Aulis in the ancient sources

Ancient Sources / Figures / Aulis

18 passages from 7 ancient authors that tell of Aulis, in the original with English translation, author by author in the order the Greeks read them. Aulis was a town in ancient Greece, located in the area of Boeotia, opposite the island of Euboea. In Greek mythology, the Greek fleet gathered there ... For the story in one place, read our article on Aulis.

Homer (1)

Homer, Iliad 2.278–393The omen of the sparrows; Nestor's counselOdysseus reminds the army of the omen at Aulis, where a serpent devoured eight sparrow chicks and their mother and was then turned to stone, which Calchas read as a sign that Troy would fall in the tenth year. Nestor rebukes the men for forgetting their oaths and tells Agamemnon to marshal them by tribes and clans. Agamemnon agrees, wishes he had ten counsellors like Nestor, and tells the men to eat and sharpen their weapons for battle.

Apollodorus (1)

Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome E.3.1–35Paris and Helen; the muster at Aulis and the landing at TroyParis judges the contest of the three goddesses, carries off Helen, and Menelaus and Agamemnon call the Greek kings to arms; Odysseus's feigned madness is exposed and Palamedes is framed. The section gives the catalogue of the Greek fleet at Aulis, the omen of the snake and sparrows, the failed first landing in Mysia and the healing of Telephus, and the sacrifice of Iphigenia. After Tenedos and the abandonment of Philoctetes, Protesilaus is the first to die at Troy, Achilles takes many nearby cities, and the Trojan allies are listed.

Aeschylus (1)

Aeschylus, Agamemnon 176–263Parodos (2): the hymn to Zeus and the sacrifice of IphigeniaThe Chorus sing a hymn to Zeus, who has set men on the road to wisdom through suffering. They tell how Agamemnon, when the fleet was held at Aulis by contrary winds, put on the yoke of necessity and sacrificed his daughter Iphigenia to obtain a favourable wind. In the last lines the Chorus leader turns to Clytaemestra and asks whether her sacrifices mean good news.

Euripides (9)

Euripides, Iphigenia in Tauris 1–66Prologue: Iphigenia at Artemis' temple among the TauriansIphigenia tells the story of her house, from Pelops to Atreus, and how her father Agamemnon, to win a fair wind for Troy, brought her to Aulis to be sacrificed to Artemis, who put a deer in her place and carried her to the land of the Taurians. She is now the priestess of the goddess in a temple where Greek strangers are sacrificed, and she tells of a dream that has led her to think that her brother Orestes is dead.
Euripides, Iphigenia at Aulis 49–104Prologue: Agamemnon explains the oath, the delay and Calchas' demandAgamemnon tells how Tyndareus made the suitors of Helen swear an oath to defend her husband, and how she chose Menelaus before Paris came and carried her off. He tells how the Greek army gathered at Aulis and was weatherbound, and how the seer Calchas said that his own daughter Iphigenia must be sacrificed to Artemis. Menelaus persuaded him to write to his wife, summoning the girl on the pretence of a wedding with Achilles.
Euripides, Iphigenia in Tauris 178–235Choral dirge and Iphigenia's lament for her familyThe Chorus answers with a barbarian cry of Asian hymns, singing a dirge for the dead, and recalls the house of Atreus and the quarrel that brought its curse. Iphigenia says that from the first night of her mother's marriage her fate was unhappy, and tells of her sacrifice at Aulis and her life as a stranger among the Taurians. She ends by lamenting her brother Orestes, whom she believes killed in Argos.
Euripides, Iphigenia in Tauris 342–391First episode: Iphigenia's resolve and her doubts about ArtemisIphigenia tells the Herdsman to bring the strangers, and says that the rites will be her concern. She says to herself that she was gentle to strangers before, but that her dream of Orestes' death has made her harsh, and she wishes that Helen might come to pay for what was done to her at Aulis. She recalls that she was nearly sacrificed, and says that she cannot believe that a goddess takes pleasure in human sacrifice.
Euripides, Iphigenia in Tauris 723–776Second episode: Iphigenia makes Pylades swear and reads out the letterIphigenia comes out of the temple with the folds of a tablet and asks Pylades for an oath that he will take it to Argos. Pylades asks for an exception if the ship is lost in the waves, and Iphigenia says that she will tell him what is written, so that if the tablet is lost he can still report it. The message is to Orestes, son of Agamemnon, from Iphigenia, who was supposedly slain at Aulis, and Orestes cries out in wonder.
Euripides, Iphigenia at Aulis 115–163Prologue: Agamemnon sends a second letter to stop IphigeniaAgamemnon tells the old servant that he has changed his mind and is sending a second letter, to forbid Clytemnestra to send their daughter to Aulis. The old servant asks how Achilles will take being cheated, and Agamemnon says that Achilles lent his name without knowing it. He sends the old man off, telling him to guard the seal and watch the roads, and says that no one was ever born to a painless life.
Euripides, Iphigenia at Aulis 164–302Parodos: the women of Chalcis describe the Greek army and fleetThe Chorus of women of Chalcis tells how they crossed the narrow Euripus to the sandy beach of Aulis to see the army that Menelaus and Agamemnon are leading to Troy on a thousand ships in quest of Helen. They describe the heroes they saw, the two Aiases, Protesilaus and Palamedes at their game, Diomedes, and Achilles running a race, and then the squadrons of the fleet.
Euripides, Iphigenia at Aulis 334–377First episode: Menelaus reproaches Agamemnon for his changes of mindMenelaus says that Agamemnon has an unstable mind, disloyal to friends, and recalls how he acted when seeking the command and how he changed once he had it. He says that leaders often retire in dishonor, sometimes through the senselessness of the citizens, and the Chorus says that it is terrible for brothers to come to words and blows.
Euripides, Iphigenia at Aulis 1255–1335Fourth episode: Agamemnon says the army leaves him no choice; Iphigenia lamentsAgamemnon says that he understands what should move his pity, but that he must sacrifice her, since the army, on the word of Calchas, will slay her and them if he disobeys, and it is Hellas that he must serve. Clytemnestra cries out that he has abandoned his daughter to Hades. Iphigenia laments, curses the herdsman Alexander who was reared on Ida, and blames Helen and the winds at Aulis.

Ovid (2)

Ovid, Metamorphoses 12.1–63The Greeks at Aulis; the House of FamePriam mourns for Aesacus, not knowing that he lives on as a bird, while Paris, who was absent, returns with Helen and a thousand ships. The Greek fleet gathers at Aulis, where a snake devours eight sparrows and their mother and is turned to stone, and Calchas reads the omen as meaning ten years of war. The ships are held by contrary winds until Iphigenia is brought to the altar, but Artemis (Diana) puts a hind in her place and carries her away. The poet then describes the House of Fame, where all the rumours of the world are heard.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 13.121–254The contest for the arms of Achilles: Odysseus repliesOdysseus (Ulysses) answers that Ajax's strength is of no use without the counsel that guides it, and that he, a descendant of Zeus (Jupiter), has served the Greeks as much with his mind as with his hands. He tells how he brought Iphigenia to Aulis for the common good, and how he found Achilles disguised among the daughters of Lycomedes and brought him to Troy. He tells too how he went as an envoy to Troy, and how he and Diomedes killed Dolon and Rhesus and won Rhesus' horses.

Pausanias (3)

Pausanias, Description of Greece 9.19.1–8The road to Chalcis: Teumesus, Glisas, Mycalessus and AulisPausanias describes places on the road to Chalcis: Teumesus, with the story of the Teumesian fox and a sanctuary of Telchinian Athena, and the ruins of Glisas with the mound of the Argive dead. He passes the tomb of Chalcodon and the ruins of Harma and Mycalessus, where the image of Mycalessian Demeter keeps autumn fruits fresh all year. At Aulis he describes the temple of Artemis and the sacrifice of Iphigenia, the remains of the plane-tree and the bronze threshold of Agamemnon's hut.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 3.9.1–13Sparta: Agesilaus’ expedition to Asia and the outbreak of the Corinthian warAgesilaus leads the allied army to Asia, but at Aulis the Thebans interrupt his sacrifice, and he defeats Tissaphernes near Sardes. The Persians send Timocrates to bribe Greek leaders and stir up war, a Locrian-Phocian quarrel draws in Thebes and Sparta, and Agesilaus is recalled. He marches back through Thrace and Thessaly, wins at Coronea, and respects the sanctuary of Itonian Athena.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 8.28.1–7Gortys and Teuthis: Aesculapius, the cold river and the wounded AthenaPausanias describes Gortys, with its marble temple of Aesculapius with images by Scopas and the cuirass and spear dedicated by Alexander. He discusses the Gortynius, whose water he calls colder than that of any other river, since colder rivers should be those of temperate lands rather than frozen ones. At Teuthis he tells how the leader Teuthis wounded Athena in the thigh at Aulis, after which the land became barren until the people made an image of Athena with a wounded thigh. The section ends with the tomb Paraebasium and the ruined city of Brenthe.

Nonnus of Panopolis (1)

Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 13.83–200Book 13: Boeotians, Phocians, Euboians and AtheniansA second Boeotian host is led by Hymenaios from Aspledon, Orchomenos, Hyria and Aulis, and the poet digresses on Orion and Iphigeneia. The Phocians follow, and then the Corybants of Euboia. The Athenians come under Erechtheus, from Marathon, Eleusis and Acharnai.