ἐκλέλοιπε δέ πως καὶ τὸ μαντεῖον τὸ ἐν Δωδώνῃ, καθάπερ τἆλλα. ἔστι δʼ, ὥς φησιν Ἔφορος, Πελασγῶν ἵδρυμα· οἱ δὲ Πελασγοὶ τῶν περὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα δυναστευσάντων ἀρχαιότατοι λέγονται· καὶ ὁ ποιητής φησιν οὕτω Ζεῦ ἄνα Δωδωναῖε, Πελασγικέ, / ὁ δʼ Ἡσίοδος Δωδώνην φηγόν τε, Πελασγῶν ἕδρανον ᾖεν. / περὶ μὲν οὖν τῶν Πελασγῶν ἐν τοῖς Τυρρηνικοῖς εἴρηται, περὶ δὲ Δωδώνης τοὺς μὲν περιοικοῦντας τὸ ἱερὸν διότι βάρβαροι διασαφεῖ καὶ ὁ Ὅμηρος ἐκ τῆς διαίτης, ἀνιπτόποδας χαμαιεύνας λέγων· πότερον δὲ χρὴ λέγειν Ἑλλούς, ὡς Πίνδαρος, ἢ Σελλούς, ὡς ὑπονοοῦσι παρʼ Ὁμήρῳ κεῖσθαι, ἡ γραφὴ ἀμφίβολος οὖσα οὐκ ἐᾷ διισχυρίζεσθαι. Φιλόχορος δέ φησι καὶ τὸν περὶ Δωδώνην τόπον, ὥσπερ τὴν Εὔβοιαν, Ἑλλοπίαν κληθῆναι· καὶ γὰρ Ἡσίοδον οὕτω λέγειν ἔστι τις Ἑλλοπίη, πολυλήιος ἠδʼ ἐυλείμων· / ἔνθα δὲ Δωδώνη τις ἐπʼ ἐσχατιῇ πεπόλισται. / οἴονται δέ, φησὶν ὁ Ἀπολλόδωρος, ἀπὸ τῶν ἑλῶν τῶν περὶ τὸ ἱερὸν οὕτω καλεῖσθαι· τὸν μέντοι ποιητὴν οὕτω λέγειν Ἑλλοὺς ἀλλὰ Σελλοὺς ὑπολαμβάνει τοὺς περὶ τὸ ἱερόν, προσθεὶς ὅτι καὶ Σελλήεντα τινὰ ὀνομάζει ποταμόν. ὀνομάζει μὲν οὖν, ὅταν φῇ τηλόθεν ἐξ Ἐφύρης ποταμοῦ ἄπο Σελλήεντος. / ἐν Θεσπρωτοῖς Ἐφύρας, ἀλλὰ τῆς ἐν τοῖς Ἠλείοις· ἐκεῖ γὰρ εἶναι τὸν Σελλήεντα, ἐν δὲ Θεσπρωτοῖς οὐδένα, οὐδʼ ἐν Μολοττοῖς. τὰ δὲ μυθευόμενα περὶ τῆς δρυὸς καὶ τῶν πελειῶν καὶ εἴ τινα ἄλλα τοιαῦτα, καθάπερ καὶ περὶ Δελφῶν, τὰ μὲν ποιητικωτέρας ἐστὶ διατριβῆς τὰ δʼ οἰκεῖα τῆς νῦν περιοδείας.
This oracle, according to Ephorus, was established by Pelasgi, who are said to be the most ancient people that were sovereigns in Greece. Thus the poet speaks, O great Pelasgic Dodonaean Jove; / and Hesiod, He went to Dodona, the dwelling of the Pelasgi, and to the beech tree. / I have spoken of the Pelasgi in the account of Tyrrhenia.
With respect to Dodona, Homer clearly intimates that the people who lived about the temple were barbarians, from their mode of life, describing them as persons who do not wash their feet, and who sleep on the ground. Whether we should read Helli, with Pindar, or Selli, as it is conjectured the word existed in Homer, the ambiguity of the writing does not permit us to affirm confidently. Philochorus says, that the country about Dodona was called, like Euboea, Hellopia; for these are the words of Hesiod, There is a country Hellopia, rich in corn-fields and pastures; at its extremity is built Dodona. It is supposed, says Apollodorus, that it had this name from the hele, or marshes about the temple. He is of opinion that the poet did not call the people about the temple Helli, but Selli, adding, that Homer mentions a certain river (near) of the name of Selleis. He specifies the name in this line, At a distance far from Ephyra, from the river Selleis. [Demetrius of Skepsis contends that] Ephyra of Thesprotia is not here meant, but Ephyra of Elis. For the river Selleis is in Elis, and there is no river of this name either in Thesprotia or among the Molotti. The fable of the oak and the doves, and other similar things, like the stories connected with Delphi, although they are subjects more adapted to engage the attention of a poet, yet are appropriate to the description of the country with which we are now occupied.
ἡ Δωδώνη τοίνυν τὸ μὲν παλαιὸν ὑπὸ Θεσπρωτοῖς ἦν καὶ τὸ ὄρος ὁ Τόμαρος ἢ Τμάρος (ἀμφοτέρως γὰρ λέγεται), ὑφʼ ᾧ κεῖται τὸ ἱερόν· καὶ οἱ τραγικοὶ δὲ καὶ Πίνδαρος Θεσπρωτίδα εἰρήκασι τὴν Δωδώνην· ὕστερον δὲ ὑπὸ Μολοττοῖς ἐγένετο. ἀπὸ δὲ τοῦ Τομάρου τοὺς ὑπὸ τοῦ ποιητοῦ λεγομένους ὑποφήτας τοῦ Διός, οὓς καὶ ἀνιπτόποδας χαμαιεύνας καλεῖ, τομούρους φασὶ λεχθῆναι· καὶ ἐν μὲν τῇ Ὀδυσσείᾳ οὕτω γράφουσί τινες ἅ φησιν Ἀμφίνομος, συμβουλεύων τοῖς μνηστῆρσι μὴ πρότερον ἐπιτίθεσθαι τῷ Τηλεμάχῳ πρὶν ἂν τὸν Δία ἔρωνται εἰ μέν κʼ αἰνήσωσι Διὸς μεγάλοιο τομοῦροι, / αὐτός τε κτανέω, τούς τʼ ἄλλους πάντας ἀνώξω· / εἰ δέ κʼ ἀποτρεπέῃσι θεός, παύεσθαι ἄνωγα. / βέλτιον γὰρ εἶναι τομούρους ἢ θέμιστας γράφειν· οὐδαμοῦ γοῦν τὰ μαντεῖα θέμιστας λέγεσθαι παρὰ τῷ ποιητῇ, ἀλλὰ τὰς βουλὰς καὶ τὰ πολιτεύματα καὶ νομοθετήματα· τομούρους δʼ εἰρῆσθαι ἐπιτετμημένως οἷον τομαροφύλακας. οἱ μὲν οὖν νεώτεροι λέγουσιν τομούρους· Ὁμήρῳ δʼ ἁπλούστερον δεῖ δέχεσθαι θέμιστας καταχρηστικῶς καὶ βουλάς, τὰ προστάγματα καὶ τὰ βουλήματα τὰ μαντικά, καθάπερ καὶ τὰ νόμιμα· τοιοῦτον γὰρ καὶ τό ἐκ δρυὸς ὑψικόμοιο Διὸς βουλὴν ἐπακοῦσαι. /
Dodona was formerly subject to the Thesproti, as was the mountain Tomarus, or Tmarus, (both names are in use,) be low which the temple is situated. The tragic writers and Pindar give the epithet of Thesprotis to Dodona. It was said to be subject, in later times, to the Molotti. Those called by the poet Jove’s interpreters, and described by him as men with unwashen feet, who slept on the ground, were, it is said called Tomuri from Mount Tomarus, and the passage in the
Odyssey containing the advice of Amphinomus to the suitors not to attack Telemachus before they had inquired of Jupiter is as follows, If the Tomuri of great Jove approve, I myself will kill him, and I will order all to join in the deed; but if the god forbid it, I command to withhold. For it is better, it is asserted, to write Tomuri than Themistae, because in no passage whatever are oracles called by the poet Themistae, this term being applied to decrees, or statutes and rules of civil government; and the persons are called Tomuri, which is the contracted form of Tomaruri, or guardians of Tomarus.
In Homer, however, we must understand θέμιστες in a more simple sense, and, like βουλαί, by the figure Catachresis, as meaning commands and oracular injunctions as well as laws; for such is the import of this line: To listen to the will of Jove, which comes forth from the lofty and verdant oak.
κατʼ ἀρχὰς μὲν οὖν ἄνδρες ἦσαν οἱ προφητεύοντες· καὶ τοῦτʼ ἴσως καὶ ὁ ποιητὴς ἐμφαίνει· ὑποφήτας γὰρ καλεῖ, ἐν οἷς τάττοιντο κἂν οἱ προφῆται· ὕστερον δʼ ἀπεδείχθησαν τρεῖς γραῖαι, ἐπειδὴ καὶ σύνναος τῷ Διὶ προσαπεδείχθη καὶ ἡ Διώνη. Σουίδας μέντοι Θετταλοῖς μυθώδεις λόγους προσχαριζόμενος ἐκεῖθέν τέ φησιν εἶναι τὸ ἱερὸν μετενηνεγμένον ἐκ τῆς περὶ Σκοτοῦσσαν Πελασγίας (ἔστι δʼ ἡ Σκοτοῦσσα τῆς Πελασγιώτιδος Θετταλίας), συνακολουθῆσαί τε γυναῖκας τὰς πλείστας, ὧν ἀπογόνους εἶναι τὰς νῦν προφήτιδας· ἀπὸ δὲ τούτου καὶ Πελασγικὸν Δία κεκλῆσθαι· Κινέας δʼ ἔτι μυθωδέστερον.
The first prophets were men, and this the poet perhaps indicates, for he calls the persons interpreters, among whom the prophets might be classed. In after-times three old women were appointed to this office, after even Dione had a common temple with Jupiter.
Suidas, in order to court the favour of the Thessalians by fabulous stories, says, that the temple was transported from Scotussa of the Thessalian Pelasgiotis, accompanied by a great multitude, chiefly of women, whose descendants are the present prophetesses, and that hence Jupiter had the epithet Pelasgic. Cineas relates what is still more fabulous * * * * * * * * * * [With the exception of the following Fragments, the rest of this book is lost.]
ἦν δὲ πρότερον περὶ Σκοτοῦσσαν πόλιν τῆς Πελασγιώτιδος τὸ χρηστήριον· ἐμπρησθέντος δʼ ὑπό τινων τοῦ δένδρου μετηνέχθη κατὰ χρησμὸν τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος ἐν Δωδώνῃ. ἐχρησμῴδει δʼ οὐ διὰ λόγων, ἀλλὰ διά τινων συμβόλων, ὥσπερ τὸ ἐν Λιβύῃ Ἀμμωνιακόν· ἴσως δέ τινα πτῆσιν αἱ τρεῖς περιστεραὶ ἐπέτοντο ἐξαίρετον, ἐξ ὧν αἱ ἱέρειαι παρατηρούμεναι προεθέσπιζον. φασὶ δὲ καὶ κατὰ τὴν τῶν Μολοττῶν καὶ Θεσπρωτῶν γλῶτταν τὰς γραίας πελίας καλεῖσθαι καὶ τοὺς γέροντας πελίους· καὶ ἴσως οὐκ ὄρνεα ἦσαν αἱ θρυλούμεναι πελειάδες, ἀλλὰ γυναῖκες γραῖαι τρεῖς περὶ τὸ ἱερὸν σχολάζουσαι.Epit. (i.e. Epitome edita).
THE oracle was formerly at Scotussa, a city of Pelasgiotis, but was transferred to Dodona by the command of Apollo, after some persons had burnt down the tree. The oracular answers were not conveyed by words, but by certain signs, as at the oracle of Ammon in Libya. Probably the three doves made some peculiar flight, which, observed by the priestesses, suggested the oracular answer. Some say that, in the language of the Molotti and Thesprote, old women are called peliae, and old men pelii, so that the celebrated doves were probably not birds, but three old women who passed an idle time about the temple. EPIT.
ὅτι κατὰ Θεσπρωτοὺς καὶ Μολοττοὺς τὰς γραίας πελίας καὶ τοὺς γέροντας πελίους, καθάπερ καὶ παρὰ Μακεδόσι· πελιγόνας γοῦν καλοῦσιν ἐκεῖνοι τοὺς ἐν τιμαῖς, καθὰ παρὰ Λάκωσι καὶ Μασσαλιώταις τοὺς γέροντας· ὅθεν καὶ τὰς ἐν τῇ Δωδωναίᾳ δρυῒ μεμυθεῦσθαι πελείας φασίν. E. (i.e. Epitome Vaticana).
Among the Thesprotae and Molotti old women are called peliae, and old men pelii, as among the Macedonians. Persons at least who hold office are called peligones, as among the Laconians and Massilienses they are called gerontes. Hence it is asserted that the story of the doves in the oak at Dodona is a fable. E.
ὅτι ἡ παροιμία τὸ ἐν Δωδώνῃ χαλκίον ἐντεῦθεν ὠνομάσθη· χαλκίον ἦν ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ ἔχον ὑπερκείμενον ἀνδριάντα κρατοῦντα μάστιγα χαλκῆν, ἀνάθημα Κορκυραίων· ἡ δὲ μάστιξ ἦν τριπλῆ ἁλυσιδωτὴ ἀπηρτημένους ἔχουσα ἐξ αὑτῆς ἀστραγάλους, οἳ πλήττοντες τὸ χαλκίον συνεχῶς, ὁπότε αἰωροῖντο ὑπὸ τῶν ἀνέμων, μακροὺς ἤχους ἀπειργάζοντο, ἕως ὁ μετρῶν τὸν χρόνον ἀπὸ τῆς ἀρχῆς τοῦ ἤχου μέχρι τέλους καὶ ἐπὶ τετρακόσια προέλθοι· ὅθεν καὶ ἡ παροιμία ἐλέχθη ἡ Κερκυραίων μάστιξ. Epit.
The proverb, The brazen vessel of Dodona, thus arose. In the temple was a brazen vessel, having over it a statue of a man (an offering of the Corcyraeans) grasping in the hand a brazen scourge of three thongs, woven in chains, from which were suspended small bones. The bones striking continually upon the brazen vessel, whenever they were agitated by the wind, produced a long protracted sound, so that a person from the beginning to the end of the vibrations might proceed to count as far as four hundred. Whence also came the proverb, The Corcyraean scourge. EPIT.
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