the attic stelai - The American School of Classical Studies at Athens

THE ATTIC STELAI 295
meaning of 'ladder.' In one case klimax follows the words for millstone and pestle; in
the other, those for millstone and mortar. For illustrations of ancient ladders, see G.
Nicole, Daremberg-Saglio, Dictionnaire, s.v. Scalae.
In Stele II, 27, the price of a klimax is clearly inscribed as 8' drachmas. The
price for the second ladder in line 28 is only partially preserved in the form of the
upper part of two vertical strokes. The sum could not be more than two drachmas.
The marked difference in price may be explained by the condition of the articles. There
are numerous references to klimakis, ' ship's ladder,' in the Athenian naval inventories
(I.G., 112, 1604 ff.), but the entries do not indicate prices.58 For comparative purposes,
however, reference mnay be made to prices for other wooden objects. Scantling for
oars (kopeis), for example, is stated by Andokides (II, On his Return, 11) to have
been worth five drachmas apiece at Samos in 411 B.C. The official price for this wood
for making oars was three drachmas apiece in 324 B.C.59 Oars of poor quality, which
had not stood proof, averaged two drachmas apiece in 346/5 B.C.?? The pole for
sounding the bottom of the sea was worth at least seven drachmas in 377/6 B.C.61 In
the Edict of Diocletian (Col. XIV, 6), the price of an ordinary large ladder of 30
rungs is 150 denarii.
11. KpEaypa (II, 133). Meat-hook. The main article on this word in Daremberg-
Saglio, Dictionnaire, is that of Saglio, s.v. Fuscinula; it is also discussed by Blanchet,
s.v. Harpago, and by Reinach, s.v. Veru. Robinson devotes a special section to the
kreagra and gives what appears to be the most complete bibliography.62
The kreagra was made of bronze or iron, and had a varying number of prongs.
It is most often grouped with kitchen utensils and is mentioned in connection with
meats.63 The scholiast on Aristophanes, Equites, 772, describes it as shaped like a hand
with the fingers slightly curved. As Rogers noted (ad Aristophanes, Eccl., 1002) the
kreagra was strictly speaking a ' flesh-hook,' but the term was applied figuratively to
any grappling-hook for fishing up articles from the depths, as, in the Ecclesiazusace
passage, a bucket from a well. This is another of our items which is mentioned in
Pollux, X (98).
One specimen was found at Olynthos, and Robinson lists similar implements
which have been found throughout the ancient world. There are several representations
on vases. The inventories of the Treasure of Athena include two kreagrai.64
58
It may be mentioned that in the Delian accounts of the hieropoioi of the period 314-250 B.C.
prices for making or repairing klimakes, but along with other objects, are contained in I.G., XI, 2,
144, line 42; 165, line 9; and 287 A, line 97.
59I.G., II2, 1631, line 372; A. Bockh, Urkunden jiber das Seewesen, Berlin, 1840, p. 114.
60 IG., II2, 1622, lines 390-397.
61 I.G., II2, 1604, line 29. See Bockh, op. cit., p. 126.
62
Olynthus, X, pp. 198-199.
63 Cf. Blanchet in Daremberg-Saglio, Dictionnaire, s.v. Harpago, 12a.
64 I.G. II2, 1425, line 416.