Posidippus, AB 87: the hippic victory of the Ptolemaic queen Berenice I at the Olympic games
Title
Posidippus, AB 87: the hippic victory of the Ptolemaic queen Berenice I at the Olympic games
Date
3rd century BCE
Type
Victory epigram
Source Type
Literary source
Commentary
The victorious horses are the narrators of the poem, a trope that is not uncommon in victory epigrams.
By referring to Berenice as a Maketa (Macedonian), the Macedonian origin of the Ptolemies is stressed; see also Posidippus, AB 78 and AB 88.
According to the epigram, Berenice has now surpassed Cynisca’s fame.
Translation
When we still were [foals], citizens of Pisa,
we brought to Berenice the Macedonian
the Olympian crown of renowned glory, by which we have taken away the
splendor that Cynisca had in Sparta for a long time.
we brought to Berenice the Macedonian
the Olympian crown of renowned glory, by which we have taken away the
splendor that Cynisca had in Sparta for a long time.
Translation used
translation by Christoph Begass for the Cynisca project
Text
π̣[ῶλοι] ἔθ’ ἁμὲϲ ἐοῦϲαι Ὀλυμ[πια]κ̣ὸν Βερενίκαϲ,
Π̣[ι]ϲ̣ᾶ̣[τ]α̣ι Μακέταϲ ἀγάγομ[ε]ϲ ̣ ϲτέφανον,
ὃϲ τ̣ὸ̣ [πο]λυθρύλα̣τον ἔχει κλ̣ε̣ό̣ϲ, ὧι τὸ Κυνίϲκαϲ
ἐν Ϲπ̣ά̣[ρ]ται χρόνιον κῦδοϲ ἀφειλόμεθα.
Π̣[ι]ϲ̣ᾶ̣[τ]α̣ι Μακέταϲ ἀγάγομ[ε]ϲ ̣ ϲτέφανον,
ὃϲ τ̣ὸ̣ [πο]λυθρύλα̣τον ἔχει κλ̣ε̣ό̣ϲ, ὧι τὸ Κυνίϲκαϲ
ἐν Ϲπ̣ά̣[ρ]ται χρόνιον κῦδοϲ ἀφειλόμεθα.
Edition used
F. Angiò – M. Cuypers – B. Acosta-Hughes – Elizabeth Kosmetatou (eds.), New Poems attributed to Posidippus: a text in progress, Version 15, July 2024.
Bibliography
Kainz, L. (2016), “We are the best, we are one, and we are Greeks!” Reflections on the Ptolemies’ participation in the Agones, in: C. Mann – S. Remijsen – S. Scharff (eds.), Athletics in the Hellenistic World. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner, 331–53.
Mann, C. (2018), Könige, Poleis und Athleten in hellenistischer Zeit, Klio 100, 447–79.
Meaker, M. (2024), Women at the Races: Female Victors at Greek hippikoi agones, in: C. Frank – G. Gilles – C. Plastow – L. Webb (eds.), Female Agency in the Ancient Mediterranean, Liverpool, 49–82.
Remijsen, S. – S. Scharff (2015), The Expression of Identities in Hellenistic Victor Epigrams, in: T. F. Scanlon (ed.), Greek Sport and Poetry (Classics@ 13), online.
Thompson, D.J. (2005), Posidippus, Poet of the Ptolemies, in: K.J. Gutzwiller (ed.), The New Posidippus: A Hellenistic Poetry Book, Oxford, 269–283
Mann, C. (2018), Könige, Poleis und Athleten in hellenistischer Zeit, Klio 100, 447–79.
Meaker, M. (2024), Women at the Races: Female Victors at Greek hippikoi agones, in: C. Frank – G. Gilles – C. Plastow – L. Webb (eds.), Female Agency in the Ancient Mediterranean, Liverpool, 49–82.
Remijsen, S. – S. Scharff (2015), The Expression of Identities in Hellenistic Victor Epigrams, in: T. F. Scanlon (ed.), Greek Sport and Poetry (Classics@ 13), online.
Thompson, D.J. (2005), Posidippus, Poet of the Ptolemies, in: K.J. Gutzwiller (ed.), The New Posidippus: A Hellenistic Poetry Book, Oxford, 269–283
Collection
Citation
“Posidippus, AB 87: the hippic victory of the Ptolemaic queen Berenice I at the Olympic games,” Cynisca: Documenting Women and Girls in Ancient Greek Sports, accessed December 22, 2024, https://fdz.bib.uni-mannheim.de/cynisca/items/show/176.