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Pausanias · Description of Greece §1.36.1-1.36.6

Monuments on Salamis and the Sacred Way to Eleusis

Passage 42 of 465 · Greek

Summary

Pausanias resumes his Attica narrative, describing the sanctuaries and monuments in Salamis, the island of Psyttalea, and the tombs of historical figures such as Anthemocritus and Cephisodorus along the Sacred Way to Eleusis.

§1.36.1ἐν Σαλαμῖνι δὲ—ἐπάνειμι γὰρ ἐς τὸν προκείμενον λόγον—τοῦτο μὲν Ἀρτέμιδός ἐστιν ἱερόν, τοῦτο δὲ τρόπαιον ἕστηκεν ἀπὸ τῆς νίκης ἣν Θεμιστοκλῆς ὁ Νεοκλέους αἴτιος ἐγένετο γενέσθαι τοῖς Ἕλλησι· καὶ Κυχρέως ἐστὶν ἱερόν.
In Salamis—for I am returning to my proposed narrative—there is on the one hand a sanctuary of Artemis, and on the other hand a trophy stands from the victory of which Themistocles, the son of Neocles, was the cause of winning for the Greeks; and there is also a sanctuary of Cychreus.
ναυμαχούντων δὲ Ἀθηναίων πρὸς Μήδους δράκοντα ἐν ταῖς ναυσὶ λέγεται φανῆναι· τοῦτον ὁ θεὸς ἔχρησεν Ἀθηναίοις Κυχρέα εἶναι τὸν ἥρωα.
They say that when the Athenians were fighting a sea-battle against the Medes, a serpent appeared among the ships; the god declared to the Athenians that this serpent was the hero Cychreus.
§1.36.2νῆσος δὲ πρὸ Σαλαμῖνός ἐστι καλουμένη Ψυττάλεια· ἐς ταύτην τῶν βαρβάρων ὅσον τετρακοσίους ἀποβῆναι λέγουσιν, ἡττωμένου δὲ τοῦ Ξέρξου ναυτικοῦ καὶ τούτους ἀπολέσθαι φασὶν ἐπιδιαβάντων ἐς τὴν Ψυττάλειαν τῶν Ἑλλήνων.
Before Salamis there is an island called Psyttalea; they say that about four hundred of the barbarians landed on this, and when the fleet of Xerxes was defeated, they say that these also perished, the Greeks having crossed over to Psyttalea.
ἄγαλμα δὲ ἐν τῇ νήσῳ σὺν τέχνῃ μέν ἐστιν οὐδέν, Πανὸς δὲ ὡς ἕκαστον ἔτυχε ξόανα πεποιημένα.
There is no statue with artistic skill on the island, but there are wooden images of Pan made roughly as it happened.
§1.36.3ἰοῦσι δὲ ἐπʼ Ἐλευσῖνα ἐξ Ἀθηνῶν ἣν Ἀθηναῖοι καλοῦσιν ὁδὸν ἱεράν, Ἀνθεμοκρίτου πεποίηται μνῆμα.
For those going to Eleusis from Athens along what the Athenians call the Sacred Way, there is made a tomb of Anthemocritus.
ἐς τοῦτον Μεγαρεῦσίν ἐστιν ἀνοσιώτατον ἔργον, οἳ κήρυκα ἐλθόντα, ὡς μὴ τοῦ λοιποῦ τὴν χώραν ἐπεργάζοιντο, κτείνουσιν Ἀνθεμόκριτον· καί σφισι ταῦτα δράσασι παραμένει καὶ ἐς τόδε μήνιμα ἐκ τοῖν θεοῖν, οἷς οὐδὲ Ἀδριανὸς ὁ βασιλεὺς ὥστε καὶ ἐπαυξηθῆναι μόνοις ἐπήρκεσεν Ἑλλήνων.
Against him there was a most impious deed by the Megarians, who killed Anthemocritus when he came as a herald to warn them not to cultivate the land in future; and for them, having done this, the wrath of the Two Goddesses remains even to this day, whom not even the Emperor Hadrian could help, alone of the Greeks, so as to make them flourish.
§1.36.4μετὰ δὲ τοῦ Ἀνθεμοκρίτου τὴν στήλην Μολοττοῦ τε τάφος ἐστὶν ἀξιωθέντος Ἀθηναίων καὶ τούτου στρατηγεῖν, ὅτε Πλουτάρχῳ βοηθοῦντες διέβησαν ἐς Εὔβοιαν, καὶ χωρίον Σκῖρον ἐπὶ τοιῷδε καλούμενον.
After the stele of Anthemocritus is the tomb of Molottus, who was also deemed worthy by the Athenians to hold command when they crossed over to Euboea to help Plutarchus, and a place called Scirum for the following reason.
Ἐλευσινίοις πολεμοῦσι πρὸς Ἐρεχθέα ἀνὴρ μάντις ἦλθεν ἐκ Δωδώνης ὄνομα Σκῖρος, ὃς καὶ τῆς Σκιράδος ἱδρύσατο Ἀθηνᾶς ἐπὶ Φαληρῷ τὸ ἀρχαῖον ἱερόν· πεσόντα δὲ αὐτὸν ἐν τῇ μάχῃ θάπτουσιν Ἐλευσίνιοι πλησίον ποταμοῦ χειμάρρου, καὶ τῷ τε χωρίῳ τὸ ὄνομα ἀπὸ τοῦ ἥρωός ἐστι καὶ τῷ ποταμῷ.
When the Eleusinians were at war against Erechtheus, a seer named Scirus came from Dodona, who also established the ancient sanctuary of Athena Sciras at Phalerum; and when he fell in the battle, the Eleusinians buried him near a torrent river, and both the place and the river have their name from the hero.
§1.36.5πλησίον δὲ πεποίηται Κηφισοδώρου μνῆμα δήμου προστάντος καὶ Φιλίππῳ τῷ Δημητρίου Μακεδόνων βασιλεύοντι ἐς τὰ μάλιστα ἐναντιωθέντος· συμμάχους δὲ ἐπήγετο Κηφισόδωρος Ἀθηναίοις γενέσθαι βασιλεῖς μὲν Ἄτταλον τὸν Μυσὸν καὶ Πτολεμαῖον τὸν Αἰγύπτιον, ἔθνη δὲ αὐτόνομα Αἰτωλοὺς καὶ νησιωτῶν Ῥοδίους καὶ Κρῆτας.
And nearby is made the tomb of Cephisodorus, who was a leader of the people and opposed to the utmost Philip, the son of Demetrius, king of the Macedonians; Cephisodorus brought in as allies for the Athenians on the one hand the kings, Attalus the Mysian and Ptolemy the Egyptian, and on the other hand independent nations, the Aetolians, and of the islanders, the Rhodians and the Cretans.
§1.36.6ὡς δὲ καὶ ἐξ Αἰγύπτου καὶ Μυσίας καὶ παρὰ τῶν Κρητῶν τὰ πολλὰ ὑστέριζον αἱ βοήθειαι, Ῥόδιοι δὲ μόναις ναυσὶν ἰσχύοντες πρὸς ὁπλίτας τοὺς Μακεδόνας οὐ μεγάλα ὠφέλουν, ἐνταῦθα Κηφισόδωρος ἐς Ἰταλίαν σὺν ἄλλοις Ἀθηναίων πλεύσας ἱκέτευεν ἀμῦναι Ῥωμαίους· οἱ δέ σφισι δύναμιν καὶ στρατηγὸν πέμπουσιν, οἳ τὰ Φιλίππου καὶ Μακεδόνων ἐς τοσοῦτο καθεῖλον ὡς ὕστερον Περσέα τὸν Φιλίππου τήν τε ἀρχὴν ἀποβαλεῖν καὶ αὐτὸν αἰχμάλωτον ἐς Ἰταλίαν ἀχθῆναι.
And since the aids from Egypt and Mysia and from the Cretans were for the most part too late, and the Rhodians, being strong only in ships, were of no great help against the Macedonian hoplites, then Cephisodorus, having sailed to Italy with others of the Athenians, implored the Romans to help; and they sent them a force and a general, who reduced the power of Philip and the Macedonians to such an extent that later Perseus, the son of Philip, lost his rule and was himself carried as a captive to Italy.
Φίλιππος δὲ ἦν οὗτος ὁ Δημητρίου· πρῶτος γὰρ ταύτης τῆς οἰκίας ἔσχε Δημήτριος τὴν Μακεδόνων ἀρχὴν ἀποκτείνας Ἀλέξανδρον τὸν Κασσάνδρου παῖδα, ὡς τὰ πρότερον ἔχει μοι τοῦ λόγου.
And this Philip was the son of Demetrius; for Demetrius was the first of this house to hold the rule over the Macedonians, having killed Alexander, the son of Cassander, as the earlier part of my narrative has it.

Notes

  1. 1.36.1αἴτιος ἐγένετο γενέσθαι — The adjective αἴτιος (responsible for) is followed by the infinitive γενέσθαι (to happen, to be brought about) as an epexegetic modifier. It literally means 'became the cause for it to happen', indicating that Themistocles was the prime mover in securing the victory.
  2. 1.36.2ὡς ἕκαστον ἔτυχε — An idiomatic phrase using the aorist of τυγχάνω (to happen), originally with an implied participle like πεποιημένον (having been made as each happened to be). It functions as an adverbial or adjectival modifier meaning 'at random,' 'roughly made,' or 'crude.'
  3. 1.36.3οἷς οὐδὲ Ἀδριανὸς ὁ βασιλεὺς ὥστε καὶ ἐπαυξηθῆναι μόνοις ἐπήρκεσεν Ἑλλήνων — The dative relative pronoun οἷς is governed by the verb ἐπήρκεσεν (availed, sufficed to help). The conjunction ὥστε introduces the infinitive of result ἐπαυξηθῆναι (to be increased, to flourish). The overall construction means 'for whom not even the Emperor Hadrian availed, so as to make them flourish, alone of the Greeks.'
  4. 1.36.4ἀξιωθέντος Ἀθηναίων καὶ τούτου στρατηγεῖν — The genitive participle ἀξιωθέντος agrees with Μολοττοῦ and has a passive sense ('having been deemed worthy'). It is accompanied by the genitive of agent Ἀθηναίων, and the infinitive στρατηγεῖν specifying what he was deemed worthy to do. The phrase καὶ τούτου ('of this man as well') emphasizes that Molottus too, like other distinguished leaders, received this honor.

Cite this passage

Pausanias, Description of Greece §1.36.1-1.36.6. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:1.36.1-1.36.6

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