τούτων δὲ ὕστερον Κλύμενον τὸν Κάρδυος, πεντηκοστῷ μάλιστα ἔτει μετὰ τὴν συμβᾶσαν ἐπὶ Δευκαλίωνος ἐν Ἕλλησιν ἐπομβρίαν ἐλθόντα ἐκ Κρήτης, γένος ἀπὸ Ἡρακλέους ὄντα τοῦ Ἰδαίου, τόν τε ἀγῶνα ἐν Ὀλυμπίᾳ θεῖναι καὶ Κούρησι τοῖς τε ἄλλοις καὶ Ἡρακλεῖ τῷ προγόνῳ λέγουσιν ἱδρύσασθαι βωμόν, Παραστάτην ἐπωνυμίαν τῷ Ἡρακλεῖ θέμενον. Ἐνδυμίων δὲ ὁ Ἀεθλίου Κλύμενόν τε ἔπαυσε τῆς ἀρχῆς καὶ δρόμου τοῖς υἱοῖς ἆθλα ἐν Ὀλυμπίᾳ τὴν βασιλείαν ἔθηκε.
Πέλοψ δὲ ὕστερον γενεᾷ μάλιστα μετὰ Ἐνδυμίωνα τὸν ἀγῶνα τῷ Ὀλυμπίῳ Διὶ ἐποίησεν ἀξιολογώτατα ἀνθρώπων τῶν πρὸ αὐτοῦ. Πέλοπος δὲ τῶν παίδων σκεδασθέντων ἐξ Ἤλιδος ἀνὰ πᾶσαν τὴν ἄλλην Πελοπόννησον, Ἀμυθάων ὁ Κρηθέως Ἐνδυμίωνι ἀνεψιὸς πρὸς πατρός—εἶναι γάρ φασι καὶ Ἀέθλιον Αἰόλου, Διὸς δὲ ἐπίκλησιν—, ἔθηκεν ὁ Ἀμυθάων τὰ Ὀλύμπια, μετὰ δὲ αὐτὸν Πελίας τε καὶ Νηλεὺς ἐν κοινῷ.
ἔθηκε δὲ καὶ Αὐγέας καὶ Ἡρακλῆς ὁ Ἀμφιτρύωνος ἑλὼν Ἦλιν· ὁπόσους δὲ ἐστεφάνωσεν οὗτος νικῶντας, ἔστιν Ἰόλαος ταῖς Ἡρακλέους δραμὼν ἵπποις. ἦν δὲ ἄρα ἐκ παλαιοῦ καθεστηκὸς ἀγωνίζεσθαι καὶ ἀλλοτρίαις ἵπποις· Ὅμηρος γοῦν ἐν ἄθλοις τεθεῖσιν ἐπὶ Πατρόκλῳ πεποίηκεν ὡς Μενέλαος Αἴθῃ τῇ Ἀγαμέμνονος, τῷ δὲ ἑτέρῳ χρήσαιτο τῶν ἵππων οἰκείῳ.
ἡνιόχει δὲ καὶ ἄλλως ὁ Ἰόλαος Ἡρακλεῖ τὰς ἵππους· αὐτός τε οὖν ἅρματι καὶ Ἰάσιος ἀνὴρ Ἀρκὰς κέλητος ἐνίκησεν ἵππου δρόμῳ, Τυνδάρεω δὲ οἱ παῖδες ὁ μὲν δρόμῳ, Πολυδεύκης δὲ πυκτεύων. λέγεται δὲ καὶ ἐς αὐτὸν Ἡρακλέα ὡς πάλης τε ἀνέλοιτο καὶ παγκρατίου νίκας.
μετὰ δὲ Ὄξυλον—διέθηκε γὰρ τὸν ἀγῶνα καὶ Ὄξυλος—, μετὰ τοῦτον βασιλεύσαντα ἐξέλιπεν ἄχρι Ἰφίτου τὰ Ὀλύμπια. Ἰφίτου δὲ τὸν ἀγῶνα ἀνανεωσαμένου κατὰ τὰ ἤδη μοι λελεγμένα, τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἔτι ὑπῆρχε τῶν ἀρχαίων λήθη· καὶ κατʼ ὀλίγον ἐς ὑπόμνησιν ἤρχοντο αὐτῶν, καὶ ὁπότε τι ἀναμνησθεῖεν, ἐποιοῦντο τῷ ἀγῶνι προσθήκην.
δῆλον δέ· ἐξ οὗ γὰρ τὸ συνεχὲς ταῖς μνήμαις ἐπὶ ταῖς Ὀλυμπιάσιν ἐστί, δρόμου μὲν ἆθλα ἐτέθη πρῶτον, καὶ Ἠλεῖος Κόροιβος ἐνίκα· εἰκὼν μὲν δὴ οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν Ὀλυμπίᾳ τοῦ Κοροίβου, τάφος δὲ ἐπὶ τοῖς πέρασι τῆς Ἠλείας. Ὀλυμπιάδι δὲ ὕστερον τετάρτῃ καὶ δεκάτῃ προσετέθη σφίσι δίαυλος· Ὕπηνος δὲ ἀνὴρ Πισαῖος ἀνείλετο ἐπὶ τῷ διαύλῳ τὸν κότινον, τῇ δὲ ἑξῆς ἐπὶ τῷ δολίχῳ Ἄκανθος Λακεδαιμόνιος.
ἐπὶ δὲ τῆς ὀγδόης καὶ δεκάτης Ὀλυμπιάδος πεντάθλου καὶ πάλης ἀφίκοντο ἐς μνήμην· καὶ τοῦ μὲν Λάμπιδι ὑπῆρξεν, Εὐρυβάτῳ δὲ ἡ νίκη τῆς πάλης, Λακεδαιμονίοις καὶ τούτοις. τρίτῃ δὲ Ὀλυμπιάδι καὶ εἰκοστῇ πυγμῆς ἆθλα ἀπέδοσαν· Ὀνόμαστος δὲ ἐνίκησεν ἐκ Σμύρνης συντελούσης ἤδη τηνικαῦτα ἐς Ἴωνας. πέμπτῃ δὲ ἐπὶ ταῖς εἴκοσι κατεδέξαντο ἵππων τελείων δρόμον, καὶ ἀνηγορεύθη Θηβαῖος Παγώνδας κρατῶν ἅρματι.
ὀγδόῃ δὲ ἀπὸ ταύτης Ὀλυμπιάδι ἐδέξαντο παγκρατιαστήν τε ἄνδρα καὶ ἵππον κέλητα· ἵππος μὲν δὴ Κραννωνίου Κραυξίδα παρέφθη, τοὺς δὲ ἐσελθόντας ἐπὶ τὸ παγκράτιον ὁ Λύγδαμις κατειργάσατο Συρακούσιος. τούτῳ πρὸς ταῖς λιθοτομίαις ἐστὶν ἐν Συρακούσαις μνῆμα· εἰ δὲ καὶ Ἡρακλεῖ τῷ Θηβαίῳ μέγεθος παρισοῦτο ὁ Λύγδαμις, ἐγὼ μὲν οὐκ οἶδα, λεγόμενον δὲ ὑπὸ Συρακουσίων ἐστί.
τὰ δὲ ἐπὶ τοῖς παισὶν ἐς μὲν τῶν παλαιοτέρων οὐδεμίαν ἥκει μνήμην, αὐτοὶ δὲ ἀρέσαν σφίσι κατεστήσαντο Ἠλεῖοι. δρόμου μὲν δὴ καὶ πάλης ἐτέθη παισὶν ἆθλα ἐπὶ τῆς ἑβδόμης καὶ τριακοστῆς Ὀλυμπιάδος, καὶ Ἱπποσθένης Λακεδαιμόνιος πάλην, Πολυνείκης δὲ τὸν δρόμον ἐνίκησεν Ἠλεῖος. πρώτῃ δὲ ἐπὶ ταῖς τεσσαράκοντα Ὀλυμπιάδι πύκτας ἐσεκάλεσαν παῖδας, καὶ περιῆν τῶν ἐσελθόντων Συβαρίτης Φιλύτας.
τῶν δὲ ὁπλιτῶν ὁ δρόμος ἐδοκιμάσθη μὲν ἐπὶ τῆς πέμπτης Ὀλυμπιάδος καὶ ἑξηκοστῆς, μελέτης ἐμοὶ δοκεῖν ἕνεκα τῆς ἐς τὰ πολεμικά· τοὺς δὲ δραμόντας ἀσπίσιν ὁμοῦ πρῶτος Δαμάρετος ἐκράτησεν Ἡραιεύς. δρόμος δὲ δύο ἵππων τελείων συνωρὶς κληθεῖσα τρίτῃ μὲν Ὀλυμπιάδι ἐτέθη πρὸς ταῖς ἐνενήκοντα, Εὐαγόρας δὲ ἐνίκησεν Ἠλεῖος. ἐνάτῃ δὲ ἤρεσεν Ὀλυμπιάδι καὶ ἐνενηκοστῇ καὶ πώλων ἅρμασιν ἀγωνίζεσθαι· Λακεδαιμόνιος δὲ Συβαριάδης τὸν στέφανον τῶν πώλων ἔσχε τοῦ ἅρματος.
προσέθεσαν δὲ ὕστερον καὶ συνωρίδα πώλων καὶ πῶλον κέλητα· ἐπὶ μὲν δὴ τῇ συνωρίδι Βελιστίχην ἐκ Μακεδονίας τῆς ἐπὶ θαλάσσῃ γυναῖκα, Τληπόλεμον δὲ Λύκιον ἀναγορευθῆναι λέγουσιν ἐπὶ τῷ κέλητι, τοῦτον μὲν ἐπὶ τῆς πρώτης καὶ τριακοστῆς τε καὶ ἑκατοστῆς Ὀλυμπιάδος, τῆς δὲ Βελιστίχης τὴν συνωρίδα Ὀλυμπιάδι πρὸ ταύτης τρίτῃ. πέμπτῃ δὲ ἐπὶ ταῖς τεσσαράκοντα καὶ ἑκατὸν ἆθλα ἐτέθη παγκρατίου παισί, καὶ ἐνίκα Φαίδιμος Αἰολεὺς ἐκ πόλεως Τρῳάδος.
They relate that afterwards Clymenus, son of Cardys, a descendant of the Idaean Hercules, came from Crete about fifty years after the flood, which happened in Greece in the days of Deucalion. He, they say, held the games in Olympia, and set up an altar to Hercules, his ancestor, and to the other Curetes: to Hercules he gave the surname of Assistant. But Endymion, son of Aethlius, dethroned Clymenus, and offered his sons the kingdom as a prize to be won in the race at Olympia. About a generation after Endymion, Pelops celebrated the games in honour of Olympian Zeus in a grander way than all who had gone before him. When the sons of Pelops were dispersed from Elis over all the rest of Peloponnese, Amythaon, son of Cretheus, and cousin to Endymion on the father’s side (for they say that Aethlius also was a son of Aeolus, though reputed to be a son of Zeus), celebrated the Olympic festival; and after him Pelias and Neleus celebrated it in common. It was also celebrated by Augeas and by Hercules, the son of Amphitryo, after his conquest of Elis. The victors whom Hercules crowned are these: Iolaus, who won the race with Hercules’ mares. (It thus appears that of old a competitor was allowed to drive horses which were not his own. At all events, in the funeral games held in honour of Patroclus, Homer represents Menelaus as driving a pair, of which one was Agamemnon’s mare Aetha, while the other horse was Menelaus’ own. Besides, Iolaus regularly drove Hercules’ chariot.) Iolaus, then, won the chariot-race: Iasius, an Arcadian, won the horse-race; and of the sons of Tyndareus one (Castor) won the foot-race, and the other, Pollux, won the boxing-match. It is said that Hercules himself won the prizes for wrestling and the pancratium.
After the reign of Oxylus, who also held the games, the Olympic festival was discontinued down to the time of Iphitus. When Iphitus renewed the games, as I have said before, people had forgotten the ancient customs, and they only gradually remembered them, and as they remembered them piece by piece, they added them to the games.
This is clear from the following considerations. At the point at which the unbroken tradition of the Olympiads begins, there were at first prizes for the foot- race, and Coroebus the Elean won the race. There is not a statue of Coroebus at Olympia, but his grave is at the confines of Elis. Afterwards, in the fourteenth Olympiad, the double foot-race was added ; and Hypenus, a Pisan, won the wild olive in it. And in the next... Acanthus. In the eighteenth Olympiad they remembered the pentathlum and the wrestling, and Lampis was victorious in the former and Eurybatus in the latter, both of them being likewise Lacedaemonians. In the twenty-third Olympiad they restored the prizes for boxing, and the victor was Onomastus of Smyrna, which was by that time included in Ionia. In the twenty-fifth Olympiad they admitted the race of full-grown horses (in four-horse chariots), and the Theban Pagondas was proclaimed victor in the race. Eight Olympiads afterwards they admitted the pancratium for men and the horse-race: the horse of Crauxidas of Crannon passed the rest, and Lygdamis of Syracuse vanquished the other competitors in the pancratium. The tomb of the latter is at the quarries in Syracuse. Whether Lygdamis was as big as the Theban Hercules I know not, but the Syracusans say he was. The origin of the competitions for boys is not traced to any ancient tradition : they were instituted by a resolution of the Eleans. Prizes for boys in running and wrestling were instituted in the thirty-seventh Olympiad, and Hipposthenes, a Lacedaemonian, was victorious in wrestling, and Polynices an Elean in the race. In the forty-first Olympiad they introduced boxing for boys, and of the competitors the victor was Philetas of Sybara. The race between armed men was sanctioned in the sixty-fifth Olympiad, for the purpose, I suppose, of training men for war; and the first victor in the race with shields was Damaretus of Heraea. The race called syzoris, between (chariots drawn by) pairs of full-grown horses, was instituted in the ninety-third Olympiad, and the victor was Evagoras, an Elean. In the ninety-ninth Olympiad the race between chariots, each drawn by (four) foals, was instituted, and Sybariades, a Lacedaemonian, won the crown in the race. Afterwards they instituted races between chariots drawn by pairs of foals, and races ridden on foals: they say that a woman Belistiche, from the coast of Macedonia, was proclaimed victor in the former, and Tleptolemus, a Lycian, in the latter race. The victory of Tleptolemus, they say, occurred in the hundred and thirty-first Olympiad, and that of Belistiche occurred two Olympiads earlier. In the hundred and forty-fifth Olympiad prizes were offered for boys in the pancratium, and the victor was Phaedimus, an Aeolian, from the city of Troas.
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