I.Iasos 52 e il culto di Zeus Idrieus

Abstract

I.Iasos 52 and the cult of Zeus Idrieus.
This contribution presents a new edition of I.Iasos 52, a decree honouringan Iasian citizen, Theodoros son of Hegyllos, who is awarded, for itsmerits, among other honours, the title of priest of Zeus Idrieus. Particularattention is paid to the cult title ‘Idrieus’, which several scholars have interpretedas referring to the name of the satrap Idrieus (351/0 – 344/3 BC)and as evidence of a divine cult in his honour. There are, however, importantarguments for understanding the title instead in a geographic-ethnicsense, as deriving from the Carian sub-region called Idrias, a viewalready expressed by Pugliese Carratelli. Even if one accepts the possibilitythat the satrap Idrieus and/or the founders of the cult played withthe ambiguity of the epiklesis, the most important conclusion to drawwould still be that Iasos, after the repression of the conspiracy againstMausolus (I.Iasos 1), had become a city deeply connected to the Hekatomnids and had for this reason become closely linked also to the Carianworld. Theodoros son of Hegyllos was probably either the founder or theson of the founder of the cult; nevertheless, it is also possible that he hadbrought it to new splendour. Since I.Iasos 52 can be dated to the decadeof Alexander the Great’s rule, Theodoros must have been a member of aphilo-Hecatomnid family, which had welcomed the ‘Carianizing’ policyencouraged by the satraps: the very existence of the decree and the continuedinterest of Iasos in the cult after the Macedonian conquest of Cariaindicate the abiding prestige of the members of the philo-Hecatomnidélite even after the Persian defeat.
roby.fabiani@alice.it