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Diomeia

Translated by Antonella Ippolito25 Feb 2005Vetting: high11 revisions

8 notes · 64 words

Notes (8)

One of the minority of Suda entries on the demes of Attica which do not follow a corresponding entry in Harpokration (because, in this instance, Harpok. has no entry for the deme itself; see rather epsilon 1179). For the present entry cf. Stephanus of Byzantium s.v. and the Aristophanic scholia cited in the notes below. On Diomeia see generally J.S. Traill, The Political Organization of Attica (1975) 39; D. Whitehead, The Demes of Attica (1986) s.v. It was a small deme, probably located in the so-called Paralia, between Alopeke and the Agryle and Ankyle pairs; cf. Stephanus of Byzantium 231.12. The so-called *diomai\ pu/lai "Diomeian gates" led out of the city in the direction of Diomeia; cf. Alciphron 3.51.4 and Hesychius, delta839 s. v. *dhmi/asi pu/lais (Comica adespota fr. 805 Kock, now 309 K.-A.).

1As usual, tribe allocations of these demes in the lexica refer to the original (508/7), Kleisthenic one. (Between 307/6 and 201/0 it belonged to Demetrias.) For the Aegeid tribe see generally alphaiota 32, alphaiota 36; also e.g. Hesychius alpha1701; Hyperides, For Euxenippos 12; Photius, cod. 261 (cf. [Plutarch], Vitae X oratorum 835b3; Scholia on Aeschylus 1, 125; Duris FGrHist 76 FF 67 and 68); Plutarch, Alcibiades 21.3, Nicias 13.3; scholion on Aristophanes, Frogs 477. ↩

2See scholion on Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 1.1207. Son of Kollytos (the eponym of another deme) this figure is connected with two legends concerning Attica. A priest of Zeus Polieus, Diomos was said to have been the first to kill an ox after it had eaten the grain for sacrifices. However, the tradition also bears other names related to the aetiology of the boufoni/a, such as Thaulon or Sopater (Porphyrius, On abstinence 2 10 & 29; Androtion in scholion on Aristophanes, Clouds 985). According to another well-known myth, especially connected to the deme mentioned by the Suda, Diomos would have played a central role in the cult of Herakles and the shrine of Kynosarges ("white dog"), to the south-east of the Acropolis. While Diomos was sacrificing to Hercules a dog took away the meat set aside for rituals, so that later he called the place after this episode, interpreting it as a divine omen. Cf. also Etymologicum Magnum s.v. *kuno/sarges. ↩

3The text implies (by a standard use of the genitive case) that Diomos was a son of Herakles. But the extant tradition mentions him as Herakles' lover: scholia vetera on Aristophanes, Frogs 650-1, reading tou= e)rome/nou tou= *(hrakle/ous. Except for that word, the Suda reproduces the scholion; hence Küster's integration of e)rome/nou tou=, rejected by Adler. The same omission is only found for scholia in cod. Ravennas, but it would not be enough to see a particular closeness between the tradition represented by this manuscript and the Suda's source. The accident could actually be very easy, arising either from a saut du même au même or from mere prudery. The scholia give also the information that, according to Rhianus (FGrH 265 F50), the place where the shrine was built had seen the beginning of the friendship between Diomos and Herakles. ↩

4Aristophanes, Frogs 650-1, and the scholia vetera there. Xanthias says he has thought of the Diomean feast of Herakles to justify his own exclamation a)ttatai= in line 649. As a reason for the pain, it has been suggested that the festival could not be held because of the military occupation of Dekeleia (since 413 BCE) by the Spartans; otherwise, Xanthias might just complain that the festival is too far to come for. ↩

5e)fro/ntisa is a so-called "dramatic" aorist, expressing a sudden thought. ↩

6According to Athenaeus, Deipnosophists 6.260B (6.76 Kaibel) and 14.614D (14.3 Kaibel) the festival of Hercules featured some burlesque rituals to which a large group of gelwtopoioi/ were appointed, including perhaps comedies and satiric performances; cf. Etymologicum Magnum 277 s.v. *di/omos. ↩

7The first mention of this shrine, at Kynosarges (kappa 2720, kappa 2721), refers to 490/89 (Herodotus 6.116). There was also a renowned gymnasium there (see Plutarch, Themistocles 1; Diogenes Laertius 6.13; Steph.Byz. s.v. Kynosarges was meant especially for nothoi, illegitimate children (Demosthenes 23.213; Athenaeus, Deipnosophists 6.234E (6.26 Kaibel); Plutarch, Themistocles 12); it was also where the philosophical school of the Cynics was founded by Antisthenes (Diogenes Laertius 6.16; alpha 2723). Pausanias 1.19.3 describes the altars devoted to mythological figures related to Herakles: Hebe, Alcmene, Iolaus. However, the identification of that Herakleion with the temple at Kynosarges is disputed; a location to the north of the Acropolis has been claimed, on the basis of IG II(2) 1247. ↩

8Aristophanes, Acharnians 603, and the scholia there; cf. pi 212. Olson translates 'bullshit artists from Diomea'. The context includes a number of made-up compound names, featuring a combination of noble birth and boasting attitudes intended to suggest some well-known political figures. They might include Philoxenus of Diomeia, a politically active member of the deme (cf. Clouds 686-87, Wasps 81-84 about his homosexual attitudes).

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Greek original · Adler’s text

Notes (8)

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