Pausanias' description of Greece, Volume II.

by active approximately 150-175 Pausanias

BOOK IX.—BŒOTIA.

CHAPTER I.

Bœotia is contiguous to Attica, and Platæa to Eleutheræ. The Bœotians got that name for all the race from Bœotus, who they say was the son of Itonus the son of Amphictyon and the Nymph Melanippe. Their towns are called sometimes after men but more frequently after women. The Platæans were I think the original inhabitants of the land, and they got their name from Platæa the daughter of the river-god Asopus. That they were originally ruled over by kings is I think clear: for in old times kingdoms were all over Greece, there were no democratic governments. But the Platæans know of no other kings but Asopus and still earlier Cithæron, one of whom gave his name to the mountain and the other to the river. And I cannot but think that Platæa, who gave her name to the town, was the daughter of the king Asopus and not of the river-god.

The Platæans did nothing memorable before the battle which the Athenians fought at Marathon, but they took part in that struggle after the landing of Xerxes, and ventured to embark on ships with the Athenians, and repelled on their own soil Mardonius, the son of Gobryas, the General of Xerxes. And it twice happened to them to be driven from their country and again restored to it. For in the Peloponnesian war the Lacedæmonians besieged and took Platæa: and when, after the peace which Antalcidas the Spartan negotiated between the Greeks and the king of the Persians, it was reinhabited by the Platæans who returned from Athens, a second misfortune was it seems destined to come upon them. For war was not openly declared against the Thebans, but the Platæans said that they were still at peace with them, because when the Lacedæmonians occupied Cadmea, they had no share either in suggesting it or in bringing it about. The Thebans on the other hand said that it was the Lacedæmonians who had brought about the peace, and who afterwards when they had violated it thought that all had broken truce. The Platæans therefore, thinking the conduct of the Thebans rather suspicious, occupied their town with a strong garrison, and the farmers did not even go into the fields which were at some distance from the town at every period of the day, but watched for the times when the Thebans held their general meetings, and at such times tilled their farms in quiet. But Neocles, who was at that time Bœotarch at Thebes, and had noticed this cunning on the part of the Platæans, told all the Thebans to go armed to the assembly, and led them from Thebes not straight across the plain but in the direction of Hysiæ and Eleutheræ and Attica, where no outposts had been placed by the Platæans, and got to the walls about mid-day. For the Platæans, thinking the Thebans were at their meeting, had shut the gates and gone out to the fields. And the Thebans made conditions with those who were in the town that they should leave the place before sunset, the men with one dress and the women with two. At this time the fortune of the Platæans was rather different from the former occasion when the town was taken by the Lacedæmonians and Archidamus. For then the Lacedæmonians blockaded them and shut them in by a double wall so that they could not get out, whereas now the Thebans prevented their getting into the town at all. This second capture of Platæa was the third year after Leuctra, when Asteus was Archon at Athens. And the town was rased to the ground by the Thebans entirely except the temples, but there was no sack, and the Athenians took in the Platæans a second time. But when Philip was victorious at Chæronea, he introduced a garrison into Thebes, and among other things to destroy the Theban power, restored the Platæans.

CHAPTER II.

If you turn off a little to the right from the high road in the Platæan district near Mount Cithæron, you come to the ruins of Hysiæ and Erythræ. They were formerly cities, and among the ruins of Hysiæ there is still a temple of Apollo half-finished, and a Holy Well, of which whoever drank in former days prophesied, if we may believe the tradition of the Bœotians. And on your return to the high road on the right is what is said to be the tomb of Mardonius. It is admitted that the dead body of Mardonius was missing after the battle, but as to who buried him there are different traditions. What is certain is that Artontes the son of Mardonius gave many gifts to the Ephesian Dionysophanes, and also to several Ionians, for not having neglected his father’s burial. And this road leads from Eleutheræ to Platæa.

As you go from Megara there is a spring on the right hand, and a little further a rock called the bed of Actæon, because they say he used to sleep on that rock when tired with hunting, and in that spring they say he saw Artemis bathing. And Stesichorus of Himera has represented the goddess as dressing Actæon in a deerskin, so that his dogs should devour him, that he should not be married to Semele. But I think that madness came upon the dogs of Actæon without the intervention of the goddess, and if they were mad and did not distinguish him they would rend in pieces whoever they met. In what part of Mount Cithæron Pentheus the son of Echion met with his fate, or where they exposed Œdipus after his birth, no one knows, as we do know the cross-roads on the way to Phocis where Œdipus slew his father. Mount Cithæron is sacred to Zeus of Cithæron, but I shall enter into all that more fully when I come to that part of my subject.

Near the entrance to Platæa is the tomb of those who fell fighting against the Medes. The other Greeks have one common tomb. But the Lacedæmonians and Athenians who fell have separate burial-grounds, and some elegiac lines of Simonides as their epitaph. And not far from the common tomb of the Greeks is the altar of Zeus Eleutherius. The tombs are of brass, but the altar and statue of Zeus are of white stone. And they celebrate still every fifth year the festival called Eleutheria, in which the chief prizes are for running: they run in heavy armour in front of the altar. And the Greeks set up a trophy about 15 stades from the town for the battle at Platæa.

In the town of Platæa, as you go on from the altar and statue erected to Zeus Eleutherius, is a hero-chapel to Platæa, I have already stated the traditions about her and my own views. There is also a temple of Hera, well worth seeing for its size and the beauty of the statues. As you enter it Rhea is before you carrying to Cronos the stone wrapt up in swaddling-clothes, pretending it was the child she had just given birth to. And the Hera here they call Full-Grown, her statue is a large one in a standing position. Both these statues are in Pentelican marble by Praxiteles. There is also another statue of Hera in a sitting position by Callimachus, they call this statue The Bride for the following reason.

CHAPTER III.

They say Hera for some reason or other was displeased with Zeus and went to Eubœa, and Zeus when he could not appease her went to Cithæron (who ruled at Platæa), who was inferior to no one in ingenuity. He recommended Zeus to make a wooden statue and dress it up and draw it in a waggon with a yoke of oxen, and give out that he intended to marry Platæa the daughter of Asopus. And he did as Cithæron instructed him. And directly Hera heard of it she returned at once, and approached the waggon and tore the clothes of the statue, and was delighted with the trick when she found a wooden image instead of a young bride, and was reconciled to Zeus. In memory of this reconciliation they have a festival called Dædala, because statues were of old called dædala. And they called them so I think before the times of Dædalus the Athenian, the son of Palamaon, for he was called Dædalus I take it from his statues, and not from his birth up. This festival is celebrated by the Platæans every seventh year, according to what my Antiquarian guide informed me, but really at less interval: the exact time however between one festival and the next though I wished I could not ascertain. The festival is celebrated as follows. There is an oak-coppice not far from Alalcomenæ. Of all the oaks in Bœotia the roots of these are the finest. When the Platæans come to this oak-coppice, they place there portions of boiled meat. And they do not much trouble themselves about other birds, but they watch crows very carefully, for they frequent the place, and if one of them seizes a piece of meat they watch what tree it sits upon. And on whatever tree it perches, they carve their wooden image, called dædalum, from the wood of this tree. This is the way the Platæans privately celebrate their little festival Dædala: but the great festival of Dædala is a festival for all Bœotia and celebrated every sixth year; for that was the interval during which the festival was discontinued when the Platæans were in exile. And 14 wooden statues are provided by them every year for the little festival Dædala, which the following draw lots for, the Platæans, the Coronæans, the Thespians, the Tanagræans, the Chæroneans, the Orchomenians, the Lebadeans, and the Thebans: for they thought fit to be reconciled with the Platæans, and to join their gathering, and to send their sacrifice to the festival, when Cassander the son of Antipater restored Thebes. And all the small towns which are of lesser note contribute to the festival. They deck the statue and take it to the Asopus on a waggon, and place a bride on it, and draw lots for the order of the procession, and drive their waggons from the river to the top of Cithæron, where an altar is prepared for them constructed in the following manner. They get square pieces of wood about the same size, and pile them up one upon one another as if they were making a stone building, and raise it to a good height by adding firewood. The chief magistrates of each town sacrifice a cow to Hera and a bull to Zeus, and they burn on the altar all together the victims (full of wine and incense) and the wooden images, and private people offer their sacrifices as well as the rich, only they sacrifice smaller animals as sheep, and all the sacrifices are burnt together. And the fire consumes the altar as well as the sacrifices, the flame is prodigious and visible for an immense distance. And about 15 stades lower than the top of the mountain where they build this altar is a cave of the Nymphs of Mount Cithæron, called Sphragidion, where tradition says those Nymphs prophesied in ancient times.

CHAPTER IV.

The Platæans have also a temple to Arean Athene, which was built from the spoil given to them by the Athenians after the battle of Marathon. The statue of the goddess is wooden but gilt over: the head and fingers and toes are of Pentelican marble. In size it is nearly as large as the brazen one in the Acropolis, (which the Athenians dedicated as the firstfruits of the battle at Marathon,) and is also the work of Phidias. And there are paintings in the temple by Polygnotus, Odysseus having just slain the suitors, and by Onatas the first expedition of Adrastus and the Argives against Thebes. These paintings are on the walls in the vestibule of the temple, and at the base of the statue of the goddess is an effigy of Arimnestus, who commanded the Platæans in the fight against Mardonius and still earlier at Marathon.

There is also at Platæa a temple of Eleusinian Demeter, and the tomb of Leitus, the only leader of the Bœotians that returned home after the Trojan war. And the fountain Gargaphia was fouled by Mardonius and the Persian cavalry, because the Greek army opposed to them drank of it, but the Platæans afterwards made the water pure again.

As you go from Platæa to Thebes you come to the river Oeroe, Oeroe was they say the daughter of Asopus. And before crossing the Asopus, if you turn aside and follow the stream of the Oeroe for about 40 stades, you come to the ruins of Scolus, among which are a temple of Demeter and Proserpine not complete, and half the statues of the goddesses. The Asopus is still the boundary between the districts of Platæa and Thebes.

CHAPTER V.

The district of Thebes was they say first inhabited by the Ectenes, whose king was the Autochthon Ogygus, hence many of the poets have called Thebes Ogygiæ. And the Ectenes they say died off with some pestilence, and Thebes was repeopled by the Hyantes and Aones, Bœotian races I imagine and not foreigners. And when Cadmus and his Phœnician army invaded the land the Hyantes were defeated in battle and fled the following night, but the Aones were submissive and were allowed by Cadmus to remain in the land and mix with the Phœnicians. They continued to live in their villages, but Cadmus built the town called to this day Cadmea. And afterwards when the town grew, Cadmea was the citadel for lower Thebes. Cadmus made a splendid marriage if, according to the Greek tradition, he married the daughter of Aphrodite and Ares, and his daughters were famous, Semele as the mother of a son by Zeus, and Ino as one of the sea goddesses. Amongst the greatest contemporaries of Cadmus were the Sparti, Chthonius and Hyperenor and Pelorus and Udæus: and Echion was chosen by Cadmus as his son-in-law for his conspicuous valour. About these men I could obtain no further knowledge, so I follow the general tradition about the origin of the name Sparti.[48] And when Cadmus migrated to the Illyrians and to those of them who were called Enchelians, he was succeeded by his son Polydorus. And Pentheus the son of Echion had great power both from the lustre of his race and the friendship of the king, though he was haughty and impious and justly punished by Dionysus. The son of Polydorus was Labdacus. He on his death left a son quite a boy, whom as well as the kingdom he entrusted to Nycteus. The sequel I have already set forth in my account about Sicyonia, as the circumstances attending the death of Nycteus, and how the guardianship of the boy and care of the realm devolved upon Lycus the brother of Nycteus: and the boy dying also not long after Lycus became guardian for Laius the son of Labdacus.

It was during Lycus’ second guardianship that Amphion and Zethus invaded the country with a band of men. And those who were anxious for the continuance of Cadmus’ race withdrew Laius, and Lycus was defeated in battle by the sons of Antiope. And during their reign they joined the lower town to Cadmea, and called it Thebes from their relationship to Thebe. And I am borne out by the lines of Homer in the Odyssey:[49]

“Who first gave its towers and seven gates to Thebes, for though they were strong, they could not dwell in a spacious unfortified Thebes.”

As to the legend about Amphion’s singing and the walls being built as he played on his harp, Homer has made no mention of it in his poems. But Amphion was famous for music, and from his relationship to Tantalus learnt the harmony of the Lydians, and added three strings to the lyre, which had previously had only four. And the author of the poem about Europa says that Amphion was the first who played on the lyre, and that Hermes taught him how: and that by his strains he drew stones and animals. And Myro, the Byzantian poetess who wrote epic and elegiac verses, says that Amphion first erected an altar to Hermes and received from him the lyre on it. It is said also that in Hades Amphion paid the penalty for his railing against Leto and her sons. This punishment of his is mentioned in the poem called the Minyad, and there are references in it both to Amphion and the Thracian Thamyris. And when the family of Amphion was destroyed by pestilence, and the son of Zethus was slain by his mother for some fault or other, and Zethus also died of grief, then the Thebans restored Laius to the kingdom.

When Laius was king and wedded to Jocasta, the oracle at Delphi told him that he would die at the hands of his son, if Jocasta bare him one. And that was why he exposed Œdipus, who was fated after all when he grew up to kill his father. He also married his mother. But I do not think he had any children by her. My authority for this view is Homer, who in his Odyssey has the following lines.[50]

“I also saw the mother of Œdipus, beautiful Epicaste, who did a horrible deed, unwittingly marrying her own son, for he married her after slaying his father, but soon the gods made it publicly known.”

But how could they soon make it publicly known,[51] if Œdipus had 4 children by Jocasta? So they were the children of Euryganea the daughter of Hyperphas, as is shown by the poet who wrote the poems called the Œdipodia. Onatas also painted for the people of Platæa Euryganea dejected at the quarrels of her sons. And it was in the lifetime and during the reign of Œdipus that Polynices departed from Thebes, fearing that the curses of his father would be fulfilled: and he went to Argos and married the daughter of Adrastus, and returned to Thebes after the death of Œdipus, being sent for by Eteocles. And on his return he quarrelled with Eteocles, and went into exile a second time. And having begged of Adrastus a force to restore him, he lost his army and challenged Eteocles to single combat. And he and his brother killed each other, and as the kingdom devolved upon Laodamas the son of Eteocles, Creon the son of Menœceus ruled as guardian for the boy. And when Laodamas grew up and took the reins of power, then a second time the Argives led an army against Thebes. And the Thebans encamping against them at Glisas, Laodamas slew in the action Ægialeus the son of Adrastus, but the Argives gaining the victory Laodamas with those Thebans that were willing to follow him withdrew the night following to the Illyrians. And the Argives captured Thebes, and delivered it over to Thersander the son of Polynices. And when some of those who were going with Agamemnon to the siege of Troy sailed out of their course, and met with a reverse at Mysia, then it was that Thersander, who was the bravest of the Greeks in the battle, was slain by Telephus, and his tomb is in stone as you drive over the plain of Caicus in the town of Elæa, in the part of the market-place which is in the open air, and the people of the country say that funeral rites are paid to him. And after the death of Thersander, when a second fleet was got together against Paris and Ilium, they chose Peneleos as their leader because Tisamenus the son of Thersander was not yet old enough. But when Peneleos was killed by Eurypylus the son of Telephus, they chose Tisamenus as their king, the son of Thersander by Demonassa the daughter of Amphiaraus. And Tisamenus suffered not from the wrath of the Furies of Laius and Œdipus, but Autesion his son did, so that he migrated to the Dorians at the bidding of the oracle. And on his departure they chose as king Damasichthon, the son of Opheltes the son of Peneleos. His son was Ptolemæus, and his Xanthus, who was slain by Andropompus in single combat by treachery and not fairly. And thenceforward the Thebans resolved to entrust their government to several magistrates, and not to let everything depend on one man.

[48] Namely, that they were armed men who sprang up from the dragon’s teeth sown by Cadmus.

[49] Odyssey, xi. 263-265.

[50] Odyssey, xi. 271-274.

[51] Perhaps Pausanias is hyper-critical here. Is he not answered by the following line in the ὑπόθεσις to Œdipus Tyrannus, λοιμὸς δὲ Θήβας εἶλε καὶ νόσος μακρά?

CHAPTER VI.

Of their successes and reverses in war I found the following to be the most notable. They were beaten by the Athenians in battle, when the Athenians fought on the side of the Platæans in the war about borders. They were beaten a second time by the Athenians in the neighbourhood of Platæa, when they seem to have preferred the interests of king Xerxes to those of Greece. The popular party was not to blame for that, for at that time Thebes was ruled by an oligarchy, and not by their national form of government. And no doubt if the barbarian had come to Greece in the days when Pisistratus and his sons ruled at Athens the Athenians also would have been open to the charge of Medizing. Afterwards however the Thebans were victorious over the Athenians at Delium in the district of Tanagra, when Hippocrates, the son of Ariphron, the Athenian General perished with most of his army. And the Thebans were friendly with the Lacedæmonians directly after the departure of the Medes till the war between the Peloponnesians and the Athenians: but after the conclusion of that war, and the destruction of the Athenian navy, the Thebans soon joined the Corinthians against the Lacedæmonians. And after being beaten in battle at Corinth and Coronea, they were victorious at the famous battle of Leuctra, the most famous of all the battles between Greeks that we know of, and they put down the decemvirates that the Lacedæmonians had established in their towns, and ejected the Lacedæmonian Harmosts. And afterwards they fought continuously for 10 years in the Phocian War, called by the Greeks the Sacred War. I have already in my account of Attica spoken about the reverse that befell all the Greeks at Chæronea, but it fell most heavily on the Thebans, for a Macedonian garrison was put into Thebes; but after the death of Philip and accession of Alexander the Thebans took it into their head to eject this garrison: and when they did so the god warned them of their coming ruin, and in the temple of Demeter Thesmophorus the omens were just the reverse of what they were before Leuctra: for then the spiders spun white webs near the doors of the temple, but now at the approach of Alexander and the Macedonians they spun black webs. There is also a tradition that it rained ashes at Athens the year before Sulla began the war which was to cause the Athenians so many woes.

CHAPTER VII.

And now the Thebans were expelled from Thebes by Alexander, and escaped to Athens, and were restored by Cassander the son of Antipater. And the Athenians were very friendly in this restoration to Thebes, and the Messenians and Arcadians of Megalopolis also gave their help. And I think Cassander restored Thebes chiefly out of hatred to Alexander: for he endeavoured to destroy all the house of Alexander, for he ordered the Macedonians (who were exceedingly angry with her) to stone to death Olympias Alexander’s mother, and he poisoned the sons of Alexander, Hercules his son by Barsine, and Alexander his son by Roxana. Nor did he himself terminate his life happily, for he was swollen with the dropsy, and eaten up by worms. And of his sons, Philip the eldest not long after his accession was taken off by consumption, and Antipater the next killed his mother Thessalonice, the daughter of Philip (the son of Amyntas) and Nicasipolis. His motive for putting her to death was that she was too partial to Alexander her youngest son. And Alexander invited in Demetrius the son of Antigonus, and succeeded by his help in deposing his brother Antipater, and punishing him for his matricide, but seemed in Demetrius to find rather a murderer than ally. Thus was Cassander punished by the gods. In his lifetime the Thebans rebuilt all their old walls, but were destined it seemed to taste great misfortunes still. For they joined Mithridates in his war against Rome, I think only out of friendship to the Athenian people. But when Sulla invaded Bœotia panic seized the Thebans, and they repented, and tried to get again the friendship of the Romans. But Sulla was wroth with them, and found out other means of injuring them, and took half their territory on the following pretext. When he began the war with Mithridates he was short of money, he collected therefore the votive offerings from Olympia, and Epidaurus, and from Delphi all that the Phocians had left. These he distributed among his troops, and gave the gods in return half Thebais instead of money. The land thus taken away the Thebans afterwards got back by the favour of the Romans, but in other respects became thenceforwards weaker and weaker, and in my time the lower part of the city was quite deserted except the temples, and the citadel which they still inhabit is called Thebes and not Cadmea.

CHAPTER VIII.

And when you have crossed the Asopus, and gone about 10 stades from Thebes, you come to the ruins of Potniæ, among which is a grove to Demeter and Proserpine. And the statues by the river they call the Potnian goddesses. And at a stated season they perform other customary rites, and admit sucking pigs into what are called the Halls: and take them at the same season the year following to Dodona, believe it who likes. Here too is a temple of Dionysus Ægobolus (Goat-killer). For in sacrificing to the god on one occasion the people of Potniæ were so outrageous through drunkenness that they even killed the priest of Dionysus: and straightway a pestilence came on them, and the oracle at Delphi told them the only cure was to sacrifice to Dionysus a grown boy, and not many years afterwards they say the god accepted a goat as victim instead. They also shew a well at Potniæ, in which they say if the horses of the district drink they go mad.

As you go from Potniæ to Thebes there is on the right of the road a small enclosure and pillars in it: this it is thought is the place where the earth opened and swallowed up Amphiaraus, and they add that neither do birds sit on these pillars, nor do animals tame or wild feed on the grass.

At Thebes within the circuit of the old walls were seven gates which remain to this day, and all have their own names. The gate Electris is called from Electra the sister of Cadmus, and Prœtisis from Prœtus, a native of Thebes whose date and genealogy it would be difficult to ascertain. And the gate Neiste got its name from the following circumstance; one of the chords in the lyre is called nete, and Amphion discovered this chord at this very gate. Another account is that Zethus the brother of Amphion had a son called Neis, and that this gate got its name from him. And there is the gate Crenæa, so called from a fountain. And there is the gate called Highest, so called from the temple of Highest Zeus. And the sixth gate is called Ogygia. And the seventh gate is called Homolois, this is the most recently named gate I think, (as Ogygia is the oldest-named,) and got its name from the following circumstance. When the Thebans were beaten in battle by the Argives at Glisas, most of them fled with Laodamas the son of Eteocles, but part of them shrank from a journey to the Illyrii, and turned aside into Thessaly and occupied Homole, the most fertile and well-watered of all the Thessalian mountains. And when Thersander the son of Polynices restored them to Thebes, they called the gate by which they entered Homolois in memory of Homole. As you go from Platæa to Thebes you enter by the gate Electris, and it was here they say that Capaneus the son of Hipponous, making a most violent attack on the walls, was struck with lightning.[52]

CHAPTER IX.

I think this war which the Argives fought is the most memorable of all the wars which were fought between Greeks in the days of the heroes. For the war between the Eleusinians and the Athenians, as likewise that between the Thebans and the Minyæ, was terminated by one engagement, and they were soon friends again. But the Argive host came from the middle of the Peloponnese to the middle of Bœotia, and Adrastus got together allies from Arcadia and Messenia. And likewise some mercenaries came to help the Thebans from Phocis, as also the Phlegyæ from the district of the Minyæ. And in the battle that took place at Ismenius the Thebans were beaten at the first onset, and when they were routed fled to the city, and as the Peloponnesians did not know how to fight against fortifications, but attacked them with more zeal than judgment, the Thebans slew many of them from the walls, and afterwards made a sally and attacked them as they were drawn up in order of battle and killed the rest, so that the whole army was cut to pieces except Adrastus. But the battle was not without heavy loss to the Thebans, and ever since they call a victory with heavy loss to the victors a Cadmean victory.[53] And not many years afterwards those whom the Greeks call Epigoni marched against Thebes with Thersander. Their army was clearly swelled not only from Argolis, but also from Messenia and Arcadia, and from Corinth and Megara. And the Thebans were aided by their neighbours, and a sharp fight took place at Glisas, well contested on both sides. But the Thebans were beaten, and some of them fled with Laodamas, and the rest were reduced after a blockade. The epic poem called the Thebais has reference to this war. Callinus who mentions that poem says that it was written by Homer, and his view is held by several respectable authorities. But I think it is of a later date than the Iliad and Odyssey. But let this account suffice for the war between the Argives and the Thebans about the sons of Œdipus.

[52] See Æschylus, Septem contra Thebas, 423 sq.

[53] See Erasmi Adagia.

CHAPTER X.

Not far from the gates is a large sepulchre to all those who fell in battle against Alexander and the Macedonians. And at no great distance they show the place where they say, believe it who will, that Cadmus sowed the teeth of the dragon that he slew by the well, and that the ground produced a crop of armed men from these teeth.

And there is a hill sacred to Apollo on the right of the gates, the hill and the god and the river that flows by are all called Ismenius. At the approach to the temple are statues of Athene and Hermes in stone, called gods of the Vestibule, Hermes by Phidias and Athene by Scopas, and next comes the temple itself. And the statue of Apollo in it is in size and appearance very like the one at Branchidæ. Whoever has seen one of these statues and learnt the statuary’s name will not need much sagacity, if he sees the other, to know that it is by Canachus. But they differ in one respect, the one at Branchidæ being in bronze, the Ismenian in cedarwood. There is here also the stone on which they say Manto the daughter of Tiresias sate. It is near the entrance, and its name even to this day is Manto’s seat. And on the right of the temple are two stone statues, one they say of Henioche the other of Pyrrha, both daughters of Creon, who ruled as guardian of Laodamas the son of Eteocles. And still at Thebes I know they choose annually a lad of good family, good looking and strong, as priest to Ismenian Apollo: his title is laurel-bearer, because these lads wear crowns of laurel-leaves. I do not know whether all who wear these laurel crowns must dedicate to the god a brazen tripod, and I don’t think that can be the usage, for I did not see many tripods so offered. But the wealthiest lads certainly do offer these tripods. Especially notable for age and the celebrity of the person who gave it is that given by Amphitryon, Hercules wearing the laurel crown.

Somewhat higher than the temple of Apollo Ismenius you will see the spring which is they say sacred to Ares, who placed a dragon there to guard it. Near it is the tomb of Caanthus, who was they say the brother of Melia and the son of Oceanus, and was sent by his father to seek for his sister who had been carried off. But when he found Apollo with Melia he could not take her away, so he dared to set the grove of Ismenian Apollo on fire, and the god transfixed him with an arrow, so the Thebans say, and here is his tomb. And they say Melia bare Apollo two sons Tenerus and Ismenius, to Tenerus Apollo gave the power of divination, and Ismenius gave his name to the river. Not that it was without a name before, if indeed it was called Ladon before the birth of Apollo’s son Ismenius.

CHAPTER XI.

On the left of the gate called Electris are the ruins of the house where they say Amphitryon dwelt, when he fled from Tiryns owing to the death of Electryon. And among the ruins is to be seen the bridal-bed of Alcmena, which was made they say for Amphitryon by Trophonius and Agamedes, as the inscription states,

“When Amphitryon was going to marry Alcmena, he contrived this bridal-bed for himself, and Anchasian Trophonius and Agamedes made it.”

This is the inscription which the Thebans say is written here: and they also show the monument of the sons of Hercules by Megara, giving a very similar account about their death to that which Stesichorus of Himera and Panyasis have written in their poems. But the Thebans add that Hercules in his madness wished also to kill Amphitryon, but sleep came upon him in consequence of a blow from a stone, and they say Athene threw the stone, which they call Composer. There too are some statues of women on a figure, rather indistinct from age, the Thebans call them Sorceresses, and say that they were sent by Hera to prevent Alcmena from childbirth. Accordingly they tried to do so, but Historis the daughter of Tiresias played a trick on them, she cried out in their hearing, and they thought Alcmena had just given birth to a child, so they went away deceived, and then they say Alcmena bare a boy.

Here too is a temple of Hercules called Champion, his statue is of white stone by Xenocritus and Eubius, both Thebans: the old wooden statue the Thebans think is by Dædalus and I think so too. He made it, so the story goes, in return for an act of kindness. For when he fled from Crete the boats he made were not large enough both for himself and Icarus his son, and he also employed sails, an invention not known in his day, that he might get the advantage of the boats of Minos (which were only rowed) by availing himself of a favourable wind, and he got off safe, but Icarus steering his boat rather awkwardly it upset they say, and he was drowned, and his dead body carried by the waves to an island beyond Samos which then had no name. And Hercules found and recognised the corpse, and buried it, where now is a mound of no great size, by the promontory that juts out into the Ægean Sea. And the island and the sea near it got their names from Icarus. And on the gables Praxiteles has carved most of the 12 Labours of Hercules, all in short but the killing of the Stymphelian birds, and the cleansing of the country of Elis, and instead of these is a representation of the wrestling with Antæus. And when Thrasybulus the son of Lycus and the Athenians with him put down the Thirty Tyrants, (they had started from Thebes on their return from exile), they offered to this temple of Hercules colossal statues of Athene and Hercules in Pentelican marble, by Alcamenes.

Near the temple of Hercules are a gymnasium and racecourse both called after the god. And beyond the stone Composer is an altar of Apollo Spodius, made of the ashes of the victims. There is divination there by omens, which kind of divination I know the people of Smyrna use more than all the other Greeks, for they have outside their walls beyond the city a Temple of Omens.

CHAPTER XII.

The Thebans used of old to sacrifice bulls to Apollo Spodius: but on one occasion during the festival when the time for the sacrifice drew nigh, and those who had been sent for the bull did not come with it, they sacrificed to the god one of the oxen in a waggon that chanced to be near, and since that time they have sacrificed oxen employed in labour. They also tell this tradition, that Cadmus when travelling from Delphi to Phocis was guided on his journey by a cow which he had purchased from the herds of Pelagon, which had on each side a white mark like the orb of the moon at the full. Cadmus and all the army with him were according to the oracle to make their home where the cow should lie down tired. This spot they show. There in the open air is an altar and statue of Athene, erected they say by Cadmus. To those who think that Cadmus came to Thebes from Egypt and not from Phœnicia this name of Athene affords refutation: for she is called Onga which is a Phœnician word, and not by the Egyptian name Sais. And the Thebans say that the house of Cadmus was originally in that part of the citadel where the market-place now is: and they shew the ruins of the bridal chambers of Harmonia and Semele, this last they do not allow men to enter even to this day. And those Greeks who believe that the Muses sang at the marriage of Harmonia say that this spot in the market-place is where they sang. There is also a tradition that together with the lightning that struck the bridal-chamber of Semele fell a piece of wood from heaven: and Polydorus they say adorned this piece of wood with brass, and called it Dionysus Cadmus. And very near is the statue of Dionysus, made by Onasimedes of brass throughout, the altar was made by the sons of Praxiteles.

There is also the statue of Pronomus, a man most attractive as a flute-player. For a long time flute-players had only three kinds of flutes, for some played in the Dorian measure, and other flutes were adapted to the Phrygian and Lydian measures. And Pronomus was the first who saw that flutes were fit for every kind of measure, and was the first to play different measures on the same flute. It is said also that by the appearance of his features and the motion of all his body he gave wonderful pleasure in the theatre, and a processional song of his is extant for the dwellers at Chalcis near the Euripus who came to Delos. To him and to Epaminondas the son of Polymnis the Thebans erected statues here.

CHAPTER XIII.

Epaminondas was of illustrious descent, but his father was very poor even for an average Theban, and he learnt very carefully the national education, and when he was quite a stripling went to school to Lysis the Tarentine, who had been a pupil of Pythagoras of Samos. And, when the Lacedæmonians were at war with the Mantineans, Epaminondas is said to have been sent amongst others from Thebes to aid the Lacedæmonians. And when Pelopidas was wounded in the battle, he ran great risks to bring him out of it safe. And afterwards when Epaminondas went on an embassy to Sparta, when the Lacedæmonians agreed to ratify with the Greeks the peace known as the peace of Antalcidas, and Agesilaus asked him if the Thebans would allow the various towns in Bœotia to subscribe to the peace separately, “Not,” he answered, “O Spartans, until we see your neighbouring towns setting us the example.” And when war at last broke out between the Lacedæmonians and the Thebans, and the Lacedæmonians attacked the Thebans with their own forces and those of their allies, Epaminondas with part of his army stationed himself near the marsh Cephisis, as the Peloponnesians were going to make their attack in that quarter, but Cleombrotus the king of the Lacedæmonians turned aside to Ambrosus in Phocis, and after slaying Chæreas, who had been ordered to guard the by-roads, and the men who were with him, passed by and got to Leuctra in Bœotia. There Cleombrotus and the Lacedæmonians generally had portents from the gods. The Spartan kings when they went out to war used to be accompanied by flocks of sheep, to sacrifice to the gods and to give them good omens before battles. These flocks were led by a particular kind of goat that the shepherds called catoiades. And on this occasion some wolves attacked the flocks but did no harm to the sheep, only slew the goats. Vengeance is said to have come upon the Lacedæmonians in consequence of the daughters of Scedasus. Scedasus lived at Leuctra and had two daughters Molpia and Hippo. They were very beautiful and two Lacedæmonians, Phrurarchidas and Parthenius, iniquitously violated them, and they forthwith hung themselves, for this outrage was more than they could bear: and Scedasus, when he could get no reparation at Lacedæmon for this outrage, returned to Leuctra and committed suicide. Then Epaminondas offered funeral rites to Scedasus and his daughters, and vowed that a battle should take place there, as much for their vengeance as for the safety of Thebes. But the Bœotarchs were not all of the same view, but differed in their opinions. Epaminondas and Malgis and Xenocrates were for engaging the Lacedæmonians without delay, whereas Damoclidas and Damophilus and Simangelus were against an engagement, and recommended the withdrawal of the women and children into Attica, and that they should themselves prepare for a siege. Thus the votes of the six were equally divided, but the vote of the 7th Bœotarch on his return to the camp, (he had been on the look-out at Cithæron, and his name was Bacchylides), being given on the side of Epaminondas, it was agreed to stake everything on a battle. Now Epaminondas had suspicions about the fidelity of several of the Bœotians especially the Thespians, fearing therefore that they would desert in the battle, he gave leave to whoever would to go home, and the Thespians went off in full force, and any other Bœotians who had ill-will to the Thebans. And when the engagement came on, the allies of the Lacedæmonians, who had previously not been overwell pleased with them, openly showed their hostility by not standing their ground, but giving way wherever the enemy attacked. But the battle between the Lacedæmonians and the Thebans was well contested, the former relying on their long military experience and ashamed to impair the old prestige of Sparta, while the latter saw that the fate of their country their wives and children was staked on the result of this fight. But after many Lacedæmonians of high rank had fallen as also their king Cleombrotus, then the Spartans though hard pressed felt obliged to continue the combat, for amongst the Lacedæmonians it was considered most disgraceful to allow the dead body of one of their kings to remain in the hands of the enemy.

This victory of the Thebans was the most notable of all victories won by Greeks over Greeks: for the Lacedæmonians on the next day instead of renewing the battle purposed burying their dead, and sent a herald to the Thebans to ask leave to do so. And Epaminondas knowing that it was always the custom of the Lacedæmonians to conceal their losses, said that their allies must first bury their dead, and afterwards he would permit the Lacedæmonians to bury theirs. And as some of the allies had none to bury, (as none of them were killed), and others had lost only a few, the Lacedæmonians buried their dead, and thus it was clear that most of the dead were Spartans. Of the Thebans and Bœotians who remained to share in the battle there fell only 47 men, while the Lacedæmonians lost more than 1,000.

CHAPTER XIV.

Directly after the battle Epaminondas allowed all the other Peloponnesians to depart to their homes, but the Lacedæmonians he kept shut up at Leuctra. But when he heard that the Spartans were coming in full force to their relief, then he allowed them to depart on conditions of war, for he said that it was better to fight on Lacedæmonian than Bœotian ground. And the Thespians, looking with regret at their past ill-will to the Thebans and with anxiety at their present fortunes, thought it best to abandon their own city and flee to Ceressus, a fortified place belonging to them, into which they had formerly thrown themselves when the Thessalians invaded their country. But the Thessalians on that occasion, as they seemed hardly likely to capture Ceressus consulted the oracle at Delphi, and this was the response they received. “Shady Leuctra and the Alesian soil are dear to me, dear to me too are the unfortunate daughters of Scedasus. In the future looms a lamentable battle there: but no one shall capture it till the Dorians lose the flower of their young men, when its day of fate shall have come. Then shall Ceressus be captured, but not before.”

And now when Epaminondas had captured Ceressus, and taken captive the Thespians who had fled for refuge there, he forthwith turned his attention to affairs in the Peloponnese, as the Arcadians eagerly invited his co-operation. And when he went to the Peloponnese he made the Argives his voluntary allies, and restored the Mantineans, who had been dispersed in villages by Agesipolis, to Mantinea, and, as the small towns of the Arcadians were insecure, he persuaded the Arcadians to evacuate them, and established for them one large town still called Megalopolis. By this time Epaminondas’ period of office as Bœotarch had expired, and the penalty for continuing office longer was death. But Epaminondas, considering the law an illtimed one, disregarded it and continued Bœotarch: and marched with an army against Sparta and, as Agesilaus declined a combat, turned his attention towards colonizing Messene, as I have shewn in my account of Messenia. And meantime the Theban allies overran Laconia and plundered it, scouring over the whole country. This induced Epaminondas to take the Thebans back into Bœotia. And when he got with his army as far as Lechæum, and was about to pass through a narrow and difficult defile, Iphicrates the son of Timotheus with a force of Athenians and some targeteers attacked him. And Epaminondas routed them and pursued them as far as Athens, but as Iphicrates would not allow the Athenians to go out and fight, he returned to Thebes. And there he was acquitted for continuing Bœotarch beyond the proper time: for it is said that none of the judges would pass sentence upon him.

CHAPTER XV.

And after this when Alexander the ruler in Thessaly with a high hand treacherously imprisoned Pelopidas, (who had come to his court as to a ruler who was personally a friend of his and publicly a friend of the Theban people), the Thebans immediately marched against Alexander, putting at their head Cleomenes and Hypatus who were then Bœotarchs, and Epaminondas happened to be one of the force. And when they were near Pylæ, Alexander who lay in ambush attacked them in the pass. And when they saw their condition was desperate, then the soldiers gave the command to Epaminondas, and the Bœotarchs willingly conceded the command. And Alexander lost his confidence in victory, when he saw that Epaminondas had taken the command, and gave up Pelopidas. And during the absence of Epaminondas the Thebans drove the Orchomenians out of their country. Epaminondas looked on this as a misfortune, and said the Thebans would never have committed this outrage had he been at home. And as he was chosen Bœotarch again, he marched with an army to the Peloponnese again, and beat the Lacedæmonians in battle at Lechæum, and also the Achæans from Pellene and the Athenians who were under the command of Chabrias. And it was the rule with the Thebans to ransom all their prisoners, except Bœotian deserters, whom they put to death. But Epaminondas after capturing a small town of the Sicyonians called Phœbia, where were a good many Bœotian deserters, contented himself with leaving a stigma upon them by calling them each by the name of a different nationality. And when he got with his army as far as Mantinea, he was killed in the moment of victory by an Athenian. The Athenian who killed Epaminondas is represented in a painting at Athens of the cavalry-skirmish to have been Gryllus, the son of that Xenophon who took part in the expedition of Cyrus against king Artaxerxes, and who led the Greeks back again to the sea.

On the statue of Epaminondas are four elegiac lines about him, that tell how he restored Messene, and how the Greeks got their freedom through him. These are the lines.

“Sparta cut off the glory from our councils, but in time sacred Messene got back her children. Megalopolis was crowned by the arms of Thebes, and all Greece became autonomous and free.”

Such were the glorious deeds of Epaminondas.

CHAPTER XVI.

And at no great distance from the statue of Epaminondas is the temple of Ammon, the statue by Calamis and a votive offering from Pindar, who also sent a Hymn in honour of Ammon to the Ammonians in Libya, which Hymn is now inscribed on a triangular pillar near the altar which Ptolemy the son of Lagus dedicated to Ammon. Next to the temple of Ammon the Thebans have what is called Tiresias’ tower to observe the omens, and near it is a temple of Fortune carrying in her arms Wealth as a child. The Thebans say that Xenophon the Athenian made the hands and face of the statue, and Callistonicus a native of Thebes all the other parts. The idea is ingenious of putting Wealth in the hands of Fortune as her mother or nurse, as is also the idea of Cephisodotus who made for the Athenians a statue of Peace holding Wealth.

The Thebans have also some wooden statues of Aphrodite, so ancient that they are said to be votive offerings of Harmonia, made out of the wood of the gunwales of the ships of Cadmus. One they call the Celestial Aphrodite, the other the Pandemian, and the third the Heart-Turner. Harmonia meant by these titles of Aphrodite the following. The Celestial is a pure love and has no connection with bodily appetite, the Pandemian is the common vulgar sensual love, and thirdly the goddess is called Heart-Turner because she turns the heart of men away by lawless passion and unholy deeds. For Harmonia knew that many bold deeds had been done in lawless passion both among the Greeks and barbarians, such as were afterwards sung by poets, as the legends about the mother of Adonis, and Phædra the daughter of Minos, and the Thracian Tereus. And the temple of Law-giving Demeter was they say formerly the house of Cadmus and his descendants. And the statue of Demeter is only visible down to the chest. And there are some brazen shields hung up here, which they say belonged to some of the Lacedæmonian notables that fell at Leuctra.

At the gate called Prœtis is a theatre, and near it the temple of Lysian Dionysus. The god was so called because, when some Thebans were taken captive by the Thracians, and conducted to Haliartia, the god freed them, and gave them an opportunity to kill the Thracians in their sleep. One of the statues in the temple the Thebans say is Semele. Once every year the temple is open on stated days. There are also the ruins of the house of Lycus, and the sepulchre of Semele, it cannot be the sepulchre of Alcmene, for when she died she became a stone. But the Theban account about her differs from the Megarian: in fact the Greek traditions mostly vary. The Thebans have here also monuments of the sons and daughters of Amphion, the two sexes apart.

CHAPTER XVII.

And next is the temple of Artemis Euclea, the statue of the goddess is by Scopas. They say the daughters of Antipœnus, Androclea and Alcis, are buried in this temple. For when Hercules and the Thebans were going to engage in battle with the Orchomenians, an oracle informed them that, if any one of their most notable citizens in respect to birth was willing to commit suicide, they would obtain victory in the war. To Antipœnus, who was of most illustrious descent, it did not appear agreeable to die for the people, but his daughters had no objection, so they committed suicide and were honoured accordingly. In front of the temple of Artemis Euclea is a lion in stone, which was it is said a votive offering of Hercules, when he had vanquished in battle the Orchomenians and their king Erginus the son of Clymenus. And near it is a statue of Apollo Boedromius, and one of Hermes Agoræus, this last the votive offering of Pindar. The funeral pile of the children of Amphion is about half a stade from their tombs, the ashes still remain. And near the statue of Amphitryon are they say two stone statues of Athene Zosteria (the Girder), and they say Amphitryon armed himself here, when he was on the point of engaging the Eubœans and Chalcodon. The ancients called putting on one’s armour girding oneself: and they say that when Homer represents Agamemnon as having a belt like Ares, he refers to his armour.[54]

A mound of earth not very high is the sepulchre of Zethus and Amphion. The inhabitants of Tithorea in Phocis like to carry away earth from this mound when the Sun is in Taurus, for if they take of this soil then, and put it on the tomb of Antiope, their land gains in fertility while the Theban loses. So the Thebans guard the sepulchre at that time of the year. And these two cities believe this in consequence of the oracles of Bacis, in which the following lines occur.

“Whenever a native of Tithorea shall pour libations on the earth to Amphion and Zethus, and offer prayers and propitiations when the Sun is in Taurus, then be on your guard against a terrible misfortune coming on your city: for the fruits of the earth will suffer a blight, if they take of the earth and put it on the sepulchre of Phocus.”

Bacis calls it the sepulchre of Phocus for the following reason. Dirce, the wife of Lycus, honoured Dionysus more than any of the gods, and when she suffered according to the tradition a cruel death[55] he was angry with Antiope: and the excessive wrath of the gods is somehow fatal. They say Antiope went mad and wandered over all Greece out of her mind, and that Phocus the son of Ornytion the son of Sisyphus fell in with her and cured her, and made her his wife. And certainly Antiope and Phocus are buried together. And the stones by the tomb of Amphion, which lie about in no particular order, are they say those which followed Amphion’s music. Similar legends are told of Orpheus, how the animals followed his harping.

[54] See Iliad, ii. 478, 479.

[55] See the story in Propertius, iv. 15.

CHAPTER XVIII.

The road to Chalcis from Thebes is by the gate Prœtis. On the high road is the tomb of Melanippus, one of the greatest warriors of the Thebans, who, when the Argives besieged Thebes, slew Tydeus and Mecisteus one of the brothers of Adrastus, and was himself slain they say by Amphiaraus. And very near this tomb are three rude stones, the Theban antiquarians say that Tydeus was buried here, and that he was interred by Mæon. And they confirm their statement by the following line from the Iliad,

“Tydeus, who lies ’neath mound of earth at Thebes.”[56]

And next are the tombs of the children of Œdipus, I have not myself seen the funeral rites performed to their memory, but I have received trustworthy accounts. The Thebans say that they offer funeral sacrifices to several heroes as well as to the children of Œdipus, and that during these sacrifices the flame and smoke divide. I was induced to credit this from the following thing which I have myself seen. In Mysia above Caicus is a small city called Pioniæ, whose founder was they say Pionis one of the descendants of Hercules, and when they are celebrating his funeral sacrifices the smoke rises up from the tomb spontaneously. I have myself seen this. The Thebans also show the tomb of Tiresias, about 15 stades distant from the tomb of the children of Œdipus: but they admit that Tiresias died in Haliartia, so that they allow the tomb here to be a cenotaph.

The Thebans also shew the tomb of Hector the son of Priam near the Well of Œdipus. They say that his remains were brought here from Ilium in accordance with the following oracle.

“Ye Thebans, who inhabit the city of Cadmus, if ye wish your country to enjoy abundant wealth, bring to your city from Asia Minor the bones of Hector the son of Priam, and respect the hero at the suggestion of Zeus.”

The Well is called Œdipus’ Well, because he washed off in it the blood of his father’s murder. And near the Well is the tomb of Asphodicus, who slew in the battle against the Argives Parthenopæus the son of Talaus, (according to the tradition of the Thebans, for the verses in the Thebais about the death of Parthenopæus say that Periclymenus killed him).

[56] xiv. 114.

CHAPTER XIX.

On this high-road is a place called Teumessus, where they say Europa was hidden by Zeus. And there is also a tradition about a fox of Teumessus, that it was brought up to hurt the Thebans through the wrath of Dionysus, and that, when it was about to be taken by the dog which Artemis gave to Procris the daughter of Erechtheus, both dog and fox were turned into stone. There is also at Teumessus a temple of Athene Telchinia without a statue: as to her title Telchinia one may infer that some of the Telchinians, who formerly dwelt at Cyprus and who migrated into Bœotia, erected this temple to her under that title.

On the left of Teumessus about 7 stades further you come to the ruins of Glisas, and before them on the right of the road is a small mound shaded by a wild wood, and some trees have been planted there. It is the tomb of those that went with Ægialeus the son of Adrastus on the expedition against Thebes, and of several noble Argives, and among them Promachus the son of Parthenopæus. The tomb of Ægialeus is at Pagæ, as I have previously shown in my account about Megara. As you go on the high road from Thebes to Glisas is a place, surrounded by unhewn stones, which the Thebans call the head of the serpent. They say this serpent lifted its head out of its hole, and Tiresias passing by chopped its head off with his sword. That is how the place got its name. And above Glisas is a mountain called Highest, and on it is the temple and altar of Highest Zeus. And the torrent here they call Thermodon. And as you turn towards Teumessus on the road to Chalcis is the tomb of Chalcodon, who was slain by Amphitryon in the battle fought by the Eubœans against the Thebans. And next come the ruins of the towns of Harma and Mycalessus, the former was so called according to the tradition of the people of Tanagra because the chariot of Amphiaraus disappeared here, and not where the Thebans say it did. And Mycalessus was so called they state because the cow that led Cadmus and his army to Thebes lowed here.

I have described in my account of Attica how Mycalessus was depopulated. In it near the sea is a temple of Mycalessian Demeter: which they say is shut and opened again every night by Hercules, who they say is one of the Idæan Dactyli. The following miracle takes place here. At the feet of the statue of Demeter they put some of the fruits of Autumn, and they remain fresh all the year.

At the place where the Euripus parts Eubœa from Bœotia, as you go forward a little on the right of the temple of Mycalessian Demeter you come to Aulis, so called they say from the daughter of Ogygus. There is here a temple of Artemis and two stone statues of her, one holding torches, and the other like an archer. They say that when the Greeks in accordance with the oracle of Calchas were about to sacrifice Iphigenia, the goddess caused a doe to be sacrificed instead. And they keep in the temple the remains of the plane-tree which Homer has mentioned in the Iliad.[57] It is also said that the wind at Aulis was not favourable to the Greeks, but when at last a favourable wind appeared then everyone sacrificed to Artemis what each had, male and female victims, and since then it has been customary at Aulis to accept all kinds of victims. There are shown here too the well near which the plane-tree grows, and on a hill near the tent of Agamemnon a brazen threshold. And some palm trees grow before the temple, the fruit of which is not throughout good to eat as in Palestine, but they are more mellow than the fruit of the palm-trees in Ionia. There are not many inhabitants at Aulis, and all of them are potters. The people of Tanagra inhabit this district, and all about Mycalessus and Harma.

[57] Iliad, ii. 307, 310.

CHAPTER XX.

In that part of the district of Tanagra near the sea is a place called Delium, in which are statues of Artemis and Leto. And the people of Tanagra say their founder was Pœmander, the son of Chæresilaus the son of Iasius the son of Eleuther, who was the son of Apollo by Æthusa the daughter of Poseidon. And Pœmander they say married Tanagra the daughter of Æolus, though Corinna in her verses about her says that she was the daughter of Asopus. As her life was prolonged to a very advanced age they say that the people who lived round about called her Graia, and in process of time called the city so too. And the name remained so long that Homer speaks of the city by that name in his Catalogue, in the line

“Thespea, and Graia, and spacious Mycalessus.”[58]

But in process of time it got its old name Tanagra back again.

At Tanagra is the tomb of Orion, and the mountain Cerycius, where they say Hermes was reared. There is also the place called Polus, where they say Atlas sits and meditates on things under the earth and things in heaven, of whom Homer writes,

“Daughter of astute Atlas, who knows the depths of every sea, and who by himself supports the lofty pillars, which keep apart earth and heaven.”[59]

And in the temple of Dionysus the statue of the god by Calamis in Parian stone is well worth looking at, but more wonderful still is a statue of Triton. And a legend about Triton of hoar antiquity says that the women of Tanagra before the orgies of Dionysus bathed in the sea to purify themselves, and as they were swimming about Triton assailed them, and they prayed Dionysus to come to their aid, and the god hearkened to them and conquered Triton after a fight with him. Another legend lacks the antiquity of this, but is more plausible. It relates that, when the herds were driven to the sea, Triton lay in ambush and carried some of them off. He also plundered small vessels, till the people of Tanagra filled a bowl full of wine for him. And he came to it attracted they say by its aroma, and drank of it and fell asleep and tumbled down the rocks, and a man of Tanagra smote his head off with an axe. And for this reason his statue has no head. And because he was captured when drunk they think he was killed by Dionysus.

[58] Iliad, ii. 498.

[59] Odyssey, i. 52-54.

CHAPTER XXI.

I have also seen another Triton among the Curiosities at Rome, but not so big as this one at Tanagra. This is the appearance of Tritons: the hair on their head is like frog-wort in the marshes, and one hair is not to be distinguished from another, the rest of their body is rough with thin scales like the shark. Under their ears they have the gills of a fish, and the nose of a man but a somewhat larger mouth and the teeth of an animal. Their eyes are I think a greyish blue, and their hands and fingers and nails are like the claws of shell-fish. And under the breast and belly they have fins like dolphins instead of feet. I have also seen the Ethiopian bulls, which they call rhinoceroses because a horn projects from their nose and a little horn besides under it, but they have no horns on their head. I have seen also the Pæonian bulls, which are rough all over their bodies but especially in the breast and chin. I have seen also the Indian camels which are like leopards in colour. There is also a wild animal called the elk, which is something between a stag and a camel, and is found among the Celts. It is the only animal we know of that men cannot hunt or see at a distance, but when they are engaged in hunting other animals sometimes the deity drives the elk into their hands. But it scents men they say at a great distance, and hides among the rocks and in the recesses of caves. Hunters therefore, when they have drawn a large net completely round a large district or even a mountain, so that nothing in that area can escape, among other animals that they catch when they draw the net tight capture occasionally the elk. But if it should not happen to be in this area, there is no other device by which one could capture the elk. As to the wild animal which Ctesias speaks of in his account of the Indians, called by them martiora, but by the Greeks manslayer, I am convinced this is the tiger. As to the Indian tradition, that it has three rows of teeth in each of its jaws and stings at the end of its tail, with which it defends itself and hurls them at a distance like an archer his arrows, this report I cannot believe, and I think the Indians only accept it from their excessive terror of this animal. They are also deceived about its colour, for when it appears in the rays of the Sun the tiger often looks red and all one colour, either from its speed or if not running from its incessant motion, especially if it is not seen near. I think indeed that if anyone were to travel into the remote parts of Libya or India or Arabia, wishing to find the wild animals that are to be found in Greece, he would not find them at all, but he would find others different. For it is not only man that changes his appearance in different climates and lands, but also everything else is subject to the same conditions, for the Libyan asps have the same colour as the Egyptian ones, while in Ethiopia the earth produces them as black as the men. We ought therefore neither to receive any account too hastily, nor to discredit the uncommon, for example I myself have not seen winged serpents yet I believe there are such, for a Phrygian brought into Ionia a scorpion that had wings like locusts.

CHAPTER XXII.

At Tanagra besides the temple of Dionysus there is one of Themis, and another of Aphrodite, and a third of Apollo, near which are both Artemis and Leto. With respect to the two temples of Hermes the Ram-carrier and Hermes the Champion, they say Hermes got the first title because he allayed a pestilence by carrying a ram round the walls, and that is why Calamis made a statue of Hermes carrying a ram on his shoulders. And whoever is selected as the most handsome youth, carries a ram on his shoulders round the walls during the festival of Hermes. And Hermes they say was called Champion because, when the Eretrians came with a fleet from Eubœa to Tanagra, he led the young men out to battle, and himself (with a scraper like a young man) mainly brought about the rout of the Eubœans. There is also some purslane preserved in the temple of Hermes the Champion: for they fancy it was under this tree that Hermes was reared. And at no great distance is a theatre, and near it a portico. The people of Tanagra seem to honour their gods most of all the Greeks, for they keep their houses and temples apart, and their temples are in a pure place, and apart from men. And Corinna, the only Poetess of Tanagra, has a tomb in the town in a conspicuous place, and her painting is in the gymnasium, her head is adorned with a fillet because of her victory over Pindar at Thebes. And I think she conquered him because of her dialect, for she did not compose in Doric like Pindar, but in Æolic which the Æolians would understand, and she was also one of the handsomest of women as we can see from her painting. They have also two kinds of cocks, game cocks and those they call black cocks. The latter are in size like the Lydian birds and in colour like a crow, and their gills and crest are like the anemone, and they have small white marks on the end of their bill and tail. Such is their appearance.

And in Bœotia on the left of the Euripus is the mountain Messapium, and at the foot of it is the Bœotian city Anthedon on the sea, called according to some after the Nymph Anthedon, but according to others from Anthas who they say ruled here, the son of Poseidon by Alcyone the daughter of Atlas. At Anthedon in about the middle of the city is a temple and grove round it of the Cabiri, and near it is a temple of Demeter and Proserpine and their statues in white stone. There is also a temple of Dionysus and a statue of the god in front of the city in the land direction. Here too are the tombs of Otus and Ephialtes the sons of Iphimedea and Aloeus, who were slain by Apollo as both Homer[60] and Pindar have represented. Fate carried them off in Naxos beyond Paros, but their tombs are in Anthedon. And by the sea is a place called the leap of Glaucus. He was a fisherman but after eating a certain grass became a marine god and predicts the future, as is believed by many and especially by seafaring men, who every year speak of Glaucus’ powers of prophesy. Pindar and Æschylus have celebrated Glaucus from these traditions of the people of Anthedon, Pindar not so much, but Æschylus has made him the subject of one of his plays.

[60] Odyssey, xi. 318-320. Pindar, Pyth. iv. 156 sq.

CHAPTER XXIII.

The Thebans in front of the gate Prœtis have what is called the gymnasium of Iolaus, and a mound of earth constituting a race-course like that at Olympia and Epidaurus. There is also shown there the hero-chapel of Iolaus, who died in Sardinia, (as the Thebans admit), with the Athenians and Thespians who crossed over with him. As you leave the race-course on the right is the Hippodrome, and in it is the tomb of Pindar. When he was quite a young man, going one day to Thespiæ in the middle of a very hot day, he was tired and sleep came upon him. And he lay down a little above the road, and some bees settled on him as he slept and made their honey on his lips. This circumstance made him first write poems. And when he was famous throughout all Greece, the Pythian Priestess raised his fame still higher by proclaiming at Delphi, that Pindar was to have an equal share with Apollo of the firstfruits. It is said that he also had an appearance in a dream when he was advanced in years. Proserpine stood by him as he slept, and told him that she was the only one of the gods that was not celebrated by him, but he would also celebrate her in an Ode when he came to her. And he died before the close of the 10th day after this dream. And there was at Thebes an old woman related to Pindar, who had been accustomed to sing many of his Odes, to her Pindar appeared in a dream and recited his Hymn to Proserpine. And she directly she awoke wrote it down just as she had heard him reciting in her dream. In this Hymn Pluto has several titles, among others the Golden-reined, dearly an allusion to the Rape of Proserpine.

The road from the tomb of Pindar to Acræphnium is mostly level. They say Acræphnium was originally a city in the district of Thebes, and I heard that some Thebans fled for refuge there when Alexander destroyed Thebes, for through weakness and old age they were not able to get safe to Attica but dwelt there. This little city is situated on Mount Ptoum, and the temple and statue of Dionysus there are well worth seeing.

About 15 stades further you come to the temple of Ptoan Apollo. Ptous was the son of Athamas and Themisto, and from him both Apollo and the Mountain got their name according to the poet Asius. And before the invasion of Alexander and the Macedonians, and the destruction of Thebes, there was an infallible oracle there. And on one occasion a European whose name was Mys was sent by Mardonius to consult the oracle in his own tongue, and the god gave his response not in Greek but in the Carian dialect.[61]

When you have passed over the mountain Ptoum, you come to Larymna a city of the Bœotians by the sea, so called from the daughter of Cynus who was Larymna: her remote ancestors I shall relate when I come to Locris. Formerly Larymna was reckoned in with Opus, but when the Thebans became powerful the inhabitants voluntarily transferred themselves to the Bœotians. There is here a temple of Dionysus, and a statue of the god in a standing posture. And there is a deep harbour close to the shore, and the mountains above the town afford excellent wild boar hunting.

[61] See Herodotus, viii. 135.

CHAPTER XXIV.

As you go from Acræphnium straight for the lake Cephisis, which is called by some Copais, is the plain called Athamantium, where they say Athamas lived. The river Cephisus has its outlet into this lake, which river has its rise at Lilæa in Phocis, and when you have sailed through the lake you come to Copæ a small town on its banks, which Homer has mentioned in his Catalogue of the ships.[62] Demeter and Dionysus and Serapis have temples there. The Bœotians say that formerly there were several small towns, as Athenæ and Eleusis, inhabited near this lake, which were swept away one winter by a flood. The fish generally in Lake Cephisis are very like other lake fish, but the eels are especially fine and good eating.

On the left of Copæ about 12 stades further you come to Olmones, about seven stades distant from which is Hyettus, villages both of them now as always, and I think formerly they as well as the plain Athamantium belonged to Orchomenus. The traditions I have heard about Hyettus the Argive, and Olmus the son of Sisyphus, I shall relate when I come to Orchomenus. There is nothing remarkable to be seen at Olmones, but at Hyettus there is a temple of Hercules, where those who are sick can obtain healing from him. The statue of the god is not artistic, but made of rude stone as in old times.

And about 20 stades from Hyettus is the small town Cyrtones: the ancient name was Cyrtone. It is built on a high hill, and contains a temple and grove of Apollo, and statues of both Apollo and Artemis in a standing picture. There is also some cold water there that flows from the rock, and near this spring a temple of the Nymphs and small grove, in which all kinds of trees that are planted grow.

Next to Cyrtones, after you have passed over the mountain, you come to the little town of Corsea, and below it is a grove of wild trees mostly holm-oaks. There is a small statue of Hermes in the grove in the open air, about half a stade from Corsea. As you descend to the level plain the river Platanius has its outlet into the sea, and on the right of this river the Bœotians on the borders inhabit the town of Halæ by the sea, which parts Locris from Eubœa.

[62] Iliad, ii. 502.

CHAPTER XXV.

At Thebes near the gate Neistis is the tomb of Menœceus the son of Creon, who voluntarily slew himself in accordance with the oracle at Delphi, when Polynices and his army came from Argos. A pomegranate tree grows near this tomb, when its fruit is ripe if you break the rind the kernel is like blood. This tree is always in bloom. And the Thebans say the vine first grew at Thebes, but they have no proof of what they assert. And not far from the tomb of Menœceus they say the sons of Œdipus had a single combat and killed one another. As a record of this combat there is a pillar, and a stone shield upon it. A place also is shown where the Thebans say that Hera suckled Hercules when a baby through some deceit on the part of Zeus. And the whole place is called Antigone’s Dragging-ground: for as she could not easily lift up with all her zeal the corpse of Polynices, her next idea was to drag it along, which she did till she was able to throw it on the funeral pile of Eteocles which was blazing.

When you have crossed the river called Dirce from the wife of Lycus, (about this Dirce there is a tradition that she defamed Antiope and was consequently killed by the sons of Antiope), there are ruins of Pindar’s house, and a temple of the Dindymene Mother, the votive offering of Pindar, the statue of the goddess is by the Thebans Aristomedes and Socrates. They are wont to open this temple one day in each year and no more. I happened to be present on that day, and I saw the statue which is of Pentelican marble as well as the throne.

On the road from the gate Neistis is the temple of Themis and the statue of the goddess in white stone, and next come temples of the Fates and of Zeus Agoræus, the latter has a stone statue, but the Fates have no statues. And at a little distance is a statue of Hercules in the open air called Nose-cutter-off, because (say the Thebans) he cut off the noses of the envoys who came from Orchomenus to demand tribute.

About 25 stades further you come to the grove of Cabirian Demeter and Proserpine, which none may enter but the initiated. About seven stades from this grove is the temple of the Cabiri. Who they were and what are their rites or those of Demeter I must be pardoned by the curious for passing over in silence. But nothing prevents my publishing to everybody the origin of these rites according to the Theban traditions. They say there was formerly a town here, the inhabitants of which were called Cabiri, and that Demeter getting acquainted with Prometheus (one of the Cabiri), and Prometheus’ son Ætnæus, put something into their hands. What this deposit was, and the circumstances relating to it, it is not lawful for me to disclose. But the mysteries of Demeter were a gift to the Cabiri. But when the Epigoni led an army against Thebes and captured it, the Cabiri were driven out by the Argives, and for some time the mysteries were not celebrated. Afterwards however they are said to have been reestablished by Pelarge, the daughter of Potneus, and her husband Isthmiades, who taught them to the person whose name was Alexiarous. And because Pelarge celebrated the mysteries beyond the ancient boundaries, Telondes and all of the Cabiri who had left Cabiræa returned. Pelarge in consequence of an oracle from Dodona was treated with various honours, and a victim big with young was ordered for her sacrifice. The wrath of the Cabiri is implacable as has frequently been manifested. For example when some private persons at Naupactus imitated the mysteries at Thebes, vengeance soon came upon them. And those of Xerxes’ army who were with Mardonius and left in Bœotia, when they entered the temple of the Cabiri (partly from the hope of finding great wealth there, but more I think to insult the divinity), went mad and perished by throwing themselves into the sea from the rocks. And when Alexander after his victory put Thebes and all Thebais on fire, the Macedonians who went into the temple of the Cabiri with hostile intent were killed by lightning and thunderbolts. So holy was this temple from the first.

CHAPTER XXVI.

On the right of the temple of the Cabiri is a plain called the plain of Tenerus from Tenerus the seer, who they think was the son of Apollo and Melia, and a large temple to Hercules surnamed Hippodetes, because they say the Orchomenians came here with an army, and Hercules by night took their horses and tied them to their chariots. And a little further you come to the mountain where they say the Sphinx made her headquarters, reciting a riddle for the ruin of those she captured. Others say that with a naval force she used to sail the seas as a pirate, and made her port Anthedon, and occupied this mountain for her robberies, till Œdipus slew her after vanquishing her with a superior force, which he brought from Corinth. It is also said that she was the illegitimate daughter of Laius, and that her father out of good will to her told her the oracle that was given to Cadmus at Delphi, an oracle which no one knew but the kings of Thebes. Whenever then any one of her brothers came to consult her about the kingdom, (for Laius had sons by mistresses, and the oracle at Delphi only referred to his wife Epicaste and male children by her), she used subtlety to her brothers, saying that if they were the sons of Laius they would know the oracle given to Cadmus, and if they could not give it she condemned them to death, as being doubtful claimants of the blood royal. And Œdipus learnt this oracle in a dream.

About 15 stades from this mountain are the ruins of Onchestus, where they say Onchestus the son of Poseidon dwelt, and in my time there was a statue of Onchestian Poseidon, and the grove which Homer has mentioned.[63] And as you turn to the left from the temple of the Cabiri in about 50 stades you will come to Thespia built under Mount Helicon. The town got its name they say from Thespia the daughter of Asopus. Others say that Thespius the son of Erechtheus came from Athens, and gave his name to it. At Thespia is a brazen statue of Zeus Soter: they say that, when a dragon once infested the town, Zeus ordered one of the lads chosen by lot every year to be given to the monster. The names of his other victims they do not record, but for Cleostratus the last victim they say his lover Menestratus invented the following contrivance. He made for him a brazen breastplate with a hook on each of its plates bent in, and Cleostratus armed with this cheerfully gave himself up to the dragon, for he knew that though he would perish himself he would also kill the monster. From this circumstance Zeus was called the Saviour. They have also statues of Dionysus and Fortune, and Hygiea, and Athene the Worker, and near her Plutus.

[63] Iliad, ii. 506.

CHAPTER XXVII.

Of the gods the Thespians have always honoured Eros most, of whom they have a very old statue in rude stone. But who instituted the worship of Eros at Thespia I do not know. This god is worshipped not a whit less by the Pariani who live near the Hellespont, who were originally from Ionia and migrated from Erythræ, and are now included amongst the Romans. Most men think Eros the latest of the gods, and the son of Aphrodite. But the Lycian Olen, who wrote the most ancient Hymns of the Greeks, says in his Hymn to Ilithyia that she was the mother of Eros. And after Olen Pamphus and Orpheus wrote verses to Eros for the Lycomidæ to sing at the mysteries, and I have read them thanks to a torch-bearer at the mysteries. But of these I shall make no further mention. And Hesiod, (or whoever wrote the Theogony and foisted it on Hesiod), wrote I know that Chaos came first, and then Earth, and Tartarus, and Eros. And the Lesbian Sappho has sung many things about Eros which do not harmonize with one another. Lysippus afterwards made a brazen statue of Eros for the Thespians, and still earlier Praxiteles made one in Pentelican marble. I have told elsewhere all about Phryne’s ingenious trick on Praxiteles. This statue of Eros was removed first by the Roman Emperor Gaius, and, though it was restored by Claudius to Thespia, Nero removed it to Rome once more. And there it was burnt by fire. But of those who acted thus impiously to the god Gaius, always giving the same obscene word to a soldier, made him so angry that at last he killed him for it,[64] and Nero, besides his dealings to his mother and wedded wives, showed himself an abominable fellow and one that had no true affinity with Eros. The statue of Eros in Thespia in our day is by the Athenian Menodorus, who made an imitation of the statue of Praxiteles. There are also statues in stone by Praxiteles of Aphrodite and Phryne. And in another part of the town is a temple of Black Aphrodite, and a theatre and market-place well worth seeing: there is also a brazen statue of Hesiod. And not far from the market-place is a brazen Victory, and a small temple of the Muses, and some small stone statues in it.

There is also a temple of Hercules at Thespia, the priestess is a perpetual virgin. The reason of this is as follows. They say that Hercules in one night had connection with all the fifty daughters of Thestius but one: her he spared and made her his priestess on condition that she remained a virgin all her life. I have indeed heard another tradition, that Hercules in the same night had connection with all the daughters of Thestius, and that they all bare him sons, and the eldest and youngest twins. But I cannot believe this credible that Hercules should have been so angry with the daughter of his friend. Besides he who, while he was among men, punished insolent persons and especially those who showed impiety to the gods, would not have been likely to have built a temple and appointed a priestess to himself as if he had been a god. And indeed this temple seems to me too ancient for Hercules the son of Amphitryon, and was perhaps erected by the Hercules who was one of the Idæan Dactyli, temples of whom I have found among the people of Erythræ in Ionia, and among the people of Tyre. Nor are the Bœotians ignorant of this Hercules, for they say that the temple of Mycalessian Demeter was entrusted to Idæan Hercules.

[64] See Sueton. Calig. 56, 58. The word was the word for the day given to soldiers.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

Of all the mountains of Greece Helicon is the most fertile and full of trees planted there: and the purslane bushes afford everywhere excellent food for goats. And those who live at Helicon say that the grass and roots on the mountain are by no means injurious to man. Moreover the pastures make the venom of snakes less potent, so that those that are bitten here mostly escape with their life, if they meet with a Libyan of the race of the Psylli, or with some antidote from some other source. And yet the venom of wild snakes is generally deadly both to men and animals, and the condition of the pastures contributes greatly to the strength of the venom, for I have heard from a Phœnician that in the mountainous part of Phœnicia the roots make the vipers more formidable. He said also that he had seen a man flee from the attack of a viper and run to a tree, and the viper followed after and blew its venom against the tree, and that killed the man. Such was what he told me. And I also know that the following happens in Arabia in the case of vipers that live near balsam trees. The balsam tree is about the same size as a myrtle bush, and its leaves are like those of the herb marjoram. And the vipers in Arabia more or less lodge under these balsam trees, for the sap from them is the food most agreeable to them, and moreover they rejoice in the shade of the trees. Whenever then the proper season comes for the Arabians to gather the sap of the balsam tree, they take with them two poles and knock them together and so frighten off the vipers, for they don’t like to kill them as they look upon them as sacred. But if anyone happens to be bitten by these vipers, the wound is similar to that from steel, and there is no fear of venom: for inasmuch as these vipers feed on the most sweet-scented ointment, the venom changes its deadly properties for something milder. Such is the case there.

CHAPTER XXIX.

They say that Ephialtes and Otus first sacrificed to the Muses on Helicon, and called the mountain sacred to the Muses, and built Ascra, of which Hegesinous speaks as follows in his poem about Attica.

“By Ascra lay the earth-shaking Poseidon, and she as time rolled on bare him a son Œoclus, who first built Ascra with the sons of Aloeus, Ascra at the foot of many-fountained Helicon.”

This poem of Hegesinous I have not read, for it was not extant in my time, but Callippus the Corinthian in his account of Orchomenus cites some of the lines to corroborate his account, and similarly I myself have cited some of them from Callippus. There is a tower at Ascra in my time, but nothing else remains. And the sons of Aloeus thought the Muses were three in number, and called them Melete and Mneme and Aoide. But afterwards they say the Macedonian Pierus, who gave his name to the mountain in Macedonia, came to Thespia and made 9 Muses, and changed their names to the ones they now have. And this Pierus did either because it seemed wiser, or in obedience to an oracle, or so taught by some Thracian, for the Thracians seem in old times to have been in other respects more clever than the Macedonians, and not so neglectful of religion. There are some who say that Pierus had 9 daughters, and that they had the same names as the Muses, and that those who were called by the Greeks the sons of the Muses were called the grandchildren of Pierus. But Mimnermus, in the Elegiac verses which he composed about the battle of the people of Smyrna against Gyges and the Lydians, says in his prelude that the older Muses were the daughters of Uranus, and the younger ones the daughters of Zeus. And at Helicon, on the left as you go to the grove of the Muses, is the fountain Aganippe. Aganippe was they say the daughter of Termesus, the river which flows round Helicon, and, if you go straight for the grove, you will come to an image of Eupheme carved in stone. She is said to have been the nurse of the Muses. And next to her is a statue of Linus, on a small rock carved like a cavern, to whom every year they perform funeral rites before they sacrifice to the Muses. It is said that Linus was the son of Urania by Amphiaraus the son of Poseidon, and that he had greater fame for musical skill than either his contemporaries or predecessors, and that Apollo slew him because he boasted himself as equal to the god. And on the death of Linus sorrow for him spread even to foreign lands, so that even the Egyptians have a Lament called Linus, but in their own dialect Maneros.[65] And the Greek poets have represented the sorrows of Linus as a Greek legend, as Homer who in his account of the shield of Achilles says that Hephæstus among other things represented a harper boy singing the song of Linus.

“And in the midst a boy on the clear lyre

Harped charmingly, and sang of handsome Linus.”[66]

And Pamphus, who composed the most ancient Hymns for the Athenians, as the sorrow for Linus grew to such a pitch, called him Œtolinus, (sad Linus). And the Lesbian Sappho, having learnt from Pamphus this name of Œtolinus, sings of Adonis and Œtolinus together. And the Thebans say that Linus was buried at Thebes, and that after the fatal defeat of the Greeks at Chæronea Philip the son of Amyntas, according to a vision he had in a dream, removed the remains of Linus to Macedonia, and that afterwards in consequence of another dream he sent them back to Thebes, but they say that all the coverings of the tomb and other distinctive marks are obliterated through lapse of time. Another tradition of the Thebans says that there was another Linus besides this one, called the son of Ismenius, and that Hercules when quite a boy slew him: he was Hercules’ music-master. But neither of these Linuses composed any poems: or if they did they have not come down to posterity.

[65] See Herodotus, ii. 79.

[66] Iliad, xviii. 569, 570.

CHAPTER XXX.

The earliest statues of the Muses here were all by Cephisodotus, and if you advance a little you will find three of his Muses, and three by Strongylion who was especially famous as a statuary of cows and horses, and three by Olympiosthenes. At Helicon are also a brazen Apollo and Hermes contending about a lyre, and a Dionysus by Lysippus, and an upright statue of Dionysus, the votive offering of Sulla, by Myro, the next best work to his Erechtheus at Athens. But Sulla did not offer it of his own possessions, but took it from the Orchomenian Minyæ. This is what is called by the Greeks worshipping the deity with other people’s incense.[67]

Here too they have erected statues of poets and others notable for music, as blind Thamyris handling a broken lyre, and Arion of Methymna on the dolphin’s back. But he who made the statue of Sacadas the Argive, not understanding Pindar’s prelude about him, has made the piper no bigger in his body than his pipes. There too is Hesiod sitting with a harp on his knees, not his usual appearance, for it is plain from his poems that he used to sing with a laurel wand. As to the period of Hesiod and Homer, though I made most diligent research, it is not agreeable to me to venture an opinion, as I know the disputatiousness of people, and not least of those who in my day have discussed poetical subjects. There is also a statue of Thracian Orpheus with Telete beside him, and there are round him representations in stone and brass of the animals listening to his singing. The Greeks believe many things which are not true, and among others that Orpheus was the son of the Muse Calliope and not of the daughter of Pierus, and that animals were led by his melody, and that he went down alive to Hades to get back his wife Eurydice from the gods of the lower world. But Orpheus, as it seems to me, really did excel all his predecessors in the arrangement of his poems, and attained to great influence as being thought to have invented the mysteries of the gods, and purifications from unholy deeds, and cures for diseases, and means of turning away the wrath of the gods. And they say the Thracian women laid plots against his life, because he persuaded their husbands to accompany him in his wanderings, but from fear of their husbands did not carry them out at first: but afterwards when they had primed themselves with wine carried out the atrocious deed, and since that time it has been customary for the men to go drunk into battle. But some say that Orpheus died from being struck with lightning by the god because he taught men in the mysteries things they had not before heard of. Others have recorded that, his wife Eurydice having died before him, he went to Aornus in Thesprotia, to consult an oracle of the dead about her, and he thought that her soul would follow him, but losing her because he turned back to look at her he slew himself from grief. And the Thracians say that the nightingales that build their nests on the tomb of Orpheus sing pleasanter and louder than other nightingales. But the Macedonians who inhabit the district of Pieria, under the mountain and the city Dium, say that Orpheus was slain there by the women. And as you go from Dium to the mountain and about 20 stades further is a pillar on the right hand and on the pillar a stone urn: this urn has the remains of Orpheus as the people of the district say. The river Helicon flows through this district, after a course of 75 stades it loses itself in the ground, and 22 stades further it reappears, when it is called Baphyra instead of Helicon, becomes a navigable stream, and finally discharges itself into the sea. The people of Dium say that the river flowed above ground originally throughout its course, but when the women who slew Orpheus desired to wash off his blood in it, it went underground that it might not give them cleansing from their blood-guiltiness. I have also heard another account at Larissa, that a city on Olympus was once inhabited called Libethra, where the mountain looks to Macedonia, and that the tomb of Orpheus is not far from this city, and that there came an oracle to the people of Libethra from Dionysus in Thrace, that when the Sun should see the bones of Orpheus their city would be destroyed by Sus. But they paid no great attention to the oracle, thinking no wild animal would be large or strong enough to destroy their city, while as to the boar (Sus) it had more boldness than power. However when the god thought fit, then the following happened. A shepherd about mid-day laid himself down by the tomb of Orpheus and fell asleep, and in his sleep sang some verses of Orpheus aloud in a sweet voice. Then the shepherds and husbandmen who were near left their respective work, and crowded together to hear this shepherd sing in his sleep, and pushing one another about in striving to get near the shepherd overturned the pillar, and the urn fell off it and was broken, and the Sun did see the remains of Orpheus. And on the following night it rained very heavily, and the river Sus, which is one of the mountain streams on Olympus, swept away the walls of Libethra, and the temples of the gods and the houses of the inhabitants, and drowned all the human beings in the place and all the animals. As the Libethrians therefore all perished, the Macedonians in Dium, according to the account I received from my host at Larissa, removed the remains of Orpheus to their city. Whoever has investigated the subject knows that the Hymns of Orpheus are very short, and do not altogether amount to a great number. The Lycomidæ are acquainted with them and chant them at the Mysteries. In composition they are second only to the Hymns of Homer, and are more valued for their religious spirit.

[67] Compare the Homeric ἀλλοτρίων χαρίσασθαι. Od. xvii. 452. Our Robbing Peter to pay Paul.

CHAPTER XXXI.

There is also at Helicon a statue of Arsinoe, whom Ptolemy married though he was her brother. A brazen ostrich supports it. Ostriches have wings like other birds, but from their weight and size their wings do not enable them to fly. There is also a doe suckling Telephus the son of Hercules, and a cow, and a statue of Priapus well worth seeing. Priapus is honoured especially where there are flocks of sheep or goats, or swarms of bees. And the people of Lampsacus honour him more than all the gods, and say that he is the son of Dionysus and Aphrodite.[68]

At Helicon there are also several tripods, the most ancient is the one they say Hesiod received at Chalcis by the Euripus for a victory in song. And men live round the grove, and the Thespians hold a festival there and have games to the Muses, and also to Eros, in which they give prizes not only for music but to athletes also. And after ascending from this grove 20 stades you come to Hippocrene, a spring formed they say by the horse of Bellerophon striking the earth with its hoof. And the Bœotians that dwell about Helicon have a tradition that Hesiod wrote nothing but The Works and Days, and from this they take away the address to the Muses, and make the poem commence at the part about Strife.[69] And they showed me some lead near Hippocrene almost entirely rotten with age, on which The Works and Days was written. A very contrary view to this is that Hesiod has written several poems, as that On Women, and The Great Eœœ, and The Theogony and The Poem on Melampus, and The Descent of Theseus and Pirithous to Hades, and The Exhortation of Chiron for the Instruction of Achilles, and all The Works and Days. The same people tell us also that Hesiod learnt his divination from the Acarnanians, and there are some verses of his On Divination which I have read, and a Narrative of Prodigies. There are also different accounts about his death. For though it is universally agreed that Ctimenus and Antiphus, the sons of Ganyctor, fled to Molycria from Naupactus because of the murder of Hesiod, and were sentenced there because of their impiety to Poseidon, yet some say that the charge against Hesiod of having violated their sister was not true, others say he was really guilty. Such are the different accounts about Hesiod and his Works.

On the top of Mount Helicon is a small river called the Lamus. And in the district of Thespia is a place called Donacon, (Reed-bed), where is the fountain of Narcissus, who they say looked into this water, and not observing that it was his own shadow which he saw was secretly enamoured of himself, and died of love near the fountain. This is altogether silly that any grown person should be so possessed by love as not to know the difference between a human being and a shadow. There is another tradition about him, not so well known as the other, viz. that he had a twin-sister, and that the two were almost facsimiles in appearance and hair and dress, and used to go out hunting together, and that Narcissus was in love with this sister, and when she died he used to frequent this fountain and knew that it was his own shadow which he saw, yet though he knew this it gratified his love to think that it was not his own shadow but the image of his sister that he was looking at. But the earth produced I think the flower narcissus earlier than this, if one may credit the verses of Pamphus: for though he was much earlier than the Thespian Narcissus, he says that Proserpine the daughter of Demeter was playing and gathering flowers when she was carried off, and that she was deceived not by violets but by narcissuses.[70]

[68] So Tibullus calls Priapus “Bacchi rustica proles,” i. 4. 7.

[69] viz., at line 11.

[70] See Homer’s Hymn to Demeter, lines 8-10.

CHAPTER XXXII.

The inhabitants of Creusis, a haven of the Thespians, have no public monuments, but in the house of a private individual is a statue of Dionysus made of plaster and adorned by a painting. The sea-voyage from the Peloponnese to Creusis is circuitous and rough, the promontories so jut out into the sea that one cannot sail straight across, and at the same time strong winds blow down from the mountains.

And as you sail from Creusis, not well out to sea but coasting along Bœotia, you will see on the right the city Thisbe. First there is a mountain near the sea, and when you have passed that there is a plain and then another mountain, and at the bottom of this mountain is Thisbe. And there is a temple of Hercules and stone statue there in a standing posture, and they keep a festival to him. And nothing would prevent the plain between the mountains being a lake, (so much water is there), but that they have a strong embankment in the middle of the plain, and annually divert the water beyond the embankment and cultivate the dry parts of the plain. And Thisbe, from whom the city got its name, was they say a local Nymph.

As you sail on thence you will come to a small town called Tipha near the sea. There is a temple of Hercules there, and they have a festival to him annually. The inhabitants say that from of old they were the most clever mariners of all the Bœotians, and they record that Tiphys, who was chosen the pilot of the Argo, was a townsman of theirs: they also shew a place before their town where they say the Argo was moored on its return from Colchi.

As you go inland from Thespia towards the mainland you will arrive at Haliartus. But I must not separate the founder of Haliartus and Coronea from my account of Orchomenus. On the invasion of the Medes, as the people of Haliartus espoused the side of the Greeks, part of the army of Xerxes set out to burn the town and district. At Haliartus is the tomb of Lysander the Lacedæmonian, for when he attacked the city, the forces from Thebes and Athens inside the city sallied forth, and in the battle that ensued he fell. In some respects one may praise Lysander very much, in others one must bitterly censure him. He exhibited great sagacity when he was in command of the Peloponnesian fleet. Watching when Alcibiades was absent from the fleet, he enticed his pilot Antiochus to think he could cope with the Lacedæmonian fleet, and when he sailed out against them boldly and confidently, defeated him not far from the city of the Colophonians. And when Lysander joined the fleet from Sparta the second time, he so conciliated Cyrus, that whatever money he asked for the fleet Cyrus gave him freely at once. And when 100 Athenian ships were anchored at Ægos-potamoi he captured them, watching when the crews had gone on shore for fresh water and provisions. He also exhibited his justice in the following circumstance. Autolycus the pancratiast (whose effigy I have seen in the Pyrtaneum at Athens) had a dispute with Eteonicus a Spartan about some property. And when Eteonicus was convicted of pleading unfairly, (it was when the Thirty Tyrants were in power at Athens, and Lysander was present), he was moved to strike Autolycus, and when he struck back he brought him to Lysander, expecting that he would decide the affair in his favour. But Lysander condemned Eteonicus of injustice, and sent him away with reproaches. This was creditable to Lysander, but the following were discreditable. He put to death Philocles, the Athenian Admiral at Ægos-potamoi, and 4000 Athenian captives, and would not allow them burial, though the Athenians granted burial to the Medes at Marathon, and King Xerxes to the Lacedæmonians that fell at Thermopylæ. And Lysander brought still greater disgrace upon the Lacedæmonians by establishing Decemvirates in the cities besides the Laconian Harmosts. And when the Lacedæmonians did not think of making money because of the oracle, which said that love of money alone would ruin Sparta, he inspired in them a strong desire for money. I therefore, following the opinion of the Persians and judging according to their law, think that Lysander did more harm than good to the Lacedæmonians.

CHAPTER XXXIII.

At Haliartus is Lysander’s tomb, and a hero-chapel to Cecrops the son of Pandion. And the mountain Tilphusium and the fountain Tilphusa are about 50 stades from Haliartus. It is a tradition of the Greeks that the Argives, who in conjunction with the sons of Polynices captured Thebes, were taking Tiresias and the spoil to Apollo at Delphi, when Tiresias who was thirsty drank of the fountain Tilphusa and gave up the ghost, and was buried on the spot. They say also that Manto the daughter of Tiresias was offered to Apollo by the Argives, but that, in consequence of the orders of the god, she sailed to what is now Ionia, and to that part of it called Colophonia. And there she married the Cretan Rhacius. All the other legends about Tiresias, as the number of years which he is recorded to have lived, and how he was changed from a woman into a man, and how Homer in his Odyssey has represented him as the only person of understanding in Hades,[71] all this everyone has heard and knows. Near Haliartus too there is in the open air a temple of the goddesses that they call Praxidicæ. In this temple they swear no hasty oaths. This temple is near the mountain Tilphusium. There are also temples at Haliartus, with no statues in them for there is no roof: to whom they were erected I could not ascertain.

The river Lophis flows through the district of Haliartus. The tradition is that the ground was dry there originally and had no water in it, and that one of the rulers went to Delphi to inquire of the god how they might obtain water in the district: and the Pythian Priestess enjoined him to slay the first person he should meet on his return: and it was his son Lophis who met him on his return, and without delay he ran his sword through him, and Lophis yet alive ran round and round, and wherever his blood flowed the water gushed up, and it was called Lophis after him.

The village Alalcomenæ is not large, and lies at the foot of a mountain not very high. It got its name from Alalcomeneus an Autochthon who they say reared Athene: others say from Alalcomenia one of the daughters of Ogygus. Some distance from the village in the plain is a temple of Athene, and there was an old ivory statue of the goddess, which was taken away by Sulla, who was also very cruel to the Athenians, and whose manners were very unlike those of the Romans, and who acted similarly to the Thebans and Orchomenians. He, after his furious onsets against the Greek cities and the gods of the Greeks, was himself seized by the most unpleasant of all diseases, for he was covered with lice, and this was the end of all his glory. And the temple of Athene at Alalcomenæ was neglected after the statue of the goddess was removed. Another circumstance in my time tended to the breaking up of the temple: some ivy, which had got a firm hold on the building, loosened and detached the stones from their positions. The river that flows here is a small torrent, they call it Triton because they say Athene was brought up near the river Triton, as if it were this Triton, and not the Triton in Libya which has its outlet from the Lake Tritonis into the Libyan sea.

[71] Odyssey, x. 492-495.

CHAPTER XXXIV.

Before you get to Coronea from Alalcomenæ, you will come to the temple of Itonian Athene, called so from Itonus the son of Amphictyon. Here the Bœotians hold their general meeting. In this temple are brazen statues of Itonian Athene and Zeus, designed by Agoracritus, a pupil and lover of Phidias. They also erected in my time some statues of the Graces. The following tradition is told that Iodama the priestess of Athene went to the temple by night, and Athene appeared to her with the head of the Gorgon Medusa on her tunic, and Iodama when she saw it was turned into stone. In consequence of this a woman puts fire every day on the altar of Iodama, and calls out thrice in the Bœotian dialect, “Iodama is alive and asks for fire.”

Coronea is remarkable for its altar of Hermes Epimelius in the market-place, and its altar of the Winds. And a little lower down is a temple and ancient statue of Hera by Pythodorus the Theban. She has some Sirens in her hand. For they say that they, the daughters of Achelous, were persuaded by Hera to vie with the Muses in singing, and that the Muses being victorious plucked off their wings and made crowns of them. About 40 stades from Coronea is the mountain Libethrium, where are statues of the Muses and Nymphs called Libethrides, and two fountains (one called Libethrias, and the other Petra) like women’s breasts, and water like milk comes up from them.

It is about 20 stades from Coronea to the mountain Laphystium, and to the sacred enclosure of Laphystian Zeus. There is a stone statue of the god here: and this is the spot they say where, when Athamas was going to sacrifice Phrixus and Helle, a ram with golden wool was sent them by Zeus, on whose back the children escaped. A little higher up is a statue of Hercules Charops, the Bœotians say Hercules came up here from the lower world with Cerberus. And as you descend from Laphystium to the temple of Itonian Athene is the river Phalarus, which discharges itself into the lake Cephisis.

Beyond the mountain Laphystium is Orchomenus, as famous and renowned as any Greek city, which, after having risen to the very acme of prosperity, was destined to come to a similar end as Mycenæ and Delos. This is what they record of its ancient history. They say Andreus first dwelt here, the son of the river Peneus, and the country was called Andreis after him. And when Athamas came to him, he distributed to him his land in the neighbourhood of the mountain Laphystium, and what are now called Coronea and Haliartia. And Athamas thinking he had no male children left, (for he had laid violent hands on Learchus and Melicerta, and Leucon had died of some illness, and as to Phrixus he did not know whether he was alive or had left any descendant), adopted accordingly Haliartus and Coronus, the sons of Thersander, the son of Sisyphus, who was brother of Athamas. But afterwards when Phrixus returned from Colchi according to some, according to others Presbon, Phrixus’ son by the daughter of Æetes, then the sons of Thersander conceded the kingdom of Athamas to him and his posterity, so they dwelt at Haliartus and Coronea which Athamas had given to them. And before this Andreus had married Euippe the daughter of Leucon at the instigation of Athamas, and had by her a son Eteocles, who according to the poets was the son of the river Cephisus, so that some of them called him Cephisiades in their poems. When Eteocles became king he allowed the country to keep its name Andreis, but established two tribes, one of which he called Cephisias, and the other from his own name Eteoclea. When Almus the son of Sisyphus came to him, he granted him a small village to dwell in, which got called after him Almones, but eventually got changed to Olmones.

CHAPTER XXXV.

The Bœotians say that Eteocles was the first who sacrificed to the Graces. And they are sure that he established the worship of three Graces, though they do not remember the names he gave them. For the Lacedæmonians say that only two Graces were appointed by Lacedæmon the son of Taygete, and that their names were Cleta and Phaenna. These names suit the Graces, and they have suitable names also among the Athenians, for the Athenians honour of old the Graces Auxo and Hegemone. As to Carpo it is not the name of a Grace but a Season. And another Season the Athenians honour equally with Pandrosus, the Goddess they call Thallo. But having learnt so to do from Eteocles of Orchomenus we are accustomed now to pray to three Graces: and Angelion and Tectæus who made a statue of Apollo at Delos have placed three Graces in his hand; and at Athens at the entrance to the Acropolis there are also three Graces, and near them they celebrate the mysteries which are kept secret from the multitude. Pamphus is the first we know of that sang the praises of the Graces, but he has neither mentioned their number nor their names. And Homer, who has also mentioned the Graces, says that one of them whom he calls Charis was the wife of Hephæstus.[72] And he says that Sleep was the lover of the Grace Pasithea. For in his account of Sleep he has written the lines,

“That he would give me one of the younger Graces,

Pasithea, whom I long for day and night.”[73]

Hence has arisen the idea that Homer knew of other older Graces. And Hesiod in the Theogony (if indeed Hesiod wrote the Theogony) says that these Graces are the daughters of Zeus and Eurynome, and that their names are Euphrosyne and Aglaia and Thalia. Onomacritus gives the same account of them in his verses. But Antimachus neither gives the number of the Graces nor their names, but says they were the daughters of Ægle and the Sun. And Hermesianax in his Elegies has written something rather different from the opinion of those before him, viz. that Peitho was one of the Graces. But whoever first represented the Graces naked (whether in a statue or painting) I could not ascertain, for in more ancient times the statuaries and painters represented them dressed, as at Smyrna in the temple of the Nemeses, where above the other statues are some golden Graces by Bupalus. In the Odeum also is a figure of a Grace painted by Apelles. The people of Pergamus have also, in the bed-chamber of Attalus, the Graces by Bupalus. And in what is called the Pythium there are Graces painted by the Parian Pythagoras. And Socrates the son of Sophroniscus at the entrance to the Acropolis made statues of the Graces for the Athenians. And all these are draped: but artists afterwards, I know not why, changed this presentation of them: and in my day both sculptured them and painted them as naked.

[72] Iliad, xviii. 382, 383.

[73] Iliad, xiv. 275, 276.

CHAPTER XXXVI.

On the death of Eteocles the succession devolved upon the posterity of Almus. Almus had two daughters Chrysogenia and Chryse: and the story goes that Chryse had a son by Ares called Phlegyas, who succeeded to the kingdom when Eteocles died without any male progeny. So they changed the name of the whole country from Andreis to Phlegyantis, and to the city Andreis, which was very early inhabited, the king gave his own name Phlegyas, and gathered into it the most warlike of the Greeks. And the people of Phlegyas in their folly and audacity stood aloof as time went on from the other Orchomenians, and attracted to themselves the neighbouring people: and eventually led an army against Delphi to plunder the temple, and when Philammon with some picked Argives came against them he and they were slain in the battle that ensued. That the people of Phlegyas more than the other Greeks delighted in war is shewn by the lines in the Iliad about Ares and Panic the son of Ares,

“They two armed themselves for battle with the Ephyri and the warriors of Phlegyas.”[74]

By the Ephyri here Homer means I think those of Thesprotia in Epirus. But the inhabitants of Phlegyas were entirely overthrown by frequent lightning and violent earthquakes: and the residue were carried off by an epidemic, all but a few who escaped to Phocis.

And as Phlegyas died childless, Chryses the son of Chrysogenia (the daughter of Almus) by Poseidon succeeded him. And he had a son Minyas, from whom his subjects the Minyæ took the name they still keep. So great were his revenues that he excelled all his predecessors in wealth, and he was the first we know of that built a Treasury for the reception of his money. The Greeks are it seems more apt to admire things out of their own country than things in it, since several of their notable historians have described in great detail the Pyramids of Egypt, but have not mentioned at all the Treasury of Minyas and the walls at Tiryns, though they are no less remarkable. The son of Minyas was Orchomenus, and in his reign the town was called Orchomenus and its inhabitants Orchomenians: but none the less they also continued to be called Minyæ to distinguish them from the Orchomenians in Arcadia. It was during the reign of this Orchomenus that Hyettus came from Argos, fleeing after his slaying Molurus (the son of Arisbas) whom he had caught with his wife, and Orchomenus gave him all the land now round the village of Hyettus and the neighbouring district. Hyettus is mentioned by the author of the Poem which the Greeks call the Great Eœæ.

“Hyettus having slain Molurus (the dear son of Arisbas) in the chamber of his wedded wife, left his house and fled from Argos fertile-in-horses, and went to the court of Orchomenus of Minyæ, and the hero received him, and gave him part of his possessions in a noble spirit.”

This Hyettus seems clearly the first that took vengeance on adultery. And in after times Draco the Athenian legislator in the beginning of his laws assigned a severe penalty for adultery, though he condoned some offences. And the fame of the Minyæ reached such a height, that Neleus, the son of Cretheus, who was king at Pylos married the Orchomenian Chloris the daughter of Amphion the son of Iasius.

[74] Iliad, xiii. 301, 302. The reading in the former line is however a little different.

CHAPTER XXXVII.

But the posterity of Almus was fated to come to an end, for Orchomenus had no child, and so the kingdom devolved upon Clymenus, the son of Presbon, the son of Phrixus. And Erginus was the eldest son of Clymenus, and next came Stratius and Arrho and Pyleus, and the youngest Azeus. Clymenus was slain by some Thebans at the festival of Onchestian Poseidon, who were inflamed to anger about some trifling matter, and was succeeded by his eldest son Erginus. And forthwith he and his brothers collected an army and marched against Thebes, and defeated the Thebans in an engagement, and from that time the Thebans agreed to pay a yearly tax for the murder of Clymenus. But when Hercules grew up at Thebes, then the Thebans had this tax remitted, and the Minyæ met with great reverses in the war. And Erginus seeing that the citizens were reduced to extremities made peace with Hercules, and seeking to regain his former wealth and prosperity neglected everything else altogether, and continued unmarried and childless till old age stole on him unawares. But when he had amassed much money then he desired posterity, and he went to Delphi and consulted the oracle and the Pythian Priestess gave him the following response,

“Erginus grandson of Presbon and son of Clymenus, you come rather late to inquire after offspring, but lose no time in putting a new top on the old plough.”

So he married a young wife according to the oracle, and became father of Trophonius and Agamedes. Trophonius is said indeed to have been the son of Apollo and not of Erginus, as I myself believe, and so will everyone who consults the oracle of Trophonius. When they grew up they say these sons of Erginus became skilful in building temples for the gods and palaces for men: for they built the temple of Apollo at Delphi, and the treasury for Hyrieus. In this last they contrived one stone so that they could remove it as they liked from outside, and they were ever filching from the treasures: and Hyrieus was astonished when he saw keys and seals untampered with, and yet his wealth ever diminishing. So he laid traps near the coffers in which his silver and gold were, so that whoever entered and touched the money would be caught. And as Agamedes entered he was trapped, and Trophonius cut off his brother’s head, that when daylight came he might not if detected inform against him too as privy to the robbery. Thereupon the earth gaped and swallowed up Trophonius in the grove of Lebadea, where is a cavity called after Agamedes, and a pillar erected near it. And the rulers over the Orchomenians were Ascalaphus and Ialmenus, who were reputed to be the sons of Ares by Astyoche, (the daughter of Azeus the son of Clymenus), and who led the Minyæ to Troy.[75] The Orchomenians also went on the expedition to Ionia with the sons of Codrus, and after being driven from their country by the Thebans were restored to Orchomenus by Philip the son of Amyntas. But the deity seemed ever to reduce their power more and more.

[75] See Iliad, ii. 511-516.

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

At Orchomenus there is a temple of Dionysus, and a very ancient one of the Graces. They worship especially some meteoric stones which they say fell from heaven upon Eteocles, and some handsome stone statues were offered in my time. They have also a well well worth seeing, which they go down to to draw water. And the treasury of Minyas, a marvel inferior to nothing in Greece or elsewhere, is constructed as follows. It is a circular building made of stone with a top not very pointed: the highest stone they say holds together the whole building. There are also there the tombs of Minyas and Hesiod: they say Hesiod’s bones were got in the following way. When a pestilence once destroyed men and cattle they sent messengers to Delphi, and the Pythian Priestess bade them bring the bones of Hesiod from Naupactus to Orchomenus, and that would be a remedy. They then inquired again in what part of Naupactus they would find those bones, and the Pythian Priestess told them that a crow would show them. As they proceeded on their journey they saw a stone not far from the road and a crow sitting on it, and they found the bones of Hesiod in the hollow of the stone, and these elegiac verses were inscribed upon it,

“The fertile Ascra was his fatherland, but after his death the land of the horse-taming Minyæ got Hesiod’s remains, whose fame is greatest in Greece among men judged by the test of wisdom.”

As to Actæon there is a tradition at Orchomenus, that a spectre which sat on a stone injured their land. And when they consulted the oracle at Delphi, the god bade them bury in the ground whatever remains they could find of Actæon: he also bade them to make a brazen copy of the spectre and fasten it with iron to the stone. This I have myself seen, and they annually offer funeral rites to Actæon.

About 7 stades from Orchomenus is a temple and small statue of Hercules. Here is the source of the river Melas, which has its outlet into the lake Cephisis. The lake covers a large part of the Orchomenian district, and in winter time, when the South Wind generally prevails, the water spreads over most of the country. The Thebans say that the river Cephisus was diverted by Hercules into the Orchomenian plain, and that it had its outlet to the sea under the mountain till Hercules dammed that passage up. Homer indeed knows of the lake Cephisis, but not as made by Hercules, and speaks of it in the line

“Overhanging the lake Cephisis.”[76]

But it is improbable that the Orchomenians did not discover that passage, and give to the Cephisus its old outlet by undoing the work of Hercules, for they were not without money even as far back as the Trojan War. Homer bears me out in the answer of Achilles to the messengers of Agamemnon,

“Not all the wealth that to Orchomenus comes,”[77]

plainly therefore at that period much wealth came to Orchomenus.

They say Aspledon lost its inhabitants from deficiency of water, and that it got its name from Aspledon, the son of Poseidon by the Nymph Midea. This account is confirmed by the verses which Chersias the Orchomenian wrote,

“Aspledon was the son of Poseidon and illustrious Midea and born in the large city.”

None of the verses of Chersias are now extant, but Callippus has cited these in his speech about the Orchomenians. The Orchomenians also say that the epitaph on Hesiod was composed by this Chersias.

[76] Iliad, v. 709.

[77] Iliad, ix. 381.

CHAPTER XXXIX.

In the mountainous parts the Phocians are nearest to the Orchomenians, but in the plain Lebadea is nearest. Lebadea was originally built on high ground, and called Midea from the mother of Aspledon, but when Lebadus came from Athens and settled here the inhabitants descended to the plain, and the town was called Lebadea after him. Who the father of Lebadus was, and why he came there, they do not know, they only know that his wife’s name was Laonice. The town is adorned in every respect like the most famous Greek towns. The grove of Trophonius is at some distance from it. They say that Hercyna was playing there with Proserpine the daughter of Demeter, and unwittingly let a goose drop out of her hands, which flew into a hollow cave and hid under a stone, till Proserpine entered the cave and took it from under the stone: and water they say burst forth where Proserpine took up the stone, and the river was called for that reason Hercyna. And on the banks of the river is a temple of Hercyna, and in it the effigy of a maiden with a goose in her hands: and in the cave are the sources of the river, and some statues in a standing posture, and there are some dragons twined round their sceptres. One might conjecture that the statues are Æsculapius and Hygiea, or they may be Trophonius and Hercyna, for dragons are quite as sacred to Trophonius as to Æsculapius. And near the river is the tomb of Arcesilaus: they say Leitus brought his remains home from Troy. And the most notable things in the grove are a temple of Trophonius, and statue like Æsculapius. It is by Praxiteles. There is also a temple of Demeter called Europa, and in the open air a statue of Zeus Hyetius. And as you ascend to the oracle, and pass on in front of the mountain, is Proserpine’s Chase, and a temple of Zeus the King. This temple either owing to its size or continual wars is left unfinished; and in another temple are statues of Cronos and Hera and Zeus. There is also a temple of Apollo. As to the oracle the following is the process. When any one desires to descend to the cave of Trophonius, he must first take up his residence for certain days in the temple of the Good Deity and Good Fortune. While he stays here he purifies himself in all other respects, and abstains from warm baths, and bathes in the river Hercyna, and has plenty of animal food from the various victims: for he must sacrifice to Trophonius and the sons of Trophonius, and also to Apollo and Cronos, and to Zeus the King, and to Hera the Chariot-driver, and to Demeter whom they call Europa, and who they say was the nurse of Trophonius. And at each of the sacrifices the seer comes forward and inspects the victim’s entrails, and having done so declares whether or not Trophonius will receive with favour the person who consults his oracle. The entrails of the other victims however do not show the mind of Trophonius so much as those of the ram, which each person who descends into his cave sacrifices on the night he descends in a ditch, invoking Agamedes. And though the former sacrifices have seemed propitious they take no account of them, unless the entrails of this ram are favourable too, but if these are so, then each person descends with good hope. This is the process. The first thing they do is to bring the person who wishes to consult the oracle by night to the river Hercyna, and to anoint him with oil, and two citizen lads of the age of 13 whom they call Hermæ wash him, and minister to him in all other respects. The priests do not after that lead him immediately to the oracle, but to the sources of the river which are very near each other. And here he must drink of the water called Lethe, that he may forget all his former thoughts, and afterwards he must drink of the water of Memory, and then he remembers what he will see on his descent. And when he has beheld the statue which they say was made by Dædalus, and which is never shown by the priests to any but those who are going to descend to Trophonius, after worship and prayer he goes to the oracle, clad in a linen tunic bound with fillets, and having on his feet the shoes of the country. And the oracle is above the grove on the mountain. And there is round it a circular wall of stone, the circumference of which is very small, and height rather less than two cubits. And there are some brazen pillars and girders that connect them, and through them are doors. And inside is a cavity in the earth, not natural, but artificial, and built with great skill. And the shape of this cavity resembles that of an oven: the breadth of which (measured diametrically) may be considered to be about 4 cubits, and the depth not more than 8 cubits. There are no steps to the bottom: but when any one descends to Trophonius, they furnish him with a narrow and light ladder. On the descent between top and bottom is an opening two spans broad and one high. He that descends lies flat at the bottom of the cavity, and, having in his hands cakes kneaded with honey, introduces into the opening first his feet and then his knees: and then all his body is sucked in, like a rapid and large river swallows up anyone who is sucked into its vortex. And when within the sanctuary the future is not communicated always in the same way, but some obtain knowledge of the future by their eyes, others by their ears. And they return by the place where they entered feet foremost. And they say none who descended ever died, except one of Demetrius’ body-guard, who would perform none of the accustomed routine, and who descended not to consult the oracle, but in the hope of abstracting some of the gold and silver from the sanctuary. They also say that his corpse was not ejected by the usual outlet. There are indeed several other traditions about him: I mention only the most remarkable. And on emerging from the cavity of Trophonius, the priests take and seat the person who has consulted the oracle on the Seat of Memory, not far from the sanctuary, and when he is seated there they ask him what he has seen or heard, and, when they have been informed, they hand him over to the fit persons, who bring him back to the temple of Good Fortune and the Good Deity, still in a state of terror and hardly knowing where he is. Afterwards however he will think no more of it, and even laugh. I write no mere hearsay, but from what I have seen happen to others, and having myself consulted the oracle of Trophonius. And all on their return from the oracle of Trophonius must write down on a tablet what they have seen or heard. There is also still there the shield of Aristomenes: the particulars about which I have already narrated.

CHAPTER XL.

The Bœotians became acquainted with this oracle in the following way, knowing nothing of it before. As there had been no rain on one occasion for two years, they sent messengers from every city to consult the oracle at Delphi. The Pythian Priestess returned these messengers answer that they must go to Trophonius at Lebadea, and obtain from him a cure for this drought. But when they went to Lebadea they could not find the oracle, when one Saon from Acræphnium, the oldest of the messengers, saw a swarm of bees, and determined to follow them wherever they went. He very soon saw that these bees went into the ground here, and so he discovered the oracle. This Saon they say was also instructed by Trophonius in all the ritual and routine of the oracle.

Of the works of Dædalus there are these two in Bœotia, the Hercules at Thebes, and the Trophonius at Lebadea, and there are two wooden statues in Crete, the Britomartis at Olus, and the Athene at Gnossus: and with the Cretans also is the dancing-ground of Ariadne, mentioned by Homer in the Iliad,[78] represented in white stone. And at Delos there is also a wooden statue of Aphrodite not very large, injured in the right hand from lapse of time, and instead of feet ending in a square shape. I believe Ariadne received this from Dædalus, and when she accompanied Theseus took the statue off with her. And the Delians say that Theseus, when he was deprived of Ariadne by Dionysus, gave Apollo at Delos this statue of the goddess, that he might not by taking it home be constantly reminded of his lost love, Ariadne, and so ever find the old wound bleed anew. Except these I know of none of the works of Dædalus still extant: for time has effaced those works of his which were offered by the Argives in the temple of Hera, as also those that were brought to Gela in Sicily from Omphace.

Next to Lebadea comes Chæronea, which was in ancient times called Arne; they say Arne was the daughter of Æolus, and another town in Thessaly was also called after her, and it got its name Chæronea from Chæron, who they say was the son of Apollo by Thero the daughter of Phylas. The author of the Great Eœæ confirms me in this, in the following lines.

“Phylas married Lipephile the daughter of the famous Iolaus, who resembled in appearance the goddesses of Olympus. She bare Hippotes in her bower, and lovely Thero bright as the stars, who falling into the arms of Apollo bare mighty Chæron tamer of horses.”

I think Homer knew the names Chæronea and Lebadea, but preferred to call those towns by their ancient names, as he calls the Nile[79] by the name Ægyptus.

There are two trophies erected at Chæronea by Sulla and the Romans, for the victories over Taxilus and the army of Mithridates. Philip the son of Amyntas erected no trophy either here or elsewhere for victories whether over Greeks or barbarians, for it was not the custom of the Macedonians to erect trophies. They have a tradition that the Macedonian King Caranus defeated in battle Cisseus who was a neighbouring king, and erected a trophy for his victory in imitation of the Argives, and they say a lion came from Olympus and overturned the trophy. Then Caranus was conscious that he had not acted wisely in erecting a trophy, which had only a tendency to bring about an irreconcilable enmity with his neighbours, and that neither he nor any of his successors in the kingdom of Macedonia ought to erect trophies after victories, if they wished to earn the goodwill of their neighbours. I am confirmed in what I say by the fact that Alexander erected no trophies either over Darius or for his Indian victories.

As you approach Chæronea is a common sepulchre of the Thebans that fell in the battle against Philip. There is no inscription over them but there is a device of a lion, which may indicate their bravery. I think there is no inscription because, owing to the deity, their courage was followed by no adequate success. Of all their objects of worship the people of Chæronea venerate most the sceptre which Homer says Hephæstus made for Zeus, which Hermes received from Zeus and gave to Pelops, and Pelops left to Atreus, and Atreus to Thyestes, from whom Agamemnon had it.[80] This sceptre they worship and call the spear. And that it has some divine properties is shown not least by the brightness that emanates from it. They say it was found on the borders of the Panopeans in Phocis, and that the Phocians found gold with it; but preferred this sceptre to the gold. I think it was taken to Phocis by Electra the daughter of Agamemnon. It has no public temple erected for it, but every year the priest puts it in a certain building, and there are sacrifices to it daily, and a table is spread for it furnished with all kinds of meats and pastry.

[78] Iliad, xviii. 590 sq.

[79] e.g. Odyssey, iv. 581, xiv. 257.

[80] Iliad, ii. 100-108. Lest anybody should be surprised at a sceptre being called a spear let him remember the following words of Justin, xliii. 5. “Per ea adhuc tempora reges hastas pro diademate habebant, quas Græci sceptra dixere. Nam et ab origine rerum pro diis immortalibus veteres hastas coluere, ob cujus religionis memoriam adhuc deorum simulacris hastæ adduntur.”

CHAPTER XLI.

Of all the works indeed of Hephæstus, that poets sing of and that have been famous among men, there is none but this sceptre of Agamemnon certainly his. The Lycians indeed show at Patara in the temple of Apollo a brazen bowl (which they say was by Hephæstus), the votive offering of Telephus, but they are probably ignorant that the Samians Theodorus and Rhœcus were the first brass-founders. And the Achæans of Patræ say that the chest which Eurypylus brought from Troy was made by Hephæstus, but they do not allow it to be seen. In Cyprus is the city Amathus, where is an ancient temple of Adonis and Aphrodite, and here they say is the necklace which was originally given to Harmonia, but is called the necklace of Eriphyle, because she received it as a gift from her husband, and the sons of Phegeus dedicated it at Delphi. How they got it I have already related in my account of Arcadia. But it was carried off by the Phocian tyrants. I do not however think that the necklace in the temple of Adonis at Amathus is Eriphyle’s, for that is emeralds set in gold, but the necklace given to Eriphyle is said by Homer in the Odyssey to have been entirely gold, as in the line,

“Who sold for gold her husband dear.”[81]

And Homer knew very well that there are different kinds of necklaces, for in the conversation between Eumæus and Odysseus, before Telemachus returned from Pylos and visited the swineherd’s cottage, are the following lines,

“Came to my father’s house a knowing man,

With golden necklace, which was set in amber.”[82]

And among the gifts which Penelope received from the suitors he has represented Eurymachus giving her a necklace.

“Eurymachus brought her a splendid necklace,

Golden and set in amber, like a sun.”[83]

But he does not speak of Eriphyle’s necklace as adorned with gold and precious stones. So it is probable that this sceptre is the only work of Hephæstus still extant.

Above Chæronea is a crag called Petrachos. They say that it was here that Cronos was deceived by Rhea with a stone instead of Zeus, and there is a small statue of Zeus on the summit of the mountain. At Chæronea they make unguents by boiling down together lilies and roses narcissuses and irises. These unguents relieve pain. Indeed if you anoint wooden statues with unguent made from roses, it preserves them from rottenness. The iris grows in marshy, places, and is in size about as big as the lily, but is not white, and not so strong-scented as the lily.

[81] Odyssey, xi. 327.

[82] Odyssey, xv. 459, 460.

[83] Odyssey, xviii. 295, 296.