Pausanias, Description of Greece, ed. Friedrich Spiro, 9.17

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[1]
πλησίον δὲ Ἀρτέμιδος ναός ἐστιν Εὐκλείας· Σκόπα δὲ τὸ ἄγαλμα ἔργον. ταφῆναι δὲ ἐντὸς τοῦ ἱεροῦ θυγατέρας Ἀντιποίνου λέγουσιν Ἀνδρόκλειάν τε καὶ Ἀλκίδα. μελλούσης γὰρ πρὸς Ὀρχομενίους γίνεσθαι μάχης Θηβαίοις καὶ Ἡρακλεῖ, λόγιόν σφισιν ἦλθεν 0 ἔσεσθαι τοῦ πολέμου κράτος ἀποθανεῖν αὐτοχειρίᾳ θελήσαντος, ὃς ἂν τῶν ἀστῶν ἐπιφανέστατος κατὰ γένους ἀξίωμα ᾖ. Ἀντιποίνῳ μὲν οὖν—τούτῳ γὰρ τὰ ἐς τοὺς προγόνους μάλιστα ὑπῆρχεν ἔνδοξα—οὐχ ἡδὺ ἦν ἀποθνήσκειν πρὸ τοῦ δήμου, ταῖς δὲ Ἀντιποίνου θυγατράσιν ἤρεσκε· διεργασάμεναι δὲ αὑτὰς τιμὰς ἀντὶ τούτων ἔχουσι.

[2] τοῦ ναοῦ δὲ τῆς Εὐκλείας Ἀρτέμιδος λέων ἐστὶν ἔμπροσθε λίθου πεποιημένος· ἀναθεῖναι δὲ ἐλέγετο Ἡρακλῆς Ὀρχομενίους καὶ τὸν βασιλέα αὐτῶν Ἐργῖνον τὸν Κλυμένου νικήσας τῇ μάχῃ. πλησίον δὲ Ἀπόλλων τέ ἐστιν ἐπίκλησιν Βοηδρόμιος καὶ Ἀγοραῖος Ἑρμῆς καλούμενος, Πινδάρου καὶ τοῦτο ἀνάθημα. ἀπέχει δὲ ἡ πυρὰ τῶν Ἀμφίονος παίδων ἥμισυ σταδίου μάλιστα ἀπὸ τῶν τάφων· μένει δὲ ἡ τέφρα καὶ ἐς τόδε ἔτι ἀπὸ τῆς πυρᾶς.

[3] πλησίον δὲ Ἀμφιτρύωνος ἀνάθημα δύο ἀγάλματα λίθινα λέγουσιν Ἀθηνᾶς ἐπίκλησιν Ζωστηρίας· λαβεῖν γὰρ τὰ ὅπλα αὐτὸν ἐνταῦθα, ἡνίκα Εὐβοεῦσι καὶ Χαλκώδοντι ἔμελλεν ἀντιτάξεσθαι. τὸ δὲ ἐνδῦναι τὰ ὅπλα ἐκάλουν ἄρα οἱ παλαιοὶ ζώσασθαι· καὶ δὴ Ὅμηρον, Ἄρει τὸν Ἀγαμέμνονα ποιήσαντα ἐοικέναι τὴν ζώνην, τῶν ὅπλων τὴν σκευήν φασιν εἰκάζειν.

[4]
Ζήθῳ δὲ μνῆμα καὶ Ἀμφίονι ἐν κοινῷ γῆς χῶμά ἐστιν οὐ μέγα. ὑφαιρεῖσθαι δὲ ἐθέλουσιν ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ τῆς γῆς οἱ Τιθορέαν ἐν τῇ Φωκίδι ἔχοντες, ἐθέλουσι δέ, ἐπειδὰν τὸν ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ ταῦρον ὁ ἥλιος διεξίῃ· τηνικαῦτα γὰρ ἢν ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ λαβόντες γῆν τῷ Ἀντιόπης 0 μνήματι περιάψωσι, Τιθορεεῦσιν οἴσει καρπὸν ἡ χώρα, Θηβαίοις δὲ οὐχ ὁμοίως. καὶ ἐπὶ τούτῳ φρουρὰν οἱ Θηβαῖοι τότε ἔχουσι τοῦ μνήματος.

[5] ταῦτα δὲ αἱ πόλεις αὗται πεπιστεύκασιν ἐκ χρησμῶν τῶν Βάκιδος, ἔστι γὰρ καὶ τάδε ἐν τοῖς χρησμοῖς·

ἀλλʼ ὁπόταν Τιθορεὺς Ἀμφίονί τε Ζήθῳ τε

χύτλα καὶ εὐχωλὰς μειλίγματʼ ἐνὶ χθονὶ χεύῃ

θελγομένου ταύροιο κλυτοῦ μένει ἠελίοιο,

καὶ τότε δὴ πεφύλαξο πόλει κακὸν οὐκ ἀλαπαδνόν

ἐρχόμενον· καρποὶ γὰρ ἀποφθινύθουσιν ἐν αὐτῇ

γαίης δασσαμένων, Φώκου δʼ ἐπὶ σῆμα φερόντων.

[6] Φώκου δὲ μνῆμα ὁ Βάκις εἴρηκεν ἐπὶ αἰτίᾳ τοιᾷδε. ἡ γυνὴ τοῦ Λύκου Διόνυσον θεῶν μάλιστα ἦγεν ἐν τιμῇ· παθούσης δὲ αὐτῆς τὰ λεγόμενα Διόνυσος νεμεσᾷ τῇ Ἀντιόπῃ. ἐπίφθονοι δὲ ἀεί πως παρὰ θεῶν αἱ ὑπερβολαὶ τῶν τιμωριῶν εἰσι· λέγουσιν Ἀντιόπην μανῆναι καὶ ἐκστᾶσαν τῶν φρενῶν κατὰ πᾶσαν πλανᾶσθαι τὴν Ἑλλάδα, Φῶκον δὲ τὸν Ὀρνυτίωνος τοῦ Σισύφου περιτυχεῖν αὐτῇ καὶ ἔχειν γυναῖκα ἰασάμενον· καὶ δὴ ὁ τάφος ἐν κοινῷ τῇ Ἀντιόπῃ καὶ Φώκῳ πεποίηται.

[7] τοὺς δὲ παρὰ τὸ Ἀμφίονος μνῆμα λίθους, οἳ κάτωθεν ὑποβέβληνται μηδὲ ἄλλως εἰργασμένοι πρὸς τὸ ἀκριβέστατον, ἐκείνας εἶναί φασι τὰς πέτρας αἳ τῇ ᾠδῇ τοῦ Ἀμφίονος ἠκολούθησαν· τοιαῦτα δὲ ἕτερα λέγεται καὶ περὶ Ὀρφέως, ὡς κιθαρῳδοῦντι ἕποιτο αὐτῷ τὰ θηρία. 0

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.) — 9.17 focus

[1]
Near is the temple of Artemis of Fair Fame. The image was made by Scopas. They say that within the sanctuary were buried Androcleia and Aleis, daughters of Antipoenus. For when Heracles and the Thebans were about to engage in battle with the Orchomenians, an oracle was delivered to them that success in the war would be theirs if their citizen of the most noble descent would consent to die by his own hand. Now Antipoenus, who had the most famous ancestors, was loath to die for the people, but his daughters were quite ready to do so. So they took their own lives and are honored therefor.

[2] Before the temple of Artemis of Fair Fame is a lion made of stone, said to have been dedicated by Heracles after he had conquered in the battle the Orchomenians and their king, Erginus son of Clymenus. Near it is Apollo surnamed Rescuer, and Hermes called of the Market-place, another of the votive offerings of Pindar. The pyre of the children of Amphion is about half a stade from the graves. The ashes from the pyre are still there.

[3] Near this are two stone images of Athena, surnamed Girder, said to have been dedicated by Amphitryon.¹ For here, they say, he put on his armour when he was about to give battle to Chalcodon and the Euboeans. It seems that the ancients used the verb “to gird oneself” in the sense of “to put on one's armour,” and so they say that when Homer compares Agamemnon to Ares “in respect of his girdle,” he is really saying that they were alike in the fashion of their armour.

[4]
The tomb shared by Zethus and Amphion is a small mound of earth. The inhabitants of Tithorea in Phocis like to steal earth from it when the sun is passing through the constellation Taurus. For if at that time they take earth from the mound and set it on Antiope's tomb, the land of Tithorea will yield a harvest, but that of Thebes be less fertile. For this reason the Thebans at that time keep watch over the tomb.

[5] Both these cities hold this belief, and they do so because of the oracles of Bacis, in which are the lines:—

But when a man of Tithorea to Amphion and to Zethus

Pours on the earth peace-offerings of libation and prayer,

When Taurus is warmed by the might of the glorious sun,

Beware then of no slight disaster threatening the city;

For the harvest wastes away in it,

When they take of the earth, and bring it to the tomb of Phocus.

[6] Bacis calls it the tomb of Phocus for the following reason. The wife of Lycus worshipped Dionysus more than any other deity. When she had suffered what the story says she suffered, Dionysus was angry with Antiope. For some reason extravagant punishments always arouse the resentment of the gods. They say that Antiope went mad, and when out of her wits roamed all over Greece ; but Phocus, son of Ornytion, son of Sisyphus, chanced to meet her, cured her madness, and then married her.

[7] So Antiope and Phocus share the same grave. The roughly quarried stones, laid along the tomb of Amphion at its base, are said to be the very rocks that followed the singing of Amphion. A similar story is told of Orpheus, how wild creatures followed him as he played the harp.

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.) — 9.17 focus

[1] Near is the temple of Artemis Eukleia. The image was made by Scopas. They say that within the sanctuary were buried Androkleia and Alkis, daughters of Antipoinos. For when Hēraklēs and the Thebans were about to engage in battle with the men of Orkhomenos, an oracle was delivered to them that success in the war would be theirs if their citizen of the most noble descent would consent to die by his own hand. Now Antipoinos, who had the most famous ancestors, was loath to die for the people, but his daughters were quite ready to do so. So they took their own lives and receive honors [ tīmai] for that reason.

[2] Before the temple of Artemis Eukleia is a lion made of stone, said to have been dedicated by Hēraklēs after he had conquered in the battle the Orkhomenians and their king, Erginos son of Klymenos. Near it is Apollo surnamed Rescuer, and Hermes called of the Marketplace, another of the votive offerings of Pindar. The pyre of the children of Amphion is about half a stadium-length from the tombs. The ashes from the pyre are still there.

[3] Near this are two stone images of Athena, surnamed Girder, said to have been dedicated by Amphitryon. For here, they say, he put on his armor when he was about to give battle to Chalcodon and the Euboeans. It seems that the ancients used the verb “to gird oneself” in the sense of “to put on one’s armor,” and so they say that when Homer compares Agamemnon to Ares “in respect of his waistband,” he is really saying that they were alike in the fashion of their armor.

[4] The tomb shared by Zethus and Amphion is a small mound of earth. The inhabitants of Tithorea in Phokis like to steal earth from it when the sun is passing through the constellation Taurus. For if at that time they take earth from the mound and set it on Antiope’s tomb, the land of Tithorea will yield a harvest, but that of Thebes will be less fertile. For this reason the Thebans at that time keep watch over the tomb.

[5] Both these cities hold this belief, and they do so because of the oracles of Bacis, in which are the lines:

“But when a man of Tithorea to Amphion and to Zethus
Pours on the earth peace-offerings of libation and prayer,
When Taurus is warmed by the might of the glorious sun,
Beware then of no slight disaster threatening the city;
For the harvest wastes away in it,
When they take of the earth, and bring it to the tomb of Phokos.”

[6] Bacis calls it the tomb of Phokos for the following reason. The wife of Lykos worshipped Dionysus more than any other deity. When she had suffered what the story says she suffered, Dionysus was angry with Antiope. For some reason extravagant punishments always arouse the resentment of the gods. They say that Antiope went mad, and when out of her wits roamed all over Greece; but Phokos, son of Ornytion, son of Sisyphus, chanced to meet her, cured her madness, and then married her.

[7] So Antiope and Phokos share the same tomb. The roughly quarried stones, laid along the tomb of Amphion at its base, are said to be the very rocks that followed the singing of Amphion. A similar story is told of Orpheus, how wild creatures followed him as he played the harp.

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 9.17

ed. Friedrich Spiro

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