§1.21.1εἰσὶ δὲ Ἀθηναίοις εἰκόνες ἐν τῷ θεάτρῳ καὶ τραγῳδίας καὶ κωμῳδίας ποιητῶν, αἱ πολλαὶ τῶν ἀφανεστέρων·
There are for the Athenians in the theater statues of both tragedy and comedy poets, most of them of the less famous.
ὅτι μὴ γὰρ Μένανδρος, οὐδεὶς ἦν ποιητὴς κωμῳδίας τῶν ἐς δόξαν ἡκόντων.
For except Menander, there was no comedy poet of those who had reached fame.
τραγῳδίας δὲ κεῖνται τῶν φανερῶν Εὐριπίδης καὶ Σοφοκλῆς.
Of the famous tragedy poets, Euripides and Sophocles are placed.
λέγεται δὲ Σοφοκλέους τελευτήσαντος ἐσβαλεῖν ἐς τὴν Ἀττικὴν Λακεδαιμονίους, καὶ σφῶν τὸν ἡγούμενον ἰδεῖν ἐπιστάντα οἱ Διόνυσον κελεύειν τιμαῖς, ὅσαι καθεστήκασιν ἐπὶ τοῖς τεθνεῶσι, τὴν Σειρῆνα τὴν νέαν τιμᾶν·
It is said that when Sophocles died, the Lacedaemonians invaded Attica, and their leader saw Dionysus standing over him, commanding him to honor "the new Siren" with all the honors established for the dead.
καί οἱ τὸ ὄναρ ἐς Σοφοκλέα καὶ τὴν Σοφοκλέους ποίησιν ἐφαίνετο ἔχειν, εἰώθασι δὲ καὶ νῦν ἔτι ποιημάτων καὶ λόγων τὸ ἐπαγωγὸν Σειρῆνι εἰκάζειν.
And the dream seemed to him to relate to Sophocles and the poetry of Sophocles, and even now people are still accustomed to liken the alluring quality of poems and prose to a Siren.
§1.21.2τὴν δὲ εἰκόνα τὴν Αἰσχύλου πολλῷ τε ὕστερον τῆς τελευτῆς δοκῶ ποιηθῆναι καὶ τῆς γραφῆς ἣ τὸ ἔργον ἔχει τὸ Μαραθῶνι.
I think that the statue of Aeschylus was made much later than his death and also than the painting which depicts the battle at Marathon.
ἔφη δὲ Αἰσχύλος μειράκιον ὢν καθεύδειν ἐν ἀγρῷ φυλάσσων σταφυλάς, καί οἱ Διόνυσον ἐπιστάντα κελεῦσαι τραγῳδίαν ποιεῖν· ὡς δὲ ἦν ἡμέρα— πείθεσθαι γὰρ ἐθέλειν—ῥᾷστα ἤδη πειρώμενος ποιεῖν.
Aeschylus said that when he was a youth, he fell asleep in a field while guarding grapes, and Dionysus stood over him and commanded him to write tragedy; and when it was day—for he wished to obey—he found it very easy when he made the attempt.
§1.21.3οὗτος μὲν ταῦτα ἔλεγεν·
He indeed said these things.
ἐπὶ δὲ τοῦ Νοτίου καλουμένου τείχους, ὃ τῆς ἀκροπόλεως ἐς τὸ θέατρόν ἐστι τετραμμένον, ἐπὶ τούτου Μεδούσης τῆς Γοργόνος ἐπίχρυσος ἀνάκειται κεφαλή, καὶ περὶ αὐτὴν αἰγὶς πεποίηται.
On the so-called South Wall, which is turned from the Acropolis toward the theater, there is dedicated a gilded head of Medusa the Gorgon, and around it an aegis is made.
ἐν δὲ τῇ κορυφῇ τοῦ θεάτρου σπήλαιόν ἐστιν ἐν ταῖς πέτραις ὑπὸ τὴν ἀκρόπολιν· τρίπους δὲ ἔπεστι καὶ τούτῳ·
At the top of the theater there is a cave in the rocks under the Acropolis; and on this also stands a tripod.
Ἀπόλλων δὲ ἐν αὐτῷ καὶ Ἄρτεμις τοὺς παῖδάς εἰσιν ἀναιροῦντες τοὺς Νιόβης.
In it are Apollo and Artemis destroying the children of Niobe.
ταύτην τὴν Νιόβην καὶ αὐτὸς εἶδον ἀνελθὼν ἐς τὸν Σίπυλον τὸ ὄρος·
This Niobe I myself also saw when I went up to Mount Sipylus.
ἡ δὲ πλησίον μὲν πέτρα καὶ κρημνός ἐστιν οὐδὲν παρόντι σχῆμα παρεχόμενος γυναικὸς οὔτε ἄλλως οὔτε πενθούσης· εἰ δέ γε πορρωτέρω γένοιο, δεδακρυμένην δόξεις ὁρᾶν καὶ κατηφῆ γυναῖκα.
When you are near, it is a rock and a cliff, presenting to one who is close no shape of a woman, either in mourning or otherwise; but if you go further away, you will think you see a weeping and downcast woman.
§1.21.4ἰόντων δὲ Ἀθήνῃσιν ἐς τὴν ἀκρόπολιν ἀπὸ τοῦ θεάτρου τέθαπται Κάλως·
As you go at Athens from the theater to the Acropolis, Kalos is buried.
τοῦτον τὸν Κάλων ἀδελφῆς παῖδα ὄντα καὶ τῆς τέχνης μαθητὴν φονεύσας Δαίδαλος ἐς Κρήτην ἔφυγε, χρόνῳ δὲ ὕστερον ἐς Σικελίαν ἐκδιδράσκει παρὰ Κώκαλον.
Daedalus, having murdered this Kalos, who was his sister's son and a pupil in his art, fled to Crete, and later escaped to Sicily to Cocalus.
τοῦ δὲ Ἀσκληπιοῦ τὸ ἱερὸν ἔς τε τὰ ἀγάλματά ἐστιν, ὁπόσα τοῦ θεοῦ πεποίηται καὶ τῶν παίδων, καὶ ἐς τὰς γραφὰς θέας ἄξιον·
The sanctuary of Asclepius is worthy of a visit, both for the statues, as many as have been made of the god and his children, and for the paintings.
ἔστι δὲ ἐν αὐτῷ κρήνη, παρʼ ᾗ λέγουσι Ποσειδῶνος παῖδα Ἁλιρρόθιον θυγατέρα Ἄρεως Ἀλκίππην αἰσχύναντα ἀποθανεῖν ὑπὸ Ἄρεως, καὶ δίκην ἐπὶ τούτῳ τῷ φόνῳ γενέσθαι πρῶτον.
In it is a spring, beside which they say Halirrothius, the son of Poseidon, having dishonored Alcippe, the daughter of Ares, was killed by Ares, and that the first trial for murder took place because of this.
§1.21.5ἐνταῦθα ἄλλα τε καὶ Σαυροματικὸς ἀνάκειται θώραξ· ἐς τοῦτόν τις ἰδὼν οὐδὲν ἧσσον Ἑλλήνων τοὺς βαρβάρους φήσει σοφοὺς ἐς τὰς τέχνας εἶναι.
Here, among other things, is dedicated a Sauromatian breastplate; looking at this, anyone will say that the barbarians are no less skilled in arts than the Greeks.
Σαυρομάταις γὰρ οὔτε αὐτοῖς σίδηρός ἐστιν ὀρυσσόμενος οὔτε σφίσιν ἐσάγουσιν· ἄμικτοι γὰρ μάλιστα τῶν ταύτῃ βαρβάρων εἰσί.
For the Sauromatians have no iron of their own dug up, nor do they import it; for they are the least social of the barbarians in those parts.
πρὸς οὖν τὴν ἀπορίαν ταύτην ἐξεύρηταί σφισιν· ἐπὶ μὲν τοῖς δόρασιν αἰχμὰς ὀστεΐνας ἀντὶ σιδήρου φοροῦσι, τόξα τε κράνινα καὶ ὀιστοὺς καὶ ὀστεΐνας ἀκίδας ἐπὶ τοῖς ὀιστοῖς·
Therefore, to meet this lack, they have invented the following: on their spears they wear bone points instead of iron, and bows of cornel-wood, and arrows with bone heads on the arrows.
καὶ σειραῖς περιβαλόντες τῶν πολεμίων ὁπόσους καὶ τύχοιεν, τοὺς ἵππους ἀποστρέψαντες ἀνατρέπουσι τοὺς ἐνσχεθέντας ταῖς σειραῖς.
And casting lassos around as many of the enemy as they happen to meet, they turn their horses and overthrow those caught in the lassos.
§1.21.6τοὺς δὲ θώρακας ποιοῦνται τὸν τρόπον τοῦτον.
They make their breastplates in this manner.
ἵππους πολλὰς ἕκαστος τρέφει, ὡς ἂν οὔτε ἐς ἰδιωτῶν κλήρους τῆς γῆς μεμερισμένης οὔτε τι φερούσης πλὴν ὕλης ἀγρίας ἅτε ὄντων νομάδων·
Each man rears many horses, since the land is not divided into private plots nor does it bear anything except wild forest, as they are nomads.
ταύταις οὐκ ἐς πόλεμον χρῶνται μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ θεοῖς θύουσιν ἐπιχωρίοις καὶ ἄλλως σιτοῦνται.
These they use not only for war, but they also sacrifice them to their local gods and otherwise use them for food.
συλλεξάμενοι δὲ τὰς ὁπλὰς ἐκκαθήραντές τε καὶ διελόντες ποιοῦσιν ἀπʼ αὐτῶν ἐμφερῆ δρακόντων φολίσιν·
Having collected the hooves, cleaned them, and split them, they make from them things like the scales of dragons.
ὅστις δὲ οὐκ εἶδέ πω δράκοντα, πίτυός γε εἶδε καρπὸν χλωρὸν ἔτι·
Anyone who has not yet seen a dragon has at least seen a pine-cone while still green.
ταῖς οὖν ἐπὶ τῷ καρπῷ τῆς πίτυος φαινομέναις ἐντομαῖς εἰκάζων τὸ ἔργον τὸ ἐκ τῆς ὁπλῆς οὐκ ἂν ἁμαρτάνοι.
He would not be mistaken if he compared the work made from the hoof to the incisions appearing on the fruit of the pine.
ταῦτα διατρήσαντες καὶ νεύροις ἵππων καὶ βοῶν συρράψαντες χρῶνται θώραξιν οὔτε εὐπρεπείᾳ τῶν Ἑλληνικῶν ἀποδέουσιν οὔτε ἀσθενεστέροις·
Having bored holes through these and sewn them together with the sinews of horses and oxen, they use breastplates that are neither inferior in beauty to those of the Greeks nor weaker.
καὶ γὰρ συστάδην τυπτόμενοι καὶ βληθέντες ἀνέχονται.
For they withstand both being struck in close combat and being hit by missiles.
§1.21.7οἱ δὲ θώρακες οἱ λινοῖ μαχομένοις μὲν οὐχ ὁμοίως εἰσὶ χρήσιμοι, διιᾶσι γὰρ καὶ βιαζόμενοι τὸν σίδηρον·
Linen breastplates are not equally useful to those who fight, for they allow even iron to pass through when forced.
θηρεύοντας δὲ ὠφελοῦσιν, ἐναποκλῶνται γάρ σφισι καὶ λεόντων ὀδόντες καὶ παρδάλεων.
But they help those who hunt, for both the teeth of lions and leopards break off in them.
θώρακας δὲ λινοῦς ἰδεῖν ἔν τε ἄλλοις ἱεροῖς ἔστιν ἀνακειμένους καὶ ἐν Γρυνείῳ, ἔνθα Ἀπόλλωνος κάλλιστον ἄλσος δένδρων καὶ ἡμέρων καὶ ὅσα τῶν ἀκάρπων ὀσμῆς παρέχεταί τινα ἢ θέας ἡδονήν.
Linen breastplates can be seen dedicated in other sanctuaries and also in Gryneum, where there is a most beautiful grove of Apollo, of both cultivated trees and of those unproductive ones which afford some pleasure of scent or sight.