Pausanias, Description of Greece, ed. Friedrich Spiro, 9.10

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[1] πολυάνδριον δὲ οὐ μακρὰν ἀπὸ τῶν πυλῶν ἐστι· κεῖνται δὲ ὁπόσους κατέλαβεν ἀποθανεῖν Ἀλεξάνδρῳ καὶ Μακεδόσιν ἀντιτεταγμένους. οὐ πόρρω δὲ ἀποφαίνουσι χωρίον ἔνθα Κάδμον λέγουσιν— ὅτῳ πιστά—τοῦ δράκοντος, ὃν ἀπέκτεινεν ἐπὶ τῇ κρήνῃ, τοὺς ὀδόντας σπείραντα, ἄνδρας δὲ ἀπὸ τῶν ὀδόντων ἀνεῖναι τὴν γῆν.

[2]
ἔστι δὲ λόφος ἐν δεξιᾷ τῶν πυλῶν ἱερὸς Ἀπόλλωνος· καλεῖται δὲ ὅ τε λόφος καὶ ὁ θεὸς Ἰσμήνιος, παραρρέοντος τοῦ ποταμοῦ ταύτῃ τοῦ Ἰσμηνοῦ. πρῶτα μὲν δὴ λίθου κατὰ τὴν ἔσοδόν ἐστιν Ἀθηνᾶ καὶ Ἑρμῆς, ὀνομαζόμενοι Πρόναοι· ποιῆσαι δὲ αὐτὸν Φειδίας, τὴν δὲ Ἀθηνᾶν λέγεται Σκόπας· μετὰ δὲ ὁ 0 ναὸς ᾠκοδόμηται. τὸ δὲ ἄγαλμα μεγέθει τε ἴσον τῷ ἐν Βραγχίδαις ἐστὶ καὶ τὸ εἶδος οὐδὲν διαφόρως ἔχον· ὅστις δὲ τῶν ἀγαλμάτων τούτων τὸ ἕτερον εἶδε καὶ τὸν εἰργασμένον ἐπύθετο, οὐ μεγάλη οἱ σοφία καὶ τὸ ἕτερον θεασαμένῳ Κανάχου ποίημα ὂν ἐπίστασθαι. διαφέρουσι δὲ τοσόνδε· ὁ μὲν γὰρ ἐν Βραγχίδαις χαλκοῦ, ὁ δὲ Ἰσμήνιός ἐστι κέδρου.

[3] ἔστι δʼ ἐνταῦθα λίθος ἐφʼ ᾧ Μαντώ φασι τὴν Τειρεσίου καθέζεσθαι. οὗτος μὲν πρὸ τῆς ἐσόδου κεῖται, καί οἱ τὸ ὄνομά ἐστι καὶ ἐς ἡμᾶς ἔτι Μαντοῦς δίφρος· ἐν δεξιᾷ δὲ τοῦ ναοῦ λίθου πεποιημένας εἰκόνας Ἡνιόχης εἶναι, τὴν δὲ Πύρρας λέγουσι, θυγατέρας δὲ αὐτὰς εἶναι Κρέοντος, ὃς ἐδυνάστευεν ἐπιτροπεύων Λαοδάμαντα τὸν Ἐτεοκλέους.

[4] τόδε γε καὶ ἐς ἐμὲ ἔτι γινόμενον οἶδα ἐν Θήβαις· τῷ Ἀπόλλωνι τῷ Ἰσμηνίῳ παῖδα οἴκου τε δοκίμου καὶ αὐτὸν εὖ μὲν εἴδους, εὖ δὲ ἔχοντα καὶ ῥώμης, ἱερέα ἐνιαύσιον ποιοῦσιν· ἐπίκλησις δέ ἐστίν οἱ δαφναφόρος, στεφάνους γὰρ φύλλων δάφνης φοροῦσιν οἱ παῖδες. εἰ μὲν οὖν πᾶσιν ὁμοίως καθέστηκεν ἀναθεῖναι δαφνηφορήσαντας χαλκοῦν τῷ θεῷ τρίποδα, οὐκ ἔχω δηλῶσαι, δοκῶ δὲ οὐ πᾶσιν εἶναι νόμον· οὐ γὰρ δὴ πολλοὺς ἑώρων αὐτόθι ἀνακειμένους· οἱ δʼ οὖν εὐδαιμονέστεροι τῶν παίδων ἀνατιθέασιν. ἐπιφανὴς δὲ μάλιστα ἐπί τε ἀρχαιότητι καὶ τοῦ ἀναθέντος τῇ δόξῃ τρίπους ἐστὶν Ἀμφιτρύωνος ἀνάθημα ἐπὶ Ἡρακλεῖ δαφνηφορήσαντι.

[5]
ἀνωτέρω δὲ τοῦ Ἰσμηνίου τὴν κρήνην ἴδοις ἄν, ἥντινα Ἄρεώς φασιν ἱερὰν εἶναι καὶ δράκοντα ὑπὸ τοῦ 0 Ἄρεως ἐπιτετάχθαι φύλακα τῇ πηγῇ. πρὸς ταύτῃ τῇ κρήνῃ τάφος ἐστὶ Καάνθου· Μελίας δὲ ἀδελφὸν καὶ Ὠκεανοῦ παῖδα εἶναι Κάανθον λέγουσι, σταλῆναι δὲ ὑπὸ τοῦ πατρὸς ζητήσοντα ἡρπασμένην τὴν ἀδελφήν. ὡς δὲ Ἀπόλλωνα εὑρὼν ἔχοντα τὴν Μελίαν οὐκ ἐδύνατο ἀφελέσθαι, πῦρ ἐτόλμησεν ἐς τὸ τέμενος ἐνεῖναι τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος τοῦτο ὃ νῦν καλοῦσιν Ἰσμήνιον· καὶ αὐτὸν ὁ θεός, καθά φασιν οἱ Θηβαῖοι, τοξεύει.

[6] Καάνθου μὲν ἐνταῦθά ἐστι μνῆμα, Ἀπόλλωνι δὲ παῖδας ἐκ Μελίας γενέσθαι λέγουσι Τήνερον καὶ Ἰσμηνόν· Τηνέρῳ μὲν Ἀπόλλων μαντικὴν δίδωσι, τοῦ δὲ Ἰσμηνίου τὸ ὄνομα ἔσχεν ὁ ποταμός. οὐ μὴν οὐδὲ τὰ πρότερα ἦν ἀνώνυμος, εἰ δὴ καὶ Λάδων ἐκαλεῖτο πρὶν Ἰσμηνὸν γενέσθαι τὸν Ἀπόλλωνος.

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

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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.) — 9.10 focus

[1]
Not far from the gate is a common tomb, where lie all those who met their death when fighting against Alexander and the Macedonians. Hard by they show a place where, it is said, Cadmus (he may believe the story who likes) sowed the teeth of the dragon, which he slew at the fountain, from which teeth men came up out of the earth.

[2]
On the right of the gate is a hill sacred to Apollo. Both the hill and the god are called Ismenian, as the river Ismenus Rows by the place. First at the entrance are Athena and Hermes, stone figures and named Pronai (Of the fore-temple). The Hermes is said to have been made by Pheidias, the Athena by Scopas. The temple is built behind. The image is in size equal to that at Branchidae ; and does not differ from it at all in shape. Whoever has seen one of these two images, and learnt who was the artist, does not need much skill to discern, when he looks at the other, that it is a work of Canachus. The only difference is that the image at Branchidae is of bronze, while the Ismenian is of cedar-wood.

[3] Here there is a stone, on which, they say, used to sit Manto, the daughter of Teiresias. This stone lies before the entrance, and they still call it Manto's chair. On the right of the temple are statues of women made of stone, said to be portraits of Henioche and Pyrrha, daughters of Creon, who reigned as guardian of Laodamas, the son of Eteocles.

[4] The following custom is, to my knowledge, still carried out in Thebes . A boy of noble family, who is himself both handsome and strong, is chosen priest of Ismenian Apollo for a year. He is called Laurel-bearer, for the boys wear wreaths of laurel leaves. I cannot say for certain whether all alike who have worn the laurel dedicate by custom a bronze tripod to the god; but I do not think that it is the rule for all, because I did not see many votive tripods there. But the wealthier of the boys do certainly dedicate them. Most remarkable both for its age and for the fame of him who dedicated it is a tripod dedicated by Amphitryon for Heracles after he had worn the laurel.

[5]
Higher up than the Ismenian sanctuary you may see the fountain which they say is sacred to Ares, and they add that a dragon was posted by Ares as a sentry over the spring. By this fountain is the grave of Caanthus. They say that he was brother to Melia and son to Ocean, and that he was commissioned by his father to seek his sister, who had been carried away. Finding that Apollo had Melia, and being unable to get her from him, he dared to set fire to the precinct of Apollo that is now called the Ismenian sanctuary. The god, according to the Thebans, shot him.

[6] Here then is the tomb of Caanthus. They say that Apollo had sons by Melia, to wit, Tenerus and Ismenus. To Tenerus Apollo gave the art of divination, and from Ismenus the river got its name. Not that the river was nameless before, if indeed it was called Ladon before Ismenus was born to Apollo.

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.) — 9.10 focus

[1] Not far from the gate is a common tomb, where lie all those who met their death when fighting against Alexander and the Macedonians. Hard by they show a place where, it is said, Kadmos (he may believe the story who likes) sowed the teeth of the dragon, which he slew at the fountain, from which teeth men came up out of the earth.

[2] On the right of the gate is a hill sacred to Apollo. Both the hill and the god are called Ismenian, as the river Ismenus Rows by the place. First at the entrance are Athena and Hermes, stone figures and named Pronai (Of the fore-temple). The Hermes is said to have been made by Pheidias, the Athena by Scopas. The temple is built behind. The image is in size equal to that at Brankhidai; and does not differ from it at all in shape. Whoever has seen one of these two images, and learned who was the artist, does not need much skill to discern, when he looks at the other, that it is a work of Kanakhos. The only difference is that the image at Brankhidai is of bronze, while the Ismenian is of cedar-wood.

[3] Here there is a stone, on which, they say, used to sit Manto, the daughter of Teiresias. This stone lies before the entrance, and they still call it the chair of Manto. On the right of the temple are statues of women made of stone, said to be portraits of Henioche and Pyrrha, daughters of Creon, who reigned as guardian of Laodamas, the son of Eteokles.

[4] The following custom is, to my knowledge, still carried out in Thebes. A boy of noble family, who is himself both handsome and strong, is chosen priest of Ismenian Apollo for a year. He is called Laurel-bearer, for the boys wear wreaths of laurel leaves. I cannot say for certain whether all alike who have worn the laurel dedicate by custom a bronze tripod to the god; but I do not think that it is the rule for all, because I did not see many votive tripods there. But the wealthier of the boys do certainly dedicate them. Most remarkable both for its age and for the fame of him who dedicated it is a tripod dedicated by Amphitryon for Hēraklēs after he had worn the laurel.

[5] Higher up than the Ismenian sanctuary you may see the fountain which they say is sacred to Ares, and they add that a dragon was posted by Ares as a sentry over the spring. By this fountain is the tomb of Caanthus. They say that he was brother to Melia and son to Okeanos, and that he was commissioned by his father to seek his sister, who had been carried away. Finding that Apollo had Melia, and being unable to get her from him, he dared to set fire to the precinct of Apollo that is now called the Ismenian sanctuary. The god, according to the Thebans, shot him.

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 9.10

ed. Friedrich Spiro

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