Delphi Complete Works of Pausanias

by Pausanias

  [24.2] The market-place of Elis is not after the fashion of the cities of Ionia and of the Greek cities near Ionia; it is built in the older manner, with porticoes separated from each other and with streets through them. The modern name of the market-place is Hippodromus, and the natives train their horses there. Of the porticoes the southern is in the Doric style, and it is divided by the pillars into three parts. In it the umpires generally spend the day.

  [3] ποιοῦνται δὲ πρὸς αὐτοῖς καὶ βωμοὺς τῷ Διί, καὶ εἰσὶν ἐν τῷ ὑπαίθρῳ τῆς ἀγορᾶς οἱ βωμοὶ πλῆθος οὐ πολλοί: καταλύονται γὰρ οὐ χαλεπῶς ἅτε αὐτοσχεδίως οἰκοδομούμενοι. κατὰ ταύτην τὴν στοὰν ἰόντι ἐς τὴν ἀγορὰν ἔστιν ἐν ἀριστερᾷ παρὰ τὸ πέρας τῆς στοᾶς ὁ Ἑλλανοδικαιών: ἀγυιὰ δὲ ἡ διείργουσα ἀπὸ τῆς ἀγορᾶς ἐστιν αὐτόν. ἐν τούτῳ τῷ Ἑλλανοδικαιῶνι οἰκοῦσι δέκα ἐφεξῆς μῆνας οἱ αἱρεθέντες ἑλλανοδικεῖν καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν νομοφυλάκων ὅσα ἐς τὸν ἀγῶνα σφᾶς δεῖ ποιεῖν διδάσκονται.

  [24.3] At the pillars they also cause altars to be made to Zeus, and in the open market-place are the altars, in number not many; for, their construction being improvised, they are without difficulty taken to pieces. As you enter the market-place at this portico the Umpires’ Room is on your left, parallel to the end of the portico. What separates it from the market-place is a street. In this Umpires’ Room dwell for ten consecutive months the umpires elect, who are instructed by the Guardians of the Law as to their duties at the festival.

  [4] τῇ στοᾷ δὲ ἔνθα οἱ Ἑλλανοδίκαι διημερεύουσιν ἔστιν ἐγγὺς ἄλλη στοά: τὸ μεταξὺ αὐτῶν ἀγυιὰ μία. ταύτην ὀνομάζουσι Κορκυραϊκὴν οἱ Ἠλεῖοι: ναυσὶ γὰρ ἐς τὴν σφετέραν Κορκυραίους ἐλθόντας * * * ἐλάσαι μοῖραν τῆς λείας λέγοντες λαβεῖν τε ἐκ τῆς Κορκυραίων πολλαπλάσια καὶ οἰκοδομήσασθαι τὴν στοὰν ἀπὸ τῶν λαφύρων τῆς δεκάτης.

  [24.4] Near to the portico where the umpires pass the day is another portico, between the two being one street. The Eleans call it the Corcyrean, because, they say, the Corcyreans landed in their country and carried off part of the booty, but they themselves took many times as much booty from the land of the Corcyreans, and built the portico from the tithe of the spoils.

  [5] ἔστι δὲ ἡ κατασκευὴ τῆς στοᾶς Δώριος καὶ διπλῆ, τῇ μὲν ἐς τὴν ἀγορὰν τοὺς κίονας, τῇ δὲ ἐς τὰ ἐπέκεινα τῆς ἀγορᾶς ἔχουσα: κατὰ μέσον δὲ αὐτῆς οὐ κίονες, ἀλλὰ τοῖχος ὁ ταύτῃ τὸν ὄροφον ἀνέχων ἐστίν, ἀνάκεινται δὲ καὶ εἰκόνες ἑκατέρωθεν πρὸς τῷ τοίχῳ. κατὰ δὲ τῆς στοᾶς τὸ ἐς τὴν ἀγορὰν ἕστηκε Πύρρωνος τοῦ Πιστοκράτους εἰκών, σοφιστοῦ τε ἀνδρὸς καὶ ἐς βέβαιον ὁμολογίαν ἐπὶ οὐδενὶ λόγῳ καταστάντος. ἔστι δὲ καὶ μνῆμα τῷ Πύρρωνι οὐ πόρρω τοῦ Ἠλείων ἄστεως: Πέτρα μὲν τῷ χωρίῳ τὸ ὄνομα, λέγεται δὲ ὡς ἡ Πέτρα δῆμος εἴη τὸ ἀρχαῖον.

  [24.5] The portico is in the Doric style and double, having its pillars both on the side towards the market-place and on the side away from it. Down the center of it the roof is supported, not by pillars, but by a wall, beside which on either side have been dedicated statues. On the side of the portico towards the market-place stands a statue of Pyrrhon, son of Pistocrates, a sophist who never brought himself to make a definite admission on any matter. The tomb also of Pyrrhon is not far from the town of the Eleans. The name of the place is Petra, and it is said that Petra was a township in ancient times.

  [6] Ἠλείοις δὲ ἐν τῷ ὑπαίθρῳ τῆς ἀγορᾶς τὰ ἐπιφανέστατα ναός ἐστι καὶ ἄγαλμα Ἀπόλλωνος Ἀκεσίου: σημαίνοι δ᾽ ἂν τὸ ὄνομα οὐδέν τι ἀλλοῖον ἢ ὁ καλούμενος Ἀλεξίκακος ὑπὸ Ἀθηναίων. ἑτέρωθι δὲ Ἡλίῳ πεποίηται καὶ Σελήνῃ λίθου τὰ ἀγάλματα, καὶ τῆς μὲν κέρατα ἐκ τῆς κεφαλῆς, τοῦ δὲ αἱ ἀκτῖνες ἀνέχουσιν. ἔστι δὲ καὶ Χάρισιν ἱερὸν καὶ ξόανα ἐπίχρυσα τὰ ἐς ἐσθῆτα, πρόσωπα δὲ καὶ χεῖρες καὶ πόδες λίθου λευκοῦ: ἔχουσι δὲ ἡ μὲν αὐτῶν ῥόδον, ἀστράγαλον δὲ ἡ μέση, καὶ ἡ τρίτη κλῶνα οὐ μέγαν μυρσίνης.

  [24.6] The most notable things that the Eleans have in the open part of the market-place are a temple and image of Apollo Healer. The meaning of the name would appear to be exactly the same as that of Averter of Evil, the name current among the Athenians. In another part are the stone images of the sun and of the moon; from the head of the moon project horns, from the head of the sun, his rays. There is also a sanctuary to the Graces; the images are of wood, with their clothes gilded, while their faces, hands and feet are of white marble. One of them holds a rose, the middle one a die, and the third a small branch of myrtle.

  [7] ἔχειν δὲ αὐτὰς ἐπὶ τοιῷδε εἰκάζοι τις ἂν τὰ εἰρημένα, ῥόδον μὲν καὶ μυρσίνην Ἀφροδίτης τε ἱερὰ εἶναι καὶ οἰκεῖα τῷ ἐς Ἄδωνιν λόγῳ, Χάριτας δὲ Ἀφροδίτῃ μάλιστα φίλας εἶναι θεῶν: ἀστράγαλον δὲ μειρακίων τε καὶ παρθένων, οἷς ἄχαρι οὐδέν πω πρόσεστιν ἐκ γήρως, τούτων εἶναι τὸν ἀστράγαλον παίγνιον. τῶν Χαρίτων δὲ ἐν δεξιᾷ ἄγαλμά ἐστιν Ἔρωτος: ἕστηκε δὲ ἐπὶ βάθρου τοῦ αὐτοῦ.

  [24.7] The reason for their holding these things may be guessed to be this. The rose and the myrtle are sacred to Aphrodite and connected with the story of Adonis, while the Graces are of all deities the nearest related to Aphrodite. As for the die, it is the plaything of youths and maidens, who have nothing of the ugliness of old age. On the right of the Graces is an image of Love, standing on the same pedestal.

  [8] ἔστι δὲ καὶ Σιληνοῦ ναὸς ἐνταῦθα, ἰδίᾳ τῷ Σιληνῷ καὶ οὐχ ὁμοῦ Διονύσῳ πεποιημένος: Μέθη δὲ οἶνον ἐν ἐκπώματι αὐτῷ δίδωσι. θνητὸν δὲ εἶναι τὸ γένος τῶν Σιληνῶν εἰκάσαι τις ἂν μάλιστα ἐπὶ τοῖς τάφοις αὐτῶν: ἐν γὰρ τῇ Ἑβραίων χώρᾳ Σιληνοῦ μνῆμα καὶ ἄλλου Σιληνοῦ Περγαμηνοῖς ἐστιν.

  [24.8] Here there is also a temple of Silenus, which is sacred to Silenus alone, and not to him in common with Dionysus. Drunkenness is offering him wine in a cup. That the Silenuses are a mortal race you may infer especially from their graves, for there is a tomb of a Silenus in the land of the Hebrews, and of another at Pergamus.

  [9] Ἠλείων δὲ ἐν τῇ ἀγορᾷ καὶ ἄλλο τοιόνδε εἶδον, ναοῦ σχῆμα: ἔστι δὲ οὐχ ὑψηλόν, καὶ τοῖχοι μὲν οὐκ εἰσί, τὸν ὄροφον δὲ δρυὸς ἀνέχουσιν εἰργασμένοι κίονες. τοῦτο εἶναι μὲν ὁμολογοῦσιν οἱ ἐπιχώριοι μνῆμα, ὅτου δὲ οὐ μνημονεύουσιν: εἰ δὲ ὁ γέρων ὅντινα ἠρόμ
ην εἶπεν ἀληθῆ λόγον, Ὀξύλου τοῦτο ἂν μνῆμα εἴη.

  [24.9] In the market-place of Elis I saw something else, a low structure in the form of a temple. It has no walls, the roof being supported by pillars made of oak. The natives agree that it is a tomb, but they do not remember whose it is. If the old man I asked spoke the truth, it would be the tomb of Oxylus.

  [10] πεποίηται δὲ ἐν τῇ ἀγορᾷ καὶ ταῖς γυναιξὶν οἴκημα ταῖς ἑκκαίδεκα καλουμέναις, ἔνθα τὸν πέπλον ὑφαίνουσι τῇ Ἥρᾳ.

  ἔχεται δὲ τῆς ἀγορᾶς ναὸς ἀρχαῖος στοαῖς ἐν κύκλῳ περίστυλος, ὁ δὲ ὄροφος κατερρύηκε τῷ ναῷ καὶ ἄγαλμα οὐδὲν ἐλείπετο: βασιλεῦσι δὲ ἀνεῖται Ῥωμαίοις.

  [24.10] There is also in the market-place a building for the women called the Sixteen, where they weave the robe for Hera.

  Adjoining the market-place is an old temple surrounded by pillars; the roof has fallen down, and I found no image in the temple. It is dedicated to the Roman emperors.

  25. ἔστι δὲ τῆς στοᾶς ὀπίσω τῆς ἀπὸ τῶν λαφύρων τῶν ἐκ Κορκύρας Ἀφροδίτης ναός, τὸ δὲ ἐν ὑπαίθρῳ τέμενος οὐ πολὺ ἀφεστηκὸς ἀπὸ τοῦ ναοῦ. καὶ τὴν μὲν ἐν τῷ ναῷ καλοῦσιν Οὐρανίαν, ἐλέφαντος δέ ἐστι καὶ χρυσοῦ, τέχνη Φειδίου, τῷ δὲ ἑτέρῳ ποδὶ ἐπὶ χελώνης βέβηκε: τῆς δὲ περιέχεται μὲν τὸ τέμενος θριγκῷ, κρηπὶς δὲ ἐντὸς τοῦ τεμένους πεποίηται καὶ ἐπὶ τῇ κρηπῖδι ἄγαλμα Ἀφροδίτης χαλκοῦν ἐπὶ τράγῳ κάθηται χαλκῷ: Σκόπα τοῦτο ἔργον, Ἀφροδίτην δὲ Πάνδημον ὀνομάζουσι. τὰ δὲ ἐπὶ τῇ χελώνῃ τε καὶ ἐς τὸν τράγον παρίημι τοῖς θέλουσιν εἰκάζειν.

  [25.1] XXV. Behind the portico built from the spoils of Corcyra is a temple of Aphrodite, the precinct being in the open, not far from the temple. The goddess in the temple they call Heavenly; she is of ivory and gold, the work of Pheidias, and she stands with one foot upon a tortoise. The precinct of the other Aphrodite is surrounded by a wall, and within the precinct has been made a basement, upon which sits a bronze image of Aphrodite upon a bronze he-goat. It is a work of Scopas, and the Aphrodite is named Common. The meaning of the tortoise and of the he-goat I leave to those who care to guess.

  [2] ὁ δὲ ἱερὸς τοῦ Ἅιδου περίβολός τε καὶ ναός — ἔστι γὰρ δὴ Ἠλείοις καὶ Ἅιδου περίβολός τε καὶ ναός — ἀνοίγνυται μὲν ἅπαξ κατὰ ἔτος ἕκαστον, ἐσελθεῖν δὲ οὐδὲ τότε ἐφεῖται πέρα γε τοῦ ἱερωμένου. ἀνθρώπων δὲ ὧν ἴσμεν μόνοι τιμῶσιν Ἅιδην Ἠλεῖοι κατὰ αἰτίαν τήνδε. Ἡρακλεῖ στρατιὰν ἄγοντι ἐπὶ Πύλον τὴν ἐν τῇ Ἤλιδι, παρεῖναί οἱ καὶ Ἀθηνᾶν συνεργὸν λέγουσιν: ἀφικέσθαι οὖν καὶ Πυλίοις τὸν Ἅιδην συμμαχήσοντα τῇ ἀπεχθείᾳ τοῦ Ἡρακλέους, ἔχοντα ἐν τῇ Πύλῳ τιμάς.

  [25.2] The sacred enclosure of Hades and its temple (for the Eleans have these among their possessions) are opened once every year, but not even on this occasion is anybody permitted to enter except the priest. The following is the reason why the Eleans worship Hades; they are the only men we know of so to do. It is said that, when Heracles was leading an expedition against Pylus in Elis, Athena was one of his allies. Now among those who came to fight on the side of the Pylians was Hades, who was the foe of Heracles but was worshipped at Pylus.

  [3] ἐπάγονται δὲ καὶ Ὅμηρον τῷ λόγῳ μάρτυρα ποιήσαντα ἐν Ἰλιάδι “τλῆ δ᾽ Ἀίδης ἐν τοῖσι πελώριος ὠκὺν ὀιστόν,

  εὖτέ μιν ωὐτὸς ἀνὴρ υἱὸς Διὸς αἰγιόχοιο

  ἐν Πύλῳ ἐν νεκύεσσι βαλὼν ὀδύνῃσιν ἔδωκεν:

  “Hom. Il 5.395-397εἰ δὲ κατὰ τὴν Ἀγαμέμνονος καὶ Μενελάου στρατείαν ἐπὶ Ἴλιον Ποσειδῶν τῷ Ὁμήρου λόγῳ τοῖς Ἕλλησιν ἐπίκουρος ἦν, οὐκ ἂν ἄπο τοῦ εἰκότος οὐδὲ Ἅιδην εἴη δόξῃ γε τοῦ αὐτοῦ ποιητοῦ Πυλίοις ἀμῦναι. Ἠλεῖοι δ᾽ οὖν ὡς σφίσι τε εὔνῳ καὶ ἀπεχθανομένῳ πρὸς τὸν Ἡρακλέα ἐποιήσαντο τὸ ἱερὸν τῷ θεῷ: ἑκάστου δὲ ἅπαξ ἀνοίγειν τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ νομίζουσιν, ὅτι οἶμαι καὶ ἀνθρώποις ἅπαξ ἡ κάθοδος ἡ ἐς τοῦ Ἅιδου γίνεται.

  [25.3] Homer is quoted in support of the story, who says in the Iliad:–

  And among them huge Hades suffered a wound from a swift arrow,

  When the same man, the son of aegis-bearing Zeus,

  Hit him in Pylus among the dead, and gave him over to pains. Hom. Il. 5.395-397

  If in the expedition of Agamemnon and Menelaus against Troy Poseidon was according to Homer an ally of the Greeks, it cannot be unnatural for the same poet to hold that Hades helped the Pylians. At any rate it was in the belief that the god was their friend but the enemy of Heracles that the Eleans made the sanctuary for him. The reason why they are wont to open it only once each year is, I suppose, because men too go down only once to Hades.

  [4] τοῖς δὲ Ἠλείοις καὶ Τύχης ἐστὶν τὸ ἱερὸν: ἐν στοᾷ δὲ τοῦ ἱεροῦ μεγέθει μέγα ἄγαλμα ἀνάκειται, ξόανον ἐπίχρυσον πλὴν προσώπου καὶ χειρῶν τε ἄκρων καὶ ποδῶν, ταῦτα δέ οἵ ἐστι λίθου λευκοῦ. ἐνταῦθα ἔχει τιμὰς καὶ ὁ Σωσίπολις ἐν ἀριστερᾷ τῆς Τύχης, ἐν οἰκήματι οὐ μεγάλῳ: κατὰ δὲ ὄψιν ὀνείρατος γραφῇ μεμιμημένος ἐστὶν ὁ θεός, παῖς μὲν ἡλικίαν, ἀμπέχεται δὲ χλαμύδα ποικίλην ὑπὸ ἀστέρων, τῇ χειρὶ δὲ ἔχει τῇ ἑτέρᾳ τὸ κέρας τῆς Ἀμαλθείας.

  [25.4] The Eleans have also a sanctuary of Fortune. In a portico of the sanctuary has been dedicated a colossal image, made of gilded wood except the face, hands and feet, which are of white marble. Here Sosipolis too is worshipped in a small shrine on the left of the sanctuary of Fortune. The god is painted according to his appearance in a dream: in age a boy, wrapped in a star-spangled robe, and in one hand holding the horn of Amaltheia.

  [5] καθότι δὲ Ἠλείων ἡ πόλις πληθύει μάλιστα ἀνθρώποις, κατὰ τοῦτο ἀνδριάς σφισιν ἀνδρὸς οὐ μείζων μεγάλου χαλκοῦς ἐστιν οὐκ ἔχων πω γένεια τόν τε ἕτερον τῶν ποδῶν ἐπιπλέκων τῷ ἑτέρῳ καὶ ταῖς χερσὶν ἀμφοτέραις ἐπὶ δόρατι ἠρεισμένος: ἐσθῆτα δὲ ἐρεᾶν αὐτῷ καὶ ἀπὸ λίνου τε καὶ βύσσου περιβάλλουσι.

  [25.5] In the most thickly-populated part of Elis is a statue of bronze no taller than a tall man; it represents a beardless youth with his legs crossed, leaning with both hands upon a spear. They cast about it a garment of wool, one of flax and one of fine linen.

  [6] τοῦτο τὸ ἄγαλμα ἐλέγετο εἶναι Ποσειδῶνος, ἔχειν δὲ τὸ ἀρχαῖον ἐπὶ Σαμικῷ τῷ ἐν τῇ Τριφυλίᾳ τιμάς: μ�
�τακομισθὲν δὲ ἐς τὴν Ἦλιν τιμῆς μὲν καὶ ἐς πλέον ἔτι ἥκει, Σατράπην δὲ καὶ οὐ Ποσειδῶνα ὄνομα αὐτῷ τίθενται, μετὰ τὴν Πατρέων προσοίκησιν τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Σατράπου διδαχθέντες: Κορύβαντός τε ἐπίκλησις ὁ Σατράπης ἐστί.

  [25.6] This image was said to be of Poseidon, and to have been worshipped in ancient times at Samicum in Triphylia. Transferred to Elis it received still greater honor, but the Eleans call it Satrap and not Poseidon, having learned the name Satrap, which is a surname of Corybas, after the enlargement of Patrae.

  26. θέατρον δὲ ἀρχαῖον, μεταξὺ τῆς ἀγορᾶς καὶ τοῦ Μηνίου τὸ θέατρόν τε καὶ ἱερόν ἐστι Διονύσου: τέχνη τὸ ἄγαλμα Πραξιτέλους, θεῶν δὲ ἐν τοῖς μάλιστα Διόνυσον σέβουσιν Ἠλεῖοι καὶ τὸν θεόν σφισιν ἐπιφοιτᾶν ἐς τῶν Θυίων τὴν ἑορτὴν λέγουσιν. ἀπέχει μέν γε τῆς πόλεως ὅσον τε ὀκτὼ στάδια ἔνθα τὴν ἑορτὴν ἄγουσι Θυῖα ὀνομάζοντες: λέβητας δὲ ἀριθμὸν τρεῖς ἐς οἴκημα ἐσκομίσαντες οἱ ἱερεῖς κατατίθενται κενούς, παρόντων καὶ τῶν ἀστῶν καὶ ξένων, εἰ τύχοιεν ἐπιδημοῦντες: σφραγῖδας δὲ αὐτοί τε οἱ ἱερεῖς καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ὅσοις ἂν κατὰ γνώμην ᾖ ταῖς θύραις τοῦ οἰκήματος ἐπιβάλλουσιν, ἐς δὲ τὴν ἐπιοῦσαν τά τε

  [26.1] XXVI. Between the market-place and the Menius is an old theater and a shrine of Dionysus. The image is the work of Praxiteles. Of the gods the Eleans worship Dionysus with the greatest reverence, and they assert that the god attends their festival, the Thyia. The place where they hold the festival they name the Thyia is about eight stades from the city. Three pots are brought into the building by the priests and set down empty in the presence of the citizens and of any strangers who may chance to be in the country. The doors of the building are sealed by the priests themselves and by any others who may be so inclined.