ταῦτα μὲν δὴ οὕτω γενόμενα ἴστω τις· ἐν δὲ τῷ προνάῳ τῷ ἐν Δελφοῖς γεγραμμένα ἐστὶν ὠφελήματα ἀνθρώποις ἐς βίον, ἐγράφη δὲ ὑπὸ ἀνδρῶν οὓς γενέσθαι σοφοὺς λέγουσιν Ἕλληνες. οὗτοι δὲ ἦσαν ἐκ μὲν Ἰωνίας Θαλῆς τε Μιλήσιος καὶ Πριηνεὺς Βίας, Αἰολέων δὲ τῶν ἐν Λέσβῳ Πιττακὸς Μιτυληναῖος, ἐκ δὲ Δωριέων τῶν ἐν τῇ Ἀσίᾳ Κλεόβουλος Λίνδιος, καὶ Ἀθηναῖός τε Σόλων καὶ Σπαρτιάτης Χίλων· τὸν δὲ ἕβδομον Πλάτων ὁ Ἀρίστωνος ἀντὶ Περιάνδρου τοῦ Κυψέλου Μύσωνα κατείλοχε τὸν Χηνέα· κώμη δὲ ἐν τῇ Οἴτῃ τῷ ὄρει ᾠκοῦντο αἱ Χῆναι. οὗτοι οὖν οἱ ἄνδρες ἀφικόμενοι ἐς Δελφοὺς ἀνέθεσαν τῷ Ἀπόλλωνι τὰ ᾀδόμενα Γνῶθι σαυτὸν καὶ Μηδὲν ἄγαν.
οὗτοι μὲν δὴ ἐνταῦθα ἔγραψαν τὰ εἰρημένα, θεάσαιο δʼ ἂν καὶ εἰκόνα Ὁμήρου χαλκῆν ἐπὶ στήλῃ καὶ ἐπιλέξει τὸ μάντευμα ὃ γενέσθαι τῷ Ὁμήρῳ λέγουσιν· ὄλβιε καὶ δύσδαιμον—ἔφυς γὰρ ἐπʼ ἀμφοτέροισι—, / πατρίδα δίζηαι. μητρὶς δέ τοι, οὐ πατρίς ἐστιν. / ἔστιν Ἴος νῆσος μητρὸς πατρίς, ἥ σε θανόντα / δέξεται. ἀλλὰ νέων παίδων αἴνιγμα φύλαξαι. / δεικνύουσι δὲ οἱ Ἰῆται καὶ Ὁμήρου μνῆμα ἐν τῇ νήσῳ καὶ ἑτέρωθι Κλυμένης, τὴν Κλυμένην μητέρα εἶναι τοῦ Ὁμήρου λέγοντες.
Κύπριοι δὲ—οἰκειοῦνται γὰρ δὴ καὶ οὗτοι Ὅμηρον—Θεμιστώ τε αὐτῷ μητέρα εἶναι τῶν τινα ἐπιχωρίων γυναικῶν λέγουσι καὶ ὑπὸ Εὔκλου προθεσπισθῆναι τὰ ἐς τὴν γένεσιν τὴν Ὁμήρου φασὶν ἐν τοῖσδε· καὶ τότʼ ἐν εἰναλίῃ Κύπρῳ μέγας ἔσσετʼ ἀοιδός, / ὅν τε Θεμιστὼ τέξει ἐπʼ ἀγροῦ δῖα γυναικῶν / νόσφι πολυκτεάνοιο πολύκλειτον Σαλαμῖνος. / Κύπρον δὲ προλιπὼν διερός θʼ ὑπὸ κύμασιν ἀρθείς, / Ἑλλάδος εὐρυχόρου μοῦνος κακὰ πρῶτος ἀείσας / ἔσσεται ἀθάνατος καὶ ἀγήραος ἤματα πάντα. / ταῦτα ἡμεῖς ἀκούσαντές τε καὶ ἐπιλεξάμενοι τοὺς χρησμοὺς ἰδίᾳ οὐδένα αὐτῶν λόγον οὔτε ἐς πατρίδα οὔτε περὶ ἡλικίας Ὁμήρου γράφομεν.
ἐν δὲ τῷ ναῷ πεποίηται μὲν Ποσειδῶνος βωμός, ὅτι τὸ μαντεῖον τὸ ἀρχαιότατον κτῆμα ἦν καὶ Ποσειδῶνος, ἕστηκε δὲ καὶ ἀγάλματα Μοιρῶν δύο· ἀντὶ δὲ αὐτῶν τῆς τρίτης Ζεύς τε Μοιραγέτης καὶ Ἀπόλλων σφίσι παρέστηκε Μοιραγέτης. θεάσαιο δʼ ἂν ἐνταῦθα καὶ ἑστίαν, ἐφʼ ᾗ Νεοπτόλεμον τὸν Ἀχιλλέως ὁ ἱερεὺς ἀπέκτεινε τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος· τὰ δὲ ἐς τοῦ Νεοπτολέμου τὴν τελευτήν ἐστιν ἡμῖν ἑτέρωθι εἰρημένα.
ἀνάκειται δὲ οὐ πόρρω τῆς ἑστίας θρόνος Πινδάρου· σιδήρου μέν ἐστιν ὁ θρόνος, ἐπὶ δὲ αὐτῷ φασιν, ὁπότε ἀφίκοιτο ἐς Δελφοὺς, καθέζεσθαί τε τὸν Πίνδαρον καὶ ᾄδειν ὁπόσα τῶν ᾀσμάτων ἐς Ἀπόλλωνά ἐστιν. ἐς δὲ τοῦ ναοῦ τὸ ἐσωτάτω, παρίασί τε ἐς αὐτὸ ὀλίγοι καὶ χρυσοῦν Ἀπόλλωνος ἕτερον ἄγαλμα ἀνάκειται.
ἐξελθόντι δὲ τοῦ ναοῦ καὶ τραπέντι ἐς ἀριστερὰ περίβολός ἐστι καὶ Νεοπτολέμου τοῦ Ἀχιλλέως ἐν αὐτῷ τάφος· καί οἱ κατὰ ἔτος ἐναγίζουσιν οἱ Δελφοί. ἐπαναβάντι δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ μνήματος λίθος ἐστὶν οὐ μέγας· τούτου καὶ ἔλαιον ὁσημέραι καταχέουσι καὶ κατὰ ἑορτὴν ἑκάστην ἔρια ἐπιτιθέασι τὰ ἀργά· ἔστι δὲ καὶ δόξα ἐς αὐτὸν δοθῆναι Κρόνῳ τὸν λίθον ἀντὶ τοῦ παιδός, καὶ ὡς αὖθις ἤμεσεν αὐτὸν ὁ Κρόνος.
ἰοῦσι δὲ ὡς ἐπὶ τὸν ναὸν αὖθις μετὰ τοῦ λίθου τὴν θέαν ἐστὶν ἡ Κασσοτὶς καλουμένη πηγή· τεῖχος δὲ οὐ μέγα ἐπʼ αὐτῇ καὶ ἡ ἄνοδος διὰ τοῦ τείχους ἐστὶν ἐπὶ τὴν πηγήν. ταύτης τῆς Κασσοτίδος δύεσθαί τε κατὰ τῆς γῆς λέγουσι τὸ ὕδωρ καὶ ἐν τῷ ἀδύτῳ τοῦ θεοῦ τὰς γυναῖκας μαντικὰς ποιεῖν· τὴν δὲ τῇ κρήνῃ δεδωκυῖαν τὸ ὄνομα τῶν περὶ τὸν Παρνασσὸν νυμφῶν φασιν εἶναι.
In the fore-temple at Delphi there are inscribed useful maxims for the conduct of life. They were inscribed by those whom the Greeks call the Sages. These were two Ionians, Thales of Miletus and Bias of Priene; one Aeolian of Lesbos, Pittacus of Mitylene ; a Dorian of Asia, Cleobulus of Lindus ; Solon of Athens ; Chilon of Sparta; the seventh place is assigned by Plato, son of Aristo, to Myson of Chenae instead of to Periander, son of Cypselus. Chenae was a village on Mount Oeta. These men, then, came to Delphi and dedicated to Apollo the famous maxims ‘Know thyself,’ and ‘Nothing in excess.’
You may also see a likeness of Homer in bronze on a monument, and may read the oracle which is said to have been given to Homer :— Blest and unhappy, for thou wert born to be both, Thou seekest thy father-land ; but thou hast a mother-land and no fatherland. The isle of Ios is the father-land of thy mother, and it in death Shall receive thee ; but beware of the riddle of young children.
The people of Ios show Homer’s tomb in the island, and in another place the tomb of Clymene, who, say they, was Homer’s mother. But the Cyprians, who also claim Homer, say that his mother was Themisto, a native of their island, and that the birth of Homer was predicted by Euclus in the following lines :— And then in sea-girt Cyprus a singer great shall be, Whom Themisto, that fair lady, shall give birth to in the fields, Far away from wealthy Salamis, and famous shall he be. He shall leave Cyprus and be tossed on the billows and wetted with the spray, And having been the first and only bard to sing the woes of spacious Greece He shall be deathless and ageless for aye. I have heard all this and read the oracles, but express no views of my own as to the native land or age of Homer.
In the temple there is an altar of Poseidon, because the possession of the oldest oracle was shared by Poseidon. There are also images of two Fates ; but instead of the third Fate there stand beside them an image of Zeus, Guide of Fate, and an image of Apollo, Guide of Fate. Here, too, you may see the hearth on which the priest of Apollo slew Neoptolemus, son of Achilles: the story of the death of Neoptolemus has been mentioned by me elsewhere. Not far from the hearth stands the chair of Pindar. It is of iron, and they say that whenever Pindar came to Delphi he used to sit on it and sing his songs to Apollo. Into the inmost part of the temple few enter : there is there another image of Apollo made of gold. 5. Quitting the temple and turning to the left you come to an enclosure, inside of which is the grave of Neoptolemus, son of Achilles. The Delphians offer sacrifice to him annually as to a hero. Ascending from the tomb you come to a small stone. On this stone they pour oil every day, and at every festival they put unspun wool on it. There is also a notion that this stone was given to Cronus instead of the child, and that Cronus spewed it out again. On our way back to the temple after seeing the stone, we come to the spring Cassotis : there is a small wall at it, and the ascent to the spring is through the wall. They say that the water of this Cassotis goes down underground and inspires the women with the spirit of prophecy in the shrine of the god. She who gave her name to the fountain is said to have been one of the nymphs of Parnassus.
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