Pausanias' description of Greece, Volume I.

by active approximately 150-175 Pausanias

And near one another are temples of Apollo, and Artemis, and Dionysus. The wooden statue of Apollo is naked and of native art, but Artemis and Dionysus are draped, and Dionysus is represented with a beard. But the temple of Æsculapius is on the other side and not here, and the statue of stone, seated. And of all the gods the people of Ægina honour Hecate most, and celebrate her rites annually, saying that Orpheus the Thracian introduced those rites. And within the precincts is a temple, containing a wooden statue of Hecate by Myron, with only one head and one body. Alcamenes as it seems to me was the first who made the statue of Hecate with three heads and three bodies which the Athenians call Hecate Epipurgidia: it stands near the temple of Wingless Victory. And in Ægina as you go to the mountain of Pan-Hellenian Zeus is the temple of Aphæa, about whom Pindar wrote an ode for the Æginetans. And the Cretans say, (for her worship is indigenous among them too), that Eubulus was the son of that Carmanor who purged Apollo of the murder of Python, and that Britomartis was the daughter of Zeus by Carme the daughter of Eubulus: and that she rejoiced in races and hunting, and was a very great friend of Artemis. And fleeing from Minos, who was enamoured of her, she threw herself into some nets set for catching fish. Artemis made her a goddess, and she is worshipped not only by the Cretans but also by the Æginetans, who say that Britomartis was seen in their island. And she is called Aphæa in Ægina, but Dictynna in Crete. And the mountain Pan-Hellenium has nothing of note but the temple of Zeus, which they say Æacus erected. As to what concerns Auxesia and Lamia, how there was no rain at Epidaurus, and how after receiving olive trees from Athens they made wooden statues according to the bidding of the oracle, and how the Epidaurians did not pay to the Athenians their charge for the Æginetans having these statues, and how the Athenians who crossed over to Ægina to exact payment perished, all this has been told accurately and circumstantially by Herodotus. I do not therefore care to write again what has been so well told before, but this much I may say that I have seen the statues and sacrificed to them as they are accustomed to sacrifice at Eleusis.

Let so much suffice for Ægina, and Æacus and his exploits. And next to Epidauria come the people of Trœzen, who are proud of their country if any people are. And they say that Orus was a native of their country. To me however the name Orus seems decidedly Egyptian and not at all Greek. However they say he was their king, and that the country was called Oræa after him, and Althepus the son of Poseidon by Leis the daughter of Orus, succeeding to Orus, called the country Althepia. When he was king they say that Athene and Poseidon had a dispute about the country, and resolved to hold it in common, for so Zeus ordered them to do. And so they worship Athene under the names Polias and Sthenias, and Poseidon under the name of king. And so their ancient coins have on them a trident and the head of Athene. And next to Althepus Saron was king, who they say built the temple to Saronian Artemis near the sea where it was muddy on the surface, insomuch that it was called the Phœbæan marsh. And it chanced that Saron, who was very fond of hunting, was pursuing a stag and followed it to the sea as it fled. And it swam further and further from the land, and Saron continued to follow it up, till in his impetuosity he got out to open sea, and, as he was by now tired, and the waves were too much for him, he was drowned. And his dead body was cast on shore on the Phœbæan marsh, and they buried him in the grove of Artemis, and they call the sea here after him the Saronian marsh instead of the Phœbæan. The names of the kings that followed him they do not know till Hyperes and Anthas, who they say were the sons of Poseidon by Alcyone the daughter of Atlas, and built the cities in that country called Hyperea and Anthea. And Aetius the son of Anthas, succeeding his father and uncle in the kingdom, called one of these two cities Poseidonias. And when Trœzen and Pittheus joined Aetius, there were three kings instead of one, and the sons of Pelops were the stronger. And this proves it. After the death of Trœzen Pittheus joined together Hyperea and Anthea, and combined the inhabitants into one city, which he called Trœzen from the name of his brother. And many years afterwards the descendants of Aetius, the son of Anthas, were sent on a colony from Trœzen, and colonized Halicarnassus in Caria, and Myndus. And the sons of Trœzen, Anaphlystus and Sphettus, migrated to Attica, and gave their names to two townships. And as regards Theseus the son of Pittheus’ daughter I do not write to people who know all the history. But I must narrate thus much. When the Heraclidæ returned to the Peloponnese the people of Trœzen received as colonists the Dorians from Argos, having been formerly subject to the Argives. And Homer in his catalogue says that they were under the rule of Diomede. Diomede at least and Euryalus the son of Mecisteus, who were Regents for Cyanippus the son of Ægialeus, led the Argives to Troy. But Sthenelus, as I have shown before, was of more illustrious birth, being of the family of the Anaxagoridæ, and the kingdom of the Argives was more his by right. Such are all the historical details about Trœzen, except a list of the cities which are said to have been colonized from Trœzen. I will now describe the contents of the temples and other notable things in Trœzen.

CHAPTER XXXI.

In the market-place is a temple, and statues, of Artemis the Saviour. And it is said that Theseus built it and called her Saviour, when he returned from Crete after having killed Asterion the son of Minos. This seems to me to have been the most notable of all his exploits, not so much because Asterion excelled in bravery all who were killed by Theseus, but because he escaped the hidden snares of the labyrinth, and all this makes it clear that Theseus and his companions were saved by providence. In this temple are altars of the gods said to rule in the lower world: and they say that Semele was brought here from Hades by Dionysus, and that Hercules brought Cerberus here from Hades. But I do not think that Semele died at all, as she was the wife of Zeus: and as to Cerberus I shall elsewhere tell what I think.

And behind the temple there is a monument of Pittheus, and three seats are on it of white stone: and Pittheus and two others with him are said to be giving sentence on these seats. And at no great distance is a temple of the Muses, built they say by Ardalus, the son of Hephæstus: who they think discovered the use of the flute, and so they call the Muses Ardalian after him. Here they say Pittheus taught the art of language, and I have myself read a book written by Pittheus, that was given me by an Epidaurian. And not far from, the temple of the Muses is an ancient altar, erected as they say also by Ardalus. And they sacrifice on it to the Muses and Sleep, saying that Sleep is the god most friendly to the Muses. And near the theatre is a temple of Lycean Artemis, which Hippolytus built. Why the goddess was so called I could not find from the antiquarians, but it seems to me it was either because Hippolytus drove out the wolves that ravaged Trœzen and the neighbourhood, or that it was a title of Artemis among the Amazons, of whom his mother was one. Or there may be some other explanation which I do not know. And the stone in front of the temple called the holy stone was they say the stone on which formerly the 9 men of Trœzen cleared Orestes of the murder of his mother. And not far from the temple of Lycean Artemis are altars at no great distance from one another.

The first of them is one of Dionysus, called Saviour in accordance with some oracle, and the second is called Themidon, Pittheus dedicated it they say. And they very likely built an altar to the Sun the Liberator when they escaped the slavery of Xerxes and the Persians. And they say Pittheus built the temple of Thearian Apollo, which is the oldest of all I know. There is indeed an old temple of Athene among the Phocians in Ionia, which Harpagus the Persian burnt, old also is the temple of Pythian Apollo among the Samians, but far later are both than this one at Trœzen. And the statue of the god is still to be seen, the votive offering of Auliscus, and the design of Hermon of Trœzen, who also made wooden statues of the Dioscuri. And there are also in the porch in the market-place stone statues of the women and children whom the Athenians committed to the charge of the people of Trœzen, when they resolved to leave Athens, and not to encounter the attack of the Mede with a land force. And they are said to have put here statues not of all those women, for they are not many here, but only of those who were especially remarkable for merit. And there is a building in front of the temple of Apollo, called the tent of Orestes. For before he was cleared of his mother’s blood, none of the people of Trœzen would receive him in their houses: but they put him here and gradually cleared him and fed him here, till the expiatory rites were completed. And to this day the descendants of those that cleared him feast here on appointed days. And the expiations having been buried not far from this tent, they say a laurel sprang up from them, which is still to be seen in front of the tent. And they say that Orestes among other purgations used water from Hippocrene. For the people of Trœzen have a well called Hippocrene, and the tradition about it is the same as the Bœotian tradition. For they too say that water sprang up from the ground when Pegasus touched the ground with his hoof, and that Bellerophon came to Trœzen to ask for Æthra as his wife from Pittheus, but it so chanced that before the marriage came off he fled from Corinth.

And there is here a statue of Hermes called Polygius, and they say Hercules offered his club to it, and the club was of wild olive, and, (believe it who will,) sprouted in the earth and grew, and is now a tree, for Hercules they say discovered the wild olive in the Saronian marsh and cut a club of it. There is also a temple of Zeus Soter, built they say by King Aetius the son of Anthas. And they call their river Chrysorrhoe (golden stream), for when there was a drought in the land and no rain for nine years, and all other water they say dried up, this Chrysorrhoe continued to flow as usual.

CHAPTER XXXII.

And Hippolytus the son of Theseus has precincts and a temple in them and ancient statue. Diomede they say erected all these, and was the first to sacrifice to Hippolytus: and the people of Trœzen have a priest of Hippolytus who serves for life, and they have yearly sacrifices, and the following custom. Every maiden cuts off a lock of her hair before marriage, and takes it and offers it at this temple. And they don’t represent Hippolytus as having died through being torn in pieces by his horses, nor do they point out his tomb if they know it: but they try to make out that Hippolytus is called in heaven the Charioteer, and has this honour from the gods. And within his precincts is the temple of Apollo Epibaterius, the votive offering of Diomede when he escaped the storm which fell on the Greeks as they were returning from Ilium: they say also that Diomede first established the Pythian games in honour of Apollo. And as to Lamia and Auxesia (for they also have their share of honour) the people of Trœzen do not give the same account as the Epidaurians and Æginetans, but say that they were virgins who came from Crete, and in a general commotion in the city were stoned by one of the rival factions, and they have a festival to them called Stonethrowing. And in another part of the precincts is what is called Hippolytus’ race-course, and overlooking it a temple of Peeping Aphrodite: where, when Hippolytus was training, Phædra would gaze at him in her love. Here too grows the myrtle with the leaves pricked, as I described before: for when Phædra was in despair and found no relief for her love-pains, she wreaked her agony on the leaves of the myrtle. And Phædra’s tomb is here, not very far from the monument of Hippolytus, or that myrtle tree. And there is a statue of Æsculapius by Timotheus, but the people of Trœzen say it is not Æsculapius but Hippolytus. I saw also the house of Hippolytus, and in front of it is what is called the Well of Hercules, the water (as the people of Trœzen say) which Hercules discovered. And in the citadel there is a temple of Athene Sthenias, the wooden statue of the goddess is by Callon of Ægina; who was the pupil of Tectæus and Angelion, who designed the statue of Apollo at Delos; and they were pupils of Dipœnus and Scyllis. And as you go down from thence you come to the temple of Pan the Deliverer, for he shewed dreams to the chief people of the Trœzenians which brought about deliverance from the plague, which pressed so hard on the Athenians. And in the environs of Trœzen you will see a temple of Isis, and above it one of Aphrodite of the Height: the temple the Halicarnassians built for Trœzen their mother city; but the statue of Isis was a votive offering of the people of Trœzen.

As you go along the mountains to Hermione you see the source of the river Hyllicus, which was originally called Taurius, and a rock called Theseus’ rock, which used in former times to be called the altar of Sthenian Zeus, but had its name changed to Theseus’ rock because Theseus found under it the shoes and sword of Ægeus. And near this rock is the temple of Bridal Aphrodite, which was built by Theseus when he married Helen. And outside the walls is a temple of Fruit-giving Poseidon: for they say that Poseidon in wrath threatened to make their land fruitless, by casting brine on the seeds and roots of their plants, till mollified by their sacrifices and prayers he sent brine on their land no longer. And above the temple of Poseidon is Law-giving Demeter, which was built they say by Althepus. And as you descend to the harbour near what is called Celenderis, is the place which they call Natal-place, because they say Theseus was born there. And in front of this place is a temple of Ares on the spot where Theseus conquered the Amazons in battle: they must have been some of that band who fought in Attica with Theseus and the Athenians. And as you go towards the Psiphæan sea there is a wild olive tree called twisted Rhachus. The people of Trœzen give that name to every kind of olive that bears no fruit, whether its general name is κοτινός, or φυλίας, or ἔλαιος. And they call it twisted because, the reins catching in it, the chariot of Hippolytus got overturned. And at no great distance from this is the temple of Saronian Artemis, about which I have already given an account. But this much more shall be stated, that they keep an annual feast called Saronia to Artemis.