Pausanias Analysis

The altar in Olympia offers another marvel of the following kind: kites, which by nature especially snatch meat from birds, commit no harm against those sacrificing at Olympia; but if ever a kite does seize either entrails or pieces of the flesh, it is thought by the sacrificer to be an unfavorable omen. They say that when Heracles, the son of Alcmene, was sacrificing at Olympia, flies became especially troublesome due to their multitude. Therefore, having himself either discovered the solution or been taught it by someone else, he sacrificed to Zeus Apomyios ("Fly-driver"), and thus the flies departed, being driven beyond the Alpheius. For this very reason, it is said, the Eleans themselves perform sacrifices to Zeus Apomyios, driving the flies away from Olympia in Elis.

Only the wood of the white poplar do the Eleans regard as appropriate for sacrifices to Zeus, making use of no other tree whatsoever. To my thinking, their preference for the white poplar is based not on any quality peculiar to the tree itself but because Heracles brought it to Greece from the land of Thesprotia. It seemed to me that Heracles himself employed its wood when sacrificing to Zeus at Olympia, burning upon white poplar wood the thighs of the sacrificial victims. Heracles found this tree growing beside the river Acheron in Thesprotia; and for this reason, they say, Homer calls it "Acherōïs."

From the beginning, rivers have had, and still have now, different qualities, each suited differently to nourishing grasses and trees. Thus, great numbers of tamarisks grow most abundantly beside the Maeander; the Boeotian Asopus is naturally best at growing the tallest reeds; and as a tree, the Egyptian persea delights solely in the waters of the Nile. So too, there is nothing surprising in the fact that the white poplar first appeared beside the Acheron, the wild olive by the Alpheius, and that the black poplar should be native to the land of the Celts and the Celtic Eridanus.

Come then—since I have already mentioned the altar of Zeus the Greatest—let us proceed to enumerate all the altars at Olympia. My account shall follow the very order in which the Eleans customarily sacrifice upon these altars. First they sacrifice to Hestia, secondly to Olympian Zeus as they approach his altar within the temple, and thirdly to Zeus Laoitas and Poseidon Laoitas; this sacrifice is also offered upon a single altar.

On the fourth and fifth days they sacrifice to Artemis and to Athena surnamed Leitis, and on the sixth to Athena Ergane. It is Athena Ergane to whom the descendants of Pheidias—called the Phaidryntai—offer sacrifice here before they begin to clean the statue of Zeus, having received from the Eleans the privilege of cleansing the statue from any impurities that have settled upon it. There is also another altar of Athena near the temple, and beside it is a square altar of Artemis, gently rising upwards.

After those mentioned above, they sacrifice to Alpheios and Artemis upon a single altar. The reason for this has been made clear by Pindar somewhere in an ode; and I myself have also written about it in my account of the Letrinians. Not far from this altar stands another dedicated to Alpheios, and close beside it is one of Hephaistos. Some of the Eleans, however, call this altar of Hephaistos the altar of Ares Zeus. These same Eleans also say that Oinomaos offered sacrifice on this altar to Ares Zeus whenever he was about to contend in chariot-racing with one of Hippodameia's suitors.

Next to this has been made an altar to Heracles, surnamed Parastates ("Protector"), and altars have also been erected for Epimedes, Ida, Paeonaeus, and Iasus, who were brothers of Heracles. I know, however, that Ida's altar is called Acesidas by some. At the site where the foundations of Oenomaus' house stood, there are two altars: one of Zeus Herkeios ("Protector of the Household"), which is said to have been built by Oenomaus himself; and another, to Zeus Keraunios ("Zeus of the Thunderbolt"), erected later, in my opinion, when the thunderbolt fell upon the house of Oenomaus.

We have already given a brief account earlier of the great altar, called that of Olympian Zeus. Near it stands an altar of the Unknown gods, and after that one, altars dedicated to Zeus Katharsios ("the Purifier"), to Nike ("Victory"), and then again to Zeus under the surname Chthonios ("of the Underworld"). There are also altars to all the gods collectively, and to Hera surnamed Olympia; this one too, like the others, is made of ashes, and is said to have been dedicated by Clymenus. After it is an altar shared by Apollo and Hermes in common, because the Greeks say Hermes invented the lyre, while Apollo discovered the kithara.

Next is an altar of Concord, then again one of Athena, and another of the Mother of the Gods. Closest to the entrance to the stadium are two altars; one of these they name Hermes Enagonios ("of the Contest"), and the other Kairos ("Opportunity"). I know that Ion the Chian composed a hymn to Kairos, and in that hymn he makes Kairos the youngest son of Zeus. Near the treasury of the Sicyonians there is the treasury either of the Curetes or of Alcmene, mother of Heracles; for both accounts are told.

Upon the place called Gaius there stands an altar to Earth, also made of ashes. Older traditions say that there was once an oracle of Earth there. On the summit called Stomion is an altar constructed for Themis. Around every side of the altar of Zeus Kataibates stands an enclosure; this altar is close to the great altar of ashes. Let someone bear in mind that my enumeration of the altars is not according to their positioning, but follows the order in which the Eleans make their sacrifices. Near the precinct of Pelops there is a common altar of Dionysus and the Graces, with an altar of the Muses between them, and next in order comes an altar dedicated to the Nymphs.