§7.7.10ἐκλέλοιπε δέ πως καὶ τὸ μαντεῖον τὸ ἐν Δωδώνῃ, καθάπερ τἆλλα.
\nThe oracle at Dodona, too, has somehow failed, just like the others.
ἔστι δʼ, ὥς φησιν Ἔφορος, Πελασγῶν ἵδρυμα· οἱ δὲ Πελασγοὶ τῶν περὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα δυναστευσάντων ἀρχαιότατοι λέγονται·
It is, as Ephorus says, a foundation of the Pelasgians; and the Pelasgians are said to be the oldest of those who held power in Greece.
καὶ ὁ ποιητής φησιν οὕτω
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Ζεῦ ἄνα Δωδωναῖε, Πελασγικέ,
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ὁ δʼ Ἡσίοδος
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Δωδώνην φηγόν τε, Πελασγῶν ἕδρανον ᾖεν. "
περὶ μὲν οὖν τῶν Πελασγῶν ἐν τοῖς Τυρρηνικοῖς εἴρηται, περὶ δὲ Δωδώνης τοὺς μὲν περιοικοῦντας τὸ ἱερὸν διότι βάρβαροι διασαφεῖ καὶ ὁ Ὅμηρος ἐκ τῆς διαίτης, ἀνιπτόποδας χαμαιεύνας λέγων· πότερον δὲ χρὴ λέγειν Ἑλλούς, ὡς Πίνδαρος, ἢ Σελλούς, ὡς ὑπονοοῦσι παρʼ Ὁμήρῳ κεῖσθαι, ἡ γραφὴ ἀμφίβολος οὖσα οὐκ ἐᾷ διισχυρίζεσθαι.
And the poet speaks thus:\n"\nO Lord Zeus, Dodonaean, Pelasgian,\n"\nand Hesiod:\n"\nHe went to Dodona and the oak-tree, the seat of the Pelasgians.\n"\nNow, concerning the Pelasgians, it has been discussed in the section on the Tyrrhenians; but as for Dodona, Homer also makes it clear from their way of life that those who lived around the temple were barbarians, calling them "men with unwashed feet who sleep on the ground." But whether one ought to say "Helloi," as Pindar does, or "Selloi," as they suspect it is written in Homer, the spelling being doubtful does not allow us to assert with certainty.
Φιλόχορος δέ φησι καὶ τὸν περὶ Δωδώνην τόπον, ὥσπερ τὴν Εὔβοιαν, Ἑλλοπίαν κληθῆναι· καὶ γὰρ Ἡσίοδον οὕτω λέγειν
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ἔστι τις Ἑλλοπίη, πολυλήιος ἠδʼ ἐυλείμων· ἔνθα δὲ Δωδώνη τις ἐπʼ ἐσχατιῇ πεπόλισται. "
οἴονται δέ, φησὶν ὁ Ἀπολλόδωρος, ἀπὸ τῶν ἑλῶν τῶν περὶ τὸ ἱερὸν οὕτω καλεῖσθαι· τὸν μέντοι ποιητὴν οὕτω λέγειν Ἑλλοὺς ἀλλὰ Σελλοὺς ὑπολαμβάνει τοὺς περὶ τὸ ἱερόν, προσθεὶς ὅτι καὶ Σελλήεντα τινὰ ὀνομάζει ποταμόν.
Philochorus says that the region around Dodona, like Euboea, was called Hellopia; for he says Hesiod speaks thus:\n"\nThere is a land Hellopia, with many cornfields and good meadows; and there at the edge is built a certain Dodona.\n"\nAnd Apollodorus says they think it is so called from the marshes around the temple; however, he supposes that the poet calls those around the temple not "Helloi" but "Selloi," adding that he also names a certain river Selleeis.
ὀνομάζει μὲν οὖν, ὅταν φῇ
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τηλόθεν ἐξ Ἐφύρης ποταμοῦ ἄπο Σελλήεντος. "
ἐν Θεσπρωτοῖς Ἐφύρας, ἀλλὰ τῆς ἐν τοῖς Ἠλείοις· ἐκεῖ γὰρ εἶναι τὸν Σελλήεντα, ἐν δὲ Θεσπρωτοῖς οὐδένα, οὐδʼ ἐν Μολοττοῖς.
He indeed names it when he says:\n"\nFrom far away from Ephyra, from the river Selleeis.\n"\nThis Ephyra is not the one among the Thesprotians, but the one among the Eleians; for there is the Selleeis, but among the Thesprotians there is none, nor among the Molossians.
τὰ δὲ μυθευόμενα περὶ τῆς δρυὸς καὶ τῶν πελειῶν καὶ εἴ τινα ἄλλα τοιαῦτα, καθάπερ καὶ περὶ Δελφῶν, τὰ μὲν ποιητικωτέρας ἐστὶ διατριβῆς τὰ δʼ οἰκεῖα τῆς νῦν περιοδείας. §7.7.11ἡ Δωδώνη τοίνυν τὸ μὲν παλαιὸν ὑπὸ Θεσπρωτοῖς ἦν καὶ τὸ ὄρος ὁ Τόμαρος ἢ Τμάρος (ἀμφοτέρως γὰρ λέγεται), ὑφʼ ᾧ κεῖται τὸ ἱερόν· καὶ οἱ τραγικοὶ δὲ καὶ Πίνδαρος Θεσπρωτίδα εἰρήκασι τὴν Δωδώνην· ὕστερον δὲ ὑπὸ Μολοττοῖς ἐγένετο.
As for the stories told about the oak and the doves and other such things, just as about Delphi, some belong to a more poetic study and others are proper to the present tour.\n\nDodona, therefore, in ancient times was under the Thesprotians, as was Mount Tomarus or Tmarus (for it is called both ways), under which the temple lies; and the tragic poets and Pindar have called Dodona Thesprotian; but later it came under the Molossians.
ἀπὸ δὲ τοῦ Τομάρου τοὺς ὑπὸ τοῦ ποιητοῦ λεγομένους ὑποφήτας τοῦ Διός, οὓς καὶ ἀνιπτόποδας χαμαιεύνας καλεῖ, τομούρους φασὶ λεχθῆναι· καὶ ἐν μὲν τῇ Ὀδυσσείᾳ οὕτω γράφουσί τινες ἅ φησιν Ἀμφίνομος, συμβουλεύων τοῖς μνηστῆρσι μὴ πρότερον ἐπιτίθεσθαι τῷ Τηλεμάχῳ πρὶν ἂν τὸν Δία ἔρωνται
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εἰ μέν κʼ αἰνήσωσι Διὸς μεγάλοιο τομοῦροι,
αὐτός τε κτανέω, τούς τʼ ἄλλους πάντας ἀνώξω· εἰ δέ κʼ ἀποτρεπέῃσι θεός, παύεσθαι ἄνωγα. "
βέλτιον γὰρ εἶναι τομούρους ἢ θέμιστας γράφειν· οὐδαμοῦ γοῦν τὰ μαντεῖα θέμιστας λέγεσθαι παρὰ τῷ ποιητῇ, ἀλλὰ τὰς βουλὰς καὶ τὰ πολιτεύματα καὶ νομοθετήματα· τομούρους δʼ εἰρῆσθαι ἐπιτετμημένως οἷον τομαροφύλακας.
And from Tomarus, they say that those who are called by the poet the interpreters of Zeus, whom he also calls "men with unwashed feet who sleep on the ground," were called "Tomouroi." And in the Odyssey some write thus what Amphinomus says, advising the suitors not to attack Telemachus before they have asked Zeus:\n"\nIf indeed the Tomouroi of great Zeus approve, I myself shall kill him, and I shall bid all the others do so; but if the god turns us away, I bid you stop.\n"\nFor it is better to write "Tomouroi" than "themistas"; at any rate, nowhere are the oracles called "themistes" in the poet, but rather decrees, constitutions, and laws; and "Tomouroi" has been said as an abbreviation for "Tomarophylakes" (guardians of Tomarus).
οἱ μὲν οὖν νεώτεροι λέγουσιν τομούρους· Ὁμήρῳ δʼ ἁπλούστερον δεῖ δέχεσθαι θέμιστας καταχρηστικῶς καὶ βουλάς, τὰ προστάγματα καὶ τὰ βουλήματα τὰ μαντικά, καθάπερ καὶ τὰ νόμιμα· τοιοῦτον γὰρ καὶ τό
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ἐκ δρυὸς ὑψικόμοιο Διὸς βουλὴν ἐπακοῦσαι. " §7.7.12κατʼ ἀρχὰς μὲν οὖν ἄνδρες ἦσαν οἱ προφητεύοντες· καὶ τοῦτʼ ἴσως καὶ ὁ ποιητὴς ἐμφαίνει· ὑποφήτας γὰρ καλεῖ, ἐν οἷς τάττοιντο κἂν οἱ προφῆται·
Now the later writers say "Tomouroi"; but in Homer one must accept more simply "themistas" and "boulas" in a transferred sense as meaning the prophetic commands and intentions, just like the laws; for such also is this:\n"\nTo hear the counsel of Zeus from the high-foliaged oak.\n"\n\nIn the beginning, therefore, those who prophesied were men; and this perhaps the poet also indicates, for he calls them "interpreters," among whom the prophets also might be classed.
ὕστερον δʼ ἀπεδείχθησαν τρεῖς γραῖαι, ἐπειδὴ καὶ σύνναος τῷ Διὶ προσαπεδείχθη καὶ ἡ Διώνη.
But later three old women were appointed, since Dione also was appointed as sharing the temple with Zeus.
Σουίδας μέντοι Θετταλοῖς μυθώδεις λόγους προσχαριζόμενος ἐκεῖθέν τέ φησιν εἶναι τὸ ἱερὸν μετενηνεγμένον ἐκ τῆς περὶ Σκοτοῦσσαν Πελασγίας (ἔστι δʼ ἡ Σκοτοῦσσα τῆς Πελασγιώτιδος Θετταλίας), συνακολουθῆσαί τε γυναῖκας τὰς πλείστας, ὧν ἀπογόνους εἶναι τὰς νῦν προφήτιδας· ἀπὸ δὲ τούτου καὶ Πελασγικὸν Δία κεκλῆσθαι· Κινέας δʼ ἔτι μυθωδέστερον.
Suidas, however, to gratify the Thessalians with mythical stories, says that the temple was transferred from there, from Pelasgia around Scotussa (and Scotussa is in Pelasgiotis Thessaly), and that most of the women followed together, from whom the present prophetesses are descended; and from this fact Zeus was also called "Pelasgian." And Cineas tells an even more mythical story.