Plutarch · a new plain-English translation from the Greek
"Who are the koniopodes and artynoi at Epidaurus?" The governing body consisted of one hundred and eighty men; from among these they chose councillors, whom they called "artynoi." Most of the common people spent their time in the countryside, and they were called "koniopodes" ("dusty-feet"), as one can infer, because they were recognized by their dust-covered feet whenever they came down into the city.
"What is the onobatis among the Cymaeans?" When a woman was caught in adultery, they led her into the marketplace and set her up on a certain stone in plain view of everyone; then they mounted her on a donkey, and after she had been paraded around the city she had to stand again on the same stone and remain disgraced for the rest of her life, being called "onobatis" ("donkey-rider"). They considered the stone unclean after this and purified it. There was also among them a certain office called the "phylaktos."
The man holding this office kept guard over the prison the rest of the time, but when he came into the council in its nighttime session he would lead the kings out by the hand and hold them until the council determined concerning them, whether they were guilty or not, casting their vote in secret. "Who is the hypekkaustria among the Solians?" This is what they call the priestess of Athena, because she performs certain apotropaic sacrifices
and rites. "Who are the amnemones at Cnidus, and who is the aphester?" They employed sixty men chosen from the best families as a kind of board of overseers for life, also serving as counsellors on the most important matters; they were called "amnemones" ("unmindful ones"), as one might guess, because of their being unaccountable — unless indeed, by Zeus, they were in fact men of excellent memory. The one who put the questions to them for their opinions was the "aphester." "Who are those among the Arcadians
and Lacedaemonians called chrestoi?" When the Lacedaemonians were reconciled with the Tegeans they made a treaty and set up a joint pillar by the Alpheus, on which, among other things, it was written: "to expel the Messenians from the land, and not to be permitted to make them chrestoi." Aristotle, explaining this, says it means not to put to death, as a favor to those of the Tegeans who sided with the Laconians. "Who is the krithologos among the Opuntians?" Most of the Greeks
in their very ancient sacrifices used barley, the citizens offering it as first-fruits. The official in charge of the sacrifices, who collected these first-fruits, they called the "krithologos" ("barley-gatherer"). They had two priests: one appointed over matters divine, the other over matters concerning the daimones. "What are the ploiades clouds?" They called "ploiades" ("floating ones") especially the rain-laden clouds that drift about, as Theophrastus
says in the fourth book of his work On Things in the Upper Air, in these words: "since these floating clouds too, and the compact ones, though motionless and quite white in color, show some difference in their substance, in that they are neither turning to water nor turning to vapor." "Who is the platychaites among the Boeotians?" In their Aeolic dialect they call by this name those who are neighbors sharing a house or bordering fields, as having the greatest share [of proximity]. I will quote one passage
from the law concerning the office of thesmophylax, there being several such passages. "Who is the hosioter among the Delphians, and why do they call one of the months Bysios?" They call "hosioter" the sacrificial victim, whenever it has been designated "hosios" ("sacred/pure"). There are five "hosioi" for life, and they perform most of their rites together with the prophets and join in the sacred ceremonies, since they are held to be descended from Deucalion. As for the month "Bysios," as
most people suppose, it comes from "physios" ("of nature"), for it marks the beginning of spring, when most things then grow and sprout. But the truth is not so; for the Delphians do not use beta in place of phi, as the Macedonians do when they say "Bilippos" and "balakros" and "Beronike," but rather in place of pi: for indeed they call "patein" (to tread) "batein," and "pikron" (bitter) they commonly call "bikron."
"Bysios," then, is "pysios," [the month] in which they inquire and make inquiry of the god — for "to inquire" (pynthanesthai) is also an ancestral practice. For in this month the oracle was given, and they consider this the seventh day to be the god's birthday, and they call it "Polyphthoos," not because of the baking of cakes (phthois), but because it is a month of much inquiry and much divination. For it was only later that the monthly oracular consultations were granted to petitioners; before that
the Pythia gave oracles only once a year, on this very day, as Callisthenes and Anaxandrides have recorded. "What is the phyximelon?" It belongs to the small, ground-hugging plants, whose shoots, when grazing animals come upon them, they nibble down and damage and harm their growth; whenever, then, they shoot up and attain some size and escape being harmed by the grazing animals, they are called "phyximela" ("escaping-the-flocks"). The witness for this is Aeschylus.
"Who are the aposphendonetoi?" The island of Corcyra was inhabited by Eretrians. When Charicrates sailed from Corinth with an armed force and was prevailing in the war, the Eretrians boarded their ships and sailed off homeward; but the islanders, having gotten wind of this beforehand, kept them from the land and prevented them from disembarking by slinging stones at them. Being unable either to persuade or to force their way past them, since they were numerous and unyielding, they sailed toward Thrace and, having occupied
a place where, they say, Methon, an ancestor of Orpheus, had formerly lived, they named the city Methone, but were called by their neighbors "aposphendonetoi" ("those driven off by slinging"). "Who is Charila among the Delphians?" The Delphians hold three festivals every nine years in succession, of which they call the one the Stepterion, the second the Heroïs, and the third Charila. Now the Stepterion seems to be an imitation of the god's
battle with Python and of his flight and pursuit afterward to Tempe; for some say he fled after the killing because he needed purification, while others say that he followed Python, who was wounded and fleeing along the road we now call the Sacred Way, and just missed catching him at the end; for he found him just dead of the wound and already tended in burial by the
boy whose name was Aix, as they say. The Stepterion, then, is an imitation of these events or of others like them. But most of the ceremony of the Heroïs involves a mystic account, which the Thyiades know, though from what is done openly one might guess it relates to the bringing-up of Semele. Concerning Charila they tell some such tale as this. A famine from drought gripped the Delphians, and they came to
the doors of the king with their children and wives and made supplication. He distributed some of the barley meal and pulse to those better known to him, for there was not enough for everyone. When a little orphan girl, still young, came and kept begging insistently, he struck her with his sandal and flung the sandal in her face; she, being poor and destitute but not ignoble in
character, went off out of the way and, loosening her girdle, hanged herself. As the famine grew worse and diseases were added to it, the Pythia gave an oracle to the king that he must propitiate Charila, a maiden who had died by her own hand. With difficulty they discovered that this had been the name of the girl who had been struck, and they performed a sacrifice mixed with a rite of purification, which they still carry out even now every nine years. For the king sits in state, distributing the barley meal
and pulse to everyone, both strangers and citizens, while an image of Charila as a child is brought forward; and when everyone has received their share, the king strikes the image with the sandal, and the leader of the Thyiades takes it up and carries it to a certain ravine, and there, having tied a cord around the image's neck, they bury it in the very place where they buried Charila after she hanged herself. "What is the 'beggar's meat'
among the Aenianians?" There have been several migrations of the Aenianians. First, while living around the Dotian plain, they were driven out by the Lapiths into the region of the Aethices. From there they occupied the region of Molossia around the Araouas river, from which they were named Paraouai. Afterward they occupied Cirrha; and at Cirrha, having stoned their king Oenoclus to death at the god's command, they went down into the region around the Inachus, which was inhabited
by the Inachians and Achaeans. An oracle was given that whoever should give up any part of the land would lose all of it, while whoever should receive land willingly given would keep it. Temon, a man of note among the Aenianians, took up rags and a beggar's wallet as though he were going to beg, and came to the Inachians; and when the king, in insolence and to raise a laugh, gave him a clod of earth, he took it, put it in his wallet, and vanished, well pleased with the
gift; for he departed at once without begging for anything more. The elders, astonished, called the oracle to mind, and went to the king and told him not to scorn the man nor let him get away. Temon, then, perceiving their intention, set off in flight, and escaped, after vowing a hecatomb to Apollo. As a result of this, the kings fought a duel, and Phemius of the Aenianians, seeing Hyperochus of the Inachians
coming against him with a dog, said he was not acting fairly, bringing a second combatant into the fight. When Hyperochus drove off the dog and turned around, Phemius struck him with a stone and killed him. Having thereby won the land, and having driven out the Inachians together with the Achaeans, they revere that stone as sacred and sacrifice to it, and cover it with the fat of the victim. Whenever they
render the hecatomb to Apollo, after consecrating an ox to Zeus, they set aside a special portion for the descendants of Temon, and this they call "beggar's meat." "Who are the Coliadae among the Ithacans, and what is the phagilos?" After the slaughter of the suitors, the relatives of the dead rose up against Odysseus; summoned by both parties as arbitrator, Neoptolemus judged that Odysseus should leave and go into exile from Cephallenia and Zacynthus
and Ithaca on account of the bloodshed, while the companions and kinsmen of the suitors should pay compensation to Odysseus every year for the wrongs done to his household. Odysseus himself then removed to Italy, but he consecrated the payment to his son and ordered the Ithacans to bring it to him. It consisted of barley meal, wine, honeycombs, oil, salt, and sacrificial animals older than "phagiloi": Aristotle says a "phagilos" is a lamb.
Telemachus freed the followers of Eumaeus and mingled them among the citizens, and from Eumaeus comes the clan of the Coliadae, and from Philoetius the clan of the Bucolidae. "What is the wooden dog among the Locrians?" Locrus was the son of Physcius son of Amphictyon, and from him and Cabye came Opus. Locrus, having quarreled with his father and taken along a good number of the citizens, sought an oracle concerning a colony. When
the god told him to found a city wherever he happened to be bitten by a wooden dog, he was crossing to the other sea when he trod on a briar-bush (kynosbatos). Troubled by the wound, he spent several days there, during which time he became acquainted with the region and founded the cities of Physceis and Hyanteia and the others which the Locrians called Ozolae came to inhabit. As for the name "Ozolian" Locrians, some say it comes from Nessus, others
say it comes from the serpent Python, saying that they were washed ashore by the sea and rotted in the land of the Locrians; some say it is because the people wore skins and goat-hides and, spending most of their time with goatherds, became foul-smelling; but others say the opposite, that the land, being full of flowers, took its name from its fragrance — among them is Archytas of Amphissa, for he has written of "grape-garlanded, fragrant Macyna,
lovely." "What is the garment called aphabroma by the Megarians?" Nisus, from whom Nisaea was named, ruling from Boeotia, married Abrote, daughter of Onchestus and sister of Megareus — a wife, as it seems, of exceptional and outstanding good sense. When she died, the Megarians mourned her of their own accord, and Nisus, wishing to establish an everlasting memory and renown for her, ordered the women of the city to wear
the robe which she had worn, and named the robe "aphabroma" after her. The god too seems to have lent support to the woman's renown; for many times, when the Megarian women wished to change their garments, an oracle prevented them. "Who is the dorixenos?" In ancient times the Megarid was inhabited village by village, its citizens divided into five groups. They were called Heraeis, Piraeis, Megareis, and
Cynosoureis and Tripodiskioi. When the Corinthians brought about war among them against one another — for they were always scheming to bring the Megarid under their own control — nevertheless, out of decency, they waged war gently and as kinsmen. For no one ever wronged those engaged in farming at all, and those who were captured had to pay a fixed ransom, which was accepted and they were then released. Formerly they did not even exact this, but whoever took a captive brought him
home, and after sharing salt and table with him sent him back home. The one who had brought the ransom was praised and remained forever a friend of the man who had taken him, being addressed as "dorixenos" ("guest-friend won by the spear") from having been a captive of war; but the one who defrauded him was held in disrepute, not only among the enemy but also among his own citizens, as unjust and untrustworthy. "What is the palintokia?" When the Megarians expelled the tyrant Theagenes, they behaved with moderation for a short time in
their government; but then, as the popular leaders poured out for them abundant and unmixed freedom, as Plato says, they became utterly corrupted, and treated the wealthy insolently in other respects as well; the poor would go into their houses and demand to be entertained and dined sumptuously, and if they did not get what they wanted, they used force and violence against everyone. Finally, having passed a decree, they exacted back the interest from the
moneylenders to whom they had actually paid it, calling this practice "palintokia" ("interest paid back"). "What is Anthedon, concerning which the Pythia said, 'Drink wine of the lees, since you do not dwell in Anthedon' — for the Boeotian Anthedon is not rich in wine?" They used to call Calaurea in ancient times "Eirene," after a woman named Eirene, who they say was born of Poseidon and Melantheia, daughter of Alpheus. Later, when the descendants of Anthes and Hyperes
settled there, they called the island Anthedonia and Hyperia. The oracle ran as follows, according to Aristotle: 'Drink wine of the lees, since you do not dwell in Anthedon, nor in sacred Hypera, where you used to drink unlees'd wine.' So says Aristotle. But Mnasigeiton says that Anthus, who was Hypere's brother, was lost while still an infant, and that Hypere, wandering in search of him, came to Pherae
to Acastus, where by chance Anthus was serving as a slave, appointed to pour the wine. So, as they were feasting, the boy, bringing the cup to his sister, recognized her and said to her quietly, 'Drink wine of the lees, since you do not dwell in Anthedon.' "What is the saying at Priene, 'darkness by the oak'?" The Samians and Prienians, at war with one another, generally inflicted and suffered moderate damage; but a great battle
took place in which the Prienians killed a thousand Samians. Seven years later, engaging the Milesians near the place called the Oak, they lost their best and, at the same time, foremost citizens, on which occasion Bias the sage, sent as ambassador from Priene to Samos, distinguished himself. Because this suffering had proved so bitter and grievous a calamity for the wives of the Prienians, a curse was established, and an oath
...concerning the most important matters, "the darkness by the oak," because their children and fathers and husbands were slaughtered there.
"Who are those among the Cretans called the 'burnt ones'?" They say that the Tyrrhenians, who had seized the daughters and wives of the Athenians from Brauron at the time when they were living in Lemnos and Imbros, and were afterward driven out, came to Laconia and formed a union with the native women there until children were born to them. But because of suspicion and slander they were again forced to leave Laconia, and sailed to Crete with their wives and children, under the leadership of Pollis and Delphus. There, warring against those who held Crete, they for a time allowed many of those who died in battle to lie unburied — at first because they were too occupied with the war and its dangers, but later because, once they had grown accustomed to shrinking from the task, they were reluctant to touch corpses that had already decayed with time and dissolved. So Pollis devised certain honors, privileges, and exemptions, and assigned some of these to the priests of the gods and others to the buriers of the dead, consecrating the latter as well to the chthonic spirits, so that they might remain inviolable; then he divided them by lot with Delphus. Some were called priests, the others "burnt ones"; and these lived under their own laws, and along with their other privileges enjoyed immunity from prosecution for the offenses which the other Cretans habitually commit against one another, driving off and carrying away goods by stealth — for those men, it was said, committed no wrong, neither stealing anything nor taking anything away.
"What is the tomb of the children among the Chalcidians?" Cothus and Aiclus, the sons of Xuthus, came to Euboea to settle it, at a time when the Aeolians still held most of the island. Cothus had an oracle that he would fare well and prevail over his enemies if he bought the land. So he landed with a few companions and came upon some little boys playing by the sea; joining in their games and being friendly with them, he showed them many foreign toys. When he saw that the boys were eager to have them, he said he would not give them unless he received some of their land from them. So the boys, picking it up from the ground, gave it to him, and having received the toys they went off. But the Aeolians, learning what had happened, and with their enemies bearing down on them by sea, in anger and grief put the boys to death. They were buried beside the road that leads from the city to the Euripus, and the place is called "the Children's Tomb."
"Who is the mixarchagetas at Argos, and who are the elasioi?" They call Castor "mixarchagetas" and believe he is buried among them; Polydeuces they revere as one of the Olympians. Those who are thought able to ward off epileptic seizures they call "elasioi"; they are believed to be descendants of Alexida, daughter of Amphiaraus.
"What is the enknisma spoken of among the Argives?" It is the custom of those who have lost a relative or a close friend to sacrifice to Apollo immediately after the period of mourning, and thirty days later to Hermes. For they believe that, just as the earth receives the bodies of the dead, so Hermes receives their souls; and to the attendant of Apollo they give barley and receive in return meat from the sacrificial victim, and having extinguished the fire as polluted and kindled a new one from others, they roast this meat, calling it "enknisma."
"Who is the vengeful alastor, and who is the alitêrios or palamnaios?" One should not believe those who say that "alitêrioi" got their name from those who, during a famine, watch for a man grinding grain and plunder him. Rather, "alastor" is the name given to one who has done deeds that will not be forgotten (alêsta) and will be remembered for a long time; "alitêrios" is one whom it was right to shun and guard against because of his wickedness. These things, says Socrates, are written on bronze tablets.
"What is the meaning behind the custom whereby those who lead the ox from Aenus to Cassiopaea, as they escort the maidens, sing all the way to the border, 'May you never return to your dear native land'?" The Aenianians, driven out by the Lapiths, first settled around Aethacia, then around Molossia and Cassiopaea; and having nothing good from that region, and moreover suffering from harsh neighbors, they came to the Cirrhaean plain, led by their king Oenoclus. There, when a great drought occurred, they stoned Oenoclus to death in accordance with an oracle, as the story goes, and after wandering again they arrived at the land they now hold, which is good and abundant in every crop. Hence it is fitting that they pray to the gods never to return to their former homeland, but to remain there in prosperity.
"Why is it that among the Rhodians no herald enters the shrine of Ocridion?" Is it because Ochimus betrothed his daughter Cydippe to Ocridion? But Cercaphus, who was Ochimus's brother and was in love with the girl, persuaded the herald — for it was the custom for heralds to fetch brides — when he came to take Cydippe, to bring her to him instead. When this had been done, Cercaphus fled with the girl, and only returned later, after Ochimus had grown old. And so it became the custom among the Rhodians that no herald should approach the shrine of Ocridion, because of the wrong that had been done.
"Why is it that among the Tenedians a flute-player is not permitted to enter the temple of Tenes, nor is Achilles to be mentioned within the temple?" Is it because, when his stepmother slandered Tenes, claiming that he wished to have intercourse with her, Molpus the flute-player bore false witness against him, and because of this it fell to Tenes to flee — to Tenedos, together with his sister? It is said that Achilles's mother Thetis strongly forbade him to kill Tenes, since he was honored by Apollo, and she charged one of the household servants to be watchful and remind him, lest Achilles unwittingly kill Tenes. But when Achilles, overrunning Tenedos, was pursuing the sister of Tenes, who was beautiful, Tenes met him and defended his sister; she escaped, but Tenes was killed. When Achilles recognized the fallen man, he killed the servant, because he had been present but had not reminded him; and he buried Tenes where his temple now stands, and neither does a flute-player enter it nor is Achilles named there.
"Who is the poletes among the Epidamnians?" The Epidamnians, being neighbors of the Illyrians, noticed that the citizens who mixed with them were becoming corrupt, and fearing revolution they chose one man each year, from among those approved by them, to handle such contracts and exchanges with the barbarians; this man, going among the barbarians, provided a market and arrangements for all the citizens, and was called "poletes" (the seller).
"What is the Thracian headland of Araeus?" The Andrians and Chalcidians, sailing to Thrace to settle it, jointly took the city of Sane through treachery, and on learning that the barbarians had abandoned Acanthus, they sent two scouts. When these, approaching the city, perceived that the enemy had entirely fled, the Chalcidian scout ran ahead so as to seize the city for the Chalcidians, while the Andrian, unable to keep pace, hurled his spear, and when it stuck fast in the gates he shouted loudly that the city had been taken beforehand by the spear of the sons of Andros. From this a dispute arose, and without going to war they agreed to have the Erythraeans, Samians, and Parians judge the whole matter. But when the Erythraeans and Samians cast their vote for the Andrians, while the Parians voted for the Chalcidians, the Andrians laid curses concerning this place upon the Parians, that they should neither give a wife to the Parians nor take one from them; and for this reason they named it "the headland of Araeus," though it had previously been called the headland of Draco.
"Why is it that at the Thesmophoria the women of Eretria roast the meat not over fire but in the sun, and do not invoke Calligeneia?" Is it because it fell to the captive women whom Agamemnon was bringing from Troy to sacrifice to the Thesmophoroi there, but a voyage suddenly appearing possible, they put to sea, leaving the sacrifice unfinished?
"Who are the 'ever-sailors' among the Milesians?" When the tyrants around Thoas and Damasenor were overthrown, two political clubs held the city, one called Plutis, the other Cheiromacha. Those in power, having brought affairs under the control of their club, used to deliberate on the most important matters while embarking on ships and putting out to sea, away from the land; it happened that they had to perform the Thesmophoria sacrifice, and when a favorable voyage appeared, they would embark on the ships and sail out far from the land; having ratified their decision, they would then sail back to shore, and for this reason they were called "ever-sailors."
"Why do the Chalcidians call the place around the Pyrsophion 'the meeting-place of the men in their prime'?" They say that Nauplius, being pursued by the Achaeans, took refuge with the Chalcidians as a suppliant, and partly defended himself against the charge, and partly brought countercharges of his own against the Achaeans. The Chalcidians, then, had no intention of handing him over; but fearing that he might be treacherously killed, they gave him as a guard the young men in their prime, and stationed them in this place, where they used to gather together and at the same time keep watch over Nauplius.
"Who is the man who sacrificed an ox to his benefactor?" A pirate ship lay at anchor off Ithaca, on which there happened to be an old man among jars containing pitch. By chance an Ithacan ferryman named Pyrrhias turned his attention to this, and rescued the old man, asking for nothing in return, but moved by his entreaty and taking pity on him; and at the old man's bidding he took the jars as well.
When the pirates had gone and there was no more danger, the old man brought Pyrrhias to the jars and showed him that they held a great deal of gold and silver mixed in with the pitch. So Pyrrhias, suddenly become rich, treated the old man well in all other respects and also sacrificed an ox to him. This is the origin of the proverb they use: "No one but Pyrrhias ever sacrificed an ox to his benefactor."
"Why was it the custom for the maidens of the Bottiaeans to say, as they danced, 'Let us go to Athens'?" They say that the Cretans, in fulfillment of a vow, sent to Delphi the first-fruits of their people, and those who were sent, seeing that there was no prospect of provision for themselves, set out from there to found a colony; and they first settled in Iapygia, and afterward took possession of this region of Thrace, with Athenians mingled among them. For it seems that Minos did not put to death the young men whom the Athenians sent as tribute, but kept them at his court in servitude. Some of the descendants of these, then, being considered Cretans, were sent along to Delphi. Hence the daughters of the Bottiaeans, in remembrance of their lineage, used to sing at their festivals, "Let us go to Athens."
"Why do the women of Elis, in their hymn to Dionysus, invite him to come to them 'with the foot of an ox'?" (The hymn runs thus: "Come, hero Dionysus, to the holy temple of the Eleans, with the Graces, to the temple, with your ox foot raging." Then twice they sing, "worthy bull.") Is it because they call the god both "ox-born" and, some of them, actually a bull; or do they mean by "ox-footed" one with a great foot, just as the poet calls the large-eyed woman "ox-eyed" (boôpis) and the boastful man "bougaios"?
Or rather is it because the foot of an ox is harmless, while its horn is harmful, and so they are inviting the god to come gently and without causing hurt? Or is it because many believe the god to have been the originator of both ploughing and sowing?
"Why is there, before the city of the Tanagraeans, a place called Achilleion, so named?" For it is said that Achilles bore more enmity than friendship toward the city, having carried off Stratonice, the mother of Poemander, and having killed Acestor, the son of Ephippus. Now Poemander, the father of Ephippus, when the region of Tanagra was still inhabited village by village, was besieged in the place called Stephon by the Achaeans because he was unwilling to join their campaign, and abandoned that place by night and fortified Poemandria. Polycrithus the architect, being present and belittling and mocking the works, leapt over the trench.
Poemander, enraged, rushed to hurl a great stone at him, one that had lain hidden there from ancient times, set upon nocturnal sacred rites; tearing this up in ignorance, Poemander threw it, and missing Polycrithus, killed his son Leucippus instead. Now by law he ought to have gone into exile from Boeotia, having become one who, though a guest bound by hearth and supplication, had shed kindred blood; but this was not easy, since the Achaeans had invaded the territory of Tanagra. So he sent his son Ephippus to entreat Achilles. Achilles, having been persuaded, brought him in along with Tlepolemus, son of Heracles, and Peneleos, son of Hippalcmus, all of whom were his own kinsmen. Escorted by these men, Poemander was sent to Chalcis and purified of the killing by Elephenor, and he honored these men and set apart sacred precincts for them all, of which the precinct of Achilles has preserved even the name.
"Who are the Psoloeis among the Boeotians, and who are the Oleiai?" They say that the daughters of Minyas — Leucippe, Arsinoe, and Alcathoe — went mad and conceived a desire for human flesh, and cast lots concerning their own children; when the lot fell to Leucippe, she gave up her son Hippasus to be torn apart. Their husbands, wearing mourning garb out of grief and sorrow, were called "Psoloeis" (sooty ones), and the women themselves "Oleiai," that is, "destructive."
And to this day the people of Orchomenus give these names to those descended from that family. And every other year at the festival of the Agrionia there occurs a flight and pursuit of these women by the priest of Dionysus, who carries a sword. It is permitted to kill whichever of them is caught, and in our own time the priest Zoilus did kill one. But it turned out well for none of them; for Zoilus himself, falling ill from a trivial wound that festered, wasted away for a long time and died, and the Orchomenians, beset by public misfortunes and legal penalties, transferred the priesthood out of that family, choosing the best man from among all the citizens instead.
"Why do the Arcadians stone to death those who enter the Lycaeum willingly, but if they do so unknowingly, send them off to Eleutherae?" Is it because those so released are thought to be set free, and thus the account gained credence, so that "to Eleutherae" came to mean the same as "to the land of Ameles" and "you will come to the seat of Aresas"? Or is it, according to the myth, because Eleuther and Lebeadus alone of the sons of Lycaon had no part in the pollution committed against Zeus, but fled into Boeotia, and the Lebadeans have equal citizenship with the Arcadians — and so they send those who unwittingly entered the forbidden precinct of Zeus off to Eleutherae?
Or is it, as Architimus says in his Arcadian History, that some men who had entered unknowingly were handed over by the Arcadians to the Phliasians, by the Phliasians to the Megarians, and being conveyed from the Megarians toward Thebes, were overtaken near Eleutherae by rain, thunder, and other portents from Zeus — from which some say the place came to be called Eleutherae?
As for the claim that no shadow falls from a man who has entered the Lycaeum, this is said not truthfully, but it has gained strong credence. Is it because the air turns to clouds and grows dark and gloomy over those who enter, or because the one who enters is doomed to die, and the Pythagoreans say that the souls of the dead cast no shadow and do not blink? Or does the sun indeed cast a shadow, but the...
...or does the law take away the sun from the one who has entered? This is what they mean by their riddling way of speaking, for the one who enters is also called a "stag" (elaphos). This is why, when Kantharion the Arcadian deserted to the Eleans, who were at war with the Arcadians, and crossed into the forbidden precinct together with plunder, and then, when the war ended, fled to Sparta, the Lacedaemonians handed him over to the Arcadians — the god having commanded them to give back “the stag.”
Who is the hero Eunostos at Tanagra, and for what reason is his sacred grove forbidden to women? Eunostos was the son of Elieus, son of Cephisus, and of Scias. They say he received this name because he was raised by a nymph named Eunosta. Being handsome and just, he was no less self-controlled and strict; and they say that Ochna, one of the daughters of Colonus, his cousin, fell in love with him. But when Eunostos rebuffed her advances and, after reproaching her, went off to accuse her to her brothers, the girl got ahead of him and did this very thing against him herself, and incited her brothers Echemus, Leon, and Bucolus to kill Eunostos, claiming that he had forced himself on her. So they lay in ambush and killed the young man. Elieus then put them in chains; but Ochna, filled with remorse and turmoil, at once wishing to free herself of the grief caused by her love, and at the same time pitying her brothers, told Elieus the whole truth; and he reported it to Colonus. When Colonus held a trial, Ochna's brothers went into exile, and she herself threw herself off a cliff, as Myrtis of Anthedon, the lyric poetess, has recorded. Eunostos' shrine and grove were kept so completely off-limits and inaccessible to women that whenever earthquakes, droughts, or other divine portents occurred, the people of Tanagra would carefully search and inquire whether some woman had, without their noticing, approached the place; and some of them, among whom was Cleidamus, a distinguished man, would say that they had met Eunostos walking toward the sea to bathe, as a sign that a woman had entered the precinct. Diocles too, in his treatise On Heroes, records a decree of the Tanagraeans concerning the matters Cleidamus reported.
Why in Boeotia, near Eleon, is there a river named Scamander? Deimachus, son of Eleon and a companion of Heracles, took part in the campaign against Troy. As the war, it seems, dragged on, Glaucia, daughter of Scamander, fell in love with him; he accepted her, and got her with child. He himself then fell fighting the Trojans, while Glaucia, fearing to be found out, took refuge with Heracles, and confessed to him her love and the union she had had with Deimachus. He, partly out of pity for the woman and partly rejoicing that offspring of a good and close companion would survive, took Glaucia aboard his ships, and when she had given birth to a son, brought her to Boeotia and delivered both the child and her to Eleon. The boy was named Scamander and became king of the country. He renamed the river Inachus “Scamander” after himself, and the nearby stream “Glaucia” after his mother; and he named the spring Acidusa after his own wife, by whom he had three daughters, whom they honor to this day, calling them “the Maidens.”
From what source did the proverbial saying “this one has the right” arise? Dinon the Tarentine, while serving as general — a man capable in matters of war — once had one of his proposals voted down by the citizens. When the herald announced the winning motion, he himself raised his right hand and said, “This one is stronger” — so Theophrastus has recorded it. Apollodorus, in his Rhytinus, adds a further detail: when the herald said “these votes are more numerous,” Dinon replied, “but these are better,” and thereby ratified the show of hands of the minority.
From what source was the city of the Ithacans called Alalcomenae? It is because Anticleia, violated by Sisyphus while still a maiden, conceived Odysseus — a story told by a number of authors. Ister of Alexandria, in his Commentaries, adds that when she was given in marriage to Laertes and was being brought to him by sea, she gave birth to Odysseus near Alalcomenium in Boeotia, and that this is why he, referring to it as it were his mother-city, gave that name to the city in Ithaca, calling it by the same name.
Who are the “lone-eaters” (monophagoi) at Aegina? Of the Aeginetans who campaigned against Troy, many perished in battle, and still more at sea in a storm during the voyage home. Their relatives, receiving back the few who survived, and seeing that the rest of the citizens were in mourning and grief, thought it right neither to rejoice openly nor to sacrifice to the gods; instead, each family privately, at home, welcomed back the survivors with feasting and warm greetings, waiting on their own fathers, kinsmen, brothers, and household themselves, with no outsider allowed in. In imitation of this, they now hold a sacrifice to Poseidon called the “thiasoi,” in which they feast by themselves, in silence, for sixteen days, with no slave present; then, after celebrating the Aphrodisia, they bring the festival to a close. It is from this that they are called “lone-eaters.”
Why is the statue of Zeus Labrandeus in Caria made holding a raised axe, rather than a scepter or a thunderbolt? Because Heracles, after killing Hippolyta and taking her axe along with her other weapons, gave it as a gift to Omphale. The kings of Lydia after Omphale wore it as one of their sacred emblems, passed down in succession, until Candaules, thinking it beneath him, gave it to one of his companions to carry. When Gyges revolted and went to war against him, Arselis came from Mylasa with a force to aid Gyges, and killed both Candaules and his companion, and carried the axe off to Caria along with the rest of the spoils. There he had a statue of Zeus made and put the axe in its hand, and named the god “Labrandeus” — for the Lydians call an axe a “labrys.”
Why do the Trallians call vetch “the purifier,” and use it especially for ritual expiations and purifications? Is it because the Leleges and Minyans once drove them out and held the city and territory themselves, and later the Trallians came down and conquered it, and as for those of the Leleges who were neither destroyed nor fled, but were left behind there because of their helplessness and poverty, they took no account of these people, whether they lived or died, and made a law that any Trallian who killed a Minyan or a Leleges should be counted pure, provided he paid out a measure of vetch to the relatives of the man he had killed.
Why is it proverbial among the Eleans to say “to suffer worse things than Sambicus”? It is said that a certain Sambicus of Elis, who had many accomplices working under him, stole a great many of the bronze dedications at Olympia and sold them off, and finally plundered the sanctuary of Artemis Episkopos — this sanctuary is in Elis, and is called the Aristarcheion. Immediately after this act of sacrilege he was caught and tortured for a whole year, being interrogated about each of his accomplices, and died in this manner; and the proverb arose from what he suffered.
Why in Lacedaemon is the hero-shrine of Odysseus set up beside the sanctuary of the Leucippides? Ergiaeus, one of the descendants of Diomedes, persuaded by Temenus, stole the Palladium out of Argos, with Leagrus, one of Temenus' intimates, aware of and joining in the theft. Later, having fallen out with Temenus in anger, Leagrus moved to Lacedaemon, bringing the Palladium with him. The kings there received it eagerly and set it up near the sanctuary of the Leucippides, and, sending to Delphi, they inquired by oracle about its safekeeping and preservation. When the god's answer indicated that one of those who had taken the Palladium should be made its guardian, they set up there the hero-shrine of Odysseus, supposing besides that this hero had a claim on their city because of his marriage to Penelope.
Why is it the custom among the women of Chalcedon, whenever they meet men who are not their own, especially magistrates, to veil one cheek? They had a war with the Bithynians, who were provoked to hostility on every pretext. When Zipoites became their king, he mustered his whole force, and with the addition of Thracian reinforcements, burned and overran the countryside. When Zipoites attacked them at a place called Phalium, they fought badly, through recklessness and lack of discipline, and lost more than eight thousand soldiers. They were not entirely wiped out at that time, since Zipoites granted the Byzantines terms of peace. But since a great dearth of men now gripped the city, most of the women, out of necessity, married freedmen and resident aliens, while others chose to remain unmarried rather than accept such marriages, and conducted their own business before judges and magistrates by themselves, drawing back one side of their veil from their face. The married women, out of shame, imitating these women as their betters, adopted a similar custom.
Why do the Argives drive their sheep up to the precinct of Agenor and have them mate there? Is it because Agenor cared for sheep better than any other king and possessed more flocks than any of them? Why do the children of Argos, playing at a certain festival, call themselves “Ballachradai”? Is it because the first people whom Inachus led down from the heights to the plains were sustained on wild pears — for wild pears were the first fruit to appear to the Greeks in the Peloponnese, when that land was still called Apia, whence wild pears were named “apioi”?
What is the reason why the Eleans lead their mares in heat outside their borders before letting them be covered? Is it because Oenomaus, who of all kings was most fond of horses and cherished the animal above all, called down many terrible curses on those who covered mares within Elis, and they, fearing that curse, purify themselves of it by this practice?
Why was it the custom among the Knossians that borrowers should seize the money themselves? Is it so that, if they defaulted, they would be liable for a crime of violence and punished the more severely?
What is the reason for which, at Samos, they call a certain Aphrodite “the Aphrodite of Dexicreon”? Is it because their women, behaving licentiously out of luxury and wanton excess, were purified by Dexicreon, a wandering priest-charlatan who used a purification rite and freed them of it? Or is it rather that Dexicreon, a ship-owner, sailed to Cyprus on business, and, when he was about to load his ship, Aphrodite bade him take on water and nothing else, and sail off as quickly as possible; persuaded, he loaded a great quantity of water and set sail, and then, when a windless calm settled over the sea, he sold water to the other merchants and ship-owners, who were dying of thirst, and collected a great sum of money from this, and out of it he had a statue of the goddess made and named after himself. If this is true, it appears that the goddess did not wish to enrich one man alone, but through one man to save many.
Why is it that among the Samians, whenever they sacrifice to Hermes the Gift-Giver, anyone who wishes is permitted to steal and to strip passers-by of their cloaks? Because, once, in obedience to an oracle, they moved from the island to Mycale and lived for ten years by piracy, and afterward, sailing back to the island again, the Samians overcame their enemies.
From what is a place on the island of Samos called Panaima (“All-Blood”)? Is it because the Amazons, fleeing Dionysus from the territory of Ephesus, sailed across to Samos; and he, having built ships and crossed over, joined battle with them and killed many of them around this place, which, because of the great quantity of blood that flowed there, was called Panaima by those who beheld it in wonder? Some are said to have died around Phloion, and their bones are shown there; and some say that Phloion (“the Bark”) split open at their deaths, when they cried out with some loud, piercing sound.
For what reason is the men's hall at Samos called “Pedetes” (the Fettered)? When the landowners (geomoroi) held the government after the murder of Demoteles and the overthrow of his one-man rule, the Megarians made war on the Perinthians, who were colonists of the Samians, bringing along fetters, it is said, for the prisoners they expected to take. When the landowners learned of this, they sent help with speed, appointing nine generals and manning thirty ships; of these, two, as they were sailing out, were destroyed by a thunderbolt off the harbor. The generals, sailing on with the rest, defeated the Megarians and took six hundred of them alive. Elated by the victory, they resolved to overthrow the oligarchy of the landowners back home. Now the leaders of the government provided them the occasion themselves, by writing instructions that the Megarian captives should be brought back bound in their own fetters. So the generals took these instructions, and showing them secretly to some of the Megarian captives, persuaded them to join forces with them and to help free the city. When they deliberated together about the plan, they decided to knock loose the rings of the fetters, and, having fitted them in this way around the Megarians' legs, to fasten them up to their belts with straps, so that they would not slip and fall off as they walked, once the fetters had been loosened. Having thus equipped the men and given each a sword, when they sailed to Samos and disembarked, they led them through the marketplace to the council chamber, where practically all the landowners were sitting together; then, at a signal given, the Megarians fell upon them and killed the men. When the city had been freed in this way, they made citizens of those Megarians who wished it, and, having built a spacious house, dedicated the fetters in it; and from this the house was named “Pedetes.”
Why, among the Coans, does the priest of Heracles at Antimacheia, dressed in women's clothing and with his head bound up in a headband, begin the sacrifice? Heracles, having set sail from Troy with six ships, was caught in a storm, and when the other ships were destroyed, he was driven with the one remaining ship, by the wind, onto Cos, and put ashore at the place called Laceter, having saved nothing but his weapons and his men. Coming upon some sheep, he asked the shepherd for one ram. The man was called Antagoras; and being at the peak of his bodily strength, he challenged Heracles to wrestle him, on condition that if he threw him, he could carry off the ram. When Heracles closed with him in a grapple, the Meropes came to Antagoras' aid, and the Greeks to Heracles', and a fierce battle broke out. It is said that Heracles, overwhelmed by their numbers, took refuge with a Thracian woman and escaped notice by concealing himself in women's clothing. When he had once more overcome the Meropes and, having been purified, married the daughter of Alcyopus, he put on a flowered robe. This is why the priest sacrifices at the place where the battle happened to take place, and why bridegrooms receive their brides while wearing women's dress.
From what does the class called “wagon-rollers” at Megara take its origin? Under the licentious democracy, which also brought about the cancellation of debts and the plundering of temples, a delegation of Peloponnesians was traveling to Delphi through Megarian territory and made camp for the night at Aegeirae by the lake, with their children and wives, just as they happened to be, in their wagons. The most reckless of the Megarians, having gotten drunk, in wanton violence and cruelty rolled the wagons over into the lake and pushed them in, so that many of the pilgrims were drowned. The Megarians, then, because of the disorder of their state, took no notice of the crime; but the Amphictyons…
since the mission was a sacred one, the Amphictyons turned their attention to the matter and punished the offenders, some with exile, some with death. Their descendants were called the 'Wagon-Rollers.'