by Pausanias
[27.1] XXVII. There are also corpses: the naked man, Pelis by name, lies thrown on his back, and under Pelis lie Eioneus and Admetus, still clad in their corselets. Of these Lescheos says that Eioneus was killed by Neoptolemus, and Admetus by Philoctetes. Above these are others: under the washing-basin is Leocritus, the son of Pulydamas, killed by Odysseus; beyond Eioneus and Admetus is Coroebus, the son of Mygdon. Of Mygdon there is a notable tomb on the borders of the Phrygians of Stectorium, and after him poets are wont to call Phrygians by the name of Mygdones. Coroebus came to marry Cassandra, and was killed, according to the more popular account, by Neoptolemus, but according to the poet Lescheos, by Diomedes.
[2] εἰσὶ δὲ καὶ ἐπάνω τοῦ Κοροίβου Πρίαμος καὶ Ἀξίων τε καὶ Ἀγήνωρ. Πρίαμον δὲ οὐκ ἀποθανεῖν ἔφη Λέσχεως ἐπὶ τῇ ἐσχάρᾳ τοῦ Ἑρκείου, ἀλλὰ ἀποσπασθέντα ἀπὸ τοῦ βωμοῦ πάρεργον τῷ Νεοπτολέμῳ πρὸς ταῖς τῆς οἰκίας γενέσθαι θύραις. ἐς δὲ Ἑκάβην Στησίχορος ἐν Ἰλίου πέρσιδι ἐποίησεν ἐς Λυκίαν ὑπὸ Ἀπόλλωνος αὐτὴν κομισθῆναι. Ἀξίονα δὲ παῖδα εἶναι Πριάμου Λέσχεως καὶ ἀποθανεῖν αὐτὸν ὑπὸ Εὐρυπύλου τοῦ Εὐαίμονός φησι: τοῦ Ἀγήνορος δὲ κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν ποιητὴν Νεοπτόλεμος αὐτόχειρ ἐστί: καὶ οὕτω φαίνοιτο ἂν Ἔχεκλος μὲν φονευθεὶς ὁ Ἀγήνορος ὑπὸ Ἀχιλλέως, Ἀγήνωρ δὲ αὐτὸς ὑπὸ τοῦ Νεοπτολέμου.
[27.2] Higher up than Coroebus are Priam, Axion and Agenor. Lescheos says that Priam was not killed at the hearth of the Courtyard God, but that he was dragged away from the altar and fell an easy prey to Neoptolemus at the gate of his own palace. As to Hecuba, Stesichorus says in the Sack of Troy that she was brought by Apollo to Lycia. Lescheos says that Axion was a son of Priam, killed by Eurypylus, the son of Euaemon. According to the same poet Agenor was slain by Neoptolemus. So it would appear that Echeclus the son of Agenor was slaughtered by Achilles, and Agenor himself by Neoptolemus.
[3] Λαομέδοντος δὲ τὸν νεκρὸν Σίνων τε ἑταῖρος Ὀδυσσέως καὶ Ἀγχίαλός εἰσιν ἐκκομίζοντες. γέγραπται δὲ καὶ ἄλλος τεθνεώς: ὄνομά οἱ Ἔρεσος: τὰ δὲ ἐς Ἔρεσόν τε καὶ Λαομέδοντα, ὅσα γε ἡμεῖς ἐπιστάμεθα, ᾖσεν οὐδείς. ἔστι δὲ οἰκία τε ἡ Ἀντήνορος καὶ παρδάλεως κρεμάμενον δέρμα ὑπὲρ τῆς ἐσόδου, σύνθημα εἶναι τοῖς Ἕλλησιν ἀπέχεσθαι σφᾶς οἴκου τοῦ Ἀντήνορος. γέγραπται δὲ Θεανώ τε καὶ οἱ παῖδες, Γλαῦκος μὲν καθήμενος ἐπὶ θώρακι γυάλοις συνηρμοσμένῳ, Εὐρύμαχος δὲ ἐπὶ πέτρᾳ.
[27.3] The body of Laomedon is being carried off by Sinon, a comrade of Odysseus, and Anchialus. There is also in the painting another corpse, that of Eresus. The tale of Eresus and Laomedon, so far as we know, no poet has sung. There is the house of Antenor, with a leopard’s skin hanging over the entrance, as a sign to the Greeks to keep their hands off the home of Antenor. There are painted Theano and her sons, Glaucus sitting on a corselet fitted with the two pieces, and Eurymachus upon a rock.
[4] παρὰ δὲ αὐτὸν ἕστηκεν Ἀντήνωρ καὶ ἐφεξῆς θυγάτηρ Ἀντήνορος Κρινώ: παιδίον δὲ ἡ Κρινὼ φέρει νήπιον. τῶν προσώπων δὲ ἅπασιν οἷον ἐπὶ συμφορᾷ σχῆμά ἐστι. κιβωτὸν δὲ ἐπὶ ὄνον καὶ ἄλλα τῶν σκευῶν εἰσιν ἀνατιθέντες οἰκέται: κάθηται δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ ὄνου παιδίον μικρόν. κατὰ τοῦτο τῆς γραφῆς καὶ ἐλεγεῖόν ἐστι Σιμωνίδου:”γράψε Πολύγνωτος, Θάσιος γένος, Ἀγλαοφῶντος
υἱός, περθομένην Ἰλίου ἀκρόπολιν.
“Simonides, unknown location.
[27.4] By the latter stands Antenor, and next to him Crino, a daughter of Antenor. Crino is carrying a baby. The look upon their faces is that of those on whom a calamity has fallen. Servants are lading an ass with a chest and other furniture. There is also sitting on the ass a small child. At this part of the painting there is also an elegiac couplet of Simonides:–
Polygnotus, a Thasian by birth, son of Aglaophon,
Painted a picture of Troy’s citadel being sacked. Simonides, unknown location.
28. τὸ δὲ ἕτερον μέρος τῆς γραφῆς τὸ ἐξ ἀριστερᾶς χειρός, ἔστιν Ὀδυσσεὺς καταβεβηκὼς ἐς τὸν Ἅιδην ὀνομαζόμενον, ὅπως Τειρεσίου τὴν ψυχὴν περὶ τῆς ἐς τὴν οἰκείαν ἐπέρηται σωτηρίας: ἔχει δὲ οὕτω τὰ ἐς τὴν γραφήν. ὕδωρ εἶναι ποταμὸς ἔοικε, δῆλα ὡς ὁ Ἀχέρων, καὶ κάλαμοί τε ἐν αὐτῷ πεφυκότες καὶ ἰχθύες: ἔστι δ᾽ ἀμυδρὰ οὕτω δή τι τὰ εἴδη τῶν ἰχθύων ὡς σκιὰς μᾶλλον ἢ ἰχθῦς εἰκάσεις. καὶ ναῦς ἐστιν ἐν τῷ ποταμῷ καὶ ὁ πορθμεὺς ἐπὶ ταῖς κώπαις.
[28.1] XXVIII. The other part of the picture, the one on the left, shows Odysseus, who has descended into what is called Hades to inquire of the soul of Teiresias about his safe return home. The objects depicted are as follow. There is water like a river, clearly intended for Acheron, with reeds growing in it; the forms of the fishes appear so dim that you will take them to be shadows rather than fish. On the river is a boat, with the ferryman at the oars.
[2] ἐπηκολούθησε δὲ ὁ Πολύγνωτος ἐμοὶ δοκεῖν ποιήσει Μινυάδι: ἔστι γὰρ δὴ ἐν τῇ Μινυάδι ἐς Θησέα ἔχοντα καὶ Πειρίθουν”ἔνθ᾽ ἤτοι νέα μὲν νεκυάμβατον, ἣν ὁ γεραιός
πορθμεὺς ἦγε Χάρων, οὐκ ἔλαβον ἔνδοθεν ὅρμου.
“Minyad, an unknown work.ἐπὶ τούτῳ οὖν καὶ Πολύγνωτος γέροντα ἔγραψεν ἤδη τῇ ἡλικίᾳ τὸν Χάρωνα.
[28.2] Polygnotus followed, I think, the poem called the Minyad. For in this poem occur lines referring to Theseus and Peirithous:–
Then the boat on which embark the dead, that the old ferryman, Charon, used to steer, they found not within its moorings. The Minyad, an unknown work.
For this reason then Polygnotus too painted Charon as a man well stricken in years.
[3] οἱ δὲ ἐπιβεβηκότες τῆς νεὼς οὐκ ἐπιφανεῖς ἐς ἅπαν εἰσὶν οἷς προσήκουσι. Τέλλις μὲν ἡλικίαν ἐφήβου γεγονὼς φαίνεται, Κλεόβοια δὲ ἔτι παρθένος, ἔχει δὲ ἐν τοῖς γόνασι κιβωτὸν ὁποίας ποιεῖσθαι νομίζουσι Δήμητρι. ἐς μὲν δὴ τὸν Τέλλιν τοσοῦτον ἤκουσα ὡς ὁ ποιητὴς Ἀρχίλοχος ἀπόγονος εἴη τρίτος Τέλλιδος, Κλεόβοιαν δὲ ἐς Θάσον τὰ ὄργια τῆς Δήμητρος ἐνεγκεῖν πρώτην ἐκ Πάρου φασίν.
[28.3] Those on board the boat are not altogether distinguished. Tellis appears as a youth in years, and Cleoboea as still a maiden, holding on her knees a chest such as they are wont to make for Demeter. All I heard about Tellis was that Archilochus the poet was his grandson, while as for Cleoboea, they say that she was the first to bring the orgies of Demeter to Thasos from Paros.
[4] ἐπὶ δ
ὲ τοῦ Ἀχέροντος τῇ ὄχθῃ μάλιστα θέας ἄξιον, ὅτι ὑπὸ τοῦ Χάρωνος τὴν ναῦν ἀνὴρ οὐ δίκαιος ἐς πατέρα ἀγχόμενός ἐστιν ὑπὸ τοῦ πατρός. περὶ πλείστου γὰρ δὴ ἐποιοῦντο οἱ πάλαι γονέας, ὥσπερ ἔστιν ἄλλοις τε τεκμήρασθαι καὶ ἐν Κατάνῃ τοῖς καλουμένοις Εὐσεβέσιν, οἵ, ἡνίκα ἐπέρρει τῇ Κατάνῃ πῦρ τὸ ἐκ τῆς Αἴτνης, χρυσὸν μὲν καὶ ἄργυρον ἐν οὐδενὸς μερίδι ἐποιήσαντο, οἱ δὲ ἔφευγον ὁ μὲν ἀράμενος μητέρα, ὁ δὲ αὐτῶν τὸν πατέρα: προϊόντας δὲ οὐ σὺν ῥᾳστώνῃ καταλαμβάνει σφᾶς τὸ πῦρ ἐπειγόμενον τῇ φλογί: καὶ — οὐ γὰρ κατετίθεντο οὐδ᾽ οὕτω τοὺς γονέας — διχῇ σχισθῆναι λέγεται τὸν ῥύακα, καὶ αὐτούς τε τοὺς νεανίσκους, σὺν δὲ αὐτοῖς τοὺς γονέας τὸ πῦρ οὐδέν σφισι λυμηνάμενον παρεξῆλθεν.
[28.4] On the bank of Acheron there is a notable group under the boat of Charon, consisting of a man who had been undutiful to his father and is now being throttled by him. For the men of old held their parents in the greatest respect, as we may infer, among other instances, from those in Catana called the Pious, who, when the fire flowed down on Catana from Aetna, held of no account gold or silver, but when they fled took up, one his mother and another his father. As they struggled on, the fire rushed up and caught them in the flames. Not even so would they put down their parents, and it is said that the stream of lava divided itself in two, and the fire passed on, doing no hurt to either young men or their parents. These Catanians even at the present day receive honors from their fellow countrymen.
[5] οὗτοι μὲν δὴ τιμὰς καὶ ἐς ἐμὲ ἔτι παρὰ Καταναίων ἔχουσιν, ἐν δὲ τῇ Πολυγνώτου γραφῇ πλησίον τοῦ ἀνδρός, ὃς τῷ πατρὶ ἐλυμαίνετο καὶ δι᾽ αὐτὸ ἐν Ἅιδου κακὰ ἀναπίμπλησι, τούτου πλησίον ἱερὰ σεσυληκὼς ἀνὴρ ὑπέσχε δίκην: γυνὴ δὲ ἡ κολάζουσα αὐτὸν φάρμακα ἄλλα τε καὶ ἐς αἰκίαν οἶδεν ἀνθρώπων.
[28.5] Near to the man in Polygnotus’ picture who maltreated his father and for this drinks his cup of woe in Hades, is a man who paid the penalty for sacrilege. The woman who is punishing him is skilled in poisonous and other drugs.
[6] περισσῶς δὲ ἄρα εὐσεβείᾳ θεῶν ἔτι προσέκειντο οἱ ἄνθρωποι, ὡς Ἀθηναῖοί τε δῆλα ἐποίησαν, ἡνίκα εἷλον Ὀλυμπίου Διὸς ἐν Συρακούσαις ἱερόν, οὔτε κινήσαντες τῶν ἀναθημάτων οὐδὲν τὸν ἱερέα τε τὸν Συρακούσιον φύλακα ἐπ᾽ αὐτοῖς ἐάσαντες: ἐδήλωσε δὲ καὶ ὁ Μῆδος Δᾶτις λόγοις τε οὓς εἶπε πρὸς Δηλίους καὶ τῷ ἔργῳ, ἡνίκα ἐν Φοινίσσῃ νηὶ ἄγαλμα εὑρὼν Ἀπόλλωνος ἀπέδωκεν αὖθις Ταναγραίοις ἐς Δήλιον. οὕτω μὲν τὸ θεῖον καὶ οἱ πάντες τότε ἦγον ἐν τιμῇ, καὶ ἐπὶ λόγῳ τοιούτῳ τὰ ἐς τὸν συλήσαντα ἱερὰ ἔγραψε Πολύγνωτος.
[28.6] So it appears that in those days men laid the greatest stress on piety to the gods, as the Athenians showed when they took the sanctuary of Olympian Zeus at Syracuse; they moved none of the offerings, but left the Syracusan priest as their keeper. Datis the Persian too showed his piety in his address to the Delians, and in this act as well, when having found an image of Apollo in a Phoenician ship he restored it to the Tanagraeans at Delium. So at that time all men held the divine in reverence, and this is why Polygnotus has depicted the punishment of him who committed sacrilege.
[7] ἔστι δὲ ἀνωτέρω τῶν κατειλεγμένων Εὐρύνομος: δαίμονα εἶναι τῶν ἐν Ἅιδου φασὶν οἱ Δελφῶν ἐξηγηταὶ τὸν Εὐρύνομον, καὶ ὡς τὰς σάρκας περιεσθίει τῶν νεκρῶν, μόνα σφίσιν ἀπολείπων τὰ ὀστᾶ. ἡ δὲ Ὁμήρου ποίησις ἐς Ὀδυσσέα καὶ ἡ Μινυάς τε
καλουμένη καὶ οἱ Νόστοι — μνήμη γὰρ δὴ ἐν ταύταις καὶ Ἅιδου καὶ τῶν ἐκεῖ δειμάτων ἐστὶν — ἴσασιν οὐδένα Εὐρύνομον δαίμονα. τοσοῦτο μέντοι δηλώσω, ὁποῖός τε ὁ Εὐρύνομος καὶ ἐπὶ ποίου γέγραπται τοῦ σχήματος: κυανοῦ τὴν χρόαν μεταξύ ἐστι καὶ μέλανος, ὁποῖαι καὶ τῶν μυιῶν αἱ πρὸς τὰ κρέα εἰσὶ προσιζάνουσαι, τοὺς δὲ ὀδόντας φαίνει, καθεζομένῳ δὲ ὑπέστρωταί οἱ δέρμα γυπός.
[28.7] Higher up than the figures I have enumerated comes Eurynomus, said by the Delphian guides to be one of the demons in Hades, who eats off all the flesh of the corpses, leaving only their bones. But Homer’s Odyssey, the poem called the Minyad, and the Returns, although they tell of Hades, and its horrors, know of no demon called Eurynomus. However, I will describe what he is like and his attitude in the painting. He is of a color between blue and black, like that of meat flies; he is showing his teeth and is seated, and under him is spread a vulture’s skin.
[8] ἐφεξῆς δὲ μετὰ τὸν Εὐρύνομον ἥ τε ἐξ Ἀρκαδίας Αὔγη καὶ Ἰφιμέδειά ἐστι: καὶ ἡ μὲν παρὰ Τεύθραντα ἡ Αὔγη ἀφίκετο ἐς Μυσίαν, καὶ γυναικῶν ὁπόσαις ἐς τὸ αὐτὸ Ἡρακλέα ἀφικέσθαι λέγουσι, μάλιστα δὴ παῖδα ἐοικότα ἔτεκε τῷ πατρί: τῇ δ᾽ Ἰφιμεδείᾳ γέρα δέδοται μεγάλα ὑπὸ τῶν ἐν Μυλάσοις Καρῶν.
[28.8] Next after Eurynomus are Auge of Arcadia and Iphimedeia. Auge visited the house of Teuthras in Mysia, and of all the women with whom Heracles is said to have mated, none gave birth to a son more like his father than she did. Great honors are paid to Iphimedeia by the Carians in Mylasa.
29. τῶν δὲ ἤδη μοι κατειλεγμένων εἰσὶν ἀνώτεροι τούτων ἱερεῖα καὶ οἱ ἑταῖροι τοῦ Ὀδυσσέως Περιμήδης καὶ Εὐρύλοχος φέροντες: τὰ δέ ἐστι μέλανες κριοὶ τὰ ἱερεῖα. μετὰ δὲ αὐτοὺς ἀνήρ ἐστι καθήμενος, ἐπίγραμμα δὲ Ὄκνον εἶναι λέγει τὸν ἄνθρωπον: πεποίηται μὲν πλέκων σχοινίον, παρέστηκε δὲ θήλεια ὄνος ἐπεσθίουσα τὸ πεπλεγμένον ἀεὶ τοῦ σχοινίου. τοῦτον εἶναι τὸν Ὄκνον φίλεργόν φασιν ἄνθρωπον, γυναῖκα δὲ ἔχειν δαπανηράν: καὶ ὁπόσα συλλέξαιτο ἐργαζόμενος, οὐ πολὺ δὴ ὕστερον ὑπὸ ἐκείνης ἀνήλωτο.
[29.1] XXIX. Higher up than the figures I have already enumerated are Perimedes and Eurylochus, the companions of Odysseus, carrying victims for sacrifice; these are black -rams. After them is a man seated, said by the inscription to be Ocnus (Sloth). He is depicted as plaiting a cord, and by him stands a she-ass, eating up the cord as quickly as it is plaited. They say that this Ocnus was a diligent man with an extravagant wife. Everything he earned by working was quickly spent by his wife.
[2] τὰ οὖν ἐς τοῦ Ὄκνου τὴν γυναῖκα ἐθέλουσιν αἰνίξασθαι τὸν Πολύγνωτον. οἶδα δὲ καὶ
ὑπὸ Ἰώνων, ὁπότε ἴδοιέν τινα πονοῦντα ἐπὶ οὐδενὶ ὄνησιν φέροντι, ὑπὸ τούτων εἰρημένον ὡς ὁ ἀνὴρ οὗτος συνάγει τοῦ Ὄκνου τὴν θώμιγγα. ὄκνον δ᾽ οὖν καὶ μάντεων οἱ ὁρῶντες τοὺς οἰωνοὺς καλοῦσί τινα ὄρνιθα: καὶ ἔστιν οὗτος ὁ ὄκνος μέγιστος μὲν καὶ κάλλιστος ἐρωδιῶν, εἰ δὲ ἄλλος τις ὀρνίθων σπάνιός ἐστι καὶ οὗτος.
[29.2] So they will have it that Polygnotus has painted a parable about the wife of Ocnus. I know also that the Ionians, whenever they see a man labouring at nothing profitable, say that such an one is plaiting the cord of Ocnus. Ocnus too is the name given to a bird by the seers who observe birds that are ominous. This Ocnus is the largest and most beautiful of the herons, a rare bird if ever there was one.
[3] γέγραπται δὲ καὶ Τιτυὸς οὐ κολαζόμενος ἔτι, ἀλλὰ ὑπὸ τοῦ συνεχοῦς τῆς τιμωρίας ἐς ἅπαν ἐξανηλωμένος, ἀμυδρὸν καὶ οὐδὲ ὁλόκληρον εἴδωλον.