The Sphinxes Guarding the Lion Tomb Entrance at Amphipolis

[agesilaos]

Just a note on ‘…the well known courtesan of the Macedonian court, during Alexander's adolescence…’ – Pagasta or Pagkasta is only mentioned in three authors, Pliny the Elder (‘Natural History’, XXXV 83), Lucian of Samosata (‘The Portrait’, 590) and Aelian (Varia Historia XII 34), although Pliny calls her Campaspe, Aelian, Pankaste and Lucian, Pacate; each tells the same story of Alexander and Apelles so the same woman is intended – the story is that Alexander took his favourite mistress to Apelles for a nude portrait but finding that the artist was falling in love with the model he gave her to him and contented himself with the painting.

Aelian makes her a Larissan and Alexander’s first partner. But since Apelles did not reside in Macedon we would not expect that she would end up buried there. Far from being well-known she may well be fictional (the story runs against Alexander’s lack of sex drive, at least with women, it is also difficult to find an opportunity for such an event). The monument must antedate the great tumulus so pre-275 but the name cannot be used to point to the last quarter of the fourth. The original reads quite tentatively too on the identification.

[system1988]

The stele of Pancasta.

Thank you for the comment. Anyway the stele is not for Pancaste, it belongs to her dead brother named Arpalos.

ΑΡΠΑΛΟΣ ΚΥΤΑΣ ΑΔΕΛΦΗ ΜΕ ΑΝΕΘΗΚΕ ΠΑΓΚΑΣΤΑ

HARPALOS THE SON OF KITTA ,DEDICATED ME ( me the stele) ( the) sister Paghasta.

So the sister paid for the monument of the brother who died in the 3rd quarter of 4th BC ( the brother not the sister ).

[agesilaos]

Doh! But the identification is still forced, although there would be Thessalians serving in the Macedonian army would they be being buried at Aigai?

[system1988]

Yes, is a little forced.From the cemetery of Aegae we have only one stele from a foreigner - ΕΥΘΙΑΣ ΛΥΣΙΟΥ ΑΡΓΕΙΟΣ- EUTHIAS (son of ) LYSIAS ARGIVE (from the city of Argos) In the case of Arpalos we havent the name of the city or country -Thessaly or Larissa etc
But in the opinion of Paliadeli, 'Paghasta' is quite a rare name in ancient Greece and we know only one woman with that name -so far ( 1984 )

[agesilaos]

But we are not overwhelmed by women's names, even from tombstones, in the literature they are probably outnumbered ten to one by males; when the sample is so small, I would not trust any conclusions on general frequency after all if this Pagkasta is not Pankaste, the occurrence of the name has just doubled!

Just in case people were wondering how Pagkasta and Pankaste not to mention Kampaspe, can be the same name, it is down to dialects and variant pronounciations; in Attic a double gamma is pronounced 'ng' but the Macedonians used gamma kappa for 'nk', the final eta or alpha are differences in the Ionic and Doric families, Pliny's version is said to be closer to the Thessalian, they clearly lisped alot

In English we say 'Argive' rather than 'Argeian', quite sensibly deriving the Greek via the Latin , argivus (pronounced arg-eewus, possibly indicating an archaic form, Linear B has more 'w' sounds than later Greek). Who is described as 'Argive', here Euthyios or Lysias?

[system1988]

Euthias is an argive .
I am sorry , i answered-the last two posts- without the ' supervision' of my son.Huge mistake !

[agesilaos]

No mistake at all, it my pesky language which keeps going to the Latin instead of the Greek; which is why every half-way serious book on Greek History has at least two pages explaining the author's decision on spelling Greek names and which place name they will use, though on the plus side using Alexander and Ptolemy only for the main players can save ink, despite the obvious inconsistency

[amyntoros]

Thanks for the clarification. I am not sure if he was the one who makes the BCH summaries, I read directly from what BCH uses for a source of the summaries. In the latest years of Kastas excavations Lazarides discovered layers of burning on Kastas, some of which were very extended. One of those years is 1976, the one after the pyre was discovered. Maybe BCH refers to those layers.

Thanks gepd. Intriguing. Wonder what's going on there? One can see why BCH steps back from an interpretation of a pyre then (BCH definitely refers to the pyre of the previous year, although point taken on transmission errors ), even if it wasn't Lazarides who put the inverted commas around things. Does Ergon (?) provide anything more about those layers beyond their existence? This area has been mooted as the battle site where Brasidas took his fatal wounds (and Cleon). Of course, there's the battle between Olympias' forces and Cassander's too which would have been somewhere in the area. Hard to imagine anything else requiring extensive burning in the middle of an Archaic graveyard, although I seem to recall some evidence of Archaic burning associated with graves in some of the reports (could be mis-remembering that though).

Very late with a response here - sorry about that. I found this particular discussion most interesting because when I first read about a pyre being discovered I assumed sacrificial pyre rather than cremation. I have no idea why I thought this, especially as I'm aware that offerings to the dead, including heros, were usually chthonic in nature. So I went on a search for whatever article(s) might have unconsciously influenced my thoughts on the pyre. Did not find anything specific, but I accidentally came across an article on JSTOR which I had not read previously: Tomb Cult and the Post-Classical Polis by Susan E. Alcock. Her focus is on the resurgence of cults at Bronze age tombs but the information she imparts might well relate to the tomb at Amphipolis and does, IMO, encourage further thought regarding Brasidas. She also informs on changes in cult and ritual in the late fourth century and early Hellenistic period:

Another institutional development to observe is the more extensive application of the title "hero, now given to the recently deceased and even to the living. This much-discussed transformation took place chiefly within Hellenistic times. Once disdained by the historians as representing decadence, a decline in Greek moral and spiritual values, the phenomenon has again been reinterpreted as a response to socio-political pressures. One recent analysis argues that these rituals were introduced by the polis "to accommodate the power of dominant individuals" and to integrate them within the community's structural and symbolic framework. Public cult in praise of famous men is well represented by the treatment of Aratus, reinterred and honored in the agora of Sicyon after the Delphic Oralce overruled a ban, imposed both by law and religious scruple against that resting place.

<snip>

Related to such heroizations, of course, was the eventual adoption of ruler cult addressed to Hellenistic monarchs and later to Rome and her emperors. All of these responses were called forth by basic shifts in power relationships within the polis unit and between the polis and newly dominant, larger political entities.

The increasing social polarization resulting from these trends is apparent in other aspects of material culture - notably in mortuary practices. After the relative equality of Classical interments, ideologically enforced in some localities at least, highly differentiated and even monumental burials reappear in many parts of Greece. This loss of "leveling mechanisms" begins in the fourth century B.C.; the precise course of this transformation demands much more careful archaeological study than it has so far received. Not only did the scale and ostentation of grave offerings and funerary architecture alter, but the locations permissible for burial underwent some revision as well.

<snip>

Eurgetism, commemoration of benefactors, public cult to public men, funerary magnificence: each of these responded to the reorganization of the polis and each played an active part in rewriting its network of social relationships. Each served not merely to glorify the dead, but to distinguish the living - the relatives and descendants of the powerful man. The dominance of certain elite families were thus introduced and perpetuated, and a new social order within the post-Classical polis protected.

Personally, I think the whole article is well worth a read.

All the best,

[Zebedee]

Hephaestion wasn't a descendant of Cleon was he? Would keep everyone happy that way! Brasidas seems unlikely with a cult site within the walls both attested and also discovered? I'd read the main source as suggesting the Athenians did the cremation thing for their dead and took the remains back to Athens, although Cleon isn't mentioned specifically. Very unAthenian thing to do would suggest against Cleon either? Do wonder about the layers of burning Gepd referenced and whether they are related to that battle and events after.

Lazirides reported a small column krater found in association with his pyre. He dated that as 'Hellenistic'. Gepd will likely be able to shed more light on that. I'd certainly love to know whether it is related to the tomb as cremation or sacrifice - perhaps something they'll look at when they take a step back and discuss the site in the round?

It's an interesting essay, and Antanaccio's work on this is obviously worth a browse too. Kind of where I've been coming from for a while (over a year now since I suggested a new tomb over an older burial - time flies). But most aware of the need for something to pull the dating back to pre-Macedonian control of Amphipolis for that to stand up. The monumental lion does sort of suggest a battle to me, or at least one battlefield death. But that's just gut feeling and too long spent staring down towards Thebes. Dating of that grave, if possible, will answer it. It does still strike me as out of place and rather older than the grandeur built over it.

[Taphoi]

Interesting new video presentation on the Amphipolis tomb recently uploaded to YouTube at this link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzyUkYS ... e=youtu.be
and an associated news story from today at this link:
http://www.tribune.gr/greece/news/artic ... inteo.html
Best wishes,
Andrew

[Alexias]

If the tomb at Amphipolis does prove to be a heroon to Hephaestion, it is possible that the person who paid for it to be built was Apollodorus, one of Alexander's generals who came from Amphipolis. He commanded the troops that Alexander left behind in Babylon, and when Alexander returned from India and began a purge of satraps who had abused their power in his absence, Apollodorus was fearful of his own fate and asked his brother, a diviner in Babylon, to predict his future. He was most afraid of Alexander and Hephaestion. Hephaestion was possibly making enquiries about the satraps behaviour before passing the information to Alexander for judgement.

Apollodorus was in Ecbatana in attendance on the king, probably making his report on events in Bablyon, and perhaps answering Hephaestion's queries on any complaints lodged against him, when he received the news from his brother that Hephaestion wouldn't be a problem for long. He died the next day. The story is told by Arrian.

18. MOREOVER Aristobulus has recorded the following story. Apollodorus the Amphipolitan, one of Alexander’s Companions, was general of the army which the king left with Mazaeus, the viceroy of Babylon. When he had joined his forces with the king’s on the return of the latter from India, and observed that he was severely punishing the viceroys who had been placed over the several countries, he sent to his brother Peithagoras and asked him to divine about his safety. For Peithagoras was a diviner who derived his knowledge of the future from the inspection of the inward parts of animals. This man sent back to Apollodorus, inquiring of whom he was so especially afraid, as to wish to consult divination. The latter wrote back: “The king himself and Hephaestion.” Peithagoras therefore in the first place offered sacrifice with reference to Hephaestion. But as there was no lobe visible upon the liver of the sacrificial victim, he stated this fact in a letter, which he sealed and sent to his brother from Babylon to Ecbatana, explaining that there was no reason at all to be afraid of Hephaestion, for in a short time he would be out of their way. And Aristobulus says that Apollodorus received this epistle only one day before Hephaestion died. Then Peithagoras again offered sacrifice in respect to Alexander, and the liver of the victim consulted in respect to him was also destitute of a lobe. He therefore wrote to Apoilodorus to the same purport about Alexander as about Hephaestion. Apollodorus did not conceal the information sent to him, but told Alexander, in order the more to show his good-will to the king, if he urged him to be on his guard lest some danger might befall him at that time. And Aristobulus says that the king commended Apollodorus, and when he entered Babylon, he asked Peithagoras what sign he had met with, to induce him to write thus to his brother. He said that the liver of the victim sacrificed for him was without a lobe. When Alexander asked what the sign meant, he said that it was a very disastrous one. The king was so far from being angry with him, that he even treated him with greater respect, for telling him the truth without any disguise. Aristobulus says that he himself heard this story from Peithagoras

Apollodorus may have commissioned the shrine in order to convince Alexander of his good intentions and innocence of any crimes. Why Amphipolis and not Ecbatana or Babylon? Maybe he couldn't afford to build there, or wanted to spread Hephaestion's worship as a hero at home, and build himself a family mausoleum at the same time. Could this explain the 'A' on the stones?

[Taphoi]

...Apollodorus may have commissioned the shrine in order to convince Alexander of his good intentions and innocence of any crimes. Why Amphipolis and not Ecbatana or Babylon? Maybe he couldn't afford to build there, or wanted to spread Hephaestion's worship as a hero at home, and build himself a family mausoleum at the same time. Could this explain the 'A' on the stones?

Do you mean the "ANT" monogram found on a few of the peribolos blocks, please?
Best wishes,
Andrew

[Alexias]

...Apollodorus may have commissioned the shrine in order to convince Alexander of his good intentions and innocence of any crimes. Why Amphipolis and not Ecbatana or Babylon? Maybe he couldn't afford to build there, or wanted to spread Hephaestion's worship as a hero at home, and build himself a family mausoleum at the same time. Could this explain the 'A' on the stones?

Do you mean the "ANT" monogram found on a few of the peribolos blocks, please?
Best wishes,
Andrew

Yes. I'm afraid that last bit was an afterthought, and I've misremembered that the ANT monogram was originally seen just as an 'A'. Sorry!

[gepd]

There are also single "A"s and "E"s on the peribolos blocks, these have been interpreted as mason's marks (not sure on what basis).

[hiphys]

Alexias, I think your suggestion is a good one!