As one enters the city, there is a tomb [mnēma]1 of Antiope the Amazon. This Antiope, Pindar says, was abducted [harpazein] by Peirithoös and Theseus, but Hegias of Troizen has created-poetically [poieîn] about her such things as I will now tell. Hēraklēs was besieging Themiskyra at [the river] Thermodon, and could not take it, but Antiope, having-conceived-a-passion [erastheisa] for Theseus, who was aiding Hēraklēs in his campaign, surrendered the stronghold. These things has Hegias created-poetically [poieîn]. But the Athenians assert that when the Amazons came [to attack Athens], Antiope was shot by Molpadia [the Amazon], while Molpadia was killed by Theseus. The Athenians have a tomb [mnēma]2 of Molpadia as well.
Footnotes
As one goes up from the Peiraieus there are ruins of the walls that Konon restored after the battle offshore from [the island of] Knidos. I say-this-because [gar] those [walls] that had been built by Themistocles after the retreat of the Persians were destroyed during the rule [arkhē] of the so-called Thirty.1 Along the road are some very well-known tombs [taphoi]: that of Menander, son of Diopeithes, and a cenotaph [mnēma kenon ‘empty tomb’] of Euripides. He [= Euripides] himself went to King Arkhelaos [of Macedonia] and lies buried in Macedonia; as for the way [tropos] he died—many have narrated it—let it be as they say.
Footnotes
-
↩
404–403 BCE.
I say-this-because [gar] even in his time [= the era of Euripides] poets [poiētai] could live in the company of kings, as earlier still Anacreon resided in the company of Polycrates, tyrant of Samos; also, Aeschylus and Simonides were sent to Hieron at Syracuse. Residing in the company of Dionysius, tyrant in Sicily at a later period, was Philoxenos, and, residing in the company of Antigonos,1 ruler of Macedonia, were Antagoras of Rhodes and Aratos of Soloi. As for Hesiod and Homer, they either did not have the good fortune of residing in the company of kings or else purposely neglected doing so, Hesiod because of his countryside ways [agroikiā] and reluctance to travel, while Homer, having traveled very far and wide, considered the aid provided by the powerful in the acquisition of wealth to be less important than his fame [doxa] among the hoi polloi. And yet Homer, too, in what he composed [poieîn], makes Demodokos live in the compnay of Alkinoos, and [he makes] Agamemnon leave behind [when the king departed for Troy] a poet [poiētēs] to attend his wife. Not far from the gates is a tomb [taphos], on which is positioned a soldier [stratiōtēs] standing by a horse. Who it is I do not know, but both horse and soldier were carved by Praxiteles.
Footnotes
-
↩
Antigonus surnamed Gonatas became king of Macedonia in 283 BCE.
On entering the city there is a building for the preparation of the processions [pompai], which are arranged [pempein] in some cases every year, in other cases at longer intervals. Close by is a temple [nāos] of Demeter, with statues [agalmata] of her and of her daughter, and of Iakkhos holding a torch. On the wall, in Attic letters, is written that they are works of Praxiteles. Not far from the temple [nāos] is Poseidon on horseback, hurling a spear against the giant [gigas] Polubōtēs, concerning whom is prevalent among the people of Kos the myth [mūthos] about the promontory [akrā] of Khelōnē. But the inscription of our time assigns the likeness [eikōn] to another, and not to Poseidon. Extending from the gate to the Kerameikos there are porticoes [stoai], and in front of them bronze likenesses [eikones] of such as had some title to fame [doxa], both men and women.
One of the porticoes [stoai] contains shrines [hiera] of gods, and a gymnasium named after Hermes. In it is the house [oikiā] of Poulutiōn, at which it is said that a mystical-rite [teletē] was once performed [drân] by Athenians of considerable fame, corresponding to the mystical-rite performed at Eleusis. But in my time it was devoted to the worship of Dionysus. This Dionysus they call Melpomenos [from melpesthai ‘sing and dance’], on the same principle as they call Apollo Mousēgētēs ‘Leader of the Muses’. Here there are statues [agalmata] of Athena Paiōniā), of Zeus, of Mnemosyne [‘Memory’] and of the Muses, an Apollo, the votive-offering [anathēma] and work [ergon] of Euboulides, and Akratos, a superhuman force [daimōn] who is one of the attendants of Dionysus [Jones mistakenly says “Apollo” here]; it is only a face [prosōpon] of him, worked-into [en-oikodomeîn] the wall [toikhos]. Situated beyond the precinct [temenos] of Apollo is a building [oikēma] that contains terracotta statues [agalmata]: Amphiktyon, king of Athens, in the act of celebrating-at-a-feast [hestiân] Dionysus and other gods. Here also is Pēgasos of Eleutherai, who introduced the god to the Athenians. Participating-in-the-action [sun-lambanesthai] was the oracle [manteion] at Delphi, which called-to-mind [ana-mnē-sai] that the god once dwelled [epi-dēmeîn] in Athens in the days of Ikarios.
Amphiktyon acquired the kingdom [basileiā] thus. It is said that Aktaios was the first to become-king [basileuein] of what is now Attica. When Aktaios died, Kekrops received-by-relay [ek-dekhesthai] the rulership [arkhē], housed-together [sun-oikeîn] as he was with the daughter of Aktaios, and there were born to him daughters, Hersē, Aglauros and Pandrosos, and a son Erysikhthon. This son did not become king [basileuein] of the Athenians, but happened to die while his father lived, and the one who inherited-by-relay [ek-dekhesthai] the kingdom of Kekrops was Kranaos, who surpassed at the time the other Athenians with his power. They say that Kranaos had daughters, and among them Atthis; and from her they call the region Attica, which before was named Aktaia. And Amphiktyon, leading an insurrection against Kranaos, although he had his daughter as wife, deposed him from rulership [arkhē]. Afterwards he himself was deposed as the result of an insurrection organized by Erikhthonios and his followers. They say that Erikhthonios was not born of humans [anthrōpoi], but that his parents were Hephaistos and Earth [Gē].
subject heading(s): *mnēma *‘tomb’; Antiope the Amazon; first impressions of the visual kind; Antiope the Amazon as first impression; name of Amazon Antiope as ‘rivaling in looks/appearances’; Murinē the Amazon; Amazons as cult heroes; Molpadia the Amazon; war between Amazons and Athenians; Theseus; abduction of Antiope by Theseus; theme of Amazon falling in love with her abductor; Hippolyte the Amazon; Megara; lupē ‘pain’; Pindar F 174; Pindar F 175
As one enters the city, there is a tomb [mnēma] of Antiope the Amazon…We read in Frazer 1913 II 37 about the wording here: “it appears that the tomb of Antiope was just inside the city-wall of Athens”; Frazer also comments here on the relevant information provided by Plutarch Life of Theseus 27. I find it most significant that the tomb of Antiope the Amazon should be the very first thing to be seen by Pausanias as he enters the city of Athens. We have already seen that first impressions of the visual kind are very important to Pausanias. In the case of the temple sacred to the goddess Athena at Sounion, for example, the traveler’s first impression of the goddess there is linked to the view, from there, of the tip of Athena’s spear on the Acropolis of Athens. And now, as Pausanias enters the city of Athens, the very first thing he says he sees is the *mnēma *‘tomb’ of Antiope the Amazon. Once again, the traveler’s first impression becomes a dominant theme in his narrative. From the wording at Iliad 2.811–815, we can see that the tomb of the Amazon Murinē is pictured there as the monument of a cult hero: see the comments at I.02.811–815 in A Sampling of Comments on the Iliad and Odyssey. Similarly here, the tombs of the Amazons Antiope and Molpadia are pictured as monuments of cult heroes. On the symbolism of Athenian myths about a primordial antagonism between Athens and the Amazons, I refer to my analysis in HC 4§§213–215, 4§224. According to one myth, this antagonism was precipitated by the abduction of Antiope, queen of the Amazons, by Theseus, king of Athens. The idea that Antiope then falls in love with Theseus as her abductor, as mentioned by Pausanias here at 1.2.1, is a topic that disturbs—and that needs further investigation. Relevant, I think, is what we read later on at 1.41.7 in the narrative of Pausanias, where he says that he saw in the city of Megara a *mnēma *‘tomb’ of another Amazon, Hippolyte, who was sister of Antiope. Pausanias says that this tomb was linked with a myth about Hippolyte: how this hero became queen of the Amazons after her sister Antiope was abducted by Theseus, king of the Athenians, and how Hippolyte and her fellow Amazons then went to war against Athens to avenge the abduction. The outcome was a bitter defeat for the Amazons, and most of them perished in the war, but Hippolyte survived and sought refuge at Megara, where she died from her lupē. This word *lupē *as used by Pausanias at 1.41.7 can best be translated as the ‘pain’ of mourning. By combining what we read at 1.2.1 and at 1.41.7 in the narrative of Pausanias, we can piece together a central theme in the overall myth that is linked to the hero cults of the Amazons Antiope, Molpadia, and Hippolyte: that all the pain resulting from the war between the Amazons and the Athenians can be traced back to the primal abduction of Antiope, queen of the Amazons, by Theseus, king of the Athenians. That abduction must have been highlighted in a song of Pindar as mentioned by Pausanias 1.2.1. Classicists track this mention by referring to it this way: Pindar F 175 ed. Maehler. In Pausanias 7.2.6, we read another mention of these Amazons, and Classicists refer to this mention as Pindar F 174 ed. Maehler. One final word about the references made by Pausanias to Amazons as cult heroes: I deliberately use the word “hero” and not “heroine” in such contexts because I seek to challenge the assumption, common to native speakers of English, that only men are heroes. In terms of ancient Greek hero cults, both men and women could become cult heroes after death, and the wording of Pausanias at 1.2.1 and at 1.41.7 makes it clear that the Amazons Antiope, Molpadia, and Hippolyte were all three considered to be cult heroes. [[GN 2017.11.06.]]
subject heading(s): court poets and their patrons
As an example of the relationship between court poets and their patrons, Pausanias here at 1.2.2 refers to a Homeric passage at O.03.267–271. The generic *aoidos *‘singer’, as represented by the anonymous figure who is mentioned there, has the power to supervise the deeds of men and women by way of praising what is good and blaming what is bad. The *aoidos *that Agamemnon left behind to supervise Clytemnestra cannot be neutralized by way of removal from the scene. The *aoidos *does not need to see bad deeds in order to tell about them, since he can hear about them from the Muses. [[GN 2017.03.29 via BA 37–38, 2§13n5; PH 392.]]