CHAPTER VIII.
And after this they say Clymenus the son of Cardys, (in the 50th year after Deucalion’s flood), a descendant of Idæan Hercules, came from Crete and established games at Olympia, and erected an altar to his ancestor Hercules and to the other Curetes, giving Hercules the title of Assistant. But Endymion the son of Aethlius deposed Clymenus from the kingdom, and gave it to his sons as a prize for the best runner of them at Olympia. And a generation after Endymion, Pelops made the contest to Olympian Zeus more famous than any of his predecessors. And when the sons of Pelops were scattered from Elis all over the Peloponnese, Amythaon the son of Cretheus, uncle of Endymion on the father’s side, (for they say Aethlius was the son of Æolus surnamed Zeus), appointed games at Olympia, and after him Pelias and Neleus in common. So also did Augeas and Hercules, the son of Amphitryon, after the capture of Elis. And all that he crowned as victors were Iolaus, who had borrowed the mares of Hercules for the race. It was an old custom to be a competitor with borrowed horses. Homer at least in the funeral games in honour of Patroclus has represented Menelaus as yoking together Agamemnon’s horse Æthe with one of his own.[68] Iolaus was also Hercules’ charioteer. He was the victor in the chariot race, and Iasius an Arcadian in the riding race, and Castor was successful in running, Pollux in boxing. It is also recorded of Hercules that he was victorious in wrestling and in the pancratium.
And after the reign of Oxylus, who also established games, the Olympian games were suspended till Iphitus. And when he renewed the games as I have before stated, there was a general forgetfulness about the ancient games, but in a short while they got remembered again, and whenever they remembered any little feature of the games, they added it to the programme. And this proves my statement. From the time that the Olympian games were revived continuously, prizes were first instituted for running, and Corœbus of Elis was the victor. His statue is at Olympia, and his grave is on the borders of Elis. And in the 14th Olympiad afterwards the double course was introduced: when Hypenus a native of Pisa won the wild olive crown, and Acanthus was second. And in the 18th Olympiad they remembered the pentathlum and the wrestling, in the former Lampis was victor, in the latter Eurybatus, both Lacedæmonians. And in the 23rd Olympiad they ordained prizes for boxing, and Onomastus was victor from Smyrna (which was at that day reckoned as Ionia). And in the 25th Olympiad they had a race of full-grown horses, and the Theban Pagondas was proclaimed victor in this race. And in the eighth Olympiad later they introduced the pancratium and the riding race. The horse of Crannonian Crauxidas got in first, and the competitors for the pancratium were beaten by the Syracusan Lygdamis, who has his sepulchre at the stonequarries of Syracuse. And I don’t know whether Lygdamis was really as big as the Theban Hercules, but that is the tradition at Syracuse. And the contest of the boys was not a revival of ancient usage, but the people of Elis instituted it because the idea pleased them. So prizes were instituted for running and wrestling among boys in the 307th Olympiad, and Hipposthenes the Lacedæmonian won the wrestling prize, and Polynices from Elis the running prize. And in the 41st Olympiad afterwards they invited boxing boys, and the one who won the prize from all the competitors was Philetas from Sybaris. And the race in heavy armour was tried in the 65th Olympiad, as an exercise for war I think: and of those who ran with their shields Damaretus of Heræum was the victor. And the race of two full-grown horses called a pair was established in the 93rd Olympiad, and Evagoras of Elis was the victor. And in the 99th Olympiad they had a fancy to contend with chariots drawn by colts, and the Lacedæmonian Sybariades had the prize for this contest. And they afterwards established races of a pair of colts and for riding a colt, and the victor in the former was Belistiche, a woman who lived in Macedonia near the sea, and in the latter Tlepolemus the Lycian in the 131st Olympiad, Belistiche’s victory was in the 3rd Olympiad before. And in the 145th Olympiad prizes were instituted for a pancratium-contest for boys, and Phædimus an Æolian from the Troad was victor.