Pausanias, Description of Greece, ed. Friedrich Spiro, 10.15

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[1]
Φρύνης δὲ εἰκόνα ἐπίχρυσον Πραξιτέλης μὲν εἰργάσατο ἐραστὴς καὶ οὗτος, ἀνάθημα δὲ αὐτῆς Φρύνης ἐστὶν ἡ εἰκών. τὰ δὲ ἐφεξῆς ταύτῃ, τὰ μὲν ἀγάλματα τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος Ἐπιδαύριοι τὸ ἕτερον οἱ ἐν τῇ Ἀργολίδι ἀπὸ Μήδων, τὸ δὲ αὐτῶν Μεγαρεῖς ἀνέθεσαν Ἀθηναίους μάχῃ πρὸς Νισαίᾳ κρατήσαντες· Πλαταιέων δὲ βοῦς ἐστιν, ἡνίκα ἐν τῇ σφετέρᾳ καὶ οὗτοι Μαρδόνιον τὸν Γωβρύου μετὰ Ἑλλήνων ἠμύναντο ἄλλων. καὶ αὖθις δύο Ἀπόλλωνος, τὸ μὲν Ἡρακλεωτῶν τῶν πρὸς τῷ Εὐξείνῳ, τὸ δὲ Ἀμφικτυόνων ἐστίν, ὅτε Φωκεῦσιν ἐπεργαζομένοις τοῦ θεοῦ τὴν χώραν ἐπέβαλον χρημάτων ζημίαν·

[2] ὁ δὲ Ἀπόλλων οὗτος καλεῖται μὲν ὑπὸ Δελφῶν Σιτάλκας, μέγεθος δὲ πέντε πηχῶν καὶ τριάκοντά ἐστι. στρατηγοὶ δὲ οἱ πολλοὶ καὶ Ἀρτέμιδος, τὸ δὲ Ἀθηνᾶς, δύο τε Ἀπόλλωνος ἀγάλματα ἔστιν Αἰτωλῶν, ἡνίκα σφίσιν ἐξειργάσθη τὰ ἐς Γαλάτας. στρατιὰν δὲ τὴν Κελτῶν, ὡς ἐκ τῆς Εὐρώπης διαβήσοιτο ἐς τὴν Ἀσίαν ἐπʼ ὀλέθρῳ τῶν πόλεων, Φαεννὶς προεδήλωσεν ἐν τοῖς χρησμοῖς γενεᾷ πρότερον ἢ ἐπράχθη τὸ ἔργον·

[3]

ἦ τότʼ ἀμειψάμενος στεινὸν πόρον Ἑλλησπόντου

† αὐδήσει Γαλατῶν ὀλοὸς στρατός, οἵ ῥʼ ἀθεμίστως

Ἀσίδα πορθήσουσι· θεὸς δʼ ἔτι κύντερα θήσει

πάγχυ μάλʼ, οἳ ναίουσι παρʼ ἠϊόνεσσι θαλάσσης—

εἰς ὀλίγον· τάχα γάρ σφιν ἀοσσητῆρα Κρονίων

ὁρμήσει, ταύροιο διοτρεφέος φίλον υἱόν,

ὃς πᾶσιν Γαλάτῃσιν ὀλέθριον ἦμαρ ἐφήσει.

παῖδα δὲ εἶπε ταύρου τὸν ἐν Περγάμῳ βασιλεύσαντα Ἄτταλον· τὸν δὲ αὐτὸν τοῦτον καὶ ταυρόκερων προσείρηκε χρηστήριον.

[4]
ἱππικοῦ δὲ ἡγεμόνας ἀναβεβηκότας ἐπὶ ἵππους Φεραῖοι παρὰ τῷ Ἀπόλλωνι ἔστησαν τρεψάμενοι τὴν Ἀττικὴν ἵππον.
τὸν δὲ φοίνικα ἀνέθεσαν Ἀθηναῖοι τὸν χαλκοῦν, καὶ αὐτὸν καὶ Ἀθηνᾶς ἄγαλμα ἐπίχρυσον ἐπὶ τῷ φοίνικι, ἀπὸ ἔργων ὧν ἐπʼ Εὐρυμέδοντι ἐν ἡμέρᾳ τῇ αὐτῇ τὸ μὲν πεζῇ, τὸ δὲ ναυσὶν ἐν τῷ ποταμῷ κατώρθωσαν. τούτου τοῦ ἀγάλματος ἐνιαχοῦ τὸν ἐπʼ αὐτῷ χρυσὸν ἐθεώμην λελυμασμένον.

[5] ἐγὼ μὲν δὴ τὸ ἔγκλημα ἐς κακούργους τε ἦγον καὶ φῶρας ἀνθρώπους· Κλειτόδημος δέ, ὁπόσοι τὰ Ἀθηναίων ἐπιχώρια ἔγραψαν ὁ ἀρχαιότατος, οὗτος ἐν τῷ λόγῳ φησὶ τῷ Ἀττικῷ, ὅτε Ἀθηναῖοι παρεσκευάζοντο ἐπὶ Σικελίᾳ τὸν στόλον, ὡς ἔθνος τι ἄπειρον κοράκων κατῆρε τότε ἐς Δελφούς, καὶ περιέκοπτόν τε τοῦ ἀγάλματος τούτου καὶ ἀπέρρησσον τοῖς ῥάμφεσιν ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ τὸν χρυσόν· λέγει δὲ καὶ ὡς τὸ δόρυ καὶ τὰς γλαῦκας καὶ ὅσος καρπὸς ἐπὶ τῷ φοίνικι ἐπεποίητο ἐς μίμησιν τῆς ὀπώρας, κατακλάσαιεν καὶ ταῦτα οἱ κόρακες.

[6] Ἀθηναίοις μὲν δὴ καὶ ἄλλα σημεῖα μὴ ἐκπλεῦσαι σφᾶς ἀπαγορεύοντα ἐς 0 Σικελίαν διηγήσατο ὁ Κλειτόδημος, Κυρηναῖοι δὲ ἀνέθεσαν ἐν Δελφοῖς Βάττον ἐπὶ ἅρματι, ὃς ἐς Λιβύην ἤγαγε σφᾶς ναυσὶν ἐκ Θήρας. ἡνίοχος μὲν τοῦ ἅρματός ἐστι Κυρήνη, ἐπὶ δὲ τῷ ἅρματι Βάττος τε καὶ Λιβύη στεφανοῦσά ἐστιν αὐτόν· ἐποίησε δὲ Ἀμφίων Ἀκέστορος Κνώσσιος.

[7] ἐπεὶ δὲ ᾤκισε Βάττος τὴν Κυρήνην, λέγεται καὶ τῆς φωνῆς γενέσθαι οἱ τοιόνδε ἴαμα· ἐπιὼν τῶν Κυρηναίων τὴν χώραν ἐν τοῖς ἐσχάτοις αὐτῆς ἐρήμοις ἔτι οὖσι θεᾶται λέοντα, καὶ αὐτὸν τὸ δεῖμα τὸ ἐκ τῆς θέας βοῆσαι σαφὲς καὶ μέγα ἠνάγκασεν. οὐ πόρρω δὲ τοῦ Βάττου καὶ ἄλλον ἔστησαν οἱ Ἀμφικτύονες Ἀπόλλωνα ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀδικήματος τοῦ ἐς τὸν θεὸν τῶν Φωκέων.

Description of Greece. Pausanias. ed. Friedrich Spiro. Leipzig. 1903.

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Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.

Current edition Perseus

Ἑλλάδος Περιηγήσεως (Greek) (Pausanias. Pausaniae Graeciae descriptio, Volumes 1-3. Spiro, Friedrich, editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1903.)

Translations (2)

Description of Greece Perseus (Pausanias. Pausanias Description of Greece, Volumes 1-4. Jones, W.H.S. (William Henry Samuel), translator; Ormerod, Henry Arderne, translator. London, New York: W. Heinemann, G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1918-1935.) — 10.15 focus

[1]
A gilt statue of Phryne was made by Praxiteles, one of her lovers, but it was Phryne herself who dedicated the statue. The offerings next to Phryne include two images of Apollo, one dedicated from Persian spoils by the Epidaurians of Argolis , the other dedicated by the Megarians to commemorate a victory over the Athenians at Nisaea . The Plataeans have dedicated an ox, an offering made at the time when, in their own territory, they took part, along with the other Greeks, in the defence against Mardonius, the son of Gobryas. Then there are another two images of Apollo, one dedicated by the citizens of Heracleia on the Euxine, the other by the Amphictyons when they fined the Phocians for tilling the territory of the god.

[2] The second Apollo the Delphians call Sitalcas, and he is thirty-five cubits high. The Aetolians have statues of most of their generals, and images of Artemis, Athena and two of Apollo, dedicated after their conclusion of the war against the Gauls. That the Celtic army would cross from Europe to Asia to destroy the cities there was prophesied by Phaennis in her oracles a generation before the invasion occurred:

[3]

Then verily, having crossed the narrow strait of the Hellespont ,

The devastating host of the Gauls shall pipe; and lawlessly

They shall ravage Asia ; and much worse shall God do

To those who dwell by the shores of the sea

For a short while. For right soon the son of Cronos

Shall raise them a helper, the dear son of a bull reared by Zeus,

Who on all the Gauls shall bring a day of destruction.

By the son of a bull she meant Attalus, king of Pergamus, who was also styled bull-horned by an oracle.

[4]
Statues of cavalry leaders, mounted on horses, were dedicated in Apollo's sanctuary by the Pheraeans after routing the Attic cavalry.
The bronze palm-tree, as well as a gilt image of Athena on it, was dedicated by the Athenians from the spoils they took in their two successes on the same day at the Eurymedon, one on land, and the other with their fleet on the river. The gold on this image was, I noticed, damaged in parts.

[5] I myself put the blame on rogues and thieves. But Cleitodemus, the oldest writer to describe the customs of the Athenians, says in his account of Attica that when the Athenians were preparing the Sicilian expedition a vast flock of crows swooped on Delphi , pecked this image all over, and with their beaks tore away its gold. He says that the crows also broke off the spear, the owls, and the imitation fruit on the palm-tree.

[6] Cleitodemus describes other omens that told the Athenians to beware of sailing against Sicily . The Cyrenaeans have dedicated at Delphi a figure of Battus in a chariot; he it was who brought them in ships from Thera to Libya . The reins are held by Cyrene , and in the chariot is Battus, who is being crowned by Libya . The artist was a Cnossian, Amphion the son of Acestor.

[7] It is said that, after Battus had founded Cyrene , he was cured of his stammering¹ in the following way. As he was passing through the territory of the Cyrenaeans, in the extreme parts of it, as yet desert, he saw a lion, and the terror of the sight compelled him to cry out in a clear and loud voice. Not far from the Battus the Amphictyons have set up yet another Apollo from the fine they inflicted on the Phocians for their sin against the god.

English (Jones and Ormerod; retranslated Gregory Nagy, CHS, 2018) (OCR draft) Experimental (CHS Pausanias Reader retranslation by Gregory Nagy, based on Jones and Ormerod, with marked Greek terms, notes, quotations, and bibliographic attributions preserved.) — 10.15 focus

[1] A gilded statue of Phryne was made by Praxiteles, one of her lovers, but it was Phryne herself who dedicated the statue. The offerings next to Phryne include two images of Apollo, one dedicated from Persian spoils by the Epidaurians of Argolis, the other dedicated by the Megarians to commemorate a victory over the Athenians at Nisaia. The Plataeans have dedicated an ox, an offering made at the time when, in their own territory, they took part, along with the other Greeks, in the defense against Mardonios, the son of Gobryas. Then there are another two images of Apollo, one dedicated by the citizens of Herakleia on the Euxine, the other by the Amphiktyones when they fined the people of Phokis for tilling the territory of the god.

[2] The second Apollo the Delphians call Sitalcas, and he is thirty-five cubits high. The Aetolians have statues of most of their generals, and images of Artemis, Athena, and two of Apollo, dedicated after their conclusion of the war against the Gauls. That the Celtic army would cross from Europe to Asia to destroy the cities there was prophesied by Phaennis in her oracles a generation before the invasion occurred:

[3]

Then truly, having crossed the narrow strait of the Hellespont,
The devastating host of the Gauls shall pipe; and lawlessly
They shall ravage Asia; and much worse shall the god do
To those who dwell by the shores of the sea
For a short while. For right soon the son of Cronos
Shall raise them a helper, the dear son of a bull reared by Zeus,
Who on all the Gauls shall bring a day of destruction.

By the son of a bull, she meant Attalus, king of Pergamon, who was also styled bull-horned by an oracle.

[4] Statues of cavalry leaders, mounted on horses, were dedicated in Apollo’s sanctuary by the people of Pherai after routing the Attic cavalry.

The bronze palm tree, as well as a gilded image of Athena on it, was dedicated by the Athenians from the spoils they took in their two successes on the same day at the Eurymedon, one on land, and the other with their fleet on the river. The gold on this image was, I noticed, damaged in parts.

[5] I myself put the blame on rogues and thieves. But Kleitodemos, the oldest writer to describe the customs of the Athenians, says in his account of Attica that when the Athenians were preparing the Sicilian expedition a vast flock of crows swooped on Delphi, pecked this image all over, and with their beaks, tore away its gold. He says that the crows also broke off the spear, the owls, and the imitation fruit on the palm tree.

[6] Kleitodemos describes other omens that told the Athenians to beware of sailing against Sicily. The Cyrenaeans have dedicated at Delphi a figure of Battos in a chariot; he it was who brought them in ships from Thera to Libya. The reins are held by Cyrene, and in the chariot is Battos, who is being garlanded by Libya. The artist was a Cnossian, Amphion, the son of Acestor.

[7] It is said that, after Battos had founded Cyrene, he was cured of his stammering in the following way. As he was passing through the territory of the Cyrenaeans, in the extreme parts of it, as yet desert, he saw a lion, and the terror of the sight compelled him to cry out in a clear and loud voice. Not far from the Battos, the Amphiktyones have set up yet another Apollo from the fine they inflicted on the people of Phokis for their sin against the god.

New Alexandria Commentaries

Gregory Nagy, Editors: Angelia Hanhardt and Keith DeStone, Web producer: Noel Spencer, Consultant for images: Jill Curry Robbins, \[\[Noel gives this a separate URN\]\]

Pausanias Description of Greece 10.15

ed. Friedrich Spiro

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