4. Pausanias, Description of Greece, 4.1.5-4.1.9, 4.2.6, 4.20.3-4.20.4, 4.26.6-4.26.8, 4.27.5 (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •epiteles (military general) Found in books: Eidinow and Kindt (2015) 34| 4.1.5. πρῶτοι δʼ οὖν βασιλεύουσιν ἐν τῇ χώρᾳ ταύτῃ Πολυκάων τε ὁ Λέλεγος καὶ Μεσσήνη γυνὴ τοῦ Πολυκάονος. παρὰ ταύτην τὴν Μεσσήνην τὰ ὄργια κομίζων τῶν Μεγάλων θεῶν Καύκων ἦλθεν ἐξ Ἐλευσῖνος ὁ Κελαινοῦ τοῦ Φλύου. Φλῦον δὲ αὐτὸν Ἀθηναῖοι λέγουσι παῖδα εἶναι Γῆς· ὁμολογεῖ δέ σφισι καὶ ὕμνος Μουσαίου Λυκομίδαις ποιηθεὶς ἐς Δήμητρα. 4.1.6. τὴν δὲ τελετὴν τῶν Μεγάλων θεῶν Λύκος ὁ Πανδίονος πολλοῖς ἔτεσιν ὕστερον Καύκωνος προήγαγεν ἐς πλέον τιμῆς· καὶ Λύκου δρυμὸν ἔτι ὀνομάζουσιν ἔνθα ἐκάθηρε τοὺς μύστας. καὶ ὅτι μὲν δρυμός ἐστιν ἐν τῇ γῇ ταύτῃ Λύκου καλούμενος, Ῥιανῷ τῷ Κρητί ἐστι πεποιημένον πάρ τε τρηχὺν Ἐλαιὸν ὑπὲρ δρυμόν τε Λύκοιο· Rhianus of Bene in Crete. See note on Paus. 4.6.1 . 4.1.7. ὡς δὲ ὁ Πανδίονος οὗτος ἦν Λύκος, δηλοῖ τὰ ἐπὶ τῇ εἰκόνι ἔπη τῇ Μεθάπου. μετεκόσμησε γὰρ καὶ Μέθαπος τῆς τελετῆς ἔστιν ἅ· ὁ δὲ Μέθαπος γένος μὲν ἦν Ἀθηναῖος, τελεστὴς δὲ καὶ ὀργίων καὶ παντοίων συνθέτης. οὗτος καὶ Θηβαίοις τῶν Καβείρων τὴν τελετὴν κατεστήσατο, ἀνέθηκε δὲ καὶ ἐς τὸ κλίσιον τὸ Λυκομιδῶν εἰκόνα ἔχουσαν ἐπίγραμμα ἄλλα τε λέγον καὶ ὅσα ἡμῖν ἐς πίστιν συντελεῖ τοῦ λόγου· 4.1.8. ἥγνισα δʼ Ἑρμείαο δόμους σεμνῆς τε κέλευθα Δάματρος καὶ πρωτογόνου Κούρας, ὅθι φασὶ Μεσσήνην θεῖναι Μεγάλαισι θεαῖσιν ἀγῶνα Φλυάδεω κλεινοῖο γόνου Καυκωνιάδαο. θαύμασα δʼ ὡς σύμπαντα Λύκος Πανδιόνιος φὼς Ἀτθίδος ἱερὰ ἔργα παρʼ Ἀνδανίῃ θέτο κεδνῇ. 4.1.9. τοῦτο τὸ ἐπίγραμμα δηλοῖ μὲν ὡς παρὰ τὴν Μεσσήνην ἀφίκοιτο ὁ Καύκων ἀπόγονος ὢν Φλύου, δηλοῖ δὲ καὶ τὰ ἐς τὸν Λύκον τά τε ἄλλα καὶ ὡς ἡ τελετὴ τὸ ἀρχαῖον ἦν ἐν Ἀνδανίᾳ. καί μοι καὶ τοῦτο εἰκὸς ἐφαίνετο, τὴν Μεσσήνην μὴ ἑτέρωθι, ἀλλὰ ἔνθα αὐτή τε καὶ Πολυκάων ᾤκουν, καταστήσασθαι τὴν τελετήν. 4.2.6. ἀφίκετο δὲ ἐς τὴν Ἀρήνην καὶ Λύκος ὁ Πανδίονος, ὅτε καὶ αὐτὸς τὸν ἀδελφὸν Αἰγέα ἐξ Ἀθηνῶν ἔφευγε· καὶ τὰ ὄργια ἐπέδειξε τῶν Μεγάλων θεῶν Ἀφαρεῖ καὶ τοῖς παισὶ καὶ τῇ γυναικὶ Ἀρήνῃ· ταῦτα δέ σφισιν ἐπεδείκνυτο ἀγαγὼν ἐς τὴν Ἀνδανίαν, ὅτι καὶ τὴν Μεσσήνην ὁ Καύκων ἐμύησεν ἐνταῦθα. 4.20.3. θεασάμενος δὲ ὁ μάντις Θέοκλος συνεβάλετο ὡς τὸν τράγον τὸν πίνοντα ἐκ τῆς Νέδας προεῖπεν ἡ Πυθία τὸν ἐρινεὸν τοῦτον καὶ ὡς ἤδη Μεσσηνίοις ἥκει τὸ χρεών· καὶ ἐς μὲν τοὺς ἄλλους εἶχεν ἐν ἀπορρήτῳ, Ἀριστομένην δὲ πρός τε τὸν ἐρινεὸν ἤγαγε καὶ ἀνεδίδασκεν ὡς τῆς σωτηρίας ἐξήκοι σφίσιν ὁ χρόνος. Ἀριστομένης δὲ ἔχειν οὕτω πείθεται καὶ ἀναβολὴν οὐκέτι εἶναί σφισι, προενοήσατο δὲ καὶ ἐκ τῶν παρόντων. 4.20.4. καὶ ἦν γάρ τι ἐν ἀπορρήτῳ τοῖς Μεσσηνίοις, ἔμελλε δὲ ἀφανισθὲν ὑποβρύχιον τὴν Μεσσήνην κρύψειν τὸν πάντα αἰῶνα, φυλαχθὲν δὲ οἱ Λύκου τοῦ Πανδίονος χρησμοὶ Μεσσηνίους ἔλεγον χρόνῳ ποτὲ ἀνασώσεσθαι τὴν χώραν· τοῦτο δὴ ὁ Ἀριστομένης ἅτε ἐπιστάμενος τοὺς χρησμούς, ἐπεὶ νὺξ ἐγίνετο, ἐκόμιζε. παραγενόμενος δὲ ἔνθα τῆς Ἰθώμης ἦν τὸ ἐρημότατον, κατώρυξεν ἐς Ἰθώμην τὸ ὄρος, καὶ Δία Ἰθώμην ἔχοντα καὶ θεοὺς οἳ Μεσσηνίους ἐς ἐκεῖνο ἔσωζον φύλακας μεῖναι τῆς παρακαταθήκης αἰτούμενος, μηδὲ ἐπὶ Λακεδαιμονίοις ποιῆσαι τὴν μόνην καθόδου Μεσσηνίοις ἐλπίδα. 4.26.6. Ἐπαμινώνδᾳ δὲ οὔτε ἄλλως ἐφαίνετο ῥᾴδια ἀξιόμαχον πόλιν ἐποικίσαι Λακεδαιμονίοις οὔτε ὅπου χρὴ κτίσαι τῆς χώρας ἐξευρίσκει· τὴν γὰρ Ἀνδανίαν οἱ Μεσσήνιοι καὶ Οἰχαλίαν οὐκ ἔφασαν ἀνοικιεῖν, ὅτι αἱ συμφοραί σφισιν ἐγεγόνεσαν ἐνταῦθα οἰκοῦσιν. ἀποροῦντι οὖν αὐτῷ πρεσβύτην ἄνδρα, ἱεροφάντῃ μάλιστα εἰκασμένον, νύκτωρ φασὶν ἐπιστάντα εἰπεῖν· “σοὶ μὲν δῶρά ἐστι παρʼ ἐμοῦ κρατεῖν ὅτῳ ἂν μεθʼ ὅπλων ἐπέρχῃ· καὶ ἢν ἐξ ἀνθρώπων γένῃ, ἔγωγε ὦ Θηβαῖε ποιήσω μή ποτε ἀνώνυμον μηδὲ ἄδοξόν σε γενέσθαι. σὺ δὲ Μεσσηνίοις γῆν τε πατρίδα καὶ πόλεις ἀπόδος, ἐπειδὴ καὶ τὸ μήνιμα ἤδη σφίσι πέπαυται τὸ Διοσκούρων” . 4.26.7. Ἐπαμινώνδᾳ μὲν ταῦτα ἔλεγεν, Ἐπιτέλει δὲ τῷ Αἰσχίνου τάδε ἐμήνυε—στρατηγεῖν δὲ αὐτὸν οἱ Ἀργεῖοι τὸν Ἐπιτέλην καὶ Μεσσήνην ἀνοικίζειν ᾕρηντο— τοῦτον οὖν τὸν ἄνδρα ἐκέλευεν ὁ ὄνειρος, ἔνθα ἂν τῆς Ἰθώμης εὕρῃ πεφυκυῖαν σμίλακα καὶ μυρσίνην, τὸ μέσον ὀρύξαντα αὐτῶν ἀνασῶσαι τὴν γραῦν· κάμνειν γὰρ ἐν τῷ χαλκῷ καθειργμένην θαλάμῳ καὶ ἤδη λιποψυχεῖν αὐτήν. ὁ δὲ Ἐπιτέλης, ὡς ἐπελάμβανεν ἡμέρα, παραγενόμενος ἐς τὸ εἰρημένον χωρίον ἐπέτυχεν ὀρύσσων ὑδρίᾳ χαλκῇ, καὶ αὐτίκα παρὰ τὸν Ἐπαμινώνδαν 4.26.8. κομίσας τό τε ἐνύπνιον ἐξηγεῖτο καὶ αὐτὸν ἐκεῖνον τὸ πῶμα ἀφελόντα ἐκέλευεν ὅ τι ἐνείη σκοπεῖσθαι. ὁ δὲ θύσας καὶ εὐξάμενος τῷ πεφηνότι ὀνείρατι ἤνοιγε τὴν ὑδρίαν, ἀνοίξας δὲ εὗρε κασσίτερον ἐληλασμένον ἐς τὸ λεπτότατον· ἐπείλικτο δὲ ὥσπερ τὰ βιβλία. ἐνταῦθα τῶν Μεγάλων θεῶν ἐγέγραπτο ἡ τελετή, καὶ τοῦτο ἦν παρακαταθήκη τοῦ Ἀριστομένους. τοῦτον τὸν ἐπελθόντα τῷ Ἐπιτέλει καὶ Ἐπαμινώνδᾳ καθεύδουσι Καύκωνα εἶναι λέγουσιν, ὃς ἀφίκετο ἐξ Ἀθηνῶν ἐς Ἀνδανίαν παρὰ Μεσσήνην τὴν Τριόπα. 4.27.5. ὡς δὲ ἡ τελετή σφισιν ἀνεύρητο, ταύτην μέν, ὅσοι τοῦ γένους τῶν ἱερέων ἦσαν, κατετίθεντο ἐς βίβλους· Ἐπαμινώνδας δέ, ὥς οἱ τὸ χωρίον, ἔνθα νῦν ἔχουσιν οἱ Μεσσήνιοι τὴν πόλιν, μάλιστα ἐς οἰκισμὸν ἐφαίνετο ἐπιτήδειον, ἐκέλευεν ἀνασκοπεῖσθαι τοῖς μάντεσιν, εἴ οἱ βουλήσεται ταύτῃ καὶ τὰ τῶν θεῶν ἐπιχωρῆσαι. φαμένων δὲ καὶ τούτων εἶναι τὰ ἱερὰ αἴσια, οὕτω παρεσκευάζετο ἐς τὸν οἰκισμόν, λίθους τε ἄγεσθαι κελεύων καὶ ἄνδρας μεταπεμπόμενος, οἷς τέχνη στενωποὺς κατατέμνεσθαι καὶ οἰκίας καὶ ἱερὰ οἰκοδομεῖσθαι καὶ τείχη περιβάλλεσθαι. | 4.1.5. The first rulers then in this country were Polycaon, the son of Lelex , and Messene his wife. It was to her that Caucon, the son of Celaenus, son of Phlyus, brought the rites of the Great Goddesses from Eleusis . Phlyus himself is said by the Athenians to have been the son of Earth, and the hymn of Musaeus to Demeter made for the Lycomidae agrees. 4.1.6. But the mysteries of the Great Goddesses were raised to greater honor many years later than Caucon by Lycus, the son of Pandion, an oak-wood, where he purified the celebrants, being still called Lycus' wood. That there is a wood in this land so called is stated by Rhianus the Cretan:— By rugged Elaeum above Lycus' wood. Rhianus of Bene in Crete . See note on Paus. 4.6.1 . 4.1.7. That this Lycus was the son of Pandion is made clear by the lines on the statue of Methapus, who made certain improvements in the mysteries. Methapus was an Athenian by birth, an expert in the mysteries and founder of all kinds of rites. It was he who established the mysteries of the Cabiri at Thebes , and dedicated in the hut of the Lycomidae a statue with an inscription that amongst other things helps to confirm my account:— 4.1.8. I sanctified houses of Hermes and paths of holy Demeter and Kore her firstborn, where they say that Messene established the feast of the Great Goddesses, taught by Caucon, sprung from Phlyus' noble son. And I wondered that Lycus, son of Pandion, brought all the Attic rite to wise Andania . 4.1.9. This inscription shows that Caucon who came to Messene was a descendant of Phlyus, and proves my other statements with regard to Lycus, and that the mysteries were originally at Andania . And it seems natural to me that Messene should have established the mysteries where she and Polycaon lived, not anywhere else. 4.2.6. Lycus the son of Pandion also came to Arene , when he too was driven from Athens by his brother Aegeus, and revealed the rites of the Great Goddesses to Aphareus and his children and to his wife Arene ; but it was to Andania that he brought the rites and revealed them there, as it was there that Caucon initiated Messene . 4.20.3. When the seer Theoclus saw it, he guessed that the goat who drinks of the Neda foretold by the Pythia was this wild fig-tree, and that their fate had already come upon the Messenians. He kept it secret from the rest, but led Aristomenes to the fig-tree and showed him that their time of safety had gone by. Aristomenes believed that it was so and that there was no delaying their fate, and made provision such as circumstances demanded. 4.20.4. For the Messenians possessed a secret thing. If it were destroyed, Messene would be overwhelmed and lost for ever, but if it were kept, the oracles of Lycus the son of Pandion said that after lapse of time the Messenians would recover their country. Aristomenes, knowing the oracles, took it towards nightfall, and coming to the most deserted part of Ithome , buried it on the mountain, calling on Zeus who keeps Ithome and the gods who had hitherto protected the Messenians to remain guardians of the pledge, and not to put their only hope of return into the power of the Lacedaemonians. 4.26.6. To Epaminondas it seemed in no way easy to found a city that could resist the Lacedaemonians, nor could he discover where in the land to build it. For the Messenians refused to settle again in Andania and Oechalia , because their disasters had befallen them when they dwelt there. To Epaminondas in his difficulty it is said that an ancient man, closely resembling a priest of Demeter, appeared in the night and said: “My gift to thee is that thou shalt conquer whomsoever thou dost assail; and when thou dost pass from men, Theban, I will cause thy name to be unforgotten and give thee glory. But do thou restore to the Messenians their fatherland and cities, for now the wrath of the Dioscuri against them hath ceased.” 4.26.7. This he said to Epaminondas, and revealed this to Epiteles the son of Aeschines, who had been chosen by the Argives to be their general and to refound Messene . He was bidden by the dream, wherever he found yew and myrtle growing on Ithome , to dig between them and recover the old woman, for, shut in her brazen chamber, she was overcome and well-nigh fainting. When day dawned, Epiteles went to the appointed place, and as he dug, came upon a brazen urn. 4.26.8. He took it at once to Epaminondas, told him the dream and bade him remove the lid and see what was within. Epaminondas, after sacrifice and prayer to the vision that had appeared, opened the urn and having opened it found some tin foil, very thin, rolled like a book. On it were inscribed the mysteries of the Great Goddesses, and this was the pledge deposited by Aristomenes. They say that the man who appeared to Epiteles and Epaminondas in their sleep was Caucon, who came from Athens to Messene the daughter of Triopas at Andania . 4.27.5. When the mysteries were recovered, all who were of the priestly family set them down in books. As Epaminondas considered the spot where the city of the Messenians now stands most convenient for the foundation, he ordered enquiry to be made by the seers if the favour of the gods would follow him here. When they announced that the offerings were auspicious, he began preparations for the foundation, ordering stone to be brought, and summoning men skilled in laying out streets and in building houses, temples, and ring-walls. |
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