Pausanias' description of Greece, Volume I.

by active approximately 150-175 Pausanias

CHAPTER XXIX.

Epidaurus has the following things most worthy of record. There is a temple of Æsculapius, and statues of Æsculapius and Epione, who they say was his wife. These are in the open air, and are of Parian marble. And there are temples of Dionysus and Artemis, the latter as a Huntress. There is a temple also built to Aphrodite: and near the harbour on the cliff jutting out into the sea is they say one of Hera. And the Athene in the citadel, a wooden statue well worth seeing, they call Cissæan Athene.

The Æginetans inhabit the island opposite Epidauria. And they say there were no inhabitants there originally, but Zeus having taken Ægina the daughter of Asopus there to that desert island, it was called Ægina after her instead of its old name Œnone, and when Æacus was grown up he asked of Zeus for settlers, and then they say that Zeus produced men from the soil. And they can tell of no king reigning there but Æacus, for we know of none of the sons of Æacus continuing there, for Peleus and Telamon had to flee for the murder of Phocus, and the sons of Phocus again dwelt near Parnassus in what is now called Phocis. And the name Phocis was given to the district when Phocus of the family of Ornytion first came to it. In the days of this Phocus the country near Tithorea and Parnassus was called Phocis: but in the days of Æacus the name Phocis included everybody from Minyæ near Orchomenus to Scarphea in Locris. And Peleus’ sons were kings in Epirus, and of Telamon’s sons the family of Ajax was rather obscure (as he lived in a retired way privately), except Miltiades, who led the Athenians at Marathon, and his son Cimon, both of whom were exceedingly illustrious. And the descendants of Teucer were kings of Cyprus down to Evagoras. And according to the poet Asius Phocus’ sons were Panopeus and Crisus: and the son of Panopeus was Epeus, who according to Homer was the contriver of the wooden horse, and the grandson of Crisus was Pylades, the son of Strophius, the son of Crisus by Anaxibia the daughter of Agamemnon. Such is the pedigree of the so-called Æacidæ, but they branched off from the beginning into other directions. And in after time a part of the Argives that had occupied Epidaurus with Deiphontes crossed over to Ægina, and, mixing among the old settlers at Ægina, introduced into the island the Doric language and manners. And the Æginetans became a great power, so that they were even a greater naval power than the Athenians, and in the Persian War furnished the greatest number of vessels next to the Athenians, but their prosperity did not last, for they were turned out of Ægina by the Athenians, and went and dwelt at Thyrea in Argolis, which the Lacedæmonians gave them. They recovered Ægina indeed, when the Athenian triremes were captured at the Hellespont, but never regained their former wealth and power. Of all the Greek islands Ægina is the most difficult of access. For there are rocks under the sea all round it, and sunken reefs. And they say that Æacus contrived this on purpose from fear of pirates, and that he might not be exposed to enemies. And near the chief harbour is a temple of Aphrodite, and in the most conspicuous part of the city what is called the Hall of Æacus, a square court of white stone: at the entrance of which are statues of the envoys who were sent by the Greeks to Æacus. All give the same account of this as the Æginetans. A drought for some time afflicted Greece, and there was no rain either beyond the Isthmus or in the Peloponnese, until they sent messengers to Delphi, to enquire the cause, and at the same time to beg to be rid of the evil. The Pythian Priestess told them to propitiate Zeus, and that, if he was to listen to them, Æacus must be the suppliant. Accordingly they sent envoys from every city to beg Æacus to do so. And he offered sacrifices and prayers to Pan-Hellenian Zeus and caused rain to come on the earth: and the Æginetans made these effigies of all the envoys that had come to him. And within the precincts are some olive trees planted a long time ago, and an altar not much higher than the ground, which it is secretly whispered is a memorial of Æacus. And near the Hall of Æacus is the tomb of Phocus, a mound of earth with a base in the shape of a circle, and on it is a rough stone: and when Telamon and Peleus invited Phocus to the contest of the pentathlum, and it was Peleus’ turn to throw the stone, which served them for a quoit, he purposely threw it at Phocus and hit him. And in this they gratified their mother, for they were the sons of Endeis the daughter of Sciron, and Phocus was the son of her sister Thetis, if the Greeks speak the truth. And Pylades appears to me for this reason, and not merely in friendship to Orestes, to have contrived the death of Neoptolemus. But when Phocus was struck by the quoit and fell down dead, then the sons of Endeis got on board ship and fled. And Telamon later on sent a messenger, and endeavoured to clear himself of having contrived the death of Phocus. But Æacus would not let him land on the island, but bade him if he liked pile up a mole in the sea and make his defence there. Accordingly he sailed to the harbour called Secret, and by night produced a mole, which remains to this day. And being pronounced guilty of the death of Phocus he sailed back again to Salamis. And not far from this harbour Secret is a theatre well worth seeing, in size and workmanship very similar to the one at Epidaurus. And behind it is built one side of a stadium, upholding the theatre and serving as a prop for it.