§10.24.1ταῦτα μὲν δὴ οὕτω γενόμενα ἴστω τις·
Let one know these things as having happened in this way.
ἐν δὲ τῷ προνάῳ τῷ ἐν Δελφοῖς γεγραμμένα ἐστὶν ὠφελήματα ἀνθρώποις ἐς βίον, ἐγράφη δὲ ὑπὸ ἀνδρῶν οὓς γενέσθαι σοφοὺς λέγουσιν Ἕλληνες.
And in the pronaos in Delphi there are inscribed maxims beneficial to human life, and they were inscribed by men whom the Greeks say became wise.
οὗτοι δὲ ἦσαν ἐκ μὲν Ἰωνίας Θαλῆς τε Μιλήσιος καὶ Πριηνεὺς Βίας, Αἰολέων δὲ τῶν ἐν Λέσβῳ Πιττακὸς Μιτυληναῖος, ἐκ δὲ Δωριέων τῶν ἐν τῇ Ἀσίᾳ Κλεόβουλος Λίνδιος, καὶ Ἀθηναῖός τε Σόλων καὶ Σπαρτιάτης Χίλων·
These were, from Ionia, Thales of Miletus and Bias of Priene; and of the Aeolians in Lesbos, Pittacus of Mitylene; and of the Dorians in Asia, Cleobulus of Lindus; and Solon of Athens and Chilon of Sparta.
τὸν δὲ ἕβδομον Πλάτων ὁ Ἀρίστωνος ἀντὶ Περιάνδρου τοῦ Κυψέλου Μύσωνα κατείλοχε τὸν Χηνέα· κώμη δὲ ἐν τῇ Οἴτῃ τῷ ὄρει ᾠκοῦντο αἱ Χῆναι.
As for the seventh, Plato, the son of Ariston, has enrolled Myson of Chenae instead of Periander, the son of Cypselus; now Chenae was a village inhabited on Mount Oeta.
οὗτοι οὖν οἱ ἄνδρες ἀφικόμενοι ἐς Δελφοὺς ἀνέθεσαν τῷ Ἀπόλλωνι τὰ ᾀδόμενα Γνῶθι σαυτὸν καὶ Μηδὲν ἄγαν. §10.24.2οὗτοι μὲν δὴ ἐνταῦθα ἔγραψαν τὰ εἰρημένα, θεάσαιο δʼ ἂν καὶ εἰκόνα Ὁμήρου χαλκῆν ἐπὶ στήλῃ καὶ ἐπιλέξει τὸ μάντευμα ὃ γενέσθαι τῷ Ὁμήρῳ λέγουσιν· "
ὄλβιε καὶ δύσδαιμον—ἔφυς γὰρ ἐπʼ ἀμφοτέροισι—,
πατρίδα δίζηαι.
So these men, having arrived at Delphi, dedicated to Apollo the celebrated sayings, "Know thyself" and "Nothing in excess." These men indeed wrote the aforesaid maxims there, but you might also behold a bronze statue of Homer upon a pillar, and you will read the oracle which they say was given to Homer: "Happy and ill-fated—for you were born for both—, you seek a fatherland.
μητρὶς δέ τοι, οὐ πατρίς ἐστιν.
But you have a motherland, not a fatherland.
ἔστιν Ἴος νῆσος μητρὸς πατρίς, ἥ σε θανόντα
δέξεται.
The island of Ios is your mother's country, which will receive you when you have died.
ἀλλὰ νέων παίδων αἴνιγμα φύλαξαι.
But guard against the riddle of young boys.
"
δεικνύουσι δὲ οἱ Ἰῆται καὶ Ὁμήρου μνῆμα ἐν τῇ νήσῳ καὶ ἑτέρωθι Κλυμένης, τὴν Κλυμένην μητέρα εἶναι τοῦ Ὁμήρου λέγοντες.
"And the inhabitants of Ios show a tomb of Homer on the island, and elsewhere one of Clymene, saying that Clymene was the mother of Homer.
§10.24.3Κύπριοι δὲ—οἰκειοῦνται γὰρ δὴ καὶ οὗτοι Ὅμηρον—Θεμιστώ τε αὐτῷ μητέρα εἶναι τῶν τινα ἐπιχωρίων γυναικῶν λέγουσι καὶ ὑπὸ Εὔκλου προθεσπισθῆναι τὰ ἐς τὴν γένεσιν τὴν Ὁμήρου φασὶν ἐν τοῖσδε· "
καὶ τότʼ ἐν εἰναλίῃ Κύπρῳ μέγας ἔσσετʼ ἀοιδός,
ὅν τε Θεμιστὼ τέξει ἐπʼ ἀγροῦ δῖα γυναικῶν
νόσφι πολυκτεάνοιο πολύκλειτον Σαλαμῖνος.
But the Cypriots—for they too claim Homer as their own—say that his mother was Themisto, one of their local women, and they say that the circumstances of Homer's birth were foretold by Euclus in these verses: "And then in seagirt Cyprus there shall be a great singer, whom Themisto, divine among women, shall bear in the fields, far from wealthy Salamis, a far-famed singer.
Κύπρον δὲ προλιπὼν διερός θʼ ὑπὸ κύμασιν ἀρθείς,
Ἑλλάδος εὐρυχόρου μοῦνος κακὰ πρῶτος ἀείσας
ἔσσεται ἀθάνατος καὶ ἀγήραος ἤματα πάντα.
And leaving Cyprus and having crossed over the wet waves, he, first and alone having sung the woes of spacious Greece, shall be immortal and ageless for all days.
"
ταῦτα ἡμεῖς ἀκούσαντές τε καὶ ἐπιλεξάμενοι τοὺς χρησμοὺς ἰδίᾳ οὐδένα αὐτῶν λόγον οὔτε ἐς πατρίδα οὔτε περὶ ἡλικίας Ὁμήρου γράφομεν.
"Having heard these things and having myself read the oracles, I write no account of them, either concerning the fatherland or the age of Homer.
§10.24.4ἐν δὲ τῷ ναῷ πεποίηται μὲν Ποσειδῶνος βωμός, ὅτι τὸ μαντεῖον τὸ ἀρχαιότατον κτῆμα ἦν καὶ Ποσειδῶνος, ἕστηκε δὲ καὶ ἀγάλματα Μοιρῶν δύο· ἀντὶ δὲ αὐτῶν τῆς τρίτης Ζεύς τε Μοιραγέτης καὶ Ἀπόλλων σφίσι παρέστηκε Μοιραγέτης.
Within the temple there has been made an altar of Poseidon, because the oracle in the most ancient times was also a possession of Poseidon; and there also stand two statues of the Fates; and in place of the third of them, Zeus the Guide of Fate and Apollo the Guide of Fate stand beside them.
θεάσαιο δʼ ἂν ἐνταῦθα καὶ ἑστίαν, ἐφʼ ᾗ Νεοπτόλεμον τὸν Ἀχιλλέως ὁ ἱερεὺς ἀπέκτεινε τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος· τὰ δὲ ἐς τοῦ Νεοπτολέμου τὴν τελευτήν ἐστιν ἡμῖν ἑτέρωθι εἰρημένα.
There you might also see a hearth, upon which the priest of Apollo slew Neoptolemus, the son of Achilles; and the circumstances concerning the death of Neoptolemus have been told by us elsewhere.
§10.24.5ἀνάκειται δὲ οὐ πόρρω τῆς ἑστίας θρόνος Πινδάρου· σιδήρου μέν ἐστιν ὁ θρόνος, ἐπὶ δὲ αὐτῷ φασιν, ὁπότε ἀφίκοιτο ἐς Δελφοὺς, καθέζεσθαί τε τὸν Πίνδαρον καὶ ᾄδειν ὁπόσα τῶν ᾀσμάτων ἐς Ἀπόλλωνά ἐστιν.
And not far from the hearth is dedicated the chair of Pindar; the chair is of iron, and they say that upon it, whenever he arrived at Delphi, Pindar would sit and sing whatever of his songs were for Apollo.
ἐς δὲ τοῦ ναοῦ τὸ ἐσωτάτω, παρίασί τε ἐς αὐτὸ ὀλίγοι καὶ χρυσοῦν Ἀπόλλωνος ἕτερον ἄγαλμα ἀνάκειται.
Into the innermost part of the temple, into which few pass, another statue of Apollo, made of gold, is dedicated.
§10.24.6ἐξελθόντι δὲ τοῦ ναοῦ καὶ τραπέντι ἐς ἀριστερὰ περίβολός ἐστι καὶ Νεοπτολέμου τοῦ Ἀχιλλέως ἐν αὐτῷ τάφος· καί οἱ κατὰ ἔτος ἐναγίζουσιν οἱ Δελφοί.
And to one having gone out of the temple and turned to the left, there is an enclosure, and in it the tomb of Neoptolemus, the son of Achilles; and the Delphians offer sacrifices to him annually as to a hero.
ἐπαναβάντι δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ μνήματος λίθος ἐστὶν οὐ μέγας· τούτου καὶ ἔλαιον ὁσημέραι καταχέουσι καὶ κατὰ ἑορτὴν ἑκάστην ἔρια ἐπιτιθέασι τὰ ἀργά· ἔστι δὲ καὶ δόξα ἐς αὐτὸν δοθῆναι Κρόνῳ τὸν λίθον ἀντὶ τοῦ παιδός, καὶ ὡς αὖθις ἤμεσεν αὐτὸν ὁ Κρόνος.
And having gone up from the tomb, there is a stone of no great size; over this they pour oil every day, and at every festival they place unworked wool upon it; and there is also a belief concerning it, that this stone was given to Cronus in place of his child, and that Cronus vomited it up again.
§10.24.7ἰοῦσι δὲ ὡς ἐπὶ τὸν ναὸν αὖθις μετὰ τοῦ λίθου τὴν θέαν ἐστὶν ἡ Κασσοτὶς καλουμένη πηγή· τεῖχος δὲ οὐ μέγα ἐπʼ αὐτῇ καὶ ἡ ἄνοδος διὰ τοῦ τείχους ἐστὶν ἐπὶ τὴν πηγήν.
And for those going back towards the temple after the sight of the stone, there is the spring called Cassotis; and there is a wall of no great size upon it, and the ascent to the spring is through the wall.
ταύτης τῆς Κασσοτίδος δύεσθαί τε κατὰ τῆς γῆς λέγουσι τὸ ὕδωρ καὶ ἐν τῷ ἀδύτῳ τοῦ θεοῦ τὰς γυναῖκας μαντικὰς ποιεῖν· τὴν δὲ τῇ κρήνῃ δεδωκυῖαν τὸ ὄνομα τῶν περὶ τὸν Παρνασσὸν νυμφῶν φασιν εἶναι.
They say that the water of this Cassotis sinks under the earth and, in the adytum of the god, makes the women prophetic; and they say that she who gave her name to the spring was one of the nymphs around Parnassus.