The permanent exhibition of the Epigraphical Museum
Honorary stele of choregoi
This stele records the decree of the demos of Aixone (present-day Glyphada) to honour two choregoi (patrons) of theatrical plays. The stele's upper part is decorated in relief: Dionysus enthroned, holding a krater (vessel for mixing wine with water), accompanied by a young satyr brandishing an oenochoe (wine-jug). Five masks representing five different characters of the New Comedy, as it was styled at the end of the 4th century BC, are depicted on the architrave. Two large engraved wreaths occupy the lower part of the stele. The twelve-lined inscription is rather carelessly engraved. The text refers to a victory in the theatrical competition of the rural Dionysiac games of the Attic demes, the expenses of which were assumed by private donators. This particular theatrical production was generously financed by these two citizens of Aixone. The choregy, instituted in the 6th century BC, was a most honourable but costly public office.
Exhibit Features
Date:
Hellenistic period, 313/2 BC
Place of discovery:
Glyfada
Dimensions:
length: 0,405 m, width: 0,008 m, height: 0,95 m
Material:
marble
Inventory number:
ΕΜ 13262
Exhibition hole:
Hall 9
Copyright:
Hellenic Ministry of Culture
Suggestive Bibliography
Kyparissis N., Peek W., Attische Urkunden, AM 66, (1941), 218-219, n. 1
Pickard-Cambridge A., The Dramatic Festivals of Athens, Οξφόρδη, 1968, 49
Ghiron-Bistagne P., Recherches sur les Acteurs dans la Grece Antique, Παρίσι, 1976, 86-88
Whitehead D., The Demes of Attica 508/7 - ca. 250 B.C.: A Political and Social Study, Princeton, 1986, 135-152
Η ελληνική γραφή: κατάλογος έκθεσης, Αθήνα, 2002, 66-7, αρ. 27