Delphi Complete Works of Pausanias

by Pausanias

  [18.5] When afterwards the Achaeans had driven out the Ionians, Patreus, the son of Preugenes, the son of Agenor, forbade the Achaeans to settle in Antheia and Mesatis, but built at Aroe a wall of greater circumference so as to include Aroe within it, and named the city Patrae after himself. Agenor, the father of Preugenes, was the son of Areus, the son of Ampyx, and Ampyx was a son of Pelias, the son of Aeginetes, the son of Dereites, the son of Harpalus, the son of Amyclas, the son of Lacedaemon.

  PATRAE, HISTORY

  [6] Πατρεῖ μὲν τοιαῦτα ἐς τοὺς προγόνους ὑπάρχοντα ἦν: ἰδίᾳ δὲ ἀνὰ χρόνον Πατρεῖς διέβησαν ἐς Αἰτωλίαν Ἀχαιῶν μόνοι κατὰ φιλίαν τὴν Αἰτωλῶν, τὸν πόλεμόν σφισι τὸν πρὸς Γαλάτας συνδιοίσοντες. προσπταίσαντες δ᾽ ἐν ταῖς μάχαις λόγου μειζόνως καὶ ὑπὸ πενίας ἅμα οἱ πολλοὶ πιεζόμενοι Πάτρας μὲν πλὴν ὀλίγων τινῶν ἐκλείπουσιν: οἱ δὲ ἄλλοι κατὰ χώραν ὑπὸ φιλεργίας ἐσκεδάσθησαν καὶ πολίσματα παρὲξ αὐτὰς Πάτρας τοσάδε ἄλλα ᾤκησαν, Μεσάτιν καὶ Ἄνθειαν καὶ Βολίνην καὶ Ἀργυρᾶν τε καὶ Ἄρβαν.

  [18.6] Such was the genealogy of Patreus. In course of time the people of Patrae on their own account crossed into Aetolia; they did this out of friendship for the Aetolians, to help them in their war with the Gauls, and no other Achaeans joined them. But suffering unspeakable disasters in the fighting, and most of them being also crushed by poverty, all with the exception of a few left Patrae, and scattered, owing to their love of agriculture, up and down the country, dwelling in, besides Patrae, the following towns: Mesatis, Antheia, Bolina, Argyra and Arba.

  [7] Αὔγουστος δὲ ἢ τοῦ παράπλου νομίζων κεῖσθαι καλῶς τὰς Πάτρας ἢ κατ᾽ ἄλλην τινὰ αἰτίαν ἐπανήγαγεν αὖθις ἐκ τῶν πολισμάτων τῶν ἄλλων τοὺς ἄνδρας ἐς τὰς Πάτρας, προσσυνῴκισε δέ σφισι καὶ Ἀχαιοὺς τοὺς ἐκ Ῥυπῶν, καταβαλὼν ἐς ἔδαφος Ῥύπας: καὶ ἔδωκε μὲν ἐλευθέροις Ἀχαιῶν μόνοις τοῖς Πατρεῦσιν εἶναι, ἔδωκε δὲ καὶ ἐς τὰ ἄλλα γέρα σφίσιν, ὁπόσα τοῖς ἀποίκοις νέμειν οἱ Ῥωμαῖοι νομίζουσι.

  [18.7] But Augustus, for some reason, perhaps because he thought that Patrae was a convenient port of call, brought back again to Patrae the men from the other towns, and united with them the Achaeans also from Rhypes, which town he razed to the ground. He granted freedom to the Patraeans, and to no other Achaeans; and he granted also all the other privileges that the Romans are accustomed to bestow on their colonists.

  PATRAE

  [8] Πατρεῦσι δὲ ἐν ἄκρᾳ τῇ πόλει Λαφρίας ἱερόν ἐστιν Ἀρτέμιδος: ξενικὸν μὲν τῇ θεῷ τὸ ὄνομα, ἐσηγμένον δὲ ἑτέρωθεν καὶ τὸ ἄγαλμα. Καλυδῶνος γὰρ καὶ Αἰτωλίας τῆς ἄλλης ὑπὸ Αὐγούστου βασιλέως ἐρημωθείσης διὰ τὸ τὴν ἐς τὴν Νικόπολιν τὴν ὑπὲρ τοῦ Ἀκτίου συνοικίζεσθαι καὶ τὸ Αἰτωλικόν, οὕτω τὸ ἄγαλμα τῆς Λαφρίας οἱ Πατρεῖς ἔσχον.

  [18.8] On the acropolis of Patrae is a sanctuary of Artemis Laphria. The surname of the goddess is a foreign one, and her image too was brought in from elsewhere. For after Calydon with the rest of Aetolia had been laid waste by the Emperor Augustus in order that the Aetolian people might be incorporated into Nicopolis above Actium, the people of Patrae thus secured the image of Laphria.

  CULT OF ARTEMIS LAPHRIA

  [9] ὡσαύτως δὲ καὶ ὅσα ἄλλα ἀγάλματα ἔκ τε Αἰτωλίας καὶ παρὰ Ἀκαρνάνων, τὰ μὲν πολλὰ ἐς τὴν Νικόπολιν κομισθῆναι, Πατρεῦσι δὲ ὁ Αὔγουστος ἄλλα τε τῶν ἐκ Καλυδῶνος λαφύρων καὶ δὴ καὶ τῆς Λαφρίας ἔδωκε τὸ ἄγαλμα, ὃ δὴ καὶ ἐς ἐμὲ ἔτι ἐν τῇ ἀκροπόλει τῇ Πατρέων εἶχε τιμάς. γενέσθαι δὲ ἐπίκλησιν τῇ θεῷ Λαφρίαν ἀπὸ ἀνδρὸς Φωκέως φασί: Λάφριον γὰρ τὸν Κασταλίου τοῦ Δελφοῦ Καλυδωνίοις ἱδρύσασθαι τὸ ἄγαλμα τῆς Ἀρτέμιδος τὸ ἀρχαῖον, οἱ δὲ τῆς Ἀρτέμιδος τὸ μήνιμα τὸ

  [18.9] Most of the images out of Aetolia and from Acarnania were brought by Augustus’ orders to Nicopolis, but to Patrae he gave, with other spoils from Calydon, the image of Laphria, which even in my time was still worshipped on the acropolis of Patrae. It is said that the goddess was surnamed Laphria after a man of Phocis, because the ancient image of Artemis was set up at Calydon by Laphrius, the son of Castalius, the son of Delphus.

  [10] ἐς Οἰνέα ἀνὰ χρόνον τοῖς Καλυδωνίοις ἐλαφρότερον γενέσθαι λέγουσι καὶ αἰτίαν τῇ θεῷ τῆς ἐπικλήσεως ἐθέλουσιν εἶναι ταύτην. τὸ μὲν σχῆμα τοῦ ἀγάλματος θηρεύουσά ἐστιν, ἐλέφαντος δὲ καὶ χρυσοῦ πεποίηται, Ναυπάκτιοι δὲ Μέναιχμος καὶ Σοΐδας εἰργάσαντο:τεκμαίρονται σφᾶς Κανάχου τοῦ Σικυωνίου καὶ τοῦ Αἰγινήτου Κάλλωνος οὐ πολλῷ γενέσθαι τινὶ ἡλικίαν ὑστέρους.

  [18.10] Others say that the wrath of Artemis against Oeneus weighed as time went on more lightly (elaphroteron) on the Calydonians, and they believe that this was why the goddess received her surname. The image represents her in the guise of a huntress; it is made of ivory and gold, and the artists were Menaechmus and Soldas of Naupactus, who, it is inferred, lived not much later than Canachus of Sicyon and Callon of Aegina.

  [11] ἄγουσι δὲ καὶ Λάφρια ἑορτὴν τῇ Ἀρτέμιδι οἱ Πατρεῖς ἀνὰ πᾶν ἔτος, ἐν ᾗ τρόπος ἐπιχώριος θυσίας ἐστὶν αὐτοῖς. περὶ μὲν τὸν βωμὸν ἐν κύκλῳ ξύλα ἱστᾶσιν ἔτι χλωρὰ καὶ ἐς ἑκκαίδεκα ἕκαστον πήχεις: ἐντὸς δὲ ἐπὶ τοῦ βωμοῦ τὰ αὐότατά σφισι τῶν ξύλων κεῖται. μηχανῶνται δὲ ὑπὸ τὸν καιρὸν τῆς ἑορτῆς καὶ ἄνοδον ἐπὶ τὸν βωμὸν λειοτέραν, ἐπιφέροντες γῆν ἐπὶ τοῦ βωμοῦ τοὺς ἀναβασμούς.

  [18.11] Every year too the people of Patrae celebrate the festival Laphria in honor of their Artemis, and at it they employ a method of sacrifice peculiar to the place. Round the altar in a circle they set up logs of wood still green, each of them sixteen cubits long. On the altar within the circle is placed the driest of their wood. Just before the time of the festival they construct a smooth ascent to the altar, piling earth upon the altar steps.

  [12] πρῶτα μὲν δὴ πομπὴν μεγαλοπρεπεστάτην τῇ Ἀρτέμιδι πομπεύουσι, καὶ ἡ ἱερωμένη παρθένος ὀχεῖται τελευταία τῆς πομπῆς ἐπὶ ἐλάφων ὑπὸ τὸ ἅρμα ἐζευγμένων: ἐς δὲ τὴν ἐπιοῦσαν τηνικαῦτα ἤδη δρᾶν τὰ ἐς τὴν θυσίαν νομίζουσι, δημοσίᾳ τε ἡ πόλις καὶ οὐχ ἧσσον ἐς τὴν ἑορτὴν οἱ ἰδιῶται φιλοτίμως ἔχουσιν. ἐσβάλλουσι γὰρ ζῶντας ἐς τὸν βωμὸν ὄρνιθάς τε τοὺς ἐδωδίμους καὶ ἱερεῖα ὁμοίως
ἅπαντα, ἔτι δὲ ὗς ἀγρίους καὶ ἐλάφους τε καὶ δορκάδας, οἱ δὲ καὶ λύκων καὶ ἄρκτων σκύμνους, οἱ δὲ καὶ τὰ τέλεια τῶν θηρίων: κατατιθέασι δὲ ἐπὶ τὸν βωμὸν καὶ δένδρων καρπὸν τῶν ἡμέρων.

  [18.12] The festival begins with a most splendid procession in honor of Artemis, and the maiden officiating as priestess rides last in the procession upon a car yoked to deer. It is, however, not till the next day that the sacrifice is offered, and the festival is not only a state function but also quite a popular general holiday. For the people throw alive upon the altar edible birds and every kind of victim as well; there are wild boars, deer and gazelles; some bring wolf-cubs or bear-cubs, others the full-grown beasts. They also place upon the altar fruit of cultivated trees.

  [13] τὸ δὲ ἀπὸ τούτου πῦρ ἐνιᾶσιν ἐς τὰ ξύλα. ἐνταῦθά που καὶ ἄρκτον καὶ ἄλλο τι ἐθεασάμην τῶν ζῴων, τὰ μὲν ὑπὸ τὴν πρώτην ὁρμὴν τοῦ πυρὸς βιαζόμενα ἐς τὸ ἐκτός, τὰ δὲ καὶ ἐκφεύγοντα ὑπὸ ἰσχύος: ταῦτα οἱ ἐμβαλόντες ἐπανάγουσιν αὖθις ἐς τὴν πυράν. τρωθῆναι δὲ οὐδένα ὑπὸ τῶν θηρίων μνημονεύουσιν.

  [18.13] Next they set fire to the wood. At this point I have seen some of the beasts, including a bear, forcing their way outside at the first rush of the flames, some of them actually escaping by their strength. But those who threw them in drag them back again to the pyre. It is not remembered that anybody has ever been wounded by the beasts.

  CULT OF ARTEMIS TRICLARIA

  19. ἔστι δὲ ἐν τῷ μεταξὺ τοῦ ναοῦ τε τῆς Λαφρίας καὶ τοῦ βωμοῦ πεποιημένον μνῆμα Εὐρυπύλου. τὰ δὲ ὅστις τε ὢν καὶ καθ᾽ ἥντινα αἰτίαν ἀφίκετο ἐς τὴν γῆν ταύτην, δηλώσει μοι καὶ ταῦτα ὁ λόγος προδιηγησαμένῳ πρότερον ὁποῖα ὑπὸ τοῦ Εὐρυπύλου τὴν ἐπιδημίαν τοῖς ἐνταῦθα ἦν τὰ παρόντα τοῖς ἀνθρώποις. Ἰώνων τοῖς Ἀρόην καὶ Ἄνθειαν καὶ Μεσάτιν οἰκοῦσιν ἦν ἐν κοινῷ τέμενος καὶ ναὸς Ἀρτέμιδος Τρικλαρίας ἐπίκλησιν, καὶ ἑορτὴν οἱ Ἴωνες αὐτῇ καὶ παννυχίδα ἦγον ἀνὰ πᾶν ἔτος. ἱερωσύνην δὲ εἶχε τῆς θεοῦ παρθένος, ἐς ὃ ἀποστέλλεσθαι παρὰ ἄνδρα ἔμελλε.

  [19.1] XIX. Between the temple of Laphria and the altar stands the tomb of Eurypylus. Who he was and for what reason he came to this land I shall set forth presently; but I must first describe what the condition of affairs was at his arrival. The Ionians who lived in Aroe, Antheia and Mesatis had in common a precinct and a temple of Artemis surnamed Triclaria, and in her honor the Ionians used to celebrate every year a festival and an all-night vigil. The priesthood of the goddess was held by a maiden until the time came for her to be sent to a husband.

  [2] λέγουσιν οὖν συμβῆναί ποτε ὡς ἱερᾶσθαι μὲν τῆς θεοῦ Κομαιθὼ τὸ εἶδος καλλίστην παρθένον, τυγχάνειν δὲ αὐτῆς ἐρῶντα Μελάνιππον, τά τε ἄλλα τοὺς ἡλικιώτας καὶ ὄψεως εὐπρεπείᾳ μάλιστα ὑπερηρκότα. ὡς δὲ ὁ Μελάνιππος ἐς τὸ ἴσον τοῦ ἔρωτος ὑπηγάγετο τὴν παρθένον, ἐμνᾶτο αὐτὴν παρὰ τοῦ πατρός. ἕπεται δέ πως τῷ γήρᾳ τά τε ἄλλα ὡς τὸ πολὺ ἐναντιοῦσθαι νέοις καὶ οὐχ ἥκιστα ἐς τοὺς ἐρῶντας τὸ ἀνάλγητον, ὅπου καὶ Μελανίππῳ τότε ἐθέλοντι ἐθέλουσαν ἄγεσθαι Κομαιθὼ οὔτε παρὰ τῶν ἑαυτοῦ γονέων οὔτε παρὰ τῶν Κομαιθοῦς ἥμερον ἀπήντησεν οὐδέν.

  [19.2] Now the story is that once upon a time it happened that the priestess of the goddess was Comaetho, a most beautiful maiden, who had a lover called Melanippus, who was far better and handsomer than his fellows. When Melanippus had won the love of the maiden, he asked the father for his daughter’s hand. It is somehow a characteristic of old age to oppose the young in most things, and especially is it insensible to the desires of lovers. So Melanippus found it; although both he and Comaetho were eager to wed, he met with nothing but harshness from both his own parents and from those of his lover.

  [3] ἐπέδειξε δὲ ἐπὶ πολλῶν τε δὴ ἄλλων καὶ ἐν τοῖς Μελανίππου παθήμασιν, ὡς μέτεστιν ἔρωτι καὶ ἀνθρώπων συγχέαι νόμιμα καὶ ἀνατρέψαι θεῶν τιμάς, ὅπου καὶ τότε ἐν τῷ τῆς Ἀρτέμιδος ἱερῷ Κομαιθὼ καὶ Μελάνιππος καὶ ἐξέπλησαν τοῦ ἔρωτος τὴν ὁρμήν. καὶ οἱ μὲν ἔμελλον τῷ ἱερῷ καὶ ἐς τὸ ἔπειτα ἴσα καὶ θαλάμῳ χρήσεσθαι: τοὺς δὲ ἀνθρώπους αὐτίκα ἐξ Ἀρτέμιδος μήνιμα ἔφθειρε, τῆς τε γῆς καρπὸν οὐδένα ἀποδιδούσης καὶ νόσοι σφίσιν οὐ κατὰ τὰ εἰωθότα καὶ ἀπ᾽ αὐτῶν θάνατοι πλείονες ἢ τὰ πρότερα ἐγίνοντο.

  [19.3] The history of Melanippus, like that of many others, proved that love is apt both to break the laws of men and to desecrate the worship of the gods, seeing that this pair had their fill of the passion of love in the sanctuary of Artemis. And hereafter also were they to use the sanctuary as a bridal-chamber. Forthwith the wrath of Artemis began to destroy the inhabitants; the earth yielded no harvest, and strange diseases occurred of an unusually fatal character.

  [4] καταφυγόντων δὲ αὐτῶν ἐπὶ χρηστήριον τὸ ἐν Δελφοῖς, ἤλεγχεν ἡ Πυθία Μελάνιππον καὶ Κομαιθώ: καὶ ἐκείνους τε αὐτοὺς μάντευμα ἀφίκετο θῦσαι τῇ Ἀρτέμιδι καὶ ἀνὰ πᾶν ἔτος παρθένον καὶ παῖδα οἳ τὸ εἶδος εἶεν κάλλιστοι τῇ θεῷ θύειν. ταύτης μὲν δὴ τῆς θυσίας ἕνεκα ὁ ποταμὸς ὁ πρὸς τῷ ἱερῷ τῆς Τρικλαρίας Ἀμείλιχος ἐκλήθη:

  [19.4] When they appealed to the oracle at Delphi the Pythian priestess accused Melanippus and Comaetho. The oracle ordered that they themselves should be sacrificed to Artemis, and that every year a sacrifice should be made to the goddess of the fairest youth and the fairest maiden. Because of this sacrifice the river flowing by the sanctuary of Triclaria was called Ameilichus (relentless). Previously the river had no name.

  [5] τέως δὲ ὄνομα εἶχεν οὐδέν. παίδων δὲ καὶ παρθένων ὁπόσοι μὲν ἐς τὴν θεὸν οὐδὲν εἰργασμένοι Μελανίππου καὶ Κομαιθοῦς ἕνεκα ἀπώλλυντο, αὐτοί τε οἰκτρότατα καὶ οἱ προσήκοντές σφισιν ἔπασχον, Μελάνιππον δὲ καὶ Κομαιθὼ συμφορᾶς ἐκτὸς γενέσθαι τίθεμαι: μόνον γὰρ δὴ ἀνθρώπῳ ψυχῆς ἐστιν ἀντάξιον κατορθῶσαί τινα ἐρασθέντα.

  [19.5] The innocent youths and maidens who perished because of Melanippus and Comaetho suffered a piteous fate, as did also their relatives; but the pair, I hold, were exempt from suffering, for the one thing that is worth a man’s life is to be successful in love.

  [6] παύσασθαι δὲ οὕτω λέγονται θύοντες τῇ Ἀρτέμιδι ἀνθρώπους. ἐκέχρητο δὲ αὐτοῖς πρό
τερον ἔτι ἐκ Δελφῶν ὡς βασιλεὺς ξένος παραγενόμενός σφισιν ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν, ξενικὸν ἅμα ἀγόμενος δαίμονα, τὰ ἐς τὴν θυσίαν τῆς Τρικλαρίας παύσει. Ἰλίου δὲ ἁλούσης καὶ νεμομένων τὰ λάφυρα τῶν Ἑλλήνων, Εὐρύπυλος ὁ Εὐαίμονος λαμβάνει λάρνακα: Διονύσου δὲ ἄγαλμα ἦν ἐν τῇ λάρνακι, ἔργον μὲν ὥς φασιν Ἡφαίστου, δῶρον δὲ ὑπὸ Διὸς ἐδόθηΔαρδάνῳ.

  [19.6] The sacrifice to Artemis of human beings is said to have ceased in this way. An oracle had been given from Delphi to the Patraeans even before this, to the effect that a strange king would come to the land, bringing with him a strange divinity, and this king would put an end to the sacrifice to Triclaria. When Troy was captured, and the Greeks divided the spoils, Eurypylus the son of Euaemon got a chest. In it was an image of Dionysus, the work, so they say, of Hephaestus, and given as a gift by Zeus to Dardanus.

  [7] λέγονται δὲ καὶ ἄλλοι λόγοι δύο ἐς αὐτήν, ὡς ὅτε ἔφυγεν Αἰνείας, ἀπολίποι ταύτην τὴν λάρνακα: οἱ δὲ ῥιφῆναί φασιν αὐτὴν ὑπὸ Κασσάνδρας συμφορὰν τῷ εὑρόντι Ἑλλήνων. ἤνοιξε δ᾽ οὖν ὁ Εὐρύπυλος τὴν λάρνακα καὶ εἶδε τὸ ἄγαλμα καὶ αὐτίκα ἦν ἔκφρων μετὰ τὴν θέαν: τὰ μὲν δὴ πλείονα ἐμαίνετο, ὀλιγάκις δὲ ἐγίνετο ἐν ἑαυτῷ. ἅτε δὲ οὕτω διακείμενος οὐκ ἐς τὴν Θεσσαλίαν τὸν πλοῦν ἐποιεῖτο, ἀλλ᾽ ἐπί τε Κίρραν καὶ ἐς τὸν ταύτῃ κόλπον: ἀναβὰς δὲ ἐς Δελφοὺς ἐχρᾶτο ὑπὲρ τῆς νόσου.