τὸ δὲ ἄγαλμα ἐν Τεγέᾳ τὸ ἐφʼ ἡμῶν ἐκομίσθη μὲν ἐκ δήμου τοῦ Μανθουρέων, Ἱππία δὲ παρὰ τοῖς Μανθουρεῦσιν εἶχεν ἐπίκλησιν, ὅτι τῷ ἐκείνων λόγῳ γινομένης τοῖς θεοῖς πρὸς γίγαντας μάχης ἐπήλασεν Ἐγκελάδῳ ἵππων τὸ ἅρμα· Ἀλέαν μέντοι καλεῖσθαι καὶ ταύτην ἔς τε Ἕλληνας τοὺς ἄλλους καὶ ἐς αὐτοὺς Πελοποννησίους ἐκνενίκηκε. τῷ δὲ ἀγάλματι τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς τῇ μὲν Ἀσκληπιός, τῇ δὲ Ὑγείᾳ παρεστῶσά ἐστι λίθου τοῦ Πεντελησίου, Σκόπα δὲ ἔργα Παρίου.
ἀναθήματα δὲ ἐν τῷ ναῷ τὰ ἀξιολογώτατα, ἔστι μὲν τὸ δέρμα ὑὸς τοῦ Καλυδωνίου, διεσήπετο δὲ ὑπὸ τοῦ χρόνου καὶ ἐς ἅπαν ἦν τριχῶν ἤδη ψιλόν· εἰσὶ δὲ αἱ πέδαι κρεμάμεναι, πλὴν ὅσας ἠφάνισεν αὐτῶν ἰός, ἅς γε ἔχοντες Λακεδαιμονίων οἱ αἰχμάλωτοι τὸ πεδίον Τεγεάταις ἔσκαπτον· κλίνη τε ἱερὰ τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς καὶ Αὔγης εἰκὼν γραφῇ μεμιμημένη Μαρπήσσης τε ἐπίκλησιν Χοίρας, γυναικὸς Τεγεάτιδος, ἀνάκειται τὸ ὅπλον.
ταύτης μὲν δὴ ποιησόμεθα καὶ ὕστερον μνήμην· ἱερᾶται δὲ τῇ Ἀθηνᾷ παῖς χρόνον οὐκ οἶδα ὅσον τινά, πρὶν δὲ ἡβάσκειν καὶ οὐ πρόσω, τὴν ἱερωσύνην. τῇ θεῷ δὲ ποιηθῆναι τὸν βωμὸν ὑπὸ Μελάμποδος τοῦ Ἀμυθάονος λέγουσιν· εἰργασμέναι δὲ ἐπὶ τῷ βωμῷ Ῥέα μὲν καὶ Οἰνόη νύμφη παῖδα ἔτι νήπιον Δία ἔχουσιν, ἑκατέρωθεν δέ εἰσι τέσσαρες ἀριθμόν, Γλαύκη καὶ Νέδα καὶ Θεισόα καὶ Ἀνθρακία, τῇ δὲ Ἴδη καὶ Ἁγνὼ καὶ Ἀλκινόη τε καὶ Φρίξα. πεποίηται δὲ καὶ Μουσῶν καὶ Μνημοσύνης ἀγάλματα.
τοῦ ναοῦ δὲ οὐ πόρρω στάδιον χῶμα γῆς ἐστι, καὶ ἄγουσιν ἀγῶνας ἐνταῦθα, Ἀλεαῖα ὀνομάζοντες ἀπὸ τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς, τὸν δὲ Ἁλώτια, ὅτι Λακεδαιμονίων τὸ πολὺ ἐν τῇ μάχῃ ζῶντας εἷλον. ἔστι δὲ ἐν τοῖς πρὸς ἄρκτον τοῦ ναοῦ κρήνη, καὶ ἐπὶ ταύτῃ βιασθῆναι τῇ κρήνῃ φασὶν Αὔγην ὑπὸ Ἡρακλέους, οὐχ ὁμολογοῦντες Ἑκαταίῳ τὰ ἐς αὐτήν. ἀπωτέρω δὲ τῆς κρήνης ὅσον σταδίοις τρισίν ἐστιν Ἑρμοῦ ναὸς Αἰπύτου.
Τεγεάταις δέ ἐστι καὶ ἄλλο ἱερὸν Ἀθηνᾶς Πολιάτιδος, ἑκάστου δὲ ἅπαξ ἔτους ἱερεὺς ἐς αὐτὸ ἔσεισι· τοῦτο Ἔρυμα τὸ ἱερὸν ὀνομάζουσι, λέγοντες ὡς Κηφεῖ τῷ Ἀλέου γένοιτο δωρεὰ παρὰ Ἀθηνᾶς ἀνάλωτον ἐς τὸν πάντα χρόνον εἶναι Τεγέαν, καὶ αὐτῷ φασιν ἐς φυλακὴν τῆς πόλεως ἀποτεμοῦσαν τὴν θεὸν δοῦναι τριχῶν τῶν Μεδούσης.
ἐς δὲ τὴν Ἄρτεμιν, Ἡγεμόνην τὴν αὐτήν, τοιάδε λέγουσιν. Ὀρχομενίων τῶν ἐν Ἀρκαδίᾳ τυραννίδα ἔσχεν Ἀριστομηλίδας, ἐρασθεὶς δὲ Τεγεάτιδος παρθένου καὶ ἐγκρατὴς ὅτῳ δὴ τρόπῳ γενόμενος ἐπιτρέπει τὴν φρουρὰν αὐτῆς Χρονίῳ· καὶ ἡ μέν, πρὶν ἀναχθῆναι παρὰ τὸν τύραννον, ἀποκτίννυσιν ἑαυτὴν ὑπὸ δείματός τε καὶ αἰδοῦς, Χρόνιον δὲ Ἀρτέμιδος ἐπήγειρεν ὄψις ἐπὶ Ἀριστομηλίδαν· φονεύσας δὲ ἐκεῖνον καὶ ἐς Τεγέαν φυγὼν ἐποίησεν ἱερὸν τῇ Ἀρτέμιδι.
The present image at Tegea was brought from the township of Manthyrenses: amongst the Manthyrensians it went by the surname of Hippia (‘of horses’), because, according to them, in the battle of the gods and the giants the goddess drove the chariot and horses against Enceladus. However, Alea has come to be her recognised name amongst the Peloponnesians and the rest of the Greeks. On one side of the image of Athena stands Aesculapius, on the other Health, made of Pentelic marble, works of Scopas the Parian.
Amongst the most remarkable votive offerings in the temple is the hide of the Calydonian boar: it is rotting away with age, and is now quite bare of bristles. Also, there are hung up the fetters which the Lacedaemonian prisoners wore when they dug the plain of Tegea, but some of the fetters have been eaten away by rust. There is also a sacred couch of Athena and a picture of Auge; also the shield of Marpessa surnamed Choera, a woman of Tegea. I shall make mention of Marpessa hereafter. A boy acts as priest of Athena : how long his priesthood lasts I know not; but he can hold it only before the age of puberty, and not after it. They say that the altar was made for the goddess by Melampus, son of Amythaon. On the altar are represented Rhea and a nymph Oenoe holding the infant Zeus. On either side are four figures: on the one side Glauce, Neda, Thisoa, and Anthracia ; on the other side Ida, Hagno, Alcinoa, and Phrixa. There are also images of the Muses and Memory. 3. Not far from the temple is a stadium formed by a bank of earth, and they hold games there, one set of which they name Aleaea after Athena, and the other Halotia, because they took most of the Lacedaemonians alive in the battle. To the north of the temple is a fountain, and at this fountain they say that Auge was violated by Hercules, but in this they differ from Hecataeus. About three furlongs from the fountain is a temple of Hermes Aepytus.
There is another sanctuary of Athena at Tegea, that of Athena Poliatis (‘Guardian of the City’): once each year a priest enters it. They name it the Sanctuary of the Bulwark, saying that to Cepheus, son of Aleus, a boon was granted by Athena, that Tegea should never be taken ; and they say that the goddess cut off some of the hair of Medusa and gave him it as a means of guarding the city. Of Artemis, the Leader, they tell the following tale. Aristomelidas made himself tyrant of Orchomenus in Arcadia, and having fallen in love with a girl of Tegea, and got her into his power somehow or other, he committed the safe-keeping of the damsel to Chronius. But before she was brought to the tyrant the girl slew herself for fear and shame; and Artemis in a vision stirred up Chronius against Aristomelidas. So having murdered the tyrant and fled to Tegea, he made a sanctuary for Artemis.
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