Pausanias' description of Greece, Volume I.

Of Pausanias personally we know very little, but that he lived during the Reign of the Antonines, and travelled all round Greece, and wrote his famous _Tour round Greece_, or _D...

On the mainland of Greece, facing the islands called the Cyclades and the Ægean sea, the promontory of Sunium stands out on Attic soil: and there is a harbour for any one coasti...

As one enters into the city there is a monument of Antiope the Amazon. Pindar says that this Antiope was carried off by Pirithous and Theseus, but the account by Hegias of Trœze...

Now the place Ceramicus gets its name from the hero Ceramus, he too reputed to be the son of Dionysus and Ariadne; and the first portico on the right is called the royal portico...

Now these Galati inhabit the remotest parts of Europe, near a mighty sea, not navigable where they live: it has tides and breakers and sea monsters quite unlike those in any oth...

Near the council chamber of The Five Hundred is the room called the Rotunda, and here the Prytanes sacrifice, and there are some silver statues not very large. And higher up are...

As to the actions of Attalus and Ptolemy, not only are they become more ancient from the progress of time, so that the fame of them no longer remains, but also those who lived w...

This Ptolemy being enamoured of Arsinoe, his sister on both sides, married her, doing what was by no means usual among the Macedonians, but not uncommon among his Egyptian subje...

Our subject now demands that we should relate the doings of Attalus, for he is also one of the Athenian Eponymi. A Macedonian by name Docimus, one of Antigonus’ generals, who af...

Now the Ptolemy called Philometor is the eighth in descent from Ptolemy the son of Lagus, and he got his name in irony; for none of these kings that we know of was so hated by t...

Now as long as Aridæus, and after him Cassander and his sons, ruled, there was friendship between Lysimachus and the Macedonians; but when the kingdom came to Demetrius the son...

The Athenians also have a statue of Pyrrhus. This Pyrrhus was only related to Alexander by ancestry. For Pyrrhus was the son of Æacides the son of Arybbas, whereas Alexander was...

So Pyrrhus is the first that crossed the Ionian Sea from Greece to fight against the Romans. And he crossed at the invitation of the people of Tarentum, who had had earlier than...

Then Pyrrhus, after his defeat, sailed for Tarentum with the remnant of his fleet. There his fortunes suffered great reverses, and he contrived his flight in the following manne...

And as one enters the Odeum at Athens, there is a Dionysus and other things worth seeing. And near is a spring called the Nine Springs constructed so by Pisistratus: for there a...

And as one goes into the portico, which they call _The Painted Chamber_ from the paintings, there is a brazen statue of Hermes of the Market-Place, and a gate near, and by it is...

And before the portico are brazen statues of Solon, the Athenian legislator, and a little further Seleucus, to whom came beforehand clear indications of his future prosperity. F...

And the Athenians have in the market-place among other things not universally notable an altar of _Mercy_, to whom, though most useful of all the gods to the life of man and its...

Now the temple of the Dioscuri is ancient; they are designed standing, and their sons seated on horseback. Here too is a painting by Polygnotus of the marriage of the daughters...

And next to the temple of Olympian Zeus is a statue of Pythian Apollo, as also a temple of Delphian Apollo. And they say that, when this temple was completed except the roof, Th...

Now there is a way from the Prytaneum called _The Tripods_, so called from some large temples of the gods there and some brazen tripods in them, which contain many works of art...

Now the Athenians have statues in the theatre of their tragic and comic dramatists, mostly mediocrities, for except Menander there is no Comedian of first-rate powers, and Eurip...

Next to the temple of Æsculapius as you go to the Acropolis is the temple of Themis. And before it is the sepulchre of Hippolytus. His death they say came to him in consequence...

Now the Greeks among other things say that they had the seven wise men. And among these they include the Lesbian tyrant and Periander the son of Cypselus: and yet Pisistratus an...

Here too is Athene pourtrayed striking Marsyas the Silenus, because he would take up her flutes, when the goddess wished them thrown away. Besides those which I have mentioned i...

There are also in the Acropolis at Athens statues of Pericles the son of Xanthippus and Xanthippus himself, who fought against the Persians at Mycale. The statue of Pericles sta...

Some time after a few remembered the fame of their ancestors, and when they considered what a change had come over the glory of Athens, they elected Olympiodorus as their genera...

In the temple of Athene Polias is a Hermes of wood, (said to be a votive offering of Cecrops,) almost hidden by myrtle leaves. And of the antique votive offerings worthy of reco...

Why they erected a brazen statue to Cylon, although he plotted for the sovereignty, I cannot clearly tell. But I conjecture the reason was that he was very handsome in person an...

Near the Areopagus is shewn the ship that is made for the procession at the Panathenæa. And this perhaps has been outdone. But the ship at Delos is the finest I have ever heard...

Before the entrance into the Academy is an altar of Eros, with the inscription that Charmus was the first of the Athenians to offer votive offerings to Eros. And they say that t...

Now the small townships of Attica, founded by haphazard, have the following records. The Alimusii have a temple to Law-giving Demeter and her daughter Proserpine; and in Zoster...

And the mountains of Attica are Pentelicus, famous for its stonequarries, and Parnes, which affords good hunting of wild boars and bears, and Hymettus, which is the best place f...

And not far from Marathon is Brauron, where they say Iphigenia, the daughter of Agamemnon, landed in her flight from the Tauri, bringing with her the statue of Artemis, and, hav...

The land about Oropus between Attica and Tanagra, which originally belonged to Bœotia, is now Athenian. The Athenians fought for it continually, but got no firm hold of it till...

And the Athenians have various islands not far from Attica, one called after Patroclus, about which I have already given an account, and another a little beyond Sunium, as you s...

At Salamis, to return to my subject, there is a temple of Artemis, and a trophy erected for the victory which Themistocles the son of Neocles won for the Greeks. There is also a...

And next to the tomb of Cephisodorus are buried Heliodorus the Aliensian, (you may see a painting of him in the large temple of Athene): and Themistocles the son of Poliarchus,...

Now the channels called Rheti are like rivers only in their flow, for their water is sea water. And one might suppose that they flow from the Euripus near Chalcis underground, f...

And another road leads from Eleusis to Megara: as you go along this road is a well called the Well of Flowers. Pamphus records that it was at this well that Demeter sat in the g...

There is in the city a conduit erected by Theagenes, of whom I mentioned before that he married his daughter to Cylon an Athenian. This Theagenes when he was king erected this c...

As you descend from the Acropolis in a Northerly direction, you come to the sepulchre of Alcmene near the Olympieum. She died they say at Megara on her journey from Argos to The...

There is also another citadel at Megara that gets its name from Alcathous. As one goes up to it, there is on the right hand a monument of Megareus, who started from Onchestus to...

They also lay claim to the possession of a mortuary-chapel of Iphigenia, for she too they say died at Megara. But I have heard a different account of Iphigenia from the Arcadian...

Next Corœbus is buried Orsippus, who, though the athletes according to olden custom had girdles round their loins, ran naked at Olympia in the race and won the prize. And they s...

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...

And inside the precincts there is on the left hand a temple of Palæmon, and some statues in it of Poseidon and Leucothea and Palæmon himself. And there is also a crypt, approach...

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 si...

And not far from the tomb of Mermerus and Pheres is the temple of Athene the _Bridler_: who they say helped Bellerophon more than any of the gods in various ways, and gave him P...

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...

And Corax dying childless, about this time Epopeus came from Thessaly and obtained the kingdom. In his reign first (they say) did a hostile army ever come into their country, as...

And the Sicyonians became Dorians after this, and a part of Argolis. And their city, built by Ægialeus in the plain, Demetrius the son of Antigonus razed to the ground, and buil...

The sacred enclosure near the temple of Persuasion, consecrated to the Roman emperors, was formerly the house of Cleon the king. For Clisthenes the son of Aristonymus, the son o...

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 esta...

Not far from the market-place in the gymnasium is a Hercules in stone, the work of Scopas. There is also elsewhere a temple of Hercules: the precincts of which they call Pædize,...

And as you turn from thence to the gate called The Holy Gate, not far from the gate is a shrine of Athene, which Epopeus formerly erected, in size and beauty surpassing those of...

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...

By the return of the Heraclidæ all the Peloponnese was disturbed except Arcadia, for many of the cities had to take Dorian settlers, and frequent changes of inhabitants took pla...

Now Celeæ 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 differe...

On the road from Corinth to Argos you come to the small town of Cleonæ. Some say Cleone was the daughter of Pelops, others that she was one of the daughters of Asopus, the river...

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...

About fifteen stades from Mycenæ on the left is a temple of Hera. By the road flows the river Eleutherius. And the priestesses use it for lustrations and for private sacrifices....

And as you go from Mycenæ to Argos there is on the left hand a hero-chapel of Perseus near the road. He has honours here from the people in the neighbourhood, but the greatest h...

As to Cresphontes and the sons of Aristodemus there is nothing pressing to narrate about them. But Temenus openly made use of Deiphontes (the son of Antimachus, the son of Thras...

And passing by the effigy of Creux the boxer, and the trophy erected over the Corinthians, you come to the statue of Milichian Zeus seated, the work of Polycletus in white stone...

And as you descend from thence and turn to the market-place you see the tomb of Cerdo, the wife of Phoroneus, and the temple of Æsculapius. And the temple of Artemis, under the...

Now the temple of Flowery Hera is on the right hand of the temple of Leto, and in front of it is the tomb of the women who fell in the fight between the Argives and Perseus, and...

As you go thence on the road called the Hollow Way, there is on the right hand a temple of Dionysus: the statue of the god they say came from Eubœa. For when the Greeks returnin...

And the citadel they call Larissa from the daughter of Pelasgus, and from two cities of that name in Thessaly, one on the coast, and one by the river Peneus. And as you go up to...

The road to Mantinea from Argos is not the same as the road to Tegea, but you start from the gates near the ridge. And on this road there is a temple with a double entrance, one...

And near Lessa is Epidaurus in Argolis, and before you get to the town itself, you will come to the temple of Æsculapius. I do not know who dwelt in this place before Epidaurus...

The sacred grove of Æsculapius is walled in on all sides: nor do any deaths or births take place in the precincts of the god, just as is the case at the island Delos. And the sa...

Now all kinds of dragons, and especially those which incline to tawny in colour, are considered sacred to Æsculapius, and are tame, and the Epidaurian country alone breeds them....

Epidaurus has the following things most worthy of record. There is a temple of Æsculapius, and statues of Æsculapius and Epione, who they say was his wife. These are in the open...

And near one another are temples of Apollo, and Artemis, and Dionysus. The wooden statue of Apollo is naked and of native art, but Artemis and Dionysus are draped, and Dionysus...

In the market-place is a temple, and statues, of Artemis the Saviour. And it is said that Theseus built it and called her Saviour, when he returned from Crete after having kille...

And Hippolytus the son of Theseus has precincts and a temple in them and ancient statue. Diomede they say erected all these, and was the first to sacrifice to Hippolytus: and th...

Of the islands near Trœzen one is so close to the mainland, that you can wade over to it at low water. It was called Sphæria in former days, and _Sacred_ for the following reaso...

In the Trœzenian district there is an isthmus jutting out some way into the sea, and on it has been built a small town near the sea called Methana. And there is a temple of Isis...

And next is a temple of Dionysus Melanægis, in whose honour they have a musical contest every year, and give prizes for diving and rowing. And there is a temple of Artemis under...

About seven stades on the high road to Mases, as you turn to the left, is the road to Halice. Halice in our days is deserted, but it was formerly inhabited, and is mentioned on...

And the grove of plane-trees beginning at this mountain extends most of the way to the sea, bounded on one side by the river Pontinus, and on the other by the river Amymone, whi...

And as you go from Lerna to Temenium--now Temenium belongs to the Argives, and gets its name from Temenus the son of Aristomachus: for he occupied and fortified the place, when...

Next to the Hermæ comes Laconia on the West. And according to the Lacedæmonian tradition Lelex the _autochthon_ first reigned in this land, and the people over whom he ruled wer...

Eurysthenes, the eldest of the sons of Aristodemus, had a son Agis they say: (and from him they call the descendants of Eurysthenes Agidæ). During his reign, when Patreus the so...

And after the death of Alcamenes Polydorus his son succeeded to the kingdom, and the Lacedæmonians sent a colony into Italy to Croton, and to the Locrians at the promontory Zeph...

And Dorieus, as he would not remain at Lacedæmon subject to Cleomenes, was sent to form a colony. And Cleomenes commenced his reign by an inroad into Argolis, gathering together...

Plistarchus the son of Leonidas died soon after succeeding to the kingdom, and Plistoanax the son of Pausanias, the hero of Platæa, succeeded him. And Plistoanax was succeeded b...

And Agesipolis having died childless, the succession devolved upon Cleombrotus, under whom the Lacedæmonians fought against the Bœotians at Leuctra, and Cleombrotus, exposing hi...

Of the family of Eurysthenes then, called the Agiadæ, Cleomenes the son of Leonidas was the last king at Sparta: but as to the other branch this is what I have heard. Procles th...

And on the death of Archidamus, Agis the elder of his sons being of age succeeded, and not Agesilaus. And Archidamus had also a daughter called Cynisca, who was most ambitious i...

So Agesilaus the son of Archidamus was king, and the Lacedæmonians resolved to cross over into Asia with their fleet to capture Artaxerxes the son of Darius: for they had learnt...

And not long afterwards those Corinthians who had been exiled for their Lacedæmonian proclivities established the Isthmian games. But those who were at this time in Corinth rema...

On going forward from Thornax, you come to the city which was originally called Sparta, but afterwards Lacedæmon, which was once the name of the whole district. And according to...

As you go from the market-place on the road which they call Apheta (_starting-place_), you come to what is called Booneta, (_Ox-purchased_). I must first explain the name of the...

Not far from Scias is the tomb of Cynortas the son of Amyclas, and the monument of Castor, and a temple to him over it. Castor and Pollux were not they say reckoned gods till th...

As you go westwards from the market-place is the cenotaph of Brasidas the son of Tellis, and at no great distance a theatre in white stone well worth seeing. And opposite the th...

Near Platanistas there is a hero-chapel of Cynisca, the daughter of Archidamus king of Sparta: she was the first woman who trained horses, and the first woman who won the chario...

And hard by is the temple of Hilaira and Phœbe, who the writer of the Cyprian poems says were the daughters of Apollo. And their priestesses are maidens, called also Leucippides...

And not far from that of Orthian Artemis is the temple of Ilithyia: this temple they say was built, and Ilithyia accounted a goddess, in obedience to the oracle at Delphi. And t...

Near the two figures of Pausanias is a statue of Youth-prolonging Aphrodite, made at the bidding of an oracle, and statues of Sleep and Death. People have reckoned them to be br...

As to the seat for the god on this throne, it is not one continuous surface but has several partitions with intervals between them. The largest partition is in the middle, where...

At Therapne too I saw the fountain Messeis. Some of the Lacedæmonians say that the fountain called in our day Polydeucea, and not this one at Therapne, was called by the ancient...

And 20 stades further you will come to the Eurotas which flows very near the road, and to the tomb of Ladas, who surpassed all his contemporaries in swiftness of foot. At Olympi...

And about 3 stades from Gythium is the White Stone, where they say Orestes sat to cure himself of his madness. In the Doric tongue the stone was called Zeus Cappotas. And opposi...

And Cythera lies opposite Bœæ, and to the promontory of Platanistus--the point where the island is nearest to the mainland--from the promontory on the mainland called _Ass’ jaw-...

About 100 stades from Epidaurus Limera is Zarax, in other respects convenient as a harbour, but especially ravaged of all the towns of the Eleutherolacones, for Cleonymus, the s...

Not far from the tomb of Las the river called Scyras falls into the sea; it had no name for a long time and was called Scyras because Pyrrhus, the son of Achilles, put in there...

From Œtylus to Thalamæ the distance by road is about 80 stades, and by the roadside is a temple and oracle of Ino. They get their oracular responses asleep, for whatever they wa...

The border of Messenia towards Laconia, as fixed by Augustus, is at Gerenia, and in our time is called the Chœrian dell. This country, originally without inhabitants, is describ...

And being very anxious to know accurately who the sons of Polycaon were by Messene, I perused the poem called _the Great EϾ_ and the Naupactian poems, and also all the genealog...

But when between the sons of Aphareus and Castor and Pollux (their uncles) a quarrel arose about cattle, and Lynceus was slain by Pollux, while Idas died smitten with lightning,...

And in the reign of Phintas, the son of Sybotas, the Messenians first sent to Apollo at Delos sacrifices and a choir of men. And their processional Hymn to the god was composed...

The Lacedæmonian account is that they went to war because Polychares was not given up to them, and because of the murder of Teleclus, and because they were suspected earlier sti...

But before I write the history of this war, and the actions and sufferings entailed by it upon both parties by Providence, I wish to relate in their order the exploits of Aristo...

With these words Euphaes dismissed the assembly, and from that time forward kept all the Messenians under arms, compelling those that did not know to learn the art of war, and m...

And directly the leaders on either side gave the signal for battle, the Messenians came on at the double, and exposed themselves freely as men dealing death in their rage at eve...

But the Messenians after the battle began to find their affairs in a deplorable condition: for they were nearly ruined by their outlay in money expended in keeping garrisons in...

But the Lacedæmonians on hearing the oracle of the Messenians were very dejected, both they and their kings, and henceforth shrank from resuming the war. But in the sixth year a...

In the fifth year of the reign of Aristodemus, when both nations were about to take the field again after open proclamation of war, both very much weakened by the length and exp...

The Lacedæmonians were troubled at this reverse that had befallen them, and at the many excellent warriors they had lost in the battle. And they despaired of success in the war,...

And thenceforward--for fate already turned the scales towards the capture of Ithome--the god gave them various predictions of their coming destiny. For the statue of Artemis, wh...

And the Messenians who had friends at Sicyon and at Argos and amongst the Arcadians retired to those places, and those of the family of the priests who performed the mysteries t...

And when they had made all their preparations for war, and their allies were even more zealous than they had expected, for the hostility between the Arcadians and Argives and th...

And when the seers in both armies had commenced by sacrifice, the Lacedæmonian seer being Hecas, the descendant and namesake of that Hecas who had come to Sparta with the sons o...

And there is a place in Laconia called Ægila, where is a temple of Demeter. There Aristomenes and his soldiers, knowing that the women were keeping festival to Demeter, wished t...

And the Messenians when they were hemmed in at Eira, and debarred the rest of their country, except what was occupied by the people of Pylos near the sea, and the people of Moth...

And it was almost immediately reported to the Lacedæmonians by deserters that Aristomenes had got home safe: but being considered as incredible as if anyone were to say that a d...

But in the 11th year of the siege it was fated that Eira should fall, and that the Messenians should be dispersed, and the god accomplished what had been oracularly foretold to...

What the herdsman said seemed trustworthy, and he led Emperamus and the Spartan force. Their march was difficult owing to the darkness and steady downpour. Still they advanced w...

Directly the Arcadians heard of the capture of Eira, they at once begged Aristocrates to lead them to save the Messenians or perish with them. But he having been bribed by the L...

And all the Messenians that were captured at Eira, or in any other part of Messenia, were incorporated by the Lacedæmonians among the Helots: and the people of Pylos and Mothone...

Meantime Aristomenes, when he refused the leadership of those who were going on the new colony, married his sister Agnagora to Tharyx of Phigalia, and his two eldest daughters t...

And when they got Naupactus, they were not content with the town and region that they had got through the Athenians, but a strong desire came upon them to get a place for themse...

And from this time forward their hostility to the Lacedæmonians increased, as they notably shewed in the war between the Peloponnesians and Athenians. For they made Naupactus a...

The wrath of Castor and Pollux against the Messenians began before the battle at Stenyclerus, and I conjecture it to have originated in the following way. Panormus and Gonippus,...

On their return no apprehension was felt by them at first about the Lacedæmonians: for they, being afraid of the Thebans, did not interfere with the rebuilding of Messene, nor t...

And no long time after this action at Elis the Macedonians under Demetrius, the son of Philip the son of Demetrius, attacked Messene. Most of the audacity displayed by Perseus a...

There is in our days in Messenia, about 20 stades from the Chœrian dell, a town by the sea called Abia. They say in old times it was called Ire, and that it was one of the seven...

Not far from Pharæ is the grove of Carnean Apollo, and a fountain of water in it, and Pharæ is about six stades from the sea. As you go from thence into the interior of Messenia...

The temple at Messene called the Sacrificial Chamber has statues of the gods generally worshipped among the Greeks, and also an effigy of Epaminondas in brass. There are also so...

And as you go towards the hill of Ithome, where the Messenians have their citadel, is the spring called Clepsydra. However willing one may be it is a matter of no small difficul...

From Messene to the mouth of the Pamisus is about 80 stades, and the Pamisus flows clear and limpid through arable land, and is navigable some 10 stades inland. And some sea fis...

And Mothone, which before the expedition against Troy and even subsequently to that war was called Pedasus, afterwards changed its name to Mothone from the daughter of Œneus as...

From Mothone to the promontory of Coryphasium is about 100 stades, and near it is Pylos, which was founded by Pylos, the son of Cleson, who brought from Megaris the Leleges who...

Those Greeks, who say that the Peloponnese is divided into five parts and no more, are obliged to admit that the people of Elis as well as the Arcadians dwell in the division of...

Now in the campaign against Augeas Hercules had no opportunity to win laurels, for as the sons of Actor were in their prime for daring and vigour of youth, the allied forces of...

Let this suffice on the matter. To resume, Hercules afterwards captured and sacked Elis, having got together an army of Argives Thebans and Arcadians: and the people of Elis wer...

There is also another tradition about Oxylus, that he suspected the sons of Aristomachus of an unwillingness to give him the kingdom of Elis, as it was fertile and well cultivat...

And in process of time Aristotimus, the son of Damaretus, the son of Etymon, obtained the sovereignty at Elis, partly through the assistance of Antigonus the son of Demetrius, w...

On the high road, after crossing the Aniger in the direction of Olympia, there is at no great distance on the right an eminence, and on it a town called Samia above Samicum. Thi...

And when you have got to Olympia immediately you see the river Alpheus, a full and very pleasant river, and no less than seven notable rivers are tributaries to it. For through...

And after this they say Clymenus the son of Cardys, (in the 50th year after Deucalion’s flood), a descendant of Idæan Hercules, came from Crete and established games at Olympia,...

And some of the contests at Olympia were put an end to, the people of Elis having resolved to discontinue them. For the pentathlum for boys was established in the 38th Olympiad,...

Many various wonders may one see, or hear of, in Greece: but the Eleusinian mysteries and Olympian games seem to exhibit more than anything else the divine purpose. And the sacr...

The image of the god is in gold and ivory, seated on a throne. And a crown is on his head imitating the foliage of the olive tree. In his right hand he holds a Victory in ivory...

Those who think that the parts of the elephant that project from the mouth are teeth and not horns, should consider the case of Celtic elks and Ethiopian bulls. For male elks ha...

And within Altis there is a separate grove to Pelops: who of the heroes at Olympia is as much held in the highest honour as Zeus is among the gods. This grove is on the right of...

But the altar at Olympia has another wonder. Kites, which are by nature especially birds of prey, never harm the sacrifices at Olympia. And if on any chance occasion a kite touc...

Outside Altis there is a building called the workshop of Phidias, who used to work here at his statues, and there is an altar here to all the gods in common. As you turn back ag...

Next ought I to describe the temple of Hera, and all that is worth narrating in it. The people of Elis have a tradition that the people of Scillus in Triphylia built it about 8...

And in Hera’s temple there is a statue of Zeus, and also one of Hera seated on a throne, and standing by is a person with a beard and helmet on his head. And the workmanship is...

On the second side of the chest, on the left, to take them in their order, is a woman supporting with her right hand a white child sleeping, and with her left a black child like...

And on the 4th side of the chest on the left Boreas is carrying off Orithyia, and he has serpents’ tails instead of feet. And there is the fight between Hercules and Geryon, who...

There are also here besides the chest several votive offerings, as a bed of no great size adorned with much ivory, and the quoit of Iphitus, and the table on which the crowns fo...

And now I shall proceed to the account of the statues and votive offerings, which I do not care to mix up together. In the Acropolis at Athens all the statues and everything els...

Such are the statues made out of fines as far as I could ascertain. There are also other statues of Zeus, some erected publicly, some privately. There is also an altar in Altis...

And as you pass on to the entrance to the council chamber there is a statue of Zeus without an inscription, (and another as you turn to the North). This is towards the East, and...

And near the altar of Zeus Laœtas and Poseidon Laœtas there is a Zeus on a brazen basement, the gift of the Corinthian people, and the design of Musus, whoever Musus was. And as...

Such are the statues of Zeus inside Altis, all of which I have enumerated. For the statue near the great temple offered by a Corinthian, is not an offering of the old Corinthian...

The Dorian Messenians also, who received Naupactus from the Athenians, erected at Olympia a Victory on a pillar, the design of the Mendæan Pæonius, and made from spoils taken fr...

And opposite those I have mentioned are other votive offerings in a row, facing the South, and very near the enclosure sacred to Pelops. Among them are the votive offerings of M...

Next to my account of the votive offerings comes naturally mention of the horses that contended, and of the athletes, and of amateurs also. There are not statues of all the conq...

And the statue of the pancratiast next is by Lysippus. He carried off the victory as pancratiast from the rest of the Acarnanians, and was the first of his own countrymen. Xenar...

Next to Damiscus is the statue of a man whose name is not recorded, the votive offering of Ptolemy the son of Lagus. Ptolemy calls himself a Macedonian in the inscription, thoug...

And next to Lysander is the effigy of an Ephesian boxer, whose name was Athenæus, and who beat all the boys that contended with him, and next him is the Sicyonian pancratiast So...

The statue which stands on a lofty pedestal is by Lysippus. It is the statue of Polydamas, the son of Nicias, the largest man of our times. There may have been larger men, but o...

And next to the statue of Polydamas are two Arcadian athletes, and one Athenian one. The first is the Mantinean Protolaus, the son of Dialces, who beat all the boys in boxing, b...

And next to the statue of Euthymus is that of Pytharchus of Mantinea, a runner in the course, and Charmides a boxer of Elis, both of whom received prizes as boys. And when you h...

Who made the statue of Socrates of Pellene, who won the race for boys, is not recorded, but the statue of Amertus of Elis, who defeated in wrestling all the men that came to the...

And the statue of Theognetus of Ægina, who was crowned for wrestling among the boys, is by Ptolichus of Ægina, the pupil of his father Synnoon, who was himself the pupil of Aris...

And next to those I have mentioned is Glaucus of Carystus, who they say was originally from Anthedon in Bœotia, and traced his descent from Glaucus the god of the sea. He was th...

Next to these are votive offerings of the people of Elis, as Philip the son of Amyntas, and Alexander the son of Philip, and Seleucus, and Antigonus; the statues of all but Anti...

And at no great distance is a brazen chariot and a man in it, and some race-horses are on each side of it, and boys on the horses. They are memorials of the victories in the Oly...

And the statue of Astylus of Croton is by Pythagoras, he was victorious at three Olympiads in succession in the stade and in the double course. But because in the two latter Oly...

And Pherias the Æginetan, whose statue is next the Athenian Aristophon, was not allowed in the 78th Olympiad to enter the contest because he appeared very young, and was not tho...

And Archippus of Mitylene, who beat all comers at boxing, had according to the Mitylenæans this further fame, that he was crowned at the Olympian Pythian Nemean and Isthmian gam...

Caprus won his victories not without great effort and mighty energy: and Anauchidas and Pherenicus, who were natives of Elis, had statues at Olympia, and won prizes for wrestlin...

What I have just mentioned are the most notable things as you approach Altis, but, if you go on the right from the monument of Leonidas to the great altar, you will behold the f...

And there is the brazen chariot of Cratisthenes of Cyrene, and Victory and Cratisthenes on the chariot. Plainly then he won his victory in the chariot race. There is a tradition...

And there is in Altis a base of tufa stone to the North of the temple of Hera, at its back is the mountain of Cronos. On this base are treasuries such as some of the Greeks have...

Cronos’ mountain is, as I have already said, behind the base, and extends the length of these treasuries. And on the summit of the mountain those that are called _Basilæ_ sacrif...

And the other part of the hippodrome is not an embankment, but a hill of no great size, on the top of which is a temple built to Demeter under the name of Chamyne. And some thin...

And if you go about a stade forward from this tomb there are traces of a temple of Artemis surnamed Cordace, because the attendants of Pelops used to offer their sacrifices to t...

And the notable things in Elis are an old gymnasium, in which before they go to Olympia the athletes go through all the customary training. There are some lofty plane-trees insi...

Another way out of the gymnasium leads to the market-place, and to what is called the Umpires’ Hall beyond the tomb of Achilles, and it is by this way that the Umpires are accus...

And next the market-place is an ancient temple, a colonnade with pillars all round. The roof is fallen in with age, and there is no statue remaining. It was dedicated to the Rom...

And the old theatre between the market-place and the temple of the goddess Mene is the theatre and temple of Dionysus, the statue of the god is by Praxiteles. And of all the god...