Posted on 07/31/2014 5:12:42 AM PDT by DeaconBenjamin
The cup was likely used in a wine symposium when Pericles was in his twenties, and the six men who drank from it scrawled their names as a memento, experts say.
A cup believed to have been used by Classical Greek statesman Pericles has been found in a pauper's grave in north Athens, according to local reports Wednesday.
The ceramic wine cup, smashed in 12 pieces, was found during building construction in the northern Athens suburb of Kifissia, Ta Nea daily said.
After piecing it together, archaeologists were astounded to find the name "Pericles" scratched under one of its handles, alongside the names of five other men, in apparent order of seniority.
Experts are "99 per cent" sure that the cup was used by the Athenian statesman, as one of the other names listed, Ariphron, is that of Pericles' elder brother.
"The name Ariphron is extremely rare," Angelos Matthaiou, secretary of the Greek Epigraphic Society, told the newspaper.
"Having it listed above that of Pericles makes us 99 per cent sure that these are the two brothers," he said.
The cup was likely used in a wine symposium when Pericles was in his twenties, and the six men who drank from it scrawled their names as a memento, Matthaiou said.
"They were definitely woozy, as whoever wrote Pericles' name made a mistake and had to correct it," he said.
The cup was then apparently gifted to another man named Drapetis ("escapee" in Greek) who was possibly a slave servant or the owner of the tavern, said archaeologist Galini Daskalaki.
"This is a rare find, a genuine glimpse into a private moment," she said.
Ironically, the cup was found on Sparta street, Athens' great rival and nemesis in the Peloponnesian War that tore apart the Greek city-states for nearly 30 years.
General of Athens during the city's Golden Age, Pericles died of the plague in 429 BC during a Spartan siege.
The cup will be displayed in the autumn at the Epigraphical Museum in Athens. [AFP]
In the age of Obama the name of Pericles is thrust into the public discussion from dusty corners of the distant path. Regardless of whether or not this was “the” Pericles, just more evidence that G*d works in mysterious ways. A drunk Pericles was worth more than Obama’s whole administration.
LMAO!
Didn’t see your name on any post so thought you would be interested.
Extraordinary ‘find’ IMO.
...one of the other names listed, Ariphron, is that of Pericles' elder brother. "The name Ariphron is extremely rare," Angelos Matthaiou, secretary of the Greek Epigraphic Society, told the newspaper. "Having it listed above that of Pericles makes us 99 per cent sure that these are the two brothers," he said. The cup was likely used in a wine symposium when Pericles was in his twenties, and the six men who drank from it scrawled their names as a memento, Matthaiou said. "They were definitely woozy, as whoever wrote Pericles' name made a mistake and had to correct it," he said.I didn't check, but hope that this ping is in before the "archaeology is graverobbing" post.
lol
435 BC
I don’t think they were counting down back then. lol
So drunk he misspelled his name? That must have been a hell of a party. Betcha hetairae were present for the entertainment.
Heh, when he got to be first among equals, his chief advisor *was* one. :’D And how did that work out? He gave an impassioned harangue in favor of war with Sparta, and wound up dying of whatever the plague was (typhus?) during the siege in the early years of the war.
Thereafter the Athenians made significant progress, defeating the Spartans in a land battle near Pylos, resulting in a years-long truce. Instead of building on that victory by walling off their enemies and supporting helot uprisings against the Spartans, they decided to send a large expeditionary force to Sicily to conquer Syracuse, get their asses handed to them, and meanwhile carrying out sentences of death in ways reminiscent of Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”. I don’t think drunkenness was confined to Pericles.
archaeology is graverobbing - give me my families cup back!
Nice.
Wow. Gotta say this discovery blows my hair back!
As for the name misspelling, I can totally see someone else writing everyone’s name on there, and Pericles or his brother correcting him. (Or maybe it was the brother who couldn’t spell, leading to a “Hey, doofus!” moment from Pericles. ;)
Finders keepers! ;’)
Argh! Can’t we parley before you pull out the big legal terms?
A drunk Pericles was worth more than Obama’s whole administration.
***
Thanks for putting this into perspective. :)
I am struck also by the reference to the fact that Pericles died of the plague. Obama’s Ebola plague and his illegal alien TB plague come to mind.
The Syracuse expedition is a fascinating story, but you are right it was a blunder for the ages. As we would say today, Pericles had a lot of ‘splainin’ to do.
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