DOI chapter:
Division A: The Agora and adjacent buildings lying to the west and north of the Acropolis, from the city gate to the Prytaneion
DOI chapter:Section V
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61302#0258
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MYTHOLOGY AND MONUMENTS
DIV. A
In the entrance of the Odeion at Athens, among other
things, is a Dionysos worth seeing. Near to it is a spring
which they call Enneakrounos (nine conduits). Peisistratos
gave it this convenient arrangement, because, although there
are wells through all the city, this is the only spring.
Beyond the fountain are temples—one built for Demeter
and Kore, the other containing an image of Triptolemos. I
will recount the stories about Triptolemos, with the exception
of the part that relates to Deiope. Among the Greeks, those
who most nearly rival the Athenians in their claims to ancient
descent and the possession of gifts bestowed by the gods are
the Argives, just as among the barbarians the Egyptians stand
nearest to the Phrygians. Accordingly tradition says that
when Demeter came to Argos, Pelasgos received her into his
house, and Chrysanthis, being acquainted with the rape of
Kore, told the story to Demeter. Later Trochilos the priest,
banished from Argos owing to the enmity of Agenor, came, they
say, into Attica and married a wife from Eleusis, and had two
sons, Euboules and Triptolemos. This is the Argive version.
But the Athenians and those on their side are sure of this,
that Triptolemos, son of Keleos, was the first to sow culti-
vated grain. A poem of Musaeus — if indeed it is to be
attributed to Musaeus — says that Triptolemos was the son
of Okeanos and Ge; while a poem attributed to Orpheus
—but also not genuine, as it seems to me—says that Dysaules
was the father of Euboules and Triptolemos, and that because
they gave Demeter news of her daughter, they were per-
mitted by Demeter to sow this corn. In a play of Choerilus
the Athenian called Alope, it is said that Kerkyon and
Triptolemos were brothers, sons of a daughter of Am-
phictyon, but that Raros was the father of Triptolemos, while
Kerkyon’s father was Poseidon. I intended to carry this
story further, and also to give such account as is possible
of the sanctuary at Athens called the Eleusinion, but was
prevented by a vision in a dream. I will turn to what may
lawfully be told to every one.
In front of this temple, where is the image of Triptolemos,
is a bronze bull, apparently being led to sacrifice, and a
seated figure of Epimenides of Gnossos. Epimenides is said
to have gone into a field and fallen asleep there in a cave,
and the sleep did not depart from him till he had lain slumber-
ing for forty years ; and after his awakening he wrote poems
and purified various cities, among them Athens. Thales,
who stayed the plague for the Lacedaemonians, was nowise
connected with Epimenides, nor did he come from the same
city. Epimenides was of Gnossos ; but Thales, according to
Polymnastos of Kolophon, in the poem that he wrote for the
Lacedaemonians about him, was of Gortyn.
MYTHOLOGY AND MONUMENTS
DIV. A
In the entrance of the Odeion at Athens, among other
things, is a Dionysos worth seeing. Near to it is a spring
which they call Enneakrounos (nine conduits). Peisistratos
gave it this convenient arrangement, because, although there
are wells through all the city, this is the only spring.
Beyond the fountain are temples—one built for Demeter
and Kore, the other containing an image of Triptolemos. I
will recount the stories about Triptolemos, with the exception
of the part that relates to Deiope. Among the Greeks, those
who most nearly rival the Athenians in their claims to ancient
descent and the possession of gifts bestowed by the gods are
the Argives, just as among the barbarians the Egyptians stand
nearest to the Phrygians. Accordingly tradition says that
when Demeter came to Argos, Pelasgos received her into his
house, and Chrysanthis, being acquainted with the rape of
Kore, told the story to Demeter. Later Trochilos the priest,
banished from Argos owing to the enmity of Agenor, came, they
say, into Attica and married a wife from Eleusis, and had two
sons, Euboules and Triptolemos. This is the Argive version.
But the Athenians and those on their side are sure of this,
that Triptolemos, son of Keleos, was the first to sow culti-
vated grain. A poem of Musaeus — if indeed it is to be
attributed to Musaeus — says that Triptolemos was the son
of Okeanos and Ge; while a poem attributed to Orpheus
—but also not genuine, as it seems to me—says that Dysaules
was the father of Euboules and Triptolemos, and that because
they gave Demeter news of her daughter, they were per-
mitted by Demeter to sow this corn. In a play of Choerilus
the Athenian called Alope, it is said that Kerkyon and
Triptolemos were brothers, sons of a daughter of Am-
phictyon, but that Raros was the father of Triptolemos, while
Kerkyon’s father was Poseidon. I intended to carry this
story further, and also to give such account as is possible
of the sanctuary at Athens called the Eleusinion, but was
prevented by a vision in a dream. I will turn to what may
lawfully be told to every one.
In front of this temple, where is the image of Triptolemos,
is a bronze bull, apparently being led to sacrifice, and a
seated figure of Epimenides of Gnossos. Epimenides is said
to have gone into a field and fallen asleep there in a cave,
and the sleep did not depart from him till he had lain slumber-
ing for forty years ; and after his awakening he wrote poems
and purified various cities, among them Athens. Thales,
who stayed the plague for the Lacedaemonians, was nowise
connected with Epimenides, nor did he come from the same
city. Epimenides was of Gnossos ; but Thales, according to
Polymnastos of Kolophon, in the poem that he wrote for the
Lacedaemonians about him, was of Gortyn.