I percorsi della Basilicata

VI, 6, 4-11. Eutimo di Locri giunge a Temesa (484-472 a.C.). τὰ μὲν δὴ ἐς τούτους εἶχεν οὕτω· τὰ δὲ ἐς Εὔθυμον τὸν πύκτην, οὔ με εἰκὸς ὑπερβαίνειν ἦν τὰ ἐς τὰς νίκας αὐτῷ καὶ τὰ ἐς δόξαν ὑπάρχοντα τὴν ἄλλην. γένος μὲν δὴ ἦν ὁ Εὔθυμος ἐκ τῶν ἐν Ἰταλίᾳ Λοκρῶν, οἳ χώραν τὴν πρὸς τῷ Ζεφυρίῳ τῇ ἄκρᾳ νέμονται, πατρὸς δὲ ἐκαλεῖτο Ἀστυκλέους· εἶναι δὲ αὐτὸν οὐ τούτου, ποταμοῦ δὲ οἱ ἐπιχώριοι τοῦ Καικίνου φασίν, ὃς τὴν Λοκρίδα καὶ Ῥηγίνην ὁρίζων τὸ ἐς τοὺς τέττιγας παρέχεται θαῦμα. οἱ μὲν γὰρ τέττιγες οἱ ἐντὸς τῆς Λοκρίδος ἄχρι τοῦ Καικίνου κατὰ τὰ αὐτὰ τοῖς ἄλλοις τέττιξιν ᾄδουσι· διαβάντων δὲ τὸν Καικίνην οὐδεμίαν ἔτι οἱ ἐν τῇ Ῥηγίνῃ τέττιγες ἀφιᾶσι τὴν φωνήν. τούτου μὲν δὴ παῖδα εἶναι λέγεται τὸν Εὔθυμον· ἀνελομένῳ δέ οἱ πυγμῆς ἐν Ὀλυμπίᾳ νίκην τετάρτῃ πρὸς ταῖς ἑβδομήκοντα ὀλυμπιάδι οὐ κατὰ τὰ αὐτὰ ἐς τὴν ἐπιοῦσαν ὀλυμπιάδα ἔμελλε χωρήσειν· Θεαγένης γὰρ ὁ Θάσιος ὀλυμπιάδι ἐθέλων τῇ αὐτῇ πυγμῆς τε ἀνελέσθαι καὶ παγκρατίου νίκας ὑπερεβάλετο πυκτεύων τὸν Εὔθυμον, οὐ μὴν οὐδὲ ὁ Θεαγένης ἐπὶ τῷ παγκρατίῳ λαβεῖν ἐδυνήθη τὸν κότινον ἅτε προκατεργασθεὶς τῇ μάχῃ πρὸς τὸν Εὔθυμον. ἐπὶ τούτῳ δὲ ἐπιβάλλουσιν οἱ Ἑλλανοδίκαι τῷ Θεαγένει τάλαντον μὲν ἱερὰν ἐς τὸν θεὸν ζημίαν, τάλαντον δὲ βλάβης τῆς ἐς Εὔθυμον, ὅτι ἐπηρείᾳ τῇ ἐς ἐκεῖνον ἐδόκει σφίσιν ἐπανελέσθαι τὸ ἀγώνισμα τῆς πυγμῆς· τούτων ἕνεκα καταδικάζουσιν αὐτὸν ἐκτῖσαι καὶ ἰδίᾳ τῷ Εὐθύμῳ χρήματα. ἕκτῃ δὲ ὀλυμπιάδι ἐπὶ ταῖς ἑβδομήκοντα τὸ μὲν τῷ θεῷ τοῦ ἀργυρίου γινόμενον ἐξέτισεν ὁ Θεαγένης, ** καὶ ἀμειβόμενος αὐτὸν οὐκ ἐσῆλθεν ἐπὶ τὴν πυγμήν· καὶ ἐπ’ ἐκείνης τε αὐτῆς καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς μετ’ ἐκείνην ὀλυμπιάδος τὸν ἐπὶ πυγμῇ στέφανον ἀνείλετο ὁ Εὔθυμος. ὁ δέ οἱ ἀνδριὰς τέχνη τέ ἐστι Πυθαγόρου καὶ θέας ἐς τὰ μάλιστα ἄξιος. ἐπανήκων δὲ ἐς Ἰταλίαν τότε δὴ ἐμαχέσατο πρὸς τὸν Ἥρω· τὰ δὲ ἐς αὐτὸν εἶχεν οὕτως. Ὀδυσσέα πλανώμενον μετὰ ἅλωσιν τὴν Ἰλίου κατενεχθῆναί φασιν ὑπὸ ἀνέμων ἔς τε ἄλλας τῶν ἐν Ἰταλίᾳ καὶ Σικελίᾳ πόλεων, ἀφικέσθαι δὲ καὶ ἐς Τεμέσαν ὁμοῦ ταῖς ναυσί· μεθυσθέντα οὖν ἐνταῦθα ἕνα τῶν ναυτῶν παρθένον βιάσασθαι καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν ἐπιχωρίων ἀντὶ τούτου καταλευσθῆναι τοῦ ἀδικήματος. Ὀδυσσέα μὲν δὴ ἐν οὐδενὶ λόγῳ θέμενον αὐτοῦ τὴν ἀπώλειαν ἀποπλέοντα οἴχεσθαι, τοῦ καταλευσθέντος δὲ ἀνθρώπου τὸν δαίμονα οὐδένα ἀνιέναι καιρὸν ἀποκτείνοντά τε ὁμοίως τοὺς ἐν τῇ Τεμέσῃ καὶ ἐπεξερχόμενον ἐπὶ πᾶσαν ἡλικίαν, ἐς ὃ ἡ Πυθία τὸ παράπαν ἐξ Ἰταλίας ὡρμημένους φεύγειν Τεμέσαν μὲν ἐκλιπεῖν οὐκ εἴα, τὸν δὲ Ἥρω σφᾶς ἐκέλευσεν ἱλάσκεσθαι τέμενός τε ἀποτεμομένους οἰκοδομήσασθαι ναόν, διδόναι δὲ κατὰ ἔτος αὐτῷ γυναῖκα τῶν ἐν Τεμέσῃ παρθένων τὴν καλλίστην. τοῖς μὲν δὴ τὰ ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ προστεταγμένα ὑπουργοῦσι δεῖμα ἀπὸ τοῦ δαίμονος ἐς τἄλλα ἦν οὐδέν· Εὔθυμος δὲ— ἀφίκετο γὰρ ἐς τὴν Τεμέσαν, καί πως τηνικαῦτα τὸ ἔθος ἐποιεῖτο τῷ δαίμονι—πυνθάνεται τὰ παρόντα σφίσι, καὶ ἐσελθεῖν τε ἐπεθύμησεν ἐς τὸν ναὸν καὶ τὴν παρθένον ἐσελθὼν θεάσασθαι. ὡς δὲ εἶδε, τὰ μὲν πρῶτα ἐς οἶκτον, δεύτερα δὲ ἀφίκετο καὶ ἐς ἔρωτα αὐτῆς· καὶ ἡ παῖς τε συνοικήσειν κατώμνυτο αὐτῷ σώσαντι αὐτὴν καὶ ὁ Εὔθυμος ἐνεσκευασμένος ἔμενε τὴν ἔφοδον τοῦ δαίμονος. ἐνίκα τε δὴ τῇ μάχῃ καὶ —ἐξηλαύνετο γὰρ ἐκ τῆς γῆς—ὁ Ἥρως ἀφανίζεταί τε καταδὺς ἐς θάλασσαν καὶ γάμος τε ἐπιφανὴς Εὐθύμῳ καὶ ἀνθρώποις τοῖς ἐνταῦθα ἐλευθερία τοῦ λοιποῦ σφισιν ἦν ἀπὸ τοῦ δαίμονος. ἤκουσα δὲ καὶ τοιόνδε ἔτι ἐς τὸν Εὔθυμον, ὡς γήρως τε ἐπὶ μακρότατον ἀφίκοιτο καὶ ὡς ἀποθανεῖν ἐκφυγὼν αὖθις ἕτερόν τινα ἐξ ἀνθρώπων [ἄλλον] ἀπέλθοι τρόπον· οἰκεῖσθαι δὲ τὴν Τεμέσαν καὶ ἐς ἐμὲ ἀνδρὸς ἤκουσα πλεύσαντος κατὰ ἐμπορίαν. τόδε μὲν ἤκουσα, γραφῇ δὲ τοιάδε ἐπιτυχὼν οἶδα· ἦν δὲ αὕτη γραφῆς μίμημα ἀρχαίας. νεανίσκος Σύβαρις καὶ Κάλαβρός τε ποταμὸς καὶ Λύκα πηγή, πρὸς δὲ ἡρῷόν τε καὶ Τεμέσα ἦν ἡ πόλις, ἐν δέ σφισι καὶ δαίμων ὅντινα ἐξέβαλεν ὁ Εὔθυμος, χρόαν τε δεινῶς μέλας καὶ τὸ εἶδος ἅπαν ἐς τὰ μάλιστα φοβερός, λύκου δὲ ἀμπίσχετο δέρμα ἐσθῆτα· ἐτίθετο δὲ καὶ ὄνομα Λύκαν τὰ ἐπὶ τῇ γραφῇ γράμματα. ταῦτα μὲν δὴ ἐς τοσοῦτο εἰρήσθω·

Traduzione. So much for these. But it would not be right for me to pass over the boxer Euthymus, his victories and his other glories. Euthymus, was by birth one of the Italian Locrians, who dwell in the region near the headland called the West Point, and he was called son of Astycles. Local legend, however, makes him the son, not of this man, but of the river Caecinus, which divides Locris from the land of Rhegium and produces the marvel of the grasshoppers. For the grasshoppers within Locris as far as the Caecinus sing just like others, but across the Caecinus in the territory of Rhegium they do not utter a sound. This river then, according to tradition, was the father of Euthymus, who, though he won the prize for boxing at the seventy-fourth Olympic Festival, was not to be so successful at the next. For Theagenes of Thasos, wishing to win the prizes for boxing and for the pancratium at the same Festival, overcame Euthymus at boxing, though he had not the strength to gain the wild olive in the pancratium, because he was already exhausted in his fight with Euthymuss. Thereupon the umpires fined Theagenes a talent, to be sacred to the god, and a talent for the harm done to Euthymus, holding that it was merely to spite him that he entered for the boxing competition. For this reason they condemned him to pay an extra fine privately to Euthymus,. At the seventy-sixth Festival Theagenes paid in full the money owed to the god,. . . and as compensation to Euthymus did not enter for the boxing-match. At this Festival, and also at the next following, Euthymus won the crown for boxing. His statue is the handiwork of Pythagoras, and is very well worth seeing. On his return to Italy Euthymus fought against the Hero, the story about whom is as follows. Odysseus, so they say, in his wanderings after the capture of Troy was carried down by gales to various cities of Italy and Sicily, and among them he came with his ships to Temesa. here one of his sailors got drunk and violated a maiden, for whixh offence he was stoned to death by the natives. Now Odysseus, it is said cared nothing about his loss and saoled away. But the ghost of the stoned man never ceased killing without distinction the people of Temesa, attacking both old and young, until, when the inhabitants had resolved to flee from Italy for good, the Pythian priestess forbad them to leave Temesa, and ordered them to propitiate the Hero, setting him a sanctuary apart and building a temple, and to give him every year as wife the fairest maiden in Temesa. So they performed the commands of the god and suffered no more terrors from the ghost. But Euthymus happened to come to Temesajust at the time when the ghost was being propitiated in the usual way; learning what was going on he had a strong desire to enter the temple, and not only to enter it but also to look at the maiden. When he saw her he first felt pity and afterwards love for her. The girl swore to marry him if he saved her, and so Euthymus with his armour on awaited the onslaught of the ghost. He won the fight, and the Hero was driven out of the land and disappeared, sinking into the depth of the sea. Euthymus had a distinguished wedding, and the inhabitants were freed from the ghost for ever. I heard another story also about Euthymus, how that he reached extreme old age, and escaping again from death departed from among men in another way. Temesa is still inhabited, as I heard from a man who sailed there as a merchant. This I heard, and I also saw by chance a picture dealing with the subject. It was a copy of an ancient picture. There were a stripling, Sybaris, a river, Calabrus, and a spring, Lyca. Besides, there were a hero-shrine and the city of Temesa and in the midst was the ghost that Euthymus cast out. Horribly black in colour, and exceedingly dreadful in all his appearance, he had a wolf's skin thrown round him as a garment. The letters on the picture gave his name as Lycas. VII. So much for the story of Euthymus.

VIII, 5, 5. Oinotros eponimo dell'Enotria. Οἴνωτρος δὲ ὁ τῶν παίδων νεώτατος Λυκάονι ἀρσένων Νύκτιμον τὸν ἀδελφὸν χρήματα καὶ ἄνδρας αἰτήσας ἐπεραιώθη ναυσὶν ἐς Ἰταλίαν, καὶ ἡ Οἰνωτρία χώρα τὸ ὄνομα ἔσχεν ἀπὸ Οἰνώτρου βασιλεύοντος

Traduzione. But Oenotrus, the youngest of the sons of Lycaon, asked his brother Nyctimus for money and men and crossed by sea to Italy ; the land od Oenotria received its name from Oenotrus whos was its king.