Mysteries of Demeter at Celeae and Legend of Dysaules — Pausanias, Description of Greece Book 2 (2.14.1–2.14.4), Greek & English

§2.14.1

τῆς δὲ πόλεως αἱ Κελεαὶ πέντε που σταδίους μάλιστα ἀπέχουσι, καὶ τῇ Δήμητρι ἐνταῦθα διʼ ἐνιαυτοῦ τετάρτου¹ τὴν τελετὴν καὶ οὐ κατὰ ἔτος ἄγουσιν. ἱεροφάντης δὲ οὐκ ἐς τὸν βίον πάντα ἀποδέδεικται, κατὰ δὲ ἑκάστην τελετὴν ἄλλοτέ ἐστιν ἄλλος σφίσιν αἱρετός, λαμβάνων ἢν ἐθέλῃ καὶ γυναῖκα. καὶ ταῦτα μὲν διάφορα τῶν Ἐλευσῖνι νομίζουσι, τὰ δὲ ἐς αὐτὴν τὴν τελετὴν ἐκείνων ἐστὶν ἐς μίμησιν· ὁμολογοῦσι δὲ καὶ αὐτοὶ μιμεῖσθαι Φλιάσιοι τὰ ἐν Ἐλευσῖνι δρώμενα.

Celeae is about five stades distant from the city, and there they celebrate the festival for Demeter every fourth year and not annually. The hierophant is not appointed for his whole life, but at each festival a different person is chosen by them, who is also permitted to take a wife if he wishes. These things are indeed different from the customs at Eleusis, but the details of the festival itself are in imitation of theirs; and the Phliasians themselves admit that they imitate what is done at Eleusis.

§2.14.2

Δυσαύλην δέ φασιν ἀδελφὸν Κελεοῦ παραγενόμενόν σφισιν ἐς τὴν χώραν καταστήσασθαι τὴν τελετήν, ἐκβληθῆναι δὲ αὐτὸν ἐξ Ἐλευσῖνος ὑπὸ Ἴωνος, ὅτε Ἴων Ἀθηναίοις ὁ Ξούθου πολέμαρχος τοῦ πρὸς Ἐλευσινίους ᾑρέθη πολέμου. τοῦτο μὲν δὴ Φλιασίοις οὐκ ἔστιν ὅπως ὁμολογήσω,² κρατηθέντα μάχῃ τινὰ Ἐλευσινίων φυγάδα ἀπελαθέντα οἴχεσθαι,³ τοῦ πολέμου τε ἐπὶ συνθήκαις καταλυθέντος πρὶν ἢ διαπολεμηθῆναι καὶ ἐν Ἐλευσῖνι αὐτοῦ καταμείναντος Εὐμόλπου.

They say that Dysaules, the brother of Celeus, arrived in their country and established the festival, but that he was expelled from Eleusis by Ion, when Ion, the son of Xuthus, was chosen by the Athenians as polemarch of the war against the Eleusinians. Now, I cannot possibly agree with the Phliasians in this, that any of the Eleusinians was driven away as an exile after being defeated in battle, since the war was brought to an end by treaty before it was fought out, and Eumolpus himself remained in Eleusis.

§2.14.3

δύναιτο δʼ ἂν κατὰ ἄλλην τινὰ ἐνταῦθα ὁ Δυσαύλης ἀφικέσθαι πρόφασιν καὶ οὐχ ὡς οἱ Φλιάσιοί φασιν. οὐ μὴν οὐδὲ Κελεῷ προσήκων ἐμοὶ δοκεῖν οὐδὲ ἄλλως ἦν ἐν τοῖς ἐπιφανέσιν Ἐλευσινίων· οὐ γὰρ ἄν ποτε Ὅμηρος παρῆκεν αὐτὸν⁴ ἐν τοῖς ἔπεσιν. ἔστι γὰρ καὶ Ὁμήρῳ πεποιημένα ἐς Δήμητραν· ἐν δὲ αὐτοῖς καταλέγων τοὺς διδαχθέντας ὑπὸ τῆς θεοῦ τὴν τελετὴν Δυσαύλην οὐδένα οἶδεν Ἐλευσίνιον. ἔχει δὲ οὕτω τὰ ἔπη· "δεῖξεν Τριπτολέμῳ τε Διοκλεῖ τε πληξίππῳ Εὐμόλπου τε βίῃ Κελεῷ θʼ ἡγήτορι λαῶν δρησμοσύνην ἱερῶν καὶ ἐπέφραδεν ὄργια πᾶσιν. " οὗτος δʼ οὖν, ὡς οἱ Φλιάσιοί φασιν, ὁ Δυσαύλης κατεστήσατο ἐνταῦθα τὴν τελετὴν καὶ οὗτος ἦν ὁ τῷ χωρίῳ τὸ ὄνομα παραθέμενος Κελεάς· Δυσαύλου τέ ἐστιν ἐνταῦθα, ὡς εἴρηταί μοι, μνῆμα. πρότερον δὲ ἄρα ἐπεποίητο ὁ Ἀράντειος τάφος· ὕστερον γὰρ κατὰ τὸν Φλιασίων λόγον καὶ οὐκ ἐπὶ τῆς Ἄραντος βασιλείας ἀφίκετο ὁ Δυσαύλης. Φλιάσιοι γὰρ Προμηθεῖ γενέσθαι τῷ Ἰαπετοῦ κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν χρόνον φασὶν Ἄραντα καὶ τρισὶν ἀνθρώπων γενεαῖς⁵ Πελασγοῦ τε εἶναι πρεσβύτερον τοῦ Ἀρκάδος καὶ τῶν λεγομένων Ἀθήνῃσιν αὐτοχθόνων. —τοῦ δὲ Ἀνακτόρου καλουμένου πρὸς τῷ ὀρόφῳ Πέλοπος ἅρμα λέγουσιν ἀνακεῖσθαι.

Dysaules might have arrived here under some other pretext, and not as the Phliasians say. Indeed, in my opinion, he was neither related to Celeus nor otherwise among the illustrious Eleusinians; for otherwise Homer would never have passed him over in his poems. For there are verses composed by Homer also on Demeter; and in them, when enumerating those who were taught the festival by the goddess, he knows of no Eleusinian named Dysaules. The verses run thus: “She showed to Triptolemus and Diocles, driver of horses, and to the might of Eumolpus and Celeus, leader of the people, the performance of the sacred rites, and she declared her mysteries to all. “ This Dysaules, then, as the Phliasians say, established the festival here, and he was the one who gave the name Celeae to the place; and there is here, as I have said, a monument of Dysaules. But it seems that the tomb of Aras had been made prior to this; for according to the account of the Phliasians, Dysaules arrived later and not during the reign of Aras. For the Phliasians say that Aras was born at the same time as Prometheus, the son of Iapetus, and that he was older by three generations of men than Pelasgus, the son of Arcas, and those who are called at Athens the autochthones. —Near the roof of the building called the Anactoron, they say that the chariot of Pelops is dedicated.

Syntax notes5 items

2.14.1διʼ ἐνιαυτοῦ τετάρτου
A temporal expression meaning 'every fourth year' (i.e., at intervals of three years). Due to the Greek practice of inclusive counting (counting both the starting and ending years), this refers to a quadrennial cycle, as corroborated by the contrasting phrase 'and not annually' (οὐ κατὰ ἔτος).
2.14.2οὐκ ἔστιν ὅπως ὁμολογήσω
An idiomatic expression consisting of οὐκ ἔστιν ὅπως followed by a subjunctive (or future indicative), expressing strong impossibility or total refusal ('there is no way that I can agree').
2.14.2κρατηθέντα μάχῃ τινὰ Ἐλευσινίων φυγάδα ἀπελαθέντα οἴχεσθαι
An accusative with infinitive construction where τινὰ Ἐλευσινίων ('any of the Eleusinians') serves as the subject of the infinitive οἴχεσθαι ('to have gone/departed'), modified by the attributive participles κρατηθέντα ('defeated') and ἀπελαθέντα ('expelled'). The entire clause is the object of ὁμολογήσω.
2.14.3οὐ γὰρ ἄν ποτε Ὅμηρος παρῆκεν αὐτὸν
A counterfactual (unreal) apodosis without an explicit protasis, marked by the particle ἄν with the past indicative (here the aorist παρῆκεν), meaning 'for otherwise Homer would never have passed him over' (implied: if he had actually been famous).
2.14.4τρισὶν ἀνθρώπων γενεαῖς
A dative of measure of difference modifying the comparative adjective πρεσβύτερον ('older'), indicating the precise degree of difference ('older by three generations of men').

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25)urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:2.14.1-2.14.4