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Honorary Statues in Ancient Greece

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 October 2013

Extract

My object in the following short study is to investigate the subject of honorary statues in Greek times.

Since Stenersen's treatise, written in 1877, I know of no published work dealing specially with this subject, which is interesting from the light it throws on Greek life and political action, and since that date excavation and the discovery of inscriptions have added considerably to the material available. His work is a valuable source for the literary evidence on the question, but his subject is portrait-statues, and he confines himself to those from Athens.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Council, British School at Athens 1905

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References

page 32 note 1 Sienersen, L. B., De historia variisque generibus statuarum iconicarum apud Athenienses, Christiania, 1877.Google Scholar

page 32 note 2 For the material used, two works of Dittenberger's have been invaluable, the Sylloge Inscriptionum Graecarum, and the recently published Orientis Graecae Inscriptiones Selectae. For working out the clear definition of an honorary statue, Francotte's, M. pamphlet, La législation athénienne sur les distinctions honorifiques (Louvain, 1900)Google Scholar has been of the utmost service.

page 32 note 3 Greek Votive Offerings, p. 1.

page 33 note 1 Paus. X. x. I.

page 33 note 2 Paus. X. ix. 7 and Plut. Lysand. i.

page 33 note 3 lb. VI. iii. 14.

page 33 note 4 Paus. VI. iii. 15.

page 33 note 5 Dion. Chrys. xxxi. 596 R.

page 33 note 6 Mr. Rouse appears not to distinguish consistently between votive offerings or portrait-statues and honorary (or ‘honorific’) statues. He seems to regard the latter as a degenerate variety of ἀναθήματα i.e, ἀναθήματα minus the clear ‘sacred character of the dedication’ (p. 373). He seems to translate ἀναθεῖναι by ‘dedicate’ and hence uses ‘dedication’ loosely of anything to which that verb is applied (p. 269). ἀναθεῖναι and ῾ποιεῖν ἀνάθεσιν᾿ are used as readily of honorary statues erected by decree of the people anywhere in the city as of votive offerings (C.I. A. ii. 465, 469, C.I.G. 2152 b, Ditt. Sylloge Inscriptionum Graecarum, 324). He suggests that the portraits of Alcibiades, etc., if ‘portrait-statues and nothing more,’ were the earliest honorific statues (p. 372), neglecting the statues of the Tyrannicides.

page 33 note 7 Gr. Weihgeschenke, pp. 35 sqq.

page 33 note 8 Paus. V. xxi. I.

page 33 note 9 Ath. Mitt. v. p. 29 and Reisch, p. 35, n. 2.

page 34 note 1 Paus. V. xxv. I.

page 34 note 2 When an athlete's own state erects in his own city a duplicate of his prize at Olympia, Delphi, etc., this is a true honorary statue, distinct from the reward of victory. Pausanias (VI. ix. 3) mentions two statues of the athlete Cheimon, both by Naukydes, ἥ τε ἐν ᾿Ολυμπίᾳ, καὶ ἡ ἐς τὸ ἱερὸν τῆς Εἰρήνης τὸ ἐν ῾Πώμῃ κομισθεῖσα ἐξ ᾿´Αργους. He also saw at Sparta statues of a father and son who had won victories at Olympia, and whose statues were therefore probably erected there also (ib. III. xiii. 9). At Pellene in the gymnasium was the statue of an athlete, which had its duplicate at Olympia (ib. VII. xxvii. 5). Cp. for duplicate erection, the votive offering of Daochos at Delphi and at Pharsalos. In this case both apparently were ἀναθήματα (Preuner, Ein Griechisches Weihgeschenk.)

page 34 note 3 B.C.H. iii. 365; Arrian, Periplus Ponti Euxini § 2.

page 35 note 1 Philostr., Vit. Soph. II. i. 24Google Scholar; Frazer's, Paus. Vol. ii. p. 438.Google Scholar

page 35 note 2 Statues used to decorate private houses, libraries, gymnasia, were more of the nature of decoration than anything else.

page 35 note 3 Rangabé, , Ant. Hell. ii. 689Google Scholar (second century B.c.)

page 35 note 4 C.I.A. ii. 311 (286–5 B.C.)

page 35 note 5 Ib. iii. 623 (100–126 A.D.)

page 35 note 6 Cp. Luc. Anach. 17.

page 35 note 7 S.v. imago.

page 36 note 1 Paus. V. xxi. I.

page 36 note 2 v. note I, p. 34.

page 36 note 3 A good example of an honorary statue in a sacred precinct is that or Antiochus III., decreed by the Delphic Amphictyony to be set up in the precinct of the Pythian Apollo. There can be no doubt that this was a regular honorary statue. Dittenberger, Orientis Graecae Inscriptiones Seiectae, No. 234.

page 36 note 4 Stenersen, p. 49, p. 53 sqq.

page 36 note 5 Stenersen, on p. 53, says he knows of no evidence of the abuse at Athens, though an inscription might any day be found giving such evidence.

page 37 note 1 Francotte, p. 60.

page 37 note 2 B.S.A. vii. p. 156 (second half of fourth century B.C.) ἐξεῖναι δὲ αὐτῷ καὶ εἰκόνα στῆσαι ἐαυτοῦ χαλκῆν C.I.A. ii.1, iv.2 410, end of fourth century.

page 37 note 3 C.I.A. ii. 331, 11. 80 sqq. (third century), ii. 465 (second century).

page 37 note 4 To the data given by Stenersen on this head (p. 128) may be added the evidence of C.I.A. ii.1 250, στῆσαι τὸν δῆμον εἰκόνα χαλκῆν ἐν Βυζαντίῳ ᾿Ασκληπιάδου ἀπὸ τρισχιλίων δραχμῶν (307–300 B.C.).

page 37 note 5 The inscription from Eretria mentioned before (p. 35 note 5), which is perhaps of the second century B.c., shows clearly how authorisation by the state was the most desired part of an honorary statue: for it is decreed that the already erected statues of the children of Theopompos shall be inscribed ὅτι ἀνατίθησιν αὐτὰς ὁ δῆμος ὁ ᾿Ερετριέων ἀρετῆς ἔνεκεν᾿ etc. No attempt is made to bear the cost, but the state sanction is inscribed on the statues, and this in itself was evidently quite satisfactory.

page 38 note 1 Francotte, p. 52.

page 38 note 2 Ib., p. 33.

page 38 note 3 Ib. p. 50.

page 38 note 4 Ib. p. 49.

page 38 note 5 Stenersen, pp. 58, 59, 65.

page 38 note 6 Ib. p. 60.

page 38 note 7 Ib. p. 75.

page 38 note 8 Francotte, pp. 40–41.

page 38 note 9 Ib. p. 10.

page 39 note 1 Francotte, p. 52.

page 39 note 2 Overbeck, Schriftquellen, 443 sqq. = Paus. i. 8. 5, Plin. N.H. xxxiv. 70, Arrian, , Anab. iii. 16.Google Scholar 7 and vii. 19. 2, Val. Max. ii. 10. ext. i.

page 39 note 3 Aristotle, Constitution of Athens, 58.

page 39 note 4 Stenersen, p. 8, and Aesch. in Ktes. 183 sqq.

page 39 note 5 . . .ἀντ᾿ εὐεργεσίης καὶ μεγάλης ἀρετῆς—cp. Larfeld, ii. p. 740, ῾Εὐεργετοῦντας καὶ λόφψ καὶ ἔργψ etc.

μᾶλλόν τις τάδ᾿ ἰδὼν καὶ ἐπεσσομένων ἐθελήσει ἀμφὶ ξυνοῖσι πράγμασι μόχθον ἔχειν

Cp. ib. p. 764, ὄπες ἄν ἐφάμιλλον ᾖ εὐεργετεῖν etc.

page 40 note 1 Stenersen, p. 8 = Dem. in Lept. p. 470, in Aristokr. p. 686.

page 40 note 2 Paus. x. 10. 1.

page 40 note 3 S.Q. 873 = Plin. N.H. xxxiv. 74; and Furtwängler, Meisterwerke, p. 271.

page 40 note 4 Plut. Them. xvii.

page 40 note 5 In Aristokr. 686, cp. Plut. Them. xviii.

page 40 note 6 Cp. Dem. in Lept. 491 (in former days honours were given also), αἱ μέντοι τιμαὶ καὶ τἆλλα πάντα τὰ μὲν τότ᾿ ἦν ἐπὶ τοῖς τότ᾿ ἔθεσι, τὰ δὲ νῦν ἐπὶ τοῖς νῦν

page 41 note 1 Plut. Vit. X. Or. p. 841 f.

page 41 note 2 Dem. in Aristokr. 667.

page 41 note 3 Dinarchus 44. Cp. Dittenberger, Syll. No. 129.

page 41 note 4 Holm, , Hist. of Greece, vol. iii. pp. 209, 220.Google Scholar

page 41 note 5 Stenersen, p. 61.

page 41 note 6 Diphilos, probably because of his wealth, and Neoptolemos for piety, Stenersen, p. 62, also perhaps Asklepiades of Byzantium, , C.I.A. ii. 251.Google Scholar

page 41 note 7 Plut. Vit. X. Or. 850 sqq., and Hicks, Manual, No. 145.

page 42 note 1 In Lept. p. 489.

page 42 note 2 Paus. vi. 4. 9. Archidamos III. died 338 B.C.

page 42 note 3 Paus. iv. 31. 10.

page 42 note 4 Ib. iv. 32. 1.

page 42 note 5 Ib. ix. 12. 6 and 15. 6.

page 42 note 6 These recall the regular formulae of honorary decrees.

page 42 note 7 Corn. Nep. Pelop. v. 5 = S.Q. 1625.

page 42 note 8 Dittenberger, Syll. 231.

page 42 note 9 Dittenberger, Syll. 230.

page 42 note 10 Ib. 289.

page 43 note 1 Dittenberger, Syll. 290.

page 43 note 2 Ib. 317, and Hicks, Manual, No. 201.

page 43 note 3 Paus. iv. 32. 6.

page 43 note 4 Paus. iii. 14. 8, and xi. 10 = S.Q. 1634–5.

page 43 note 5 Cic. in Verrem, ii. 35. 86 = S.Q. 1637.

page 43 note 6 Dittenberger, Or. 11.

page 44 note 1 Dittenberger, Or. 213.

page 44 note 2 Ib. 219. Michel, 525.

page 44 note 3 Ib.Syll. 262.

page 44 note 4 Ib.Or. 297.

page 44 note 5 Dittenberger, Or. 116 (middle of second century), Olympische Inschriften v. No. 301, where his general Seleucus of Rhodes also receives a statue from the Achaean army ἄλλοι ᾿´Ελληνες after the same war.

page 44 note 6 lb. Or. 4; before 317 B.c.

page 44 note 7 lb. Syll. 189.

page 45 note 1 V. Ath. Milt. xxv. 1900, p. 100. Two inscriptions are extant concerning Hippostratos, one from Smyrna recording the decree, and the other from Miletos recording its carrying out.

page 45 note 2 C.I.A. ii. 314 = Dittenberger, Syll. 197.

page 45 note 3 These were middlemen between the merchants and the shipowners.

page 45 note 4 Dittenberger, Or. 247. The inscription ends with the dedication Απόλλωνι but is practically an honorary inscription.

page 45 note 5 Ib.Or. 135.

page 45 note 6 Ib. 294.

page 45 note 7 Ib. 290.

page 45 note 8 Cf. Ib. 291, n.3

page 45 note 9 Ib. 254.

page 45 note 10 Michel, Recueil d' Inscriptions, 340.

page 46 note 1 Dittenberger, Syll. 107, and Hicks, 102.

page 46 note 2 Hicks, op. cit. 99.

page 46 note 3 Ib. 104, and B.S.A. vol. vii. p. 157.

page 46 note 4 Dittenberger, Syll. 170–172 and Olympische Inschriften, v. pp. 88, 429.

page 46 note 5 Ib.Or. 270.

page 47 note 1 Ib. 234. Michel, op. cit. 252.

page 47 note 2 Dittenberger, Syll. 295, 296 (179–176 B.c.).

page 47 note 3 Michel, op. cit. 263.

page 47 note 4 Dittenberger, Syll. 299.

page 47 note 5 Id.Or. 248. 1. 56 and note 29.

page 47 note 6 Id. 294.

page 47 note 7 Michel, op. cit. 338.

page 47 note 8 Dittenberger, Syll. 139.

page 48 note 1 C.I.A. iv. 2. 614b. = id. 192.

page 48 note 2 C.I.A. ii. 331.

page 48 note 3 Dittenberger, Or. 299.

page 48 note 4 Ib., Or. 68.

page 48 note 5 C.I.A. iii. 561.