Pausanias Analysis

Upon the death of Eteocles, the kingdom passed into the family of Almus. Almus himself had daughters named Chrysogeneia and Chryse. It is said that Chryse, daughter of Almus, bore a son, Phlegyas, by Ares. After Eteocles died without issue, Phlegyas succeeded to his throne. Afterward, the inhabitants renamed the entire region Phlegyantis instead of Andreis.

Originally, the city that was founded was Andreis, and Phlegyas later enlarged it, giving it his own name and gathering into it the best warriors among the Greeks. Over time, however, through their arrogance and rash courage, the Phlegyans revolted against the rest of the Orchomenians and began to oppress and harass their neighbours. In the end, they even marched against Delphi itself to plunder its sanctuary. At this point, Philammon, together with a picked band of Argives, came to defend Delphi against them; both he and the chosen Argives perished in the battle.

The fact that the Phlegyans among all the Greeks took particular delight in warfare is testified to me also by the verses from the Iliad about Ares and his son Phobos, composed as follows: "They indeed arm themselves for war among the Ephyrians or among the great-hearted Phlegyans." [Homer, Iliad 13.301–302] By "Ephyrians" here Homer seems to me to speak of those dwelling in Thesprotian Epirus. Now the Phlegyan race was utterly destroyed to its foundations by the god with continual lightning-bolts and powerful earthquakes; and those who survived this were wasted by a pestilential disease that fell upon them. Only a few escaped from among them into Phocis.

Since Phlegyas had no children, Chryses succeeded him in his rule; he was the son of Chrysogeneia, daughter of Almus, and of Poseidon. To this Chryses was born a son, Minyas, and from him the people whom he ruled still today are called Minyans. Minyas amassed revenues so great in amount that he surpassed in wealth all who had lived before him; he was indeed the first among men known to us to have constructed a treasury as a storehouse for riches.

Indeed, Greeks are inclined to marvel more at things abroad than at their own; this is clearly so, since famous authors have taken pains to describe most precisely the pyramids of Egypt in their writings, while the treasure-house of Minyas and the walls of Tiryns have not received even a brief mention, though these are no less wondrous.

Orchomenus belonged to Minyas, and during his reign both the city of Orchomenus and its people received the name Orchomenians. Yet it continued nonetheless that they were also called Minyans, to distinguish themselves from the Orchomenians in Arcadia. While Orchomenus reigned, Hyettus arrived from Argos; he was fleeing after killing Molouros, the son of Arisbas, whom he had slain because he had taken Hyettus's wife. Orchomenus granted him a portion of land, the region which now includes the village named Hyettus and its adjacent territory.

The poet who composed the verses which the Greeks call the Great Eoeae also made mention of Hyettus, saying: "Hyettus, after having slain Molurus, the beloved son of Arisbas, in his own halls on account of the bed of his wife, forsook his home and fled from horse-pasturing Argos. He came to Minyan Orchomenus, and there the hero received him kindly and granted him a fitting share of possessions."

This Hyettus is the first recorded to have been punished for adultery; and later, when Draco established laws for the Athenians, among the ordinances enacted during his administration was one that particularly specified impunity for certain actions, but explicitly prescribed punishment for adultery. The prestige of the Minyans had meanwhile grown to such an extent that Neleus, son of Cretheus, while reigning as king in Pylos, took as his wife Chloris, daughter of Amphion son of Iasius, from Orchomenus.