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Sylloge Inscriptionum Graecarum: 1106


RELIGIOUS FOUNDATION OF DIOMEDON IN KOS

Greek text:   IscrCos_ED.149 ,   IG_12.4.1.348 (with German translation)
Provenance:     Kos
Date:   310-280 B.C.
Tags:     foundations
Format:   see key to translations

This is one of three 'family dossiers' that are discussed by V.Pirenne-Delforge in "Priests and Cult Personnel in Three Hellenistic Families" ( academia.edu ). Translations of the other two can be found elsewhere: Syll_1044 (Poseidonios) and GRA_1671 (Epikteta).

For another translation of this inscription, with commentary, see CGRN_96 .


[A]   [Diomedon dedicated this] sanctuary to Diomedonian Herakles, and also dedicated the guest-rooms in the garden and the chambers and Libys and his offspring, who shall be free if they do as instructed. Those who share in the sacred rites shall take care that they continue to be free, and that no-one wrongs them. The children of Diomedon shall sacrifice the victims, 10 and then their descendants for evermore. Libys and his offspring shall have the garden for rent . . . whatever seems reasonable, and they shall hand over [the payment] in the month of Theudaisios, [so that] there may be [money] available for the sacrifice on the sixteenth and [seventeenth] days of [Petageitn]yos; they shall provide coverings [for the couch of] Herakles and [Hera and (?) Hebe] on the first day of the month. 20 [They shall clean the] images [of the ancestors] of Diomedon and they shall crown [the statues] whenever [there is] a festival. [(?) Diodotos shall serve as priest] of Herakles at present, [and in future] the eldest of the descendants [of Diomedon] shall always serve as priest. They shall sacrifice a calf [to Herakles and] to Diomedon, [or a kid and (?) goat; and] they shall sacrifice a goat or [a kid] to Dionysos; [and they shall sacrifice a kid] or a goat [to (?) Hera; and they shall sacrifice a (?) goat to all the other gods, who have] altars [placed] in the [sanctuary]; 30 [they shall sacrifice a goat or a (?) piglet] to Aphrodite; [and at the] feast [they shall sacrifice a goat] or a piglet [to (?) the Fates, and a calf] to [(?) Zeus Pasios. An unmixed libation] shall be [given to Dionysos] and Herakles [and Zeus Pasios], and [a mixed] libation shall be given to the [other goddesses and] to Diomedon [himself. He shall provide] the sacrificial victims, [and bread for] the bread-meal, [and wine and honey for the] libation, and wood for the sacrifice; and he shall receive 40 the leg and skin of each victim as perquisites; and he shall make the sacrifice of fish according to the ancestral custom. It shall not be permitted for anyone to appropriate the buildings by the precinct or the precinct itself, to sell them or to use them as pledges. If the buildings or the precinct need any maintenance, they shall provide everything needed 50 from the revenues. If a child is born to anyone, who can share in the sacred rites, they shall give as an entrance-fee a piglet, sacrificial (?) victim, frankincense, a libation and a wreath.

[B]   The statues and the offerings shall remain in the building on the land as they are now. A sacrifice shall be offered on the sixteenth day of the month of Petageitnyos, 60 and the feast shall be held for Herakles, and the sacrifice of fish shall be offered on the seventeenth day; three epimenioi shall be chose each year, who shall sacrifice the victims with the priests; the epimenioi shall take care of everything that is needed for the reception.

[C]   If [either the] precinct 70 or the garden [or the] guest-rooms or the [little house] or the building [in the precinct] needed some maintenance, [they shall take the] money out of the revenues arising from the precinct [and the garden] and the guest-rooms, however much [seems] sufficient. The rest of the money and the reserved sums shall be divided into portions, and [the] resulting portion shall be used for each sacrifice. 80 It shall not be permitted for those who share in the sacred rites to cultivate the precinct or to live in the guest-rooms or in the building in the precinct, or to use either the meeting-room in the temple or the walkway as a storage place, unless there is a war.

If anyone in the male line of the family seems to those who share in the sacred rites to be lacking in personal wealth when he enters into [marriage], he shall hold the wedding [in the month] of Petageitnyos. 90 On the sixteenth day he shall hold the banquet, and on the seventeenth day he shall hold the distribution, so that the sacrifice for Herakles may be performed according to ancestral custom; and on the eighteenth day the assembly shall be held; and on the remaining days the wedding shall be conducted. The couch [and the] statues for Herakles shall remain [in the place], while the wedding is [conducted. Whatever seems] to be sufficient for the table [of the god] shall be taken out of the sacrificial offerings; 100 the man holding the wedding shall use all the rest for the entertainment of his family. The priest [shall cede] the portion of honour for the wedding to [the man] who holds the wedding, receiving in return eight drachmas from the revenues; and those who own the buildings shall provide the men's and the women's buildings for the wedding, except for the rooms chosen for the storage of the furniture; and the man who owns the men's building shall provide it for the sacrifice 110 and the feast in honour of Herakles throughout [all the] days. [The epimenioi shall take care] of these matters, [so that the wedding may be conducted in the best possible manner] . . .

Provide everything necessary for the children. May it turn out well for those who ensure as far as they can that everything is performed as is prescribed, both for themselves and for their descendants. 120 I have dedicated two lamp-stands and two bronze lamps with seven flames, and a square portable hearth and a mixing-bowl and a carpet and a table and five little golden crowns for the statues and two clubs and three gilded censers and a couch, so that all these may be the sacred property of Herakles, and a base for the couch and a bronze circular tray. 130 If anyone dares to annul any of the arrangements made by Diomedon, wronging the sacred rites and his ancestors concerning the matters that are written on the altar and on the stele, the . . . children of Diomedon shall not permit it, but they shall come to the aid of the sacred rites 140 and their ancestors. The epimenioi shall assemble on the next day, taking as associates any persons that they determine. The children of Diomedon and their descendants shall be chosen as epimenioi. If anyone who has been found to be illegitimate is recognised as able to share in the sacred rites, they shall not be permitted to share in the priesthoods. From the revenues, take fifty drachmas 150 for the sacrifice to Zeus Pasios and forty drachmas for the sacrifice to the Fates; those in the male line of the family shall sacrifice to Zeus Pasios and to the Fates. I have also dedicated four glass bowls and a purple shawl. Portions shall be given to the Herakleans who join in the procession.


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