Hellenic Migrations and Katadesmos: A Paradigm of Macedonian Speech
Marcus Alexander Templar
THE LANGUAGE OF KATADESMOS[83]
GENERAL
Katadesmoi (sing. katadesmos) or defixios are binding spells cast by an individual in order to incapacitate the opposition, yet written as if a virtuous prayer. The earliest katadesmoi we have is from Sicily dated to the first half of the sixth century and the fifth century BC in Attica.[84]
“Most often, the spell was inscribed on a lead strip or sheet that was then folded and tied or pierced with a nail and buried in or near a recent grave.”[85] Although it is believed that early katadesmoi used in earlier times were engraved on pieces of metal, in time it became a preferable practice to use a durable material such as lead so that they would last indefinitely and along with them the wish. The referred to text was found rolled up in a tomb by the right hand of a deceased in the cemetery of the Agora, it is the only document we have written by a simple person in the language of simple people.
Before the adoption of the Ionic alphabet, Macedonia was using the Corinthian alphabet due to its proximity to Potidaea in the Peninsula of Cassandra, a Corinthian colony founded in around 600 BC. The scroll’s alphabet is clearly Ionic, which applies to all Northwest dialects at the end of the fifth and beginning of the fourth centuries, but for Macedonia the adoption of the Ionic alphabet took place earlier. Coins minted in Macedonia indicate the use of Ionic alphabet during the time of King Alexander I (495 – 450 BC) attesting that Macedonia had already adopted the Ionic alphabet during the early years of the first half of the fifth century BC, approximately 75 years before Athens.[1] Athens adopted the same under the archonship of Euclides in 403/2 BC.
Scholars have already explained the grammatical and syntactical aspects of the scroll offering their valuable opinion. I will only touch on the points that in my view need more analysis and on one occasion, I hope to offer my contribution to the scroll’s text.
Katadesmos facsimile[86]
1. [ΘΕΤΙ]ΜΑΣ ΚΑΙ ΔΙΟΝΥΣΟΦΩΝΤΟΣ ΤΟ ΤΕΛΟΣ ΚΑΙ ΤΟΝ ΓΑΜΟΝ ΚΑΤΑΓΡΑΦΩ ΚΑΙ ΤΑΝ ΑΛΛΑΝ ΠΑΣΑΝ ΓΥ
2. [ΝΑΙΚ]ΩΝ ΚΑΙ ΧΗΡΑΝ ΚΑΙ ΠΑΡΘΕΝΩΝ ΜΑΛΙΣΤΑ ΔΕ ΘΕΤΙΜΑΣ ΚΑΙ ΠΑΡΚΑΤΤΙΘΕΜΑΙ ΜΑΚΡΩΝΙ ΚΑΙ
3. [ΤΟΙΣ] ΔΑΙΜΟΣΙ ΚΑΙ ΟΠΟΚΑ ΕΓΩ ΤΑΥΤΑ ΔΙΕΛΕΞΑΙΜΙ ΚΑΙ ΑΝΑΓΝΟΙΗΝ ΠΑΛLΙΝ ΑΝΟΡΟΞΑΣΑ
4. [ΤΟΚΑ] ΓΑΜΑΙ ΔΙΟΝΥΣΟΦΩΝΤΑ ΠΡΟΤΕΡΟΝ ΔΕ ΜΗ, ΜΗ ΓΑΡ ΛΑΒΟΙ ΑΛΛΑΝ ΓΥΝΑΙΚΑ ΑΛΛ Η ΕΜΕ
5. [ΕΜΕ Δ]Ε ΣΥΝΚΑΤΑΓΗΡΑΣΑΙ ΔΙΟΝΥΣΟΦΩΝΤΙ ΚΑΙ ΜΗΔΕΜΙΑΝ ΑΛΛΑΝ ΙΚΕΤΙΣ ΥΜΩΝ ΓΙΝΟ
6. [ΜΑΙ· …]ΑΝ ΟIΚΤΙΡΕΤΕ ΔΑΙΜΟΝΕΣ ΦΙΛ[Ο]Ι, ΔΑΓΙΝΑ ΓΑΡ ΙΜΕ ΦΙΛΩΝ ΠΑΝΤΩΝ ΚΑΙ ΕΡΗΜΑ· ΑΛΛΑ
7. [....]Α ΦΥΛΑΣΣΕΤΕ ΕΜΙΝ Ο[Π]ΩΣ ΜΗ ΓΙΝΕΤΑΙ ΤΑ[Υ]ΤΑ ΚΑΙ ΚΑΚΑ ΚΑΚΩΣ ΘΕΤΙΜΑ ΑΠΟΛΗΤΑΙ
8. [....]ΑΛ<> .ΥΝ Μ_ _ΕΣ ΠΛΗΝ ΕΜΟΣ ΕΜΕ ΔΕ [Ε]Υ[Δ]ΑΙΜΟΝΑ ΚΑΙ ΜΑΚΑΡΙΑΝ ΓΕΝΕΣΤΑΙ
9. [-]ΤΟ[.].[-].[..]..Ε.Ε.Ω[?]Α.[.]Ε..ΜΕΓΕ [-]
Grammatical and Syntactical Characteristics of Katadesmos:
-ᾱ for -η. One of the persistent characteristics of all dialects except Attic-Ionic is that the original ᾱ remains unchanged. Glosses such as Θετίμα, ταπινά, ἒρημα, κακά demonstrate the rule. The text maintains the ᾱ (long a), something that Ionic and Attic had long lost. The original vowel was ᾱ in all dialects, but in Ionic/Attic it developed to the sound of ē represented by η. No other dialect followed the example of Ionic/Attic. However, as the Ionic and Attic dialects developed away from each other, Attic partially turned its pronunciation around changing its η (long ē) to ᾱ only after ρ, ι, and ε as in χῶρα, οἰκία, and γενεά. Ionic did not change its pronunciation at all. Thus although the presence of ᾱ is noticed, this ᾱ now is not the original ᾱ.
The nouns and adjectives falling into the above category, in general, form their genitive plural in α as in τᾶν, ἄλλαν, πασᾶν, χηρᾶν, instead of τῶν, ἄλλων, πασῶν, χηρῶν. Some scholars expressed the opinion that glosses such as γυναικῶν, παρθένων should be γυναικᾶν, παρθέναν indicating Attic influence. Such opinion would be correct if the gloss γυνά were of the 1st declension, but it is not. Although the gloss γυνά in its nominative singular form follows the 1st declension,[88] the rest of the noun follows the 3rd declension and because of it, the rule does not apply.[89] The gloss παρθένων belongs to the second declension with nominative παρθένος and thus it does not fall under the rule. The rule α for η does not always apply.[90] In the case of original η which represented the ē the η remains unchanged. Thus the Attic/Ionic gloss μήτηρ remained μᾱτηρ in the other dialects.[91]
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