to the first century AD or later. It reads Νεῖλος καὶ Γ[...]νιεὺς οἱ Φιλίνω and is similar to many ephebic graffiti of the Roman period. Combined with the themes developed in the verse, this confirms that the base originally stood in the gymnasium and was moved to Apollo's sanctuary for re-use at a later date.

After the first publication, C. Dobias-Lalou took advantage of thorough discussions with the late Jean Bousquet, who made several convincing suggestions. And after the first edition of [...], Luca Ruggeri elucidated definetely the obscure verse-line 11, making the double epigram much clearer.

The layout, with two parts side by side is that of the ancient papyrus rolls. Both poems develop parallel themes with similar words. Two youg men are honored, namely Neon son of Dionysios and Aristarchos son of Theuchrestos, their naming formula being provided in the same order, with father's name first and own name later on. Both were victorious in horses races after having been educated (surely together) in the gymnasium at Cyrene. The sophisticated formulation of line 17 seems to hide a second meaning: ὄνομα, beside 'name' also means 'fame' and φάτις, beside 'talk' also 'rumour'. So in naming his son with his father's name, Theochrestos had also vowed that his father's name would be an omen for a similar fame, plausibly gained in sacred competitions in one of the famous sanctuaries of Greece. So the younger Aristarchos sailed to Greece to one of those competitions, whereas Neon seems to have been winner at Cyrene only.

At l. 3 the singular ἵππος has a collective value, as followed by the mention of a chariot. The famous Cyrenaean chariots were led by four horses. At l. 14, διδύμας is ambiguous: either the chariot was led by only two horses or Aristarchos winned twice.

Lines 5-7 (and 13) mention the two deities of the gymnasium (Hermes lacking at line 13 is probably meaningless). The mention of the Muses might mean that the young men were also responsible for the composition of the poems.

Lines 9-10, if our restorations are good, might allude to some sort of medal struck with a figure similar to the one visible on sculpted panels from the gymnasium showing a man leading a four horses chariot, of which a series has been found at Cyrene. For ΟΥ, rather than the negative particle, we prefer to read the relative adverb οὗ which might have its usual local meaning at this line. However, it is also used at line 19 with an obviously parallel intent and we choose for both places the explicative meaning.

At line 18 for the verb στέλλεται (middle voice) the most usual meaning is 'to set out', wich implies a shift of subject (so in our translation). An alternative might be that the middle is used instead of the active to show that the father is personally involved in his son's departure.

Metrical analysis: 10 regular elegiac couplets. At line 17, two metrical lenghtenings of the first syllable: ἱαραί and ἁνυσθεῖσαι. At line 9, the elision of the diphthong in the dative σοι, a feature inherited from epic prosody, deserves mention.