Pausanias Analysis

The sacred grove of Asklepios is enclosed by boundary markers all around. Within its precinct, no one may die, nor may women give birth, exactly as the same law applies on the island of Delos. Whatever offerings are sacrificed there, whether by Epidaurians themselves or by foreign visitors, must be entirely consumed within the boundaries. I know that the same custom is observed also at Titane.

The statue of Asklepios is half the size of the Olympian Zeus at Athens, and it is made of ivory and gold. An inscription reveals that the maker was Thrasymedes, son of Arignotos, of Paros. The god sits on a throne holding a staff, and his other hand rests above the head of a serpent. By his side also lies a dog depicted in the work. On the throne are carved representations of the heroic deeds of Argives, showing Bellerophon's battle against the Chimaira and Perseus severing the head of Medusa. Beyond the temple is the place where suppliants of the god sleep.

A circular building of white marble, called the Tholos, has been built nearby, and it is worth seeing. Within it is a painting by Pausias, depicting Eros who has set aside his bow and arrows and, taking up a lyre instead, carries it. Here also is depicted Methe ("Intoxication"), another work of Pausias, drinking from a crystal vessel. Indeed, even in the painting itself one might perceive a glass goblet and through this the woman's face. Within the enclosure there once stood many more ancient slabs, but in my time only six remain. On these are inscribed names of men and women who were healed by Asclepius, along with a record of the illness each suffered and the manner in which each was cured.

It is written in the Dorian dialect. Apart from the other offerings stands an ancient pillar, whose inscription says that Hippolytus dedicated twenty horses to the god. Concerning this pillar's inscription, the Aricians assert the same story: that Hippolytus, after death, was raised back to life by Asklepios because of the curses of Theseus. However, once restored to life, he refused to grant pardon to his father and, ignoring all entreaties, departed to Aricia in Italy. There he ruled as king, dedicating a precinct to Artemis, where down to my day, contests of single combat took place, the winner appointed as priest of the goddess. This contest was not open to freemen, but only to slaves who escaped from their masters.

At Epidaurus, within the sanctuary, there is a theatre which seems to me especially worth seeing. The theatres of the Romans may surpass all others in magnificence throughout the world, and the one at Megalopolis in Arcadia in size, but what architect would be worthy to compete with Polykleitos in symmetry or beauty? For it was Polykleitos who constructed both this theatre and the circular building here. Within the sacred grove is a temple of Artemis, a statue of Epione, sanctuaries of Aphrodite and of Themis, and a stadium similar to most Greek stadiums, consisting chiefly of an earthen embankment. There is also a fountain noteworthy for its roof and overall decoration.

Among the works done in our day by Antoninus, a man of the Senate, are a bath-house of Asclepius and a sanctuary dedicated to the gods called Epidotes ("Givers"). He built also temples to Hygieia, Asclepius, and Apollo, under the surname Egyptian. There was, moreover, a portico named Cotys, which, as the roof had collapsed, was entirely in ruins, having originally been built of unbaked brick; this too he restored anew. The Epidaurians who lived around the sanctuary especially suffered hardship because they had no shelter under which the women could bear their children, and those who fell ill died exposed to the open air. Antoninus addressed these troubles as well, constructing a building so that henceforth it became lawful and proper for men to die and women to give birth within its shelter.

Above the grove are mountains, one called Titthion and another named Kynortion; on this latter stands a sanctuary of Apollo Maleatas. This sanctuary is among the ancient structures, but all the other buildings around the sanctuary of Maleatas, and the reservoir that collects the water coming from the god, were built for the Epidaurians by Antoninus.