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[1]
ἔοικε δὲ ἐξ ἀρχῆς τὸ ἱερὸν τὸ ἐν Δελφοῖς ὑπὸ ἀνθρώπων ἐπιβεβουλεῦσθαι πλείστων ἤδη. οὗτός τε ὁ Εὐβοεὺς λῃστὴς καὶ ἔτεσιν ὕστερον τὸ ἔθνος τὸ Φλεγυῶν, ἔτι δὲ Πύρρος ὁ Ἀχιλλέως ἐπεχείρησεν αὐτῷ, καὶ δυνάμεως μοῖρα τῆς Ξέρξου, καὶ οἱ χρόνον τε ἐπὶ 0 πλεῖστον καὶ μάλιστα τοῦ θεοῦ τοῖς χρήμασιν ἐπελθόντες οἱ ἐν Φωκεῦσι δυνάσται, καὶ ἡ Γαλατῶν στρατιά. ἔμελλε δὲ ἄρα οὐδὲ τῆς Νέρωνος ἐς πάντα ὀλιγωρίας ἀπειράτως ἕξειν, ὃς τὸν Ἀπόλλωνα πεντακοσίας θεῶν τε ἀναμὶξ ἀφείλετο καὶ ἀνθρώπων εἰκόνας χαλκᾶς.

[2]
ἀρχαιότατον δὲ ἀγώνισμα γενέσθαι μνημονεύουσι καὶ ἐφʼ ᾧ πρῶτον ἆθλα ἔθεσαν, ᾆσαι ὕμνον ἐς τὸν θεόν· καὶ ᾖσε καὶ ἐνίκησεν ᾄδων Χρυσόθεμις ἐκ Κρήτης, οὗ δὴ ὁ πατὴρ λέγεται Καρμάνωρ καθῆραι Ἀπόλλωνα. Χρυσοθέμιδος δὲ ὕστερον Φιλάμμωνά τε ᾠδῇ μνημονεύουσι νικῆσαι καὶ ἐπʼ ἐκείνῳ Θάμυριν τὸν Φιλάμμωνος. Ὀρφέα δὲ σεμνολογίᾳ τῇ ἐπὶ τελεταῖς καὶ ὑπὸ φρονήματος τοῦ ἄλλου καὶ Μουσαῖον τῇ ἐς πάντα μιμήσει τοῦ Ὀρφέως οὐκ ἐθελῆσαί φασιν αὐτοὺς ἐπὶ ἀγῶνι μουσικῆς ἐξετάζεσθαι.

[3] φασὶ δὲ καὶ Ἐλευθῆρα ἀνελέσθαι Πυθικὴν νίκην μέγα καὶ ἡδὺ φωνοῦντα, ἐπεὶ ᾄδειν γε αὐτὸν οὐχ αὑτοῦ τὴν ᾠδήν. λέγεται δὲ καὶ Ἡσίοδον ἀπελαθῆναι τοῦ ἀγωνίσματος ἅτε οὐ κιθαρίζειν ὁμοῦ τῇ ᾠδῇ δεδιδαγμένον. Ὅμηρος δὲ ἀφίκετο μὲν ἐς Δελφοὺς ἐρησόμενος ὁπόσα καὶ ἐδεῖτο, ἔμελλε δὲ αὐτῷ καὶ κιθαρίζειν διδαχθέντι ἀχρεῖον τὸ μάθημα ὑπὸ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν τῆς συμφορᾶς γενήσεσθαι.

[4] τῆς δὲ τεσσαρακοστῆς Ὀλυμπιάδος καὶ ὀγδόης, ἣν Γλαυκίας ὁ Κροτωνιάτης ἐνίκησε, ταύτης ἔτει τρίτῳ ἆθλα ἔθεσαν οἱ Ἀμφικτύονες κιθαρῳδίας μὲν καθὰ καὶ ἐξ ἀρχῆς, προσέθεσαν δὲ καὶ αὐλῳδίας ἀγώνισμα καὶ αὐλῶν· ἀνηγορεύθησαν δὲ νικῶντες Κεφαλήν τε Μελάμπους κιθαρῳδίᾳ καὶ αὐλῳδὸς Ἀρκὰς Ἐχέμβροτος, Σακάδας δὲ Ἀργεῖος ἐπὶ τοῖς αὐλοῖς· ἀνείλετο δὲ ὁ 0 Σακάδας οὗτος καὶ ἄλλας δύο τὰς ἐφεξῆς ταύτης πυθιάδας.

[5] ἔθεσαν δὲ καὶ ἆθλα τότε ἀθληταῖς πρῶτον, τά τε ἐν Ὀλυμπίᾳ πλὴν τεθρίππου καὶ αὐτοὶ νομοθετήσαντες δολίχου καὶ διαύλου παισὶν εἶναι δρόμον. δευτέρᾳ δὲ πυθιάδι οὐκ ἐπὶ ἄθλοις ἐκάλεσαν ἔτι ἀγωνίζεσθαι, στεφανίτην δὲ τὸν ἀγῶνα ἀπὸ τούτου κατεστήσαντο· καὶ αὐλῳδίαν τότε κατέλυσαν, καταγνόντες οὐκ εἶναι τὸ ἄκουσμα εὔφημον· ἡ γὰρ αὐλῳδία μέλη τε ἦν αὐλῶν τὰ σκυθρωπότατα καὶ ἐλεγεῖα θρῆνοι προσᾳδόμενα τοῖς αὐλοῖς.

[6] μαρτυρεῖ δέ μοι καὶ τοῦ Ἐχεμβρότου τὸ ἀνάθημα, τρίπους χαλκοῦς ἀνατεθεὶς τῷ Ἡρακλεῖ τῷ ἐν Θήβαις· ἐπίγραμμα δὲ ὁ τρίπους εἶχεν·

Ἐχέμβροτος Ἀρκὰς θῆκε τῷ Ἡρακλεῖ

νικήσας τόδʼ ἄγαλμʼ Ἀμφικτυόνων ἐν ἀέθλοις,

Ἕλλησι δʼ ἀείδων μέλεα καὶ ἐλέγους.

κατὰ τοῦτο μὲν τῆς αὐλῳδίας ἐπαύσθη τὸ ἀγώνισμα· προσέθεσαν δὲ καὶ ἵππων δρόμον, ἀνηγορεύθη δὲ ἐπὶ τῷ ἅρματι Κλεισθένης ὁ Σικυῶνος τυραννήσας.

[7] ὀγδόῃ δὲ πυθιάδι προσενομοθέτησαν κιθαριστὰς τοὺς ἐπὶ τῶν κρουμάτων τῶν ἀφώνων· καὶ Τεγεάτης ἐστεφανοῦτο Ἀγέλαος. τρίτῃ δὲ πυθιάδι ἐπὶ ταῖς εἴκοσι προστιθέασιν ὁπλίτην δρόμον· καὶ ἐπʼ αὐτῷ Τιμαίνετος ἐκ Φλιοῦντος ἀνείλετο τὴν δάφνην, Ὀλυμπιάσιν ὕστερον πέντε ἢ Δαμάρετος Ἡραιεὺς ἐνίκησεν. ὀγδόῃ δὲ ἐπὶ τεσσαράκοντα πυθιάδι καὶ συνωρίδος εἶναι κατεστήσαντο δρόμον· καὶ Ἐξηκεστίδου Φωκέως ἐνίκησεν ἡ 0 συνωρίς. πέμπτῃ δὲ πυθιάδι ἀπὸ ταύτης πώλους ἔζευξαν ὑπὸ ἅρματι· καὶ παρέδραμεν Ὀρφώνδα Θηβαίου τέθριππον.

[8] παγκράτιον δʼ ἐν παισὶ καὶ συνωρίδα τε πώλων καὶ πῶλον κέλητα πολλοῖς ἔτεσιν ὕστερον κατεδέξαντο Ἠλείων, τὸ μὲν πρώτῃ πυθιάδι ἐπὶ ταῖς ἑξήκοντα, καὶ Ἰολαΐδας ἐνίκα Θηβαῖος· διαλιπόντες δὲ ἀπὸ ταύτης μίαν κέλητι ἔθεσαν δρόμον πώλῳ, ἐνάτῃ δὲ ἐπὶ ταῖς ἑξήκοντα συνωρίδι πωλικῇ, καὶ ἐπὶ μὲν τῷ πώλῳ τῷ κέλητι Λυκόρμας ἀνηγορεύθη Λαρισαῖος, Πτολεμαῖος δὲ ἐπὶ τῇ συνωρίδι Μακεδών· ἔχαιρον γὰρ δὴ Μακεδόνες οἱ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ καλούμενοι βασιλεῖς, καθάπερ γε ἦσαν. δάφνης δὲ στέφανος ἐπὶ τῶν Πυθίων τῇ νίκῃ κατʼ ἄλλο μὲν ἐμοὶ δοκεῖν ἐστιν οὐδέν, ὅτι δὲ τῆς Λάδωνος θυγατρὸς Ἀπόλλωνα ἐρασθῆναι κατέσχηκεν ἡ φήμη.

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

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

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.) — 10.7 focus

[1]
It seems that from the beginning the sanctuary at Delphi has been plotted against by a vast number of men. Attacks were made against it by this Euboean pirate, and years afterwards by the Phlegyan nation; furthermore by Pyrrhus, son of Achilles, by a portion of the army of Xerxes, by the Phocian chieftains, whose attacks on the wealth of the god were the longest and fiercest, and by the Gallic invaders. It was fated too that Delphi was to suffer from the universal irreverence of Nero, who robbed Apollo of five hundred bronze statues, some of gods, some of men.

[2]
The oldest contest and the one for which they first offered prizes was, according to tradition, the singing of a hymn to the god. The man who sang and won the prize was Chrysothemis of Crete , whose father Carmanor is said to have cleansed Apollo. After Chrysothemis, says tradition, Philammon won with a song, and after him his son Thamyris. But they say that Orpheus, a proud man and conceited about his mysteries, and Musaeus, who copied Orpheus in everything, refused to submit to the competition in musical skill.

[3] They say too that Eleuther won a Pythian victory for his loud and sweet voice, for the song that he sang was not of his own composition. The story is that Hesiod too was debarred from competing because he had not learned to accompany his own singing on the harp. Homer too came to Delphi to inquire about his needs, but even though he had learned to play the harp, he would have found the skill useless owing to the loss of his eye-sight.

[4] In the third year of the forty-eighth Olympiad,¹ at which Glaucias of Crotona was victorious, the Amphictyons held contests for harping as from the beginning, but added competitions for flute-playing and for singing to the flute. The conquerors proclaimed were Melampus, a Cephallenian, for harping, and Echembrotus, an Arcadian, for singing to the flute, with Sacadas of Argos for flute-playing. This same Sacadas won victories at the next two Pythian festivals.

[5] On that occasion they also offered for the first time prizes for athletes, the competitions being the same as those at Olympia , except the four-horse chariot, and the Delphians themselves added to the contests running-races for boys, the long course and the double course. At the second Pythian Festival they no longer offered prizes for events, and hereafter gave a crown for victory. On this occasion they no longer included singing to the flute, thinking that the music was ill-omened to listen to. For the tunes of the flute were most dismal, and the words sung to the tunes were lamentations.

[6] What I say is confirmed by the votive offering of Echembrotus, a bronze tripod dedicated to the Heracles at Thebes . The tripod has as its inscription:—

Echembrotus of Arcadia dedicated this pleasant gift to Heracles

When he won a victory at the games of the Amphictyons,

Singing for the Greeks tunes and lamentations.

In this way the competition in singing to the flute was dropped. But they added a chariot-race, and Cleisthenes, the tyrant of Sicyon , was proclaimed victor in the chariot-race.

[7] At the eighth Pythian Festival they added a contest for harpists playing without singing; Agelaus of Tegea was crowned. At the twenty-third Pythian Festival they added a race in armour. For this Timaenetus of Phlius won the laurel, five Olympiads after Damaretus of Heraea was victorious. At the forty-eighth Pythian Festival they established a race for two-horse chariots, and the chariot won of Execestides the Phocian. At the fifth Festival after this they yoked foals to a chariot, and the chariot of Orphondas of Thebes came in first.

[8] The pancratium for boys, a race for a chariot drawn by two foals, and a race for ridden foals, were many years afterwards introduced from Elis . The first was brought in at the sixty-first Pythian Festival, and Iolaidas of Thebes was victorious. At the next Festival but one² they held a race for a ridden foal, and at the sixty-ninth Festival a race for a chariot drawn by two foals; the victor proclaimed for the former was Lycormas of Larisa , for the latter Ptolemy the Macedonian. For the kings of Egypt liked to be called Macedonians, as in fact they were. The reason why a crown of laurel is the prize for a Pythian victory is in my opinion simply and solely because the prevailing tradition has it that Apollo fell in love with the daughter of Ladon .

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.) — 10.7 focus

[1] It seems that from the beginning, the sanctuary at Delphi has been plotted against by a vast number of men. Attacks were made against it by this Euboean pirate, and years afterwards by the Phlegyan nation; furthermore, by Pyrrhos, son of Achilles, by a portion of the army of Xerxes, by the chieftains of Phokis, whose attacks on the wealth of the god were the longest and fiercest, and by the Gallic invaders. It was fated too that Delphi was to suffer from the universal irreverence of Nero, who robbed Apollo of five hundred bronze statues, some of gods, some of men.

Pythian Games, Mythical History

[2] The oldest contest and the one for which they first offered prizes was, according to traditional memory, the singing of a hymn to the god. The man who sang and won the prize was Khrysothemis of Crete, whose father Carmanor is said to have purified Apollo. After Khrysothemis, according to traditional memory, Philammon won with a song, and after him, his son Thamyris. But they say that Orpheus, a proud man and conceited about his mysteries, and Musaeus, who copied Orpheus in everything, refused to submit to the competition in musical skill.

Pythian Games, History

[4] In the third year of the forty-eighth Olympiad, at which Glaukias of Kroton was victorious, the Amphiktyones held contests for harping as from the beginning but added competitions for aulos playing and for singing to the aulos. The conquerors proclaimed were Melampos, a Cephallenian, for harping, and Ekhembrotos, an Arcadian, for singing to the aulos [‘double-reed’], with Sacadas of Argos for aulos playing. This same Sacadas won victories at the next two Pythian festivals.

[5] On that occasion, they also offered for the first time prizes for athletes, the competitions being the same as those at Olympia, except the four horse chariot, and the Delphians themselves added to the contests running races for boys, the long course, and the double course. At the second Pythian Festival, they no longer offered prizes for events and hereafter gave a garland for victory. On this occasion, they no longer included singing to the aulos [‘double-reed’], thinking that the music was ill-omened to listen to. For the tunes of the aulos [‘double-reed’] were most dismal, and the words sung to the tunes were lamentations.

[6] What I say is confirmed by the votive offering of Ekhembrotos, a bronze tripod dedicated to the Hēraklēs at Thebes. The tripod has as its inscription:

Ekhembrotos of Arcadia dedicated this pleasant gift to Hēraklēs
When he won a victory at the Games of the Amphiktyones,
Singing for the Greeks tunes and lamentations.

In this way the competition in singing to the aulos [‘double-reed’] was dropped. But they added a chariot race, and Cleisthenes, the tyrant of Sikyon, was proclaimed victor in the chariot race.

[7] At the eighth Pythian Festival, they added a contest for harpists playing without singing; Agelaos of Tegea was garlanded. At the twenty-third Pythian Festival, they added a race in armor. For this, Timainetos of Phleious won the laurel, five Olympiads after Damaretos of Heraia was victorious. At the forty-eighth Pythian Festival, they established a race for two horse chariots, and the chariot that won belonged to Exekestides of Phokis. At the fifth Festival after this, they yoked foals to a chariot, and the chariot of Orphondas of Thebes came in first.

[8] The pankration for boys, a race for a chariot drawn by two foals, and a race for ridden foals, were many years afterwards introduced from Elis. The first was brought in at the sixty-first Pythian Festival, and Iolaidas of Thebes was victorious. At the next Festival but one, they held a race for a ridden foal, and at the sixty-ninth Festival, a race for a chariot drawn by two foals; the victor proclaimed for the former was Lykormas of Larisa, for the latter, Ptolemy the Macedonian. For the kings of Egypt liked to be called Macedonians, as in fact they were.

The reason why a garland of laurel is the prize for a Pythian victory is, in my opinion, simply and solely because the prevailing tradition has it that Apollo fell in love with the daughter of Ladon.

Amphityonic League, Mythical History

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 10.7