Description of Greece

He would tie a cord round his forehead as though it were a ribbon or a crown. Holding his breath and filling with blood the veins on his head, he would break the cord by the strength of these veins. It is said that he would let down by his side his right arm from the shoulder to the elbow, and stretch out straight the arm below the elbow, turning the thumb upwards, while the other fingers lay in a row. In this position, then, the little finger was lowest, but nobody could bend it back by pressure.

They say that he was killed by wild beasts. The story has it that he came across in the land of Crotona a tree-trunk that was drying up; wedges were inserted to keep the trunk apart. Milo in his pride thrust his hands into the trunk, the wedges slipped, and Milo was held fast by the trunk until the wolves—a beast that roves in vast packs in the land of Crotona—made him their prey.

Such was the fate that overtook Milo. Pyrrhus, the son of Aeacides, who was king on the Thesprotian mainland and performed many remarkable deeds, as I have related in my account of the Athenians,[*](Paus. 1.11) had his statue dedicated by Thrasybulus of Elis. Beside Pyrrhus is a little man holding flutes, carved in relief upon a slab. This man won Pythian victories next after Sacadas of Argos.

For Sacadas won in the games introduced by the Amphictyons before a crown was awarded for success, and after this victory two others for which crowns were given; but at the next six Pythian Festivals Pythocritus of Sicyon was victor, being the only flute-player so to distinguish himself. It is also clear that at the Olympic Festival he fluted six times for the pentathlum. For these reasons the slab at Olympia was erected in honor of Pythocritus, with the inscription on it :—

1. This is the monument of the flute-player Pythocritus, the son of Callinicus.

The Aetolian League dedicated a statue of Cylon, who delivered the Eleans from the tyranny of Aristotimus. The statue of Gorgus, the son of Eucletus, a Messenian who won a victory in the pentathlum, was made by the Boeotian Theron; that of Damaretus, another Messenian, who won the boys' boxing-match, was made by the Athenian Silanion. Anauchidas, the son of Philys, an Elean, won a crown in the boys' wrestling-match and afterwards in the match for men. Who made his statue is not known, but Ageladas of Argos made the statue of Anochus of Tarentum, the son of Adamatas, who won victories in the short and double foot-race.

A boy seated on a horse and a man standing by the horse the inscription declares to be Xenombrotus of Meropian Cos, who was proclaimed victor in the horse-race, and Xenodicus, who was announced a winner in the boys' boxing-match. The statue of the latter is by Pantias, that of the former is by Philotimus the Aeginetan. The two statues of Pythes, the son of Andromachus, a native of Abdera, were made by Lysippus, and were dedicated by his soldiers. Pythes seems to have been a captain of mercenaries or some sort of distinguished soldier.

There are statues of winners of the boys' race, namely, Meneptolemus of Apollonia on the Ionian Gulf and Philo of Corcyra; also Hieronymus of Andros, who defeated in the pentathlum at Olympia Tisamenus of Elis, who afterwards served as soothsayer in the Greek army that fought against Mardonius and the Persians at Plataea. By the side of this Hieronymus is a statue of a boy wrestler, also of Andros, Procles, the son of Lycastidas. The sculptor who made the statue of Lycastidas was named Stomius, while Somis made the statue of Procles. Aeschines of Elis won two victories in the pentathlum, and his statues are also two in number.

Archippus of Mitylene overcame his competitors in the men's boxing-match, and his fellow-townsmen hold that he added to his fame by winning the crown, when he was not more than twenty years old, at Olympia, at Pytho, at Nemea and at the Isthmus. The statue of the boy runner Xenon, son of Calliteles from Lepreus in Triphylia, was made by Pyrilampes the Messenan; who made the statue of Cleinomachus of Elis I do not know, but Cleinomachus was proclaimed victor in the pentathlum.

The inscription on the statue of Pantarces of Elis states that it was dedicated by Achaeans, because he made peace between them and the Eleans, and procured the release of those who had been made prisoners by both sides during the war. This Pantarces also won a victory with a race-horse, and there is a memorial of his victory also at Olympia. The statue of Olidas, of Elis, was dedicated by the Aetolian nation, and Charinus of Elis is represented in a statue dedicated for a victory in the double race and in the race in armour. By his side is Ageles of Chios, victorious in the boys' boxing-match, the artist being Theomnestus of Sardes.

The statue of Cleitomachus of Thebes was dedicated by his father Hermocrates, and his famous deeds are these. At the isthmus he won the men's wrestling-match, and on the same day he overcame all competitors in the boxing-match and in the pancratium. His victories at Pytho were all in the pancratium, three in number. At Olympia this Cleitomachus was the first after Theagenes of Thasos to be proclaimed victor in both boxing and the pancratium.

He won his victory in the pancratium at the hundred and forty-first Olympic Festival[*](216 B.C.). The next Festival saw this Cleitomachus a competitor in the pancratium and in boxing, while Caprus of Elis was minded both to wrestle and to compete in the pancratium on the same day.

After Caprus had won in the wrestling-match, Cleitomachus put it to the umpires that it would be fair if they were to bring in the pancratium before he received wounds in the boxing. His request seemed reasonable, and so the pancratium was brought in. Although Cleitomachus was defeated by Caprus he tackled the boxers with sturdy spirit and unwearied vigor.

The Ionians of Erythrae dedicated a statue of Epitherses, son of Metrodorus, who won two boxing prizes at Olympia, two at Pytho, and also victories at Nemea and the Isthmus; the Syracusans dedicated two statues of Hiero at the public charge, while a third is the gift of Hiero's sons. I pointed out in a recent chapter[*](Paus. 6.12.2) ow this Hiero had the same name as the son of Deinomenes, and, like him, was despot of Syracuse.

The Paleans, who form one of the four divisions of the Cephallenians, dedicated a statue of Timoptolis, an Elean, the son of Lampis. These Paleans were of old called Dulichians. There is also a statue set up of Archidamus the son of Agesilaus, and of some man or other representing a hunter. There is a statue of Demetrius, who made an expedition against Seleucus and was taken prisoner in the battle, and one of Antigonus the son of Demetrius; they are offerings, you may be sure, of the Byzantines.

At the thirty-eighth Festival[*](628 B.C.) Eutelidas the Spartan won two victories among the boys, one for wrestling and one for the pentathlum, this being the first and last occasion when boys were allowed to enter for the pentathlum. The statue of Eutelidas is old, and the letters on the pedestal are worn dim with age.

After Eutelidas is another statue of Areus the Lacedaemonian king, and beside it is a statue of Gorgus the Elean. Gorgus is the only man down to my time who has won four victories at Olympia for the pentathlum, beside a victory in the double race and a victory in the race in armour.

The man with the boys standing beside him they say is Ptolemy, son of Lagus[*](reigned 323-285 B.C.). Beside him are two statues of the Elean Caprus, the son of Pythagoras, who received on the same day a crown for wrestling and a crown for the pancratium. This Caprus was the first man to win the two victories. His victim overcome in the pancratium I have already mentioned;[*](Paus. 6.15.5) in wrestling the man he overcame was the Elean Paeanius, who at the previous Festival had won a victory for wrestling, while at the Pythian games he won a crown in the boys' boxing-match, and again in the men's wrestling-match and in the men's boxing-match on one and the same day.

The victories of Caprus were not achieved without great toils and strong effort. There are also at Olympia statues to Anauchidas and Pherenicus, Eleans by race who won crowns for wrestling among the boys. Pleistaenus, the son of the Eurydamus who commanded the Aetolians against the Gauls, had his statue dedicated by the Thespians.

The statue of Antigonus the father of Demetrius and the statue of Seleucus were dedicated by Tydeus the Elean. The fame of Seleucus became great among all men especially because of the capture of Demetrius. Timon won victories for the pentathlum at all the Greek games except the Isthmian, at which he, like other Eleans, abstained from competing. The inscription on his statue adds that he joined the Aetolians in their expedition against the Thessalians and became leader of the garrison at Naupactus because of his friendship with the Aetolians.