# Acesander's cup

The Cup of Acesander (also Hakesandros or Hakesander) is a drinking cup from ancient Methone, a city in Macedonia (corresponding to modern Methoni, Pieria), that contains one of the earliest found inscriptions in the Greek alphabet. Dated from the first half of the eighth century BC (c. 750–720), the pot was made for use at symposia and was discovered during the archaeological excavations of 2003–04. The inscription, written in the Euboean alphabet, functions as an ownership tag and includes a short humorous curse in iambic verse that warns drinkers against stealing the cup. Along with similar inscriptions of the same period, the text is seen as an early indication of literacy and sympotic poetry in ancient Greece. The cup has been important for the study of the early Greek alphabet and epigraphy.

## Artifact

The cup of Acesander, identified as a skyphos, was discovered along with several other inscribed drinking vessels in a sealed deposit in Methoni, Pieria. A contemporary of the earlier discovered and better preserved Nestor's Cup, the vessel is securely dated to the first half of the eighth century BC. Nelson (2023) writes that the discovery of Acesander's cup confirms that poetry was written by the mid-eighth century BC; Lopez-Ruiz (2022) dates the cup between 750 and 735 BC. Janko (2015) places Acesander's cup among the other early Greek alphabet writings in 730 BC or earlier, while Tzifopoulos, Bessios, and Kotsonas (2017) date it between c. 730 and 720 BC. The existence of pottery with Euboean script in Methone from this particular date appears to support Plutarch's accounts that the city was founded by Eretrian settlers in the first half of the eighth century BC. This evidence from Methone is also in line with the theory that the Euboeans likely played an important role in the recording and diffusion of Homeric poetry.

## Inscription

The inscription on Acesander's cup parallels that of several contemporary drinking vessels including the Nestor's Cup, both of which testify to an early poetic culture that accompanied the ritualized drinking of wine. The cup of Acesander showcases a carefully written inscription running around the vessel along a decorative band that was created by a skilled inscriber. This early epigraphic evidence points to the beginnings of literacy in ancient Greece, as the alphabet, epigraphic formulas, and techniques, not strictly confined to a bureaucratic environment, gradually begin to extend to aspects of everyday life, most notably in sympotic contexts, and are shared by individuals of different social and economic backgrounds. The inscription appears to follow an iambic rhythm (υ – υ – υ –). It consists of a short iambic dimeter ot trimeter, possibly the earliest recorded example of this kind, that follows the initial ownership tag in prose. The language indicates that the text was composed in a playful tone and that the cup was meant to be used in a sympotic context. The cup follows the conventional formula of a witty ownership tag, here taking the form of a good-humored curse, which became a common epigraphic trope in ancient Greek pottery, particularly on vessels meant to be used in a friendly circle of symposiasts.
Although preserved in fragments, the text has been approximately reconstructed following the language of similar vessels of the same period. Comparative interpretation of sympotic inscriptions indicates that Acesander's cup is not an isolated example, but part of an epigraphic tradition with wide diffusion in space and time. The initial verb εἰμί "I am" indicates that the cup uses the familiar formula of the speaking object i.e. "I belong to X". A probable restoration of the ownership tag includes Ηακεσάνδρο εμ[ί ποτέριον] "I am Hakesaner's [cup]". The final verb, which is securely restored as στερήσ[ετ]αι ("will be deprived", the third singluar future form of στεροῦμαι), is preceded by the word ]ατον or ]ατων, which is commonly reconstructed as [ομμ]άτων "eyes" or [χρημ]άτων "money". Subsequently, based on the vocabulary of vessels with similar inscriptions, the text can be approximately reconstructed as:
According to the analysis and proposed reconstructions, a probable translation would be "I am Hakesandros' cup, no one shall steal me, because whoever steals me, will be deprived of his eyes/ money". A different proposal follows that, if Acesander happened to be a medic, as his name may suggest, the cup may have promised to relieve the drinker from his pains; πημ]άτων. The script can be identified as Euboean and bears most common features with the Eretrian. These features include the letter Mu (Μ μ) which is written with five, instead of the standard four, strokes and the letter Delta (Δ δ) which is rounded above and has an angle below, both features also appearing on the Nestor's Cup from Pithekoussai. Rare in Euboean is the Alpha that is rounded on the right side, although it does appear in Ereteria.