Pausanias Analysis

The place among the Messenians known as the Hierothesion contains statues of all the gods recognized by the Greeks, and also has a bronze image of Epaminondas. There are ancient tripods here as well, which Homer calls "fireless." In the gymnasium are statues made by Egyptian craftsmen, depicting Hermes, Heracles, and Theseus. Indeed, it has already become customary among all Greeks, and even among many barbarians, to honor these particular gods in connection with gymnasia and wrestling grounds.

I found that Aithidas was older than myself, and as he became a man of no little wealth, he now receives from the Messenians honors appropriate to a hero. However, some among the Messenians claimed that, although Aithidas did indeed attain great wealth, he was not himself the man commemorated on the stele, but rather a forefather of the same name. They say it was this earlier Aithidas who led the Messenians at the very time when Demetrios son of Philip, completely unforeseen by them, secretly entered their city at night with his army.

Here is also the tomb of Aristomenes. They say that the tomb is not empty; and when I inquired in what manner and from what place the bones of Aristomenes had been brought back, they told me that they had sent for them from Rhodes, following an oracle given by the god at Delphi. Furthermore, they described to me the ritual observances they perform at the tomb. A bull, destined for sacrifice, is brought to the tomb and tied to the column standing upon the tomb. Being wild and unaccustomed to bonds, the bull does not willingly remain tied. If, while struggling and leaping about, it moves the column, this signifies good fortune for the Messenians; but if the column remains unmoved, the omen portends misfortunes.

They say also that Aristomenes was present willingly at the battle of Leuctra, though no longer among the living, and the Thebans claim he aided them and was chiefly responsible for the disaster that befell the Lacedaemonians. Now I know that the Chaldeans and the Magi of India were the first to declare the human soul immortal, and certain Greeks adopted this belief from their teachings, most notably Plato, the son of Ariston. If all men should accept this doctrine, it would then be impossible to deny that Aristomenes' hatred for Sparta persisted eternally.

What I myself heard at Thebes presented some plausibility regarding the account given by the Messenians, but it certainly does not fully agree with their version. The Thebans say that, as the battle at Leuctra was imminent, they sent inquiries to various oracles, and among them they sought counsel from the god at Lebadeia. Accounts are given of responses from the temples of Ismenian Apollo and Ptoan Apollo, in addition to the oracles given at Abae and Delphi. But they report that Trophonius gave a reply in hexameter as follows: "Before engaging with your enemies in battle, Set up a trophy, adorning it with my shield, The shield which fierce Aristomenes the Messenian Dedicated within my temple. Then shall I Bring ruin upon the shield-bearing ranks of hostile men."

When this oracle reached them, they say Epaminondas sought the counsel of Xenocrates; the latter had the shield of Aristomenes brought from Lebadeia and from it raised a trophy, set in clear view for the Lacedaemonians. They recognized the shield, since some of them had previously viewed it quietly at Lebadeia, and everyone had at least heard of it. After the victory went to the Thebans, they gave back the dedication again to Trophonius. A bronze statue of Aristomenes stands in the stadium of the Messenians. Not far from the theater is a sanctuary of Sarapis and Isis.