Read Ebook: Pausanias' description of Greece Volume I. by Pausanias Active Approximately Shilleto A R Arthur Richard Translator

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And as you go from Megara to Corinth there are several tombs, and among them that of the Samian flute-player Telephanes. And they say that this tomb was erected by Cleopatra, the daughter of Philip the son of Amyntas. And there is a monument of Car the son of Phoroneus, originally only a mound of earth, but afterwards in consequence of the oracle it was beautified with a shell-like stone. And the Megarians are the only Greeks who possess this peculiar kind of stone, and many things in their city are made of it. It is very white, and softer than other stone, and seashells are everywhere in it. Such is this kind of stone. And the road, called the Scironian road after Sciron, is so called because Sciron, when he was commander in chief of the Megarians, first made it a road for travellers according to tradition. And the Emperor Adrian made it so wide and convenient that two chariots could drive abreast.

Now there are traditions about the rocks which project in the narrow part of the road; with regard to the Molurian rock, that Ino threw herself into the sea from it with Melicerta, the younger of her sons: for Learchus the oldest was killed by his father. Athamas also is said to have acted in the same way when mad, and to have exhibited ungovernable rage to Ino and her children, thinking that the famine which befell the Orchomenians, which also apparently caused the death of Phrixus, was not the visitation of God, but a stepmother's contrivance against them all. So she to escape him threw herself and her boy Melicerta into the sea from the Molurian rock. And the boy, being carried it is said by a dolphin to the Isthmus of Corinth, had various honours paid to him under the name of Palaemon, and the Isthmian games were celebrated in his honour. This Molurian rock they consider sacred to Leucothea and Palaemon, but the rocks next to it they consider accursed, because Sciron lived near them, who threw into the sea all strangers that chanced to come there. And a tortoise used to swim about near these rocks, so as to devour those that were thrown in: these sea tortoises are like land tortoises, except in size and the shape of their feet which are like those of seals. But the whirligig of time which brought on Sciron punishment for all this, for he himself was thrown by Theseus into the same sea. And on the top of the mountain is a temple to Zeus called the Remover. They say that Zeus was so called because when a great drought once happened to the Greeks, and AEacus in obedience to the oracle prayed to Pan-Hellenian Zeus at AEgina, he took it away and removed it. Here are also statues of Aphrodite and Apollo and Pan. And as you go on a little further is the tomb of Eurystheus. They say that he fled here from Attica after the battle with the Heraclidae, and was killed by Iolaus. As you descend this road is a temple of Latoan Apollo, and near to it the boundaries between Megaris and Corinth, where they say Hyllus the son of Hercules had a single combat with the Arcadian Echemus.

FOOTNOTES:

A stade was about one-eighth of a Roman mile.

Odyssey, xi., 122, 123.

See Plutarch's "Life of Theseus."

Iliad, xxiii., 677-680.

See Herod., iii., 64.

Perhaps a reminiscence of Hom. Il. i. 423.

See Verg. Ecl. 3. 106. Theocr. x. 28. And especially Ovid, Metamorph. x. 210-219.

Demeter and Proserpine.

Iliad xxiii. 144-148.

Herod. iv. 99, and 103.

The Corinthian territory, a part of Argolis, gets its name from Corinthus, and that he was the son of Zeus I know of none who seriously assert but most Corinthians, for Eumelus the son of Amphilytus of the race called Bacchidae, who is also said to have been a poet, says in his History of Corinth , that Ephyre the daughter of Oceanus, dwelt first in this land, and that afterwards Marathon the son of Epopeus, the son of Aloeus, the son of the Sun, fled from the lawless insolence of his father, and took a colony into the maritime parts of Attica, and when Epopeus was dead returned to the Peloponnese, and after dividing the kingdom among his sons went back into Attica, and from his son Sicyon Asopia got the name of Sicyonia, and Ephyrea got called Corinth from his son Corinthus.

Now Corinth is inhabited by none of the ancient Corinthians, but by colonists who were sent there by the Romans. And this is owing to the Achaean confederacy. For the Corinthians joined it, and took their part in the war with the Romans which Critolaus, who had been appointed commander in chief of the Achaeans, brought about, having persuaded the Achaeans and most of the Greeks outside the Peloponnese to revolt against Rome. And the Romans, after conquering all the other Greeks in battle, took away from them their arms, and razed the fortifications of all the fortified cities: but they destroyed Corinth under Mummius the General of the Roman army, and they say it was rebuilt by Julius Caesar, who instituted the present form of government at Rome, . Carthage also was rebuilt in his term of power.

Now the place called Crommyon in the Corinthian territory is so called from Cromus the son of Poseidon. Here they say was the haunt of the Phaean boar, and the scene of Theseus' legendary exploits against Pityocamptes, . As you go forward the famous pine was to be seen even in my time near the seashore; and there was an altar to Melicerta there, for it was here they say that he was conveyed by the dolphin: and Sisyphus, finding him lying dead on the shore, buried him at the Isthmus, and established the Isthmian games in honour of him. Now it is at the head of the Isthmus that the robber Sinis took two pine-trees and bent them down to the ground: and whoever he conquered in battle he tied to these pine-trees, and let the pines go up into the air again: and each of these pines dragged the poor fellow tied to it, and the victim tied to them was torn asunder. In this way Sinis himself was killed by Theseus. For Theseus cleared all the road from Troezen to Athens of evildoers, having killed those whom I mentioned before, and, at Epidaurus the Holy, Periphetes the putative son of Hephaestus, whose weapon in fighting was a brazen club. The Isthmus of Corinth extends in one direction to the sea near Cenchreae, and in the other to the sea near Lechaeum. This Isthmus makes the Peloponnese a Peninsula. And whoever attempted to make the Peloponnese an island died before the completion of a canal across the Isthmus. And where they began to dig is now plainly visible, but they didn't make much progress because of the rock. The Peloponnese remains therefore what it was by nature main land. And when Alexander, the son of Philip, wished to make a canal through Mimas, the work was all but completed. But the oracle at Delphi forbade the navvies to complete the work. So difficult is it for man to oppose the divine ordinances. And the Corinthians are not alone in their boasting about their country, but it seems to me that the Athenians even earlier used tall talk in regard to Attica. The Corinthians say that Poseidon had a controversy with the Sun about their land, and that Briareus was the Arbitrator, awarding the Isthmus and all in that direction to Poseidon, and giving the height above the city to the Sun. From this time they say the Isthmus belongs to Poseidon.

The great sights at Corinth are the Theatre, and the Stadium of white stone. And as you approach the temple of the god, there are statues of the Athletes who have been conquerors in the Isthmian games on one side, and on the other pine-trees planted in a row, mostly in a straight line. And at the temple, which is not very large, there stand some Tritons in brass. And there are statues in the porch two of Poseidon, and one of Amphitrite, and a brazen Sea. And inside Herod an Athenian placed in our time 4 horses all gold except the hoofs, which are of ivory. And two golden Tritons are near the horses, ivory below the waist. And Amphitrite and Poseidon are standing in a chariot, and their son Palaemon is seated bolt upright on the dolphin's back: and these are made of ivory and gold. And on the middle of the base, on which the chariot rests, is the Sea supporting the child Aphrodite rising from it, and on each side are the so-called Nereids, who have I know altars in other parts of Greece, and some have temples dedicated to them as Shepherdesses, in places where Achilles is also honoured. And at Doto among the Gabali there is a holy temple, where the peplus is still kept, which the Greeks say Eriphyle took for her son Alcmaeon. And on the base of Poseidon's statue are in bas relief the sons of Tyndareus, because they are the patron saints of ships and sailors. And the other statues are Calm and Sea, and a horse like a sea-monster below the waist, and Ino and Bellerophon and Pegasus.

And inside the precincts there is on the left hand a temple of Palaemon, and some statues in it of Poseidon and Leucothea and Palaemon himself. And there is also a crypt, approached by an underground passage, where they say Palaemon is buried: whatever Corinthian or foreigner commits perjury here has no chance of escaping punishment. There is also an ancient temple called the altar of the Cyclopes, to whom they sacrifice upon it. But the tombs of Sisyphus and Neleus, , no one could find from the account in the poems of Eumelus. As to Neleus they say that his tomb was not even shewn to Nestor by Sisyphus: for it was to be unknown to all alike. But that Sisyphus was buried at the Isthmus, and indeed the very site of his tomb, a few Corinthians who were his contemporaries know. And the Isthmian games did not fall into disuse when Corinth was taken by Mummius, but as long as the city lay desolate, these games took place at Sicyon, and when the city was rebuilt the old honour came back to Corinth.

As you go up the hill to Corinth there are several tombs along the wayside, and at the gate is buried Diogenes of Sinope, whom the Greeks nickname the Cynic. And in front of the city is a grove of cypress trees called Craneum. Here is a temple of Bellerophon, and a shrine of Melaenian Aphrodite, and the tomb of Lais, with a lioness carved on it with a ram in its front paws. And there is another monument of Lais said to exist in Thessaly: for she went to Thessaly when she was enamoured of Hippostratus. She is said to have come originally from Hyccara in Sicily, and to have been taken prisoner as a child by Nicias and the Athenians, and to have been sold at Corinth, and to have outstripped in beauty all the courtesans there, and so admired was she by the Corinthians that even now they claim her as a Corinthian.

The notable things in the city are partly the remains of antiquity still to be seen there, partly works of art more recent, when Corinth was at the height of all her glory. In the market-place, for most of the temples are there, is Ephesian Artemis, and there are two wooden statues of Dionysus gilt except the faces, which are painted with red paint, one they call Lysian Dionysus, and the other Dionysus the Reveller. The tradition about these statues I will record. Pentheus they say, when he outraged Dionysus, among other acts of reckless daring actually at last went to Mount Cithaeron to spy the women, and climbed up into a tree to see what they were doing: and when they detected him, they forthwith dragged him down, and tore him limb from limb. And afterwards, so they say at Corinth, the Pythian Priestess told them to discover that tree and pay it divine honours. And that is why these statues are made of that very wood. There is also a Temple of Fortune: her statue is in a standing posture, in Parian marble. And near it is a temple to all the gods. And near it is a conduit, and a brazen Poseidon on it, and a dolphin under Poseidon's feet passing the water. And there is a brazen statue of Apollo called the Clarian, and a statue of Aphrodite by Hermogenes of Cythera. And both the statues of Hermes are of brass and in a standing posture, and one of them has a shrine built for it. And there are three statues of Zeus in the open air, one has no special title, the second is called Zeus of the Nether World, and the third Zeus of Highest Heaven.

And in the middle of the market-place is a statue of Athene in brass: on the base are sculptured effigies of the Muses. And above the market-place is a temple of Octavia, the sister of Augustus, who was Emperor of the Romans after Caesar, the founder of modern Corinth.

And as you go from the market-place towards Lechaeum there are vestibules, on which are golden chariots, one with Phaethon in it , and the other with the Sun himself in it. And at a little distance from the vestibules on the right as you enter is a brazen statue of Hercules. And next to it is the approach to the well of Pirene. They say that Pirene became a well from a woman through the tears she shed, bewailing the death of her son Cenchrias at the hands of Artemis. And the well is beautified with white stone, and there are cells like caves to match, from which the water trickles into that part of the well which is in the open air, and it has a sweet taste, and they say that Corinthian brass when hissing hot is dipped into this water. There is also a statue of Apollo near Pirene, and some precincts of the god. There is also a painting of Odysseus taking vengeance on the suitors.

And as you go straight on for Lechaeum, you will see a brazen Hermes in a sitting posture, and by it a ram, for Hermes more than any of the gods is thought to watch over and increase flocks, as indeed Homer has represented him in the Iliad "The son of Phorbas rich in flocks and herds, whom Hermes loved most of the Trojans, and increased his substance." But the tradition about Hermes and the ram in the rites of the Great Mother I purposely pass over. And next to the statue of Hermes are Poseidon and Leucothea, and Palaemon on the dolphin's back. And there are several baths in various parts of Corinth, some erected at the public expense, and others by the Emperor Adrian. And the most famous of them is near the statue of Poseidon. It was erected by Eurycles a Spartan, who beautified it with various stones, amongst others by the stone they dig at Croceae in Laconia. On the left of the entrance is a statue of Poseidon, and next to him one of Artemis hunting. And many conduits have been built in various parts of the city, as there is abundance of water, as well as the water which the Emperor Adrian brought from Stymphelus: the handsomest is the conduit by the statue of Artemis, and on it is a figure of Bellerophon, and the water flows by the hoof of Pegasus.

As you go from the market-place towards Sicyon, there is visible on the right of the road a temple and brazen statue of Apollo, and at a little distance a well called the well of Glauce: for she threw herself into it, thinking the water would be an antidote against the poison of Medea. Above this well is what is called the Odeum. And near it is the tomb of the sons of Medea, whose names were Mermerus and Pheres, who are said to have been stoned by the Corinthians because of the gifts which they took Glauce. But because their death was violent and unjust, the children of the Corinthians wasted away in consequence, until at the oracular response of the god yearly sacrifices were ordained for them, and a statue of Panic erected. This statue still remains to our day, the figure of a woman represented as feeling the greatest terror. But since the capture of Corinth by the Romans and the decay of the old Corinthians, the sacrifices are no longer continued by the new settlers, nor do their children continue to shear their hair, or wear black raiment. And Medea when she went to Athens, lived with AEgeus, but some time after she had to fly from Athens also, and going to the country which was then called Aria, gave her name to its inhabitants, so that they were called Medes from her. And the son whom she carried off with her when she fled to the Arians was they say her son by AEgeus, and his name was Medus. But Hellanicus calls him Polyxenus, and says Jason was his father. And there are poems among the Greeks called Naupactian: in which Jason is represented as having migrated from Iolcus to Corcyra after the death of Pelias, and Mermerus is said to have been torn to pieces by a lioness, as he was hunting on the mainland opposite: but about Pheres nothing is recorded. And Cinaethon the Lacedaemonian, who also wrote Genealogical Poems, said that Jason had by Medea a son Medeus and a daughter Eriopis: but of any children more he too has made no mention. But Eumoelus' account is that the Sun gave Asopia to Aloeus, and Ephyraea to AEetes: and AEetes went to Colchis, and left the kingdom to Bunus the son of Hermes and Alcidamea, and after Bunus' death, Epopeus reigned over the Ephyraeans. And when in after days Corinthus the son of Marathon died childless, the Corinthians sent for Medea from Iolcus to hand over the kingdom to her: and it was through her that Jason became king of Corinth, and Medea had children, by Jason, but whenever each was born she took it to the temple of Hera and hid it there, for she thought that by hiding them they would be immortal: but eventually she learned that she was wrong in this expectation, and, being at the same time detected by Jason, he would not forgive her though she pleaded hard for forgiveness, but sailed away to Iolcus. Eventually Medea herself went away too, and handed over the kingdom to Sisyphus. This is the account I have read.

On the ascent to Acro-Corinthus there is also a temple of Aphrodite: and statues of her in full armour, and the Sun, and Cupid with a bow. And the fountain behind the temple is they say the gift of Asopus to Sisyphus: for he, though he knew that Zeus had carried off AEgina the daughter of Asopus, refused to tell him unless he would give him this water on Acro-Corinthus. And Asopus giving this water he vouchsafed the required information, and for his information pays the penalty in Hades, if indeed this is credible. But I have heard people say that this fountain is Pirene, and that the water in the city flows down from it. This river Asopus has its rise in the neighbourhood of Phlius, flows through the Sicyonian district, and has its outlet in the Corinthian Gulf. And the people of Phlius say that Asopus' daughters were Corcyra and AEgina and Thebe: and that from Corcyra and AEgina the islands Scheria and OEnone got their present names, and that Thebe gave its name to Thebes the city of Cadmus. But the Thebans do not admit this, for they say that Thebe was the daughter of the Boeotian Asopus, and not the Asopus that has its rise at Phlius. The Phliasians and Sicyonians say further about this river that it is foreign and not indigenous, for Maeander they say flowing down from Celaenae through Phrygia and Caria, and falling into the sea at Miletus, travelled to the Peloponnese and made the river Asopus. And I remember to have heard something of the same kind from the people of Delos of the river Inopus, which they say came to them from the Nile. And moreover there is a tradition that the same Nile is the river Euphrates, which was lost in a lake and re-emerged as the Nile in the remote part of Ethiopia. This is what I heard about the Asopus. As you turn towards the mountains from Acro-Corinthus is the Teneatic gate, and a temple of Ilithyia. Now Tenea is about 60 stades from Corinth. And the people of Tenea say that they are Trojans, and were carried away captive by the Greeks from Tenedos, and located here by Agamemnon: and accordingly Apollo is the god they hold in highest honour.

And as you go from Corinth along the coast in the direction of Sicyon there is a temple, which was burnt down, not far from the city on the left hand of the way. There have been several wars in the neighbourhood of Corinth, and fire has consumed, as one would indeed expect, both houses and temples outside the city walls: this was they say a temple of Apollo, and burnt down by Pyrrhus the son of Achilles. I have also heard another account, that the Corinthians erected this temple to Olympian Zeus, and that it was some accidental fire that burnt it down. And the people of Sicyon, who are near neighbours to the Corinthians, say of their region that AEgialeus the Autochthon first dwelt there, and that what is now called AEgialus in the Peloponnese was called after him its king, and that he was founder of AEgialea a city in the plain: and that the site of the temple of Apollo was the citadel. And they say that the son of AEgialeus was Europs, and the son of Europs Telchis, and the son of Telchis Apis. Now this Apis had grown to such magnitude before Pelops came to Olympia, that all the land inside the Isthmus was called after him Apian. And the son of Apis was Thelxion, and the son of Thelxion was AEgyrus, and his son was Thurimachus, and the son of Thurimachus was Leucippus, and Leucippus had no male children, and only one daughter Chalcinia, who they say bore a child to Poseidon, who was called Peratus, and was brought up by Leucippus, and on his death succeeded to the kingdom as his heir. And the history of Plemnaeus the son of Peratus seems to me most marvellous. All his children died that his wife bare to him directly they were born and had uttered the first cry, till Demeter took compassion on him, and coming to AEgialea as a stranger to Plemnaeus reared his child Orthopolis. And Orthopolis had a daughter Chrysorthe: she had a child, supposed to be Apollo's, called Coronus. And Coronus had Corax and a younger son Lamedon.

And Corax dying childless, about this time Epopeus came from Thessaly and obtained the kingdom. In his reign first did a hostile army ever come into their country, as they had heretofore in all time lived in peace. And the origin of the war was this. Antiope the daughter of Nycteus had a great reputation for beauty among the Greeks, and there was a rumour about her that she was the daughter of Asopus, the river that forms the boundary between Thebes and Plataea, and not the daughter of Nycteus. I know not whether Epopeus asked her in marriage, or carried her off with more audacious designs from the beginning. But the Thebans came with an army, and Nycteus was wounded, and Epopeus too . Nycteus though very bad they took back to Thebes, and, when he was on the point of death, he gave orders that Lycus his brother should be ruler of the Thebans for the present: for Nycteus himself was Regent for Labdacus, , who was still a child, and now he left the Regency to Lycus. He also begged Lycus to go with a larger force to AEgialea and punish Epopeus, and even to illtreat Antiope if he could get hold of her. And Epopeus at first offered sacrifices for his victory and built a temple to Athene, and when it was finished prayed that the goddess would shew by some sign if it was to her mind, and after the prayer they say oil trickled in front of the temple. But afterwards Epopeus chanced to die of his wound which had been originally neglected, so Lycus had no longer any need of war, for Lamedon the king after Epopeus gave Antiope up. And she, as she was being conducted to Thebes, gave birth to a child on the road near Eleutherae. And it is in reference to this event that Asius the son of Amphiptolemus has written the lines, "Antiope, the daughter of the deep-eddying river Asopus, bare Zethus and divine Amphion, being pregnant both by Zeus, and Epopeus shepherd of his people."

But Homer has given them a finer pedigree, and says that they first built Thebes, distinguishing as it seems to me the lower city from the city built by Cadmus. And King Lamedon married a wife from Athens, Pheno the daughter of Clytius: and afterwards, when there was war between him and Archander and Architeles, the sons of Achaeus, he invited Sicyon from Attica to help him, and gave him his daughter Zeuxippe in marriage, and when he became king the region got called after him Sicyonia, and the town Sicyon instead of AEgialea. And the Sicyonians say that Sicyon was not the son of Marathon the son of Epopeus, but the son of Metion the son of Erechtheus. And Asius agrees with them. But Hesiod has represented Sicyon as the son of Erechtheus, and Ibycus says he was the son of Pelops. However Sicyon had a daughter Chthonophyle, who is said to have had a son Polybus by Hermes: and afterwards Phlias the son of Dionysus married her, and she had a son Androdamas. And Polybus gave his daughter Lysianassa to Talaus, the son of Bias, the king of the Argives: and when Adrastus fled from Argos he went to Polybus at Sicyon, and after Polybus' death he obtained the chief power at Sicyon. But when Adrastus was restored to Argos, then Ianiscus the descendant of Clytius, the father in law of Lamedon, came from Attica and became king, and on his death Phaestus, who was reputed to be one of the sons of Hercules. And Phaestus having migrated to Crete in accordance with an oracle, Zeuxippus, the son of Apollo and the nymph Syllis, is said to have become king. And after the death of Zeuxippus Agamemnon led an army against Sicyon and its king Hippolytus, the son of Rhopalus, the son of Phaestus. And Hippolytus fearing the invading army agreed to be subject to Agamemnon and Mycenae. And this Hippolytus had a son Lacestades. And Phalces, the son of Temenus, having seized Sicyon by night in conjunction with the Dorians, did no harm to Lacestades , but shared the royal power with him.

And the Sicyonians became Dorians after this, and a part of Argolis. And their city, built by AEgialeus in the plain, Demetrius the son of Antigonus razed to the ground, and built the present city on the site of what was in former times the citadel. And the reason of the low fortunes of the Sicyonians one could not find out by investigation, but one would have to be content with what is said by Homer about Zeus,

"Who hath brought down the pride of many cities."

And when they were in a far from favourable condition an earthquake came on them, and made the city almost bare of men, and robbed them of many works of art. This earthquake also injured the cities of Caria and Lycia, and the island of Rhodes suffered especially, insomuch that the oracle of the Sibyl about Rhodes was fulfilled.

And as you go from Corinth towards Sicyon you come to the tomb of Messenian Lycus, whoever this Lycus was. For I find no Messenian Lycus that practised in the pentathlum, or carried off the prize at Olympia. This tomb is a mound of earth, and the Sicyonians mostly bury in the following manner. The body they deposit in the ground, and over it a stone slab with pillars on the top, on which are figures, generally like the eagles in the temples. But they write no epitaph, but simply the name of the deceased, not even his parentage, and bid the dead farewell. And next to the tomb of Lycus, when you have crossed over the Asopus, is on the right hand the temple of Olympian Zeus, and a little further on, on the left side of the road, is the tomb of Eupolis the Athenian Comedian. Further on in the direction of the city is the tomb of Xenodice, who died in childbirth: it is unlike the tombs in this part of the country, and has a painting, which is very fine. A little further is the tomb of the Sicyonians, who died at Pellene, and Dyme in Achaia, and at Megalopolis and Sellasia, whose exploits I shall relate fully later on. And they have near the gate a well in a cave, which oozes through the roof of the cave, so it is called the Dripping Well.

And in the present citadel there is a temple to Fortune Dwelling on the Heights, and next it one to the Dioscuri. Both these and the statue of Fortune are of wood. And in the theatre built under the citadel the person represented on the stage-curtain is, they say, Aratus the son of Clinias. And next to the theatre is a temple of Dionysus: the god is fashioned in gold and ivory, and near him some Bacchantes in white stone. These women they say are sacred to Dionysus, and full of Bacchic fury. And the Sicyonians have other statues in a secret place, which one night in every year they bring to the temple of Dionysus from the place called Ornament Room, and they bring them with lighted torches and national Hymns. The leader of the procession is called Baccheus, this functionary was appointed by Androdamas the son of Phlias, and the next in the procession is called Lysius, whom the Theban Phanes brought from Thebes at the bidding of the Pythian Priestess. And Phanes came to Sicyon, when Aristomachus the son of Cleodaeus, mistaking the oracle, lost thereby his return to the Peloponnese. And as you go from the temple of Dionysus to the market-place there is a shrine of Artemis Limnaea on the right hand. And that the roof has fallen in is clear to the spectator. But as to the statue of the goddess--for there is none now--the people of Sicyon do not say whether it was carried away to some other place, or how it was destroyed .

And as you enter the market-place is a temple of Persuasion, also without a statue. Persuasion is worshipped by them on the following ground. Apollo and Artemis after slaying Pytho went to AEgialea to purify themselves. But being seized with some panic fear in the place which they now call Fear, they turned aside to Crete to Carmanor, and a pestilence came upon the people at AEgialea, and they were ordered by the seers to propitiate Apollo and Artemis. And they sent 7 lads and 7 maidens to the river Sythas to supplicate Apollo and Artemis, and persuaded by them these deities went to what was then the citadel, and the place they first reached was the temple of Persuasion. A Pageant of all this goes on to this day. On the Festival of Apollo the lads go to the river Sythas, and, after bringing Apollo and Artemis to the temple of Persuasion, take them back again to the temple of Apollo. And that temple is in the middle of the present market-place, and they say it was originally built by Proetus, because his daughters got cured of madness here. They say also that Meleager hung up in this temple the spear with which he killed the Calydonian boar: here too are deposited the flutes of Marsyas: for after his awful death the river Marsyas carried them to Maeander, and they turned up again at the Asopus and were landed at Sicyon, and given to Apollo by a shepherd who found them. Of these votive offerings there is no vestige: for they were burnt with the temple. And the temple and statue were re-erected in my time by Pythocles.

Cleomenes, the son of Leonidas, and grandson of Cleonymus, when he succeeded to the kingdom in Sparta, imitated Pausanias in desiring to be an autocrat, and not to obey the established laws. And as he was more impetuous than Pausanias, and brave as a lion, he quickly moulded everything to his will by his sagacity and boldness, and took off by poison Eurydamidas, the king of the other royal branch, while quite a lad, and vested the power of the Ephors in his brother Epiclidas, and having put down the power of the Senate, he established instead of them The Great Council of Patronomi . And being very ambitious of greater fortunes, and even the supremacy over Greece, he attacked the Achaeans first, hoping to have them as allies if he conquered them, and not wishing to give them the chance to hinder his actions. And he attacked them and beat them at Dyme above Patrae, Aratus being in this action the Achaean general, and this defeat it was that compelled Aratus to invite the aid of Antigonus, being afraid for the Achaeans, and even for the safety of Sicyon. And Cleomenes having violated his conditions with Antigonus, Antigonus crossed into the Peloponnese, and in concert with the Achaeans attacked Cleomenes at Sellasia. And the Achaeans were victorious, and Sellasia was enslaved, and Lacedaemon captured. Antigonus and the Achaeans then gave back to the Lacedaemonians their old Polity: and of Leonidas's sons, Epiclidas was killed in battle, and Cleomenes, , was cast into prison subsequently for inciting the Egyptians to revolt. And he escaped out of prison, and caused some trouble at Alexandria: but at last he was taken and committed suicide. And the Lacedaemonians, glad to get rid of Cleomenes, chose to submit to kingly government no longer, but from thenceforth until now had the republican form of government. And Antigonus continued friendly to Aratus, as he had done him many good and splendid services. But when Philip took the government into his own hands, because Aratus did not praise his frequent exhibition of temper to his subjects, and sometimes even checked him in his outbursts, he murdered him, giving him poison when he didn't expect it. And from AEgium, for here fate took him, they took his body to Sicyon and buried him, and the hero-chapel Arateum is still called after him. And Philip acted in just the same way to Euryclides and Micon, who were Athenians: for them too, , he took off by poison. But poison was it seems destined to bring disaster to Philip himself: for his son Demetrius was poisoned by Perseus, his youngest brother, and so caused his father's death by sorrow. And I have gone out of my way to give this account, remembering the divine saying of Hesiod, that he who plots mischief for another brings it first on his own pate.

And next to the hero-chapel of Aratus is an altar to Poseidon Isthmius, and rude statues of Milichian Zeus and Tutelary Artemis. Milichian Zeus is in the shape of Pyramid, Artemis in that of a Pillar. Here too has been built a Council Chamber, and a Porch called the Clisthenic from its builder Clisthenes, who built it out of spoil which he took in the war against Cirrha, as an ally of the Amphictyones. And in the part of the market-place which is in the open air there is a Zeus in brass, the work of Lysippus, and near it a golden Artemis. And next is the temple of Lycian Apollo, in a very dilapidated condition. When wolves used to devour the flocks so that there was no profit in keeping sheep, Apollo pointed out a certain place where some dry wood lay, and ordered the bark of this wood and flesh to be laid together before the wolves. And this bark killed the wolves immediately they tasted it. This wood is kept stored up in the temple of the Wolf-god: but what tree it is of none of the Sicyonian antiquaries know. And next are some brazen statues, said to be the daughters of Proetus, but the inscription has other women's names. There is also a Hercules in brass, by Sicyonian Lysippus. And near it is a statue of Hermes of the Market.

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, . 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 paederos; 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 Pheraean Artemis: the wooden statue of the goddess was they say brought from Pherae. 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 Hermae.

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 Proetus the son of Abas built it. And as you go down to what is called the harbour of the Sicyonians, and turn to Aristonautae, 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.

Next to Sicyonia is Phliasia. Its chief town Phlius is 40 stades at most distant from Titane, and the road to it from Sicyon is straight. That the Phliasians have no connection with the Arcadians is plain from the catalogue of the Arcadians in Homer's Iliad, for they are not included among them. And that they were Argives originally, and became Dorians after the return of the Heraclidae to the Peloponnese, will appear in the course of my narrative. As I know there are many different traditions about among the Phliasians, I shall give those which are most generally accepted among them. The first person who lived in this land was they say Aras an Autochthon, and he built a city on that hill which is still in our time called the Arantine hill, Here he built his city, and from him both land and city got called of old Arantia. It was in his reign that Asopus found the water of the river which they still call Asopus from the name of the person who found it. And the sepulchre of Aras is in a place called Celeae, where they say also Dysaules, an Eleusinian, is buried. And Aras had a son Aoris and a daughter Araethyrea, who the Phliasians say were cunning hunters and brave in war. And, Araethyrea dying first, Aoris changed the name of the city into Araethyrea. Homer has made mention of it in the line

"They lived at Orneae and lovely Araethyrea."

And I think the tombs of the sons of Aras are on the Arantine hill. And at their tombs are some remarkable pillars, and before the rites which they celebrate to Ceres they look at these tombs, and call Aras and his sons to the libations. As to Phlias, the third who gave his name to the land, I cannot at all accept the Argive tradition that he was the son of Cisus the son of Temenus, for I know that he was called the son of Dionysus, and was said to have been one of those who sailed in the Argo. And the lines of the Rhodian poet bear me out, "Phlias also came with the men of Araethyrea, where he dwelt, wealthy through his sire Dionysus, near the springs of Asopus." And Araethyrea was the mother of Phlias and not Chthonophyle, for Chthonophyle was his wife and he had Andromedas by her.

Now Celeae is about five stades from Phlius, and they sacrifice to Demeter there every fourth year and not annually. Nor is the presiding priest appointed for life, but a different one is chosen on each occasion, who may marry if he chooses. In this respect they differ from the Eleusinian mysteries, though generally speaking, as the Phliasians themselves admit, their mysteries are an imitation of those. They say that Dysaules the brother of Celeus came to their country and established these rites, when he was driven from Eleusis by Ion the son of Xuthus, who had been chosen commander in chief by the Athenians in the war against the people of Eleusis. This statement of the Phliasians I cannot assent to, that an Eleusinian should have been conquered in battle and gone into exile, when before the war was fought out the matter was submitted to arbitration, and Eumolpus remained at Eleusis. But it is quite possible that Dysaules may have gone to Celeae for some other reason, and not that which the Phliasians allege. Nor indeed had he, as it seems to me, any other relation with the Eleusinian chiefs than as brother of Celeus, for else Homer would not have passed him over in his Hymn to Demeter: where in his list of those who were taught the mysteries by the goddess he ignores Dysaules. These are his lines. "She shewed Triptolemus, and Diocles tamer of horses, and powerful Eumolpus, and Celeus leader of the people, the due performance of her rights and mysteries." However, according to the Phliasian tradition, this Dysaules established the mysteries here, and also gave the name Celeae to the place. There is also here as I have said the tomb of Dysaules, but subsequent to the date of the tomb of Aras: for according to the Phliasian account Dysaules came after the days when Aras was king. For they say Aras was a contemporary of Prometheus the son of Iapetus, and lived three generations earlier than Pelasgus the son of Arcas, and those who were called the Autochthons at Athens. And they say the chariot of Pelops is attached to the roof of the temple called the Anactorum. Such are the most important traditions of the Phliasians.

On the road from Corinth to Argos you come to the small town of Cleonae. Some say Cleone was the daughter of Pelops, others that she was one of the daughters of Asopus, the river that flows by Sicyon: however the town got its name from her. There is a temple of Athene there, and a statue of the goddess by Scyllis and Dipoenus, pupils of Daedalus. But some say that Daedalus took a wife from Gortyns, and that Dipoenus and Scyllis were his sons by her. At Cleonae beside this temple is the tomb of Eurytus and Cteatus, who had gone from Elis to be spectators of the Isthmian games, and whom Hercules shot with arrows there, charging them with having fought against him in the battle with Augeas.

From Cleonae there are two roads to Argos, one convenient for rapid walkers and the shorter route, the other called Tretus , more convenient for a carriage, though it too is narrow and has mountains on both sides. Among these mountains is still shown the lair of the Nemean lion, for Nemea is only about 15 stades distant.

At Nemea is a temple well worth seeing of Nemean Zeus, only the roof has tumbled in, and there is no longer any statue there: but there is a cypress grove near the temple, where they say that Opheltes, placed on the grass there by his nurse, was devoured by a dragon. The Argives also sacrifice to Zeus at Nemea, and select the priest of Nemean Zeus, and have a contest in running for men in armour at the winter meeting at Nemea. Here too is the tomb of Opheltes, and round it a wall of stones, and altars within the precincts: and there is a piled up mound of earth as a monument to Lycurgus the father of Opheltes. And the fountain they call Adrastea, whether for some other reason or because Adrastus discovered it. And they say the name Nemea was given to the place by Nemea the daughter of Asopus. And above Nemea is the Mountain Apesas, where they say Perseus sacrificed first to Apesantian Zeus. And as you go up to Argos by the road called Tretus you will see on the left hand the ruins of Mycenae. All Greeks know that Perseus founded Mycenae, and I shall relate the circumstances of the founding, and why the Argives afterwards dispossessed the old inhabitants. For in what is now called Argolis they mention no older town, and they say that Inachus the king gave his name to the river, and sacrificed to Hera. They also say that Phoroneus was the first mortal in this land, and that Inachus his father was not a man but a river: and that he and Cephisus and Asterion were the arbitrators between Poseidon and Hera in their dispute about the land: and when they judged that it was Hera's, then Poseidon took away all their water. And this is the reason why neither Inachus nor any other of these rivers mentioned have any water except after rain. And in summer their streams are dry except at Lerna. And Phoroneus the son of Inachus first gathered men together in communities, who before lived scattered and solitary: so the city in which they were first gathered together was called Phoronicum.

And Argos his daughter's son, who reigned after Phoroneus, gave Argos his own name. And to Argos were born Pirasus and Phorbas, and to Phorbas Triopas, and to Triopas Iasus and Agenor. Io the daughter of Iasus went to Egypt, either as Herodotus tells the story or as the Greeks tell the story, and Crotopus the son of Agenor had the rule after Iasus, and the son of Crotopus was Sthenelas. And Danaus sailed from Egypt against Gelanor the son of Sthenelas, and expelled from the kingdom the descendants of Agenor. All the world knows the history, how his daughters acted to their cousins, and how after his death Lynceus had the kingdom. And his grandsons, the sons of Abas, divided the kingdom, Acrisius remained at Argos, and Proetus had Heraeum and Midea and Tiryns and all the maritime parts of Argolis: and there are to this day remains of Proetus' palace at Tiryns. And some time afterwards Acrisius, hearing that Perseus was alive and a mighty man of valour, retired to Larissa by the river Peneus. And Perseus, as he wished excessively to see his mother's father and greet him with kind words and deeds, went to him to Larissa. And being in the prime of life, and rejoicing in the invention of the game of quoits, he displayed his prowess to all, and by fatality Acrisius was unintentionally killed by the throw of his quoit. Thus was the prophecy of the god fulfilled to Acrisius, nor did his contrivances against his daughter and her son turn away his fate. But when Perseus returned to Argos, for he was ashamed of the infamy of this murder of his grandfather, he persuaded Megapenthes the son of Proetus to exchange kingdoms with him, and founded Mycenae, where the scabbard of his sword fell off, for he thought this an indication that he should build a city there. Another tradition is that when thirsty he took up a fungus from the ground, and when some water flowed from it he drank it and was pleased, and called the name of the place Mycenae Homer indeed in the Odyssey has recorded the lady Mycene in the following line,

"Tyro and Alcmene and Mycene adorned with garlands;"

and the poem called the Great Eoeae, by Hesiod, represents her as the daughter of Inachus and the wife of Arestor: and from her some say the city got its name. But the tradition of Acusilaus which they also add, that Myceneus was the son of Sparton, and Sparton the son of Phoroneus, I could not accept, far less would the Lacedaemonians. For they have at Amyclae the image of a woman called Sparta, and if they heard that Sparton was the son of Phoroneus they would marvel at once.

Now the Argives destroyed Mycenae in jealousy. For though they took no part against the Medes, the people of Mycenae sent to Thermopylae 80 men, who shared in the glory of the famous 300. This public spirit brought about their destruction, by provoking the Argives to jealousy. But there are still some remains of the precincts and the gate, and there are some lions on it: which were they say executed by the Cyclopes, who built the wall at Tiryns for Proetus. And among the ruins at Mycenae is a fountain called Perseus', and some underground buildings belonging to Atreus and his sons, where their treasures were. And there is the tomb of Atreus, and of those whom AEgisthus slew at a banquet on their return from Ilium with Agamemnon. As to Cassandra's tomb the Lacedaemonians of Amyclae claim that they have it. And there is the tomb of Agamemnon there, and that of Eurymedon the charioteer, and the joint-tomb of Teledamus and Pelops, who were twins of Cassandra, and were butchered by AEgisthus after their parents. There is also the tomb of Electra, who married Pylades, and Orestes gave her away. And Hellanicus has recorded that Medon and Strophius were the issue of the marriage. And Clytaemnestra and AEgisthus were buried a little outside the walls, for they were thought unworthy to lie within the city, and mingle their ashes with Agamemnon and those who were murdered with him.

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