Apollodoros has read aloud the oath sworn by the “venerable women,” who assist the king archon’s wife in performing sacrifices. He then says that after Phano performed these rites, the Areopagos inquired about her status.
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ἱεροκήρυκα: an official at the Eleusinian Mysteries chosen from the Kerykes γένος
τὰς γεραράς τάς: Dilts 2009 removes the second τάς, which is unnecessary and had been added in by Reiske. Τhe Gerarai (literally “venerable women”) were the fourteen priestesses of Dionysos.
ἐν κανοῖς: “amongst baskets,” “as they carry the baskets”; Carey 1992: 125 suggests that the baskets held either offerings for Dionysos, or a knife for slaughtering an animal and barley for sprinkling on the sacrificial animal’s head.
τῶν ἱερῶν: τὰ ἱερά = “sacred offerings,” “sacred rituals,” or in particular “sacrificial victims.” The latter meaning is most likely here (see Carey 1992: 63).
ὅρκος γεραρῶν: The oath is probably genuine, but it may or may not be the complete oath.
συνουσίας: here with a sexual sense
τὰ θεοίνια...τὰ ἰοβάκχεια: the Theoinia is a festival in honor of Dionysos celebrated by each γένος; the Iobakcheia is another festival (perhaps celebrated as a private cult ritual) in honor of Dionysos; what it involved is uncertain, but its name comes from “Io Bakche,” which revelers cry out.
γεραρῶ: “I will celebrate” < γεραίρω
κατὰ τὰ πάτρια: “in accordance with ancestral custom,” “in the traditional manner”
καθήκουσι < καθήκω, of time, “to be regular, proper”; it is not known what days these were, exactly.
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τοῦ…πατρίων: genitive governed by ἀκηκόατε (< ἀκούω: here, “hear about, of” [S. 1365]); the verb also looks ahead to the following ὡς and ὅτι clauses.
ὁρώσαις < ὁράω; take as its object τὰ ἱερά.
τὰ ἱερά: “sacred rituals”
δι’ ἀπορρήτου γεγενημένην: “given in secret.” The adjective ἀπόρρητος literally means “not to be spoken”; the phrase means “in secret” (the same with ἐν ἀπορρήτῳ, below).
αὐτοῖς τοῖς πεπραγμένοις: dative of means or instrument
οὖσαν: participle in indirect statement; the subject is αὐτήν (i.e. the testimony).
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τὰ ἱερά: “sacred rituals”
Ἄρειον πάγον: the Areopagos (“Hill of Ares”), located northwest of the Acropolis in Athens.
ἡ βουλὴ ἡ ἐν Ἀρείῳ: the Areopagos council. It was made up of former archons, who served on the council for life. In the earliest days of Athens, the Areopagos served as council to the king; its powers were greatly reduced over time, and by the classical period its jurisdiction was limited to murder, premeditated wounding, arson, poisoning, and destruction of the sacred olive trees. Patteson (1978: 111–12) suggests that the council was reporting on the most recent Anthesteria; although reports on the conduct of festivals were normally presented to the Assembly, rather than the Areopagos, it could be there wasn’t an assembly devoted to the Anthesteria (1978: 111–12), and/or that that the antiquity of the Anthesteria might have placed it under the Areopagos’ jurisdiction (Carey 1992: 126). Kapparis 1999: 349 suggests instead that the council was simply acting in its capacity to conduct certain kinds of investigations into religious matters.
τἄλλα: “in other respects”
ἐζήτει: “investigated” (impf.) + acc. and indirect question
ἐξήλεγχεν: “found out the truth” (impf.)
πρόνοιαν ἐποιεῖτο: “gave thought, took care”
ἐζημίου: “was going to assess a fine” < ζημιόω: conative imperfect (see §13 and S. 1895). As emerges later, the fine did not come to pass.
ὅσα κυρία ἐστίν: “insofar as it (the council) is sovereign,” i.e., with the stiffest penalty it had the authority to impose
διὰ κοσμιότητος: “with due regard for propriety,” so as not to embarrass the parties involved
