Pausanias, Phocis

CHAPTER XXXV.

For Abae and Hyampolis you take the mountainous road on the right of Elatea : the high road from Orchomenus to Opus also leads to those places : but to go to Abae you turn a little off that high road to the left. The people of Abae say they came to Phocis from Argos, and that their town took its name from its founder Abas, the son of Lynceus by Hypermnestra the daughter of Danaus, The people of Abae consider that their town was in ancient times sacred to Apollo, and there was an oracle of Apollo there. But the Romans and Persians did not equally honour the god, for the Romans in their piety to Apollo granted autonomy to the people of Abae, but Xerxes' army burnt the temple there. And though the Greeks resisted the barbarians, they did not think good to rebuild the temples that were burnt down, but to leave them for all time as records of national hatred : 2 and so the temples at Haliartia, and the temple of Hera at Athens on the way to Phalerum, and the temple of Derneter at Phalerum remain to this day half- burnt. Such also I imagine was the condition of the temple at Abae, till in the Phocian War, when some Phocian fugitives who were beaten in battle fleeing for refuge to it, the Thebans, emulating the conduct of the Medes, set them and the temple on fire. It is therefore in the most ruinous condition of all the buildings injured by fire, for after first suffering from the Persian fire, it was next consumed altogether by the Boeotian. Near this great temple is a smaller one, erected to Apollo by the Emperor Adrian, but the statues are ancient and were the votive offering of the people of Abae, Apollo and Leto and Artemis in bronze. There is also a theatre at Abae and a market-place, both ancient.

When you return to the high road for Opus the first place you come to is Hyampolis. Its name indicates who its inhabitants were originally, and from whence they were expelled when they came here. They were Hyantes who had fled from Thebes, from Cadmus and his army. And at first the town was called the town of the Hyantes, but as time went on the name Hyampolis prevailed. Although the town was burnt by Xerxes and rased to the ground by Philip, yet there are remains of the ancient market-place, and a small council-chamber, and a theatre not far from the gates. The Emperor Adrian also built a Portico which bears his name. The inhabitants have but one well to drink and wash with, the only other water they have is rain water in winter. The goddess they especially worship is Artemis, and they have a temple to her, but the statue o the goddess I cannot describe, as they only open the temple twice a year. And the cattle they call sacred to Artemis are free from disease and fatter than other cattle.

From Chaeronea to Phocis you can go either by the direct road to Delphi through Panopeus and by Daulis and the cross-roads, or by the rugged mountainous road from Chaeronea to Stiris, which is 120 stades. The people of Stiris say they were originally Athenians, and came from Attica with Peteus the son of Orneus, who was expelled from Athens by Aegeus : and as most of the followers of Peteus came from the township Stiria they called the town Stiris. It is on high and rocky ground, so in summer they are very short of water, for their wells are few, nor is the water they afford good. They serve however for baths, and for drink for beasts of burden. But the inhabitants of Stiris have to descend about 4 stades to get drinkable water from a spring, hewn out of the rock : and they go down to it to draw up the water. There is at Stiris a temple of Demeter Stiritis built of unbaked brick : the statue of the goddess is of Pentelican marble, slie has torches in her hands, Near it is another ancient statue in honour of Demeter adorned with fillets.