1. Homer, Odyssey, 15.223-15.255 (8th cent. BCE - 7th cent. BCE)
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2. Aeschylus, Agamemnon, 1270-1274, 1269 (6th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
| 1269. ἰδοὺ δʼ Ἀπόλλων αὐτὸς ἐκδύων ἐμὲ | 1269. The oracular garment! having looked upon me |
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3. Aeschylus, Eumenides, 18 (6th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
| 18. ἵζει τέταρτον τοῖσδε μάντιν ἐν θρόνοις· | |
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4. Pindar, Olympian Odes, 6 (6th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
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5. Aristophanes, Birds, 988 (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
| 988. μήτ' ἢν Λάμπων ᾖ μήτ' ἢν ὁ μέγας Διοπείθης. | |
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6. Aristophanes, Knights, 1085, 1084 (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
| 1084. οὐκ ὀρθῶς φράζει: τὴν Κυλλήνην γὰρ ὁ Φοῖβος | |
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7. Aristophanes, Peace, 1125, 1047 (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
| 1047. οὗτός γέ πού 'σθ' ὁ χρησμολόγος οὑξ ̓Ωρεοῦ. | |
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8. Herodotus, Histories, 3.132.2, 5.44.2, 7.228, 8.27.3, 9.33.3, 9.36, 9.37.1, 9.37.4 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
| 3.132.2. When the Egyptian physicians who until now had attended the king were about to be impaled for being less skilful than a Greek, Democedes interceded with the king for them and saved them; and he saved an Elean seer, too, who had been a retainer of Polycrates' and was forgotten among the slaves. Democedes was a man of considerable influence with the King. 5.44.2. This is the story which the Sybarites tell of Dorieus and his companions, but the Crotoniats say that they were aided by no stranger in their war with Sybaris with the exception of Callias, an Elean diviner of the Iamid clan. About him there was a story that he had fled to Croton from Telys, the tyrant of Sybaris, because as he was sacrificing for victory over Croton, he could obtain no favorable omens. 7.228. There is an inscription written over these men, who were buried where they fell, and over those who died before the others went away, dismissed by Leonidas. It reads as follows: quote type="inscription" l met="dact"Here four thousand from the Peloponnese once fought three million. /l /quote ,That inscription is for them all, but the Spartans have their own: quote type="inscription" l met="dact"Foreigner, go tell the Spartans that we lie here obedient to their commands. /l /quote ,That one is to the Lacedaemonians, this one to the seer: quote type="inscription" l met="dact"This is a monument to the renowned Megistias, /l lSlain by the Medes who crossed the Spercheius river. /l lThe seer knew well his coming doom, /l lBut endured not to abandon the leaders of Sparta. /l /quote ,Except for the seer's inscription, the Amphictyons are the ones who honored them by erecting inscriptions and pillars. That of the seer Megistias was inscribed by Simonides son of Leoprepes because of his tie of guest-friendship with the man. 8.27.3. When the Phocians were besieged on Parnassus, they had with them the diviner Tellias of Elis; Tellias devised a stratagem for them: he covered six hundred of the bravest Phocians with gypsum, themselves and their armor, and led them to attack the Thessalians by night, bidding them slay whomever they should see not whitened. 9.33.3. The Lacedaemonians, however, perceived that the oracle given to Tisamenus spoke of the lists not of sport but of war, and they attempted to bribe Tisamenus to be a leader in their wars jointly with their kings of Heracles' line. 9.36. This Tisamenus had now been brought by the Spartans and was the diviner of the Greeks at Plataea. The sacrifices boded good to the Greeks if they would just defend themselves, but evil if they should cross the Asopus and be the first to attack. 9.37.1. Mardonius' sacrifices also foretold an unfavorable outcome if he should be zealous to attack first, and good if he should but defend himself. He too used the Greek manner of sacrifice, and Hegesistratus of Elis was his diviner, the most notable of the sons of Tellias. This man had been put in prison and condemned to die by the Spartans for the great harm which he had done them. 9.37.4. This, then, is the way in which he escaped the Lacedaemonians and took refuge in Tegea, which at that time was unfriendly to Lacedaemon. After he was healed and had made himself a foot of wood, he declared himself an open enemy of the Lacedaemonians. Yet the enmity which he bore them brought him no good at the last, for they caught him at his divinations in Zacynthus and killed him. |
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9. Thucydides, The History of The Peloponnesian War, 6.69.2 (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
| 6.69.2. First, the stone-throwers, slingers, and archers of either army began skirmishing, and routed or were routed by one another, as might be expected between light troops; next, soothsayers brought forward the usual victims, and trumpeters urged on the heavy infantry to the charge; |
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10. Xenophon, The Persian Expedition, 5.6.29 (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
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11. Xenophon, Hellenica, 3.3.3 (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
| 3.3.3. But Diopeithes, a man very well versed in oracles, said in support of Leotychides that there was also an oracle of Apollo which bade the Lacedaemonians beware of the lame kingship. Agesilaus was lame. Lysander, however, made reply to him, on behalf of Agesilaus, that he did not suppose the god was bidding them beware lest a king of theirs should get a sprain and become lame, but rather lest one who was not of the royal stock should become king. For the kingship would be lame in very truth when it was not the descendants of Heracles who were at the head of the state. |
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12. Theophrastus, Characters, 16.3 (4th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE)
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13. Cicero, On Divination, 1.91 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)
| 1.91. nec quisquam rex Persarum potest esse, qui non ante magorum disciplinam scientiamque perceperit. Licet autem videre et genera quaedam et nationes huic scientiae deditas. Telmessus in Caria est, qua in urbe excellit haruspicum disciplina; itemque Elis in Peloponneso familias duas certas habet, Iamidarum unam, alteram Clutidarum, haruspicinae nobilitate praestantes. In Syria Chaldaei cognitione astrorum sollertiaque ingeniorum antecellunt. | 1.91. Indeed, no one can become king of the Persians until he has learned the theory and the practice of the magi. Moreover, you may see whole families and tribes devoted to this art. For example, Telmessus in Caria is a city noted for its cultivation of the soothsayers art, and there is also Elis in Peloponnesus, which has permanently set aside two families as soothsayers, the Iamidae and the Clutidae, who are distinguished for superior skill in their art. In Syria the Chaldeans are pre-eminent for their knowledge of astronomy and for their quickness of mind. |
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14. Diodorus Siculus, Historical Library, 11.54.1 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)
| 11.54.1. When Praxigerus was archon in Athens, the Romans elected as consuls Aulus Verginius Tricostus and Gaius Servilius Structus. At this time the Eleians, who dwelt in many small cities, united to form one state which is known as Elis. |
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15. Apollodorus, Bibliotheca, 3.7.7 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
| 3.7.7. δηλώσαντες δὲ τῇ μητρὶ ταῦτα, τόν τε ὅρμον καὶ τὸν πέπλον ἐλθόντες εἰς Δελφοὺς ἀνέθεντο κατὰ πρόσταξιν Ἀχελῴου. πορευθέντες δὲ εἰς τὴν Ἤπειρον συναθροίζουσιν οἰκήτορας καὶ κτίζουσιν Ἀκαρνανίαν. Εὐριπίδης δέ φησιν Ἀλκμαίωνα κατὰ τὸν τῆς μανίας χρόνον ἐκ Μαντοῦς Τειρεσίου παῖδας δύο γεννῆσαι, Ἀμφίλοχον καὶ θυγατέρα Τισιφόνην, κομίσαντα δὲ εἰς Κόρινθον τὰ βρέφη δοῦναι τρέφειν Κορινθίων βασιλεῖ Κρέοντι, καὶ τὴν μὲν Τισιφόνην διενεγκοῦσαν εὐμορφίᾳ ὑπὸ τῆς Κρέοντος γυναικὸς ἀπεμποληθῆναι, δεδοικυίας μὴ Κρέων αὐτὴν γαμετὴν ποιήσηται. τὸν δὲ Ἀλκμαίωνα ἀγοράσαντα ταύτην ἔχειν οὐκ εἰδότα τὴν ἑαυτοῦ θυγατέρα θεράπαιναν, παραγενόμενον δὲ εἰς Κόρινθον ἐπὶ τὴν τῶν τέκνων ἀπαίτησιν καὶ τὸν υἱὸν κομίσασθαι. καὶ Ἀμφίλοχος κατὰ χρησμοὺς Ἀπόλλωνος Ἀμφιλοχικὸν Ἄργος ᾤκισεν. 1 -- | |
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16. Arrian, Anabasis of Alexander, 2.3.3 (1st cent. CE - missingth cent. CE)
| 2.3.3. καί ποτε ἀροῦντος αὐτοῦ ἐπιστῆναι ἐπὶ τὸν ζυγὸν ἀετὸν καὶ ἐπιμεῖναι ἔστε ἐπὶ βουλυτὸν καθήμενον· τὸν δὲ ἐκπλαγέντα τῇ ὄψει ἰέναι κοινώσοντα ὑπὲρ τοῦ θείου παρὰ τοὺς Τελμισσέας τοὺς μάντεις· εἶναι γὰρ τοὺς Τελμισσέας σοφοὺς τὰ θεῖα ἐξηγεῖσθαι καὶ σφισιν ἀπὸ γένους δεδόσθαι αὐτοῖς καὶ γυναιξὶν καὶ παισὶ τὴν μαντείαν. | |
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17. Plutarch, Lysander, 22.5-22.6 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
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18. Plutarch, Pericles, 38.2 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
| 38.2. Certain it is that Theophrastus, in his Ethics, querying whether one’s character follows the bent of one’s fortunes and is forced by bodily sufferings to abandon its high excellence, records this fact, that Pericles, as he lay sick, showed one of his friends who was come to see him an amulet that the women had hung round his neck, as much as to say that he was very badly off to put up with such folly as that. |
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19. Pausanias, Description of Greece, 3.11.5 (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
| 3.11.5. At the altar of Augustus they show a bronze statue of Agias. This Agias, they say, by divining for Lysander captured the Athenian fleet at Aegospotami with the exception of ten ships of war. 405 B.C. These made their escape to Cyprus ; all the rest the Lacedaemonians captured along with their crews. Agias was a son of Agelochus, a son of Tisamenus. |
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20. Demosthenes, Orations, 25.79
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21. Epigraphy, Seg, 29.361, 35.626
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22. Strabo, Geography, 8.3.2
| 8.3.2. What is now the city of Elis had not yet been founded in Homer's time; in fact, the people of the country lived only in villages. And the country was called Coele Elis from the fact in the case, for the most and best of it was Coele. It was only relatively late, after the Persian wars, that people came together from many communities into what is now the city of Elis. And I might almost say that, with only a few exceptions, the other Peloponnesian places named by the poet were also named by him, not as cities, but as countries, each country being composed of several communities, from which in later times the well-known cities were settled. For instance, in Arcadia, Mantineia was settled by Argive colonists from five communities; and Tegea from nine; and also Heraea from nine, either by Cleombrotus or by Cleonymus. And in the same way the city Aegium was made up of seven or eight communities; the city Patrae of seven; and the city Dyme of eight. And in this way the city Elis was also made up of the communities of the surrounding country (one of these . . . the Agriades). The Peneius River flows through the city past the gymnasium. And the Eleians did not make this gymnasium until a long time after the districts that were under Nestor had passed into their possession. |
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