Death of the Sons of Actor and Elean Boycott of the Isthmia — Pausanias, Description of Greece Book 5 (5.2.1–5.2.5), Greek & English

§5.2.1

τῷ δὲ Ἡρακλεῖ πρὸς τὸν Αὐγέαν πολεμοῦντι οὐδὲν ὑπῆρχεν ἀποδείκνυσθαι λαμπρόν· ἅτε γὰρ καὶ τόλμῃ καὶ ταῖς ἡλικίαις τοῦ Ἄκτορος τῶν παίδων ἀκμαζόντων, ἐτρέπετο ὑπʼ αὐτῶν ἀεὶ τὸ συμμαχικὸν τοῦ Ἡρακλέους, ἐς ὃ¹ Ἰσθμικὰς σπονδὰς Κορινθίων ἐπαγγειλάντων καὶ θεωρῶν ἐς τὸν ἀγῶνα ἐρχομένων τῶν υἱῶν τοῦ Ἄκτορος ἀπέκτεινε σφᾶς λοχήσας ὁ Ἡρακλῆς ἐν Κλεωναῖς. ἀφανοῦς δὲ ὄντος τοῦ εἰργασμένου τὸν φόνον μάλιστα ἐποιεῖτο ἡ Μολίνη σπουδὴν τῶν παίδων τὸν αὐτόχειρα ἐξευρεῖν.

For Heracles, while waging war against Augeas, it was impossible to achieve any brilliant success; since the sons of Actor, being in the prime of their daring and youth, always routed the allied forces of Heracles, until, when the Corinthians proclaimed the Isthmian truce and the sons of Actor went to the games as sacred envoys, Heracles ambushed and killed them in Cleonae. Since the perpetrator of the murder was unknown, Moline made the greatest effort to find the self-slayer of her children.

§5.2.2

ὡς δὲ ἔμαθεν, ἐνταῦθα οἱ Ἠλεῖοι δίκας τοῦ φόνου παρὰ Ἀργείων ἀπῄτουν· τηνικαῦτα γὰρ ἔτυχεν Ἡρακλῆς ἐν Τίρυνθι οἰκῶν. μὴ διδόντων δέ σφισι δίκας τῶν Ἀργείων, οἱ δὲ δεύτερα ἐνέκειντο Κορινθίοις ἔκσπονδον τὸ Ἀργολικὸν πᾶν τοῦ ἀγῶνος γενέσθαι τοῦ Ἰσθμικοῦ.² ὡς δὲ ἡμάρτανον καὶ τούτου, Μολίνην θέσθαι φασὶν ἐπὶ τοῖς πολίταις κατάρας, ἢν Ἰσθμίων μὴ θέλωσιν εἴργεσθαι. φυλάσσουσι δὲ τῆς Μολίνης καὶ ἐς τόδε ἔτι τὰς κατάρας, καὶ ὅσοι τὰ σώματα ἀσκοῦσιν Ἠλείων, οὔ σφισιν ἐς τὸν ἀγῶνα ἐσελθεῖν καθέστηκε τὸν Ἰσθμικόν.

When she learned the truth, then the Eleans demanded satisfaction for the murder from the Argives; for at that time Heracles happened to be living in Tiryns. But when the Argives refused to give them satisfaction, they next pressed the Corinthians to exclude the entire Argolid from the Isthmian games. When they failed in this too, they say that Moline laid curses upon her fellow citizens if they should refuse to abstain from the Isthmian games. The Eleans keep the curses of Moline even to this day, and it is not established for any of the Eleans who train their bodies to enter the Isthmian games.

§5.2.3

διάφοροι δὲ τῷ εἰρημένῳ δύο εἰσὶν ἄλλοι λόγοι. τούτων δὲ ὁ μὲν Κύψελον τὸν τυραννήσαντα Κορινθίων φησὶν ἄγαλμα ἀναθεῖναι τῷ Διὶ χρυσοῦν ἐς Ὀλυμπίαν, προαποθανόντος δὲ τοῦ Κυψέλου πρὶν ἐπὶ τῷ ἀναθήματι τὸ ὄνομα ἐπιγράψαι τὸ αὑτοῦ, τοὺς Κορινθίους παρὰ Ἠλείων αἰτεῖν δοῦναί σφισιν ἐπιγράψαι δημοσίᾳ τὴν πόλιν ἐπὶ τῷ ἀναθήματι, οὐ τυχόντας δὲ ὀργῇ τε ἐς τοὺς Ἠλείους χρῆσθαι καὶ προειπεῖν σφισιν Ἰσθμίων εἴργεσθαι. πῶς ἂν οὖν Κορινθίοις αὐτοῖς τοῦ ἀγῶνος μετῆν³ τοῦ ἐν Ὀλυμπίᾳ, εἰ δὴ ἄκοντάς γε Ἠλείους ἀπὸ τῶν Ἰσθμίων εἶργον;

There are two other accounts different from the one mentioned. Of these, one says that Cypselus, who became tyrant of Corinth, dedicated a golden statue to Zeus at Olympia, but as Cypselus died before inscribing his own name on the offering, the Corinthians asked the Eleans to allow them to inscribe their city publicly on the offering, and when they did not obtain this, they were angry with the Eleans and forbade them to participate in the Isthmian games. But how then could the Corinthians themselves have a share in the games at Olympia, if indeed they were excluding the Eleans against their will from the Isthmian games?

§5.2.4

ὁ δὲ ἕτερος ἔχει τῶν λόγων Προλάῳ παῖδας ἀνδρὶ παρὰ Ἠλείοις δοκίμῳ καὶ τῇ γυναικὶ αὐτοῦ Λυσίππῃ Φίλανθον καὶ Λάμπον γενέσθαι· τούτους ἐπὶ τὸν ἀγῶνα ἐλθόντας τῶν Ἰσθμίων παγκρατιάσοντας ἐν παισί, τὸν δὲ αὐτῶν παλαίσοντα, ὑπὸ τῶν ἀνταγωνιστῶν, πρὶν ἢ ἐς τὸν ἀγῶνα ἐσελθεῖν, ἀποπνιγῆναι σφᾶς ἢ καὶ ἄλλῳ τῷ τρόπῳ διαχρησθῆναι· καὶ οὕτω τὰς ἐπὶ τοῖς Ἠλείοις, ἢν Ἰσθμίων μὴ ἑκόντες εἴργωνται, Λυσίππης ἀρὰς εἶναι. δείκνυται δὲ καὶ ὅδε εὐήθης ὢν ὁ λόγος.

The other account is that to Prolaus, an esteemed man among the Eleans, and to his wife Lysippe, Philanthus and Lampus were born; these, having come to the Isthmian games to compete in the pancratium for boys, and one of them in wrestling, were strangled or otherwise dispatched by their opponents before entering the contest; and thus the curses upon the Eleans, if they do not willingly abstain from the Isthmian games, are those of Lysippe. But this story is also shown to be foolish.

§5.2.5

Τίμωνι γὰρ ἀνδρὶ Ἠλείῳ γεγόνασι πεντάθλου νῖκαι τῶν ἐν Ἕλλησιν ἀγώνων, καί οἱ καὶ εἰκών ἐστιν ἐν Ὀλυμπίᾳ καὶ ἐλεγεῖον, στεφάνους τε ὁπόσους ἀνείλετο ὁ Τίμων λέγον καὶ δὴ καὶ αἰτίαν διʼ ἥντινα Ἰσθμικῆς οὐ μέτεστιν αὐτῷ νίκης· καὶ ἔχει τὰ ἐς τοῦτο τὸ ἐλεγεῖον· "Σισυφίαν δὲ μολεῖν χθόνʼ ἐκώλυεν ἀνέρα νείκη⁴ ἀμφὶ Μολιονιδᾶν οὐλομένῳ θανάτῳ." τάδε μὲν ἡμῖν ἐς τοσοῦτο ἐξητάσθω·

For Timon, an Elean, had victories in the pentathlon in the Greek games, and he has both a statue in Olympia and an elegiac inscription, which mentions how many crowns Timon won and especially the reason why he had no share in an Isthmian victory; and the elegiac poem concerning this has as follows: “But the strife concerning the destructive death of the Molionidae prevented the man from coming to the Sisyphian land.” Let these matters be investigated by us to this extent.

Syntax notes4 items

5.2.1ἐς ὃ
Meaning "until" or "until the time when." It marks the transition from the ongoing skirmishes to the decisive event where Heracles ambushed and killed the sons of Actor.
5.2.2ἔκσπονδον τὸ Ἀργολικὸν πᾶν τοῦ ἀγῶνος γενέσθαι τοῦ Ἰσθμικοῦ
An accusative-with-infinitve construction depending on ἐνέκειντο ("urged"). The subject of the infinitive γενέσθαι is τὸ Ἀργολικὸν πᾶν ("the whole Argolid"), with ἔκσπονδον ("excluded from the treaty") serving as the predicate, which in turn governs the genitive τοῦ ἀγῶνος τοῦ Ἰσθμικοῦ.
5.2.3πῶς ἂν οὖν Κορινθίοις αὐτοῖς τοῦ ἀγῶνος μετῆν
A past counterfactual construction using ἄν with the imperfect indicative μετῆν. It functions as a rhetorical question: "How could the Corinthians themselves have had a share in the games (at Olympia, if they had excluded the Eleans from the Isthmian games)?" implying that they could not.
5.2.5Σισυφίαν δὲ μολεῖν χθόνʼ ἐκώλυεν ἀνέρα νείκη
A poetic word order. The subject is the noun νείκη ("strife"), the verb is ἐκώλυεν ("prevented"), the direct object is ἀνέρα ("the man", i.e., Timon), and the infinitive μολεῖν ("to go") depends on the verb, taking the accusative of place Σισυφίαν χθόνα ("the Sisyphian land", i.e., Corinth) as its destination.

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25)urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:5.2.1-5.2.5