Greek Epigram

THE CULT OF DIONYSOS IN ASIA MINOR
IN THE ROMAN IMPERIAL AGE

Making his presence, which can be traced long before the Archaic Age, deeply felt mainly in Hellas, Asia Minor and then in Rome throughout the ancient world, Dionysos, depending on the place and time, appears before us sometimes as a god of grape-wine, sometimes as a god of theatre and acting arts and sometimes as a religious power shaped according to the local needs, however, he has generally been a god of nature representing the fertility and abundance. According to the inscriptions, Dionysos was mentioned with many epithetons in Asia Minor of the Roman Imperial Age, and that he was a god of nature bringing abundance-fertility and his many other features can be observed by these epithetons. Depending on the long stated customs, the cult of Dionysos in Asia Minor survived throughout the Roman Imperial Age (especially in the II-III. Century A.D. with festivals, cult associations and structuring, artists (musicians, players, dancers) that served his cult. According to the written records, festivals such as Dionysia, Lēnaia, Anthestēria, Trietēris organized in the name of Dionysos were celebrated. Dance, music and play competitions were made in these festivals maintained by the rich citizens or directors and not commonly known cult rituals were performed. Besides the associations of synodos artists called by different names in different times in the large cities of the west, cult associations broad in scope such as thiasos, speira or cult member groups with large audience in various names were active both in worshipping and these festivals. In order to achieve this, undoubtedly, both artist associations and cult associations had to have a well organized governing structure. Names were given to the cult members according to the task taken. These members also had to pay a membership fee in order to be a member or to continue to be one. Actually, these fees were as important as the epimeletes in the mainta-nance of these associations. In addition, they were supported both mate-rially and spiritually by the Roman emperors or provincial governors. Although the paganic religious activities in the lands of Asia Minor under the control of Rome were left to the free will of the cities, they would not be strong without the respect shown for the cults of the emperors, emperor and the Roman goddess (Dea Roma). The worshipping of Dionysos could only develop with the close relations with the emperors and the Roman Empire. Correspondingly, supporting a paganic cult significant for the people, the Roman Empire gained the sympathy of the people and also kept them loyal to Rome. The deification of the Roman emperors began with General Marcus Antonius, who was wellcomed as “New Dionysos” on his arrival to Ephesos, and continued in the Roman Imperial Age. During this period the associations in Anazarbos, Ankyra, Ephesos, Teōs, Aphrodisias and Sardeis characterised Emperor Hadrianus, Commodus and Caracalla by this epitheton. Thus, they deified them by considering them equal with Dionysos. Dionysos also had common worship with imperial or Dea Roma cult besides the common paganic worship of Zeus and Dēmētēr. Like all other paganic religions, the cult of Dionysos broke down with the strengthening Christianity with which it had opposite doctrines and finally with the acceptance of Christianity as the official religion of the state. However, many features of the Dionysos cult continued to exist in Asia Minor both in Christian features and local cultures and traditions. Today it still continues this effect.

Arkaik Çağ’dan çok daha eskilere götürebildiğimiz varlığını, coğrafi olarak başta Hellas, Küçükasya ve sonraları Roma olmak üzere tüm Antik Çağ coğrafyasında etkin bir şekilde hissettiren Dionysos, yer ve zaman farkına bağlı olarak, bazı yerlerde üzüm-şarap tanrısı, bazılarında tiyatro ve sahne sanatlarının tanrısı, bazılarında ise yerel ihtiyaçlar doğrultusunda şekillendirilmiş dinsel bir güç olarak karşımıza çıkmıştır. Ama genel olarak bereket ve bolluğu temsil eden bir doğa tanrısı kimliğine sahip olmuştur. Yazıtlardan anlaşıldığına göre Roma İmparatorluk Çağı Küçükasyası’ nda birçok epitheton ile anılan Dionysos’un, bolluk-bereket getiren bir doğa tanrısı olduğu ve diğer başka özellikleri gene bu epitheton’larından anlaşılmaktadır. Küçükasya’daki Dionysos kültü Roma İmparatorluk Çağı boyunca (bilhassa M.S. II-III. yüzyılarda), öncesinden gelen bir geleneğe bağlı olarak şenlikleri, kült dernekleri ve yapılanması, kültüne hizmet eden sanatçıları (müzisyenler, oyuncular, dansçılar) ile varlığını sürdürmüştür. Yazılı belgelerden bu dönemde büyük ve zengin kentlerde hâlâ Dionysia, Lēnaia, Anthestēria, Trietēris gibi Dionysos adına tertiplenen şenliklerin kutlandığını; masrafları, epimeletes olarak bildiğimiz kentin zengin vatandaşları ya da yöneticileri tarafından karşılanan bu şenliklerde külte ilişkin dans, müzik ve oyun yarışmaların yapıldığını ve herkesçe bilinmeyen kült ritüellerinin uygulandığını öğrenmekteyiz. Bilhassa batı kesimlerdeki büyük kentlerdeki, farklı dönemlerde farklı isimlerle anılan synodos sanatçı derneklerinin yanında thiasos, speira gibi daha geniş kapsamlı kült dernekleri ya da en yaygını mystai olan çeşitli adlar altında toplanan geniş kitleli kült üye grupları hem tapınımda, hem de bu şenliklerde aktif olmuşlardır. Şüphesiz ki bunu gerçekleştirebilmek adına gerek sanatçı dernekleri gerekse kült dernekleri, iyi organize olmuş bir idari yapılanmaya sahip olmak durumundaydı. Bu derneklerde üstlendikleri görevlere göre adlandırılan kült üyelerinin, üye olabilmeleri veya üyeliklerini sürdü-rebilmeleri için ödemek zorunda oldukları aidatlar da vardı. Esasen bu derneklerin finansmanının karşılanmasında bu aidatlar, en az epimeletes’ ler kadar önemliydi. Ayrıca Roma imparatorlarının ya da eyalet yöneticilerinin hem manevi hem de maddi desteğini alıyorlardı. Zira bu dönemde Roma egemenliği altında bulunan Küçükasya topraklarındaki pagan dinsel yaşam her ne kadar kentlerin özgür iradesine bırakılmışsa da, imparatorlara, imparator ve Roma Tanrıçası (Dea Roma) kültüne gösterilen saygı olmaksızın güçlü kalamazdı. Küçükasya Dionysos tapınımı da, tamamıyla imparatorlar ve Roma İmparatorluğu ile kurulan güçlü bağlar sayesinde gelişebilmiştir. Bununla paralel olarak da Roma İmparatorluğu, halk için önemli olan pagan bir kültü destekleyerek, hem halkın sempatisini kazanmakta, hem de böylece onların Roma’ya olan bağlılığını sürdürmek amacını gütmekteydi. General Marcus Antonius’un Ephesos’a gelişinde “Yeni Dionysos” olarak karşılanmasıyla başlayan Romalı devlet adamlarını tanrılaştırma geleneği, Roma İmparatorluk Çağı’nda da sürmüş; bu dönemde özellikle Anazarbos, Ankyra, Ephesos, Teōs, Aphrodisias ve Sardeis’teki dernekler, İmparator Hadrianus, Commodus ve Caracalla’yı bu sıfatla nitelendirmişler, böylece onları Dionysos ile bir tutarak tanrılaştırmışlardır. İmparatorluk veya Dea Roma kültü ile ortak tapınımı da görülen Dionysos’un Zeus ve Dēmētēr gibi pagan tanrı-tanrıçalarla da ortak tapınımı söz konusudur. Diğer pagan dinler gibi Dionysos kültünün yıkımı da, öğretilerinin birbirine tamamen ters düştüğü Hıristiyanlık dininin güçlenmesiyle ve nihayetinde M.S. 391’de imparatorluğun resmî dini olmasıyla gerçekleşmiştir. Ancak Dionysos kültünün birçok unsuru, Küçükasya topraklarında, gerek Hıristiyanlık unsurlarında gerekse halk kültür ve geleneklerinde yaşamaya devam etmiştir. Bugün de bu etkisini göstermeye devam etmektedir."

SEG 60-1998. Religion. Dionysos: his cult in Asia Minor, Imperial period:
On the basis of archaeological, numismatic, and (mainly) epigraphic attestations, B.Öztürk,Roma imparatorluk çağı Küçükasaysı’nda Dionysos kültü (Istanbul 2010), studies the cult ofΔιόνυσος in Roman Asia Minor. After general remarks about the god, he presents a geographically arranged catalogue of the relevant inscriptions with brief comments (ph. of some texts). On 196-209, Ö. provides a register with explanations of the most important terms found in the inscriptions, and on 210/211 a list of epithets.

The article explores one of the poems included in the so-called 'New Palladas' collection (P.CtYBR 4000, pag. 18, rr. 1-9). My aim is to cast new light on the epigrammatist's subtle reworking of his model, namely Sapph. fr. 31 Voigt. I conclude with a few remarks on the contents and typology of the new poem as well as on its tentative attribution to Palladas of Alexandria.

Morfologia delle raccolte epigrammatiche premeleagree * 1. Una questione di termini. L'evoluzione di un genere letterario può essere studiata, e con risultati di grande interesse, anche attraverso il suo rapporto con la circolazione libraria, oltre che dal punto di vista strettamente letterario. Nel caso della letteratura greca questi risultati si fanno ancora più variegati data la diversa presenza del libro nel corso dei secoli 1 .

Riassunto Tra le tombe della Necropoli di San Montano (Isola d'Ischia, antica Pitecusa), la nr. 168 (fine VIII sec. a.C.) contiene i resti di un individuo di sesso maschile, di età compresa tra i 12 e i 14 anni, accompagnati da uno dei corredi più cospicui mai rinvenuti in una tomba pitecusana: 27 reperti ceramici in tutto, di cui (caso unico) 4 crateri, 2 euboici e 2 locali. Tra i materiali ceramici, spicca una kotyle rodia (universalmente nota come Coppa di Nestore), risalente alla seconda metà dell'VIII sec. Su di essa, dopo la cottura, è stata incisa in alfabeto euboico un'iscrizione metrica di tre versi, in dialetto ionico. Nel v. 1 (trimetro giambico) la coppa identifica se stessa come proprietà di Nestore (secondo il modello delle iscrizioni di possesso), mentre i vv. 2-3 (esametri) contengono la più antica declinazione di un topos costitutivo della poesia simposiale greca, vale a dire l'associazione del vino e della pratica simpotica con l'elemento erotico. Sin dalla prima edizione del graffito, ha goduto di largo consenso l'ipotesi che il Nestore della coppa dovesse essere identificato con il Nestore re di Pilo, proprietario, secondo Omero, Iliade 11.632-637, di una sontuosa coppa, alla quale l'autore dei nostri versi avrebbe voluto in qualche modo alludere. Più recenti orientamenti critici escludono invece questa identificazione, e propongono di riconoscere in Nestore il reale proprietario della coppa, da identificarsi nel padre del fanciullo sepolto nella tomba, o forse nel fanciullo stesso, cui essa fu offerta come estremo simbolico dono delle gioie del simposio e dell'amore, che gli furono precluse da prematura morte.

Abstract:  This study addresses the old question of poem-arrangement in the Catullan corpus from a new angle. It looks to a close-predecessor of Catullus, the epigrammatist Meleager, and traces of his Garland preserved in the Anthologia Palatina (hereafter AP), for parallels of compositional and organizational technique. Examination of a pair of Meleagrean sequences (AP 7.195-6; 5.6-8) and individual Catullan poems (2; 70) shows Catullus carefully included key words and sounds from the sequences he imitated. Comparison of AP 6.300-303 and Catullus 12-14 shows Catullus also imitated Meleager's use of key words and sounds in the composition of sequences of poems.*

Taking a wide selection of Greek funerary epigrams from the 6th to 4th centuries BC, this volume considers their historical and chronological contexts to draw out information about the society that created them. Using both Hansen's corpus of epigrams and wider examples, it gives priority to those cases where the whole monument ensemble is preserved, both text and image, enabling a much better understanding of the significance of the texts.

A thematic structure within a broader chronological framework provides a valuable lens on the epigrams, allowing readers to compare particular types across the time period. After introducing the funerary landscape in which the selected epigrams fit, González briefly considers the literary form of epigrams as a foil for the rest of the book. The remaining chapters focus on epitaphs of individuals in the most significant stages of life, where gender differences are most marked: themes include untimely death, women and wives, friendship, piety and non-kin love. All epigrams are offered in Greek, followed by an English translation. The analysis focuses on the literary aspects of the epigrams, as well as on the information they provide about both society and religion of ancient Greece.

“This book offers a survey of Greek funerary epigram up to the 4th century and introduces readers to its development and several of its most salient themes. Those new to the subject will find much of value within its pages.” –  Donald E. Lavigne, Associate Professor of Classics, Texas Tech University, USA,

“The Ancient Greeks commemorated some of their dead with grave monuments that included statues or relief sculptures and epitaphs written in poetic verse. This book offers an excellent, highly readable introduction to these mixed-media memorials that can still bring tears to the eyes with their records of young people dead before marriage and sad testimonies to the pain of parents, husbands, and dear friends who commissioned the monuments.” –  Joseph Day, Emeritus Professor of Classics, Wabash College, USA,

https://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2020/2020.01.46/

https://revue-etudes-anciennes.fr/gonzalez-gonzalez-m-funerary-epigrams-of-ancient-greece-reflections-on-literature-society-and-religion-londres-bloomsbury-2019-ix213-p-bibliogr-index-ill-bloomsbury-classical/

https://e-revistas.uc3m.es/index.php/ARYS/article/view/5358

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/classical-review/article/abs/ancient-greek-epigrams-in-context-m-gonzalez-gonzalez-funerary-epigrams-of-ancient-greece-reflections-on-literature-society-and-religion-pp-x-213-ills-london-and-new-york-bloomsbury-academic-2019-cased-85-us115-isbn-9781350062429/48A5D004699C8DF776668AFBDFD4B3E3

Was Anacharsis a seasoned traveller, an occasional voyager, a Scythian tourist with a one-way ticket to Greece, or was he a globetrotter, a wanderer with no destination? Was his thirst for knowledge, a philosophical quest for the truth, a desire to see the world with his own eyes, that made him one of the proverbial Seven Sages, or did his attraction to Greece originate from a necessity to belong? Or was it none of all this, and his travels were motivated simply by an appetite for educated conversation? 1 The answers to these questions are as varied as the identities of Anacharsis that emerge from the ancient sources available to us. 2 Herodotus comes first, chronologically: "when Anacharsis, having seen much of the world (γῆν πολλὴν θεωρήσας) and showed much wisdom through that (ἀποδεξάμενος κατ' αὐτὴν σοϕίην πολλὴν), was coming back to the Scythian country, sailing through the Hellespont, he puts in at Cyzicus." (4.76.2). There is a clear connection here between 'seeing' and 'wisdom'; it is through his own perception of the world that he acquires and display wisdom. 3 Solon is portrayed in similar terms in book 1 of the Histories (1.30): '[we heard about] your wisdom (σοφίης) and your wanderings (πλάνης), that you have travelled far to seek knowledge and to see the world (γῆν 4 πολλὴν θεωρίης εἵνεκεν ἐπελήλυθας). Here are two key terms for the portrayal of the wise traveller in Greek historians: θεωρία 'contemplation' and πλάνη 'wandering'. Ionian thinkers, as invested in the pursuit of knowledge as their semimythical counterparts, uses the latter of themselves. Democritus portrays the Miletian Hecataeus, drawing a map of the world, as an ἀνὴρ πολυπλανής (FGrHist 1 T12a). The same Democritus says of himself that he wandered (ἐπεπλανησάμην) and saw skies and lands and heard most learned men (B 299, 6-8 D.-K.). 5 From Herodotus, we known where Solon travels to (he left Athens and visited Amasis in Egypt and Croesus at Sardis), but we don't know where Anacharsis travels to. The story fast forwards to the Cyzicus episode and his death, and we know nothing about his wonderings. However, he certainly does not seem to be a πλάνης 'a wanderer'; Herodotus makes it clear that his journey to Greece (namely, Athens and Sparta) had a precise reason, he 'had been sent by the king of Scythia' on some kind of political embassy; this piece of information seems trustworthy, given that he says he owes his information on Anacharsis' popularity among the Scythians to a deputy of the Scythian king Ariapeithes. The second longest and most detailed biographical profile of Anacharsis, of all sources with some pretence of historicity (so excluding Lucian and Plutarch's fictitious portrayals), is the

The inscription known as ‘The Pride of Halikarnassos’ or ‘Salmakis inscription’ (late 2nd-early 1st cent. BC) provides a significant example of the self-representation of a late Hellenistic city as well as of the construction of its cultural memory. In particular, a historical and mythological analysis of lines 15-22 of the text – devoted to the myth of the local nymph Salmakis and the Greek hero Hermaphroditos – allows us to appreciate a refined process of reconstruction and reinterpretation of Halikarnassian history. Through the work of the anonymous poet, the city of Halikarnassos remodels the traditions and accounts that depict its foundation, and even remodels its real past, in order to shape a renewed mythical identity. In doing so, the city highlights the most prominent features of the local history, such as ethnic mixture and integration. The eponymous nymph Salmakis plays the major role in this process, representing the homonymous ancient community, territory and spring, whose historical role and importance remains alive in the memory of Hellenistic Halikarnassos.

Cet ouvrage analyse les épigrammes funéraires signées dans le but d'établir où, en quelle occasion et de quelle façon un auteur décide de révéler sa propre identité par une revendication explicite.
Si d’un côté la longue et riche tradition de l’épigramme sur pierre – voir les milliers de vers gravés sur des monuments retrouvés dans toutes les régions du monde grec et hellénisé – démontre un goût indéniable et de plus en plus grand pour le genre poétique de l’épigramme, d'un autre côté elle met en évidence la diffusion progressive d’une culture littéraire de base.
Comme on le sait bien, la première finalité d’une inscription funéraire métrique est de rendre éternelle la mémoire du défunt plutôt que de chanter l’éloge et les honneurs du poète qui l’a composée. Comme cela arrive pour d’autres produits artisanaux ou pour des créations artistiques, la signature y représente normalement une exception.
Ces cas exceptionnels font leur apparition, à l'époque hellénistique, à partir du IIe siècle avant J.-C., et ils deviennent plus nombreux à l’époque impériale en particulier entre le IIe et le IIIe siècle après J.-C.
Quelques dizaines de poètes, mus par une extrême confiance en leurs propres capacités, signent leurs compositions et sortent de l’anonymat.
Trente-deux auteurs d'épigrammes, certains ou présumés, trouvent place dans ce catalogue : il n’y a qu’un cas où le même nom apparaît dans plus d'une seule inscription.
La signature peut apparaître distinctement en tête ou en fin de vers, ou bien se mêler au poème par toute une série de formules, comportant le plus souvent le verbe graphein. Les sens nombreux de ce verbe (écrire, dessiner, graver ou peindre) rendent ambiguës certaines expressions. Il s'est donc révélé nécessaire d'étudier très précisément tous les éléments internes ou externes au texte pour interpréter ces expressions et identifier les signatures des poètes.
La documentation est partagée en deux sections à partir de la position de la signature dans l’inscription :
• épigrammes avec signature en prose ;
• épigrammes avec signature à l’intérieur des vers.
Dans le second groupe, on a réservé une place spéciale et distincte aux compositions qui contiennent des énigmes rattachées à la pséphie, jeux de mots et acrostiches cachant le nom du poète ou du poète-défunt qui a écrit l’épigramme de son vivant.

This article deals with some issues concerning Catullus 7: the relationship with poem 5; its structure and style; the articulation and meaning of the double simile to be found in lines 3-10, and the unlikely belonging of the poem to the genre "arithmetikón".

Il prologo contiene un discorso diretto (1-2) e una sphragis (3), come l'Ode ad Afrodite di Saffo. Ma in Nosside il discorso è della poetessa, non della dea: "Questo dice Nosside". La "firma" sta fuori del discorso diretto, come nel proemio della Teogonia di Esiodo (22 J Hsiv odon), ma al nominativo, non all'accusativo. Il nominativo è anche in VII 718, 4, il genitivo in VI 265, 4. Nella proemiale Ode ad Afrodite, Saffo (1, 20 Voigt Yav pf!) preferiva invece il vocativo, che riuserà altre volte, nei frr. 94, 5 e 133, 2 e 65, 5 Voigt, con la dichiarazione d'amore della dea: "O Saffo, ti amo". La tipologia della "firma" è quella tipica degli esordi epistolari e di logoi storici, filosofici e persino giambici: "Ecateo di Mileto così dice, muqei' tai" (fr. 1 Jacoby); "Alcmeone di Crotone, figlio di Pirito, queste cose disse, tav de e[ lexe, a Brotino e a Leone e a Batillo" (fr. 1 Diels-Kranz ); "Susarione dice queste cose" (fr. giamb., II, p. 167 West 2 ). L'onore della menzione onomastica è riservato alla poetessa e alla sua divina madrina: Nossiv " e Kuv pri". I due nomi nello stesso verso rendono più esemplare l'anonimato della donna esclusa dall'amore della dea. Allo stesso modo FRANCESCO DE MARTINO 8 nosa0.qxp 14/09/2006 15:17 PAEgina 8

Redazione informatica: Margherita I. Grasso È vietata la riproduzione, anche parziale, non autorizzata, con qualsiasi mezzo effettuata, compresa la fotocopia, anche a uso interno e didattico. L'illecito sarà penalmente perseguibile a norma dell'art. 171 della Legge n. 633 del 22.04.1941 ISBN 978-88-7694-967-8 Volume stampato con il contributo di fondi COFIN 2003 Prototipi, interpretazioni e deformazioni: Callimaco e l'epinicio, Teocrito e Virgilio nell'esegesi antica che ho contratto in questi anni sono numerosi. Desidero ringraziare, in primo luogo, professori e colleghi del Dipartimento di Scienze dell'antichità dell'Università di Firenze, dove un primo nucleo del commento ha preso forma come tesi di laurea, e di quello di Glottologia e Filologia classica dell'Università di Udine, dove è proseguito come tesi di dottorato. Ringrazio in particolare Augusto Guida, che mi ha seguito in qualità di tutor offrendomi un sostegno non solo intellettuale, Gianpiero Rosati, che ha avuto la pazienza di leggere alcune parti del commento, Franco Maltomini, coordinatore del dottorato medesimo. A quest'ultimo, e al compianto Roberto Pretagostini, questo lavoro fu sottoposto come tesi di dottorato. A entrambi sono grata per i suggerimenti che mi diedero in quella circostanza, e al prof. Pretagostini per avermi seguito anche nella fase di revisione successiva.

This book offers new insights into a largely understudied group of Greek texts preserved in selected manuscripts from the Library at Wellcome Collection, London. The content of these manuscripts ranges from medicine, including theories on diagnosis and treatment of disease, to astronomy, philosophy, and poetry. With texts dating from the ancient era to the Byzantine and Ottoman worlds, each manuscript provides its own unique story, opening a window onto different social and cultural milieus. All chapters are illustrated with black and white and colour figures, highlighting some of the most significant codices in the collection.

Dialogue is one of the most traditional forms followed in Greek epitaphs, and may involve speakers as varied as the dead person, his/her relatives, the anonymous passerby, the monument itself. The change of speaker is not always self-evident: it may or may not be marked. This paper aims at collecting and analysing a few examples of funerary dialogues, focusing on the formal features which reveal this particular form of speech.

The subject of this monograph is the 8th book of Anthologia Palatina (AP), which includes 254 epigrams of Gregory of Nazianzus. The Cappadocian poet and Church Father as an epigrammatist of the AP is connected with two peculiarities. The first one is that he participates in this poetic collection with the largest, by far, number of epigrams. So, a paradox appears: in a mostly secular anthology the quantitative predominance belongs to a Christian poet. The second singularity lies in the fact that Gregory’s epigrams in a very unique way do not diffuse into various books of AP, as is the usual practice in this collection, but exclusively compose a continuous and massive block, the 8th book.
The object of this study is the systematic examination of form and content of these epigrams. Gregory’s emotional background, topics, language, style, and intertextuality in his epigrammatic poetry are analyzed. The incorporation process of the epigrams into a mainly secular poetical collection, such as AP, is thoroughly explored, as well.

Book five of the Greek Anthology gathers 310 epigrams united by their erotic subject. Taking the adjective “erotic” literally, it comprises both compositions of sexual theme and intention, with a more or less disguised obscene language, and others where a more or less violent expression of love can be read, similar to the one that would be found in medieval Iberian bards. Apart from a small group of epigrams that resort to Greek mythology, the poems address the most frequent and timeless symptoms and complains of the in loved subject, the often-contradictory feelings inspired by an Eros that Posidippus straightforwardly defines as bittersweet (num. 134).

Tesi di Dottorato di Francesco Valerio, matricola 955860 SETTORE SCIENTIFICO DISCIPLINARE DI AFFERENZA: L-FIL-LET/02 Coordinatore del Dottorato Tutore del Dottorando Prof. Tiziano Zanato Prof. Ettore Cingano Co-tutori del Dottorando Prof. Filippomaria Pontani Prof. Gianfranco Agosti PREFAZIONE L'idea di dedicare il dottorato agli epigrammi di Agazia mi fu suggerita da Enrico Magnelli, nel corso di una passeggiata per librerie, nei giorni del giugno 2010 nei quali a Firenze si teneva il tradizionale convegno annuale di papirologia. Accettai con entusiasmo il suggerimento, pur essendo consapevole degli oneri che ne sarebbero derivati, in primo luogo per l'ampiezza del corpus di testi su cui avrei dovuto lavorare, ma soprattutto per la mia poca (o nulla) confidenza con la letteratura greca tardoantica: fino ad allora mi ero infatti occupato solo di autori arcaico-classici o ellenistici. Sin dai primi mesi di lavoro, fu subito chiaro che, per i motivi appena esposti, i tre anni del dottorato non sarebbero stati sufficienti per offrire, insieme all'edizione critica, un commento completo a tutti gli epigrammi agaziani. Così, di concerto con i tutori, si è optato per una forma di commento selettivo, focalizzato solo sugli aspetti critico-testuali. Questi ultimi infatti, nel corso della ricerca, si sono rivelati i meno frequentati dagli esegeti moderni e quindi i più bisognosi di indagini e approfondimenti: i due massimi studiosi della poesia agaziana del XX sec., Axel Mattsson e Ronald McCail, nei loro fondamentali studî, si sono occupati di questioni critico-testuali solo marginalmente, e senza avere a disposizione un'adeguata recensio dei testimoni 1 . Pertanto, lo scopo primario del mio lavoro è stato quello di offrire un testo criticamente costituito sulla base di un riesame dei testimoni diretto e il più ampio possibile. Sfortunatamente, la mole del lavoro da una parte, e dall'altra imperscrutabili meccanismi burocratici, che hanno decretato un imprevisto anticipo dei tempi di consegna della tesi, non hanno consentito di completare il progetto originario, che, come si è detto, prevedeva di accompagnare all'edizione vera e propria una mantissa di note filologiche, che discutessero e giustificassero le scelte testuali: nella tesi che qui si offre, al testo segue soltanto la traduzione, che comunque costituisce una forma di primo commento. Inoltre, è stata allestita un'introduzione che, oltre al doveroso inquadramento biografico e prosopografico dell'Autore, e ad una presentazione sintetica dei temi e motivi della sua opera poetica, si è concentra sui due aspetti più strettamente __________ 1 Neanche nella letteratura critica successiva a Mattsson e McCail gli aspetti testuali hanno ricevuto le debite attenzioni, e anzi si deve constatare che i varî studî d'insieme su Agazia poeta, apparsi negli ultimi decenni, da tutti i punti di vista hanno aggiunto poco di nuovo ai risultati dei loro due illustri predecessori: vd. Volpe Cacciatore 1981, Galli Calderini 1992, Ortega Villaro 2010, Garland 2011.

Among the issues discussed are Gregory’s central role in the adaptation of the Greek epigram for Christian purposes; his familiarity with the conventions of literary and inscriptional epigrams; his frequent repetition of a number of signature themes; and the reception and dissemination of his epigrams in Late Antiquity and Byzantium.

The celebration of sporting successes in Classical Sparta has often been denied, but a fragment belonging to an epinician ode composed by Simonides for a Spartan victor and several agonistic epigrams of the same period demonstrate that Spartans did not refrain from advertising their victories in poetic forms.

In its 15 books, the Anthologia Palatina -mostly preserved in the Codex Palatinus graecus 23 -collects epigrams and poetical works from a period of almost 1700 years. For a long time, research on the manuscript concentrated primarily on the literary aspects, but the importance of the codex goes far beyond literature. The workshop aims at shedding light upon the contexts in which the poems were originally produced and placed, as well as on their later transfer into the Anthologia Palatina. As a consequence, particular attention is paid to the writing supports and to the interactions with the coeval cultural environment, without disregarding similar case studies.

This paper deals with some questions concerning the iconography, iconology and date of execution of the famous mosaic pavement from Sheikh Zoueide in Sinai, now exibited in the Ismailiya Museum. The author analyses both the mythological mosaic with the representation of various subjects, like Dionysiac procession, Nilotic theme, Hippolytos and Phaedra, and another geometric mosaic. The iconological study of all symbolic elements sheds light on the mentality of Nestor who lived in this house and of other inhabitants of the city.  The author sees the great influence of Egypt probably of Alexandria, in the mosaic's style. He also discusses stylistic problems and suggests a date of its execution in the first half of the 5th century.
On the iconological study of the mosaic see also: M.T. Olszewski, Mauvais œil et protection contre l'envie dans la mosaïque de Cheikh Zouède au Sinaï (IV-Ve siècle), published in: Paunier, D., Schmidt, Ch (ed. by), la Mosaïque gréco-romaine VIII. Actes du  VIIIe Colloque international de la mosaïque antique et médiévale, Lausanne 1997 (2001), pp. 276-301.
M.T.Olszewski, Two Late Antique synonymous mosaics from Sheikh Zuweid (Egypt) and Vinon (France) (translated) / Deux  mosaïques  synonimiques  de l’antiquité tardive: Cheikh  Zouède  (Egypte)  et  Vinon  (France) / Dwie późnoantyczne mozaiki synonimiczne z Szeikh Zued (Egipt) i Vinon (Francja) - (in Polish), Światowit IV-A, 2002, pp. 99-105.