Now the Greeks among other things say that they had the seven wise
men. And among these they include the Lesbian tyrant and Periander the
son of Cypselus: and yet Pisistratus and his son Hippias were far more
humane and wise than Periander, both in war and in all that appertained
to citizen life, until Hippias because of the death of Hipparchus acted
with great cruelty, especially to a woman called Leæna, (_Lioness_).
For after the death of Hipparchus, (I speak now of what has never
before been recorded in history, but yet is generally believed by
the Athenians), Hippias tortured her to death, knowing that she had
been Aristogiton’s mistress, and thinking that she could not have been
ignorant of the plot against Hipparchus. In return for this, when
the Pisistratidæ had been deposed from the kingdom, a brazen lioness
was erected by the Athenians to her memory, and near her a statue of
Aphrodite, which they say was a votive offering of Callias, designed by
Calamis.
And next is a brazen statue of Diitrephes pierced with arrows. This
Diitrephes, among other things which the Athenians record, led back the
Thracian mercenaries who came too late, for Demosthenes had already
sailed for Syracuse. And when he got to the Euripus near Chalcis,
and opposite Mycalessus in Bœotia, he landed and took Mycalessus:
and the Thracians slew not only the fighting men, but also the women
and children. And this proves what I say, that all the cities of the
Bœotians, whom the Thebans had dispossessed, were inhabited in my time
by those who had fled at their capture. Therefore if the barbarians
had not landed and slain all the Mycalessians, those that were left
would afterwards have repeopled the city. A very wonderful fact about
this statue of Diitrephes is that it was pierced with arrows, seeing
that it was not customary for any Greeks but the Cretans to shoot with
the bow. For we know that the Opuntian Locrians were so armed as early
as the Persian war, for Homer described them as coming to Ilium with
bows and slings. But the use of bows did not long remain even with
the Malienses: and I think that they did not use them before the days
of Philoctetes, and soon afterwards ceased to use them. And next to
Diitrephes, (I shall not mention the more obscure images), are some
statues of goddesses, as Hygiea, (_Health_), who they say was the
daughter of Æsculapius, and Athene by the same name of Hygiea. And
there is a small stone such as a little man can sit on, on which they
say Silenus rested, when Dionysus came to the land. Silenus is the name
they give to all old Satyrs. About the Satyrs I have conversed with
many, wishing to know all about them. And Euphemus a Carian told me
that sailing once on a time to Italy he was driven out of his course
by the winds, and carried to a distant sea, where people no longer
sail. And he said that here were many desert islands, some inhabited
by wild men: and at these islands the sailors did not like to land, as
they had landed there before and had experience of the natives, but
they were obliged on that occasion. These islands he said were called
by the sailors Satyr-islands, the dwellers in them were red-haired,
and had tails at their loins not much smaller than horses. When they
perceived the sailors they ran down to the ship, spoke not a word, but
began to handle the women on board. At last the sailors in dire alarm
landed a barbarian woman on the island: and the Satyrs treated her in
such a way as we will not venture to describe.
I noticed other statues in the Acropolis, as the boy in brass with
a laver in his hand by Lycius the son of Myron, and Perseus having
slain Medusa by Myron. And there is a temple of Brauronian Artemis,
the statue the design of Praxiteles, but the goddess gets her name
from Brauron. And the ancient statue is at Brauron, called Tauric
Artemis. And a brazen model of the Wooden Horse is here, and that this
construction of Epeus was a design to break down the walls, every
one knows who does not consider the Phrygians plainly fatuous. And
tradition says of that Horse that it had inside it the bravest of the
Greeks, and this model in brass corresponds in every particular, and
Menestheus and Teucer are peeping out of it, as well as the sons of
Theseus. And of the statues next the Horse, Critias executed that of
Epicharinus training to run in heavy armour. And Œnobius did a kindness
to Thucydides the son of Olorus. For he passed a decree that Thucydides
should be recalled from exile to Athens, and as he was treacherously
murdered on his return, he has a tomb not far from the Melitian gates.
As to Hermolycus the Pancratiast, and Phormio the son of Asopichus,
as others have written about them I pass them by: only I have this
little bit more to say about Phormio. He being one of the noblest of
the Athenians, and illustrious from the renown of his ancestors, was
heavily in debt. He went therefore to the Pæanian township, and had
his maintenance there until the Athenians chose him as Admiral. He
however declined on the score that he owed money, and that he would
have no influence with the sailors till he had paid it. Accordingly the
Athenians paid his debts, for they would have him as Admiral.