Description of Greece (Books IX–X: Boeotia, Phocis) — Pausanias
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ΠΑΥΣΑΝΙΟΥ ΕΛΛΑΔΟΣ ΠΕΡΙΗΓΗΣΙΣ
Translation/edition: A. R. Shilleto (1886)
Language: English
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## Description of Greece


## Book IX — Boeotia

[9.1] Bœotia is contiguous to Attica, and Platæa to Eleutheræ. The Bœotians got that name for all the race from Bœotus, who they say was the son of Itonus the son of Amphictyon and the Nymph Melanippe. Their towns are called sometimes after men but more frequently after women. The Platæans were I think the original inhabitants of the land, and they got their name from Platæa the daughter of the river-god Asopus. That they were originally ruled over by kings is I think clear: for in old times kingdoms were all over Greece, there were no democratic governments. But the Platæans know of no other kings but Asopus and still earlier Cithæron, one of whom gave his name to the mountain and the other to the river. And I cannot but think that Platæa, who gave her name to the town, was the daughter of the king Asopus and not of the river-god.
[9.1] The Platæans did nothing memorable before the battle which the Athenians fought at Marathon, but they took part in that struggle after the landing of Xerxes, and ventured to embark on ships with the Athenians, and repelled on their own soil Mardonius, the son of Gobryas, the General of Xerxes. And it twice happened to them to be driven from their country and again restored to it. For in the Peloponnesian war the Lacedæmonians besieged and took Platæa: and when, after the peace which Antalcidas the Spartan negotiated between the Greeks and the king of the Persians, it was reinhabited by the Platæans who returned from Athens, a second misfortune was it seems destined to come upon them. For war was not openly declared against the Thebans, but the Platæans said that they were still at peace with them, because when the Lacedæmonians occupied Cadmea, they had no share either in suggesting it or in bringing it about. The Thebans on the other hand said that it was the Lacedæmonians who had brought about the peace, and who afterwards when they had violated it thought that all had broken truce. The Platæans therefore, thinking the conduct of the Thebans rather suspicious, occupied their town with a strong garrison, and the farmers did not even go into the fields which were at some distance from the town at every period of the day, but watched for the times when the Thebans held their general meetings, and at such times tilled their farms in quiet. But Neocles, who was at that time Bœotarch at Thebes, and had noticed this cunning on the part of the Platæans, told all the Thebans to go armed to the assembly, and led them from Thebes not straight across the plain but in the direction of Hysiæ and Eleutheræ and Attica, where no outposts had been placed by the Platæans, and got to the walls about mid-day. For the Platæans, thinking the Thebans were at their meeting, had shut the gates and gone out to the fields. And the Thebans made conditions with those who were in the town that they should leave the place before sunset, the men with one dress and the women with two. At this time the fortune of the Platæans was rather different from the former occasion when the town was taken by the Lacedæmonians and Archidamus. For then the Lacedæmonians blockaded them and shut them in by a double wall so that they could not get out, whereas now the Thebans prevented their getting into the town at all. This second capture of Platæa was the third year after Leuctra, when Asteus was Archon at Athens. And the town was rased to the ground by the Thebans entirely except the temples, but there was no sack, and the Athenians took in the Platæans a second time. But when Philip was victorious at Chæronea, he introduced a garrison into Thebes, and among other things to destroy the Theban power, restored the Platæans.
[9.2] If you turn off a little to the right from the high road in the Platæan district near Mount Cithæron, you come to the ruins of Hysiæ and Erythræ. They were formerly cities, and among the ruins of Hysiæ there is still a temple of Apollo half-finished, and a Holy Well, of which whoever drank in former days prophesied, if we may believe the tradition of the Bœotians. And on your return to the high road on the right is what is said to be the tomb of Mardonius. It is admitted that the dead body of Mardonius was missing after the battle, but as to who buried him there are different traditions. What is certain is that Artontes the son of Mardonius gave many gifts to the Ephesian Dionysophanes, and also to several Ionians, for not having neglected his father’s burial. And this road leads from Eleutheræ to Platæa.
[9.2] As you go from Megara there is a spring on the right hand, and a little further a rock called the bed of Actæon, because they say he used to sleep on that rock when tired with hunting, and in that spring they say he saw Artemis bathing. And Stesichorus of Himera has represented the goddess as dressing Actæon in a deerskin, so that his dogs should devour him, that he should not be married to Semele. But I think that madness came upon the dogs of Actæon without the intervention of the goddess, and if they were mad and did not distinguish him they would rend in pieces whoever they met. In what part of Mount Cithæron Pentheus the son of Echion met with his fate, or where they exposed Œdipus after his birth, no one knows, as we do know the cross-roads on the way to Phocis where Œdipus slew his father. Mount Cithæron is sacred to Zeus of Cithæron, but I shall enter into all that more fully when I come to that part of my subject.
[9.2] Near the entrance to Platæa is the tomb of those who fell fighting against the Medes. The other Greeks have one common tomb. But the Lacedæmonians and Athenians who fell have separate burial-grounds, and some elegiac lines of Simonides as their epitaph. And not far from the common tomb of the Greeks is the altar of Zeus Eleutherius. The tombs are of brass, but the altar and statue of Zeus are of white stone. And they celebrate still every fifth year the festival called Eleutheria, in which the chief prizes are for running: they run in heavy armour in front of the altar. And the Greeks set up a trophy about 15 stades from the town for the battle at Platæa.
[9.2] In the town of Platæa, as you go on from the altar and statue erected to Zeus Eleutherius, is a hero-chapel to Platæa, I have already stated the traditions about her and my own views. There is also a temple of Hera, well worth seeing for its size and the beauty of the statues. As you enter it Rhea is before you carrying to Cronos the stone wrapt up in swaddling-clothes, pretending it was the child she had just given birth to. And the Hera here they call Full-Grown, her statue is a large one in a standing position. Both these statues are in Pentelican marble by Praxiteles. There is also another statue of Hera in a sitting position by Callimachus, they call this statue The Bride for the following reason.
[9.3] They say Hera for some reason or other was displeased with Zeus and went to Eubœa, and Zeus when he could not appease her went to Cithæron (who ruled at Platæa), who was inferior to no one in ingenuity. He recommended Zeus to make a wooden statue and dress it up and draw it in a waggon with a yoke of oxen, and give out that he intended to marry Platæa the daughter of Asopus. And he did as Cithæron instructed him. And directly Hera heard of it she returned at once, and approached the waggon and tore the clothes of the statue, and was delighted with the trick when she found a wooden image instead of a young bride, and was reconciled to Zeus. In memory of this reconciliation they have a festival called Dædala, because statues were of old called dædala. And they called them so I think before the times of Dædalus the Athenian, the son of Palamaon, for he was called Dædalus I take it from his statues, and not from his birth up. This festival is celebrated by the Platæans every seventh year, according to what my Antiquarian guide informed me, but really at less interval: the exact time however between one festival and the next though I wished I could not ascertain. The festival is celebrated as follows. There is an oak-coppice not far from Alalcomenæ. Of all the oaks in Bœotia the roots of these are the finest. When the Platæans come to this oak-coppice, they place there portions of boiled meat. And they do not much trouble themselves about other birds, but they watch crows very carefully, for they frequent the place, and if one of them seizes a piece of meat they watch what tree it sits upon. And on whatever tree it perches, they carve their wooden image, called dædalum, from the wood of this tree. This is the way the Platæans privately celebrate their little festival Dædala: but the great festival of Dædala is a festival for all Bœotia and celebrated every sixth year; for that was the interval during which the festival was discontinued when the Platæans were in exile. And 14 wooden statues are provided by them every year for the little festival Dædala, which the following draw lots for, the Platæans, the Coronæans, the Thespians, the Tanagræans, the Chæroneans, the Orchomenians, the Lebadeans, and the Thebans: for they thought fit to be reconciled with the Platæans, and to join their gathering, and to send their sacrifice to the festival, when Cassander the son of Antipater restored Thebes. And all the small towns which are of lesser note contribute to the festival. They deck the statue and take it to the Asopus on a waggon, and place a bride on it, and draw lots for the order of the procession, and drive their waggons from the river to the top of Cithæron, where an altar is prepared for them constructed in the following manner. They get square pieces of wood about the same size, and pile them up one upon one another as if they were making a stone building, and raise it to a good height by adding firewood. The chief magistrates of each town sacrifice a cow to Hera and a bull to Zeus, and they burn on the altar all together the victims (full of wine and incense) and the wooden images, and private people offer their sacrifices as well as the rich, only they sacrifice smaller animals as sheep, and all the sacrifices are burnt together. And the fire consumes the altar as well as the sacrifices, the flame is prodigious and visible for an immense distance. And about 15 stades lower than the top of the mountain where they build this altar is a cave of the Nymphs of Mount Cithæron, called Sphragidion, where tradition says those Nymphs prophesied in ancient times.
[9.4] The Platæans have also a temple to Arean Athene, which was built from the spoil given to them by the Athenians after the battle of Marathon. The statue of the goddess is wooden but gilt over: the head and fingers and toes are of Pentelican marble. In size it is nearly as large as the brazen one in the Acropolis, (which the Athenians dedicated as the firstfruits of the battle at Marathon,) and is also the work of Phidias. And there are paintings in the temple by Polygnotus, Odysseus having just slain the suitors, and by Onatas the first expedition of Adrastus and the Argives against Thebes. These paintings are on the walls in the vestibule of the temple, and at the base of the statue of the goddess is an effigy of Arimnestus, who commanded the Platæans in the fight against Mardonius and still earlier at Marathon.
[9.4] There is also at Platæa a temple of Eleusinian Demeter, and the tomb of Leitus, the only leader of the Bœotians that returned home after the Trojan war. And the fountain Gargaphia was fouled by Mardonius and the Persian cavalry, because the Greek army opposed to them drank of it, but the Platæans afterwards made the water pure again.
[9.4] As you go from Platæa to Thebes you come to the river Oeroe, Oeroe was they say the daughter of Asopus. And before crossing the Asopus, if you turn aside and follow the stream of the Oeroe for about 40 stades, you come to the ruins of Scolus, among which are a temple of Demeter and Proserpine not complete, and half the statues of the goddesses. The Asopus is still the boundary between the districts of Platæa and Thebes.
[9.5] The district of Thebes was they say first inhabited by the Ectenes, whose king was the Autochthon Ogygus, hence many of the poets have called Thebes Ogygiæ. And the Ectenes they say died off with some pestilence, and Thebes was repeopled by the Hyantes and Aones, Bœotian races I imagine and not foreigners. And when Cadmus and his Phœnician army invaded the land the Hyantes were defeated in battle and fled the following night, but the Aones were submissive and were allowed by Cadmus to remain in the land and mix with the Phœnicians. They continued to live in their villages, but Cadmus built the town called to this day Cadmea. And afterwards when the town grew, Cadmea was the citadel for lower Thebes. Cadmus made a splendid marriage if, according to the Greek tradition, he married the daughter of Aphrodite and Ares, and his daughters were famous, Semele as the mother of a son by Zeus, and Ino as one of the sea goddesses. Amongst the greatest contemporaries of Cadmus were the Sparti, Chthonius and Hyperenor and Pelorus and Udæus: and Echion was chosen by Cadmus as his son-in-law for his conspicuous valour. About these men I could obtain no further knowledge, so I follow the general tradition about the origin of the name Sparti.¹ And when Cadmus migrated to the Illyrians and to those of them who were called Enchelians, he was succeeded by his son Polydorus. And Pentheus the son of Echion had great power both from the lustre of his race and the friendship of the king, though he was haughty and impious and justly punished by Dionysus. The son of Polydorus was Labdacus. He on his death left a son quite a boy, whom as well as the kingdom he entrusted to Nycteus. The sequel I have already set forth in my account about Sicyonia, as the circumstances attending the death of Nycteus, and how the guardianship of the boy and care of the realm devolved upon Lycus the brother of Nycteus: and the boy dying also not long after Lycus became guardian for Laius the son of Labdacus.
[9.5] It was during Lycus’ second guardianship that Amphion and Zethus invaded the country with a band of men. And those who were anxious for the continuance of Cadmus’ race withdrew Laius, and Lycus was defeated in battle by the sons of Antiope. And during their reign they joined the lower town to Cadmea, and called it Thebes from their relationship to Thebe. And I am borne out by the lines of Homer in the Odyssey:²
“Who first gave its towers and seven gates to Thebes, for though they were strong, they could not dwell in a spacious unfortified Thebes.”
[9.5] As to the legend about Amphion’s singing and the walls being built as he played on his harp, Homer has made no mention of it in his poems. But Amphion was famous for music, and from his relationship to Tantalus learnt the harmony of the Lydians, and added three strings to the lyre, which had previously had only four. And the author of the poem about Europa says that Amphion was the first who played on the lyre, and that Hermes taught him how: and that by his strains he drew stones and animals. And Myro, the Byzantian poetess who wrote epic and elegiac verses, says that Amphion first erected an altar to Hermes and received from him the lyre on it. It is said also that in Hades Amphion paid the penalty for his railing against Leto and her sons. This punishment of his is mentioned in the poem called the Minyad, and there are references in it both to Amphion and the Thracian Thamyris. And when the family of Amphion was destroyed by pestilence, and the son of Zethus was slain by his mother for some fault or other, and Zethus also died of grief, then the Thebans restored Laius to the kingdom.
[9.5] When Laius was king and wedded to Jocasta, the oracle at Delphi told him that he would die at the hands of his son, if Jocasta bare him one. And that was why he exposed Œdipus, who was fated after all when he grew up to kill his father. He also married his mother. But I do not think he had any children by her. My authority for this view is Homer, who in his Odyssey has the following lines.³
“I also saw the mother of Œdipus, beautiful Epicaste, who did a horrible deed, unwittingly marrying her own son, for he married her after slaying his father, but soon the gods made it publicly known.”
[9.5] But how could they soon make it publicly known,⁴ if Œdipus had 4 children by Jocasta? So they were the children of Euryganea the daughter of Hyperphas, as is shown by the poet who wrote the poems called the Œdipodia. Onatas also painted for the people of Platæa Euryganea dejected at the quarrels of her sons. And it was in the lifetime and during the reign of Œdipus that Polynices departed from Thebes, fearing that the curses of his father would be fulfilled: and he went to Argos and married the daughter of Adrastus, and returned to Thebes after the death of Œdipus, being sent for by Eteocles. And on his return he quarrelled with Eteocles, and went into exile a second time. And having begged of Adrastus a force to restore him, he lost his army and challenged Eteocles to single combat. And he and his brother killed each other, and as the kingdom devolved upon Laodamas the son of Eteocles, Creon the son of Menœceus ruled as guardian for the boy. And when Laodamas grew up and took the reins of power, then a second time the Argives led an army against Thebes. And the Thebans encamping against them at Glisas, Laodamas slew in the action Ægialeus the son of Adrastus, but the Argives gaining the victory Laodamas with those Thebans that were willing to follow him withdrew the night following to the Illyrians. And the Argives captured Thebes, and delivered it over to Thersander the son of Polynices. And when some of those who were going with Agamemnon to the siege of Troy sailed out of their course, and met with a reverse at Mysia, then it was that Thersander, who was the bravest of the Greeks in the battle, was slain by Telephus, and his tomb is in stone as you drive over the plain of Caicus in the town of Elæa, in the part of the market-place which is in the open air, and the people of the country say that funeral rites are paid to him. And after the death of Thersander, when a second fleet was got together against Paris and Ilium, they chose Peneleos as their leader because Tisamenus the son of Thersander was not yet old enough. But when Peneleos was killed by Eurypylus the son of Telephus, they chose Tisamenus as their king, the son of Thersander by Demonassa the daughter of Amphiaraus. And Tisamenus suffered not from the wrath of the Furies of Laius and Œdipus, but Autesion his son did, so that he migrated to the Dorians at the bidding of the oracle. And on his departure they chose as king Damasichthon, the son of Opheltes the son of Peneleos. His son was Ptolemæus, and his Xanthus, who was slain by Andropompus in single combat by treachery and not fairly. And thenceforward the Thebans resolved to entrust their government to several magistrates, and not to let everything depend on one man.
[9.6] Of their successes and reverses in war I found the following to be the most notable. They were beaten by the Athenians in battle, when the Athenians fought on the side of the Platæans in the war about borders. They were beaten a second time by the Athenians in the neighbourhood of Platæa, when they seem to have preferred the interests of king Xerxes to those of Greece. The popular party was not to blame for that, for at that time Thebes was ruled by an oligarchy, and not by their national form of government. And no doubt if the barbarian had come to Greece in the days when Pisistratus and his sons ruled at Athens the Athenians also would have been open to the charge of Medizing. Afterwards however the Thebans were victorious over the Athenians at Delium in the district of Tanagra, when Hippocrates, the son of Ariphron, the Athenian General perished with most of his army. And the Thebans were friendly with the Lacedæmonians directly after the departure of the Medes till the war between the Peloponnesians and the Athenians: but after the conclusion of that war, and the destruction of the Athenian navy, the Thebans soon joined the Corinthians against the Lacedæmonians. And after being beaten in battle at Corinth and Coronea, they were victorious at the famous battle of Leuctra, the most famous of all the battles between Greeks that we know of, and they put down the decemvirates that the Lacedæmonians had established in their towns, and ejected the Lacedæmonian Harmosts. And afterwards they fought continuously for 10 years in the Phocian War, called by the Greeks the Sacred War. I have already in my account of Attica spoken about the reverse that befell all the Greeks at Chæronea, but it fell most heavily on the Thebans, for a Macedonian garrison was put into Thebes; but after the death of Philip and accession of Alexander the Thebans took it into their head to eject this garrison: and when they did so the god warned them of their coming ruin, and in the temple of Demeter Thesmophorus the omens were just the reverse of what they were before Leuctra: for then the spiders spun white webs near the doors of the temple, but now at the approach of Alexander and the Macedonians they spun black webs. There is also a tradition that it rained ashes at Athens the year before Sulla began the war which was to cause the Athenians so many woes.
[9.7] And now the Thebans were expelled from Thebes by Alexander, and escaped to Athens, and were restored by Cassander the son of Antipater. And the Athenians were very friendly in this restoration to Thebes, and the Messenians and Arcadians of Megalopolis also gave their help. And I think Cassander restored Thebes chiefly out of hatred to Alexander: for he endeavoured to destroy all the house of Alexander, for he ordered the Macedonians (who were exceedingly angry with her) to stone to death Olympias Alexander’s mother, and he poisoned the sons of Alexander, Hercules his son by Barsine, and Alexander his son by Roxana. Nor did he himself terminate his life happily, for he was swollen with the dropsy, and eaten up by worms. And of his sons, Philip the eldest not long after his accession was taken off by consumption, and Antipater the next killed his mother Thessalonice, the daughter of Philip (the son of Amyntas) and Nicasipolis. His motive for putting her to death was that she was too partial to Alexander her youngest son. And Alexander invited in Demetrius the son of Antigonus, and succeeded by his help in deposing his brother Antipater, and punishing him for his matricide, but seemed in Demetrius to find rather a murderer than ally. Thus was Cassander punished by the gods. In his lifetime the Thebans rebuilt all their old walls, but were destined it seemed to taste great misfortunes still. For they joined Mithridates in his war against Rome, I think only out of friendship to the Athenian people. But when Sulla invaded Bœotia panic seized the Thebans, and they repented, and tried to get again the friendship of the Romans. But Sulla was wroth with them, and found out other means of injuring them, and took half their territory on the following pretext. When he began the war with Mithridates he was short of money, he collected therefore the votive offerings from Olympia, and Epidaurus, and from Delphi all that the Phocians had left. These he distributed among his troops, and gave the gods in return half Thebais instead of money. The land thus taken away the Thebans afterwards got back by the favour of the Romans, but in other respects became thenceforwards weaker and weaker, and in my time the lower part of the city was quite deserted except the temples, and the citadel which they still inhabit is called Thebes and not Cadmea.
[9.8] And when you have crossed the Asopus, and gone about 10 stades from Thebes, you come to the ruins of Potniæ, among which is a grove to Demeter and Proserpine. And the statues by the river they call the Potnian goddesses. And at a stated season they perform other customary rites, and admit sucking pigs into what are called the Halls: and take them at the same season the year following to Dodona, believe it who likes. Here too is a temple of Dionysus Ægobolus (Goat-killer). For in sacrificing to the god on one occasion the people of Potniæ were so outrageous through drunkenness that they even killed the priest of Dionysus: and straightway a pestilence came on them, and the oracle at Delphi told them the only cure was to sacrifice to Dionysus a grown boy, and not many years afterwards they say the god accepted a goat as victim instead. They also shew a well at Potniæ, in which they say if the horses of the district drink they go mad.
[9.8] As you go from Potniæ to Thebes there is on the right of the road a small enclosure and pillars in it: this it is thought is the place where the earth opened and swallowed up Amphiaraus, and they add that neither do birds sit on these pillars, nor do animals tame or wild feed on the grass.
[9.8] At Thebes within the circuit of the old walls were seven gates which remain to this day, and all have their own names. The gate Electris is called from Electra the sister of Cadmus, and Prœtisis from Prœtus, a native of Thebes whose date and genealogy it would be difficult to ascertain. And the gate Neiste got its name from the following circumstance; one of the chords in the lyre is called nete, and Amphion discovered this chord at this very gate. Another account is that Zethus the brother of Amphion had a son called Neis, and that this gate got its name from him. And there is the gate Crenæa, so called from a fountain. And there is the gate called Highest, so called from the temple of Highest Zeus. And the sixth gate is called Ogygia. And the seventh gate is called Homolois, this is the most recently named gate I think, (as Ogygia is the oldest-named,) and got its name from the following circumstance. When the Thebans were beaten in battle by the Argives at Glisas, most of them fled with Laodamas the son of Eteocles, but part of them shrank from a journey to the Illyrii, and turned aside into Thessaly and occupied Homole, the most fertile and well-watered of all the Thessalian mountains. And when Thersander the son of Polynices restored them to Thebes, they called the gate by which they entered Homolois in memory of Homole. As you go from Platæa to Thebes you enter by the gate Electris, and it was here they say that Capaneus the son of Hipponous, making a most violent attack on the walls, was struck with lightning.⁵
[9.9] I think this war which the Argives fought is the most memorable of all the wars which were fought between Greeks in the days of the heroes. For the war between the Eleusinians and the Athenians, as likewise that between the Thebans and the Minyæ, was terminated by one engagement, and they were soon friends again. But the Argive host came from the middle of the Peloponnese to the middle of Bœotia, and Adrastus got together allies from Arcadia and Messenia. And likewise some mercenaries came to help the Thebans from Phocis, as also the Phlegyæ from the district of the Minyæ. And in the battle that took place at Ismenius the Thebans were beaten at the first onset, and when they were routed fled to the city, and as the Peloponnesians did not know how to fight against fortifications, but attacked them with more zeal than judgment, the Thebans slew many of them from the walls, and afterwards made a sally and attacked them as they were drawn up in order of battle and killed the rest, so that the whole army was cut to pieces except Adrastus. But the battle was not without heavy loss to the Thebans, and ever since they call a victory with heavy loss to the victors a Cadmean victory.⁶ And not many years afterwards those whom the Greeks call Epigoni marched against Thebes with Thersander. Their army was clearly swelled not only from Argolis, but also from Messenia and Arcadia, and from Corinth and Megara. And the Thebans were aided by their neighbours, and a sharp fight took place at Glisas, well contested on both sides. But the Thebans were beaten, and some of them fled with Laodamas, and the rest were reduced after a blockade. The epic poem called the Thebais has reference to this war. Callinus who mentions that poem says that it was written by Homer, and his view is held by several respectable authorities. But I think it is of a later date than the Iliad and Odyssey. But let this account suffice for the war between the Argives and the Thebans about the sons of Œdipus.
[9.10] Not far from the gates is a large sepulchre to all those who fell in battle against Alexander and the Macedonians. And at no great distance they show the place where they say, believe it who will, that Cadmus sowed the teeth of the dragon that he slew by the well, and that the ground produced a crop of armed men from these teeth.
[9.10] And there is a hill sacred to Apollo on the right of the gates, the hill and the god and the river that flows by are all called Ismenius. At the approach to the temple are statues of Athene and Hermes in stone, called gods of the Vestibule, Hermes by Phidias and Athene by Scopas, and next comes the temple itself. And the statue of Apollo in it is in size and appearance very like the one at Branchidæ. Whoever has seen one of these statues and learnt the statuary’s name will not need much sagacity, if he sees the other, to know that it is by Canachus. But they differ in one respect, the one at Branchidæ being in bronze, the Ismenian in cedarwood. There is here also the stone on which they say Manto the daughter of Tiresias sate. It is near the entrance, and its name even to this day is Manto’s seat. And on the right of the temple are two stone statues, one they say of Henioche the other of Pyrrha, both daughters of Creon, who ruled as guardian of Laodamas the son of Eteocles. And still at Thebes I know they choose annually a lad of good family, good looking and strong, as priest to Ismenian Apollo: his title is laurel-bearer, because these lads wear crowns of laurel-leaves. I do not know whether all who wear these laurel crowns must dedicate to the god a brazen tripod, and I don’t think that can be the usage, for I did not see many tripods so offered. But the wealthiest lads certainly do offer these tripods. Especially notable for age and the celebrity of the person who gave it is that given by Amphitryon, Hercules wearing the laurel crown.
[9.10] Somewhat higher than the temple of Apollo Ismenius you will see the spring which is they say sacred to Ares, who placed a dragon there to guard it. Near it is the tomb of Caanthus, who was they say the brother of Melia and the son of Oceanus, and was sent by his father to seek for his sister who had been carried off. But when he found Apollo with Melia he could not take her away, so he dared to set the grove of Ismenian Apollo on fire, and the god transfixed him with an arrow, so the Thebans say, and here is his tomb. And they say Melia bare Apollo two sons Tenerus and Ismenius, to Tenerus Apollo gave the power of divination, and Ismenius gave his name to the river. Not that it was without a name before, if indeed it was called Ladon before the birth of Apollo’s son Ismenius.
[9.11] On the left of the gate called Electris are the ruins of the house where they say Amphitryon dwelt, when he fled from Tiryns owing to the death of Electryon. And among the ruins is to be seen the bridal-bed of Alcmena, which was made they say for Amphitryon by Trophonius and Agamedes, as the inscription states,
“When Amphitryon was going to marry Alcmena, he contrived this bridal-bed for himself, and Anchasian Trophonius and Agamedes made it.”
[9.11] This is the inscription which the Thebans say is written here: and they also show the monument of the sons of Hercules by Megara, giving a very similar account about their death to that which Stesichorus of Himera and Panyasis have written in their poems. But the Thebans add that Hercules in his madness wished also to kill Amphitryon, but sleep came upon him in consequence of a blow from a stone, and they say Athene threw the stone, which they call Composer. There too are some statues of women on a figure, rather indistinct from age, the Thebans call them Sorceresses, and say that they were sent by Hera to prevent Alcmena from childbirth. Accordingly they tried to do so, but Historis the daughter of Tiresias played a trick on them, she cried out in their hearing, and they thought Alcmena had just given birth to a child, so they went away deceived, and then they say Alcmena bare a boy.
[9.11] Here too is a temple of Hercules called Champion, his statue is of white stone by Xenocritus and Eubius, both Thebans: the old wooden statue the Thebans think is by Dædalus and I think so too. He made it, so the story goes, in return for an act of kindness. For when he fled from Crete the boats he made were not large enough both for himself and Icarus his son, and he also employed sails, an invention not known in his day, that he might get the advantage of the boats of Minos (which were only rowed) by availing himself of a favourable wind, and he got off safe, but Icarus steering his boat rather awkwardly it upset they say, and he was drowned, and his dead body carried by the waves to an island beyond Samos which then had no name. And Hercules found and recognised the corpse, and buried it, where now is a mound of no great size, by the promontory that juts out into the Ægean Sea. And the island and the sea near it got their names from Icarus. And on the gables Praxiteles has carved most of the 12 Labours of Hercules, all in short but the killing of the Stymphelian birds, and the cleansing of the country of Elis, and instead of these is a representation of the wrestling with Antæus. And when Thrasybulus the son of Lycus and the Athenians with him put down the Thirty Tyrants, (they had started from Thebes on their return from exile), they offered to this temple of Hercules colossal statues of Athene and Hercules in Pentelican marble, by Alcamenes.
[9.11] Near the temple of Hercules are a gymnasium and racecourse both called after the god. And beyond the stone Composer is an altar of Apollo Spodius, made of the ashes of the victims. There is divination there by omens, which kind of divination I know the people of Smyrna use more than all the other Greeks, for they have outside their walls beyond the city a Temple of Omens.
[9.12] The Thebans used of old to sacrifice bulls to Apollo Spodius: but on one occasion during the festival when the time for the sacrifice drew nigh, and those who had been sent for the bull did not come with it, they sacrificed to the god one of the oxen in a waggon that chanced to be near, and since that time they have sacrificed oxen employed in labour. They also tell this tradition, that Cadmus when travelling from Delphi to Phocis was guided on his journey by a cow which he had purchased from the herds of Pelagon, which had on each side a white mark like the orb of the moon at the full. Cadmus and all the army with him were according to the oracle to make their home where the cow should lie down tired. This spot they show. There in the open air is an altar and statue of Athene, erected they say by Cadmus. To those who think that Cadmus came to Thebes from Egypt and not from Phœnicia this name of Athene affords refutation: for she is called Onga which is a Phœnician word, and not by the Egyptian name Sais. And the Thebans say that the house of Cadmus was originally in that part of the citadel where the market-place now is: and they shew the ruins of the bridal chambers of Harmonia and Semele, this last they do not allow men to enter even to this day. And those Greeks who believe that the Muses sang at the marriage of Harmonia say that this spot in the market-place is where they sang. There is also a tradition that together with the lightning that struck the bridal-chamber of Semele fell a piece of wood from heaven: and Polydorus they say adorned this piece of wood with brass, and called it Dionysus Cadmus. And very near is the statue of Dionysus, made by Onasimedes of brass throughout, the altar was made by the sons of Praxiteles.
[9.12] There is also the statue of Pronomus, a man most attractive as a flute-player. For a long time flute-players had only three kinds of flutes, for some played in the Dorian measure, and other flutes were adapted to the Phrygian and Lydian measures. And Pronomus was the first who saw that flutes were fit for every kind of measure, and was the first to play different measures on the same flute. It is said also that by the appearance of his features and the motion of all his body he gave wonderful pleasure in the theatre, and a processional song of his is extant for the dwellers at Chalcis near the Euripus who came to Delos. To him and to Epaminondas the son of Polymnis the Thebans erected statues here.
[9.13] Epaminondas was of illustrious descent, but his father was very poor even for an average Theban, and he learnt very carefully the national education, and when he was quite a stripling went to school to Lysis the Tarentine, who had been a pupil of Pythagoras of Samos. And, when the Lacedæmonians were at war with the Mantineans, Epaminondas is said to have been sent amongst others from Thebes to aid the Lacedæmonians. And when Pelopidas was wounded in the battle, he ran great risks to bring him out of it safe. And afterwards when Epaminondas went on an embassy to Sparta, when the Lacedæmonians agreed to ratify with the Greeks the peace known as the peace of Antalcidas, and Agesilaus asked him if the Thebans would allow the various towns in Bœotia to subscribe to the peace separately, “Not,” he answered, “O Spartans, until we see your neighbouring towns setting us the example.” And when war at last broke out between the Lacedæmonians and the Thebans, and the Lacedæmonians attacked the Thebans with their own forces and those of their allies, Epaminondas with part of his army stationed himself near the marsh Cephisis, as the Peloponnesians were going to make their attack in that quarter, but Cleombrotus the king of the Lacedæmonians turned aside to Ambrosus in Phocis, and after slaying Chæreas, who had been ordered to guard the by-roads, and the men who were with him, passed by and got to Leuctra in Bœotia. There Cleombrotus and the Lacedæmonians generally had portents from the gods. The Spartan kings when they went out to war used to be accompanied by flocks of sheep, to sacrifice to the gods and to give them good omens before battles. These flocks were led by a particular kind of goat that the shepherds called catoiades. And on this occasion some wolves attacked the flocks but did no harm to the sheep, only slew the goats. Vengeance is said to have come upon the Lacedæmonians in consequence of the daughters of Scedasus. Scedasus lived at Leuctra and had two daughters Molpia and Hippo. They were very beautiful and two Lacedæmonians, Phrurarchidas and Parthenius, iniquitously violated them, and they forthwith hung themselves, for this outrage was more than they could bear: and Scedasus, when he could get no reparation at Lacedæmon for this outrage, returned to Leuctra and committed suicide. Then Epaminondas offered funeral rites to Scedasus and his daughters, and vowed that a battle should take place there, as much for their vengeance as for the safety of Thebes. But the Bœotarchs were not all of the same view, but differed in their opinions. Epaminondas and Malgis and Xenocrates were for engaging the Lacedæmonians without delay, whereas Damoclidas and Damophilus and Simangelus were against an engagement, and recommended the withdrawal of the women and children into Attica, and that they should themselves prepare for a siege. Thus the votes of the six were equally divided, but the vote of the 7th Bœotarch on his return to the camp, (he had been on the look-out at Cithæron, and his name was Bacchylides), being given on the side of Epaminondas, it was agreed to stake everything on a battle. Now Epaminondas had suspicions about the fidelity of several of the Bœotians especially the Thespians, fearing therefore that they would desert in the battle, he gave leave to whoever would to go home, and the Thespians went off in full force, and any other Bœotians who had ill-will to the Thebans. And when the engagement came on, the allies of the Lacedæmonians, who had previously not been overwell pleased with them, openly showed their hostility by not standing their ground, but giving way wherever the enemy attacked. But the battle between the Lacedæmonians and the Thebans was well contested, the former relying on their long military experience and ashamed to impair the old prestige of Sparta, while the latter saw that the fate of their country their wives and children was staked on the result of this fight. But after many Lacedæmonians of high rank had fallen as also their king Cleombrotus, then the Spartans though hard pressed felt obliged to continue the combat, for amongst the Lacedæmonians it was considered most disgraceful to allow the dead body of one of their kings to remain in the hands of the enemy.
[9.13] This victory of the Thebans was the most notable of all victories won by Greeks over Greeks: for the Lacedæmonians on the next day instead of renewing the battle purposed burying their dead, and sent a herald to the Thebans to ask leave to do so. And Epaminondas knowing that it was always the custom of the Lacedæmonians to conceal their losses, said that their allies must first bury their dead, and afterwards he would permit the Lacedæmonians to bury theirs. And as some of the allies had none to bury, (as none of them were killed), and others had lost only a few, the Lacedæmonians buried their dead, and thus it was clear that most of the dead were Spartans. Of the Thebans and Bœotians who remained to share in the battle there fell only 47 men, while the Lacedæmonians lost more than 1,000.
[9.14] Directly after the battle Epaminondas allowed all the other Peloponnesians to depart to their homes, but the Lacedæmonians he kept shut up at Leuctra. But when he heard that the Spartans were coming in full force to their relief, then he allowed them to depart on conditions of war, for he said that it was better to fight on Lacedæmonian than Bœotian ground. And the Thespians, looking with regret at their past ill-will to the Thebans and with anxiety at their present fortunes, thought it best to abandon their own city and flee to Ceressus, a fortified place belonging to them, into which they had formerly thrown themselves when the Thessalians invaded their country. But the Thessalians on that occasion, as they seemed hardly likely to capture Ceressus consulted the oracle at Delphi, and this was the response they received. “Shady Leuctra and the Alesian soil are dear to me, dear to me too are the unfortunate daughters of Scedasus. In the future looms a lamentable battle there: but no one shall capture it till the Dorians lose the flower of their young men, when its day of fate shall have come. Then shall Ceressus be captured, but not before.”
[9.14] And now when Epaminondas had captured Ceressus, and taken captive the Thespians who had fled for refuge there, he forthwith turned his attention to affairs in the Peloponnese, as the Arcadians eagerly invited his co-operation. And when he went to the Peloponnese he made the Argives his voluntary allies, and restored the Mantineans, who had been dispersed in villages by Agesipolis, to Mantinea, and, as the small towns of the Arcadians were insecure, he persuaded the Arcadians to evacuate them, and established for them one large town still called Megalopolis. By this time Epaminondas’ period of office as Bœotarch had expired, and the penalty for continuing office longer was death. But Epaminondas, considering the law an illtimed one, disregarded it and continued Bœotarch: and marched with an army against Sparta and, as Agesilaus declined a combat, turned his attention towards colonizing Messene, as I have shewn in my account of Messenia. And meantime the Theban allies overran Laconia and plundered it, scouring over the whole country. This induced Epaminondas to take the Thebans back into Bœotia. And when he got with his army as far as Lechæum, and was about to pass through a narrow and difficult defile, Iphicrates the son of Timotheus with a force of Athenians and some targeteers attacked him. And Epaminondas routed them and pursued them as far as Athens, but as Iphicrates would not allow the Athenians to go out and fight, he returned to Thebes. And there he was acquitted for continuing Bœotarch beyond the proper time: for it is said that none of the judges would pass sentence upon him.
[9.15] And after this when Alexander the ruler in Thessaly with a high hand treacherously imprisoned Pelopidas, (who had come to his court as to a ruler who was personally a friend of his and publicly a friend of the Theban people), the Thebans immediately marched against Alexander, putting at their head Cleomenes and Hypatus who were then Bœotarchs, and Epaminondas happened to be one of the force. And when they were near Pylæ, Alexander who lay in ambush attacked them in the pass. And when they saw their condition was desperate, then the soldiers gave the command to Epaminondas, and the Bœotarchs willingly conceded the command. And Alexander lost his confidence in victory, when he saw that Epaminondas had taken the command, and gave up Pelopidas. And during the absence of Epaminondas the Thebans drove the Orchomenians out of their country. Epaminondas looked on this as a misfortune, and said the Thebans would never have committed this outrage had he been at home. And as he was chosen Bœotarch again, he marched with an army to the Peloponnese again, and beat the Lacedæmonians in battle at Lechæum, and also the Achæans from Pellene and the Athenians who were under the command of Chabrias. And it was the rule with the Thebans to ransom all their prisoners, except Bœotian deserters, whom they put to death. But Epaminondas after capturing a small town of the Sicyonians called Phœbia, where were a good many Bœotian deserters, contented himself with leaving a stigma upon them by calling them each by the name of a different nationality. And when he got with his army as far as Mantinea, he was killed in the moment of victory by an Athenian. The Athenian who killed Epaminondas is represented in a painting at Athens of the cavalry-skirmish to have been Gryllus, the son of that Xenophon who took part in the expedition of Cyrus against king Artaxerxes, and who led the Greeks back again to the sea.
[9.15] On the statue of Epaminondas are four elegiac lines about him, that tell how he restored Messene, and how the Greeks got their freedom through him. These are the lines.
“Sparta cut off the glory from our councils, but in time sacred Messene got back her children. Megalopolis was crowned by the arms of Thebes, and all Greece became autonomous and free.”
[9.15] Such were the glorious deeds of Epaminondas.
[9.16] And at no great distance from the statue of Epaminondas is the temple of Ammon, the statue by Calamis and a votive offering from Pindar, who also sent a Hymn in honour of Ammon to the Ammonians in Libya, which Hymn is now inscribed on a triangular pillar near the altar which Ptolemy the son of Lagus dedicated to Ammon. Next to the temple of Ammon the Thebans have what is called Tiresias’ tower to observe the omens, and near it is a temple of Fortune carrying in her arms Wealth as a child. The Thebans say that Xenophon the Athenian made the hands and face of the statue, and Callistonicus a native of Thebes all the other parts. The idea is ingenious of putting Wealth in the hands of Fortune as her mother or nurse, as is also the idea of Cephisodotus who made for the Athenians a statue of Peace holding Wealth.
[9.16] The Thebans have also some wooden statues of Aphrodite, so ancient that they are said to be votive offerings of Harmonia, made out of the wood of the gunwales of the ships of Cadmus. One they call the Celestial Aphrodite, the other the Pandemian, and the third the Heart-Turner. Harmonia meant by these titles of Aphrodite the following. The Celestial is a pure love and has no connection with bodily appetite, the Pandemian is the common vulgar sensual love, and thirdly the goddess is called Heart-Turner because she turns the heart of men away by lawless passion and unholy deeds. For Harmonia knew that many bold deeds had been done in lawless passion both among the Greeks and barbarians, such as were afterwards sung by poets, as the legends about the mother of Adonis, and Phædra the daughter of Minos, and the Thracian Tereus. And the temple of Law-giving Demeter was they say formerly the house of Cadmus and his descendants. And the statue of Demeter is only visible down to the chest. And there are some brazen shields hung up here, which they say belonged to some of the Lacedæmonian notables that fell at Leuctra.
[9.16] At the gate called Prœtis is a theatre, and near it the temple of Lysian Dionysus. The god was so called because, when some Thebans were taken captive by the Thracians, and conducted to Haliartia, the god freed them, and gave them an opportunity to kill the Thracians in their sleep. One of the statues in the temple the Thebans say is Semele. Once every year the temple is open on stated days. There are also the ruins of the house of Lycus, and the sepulchre of Semele, it cannot be the sepulchre of Alcmene, for when she died she became a stone. But the Theban account about her differs from the Megarian: in fact the Greek traditions mostly vary. The Thebans have here also monuments of the sons and daughters of Amphion, the two sexes apart.
[9.17] And next is the temple of Artemis Euclea, the statue of the goddess is by Scopas. They say the daughters of Antipœnus, Androclea and Alcis, are buried in this temple. For when Hercules and the Thebans were going to engage in battle with the Orchomenians, an oracle informed them that, if any one of their most notable citizens in respect to birth was willing to commit suicide, they would obtain victory in the war. To Antipœnus, who was of most illustrious descent, it did not appear agreeable to die for the people, but his daughters had no objection, so they committed suicide and were honoured accordingly. In front of the temple of Artemis Euclea is a lion in stone, which was it is said a votive offering of Hercules, when he had vanquished in battle the Orchomenians and their king Erginus the son of Clymenus. And near it is a statue of Apollo Boedromius, and one of Hermes Agoræus, this last the votive offering of Pindar. The funeral pile of the children of Amphion is about half a stade from their tombs, the ashes still remain. And near the statue of Amphitryon are they say two stone statues of Athene Zosteria (the Girder), and they say Amphitryon armed himself here, when he was on the point of engaging the Eubœans and Chalcodon. The ancients called putting on one’s armour girding oneself: and they say that when Homer represents Agamemnon as having a belt like Ares, he refers to his armour.⁷
[9.17] A mound of earth not very high is the sepulchre of Zethus and Amphion. The inhabitants of Tithorea in Phocis like to carry away earth from this mound when the Sun is in Taurus, for if they take of this soil then, and put it on the tomb of Antiope, their land gains in fertility while the Theban loses. So the Thebans guard the sepulchre at that time of the year. And these two cities believe this in consequence of the oracles of Bacis, in which the following lines occur.
“Whenever a native of Tithorea shall pour libations on the earth to Amphion and Zethus, and offer prayers and propitiations when the Sun is in Taurus, then be on your guard against a terrible misfortune coming on your city: for the fruits of the earth will suffer a blight, if they take of the earth and put it on the sepulchre of Phocus.”
[9.17] Bacis calls it the sepulchre of Phocus for the following reason. Dirce, the wife of Lycus, honoured Dionysus more than any of the gods, and when she suffered according to the tradition a cruel death⁸ he was angry with Antiope: and the excessive wrath of the gods is somehow fatal. They say Antiope went mad and wandered over all Greece out of her mind, and that Phocus the son of Ornytion the son of Sisyphus fell in with her and cured her, and made her his wife. And certainly Antiope and Phocus are buried together. And the stones by the tomb of Amphion, which lie about in no particular order, are they say those which followed Amphion’s music. Similar legends are told of Orpheus, how the animals followed his harping.
[9.18] The road to Chalcis from Thebes is by the gate Prœtis. On the high road is the tomb of Melanippus, one of the greatest warriors of the Thebans, who, when the Argives besieged Thebes, slew Tydeus and Mecisteus one of the brothers of Adrastus, and was himself slain they say by Amphiaraus. And very near this tomb are three rude stones, the Theban antiquarians say that Tydeus was buried here, and that he was interred by Mæon. And they confirm their statement by the following line from the Iliad,
“Tydeus, who lies ’neath mound of earth at Thebes.”⁹
And next are the tombs of the children of Œdipus, I have not myself seen the funeral rites performed to their memory, but I have received trustworthy accounts. The Thebans say that they offer funeral sacrifices to several heroes as well as to the children of Œdipus, and that during these sacrifices the flame and smoke divide. I was induced to credit this from the following thing which I have myself seen. In Mysia above Caicus is a small city called Pioniæ, whose founder was they say Pionis one of the descendants of Hercules, and when they are celebrating his funeral sacrifices the smoke rises up from the tomb spontaneously. I have myself seen this. The Thebans also show the tomb of Tiresias, about 15 stades distant from the tomb of the children of Œdipus: but they admit that Tiresias died in Haliartia, so that they allow the tomb here to be a cenotaph.
[9.18] The Thebans also shew the tomb of Hector the son of Priam near the Well of Œdipus. They say that his remains were brought here from Ilium in accordance with the following oracle.
“Ye Thebans, who inhabit the city of Cadmus, if ye wish your country to enjoy abundant wealth, bring to your city from Asia Minor the bones of Hector the son of Priam, and respect the hero at the suggestion of Zeus.”
[9.18] The Well is called Œdipus’ Well, because he washed off in it the blood of his father’s murder. And near the Well is the tomb of Asphodicus, who slew in the battle against the Argives Parthenopæus the son of Talaus, (according to the tradition of the Thebans, for the verses in the Thebais about the death of Parthenopæus say that Periclymenus killed him).
[9.19] On this high-road is a place called Teumessus, where they say Europa was hidden by Zeus. And there is also a tradition about a fox of Teumessus, that it was brought up to hurt the Thebans through the wrath of Dionysus, and that, when it was about to be taken by the dog which Artemis gave to Procris the daughter of Erechtheus, both dog and fox were turned into stone. There is also at Teumessus a temple of Athene Telchinia without a statue: as to her title Telchinia one may infer that some of the Telchinians, who formerly dwelt at Cyprus and who migrated into Bœotia, erected this temple to her under that title.
[9.19] On the left of Teumessus about 7 stades further you come to the ruins of Glisas, and before them on the right of the road is a small mound shaded by a wild wood, and some trees have been planted there. It is the tomb of those that went with Ægialeus the son of Adrastus on the expedition against Thebes, and of several noble Argives, and among them Promachus the son of Parthenopæus. The tomb of Ægialeus is at Pagæ, as I have previously shown in my account about Megara. As you go on the high road from Thebes to Glisas is a place, surrounded by unhewn stones, which the Thebans call the head of the serpent. They say this serpent lifted its head out of its hole, and Tiresias passing by chopped its head off with his sword. That is how the place got its name. And above Glisas is a mountain called Highest, and on it is the temple and altar of Highest Zeus. And the torrent here they call Thermodon. And as you turn towards Teumessus on the road to Chalcis is the tomb of Chalcodon, who was slain by Amphitryon in the battle fought by the Eubœans against the Thebans. And next come the ruins of the towns of Harma and Mycalessus, the former was so called according to the tradition of the people of Tanagra because the chariot of Amphiaraus disappeared here, and not where the Thebans say it did. And Mycalessus was so called they state because the cow that led Cadmus and his army to Thebes lowed here.
[9.19] I have described in my account of Attica how Mycalessus was depopulated. In it near the sea is a temple of Mycalessian Demeter: which they say is shut and opened again every night by Hercules, who they say is one of the Idæan Dactyli. The following miracle takes place here. At the feet of the statue of Demeter they put some of the fruits of Autumn, and they remain fresh all the year.
[9.19] At the place where the Euripus parts Eubœa from Bœotia, as you go forward a little on the right of the temple of Mycalessian Demeter you come to Aulis, so called they say from the daughter of Ogygus. There is here a temple of Artemis and two stone statues of her, one holding torches, and the other like an archer. They say that when the Greeks in accordance with the oracle of Calchas were about to sacrifice Iphigenia, the goddess caused a doe to be sacrificed instead. And they keep in the temple the remains of the plane-tree which Homer has mentioned in the Iliad.¹⁰ It is also said that the wind at Aulis was not favourable to the Greeks, but when at last a favourable wind appeared then everyone sacrificed to Artemis what each had, male and female victims, and since then it has been customary at Aulis to accept all kinds of victims. There are shown here too the well near which the plane-tree grows, and on a hill near the tent of Agamemnon a brazen threshold. And some palm trees grow before the temple, the fruit of which is not throughout good to eat as in Palestine, but they are more mellow than the fruit of the palm-trees in Ionia. There are not many inhabitants at Aulis, and all of them are potters. The people of Tanagra inhabit this district, and all about Mycalessus and Harma.
[9.20] In that part of the district of Tanagra near the sea is a place called Delium, in which are statues of Artemis and Leto. And the people of Tanagra say their founder was Pœmander, the son of Chæresilaus the son of Iasius the son of Eleuther, who was the son of Apollo by Æthusa the daughter of Poseidon. And Pœmander they say married Tanagra the daughter of Æolus, though Corinna in her verses about her says that she was the daughter of Asopus. As her life was prolonged to a very advanced age they say that the people who lived round about called her Graia, and in process of time called the city so too. And the name remained so long that Homer speaks of the city by that name in his Catalogue, in the line
“Thespea, and Graia, and spacious Mycalessus.”¹¹
But in process of time it got its old name Tanagra back again.
[9.20] At Tanagra is the tomb of Orion, and the mountain Cerycius, where they say Hermes was reared. There is also the place called Polus, where they say Atlas sits and meditates on things under the earth and things in heaven, of whom Homer writes,
“Daughter of astute Atlas, who knows the depths of every sea, and who by himself supports the lofty pillars, which keep apart earth and heaven.”¹²
[9.20] And in the temple of Dionysus the statue of the god by Calamis in Parian stone is well worth looking at, but more wonderful still is a statue of Triton. And a legend about Triton of hoar antiquity says that the women of Tanagra before the orgies of Dionysus bathed in the sea to purify themselves, and as they were swimming about Triton assailed them, and they prayed Dionysus to come to their aid, and the god hearkened to them and conquered Triton after a fight with him. Another legend lacks the antiquity of this, but is more plausible. It relates that, when the herds were driven to the sea, Triton lay in ambush and carried some of them off. He also plundered small vessels, till the people of Tanagra filled a bowl full of wine for him. And he came to it attracted they say by its aroma, and drank of it and fell asleep and tumbled down the rocks, and a man of Tanagra smote his head off with an axe. And for this reason his statue has no head. And because he was captured when drunk they think he was killed by Dionysus.
[9.21] I have also seen another Triton among the Curiosities at Rome, but not so big as this one at Tanagra. This is the appearance of Tritons: the hair on their head is like frog-wort in the marshes, and one hair is not to be distinguished from another, the rest of their body is rough with thin scales like the shark. Under their ears they have the gills of a fish, and the nose of a man but a somewhat larger mouth and the teeth of an animal. Their eyes are I think a greyish blue, and their hands and fingers and nails are like the claws of shell-fish. And under the breast and belly they have fins like dolphins instead of feet. I have also seen the Ethiopian bulls, which they call rhinoceroses because a horn projects from their nose and a little horn besides under it, but they have no horns on their head. I have seen also the Pæonian bulls, which are rough all over their bodies but especially in the breast and chin. I have seen also the Indian camels which are like leopards in colour. There is also a wild animal called the elk, which is something between a stag and a camel, and is found among the Celts. It is the only animal we know of that men cannot hunt or see at a distance, but when they are engaged in hunting other animals sometimes the deity drives the elk into their hands. But it scents men they say at a great distance, and hides among the rocks and in the recesses of caves. Hunters therefore, when they have drawn a large net completely round a large district or even a mountain, so that nothing in that area can escape, among other animals that they catch when they draw the net tight capture occasionally the elk. But if it should not happen to be in this area, there is no other device by which one could capture the elk. As to the wild animal which Ctesias speaks of in his account of the Indians, called by them martiora, but by the Greeks manslayer, I am convinced this is the tiger. As to the Indian tradition, that it has three rows of teeth in each of its jaws and stings at the end of its tail, with which it defends itself and hurls them at a distance like an archer his arrows, this report I cannot believe, and I think the Indians only accept it from their excessive terror of this animal. They are also deceived about its colour, for when it appears in the rays of the Sun the tiger often looks red and all one colour, either from its speed or if not running from its incessant motion, especially if it is not seen near. I think indeed that if anyone were to travel into the remote parts of Libya or India or Arabia, wishing to find the wild animals that are to be found in Greece, he would not find them at all, but he would find others different. For it is not only man that changes his appearance in different climates and lands, but also everything else is subject to the same conditions, for the Libyan asps have the same colour as the Egyptian ones, while in Ethiopia the earth produces them as black as the men. We ought therefore neither to receive any account too hastily, nor to discredit the uncommon, for example I myself have not seen winged serpents yet I believe there are such, for a Phrygian brought into Ionia a scorpion that had wings like locusts.
[9.22] At Tanagra besides the temple of Dionysus there is one of Themis, and another of Aphrodite, and a third of Apollo, near which are both Artemis and Leto. With respect to the two temples of Hermes the Ram-carrier and Hermes the Champion, they say Hermes got the first title because he allayed a pestilence by carrying a ram round the walls, and that is why Calamis made a statue of Hermes carrying a ram on his shoulders. And whoever is selected as the most handsome youth, carries a ram on his shoulders round the walls during the festival of Hermes. And Hermes they say was called Champion because, when the Eretrians came with a fleet from Eubœa to Tanagra, he led the young men out to battle, and himself (with a scraper like a young man) mainly brought about the rout of the Eubœans. There is also some purslane preserved in the temple of Hermes the Champion: for they fancy it was under this tree that Hermes was reared. And at no great distance is a theatre, and near it a portico. The people of Tanagra seem to honour their gods most of all the Greeks, for they keep their houses and temples apart, and their temples are in a pure place, and apart from men. And Corinna, the only Poetess of Tanagra, has a tomb in the town in a conspicuous place, and her painting is in the gymnasium, her head is adorned with a fillet because of her victory over Pindar at Thebes. And I think she conquered him because of her dialect, for she did not compose in Doric like Pindar, but in Æolic which the Æolians would understand, and she was also one of the handsomest of women as we can see from her painting. They have also two kinds of cocks, game cocks and those they call black cocks. The latter are in size like the Lydian birds and in colour like a crow, and their gills and crest are like the anemone, and they have small white marks on the end of their bill and tail. Such is their appearance.
[9.22] And in Bœotia on the left of the Euripus is the mountain Messapium, and at the foot of it is the Bœotian city Anthedon on the sea, called according to some after the Nymph Anthedon, but according to others from Anthas who they say ruled here, the son of Poseidon by Alcyone the daughter of Atlas. At Anthedon in about the middle of the city is a temple and grove round it of the Cabiri, and near it is a temple of Demeter and Proserpine and their statues in white stone. There is also a temple of Dionysus and a statue of the god in front of the city in the land direction. Here too are the tombs of Otus and Ephialtes the sons of Iphimedea and Aloeus, who were slain by Apollo as both Homer¹³ and Pindar have represented. Fate carried them off in Naxos beyond Paros, but their tombs are in Anthedon. And by the sea is a place called the leap of Glaucus. He was a fisherman but after eating a certain grass became a marine god and predicts the future, as is believed by many and especially by seafaring men, who every year speak of Glaucus’ powers of prophesy. Pindar and Æschylus have celebrated Glaucus from these traditions of the people of Anthedon, Pindar not so much, but Æschylus has made him the subject of one of his plays.
[9.23] The Thebans in front of the gate Prœtis have what is called the gymnasium of Iolaus, and a mound of earth constituting a race-course like that at Olympia and Epidaurus. There is also shown there the hero-chapel of Iolaus, who died in Sardinia, (as the Thebans admit), with the Athenians and Thespians who crossed over with him. As you leave the race-course on the right is the Hippodrome, and in it is the tomb of Pindar. When he was quite a young man, going one day to Thespiæ in the middle of a very hot day, he was tired and sleep came upon him. And he lay down a little above the road, and some bees settled on him as he slept and made their honey on his lips. This circumstance made him first write poems. And when he was famous throughout all Greece, the Pythian Priestess raised his fame still higher by proclaiming at Delphi, that Pindar was to have an equal share with Apollo of the firstfruits. It is said that he also had an appearance in a dream when he was advanced in years. Proserpine stood by him as he slept, and told him that she was the only one of the gods that was not celebrated by him, but he would also celebrate her in an Ode when he came to her. And he died before the close of the 10th day after this dream. And there was at Thebes an old woman related to Pindar, who had been accustomed to sing many of his Odes, to her Pindar appeared in a dream and recited his Hymn to Proserpine. And she directly she awoke wrote it down just as she had heard him reciting in her dream. In this Hymn Pluto has several titles, among others the Golden-reined, dearly an allusion to the Rape of Proserpine.
[9.23] The road from the tomb of Pindar to Acræphnium is mostly level. They say Acræphnium was originally a city in the district of Thebes, and I heard that some Thebans fled for refuge there when Alexander destroyed Thebes, for through weakness and old age they were not able to get safe to Attica but dwelt there. This little city is situated on Mount Ptoum, and the temple and statue of Dionysus there are well worth seeing.
[9.23] About 15 stades further you come to the temple of Ptoan Apollo. Ptous was the son of Athamas and Themisto, and from him both Apollo and the Mountain got their name according to the poet Asius. And before the invasion of Alexander and the Macedonians, and the destruction of Thebes, there was an infallible oracle there. And on one occasion a European whose name was Mys was sent by Mardonius to consult the oracle in his own tongue, and the god gave his response not in Greek but in the Carian dialect.¹⁴
[9.23] When you have passed over the mountain Ptoum, you come to Larymna a city of the Bœotians by the sea, so called from the daughter of Cynus who was Larymna: her remote ancestors I shall relate when I come to Locris. Formerly Larymna was reckoned in with Opus, but when the Thebans became powerful the inhabitants voluntarily transferred themselves to the Bœotians. There is here a temple of Dionysus, and a statue of the god in a standing posture. And there is a deep harbour close to the shore, and the mountains above the town afford excellent wild boar hunting.
[9.24] As you go from Acræphnium straight for the lake Cephisis, which is called by some Copais, is the plain called Athamantium, where they say Athamas lived. The river Cephisus has its outlet into this lake, which river has its rise at Lilæa in Phocis, and when you have sailed through the lake you come to Copæ a small town on its banks, which Homer has mentioned in his Catalogue of the ships.¹⁵ Demeter and Dionysus and Serapis have temples there. The Bœotians say that formerly there were several small towns, as Athenæ and Eleusis, inhabited near this lake, which were swept away one winter by a flood. The fish generally in Lake Cephisis are very like other lake fish, but the eels are especially fine and good eating.
[9.24] On the left of Copæ about 12 stades further you come to Olmones, about seven stades distant from which is Hyettus, villages both of them now as always, and I think formerly they as well as the plain Athamantium belonged to Orchomenus. The traditions I have heard about Hyettus the Argive, and Olmus the son of Sisyphus, I shall relate when I come to Orchomenus. There is nothing remarkable to be seen at Olmones, but at Hyettus there is a temple of Hercules, where those who are sick can obtain healing from him. The statue of the god is not artistic, but made of rude stone as in old times.
[9.24] And about 20 stades from Hyettus is the small town Cyrtones: the ancient name was Cyrtone. It is built on a high hill, and contains a temple and grove of Apollo, and statues of both Apollo and Artemis in a standing picture. There is also some cold water there that flows from the rock, and near this spring a temple of the Nymphs and small grove, in which all kinds of trees that are planted grow.
[9.24] Next to Cyrtones, after you have passed over the mountain, you come to the little town of Corsea, and below it is a grove of wild trees mostly holm-oaks. There is a small statue of Hermes in the grove in the open air, about half a stade from Corsea. As you descend to the level plain the river Platanius has its outlet into the sea, and on the right of this river the Bœotians on the borders inhabit the town of Halæ by the sea, which parts Locris from Eubœa.
[9.25] At Thebes near the gate Neistis is the tomb of Menœceus the son of Creon, who voluntarily slew himself in accordance with the oracle at Delphi, when Polynices and his army came from Argos. A pomegranate tree grows near this tomb, when its fruit is ripe if you break the rind the kernel is like blood. This tree is always in bloom. And the Thebans say the vine first grew at Thebes, but they have no proof of what they assert. And not far from the tomb of Menœceus they say the sons of Œdipus had a single combat and killed one another. As a record of this combat there is a pillar, and a stone shield upon it. A place also is shown where the Thebans say that Hera suckled Hercules when a baby through some deceit on the part of Zeus. And the whole place is called Antigone’s Dragging-ground: for as she could not easily lift up with all her zeal the corpse of Polynices, her next idea was to drag it along, which she did till she was able to throw it on the funeral pile of Eteocles which was blazing.
[9.25] When you have crossed the river called Dirce from the wife of Lycus, (about this Dirce there is a tradition that she defamed Antiope and was consequently killed by the sons of Antiope), there are ruins of Pindar’s house, and a temple of the Dindymene Mother, the votive offering of Pindar, the statue of the goddess is by the Thebans Aristomedes and Socrates. They are wont to open this temple one day in each year and no more. I happened to be present on that day, and I saw the statue which is of Pentelican marble as well as the throne.
[9.25] On the road from the gate Neistis is the temple of Themis and the statue of the goddess in white stone, and next come temples of the Fates and of Zeus Agoræus, the latter has a stone statue, but the Fates have no statues. And at a little distance is a statue of Hercules in the open air called Nose-cutter-off, because (say the Thebans) he cut off the noses of the envoys who came from Orchomenus to demand tribute.
[9.25] About 25 stades further you come to the grove of Cabirian Demeter and Proserpine, which none may enter but the initiated. About seven stades from this grove is the temple of the Cabiri. Who they were and what are their rites or those of Demeter I must be pardoned by the curious for passing over in silence. But nothing prevents my publishing to everybody the origin of these rites according to the Theban traditions. They say there was formerly a town here, the inhabitants of which were called Cabiri, and that Demeter getting acquainted with Prometheus (one of the Cabiri), and Prometheus’ son Ætnæus, put something into their hands. What this deposit was, and the circumstances relating to it, it is not lawful for me to disclose. But the mysteries of Demeter were a gift to the Cabiri. But when the Epigoni led an army against Thebes and captured it, the Cabiri were driven out by the Argives, and for some time the mysteries were not celebrated. Afterwards however they are said to have been reestablished by Pelarge, the daughter of Potneus, and her husband Isthmiades, who taught them to the person whose name was Alexiarous. And because Pelarge celebrated the mysteries beyond the ancient boundaries, Telondes and all of the Cabiri who had left Cabiræa returned. Pelarge in consequence of an oracle from Dodona was treated with various honours, and a victim big with young was ordered for her sacrifice. The wrath of the Cabiri is implacable as has frequently been manifested. For example when some private persons at Naupactus imitated the mysteries at Thebes, vengeance soon came upon them. And those of Xerxes’ army who were with Mardonius and left in Bœotia, when they entered the temple of the Cabiri (partly from the hope of finding great wealth there, but more I think to insult the divinity), went mad and perished by throwing themselves into the sea from the rocks. And when Alexander after his victory put Thebes and all Thebais on fire, the Macedonians who went into the temple of the Cabiri with hostile intent were killed by lightning and thunderbolts.
[9.26] So holy was this temple from the first. On the right of the temple of the Cabiri is a plain called the plain of Tenerus from Tenerus the seer, who they think was the son of Apollo and Melia, and a large temple to Hercules surnamed Hippodetes, because they say the Orchomenians came here with an army, and Hercules by night took their horses and tied them to their chariots. And a little further you come to the mountain where they say the Sphinx made her headquarters, reciting a riddle for the ruin of those she captured. Others say that with a naval force she used to sail the seas as a pirate, and made her port Anthedon, and occupied this mountain for her robberies, till Œdipus slew her after vanquishing her with a superior force, which he brought from Corinth. It is also said that she was the illegitimate daughter of Laius, and that her father out of good will to her told her the oracle that was given to Cadmus at Delphi, an oracle which no one knew but the kings of Thebes. Whenever then any one of her brothers came to consult her about the kingdom, (for Laius had sons by mistresses, and the oracle at Delphi only referred to his wife Epicaste and male children by her), she used subtlety to her brothers, saying that if they were the sons of Laius they would know the oracle given to Cadmus, and if they could not give it she condemned them to death, as being doubtful claimants of the blood royal. And Œdipus learnt this oracle in a dream.
[9.26] About 15 stades from this mountain are the ruins of Onchestus, where they say Onchestus the son of Poseidon dwelt, and in my time there was a statue of Onchestian Poseidon, and the grove which Homer has mentioned.¹⁶ And as you turn to the left from the temple of the Cabiri in about 50 stades you will come to Thespia built under Mount Helicon. The town got its name they say from Thespia the daughter of Asopus. Others say that Thespius the son of Erechtheus came from Athens, and gave his name to it. At Thespia is a brazen statue of Zeus Soter: they say that, when a dragon once infested the town, Zeus ordered one of the lads chosen by lot every year to be given to the monster. The names of his other victims they do not record, but for Cleostratus the last victim they say his lover Menestratus invented the following contrivance. He made for him a brazen breastplate with a hook on each of its plates bent in, and Cleostratus armed with this cheerfully gave himself up to the dragon, for he knew that though he would perish himself he would also kill the monster. From this circumstance Zeus was called the Saviour. They have also statues of Dionysus and Fortune, and Hygiea, and Athene the Worker, and near her Plutus.
[9.27] Of the gods the Thespians have always honoured Eros most, of whom they have a very old statue in rude stone. But who instituted the worship of Eros at Thespia I do not know. This god is worshipped not a whit less by the Pariani who live near the Hellespont, who were originally from Ionia and migrated from Erythræ, and are now included amongst the Romans. Most men think Eros the latest of the gods, and the son of Aphrodite. But the Lycian Olen, who wrote the most ancient Hymns of the Greeks, says in his Hymn to Ilithyia that she was the mother of Eros. And after Olen Pamphus and Orpheus wrote verses to Eros for the Lycomidæ to sing at the mysteries, and I have read them thanks to a torch-bearer at the mysteries. But of these I shall make no further mention. And Hesiod, (or whoever wrote the Theogony and foisted it on Hesiod), wrote I know that Chaos came first, and then Earth, and Tartarus, and Eros. And the Lesbian Sappho has sung many things about Eros which do not harmonize with one another. Lysippus afterwards made a brazen statue of Eros for the Thespians, and still earlier Praxiteles made one in Pentelican marble. I have told elsewhere all about Phryne’s ingenious trick on Praxiteles. This statue of Eros was removed first by the Roman Emperor Gaius, and, though it was restored by Claudius to Thespia, Nero removed it to Rome once more. And there it was burnt by fire. But of those who acted thus impiously to the god Gaius, always giving the same obscene word to a soldier, made him so angry that at last he killed him for it,¹⁷ and Nero, besides his dealings to his mother and wedded wives, showed himself an abominable fellow and one that had no true affinity with Eros. The statue of Eros in Thespia in our day is by the Athenian Menodorus, who made an imitation of the statue of Praxiteles. There are also statues in stone by Praxiteles of Aphrodite and Phryne. And in another part of the town is a temple of Black Aphrodite, and a theatre and market-place well worth seeing: there is also a brazen statue of Hesiod. And not far from the market-place is a brazen Victory, and a small temple of the Muses, and some small stone statues in it.
[9.27] There is also a temple of Hercules at Thespia, the priestess is a perpetual virgin. The reason of this is as follows. They say that Hercules in one night had connection with all the fifty daughters of Thestius but one: her he spared and made her his priestess on condition that she remained a virgin all her life. I have indeed heard another tradition, that Hercules in the same night had connection with all the daughters of Thestius, and that they all bare him sons, and the eldest and youngest twins. But I cannot believe this credible that Hercules should have been so angry with the daughter of his friend. Besides he who, while he was among men, punished insolent persons and especially those who showed impiety to the gods, would not have been likely to have built a temple and appointed a priestess to himself as if he had been a god. And indeed this temple seems to me too ancient for Hercules the son of Amphitryon, and was perhaps erected by the Hercules who was one of the Idæan Dactyli, temples of whom I have found among the people of Erythræ in Ionia, and among the people of Tyre. Nor are the Bœotians ignorant of this Hercules, for they say that the temple of Mycalessian Demeter was entrusted to Idæan Hercules.
[9.28] Of all the mountains of Greece Helicon is the most fertile and full of trees planted there: and the purslane bushes afford everywhere excellent food for goats. And those who live at Helicon say that the grass and roots on the mountain are by no means injurious to man. Moreover the pastures make the venom of snakes less potent, so that those that are bitten here mostly escape with their life, if they meet with a Libyan of the race of the Psylli, or with some antidote from some other source. And yet the venom of wild snakes is generally deadly both to men and animals, and the condition of the pastures contributes greatly to the strength of the venom, for I have heard from a Phœnician that in the mountainous part of Phœnicia the roots make the vipers more formidable. He said also that he had seen a man flee from the attack of a viper and run to a tree, and the viper followed after and blew its venom against the tree, and that killed the man. Such was what he told me. And I also know that the following happens in Arabia in the case of vipers that live near balsam trees. The balsam tree is about the same size as a myrtle bush, and its leaves are like those of the herb marjoram. And the vipers in Arabia more or less lodge under these balsam trees, for the sap from them is the food most agreeable to them, and moreover they rejoice in the shade of the trees. Whenever then the proper season comes for the Arabians to gather the sap of the balsam tree, they take with them two poles and knock them together and so frighten off the vipers, for they don’t like to kill them as they look upon them as sacred. But if anyone happens to be bitten by these vipers, the wound is similar to that from steel, and there is no fear of venom: for inasmuch as these vipers feed on the most sweet-scented ointment, the venom changes its deadly properties for something milder.
[9.29] Such is the case there. They say that Ephialtes and Otus first sacrificed to the Muses on Helicon, and called the mountain sacred to the Muses, and built Ascra, of which Hegesinous speaks as follows in his poem about Attica.
“By Ascra lay the earth-shaking Poseidon, and she as time rolled on bare him a son Œoclus, who first built Ascra with the sons of Aloeus, Ascra at the foot of many-fountained Helicon.”
[9.29] This poem of Hegesinous I have not read, for it was not extant in my time, but Callippus the Corinthian in his account of Orchomenus cites some of the lines to corroborate his account, and similarly I myself have cited some of them from Callippus. There is a tower at Ascra in my time, but nothing else remains. And the sons of Aloeus thought the Muses were three in number, and called them Melete and Mneme and Aoide. But afterwards they say the Macedonian Pierus, who gave his name to the mountain in Macedonia, came to Thespia and made 9 Muses, and changed their names to the ones they now have. And this Pierus did either because it seemed wiser, or in obedience to an oracle, or so taught by some Thracian, for the Thracians seem in old times to have been in other respects more clever than the Macedonians, and not so neglectful of religion. There are some who say that Pierus had 9 daughters, and that they had the same names as the Muses, and that those who were called by the Greeks the sons of the Muses were called the grandchildren of Pierus. But Mimnermus, in the Elegiac verses which he composed about the battle of the people of Smyrna against Gyges and the Lydians, says in his prelude that the older Muses were the daughters of Uranus, and the younger ones the daughters of Zeus. And at Helicon, on the left as you go to the grove of the Muses, is the fountain Aganippe. Aganippe was they say the daughter of Termesus, the river which flows round Helicon, and, if you go straight for the grove, you will come to an image of Eupheme carved in stone. She is said to have been the nurse of the Muses. And next to her is a statue of Linus, on a small rock carved like a cavern, to whom every year they perform funeral rites before they sacrifice to the Muses. It is said that Linus was the son of Urania by Amphiaraus the son of Poseidon, and that he had greater fame for musical skill than either his contemporaries or predecessors, and that Apollo slew him because he boasted himself as equal to the god. And on the death of Linus sorrow for him spread even to foreign lands, so that even the Egyptians have a Lament called Linus, but in their own dialect Maneros.¹⁸ And the Greek poets have represented the sorrows of Linus as a Greek legend, as Homer who in his account of the shield of Achilles says that Hephæstus among other things represented a harper boy singing the song of Linus.
“And in the midst a boy on the clear lyre
Harped charmingly, and sang of handsome Linus.”¹⁹
And Pamphus, who composed the most ancient Hymns for the Athenians, as the sorrow for Linus grew to such a pitch, called him Œtolinus, (sad Linus). And the Lesbian Sappho, having learnt from Pamphus this name of Œtolinus, sings of Adonis and Œtolinus together. And the Thebans say that Linus was buried at Thebes, and that after the fatal defeat of the Greeks at Chæronea Philip the son of Amyntas, according to a vision he had in a dream, removed the remains of Linus to Macedonia, and that afterwards in consequence of another dream he sent them back to Thebes, but they say that all the coverings of the tomb and other distinctive marks are obliterated through lapse of time. Another tradition of the Thebans says that there was another Linus besides this one, called the son of Ismenius, and that Hercules when quite a boy slew him: he was Hercules’ music-master. But neither of these Linuses composed any poems: or if they did they have not come down to posterity.
[9.30] The earliest statues of the Muses here were all by Cephisodotus, and if you advance a little you will find three of his Muses, and three by Strongylion who was especially famous as a statuary of cows and horses, and three by Olympiosthenes. At Helicon are also a brazen Apollo and Hermes contending about a lyre, and a Dionysus by Lysippus, and an upright statue of Dionysus, the votive offering of Sulla, by Myro, the next best work to his Erechtheus at Athens. But Sulla did not offer it of his own possessions, but took it from the Orchomenian Minyæ. This is what is called by the Greeks worshipping the deity with other people’s incense.²⁰
[9.30] Here too they have erected statues of poets and others notable for music, as blind Thamyris handling a broken lyre, and Arion of Methymna on the dolphin’s back. But he who made the statue of Sacadas the Argive, not understanding Pindar’s prelude about him, has made the piper no bigger in his body than his pipes. There too is Hesiod sitting with a harp on his knees, not his usual appearance, for it is plain from his poems that he used to sing with a laurel wand. As to the period of Hesiod and Homer, though I made most diligent research, it is not agreeable to me to venture an opinion, as I know the disputatiousness of people, and not least of those who in my day have discussed poetical subjects. There is also a statue of Thracian Orpheus with Telete beside him, and there are round him representations in stone and brass of the animals listening to his singing. The Greeks believe many things which are not true, and among others that Orpheus was the son of the Muse Calliope and not of the daughter of Pierus, and that animals were led by his melody, and that he went down alive to Hades to get back his wife Eurydice from the gods of the lower world. But Orpheus, as it seems to me, really did excel all his predecessors in the arrangement of his poems, and attained to great influence as being thought to have invented the mysteries of the gods, and purifications from unholy deeds, and cures for diseases, and means of turning away the wrath of the gods. And they say the Thracian women laid plots against his life, because he persuaded their husbands to accompany him in his wanderings, but from fear of their husbands did not carry them out at first: but afterwards when they had primed themselves with wine carried out the atrocious deed, and since that time it has been customary for the men to go drunk into battle. But some say that Orpheus died from being struck with lightning by the god because he taught men in the mysteries things they had not before heard of. Others have recorded that, his wife Eurydice having died before him, he went to Aornus in Thesprotia, to consult an oracle of the dead about her, and he thought that her soul would follow him, but losing her because he turned back to look at her he slew himself from grief. And the Thracians say that the nightingales that build their nests on the tomb of Orpheus sing pleasanter and louder than other nightingales. But the Macedonians who inhabit the district of Pieria, under the mountain and the city Dium, say that Orpheus was slain there by the women. And as you go from Dium to the mountain and about 20 stades further is a pillar on the right hand and on the pillar a stone urn: this urn has the remains of Orpheus as the people of the district say. The river Helicon flows through this district, after a course of 75 stades it loses itself in the ground, and 22 stades further it reappears, when it is called Baphyra instead of Helicon, becomes a navigable stream, and finally discharges itself into the sea. The people of Dium say that the river flowed above ground originally throughout its course, but when the women who slew Orpheus desired to wash off his blood in it, it went underground that it might not give them cleansing from their blood-guiltiness. I have also heard another account at Larissa, that a city on Olympus was once inhabited called Libethra, where the mountain looks to Macedonia, and that the tomb of Orpheus is not far from this city, and that there came an oracle to the people of Libethra from Dionysus in Thrace, that when the Sun should see the bones of Orpheus their city would be destroyed by Sus. But they paid no great attention to the oracle, thinking no wild animal would be large or strong enough to destroy their city, while as to the boar (Sus) it had more boldness than power. However when the god thought fit, then the following happened. A shepherd about mid-day laid himself down by the tomb of Orpheus and fell asleep, and in his sleep sang some verses of Orpheus aloud in a sweet voice. Then the shepherds and husbandmen who were near left their respective work, and crowded together to hear this shepherd sing in his sleep, and pushing one another about in striving to get near the shepherd overturned the pillar, and the urn fell off it and was broken, and the Sun did see the remains of Orpheus. And on the following night it rained very heavily, and the river Sus, which is one of the mountain streams on Olympus, swept away the walls of Libethra, and the temples of the gods and the houses of the inhabitants, and drowned all the human beings in the place and all the animals. As the Libethrians therefore all perished, the Macedonians in Dium, according to the account I received from my host at Larissa, removed the remains of Orpheus to their city. Whoever has investigated the subject knows that the Hymns of Orpheus are very short, and do not altogether amount to a great number. The Lycomidæ are acquainted with them and chant them at the Mysteries. In composition they are second only to the Hymns of Homer, and are more valued for their religious spirit.
[9.31] There is also at Helicon a statue of Arsinoe, whom Ptolemy married though he was her brother. A brazen ostrich supports it. Ostriches have wings like other birds, but from their weight and size their wings do not enable them to fly. There is also a doe suckling Telephus the son of Hercules, and a cow, and a statue of Priapus well worth seeing. Priapus is honoured especially where there are flocks of sheep or goats, or swarms of bees. And the people of Lampsacus honour him more than all the gods, and say that he is the son of Dionysus and Aphrodite.²¹
[9.31] At Helicon there are also several tripods, the most ancient is the one they say Hesiod received at Chalcis by the Euripus for a victory in song. And men live round the grove, and the Thespians hold a festival there and have games to the Muses, and also to Eros, in which they give prizes not only for music but to athletes also. And after ascending from this grove 20 stades you come to Hippocrene, a spring formed they say by the horse of Bellerophon striking the earth with its hoof. And the Bœotians that dwell about Helicon have a tradition that Hesiod wrote nothing but The Works and Days, and from this they take away the address to the Muses, and make the poem commence at the part about Strife.²² And they showed me some lead near Hippocrene almost entirely rotten with age, on which The Works and Days was written. A very contrary view to this is that Hesiod has written several poems, as that On Women, and The Great Eœæ, and The Theogony and The Poem on Melampus, and The Descent of Theseus and Pirithous to Hades, and The Exhortation of Chiron for the Instruction of Achilles, and all The Works and Days. The same people tell us also that Hesiod learnt his divination from the Acarnanians, and there are some verses of his On Divination which I have read, and a Narrative of Prodigies. There are also different accounts about his death. For though it is universally agreed that Ctimenus and Antiphus, the sons of Ganyctor, fled to Molycria from Naupactus because of the murder of Hesiod, and were sentenced there because of their impiety to Poseidon, yet some say that the charge against Hesiod of having violated their sister was not true, others say he was really guilty. Such are the different accounts about Hesiod and his Works.
[9.31] On the top of Mount Helicon is a small river called the Lamus. And in the district of Thespia is a place called Donacon, (Reed-bed), where is the fountain of Narcissus, who they say looked into this water, and not observing that it was his own shadow which he saw was secretly enamoured of himself, and died of love near the fountain. This is altogether silly that any grown person should be so possessed by love as not to know the difference between a human being and a shadow. There is another tradition about him, not so well known as the other, viz. that he had a twin-sister, and that the two were almost facsimiles in appearance and hair and dress, and used to go out hunting together, and that Narcissus was in love with this sister, and when she died he used to frequent this fountain and knew that it was his own shadow which he saw, yet though he knew this it gratified his love to think that it was not his own shadow but the image of his sister that he was looking at. But the earth produced I think the flower narcissus earlier than this, if one may credit the verses of Pamphus: for though he was much earlier than the Thespian Narcissus, he says that Proserpine the daughter of Demeter was playing and gathering flowers when she was carried off, and that she was deceived not by violets but by narcissuses.²³
[9.32] The inhabitants of Creusis, a haven of the Thespians, have no public monuments, but in the house of a private individual is a statue of Dionysus made of plaster and adorned by a painting. The sea-voyage from the Peloponnese to Creusis is circuitous and rough, the promontories so jut out into the sea that one cannot sail straight across, and at the same time strong winds blow down from the mountains.
[9.32] And as you sail from Creusis, not well out to sea but coasting along Bœotia, you will see on the right the city Thisbe. First there is a mountain near the sea, and when you have passed that there is a plain and then another mountain, and at the bottom of this mountain is Thisbe. And there is a temple of Hercules and stone statue there in a standing posture, and they keep a festival to him. And nothing would prevent the plain between the mountains being a lake, (so much water is there), but that they have a strong embankment in the middle of the plain, and annually divert the water beyond the embankment and cultivate the dry parts of the plain. And Thisbe, from whom the city got its name, was they say a local Nymph.
[9.32] As you sail on thence you will come to a small town called Tipha near the sea. There is a temple of Hercules there, and they have a festival to him annually. The inhabitants say that from of old they were the most clever mariners of all the Bœotians, and they record that Tiphys, who was chosen the pilot of the Argo, was a townsman of theirs: they also shew a place before their town where they say the Argo was moored on its return from Colchi.
[9.32] As you go inland from Thespia towards the mainland you will arrive at Haliartus. But I must not separate the founder of Haliartus and Coronea from my account of Orchomenus. On the invasion of the Medes, as the people of Haliartus espoused the side of the Greeks, part of the army of Xerxes set out to burn the town and district. At Haliartus is the tomb of Lysander the Lacedæmonian, for when he attacked the city, the forces from Thebes and Athens inside the city sallied forth, and in the battle that ensued he fell. In some respects one may praise Lysander very much, in others one must bitterly censure him. He exhibited great sagacity when he was in command of the Peloponnesian fleet. Watching when Alcibiades was absent from the fleet, he enticed his pilot Antiochus to think he could cope with the Lacedæmonian fleet, and when he sailed out against them boldly and confidently, defeated him not far from the city of the Colophonians. And when Lysander joined the fleet from Sparta the second time, he so conciliated Cyrus, that whatever money he asked for the fleet Cyrus gave him freely at once. And when 100 Athenian ships were anchored at Ægos-potamoi he captured them, watching when the crews had gone on shore for fresh water and provisions. He also exhibited his justice in the following circumstance. Autolycus the pancratiast (whose effigy I have seen in the Prytaneum at Athens) had a dispute with Eteonicus a Spartan about some property. And when Eteonicus was convicted of pleading unfairly, (it was when the Thirty Tyrants were in power at Athens, and Lysander was present), he was moved to strike Autolycus, and when he struck back he brought him to Lysander, expecting that he would decide the affair in his favour. But Lysander condemned Eteonicus of injustice, and sent him away with reproaches. This was creditable to Lysander, but the following were discreditable. He put to death Philocles, the Athenian Admiral at Ægos-potamoi, and 4000 Athenian captives, and would not allow them burial, though the Athenians granted burial to the Medes at Marathon, and King Xerxes to the Lacedæmonians that fell at Thermopylæ. And Lysander brought still greater disgrace upon the Lacedæmonians by establishing Decemvirates in the cities besides the Laconian Harmosts. And when the Lacedæmonians did not think of making money because of the oracle, which said that love of money alone would ruin Sparta, he inspired in them a strong desire for money. I therefore, following the opinion of the Persians and judging according to their law, think that Lysander did more harm than good to the Lacedæmonians.
[9.33] At Haliartus is Lysander’s tomb, and a hero-chapel to Cecrops the son of Pandion. And the mountain Tilphusium and the fountain Tilphusa are about 50 stades from Haliartus. It is a tradition of the Greeks that the Argives, who in conjunction with the sons of Polynices captured Thebes, were taking Tiresias and the spoil to Apollo at Delphi, when Tiresias who was thirsty drank of the fountain Tilphusa and gave up the ghost, and was buried on the spot. They say also that Manto the daughter of Tiresias was offered to Apollo by the Argives, but that, in consequence of the orders of the god, she sailed to what is now Ionia, and to that part of it called Colophonia. And there she married the Cretan Rhacius. All the other legends about Tiresias, as the number of years which he is recorded to have lived, and how he was changed from a woman into a man, and how Homer in his Odyssey has represented him as the only person of understanding in Hades,²⁴ all this everyone has heard and knows. Near Haliartus too there is in the open air a temple of the goddesses that they call Praxidicæ. In this temple they swear no hasty oaths. This temple is near the mountain Tilphusium. There are also temples at Haliartus, with no statues in them for there is no roof: to whom they were erected I could not ascertain.
[9.33] The river Lophis flows through the district of Haliartus. The tradition is that the ground was dry there originally and had no water in it, and that one of the rulers went to Delphi to inquire of the god how they might obtain water in the district: and the Pythian Priestess enjoined him to slay the first person he should meet on his return: and it was his son Lophis who met him on his return, and without delay he ran his sword through him, and Lophis yet alive ran round and round, and wherever his blood flowed the water gushed up, and it was called Lophis after him.
[9.33] The village Alalcomenæ is not large, and lies at the foot of a mountain not very high. It got its name from Alalcomeneus an Autochthon who they say reared Athene: others say from Alalcomenia one of the daughters of Ogygus. Some distance from the village in the plain is a temple of Athene, and there was an old ivory statue of the goddess, which was taken away by Sulla, who was also very cruel to the Athenians, and whose manners were very unlike those of the Romans, and who acted similarly to the Thebans and Orchomenians. He, after his furious onsets against the Greek cities and the gods of the Greeks, was himself seized by the most unpleasant of all diseases, for he was covered with lice, and this was the end of all his glory. And the temple of Athene at Alalcomenæ was neglected after the statue of the goddess was removed. Another circumstance in my time tended to the breaking up of the temple: some ivy, which had got a firm hold on the building, loosened and detached the stones from their positions. The river that flows here is a small torrent, they call it Triton because they say Athene was brought up near the river Triton, as if it were this Triton, and not the Triton in Libya which has its outlet from the Lake Tritonis into the Libyan sea.
[9.34] Before you get to Coronea from Alalcomenæ, you will come to the temple of Itonian Athene, called so from Itonus the son of Amphictyon. Here the Bœotians hold their general meeting. In this temple are brazen statues of Itonian Athene and Zeus, designed by Agoracritus, a pupil and lover of Phidias. They also erected in my time some statues of the Graces. The following tradition is told that Iodama the priestess of Athene went to the temple by night, and Athene appeared to her with the head of the Gorgon Medusa on her tunic, and Iodama when she saw it was turned into stone. In consequence of this a woman puts fire every day on the altar of Iodama, and calls out thrice in the Bœotian dialect, “Iodama is alive and asks for fire.”
[9.34] Coronea is remarkable for its altar of Hermes Epimelius in the market-place, and its altar of the Winds. And a little lower down is a temple and ancient statue of Hera by Pythodorus the Theban. She has some Sirens in her hand. For they say that they, the daughters of Achelous, were persuaded by Hera to vie with the Muses in singing, and that the Muses being victorious plucked off their wings and made crowns of them. About 40 stades from Coronea is the mountain Libethrium, where are statues of the Muses and Nymphs called Libethrides, and two fountains (one called Libethrias, and the other Petra) like women’s breasts, and water like milk comes up from them.
[9.34] It is about 20 stades from Coronea to the mountain Laphystium, and to the sacred enclosure of Laphystian Zeus. There is a stone statue of the god here: and this is the spot they say where, when Athamas was going to sacrifice Phrixus and Helle, a ram with golden wool was sent them by Zeus, on whose back the children escaped. A little higher up is a statue of Hercules Charops, the Bœotians say Hercules came up here from the lower world with Cerberus. And as you descend from Laphystium to the temple of Itonian Athene is the river Phalarus, which discharges itself into the lake Cephisis.
[9.34] Beyond the mountain Laphystium is Orchomenus, as famous and renowned as any Greek city, which, after having risen to the very acme of prosperity, was destined to come to a similar end as Mycenæ and Delos. This is what they record of its ancient history. They say Andreus first dwelt here, the son of the river Peneus, and the country was called Andreis after him. And when Athamas came to him, he distributed to him his land in the neighbourhood of the mountain Laphystium, and what are now called Coronea and Haliartia. And Athamas thinking he had no male children left, (for he had laid violent hands on Learchus and Melicerta, and Leucon had died of some illness, and as to Phrixus he did not know whether he was alive or had left any descendant), adopted accordingly Haliartus and Coronus, the sons of Thersander, the son of Sisyphus, who was brother of Athamas. But afterwards when Phrixus returned from Colchi according to some, according to others Presbon, Phrixus’ son by the daughter of Æetes, then the sons of Thersander conceded the kingdom of Athamas to him and his posterity, so they dwelt at Haliartus and Coronea which Athamas had given to them. And before this Andreus had married Euippe the daughter of Leucon at the instigation of Athamas, and had by her a son Eteocles, who according to the poets was the son of the river Cephisus, so that some of them called him Cephisiades in their poems. When Eteocles became king he allowed the country to keep its name Andreis, but established two tribes, one of which he called Cephisias, and the other from his own name Eteoclea. When Almus the son of Sisyphus came to him, he granted him a small village to dwell in, which got called after him Almones, but eventually got changed to Olmones.
[9.35] The Bœotians say that Eteocles was the first who sacrificed to the Graces. And they are sure that he established the worship of three Graces, though they do not remember the names he gave them. For the Lacedæmonians say that only two Graces were appointed by Lacedæmon the son of Taygete, and that their names were Cleta and Phaenna. These names suit the Graces, and they have suitable names also among the Athenians, for the Athenians honour of old the Graces Auxo and Hegemone. As to Carpo it is not the name of a Grace but a Season. And another Season the Athenians honour equally with Pandrosus, the Goddess they call Thallo. But having learnt so to do from Eteocles of Orchomenus we are accustomed now to pray to three Graces: and Angelion and Tectæus who made a statue of Apollo at Delos have placed three Graces in his hand; and at Athens at the entrance to the Acropolis there are also three Graces, and near them they celebrate the mysteries which are kept secret from the multitude. Pamphus is the first we know of that sang the praises of the Graces, but he has neither mentioned their number nor their names. And Homer, who has also mentioned the Graces, says that one of them whom he calls Charis was the wife of Hephæstus.²⁵ And he says that Sleep was the lover of the Grace Pasithea. For in his account of Sleep he has written the lines,
“That he would give me one of the younger Graces,
Pasithea, whom I long for day and night.”²⁶
Hence has arisen the idea that Homer knew of other older Graces. And Hesiod in the Theogony (if indeed Hesiod wrote the Theogony) says that these Graces are the daughters of Zeus and Eurynome, and that their names are Euphrosyne and Aglaia and Thalia. Onomacritus gives the same account of them in his verses. But Antimachus neither gives the number of the Graces nor their names, but says they were the daughters of Ægle and the Sun. And Hermesianax in his Elegies has written something rather different from the opinion of those before him, viz. that Peitho was one of the Graces. But whoever first represented the Graces naked (whether in a statue or painting) I could not ascertain, for in more ancient times the statuaries and painters represented them dressed, as at Smyrna in the temple of the Nemeses, where above the other statues are some golden Graces by Bupalus. In the Odeum also is a figure of a Grace painted by Apelles. The people of Pergamus have also, in the bed-chamber of Attalus, the Graces by Bupalus. And in what is called the Pythium there are Graces painted by the Parian Pythagoras. And Socrates the son of Sophroniscus at the entrance to the Acropolis made statues of the Graces for the Athenians. And all these are draped: but artists afterwards, I know not why, changed this presentation of them: and in my day both sculptured them and painted them as naked.
[9.36] On the death of Eteocles the succession devolved upon the posterity of Almus. Almus had two daughters Chrysogenia and Chryse: and the story goes that Chryse had a son by Ares called Phlegyas, who succeeded to the kingdom when Eteocles died without any male progeny. So they changed the name of the whole country from Andreis to Phlegyantis, and to the city Andreis, which was very early inhabited, the king gave his own name Phlegyas, and gathered into it the most warlike of the Greeks. And the people of Phlegyas in their folly and audacity stood aloof as time went on from the other Orchomenians, and attracted to themselves the neighbouring people: and eventually led an army against Delphi to plunder the temple, and when Philammon with some picked Argives came against them he and they were slain in the battle that ensued. That the people of Phlegyas more than the other Greeks delighted in war is shewn by the lines in the Iliad about Ares and Panic the son of Ares,
“They two armed themselves for battle with the Ephyri and the warriors of Phlegyas.”²⁷
[9.36] By the Ephyri here Homer means I think those of Thesprotia in Epirus. But the inhabitants of Phlegyas were entirely overthrown by frequent lightning and violent earthquakes: and the residue were carried off by an epidemic, all but a few who escaped to Phocis.
[9.36] And as Phlegyas died childless, Chryses the son of Chrysogenia (the daughter of Almus) by Poseidon succeeded him. And he had a son Minyas, from whom his subjects the Minyæ took the name they still keep. So great were his revenues that he excelled all his predecessors in wealth, and he was the first we know of that built a Treasury for the reception of his money. The Greeks are it seems more apt to admire things out of their own country than things in it, since several of their notable historians have described in great detail the Pyramids of Egypt, but have not mentioned at all the Treasury of Minyas and the walls at Tiryns, though they are no less remarkable. The son of Minyas was Orchomenus, and in his reign the town was called Orchomenus and its inhabitants Orchomenians: but none the less they also continued to be called Minyæ to distinguish them from the Orchomenians in Arcadia. It was during the reign of this Orchomenus that Hyettus came from Argos, fleeing after his slaying Molurus (the son of Arisbas) whom he had caught with his wife, and Orchomenus gave him all the land now round the village of Hyettus and the neighbouring district. Hyettus is mentioned by the author of the Poem which the Greeks call the Great Eœæ.
“Hyettus having slain Molurus (the dear son of Arisbas) in the chamber of his wedded wife, left his house and fled from Argos fertile-in-horses, and went to the court of Orchomenus of Minyæ, and the hero received him, and gave him part of his possessions in a noble spirit.”
[9.36] This Hyettus seems clearly the first that took vengeance on adultery. And in after times Draco the Athenian legislator in the beginning of his laws assigned a severe penalty for adultery, though he condoned some offences. And the fame of the Minyæ reached such a height, that Neleus, the son of Cretheus, who was king at Pylos married the Orchomenian Chloris the daughter of Amphion the son of Iasius.
[9.37] But the posterity of Almus was fated to come to an end, for Orchomenus had no child, and so the kingdom devolved upon Clymenus, the son of Presbon, the son of Phrixus. And Erginus was the eldest son of Clymenus, and next came Stratius and Arrho and Pyleus, and the youngest Azeus. Clymenus was slain by some Thebans at the festival of Onchestian Poseidon, who were inflamed to anger about some trifling matter, and was succeeded by his eldest son Erginus. And forthwith he and his brothers collected an army and marched against Thebes, and defeated the Thebans in an engagement, and from that time the Thebans agreed to pay a yearly tax for the murder of Clymenus. But when Hercules grew up at Thebes, then the Thebans had this tax remitted, and the Minyæ met with great reverses in the war. And Erginus seeing that the citizens were reduced to extremities made peace with Hercules, and seeking to regain his former wealth and prosperity neglected everything else altogether, and continued unmarried and childless till old age stole on him unawares. But when he had amassed much money then he desired posterity, and he went to Delphi and consulted the oracle and the Pythian Priestess gave him the following response,
“Erginus grandson of Presbon and son of Clymenus, you come rather late to inquire after offspring, but lose no time in putting a new top on the old plough.”
[9.37] So he married a young wife according to the oracle, and became father of Trophonius and Agamedes. Trophonius is said indeed to have been the son of Apollo and not of Erginus, as I myself believe, and so will everyone who consults the oracle of Trophonius. When they grew up they say these sons of Erginus became skilful in building temples for the gods and palaces for men: for they built the temple of Apollo at Delphi, and the treasury for Hyrieus. In this last they contrived one stone so that they could remove it as they liked from outside, and they were ever filching from the treasures: and Hyrieus was astonished when he saw keys and seals untampered with, and yet his wealth ever diminishing. So he laid traps near the coffers in which his silver and gold were, so that whoever entered and touched the money would be caught. And as Agamedes entered he was trapped, and Trophonius cut off his brother’s head, that when daylight came he might not if detected inform against him too as privy to the robbery. Thereupon the earth gaped and swallowed up Trophonius in the grove of Lebadea, where is a cavity called after Agamedes, and a pillar erected near it. And the rulers over the Orchomenians were Ascalaphus and Ialmenus, who were reputed to be the sons of Ares by Astyoche, (the daughter of Azeus the son of Clymenus), and who led the Minyæ to Troy.²⁸ The Orchomenians also went on the expedition to Ionia with the sons of Codrus, and after being driven from their country by the Thebans were restored to Orchomenus by Philip the son of Amyntas. But the deity seemed ever to reduce their power more and more.
[9.38] At Orchomenus there is a temple of Dionysus, and a very ancient one of the Graces. They worship especially some meteoric stones which they say fell from heaven upon Eteocles, and some handsome stone statues were offered in my time. They have also a well well worth seeing, which they go down to to draw water. And the treasury of Minyas, a marvel inferior to nothing in Greece or elsewhere, is constructed as follows. It is a circular building made of stone with a top not very pointed: the highest stone they say holds together the whole building. There are also there the tombs of Minyas and Hesiod: they say Hesiod’s bones were got in the following way. When a pestilence once destroyed men and cattle they sent messengers to Delphi, and the Pythian Priestess bade them bring the bones of Hesiod from Naupactus to Orchomenus, and that would be a remedy. They then inquired again in what part of Naupactus they would find those bones, and the Pythian Priestess told them that a crow would show them. As they proceeded on their journey they saw a stone not far from the road and a crow sitting on it, and they found the bones of Hesiod in the hollow of the stone, and these elegiac verses were inscribed upon it,
“The fertile Ascra was his fatherland, but after his death the land of the horse-taming Minyæ got Hesiod’s remains, whose fame is greatest in Greece among men judged by the test of wisdom.”
[9.38] As to Actæon there is a tradition at Orchomenus, that a spectre which sat on a stone injured their land. And when they consulted the oracle at Delphi, the god bade them bury in the ground whatever remains they could find of Actæon: he also bade them to make a brazen copy of the spectre and fasten it with iron to the stone. This I have myself seen, and they annually offer funeral rites to Actæon.
[9.38] About 7 stades from Orchomenus is a temple and small statue of Hercules. Here is the source of the river Melas, which has its outlet into the lake Cephisis. The lake covers a large part of the Orchomenian district, and in winter time, when the South Wind generally prevails, the water spreads over most of the country. The Thebans say that the river Cephisus was diverted by Hercules into the Orchomenian plain, and that it had its outlet to the sea under the mountain till Hercules dammed that passage up. Homer indeed knows of the lake Cephisis, but not as made by Hercules, and speaks of it in the line
“Overhanging the lake Cephisis.”²⁹
[9.38] But it is improbable that the Orchomenians did not discover that passage, and give to the Cephisus its old outlet by undoing the work of Hercules, for they were not without money even as far back as the Trojan War. Homer bears me out in the answer of Achilles to the messengers of Agamemnon,
“Not all the wealth that to Orchomenus comes,”³⁰
plainly therefore at that period much wealth came to Orchomenus.
[9.38] They say Aspledon lost its inhabitants from deficiency of water, and that it got its name from Aspledon, the son of Poseidon by the Nymph Midea. This account is confirmed by the verses which Chersias the Orchomenian wrote,
“Aspledon was the son of Poseidon and illustrious Midea and born in the large city.”
[9.38] None of the verses of Chersias are now extant, but Callippus has cited these in his speech about the Orchomenians. The Orchomenians also say that the epitaph on Hesiod was composed by this Chersias.
[9.39] In the mountainous parts the Phocians are nearest to the Orchomenians, but in the plain Lebadea is nearest. Lebadea was originally built on high ground, and called Midea from the mother of Aspledon, but when Lebadus came from Athens and settled here the inhabitants descended to the plain, and the town was called Lebadea after him. Who the father of Lebadus was, and why he came there, they do not know, they only know that his wife’s name was Laonice. The town is adorned in every respect like the most famous Greek towns. The grove of Trophonius is at some distance from it. They say that Hercyna was playing there with Proserpine the daughter of Demeter, and unwittingly let a goose drop out of her hands, which flew into a hollow cave and hid under a stone, till Proserpine entered the cave and took it from under the stone: and water they say burst forth where Proserpine took up the stone, and the river was called for that reason Hercyna. And on the banks of the river is a temple of Hercyna, and in it the effigy of a maiden with a goose in her hands: and in the cave are the sources of the river, and some statues in a standing posture, and there are some dragons twined round their sceptres. One might conjecture that the statues are Æsculapius and Hygiea, or they may be Trophonius and Hercyna, for dragons are quite as sacred to Trophonius as to Æsculapius. And near the river is the tomb of Arcesilaus: they say Leitus brought his remains home from Troy. And the most notable things in the grove are a temple of Trophonius, and statue like Æsculapius. It is by Praxiteles. There is also a temple of Demeter called Europa, and in the open air a statue of Zeus Hyetius. And as you ascend to the oracle, and pass on in front of the mountain, is Proserpine’s Chase, and a temple of Zeus the King. This temple either owing to its size or continual wars is left unfinished; and in another temple are statues of Cronos and Hera and Zeus. There is also a temple of Apollo. As to the oracle the following is the process. When any one desires to descend to the cave of Trophonius, he must first take up his residence for certain days in the temple of the Good Deity and Good Fortune. While he stays here he purifies himself in all other respects, and abstains from warm baths, and bathes in the river Hercyna, and has plenty of animal food from the various victims: for he must sacrifice to Trophonius and the sons of Trophonius, and also to Apollo and Cronos, and to Zeus the King, and to Hera the Chariot-driver, and to Demeter whom they call Europa, and who they say was the nurse of Trophonius. And at each of the sacrifices the seer comes forward and inspects the victim’s entrails, and having done so declares whether or not Trophonius will receive with favour the person who consults his oracle. The entrails of the other victims however do not show the mind of Trophonius so much as those of the ram, which each person who descends into his cave sacrifices on the night he descends in a ditch, invoking Agamedes. And though the former sacrifices have seemed propitious they take no account of them, unless the entrails of this ram are favourable too, but if these are so, then each person descends with good hope. This is the process. The first thing they do is to bring the person who wishes to consult the oracle by night to the river Hercyna, and to anoint him with oil, and two citizen lads of the age of 13 whom they call Hermæ wash him, and minister to him in all other respects. The priests do not after that lead him immediately to the oracle, but to the sources of the river which are very near each other. And here he must drink of the water called Lethe, that he may forget all his former thoughts, and afterwards he must drink of the water of Memory, and then he remembers what he will see on his descent. And when he has beheld the statue which they say was made by Dædalus, and which is never shown by the priests to any but those who are going to descend to Trophonius, after worship and prayer he goes to the oracle, clad in a linen tunic bound with fillets, and having on his feet the shoes of the country. And the oracle is above the grove on the mountain. And there is round it a circular wall of stone, the circumference of which is very small, and height rather less than two cubits. And there are some brazen pillars and girders that connect them, and through them are doors. And inside is a cavity in the earth, not natural, but artificial, and built with great skill. And the shape of this cavity resembles that of an oven: the breadth of which (measured diametrically) may be considered to be about 4 cubits, and the depth not more than 8 cubits. There are no steps to the bottom: but when any one descends to Trophonius, they furnish him with a narrow and light ladder. On the descent between top and bottom is an opening two spans broad and one high. He that descends lies flat at the bottom of the cavity, and, having in his hands cakes kneaded with honey, introduces into the opening first his feet and then his knees: and then all his body is sucked in, like a rapid and large river swallows up anyone who is sucked into its vortex. And when within the sanctuary the future is not communicated always in the same way, but some obtain knowledge of the future by their eyes, others by their ears. And they return by the place where they entered feet foremost. And they say none who descended ever died, except one of Demetrius’ body-guard, who would perform none of the accustomed routine, and who descended not to consult the oracle, but in the hope of abstracting some of the gold and silver from the sanctuary. They also say that his corpse was not ejected by the usual outlet. There are indeed several other traditions about him: I mention only the most remarkable. And on emerging from the cavity of Trophonius, the priests take and seat the person who has consulted the oracle on the Seat of Memory, not far from the sanctuary, and when he is seated there they ask him what he has seen or heard, and, when they have been informed, they hand him over to the fit persons, who bring him back to the temple of Good Fortune and the Good Deity, still in a state of terror and hardly knowing where he is. Afterwards however he will think no more of it, and even laugh. I write no mere hearsay, but from what I have seen happen to others, and having myself consulted the oracle of Trophonius. And all on their return from the oracle of Trophonius must write down on a tablet what they have seen or heard. There is also still there the shield of Aristomenes: the particulars about which I have already narrated.
[9.40] The Bœotians became acquainted with this oracle in the following way, knowing nothing of it before. As there had been no rain on one occasion for two years, they sent messengers from every city to consult the oracle at Delphi. The Pythian Priestess returned these messengers answer that they must go to Trophonius at Lebadea, and obtain from him a cure for this drought. But when they went to Lebadea they could not find the oracle, when one Saon from Acræphnium, the oldest of the messengers, saw a swarm of bees, and determined to follow them wherever they went. He very soon saw that these bees went into the ground here, and so he discovered the oracle. This Saon they say was also instructed by Trophonius in all the ritual and routine of the oracle.
[9.40] Of the works of Dædalus there are these two in Bœotia, the Hercules at Thebes, and the Trophonius at Lebadea, and there are two wooden statues in Crete, the Britomartis at Olus, and the Athene at Gnossus: and with the Cretans also is the dancing-ground of Ariadne, mentioned by Homer in the Iliad,³¹ represented in white stone. And at Delos there is also a wooden statue of Aphrodite not very large, injured in the right hand from lapse of time, and instead of feet ending in a square shape. I believe Ariadne received this from Dædalus, and when she accompanied Theseus took the statue off with her. And the Delians say that Theseus, when he was deprived of Ariadne by Dionysus, gave Apollo at Delos this statue of the goddess, that he might not by taking it home be constantly reminded of his lost love, Ariadne, and so ever find the old wound bleed anew. Except these I know of none of the works of Dædalus still extant: for time has effaced those works of his which were offered by the Argives in the temple of Hera, as also those that were brought to Gela in Sicily from Omphace.
[9.40] Next to Lebadea comes Chæronea, which was in ancient times called Arne; they say Arne was the daughter of Æolus, and another town in Thessaly was also called after her, and it got its name Chæronea from Chæron, who they say was the son of Apollo by Thero the daughter of Phylas. The author of the Great Eœæ confirms me in this, in the following lines.
“Phylas married Lipephile the daughter of the famous Iolaus, who resembled in appearance the goddesses of Olympus. She bare Hippotes in her bower, and lovely Thero bright as the stars, who falling into the arms of Apollo bare mighty Chæron tamer of horses.”
[9.40] I think Homer knew the names Chæronea and Lebadea, but preferred to call those towns by their ancient names, as he calls the Nile³² by the name Ægyptus.
[9.40] There are two trophies erected at Chæronea by Sulla and the Romans, for the victories over Taxilus and the army of Mithridates. Philip the son of Amyntas erected no trophy either here or elsewhere for victories whether over Greeks or barbarians, for it was not the custom of the Macedonians to erect trophies. They have a tradition that the Macedonian King Caranus defeated in battle Cisseus who was a neighbouring king, and erected a trophy for his victory in imitation of the Argives, and they say a lion came from Olympus and overturned the trophy. Then Caranus was conscious that he had not acted wisely in erecting a trophy, which had only a tendency to bring about an irreconcilable enmity with his neighbours, and that neither he nor any of his successors in the kingdom of Macedonia ought to erect trophies after victories, if they wished to earn the goodwill of their neighbours. I am confirmed in what I say by the fact that Alexander erected no trophies either over Darius or for his Indian victories.
[9.40] As you approach Chæronea is a common sepulchre of the Thebans that fell in the battle against Philip. There is no inscription over them but there is a device of a lion, which may indicate their bravery. I think there is no inscription because, owing to the deity, their courage was followed by no adequate success. Of all their objects of worship the people of Chæronea venerate most the sceptre which Homer says Hephæstus made for Zeus, which Hermes received from Zeus and gave to Pelops, and Pelops left to Atreus, and Atreus to Thyestes, from whom Agamemnon had it.³³ This sceptre they worship and call the spear. And that it has some divine properties is shown not least by the brightness that emanates from it. They say it was found on the borders of the Panopeans in Phocis, and that the Phocians found gold with it; but preferred this sceptre to the gold. I think it was taken to Phocis by Electra the daughter of Agamemnon. It has no public temple erected for it, but every year the priest puts it in a certain building, and there are sacrifices to it daily, and a table is spread for it furnished with all kinds of meats and pastry.
[9.41] Of all the works indeed of Hephæstus, that poets sing of and that have been famous among men, there is none but this sceptre of Agamemnon certainly his. The Lycians indeed show at Patara in the temple of Apollo a brazen bowl (which they say was by Hephæstus), the votive offering of Telephus, but they are probably ignorant that the Samians Theodorus and Rhœcus were the first brass-founders. And the Achæans of Patræ say that the chest which Eurypylus brought from Troy was made by Hephæstus, but they do not allow it to be seen. In Cyprus is the city Amathus, where is an ancient temple of Adonis and Aphrodite, and here they say is the necklace which was originally given to Harmonia, but is called the necklace of Eriphyle, because she received it as a gift from her husband, and the sons of Phegeus dedicated it at Delphi. How they got it I have already related in my account of Arcadia. But it was carried off by the Phocian tyrants. I do not however think that the necklace in the temple of Adonis at Amathus is Eriphyle’s, for that is emeralds set in gold, but the necklace given to Eriphyle is said by Homer in the Odyssey to have been entirely gold, as in the line,
“Who sold for gold her husband dear.”³⁴
[9.41] And Homer knew very well that there are different kinds of necklaces, for in the conversation between Eumæus and Odysseus, before Telemachus returned from Pylos and visited the swineherd’s cottage, are the following lines,
“Came to my father’s house a knowing man,
With golden necklace, which was set in amber.”³⁵
And among the gifts which Penelope received from the suitors he has represented Eurymachus giving her a necklace.
“Eurymachus brought her a splendid necklace,
Golden and set in amber, like a sun.”³⁶
But he does not speak of Eriphyle’s necklace as adorned with gold and precious stones. So it is probable that this sceptre is the only work of Hephæstus still extant.
[9.41] Above Chæronea is a crag called Petrachos. They say that it was here that Cronos was deceived by Rhea with a stone instead of Zeus, and there is a small statue of Zeus on the summit of the mountain. At Chæronea they make unguents by boiling down together lilies and roses narcissuses and irises. These unguents relieve pain. Indeed if you anoint wooden statues with unguent made from roses, it preserves them from rottenness. The iris grows in marshy, places, and is in size about as big as the lily, but is not white, and not so strong-scented as the lily.

## Book X — Phocis

[10.1] That part of Phocis which is in the neighbourhood of Tithorea and Delphi took its name in very ancient times from the Corinthian Phocus, the son of Ornytion. But not many years afterwards all the country now called Phocis got that name, after the Æginetans and Phocus the son of Æacus crossed over there in their ships. Phocis is opposite the Peloponnese and near Bœotia and on the sea, and has ports at Cirrha (near Delphi) and Anticyra: the Epicnemidian Locrians prevent their being on the sea at the Lamiac Gulf, for they dwell in that part of Phocis, as the Scarpheans north of Elatea, and north of Hyampolis and Abæ the people of Opus, whose harbour is Cynus.
[10.1] The most eminent public transactions of the Phocians were as follows. They took part in the war against Ilium, and fought against the Thessalians, (before the Persians invaded Greece), when they displayed the following prowess. At Hyampolis, at the place where they expected the Thessalians to make their attack, they buried in the earth some earthenware pots, just covering them over with soil, and awaited the attack of the Thessalian cavalry: and they not knowing of the artifice of the Phocians spurred their horses on to these pots. And some of the horses were lamed by these pots, and some of the riders were killed others unhorsed. And when the Thessalians more angry than before with the Phocians gathered together a force from all their cities and invaded Phocis, then the Phocians (in no small alarm at the various preparations made by the Thessalians for war, and not least at the quantity and quality of their cavalry), sent to Delphi to inquire how they were to escape from the coming danger: and the answer of the oracle was, “I put together in combat a mortal and immortal, and I shall give victory to both, but the greater victory to the mortal.” When the Phocians heard this they sent 300 picked men under Gelon against the enemy at nightfall, bidding them watch as stealthily as they could the movements of the Thessalians, and return to the camp by the most out-of-the-way road, and not to fight if they could help it. These picked men were all cut to pieces by the Thessalians together with their leader Gelon, being ridden down by the horses, and butchered by their riders. And their fate brought such consternation into the camp of the Phocians, that they gathered together their women and children and all their goods, their apparel and gold and silver and the statues of the gods, and made a very large funeral pile, and left thirty men in charge with strict orders if the Phocians should be defeated in the battle, to cut the throats of the women and children, and offer them as victims with all the property on the funeral pile, and set light to it, and either kill one another there, or rush on the Thessalian cavalry. Desperate resolves such as this have ever since been called by the Greeks Phocian Resolution. And forthwith the Phocians marched forth against the Thessalians, under the command of Rhœus of Ambrosus and Daiphantes of Hyampolis, the latter in command of the cavalry, and the former in command of the infantry. But the commander in chief was Tellias, the seer of Elis, on whom all the hopes of the Phocians for safety were placed. And when the engagement came on, then the Phocians bethought them of their resolves as to their women and children, and saw that their own safety was by no means certain, they were consequently full of desperation, and the omens of the god being auspicious, won one of the most famous victories of their time. Then the oracle which was given to the Phocians by Apollo became clear to all the Greeks, for the word given by the Thessalian commanders was Itonian Athene, and the word given by the Phocian commanders Phocus. In consequence of this victory the Phocians sent to Apollo to Delphi statues of the seer Tellias and of the other commanders in the battle, and also of the local heroes. These statues were by Aristomedon the Argive.
[10.1] The Phocians also found out another contrivance as successful as their former one.³⁷ For when the enemy’s camp was pitched at the entrance to Phocis, five hundred picked Phocians waited till the moon was at its full, and made a night attack on the Thessalians, having smeared themselves and likewise their armour with plaster so as to look white. A tremendous slaughter of the Thessalians is said to have ensued, who looked upon what they saw as a divine appearance, and not as a ruse of the enemy.
[10.1] It was Tellias of Elis who contrived this trick on the Thessalians.
[10.2] When the army of the Persians passed into Europe, it is said that the Phocians were obliged to join Xerxes, but they deserted the Medes and fought on the Greek side at Platæa. Some time afterwards a fine was imposed upon them by the Amphictyonic Council. I cannot ascertain why, whether it was imposed upon them because they had acted unjustly in some way, or whether it was their old enemies the Thessalians who got this fine imposed. And as they were in a state of great despondency about the largeness of the fine, Philomelus the son of Philotimus, second in merit to none of the Phocians, whose native place was Ledon one of the Phocian cities, addressed them and showed them how impossible it was to pay the money, and urged upon them to seize the temple at Delphi, alleging among other persuasive arguments that the condition of Athens and Lacedæmon was favourable to this plan, and that if the Thebans or any other nation warred against them, they would come off victorious through their courage and expenditure of money. The majority of the Phocians were pleased with the arguments of Philomelus, whether the deity perverted their judgment,³⁸ or that they put gain before piety. So the Phocians seized the temple at Delphi, when Heraclides was President at Delphi, and Agathocles Archon at Athens, in the fourth year of the 105th Olympiad, when Prorus of Cyrene was victorious in the course. And after seizing the temple they got together the strongest army of mercenaries in Greece, and the Thebans, who had previously been at variance with them, openly declared war against them. The war lasted 10 continuous years, and during that long time frequently the Phocians and their mercenaries prevailed, frequently the Thebans had the best of it. But in an engagement near the town Neon the Phocians were routed, and Philomelus in his flight threw himself down a steep and precipitous crag, and so perished: and the Amphictyonic Council imposed the same end on all those who had plundered the temple at Delphi. And after the death of Philomelus the Phocians gave the command to Onomarchus, and Philip the son of Amyntas joined the Thebans: and Philip was victorious in the battle, and Onomarchus fled in the direction of the sea, and was there shot by the arrows of his own soldiers, for they thought their defeat had come about through his cowardice and inexperience in military matters. Thus Onomarchus ended his life by the will of the deity, and the Phocians chose his brother Phayllus as commander in chief with unlimited power. And he had hardly been invested with this power when he saw the following apparition in a dream. Among the votive offerings of Apollo was an imitation in brass of an old man, with his flesh already wasted away and his bones only left. It was said by the Delphians to have been a votive offering given by Hippocrates the doctor. Phayllus dreamt that he was like this old man, and forthwith a wasting disease came upon him, and fulfilled the dream. And after the death of Phayllus the chief power at Phocis devolved upon his son Phalæcus, but he was deposed because he helped himself privately to the sacred money. And he sailed over to Crete with those Phocians who joined his party, and with a portion of the mercenaries, and besieged Cydonia, because the inhabitants would not give him the money he demanded, and in the siege lost most of his army and his own life.
[10.3] And Philip put an end to the war, called the Phocian or the Sacred War, in the tenth year after the plunder of the temple, when Theophilus was Archon at Athens, in the first year of the 108th Olympiad, in which Polycles of Cyrene won the prize in the course. And the following Phocian towns were taken and rased to the ground, Lilæa, Hyampolis, Anticyra, Parapotamii, Panopeus, and Daulis. These towns were renowned in ancient times and not least in consequence of the lines of Homer.³⁹ But those which the army of Xerxes burnt were rendered thereby more famous in Greece, as Erochus, Charadra, Amphiclea, Neon, Tithronium, and Drymæa. All the others except Elatea were obscure prior to this war, as Trachis, Medeon, Echedamia, Ambrosus, Ledon, Phlygonium, and Stiris. And now all those towns which I have mentioned were rased to the ground, and except Abæ turned into villages. Abæ had had no hand in the impiety of the other towns, and had had no share either in the seizing of the temple or in the Sacred War. The Phocians were also deprived of participation in the temple at Delphi and in the general Greek Council, and the Amphictyonic Council gave their votes to the Macedonians. As time went on however the Phocian towns were rebuilt, and they returned to them from the villages, except to such as had always been weak, and suffered at this time from want of money. And the Athenians and Thebans forwarded this restoration, before the fatal defeat of the Greeks at Chæronea, in which the Phocians took part, as afterwards they fought against Antipater and the Macedonians at Lamia and Crannon. They fought also against the Galati and the Celtic army with greater bravery than any of the Greeks, to avenge the god at Delphi, and to atone I think for their former guilt.
[10.4] Such are the most memorable public transactions of the Phocians. From Chæronea it is about 20 stades to Panopeus, a town in Phocis, if town that can be called which has no Town-Hall, no gymnasium, no theatre, no market-place, no public fountain, and where the inhabitants live in narrow dwellings, like mountain cottages, near a ravine. But they have boundaries, and send members to the Phocian Council. They say that their town got its name from the father of Epeus, and that they were not Phocians originally, but Phlegyans who fled into Phocis from Orchomenia. The ancient enclosure of Panopeus occupies I conjecture about 7 stades, and I remembered the lines of Homer about Tityus, where he called Panopeus the town delighting in the dance,⁴⁰ and in the contest for the dead body of Patroclus he says that Schedius (the son of Iphitus) the king of the Phocians, who was slain by Hector, dwelt at Panopeus.⁴¹ It appears to me that he dwelt there from fear of the Bœotians, making Panopeus a garrison-town, for this is the point where the Bœotians have the easiest approach to Phocis. I could not however understand why Homer called Panopeus delighting in the dance, till I was instructed by those who among the Athenians are called Thyiades. These Thyiades are Athenian women who annually go to Parnassus in concert with the Delphian women, and celebrate the orgies of Dionysus. These Thyiades hold dances on the road from Athens and elsewhere and also at Panopeus: and I imagine Homer’s epithet relates to this.
[10.4] There is in the street of Panopeus a building of unbaked brick of no great size, and in it a statue in Pentelican marble, which some say is Æsculapius and others Prometheus. The last adduce the following to confirm their opinion. Some stones lie near the ravine each large enough to fill a cart, in colour like the clay found in ravines and sandy torrents, and they smell very like the human body. They say that these are remains of the clay out of which the human race was fashioned by Prometheus. Near the ravine is also the sepulchre of Tityus, the circumference of the mound is about the third of a stade. Of Tityus it is said in the Odyssey,⁴²
“On the ground lying, and he lay nine roods.”
But some say that this line does not state the size of Tityus, but that the place where he lay is called Nine Roods. But Cleon, one of the Magnesians that live on the banks of the Hermus, said that people are by nature incredulous of wonderful things, who have not in the course of their lives met with strange occurrences, and that he himself believed that Tityus and others were as large as tradition represented, for when he was at Gades, and he and all his companions sailed from the island according to the bidding of Hercules, on his return he saw a sea monster who had been washed ashore, who had been struck by lightning and was blazing, and he covered five roods. So at least he said.
[10.4] About seven stades distant from Panopeus is Daulis.⁴³ The people here are not numerous, but for size and strength they are still the most famous of the Phocians. The town they say got its name from the nymph Daulis, who was the daughter of Cephisus. Others say that the site of the town was once full of trees, and that the ancients gave the name daula to anything dense. Hence Æschylus calls the beard of Glaucus (the son of Anthedonius) daulus. It was here at Daulis according to tradition that the women served up his son to Tereus, and this was the first recorded instance of cannibalism among mankind. And the hoopoe, into which tradition says Tereus was changed, is in size little bigger than a quail, and has on its head feathers which resemble a crest. And it is a remarkable circumstance that in this neighbourhood swallows neither breed nor lay eggs, nor build nests in the roofs of houses: and the Phocians say that when Philomela became a bird she was in dread both of Tereus and his country. And at Daulis there is a temple and ancient statue of Athene, and a still older wooden statue which they say Procne brought from Athens. There is also in the district of Daulis a place called Tronis, where a hero-chapel was built to their hero-founder, who some say was Xanthippus, who won great fame in war, others Phocus (the son of Ornytion and grandson of Sisyphus). They honour this hero whoever he is every day, and when the Phocians bring the victims they pour the blood through a hole on to his tomb, and consume the flesh there also.
[10.5] There is also an ascent by Daulis to the heights of Parnassus, rather longer than the ascent from Delphi but not so steep. As you turn from Daulis on to the high road for Delphi and go forward, you will come to a building on the left of the road called Phocicum, into which the Phocians assemble from each of their towns. It is a large building, and in it are pillars all the length of the building, and galleries on each side, where the Phocians sit in assembly. But at the end of the building there are neither pillars nor galleries, but statues of Zeus and Athene and Hera, Zeus on his throne, and Hera standing by on the right, Athene on the left.
[10.5] As you go on from thence you will come to the Cross-roads, where they say Œdipus murdered his father.⁴⁴ There are records indeed of the woes of Œdipus in all parts of Greece. So it seems it was fated. For directly he was born they pierced his ankles, and exposed him on Mount Cithæron in Platæa. He was brought up at Corinth and the country near the Isthmus. And Phocis and the Cross-roads here were polluted by his father’s blood. Thebes has attained even more celebrity from the marriage of Œdipus and the injustice of Eteocles. To Œdipus the Cross-roads here and his bloody deed there caused all his subsequent woes, and the tombs of Laius and his attendant are in the very middle of the place where the 3 roads meet, and there are unhewn stones heaped up on them. They say that Damasistratus, who was king of Platæa, came across their corpses and buried them.
[10.5] The high-road from here to Delphi is very steep, and rather difficult even for a well-equipped traveller. Many varying legends are told about Delphi, and still more about the oracle of Apollo. For they say that in the most ancient times it was the oracle of Earth, and that Earth appointed as priestess of her oracle Daphnis, who was one of the Mountain Nymphs. And the Greeks have a poem called Eumolpia, the author of which was they say Musæus the son of Antiophemus. In this poem Delphi is represented as a joint oracle of Poseidon and Earth, and we read that Earth delivered her own oracles, but Poseidon employed Pyrcon as his interpreter. These are the lines:
“Forthwith Earth uttered forth oracular wisdom,
And with her Pyrcon, famed Poseidon’s priest.”
But afterwards they say Earth gave her share to Themis, and Apollo received it from Themis: and he they say gave Poseidon for his share in the oracle Calauria near Trœzen. I have also heard of some shepherds meeting with the oracle, and becoming inspired by the vapour, and prophesying through Apollo. But the greatest and most widespread fame attaches to Phemonoe, who was the first priestess of Apollo, and the first who recited the oracles in hexameters. But Bœo, a Phocian woman who composed a Hymn for Delphi, says that the oracle was set up to the god by Olen and some others that came from the Hyperboreans, and that Olen was the first who delivered oracles and in hexameters. Bœo has written the following lines,
“Here Pegasus and divine Aguieus, sons of the Hyperboreans, raised to thy memory an oracle.”
[10.5] And enumerating other Hyperboreans she mentions at the end of her Hymn Olen,
“And Olen who was Phœbus’ first prophet,
And first to put in verse the ancient oracles.”
Tradition however makes women the first utterers of the oracles.
[10.5] The most ancient temple of Apollo was they say built of laurel, from branches brought from a tree at Tempe. So that temple would resemble a hut. And the people of Delphi say the next temple was built of the wax and wings of bees, and was sent by Apollo to the Hyperboreans. There is also another tradition that this temple was built by a Delphian whose name was Pteras, that it got its name from its builder, from whom also a Cretan city by the addition of one letter got called Apteræi. For as to the tradition about the fern (Pteris) that grows on mountains, that they made the temple of this while it was still green, this I cannot accept. As to the third temple that it was of brass is no marvel since Acrisius made a brazen chamber for his daughter, and the Lacedæmonians have still a temple of Athene Chalciœcus,⁴⁵ and the Romans have a forum remarkable for its size and magnificence with a brazen roof. So that the temple of Apollo should be brazen is not improbable. In other respects however I do not accept the legend about the temple being by Hephæstus, or about the golden songsters that Pindar sang of in reference to that temple,
“Some golden Charmers sang above the gable.”
I think Pindar wrote this in imitation of Homer’s Sirens.⁴⁶ Moreover I found varying accounts about the destruction of this temple, for some say it was destroyed by a landslip, others by fire. And the fourth (built of stone by Trophonius and Agamedes) was burnt down when Erxiclides was Archon at Athens, in the first year of the 58th Olympiad, when Diognetus of Croton was victor. And the temple which still exists was built by the Amphictyones out of the sacred money, and its architect was the Corinthian Spintharus.
[10.6] They say the most ancient town here was built by Parnassus, who was they say the son of the Nymph Cleodora, and his fathers, (for those called heroes had always two fathers, one a god, one a man), were they say Poseidon among the gods and Cleopompus among men. They say Mount Parnassus and the dell Parnassus got their names from him, and that omens from the flight of birds were discovered by him. The town built by him was they say destroyed in Deucalion’s flood, and all the human beings that escaped the flood followed wolves and other wild beasts to the top of Mount Parnassus, and from this circumstance called the town which they built Lycorea (Wolf-town). There is also a different tradition to this, which makes Lycorus the son of Apollo by the Nymph Corycia, and that Lycorea was called after him, and the Corycian cavern from the Nymph. Another tradition is that Celæno was the daughter of Hyamus the son of Lycorus, and that Delphus from whom Delphi got its name was the son of Celæno (the daughter of Hyamus) by Apollo. Others say that Castalius an Autochthon had a daughter Thyia, who was the first priestess of Dionysus and introduced his orgies, and that it was from her that females inspired by Dionysus got generally called Thyiades, and they think Delphus was the son of Apollo and this Thyia. But some say his mother was Melæne the daughter of Cephisus. And in course of time the inhabitants called the town Pytho as well as Delphi, as Homer has shown in his Catalogue of the Phocians. Those who wish to make genealogies about everything think that Pythes was the son of Delphus, and that the town got called Pytho after him when he was king. But the prevalent tradition is that the dragon slain by Apollo’s arrows rotted here, and that was why the town was called Pytho from the old Greek word to rot, which Homer has employed in his account of the island of the Sirens being full of bones, because those that listened to their song rotted away.⁴⁷ The dragon that was slain by Apollo was the poets say posted there by Earth to guard her oracle. It is also said that Crius, the king of Eubœa, had a son of an insolent disposition, who plundered the temple of the god, and the houses of the wealthy men. And when he was going to do this a second time, then the Delphians begged Apollo to shield them from the coming danger, and Phemonoe (who was then priestess) gave them the following oracle in hexameters, “Soon will Phœbus send his heavy arrow against the man who devours Parnassus, and the Cretans shall purify Phœbus from the blood, and his fame shall never die.”
[10.7] It appears that the temple at Delphi was plundered from the beginning. For this Eubœan robber, and a few years later the people of Phlegyas, and Pyrrhus the son of Achilles also, all laid their hands on it, and part of Xerxes’ army, but those who enriched themselves most and longest on the treasures of the god were the Phocian authorities and the army of the Galati. And last of all it was fated to experience Nero’s contempt of everything, for he carried off from Apollo 500 brazen statues, some of gods some of men.
[10.7] The most ancient contest, and one for which they gave a prize first, was they say singing a Hymn in honour of Apollo. And the first victor was Chrysothemis the Cretan, whose father Carmanor is said to have purified Apollo. And after Chrysothemis they say Philammon was next victor, and next to him his son Thamyris. Neither Orpheus they say from his solemn position in respect to the mysteries and his general elevation of soul, nor Musæus from his imitation of Orpheus in all things, cared to contend in this musical contest. They say also that Eleuther carried off the Pythian prize for his loud and sweet voice. It is said also that Hesiod was not permitted to be a competitor, because he had not learned to accompany his voice with the harp. Homer too went to Delphi to enquire what was necessary for him, and even had he learnt how to play on the harp, the knowledge would have been useless to him, because of his being blind. And in the third year of the 48th Olympiad, in which Glaucias of Croton was victor, the Amphictyones established prizes for harping as at the first, and added contests for pipes, and for singing to the pipes. And the victors proclaimed were Cephallen who was distinguished in singing to the harp, and the Arcadian Echembrotus for his singing to the pipes, and the Argive Sacadas for his playing on the pipes. Sacadas also had two other Pythian victories after this. Then too they first ordained prizes for athletes as at Olympia, with the exception of the fourhorse races, and they established by law the long course and double course for boys. And in the second Pythiad they invited them no longer to contend for prizes, but made the contest one for a crown only, and stopped singing to the pipes, as not thinking it pleasing to the ear. For singing to the pipes was most gloomy kind of music, and elegies and dirges were so sung. The votive offering of Echembrotus confirms me in what I say, for the brazen tripod offered by him to Hercules at Thebes has the following inscription, “Echembrotus the Arcadian offered this tripod to Hercules, after having been victorious in the contests of the Amphictyones, and in singing to the Greeks songs and elegies.” So the contest of singing to the pipes was stopped. Afterwards they added a chariot race, and Clisthenes the tyrant of Sicyon was proclaimed victor. And in the eighth Pythiad they added harping without the accompaniment of the voice, and Agelaus from Tegea got the crown. And in the 23rd Pythiad they had a race in armour, and Timænetus from Phlius got the laurel, five Olympiads after Damaretus of Heræa was victor. And in the 48th Pythiad they established the race for a pair-horse chariot, and the pair of Execestides the Phocian was victorious. And in the fifth Pythiad after this they yoked colts to chariots, and the four-colt car of Orphondas the Theban came in first. But the pancratium for boys, and the pair of colts, and the racing colt they instituted many years after the people of Elis, the pancratium in the 61st Pythiad (when Iolaidas the Theban was victor), and one Pythiad after the racing colt (when Lycormas of Larissa was proclaimed victor), and in the 69th Pythiad the pair of colts (when the Macedonian Ptolemy was victor). For the Ptolemies delighted to be called Macedonians, as indeed they were. And the crown of laurel was given to the victors in the Pythian games, for no other reason I think than that (according to the prevalent report) Apollo was enamoured of Daphne⁴⁸ the daughter of Ladon.
[10.8] Some think that Amphictyon the son of Deucalion appointed the general Council of the Greeks, and that was why those who assembled at the Council were called Amphictyones: but Androtion in his history of Attica says that originally delegates came to Delphi from the neighbouring people who were called Amphictiones, and in process of time the name Amphictyones prevailed. They say too that the following Greek States attended this general Council, the Ionians, the Dolopes, the Thessalians, the Ænianes, the Magnetes, the Malienses, the Phthiotes, the Dorians, the Phocians, the Locrians who dwelt under Mount Cnemis and bordered upon Phocis. But when the Phocians seized the temple, and ten years afterwards the Sacred War came to an end, the Amphictyonic Council was changed: for the Macedonians obtained admission to it, and the Phocians and (of the Dorians) the Lacedæmonians ceased to belong to it, the Phocians because of their sacrilegious outbreak on the temple, and the Lacedæmonians because they had assisted the Phocians. But when Brennus led the Galati against Delphi, the Phocians exhibited greater bravery than any of the Greeks in the war, and were in consequence restored to the Amphictyonic Council, and in other respects regained their former position. And the Emperor Augustus wished that the inhabitants of Nicopolis near Actium should belong to the Amphictyonic Council, so he joined the Magnetes and Malienses and Ænianes and Phthiotes to the Thessalians, and transferred their votes, and those of the Dolopes who had died out, to the people of Nicopolis. And in my time the Amphictyones were 30 members. Six came from Nicopolis, six from Macedonia, six from Thessaly, two from the Bœotians (who were originally in Thessaly and called Æolians), two from Phocis, and two from Delphi, one from ancient Doris, one from the Locrians called Ozolæ, one from the Locrians opposite Eubœa, one from Eubœa, one from Argos Sicyon Corinth and Megara, and one from Athens. Athens and Delphi and Nicopolis send delegates to every Amphictyonic Council: but the other cities I have mentioned only join the Amphictyonic Council at certain times.
[10.8] As you enter Delphi there are four temples in a row, the first in ruins, the next without statues or effigies, the third has effigies of a few of the Roman Emperors, the fourth is called the temple of Athene Pronoia. And the statue in the ante-chapel is the votive offering of the Massaliotes, and is larger in size than the statue within the temple. The Massaliotes are colonists of the Phocæans in Ionia, and were part of those who formerly fled from Phocæa from Harpagus the Mede, but, after having beaten the Carthaginians in a naval engagement, obtained the land which they now occupy, and rose to great prosperity. This votive offering of the Massaliotes is of brass. The golden shield which was offered to Athene Pronoia by Crœsus the Lydian was taken away (the Delphians said) by Philomelus. Near this temple is the sacred enclosure of the hero Phylacus, who, according to the tradition of the Delphians, protected them against the invasion of the Persians. In the part of the gymnasium which is in the open air was once they say a wild wood where Odysseus, when he went to Autolycus and hunted with the sons of Autolycus, was wounded on the knee by a boar.⁴⁹ As you turn to the left from the gymnasium, and descend I should say about 3 stades, is the river called Plistus, which falls into the sea at Cirrha the haven of the Delphians. And as you ascend from the gymnasium to the temple on the right of the road is the water Castalia which is good to drink. Some say it got its name from Castalia a local woman, others say from a man called Castalius. But Panyasis, the son of Polyarchus, in the poem he wrote about Hercules says that Castalia was the daughter of Achelous. For he says about Hercules,
“Crossing with rapid feet snow-crown’d Parnassus he came to the immortal fountain of Castalia, the daughter of Achelous.”
[10.8] I have also heard that the water of Castalia is a gift of the river Cephisus. Alcæus indeed so represents it in his Prelude to Apollo, and his statement is confirmed by the people of Lilæa, who believe that the local cakes and other things, which they throw into the Cephisus on certain stated days, reappear in the Castalia.
[10.9] Delphi is everywhere hilly, the sacred precincts of Apollo and other parts of the town alike. The sacred precincts are very large and in the upper part of the town, and have several entrances. I will enumerate all the votive offerings that are best worthy of mention. The athletes however, and musical competitors, of no great merit I do not think worthy of attention, and notable athletes I have already described in my account of Elis. At Delphi then there is a statue of Phayllus of Croton, who had no victory at Olympia, but was twice victor in the pentathlum and once in the course in the Pythian games, and fought a naval engagement against the Medes, having furnished a ship himself, and manned it with some people of Croton who were sojourners in Greece. So much for Phayllus of Croton. On the entrance to the sacred enclosure is a bull in brass by Theopropus the Æginetan, the votive offering of the Corcyræans. The tradition is that a bull in Corcyra left the herd and pasture, and used to resort to the sea bellowing as he went; and as this happened every day the herdsman went down to the sea, and beheld a large shoal of tunny fish. And he informed the people of Corcyra, and they, as they had great difficulty in catching these tunnies much as they wished, sent messengers to Delphi. And then in obedience to the oracle they sacrificed the bull to Poseidon, and after this sacrifice caught the fish, and offered both at Olympia and Delphi the tenth of their catch. And next are the votive offerings of the people of Tegea from the spoils of the Lacedæmonians, an Apollo and Victory, and some local heroes; as Callisto the daughter of Lycaon, and Arcas who gave his name to Arcadia, and the sons of Arcas, Elatus and Aphidas and Azan; and besides them Triphylus, (whose mother was not Erato but Laodamia, the daughter of Amyclas king at Lacedæmon), and also Erasus the son of Triphylus. As to the artificers of these statues, Pausanias of Apollonia made the Apollo and Callisto, and the Victory and effigy of Arcas were by Dædalus of Sicyon, Triphylus and Azan were by the Arcadian Samolas, and Elatus and Aphidas and Erasus were by the Argive Antiphanes. All these the people of Tegea sent to Delphi after the capture of the Lacedæmonians who invaded them. And opposite them are the votive offerings of the Lacedæmonians when they vanquished the Athenians, statues of Castor and Pollux and Zeus and Apollo and Artemis, and besides them Poseidon crowning Lysander the son of Aristocritus, and Abas who was Lysander’s prophet, and Hermon the pilot of Lysander’s flag-ship. This statue of Hermon was designed by Theocosmus the Megarian, as the Megarians ranked Hermon among their citizens. And Castor and Pollux are by the Argive Antiphanes, and Abas is by Pison from Calauria near Trœzen, and Artemis and Poseidon and Lysander are by Dameas, and Apollo and Zeus by Athenodorus. Both Dameas and Athenodorus were Arcadians from Clitor. And behind the statues we have just mentioned are those of the Spartans or their allies who fought for Lysander at the battle of Ægos-potamoi, as Aracus the Lacedæmonian, and Erianthes the Bœotian beyond Mimas, and then Astycrates, and the Chians Cephisocles and Hermophantus and Hicesius, and the Rhodians Timarchus and Diagoras, and the Cnidian Theodamus, and the Ephesian Cimmerius, and the Milesian Æantides. All these were by Tisander. The following were by Alypus of Sicyon, Theopompus from Myndus, and Cleomedes of Samos, and from Eubœa Aristocles of Carystus and Autonomus of Eretria, and Aristophantus of Corinth, and Apollodorus of Trœzen, and from Epidaurus in Argolis Dion. And next to these are the Achæan Axionicus from Pellene, and Theares from Hermion, and Pyrrhias from Phocis, and Comon from Megara, and Agasimenes from Sicyon, and Telycrates from Leucas, and Pythodotus from Corinth, and Euantidas from Ambracia, and lastly the Lacedæmonians Epicyridas and Eteonicus. All these are they say by Patrocles and Canachus. The reverse that the Athenians sustained at Ægos-potamoi they maintain befell them through foul play, for their Admirals Tydeus and Adimantus were they say bribed by Lysander. And in proof of this they bring forward the following Sibylline oracle. “Then shall Zeus the lofty-thunderer, whose strength is almighty, lay grievous woes on the Athenians, fierce battle for their ships of war, that shall perish through the treachery and villainy of their commanders.” They also cite these other lines from the oracles of Musæus, “Verily a fierce storm is coming on the Athenians through the villainy of their commanders, but there shall be some comfort, they shall level low the state that inflicted this disaster, and exact vengeance.” So much for this affair. And as for the engagement between the Lacedæmonians and Argives beyond Thyrea, the Sibyl foretold that it would be a drawn battle, but the Argives thinking they had got the best of it in the action sent to Delphi as a votive offering a brazen horse by Antiphanes of Argos, doubtless an imitation of the Trojan Horse.
[10.10] On the basement under this horse is an inscription, which states that the following statues were dedicated from the tenth of the spoils of Marathon. These statues are Athene and Apollo, and of the commanders Miltiades, and of those called heroes Erechtheus and Cecrops and Pandion, and Leos, and Antiochus the son of Hercules by Meda the daughter of Phylas, and Ægeus, and of the sons of Theseus Acamas. These, in accordance with an oracle from Delphi, gave names to the Athenian tribes. Here too are Codrus the son of Melanthus, and Theseus, and Phyleus, who are no longer ranked among the Eponymi. All these that I have mentioned are by Phidias, and these too are really the tenth of the spoils of Marathon. But the statues of Antigonus, and his son Demetrius, and the Egyptian Ptolemy, were sent to Delphi later, Ptolemy through goodwill, but the Macedonians through fear.
[10.10] And near this horse are other votive offerings of the Argives, statues of those associated with Polynices in the expedition against Thebes, as Adrastus the son of Talaus, and Tydeus the son of Œneus, and the descendants of Prœtus, (Capaneus the son of Hipponous, and Eteoclus the son of Iphis), and Polynices, and Hippomedon (Adrastus’ sister’s son), and near them the chariot of Amphiaraus and in it Baton, the charioteer and also kinsman of Amphiaraus, and lastly Alitherses. These are by Hypatodorus and Aristogiton, and were made, so the Argives themselves say, out of the spoils of the victory which they and their Athenian allies obtained at Œnoe in Argolis. It was after the same action, I think, that the Argives erected the statues of the Epigoni. They are here at any rate, as Sthenelus and Alcmæon, who was, I take it, honoured above Amphilochus in consequence of his age, and Promachus, and Thersander, and Ægialeus, and Diomede, and between the two last Euryalus. And opposite these are some other statues, dedicated by the Argives who assisted Epaminondas and the Thebans in restoring the Messenians. There are also effigies of heroes, as Danaus the most powerful king at Argos, and Hypermnestra the only one of her sisters with hands unstained by murder, and near her Lynceus, and all those that trace their descent from Hercules, or go back even further to Perseus.
[10.10] There are also the horses of the Tarentines in brass, and captive women of the Messapians (barbarians near Tarentum), by Ageladas the Argive. The Lacedæmonians colonized Tarentum under the Spartan Phalanthus, who, when he started on this colony, was told by an oracle from Delphi that he was to acquire land and found a city where he saw rain from a clear sky. At first he paid no great heed to this oracle, and sailed to Italy without consulting any interpreters, but when, after victories over the barbarians, he was unable to capture any of their cities, or get possession of any of their land, he recollected the oracle, and thought the god had prophesied impossibilities: for it could not rain he thought from a clear and bright sky. And his wife, who had accompanied him from home, endeavoured to comfort him in various ways, as he was in rather a despondent condition, and laid his head on her knees, and began to pick out the lice, and in her goodwill it so fell out that she wept when she thought how her husband’s affairs made no good progress. And she shed tears freely on Phalanthus’ head, and then he understood the oracle, for his wife’s name was Æthra (clear sky), and so on the following night he took from the barbarians Tarentum, the greatest and most prosperous of their maritime cities. They say the hero Taras was the son of Poseidon and a local Nymph, and both the city and river got their name from him.
[10.11] And near the votive offering of the Tarentines is the treasury of the Sicyonians, but you will see no money either here or in any of the treasuries. The Cnidians also brought statues to Delphi, as Triopas (their founder) standing by a horse, and Leto and Apollo and Artemis shooting at Tityus, who is represented wounded. These statues stand by the treasury of the Sicyonians.
[10.11] The Siphnii too made a treasury for the following reason. The island of Siphnos had gold mines, and the god bade them send a tenth of the revenue thus accruing to Delphi, and they built a treasury and sent the tenth to the god. But when in their cupidity they left off this tribute, then the sea encroached and swept away their mines. Statues after a naval victory over the Tyrrhenians were also erected by the people of Lipara, who were a colony of Cnidians, and the leader of the colony was they say a Cnidian whose name was Pentathlus, as Antiochus the Syracusan (the son of Xenophanes) testifies in his History of Sicily. He says also that when they had built a town at Pachynus, a promontory in Sicily, they were expelled from it by force by the Elymi and Phœnicians, and either occupied deserted islands, or drove out the islanders from those islands which they call to this day by the name Homer employs, the islands of Æolus. Of these they lived in Lipara and built a city there, and used to sail to Hiera and Strongyle and Didymæ for purposes of cultivation. In Strongyle fire clearly ascends from the ground, and in Hiera fire spontaneously blazes up on a height in the island, and near the sea are convenient baths, if the water is not too hot, for often it is difficult to bathe by reason of the great heat.
[10.11] The Theban treasuries were the result of the victory at Leuctra, and the Athenian treasuries from the victory at Marathon and the spoil of Datis on that occasion: but whether the Cnidians built theirs to commemorate some victory or to display their wealth I do not know. But the people of Cleonæ suffered greatly like the Athenians from a plague, till in obedience to the oracle at Delphi they sacrificed a goat to the rising sun, and, as they thus obtained deliverance from their plague, they sent a brazen goat to Apollo. And the treasury of the Syracusans was the result of the great reverses of Athens, and the Potidæan treasury was erected out of piety to the god.
[10.11] The Athenians also built a portico with the money which they got in war from the Peloponnesians and their Greek allies. There are also votive offerings of the figure-heads of captured ships and brazen shields. The inscription on these mentions the cities from which the Athenians sent the firstfruits of their spoil, Elis, and Lacedæmon, and Sicyon, and Megara, and Pellene in Achaia, and Ambracia, and Leucas, and Corinth itself. In consequence of these naval victories they sacrifice to Theseus, and to Poseidon at the promontory of Rhium. I think also the inscription refers to Phormio the son of Asopichus, and to his famous deeds.
[10.12] There is a projecting stone above, on which the Delphians say the first Herophile, also called the Sibyl, chanted her oracles.⁵⁰ I found her to be most ancient, and the Greeks say she was the daughter of Zeus by Lamia the daughter of Poseidon, and that she was the first woman who chanted oracles, and that she was called Sibyl by the Libyans. The second Herophile was younger than her, but was herself clearly earlier than the Trojan War, for she foretold in her oracles that Helen would be reared in Sparta to the ruin of Asia Minor and Europe, and that Ilium would be taken by the Greeks owing to her. The Delians make mention of her Hymn to Apollo. And she calls herself in her verses not only Herophile but also Artemis, and says she was Apollo’s wedded wife and sister and daughter. This she must have written when possessed by the god. And elsewhere in her oracles she says her father was a mortal but her mother one of the Nymphs of Mount Ida. Here are her lines,
“I was the child of a mortal sire and goddess mother, she was a Nymph and Immortal while he eat bread. By my mother I am connected with Mount Ida, and my native place is red Marpessus (sacred to my mother), and the river Aidoneus.”
[10.12] There are still in Trojan Ida ruins of Marpessus, and a population of about 60 inhabitants. The soil all about Marpessus is red and terribly dry. Why in fact the river Aidoneus soaks into the earth, and on its emerging sinks into the ground again, and is eventually altogether lost in it, is I think the thin and porous soil of Mount Ida. Marpessus is 240 stades distant from Alexandria in the Troad. The inhabitants of Alexandria say that Herophile was the Sacristan of Sminthian Apollo, and that she foretold by dream to Hecuba what we know really came about. This Sibyl lived most of her life at Samos, but visited Clarus in Colophonia, Delos, and Delphi, and wherever she went chanted standing on the stone we have already mentioned. Death came upon her in the Troad, her tomb is in the grove of Sminthian Apollo, and the inscription on the pillar is as follows.
“Here hidden by stone sepulchre I lie, Apollo’s fate-pronouncing Sibyl I, a vocal maiden once but now for ever dumb, here placed by all-powerful fate, and I lie near the Nymphs and Hermes, in this part of Apollo’s realm.”
[10.12] Near her tomb is a square Hermes in stone, and on the left is water running into a conduit, and some statues of the Nymphs. The people of Erythræ, who are most zealous of all the Greeks in claiming Herophile as theirs, show the mountain called Corycus and the cavern in it in which they say Herophile was born, and they say that she was the daughter of Theodorus (a local shepherd) and a Nymph, and that she was called Idæa for no other reason than that well-wooded places were called by people at that time Idas. And the line about Marpessus and the river Aidoneus they do not include in the oracles.
[10.12] Hyperochus, a native of Cumæ, has recorded that a woman called Demo, of Cumæ in the Opican district, delivered oracles after Herophile and in a similar manner. The people of Cumæ do not produce any oracle of Demo’s, but they shew a small stone urn in the temple of Apollo, wherein they say are her remains. After Demo the Hebrews beyond Palestine had a prophetess called Sabbe, whose father they say was Berosus and mother Erymanthe, but some say she was a Babylonian Sibyl, others an Egyptian.
[10.12] Phaennis, (the daughter of the king of the Chaones), and the Peleæ at Dodona, also prophesied by divine inspiration, but were not called Sibyls. As to the age and oracles of Phaennis, one will find upon inquiry that she was a contemporary of Antiochus, who seized the kingdom after taking Demetrius prisoner. As to the Peleades, they were they say earlier than Phemonoe, and were the first women that sang the following lines:
“Zeus was, Zeus is, Zeus shall be. O great Zeus!
Earth yields us fruits, let us then call her Mother.”
Prophetical men, as Euclus the Cyprian, and the Athenian Musæus the son of Antiophemus, and Lycus the son of Pandion, as well as Bacis the Bœotian, were they say inspired by Nymphs. All their oracular utterances except those of Lycus I have read.
[10.12] Such are the women and men who up to my time have been said to have been prophetically inspired: and as time goes on there will perhaps be other similar cases.⁵¹
[10.13] The brazen head of the Pæonian bison was sent to Delphi by Dropion, the son of Deon, king of the Pæonians. These bisons are most difficult of all beasts to capture alive, for no nets are strong enough to hold them. They are hunted in the following manner. When the hunters have found a slope terminating in a hollow, they first of all fence it all round with a palisade, they then cover the slope and level ground near the bottom with newly stripped hides, and if they chance to be short of hides, then they make old dry skins slippery with oil. The most skilful horsemen then drive these bisons to this place that I have described, and slipping on the first hides they roll down the slope till they get to the level ground at the bottom. There they leave them at first, but on the 4th or 5th day, when hunger and weakness has subdued their spirit somewhat, those who are skilled in taming them offer them, while they are still lying there, pinenuts after first removing the husks, for they will at first touch no other kind of food, and at last they bind them and lead them off. This is how they capture them.
[10.13] Opposite the brazen head of this bison is the statue of a man with a coat of mail on and a cloak over it: the Delphians say it is a votive offering of the people of Andros, and that it is Andreus their founder. And the statues of Apollo and Athene and Artemis are votive offerings of the Phocians from spoil of the Thessalians, their constant enemies, and neighbours except where the Epicnemidian Locrians come in. Votive offerings have been also made by the Thessalians of Pharsalus, and by the Macedonians who dwell at Dium under Pieria, and by the Greeks of Cyrene in Libya. These last sent a chariot and statue of Ammon on the chariot, and the Macedonians at Dium sent an Apollo who has hold of a doe, and the Pharsalians sent an Achilles on horseback, and Patroclus is running by the side of the horse. And the Dorians of Corinth built a treasury also, and the gold from the Lydians was stored there. And the statue of Hercules was the votive offering of the Thebans at the time they fought with the Phocians what is called The Sacred War. Here also are the brazen effigies erected by the Phocians, when in the second encounter they routed the Thessalian cavalry. The people of Phlius also sent to Delphi a brazen Zeus, and an effigy of Ægina with Zeus.⁵² And from Mantinea in Arcadia there is an offering of a brazen Apollo, not far from the treasury of the Corinthians.
[10.13] Hercules and Apollo are also to be seen close to a tripod for the possession of which they are about to fight, but Leto and Artemis are trying to appease the anger of Apollo, and Athene that of Hercules. This was the votive offering of the Phocians when Tellias of Elis led them against the Thessalians. The other figures in the group were made jointly by Diyllus and Amyclæus, but Athene and Artemis were made by Chionis, all 3 Corinthian statuaries. It is also recorded by the Delphians that, when Hercules the son of Amphitryon came to consult the oracle, the priestess Xenoclea would not give him any response because of his murder of Iphitus: so he took the tripod and carried it out of the temple, and the prophetess said,
“This is another Hercules, the one from Tiryns not from Canopus.”
[10.13] For earlier still the Egyptian Hercules had come to Delphi. Then the son of Amphitryon restored the tripod to Apollo, and got the desired answer from Xenoclea. And poets have handed down the tradition, and sung of the contest of Hercules and Apollo for the tripod.
[10.13] After the battle of Platæa the Greeks in common made a votive offering of a gold tripod standing on a bronze dragon. The bronze part of the votive offering was there in my time, but the golden part had been abstracted by the Phocian leaders.⁵³ The Tarentines also sent to Delphi another tenth of spoil taken from the Peucetian barbarians. These votive offerings were the works of art of Onatas the Æginetan and Calynthus, and are effigies of footsoldiers and cavalry, Opis king of the Iapyges come to the aid of the Peucetii. He is represented in the battle as a dying man, and as he lies on the ground there stand by him the hero Taras and the Lacedæmonian Phalanthus, and at no great distance a dolphin: for Phalanthus before he went to Italy suffered shipwreck in the Crissæan Gulf, and was they say brought safe to shore by a dolphin.
[10.14] The axes which were the votive offering of Periclytus, the son of Euthymachus of Tenedos, have an old legend connected with them. Cycnus was they say the son of Poseidon, and king at Colonæ, a town in the Troad near the island Leucophrys. This Cycnus had a daughter Hemithea and a son Tennes by Proclea, daughter of Clytius, and sister of that Caletor of whom Homer says in the Iliad⁵⁴ that he was slain by Ajax when he tried to set on fire the ship of Protesilaus,—and, Proclea dying, Cycnus married for his second wife Phylonome, the daughter of Cragasus, who failing to win the love of Tennes told her husband that Tennes wanted to have illicit dealings with her against her will, and Cycnus believed this lie, and put Tennes and his sister into a chest, and sent them to sea in it. And they got safe to the island Leucophrys, since called Tenedos from Tennes. And Cycnus, who was not destined to be ignorant of his wife’s deception all his life, when he learned the truth sailed after his son to implore his forgiveness, and to admit his unwitting error. And as he was anchoring at the island, and was fastening his vessel by ropes to some tree or piece of rock, Tennes in his rage cut the ropes with his axe. Hence it is passed into a proverb, when people obstinately decline a conference, that they resemble him who cut the matter short with his Tenedian axe. Tennes was afterwards slain the Greeks say by Achilles as he was defending Tenedos, and in process of time the people of Tenedos, as they were weak, joined themselves to the people of Alexandria on the mainland of the Troad.
[10.14] The Greeks who fought against the King of the Persians erected at Olympia a brazen Zeus, and an Apollo at Delphi, after the actions of Artemisium and Salamis. It is said also that Themistocles, when he went to Delphi, brought of the spoils of the Medes as a present to Apollo, and when he asked if he should offer them inside the temple, the Pythian Priestess bade him at once take them away altogether. And these were the words of her oracular response: “Put not in my temple the beautiful spoils of the Persians, send them home as quickly as possible.” It is wonderful that the god declined to accept the spoils of the Medes only from Themistocles. Some think the god would have rejected all the Persian spoil equally, if those who offered it had first asked (like Themistocles) if the god would accept it. Others say that, as the god knew that Themistocles would be a suppliant of the Persians, he refused on that account to accept the spoil from him, that he might not win for him by acceptance the undying hate of the Medes. This invasion of Greece by the barbarian you may find foretold in the oracles of Bacis, and earlier still in the verses of Euclus.
[10.14] Near the great altar is a bronze wolf, the votive offering of the Delphians themselves. The tradition about it is that some man plundered the treasures of the god, and hid himself and the gold in that part of Parnassus where the forest trees were most thick, and that a wolf attacked him as he slept and killed him, and that this wolf used to run into the town daily and howl: and the Delphians thought this could not but be by divine direction, so they followed the wolf and discovered the sacred gold, and offered to the god a bronze wolf.
[10.15] The gilt statue of Phryne here was made by Praxiteles, one of her lovers, and was an offering of Phryne herself. And next it are two statues of Apollo, one offered by the Epidaurians in Argolis after victory over the Medes, and the other by the Megarians after their victory over the Athenians at Nisæa. And there is an ox an offering of the Platæans, when they defended themselves successfully on their own soil with the rest of the Greeks against Mardonius the son of Gobryas. Next come two more statues of Apollo, one offered by the people of Heraclea near the Euxine, the other by the Amphictyones when they fined the Phocians for cultivating land sacred to the god. This Apollo is called by the Delphians Sitalcas,⁵⁵ and is about 35 cubits high. Here too are statues of the Ætolian Generals, and of Artemis and Athene, and two statues of Apollo, votive offerings of the Ætolians after their victories over the Galati. Phaennis indeed foretold in her oracles, a generation before it happened, that the army of the Celts would pass from Europe to Asia to destroy the cities there.
“Then indeed the destroying host of the Galati shall cross the narrow passage of the Hellespont, marching to the flute, and shall lawlessly make havoc of Asia. And the god shall even afflict more grievously all those that dwell near the sea-shore. But Cronion shall verily soon raise up a helper, the dear son of a Zeus-reared bull, who shall bring a day of destruction to all the Galati.”
[10.15] By the bull Phaennis meant Attalus the king of Pergamus, who was also called bull-horned in the oracle.⁵⁶
[10.15] The statues of cavalry leaders seated on horseback were offered to Apollo by the Pheræans, when they had routed the Athenian cavalry. And the bronze palm and gilt statue of Athene on the palm were dedicated by the Athenians for the victory at the Eurymedon on the same day both on land and river. I noticed that some of the gold on this statue was plucked off. I put this down to the cupidity of sacrilegious thieves. But Clitodemus, the oldest writer on Athenian Antiquities, says in his account of Attica that, when the Athenians were making preparations for the expedition to Sicily, an immense number of crows came to Delphi, and with their beaks knocked off and tore away the gold off the statue. He also says that they broke off the spear, the owls, and all the fruit on the palm in imitation of real fruit. Clitodemus relates also other prodigies to deter the Athenians from the fatal expedition to Sicily. The people of Cyrene also placed at Delphi a figure of Battus in his chariot, who took them by ship from Thera to Libya. Cyrene is the charioteer, and Battus is in the chariot and Libya is crowning him, the design is by the Cretan Amphion the son of Acestor. And when Battus built Cyrene, he is said to have found the following remedy for an impediment in his speech. As he was travelling in the remote parts of Cyrene which were still unoccupied he chanced to see a lion, and his terror at the sight made him cry out loud and clearly.⁵⁷ And not far from Battus the Amphictyones erected another statue of Apollo, out of the proceeds of the fine imposed on the Phocians for their impiety to the god.
[10.16] Of the votive offerings which the Lydian kings sent to Apollo nothing now remains but the iron base of the bowl of Alyattes. This was made by Glaucus of Chios, who first welded iron, and the places where the base is joined are not riveted together by bolts or nails, but simply by welding. This base from a broad bottom rises turret-like to a point. The sides are not entirely covered, but have girders of iron like the steps in a ladder. Straight bars of iron bend outwards at the extremities, and this is the seat for the bowl.
[10.16] What is called by the Delphians the navel, made of white stone, is according to their tradition the centre of the world, and Pindar in one of his Odes gives a similar account.⁵⁸ Here is a votive offering of the Lacedæmonians, a statue by Calamis of Hermione, the daughter of Menelaus and wife of Orestes (the son of Agamemnon), and still earlier the wife of Neoptolemus the son of Achilles. The Ætolians have also erected a statue to Eurydamus their general, who commanded their army against the Galati.
[10.16] There is still among the mountains of Crete a town called Elyrus, its inhabitants sent a brazen goat as their offering to Delphi. This goat is represented suckling Phylacides and Philander, who according to the people of Elyrus were the sons of Apollo by the Nymph Acacallis, with whom he had an intrigue in the city Tarrha in the house of Carmanor.
[10.16] The Carystians also from Eubœa offered a brazen ox to Apollo after the Median war. I think both they and the Platæans made their votive offerings because, after repulsing the barbarian, they enjoyed prosperity in other respects and a free land to cultivate. The Ætolians also sent effigies of their generals and Apollo and Artemis, when they had subdued their neighbours the Acarnanians.
[10.16] The strangest thing I heard of was what happened in the seafight between the Liparæans and Tyrrhenians. The Pythian Priestess bade the Liparæans fight a naval engagement with the Tyrrhenians with as small a fleet as possible. They put to sea therefore with only five triremes, and the Tyrrhenians, thinking themselves quite a match for the Liparæans, put out to sea against them with only the same number of ships. And the Liparæans took them, and also another five that put out against them, and a third and even fourth set of five ships. They then placed at Delphi as votive offerings as many statues of Apollo as they had captured ships. Echecratides of Larissa offered the small Apollo, and the Delphians say this was the first of all the votive offerings.
[10.17] Of the western barbarians the Sardinians offered a brazen statue of Sardus, from whom their island took its name. For its size and prosperity Sardinia is equal to the most celebrated islands. What its ancient name was among its original inhabitants I do not know, but the Greeks who sailed there for commerce called it Ichnusa, because its shape was like that of a man’s foot-print. Its length is about 1,120 stades and its breadth 470. The first that crossed over into the island were they say Libyans, their leader was Sardus, the son of that Maceris who was called Hercules by the Egyptians and Libyans. The most notable thing Maceris ever did was to journey to Delphi: but Sardus led the Libyans to Ichnusa, and gave his name to the island. They did not however eject the original inhabitants of the island, but the new comers were received as fellow colonists rather from necessity than choice. Neither did the Libyans nor the aborigines of the island know how to build cities, but lived dispersed in huts and caves as each chanced. But some years after the Libyans some Greeks came to the island under Aristæus, (who was they say the son of Apollo by Cyrene): and who migrated they say to Sardinia in excessive grief at the death of Actæon, which made him ill at ease in Bœotia and indeed all Greece. There are some who think that Dædalus fled at the same time from Camicus, owing to the hostility of the Cretans, and took part in this colony of Aristæus: but it is altogether beyond probability that Dædalus, who was a contemporary of Œdipus when he reigned at Thebes, could have shared either in a colony or in anything else with Aristæus, the husband of Autonoe the daughter of Cadmus. Nor do I think that even these Greeks built a town, inasmuch as in numbers and strength they were inadequate to such a task. And after Aristæus the Iberes crossed into Sardinia under Norax, and built the town of Nora, which is the first mentioned in the island: Norax was they say the son of Hermes by Erythea the daughter of Geryon. And a fourth band of colonists of Thespians and Athenians under Iolaus came to Sardinia and built the town of Olbia, and the Athenians separately built the town which they called Ogryle, either preserving the name of one of their townships in this way, or because Ogrylus was one of the expedition. There are still places in Sardinia called after Iolaus, who is still honoured by the inhabitants. And after the capture of Ilium several of the Trojans escaped, as well as those who got off safe with Æneas; part of them were carried by the winds to Sardinia, and mixed with the Greeks who had gone there earlier. And what hindered the barbarians from fighting against the Greeks and Trojans was that in their equipment for war they stood on an equality, and both armies feared to cross the river Thorsus which parted them. Many years afterwards however the Libyans passed over into the island a second time with a larger host, and fought against the Greeks, and entirely destroyed all but a remnant, and the Trojans fled to the hilly parts of the island, and occupying the mountains, which were difficult of access from the rocks and crags, are called to this day Ilians, but they resemble the Libyans in their appearance and armour and mode of living. And there is an island not far from Sardinia, called by the Greeks Cyrnus, but by its Libyan inhabitants Corsica. A large contingent in this island, who had suffered grievously from faction, crossed over to Sardinia and dwelt in part of the mountainous district, and were called by the Sardinians Corsi from the name of their fatherland. And when the Carthaginians became a great naval power, they subdued all the Sardinians but the Ilians and the Corsi, (who were prevented from being reduced to slavery by the security which the mountains gave them,) and themselves built in the island the towns Caralis and Sulci. And the Libyans or Iberes, who were allies of the Carthaginians, disputed over the spoil, and got so angry that they parted from them, and they also went and dwelt in the mountainous parts of the island. And they were called Balari, according to the dialect of the people of Cyrnus, who give that name to exiles. Such are the races that inhabit Sardinia, and such are the towns they have built. And in the island towards the North and the mainland of Italy is a mountain range difficult of access, whose summits are contiguous, and this part of the island affords no harbours to mariners, but violent gusts and squalls of wind sweep from the mountain-tops over the sea. In the middle of the island are other mountains less lofty, but the air there is generally turbid and pestilential, in consequence of the salt that crystallizes there, and the violence of the South Wind; for the North Winds, on account of the height of the mountains towards Italy, are prevented from blowing in summer time so as to cool the air and soil. Some say that Cyrnus is not further by sea from Sardinia than eight stades, and as it is mountainous and lofty throughout, they think it prevents either the West or North West Winds reaching Sardinia. There are no serpents in the island either venomous or harmless, nor wolves. The rams are of no greater size than elsewhere, but their appearance is just such as a statuary in Ægina might suppose a wild ram to be, thicker however in the breast than the Æginetan works of art, and the horns do not stand out direct from the head, but twist round the ears, and in speed they surpass all animals. The island is free from all deadly grasses and herbs with one exception, a grass like parsley which is deadly, and those who eat of it die laughing. This is the origin of Homer⁵⁹ and subsequent writers speaking of the Sardonic laughter when things are in evil plight. This grass grows chiefly near springs, but does not communicate to them its venom. We have introduced this account of Sardinia into our history of Phocis, because the Greeks have such very scanty knowledge about the island.
[10.18] The horse, which is next the statue of Sardus, was they say the votive offering of the Athenian Callias (the son of Lysimachides), out of his own personal gains in the Persian war. And the Achæans offered a statue of Athene after they had reduced the town of Phana in Ætolia by siege. The siege lasted a long time, and, when the besiegers found they could not take the town, they sent messengers to Delphi, and this was the response they received.
“O inhabitants of the land of Pelops and of Achaia, who come to Pytho to enquire how you are to capture the town, observe what portion of water daily given to the inhabitants keeps them alive, and how much the town has already drunk. In this way may you take the fenced village of Phana.”
[10.18] Not understanding the meaning of the oracle, they resolved to raise the siege and depart homewards, as the inhabitants of the besieged place took very little heed of them, when a woman came out of the town to fetch water from a well near the walls. They hurried up from the camp and took this woman prisoner, and the Achæans learned from her that the little water from this well (when they got it each night) was measured out, and the people in the town had no other water whatever to drink. So the Achæans fouled the water so as to make it undrinkable and captured the town.
[10.18] And next to this statue of Athene the Rhodians of Lindus erected a statue of Apollo. And the Ambraciotes offered a brazen ass, after their victory by night over the Molossi. The Molossi had made ready for a night attack on them, when an ass, who chanced to be driven from the field, pursuing a she-ass with lust and braying, and the driver also crying out in a loud and disorderly manner, the Molossi were so dismayed where they were in ambush that they left the place, and the Ambraciotes detected their plan, and attacked and defeated them that very night.
[10.18] And the people of Orneæ in Argolis, as the Sicyonians pressed them hard in war, vowed to Apollo, if they should succeed in repelling the Sicyonians, to have a procession to him at Delphi daily and to sacrifice to him any quantity of victims. They obtained the wished-for victory, but as to discharge their vow daily was a great expense, and the trouble even greater than the expense, they hit upon the expedient of offering to the god representations in brass of the procession and sacrifice.
[10.18] Here too is a representation in iron of the contest between Hercules and the Hydra, the votive offering and design of Tisagoras. Making statues in iron is most difficult and laborious. This Tisagoras, whoever he was, is famed for the heads of a lion and wild boar at Pergamus. These are also in iron, and were a votive offering of his to Dionysus.
[10.18] And the Phocians of Elatea, who held out against the siege of Cassander till Olympiodorus came from Athens to their relief, sent a brazen lion to Apollo at Delphi. And the Apollo next that lion is the offering of the Massaliotes for their victory over the Carthaginians in a sea-fight.
[10.18] The Ætolians also erected a trophy and statue of an armed woman, (Ætolia to wit), out of the fine they imposed on the Galati for their cruelty to the people of Callion.⁶⁰ There is also a gilt statue of Gorgias of Leontini, his own votive offering.
[10.19] Next to the statue of Gorgias is a votive offering of the Amphictyones, a statue of Scyllis of Scione, who had wonderful fame as a diver, and taught his daughter Hydna diving. When a violent storm came on Xerxes’ fleet off Mount Pelion they greatly added to the wrecks, by diving down and cutting the cables that kept the ships at anchor. It was for this good service that the Amphictyones made statues of Scyllis and his daughter. And among the statues that Nero took away from Delphi was this of Hydna. [Virgins that are virgins indeed still dive in the sea with impunity.]⁶¹
[10.19] I shall next relate a Lesbian tradition. The nets of some fishermen at Methymna fished up out of the sea a head made of olive-wood, which seemed that of a foreign god, and not one worshipped by the Greeks. The people of Methymna inquired therefore of the Pythian priestess what god or hero it belonged to, and she bade them worship Phallenian Dionysus. Accordingly the people of Methymna offered their vows and sacrifices to it, and sent a bronze imitation of it to Delphi.
[10.19] On the gables are representations of Artemis and Leto and Apollo and the Muses, and the setting of the Sun, and Dionysus and the Thyiades. The faces of all these are by the Athenian Praxias, the pupil of Calamis: but as the temple took some time to build Praxias died before it was finished, and the rest of the carving on the gables was by Androsthenes, also an Athenian, and the pupil of Eucadmus. Of the golden arms on the architraves, the Athenians offered the shields after the victory at Marathon, and the Ætolians the arms of the Galati behind and on the left, which resemble the Persian shields called Gerrha.
[10.19] Of the irruption of the Galati into Greece I gave some account in connection with the council-chamber at Athens: but I prefer to give the fullest account in connection with Delphi, because the greatest struggle between them and the Greeks took place here. The first expedition of the Celts beyond their borders was under Cambaules: but when they got as far as Thrace on that occasion they did not dare to go any further, recognising that they were too few in number to cope with the Greeks. But on the second expedition, egged on by those who had formed part of the army of Cambaules, who had tasted the sweets of plunder and were enamoured of the gains of looting, a large army of both infantry and cavalry mustered together. This army the commanders divided into three parts, and each marched into a different district. Cerethrius was to march against the Thracians and the Triballi: Brennus and Acichorius were to lead their division into Pæonia: and Bolgius was to march against the Macedonians and Illyrians. This last fought a battle against Ptolemy king of the Macedonians, who had treacherously slain Seleucus the son of Antiochus, (though he had been a suppliant at his court), and was nicknamed Lightning on account of his audacity.⁶² In this battle Ptolemy fell, and with him no small part of the Macedonians: but the Celts durst not adventure any further into Greece, and so this second expedition returned home again. Thereupon Brennus urgently pressed upon the general assemblies, and upon each individual chieftain of the Galati, the advantages of invading Greece, pointing out her weak state at that period, and the immense wealth of her community, her votive offerings in the temples, her quantity of silver and gold. He succeeded in persuading the Galati to invade Greece once more, and among other chieftains he chose Acichorius once more as his colleague. The army mustered 152,000 foot and 20,400 horse. Such at least was the fighting force of the cavalry, for its real number was 61,200: as each horse-soldier had two servants, who themselves were excellent cavalry also and mounted. For the custom of the Galati in an engagement was that these servants should remain in the rear close at hand, and if a horse was killed they supplied a fresh one, and if the rider was killed one of them took his place, and if he too was killed then the third took his place. And if one of the masters was only wounded, then one of his servants removed him to the camp, and the other took his place in the battle. In this custom I think the Galati imitated the 10,000 Persians, called The Immortals. But the difference was that The Immortals were a reserve force only used at the end of an action, whereas the Galati used these reserves as wanted all through the action. This mode of fighting they called Trimarcisia in their dialect: for the Celts called a horse marca. Such was the force, such the intentions, with which Brennus marched into Greece.
[10.19] The Greeks for their part, though very dejected, were induced to fight bravely for their country by the very urgency of the peril. For they saw that at the present crisis it was not merely their liberty that was at stake, as at the time of the Persian invasion, but that, even if they granted land and water to the enemy,⁶³ they would have no future security. For they still remembered the former irruption of the Galati into Macedonia and Thrace and Pæonia, and their recent outrages in Thessaly had been reported to them. It was the universal opinion therefore, both with individuals and states, that they must either die or conquer.
[10.20] It will not be without instruction to compare the numbers of those who fought against Xerxes at Thermopylæ with those who fought now against the Galati. The Greeks that marched against the Mede were as follows: 300 Lacedæmonians only under Leonidas, 500 from Tegea, 500 from Mantinea, 120 Arcadians from Orchomenus, 1000 from the other towns of Arcadia, 80 from Mycenæ, 200 from Phlius, 400 from Corinth, 700 Bœotians from Thespia and 400 from Thebes. And 1,000 Phocians guarded the pass at Mount Œta, who must be added to the Greek contingent. As to the Locrians under Mount Cnemis Herodotus has not mentioned their precise number, he only says they came from all the towns. But we may conjecture their number pretty accurately: for the Athenians at Marathon, including slaves and non-combatants, were not more than 9,000: so that the fighting force of Locrians at Thermopylæ could not be more than 6,000. Thus the whole force employed against the Persians would be 11,200. Nor did all of these stay all the time under arms at Thermopylæ, for except the men from Lacedæmon and Thespia and Mycenæ they waited not to see the issue of the fight. And now against these barbarians who had crossed the ocean the following Greeks banded themselves at Thermopylæ: 10,000 heavy armed infantry and 500 horse from Bœotia, under the Bœotarchs Cephisodotus and Thearidas and Diogenes and Lysander: 500 cavalry and 3,000 foot from Phocis, under Critobulus and Antiochus: 700 Locrians, all infantry, from the island Atalanta, under the command of Midias: 400 heavy armed infantry of the Megarians, their cavalry under the command of Megareus: of the Ætolians, who formed the largest and most formidable contingent, the number of their horse is not recorded, but their light-armed troops were 90,⁶⁴ and their heavy armed 7000: and the Ætolians were under the command of Polyarchus and Polyphron and Lacrates. And the Athenians were under Callippus the son of Mœrocles, as I have before stated, and consisted of all the triremes that were sea-worthy, and 500 horse, and 1,000 foot, and because of their ancient renown they were in command of the whole allied army. And some mercenary troops were sent by various kings, as 500 from Macedonia, and 500 from Asia, those that were sent by Antigonus were led by Aristodemus the Macedonian, and those that were sent by Antiochus were led by Telesarchus, as also some Syrians from Asia situated by the river Orontes.
[10.20] When these Greeks, thus banded together at Thermopylæ, heard that the army of the Galati was already in the neighbourhood of Magnesia and Phthiotis, they determined to send about 1,000 picked light-armed soldiers and a troop of horse to the river Sperchius, to prevent the barbarians’ crossing the river without a struggle. And they went and destroyed the bridges, and encamped by the river. Now Brennus was by no means devoid of intelligence, and for a barbarian no mean strategist. Accordingly on the following night without any delay he sent 10,000 of his troops, who could swim and were remarkably tall,—and all the Celts are remarkably tall men—down the river to cross it not at the ordinary fords, but at a part of the river where it was less rapid, and marshy, and diffused itself more over the plain, so that the Greeks should not be able to notice their crossing over. They crossed over accordingly, swimming over the marshy part of the river, and using the shields of their country as a sort of raft, while the tallest of them could ford the river. When the Greeks at the Sperchius noticed that part of the barbarians had crossed over, they returned at once to the main army.
[10.20] Brennus next ordered those who dwelt near the Maliac Bay to throw bridges over the Sperchius: which they did quickly, standing greatly in dread of him, and being very desirous that the barbarians should depart and not injure them by a long stay in their part of the country. Then Brennus passed his army across these bridges, and marched for Heraclea. And though they did not capture it, the Galati ravaged the country, and slew the men that were left in the fields. The year before the Ætolians had compelled the people of Heraclea to join the Ætolian League, and now they protected Heraclea just as if it was their own. That is why Brennus did not capture it, but he paid no great attention to it, his only anxiety being to dislodge the enemy from the passes, and get into Greece by Thermopylæ.
[10.21] He advanced therefore from Heraclea, and learning from deserters that a strong force from all the Greek cities was concentrated at Thermopylæ, he despised his enemy, and the following day at daybreak opened battle, having no Greek seer with him, or any priests of his own country, if indeed the Celts practise divination. Thereupon the Greeks advanced silently and in good order: and when the two armies engaged, the infantry were careful not to break their line, and the light-armed troops keeping their ground discharged their darts arrows and slings at the barbarians. The cavalry on both sides was useless, not only from the narrowness of the pass, but also from the smooth and slippery and rocky nature of the ground, intersected also throughout by various mountain streams. The armour of the Galati was inferior, for their only defensive armour was the shield used in their country, and moreover they were less experienced in the art of war. But they fought like wild beasts with rage and fury and headlong inconsiderate valour: and, whether hacked about by swords and battle-axes, or pierced with darts and javelins, desisted not from their furious attacks till bereft of life. Some even plucked out of their wounds the weapons with which they had been wounded, and hurled them back, or used them in hand to hand fight. Meantime the Athenians on their triremes, not without great difficulty and danger, sailed along the mud which is very plentiful in that arm of the sea, and got their vessels as near the barbarians as they could, and shot at their flanks with all kinds of darts and arrows. And the Celts by now getting far the worst of it, and in the press suffering far more loss than they could inflict, had the signal to retire to their camp given them by their commanders. Accordingly retreating in no order and in great confusion, many got trodden underfoot by one another, and many falling into the marsh disappeared in it, so that the loss in the retreat was as great as in the heat of action.
[10.21] On this day the Athenians exhibited more valour than all the other Greeks, and especially Cydias, who was very young and fought now for the first time. And as he was killed by the Galati his relations hung up his shield to Zeus Eleutherius with the following inscription,
“Here I hang in vain regret for the young Cydias, I once the shield of that good warrior, now a votive offering to Zeus, the shield which he carried on his left arm for the first time, on that day when fierce war blazed out against the Galati.”
[10.21] This inscription remained till Sulla’s soldiers removed the shields in the portico of Zeus Eleutherius, as well as other notable things at Athens.
[10.21] And after the battle at Thermopylæ the Greeks buried their dead, and stripped the bodies of the barbarians. But the Galati not only asked not permission to bury their dead, but plainly did not care whether their dead obtained burial or were torn to pieces by birds and beasts. Two things in my opinion made them thus indifferent to the burial of their dead, one to strike awe in their enemies by their ferocity, the other that they do not habitually mourn for their dead. In the battle fell 40 Greeks, how many barbarians cannot be accurately ascertained, for many of them were lost in the marsh.
[10.22] On the seventh day after the battle a division of the Galati endeavoured to cross Mount Œta by Heraclea, by a narrow pass near the ruins of Trachis, not far from which was a temple of Athene, rich in votive offerings. The barbarians hoped to cross Mount Œta by this pass, and also to plunder the temple by the way. The garrison however under the command of Telesarchus defeated the barbarians, though Telesarchus fell in the action, a man zealously devoted to the Greek cause.
[10.22] The other commanders of the barbarians were astounded at the Greek successes, and doubted whereunto these things would grow, seeing that at present their own fortunes were desperate, but Brennus thought that, if he could force the Ætolians back into Ætolia, the war against the other Greeks would be easier. He selected therefore out of his whole army 40,000 foot and about 800 horse, all picked men, and put them under the command of Orestorius and Combutis. And they recrossed the Sperchius by the bridges, and marched through Thessaly into Ætolia. And their actions at Callion were the most atrocious of any that we have ever heard of, and quite unlike human beings. They butchered all the males, and likewise old men, and babes at their mother’s breasts: they even drank the blood, and feasted on the flesh, of babies that were fat. And high-spirited women and maidens in their flower committed suicide when the town was taken: and those that survived the barbarians submitted to every kind of outrage, being by nature incapable of pity and natural affection. And some of the women rushed upon the swords of the Galati and voluntarily courted death: to others death soon came from absence of food and sleep, as these merciless barbarians outraged them in turn, and wreaked their lusts on them whether dying or dead. And the Ætolians having learnt from messengers of the disasters that had fallen upon them, removed their forces with all speed from Thermopylæ, and pressed into Ætolia, furious at the sufferings of the people of Callion, and even still more anxious to save the towns that had not yet been captured. And the young men flocked out from all their towns to swell their army, old men also mixed with them inspirited by the crisis, and even their women volunteered their services, being more furious against the Galati than even the men. And the barbarians, having plundered the houses and temples and set fire to Callion, marched back to the main army at Thermopylæ: and on the road the people of Patræ were the only Achæans that helped the Ætolians and fell on the barbarians, being as they were capital heavy-armed soldiers, but hard-pressed from the quantity of the Galati and their desperate valour. But the Ætolian men and women lined the roads and threw missiles at the barbarians with great effect, as they had no defensive armour but their national shields, and when the Galati pursued them they easily ran away, and when they desisted from the vain pursuit harassed them again continually. And though Callion had suffered so grievously, that what Homer relates of the contest between the Læstrygones and the Cyclops seems less improbable,⁶⁵ yet the vengeance which the Ætolians took was not inadequate: for of the 40,800 barbarians not more than half got back safe to the camp at Thermopylæ.
[10.22] In the meantime the fortunes of the Greeks at Thermopylæ were as follows. One pass over Mount Œta is above Trachis, most steep and precipitous, the other through the district of the Ænianes is easier for an army, and is the way by which Hydarnes the Mede formerly turned the flank of Leonidas’ forces. By this way the Ænianes and people of Heraclea promised to conduct Brennus, out of no ill-will to the Greeks, but thinking it a great point if they could get the Celts to leave their district and not remain there to their utter ruin. So true are the words of Pindar, when he says that everybody is oppressed by his own troubles, but is indifferent to the misfortunes of other people.⁶⁶ And this promise of the Ænianes and people of Heraclea encouraged Brennus: and he left Acichorius with the main army, instructing him to attack the Greek force, when he (Brennus) should have got to their rear: and himself marched through the pass with 40,000 picked men. And it so happened that that day there was a great mist on the mountain which obscured the sun, so that the barbarians were not noticed by the Phocians who guarded the pass till they got to close quarters and attacked them. The Phocians defended themselves bravely, but were at last overpowered and retired from the pass: but were in time to get to the main force, and report what had happened, before the Greeks got completely surrounded on all sides. Thereupon the Athenians took the Greeks on board their triremes at Thermopylæ: and they dispersed each to their own nationality.
[10.22] And Brennus, waiting only till Acichorius’ troops should come up from the camp, marched for Delphi. And the inhabitants fled to the oracle in great alarm, but the god told them not to fear, he would protect his own. And the following Greeks came up to fight for the god; the Phocians from all their towns, 400 heavy armed soldiers from Amphissa, of the Ætolians only a few at first, when they heard of the onward march of the barbarians, but afterwards Philomelus brought up 1200. For the flower of the Ætolian army directed itself against the division of Acichorius, not bringing on a general engagement, but attacking their rearguard as they marched, plundering their baggage and killing the men in charge of it, and thus impeding their march considerably. And Acichorius had left a detachment at Heraclea, to guard the treasure in his camp.
[10.23] So Brennus and the Greeks gathered together at Delphi drew up against one another in battle-array. And the god showed in the plainest possible way his enmity to the barbarians. For the whole ground occupied by the army of the Galati violently rocked most of the day, and there was continuous thunder and lightning, which astounded the Celts and prevented their hearing the orders of their officers, and the lightning hit not only some particular individual here and there, but set on fire all round him and their arms. And appearances of heroes, as Hyperochus and Laodocus and Pyrrhus, and Phylacus—a local hero at Delphi—were seen on the battle field. And many Phocians fell in the action and among others Aleximachus, who slew more barbarians with his own hand than any other of the Greeks, and who was remarkable for his manly vigour, strength of frame and daring, and his statue was afterwards placed by the Phocians in the temple of Apollo at Delphi. Such was the condition and terror of the barbarians all the day, and during the night things were still worse with them, for it was bitterly cold and snowed hard, and great stones came tumbling down from Parnassus, and whole crags broke off and seemed to make the barbarians their mark, and not one or two but thirty and even more, as they stood on guard or rested, were killed at once by the fall of one of these crags. And the next day at daybreak the Greeks poured out of Delphi and attacked them, some straight in front, but the Phocians, who had the best acquaintance with the ground, came down the steep sides of Parnassus through the snow, and fell on the Celtic rear unexpectedly, and hurled javelins at them, and shot at them with perfect security. At the beginning of the battle the Galati, especially Brennus’ body-guard who were the finest and boldest men in their army, fought with conspicuous bravery, though they were shot at on all sides, and suffered frightfully from the cold, especially such as were wounded: but when Brennus was wounded, and taken off the field in a fainting condition, then the barbarians sorely against their will beat a retreat, (as the Greeks by now pressed them hard on all sides), and killed those of their comrades who could not retreat with them owing to their wounds or weakness.
[10.23] These fugitive Galati bivouacked where they had got to when night came on them, and during the night were seized with panic fear, that is a fear arising without any solid cause. This panic came upon them late in the night, and was at first confined to a few, who thought they heard the noise of horses galloping up and that the enemy was approaching, but soon it ran through the host. They therefore seized their arms, and getting separated in the darkness mutually slew one another, neither recognizing their native dialect, nor discerning one another’s forms or weapons, but both sides in their panic thinking their opponents Greeks both in language and weapons, so that this panic sent by the god produced terrific mutual slaughter. And those Phocians, who were left in the fields guarding the flocks and herds, were the first to notice and report to the Greeks what had happened to the barbarians in the night: and this nerved them to attack the Celts more vigorously than ever, and they placed a stronger guard over their cattle, and would not let the Galati get any articles of food from them without a fierce fight for it, so that throughout the barbarian host there was a deficiency of corn and all other provisions. And the number of those that perished in Phocis was nearly 6,000 slain in battle, and more than 10,000 in the savage wintry night and in the panic, and as many more from starvation.
[10.23] Some Athenians, who had gone to Delphi to reconnoitre, brought back the news of what had happened to the barbarians, and of the panic that the god had sent. And when they heard this good news they marched through Bœotia, and the Bœotians with them, and both in concert followed the barbarians, and lay in ambush for them, and cut off the stragglers. And Acichorius’ division had joined those who fled with Brennus only the previous night: for the Ætolians made their progress slow, hurling javelins at them and any other missile freely, so that only a small part of the barbarians got safe to the camp at Heraclea. And Brennus, though his wounds were not mortal, yet either from fear of his comrades, or from shame, as having been the instigator of all these woes that had happened to them in Greece, committed suicide by drinking neat wine freely.⁶⁷ And subsequently the barbarians got to the river Sperchius with no little difficulty, as the Ætolians attacked them fiercely all the way, and at that river the Thessalians and Malienses set on them with such vigour that none of them got home again.
[10.23] This expedition of the Celts to Greece and their utter ruin happened when Anaxicrates was Archon at Athens, in the second year of the 125th Olympiad, when Ladas of Ægæ was victor in the course. And the following year, when Democles was Archon at Athens, all the Celts⁶⁸ crossed back again to Asia Minor.
[10.24] I have delivered a true account. In the vestibule of the temple at Delphi are written up several wise sayings for the conduct of life by those whom the Greeks call The Seven Wise Men. These were Thales of Miletus and Bias of Priene (both from Ionia), and (of the Æolians in Lesbos) Pittacus of Mitylene, and (of the Dorians in Asia Minor) Cleobulus of Lindus, and Solon of Athens, and Chilo of Sparta, and the seventh Plato (the son of Aristo) makes⁶⁹ Myson of Chenæ, a village on Mount Œta, instead of Periander the son of Cypselus. These Seven Wise Men came to Delphi, and offered to Apollo those famous sayings, Know thyself and Not too much of anything. And they inscribed those sayings in the vestibule of the temple.
[10.24] You may also see a brazen statue of Homer on a pillar, and read the oracle which they say was given to him, which runs as follows:
“Fortunate and unfortunate, for you are born to both destinies, you inquire after your fatherland. But you have no fatherland, only a motherland. Your mother’s country is the island Ios, which shall receive your remains. But be on your guard against the riddle of young boys.”⁷⁰
[10.24] The inhabitants of Ios still shew the tomb of Homer, and in another part of the island the tomb of Clymene, who they say was Homer’s mother. But the people of Cyprus, for they too claim Homer as their own, and say that Themisto (one of the women of their country) was his mother, cite the following prophetical verses of Euclus touching Homer’s birth;
“In sea-girt Cyprus shall a great poet one day be born, whom divine Themisto shall give birth to in the country, a poet whose fame shall spread far from wealthy Salamis. And he leaving Cyprus and sailing over the sea shall first sing the woes of spacious Hellas, and shall all his days be immortal and ever fresh.”
[10.24] These oracles I have heard and read, but I have nothing private to write either about the country or age of Homer.
[10.24] And in the temple is an altar of Poseidon, for the most ancient oracle belonged to Poseidon, and there are also statues of two Fates, for in the place of the third Fate is Zeus the Arbiter of the Fates, and Apollo the Arbiter of the Fates. You may also see here the altar at which the priest of Apollo slew Neoptolemus the son of Achilles, as I have stated elsewhere. And not far from this altar is the iron Chair of Pindar, on which they say he used to sit and sing Hymns to Apollo, whenever he came to Delphi. In the interior of the temple, to which only a few have access, is another statue of Apollo all gold.
[10.24] As one leaves the temple and turns to the left, there are precincts in which is the grave of Neoptolemus the son of Achilles, to whom the people of Delphi offer funeral rites annually. And not far from this tomb is a small stone on which they pour oil daily, and on which at every festival they lay raw wool: and they have a tradition about this stone, that it was the one which was given to Cronos instead of a son, and that he afterwards voided it.
[10.24] And if, after looking at this stone, you return to the temple, you will come to the fountain Cassotis, which is walled in, and there is an ascent to it through the wall. The water of this fountain goes they say underground, and inspires the women in the sanctuary of the god with prophetical powers: they say the fountain got its name from one of the Nymphs of Parnassus.
[10.25] Above the fountain is a building which contains some paintings of Polygnotus, it is the votive offering of the people of Cnidos, and is called The Lounge by the people of Delphi, because they used to assemble there in old times and discuss both serious and trifling subjects. That there were many such places throughout Greece Homer has shown in Melantho’s reviling of Odysseus:
“For you will not go to sleep at a smithy or at some lounge, but you will keep talking here.”⁷¹
[10.25] On the right as you enter the building is a painting of the capture of Ilium and the return of the Greeks. And they are making preparations for Menelaus’ hoisting sail, and his ship is painted with boys and sailors all mixed up together on board: and in the middle of the ship is Phrontis the pilot with two punting poles. Homer⁷² has represented Nestor among other things telling Telemachus about Phrontis, how he was the son of Onetor, and pilot of Menelaus, and most able in his art, and how he died as he sailed past Sunium in Attica. And Menelaus, who was up to this time sailing with Nestor, was now left behind, that he might discharge all due funeral rites for Phrontis. Beneath Phrontis in the painting of Polygnotus is Ithæmenes carrying some garment, and Echœax descending the gangway-ladder with a brazen water-pot. And Polites and Strophius and Alphius are represented taking down the tent of Menelaus, which is not far from the ship. And Amphialus is taking down another tent, a boy is sitting at his feet, but there is no inscription on him, and Phrontis is the only person with a beard. His was the only name in the group that Polygnotus got out of the Odyssey: the others I imagine he invented. There too stands Briseis, and Diomede near her, and Iphis in front of them both, they all appear to be gazing at Helen’s beauty. And Helen is seated, and near her is Eurybates, who has no beard, and was I suppose the herald of Odysseus. And Helen’s handmaids are by, Panthalis standing at her side, and Electra fastening her sandals: these names are different however from those Homer gives in the Iliad, when he describes Helen and her maids going on to the walls.⁷³ And above Helen sits a man clothed in purple, looking very dejected: before reading the inscription one would conjecture that it is Helenus the son of Priam. And near Helenus is Meges, who is wounded in the shoulder, as he is described by Lescheos of Pyrrha, the son of Æschylinus, in his Capture of Ilium, he was wounded he says by Admetus the son of Augeas in the night-attack of the Trojans. And next to Meges is Lycomedes the son of Creon, who is wounded on the wrist, as Lescheos says he was by Agenor. It is manifest that Polygnotus must have read Lescheos’ poem, or he would not have painted their wounds so accurately. He has also depicted Lycomedes with a third wound in the ankle, and a fourth on the head. Euryalus also the son of Mecisteus is represented as wounded in the head and wrist. All these are above Helen in the painting: and next Helen is Æthra the mother of Theseus with her head shaven, and Theseus’ son Demophon apparently wondering whether he could save her. And the Argives say that Melanippus was the son of Theseus by the daughter of Sinis, and that he won the prize in the race, when the Epigoni restored the Nemean games which were originally introduced by Adrastus. Lescheos has stated that Æthra escaped when Ilium was taken, and got to the Greek camp, and was recognized by the sons of Theseus, and Demophon asked her of Agamemnon. And he said he would willingly gratify Demophon, but could not do so before he obtained the consent of Helen, so a messenger was sent to Helen and she gave her consent. I think therefore the picture represents Eurybates coming to Helen on this errand, and delivering the message of Agamemnon. And the Trojan women in the painting look in sad dejection as if they were captives already. There is Andromache, with a babyboy at her breast. Lescheos says that this babyboy was hurled from a tower, not in consequence of any decree of the Greeks, but simply from the private hatred of Neoptolemus. There too is Medesicaste, one of the illegitimate daughters of Priam, of whom Homer says that she dwelt in the town of Pedæum, and married Imbrius the son of Mentor.⁷⁴ Andromache and Medesicaste are represented veiled: but Polyxena has her hair plaited after the manner of maidens. The Poets represent her to have been slain at the tomb of Achilles, and I have seen paintings both at Athens and Pergamus beyond the river Caicus of her death. Polygnotus has also introduced Nestor into the same painting, with a hat on his head and a spear in his hand: and a horse near seems to be rolling in the dust. Near the horse is the sea-shore, and you can see the pebbles, but the rest of the scene does not resemble a sea view.
[10.26] Above the women between Æthra and Nestor are the captives, Clymene, and Creusa, and Aristomache, and Xenodice. Clymene is enumerated among the captives by Stesichorus in his Fall of Ilium: Aristomache likewise is represented in the poem called The Return from Ilium as the daughter of Priam, and wife of Critolaus the son of Hicetaon: but I do not remember either poet or prose-writer making mention of Xenodice: and as to Creusa, they say that the Mother of the Gods and Aphrodite rescued her from slavery to the Greeks, and that she was the wife of Æneas, though Lescheos and the author of the Cyprian Poems represent Eurydice as the wife of Æneas. Above these are painted Deinome Metioche Pisis and Cleodice reclining on a couch: Deinome is the only one of these mentioned in the poem called The Little Iliad, so I think Polygnotus must have invented the other names. Here too is Epeus naked knocking down the walls of Troy, and above the walls is the head only of the Wooden Horse. Here too is Polypœtes, the son of Pirithous, with his head bound by a fillet, and near him Acamas, the son of Theseus, with a helmet on his head, and a crest on the helmet. Here too is Odysseus with a coat of mail on. And Ajax the son of Oileus is standing near the altar with a shield in his hand, taking his oath in connection with the violation of Cassandra: Cassandra is seated on the ground and holding fast the wooden statue of Athene, for she tore it from its base, when Ajax dragged her away from the altar. And the sons of Atreus are painted with their helmets on: and on Menelaus’ shield is a representation of the dragon that appeared to him as an omen during the sacrifice at Aulis. They are administering the oath to Ajax. And near the painting of the horse by Nestor’s side⁷⁵ is Neoptolemus killing Elasus, whoever he was;⁷⁶ his dying agony is well depicted: and Astynous, who is mentioned by Lescheos, has fallen on to his knee, and Neoptolemus is in the act of smiting him with the sword. And Polygnotus has represented Neoptolemus alone of all the Greeks continuing to butcher the Trojans, that the painting should correspond with the scenes depicted on the tomb of Neoptolemus. Homer indeed calls Achilles’ son everywhere by the name of Neoptolemus, but the Cyprian Poems say he was called Pyrrhus by Lycomedes, and that the name Neoptolemus was given him by Phœnix, because he⁷⁷ was very young when he first went to the wars. Here too is the painting of an altar, and a little boy clinging to it in dire fear: a brazen coat of mail lies on the altar, such as was worn in old times, for in our days we seldom see such. It consisted of two pieces called Gyala, one a protection for the breast and belly, the other for the back, both joined together by clasps. And such coats of mail would afford sufficient protection without a shield: and so Homer represented Phorcys the Phrygian without a shield, because he was armed with this kind of coat of mail.⁷⁸ In Polygnotus’ painting I recognize a coat of mail of this kind: and in the temple of Ephesian Artemis Calliphon of Samos has painted some women fitting this kind of coat of mail on Patroclus. And Polygnotus has represented Laodice standing on the other side of the altar. I do not find her name mentioned by any poet among the captive Trojan women: and it seems probable enough that the Greeks let her go. For Homer has represented in the Iliad that Menelaus and Odysseus were entertained by Antenor, and that Laodice was the wife of Antenor’s son Helicaon.⁷⁹ And Lescheos states that Helicaon was wounded in the night-engagement, and recognized by Odysseus, and rescued out of the battle alive. It follows therefore, from the affection of Menelaus and Odysseus for the family of Antenor, that Agamemnon and Menelaus would have offered no violence to Helicaon’s wife. What Euphorion of Chalcis therefore has written about Laodice is very improbable. And next Laodice is a stone prop, and a bronze laver on it. And Medusa sits on the ground holding this prop with both her hands. Whoever has read the Ode of Himeræus will include her among the daughters of Priam. And near Medusa is an old woman closely shaven, (or possibly a eunuch), with a naked child in his or her arms: the child’s hand is before its eyes for fear.
[10.27] Of the dead in the painting are Pelis naked,⁸⁰ lying on his back, and underneath him Eioneus and Admetus both in their coats of mail. According to Lescheos Eioneus was slain by Neoptolemus, and Admetus by Philoctetes. And above these are others, near the laver Leocritus, the son of Polydamas, who was killed by Odysseus, and near Eioneus and Admetus Corœbus the son of Mygdon. This Mygdon has a famous tomb on the borders of the Stectorenian Phrygians, and poets have given those Phrygians the name of Mygdones after him. Corœbus came to wed Cassandra, and was killed by Neoptolemus according to the prevalent tradition, but by Diomede according to Lescheos. And above Corœbus are Priam and Axion and Agenor. Lescheos says that Priam was not slain at the altar of Household Zeus, but was torn away from the altar and killed by Neoptolemus with no great difficulty at the doors of the palace. As to Hecuba, Stesichorus in his Fall of Ilium has stated that she was taken to Lycia by Apollo. And Lescheos says that Axion was the son of Priam, and killed by Eurypylus the son of Euæmon. The same poet states that Agenor was killed by Neoptolemus. And Echeclus, Agenor’s son, seems to have been slain by Achilles. And Sinon, the companion of Odysseus, and Anchialus are carrying out the corpse of Laomedon for burial. There is another dead person in the painting, Eresus by name; no poet, so far as my knowledge goes, has sung either of Eresus or Laomedon. There is a painting also of the house of Antenor, and a leopard’s skin hung up over the porch, as a sign to the Greeks not to meddle with the family of Antenor. And Theano, Antenor’s wife, is painted with her sons, Glaucus seated on his armour, and Eurymachus seated on a stone. Near him stands Antenor with his daughter Crino, who is carrying her baby boy. All these are depicted with sorrowful countenances. The servants are placing a chest and other articles on the back of an ass, on which a little boy also sits. And under this painting is the following Elegiac couplet by Simonides.
“Polygnotus of Thasos, the son of Aglaophon, painted these incidents in the capture of Ilium.”
[10.28] The other part of the painting, that on the left, represents Odysseus descending to Hades, to consult the soul of Tiresias about his return home. In the painting is a river, which is obviously Acheron, and there are some reeds growing in it, and some fishes so indistinct that they look like the ghosts of fishes. And there is a boat on the river, and a ferryman with his oars. Polygnotus has followed (I think) here the description, in the poem called the Minyad, about Theseus and Pirithous.
“Unwillingly did old Charon admit these living persons into his boat meant for the use of the dead.”
[10.28] Polygnotus has accordingly represented Charon as old. The persons on board are not very easy to trace. But there is Tellis, looking like a youth, and Cleobœa still a virgin, with a cist on her knees such as they use in the worship of Demeter. Of Tellis I know nothing more than that Archilochus was his greatgrandson. And Cleobœa they say first introduced the mysteries of Demeter from Paros to Thasos. And on the bank of the Acheron near Charon’s boat a son, who had not treated his father well, is being strangled by his father. For the ancients reverenced fathers exceedingly,⁸¹ as one may infer among other things from the conduct of those called Pious at Catana, who, when Catana was consumed by fire from Mount Ætna, took no account of silver or gold, but the one took up his mother, the other his father, and fled for their lives. And as they advanced with great difficulty for the flame gathered on them, (but they would not for all that set their parents down), the flames they say divided so as to let them pass without hurt. These young men are still honoured at Catana. And in Polygnotus’ painting near the man who ill-treated his father, and has consequently a bad time of it in Hades, is a sacrilegious wretch suffering punishment. The woman⁸² who is punishing him seems well acquainted with poison, and other things that can do man harm. Men were also in those days remarkable for piety to the gods, as the Athenians shewed when they captured the temple of Olympian Zeus at Syracuse, for they removed none of the votive offerings, and left the former priest still in charge. Datis the Mede also showed the same piety both in word and in deed, in word to the Delians, and in deed when, finding a statue of Apollo on a Phœnician ship, he gave it back to the people of Tanagra to take to Delium. In those days all men honoured the deity, and so Polygnotus introduced into his painting the sacrilegious wretch suffering punishment. Above those I have described is Eurynomus, who according to the Antiquarians at Delphi is a demon in Hades, and eats the flesh of the dead clean to the bones. No such person however is mentioned in the Odyssey, or in the Minyad, or in The Return from Ilium, though these poems contain accounts of Hades and its horrors. I shall therefore describe Eurynomus’ appearance in this painting. His colour is a blueish-black, like that of the flies that infest meat,⁸³ and he shows his fangs, and sits on a vulture’s skin. And next him are Auge and Iphimedea from Arcadia. Auge came to Teuthras in Mysia, and, of all the women who consorted with Hercules, bare a son most like him. And Iphimedea is treated with very great honour by the Carians who dwell at Mylasa.
[10.29] Above those I have already mentioned are Perimedes and Eurylochus,⁸⁴ the comrades of Odysseus, with the victims which are black rams. And next them is a man seated, whom the inscription states to be Ocnus. He is representing rope-making, and a she-ass near him eats the rope as fast as he makes it. This Ocnus they say was an industrious man, who had an extravagant wife: and whatever he got together by industry was very soon spent by her. This picture therefore of Polygnotus is supposed to be a skit on Ocnus’ wife. And I know that the Ionians, when they see anyone labouring hard to no profit, say that he is weaving Ocnus’ rope.⁸⁵ However those who divine by the flight of birds give the name of Ocnus to a very rare kind of heron, both large and handsome. Tityus too is in the picture, no longer being tortured, but worn out by his continuous punishment to a mere shadow. And if you look at the next part of the picture, you will see Ariadne very near the man who is ropemaking: she is sitting on a rock, and looking at her sister Phædra, who is suspended to a rock by a rope which she holds in both hands. She is so represented to make her end appear more decorous. And Dionysus took Ariadne from Theseus either by some chance, or purposely preparing an ambush for him, sailing against him with a larger armament. This was the same Dionysus, I take it, who was the first to invade India, and the first to throw a bridge over the river Euphrates; the place where he built this bridge was called Zeugma, and a rope is preserved to this day, wreathed with tendrils of the vine and ivy, which was used in the construction of the bridge. Both Greeks and Egyptians have many legends about Dionysus. And below Phædra Chloris is reclining on the knees of Thyia: no one will err who states that there was a great friendship between these two women in their lifetime: and both came from the same neighbourhood, Orchomenus in Bœotia.⁸⁶ There are other traditions about them, as that Poseidon had an intrigue with Thyia, and that Chloris was married to Poseidon’s son Neleus. And next Thyia is Procris the daughter of Erechtheus, and next her, with her back towards her, is Clymene, who is represented in The Return from Ilium to have been the daughter of Minyas, and the wife of Cephalus the son of Deion, and mother by him of Iphiclus. All the poets agree that Procris was Cephalus’ wife before Clymene was, and that she was murdered by her husband. And beyond Clymene in the interior of the painting is the Theban Megara, who was Hercules’ wife, but eventually repudiated by him, because he lost all his children by her, and so did not think his marriage with her a lucky one. Above the head of those women I have mentioned is the daughter of Salmoneus sitting on a stone, and beside her Eriphyle is standing, lifting her fingers through her dress to her neck. You may conjecture that she is holding the famous necklace in the hand which is concealed by the folds of her dress. And above Eriphyle is Elpenor, and Odysseus kneeling, holding his sword over a ditch: and Tiresias the prophet is approaching the ditch, and near Tiresias is Anticlea, the mother of Odysseus, sitting on a stone. And Elpenor is wearing the coarse plaited coat usual among sea-faring men. And below Odysseus Theseus and Pirithous are seated on the enchanted rock, Theseus has both his own sword and that of Pirithous, and Pirithous is looking at his like one indignant that swords are useless for their present venture. Panyasis has represented Theseus and Pirithous as not fastened to their seat, but that the rock grew to them instead of fetters. The friendship between Theseus and Pirithous has been alluded to by Homer both in the Iliad and Odyssey. In the latter Odysseus says to the Phæacians,
“I then perhaps had seen the heroes of former times, whom I fain would have seen, as Theseus and Pirithous, the famous sons of the gods.”⁸⁷
[10.29] And in the Iliad, in his chiding of Agamemnon and Achilles, Nestor uses the following words:⁸⁸
“I never before saw such heroes nor shall I e’er again, as Pirithous, and Dryas shepherd of his people, and Cæneus and Exadius and divine Polyphemus, and Theseus son of Ægeus like to the Immortals.”
[10.30] Polygnotus has painted next the daughters of Pandareus, as to whom Homer says, in a speech of Penelope, that their parents died through the wrath of the gods when they were still maidens, and that as they were orphans they were brought up by Aphrodite, and received gifts from other goddesses, as from Hera prudence and beauty, from Artemis tallness of stature, from Athene an education fit for women. But when Aphrodite went up to heaven to obtain a good match for the girls from Zeus, they were carried off in her absence by the Harpies and given by them to the Furies. Such at least is Homer’s account about them.⁸⁹ And Polygnotus has painted them crowned with flowers, and playing with dice. Their names were Camiro and Clytie. Pandareus was you must know a Milesian from Cretan Miletus, and an associate of Tantalus both in his theft and perjury. And next the daughters of Pandareus is Antilochus with one of his feet on a stone, and his head on both his hands. And next him is Agamemnon, leaning on his sceptre under his left arm, and with a staff in his hands. And Protesilaus and Achilles are seated, and looking at one another. And above Achilles is Patroclus standing. None of these have beards except Agamemnon. And above them is painted the stripling Phocus, and Iaseus with a beard, who is trying to take a ring from Phocus’ left hand. The circumstances are as follows. When Phocus, the son of Æacus, crossed over from Ægina to the country now called Phocis, and obtained the sovereignty over the men in that part of the mainland, and meant to dwell there, Iaseus was most friendly with him, and offered him various presents, as was very natural, and among others a stone signet-ring set in gold: and when Phocus not long after sailed back to Ægina, Peleus contrived his death: and so in the painting, as a memorial of their friendship, Iaseus is represented as wishing to look at the signet-ring, and Phocus letting him take it. Above them is Mæra sitting on a stone: in The Return from Ilium she is said to have died a virgin, and to have been the daughter of Prœtus, the son of Thersander and grandson of Sisyphus. And next Mæra is Actæon, (the son of Aristæus), and his mother, both seated on a deerskin and holding a fawn in their hands. And a hound for hunting is near: these are emblems of the life and death of Actæon. And in the lower part of the painting next to Patroclus is Orpheus sitting on a hill, with a harp in his left hand, and with his right hand he is touching the branches of a willow-tree, and he leans against the tree: the scene looks like the grove of Proserpine, where Homer tells us poplars and willows grew.⁹⁰ And Orpheus’ dress is Greek, no part of his attire is Thracian, not even his hat. And Promedon is leaning against the other side of the willow-tree. Some think Polygnotus introduced Promedon’s name into legend. Others say he was a Greek who was passionately fond of music, and especially of that of Orpheus. In the same part of the painting is Schedius, who led the Phocians to Troy, with a dagger in his hand, and a garland of grass on his head. And next him sits Pelias, with beard and head all hoary, gazing at Orpheus. And Thamyris sitting near Pelias is blind and dejected in mien, with thick hair and beard, his lyre is broken and the strings torn asunder. Above him is Marsyas, seated on a stone, and near him Olympus, a handsome boy, learning to play on the pipe. The Phrygians at Celænæ represent that the river flowing through their town was formerly this piper Marsyas, and that the piping in honour of Cybele was his invention: they say also that they repulsed the army of the Galati through his aid, as he assisted them both with the water of the river and his melody.
[10.31] If you look again at the upper part of the painting, you will see next Actæon Salaminian Ajax Palamedes and Thersites playing with dice, which were the invention of Palamedes. And the other Ajax is looking at them playing: he looks like a shipwrecked man, and his body is wet with the foam of the sea. Polygnotus seems to have purposely collected together the enemies of Odysseus. And Ajax the son of Oileus hated Odysseus, because he urged the Greeks to stone him for his rape of Cassandra. And I have read in the Cyprian Poems that Palamedes going a fishing was drowned by Diomede and Odysseus. And a little above Ajax the son of Oileus is Meleager painted, looking at Ajax. All these except Palamedes have beards. As to the death of Meleager, Homer informs us that a Fury heard Althæa cursing him, and that this was the cause of his death. But the poems called the Great Eœæ and the Minyad agree in stating that Apollo assisted the Curetes against the Ætolians, and killed Meleager. As to the famous tradition about the firebrand; how it was given to Althæa by the Fates, and how Meleager was fated not to die till it was consumed by fire, and how Althæa set it on fire in a rage, all this was first described by Phrynichus, the son of Polyphradmon, in his play called Pleuroniæ:
“He escaped not dread fate, but was consumed by the swift flame, as soon as the ill-contrived firebrand was set on fire by his stern mother.”
[10.31] Phrynichus does not however seem to introduce the legend as his own invention, but only to allude to it as one well-known throughout Greece.
[10.31] In the lower part of the painting next Thracian Thamyris sits Hector, like a man oppressed with sorrow, with both his hands on his left knee. And next him is Memnon seated on a stone, and close to Memnon Sarpedon, who is leaning his head on both his hands, and one of Memnon’s hands is on Sarpedon’s shoulder. All of these have beards, and some birds are painted on Memnon’s cloak. These birds are called Memnonides, and every year the people near the Hellespont say they come on certain days to Memnon’s tomb, and sweep all the parts round the tomb that are bare of trees or grass, and sprinkle them with their wings which they wet in the river Æsepus. And near Memnon is a naked Ethiopian boy, for Memnon was king of the Ethiopians. However he did not come to Ilium from Ethiopia, but from Susa in Persia and the river Choaspes, after vanquishing all the tribes in that neighbourhood. The Phrygians still shew the road by which he marched his army, the shortest route over the mountains.⁹¹
[10.31] Above Sarpedon and Memnon is Paris, as yet a beardless youth. He is clapping his hands like a rustic, apparently to attract the notice of Penthesilea, who looks at him, but by the toss of her head seems to despise him, and jeer at him as a boy. She is represented as a maiden with a Scythian bow, and a leopard’s skin round her shoulders. Above her are two women carrying water in broken pitchers, one still in her prime, the other rather advanced in life. There is no inscription on either of them, except a notification that they are both among the uninitiated. Above this pair are Callisto the daughter of Lycaon, and Nomia, and Pero the daughter of Neleus, from every suitor of whom her father asked the kine of Iphiclus.⁹² Callisto has a bear-skin for her coverlet, and her feet are on the knees of Nomia. I have before stated that the Arcadians consider Nomia one of their local Nymphs. The poets say the Nymphs are long-lived but not immortal. Next to Callisto and the other women with her is a hill, up which Sisyphus the son of Æolus is laboriously rolling a stone. There is also a winejar in the painting, and an old man, and a boy, and two women, a young woman under a rock, and an old woman near the old man. Some men are bringing water, and the old woman’s water-pot appears to be broken, and she is pouring all the water in the pitcher into the winejar. One is inclined to conjecture that they are people making a mock of the Eleusinian mysteries. But the older Greeks considered the Eleusinian mysteries as much above all other religious services, as the gods are superior to heroes. And under the winejar is Tantalus, undergoing all those punishments mentioned by Homer,⁹³ and also terrified lest a stone overhanging his head should fall on him. It is plain that Polygnotus followed the account of Archilochus: but I do not know whether Archilochus invented the addition to the legend about the stone, or merely related what he had heard from others.
[10.31] Such is a full account of the various details in this fine painting of the Thasian painter.
[10.32] Near the temple precincts is a handsome theatre. And as you ascend from the precincts you see a statue of Dionysus, the offering of the men of Cnidos. In the highest part of the city is a stadium made of the stone of Mount Parnassus, till the Athenian Herodes embellished it with Pentelican marble. I have now enumerated the most remarkable things still to be seen at Delphi.
[10.32] About 60 stades from Delphi on the road to Mount Parnassus is a brazen statue, and from thence it is an easy ascent for an active man, or for mules and horses to the Corycian cavern. It got its name, as I pointed out a little back,⁹⁴ from the Nymph Corycia, and of all the caverns I have seen is best worth a visit. The various caverns on sea-coasts are so numerous that one could not easily enumerate them: but the most remarkable whether in Greece or in foreign lands are the following. The Phrygians near the river Pencala, who originally came from Arcadia and the Azanes, show a round and lofty cavern called Steunos, which is sacred to the Mother of the Gods, and contains her statue. The Phrygians also, who dwell at Themisonium above Laodicea, say that when the army of the Galati harried Ionia and the neighbouring districts, Hercules and Apollo and Hermes came to their aid: and showed their chief men a cavern in a dream, and bade them hide there their women and children. And so in front of this cavern they have statuettes of Hercules and Hermes and Apollo, whom they call The Cavern-Gods. This cavern is about 30 stades from Themisonium, and has springs of water in it, there is no direct road to it, nor does the light of the sun penetrate into it, and the roof in most of the cavern is very near the ground. The Magnesians also at a place called Hylæ near the river Lethæus have a cavern sacred to Apollo, not very wonderful for size, but containing a very ancient statue of Apollo, which supplies strength for any action. Men made holy by the god leap down rocks and precipices unhurt, and tear up huge trees by the roots, and carry them with ease through mountain passes. But the Corycian cavern excels both of these, and through most of it you can walk without needing torches: and the roof is a good height from the ground, and water bubbles up from springs, but still more oozes from the roof, so that there are droppings from the roof all over the floor of the cavern. And those that dwell on Mount Parnassus consider it sacred to Pan and the Corycian Nymphs. It is a feat even for an active man to scale the heights of Parnassus from it, for they are higher than the clouds, and on them the Thyiades carry on their mad revels in honour of Dionysus and Apollo.
[10.32] Tithorea is about 80 stades from Delphi viâ Mount Parnassus, but the carriage road by a way less mountainous is many stades longer. Bacis in his oracles and Herodotus in his account of the invasion of Greece by the Medes differ as to the name of the town. For Bacis calls the town Tithorea, but Herodotus calls it Neon, and gives the name Tithorea to the summit of Parnassus, where he describes the people of the town fleeing on the approach of the Medes. It seems probable therefore that Tithorea was originally the name for the entire district, but as time went on the people, flocking into the town from the villages, called it Tithorea and no longer Neon. And the people of the place say it got its name from the Nymph Tithorea, one of those Nymphs who according to the legendary lore of poets were born of trees and especially oak-trees.⁹⁵ A generation before me the deity changed the fortunes of Tithorea for the worse. There is the outline of a theatre, and the precincts of an ancient market-place, still remaining. But the most remarkable things in the town are the grove and shrine and statue of Athene, and the tomb of Antiope and Phocus. In my account of the Thebans I have shewn how Antiope went mad through the anger of Dionysus, and why she drew on her the anger of the god, and how she married Phocus the son of Ornytion, of whom she was passionately fond, and how they were buried together. I also gave the oracle of Bacis both about this tomb and that of Zethus and Amphion at Thebes. I have mentioned all the circumstances worth mention about the town. A river called Cachales flows by the town, and furnishes water to its inhabitants, who descend to its banks to draw water.
[10.32] At 70 stades distance from Tithorea is a temple of Æsculapius, who is called Archegetes, and is greatly honoured both by the Tithoreans and other Phocians. Within the sacred precincts are dwellings for the suppliants and slaves of the god, the temple stands in the midst, and a statue of the god in stone, two feet high with a beard, on the right of which is a bed. They sacrifice all kinds of animals to the god but goats.
[10.32] About 40 stades from the temple of Æsculapius are the precincts and shrine of Isis, and of all the Greek shrines to the Egyptian goddess this is the holiest: for neither do the people of Tithorea live near it, nor may any approach the shrine whom Isis herself has not previously honoured by inviting them in dreams. The gods of the lower world have the same practice in the towns near the Mæander, they send visions in dreams to whoever they allow to approach their shrines. And twice every year, in Spring and Autumn, the people of Tithorea celebrate the Festival of Isis. The third day before each Festival those who have right of access purify the shrine in some secret manner: and remove to a place about 2 stades from the shrine whatever remains they find of the victims offered in sacrifice at the previous Festival, and bury them there. On the following day the traders make tents of reed or any other material at hand. On the next day they celebrate the Festival, and sell slaves, and cattle of every kind, and apparel, and silver and gold. And at noon they commence the sacrifice. The wealthier sacrifice oxen and deer, the poorer sacrifice geese and guineafowls, but they do not sacrifice swine or sheep or goats. Those whose duty it is to burn the victims in the shrine, first roll them up in bandages of linen or flax, after the process in use in Egypt. There is a solemn procession with all the victims, and some convey them into the shrine, while others burn the tents before it and depart with speed. And on one occasion they say a profane fellow, who had no right to approach the shrine, entered it with audacious curiosity at the time the sacrificial fire was lit, and the place seemed to him full of phantoms, and he returned to Tithorea, related what he had seen, and gave up the ghost. I heard a similar account from a Phœnician, of what happened on one occasion when the Egyptians were celebrating the Festival of Isis, at the time when they say she bewails Osiris: which is the season when the Nile begins to rise, and the Egyptians have a tradition that it is the tears of Isis that make the river rise and irrigate the fields. He told me that the Roman Governor of Egypt bribed a man to enter the shrine at Coptos during the Festival, and he came back, related what he had seen, and also died directly after. So Homer’s word seems true, that the gods are not seen by mortals with impunity.⁹⁶
[10.32] The olives at Tithorea are not so plentiful as in Attica and Sicyonia. They are superior however in colour and flavour to those from Spain and Istria: all kinds of ointment are produced from them, and they send these olives to the Roman Emperor.
[10.33] Another road from Tithorea leads to Ledon, which was formerly reckoned a town, but was in my day deserted by its inhabitants through its weakness, and about 80 of them live near the Cephisus, and give the name Ledon to their settlement there, and are included in the Phocian General Council, as the people of Panopeus also are. This settlement by the Cephisus is 40 stades from the ruins of Ledon, which got its name they say from an Autochthon of that name. Several towns have been irretrievably ruined by the wrong-doing of their inhabitants, as Troy was utterly destroyed by the outrage of Paris against Menelaus, and the Milesians by the headlong desires and passion of Hestiæus, one time to govern the town of the Edoni, another time to be a Councillor of Darius, another time to return to Ionia. So too the impiety of Philomelus caused Ledon to be wiped off the face of the globe.⁹⁷
[10.33] Lilæa is a winter day’s journey from Delphi: you descend by Parnassus: the distance is I conjecture about 180 stades. The people of Lilæa, when their town was restored, had a second reverse at the hand of Macedonia, for they were besieged by Philip the son of Demetrius and capitulated upon conditions of war, and a garrison was put into their town, till a townsman, whose name was Patron, incited the younger citizens to rise against the garrison, and overcame the Macedonians and compelled them to evacuate the town on conditions of war. And the people of Lilæa for this good service put up his statue at Delphi. There is at Lilæa a theatre and market-place and baths: there are also temples to Apollo and Artemis, whose statues, in a standing position, are of Attic workmanship in Pentelican marble. They say the town got its name from Lilæa, who was one of the Naiades, and reputed to be the daughter of the Cephisus, which rises here, and flows at first not with a gentle current, but at mid-day especially roars like the roaring of a bull.⁹⁸ In spring summer and autumn the air of Lilæa is salubrious, but in winter the proximity of Parnassus keeps it cold.
[10.33] About 20 stades further is Charadra, which lies on a lofty ridge. Its inhabitants are very badly off for water, as their only water is from the Charadrus three stades down the hill side, which falls into the Cephisus, and which no doubt gave its name to the place. In the market-place are some altars to the Heroes: some say Castor and Pollux are meant, others say some local heroes. The land near the Cephisus is out and out the best in Phocis for planting, and sowing, and pasture: and this part of the country is mostly portioned out into farms, so that some think Homer’s lines,
“And those who near divine Cephisus dwelt,”⁹⁹
refer to those who farmed near the Cephisus, and not to the town of Parapotamii. But this idea is not borne out by Herodotus in his History, or by the records of the victors in the Pythian Games, which were first instituted by the Amphictyones, and Æchmeas of Parapotamii won the prize among boys for boxing. And Herodotus mentions Parapotamii among the towns in Phocis that king Xerxes set on fire. Parapotamii was however not restored by the Athenians and Bœotians, but its inhabitants, owing to its poverty and want of money, were partitioned out among other towns. There are now no ruins of Parapotamii, nor is its exact site known.
[10.33] From Lilæa is 60 stades’ journey to Amphiclea. The name of this place has been changed by the natives, for Herodotus following the oldest tradition called it Amphicæa, but the Amphictyones called it Amphiclea in their decree for the destruction of the towns in Phocis. The natives relate the following tradition about one of its names. They say that one of their rulers, suspecting a plot of some of his enemies against his baby boy, put him in a cot, and hid him in what he thought the most secure place, and a wolf tried to get at the little fellow, but a snake twined itself round the cot as a sure protection. And the child’s father coming up, and fearing that the snake had harmed his little boy, hurled his javelin at it and slew both child and snake: but learning from some herdsmen that the snake he had killed had been the preserver and guard of his child, he had a funeral pyre for snake and child together. And they say the place to this day presents the appearance of a funeral pyre blazing, and they think the town was called Ophitea (Snake-town) from this snake. Noteworthy are the orgies which they perform here to Dionysus, but there is no public entrance to the shrine, nor is there any statue of the god. But the people of Amphiclea say that the god prophecies to them and cures sicknesses by dreams, and his priest is a prophet, and when possessed by the god utters oracles.
[10.33] About 15 stades from Amphiclea is Tithronium, which lies in the plain, and about which there is nothing remarkable. And 20 stades further is Drymæa. At the place where the roads from Tithronium and Amphiclea to Drymæa meet, near the river Cephisus, the people of Tithronium have a grove and altars and temple to Apollo, but no statue of the god. Drymæa is about 80 stades from Amphiclea as you turn to the left ... according to Herodotus.¹⁰⁰ It was originally called Nauboles, and its founder was they say Phocus the son of Æacus. At Drymæa is an ancient temple to Law-giving Demeter, and the statue of the goddess, to whom they keep an annual feast called the Thesmophoria, is erect in stone.
[10.34] Next to Delphi Elatea is the greatest town in Phocis. It lies opposite Amphiclea, and is 180 stades from that place by a road mostly through the plain, but rather uphill near Elatea. The Cephisus flows through the plain, and bustards are very frequent on its banks. The Elateans repulsed Cassander and the army of the Macedonians. They also contrived to hold out against Taxilus the general of Mithridates, for which good service the Romans gave them freedom and immunity from taxation. They lay claim to foreign ancestry, and say that they were originally Arcadians: for Elatus (they say) the son of Areas defended the god, when the men of Phlegyas attacked the temple at Delphi, and afterwards remained in Phocis with his army, and founded Elatea: which was one of the towns in Phocis that the Mede set on fire. It shared in the general disasters of the Phocians, and the deity also brought upon it special troubles of its own at the hands of the Macedonians. And when Cassander blockaded Elatea, it was Olympiodorus who mainly rendered the blockade inoperative. But Philip, the son of Demetrius, inspired the greatest terror in the minds of the populace at Elatea, and at the same time won over by bribes the most influential townsfolk. And Titus Flaminius the Roman General, who had been sent from Rome to free all Greece, promised to grant them their ancient polity, and invited them to revolt from the Macedonians: but whether from want of judgment, or because the populace had their way, they continued faithful to Philip, and were reduced by the blockade of the Romans. And some time after they held out against Taxilus, the general of Mithridates, and the barbarians from Pontus, and it was for that good service that the Romans granted them their freedom. When too the Costoboci, a piratical tribe, overran all Greece in my day, and came to Elatea, Mnesibulus got together an army of picked men, and, though he himself fell in the battle, slew many of the barbarians. This Mnesibulus won several victories in the course, and in the 235th Olympiad was victor both in the stadium and in the double course though he carried his shield. And there is a brazen statue of him near the race-course. They have also a handsome market-place at Elatea, and a figure of Elatus on a pillar, I do not know whether in honour of him as their founder, or to mark his tomb. There is a temple also of Æsculapius, and a statue of the god with a beard by Timocles and Timarchides, who were both of Athenian extraction. At the extreme right of Elatea is a theatre, and ancient statue of Athene in bronze: the goddess they say fought for them against the barbarians under Taxilus.
[10.34] About 20 stades from Elatea is a temple of Athene Cranæa, the road to it is uphill but by so gentle a slope that it is very easy and scarcely appreciable. But the crest of the hill at the end of this road is mostly precipitous on a limited area: and here is the temple, with porticoes and chambers, where various people that minister to the goddess reside, and especially the priest, whom they select out of the youths, and take great care that he ceases to be priest when he has passed the flower of his age. And he is priest for 5 continuous years, during which he resides with the goddess, and takes his baths after the ancient manner in bathing tubs.¹⁰¹ The statue of the goddess was executed by the sons of Polycles. She is armed for battle, and her shield is an imitation of that of Athene in the Parthenon at Athens.
[10.35] For Abæ and Hyampolis you take the mountainous road on the right of Elatea: the high road from Orchomenus to Opus also leads to those places: but to go to Abæ you turn a little off that high road to the left. The people of Abæ say they came to Phocis from Argos, and that their town took its name from its founder Abas, the son of Lynceus by Hypermnestra the daughter of Danaus. The people of Abæ consider that their town was in ancient times sacred to Apollo, and there was an oracle of Apollo there. But the Romans and Persians did not equally honour the god, for the Romans in their piety to Apollo granted autonomy to the people of Abæ, but Xerxes’ army burnt the temple there. And though the Greeks resisted the barbarians, they did not think good to rebuild the temples that were burnt down, but to leave them for all time as records of national hatred:¹⁰² and so the temples at Haliartia, and the temple of Hera at Athens on the way to Phalerum, and the temple of Demeter at Phalerum remain to this day half-burnt. Such also I imagine was the condition of the temple at Abæ, till in the Phocian War, when some Phocian fugitives who were beaten in battle fleeing for refuge to it, the Thebans, emulating the conduct of the Medes, set them and the temple on fire. It is therefore in the most ruinous condition of all the buildings injured by fire, for after first suffering from the Persian fire, it was next consumed altogether by the Bœotian. Near this great temple is a smaller one, erected to Apollo by the Emperor Adrian, but the statues are ancient and were the votive offering of the people of Abæ, Apollo and Leto and Artemis in bronze. There is also a theatre at Abæ and a market-place, both ancient.
[10.35] When you return to the high road for Opus the first place you come to is Hyampolis. Its name indicates who its inhabitants were originally, and from whence they were expelled when they came here. They were Hyantes who had fled from Thebes, from Cadmus and his army. And at first the town was called the town of the Hyantes, but as time went on the name Hyampolis prevailed. Although the town was burnt by Xerxes and rased to the ground by Philip, yet there are remains of the ancient market-place, and a small council-chamber, and a theatre not far from the gates. The Emperor Adrian also built a Portico which bears his name. The inhabitants have but one well to drink and wash with, the only other water they have is rain water in winter. The goddess they especially worship is Artemis, and they have a temple to her, but the statue of the goddess I cannot describe, as they only open the temple twice a year. And the cattle they call sacred to Artemis are free from disease and fatter than other cattle.
[10.35] From Chæronea to Phocis you can go either by the direct road to Delphi through Panopeus and by Daulis and the cross-roads, or by the rugged mountainous road from Chæronea to Stiris, which is 120 stades. The people of Stiris say they were originally Athenians, and came from Attica with Peteus the son of Orneus, who was expelled from Athens by Ægeus: and as most of the followers of Peteus came from the township Stiria they called the town Stiris. It is on high and rocky ground, so in summer they are very short of water, for their wells are few, nor is the water they afford good. They serve however for baths, and for drink for beasts of burden. But the inhabitants of Stiris have to descend about 4 stades to get drinkable water from a spring, hewn out of the rock: and they go down to it to draw up the water. There is at Stiris a temple of Demeter Stiritis built of unbaked brick: the statue of the goddess is of Pentelican marble, she has torches in her hands. Near it is another ancient statue in honour of Demeter adorned with fillets.
[10.36] From Stiris to Ambrosus is about 60 stades: the road lies in the plain with mountains on both sides. Vines grow throughout the plain, and brambles, not quite so plentifully, which the Ionians and Greeks call coccus, but the Galati above Phrygia call in their native tongue Hys. The coccus is about the size of the white thorn, and its leaves are darker and softer than the mastich-tree, though in other respects similar. And its berry is like the berry of the nightshade, and about the size of the bitter vetch. And a small grub breeds in it which, when the fruit is ripe, becomes a gnat and flies off. But they gather the berries, while it is still in the grub state, and its blood is useful in dyeing wool.
[10.36] Ambrosus lies under Mount Parnassus, and opposite Delphi, and got its name they say from the hero Ambrosus. In the war against Philip and the Macedonians the Thebans drew a double wall round Ambrosus, made of the black and very strong stone of the district. The circumference of each wall is little less than a fathom, and the height is 2½ fathoms, where the wall has not fallen: and the interval between the two walls is a fathom. But, as they were intended only for immediate defence, these walls were not decorated with towers or battlements or any other embellishment. There is also a small market-place at Ambrosus, most of the stone statues in it are broken.
[10.36] As you turn to Anticyra the road is at first rather steep, but after about two stades it becomes level, and there is on the right a temple of Dictynnæan Artemis, who is held in the highest honour by the people of Ambrosus; her statue is of Æginetan workmanship in black stone. From this temple to Anticyra is all the way downhill. They say the town was called Cyparissus in ancient times, and Homer in his Catalogue of the Phocians¹⁰³ preferred to give it its old name, for it was then beginning to be called Anticyra, from Anticyreus who was a contemporary of Hercules. The town lies below the ruins of Medeon, one of the towns as I have before mentioned which impiously plundered the temple at Delphi. The people of Anticyra were expelled first by Philip the son of Amyntas, and secondly by the Roman Otilius, because they had been faithful to Philip, the son of Demetrius, the king of the Macedonians, for Otilius had been sent from Rome to protect the Athenians against Philip. And the hills above Anticyra are very rocky, and the chief thing that grows on them is hellebore. The black hellebore is a purgative, while the white acts as an emetic, the root also of the hellebore is a purgative. There are brazen statues in the market-place at Anticyra, and near the harbour is a small temple of Poseidon, made of unhewn stone, and plastered inside. The statue of the god is in bronze: he is in a standing posture, and one of his feet is on a dolphin: one hand is on his thigh, in the other is a trident. There are also two gymnasiums, one contains baths, the other opposite to it is an ancient one, in which is a bronze statue of Xenodamus, a native of Anticyra, who, as the inscription states, was victor at Olympia among men in the pancratium. And if the inscription is correct, Xenodamus will have won the wild-olive crown in the 211th Olympiad, the only Olympiad of all passed over by the people of Elis in their records. And above the market-place is a conduit: the water is protected from the sun by a roof supported on pillars. And not much above this conduit is a tomb built of common stone: they say it is the tomb of the sons of Iphitus, of whom one returned safe from Ilium and died in his native place, the other Schedius died in the Troad, but his remains were brought home and deposited here.
[10.37] On the right of the town at the distance of about 2 stades is a lofty rock, which forms part of a mountain, and on it is a temple of Artemis, and a statue of the goddess by Praxiteles, with a torch in her right hand and her quiver over her shoulders, she is taller than the tallest woman, and on her left hand is a dog.
[10.37] Bordering on Phocis is the town of Bulis, which got its name from Bulon the founder of the colony, it was colonized from the towns in ancient Doris. The people of Bulis are said to have shared in the impiety of Philomelus and the Phocians. From Thisbe in Bœotia to Bulis is 80 stades, I do not know whether there is any road from Anticyra to Bulis on the mainland, so precipitous and difficult to scale are the mountains between. It is about 100 stades from Anticyra to the port: and from the port to Bulis is I conjecture by land about 7 stades. And a mountain torrent, called by the natives Hercules’, falls into the sea here. Bulis lies on high ground, and you sail by it as you cross from Anticyra to Lechæum near Corinth. And more than half the inhabitants live by catching shell-fish for purple dye. There are no particular buildings to excite admiration at Bulis except two temples, one of Artemis, the other of Dionysus; their statues are of wood, but who made them I could not ascertain. The god that they worship most they call Supreme, a title I imagine of Zeus. They have also a well called Saunion.
[10.37] To Cirrha, the seaport of Delphi, it is about 60 stades from Delphi, and as you descend to the plain is a Hippodrome, where they celebrate the Pythian horse-races. As to Taraxippus in Olympia I have described it in my account of Elis. In this Hippodrome of Apollo there are accidents occasionally, inasmuch as the deity in all human affairs awards both good and bad, but there is nothing specially contrived to frighten horses, either from the malignity of some hero, or any other cause. And the plain of Cirrha is almost entirely bare of trees, for they do not care to plant trees, either in consequence of some curse, or because they do not think the soil favourable to the growth of trees. It is said that Cirrha got its present name from the Nymph Cirrha, but Homer in the Iliad calls it by its ancient name Crisa,¹⁰⁴ as also in the Hymn to Apollo. And subsequently the people of Cirrha committed various acts of impiety against Apollo, and ravaged the territory sacred to the god. The Amphictyones resolved therefore to war against the people of Cirrha, and chose for their leader Clisthenes the king of Sicyon, and invited Solon the Athenian to assist them by his counsel. They also consulted the oracle, and this was the response of the Pythian Priestess, “You will not capture the tower and demolish the town, till the wave of blue-eyed Amphitrite, dashing over the dark sea, shall break into my grove.”
[10.37] Solon persuaded them therefore to consecrate to the god the land about Cirrha, that the grove of Apollo might extend as far as the sea. He invented also another ingenious contrivance against the people of Cirrha: he turned the course of the river Plistus which flowed through the town. And when the besieged still held out by drinking rain water and the water from the wells, he threw some roots of hellebore into the Plistus, and when he thought the water of the river sufficiently impregnated with this, he turned it back into its ordinary channel, and the people of Cirrha, drinking freely of the water, were attacked with an incessant diarrhœa, and unable to man the walls, so the Amphictyones captured the town, and took vengeance on the inhabitants for their conduct to the god, and Cirrha became the seaport of Delphi. It contains a handsome temple of Apollo and Artemis and Leto, and large statues of those divinities, of Attic workmanship. There is also a smaller statue of Adrastea.
[10.38] Next comes the land of the Ozolian Locrians: why they were called Ozolian is differently stated, I shall relate all that I heard. When Orestheus the son of Deucalion was king of the country, a bitch gave birth to a piece of wood instead of a puppy: and Orestheus having buried this piece of wood in the ground, they say the next spring a vine sprang from it, and these Ozolians got their name from its branches.¹⁰⁵ Another tradition is that Nessus, the ferryman at the river Evenus, did not immediately die when wounded by Hercules, but fled to this land, and dying here rotted, as he was unburied, and tainted the air. A third tradition attributes the name to the unpleasant smell of a certain river, and a fourth to the smell of the asphodel which abounds in that part. Another tradition is that the first dwellers here were Aborigines, and not knowing how to make garments wore untanned hides as a protection against the cold, putting the hairy portion of the hides outside for ornament. Thus their smell would be as unpleasant as that of a tan-yard.
[10.38] About 120 stades from Delphi is Amphissa, the largest and most famous town of these Locrians. The inhabitants joined themselves to the Ætolians from shame at the title Ozolian. It is also probable that, when Augustus removed many of the Ætolians to fill his town Nicopolis, many of them migrated to Amphissa. However the original inhabitants were Locrians, and the town got its name they say from Amphissa, (the daughter of Macar the son of Æolus), who was beloved by Apollo. The town has several handsome sights, especially the tombs of Amphissa and Andræmon: with Andræmon his wife Gorge, the daughter of Œneus, was buried. In the citadel is a temple of Athene, and statue of the goddess in a standing position, which they say was brought by Thoas from Ilium, and was part of the Trojan spoil. This however I cannot credit. I showed in a previous part of my work that the Samians Rhœcus, (the son of Philæus), and Theodorus, (the son of Telecles), were the first brass-founders. However I have not discovered any works in brass by Theodorus. But in the temple of Ephesian Artemis, when you go into a room containing some paintings, you will see a stone cornice above the altar of Artemis Protothronia; on this cornice are several statues and among others one at the end by Rhœcus, which the Ephesians call Night. The statue therefore of Athene at Amphissa is more ancient and ruder in art. The people of Amphissa celebrate the rites of the youths called Anactes (Kings): different accounts are given as to who they were, some say Castor and Pollux, others say the Curetes, those who think themselves best informed say the Cabiri.
[10.38] These Locrians have other towns, as Myonia above Amphissa, and 30 stades from it, facing the mainland. Its inhabitants presented a shield to Zeus at Olympia. The town lies on high ground, and there is a grove and altar to the Mild Deities, and there are nightly sacrifices to them, and they consume the flesh of the victims before daybreak. There is also above the town a grove of Poseidon called Poseidonium, and in it a temple, but there is no statue there now.
[10.38] Myonia is above Amphissa: and near the sea is Œanthea, and at no great distance Naupactus. All these towns except Amphissa are under the Achæans of Patræ, as a grant from the Emperor Augustus. At Œanthea there is a temple of Aphrodite, and a little above the town a grove of cypress and pine, and in it a temple and statue of Artemis: and some paintings on the walls rather obscured by time, so that one cannot now see them clearly. I think the town must have got its name from some woman or Nymph. As to Naupactus I know the tradition is that the Dorians and the sons of Aristomachus built a fleet there, with which they crossed over to the Peloponnese, hence the origin of the name. As to the history of Naupactus, how the Athenians took it from the Locrians and gave it to the Messenians who removed to Ithome at the time of the earthquake at Lacedæmon, and how after the reverse of the Athenians at Ægos-potamoi the Lacedæmonians ejected the Messenians, all this has been related by me in my account of Messenia: and when the Messenians were obliged to evacuate it then the Locrians returned to Naupactus. As to the Poems called by the Greeks Naupactian, most attribute them to a Milesian: but Charon the son of Pytheus says they were composed by Carcinus a native of Naupactus. I follow the account of the native of Lampsacus: for how is it reasonable to suppose that poems written on women by a Milesian should be called Naupactian? There is at Naupactus a temple of Poseidon near the sea, and a brazen statue of the god in a standing posture; there is also a temple and statue of Artemis in white stone. The goddess is called Ætolian Artemis, and is in the attitude of a person hurling a javelin. Aphrodite also has honours paid to her in a cavern: they pray to her for various favours, widows especially for a second husband. There are also ruins of a temple of Æsculapius, which was originally built by one Phalysius, a private individual, who had an ailment in his eyes and was nearly blind, and the god of Epidaurus sent to him the poetess Anyte with a sealed letter. She dreamed one night and directly she woke found the sealed letter in her hands, and sailed to Naupactus and bade Phalysius remove the seal and read what was written. And though he was clearly unable to read from his blindness, yet, having faith in the god, he broke open the seal, and became cured by looking at the letter, and gave Anyte 2,000 gold staters, which was the sum mentioned in the letter.

## Notes

[1] Namely, that they were armed men who sprang up from the dragon’s teeth sown by Cadmus.
[2] Odyssey, xi. 263-265.
[3] Odyssey, xi. 271-274.
[4] Perhaps Pausanias is hyper-critical here. Is he not answered by the following line in the ὑπόθεσις to Œdipus Tyrannus, λοιμὸς δὲ Θήβας εἶλε καὶ νόσος μακρά?
[5] See Æschylus, Septem contra Thebas, 423 sq.
[6] See Erasmi Adagia.
[7] See Iliad, ii. 478, 479.
[8] See the story in Propertius, iv. 15.
[9] xiv. 114.
[10] Iliad, ii. 307, 310.
[11] Iliad, ii. 498.
[12] Odyssey, i. 52-54.
[13] Odyssey, xi. 318-320. Pindar, Pyth. iv. 156 sq.
[14] See Herodotus, viii. 135.
[15] Iliad, ii. 502.
[16] Iliad, ii. 506.
[17] See Sueton. Calig. 56, 58. The word was the word for the day given to soldiers.
[18] See Herodotus, ii. 79.
[19] Iliad, xviii. 569, 570.
[20] Compare the Homeric ἀλλοτρίων χαρίσασθαι. Od. xvii. 452. Our Robbing Peter to pay Paul.
[21] So Tibullus calls Priapus “Bacchi rustica proles,” i. 4. 7.
[22] viz., at line 11.
[23] See Homer’s Hymn to Demeter, lines 8-10.
[24] Odyssey, x. 492-495.
[25] Iliad, xviii. 382, 383.
[26] Iliad, xiv. 275, 276.
[27] Iliad, xiii. 301, 302. The reading in the former line is however a little different.
[28] See Iliad, ii. 511-516.
[29] Iliad, v. 709.
[30] Iliad, ix. 381.
[31] Iliad, xviii. 590 sq.
[32] e.g. Odyssey, iv. 581, xiv. 257.
[33] Iliad, ii. 100-108. Lest anybody should be surprised at a sceptre being called a spear let him remember the following words of Justin, xliii. 5. “Per ea adhuc tempora reges hastas pro diademate habebant, quas Græci sceptra dixere. Nam et ab origine rerum pro diis immortalibus veteres hastas coluere, ob cujus religionis memoriam adhuc deorum simulacris hastæ adduntur.”
[34] Odyssey, xi. 327.
[35] Odyssey, xv. 459, 460.
[36] Odyssey, xviii. 295, 296.
[37] Reading τῶν πρότερον as Siebelis suggests.
[38] Compare the Proverb, Quem Jupiter vult perdere dementat prius.
[39] Iliad, ii. 519-523. Cyparissus in Hom. is probably Anticyra. See ch. 36.
[40] Odyssey, xi. 581.
[41] Iliad, xvii. 306, 307.
[42] xi. 577.
[43] There is probably some mistake in the text here, for instead of seven stades Dodwell thought the distance twenty-seven, and Gell thirty-seven or forty-seven.
[44] See Sophocles, Œdipus Tyrannus, 733, 734. What I translate in this Paragraph “Cross-roads” would be literally “the road called Cleft,” which an English reader would hardly understand.
[45] That is, “Athene of the Brazen House.”
[46] See Odyssey, xii. 39 sq.
[47] Odyssey, xii. 46.
[48] Daphne means laurel. See Wordsworth’s noble Poem, The Russian Fugitive, Part iii.
[49] Odyssey, xix. 428-451.
[50] The text is somewhat uncertain here. I have tried to extract the best sense.
[51] “Qui hoc et similia putant dicuntque Pausaniam opposuisse Christianis, hos velim explicare causam, cur Pausanias tecte tantum in illos invadere, neque usquam quidquam aperte contra eos dicere ausus sit.” Siebelis.
[52] Ægina was the daughter of the river-god Asopus, and was carried off from Phlius by Zeus. See Book ii. ch. 5. Hence the offering of the people of Phlius.
[53] See Rawlinson’s Herodotus, Book ix. ch. 81.
[54] xv. 419-421.
[55] i.e. Prohibitor of corn-growing (on the sacred land).
[56] The words of the oracle were as follows:
Θάρσει Ταυρόκερως, ἕξεις βασιληίδα τιμὴν
καὶ παίδων παῖδες· τούτων γε μὲν οὐκέτι παῖδες.
[57] So the son of Crœsus found his tongue from sudden fright. See Herodotus, i. 85.
[58] Pindar Pyth. viii. 85. So also Æschylus, Eumen. 40.
[59] Odyssey, xx. 301, 302.
[60] See ch. 22.
[61] I follow Schubart in surrounding this remarkable statement with brackets.
[62] See the circumstances in Book i. ch. 16.
[63] The technical term for submission to an enemy. See Herodotus, v. 17, 18; vii. 133.
[64] This 90 seeming a very small force, Schubart conjectures 790, Brandstäter 1090.
[65] Odyssey, x. 199, 200.
[66] Nem. i. 82. Thus La Rochefoucauld is anticipated. “Nous avons tous assez de force pour supporter les maux d’autrui.”
[67] Which after his wounds would be fatal.
[68] As Siebelis well points out, this cannot refer to Brennus’ army, which we have just been told was all cut to pieces, but to the swarm of Celts in Macedonia and Thrace, who returned to Asia Minor, cowed by this catastrophe.
[69] In the Protagoras, 343 A.
[70] The tradition the oracle refers to is that Homer died of grief, because he could not solve the riddle which some fisher boys propounded to him. The oracle is also alluded to in Book viii, ch. 24.
[71] Odyssey, xviii. 328, 329. See Dr. Hayman’s admirable note on this passage.
[72] Odyssey, iii. 276 sq.
[73] Iliad, iii. 144. Their names there are Æthra and Clymene.
[74] Iliad, xiii. 171-173.
[75] See ch. 26 nearly at the end.
[76] An Elasus is mentioned in Iliad, xvi. 696.
[77] He (i.e. Neoptolemus). Siebelis very ingeniously suggests ὁ Ἀχιλλέως. I accept that suggestion as necessary to the sense.
[78] See Iliad, xvii. 314. Pausanias goes a little beyond Homer methinks.
[79] See Iliad, iii. 205-207. Also 122-124.
[80] Naked here, and in connection with Epeus in ch. 26, probably only means without armour on. Cf. “Nudus ara, sere nudus.” Virg. Georg. i. 299.
[81] See for example Hesiod, Works and Days, 331, 332, with context.
[82] Boettiger takes this woman to be Punishment personified.
[83] Our “bluebottles.”
[84] Odyssey, xi. 23 sq.
[85] Propertius has an allusion to this, v. iii. 21, 22.
[86] It will be seen that I adopt the suggestion of Siebelis. The reading is doubtful.
[87] Odyssey, xi. 630, 631. The last line is in brackets in modern editions.
[88] Iliad, i. 262-265. The last line here is in brackets in modern editions.
[89] Odyssey, xx. 63 sq.
[90] Odyssey, x. 509, 510.
[91] So Corayus. The meaning and reading is very obscure.
[92] See Homer’s Odyssey, xi. 287 sq. Neleus refused the matchless Pero’s hand to any suitor who would not bring as a wedding-present these kine of Iphiclus.
[93] Odyssey, xi. 582-592.
[94] See chapter 6.
[95] And consequently called Dryads.
[96] Iliad, xx. 131. Compare Exodus, xxxiii. 20.
[97] The circumstances are narrated in ch. 2.
[98] ὦ ταυρόμορφον ὄμμα Κηφισοῦ πατρός. Eurip. Ion. 1261.
[99] Iliad, ii. 522.
[100] Hiatus hic est valde deflendus.
[101] See for instance Homer’s Odyssey, xvii. 87-90.
[102] Compare Cicero de Republ. iii. 9. “Fana ne reficienda quidem Graii putaverunt, ut esset posteris ante os documentum Persarum sceleris sempiternum.”
[103] Iliad, ii. 519.
[104] Iliad, ii. 520.
[105] The Greek word for branch is Ozos. Hence the Paronomasia. All the four other unsavoury traditions are connected with the Greek verb ozo, I smell.