Pausanias · Description of Greece Ἑλλάδος Περιήγησις

Pausanias, Description of Greece 1.36.1–6: Salamis, Psyttalia and the Sacred Way: tombs of Anthemocritus and Cephisodorus

At Salamis Pausanias notes a sanctuary of Artemis, a trophy of the sea-fight and a shrine of Cychreus, and on Psyttalia some rude idols of Pan. He then follows the Sacred Way from Athens to Eleusis, noting the tomb of Anthemocritus, murdered by the Megarians, the place Scirum named after a Dodonaean seer, and the tomb of Cephisodorus, who brought Roman help against Philip V of Macedonia.

Sections 1.36.1–6 · 480 words · click a number to copy its link

ἐν 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. ναυμαχούντων δὲ Ἀθηναίων πρὸς Μήδους δράκοντα ἐν ταῖς ναυσὶ λέγεται φανῆναι· τοῦτον ὁ θεὸς ἔχρησεν Ἀθηναίοις Κυχρέα εἶναι τὸν ἥρωα.

νῆσος 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. ἄγαλμα δὲ ἐν τῇ νήσῳ σὺν τέχνῃ μέν ἐστιν οὐδέν, Πανὸς δὲ ὡς ἕκαστον ἔτυχε ξόανα πεποιημένα.

ἰοῦσι δὲ ἐπʼ Ἐλευσῖνα ἐξ Ἀθηνῶν ἣν Ἀθηναῖοι καλοῦσιν ὁδὸν ἱεράν, Ἀνθεμοκρίτου πεποίηται μνῆμα. 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.

μετὰ 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. 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.

πλησίον 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.

ὡς 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. 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.

But to return to the subject in hand. In Salamis there is a sanctuary of Artemis and a trophy of the victory which Themistocles, son of Neocles, was instrumental in winning for the Greeks. There is also a sanctuary of Cychreus. It is said that while the Athenians were engaged in the sea-fight with the Medes a serpent appeared among the ships, and God announced to the Athenians that this serpent was the hero Cychreus.

In front of Salamis is an island called Psyttalia. They say that about four hundred barbarians landed on it, and that, when the fleet of Xerxes was worsted, the Greeks crossed over and put them to the sword. The island contains no really artistic image, only some rude wooden idols of Pan.

On the road from Athens to Eleusis, which the Athenians call the Sacred Way, there is the tomb of Anthemocritus. He was the victim of a most foul crime perpetrated by the Megarians ; for when he came as a herald to forbid them to encroach on the sacred land, they slew him. And the wrath of the two goddesses abides upon them for that deed to this day; for they were the only Greek people whom even the Emperor Hadrian could not make to thrive. After the tombstone of Anthemocritus is the grave of Molottus, who had the honour of commanding the Athenians when they crossed into Euboea to help Plutarch. And there is a place which is called Scirum for the following reason. When the Eleusinians were at war with Erechtheus they were joined by a soothsayer from Dodona named Scirus, who also founded the ancient sanctuary of Sciradian Athena at Phalerum. He fell in the battle, and the Eleusinians buried him near a winter torrent ; and both the place and the torrent take their name from the hero.

Near it is the tomb of Cephisodorus, a popular leader and a most determined opponent of Philip, son of Demetrius, king of Macedonia. Cephisodorus gained for the Athenians the alliance of two kings, Attalus the Mysian and Ptolemy the Egyptian, as well as the alliance of independent peoples, to wit, the Aetolians and the islanders of Rhodes and Crete. But when the succours from Egypt, Mysia, and Crete were mostly delayed, and the Rhodians, whose strength was in ships only, were of little avail against the Macedonian infantry, Cephisodorus sailed with other Athenians to Italy and begged help of the Romans. The Romans sent a general with a force, who reduced the power of Philip and his Macedonians so low, that afterwards Perseus, the son of Philip, lost his kingdom and was himself carried a prisoner to Italy. This Philip was the son of Demetrius; for Demetrius was the first of this house that sat on the throne of Macedonia after he had slain Alexander, son of Cassander, as I have already narrated

People and places in this passage

English translation by Sir James George Frazer (1898). Original text: Friedrich Spiro (ed.), Pausaniae Graeciae descriptio, 3 vols., Leipzig: Teubner, 1903 (Greek text as digitised by Perseus).

Greek text and translation from the Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Perseus Digital Library, Greek text); translation public domain (OCR from the Internet Archive scan). Introductions, summaries and notes © GreekMythology.com.