Pausanias · Description of Greece Ἑλλάδος Περιήγησις

Pausanias, Description of Greece 9.19.1–8: The road to Chalcis: Teumesus, Glisas, Mycalessus and Aulis

Pausanias describes places on the road to Chalcis: Teumesus, with the story of the Teumesian fox and a sanctuary of Telchinian Athena, and the ruins of Glisas with the mound of the Argive dead. He passes the tomb of Chalcodon and the ruins of Harma and Mycalessus, where the image of Mycalessian Demeter keeps autumn fruits fresh all year. At Aulis he describes the temple of Artemis and the sacrifice of Iphigenia, the remains of the plane-tree and the bronze threshold of Agamemnon's hut.

Sections 9.19.1–8 · 687 words · click a number to copy its link

ἐπὶ ταύτῃ τῇ λεωφόρῳ χωρίον ἐστὶ Τευμησσός· Εὐρώπην δὲ ὑπὸ Διὸς κρυφθῆναί φασιν ἐνταῦθα. ἕτερος δὲ ἐς ἀλώπεκα ἐπίκλησιν Τευμησσίαν λόγος ἐστίν, ὡς ἐκ μηνίματος Διονύσου τὸ θηρίον ἐπʼ ὀλέθρῳ τραφείη Θηβαίων, καὶ ὡς ὑπὸ τοῦ κυνός, ὃν Πρόκριδι τῇ Ἐρεχθέως ἔδωκεν Ἄρτεμις, ἁλίσκεσθαι μέλλουσα αὐτή τε λίθος ἐγένετο ἡ ἀλώπηξ καὶ ὁ κύων οὗτος. καὶ Ἀθηνᾶς ἐν Τευμησσῷ Τελχινίας ἐστὶν ἱερὸν ἄγαλμα οὐκ ἔχον· ἐς δὲ τὴν ἐπίκλησιν αὐτῆς ἔστιν εἰκάζειν ὡς τῶν ἐν Κύπρῳ ποτὲ οἰκησάντων Τελχίνων ἀφικομένη μοῖρα ἐς Βοιωτοὺς ἱερὸν ἱδρύσατο Ἀθηνᾶς Τελχινίας.

Τευμησσοῦ δὲ ἐν ἀριστερᾷ σταδίους προελθόντι ἑπτὰ Γλίσαντός ἐστιν ἐρείπια, πρὸ δὲ αὐτῶν ἐν δεξιᾷ τῆς ὁδοῦ χῶμα οὐ μέγα ὕλῃ τε ἀγρίᾳ σύσκιον καὶ ἡμέροις δένδροις. ἐτάφησαν δὲ αὐτόθι οἱ μετὰ Αἰγιαλέως ποιησάμενοι τοῦ Ἀδράστου τὴν ἐς Θήβας στρατείαν, ἄλλοι τε Ἀργείων τῶν ἐν τέλει καὶ Πρόμαχος ὁ Παρθενοπαίου· τῷ δὲ Αἰγιαλεῖ γενέσθαι τὸ μνῆμα ἐν Παγαῖς πρότερον ἔτι ἐν τῇ συγγραφῇ τῇ Μεγαρίδι ἐδήλωσα.

κατὰ δὲ τὴν ἐς Γλίσαντα εὐθεῖαν ἐκ Θηβῶν λίθοις χωρίον περιεχόμενον λογάσιν Ὄφεως καλοῦσιν οἱ Θηβαῖοι κεφαλήν, τὸν ὄφιν τοῦτον—ὅστις δὴ ἦν—ἀνασχεῖν ἐνταῦθα ἐκ τοῦ φωλεοῦ λέγοντες τὴν κεφαλήν, Τειρεσίαν δὲ ἐπιτυχόντα ἀποκόψαι μαχαίρᾳ. τὸ μὲν δὴ χωρίον τοῦτο ἐπὶ λόγῳ καλεῖται τοιῷδε· ὑπὲρ δὲ Γλίσαντός ἐστιν ὄρος Ὕπατος καλούμενον, ἐπὶ δὲ αὐτῷ Διὸς Ὑπάτου ναὸς καὶ ἄγαλμα· τὸν δὲ ποταμὸν τὸν χείμαρρον Θερμώδοντα ὀνομάζουσιν. ἀναστρέψαντι δὲ ἐπί τε Τευμησσὸν καὶ ὁδὸν τὴν ἐς Χαλκίδα Χαλκώδοντος μνῆμά ἐστιν, ὃς ἀπέθανεν ὑπὸ Ἀμφιτρύωνος μάχης πρὸς Θηβαίους Εὐβοεῦσι γενομένης.

ἑξῆς δὲ πόλεων ἐρείπιά ἐστιν Ἅρματος καὶ Μυκαλησσοῦ· καὶ τῇ μὲν τὸ ὄνομα ἐγένετο ἀφανισθέντος, ὡς οἱ Ταναγραῖοί φασιν, ἐνταῦθα Ἀμφιαράῳ τοῦ ἅρματος καὶ οὐχ ὅπου λέγουσιν οἱ Θηβαῖοι· Μυκαλησσὸν δὲ ὁμολογοῦσιν ὀνομασθῆναι, διότι ἡ βοῦς ἐνταῦθα ἐμυκήσατο ἡ Κάδμον καὶ τὸν σὺν αὐτῷ στρατὸν ἄγουσα ἐς Θήβας. ὅντινα δὲ τρόπον ἐγένετο ἡ Μυκαλησσὸς ἀνάστατος, τὰ ἐς Ἀθηναίους ἔχοντα ἐδήλωσέ μοι τοῦ λόγου.

πρὸς θάλασσαν δὲ τῆς Μυκαλησσοῦ Δήμητρος Μυκαλησσίας ἐστὶν ἱερόν· κλείεσθαι δὲ αὐτὸ ἐπὶ νυκτὶ ἑκάστῃ καὶ αὖθις ἀνοίγεσθαί φασιν ὑπὸ Ἡρακλέους, τὸν δὲ Ἡρακλέα εἶναι τῶν Ἰδαίων καλουμένων Δακτύλων. δείκνυται δὲ αὐτόθι καὶ θαῦμα τοιόνδε· πρὸ τοῦ ἀγάλματος τῶν ποδῶν τιθέασιν ὅσα ἐν ὀπώρᾳ πέφυκε γίνεσθαι, ταῦτα δὲ διὰ παντὸς μένει τεθηλότα τοῦ ἔτους.

τοῦ δὲ Εὐρίπου τὴν Εὔβοιαν κατὰ τοῦτο ἀπὸ τῆς Βοιωτῶν διείργοντος τῆς τε Δήμητρος ἐν δεξιᾷ τὸ ἱερὸν τῆς Μυκαλησσίας καὶ ὀλίγον ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ προελθόντι ἐστὶν Αὐλίς· ὀνομασθῆναι δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς Ὠγύγου θυγατρός φασιν αὐτήν. ναὸς δὲ Ἀρτέμιδός ἐστιν ἐνταῦθα καὶ ἀγάλματα λίθου λευκοῦ, τὸ μὲν δᾷδας φέρον, τὸ δὲ ἔοικε τοξευούσῃ. φασὶ δὲ ἐπὶ τοῦ βωμοῦ μελλόντων ἐκ μαντείας τῆς Κάλχαντος Ἰφιγένειαν τῶν Ἑλλήνων θύειν, τὴν θεὸν ἀντʼ αὐτῆς ἔλαφον τὸ ἱερεῖον ποιῆσαι.

πλατάνου δέ, ἧς καὶ Ὅμηρος ἐν Ἰλιάδι ἐποιήσατο μνήμην, τὸ ἔτι τοῦ ξύλου περιὸν φυλάσσουσιν ἐν τῷ ναῷ. λέγεται δὲ ὡς ἐν Αὐλίδι πνεῦμα τοῖς Ἕλλησιν οὐκ ἐγίνετο ἐπίφορον, φανέντος δὲ ἐξαίφνης ἀνέμου σφίσιν οὐρίου θύειν τῇ Ἀρτέμιδι ὅ τι ἕκαστος εἶχε, θήλεά τε ἱερεῖα καὶ ἄρσενα ὁμοίως· καὶ ἀπʼ ἐκείνου διαμεμένηκεν ἐν Αὐλίδι πάντα τὰ ἱερεῖα εἶναι δόκιμα. δείκνυται δὲ καὶ ἡ πηγή, παρʼ ἣν ἡ πλάτανος ἐπεφύκει, καὶ ἐπὶ λόφου πλησίον τῆς Ἀγαμέμνονος σκηνῆς οὐδὸς χαλκοῦς·

φοίνικες δὲ πρὸ τοῦ ἱεροῦ πεφύκασιν, οὐκ ἐς ἅπαν ἐδώδιμον παρεχόμενοι καρπὸν ὥσπερ ἐν τῇ Παλαιστίνῃ, τοῦ δὲ ἐν Ἰωνίᾳ τῶν φοινίκων καρποῦ πεπανώτερον. ἄνθρωποι δὲ ἐν τῇ Αὐλίδι οἰκοῦσιν οὐ πολλοί, γῆς δέ εἰσιν οὗτοι κεραμεῖς· νέμονται δὲ Ταναγραῖοι ταύτην τε τὴν χώραν καὶ ὅση περὶ Μυκαλησσόν ἐστι καὶ Ἅρμα.

On this high road there is a place Teumesus: they say that Europa was hidden here by Zeus. But there is another story about a fox called the Teumesian fox, how in consequence of the wrath of Dionysus the beast was bred up to be the bane of Thebes, and how at the very moment when it was about to be caught by the dog which Artemis gave to Procris, daughter of Erechtheus, both fox and dog were turned into stone. There is a sanctuary of Telchinian Athena in Teumesus, but it has no image. Touching her surname, we may conjecture that some of the Telchinians who once dwelt in Cyprus came to Boeotia, and founded a sanctuary of Telchinian Athena.

Going on seven furlongs to the left of Teumesus you come to the ruins of Glisas. In front of them, to the right of the road, is a small mound shaded by a wild wood and by cultivated trees. Here is buried Promachus, son of Parthenopaeus, and other Argive lords who marched with Aegialeus, son of Adrastus, against Thebes. I have already showed, in my description of Megara, that the tomb of Aegialeus is at Pagae. On the straight road from Thebes to Glisas is a place enclosed by unhewn stones. The Thebans call it the Snake’s Head: they say that this snake, whatever it was, popped its head out of its hole, and Tiresias, falling in with it, chopped off its head with his sword. That is why the place has its name.

Above Glisas is a mountain called Hypatus (‘supreme’), and on it is a temple of Supreme Zeus with an image. The torrent is called the Thermodon. Having returned to Teumesus and the road to Chalcis you come to the tomb of Chalcodon, who was killed by Amphitryo in the battle between the Thebans and Euboeans.

Next there are ruins of two cities, Harma (‘chariot’) and Mycalessus. The first got its name because, say the Tanagraeans, the chariot of Amphiaraus vanished here, and not where the Thebans say it vanished. But they agree that Mycalessus was so named because the cow that led Cadmus and his army to Thebes lowed (emukésato) here. The manner of the destruction of Mycalessus has been told in my description of Athens. In the direction of the sea from Mycalessus is a sanctuary of Mycalessian Demeter: they say that it is closed every night and opened again by Hercules, who, say they, is one of the so-called Idaean Dactyls. Here a miracle is shown. At the feet of the image they lay all the fruits of autumn, which remain fresh the whole year through. 5. At this point the Euripus separates Euboea from Boeotia. On the right there is the sanctuary of Mycalessian Demeter, and a little farther on you come to Aulis, which, they say, was named after the daughter of Ogygus. There is a temple of Artemis here with images of white marble: one of the images carries torches, the other represents the goddess in the act of shooting. They say that when the Greeks, in obedience to the directions of the soothsayer Calchas, were about to sacrifice Iphigenia on the altar, the goddess furnished a deer as the victim in her stead. In the temple are still preserved the remains of the wood of the plane-tree which Homer mentions in the Iliad. It is said that in Aulis the Greeks had not a favouring gale, and that when a fair wind did spring up suddenly, every man sacrificed to Artemis whatever he happened to have, male and female animals indiscriminately ; and from that time it has continued to be a rule in Aulis that all victims are lawful. The spring, too, is shown beside which the plane-tree grew, and on a neighbouring hill the bronze threshold of Agamemnon’s hut. In front of the sanctuary grow palm-trees, of which the fruit, though not wholly edible like the dates of Palestine, ripens better than the dates of Ionia. Few people dwell in Aulis, and they are potters. The districts of Aulis, Mycalessus, and Harma, belong to Tanagra.

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.