Pausanias Analysis

Within the Altis there is also a precinct set apart for Pelops. Among all the heroes honored at Olympia, Pelops is held by the Eleans in as great esteem as Zeus himself is among the other gods. The Pelopion is situated to the right of the entrance to the temple of Zeus, toward the north wind. It stands at such a distance from the temple that statues and other dedications can be placed between the two; it extends from approximately the middle of the temple roughly to the rear chamber (opisthodomos). It is enclosed by a perimeter wall of stones, and inside grow trees and stand statues set up as dedications.

The entrance to it is toward the setting of the sun. Heracles, son of Amphitryon, is said to have assigned this spot to Pelops; for he himself was descended from Pelops in the fourth generation. It is also related that he sacrificed to Pelops into the pit. Even now those who annually hold office offer sacrifice to Pelops, the sacrificial victim being a black ram. From this offering no portion is allotted to the seer; it is established custom to give only the neck of the ram to the one called the "woodman."

The Woodman is among the servants of Zeus, and his appointed duty is to provide wood of specific, prescribed type for the sacrifices, both to the cities and to any private individual. He supplies only poplar wood, and no other tree at all. Whoever, whether one of the Eleans themselves or a foreigner, eats of the meat from the sacrificial victim offered to Pelops, is not permitted to enter the sanctuary of Zeus. The same restriction occurs in Pergamum beyond the river Caïcus for those who sacrifice to Telephus, for neither are these permitted to ascend to the sanctuary of Asclepius without having first bathed.

It is also said as follows: when the war against Ilium dragged on for the Greeks, their seers declared to them that they would not capture the city until they had brought to themselves the bow of Heracles and a bone of Pelops. Thus, it is said, they summoned Philoctetes to the camp and brought from Pisa for themselves a bone, namely the shoulder-blade of Pelops. However, on their voyage home, the ship bearing the bone of Pelops was wrecked in a storm near Euboea.

Many years later, after the capture of Troy, Damarmenus, a fisherman from Eretria, cast a net into the sea and drew up the bone. Astonished by its great size, he concealed it beneath the sand. In the end, he journeyed also to Delphi, wishing to learn from the oracle whose bone it was and what he ought to do with it.

And as though through divine providence, at that very time an embassy of Eleans was present, seeking relief from a devastating plague. Thus, the Pythia instructed them to recover the bones of Pelops, and commanded Damarmenos to return to the Eleans the relics he had discovered. Having obeyed this, the Eleans gave him many gifts in return, and established Damarmenos himself and his descendants after him as guardians of the bone. The shoulder-blade of Pelops, however, had vanished already by my time; as I see it, this was because it had remained hidden deep under the sea for generations, and over time had suffered extensive decay, particularly from the effects of the saltwater.

Evidence of the residence of Pelops and Tantalus among us remains even now: there is the lake called after Tantalus himself and his clearly visible tomb. And for Pelops, on Sipylus there is a throne placed on the peak of the mountain, above the sanctuary of his mother Plastene. Beyond the river Hermus, in Temnus, there is a statue of Aphrodite fashioned from living myrtle-wood; tradition records that Pelops dedicated this image as a memorial, appeasing the goddess and requesting her favor to marry Hippodameia.

The altar of Olympian Zeus is situated at roughly equal distances from the Pelopion and the sanctuary of Hera, but lies somewhat in front of both. Some say it was built by Idaean Heracles, while others claim it was constructed two generations later by local heroes, subsequent to Heracles. This altar is formed from the ashes of the thighs of sacrificial victims offered to Zeus, just as is also the case at Pergamon; similarly, the altar dedicated to Hera of Samos is also composed of ashes, though it is no more outstanding than those found in Attica, which the Athenians call "improvised hearths."

Regarding the altar at Olympia, the circumference of its first base, known as the prothysis (foundation), is one hundred and twenty-five feet; the perimeter of the platform placed upon this foundation measures thirty-two feet. The total height of the altar amounts to twenty-two feet. It is established custom for sacrifices themselves to be offered at the lower part, the prothysis, while the thighs of the sacrificial victims are carried up onto the highest part of the altar and there offered as burnt sacrifice.

Steps made of stone on each of the two sides lead up to the lowest platform; from this platform upward the ascent to the higher part of the altar is composed of ashes and also provides steps. Up to this lower platform maidens and women are permitted to ascend, provided they are not excluded from Olympia; but from this point upward to the highest level of the altar men alone may ascend. Sacrifices to Zeus are performed even apart from the festival, both by private individuals and daily by the Eleans.

Each year, on the nineteenth day of the month Elaphius, the seers take ashes from the Prytaneion, mix them with water from the Alpheius river, and thus plaster the altar. It is never permitted that this ash be mixed into mud with water from another. For this reason, the Alpheius has come to be regarded as the river most dear to Olympian Zeus. There is also at Didyma among the Milesians an altar they say was constructed by Heracles of Thebes, made from the blood of sacrificial animals. The blood of sacrifices offered afterward, however, has not increased the altar's size significantly.