So far for these last mentioned: but I must not omit Euthymus the

boxer, or his victories and other feats. He was an Italian from Locri

near the promontory of Zephyrium, and his father’s name was Astycles.

But the natives of that country say that he was not the son of Astycles

but of the River Cæcinus, which is the boundary between the districts

of Locri and Rhegium, and has a peculiarity in respect to grasshoppers.

For the grasshoppers in Locri up to the river Cæcinus sing just as

other grasshoppers, but after you cross the Cæcinus they cease to sing

in the district of Rhegium. Euthymus then is said to be the son of this

River, and he won a boxing prize at Olympia in the 74th Olympiad, but

was not equally successful in the following Olympiad. For Theagenes

from Thasos, wishing to win in the same Olympiad prizes both for boxing

and the pancratium, outboxed Euthymus. Theagenes however could not

receive the wild olive crown for the pancratium, as in the contest

with Euthymus he was exhausted first. Moreover the umpires fined

Theagenes a talent as a fine to the god, and a talent for the injury

done to Euthymus, for they thought he insulted him in the boxing-match,

therefore they ordered him also to pay privately money to Euthymus. And

in the 76th Olympiad Theagenes paid his fine to the god, and in his

vexation would not again contend as a boxer: but Euthymus received the

crown for boxing both in that and the next Olympiad. And his statue is

by Pythagoras and is especially fine. And on his return to Italy he

fought against a Hero. The particulars are as follows. When Odysseus

was on his travels after the capture of Ilium they say he was driven

by the winds to several towns in Italy and Sicily, and among others to

Temesa; there they say one of his sailors in drink violated a maiden,

and for this outrage was stoned to death by the inhabitants. Thereupon

Odysseus not troubling himself about his death sailed off, but the

ghost of the man that had been stoned relentlessly continued to slay

indiscriminately the people of Temesa, pursuing all ages alike, till

the Pythian Priestess, when they intended to make a wholesale flitting

from Italy, forbade them to leave Temesa, and bade them propitiate the

Hero, by building him a temple in a grove set apart for that purpose,

and annually giving him as wife the handsomest girl in Temesa. As they

obeyed the orders of the oracle they had no further trouble with the

ghost. But Euthymus happened to arrive at Temesa at the time when this

annual offering to the ghost was being made, and inquired into the

matter, and had a strong desire to enter the temple and behold the

maiden. And when he saw her, he was first moved with pity and then

with love. And she swore that she would marry him if he saved her, and

Euthymus armed himself and awaited the approach of the ghost. In the

fight that ensued he was victor, and the Hero left the country, dived

into the sea and was never seen again, and the men of that region had

henceforth no more trouble from him, and the marriage of Euthymus was

celebrated with much pomp. I have also heard that Euthymus lived to

advanced old age, and did not die, but left mankind some other way.

I have also heard that Temesa is inhabited still, my informant was a

merchant that sails in those parts. I also have seen a painting, which

is an imitation of an older painting. In it is the young man Sybaris,

and the river Calabrus, and the well Lyca, and a hero-chapel, and

the town of Temesa. There too is the ghost whom Euthymus expelled,

dreadfully swarthy and most formidable in all his appearance, and

dressed in a wolfskin. And the letters in the painting give his name,

Lycas. So much for this legend.

CHAPTER VII.

And next to the statue of Euthymus is that of Pytharchus of Mantinea,

a runner in the course, and Charmides a boxer of Elis, both of whom

received prizes as boys. And when you have seen these you will come

to the statues of the Rhodian athletes, Diagoras and his family. They

are all together in the following order, Acusilaus with the prize for

boxing among men, and Dorieus, the youngest, who won three prizes in

succession at Olympia in the pancratium. Before Dorieus Damagetus, who

comes next, had won the prize against all comers in the pancratium.

Next to his 3 sons comes the statue of Diagoras, who won a victory

among men in boxing. And the statue of Diagoras is by the Megarian

Callicles, the son of that Theocosmus who made the statue of Zeus at

Megara. The sons also of Diagoras’ daughters practised as boxers and

won prizes at Olympia, among the men Eucles the son of Callianax and

Callipatira (the daughter of Diagoras), and among the boys Pisirodus,

whose mother dressed him up like a man and brought him to the Olympian

games, herself disguised as a trainer. This Pisirodus also has a

statue in Altis near his maternal grandfather. Diagoras they say

also came to Olympia with his sons Acusilaus and Damagetus. And the

young men being victorious at the festival bore their father on their

shoulders, who was pelted by the Greeks with flowers and congratulated

on his sons. On the female side Diagoras was a Messenian by extraction,

as he was descended from the daughter of Aristomenes. And Dorieus the

son of Diagoras, besides his victories at Olympia, had 8 victories

in the Isthmian games, and seven in the Nemean. It is said that he

also won in the Pythian games without a contest. And he and Pisirodus

were entered in the games as Thurians, because they were driven from

Rhodes by faction and migrated to Thurii. But Dorieus returned to

Rhodes subsequently. And of all men he manifestly was most devoted to

the Lacedæmonian interests, for he fought against the Athenians with

a fleet he had himself equipped, till he was captured by the Athenian

triremes and taken prisoner to Athens. And the Athenians before Dorieus

was brought before them were very angry against him and used threats,

but when they came to the popular Assembly and saw there so great and

renowned a man a captive, their intention about him changed and they

let him go, and did no harm to him, while they might have done so

with justice. The circumstances of the death of Dorieus are told by

Androtion in his history of Attica, _viz._ that the fleet of the great

king was at Caunus and Conon was the Admiral, and the people of Rhodes

were persuaded by Conon to revolt from the Lacedæmonians, and join the

alliance of the Athenians and the great king, and that Dorieus was at

the time absent from Rhodes in the interior of the Peloponnese, and was

arrested by the Lacedæmonians and taken to Sparta, and condemned by the

Lacedæmonians for treason and put to death. And if Androtion’s account

be correct, he seems to be desirous of proving the Lacedæmonians as

rash as the Athenians, for the Athenians are charged with acting rashly

with respect to Thrasyllus and those who fought under him at Arginusæ.

To such a pitch of glory then did Diagoras and his posterity attain.

Alcænetus, the son of Theantus of Lepreus, and his sons also had

victories at Olympia. Alcænetus himself won prizes for boxing among

the men as previously among the boys. And Hellanicus and Theantus, the

sons of Alcænetus, were proclaimed winners in the boxing match for

boys, Hellanicus in the 89th Olympiad, and Theantus in the following

Olympiad. All three have statues at Olympia. And next to the sons of

Alcænetus are statues of Gnatho, the Dipæan from the country about

Mænalus, and Lycinus of Elis: who also had prizes for boxing among the

boys at Olympia. That Gnatho, when he conquered, was exceptionally

young is stated in the inscription, his statue is by Callicles the

Megarian. And Dromeus from Stymphelus was as his name indicates a

runner in the long course, and had two victories at Olympia, two at

the Pythian games, three at the Isthmus, and five at Nemea. It is said

also that he introduced eating flesh during training: for athletes in

training before him used to eat only a particular kind of cheese. His

statue is by Pythagoras, and the next to it is that of Pythocles of

Elis, who won in the pentathlum, by Polycletus.

CHAPTER VIII.

Who made the statue of Socrates of Pellene, who won the race for boys,

is not recorded, but the statue of Amertus of Elis, who defeated in

wrestling all the men that came to the Pythian games, was by Phradmon

the Argive. And Euanoridas of Elis won victories in wrestling among the

boys both at Olympia and at Nemea: and he became an Umpire and made a

list of the victors at Olympia.

As to the boxer Damarchus, a Parrhasian from Arcadia, I cannot

credit, except the victory at Olympia, all the fictions about him

made by boastful people, such as that he changed from a man into a

wolf at the sacrifice of Zeus Lycæus, and that 10 years afterwards he

changed into a man again. Not that this is the tradition apparently

of the Arcadians about him. Else it would have been inserted in their

inscription at Olympia, which runs as follows.

“Damarchus the son of Dinnytas erected this statue, a Parrhasian from

Arcadia.”

This is all the inscription. But Eubotas of Cyrene, as he had learnt

beforehand from the oracle at Libya that he would gain the prize in

the race at Olympia, had his statue made first, and on the same day

was proclaimed victor and set up his statue. It is said also that he

won the chariot race in that Olympiad which the people of Elis do not

reckon because the Arcadians instituted the games.

And the statue of Timanthes of Cleonæ, who won the prize for men in

the pancratium, is by the Athenian Myro, and that of Baucis of Trœzen,

who beat all the men in wrestling, is by Naucydes. The following

was they say the end of Timanthes. When he ceased to be an athlete

he continued none the less to make trial of his strength, every day

bending a huge bow: and he went away from home for a time, and during

that period the use of the bow was suspended: and when on his return

he found himself no longer strong enough to bend his bow, he lighted

his funeral pyre and put himself alive on it. All actions of this kind

whether in the past or in the future seem to me rather madness than

bravery.

And next to Baucis are some statues of Arcadian athletes, as

Euthymenes of Mænalus, who won prizes among men for wrestling and still

earlier among boys, and Philip the son of Azan from Pellene, who beat

all the boys in boxing, and Critodamus from Clitor, who was himself

also proclaimed victor in the boys’ boxing match. That of Euthymenes

was by Alypus, that of Critodamus by Cleon, and that of Philip the son

of Azan by Myro. As to Promachus the pancratiast, the son of Dryon of

Pellene, I shall state more about him in my account of Achaia. And not

far from Promachus is the statue of Timasitheus of Delphi, (by Ageladas

the Argive), who won two victories in the pancratium at Olympia, and

three in the Pythian games. He also exhibited brilliant bravery in

war, and had constant good fortune till then. For his valour on that

occasion cost him his life. For when Isagoras the Athenian occupied the

Acropolis with the view of making himself master of Athens, Timasitheus

joined him, and was one of those who were captured, and put to death by

the Athenians for his share in the matter.

CHAPTER IX.

And the statue of Theognetus of Ægina, who was crowned for wrestling

among the boys, is by Ptolichus of Ægina, the pupil of his father

Synnoon, who was himself the pupil of Aristocles of Sicyon, the brother

of Canachus and as famous as a statuary. But why Theognetus carries

in his hand the fruit of the cultivated pine and pomegranate I cannot

conjecture, perhaps among some of the Æginetans there is some national

legend about him. And next to the statue of the man who the people of

Elis say was not registered with the rest, because he was proclaimed

victor in the trotting-race,[78] is the statue of Xenocles of Mænalus,

who beat all the boys in wrestling, and Alcetus the son of Alcinous,

who beat all the boys in boxing, an Arcadian from Clitor. His statue

is by Cleon, and Xenocles’ by Polycletus. And the statue of the Argive

Aristeus, who won the prize in the long course, is by the Chian

Pantias, a pupil of his father Sostratus: and next to him is the statue

of Chimon, the father of Aristeus, who won the prize for wrestling.

His statues are in my opinion the finest works of art of Naucydes,

one is at Olympia, and the other was carried from Argos to the temple

of Peace in Rome. It is also said that Chimon beat Taurosthenes of

Ægina in wrestling, and that in the following Olympiad Taurosthenes

beat all comers in wrestling, and the same day an apparition very like

Taurosthenes appeared at Ægina and announced his victory. And the

statue of Philles of Elis, who beat all the boys in wrestling, is by

the Spartan Cratinus. As to the chariot of Gelon, I cannot agree with

the opinion of those who have written before me, who say that it was a

votive offering of Gelon the tyrant of Syracuse. The inscription says

that it was a votive offering of Gelon of Gela, the son of Dinomenes,

who was a victor in the 73rd Olympiad. But Gelon the tyrant of Sicily

was master of Syracuse when Hybilides was Archon at Athens, in the

second year of the 72nd Olympiad, in which Tisicrates of Croton won

the race in the stadium. Manifestly therefore he would have been

entered for the race as a Syracusan, and not as a native of Gela. So

this Gelon would be some private person, having merely the same name as

the Tyrant. And Glaucias the Æginetan made both the chariot and statue

of Gelon.

In the Olympiad previous to this they say that Cleomedes of

Astypalæa, boxing with Iccus from Epidaurus, killed him, and was

condemned by the Umpires to be deprived of his prize, and went out

of his mind for grief, and returned to Astypalæa, and standing in a

school when there were about 60 scholars pulled away the pillar which

supported the roof, and when the roof fell in on the boys he was

pelted with stones by the citizens, and fled for refuge to the temple

of Athene: and getting into a chest which was lying in the temple,

and clapping down the lid, the people of Astypalæa had immense labour

to open the chest. At last they broke open the woodwork, and found

no Cleomedes either alive or dead, and sent messengers to Delphi to

inquire what had become of him. The Pythian Priestess they say returned

this answer,

“Last of the heroes is Cleomedes of Astypalæa, honour him with

sacrifices as no longer a mortal.”

From that time forward the people of Astypalæa pay honours to him as

a hero.

And next to the chariot of Gelon is the statue of Philo by the

Æginetan Glaucias. On this Philo Simonides, the son of Leoprepes, wrote

the very apt elegiac couplet:

“My country is Corcyra, my name Philo. I am the son of Glaucus, and

have won prizes for boxing in two Olympiads.”

There is also a statue of the Mantinean Agametor, who beat all the

boys in boxing.

CHAPTER X.

And next to those I have mentioned is Glaucus of Carystus, who they say

was originally from Anthedon in Bœotia, and traced his descent from

Glaucus the god of the sea. He was the son of Demylus, and they say

originally was a husbandman. And once when the ploughshare came off

his plough, he put it on again using his hand instead of a hammer. And

Demylus marvelled at his son’s strength, and in consequence sent him to

Olympia as a boxer. And there Glaucus, being unpractised in that kind

of contest, was badly handled by his antagonists, and, while boxing

with the last remaining of them, seemed likely to faint away from his

punishment. And they say his father cried out, _My boy, remember the

ploughshare_. Then he put in a terrible blow at his antagonist, and won

the prize. He is said also to have been twice crowned at the Pythian

games, and eight times in the Nemean and Isthmian games. The statue of

Glaucus was erected by his son, but was made by Glaucias the Æginetan.

And the statue is in the attitude of one boxing, for Glaucus was the

most clever of all his contemporaries in the noble Science. And after

his death the people of Carystus say that he was buried in the island

still called Glaucus’ island.

And Damaretus of Heræa, and the son and grandson of Damaretus, had

two victories each at Olympia, Damaretus in the 65th Olympiad, when

first the race in heavy armour was instituted, and also in the next

Olympiad. His statue has a shield like those in use in our day, and a

helmet on the head, and greaves on the feet. This race in heavy armour

was abandoned eventually by the people of Elis and all the Greeks. And

Theopompus, the son of Damaretus, and afterwards his grandson of the

same name won the prize in the pentathlum, and the grandson Theopompus

won prizes also for wrestling; who made his statue we do not know,

but the statues of his father and grandfather were according to the

inscription by the Argives Eutelidas and Chrysothemis. It does not

however state from whom they learnt their art. This is the inscription.

“The Argives Eutelidas and Chrysothemis made these statues, having

learnt their art from former generations.”

And Iccus the son of Nicolaidas the Tarentine won the prize at

Olympia in the pentathlum, and afterwards became the best trainer of

his day. And next to Iccus is the statue of Pantarces of Elis, who

beat all the boys in wrestling, and was beloved by Phidias. And next

to Pantarces is the chariot of Cleosthenes, a man of Epidamnus, by

Ageladas, behind the Zeus erected by the Greeks after the battle of

Platæa. He conquered in the 66th Olympiad, and he erected not only his

own statue but also that of his charioteer and horses. And the names

inscribed on the horses are Phœnix and Corax, and of those in the

traces, on the right Cnacias, and on the left Samos. And there is this

elegiac couplet on the chariot:

“Cleosthenes the Pontian from Epidamnus erected me, after winning the

prize with his horses in the noble contest of Zeus.”

And of all that reared horses among the Greeks this Cleosthenes was

the first that erected his statue at Olympia. For the votive offering

of Euagoras the Lacedæmonian is only his chariot, and not Euagoras in

it: and as to Miltiades the Athenian, what he erected at Olympia I

shall narrate elsewhere. And the Epidamnians have the same territory

as formerly, but the town in our days is not the old one, but one at a

little distance: and its name is now Dyrrhachium from its founder.

And there is a statue of Lycinus, the native of Heræa who won in the

race for boys, by Cleon, and of three who won victories among the boys

for boxing, Epicradius of Mantinea by Ptolichus of Ægina, and Tellon

the Oresthasian by what statuary is not on record, and Agiadas of Elis

by Serambus of Ægina.

CHAPTER XI.

Next to these are votive offerings of the people of Elis, as Philip

the son of Amyntas, and Alexander the son of Philip, and Seleucus, and

Antigonus; the statues of all but Antigonus are on horseback, he alone

is on foot.

And not far from these kings is a statue of Theagenes of Thasos, the

son of Timosthenes. But the Thasians say that he was not the son of

Timosthenes, who was a priest of Hercules at Thasos, but that Hercules

disguised as Timosthenes had an intrigue with the mother of Theagenes.

And when the lad was nine years of age, and was going home from school,

he fancied they say the brazen statue of one of the gods in the

market-place, and seized it and put it upon one of his shoulders and

took it home. And the citizens being angry with him for what he had

done, a man of repute and advanced age would not let them kill the lad,

but bade him restore the statue back to its place, and he did so. And

immediately the fame of the lad for strength spread abroad, and his

exploit was talked of all over Greece. The most notable of his exploits

at Olympia I have already recorded, and how he beat Euthymus in boxing,

and how he was fined by the people of Elis. At that time Dromeus of

Mantinea won the victory in the pancratium, for the first time on

record without a contest. But he was beaten by Theagenes the Olympiad

afterwards in the pancratium. And Theagenes had three victories in the

Pythian games for boxing, and 9 at Nemea and 10 at the Isthmus for the

pancratium and boxing together. And at Phthia in Thessaly he neglected

boxing and the pancratium, and endeavoured to become illustrious among

the Greeks in racing, and beat all comers in the long course. I cannot

but think he was desirous of emulating Achilles, and to win in the

race in the country of the swiftest of heroes. All the crowns he won

were as many as 1400. And when he died, one of his enemies went up to

his statue every night, and scourged the brass as if it were Theagenes

alive he was maltreating. But at last the statue fell on him and killed

him and so stopped his outrage, but after his death his sons indicted

the statue for murder: and the Thasians threw the statue into the

sea, obeying the code of Draco, who in legislating for the Athenians

banished even inanimate things if they killed anyone by falling upon

him. But in process of time, as the earth yielded no fruit to the

Thasians, they sent envoys to Delphi, and the god bade them restore

from exile those that had been banished. Some were accordingly recalled

from exile, but the dearth was not removed. They went therefore a

second time to Delphi, saying that, though they had done what the

oracle ordered, yet the wrath of the gods remained. Then the Pythian

Priestess answered.

“Your great Theagenes you have forgotten.”

And when they were quite in despair how to recover the statue of

Theagenes, some fishermen (they say) putting out to sea for the purpose

of catching fish caught the statue in their net and brought it to land.

And the Thasians restoring it to its original site sacrificed to it as

to a god. And I know that there are statues of Theagenes in various

parts of Greece and among the barbarians also, and that he is reckoned

to cure diseases, and has various honours from the people of Thasos.

His statue in Altis is by the Æginetan Glaucias.

CHAPTER XII.

And at no great distance is a brazen chariot and a man in it, and some

race-horses are on each side of it, and boys on the horses. They are

memorials of the victories in the Olympian contests of Hiero the son of

Dinomenes, the tyrant of Syracuse after his brother Gelon. They were

not however sent by Hiero, but Dinomenes the son of Hiero offered them

to the god. The chariot is by Onatas the Æginetan, and the horses on

both sides and the boys on them are by Calamis.

And next to the chariot of Hiero is Hiero the son of Hierocles, of

the same name as the son of Dinomenes, and also himself tyrant of

Syracuse. This Hiero after the death of Agathocles, the former tyrant

of Syracuse, rose to the same power in the second year of the 126th

Olympiad, in which Idæus of Cyrene won in the stadium. This Hiero had

friendly relations with Pyrrhus the son of Æacides and became his

kinsman by marriage, Gelon his son marrying Nereis Pyrrhus’ daughter.

And when the Romans fought with the Carthaginians for the possession

of Sicily the Carthaginians had more than half the island, and on the

commencement of the war Hiero resolved to throw in his lot with the

Carthaginians, but in no long time thinking the Roman power stronger

and likely to be more lasting he joined them. He was assassinated by

Dinomenes, a Syracusan who had an especial hatred to tyranny, and who

afterwards endeavoured to kill Hippocrates the brother of Epicydes, who

had just come to Syracuse from Erbessus and was endeavouring to talk

over the people. But he defended himself, and some of his guards came

up and cut Dinomenes to pieces. And the statues of Hiero in Olympia,

one on horseback and the other on foot, were erected by his sons, and

made by the Syracusan Mico the son of Niceratus.

And next to the statues of Hiero are Areus, the son of Acrotatus,

king of the Lacedæmonians, and Aratus the son of Clinias, and a second

one of Areus on horseback: that of Aratus is the votive offering of

the Corinthians, that of Areus of the men of Elis. Of both Aratus and

Areus I have given an account earlier in this work. Aratus was also

proclaimed victor at Olympia in the chariot-race. And Timon, the son of

Ægyptus, who entered horses at Olympia, a native of Elis, has a brazen

chariot, and on it a maiden who I think is Victory. And Callon the son

of Harmodius and Hippomachus the son of Moschion, both of Elis and

victors among boys in the boxing, have statues, Callon’s is by Daippus,

we do not know who designed Hippomachus’, but they say he wrestled down

three antagonists and received no blow or hurt. And the inscription on

the chariot states that Theochrestus of Cyrene, (who trained horses

according to the national custom of the Libyans), and his grandfather

also of the same name, had victories with their horses at Olympia, and

that the father of Theochrestus was victorious at the Isthmian games.

And that Agesarchus of Tritæa the son of Hæmostratus beat men in boxing

at the Olympian, Nemean, Pythian and Isthmian games is stated in an

elegiac couplet, which also states untruly, as I have discovered, that

the people of Tritæa are Arcadians. For of the towns that have attained

celebrity in Arcadia all about their founders is well known, and those

that were obscure from their origin, and lost their population through

their weakness, were absorbed into Megalopolis by a decree from the

commonalty of the Arcadians. Nor can we find any other Tritæa in Greece

but the one in Achaia. One would infer therefore that the people of

Tritæa were reckoned among the Arcadians, as now some of the Arcadians

are reckoned in Argolis. And the statue of Agesarchus is by the sons of

Polycles, of whom we shall make mention later on.

CHAPTER XIII.

And the statue of Astylus of Croton is by Pythagoras, he was victorious

at three Olympiads in succession in the stade and in the double course.

But because in the two latter Olympiads he entered himself as a

Syracusan, to ingratiate himself with Hiero the son of Dinomenes, the

people of Croton voted that his house should be turned into a public

prison, and removed his statue from the temple of Lacinian Hera.

There is also at Olympia a pillar which recounts the victories of the

Lacedæmonian Chionis. They are simple who think that Chionis erected

this statue himself, and not the Lacedæmonian public. For granted that

there is on the pillar no mention of a race in heavy armour, how could

Chionis know that the people of Elis would not one day institute one?

They are still more simple who think that the statue on the pillar is

by Chionis, seeing it is by the Athenian Myro.

Very similar fame to that of Chionis was won by the Lycian Hermogenes

Xanthius, who won the wild olive crown eight times in three Olympiads,

and was nicknamed _Horse_ by the Greeks. Polites too you would hold

in great admiration. He was from Ceramus in Caria, and manifested

great swiftness of foot at Olympia. For he won the longest race in the

shortest time on record, and on the same day he won the long race, and

the race in the stadium, and the double race. And on the second day,

when they only allow four chosen by lot to compete in the race and not

all comers, and the victors in each department only contend for these

prizes, Polites was victor again: for the person who is crowned for the

race in the stadium will go off with two victories. However the most

remarkable victories in the race were won by Leonidas of Rhodes, for in

four Olympiads he was in his prime, and 12 times conqueror through his

swiftness of foot. And not far from the pillar of Chionis at Olympia is

the statue of Scæus the Samian, the son of Duris, who beat all the boys

in boxing, his statue is by Hippias, and the inscription on it states,

that Scæus was victor when the Samian populace fled from their island,

and the statue was put up when they were restored. And next to the

tyrant is a statue of Diallus the son of Pollis, a native of Smyrna,

and the inscription states that he was the first Ionian that won the

prize in the pancratium for boys. And the statues of Thersilochus

of Corcyra, and Aristion of Epidaurus, the son of Theophiles, the

latter victor in boxing among men, the former among boys, are by the

Argive Polycletus. And the statue of Bycelus, who was the first of

the Sicyonians to conquer among boys in boxing, is by the Sicyonian

Canachus, who was a pupil of the Argive Polycletus. And next to Bycelus

is the hoplite Mnaseas of Cyrene, surnamed Libyan, by Pythagoras of

Rhegium. And the inscription on Agemachus of Cyzicus states that he

came to Argos from the mainland of Asia Minor. As to Naxos in Sicily,

which was colonized by some of the Chalcidians near the Euripus, there

are no ruins even of the town in our day, and that its name has come

down to posterity is mainly due to Tisander the son of Cleocritus.

For 4 times he beat all the men in boxing at Olympia, and had as many

victories in the Pythian games. There was not at that time any record

of the victors in the Corinthian games, nor did the Argives keep any

record of the victors in the Nemean games.

And the mare of the Corinthian Phidolas, which was called as the

Corinthians inform us _Aura_, though its rider fell off at the

beginning of the race, yet ran straight and turned at the goal, and

when it heard the sound of the trumpet ran on all the faster, and beat

all the other horses by the decision of the Umpires, and knew that

it had come in first, and stopped running. And the people of Elis

proclaimed Phidolas victor, and allowed him to set up a statue of this

mare. The sons of Phidolas also won victories on a race-horse, and a

statue of the horse was put on a pillar with the following inscription.

“Once in the Isthmian games, twice at Olympia, did Lycus the swift

courser win the race, and honour for the sons of Phidolas.”

However this inscription and the records in Elis of the victors at

Olympia do not tally, for in the 68th Olympiad only do those records

record any victory of the sons of Phidolas. Let anyone inquire into

this further who likes. And there are statues of Agathinus the son of

Thrasybulus, and Telemachus who was victorious with his horses, the

former was an offering of the Achæans of Pellene. The Athenian people

also set up a statue to Aristophon the son of Lycinus who beat all the

men in the pancratium at Olympia.

CHAPTER XIV.

And Pherias the Æginetan, whose statue is next the Athenian Aristophon,

was not allowed in the 78th Olympiad to enter the contest because

he appeared very young, and was not thought fit to compete in the

wrestling, but the following year he was allowed to wrestle among the

boys and won the prize. A different fortune to this of Pherias was that

of Nicasylus the Rhodian at Olympia. For being 18 he was not allowed

to contend with the boys by the people of Elis, but was entered as a

man and won the prize. He was proclaimed victor also at the Nemean and

Isthmian games. But he died in his 20th year, before he could return

home to Rhodes. But the feat of this Rhodian wrestler at Olympia was

outdone in my opinion by Artemidorus of Tralles. He was unsuccessful

at Olympia in his endeavour to win the pancratium among the boys, but

the reason of his failure was his excessive youth. For when the season

came for the contest which the Ionians have at Smyrna his strength had

become so great that he beat on the same day all his antagonists from

Olympia in the pancratium, and all the boys that they call unbearded,

and thirdly all the best of the men. And they say that he was cheered

on by the trainer in the contest with the boys, but that in the contest

with the men he was reviled by the pancratiast. And Artemidorus won

at Olympia the victory among men in the 212th Olympiad. And near the

statue of Nicasylus is a small brazen horse, the votive offering of

Crocon of Eretria when he won the victory with a race-horse, and near

this horse is an effigy of Telestas the Messenian, who beat all the

boys in boxing, by Silanion.

And the statue of Milo the son of Diotimus is by Dameas, both natives

of Croton. This Milo had six prizes for wrestling at Olympia, one of

them among boys, and at Pythia six among men and one among boys. And

he came to Olympia to wrestle for the 7th time. But he could not beat

in wrestling Timasitheus, a citizen and quite young, as Timasitheus

would not contend with him at close quarters in the arena at all. And

Milo is said to have carried his own statue to Altis. There are also

traditions about Milo in reference to a pomegranate and a quoit. He

held a pomegranate so fast that nobody could get it from him, and yet

he did not hurt it. And on one occasion standing on an oiled quoit he

excited laughter among those who jostled him and tried to push him off

it. And several other things he did in display. He tied a cord round

his forehead as if it were a fillet or a crown, and holding his breath

and filling the veins of his head with blood he would snap the cord

by the strength of his veins. It is recorded also that he would place

against his side his right arm from the elbow to the shoulder, and

stretch out the hand, and turn his thumb up while the fingers remained

together, and no one could with any exertion move the little finger

from its place. And they say he was killed by wild beasts. For he

chanced in the country near Croton on a withered tree, in which some

wedges were driven to separate the wood, and he took it into his head

to keep the wood apart with his hands. And the wedges slipt out and

he was imprisoned in the tree, and became a prey to the wolves, which

prowl about in great numbers in that neighbourhood. Such was the end of

Milo.

And Pyrrhus the son of Æacides having been king in Thesprotia in

Epirus, and having done many remarkable deeds, which I have described

in my account of Attica, Thrasybulus of Elis erected his statue in

Altis. And next to Pyrrhus is the statue of a little man with pipes in

his hand on a pillar. This man had a prize for his piping, the first

time such prizes were bestowed since the Argive Sacadas. Sacadas first

conquered in the games established by the Amphictyonians (when no prize

was given), and after that he won two prizes. And Pythocritus of Sicyon

won in six of the Pythian contests successively, being the only piper.

It is plain also at the contest at Olympia that he was piper six times

in the pentathlum. For all this he had a pillar at Olympia with the

inscription on it,

“This is the memorial of Pythocritus, (the son of Callinicus), the

piper.”

The Ætolians also erected a public statue to Cylon, who freed

the people of Elis from the tyranny of Aristotimus. And Gorgus the

Messenian, the son of Eucletus, who won the victory in the pentathlum

has a statue by the Bœotian Theron, and Damaretus, also a Messenian,

who beat all the boys in boxing has a statue by the Athenian Silanion.

And Anauchidas of Elis, the son of Philys, won a wrestling prize among

the boys and afterwards among the men. Who his statue is by we do not

know. And the statue of Anochus the Tarentine, the son of Adamatas,

who won the victory both in the stadium and in the double course, is

by Ageladas the Argive. And the boy seated on a horse and the man

standing by the horse are as the inscription says Xenombrotus of Cos

in Meropis, who was proclaimed victor in the horse-race, and Xenodicus

who was proclaimed victor in the boxing matches for boys, the latter is

by Pantias, and the former by Philotimus of Ægina. And the two statues

of Pythes, the son of Andromachus, an Abderite, were made by Lysippus,

but his soldiers had them made. Pythes seems to have been a leader of

mercenaries, or in some other way to have shewn himself a good soldier.

Here are also statues of those who won prizes in the course for boys,

as Meneptolemus from Apollonia on the Ionian gulf, and Philo from

Corcyra, and Hieronymus from Andros, who beat Tisamenus of Elis in the

pentathlum at Olympia, that Tisamenus who was afterwards a prophet for

the Greeks against Mardonius and the Medes at Platæa. And next to the

statue of Hieronymus is the statue of a boy-wrestler also from Andros,

Procles the son of Lycastidas. Stomius made the statue of Hieronymus,

and Somis that of Procles. And Æschines of Elis had two victories in

the pentathlum, and has two statues.

CHAPTER XV.

And Archippus of Mitylene, who beat all comers at boxing, had according

to the Mitylenæans this further fame, that he was crowned at the

Olympian Pythian Nemean and Isthmian games when he was only 20. And

the statue of Xenon, the son of Calliteles, of Lepreus in Triphylia,

who beat all the boys in the stadium, was made by the Messenian

Pyrilampes; we do not know who made the statue of Clinomachus of Elis,

who was proclaimed victor in the pentathlum. And the inscription of

the Achæans on Pantarches’ statue states that he was a native of Elis;

he made peace between the Achæans and people of Elis, and all the

prisoners who were captured on both sides were let go mainly through

him. He won his victory on a race-horse, and there is a record of his

victory at Olympia. And the statue of Olidas of Elis was set up by the

Ætolians. And Charinus of Elis has a statue for the double course and

for a victory in heavy armour, and near him is Ageles the Chian, who

beat all the boys in boxing, by Theomnestus of Sardis.

And the statue of Clitomachus the Theban was erected by Hermocrates

his father. His exploits were as follows. In the Isthmian games he beat

all comers in wrestling, and on one day won prizes from all competitors

in boxing and in the pancratium. And all his 3 victories in the

Pythian games were in the pancratium. And at Olympia he was proclaimed

second to Theagenes of Thasos in the pancratium and in boxing. And in

the 141st Olympiad he won the prize in the pancratium. And the next

Olympiad found him a competitor in the pancratium and in boxing, and

Caprus of Elis was on the same day anxious to compete in the pancratium

and in wrestling. And when Caprus had won the wrestling-prize,

Clitomachus hinted to the umpires that it was only fair to call for the

pancratium before he was battered about by boxing. What he said seemed

reasonable, and when the pancratium was called on he was beaten by

Caprus, though he exhibited afterwards in the boxing a stout heart and

untired body.

And the Ionians of Erythræ erected a statue to Epitherses the son of

Metrodorus, who won two victories in boxing at Olympia, and two at each

of the Pythian Nemean and Isthmian games, and the Syracusan public

erected two statues to Hiero, and his sons erected a third. As I stated

a little above this Hiero had the same name as the son of Dinomenes,

and was like him Tyrant of Syracuse. And the inhabitants of Pale, one

of the four tribes in Cephallenia, set up a statue to Timoptolis of

Elis the son of Lampis. These people of Pale were originally called

Dulichii. There is also a statue of Archidamus the son of Agesilaus,

and a man like a hunter. And the statues of Demetrius, who led an army

against Seleucus and was taken prisoner in the battle, and of Antigonus

the son of Demetrius, were let any one know votive offerings of the

Byzantians. And the Spartan Eutelidas had two victories for wrestling

among the boys in the 308th Olympiad, and a third in the pentathlum: at

that time the boys were called on first, and last in the pentathlum.

And there is an ancient statue of Eutelidas, the writing on the base is

obscure through lapse of time. And next to Eutelidas is another one of

Areus, the king of the Lacedæmonians, and next him Gorgus of Elis, who

is the only man up to my day who had four victories at Olympia in the

pentathlum, and one victory for the double course, and one for the race

in heavy armour.

And the person by whom some boys are standing is they say Ptolemy the

son of Lagus, and next him are two statues of Caprus of Elis, the son

of Pythagoras, who won on the same day for the first time on record

prizes for wrestling and the pancratium. I have already shown how

successful he was against Clitomachus in the pancratium, and he beat in

wrestling Pæanius of Elis, who had carried off the prize for wrestling

in former Olympiads, and had been crowned in the Pythian games on the

same day for boxing among boys, and for wrestling and boxing among men.

CHAPTER XVI.

Caprus won his victories not without great effort and mighty energy:

and Anauchidas and Pherenicus, who were natives of Elis, had statues at

Olympia, and won prizes for wrestling among the boys. And the Thespians

erected the statue of Plistænus, the son of Eurydamus, who was the

general of the Ætolians against the Galati. And Tydeus of Elis erected

statues to Antigonus, the father of Demetrius, and to Seleucus. And

the name of Seleucus was noised abroad among all men on other accounts

but chiefly for his capture of Demetrius. And Timon won victories in

the pentathlum in all the Greek games but the Isthmian (for like all

the other men of Elis he was shut out of competition in them), and

the inscription on his statue mentions this further particular about

him, that he took part in the expedition of the Ætolians against the

Thessalians, and out of friendship to the Ætolians was leader of the

garrison at Naupactus. And not far from the statue of Timon are statues

of Greece and Elis in juxtaposition: Greece with one hand crowning

Antigonus, the Regent for Philip the son of Demetrius, and with the

other Philip himself; and Elis crowning Demetrius, who marched against

Seleucus, and Ptolemy the son of Lagus.

And the inscription on his statue states that Aristides of Elis won

a victory in heavy armour at Olympia, and in the double course in the

Pythian games, and as a boy in the horse-race at Nemea. The length of

the horse-race is twice the double course. This race, which had fallen

into desuetude at the Nemean and Isthmian games, was restored by the

Emperor Adrian to the Argives at the winter games at Nemea.

And next to the statue of Aristides is Menalcas of Elis, who was

proclaimed victor at Olympia in the pentathlum, and Philonides the

son of Zotus, who was from the Cretan Chersonese, and the courier of

Alexander the son of Philip. And next is Brimias of Elis, who beat

all the men in boxing, and the statue of Leonidas from Naxos in the

Ægæan, the votive offering of the Psophidian Arcadians, and the statue

of Asamon who beat all the men in boxing, and that of Nicander, who

had two victories at Olympia in the double course, and six at Nemea

for racing generally. Asamon and Nicander were both natives of Elis,

and the statue of the latter was by Daippus, that of the former by

the Messenian Pyrilampes. There are statues also to Eualcidas of Elis

and Seleadas the Lacedæmonian, the former was victor among the boys

in boxing, the latter in wrestling among the men. Here too is the

small chariot of the Lacedæmonian Polypithes, and on the same pillar

Calliteles (the father of Polypithes) the wrestler, who won victories

by his wrestling, as Polypithes by his horses. And the statues of some

private individuals of Elis, as Lampus the son of Arniscus, and the

son of Aristarchus, were erected by the Psophidian Arcadians, either

because they were their Consuls, or were otherwise friendly to them.

And between them is Lysippus of Elis, who beat all boys who contended

with him in wrestling, his statue is by Andreas the Argive.

And the Lacedæmonian Dinosthenes won a victory over men at Olympia

in the course, and set up a pillar in Altis next to his statue: the

distance from this pillar by road to another pillar at Lacedæmon is 660

stades. And Theodorus, who was victor in the pentathlum, and Pyttalus,

the son of Lampis, who beat all the boys in boxing, and Nicolaidas, who

carried off the victory in the course and in the race in heavy armour,

were let any one know natives of Elis. As to Pyttalus they record

still further that, when there was a dispute between the Arcadians and

the men of Elis about their borders, he was made the arbitrator. His

statue is by the Olynthian Sthennis. And next is a statue of Ptolemy on

horseback, and by him the athlete of Elis Pæanius the son of Demetrius,

who won one prize for wrestling at Olympia, and two in the Pythian

games. There too is Clearetus of Elis, who won in the pentathlum, and

the chariot of the Athenian Glaucon (the son of Eteocles), who was

proclaimed victor in the chariot race with a full-grown horse.

CHAPTER XVII.

What I have just mentioned are the most notable things as you approach

Altis, but, if you go on the right from the monument of Leonidas to

the great altar, you will behold the following memorable objects.

There are statues of Democrates of Tenedos and Criannius of Elis, the

latter victor in the contest in heavy armour, the former in wrestling

among men. The statue of Democrates is by the Milesian Dionysicles,

that of Criannius by the Macedonian Lysus. And the Clazomenian

Herodotus, and the Coan Philinus, the son of Hegepolis, have statues

erected to them by their native cities, to Herodotus because he was

the first Clazomenian pronounced victor (his victory was among boys in

the course), and to Philinus because of his renown, for he had five

victories in running at Olympia, and four in the Pythian games, four

in the Nemean, and eleven in the Isthmian. And the statue of Ptolemy,

the son of Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, was the offering of Aristolaus a

Macedonian. There is also a statue of a boxer who was victorious over

boys, Butas the Milesian, the son of Polynices, and Callicrates from

Magnesia near the river Lethæus, who won two victories in the race

in heavy armour. His statue is by Lysippus. And there are statues of

Emaution and Alexibius, the former victor in the course for boys, the

latter in the pentathlum. Heræa in Arcadia was the native place of

Alexibius and his statue is by Acestor, where Emaution came from the

inscription does not state, it only declares he was an Arcadian. And

the Colophonians Hermesianax the son of Agoneus, and Icasius the son of

Lycinus by the daughter of Hermesianax, beat all the boys in wrestling,

and Hermesianax had his statue erected by the Colophonian community.

Next to these are natives of Elis that beat all the boys in boxing,

Chœrilus by the Olynthian Sthennis, and Theotimus by the Sicyonian

Dætondas. Theotimus was the son of Moschion, who joined Alexander

the son of Philip in his expedition against Darius and the Persians.

And next are two from Elis again, Archidamus who conquered in the

four-horse-race, and Eperastus (the son of Theogonus) who was victor

in the race in heavy armour. And Eperastus states that he was a seer,

and descended from the family of the Clytidæ, at the close of the

inscription on his statue.

“I boast to be a seer of the family of the holy-mouthed Clytidæ, of

the blood of the godlike descendants of Melampus.”

Mantius was the father of Œcles, and the son of Melampus the son of

Amythaon. And Clytius was the son of Alcmæon, the son of Amphiaraus

the son of Œcles. And Alcmæon was father of Clytius by the daughter of

Phegeus, and he changed his residence to Elis, objecting to live with

his mother’s brothers, because he knew that they had contrived the

murder of Alcmæon.

And there are some statues interspersed among some not very

remarkable votive offerings, as Alexinicus of Elis (by the Sicyonian

Cantharus), who won a wrestling prize among the boys, and Gorgias

of Leontini, whose statue was placed at Olympia by Eumolpus,

great-grandson of Deicrates who had married Gorgias’ sister. So

Eumolpus himself tells us. This Gorgias was the son of Carmantides, and

is said to have been the first to have practised Rhetoric, which had

been altogether neglected and nearly come into desuetude among men. And

they say Gorgias was famous for his eloquence at the public festival at

Olympia, and went with Tisias on an embassy to the Athenians. Tisias

too contributed something to oratory, and most plausibly did he plead

in the case of a Syracusan woman touching some money, but Gorgias

had still greater fame among the Athenians, and Jason the tyrant in

Thessaly put him above Polycrates, who had the highest renown in the

schools at Athens. And they say Gorgias lived 105 years. And the town

of Leontini, which was dispeopled by the Syracusans, was in my day

colonized again.

CHAPTER XVIII.

And there is the brazen chariot of Cratisthenes of Cyrene, and Victory

and Cratisthenes on the chariot. Plainly then he won his victory in the

chariot race. There is a tradition also that he was the son of Mnaseas

the runner, who was surnamed by the Greeks Libyan. And these votive

offerings to him at Olympia are by Pythagoras of Rhegium.

Here too I found the statue of Anaximenes, who wrote a History of

all Antiquities in Greece, and of the exploits of Philip the son of

Amyntas, and afterwards of Alexander. This honour in Olympia he owed to

the people of Lampsacus: for the following is recorded about him. He

got round Alexander, who was by no means a mild king but excessively

passionate, by the following contrivance. The people of Lampsacus

having espoused the cause of the king of the Persians, or being thought

to have done so by Alexander, he boiled over in anger against them and

threatened them with the most condign chastisement. And they in all

haste sent Anaximenes to supplicate for their wives and children and

country, as he had been well known to Alexander and earlier still to

Philip. And Anaximenes went to Alexander, who had learnt the motive

of his errand, and had sworn they say by all the gods that he would

do exactly contrary to what he entreated. Then Anaximenes said, “O

King oblige me with this favour, enslave the women and children at

Lampsacus, and raze the whole town to its foundations, and burn the

temples of the gods.” This is what he said, and Alexander having no

contrivance to meet his cunning, and being compelled by his oath, very

unwillingly pardoned the people of Lampsacus. Anaximenes seems also

to have known how to punish an enemy very cleverly and exemplarily.

He was naturally a sophist and a very good imitator of the arguments

of the sophists. And having a quarrel with Theopompus, the son of

Damasistratus, he wrote a book full of abuse against the Athenians

and Lacedæmonians and Thebans. And as he had imitated his style very

accurately, and put the name of Theopompus on the title page, and

distributed the book about in various towns, though he himself was

really the writer, general odium was stirred up throughout Greece

against Theopompus. Nor did any one earlier than Anaximenes practise

extempore oratory. But I cannot think that he was author of the verses

about Alexander that run in his name.

And Sotades, (who was proclaimed a Cretan, as indeed he was), won

the prize in the long course in the 99th Olympiad, but in the next

Olympiad, being bribed by the Ephesian people, he registered himself as

an Ephesian, and the Cretans exiled him for it.

And the first athletes who had effigies at Olympia were Praxidamas

the Æginetan, who won the prize for boxing in the 59th Olympiad, and

the Opuntian Rhexibius, who won the prize in the pancratium in the 61st

Olympiad. And their effigies are made of wood, Rhexibius’ of figwood,

and the Æginetan’s of cypress. This last has suffered less than the

other.

CHAPTER XIX.

And there is in Altis a base of tufa stone to the North of the temple

of Hera, at its back is the mountain of Cronos. On this base are

treasuries such as some of the Greeks have made for Apollo at Delphi.

There is a treasury at Olympia called the treasury of the Sicyonians,

the votive offering of Myron the King of the Sicyonians. It was

constructed by Myron after his chariot victory in the 33rd Olympiad.

In this treasury he constructed two chambers, one of Doric the other

of Ionic architecture. I myself have seen them: they are of brass: but

whether the brass comes from Tartessus, according to the tradition of

the people of Elis, I do not know. The river Tartessus is they say in

the country of the Iberes, and has two outlets to the sea, and there

is a town of the same name that lies between the outlets of the river.

And it is the largest river in Iberia, and in later times was called

Bætis from its ebb and flow. And the Iberes who inhabit the town of

Carpia believe that their town was originally called Tartessus. And

on the smaller of the two chambers at Olympia there are inscriptions,

one on the lintel stating that there are 500 talents there, another

as to the givers of the votive offering, stating that they were Myron

and the people of the Sicyonians. In this treasury there are three

quoits, which they use in the contest for the pentathlum. And there

is a brazen shield curiously painted inside, and helmet and greaves

to match. And there is an inscription on this armour that they are an

offering to Zeus from the Myanes. As to who these Myanes were different

people have different ideas. I remember that Thucydides in his account

of the Locrians near Phocis mentions several towns, among others the

Myones.[79] These Myanes on the shield are in my opinion the same as

the Myones in the Locrian mainland: and the letters on the shield are

a little worn away, in consequence of its great antiquity. There are

also here several other curious articles, as the sword of Pelops with

golden hilt, and the horn of Amalthea in ivory, the votive offering

of Miltiades the son of Cimon, who was the first of his family that

reigned in the Thracian Chersonese: and this is the inscription on the

horn in old Athenian letters,

“I was offered to Zeus by the warriors that took the fort of Aratus

on the Chersonese: their leader was Miltiades.”

There is also a statue of Apollo made of boxwood with the head gilt:

the inscription states that it was a votive offering of the Locrians

at the promontory of Zephyrium, and by Patrocles of Croton, the son of

Catillus.

And next to the treasury of the Sicyonians is that of the

Carthaginians, constructed by Pothæus and Antiphilus and Megacles.

And the votive offerings in it are a huge Zeus and three linen

breastplates, presented by Gelon and the Syracusans who beat the

Phœnicians either on land or sea.

And the third and fourth treasuries are the votive offering of the

people of Epidamnus. They contain the world upheld by Atlas, and

Hercules and the apple tree in the garden of the Hesperides with the

dragon coiled round it, carved in cedar-wood, the carving of Theocles

(the son of Hegylus) who says his son joined him in the carving of

the world. And the Hesperides, which were removed by the people of

Elis, were in my time in the temple of Hera. And Pyrrhus and his sons

Lacrates and Hermon made this treasury for the people of Epidamnus.

The people of Sybaris also built a treasury next to that of the

people of Byzantium. Those who have inquired most carefully into the

history of Italy and its towns say that Lupiæ, which lies between

Brundisium and Hydrus, has changed its name, and was originally called

Sybaris. And the haven for ships was made by navvies in the reign of

the Emperor Adrian.

And next to the treasury of the people of Sybaris is the treasury

of the Libyans at Cyrene, containing statues of the Roman kings. The

Carthaginians expelled the Selinuntian Siceliotes in war, but before

that disaster happened to them, they had got together the treasury for

Zeus at Olympia. Dionysus is there with his face toes and hands of

ivory.

And in the treasury of the people of Metapontum, which is next to

that of the Selinuntians, is a statue of Endymion, all ivory but the

dress. The cause of the ruin of Metapontum I do not know, but in my

time nothing but the theatre and walls round the town was left. The

Megarians also near Attica have a treasury and votive offerings in

it, figures in cedar overlaid with gold, to represent the battle of

Hercules and Achelous. There are Zeus and Deianira and Achelous and

Hercules, and Ares is helping Achelous. And Athene stands as if in

alliance with Hercules, near the Hesperides that are now in the temple

of Hera. And on a gable of this treasury is the war between the gods

and the giants: and over the gable is a shield, which states that the

Megarians offered the treasury, after triumphing over the Corinthians.

I think they won this victory when Phorbas was Archon at Athens, who

was Archon all his life, for the Archonship was not yet a yearly

office at Athens, nor were the Olympiads registered at this period

by the people of Elis. The Argives are also said to have assisted

the Megarians against the Corinthians. This treasury at Olympia was

constructed by the Megarians some years after the battle. But the

votive offerings they probably had from old time, since they were made

by the Lacedæmonian Dontas, the pupil of Dipœnus and Scyllis. And the

last of the treasuries is near the course, and the inscription on it

states that it and its statues are the votive offerings of the people

of Gela. The statues however are no longer there.

CHAPTER XX.

Cronos’ mountain is, as I have already said, behind the base, and

extends the length of these treasuries. And on the summit of the

mountain those that are called _Basilæ_ sacrifice to Cronos at the

vernal equinox in the month of Elaphius. And at the North end of Mount

Cronos there is between the treasuries and the mountain a temple of

Ilithyia, and in it is honoured Sosipolis the tutelary deity of the

people of Elis. Ilithyia they surname the Olympian, and select annually

a priestess for her: the old priestess of Sosipolis also performs holy

rites according to the custom of the people of Elis, brings lustral

water to the goddess, and sets before her cakes kneaded with honey.

In the vestibule of the temple is the altar of Ilithyia, as also

the approach to the temple for people generally: inside Sosipolis

is honoured, and no one but the priestess of the god must enter his

sanctuary, with a white veil drawn over her head and face. And the

maidens that reside in the temple of Ilithyia and the women sing

hymns to Sosipolis, and burn incense to him, but are not accustomed

to pour libations of wine to his honour. And their most binding oath

is by Sosipolis. And it is said that, when the Arcadians invaded Elis

with an army, and the people of Elis were drawn up in battle array

against them, a woman came to the generals of Elis, with a baby boy

at her breast, saying that she was mother of the boy, and offered him

according to a dream she had had to help the people of Elis. And the

authorities, crediting the woman’s tale, put the child in the front

of the army all naked as it was. And the Arcadians commenced the

attack, and the child was changed into a dragon, and the Arcadians

were troubled at the sight and began to flee, and the people of Elis

pursued them hotly, and won a notable victory and called the god

Sosipolis. And where the dragon appeared to glide off after the battle,

they built a temple, and resolved to worship it and Ilithyia jointly,

for they thought it was she who had introduced the child into the

world. And the Arcadians who were slain in the battle have a monument

on the hill towards the west after you have crossed the Cladeus. And

near Ilithyia there are ruins of a temple of celestial Aphrodite, to

whom they sacrifice on the altars which still remain.

And inside Altis, at the processional entrance, is what is called

the Hippodamium, surrounded by a wall, occupying about an acre. This

is the entrance every year for the women, who sacrifice to Hippodamia

and perform other rites in her honour. They say Hippodamia fled to

Midea in Argolis, when Pelops was especially angry with her owing to

the death of Chrysippus: and they say that according to the oracle they

afterwards placed her remains at Olympia. And at the end of the statues

which they erected out of fines imposed on the athletes is the entrance

which they call Private. For by it the Umpires and combatants enter

the course. There is also an embankment, and seats for the managers of

the games. And opposite the Umpires is an altar of white stone, seated

on which the priestess of Demeter Chamyne watches the Olympian games,

an honour which different priestesses at different times have received

from the people of Elis, for they do not prevent maidens from seeing

the games. And at the starting-place is the tomb of Endymion, according

to the tradition of the people of Elis.

And near the place where the Umpires sit is the ground appointed

for the horse-races and the starting-place, which is in shape like

the prow of a ship with its beak turned to the course. And the prow

is broad where it joins the Portico called Agnaptus. And there is a

brazen dolphin upon a bar at the extremity of the beak. Each side of

the starting-place is more than 400 feet in length, and there are some

buildings there, which those who enter for the horse-races get by lots.

And in front of the chariots and race-horses is extended a rope as a

sort of barrier. And there is an altar of unbaked brick erected near

the middle of the beak every Olympiad, whitewashed outside. And there

is a brazen eagle on this altar with its wings stretched out wide. When

the clerk of the course touches a piece of mechanism on this altar, the

eagle is so constructed as to mount aloft so as to be visible to the

spectators, while the dolphin falls to the ground. First the ropes on

each side of the Portico called Agnaptus are slackened, and the horses

in position there start first, and run on till they come to the horses

in the second position, and then the ropes there are slackened, and

so on along the whole course where the horses are in position, till

they can all start fair at the beak. Then commences the exhibition of

the skill of the charioteers and the swiftness of the horses. Cleœtas

originally contrived this method of starting, and plumed himself upon

his invention, as we find by the inscription on his statue at Athens,

“I was made by Cleœtas the son of Aristocles, who invented at Olympia

the start for horses.”

They say too that Aristides subsequently somewhat improved the

invention.

But the other side of the Hippodrome is more extended, being also of

raised earth, and at its outlet is Taraxippus the terror of horses,

which is in the shape of a circular altar, and as the horses run past

it they are immediately seized with strong fear without any apparent

cause, and this fear generates terror, insomuch that chariots are often

smashed up, and the charioteers badly injured. And the charioteers

sacrifice to avoid this, and pray that Taraxippus will be propitious

to them. About Taraxippus the Greeks have various views; some say it

is the tomb of an Autochthon, famous for his skill with horses, whose

name was Olenius, and say that the rock Olenia in Elis was named after

him. Others say that Dameon the son of Phlius, an associate with

Hercules in the expedition against Augeas and the people of Elis, was

killed together with the horse on which he rode by Cteatus the son of

Actor, and that this is the joint tomb of Dameon and his horse. Others

say that Pelops erected here a cenotaph to Myrtilus, and sacrificed

to him to avert his anger for his murder, and named him Taraxippus,

because the horses of Œnomaus were disturbed by his contrivance. But

some say that Œnomaus himself hindered the horses in the course. And

I have heard the blame put upon Alcathous the son of Porthaon, who

was buried here after having been slain by Œnomaus as one of the

unsuccessful suitors of Hippodamia, and who, in consequence of his bad

success in the Hippodrome, has an evil eye and is a malevolent demon

to race-horses. But an Egyptian told me that Pelops received something

from Amphion and buried it on the spot called Taraxippus, and that in

consequence of what was buried there the horses of Œnomaus formerly,

and everybody’s horses since, have been terrified. This Egyptian also

thought that Amphion and the Thracian Orpheus were wonderful magicians,

and that by their charms wild beasts followed Orpheus, and stones

formed themselves into houses for Amphion. The most plausible account

however of Taraxippus seems to me that which makes it a surname of

Poseidon Hippius. There is also at the Isthmus a Taraxippus, Glaucus

the son of Sisyphus, who they say was killed by horses, when Acastus

was holding the funeral games to his father. And at Nemea in Argolis

there is no hero that terrifies horses, but there is a gleam like fire

from a red stone where the horses turn which frightens the horses. But

Taraxippus at Olympia is far the most formidable panic-inspirer in

horses. And at one of the goals there is a brazen statue of Hippodamia

with a fillet, about to bind Pelops with it for his victory.

CHAPTER XXI.

And the other part of the hippodrome is not an embankment, but a hill

of no great size, on the top of which is a temple built to Demeter

under the name of Chamyne. And some think that title of hers an ancient

one, and that the earth opened there and took in the chariot of Pluto,

and closed again. Others say that Chamynus of Pisa, (who opposed the

dominion in Pisa of Pantaleon, the son of Omphalion, and stirred the

people up to revolt from Elis), was slain by Pantaleon, and that it

was out of his property that the temple to Demeter was built. And in

lieu of the old ones new statues of Proserpine and Demeter were erected

in Pentelican marble by the Athenian Herodes. And in the gymnasium

at Olympia they practise for the pentathlum and the races. And in the

open air there is a basement of stone, and originally on the basement

there was a trophy for a victory over the Arcadians. On the left of

the entrance to the gymnasium there is a smaller enclosure where the

athletes practise wrestling. And at the Portico of the gymnasium

facing East are some buildings for the Athletes facing South and West.

And after you have crossed the river Cladeus you come to the tomb of

Œnomaus, a mound piled up with stones, and above the tomb are some

remains of buildings where they say the horses of Œnomaus were stabled.

And here are the boundaries towards Arcadia, which now belong to the

people of Elis, but formerly belonged to the people of Pisa.

After you have crossed the river Erymanthus, near the ridge called

after Saurus, is the tomb of Saurus, and a temple of Hercules, ruins

of which are to be seen in our day. Saurus they say used to molest

wayfarers and the people of the country, till he was killed by

Hercules. From the south side of the ridge called after this robber a

river falls into the Alpheus nearly opposite Erymanthus. Its name is

Diagon, and it divides the district of Pisa from Arcadia. And 40 stades

onwards from the ridge of Saurus is the temple of Æsculapius, surnamed

Demænetus from the name of the builder. It is in ruins too, and is

built on the high ground along the Alpheus. And not far from it is the

temple of Dionysus Lucyanites, hard by the river Lucyanias, which rises

in Mount Pholoe, and flows into the Alpheus. When you have crossed the

Alpheus you are in the district of Pisa.

Here you will see a hill with a steep acclivity, and on it are ruins

of the town of Phrixa, and a temple of Athene Cydonia, not in my time

in complete preservation, there is only an altar. They say Clymenus,

a descendant of Idæan Hercules, erected the temple to the goddess. He

came from Cydonia in Crete and from the river Iardanus. The people

of Elis say also that Pelops sacrificed to Athene Cydonia before his

race with Œnomaus. And as you advance a little further you come to the

river Parthenia, on whose banks the horses of Marmax are buried. The

story is that Marmax was the first suitor of Hippodamia, and that he

was slain before the rest by Œnomaus, and the names of his horses were

Parthenia and Eripha, and Œnomaus cut their throats and buried them

with their master, and the river Parthenia got its name from one of

them. There is also another river called Harpinates, and at no great

distance from it some remains of a town Harpina especially altars: they

say that Œnomaus built the town and gave it its name after his mother

Harpina.

A little further is a lofty mound of earth, the tomb of the suitors

of Hippodamia, Œnomaus did not (they say) bury them in the ground near

one another as a mark of honour, but it was Pelops subsequently who

gave them a common sepulchre, in honour to them and out of affection to

Hippodamia, and I think also as a record to posterity how many worthy

gentlemen Œnomaus had slain before he Pelops vanquished him. Indeed

according to the poem called the Great EϾ the following were killed

by Œnomaus, Alcathous the son of Porthaon next to Marmax, and next

to Alcathous Euryalus and Eurymachus and Crotalus. Their parents and

native lands I could not ascertain. But Acrias, who was killed next,

one would infer to have been a Lacedæmonian and the founder of Acriæ.

And next to Acrias Œnomaus slew Capetus and Lycurgus and Lasius and

Chalcodon and Tricolonus, who the Arcadians say was a descendant as

well as namesake of Tricolonus the son of Lycaon. And after Tricolonus

fate overtook in this fatal race Aristomachus and Prias and Pelagon and

Æolius and Cronius. Some also add to the list I have given Erythras,

the son of Leucon and grandson of Athamas, who gave his name to the

town in Bœotia called Erythræ, and Eioneus, the son of Magnes and

grandson of Æolus. Here then is the tomb of all these, and they say

Pelops offered them funeral rites every year when he was king of Pisa.

CHAPTER XXII.

And if you go about a stade forward from this tomb there are traces of

a temple of Artemis surnamed Cordace, because the attendants of Pelops

used to offer their sacrifices to the goddess there, and dance the

national dance of Sipylus called the _cordax_. And not far from the

temple is a building not very large, and in it is a brazen coffer, in

which are deposited the remains of Pelops. And there is no vestige of a

wall or any other building, but vines are planted all over the site on

which Pisa was built. The founder of the town was they say Pisus, the

son of Perieres and grandson of Æolus. And the people of Pisa brought

on their own misfortunes by making themselves objectionable to the

people of Elis, and by their desire to start the Olympian games instead

of the people of Elis, and in the 8th Olympiad they invited Phido the

Argive, the most haughty of all the Greek tyrants, and made him the

patron of the games. And in the 34th Olympiad the people of Pisa and

their king Pantaleon, the son of Omphalion, assembled together the

neighbouring people, and instituted the Olympian games instead of the

people of Elis. During these Olympiads, and also in the 104th Olympiad

which was set on foot by the Arcadians, the people of Elis kept no

register, nor do they include them in the Olympiads. And in the 48th

Olympiad Damophon the son of Pantaleon gave the people of Elis reason

to suspect that he intended to act treacherously against them, so they

invaded Pisæa, but did not at this time do any damage, because they

returned home again being persuaded by entreaties and promises. But

when Pyrrhus the son of Pantaleon succeeded his brother Damophon on the

throne, then the people of Pisa of their own accord commenced war with

the people of Elis. And the people of Macistus and Scillus in Triphylia

joined them in their revolt from the people of Elis, and of the other

neighbouring people the Dyspontii, whose relations had always been very

friendly with the people of Pisa, and whose founder Dysponteus was they

state the son of Œnomaus. And the people of Elis eventually razed Pisa

to the ground and all the towns that had assisted her in the war.

The ruins of Pylos in Elis are visible as you go over the mountains

from Olympia to Elis. And from Pylos to Elis is 80 stades’ distance.

This Pylos was built, as I have already mentioned, by the Megarian

Pylon the son of Cleson. And being destroyed by Hercules, and once

again peopled by the people of Elis, it was destined once more to

lack inhabitants. Near it the river Ladon flows into the Peneus. And

the people of Elis say that it is about this Pylos that the lines of

Homer[80] are.

“He derived his origin from the river Alpheus, which flows in broad

volume through the territory of Pylos.”

And they persuaded me by what they said, for the Alpheus flows

through this district, and the lines cannot refer to the other Pylos.

For by the Pylos near the island Sphacteria the Alpheus does not flow

at all, nor do we know of any town in Arcadia formerly called Pylos.

And about 50 stades from Olympia is the village belonging to Elis

called Heraclea, and near it is the river Cytherus. There is a well

that flows into the river, and there is a temple to the Nymphs by the

well. And the proper names of these Nymphs individually are Calliphæa

and Synallaxis and Pegæa and Iasis, and collectively Ionides. And

people bathing in this well get cured from pains and aches of all

kinds. And they say the Nymphs got their name Ionides from Ion, the son

of Gargettus, who migrated to this place from Athens.

But if you wish to go to Elis through the plain, it is 120 stades

to Letrini, and 180 from Letrini to Elis. Letrini was a small town

originally founded by Letreus the son of Pelops, but now there are

only a few buildings, and a temple and statue of Alphean Artemis. They

give the following legend to account for the goddess being called

Alphean. Alpheus they say was deeply in love with her, and when he

found he could not marry her for all his wooing and vows, he had the

boldness to try and force her, and went to a nightly revel at Letrini,

which was to be held by her and the Nymphs with whom she associated

in sport: and she, suspecting his plot, smeared with mud her own face

and the faces of all the Nymphs present, and so Alpheus when he got

there could not distinguish her from the Nymphs, and accordingly had to

depart without effecting his object. So the people of Letrini called

the goddess Alphean from Alpheus’ passion for her. And the people of

Elis, for they had an ancient friendship for the people of Letrini, say

that they borrowed their worship of the Elaphiæan Artemis from them,

and used to perform rites to her as Alphea, but in process of time the

name Elaphiæa prevailed. But in my opinion the people of Elis called

Artemis Elaphiæa from her love of hunting deer: but their own tradition

is that Elaphius was the name of a woman who was Artemis’ nurse. And

about six stades beyond Letrini is a perennial lake about three stades

in diameter.

CHAPTER XXIII.

And the notable things in Elis are an old gymnasium, in which before

they go to Olympia the athletes go through all the customary training.

There are some lofty plane-trees inside a wall growing all along the

course, and the whole enclosure is called Colonnade, because Hercules

the son of Amphitryon used to exercise there, and all the thorns and

weeds that grew there were plucked up every day. There is a course

called by the people of the place sacred, set apart for the races,

and there is another course where they practise for the races and the

pentathlum. There is also in the gymnasium a place called Plethrium,

where the Umpires pit the athletes together according to their ages or

difference in their training, and put them to wrestling to test their

capacities. And there are in the gymnasium altars to some of the gods,

as Idæan Hercules under the title of Champion, and Eros, and the god

whom the Athenians and people of Elis alike call Anteros, and Demeter

and Proserpine. There is no altar to Achilles, but he has a cenotaph

in accordance with an oracle. And at the commencement of the general

festival on a given day, when the sun begins to set, the women of Elis

among other rites in honour of Achilles are wont to wail and strike the

breast.

And there is another enclosure, smaller than the gymnasium but

adjacent to it, which they call from its shape the Square. And here

the athletes practise their wrestling, and here they test the athletes

who are past wrestling, sometimes even applying blows with mild whips.

And one of the statues is erected here, which were made of Zeus out

of the fine-money of Sosander of Smyrna and Polyctor of Elis. There

is also a third enclosure used as a gymnasium, which is called Maltho

from the softness of its floor, and this is given up to the lads all

the time the general festival lasts. And in a corner of Maltho there

is a statue of Hercules, merely the head and shoulders, and in one

of the wrestling-places is a figure of Eros and Anteros, Eros has a

branch of palm which Anteros is trying to take away. And on each side

of the entrance to Maltho is the statue of a boy-boxer, and the Custos

Rotulorum at Elis says that it is a native of Alexandria above the

island Pharos, called Serapion, who came to Elis and gave the people

food when they were short of corn. That was why he received these

honours: and the date when he received the crown at Olympia, and did

this kindness to the people at Elis, was the 217th Olympiad. In this

gymnasium the people of Elis also have a council chamber, where they

practise extempore rhetoric, and submit all kinds of writings to public

criticism: it is called Lalichmium from the name of its originator.

And round it are some shields hung up, well worth seeing, not made for

purposes of war, but simply for ornament.

You go from the gymnasium to the baths by the street called Silence

near the temple of Artemis the Lover of Youths. The goddess was so

called from her proximity to the gymnasium. And the street was called

Silence from the following circumstance. Some men in the army of Oxylus

being sent forward to reconnoitre Elis, and having cheered one another

on the road, when they got near the walls, passed round the word for

silence, and to listen if they could hear any sound within the town,

and so stole into the town without being observed by this street, and

returned again to Ætolia after having got the wished for intelligence.

And the street received its name from the silence of these spies.

CHAPTER XXIV.

Another way out of the gymnasium leads to the market-place, and to what

is called the Umpires’ Hall beyond the tomb of Achilles, and it is by

this way that the Umpires are accustomed to enter the gymnasium. And

they enter the gymnasium to pit together the runners before the sun

gets too powerful, and at noon they call the competitors together for

the pentathlum and the arduous contests.

And the market-place at Elis is not like that of the Ionians, or of

the Greek cities in Ionia, but is built after a more antique type,

with porticoes and streets at regular intervals. And the name of the

market-place in our day is Hippodrome, and there the people of the

place exercise their horses. The architecture of the portico facing

South is Doric, and it is divided into 3 portions by pillars: it is

there that the Umpires mostly spend the day. And there are altars

erected to Zeus, and several other altars in the open air in the

market-place, and they are easily removed as they are only improvised

altars. And at the end of this portico, on the left as you go to the

market-place, is the Umpires’ Hall, and a street separates it from the

market-place. In this Umpires’ Hall those who are chosen as Umpires

live ten months together, and are instructed by the Custodes Rotulorum

in all things that appertain to the games. And near the portico where

the Umpires spend the day is another portico, called the Corcyræan,

and a street runs between the two porticoes. It was so called because

when the Corcyræans invaded Elis in their ships, the people of Elis

they say drove them off and took much booty from them, and built their

portico with a tenth of the spoil. And the architecture of the portico

is Doric: it has a double row of pillars, one towards the market-place,

the other in the opposite direction. In the middle are no pillars,

but a wall supports the roof, and there are statues on either side

of this wall. And at the end of the portico near the market-place is

a statue of Pyrrho the son of the Sophist Pistocrates, who had great

persuasiveness on any topic. Pyrrho’s tomb is at no great distance from

Elis, at a place called Petra, an old hamlet according to tradition.

And the people of Elis have in the open air near the market-place a

most noble temple and statue of Apollo the Healer. This would probably

be much the same title as his Athenian title of Averter of Evil.[81]

And on another side are stone statues to the Sun and Moon, she has

horns on her head, he has his beams. There is also a temple to the

Graces, and their wooden statues, their dresses gilt, and their heads

hands and feet of white marble, and one of them holds a rose, the

second dice, and the third a small branch of myrtle. The meaning of

which things we may conjecture thus. The rose and myrtle are sacred to

Aphrodite, and have a place in the legend of Adonis, and the Graces

have most intimate connection with Aphrodite: and dice are playthings

of striplings and maidens, who have not yet lost all grace through

old age. And on the right of the Graces is a statue of Eros on the

same pedestal. There is also there a temple of Silenus, dedicated to

Silenus alone, and not in common to him and Dionysus, and Drunkenness

is filling his cup. That the Sileni are mortal we should infer from

their tombs, for there is the tomb of one Silenus in the country of

the Hebrews, and of another at Pergamum.[82] And in the market-place

the people of Elis have the following remarkable thing, which I have

myself seen, in the shape of a temple. It is no great height, and has

no walls, and the roof is supported by pillars made of oak. The people

of the country say that it is a monument, but whose they do not record,

but if the account of the old man whom I asked be correct, it would be

the monument of Oxylus. There is also in the market-place a room for

the 16 matrons, where they weave the shawl for Hera.[83]

CHAPTER XXV.

And next the market-place is an ancient temple, a colonnade with

pillars all round. The roof is fallen in with age, and there is no

statue remaining. It was dedicated to the Roman Emperors.

And behind the Corcyræan Portico is a temple of Aphrodite, and a

grove in the open air sacred to her, not far from the temple. The

statue of the goddess in the temple is called Celestial Aphrodite, and

is by Phidias in ivory and gold, she has one foot on a tortoise. Her

grove is surrounded by a wall, and inside the grove is a basement on

which is a brazen statue by Scopas of the Pandemian Aphrodite sitting

on a brazen he-goat. The meaning of the tortoise and he-goat I leave my

readers to guess.

And the sacred precincts and temple of Pluto (for the people of Elis

have both) are opened once every year, but no one may enter them even

then but the sacrificing priest. And as far as we know the men of Elis

are the only ones that honour Pluto, for the following reason. When

Hercules led an army against Pylos in Elis they say Athene cooperated

with him. Then it was that Pluto came and helped the people of Pylos

out of hostility to Hercules, and was accordingly honoured at Pylos.

And they cite as their witness Homer’s lines in the Iliad.[84]

“Mighty Pluto also endured the swift arrow, when this man, the son of

Ægis-bearing Zeus, wounded him at Pylos, and gave him pain among the

dead.”

Nor if in the expedition of Agamemnon and Menelaus against Ilium

Poseidon, according to the tradition of Homer, helped the Greeks,

was it against probability that Pluto should have helped the people

of Pylos in the opinion of the same poet. Anyway the people of Elis

erected this temple to Pluto as being friendly to them and hostile to

Hercules. And once every year they are accustomed to open the temple to

indicate, I think, that men once descend to Pluto’s gloomy realm. The

people of Elis have also a temple to Fortune, and in the portico of

this temple is a huge statue of wood, gilt all over except the head the

hands and the toes, which are of white marble. Here too Sosipolis is

honoured on the left of Fortune, in a rather small shrine: represented,

according to the appearance of him seen in a dream, as a boy with a

particoloured cloak on covered with stars, and in one of his hands the

horn of Amalthea.

And in that part of the town where the people of Elis have most of

their population, there is a statue not larger than life of a beardless

man, who has his feet crossed, and leans against his spear with both

his hands, his dress is of wool and linen and flax. This statue is said

to be of Poseidon, and was worshipped of old at Samicum in Triphylia.

And it was honoured even still more when removed to Elis, and they give

it the name of Satrapes and not Poseidon, having learnt this name from

their neighbours at Patræ. And Satrapes is the surname of Corybas.

CHAPTER XXVI.

And the old theatre between the market-place and the temple of the

goddess Mene is the theatre and temple of Dionysus, the statue of the

god is by Praxiteles. And of all the gods the people of Elis honour

Dionysus most, and say that he frequents their festival in his honour

called the Thyia, a festival which they celebrate about 8 stades from

the city. The priests deposit 3 empty flagons in the chapel, in the

presence of the citizens and strangers who may chance to be at the

feast, and the priests themselves or any others who like seal the doors

of the chapel. And the next day they come to the chapel to observe the

miracle, and on entering find the flagons full of wine. Those held in

the highest repute at Elis, and strangers as well, have sworn that this

is as I have said, I was not myself there at the time of the festival.

The people of Andros also say that annually at the feast of Dionysus

wine flows spontaneously from the temple. If one can believe the

Greeks in this matter, one might equally credit the tradition of the

Ethiopians beyond Syene as to the Table of the Sun.

And in the citadel at Elis is a temple of Athene, her statue is of

ivory and gold, and said to be by Phidias, and on her helmet is a cock,

because that bird is said to be most pugnacious, or perhaps because it

is sacred to Athene the Worker.

And about 120 stades from Elis is Cyllene, which faces Sicily, and is

a fine harbour for ships. The dockyard belongs to the people of Elis

but got its name from an Arcadian. Homer has not mentioned Cyllene in

his Catalogue of the people of Elis, but subsequently in the Iliad

shews that he knew that there was such a town as Cyllene.

“And Polydamas killed Otus of Cyllene, the companion of Phyleides,

the leader of the brave Epeans.”[85]

The gods who have temples in Cyllene are Æsculapius and Aphrodite.

Hermes also has an Ithyphallic statue, which the natives pay

extravagant honour to.

The country of Elis is fertile in fruits of all kinds but especially

in flax. As to hemp and flax all sow them whose land is favourable to

their growth. But the threads which the Seres make their garments of

are not from any plant, but are produced in the following manner. There

is an insect on the earth which the Greeks called Ser, but the Seres

give it another name. Its size is about double that of the largest

beetle, and in other respects it is like the spiders that weave their

webs under trees, and has also 8 feet like spiders. These insects the

Seres breed, and put summer and winter into little domiciles specially

constructed for them. And what these insects produce is a slender

thread, which rolls round their feet. For 4 years they feed them on

grain, and in the fifth year (for they know they will not live longer)

they give them green reed to eat. This food is the most agreeable of

all to this insect, and when it has taken its fill of this it bursts

from repletion. And when it is dead they find the thread in its inside.

It is well-known that the island Seria is in the Red Sea. But I have

heard that it is not the Red Sea, but a river called the Ser that makes

this island, just as in Egypt the Delta is formed by the Nile and not

by sea. Such a kind of island is Seria. The Seres are of Ethiopian

race, and so are those that inhabit the neighbouring islands Abasa and

Sacæa. Some however say that they are not Ethiopians but a cross-breed

of Scythians and Indians. Such are the various traditions.

As you go from Elis to Achaia it is about 127 stades to the river

Larisus, which is in our day the boundary between Elis and Achaia, but

in ancient times the boundary was the promontory Araxus near the sea.

FOOTNOTES:

[76] This proverb means _to play fast and loose_, _to be a turn-coat_,

_a Vicar of Bray_. The best illustration is Cicero _ad Fam._ vii. 29.

“Noli hanc epistolam Attico ostendere: sine eum errare et putare me

virum bonum esse nec solere duo parietes de eadem fidelia dealbare.”

See also Erasmus’ _Adagia_.

[77] The passage referred to is Iliad, vi. 407.

[78] See Book v., ch. 9.

[79] Thucyd. iii. 101.

[80] Iliad, v. 544, 545.

[81] See Book i. ch. 3.

[82] One might also infer the same from the fate of Marsyas.

[83] See Book v. ch. 16.

[84] v. 395-397.

[85] Iliad, xv. 518, 519.

INDEX

(_The number in Roman Notation is the number of the Book, the number in

Arabic Notation the number of the Chapter._)

Achelous, a river in Ætolia, iv. 34; viii. 24. Its contest with

Hercules, iii. 18; vi. 19. Father of Callirhoe, viii. 24, of the

Sirens, ix. 34, of Castalia, x. 8.

Acheron, a river in Thesprotia, i. 17; v. 14; x. 28.

Achilles, i. 22; iii. 18, 19, 24.

Acichorius, a general of the Galati, x. 19, 22, 23.

Acrisius, son of Abas, ii. 16. Husband of Eurydice, iii. 13.

Constructs a brazen chamber for his daughter Danae, ii. 23; x. 5.

Killed unintentionally by his grandson Perseus, ii. 16.

Actæa, the ancient name of Attica, i. 2.

Actæon, son of Aristæus, ix. 2; x. 17, 30.

Addison, ii. 20, Note.

Adonis, ii. 20; ix. 29.

Adrian, the Roman Emperor, i. 3, 18, 44; ii. 3, 17; vi. 16, 19; viii.

8, 10, 11, 22. His love for, and deification of, Antinous, viii. 9.

Adriatic sea, viii. 54.

Adultery, iv. 20; ix. 36.

Ægialus, afterwards Achaia, v. 1; vii. 1, where see Note.

Ægina, the daughter of Asopus, ii. 5, 29; v. 22; x. 13.

Ægina, the island, ii. 29, 30.

Ægisthus, i. 22; ii. 16, 18.

Ægos-potamoi, iii. 8, 11, 17, 18; iv. 17; ix. 32; x. 9.

Æneas, the son of Anchises, ii. 21, 23; iii. 22; v. 22; viii. 12; x.

17, 26.

Æschylus, the son of Euphorion, i. 2, 14, 21, 28; ii. 13, 20, 24;

viii. 6, 37; ix. 22; x. 4.

Æsculapius, the son of Apollo, ii. 10, 26, 27, 29; iii. 23; vii. 23;

viii. 25. His temples, i. 21; ii. 10, 13, 23; iii. 22, 26; iv. 30,

31; vii. 21, 23, 27; viii. 25.

Æsymnetes, vii. 19, 20.

Æthra, wife of Phalanthus, her love for her husband, x. 10.

Ætna, its craters, how prophetic, iii. 23. Eruption of Ætna, x. 28.

Agamemnon, i. 43; ii. 6, 18; iii. 9; vii. 24; ix. 40. His tomb, ii.

16; iii. 19.

Ageladas, an Argive statuary, iv. 33; vi. 8, 10, 14; vii. 24; viii.

42; x. 10.

Aglaus of Psophis, happy all his life, viii. 24.

Ajax, the son of Oileus, his violation of Cassandra, i. 15; x. 26, 31.

Ajax, the son of Telamon, i. 5, 35; v. 19.

Alcæus, vii. 20; x. 8.

Alcamenes, a statuary, a contemporary of Phidias, i. 8, 19, 20, 24;

ii. 30; v. 10; viii. 9; ix. 11.

Alcmæon, son of Amphiaraus, the murderer of his mother Eriphyle, i.

34; v. 17; viii. 24.

Alcman, the poet, i. 41; iii. 18, 26.

Alcmena, the daughter of Amphiaraus and Eriphyle, and wife of

Amphitryon, deceived by Zeus, v. 18. Hated by Hera, ix. 11. Mother

of Hercules, v. 14.

Alcyone, the daughter of Atlas, ii. 30; iii. 18; ix. 22.

Alexander, son of Alexander the Great by Roxana, i. 6; ix. 7.

Alexander the Great, i. 9; v. 21; vii. 5; ix. 23, 25. Said by the

Macedonians to be the son of Ammon, iv. 14. Very passionate, vi.

18. Tradition about his death, viii. 18. Buried at Memphis, i. 6.

His corpse removed thence by Ptolemy, i. 7. Statues of him, i. 9;

v. 25; vi. 11. Cassander’s hatred of him, ix. 7.

Alexandria, v. 21; viii. 33.

Alpheus, a river in Pisa, iii. 8; v. 7; vi. 22. Enamoured of Artemis,

vi. 22; of Arethusa, v. 7. Women may not cross the Alpheus on

certain days, v. 6. Leucippus lets his hair grow to the Alpheus,

viii. 20.

Altars, v. 13, 14; vi. 20, 24; ix. 3, 11.

Althæa, daughter of Thestius and mother of Meleager, viii. 45; x. 31.

Altis (a corruption of ἄλσος, grove), v. 10, 11, 14, 15, 27.

Amaltheæ cornu, iv. 30; vi. 19, 25; vii. 26. (Cornu copiæ.)

Amazons, i. 15, 41; iii. 25; iv. 31; vi. 2.

Amber, native and otherwise, v. 12.

Ambraciotes, v. 23; x. 18.

Ammon, iii. 18, 21; iv. 14, 23; v. 15; vi. 8; viii. 11, 32; ix. 16;

x. 13.

Amphiaraus, i. 34; ii. 13, 23; ix. 8, 19.

Amphictyones, vii. 24; x. 2, 8, 15, 19.

Amphion and Zethus, sons of Antiope, ii. 6; ix. 5, 17; x. 32.

Amphion, ii. 21; vi. 20; ix. 5, 8, 16, 17.

Anacharsis, i. 22.

Anacreon of Teos, a friend of Polycrates, i. 2. The first erotic poet

after Sappho, i. 25.

Anaximenes, his ruse with Alexander the Great, &c., vi. 18.

Ancæus, the son of Lycurgus, viii. 4, 45.

Androgeos, i. 1, 27.

Andromache, the wife of Hector, x. 25.

Androtion, vi. 7; x. 8.

Angelion and Tectæus, statuaries and pupils of Dipœnus and Scyllis,

ii. 32; ix. 35.

Antæus, ix. 11.

Antalcidas, Peace of, ix. 1, 13.

Antenor, x. 26, 27.

Anteros, i. 30; vi. 23.

Anticlea, the mother of Odysseus, x. 29.

Anticyra, famous for hellebore, originally called Cyparissus, x. 36.

Antigone, ix. 25.

Antimachus, the poet, viii. 25; ix. 35.

Antinous, viii. 9. See also Adrian.

Antioch, the capital of Syria, viii. 29.

Antiochus, the pilot of Alcibiades, iii. 17; ix. 32.

Antiope, the Amazon, i. 2, 41.

Antiope, the mother of Zethus and Amphion, i. 38; ii. 6; ix. 17, 25;

x. 32.

Antiphanes, an Argive statuary, v. 17; x. 9.

Antipœnus, heroism of his daughters Androclea and Alcis, ix. 17.

Antonine, the Emperor, called by the Romans Pius, viii. 43. His son

and successor Antonine, viii. 43.

Anytus, one of the Titans, viii. 37.

Aphidna, i. 17, 41; ii. 22; iii. 17, 18.

Aphrodite, Anadyomene, ii. 1; v. 11. Mother of Priapus, according to

the people of Lampsacus, ix. 31. The tutelary saint of the men of

Cnidus, i. 1. Ancient temple of her and Adonis in common in Cyprus,

ix. 41. Her clients, ii. 34; ix. 38. Her statue by Dædalus, ix.

40. The myrtle in connection with her, vi. 24. The Celestial and

Pandemian Aphrodite, vi. 25; ix. 16. (The Latin _Venus_.)

Apis, the Egyptian god, i. 18; vii. 22.

Apollo, helps Alcathous, i. 42. Herds the cattle of Laomedon, vii.

20. Inventor of the lute, iii. 24; v. 14; viii. 31. Jealous of

Leucippus, viii. 20. Jealous of Linus, ix. 29. His altar in common

with Hermes, v. 14. See also Delphi.

Aratus of Soli, i. 2.

Aratus of Sicyon, ii. 8, 9; viii. 10, 52.

Ardalus, the son of Hephaæstus, inventor of the flute, ii. 31.

Ares, the Latin _Mars_, charged with murder, i. 21, 28.

Areopagus, i. 28; iv. 5.

Arethusa, v. 7; vii. 24; viii. 53.

Argiope, a Nymph, mother of Thamyris by Philammon, iv. 33.

Argo, the famous ship, vii. 26; ix. 32.

Argonauts, vii. 4.

Argos, ii. 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24; vii. 17.

Ariadne, i. 20, 22; x. 29.

Aricia, the people of, their tradition about Hippolytus, ii. 27.

Arimaspians, i. 24, 31.

Arion, the horse, viii. 25.

Arion and the dolphin, iii. 25.

Aristocrates, viii. 5, 13. Heredity in vice and punishment.

Aristodemus, king of the Messenians, iv. 8, 10, 13, 26.

Aristogiton, i. 8, 29.

Aristomache, the daughter of Priam, x. 26.

Aristomenes, the hero of Messenia, iv. 6, 14, 15, 16, 19, 20, 21, 22,

23, 24, 27, 32; vi. 7; viii. 14, 51.

Aristo, the father of the famous Plato, iv. 32.

Aristophanes on Lepreus, v. 5.

Aristotle, the mighty Stagirite, his statue, vi. 4.

Arsinoe, daughter of Ptolemy, and wife of her own brother, i. 7, 8;

ix. 31.

Arsinoites, name of a district in Egypt, v. 21.

Art, the noble art of self-defence, vi. 10; viii. 40.

Artemis, (the Latin _Diana_,) iii. 22; iv. 30; viii. 3, 27.

Especially worshipped at Hyampolis, x. 35. Temple of the goddess at

Aulis, ix. 19. Events there, _do._

Artemisia, her valour at Salamis, iii. 11.

Artemisium, a mountain, ii. 25; viii. 5.

Ascra, in Bœotia, the birthplace of Hesiod, ix. 29, 38.

Asopus, a river in Bœotia, ii. 6. Reedy, v. 14.

Asopus, a river in Sicyonia, ii. 5, 15.

Asphodel, its unpleasant smell, x. 38.

Atalanta, iii. 24; viii. 35, 45.

Athamas, son of Æolus, vii. 3. Brother of Sisyphus, ix. 34. Desirous

to kill his children Phrixus and Helle, ix. 34.

Athene, (the Latin _Minerva_,) why grey-eyed, i. 14. Her birth, i.

24. Disputes as to territory between her and Poseidon, i. 24;

ii. 30. Gives Erichthonius to the daughters of Cecrops, i. 18. A

colossal statue of the goddess at Thebes, ix. 11.

Athens, sacred to Athene, i. 26. Captured by Sulla, i. 20.

Athenians, very pious, i. 17, 24; x. 28. (Cf. Acts xvii. 22.) Helped

in war by the gods, viii. 10. Their forces at Marathon and against

the Galati, iv. 25; x. 20. Their expedition to Sicily, viii. 11;

x. 11, 15. The only democracy that ever rose to greatness, iv. 35.

Their magistrates, iii. 11; iv. 5, 15. Their townships, i. 3, 32,

33. Their law-courts, i. 28. Their Eponymi, i. 5. Their expeditions

beyond Greece, i. 29. Their heroes, x. 10.

Athletes, their diet in training, vi. 7.

Atlas, v. 11, 18; vi. 19; ix. 20.

Atlas, a mountain in Libya, i. 33; viii. 43.

Atreus, ii. 16, 18; ix. 40.

Attalus, an ally of the Romans, vii. 8, 16. His greatest feat, i. 8.

The oracle about him, x. 15.

Attica, whence it got its name, i. 2. Sacred to Athene, i. 26.

Augeas, v. 1, 3, 4, 8.

Augustus, iii. 11, 21, 26; iv. 31; vii. 17, 18, 22; viii. 46. Statues

of Augustus, ii. 17; v. 12.

Aulis, iii. 9; viii. 28; ix. 19.

Aurora, i. 3; iii. 18; v. 22.

Axe tried in Court, i. 24, 28.

Babylon, its walls, iv. 31.

Bacchantes, ii. 2, 7.

Bacchus, see Dionysus.

Bacis, his oracles, iv. 27; ix. 17; x. 14, 32. A Bœotian, x. 12.

Bacon, Francis, Viscount St. Albans, on revenge, iii. 15, Note.

Bady, place and river, v. 3.

Balsam tree, ix. 28.

Banqueting-hall at Elis, v. 15.

Barley cakes, mysterious property of, iii. 23.

Baths, how taken in ancient times, x. 34. Women’s swimming-bath, iv.

35. Warm baths, ii. 34; iv. 35; vii. 3.

Bato, the charioteer of Amphiaraus, ii. 23.

Bayle on _Hippomanes_, v. 27, Note.

Beans, i. 37; viii. 15.

Bear, the Great, viii. 3.

Bears, i. 32; iii. 20; vii. 18.

Bees of Hymettus, i. 32. Bees and Pindar, ix. 23. In connection with

Trophonius, ix. 40. Temple fabled to have been built by them, x. 5.

Bel, i. 16; viii. 33.

Bellerophon, ii. 2, 4, 31; iii. 18; ix. 31.

Bias of Priene, x. 24.

Biblis, love-passages of, vii. 5.

Bison, x. 13.

Bito, see Cleobis.

Blackbirds of Mt. Cyllene, viii. 17.

Boar’s Memorial, iv. 15, 19.

Bœotarchs, ix. 13, 14; x. 20.

Bones, ii. 10; iii. 22.

Booneta, iii. 12, 15.

Bootes, viii. 3.

Brasiæ, iii. 24, see Note.

Brass, first brass-founders, viii. 14; x. 38.

Brennus, x. 8, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23.

Briareus, ii. 1, 4.

Brigantes in Britain, viii. 43.

Briseis, v. 24; x. 25.

Britomartis, iii. 14; viii. 2.

Bupalus, iv. 30; ix. 35.

Buphagus, viii. 14, 27.

Burial, ii. 7; ix. 32.

Bustards, x. 34.

Byzantium, walls of, iv. 31.

Cabiri, i. 4; iv. 1; ix. 22, 25; x. 38.

Cadmean victory, ix. 9.

Cadmus, the son of Agenor, iii. 15; ix. 5, 12, 19.

C. Julius Cæsar, ii. 1; iii. 11. His gardens, viii. 46.

Calais and Zetes, iii. 18.

Calamis, a famous statuary, master of Praxias, i 3, 23; ii. 10; v.

25, 26; vi. 12; ix. 16, 20, 22; x. 16.

Calchas, i. 43; vii. 3; ix. 19.

Callicrates, vii. 10, 12.

Callimachus, i. 26; ix. 2.

Callion, barbarity of the Galati at, x. 22.

Calliphon of Samos, v. 19; x. 26.

Callirhoe and Coresus, tragic love story about, vii. 21.

Callisto, the daughter of Lycaon, changed into a she-bear, i. 25;

viii. 3.

Callon, a statuary of Ægina, ii. 32; iii. 18; vii. 18.

Calus, murder of by Dædalus, i. 21, 26.

Calydonian boar, i. 27; iii. 18; viii. 45, 46, 47.

Canachus, a statuary, ii. 10; vi. 9, 13; vii. 18; ix. 10; x. 9.

Cantharus, a statuary, vi. 3, 17.

Capaneus, the son of Hipponous, struck with lightning, ix. 8, see

Note.

Capua, the chief town in Campania, v. 12.

Carcinus, a native of Naupactus, x. 38.

Carpo, a Season, ix. 35.

Carthage, rebuilt by Julius Cæsar, ii. 1.

Carthaginians, i. 12; v. 25; vi. 19; x. 8, 17, 18.

Cassandra, the daughter of Priam, violated by Ajax, i. 15; v. 19; x.

26. Called _Alexandra_, iii. 19, 26.

Castalia, x. 8.

Castor and Pollux, see Dioscuri.

Catana, filial piety at, x. 28.

Caverns, notable ones, x. 32.

Ceadas, iv. 18.

Cecrops, son of Erechtheus, king of Athens, i. 5; vii. 1; viii. 2.

Celeus, father of Triptolemus, i. 14, 38, 39; ii. 14.

Centaur, v. 19. Fight between the Centaurs and the Lapithæ, i. 17; v.

10.

Cephalus and Aurora, i. 3; iii. 18.

Cepheus, father of Andromeda, iv. 35.

Cephisus, a river in Argolis, ii. 15, 20.

Cephisus, a river in Attica, i. 37.

Cephisus, a river in Eleusis, i. 38.

Cephisus, a river in Bœotia, ix. 24, 38; x. 8, 33, 34.

Ceramicus, i. 3; viii. 9.

Cerberus, ii. 31, 35; iii. 25.

Ceres, see Demeter.

Cestus, viii. 40.

Chæronea, fatal battle of, i. 18, 25; v. 20; ix. 6, 29, 40. (Milton’s

“dishonest victory, fatal to liberty.”)

Chaldæans, the first who taught the immortality of the soul, iv. 32.

Champagny on Pausanias, see Title-page.

Chaos first, ix. 27.

Charon, x. 28. (Cf. Virgil’s “Jam senior, sed cruda deo viridisque

senectus.”—_Æn._ vi. 304.)

Chimæra, iii. 25.

Chios, vii. 4.