- 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-grc2:8.25.1-8.25.6
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-31
This section describes the route from Psophis to Thelpusa, the city of Thelpusa and its temples, and recounts the myth of Demeter Erinys and Demeter Lousia stemming from her encounter with Poseidon.
ἐς δὲ Θέλπουσαν ἰόντι1 ἐκ Ψωφῖδος πρῶτα μὲν χωρίον Τρόπαιά ἐστιν ὀνομαζόμενον ἐν ἀριστερᾷ τοῦ Λάδωνος, Τροπαίων δὲ ἔχεται2 δρυμὸς Ἀφροδίσιον· τρίτα δέ ἐστιν ἀρχαῖα ἐν στήλῃ γράμματα, "ὅροι Ψωφιδίοις πρὸς τὴν Θελπουσίαν χώραν." ἐν δὲ τῇ γῇ τῇ Θελπουσίᾳ ποταμός ἐστιν Ἄρσην καλούμενος· τοῦτον οὖν διαβήσῃ καὶ ὅσον πέντε ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ σταδίοις ἀφίξῃ καὶ εἴκοσι ἐπὶ ἐρείπια Καοῦντος κώμης καὶ ἱερὸν Ἀσκληπιοῦ Καουσίου πεποιημένον ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ.
To one going to Thelpusa from Psophis, first of all there is a place called Tropaia on the left of the Ladon, and adjacent to Tropaia is a grove called Aphrodision; and thirdly, there are ancient letters on a stele, which say: “Boundaries for the Psophidians toward the Thelpusian territory.” In the Thelpusian land there is a river called Arsen; you will cross this, then, and at about twenty-five stades from it you will arrive at the ruins of the village of Caous, and a temple of Asclepius Caousius built on the road.
τοῦ δὲ ἱεροῦ τούτου σταδίους τεσσαράκοντα μάλιστα ἀφέστηκεν ἡ πόλις· τεθῆναι δὲ αὐτῇ ὄνομα ἀπὸ νύμφης λέγουσι Θελπούσης, ταύτην δὲ θυγατέρα εἶναι Λάδωνος. τῷ δὲ Λάδωνι ἄρχεται μὲν τὸ ὕδωρ ἐν πηγαῖς τῆς Κλειτορίας, καθὰ ὁ λόγος ἐδήλωσεν ἤδη μοι· ῥεῖ δὲ πρῶτον μὲν παρὰ Λευκάσιον χωρίον καὶ Μεσόβοα καὶ διὰ τῶν Νάσων ἐπί τε Ὄρυγα τὸν καὶ Ἁλοῦντα ὀνομαζόμενον, ἐξ Ἁλοῦντος δὲ ἐπὶ Θαλιάδας τε καὶ ἐπὶ Δήμητρος ἱερὸν κάτεισιν Ἐλευσινίας.
From this temple the city is distant about forty stades; and they say that its name was given to it from the nymph Thelpusa, and that she was a daughter of Ladon. For the Ladon, its water begins in the springs of Cleitoria, as my account has already shown; and it flows first by the place Leucasion and Mesoboa, and through the Nasoi to Oryx and the place named Halus, and from Halus it descends to Thaliadas and to the temple of Eleusinian Demeter.
τὸ δὲ ἱερὸν τοῦτο ἔστι μὲν Θελπουσίων ἐν ὅροις· ἀγάλματα δὲ ἐν αὐτῷ, ποδῶν ἑπτὰ οὐκ ἀποδέον3 ἕκαστον, Δήμητρός ἐστι καὶ ἡ παῖς καὶ ὁ Διόνυσος, τὰ πάντα ὁμοίως λίθου. μετὰ δὲ τῆς Ἐλευσινίας τὸ ἱερὸν καὶ Θέλπουσαν τὴν πόλιν ὁ Λάδων παρέξεισιν ἐν ἀριστερᾷ, κειμένην μὲν ἐπὶ λόφου μεγάλου, τὰ πλείω δὲ ἐφʼ ἡμῶν ἔρημον, ὥστε καὶ τὴν ἀγορὰν ἐπὶ τῷ πέρατι οὖσάν φασιν ἐν τῷ μεσαιτάτῳ ποιηθῆναι τὸ ἐξ ἀρχῆς. ἔστι δὲ ἐν Θελπούσῃ ναὸς Ἀσκληπιοῦ καὶ θεῶν ἱερὸν τῶν δώδεκα·
This temple is within the boundaries of the Thelpusians; and the images in it, each one not falling short of seven feet, are of Demeter, her daughter, and Dionysus, all alike of stone. After the temple of Eleusinian Demeter, the Ladon passes by the city of Thelpusa on the left, which lies on a great hill, but in our time is for the most part desolate, so that they say even the agora, which is now at the edge, was originally made in the very center. In Thelpusa there is a temple of Asclepius and a sanctuary of the Twelve Gods;
τούτου τὰ πολλὰ ἐς ἔδαφος ἔκειτο ἤδη. μετὰ δὲ Θέλπουσαν ἐπὶ τὸ ἱερὸν τῆς Δήμητρος ὁ Λάδων κάτεισι τὸ ἐν Ὀγκείῳ· καλοῦσι δὲ Ἐρινὺν οἱ Θελπούσιοι τὴν θεόν, ὁμολογεῖ δέ σφισι καὶ Ἀντίμαχος ἐπιστρατείαν Ἀργείων ποιήσας ἐς Θήβας· καί οἱ τὸ ἔπος ἔχει, "Δήμητρος τόθι φασὶν Ἐρινύος εἶναι ἔδεθλον." ὁ μὲν δὴ Ὄγκιος Ἀπόλλωνός ἐστι κατὰ τὴν φήμην καὶ ἐν τῇ Θελπουσίᾳ περὶ τὸ χωρίον ἐδυνάστευε τὸ Ὄγκιον, τῇ θεῷ δὲ Ἐρινὺς γέγονεν ἐπίκλησις·
Of this, most parts were already lying on the ground. After Thelpusa, the Ladon descends to the temple of Demeter in Onceium; and the Thelpusians call the goddess Erinys, and Antimachus also agrees with them, who composed the poem on the expedition of the Argives against Thebes; and his verse runs: “Where they say is the seat of Demeter Erinys.” Now, Oncius, according to report, was a son of Apollo and ruled in the Thelpusian land around the place Onceium, and the title Erinys became attached to the goddess for the following reason:
πλανωμένῃ γὰρ τῇ Δήμητρι, ἡνίκα τὴν παῖδα ἐζήτει, λέγουσιν ἕπεσθαί οἱ τὸν Ποσειδῶνα ἐπιθυμοῦντα αὐτῇ μιχθῆναι, καὶ τὴν μὲν ἐς ἵππον μεταβαλοῦσαν ὁμοῦ ταῖς ἵπποις νέμεσθαι ταῖς Ὀγκίου, Ποσειδῶν δὲ συνίησεν ἀπατώμενος4 καὶ συγγίνεται τῇ Δήμητρι ἄρσενι ἵππῳ καὶ αὐτὸς εἰκασθείς.
For while Demeter was wandering, when she was seeking her daughter, they say that Poseidon followed her desiring to unite with her, and she, having changed herself into a mare, was grazing together with the mares of Oncius; but Poseidon understood that he was being deceived, and united with Demeter, having himself also likeness to a male horse.
τὸ μὲν δὴ παραυτίκα τὴν Δήμητρα ἐπὶ τῷ συμβάντι ἔχειν ὀργίλως, χρόνῳ δὲ ὕστερον τοῦ τε θυμοῦ παύσασθαι καὶ τῷ Λάδωνι ἐθελῆσαί φασιν αὐτὴν λούσασθαι· ἐπὶ τούτῳ καὶ ἐπικλήσεις τῇ θεῷ γεγόνασι, τοῦ μηνίματος μὲν ἕνεκα Ἐρινύς,5 ὅτι τὸ θυμῷ χρῆσθαι καλοῦσιν ἐρινύειν οἱ Ἀρκάδες, Λουσία δὲ ἐπὶ τῷ λούσασθαι τῷ Λάδωνι. τὰ δὲ ἀγάλματά ἐστι τὰ ἐν τῷ ναῷ ξύλου, πρόσωπα δέ σφισι καὶ χεῖρες ἄκραι καὶ πόδες εἰσὶ Παρίου λίθου·
At the moment, indeed, Demeter was angry at what had happened, but after a time they say she ceased from her anger and wished to bathe in the Ladon; because of this, titles also came to the goddess: Erinys because of her wrath, since the Arcadians call being angry “erinyeein,” and Lousia because of her bathing in the Ladon. And the images in the temple are of wood, but their faces and the extremities of their hands and feet are of Parian stone.
- 8.25.1ἰόντι
Dative present participle acting as a dative of reference or relation ("to one going"), a common idiom in geographical and travel writing to indicate the perspective of the traveler.
- 8.25.1Τροπαίων δὲ ἔχεται
The middle-voice verb ἔχομαι governs the genitive (Τροπαίων) to mean "to border upon" or "be next to," indicating that the grove of Aphrodite is adjacent to the place called Tropaia.
- 8.25.3ποδῶν ἑπτὰ οὐκ ἀποδέον
The genitive of measure (ποδῶν ἑπτὰ) depends on the participle ἀποδέον ("falling short"), forming the phrase "not falling short of seven feet" (i.e., at least seven feet high).
- 8.25.5συνίησεν ἀπατώμενος
The present passive participle ἀπατώμενος serves as a supplementary participle with the verb of perception συνίημι ("understand, realize"), meaning "he realized that he was being deceived."
- 8.25.6τοῦ μηνίματος μὲν ἕνεκα Ἐρινύς
Explains the causal relation "Erinys because of her wrath," where the subsequent ὅτι clause provides the etymological rationale based on the Arcadian dialect, which uses the verb erinyeein to mean "to be angry" (thumo khresthai).