Ancient Italy; Historical and Geographical Investigations in Central Italy, Magna Graecia, Sicily, and Sardinia (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: Ill THE LEGEND OF EUTHYMUS OF LOCRI Pausanias, in speaking of the statues dedicated at Olympia to victorious athletes, mentions among others that of Euthymus of Locri, the work of Pythagoras of Regium, and takes occasion to introduce a legend which is also referred to by Aelianus and Suidas, and which, in brief, is as follows: Ulysses in his wanderings touched at Temesa, where one of his companions, having violated a virgin, was stoned to death by the natives. Shortly afterward, the Safacov of the man began to take such savage vengeance on the inhabitants of Temesa that they even planned to leave Italy. An answer from the Pythian Apollo, however, induced them to remain, and to placate the hero with a temple and with the annual sacrifice of one of the most beautiful of the virgins. Euthymus of Locri, son of the river Caecinus which separates the Regine from the Locrian territory, on his return from his victory in boxing at Olympia, arrived at Temesa at the moment when the hero was being offered his usual victim. He obtained permission to enter the temple, and at sight of the maiden his pity was changed to love. He therefore decided to conquer the hero and marry the maiden. Arming himself, he firmly awaited the hero, and forced him to leave the land and throw himself into the sea. After this feat Euthymus celebrated a splendid wedding. This much Pausanias says he had from hearsay (vovo-a), and then he adds: I remember that I once came upon a picture which was a copy of an old painting. It was like this: There was a youth [i. e., Euthymus], Sybaris, and a river Calabrus, and a spring Lyca, and near a hero's shrine the city of Temesa; and there, too, was the ghost which Euthymus expelled. The ghost was of a horrid black color. His whole appearance was most dreadful, and he wo...