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Pausanias · Description of Greece §10.1.1-10.1.5

Boundaries of Phocis and Defense Against Thessalians

Passage 411 of 465 · Greek

Summary

The origin of the name of Phocis and its geographical borders are outlined. Furthermore, historical defensive battles of the Phocians against the Thessalians, including the stratagem of burying earthen jars, are introduced.

§10.1.1γῆς δὲ τῆς Φωκίδος, ὅσον μὲν περὶ Τιθορέαν καὶ Δελφούς ἐστιν αὐτῆς, ἐκ παλαιοτάτου φανερὰ τὸ ὄνομα τοῦτο εἰληφυῖά ἐστιν ἀπὸ ἀνδρὸς Κορινθίου Φώκου τοῦ Ὀρνυτίωνος· ἔτεσι δʼ ὕστερον οὐ πολλοῖς ἐξενίκησε καὶ ἁπάσῃ γενέσθαι τῇ ἐφʼ ἡμῶν καλουμένῃ Φωκίδι, Αἰγινητῶν ναυσὶν ἐς τὴν χώραν διαβάντων ὁμοῦ Φώκῳ τῷ Αἰακοῦ.
Of the land of Phocis, as much of it as is around Tithorea and Delphi has clearly from of old taken this name from a Corinthian man, Phocus, the son of Ornytion; but not many years later it prevailed that the name should also belong to the whole of what in our time is called Phocis, when the Aeginetans crossed over into the country by ships together with Phocus, the son of Aeacus.
§10.1.2τὰ μὲν δὴ ἀπαντικρὺ Πελοποννήσου καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ Βοιωτίας καθήκουσιν ἐπὶ θάλασσαν οἱ Φωκεῖς, τῇ μὲν ἐς Κίρραν τὸ ἐπίνειον Δελφῶν, τῇ δʼ ἐπὶ Ἀντίκυραν πόλιν· τὰ δὲ πρὸς τοῦ Λαμιακοῦ κόλπου Λοκροὶ σφᾶς παραθαλασσίους οἱ Ὑποκνημίδιοι κωλύουσιν εἶναι· οὗτοι γὰρ δή εἰσιν οἱ ταύτῃ τὴν Φωκίδα ὑπεροικοῦντες, Σκαρφεῖς μὲν τὰ ἐπέκεινα Ἐλατείας, ὑπὲρ δὲ Ὑάμπολιν καὶ Ἄβας οἱ πόλιν τε Ὀποῦντα καὶ Ὀπουντίων ἐπίνειον νεμόμενοι Κῦνον.
On the side opposite the Peloponnese and that which borders on Boeotia, the Phocians reach down to the sea, in one direction to Cirrha, the harbor of Delphi, and in the other to the city of Anticyra; but on the side towards the Lamian Gulf, the Hypocnemidian Locrians prevent them from being coastal; for these are indeed the ones who dwell above Phocis in this region, the Scarpheians beyond Elateia, and above Hyampolis and Abae those who possess the city of Opus and Cynus, the harbor of the Opuntians.
§10.1.3τὰ δὲ ἐπιφανέστατα Φωκεῦσίν ἐστιν ἐν κοινῷ· πολέμου γὰρ τοῦ πρὸς Ἰλίῳ μετεσχήκασι, καὶ Θεσσαλῶν ἐναντία ἐπολέμησαν πρότερον ἔτι ἢ ἐλάσαι τὸν Μῆδον ἐπὶ Ἕλληνας, ὅτε δὴ καὶ ἐπεδείξαντο οἱ Φωκεῖς ἔργα ἐς μνήμην.
The most illustrious achievements of the Phocians in common are these: for they took part in the war against Ilium, and they fought against the Thessalians even before the Persian marched against the Greeks, at which time indeed the Phocians displayed deeds worthy of remembrance.
κατὰ γὰρ τὴν Ὑάμπολιν, ᾗ τοὺς Θεσσαλοὺς προσεδέχοντο ἐμβαλεῖν σφισιν ἐς τὴν χώραν, ὑδρίας κεράμου πεποιημένας κατορύξαντες καὶ ἐπʼ αὐτὰς γῆν ἐπιφορήσαντες ὑπέμενον τὴν ἵππον τῶν Θεσσαλῶν· οἱ δέ, ἅτε οὐ προπεπυσμένοι τῶν Φωκέων τὴν τέχνην, ἐπελάσαντες τοὺς ἵππους λανθάνουσιν ἐπὶ τὰς ὑδρίας.
For near Hyampolis, where they expected the Thessalians to make an inroad into their country, they buried earthen jars and, having heaped earth over them, awaited the cavalry of the Thessalians; and the latter, because they had not learned beforehand of the stratagem of the Phocians, rode their horses and, without realizing it, came upon the jars.
ἐνταῦθα ἀπεχωλοῦντο μὲν οἱ ἵπποι τῶν ποδῶν ἐσπιπτόντων σφίσιν ἐς τὰς ὑδρίας, ἐκτείνοντο δὲ καὶ ἀπέπιπτον οἱ ἄνδρες ἀπὸ τῶν ἵππων.
Thereupon the horses were lamed as their feet fell into the jars, and the men were thrown and fell off their horses.
§10.1.4ὡς δὲ οἱ Θεσσαλοὶ μείζονι ἢ τὰ πρότερα ἐς τοὺς Φωκέας χρώμενοι τῇ ὀργῇ συνελέχθησαν ἀπὸ τῶν πόλεων πασῶν καὶ ἐς τὴν Φωκίδα ἐστρατεύοντο, ἐνταῦθα οἱ Φωκεῖς ἐν οὐ μικρῷ ποιούμενοι δείματι τήν τε ἄλλην τῶν Θεσσαλῶν ἐς τὸν πόλεμον παρασκευὴν καὶ οὐχ ἥκιστα τῆς ἵππου τὸ πλῆθος καὶ ὁμοῦ τῷ ἀριθμῷ τὴν ἐς τοὺς ἀγῶνας τῶν τε ἵππων καὶ αὐτῶν μελέτην τῶν ἱππέων, ἀποστέλλουσιν ἐς Δελφοὺς αἰτοῦντες τὸν θεὸν ἐκφυγεῖν τὸν ἐπιόντα κίνδυνον· καὶ αὐτοῖς ἀφίκετο μάντευμα· " συμβαλέω θνητόν τε καὶ ἀθάνατον μαχέσασθαι, νίκην δʼ ἀμφοτέροις δώσω, θνητῷ δέ νυ μᾶλλον. "
But when the Thessalians, with greater anger than before towards the Phocians, gathered from all their cities and marched against Phocis, the Phocians, being in no small dread of the other military preparations of the Thessalians, and not least of the multitude of their cavalry, and along with the number, the training of the horses and of the horsemen themselves for contests, sent to Delphi, asking the god to escape the oncoming danger; and an oracle came to them: "I shall bring together mortal and immortal to fight, and I shall give victory to both, but indeed more to the mortal.
§10.1.5ταῦτα ὡς ἐπύθοντο οἱ Φωκεῖς, λογάδας τριακοσίους καὶ Γέλωνα ἐπʼ αὐτοῖς ἄρχοντα ἀποστέλλουσιν ἐς τοὺς πολεμίους ἄρτι ἀρχομένης νυκτός, προστάξαντές σφισι κατοπτεῦσαί τε τὰ τῶν Θεσσαλῶν ὅντινα ἀφανέστατον δύναιντο τρόπον καὶ αὖθις ἐς τὸ στράτευμα ἐπανήκειν κατὰ τῶν ὁδῶν τὴν μάλιστα ἄγνωστον, μηδὲ ἑκόντας μάχης ἄρχειν.
"When the Phocians heard this, they sent three hundred chosen men and Gelon as commander over them against the enemy just as night was beginning, ordering them to spy on the affairs of the Thessalians in the most unseen manner they could, and to return to the army again by the most unknown of roads, and not to begin battle willingly.
οὗτοι ὑπὸ τῶν Θεσσαλῶν οἱ λογάδες ἀπώλοντο ἀθρόοι καὶ αὐτοὶ καὶ ὁ ἡγούμενός σφισι Γέλων, συμπατούμενοί τε ὑπὸ τῶν ἵππων καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν ἀνδρῶν φονευόμενοι.
These chosen men were utterly destroyed by the Thessalians, both themselves and their leader Gelon, being trampled underfoot by the horses and slain by the men.

Notes

  1. 10.1.1ἐξενίκησε — Used intransitively in the sense of "prevailed" or "gained the upper hand". The following infinitive phrase γενέσθαι ἁπάσῃ ... Φωκίδι expresses the result.
  2. 10.1.3λανθάνουσιν ἐπὶ τὰς ὑδρίες — The verb λανθάνω usually takes a participle to mean "escape notice doing something", but here it directly governs the prepositional phrase ἐπὶ τὰς ὑδρίες, meaning "to come upon (the jars) without realizing it".

Cite this passage

Pausanias, Description of Greece §10.1.1-10.1.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:10.1.1-10.1.5

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