τῆς πόλεως δὲ ἐν δεξιᾷ δύο μάλιστα προελθόντι ἀπʼ αὐτῆς σταδίους, πέτρα τέ ἐστιν ὑψηλὴ—μοῖρα ὄρους ἡ πέτρα—καὶ ἱερὸν ἐπʼ αὐτῆς πεποιημένον ἐστὶν Ἀρτέμιδος· ἡ Ἄρτεμις ἔργων τῶν Πραξιτέλους, δᾷδα ἔχουσα τῇ δεξιᾷ καὶ ὑπὲρ τῶν ὤμων φαρέτραν, παρὰ δὲ αὐτὴν κύων ἐν ἀριστερᾷ· μέγεθος δὲ ὑπὲρ τὴν μεγίστην γυναῖκα τὸ ἄγαλμα.
τῇ δὲ γῇ τῇ Φωκίδι ἐστὶν ὅμορος ἥ ὀνομάζεται μὲν ἀπὸ Βούλωνος ἀγαγόντος τὴν ἀποικίαν ἀνδρός, συνῳκίσθη δὲ ἐκ πόλεων τῶν ἐν τῇ ἀρχαίᾳ Δωρίδι. λέγονται δὲ οἱ Βούλιοι Φιλομήλου καὶ Φωκέων σύλλογον τὸν κοινόν. ἐς δὲ τὴν Βοῦλιν ἐκ μὲν τῆς Βοιωτίας Θίσβης σταδίων ἐστὶν ὁδὸς ὀγδοήκοντα, ἐξ Ἀντικύρας δὲ τῆς Φωκέων διʼ ἠπείρου μὲν καὶ εἰ ἀρχήν ἐστιν οὐκ οἶδα· οὕτω δύσβατα ὄρη καὶ τραχέα τὰ μεταξὺ Ἀντικύρας τέ ἐστι καὶ Βούλιδος· ἐς δὲ τὸν λιμένα σταδίων ἐξ Ἀντικύρας ἐστὶν ἑκατόν, τὰ δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ λιμένος στάδια ὁδοῦ τῆς πεζῆς τὰ ἐς Βοῦλιν ἑπτὰ εἶναι μάλιστα εἰκάζομεν.
κάτεισι δὲ καὶ ποταμὸς ἐς θάλασσαν ταύτῃ χείμαρρος, ὃν οἱ ἐπιχώριοι ὀνομάζουσιν Ἡράκλειον. κεῖται δὲ ἐπὶ ὑψηλοῦ τε ἡ Βοῦλις καὶ ἐν παράπλῳ περαιουμένοις ἐξ Ἀντικύρας ἐς Λέχαιον τὸ Κορινθίων· οἱ δὲ ἄνθρωποι οἱ ἐνταῦθα πλέον ἡμίσεις κόχλων ἐς βαφὴν πορφύρας εἰσὶν ἁλιεῖς. κατασκευὴ δὲ ἡ ἐν τῇ Βούλιδι οὔτε ἡ ἄλλη θαύματος πολλοῦ καὶ ἱερὰ θεῶν ἐστιν Ἀρτέμιδος, τὸ δὲ αὐτῶν Διονύσου· τὰ δὲ ἀγάλματα ξύλου μέν ἐστιν εἰργασμένα, ὅστις δὲ ἦν ὁ ποιήσας οὐχ οἷοί τε ἐγενόμεθα συμβαλέσθαι. θεῶν δὲ ὅντινα οἱ Βούλιοι σέβουσι μάλιστα, Μέγιστον μὲν ὀνομάζουσι, Διὸς δὲ κατὰ ἡμετέραν δόξαν ἐστὶν ἐπίκλησις. καὶ πηγὴ Βουλίοις ἐστὶ καλουμένη Σαύνιον.
ἐς δὲ Κίρραν τὸ ἐπίνειον Δελφῶν ὁδὸς μὲν σταδίων ἑξήκοντά ἐστιν ἐκ Δελφῶν· καταβάντι δὲ ἐς τὸ πεδίον ἱππόδρομός τέ ἐστι καὶ ἀγῶνα Πύθια ἄγουσιν ἐνταῦθα τὸν ἱππικόν. τὰ μὲν δὴ ἐς τὸν ἐν Ὀλυμπίᾳ Ταράξιππον ἐδήλωσέ μοι τὰ ἐς Ἠλείους τοῦ λόγου, ὁ δὲ ἱππόδρομος ἔοικε τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος τάχα μέν που καὶ αὐτὸς τῶν ἱππευόντων τινὰ ἀνιᾶσαι, ἅτε ἀνθρώποις τοῦ δαίμονος ὁμοίως ἐπὶ ἔργῳ παντὶ καὶ ἀμείνω καὶ τὰ χείρω νέμοντος· οὐ μέντοι καὶ αὐτὸς ταραχὴν τοῖς ἵπποις ὁ ἱππόδρομος οὔτε κατὰ αἰτίαν ἥρωος οὔτε ἐπʼ ἄλλῃ πέφυκεν ἐργάζεσθαι προφάσει.
τὸ δὲ πεδίον τὸ ἀπὸ τῆς Κίρρας ψιλόν ἐστιν ἅπαν, καὶ φυτεύειν δένδρα οὐκ ἐθέλουσιν ἢ ἔκ τινος ἀρᾶς ἢ ἀχρεῖον τὴν γῆν ἐς δένδρων τροφὴν εἰδότες. λέγεται δὲ ἐς τὴν Κίρραν καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς Κίρρας τὸ ὄνομα τὸ ἐφʼ ἡμῶν τεθῆναι τῷ χωρίῳ φασίν. Ὅμηρος μέντοι Κρῖσαν ἔν τε Ἰλιάδι ὁμοίως καὶ ὕμνῳ τῷ ἐς Ἀπόλλωνα ὀνόματι τῷ ἐξ ἀρχῆς καλεῖ τὴν πόλιν. χρόνῳ δὲ ὕστερον οἱ ἐν τῇ Κίρρᾳ ἄλλα τε ἠσέβησαν ἐς τὸν Ἀπόλλωνα καὶ ἀπέτεμνον τοῦ θεοῦ τῆς χώρας.
πολεμεῖν οὖν πρὸς τοὺς Κιρραίους ἔδοξεν Ἀμφικτύοσι, καὶ Κλεισθένην τε Σικυωνίων τυραννοῦντα προεστήσαντο ἡγεμόνα εἶναι καὶ Σόλωνα ἐξ Ἀθηνῶν ἐπηγάγοντο συμβουλεύειν· χρωμένοις δέ σφισιν ὑπὲρ νίκης ἀνεῖπεν ἡ Πυθία· οὐ πρὶν τῆσδε πόληος ἐρείψετε πύργον ἑλόντες, / πρίν κεν ἐμῷ τεμένει κυανώπιδος Ἀμφιτρίτης / κῦμα ποτικλύζῃ κελαδοῦν ἐπὶ οἴνοπα πόντον. / ἔπεισεν οὖν ὁ Σόλων καθιερῶσαι τῷ θεῷ τὴν Κιρραίαν, ἵνα δὴ τῷ τεμένει τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος γένηται γείτων ἡ θάλασσα.
εὑρέθη δὲ καὶ ἕτερον τῷ Σόλωνι σόφισμα ἐς τοὺς Κιρραίους· τοῦ γὰρ Πλείστου τὸ ὕδωρ ῥέον διὰ ὀχετοῦ σφισιν ἐς τὴν πόλιν ἀπέστρεψεν ἀλλαχόσε ὁ Σόλων. καὶ οἱ μὲν πρὸς τοὺς πολιορκοῦντας ἔτι ἀντεῖχον ἔκ τε φρεάτων καὶ ὕδωρ τὸ ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ πίνοντες· ὁ δὲ τοῦ ἐλλεβόρου τὰς ῥίζας ἐμβαλὼν ἐς τὸν Πλεῖστον, ἐπειδὴ ἱκανῶς τοῦ φαρμάκου τὸ ὕδωρ ᾔσθετο ἔχον, ἀπέστρεψεν αὖθις ἐς τὸν ὀχετόν. καὶ—ἐνεφορήσαντο γὰρ ἀνέδην οἱ Κιρραῖοι τοῦ ὕδατος— οἱ μὲν ὑπὸ ἀπαύστου τῆς διαρροίας ἐξέλιπον οἱ ἐπὶ τοῦ τείχους τὴν φρουράν,
Ἀμφικτύονες δὲ ὡς εἷλον τὴν πόλιν, ἐπράξαντο ὑπὲρ τοῦ θεοῦ δίκας παρὰ Κιρραίων, καὶ ἐπίνειον Δελφῶν ἐστιν ἡ Κίρρα. παρέχεται δὲ καὶ ἐς θέαν Ἀπόλλωνος καὶ Ἀρτέμιδος καὶ Λητοῦς ναόν τε καὶ ἀγάλματα μεγέθει μεγάλα καὶ ἐργασίας Ἀττικῆς. ἡ δὲ Ἀδράστεια ἵδρυται μὲν ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ σφίσι, μεγέθει δὲ τῶν ἄλλων ἀποδέουσα ἀγαλμάτων ἐστίν.
On the right of the city, just two furlongs from it, is a high rock, forming part of a mountain, and on the rock is a sanctuary of Artemis. Her image is a work of Praxiteles. She has a torch in her right hand, and a quiver over her shoulders: at her left side is a dog. The image is taller than the tallest woman.
Bordering on Phocis is the district named after Bulon, the leader of the colony. The town of Bulis was founded jointly by colonists from the cities of ancient Doris. The Bulians are said of Philomelus and the Phocians . . .. the parliament. To Bulis it is a distance of eighty furlongs by road from Thisbe in Boeotia. But from Anticyra, in Phocis, I doubt if there be a road by land at all, so impassable and rugged are the mountains between Anticyra and Bulis. However, to the port of Bulis it is a sail of a hundred furlongs from Anticyra; and the distance by road from the port to Bulis we guessed to be just seven furlongs.
A torrent here falls into the sea: the natives name it Heracleus. Bulis stands on high ground, and vessels crossing from Anticyra to Lechaeum, the port of Corinth, sail past it. More than half the people here are fishers of the shell-fish which yields the purple dye. The buildings of Bulis are not very striking: they include two sanctuaries, one of Artemis, the other of Dionysus. The images are of wood, but we could not conjecture who made them. The god whom the Bulians worship most is named by them the Greatest God, which I suppose is a title of Zeus. There is a spring at Bulis called Saunium.
To Cirrha, the port of Delphi, is a distance by road of sixty furlongs from Delphi. When you have descended into the plain you come to a hippodrome, and here they hold the horse and chariot races at the Pythian festival. In my description of Elis I have given an account of the Taraxippus at Olympia. Now, considering the mutability for better or worse of all human fortune, it is very possible that a charioteer may meet with a mishap in the hippodrome of Apollo also; but in the course itself there is nothing naturally calculated to startle the horses, whether in the shape of a hero or anything else. The plain all the way from Cirrha is bare, and the people will not plant trees, either because a curse rests on the land, or because they know that the soil is not adapted to grow trees. It is said of Cirrha . . . . and they say that from Cirrha the place got its present name. Homer, however, calls the city by its original name of Crisa, both in the Iliad and in the hymn to Apollo. But afterwards the people of Cirrha sinned against Apollo, and in particular they appropriated some of the god’s land. So the Amphictyons resolved to make war on the Cirrhaeans, and they appointed Clisthenes, tyrant of Sicyon, to the command, and fetched Solon from Athens to give them his advice. When they inquired how the victory would go, the Pythian priestess gave them this answer :— Ye shall not take and cast down the towers of this city, Till on my precinct blue-eyed Amphitrite’s Wave, plashing o’er the darkling deep, shall break.
Hence Solon persuaded them to consecrate the territory of Cirrha to the god, in order that Apollo’s precinct might be bounded by the sea. He devised yet another stratagem against the Cirrhaeans. The water of the Plistus flowed into the city in a canal, and he diverted the water into another channel. But as the besieged still held out, subsisting on water from wells and on rainwater, he flung roots of hellebore into the Plistus, and when he saw that the water was sufficiently charged with the drug he turned it back into the canal. The Cirrhaeans drank so freely of the water that the sentinels on the walls were forced, by incessant diarrhoea, to quit their posts. When the Amphictyons took the city they punished the Cirrhaeans on behalf of the god, and Cirrha is still the port of Delphi. The town can show a temple of Apollo, Artemis, and Latona: the images are colossal and of Attic workmanship. An image of Adrastea stands in the same place, but it is smaller than the other images.
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