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Pausanias · Description of Greece §6.6.1-6.6.5

Statues of Combat Athletes and Boxer Euthymus

Passage 231 of 465 · Greek

Summary

After introducing several statues of combat athletes at Olympia and their sculptors, the author narrates the origin of the famous boxer Euthymus and his intense struggle at the Olympic Games against Theagenes of Thasos.

§6.6.1τούτῳ μὲν ἐνταῦθα ἐγένετο ἡ τελευτή· ἐν δὲ Ὀλυμπίᾳ παρὰ τοῦ Πουλυδάμαντος τὸν ἀνδριάντα δύο τε ἐκ τῆς Ἀρκάδων καὶ Ἀττικὸς ὁ τρίτος ἕστηκεν ἀθλητής.
Here came the end of life for him; but in Olympia, next to the statue of Poulydamas, there stand three athletes: two from Arcadia, and the third from Attica.
τὸν μὲν δὴ Μαντινέα Πρωτόλαον Διαλκοῦς πυγμῇ παῖδας κρατήσαντα ὁ Ῥηγῖνος Πυθαγόρας, Ναρυκίδαν δὲ τὸν Δαμαρέτου παλαιστὴν ἄνδρα ἐκ Φιγαλίας Σικυώνιος Δαίδαλος, Καλλίᾳ δὲ Ἀθηναίῳ παγκρατιαστῇ τὸν ἀνδριάντα ἀνὴρ Ἀθηναῖος Μίκων ἐποίησεν ὁ ζωγράφος.
The statue of Protolaos of Mantinea, son of Dialces, who won the boxing for boys, Pythagoras of Rhegium made; that of Narycidas, son of Damaretus, a wrestler in the men's class from Phigalia, Daedalus of Sicyon made; and for Callias the Athenian, a pancratiast, Micon the painter, an Athenian, made the statue.
Νικοδάμου δὲ ἔργον τοῦ Μαιναλίου παγκρατιαστής ἐστιν ἐκ Μαινάλου, δύο νίκας ἐν ἀνδράσιν ἀνελόμενος, Ἀνδροσθένης Λοχαίου.
The work of Nicodamus from Maenalus is the pancratiast from Maenalus, Androsthenes, son of Lochaeus, who won two victories in the men's class.
§6.6.2ἐπὶ δὲ τούτοις Εὐκλῆς ἀνάκειται Καλλιάνακτος, γένος μὲν Ῥόδιος, οἴκου δὲ τοῦ Διαγοριδῷν· θυγατρὸς γὰρ Διαγόρου παῖς ἦν, ἐν δὲ ἀνδράσι πυγμῆς ἔσχεν Ὀλυμπικὴν νίκην.
Next to these is dedicated Eucles, son of Callianax, a Rhodian by birth, and of the house of the Diagoridae; for he was the son of Diagoras' daughter, and he won an Olympic victory in boxing for men.
τούτου μὲν δὴ ἡ εἰκὼν Ναυκύδους ἐστὶν ἔργον· Πολύκλειτος δὲ Ἀργεῖος, οὐχ ὁ τῆς Ἥρας τὸ ἄγαλμα ποιήσας, μαθητὴς δὲ Ναυκύδους, παλαιστὴν παῖδα εἰργάσατο Θηβαῖον Ἀγήνορα.
His statue is the work of Naucydes; and Polyclitus of Argos, not the one who made the image of Hera, but the pupil of Naucydes, made the boy wrestler, Agenor of Thebes.
ἀνετέθη δὲ ἡ εἰκὼν ὑπὸ τοῦ Φωκέων κοινοῦ· Θεόπομπος γὰρ ὁ πατὴρ τοῦ Ἀγήνορος πρόξενος τοῦ ἔθνους ἦν αὐτῶν.
This statue was dedicated by the Phocian confederacy; for Theopompos, the father of Agenor, was the proxenus of their nation.
§6.6.3Νικόδαμος δὲ ὁ πλάστης ὁ ἐκ Μαινάλου Δαμοξενίδαν ἄνδρα πύκτην ἐποίησεν ἐκ Μαινάλου.
Nicodamus, the sculptor from Maenalus, made Damoxenidas, a boxer in the men's class from Maenalus.
ἕστηκε δὲ καὶ Λαστρατίδα παιδὸς εἰκὼν Ἠλείου, πάλης ἀνελομένου στέφανον· ἐγένετο δὲ αὐτῷ καὶ Νεμείων ἔν τε παισὶ καὶ ἀγενείων ἑτέρα νίκη.
There also stands the statue of Lastratidas, a boy from Elis, who won the crown in wrestling; he also had another victory at the Nemean games, both in the boys' and the beardless youths' class.
Παραβάλλοντι δὲ τῷ Λαστρατίδα πατρὶ ὑπῆρξε μὲν διαύλου παρελθεῖν δρόμῳ, ὑπελίπετο δὲ καὶ ἐς τοὺς ἔπειτα φιλοτιμίαν, τῶν νικησάντων Ὀλυμπίασι τὰ ὀνόματα ἀναγράψας ἐν τῷ γυμνασίῳ τῷ ἐν Ὀλυμπίᾳ.
To Paraballon, the father of Lastratidas, it fell to surpass others in the double course footrace, and he also left a memorial of his ambition to posterity by recording the names of the victors at Olympia in the gymnasium at Olympia.
§6.6.4τὰ μὲν δὴ ἐς τούτους εἶχεν οὕτω· τὰ δὲ ἐς Εὔθυμον τὸν πύκτην, οὔ με εἰκὸς ὑπερβαίνειν ἦν τὰ ἐς τὰς νίκας αὐτῷ καὶ τὰ ἐς δόξαν ὑπάρχοντα τὴν ἄλλην.
Now the matters concerning these men were thus; but as to Euthymus the boxer, it was not proper for me to pass over his victories and his other existing fame.
γένος μὲν δὴ ἦν ὁ Εὔθυμος ἐκ τῶν ἐν Ἰταλίᾳ Λοκρῶν, οἳ χώραν τὴν πρὸς τῷ Ζεφυρίῳ τῇ ἄκρᾳ νέμονται, πατρὸς δὲ ἐκαλεῖτο Ἀστυκλέους· εἶναι δὲ αὐτὸν οὐ τούτου, ποταμοῦ δὲ οἱ ἐπιχώριοι τοῦ Καικίνου φασίν, ὃς τὴν Λοκρίδα καὶ Ῥηγίνην ὁρίζων τὸ ἐς τοὺς τέττιγας παρέχεται θαῦμα.
Euthymus was by birth from the Locrians in Italy, who inhabit the country near the promontory of Zephyrium, and he was called the son of Astycles; but the natives say he was not his son, but the son of the river Caecinus, which divides the Locrian and Rhegian territories and provides a marvel concerning the cicadas.
οἱ μὲν γὰρ τέττιγες οἱ ἐντὸς τῆς Λοκρίδος ἄχρι τοῦ Καικίνου κατὰ τὰ αὐτὰ τοῖς ἄλλοις τέττιξιν ᾄδουσι· διαβάντων δὲ τὸν Καικίνην οὐδεμίαν ἔτι οἱ ἐν τῇ Ῥηγίνῃ τέττιγες ἀφιᾶσι τὴν φωνήν.
For the cicadas inside Locris as far as the Caecinus sing in the same manner as other cicadas; but once they cross the Caecinus, the cicadas in the Rhegian territory emit no voice at all.
§6.6.5τούτου μὲν δὴ παῖδα εἶναι λέγεται τὸν Εὔθυμον· ἀνελομένῳ δέ οἱ πυγμῆς ἐν Ὀλυμπίᾳ νίκην τετάρτῃ πρὸς ταῖς ἑβδομήκοντα Ὀλυμπιάδι οὐ κατὰ τὰ αὐτὰ ἐς τὴν ἐπιοῦσαν Ὀλυμπιάδα ἔμελλε χωρήσειν·
Euthymus is said to be the son of this river; and though he won a victory in boxing at Olympia in the seventy-fourth Olympiad, things were not destined to go the same way for him in the following Olympiad.
Θεαγένης γὰρ ὁ Θάσιος Ὀλυμπιάδι ἐθέλων τῇ αὐτῇ πυγμῆς τε ἀνελέσθαι καὶ παγκρατίου νίκας ὑπερεβάλετο πυκτεύων τὸν Εὔθυμον, οὐ μὴν οὐδὲ ὁ Θεαγένης ἐπὶ τῷ παγκρατίῳ λαβεῖν ἐδυνήθη τὸν κότινον ἅτε προκατεργασθεὶς τῇ μάχῃ πρὸς τὸν Εὔθυμον.
For Theagenes of Thasos, wishing to win victories in both boxing and the pancratium in the same Olympiad, defeated Euthymus in the boxing match, although indeed not even Theagenes was able to obtain the wild olive crown in the pancratium, since he had already been exhausted by his struggle against Euthymus.

Notes

  1. §6.6.1τὸν μὲν δὴ Μαντινέα Πρωτόλαον... ὁ Ῥηγῖνος Πυθαγόρας — The verb `ἐποίησεν` (made) from the end of the clause governs the preceding elliptic clauses. The accusative proper names of athletes (such as `Πρωτόλαον`) represent their statues, while the nominative names (such as `Πυθαγόρας`) represent the sculptors.
  2. §6.6.3Παραβάλλοντι δὲ τῷ Λαστρατίδα πατρὶ ὑπῆρξε μὲν διαύλου παρελθεῖν δρόμῳ — The impersonal verb `ὑπῆρξε` is used with the dative of interest (`Παραβάλλοντι... πατρὶ`) and the infinitive `παρελθεῖν` to mean 'it fell to his lot to succeed' or 'he had the fortune to win'. The genitive `διαύλου` specifies the event (double course race) and syntactically modifies `δρόμῳ` (in the race).
  3. §6.6.4εἶναι δὲ αὐτὸν οὐ τούτου, ποταμοῦ δὲ... φασίν — An accusative and infinitive construction (`αὐτὸν... εἶναι`) introduced by the main verb `φασίν`. The genitives `τούτου` (this man, i.e., Astycles) and `ποταμοῦ` (river) are genitives of source or parentage, indicating whose son he was.
  4. §6.6.5ἀνελομένῳ δέ οἱ... οὐ κατὰ τὰ αὐτὰ... ἔμελλε χωρήσειν — The dative pronoun `οἱ` (to him) is modified by the participle `ἀνελομένῳ`. The verb `ἔμελλε` is used with the future infinitive `χωρήσειν` to express destiny, and its subject is implied impersonally (it was not destined for matters to proceed in the same way).

Cite this passage

Pausanias, Description of Greece §6.6.1-6.6.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:6.6.1-6.6.5

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