- 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
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:5.15.8-5.15.12
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-27
The text describes the Prytaneum and its perpetual hearth of ash, the monthly rituals and duties of the priests performed there, the Eleans' ancient connection to the oracle of Ammon in Libya, and the banquets for Olympic victors.
ἔστι δὲ πρὸ τοῦ καλουμένου Θεηκολεῶνος οἴκημα· τούτου δὲ ἐν γωνίᾳ τοῦ οἰκήματος Πανὸς ἵδρυται βωμός. τὸ πρυτανεῖον δὲ Ἠλείοις ἔστι μὲν τῆς Ἄλτεως ἐντός, πεποίηται δὲ παρὰ τὴν ἔξοδον ἥ ἐστι τοῦ γυμνασίου πέραν· ἐν τούτῳ δὲ οἵ τε δρόμοι τῷ γυμνασίῳ1 καὶ τοῖς ἀθληταῖς εἰσιν αἱ παλαῖστραι. τοῦ πρυτανείου δὲ πρὸ μὲν τῶν θυρῶν βωμός ἐστιν Ἀρτέμιδος Ἀγροτέρας·
There is a building in front of the so-called Theecoleon; and in a corner of this building, an altar of Pan has been established. The Prytaneum for the Eleans is inside the Altis, and it is built near the exit which is opposite the gymnasium; and in this (gymnasium) are the running-tracks and the palaestras for the athletes. In front of the doors of the Prytaneum, there is an altar of Artemis Agrotera.
ἐν δὲ αὐτῷ τῷ πρυτανείῳ παριόντων2 ἐς τὸ οἴκημα, ἔνθα σφίσιν ἡ ἑστία, Πανός ἐστιν ἐν δεξιᾷ τῆς ἐσόδου βωμός. ἔστι δὲ ἡ ἑστία τέφρας καὶ αὕτη πεποιημένη, καὶ ἐπʼ αὐτῆς πῦρ ἀνὰ πᾶσάν τε ἡμέραν καὶ ἐν πάσῃ νυκτὶ ὡσαύτως καίεται· ἀπὸ ταύτης τῆς ἑστίας τὴν τέφραν κατὰ τὰ εἰρημένα ἤδη μοι κομίζουσιν ἐπὶ τὸν τοῦ Ὀλυμπίου βωμόν, καὶ οὐχ ἥκιστα ἐς μέγεθος συντελεῖ τῷ βωμῷ τὸ ἀπὸ τῆς ἑστίας ἐπιφορούμενον.
Inside the Prytaneum itself, for those entering into the building where their hearth (hestia) is, there is an altar of Pan on the right of the entrance. This hearth is also made of ashes, and on it a fire is kept burning likewise all day and all night. From this hearth they carry the ashes, according to what I have already said, to the altar of the Olympian Zeus, and what is carried and added from the hearth contributes in no small measure to the size of the altar.
ἑκάστου δὲ ἅπαξ τοῦ μηνὸς θύουσιν ἐπὶ πάντων Ἠλεῖοι τῶν κατειλεγμένων βωμῶν. θύουσι δὲ ἀρχαῖόν τινα τρόπον· λιβανωτὸν γὰρ ὁμοῦ πυροῖς μεμαγμένοις μέλιτι θυμιῶσιν ἐπὶ τῶν βωμῶν, τιθέασι δὲ καὶ κλῶνας ἐλαίας ἐπʼ αὐτῶν καὶ οἴνῳ χρῶνται σπονδῇ. μόναις δὲ ταῖς Νύμφαις οὐ νομίζουσιν οἶνον οὐδὲ ταῖς Δεσποίναις σπένδειν οὐδὲ ἐπὶ τῷ βωμῷ τῷ κοινῷ πάντων θεῶν. μέλει δὲ τὰ ἐς θυσίας θεηκόλῳ τε, ὃς ἐπὶ μηνὶ ἑκάστῳ τὴν τιμὴν ἔχει, καὶ μάντεσι καὶ σπονδοφόροις, ἔτι δὲ ἐξηγητῇ τε καὶ αὐλητῇ καὶ τῷ ξυλεῖ·
Once every month, the Eleans sacrifice upon all the altars that have been enumerated. They sacrifice in a certain ancient manner; for they burn frankincense together with wheat kneaded with honey upon the altars, and they also place branches of olive on them and use wine for libation. But only to the Nymphs and to the Mistresses (Despoinae) they do not deem it right to make a libation of wine, nor upon the altar in common to all the gods. The matters concerning the sacrifices are the care of the theecolus, who holds the office for each month, and of the seers and the libation-bearers, and further of the interpreter and the flute-player and the woodman.
ὁπόσα δὲ ἐπὶ ταῖς σπονδαῖς λέγειν σφίσιν ἐν τῷ πρυτανείῳ καθέστηκεν, ἢ καὶ ὕμνους ὁποίους ᾄδουσιν, οὔ με ἦν εἰκὸς ἐπεισαγαγέσθαι3 καὶ ταῦτα ἐς τὸν λόγον. θεοῖς δὲ οὐ τοῖς Ἑλληνικοῖς μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ τῷ ἐν Λιβύῃ σπένδουσι καὶ Ἥρᾳ τε Ἀμμωνίᾳ καὶ Παράμμωνι· Ἑρμοῦ δὲ ἐπίκλησίς ἐστιν ὁ Παράμμων. φαίνονται δὲ χρώμενοι ἐκ παλαιοτάτου τῷ ἐν Λιβύῃ μαντείῳ, καὶ ἀναθήματα Ἠλείων ἐν Ἄμμωνός εἰσι βωμοί· γέγραπται δὲ ἐπʼ αὐτῶν ὅσα τε ἐπυνθάνοντο οἱ Ἠλεῖοι καὶ τὰ χρησθέντα ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τὰ ὀνόματα τῶν ἀνδρῶν οἳ παρὰ τὸν Ἄμμωνα ἦλθον ἐξ Ἤλιδος. ταῦτα μὲν δή ἐστιν ἐν Ἄμμωνος·
As for whatever it is ordained for them to say at the libations in the Prytaneum, or also what kind of hymns they sing, it was not fitting for me to introduce these things as well into my account. They pour libations not only to the Greek gods but also to the god in Libya, and both to Ammonian Hera and to Parammon; and Parammon is a surname of Hermes. They appear to have used the oracle in Libya from the most ancient times, and there are altars of offerings of the Eleans in the temple of Ammon; and on them are inscribed both what the Eleans asked and the responses given by the god, and the names of the men who went from Elis to Ammon. These indeed are the things in the temple of Ammon.
Ἠλεῖοι δὲ καὶ ἥρωσι καὶ γυναιξὶ σπένδουσιν ἡρώων, ὅσοι τε ἐν τῇ χώρᾳ τῇ Ἠλείᾳ καὶ ὅσοι παρὰ Αἰτωλοῖς τιμὰς ἔχουσιν. ὁπόσα δὲ ᾄδουσιν ἐν τῷ πρυτανείῳ, φωνὴ μέν ἐστιν αὐτῶν ἡ Δώριος, ὅστις δὲ ὁ ποιήσας ἦν τὰ ᾄσματα, οὐ λέγουσιν. ἔστι δὲ καὶ ἑστιατόριον Ἠλείοις· καὶ τοῦτο ἔστι μὲν ἐντὸς τοῦ πρυτανείου, τοῦ οἰκήματος τοῦ τῆς ἑστίας ἀπαντικρύ, τοὺς δὲ τὰ Ὀλύμπια νικῶντας ἑστιῶσιν ἐν τούτῳ τῷ οἰκήματι.
The Eleans also pour libations to heroes and to the wives of heroes, both those who have honors in the land of Elis and those among the Aetolians. As for what they sing in the Prytaneum, their dialect is the Doric, but who the composer of the songs was, they do not say. There is also a banqueting-hall for the Eleans; and this is inside the Prytaneum, right opposite the building of the hearth, and they feast the victors of the Olympic games in this building.
- 5.15.8τῷ γυμνασίῳ
A dative in apposition to the demonstrative pronoun ἐν τούτῳ. It specifies the referent from the preceding τοῦ γυμνασίου, meaning 'in this, namely the gymnasium'.
- 5.15.9παριόντων
A genitive plural participle used without an explicit subject, expressing the point of view or direction of those who enter: 'for those entering (on the right of the entrance)'.
- 5.15.11οὔ με ἦν εἰκὸς ἐπεισαγαγέσθαι
An accusative and infinitive construction depending on the impersonal phrase οὐκ εἰκός ἐστιν, where με acts as the subject of the infinitive ἐπεισαγαγέσθαι, meaning 'it was not fitting for me to introduce...'.