Pausanias' description of Greece, Volume I.

by active approximately 150-175 Pausanias

CHAPTER X.

Not far from the market-place in the gymnasium is a Hercules in stone, the work of Scopas. There is also elsewhere a temple of Hercules: the precincts of which they call Pædize, and the temple is in the middle of the precincts, and in it is an old wooden statue of Hercules by Laphaes of Phlius. And the sacrifices they are wont to conduct as follows. They say that Phæstus, when he went to Sicyon, found that the people there offered victims to Hercules as a hero, whereas he thought they ought to sacrifice to him as to a god. And now the Sicyonians sacrifice lambs and burn their thighs on the altar, and part of the meat they eat and part they offer as to a hero. And the first of the days of the Feast which they keep to Hercules they call Names, and the second Hercules’ Day.

A road leads from here to the temple of Æsculapius. In the precincts there is on the left hand a double building: in the outer room is a statue of Sleep, and there is nothing of it remaining but the head. And the inner room is dedicated to Carnean Apollo, and none but the priests may enter it. In the Porch is the huge bone of a sea-monster, and next it the statue of Dream, and Sleep, called the Bountiful, lulling a lion to rest. And as you go up to the temple of Æsculapius, on one side is a statue of Pan seated, on the other one of Artemis erect. At the entrance is the god himself (Æsculapius) beardless, in gold and ivory, the work of Calamis: he has his sceptre in one hand, and in the other the fruit of the pine-tree. And they say that the god was brought to them from Epidaurus by a pair of mules, and that he was like a dragon, and that he was brought by Nicagora a native of Sicyon, the mother of Agasicles, and the wife of Echetimus. There are also some small statues fastened to the ceiling. The woman seated on the dragon is they say Aristodama the mother of Aratus, and they consider Aratus the son of Æsculapius. Such are the notable things to be seen in these precincts.

And there are other precincts there sacred to Aphrodite: and in them first is the statue of Antiope. For they say her sons were born at Sicyon, and this is the connection with Antiope. Next is the temple of Aphrodite. None may enter into it but a maiden Sacristan, who must never marry, and another maiden who performs the annual rites. This maiden they call bath-carrier. All others alike must only look at the goddess from the porch and worship her there. Her figure seated is the design of Canachus a native of Sicyon, (who also designed the Didymæan Apollo for the Milesians, and the Ismenian Apollo for the Thebans). It is in gold and ivory. The goddess wears on her head a cap, and in one hand holds a poppy, in the other an apple. And they offer in sacrifice to her the thighs of any victims but wild boars, all other parts they burn with juniper wood, and when they burn the thighs they burn up together with them the leaves of pæderos; which is a plant that grows in the precincts of the goddess’ temple in the open air, and grows in no other land, nor in any other part of Sicyonia. And its leaves are smaller than the leaves of the beech, but larger than those of the holm oak, and their shape is that of the oak-leaf, partly black, partly white like the silvery white of the poplar tree.

And as you go hence to the gymnasium, on the right is the temple of Pheræan Artemis: the wooden statue of the goddess was they say brought from Pheræ. Clinias built this gymnasium, and they educate boys there still. There is an Artemis also in white stone, carved only down to the waist, and a Hercules in his lower parts like the square Hermæ.

CHAPTER XI.

And as you turn from thence to the gate called The Holy Gate, not far from the gate is a shrine of Athene, which Epopeus formerly erected, in size and beauty surpassing those of its time. But time has obscured its fame. The god struck it with lightning: and now there remains only the altar, for the lightning did not light on it. And in front of the altar is the tomb of Epopeus, and near his tomb are the Gods the Averters of Evil, to whom they sacrifice (as the Greeks generally) to avert evil. And they say that Epopeus built the neighbouring temple to Artemis and Apollo, and Adrastus the one next to Hera: but no statues remain in either temple. Adrastus also built behind the temple of Hera two altars, one to Pan, and one to the Sun God in white stone. And as you descend to the plain is a temple of Demeter, and they say Plemnæus built it in gratitude to the goddess for rearing his son. And at a little distance from the temple of Hera, which Adrastus built, is the temple of Carnean Apollo. There are only the pillars of it left, you will find neither walls nor roof nor anything else there—nor in the temple of Hera the Guide: which was built by Phalces the son of Temenus, who said that Hera was his guide on the way to Sicyon. And as you go from Sicyon on the straight road to Phlius, about ten stades, and then turn off to the left, is the grove called Pyræa, and in it a temple of Demeter Prostasia, and Proserpine. Here the men have a festival to themselves, and give up what is called the Nymphon to the women to celebrate their festival in, and there are statues of Dionysus and Demeter and Proserpine (showing only their faces) in the Nymphon. And the road to Titane is sixty stades, and because of its narrowness it is impassable by a carriage and pair: and 20 stades further you cross the Asopus, and see on the left a grove of holm-oaks, and a temple of the Goddesses whom the Athenians call the Venerable, but the Sicyonians the Eumenides. And every year they keep a feast to them on one day, sacrificing ewes big with young, and they are wont to pour libations of honey and milk, and to use flowers as chaplets. They go through the same rites on the altar of the Fates in the open air, in the grove. And as you turn back again to the road, and cross the Asopus again, you come to a mountain-top, where the natives say Titan first dwelt, who was the brother of the Sun, and gave the name Titane to this place. This Titan seems to me to have been wonderfully clever in watching the seasons of the year, as when the Sun fructified and ripened seeds and fruit, and this was why he was considered the Sun’s brother. And afterwards Alexanor, the son of Machaon, the son of Æsculapius, came to Sicyon, and built a temple of Æsculapius at Titane. A few people dwell there, but for the most part only the suppliants of the god, and there are within the precincts some old cypress trees. But it is not possible to learn of what wood or metal Æsculapius’ statue is made, nor do they know who made it, though some say Alexanor himself. The only parts of the statue that are visible are the face and fingers and toes, for a white woollen tunic and cloak are thrown round it. And there is a statue of Hygiea somewhat similar. You can not see it either easily, so hidden is it by the hair of the women which they shear to the goddess, and by the folds of a Babylonish garment. And whichever of these any one wishes to propitiate, he is instructed to worship Hygiea. Alexanor and Euamerion have also statues, to the former they offer sacrifices after sunset as to a hero, but to the latter they sacrifice as to a god. And (if my conjecture is correct) this Euamerion is called Telesphorus (according to some oracle) by the people of Pergamum, but by the people of Epidaurus Acesis. There is also a wooden statue of Coronis, but not anywhere in the temple: but when bull or lamb or pig are sacrificed to the goddess, then they take Coronis to the temple of Athene and honour her there. Nor are they contented merely with cutting off the thighs of the victims, but they burn all the victims whole on the ground except birds, and these they burn on the altar. On the gable ends are figures of Hercules, and several Victories. And in the porch are statues of Dionysus and Hecate and Aphrodite and The Mother of the Gods and Fortune: these are all in wood, and one of Gortynian Æsculapius in stone. And people are afraid to approach the sacred dragons: but if their food is put at the entrance they give no further trouble. There is also within the precincts a statue of Granianus, a native of Sicyon, in brass. He won two victories at Olympia in the pentathlum, and a third in the stadium, and two in the double course, which he ran both in armour and out of armour.

CHAPTER XII.

And at Titane there is also a temple of Athene, into which they carry the statue of Coronis. And in it is an old wooden statue of Athene. This too is said to have been struck by lightning. As you descend from the hill, for the temple is built on the hill, is the altar of the winds, on which the priest sacrifices to them one night in every year. And he performs mysterious rites at four pits, to tame their violence, chanting, so they say, the incantations of Medea.

And as you go from Titane to Sicyon, and descend towards the sea, there is on the left a temple of Hera, with neither statue nor roof. They say Prœtus the son of Abas built it. And as you go down to what is called the harbour of the Sicyonians, and turn to Aristonautæ, the port of the people of Pellene, there is, a little above the road, on the left a temple of Poseidon. And as you go on along the high road you come to the river Helisson, and next the river Sythas, both rivers flowing into the sea.