The Parian Marble
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| The Parian Marble: What does it say? | |||
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| The name of the compiler of the Parian Marble is lost, but he covers the period from the accession of King Cecrops in Athens in, according to him, 1581/0 BC to 264/3 BC, doubtless the date of composition and of the inscription itself. For over a hundred of these thirteen hundred years, he found events to record of a very varied nature. He dates Deucalion's flood to 1528/7, the invention of corn by Demeter to 1409/8 and the fall of Troy to 1209/8. He dates Hesiod one generation earlier than Homer, in the late tenth century. As he nears his own day, his account becomes fuller, but his chronology is not always accurate and the reasons for his choice of events are not always clear. | |||
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The form of the entries is fairly consistent. For example, Entry 57 runs: |
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Translated this reads: |
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"From the year in which the stone (a meteorite) fell at Aegospotami and Simonides the poet died, having lived for 90 years, 205 years, in the archonship at Athens of Theagenides (468/7 BC)." |
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