Ἀστύλος δὲ Κροτωνιάτης Πυθαγόρου μέν ἐστιν ἔργον, τρεῖς δὲ ἐφεξῆς Ὀλυμπίασι σταδίου τε καὶ διαύλου νίκας ἔσχεν. ὅτι δὲ ἐν δύο ταῖς ὑστέραις ἐς χάριν τὴν Ἱέρωνος τοῦ Δεινομένους ἀνηγόρευσεν αὑτὸν Συρακούσιον, τούτων ἕνεκα οἱ Κροτωνιᾶται τὴν οἰκίαν αὐτοῦ δεσμωτήριον εἷναι κατέγνωσαν καὶ τὴν εἰκόνα καθεῖλον παρὰ τῇ Ἥρᾳ τῇ Λακινίᾳ κειμένην.
ἀνάκειται δὲ ἐν Ὀλυμπίᾳ καὶ στήλη λέγουσα τοῦ Λακεδαιμονίου Χιόνιδος τὰς νίκας. εὐηθείας μὲν δὴ μετέχουσι καὶ ὅσοι Χίονιν αὐτὸν ἀναθεῖναι τὴν στήλην, ἀλλʼ οὐ Λακεδαιμονίων ἥγηνται τὸ δημόσιον· ἔστω γὰρ δήπου, ὡς ἐν τῇ στήλῃ, οὐκ εἶναί πω τοῦ ὅπλου τὸν δρόμον· πῶς ἂν οὖν ἐπίσταιτο ὁ Χίονις εἰ αὖθίς ποτε προσνομοθετήσουσιν Ἠλεῖοι; τούτων δὲ ἔτι ἐς πλέον ἥκουσιν εὐηθείας οἳ τὸν ἑστηκότα ἀνδριάντα παρὰ τῇ στήλῃ φασὶν εἰκόνα εἶναι Χιόνιδος, ἔργον ὄντα τοῦ Ἀθηναίου Μύρωνος.
ἐοικότα δὲ Χιόνιδι τὰ ἐς δόξαν καὶ ἀνὴρ Λύκιος παρέσχετο Ἑρμογένης Ξάνθιος, ὃς τὸν κότινον ἐν τρισὶν Ὀλυμπιάσιν ἀνείλετο ὀκτάκις ἐπίκλησίν τε ἔσχεν Ἵππος ὑπὸ Ἑλλήνων· ποιήσαιο δʼ ἂν καὶ Πολίτην ἐν μεγάλῳ θαύματι. ὁ Πολίτης δʼ ἦν οὗτος ἐκ Κεράμου τῆς ἐν τῇ Καρίᾳ, ἀνέφηνε δὲ ἀρετὴν ποδῶν ἐν Ὀλυμπίᾳ πᾶσαν· ἀπὸ γὰρ τοῦ μηκίστου καὶ διαρκεστάτου διʼ ὀλιγίστου δὴ καιροῦ μεθηρμόσατο ἐπὶ τὸ βραχύτατον ὁμοῦ καὶ ὤκιστον, καὶ δολίχου τε ἐν ἡμέρᾳ τῇ αὐτῇ καὶ παραυτίκα σταδίου λαβὼν νίκην προσέθηκε διαύλου σφίσι τὴν τρίτην.
Πολίτης μὲν δὴ ἐπὶ τῆς δευτέρας καὶ τέσσαρας, ὡς ἂν ἕκαστοι συνταχθῶσιν ὑπὸ τοῦ κλήρου, καὶ οὐκ ἀθρόους ἀφιᾶσιν ἐς τὸν δρόμον· οἳ δʼ ἂν ἐν ἑκάστῃ τάξει κρατήσωσιν, ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν αὖθις θέουσι τῶν ἄθλων· καὶ οὕτω σταδίου δύο ὁ στεφανούμενος ἀναιρήσεται νίκας. τὰ μέντοι ἐπιφανέστατα ἐς δρόμον Λεωνίδᾳ Ῥοδίῳ ἐστίν· ἐπὶ γὰρ τέσσαρας Ὀλυμπιάδας ἀκμάζων τε τῇ ὠκύτητι ἀντήρκεσε, καὶ γεγόνασιν αὐτῷ δρόμου νῖκαι δύο ἀριθμὸν καὶ δέκα.
Χιόνιδος δὲ οὐ πόρρω τῆς ἐν Ὀλυμπίᾳ στήλης Σκαῖος ἕστηκεν ὁ Δούριος Σάμιος, κρατήσας πυγμῇ παῖδας· τέχνη δὲ ἡ εἰκών ἐστι μὲν Ἱππίου τοῦ , τὸ δὲ ἐπίγραμμα δηλοῖ τὸ ἐπʼ αὐτῷ, νικῆσαι Σκαῖον ἡνίκα ὁ Σαμίων δῆμος ἔφευγεν ἐκ τῆς νήσου, τὸν δὲ καιρὸν ἐπὶ τὰ οἰκεῖα τὸν δῆμον.
παρὰ δὲ τὸν τύραννον Δίαλλος ὁ Πόλλιδος ἀνάκειται, γένος μὲν Σμυρναῖος, Ἰώνων δὲ πρῶτος λαβεῖν ἐν Ὀλυμπίᾳ φησὶν οὗτος ὁ Δίαλλος παγκρατίου στέφανον ἐν παισίν. Θερσίλοχον δὲ Κορκυραῖον καὶ Ἀριστίωνα Θεοφίλους Ἐπιδαύριον, τὸν μὲν ἀνδρῶν πυγμῆς, Θερσίλοχον δὲ λαβόντα ἐν παισὶ στέφανον, Πολύκλειτος ἐποίησε σφᾶς ὁ Ἀργεῖος.
Βύκελος δέ, ὃς Σικυωνίων πρῶτος πὺξ ἐκράτησεν ἐν παισίν, ἔστιν ἔργον Σικυωνίου Κανάχου παρὰ τῷ Ἀργείῳ Πολυκλείτῳ διδαχθέντος. παρὰ δὲ τὸν Βύκελον ὁπλίτης ἀνὴρ ἐπίκλησιν Λίβυς Μνασέας Κυρηναῖος ἕστηκε· Πυθαγόρας δὲ ὁ Ῥηγῖνος ἐποίησε τὴν εἰκόνα. Κυζικηνῷ δὲ Ἀγεμάχῳ τῶν ἐκ τῆς Ἀσιανῆς ἠπείρου γενέσθαι ἐν Ἄργει τὸ ἐπίγραμμα τὸ ἐπʼ αὐτῷ μηνύει.
Νάξου δὲ οἰκισθείσης ποτὲ ἐν Σικελίᾳ ὑπὸ Χαλκιδέων τῶν ἐπὶ Εὐρίπῳ, τῆς πόλεως μὲν οὐδὲ ἐρείπια ἐλείπετο ἐς ἡμᾶς ἔτι, ὄνομα δὲ καὶ ἐς τοὺς ἔπειτα εἶναι τῆς Νάξου Τίσανδρος ὁ Κλεοκρίτου μάλιστα αἰτίαν ἐχέτω· τετράκις γὰρ δὴ ἐν ἀνδράσι κατεμαχέσατο ὁ Τίσανδρος πύκτας ἐν Ὀλυμπίᾳ, τοσαῦται δὲ καὶ Πυθοῖ γεγόνασιν αὐτῷ νῖκαι, Κορινθίοις δὲ οὐκ ἦν πω τηνικαῦτα οὐδὲ Ἀργείοις ἐς ἅπαντας ὑπομνήματα τοὺς Νέμεια καὶ Ἴσθμια νικήσαντας.
ἡ δὲ ἵππος ἡ τοῦ Κορινθίου Φειδώλα ὄνομα μέν, ὡς οἱ Κορίνθιοι μνημονεύουσιν, ἔχει Αὔρα, τὸν δὲ ἀναβάτην ἔτι ἀρχομένου τοῦ δρόμου συνέπεσεν ἀποβαλεῖν αὐτήν· καὶ οὐδέν τι ἧσσον θέουσα ἐν κόσμῳ περί τε τὴν νύσσαν ἐπέστρεφε, καὶ ἐπεὶ τῆς σάλπιγγος ἤκουσεν, ἐπετάχυνεν ἐς πλέον τὸν δρόμον, φθάνει τε δὴ ἐπὶ τοὺς Ἑλλανοδίκας ἀφικομένη καὶ νικῶσα ἔγνω καὶ παύεται τοῦ δρόμου. Ἠλεῖοι δὲ ἀνηγόρευσαν ἐπὶ τῇ νίκῃ τὸν Φειδώλαν καὶ ἀναθεῖναί οἱ τὴν ἵππον ταύτην ἐφιᾶσιν.
ἐγένετο δὲ καὶ τοῦ Φειδώλα τοῖς παισὶν ἐπὶ κέλητι ἵππῳ νίκη, καὶ ὅ τε ἵππος ἐπὶ στήλῃ πεποιημένος καὶ ἐπίγραμμά ἐστιν ἐπʼ αὐτῷ· ὠκυδρόμας Λύκος Ἴσθμιʼ ἅπαξ, δύο δʼ ἐνθάδε νίκαις / Φειδώλα παίδων ἐστεφάνωσε δόμους. / οὐ μὴν τῷ γε ἐπιγράμματι καὶ τὰ Ἠλείων ἐς τοὺς Ὀλυμπιονίκας ὁμολογεῖ γράμματα· ὀγδόῃ γὰρ Ὀλυμπιάδι καὶ ἑξηκοστῇ καὶ οὐ πέρα ταύτης ἐστὶν ἐν τοῖς Ἠλείων γράμμασιν ἡ νίκη τῶν Φειδώλα παίδων·
ταῦτα μὲν δὴ οὕτως ἔχοντα ἴστω τις· Ἠλείοις δὲ ἀνδράσιν Ἀγαθίνῳ τε τῷ Θρασυβούλου καὶ Τηλεμάχῳ, Τηλεμάχῳ μὲν ἐπὶ ἵππων νίκῃ γέγονεν ἡ εἰκών, Ἀγαθῖνον δὲ ἀνέθεσαν Ἀχαιοὶ Πελληνεῖς. ἀνέθηκε δὲ καὶ ὁ Ἀθηναίων δῆμος Ἀριστοφῶντα Λυσίνου, παγκρατιαστὰς ἐν τῷ ἀγῶνι τῷ ἐν Ὀλυμπίᾳ κρατήσαντα ἄνδρας.
The statue of Astylus of Crotona is a work of Pythagoras: Astylus was victorious in three successive Olympiads, both in the short and in the double race. But because in the two latter Olympiads he, to please Hiero, son of Dinomenes, proclaimed himself a Syracusan, the people of Crotona condemned his house to be turned into a gaol, and pulled down his statue which stood in the sanctuary of Lacinian Hera. There is also in Olympia a tablet recording the victories of the Lacedaemonian Chionis. They are simple who think that the tablet was dedicated by Chionis himself, and not by the Lacedaemonian state. For granting the truth of the statement on the tablet that the armed race was not yet introduced, how was Chionis to know whether it ever would be instituted by the Eleans ? But they are even simpler who say that the statue beside the tablet is a portrait of Chionis, it being a work of Myron, the Athenian.
Like the renown of Chionis is the renown of a Lycian, Hermogenes of Xanthus, who in three Olympiads won the wild olive eight times, and was surnamed Horse by the Greeks. Polites may also be regarded as a wonder. He was from Ceramus in Caria, and proved at Olympia that he excelled in every species of running. For after the longest race, and one which required the greatest endurance, he after the briefest interval adapted himself to the shortest and fastest, and after winning a victory in the long course, and another immediately afterwards in the short course, he added in the same day a third victory in the double course. Polites then in the second . . . and four, as they happen to be grouped together by the lot, and they do not start them all together ; but the winners in each heat run again for the prize. Thus the man who wins the crown in the foot-race is necessarily victorious twice. 3. But the best performances in running were those of a Rhodian, Leonidas, who maintained his fleetness of foot unabated for four Olympiads, and won twelve prizes for running. Not far from the tablet of Chionis at Olympia is a statue of Scaeus, a Samian, son of Duris, a victor in the boys’ boxing-match. The statue is a work of Hippias; and the inscription on it declares that the victory of Scaeus took place when the Samian people were banished from their island. But the occasion... the people to their own. 4. Beside the statue of the tyrant is a statue of Diallus, a Smyrnaean, son of Pollis. The inscription states that this Diallus was the first Ionian who won a crown at Olympia in the boys’ pancratium. The statues of Thersilochus of Corcyra, who won a crown in the boys’ boxing-match, and Aristion, son of Theophiles, an Epidaurian, who was victorious in the men’s boxing-match, are both by Polyclitus the Argive. The statue of Bycelus, the first Sicyonian who won the prize in the boys’ boxing-match, is a work of a Sicyonian, Canachus, a pupil of the Argive Polyclitus. Beside the statue of Bycelus stands the statue of an armed man, Mnaseas, a Cyrenian, surnamed the Libyan: the statue is by Pythagoras of Rhegium. Agemachus of Cyzicus from the mainland of Asia . . . the inscription on the statue shows that he was born in Argos. Naxus was founded in Sicily by the Chalcidians who dwell on the Euripus. Not a vestige of the city is now left, and that its name has survived to after ages is chiefly due to Tisander, son of Cleocritus. For Tisander four times vanquished his competitors in the men’s boxing-match at Olympia, and he won as many victories at Pytho. But in those days the Corinthians and Argives had not begun to keep records of all the victors at Nemea and the Isthmus. 5. The mare of the Corinthian Phidolas was named Aura (‘breeze’), according to the Corinthians: at the start she happened to throw her rider, but continuing, nevertheless, to race in due form, she rounded the turning-post, and on hearing the trumpet quickened her pace, reached the umpires first, knew that she had won, and stopped. The Eleans proclaimed Phidolas victor, and allowed him to dedicate this statue of the mare.
The sons of Phidolas were also victorious in the horse-race, and the horse is represented on a monument with this inscription :— By a victory at the Isthmus, and two victories here, the fleet steed Lycus Brought glory to the house of the sons of Phidolas. However, the Elean register of the Olympic victors does not tally with the inscription. For the register records a victory of the sons of Phidolas in the sixty-eighth Olympiad only. As to two men of Elis, Agathinus, son of Thrasybulus, and Telemechus, the statue of the latter is for a victory with the four-horse chariot, that of Agathinus was dedicated by the Achaeans of Pellene. The statue of Aristophon, son of Lysinus, a victor in the men’s pancratium at Olympia, was dedicated by the Athenian people.
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