The city-state of Elis developed in the northwest Peloponnese, far
away from the major urban centres of the rest of Greece, and played only a limited
role in the military and political events of the ancient Hellenic world. Neverthless,
it remained centre-stage for hundreds of years, as quardian of the panhellenic
Sanctuary of Olympia, responsible
for the irreproachable preparation and organization of the Olympic Games.
Evidence from excavations to date shows that Elis was settled, albeit
as a small farming village, from the Early Helladic period (c.2800-2000 BC). In
Mycenaean times (c. 1600-1100 BC) it was one of the four most important town in
the region and its ingabitants, who are referred to as Epeians
in the Iliad, took part in the Trojan War under the leadership of Polyxenus.
The city of Elis was founded by Oxylus, who came from Aetolia
in the 12th century BC, with the socalled Descent of the Dorians, and united all
the scattered townships. Ancient tradition has nowadays been confirmed by the
rich finds of the Submycenaean, Protogeometric and Geometric periods (c. 1100-700
BC) recovered from the region.
Oxylus founded the Olympic Games when he incorporated the Sanctuary
of Olympia in the city-state of Elis. The games were reorganized in the 8th century
BC by his descendant King Iphitus, who signed a treaty with the kings Lycurgus
of Sparta and Cleisthenes
of Pisa. Under the terms
of the 'Sacred Truce' the entire region of Elis was declared sacred, thus guaranteeing
peace and the success of the games. In 776 BC, when the first Olympiad was held,
the Eleians assumed supervision of the Sanctuary of Olympia. They forfeited this
privilege to the Pisans in 668 BC but regained it, with the help of the Spartans
in 580 BC.
Henceforth the city enjoyed a great heyday, which lasted until the
end of the 5th century BC. Political and other public issues were of little interest
to Elis, whose chief concern was the organization of the Olympiads. The games
were quinquennial, that is they were held at the end of a four-year period,
most probably in mid-July. To comply with the rules, the competing athletes were
obliged to come to Elis for training one month before the games commenced. They
were accompanied by friends and relatives, resulting in the influx to the city
of choice foreigners from the mainland and islands of Greece, as well as from
the prosperous colonies in Asia Minor and Pontos, Magna Graecia and Africa.
The importance that the Eleians attached to the organization of the
Olympiads is reflected in the picture of the city's agora. The traveller Pausanias,
who visited Elis in the 2nd century AD, describes gymnasia, a palaestra, stoas,
temples, sanctuaries and temene (sacred precincts) but no building associated
with civic life. These edifices were adorned with a host of statues and sculptures
by famous artists fo antiquity. Pausanias mentions, among other monuments, the
temple of Aphrodite Urania (Heavenly), with its chryselephantine statue of the
goddess, a work by Pheidias; the open-air temenos of Aphrodite Pandemos (of the
people), which housed a renowned bronze statue of the goddess, a work by Scopas;
the temple and statue of Apollo Acesius (Healer); the temple of the Graces with
the acrolithic statues of them; the temple of Silenus and the sculptural group
of the god with Methe (Drunkeness).
At its zenith the Eleian state comprised four districts: Coele (Hollow)
Elis - the fertile plain where the capital of the Eleians developed -, Acroreia,
Pisatis and Triphylia.
The people lived in an atmosphere of peace, prosperity and lawfulness. The rich
soil of the region and the mild climate favoured the development of agriculture
and animal husbandry. Indeed he names Elis and Eleians (ancient Falis and
Faleioi) denote the valley and the valley-dwellers respectively.
In recent years excavations have revealed 120 settlements, while surveys
have located another 200 or so sites. Most of these were probably small villages
or isolated farmsteads. Only the capital, Elis, developed into a thriving urban
centre. After the establishment of the democratic body politic and its second
synoecism in particular (471 BC), it was reinforced considerably and became one
of the largest and most populous cities in the Peloponnese. It occupied the area
between the present villages of Paliopolis
(or Nea Elis) in the southeast, Bouchioti
(or Avgeion) in the southwest and Kalyvia
in the west. The ancient acropolis was on Ayannis hill.
Women played a significant role in the management of public affairs
in Elis. According o Pausanias, there was a council of sixteen wise Eleian women,
which had to its credit the reconcilation of Pisa and Elis, as well as the institution
of the Heraean Games. These were panhellenic foot races for girls, held in honour
of the goddess Hera and organized every four years, like the Olympics but on different
dates.
By the late 6th century BC Elis was minting its own coinage, which
during the period of its peak rivalled that of other Greek cities in art and execution.
There were also local pottery workshops and foundries for casting bronze statues,
whose products had a very distinctive character.
The flourishing of the Eleian state was largely due to its long-standing
alliance with Spata, which was dissolved during the Peloponnesian War (431-404
BC). In the 4th century BC the first signs of its imminent decline and the vicissitudes
of the Eleians appeared. In 191 BC they joined the Archaean Confederacy, while
in 146 BC they were subjugated by the Romas, becoming part of the Roman province
ar Achaea. During the period of Roman rule (27 BC - AD 250) the city of Elis expanded
even more. Villas and thermae, which were particularly popular among the Romans,
were built, some of them upon the ruins of Classical edifices.
In Late Roman and Early Christian times (3rd - 5th century AD) habitation
was confined to just one sector of the city, while in other part a large cemetary
was founded, perhaps after the destruction by the Herulians in AD 267. Decadence
came when the Emperor of Byzantium Theodosius I banned the Olympic Games, in AD
393, and life in the Sanctuary of Olympia ceased. The earthquake that struck the
region in the 6th century AD dealt the final blow to the Eleian state.
Xeni Arapoyanni, ed.
Translation by: Alexandra Doumas
Cited Sep 2002, from the Municipality of Amaliada information pamphlet
Xeni Arapoyanni, ed.
Translation by: Alexandra Doumas
This text is cited Sep 2002
, from the information pamphlet of
Amaliada Municipality
Acesius (Akesios), a surname of Apollo, under which he was worshipped in Elis, where he had a splendid temple in the agora. This surname, which has the same meaning as akestor and alexikakos, characterised the god as the averter of evil. (Paus. vi. 24.5).
Ammonia, a surname of Hara, under which she was worshipped in Elis. The inhabitants of Elis had from the earliest times been in the habit of consulting the oracle of Zeus Ammon in Libya. (Paus. v. 15.7)
Chamyne (Chamune), a surname of Demeter in Elis, which was derived either from the earth having opened (Chainein at that place to receive Pluto, or from one Chamynus, to whom the building of a temple of Demeter at Elis was ascribed. (Paus. vi. 21.1)
Acmenes (Akmenes), a surname of certain nymphs worshipped at Elis, where a sacred enclosure contained their altar, together with those of other gods. (Paus. v. 15.4)
Ionides (or Ioniades), a name borne by four nymphs believed to possess healing powers. They had a temple on the river Cytherus in Elis, and derived their name from a mythical Ion, a son of Gargettus, who was believed to have led a colony from Athens to those districts. The story undoubtedly arose from the existence of a mineral spring on the spot where their sanctuary stood. (Paus. vi. 22. Β§ 4; Strab. viii.)
Pausanias Description of Elis (6.23.6 - 6.26.3
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 Coele5 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.(Strabo 8.3.2)
Οταν ο Πραξίεργος ήταν άρχοντας στην Αθήνα, οι Ρωμαίοι εξέλεξαν ως υπάτους τον Αύλο Βεργίλιο Τρικόστο και τον Γάιο Σερβίλιο Στρούκτο. Τον ίδιο καιρό οι Ηλείοι, που κατοικούσαν σε πολλές μικρές πόλεις, συνοικίσθησαν και δημιούργησαν μία πολιτεία που είναι γνωστή ως Ήλις (Διόδ. 11.54.1).
In the reign of Agis the son of Archidamus the Lacedaemonians had
several grievances against the people of Elis, being especially exasperated because
they were debarred from the Olympic games and the sanctuary at Olympia. So they
dispatched a herald commanding the people of Elis to grant home-rule to Lepreum
and to any other of their neighbors that were subject to them. The people of Elis
replied that, when they saw the cities free that were neighbors of Sparta, they
would without delay set free their own subjects; whereupon the Lacedaemonians
under king Agis invaded the territory of Elis.
On this occasion there occurred an earthquake, and the army retired
home after advancing as far as Olympia and the Alpheus but in the next year Agis
devastated the country and carried off most of the booty. Xenias, a man of Elis
who was a personal friend of Agis and the state-friend (Proxenos) of the Lacedaemonians,
rose up with the rich citizens against the people but before Agis and his army
could come to their aid, Thrasydaeus, who at this time championed the interests
of the popular party at Elis, overthrew in battle Xenias and his followers and
cast them out of the city.
When Agis led back his army, he left behind Lysistratus, a Spartan,
with a portion of his forces, along with the Elean refugees, that they might help
the Lepreans to ravage the
land. In the third year of the war (398 BC) the Lacedaemonians under Agis again
prepared to invade the territory of Elis. So Thrasydaeus and the Eleans, reduced
to dire extremities, agreed to forgo their supremacy over their neighbors, to
dismantle the fortifications of their city, and to allow the Lacedaemonians to
sacrifice to the god and to compete in the games at Olympia.(Paus. 3.8.3-5)
...in the Peloponnese he (Philip) occupies the important city of Elis (Dem. 9,27)
The city lies in the NW part of the region, in the middle of the E
Peneios plain, where the river emerges from the mountainous interior into the
plain, between the modern villages of Paliopolis and Kalyvia. In the NE section
of the city rises the hill Kaloskopi (mediaeval Belvedere) or Paliopyrgos (400
m), where the ancient acropolis was. The site was inhabited from at least as early
as the Early Helladic period and from then on through to the end of the Byzantine
period. According to some ancient philological sources, Elis in the Mycenaean
period was one of the four or five most notable towns in the realm of the Epeioi
(Il. 2.615f, 11.671f; Od. 4.635) and controlled only the area around the city.
Excavation of the site was undertaken in 1910-14, and has continued since 1960.
In the Early Helladic to Geometric period, judging by the extent of
the finds and the numerous tombs of this period, the settlement was located on
the peak of the acropolis and on its NW slope toward the Peneios, where the theater
was later placed. In the archaic period the city was extended to the SW. At that
time the Temple of Athena was probably erected on the acropolis (Paus. 6.26.2).
Numerous painted terracotta simas and stone architectural fragments indicate the
existence at that time of many monumental structures.
In the Classical and Hellenistic period the city area was extended
to surround the acropolis over an area bounded by Paliopolis to the S, the village
of Kalyvia to the W, and as far as the outskirts of the village of Bouchioti and
the banks of the Peneios. Part of the city extended to the right bank opposite.
The principal necropolis of this period was discovered SW of Kalyvia. Another
was found at the NW foot of the acropolis. The city, or at least the acropolis,
was fortified at the end of the 5th c. B.C. (Paus. 3.8.5). In 313 B.C. Telesphoros,
the general of Antigonos, refortified the acropolis (Diod. 19.74.2, 87). At its
N foot a substantial section of this wall was uncovered, and other remains of
the ancient wall have been found on the W slope. In this period were constructed
numerous civic buildings, as well as temples and shrines in the agora and the
area around, where they stood quite close together (Paus. 6.23. lf). Some of these
have been uncovered and identified by the excavations to date: the agora, including
a part of the stoa of the Hellanodikai which is Doric, with a triple colonnade,
the Hellanodikaion which is a small rectangular building to the N of the stoa,
two gymnasia and the palaestra in the W section, and in the S section of the agora
the Korkyraion or South Stoa, which is a double stoa in the Doric style. The whole
theater has been uncovered to the N of the agora. Its first phase dates to the
4th c. B.C., with alterations in the Hellenistic and Roman periods. Other buildings
which Pausanias saw, but which have not yet been located, are: the Temple of Aphrodite
with a chryselephantine statue of the goddess by Phidias, the Temenos of Aphrodite
Pandemos with a statue of her with a goat by Skopas, the Temple of Hades, the
Sanctuary of Artemis Philomeirax, the Cenotaph of Achilles, the Temple of Tyche
and Sosipolis, the Temple of Silenos, etc.
In the Roman period the city extended to the E, S, and W. In the S
and W parts of the agora several new villas and baths were constructed, many on
the foundations of older, Classical buildings. These buildings are close to each
other, with rather narrow roads between and a complete water and drainage system.
In the Late Roman and Early Christian periods only a part of the city was inhabited,
while other sections, such as the agora and the area around it, were transformed
into a large cemetery, apparently after a major destruction of the city, possibly
by the Herulians (A.D. 267).
In the Byzantine period some settlement remained as indicated by an
Early Christian basilica with noteworthy mosaics which was built over the South
Stoa, and by numerous Christian graves in various parts of the ancient city. In
the Frankish period the kastro (castle) was built on the acropolis with material
from ancient buildings.
Elis: the state
The first organization of Elis into a city-state probably came about
after the Dorian invasion, according to ancient tradition under Oxylos, who at
the head of the Aitolo-Dorian tribes created the first synoecism in Elis (Ephor.
frg. 29; Strab. 463f; Paus. 5.4.1-4). After Oxylos, the name of the settlers remained
Eleians. In the 11-10th c. B.C. the state of Elis spread into the plain of the
Peneios, so-called Koile-Elis (Hollow Elis). Shortly afterwards Elis annexed neighboring
Akroreia and part of Pisa with the sanctuary of Olympia, and thereafter took over
direction of the Olympic Games. From the 26th Olympiad (676 B.C.) and throughout
the 7th c. it appears the Pisans with the help of powerful allies (Pheidon of
Argos and the Dymaians) recovered their independence and with it the management
of the Olympian sanctuary. But after the second Messenian war Elis, with Sparta
as an ally, recovered Pisa and the sanctuary (580 B.C.). After that Elis must
have annexed a part of Triphylia (Paus. 5.6.4, 6.22.4). From then to the late
Hellenistic period the boundaries of Elis appear at times as the river Neda to
the S (the boundary of Messenia), the foothills of Erymanthos and the river of
the same name to the E (the boundary of Arkadia) and the Larisos river to the
N (the boundary of Achaia). To the N and NE the boundary was the Ionian Sea. In
570 B.C. the state was reorganized and the oligarchic ruling body which had now
become more moderate, took on more members (the kingship had been abolished early,
possibly at the beginning of the 8th c.). The city of Elis was the main political
and religious center, but nevertheless the demes appear to have retained considerable
self-govemment. The peaceful existence which Elis led thereafter, its neutrality
in the quarrels of the other Greek states, the truce and the designation of the
country as sacred ground, were the cause of her prosperity and good laws (Paus.
4.28.4, 5.6.2; Polyb. 4.73.6f; Ephor. frg. 15, in Strab. 8.358, see also 8.333).
Elis took no active part in the Persian wars and participated only in the fortification
of the Isthmus in 480 B.C. (Hdt. 8.72, 9.77). In 471 B.C. a new synoecism was
achieved in Elis (Diod. 11.54; Strab. 8.336; Paus. 5.9.5), which thereafter continued
as one of the largest cities of the Peloponnesos. Under pressure of the period's
democratic tendencies the oligarchs made considerable concessions, and by degrees
lost their absolute authority to a popular government. The life of the country
was now directed entirely from Elis, with its council (boule) and assembly (demos)
and the higher officers who were elected from among all the free citizens. In
the Peloponnesian War Elis abandoned her former neutrality and the Sacred Life
she had led up to that time (Polyb. 4.73.9f) and allied herself first with Sparta,
then Athens, and later with other cities. The subsequent involvement of Elis in
the collisions of the Greek world cost her dear by invasions and plundering of
her territory and repeated fluctuations of her boundaries. In 191 B.C. the incorporation
of Elis in the Achaian League put an end to her independent political life. In
146 B.C., after the surrender of Greece to Rome, Elis was included in the Provincia
Romana.
The territory of Elis was one of the most thickly settled areas in
Greece. Finds of the last decade throughout the Eleian land (Hollow Elis, Akroreia,
Pisatis, Triphylia) have brought 120 settlements to light, and surface finds have
allowed the location of 160 more sites. Nevertheless, most of these settlements
and sites, which date from the Paleolithic to the Byzantine period with no break,
must have belonged to small villages, hamlets, or isolated farms since Strabo
tells us (8.336) that the land was settled in a pattern of small villages. But
even the small settlements of the Eleia (ancient sources tell us of 49 together
with the sanctuaries) were wealthy communities although the only urban center
was the capital, Elis. This was due to the self-sufficiency of a country rich
in rivers and springs (annual rainfall 90-110 cm) and blessed with a mild climate
(temperature extremes 10°-11° C.), which pushed the Eleians into a life of agriculture
and herding rather than one of craftsmanship and trade (Polyb. 4.73.7f).
N. Yalouris, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains 4 image(s), bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
Elis. The position of the city of Elis was the best that could have been
chosen for the capital of the country. Just before the Peneius emerges from the
hills into the plain, the valley of the river is contracted on the south by a
projecting hill of a peaked form, and nearly 500 feet in height. This hill was
the acropolis of Elis, and commanded as well the narrow valley of the Peneius
as the open plain beyond. It is now called Kaloskopi, which the Venetians translated
into Belvedere. The ancient city lay at the foot of the hill, and extended across
the river, as Strabo says that the Peneius flowed through the city (viii. p. 337);
but since no remains are now found on the right or northern bank, it is probable
that all the public buildings were on the left bank of the river, more especially
as Pausanias does not make any allusion to the river in his description of the
city. On the site of the ancient city there are two or three small villages, which
bear the common name of Paleopoli.
Elis is mentioned as a town of the Epeii by Homer (Il. ii. 615); but
in the earliest times the two chief towns in the country appear to have been Ephyra
the residence of Augeias, in the interior, and Buprasium on the coast. Some writers
suppose that Ephyra was the more ancient name of Elis, but it appears to have
been a different place, situated upon the Ladon. Elis first became a place of
importance upon the invasion of Peloponnesus by the Dorians. Oxylus and his Aetolian
followers appear to have settled on the height of Kaloskopi as the spot best adapted
for ruling the country. From this time it was the residence of the kings, and
of the aristocratical families who governed the country after the abolition of
royalty. Elis was the only fortified town in the country; the rest of the inhabitants
dwelt in unwalled villages, paying obedience to the ruling class at Elis.
Soon after the Persian wars the exclusive privileges of the aristocratical
families in Elis were abolished, and a democratical government established. Along
with this revolution a great change took place in the city of Elis. The city appears
to have been originally confined to the acropolis; but the inhabitants of many
separate townships, eight according to Strabo, now removed to the capital, and
built round the acropolis a new city, which they left undefended by walls, relying
upon the sanctity of their country. (Diod. xi. 54; Strab. viii. p. 336; Xen. Hell.
iii. 2. 27) At the same time the Eleians were divided into a certain number of
local tribes; or if the latter existed before, they now acquired for the first
time political rights. The Hellanodicae, or presidents of the Olympic games, who
had formerly been taken from the aristocratical families, were now appointed,
by lot, one from each of the local tribes; and the fluctuating number of the Hellanodicae
shows the increase and decrease from time to time of the Eleian territory. It
is probable that each of the three districts into which Elis was divided, - Hollow
Elis, Pisatis, and Triphylia, - contained four tribes. This is in accordance with
the fourfold ancient division of Hollow Elis, and with the twice four townships
in the Pisatis. Pausanias in his account of the number of the Hellanodicae says
that there were 12 Hellanodicae in Ol. 103, which was immediately after the battle
of Leuctra, when the Eleians recovered for a short time their ancient dominions,
but that being shortly afterwards deprived of Triphylia by the Arcadians, the
number of their tribes was reduced to eight. (Paus. v. 9. § § 5, 6.)
When Pausanias visited Elis, it was one of the most populous and splendid
cities of Greece. At present nothing of it remains except some masses of tile
and mortar, several wrought blocks of stone and fragments of sculpture, and a
square building about 20 feet on the outside, which within is in the form of an
octagon with niches. With such scanty remains it would be impossible to attempt
any reconstruction of the city, and to assign to particular sites the buildings
mentioned by Pausanias (vi. 23 - 26).
Strabo says (viii. p. 337) that the gymnasium stood on the side of
the river Peneius; and it is probable that the gymnasium and agora occupied the
greater part of the space between the river and the citadel. The gymnasium was
a vast inclosure surrounded by a wall. It was by far the largest gymnasium in
Greece, which is accounted for by the fact that all the athletae in the Olympic
games were obliged to undergo a month's previous training in the gymnasium at
Elis. The inclosure bore the general name of Xystus, and within it there were
special places destined for the runners, and separated from one another by plane-trees.
The gymnasium contained three subdivisions, called respectively Plethrium, Tetragonum,
and Malco: the first so called from its dimensions, the second from its shape,
and the third from the softness of the soil. In their Malco was the senate-house
of the Eleians, called Lalichium from the name of its founders: it was also used
for literary exhibitions.
The gymnasium had two principal entrances, one leading by the street
called Siope or Silence to the baths, and the other above the cenotaph of Achilles
to the agora and the Hellanodicaeum. The agora was also called the hippodrome,
because it was used for the exercise of horses. It was built in the ancient style,
and, instead of being surrounded by an. unin terrupted, series of stoae or colonnades,
its stoae were separated, from one another by streets. The southern stoa, which
consisted of a triple row of Doric columns, was the usual resort of the Hellanodicae
during the day. Towards one end of this stoa to the left was the Hellanodicaeon,
a building divided from. the agora by a street, which was the official residence
of the Hellanodicae, who received here instruction in their duties for ten months
preceding the.festival. There was another stoa in the agora called the Corcyraean
stoa, because it had been built out of the tenth of some spoils taken from the
Cor. cyraeans. It consisted of two rows of Doric columns, with a partition wall
running between them: one side was open to the agora, and the other to a temple
of Aphrodite Urania, in which was a statue of the goddess in gold and ivory by
Pheidias. In the open part of the agora Pausanias mentions the temple of Apollo
Acacesius, which was the principal temple in Elis, statues of Helios and Selene
(Sun and Moon), a temple of the Graces, a temple of Silenus, and the tomb of Oxylus.
On the way to the theatre was the temple of Hades, which was opened only once
in the year.
The theatre must have been on the slope of the acropolis: it is described
by Pausanias as lying between the agora and the Menius, which, if the name is
not corrupt, must be the brook flowing down from the heights behind Paleopoli.
Near the theatre was a temple of Dionysus, containing a statue of this god by
Praxiteles.
On the acropolis was a temple of Athena, containing a statue of the
goddess in gold and ivory by Pheidias. On the summit of the acropolis are the
remains of a castle, in the walls of which Curtius noticed some fragments of Doric
columns which probably belonged to the temple of Athena.
In the immediate neighbourhood of Elis was Petra, where the tomb of
the philosopher Pyrrhon was shown. (Paus. vi. 24. § 5.)
This extract is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited June 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Tel: +30 26220 41415
Travellers located the city of ancient Elis in the 19th century and indeed
prepared topographical plans. The first systematic excavations were conducted
by the Austrian Archaeological Institute between 1911 and 1914, under the direction
of Otto Walter. Since 1960 excavations have been continued intermittently by
the Archaeological Society at Athens. Rescue excavations carried out by the
VIIth Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities, between 1965 and 1970,
when the irrigation channel of the Peneius dam was being constructed, uncovered
part of the ancient city.
The following buildings were revealed or located and subsequently identified
on the basis of Pausanias' descriptions: Gymnasium, which has not been excavated
but seems to have had the same dimensions as that of Olympia (approx. 200m long);
Baths, to the west of the agora; Temenos of Achilles; Hellanodikaion; 'Southward'
Stoa; 'Corcyraian' Stoa, which was the south border of the agora; various small
sanctuaries; a square building with internal peristyle cort where the sixteen
Eleian women wove the peplos of Hera; a section of the peribolos (enclosure)
of the temenos of Aphrodite; another peribolos of the sanctuary, a small temple
and precincts, among them one of Hades; and finally the theatre to the north
of the agora.
The theatre was built in the 4th century BC and remodelled in Hellenistic and
Roman times. The stoneskin with the proscenium and the paraskenia are among the
oldest in ancient Greece. The audience did not sit in seats but on the hill slope,
just as they did in the stadium of Olympia. Six stone stairways gave access to
the cavea and divided it into seven cunei. An elaborate drainage network safeguarded
the theatre from the danger of flooding. The theatre ceased to function in late
Roman times, when the city in general went into decline, and a cemetary with clusters
of cist and tile-roofed graves was created here.
The Elis Archaeological Collection
Founded in 1981, the Collection includes finds brought to light
in the excavations in Elis. These date from the Early Helladic period to the Roman
Age. Vases, statues, sculptures, funerary stelai, teracotta adn stone architectural
members, figurines, bronze vessels, weapons, coins and other minor objects are
exhibited.
Of particular interest are the broze theatre 'tickets', inscribed with the designation
FA(ΛΕΙΩΝ), meaning 'of the Faleioi', i.e. Eleians, which were found in
large number and date from the late 4th century BC, as well as the teracotta face
masks and the female figurines, which are excellent examples of Eleian coroplastic
art.
Outstanding are the two sections of mosaic floors displayed in the atrium of the
Archaeological Collection. They come from a large villa of the 3rd century AD,
built to the southwest of the agora of Elis. The representations are in circular
arrangement: on one the relate to the Nine Muses and on the other to the Labours
of Herakles.
Xeni Arapoyanni, ed.
Translation by: Alexandra Doumas
Cited Sep 2002, from the Municipality of Amaliada information pamphlet
360 - 270
The founder of the Sceptical or Pyrrhonian School of philosophy, a native of Elis in the Peloponnesus. He is said to have been poor, and to have followed at first the profession of a painter. He is then said to have been attracted to philosophy by the books of Democritus, to have attended the lectures of Bryson, a disciple of Stilpon, to have attached himself closely to Anaxarchus, and with him to have joined the expedition of Alexander the Great. During the greater part of his life he lived in retirement, and endeavoured to render himself independent of all external circumstances. His disciple Timon extolled with admiration his supreme repose of soul and his indifference to pleasure or pain. So highly was he valued by his fellow-citizens that they made him their high-priest, and erected a monument to him after his death. The Athenians conferred upon him the rights of citizenship. We know little respecting the principles of his sceptical philosophy, and the tales told about him by Diogenes Laertius are probably the invention of his enemies. He asserted that certain knowledge on any subject was unattainable, and that the great object of man ought to be to lead a virtuous life. Pyrrho wrote no works, except a poem addressed to Alexander, which was rewarded by the latter in a royal manner. Pyrrho's philosophical system was first reduced to writing by his disciple Timon the Sillographer. He reached the age of ninety years, but his dates are uncertain.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Pyrrho was the starting-point for a philosophical movement known as Pyrrhonism
that flourished several centuries after his own time. This later Pyrrhonism was
one of the two major traditions of sceptical thought in the Greco-Roman world
(the other being located in Plato's Academy during much of the Hellenistic period).
Perhaps the central question about Pyrrho is whether or to what extent he himself
was a sceptic in the later Pyrrhonist mold. The later Pyrrhonists claimed inspiration
from him; and, as we shall see, there is undeniably some basis for this. But it
does not follow that Pyrrho's philosophy was identical to that of this later movement,
or even that the later Pyrrhonists thought that it was identical; the claims of
indebtedness that are expressed by or attributed to members of the later Pyrrhonist
tradition are broad and general in character (and in Sextus Empiricus' case notably
cautious -- see Outlines of Pyrrhonism 1.7), and do not in themselves point to
any particular reconstruction of Pyrrho's thought. It is necessary, therefore,
to focus on the meager evidence bearing explicitly upon Pyrrho's own ideas and
attitudes. How we read this evidence will also, of course, affect our conception
of Pyrrho's relations with his philosophical contemporaries and predecessors.
1. Life
2. The Nature of the Evidence
3. The Aristocles Passage
4. Other Reports on Pyrrho's
General Approach
5. Reports on Pyrrho's Demeanor
and Lifestyle
6. "The Nature of the
Divine and the Good"
7. Influences on Pyrrho
8. Pyrrho's Influence
Bibliography
Other Internet Resources
Related Entries
Richard Bett, ed.
Sextus Empiricus, Translated by Rev. R.G. Bury, Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1933
Pyrrhonism is a system of scepticism, the founder of which was Pyrrho,
a Greek philosopher, about whom very little is known except that he died in 270
B. C. The best known of Pyrrho's disciples was Timon of Philius, known as the
sillographer.
Pyrrho's scepticism was so complete and comprehensive that the word
Pyrrhonism is sometimes used as a synonym for scepticism. The scepticism of Pyrrho's
school covered three points.
(1) All the dogmatists, that is to say, all the philosophers who believed
that truth and certitude can be attained, were mere sophists; they were self-deceived
and deceivers of others.
(2) Certitude is impossible of attainment, not only because of the
possibility that our faculties deceive us, but also because, in themselves, things
are neither one thing nor the other, neither good nor evil, beautiful nor ugly,
large nor small. Or, rather, things are both good and evil, beautiful and ugly,
large and small, so that there is no reason why we should affirm that they are
one thing rather than the other. This conviction was expressed in the famous saying,
ouden mallon, nothing is more one thing than another; the paper is not more white
than black, the piece of sugar is not more sweet than bitter, and so forth.
(3) The reality of things being inaccessible to the human mind, and certitude
being impossible of attainment, the wise man doubts about everything; that is,
he recognizes the futility of inquiry into reality and abstains from judging.
This abstention is called apoche. It is the foundation of happiness. Because he
alone can attain happiness who cultivates imperturbability, ataraxia; and then
only is the mind proof against disquietude when we realize that every attempt
to attain the truth is doomed to failure.
From this account of the principles of Pyrrhonism, it is evident that
Pyrrho's aim was ethical. Like all the philosophers of the period in which he
lived, he concerned himself principally with the problem of happiness. The Stoics
sought to find happiness on the realization of the reign of law in human nature
as well as in nature. The Epicureans grounded happiness on the conviction that
transitory feeling is the one important phenomenon in human life. The Eclectics
placed the intellectual basis of happiness in the conviction that all systems
of philosophy are equally true. The Pyrrhonist, as well as the other sceptics
of that period, believed that there is no possibility of attaining happiness unless
one first realizes that all systems of philosophy are equally false and that the
real truth of things cannot be attained. Pyrrhonism is, therefore, an abdication
of all the supposed rights of the mind, and cannot be dealt with by the ordinary
rules of logic or by the customary canons of philosophical criticism.
William Turner, ed.
Transcribed by: Douglas J. Potter
This text is cited June 2003 from The Catholic Encyclopedia, New Advent online edition URL below.
Although all skeptics in some way cast doubt on our ability to gain
knowledge of the world, the term 'skeptic' actually covers a wide range of attitudes
and positions. There are skeptical elements in the views of many Greek philosophers,
but the term 'ancient skeptic' is generally applied either to a member of Plato's
Academy during its skeptical period (c. 273 B.C.E to 1st century B.C.E.) or to
a follower of Pyrrho (c. 365 to 270 B.C.E.). Pyrrhonian skepticism flourished
from Aenesidemus' revival (1st century B.C.E.) to Sextus Empiricus, who lived
sometime in the 2nd or 3rd centuries C.E. Thus the two main varieties of ancient
skepticism: Academic and Pyrrhonian. The term 'skeptic' derives from a Greek noun,
skepsis, which means examination, inquiry, consideration. What leads most skeptics
to begin to examine and then eventually to be at a loss as to what one should
believe, if anything, is the fact of widespread and seemingly endless disagreement
regarding issues of fundamental importance. Many of the arguments of the ancient
skeptics were developed in response to the positive views of their contemporaries,
especially the Stoics and
Epicureans, but these arguments
have been highly influential for subsequent philosophers and will continue to
be of great interest as long as there is widespread disagreement regarding important
philosophical issues.
Nearly every variety of ancient skepticism includes a thesis about
our epistemic limitations and a thesis about suspending judgment. The two most
frequently made objections to skepticism target these theses. The first is that
the skeptic's commitment to our epistemic limitations is inconsistent. He cannot
consistently claim to know, for example, that knowledge is not possible; neither
can he consistently claim that we should suspend judgment regarding all matters
insofar as this claim is itself a judgment. Either such claims will refute themselves,
since they fall under their own scope, or the skeptic will have to make an apparently
arbitrary exemption. The second sort of objection is that the alleged epistemic
limitations and/or the suggestion that we should suspend judgment would make life
unlivable. For, the business of day-to-day life requires that we make choices
and this requires making judgments. Similarly, one might point out that our apparent
success in interacting with the world and each other entails that we must know
some things. Some responses by ancient skeptics to these objections are considered
in the following discussion.
(Hankinson [1995] is a comprehensive and detailed examination of ancient skeptical
views. See Schmitt [1972] and Popkin [1979] for discussion of the historical impact
of ancient skepticism, beginning with its rediscovery in the 16th Century, and
Fogelin [1994] for an assessment of Pyrrhonian skepticism in light of contemporary
epistemology. The differences between ancient and modern forms of skepticism has
been a controversial topic in recent years-see especially, Annas [1986], [1996],
Burnyeat [1984], and Bett [1993].)
Table of Contents (Clicking on the links below will take you to those parts of
this article)
1. The Distinction
Between Academic and Pyrrhonian Skepticism
2. Academic Skepticism
- a. Arcesilaus
i. Platonic innovator
ii. Attack
on the Stoics
iii. On
suspending judgment
iv. Dialectical
Interpretation
v. Practical
Criterion: to eulogon
- b. Carneades
i. Socratic
Dialectic
ii. On
ethical theory
iii. On
the Stoic sage
iv. On
epistemology
v. Practical
criterion: to pithanon
vi. Dialectical
skeptic or fallibilist?
- c. Philo and Antiochus
- d. Cicero
3. Pyrrhonian Skepticism
- a. Pyrrho and Timon
- b. Aenesidemus
i. Revival
of Pyrrhonism
ii. The
Ten Modes
iii. Tranquility
- c. Sextus Empiricus
i. General
Account of Skepticism
ii. The
path to skepticism
iii. The
Modes of Agrippa
iv. Skepticism
versus relativism
v. The
skeptical life
4. Skepticism and
the Examined Life
5. Greek and Latin
texts, commentaries, and translations
6. Select Bibliography
Harold Thorsrud, ed.
Assistant Professor of Philosophy
New Mexico State University
Ancient skepticism encompasses two schools of ancient philosophy.
One is Pyrrhonism, which claims Pyrrho of Elis (4th-3rd c. B.C.) as its founder,
though Pyrrho's ties to "Pyrrhonism" are loose and indirect. The other
school is Academic Skepticism, which comprises a skeptical phase of Plato's Academy
that stretches from the 3rd to the early 1st century B.C. The latter influences
many later thinkers associated with the Academy (most notably, Cicero and Plutarch).
Its relationship to subsequent phases of the Academy has been studied by Tarrant.
The figures associated with these two schools include Pyrrho, Timon
of Phlius, Arcesilaus, Carneades, Clitomachus, Philo of Larissa, Cicero, Aenesidemus,
Agrippa and Sextus Empiricus. Cicero and Sextus are significant because their
works have served as vehicles that convey skeptical arguments and views to medieval,
renaissance, modern and contemporary philosophy (Diogenes Laertius is another
ancient author who plays an important role in this regard). Their influence is
well documented in Floridi, Popkin and Schmitt (see the bibliography below).
Pyrrhonism, which flourished during and after the 1st c. B.C., is
the most mature variant of ancient skepticism. In part this is because Pyrrhonians
like Sextus freely borrow and incorporate the arguments, themes and opinions they
find in earlier skeptics and in other skeptically inclined philosophers. The latter
include figures like Protagoras, Socrates, Gorgias, Democritus, Aristippus and
Diogenes of Sinope (Diogenes "the Cynic"). In Sextus, the result is
a rich collection of sceptically inclined arguments on a broad array of topics.
Recent editions of his works make these arguments increasingly available for detailed
scrutiny and discussion.
1. Overview
2. The Historical
Context
3. Pyrrho
and Equanimity
4. Appearances
5. Arcesilaus
and the Academy
6. Carneades
7. Carneades
as Dialectician
8. Carneades
and Practical Life
9. The Arguments
for Pyrrhonism
10. The
Practical Criterion
11. The
Logic of Ancient Skepticism
Bibliography
Other Internet
Resources
Related
Entries
Comprehensive Bibliography on Skeptical Thought in the Ancient World (1998), by Richard Carrier
485 - 415
Hippias. A Greek sophist of Elis and a contemporary of Socrates. He taught in the towns of Greece, especially at Athens. He had the advantage of a prodigious memory, and was deeply versed in all the learning of his day. He attempted literature in every form which was then extant. He was among the first to undertake the composition of dialogues. In the two Platonic dialogues named after him (Hippias Maior and Hippias Minor), he is represented as excessively vain and arrogant.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Hippias, the Sophist, was a native of Elis, and a son of Diopeithes. He was a disciple of Hegesidamus (Suid. s. v.), and the contemporary of Protagoras and Socrates. Owing to his talent and skill, his fellow-citizens availed themselves of his services in political matters, and in a diplomatic mission to Sparta (Plat. Hipp. maj.; Philostr. Vit. Soph. i. 11). But he was in every respect like the other sophists of the time: he travelled about in various towns and districts of Greece for the purpose of acquiring wealth and celebrity, by teaching and public speaking. His character as a sophist, his vanity, and his boastful arrogance, are well described in two dialogues of Plato, the Hippias meizon and the Hippias elatton (Hippias major and Hippias minor). The former treats of the question about the beautiful, and in a manner which gives ample scope for putting the knowledge and presumption of Hiippias in a ludicrous light; the other handles the deficiency of our knowledge, and exposes the ridiculous vanity of the sophist. The latter dialogue is considered by Schleiermacher and Ast to be spurious. Ast even goes so far as to reject the Hippias major also; but it is not easy to get over the difficulty which arises from the fact of Aristotle (Metaphys. v. 29) and Cicero (de Orat. iii. 32) mentioning it, though without expressly ascribing it to Plato; but however this may be, the dialogues must at any rate have been written by a person and at a time when there was no difficulty in forming a correct estimate of the character of Hippias. If we compare the accounts of Plato with those given by other writers, it cannot be denied that Hippias was a man of very extensive knowledge, that he occupied himself not only with rhetorical, philosophical, and political studies, but was also well versed in poetry, music, mathematics, painting and sculpture, nay, that to a certain extent he had a practical skill in the ordinary arts of life, for he used to boast of wearing on his body nothing that he had not made himself with his own hands, such as his seal-ring, his cloak, and shoes (Plat. Hipp. maj., Hipp. min., Protag.; Philostr. l. c.; Themist. Orat. xxix). But it is at the same time evident that his knowledge of all these things was of a superficial kind, that he did not enter into the details of any particular art or science, and that he was satisfied with certain generalities, which enabled him to speak on everything without a thorough knowledge of any. This arrogance, combined with ignorance, is the main cause which provoked Plato to his severe criticism of Hippias, in which he is the more justified, as the sophist enjoyed a very extensive reputation, and thus had a proportionate influence upon the education of the youths of the higher classes. His great forte seems to have consisted in delivering extempore show speeches; and once his sophistic vanity led him to declare that he would travel to Olympia, and there deliver before the assembled Greeks an oration on any subject that might be proposed to him (Plat. Hipp. min.); and Philostratus in fact speaks of several such orations delivered at Olympia, and which created great sensation. Such speeches must have been published by Hippias, but no specimen has come down to us. Socrates (ap. Plat. Hipp. min.) speaks of epic poetry, tragedies, dithyrambs, and various orations, as the productions of Hippias; nay, his literary vanity seems not to have scrupled to write on grammar, music, rhythm, harmony, and a variety of other subjects (Plat. Hipp. maj.; comp. Philostr. l. c.; Plat. Num. 1, 23; Dion Chrys. Orat. lxxi.). He seems to have been especially fond of choosing antiquarian and mythical subjects for his show speeches. Athenaeus (xiii.) mentions a work of Hippias under the title Sunagoge, which is otherwise unknown. An epigram of his is preserved in Pausanias (v. 25). His style and language are not censured for any thing particular by the ancients.
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Jan 2006 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Antinomian: A name often given to the sophist Hippias of Elis because of his argument against the observance of law (nomos), which was as follows: Whatever is contrary to nature is an evil: Law forces men to many things that are contrary to their inclinations, and hence to their nature: Law, therefore, is an evil and should not be respected.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Dividing one angle into three equal angles seems a trivial problem. That is probably why it irked the Greeks so. Instead of being a simple problem, it is a complex, non-planar problem, as the Greeks soon discovered ..
One of the earliest ways discovered was that of Hippias of Elis(circa 425 BC). Hippias used a curve he had invented, called the quadratrix. With this curve, the problem of trisecting an angle could be reduced to the trisection of a line segment. The following picture is one construction of such segment trisect. The great benefit of this method was that it could be generalized to divide any angle into any number of parts..
420 - 360
Phaedon. A Greek philosopher, was a native of Elis, and of high birth, but was taken prisoner, probably about B.C. 400, and was brought to Athens. It is said that he ran away from his master to Socrates, and was ransomed by one of the friends of the latter. Phaedon was present at the death of Socrates, while he was still quite a youth. He appears to have lived in Athens some time after the death of Socrates, and then returned to Elis, where he became the founder of a school of philosophy. He was succeeded by Plistanus, after whom the Elean School was merged in the Eretrian. The dialogue of Plato, which contains an account of the death of Socrates, bears the name of Phaedon.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
A follower of Eubulides, who attacked Aristotle and Zeno the Stoic.
Among the different people who succeeded Eubulides, was Alexinus of Elis, a man
very fond of argument, on which account he was nicknamed Elenchinos. He had an
especial quarrel with Zeno; and Hermippus relates of him that he went from Elis
to Olympia, and studied philosophy there; and that when his pupils asked him why
he lived there, he said that he wished to establish a school which should be called
the Olympic school; but that his pupils being in distress, through want of means
of support and finding the situation unhealthy for them, left him; and that after
that Alexinus lived by himself, with only one servant. And after that, when swimming
in the Alpheus, he was pricked by a reed, and the injury proved fatal, and he
died. And we have written an epigram on him which runs thus :
Then the report, alas! was true,
That an unhappy man,
While swimming tore his foot against a nail;
For the illustrious sage,
Good Alexinus, swimming in the Alpheus,
Died from a hostile reed.
And he wrote not only against Zeno, but he composed other works also, especially
one against Ephorus the historian.
This extract is from the Life of Euclides by Diogenis Laertius, translated
by C.D. Yonge
Cited Nov2004 from the URL below
Alexinus (Alexinos), a philosopher of the Dialectic or Megarian school and a disciple of Eubulides, from his eristic propensities facetiously named Elenxinos, who lived about the beginning of the third century before Christ. He was a native of Elis, and a contemporary of Zeno. From Elis he went to Olympia, in the vain hope, it is said, of founding a sect which might be called the Olympian; but his disciples soon became disgusted with the unhealthiness of the place and their scanty means of subsistence, and left him with a single attendant. None of his doctrines have been preserved to us, but from the brief mention made of him by Cicero (Acad. ii. 24), he seems to have dealt in sophistical puzzles, like the rest of his sect. Athenaeus (xv.) mentions a paean which he wrote in honour of Craterus, the Macedonian, and which was sung at Delphi to the sound of the lyre. Alexinus also wrote against Zeno, whose professed antagonist he was, and against Ephorus the historian. Diogenes Laertius has preserved some lines on his death, which was occasioned by his being pierced with a reed while swimming in the Alpheus. (Diog. Laert. ii. 109, 110).
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Oct 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
A tragic poet, who lived in the 4th cent. B.C. and was a son of the philosopher Hippias.
Isokrates .. marrying Plathane, the widow of Hippias of Elis, he adopted Aphareus,
one of her three sons,--afterwards a rhetorician and a tragic poet of some mark.
It was a somewhat rare distinction for an eminent Athenian to have had only one
lawsuit;-- and in this--a challenge to take the trierarchy, or exchange properties,
offered to him in 345 by one Megakleides--Isokrates, who was ill at the time,
was represented in court by Aphareus.
This extract is from Isokrates life, The Attic Orators from Antiphon to
Isaeos, by Sir Richard C. Jebb
Cited Nov2004 from the URL below
Callon, a native of Elis, who sculptured a Hermes at Olympia (Paus. v. 27.5) and a chorus of thirty-five Messenian boys, together with their leader and the flute-player, who had all perished on the passage from Messana to Rhegium. The whole group was dedicated by the Messenians at Olympia. (Paus. v. 25.1). Callon must have lived before B. C. 436.
Aristotimus (Aristotimos), became tyrant in Elis with the help of Antigonus Gonatas, and after reigning for six months in the most cruel manner, was killed by Hellanicus, Cylon, and others. (Paus. v. 5.1)
Hieronymus, (Hieronumos). Of Elis, a lochagus in the army of the Ten Thousand Greeks, who is mentioned by Xenophon as taking a prominent part in the discussion that ensued after the death of Clearchus and the other generals, as well as on other occasions during the retreat and subsequent operations. (Xen. Anab. iii. 1.34, vi. 2.10, vii. 1.32, 4.18.)
Festival of Dionysus at Elis.
The Heraea of Elis were celebrated every fifth year, or in the fourth year of every Olympiad. (Corsini, Dissert. iii. 30.) The festival was chiefly celebrated by maidens, and conducted by sixteen matrons who wove the sacred peplus for the goddess. But before the solemnities commenced, these matrons sacrificed a pig, and purified themselves in the well Piera (Paus. v. 16,5). One of the principal solemnities was a race of the maidens in the stadium, for which purpose they were divided into three classes, according to their age. The youngest ran first and the oldest last. Their only dress on this occasion was a chiton, which came down to the knee, and their hair was floating. She who won the prize received a garland of oliveboughs, together with a part of a cow which was sacrificed to Hera, and might dedicate her own painted likeness in the temple of the goddess. The sixteen matrons were attended by as many female attendants, and performed two dances; the one called the dance of Physcoa, the other the dance of Hippodameia. Respecting further particulars, and the history of this solemnity, see Paus. v. 16,2; Hermann, Gottesd. Alterth.51, n. 3.
This extract is from: A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890) (eds. William Smith, LLD, William Wayte, G. E. Marindin). Cited April 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
The way from the gymnasium to the baths passes through the Street of Silence and beside the sanctuary of Artemis Philomeirax. The goddess is so surnamed because she is neighbor to the gymnasium; the street received, they say, the name of Silence for the following reason. Men of the army of Oxylus were sent to spy out what was happening in Elis. On the way they exhorted each other, when they should be near the wall, themselves to keep a strict silence, but to listen attentively if perchance they might learn aught from the people in the town. These men by this street reached the town unobserved, and after hearing all they wished they went back again to the Aetolians. So the street received its name from the silence of the spies
The Eleans have also a sanctuary of Fortune. In a portico of the sanctuary has been dedicated a colossal image, made of gilded wood except the face, hands and feet, which are of white marble.
Between the market-place and the Menius is an old theater and a shrine of Dionysus. The image is the work of Praxiteles.
On the Acropolis of the Eleans is a sanctuary of Athena. The image is of ivory and gold. They say that the goddess is the work of Pheidias. On her helmet is an image of a cock, this bird being very ready to fight. The bird might also be considered as sacred to Athena the worker.
There is also a sanctuary to the Graces; the images are of wood, with their clothes gilded, while their faces, hands and feet are of white marble. One of them holds a rose, the middle one a die, and the third a small branch of myrtle. The reason for their holding these things may be guessed to be this. The rose and the myrtle are sacred to Aphrodite and connected with the story of Adonis, while the Graces are of all deities the nearest related to Aphrodite. As for the die, it is the plaything of youths and maidens, who have nothing of the ugliness of old age. On the right of the Graces is an image of Love, standing on the same pedestal.
Cylon it was who with his own hand killed the despot when he had sought sanctuary at the altar of Zeus the Saviour.
Name of gymnasium at Elis, square images much liked by Arcadians.
Name of gymnasium at Elis.
Name of Council House at Elis.
As you enter the market-place at this portico the Umpires' Room is on your left, parallel to the end of the portico. What separates it from the market-place is a street. In this Umpires' Room dwell for ten consecutive months the umpires elect, who are instructed by the Guardians of the Law as to their duties at the festival.
Near to the portico where the umpires pass the day is another portico, between the two being one street. The Eleans call it the Corcyrean, because, they say, the Corcyreans landed in their country and carried off part of the booty, but they themselves took many times as much booty from the land of the Corcyreans, and built the portico from the tithe of the spoils. The portico is in the Doric style and double, having its pillars both on the side towards the market-place and on the side away from it. Down the center of it the roof is supported, not by pillars, but by a wall, beside which on either side have been dedicated statues.
One of the two ways from the gymnasium leads to the market-place, and to what is called the Umpires' Room; it is above the grave of Achilles.
In the market-place of Elis I saw something else, a low structure in the form of a temple. It has no walls, the roof being supported by pillars made of oak. The natives agree that it is a tomb, but they do not remember whose it is. If the old man I asked spoke the truth, it would be the tomb of Oxylus.
The market-place of Elis is not after the fashion of the cities of Ionia and of the Greek cities near Ionia; it is built in the older manner, with porticoes separated from each other and with streets through them. The modern name of the market-place is Hippodromus, and the natives train their horses there.
Adjoining the market-place is an old temple surrounded by pillars; the roof has fallen down, and I found no image in the temple. It is dedicated to the Roman emperors.
Behind the portico built from the spoils of Corcyra is a temple of Aphrodite. The goddess in the temple they call Heavenly; she is of ivory and gold, the work of Pheidias, and she stands with one foot upon a tortoise.
The sacred enclosure of Hades and its temple (for the Eleans have these among their possessions) are opened once every year, but not even on this occasion is anybody permitted to enter except the priest. The following is the reason why the Eleans worship Hades; they are the only men we know of so to do. It is said that, when Heracles was leading an expedition against Pylus in Elis, Athena was one of his allies. Now among those who came to fight on the side of the Pylians was Hades, who was the foe of Heracles but was worshipped at Pylus.
The most notable things that the Eleans have in the open part of the market-place are a temple and image of Apollo Healer. The meaning of the name would appear to be exactly the same as that of Averter of Evil, the name current among the Athenians.
Here there is also a temple of Silenus, which is sacred to Silenus alone, and not to him in common with Dionysus. Drunkenness is offering him wine in a cup. That the Silenuses are a mortal race you may infer especially from their graves, for there is a tomb of a Silenus in the land of the Hebrews, and of another at Pergamus.
The precinct of the other Aphrodite is surrounded by a wall, and within the precinct has been made a basement, upon which sits a bronze image of Aphrodite upon a bronze he-goat. It is a work of Scopas, and the Aphrodite is named Common.
In the most thickly-populated part of Elis is a statue of bronze no taller than a tall man; it represents a beardless youth with his legs crossed, leaning with both hands upon a spear. They cast about it a garment of wool, one of flax and one of fine linen. [6] This image was said to be of Poseidon, and to have been worshipped in ancient times at Samicum in Triphylia. Transferred to Elis it received still greater honor, but the Eleans call it Satrap and not Poseidon, having learned the name Satrap, which is a surname of Corybas, after the enlargement of Patrae.
In another part are the stone images of the sun and of the moon; from the head of the moon project horns, from the head of the sun, his rays.
Between the market-place and the Menius is an old theater.
Place near Elis, the tomb also of Pyrrhon , son of Pistocrates, a sophist who never brought himself to make a definite admission on any matter. It is said that Petra was a township in ancient times.(Paus. 6.24.5)
Here, and here only in Greece, does fine flax grow. The fine flax of Elis is as fine as that of the Hebrews, but it is not so yellow.
The following peculiarities we find mentioned with reference to the truffle. When
there have been showers in autumn, and frequent thunder-storms, truffles are produced,
thunder contributing more particularly to their developement; they do not, however,
last beyond a year, and are considered the most delicate eating when gathered
in spring. In some places the formation of them is attributed to water; as at
Mytilene, for instance, where
they are never to be found, it is said, unless the rivers overflow, and bring
down the seed from Tiara, that being the name of a place at which they are produced
in the greatest abundance. The finest truffles of Asia are those found in the
neighbourhood of Lampsacus
and Alopeconnesus; the best
in Greece are those of the vicinity of Elis. (Pliny Nat.19.13)
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