Delphi Complete Works of Pausanias

by Pausanias

  [5.21.13] It was not for giving or taking a bribe that he was condemned, but for the following outrageous conduct in connection with the games. He did not arrive by the prescribed time, and the Eleans, if they followed their rule, had no option but to exclude him from the games. For his excuse, that he had been kept back among the Cyclades islands by contrary winds, was proved to be an untruth by Heracleides, himself an Alexandrian by birth. He showed that Apollonius was late because he had been picking up some money at the Ionian games.

  [5.21.14] In these circumstances the Eleans shut out from the games Apollonius with any other boxer who came after the prescribed time, and let the crown go to Heracleides without a contest. Whereupon Apollonius put on his gloves for a fight, rushed at Heracleides, and began to pummel him, though he had already put the wild-olive on his head and had taken refuge with the umpires. For this light-headed folly he was to pay dearly.

  [5.21.15] There are also two other images of modern workmanship. For at the two hundred and twenty-sixth Festival they detected that two boxing men, in a fight for victory only, had agreed about the issue for a sum of money. For this misconduct a fine was inflicted, and of the images of Zeus that were made, one stands on the left of the entrance to the stadium and the other on the right. Of the boxers, the one bribed was called Didas, and the briber was Sarapammon. They were from the same district, the newest in Egypt, called Arsinoites.

  [5.21.16] It is a wonder in any case if a man has so little respect for the god of Olympia as to take or give a bribe in the contests; it is an even greater wonder that one of the Eleans themselves has fallen so low. But it is said that the Elean Damonicus did so fall at the hundred and ninety second Festival. They say that collusion occurred between Polyctor the son of Damonicus and Sosander of Smyrna, of the same name as his father; these were competitors for the wrestling prize of wild-olive. Damonicus, it is alleged, being exceedingly ambitious that his son should win, bribed the father of Sosander.

  [5.21.17] When the transaction became known, the umpires imposed a fine, but instead of imposing it on the sons they directed their anger against the fathers, for that they were the real sinners. From this fine images were made. One is set up in the Elean gymnasium; the other is in the Altis in front of what is called the Painted Portico, because anciently there were pictures on the walls. Some call this Portico the Echo Portico, because when a man has shouted his voice is repeated by the echo seven or even more times.

  [5.21.18] They say that a pancratiast of Alexandria, by name Sarapion, at the two hundred and first Festival, was so afraid of his antagonists that on the day before the pancratium was to be called on he ran away. This is the only occasion on record when any man, not to say a man of Egypt, was fined for cowardice.

  [5.22.1] XXII. These were the causes for which I found that these images were made. There are also images of Zeus dedicated by States and by individuals. There is in the Altis an altar near the entrance leading to the stadium. On it the Eleans do not sacrifice to any of the gods, but it is customary for the trumpeters and heralds to stand upon it when they compete. By the side of this altar has been built a pedestal of bronze, and on it is an image of Zeus, about six cubits in height, with a thunderbolt in either hand. It was dedicated by the people of Cynaetha. The figure of Zeus as a boy wearing the necklace is the votive offering of Cleolas, a Phliasian.

  [5.22.2] By the side of what is called the Hippodamium is a semicircular stone pedestal, and on it are Zeus, Thetis, and Day entreating Zeus on behalf of her children. These are on the middle of the pedestal. There are Achilles and Memnon, one at either edge of the pedestal, representing a pair of combatants in position. There are other pairs similarly opposed, foreigner against Greek: Odysseus opposed to Helenus, reputed to be the cleverest men in the respective armies; Alexander and Menelaus, in virtue of their ancient feud; Aeneas and Diomedes, and Deiphobus and Ajax son of Telamon.

  [5.22.3] These are the work of Lycius, the son of Myron, and were dedicated by the people of Apollonia on the Ionian sea. There are also elegiac verses written in ancient characters under the feet of Zeus.

  As memorials of Apollonia have we been dedicated, which on the Ionian sea

  Phoebus founded, he of the unshorn locks.

  The Apollonians, after taking the land of Abantis, set up here

  These images with heaven’s help, tithe from Thronium.

  The land called Abantis and the town of Thronium in it were a part of the Thesprotian mainland over against the Ceraunian mountains.

  [5.22.4] When the Greek fleet was scattered on the voyage home from Troy, Locrians from Thronium, a city on the river Boagrius, and Abantes from Euboea, with eight ships altogether, were driven on the Ceraunian mountains. Settling here and founding the city of Thronium, by common agreement they gave the name of Abantis to the land as far as they occupied it. Afterwards, however, they were conquered in war and expelled by the people of Apollonia, their neighbors. Apollonia was a colony of Corcyra, they say, and Corcyra of Corinth, and the Corinthians had their share of the spoils.

  [5.22.5] A little farther on is a Zeus turned towards the rising sun; he holds an eagle in one hand and in the other a thunderbolt. On him are set spring flowers, with a crown of them on his head. It is an offering of the people of Metapontum. The artist was Aristonus of Aegina, but we do not know when he lived nor who his teacher was.

  [5.22.6] The Phliasians also dedicated a Zeus, the daughters of Asopus, and Asopus himself. Their images have been ordered thus: Nemea is the first of the sisters, and after her comes Zeus seizing Aegina; by Aegina stands Harpina, who, according to the tradition of the Eleans and Phliasians, mated with Ares and was the mother of Oenomaus, king around Pisa; after her is Corcyra, with Thebe next; last of all comes Aesopus. There is a legend about Corcyra that she mated with Poseidon, and the same thing is said by Pindar of Thebe and Zeus.

  [5.22.7] Men of Leontini have set up a Zeus, not at public expense but out of their private purse. The height of the image is seven cubits, and in its hands are an eagle and the bolt of Zeus, in accordance with the poets’ tales. It was dedicated by Hippagoras, Phrynon, and Aenesidemus, who in my opinion was some other Aenesidemus and not the tyrant of Leontini.

  [5.23.1] XXIII. As you pass by the entrance to the Council Chamber you see an image of Zeus standing with no inscription on it, and then on turning to the north another image of Zeus. This is turned towards the rising sun, and was dedicated by those Greeks who at Plataea fought against the Persians under Mardonius. On the right of the pedestal are inscribed the cities which took part in the engagement: first the Lacedaemonians, after them the Athenians, third the Corinthians, fourth the Sicyonians,

  [5.23.2] fifth the Aeginetans; after the Aeginetans, the Megarians and Epidaurians, of the Arcadians the people of Tegea and Orchomenus, after them the dwellers in Phlius, Troezen and Hermion, the Tirynthians from the Argolid, the Plataeans alone of the Boeotians, the Argives of Mycenae, the islanders of Ceos and Melos, Ambraciots of the Thesprotian mainland, the Tenians and the Lepreans, who were the only people from Triphylia, but from the Aegean and the Cyclades there came not only the Tenians but also the Naxians and Cythnians, Styrians too from Euboea, after them Eleans, Potidaeans, Anactorians, and lastly the Chalcidians on the Euripus.

  [5.23.3] Of these cities the following are at the present day uninhabited: Mycenae and Tiryns were destroyed by the Argives after the Persian wars. The Ambraciots and Anactorians, colonists of Corinth, were taken away by the Roman emperor to help to found Nicopolis near Actium. The Potidaeans twice suffered removal from their city, once at the hands of Philip, the son of Amyntas, and once before this at the hands of the Athenians. Afterwards, however, Cassander restored the Potidaeans to their homes, but the name of the city was changed from Potidaea to Cassandreia after the name of its founder. The image at Olympia dedicated by the Greeks was made by Anaxagoras of Aegina. The name of this artist is omitted by the historians of Plataea.

  [5.23.4] In front of this Zeus there is
a bronze slab, on which are the terms of the Thirty-years Peace between the Lacedaemonians and the Athenians. The Athenians made this peace after they had reduced Euboea for the second time, in the third year of the eighty-third Olympiad, when Crison of Himera won the foot-race. One of the articles of the treaty is to the effect that although Argos has no part in the treaty between Athens and Sparta, yet the Athenians and the Argives may privately, if they wish, be at peace with each other. Such are the terms of this treaty.

  [5.23.5] There is yet another image of Zeus dedicated beside the chariot of Cleosthenes. This chariot I will describe later; the image of Zeus was dedicated by the Megarians, and made by the brothers Psylacus and Onaethus with the help of their sons. About their date, their nation and their master, I can tell you nothing.

  [5.23.6] By the chariot of Gelon stands an ancient Zeus holding a scepter which is said to be an offering of the Hyblaeans. There were two cities in Sicily called Hybla, one surnamed Gereatis and the other Greater, it being in fact the greater of the two. They still retain their old names, and are in the district of Catana. Greater Hybla is entirely uninhabited, but Gereatis is a village of Catana, with a sanctuary of the goddess Hyblaea which is held in honor by the Sicilians. The people of Gereatis, I think, brought the image to Olympia. For Philistus, the son of Archomenides, says that they were interpreters of portents and dreams, and more given to devotions than any other foreigners in Sicily.

  [5.23.7] Near the offering of the Hyblaeans has been made a pedestal of bronze with a Zeus upon it, which I conjecture to be about eighteen feet high. The donors and sculptors are set forth in elegiac verse:–

  The Cleitorians dedicated this image to the god, a tithe

  From many cities that they had reduced by force.

  The sculptors were Aristo and Telestas,

  Own brothers and Laconians.

  I do not think that these Laconians were famous all over Greece, for had they been so the Eleans would have had something to say about them, and the Lacedaemonians more still, seeing that they were their fellow-citizens.

  [5.24.1] XXIV. By the side of the altar of Zeus Laoetas and Poseidon Laoetas is a Zeus on a bronze pedestal. The people of Corinth gave it and Musus made it, whoever this Musus may have been. As you go from the Council Chamber to the great temple there stands on the left an image of Zeus, crowned as it were with flowers, and with a thunderbolt set in his right hand. It is the work of Ascarus of Thebes, a pupil of Canachus of Sicyon. The inscription on it says that it is a tithe from the war between Phocis and Thessaly.

  [5.24.2] If the Thessalians went to war with Phocis and dedicated the offering from Phocian plunder, this could not have been the so-called “Sacred War,” but must have been a war between the two States previous to the invasion of Greece by the Persians under their king. Not far from this is a Zeus, which, as is declared by the verse inscribed on it, was dedicated by the Psophidians for a success in war.

  [5.24.3] On the right of the great temple is a Zeus facing the rising of the sun, twelve feet high and dedicated, they say, by the Lacedaemonians, when they entered on a war with the Messenians after their second revolt. On it is an elegiac couplet:–

  Accept, king, son of Cronus, Olympian Zeus, a lovely image,

  And have a heart propitious to the Lacedaemonians.

  [5.24.4] We know of no Roman, either commoner or senator, who gave a votive offering to a Greek sanctuary before Mummius, and he dedicated at Olympia a bronze Zeus from the spoils of Achaia. It stands on the left of the offering of the Lacedaemonians by the side of the first pillar on this side of the temple. The largest of the bronze images of Zeus in the Altis is twenty-seven feet high, and was dedicated by the Eleans themselves from the plunder of the war with the Arcadians.

  [5.24.5] Beside the Pelopium is a pillar of no great height with a small image of Zeus on it; one hand is outstretched. Opposite this are other offerings in a row, and likewise images of Zeus and Ganymedes. Homer’s poem tells how Ganymedes was carried off by the gods to be wine-bearer to Zeus, and how horses were given to Tros in exchange for him. This offering was dedicated by the Thessalian Gnathis and made by Aristocles, pupil and son of Cleoetas.

  [5.24.6] There is also another Zeus represented as a beardless youth, which is among offerings of Micythus. The history of Micythus, his family, and why he dedicated so many offerings at Olympia, my narrative will presently set forth. A little farther on in a straight line from the image I have mentioned is another beardless image of Zeus. It was dedicated by the people of Elaea, who live in the first city of Aeolis you reach on descending from the plain of the Caicus to the sea.

  [5.24.7] Yet another image of Zeus comes next, and the inscription on it says that it was dedicated by the Chersonesians of Cnidus from enemy spoils. On either side of the image of Zeus they have dedicated images of Pelops and of the river Alpheius respectively. The greater part of the city of Cnidus is built on the Carian mainland, where are their most noteworthy possessions, but what is called Chersonnesus is an island lying near the mainland, to which it is joined by a bridge.

  [5.24.8] It is the inhabitants of this quarter who dedicated to Zeus the offerings at Olympia, just as if Ephesians living in what is called Coresus were to say that they had dedicated an offering independently of the Ephesians as a body. There is also by the wall of the Altis a Zeus turned towards the setting of the sun; it bears no inscription, but is said to be another offering of Mummius made from the plunder of the Achaean war.

  [5.24.9] But the Zeus in the Council Chamber is of all the images of Zeus the one most likely to strike terror into the hearts of sinners. He is surnamed Oath-god, and in each hand he holds a thunderbolt. Beside this image it is the custom for athletes, their fathers and their brothers, as well as their trainers, to swear an oath upon slices of boar’s flesh that in nothing will they sin against the Olympic games. The athletes take this further oath also, that for ten successive months they have strictly followed the regulations for training.

  [5.24.10] An oath is also taken by those who examine the boys, or the foals entering for races, that they will decide fairly and without taking bribes, and that they will keep secret what they learn about a candidate, whether accepted or not. I forgot to inquire what it is customary to do with the boar after the oath of the athletes, though the ancient custom about victims was that no human being might eat of that on which an oath had been sworn.

  [5.24.11] Homer proves this point clearly. For the boar, on the slices of which Agamemnon swore that verily Briseis had not lain with him, Homer says was thrown by the herald into the sea.

  He spake, and cut the boar’s throat with ruthless bronze;

  And the boar Talthybius swung and cast into the great depth

  Of the grey sea, to feed the fishes. Hom. Il. 19.266-268

  Such was the ancient custom. Before the feet of the Oath-god is a bronze plate, with elegiac verses inscribed upon it, the object of which is to strike fear into those who forswear themselves.

  [5.25.1] XXV. I have enumerated the images of Zeus within the Altis with the greatest accuracy. For the offering near the great temple, though supposed to be a likeness of Zeus, is really Alexander, the son of Philip. It was set up by a Corinthian, not one of the old Corinthians, but one of those settlers whom the Emperor planted in the city. I shall also mention those offerings which are of a different kind, and not representations of Zeus. The statues which have been set up, not to honor a deity, but to reward mere men, I shall include in my account of the athletes.

  [5.25.2] The Messenians on the Strait in accordance with an old custom used to send to Rhegium a chorus of thirty-five boys, and with it a trainer and a flautist, to a local festival of Rhegium. On one occasion a disaster befell them for not one of those sent out returned home alive, but the ship with the boys on board went to the bottom.

  [5.25.3] The sea in fact at this strait is the stormiest of seas; it is made rough by winds bringing waves from both sides, from the Adriatic and the other sea, which is calle
d the Tyrrhenian, and even if there be no gale blowing, even then the strait of itself produces a very violent swell and strong currents. So many monsters swarm in the water that even the air over the sea is infected with their stench. Accordingly a shipwrecked man has not even a hope left of getting out of the strait alive. If it was here that disaster overtook the ship of Odysseus, nobody could believe that he swam out alive to Italy, were it not that the benevolence of the gods makes all things easy.

  [5.25.4] On this occasion the Messenians mourned for the loss of the boys, and one of the honors bestowed upon them was the dedication of bronze statues at Olympia, the group including the trainer of the chorus and the flautist. The old inscription declared that the offerings were those of the Messenians at the strait; but afterwards Hippias, called “a sage” by the Greeks, composed the elegiac verses on them. The artist of the statues was Callon of Elis.

  [5.25.5] At the headland of Sicily that looks towards Libya and the south, called Pachynum, there stands the city Motye, inhabited by Libyans and Phoenicians. Against these foreigners of Motye war was waged by the Agrigentines, who, having taken from them plunder and spoils, dedicated at Olympia the bronze boys, who are stretching out their right hands in an attitude of prayer to the god. They are placed on the wall of the Altis, and I conjectured that the artist was Calamis, a conjecture in accordance with the tradition about them. Sicily is inhabited by the following races:

  [5.25.6] Sicanians, Sicels, and Phrygians; the first two crossed into it from Italy, while the Phrygians came from the river Scamander and the land of the Troad. The Phoenicians and Libyans came to the island on a joint expedition, and are settlers from Carthage. Such are the foreign races in Sicily. The Greeks settled there include Dorians and Ionians, with a small proportion of Phocians and of Attics.