Pausanias Analysis

There is an ancient theater between the marketplace and the temple of Menius, and there both the theater and the shrine of Dionysus are situated. The statue is the work of Praxiteles. Of all the gods the Eleans especially revere Dionysus, and say that the god visits them at the festival of the Thyia. This place, where they celebrate the feast called Thyia, is about eight stades distant from the city. The priests carry three empty cauldrons into a building, placing them there in the presence of both citizens and visitors who happen to be staying temporarily in town. Then both the priests themselves and any others appointed in an official capacity set seals upon the doors of the building. On the following day they—

Signs exist by which they can recognize the event, for upon entering the building, they find the vessels filled with wine. The most respected men of the Eleans, along with visiting strangers who were with them, swore solemnly that these things occur as described, although I myself did not arrive at the festival at the appropriate time. The Andrians also relate that each year, during the festival of Dionysus, wine flows spontaneously from the sanctuary. Whether the Greeks are to be trusted in these matters one could decide, but then one might equally accept the stories the Ethiopians who live beyond Syene tell about the table of the sun.

On the acropolis of the Eleians there is a temple of Athena; the statue is made of ivory and gold. They say the statue itself is the work of Pheidias, and a cock is represented upon the helmet, since these birds are extremely eager to fight. But it is also possible that the bird is regarded as sacred to Athena Ergane.

Cyllene lies one hundred and twenty stades from Elis; it faces towards Sicily, offering a harbor convenient for ships. Serving as the port town of the Eleans, it received its name from an Arcadian man. Homer made no mention of Cyllene in his catalogue of Eleans, but in later verses he indicated clearly that he recognized Cyllene as a town.

Pulydamas slew Otos of Kyllene, a companion of Phyleus' son and leader of the noble-hearted Epeians. In Kyllene there are temples belonging to the gods: that of Asklepios and another of Aphrodite. The statue of Hermes, whom the people there especially revere, stands upright upon a pedestal in the form of a phallus.

The land of Elis is good above all for producing crops and especially excels in growing fine flax. Hemp, linen, and fine flax are indeed sown by those whose land is suitable for cultivation; however, the threads from which the Seres make their garments do not originate from any plant fiber, but are produced in a different, unique manner. There exists in their country an insect, which the Greeks call "ser," though among the Seres themselves it bears another name entirely, not "ser."

Its size is about twice that of the largest beetle, but in other respects it resembles those spiders that weave their webs beneath trees, and indeed it has, in the same way as spiders, eight legs. These creatures the Seres rear and keep in dwellings prepared suitably for them in both the winter and summer seasons. The product of these creatures is found to be a fine thread wrapped around their feet.

They rear them for four years, feeding them millet as nourishment. In the fifth year—knowing they will live no longer—they give them green reeds to eat; this food is sweetest of all for the creature. Once it has gorged itself with reeds, it bursts from fullness, and thus, upon its death, the greatest part of the silk is found within. The island of Seria, where this happens, is known to lie in a bay of the Red Sea.

I have also heard it said that Erythra is not actually the sea, but a river called Sera, and that it is this river which makes it into an island, just as Egypt's Delta is formed by the Nile, being surrounded not purely by sea. They say another island, similarly formed, is that called Seria. These Seres themselves are indeed of the Ethiopian race, as are those who inhabit the nearby islands of Abasa and Sacaea. But others assert that they are not Ethiopians, but rather Scythians intermingled with Indians.

These things, then, are said thus. For someone traveling into Achaia from Elis, it is one hundred and fifty-seven stadia to the river Larisos. In our time, the river Larisos serves as the boundary for the Eleans between their territory and that of the Achaeans, but in more ancient times their frontier by the sea had been the promontory Araxos.