Legendary Passages #0065 - The Chest of Cypselus -
Mythological carvings, from Pausanias' Description of Greece.
Last time was Heracles 7th Labor.
This time, more scenes of him, plus the Argonauts, and the Trojan War.
Next time, Heracles chooses between Vice & Virtue.
http://www.theoi.com/Text/Pausanias5B.html#4
The Chest of Cypselus,
a Legendary Passage,
from Pausanias' Description of Greece,
translated by W. H. S. Jones.
[5.17.5] - [5.19.10]
THE CHEST OF CYPSELUS
There is also a chest made of cedar, with figures on it, some of ivory, some of gold, others carved out of the cedar-wood itself. It was in this chest that Cypselus, the tyrant of Corinth, was hidden by his mother when the Bacchidae were anxious to discover him after his birth. In gratitude for the saving of Cypselus, his descendants, Cypselids as they are called, dedicated the chest at Olympia. The Corinthians of that age called chests kypselai, and from this word, they say, the child received his name of Cypselus.
On most of the figures on the chest there are inscriptions, written in the ancient characters. In some cases the letters read straight on, but in others the form of the writing is what the Greeks call bustrophedon. It is like this: at the end of the line the second line turns back, as runners do when running the double race. Moreover the inscriptions on the chest are written in winding characters difficult to decipher. Beginning our survey at the bottom we see in the first space of the chest the following scenes.
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Oenomaus is chasing Pelops, who is holding Hippodameia. Each of them has two horses, but those of Pelops have wings. Next is wrought the house of Amphiaraus, and baby Amphilochus is being carried by some old woman or other. In front of the house stands Eriphyle with the necklace, and by her are her daughters Eurydice and Demonassa, and the boy Alcmaeon naked.
Asius in his poem makes out Alcmena also to be a daughter of Amphiaraus and Eriphyle. Baton is driving the chariot of Amphiaraus, holding the reins in one hand and a spear in the other. Amphiaraus already has one foot on the chariot and his sword drawn; he is turned towards Eriphyle in such a transport of anger that he can scarcely refrain from striking her.
After the house of Amphiaraus come the games at the funeral of Pelias, with the spectators looking at the competitors. Heracles is seated on a throne, and behind him is a woman. There is no inscription saying who the woman is, but she is playing on a Phrygian, not a Greek, flute. Driving chariots drawn by pairs of horses are Pisus, son of Perieres, and Asterion, son of Cometas (Asterion is said to have been one of the Argonauts), Polydeuces, Admetus and Euphemus. The poets declare that
the last was a son of Poseidon and a companion of Jason on his voyage to Colchis. He it is who is winning the chariot-race.
Those who have boldly ventured to box are Admetus and Mopsus, the son of Ampyx. Between them stands a man playing the flute, as in our day they are accustomed to play the flute when the competitors in the pentathlum are jumping. The wrestling-bout between Jason and Peleus is an even one. Eurybotas is shown throwing the quoit; he must be some famous quoit-thrower. Those engaged in a running-race are Melanion, Neotheus and Phalareus; the fourth runner is Argeius, and the fifth is Iphiclus. Iphiclus is the winner, and Acastus is holding out the crown to him. He is probably the father of the Protesilaus who joined in the war against Troy.
Tripods too are set here, prizes of course for the winners; and there are the daughters of Pelias, though the only one with her name inscribed is Alcestis. Iolaus, who voluntarily helped Heracles in his labours, is shown as a victor in the chariot-race. At this point the funeral games of Pelias come to an end, and Heracles, with Athena standing beside him, is shooting at the hydra, the beast in the river Amymone. Heracles can be easily recognized by his exploit and his attitude, so his name is not inscribed by him. There is also Phineus the Thracian, and the sons of Boreas are chasing the harpies away from him.
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XVIII. Now I come to the second space on the chest, and in going round it I had better begin from the left. There is a figure of a woman holding on her right arm a white child asleep, and on her left she has a black child like one who is asleep. Each has his feet turned different ways. The inscriptions declare, as one could infer without inscriptions, that the figures are Death and Sleep, with Night the nurse of both.
A beautiful woman is punishing an ugly one, choking her with one hand and with the other striking her with a staff. It is Justice who thus treats Injustice. Two other women are pounding in mortars with pestles; they are supposed to be wise in medicine-lore, though there is no inscription to them. Who the man is who is followed by a woman is made plain by the hexameter verses, which run thus:–
Idas brings back, not against her will,
Fair-ankled Marpessa, daughter of Evenus,
whom Apollo carried off.
A man wearing a tunic is holding in his right hand a cup, and in his left a necklace; Alcmena is taking hold of them. This scene represents the Greek story how Zeus in the likeness of Amphitryon had intercourse with Alcmena.
Menelaus, wearing a breastplate and carrying a sword, is advancing to kill Helen, so it is plain that Troy has been captured.
Medeia is seated upon a throne, while Jason stands on her right and Aphrodite on her left. On them is an inscription:–
Jason weds Medeia, as Aphrodite bids.
There are also figures of Muses singing, with Apollo leading the song; these too have an inscription:–
This is Leto's son, prince Apollo, far-shooting;
Around him are the Muses, a graceful choir, whom he is leading.
Atlas too is supporting, just as the story has it, heaven and earth upon his shoulders; he is also carrying the apples of the Hesperides. A man holding a sword is coming towards Atlas. This everybody can see is Heracles, though he is not mentioned specially in the inscription, which reads:–
Here is Atlas holding heaven, but he will let go the apples.
There is also Ares clad in armour and leading Aphrodite. The inscription by him is “Enyalius.” There is also a figure of Thetis as a maid; Peleus is taking hold of her, and from the hand of Thetis a snake is darting at Peleus. The sisters of Medusa, with wings, are chasing Perseus, who is flying. Only Perseus has his name inscribed on him.
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On the third space of the chest are military scenes. The greater number of the figures are on foot, though there are some knights in two-horse chariots. About the soldiers one may infer that they are advancing to battle, but that they will recognize and greet each other. Two different accounts of them are given by the guides. Some have said that they are the Aetolians with Oxylus and the ancient Eleans, and that they are meeting in remembrance of their original descent and as a sign of their mutual good will. Others declare that the soldiers are meeting in battle, and that they are Pylians and Arcadians about to fight by the city Pheia and the river Iardanus.
But it cannot for a moment be admitted that the ancestor of Cypselus, a Corinthian, having the chest made as a possession for himself, of his own accord passed over all Corinthian story, and had carved on the chest foreign events which were not famous. The following interpretation suggested itself to me. Cypselus and his ancestors came originally from Gonussa above Sicyon, and one of their ancestors was Melas, the son of Antasus.
But, as I have already related in my account of Corinth, Aletes refused to admit as settlers Melas and the host with him, being nervous about an oracle which had been given him from Delphi; but at last Melas, using every art of winning favours, and returning with entreaties every time he was driven away, persuaded Aletes however reluctantly to receive them. One might infer that this army is represented by the figures wrought upon the chest.
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XIX. In the fourth space on the chest as you go round from the left is Boreas, who has carried off Oreithyia; instead of feet he has serpents' tails. Then comes the combat between Heracles and Geryones, who is represented as three men joined to one another. There is Theseus holding a lyre, and by his side is Ariadne gripping a crown. Achilles and Memnon are fighting; their mothers stand by their side.
There is also Melanion by whom is Atalanta holding a young deer. Ajax is fighting a duel with Hector, according to the challenge, and between the pair stands Strife in the form of a most repulsive woman. Another figure of Strife is in the sanctuary of Ephesian Artemis; Calliphon of Samos included it in his picture of the battle at the ships of the Greeks. On the chest are also the Dioscuri, one of them a beardless youth, and between them is Helen.
Aethra, the daughter of Pittheus, lies thrown to the ground under the feet at Helen. She is clothed in black, and the inscription upon the group is an hexameter line with the addition of a single word:–
The sons of Tyndareus are carrying off Helen,
and are dragging Aethra from Athens.
Such is the way this line is constructed. Iphidamas, the son of Antenor, is lying, and Coon is fighting for him against Agamemnon. On the shield of Agamemnon is Fear, whose head is a lion's. The inscription above the corpse of Iphidamas runs:
Iphidamas, and this is Coon fighting for him.
The inscription on the shield of Agamemnon runs:
This is the Fear of mortals: he who holds him is Agamemnon.
There is also Hermes bringing to Alexander the son of Priam the goddesses of whose beauty he is to judge, the inscription on them being:
Here is Hermes,
who is showing to Alexander,
that he may arbitrate
Concerning their beauty,
Hera, Athena and Aphrodite.
On what account Artemis has wings on her shoulders I do not know; in her right hand she grips a leopard, in her left a lion. Ajax too is represented dragging Cassandra from the image of Athena, and by him is also an inscription:
Ajax of Locri is dragging Cassandra from Athena.
Polyneices, the son of Oedipus, has fallen on his knee, and Eteocles, the other son of Oedipus, is rushing on him. Behind Polyneices stands a woman with teeth as cruel as those of a beast, and her fingernails are bent like talons. An inscription by her calls her Doom, implying that Polyneices has been carried off by fate, and that Eteocles fully deserved his end.
Dionysus is lying down in a cave, a bearded figure holding a golden cup, and clad in a tunic reaching to the feet. Around him are vines, apple-trees and pomegranate-trees.
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The highest space – the spaces are five in number – shows no inscription, so that we can only conjecture what the reliefs mean. Well, there is a grotto and in it a woman sleeping with a man upon a couch. I was of opinion that they were Odysseus and Circe, basing my view upon the number of the handmaidens in front of the grotto and upon what they are doing. For the women are four, and they are engaged on the tasks which Homer mentions in his poetry. There is a Centaur with only two of his legs those of a horse; his forelegs are human.
Next come two-horse chariots with women standing in them. The horses have golden wings, and a man is giving armour to one of the women. I conjecture that this scene refers to the death of Patroclus; the women in the chariots, I take it, are Nereids, and Thetis is receiving the armour from Hephaestus. And moreover, he who is giving the armour is not strong upon his feet, and a slave follows him behind, holding a pair of fire-tongs.
An account also is given of the Centaur, that he is Chiron, freed by this time from human affairs and held worthy to share the home of the gods, who has come to assuage the grief of Achilles. Two maidens in a mule-cart, one holding the reins and the other wearing a veil upon her head, are thought to be Nausicaa, the daughter of Alcinous, and her handmaiden, driving to the washing-pits. The man shooting at Centaurs, some of which he has killed, is plainly Heracles, and the exploit is one of his.
As to the maker of the chest, I found it impossible to form any conjecture. But the inscriptions upon it, though possibly composed by some other poet, are, as I was on the whole inclined to hold, the work of Eumelus of Corinth. My main reason for this view is the processional hymn he wrote for Delos.
http://www.theoi.com/Text/Pausanias5B.html#4
Greek and Roman mythology from the original sources, from Atlantis to Hercules to the Trojan War. Email: LegendaryPassages@gmail.com
Friday, July 28, 2017
Sunday, July 9, 2017
LP0064 - The Cretan Bull - Daedalus, Cephalus, & Megacles, from Tzetzes' Chiliades
Legendary Passages #0064 - The Cretan Bull -
Daedalus, Cephalus, & Megacles, from Tzetzes' Chiliades.
Last time we covered the stories of sanctuaries in Thebes. This time we hear several tales concerning the Bull of Minos, the Dog of Cephalus, and the Olympics.
The Bull of Crete ties into several myths. Not only was retrieving it the seventh labor of Heracles, but it also became the Marathon bull, and was the sire of the Minotaur.
We also get more background on Daedalus, exiled from Athens for jealously slaying the son of his sister Perdix. Minos gave sanctuary to Daedalus, and with the slave Naucrate he had a son named Icarus.
Daedalus helped Queen Pasiphae commit adultery with either a bull, or with General Taurus, causing the Minotaur to be born. For this, Daedalus and his son were imprisoned, and eventually escaped either by ship, or by flying. Icarus died, and was buried by Heracles on the island of Icaria.
Daedalus fled to Sicily, but soon Minos followed him there. As King Minos was taking a bath, the daughters of Cocalus added boiling water, and Minos died.
The second story concerns Cephalus and his wife Procris. After a misunderstanding, she fled to Crete, and as a reward for helping Minos, she received a magic spear and a dog that could catch anything. Procris gave these to her husband Cephalus, who sent the dog after the uncatchable Teumessian Fox, so the gods turned both animals into stone. Cephalus took the magic spear hunting with him, and when Procris went to fetch him, he thought she was a wild animal. The magic of the spear was that it never missed.
The last tale concerns Megacles, son of the noblewoman Coesyra, who won third place in the Olympics for horse-racing. The Olympics were founded by Heracles in Olympia, just next to the Augean Stables in Elis, and took place every fifty months.
Next time, more stories of Heracles carved onto The Chest of Cypselus.
http://www.theoi.com/Text/TzetzesChiliades1.html#19
The Cretan Bull,
a Legendary Passage,
from Tzetzes' Chiliades,
translated by Ana Untila.
1.19 - 1.21
1.19 CONCERNING THE BULL OF MINOS (STORY 19)
Minos was a son of Asterion Zeus.
Since the beginning of the world kings were called Zeus as well.
Just like the star of Zeus, which came quickly when he was born
To foretell he would have a destiny of a lion.
It appears only in front of kings who wear a crown.
After the death of the king Asterion,
Minos was not permitted to rule Crete after him
Because, they say, the kingdom must be given by the gods.
A strange sign from the sea would be revealed to him.
Minos promised that, whatever it was,
it would be sacrificed to Poseidon.
Then a beautiful bull appeared from the sea
And he was given immediately the kingdom of the Cretans.
He sacrificed to Poseidon another bull
That he asked to be brought from his herd.
That bull was said to have laid with his wife Pasiphae
Even though she was involved in intercourse
with Daedalus artificial inventions,
She gave birth to Minotaur, a beast half man and half bull.
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Daedalus was a son of Eupalamus and Alcippe.
He was a craftsman and sculptor in Attica.
He threw from Attica’s citadel
The son of his sister Perdix, whose name was Attalus.
He was being a disciple alongside his uncle Daedalus.
He was the first to make an artificial serpent’s jaw
Which could catch a small piece of wood.
When his uncle saw that,
Being envious of the child’s genius, he killed him.
He went to Minos. There, with the slave Naucrate
He had a son, Icarus. Minos detained them
For having helped his adulterer wife.
He was about to kill them, that’s why he imprisoned them.
They escaped from the prison
Having put wings upon them, they flew through air.
Icarus fell into the sea when he left.
The Icarian Sea, where he fell, was named after him.
Daedalus was saved in Caminus of Sicily.
In Sicily came Minos looking for him.
Minos was killed by the daughters of Cocalus;
By pouring upon him boiling waters he immediately froze.
Now, I should say about the bull
and the involved intercourse,
About the Minotaur and the wings made by Daedalus
And how, they say, Daedalus’ sculptures could move.
As Euripides has said in his play Hecuba:
“I wish I could speak through my arms,
Through my hands and my hair and my walking
And through Daedalus’ crafting or some God’s”
And Plato, the master of comedy, has said:
“Every sculpture made by Daedalus must be seen
To move; that is a wise man”.
-
Minos, who was not permitted to be the ruler before,
Having consulted the seers, spoke to the Cretans.
He would be revealed a sign from the sea.
Commander Taurus showed up with his merchant ships
And Minos took the kingdom as if it were a god’s will.
It was this Taurus, the commander, not the bull,
With whom Pasiphae, the wife of Minos, committed adultery
In cooperation with Daedalus, who helped her
To be closed in the most guarded rooms,
The so-called wooden bull of Daedalus,
Where she had a baby; since the child had two fathers,
Minos and Taurus, he was called Minotaur.
Daedalus knew the ships of those merchants
were so quick as if they had feathers.
He left with them to Sicily.
Icarus was plundered and drowned during a shipwreck.
Daedalus was saved in the house of Cocalus.
The things crafted by Daedalus
were believed to move because of this:
Many years before Daedalus, the statues
Were made without arms, legs or eyes.
Daedalus was the first one to make them with arms and legs
As well as with fingers, eyelids and everything else.
That’s why they say his statues were capable of moving.
1.20 CONCERNING CEPHALUS’ DOG (STORY 20)
Procris, the daughter of Erechtheus and Praxithea,
Was the wife of Cephalus, Deioneus’ son.
She was bribed with a golden crown to lie down with Pteleon.
She fled to Minos after Cephalus discovered her.
Minos had secret intercourse with her
And gave her as a gift a sharp javelin and a fast-running dog.
This dog could quickly catch any fast beast.
She took these presents and returned to Cephalus.
He received the gifts and went hunting.
Believing it was a wild beast, he killed her with a javelin.
Judged by the Areopagus, he went into exile.
At that time there was a Teumessian Fox
That was bringing disaster to the children of Thebes.
Cephalus sends his dog to hunt the fox.
Zeus, by transforming the roads into stones, made the dog win.
This story has been written by Apollodorus.
While the wise Palaephatus, a really intelligent man,
Says a slightly different story.
He says there was a commander named Alopekos
Who was fighting against the Thebans along with other rebels,
Whom Cephalus killed having been called from Athens.
I, too, agree with this version of the story,
which is the most known.
Minos was involved in a secret intercourse with Procris
And after that, he sent her upon fast ships
Along with commander Cynas and many gifts for Cephalus.
Cephalus then sent this Cynas to Alopekos
To fight him as an enemy. They fought upon their horses
Until they destroyed each other.
Alopekos escaped with his ships
And Cynas was chased until the cliffs beside the sea,
Where his ships were, and left this life.
1.21 CONCERNING MEGACLES (STORY 21)
The claiming Megacles was son of Coesyra,
The most noble among all women under the sun.
He was the third one in the horse contest in Olympia.
Olympia was a place next to Triphylia
Where the river Alpheus is still flowing.
Heracles had been forced by Olympian Zeus
To fight and win the beasts of Augeas.
He was honoured with a young branch of a wild olive tree.
This contest continued to take place every fifty months.
http://www.theoi.com/Text/TzetzesChiliades1.html#19
Daedalus, Cephalus, & Megacles, from Tzetzes' Chiliades.
Last time we covered the stories of sanctuaries in Thebes. This time we hear several tales concerning the Bull of Minos, the Dog of Cephalus, and the Olympics.
The Bull of Crete ties into several myths. Not only was retrieving it the seventh labor of Heracles, but it also became the Marathon bull, and was the sire of the Minotaur.
We also get more background on Daedalus, exiled from Athens for jealously slaying the son of his sister Perdix. Minos gave sanctuary to Daedalus, and with the slave Naucrate he had a son named Icarus.
Daedalus helped Queen Pasiphae commit adultery with either a bull, or with General Taurus, causing the Minotaur to be born. For this, Daedalus and his son were imprisoned, and eventually escaped either by ship, or by flying. Icarus died, and was buried by Heracles on the island of Icaria.
Daedalus fled to Sicily, but soon Minos followed him there. As King Minos was taking a bath, the daughters of Cocalus added boiling water, and Minos died.
The second story concerns Cephalus and his wife Procris. After a misunderstanding, she fled to Crete, and as a reward for helping Minos, she received a magic spear and a dog that could catch anything. Procris gave these to her husband Cephalus, who sent the dog after the uncatchable Teumessian Fox, so the gods turned both animals into stone. Cephalus took the magic spear hunting with him, and when Procris went to fetch him, he thought she was a wild animal. The magic of the spear was that it never missed.
The last tale concerns Megacles, son of the noblewoman Coesyra, who won third place in the Olympics for horse-racing. The Olympics were founded by Heracles in Olympia, just next to the Augean Stables in Elis, and took place every fifty months.
Next time, more stories of Heracles carved onto The Chest of Cypselus.
http://www.theoi.com/Text/TzetzesChiliades1.html#19
The Cretan Bull,
a Legendary Passage,
from Tzetzes' Chiliades,
translated by Ana Untila.
1.19 - 1.21
1.19 CONCERNING THE BULL OF MINOS (STORY 19)
Minos was a son of Asterion Zeus.
Since the beginning of the world kings were called Zeus as well.
Just like the star of Zeus, which came quickly when he was born
To foretell he would have a destiny of a lion.
It appears only in front of kings who wear a crown.
After the death of the king Asterion,
Minos was not permitted to rule Crete after him
Because, they say, the kingdom must be given by the gods.
A strange sign from the sea would be revealed to him.
Minos promised that, whatever it was,
it would be sacrificed to Poseidon.
Then a beautiful bull appeared from the sea
And he was given immediately the kingdom of the Cretans.
He sacrificed to Poseidon another bull
That he asked to be brought from his herd.
That bull was said to have laid with his wife Pasiphae
Even though she was involved in intercourse
with Daedalus artificial inventions,
She gave birth to Minotaur, a beast half man and half bull.
-
Daedalus was a son of Eupalamus and Alcippe.
He was a craftsman and sculptor in Attica.
He threw from Attica’s citadel
The son of his sister Perdix, whose name was Attalus.
He was being a disciple alongside his uncle Daedalus.
He was the first to make an artificial serpent’s jaw
Which could catch a small piece of wood.
When his uncle saw that,
Being envious of the child’s genius, he killed him.
He went to Minos. There, with the slave Naucrate
He had a son, Icarus. Minos detained them
For having helped his adulterer wife.
He was about to kill them, that’s why he imprisoned them.
They escaped from the prison
Having put wings upon them, they flew through air.
Icarus fell into the sea when he left.
The Icarian Sea, where he fell, was named after him.
Daedalus was saved in Caminus of Sicily.
In Sicily came Minos looking for him.
Minos was killed by the daughters of Cocalus;
By pouring upon him boiling waters he immediately froze.
Now, I should say about the bull
and the involved intercourse,
About the Minotaur and the wings made by Daedalus
And how, they say, Daedalus’ sculptures could move.
As Euripides has said in his play Hecuba:
“I wish I could speak through my arms,
Through my hands and my hair and my walking
And through Daedalus’ crafting or some God’s”
And Plato, the master of comedy, has said:
“Every sculpture made by Daedalus must be seen
To move; that is a wise man”.
-
Minos, who was not permitted to be the ruler before,
Having consulted the seers, spoke to the Cretans.
He would be revealed a sign from the sea.
Commander Taurus showed up with his merchant ships
And Minos took the kingdom as if it were a god’s will.
It was this Taurus, the commander, not the bull,
With whom Pasiphae, the wife of Minos, committed adultery
In cooperation with Daedalus, who helped her
To be closed in the most guarded rooms,
The so-called wooden bull of Daedalus,
Where she had a baby; since the child had two fathers,
Minos and Taurus, he was called Minotaur.
Daedalus knew the ships of those merchants
were so quick as if they had feathers.
He left with them to Sicily.
Icarus was plundered and drowned during a shipwreck.
Daedalus was saved in the house of Cocalus.
The things crafted by Daedalus
were believed to move because of this:
Many years before Daedalus, the statues
Were made without arms, legs or eyes.
Daedalus was the first one to make them with arms and legs
As well as with fingers, eyelids and everything else.
That’s why they say his statues were capable of moving.
1.20 CONCERNING CEPHALUS’ DOG (STORY 20)
Procris, the daughter of Erechtheus and Praxithea,
Was the wife of Cephalus, Deioneus’ son.
She was bribed with a golden crown to lie down with Pteleon.
She fled to Minos after Cephalus discovered her.
Minos had secret intercourse with her
And gave her as a gift a sharp javelin and a fast-running dog.
This dog could quickly catch any fast beast.
She took these presents and returned to Cephalus.
He received the gifts and went hunting.
Believing it was a wild beast, he killed her with a javelin.
Judged by the Areopagus, he went into exile.
At that time there was a Teumessian Fox
That was bringing disaster to the children of Thebes.
Cephalus sends his dog to hunt the fox.
Zeus, by transforming the roads into stones, made the dog win.
This story has been written by Apollodorus.
While the wise Palaephatus, a really intelligent man,
Says a slightly different story.
He says there was a commander named Alopekos
Who was fighting against the Thebans along with other rebels,
Whom Cephalus killed having been called from Athens.
I, too, agree with this version of the story,
which is the most known.
Minos was involved in a secret intercourse with Procris
And after that, he sent her upon fast ships
Along with commander Cynas and many gifts for Cephalus.
Cephalus then sent this Cynas to Alopekos
To fight him as an enemy. They fought upon their horses
Until they destroyed each other.
Alopekos escaped with his ships
And Cynas was chased until the cliffs beside the sea,
Where his ships were, and left this life.
1.21 CONCERNING MEGACLES (STORY 21)
The claiming Megacles was son of Coesyra,
The most noble among all women under the sun.
He was the third one in the horse contest in Olympia.
Olympia was a place next to Triphylia
Where the river Alpheus is still flowing.
Heracles had been forced by Olympian Zeus
To fight and win the beasts of Augeas.
He was honoured with a young branch of a wild olive tree.
This contest continued to take place every fifty months.
http://www.theoi.com/Text/TzetzesChiliades1.html#19
Monday, July 3, 2017
LP0063 - The Sanctuary of Heracles - A tour of Thebes, from Pausanias' Description of Greece
Legendary Passages #0063 - The Sanctuary of Heracles -
A tour of Thebes, from Pausanias' Description of Greece.
The next six episodes will be our final review of Heracles and his family for quite a while. This time we shall cover Theban monuments to Cadmus, Heracles, and several gods.
After the Ismenian Hill and Manto's Chair, the tradition of the Laurel-Bearer is discussed, as Heracles was one of those boys. After the tomb of Caanthus, is the House of Amphitryon, where his wife Alcmena gave birth to Heracles. The tomb of Heracles' children is here also, as well as the Chastiser Stone, which ended his madness.
At the Sanctuary of Heracles there is a marble statue of him called Champion; and an ancient wooden one made by Daedalus, after Heracles found and buried his son on Icaria. The Twelve Labors are depicted in carvings, except for the Augean Stables and Stymphalian Birds. And of course there is a gymnasium and a race-course.
Lastly are stories of Cadmus and his family. The Oracle at Delphi told Cadmus and his tribe to follow a specific cow, and when it finally laid down, to there build the city of Thebes. Cadmus himself built an alter to Athena on the spot. The bridal-chamber of his wife Harmonia is now in ruins, but the spot where the Muses sang at their wedding is in the market-place. The bridal chamber of their daughter Semele is forbidden to all men, and contains a log that fell from heaven.
Next time, the story of Heracles' 7th labor: The Cretan Bull.
http://www.theoi.com/Text/Pausanias9A.html#7
The Sanctuary of Heracles,
a Legendary Passage,
from Pausanias' Description of Greece,
translated by W. H. S. Jones.
[9.10.1] - [9.12.6]
X. 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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XI. On the left of the gate named Electran are the ruins of a house where they say Amphitryon came to live when exiled from Tiryns because of the death of Electryon; and the chamber of Alcmena is still plainly to be seen among the ruins. They say that it was built for Amphitryon by Trophonius and Agamedes, and that on it was written the following inscription:–
When Amphitryon was about to bring hither his bride
Alcmena, he chose this as a chamber for himself.
Anchasian Trophonius and Agamedes made it.
Such was the inscription that the Thebans say was written here. They show also the tomb of the children of Heracles by Megara. Their account of the death of these is in no way different from that in the poems of Panyassis and of Stesichorus of Himera. But the Thebans add that Heracles in his madness was about to kill Amphitryon as well, but before he could do so he was rendered unconscious by the blow of the stone. Athena, they say, threw at him this stone, which they name Chastiser.
Here are portraits of women in relief, but the figures are by this time rather indistinct. The Thebans call them Witches, adding that they were sent by Hera to hinder the birth-pangs of Alcmena. So these kept Alcmena from bringing forth her child. But Historis, the daughter of Teiresias, thought of a trick to deceive the Witches, and she uttered a loud cry of joy in their hearing, that Alcmena had been delivered. So the story goes that the Witches were deceived and went away, and Alcmena brought forth her child.
Here is a sanctuary of Heracles. The image, of white marble, is called Champion, and the Thebans Xenocritus and Eubius were the artists. But the ancient wooden image is thought by the Thebans to be by Daedalus, and the same opinion occurred to me. It was dedicated, they say, by Daedalus himself, as a thank-offering for a benefit. For when he was fleeing from Crete in small vessels which he had made for himself and his son Icarus, he devised for the ships sails, an invention as yet unknown to the men of those times, so as to take advantage of a favorable wind and outsail the oared fleet of Minos. Daedalus himself was saved, but the ship of Icarus is said to have overturned, as he was a clumsy helmsman. The drowned man was carried ashore by the current to the island, then without a name, that lies off Samos. Heracles came across the body and recognized it, giving it burial where even to-day a small mound still stands to Icarus on a promontory jutting out into the Aegean. After this Icarus are named both the island and the sea around it.
The carvings on the gables at Thebes are by Praxiteles, and include most of what are called the twelve labours. The slaughter of the Stymphalian birds and the cleansing of the land of Elis by Heracles are omitted; in their place is represented the wrestling with Antaeus. Thrasybulus, son of Lycus, and the Athenians who with him put down the tyranny of the Thirty, set out from Thebes when they returned to Athens, and therefore they dedicated in the sanctuary of Heracles colossal figures of Athena and Heracles, carved by Alcamenes in relief out of Pentelic marble.
Adjoining the sanctuary of Heracles are a gymnasium and a race-course, both being named after the god. Beyond the Chastiser stone is an altar of Apollo surnamed God of Ashes; it is made out of the ashes of the victims. The customary mode of divination here is from voices, which is used by the Smyrnaeans, to my knowledge, more than by any other Greeks. For at Smyrna also there is a sanctuary of Voices outside the wall and beyond the city.
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XII. The Thebans in ancient days used to sacrifice bulls to Apollo of the Ashes. Once when the festival was being held, the hour of the sacrifice was near but those sent to fetch the bull had not arrived. And so, as a wagon happened to be near by, they sacrificed to the god one of the oxen, and ever since it has been the custom to sacrifice working oxen.
The following story also is current among the Thebans. As Cadmus was leaving Delphi by the road to Phocis, a cow, it is said, guided him on his way. This cow was one bought from the herdsmen of Pelagon, and on each of her sides was a white mark like the orb of a full moon.
Now the oracle of the god had said that Cadmus and the host with him were to make their dwelling where the cow was going to sink down in weariness. So this is one of the places that they point out. Here there is in the open an altar and an image of Athena, said to have been dedicated by Cadmus. Those who think that the Cadmus who came to the Theban land was an Egyptian, and not a Phoenician, have their opinion contradicted by the name of this Athena, because she is called by the Phoenician name of Onga, and not by the Egyptian name of Sais.
The Thebans assert that on the part of their citadel, where to-day stands their market-place, was in ancient times the house of Cadmus. They point out the ruins of the bridal-chamber of Harmonia, and of one which they say was Semele's into the latter they allow no man to step even now. Those Greeks who allow that the Muses sang at the wedding of Harmonia, can point to the spot in the market-place where it is said that the goddesses sang.
There is also a story that along with the thunderbolt hurled at the bridalchamber of Semele there fell a log from heaven. They say that Polydorus adorned this log with bronze and called it Dionysus Cadmus. Near is an image of Dionysus; Onasimedes made it of solid bronze. The altar was built by the sons of Praxiteles.
http://www.theoi.com/Text/Pausanias9A.html#7
A tour of Thebes, from Pausanias' Description of Greece.
The next six episodes will be our final review of Heracles and his family for quite a while. This time we shall cover Theban monuments to Cadmus, Heracles, and several gods.
After the Ismenian Hill and Manto's Chair, the tradition of the Laurel-Bearer is discussed, as Heracles was one of those boys. After the tomb of Caanthus, is the House of Amphitryon, where his wife Alcmena gave birth to Heracles. The tomb of Heracles' children is here also, as well as the Chastiser Stone, which ended his madness.
At the Sanctuary of Heracles there is a marble statue of him called Champion; and an ancient wooden one made by Daedalus, after Heracles found and buried his son on Icaria. The Twelve Labors are depicted in carvings, except for the Augean Stables and Stymphalian Birds. And of course there is a gymnasium and a race-course.
Lastly are stories of Cadmus and his family. The Oracle at Delphi told Cadmus and his tribe to follow a specific cow, and when it finally laid down, to there build the city of Thebes. Cadmus himself built an alter to Athena on the spot. The bridal-chamber of his wife Harmonia is now in ruins, but the spot where the Muses sang at their wedding is in the market-place. The bridal chamber of their daughter Semele is forbidden to all men, and contains a log that fell from heaven.
Next time, the story of Heracles' 7th labor: The Cretan Bull.
http://www.theoi.com/Text/Pausanias9A.html#7
The Sanctuary of Heracles,
a Legendary Passage,
from Pausanias' Description of Greece,
translated by W. H. S. Jones.
[9.10.1] - [9.12.6]
X. 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
-
XI. On the left of the gate named Electran are the ruins of a house where they say Amphitryon came to live when exiled from Tiryns because of the death of Electryon; and the chamber of Alcmena is still plainly to be seen among the ruins. They say that it was built for Amphitryon by Trophonius and Agamedes, and that on it was written the following inscription:–
When Amphitryon was about to bring hither his bride
Alcmena, he chose this as a chamber for himself.
Anchasian Trophonius and Agamedes made it.
Such was the inscription that the Thebans say was written here. They show also the tomb of the children of Heracles by Megara. Their account of the death of these is in no way different from that in the poems of Panyassis and of Stesichorus of Himera. But the Thebans add that Heracles in his madness was about to kill Amphitryon as well, but before he could do so he was rendered unconscious by the blow of the stone. Athena, they say, threw at him this stone, which they name Chastiser.
Here are portraits of women in relief, but the figures are by this time rather indistinct. The Thebans call them Witches, adding that they were sent by Hera to hinder the birth-pangs of Alcmena. So these kept Alcmena from bringing forth her child. But Historis, the daughter of Teiresias, thought of a trick to deceive the Witches, and she uttered a loud cry of joy in their hearing, that Alcmena had been delivered. So the story goes that the Witches were deceived and went away, and Alcmena brought forth her child.
Here is a sanctuary of Heracles. The image, of white marble, is called Champion, and the Thebans Xenocritus and Eubius were the artists. But the ancient wooden image is thought by the Thebans to be by Daedalus, and the same opinion occurred to me. It was dedicated, they say, by Daedalus himself, as a thank-offering for a benefit. For when he was fleeing from Crete in small vessels which he had made for himself and his son Icarus, he devised for the ships sails, an invention as yet unknown to the men of those times, so as to take advantage of a favorable wind and outsail the oared fleet of Minos. Daedalus himself was saved, but the ship of Icarus is said to have overturned, as he was a clumsy helmsman. The drowned man was carried ashore by the current to the island, then without a name, that lies off Samos. Heracles came across the body and recognized it, giving it burial where even to-day a small mound still stands to Icarus on a promontory jutting out into the Aegean. After this Icarus are named both the island and the sea around it.
The carvings on the gables at Thebes are by Praxiteles, and include most of what are called the twelve labours. The slaughter of the Stymphalian birds and the cleansing of the land of Elis by Heracles are omitted; in their place is represented the wrestling with Antaeus. Thrasybulus, son of Lycus, and the Athenians who with him put down the tyranny of the Thirty, set out from Thebes when they returned to Athens, and therefore they dedicated in the sanctuary of Heracles colossal figures of Athena and Heracles, carved by Alcamenes in relief out of Pentelic marble.
Adjoining the sanctuary of Heracles are a gymnasium and a race-course, both being named after the god. Beyond the Chastiser stone is an altar of Apollo surnamed God of Ashes; it is made out of the ashes of the victims. The customary mode of divination here is from voices, which is used by the Smyrnaeans, to my knowledge, more than by any other Greeks. For at Smyrna also there is a sanctuary of Voices outside the wall and beyond the city.
-
XII. The Thebans in ancient days used to sacrifice bulls to Apollo of the Ashes. Once when the festival was being held, the hour of the sacrifice was near but those sent to fetch the bull had not arrived. And so, as a wagon happened to be near by, they sacrificed to the god one of the oxen, and ever since it has been the custom to sacrifice working oxen.
The following story also is current among the Thebans. As Cadmus was leaving Delphi by the road to Phocis, a cow, it is said, guided him on his way. This cow was one bought from the herdsmen of Pelagon, and on each of her sides was a white mark like the orb of a full moon.
Now the oracle of the god had said that Cadmus and the host with him were to make their dwelling where the cow was going to sink down in weariness. So this is one of the places that they point out. Here there is in the open an altar and an image of Athena, said to have been dedicated by Cadmus. Those who think that the Cadmus who came to the Theban land was an Egyptian, and not a Phoenician, have their opinion contradicted by the name of this Athena, because she is called by the Phoenician name of Onga, and not by the Egyptian name of Sais.
The Thebans assert that on the part of their citadel, where to-day stands their market-place, was in ancient times the house of Cadmus. They point out the ruins of the bridal-chamber of Harmonia, and of one which they say was Semele's into the latter they allow no man to step even now. Those Greeks who allow that the Muses sang at the wedding of Harmonia, can point to the spot in the market-place where it is said that the goddesses sang.
There is also a story that along with the thunderbolt hurled at the bridalchamber of Semele there fell a log from heaven. They say that Polydorus adorned this log with bronze and called it Dionysus Cadmus. Near is an image of Dionysus; Onasimedes made it of solid bronze. The altar was built by the sons of Praxiteles.
http://www.theoi.com/Text/Pausanias9A.html#7
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