Agaclytus the Historian On the Olympic Dedications in Greek
_On the Olympic Dedications_, also known by the title _Extract_, is a lost historical prose work attributed to Agaclytus. This antiquarian text was dedicated to cataloging the votive offerings housed within the sanctuary of Olympia. Its existence is confirmed solely by a single citation in Athenaeus’s _Deipnosophistae_, which preserves a fragment describing a cup dedicated by the Cypselid dynasty. This brief reference indicates the work’s focus on documenting specific dedications, their donors, and associated historical anecdotes. As a fragmentary source, Agaclytus’s compilation represents the broader Hellenistic and Roman tradition of scholarly works that systematically recorded the artifacts and treasures of major religious sanctuaries for posterity.
| t1 | ΠΕΡΙ ΟΛΥΜΠΙΑΣ. Photius: Κυψελιδῶν ἀνάθημα ἐν Ὀλυμπίᾳ· Πλάτων ἐν Φαίδρῳ. |
| 1 | Παρὰ τὸ Κυψελιδῶν ἀνάθημα σφυρήλατος ἐν Ὀλυμπίᾳ ἐστάθη κολοσσὸς, ἀλλ’ οὐ τῶν Κυψελιδῶν. Κυψέλου δέ φασι τὸ ἀνάθημα, ὡς Ἀγάκλυτος ἐν τῷ Περὶ Ὀλυμπίας φησὶν οὕτως· «Ναὸς τῆς Ἥρας παλαιὸς, ἀνάθημα Σκιλλουντίων· οὗτοι δὲ εἰσὶν Ἠλείων. Ἔνεστιν δὲ ἐν αὐτῷ χρυσοῦς κολοσσὸς, ἀνάθημα Κυψέλου τοῦ Κορινθίου· φασὶ γὰρ τὸν Κύψελον εὐξάμενον, εἰ Κορινθίων τυραννεύσειε, τὰς οὐσίας πάντων εἰς δέκατον ἔτος ἀνιερώσειν, τὰς δεκάτας τῶν τιμημάτων εἰσπραξάμενον κατασκευάσαι τὸν σφυρήλατον κολοσσόν.» Δίδυμος δὲ κατασκευάσαι τὸν κολοσσόν φησι Περίανδρον, ὑπὲρ τοῦ τῆς τρυφῆς καὶ τοῦ θράσους ἐπισχεῖν τοὺς Κορινθίους· καὶ γὰρ Θεόφραστος ἐν τῷ Περὶ καιρῶν βʹ λέγει οὕτως· «Ἕτεροι δὲ εἰς ἀνδρωδέστερα καταδαπανῶντες, οἷον στρατείας ἐξάγοντες καὶ πολέμους ἐπαναιρούμενοι, καθάπερ καὶ Διονύσιος ὁ τύραννος· ἐκεῖνος γὰρ οὐ μόνον ᾤετο δεῖν τὰ τῶν ἄλλων καταναλίσκειν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ αὑτοῦ, πρὸς τὸ μὴ ὑπάρχειν ἐφόδια τοῖς ἐπιβουλεύουσιν· ἐοίκασι δὲ καὶ αἱ πυραμίδες ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ καὶ ὁ τῶν Κυψελιδῶν κολοσσὸς καὶ πάντα τὰ τοιαῦτα τὴν αὐτὴν καὶ παραπλησίαν ἔχειν διάνοιαν.» Φέρεται δέ τι καὶ ἐπίγραμμα τοῦ κολοσσοῦ· Εἰμὶ ἐγὼ χρυσοῦς σφυρήλατός εἰμι κολοσσός· ἐξώλης εἴη Κυψελιδῶν γενεά. Ὅπερ Ἀπελλᾶς ὁ Ποντικὸς οὕτω προφέρεται· Νάξιός εἰμι ἐγὼ, παγχρύσεός εἰμι κολοσσός· ἐξώλης εἴη Κυψελιδῶν γενεά. |