βίσωνος δὲ ταύρου τῶν Παιονικῶν χαλκοῦ πεποιημένην κεφαλὴν Δρωπίων Λέοντος ἔπεμψεν ἐς Δελφοὺς βασιλεὺς Παιόνων. οὗτοι οἱ βίσωνες χαλεπώτατοι θηρίων εἰσὶν ἁλίσκεσθαι ζῶντες, καὶ δίκτυα οὐκ ἂν οὕτω γένοιτο ἰσχυρὰ ὡς ἀντισχεῖν τῇ ἐμβολῇ. θηρεύονται δὲ οὗτοι τρόπον τοιόνδε. ἐπειδὰν χωρίον οἱ ἀγρεύοντες πρανὲς εὕρωσι καθῆκον ἐς κοιλότητα, πρῶτα μὲν φράγματι ἰσχυρῷ πέριξ ὠχυρώσαντο, δεύτερον δὲ τὸ κάταντες καὶ τὸ περὶ τῷ πέρατι ὁμαλὸν αὐτοῦ νεοδάρτοις βύρσαις κατεστόρεσαν· ἢν δὲ τύχωσιν ἀποροῦντες βυρσῶν, τότε καὶ τὰ αὖα τῶν δερμάτων ὑπὸ ἐλαίου σφίσιν ὀλισθηρὰ ποιεῖται.
τὸ δὲ ἐντεῦθεν οἱ μάλιστα ἱππεύειν ἀγαθοὶ συνελαύνουσιν ἐς τὸ εἰρημένον χωρίον τοὺς βίσωνας· οἱ δὲ εὐθὺς ἐν ταῖς πρώταις τῶν βυρσῶν ὀλισθόντες κατὰ τοῦ πρανοῦς κυλίνδονται, ἕως κατενεχθῶσιν ἐς τὸ ὁμαλόν. ἐρριμμένοι δὲ ἐνταῦθα ἠμέληνται κατʼ ἀρχάς· τετάρτῃ δὲ ἢ πέμπτῃ μάλιστα ἡμέρᾳ τῶν μὲν ἤδη τοῦ θυμοῦ τὸ πολὺ ὁ λιμὸς ἀφαιρεῖ καὶ ἡ ταλαιπωρία, οἱ δέ σφισιν, οἷς
τέχνη τιθασεύειν, προσφέρουσιν ἔτι κειμένοις πίτυος τῆς ἡμέρου καρπὸν προεκλέξαντες ἐκ τῶν ἐλαχίστων ἐλύτρων· ἑτέρας δὲ οὐκ ἂν τροφῆς τό γε παραυτίκα ἅψαιτο τὰ θηρία· τέλος δὲ διαλαβόντες δεσμοῖς ἄγουσι.
καὶ τοὺς μὲν τρόπον αἱροῦσι τὸν εἰρημένον, τοῦ βίσωνος δὲ τῆς κεφαλῆς καταντικρὺ τῆς χαλκῆς ἀνδριάς ἐστι θώρακά τε ἐνδεδυκὼς καὶ χλαμύδα ἐπὶ τῷ θώρακι· Ἀνδρίων δὲ ἀνάθημα οἱ Δελφοὶ λέγουσιν Ἀνδρέα εἶναι τὸν οἰκιστήν. τό τε ἄγαλμα τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος καὶ Ἀθηνᾶς τε καὶ Ἀρτέμιδος Φωκέων ἀναθήματά ἐστιν ἀπὸ Θεσσαλῶν ὁμόρων τε—πλὴν ὅσον οἱ Λοκροὶ σφᾶς οἱ Ἐπικνημίδιοι διείργουσι—καὶ ἀεὶ πολεμίων ὄντων.
ἀνέθεσαν δὲ καὶ οἱ ἐν Φαρσάλῳ Θεσσαλοὶ καὶ Μακεδόνων οἱ ὑπὸ τῇ Πιερίᾳ πόλιν Δῖον οἰκοῦντες Κυρηναῖοί τε τοῦ Ἑλληνικοῦ τοῦ ἐν Λιβύῃ, οὗτοι μὲν τὸ ἅρμα καὶ ἐπὶ τῷ ἅρματι ἄγαλμα Ἄμμωνος, Μακεδόνες δὲ οἱ ἐν Δίῳ τὸν Ἀπόλλωνα ὃς εἰλημμένος ἐστὶ τῆς ἐλάφου, Φαρσάλιοι δὲ Ἀχιλλέα τε ἐπὶ ἵππῳ καὶ ὁ Πάτροκλος συμπαραθεῖ οἱ τῷ ἵππῳ. Κορίνθιοι δὲ οἱ Δωριεῖς ᾠκοδόμησαν θησαυρὸν καὶ οὗτοι·
καὶ ὁ χρυσὸς ὁ ἐκ Λυδῶν ἀνέκειτο ἐνταῦθα. τὸ δὲ ἄγαλμα τοῦ Ἡρακλέους ἀνάθημά ἐστι Θηβαίων, ὅτε Φωκεῦσιν ἐπολέμησαν τὸν ἱερὸν καλούμενον πόλεμον. εἰσὶ καὶ εἰκόνες χαλκαῖ Φωκέων ἀναθέντων, ἡνίκα δευτέρᾳ συμβολῇ τὸ ἱππικὸν ἐτρέψαντο τὸ ἐκ Θεσσαλίας. Φλιάσιοι δὲ ἐκόμισαν ἐς Δελφοὺς Δία τε χαλκοῦν καὶ ὁμοῦ τῷ Διὶ ἄγαλμα Αἰγίνης. ἐκ δὲ Μαντινείας τῆς Ἀρκάδων Ἀπόλλων χαλκοῦς ἐστιν ἀνάθημα· οὗτος οὐ πόρρω τοῦ Κορινθίων ἐστὶ θησαυροῦ.
Ἡρακλῆς δὲ καὶ Ἀπόλλων ἔχονται τοῦ τρίποδος καὶ ἐς μάχην περὶ αὐτοῦ καθίστανται· Λητὼ μὲν δὴ καὶ Ἄρτεμις Ἀπόλλωνα, Ἀθηνᾶ δὲ Ἡρακλέα ἐπέχουσι τοῦ θυμοῦ. Φωκέων καὶ τοῦτό ἐστιν ἀνάθημα, ὅτε σφίσιν ἐπὶ τοὺς Θεσσαλοὺς Τελλίας ἡγήσατο Ἠλεῖος. τὰ μὲν δὴ ἄλλα ἀγάλματα Δίυλλός τε ἐν κοινῷ καὶ Ἀμυκλαῖος, τὴν δὲ Ἀθηνᾶν καὶ Ἄρτεμιν Χίονίς ἐστιν εἰργασμένος· Κορινθίους δὲ εἶναί φασιν αὐτούς.
λέγεται δὲ ὑπὸ Δελφῶν Ἡρακλεῖ τῷ Ἀμφιτρύωνος ἐλθόντι ἐπὶ τὸ χρηστήριον τὴν πρόμαντιν Ξενόκλειαν οὐκ ἐθελῆσαί οἱ χρᾶν διὰ τοῦ Ἰφίτου τὸν φόνον· τὸν δὲ ἀράμενον τὸν τρίποδα ἐκ τοῦ ναοῦ φέρειν ἔξω, εἰπεῖν τε δὴ τὴν πρόμαντιν· ἄλλος ἄρʼ Ἡρακλέης Τιρύνθιος, οὐχὶ Κανωβεύς· / πρότερον γὰρ ἔτι ὁ Αἰγύπτιος Ἡρακλῆς ἀφίκετο ἐς Δελφούς. τότε δὲ ὁ Ἀμφιτρύωνος τόν τε τρίποδα ἀποδίδωσι τῷ Ἀπόλλωνι καὶ παρὰ τῆς Ξενοκλείας ὁπόσα ἐδεῖτο ἐδιδάχθη. παραδεξάμενοι δὲ οἱ ποιηταὶ τὸν λόγον μάχην Ἡρακλέους πρὸς Ἀπόλλωνα ὑπὲρ τρίποδος ᾄδουσιν.
ἐν κοινῷ δὲ ἀνέθεσαν ἀπὸ ἔργου τοῦ Πλαταιᾶσιν οἱ Ἕλληνες χρυσοῦν τρίποδα δράκοντι ἐπικείμενον χαλκῷ. ὅσον μὲν δὴ χαλκὸς ἦν τοῦ ἀναθήματος, σῶον καὶ ἐς ἐμὲ ἔτι ἦν· οὐ μέντοι κατὰ τὰ αὐτὰ καὶ τὸν χρυσὸν οἱ Φωκέων ὑπελίποντο ἡγεμόνες.
Ταραντῖνοι δὲ καὶ ἄλλην δεκάτην ἐς Δελφοὺς ἀπὸ βαρβάρων Πευκετίων ἀπέστειλαν· τέχνη μὲν τὰ ἀναθήματα Ὀνάτα τοῦ Αἰγινήτου καὶ Ἀγελάδα ἐστὶ τοῦ Ἀργείου, εἰκόνες δὲ καὶ πεζῶν καὶ ἱππέων, βασιλεὺς Ἰαπύγων Ὦπις ἥκων τοῖς Πευκετίοις σύμμαχος. οὗτος μὲν δὴ εἴκασται τεθνεῶτι ἐν τῇ μάχῃ, οἱ δὲ αὐτῷ κειμένῳ ἐφεστηκότες ὁ ἥρως Τάρας ἐστὶ καὶ Φάλανθος ὁ ἐκ Λακεδαίμονος, καὶ οὐ πόρρω τοῦ Φαλάνθου δελφίς· πρὶν γὰρ δὴ ἐς Ἰταλίαν ἀφικέσθαι, ναυαγίᾳ τε ἐν τῷ πελάγει τῷ Κρισαίῳ τὸν Φάλανθον χρήσασθαι καὶ ὑπὸ δελφῖνος ἐκκομισθῆναί φασιν ἐς τὴν γῆν.
The bronze head of a bison or Paeonian bull was sent to Delphi by Dropion, king of the Paeonians, son of Leon.
These bisons are the most difficult of all beasts to take alive, and no nets could be made strong enough to resist their charge. They are hunted as follows. When the hunters find a place sloping down to a hollow, they first of all enclose it with a strong fence ; next they cover the slope and the flat ground at the end of the slope with fresh skins, or if they have no fresh skins they use dried hides lubricated with oil. Next, the best horsemen drive the bisons together to the place I have described. The beasts slip on the first skins they come to and roll down the slope till they reach the flat. Here they are at first left lying. But by the fourth or fifth day, when hunger and exhaustion have mostly subdued their spirit, the professional tamers bring them where they lie the fruit of the cultivated pine-tree, having first peeled the husk off, for at first the beasts will touch no other food. Lastly, the men fasten ropes round the animals and lead them away. That is how they catch them. 3. Opposite the bronze head of the bison is a statue clad in a breast-plate with a cloak thrown over the breast-plate. The Delphians say that it is an offering of the Andrians, and represents Andreus the founder of Andros. The images of Apollo, Athena, and Artemis are offerings of the Phocians, the fruit of spoils taken by them from their perpetual enemies the Thessalians, whose territory marches with their own except where that of the Hypocnemidian Locrians intervenes. The Thessalians of Pharsalus dedicated a statue of Achilles on horseback with Patroclus running beside the horse. The Macedonians of Dium, a city at the foot of Mount Pieria, dedicated the statue of Apollo grasping the deer. The Greeks of Cyrene, in Libya, dedicated the chariot with the image of Ammon on it. The Dorians of Corinth also built a treasury, and the gold from Lydia used to be kept there. The image of Hercules is an offering of the Thebans, sent by them at the time when they waged the Sacred War, as it is called, with the Phocians. There are also bronze images dedicated by the Phocians when they had routed the Thessalian cavalry in the second encounter. The Phliasians brought to Delphi a bronze Zeus, and along with it an image of Aegina.
There is a bronze Apollo, an offering from Mantinea in Arcadia: it stands not far from the treasury of the Corinthians. There is a group representing Hercules and Apollo, both grasping the tripod and about to fight for it. Latona and Artemis are trying to soothe the rage of Apollo, and Athena is doing the same by Hercules. This is another offering of the Phocians, made by them at the time when Tellias the Elean led them against the Thessalians. The Athena and Artemis are by Chionis, the other figures of the group are the joint work of Diyllus and Amyclaeus : all three artists are said to be Corinthians. It is said by the Delphians, that when Hercules, the son of Amphitryo, came to the oracle, the prophetess Xenoclea would not give him a response on account of the murder of Iphitus, but that he lifted the tripod and carried it out of the temple, whereupon the prophetess said :— […] So Hercules of Tiryns is a different person from him of Canopus. For the Egyptian Hercules had come to Delphi before. But at the time I speak of the son of Amphitryo gave the tripod back to Apollo, and learned from Xenoclea all that he wanted to know. The poets have taken up this story, and have sung of a fight between Hercules and Apollo for the tripod.
From the spoils of the battle of Plataea the Greeks dedicated a national offering in the shape of a golden tripod resting on a bronze serpent. The bronze part of the offering is preserved to this day ; but the Phocian captains did not leave the gold in quite the same condition. The Tarentines sent another tithe to Delphi from the spoils of the barbarous Peucetians. The offerings are the works of Onatas the Aeginetan, and Calynthus . . . they comprise images of footmen and horsemen, to wit, Opis, king of the Iapygians, come to fight for the Peucetians. He is represented slain in the fight, and over his prostrate body are standing the hero Taras and Phalanthus of Lacedaemon ; and not far from Phalanthus is a dolphin. For before Phalanthus reached Italy they say that he was cast away in the Crisaean Sea, and was brought to land by a dolphin.
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