Pausanias · Description of Greece Ἑλλάδος Περιήγησις

Pausanias, Description of Greece 9.17.1–7: Thebes: Artemis of Good Fame, the Girder Athenas and the tomb of Zethus and Amphion

Pausanias describes the temple of Artemis of Good Fame, where the daughters of Antipoenus died to win victory over the Orchomenians, and the stone lion dedicated by Hercules. He notes the pyre of Amphion's children, the two Athenas surnamed Girder and the common tomb of Zethus and Amphion. The people of Tithorea try to steal earth from that mound to bring fertility to their own land, a belief based on the oracles of Bacis, who calls it the tomb of Phocus because Antiope was healed and married by Phocus.

Sections 9.17.1–7 · 577 words · click a number to copy its link

πλησίον δὲ Ἀρτέμιδος ναός ἐστιν Εὐκλείας· Σκόπα δὲ τὸ ἄγαλμα ἔργον. ταφῆναι δὲ ἐντὸς τοῦ ἱεροῦ θυγατέρας Ἀντιποίνου λέγουσιν Ἀνδρόκλειάν τε καὶ Ἀλκίδα. μελλούσης γὰρ πρὸς Ὀρχομενίους γίνεσθαι μάχης Θηβαίοις καὶ Ἡρακλεῖ, λόγιόν σφισιν ἦλθεν ἔσεσθαι τοῦ πολέμου κράτος ἀποθανεῖν αὐτοχειρίᾳ θελήσαντος, ὃς ἂν τῶν ἀστῶν ἐπιφανέστατος κατὰ γένους ἀξίωμα ᾖ. Ἀντιποίνῳ μὲν οὖν—τούτῳ γὰρ τὰ ἐς τοὺς προγόνους μάλιστα ὑπῆρχεν ἔνδοξα—οὐχ ἡδὺ ἦν ἀποθνήσκειν πρὸ τοῦ δήμου, ταῖς δὲ Ἀντιποίνου θυγατράσιν ἤρεσκε· διεργασάμεναι δὲ αὑτὰς τιμὰς ἀντὶ τούτων ἔχουσι.

τοῦ ναοῦ δὲ τῆς Εὐκλείας Ἀρτέμιδος λέων ἐστὶν ἔμπροσθε λίθου πεποιημένος· ἀναθεῖναι δὲ ἐλέγετο Ἡρακλῆς Ὀρχομενίους καὶ τὸν βασιλέα αὐτῶν Ἐργῖνον τὸν Κλυμένου νικήσας τῇ μάχῃ. πλησίον δὲ Ἀπόλλων τέ ἐστιν ἐπίκλησιν Βοηδρόμιος καὶ Ἀγοραῖος Ἑρμῆς καλούμενος, Πινδάρου καὶ τοῦτο ἀνάθημα. ἀπέχει δὲ ἡ πυρὰ τῶν Ἀμφίονος παίδων ἥμισυ σταδίου μάλιστα ἀπὸ τῶν τάφων· μένει δὲ ἡ τέφρα καὶ ἐς τόδε ἔτι ἀπὸ τῆς πυρᾶς.

πλησίον δὲ Ἀμφιτρύωνος ἀνάθημα δύο ἀγάλματα λίθινα λέγουσιν Ἀθηνᾶς ἐπίκλησιν Ζωστηρίας· λαβεῖν γὰρ τὰ ὅπλα αὐτὸν ἐνταῦθα, ἡνίκα Εὐβοεῦσι καὶ Χαλκώδοντι ἔμελλεν ἀντιτάξεσθαι. τὸ δὲ ἐνδῦναι τὰ ὅπλα ἐκάλουν ἄρα οἱ παλαιοὶ ζώσασθαι· καὶ δὴ Ὅμηρον, Ἄρει τὸν Ἀγαμέμνονα ποιήσαντα ἐοικέναι τὴν ζώνην, τῶν ὅπλων τὴν σκευήν φασιν εἰκάζειν.

Ζήθῳ δὲ μνῆμα καὶ Ἀμφίονι ἐν κοινῷ γῆς χῶμά ἐστιν οὐ μέγα. ὑφαιρεῖσθαι δὲ ἐθέλουσιν ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ τῆς γῆς οἱ Τιθορέαν ἐν τῇ Φωκίδι ἔχοντες, ἐθέλουσι δέ, ἐπειδὰν τὸν ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ ταῦρον ὁ ἥλιος διεξίῃ· τηνικαῦτα γὰρ ἢν ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ λαβόντες γῆν τῷ Ἀντιόπης μνήματι περιάψωσι, Τιθορεεῦσιν οἴσει καρπὸν ἡ χώρα, Θηβαίοις δὲ οὐχ ὁμοίως. καὶ ἐπὶ τούτῳ φρουρὰν οἱ Θηβαῖοι τότε ἔχουσι τοῦ μνήματος.

ταῦτα δὲ αἱ πόλεις αὗται πεπιστεύκασιν ἐκ χρησμῶν τῶν Βάκιδος, ἔστι γὰρ καὶ τάδε ἐν τοῖς χρησμοῖς· ἀλλʼ ὁπόταν Τιθορεὺς Ἀμφίονί τε Ζήθῳ τε / χύτλα καὶ εὐχωλὰς μειλίγματʼ ἐνὶ χθονὶ χεύῃ / θελγομένου ταύροιο κλυτοῦ μένει ἠελίοιο, / καὶ τότε δὴ πεφύλαξο πόλει κακὸν οὐκ ἀλαπαδνόν / ἐρχόμενον· καρποὶ γὰρ ἀποφθινύθουσιν ἐν αὐτῇ / γαίης δασσαμένων, Φώκου δʼ ἐπὶ σῆμα φερόντων. /

Φώκου δὲ μνῆμα ὁ Βάκις εἴρηκεν ἐπὶ αἰτίᾳ τοιᾷδε. ἡ γυνὴ τοῦ Λύκου Διόνυσον θεῶν μάλιστα ἦγεν ἐν τιμῇ· παθούσης δὲ αὐτῆς τὰ λεγόμενα Διόνυσος νεμεσᾷ τῇ Ἀντιόπῃ. ἐπίφθονοι δὲ ἀεί πως παρὰ θεῶν αἱ ὑπερβολαὶ τῶν τιμωριῶν εἰσι· λέγουσιν Ἀντιόπην μανῆναι καὶ ἐκστᾶσαν τῶν φρενῶν κατὰ πᾶσαν πλανᾶσθαι τὴν Ἑλλάδα, Φῶκον δὲ τὸν Ὀρνυτίωνος τοῦ Σισύφου περιτυχεῖν αὐτῇ καὶ ἔχειν γυναῖκα ἰασάμενον· καὶ δὴ ὁ τάφος ἐν κοινῷ τῇ Ἀντιόπῃ καὶ Φώκῳ πεποίηται.

τοὺς δὲ παρὰ τὸ Ἀμφίονος μνῆμα λίθους, οἳ κάτωθεν ὑποβέβληνται μηδὲ ἄλλως εἰργασμένοι πρὸς τὸ ἀκριβέστατον, ἐκείνας εἶναί φασι τὰς πέτρας αἳ τῇ ᾠδῇ τοῦ Ἀμφίονος ἠκολούθησαν· τοιαῦτα δὲ ἕτερα λέγεται καὶ περὶ Ὀρφέως, ὡς κιθαρῳδοῦντι ἕποιτο αὐτῷ τὰ θηρία.

Close by is a temple of Artemis of Good Fame: the image is a work of Scopas. They say that Androclea and Alcis, daughters of Antipoenus, were buried within the sanctuary. For when Hercules and the Thebans were about to fight the Orchomenians, there came to them an oracle that victory in the war should be theirs if the citizen of most illustrious birth would consent to die by his own hand. Now Antipoenus was the man sprung from the most famous line, and it was not sweet to him to die for the people. But his daughters were well pleased to do so: they despatched themselves, and are honoured accordingly. In front of the temple of Artemis of Good Fame is a lion, made of stone: it was said to have been dedicated by Hercules after his victory over the Orchomenians and their king Erginus, son of Clymenus. Near it is an image of Apollo, surnamed the Helper, and an image of Hermes of the Market: the latter is another votive offering of Pindar. The funeral pyre of the children of Amphion is just half a furlong from their graves. The ashes of the pyre remain to this day.

Hard by are two stone images of Athena surnamed Girder: they are said to have belonged to Amphitryo ; for the story goes that here Amphitryo armed himself when he was about to take the field against Chalcodon and the Euboeans. Thus it is that the ancient expression for putting on armour was to gird one’s self up; and they say that Homer, in comparing Agamemnon to Ares in respect of his girdle, meant to compare him in respect of his arms and accoutrements.

The common tomb of Zethus and Amphion is a small mound of earth. The people of Tithorea, in Phocis, try to filch some of the earth from this mound at the time when the sun is in Taurus ; for if at that time they take earth from the mound and place it on the tomb of Antiope, their land will bear fruit, but the Theban land will be less fertile. Therefore at that season the Thebans keep a watch on the tomb.

This belief, shared by the people of both cities, is based on the oracles of Bacis, which contain the following passage :— But whenever a man of Tithorea honours Amphion and Zethus, By pouring on the ground propitiary offerings of libations and prayers, When Taurus is warmed by the might of the glorious sun, Then beware of a calamity, no light one, that threatens the city ; For the fruits waste away in it, When people have taken of the earth and bring it to the tomb of Phocus. Bacis calls it the tomb of Phocus for the following reason. The wife of Lycus honoured Dionysus above all the gods. So when she suffered what legend says she suffered, Dionysus was wroth with Antiope; for, somehow, excessive punishments are always looked on with disfavour by the gods. They say that Antiope went mad, and in her frenzy wandered all over Greece; till she fell in with Phocus, son of Ornytion, son of Sisyphus, who healed and married her. Thus Antiope and Phocus share the same grave.

The rough-hewn stones which form the base of Amphion’s tomb are said to be the very rocks that followed Amphion as he sang. A like story is told of Orpheus, how the beasts followed him as he harped.

People and places in this passage

English translation by Sir James George Frazer (1898). Original text: Friedrich Spiro (ed.), Pausaniae Graeciae descriptio, 3 vols., Leipzig: Teubner, 1903 (Greek text as digitised by Perseus).

Greek text and translation from the Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Perseus Digital Library, Greek text); translation public domain (OCR from the Internet Archive scan). Introductions, summaries and notes © GreekMythology.com.