Ἀπατούρια
Apatouria, Apaturia
Translated by Jennifer Benedict24 Dec 2000Vetting: high9 revisions
Translation
A public festival. It was celebrated amongst [the] Athenians for three days; during it the son of Sitalkes, the king of the Thracians, was registered in the citizenry.1 They call the first [day] Dorpeia, when the members of phratries come together and are entertained in the evening; the second [they call] Anarrysis, on account of the sacrificing2 - they used to sacrifice to Zeus Phratrios and to Athena; and the third [they call] Koureotis, from the enrolment of youths (kou/rous ) and maidens into the phratries. This is the reason: the Athenians had a war on against the Boiotians over Kelainai, which was a place in their borderlands.3 Xanthios, a Boiotian, challenged the Athenian king, Thymoites [to a fight]. When he did not accept, Melanthos, an expatriate Messenian from the stock of Periklymenos the son of Neleus, stood up to fight for the kingdom. While they were engaged in single combat, someone wearing a black goat-skin aegis appeared to Melanthos from behind Xanthios. So [Melanthos] said that it was not right to come two against one. [Xanthios] turned round. [Melanthos] smote him and killed him. And from this was generated both the festival Apatouria4 and "of the Black Aegis" as an epithet of Dionysos.5 But some say that because fathers go together alike through the enrolment of their sons, it is called the "same father" (o(mopato/ria ) festival; in the same way we say that a spouse [is] of the same bed and a bed-mate, so also [we say] "the same father," Apatoria. And Aristophanes [writes]: "he wanted to eat sausages from the Apatouria."6
Greek original · Adler’s text
Ἀπατούρια· ἑορτὴ δημοτελής. ἤγετο δὲ παρ' Ἀθηναίοις ἐπὶ τρεῖς ἡμέρας· ἐν ᾗ ἐγράφη ἐν τῇ πολιτείᾳ ὁ υἱὸς Σιτάλκου, τοῦ Θρᾳκῶν βασιλέως. καλοῦσι δὲ τὴν μὲν πρώτην Δόρπειαν, ἐπειδὴ φράτορες ὀψίας συνελθόντες εὐωχοῦντο· τὴν δὲ δευτέραν Ἀνάρρυσιν, ἀπὸ τοῦ θύειν· ἔθυον δὲ Διῒ Φρατρίῳ καὶ Ἀθηνᾷ· τὴν δὲ τρίτην Κουρεῶτιν, ἀπὸ τοῦ τοὺς κούρους καὶ τὰς κόρας ἐγγράφειν εἰς τὰς φρατρίας. ἡ δὲ αἰτία· πόλεμος ἦν Ἀθηναίοις πρὸς Βοιωτοὺς περὶ Κελαινῶν, ὃ ἦν χωρίον ἐν μεθορίοις. Ξάνθιος δὲ Βοιωτὸς προεκαλέσατο τὸν Ἀθηναίων βασιλέα Θυμοίτην. οὐ δεξαμένου δὲ, Μέλανθος ἐπιδημῶν Μεσσήνιος, γένος ἀπὸ Περικλυμένου τοῦ Νηλέως, ὑπέστη ἐπὶ τῇ βασιλείᾳ. μονομαχούντων δὲ ἐφάνη τῷ Μελάνθῳ τις ὄπισθεν τοῦ Ξανθίου τραγῆν αἴγιδα ἐνημμένος μέλαιναν. ἔφη οὖν ἀδικεῖν αὐτὸν δεύτερον ἥκοντα. ὁ δὲ ἐπεστράφη. ὁ δὲ παίσας ἀποκτείνει αὐτόν. ἐκ δὲ τούτου ἥ τε ἑορτὴ Ἀπατούρια, καὶ Διονύσου Μελαναιγίδος ἐδομήσαντο. οἱ δέ φασιν, ὅτι τῶν πατέρων ὁμοῦ συνερχομένων διὰ τὰς τῶν παίδων ἐγγραφὰς οἷον ὁμοπατόρια λέγεσθαι τὴν ἑορτήν· ὁποίῳ τρόπῳ λέγομεν ἄλοχον τὴν ὁμόκοιτον καὶ ἄκοιτιν, οὕτω καὶ ὁμοπατόρια, Ἀπατόρια. καὶ Ἀριστοφάνης· ἤρα φαγεῖν ἀλλᾶντας ἐξ Ἀπατουρίων.
Betacode
*)apatou/ria: e(orth\ dhmotelh/s. h)/geto de\ par' *)aqhnai/ois e)pi\ trei=s h(me/ras: e)n h(=| e)gra/fh e)n th=| politei/a| o( ui(o\s *sita/lkou, tou= *qra|kw=n basile/ws. kalou=si de\ th\n me\n prw/thn *do/rpeian, e)peidh\ fra/tores o)yi/as sunelqo/ntes eu)wxou=nto: th\n de\ deute/ran *)ana/rrusin, a)po\ tou= qu/ein: e)/quon de\ *dii\+ *fratri/w| kai\ *)aqhna=|: th\n de\ tri/thn *kourew=tin, a)po\ tou= tou\s kou/rous kai\ ta\s ko/ras e)ggra/fein ei)s ta\s fratri/as. h( de\ ai)ti/a: po/lemos h)=n *)aqhnai/ois pro\s *boiwtou\s peri\ *kelainw=n, o(\ h)=n xwri/on e)n meqori/ois. *ca/nqios de\ *boiwto\s proekale/sato to\n *)aqhnai/wn basile/a *qumoi/thn. ou) decame/nou de\, *me/lanqos e)pidhmw=n *messh/nios, ge/nos a)po\ *periklume/nou tou= *nhle/ws, u(pe/sth e)pi\ th=| basilei/a|. monomaxou/ntwn de\ e)fa/nh tw=| *mela/nqw| tis o)/pisqen tou= *canqi/ou tragh=n ai)/gida e)nhmme/nos me/lainan. e)/fh ou)=n a)dikei=n au)to\n deu/teron h(/konta. o( de\ e)pestra/fh. o( de\ pai/sas a)poktei/nei au)to/n. e)k de\ tou/tou h(/ te e(orth\ *)apatou/ria, kai\ *dionu/sou *melanaigi/dos e)domh/santo. oi( de/ fasin, o(/ti tw=n pate/rwn o(mou= sunerxome/nwn dia\ ta\s tw=n pai/dwn e)ggrafa\s oi(=on o(mopato/ria le/gesqai th\n e(orth/n: o(poi/w| tro/pw| le/gomen a)/loxon th\n o(mo/koiton kai\ a)/koitin, ou(/tw kai\ o(mopato/ria, *)apato/ria. kai\ *)aristofa/nhs: h)/ra fagei=n a)lla=ntas e)c *)apatouri/wn.
Notes (6)
- OCD(4) s.v. (pp.114-5).
- 1On the naturalization of Sadokos, son of Sitalkes, in 431 BCE see M.J. Osborne, Naturalization in Athens, vols.3-4 (Brussels 1983) 26-7; S. Hornblower, A Commentary on Thucydides, vol.1 (Oxford 1991) 288. ↩
- 2Literally, drawing back (the head of a sacrificial victim); cf. already alpha 2058. ↩
- 3cf. kappa 1283, mu 458, xi 8. ↩
- 4i.e. from the deceit,
a)pa/th , involved. ↩ - 5cf. mu 450, tau 889. ↩
- 6Aristophanes, Acharnians 146 (web address 1); cf. already alpha 1067, end. The substance of the present entry comes, abbreviated, from the scholia on this line. ↩
References
H.W. Parke, Festivals of the Athenians (London 1977) 88-92
External resources
- Web address 1 perseus.tufts.edu
Linked from8 entries
- α1067Ἀλλαντοπώληςsausage-seller[Meaning] the man selling types of guts, gut-seller. For a)lla=s [is] the gut, [and in the genitive it is] a)lla=ntos. "Instead of a trophy they set up a standard for the general. And hanging sausages from it they…
- α2058Ἀναρρύειdraws back the headMeaning [he/she/it] sacrifices and slaughters [sc. a sacrificial victim]. Eupolis [uses the word]. And the sacrifice [itself is an] epanarrhysis. Also [sc. attested is] Anarrhysis, [the] chief day of the Apatouria.…
- δ1391ΔόρπειαDorpeia[Meaning] the first day of the Apatouria [festival]; the next [is] Anarrysis, and Koureotis [is] the third. See further under Apatouria.
- κ1283ΚελαιναίKelainai, CelaenaeA place. On the Attica-Boeotia border.
- κ2179Κουρεώτηςbarber[*kourew/ths means the same as] koureu/s. Also [sc. attested is] kourei=s ["barbers"], in the plural. But *kourew=tis [is] a festival. [It is] the third day of the Apatouria, on which the young men [kouroi] have their…
- μ450Μελαναιγὶς ΔιόνυσοςDionysos of the Black AegisSee under Apatouria [alpha 2940].
- μ451ΜέλανblackThat which is logically opposed to white colour; and especially, that with which we write [i.e. ink]. And black is a colour which is combined for sight, while white [is] a colour which is separated for sight. Also [sc.…
- μ458ΜέλανθοςMelanthos, MelanthusAn Athenian, who fought a duel against Xanthias, a Boiotian, and killed him. See under Apatouria.
Neighbouring entries
Revision history9 revisions · last 3 Aug 2015
- Revised — David Whitehead
- updated a ref — David Whitehead
- tweaks — David Whitehead
- updated link — Catharine Roth
- more italics — David Whitehead
- Added betacode; added italics; cosmetics — Elizabeth Vandiver
- another keyword — David Whitehead
- augmented notes and keywords — David Whitehead
- modified translation; added notes, bibliography and keywords; cosmetics — David Whitehead
- Translated — Jennifer Benedict