Theran Graffiti. Per una rilettura delle epigrafi omoerotiche arcaiche di Santorini

Near the terrace of Apollo Carnaeus’ temple of Thera one can read a number of inscriptions engraved in the local Schlangenschrift (IG XII 3, 537-550), variously dated by scholars between the 7th and 6th centuries BC. These texts, more or less explicitly, refer to institutionalised homoerotic relationships within the community of the archaic polis, not unlike those attested in Sparta and Crete. Through a re-reading of the epigraphs and their linguistic analysis, placing them in dialogue with each other, the paper aims to understand the nature and possible purposes of their content. More specifically, the contribution aims to verify whether they should be read as obscene inscriptions aimed at slandering the subjects mentioned, or whether, on the contrary, they are record and expression of a particular moment of some important actors in the life of the community in a context with a strong religious character. To this end, the contribution focuses in particular on IG XII 3, 537a, proposing a new interpretation in the context of archaic social dynamics within a community with an undeniably aristocratic character, and sets out to highlight possible repercussions in the sphere of internal political relations.