The Pythia of Sicyon

• Autores: Andrew Farrington
• Localización: Nikephoros: Zeitschrift für Sport und Kultur im Altertum, ISSN 0934-8913, Nº. 26, 2013, págs. 109-137
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Several scholia to Pind. Nem. 9 assert that Cleisthenes of Sicyon founded the Sicyonian Pythia. This is very likely to have been the case since, although the historical tradition is generally very hostile to Cleisthenes, no attempt is made to deprive him of his part in the First Sacred War, whilst his role as founder of the Sicyonian Pythia is evident behind the scholia to Nem. 9. Cleisthenes probably founded the Sicyonian Pythia at a time of good relations between Sicyon and Delphi, although it is impossible to say when this was. Little help is offered by Pausanias� date of 582 BC for Cleisthenes� victory in the chariot race at the first iteration of the Delphic Pythia, as Aristotle and Callisthenes, who were probably Pausanias� source, are unlikely to have had access to information so far in Delphi�s past. However, since nothing occurred between Delphi and Sicyon subsequent to the end of Cleisthenes� reign to alter this positive picture of Cleisthenes, he probably did have good relations at some time with, and a presence, at Delphi. Although it is sometimes suggested that aspects of the remains of the >Tholos< and the >Monopteros< in the foundations of the Sicyonian treasury at Delphi indicate continuing good relations between Sicyon and Delphi from Cleisthenes onwards, there is not enough evidence to confirm this. The Sicyonian Pythia probably ceased between the mid 1st century AD and early 2nd century AD. They drew upon a fairly wide >intemational< catchment area. Despite being a festival of Apollo, they may not have had a thymelic or musical component. They were instituted perhaps as a response to the foundation of the Isthmia. Although the Sicyonian Pythia were founded at about the same time as the Delphic Pythia, the Isthmia and the Nemea, all contests of the periodos, the connection of the Sicyonian Pythia with Cleisthenes may have lessened their popularity during the crucial time during which the periodos crystallized. The subsequent historical obscurity of Sicyon may be the reason why the Pythia did not later attract the patronage of the Roman emperor.