τῶν δὲ ἀναθημάτων ἃ οἱ βασιλεῖς ἀπέστειλαν οἱ Λυδῶν, οὐδὲν ἔτι ἦν αὐτῶν εἰ μὴ σιδηροῦν μόνον τὸ ὑπόθημα τοῦ Ἀλυάττου κρατῆρος. τοῦτο Γλαύκου μέν ἐστιν ἔργον τοῦ Χίου, σιδήρου κόλλησιν ἀνδρὸς εὑρόντος· ἔλασμα δὲ ἕκαστον τοῦ ὑποθήματος ἐλάσματι ἄλλῳ προσεχὲς οὐ περόναις ἐστὶν ἢ κέντροις, μόνη δὲ ἡ κόλλα συνέχει τε καὶ ἔστιν αὕτη τῷ σιδήρῳ δεσμός.
σχῆμα δὲ τοῦ ὑποθήματος κατὰ πύργον μάλιστα ἐς μύουρον ἀνιόντα ἀπὸ εὐρυτέρου τοῦ κάτω· ἑκάστη δὲ πλευρὰ τοῦ ὑποθήματος οὐ διὰ πάσης πέφρακται, ἀλλά εἰσιν αἱ πλάγιαι τοῦ σιδήρου ζῶναι ὥσπερ ἐν κλίμακι οἱ ἀναβασμοί· τὰ δὲ ἐλάσματα τοῦ σιδήρου τὰ ὀρθὰ ἀνέστραπται κατὰ τὰ ἄκρα ἐς τὸ ἐκτός, καὶ ἕδρα τοῦτο ἦν τῷ κρατῆρι.
τὸν δὲ ὑπὸ Δελφῶν καλούμενον Ὀμφαλὸν λίθου πεποιημένον λευκοῦ, τοῦτο εἶναι τὸ ἐν μέσῳ γῆς πάσης αὐτοί τε λέγουσιν οἱ Δελφοὶ καὶ ἐν ᾠδῇ τινι Πίνδαρος ὁμολογοῦντά σφισιν ἐποίησεν.
Λακεδαιμονίων δὲ ἀνάθημά ἐστιν ἐνταῦθα, Καλάμιδος δὲ ἔργον, Ἑρμιόνη ἡ Μενελάου θυγάτηρ, ἡ συνοικήσασα Ὀρέστῃ τῷ Ἀγαμέμνονος καὶ ἔτι πρότερον Νεοπτολέμῳ τῷ Ἀχιλλέως. Εὐρύδαμον δὲ στρατηγόν τε Αἰτωλῶν καὶ στρατοῦ τοῦ Γαλατῶν ἐναντία ἡγησάμενον ἀνέθεσαν οἱ Αἰτωλοί.
ἔστι δὲ ἐν τοῖς Κρητικοῖς ὄρεσι καὶ κατʼ ἐμὲ ἔτι Ἔλυρος πόλις· οὗτοι οὖν αἶγα χαλκῆν ἀπέστειλαν ἐς Δελφούς, δίδωσι δὲ νηπίοις ἡ αἲξ Φυλακίδῃ καὶ Φιλάνδρῳ γάλα· παῖδας δὲ αὐτοὺς οἱ Ἐλύριοί φασιν Ἀπόλλωνός τε εἶναι καὶ Ἀκακαλλίδος νύμφης, συγγενέσθαι δὲ τῇ Ἀκακαλλίδι Ἀπόλλωνα ἐν πόλει Τάρρᾳ καὶ οἴκῳ Καρμάνορος.
Καρύστιοι δὲ οἱ Εὐβοεῖς βοῦν καὶ οὗτοι χαλκοῦν παρὰ τῷ Ἀπόλλωνι ἔστησαν ἀπὸ ἔργου τοῦ Μηδικοῦ· βοῦς δὲ οἱ Καρύστιοι καὶ οἱ Πλαταιεῖς τὰ ἀναθήματα ἐποιήσαντο, ὅτι ἐμοὶ δοκεῖν ἀπωσάμενοι τὸν βάρβαρον τήν τε ἄλλην βεβαίως ἐκτήσαντο εὐδαιμονίαν καὶ ἀροῦν ἐλευθέραν τὴν γῆν. στρατηγῶν δὲ εἰκόνας καὶ Ἀπόλλωνά τε καὶ Ἄρτεμιν τὸ ἔθνος τὸ Αἰτωλικὸν ἀπέστειλαν καταστρεψάμενοι τοὺς ὁμόρους σφίσιν Ἀκαρνᾶνας.
παραλογώτατον δὲ ἐπυνθανόμην ὑπάρξαν Λιπαραίοις ἐς Τυρσηνούς. τοὺς γὰρ δὴ Λιπαραίους ἐναντία ναυμαχῆσαι τῶν Τυρσηνῶν ναυσὶν ὡς ἐλαχίσταις ἐκέλευσεν ἡ Πυθία. πέντε οὖν ἀνάγονται τριήρεσιν ἐπὶ τοὺς Τυρσηνούς· οἱ δὲ—ἀπηξίουν γὰρ μὴ ἀποδεῖν Λιπαραίων τὰ ναυτικά—ἀντανάγονταί σφισιν ἴσαις ναυσί. ταύτας τε οὖν αἱροῦσιν οἱ Λιπαραῖοι καὶ ἄλλας πέντε ὑστέρας σφίσιν ἀνταναχθείσας, καὶ τρίτην νεῶν πεντάδα καὶ ὡσαύτως τετάρτην ἐχειρώσαντο. ἀνέθεσαν οὖν ἐς Δελφοὺς ταῖς ἁλούσαις ναυσὶν ἀριθμὸν ἴσα Ἀπόλλωνος ἀγάλματα.
Ἐχεκρατίδης δὲ ἀνὴρ Λαρισαῖος τὸν Ἀπόλλωνα ἀνέθηκε τὸν μικρόν· καὶ ἁπάντων πρῶτον τεθῆναι τῶν ἀναθημάτων τοῦτό φασιν οἱ Δελφοί.
Of the offerings sent by the kings of Lydia nothing now remains except the iron stand of Alyattes’ bowl. This stand is a work of Glaucus the Chian, who invented the welding of iron. Each plate of the stand is fastened to another plate, not by bolts or nails, but simply by the welding which holds them together and acts as a ligature to the iron. The shape of the stand is like that of a tower, broader at the base and rising to a truncated top. The sides of the stand are not each in a single piece, but the iron cross-bands are arranged like the rungs of a ladder; while the upright plates of iron are bent outward at the top, thus forming the rest for the bowl. 2. What the Delphians call the Navel (omphalos) is made of white marble, and is said by them to be at the centre of the whole earth, and Pindar in one of his odes agrees with them. There is here an offering of the Lacedaemonians: it is a work of Calamis, and represents Hermione, daughter of Menelaus, who married Orestes, son of Agamemnon, after having been previously married to Neoptolemus, son of Achilles. The statue of Eurydamus, an Aetolian general who led his countrymen against the Gallic host, was dedicated by the Aetolians. 3. Among the mountains of Crete there is still in my time a city Elyrus. The people of that city sent a bronze goat to Delphi. The goat is suckling the infants Phylacides and Philander, who, according to the Elyrians, were the children of Apollo by a nymph Acacallis, whom Apollo visited in the city of Tarrha and in the house of Carmanor. The Carystians of Euboea also set up a bronze ox in the sanctuary of Apollo from the spoils of the Medic war. The reason why the offerings both of the Carystians and Plataeans took the form of oxen was, I think, that one of the benefits which they secured by having repelled the barbarians was freedom to till the ground. Statues of generals and an image of Apollo, and another of Artemis, were sent by the Aetolian nation after they had subdued their neighbours the Acarnanians. 4. I was told of a most extraordinary success achieved by the Liparaeans over the Tyrrhenians. The Liparaeans were bidden by the Pythian priestess to fight the Tyrrhenians with the fewest possible ships. So they put to sea with five galleys to meet the Tyrrhenians. The latter, thinking shame if they were not a match for the Liparaeans at sea, put out to meet them with the same number of ships. So the Liparaeans captured these ships, and when other five afterwards put to sea against them, they captured them too, and they conquered a third, and likewise a fourth squadron of five ships each. Therefore they dedicated at Delphi as many images of Apollo as they had captured ships. The small Apollo was dedicated by Echecratides of Larisa: the Delphians say that this was the first of all the offerings.
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