§8.3.30#1λοιπὸν δʼ ἐστὶν εἰπεῖν περὶ τῆς Ὀλυμπίας καὶ τῆς εἰς τοὺς Ἠλείους ἁπάντων μεταπτώσεως.
It remains to speak of Olympia and of the transfer of everything to the Eleians.
ἔστι δʼ ἐν τῇ Πισάτιδι τὸ ἱερὸν σταδίους τῆς Ἤλιδος ἐλάττους ἢ τριακοσίους διέχον· πρόκειται δʼ ἄλσος ἀγριελαίων ἐν ᾧ τὸ στάδιον· παραρρεῖ δʼ ὁ Ἀλφειὸς ἐκ τῆς Ἀρκαδίας ῥέων εἰς τὴν Τριφυλιακὴν θάλατταν μεταξὺ δύσεως καὶ μεσημβρίας.
The temple is in Pisatis, distant less than three hundred stades from Elis; in front of it lies a grove of wild olive trees, in which is the stadium; and the Alpheios flows past, running from Arcadia into the Triphylian Sea between west and south.
τὴν δʼ ἐπιφάνειαν ἔσχεν ἐξ ἀρχῆς μὲν διὰ τὸ μαντεῖον τοῦ Ὀλυμπίου Διός· ἐκείνου δʼ ἐκλειφθέντος οὐδὲν ἧττον συνέμεινεν ἡ δόξα τοῦ ἱεροῦ, καὶ τὴν αὔξησιν ὅσην ἴσμεν ἔλαβε διά τε τὴν πανήγυριν καὶ τὸν ἀγῶνα τὸν Ὀλυμπιακόν, στεφανίτην τε καὶ ἱερὸν νομισθέντα, μέγιστον τῶν πάντων.
It acquired its renown from the beginning because of the oracle of Olympian Zeus; and when that failed, the glory of the temple remained none the less, and it received all the growth we know because both of the festive assembly and of the Olympic games, which were considered crowned and sacred, the greatest of all.
ἐκοσμήθη δʼ ἐκ τοῦ πλήθους τῶν ἀναθημάτων, ἅπερ ἐκ πάσης ἀνετίθετο τῆς Ἑλλάδος· ὧν ἦν καὶ ὁ χρυσοῦς σφυρήλατος Ζεύς, ἀνάθημα Κυψέλου τοῦ Κορινθίων τυράννου.
And it was adorned by the multitude of offerings, which were dedicated from the whole of Greece; among which was also the golden beaten-work Zeus, an offering of Cypselus the tyrant of the Corinthians.
μέγιστον δὲ τούτων ὑπῆρξε τὸ τοῦ Διὸς ξόανον, ὃ ἐποίει Φειδίας Χαρμίδου Ἀθηναῖος ἐλεφάντινον, τηλικοῦτον τὸ μέγεθος ὡς καίπερ μεγίστου ὄντος τοῦ νεὼ δοκεῖν ἀστοχῆσαι τῆς συμμετρίας τὸν τεχνίτην, καθήμενον ποιήσαντα, ἁπτόμενον δὲ σχεδόν τι τῇ κορυφῇ τῆς ὀροφῆς ὥστʼ ἔμφασιν ποιεῖν, ἐὰν ὀρθὸς γένηται διαναστάς, ἀποστεγάσειν τὸν νεών.
The greatest of these was the wooden statue of Zeus, which Pheidias the son of Charmides, an Athenian, made of ivory, of such great size that, although the temple was very large, the artist seemed to have missed the symmetry, having made him sitting, but touching the roof almost with his crown, so that he created the impression that if he should stand upright, he would unroof the temple.
ἀνέγραψαν δέ τινες τὰ μέτρα τοῦ ξοάνου, καὶ Καλλίμαχος ἐν ἰάμβῳ τινὶ ἐξεῖπε.
And some recorded the measurements of the statue, and Callimachus declared them in a certain iambic poem.
πολλὰ δὲ συνέπραξε τῷ Φειδίᾳ Πάναινος ὁ ζωγράφος, ἀδελφιδοῦς ὢν αὐτοῦ καὶ συνεργολάβος, πρὸς τὴν τοῦ ξοάνου διὰ τῶν χρωμάτων κόσμησιν καὶ μάλιστα τῆς ἐσθῆτος.
And Panainos the painter, being his nephew and fellow-contractor, cooperated much with Pheidias toward the adornment of the statue with colors, and especially of the drapery.
δείκνυνται δὲ καὶ γραφαὶ πολλαί τε καὶ θαυμασταὶ περὶ τὸ ἱερὸν ἐκείνου ἔργα.
And many wonderful paintings, works of his, are also shown about the temple.
ἀπομνημονεύουσι δὲ τοῦ Φειδίου, διότι πρὸς τὸν Πάναινον εἶπε πυνθανόμενον πρὸς τί παράδειγμα μέλλοι ποιήσειν τὴν εἰκόνα τοῦ Διός, ὅτι πρὸς τὴν Ὁμήρου διʼ ἐπῶν ἐκτεθεῖσαν τούτων
"
ἦ καὶ κυανέῃσιν ἐπʼ ὀφρύσι νεῦσε Κρονίων· ἀμβρόσιαι δʼ ἄρα χαῖται ἐπερρώσαντο ἄνακτος
κρατὸς ἀπʼ ἀθανάτοιο, μέγαν δʼ ἐλέλιξεν Ὄλυμπον. "
ἄξιοι δὲ μάλιστα τὴν αἰτίαν ἔχειν τῆς περὶ τὸ Ὀλυμπίασιν ἱερὸν μεγαλοπρεπείας τε καὶ τιμῆς Ἠλεῖοι.
And they relate of Pheidias that, when Panainos asked him after what model he was going to make the image of Zeus, he replied that it was after that exhibited by Homer in these verses: "He spoke, and the son of Cronos nodded with his dark brows; and the ambrosial locks of the king waved from his immortal head, and he shook great Olympus." But the Eleians are most worthy to have the credit for the magnificence and honor concerning the temple at Olympia.
κατὰ μὲν γὰρ τὰ Τρωικὰ καὶ ἔτι πρὸ τούτων οὐκ ηὐτύχουν, ὑπό τε τῶν Πυλίων ταπεινωθέντες καὶ ὑφʼ Ἡρακλέους ὕστερον, ἡνίκα Αὐγέας ὁ βασιλεύων αὐτῶν κατελύθη.
For in the times of the Trojan War and even before these, they were not fortunate, having been humbled by the Pylians and later by Heracles, when Augeas their king was overthrown.
σημεῖον δέ· εἰς γὰρ τὴν Τροίαν ἐκεῖνοι μὲν τετταράκοντα ναῦς ἔστειλαν, Πύλιοι δὲ καὶ Νέστωρ ἐνενήκοντα.
And this is a sign: for to Troy they indeed sent forty ships, but the Pylians and Nestor ninety.
ὕστερον δὲ μετὰ τὴν τῶν Ἡρακλειδῶν κάθοδον συνέβη τἀναντία.
But later, after the return of the Heracleidae, the contrary happened.
Αἰτωλοὶ γὰρ συγκατελθόντες τοῖς Ἡρακλείδαις μετὰ Ὀξύλου καὶ συνοικήσαντες Ἐπειοῖς κατὰ συγγένειαν παλαιὰν ηὔξησαν
For the Aetolians, having returned together with the Heracleidae under Oxylus, and having settled with the Epeians because of an ancient kinship, increased