ἡ δὲ γῆ ἡ Λοκρῶν τῶν καλουμένων Ὀζολῶν προσεχὴς τῇ Φωκίδι ἐστὶ κατὰ τὴν Κίρραν. ἐς δὲ τὴν ἐπίκλησιν τῶν Λοκρῶν τούτων διάφορα ἤκουσα, ὁμοίως δὲ ἅπαντα δηλώσω. Ὀρεσθεῖ τῷ Δευκαλίωνος βασιλεύοντι ἐν τῇ χώρᾳ κύων ἔτεκεν ἀντὶ σκύλακος ξύλον· κατορύξαντος δὲ τοῦ Ὀρεσθέως τὸ ξύλον ἅμα τῷ ἦρι φῦναι ἄμπελον ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ λέγουσι καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ ξύλου τῶν ὄζων γενέσθαι τὸ ὄνομα τοῖς ἀνθρώποις.
οἱ δὲ Νέσσον πορθμεύοντα ἐπὶ τῷ Εὐήνῳ τρωθῆναι μὲν ὑπὸ Ἡρακλέους, οὐ μέντοι καὶ αὐτίκα γε ἀποθανεῖν ἀλλὰ ἐς τὴν γῆν ταύτην ἐκφυγεῖν νομίζουσι, καὶ ὡς ἀπέθανε σήπεσθαί τε ἄταφον καὶ ὀσμῆς τῷ ἐνταῦθα ἀέρι μεταδοῦναι δυσώδους. ὁ δὲ τρίτος τῶν λόγων καὶ ὁ τέταρτος, ὁ μὲν ποταμοῦ τινος ἄτοπον τήν τε ἀτμίδα καὶ αὐτό φησιν εἶναι τὸ ὕδωρ, ὁ δὲ τὸν ἀσφόδελον φύεσθαι πολὺν καὶ ἀνθοῦντα ὑπὸ τῆς ὀσμῆς.
λέγεται δὲ καὶ ὡς οἱ πρῶτοι τῶν ἐνταῦθα ἀνθρώπων ἦσαν αὐτόχθονες, ἐσθῆτα δὲ οὐκ ἐπιστάμενοί πω ὑφαίνεσθαι σκέπην πρὸς τὸ ῥῖγος θηρίων δέρματα ἐποιοῦντο ἀδέψητα, τὸ δασὺ τῶν δερμάτων ἐς τὸ ἐκτὸς ὑπὲρ εὐπρεπείας τρέποντες· ἔμελλεν οὖν κατὰ τὸ αὐτὸ ταῖς βύρσαις καὶ ὁ χρώς σφισιν ἔσεσθαι δυσώδης.
Δελφῶν δὲ ἀπωτέρω σταδίοις εἴκοσί τε καὶ ἑκατόν ἐστιν Ἄμφισσα μεγίστη καὶ ὀνομαστοτάτη πόλις τῶν Λοκρῶν. ἐσποιοῦσι δὲ αὑτοὺς ἐς τὸ Αἰτωλικὸν αἰσχύνῃ τῶν Ὀζολῶν τοῦ ὀνόματος· καὶ δὴ καὶ ἔχει λόγον εἰκότα, ὅτε βασιλεὺς ὁ Ῥωμαίων ἀναστάτους ἐς τὸν Νικοπόλεως συνοικισμὸν ἐποίησεν Αἰτωλούς, ἀποχωρῆσαι τοῦ δήμου τὸ πολὺ ἐς τὴν Ἄμφισσαν. τὸ μέντοι ἐξ ἀρχῆς γένους τοῦ Λοκρῶν εἰσι· τεθῆναι δὲ τῇ πόλει τὸ ὄνομα ἀπὸ Ἀμφίσσης τῆς Μάκαρος τοῦ Αἰόλου φασὶ καὶ Ἀπόλλωνα ἐραστὴν γενέσθαι τῆς Ἀμφίσσης.
κεκόσμηται δὲ ἡ πόλις κατασκευῇ τε τῇ ἄλλῃ καὶ τὰ μάλιστα ἥκοντα ἐς μνήμην ἔστι μὲν μνῆμα Ἀμφίσσης, ἔστι δὲ Ἀνδραίμονος· σὺν δὲ αὐτῷ ταφῆναι λέγουσι καὶ Γόργην τὴν Οἰνέως συνοικήσασαν τῷ Ἀνδραίμονι. ἐν δὲ τῇ ἀκροπόλει ναός σφισιν Ἀθηνᾶς καὶ ἄγαλμα ὀρθὸν χαλκοῦ πεποιημένον, κομισθῆναι δὲ ὑπὸ Θόαντός φασιν αὐτὴν ἐξ Ἰλίου καὶ εἶναι λαφύρων τῶν ἐκ Τροίας·
οὐ μὴν καὶ ἐμέ γε ἔπειθον. ἐδήλωσα δὲ ἐν τοῖς προτέροις τοῦ λόγου Σαμίους Ῥοῖκον Φιλαίου καὶ Θεόδωρον Τηλεκλέους εἶναι τοὺς εὑρόντας χαλκὸν ἐς τὸ ἀκριβέστατον τῆξαι· καὶ ἐχώνευσαν οὗτοι πρῶτοι. Θεοδώρου μὲν δὴ οὐδὲν ἔτι οἶδα ἐξευρών, ὅσα γε χαλκοῦ πεποιημένα· ἐν δὲ Ἀρτέμιδος τῆς Ἐφεσίας πρὸς τὸ οἴκημα ἐρχομένῳ τὸ ἔχον τὰς γραφὰς λίθου θριγκός ἐστιν ὑπὲρ τοῦ βωμοῦ τῆς Πρωτοθρονίης καλουμένης Ἀρτέμιδος· ἀγάλματα δὲ ἄλλα τε ἐπὶ τοῦ θριγκοῦ καὶ γυναικὸς εἰκὼν πρὸς τῷ πέρατι ἕστηκε, τέχνη τοῦ Ῥοίκου, Νύκτα δὲ οἱ Ἐφέσιοι καλοῦσι.
τοῦτο οὖν τὸ ἄγαλμα τῆς ἐν τῇ Ἀμφίσσῃ Ἀθηνᾶς καὶ ἰδεῖν ἔστιν ἀρχαιότερον καὶ ἀργότερον τὴν τέχνην. ἄγουσι δὲ καὶ τελετὴν οἱ Ἀμφισσεῖς Ἀνάκτων καλουμένων παίδων· οἵτινες δὲ θεῶν εἰσιν οἱ Ἄνακτες παῖδες, οὐ κατὰ ταὐτά ἐστιν εἰρημένον, ἀλλʼ οἱ μὲν εἶναι Διοσκούρους, οἱ δὲ Κούρητας, οἱ δὲ πλέον τι ἐπίστασθαι νομίζοντες Καβείρους λέγουσι.
τούτων δὲ τῶν Λοκρῶν τοσαίδε ἄλλαι πόλεις εἰσίν· ἄνω μὲν ὑπὲρ Ἀμφίσσης πρὸς ἤπειρον Μυονία σταδίοις ἀπωτέρω τριάκοντα Ἀμφίσσης· οὗτοι καὶ τῷ Διὶ ἐν Ὀλυμπίᾳ εἰσὶν οἱ ἀναθέντες Μυᾶνες τὴν ἀσπίδα. κεῖται δὲ τὸ πόλισμα ἐπὶ ὑψηλοῦ, καί σφισιν ἄλσος καὶ βωμὸς θεῶν Μειλιχίων ἐστί· νυκτεριναὶ δὲ αἱ θυσίαι θεοῖς τοῖς Μειλιχίοις εἰσὶ καὶ ἀναλῶσαι τὰ κρέα αὐτόθι πρὶν ἢ ἥλιον ἐπισχεῖν νομίζουσι. καὶ Ποσειδῶνός ἐστιν ὑπὲρ τὴν πόλιν τέμενος καλούμενον Ποσειδώνιον, ἐν δὲ αὐτῷ ναὸς Ποσειδῶνος· τὸ δὲ ἄγαλμα ἐς ἐμὲ οὐκ ἦν.
οὗτοι μὲν δὴ ὑπεροικοῦσιν Ἀμφίσσης· ἐπὶ θαλάσσης δὲ Οἰάνθεια καὶ ταύτῃ ὁμοροῦσά ἐστι Ναύπακτος. πλὴν δὲ Ἀμφίσσης ὑπʼ Ἀχαιῶν οἱ ἄλλοι Πατρέων ἄρχονται, βασιλέως σφίσι δόντος Αὐγούστου. ἐν Οἰανθείᾳ δὲ Ἀφροδίτης τε ἱερὸν καὶ ὀλίγον ὑπὲρ τὴν πόλιν κυπαρίσσου τε ἀναμὶξ καὶ τῆς πίτυός ἐστιν ἄλσος καὶ ναός τε Ἀρτέμιδος καὶ ἄγαλμα ἐν τῷ ἄλσει· γραφαὶ δὲ ἐπὶ τῶν τοίχων ἐξίτηλοί τε ἦσαν ὑπὸ τοῦ χρόνου καὶ οὐδὲν ἔτι ἐλείπετο ἐς θέαν αὐτῶν.
κληθῆναι δὲ ἀπὸ γυναικὸς ἢ νύμφης τεκμαίρομαι τὴν πόλιν, ἐπεὶ ἐπὶ Ναυπάκτῳ γε οἶδα εἰρημένον ὡς Δωριεῖς οἱ ὁμοῦ τοῖς Ἀριστομάχου παισὶ τὰ πλοῖα αὐτόθι ἐποιήσαντο, οἷς ἐς Πελοπόννησον ἐπεραιώθησαν· καὶ ἀντὶ τούτου γενέσθαι τὸ ὄνομα τῷ χωρίῳ φασί. τὰ δέ μοι Ναυπακτίων, ὡς τοῖς ἐς Ἰθώμην ἀποστᾶσιν ὁμοῦ τῷ σεισμῷ τῷ ἐν Λακεδαίμονι Ἀθηναῖοι Ναύπακτον ἐνοικῆσαί σφισιν ἔδοσαν ἀφελόμενοι τοὺς Λοκροὺς καὶ ὡς τοῦ Ἀθηναίων ὕστερον πταίσματος τοῦ ἐν Αἰγὸς ποταμοῖς Λακεδαιμόνιοι τοὺς Μεσσηνίους ἐδίωξαν καὶ ἐκ τῆς Ναυπάκτου, τάδε μὲν ἐπεξῆλθέ μοι καὶ ἐς πλέον ἡ Μεσσηνία συγγραφή· ἐκλιπόντων δὲ ὑπὸ ἀνάγκης τῶν Μεσσηνίων, οὕτως οἱ Λοκροὶ συνελέγχθησαν αὖθις ἐς τὴν Ναύπακτον.
τὰ δὲ ἔπη τὰ Ναυπάκτια ὀνομαζόμενα ὑπὸ Ἑλλήνων ἀνδρὶ ἐσποιοῦσιν οἱ πολλοὶ Μιλησίῳ· Χάρων δὲ ὁ Πύθεώ φησιν αὐτὰ ποιῆσαι Ναυπάκτιον Καρκίνον. ἑπόμεθα δὲ καὶ ἡμεῖς τῇ τοῦ Λαμψακηνοῦ δόξῃ· τίνα γὰρ καὶ λόγον ἔχοι ἂν ἔπεσιν ἀνδρὸς Μιλησίου πεποιημένοις ἐς γυναῖκας τεθῆναί σφισιν ὄνομα Ναυπάκτια;
ἐνταῦθα ἔστι μὲν ἐπὶ θαλάσσῃ ναὸς Ποσειδῶνος καὶ ἄγαλμα ὀρθὸν χαλκοῦ πεποιημένον, ἔστι δὲ καὶ ἱερὸν Ἀρτέμιδος καὶ ἄγαλμα λευκοῦ λίθου· σχῆμα δὲ ἀκοντιζούσης παρέχεται καὶ ἐπίκλησιν εἴληφεν Αἰτωλή. Ἀφροδίτη δὲ ἔχει μὲν ἐν σπηλαίῳ τιμάς· εὔχονται δὲ καὶ ἄλλων εἵνεκα καὶ αἱ γυναῖκες μάλιστα αἱ χῆραι γάμον αἰτοῦσι παρὰ τῆς θεοῦ.
τοῦ δὲ Ἀσκληπιοῦ τὸ ἱερὸν ἐρείπια ἦν, ἐξ ἀρχῆς δὲ ᾠκοδόμησεν αὐτὸ ἀνὴρ ἰδιώτης Φαλύσιος. νοσήσαντι γάρ οἱ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς καὶ οὐ πολὺ ἀποδέον τυφλῷ ὁ ἐν Ἐπιδαύρῳ πέμπει θεὸς Ἀνύτην τὴν ποιήσασαν τὰ ἔπη φέρουσαν σεσημασμένην δέλτον. τοῦτο ἐφάνη τῇ γυναικὶ ὄψις ὀνείρατος, ὕπαρ μέντοι ἦν αὐτίκα· καὶ εὗρέ τε ἐν ταῖς χερσὶ ταῖς αὑτῆς σεσημασμένην δέλτον καὶ πλεύσασα ἐς τὴν Ναύπακτον ἐκέλευσεν ἀφελόντα τὴν σφραγῖδα Φαλύσιον ἐπιλέγεσθαι τὰ γεγραμμένα. τῷ δὲ ἄλλως μὲν οὐ δυνατὰ ἐφαίνετο ἰδεῖν τὰ γράμματα ἔχοντι οὕτω τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν· ἐλπίζων δέ τι ἐκ τοῦ Ἀσκληπιοῦ χρηστὸν ἀφαιρεῖ τὴν σφραγῖδα, καὶ ἰδὼν ἐς τὸν κηρὸν ὑγιής τε ἦν καὶ δίδωσι τῇ Ἀνύτῃ τὸ ἐν τῇ δέλτῳ γεγραμμένον, στατῆρας δισχιλίους χρυσοῦ.
The land of the Ozolian Locrians, as they are called, adjoins Phocis in the direction of Cirrha. I have heard different explanations of the surname of these Locrians, all of which I will set down. When Orestheus, son of Deucalion, reigned in the land, a bitch of his littered a stick instead of a puppy. Orestheus buried the stick, but when spring came round, a vine, they say, grew out of the stick, and from the branches (ozoi) of the stick the people got their name. Others think that while Nessus was acting as ferryman on the Evenus he was wounded by Hercules, but not killed outright, and that he escaped to this country, and when he died his body rotted unburied and tainted the atmosphere with its noisome smell (ose). The third explanation is that the exhalations and even the water of a certain river were fetid; while a fourth is that asphodel grows in plenty, and when it is in flower . . . by the smell. It is also said that the first inhabitants were aborigines, and that, not knowing as yet how to weave garments, they made themselves coverings of untanned skins of wild beasts as a protection against the cold, turning the shaggy side out for the sake of appearance. So their skin must have stunk like the hides.
A hundred and twenty furlongs from Delphi is Amphissa, the largest and most famous city of the Locrians. But the people reckon themselves Aetolians, being ashamed of the name of Ozolians, and their contention derives a certain probability from the fact that when the Roman Emperor turned the Aetolians out of house and home in order to gather them into his new city of Nicopolis, the bulk of the population withdrew to Amphissa. Nevertheless, originally they are of the Locrian stock. They say that the city was named after Amphissa, daughter of Macar, son of Aeolus, and that Apollo was Amphissa’s lover.
The city is handsomely built. The most notable structures are the tombs of Amphissa and Andraemon: they say that with Andraemon was buried his wife Gorge, daughter of Oeneus. In the acropolis is a temple of Athena, with a standing image made of bronze. They say that the image was brought by Thoas from Ilium, and was part of the Trojan spoils ; but they did not convince me. I showed before that the two Samians, Rhoecus, son of Philaeus, and Theodorus, son of Telecles, were the first who discovered the art of founding bronze to perfection, and they were the first who cast it in a mould. I have not discovered any surviving work of Theodorus, at least in bronze. But in the sanctuary of Ephesian Artemis, as you go to the building which contains the pictures, you come to a stone wall above the altar of First-seated Artemis, as she is called; and among the images on the wall there stands at the end the statue of a woman which is a work of Rhoecus: the Ephesians call it Night. That image is plainly older and ruder in style than the image of Athena at Amphissa. The Amphissians also celebrate mysteries of the Boy Lords, as they are called. But what gods these Boy Lords are is not agreed. Some say they are the Dioscuri, others the Curetes, and those who think they know better say they are the Cabiri.
These same Locrians possess the following other cities. Inland from Amphissa and up above it, at a distance of thirty furlongs, is Myonia. It was the people of this city who dedicated the shield to Zeus at Olympia. The town stands on high ground: it has a grove and an altar of the Gracious Gods. The sacrifices to the Gracious Gods are at night, and it is the custom to consume the flesh on the spot before the sun rises. There is a precinct of Poseidon above the city: it is called the Posidonium, and contains a temple of Poseidon, but the image was gone in my time.
Myonia, as I have said, is above Amphissa. On the coast there is Oeanthea, and bordering on Oeanthea is Naupactus. All these towns except Amphissa are governed by the Achaeans of Patrae, who received the privilege from the Emperor Augustus. In Oeanthea there is a sanctuary of Aphrodite, and a little above the city is a grove of cypresses and pines, and in the grove is a temple of Artemis with an image. On the walls were paintings, but so faded with time that nothing was left of them to see. I suppose that the city was called after a woman or nymph. But as to Naupactus, I know it is said that the Dorians who followed the sons of Aristomachus built here the vessels in which they crossed to Peloponnese ; and that, they say, is why the place got its name. The history of Naupactus—how the Athenians wrested it from the Locrians, and gave it as a home to the rebels who retired to Ithome at the time of the earthquake at Lacedaemon, and how, after the defeat of the Athenians at Aegospotami, the Lacedaemonians drove the Messenians out of Naupactus—all this has been narrated by me more fully in my description of Messenia. When the Messenians were compelled to quit it the Locrians assembled once more in Naupactus.
The epic poem which the Greeks call the Naupactia is commonly attributed to a Milesian author; but Charon, son of Pythes, says it was composed by Carcinus, a Naupactian. I agree with the opinion of the Lampsacenian historian, for why should an epic on women by a native of Miletus get the name of Naupactia? At Naupactus there is a temple of Poseidon beside the sea, with a standing image made of bronze. There is also a sanctuary of Artemis with an image of white marble: the goddess is represented in the act of hurling a dart, and she is surnamed Aetolian. Aphrodite is worshipped in a grotto. People pray to her for various reasons, and, above all, widows ask the goddess for husbands.
The sanctuary of Aesculapius was in ruins: it was originally built by a private man Phalysius. For when his eyes ailed him and he was nearly blind, the god at Epidaurus sent the poetess Anyte to him with a sealed tablet. The woman thought the message only a dream, but soon it turned out a waking reality ; for she found in her hands a sealed tablet, and sailed to Naupactus, and bade Phalysius remove the seal and read the contents. To him it appeared impossible that with his eyes as they were he could see the writing. But hoping for some benefit from Aesculapius he removed the seal, and when he had looked at the wax he was made whole, and gave to Anyte what was written in the tablet, and that was two thousand golden staters.
Cite This Text