Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War, Book 3, chapter 104

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The same winter the Athenians purified Delos, in compliance, it appears, with a certain oracle. It had been purified before by Pisistratus the tyrant; not indeed the whole island, but as much of it as could be seen from the temple. All of it was, however, now purified in the following way. [2] All the sepulchres of those that had died in Delos were taken up, and for the future it was commanded that no one should be allowed either to die or to give birth to a child in the island; but that they should be carried over to Rhenea, which is so near to Delos that Polycrates, tyrant of Samos, having added Rhenea to his other island conquests during his period of naval ascendancy, dedicated it to the Delian Apollo by binding it to Delos with a chain.

The Athenians, after the purification, celebrated, for the first time, the quinquennial festival of the Delian games. [3] Once upon a time, indeed, there was a great assemblage of the Ionians and the neighboring islanders at Delos, who used to come to the festival, as the Ionians now do to that of Ephesus, and athletic and poetical contests took place there, and the cities brought choirs of dancers. [4] Nothing can be clearer on this point than the following verses of Homer, taken from a hymn to Apollo:— “ Phoebus, where'er thou strayest, far or near,
Delos was still of all thy haunts most dear.
Thither the robed Ionians take their way
With wife and child to keep thy holiday,—
Invoke thy favour on each manly game,
And dance and sing in honor of thy name.
” ¹ [5]

That there was also a poetical contest in which the Ionians went to contend, again is shown by the following, taken from the same hymn. After celebrating the Delian dance of the women, he ends his song of praise with these verses, in which he also alludes to himself:— “ Well, may Apollo keep you all! and so,
Sweethearts, good-bye—yet tell me not I go
Out from your hearts; and if in after hours
Some other wanderer in this world of ours
Touch at your shores, and ask your maidens here
Who sings the songs the sweetest to your ear,
Think of me then, and answer with a smile,
“ A blind old man of Chios' rocky isle. ”
” ² [6]

Homer thus attests that there was anciently a great assembly and festival at Delos. In later times, although the islanders and the Athenians continued to send the choirs of dancers with sacrifices, the contests and most of the ceremonies were abolished, probably through adversity, until the Athenians celebrated the games upon this occasion with the novelty of horse-races.

1 See HH Apoll. 146-50

2 See HH 3a.165-72

Thucydides. The Peloponnesian War. London, J. M. Dent; New York, E. P. Dutton. 1910.

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Commentary references to this page (11):
- W. W. How, J. Wells, A Commentary on Herodotus, 1.26
- W. W. How, J. Wells, A Commentary on Herodotus, 5.88
- W. W. How, J. Wells, A Commentary on Herodotus, 6.97
- E.C. Marchant, Commentary on Thucydides: Book 3, 3.59
- Charles F. Smith, Commentary on Thucydides: Book 3, 3.58
- Charles F. Smith, Commentary on Thucydides: Book 3, 3.59
- C.E. Graves, Commentary on Thucydides: Book 4, CHAPTER CIX
- C.E. Graves, Commentary on Thucydides: Book 4, CHAPTER XXIV
- C.E. Graves, Commentary on Thucydides: Book 4, CHAPTER XLVIII
- C.E. Graves, Commentary on Thucydides: Book 5, 5.1
- E.C. Marchant, Commentary on Thucydides Book 1, 1.8
Cross-references to this page (14):
- The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites, PANIONION Turkey.
- Herbert Weir Smyth, A Greek Grammar for Colleges, ADVERBIAL COMPLEX SENTENCES (2193-2487）
- Raphael Kühner, Bernhard Gerth, Ausführliche Grammatik der griechischen Sprache, KG 1.3.2
- Thomas W. Allen, E. E. Sikes, Commentary on the Homeric Hymns, THE HOMERIC HYMNS IN ANTIQUITY
- Thomas W. Allen, E. E. Sikes, Commentary on the Homeric Hymns, THE NATURE OF THE HOMERIC HYMNS
- A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890), AMPHIC´TYONES
- A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890), DE´LIA
- A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890), LUSTRA´TIO
- A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890), PANIO´NIA
- A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890), TYRANNUS
- Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), CHIOS
- Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), DELOS
- Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), E´PHESUS
- Smith's Bio, Peisi'stratus
Cross-references in notes to this page (7):
- Apollodorus, Epitome, Apollod. Epit. E.6
- Apollodorus, Library, Apollod. 1.4
- Diodorus Siculus, Library, Diod. 12.58
- Strabo, Geography, Strab. 10.5
- Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, Thuc. 1.13
- Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, Thuc. 1.8
- Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, Thuc. 5.1
Cross-references in notes from this page (1):
- Homeric Hymns, Hymn 3 to Apollo, 165
Cross-references in general dictionaries to this page (24):
- LSJ, Ἔφεσος
- LSJ, Δήλιος
- LSJ, ἄφημος
- LSJ, ἀγών
- LSJ, ἀνάγω
- LSJ, ἐφορ-άω
- LSJ, ἐναπο-θνῄσκω
- LSJ, ἐντίκτω
- LSJ, εἰς
- LSJ, γυμνικός
- LSJ, ἱππο-δρομία
- LSJ, κα^θαίρω
- LSJ, καθίζω
- LSJ, μουσι^κή
- LSJ, μουσι^κός
- LSJ, πεντ-ετηρίς
- LSJ, περικτίονες
- LSJ, πρίν
- LSJ, προοίμι-ον
- LSJ, θεωρ-έω
- LSJ, θήκ-η
- LSJ, σύνοδος
- LSJ, τεκμηρι-όω
- LSJ, χορός

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