Valerius Harpokration, Lexicon in Decem Oratores Atticos s.v. Δεκατεύειν (Δ16 Keaney): female participants of the rites in Brauron

Valerius Harpokration, Lexicon in Decem Oratores Atticos s.v. Δεκατεύειν (Δ16 Keaney): female participants of the rites in Brauron

1st/2nd century CE (?)

Lexicon

Literary source

On this ritual, see Christopher A. Faraone, “Playing the Bear and Fawn for Artemis: Female Initiation or Substitute Sacrifice?” in David B. Dodd/Christopher A. Faraone (eds.), Initiation in Ancient Greek Rituals and Narratives: New Critical Perspectives, London 2003, 43-68.

“To tithe”: (…) Demosthenes in his Against Medon says the following about some maiden “not to tithe or initiate her”. Didymos the grammarian, writing a book about this speech, says that Lysias stated in the (speech) About the daughter of Phrynichos that to tithe is to serve as bear. To tithe, he says, therefore surely referred to the act of consecrating, since indeed it was a Greek habit to consecrate the tenth parts of the spoils of war to the gods. Perhaps the orator says that to tithe is to serve as bear because the ten-year-old girls tended to serve as bears.

translation by Alexander Meeus for the Cynisca project

Δεκατεύειν· (...) Δημοσθένους δ’ ἐν τῷ Κατὰ Μέδοντος περί τινος παρθένου λέγοντος οὕτως: “οὐ δεκατεῦσαι ταύτην οὐδὲ μυῆσαι,” Δίδυμος ὁ γραμματικὸς περὶ τούτου βιβλίον γράψας φησὶν ὅτι τὸ δεκατεῦσαι Λυσίας ἐν τῷ Περὶ τῆς Φρυνίχου θυγατρὸς ἀρκτεῦσαι εἴρηκεν. δεκατεῦσαι μέντοι, φησίν, ἐλέγετο κυρίως τὸ καθιερῶσαι, ἐπειδήπερ ἔθος ἦν Ἑλληνικὸν τὰς δεκάτας τῶν περιγινομένων τοῖς θεοῖς καθιεροῦν. ἴσως δὲ τὸ ἀρκτεῦσαι δεκατεῦσαι εἴρηκεν ὁ ῥήτωρ, ἐπειδὴ αἱ δεκέτιδες ἤρκτευον.

Wilhelm Dindorf (ed.), Harpocrationis Lexicon in decem oratores Atticos, Oxford 1853.