CHAPTER III.

“When it has lightened through Harma,”

The Pythaïstæ, as they are called, signify, by the order of an oracle, the occurrence of any lightning when they are looking in the direction of Harma, and despatch the sacrifice to Delphi whenever it is observed. They were to keep watch for three months, and for three days and nights in each month, at the altar of Jupiter Astrapius, or Dispenser of lightning. This altar is in the wall, between the Pythium and the Olympium. Respecting the Bœotian Harma, some say, that Amphiaraus fell in battle out of his chariot, [harma,] near the spot where his temple now stands, and that the chariot was drawn empty to the place, which bears the same name [Harma].342Others say, that the chariot of Adrastus, in his flight, was there dashed in pieces, but that he himself escaped on his horse Areion. According to Philochorus, his life was preserved by the inhabitants of the village; in consequence of which they obtained among the Argives the right of citizenship.

12. On going from Thebes to Argos,343on the left hand is Tanagra; and [near the road] on the right lies Hyria. Hyria now belongs to the Tanagrian territory, but formerly to the Thebais. Here Hyrieus is fabled to have lived, and here is the scene of the birth of Orion, which Pindar mentions in the dithyrambics. It is situated near Aulis. Some persons say that Hysiæ is called Hyria, which belongs to Parasopia, situated below Cithæron, near Erythræ, in the inland parts; it is a colony of the Hyrienses, and was founded by Nycteus, the father of Antiope. There is also in the Argive territory a village, Hysiæ, the inhabitants of which are called Hysiatæ. Erythræ in Ionia is a colony of this Erythræ.

Heleon, a Tanagrian village, has its name from (Hele) the marshes there.

13. After Salganeus is Anthedon, a city with a harbour, the last on the Bœotian coast towards Eubœa, as the poet says,

“Anthedon at the extremity.”344

As we proceed a little farther, there are besides two small towns, belonging to the Bœotians, Larymna, near which the Cephissus discharges its waters; and farther above, Halæ, of the same name as the Attic demus. Opposite to this coast is situated, it is said, Ægæ345in Eubœa, where is the temple of the Ægæan Neptune, of which we have before spoken. There is a passage across from Anthedon to Ægæ of 120 stadia, and from the other places much less than this. The temple is situated upon a lofty hill, where was once a city. Near Ægæ was Orobiæ.346In the Anthedonian territory is the mountain Messapius,347which has its name from Messapus, who when he came into Iapygia called it Messapia. Here is laid the scene of the fable respecting the Anthedonian Glaucus, who, it is said, was transformed into a sea-monster.348

14. Near Anthedon is a place called Isus, and esteemed sacred, belonging to Bœotia; it contains remains of a city, and the first syllable of Isus is short. Some persons are of opinion, that the verse ought to be written, Ἶσόν τε ζαθέην Ἀνθηδόνα τ’ ἐσχατόωσαν,

“The sacred Isus, and the extreme Anthedon,”

lengthening the first syllable by poetical licence for the sake of the metre, instead of Νῖσάν τε ζαθέην,

“The sacred Nisa;”

for Nisa is not to be found anywhere in Bœotia, as Apollodorus says in his observations on the Catalogue of the Ships;so that Nisa could not stand in this passage, unless by Nisa Homer meant Isus, for there was a city Nisa, in Megaris, from whence Isus was colonized, situated at the base of Cithæron, but it exists no longer.349Some however write Κρεῦσάν τε ζαθέην,

“The sacred Creusa,”

meaning the present Creusa, the arsenal of the Thespieans, situated on the Crisæan Gulf. Others write the passage Φαράς τε ζαθέας,

“The sacred Pharæ,”

Pharæ is one of the four villages, (or Tetracomiæ,) near Tanagra, namely, Heleon, Harma, Mycalessus, Pharæ. Others again write the passage thus, Νῦσάν τε ζαθέην,

“The sacred Nysa.”

Nysa is a village of Helicon.

Such then is the description of the sea-coast opposite Eubœa.

15. The places next in order, in the inland parts, are hollow plains, surrounded everywhere on the east and west by mountains; on the south by the mountains of Attica, on the north by those of Phocis: on the west, Cithæron inclines, obliquely, a little above the Crisæan Sea; it begins contiguous to the mountains of Megaris and Attica, and then makes a bend towards the plains, and terminates near the Theban territory.

16. Some of these plains become lakes, by rivers spreading over or falling into them and then flowing off. Some are dried up, and being very fertile, are cultivated in every possible way. But as the ground underneath is full of caverns and fissures, it has frequently happened, that violent earthquakes have obstructed some passages, and formed others under-ground, or on the surface, the water being carried off, either by subterranean channels, or by the formation of lakes and rivers on the surface. If the deep subterranean passages are stopped up, the waters of the lakes increase, so as to inundate and cover cities and whole districts, which become uncovered, if the same or other passages are again opened. The same regions are thus traversed in boats or on foot, accordingto circumstances; and the same cities are, occasionally, on the borders of, or at a distance from, a lake.

17. One of two things took place. The cities either retained their sites, when the rise of the water was insufficient to overflow the houses, or they were deserted and rebuilt in some other place, when the inhabitants, being frequently exposed to danger from their vicinity to the lake, released themselves from further apprehension, by changing to a more distant or higher situation. It followed that the cities thus rebuilt retained the same name. Formerly, they might have had a name derived from some accidental local circumstance, but now the site does not correspond with the derivation of the name. For example, it is probable that Platææ was so called, from πλάτη, or the flat part of the oar, and Platæans from gaining their livelihood by rowing; but at present, since they live at a distance from the lake, the name can no longer, with equal propriety, be derived from this local circumstance. Helos also, and Heleon, and Heilesium350were so called from their situation close to ἕλη, (Hele,) or marshes; but at present the case is different with all these places; either they have been rebuilt, or the lake has been greatly reduced in height by a subsequent efflux of its waters; for this is possible.

18. This is exemplified particularly in the Cephissus,351which fills the lake Copais.352When the increase of the water of that lake was so great, that Copæ was in danger of being swallowed up, (the city is mentioned by the poet, and from it the lake had its name,)353a fissure in the ground, which took place not far from the lake, and near Copæ, opened a subterraneous channel, of about 30 stadia in length, and received the river, which reappeared on the surface, near Upper Larymna in Locris; for, as has been mentioned, there is another Larymna, in Bœotia, on the sea, surnamed the Upper by the Romans. The place where the river rises again is called Anchoë, as also the lake near it. It is from this point that the Cephissus begins its course354to the sea. When the overflowing of the water ceased, there was also a cessation of danger to the inhabitants on the banks, but not before some cities had beenalready swallowed up. When the outlets were again obstructed, Crates the Miner, a man of Chalcis, began to clear away the obstructions, but desisted in consequence of the Bœotians being in a state of insurrection; although, as he himself says, in the letter to Alexander, many places had been already drained; among these, some writers supposed was the site of the ancient Orchomenus; others, that of Eleusis, and of Athens on the Triton. These cities are said to have been founded by Cecrops, when he ruled over Bœotia, then called Ogygia, but that they were afterwards destroyed by inundations. It is said, that there was a fissure in the earth near Orchomenus, that admitted the river Melas,355which flows through the territory of Haliartus, and forms there a marsh, where the reed grows of which the musical pipe is made.356But this river has entirely disappeared, being carried off by the subterraneous channels of the chasm, or absorbed by the lakes and marshes about Haliartus; whence the poet calls Haliartus grassy,

“And the grassy Haliartus.”357

19. These rivers descend from the Phocian mountains, and among them the Cephissus,358having its source at Lilæa, a Phocian city, as Homer describes it;

“And they who occupied Lilæa, at the sources of Cephissus.”359

It flows through Elateia,360the largest of the cities among the Phocians, through the Parapotamii, and the Phanoteis, which are also Phocian towns; it then goes onwards to Chæroneia in Bœotia; afterwards, it traverses the districts of Orchomenus and Coroneia, and discharges its waters into the lake Copais. The Permessus and the Olmeius361descend from Helicon, and uniting their streams, fall into the lake Copais near Haliartus. The waters of other streams likewise discharge themselves into it. It is a large lake with a circuit of 380 stadia;362the outlets are nowhere visible, if weexcept the chasm which receives the Cephissus, and the marshes.

20. Among the neighbouring lakes are Trephea363and Cephissis. Homer mentions it;

“Who dwelt in Hyla, intent upon amassing wealth, close to the lake Cephissis;”364

for he did not mean to specify the lake Copais, as some suppose, but that called Hylicus,365from the neighbouring village, which is called Hylæ: nor did he mean Hyda, as some write the passage,

“He lived in Hyda,”

for there is a place of this name in Lydia,

“at the foot of the snowy Tmolus, in the fruitful country of Hyda;”366

and another in Bœotia; he therefore adds to

“behind the lake Cephissis,”

these words,

“near dwelt other Bœotians.”

For the Copais is of great extent, and not situated in the Theban district, but the other is small, and filled from the former by subterraneous channels; it is situated between Thebes367and Anthedon. Homer however makes use of the word in the singular number, sometimes making the first syllable long by poetical licence, as in the Catalogue, ἠδ’ Ὕλην καὶ Πετεῶνα,368and sometimes shortening it, as in this instance; Ὅς ῥ’ ἐν Ὗλῃ ναίεσκε; and again, Tychius Σκυτοτόμων ὄχ’ ἄριστος Ὕλῃ ἔνι οἰκία ναίων.369Nor do some persons correctly write in this passage, Ὗδῃ ἔνι,

“In Hyda,”

for Ajax was not to send for his shield from Lydia.

21.370The lakes themselves would indicate the order inwhich the places stand, and thence it would be easy to perceive that the poet, when naming them, whether they were places of importance or otherwise, has observed no order. Indeed it would be difficult in the enumeration of so many places, obscure for the most part, and situated in the interior, to preserve a regular order. The sea-coast affords more convenient means of doing this; the places there are better known, and the sea affords greater facilities for marking their position. We shall therefore endeavour to take our point of departure from the sea-coast, and without further discussion, shall follow the poet in his enumeration of places; at the same time, taking from other sources whatever may prove useful to us, but which has been omitted by him. He begins from Hyria and Aulis, of which we have already spoken.

22. Schœnus371is a district of the Theban territory on the road to Anthedon, distant from Thebes about 50 stadia. A river of the name of Schœnus flows through it.

23. Scolus372is a village belonging to the district of Parasopia situated at the foot of Cithæron; it is a rugged place, and scarcely habitable, hence the proverbial saying,

“Neither go yourself, nor follow any one going to Scolus.”

It is said that Pentheus was brought from thence, and torn in pieces. There was among the cities near Olynthus another of the name of Scolus. We have said that in the Heracleian Trachinia there was a village of the name of Parasopii, beside which runs a river Asopus, and that there is another river Asopus in Sicyonia, and that the country through which it flows is called Asopia. There are however other rivers of the same name.

24. The name of Eteonus was changed to that of Scarphe, which belongs to Parasopia. [Parasopia belongs to the Thebais,] for the Asopus and the Ismenus flow through the plain in front of Thebes. There is the fountain Dirce, and also Potniæ, where is laid the fable of Glaucus of Potniæ, who was torn in pieces near the city by Potnian mares. The Cithæron373terminates not far from Thebes. The Asopus flows by it, and washes the foot of the mountain, and occasions the Parasopii to be distributed among several settlements, but all of these bodies of people are subject to theThebans. (Other writers say, that Scolus, Eteonus, and Erythræ, are in the district of Platææ, for the Asopus flows past Platææ, and discharges its waters into the sea near Tanagra.) In the Theban territory are Therapnæ and Teumessus, which Antimachus has extolled in a long poem, enumerating excellencies which it had not;

“There is a small hill exposed to the winds,” &c.:

but the lines are well known.

25. He calls the present place Thespiæ374by the name of Thespia, for there are many names, of which some are used both in the singular and in the plural number, in the masculine and in the feminine gender, and some in either one or the other only. It is a city close to Helicon, lying more to the south. The city itself and Helicon are situated on the Crisæan Gulf. Thespiæ has an arsenal Creusa, or, as it is also named, Creusia. In the Thespian territory, in the part lying towards Helicon, is Ascra,375the birth-place of Hesiod. It is on the right of Helicon, situated upon a lofty and rocky spot, at the distance of about 40 stadia from Thespiæ. Hesiod has satirized it in verses addressed to his father, for formerly emigrating (to this place) from Cume in Ætolia, as follows:

“He dwelt near Helicon in a wretched village, Ascra; bad in winter, in summer intolerable, and worthless at any season.”376

Helicon is contiguous to Phocis on its northern, and partly on its western side, as far as the last harbour of Phocis, which is called from its characteristic situation, Mychus, or the Recess.

Just above this part of the Crisæan Gulf, Helicon, Ascra, Thespiæ, and its arsenal Creusa, are situated. This is considered as the part of the Crisæan and of the Corinthian Gulf which recedes most inland. The coast extends 90 stadia from the recess of the harbour to Creusa, and thence 120 as far as the promontory called Holmiæ. In the most retired part of the Crisæan Gulf, Pagæ and Œnoa, which I have already mentioned, are situated.

Helicon, not far distant from Parnassus, rivals it in height377and circumference. Both mountains are covered with snow, and are rocky. They do not occupy a circuit of ground of great extent. There are, the fane of the Muses, the Horse-fountain Hippocrene,378and the grottoes of the nymphs, the Leibethrides. Hence it might be conjectured, that Helicon was consecrated to the Muses, by Thracians, who dedicated also Pieris, the Leibethrum, and Pimpleia to the same goddesses. The Thracians were called Pieres, and since their expulsion, the Macedonians possess these places.

It has been remarked, that the Thracians, (having expelled the Bœotians by force,) and the Pelasgi, and other barbarous people, settled in this part of Bœotia.

Thespiæ was formerly celebrated for a statue of Cupid by Praxiteles. Glycera the courtesan, a native of Thespiæ, received it as a present from the artist, and dedicated it as a public offering to her fellow-citizens.

Persons formerly used to repair thither to see the Cupid, where there was nothing else worth seeing. This city, and Tanagra, alone of the Bœotian cities exist at present, while of others there remain nothing but ruins and names.

26. After Thespiæ the poet enumerates Graia and Mycalessus, of which we have before spoken.

He proceeds as before,

“They who lived near Harma, Eilesium, and Erythræ,And they who occupied Eleon, Hyle, and Peteon.”379

“They who lived near Harma, Eilesium, and Erythræ,

And they who occupied Eleon, Hyle, and Peteon.”379

Peteon is a village of the Thebais near the road to Anthedon. Ocalea is midway between Haliartus,380and Alalcomenæ,381it is distant from each 30 stadia. A small river of the same name flows by it. Medeon, belonging to Phocis, is on the Crisæan Gulf, distant from Bœotia 160 stadia. The Medeon of Bœotia has its name from that in Phocis. It is near Onchestus, under the mountain Phœnicium,382whence it has the appellation of Phœnicis. This mountain is likewise assigned to the Theban district, but by others to the territories of Haliartus, as also Medeon and Ocalea.

27. Homer afterwards names,

“Copæ, and Eutresis, and Thisbe, abounding with doves.”383

We have spoken of Copæ. It lies towards the north on the lake Copais. The other cities around are, Acræphiæ, Phœnicis, Onchestus, Haliartus, Ocalea, Alalcomenæ, Tilphusium, Coroneia. Formerly, the lake had no one general name, but derived its appellation from every settlement on its banks, as Copaïs from Copæ,384Haliartis from Haliartus, and other names from other places, but latterly the whole has been called Copaïs, for the lake is remarkable for forming at Copæ the deepest hollow. Pindar calls it Cephissis, and places near it, not far from Haliartus and Alalcomenæ, the fountain Tilphossa, which flows at the foot of Mount Tilphossius. At the fountain is the monument of Teiresias, and in the same place the temple of the Tilphossian Apollo.

28. After Copæ, the poet mentions Eutresis, a small village of the Thespians.385Here Zethus and Amphion lived before they became kings of Thebes.

Thisbē is now called Thisbæ. The place is situated a little above the sea-coast on the confines of the Thespienses, and the territory of Coroneia; on the south it lies at the foot of Cithæron. It has an arsenal in a rocky situation abounding with doves, whence the poet terms it

“Thisbe, with its flights of doves.”

Thence to Sicyon is a voyage of 160 stadia.

29. He next recites the names of Coroneia, Haliartus, Platææ, and Glissas.

Coroneia386is situated upon an eminence, near Helicon. The Bœotians took possession of it on their return from the Thessalian Arne, after the Trojan war, when they also occupied Orchomenus. Having become masters of Coroneia, they built in the plain before the city the temple of the Itonian Minerva, of the same name as that in Thessaly, and called the riverflowing by it, Cuarius, the name of the Thessalian river. Alcæus, however, calls it Coralius in these words,

“Minerva, warrior queen, who o’er Coroneia keepest watch before thy temple, on the banks of Coralius.”

The festival Pambœotia was here celebrated. Hades is associated with Minerva, in the dedication of the temple, for some mystical reason. The inhabitants of the Bœotian Coroneia are called Coronii, those of the Messenian Coroneia, Coronenses.

30. Haliartus387is no longer in existence, it was razed in the war against Perseus. The territory is occupied by the Athenians, to whom it was given by the Romans. It was situated in a narrow spot between an overhanging mountain and the lake Copaïs, near the Permessus, the Olmeïus, and the marsh that produces the flute-reed.

31. Platææ, which the poet uses in the singular number, lies at the foot of Cithæron, between this mountain and Thebes, on the road to Athens and Megara; it is on the borders of Attica and Bœotia, for Eleutheræ is near, which some say belongs to Attica, others to Bœotia. We have said that the Asopus flows beside Platææ. There the army of the Greeks entirely destroyed Mardonius and three hundred thousand Persians. They dedicated there a temple to Jupiter Eleutherius, and instituted gymnastic games, called Eleutheria, in which the victor was crowned. The tombs erected at the public expense, in honour of those who died in the battle, are to be seen there. In the Sicyonian district is a demus called Platææ, where the poet Mnasalces was born:

“the monument of Mnasalces of Platææ.”

Glissas,388Homer says, is a village on Mount Hypatus, which is near Teumessus and Cadmeia, in the Theban territory. * * * * * * * beneath is what is called the Aonian plain, which extends from Mount Hypatus [to Cadmeia?].389

32. By these words of the poet,

“those who occupied under Thebes,”390

some understand a small town, called Under-Thebes, others Potniæ, for Thebes was abandoned after the expedition of the Epigoni, and took no part in the Trojan war. Others say that they did take part in it, but that they lived at that time under Cadmeia, in the plain country, after the incursion of the Epigoni, being unable to rebuild the Cadmeia. As Thebes was called Cadmeia, the poet says that the Thebans of that time lived “under Thebes” instead of “under Cadmeia.”

33. The Amphictyonic council usually assembled at Onchestus, in the territory of Haliartus, near the lake Copaïs, and the Teneric plain. It is situated on a height, devoid of trees, where is a temple of Neptune also without trees. For the poets, for the sake of ornament, called all sacred places groves, although they were without trees. Such is the language of Pindar, when speaking of Apollo:

“He traversed in his onward way the earth and sea; he stood upon the heights of the lofty mountains; he shook the caves in their deep recesses, and overthrew the foundations of the sacred groves” or temples.

As Alcæus is mistaken in the altering the name of the river Cuarius, so he makes a great error in placing Onchestus at the extremities of Helicon, whereas it is situated very far from this mountain.

34. The Teneric plain has its name from Tenerus. According to mythology, he was the son of Apollo and Melia, and declared the answers of the oracle at the mountain Ptoum,391which, the same poet says, had three peaks:

“At one time he occupied the caves of the three-headed Ptoum;”

and he calls Tenerus

“the prophet, dwelling in the temple, and having the same name as the soil on which it stands.”

The Ptoum is situated above the Teneric plain, and the lake Copaïs, near Acræphium.

Both the oracle and the mountain belonged to the Thebans.

Acræphium392itself is situated upon a height. This, it is said, is the place called Arnē by the poet, having the same name as the Thessalian Arnē.

35. Some say that Arnē and Mideia were swallowed up by the lake. Zenodotus, however, when he writes the verse thus,

“they who occupied Ascra abounding with vines,”393

does not seem to have read Hesiod’s description of his native country, and what has been said by Eudoxus, who relates things much more to the disparagement of Ascra. For how could any one believe that such a place could have been described by the poet as

“abounding with vines?”

Neither are those persons in the right, who substitute in this passage Tarnē for Arnē, for there is not a place of the name of Tarne to be found in Bœotia, although there is in Lydia. Homer mentions it,

“Idomeneus then slew Phæstus, the son of Borus, the artificer, who came from the fruitful soil of Tarnē.”394

Besides Alalcomenæ and Tilphossium, which are near the lake, Chæroneia, Lebadia, and Leuctra, are worthy of notice.

36. The poet mentions Alalcomenæ,395but not in the Catalogue;

“the Argive Juno and Minerva of Alalcomenæ.”396

It has an ancient temple of Minerva, which is held in great veneration. It is said that this was the place of her birth, as Argos was that of Juno, and that Homer gave to both these goddesses designations derived from their native places. Perhaps for this reason he has not mentioned, in the Catalogue, the inhabitants; for having a sacred character, they were exempted from military service. Indeed the city has never suffered devastation by an enemy, although it is inconsiderable in size, and its position is weak, for it is situated in a plain.

All in reverence to the goddess abstained from every act of violence; wherefore the Thebans, at the time of the expedition of the Epigoni, abandoning their own city, are said to have taken refuge here, and on the strong mountain above it, the Tilphossium.397Below Tilphossium is the fountain Tilphossa, and the monument of Teiresias, who died there on the retreat.

37. Chæroneia398is near Orchomenus,399where Philip, the son of Amyntas, after having overcome, in a great battle,400the Athenians, Bœotians, and Corinthians, became the master of Greece. There are seen the sepulchres erected at the public charge of the persons who fell in that battle.

38. At Lebadeia401is the oracle of Jupiter Trophonius, having a descent through an opening, which leads under-ground. The person himself, who consults the oracle, descends into it. It is situated between Helicon and Chæroneia, near Coroneia.

39. Leuctra402is the place where Epaminondas overcame the Lacedæmonians in a great battle, and first weakened their power; for after that time they were never able to regain the supremacy over the Greeks, which they before possessed, and particularly after they were defeated in a second battle at Mantinea. Even after these reverses they preserved their independence until the establishment of the Roman dominion, and were always respected by that people on account of the excellency of their form of government. The field of battle is shown on the road which leads from Platææ to Thespiæ.

40. The poet next mentions the Orchomenians in the Catalogue, and distinguishes them from the Bœotian nation. He gives to Orchomenus the epithet Minyeian from the nation of the Minyæ. They say that a colony of the Minyeians went hence to Iolcus,403and from this circumstance the Argonauts were called Minyæ. It appears that, anciently, it was a richand very powerful city. Homer bears witness to its wealth, for in his enumeration of places of great opulence, he says,

“Not all that is brought to Orchomenus, or to Ægyptian Thebes.”404

Of its power there is this proof, that the Thebans always paid tribute to the Orchomenians, and to Erginus their king, who it is said was put to death by Hercules. Eteocles, one of the kings that reigned at Orchomenus, first displayed both wealth and power. He built a temple dedicated to the Graces, who were thus honoured by him, either because he had been fortunate in receiving or conferring favours, or perhaps for both these reasons.

[For one who was inclined thus to honour these goddesses, must have been naturally disposed to be a benefactor, and he must have possessed the power. But for this purpose wealth is required. For he who has not much cannot give much, nor can he who does not receive much possess much; but when giving and receiving unite, then there is a just exchange. For a vessel which is simultaneously emptied and filled is always full; but he who gives and does not receive cannot succeed in either giving or receiving, for the giver must desist from giving from failure of means. Givers also will desist from giving to him who receives only, and confers no benefits, so that he must fail in receiving. The same may be said of power. For independently of the common saying,

“That money is the thing most highly valued,And has the greatest influence in human affairs,”405

“That money is the thing most highly valued,

And has the greatest influence in human affairs,”405

we may examine the subject more in detail. We say, for example, that kings have the greatest power, (μάλιστα δύνασθαι,) whence the name, dynasty. Their power is exerted by leading the multitude whither they like, by persuasion or by force. Their power of persuasion chiefly rests in doing acts of kindness; for persuasion by words is not princely, but belongs to the orator. By princely persuasion, I mean, when kings direct and lead men whither they please by acts of kindness. They persuade by acts of kindness, but compel by means of arms. Both power and possessions may be purchased by money. For he has the largest body of forces, who is able to maintain the largest; and he who has the largest possessions, can confer the greatest benefits.406]

The spot which the present lake Copaïs occupies, was formerly, it is said, dry ground, and was cultivated in various ways by the Orchomenians, who lived near it; and this is alleged as a proof of wealth.

41. Some persons use the word Aspledon407without the first syllable, Spledon. The name both of the city and of the territory was changed to Eudeielos,408which expressed perhaps some peculiar advantage the inhabitants derived from their western position, and especially the mild winters. The extreme parts of the day are the coldest. Of these the evening is colder than the morning, for as night approaches the cold is more intense, and as night retires the cold abates. The severity of the cold is mitigated by the heat of the sun, and the part which during the coldest season has received most of the sun’s heat, is mildest in winter.

It is distant from Orchomenus40920 stadia. The river Melas is between them.

42. Panopeus, a Phocian city, and Hyampolis410are situated above Orchomenus. Opus, the metropolis of the Locri Epicnemidii, borders upon these places. It is said, that Orchomenus was formerly situated on a plain, but, as the waters overflowed, the settlers removed to the mountain Acontium, which extends 60 stadia in length, as far as Parapotamii in Phocis. It is said, that those people, who are called Achæi in Pontus, are colonists from the Orchomenians, who, after the capture of Troy, wandered thither under the conduct of Ialmenus. There was also an Orchomenus near Carystus.

The writers on the Catalogue of Ships [in Homer], have furnished us with these materials, and they have been followed, wherever they introduced anything adapted to the design of this work.

1.Nextto Bœotia and Orchomenus is Phocis, lying along the side of Bœotia to the north, and, anciently, nearly from seato sea. For at that time Daphnus belonged to Phocis, dividing Locris into two parts, and situated midway between the Opuntian Gulf and the sea-coast of the Epicnemidii. At present, however, the district belongs to the Locri; but the town is in ruins, so that Phocis no longer extends to the sea opposite Eubœa; but it is close to the Crisæan Gulf. For Crisa itself belongs to Phocis, and is situated immediately upon the sea. Cirrha, Anticyra,411and the places above them, in the interior near Parnassus in continuous succession, namely, Delphi,412Cirphis, and Daulis,413belong to Phocis, so also Parnassus itself, which is the boundary of the western side.

In the same manner as Phocis lies along the side of Bœotia, so are both the divisions of Locris situated with respect to Phocis, for Locris is composed of two parts, being divided by Parnassus. The western part lies along the side of Parnassus, occupies a portion of it, and extends to the Crisæan Gulf; the eastern part terminates at the sea near Eubœa. The inhabitants of the former are called Locri Hesperii, or Locri Ozolæ, and have engraven on their public seal the star Hesperus. The rest are again divided into two bodies: one, the Opuntii, who have their name from the chief city, and border upon the Phocæans and Bœotians; the other, the Epicnemidii, who have their name from the mountain Cnemis;414and adjoin the Œtæi, and the Malienses. In the midst of the Hesperii, and the other Locri, is Parnassus, lying lengthwise towards the northern part, and extending from the neighbourhood of Delphi to the junction of the Œtæan, and the Ætolian mountains, and to the Dorians, who are situated between them. For as both divisions of Locris extend along the side of Phocis, so also the region of Œta with Ætolia, and some of the places situated in the Doric Tetrapolis, extend along the sides of the two Locri, Parnassus and the Dorians. Immediately above these are situated the Thessalians, the northern Ætolians, the Acarnanians, and some of the Epirotic and Macedonian nations, as I observed before, the above-mentioned tracts of country may be considered as a kind of parallel bands stretching from the west to the east.

The whole of Parnassus is esteemed sacred, it contains caves, and other places, which are regarded with honour andreverence. Of these the most celebrated and the most beautiful is Corycium, a cave of the nymphs, having the same name as that in Cilicia. Of the sides of Parnassus, the western is occupied by the Locri Ozolæ, and by some of the Dorians, and by the Ætoli, situated near Corax, an Ætolian mountain. The eastern side is occupied by Phocians and by the greater part of the Dorians, who hold the Tetrapolis, situated as it were round the side of Parnassus, but spreading out in the largest extent towards the east. The sides of the above-mentioned tracts and each of the bands are parallel, one side being northern, and the other southern. The western sides, however, are not parallel to the eastern, for the sea-coast from the Crisæan Gulf to Actium415is not parallel to the coast opposite Eubœa, and extending to Thessalonica. It is on these shores the above-mentioned nations terminate. For the figure of these countries is to be understood from the notion of lines drawn parallel to the base of a triangle, where the separate parts lie parallel to one another, and have their sides in latitude parallel, but not their sides in longitude. This is a rough sketch of the country which remains to be examined. We shall examine each separate part in order, beginning with Phocis.

2. The two most celebrated cities of this country are Delphi and Elateia. Delphi is renowned for the temple of the Pythian Apollo, and the antiquity of its oracle; since Agamemnon is said by the poet to have consulted it; for the minstrel is introduced singing of the

“fierce contest of Ulysses, and Achilles, the son of Peleus, how once they contended together, and Agamemnon king of men was pleased, for so Phœbus Apollo had foretold by the oracle in the illustrious Pytho.”416

Delphi then was celebrated on this account. Elateia was famous as being the largest of the cities in that quarter, and for its very convenient position upon the straits; for he, who is the master of this city, commands the entrances into Phocis and Bœotia. First, there are the Œtæan mountains, next the mountains of the Locri, and the Phocians; they are not every where passable for invading armies, coming from Thessaly, but having narrow passes distinct from each other, which the adjacent cities guard. Those, who take the cities, are mastersof the passes also. But since from its celebrity the temple at Delphi possesses a pre-eminence, this, together with the position of the places, (for they are the most westerly parts of Phocis,) suggest a natural commencement of our description, and we shall begin from thence.

3. We have remarked, that Parnassus itself is situated on the western boundaries of Phocis. The western side of this mountain is occupied by the Locri Ozolæ; on the southern is Delphi, a rocky spot, resembling in shape a theatre; on its summit is the oracle, and also the city, which comprehends a circle of 16 stadia. Above it lies Lycoreia; here the Delphians were formerly settled above the temple. At present they live close to it around the Castalian fountain. In front of the city, on the southern part, is Cirphis, a precipitous hill, leaving in the intermediate space a wooded ravine, through which the river Pleistus flows. Below Cirphis near the sea is Cirrha, an ancient city, from which there is an ascent to Delphi of about 80 stadia. It is situated opposite to Sicyon. Adjoining to Cirrha is the fertile Crisæan plain. Again, next in order follows another city Crisa, from which the Crisæan Gulf has its name; then Anticyra,417of the same name as the city, on the Maliac Gulf, and near Œta. The best hellebore is said to grow in the Maliac Anticyra,418but here it is prepared in a better manner; on this account many persons resort hither for the purpose of experiencing its purgative qualities, and of being cured of their maladies. In the Phocian territory there is found a medicinal plant, resembling Sesamum, (Sesamoides,) with which the Œtæan hellebore is prepared.

4. Anticyra still remains, but Cirrha and Crisa419are in ruins; Cirrha was destroyed by the Crisæans; and Crisa, afterwards, by Eurylochus the Thessalian, in the Crisæan war; for the Crisæi enriched themselves by duties levied on merchandise brought from Sicily and Italy, and laid grievous imposts on those who resorted to the temple, contrary to the decrees of the Amphictyons. The same was the case with the Amphissenses, who belong to the Locri Ozolæ. This people made an irruption into the country, and took possession of Crisa, and restored it. The plain, which had been consecratedby the Amphictyons, was diligently cultivated, but strangers were more harshly treated than by the Crisæans before them. The Amphictyons punished them and restored the territory to the god. The temple at Delphi is now much neglected, although formerly it was held in the greatest veneration. Proofs of the respect which was paid to it are, the treasuries constructed at the expense of communities and princes, where was deposited the wealth dedicated to sacred uses, the works of the most eminent artists, the Pythian games, and a multitude of celebrated oracles.

5. The place where the oracle is delivered, is said to be a deep hollow cavern, the entrance to which is not very wide. From it rises up an exhalation which inspires a divine frenzy: over the mouth is placed a lofty tripod on which the Pythian priestess ascends to receive the exhalation, after which she gives the prophetic response in verse or prose. The prose is adapted to measure by poets who are in the service of the temple. Phemonoë is said to have been the first Pythian prophetess, and both the prophetess and the city obtained their appellation from the word Pythesthai, to inquire, (πυθέσθαι). The first syllable was lengthened, as in the words ἀθάνατος, ἀκάματος, διάκονος.

420[The establishment of cities, and the honour paid to common temples, are due to the same feelings and causes. Men were collected together into cities and nations, from a natural disposition to society, and for the purpose of mutual assistance. Hence common temples were resorted to, festivals celebrated, and meetings held of the general body of the people. For friendship commences from and is promoted by attending the same feasts, uniting in the same worship, and dwelling under the same roof. The advantages derived from these meetings were naturally estimated from the number of persons who attended them, as also from the number of places from whence they came.]

6. Although the highest honour was paid to this temple on account of the oracle, (for it was the most exempt of any from deception,) yet its reputation was owing in part to its situation in the centre of all Greece, both within and without the isthmus. It was also supposed to be the centre of the habitableearth, and was called the Navel of the earth. A fable, referred to by Pindar, was invented, according to which two eagles, (or, as others say, two crows,) set free by Jupiter, one from the east, the other from the west, alighted together at Delphi. In the temple is seen a sort of navel wrapped in bands, and surmounted by figures representing the birds of the fable.

7. As the situation of Delphi is convenient, persons easily assembled there, particularly those from the neighbourhood, of whom the Amphictyonic body is composed. It is the business of this body to deliberate on public affairs, and to it is more particularly intrusted the guardianship of the temple for the common good; for large sums of money were deposited there, and votive offerings, which required great vigilance and religious care. The early history of this body is unknown, but among the names which are recorded, Acrisius appears to have been the first who regulated its constitution, to have determined what cities were to have votes in the council, and to have assigned the number of votes and mode of voting. To some cities he gave a single vote each, or a vote to two cities, or to several cities conjointly. He also defined the class of questions which might arise between the different cities, which were to be submitted to the decision of the Amphictyonic tribunal; and subsequently many other regulations were made, but this body, like that of the Achæans, was finally dissolved.

At first twelve cities are said to have assembled, each of which sent a Pylagoras. The convention was held twice a year, in spring and autumn. But latterly a greater number of cities assembled. They called both the vernal and the autumnal convention Pylæan, because it was held at Pylæ, which has the name also of Thermopylæ. The Pylagoræ sacrificed to Ceres.

In the beginning, the persons in the neighbourhood only assembled, or consulted the oracle, but afterwards people repaired thither from a distance for this purpose, sent gifts, and constructed treasuries, as Crœsus, and his father Alyattes, some of the Italians also, and the Siceli (Sicilians).

8. But the wealth, being an object of cupidity, was guarded with difficulty, although dedicated to sacred uses. At present, however, whatever it might have been, the temple atDelphi is exceedingly poor. Some of the offerings have been taken away for the sake of the money, but the greater part remain there. It is true that the temple was once very opulent, as Homer testifies;

“Nor all the wealth, which the marble threshold of Phœbus Apollo, the Archer, (Aphetor,)421contains in the rocky Pytho.”422

The treasuries indicate its riches, and the plunder committed by the Phocians, which gave rise to the Phocic or Sacred war, as it was called. It is however supposed that a spoliation of the temple must have taken place at some more remote period, when the wealth mentioned by Homer disappeared; for no vestige of it whatever was preserved to later times, when Onomarchus and Phayllus pillaged the temple, as the property [then] removed was of a more recent date than that referred to by the poet. For there were once deposited in the treasuries, offerings from spoils, bearing inscriptions with the names of the donors, as of Gyges, of Crœsus, of the Sybaritæ, of the Spinetæ on the Adriatic, and of others also. It would be unbecoming to suppose423that modern and ancient treasures were confounded together: other places pillaged by these people confirm this view.

Some persons, however, understanding the word Aphetor to signify treasure, and the threshold of the aphetor the repository of the treasure under-ground, say, that this wealth was buried beneath the temple, and that Onomarchus and his companions attempted to dig it up by night; violent shocks of an earthquake caused them to fly out of the temple, and desist from their excavation; thus others were impressed with a dread of making similar attempts.

9. Of the shrines, the winged shrine424is to be placed among fabulous stories. The second is said to have been the workmanship of Trophonius and Agamedes, but the present shrine425was built by the Amphictyons. A tomb of Neoptolemus is shown in the sacred enclosure. It was built accordingto the injunction of an oracle. Neoptolemus was killed by Machæreus, a Delphian, when, as the fable goes, he was seeking redress from the god for the murder of his father, but, probably, he was preparing to pillage the temple. Branchus, who presided over the temple at Didyma, is said to have been a descendant of Machæreus.

10. There was anciently a contest held at Delphi, of players on the cithara, who executed a pæan in honour of the god. It was instituted by Delphians. But after the Crisæan war the Amphictyons, in the time of Eurylochus, established contests for horses, and gymnastic sports, in which the victor was crowned. These were called Pythian games. The players426on the cithara were accompanied by players on the flute, and by citharists,427who performed without singing. They performed a strain (Melos),428called the Pythian mood (Nomos).429It consisted of five parts; the anacrusis, the ampeira, cataceleusmus, iambics and dactyls, and pipes.430Timosthenes, the commander of the fleet of the Second Ptolemy, and who was the author of a work in ten books on Harbours, composed a melos. His object was to celebrate in this melos the contest of Apollo with the serpent Python. The anacrusis was intended to express the prelude; the ampeira, the first onset of the contest; the cataceleusmus, the contest itself; the iambics and dactyls denoted the triumphal strain on obtaining the victory, together with musical measures, of which the dactyl is peculiarly appropriated to praise, and the use of the iambic to insult and reproach; the syringes or pipes described the death, the players imitating the hissings of the expiring monster.431

11. Ephorus, whom we generally follow, on account of his exactness in these matters, (as Polybius, a writer of repute, testifies,) seems to proceed contrary to his proposed plan, and to the promise which he made at the beginning of his work. For after having censured those writers who are fond of intermixing fable with history, and after having spoken in praise of truth, he introduces, with reference to this oracle, a grave declaration, that he considers truth preferable at alltimes, but especially in treating subjects of this kind. For it is absurd, he says, if, in other things, we constantly follow this practice, but that when we come to speak of the oracle, which of all others is the most exempt from deception, we should introduce tales so incredible and false. Yet immediately afterwards he says, that it is the received opinion that Apollo, by the aid of Themis, established this oracle with a view to benefit the human race. He then explains these benefits, by saying, that men were invited to pursue a more civilized mode of life, and were taught maxims of wisdom by oracles; by injunctions to perform or to abstain, or by positive refusal to attend to the prayers of petitioners. Some, he says, suppose, that the god himself in a bodily form directs these things; others, that he communicates an intimation of his will to men [by words].

12. And lower down, when speaking of the Delphians and their origin, he says, that certain persons, called Parnassii, an indigenous tribe, anciently inhabited Parnassus, about which time Apollo, traversing the country, reclaimed men from their savage state, by inducing them to adopt a more civilized mode of life and subsistence; that, setting out from Athens on his way to Delphi, he took the same road along which the Athenians at present conduct the procession of the Pythias; that when he arrived at the Panopeis, he put to death Tityus, who was master of the district, a violent and lawless man; that the Parnassii having joined him informed him of Python, another desperate man, surnamed the Dragon. Whilst he was despatching this man with his arrows, they shouted, Hie Paian;432whence has been transmitted the custom of singing the Pæan before the onset of a battle; that after the death of the Python the Delphians burnt even his tent, as they still continue to burn a tent in memorial of these events. Now what can be more fabulous than Apollo discharging his arrows, chastising Tityi and Pythons, his journey from Athens to Delphi, and his travels over the whole country? If he did not consider these as fables, why did he call the fabulous Themis a woman, and the fabulous dragon a man, unless he intended to confound the provinces of history and fable. His account of the Ætolians is similar to this. After havingasserted that their country was never ravaged at any period, he says, that at one time it was inhabited by Ætolians, who had expelled the Barbarians; that at another time, Ætolus, together with the Epeii from Elis, inhabited it; [that Ætolus was overthrown by the Epeii,] and these again by Alcmæon and Diomedes.

I now return to the Phocians.

13. Immediately on the sea-coast, next after Anticyra,433and behind434it, is the small city Marathus; then a promontory, Pharygium, which has a shelter for vessels; then the harbour at the farthest end, called Mychus,435from the accident of its situation between Helicon436and Ascra.

Nor is Abæ,437the seat of an oracle, far from these places, nor Ambrysus,438nor Medeon, of the same name as a city in Bœotia.

In the inland parts, next after Delphi, towards the east is Daulis,439a small town, where, it is said, Tereus, the Thracian, was prince; and there they say is the scene of the fable of Philomela and Procne; Thucydides lays it there; but other writers refer it to Megara. The name of the place is derived from the thickets there, for they call thickets Dauli. Homer calls it Daulis, but subsequent writers Daulia, and the words

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