28.

Besides, Nestor’s account of the war between the Pylians and Eleians, which he relates to Patroclus, agrees with our arguments, if any one examines the lines. For he says there, that Hercules laid waste Pylus, and that all the youth were exterminated; that out of twelve sons of Neleus, he himself alone survived, and was a very young man, and that the Epeii, despising Neleus on account of his old age and destitute state, treated the Pylians with haughtiness and insult. Nestor therefore, in order to avenge this wrong, collected as large a body of his people as he was able, made an inroad into Eleia, and carried away a large quantity of booty;

“Fifty herds of oxen, as many flocks of sheep,

As many herds of swine,”85

and as many flocks of goats, an hundred and fifty brood mares, bay-coloured, most of which had foals, and “these,” he says,

“We drove away to Pylus, belonging to Neleus,

By night towards the city;”86

so that the capture of the booty, and the flight of those who came to the assistance of people who were robbed, happened in the day-time, when, he says, he slew Itamon; and they returned by night, so that they arrived by night at the city. When they were engaged in dividing the booty, and in sacrificing, the Epeii, having assembled in multitudes, on the third day marched against them with an army of horse and foot, and encamped about Thryum, which is situated on the Alpheius. The Pylians were no sooner informed of this than they immediately set out to the relief of this place, and having passed the night on the river Minyeius near Arene, thence arrive at the Alpheius at noon. After sacrificing to the gods, and passing the night on the banks of the river, they immediately, in the morning, engaged in battle. The rout of the enemy was complete, and they did not desist from the pursuit and slaughter, till they came to Buprasium,

“and the Olenian rock, where is a tumulus of Alesius, whence again Minerva repulsed the multitudes;”87

and adds below,

“but the Achæi

Turned back their swift horses from Buprasium to Pylus.”

29.

From these verses how can it be supposed that Eleian or Messenian Pylus is meant. I say the Eleian, because when this was destroyed by Hercules, the country of the Epeii also was ravaged at the same time, that is, Eleia. How then could those, who were of the same tribe, and who had been plundered at that time, show such pride and insult to persons, who were suffering under the same injuries? How could they overrun and ravage their own country? How could Augeas and Neleus be kings of the same people, and yet be mutual enemies; for to Neleus

“a great debt was owing at the divine Elis; four horses, which had won the prize; they came with their chariots to contend for prizes; they were about to run in the race for a tripod; and Augeas, king of men, detained them there, but dismissed the charioteer.”88

If Neleus lived there, there Nestor also lived. How then were there

“four chiefs of Eleians and Buprasians, with ten swift ships accompanying each, and with many Epeii embarked in them?”

The country also was divided into four parts, none of which was subject to Nestor, but those tribes were under his command,

“who lived at Pylus, and the pleasant Arēnē,”

and at the places that follow next as far as Messene. [Pg 28]
[CAS. 352] How came the Epeii, when marching against the Pylians, to set out towards the Alpheius and Thryum, and after being defeated there in battle, to fly to Buprasium? But on the other side, if Hercules laid waste the Messenian Pylus, how could they, who were at such a distance, treat the Pylians with insult, or have so much intercourse and traffic with them, and defraud them by refusing to discharge a debt, so that war should ensue on that account? How too could Nestor, after having got, in his marauding adventure, so large a quantity of booty, a prey of swine and sheep, none of which are swift-footed, nor able to go a long journey, accomplish a march of more than 1000 stadia to Pylus near Coryphasium? Yet all the Epeii arrive at Thryoessa and the river Alpheius on the third day, ready to lay siege to the stronghold. How also did these districts belong to the chiefs of Messenia, when the Caucones, and Triphylii, and Pisatæ occupied them? But the territory Gerena, or Gerenia, for it is written both ways, might have a name which some persons applied designedly, or which might have originated even in accident.

Since, however, Messenia was entirely under the dominion of Menelaus, to whom Laconia also was subject, as will be evident from what will be said hereafter, and since the rivers, the Pamisus and the Nedon, flow through this country, and not the Alpheius at all, which runs in a straight line through the country of the Pylians, of which Nestor was ruler, can that account be credible, by which it appears that one man takes possession by force of the dominion of another, and deprives him of the cities, which are said to be his property in the Catalogue of the Ships, and makes others subject to the usurper.

30.

It remains that we speak of Olympia, and of the manner in which everything fell into the power of the Eleii.

The temple is in the district Pisatis, at the distance of less than 300 stadia from Elis. In front of it is a grove of wild olive trees, where is the stadium. The Alpheius flows beside it, taking its course out of Arcadia to the Triphylian Sea between the west and the south. The fame of the temple was originally owing to the oracle of the Olympian Jove; yet after that had ceased, the renown of the temple continued, and increased, as we know, to a high degree of celebrity, both on account of the assembly of the people of Greece, which was held there, and of the Olympic games, in which the victor was crowned. These games were esteemed sacred, and ranked above all others. The temple was decorated with abundance of offerings, the contributions of all Greece. Among these offerings was a Jupiter of beaten gold, presented by Cypselus, the tyrant of Corinth. The largest was a statue of Jupiter in ivory, the workmanship of Phidias of Athens, the son of Charmides. Its height was so great, that although the temple is very large, the artist seems to have mistaken its proportions, and although he made the figure sitting, yet the head nearly touches the roof, and presents the appearance that, if it should rise, and stand upright, it would unroof the temple. Some writers have given the measurement of the statue, and Callimachus has expressed it in some iambic verses. Panænus, the painter, his nephew, and joint labourer, afforded great assistance in the completion of the statue with respect to the colours with which it was ornamented, and particularly the drapery.

There are exhibited also many and admirable pictures around the temple, the work of this painter. It is recorded of Phidias, that to Panænus, who was inquiring after what model he intended to form the figure of Jupiter, he replied, that it would be from that of Homer delineated in these words;

“He spoke, and gave the nod with his sable brows, the ambrosial hair shook on the immortal head of the king of gods, and vast Olympus trembled.”89

[This is well expressed, and the poet, as from other circumstances, so particularly from the brows, suggests the thought that he is depicting some grand conception, and great power worthy of Jupiter. So also in his description of Juno, in both he preserves the peculiar decorum of each character, for he says,

“she moved herself upon the throne, and shook vast Olympus:”90

this was effected by the motion of her whole body, but Olympus shakes when Jupiter only nods with his brows, the hair of his head partaking of the motion. It was elegantly said [of Homer] that he was the only person who had seen and had made visible the figures of the gods.]91

[Pg 30]
[CAS. 354]

To the Eleii above all other people is to be ascribed the magnificence of the temple at Olympia, and the reverence in which it was held. For about the Trojan times, and even before that period, they were not in a flourishing state, having been reduced to a low condition by war with the Pylii, and afterwards by Hercules, when Augeas their king was overthrown. The proof is this. The Eleii sent forty ships to Troy, but the Pylians and Nestor ninety; then after the return of the Heracleidæ the contrary happened. For the Ætoli returning with the Heracleidæ under the command of Oxylus, became joint settlers with the Epeii, on the ground of ancient affinity. They extended the bounds of Hollow Elis, got possession of a large portion of the Pisatis, and subjected Olympia to their power. It was these people who invented the Olympic games,92 and instituted the first Olympiad. For we must reject the ancient stories both respecting the foundation of the temple, and the establishment of the games, some alleging that Hercules, one of the Idæan Dactyli, was the founder; others, that the son of Alcmene and Jupiter founded them, who also was the first combatant and victor. For such things are variously reported, and not entitled to much credit. It is more probable, that from the first Olympiad,93 when Corœbus the Eleian was the victor in the race in the stadium, to the twenty-sixth, the Eleians presided over the temple, and at the games. But in the Trojan times, either there were no games where a crown was awarded, or they had not yet acquired any fame, neither these nor any of the games which are now so renowned. Homer does not speak of these games, but of others of a different kind, which were celebrated at funerals. Some persons however are of opinion that he does mention the Olympic games, when he says, that Augeas detained four victorious horses, which had been sent to contend for the prize. It is also said that the Pisatæ did not take any part in the Trojan war, being considered as consecrated to the service of Jupiter. But neither was the Pisatis, the tract of country in which Olympia is situated, subject at that time to Augeas, but Eleia only, nor were the Olympic games celebrated even once in the Eleian district, but always at Olympia. But the games, of which Homer speaks, seem to have taken place in Elis, where the debt was owing,

“For a great debt was owing in the divine Elis,

Namely, four victorious horses.”94

But it was not in these, but in the Olympic games, that the victor was crowned, for here they were to contend for a tripod.

After the twenty-sixth Olympiad, the Pisatæ, having recovered their territory, instituted games themselves, when they perceived that these games were obtaining celebrity. But in after-times, when the territory of the Pisatis reverted to the Eleii, the presidency and celebration of the games reverted to them also. The Lacedæmonians too, after the last defeat of the Messenians, co-operated with the Eleii as allies, contrary to the conduct of the descendants of Nestor and of the Arcadians, who were allies of the Messenians. And they assisted them so effectually that all the country as far as Messene was called Eleia, and the name continues even to the present time. But of the Pisatæ, and Triphylii, and Caucones, not even the names remain. They united also Pylus Emathoeis itself with Lepreum in order to gratify the Lepreatæ, who had taken no part in the war. They razed many other towns, and imposed a tribute upon as many as were inclined to maintain their independence.

31.

The Pisatis obtained the highest celebrity from the great power of its sovereigns, Œnomaus and his successor Pelops, and the number of their children. Salmoneus is said to have reigned there, and one of the eight cities, into which the Pisatis is divided, has the name of Salmone. For these reasons, and on account of the temple at Olympia, the fame of the country spread everywhere.

We must however receive ancient histories, as not entirely agreeing with one another, for modern writers, entertaining different opinions, are accustomed to contradict them frequently; as for example, according to some writers, Augeas was king of the Pisatis, and Œnomaus and Salmoneus kings of Eleia, while others consider the two nations as one. Still we ought to follow in general what is received as true, since writers are not agreed even upon the derivation of the word Pisatis. Some derive it from Pisa, (Πῖσα) a city of the same [Pg 32]
[CAS. 356] name as the fountain, and say that the fountain had that name, as much as to say Pistra, (Πίστρα) which means Potistra, (ποτίστρα,) or “potable.” The city of Pisa is shown, situated on an eminence between two mountains, which have the same names as those in Thessaly, Ossa and Olympus. Some say, that there was no such city as Pisa, for it would have been one of the eight, but a fountain only, which is now called Bisa, near Cicysium, the largest of the eight cities. But Stesichorus calls the tract of country named Pisa, a city, as the poet calls Lesbos, a city of Macar; and Euripides in the play of Ion says

“Eubœa is a neighbour city to Athens,”

and so in the play of Rhadamanthus,

“they who occupy the land of Eubœa, an adjoining state;”

thus Sophocles also in the play of the Mysi,

“O stranger, all this country is called Asia,

But the state of the Mysi is called Mysia.”

32.

Salmonē is near the fountain of the same name, the source of the Enipeus. It discharges itself into the Alpheius, [and at present it is called Barnichius.95] Tyro, it is said, was enamoured of this river;

“who was enamoured of the river, the divine Enipeus.”96

for there her father Salmoneus was king, as Euripides says in the play of Æolus. [The river in Thessaly some call Eniseus, which, flowing from the Othrys, receives the Apidanus, that descends from the mountain Pharsalus.97] Near Salmonē is Heracleia, which is one of the eight cities, distant about 40 stadia from Olympia on the river Cytherius, where there is a temple of the nymphs, the Ioniades, who are believed to heal diseases by means of the waters of the river.

Near Olympia is Arpīna, which also is one of the eight cities. The river Parthenius runs through it in the direction of the road to Pheræa. Pheræa belongs to Arcadia. [It is situated above Dymæa, Buprasium, and Elis, which lie to the north of the Pisatis.98] There also is Cicysium, one of the eight cities; and Dyspontium, on the road from Elis to Olympia, situated in a plain. But it was razed, and the greatest part of the inhabitants removed to Epidamnus and Apollonia.

Above and so very near Olympia, is Pholoe, an Arcadian mountain, that the country at its foot belongs to the Pisatis. Indeed the whole of the Pisatis and a great part of Triphylia border upon Arcadia. For this reason, most of the places, which have the name of Pylian in the Catalogue of the Ships, seem to be Arcadian. Persons, however, who are well informed, say, that the river Erymanthus, one of those that empty themselves into the Alpheius, is the boundary of Arcadia, and that the places called Pylian are beyond the Erymanthus.

33.

According to Ephorus, “Ætolus, being banished by Salmoneus, king of the Epeii, and the Pisatæ, from Eleia to Ætolia, called the country after his own name, and settled the cities there. His descendant Oxylus was the friend of Temenus, and the Heracleidæ his companions, and was their guide on their journey to Peloponnesus; he divided among them the hostile territory, and suggested instructions relative to the acquisition of the country. In return for these services he was to be requited by the restoration of Elis, which had belonged to his ancestors. He returned with an army collected out of Ætolia, for the purpose of attacking the Epeii, who occupied Elis. On the approach of the Epeii in arms, when the forces were drawn up in array against each other, there advanced in front, and engaged in single combat according to an ancient custom of the Greeks, Pyræchmes, an Ætolian, and Degmenus, an Epeian: the latter was lightly armed with a bow, and thought to vanquish easily from a distance a heavy-armed soldier; the former, when he perceived the stratagem of his adversary, provided himself with a sling, and a scrip filled with stones. The kind of sling also happened to have been lately invented by the Ætolians. As a sling reaches its object at a greater distance than a bow, Degmenus fell; the Ætolians took possession of the country, and ejected the Epeii. They assumed also the superintendence of the temple at Olympia, which the Epeii exercised; and on account of the friendship which subsisted between Oxylus and the Heracleidæ, it was generally agreed upon, and confirmed by an oath, that the Eleian territory was sacred to Jupiter, and that any one who invaded that country with an army, was a sacrilegious person: he also was to be accounted sacrilegious, who did not [Pg 34]
[CAS. 358] defend it against the invader to the utmost of his power. It was for this reason, that the later founders of the city left it without walls, and those who are passing through the country with an army, deliver up their arms and receive them again upon quitting the borders. Iphitus instituted there the Olympic games, because the Eleians were a sacred people. Hence it was that they increased in numbers, for while other nations were continually engaged in war with each other, they alone enjoyed profound peace, and not themselves only, but strangers also, so that on this account they were a more populous state than all the others.”

Pheidon the Argive was the tenth in descent from Temenus, and the most powerful prince of his age; he was the inventor of the weights and measures called Pheidonian, and stamped money, silver in particular. He recovered the whole inheritance of Temenus, which had been severed into many portions. He attacked also the cities which Hercules had formerly taken, and claimed the privilege of celebrating the games which Hercules had established, and among these the Olympian games. He entered their country by force and celebrated the games, for the Eleians had no army to prevent it, as they were in a state of peace, and the rest were oppressed by his power. The Eleians however did not solemnly inscribe in their records this celebration of the games, but on this occasion procured arms, and began to defend themselves. The Lacedæmonians also afforded assistance, either because they were jealous of the prosperity, which was the effect of the peaceful state of the Eleians, or because they supposed that they should have the aid of the Eleians in destroying the power of Pheidon, who had deprived them of the sovereignty ἡγεμονίαν of Peloponnesus, which they before possessed. They succeeded in their joint attempt to overthrow Pheidon, and the Eleians with this assistance obtained possession of Pisatis and Triphylia.

The whole of the coasting voyage along the present Eleian territory comprises, with the exception of the bays, 1200 stadia.

So much then respecting the Eleian territory.