Stratonikos, son of Stratos

Stratonikos, son of Stratos

Greece, Ancient

Funerary art

Hellenistic

The stele is in the form of a naiskos, with carved and painted architectural details; the roof is indicated with incisions. There is a preserved tang at the bottom to fit into a base. The epistyle block is inscribed with the deceased name, and a longer prose inscription is found at the top of the painted scene. The painted scene is framed by the pilasters of the naiskos form and depicts a standing young man on the left and a seated man on the right. The standing man, dressed in a short red chiton and a white himation draped over his left shoulder, grasps the right hand of the seated man, most likely Stratonikos the deceased. The seated man is swathed in a himation that covers his legs. Both men wear footwear. The bench on which the man sits is topped by a cushion.

A small black herm (Hermes Chthonios) is drawn at the bottom of the right pilaster of the naiskos.

An inscription is carved shallowly on the epistyle in letters painted black. Under the epistyle is carved a metrical inscription in smaller letters.

ΣΤΡΑΤΟΝΙΚΟΣ ΣΤΡΑΤΩΝΟΣ; Stratonikos, son of Stratōn; ψυχὴν μὲν ἐνείδομεν, ἣ προελίνπα-νεν· ὀστέα δὲ ὧδε μητρί τε καὶ ἀδελφῇ ἀνιηρὸν κῆδος ἵκανεν; We observe your life that has forsaken you. So bones have arrived as a unholy care for your mother and sister (Tina Salowey).

A.S. Arvanitopoulos, Θεσσαλικὰ Μνημεῖα. Ἀθανασάκειον Μουσείον ἐν Βολῷ Ι. (Athens 1909) 122-127.; A.S. Arvanitopoulos, Graptai Stelai Demetriados-Pagason (Athens 1928). 143 – 46; fig. 166 – 169; Plate 1.; Ch. Charitonides, Mnemosyne 1919, 116.

250-225 BCE (creation)

Tina Salowey

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Part of Greek in the Wild: Inscriptions Explained

marble (rock) (White marble with pigments, complete except for wear and tear)

painting (image-making), inscriptions

Ancient Greek

object (utilitarian)

tombstones (sepulchral monuments)

stelae

stratonikos 1

Demetrias, Magnisía, Thessaly, Greece (discovery)

Volos