CHAPTER XXXII.
The temple at Messene called the Sacrificial Chamber has statues of the gods generally worshipped among the Greeks, and also an effigy of Epaminondas in brass. There are also some ancient tripods, such as Homer describes as not having experienced fire.[60] And the statues in the gymnasium are the work of Egyptians, and are Hermes Hercules and Theseus, who are wont to be held in honour at gymnasiums and palæstras by all Greeks and by many barbarians. I also noticed a statue of Æthidas who was a contemporary of mine but older, and as he was very wealthy the Messenians paid him honours as a hero. None of the people of Messene deny that Æthidas was wealthy, but some say it is not that Æthidas who has a statue on the pillar, but a namesake and ancestor. And this earlier Æthidas was they say the General of the Messenians, when Demetrius the son of Philip and his army stole into the town by night when they little expected it.
There is here also the tomb of Aristomenes, and not a mere cenotaph, if their account is correct. But when I inquired how and from what place they brought home Aristomenes’ remains, they replied that they sent for them from Rhodes, obeying the direction of the God at Delphi. They also informed me of the sacrifices at this tomb. The bull they intend to sacrifice they bring to the tomb, and fasten it to a pillar near the tomb. And it being wild and unused to bonds is reluctant to remain there. And if by its struggles and mad bounds the pillar is moved, it is an auspicious omen to the people of Messene, but if it is not moved it is an omen of misfortune. And they amuse themselves with the fancy that Aristomenes though no longer alive was present at the fight at Leuctra, and they say he fought for the Thebans, and was the main cause of the Lacedæmonian defeat. I know that the Chaldæan and Indian astrologers were the first who taught that the soul of man is immortal, and several Greeks credited their assertion, and notably Plato the son of Aristo. And whoever are willing to believe this cannot deny the fact that the hatred of Aristomenes to the Lacedæmonians was eternal. And what I heard in Thebes lent probability to the tradition at Messene, though it does not altogether agree with their account. The Thebans say that on the eve of the battle at Leuctra they sent to several oracles, and among others to that of Trophonius at Lebadea. The answers are extant which were received from Ismenian and Ptoan Apollo, as also from Abæ and Delphi. But the response of Trophonius was in 4 hexameter verses. “Before contending with the foe erect a trophy, decking out the shield, which the ardent Aristomenes of Messene placed in my temple. I will assuredly destroy the host of hostile warriors.” And on the arrival of this oracular response they say that Epaminondas prevailed with Xenocrates to send for the shield of Aristomenes, and he decked it out as a trophy in a place where it would be visible to the Lacedæmonians. And some of them recognized the shield as they had seen it in time of peace at Lebadea, and all knew of it by report. And after the Thebans won their victory, they offered Aristomenes’ shield again to Trophonius as a votive offering. There is also a brazen statue of Aristomenes in the race-course at Messene. And not far from the theatre is the temple of Serapis and Isis.