- 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-grc2:7.5.1-7.5.7
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-29
This chunk relates the legends of the capture of Smyrna by the Ionians and its refounding by Alexander the Great, followed by a description of the remarkable sanctuaries of Ionia, particularly the Egyptian-style Heracles of Erythrae.
Σμύρναν δὲ ἐν ταῖς δώδεκα πόλεσιν οὖσαν Αἰολέων καὶ οἰκουμένην τῆς χώρας, καθʼ ἃ1 καὶ ἐς ἐμὲ ἔτι πόλιν καλοῦσιν ἀρχαίαν, Ἴωνες ἐκ Κολοφῶνος ὁρμηθέντες ἀφελόμενοι τοὺς Αἰολεῖς ἔσχον· χρόνῳ δὲ ὕστερον καὶ Ἴωνες μετέδοσαν Σμυρναίοις τοῦ ἐν Πανιωνίῳ συλλόγου. Ἀλέξανδρος δὲ ὁ Φιλίππου τῆς ἐφʼ ἡμῶν πόλεως ἐγένετο οἰκιστὴς κατʼ ὄψιν ὀνείρατος·
Smyrna, which was among the twelve cities of the Aeolians and was situated in that part of the country where even down to my time they still call it the ancient city, was taken and held by the Ionians who had set out from Colophon and deprived the Aeolians of it; but in later times the Ionians also gave the Smyrnaeans a share in the assembly at the Panionium. Alexander, the son of Philip, became the founder of the city of our day because of a vision in a dream.
Ἀλέξανδρον γὰρ θηρεύοντα ἐν τῷ ὄρει τῷ Πάγῳ, ὡς ἐγένετο ἀπὸ τῆς θήρας, ἀφικέσθαι πρὸς Νεμέσεων λέγουσιν ἱερόν, καὶ πηγῇ τε ἐπιτυχεῖν αὐτὸν καὶ πλατάνῳ πρὸ τοῦ ἱεροῦ, πεφυκυίᾳ δὲ ἐπὶ τοῦ ὕδατος. καὶ ὑπὸ τῇ πλατάνῳ καθεύδοντι κελεύειν φασὶν αὐτῷ τὰς Νεμέσεις ἐπιφανείσας πόλιν ἐνταῦθα οἰκίζειν καὶ ἄγειν ἐς αὐτὴν Σμυρναίους ἀναστήσαντα ἐκ τῆς προτέρας·
For they say that Alexander, while hunting on Mount Pagus, when he came away from the hunt, arrived at a sanctuary of the Nemeses, and that he came upon a spring and a plane tree in front of the sanctuary, which was growing by the water. And while he was sleeping under the plane tree, they say that the Nemeses appeared and commanded him to found a city there and to bring the Smyrnaeans to it, having removed them from their former city.
ἀποστέλλουσιν οὖν ἐς Κλάρον θεωροὺς οἱ Σμυρναῖοι περὶ τῶν παρόντων σφίσιν ἐρησομένους, καὶ αὐτοῖς ἔχρησεν ὁ θεός· "τρὶς μάκαρες κεῖνοι καὶ τετράκις ἄνδρες ἔσονται, οἳ Πάγον οἰκήσουσι πέρην ἱεροῖο Μέλητος." οὕτω μετῳκίσαντο ἐθελονταὶ καὶ δύο Νεμέσεις νομίζουσιν ἀντὶ μιᾶς καὶ μητέρα αὐταῖς φασιν εἶναι Νύκτα, ἐπεὶ Ἀθηναῖοί γε τῇ ἐν Ῥαμνοῦντι θεῷ πατέρα λέγουσιν εἶναι Ὠκεανόν.
Therefore the Smyrnaeans sent sacred envoys to Claros to ask about their present circumstances, and the god gave them this oracle: “Three times and four times blessed shall those men be, Who shall inhabit Pagus beyond the sacred Meles.” Thus they migrated of their own free will, and they worship two Nemeses instead of one, and say that Night is their mother, whereas the Athenians say that Ocean is the father of the goddess in Rhamnus.
Ἴωσι δὲ ἔχει μὲν ἐπιτηδειότατα ὡρῶν κράσεως ἡ χώρα,2 ἔχει δὲ καὶ ἱερὰ οἷα οὐχ ἑτέρωθι, πρῶτον μὲν τὸ τῆς Ἐφεσίας μεγέθους τε ἕνεκα καὶ ἐπὶ τῷ ἄλλῳ πλούτῳ, δύο δὲ οὐκ ἐξειργασμένα Ἀπόλλωνος, τό τε ἐν Βραγχίδαις τῆς Μιλησίας καὶ ἐν Κλάρῳ τῇ Κολοφωνίων. δύο δὲ ἄλλους ἐν Ἰωνίᾳ ναοὺς ἐπέλαβεν ὑπὸ Περσῶν κατακαυθῆναι, τόν τε ἐν Σάμῳ τῆς Ἥρας καὶ ἐν Φωκαίᾳ τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς· θαῦμα δὲ ὅμως ἦσαν καὶ ὑπὸ τοῦ πυρὸς λελυμασμένοι.
For the Ionians, their land is in the most favorable state in respect to the tempering of the seasons, and it also possesses such sanctuaries as are not found elsewhere; first, that of the Ephesian goddess, because of its size and its other wealth, and two unfinished sanctuaries of Apollo, the one in Branchidae in the Milesian territory and the one in Claros in the Colophonian territory. And two other temples in Ionia met with the fate of being burnt down by the Persians: that of Hera in Samos and that of Athena in Phocaea; yet even though damaged by the fire, they were still a wonder.
ἡσθείης δʼ ἂν καὶ τῷ ἐν Ἐρυθραῖς Ἡρακλείῳ καὶ Ἀθηνᾶς τῷ ἐν Πριήνῃ ναῷ, τούτῳ μὲν τοῦ ἀγάλματος ἕνεκα, Ἡρακλείῳ δὲ τῷ ἐν Ἐρυθραῖς κατὰ ἀρχαιότητα· τὸ δὲ ἄγαλμα οὔτε τοῖς καλουμένοις Αἰγιναίοις οὔτε τῶν Ἀττικῶν τοῖς ἀρχαιοτάτοις ἐμφερές, εἰ δέ τι καὶ ἄλλο,3 ἀκριβῶς ἐστιν Αἰγύπτιον. σχεδία γὰρ ἦν ξύλων, καὶ ἐπʼ αὐτῇ ὁ θεὸς ἐκ Τύρου τῆς Φοινίκης ἐξέπλευσε· καθʼ ἥντινα δὲ αἰτίαν, οὐδὲ αὐτοὶ τοῦτο οἱ Ἐρυθραῖοι λέγουσιν.
One would also be pleased with the sanctuary of Heracles in Erythrae and with the temple of Athena in Priene—with the latter because of its image, and with the sanctuary of Heracles in Erythrae because of its antiquity. The image is not like those called Aeginetan, nor like the most ancient of the Attic ones, but if indeed it resembles anything else, it is strictly Egyptian. For there was a raft of wood, and upon it the god sailed out from Tyre in Phoenicia; but for what reason, not even the Erythraeans themselves tell.
ὡς δὲ ἐς τὴν θάλασσαν ἀφίκετο ἡ σχεδία τὴν Ἰώνων, φασὶν αὐτὴν ὁρμίσασθαι πρὸς ἄκρᾳ καλουμένῃ Μεσάτῃ· ἡ δὲ ἔστι μὲν τῆς ἠπείρου, τοῖς δὲ ἐκ τοῦ Ἐρυθραίων λιμένος ἐς νῆσον τὴν Χίων πλέουσι τοῦτό ἐστι μεσαίτατον. ἐπεὶ δὲ ἡ σχεδία κατὰ τὴν ἄκραν ἔσχεν, ἐνταῦθα πολὺν μὲν οἱ Ἐρυθραῖοι πόνον, οὐκ ἐλάσσονα δὲ ἔσχον οἱ Χῖοι ποιούμενοι σπουδὴν παρὰ σφᾶς καταγαγεῖν ἑκάτεροι τὸ ἄγαλμα·
When the raft arrived in the sea of the Ionians, they say it anchored near the cape called Mesate; this is on the mainland, and is exactly halfway for those sailing from the harbor of the Erythraeans to the island of the Chians. When the raft held near the cape, the Erythraeans made great effort, and the Chians made no less exertion, each eager to bring the image to themselves.
τέλος δὲ Ἐρυθραῖος ἄνθρωπος, ᾧ βίος μὲν ἦν ἀπὸ θαλάσσης γεγονὼς καὶ ἄγρας ἰχθύων, διέφθαρτο δὲ ὑπὸ νόσου τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς, ὄνομα δέ οἱ Φορμίων ἦν, οὗτος ὁ ἁλιεὺς εἶδεν ὄψιν ὀνείρατος ὡς τὰς Ἐρυθραίων γυναῖκας ἀποκείρασθαι δέοι τὰς κόμας καὶ οὕτω τοὺς ἄνδρας πλεξαμένους κάλον ἐκ τῶν τριχῶν τὴν σχεδίαν παρὰ σφᾶς κατάξειν. αἱ μὲν δὴ ἀσταὶ τῶν γυναικῶν οὐδαμῶς ὑπακούειν τῷ ὀνείρατι ἐβούλοντο·
But finally an Erythraean man, whose livelihood came from the sea and the catching of fish, but whose eyes had been destroyed by disease, and whose name was Phormion—this fisherman saw a vision in a dream that the women of the Erythraeans must cut off their hair, and that the men, having woven a rope from the hair, would thus bring the raft to themselves. The women of the citizens would by no means consent to obey the dream.
- 7.5.1καθʼ ἃ
The relative pronoun in the neuter accusative plural with the preposition κατά, meaning "according to which" or "at which places." It refers back to the former Aeolian settlement area, parts of which were still called "the ancient city" in Pausanias' time.
- 7.5.4Ἴωσι δὲ ἔχει μὲν ἐπιτηδειότατα ὡρῶν κράσεως ἡ χώρα
The verb ἔχω is used intransitively to mean "to be in a certain state," with ἡ χώρα as the subject. The dative Ἴωσι is a dative of relation ("for the Ionians"). The genitive κράσεως is governed by the superlative adjective ἐπιτηδειότατα, denoting the respect in which the land is most favorable ("most favorably situated in respect to the tempering of the seasons").
- 7.5.5εἰ δέ τι καὶ ἄλλο
An idiomatic parenthetical phrase with an ellipsis, meaning "if indeed it resembles anything else." Here, it modifies the assertion that the statue is Egyptian, suggesting that if it can be compared to any style at all, it is strictly Egyptian.