CHAPTER V.
The statue which stands on a lofty pedestal is by Lysippus. It is the statue of Polydamas, the son of Nicias, the largest man of our times. There may have been larger men, but only the heroes or some mortal race of giants earlier than the heroes. Scotusa, which was the native place of Polydamas, is not inhabited in our day, for Alexander the king of the Pheræans took it in time of peace, for when the people of Scotusa were all gathered together in the theatre, for they held their meetings there at that period, he surrounded it with targeteers and archers and shot them all, and slew all besides that were in their prime, and sold the women and children, and with the proceeds kept up a mercenary army. This disaster happened to the people of Scotusa when Phrasiclides was Archon at Athens, in the 102nd Olympiad, in the second year of which Damon of Thuria was victor for the second time. And those that escaped of the people of Scotusa were few, and even they were reduced still further and left the town, when Providence brought a second reverse upon all the Greeks in the war with the Macedonians. In the pancratium several had notable victories, but Polydamas beside his crowns for the pancratium had further renown for the following remarkable exploits. The mountainous part of Thrace, inside the river Nestus that flows through the territory of the people of Abdera, rears several wild beasts and among them lions, who on one occasion attacked the army of Xerxes, and made havoc of the camels that carried the corn. These lions also frequently prowled about the country in the neighbourhood of Mount Olympus, one side of which mountain faces Macedonia, another Thessaly and the river Peneus. Polydamas unarmed slew a large and stout lion on Mount Olympus: moved to this exploit from a desire to emulate the actions of Hercules, who as the tradition goes vanquished the Nemean lion. Another memorable feat of Polydamas is on record. He approached a herd of cattle, and seized the strongest and wildest bull by one of its hind feet, and held on fast by its hoofs, and would not let it go though it kicked and struggled, till at last the bull exerting all its strength got away from him, and left its hoofs in his hands. It is also recorded of him that he stopped a chariot which the driver was urging on at full speed, by laying hold of it behind with one hand, and thus stopped both horses and charioteer. And Darius, the illegitimate son of Artaxerxes, (who with the help of the Persian commonalty had deposed Sogdius, Artaxerxes’ legitimate son, and usurped his kingdom), when he became king sent messengers, for he had heard of the exploits of Polydamas, and by promising rewards attracted him to his court at Susa. And there he slew in single combat three of the Persians called Immortals who had challenged him. And some of the exploits which I have mentioned are recorded on the base of his statue at Olympia, others in the inscription. But eventually the prophetic utterance of Homer about trusting too much in one’s strength proved true of Polydamas, for he too was destined to perish through too great confidence in his strength.[77] On one occasion with several boon companions he entered a cave in summer time, and somehow or other by some malign fortune the top of the cave cracked, and was evidently going to fall in in no long time. And when they perceived the impending disaster all his companions fled, but Polydamas determined to remain, and stretched out his hands in the intention of holding up this mass of rock and not being buried under it, but he was crushed to death.