Pausanias Analysis

The Athenians have the mountains Pentelicon, where there are quarries, and Parnes, which provides hunting of wild boars and bears, and Hymettus, which produces pastures especially suitable for bees, except those of the Alazones. For among the Alazones there are bees accustomed to going freely to pasture along with other creatures, nor do the people keep them enclosed in hives. Rather, the bees perform their work at random throughout the land, and their labor comes naturally to them; from it, however, one cannot individually gather either wax or honey. Such is the nature of this matter. But the mountains belonging to the Athenians also contain statues of the gods—

On Pentelicus there is a sanctuary of Athena; upon Hymettus is a statue of Zeus Hymettius, and altars of Zeus Ombrius and Apollo Proopsios. On Parnes there is a bronze image of Zeus Parnethius and an altar of Zeus Semaleus. There is also another altar on Mount Parnes, on which sacrifices are offered at one time to Zeus Ombrius ("Rain-giver"), at another to Zeus Apemius ("Averter of harm"). Also, there is Mount Anchesmus, a hill not very large, and a statue of Zeus Anchesmius.

But before turning to a narrative about the islands, I will return once again to what concerns the demes. Marathon is a deme that lies equidistant from the city of Athens and from Carystus in Euboea. It was at this place in Attica that the barbarians landed, where they were defeated in battle and lost some ships during their retreat. In the plain there is a tomb of the Athenians, and upon it stand slabs inscribed with the names of the fallen, arranged according to their tribes. Another grave is for the Plataeans of Boeotia and for the slaves, because slaves fought then for the first time.

There is also a separate monument to one man, Miltiades son of Kimon, who later met his end, having failed at Paros and subsequently being brought to trial by the Athenians for this reason. At this place, throughout every night, one may perceive the neighing of horses and the fighting of men. However, for someone deliberately seeking a clear view no good comes of it, yet for one who witnesses the events unintentionally and without anticipating, there is no wrath from the divine powers. The Marathonian people honor those who died in the battle by calling them heroes, as well as Marathon—from whom the district took its name—and Heracles, claiming that they were the first among Greeks to recognize Heracles as a god.

They say that during the battle there appeared a man of rustic appearance and equipment, who slew many of the barbarians with a plough, and after the encounter vanished altogether. When the Athenians inquired about him, the god gave no other response but commanded them to honor him as the hero Echetlaeus. A trophy of white stone has also been erected. The Athenians claim that they buried the Persians, as they believed it absolutely sacred to conceal human bodies in the earth; but I myself could not find their tomb, since there was neither any mound to be seen nor any other memorial; instead, the Athenians gathered their bodies and flung them into a pit at random.

In Marathon there is a spring called Macaria, and about it they tell the following story. When Heracles was fleeing from Eurystheus out of Tiryns, he settled with his friend Ceyx, who was the king of Trachis. But after the death of Heracles, Eurystheus demanded his children, and the Trachinian, claiming his own weakness and that Theseus would likely be strong enough to defend them, sent them forth to Athens. Upon their arrival as suppliants, the Peloponnesians then for the first time made war against the Athenians, because Theseus refused to give the children over to Eurystheus who demanded them. The Athenians say an oracle was delivered to them, that victory could not otherwise come unless one of Heracles’ children willingly died. At this point Macaria, the daughter of Heracles and Deianeira, slew herself willingly, thus giving victory to the Athenians in battle and naming the spring after herself.

In Marathon there is a lake that is marshy for the most part; into this lake the foreigners fell when fleeing, through ignorance of the roads, and it is said that this was largely responsible for the great slaughter among them. Beyond the lake are stone mangers of the horses of Artaphernes, and marks of his tent remain upon the rocks. A river flows out of the lake, near which it provides water suitable for cattle, but at its mouth flowing into the sea it becomes salty and is filled with sea fish. A little way further from the plain is the hill of Pan, where there is a cave worthy of seeing; the entrance to this cave is narrow, but once inside there are chambers and baths, and the place called the goat-shed of Pan—stones that mostly resemble goats.