active approximately 150-175 Pausanias

“ And if the torches of all go out, then there is no one who can win the game. There is also an altar of the Muses, and another of Hermes, and in the interior one of Athene, and another of Hercules. And there is an olive-tree, which is said to have been the second that ever was. And not far from the Academy is the tomb of Plato, to whom the Deity foretold that he would be most excellent in Philosophy, and foretold it in the following way. Socrates, the night before Plato was going to be his pupil, dreamed that a swan flew into his bosom. ”

“ And on the southern wall Attalus has pourtrayed the legendary battle of the giants, who formerly inhabited Thrace and the isthmus of Pallene, and the contest between the Amazons and the Athenians, and the action at Marathon against the Persians, and the slaughter of the Galati in Mysia, each painting two cubits in size. There too is Olympiodorus, illustrious for the greatness of his exploits, notably at that period when he infused spirit in men who had been continually baffled, and on that account had not a single hope for the future. ”

“ Procles the Carthaginian has given Alexander the son of Philip more praise for his good fortune and the lustre of his exploits, but for the disposition of an army and strategical tactics in the face of an enemy he says Pyrrhus was the better man. And when the people of Epirus became a democracy, they shewed a want of ballast in several respects, and entirely disregarded their rulers: and the Illyrians that dwelt north of Epirus by the Ionian sea became their masters by sudden attack. For we know of no democracy but Athens that ever rose to greatness. ”

“ CHAPTER XVII. And the Athenians have in the market-place among other things not universally notable an altar of Mercy, to whom, though most useful of all the gods to the life of man and its vicissitudes, the Athenians alone of all the Greeks assign honours. And not only is philanthropy more regarded among them; but they also exhibit more piety to the gods than others. For they have also an altar to Shame, and Rumour, and Energy. ”

“ And when Aristomenes returned to Andania, the women welcomed him with ribands and pelted him with flowers, and sang for him a song not forgotten even in our days, “To the mid plain and high mountain at Stenyclerus did Aristomenes pursue the Lacedæmonians.” And he afterwards recovered his shield by going to Delphi, and, as the Pythian Priestess ordered him, by descending to the sacred shrine of Trophonius at Lebadea. And afterwards he took the shield, and hung it up as a votive offering at Lebadea, and I have myself seen it hanging up there. ”

“ They say that Pirene became a well from a woman through the tears she shed, bewailing the death of her son Cenchrias at the hands of Artemis. And the well is beautified with white stone, and there are cells like caves to match, from which the water trickles into that part of the well which is in the open air, and it has a sweet taste, and they say that Corinthian brass when hissing hot is dipped into this water. There is also a statue of Apollo near Pirene, and some precincts of the god. There is also a painting of Odysseus taking vengeance on the suitors. ”

“ And when fortune veered round again, and Conon won the sea-fight off Cnidus and Mount Dorium, then the Ionians changed sides again, and you may see a brazen statue of Conon and Timotheus at Samos in the temple of Hera, and likewise at Ephesus in the temple of Artemis. This has been the case in all ages, for all men, like these Ionians, pay court to the strongest. ”

“ But they did not join the Greeks in fighting against the Galati, as Cleonymus and the Lacedæmonians would not make a treaty with them.
And not long afterwards the Messenians occupied Elis, partly by cunning partly by audacity. The people of Elis in ancient times were the most orderly of all the Peloponnesians, but when Philip the son of Amyntas did all that harm to Greece that we have mentioned, and corrupted by bribes the most influential of the people of Elis, then for the first time in their history the people of Elis took up arms and became factious. ”

“ For the statue near the great temple offered by a Corinthian, is not an offering of the old Corinthians but of those who rebuilt the city in Cæsar’s time, and is Alexander the son of Philip to imitate Zeus. I shall also enumerate all the other statues which are not representations of Zeus. And the effigies not erected in honour of the deity, but in honour of men, I shall describe in my account of the athletes. ”

“ This marble Phidias made into a statue of Nemesis, and on the goddess’ head is a crown with some figures of stags, and some small statues of Victory: in one hand she has a branch of an apple tree, in the other a bowl, on which some Ethiopians are carved. As to these Ethiopians I could not myself conjecture what they referred to, nor could I accept the account of those who thought they knew, who say that they were carved on the bowl because of the river Oceanus: for the Ethiopians dwelt by it, and Oceanus was Nemesis’ father. ”

“ I am astonished that of all those who were called Æacidæ their end happened in the same supernatural manner, since Homer says Achilles was slain by Alexander the son of Priam and by Apollo; and Pyrrhus, the son of Achilles, was ordered to be slain by the Pythian oracle at Delphi; and this son of Æacides met his fate as has been recorded by the Argives and sung by Lyceas. And yet this is different to the account given by Hieronymus of Cardia: for one that lives with a king must needs write history like a courtier. ”

“ And the Epidaurians have a theatre in their temple, especially well worth seeing in my opinion: for the Roman theatres beat all in the world in magnificence, and for size the Arcadian theatre at Megalopolis carries the day: but for beauty of proportion what architect could compete with Polycletus? ”

“ And in it is an old wooden statue of Athene. This too is said to have been struck by lightning. As you descend from the hill, for the temple is built on the hill, is the altar of the winds, on which the priest sacrifices to them one night in every year. And he performs mysterious rites at four pits, to tame their violence, chanting, so they say, the incantations of Medea.
And as you go from Titane to Sicyon, and descend towards the sea, there is on the left a temple of Hera, with neither statue nor roof. They say Prœtus the son of Abas built it. ”

“ To the Acropolis there is only one approach: it allows of no other, being everywhere precipitous and walled off. The vestibules have a roof of white marble, and even now are remarkable both for their beauty and size. As to the statues of the horsemen I cannot say with precision, whether they are the sons of Xenophon, or merely put there for decoration. On the right of the vestibules is the shrine of Wingless Victory. From it the sea is visible, and there Ægeus drowned himself as they say. ”

“ CHAPTER XXXVIII. And as you go from Lerna to Temenium—now Temenium belongs to the Argives, and gets its name from Temenus the son of Aristomachus: for he occupied and fortified the place, when he fought with the Dorians against Tisamenus and the Achæans from this base—the river Phrixus has its outlet into the sea, and there is a temple of Poseidon at Temenium and another of Aphrodite, and there is a monument of Temenus which is honoured by the Dorians at Argos. ”

“ All who had opposed the Macedonians before the disaster which befel the Greeks in Thessaly, Archias handed over to Antipater for punishment. Now this was the end of Demosthenes’ excessive affection for the Athenians. And it seems to me deserving of record, that a man who had been cruelly exiled for his policy, and had yet believed in the democracy, came to a bad end.
And near the statue of Demosthenes is the temple of Ares, where are two images of Aphrodite, and one of Ares designed by Alcamenes, and one of Athene designed by a Parian by name Locrus. ”

“ 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. ”

“ In size and beauty it is inferior to many to be seen in Altis: it has also the tail knocked off, which makes it more unsightly still. Nevertheless stallions not only in spring but all the year round are madly in lust after it. For they rush into Altis, breaking their reins or escaping from their drivers, and endeavour to mount this horse, with far greater impetuosity than they exhibit to the handsomest mare alive whom they had been accustomed to mount. ”

“ And all the Greeks or Egyptians, that have penetrated into Ethiopia beyond Syene, and as far as the Ethiopian city of Meroe, say that the Nile enters into a marsh, and flows through it as if it were earth, and eventually through lower Ethiopia into Egypt to Pharos, where it has its outlet at the sea. And in the land of the Hebrews I know that the river Jordan flows through the lake of Tiberias, and into what is called the Dead Sea, by which it is absorbed. The Dead Sea has properties unlike any other water: living bodies can float in it without swimming, whereas dead bodies go to the bottom. ”

“ On the road to Olympia from Scillus, before crossing the Alpheus, is a mountain lofty and precipitous which is called Typæum. From this mountain it is the custom to hurl all women of Elis who are detected as competitors in the Olympian contests, or who merely cross the Alpheus on forbidden days. Not that any one ever yet was so detected except Callipatira, whose name according to some traditions was Pherenice. She after the death of her husband dressed herself up like an athlete, and brought her son as a combatant to Olympia. ”

“ And the people of Marathon highly honour those that fell in the battle, calling them heroes, as also they pay honours to Marathon (from whom the township gets its name) , and Hercules, whom they say they first of all the Greeks worshipped as a god. And it chanced, as they say, in the battle that a man of rustic appearance and dress appeared, who slew many of the Persians with a ploughshare, and vanished after the fight: and when the Athenians made enquiry of the oracle, the god gave no other answer, but bade them honour the hero Echetlæus. ”

“ And the elephant is not only different from other animals in the growth of its horns, but also in its size and appearance. And the Greeks seem to me to have shewn great munificence and an absence of parsimoniousness in respect to their worship of the gods, seeing that they procured ivory both from India and Ethiopia for their statues.
At Olympia also in the temple of Zeus is a woollen veil, adorned with Assyrian tapestry and dyed with the Phœnician purple, the votive offering of Antiochus, who also gave to the theatre at Athens a golden ægis with the Gorgon’s head on it. ”

“ These old women only know what it is.
There is also another temple: and there are statues all round it. This temple is opposite the temple of Chthonia, and is called the temple of Clymenus, to whom they sacrifice here. I don’t think Clymenus is the name of an Argive that came to Hermione, but the title of a god who according to the tradition was a king in the infernal regions. Hard by is another temple and statue of Ares. On the right of the temple of Chthonia is a porch, called by the natives Echo, as a man’s slightest whisper is repeated thrice. ”

“ Here too are images of the so-called 12 gods, the production of Praxiteles. He also made an Artemis of the Strongylii. And next, as you enter the sacred enclosure of Zeus called the Olympieum, there is a temple well worth seeing: the statue of Zeus is not finished in consequence of the war between the Peloponnesians and the Athenians, in which the Athenians every year by land and by sea injured the Megarians both publicly and privately, ravaging their territory, and bringing them individually to the greatest poverty. ”

“ And next to the Egyptian kings are statues of Philip and his son Alexander. They performed greater exploits than to be mere appendages to an account of something else. To the other Egyptian kings gifts were given as being of real merit and benefactors, but to Philip and Alexander more, from the flattery of the community towards them, for they also honoured Lysimachus by a statue, not so much out of good will as thinking him useful under existing circumstances. ”