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Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology |
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| Department of Antiquities |
| The Parian Marble: What does it say? |
| Page 6 of 7 |
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The name of the compiler
of the Parian Marble is lost, but he covers the period from the accession
of King Cecrops in Athens in, according to him, 1581/0 BC to 264/3 BC,
doubtless the date of composition and of the inscription itself. For over
a hundred of these thirteen hundred years, he found events to record of
a very varied nature. He dates Deucalion's flood to 1528/7, the invention
of corn by Demeter to 1409/8 and the fall of Troy to 1209/8. He dates
Hesiod one generation earlier than Homer, in the late tenth century. As
he nears his own day, his account becomes fuller, but his chronology is
not always accurate and the reasons for his choice of events are not always
clear.
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The form of the entries is fairly consistent. For example, Entry 57 runs:
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Translated this reads:
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"From the year
in which the stone (a meteorite) fell at Aegospotami and Simonides the poet
died, having lived for 90 years, 205 years, in the archonship at Athens
of Theagenides (468/7 BC)."
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Last updated: 7-mar-2001 |
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