Sanctuaries of Hermione and Festival of Demeter Chthonia — Pausanias, Description of Greece Book 2 (2.35.1–2.35.5), Greek & English

§2.35.1

πλησίον δὲ αὐτοῦ Διονύσου ναὸς Μελαναίγιδος· τούτῳ μουσικῆς ἀγῶνα κατὰ ἔτος ἕκαστον ἄγουσι, καὶ ἁμίλλης κολύμβου καὶ πλοίων τιθέασιν ἆθλα· καὶ Ἀρτέμιδος ἐπίκλησιν Ἰφιγενείας ἐστὶν ἱερὸν καὶ Ποσειδῶν χαλκοῦς τὸν ἕτερον πόδα ἔχων ἐπὶ δελφῖνος. παρελθοῦσι¹ δὲ ἐς τὸ τῆς Ἑστίας, ἄγαλμα μέν ἐστιν οὐδέν, βωμὸς δέ· καὶ ἐπʼ αὐτοῦ θύουσιν Ἑστίᾳ. Ἀπόλλωνος δέ εἰσι ναοὶ τρεῖς καὶ ἀγάλματα τρία· καὶ τῷ μὲν οὐκ ἔστιν ἐπίκλησις, τὸν δὲ Πυθαέα ὀνομάζουσι, καὶ Ὅριον τὸν τρίτον. τὸ μὲν δὴ τοῦ Πυθαέως ὄνομα μεμαθήκασι παρὰ Ἀργείων· τούτοις γὰρ Ἑλλήνων πρώτοις ἀφικέσθαι Τελέσιλλά φησι τὸν Πυθαέα ἐς τὴν χώραν Ἀπόλλωνος παῖδα ὄντα· τὸν δὲ Ὅριον ἐφʼ ὅτῳ καλοῦσιν, σαφῶς μὲν οὐκ ἂν ἔχοιμι εἰπεῖν, τεκμαίρομαι δὲ περὶ γῆς ὅρων πολέμῳ σφᾶς ἢ δίκῃ νικήσαντας ἐπὶ τῷδε τιμὰς Ἀπόλλωνι Ὁρίῳ νεῖμαι.²

Near it is a temple of Dionysus surnamed Melanaegis; in his honour they hold a musical competition every year, and they offer prizes for a contest in diving and in boats. There is also a sanctuary of Artemis surnamed Iphigenia, and a bronze Poseidon with one of his feet upon a dolphin. For those who enter the sanctuary of Hestia, there is no statue, but an altar, and on it they sacrifice to Hestia. There are three temples and three statues of Apollo; one of them has no surname, but they call the second Pythaeus, and the third Horius. The name of Pythaeus they have learned from the Argives; for Telesilla says that Pythaeus, being a son of Apollo, was the first of the Greeks to come to their country. As to why they call the third Horius, I could not say for certain, but I conjecture that, having conquered in war or by justice regarding the boundaries of their land, they assigned honours to Apollo Horius for this reason.

§2.35.3

τὸ δὲ ἱερὸν τῆς Τύχης νεώτατον μὲν λέγουσιν Ἑρμιονεῖς τῶν παρά σφισιν εἶναι, λίθου δὲ Παρίου κολοσσὸς ἕστηκεν. κρήνας δὲ τὴν μὲν σφόδρα ἔχουσιν ἀρχαίαν, ἐς δὲ αὐτὴν οὐ φανερῶς τὸ ὕδωρ κάτεισιν, ἐπιλείποι δὲ οὐκ ἄν ποτε, οὐδʼ εἰ πάντες καταβάντες ὑδρεύοιντο³ ἐξ αὐτῆς· τὴν δὲ ἐφʼ ἡμῶν πεποιήκασιν, ὄνομα δέ ἐστιν τῷ χωρίῳ Λειμών, ὅθεν ῥεῖ τὸ ὕδωρ ἐς αὐτήν.

The sanctuary of Fortune they say is the newest of those in their city, and a colossal statue of Parian marble stands in it. As for their springs, they have one that is extremely ancient, into which the water descends invisibly, and it would never fail, not even if all the citizens went down and drew water from it; the other they have made in our own day, and the name of the place from which the water flows into it is Leimon.

§2.35.4

τὸ δὲ λόγου μάλιστα ἄξιον ἱερὸν Δήμητρός ἐστιν ἐπὶ τοῦ Πρωνός. τοῦτο τὸ ἱερὸν Ἑρμιονεῖς μὲν Κλύμενον Φορωνέως παῖδα καὶ ἀδελφὴν Κλυμένου Χθονίαν τοὺς ἱδρυσαμένους φασὶν εἶναι. Ἀργεῖοι δέ, ὅτε ἐς τὴν Ἀργολίδα ἦλθε Δημήτηρ, τότε Ἀθέραν μὲν λέγουσι καὶ Μύσιον ὡς ξενίαν παράσχοιεν τῇ θεῷ, Κολόνταν δὲ οὔτε οἴκῳ δέξασθαι τὴν θεὸν οὔτε ἀπονεῖμαί τι ἄλλο ἐς τιμήν· ταῦτα δὲ οὐ κατὰ γνώμην Χθονίᾳ τῇ θυγατρὶ⁴ ποιεῖν αὐτόν. Κολόνταν μὲν οὖν φασιν ἀντὶ τούτων συγκαταπρησθῆναι τῇ οἰκίᾳ, Χθονίαν δὲ κομισθεῖσαν ἐς Ἑρμιόνα ὑπὸ Δήμητρος Ἑρμιονεῦσι ποιῆσαι τὸ ἱερόν.

The sanctuary most worthy of mention is that of Demeter on Pron. This sanctuary the Hermionians say was founded by Clymenus, son of Phoroneus, and Chthonia, sister of Clymenus. But the Argives say that when Demeter came to Argolis, Atheras and Mysius provided hospitality for the goddess, but Colontas would neither receive the goddess into his house nor pay her any other honour; and they say he did this against the will of his daughter Chthonia. Therefore they say that Colontas was burned up with his house in return for these things, but Chthonia, being carried to Hermione by Demeter, founded the sanctuary for the Hermionians.

§2.35.5

Χθονία δʼ οὖν ἡ θεός τε αὐτὴ καλεῖται καὶ Χθόνια ἑορτὴν κατὰ ἔτος ἄγουσιν ὥρᾳ θέρους, ἄγουσι δὲ οὕτως. ἡγοῦνται μὲν αὐτοῖς τῆς πομπῆς οἵ τε ἱερεῖς τῶν θεῶν καὶ ὅσοι τὰς ἐπετείους ἀρχὰς ἔχουσιν, ἕπονται δὲ καὶ γυναῖκες καὶ ἄνδρες. τοῖς δὲ καὶ παισὶν ἔτι οὖσι καθέστηκεν ἤδη τὴν θεὸν τιμᾶν τῇ πομπῇ· οὗτοι λευκὴν ἐσθῆτα καὶ ἐπὶ ταῖς κεφαλαῖς ἔχουσι στεφάνους. πλέκονται δὲ οἱ στέφανοί σφισιν ἐκ τοῦ ἄνθους ὃ καλοῦσιν οἱ ταύτῃ κοσμοσάνδαλον, ὑάκινθον ἐμοὶ δοκεῖν⁵ ὄντα καὶ μεγέθει καὶ χρόᾳ· ἔπεστι δέ οἱ καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ τῷ θρήνῳ γράμματα.

At any rate, the goddess herself is called Chthonia, and they hold a festival called Chthonia every year in the summer season, and they hold it in this way. The procession is led for them by the priests of the gods and all those who hold the annual offices, and both women and men follow. It is established even for those who are still children to honour the goddess in the procession; these wear white clothing and have crowns on their heads. Their crowns are woven from the flower which the people of this place call cosmosandalon, which in my opinion is a hyacinth, both in size and colour; and it has on it the letters of mourning.

Syntax notes5 items

2.35.1παρελθοῦσι
Dative plural aorist participle. A dative of reference or judgment typical in Pausanias' geographical descriptions, assuming the "guided traveler." It functions conditionally ("if one enters").
2.35.2τεκμαίρομαι δὲ περὶ γῆς ὅρων πολέμῳ σφᾶς ἢ δίκῃ νικήσαντας ἐπὶ τῷδε τιμὰς Ἀπόλλωνι Ὁρίῳ νεῖμαι
An accusative-with-infinitive construction dependent on the verb τεκμαίρομαι (I conjecture). The accusative pronoun σφᾶς (referring to the Hermionians) serves as the subject of the infinitive νεῖμαι (aorist infinitive of νέμω), and the aorist participle νικήσαντας (having conquered) agrees with it.
2.35.3ἐπιλείποι δὲ οὐκ ἄν ποτε, οὐδʼ εἰ πάντες καταβάντες ὑδρεύοιντο
A conditional sentence of potentiality (future less vivid), composed of ἄν with the optative ἐπιλείποι in the apodosis, and εἰ with the optative ὑδρεύοιντο in the protasis ("even if all should draw water, it would never fail").
2.35.4οὐ κατὰ γνώμην Χθονίᾳ τῇ θυγατρὶ
The phrase κατὰ γνώμην followed by a dative means "according to the will of (someone)." With the negative οὐ, it means "against the will of his daughter Chthonia." The dative Χθονίᾳ τῇ θυγατρὶ is governed by this expression.
2.35.5ἐμοὶ δοκεῖν
An idiomatic use of the "absolute infinitive" δοκεῖν, functioning parenthetically to mean "in my opinion" or "as it seems to me."

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-21)

2026-09-21 AI review — note 1

urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:2.35.1-2.35.5