Dedication to Isis
created: Transcription from stones (CDL).
source date: First century BC, preferably Augustan
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/)

Fragment a [...], p. 212 and pl. XXXII, fig. 2 and [...]; and [...], whence [...], 9.193; [...] 025.

Cf. [...], pp. 55-58; [...], pp. 149-152; [...], pp. 200, 207-209 and [...], 1993.699, whence [...], 42.1644; [...], n. 701/0102.

Fragments b and c: never published before [...] 025, whence [...] 67.1492.

[...]
[...]ισαμεν [...]
[...] τιθὲν τελεσ[...]
[...] ων ὑποχείριος αἰχμαῖς
[...] α δουλοσύνας
[...] ὁμόθρονος ἄγαγε πρὸς φῶς
[...] τέκνα κομιζομένα
[...] ὑπ' ὀργάδα τὰν Ἀχέροντος
[...] Φερσεφόνας λιμένας
[...] ἐς αἰθέρα θνατὸς ὁ τεύξας
[...] ἠργάσατο
[...]

[...] [...]αδε [...]
[...]πόλιν ἁμετέραν[...]
[...]ε καὶ ἄσβεστον [...]
[...] σκῆπτρα μόνα [...]
[...] ὁρμαί γε σαὶ [...]
[...]ιος θα[...]
[...]το γλυκυ [...]
[...]

[...] [...][...][...]
[...] τὰς πέτρας
[...] ὕδατα πάντα
[...] σι φάος [...]

[...] [...]ευς ἀνέθηκε

ισαμεν[^a1] τιθὲν τελεσ[...][^a2] [...]ων ὑποχείριος αἰχμαῖς[^a3] [...]α δουλοσύνας[^a4] [...]ὁμόθρονος ἄγαγε πρὸς φῶς[^a5] [...] τέκνα κομιζομένα[^a6] [...] ὑπ´ὀργάδα τὰν Ἀχέροντος[^a7] [...]Φερσεφόνας λιμένας[^a8] [...] ἐς αἰθέρα θνατὸς ὁ τεύξας[^a9] [...]ἠργάσατο[^a10]

[^a1: ισαμεν | ισαμενο | εἱσαμένοιο | τεισαμένοιο]

[^a2: τιθὲν τελεσ[...] | ιθεν τέλεσιν | πᾶν τὸ τιθὲν τελέσας]

[^a3: [...]ων ὑποχείριος αἰχμαῖς | [...]πόνων ὑποχείριος αἰχμαῖς | μηδὲ γένοιτο πατρὶς δαίων ὑποχείριος αἰχμαῖς | [...]ἐχθρῶν ὑποχείριος αἰχμαῖς]

[^a4: [...]α δουλοσύνας | [...]δέσματα δουλοσύνας | ἄρκεσε λυγρὰ μόνος δέσματα δουλοσύνας | [...]δέσμια δουλοσύνας]

[^a5: [...]ὁμόθρονος ἄγαγε πρὸς φῶς | Ὰ δὲ κασιγνάτου συνομόθρονος ἄγαγε πρὸς φῶς]

[^a6: [...] τέκνα κομιζομένα | παῖδας, καὶ τέκνων τέκνα κομιζομένα]

[^a7: [...] ὑπ´ὀργάδα τὰν Ἀχέροντος | Θνατὸς ἔδυν σκοτόεσσαν ὑπ´ὀργάδα τὰν Ἀχέροντος | τοὔνεκεν οὐ στυγερὰν ὅγ' ὑπ´ὀργάδα τὰν Ἀχέροντος]

[^a8: [...]Φερσεφόνας λιμένας | [...] Περσεφόνας λιμένας | Ἁγνᾶς τε χθονίως Περσεφόνας λιμένας | ἤλυθε καὶ στυγεροὺς Φερσεφόνας λιμένας | [...]σκιεροὺς Φερσεφόνας λιμένας]

[^a9: [...] ἐς αἰθέρα θνατὸς ὁ τεύξας | [...] αἰθέρα θνατὸς ὃ τεύξας | ἦνθον δ'αὖτε φαεινὸν ἐς αἰθέρα θνατός· ὁ τεύξας | νάνεμον ἀλλὰ βέβακεν ἐς αἰθέρα θνατὸς ὁ τεύξας·]

[^a10: [...]ἠργάσατο | [...]ἠρπάξατο | ὑιὸς δ' ἀθάνατον μνᾶμα τόδ'ἠργάσατο | ὑιὸς δ' Εὐφρονίδας μνᾶμα τόδ']

(Fragment a) [...] (3) [...]soumis par les lances (4) [...] l'esclavage (5) [...] (6) [...] partageant le même trône, mena vers la lumière (7) [...] conduisant les enfants (8) [...] en bas, vers les prairies de l'Achéron (9) [...] aux ports de Perséphone (9) [...] vers l'éther le mortel qui fabriqua (10) [...] il fit.

(Fragment b) [...] (2) [...] notre cité [...] (3) [...] et inextinguible [...] (4) [...] les seuls sceptres [...] (5) [...] tes implusions [...] (6) [...] [...] [...] (7) [...] doux [...].

(Fragment c) [...] (2) [...] les pierres (3) [...] toutes les eaux (4) [...] la lumière [...].

Un tel fils de [...]ès a consacré.

(Fragment a) [...] (3) [...]submitted with the spears (4) [...] slavery (5) [...] (6) [...] sharing the same throne brought into light (7) [...] conveying the children (8) [...] down to the meadow-land of Acheron (9) [...] to Persephone's harbours (9) [...] to the ether the mortal who produced (10) [...] he made.

(Fragment b) [...] (2) [...] our city [...] (3) [...] and unextinguishable [...] (4) [...] the only sceptres [...] (5) [...] your impulses [...] (6) [...] [...] [...] (7) [...] sweet [...].

(Fragment c) [...] (2) [...] the stones (3) [...] all waters (4) [...] the light [...].

So-and-so son of [...]es dedicated.

(Fragment a) [...] (3) [...]sottomesso dalle lance (4) [...] schiavitù (5) [...] (6) [...] condividendo lo stesso trono, condusse verso la luce (7) [...] conducendo i bambini (8) [...] giù verso le terre fertili dell'Acheronte (9) [...] ai porti di Persefone (9) [...] all'etere il mortale che costruisce (10) [...] egli fece.

(Fragment b) [...] (2) [...] nostra città [...] (3) [...] e inestinguibile [...] (4) [...] i soli scettri [...] (5) [...] i tuoi impulsi [...] (6) [...] [...] [...] (7) [...] dolce [...].

(Fragment c) [...] (2) [...] le pietre (3) [...] tutte le acque (4) [...] la luce [...].

Il tale figlio di [...]es ha dedicato.

That the three fragments belong together was seen independently both by J.M. Reynolds and C. Dobias-Lalou. The publication of the main fragment (a) occurred in 1927. As the two other fragments were numbered and kept in the epigraphical storeroom as displayed after the moving of World War II, they are plausibly part of those mentioned in Oliverio's Report on the excavations of 1935 (now available in [...], p. 152) as «numerosi frammenti di sculture e di iscrizioni, sfuggiti ai primi scavatori». Whereas fragment (c) clearly belongs to the bottom of the panel, the relative placement of fragments (a) and (b) cannot be established, as there is no match to link them together. The order given here is thus arbitrary and (a) is placed first only because it is more complete.

Fragment (c) shows that the inscription was primarily a dedication. This rules out Oliverio's interpretation as a hymn, clearly related to his publishing it together with GVCyr041, and already questioned by others. Ferri took the poem as the expression of gratitude by an initiate for his salvation from enslavement to the ills of humanity; the argument of initiation might be confirmed by the archeological excavations of S. Ensoli ([...]). Hiller von Graetringen was nearer to a dedicatory epigram when restoring what might have been the memorial produced by the son of a dead father who had been awarded to stay in ether instead of going down to hell. He was followed by Peek, who furthermore, emphasizing δουλοσύνας, imagined that the dead had saved his city from enslavement by enemies. The new elements in the two additional fragments, praising Isis' universal powers, rather suggest the sort of salvation provided by the goddess and make clearer why the dedication was found in her sanctuary. However tantalizing some of Hiller's restorations do seem, we preferred to record them in the apparatus and produce a more cautious edition.

Among the two verse-inscriptions found in the sanctuary of Isis on the acropolis, which are both dedications, this one has less to do with a hymn than GVCyr041, even if both praise the powers of the goddess.

Generally speaking, this epigram offers many dialectal features. The use of contrasted forms φῶς at a.5 and φάος at c.4 is a poetic licence allowing to adapt the phrase to the required rhythm.

At b.7, το might be either the article or a verbal middle ending and γλυκυ may stay by itself or be part of a compound adjective.

Metrical analysis: the very regular elegiac couplets deserve few commentary. At b.5, σαί should be shortend by a following initial vowel. At b.6 θα seems to be at a place were it should belong to a long syllable, either because the vowel was long or because the syllable was closed.