Listed 100 (total found 142) sub titles with search on: Monuments reported by ancient authors for wider area of: "SPARTI Town LACONIA" .
SPARTI (Ancient city) LACONIA
The Lacedaemonians who live in Sparta have a market-place worth seeing; the council-chamber of the senate, and the offices of the ephors, of the guardians of the laws, and of those called the Bidiaeans, are all in the market-place.
AMYKLES (Ancient sanctuary) SPARTI
On the altar are wrought in relief, here an image of Biris, there Amphitrite and
Poseidon. Zeus and Hermes are conversing; near stand Dionysus and Semele, with
Ino by her side. On the altar are also Demeter, the Maid, Pluto, next to them
Fates and Seasons, and with them Aphrodite, Athena and Artemis. They are carrying
to heaven Hyacinthus and Polyboea, the sister, they say, of Hyacinthus, who died
a maid. Now this statue of Hyacinthus represents him as bearded, but Nicias, son
of Nicomedes, has painted him in the very prime of youthful beauty, hinting at
the love of Apollo for Hyacinthus of which legend tells. Wrought on the altar
is also Heracles; he too is being led to heaven by Athena and the other gods.
On the altar are also the daughters of Thestius, Muses and Seasons. As for the
West Wind, how Apollo unintentionally killed Hyacinthus, and the story of the
flower, we must be content with the legends, although perhaps they are not true
history.
There is a place having its porticoes in the form of a square, where of old stuff used to be sold to the people. By this is an altar of Zeus Counsellor and of Athena Counsellor, also of the Dioscuri, likewise surnamed Counsellors. By "Councellor", we mean the god who either gives advice when needed or postpones a misfortune for later, so that it can be easily faced (Ekd. Athinon, Pausaniou Periegissis, vol.2, p. 352, note 2). See also (Paus. 3,13,6).
AMYKLES (Ancient sanctuary) SPARTI
Amyclae was laid waste by the Dorians, and since that time has remained a village; I found there a sanctuary and image of Alexandra worth seeing. Alexandra is said by the Amyclaeans to be Cassandra, the daughter of Priam.
SPARTI (Ancient city) LACONIA
On the opposite side of the office of the Bidiaeans is a sanctuary of Athena. Odysseus is said to have set up the image and to have named it Keleuthea (Lady of the Road), when he had beaten the suitors of Penelope in the foot-race. Of Keleuthea he set up sanctuaries, three in number, at some distance from each other.
Sanctuary of Earth.
At the end of the Aphetaid Road, quite close to the wall, are a sanctuary of Dictynna and the royal graves of those called the Eurypontidae.
Beside the Hellenium is a sanctuary of Arsinoe, daughter of Leucippus and sister of the wives of Polydeuces and Castor.
There is also a sanctuary of Maron and of Alpheius. Of the Lacedaemonians who served at Thermopylae they consider that these men distinguished themselves in the fighting more than any save Leonidas himself.
The sanctuary of Zeus Tropaean (He who turns to flight) was made by the Dorians, when they had conquered in war the Amyclaeans, as well as the other Achaeans, who at that time occupied Laconia.
The sanctuary of the Great Mother has paid to it the most extraordinary honors.
Not far from the Dionysus is a sanctuary of Zeus of Fair Wind, on the right of which is a hero-shrine of Pleuron.
An oracular utterance caused to be built a sanctuary of Hera Hyperchemia (she whose hand is above) at a time when the Eurotas was flooding a great part of the land.
Not far from the lounge is a sanctuary of Asclepius, called "in the place of the Agiadae".
Here are sanctuaries of Poseidon Hippocurius (Horse-tending) and of Artemis Aiginaea.
Here are sanctuaries of Poseidon Hippocurius (Horse-tending) and of Artemis Aiginaea (Goat-goddess?).
On returning to the lounge you see a sanctuary of Artemis Issoria. They surname her also Lady of the Lake, though she is not really Artemis hut Britomartis of Crete.
The sanctuary of Thetis was set up, they say, for the following
reason. The Lacedaemonians were making war against the Messenians, who had revolted,
and their king Anaxander, having invaded Messenia, took prisoners certain women,
and among them Cleo, priestess of Thetis. This Cleo the wife of Anaxander asked
for from her husband, and discovering that she had the wooden image of Thetis,
she set up with her a temple for the goddess. This Leandris did because of a vision
in a dream, but the wooden image of Thetis is guarded in secret.
The Spartans have also a sanctuary of Serapis, the newest sanctuary in the city.
The Spartans have also a sanctuary of Serapis, the newest sanctuary in the city, and one of Zeus surnamed Olympian.
Farther away from the Course are sanctuaries of the Dioscuri, of the Graces, of Eileithyia, of Apollo Carneus, and of Artemis Leader.
Farther away from the Course are sanctuaries of the Dioscuri, of the Graces, of Eileithyia, of Apollo Carneus, and of Artemis Leader.
Farther away from the Course are sanctuaries of the Dioscuri, of the Graces, of Eileithyia, of Apollo Carneus, and of Artemis Leader.
Farther away from the Course are sanctuaries of the Dioscuri, of the Graces, of Eileithyia, of Apollo Carneus, and of Artemis Leader.
Farther away from the Course are sanctuaries of the Dioscuri, of the Graces, of Eileithyia, of Apollo Carneus, and of Artemis Leader.
The sanctuary of Agnitas has been made on the right of the Course; Agnitas is a surname of Asclepius, because the god had a wooden image of agnus castus. The agnus is a willow like the thorn.
Beside the shrine of Alcon is a sanctuary of Poseidon, whom they surname "of the House".
There are sanctuaries of Helen and of Heracles; the former is near the grave of Alcman.
There are sanctuaries of Helen and of Heracles; the former is near the grave of Alcman, the latter is quite close to the wall and contains an armed image of Heracles. The attitude of the image is due, they say, to the fight with Hippocoon and his sons.
As you go from the Course towards the east, there is a path on the right, with a sanctuary of Athena called Axiopoinos (Just Requital or Tit for Tat). For when Heracles, in avenging himself on Hippocoon and his sons, had inflicted upon them a just requital for their treatment of his relative, he founded a sanctuary of Athena, and surnamed her Axiopoinos because the ancients used to call vengeance poinai.
(Axiopoinos), the avenger, a surname of Athena. Under this name Heracles built
a temple to the goddess at Sparta, after he had chastised Hippocoon and his sons
for the murder of Oeonus. (Paus. iii. 15.4.)
There is another sanctuary of Athena on another road from the Course. It was dedicated, they say, by Theras son of Autesion son of Tisamenus son of Thersander, when he was leading a colony to the island now called Thera after him, the name of which in ancient times was Calliste (Fairest).
The Lacedaemonians are the only Greeks who surname Hera Goat-eater,
and sacrifice goats to the goddess. They say that Heracles founded the sanctuary
and was the first to sacrifice goats, because in his fight against Hippocoon and
his children he met with no hindrance from Hera, although in his other adventures
he thought that the goddess opposed him. He sacrificed goats, they say, because
he lacked other kinds of victims.
Not far from the theater is a sanctuary of Poseidon God of Kin.
The most famous of their sanctuaries of Asclepius has been built near Booneta.
The most famous of their sanctuaries of Asclepius has been built near Booneta, and on the left is the hero-shrine of Teleclus.
A little farther on is a small hill, on which is an ancient
temple with a wooden image of Aphrodite armed. This is the only temple I know
that has an upper storey built upon it. It is a sanctuary of Morpho, a surname
of Aphrodite, who sits wearing a veil and with fetters on her feet. The story
is that the fetters were put on her by Tyndareus, who symbolized by the bonds
the faithfulness of wives to their husbands. The other account, that Tyndareus
punished the goddess with fetters because he thought that from Aphrodite had come
the shame of his daughters, I will not admit for a moment. For it were surely
altogether silly to expect to punish the goddess by making a cedar figure and
naming it Aphrodite.
Near is a sanctuary of Hilaeira and of Phoebe. The author of
the poem Cypria calls them daughters of Apollo. Their priestesses are young maidens,
called, as are also the goddesses, Leucippides (Daughter of Leucippus). One of
the images was adorned by a Leucippis who had served the goddesses as a priestess.
She gave it a face of modern workmanship instead of the old one; she was forbidden
by a dream to adorn the other one as well. Here there his been hung from the roof
an egg tied to ribands, and they say that it is the famous egg that legend says
Leda brought forth.
The Lacedaemonians have also made a sanctuary for Lycurgus, who drew up the laws, looking upon him as a god.
The place named Limnaeum (Marshy) is sacred to Artemis Orthia (Upright). The wooden image there they say is that which once Orestes and Iphigenia stole out of the Tauric land, and the Lacedaemonians say that it was brought to their land because there also Orestes was king.
Not far from the Orthia is a sanctuary of Eileithyia. They say that they built it, and came to worship Eileithyia as a goddess, because of an oracle from Delphi.
There are hills in the city, and the highest of them they call
the citadel. Here is built a sanctuary of Athena, who is called both City-protecting
and Lady of the BronzeHouse. The building of the sanctuary was begun, they say,
by Tyndareus. On his death his children were desirous of making a second attempt
to complete the building, and the resources they intended to use were the spoils
of Aphidna. They too left it unfinished, and it was many years afterwards that
the Lacedaemonians made of bronze both the temple and the image of Athena. The
builder was Gitiadas, a native of Sparta.
There is here another sanctuary of Athena; her surname is the Worker.
On the left of the Lady of the Bronze House they have set up a sanctuary of the Muses, because the Lacedaemonians used to go out to fight, not to the sound of the trumpet, but to the music of the flute and the accompaniment of lyre and harp.
Farther on from here is a sanctuary of Ammon. From the first the Lacedaemonians are known to have used the oracle in Libya more than any other Greeks. It is said also that when Lysander was besieging Aphytis in Pallene Ammon appeared by night and declared that it would be better for him and for Lacedaemon if they ceased from warring against Aphytis.
The story of Artemis Cnagia is as follows. Cnageus, they say,
was a native who joined the Dioscuri in their expedition against Aphidna. Being
taken prisoner in the battle and sold into Crete, he lived as a slave where the
Cretans had a sanctuary of Artemis; but in course of time he ran away in the company
of the maiden priestess, who took the image with her. It is for this reason that
they name Artemis Cnagia. But I am of opinion that Cnageus came to Crete in some
other way, and not in the manner the Lacedaemonians state; for I do not think
there was a battle at Aphidna at all, Theseus being detained among the Thesprotians
and the Athenians not being unanimous, their sympathies inclining towards Menestheus.
Moreover, even if a fight occurred, nobody would believe that prisoners were taken
from the conquerors, especially as the victory was overwhelming, so that Aphidna
itself was captured.
I must now end my criticisms. As you go down to Amyclae from Sparta you come to a river called Tiasa. They hold that Tiasa was a daughter of Eurotas, and by it is a sanctuary of Graces, Phaenna and Cleta, as Alcman calls them in a poem. They believe that Lacedaemon founded the sanctuary for the Graces here, and gave them their names.
On the road from Sparta to Arcadia there stands in the open an image of Athena surnamed Pareia, and after it is a sanctuary of Achilles. This it is not customary to open, but all the youths who are going to take part in the contest in Plane-tree Grove are wont to sacrifice to Achilles before the fight. The Spartans say that the sanctuary was made for them by Prax, a grandson of Pergamus the son of Neoptolemus.
On the road is a precinct of Cranius surnamed Stemmatias, and a sanctuary of Mysian Artemis.
Place near Therapne.
At Sparta there is a shrine of Talthybius . . .
THERAPNI (Ancient city) SPARTI
Before the Eurotas is crossed, a little above the bank is shown a sanctuary of Zeus Wealthy.
Of all the objects along this road the oldest is a sanctuary
of Ares. This is on the left of the road, and the image is said to have been brought
from Colchis by the Dioscuri. They surname him Theritas after Thero, who is said
to have been the nurse of Ares. Perhaps it was from the Colchians that they heard
the name Theritas, since the Greeks know of no Thero, nurse of Ares. My own belief
is that the surname Theritas was not given to Ares because of his nurse, but because
when a man meets an enemy in battle he must cast aside all gentleness.
The fountain Polydeucea and a sanctuary of Polydeuces are on the right of the road to Therapne.
Place near Therapne.
Not far from Therapne is what is called Phoebaeum, in which is a temple of the Dioscuri. Here the youths sacrifice to Enyalius. At no great distance from it stands a sanctuary of Poseidon surnamed Earth-embracer.
AMYKLES (Ancient sanctuary) SPARTI
The part of the throne where the god would sit is not continuous;
there are several seats, and by the side of each seat is left a wide empty space,
the middle, whereon the image stands, being the widest of them. I know of nobody
who has measured the height of the image, but at a guess one would estimate it
to be as much as thirty cubits. It is not the work of Bathycles, being old and
uncouth; for though it has face, feet, and hands, the rest resembles a bronze
pillar. On its head it has a helmet, in its hands a spear and a bow. The pedestal
of the statue is fashioned into the shape of an altar and they say that Hyacinthus
is buried in it.
SPARTI (Ancient city) LACONIA
Not far from these is a precinct of Poseidon of Taenarum, which is the surname given him, and near by an image of Athena, which is said to have been dedicated by the colonists who left for Tarentum in Italy.
By the Canopy is a circular building, and in it images of Zeus and Aphrodite surnamed Olympian. This, they say, was set up by Epimenides
An old wooden image they call that of Aphrodite Hera. A mother is wont to sacrifice to the goddess when a daughter is married.
On the road to the right of the hill is a statue of Hetoemocles. Both Hetoemocles himself and his father Hipposthenes won Olympic victories for wrestling the two together won eleven, but Hipposthenes succeeded in beating his son by one victory.
As you go to the Course from the grave of the Agiadae, you see on the left the tomb of Eumedes--this Eumedes was one of the children of Hippocoon--and also an old image of Heracles, to whom sacrifice is paid by the Sphaereis. These are those who are just passing from youth to manhood.
At the beginning of the Course are the Dioscuri Starters, and a little farther on a hero-shrine of Alcon, who they say was a son of Hippocoon.
And there is a place called Platanistas (Plane-tree Grove) from the unbroken ring of tall plane trees growing round it. The place itself, where it is customary for the youths to fight, is surrounded by a moat just like an island in the sea; you enter it by bridges. On each of the two bridges stand images; on one side an image of Heracles, on the other a likeness of Lycurgus.
And there is a place called Platanistas (Plane-tree Grove) from
the unbroken ring of tall plane trees growing round it. The place itself, where
it is customary for the youths to fight, is surrounded by a moat just like an
island in the sea; you enter it by bridges. On each of the two bridges stand images;
on one side an image of Heracles, on the other a likeness of Lycurgus. Among the
laws Lycurgus laid down for the constitution are those regulating the fighting
of the youths.
Opposite this temple is an old image of Enyalius in fetters. The idea the Lacedaemonians express by this image is the same as the Athenians express by their Wingless Victory; the former think that Enyalius will never run away from them, being bound in the fetters, while the Athenians think that Victory, having no wings, will always remain where she is.
On the right of the Lady of the Bronze House has been set up
an image of Zeus Most High, the oldest image that is made of bronze. It is not
wrought in one piece. Each of the limbs has been hammered separately; these are
fitted together, being prevented from coming apart by nails. They say that the
artist was Clearchus of Rhegium, who is said by some to have been a pupil of Dipoenus
and Scyllis, by others of Daedalus himself.
By the side of the altar of the Lady of the Bronze House stand two statues of Pausanias, the general at Plataea.
Near the statues of Pausanias is an image of Aphrodite Ambologera (Postponer of Old Age), which was set up in accordance with an oracle.
Near the statues of Pausanias is an image of Aphrodite Ambologera (Postponer of Old Age), which was set up in accordance with an oracle; there are also images of Sleep and of Death. They think them brothers, in accordance with the verses in the Iliad.
On the road from Sparta to Arcadia there stands in the open an image of Athena surnamed Pareia.
The image of Modesty, some thirty stades distant from the city,
they say was dedicated by Icarius, the following being the reason for making it.
When Icarius gave Penelope in marriage to Odysseus, he tried to make Odysseus
himself settle in Lacedaemon, but failing in the attempt, he next besought his
daughter to remain behind, and when she was setting forth to Ithaca he followed
the chariot, begging her to stay. Odysseus endured it for a time, but at last
he bade Penelope either to accompany him willingly, or else, if she preferred
her father, to go back to Lacedaemon. They say that she made no reply, but covered
her face with a veil in reply to the question, so that Icarios, realizing that
she wished to depart with Odysseus, let her go, and dedicated an image of Modesty;
for Penelope, they say, had reached this point of the road when she veiled herself.
The west portico has two eagles, and upon them are two Victories. Lysander dedicated them to commemorate both his exploits; the one was off Ephesus, when he conquered Antiochus, the captain of Alcibiades, and the Athenian warships and the second occurred later, when he destroyed the Athenian fleet at Aegospotami.
THERAPNI (Ancient city) SPARTI
Another road from the city leads to Therapne, and on this road is a wooden image of Athena Alea.
THORNAX (Ancient city) SPARTI
In Thornax, which you will reach as you go along, is an image of Apollo Pythaeus, made after the style of the one at Amyclae; the fashion of it I will describe when I come to speak of the latter.
AMYKLES (Ancient sanctuary) SPARTI
(Paus. 3,18,9-16).
Below Taygetus, in the interior, lies Sparta, and also Amyclae, where is the temple of Apollo, and Pharis.
SPARTI (Ancient city) LACONIA
On the market-place are temples; there is one of Caesar, the first Roman to covet monarchy and the first emperor under the present constitution.
On the market-place are temples; there is one of Caesar, the
first Roman to covet monarchy and the first emperor under the present constitution,
and also one to his son Augustus, who put the empire on a firmer footing, and
became a more famous and a more powerful man than his father. His name "Augustus"
means in Greek sebastos (reverend). 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.
At the place called the Forts is a temple of Artemis.
Opposite the Olympian Aphrodite the Lacedaemonians have a temple of the Saviour Maid. Some say that it was made by Orpheus the Thracian, others by Abairis when he had come from the Hyperboreans.
Opposite is what is called the Knoll, with a temple of Dionysus of the Knoll.
Not far from the hero-shrine is a hill, and on the hill a temple of Argive Hera, set up, they say, by Eurydice, the daughter of Lacedaemon and the wife of Acrisius the son of Abas.
Near is a temple of Hipposthenes, who won so many victories in wrestling. They worship Hipposthenes in accordance with an oracle, paying him honors as to Poseidon.
A little farther on is a small hill, on which is an ancient temple with a wooden image of Aphrodite armed. This is the only temple I know that has an upper storey built upon it.
As you go to the south portico there is a temple of Zeus surnamed Cosmetas (Orderer).
Behind the Lady of the Bronze House is a temple of Aphrodite Areia (Warlike). The wooden images are as old as any in Greece.
As you go towards what is called the Alpium is a temple of Athena Ophthalmitis (Goddess of the Eye). They say that Lycurgus dedicated it when one of his eyes had been struck out by Alcander, because the laws he had made happened not to find favour with Alcander. Having fled to this place he was saved by the Lacedaemonians from losing his remaining eye, and so he made this temple of Athena Ophthalmitis.
THERAPNI (Ancient city) SPARTI
Across the river is a temple of Asclepius Cotyleus (of the Hip-joint); it was made by Heracles, who named Asclepius Cotyleus, because he was cured of the wound in the hip-joint that he received in the former fight with Hippocoon and his sons.
The name of Therapne is derived from the daughter of Lelex, and in it is a temple of Menelaus; they say that Menelaus and Helen were buried here.
VRYSSES (Ancient city) SPARTI
Leaving Taygetus from here you come to the site of the city Bryseae. There still remains here a temple of Dionysus with an image in the open. But the image in the temple women only may see, for women by themselves perform in secret the sacrificial rites.
SPARTI (Ancient city) LACONIA
On going westwards from the market-place is a cenotaph of Brasidas the son of Tellis. Not far from it is the theater, made of white marble and worth seeing.
AMYKLES (Ancient sanctuary) SPARTI
Hyacinthus, the youngest and most beautiful of his sons, died before his father, and his tomb is in Amyclae below the image of Apollo.
SPARTI (Ancient city) LACONIA
Polydorus, who had a great reputation at Sparta and was very
popular with the masses, was murdered by Polemarchus, a member of a distinguished
family in Lacedaemon, but, as he showed, a man of an unscrupulous temper. After
his death Polydorus received many signal marks of respect from the Lacedaemonians.
However, Polemarchus too has a tomb in Sparta; either he had been considered a
good man before this murder, or perhaps his relatives buried him secretly.
The Lacedaemonians have also a sanctuary of the Fates, by which is the grave of Orestes, son of Agamemnon. For when the bones of Orestes were brought from Tegea in accordance with an oracle they were buried here.
There is also Hermes of the Market-place carrying Dionysus as a child, besides the old Courts of the Ephors, as they are called, in which are the tombs of Epimenides the Cretan and of Aphareus the son of Perieres.
Near the Hellenium they point out the tomb of Talthybius. The Achaeans of Aegium too say that a tomb which they show on their market-place belongs to Talthybius. It was this Talthybius whose wrath at the murder of the heralds, who were sent to Greece by king Dareius to demand earth and water, left its mark upon the whole state of the Lacedaemonians.
At the end of the Aphetaid Road, quite close to the wall, are a sanctuary of Dictynna and the royal graves of those called the Eurypontidae.
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