Chapter 26. House of the Nymphs
p. 323-326
Texte intégral
1Karapla hill (Pharsala), Cave of the Nymphs: Inscriptions de Thessalie, I, 73, lines 1-8:
Θεός
χαίρετε τοὶ πα̣ [ριόντες, ἅπ]α̣[ς] θῆλυς τε καὶ ἄρσην,
ἄνδρες τε ἀδὲ γυναῖκες ὁμῶς παῖδές τε κόραι τε·
χῶρον δ’ εἰς ἱερòν Νύμφαις καὶ Πανί καὶ Ἐρμῆι,
’Απόλλονι ἄνακτι, Ήρακλεῖ καὶ ἑταίραις,
Χίρωνος τ’ ἄντρον καὶ ’Ασκλαπιοῦ ἠδ’ 'Υγιειας·
τούτων ἐστί τ[ά]δ̣’, ὦνα Πάν, ἱαρώτατ’ ἐν αὐτῶι
ἔμφυτα καὶ πίνακες |καὶ ἀγάλματα δῶρά τε πολλ[ά].
27 Decourt 1995 (after Hondius) : τόδ’, ὤνα. Πάν, ἱαρωτὰ τ’ Iannopoulos 1912: τò χω<ρί>ον ἅπαν ἱαρωτὰ τ’ Peek 19|38.
3Mildew stains and the weathering of the stone have partially disfigured the text of this epigram, carved on the outer wall of a cave southwest of Pharsala1. Especially problematic is the reading of line 7. The restoration τ[ά]δ̣’, ὤνα Πάν is unmetrical as well as incongruous: what is an address to Pan doing in the middle of a speech, otherwise addressed from start to end to the visitors of the site2? Editors who support this restoration also read ἱαρώτὰτ’ instead of ἱαρωτά τ’ in the second half of the line, depriving the text of a perfectly sound Thessalian idiom3. As ἱαρωτὰ τ’ ἐν αὐτῶι implies, the word missing in lacuna had to be another designation of space, like c) χῶρον in line 4 or ἄντρον in line 6. Peek’s τò χω<ρí>ον ἃπαν works well in this sense, but fails to fit the metre. I propose to restore τ[ò δ]ῷ[μα] ἃπαν, " apan, which fits the traces on the stone as well as the required metrical positions4. The term is used to indicate a cave inhabited by Nymphs in both Epic and Epigrammatic poetry5. In this particular case, the reference may be to a rudimentary architectural structure which appears to have been annexed to the cave proper. Fragments of rooftiles were noted by the early visitors to the site in the small terrace below the cave entrance6. As the interior of the cave was occupied in antiquity by a small stream7, it seems perfectly plausible that a subsidiary roof was added to house the basic functions of the cult. The fact that the majority of the archaeological remains were found outside the cave confirms this hypothesis8. Karapla is not an isolated example. At cave sanctuaries it was often the case that the natural setting of the site had to be altered architecturally in order to comply with cultic needs. Inscriptions found at these locations emphasize the construction skills of their founders (the second half of our epigram accordingly praises the efforts of Thessalian Pantalkes as a builder and a planter of sacred groves; Inscriptions de Thessalie I, 73, lines 9-18). Especially instructive in this regard is the comparison with the dedications of Archedamos of Thera at the cave of Vari on the Hymettus9, where explicit architectural terminology is used for describing the outfitting of the sanctuary, IG, I3, 977 b, l. 2-3 Νύνφαι<ς> ἐχσοικοδόμεσεν and IG, I3, 980,1. 5-7 τἄντρον ἐξηργάξατο.
Notes de bas de page
1 Essential bibliography: Iannopoulos 1912, 668-669; 1919, 48-53, pls. 1, 3 = SEG, 1, 248 (with corrections and additional supplements by J. J. Hondius and W. Croenert). Levi 1922-1924, 27-42, pls. 1-51. Peek 1938, 18-27, pl. 1. Decourt 1995, 90-94, n. 73, pl. VIII, fig. 48. Riethmüller 2001, 293-296, n. 147.
2 χαίρετε τoὶ πα̣ [ριόνες, line 1. In the second half of the epigram, not printed here: ἀναβαίνετ[ε], θύετε line 19 ; εὔχεσθε, εὐφραίνεσθε line 20.
3 See ἐν τοῖς ίαρουτοῖς in an inscription from Krannon, IG, IX, 2, 461b.
4 The stone has: ΤΟΥΤΩΝΕΣΊΊṬ[1-2]
[1-2] ΑΠΑΝΙΑΡΩΤΑΤΕΝΑΥΤΩΙ. A sequence ˘-˘ is required to complete the hexameter (— –̆ ̆–̆ ̆–̆: ̆ --̆ ̆--̆ ̆—), mutilated in its second and third biceps. The hiatus between δ]ῷ[μα] and ἅπαν is consistent with the extensive use of this feature throughout the poem, cf. lines 2, 4-6, 8, 10-11,15-18. For the use of the feminine caesura, see lines 2-3, 5, 11, 15, 18, 20.
5 E. g. Hom., Od., 5,6, ἐν δώμασι νύμφης; Studia Pontica, 3,26, Νύμφαι ἀκυσμήτοις ἐνί δώμασι ναιετάουσαι. If Peek’s text is correct, a close parallel for our our inscription is found in the nearby Thessalian city of Atrax, in an epigram commemorating the foundation of a hilltop sanctuary for the Nymphs, Peek 1974, 21 no. 1, pl. 1, fig. I (= SEG, 25, 666?), [εἰπόν, τίς τόδε δῶμ]α καὶ ἀ[ντί]α πᾶν ἐπόνῃ[σεν], I [στήσας σὺν πολλ]οῖς θύμασιν ἀνθέματα, I [ὄχθαισιν Πηνειοῦ ὑ]πòλ̣ λόφον ἀνθεμ[ό]ε[ντα], I [ἧι ποσὶ δινοῦντ]α̣ι Να̣ίδε̣ς ἁβρόπεπλοι. Ν[α]ι
[σ]ιν Νύμφαισι κατ̣’ ἀγλαοε̣[ι]δ̣
α̣ χώρον I [δ]ῷ[μά] 
ἵδ̣ρ[υ]σ[ε π]
ροις καὶ [κέρατ’ ἀρ]γυρα̣ I 
ρνεκλος προφρόνως, ἐκλυο
[ένην ὅθ’] ὑγείαν I ἐξα̣[ῦτις] λ
[χ’] 
ν, νοῦσον ἀπ
σ[άμενος]·αἷς πρέπει ἀθανάτους αὔξων τιμαῖσιν ὁ Σούου I υἱòς ἐπηγλάισεν Ναιἄδων τέμενος. I Ἀστίουν.
6 Πρò δέ τὴς εἰσόδου τοῦ ἄντρου κεῖνται ἐλάχιστα συντρίμματα ἀγγείων καὶ κεράμων, ἐξ ὧν, δηλοῦντα ὅτι τὸ ἄντρον κατὰ τὴν εἴσοδον ᾗτο ἐστεγασμένον Iannopoulos 1912, 668; cf. 1919 48. This evidence is confirmed by Levi 1923-1924, 32, who reports ‘molti pezzi di tegole’ among die considerable amounts of sherds found in the terrace below the cave entrance. Contra Peek 1934, 19 note 3, “Wenn Jannopulos von συντρίμματα κεράμων καὶ πηλίνων ἀγγείων spricht, so hat er sich, furchte ich, von den Resten moderner Tonkriige tàuschen lassen, auf die man gelegentlich stòsst (die Hòhle wird von den Hirten der Gegend noch benutzt)”. Peek was unaware that at the time of his visit the site had been already cleared and excavated by the Italian Archaeological School. Cf. Riethmiiller 2001, 294 note 22.
7 Levi 1923-1924, 31, fig. 6; p. 32. Peek 1938, 19. Riethmüller 2001, 294.
8 Levi 1923-1924, 31. It is interesting to note that Greeks distinguished between naturally and artificially roofed caves, see Dionys. Trag., fr. 1 Snell νυμφῶν ὑπò σπήλυγγα τòν αὐτόστεγον (LSJ, s. v. αὐτόστεγος = αὐτόροφος). I am indebted to A. G. Nichols for calling my attention to this reference.
9 Weller 1903, 263-349. Schörner & Goette 2004. Archedamos also left a self-portrait where he represents himself in working clothes with his tools. The figure is carved in relief next to what appears to be an offering table; see Gill 1981, 37-39, n. 8, fig. 17. As W. R. Connor appropriately comments, “There is no trace here of the fear of the banausic” (1988, 171 n. 52).
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