Delphi Complete Works of Pausanias

by Pausanias

  [24.13] A similar fate, though different in type, came upon a city on Mount Sipylus, so that it vanished into a chasm. The mountain split, water welled up from the fissure, and the chasm became a lake called Saloe. The ruins of the city were to be seen in the lake, until the water of the torrent hid them from view. The ruins of Helice too are visible, but not so plainly now as they were once, because they are corroded by the salt water.

  25. τὸ δὲ τοῦ Ἱκεσίου μήνιμα πάρεστι μὲν τοῖς ἐς τὴν Ἑλίκην, πάρεστι δὲ καὶ ἄλλοις διδαχθῆναι πολλοῖς ὡς ἔστιν ἀπαραίτητον: φαίνεται δὲ καὶ ὁ θεὸς παραινῶν ὁ ἐν Δωδώνῃ νέμειν ἐς ἱκέτας αἰδῶ. Ἀθηναίοις γὰρ ἐπὶ ἡλικίας μάλιστα τῆς Ἀφείδαντος ἀφίκετο παρὰ τοῦ ἐν Δωδώνῃ Διὸς τὰ ἔπη τάδε: “φράζεο δ᾽ Ἄρειόν τε πάγον βωμούς τε θυώδεις

  Εὐμενίδων, ὅθι χρὴ Λακεδαιμονίους σ᾽ ἱκετεῦσαι

  δουρὶ πιεζομένους. τοὺς μὴ σὺ κτεῖνε σιδήρῳ,

  μηδ᾽ ἱκέτας ἀδικεῖν: ἱκέται δ᾽ ἱεροί τε καὶ ἁγνοί.

  “

  [25.1] XXV. The disaster that befell Helice is but one of the many proofs that the wrath of the God of Suppliants is inexorable. The god at Dodona too manifestly advises us to respect suppliants. For about the time of Apheidas the Athenians received from Zeus of Dodona the following verses:–

  Consider the Areopagus, and the smoking altars

  Of the Eumenides, where the Lacedaemonians are to be thy suppliants,

  When hard-pressed in war. Kill them not with the sword,

  And wrong not suppliants. For suppliants are sacred and holy.

  [2] ταῦτα Ἕλλησιν ἦλθεν ἐς μνήμην, ὅτε ἀφίκοντο ἐπὶ Ἀθήνας Πελοποννήσιοι, τότε Κόδρου τοῖς Ἀθηναίοις τοῦ Μελάνθου βασιλεύοντος. ὁ μὲν δὴ ἄλλος στρατὸς τῶν Πελοποννησίων ἀπεχώρησεν ἐκ τῆς Ἀττικῆς, ἐπειδὴ ἐπύθοντο τοῦ Κόδρου τὴν τελευτὴν καὶ ὅντινα ἐγένετο αὐτῷ τρόπον: οὐ γὰρ εἶναι νίκην ἔτι σφίσι κατὰ τὸ ἐκ Δελφῶν μάντευμα ἤλπιζον: Λακεδαιμονίων δὲ ἄνδρες γενόμενοι μὲν ἐντὸς τείχους λανθάνουσιν ἐν τῇ νυκτί, ἅμα δὲ ἡμέρᾳ τούς τε ἑαυτῶν ἀπεληλυθότας αἰσθάνονται καὶ ἀθροιζομένων ἐπ᾽ αὐτοὺς τῶν Ἀθηναίων καταφεύγουσιν ἐς τὸν Ἄρειον πάγον καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν θεῶν αἳ Σεμναὶ καλοῦνται τοὺς βωμούς.

  [25.2] The Greeks were reminded of these words when Peloponnesians arrived at Athens at the time when the Athenian king was Codrus, the son of Melanthus. Now the rest of the Peloponnesian army, on learning of the death of Codrus and of the manner of it, departed from Attica, the oracle from Delphi making them despair of success in the future; but certain Lacedaemonians, who got unnoticed within the walls in the night, perceived at daybreak that their friends had gone, and when the Athenians gathered against them, they took refuge in the Areopagus at the altars of the goddesses called August.

  [3] Ἀθηναῖοι δὲ τότε μὲν διδόασι τοῖς ἱκέταις ἀπελθεῖν ἀζημίοις, χρόνῳ δὲ ὕστερον αὐτοὶ οἱ ἔχοντες τὰς ἀρχὰς διέφθειραν τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς ἱκέτας τῶν Κύλωνι ὁμοῦ τὴν ἀκρόπολιν κατειληφότων: καὶ αὐτοί τε οἱ ἀποκτείναντες ἐνομίσθησαν καὶ οἱ ἐξ ἐκείνων ἐναγεῖς τῆς θεοῦ. Λακεδαιμονίοις δέ, ἀποκτείνασι καὶ τούτοις ἄνδρας ἐς τὸ ἱερὸν καταπεφευγότας τὸ ἐπὶ Ταινάρῳ τοῦ Ποσειδῶνος, οὐ μετὰ πολὺ ἐσείσθη σφίσιν ἡ πόλις συνεχεῖ τε ὁμοῦ καὶ ἰσχυρῷ τῷ σεισμῷ, ὥστε οἰκίαν μηδεμίαν τῶν ἐν Λακεδαίμονι ἀντισχεῖν.

  [25.3] On this occasion the Athenians allowed the suppliants to go away unharmed, but subsequently the magistrates themselves put to death the suppliants of Athena, when Cylon and his supporters had seized the Acropolis. So the slayers themselves and also their descendants were regarded as accursed to the goddess. The Lacedaemonians too put to death men who had taken refuge in the sanctuary of Poseidon at Taenarum. Presently their city was shaken by an earthquake so continuous and violent that no house in Lacedaemon could resist it.

  [4] ἐγένετο δὲ τῆς Ἑλίκης ἀπώλεια Ἀστείου μὲν Ἀθήνῃσιν ἔτι ἄρχοντος, τετάρτῳ δὲ ἔτει τῆς πρώτης Ὀλυμπιάδος ἐπὶ ταῖς ἑκατόν, ἣν Δάμων Θούριος ἐνίκα τὸ πρῶτον. Ἑλικαέων δὲ οὐκέτι ὄντων νέμονται τὴν χώραν οἱ Αἰγιεῖς.

  [25.4] The destruction of Helice occurred while Asteius was still archon at Athens, in the fourth year of the hundred and first Olympiad, whereat Damon of Thurii was victorious for the first time. As none of the people of Helice were left alive, the land is occupied by the people of Aegium.

  CERYNEIA

  [5] μετὰ δὲ Ἑλίκην ἀποτραπήσῃ τε ἀπὸ θαλάσσης ἐς δεξιὰν καὶ ἥξεις ἐς πόλισμα Κερύνειαν: ᾤκισται δὲ ὑπὲρ τὴν λεωφόρον ἐν ὄρει, καί οἱ τὸ ὄνομα ἢ δυνάστης ἐπιχώριος ἢ ὁ Κερυνίτης ποταμὸς πεποίηκεν, ὃς ἐξ Ἀρκαδίας καὶ ὄρους Κερυνείας ῥέων Ἀχαιοὺς τοὺς ταύτῃ παρέξεισι. παρὰ τούτους σύνοικοι Μυκηναῖοι κατὰ συμφορὰν ἀφίκοντο ἐκ τῆς Ἀργολίδος. Μυκηναίοις μὲν γὰρ τὸ μὲν τεῖχος ἁλῶναι κατὰ τὸ ἰσχυρὸν οὐκ ἐδύνατο ὑπὸ Ἀργείων, ἐτετείχιστο γὰρ κατὰ ταὐτὰ

  [25.5] After Helice you will turn from the sea to the right and you will come to the town of Ceryneia. It is built on a mountain above the high road, and its name was given to it either by a native potentate or by the river Cerynites, which, flowing from Arcadia and Mount Ceryneia, passes through this part of Achaia. To this part came as settlers Mycenaeans from Argolis because of a catastrophe. Though the Argives could not take the wall of Mycenae by storm,

  [6] τῷ ἐν Τίρυνθι ὑπὸ τῶν Κυκλώπων καλουμένων, κατὰ ἀνάγκην δὲ ἐκλείπουσι Μυκηναῖοι τὴν πόλιν ἐπιλειπόντων σφᾶς τῶν σιτίων, καὶ ἄλλοι μέν τινες ἐς Κλεωνὰς ἀποχωροῦσιν ἐξ αὐτῶν, τοῦ δήμου δὲ πλέον μὲν ἥμισυ ἐς Μακεδονίαν καταφεύγουσι παρὰ Ἀλέξανδρον, ᾧ Μαρδόνιος ὁ Γωβρύου τὴν ἀγγελίαν ἐπίστευσεν ἐς Ἀθηναίους ἀπαγγεῖλαι: ὁ δὲ ἄλλος δῆμος ἀφίκοντο ἐς τὴν Κερύνειαν, καὶ δυνατωτέρα τε ἡ Κερύνεια οἰκητόρων πλήθει καὶ ἐς τὸ ἔπειτα ἐγένετο ἐπιφανεστέρα διὰ τὴν συνοίκησιν τῶν Μυκηναίων.

  [25.6] built as it was like the wall of Tiryns by the Cyclopes, as they are called, yet the Mycenaeans were forced to leave their city through lack of provisions. Some of them departed for Cleonae, but more than half of the population took refuge with Alexander in Macedonia, to whom Mardonius, the son of Gobryas, entrusted the message to be given to the Athenians. The rest of the population came to Ceryneia, and the addi
tion of the Mycenaeans made Ceryneia more powerful, through the increase of the population, and more renowned for the future.

  [7] ἐν Κερυνείᾳ δὲ ἱερόν ἐστιν Εὐμενίδων: ἱδρύσασθαι δὲ αὐτὸ Ὀρέστην λέγουσιν. ὃς δ᾽ ἂν ἐνταῦθα ἢ αἵματι ἢ ἄλλῳ τῳ μιάσματι ἔνοχος ἢ καὶ ἀσεβὴς ἐσέλθῃ θέλων θεάσασθαι, αὐτίκα λέγεται δείμασιν ἐκτὸς τῶν φρενῶν γίνεσθαι: καὶ τοῦδε ἕνεκα οὐ τοῖς πᾶσιν ἡ ἔσοδος οὐδὲ ἐξ ἐπιδρομῆς ἐστι. τοῖς μὲν δὴ ἀγάλμασι ξύλων εἰργασμένοις * * * μέγεθός εἰσιν οὐ μεγάλοι, κατὰ δὲ τὴν ἔσοδον ἐς τὸ ἱερὸν γυναικῶν εἰκόνες λίθου τέ εἰσιν εἰργασμέναι καὶ ἔχουσαι τέχνης εὖ: ἐλέγοντο δὲ ὑπὸ τῶν ἐπιχωρίων ἱέρειαι ταῖς Εὐμενίσιν αἱ γυναῖκες γενέσθαι.

  [25.7] In Ceryneia is a sanctuary of the Eumenides, which they say was established by Orestes. Whosoever enters with the desire to see the sights, if he be guilty of bloodshed, defilement or impiety, is said at once to become insane with fright, and for this reason the right to enter is not given to all and sundry. The images made of wood . . . they are not very large in size, and at the entrance to the sanctuary are statues of women, made of stone and of artistic workmanship. The natives said that the women are portraits of the former priestesses of the Eumenides.

  BURA

  [8] ἐκ Κερυνείας δὲ ἐπανελθόντι ἐς τὴν λεωφόρον καὶ ὁδεύσαντι οὐκ ἐπὶ πολὺ δεύτερα ἔστιν ἐς Βοῦραν ἀποτραπέσθαι: θαλάσσης δὲ ἐν δεξιᾷ καὶ ἡ Βοῦρα ἐν ὄρει κεῖται. τεθῆναι δέ φασι τῇ πόλει τὸ ὄνομα ἀπὸ γυναικὸς Βούρας, θυγατέρα δ᾽ αὐτὴν Ἴωνος τοῦ Ξούθου καὶ Ἑλίκης εἶναι. ὅτε δὲ Ἑλίκην ἐποίησεν ἄδηλον ἐξ ἀνθρώπων ὁ θεός, τότε καὶ τὴν Βοῦραν σεισμὸς ἐπέλαβεν ἰσχυρός, ὡς μηδὲ τὰ ἀγάλματα ἐν τοῖς ἱεροῖς ὑπολειφθῆναι τὰ ἀρχαῖα.

  [25.8] On returning from Ceryneia to the high road, if you go along it for a short distance you may turn aside again to Bura, which is situated on a mountain to the right of the sea. It is said that the name was given to the city from a woman called Bura, who was the daughter of Ion, son of Xuthus, and of Helice. When the god wiped off Helice from the face of the earth, Bura too suffered a severe earthquake, so that not even the ancient images were left in the sanctuaries.

  [9] ὁπόσοι δὲ τηνικαῦτα ἀποδημοῦντες ἢ στρατείας ἕνεκα ἔτυχον ἢ κατὰ πρόφασιν ἀλλοίαν, μόνοι τε οὗτοι Βουρέων ἐλείφθησαν καὶ αὐτοὶ τῆς Βούρας ἐγένοντο οἰκισταί. ναὸς ἐνταῦθα Δήμητρος, ὁ δὲ Ἀφροδίτης Διονύσου τέ ἐστι, καὶ ἄλλος Εἰλειθυίας: λίθου τοῦ Πεντελησίου τὰ ἀγάλματα, Ἀθηναίου δὲ ἔργα Εὐκλείδου: καὶ τῇ Δήμητρί ἐστιν ἐσθής. πεποίηται δὲ καὶ Ἴσιδι ἱερόν.

  [25.9] The only Burians to survive were those who chanced to be absent at the time, either on active service or for some other reason, and these became the second founders of Bura. There is a temple here of Demeter, one of Aphrodite and Dionysus, and a third of Eileithyia. The images are of Pentelic marble, and were made by Eucleides of Athens. There is drapery for Demeter. Isis too has a sanctuary.

  [10] καταβάντων δὲ ἐκ Βούρας ὡς ἐπὶ θάλασσαν ποταμός τε Βουραϊκὸς ὀνομαζόμενος καὶ Ἡρακλῆς οὐ μέγας ἐστὶν ἐν σπηλαίῳ: ἐπίκλησις μὲν καὶ τούτου Βουραϊκός, μαντείας δὲ ἐπὶ πίνακί τε καὶ ἀστραγάλοις ἔστι λαβεῖν. εὔχεται μὲν γὰρ πρὸ τοῦ ἀγάλματος ὁ τῷ θεῷ χρώμενος, ἐπὶ δὲ τῇ εὐχῇ λαβὼν ἀστραγάλους — οἱ δὲ ἄφθονοι παρὰ τῷ Ἡρακλεῖ κεῖνται — τέσσαρας ἀφίησιν ἐπὶ τῆς τραπέζης: ἐπὶ δὲ παντὶ ἀστραγάλου σχήματι γεγραμμένα ἐν πίνακι ἐπίτηδες ἐξήγησιν ἔχει τοῦ σχήματος.

  [25.10] On descending from Bura towards the sea you come to a river called Buraicus, and to a small Heracles in a cave. He too is surnamed Buraicus, and here one can divine by means of a tablet and dice. He who inquires of the god offers up a prayer in front of the image, and after the prayer he takes four dice, a plentiful supply of which are placed by Heracles, and throws them upon the table. For every figure made by the dice there is an explanation expressly written on the tablet.

  AEGAE & THE RIVER CRATHIS

  [11] σταδίων ἐπὶ τὸν Ἡρακλέα ὡς τριάκοντα ἐξ Ἑλίκης ὁδὸς ἡ εὐθεῖά ἐστι. προελθόντι δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἡρακλέους ποταμὸς ἐς θάλασσαν ἐκδίδωσιν ἀέναος ἐξ ὄρους Ἀρκαδικοῦ κατερχόμενος, ὄνομα δὲ αὐτῷ τε καὶ τῷ ποταμῷ Κρᾶθις καὶ ἔνθα αἱ πηγαὶ τοῦ ποταμοῦ τῷ ὄρει: ἀπὸ ταύτης τῆς Κράθιδος καὶ πρὸς Κρότωνι τῇ ἐν Ἰταλίᾳ ποταμὸς ὄνομα ἔσχηκε.

  [25.11] The straight road from Helice to the Heracles is about thirty stades. Going on from the Heracles you come to the mouth of a river that descends from a mountain in Arcadia and never dries up. The river itself is called the Crathis, which is also the name of the mountain where the river has its source. From this Crathis the river too by Crotona in Italy has been named.

  [12] πρὸς δὲ τῇ Ἀχαϊκῇ Κράθιδι Ἀχαιῶν ποτε ᾠκεῖτο Αἰγαὶ πόλις: ἐκλειφθῆναι δὲ αὐτὴν ἀνὰ χρόνον ὑπὸ ἀσθενείας λέγουσι. τούτων δὲ καὶ Ὅμηρος τῶν Αἰγῶν ἐν Ἥρας λόγοις ἐποιήσατο μνήμην, “οἱ δέ τοι εἰς Ἑλίκην τε καὶ Αἰγὰς δῶρ᾽ ἀνάγουσι,

  “Hom. Il 8.203δῆλον ὡς γέρα τοῦ Ποσειδῶνος ἐπ᾽ ἴσης ἔν τε Ἑλίκῃ καὶ ἐν ταῖς Αἰγαῖς ἔχοντος.

  [25.12] By the Achaean Crathis once stood Aegae, a city of the Achaeans. In course of time, it is said, it was abandoned because its people were weak. This Aegae is mentioned by Homer in Hera’s speech:–

  They bring thee gifts up to Helice and to Aegae. Hom. Il. 8.203

  Hence it is plain that Poseidon was equally honored at Helice and at Aegae.

  [13] οὐ πολὺ δὲ ἀπωτέρω Κράθιδος σῆμά τε ἐν δεξιᾷ τῆς ὁδοῦ καὶ ἄνδρα εὑρήσεις ἐπὶ τῷ μνήματι ἵππῳ παρεστῶτα, ἀμυδρὰν γραφήν. ὁδὸς δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ τάφου σταδίων ὅσον τριάκοντα ἐπὶ τὸν καλούμενον Γαῖον: Γῆς δὲ ἱερόν ἐστιν ὁ Γαῖος ἐπίκλησιν Εὐρυστέρνου, ξόανον δὲ τοῖς μάλιστα ὁμοίως ἐστὶν ἀρχαῖον. γυνὴ δὲ ἡ ἀεὶ τὴν ἱερωσύνην λαμβάνουσα ἁγιστεύει μὲν τὸ ἀπὸ τούτου, οὐ μὴν οὐδὲ τὰ πρότερα ἔσται πλέον ἢ ἑνὸς ἀνδρὸς ἐς πεῖραν ἀφιγμένη. πίνουσαι δὲ αἷμα ταύρου δοκιμάζονται: ἣ δ᾽ ἂν αὐτῶν τύχῃ μὴ ἀληθεύουσα, αὐτίκα ἐκ τούτου τὴν δίκην ἔσχεν. ἢν δὲ ὑπὲρ τῆς ἱερωσύν�
�ς ἀφίκωνται γυναῖκες ἐς ἀμφισβήτησιν πλέονες, ἡ τῷ κλήρῳ λαχοῦσα προτετίμηται.

  [25.13] At no great distance from the Crathis you will find a tomb on the right of the road, and on the tombstone a man standing by the side of a horse; the colors of the painting have faded. From the grave it is a journey of about thirty stades to what is called the Gaeus, a sanctuary of Earth surnamed Broad-bosomed, whose wooden image is one of the very oldest. The woman who from time to time is priestess henceforth remains chaste, and before her election must not have had intercourse with more than one man. The test applied is drinking bull’s blood. Any woman who may chance not to speak the truth is immediately punished as a result of this test. If several women compete for the priesthood, lots are cast for the honor.

  AEGEIRA

  26. ἐς δὲ τὸ ἐπίνειον τὸ Αἰγειρατῶν — ὄνομα τὸ αὐτὸ ἥ τε πόλις καὶ τὸ ἐπίνειον ἔχει — , ἐς οὖν τὸ ἐπίνειον Αἰγειρατῶν δύο καὶ ἑβδομήκοντα ἀπὸ τοῦ κατὰ τὴν ὁδὸν τὴν Βουραϊκήν εἰσιν Ἡρακλέους στάδιοι. ἐπὶ θαλάσσῃ μὲν δὴ Αἰγειράταις οὐδέν ἐστιν ἐς μνήμην, ὁδὸς δὲ ἐκ τοῦ ἐπινείου δύο σταδίων καὶ δέκα ἐς τὴν ἄνω πόλιν.

  [26.1] XXVI. To the port of Aegeira, which has the same name as the city, it is seventy-two stades from the Heracles that stands on the road to Bura. The coast town of Aegeira presents nothing worth recording; from the port to the upper city is twelve stades.