doi: 10.2143/AWE.15.0.3167471 AWE 15 (2016) 183-193 CALLATIS AND THE DELPHIC ORACLE: ON THE LOCAL PANTHEON OF A WEST PONTIC CITY (4TH–2ND CENTURIES BC) ADRIAN ROBU Abstract Three oracular inscriptions (ISM III 48–49) attest several old Megarian cults at Callatis. Bringing evidence from the Megarid, I argue that Dionysos Bakchos and Apollo Apotropaios have to be added to this group of deities. Besides, the list of deities ISM III 48 A could be interpreted as an official codification of the Callatian pantheon by the Delphic oracle, shortly after the foundation of the city (around 390–370 BC). I also discuss in the article two friezes from Callatis recently published that may illustrate Hera sitting on an omphalos, and this symbol refers to the oracular powers of the goddess. The religious and the political institutions of Callatis are often illuminated by the discoveries from Megara and its colonies. The Callatians reproduced the institutions of their mother-city, Heraclea Pontica, itself a colony of the Megarians and the Boeotians.1 In the corpus of inscriptions of Callatis, Alexandru Avram devoted a section of the volume to the Megarian cults found at Callatis. It is my intention to revisit this subject, especially by bringing here further evidence from Megarid. The Callatian pantheon is known mainly thanks to a series of oracular inscriptions mentioning several divinities (ISM III 48–49).2 According to the form of the letters, the list of divinities ISM III 48 A was dated to the 4th century BC; on the reverse of the stone a Delphic oracle, ISM III 48 B, was inscribed during the 2nd century BC (Figs. 1–2). This latter presents the same formula as ISM III 49, which belongs also to the 2nd century BC (Fig. 3). Apollo Pythios of Delphi is the god who delivered the oracles, since one document was restored with confidence: Πυ[θίου Ἀπόλλωνος χρησμοί]· | ὁ θεὸς ἔ[χρησε λόϊογ καὶ ἄμεινον εἶμεν] (ISM III 49, l. 3–4). The most ancient inscription of the series, ISM III 48 A, lists the following deities: Dionysos Patroos, Dionysos Bakchos, Aphrodite Pandemos, Peitho, Dasyllios, Artemis, Chthonia and Kronos. In this list, Dasyllios is the epiclesis of Dionysos, and Chthonia refers very probably to Demeter Chthonia. The two divinities were 1 Burstein 1976, 16–17; Robu 2014, 293–304. 2 ISM III 50 reports also a Delphic oracle, but this inscription is very fragmentary and mentions no deity. 184 A. ROBU Fig. 1: Callatis. List of deities, ISM III 48 A. Callatis Museum, Mangalia. Inventory no. 274. Photograph by author. Courtesy Callatis Museum. Fig. 2: Callatis. Delphic oracle, ISM III 48 B. Callatis Museum, Mangalia. Inventory no. 274. Photograph by author. Courtesy Callatis Museum. CALLATIS AND THE DELPHIC ORACLE 185 Fig. 3: Callatis. Delphic oracle, ISM III 49. Museum of National History and Archaeology, Constanța. Inventory no. 1453. Source: ISM III 49. Courtesy Museum of National History and Archaeology, Constanța. widely known at Callatis at this period, and this explains why they are named only by epiclesis.3 Indeed, an inscription attests an association of Demeter Chthonia (ISM III 40), while a sacred regulation mentions the sacrifices to perform to Dionysos and also the Dasylleion, i.e. the sanctuary of Dionysos Dasyllios (ISM III 47). Dionysos Patroos and Dionysos Dasyllios are certainly Megarian cults: they appear in the description of Megarid provided by Pausanias. Moreover, Pausanias attests two others deities mentioned by the list from Callatis. Pausanias saw in the temenos of Dionysos located in the Megarian agora the statues of Dionysos Patroos and of Dionysos Dasyllios. Next to this sanctuary was situated the temple of Aphrodite Praxis; one could admire here an ivory statue of the goddess, as well as the statues of Peitho and of Paregoros, these last two being the works of Praxiteles (Pausanias 1. 43. 5–6).4 Avram and Lefèvre suggest that the Callatians might have had the same organisation of the sacred area as the Megarians. Besides, since the 3 ISM III, pp. 92–93. 4 On the location of the sanctuaries of Dionysos and of Aphrodite in the agora of Megara, see Muller 1984, 260–61, 264–65. 186 A. ROBU archaeological finds indicate that the sacred area of Callatis was rebuilt (or re- founded) during the 4th century BC, the list of divinities could be considered as an official codification of the cultic reorganisation. They both wondered if the list from the 4th century BC was not established with the help of the Delphic oracle, because the same stele was reused in the 2nd century BC to inscribe on the reverse a Pythian oracle.5 They note that Demeter Chthonia, Artemis and Kronos belong also to the oldest group of divinities of Callatis, the only exception being Dionysos Bakchos, a cult which could be integrated the city’s pantheon during the 4th century BC.6 I would like to make here some comments on these oracular inscriptions and on the interpretation proposed by Avram and Lefèvre. First, we should stress the analo- gies, but also the differences, between the Callatian and Megarian pantheons. It should be noted that Dionysos Dasyllios gained autonomy at Callatis: the god is named only by the epiclesis Dasyllios and the Dasylleion appeared independently in a sacred regulation. On the other hand, Dionysos Dasyllios is celebrated at Megara in the same temple as Dionysos Patroos, and it is very probably that Dionysos Patroos was the main cult there, since his statue was the most ancient, being conse- crated by the seer Polyeidon when he built the temple. Euchenor, the grandson of Polyeidos, dedicated the statue of Dionysos Dasyllios.7 I believe that Dionysos Bakchos is also an old Megarian deity. The proof is pro- vided by an inscription mentioning in the imperial period a religious association called the ‘Old Bakcheion’ (τὸ παλαιὸν βακχεῖον).8 The adjective ‘old’ indicates the desire of the members of this group to stress their ancient origin and in this way to distinguish themselves from the members of more recent Dionysiac associations. 5 Avram and Lefèvre 1995, 21, wrote on the analogies between the sacred spaces of Callatis and of Megara: ‘On remarque aisément que la succession des divinités, dans la première partie de notre fragment, suit assez précisément la description of Pausanias. Ce dernier a vu à Mégare le sanctuaire de Dionysos, adoré avec les surnoms de Patrôos et de Dasyllios. Après (μετὰ δὲ), il a pu admirer dans le temple d’Aphrodite diverses œuvres, parmi lesquelles une statue de Peithô. On peut donc, dans les grandes lignes, calquer notre liste de divinités sur l’itinéraire mégarien du Périégète. (…) Ainsi, il est fort possible que l’on retrouve à Callatis un aménagement de l’espace religieux très semblable à ce qui existait à Mégare. Le rapprochement devient encore plus séduisant si l’on sait que le téménos de la cité pontique fut réaménagé (ou refondé) au cours du IVe siècle: notre texte était-il l’acte officiel sanction- nant ce réaménagement? Le fait que l’autre face de la stèle ait plus tard été utilisée pour transcrire des réponses de l’oracle pythique, auquel les Callatiens avaient visiblement souvent recours, autorise-t-il à penser que cette entreprise fut accompagnée préalablement d’une consultation à Delphes? Il est à ce jour impossible de répondre à ces questions.’ Cf. SEG 45. 911. 6 Avram and Lefèvre 1995, 21–22; ISM III, p. 92: ‘Le seul dieu qui n’appartient pas à cette catégorie d’anciennes divinités, bien qu’il figure dans la même liste, est Dionysos Βακχεύς dont le culte aurait pu pénétrer à Callatis aux environs de la date même de notre inscription.’ 7 Antonetti and Lévêque 1990, 201, 203. 8 Jaccottet 2003 II, 37–39, no. 6. CALLATIS AND THE DELPHIC ORACLE 187 Two goddesses appear in ISM III 48 A with epiclesis not yet attested at Megara: the cases of Demeter Chthonia and of Aphrodite Pandemos. The Megarians cele- brated only Demeter Thesmophoros, Demeter Malophoros, Aphrodite Praxis and Aphrodite Epistrophia, and all of these cults are presently unknown at Callatis.9 Kronos is not documented at Megara and its colonies, but we may expect that this god belonged to the old group of cults of Callatis.10 In short, the Callatians have not reproduced exactly the Megarian cults, and local particularism is important in establishing the pantheon of this West Pontic colony. A second point that needs to be highlighted is the question of the date of ISM III 48 A and the consequences for the history of Callatis. We have seen that the first editors proposed a reorganisation of the sacred area, or even a re-founda- tion, eventually after consulting the Delphic oracle. This thesis is based on the assumption that Callatis was founded at the end of the 6th century BC. Neverthe- less, the foundation of Callatis is not firmly established. The only source on this event is a passage of Ps.-Scymnus (F 4, ed. D. Marcotte) attesting that the city was founded at the time when Amyntas became king of Macedonia. But this is not precise information, since we have to choose between two Macedonian kings: Amyntas I (ca. 540–498 BC) and Amyntas III (ca. 390–370/69 BC).11 The archae- ological evidence is inconclusive on this matter; no ceramics discovered at Callatis predate the 4th century BC.12 We might ask if the connection between Aphrodite and Peitho that we find at Megara has an Archaic or a Classical origin. Pausanias reports that the statues of Peitho and Paregoros located in the Aphrodision was the work of Praxiteles (active ca.