The sacred grove of Æsculapius is walled in on all sides: nor do any

deaths or births take place in the precincts of the god, just as is the

case at the island Delos. And the sacrifices, whether any native of

Epidaurus or stranger be the sacrificer, they consume in the precincts.

The same I know happens at Titane. And the statue of Æsculapius is in

size half that of Olympian Zeus at Athens, and is made of ivory and

gold: and the inscription shows that it was by the Parian Thrasymede

the son of Arignotus. The god sits on a seat holding a staff in one

hand, and the other hand he has on a dragon’s head, and a dog is seated

at his feet. And on the seat are represented the actions of Argive

heroes, as Bellerophon killing the Chimæra, and Perseus with the head

of Medusa. And beyond the temple is a sleeping-place for suppliants.

And a round building has been built near well worth seeing, of white

stone, called the Rotunda. And in it there is a painting by Pausias of

Cupid throwing away his bow and arrows and taking up a lyre instead.

There is also here a painting of Drunkenness, also by Pausias, drinking

out of a glass bowl. You may see in the painting the glass bowl and in

it a woman’s face reflected. And six pillars to this day stand in the

precincts, but in old time there were more. On these are recorded the

names of men and women healed by Æsculapius, and the complaint from

which each suffered, and how they were cured, written in Doric. And

apart from the rest is an ancient pillar, which states that Hippolytus

offered 20 horses to the god. And the people of Aricia have a tradition

corresponding to the inscription on this pillar, that, when Hippolytus

died in consequence of the imprecations of Theseus, Æsculapius restored

him to life again: and when he came to life again, he refused to pardon

his father, and disregarding his entreaties went into Italy to the

people of Aricia, and there became king and built a temple to Artemis,

where in my time the prize for victory in single combat was to become

the priest of the goddess. But the contest was not for freemen, but for

slaves who had run away from their masters. And the Epidaurians have a

theatre in their temple, especially well worth seeing in my opinion:

for the Roman theatres beat all in the world in magnificence, and for

size the Arcadian theatre at Megalopolis carries the day: but for

beauty of proportion what architect could compete with Polycletus? And

Polycletus it was that designed this theatre and round building. And

within the grove there is a temple of Artemis, and a statue of Epione,

and a temple of Aphrodite and Themis, and a stadium, as generally among

the Greeks, consisting of a mound of earth, and a fountain well worth

seeing for its roof and other decoration. And Antonine the Senator

constructed in our days a bath of Æsculapius, and a temple of the gods

they call the _Bountiful Gods_. He built also a temple for Hygiea and

for Æsculapius and for Apollo under the title of Egyptian gods. He

restored also Cotys’ porch for the roof had fallen in and it had all

come to ruin as it had been built of unbaked brick. And the Epidaurians

who lived near the temple were especially unfortunate, for their women

might not bear children under a roof but only in the open air. But

Antonine set this right and erected a building where it was lawful

both to die and bear children. And there are two mountains above the

grove, one called Titthion and the other Cynortion, and on the latter

a temple to Maleatian Apollo. The building is ancient, but everything

else in connection with the temple, as the reservoir _e.g._ in which

rainwater is stored up, was put there by Antonine for the benefit of

the Epidaurians.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

Now all kinds of dragons, and especially those which incline to tawny

in colour, are considered sacred to Æsculapius, and are tame, and the

Epidaurian country alone breeds them. I find similar phenomena in other

countries. Thus Libya alone breeds land crocodiles no smaller than two

cubits, and from India alone come parrots and other birds. For the

great snakes in size as big as 30 cubits, which are produced in India

and in Libya, the Epidaurians say are not dragons but another species

altogether. And as you ascend the mountain called Coryphon there is

an olive tree called Twisted, its having been so moulded by Hercules’

hand is the origin of the name. I can hardly believe that he meant this

for a boundary for the Asinæi in Argolis, for as the country on both

sides lies waste one could find no clear boundary here. And on the top

of the mountain Coryphon is the temple of Artemis, which Telesilla has

mentioned in a poem. And as you go down to the city of the Epidaurians

is a place, called Hyrnethium, full of wild olives that grow there. I

shall record the Epidaurian tradition and the probable truth. Cisus and

the other sons of Temenus knew that they would greatly vex Deiphontes,

if they could by any means get Hyrnetho from him. Cerynes and Phalces

therefore went alone to Epidaurus: for Argæeus the youngest did not

approve of their plot. And they leaving their travelling carriage near

the walls sent a messenger to their sister, wishing they said to have

a conversation with her. And when she complied with their invitation,

the young men at once brought various charges against Deiphontes, and

begged her earnestly to return to Argos, making various promises, and

that they would give her in marriage to a man in every respect better

than Deiphontes, to the ruler of a larger population and a more fertile

country. And Hyrnetho vexed at their words gave them back as good as

they brought, and said that Deiphontes was acceptable to her as a

husband, and that to be Temenus’ son in law was not to be despised,

but they ought to be called rather Temenus’ murderers than his sons.

And they made no reply to her, but took hold of her, put her into the

travelling carriage, and drove off. And an Epidaurian took the news to

Deiphontes that Cerynes and Phalces had gone off with Hyrnetho against

her will. And he came to the rescue with all speed, and the Epidaurians

when they heard what the matter was came to the rescue with him. And

Deiphontes when he came up with Cerynes shot at him and killed him

with an arrow, but as Phalces was close to Hyrnetho he did not dare

to shoot at him, lest he should miss him and kill her, but he closed

with him and endeavoured to get her away. But Phalces resisting and

pulling Hyrnetho too violently killed her, for she was pregnant. And

he perceiving what he had done to his sister, drove the travelling

carriage at full speed, hastening to be off before the Epidaurians

could come up: and Deiphontes with his sons (for he had had by Hyrnetho

Antimenes and Xanthippus and Argeus, and one daughter Orsobia, who

afterwards married Pamphylus the son of Ægimius), took the dead body of

Hyrnetho and conveyed it to the place which is now called Hyrnethium.

And they built a chapel to her memory and paid her other honours, and

with regard to the olive trees that grow in her grove, or any other

trees there, it is an established custom that no one should break

pieces of them off and carry them away, nor use them for any purpose,

but leave them intact as sacred to Hyrnetho. And not far from the city

is the sepulchre of Melissa, who was the wife of Periander the son of

Cypselus, and the sepulchre of Proclees the father of Melissa. And he

was king at Epidaurus, as his son in law Periander was at Corinth.

CHAPTER XXIX.

Epidaurus has the following things most worthy of record. There is

a temple of Æsculapius, and statues of Æsculapius and Epione, who

they say was his wife. These are in the open air, and are of Parian

marble. And there are temples of Dionysus and Artemis, the latter as

a Huntress. There is a temple also built to Aphrodite: and near the

harbour on the cliff jutting out into the sea is they say one of Hera.

And the Athene in the citadel, a wooden statue well worth seeing, they

call Cissæan Athene.

The Æginetans inhabit the island opposite Epidauria. And they say

there were no inhabitants there originally, but Zeus having taken Ægina

the daughter of Asopus there to that desert island, it was called Ægina

after her instead of its old name Œnone, and when Æacus was grown up

he asked of Zeus for settlers, and then they say that Zeus produced

men from the soil. And they can tell of no king reigning there but

Æacus, for we know of none of the sons of Æacus continuing there, for

Peleus and Telamon had to flee for the murder of Phocus, and the sons

of Phocus again dwelt near Parnassus in what is now called Phocis. And

the name Phocis was given to the district when Phocus of the family of

Ornytion first came to it. In the days of this Phocus the country near

Tithorea and Parnassus was called Phocis: but in the days of Æacus the

name Phocis included everybody from Minyæ near Orchomenus to Scarphea

in Locris. And Peleus’ sons were kings in Epirus, and of Telamon’s

sons the family of Ajax was rather obscure (as he lived in a retired

way privately), except Miltiades, who led the Athenians at Marathon,

and his son Cimon, both of whom were exceedingly illustrious. And

the descendants of Teucer were kings of Cyprus down to Evagoras. And

according to the poet Asius Phocus’ sons were Panopeus and Crisus: and

the son of Panopeus was Epeus, who according to Homer was the contriver

of the wooden horse, and the grandson of Crisus was Pylades, the son

of Strophius, the son of Crisus by Anaxibia the daughter of Agamemnon.

Such is the pedigree of the so-called Æacidæ, but they branched off

from the beginning into other directions. And in after time a part of

the Argives that had occupied Epidaurus with Deiphontes crossed over to

Ægina, and, mixing among the old settlers at Ægina, introduced into the

island the Doric language and manners. And the Æginetans became a great

power, so that they were even a greater naval power than the Athenians,

and in the Persian War furnished the greatest number of vessels next

to the Athenians, but their prosperity did not last, for they were

turned out of Ægina by the Athenians, and went and dwelt at Thyrea

in Argolis, which the Lacedæmonians gave them. They recovered Ægina

indeed, when the Athenian triremes were captured at the Hellespont, but

never regained their former wealth and power. Of all the Greek islands

Ægina is the most difficult of access. For there are rocks under the

sea all round it, and sunken reefs. And they say that Æacus contrived

this on purpose from fear of pirates, and that he might not be exposed

to enemies. And near the chief harbour is a temple of Aphrodite, and

in the most conspicuous part of the city what is called the Hall of

Æacus, a square court of white stone: at the entrance of which are

statues of the envoys who were sent by the Greeks to Æacus. All give

the same account of this as the Æginetans. A drought for some time

afflicted Greece, and there was no rain either beyond the Isthmus or in

the Peloponnese, until they sent messengers to Delphi, to enquire the

cause, and at the same time to beg to be rid of the evil. The Pythian

Priestess told them to propitiate Zeus, and that, if he was to listen

to them, Æacus must be the suppliant. Accordingly they sent envoys

from every city to beg Æacus to do so. And he offered sacrifices and

prayers to Pan-Hellenian Zeus and caused rain to come on the earth:

and the Æginetans made these effigies of all the envoys that had come

to him. And within the precincts are some olive trees planted a long

time ago, and an altar not much higher than the ground, which it is

secretly whispered is a memorial of Æacus. And near the Hall of Æacus

is the tomb of Phocus, a mound of earth with a base in the shape of a

circle, and on it is a rough stone: and when Telamon and Peleus invited

Phocus to the contest of the pentathlum, and it was Peleus’ turn to

throw the stone, which served them for a quoit, he purposely threw it

at Phocus and hit him. And in this they gratified their mother, for

they were the sons of Endeis the daughter of Sciron, and Phocus was the

son of her sister Thetis, if the Greeks speak the truth. And Pylades

appears to me for this reason, and not merely in friendship to Orestes,

to have contrived the death of Neoptolemus. But when Phocus was struck

by the quoit and fell down dead, then the sons of Endeis got on board

ship and fled. And Telamon later on sent a messenger, and endeavoured

to clear himself of having contrived the death of Phocus. But Æacus

would not let him land on the island, but bade him if he liked pile up

a mole in the sea and make his defence there. Accordingly he sailed to

the harbour called Secret, and by night produced a mole, which remains

to this day. And being pronounced guilty of the death of Phocus he

sailed back again to Salamis. And not far from this harbour Secret is

a theatre well worth seeing, in size and workmanship very similar to

the one at Epidaurus. And behind it is built one side of a stadium,

upholding the theatre and serving as a prop for it.

CHAPTER XXX.

And near one another are temples of Apollo, and Artemis, and Dionysus.

The wooden statue of Apollo is naked and of native art, but Artemis

and Dionysus are draped, and Dionysus is represented with a beard. But

the temple of Æsculapius is on the other side and not here, and the

statue of stone, seated. And of all the gods the people of Ægina honour

Hecate most, and celebrate her rites annually, saying that Orpheus the

Thracian introduced those rites. And within the precincts is a temple,

containing a wooden statue of Hecate by Myron, with only one head and

one body. Alcamenes as it seems to me was the first who made the statue

of Hecate with three heads and three bodies which the Athenians call

Hecate Epipurgidia: it stands near the temple of Wingless Victory.

And in Ægina as you go to the mountain of Pan-Hellenian Zeus is the

temple of Aphæa, about whom Pindar wrote an ode for the Æginetans. And

the Cretans say, (for her worship is indigenous among them too), that

Eubulus was the son of that Carmanor who purged Apollo of the murder

of Python, and that Britomartis was the daughter of Zeus by Carme the

daughter of Eubulus: and that she rejoiced in races and hunting, and

was a very great friend of Artemis. And fleeing from Minos, who was

enamoured of her, she threw herself into some nets set for catching

fish. Artemis made her a goddess, and she is worshipped not only by

the Cretans but also by the Æginetans, who say that Britomartis was

seen in their island. And she is called Aphæa in Ægina, but Dictynna

in Crete. And the mountain Pan-Hellenium has nothing of note but the

temple of Zeus, which they say Æacus erected. As to what concerns

Auxesia and Lamia, how there was no rain at Epidaurus, and how after

receiving olive trees from Athens they made wooden statues according to

the bidding of the oracle, and how the Epidaurians did not pay to the

Athenians their charge for the Æginetans having these statues, and how

the Athenians who crossed over to Ægina to exact payment perished, all

this has been told accurately and circumstantially by Herodotus. I do

not therefore care to write again what has been so well told before,

but this much I may say that I have seen the statues and sacrificed to

them as they are accustomed to sacrifice at Eleusis.

Let so much suffice for Ægina, and Æacus and his exploits. And

next to Epidauria come the people of Trœzen, who are proud of their

country if any people are. And they say that Orus was a native of

their country. To me however the name Orus seems decidedly Egyptian

and not at all Greek. However they say he was their king, and that the

country was called Oræa after him, and Althepus the son of Poseidon

by Leis the daughter of Orus, succeeding to Orus, called the country

Althepia. When he was king they say that Athene and Poseidon had a

dispute about the country, and resolved to hold it in common, for so

Zeus ordered them to do. And so they worship Athene under the names

Polias and Sthenias, and Poseidon under the name of king. And so their

ancient coins have on them a trident and the head of Athene. And next

to Althepus Saron was king, who they say built the temple to Saronian

Artemis near the sea where it was muddy on the surface, insomuch that

it was called the Phœbæan marsh. And it chanced that Saron, who was

very fond of hunting, was pursuing a stag and followed it to the sea

as it fled. And it swam further and further from the land, and Saron

continued to follow it up, till in his impetuosity he got out to open

sea, and, as he was by now tired, and the waves were too much for him,

he was drowned. And his dead body was cast on shore on the Phœbæan

marsh, and they buried him in the grove of Artemis, and they call the

sea here after him the Saronian marsh instead of the Phœbæan. The

names of the kings that followed him they do not know till Hyperes and

Anthas, who they say were the sons of Poseidon by Alcyone the daughter

of Atlas, and built the cities in that country called Hyperea and

Anthea. And Aetius the son of Anthas, succeeding his father and uncle

in the kingdom, called one of these two cities Poseidonias. And when

Trœzen and Pittheus joined Aetius, there were three kings instead of

one, and the sons of Pelops were the stronger. And this proves it.

After the death of Trœzen Pittheus joined together Hyperea and Anthea,

and combined the inhabitants into one city, which he called Trœzen from

the name of his brother. And many years afterwards the descendants

of Aetius, the son of Anthas, were sent on a colony from Trœzen, and

colonized Halicarnassus in Caria, and Myndus. And the sons of Trœzen,

Anaphlystus and Sphettus, migrated to Attica, and gave their names to

two townships. And as regards Theseus the son of Pittheus’ daughter I

do not write to people who know all the history. But I must narrate

thus much. When the Heraclidæ returned to the Peloponnese the people

of Trœzen received as colonists the Dorians from Argos, having been

formerly subject to the Argives. And Homer in his catalogue says that

they were under the rule of Diomede. Diomede at least and Euryalus the

son of Mecisteus, who were Regents for Cyanippus the son of Ægialeus,

led the Argives to Troy. But Sthenelus, as I have shown before, was of

more illustrious birth, being of the family of the Anaxagoridæ, and

the kingdom of the Argives was more his by right. Such are all the

historical details about Trœzen, except a list of the cities which

are said to have been colonized from Trœzen. I will now describe the

contents of the temples and other notable things in Trœzen.

CHAPTER XXXI.

In the market-place is a temple, and statues, of Artemis the Saviour.

And it is said that Theseus built it and called her Saviour, when he

returned from Crete after having killed Asterion the son of Minos. This

seems to me to have been the most notable of all his exploits, not

so much because Asterion excelled in bravery all who were killed by

Theseus, but because he escaped the hidden snares of the labyrinth, and

all this makes it clear that Theseus and his companions were saved by

providence. In this temple are altars of the gods said to rule in the

lower world: and they say that Semele was brought here from Hades by

Dionysus, and that Hercules brought Cerberus here from Hades. But I do

not think that Semele died at all, as she was the wife of Zeus: and as

to Cerberus I shall elsewhere tell what I think.

And behind the temple there is a monument of Pittheus, and three

seats are on it of white stone: and Pittheus and two others with

him are said to be giving sentence on these seats. And at no great

distance is a temple of the Muses, built they say by Ardalus, the son

of Hephæstus: who they think discovered the use of the flute, and so

they call the Muses Ardalian after him. Here they say Pittheus taught

the art of language, and I have myself read a book written by Pittheus,

that was given me by an Epidaurian. And not far from, the temple of

the Muses is an ancient altar, erected as they say also by Ardalus. And

they sacrifice on it to the Muses and Sleep, saying that Sleep is the

god most friendly to the Muses. And near the theatre is a temple of

Lycean Artemis, which Hippolytus built. Why the goddess was so called I

could not find from the antiquarians, but it seems to me it was either

because Hippolytus drove out the wolves that ravaged Trœzen and the

neighbourhood, or that it was a title of Artemis among the Amazons, of

whom his mother was one. Or there may be some other explanation which I

do not know. And the stone in front of the temple called the holy stone

was they say the stone on which formerly the 9 men of Trœzen cleared

Orestes of the murder of his mother. And not far from the temple of

Lycean Artemis are altars at no great distance from one another.

The first of them is one of Dionysus, called Saviour in accordance

with some oracle, and the second is called Themidon, Pittheus dedicated

it they say. And they very likely built an altar to the Sun the

Liberator when they escaped the slavery of Xerxes and the Persians. And

they say Pittheus built the temple of Thearian Apollo, which is the

oldest of all I know. There is indeed an old temple of Athene among

the Phocians in Ionia, which Harpagus the Persian burnt, old also is

the temple of Pythian Apollo among the Samians, but far later are both

than this one at Trœzen. And the statue of the god is still to be seen,

the votive offering of Auliscus, and the design of Hermon of Trœzen,

who also made wooden statues of the Dioscuri. And there are also in

the porch in the market-place stone statues of the women and children

whom the Athenians committed to the charge of the people of Trœzen,

when they resolved to leave Athens, and not to encounter the attack of

the Mede with a land force. And they are said to have put here statues

not of all those women, for they are not many here, but only of those

who were especially remarkable for merit. And there is a building in

front of the temple of Apollo, called the tent of Orestes. For before

he was cleared of his mother’s blood, none of the people of Trœzen

would receive him in their houses: but they put him here and gradually

cleared him and fed him here, till the expiatory rites were completed.

And to this day the descendants of those that cleared him feast here on

appointed days. And the expiations having been buried not far from this

tent, they say a laurel sprang up from them, which is still to be seen

in front of the tent. And they say that Orestes among other purgations

used water from Hippocrene. For the people of Trœzen have a well called

Hippocrene, and the tradition about it is the same as the Bœotian

tradition. For they too say that water sprang up from the ground when

Pegasus touched the ground with his hoof, and that Bellerophon came to

Trœzen to ask for Æthra as his wife from Pittheus, but it so chanced

that before the marriage came off he fled from Corinth.

And there is here a statue of Hermes called Polygius, and they say

Hercules offered his club to it, and the club was of wild olive, and,

(believe it who will,) sprouted in the earth and grew, and is now a

tree, for Hercules they say discovered the wild olive in the Saronian

marsh and cut a club of it. There is also a temple of Zeus Soter, built

they say by King Aetius the son of Anthas. And they call their river

Chrysorrhoe (_golden stream_), for when there was a drought in the land

and no rain for nine years, and all other water they say dried up, this

Chrysorrhoe continued to flow as usual.

CHAPTER XXXII.

And Hippolytus the son of Theseus has precincts and a temple in them

and ancient statue. Diomede they say erected all these, and was the

first to sacrifice to Hippolytus: and the people of Trœzen have

a priest of Hippolytus who serves for life, and they have yearly

sacrifices, and the following custom. Every maiden cuts off a lock of

her hair before marriage, and takes it and offers it at this temple.

And they don’t represent Hippolytus as having died through being torn

in pieces by his horses, nor do they point out his tomb if they know

it: but they try to make out that Hippolytus is called in heaven

the Charioteer, and has this honour from the gods. And within his

precincts is the temple of Apollo Epibaterius, the votive offering of

Diomede when he escaped the storm which fell on the Greeks as they were

returning from Ilium: they say also that Diomede first established

the Pythian games in honour of Apollo. And as to Lamia and Auxesia

(for they also have their share of honour) the people of Trœzen do

not give the same account as the Epidaurians and Æginetans, but say

that they were virgins who came from Crete, and in a general commotion

in the city were stoned by one of the rival factions, and they have

a festival to them called Stonethrowing. And in another part of the

precincts is what is called Hippolytus’ race-course, and overlooking

it a temple of Peeping Aphrodite: where, when Hippolytus was training,

Phædra would gaze at him in her love. Here too grows the myrtle with

the leaves pricked, as I described before: for when Phædra was in

despair and found no relief for her love-pains, she wreaked her agony

on the leaves of the myrtle. And Phædra’s tomb is here, not very far

from the monument of Hippolytus, or that myrtle tree. And there is a

statue of Æsculapius by Timotheus, but the people of Trœzen say it is

not Æsculapius but Hippolytus. I saw also the house of Hippolytus, and

in front of it is what is called the Well of Hercules, the water (as

the people of Trœzen say) which Hercules discovered. And in the citadel

there is a temple of Athene Sthenias, the wooden statue of the goddess

is by Callon of Ægina; who was the pupil of Tectæus and Angelion, who

designed the statue of Apollo at Delos; and they were pupils of Dipœnus

and Scyllis. And as you go down from thence you come to the temple of

Pan the Deliverer, for he shewed dreams to the chief people of the

Trœzenians which brought about deliverance from the plague, which

pressed so hard on the Athenians. And in the environs of Trœzen you

will see a temple of Isis, and above it one of Aphrodite of the Height:

the temple the Halicarnassians built for Trœzen their mother city; but

the statue of Isis was a votive offering of the people of Trœzen.

As you go along the mountains to Hermione you see the source of

the river Hyllicus, which was originally called Taurius, and a rock

called Theseus’ rock, which used in former times to be called the altar

of Sthenian Zeus, but had its name changed to Theseus’ rock because

Theseus found under it the shoes and sword of Ægeus. And near this rock

is the temple of Bridal Aphrodite, which was built by Theseus when

he married Helen. And outside the walls is a temple of Fruit-giving

Poseidon: for they say that Poseidon in wrath threatened to make their

land fruitless, by casting brine on the seeds and roots of their

plants, till mollified by their sacrifices and prayers he sent brine on

their land no longer. And above the temple of Poseidon is Law-giving

Demeter, which was built they say by Althepus. And as you descend to

the harbour near what is called Celenderis, is the place which they

call Natal-place, because they say Theseus was born there. And in front

of this place is a temple of Ares on the spot where Theseus conquered

the Amazons in battle: they must have been some of that band who fought

in Attica with Theseus and the Athenians. And as you go towards the

Psiphæan sea there is a wild olive tree called twisted _Rhachus_. The

people of Trœzen give that name to every kind of olive that bears no

fruit, whether its general name is κοτινός, or φυλίας, or ἔλαιος. And

they call it twisted because, the reins catching in it, the chariot

of Hippolytus got overturned. And at no great distance from this is

the temple of Saronian Artemis, about which I have already given an

account. But this much more shall be stated, that they keep an annual

feast called Saronia to Artemis.

CHAPTER XXXIII.

Of the islands near Trœzen one is so close to the mainland, that you

can wade over to it at low water. It was called Sphæria in former days,

and _Sacred_ for the following reason. It contains the tomb of Sphærus,

who they say was the charioteer of Pelops. He had a dream from Athene,

that Æthra crossed over into the island with offerings for the dead,

and when she crossed over there ’tis said that Poseidon had an intrigue

with her. Accordingly Æthra built a temple here to _Injurious Athene_,

and called the island _Sacred_ instead of Sphæria: she also imposed

the custom on the maidens of Trœzen that they should before marriage

dedicate their maiden-girdle to _Injurious Athene_. And they say the

island Calaurea was in ancient days sacred to Apollo, when Delphi

belonged to Poseidon, it is also said that they exchanged these places

with one another. And they produce in support of their statement the

following oracle,

“It is all one whether you dwell at Delos or Calaurea

At sacred Pytho or the wind-swept Tænarus.”

There is also at Calaurea a sacred temple to Poseidon, and the

priestess is a maiden till the period for marriage. And within the

precincts is the tomb of Demosthenes. Fortune seems to have shown

especial malignity to Demosthenes as earlier to Homer, since Homer was

not only blind but overwhelmed by such poverty that he was a strolling

beggar on every soil, and Demosthenes in his old age had to taste the

bitterness of exile, and came to a violent end. Much has been said

about Demosthenes by others and by himself, by which it is clear that

he had no share in the money which Harpalus brought from Asia, but

what was said afterwards I will relate. Harpalus, after having fled

from Athens and crossed over with the fleet to Crete, was murdered

not long afterwards by some of his attendant slaves: but some say

he was treacherously murdered by the Macedonian Pausanias. And the

dispenser of the money fled to Rhodes, and was arrested by Philoxenus

the Macedonian, who had also demanded the extradition of Harpalus

from the Athenians. And getting this lad he cross-questioned him,

until he obtained full intelligence of those who had had any money

from Harpalus: and when he ascertained their names he sent letters to

Athens. Although in those letters he enumerated the names of those who

had had any money from Harpalus, and the precise sum which each of

them had, he made no mention whatever of Demosthenes, though he was

most bitterly hated by Alexander, and although Philoxenus himself was

privately his enemy. Demosthenes had honours paid to him in other parts

of Greece also as well as by the inhabitants of Calaurea.

CHAPTER XXXIV.

In the Trœzenian district there is an isthmus jutting out some way into

the sea, and on it has been built a small town near the sea called

Methana. And there is a temple of Isis there, and a statue in the

market-place of Hermes, and another of Hercules. And at the distance of

about 30 stades from this small town are some warm baths. And they say

that water first appeared there when Antigonus, the son of Demetrius,

was King of the Macedonians, and water did not first appear, but fire

bubbled up from the ground, and when this burnt itself out then water

began to flow, which bubbles up even to this day warm and very salt.

And if one bathes here the water is not cold near the shore, but if

you go well out to sea swimming is dangerous, for there are many kinds

of sea-monsters and especially sea dogs. But the most wonderful thing

at Methana I will now record. The South West Wind when the vines are

growing blows upon them from the Saronic Gulf, and scorches them up.

And when the wind is still sweeping down on them, two men take a cock

with white feathers only, and tear it in half, and run round the vines

in different directions, each with half the cock, and when they come

back to the place where they started, they bury it there. This is their

invention and contrivance against the South West Wind. The little

islands, which lie just off the coast, 9 in number, they call the

islands of Pelops, and they say when it rains rain never comes on one

of them. Whether this is so I do not know, but the people about Methana

say so, and I have heard of people trying to avert hail by sacrifices

and incantations. Methana then is an Isthmus in the Peloponnese: and

inside the Trœzenian Isthmus is the neighbouring town of Hermione. And

the people of Hermione say that the founder of the old city was one

Hermion the son of Europs. And this Europs, who was certainly the son

of Phoroneus, was said by Herophanes of Trœzen to be illegitimate, on

the ground that the kingdom of Argos would not have come to Argus the

daughter’s son of Phoroneus, had Phoroneus had a legitimate son. But,

even if Europs was legitimate and died before Phoroneus, I know very

well that a son of his would not have been considered equal to Niobe’s

son, who was reckoned to be the son of Zeus. And afterwards Dorians

from Argos colonized Hermione, but amicably I think, for had there been

a war it would have been mentioned by the Argives.

And there is a road to Hermione from Trœzen along the rock which was

formerly called the altar of Zeus Sthenius, but after Theseus removed

the shoes and sword of Ægeus, it was called Theseus’ rock. As you go

by this rock on the mountain side, you come to the temple of Apollo

called _The God of the Plane-Trees_, and the hamlet is called Ilei,

and in it are temples of Demeter and her daughter Proserpine. And near

the sea, on the border of the territory of Hermione, is a temple of

Demeter under the title Thermasia. And at the distance of about eighty

stades is the promontory called Scyllæum from Scylla, the daughter

of Nisus. For after Minos took Nisæa and Megara through her treason,

he refused to marry her though he had promised, and even ordered the

Cretans to throw her overboard, and the tide washed her dead body on

to this promontory. And they exhibit no tomb of her, for they say that

her body was neglected, and carried away by sea birds bit by bit. And

as you sail from Scyllæum in the direction of the city is another

promontory called Bucephala, and next to it 3 islands, of which the

first is Haliusa, which affords a convenient harbour for ships to ride

at anchor, and next is Pityusa, and the third they call Aristeræ. And

as you coast along by these islands, there is another promontory called

Colyergia jutting out from the mainland, and next it an island called

Tricrana, and a mountain Buporthmus jutting out into the sea from the

Peloponnese. And at Buporthmus is a temple of Demeter and Proserpine,

and also one of Athene under the title Promachorma. And in front of

Buporthmus lies an island called Aperopia. And at no great distance

from Aperopia is another island called Hydrea. And the shore on the

mainland opposite these islands extends in a crescent shape, and is

rocky from the easterly direction close to the sea as far as the temple

of Poseidon, but slopes at the westerly end of the bay, where it has

its harbours. The length of this rocky headland is about seven stades,

and the breadth in the broadest part about three stades or a little

more. Here was the old town of Hermione. And even now there are several

temples there, one of Poseidon at the commencement of the headland,

and as you go from the sea to the heights a temple of Athene, and near

it some remains of a race-course, where they say the sons of Tyndareus

used to practise. There is also another small temple of Athene, but

the roof has fallen in. And there is a temple to the Sun, and another

to the Graces, and another to Serapis and Isis. And there is a circle

of huge unhewn stones, and inside this circle they perform the sacred

rites of Demeter. Such are the objects to be seen at the old town of

Hermione. But the new town is at about four stades’ distance from the

promontory on which there is the temple of Poseidon, and it lies on a

gentle slope as you ascend the hill called Pron, for that is its name.

There is a wall all round Hermione. And it has various objects of

interest, but what I select as most worthy of record are the temple of

Marine Aphrodite and Aphrodite of the Harbour, and a statue of white

stone of huge size, and a work of art. And there is another temple of

Aphrodite, which has other honours from the people of Hermione and

this special one, that maidens or widows intending to marry must all

sacrifice here before their marriage. And Thermasian Demeter has two

temples, one on the borders of Trœzen as I have before said, and one in

new Hermione.

CHAPTER XXXV.

And next is a temple of Dionysus Melanægis, in whose honour they have a

musical contest every year, and give prizes for diving and rowing. And

there is a temple of Artemis under the name of Iphigenia, and a statue

of Poseidon in bronze with one foot on a dolphin. And as you proceed

to the temple of Vesta, you find no statue, but an altar on which they

sacrifice to Vesta. And there are three temples and three statues of

Apollo: one has no title, the second is called Pythæan Apollo, and

the third Apollo of the Borders. The name Pythæan they borrowed from

the Argives: for Telesilla says that to their country first of all

the Greeks came Pythæus the son of Apollo. But why they call the god

Apollo of the Borders I cannot precisely tell, but I conjecture that

having obtained victory either by war or litigation in reference to the

borders, they honoured for this Apollo of the Borders. And the temple

of Fortune is they say the latest one that the people of Hermione have,

the statue is colossal in Parian marble. And they have two wells, one

an old one into which the water flows by a hidden channel, but it would

never grow dry, not even if all the population were to come and drink

of it: and another dug in our day, and the name of the place from which

the water flows into it is Meadow. But the temple most worthy of notice

is that of Demeter on the Pron. This temple the people of Hermione say

was built by Clymenus, the son of Phoroneus, and by Chthonia the sister

of Clymenus. And the Argives say, when Demeter came to Argolis, that

Atheras and Mysius offered the goddess hospitality, but Colontas would

neither receive her into his house, nor pay her any other attention:

and in this he acted very much against the wish of his daughter

Chthonia. And Colontas they say for this conduct was burnt house and

all, but Chthonia was conveyed to Hermione by Demeter, and built the

temple there to Demeter. And Demeter is called Chthonia there, and the

annual festival held in her honour in the season of summer is called

Chthonia too. And they keep the festival in this wise. The priests of

the gods and all the town authorities for the year lead the procession,

and the women and men follow. It is customary for boys too to honour

the goddess by a procession, in which they take part clothed in white,

and with garlands on their heads plaited of the flower which they call

here _cosmosandalum_, but which seems to me from size and colour to

resemble the hyacinth, it has also on its petals the same mournful

letters. And the procession is followed by some people who lead a full

grown heifer from the herd, tightly bound with ropes and curvetting

wildly. Some drag this heifer to the temple and unfasten the ropes so

as to let it inside, while others keep the doors open till they see

the heifer inside, and then shut them. And four old women are waiting

inside, and they finish the heifer. For whoever can get the chance

cuts its throat with a sickle. And afterwards the doors are opened,

and those who have this duty drive up a second, third, and even fourth

heifer. The women finish them all off in the same way, and then this

fresh wonder is added to the sacrifice: on whichever side the first

heifer falls all must fall. This is the way in which the sacrifice is

performed by the people of Hermione. And in front of the temple there

are a few statues of women who have been priestesses of Demeter, and as

you enter in there are seats on which the old women sit, waiting for

each heifer to be driven in, and there are some statues not very old

of Athene and Demeter. But the special object of their worship neither

have I seen nor any man, whether stranger or native of Hermione. These

old women only know what it is.

There is also another temple: and there are statues all round it.

This temple is opposite the temple of Chthonia, and is called the

temple of Clymenus, to whom they sacrifice here. I don’t think Clymenus

is the name of an Argive that came to Hermione, but the title of a god

who according to the tradition was a king in the infernal regions. Hard

by is another temple and statue of Ares. On the right of the temple of

Chthonia is a porch, called by the natives Echo, as a man’s slightest

whisper is repeated thrice. And behind the temple of Chthonia are

some places which the people of Hermione call, one Clymenus’ place,

and another Pluto’s place, and a third the Acherusian marsh. They

are all fenced in with a wall of stone: and in Clymenus’ place there

is a hole in the ground, through which Hercules brought up Cerberus

according to the tradition of the people of Hermione. And near the gate

from which the road leads straight to Mases, is a temple of Ilithyia

within the walls. They propitiate the goddess Ilithyia in various ways

every day with sacrifices and incense, and to her are most of the

votive offerings given, but her statue no one may look at except her

priestesses.

CHAPTER XXXVI.

About seven stades on the high road to Mases, as you turn to the left,

is the road to Halice. Halice in our days is deserted, but it was

formerly inhabited, and is mentioned on the pillars of the Epidaurians,

which record the cures wrought by Æsculapius. I know of nothing else

worthy of record, either of the place or its population. And the

road that leads to it passes between Pron and another mountain that

in old times was called Thornax. But because of the legendary change

of Zeus into the cuckoo they say its name was changed to Coccygium

(_Cuckoo-mountain_). And there are temples on the tops of both these

mountains, one of Zeus on the top of Coccygium, and one of Hera on the

top of Pron. That at Coccygium is at the end of the mountain, and it

has neither doors nor roof, nor any statue in it, and it was said to be

Apollo’s temple. And near it is a road to Mases as you take the turn to

the right. And Mases was a town in old times, as Homer has mentioned

it in his catalogue of the Argives, and the people of Hermione use

it as their port now. And from Mases there is a road on the right to

the promontory called Struthus, and it is about 250 stades from this

promontory along the mountain passes to what is called Philanorium and

to Bolei. Bolei consists of layers of unhewn stones. And another place

which they call Didymi is 20 stades from Bolei. At Didymi there is a

temple of Apollo, and another of Poseidon, and another of Demeter: and

their statues are erect, in white stone.

As you go from thence you come to the district of the Argives

formerly called Asinæa from its chief town Asine, the ruins of which

are near the sea. And when the Lacedæmonians under their king Nicander,

the son of Charillus, the son of Polydectes, the son of Eunomus, the

son of Prytanis, the son of Eurypon, invaded Argolis with an army, the

people of Asine joined them, and ravaged with them the territory of

the Argives. But when the Lacedæmonian force went home again, then the

Argives and their king Eratus marched against Asine. And for some time

the people of Asine defended their walls, and slew several of the most

valiant of the Argives and among them Lysistratus, but when their walls

were carried, then they put their wives and children on shipboard and

left the town, and the Argives razed it to the ground, and added it to

their territory, but they left the temple of Apollo standing, and it is

now to be seen, and they buried Lysistratus near it.

Now the sea at Lerna[29] is about 40 stades from Argos. And as you

go down to Lerna you first come to the river Erasinus, which flows

into the Phrixus, and the Phrixus into the sea between Temenium and

Lerna. And as you turn from the Erasinus about 8 stades to the left

there is a temple of the Dioscuri called the Kings: and their statues

are of wood just like those in the city. And as you turn to the right

you cross the Erasinus, and come to the river Chimarrus. And near it

is a circle of stones, and here (so the story goes) Pluto, after the

Rape of Proserpine the daughter of Demeter, descended to his supposed

underground realms. Now Lerna is, as I have previously said, by the

sea, and they have rites here to Demeter of Lerna. And there is a

sacred grove beginning at the mountain which they call Pontinus. And

this mountain Pontinus does not let the rain flow off, but absorbs it.

Though the river Pontinus does indeed flow from it. And on the top of

the mountain is the temple of Saitian Athene, only ruins now, and the

foundations of the house of Hippomedon, who accompanied Polynices the

son of Œdipus in his attempt against Thebes.

CHAPTER XXXVII.

And the grove of plane-trees beginning at this mountain extends most of

the way to the sea, bounded on one side by the river Pontinus, and on

the other by the river Amymone, which gets its name from the daughter

of Danaus. And inside the grove are statues of Demeter Prosymne and

Dionysus, and the statue of Demeter is seated and not a large one.

These are of stone: but in another temple there is a wooden one of

Dionysus the Saviour seated; and a stone statue of Aphrodite near the

sea, which they say was a votive offering of the daughters of Danaus,

and Danaus himself erected the temple of Athene near the Pontinus.

And they say that Philhammon was the founder of the rites at Lerna.

The traditions about these mysteries are manifestly not very ancient.

And what I have heard was written on a heart made of orichalcum; this

Arriphon could not have got from Philhammon, for Arriphon was a native

of Triconium in Ætolia, and held in most repute of all the Lycians in

our time, and a clever fellow at finding out what nobody before knew,

and who no doubt found this out for himself. The verses and all the

prose mixed up with the verses were in Doric: but before the return of

the Heraclidæ to the Peloponnese the Argives used the same dialect as

the Athenians. And in the days of Philhammon I do not believe that even

the name of Dorians was known throughout all Greece. This proves my

case.

And near the source of the Amymone grows a plane-tree, under which

they say the hydra was reared. I believe that this beast was larger in

size than other water-snakes, and that its poison was so venomous that

Hercules dipped the points of his arrows in its gall, but I cannot help

thinking it had only one head and not more. But Pisander of Camirus,

that the beast might appear more formidable and so add lustre to his

poem, described it as having many heads. I have seen also the well of

Amphiaraus and the Alcyonian marsh, by which the Argives say Dionysus

descended to Hades to fetch up Semele, for Polymnus shewed him the

descent. There is indeed no end to the depth of the Alcyonian marsh,

nor do I know of any man who by any device ever got to the bottom of

it, since even Nero, though he got and fastened together ropes many

stades long, and put a piece of lead and other apparatus for sounding

at the end, never could arrive at an accurate knowledge of its depth. I

have also heard that though the water of the marsh, as you would infer

from looking at it, is calm and quiet, if anyone ventures to swim in

it, it is sure to drag him down and suck him underneath to the bottom.

The circuit of the lake is not large, only about a third of a stade,

and on its banks are grass and reeds. But the nightly rites which take

place near it annually I am not permitted to write for public reading.

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

And as you go from Lerna to Temenium--now Temenium belongs to the

Argives, and gets its name from Temenus the son of Aristomachus: for

he occupied and fortified the place, when he fought with the Dorians

against Tisamenus and the Achæans from this base--the river Phrixus

has its outlet into the sea, and there is a temple of Poseidon at

Temenium and another of Aphrodite, and there is a monument of Temenus

which is honoured by the Dorians at Argos. And about 50 stades I should

say from Temenium is Nauplia, deserted in our day, it was founded by

Nauplius who is reputed to have been the son of Poseidon and Amymone.

And there are still some remains of walls at Nauplia, and a temple

of Poseidon and a harbour, and a well called Canathus: in which the

Argives say Hera bathes every year and becomes a virgin again. This is

a tradition in connection with the secret rites which they perform to

Hera. And the traditions of the people of Nauplia about the ass, that

by gnawing twigs off the vine it makes the produce more abundant, (and

consequently they have an ass carved on the rock as having taught the

art of pruning vines), I pass over deeming them unworthy of mention.

There is also another road going from Lerna by the seaside to a place

which they call Genesium: and near the sea close to Genesium there is

a small temple of Poseidon. And close to this is another place called

Landing-place: for according to tradition this was the first place in

Argolis where Danaus and his sons landed. And as you go on from thence

is a place called Anigræa, on a road narrow and difficult of access.

It is on the left hand and extends to the sea, and is a good soil for

trees especially olive trees. And as you go up to the mainland there

is a place called Thyrea, where 300 picked men of the Argives fought

with 300 picked men of the Lacedæmonians for the possession of the

land. And as they were all killed except one Spartan and two Argives,

the tombs of those that fell in the action were piled up here, but

the Lacedæmonians afterwards got a firm footing at the place, as they

fought in full force with the Argives, and enjoyed it themselves for

a time, and afterwards gave it to the Æginetans who had been driven

out of Ægina by the Athenians. And in my day the Argives inhabited

the district of Thyrea, and they say that they recovered it justly by

conquest. Next to that burial-ground you come to Athene, where those

Æginetans dwelt, and another village Neris, and a third Eua, the

largest of the three villages, and Polemocrates has a temple in it.

He was the son of Machaon, and brother of Alexanor, and he heals the

people here, and has divine honours from the inhabitants. And beyond

these villages extends Mount Parnon, which is the boundary between the

Lacedæmonians and Argives and people of Tegea. And some stone Hermæ

stand as border stones to mark the boundaries, and the place gets its

name from them. And there is a river called Tanaus, the only river

which flows from Mount Parnon. It flows through Argive territory into

the Thyreatic gulf.

FOOTNOTES:

[13] Iliad xvi. 490, 491, cf. also Hes. Th. 444.

[14] Odyss., xi. 261-65.

[15] Iliad, ii. 117.

[16] Hesiod. _Works and Days._ 265. Cf. also Ovid, A.A. i. 655, 656.

[17] “Inventus forsan eodem modo est quo Eurotas, iii. i.” _Siebelis_.

[18] Iliad, ii. 571.

[19] Hymn to Demeter, 474-476.

[20] ii. 120.

[21] See the story told by Addison, _Spectator_, No. 483.

[22] Hdt. vi. 77.

[23] The word _Gorgon_ means _grim_, terrible.

[24] Il. xxiv. 609.

[25] See Il. v. 127, 128.

[26] Il. ix. 457.

[27] Iliad, ii. 571.

[28] Iliad, iv. 193, 194. Is Pausanias nodding here?

[29] _Qu._ “Now Lerna by the sea” (ἡ κατὰ Θάλασσαν Λέρνα). Cf. a little

below.

BOOK III.--LACONIA.

CHAPTER I.

Next to the Hermæ comes Laconia on the West. And according to the

Lacedæmonian tradition Lelex the _autochthon_ first reigned in this

land, and the people over whom he ruled were called after him Leleges.

And Lelex’ sons were Myles and a younger son Polycaon. Where Polycaon

went to and why I shall relate elsewhere. But on the death of Myles his

son Eurotas succeeded him in the kingdom. He diverted to the sea by a

canal all the stagnant water that filled the plain, and as it flowed

to the sea in mighty volume and became a noble river, he called it the

Eurotas. As he had no male children he left the kingdom to Lacedæmon,

whose mother was Taygete, (who gave her name to the mountain Taygetus),

and reputed father Zeus. And Lacedæmon married Sparta the daughter of

Eurotas, and when he succeeded to the kingdom he first gave the country

and inhabitants his own name, and then built and gave his wife’s name

to the city Sparta, which is so called even to our day. And Amyclas

his son, wishing also himself to leave a memorial behind him, built

the little town Amyclæ in Laconia. And of his sons Hyacinthus, the

youngest and most handsome, died in his father’s lifetime, and there

is a monument of him at Amyclæ close to the statue of Apollo. And on

the death of Amyclas the succession devolved upon Argalus his eldest

son, and after the death of Argalus upon Cynortas. And Cynortas had

a son called Œbalus. He married Gorgophone the daughter of Perseus

from Argos, and had a son Tyndareus, with whom Hippocoon contended for

the kingdom, claiming it on the ground of seniority. And Icarius and

his party espousing Hippocoon’s cause, he far exceeded Tyndareus in

power, and compelled him to retire from fear to Pellene, according to

the Lacedæmonian account. But the account of the Messenians is that

Tyndareus fled to Aphareus in Messenia, and that Aphareus was the son

of Perieres and the uterine brother of Tyndareus: and they say he dwelt

at Thalamæ in Messenia, and had sons born to him there. And some time

afterwards he was restored by Hercules and recovered his kingdom. And

his sons reigned after him, as well as his son-in-law Menelaus the

son of Atreus, and Orestes the husband of Hermione the daughter of

Menelaus. But when the Heraclidæ returned in the reign of Tisamenus

the son of Orestes, one party in Messene and Argos made Temenus king,

and another section Cresphontes. And in Lacedæmon as Aristodemus had

twins there were two royal houses, and they say this was in accordance

with the oracle at Delphi. And they say that Aristodemus died at

Delphi before the Dorians returned to the Peloponnese. Some indeed,

magnifying their own history, say that Aristodemus was shot with

arrows by Apollo, because he had not gone to the oracle, but consulted

Hercules whom he chanced to meet first, as to how the Dorians should

return to the Peloponnese. But the truer account is that the sons of

Pylades and Electra, who were cousins of Tisamenus the son of Orestes,

murdered Aristodemus. The names of his two sons were Procles and

Eurysthenes, who though they were twins were in most respects very

unlike one another. But though they hated one another very cordially,

yet they jointly combined with Theras, the son of Autesion, their

Argive mother’s brother, and their Regent, in establishing a colony

at the island which was then called Calliste, Theras hoping that the

descendants of Membliarus would abandon the kingdom of their own free

will, as in fact they did, reckoning that Theras’ pedigree went up to

Cadmus, whereas they were only descendants of Membliarus, a private

individual whom Cadmus left in the island as leader of the colonists.

And Theras gave his own name to the island instead of Calliste, and the

people of Thera even now yearly offer victims to him as their founder.

And Procles and Eurysthenes vied with one another in their zeal for

carrying out the wishes of Theras, but in all other respects were at

variance together. Not that, even if they had been one in heart and

mind, I could have put all their descendants into one common pedigree,

as cousin with cousin, and cousins’ children, with cousins’ children,

and so on, that to the latest posterity they should arithmetically

dovetail in with one another. I shall therefore pursue the history of

each family separately, and not mix up the two together in one account.

CHAPTER II.

Eurysthenes, the eldest of the sons of Aristodemus, had a son Agis they

say: (and from him they call the descendants of Eurysthenes Agidæ).

During his reign, when Patreus the son of Preugenes founded the city in

Achaia called to this day Patræ after him, the Lacedæmonians took part

in that colony. They cooperated also with Grais, the son of Echelas,

the son of Penthilus, the son of Orestes, who was sailing with a fleet

to make a colony somewhere or other. And he indeed was destined to

occupy the country between Ionia and Mysia, which is in our day called

Æolis: his grandfather Penthilus had already occupied Lesbos, the

island opposite this mainland. And during the reign of Echestratus the

son of Agis at Sparta the Lacedæmonians expelled all the Cynurians that

were in their prime, alleging as their excuse that robbers from Cynuria

ravaged Argolis, and the Argives were their kinsmen, and that the

Cynurians themselves made open incursions into Argolis. If tradition

speaks true the Cynurians were originally Argives, and they say their

founder was Cynurus the son of Perseus. And not many years afterwards

Labotas the son of Echestratus was king at Sparta. This Labotas, as we

are told by Herodotus in his account of Crœsus, had during his minority

the famous legislator Lycurgus as his Regent, only Herodotus calls him

Leobotes instead of Labotas. In his days first did the Lacedæmonians

make war against the Argives, and they alleged as their reasons for

declaring war that the Argives when they invaded Cynuria took a slice

of Lacedæmonian territory, and tried to stir up their neighbouring

subjects to revolt. In this war they say nothing very notable was done

on either side: and those of this family who succeeded one another as

kings, _viz._ Doryssus the son of Labotas and Agesilaus the son of

Doryssus, both died at no great interval after one another. And it was

when Agesilaus was king that Lycurgus legislated for the Lacedæmonians,

and some say that he derived his laws from Crete, others that he was

instructed by the Oracle at Delphi. And the Cretans say that their laws

come from Minos, who received divine assistance in codifying them. And

it seems to me that Homer has hinted as much in the following lines

about the legislation of Minos, “There too is Gnossus, the great city

where Minos reigned nine years, the bosom-friend of great Zeus.”[30]

But of Lycurgus I shall have more to say hereafter. And the son of

Agesilaus was Archelaus. In his reign the Lacedæmonians conquered in

war and enslaved one of the neighbouring cities called Ægys, suspecting

that the people of it had an understanding with the Arcadians. And

Charillus, the king of the other family, assisted Archelaus against

Ægys, and his own separate doings as leader of the Lacedæmonians I

shall relate later on when I come to the so-called Eurypontidæ. And

the son of Archelaus was Teleclus. In his reign the Lacedæmonians took

in war the neighbouring cities of Amyclæ and Pharis and Geranthræ,

which were then in the possession of the Achæans, and razed them to

the ground. The inhabitants however of Pharis and Geranthræ, being

terrified at the approach of the Dorians, agreed to evacuate the

Peloponnese upon conditions: but the people of Amyclæ they could

not drive out at first assault, but only after a long siege and the

greatest exhibition of valour. And the Dorians themselves shewed this

by erecting a trophy after the conquest of Amyclæ, as thinking that

conquest no small feather in their cap. And not long after all this

Teleclus was killed by the Messenians in the temple of Artemis in the

town of Limnæ, on the borders between Laconia and Messenia. And after

the death of Teleclus Alcamenes his son succeeded him, and during his

reign the Lacedæmonians sent to Crete Charmidas the son of Euthys,

one of the most famous men in Sparta, who put down the insurrection

at Crete, and persuaded the Cretans to abandon the cities which were

inland and in other respects weak, and to inhabit instead those which

were conveniently situated on the coast. The Lacedæmonians also

depopulated Helos, a city by the sea in the possession of the Achæans,

and defeated the Argives who came to the help of the people of Helos.

CHAPTER III.

And after the death of Alcamenes Polydorus his son succeeded to the

kingdom, and the Lacedæmonians sent a colony into Italy to Croton,

and to the Locrians at the promontory Zephyrium: and the war that

was called the war with Messene was at its height when Polydorus was

king. The Lacedæmonians and Messenians give different reasons for

this war. Their different accounts, and the progress of the war, will

be set forth by me in their turn: but thus much will I record at

present that Theopompus the son of Nicander had the greatest hand in

the first war with the Messenians, being the king of the other house.

And after the end of the war, when Messenia was already conquered by

the Lacedæmonians, and Polydorus was in good repute at Sparta, and

popular with the Lacedæmonians and especially with the populace, for he

exhibited no violence either in word or deed to anyone, and in legal

cases tempered justice with mercy, when in short he had a brilliant

fame throughout all Greece, he was murdered by Polemarchus a man of no

mean family in Lacedæmon, but hotheaded, as indeed he shewed by this

murder. And after his death Polydorus received many notable honours

from the Lacedæmonians. Polemarchus also had a monument at Sparta,

whether being judged to have been a good man previously, or that his

relatives buried him privately. During the reign of Eurycrates the son

of Polydorus the Messenians patiently endured the Lacedæmonian yoke,

nor was any revolution attempted by the Argive people, but in the days

of Anaxander the son of Eurycrates--for fate was already driving the

Messenians out of all the Peloponnese--the Messenians revolted from

the Lacedæmonians, and fought against them for some time, but were

eventually conquered, and evacuated the Peloponnese upon conditions of

war. And the remnant of them became slaves on Lacedæmonian soil, except

those who inhabited the maritime towns. All the circumstances of this

war and revolt of the Messenians I have no need to recount in detail in

the present part of my history. And Anaxander had a son Eurycrates, and

this second Eurycrates a son Leo. During their reigns the Lacedæmonians

met with the greatest reverses in fighting against the people of

Tegea. And in the reign of Anaxandrides the son of Leo they overcame

the people of Tegea, and in the following way. A Lacedæmonian by name

Lichas came to Tegea at a time when Lacedæmon and Tegea were at peace

together. And on Lichas’ arrival they made a search for the bones of

Orestes, and the Spartans sought for them in accordance with an oracle.

And Lichas discovered that they were lying in the shop of a blacksmith,

and he discovered it in this way: all that he saw in the blacksmith’s

shop he compared with the oracle at Delphi, thus he compared the

blacksmith’s bellows to the winds, because they produce a strong wind,

the hammer was the blow, that which resists the blow was the anvil, and

that which was a source of woe to man he naturally referred to iron,

for people already began to use iron in battle, for the god would have

spoken of brass as a source of woe to man in the days of the heroes.

And just as this oracle was given to the Lacedæmonians about the bones

of Orestes, so afterwards the Athenians were similarly instructed by

the oracle to bring Theseus’ bones to Athens from Scyrus, for otherwise

Scyrus could not be taken. And Cimon the son of Miltiades discovered

the bones of Theseus, he too by ingenuity, and not long after he took

Scyrus. That in the days of the heroes all arms alike were brass is

borne witness to by Homer in the lines which refer to the axe of

Pisander and the arrow of Meriones. And I have further confirmation

of what I assert in the spear of Achilles which is stored up in the

temple of Athene at Phaselis, and the sword of Memnon in the temple of

Æsculapius at Nicomedia, the former has its tip and handle of brass,

and, the latter is of brass throughout. This we know to be the case.

And Anaxandrides the son of Leo was the only Lacedæmonian that had two

wives together and two households. For his first wife, excellent in

other respects, had no children, and when the ephors bade him divorce

her, he would not consent to this altogether, but only so far as to

take a second wife as well. And the second wife bare a son Cleomenes,

and the first wife, though so long barren, after the birth of Cleomenes

bare Dorieus, and Leonidas, and Cleombrotus. And after the death of

Anaxandrides, the Lacedæmonians though they thought Dorieus the better

man both in council and war, reluctantly rejected him, and gave the

kingdom to Cleomenes according to their law of primogeniture.

CHAPTER IV.

And Dorieus, as he would not remain at Lacedæmon subject to Cleomenes,

was sent to form a colony. And Cleomenes commenced his reign by an

inroad into Argolis, gathering together an army of Lacedæmonians and

allies. And when the Argives came out to meet him armed for battle, he

conquered them, and when they were routed about 5,000 of them fled into

a neighbouring grove, which was sacred to Argus the son of Niobe. And

Cleomenes, who often had a touch of the mad, ordered the Helots to set

this grove on fire, and the grove was entirely consumed, and all these

fugitives in it. He also marched his army against Athens, and at first,

by freeing the Athenians from the yoke of the sons of Pisistratus,

got for himself good fame among the Lacedæmonians and all the Greeks,

but afterwards in his favour to an Athenian called Isagoras, tried

to get for him the dominion over the Athenians. But failing in this

expectation, and the Athenians fighting stoutly for their freedom,

he ravaged various parts of their territory, and they say laid waste

a place called Orgas, sacred to the gods at Eleusis. He also went to

Ægina, and arrested the leading men there for their support to the

Medes, as they had persuaded the citizens to supply King Darius the

son of Hystaspes with earth and water. And while Cleomenes was staying

at Ægina, Demaratus the king of the other family was calumniating him

to the multitude at Lacedæmon. And Cleomenes on his return from Ægina

contrived to get Demaratus ejected from the kingdom, and bribed the

priestess at Delphi to utter as oracular responses to the Lacedæmonians

about Demaratus whatever he told her, and also instigated Leotychides,

one of the royal house and same family as Demaratus, to be a rival

claimant for the kingdom. And Leotychides caught at some words, which

Aristo formerly had foolishly thrown out against Demaratus at his

birth, saying that he was not his son. And when the Lacedæmonians took

this question about Demaratus, as they took all their questions, to the

oracle at Delphi, the priestess gave them as replies whatever Cleomenes

had told her. Demaratus therefore was deposed from his kingdom by the

hatred of Cleomenes and not on just grounds. And Cleomenes after this

died in a fit of madness, for he seized his sword, and stabbed himself,

and hacked his body about all over. The Argives say he came to this bad

end as a judgment for his conduct to the 5,000 fugitives in the grove,

the Athenians say it was because he ravaged Orgas, and the Delphians

because he bribed the priestess at Delphi to tell falsehoods about

Demaratus. Now there are other cases of vengeance coming from heroes

and gods as on Cleomenes, for Protesilaus who is honoured at Eleus, a

hero not a whit more illustrious than Argus, privately punished the

Persian Artayctes, and the Megarians who had dared to till the holy

land could never get pardon from the gods of Eleusis. Nor do I know

of anyone that ever dared to tamper with the oracle but Cleomenes

alone. And as Cleomenes had no male children the kingdom devolved

upon Leonidas the son of Anaxandrides, the brother of Dorieus on both

sides. It was in his reign that Xerxes led his army into Greece, and

Leonidas with his 300 Lacedæmonians met him at Thermopylæ. There have

been many wars between the Greeks and barbarians, but those can easily

be counted wherein the valour of one man mainly contributed to glorious

victory, as the valour of Achilles in the war against Ilium, and that

of Miltiades in the action at Marathon. But indeed in my opinion the

heroism of Leonidas excelled all the great deeds of former times. For

Xerxes, the most sagacious and renowned of all the kings that ruled

over the Medes and Persians, would have been prevented, at the narrow

pass of Thermopylæ, by the handful of men that Leonidas had with him,

from seeing Greece at all, and from afterwards burning Athens, had it

not been for a certain Trachinian who led round by a pass on Mount

Œta the army of Hydarnes so as to fall on the Greek flank, and, when

Leonidas was conquered in this way, the barbarians passed into Greece

over his dead body. And Pausanias the son of Cleombrotus was not king

after Leonidas, but was Regent for Plistarchus Leonidas’ son during his

minority, and he led the Lacedæmonians to Platæa and afterwards passed

over to the Hellespont with a fleet. I especially admire the conduct

of Pausanias to the Coan lady, who was the daughter of a man of no

mean note among the Coans, _viz._ of Hegetorides the son of Antagoras,

and against her will the concubine of Pharandates the son of Teaspis,

a Persian: and when Mardonius fell in the battle at Platæa, and the

barbarians were annihilated, Pausanias sent this lady home to Cos, with

the ornaments and all other apparel that the Persian had given her.

Moreover he would not suffer the dead body of Mardonius to be outraged,

though the Æginetan Lampon urged it.

CHAPTER V.

Plistarchus the son of Leonidas died soon after succeeding to the

kingdom, and Plistoanax the son of Pausanias, the hero of Platæa,

succeeded him. And Plistoanax was succeeded by his son Pausanias. This

is that Pausanias who led an army into Attica, ostensibly against

Thrasybulus and the Athenians, but really to establish the dominion

of the Thirty Tyrants who had been set over Athens by Lysander. And

he conquered in an engagement the Athenians who guarded the Piræus,

but directly after the battle he took his army off home again, not to

bring upon Sparta the most shameful disgrace of establishing the power

of unholy men. And when he returned from Athens with nothing to show

for his battle, his enemies brought him to trial. Now a king of the

Lacedæmonians is tried by a court composed of twenty-eight Seniors,

and the Ephors, and the King of the other family. Fourteen of the

Seniors and Agis, the King of the other family, condemned Pausanias,

the rest of the Court acquitted him. And no long time after the

Lacedæmonians gathering together an army against Thebes, the reason

for which war we shall relate in our account about Agesilaus, Lysander

marched into Phocis, and, having mustered the Phocians in full force,

lost no time in advancing into Bœotia, and making an attack upon the

fortified town Haliartus, which would not revolt from Thebes. Some

Thebans however and Athenians had secretly entered the town, and they

making a sally and drawing up in battle array, Lysander and several

of the Lacedæmonians fell. And Pausanias, who had been collecting

forces from Tegea and the rest of Arcadia, came too late to take part

in the fight, and when he got to Bœotia and heard of the death of

Lysander and the defeat of his army, he nevertheless marched his army

to Thebes, intending to renew the fight there. But when he got there

he found the Thebans drawn up in battle array against him, and it was

also reported that Thrasybulus was coming up with an Athenian force;

accordingly, fearing to be taken between two fires, he made a treaty

with the Thebans, and buried those who had fallen in the sally from

Haliartus. This conduct of his did not please the Lacedæmonians, but

I praise his determination for the following reason. Well knowing

that reverses always found the Lacedæmonians surrounded by a swarm of

enemies, what happened after Thermopylæ and in the island of Sphacteria

made him afraid of causing a third disaster. But as the citizens

accused him of slowness in getting to Bœotia he did not care to stand

a second trial, but the people of Tegea received him as a suppliant

at the temple of Alean Athene. This temple was from time immemorial

venerated throughout the Peloponnese, and afforded safety to all

suppliants, as was shewn by the Lacedæmonians to Pausanias, and earlier

still to Leotychides, and by the Argives to Chrysis, who all took

sanctuary here, and were not demanded up. And after the voluntary exile

of Pausanias, his sons Agesipolis and Cleombrotus being quite young,

Aristodemus the next of kin was appointed Regent: and the success of

the Lacedæmonians at Corinth was owing to his generalship. And when

Agesipolis came of age and took over the kingdom, his first war was

against the Argives. And as he was leading his army from Tegea into

Argolis, the Argives sent an envoy to negotiate peace with him on the

old conditions established among all Dorians. But he not only declined

these proposals, but advanced with his army and ravaged Argolis. And

there was an earthquake, but not even then would Agesipolis draw off

his forces, though these tokens of Poseidon’s displeasure frightened

the Lacedæmonians especially, [and also the Athenians.] And Agesipolis

was now encamped under the walls of Argos, and the earthquakes ceased

not, and some of the soldiers died struck by lightning, and others were

dismayed by the thunder. So at last he returned from Argolis sorely

against his will, and led an expedition against the Olynthians, and

having been successful in battle, and taken most of the other cities in

Chalcidice, and hoping to take Olynthus also, he was carried off by a

sudden disease and died.

CHAPTER VI.

And Agesipolis having died childless, the succession devolved upon

Cleombrotus, under whom the Lacedæmonians fought against the Bœotians

at Leuctra, and Cleombrotus, exposing himself too freely, fell at the

commencement of the action. Somehow or other the Deity seems to like to

remove the General first in great reverses, as from the Athenians he

removed Hippocrates (the son of Ariphron) their General at Delium, and

later on Leosthenes their General in Thessaly.

The elder son of Cleombrotus, Agesipolis, did nothing worthy of

record, and Cleomenes the younger succeeded after his brother’s death.

And he had two sons, of whom the eldest Acrotatus died before his

father, and when later on the younger Cleomenes died, there was a

dispute who should be king between Cleonymus the son of Cleomenes and

Areus the son of Acrotatus. The Senate decided that to Areus the son

of Acrotatus and not to Cleonymus belonged the hereditary office.

And Cleonymus got mightily enraged at being ejected from the kingdom,

though the Ephors endeavoured to induce him by various honours, and

by making him commander-in-chief of the army, not to be an enemy to

his country. But in spite of this he eventually injured his country in

various ways, and even went so far as to invite in Pyrrhus the grandson

of Æacus.

And during the reign of Areus the son of Acrotatus, Antigonus the

son of Demetrius made an expedition against Athens both by land and

sea. And an Egyptian fleet under Patroclus came to the aid of the

Athenians, and the Lacedæmonians came out in full force with Areus the

king at their head. And Antigonus having closely invested Athens, and

barring the Athenian allies from every approach to the city, Patroclus

sent messengers and begged the Lacedæmonians and Areus to begin the

battle against Antigonus, and when they began he said he would fall on

the rear of the Macedonians, for it was not reasonable that his force

should attack the Macedonians first, being Egyptians and sailors. Then

the Lacedæmonians were eager to bear the brunt of the battle, being

animated by their friendship to the Athenians, and the desire to do

something that posterity would not willingly forget. But Areus, as

their provisions had been consumed, led his army home again. For he

thought it sheer madness not to husband their resources, but lavish

them all on strangers. And Athens holding out for a very long time,

Antigonus made peace on conditions that he might have a garrison at the

Museum. And some time after Antigonus himself withdrew the garrison

there. And Areus had a son Acrotatus, and he had a son Areus, who

was only 8 when he fell sick and died. And as now Leonidas was the

only male left of the family of Eurysthenes, though quite an old man,

the Lacedæmonians made him king. And it so chanced that Lysander, a

descendant of Lysander the son of Aristocritus, especially disliked

Leonidas. He associated with himself Cleombrotus, the son in law of

Leonidas, and having won him over brought against Leonidas various

charges, and the oath he had sworn to Cleonymus his father while quite

a boy that he would destroy Sparta. So Leonidas was deposed from the

kingdom, and Cleombrotus reigned in his room. And if Leonidas had given

way to temper, and (like Demaratus the son of Aristo) had gone and

joined the king of Macedonia or the king of Egypt, he would have got

no advantage from the subsequent repentance of the Spartans. But as it

was when the citizens exiled him he went to Arcadia, and from thence

not many years afterwards the Lacedæmonians recalled him, and made him

king the second time. And all that Cleomenes the son of Leonidas did,

and all his boldness and bravery, and how the Spartan kings came to an

end with him, I have previously recorded in connection with Aratus of

Sicyon. Nor did I omit the details of Cleomenes’ death in Egypt.

CHAPTER VII.

Of the family of Eurysthenes then, called the Agiadæ, Cleomenes the son

of Leonidas was the last king at Sparta: but as to the other branch

this is what I have heard. Procles the son of Aristodemus had a son

called Sous, whose son Eurypon attained such glory that the family were

called Eurypontidæ from him, though till his time they were called

Proclidæ. And Eurypon had a son Prytanis, and it was in his days that

animosity broke out between the Lacedæmonians and Argives, and even

earlier than this quarrel they fought with the Cynurians, but during

the succeeding generations, when Eunomus the son of Prytanis and

Polydectes the son of Eunomus were kings, Sparta continued at peace.

But Charillus the son of Polydectes ravaged the Argive territory, and

made a raid into Argolis, and under his leadership the Spartans went

out to Tegea, when the Lacedæmonians hoped to take Tegea and slice the

district off from Arcadia, following a beguiling oracle. And after the

death of Charillus Nicander his son succeeded to the kingdom, and it

was in his reign that the Messenians killed Teleclus the king of the

other family in the temple of Artemis Limnas. And Nicander invaded

Argolis with an army, and ravaged most of the country. And the Asinæans

having taken part with the Lacedæmonians in this expedition, not

long afterwards paid the penalty to the Argives in the destruction of

their country and their own exile. And Theopompus the son of Nicander,

who was king after his father, I shall make mention of when I come

to the history of Messenia. During his reign came on the contest for

Thyrea between the Lacedæmonians and Argives. Theopompus himself took

no part in this, partly from old age, but still more from sorrow at

the death of his son Archidamus. Not that Archidamus died childless,

for he left a son Zeuxidamus, who was succeeded in the kingdom by his

son Anaxidamus. It was in his reign that the Messenians evacuated

the Peloponnese, having been a second time conquered in war by the

Spartans. And Anaxidamus had a son Archidamus, and he had a son

Agesicles: and both of them had the good fortune to spend all their

life in peace and without wars. And Aristo the son of Agesicles having

married a girl who they say was the most shameless of all the girls in

Lacedæmon, but in appearance the most beautiful girl next to Helen,

had by her a son Demaratus seven months after marriage. And as he was

sitting with the ephors in council a servant came and told him of the

birth of his son. And Aristo, forgetting the lines in the Iliad[31]

about the birth of Eurystheus, or perhaps not knowing them, said it

couldn’t be his child from the time. He was sorry afterwards for these

words which he had spoken. And when Demaratus was king and in other

respects in good repute at Sparta, and had cooperated with Cleomenes in

freeing the Athenians from the Pisistratidæ, this thoughtless word of

Aristo, and the hatred of Cleomenes deprived him of the kingdom. And he

went to Persia to king Darius, and they say his descendants continued

for a long time in Asia. And Leotychides, who became king in his

place, shared with the Athenians and their General Xanthippus, the son

of Ariphron, in the action at Mycale, and also marched into Thessaly

against the Aleuadæ. And though he might have reduced all Thessaly,

as he was victorious in every battle, he allowed the Aleuadæ to buy

him off. And being impeached at Lacedæmon he went voluntarily into

exile to escape trial, and became a suppliant at Tegea at the temple of

Alean Athene there, and as his son Zeuxidamus had previously died of

some illness, his grandson Archidamus succeeded him, on his departure

to Tegea. This Archidamus injured the Athenian territory excessively,

invading Attica every year, and whenever he invaded it he went through

all the country ravaging it, and also captured after a siege the town

of Platæa which was friendly to the Athenians. Not that Platæa had

ever stirred up strife between the Peloponnesians and Athenians, but

as far as in its power lay had made them both keep the peace. But

Sthenelaidas, one of the Ephors, a man of great power at Lacedæmon, was

mainly the cause of the war at that time. And this war shook Greece,

which was previously in a flourishing condition, to its foundation, and

afterwards Philip the son of Amyntas reduced it completely, when it was

already rotten and altogether unsound.

CHAPTER VIII.

And on the death of Archidamus, Agis the elder of his sons being of

age succeeded, and not Agesilaus. And Archidamus had also a daughter

called Cynisca, who was most ambitious in regard to the races at

Olympia, and was the first woman who trained horses, and the first

woman who won the prize at Olympia, though after her several women,

especially Lacedæmonian ones, won the prize at Olympia, though none

came up to her fame in these contests. But the Spartans seem to me

to admire least of all men the glory that proceeds from poetry, for

except an epigram on Cynisca composed by some one or other, and

still earlier one on Pausanias, composed by Simonides, inscribed on

the tripod erected at Delphi, there is no record made by any poet

on any of the Lacedæmonian kings. And in the reign of Agis, the son

of Archidamus, the Lacedæmonians brought other charges against the

people of Elis, but were especially annoyed at their being shut out

of the contest at Olympia, and the privileges of the temple there.

They therefore sent an envoy with an ultimatum to the people of Elis,

bidding them allow the people of Lepreum, and all other resident

aliens who were subject to them, to live according to their own laws.

And the people of Elis making reply that, when they saw the subject

cities of Sparta free, they would immediately set their own free, the

Lacedæmonians under King Agis at once invaded Elis. On that occasion

the army retired in consequence of an earthquake, when they had

advanced as far as Olympia and the River Alpheus, but next year Agis

wasted the country and carried off much booty. And Xenias a man of

Elis, who was privately friendly to Agis and publicly a champion of the

Lacedæmonians, conspired against the populace with the men who were

wealthy, but before Agis and the army could come up and cooperate with

them Thrasydæus, who was at this time the leader of the populace at

Elis, conquered Xenias and his faction in battle and drove them from

the city. And when Agis led his army home again, he left Lysistratus

the Spartan with a portion of his force, and the refugees from Elis,

to cooperate with the men of Lepreum in ravaging the district. And in

the third year of the war the Lacedæmonians and Agis made preparations

to invade Elis: but the people of Elis and Thrasydæus, who had been

reduced by the war to the greatest extremity, made a convention to give

liberty to their subject cities, and to raze the fortifications of

their town, and to allow the Lacedæmonians to sacrifice to the god at

Olympia and to contend in the games. After this Agis kept continually

attacking Attica, and fortified Decelea as a constant menace to the

Athenians: and after the Athenian fleet was destroyed at Ægos-potamoi,

Lysander the son of Aristocritus and Agis violated the solemn oaths

which the Lacedæmonians and Athenians had mutually sworn to observe,

and at their own responsibility, and not at the bidding of the Spartan

community, made an agreement with their allies to cut off Athens root

and branch. These were the most notable exploits of Agis in war. And

the hastiness of speech of Aristo about the legitimacy of his son

Demaratus Agis also imitated in regard to his son Leotychides, for

some evil genius put it into his head in the hearing of the Ephors to

say that he did not think he was his son. He repented however of his

speech afterwards, for when he was carried home sick from Arcadia and

had got to Heræa, he solemnly declared before a multitude of witnesses

that he did verily believe that Leotychides was his son, and conjured

them with entreaties and tears to report what he had said to the

Lacedæmonians. But after his death Agesilaus drove Leotychides from the

kingdom, reminding the Lacedæmonians of Agis’ former speech, though

the Arcadians came from Heræa, and bare witness what they had heard

about Leotychides from Agis on his death-bed. And the variance between

Agesilaus and Leotychides was heightened by the oracle at Delphi, which

ran as follows:--

“Sparta, beware, although thou art so great,

Of having king o’er thee lame of one leg.

For unexpected woes shall then prevail,

And mortal-slaying wave of troublous war.”

Leotychides said that this oracle referred to Agesilaus, for he

limped on one leg, but Agesilaus said it referred to Leotychides’ not

being the legitimate son of Agis. And the Lacedæmonians did not avail

themselves of their privilege to refer the question to Delphi: but

Lysander, the son of Aristocritus, seems to have prevailed upon the

people to unanimously choose Agesilaus.

CHAPTER IX.

So Agesilaus the son of Archidamus was king, and the Lacedæmonians

resolved to cross over into Asia with their fleet to capture Artaxerxes

the son of Darius: for they had learnt from several people in

authority, and especially from Lysander, that it was not Artaxerxes

that had helped them in the war against the Athenians, but Cyrus who

had supplied them with money for their ships. And Agesilaus, after

being instructed to convey the expedition to Asia as commander of the

land forces, sent round the Peloponnese to all the Greeks except at

Argos and outside the Isthmus urging them to join him as allies. The

Corinthians for their part, although they had been most eager to take

part in the expedition to Asia, yet, when their temple of Olympian Zeus

was suddenly consumed by fire, took it as an evil omen, and remained

at home sorely against their will. And the Athenians urged, as pretext

for refusing their aid, the strain of the Peloponnesian war and the

city’s need of recovery from the plague: but their having learnt from

envoys that Conon the son of Timotheus had gone to the great king,

was their main motive. And Aristomenidas was sent as ambassador to

Thebes, the father of Agesilaus’ mother, who was intimate with the

Thebans, and had been one of the judges who, at the capture of Platæa,

had condemned the garrison to be put to the sword. The Thebans however

cried off like the Athenians, declining their aid. And Agesilaus,

when his own army and that of the allied forces was mustered and his

fleet ready to sail, went to Aulis to sacrifice to Artemis, because it

was there that Agamemnon had propitiated the goddess when he led the

expedition to Troy. And Agesilaus considered himself king of a more

flourishing state than Agamemnon, and that like him he was leading all

Greece, but the success would be more glorious, the happiness greater,

to conquer the great King Artaxerxes, and to be master of Persia,

than to overthrow the kingdom of Priam. But as he was sacrificing

some Thebans attacked him, and threw the thigh-bones of the victims

that were burning off the altar, and drove him out of the temple. And

Agesilaus was grieved at the non-completion of the sacrifice, but none

the less he crossed over to Asia Minor and marched for Sardis. Now

Lydia was at this period the greatest province in Lower Asia Minor,

and Sardis was the principal city for wealth and luxury, and it was

the chief residence of the satrap by the sea, as Susa was the chief

residence of the great king. And fighting a battle with Tissaphernes,

the satrap of Ionia, in the plain near the river Hermus, Agesilaus

defeated the Persian cavalry and infantry, though Tissaphernes’ army

was the largest since the expedition of Xerxes against Athens, and

earlier still the expedition of Darius against the Scythians. And the

Lacedæmonians, delighted at the success of Agesilaus by land, readily

made him leader of the fleet also. And he put Pisander his wife’s

brother, a very stout soldier by land, in command of the triremes. But

some god must have grudged his bringing things to a happy conclusion.

For when Artaxerxes heard of the victorious progress of Agesilaus,

and how he kept pushing on with his army, not content with what he

had already gained, he condemned Tissaphernes to death, although he

had in former times done him signal service, and gave his satrapy

to Tithraustes, a longheaded fellow and very able man, who greatly

disliked the Lacedæmonians. Directly he arrived at Sardis, he forthwith

devised means to compel the Lacedæmonians to recall their army from

Asia Minor. So he sent Timocrates a native of Rhodes into Greece with

money, bidding him stir up war against the Lacedæmonians in Greece.

And those who received Timocrates’ money were it is said Cylon and

Sodamas among the Argives, and at Thebes Androclides and Ismenias and

Amphithemis: and the Athenians Cephalus and Epicrates had a share, and

the Corinthians with Argive proclivities as Polyanthes and Timolaus.

But the war was openly commenced by the Locrians of Amphissa. For the

Locrians had some land which was debated between them and the Phocians,

from this land the Phocians, at the instigation of the Thebans and

Ismenias, cut the ripe corn and drove off cattle. The Phocians also

invaded Locris in full force, and ravaged the territory. Then the

Locrians invited in the Thebans as their allies, and laid Phocis

waste. And the Phocians went to Lacedæmon and inveighed against the

Thebans, and recounted all that they had suffered at their hands. And

the Lacedæmonians determined to declare war against the Thebans, and

among other charges which they brought against them was their insult at

Aulis to the sacrifice of Agesilaus. And the Athenians, having heard of

the intention of the Lacedæmonians, sent to Sparta, begging them not

to war against Thebes, but to submit their differences to arbitration.

And the Lacedæmonians angrily dismissed the embassy. And what happened

subsequently, _viz._ the expedition of the Lacedæmonians and the death

of Lysander, has been told by me in reference to Pausanias. And what

is known to history as the Corinthian war began with this march into

Bœotia of the Lacedæmonians, and grew into a big war, and compelled

Agesilaus to bring his army home from Asia Minor. And when he had

crossed over in his ships from Abydos to Sestos, and marched into

Thessaly through Thrace, the Thessalians attempted to bar his way to

ingratiate themselves with the Thebans, partly also in consequence

of their long standing friendship with Athens. And Agesilaus having

routed their cavalry marched through Thessaly, and then through Bœotia,

having conquered the Thebans and their allies at Coronea. And when the

Bœotians were routed, some of them fled to the temple of Athene Itonia:

and though Agesilaus was wounded in the battle, he did not for all that

violate their sanctuary.

CHAPTER X.

And not long afterwards those Corinthians who had been exiled for their

Lacedæmonian proclivities established the Isthmian games. But those who

were at this time in Corinth remained there from fear of Agesilaus,

but when he broke up his camp and returned to Sparta, then they also

joined the Argives at the Isthmian games. And Agesilaus came again to

Corinth with an army: and, as the festival of Hyacinthus was coming on,

he sent home the natives of Amyclæ, to go and perform the customary

rites to Apollo and Hyacinthus. This detachment were attacked on the

road and cut to pieces by the Athenians under Iphicrates. Agesilaus

also marched into Ætolia to help the Ætolians who were hard pressed by

the Acarnanians, and compelled the Acarnanians to bring the war to an

end, when they had all but taken Calydon and the other fortified towns

in Ætolia. And some time afterwards he sailed to Egypt, to the aid of

the Egyptians who had revolted from the great king: and many memorable

exploits did he in Egypt. And he died on the passage home, for he was

now quite an old man. And the Lacedæmonians, when they got his dead

body, buried it with greater honours than they had shewn to any of

their kings.

And during the reign of Archidamus, the son of Agesilaus, the

Phocians seized the temple of Apollo at Delphi. Offers of mercenary

aid came privately to the Thebans to fight against the Phocians, and

publicly from the Lacedæmonians and Athenians, the latter remembering

the old kindnesses they had received from the Phocians, and the

Lacedæmonians under pretext of friendship, but really as I think in

hostility to the Thebans. And Theopompus, the son of Damasistratus,

said that Archidamus also had a share of the money at Delphi, and that

also Dinichas, his wife, had received a bribe from the authorities of

the Phocians, and that all this made Archidamus more willing to bring

the Phocians aid. I do not praise receiving sacred money, and assisting

men who made havoc of the most famous of oracles. But this much I can

praise. The Phocians intended to kill all the young men at Delphi, and

to sell the women and children into slavery, and to raze the city to

its foundations: all this Archidamus successfully deprecated. And he

afterwards crossed over into Italy, to assist the people of Tarentum in

a war with their barbarian neighbours: and he was slain there by the

barbarians, and his dead body failed to find a tomb through the wrath

of Apollo. And Agis, the elder son of this Archidamus, met his death

fighting against the Macedonians and Antipater. During the reign of

Eudamidas the younger one the Lacedæmonians enjoyed peace. All about

his son Agis, and his grandson Eurydamidas, I have already related in

my account of Sicyonia.

Next to the Hermæ[32] is a place full of oak trees, and the name of

it Scotitas (_dark place_) was not derived from the thickness of the

foliage, but from Zeus surnamed Scotitas, whose temple is about 10

stades as you turn off the road to the left. And when you have returned

to the road, and gone forward a little, and turned again to the left,

there is a statue and trophy of Hercules: Hercules erected the trophy

it is said after killing Hippocoon and his sons. And a third turn from

the high road to the right leads to Caryæ and the temple of Artemis.

For Caryæ is sacred to Artemis and the Nymphs, and there is a statue of

Artemis of Caryæ in the open air, and here the Lacedæmonian maidens

have a festival every year, and hold their national dances. And as you

return to the high road and go straight on you come to the ruins of

Sellasia, which place (as I have mentioned before) the Achæans reduced

to slavery, when they had conquered in battle the Lacedæmonians and

their king Cleomenes the son of Leonidas. And at Thornax, which you

next come to, is a statue of Pythæan Apollo, very similar to the one

at Amyclæ, which I shall describe when I come to Amyclæ. But the one

at Amyclæ is more famous than the Lacedæmonian one, for the gold which

Crœsus the Lydian sent to Pythæan Apollo was used to adorn it.

CHAPTER XI.

On going forward from Thornax, you come to the city which was

originally called Sparta, but afterwards Lacedæmon, which was once

the name of the whole district. And according to my rule which I laid

down in my account about Attica, not to give everything in detail

but to select what was most worthy of account, so I shall deal in my

account of Sparta: for I determined from the outset to pick out the

most remarkable of the particulars which tradition hands down. From

this determination I shall on no occasion deviate. At Sparta there is

a handsome market-place, and a council chamber for the Senate, and

public buildings in the market-place for the Ephors and guardians of

the laws, and for those who are called the Bidiæi. The Senate is the

most powerful governing body in Sparta, but all these others take

part in the government: and the ephors and the Bidiæi are each five

in number, and are appointed to preside over the games of the young

men in the Platanistas and elsewhere, and the Ephors manage all other

important matters, and furnish one of their number as the Eponymus,

who like the magistrates of the same name at Athens presides over the

rest. But the most notable thing in the market-place is what they call

the Persian Portico, built of the spoils taken from the Medes: and in

time they have brought it to its present size and magnificence. And

there are on the pillars statues in white stone of Mardonius, the son

of Gobryas, and other Persians. There is also a statue of Artemisia,

the daughter of Lygdamis, who was Queen of Halicarnassus: and who they

say of her own accord joined Xerxes in the expedition against Greece,

and displayed great valour in the sea fight at Salamis. And there are

two temples in the market-place, one to Cæsar, who was the first of the

Romans that aimed at Autocracy, and established the present régime, and

the other to Augustus his _adopted_ son, who confirmed the Autocratic

rule, and advanced further in consideration and power even than Cæsar

had done. His name Augustus has the same signification as the Greek

Sebastus. At the altar of Augustus they exhibit a brazen statue of

Agias, who they say foretold Lysander that he would capture all the

Athenian fleet at Ægos-potamoi but ten triremes: they got off safe to

Cyprus, but the Lacedæmonians took all the rest and their crews. This

Agias was the son of Agelochus, the son of Tisamenus. This last was a

native of Elis of the family of the Iamidæ, who was told by the oracle

that he should win the prize in 5 most notable contests. So he trained

for the pentathlum at Olympia, and came off the ground unvictorious

in that, though he won the prize in two out of the five, for he beat

Hieronymus of Andros in running and leaping. But having been beaten by

him in wrestling, and losing the victory, he interpreted the oracle to

mean that he would win five victories in war. And the Lacedæmonians,

who were not ignorant of what the Pythian priestess had foretold

Tisamenus, persuaded him to leave Elis, and carry out the oracle for

the benefit of the Spartans. And Tisamenus had his five victories,

first at Platæa against the Persians, and secondly at Tegea in a battle

between the Lacedæmonians and the people of Tegea and the Argives. And

next at Dipæa against all the Arcadians but the Mantinæans: (Dipæa is a

small town of the Arcadians near Mænalia.) And the fourth victory was

at Ithome against the Helots that had revolted in the Isthmus. However

all the Helots did not revolt, but only the Messenian portion who had

separated themselves from the original Helots. But I shall enter into

all this more fully hereafter. After this victory the Lacedæmonians,

listening to Tisamenus and the oracle at Delphi, allowed the rebels

to go away on conditions. And the fifth victory was at Tanagra in a

battle against the Argives and Athenians. Such is the account I heard

about Tisamenus. And the Spartans have in their market-place statues

of Pythæan Apollo, and Artemis, and Leto. And this place is called

Dance-ground because during the Festival of Gymnopædia,[33] (and there

is no feast more popular among the Lacedæmonians,) the boys have dances

here in honour of Apollo. And at no great distance are temples of

Earth, and Market Zeus, and Market Athene, and Poseidon whom they call

Asphalius, and Apollo again, and Hera. There is also a huge statue

of a man to represent the People of Sparta. And the Destinies have

a temple at Sparta, near to which is the tomb of Orestes the son of

Agamemnon: for they say his bones were brought from Tegea and buried

here in accordance with the oracle. And near the tomb of Orestes is

an effigy of Polydorus the son of Alcamenes, whom of all their kings

they so extolled that the government seal all their public documents

with Polydorus’ image. There is also a Market Hermes carrying a little

Dionysus, and some antiquities called Ephorea, and among them memorials

of Epimenides the Cretan, and of Aphareus the son of Perieres. And I

think the Lacedæmonian account of Epimenides truer than the Argive one.

Here also are statues of the Destinies, and some other statues. There

is also a Hospitable Zeus and a Hospitable Athene.

CHAPTER XII.

As you go from the market-place on the road which they call

Apheta (_starting-place_), you come to what is called Booneta,

(_Ox-purchased_). I must first explain the name of the road. They say

that Icarius proposed a race for the suitors of Penelope, and that

Odysseus won the prize is clear, and they started they say at the road

called Apheta. And I think Icarius imitated Danaus in proposing this

contest. For this was Danaus’ plan in regard to his daughters; as no

one would marry any of them because of their atrocious crime, Danaus

made it known that he would marry his daughters to any one who should

select them for their beauty without requiring wedding-presents, but

when only a few came to apply he established a race, and the winner

might take his pick of the girls, and the second the next, and so on to

the last in the race: and the girls still remaining had to wait for a

second batch of suitors and a second race. And what the Lacedæmonians

call Booneta on this road, was formerly the house of king Polydorus:

and after Polydorus’ death they bought it of his widow for some oxen.

For as yet there was no coinage either in silver or gold, but in

primitive fashion they gave in barter oxen and slaves, and silver or

gold in the lump. And mariners to India tell us the Indians give in

exchange for Greek commodities various wares, but do not understand

the use of money, and that though they have plenty of gold and silver.

And opposite the public Hall of the Bidiæi is the temple of Athene,

and Odysseus is said to have put there the statue of the goddess, and

called it Celeuthea, when he outran the suitors of Penelope. And he

built three temples of Celeuthea at some distance from one another.

And along the road called Apheta there are hero-chapels of Iops, who

is supposed to have been a contemporary of Lelex or Myles, and of

Amphiaraus the son of Œcles, (and this last they think the sons of

Tyndareus erected as Amphiaraus was their uncle), and also one of Lelex

himself. And not far from these is the shrine of Tænarian Apollo,

for that is his title, and at no great distance a statue of Athene,

which they say was a votive offering of those who migrated to Italy

and Tarentum. And the place which is called Hellenium is so called

because those of the Hellenes (_Greeks_), who strove to prevent Xerxes’

passing into Europe, deliberated in this place how they should resist

him. But another tradition says that it was here that those who went

to Ilium to oblige Menelaus deliberated on the best plan for sailing

to Troy, and exacting punishment of Paris for the rape of Helen. And

near Hellenium they exhibit the tomb of Talthybius: as do also the

people of Ægæ in Achaia in their market-place, who also claim the tomb

of Talthybius as being with them. And the wrath of this Talthybius for

the murder of the envoys, who were sent by King Darius to Greece to ask

for earth and water, was publicly manifested to the Lacedæmonians, but

on the Athenians was visited privately, and mainly on the house of one

man, Miltiades the son of Cimon, for he was the person responsible for

getting the envoys that came to Attica put to death by the Athenians.

And the Lacedæmonians have an altar of Apollo Acritas, and a temple

of Earth called Gaseptum, and above it is Apollo Maleates. And at the

end of the road Apheta, and very near the walls, is the temple of

Dictynna, and the royal tombs of the Eurypontidæ. And near Hellenium

is the temple of Arsinoe, the daughter of Leucippus, and the sister

of the wives of Polydeuces and Castor. And at what is called Garrison

there is a temple of Artemis, and as you go on a little further there

is a monument erected to the prophets from Elis who are called Iamidæ.

And there is a temple of Maro and Alpheus, who, of the Lacedæmonians

that fought at Thermopylæ, seem to have been reckoned most valiant

next to Leonidas. And the temple of Victory-giving Zeus was erected by

the Dorians, after a victory over the people of Amyclæ and the other

Achæans, who at this time occupied Laconia. And the temple of the great

Mother is honoured especially. And next to it are hero-chapels of

Theseus, and the Arcadian Aulon, and the son of Tlesimenes: some say

that Tlesimenes was the brother, others the son, of Parthenopæus the

son of Melanion.

And there is another outlet from the market-place, where is built the

place called Scias, where even now they hold meetings. This Scias was

they say built by the Samian Theodorus, who was the first discoverer

of fusing, and making statues, in iron. Here the Lacedæmonians hung

up the harp of Milesian Timotheus, censuring him for adding four

chords in harpistry to the old Seven. And near Scias there is a round

building (in which are statues of Olympian Zeus and Olympian Aphrodite)

constructed they say by Epimenides, of whom they give a different

account to that of the Argives, since they say that the Argives never

fought with the Gnossians.

CHAPTER XIII.

Not far from Scias is the tomb of Cynortas the son of Amyclas, and the

monument of Castor, and a temple to him over it. Castor and Pollux were

not they say reckoned gods till the fortieth year after the battle

between Idas and Lynceus, whose tombs are exhibited at Scias, though a

more probable tradition states that they were buried in Messenia. But

the misfortunes of the Messenians, and the long time they were away

from the Peloponnese, have made many of their old traditions unknown

to posterity, and since they do not themselves know them for certain,

any one who chooses can doubt. Right opposite the temple of Olympian

Aphrodite the Lacedæmonians have a temple of Saviour Proserpine,

erected some say by the Thracian Orpheus, others say by Abaris who

came from the Hyperboreans. And Carneus, whom they surname Œcetes, had

honours in Sparta even before the return of the Heraclidæ, and a statue

was erected to him in the house of Crius, the son of Theocles the

prophet. As the daughter of this Crius was drawing water, some Dorian

spies met her and had a conversation with her, and went to Crius, and

learnt of him the way to capture Sparta. And the worship of Carnean

Apollo was established among all the Dorians by Carnus, an Acarnanian

by race and the prophet of Apollo: and when he was slain by Hippotes

the son of Phylas the heavy wrath of Apollo fell upon the camp of the

Dorians, and Hippotes had to flee for this murder, and the Dorians

determined to propitiate the Acarnanian prophet by sacred rites. But

indeed it is not this Carnean Œcetes, but the son of the prophet Crius

that was honoured while the Achæans still held Sparta. It has indeed

been written by Praxilla in her verses that Carneus was the son of

Europa, and that Apollo and Leto brought him up. But there is another

tradition recorded of him, that the Greeks cut down on Trojan Ida some

cornel trees that grew in the grove of Apollo to make the Wooden Horse:

and when they learnt of the anger of the god against them for this

sacrilege, they propitiated him with sacrifices and called him Carnean

Apollo from these cornel trees, transposing the letter ρ according to

ancient custom.[34]

And not far from Carnean Apollo is the statue of Aphetæus: where

they say the suitors of Penelope started for their race. And there is

a place which has porticoes forming a square, where nicknacks in old

times used to be sold: at this place is an altar of Ambulian Zeus and

Ambulian Athene, and also of Ambulian Castor and Pollux. And right

opposite is what is called Colona (_Hill_), and a temple of Zeus of

Colona, and near it the grove of the hero, who they say showed Dionysus

the way to Sparta. And the women called Dionysiades and Leucippides

sacrifice to this hero before they sacrifice to the god himself. But

the other eleven women, whom they also call Dionysiades, have a race

specially appointed for them: this custom came from Delphi. And not far

from the temple of Dionysus is that of Zeus Euanemus, and on the right

of this is the hero chapel of Pleuron. On the mother’s side the sons

of Tyndareus were descended from Pleuron, for Areus says in his poems

that Thestius, the father of Leda, was the son of Agenor and grandson

of Pleuron. And not far from this hero chapel is a hill, and on the

hill is a temple of Argive Hera, erected they say by Eurydice the

daughter of Lacedæmon, and the wife of Acrisius the son of Abas. And

the temple of Hyperchirian Hera was built according to the oracle, when

the Eurotas overflowed a considerable part of the country. And the old

wooden statue they call that of Aphrodite Hera, and when a daughter is

married it is customary for mothers to sacrifice to that goddess. And

on the road to the right of this hill is an effigy of Etœmocles. He and

his father Hipposthenes won prizes for wrestling at Olympia, the father

on eleven occasions, the son on twelve.

CHAPTER XIV.

As you go westwards from the market-place is the cenotaph of Brasidas

the son of Tellis, and at no great distance a theatre in white stone

well worth seeing. And opposite the theatre are the tombs of Pausanias

the General at Platæa, and of Leonidas: and every year they have

speeches over them, and a contest in which none but Spartans may

compete. The remains of Leonidas were 40 years after his death removed

from Thermopylæ by Pausanias, and there is a pillar with the names and

pedigree of those who fought against the Medes at Thermopylæ. And there

is in Sparta a place called Theomelida, where are the tombs of the

kings descended from Agis, and at no great distance is what is called

the Lounge of the Crotani; who belong to the Pitanatæ. And not far from

this Lounge is the temple of Æsculapius, called the temple among the

tombs of the descendants of Agis. And as you go on you come to the tomb

of Tænarus, from whom they say the promontory Tænarum gets its name.

And there are temples of Hippocurian Poseidon and Æginetan Artemis.

And as you retrace your steps to the Lounge is the temple of Artemis

Issora, they also call her Limnæa, though she is not called Artemis

but Britomartis by the Cretans, but about her I shall speak when I

come to Ægina. And very near the tombs of the descendants of Agis you

will see a pillar, and inscribed on it are the victories which Chionis

a Lacedæmonian carried off in the course, and others which he won at

Olympia. For there he had seven victories, four in the course, and

three in the double course. The shield race at the end of the sports

was not then instituted. Chionis also took part they say with Theræan

Battus in founding Cyrene, and in ejecting the neighbouring Libyans.

And they allege the following as the reason why the temple of Thetis

was built. When they were fighting against the Messenians who had

revolted, and their king Anaxander invaded Messenia and took captive

some women, and among them Cleo the priestess of Thetis, Anaxander’s

wife Leandris begged Cleo of her husband, and she found Cleo in

possession of a wooden statue of Thetis, and joined her in building a

temple to the goddess: and Leandris built this according to the pattern

which she saw in a dream: and the old wooden statue of Thetis they

keep in a private place. And the Lacedæmonians say they were taught

to worship Demeter Chthonia by Orpheus, but I am of opinion that the

temple at Hermion taught them this worship of Demeter Chthonia. The

Spartans have also a very recent temple of Serapis, and another of

Olympian Zeus.

And the Lacedæmonians give the name Dromus to the place where it is

customary still for the young men to practise in running. As you go to

this Dromus from the tomb of the descendants of Agis you see on the

left hand the sepulchre of Eumedes, who was the son of Hippocoon, and

an old statue of Hercules, to whom the Spartan youths called _Sphærei_

sacrifice. This name is given to the lads who are just growing to

manhood.[35] There are also gymnasiums in Dromus, one the offering of

the Spartan Eurycles. And outside Dromus, and opposite the statue of

Hercules, is a house which now belongs to a private person, but was of

old the house of Menelaus. And as you go on from Dromus you come to the

temples of Castor and Pollux, and the Graces, and Ilithyia, and Carnean

Apollo, and Sovereign Artemis. And on the right of Dromus is a temple

of Æsculapius surnamed Agnitas (_Willowy_), because the god’s statue

is made of willow, of the same kind as that called rhamnus: and at no

great distance is a trophy, which they say Polydeuces put up after his

victory over Lynceus. And this confirms in my opinion the probability

that the sons of Aphareus were not buried at Sparta. Near the beginning

of Dromus are Castor and Pollux of the _Startingpoint_, and as you go

a little way further is the hero-chapel of Alco, who they say was the

son of Hippocoon. And next to the hero-chapel of Alco is the temple

of Poseidon whom they surname Domatites. And there is a place called

Platanistas from the plane-trees which grow high and continuous round

it. And this place, where it is customary for the young men to have

their fights, is surrounded by water as an island is by the sea, and

you enter it by bridges. On one side of these bridges is a statue of

Hercules, and on the other one of Lycurgus, who not only legislated

for the state generally but even for the fights of the youths. And the

youths have the following customs also. They sacrifice before their

fights in the temple of Phœbus, which is outside the city and not very

far from Therapne. Here each division of the young men sacrifice a

puppy dog to Enyalius,[36] deeming the most valiant of domesticated

animals a suitable victim to the most valiant of the gods. And I know

no other Greeks who are accustomed to sacrifice puppy dogs except the

Colophonians, who sacrifice a black puppy to Enodius. The sacrifices

both of the Colophonians and also of these young men at Lacedæmon take

place by night. And after their sacrifice the young men pit together

tame boars to fight, whichever boar gets the victory, the party to

which it belongs are generally victorious at Platanistas. This is what

they do in the temple of Phœbus: and on the next day a little before

noon they cross the bridges to Platanistas. And the approach for each

division is appointed by lot the night before. And they fight with

hands and feet, and bite and tear one another’s eyes out. So they

fight, and violently attack one another full tilt, and push one another

into the water.

CHAPTER XV.

Near Platanistas there is a hero-chapel of Cynisca, the daughter of

Archidamus king of Sparta: she was the first woman who trained horses,

and the first woman who won the chariot-race at Olympia. And behind

the portico near Platanistas are several other hero-chapels, one of

Alcimus, and another of Enaræphorus, and at no great distance one of

Dorceus, and above this one of Sebrus. These they say were sons of

Hippocoon. And from Dorceus they call the fountain near the hero-chapel

Dorcea, and from Sebrus they call the place Sebrium. And on the right

of Sebrium is the sepulchre of Alcman, the sweetness of whose poems

was not injured by the Lacedæmonian dialect, though it is the least

euphonious. And there are temples of Helen and Hercules, hers near

the tomb of Alcman, and his very near the walls with a statue in it

of Hercules armed: Hercules was so represented in the statue they say

because of his fight against Hippocoon and his sons. The animosity of

Hercules against the family of Hippocoon originated they say in that,

after killing Iphitus, when he came to Sparta to clear himself, they

refused to clear him. The following matter also contributed to the

beginning of strife. Œonus a lad, and nephew of Hercules, for he was

the son of Alcmena’s brother, accompanied Hercules to Sparta, and as

he was going round and looking at the city, when he was opposite the

house of Hippocoon, a watch dog jumped out on him, and Œonus chanced

to throw a stone and hit the dog. Then the sons of Hippocoon ran out,

and struck Œonus with clubs till they had killed him. At this Hercules

was furious against Hippocoon and his sons, and immediately (so angry

was he) attacked them. For the moment he retired as he was wounded, but

afterwards he brought others with him to Sparta to avenge himself on

Hippocoon and his sons for the murder of Œonus. And the sepulchre of

Œonus was erected near the temple of Hercules. And as you go eastwards

from Dromus there is a path on the right hand to the temple of Athene

under the title of Exactor of due punishment. For when Hercules took

on Hippocoon and his sons adequate vengeance for what they had done,

he built this temple to Athene under the title of Exactor of due

punishment, for the old race of men called revenge punishment.[37]

And there is another temple of Athene as you go on another road from

Dromus, erected they say by Theras the son of Autesion, the son of

Tisamenus, the son of Thersander, when he sent a colony to the island

which is now called Thera after him, but was of old called Calliste.

And hard by is the temple of Hipposthenes who carried off most of the

wrestling prizes, and whom they worship according to the oracle, as

if they were awarding honours to Poseidon. And right opposite this

temple is Enyalius in fetters, an old statue. And the opinion of the

Lacedæmonians about this statue and about that of the Athenians called

Wingless Victory is the same, _viz._ that Enyalius will never depart

from the Lacedæmonians as being fettered, just as Victory will always

remain with the Athenians because she has no wings to fly away. Athens

and Lacedæmon have erected these statues on similar principles and with

a similar belief. And at Sparta there is a Lounge called _the Painted

Lounge_, and various hero-chapels near it, as of Cadmus the son of

Agenor, and his descendants, Œolycus the son of Theras, and Ægeus the

son of Œolycus. And they say these hero-chapels were built by Mæsis,

Læas, and Europas, who are said to have been the sons of Hyræsus and

grandsons of Ægeus. And they built also a hero-chapel to Amphilochus,

because their ancestor Tisamenus was the son of Demonassa, the sister

of Amphilochus. And the Lacedæmonians are the only Greeks with whom it

is customary to call Hera Goateater and to sacrifice goats to her. And

Hercules they say built a temple and sacrificed goats to her first,

because when he was fighting against Hippocoon and his sons he met

with no obstacle from Hera, though he thought the goddess opposed him

on all other occasions. And they say he sacrificed goats to her as

being in difficulty about getting any other victims. And not far from

the theatre is the temple of Tutelary Poseidon and hero-chapels of

Cleodæus the son of Hyllus, and of Œbalus. And the most notable of the

Spartan temples of Æsculapius is at Booneta, on the left of which is

the hero-chapel of Teleclus, of whom I shall give an account when I

come to Messenia. And when you have gone forward a little further there

is a hill not very high, and on it an old temple and wooden statue of

Aphrodite in full armour. This is the only temple I know which has

an upper story built above it, and in this upper story is a shrine

of Aphrodite under the title of The Shapely, the goddess is seated

with a veil on and fetters on her feet. They say Tyndareus added the

fetters, symbolising by those bonds the bonds of love, that unite men

so powerfully to women. For as to the other tradition, that Tyndareus

punished the goddess by fetters, because he thought his daughters’

disgrace had come from the goddess, this I don’t at all accept: for

it would have been altogether childish to make a small figure of

cedar-wood and call it Aphrodite, and then think in punishing it one

was punishing the goddess!

CHAPTER XVI.

And hard by is the temple of Hilaira and Phœbe, who the writer of the

Cyprian poems says were the daughters of Apollo. And their priestesses

are maidens, called also Leucippides as well as the goddesses. One of

their statues was touched up by a priestess of the goddesses, who with

an art not unknown in our days put a new face on the old statue, but

a dream prevented her treating the other statue in the same way. Here

is hung up an egg, fastened to the roof by fillets; they say it is the

egg which Leda is said to have laid. And every year the women weave a

coat for Apollo at Amyclæ, and they call the place where they weave it

_Coat_. Near the temple is a house which they say the sons of Tyndareus

originally lived in, but afterwards Phormio a Spartan got possession

of it. To him Castor and Pollux came as strangers, they said they had

come from Cyrene and desired to lodge at his house, and asked for a

chamber, (with which they were greatly pleased), as long as they should

remain at Sparta. But he bade them go to some other house where they

might like to dwell, he could not give them that chamber, for it was

the apartment of his daughter a maiden. And the next day maiden and

her attendants had all vanished, but statues of Castor and Pollux were

found in the chamber, and a table with some assa-fœtida on it. Such at

least is the tradition.

And as you go to the gates from the place called _Coat_ there is a

hero-chapel of Chilo, who was accounted one of the seven wise men, and

of an Athenian hero who accompanied Dorieus, the son of Anaxandrides,

on the expedition to colonize Sicily. And they put in at Eryx thinking

that district belonged to the descendants of Hercules, and not to

barbarians who really held it. For there is a tradition that Eryx

and Hercules wrestled on the following conditions, that if Hercules

conquered the land of Eryx should be his, but if Eryx conquered the

oxen of Geryon, (which Hercules was then driving,) should be his, for

these oxen had swum across to Sicily from the promontory at Scylla,[38]

and Hercules had crossed over after them to find them, and Eryx should

have them if he came off victor. But the good will of the gods did not

speed Dorieus the son of Anaxandrides as it had done Hercules, for

Hercules killed Eryx, but the people of Segeste nearly annihilated

Dorieus and his army. And the Lacedæmonians have built a temple to

their legislator Lycurgus as to a god. And behind this temple is the

tomb of Eucosmus, the son of Lycurgus, near the altar of Lathria and

Anaxandra, who were twins, (and the sons of Aristodemus who married

them were also twins), and the daughters of Thersander the son of

Agamedidas, the king of the Cleestonæans, and the great grandson of

Ctesippus the son of Hercules. And right opposite the temple are the

tombs of Theopompus the son of Nicander, and Eurybiades, who fought

against the Medes in the Lacedæmonian gallies at Artemisium and

Salamis. And hard-by is what is called the hero-chapel of Astrabacus.