Pausanias' description of Greece, Volume I.

by active approximately 150-175 Pausanias

CHAPTER XVII.

And in Hera’s temple there is a statue of Zeus, and also one of Hera seated on a throne, and standing by is a person with a beard and helmet on his head. And the workmanship is very simple. And next them the Æginetan Smilis has delineated the Seasons sitting on thrones. And near them is a statue of Themis as the mother of the Seasons, the design of Doryclidas, a Lacedæmonian by race, and the pupil of Dipœnus and Scyllis. And there are five Hesperides by Theocles, a Lacedæmonian also, the son of Hegylus, who is also said to have been a pupil of Scyllis and Dipœnus. And Athene with a helmet and spear and shield is they say by the Lacedæmonian Medon, who was the brother of Doryclidas, and learnt his art also from Scyllis and Dipœnus. And Proserpine and Demeter sit, Apollo and Artemis stand, opposite one another. And there are statues also of Leto and Fortune and Dionysus, and a winged Victory, who designed them I cannot tell, but they appear to me very antique. What I have enumerated are in ivory and gold: but in later times there were other statues placed in the temple of Hera, as a stone Hermes carrying Dionysus as a babe, by Praxiteles; and Aphrodite in brass, by Cleon of Sicyon, whose master was Antiphanes, of the school of Periclytus the pupil of the Argive Polycletus. And before Aphrodite there is a little golden boy seated, by the Carthaginian Boethus, which was brought here from what is called Philip’s house, as well as some statues in gold and ivory, as Eurydice the wife of Philip, and Olympias.

* * The chest is of cedar and has figures on it, some in ivory, some in gold, some carved on the cedar. In this chest Cypselus, the tyrant of Corinth, was hid by his mother at his birth, as the Bacchidæ were eager to find him. On account of his safety his descendants, called the Cypselidæ, made the chest a votive offering at Olympia, and the Corinthians of that day called chests cypselæ: that is the origin of the name Cypselus given to the boy, so they say. And on the chest there are inscriptions in large letters in an old handwriting: some of this writing is straight, other parts are written in what the Greeks call ox-fashion. That is, when one line is finished the next begins where that left off and runs backward, and so on like the double course on the race ground. There are also inscriptions on the chest that are very puzzling and difficult to make out. And if you begin to examine the chest all over, beginning at the lower part, you will see first Œnomaus pursuing Pelops and Hippodamia. Each of them have a pair of horses but those of Pelops have wings. And next is the house of Amphiaraus, and some old woman is carrying Amphilochus the baby, and in front of the house is Eriphyle with a necklace, and near her her daughters Eurydice and Demonassa, and the little boy Alcmæon naked. Asius in his poems has also represented Alcmena as the daughter of Amphiaraus and Eriphyle. And Baton, the charioteer of Amphiaraus, has the reins in one hand and a lance in the other. And one of Amphiarus’ feet is in the chariot, and his sword is drawn, and he is turned towards Eriphyle, and in his rage can scarce refrain from rushing at her. And next to Amphiaraus’ house are the games in memory of Pelias, and the spectators are looking on the contests. There is Hercules sitting on a seat, and his wife behind him, but her name is not given, she is piping with Phrygian and not Greek pipes. And there are Pisus the son of Perieres and Asterion the son of Cometes driving a pair of horses, the latter is said to have sailed in the Argo, and Pollux and Admetus, and Euphemus the son of Poseidon (according to the tale of the poets), and the companion of Jason on his voyage to Colchi, he also was victorious in the pair-horse-race. And there are Admetus and Mopsus, the son of Ampyx, both famous boxers. And in the midst is a man playing on the flute, as in our day they are still wont to do in the leaping contest in the pentathlum. And Jason and Peleus are wrestling, they are very evenly matched. And there is Eurybotas throwing his quoit, a man famous as a quoit-player whoever he was. And there are Melanion and Neotheus and Phalareus and Argeus and Iphiclus ready for the race: and Acastus is holding out the crown to the victor, who was Iphiclus, the father of Protesilaus who fought at Ilium. There are also some tripods as prizes for the winners, and there are the daughters of Pelias, of whom the name of Alcestis only is inscribed. Iolaus too, who voluntarily shared in Hercules’ Labours, is there, just having come in first in the chariot-race. And this is the last of the games in memory of Pelias. And there is Athene standing by Hercules who is shooting the hydra, the monster that infested the river Amymone. And because Hercules was well-known, from his great size as well as the nature of the contest, his name is not written underneath. And there is Phineus the Thracian, and the sons of Boreas driving away the Harpies from him.