- Source
- Pausanias. Pausaniae Graeciae descriptio, Volumes 1-3. Spiro, Friedrich, editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1903.
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.5-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
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- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:2.6.1-2.6.7
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-22
The reign of King Epopeus after Corax's death, the conflict with Thebes over Antiope, and the subsequent succession of kings from Lamedon to Sicyonian rulers are narrated.
Κόρακος δὲ ἀποθανόντος ἄπαιδος ὑπὸ τοῦτον τὸν καιρὸν Ἐπωπεὺς ἀφικόμενος ἐκ Θεσσαλίας ἔσχε τὴν ἀρχήν. ἐπὶ τούτου βασιλεύοντος στρατόν σφισι πολέμιον λέγουσιν ἐς τὴν χώραν τότε ἐλθεῖν πρῶτον, τὰ πρὸ τοῦ πάντα τὸν χρόνον διατελέσασιν ἐν εἰρήνῃ.1 αἰτία δὲ ἥδε· Ἀντιόπης ἐν Ἕλλησι τῆς Νυκτέως ὄνομα ἦν ἐπὶ κάλλει, καί οἱ καὶ φήμη προσῆν Ἀσωποῦ θυγατέρα, ὃς τὴν Θηβαΐδα καὶ Πλαταιίδα ὁρίζει, καὶ οὐ Νυκτέως εἶναι.
When Corax died childless around this time, Epopeus, who had come from Thessaly, obtained the rule. They say that during his reign a hostile army came into their land then for the first time, whereas they had continued in peace for all the time before this. The reason was as follows: among the Greeks, Nycteus’ daughter was named Antiope, renowned for her beauty, and there was also a rumor about her that she was the daughter of Asopus, who divides the territory of Thebes and Plataea, and not of Nycteus.
ταύτην οὐκ οἶδα εἴτε γυναῖκα αἰτήσας εἴτε θρασύτερα ἐξ ἀρχῆς βουλευσάμενος Ἐπωπεὺς ἁρπάζει· ὡς δὲ οἱ Θηβαῖοι σὺν ὅπλοις ἦλθον, ἐνταῦθα τιτρώσκεται μὲν Νυκτεύς, ἐτρώθη δὲ κρατῶν τῇ μάχῃ καὶ Ἐπωπεύς. Νυκτέα μὲν δὴ κάμνοντα ὀπίσω κομίζουσιν ἐς Θήβας, καὶ ὡς ἔμελλε τελευτᾶν, Λύκον ἀδελφὸν ὄντα παραδίδωσι Θηβαίων ἐν τῷ παρόντι ἄρχειν· Λάβδακον γὰρ τὸν Πολυδώρου τοῦ Κάδμου παῖδα ἔτι αὐτός τε ἐπετρόπευεν ὁ Νυκτεὺς καὶ τότε ἀπέλιπεν ἐπιτροπεύειν ἐκείνῳ.2 τοῦτον οὖν τὸν Λύκον ἱκέτευσε στρατῷ μείζονι ἐπὶ τὴν Αἰγιάλειαν ἐλάσαντα τιμωρήσασθαι μὲν Ἐπωπέα, κακοῦν δὲ εἰ λάβοι καὶ αὐτὴν Ἀντιόπην.
Whether Epopeus carried her off having asked for her as a wife, or having planned bolder things from the start, I do not know, but he abducted her. When the Thebans came with arms, there Nycteus was wounded, and Epopeus also was wounded, although winning the battle. Nycteus indeed, being in a critical state, was carried back to Thebes, and as he was about to die, he handed over the rule of the Thebans for the present to Lycus, who was his brother; for Nycteus himself was still guardian of Labdacus, the son of Polydorus, the son of Cadmus, and at that time he left the guardianship to him. He therefore entreated this Lycus to march against Aegialea with a larger army to punish Epopeus, and to maltreat Antiope herself if he should capture her.
Ἐπωπεὺς δὲ τὸ μὲν παραυτίκα ἐπινίκια ἔθυε καὶ Ἀθηνᾶς ᾠκοδόμει ναόν, ἐπʼ ἐξειργασμένῳ δὲ εὔξατο ἐνδείξασθαι τὴν θεὸν εἴ οἱ τετελεσμένος ἐστὶν ὁ ναὸς κατὰ γνώμην· μετὰ δὲ τὴν εὐχὴν ἔλαιον λέγουσι ῥυῆναι πρὸ τοῦ ναοῦ. ὕστερον δὲ καὶ Ἐπωπέα κατέλαβεν ἀποθανεῖν ὑπὸ τοῦ τραύματος ἀμεληθέντος κατʼ ἀρχάς, ὡς μηδὲν ἔτι Λύκῳ δεῆσαι πολέμου· Λαμέδων γὰρ ὁ Κορώνου βασιλεύσας μετὰ Ἐπωπέα ἐξέδωκεν Ἀντιόπην. ἡ δὲ ὡς ἐς Θήβας ἤγετο τὴν ἐπʼ Ἐλευθερῶν, ἐνταῦθα καθʼ ὁδὸν τίκτει.
For the time being, Epopeus offered sacrifices for the victory and was building a temple of Athena, and when it was completed, he prayed that the goddess would show him whether the temple had been finished according to her mind; and after the prayer, they say that olive oil flowed before the temple. But later, death overtook Epopeus as well from his wound, which had been neglected at first, so that Lycus no longer had any need of war; for Lamedon, who became king after Epopeus, being the son of Coronus, gave up Antiope. And as she was being led to Thebes along the road to Eleutherae, there on the way she gave birth.
καὶ ἐπὶ τούτῳ πεποίηκεν Ἄσιος ὁ Ἀμφιπτολέμου· "Ἀντιόπη δʼ ἔτεκε Ζῆθον καὶ Ἀμφίονα δῖον Ἀσωποῦ κούρη ποταμοῦ βαθυδινήεντος, Ζηνί τε κυσαμένη καὶ Ἐπωπέι ποιμένι λαῶν." Ὅμηρος δὲ σφᾶς ἀνήγαγεν ἐπὶ τὸ σεμνότερον τοῦ γένους καὶ Θήβας φησὶν οἰκίσαι πρώτους, ἀποκρίνων τὴν κάτω πόλιν ἐμοὶ δοκεῖν3 ἀπὸ τῆς Καδμείας.
And on this subject Asius, the son of Amphiptolemus, has written: “Antiope bore Zethus and divine Amphion, daughter of the deep-eddying river Asopus, having conceived by Zeus and Epopeus, the shepherd of peoples.” But Homer raised them to a more noble origin of their race, and says that they first founded Thebes, separating, in my opinion, the lower city from the Cadmea.
Λαμέδων δὲ βασιλεύσας ἔγημεν ἐξ Ἀθηνῶν γυναῖκα Φηνὼ Κλυτίου· καὶ ὕστερον γενομένου οἱ πολέμου πρὸς Ἄρχανδρον καὶ Ἀρχιτέλην τοὺς Ἀχαιοῦ συμμαχήσοντα ἐπηγάγετο Σικυῶνα ἐκ τῆς Ἀττικῆς, καὶ θυγατέρα τε συνῴκισεν αὐτῷ Ζευξίππην καὶ ἀπὸ τούτου βασιλεύσαντος4 ἡ γῆ Σικυωνία καὶ Σικυὼν ἀντὶ Αἰγιάλης ἡ πόλις ὠνομάσθη. Σικυῶνα δὲ οὐ Μαραθῶνος τοῦ Ἐπωπέως, Μητίονος δὲ εἶναι τοῦ Ἐρεχθέως φασίν. ὁμολογεῖ δέ σφισι καὶ Ἄσιος, ἐπεὶ Ἡσίοδός γε καὶ Ἴβυκος, ὁ μὲν ἐποίησεν ὡς Ἐρεχθέως εἴη Σικυών, Ἴβυκος δὲ εἶναι Πέλοπός φησιν αὐτόν.
Lamedon, when he became king, married a woman from Athens, Pheno, the daughter of Clytius; and later when a war arose between him and Archandrus and Architeles, the sons of Achaeus, he brought in Sicyon from Attica to fight with him, and married his daughter Zeuxippe to him; and from his being king, the land was called Sicyonia and the city Sicyon instead of Aegiale. But they say Sicyon was not the son of Marathon, the son of Epopeus, but of Metion, the son of Erechtheus. Asius also agrees with them, although Hesiod and Ibycus differ: Hesiod wrote that Sicyon was the son of Erechtheus, while Ibycus says he was the son of Pelops.
Σικυῶνος δὲ γίνεται Χθονοφύλη, Χθονοφύλης δὲ καὶ Ἑρμοῦ Πόλυβον γενέσθαι λέγουσιν· ὕστερον δὲ αὐτὴν Φλίας ὁ Διονύσου γαμεῖ, καί οἱ παῖς Ἀνδροδάμας γίνεται. Πόλυβος δὲ Ταλαῷ τῷ Βίαντος βασιλεύοντι Ἀργείων Λυσιάνασσαν τὴν θυγατέρα ἔδωκε· καὶ ὅτε Ἄδραστος ἔφευγεν ἐξ Ἄργους, παρὰ Πόλυβον ἦλθεν ἐς Σικυῶνα καὶ ὕστερον ἀποθανόντος Πολύβου τὴν ἐν Σικυῶνι ἀρχὴν ἔσχεν. Ἀδράστου δὲ ἐς Ἄργος κατελθόντος Ἰανίσκος ἀπόγονος Κλυτίου τοῦ Λαμέδοντι κηδεύσαντος ἐλθὼν ἐκ τῆς Ἀττικῆς ἐβασίλευσεν, ἀποθανόντος δὲ Ἰανίσκου Φαῖστος τῶν Ἡρακλέους λεγόμενος παίδων καὶ οὗτος εἶναι.
To Sicyon was born Chthonophyle, and they say Chthonophyle and Hermes had Polybus; later she married Phlias, the son of Dionysus, and a son Androdamas was born to him. Polybus gave his daughter Lysianassa to Talaus, the son of Bias, who was king of the Argives; and when Adrastus fled from Argos, he came to Polybus in Sicyon, and later on the death of Polybus obtained the rule in Sicyon. When Adrastus returned to Argos, Ianiscus, a descendant of Clytius, who had married into the family of Lamedon, came from Attica and became king, and when Ianiscus died, Phaestus, who was also said to be one of the children of Heracles, became king.
Φαίστου δὲ κατὰ μαντείαν μετοικήσαντος ἐς Κρήτην βασιλεῦσαι λέγεται Ζεύξιππος Ἀπόλλωνος υἱὸς καὶ νύμφης Συλλίδος. μετὰ δὲ Ζεύξιππον τελευτήσαντα Ἀγαμέμνων στρατὸν ἤγαγεν ἐπὶ Σικυῶνα καὶ τὸν βασιλέα Ἱππόλυτον Ῥοπάλου παῖδα τοῦ Φαίστου· δείσας δὲ τὸν στρατὸν ἐπιόντα Ἱππόλυτος συνεχώρησεν Ἀγαμέμνονος κατήκοος καὶ Μυκηναίων εἶναι. Ἱππολύτου δὲ ἦν τούτου Λακεστάδης. Φάλκης δὲ ὁ Τημένου καταλαβὼν νύκτωρ Σικυῶνα σὺν Δωριεῦσι κακὸν μὲν ἅτε Ἡρακλείδην καὶ αὐτὸν ἐποίησεν οὐδέν,5 κοινωνὸν δὲ ἔσχε τῆς ἀρχῆς.
When Phaestus migrated to Crete in accordance with an oracle, Zeuxippus, the son of Apollo and the nymph Syllis, is said to have reigned. After the death of Zeuxippus, Agamemnon led an army against Sicyon and its king Hippolytus, the son of Rhopalus, the son of Phaestus; fearing the advancing army, Hippolytus agreed to be subject to Agamemnon and the Mycenaeans. Of this Hippolytus was born Lacestades. And Falces, the son of Temenus, having seized Sicyon by night with the Dorians, did him no harm, inasmuch as he too was a Heraclid, but made him a partner in the rule.
- 2.6.1διατελέσασιν ἐν εἰρήνῃ
διατελέσασιν (dative perfect participle) agrees with the preceding pronoun σφισι (referring to the Sicyonians), meaning "who had continued to live in peace for all the time before." In the construction of διατελέω with a participle, the participle of being or living is understood.
- 2.6.2ἀπέλιπεν ἐπιτροπεύειν ἐκείνῳ
The subject of ἀπέλιπεν is Nycteus. ἐκείνῳ refers to Lycus. The infinitive ἐπιτροπεύειν (to act as guardian) functions as the object of ἀπέλιπεν (left behind, bequeathed).
- 2.6.4ἐμοὶ δοκεῖν
Absolute use of the infinitive, acting as a parenthetical expression meaning "in my opinion" or "as it seems to me."
- 2.6.5ἀπὸ τούτου βασιλεύσαντος
The preposition ἀπὸ is combined with a genitive participle construction τούτου βασιλεύοντος (literally "from him reigning"), functioning as a noun phrase meaning "from his being king" or "owing to his reign."
- 2.6.7κακὸν μὲν ἅτε Ἡρακλείδην καὶ αὐτὸν ἐποίησεν οὐδέν
κακόν is the direct object of ἐποίησεν, negated by οὐδέν (meaning "did no harm"). The phrase ἅτε Ἡρακλείδην καὶ αὐτὸν means "inasmuch as he too [i.e., Hippolytus] was a Heraclid." It explains the reason for showing mercy, as both the conqueror Falces and the conquered Hippolytus shared Heraclid descent.