Tale and dream: The text and compositional history of the corpus of Epidaurian miracle cures

The corpus of healing reports from the worship of Asklepios at Epidauros, the Iamata (cures), survives in the form of four large stelai, IG IV\sp2 I, 121-4. These fourth-century stelai preserve approximately 70 tales of healings and other miraculous events. It is generally agreed that the corpus represents a collection of tales from individual votive plaques dedicated by suppliants, combined with an oral and/or priestly tradition, but there has been little study of the sources for tales and the manner in which they were compiled. Form-critical analysis of the tales on each stele reveals several groups which share thematic material and/or linguistic style. These groups and patterns suggest divergent sources and a variety of conditions influencing the formation of the tales. Some groups may indicate that officials or votive-sellers could recast the details told them by the grateful patients into a convenient or devotionally correct format, creating resemblances or families of tales. This may have occasionally involved the introduction of narrative elements to reflect the pictorial representation on a votive which a merchant may have already had in stock. Orally-circulating stories inspired by certain votives or other elements in the sanctuary may also have played a role in forming relationships between disparate tales. The groupings of tales also suggest two or more previous episodes of collection of tales from votives, occurring at different times in the sanctuary\u27s development, and reflecting the aims and concerns of the patients and authorities at different periods. The identification of these groups opens up the possibility of establishing of a relative chronology for the Iamata, which indicates changes over time in the aims and concerns of the sanctuary officials and in the types of dreams and miracles expected by suppliants at different periods. This adds a further level of significance to the study of a corpus which is already a valuable source of information about personal religious thought and activity in the late Classical period

Tale and dream: The text and compositional history of the corpus of Epidaurian miracle cures

The corpus of healing reports from the worship of Asklepios at Epidauros, the Iamata (cures), survives in the form of four large stelai, IG IV\sp2 I, 121-4. These fourth-century stelai preserve approximately 70 tales of healings and other miraculous events. It is generally agreed that the corpus represents a collection of tales from individual votive plaques dedicated by suppliants, combined with an oral and/or priestly tradition, but there has been little study of the sources for tales and the manner in which they were compiled. Form-critical analysis of the tales on each stele reveals several groups which share thematic material and/or linguistic style. These groups and patterns suggest divergent sources and a variety of conditions influencing the formation of the tales. Some groups may indicate that officials or votive-sellers could recast the details told them by the grateful patients into a convenient or devotionally correct format, creating resemblances or families of tales. This may have occasionally involved the introduction of narrative elements to reflect the pictorial representation on a votive which a merchant may have already had in stock. Orally-circulating stories inspired by certain votives or other elements in the sanctuary may also have played a role in forming relationships between disparate tales. The groupings of tales also suggest two or more previous episodes of collection of tales from votives, occurring at different times in the sanctuary\u27s development, and reflecting the aims and concerns of the patients and authorities at different periods. The identification of these groups opens up the possibility of establishing of a relative chronology for the Iamata, which indicates changes over time in the aims and concerns of the sanctuary officials and in the types of dreams and miracles expected by suppliants at different periods. This adds a further level of significance to the study of a corpus which is already a valuable source of information about personal religious thought and activity in the late Classical period