Pausanias Analysis

The other mountain, Elaion, is about thirty stades distant from Phigalia; there is a cave there, sacred to Demeter surnamed Melaine ("the Black"). The Thelpousians' account concerning the union of Poseidon and Demeter is the same as that held by the Phigalians; however, the Phigalians assert that the offspring born to Demeter was not a horse but the goddess whom the Arcadians call Despoina ("the Mistress").

After this event, they say, in anger towards Poseidon and grief over the rape of Persephone, Demeter dressed herself in black clothing and departed into this cave, remaining absent there for a long period. Meanwhile, everything that grows upon the earth began to wither away, and the race of mankind especially suffered, perishing increasingly from the famine. None of the other gods knew where Demeter had concealed herself, but Pan, setting out...

They say that Pan, at different times, hunted on various of the mountains in Arcadia, and having come also to Mount Elaion, he looked upon Demeter, noting the form she had assumed and the manner of garment she wore. Zeus, having learned these things from Pan, accordingly sent the Fates to Demeter. And she, persuading herself by the Fates’ message, laid aside her wrath and also began to diminish her grief. In return for these events, say the Phigalians, they considered this cave sacred to Demeter, and dedicated within it a wooden statue to her.

They say the image was made for them thus: it was seated upon a rock, and in all other respects it resembled a woman except for the head. It had the head and mane of a horse, with images of snakes and other beasts growing out of the head. It wore a tunic that reached down to its very feet, and in one hand it had a dolphin, while on the other hand there rested a dove. As to why the statue was made in such a fashion, this is clear to any intelligent man who is acquainted with traditions. They say that they gave her the name Melaina ("the Black One") because the goddess wore black garments.

They do not record by whom the image was crafted, nor in precisely what manner the fire seized it; yet after the loss of the original image, the Phigalians neither consecrated another statue for the goddess nor continued diligently their customary rites relating to festivals and sacrifices—indeed, they largely neglected these too—until barrenness gripped their land. When they sought aid, the Pythian priestess gave them this oracle:

Arcadians, acorn-eating Azanes, who inhabit Phigaleia, the cave which hides horse-bed Demeter, you have come seeking a solution for your grievous famine. Alone are you twice nomads, alone again wild dwellers. Demeter stopped you from pasturing, and Demeter once more made you pastoralists of grain-bound harvests and feasts returned, having been deprived of her former privileges and ancient honors. Soon she shall make you devour one another and feed upon your own children, unless you appease her wrath with communal libations and adorn the recess of her cave with holy rites.

When the Phigalians heard the response of the oracle that had been brought to them, they honored Demeter even more greatly than before, and persuaded Onatas, son of Micon, of Aegina, agreeing with him upon a certain sum as payment, to create for them an image of Demeter. This same Onatas is the artist of a bronze Apollo at Pergamon, an extraordinary statue, admired particularly for its size and artistic merit. Thus at that time, having discovered a depiction or copy of the ancient wooden cult-image—though, it is said, relying mostly upon what he had seen in dreams—he made for the Phigalians a bronze statue, approximately two generations after the Persian invasion of Greece.

My account is supported by evidence; for at the time of Xerxes' crossing into Europe, Gelon, son of Deinomenes, was ruling as tyrant over Syracuse and the rest of Sicily. When Gelon died, the sovereignty passed to his brother Hieron. However, Hieron died before he could dedicate to Olympian Zeus the votive offerings he had vowed in celebration of his victories with horses; thus Deinomenes, son of Hieron, made the dedication on behalf of his father.

These also are works of Onatas, and inscriptions in Olympia; one of them, upon a dedication, runs thus: "O Olympian Zeus, having once won your revered contest with his four-horse chariot, and twice with a single steed, Hieron presented to you these gifts; his son dedicated them as memorials of his father Deinomenes of Syracuse."

The other of the inscriptions says: "Onatas, son of Micon, dwelling in houses on the island of Aegina, completed me." According to the Athenian Hegias, the period of Onatas coincides with that of Ageladas the Argive.

It was chiefly for the sake of this Demeter that I came to Phigaleia. And I performed sacrifice to the goddess according to the custom followed by the inhabitants: they offer no animal victim, but instead place on the altar built in front of the cave fruits from cultivated trees, including grapes, as well as honeycombs from bees, and wool not yet worked but still full of oily grease. Having placed these things there, they pour oil upon them. This manner of sacrifice is customary both for private individuals and annually as a communal rite among the people of Phigaleia.

Their priestess performs the rites, together with the youngest of the so-called sacred sacrificers, who are three in number and drawn from the citizens. Around the cave is a grove of oaks, and cold water rises up from the earth. As for the statue made by Onatas, it was not there in my time; nor were most people aware whether it had ever been there at Phigaleia from the beginning.

The oldest among our guides informed us that three generations before his own time rocks had fallen from the roof onto the statue, shattering it and causing it to be completely destroyed. And in fact on the ceiling we too could still clearly see the places from which the stones had broken away.