by Pausanias
When men are judged by the touchstone of artistry.
[5] περὶ δὲ Ἀκταίωνος λεγόμενα ἦν Ὀρχομενίοις λυμαίνεσθαι τὴν γῆν πέτρας ἔχον εἴδωλον: ὡς δὲ ἐχρῶντο ἐν Δελφοῖς, κελεύει σφίσιν ὁ θεὸς ἀνευρόντας εἴ τι ἦν Ἀκταίωνος λοιπὸν κρύψαι γῇ, κελεύει δὲ καὶ τοῦ εἰδώλου χαλκῆν ποιησαμένους εἰκόνα πρὸς πέτρᾳ σιδήρῳ δῆσαι. τοῦτο καὶ αὐτὸς δεδεμένον τὸ ἄγαλμα εἶδον: καὶ τῷ Ἀκταίωνι ἐναγίζουσιν ἀνὰ πᾶν ἔτος.
[38.5] About Actaeon the Orchomenians had the following story. A ghost, they say, carrying a rock was ravaging the land. When they inquired at Delphi, the god bade them discover the remains of Actaeon and bury them in the earth. He also bade them make a bronze likeness of the ghost and fasten it to a rock with iron. I have myself seen this image thus fastened. They also sacrifice every year to Actaeon as to a hero.
NEAR ORCHOMENUS
[6] σταδίους δὲ ἀφέστηκεν ἑπτὰ Ὀρχομενοῦ ναός τε Ἡρακλέους καὶ ἄγαλμα οὐ μέγα. ἐνταῦθα τοῦ ποταμοῦ τοῦ Μέλανός εἰσιν αἱ πηγαί, καὶ ὁ Μέλας ἐς λίμνην καὶ οὗτος τὴν Κηφισίδα ἐκδίδωσιν. ἐπέχει μὲν δὴ καὶ ἄλλως τῆς Ὀρχομενίας τὸ πολὺ ἡ λίμνη, χειμῶνος δὲ ὥρᾳ νότου τὰ πλείω πνεύσαντος ἔπεισιν ἐπὶ πλέον τῆς χώρας τὸ ὕδωρ.
[38.6] Seven stades from Orchomenus is a temple of Heracles with a small image. Here is the source of the river Melas (black), one of the streams running into the Cephisian Lake. The lake at all times covers the greater part of the Orchomenian territory, but in the winter season, after the south-west wind has generally prevailed, the water spreads over a yet greater extent of the territory.
[7] Θηβαῖοι δὲ τὸν ποταμὸν τὸν Κηφισόν φασιν ὑπὸ Ἡρακλέους ἐς τὸ πεδίον ἀποστραφῆναι τὸ Ὀρχομένιον: τέως δὲ αὐτὸν ὑπὸ τὸ ὄρος ἐς θάλασσαν ἐξιέναι, πρὶν ἢ τὸν Ἡρακλέα τὸ χάσμα ἐμφράξαι τὸ διὰ τοῦ ὄρους. ἐπίσταται μὲν οὖν καὶ Ὅμηρος λίμνην ἄλλως τὴν Κηφισίδα οὖσαν καὶ οὐχ ὑπὸ Ἡρακλέους πεποιημένην, καὶ ἐπὶ τῷδε εἴρηκε”λίμνῃ κεκλιμένος Κηφισίδι:
“Hom. Il 5.709
[38.7] The Thebans declare that the river Cephisus was diverted into the Orchomenian plain by Heracles, and that for a time it passed under the mountain and entered the sea, until Heracles blocked up the chasm through the mountain. Now Homer too knows that the Cephisian Lake was a lake of itself, and not made by Heracles. Wherefore Homer says:–
Sloping towards the Cephisian Lake. Hom. Il. 5.709
[8] ἔχει δὲ οὐδὲ εἰκότα λόγον τοὺς Ὀρχομενίους μὴ καὶ τὸ χάσμα ἐξευρεῖν καὶ τοῦ Ἡρακλέους ἀναρρήξαντας τὸ ἔργον ἀποδοῦναι τὴν διέξοδον τῷ Κηφισῷ τὴν ἀρχαίαν, ἐπεὶ μηδὲ ἄχρι τῶν Τρωικῶν χρήμασιν ἀδυνάτως εἶχον. μαρτυρεῖ δέ μοι καὶ Ὄμηρος ἐν Ἀχιλλέως ἀποκρίσει πρὸς τοὺς παρὰ Ἀγαμέμνονος πρέσβεις:”οὐδ᾽ ὅσ᾽ ἐς Ὀρχομενὸν ποτινίσσεται,
“Hom. Il 9.381δῆλα δήπουθεν ὡς καὶ τότε προσιόντων τοῖς Ὀρχομενίοις χρημάτων πολλῶν.
[38.8] It is not likely either that the Orchomenians would not have discovered the chasm, and, breaking down the work put up by Heracles, have given back to the Gephisus its ancient passage, since right down to the Trojan war they were a wealthy people. There is evidence in my favour in the passage of Homer where Achilles replies to the envoys from Agamemnon:–
Not even the wealth that comes to Orchomenus, Hom. Il. 9.381
a line that clearly shows that even then the revenues coming to Orchomenus were large.
ASPLEDON
[9] Ἀσπληδόνα δὲ ἐκλιπεῖν τοὺς οἰκήτοράς φασιν ὕδατος σπανίζοντος: γενέσθαι δὲ τὸ ὄνομα ἀπὸ Ἀσπληδόνος τῇ πόλει, τοῦτον δὲ εἶναι νύμφης τε Μιδείας καὶ Ποσειδῶνος. ὁμολογεῖ δὲ καὶ ἔπη σφίσιν ἃ ἐποίησε Χερσίας, ἀνὴρ Ὀρχομένιος:”ἐκ δὲ Ποσειδάωνος ἀγακλειτῆς τε Μιδείης
Ἀσπληδὼν γένεθ᾽ υἱὸς ἀν᾽ εὐρύχορον πτολίεθρον.
“Chersias of Orchomenus, unknown location.
[38.9] They say that Aspledon was left by the inhabitants because of a shortage of water. They say also that the city got its name from Aspledon, who was a son of the nymph Mideia and Poseidon. Their view is confirmed by some verses composed by Chersias, a man of Orchomenus:–
To Poseidon and glorious Mideia was born Aspledon in the spacious city. Chersias of Orchomenus, unknown location.
[10] τοῦδε τοῦ Χερσίου τῶν ἐπῶν οὐδεμία ἦν ἔτι κατ᾽ ἐμὲ μνήμη, ἀλλὰ καὶ τάδε ἐπηγάγετο ὁ Κάλλιππος ἐς τὸν αὐτὸν λόγον τὸν ἔχοντα ἐς Ὀρχομενίους: τούτου δὲ τοῦ Χερσίου καὶ ἐπίγραμμα οἱ Ὀρχομένιοι τὸ ἐπὶ τῷ Ἡσιόδου τάφῳ μνημονεύουσιν.
[10] The poem of Chersias was no longer extant in my day, but these verses are quoted by Callippus in the same history of Orchomenus. The Orchomenians have a tradition that this Chersias wrote also the inscription on the grave of Hesiod.
LEBADEIA & THE ORACLE OF TROPHONIUS
39. τὰ μὲν δὴ πρὸς τῶν ὀρῶν Φωκεῖς ὑπεροικοῦσιν Ὀρχομενίων, ἐν δὲ τῷ πεδίῳ Λεβάδειά ἐστιν αὐτοῖς ὅμορος. αὕτη τὸ μὲν ἐξ ἀρχῆς ᾠκεῖτο ἐπὶ μετεώρου καὶ ὠνομάζετο Μίδεια ἀπὸ τῆς Ἀσπληδόνος μητρός: Λεβάδου δὲ ἐξ Ἀθηνῶν ἐς αὐτὴν ἀφικομένου κατέβησάν τε ἐς τὸ χθαμαλὸν οἱ ἄνθρωποι καὶ ἐκλήθη Λεβάδεια ἡ πόλις ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ. πατέρα δὲ τοῦ Λεβάδου, καὶ καθ᾽ ἥντινα αἰτίαν ἦλθεν, οὐκ ἴσασιν ἄλλο ἢ γυναῖκα εἶναι Λεβάδου Λαονίκην.
[39.1] XXXIX. On the side towards the mountains the boundary of Orchomenus is Phocis, but on the plain it is Lebadeia. Originally this city stood on high ground, and was called Mideia after the mother of Aspledon. But when Lebadus came to it from Athens, the inhabitants went down to the low ground, and the city was named Lebadeia after him. Who was the father of Lebadus, and why he came, they do not know; they know only that the wife of Lebadus was Laonice.
[2] κεκόσμηται μὲν δὴ τὰ ἄλλα σφίσιν ἡ πόλις ὁμοίως τοῖς Ἑλλήνων μάλιστα εὐδαίμοσι, διείργει δὲ ἀπ᾽ αὐτῆς τὸ ἄλσος τοῦ Τροφωνίου ποταμὸς Ἕρκυνα. φασὶ δ᾽ ἐνταῦθα Ἕρκυναν ὁμοῦ Κόρῃ τῇ Δήμητρος παίζουσαν καὶ ἔχουσαν χῆνα ἀφεῖναι τοῦτον ἄκουσαν: ἐς δὲ ἄντρον κοῖλον ἐσπτάντος καὶ ὑπὸ λίθον ἀποκρύψαντος αὑτὸν ἐσελθοῦσα ἡ Κόρη λαμβάνει τὸν ὄρνιθα ὑπὸ τῷ λίθῳ κατακείμενον: ῥυῆναί τε δὴ τὸ ὕδωρ ὅθεν ἀνείλετο ἡ Κόρη τὸν λίθ
ον καὶ ὀνομασθῆναι τὸν ποταμὸν ἐπὶ τούτῳ λέγουσιν Ἕρκυναν.
[39.2] The city is no less adorned than the most prosperous of the Greek cities, and it is separated from the grove of Trophonius by the river Hercyna. They say that here Hercyna, when playing with the Maid, the daughter of Demeter, held a goose which against her will she let loose. The bird flew into a hollow cave and hid under a stone; the Maid entered and took the bird as it lay under the stone. The water flowed, they say, from the place where the Maid took up the stone, and hence the river received the name of Hercyna.
[3] καὶ ἔστι μὲν πρὸς τῇ ὄχθῃ τοῦ ποταμοῦ ναὸς Ἑρκύνης, ἐν δὲ αὐτῷ παρθένος χῆνα ἔχουσα ἐν ταῖς χερσίν: εἰσὶ δὲ ἐν τῷ σπηλαίῳ τοῦ ποταμοῦ τε αἱ πηγαὶ καὶ ἀγάλματα ὀρθά, περιειλιγμένοι δέ εἰσιν αὐτῶν τοῖς σκήπτροις δράκοντες. ταῦτα εἰκάσαι μὲν ἄν τις Ἀσκληπιοῦ τε εἶναι καὶ Ὑγείας, εἶεν δ᾽ ἂν Τροφώνιος καὶ Ἕρκυνα, ἐπεὶ μηδὲ τοὺς δράκοντας Ἀσκληπιοῦ μᾶλλον ἢ καὶ Τροφωνίου νομίζουσιν ἱεροὺς εἶναι. ἐπὶ δὲ τῷ ποταμῷ μνῆμά ἐστιν Ἀρκεσιλάου: Λήϊτον δὲ ἀνακομίσαι φασὶ τοῦ Ἀρκεσιλάου τὰ ὀστᾶ ἐκ Τροίας.
[39.3] On the bank of the river there is a temple of Hercyna, in which is a maiden holding a goose in her arms. In the cave are the sources of the river and images standing, and serpents are coiled around their scepters. One might conjecture the images to be of Asclepius and Health, but they might be Trophonius and Hercyna, because they think that serpents are just as much sacred to Trophonius as to Asclepius. By the side of the river is the tomb of Arcesilaus, whose bones, they say, were carried back from Troy by Leitus.
[4] τὰ δὲ ἐπιφανέστατα ἐν τῷ ἄλσει Τροφωνίου ναὸς καὶ ἄγαλμά ἐστιν, Ἀσκληπιῷ καὶ τοῦτο εἰκασμένον: Πραξιτέλης δὲ ἐποίησε τὸ ἄγαλμα. ἔστι δὲ καὶ Δήμητρος ἱερὸν ἐπίκλησιν Εὐρώπης καὶ Ζεὺς Ὑέτιος ἐν ὑπαίθρῳ. ἀναβᾶσι δὲ ἐπὶ τὸ μαντεῖον καὶ αὐτόθεν ἰοῦσιν ἐς τὸ πρόσω τοῦ ὄρους, Κόρης ἐστὶ καλουμένη θήρα καὶ Διὸς Βασιλέως ναός. τοῦτον μὲν δὴ διὰ τὸ μέγεθος ἢ καὶ τῶν πολέμων τὸ ἀλλεπάλληλον ἀφείκασιν ἡμίεργον: ἐν δὲ ἑτέρῳ ναῷ Κρόνου καὶ Ἥρας καὶ Διός ἐστιν ἀγάλματα. ἔστι δὲ καὶ Ἀπόλλωνος ἱερόν.
[39.4] The most famous things in the grove are a temple and image of Trophonius; the image, made by Praxiteles, is after the likeness of Asclepius. There is also a sanctuary of Demeter surnamed Europa, and a Zeus Rain-god in the open. If you go up to the oracle, and thence onwards up the mountain, you come to what is called the Maid’s Hunting and a temple of King Zeus. This temple they have left half finished, either because of its size or because of the long succession of the wars. In a second temple are images of Cronus, Hera and Zeus. There is also a sanctuary of Apollo.
[5] κατὰ δὲ τὸ μαντεῖον τοιάδε γίνεται. ἐπειδὰν ἀνδρὶ ἐς τοῦ Τροφωνίου κατιέναι δόξῃ, πρῶτα μὲν τεταγμένων ἡμερῶν δίαιταν ἐν οἰκήματι ἔχει, τὸ δὲ οἴκημα Δαίμονός τε ἀγαθοῦ καὶ Τύχης ἱερόν ἐστιν ἀγαθῆς: διαιτώμενος δὲ ἐνταῦθα τά τε ἄλλα καθαρεύει καὶ λουτρῶν εἴργεται θερμῶν, τὸ δὲ λουτρὸν ὁ ποταμός ἐστιν ἡ Ἕρκυνα: καί οἱ καὶ κρέα ἄφθονά ἐστιν ἀπὸ τῶν θυσιῶν, θύει γὰρ δὴ ὁ κατιὼν αὐτῷ τε τῷ Τροφωνίῳ καὶ τοῦ Τροφωνίου τοῖς παισί, πρὸς δὲ Ἀπόλλωνί τε καὶ Κρόνῳ καὶ Διὶ ἐπίκλησιν Βασιλεῖ καὶ Ἥρᾳ τε Ἡνιόχῃ καὶ Δήμητρι ἣν ἐπονομάζοντες Εὐρώπην τοῦ Τροφωνίου φασὶν εἶναι τροφόν.
[39.5] What happens at the oracle is as follows. When a man has made up his mind to descend to the oracle of Trophonius, he first lodges in a certain building for an appointed number of days, this being sacred to the good Spirit and to good Fortune. While he lodges there, among other regulations for purity he abstains from hot baths, bathing only in the river Hercyna. Meat he has in plenty from the sacrifices, for he who descends sacrifices to Trophonius himself and to the children of Trophonius, to Apollo also and Cronus, to Zeus surnamed King, to Hera Charioteer, and to Demeter whom they surname Europa and say was the nurse of Trophonius.
[6] καθ᾽ ἑκάστην δὲ τῶν θυσιῶν ἀνὴρ μάντις παρὼν ἐς τοῦ ἱερείου τὰ σπλάγχνα ἐνορᾷ, ἐνιδὼν δὲ προθεσπίζει τῷ κατιόντι εἰ δὴ αὐτὸν εὐμενὴς ὁ Τροφώνιος καὶ ἵλεως δέξεται. τῶν μὲν δὴ ἄλλων ἱερείων τὰ σπλάγχνα οὐχ ὁμοίως δηλοῖ τοῦ Τροφωνίου τὴν γνώμην: ἐν δὲ νυκτὶ ᾗ κάτεισιν ἕκαστος, ἐν ταύτῃ κριὸν θύουσιν ἐς βόθρον, ἐπικαλούμενοι τὸν Ἀγαμήδην. θυμάτων δὲ τῶν πρότερον πεφηνότων αἰσίων λόγος ἐστὶν οὐδείς, εἰ μὴ καὶ τοῦδε τοῦ κριοῦ τὰ σπλάγχνα τὸ αὐτὸ θέλοι λέγειν: ὁμολογούντων δὲ καὶ τούτων, τότε ἕκαστος ἤδη κάτεισιν εὔελπις, κάτεισι δὲ οὕτω.
[39.6] At each sacrifice a diviner is present, who looks into the entrails of the victim, and after an inspection prophesies to the person descending whether Trophonius will give him a kind and gracious reception. The entrails of the other victims do not declare the mind of Trophonius so much as a ram, which each inquirer sacrifices over a pit on the night he descends, calling upon Agamedes. Even though the previous sacrifices have appeared propitious, no account is taken of them unless the entrails of this ram indicate the same; but if they agree, then the inquirer descends in good hope. The procedure of the descent is this.
[7] πρῶτα μὲν ἐν τῇ νυκτὶ αὐτὸν ἄγουσιν ἐπὶ τὸν ποταμὸν τὴν Ἕρκυναν, ἀγαγόντες δὲ ἐλαίῳ χρίουσι καὶ λούουσι δύο παῖδες τῶν ἀστῶν ἔτη τρία που καὶ δέκα γεγονότες, οὓς Ἑρμᾶς ἐπονομάζουσιν: οὗτοι τὸν καταβαίνοντά εἰσιν οἱ λούοντες καὶ ὁπόσα χρὴ διακονούμενοι ἅτε παῖδες. τὸ ἐντεῦθεν ὑπὸ τῶν ἱερέων οὐκ αὐτίκα ἐπὶ τὸ μαντεῖον, ἐπὶ δὲ ὕδατος πηγὰς ἄγεται: αἱ δὲ ἐγγύτατά εἰσιν ἀλλήλων.
[39.7] First, during the night he is taken to the river Hercyna by two boys of the citizens about thirteen years old, named Hermae, who after taking him there anoint him with oil and wash him. It is these who wash the descender, and do all the other necessary services as his attendant boys. After this he is taken by the priests, not at once to the oracle, but to fountains of water very near to each other.
[8] ἐνταῦθα δὴ χρὴ πιεῖν αὐτὸν Λήθης τε ὕδωρ καλούμενον, ἵνα λήθη γένηταί οἱ πάντων ἃ τέως ἐφρόντιζε, καὶ ἐπὶ τῷδε ἄλλο αὖθις ὕδωρ πίνειν Μνημοσύνης: ἀπὸ τούτου τε μνημονεύει τὰ ὀφθέντα οἱ καταβάντι. θεασάμενος δὲ ἄγαλμα ὃ ποιῆσαι Δα
ίδαλόν φασιν — ὑπὸ δὲ τῶν ἱερέων οὐκ ἐπιδείκνυται πλὴν ὅσοι παρὰ τὸν Τροφώνιον μέλλουσιν ἔρχεσθαι — τοῦτο τὸ ἄγαλμα ἰδὼν καὶ θεραπεύσας τε καὶ εὐξάμενος ἔρχεται πρὸς τὸ μαντεῖον, χιτῶνα ἐνδεδυκὼς λινοῦν καὶ ταινίαις τὸν χιτῶνα ἐπιζωσθεὶς καὶ ὑποδησάμενος ἐπιχωρίας κρηπῖδας.
[39.8] Here he must drink water called the water of Forgetfulness, that he may forget all that he has been thinking of hitherto, and afterwards he drinks of another water, the water of Memory, which causes him to remember what he sees after his descent. After looking at the image which they say was made by Daedalus (it is not shown by the priests save to such as are going to visit Trophonius), having seen it, worshipped it and prayed, he proceeds to the oracle, dressed in a linen tunic, with ribbons girding it, and wearing the boots of the country.
[9] ἔστι δὲ τὸ μαντεῖον ὑπὲρ τὸ ἄλσος ἐπὶ τοῦ ὄρους. κρηπὶς μὲν ἐν κύκλῳ περιβέβληται λίθου λευκοῦ, περίοδος δὲ τῆς κρηπῖδος κατὰ ἅλων τὴν ἐλαχίστην ἐστίν, ὕψος δὲ ἀποδέουσα δύο εἶναι πήχεις: ἐφεστήκασι δὲ ἐπὶ τῇ κρηπῖδι ὀβελοὶ καὶ αὐτοὶ χαλκοῖ καὶ αἱ συνέχουσαι σφᾶς ζῶναι, διὰ δὲ αὐτῶν θύραι πεποίηνται. τοῦ περιβόλου δὲ ἐντὸς χάσμα γῆς ἐστιν οὐκ αὐτόματον ἀλλὰ σὺν τέχνῃ καὶ ἁρμονίᾳ πρὸς τὸ ἀκριβέστατον ᾠκοδομημένον.
[39.9] The oracle is on the mountain, beyond the grove. Round it is a circular basement of white marble, the circumference of which is about that of the smallest threshing floor, while its height is just short of two cubits. On the basement stand spikes, which, like the cross-bars holding them together, are of bronze, while through them has been made a double door. Within the enclosure is a chasm in the earth, not natural, but artificially constructed after the most accurate masonry.