The Cult of Aratus at Sicyon (Plutarch, Aratus, 53)
At the end of his life of Aratus Plutarch recounts the death of the Achaean statesman in 213 BC, the subsequent transport of his body — after a consultation of the Delphic oracle — from Aigion to his native Sicyon, his burial inside of the city, and the annual festival established in his honor. Alth...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Centre
[2019]
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| In: |
Kernos
Year: 2019, Volume: 32, Pages: 119-150 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Aratos, von Sikyon 271 BC-213 BC
/ Cult
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| IxTheo Classification: | BE Greco-Roman religions |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (doi) Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | At the end of his life of Aratus Plutarch recounts the death of the Achaean statesman in 213 BC, the subsequent transport of his body — after a consultation of the Delphic oracle — from Aigion to his native Sicyon, his burial inside of the city, and the annual festival established in his honor. Although Plutarch’s account of the retrieval of the body is for several reasons highly suspect historically, his description of the festival rings true and appears to derive — not directly, I argue, but indirectly through an intermediate source — from an inscription. Most of the content and language finds close parallels in surviving inscriptions concerned with the conduct of sacrifices and, especially, with the large, organized processions that very often preceded them. I use material from these inscriptions to supplement and shed light on Plutarch’s brief account and to offer a tentative reconstruction of the festival and its procession, in the context of what is known of the topography of Hellenistic Sicyon. I also make a suggestion, again tentative, of the identity of Plutarch’s source for the passage. À la fin de la Vie d’Aratos, Plutarque raconte la mort du chef d’État achéen en 213 av. n.è., le transfert de son corps — après consultation de l’oracle de Delphes — d’Aigion à Sicyone, sa cité d’origine, son inhumation à l’intérieur de la cité et la célébration annuelle établie en son honneur. Même si le récit de la récupération du corps n’est guère crédible d’un point de vue historique, la description de la fête par Plutarque sonne juste et semble dériver d’une inscription, par l’intermédiaire d’une autre source. Nombre d’aspects du contenu et du langage trouvent des parallèles étroits dans des inscriptions sur la tenue des sacrifices et, particulièrement, sur la description des grandes processions qui les précèdent souvent. Ces inscriptions permettent d’éclairer le bref compte rendu du Plutarque et d’offrir une hypothèse de reconstruction de la fête et de sa procession, dans le contexte de ce que l’on sait de la topographie de Sicyone à la période hellénistique. On tente également d’identifier la source de Plutarque pour ce passage. |
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| Item Description: | Volltext online verfügbar ab Oktober 2021. - Texte intégral disponible en octobre 2021. - Full text online available from october 2021 onwards |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Kernos
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.4000/kernos.3126 |