And Chilon the Achæan of Patræ had two victories at Olympia in wrestling among men, and one at Delphi, and 4 at Isthmus, and 3 at Nemea. And he had a public funeral from the Achæans, as he was killed in war. The inscription at Olympia bears me out.
“I won the prize from men in wrestling twice in the Pythian and Olympian games, three times at Nemea, four times at the Isthmus near the sea, I Chilon of Patræ the son of Chilon, whom the Achæans gave a public funeral to for his valour as he was killed in war.”
Such is what the inscription records. And if one conjectures from the age of Lysippus, who made the effigy, one must infer that the war in which Chilon fell was either at Chæronea when he fought in company with all the Achæans, or that he alone boldly volunteered to fight at Lamia in Thessaly against Antipater and the Macedonians.
And next to that of Chilon are two statues: one of Molpion, who the inscription states was crowned by the people of Elis, and the other, which has no inscription, is they say Aristotle of Stagira in Thrace, and it was erected to him by some pupil or soldier, as he was greatly honoured by Antipater and earlier still by Alexander. And Sodamas from Assus in the Troas, near Mount Ida, was the first Æolian that won the prize for boys in the course at Olympia. And next to Sodamas is a statue of Archidamus, the son of Agesilaus, king of the Lacedæmonians. Before the reign of this Archidamus I cannot find that the Lacedæmonians erected a statue of anyone beyond their own borders. But they sent I think a statue of Archidamus to Olympia, not only on other accounts but also because of his death, for he died fighting against the barbarians, and was the only one of the Spartan kings that lacked sepulture. I have narrated the particulars at full length in my account of Sparta. And Euanthes of Cyzicus had prizes for boxing, one at Olympia as a man, and at Nemea and the Isthmian games as a boy. And next to Euanthes is a horse-trainer and a chariot, and a girl mounting the chariot. The man’s name is Lampus, and his native town was the most recent of the Macedonian towns, and got its name from its founder Philip the son of Amyntas. And the effigy of Cyniscus, the boy boxer from Mantinea, was by Polycletus. And Ergoteles the son of Philanor, who carried off two victories at Olympia in the long course, and as many at the Pythian Isthmian and Nemean games, was not originally a native of Himera, as the inscription states, but is said to have been a Cretan from Gnossus: and being banished from thence in some faction he went to Himera, and obtained citizenship there, and had other honours. This is the probable explanation of his being proclaimed in the games as a native of Himera.
CHAPTER V.
The statue which stands on a lofty pedestal is by Lysippus. It is the statue of Polydamas, the son of Nicias, the largest man of our times. There may have been larger men, but only the heroes or some mortal race of giants earlier than the heroes. Scotusa, which was the native place of Polydamas, is not inhabited in our day, for Alexander the king of the Pheræans took it in time of peace, for when the people of Scotusa were all gathered together in the theatre, for they held their meetings there at that period, he surrounded it with targeteers and archers and shot them all, and slew all besides that were in their prime, and sold the women and children, and with the proceeds kept up a mercenary army. This disaster happened to the people of Scotusa when Phrasiclides was Archon at Athens, in the 102nd Olympiad, in the second year of which Damon of Thuria was victor for the second time. And those that escaped of the people of Scotusa were few, and even they were reduced still further and left the town, when Providence brought a second reverse upon all the Greeks in the war with the Macedonians. In the pancratium several had notable victories, but Polydamas beside his crowns for the pancratium had further renown for the following remarkable exploits. The mountainous part of Thrace, inside the river Nestus that flows through the territory of the people of Abdera, rears several wild beasts and among them lions, who on one occasion attacked the army of Xerxes, and made havoc of the camels that carried the corn. These lions also frequently prowled about the country in the neighbourhood of Mount Olympus, one side of which mountain faces Macedonia, another Thessaly and the river Peneus. Polydamas unarmed slew a large and stout lion on Mount Olympus: moved to this exploit from a desire to emulate the actions of Hercules, who as the tradition goes vanquished the Nemean lion. Another memorable feat of Polydamas is on record. He approached a herd of cattle, and seized the strongest and wildest bull by one of its hind feet, and held on fast by its hoofs, and would not let it go though it kicked and struggled, till at last the bull exerting all its strength got away from him, and left its hoofs in his hands. It is also recorded of him that he stopped a chariot which the driver was urging on at full speed, by laying hold of it behind with one hand, and thus stopped both horses and charioteer. And Darius, the illegitimate son of Artaxerxes, (who with the help of the Persian commonalty had deposed Sogdius, Artaxerxes’ legitimate son, and usurped his kingdom), when he became king sent messengers, for he had heard of the exploits of Polydamas, and by promising rewards attracted him to his court at Susa. And there he slew in single combat three of the Persians called Immortals who had challenged him. And some of the exploits which I have mentioned are recorded on the base of his statue at Olympia, others in the inscription. But eventually the prophetic utterance of Homer about trusting too much in one’s strength proved true of Polydamas, for he too was destined to perish through too great confidence in his strength.[77] On one occasion with several boon companions he entered a cave in summer time, and somehow or other by some malign fortune the top of the cave cracked, and was evidently going to fall in in no long time. And when they perceived the impending disaster all his companions fled, but Polydamas determined to remain, and stretched out his hands in the intention of holding up this mass of rock and not being buried under it, but he was crushed to death.
CHAPTER VI.
And next to the statue of Polydamas are two Arcadian athletes, and one Athenian one. The first is the Mantinean Protolaus, the son of Dialces, who beat all the boys in boxing, by Pythagoras of Rhegium, the second is Narycidas, the son of Damaretus, a wrestler from Phigalia, by the Sicyonian Dædalus, and the third is Callias, the Athenian pancratiast, by the Athenian painter Micon. And there is a statue, by Nicodamus of Mænalus, of the pancratiast from Mænalus, Androsthenes the son of Lochæus, who carried off two victories from men. And next to these is the statue of Eucles the son of Callianax, a Rhodian by birth and of the family of the Diagoridæ, (for Diagoras was his maternal grandfather), who won the prize for boxing among men at Olympia. His statue is by Naucydes. And Polycletus the Argive, a pupil of Naucydes, (not the Polycletus who made the statue of Hera), has made the statue of a boy-wrestler, the Theban Agenor. It was made at the expense of the Phocians, to whom Theopompus the father of Agenor had been friendly. And Nicodamus, the statuary from Mænalus, made a statue of Damoxenidas, the man-boxer from Mænalus. There is also an effigy of Lastratidas the boy of Elis, who won the crown for wrestling, and also a victory at Nemea among boys and beardless youths. And Paraballon the father of Lastratidas won the prize in the double course, and excited the emulation of posterity, by writing up the names of the victors at Olympia in the gymnasium at Olympia.
So far for these last mentioned: but I must not omit Euthymus the boxer, or his victories and other feats. He was an Italian from Locri near the promontory of Zephyrium, and his father’s name was Astycles. But the natives of that country say that he was not the son of Astycles but of the River Cæcinus, which is the boundary between the districts of Locri and Rhegium, and has a peculiarity in respect to grasshoppers. For the grasshoppers in Locri up to the river Cæcinus sing just as other grasshoppers, but after you cross the Cæcinus they cease to sing in the district of Rhegium. Euthymus then is said to be the son of this River, and he won a boxing prize at Olympia in the 74th Olympiad, but was not equally successful in the following Olympiad. For Theagenes from Thasos, wishing to win in the same Olympiad prizes both for boxing and the pancratium, outboxed Euthymus. Theagenes however could not receive the wild olive crown for the pancratium, as in the contest with Euthymus he was exhausted first. Moreover the umpires fined Theagenes a talent as a fine to the god, and a talent for the injury done to Euthymus, for they thought he insulted him in the boxing-match, therefore they ordered him also to pay privately money to Euthymus. And in the 76th Olympiad Theagenes paid his fine to the god, and in his vexation would not again contend as a boxer: but Euthymus received the crown for boxing both in that and the next Olympiad. And his statue is by Pythagoras and is especially fine. And on his return to Italy he fought against a Hero. The particulars are as follows. When Odysseus was on his travels after the capture of Ilium they say he was driven by the winds to several towns in Italy and Sicily, and among others to Temesa; there they say one of his sailors in drink violated a maiden, and for this outrage was stoned to death by the inhabitants. Thereupon Odysseus not troubling himself about his death sailed off, but the ghost of the man that had been stoned relentlessly continued to slay indiscriminately the people of Temesa, pursuing all ages alike, till the Pythian Priestess, when they intended to make a wholesale flitting from Italy, forbade them to leave Temesa, and bade them propitiate the Hero, by building him a temple in a grove set apart for that purpose, and annually giving him as wife the handsomest girl in Temesa. As they obeyed the orders of the oracle they had no further trouble with the ghost. But Euthymus happened to arrive at Temesa at the time when this annual offering to the ghost was being made, and inquired into the matter, and had a strong desire to enter the temple and behold the maiden. And when he saw her, he was first moved with pity and then with love. And she swore that she would marry him if he saved her, and Euthymus armed himself and awaited the approach of the ghost. In the fight that ensued he was victor, and the Hero left the country, dived into the sea and was never seen again, and the men of that region had henceforth no more trouble from him, and the marriage of Euthymus was celebrated with much pomp. I have also heard that Euthymus lived to advanced old age, and did not die, but left mankind some other way. I have also heard that Temesa is inhabited still, my informant was a merchant that sails in those parts. I also have seen a painting, which is an imitation of an older painting. In it is the young man Sybaris, and the river Calabrus, and the well Lyca, and a hero-chapel, and the town of Temesa. There too is the ghost whom Euthymus expelled, dreadfully swarthy and most formidable in all his appearance, and dressed in a wolfskin. And the letters in the painting give his name, Lycas. So much for this legend.