§9.3.8ἐπίφθονος δʼ ὢν ὁ πλοῦτος δυσφύλακτός ἐστι κἂν ἱερὸς ᾖ.
Wealth, even if it is sacred, is a target for envy and difficult to guard.
νυνί γέ τοι πενέστατόν ἐστι τὸ ἐν Δελφοῖς ἱερὸν χρημάτων γε χάριν, τῶν δʼ ἀναθημάτων τὰ μὲν ἦρται τὰ δὲ πλείω μένει.
At any rate, at the present time, the temple at Delphi is extremely poor as far as money is concerned, but of the votive offerings, some have been taken away, though most of them remain.
πρότερον δὲ πολυχρήματον ἦν τὸ ἱερόν, καθάπερ Ὅμηρός τε εἴρηκεν
οὐδʼ ὅσα λάινος οὐδὸς ἀφήτορος ἐντὸς ἐέργει Φοίβου Ἀπόλλωνος Πυθοῖ ἐνὶ πετρηέσσῃ,
καὶ οἱ θησαυροὶ δηλοῦσι καὶ ἡ σύλησις ἡ γενηθεῖσα ὑπὸ τῶν Φωκέων, ἐξ ἧς ὁ Φωκικὸς καὶ ἱερὸς καλούμενος ἐξήφθη πόλεμος.
Previously, the temple was extremely wealthy, just as Homer has said: "Nor all the wealth that the stone threshold of the Archer, Phoebus Apollo, contains within, in rocky Pytho," and the treasuries show this, as does the plunder made by the Phocians, from which the Phocian and so-called Sacred War was kindled.
αὕτη μὲν οὖν ἡ σύλησις γεγένηται κατὰ Φίλιππον τὸν Ἀμύντου· προτέραν δʼ ἄλλην ὑπονοοῦσιν ἀρχαίαν, ἣ τὸν ὑφʼ Ὁμήρου λεγόμενον πλοῦτον ἐξεφόρησεν·
Now, this plunder took place in the time of Philip, the son of Amyntas; but they suspect another, ancient plunder before this, which carried away the wealth mentioned by Homer.
οὐδὲ γὰρ ἴχνος αὐτοῦ σωθῆναι πρὸς τοὺς ὕστερον χρόνους ἐν οἷς οἱ περὶ Ὀνόμαρχον καὶ Φάυλλον ἐσύλησαν τὸ ἱερόν, ἀλλὰ τὰ μὲν ἀπενεχθέντα νεώτερα ἐκείνων εἶναι τῶν χρημάτων·
For not even a trace of it was preserved down to the later times in which Onomarchus and Phayllus plundered the temple, but the things carried off then were of a later date than those ancient riches.
ἀποκεῖσθαι γὰρ ἐν θησαυροῖς, ἀπὸ λαφύρων ἀνατεθέντα, ἐπιγραφὰς σώζοντα ἐν αἷς καὶ οἱ ἀναθέντες· Γύγου
γὰρ καὶ
Κροίσου
καὶ
Συβαριτῶν
καὶ
Σπινητῶν τῶν περὶ τὸν Ἀδρίαν,
καὶ οὕτως ἐπὶ τῶν ἄλλων. οὔτ ήκοι τὰ παλαιὰ χρήματα ἀναμεμῖχθαι·
For they had been deposited in treasuries, dedicated from spoils, and preserved inscriptions containing also the names of those who dedicated them, such as of Gyges, Croesus, the Sybarites, and the Spinites around the Adriatic, and likewise in the case of the others; thus, it is not likely that the old wealth was mixed up with them.
καὶ ἄλλοι τόποι διασημαίνουσιν ὑπὸ τούτων σκευωρηθέντες τῶν ἀνδρῶν.
Moreover, other places show this, having been plundered by these same men.
ἔνιοι δὲ τὸν ἀφήτορα δεξάμενοι λέγεσθαι θησαυρόν, ἀφήτορος δʼ οὐδὸν κατὰ γῆς θησαυρισμόν, ἐν τῷ ναῷ κατορωρύχθαι φασὶ τὸν πλοῦτον ἐκεῖνον, καὶ τοὺς περὶ τὸν Ὀνόμαρχον ἐπιχειρήσαντας ἀνασκάπτειν νύκτωρ σεισμῶν γενομένων μεγάλων ἔξω τοῦ ναοῦ φυγεῖν καὶ παύσασθαι τῆς ἀνασκαφῆς, ἐμβαλεῖν δὲ καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις φόβον τῆς τοιαύτης ἐπιχειρήσεως.
But some, taking "aphetor" to mean "treasury", and "the threshold of the aphetor" to mean a underground hoard, say that that wealth was buried in the temple, and that when Onomarchus and his men attempted to dig it up by night, great earthquakes occurred, so they fled outside the temple and ceased their excavation, which also instilled in others a fear of such an enterprise.
§9.3.9τῶν δὲ ναῶν τὸν μὲν πτέρινον εἰς τοὺς μύθους τακτέον, τὸν δὲ δεύτερον Τροφωνίου καὶ Ἀγαμήδους ἔργον φασί, τὸν δὲ νῦν Ἀμφικτύονες κατεσκεύασαν.
Now, of the temples, the first, made of wings, must be placed among the myths; the second they say was the work of Trophonius and Agamedes; and the present one was built by the Amphictyons.
δείκνυται δʼ ἐν τῷ τεμένει τάφος Νεοπτολέμου κατὰ χρησμὸν γενόμενος, Μαχαιρέως Δελφοῦ ἀνδρὸς ἀνελόντος αὐτόν, ὡς μὲν ὁ μῦθος, δίκας αἰτοῦντα τὸν θεὸν τοῦ πατρῴου φόνου, ὡς δὲ τὸ εἰκός, ἐπιθέμενον τῷ ἱερῷ.
In the sacred precinct is shown the tomb of Neoptolemus, built in accordance with an oracle, after Machaireus, a Delphian, had slain him; as the myth says, because he was demanding satisfaction from the god for his father's murder, but as is plausible, because he made an attack on the temple.
τοῦ δὲ Μαχαιρέως ἀπόγονον Βράγχον φασὶ τὸν προστατήσαντα τοῦ ἐν Διδύμοις ἱεροῦ.
And they say that Branchus, who presided over the temple at Didyma, was a descendant of Machaireus.
§9.3.10ἀγὼν δὲ ὁ μὲν ἀρχαῖος ἐν Δελφοῖς κιθαρῳδῶν ἐγενήθη παιᾶνα ᾀδόντων εἰς τὸν θεόν· ἔθηκαν δὲ Δελφοί·
The ancient contest at Delphi was of citharodes singing a paean to the god; and the Delphians established it.
μετὰ δὲ τὸν Κρισαῖον πόλεμον οἱ Ἀμφικτύονες ἱππικὸν καὶ γυμνικὸν ἐπʼ Εὐρυλόχου διέταξαν στεφανίτην καὶ Πύθια ἐκάλεσαν.
But after the Crisaean War, the Amphictyons, in the time of Eurylochus, arranged equestrian and athletic contests for a crown, and called them the Pythian Games.
προσέθεσαν δὲ τοῖς κιθαρῳδοῖς αὐλητάς τε καὶ κιθαριστὰς χωρὶς ᾠδῆς, ἀποδώσοντάς τι μέλος ὃ καλεῖται νόμος Πυθικός.
And they added to the citharodes both players of the aulos and of the cithara without song, who were to perform a melody which is called the Pythian Nomos.
πέντε δʼ αὐτοῦ μέρη ἐστίν, ἄγκρουσις ἄμπειρα κατακελευσμὸς ἴαμβοι καὶ δάκτυλοι σύριγγες.
Its parts are five: the prelude, the trial, the onset, iambics and dactyls, and the pipes.
ἐμελοποίησε μὲν οὖν Τιμοσθένης, ὁ ναύαρχος τοῦ δευτέρου Πτολεμαίου ὁ καὶ τοὺς λιμένας συντάξας ἐν δέκα βίβλοις.
Now Timosthenes, the admiral of Ptolemy the Second, who also compiled the work on harbors in ten books, composed this music.
βούλεται δὲ τὸν ἀγῶνα τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος τὸν πρὸς τὸν δράκοντα διὰ τοῦ μέλους ὑμνεῖν, ἄγκρουσιν μὲν τὸ προοίμιον δηλῶν, ἄμπειραν δὲ τὴν πρώτην κατάπειραν τοῦ ἀγῶνος, κατακελευσμὸν δὲ αὐτὸν τὸν ἀγῶνα, ἴαμβον δὲ καὶ δάκτυλον τὸν ἐπιπαιανισμὸν τὸν ἐπὶ τῇ νίκῃ μετὰ τοιούτων ῥυθμῶν, ὧν ὁ μὲν ὕμνοις ἐστὶν οἰκεῖος ὁ δʼ ἴαμβος κακισμοῖς, σύριγγας δὲ τὴν ἔκλειψιν τοῦ θηρίου, μιμουμένων ὡς ἂν καταστρέφοντος ἐσχάτους τινὰς συριγμούς.
He intends to celebrate through the melody the contest of Apollo against the dragon, representing the introduction as the prelude, the first attempt of the contest as the trial, the contest itself as the onset, the victory song with such rhythms as the iambics and dactyls (of which the one is suited to hymns and the iambic to abuse), and the expiration of the beast as the pipes, they imitating its last hissing as it expires.