τοσαῦτα ἐντὸς τῆς Ἄλτεως ἀγάλματα εἶναι Διὸς ἀνηριθμησάμεθα ἐς τὸ ἀκριβέστατον. τὸ ἀνάθημα γὰρ τὸ πρὸς τῷ μεγάλῳ ναῷ ὑπὸ ἀνδρὸς Κορινθίου τεθέν, Κορινθίων δὲ οὐ τῶν ἀρχαίων ἀλλʼ οἳ παρὰ βασιλέως ἔχουσιν εἰληφότες τὴν πόλιν, τοῦτο τὸ ἀνάθημα Ἀλέξανδρός ἐστιν ὁ Φιλίππου, Διὶ εἰκασμένος δῆθεν. ὁπόσα δὲ ἀλλοῖα καὶ οὐ μίμησίς ἐστι Διός, ἐπιμνησόμεθα καὶ τούτων· εἰκόνας δὲ οὐ τιμῇ τῇ πρὸς τὸ θεῖον, τῇ δὲ ἐς αὐτοὺς χάριτι ἀνατεθείσας τοὺς ἀνθρώπους, λόγῳ σφᾶς τῷ ἐς τοὺς ἀθλητὰς ἀναμίξομεν.
Μεσσηνίους τοὺς ἐπὶ τῷ πορθμῷ κατὰ ἔθος δή τι ἀρχαῖον πέμποντας ἐς Ῥήγιον χορὸν παίδων πέντε ἀριθμὸν καὶ τριάκοντα καὶ διδάσκαλόν τε ὁμοῦ τῷ χορῷ καὶ ἄνδρα αὐλητὴν ἐς ἑορτήν τινα ἐπιχώριον Ῥηγίνων, κατέλαβεν αὐτούς ποτε συμφορά, μηδένα ὀπίσω τῶν ἀποσταλέντων σφίσιν ἀποσωθῆναι· ἀλλὰ ἡ ναῦς ἡ ἄγουσα τοὺς παῖδας ἠφανίσθη σὺν αὐτοῖς κατὰ τοῦ βυθοῦ. ἔστι γὰρ δὴ ἡ κατὰ τοῦτον θάλασσα τὸν πορθμὸν θαλάσσης χειμεριωτάτη πάσης·
οἵ τε γὰρ ἄνεμοι ταράσσουσιν αὐτὴν ἀμφοτέρωθεν τὸ κῦμα ἐπάγοντες ἐκ τοῦ Ἀδρίου καὶ ἐξ ἑτέρου πελάγους ὃ καλεῖται Τυρσηνόν, ἤν τε καὶ ἀνέμων ἀπῇ πνεύματα, ὁ δὲ καὶ τηνικαῦτα ὁ πορθμὸς κίνησιν βιαιοτάτην αὐτὸς ἐξ αὑτοῦ καὶ ἰσχυρὰς παρέχεται παλιρροίας· θηρία τε τοσαῦτα ἐς αὐτὸν τὰ ἀθροιζόμενά ἐστιν, ὡς καὶ τὸν ἀέρα τὸν ὑπὲρ τῆς θαλάσσης ταύτης ἀναπίμπλασθαι τῶν θηρίων τῆς ὀσμῆς, ὡς σωτηρίας γε ἐκ τοῦ πορθμοῦ μηδὲ ἐλπίδος τι ὑπολείπεσθαι ναυαγῷ. εἰ δὲ ἐνταῦθα συνέπεσε καὶ Ὀδυσσεῖ διαφθαρῆναι τὴν ναῦν, ἄλλως μὲν οὐκ ἄν τις πείθοιτο ἐκνήξασθαι ζῶντα ἐς τὴν Ἰταλίαν αὐτόν· τὸ δὲ ἐκ τῶν θεῶν εὐμενὲς ἐπὶ παντὶ ἐργάζεται ῥᾳστώνην.
τότε δὲ ἐπὶ τῇ ἀπωλείᾳ τῶν παίδων οἱ Μεσσήνιοι πένθος ἦγον, καὶ ἄλλα τέ σφισιν ἐς τιμὴν αὐτῶν ἐξευρέθη καὶ εἰκόνας ἐς Ὀλυμπίαν ἀνέθεσαν χαλκᾶς, σὺν δὲ αὐτοῖς τὸν διδάσκαλον τοῦ χοροῦ καὶ τὸν αὐλητήν. τὸ μὲν δὴ ἐπίγραμμα ἐδήλου τὸ ἀρχαῖον ἀναθήματα εἶναι τῶν ἐν πορθμῷ Μεσσηνίων· χρόνῳ δὲ ὕστερον Ἱππίας ὁ λεγόμενος ὑπὸ Ἑλλήνων γενέσθαι σοφὸς τὰ ἐλεγεῖα ἐπʼ αὐτοῖς ἐποίησεν. ἔργα δέ εἰσιν Ἠλείου Κάλλωνος αἱ εἰκόνες.
ἔστι δὲ κατὰ τὴν ἄκραν ἐν Σικελίᾳ τὴν τετραμμένην ἐπὶ Λιβύης καὶ Νότου, καλουμένην δὲ Πάχυνον, Μοτύη πόλις· οἰκοῦσι δὲ Λίβυες ἐν αὐτῇ καὶ Φοίνικες. τούτοις τοῖς ἐν Μοτύῃ βαρβάροις Ἀκραγαντῖνοι καταστάντες ἐς πόλεμον καὶ λείαν τε καὶ λάφυρα ἀπʼ αὐτῶν λαβόντες ἀνέθεσαν τοὺς παῖδας ἐς Ὀλυμπίαν τοὺς χαλκοῦς, προτείνοντάς τε τὰς δεξιὰς καὶ εἰκασμένους εὐχομένοις τῷ θεῷ. κεῖνται δὲ ἐπὶ τοῦ τείχους οὗτοι τῆς Ἄλτεως· Καλάμιδος δὲ εἶναι σφᾶς ἔργα ἐγώ τε εἴκαζον καὶ ἐς αὐτοὺς κατὰ τὰ αὐτὰ εἶχεν ὁ λόγος.
Σικελίαν δὲ ἔθνη τοσάδε οἰκεῖ, Σικανοί τε καὶ Σικελοὶ καὶ Φρύγες, οἱ μὲν ἐξ Ἰταλίας διαβεβηκότες ἐς αὐτήν, Φρύγες δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ Σκαμάνδρου ποταμοῦ καὶ χώρας τῆς Τρῳάδος· οἱ δὲ Φοίνικες καὶ Λίβυες στόλῳ ἀφίκοντο ἐς τὴν νῆσον κοινῷ καὶ ἄποικοι Καρχηδονίων εἰσὶ. τοσαῦτα μὲν ἐν Σικελίᾳ ἔθνη βάρβαρα· Ἑλλήνων δὲ Δωριεῖς τε ἔχουσιν αὐτὴν καὶ Ἴωνες καὶ τοῦ Φωκικοῦ καὶ τοῦ Ἀττικοῦ γένους ἑκατέρου μοῖρα οὐ πολλή.
ἐπὶ δὲ τοῦ αὐτοῦ τείχους τά τε Ἀκραγαντίνων ἀναθήματα καὶ Ἡρακλέους δύο εἰσὶν ἀνδριάντες γυμνοί, παῖδες ἡλικίαν· τὸν δὲ ἐν Νεμέᾳ τοξεύοντι ἔοικε λέοντα. τοῦτον μὲν δὴ τόν τε Ἡρακλέα καὶ ὁμοῦ τῷ Ἡρακλεῖ τὸν λέοντα Ταραντῖνος ἀνέθηκεν Ἱπποτίων, Νικοδάμου δέ ἐστι Μαιναλίου τέχνη· τὸ δὲ ἄγαλμα τὸ ἕτερον Ἀναξίππου μέν ἐστιν ἀνάθημα Μενδαίου, μετεκομίσθη δὲ ἐνταῦθα ὑπὸ Ἠλείων· τὰ πρὸ τούτου δὲ ἔκειτο ἐπὶ τῆς ὁδοῦ τῷ πέρατι, ἣ ἄγει μὲν ἐξ Ἤλιδος ἐς Ὀλυμπίαν, καλεῖται δὲ Ἱερά.
ἔστι δὲ καὶ ἀναθήματα ἐν κοινῷ τοῦ Ἀχαιῶν ἔθνους, ὅσοι προκαλεσαμένου τοῦ Ἕκτορος ἐς μονομαχίαν ἄνδρα Ἕλληνα τὸν κλῆρον ἐπὶ τῷ ἀγῶνι ὑπέμειναν. οὗτοι μὲν δὴ ἑστήκασι τοῦ ναοῦ τοῦ μεγάλου πλησίον, δόρασι καὶ ἀσπίσιν ὡπλισμένοι· ἀπαντικρὺ δὲ ἐπὶ ἑτέρου βάθρου πεποίηται Νέστωρ, τὸν ἑκάστου κλῆρον ἐσβεβληκὼς ἐς τὴν κυνῆν. τῶν δὲ ἐπὶ τῷ Ἕκτορι κληρουμένων ἀριθμὸν ὄντων ὀκτώ—τὸν γὰρ ἔνατον αὐτῶν, τὴν τοῦ Ὀδυσσέως εἰκόνα, Νέρωνα κομίσαι λέγουσιν ἐς Ῥώμην —, τῶν δὲ ὀκτὼ τούτων ἐπὶ μόνῳ τῷ
Ἀγαμέμνονι τὸ ὄνομά ἐστι γεγραμμένον· γέγραπται δὲ καὶ τοῦτο ἐπὶ τὰ λαιὰ ἐκ δεξιῶν. ὅτου δὲ ὁ ἀλεκτρυών ἐστιν ἐπίθημα τῇ ἀσπίδι, Ἰδομενεύς ἐστιν ὁ ἀπόγονος Μίνω· τῷ δὲ Ἰδομενεῖ γένος ἀπὸ Ἡλίου τοῦ πατρὸς Πασιφάης, Ἡλίου δὲ ἱερόν φασιν εἶναι τὸν ὄρνιθα καὶ ἀγγέλλειν ἀνιέναι μέλλοντος τοῦ ἡλίου.
γέγραπται δὲ καὶ ἐπίγραμμα ἐπὶ τῷ βάθρῳ· τῷ Διὶ τἈχαιοὶ τἀγάλματα ταῦτʼ ἀνέθηκαν, / ἔγγονοι ἀντιθέου Τανταλίδα Πέλοπος. / τοῦτο μὲν δὴ ἐνταῦθά ἐστι γεγραμμένον· ὁ δὲ ἀγαλματοποιὸς ὅστις ἦν, ἐπὶ τοῦ Ἰδομενέως γέγραπται τῇ ἀσπίδι· πολλὰ μὲν ἄλλα σοφοῦ ποιήματα καὶ τόδʼ Ὀνάτα / Αἰγινήτεω, τὸν γείνατο παῖδα Μίκων. /
οὐ πόρρω δὲ τοῦ Ἀχαιῶν ἀναθήματος καὶ Ἡρακλῆς ἐστιν ὑπὲρ τοῦ ζωστῆρος μαχόμενος πρὸς τὴν Ἀμαζόνα ἔφιππον γυναῖκα· τοῦτον Εὐαγόρας μὲν γένος Ζαγκλαῖος ἀνέθηκεν, ἐποίησε δὲ Κυδωνιάτης Ἀριστοκλῆς. ἐν δὲ τοῖς μάλιστα ἀρχαίοις καταριθμήσασθαι καὶ τὸν Ἀριστοκλέα ἔστι· καὶ σαφῶς μὲν ἡλικίαν οὐκ ἔχοι τις ἂν εἰπεῖν αὐτοῦ, δῆλα δὲ ὡς πρότερον ἔτι ἐγένετο πρὶν ἢ τῇ Ζάγκλῃ τὸ ὄνομα γενέσθαι τὸ ἐφʼ ἡμῶν Μεσσήνην.
Θάσιοι δέ, Φοίνικες τὸ ἀνέκαθεν ὄντες καὶ ἐκ Τύρου καὶ Φοινίκης τῆς ἄλλης ὁμοῦ Θάσῳ τῷ Ἀγήνορος κατὰ ζήτησιν ἐκπλεύσαντες τὴν Εὐρώπης, ἀνέθεσαν Ἡρακλέα ἐς Ὀλυμπίαν, τὸ βάθρον χαλκοῦν ὁμοίως τῷ ἀγάλματι· μέγεθος μὲν δὴ τοῦ ἀγάλματός εἰσι πήχεις δέκα, ῥόπαλον δὲ ἐν τῇ δεξιᾷ, τῇ δὲ ἀριστερᾷ χειρὶ ἔχει τόξον. ἤκουσα δὲ ἐν Θάσῳ τὸν αὐτὸν σφᾶς Ἡρακλέα ὃν καὶ Τύριοι σέβεσθαι, ὕστερον δὲ ἤδη τελοῦντας ἐς Ἕλληνας νομίσαι καὶ Ἡρακλεῖ τῷ Ἀμφιτρύωνος νέμειν τιμάς.
τῷ δὲ ἀναθήματι τῷ ἐς Ὀλυμπίαν Θασίων ἔπεστιν ἐλεγεῖον· υἱὸς μέν με Μίκωνος Ὀνάτας ἐξετέλεσσεν / αὐτὸς ἐν Αἰγίνῃ δώματα ναιετάων. / τὸν δὲ Ὀνάταν τοῦτον ὅμως, καὶ τέχνης ἐς τὰ ἀγάλματα ὄντα Αἰγιναίας, οὐδενὸς ὕστερον θήσομεν τῶν ἀπὸ Δαιδάλου τε καὶ ἐργαστηρίου τοῦ Ἀττικοῦ.
This is an exact enumeration of the images of Zeus within the Altis. For the votive offering near the great temple is a portrait of Alexander, son of Philip, who is represented, forsooth, in the character of Zeus: it was dedicated by a Corinthian, not one of the ancient Corinthians, but one of the modern population on whom the Emperor bestowed Corinth. I will also mention the offerings of a different kind—those, I mean, which are not representations of Zeus. The statues dedicated, not in honour of the deity, but as a reward of men, will be comprised in the section on the athletes. Once when the Messenians who dwell on the Strait were sending to Rhegium, in accordance with an ancient custom, a chorus of five-and-thirty boys, along with a teacher and a flute-player, to take part in a local festival of Rhegium, a calamity befell them: none of those thus sent returned home, for the ship which carried the boys went down with them. In truth, the sea at this strait is the stormiest of seas, for it is lashed by the winds, which cause a swell from both sides, from the Adriatic and from the Tyrrhenian sea ; and even when the winds are still, the strait is of itself in violent agitation, and back-currents run strong. It also swarms so thickly with monsters that the air stinks of them, so that the shipwrecked mariner has no hope of escaping from the strait. If it was here that the ship of Ulysses was wrecked, it would be incredible that he swam safe to Italy, were it not that the favour of the gods makes everything easy. So the Messenians mourned for the loss of the boys, and, among other means devised to do them honour, they dedicated bronze statues of them in Olympia, together with statues of the teacher of the chorus and the flute-player. The ancient inscription declared that they were offerings of the Messenians who dwell at the Strait; but afterwards Hippias, who enjoys the reputation of wisdom amongst the Greeks, composed the elegiac verses on them. The statues are by Callon, an Elean.
At Pachynum, the promontory of Sicily which faces towards Libya and the south, there is a city Motye, inhabited by Libyans and Phoenicians. With these barbarians of Motye the Agrigentines went to war, and having taken booty and spoil from them they dedicated the bronze statues at Olympia, representing boys stretching out their right hands as if praying to the god. These statues stand on the wall of the Altis. I guessed that they were works of Calamis, and the tradition agreed with my guess. 2. Sicily is inhabited by the following races: Sicanians, Sicels, and Phrygians, of whom the first two crossed into it from Italy, but the Phrygians came from the river Scamander and the district of the Troad. The Phoenicians and Libyans came to the island together, being colonists from Carthage. Such are the barbarian races in Sicily : its Greek population consists of Dorians and Ionians, with a small proportion of people of the Phocian and Attic stocks.
On the same wall as the offerings of the Agrigentines are two naked statues of Hercules represented as a boy. The group of Hercules shooting the Nemean lion was dedicated, the lion as well as Hercules, by Hippotion, a Tarentine: the artist was Nicodamus, a Maenalian. The other image is an offering of Anaxippus, a Mendean : it was transferred to this place by the Eleans ; but formerly it stood at the end of the road which leads from Elis to Olympia, and is called the Sacred Way.
There are also offerings dedicated by the whole Achaean race, and consisting of statues of the men who, when Hector challenged a Greek to single combat, dared to cast lots who should fight him. Their statues stand near the great temple, armed with spears and shields; and opposite, on another pedestal, Nestor is represented at the moment when he has cast each man’s lot into the helmet. Of the eight statues of those who drew lots to fight Hector (for the ninth statue, that of Ulysses, is said to have been taken by Nero to Rome), the statue of Agamemnon is the only one that has the name inscribed on it: the name is written from right to left. The one with the scutcheon of the cock on the shield is Idomeneus, the descendant of Minos. They say that Idomeneus was descended from the Sun, who was the sire of Pasiphae, and that the cock is sacred to the Sun and heralds his rising. On the pedestal is the following inscription :— These images were dedicated to Zeus by the Achaeans, Descendants of the godlike Tantalid Pelops. This is the inscription on the base; but the name of the sculptor is carved on the shield of Idomeneus :— This is one of the many works of deft Onatas, Whom Micon begat in Aegina.
Not far from the offering of the Achaeans there is a statue of Hercules fighting with the Amazon, a woman on horseback, for her girdle. This statue was dedicated by Evagoras, a Zanclean : it was made by Aristocles, a Cydonian. Aristocles may be reckoned among the most ancient sculptors: his exact date cannot be given, but clearly he lived before Zancle got its present name of Messene.
The Thasians are Phoenicians by descent: having sailed from Tyre in Phoenicia with Thasus, son of Agenor, in search of Europa, they dedicated a statue of Hercules in Olympia, whereof the base as well as the image is of bronze. The height of the image is ten ells: he holds a club in his right hand and a bow in his left. I was told in Thasos that they worshipped the same Hercules whom the Tyrians revere, but that afterwards, when they came to be reckoned among the Greeks, they worshipped also Hercules, the son of Amphitryo. On the offering of the Thasians at Olympia is a couplet :— Onatas, son of Micon, wrought me: He dwelt in a house in Aegina. I am inclined to regard Onatas, though he belongs to the Aeginetan school of sculpture, as second to none of the successors of Daedalus and the Attic school.
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