Tomb of Gorgophone and the Temple of Leto — Pausanias, Description of Greece Book 2 (2.21.6–2.21.10), Greek & English

§2.21.6

Καρχηδονίῳ δὲ ἀνδρὶ Προκλεῖ τῷ Εὐκράτους ἕτερος λόγος ὅδε ἐφαίνετο εἶναι τοῦ προτέρου πιθανώτερος. Λιβύης ἡ ἔρημος καὶ ἄλλα παρέχεται θηρία ἀκούσασιν οὐ πιστὰ καὶ ἄνδρες ἐνταῦθα ἄγριοι καὶ ἄγριαι γίνονται γυναῖκες· ἔλεγέ τε ὁ Προκλῆς ἀπʼ αὐτῶν ἄνδρα ἰδεῖν κομισθέντα ἐς Ῥώμην. εἴκαζεν οὖν πλανηθεῖσαν γυναῖκα ἐκ τούτων καὶ ἀφικομένην ἐπὶ τὴν λίμνην τὴν Τριτωνίδα λυμαίνεσθαι τοὺς προσοίκους, ἐς ὃ Περσεὺς ἀπέκτεινεν αὐτήν· Ἀθηνᾶν δέ οἱ συνεπιλαβέσθαι δοκεῖν τοῦ ἔργου,¹ ὅτι οἱ περὶ τὴν λίμνην τὴν Τριτωνίδα ἄνθρωποι ταύτης εἰσὶν ἱεροί.

To a Carthaginian man, Procles the son of Eucrates, another account, which follows, seemed to be more credible than the former. The desert of Libya produces other wild beasts also, incredible to those who hear [of them], and there wild men and wild women are born; and Procles said that he saw a man brought from among them to Rome. He conjectured, therefore, that a woman from among these, having wandered and arrived at the Tritonian lake, ravaged the neighbors, until Perseus killed her; and it seemed [to him] that Athena assisted him in the deed because the people around the Tritonian lake are sacred to this goddess.

§2.21.7

ἐν δὲ Ἄργει παρὰ τοῦτο δὴ τὸ μνῆμα τῆς Γοργόνος Γοργοφόνης τάφος ἐστὶ τῆς Περσέως. καὶ ἐφʼ ὅτῳ μὲν αὐτῇ τὸ ὄνομα ἐτέθη, δῆλον εὐθὺς ἀκούσαντι· γυναικῶν δὲ πρώτην αὐτήν φασι τελευτήσαντος τοῦ ἀνδρὸς Περιήρους τοῦ Αἰόλου—τούτῳ γὰρ παρθένος συνῴκησε—, τὴν δὲ αὖθις Οἰβάλῳ γήμασθαι·² πρότερον δὲ καθεστήκει ταῖς γυναιξὶν ἐπὶ ἀνδρὶ ἀποθανόντι χηρεύειν.

In Argos, indeed, near this very monument of the Gorgon, is the tomb of Gorgophone, the daughter of Perseus. For what reason the name was given to her is immediately clear to one who hears it; and they say she was the first of women to marry again, to Oebalus, after the death of her husband Perieres the son of Aeolus—for she lived with him as a virgin—whereas previously it had been established for women to remain widows upon the death of a husband.

§2.21.8

τοῦ τάφου δὲ ἔμπροσθεν τρόπαιον λίθου πεποίηται κατὰ ἀνδρὸς Ἀργείου Λαφάους· τοῦτον γὰρ—γράφω δὲ ὁπόσα λέγουσιν αὐτοὶ περὶ σφῶν Ἀργεῖοι—τυραννοῦντα ἐξέβαλεν ἐπαναστὰς ὁ δῆμος, φυγόντα δὲ ἐς Σπάρτην Λακεδαιμόνιοι κατάγειν ἐπειρῶντο ἐπὶ τυραννίδι, νικήσαντες δὲ οἱ Ἀργεῖοι τῇ μάχῃ Λαφάην τε καὶ τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων τοὺς πολλοὺς ἀπέκτειναν. τὸ δὲ ἱερὸν τῆς Λητοῦς ἔστι μὲν οὐ μακρὰν τοῦ τροπαίου, τέχνη δὲ τὸ ἄγαλμα Πραξιτέλους.

In front of the tomb is built a trophy of stone against an Argive man, Laphaes; for when he was tyrant the people rose up and expelled him—I write what the Argives themselves say about themselves—and when he fled to Sparta, the Lacedaemonians tried to restore him to the tyranny, but the Argives, having conquered in the battle, killed both Laphaes and most of the Lacedaemonians. And the sanctuary of Leto is not far from the trophy, and the statue is the work of Praxiteles.

§2.21.9

τὴν δὲ εἰκόνα παρὰ τῇ θεῷ τῆς παρθένου Χλῶριν ὀνομάζουσι, Νιόβης μὲν θυγατέρα εἶναι λέγοντες, Μελίβοιαν δὲ καλεῖσθαι τὸ ἐξ ἀρχῆς· ἀπολλυμένων δὲ ὑπὸ Ἀρτέμιδος καὶ Ἀπόλλωνος τῶν Ἀμφίονος παίδων περιγενέσθαι μόνην τῶν ἀδελφῶν ταύτην καὶ Ἀμύκλαν, περιγενέσθαι δὲ εὐξαμένους τῇ Λητοῖ.³ Μελίβοιαν δὲ οὕτω δή τι παραυτίκα τε χλωρὰν τὸ δεῖμα ἐποίησε καὶ ἐς τὸ λοιπὸν τοῦ βίου παρέμεινεν ὡς καὶ τὸ ὄνομα ἐπὶ τῷ συμβάντι ἀντὶ Μελιβοίας αὐτῇ γενέσθαι Χλῶριν.

And the image of the maiden near the goddess they call Chloris, saying that she was the daughter of Niobe, and that she was called Meliboea from the beginning; but when the children of Amphion were being destroyed by Artemis and Apollo, she alone of her siblings survived along with Amyclas, and they survived because they prayed to Leto. And indeed the terror made Meliboea so pale at the moment, and it remained for the rest of her life, so that her name became Chloris instead of Meliboea on account of what had happened.

§2.21.10

τούτους δή φασιν Ἀργεῖοι τὸ ἐξ ἀρχῆς οἰκοδομῆσαι τῇ Λητοῖ τὸν ναόν· ἐγὼ δὲ—πρόσκειμαι γὰρ πλέον τι ἢ οἱ λοιποὶ τῇ Ὁμήρου ποιήσει—δοκῶ τῇ Νιόβῃ τῶν παίδων μηδένα ὑπόλοιπον γενέσθαι.⁴ μαρτυρεῖ δέ μοι τὸ ἔπος "τὼ δʼ ἄρα καὶ δοιώ περ ἐόντʼ ἀπὸ πάντας ὄλεσσαν." οὗτος μὲν δὴ τὸν οἶκον τὸν Ἀμφίονος ἐκ βάθρων ἀνατραπέντα οἶδε·

These indeed the Argives say built the temple to Leto from the beginning; but I—for I adhere more than the others to the poetry of Homer—think that none of the children of Niobe survived. And the verse bears witness for me: “For they, though being only two, destroyed them all.” He indeed knew that the house of Amphion was overturned from its foundations;

Syntax notes4 items

2.21.6Ἀθηνᾶν δέ οἱ συνεπιλαβέσθαι δοκεῖν τοῦ ἔργου
The infinitive δοκεῖν functions in indirect speech depending on εἴκαζεν ('he conjectured'), and its grammatical subject is not Ἀθηνᾶν, but rather the clause itself, meaning 'it seemed [to him] that Athena assisted him'. The dative pronoun οἱ refers to Perseus.
2.21.7τὴν δὲ αὖθις Οἰβάλῳ γήμασθαι
τὴν is the accusative feminine pronoun referring to Gorgophone, functioning as the subject of the middle infinitive γήμασθαι ('to marry'), which is governed by φασί ('they say').
2.21.9περιγενέσθαι δὲ εὐξαμένους τῇ Λητοῖ
The accusative plural masculine participle εὐξαμένους refers to both Chloris and Amyclas (treated as a mixed group in the masculine plural). It explains the cause of their survival (περιγενέσθαι), because they had prayed to Leto.
2.21.10δοκῶ τῇ Νιόβῃ τῶν παίδων μηδένα ὑπόλοιπον γενέσθαι
δοκῶ is used here personally ('I think'), rather than impersonally. The dative τῇ Νιόβῃ is a dative of reference or possession depending on the following phrase, meaning 'to Niobe [none of her children survived]'.

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25)urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:2.21.6-2.21.10