古典期アテナイの神事解釈者(exegetai)
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概要
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There were many kinds of state officials involved in the administration of the democracy in classical Athens. We can confirm some of them in Athenaion Politeia by Aristotle. Athens also had many religious state officials, priests, religious assistants and consultants for deliberation and supervision of religious matters or performing festivals, rituals and rites. Exegetes (pl. exegetai) is one of these religious professions. The characteristics, features and roles of the exegetai in classical Athens are discussed. Exegetai make an appearance in Laws by Plato. They are not priests, but high state officials who engage in legislation, consultation and expounding the laws or religious conventions. It seems that nine persons were elected by the people and then three appointed by Delphi. Not of all the description by Plato is a reflection of exegetai in classical Athens, but with due regard for the account of exegetes in Euthyphro, which seems to describe a real event of consulting exegetes, the author thinks that the reference to exegetai in Plato's Laws reflects the facts to some extent. Previous studies about types, roles and distribution of office duties of exegetai have chiefly depended upon inscriptions after the 2nd century B.C. and an explanation about exegetai by Timaios and other lexicographers. However, the Timaios' definition of exegetai is only a summary of descriptions of exegetai in Plato's Laws. Therefore, we should not apply the pictures of exegetai after the 2nd century B.C. to that of exegetai in classical Athens. As the result of studying historical materials on the exegetai, there were two types of exegetes in classical Athens. One was an exegetes of the Athenian state and the other was exegetai of the Eumolpidae. According to the relations of exegetes with gods and temples, they were not priests, but state officials for life. They had some relation to Delphi. There was one exegetes of Athens and was engaged in expounding and instructing with regard to sacred and ancestral laws (patria) or customs about purifications, festivals, rituals, funerals, weddings and so on. There were several exegetai of the Eumolpidae and they chiefly took part in the Eleusinian Mysteries. Finally, the author regards Lampon as an exegetes in classical Athens. Lampon was a friend of Perikles and a famous diviner. He had greater competence and authority than a diviner and played an important role as an exegetes in an inscription in late 5th century B.C.(IG, I^3, 78). The results of my study will provide some clues to the answer questions about the origin and transition of exegetai. This will be my next subject.
- 日本西洋古典学会の論文
- 1995-03-10