Pausanias Analysis

The axes are a dedication of Periklytos, son of Euthymachos, a man of Tenedos, which has an ancient account behind it. They say that Kyknos was a son of Poseidon and ruled over Kolonai. These Kolonai were inhabited in the region of Troy, situated opposite the island Leukophrys.

Cycnus had a daughter named Hemithea and a son called Tenes born of Procleia—who herself was the daughter of Clytius and the sister of Caletor, whom Homer says in the Iliad was slain by Ajax when Caletor tried to set fire to Protesilaus' ship. When this woman had died earlier, Philonome, daughter of Cragasus, became Cycnus's second wife. Having failed to win Tenes' affection, Philonome falsely accused him to her husband, claiming that Tenes had sought sexual relations with her against her will. Cycnus believed this deception, placed Tenes along with his sister in a chest, and set them adrift on the sea.

Indeed the children were saved by sailing to the island Leucophrys, and the island received the name it now bears from Tenes. Cycnus—for he was not destined to remain forever unaware of being deceived—sailed to his son, intending to confess his own ignorance and beg forgiveness for his transgression. But when Cycnus anchored at the island and tied the ship's cables to either a rock or a tree, Tenes, driven by anger, severed them with an axe.

Because of this, it became customary to make a strong reference against anyone who denied wrongdoing by saying that he would «cut it off with a Tenedian axe.» Now the Greeks relate that Tenes was killed by Achilles as he attempted to protect his homeland; but the people of Tenedos themselves, weakened over time, eventually merged with those who inhabited Alexandria on the mainland of the Troad.

The Greeks who fought against the king dedicated a bronze Zeus at Olympia, and also an Apollo at Delphi from the spoils of the naval battles at Artemisium and at Salamis. It is also said that Themistocles came to Delphi bringing some of the Median spoils for Apollo; but upon his inquiry whether he should dedicate these offerings within the temple, the Pythia commanded him to carry them out entirely from the sanctuary. The oracle's words were thus: "Do not place the beautiful adornments of Persian spoils within my temple; send them away homeward as quickly as possible!"

Accordingly, we wondered greatly if he had indeed thought fit to refuse only these offerings from the Medes. Some people considered that the god would have rejected equally all things coming from the Persian, had Themistocles and others first inquired of Apollo before dedicating them. Others claimed that, since the god foresaw that Themistocles would become a suppliant of the Persian, he refused on these grounds to accept the gifts, lest their dedication should create eternal hostility against him from the Medes. The barbarian expedition against Greece is known to have been foretold both in the oracles of Bakis and, even earlier, was mentioned in the prophecies made by Euclus.

Near the great altar is a bronze wolf, dedicated by the Delphians. They say that a man plundered the treasures of the god, and having concealed himself together with the gold in a place on Parnassus particularly dense with wild trees, a wolf attacked him while he was sleeping; the man was killed by the wolf. Every day thereafter, the wolf would enter the city and howl. Since the people came to suspect that this was not happening without divine intervention, they decided to follow the animal as it departed. In this way they found the stolen sacred gold, and accordingly they dedicated a bronze wolf to the god.