- 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-grc2:5.7.1-5.7.4
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-26
The author describes the rich volume and sources of the Alpheius and its seven tributaries, recounting the myth of Alpheius and Arethusa mixing their waters under the sea, while comparing this phenomenon to the Nile and the Jordan passing through lakes.
ἀφικομένῳ δὲ ἐς Ὀλυμπίαν ἐνταῦθα ἤδη τὸ ὕδωρ ἐστὶ τοῦ Ἀλφειοῦ πλήθει τε πολὺ ἰδόντι1 καὶ ἥδιστον, ἅτε ποταμῶν καὶ ἄλλων καὶ λόγου μάλιστα ἀξίων ἑπτὰ ἐς αὐτὸν ῥεόντων. διὰ Μεγάλης μέν γε πόλεως Ἑλισσὼν ἐρχόμενος ἐκδίδωσιν ἐς τὸν Ἀλφειόν, Βρενθεάτης δὲ ἐκ τῆς Μεγαλοπολιτῶν γῆς, παρὰ δὲ Γόρτυναν ἔνθα ἱερὸν Ἀσκληπιοῦ, παρὰ δὴ ταῦτα Γορτύνιος ῥέων, ἐκ δὲ Μελαινεῶν Βουφάγος τῆς Μεγαλοπολίτιδος μεταξὺ καὶ Ἡραιίτιδος χώρας, ἐκ δὲ τῆς Κλειτορίων Λάδων, ἐκ δὲ Ἐρυμάνθου τοῦ ὄρους ὁμώνυμος τῷ ὄρει. οὗτοι μὲν ἐξ Ἀρκαδίας κατίασιν ἐς τὸν Ἀλφειόν, Κλάδεος δὲ ἐρχόμενος ἐκ τῆς Ἠλείας συμμίσγει οἱ τὸ ῥεῦμα· αὐτῷ δὲ ἐν τῇ Ἀρκάδων τῷ Ἀλφειῷ καὶ οὐχὶ ἐκ τῆς Ἠλείας εἰσὶν αἱ πηγαί.
To one who has arrived at Olympia, there already the water of the Alpheius is both great in quantity to one who sees it and most pleasant, since seven other rivers, and those most worthy of mention, flow into it. For indeed the Helisson, flowing through Megalopolis, empties into the Alpheius, and the Brentheates from the land of the Megalopolitans, and the Gortynius, flowing past Gortyna where there is a sanctuary of Asclepius, even past these very places, and the Buphagus from Melaeneae, between the territory of Megalopolis and Heraea, and the Ladon from the land of the Cleitorians, and the river homonymous with the mountain from Mount Erymanthus. These descend from Arcadia into the Alpheius, but the Cladeus coming from Elea mingles its stream with it; and the springs of the Alpheius itself are in the land of the Arcadians and not from Elea.
λέγεται δὲ καὶ ἄλλα τοιάδε ἐς τὸν Ἀλφειόν, ὡς ἀνὴρ εἴη θηρευτής, ἐρασθῆναι δὲ2 αὐτὸν Ἀρεθούσης, κυνηγετεῖν δὲ καὶ ταύτην. καὶ Ἀρέθουσαν μὲν οὐκ ἀρεσκομένην γήμασθαι περαιωθῆναί φασιν ἐς νῆσον τὴν κατὰ Συρακούσας, καλουμένην δὲ Ὀρτυγίαν, καὶ ἐνταῦθα ἐξ ἀνθρώπου γενέσθαι πηγήν· συμβῆναι δὲ ὑπὸ τοῦ ἔρωτος καὶ Ἀλφειῷ τὴν ἀλλαγὴν ἐς τὸν ποταμόν.
And other things of this sort are also said about the Alpheius: that he was a hunter, and that he fell in love with Arethusa, and that she too was a hunter. And they say that Arethusa, not wishing to marry, crossed over to the island near Syracuse, which is called Ortygia, and there from a human being became a spring; and that by reason of his love, the change into the river happened also to Alpheius.
ταῦτα μὲν λόγου τοῦ ἐς Ἀλφειὸν †ἐς τὴν Ὀρτυγίαν †· τὸ δὲ διὰ τῆς θαλάσσης ἰόντα ἐνταῦθα ἀνακοινοῦσθαι τὸ ὕδωρ πρὸς τὴν πηγὴν οὐκ ἔστιν ὅπως ἀπιστήσω,3 τὸν θεὸν ἐπιστάμενος τὸν ἐν Δελφοῖς ὁμολογοῦντά σφισιν, ὃς Ἀρχίαν τὸν Κορίνθιον ἐς τὸν Συρακουσῶν ἀποστέλλων οἰκισμὸν καὶ τάδε εἶπε τὰ ἔπη· "Ὀρτυγίη τις κεῖται ἐν ἠεροειδέι πόντῳ, Θρινακίης καθύπερθεν, ἵνʼ Ἀλφειοῦ στόμα βλύζει. μισγόμενον πηγαῖσιν ἐυρρείτης Ἀρεθούσης." κατὰ τοῦτο οὖν, ὅτι τῇ Ἀρεθούσῃ τοῦ Ἀλφειοῦ τὸ ὕδωρ μίσγεται, καὶ τοῦ ἔρωτος τὴν φήμην τῷ ποταμῷ πείθομαι γενέσθαι.
These are the stories concerning the Alpheius †to Ortygia†; but that traveling through the sea he mingles his water there with the spring, I cannot possibly disbelieve, knowing that the god in Delphi agrees with them, who, when sending Archias the Corinthian to the settlement of Syracuse, spoke these verses: “’A certain Ortygia lies in the misty sea, above Thrinacia, where the mouth of the Alpheius bubbles up, mingling with the springs of fair-flowing Arethusa.’” In accordance with this, therefore, because the water of the Alpheius mingles with Arethusa, I am persuaded that the rumor of his love also arose for the river.
ὅσοι δὲ Ἑλλήνων ἢ Αἰγυπτίων ἐς Αἰθιοπίαν τὴν ὑπὲρ Συήνης καὶ ἐς Μερόην Αἰθιόπων πόλιν ἀναβεβήκασι, λέγουσιν οὗτοι τὸν Νεῖλον, ἐσιόντα ἐς λίμνην καὶ διʼ αὐτῆς διεξιόντα ὥσπερ ἐκ χέρσου, μετὰ τοῦτο ἤδη διʼ Αἰθιοπίας τῆς κάτω καὶ ἐς Αἴγυπτον ῥεύσαντα ἐπὶ Φάρον καὶ τὴν ταύτῃ θάλασσαν κατέρχεσθαι.4 ἐν δὲ τῇ γῇ ποταμὸν τῇ Ἑβραίων Ἰάρδανον καὶ αὐτὸς οἶδα λίμνην Τιβεριάδα ὀνομαζομένην διοδεύοντα, ἐς δὲ λίμνην ἑτέραν καλουμένην θάλασσαν Νεκράν, ἐς ταύτην ἐσιόντα καὶ ὑπὸ τῆς λίμνης αὐτὸν ἀναλούμενον.
And those of the Greeks or Egyptians who have gone up to Ethiopia above Syene and to Meroe, the city of the Ethiopians, say that the Nile, entering into a lake and passing through it as if through dry land, after this flows through lower Ethiopia and into Egypt, and goes down to Pharos and the sea there. And I myself know that in the land of the Hebrews the river Jordan passes through a lake named Tiberias, and entering into another lake called the Dead Sea, is consumed by the lake.
- 5.7.1ἰδόντι
Meaning 'to one who sees', this is a dative of reference (dativus iudicantis) indicating the person from whose perspective the judgment of quantity is made.
- 5.7.2ὡς ἀνὴρ εἴη ... ἐρασθῆναι δὲ
An anacoluthon or shift in indirect discourse, where the ὡς clause (with the optative εἴη) introducing the report (λέγεται) is followed by infinitives (ἐρασθῆναι, κυνηγετεῖν) joined by the coordinate conjunction δέ.
- 5.7.3οὐκ ἔστιν ὅπως ἀπιστήσω
A strong affirmative idiom meaning 'there is no way that I should disbelieve' or 'I cannot but believe', with the aorist subjunctive ἀπιστήσω introduced by ὅπως.
- 5.7.4τὸν Νεῖλον ... κατέρχεσθαι
An accusative with infinitive construction governed by the main verb λέγουσιν. The subject accusative τὸν Νεῖλον is modified by several intervening participles (ἐσιόντα, διεξιόντα, ῥεύσαντα) before reaching the main infinitive κατέρχεσθαι at the end.