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Notes
The analysis made in this paper focuses on content, not stylistic elements of the religious discourse. For the analysis of this type of elements as part of rhetoric see the work of the French school of Strasbourg, especially Pernot (1975, 1993 [esp. I, 224–238], 2009); and Goeken (2010) in his introduction to his edited volume, as well as many of the papers included there. See also the ancient works of Theon, Alexander or Menander on rhetorical exercises for this interpretation of the term rhetoric.
Since this paper does not involve theoretical questions about religious terminology, and since there are still no alternative expressions that fit the complex reality we refer to when we talk about certain religious matters, I will use traditional expressions such as “oriental cults/religions” or “sacred texts”, which are still the most clear conventional terms used to express what I want to designate. These terms are widely understood by all colleagues dealing with religious matters, who are of course aware of all the modifications that these expressions have experienced in their meaning thanks to a better knowledge of Greek and Roman religion. With “oriental cults” I understand those cults that, originating in the eastern Mediterranean, underwent a thorough-going transformation in the process of adapting themselves to Hellenistic-Roman culture (for this definition and comment on the terminological question see Alvar [2008], p. 10). On the conventional though clear and broad use of the term “sacred” cf. Bodel (2009). The expression “religious discourse” is used here in the sense of communication uttered in a religious context or with a religious content. Cf. Pernot (2009), p. 329: “What we call religious discourse consists, first of all, in speaking about the gods. Discourse about the gods includes, notably, narration of the god’s deeds and eulogy of his powers […] preaching […] exhorting an audience either to embrace a religion they do not yet know or to persevere in the beliefs they already hold […]; naming (the gods) and designation […].”
IG XII 3, 421f.; XII 3, Suppl. 1333–1348. Cf. Graf (1995), p. 107–112 with comment and further bibliography.
IG XI 4, 1299; Engelmann (1975); Morris (2011), p. 282–286, comment in p. 242–207.
Humann – Puchstein (1890), p. 262–278; Norden (1909), p. 140–146; OGIS 383; Waldmann (1973), p. 59–79.
For A see Dörner (1963), p. 40–59; Waldmann (1973), p. 82–100; for Anz see the reconstruction of the text established by Wagner – Petzl (2003), p. 91–96 with the different fragments found and the parallels of the texts from the other cult sites. For further bibliography and more recently-discovered fragments from Zeugma see Crowther – Facella (2003). Cf. SEG 53.1762. Since the inscriptions from the other temenos sites, including the new discoveries, and from the hierothesion in Arsameia on the Euphrates match in a great part N, Np, A, or Anz, or do not add any new information to the topic of this paper, only reference to the mentioned inscriptions of the dossier will be discussed.
On the very much discussed question of Antiochus’ texts as evidence of an Asianic rhetoric style see, with earlier bibliography, Papanikolaou (2012), who concludes that the rhetoric of Antiochus’s inscriptions was a rhetoric cultivated throughout the Greek-speaking world, and that it represents the Hellenistic continuation of a tradition of oratory established very likely by Gorgias (p. 141, 152).
TAM V 3, 1539, with references to previous editions. Cf. especially Weinreich (1919), Barton-Horsley (1981), Chaniotis (1997), p. 159–162, 172f.; Roller (1999), p. 194–6 (on the relationship between the Phrygian Agdistis, guardianship of the community, and the aim to correct moral behaviour that is attested in Phrygia in the first three centuries AD); Harland (2003), p. 30–31, 33, 70–71 (for household connections in relationship to this and other associations). Though the term “sacred law” is conventionally used for documents dealing with religious regulations, and specifically for this one, the term “law” will be avoided here because of its inadequacy and inaccuracy, as some scholars have set forth. See especially Carbon – Pirenne-Delforge (2012), with further bibliography.
The text is reconstructed as καὶ τῶν ἄλλων θεῶν Σωτ[ήρων καὶ Εἰδαι]μονίας… but it is possible that there was no second καί, and that Eudaimonia and following gods were in fact the Theoi Soteres.
See Pernot (1993), p. 216–218, with notes 502, 503 for references to ancient authors.
Grandjean (1975) (SEG 26.821; Bricault, RICIS 114/0202). From now on IM. See Papanikolaou (2009) on stylistic features of this aretalogy and its belonging to a specific school of writing that flourished during the Hellenistic times, and to which also Antiochus’ inscriptions belonged.
See Goeken (2012) for earlier evidence in ancient literature that could be considered prose hymns, beginning with Agaton’s encomium of Eros in Plato’s Symposion.
See especially the treatment of this subject by Pernot (1975, 2009); on rhetoric of the Greek prayer see Goeken (2010) with further bibliography.
There is a wide literature on Isis aretalogies and hymns. See especially Festugière (1949); Grandjean (1975); Vanderlip (1975); Henrichs (1984), and infra note 100; for a collection of the Greek texts see Totti (1982); in Spanish translation, Muñiz (2006). For a state of the art on the discussion on the convenience and accuracy of defining these texts as hymns or aretalogies, or of using one or the other term depending on the text, see Muñiz (2006), p. 34–39. On the concept of aretalogy and a collection of epigraphic and papyrological aretalogies see Longo (1969). I will not discuss this question here, and will mention in general Isis’ hymns and aretalogies, though accepting the term aretalogy for Maroneias (IM). Some of Aristides’ hymns, and specially his hieroi logoi, are also aretalogies, in the sense that they praise the god Asclepius relating his miracles and benefactions.
I will mention for instance the funerary inscriptions of Posidonius in Halicarnassus (Syll.³, 1044; LSAM 72; SEG 15.637; III 3rd cent. BC) and of Neocaesarea (Moraux [1959]; SEG 18.561; Strubbe [1997], no. 155; II 2nd cent. AD); the Ephesian decree designating the month of Artemision as holy (IEphesos 163; 162/4 AD) or the mythological narrative written by a Lycian rhetor and publicly exposed in Sidyma with official agreement (TAM II 174; second half of the 2nd cent. AD). For the topos of divine epiphany and miraculous action there is plenty of evidence, especially in narratives concerning the healings of Asclepius.
See Moyer (2011), p. 161–164 on the importance of the genealogy of the priest in relation to Egyptian tradition.
As in the case of Apollonius in Delos, the inherited character of Antiochus’ kingship (N 24: πατρώιαν ἀρχὴν παραλαβών) is mentioned as a way of strengthening his sacred character. Cf. A 15–16.
IG X 2, 1, 64 (Thessalonica, 74/5 AD, saved by Theos Hypsistos); IG XII 1, 742 (Kamiros, saved by Sarapis); TAM V1, 179b, 194/5 AD (saved by megas Zeus eg didymon dryon); IStraton. 512 (2nd cent. AD, saved by Hecate); IG XIV 1030 (Roma, 3rd cent. AD, saved by Zeus Helios Megas Sarapis). See also the iama from the Asklepieion of Pergamum written down by a Rhodian visitor (Prêtre – Charlier [2009], no. 20. Cf. Müller [1987], with detailed comment; 2nd cent. AD): ἐναργῶς ἐκ [πολ]λῶν καὶ μεγάλων κινδύνων σωθείς̣ (l. 6–7).
Asclepius orders Aristides many παράδοξα, things contrary to expectation, sometimes almost inhuman and exaggerated prescriptions, as he tells us in his Hieroi Logoi. See Horstmanshoff (2004), p. 329–30; cf. examples in Müller (1987), p. 225, n. 239.
Cf. for a collection of these texts Prêtre – Charlier (2009). For a collection of the Epidaurian iamata see LiDonnici (1995); among the many studies on the different aspects (composition and narrative technique, illnesses and healings, dreams, psychology…) of iamata see Martzavou (2012) with further bibliography.
See reference to the divine appearing in IM 10; cf. HIs 1.34. In a honorific decree from Stratonicea (IStraton. 512) to Hecate, the goddess is said to protect the demos, who has been saved from perils and turned free and autonomous, and lord of great goods having Hecate always by its side (l. 7–11): […]τῆς Ἑκάτης ἐν πᾶσι τούτοις συνπαρισταμένης αὐτῶι (cf. l. 26–7). On the parousía of Artemis in Ephesus cf. IEphesos 24B, and infra note 57.
See Pernot (1993), p. 220, with n. 521 for references of ancient writers to divine manifestations.
Cf. Menander 2.368–377f. on the praise to the emperor for comparison.
On the importance of eusebeia cf. Graf (1995), p. 104 with n. 10. For further instances cf. IStraton. 512, l. 5, cf. l. 21.
See Vix (2010), p. 301–313.
See Moyer (2011), p. 165–175 for an Egyptian tradition of this topos.
On divine letters see Speyer (1970), p. 17–19, 23–42.
Cult foundations motivated by divine command before Hellenistic times are, among others, the foundation of the cult of Asclepius in Athens by Telemachus ca. 400/390 BC (IG II² 4960ab + 4961), or the foundation of a cult in Priene for the hero Naulochus as a god (IvPriene 196, 4th cent. BC). On foundation of associations because of divine order, often through a dream, see Ascough (2003), p. 34–42, with many examples. On divine order in general, mostly through dreams, cf. van Straten (1976), Rengsberg (2003) and, for its special relevance in Egyptian cults, Moyer (2011), p. 165–175.
SD 45. Cf. also a particular type of aretalogies, the so-called confessions of Lydia and Phrygia, where the sinner is forced by the god through a dream to make public his sin and divine chastisement by writing it down on a stele in order to appease the god and make propaganda of his power (Petzl [1994], no. 3, 11, 47, 57, etc.).
For the topos in Aelius Aristides see Vix (2010), p. 308–310.
Cf. supra section 2. Though not directly related to the foundation’s document, see also the reference in SD to the bill (βιβλιδίον) where the announcement of land for sail was written (20; 57–58). Cf. the importance of the letter in the aforementioned document concerning the foundation of a cult to Sarapis in Opus. In this case the god is supposed to be the author of the written text, in the former, he is directly responsible.
The same relation between written text and eternity is very well evidenced in funerary texts of Hellenistic and Roman times, where the written word is mentioned more and more. Cf. the rhetoric funerary inscription of Neocaesarea (Strubbe [1997], no. 155), l. 6: ἢ ἀποκρούσας | τοῦ μνήματος ἢ ἐκκολάψας τι τῶν ἐπιγραμμάτων).
For the topos see Grandjean (1975), p. 38–42.
Cf. Moyer (2011), p. 164 for the relation of this information to Egyptian priestly tradition.
See Goeken (2010a), p. 118–120.
The relation to other gods is one of the elements Pernot includes in the religious rhetoric of the hymns as a “thème annexe”, comparable to the argument of comparison in the praise of mortals (1993, p. 232–233).
On the gods of Artemidorus and the divine abstractions see Graf (1995), p. 109–110.
For part of the epigram on the basis of the eagle in Artemidorus’ temenos (ἀετὸν, ὑψιπετῆ Διὸς ἄγγελον) cf. the forth answer “of the eagle” as symbol of Zeus Megistos in the dice oracle from Pisidian Kremna four centuries later (ICentral Pisidia 5: [αἰετὸς ὑψ]ιπέτης).
On the use of ὑποδέχομαι for “giving hospitality to a god” also in the NT, see Horsley (1981), p. 29–32.
On Antiochus’ new syncretistic cult see Boyce – Grenet (1991), p. 321–337.
On Helius and Zeus as gods of justice see Strubbe (1997), p. 114–115 (comment on the inscription from Neocaesarea, Strubbe [1997], no. 155, l. 10: Ἡλίου τε τοῦ πάντα ἐφορῶντος). This aspect of Helios, already attested in Od. 12.323, turns to be a main element in the development of the god as a cult god and especially as a henotheistic god in Greco-Roman times.
For the zodiacal interpretation of the sculpture of the lion set up in the sacral space, and how the symbiosis of Greek and Iranian gods (and also Semitic religious conceptions) was established in this cult see Boyce – Grenet (1991), p. 323–328.
For a thoroughly comment on the gods of Dionysius’ statute see Weinreich (1919), p. 8–54.
Cf. IG XI 2. 105, 108–113, 115, etc. (Delos, 3rd–1st cent. BC); IEphesos 1398 (1st cent. AD); IHeraclea Pont. 69.
See Graf (1995), p. 112–3 for the importance of Agathos Daimon and Agathe Tyche as personal gods in Hellenistic times, and Panaino (2007) for the tyche of Iranian kings.
The importance of Memory as a subject in Hellenistic and Roman epitaphs is well known. Cf. for instance the already mentioned rhetoric epitaph of Neocaesarea (Strubbe [1997], no. 155, l. 18).
On “oriental” gods see supra note 2.
Cf. Graf (1995) on the Hellenistic cult of divine abstractions.
Using a term coined by Versnel in 1990. On the sense of the term henotheistic such as it is used here see also Versnel (1990), p. 35–38.
For the relation of the main god to other gods in Aristides’ hymns, cf. Goeken (2012), p. 129–130.
The concern with patrioi nomoi is attested also in other sacred texts. Cf. for instance the answer of the oracle to Dionysius in Halicarnassus, that he shall worship the gods as his ancestors did (LSAM 72: καθάπερ καὶ οἱ πρόγονοι); or the also already mentioned inscription of Stratonicea (IStraton. 512), a decree concerning honors to Hecate and her sanctuary, where it is said that the administration of the temple must be done κα[τά] τε τὰ πάτρια καὶ τὰ προδεδογμένα (l. 30–31).
Cf. Pernot (1993), p. 231–232 for the reference to the tradition of the cult as an argument of authority. This author mentions as an example the reference in the aretalogy of Isis from Maroneia to the sanctuary consecrated to the goddess (IM 34–40).
Slaves are called δοῦλοι in 54, but οἰκέται in 6 and 16, probably because most slaves in the community were household slaves.
Cf. the lex sacra of Andania (LSCG 65, l. 7–8; 91 BC or maybe 23 AD; cf. Gawlinski 2012). The insistence on access to everyone is also clear in some inscriptions of Stratonicea, where men, women, slaves and free persons and foreigners are explicitly said to have access to Zeus and Hera festivals, though the place to join is different for men and women (IStraton. 172, l. 7–10, cf. 137, l. 28–36). Cf. Belayche (2013), p. 37–39 for these inscriptions and the Egyptian tradition of inviting to the divine banquet. See also the Ephesian decree declaring sacred the whole month Artemision (IEphesos 24B). Greeks and barbarians are both worshippers of the goddess and in Greek and barbarian areas shrines and altars have been built for her because of her bright apparitions (l. 8–14).
In Posidonius foundation in Halicarnassus (LSAM 72, 3rd cent. BC), the succession rights are same for men and women (l. 3–4, 13–14, cf. 42).
Meeks (1986), p. 129, who also points out that Paul himself urged Christians to be aware of, and respect, social strata assuming each one his role.
In the same way, the demos of Stratonicea (IStraton. 512) was saved of big perils because of his εἰς τὸ θεῖον εὐσεβείαν τε καὶ εὐχαριστίαν (l. 5).
On the relation of these clauses to civil laws cf. de Hoz (2017).
Cf. the same differences in the mentioned rhetoric funerary inscription of Neocaesarea (Strubbe [1997], no. 155; 2nd cent. AD), l. 14–16: ὅστις ἢ ἑτέρωι προστάξ̣ειεν / ἢ γνώμης ἄρξειεν ἢ γνώμηι συμβάλοιτο ἢ χερσὶν ὑπουργήσειεν κεινηθῆναί τι τούτων ἢ καθαιρεθῆναι.
LSCG supp. 108, l. 4ff. (Rhodes, mid. 1st cent. AD); LSCG 139 (Lindos 2nd cent. AD); LSCG supp. 59 (Delos 2nd cent. AD); IG XII Suppl. 23 = LSCG supp 82 (Mytilene, Imp. times); LSCG 55 = CMRDM I 13, l. 11–12, 26 (Attica 1st cent. AD); LSCG supp. 86 (Lindos, 3rd cent. AD); LSCG supp. 91 (Lindos, 3rd cent. AD).
Indirectly, there is also a similitude with the Isis hymns in the concern on women and the relation between man and woman (HI § 17 ἐγὼ γυναῖκα καὶ ἄνδρα συνήγαγον; § 27 ἐγὼ στέργεσθαι γυναῖκας ὑπὸ ἀνδρῶν ἠνάγκασα).
Cf. Mitchell II (1993), p. 25–6.
This relation appears in other epigraphic sources, such as Beroia’s law in the 2nd century BC (Hatzopoulos [1993], l. 26–29); IPriene 46 (and p. 310, 100 BC), l. 11–12. On Hosios kai Dikaios, see Ricl (1991, 1992, 1992a).
In some cases a false oath must be undone in order to get the forgiveness of the god (BI 34, 54). As sacrilegious as a false oath is the not justified use of scepters or of written curses (for the use of these elements as judicial appeals cf. BI 17, 20, 44, 58, 69).
On the oath mentioned in the lex sacra from Andania and other oaths taken in religious contexts see Gawlinski (2012), p. 99–102.
οὗτος ἀνιλάτο[υς θυ]μοὺς προσδοκάτω θεῶν πάντων. [Ποιναὶ] γὰρ ἀθώπευτοι χόλου μεγάλου διάκοναι δαιμόνων [β]ίον κακοῦργον εἰς ἐσχάτας [δί]κας πολυτρόποις βασάνοις διώκουσιν. Ἴσ[τω ὡς] νόμος οὐράνιος ἀθανάτωι δόγματι βαρίας [ἐφέλκει] θεῶν χεῖρας ἐπὶ κακῶν τιμωρίαν ἀνδρῶν, αἷς ἀ[σ]εβὴς τρόπος ὀφειλομένας δίκας ἀπαραιτήτοις τείσειεν ὀργαῖς.
Cf. also some funerary texts such as the already mentioned epitaph of Neocaesarea (Strubbe [1997], no. 155) or other imprecations from Asia Minor (Strubbe [1997]).
Cf. even a goddess Ara in the funerary inscription of Neocaesarea, and the Poinai in the imprecation in Antiochus’ stele (A and Anz 221–224).
Similar acclamations are to be found in confession inscriptions: Μεγάλαι Νεμέσις ἐν Πέρκῳ (BI 7; 2nd cent. AD); or funerary imprecations: [ἔστι θε]ὸς Νέμεσις· [πρός τὰ δίκ]αια βλέπε “for there is a goddess Nemesis; she watches over justice”, Merkelbach – Stauber 16/54/1; cf. 16/31/09, 16/32/12.
Cf. the word τιμωρία in this sense in the curse tablets from Cnidos: IKnidos I 154: εἴ τι ἢ ἐμοὶ πεποίκει φάρμ̣[α|κον] ἢ̣ ποτὸν ἢ κατάχριστον ἢ ἐπ̣ακτὸν … τιμ[ω]ρίας τύχοι; the θεοὶ τιμωροὶ καὶ κεχολωμένοι in Strubbe (1997), no. 285; also supra note 66.
Cf. the restoration in Ph 33–34: θεοὶ… καὶ τ[αῦτα ἐπισκοποῦ]σιν. In a second century AD imprecation from Chalkis in Euboia (IG XII Suppl. 196, 1179, cf. 955), the Eriniai are invoked as episkopoi in case of transgression: ἐπισκόπους δὲ ἔχοι Ἐρεινύας (l. 33–34), while Charis and Hygieia are invoked as protectors in case of good behaviour: ἐπισκοποίη δὲ Χάρις καὶ Ὑγεία (l. 40–41).
Ascough (2003), p. 162–166 with numerous references; Zamfir (2015), p. 222–226. In general on the term, Zamfir (2012), p. 202–22. For the appearance of this term referred to gods in literary sources cf. Weinreich (1919), p. 61.
Cf. MAMA VIII 193 (Licaonia). In NT the term is used for the master of the household where Christians gather in: Lc. 22.11; Mc. 14.14.
For the use of the term φυλάσσειν referring to a god that takes care of a person or group cf. χάρμα σοι ἀπρο〈τ〉ίελπτον ἄγει θεὸς ὅς σε φυλάσσει (SEG 39.1377bis [I], l. 22: Hierapolis, Phrygia).
Petzl (1994). The explicit term ἔξενπλον in op.cit. no. 120 (cf. 106, 111, 112, 120, 121) is good evidence of this aim in confessions, where it is usually stated that the god has ordered the sinner to write down the event on a stele (see also de Hoz [1999], p. 123). The importance of the example is stated also in Antiochus’ stele, where the king puts himself as an example to follow, saying that the hierothesion and the nomos are an example for future generations (N. 212–222).
For a collection of texts where public demonstration of the power of the god is an important element see Longo (1969).
Pernot (2005, p. 29–39; 2009, p. 233–237) indicates different types of names and epiclesis attributed to gods, among them local and functional. For ancient Greek comments on this topos cf. Arist. Rh. II, 1400b 18–28, 1401a 13–25; Theon, Progym. 111, 3–11; Menander 1.357, 9–11. On acclamations see Chaniotis (2010).
For this type of epitheta attributed to the Lydian gods and their significance in confession inscriptions see de Hoz (1999), p. 117; in general, Chaniotis (2010).
On Isis sovereignty see Jacques (2007), 517–519.
Cf. Vix (2005), p. 561–563.
For the possibility of this being a reference to the Pergamene king Eumenes cf. Weinreich (1919), p. 9–10. I think that this term here is not a cult epithet but an attribute of Zeus as giver of norms (see de Hoz [2017], note 3).
On the epithet eumenes dedicated to Asclepius by Aristides see Vix (2005), p. 561.
On the epithet soter dedicated to Asclepius by Aristides see Vix (2005), p. 558–59.
On polyonymia and ritual scruples see Pernot (2005), p. 37–38. As this author says, these arguments are well known in poetic traditional hymns, but they are adopted and expanded in sacred texts from Hellenistic and Roman times. Cf. Menander 2.445, 28–30; 446, 8–10.
Zografou (2005), p. 531–542, esp. 534–5, with references of Artemis Phosphoros Soteira.
Cf. Alexand. 4.31. For Isis polyonymos, cf. Bricault (1994).
IRhod.Per. 506 (2nd cent. AD); IEphesos 1247B; 3100 3rd/4th cent. AD); SEG 29.731(14) (Chersonesos, 2nd/3rd cent. AD); IGLSyr 4. 1279 (Laodikeia). Especially frequent is the acclamation μέγα τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Σαράπιδος: IG XIV 2413, 1a, b, and c (Italy); SEG 8.810 (Egypt); IGRR 1.1354[bc] (Nubia). Cf. L. Robert, Hellenica X, p. 84–89, 299.
Cf. Pernot (1993), p. 235 for other examples in Aristides’ hymns.
Goeken (2012), p. 131–136, also for other names and epiclesis in Aristides’ hymns.
Cf. the prayer in the final verses of Cleanthes’ hymn (401–408) asking for intelligence and protection against ignorance; in the final verses of Aratus hymn (424–426), so that the Muses inspire his work on the stars; at the beginning of Isis’ aretalogy of Maroneia (IM) or in some of Aristides’ hymns such as the hymn to Zeus, Athena (also at the end) or the hymn to Serapis (§ 14; and at the end § 34), asking for acceptance of the hymn and protection in the future, as also at the end of the hymn to the Asklepiadai.
See Vix (2012), p. 308–311.
Cf. supra, p. 206 for other examples.
See Aubriot (2005), p. 473–490 for having persuasion as a main objective of the invocation to gods in prayers.
Cf. supra for the importance of abstractions in general in Hellenistic and Roman times, and also for the roll of abstractions in the foundation of Artemidorus of Perge in Thera.
Weinreich (1919), p. 51–54.
Weinreich (1919), p. 54–62 (spread along his comment on the different norms).
Cf. Pernot (2005), p. 237, for the idea that the trend to worship a supreme god owes much to the Stoicism of the people who popularized it. I would say that this Stoicism owes also much to the expansion of oriental religions where that henotheism is already alive. For the pantheistic conception of the world in Aristides’ hymns cf. Goeken (2012), 102.
See especially Moyer (2011), p. 142–207 for the Delian aretalogy; Panaino (2007) for Antiochus’ inscriptions, especially for the intercultural Greek-Iranian interpretation of concepts such as τύχη, εὐσέβεια, θεός as epithet of Antiochus, χαρακτήρ as Antiochus’ image, χρόνος ἄπειρος/ αἰώνιος, or the idea of a happy and good life. See also Duchesne-Guillemin (1978) and, especially on the Iranian-Greek cult of Antiochus, Boyce – Grenet (1991), p. 321–349; 323 on the concept of Tyche. On the Aegyptian cultural elements of Greek Isis hymns and aretalogies see for instance Vanderlip (1972), Giangrande (1975), esp. p. 12–15, Fowden (1986), p. 45–51, or Quack (2003), p. 319–24. Cf. Henrichs (1984).
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