Pausanias Analysis

Following my account of the dedications, it is now appropriate for me next to make mention also of victorious racehorses, and likewise of athletes and private individuals. However, not all of those who triumphed at Olympia have statues erected in their honor; rather, some who have performed brilliantly in the competition, and others who excelled also in various deeds, nevertheless obtained no images whatsoever.

The account requires me to omit these athletes, since my present work is not intended as a catalogue of all those who have won victories at Olympia, but is rather a description of dedications, chiefly statues, along with other votive offerings. Nor shall I cover all the bronze statues standing here, knowing full well how many athletes have already won the wild olive garland by fortune of the lot rather than by strength. Still, of those whose personal reputation is remarkable, or whose statues themselves surpass the others in craftsmanship, of these I myself shall make mention.

On the right side of the temple of Hera stands the statue of a wrestler named Symmachos, son of Aischylos, an Eleian by birth. Beside him is Neolaidas son of Proxenos, from Pheneos in Arcadia, who won a victory in boxing among boys. Next to him stands Archedamos son of Xenias, another Eleian, who likewise overcame boy wrestlers. All of these aforementioned statues were crafted by Alypos of Sikyon, a pupil of Naukydes the Argive.

The epigram upon Cleogenes, according to Silenus, says he was a native of the area, and that he won his victory with a riding horse chosen from his own herd. Near Cleogenes lie the graves of Deinolochos and Troilos, son of Alkinos. These too were of Elis by birth, but they did not attain their victories in the same events. The one man had the distinction of acting as Hellanodikes as well as being crowned victor in horse races; Troilos, on the other hand, won with the full-grown chariot team and also with the racing chariot of colts. And his victory was in the hundred-and-second Olympiad.

From this event onward the Eleans passed a law that none of the Hellanodikai should enter horses for the competitions thereafter. Lysippos made the statue of this man. Now, Deinolochos' mother dreamed that she held her son in her arms crowned with a victor's wreath. Because of this vision, Deinolochos trained himself for the contest and outran the boys competing against him. The statue is the work of Kleon from Sikyon.

Regarding Cynisca, daughter of Archidamus, both her ancestry and her Olympic victories, I have already spoken previously in the account of the Spartan kings. At Olympia, beside the statue of Troilus, there is built a stone platform; upon it stands a chariot drawn by horses, with a male charioteer, and an image of Cynisca herself made by Apellas. There are also inscriptions written in honor of Cynisca.

Next are statues of Lacedaemonians exhibited consecutively after Cynisca, commemorating their victories in horse-racing. Anaxander was the first to achieve renown in a chariot race, while the inscription upon his statue records that earlier still his father was crowned victor in the pentathlon. He appears in the posture of one offering thanks to the god. Polykles, surnamed Polychalkos, also was victorious in the four-horse chariot race; the statue representing him holds a ribbon in its right hand.

Beside him are two boys, one holding a wheel and the other reaching for the victor's ribbon. Polykles, as the inscription upon him says, won victories with horses at Pytho, Isthmus, and Nemea.