Question about ancient Greek envoys

[Kyriakos]

I recently read that a special kind of envoy, used to invite a Polis to panhellenic games (eg Olympic or Delphic, etc), was termed Theoros (Θεωρός). The members of the Polis who recieved him also had a particular capacity and the title of Theorodokhos (Θεωροδόκος), which merely means the one who recieves the Theoros.
I have a couple of questions on this:

-What does Theoros literally mean? (any undisputed etymology?). Similar terms still exist in Greek, such as 'theoreion' or 'epitheoretes', but i am not sure if theoros precisely means seer/overseer/examiner and so on

-Were the Theoroi limited to non-war envoy missions?

-Did they originate from War preparations (eg some large campaign needing more Politeiai to take part) or peaceful events? (such as the mentioned panhellenic games).

 

[diegosimeone]

I'll give you that it's a tricky one but I think that you should have known it. You probably do know but just haven't tackled it
Its etymology is believed to come from 'theos' + watch', meaning something like the godly guard. Θεο-ωρός/=/θεωρός. The Theoroi were not really envoys, or at least any sort of envoys. They usually were rich citizens who funded some rituals, mostly oracle ones. They possessed some important religious items and probably funded for them themselves.
So the term 'theoros' is like the word 'thyroros' (θυρωρός) which means the guard("watcher") of the door. So the Theoroi were some sort of religious protectors and were considered very prestigious citizens. Guards of god or something. So something above a high priest.
The etymology is not undisputed but it's the most accurate version I've seen. It's not very related to 'theory' as that would just be an observer. We have quite some info on them, enough to dispute anything that dismisses anything other than the etymology I've just shared with you.

So the Theoroi were used for religious-content events only. The panhellenic games were devoted to various gods and there usually was money involved, so who better to send? You can think of it as some sort of rich man's club under the umbrella of the state. I'm not sure their origin is mentioned anywhere but my guess would be a place where a powerful oracle was present and hosted an important festival that all (important) Greeks could attend, give or take 20-50 years after its initiation.

 

[Kyriakos]

Thanks. It seems the term was used for non-religious envoys too, although i am not sure if its origin was just for religious purposes...

 

[diegosimeone]

Can you find me an example (authentic; in Greek) where that is mentioned? I don't think I've come across that term otherwise. Perhaps the situations you've seen shared the same patron god/goddess? If not, then something is off with the previous etymology and it has to be something else.
If it was randomly used 500-1000 years after its original date (which could probably be at any point between 10th and 8th century BC), it's not an issue though.

 

[Kyriakos]

Can you find me an example (authentic; in Greek) where that is mentioned? I don't think I've come across that term otherwise. Perhaps the situations you've seen shared the same patron god/goddess? If not, then something is off with the previous etymology and it has to be something else.
If it was randomly used 500-1000 years after its original date (which could probably be at any point between 10th and 8th century BC), it's not an issue though.

Plato, Republic
τοῦτο μὲν ἄρα ὑπαρκτέον, θεωροὺς πολέμου τοὺς παῖδας ποιεῖν, προσμηχανᾶσθαι δ᾽ αὐτοῖς ἀσφάλειαν, καὶ καλῶς ἕξει: ἦ γάρ;
Starting, then, from this assumption that we are to make the boys spectators of war, we must further contrive1 security for them and all will be well, will it not?

Demosthenes, On the False Embassy
ἁπάντων γὰρ ὑμῶν τουτωνὶ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων Ἀθηναίων οὕτω δεινὰ καὶ σχέτλι᾽ ἡγουμένων τοὺς ταλαιπώρους πάσχειν Φωκέας ὥστε μήτε τοὺς ἐκ τῆς βουλῆς θεωροὺς μήτε τοὺς θεσμοθέτας εἰς τὰ Πύθια πέμψαι
While you who are here and all other Athenians regarded the treatment of the Phocians as scandalous and outrageous, insomuch that you would not send any member of council or any judge to represent you at the Pythian games

 

[diegosimeone]

The second one definitely refers to the Pythian games which are one of the oldest so it's used in the correct context.

Plato's use of the word as an adjective of the noun 'war' is what makes it interesting and fuzzy. I think he doesn't talk about the Theoroi as envoys but rather as young men sent to battle, ie witness war etc. I don't remember that particular abstract so I'm not sure what the context is. I think the translation is spot on there as Plato should be talking about spectators of war and not young envoys.

This is one of those words that has the 'daseies' and all that older stuff that kids stopped being taught at school so in modern Greek it sounds and feels the same...