- 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-grc2:9.20.1-9.20.5
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-01
The text recounts the origins of Tanagra, its founder Poemandrus, and his wife Tanagra (Graia). It also describes various local monuments including the tomb of Orion, the place of Atlas, and two legends concerning a headless Triton in the temple of Dionysus.
ἔστι δὲ τῆς Ταναγραίας ἐπὶ θαλάσσῃ καλούμενον Δήλιον· ἐν δὲ αὐτῷ καὶ Ἀρτέμιδος καὶ Λητοῦς ἐστιν ἀγάλματα. Ταναγραῖοι δὲ οἰκιστήν σφισι Ποίμανδρον γενέσθαι λέγουσι Χαιρησίλεω παῖδα τοῦ Ἰασίου τοῦ Ἐλευθῆρος, τὸν δʼ1 Ἀπόλλωνός τε καὶ Αἰθούσης εἶναι τῆς Ποσειδῶνος. Ποίμανδρον δὲ γυναῖκά φασιν ἀγαγέσθαι Τάναγραν θυγατέρα Αἰόλου· Κορίννῃ δέ ἐστιν ἐς αὐτὴν πεποιημένα2 Ἀσωποῦ παῖδα εἶναι.
In the territory of Tanagra by the sea is a place called Delium; and in it are images of Artemis and Leto. The Tanagraeans say that their founder was Poemandrus, the son of Chaeresilaus, who was the son of Iasius, who was the son of Eleuther, and they say that the latter was the son of Apollo and Aethusa the daughter of Poseidon. And they say that Poemandrus married Tanagra, the daughter of Aeolus; but Corinna in her poems about her says that she was the daughter of Asopus.
ταύτης τοῦ βίου προελθούσης ἐπὶ μακρότατον3 τοὺς περιοίκους φασὶν ἀφελόντας τὸ ὄνομα τήν τε γυναῖκα αὐτὴν καλεῖν Γραῖαν καὶ ἀνὰ χρόνον τὴν πόλιν· διαμεῖναί τε τὸ ὄνομα ἐς τοσοῦτον ὡς καὶ Ὅμηρον ἐν καταλόγῳ ποιῆσαι "Θέσπειαν Γραῖάν τε καὶ εὐρύχορον Μυκαλησσόν." χρόνῳ δὲ ὕστερον τὸ ὄνομα τὸ ἀρχαῖον ἀνεσώσαντο.
They say that, as she advanced to an extremely old age, the neighbors took away her name and called the woman herself Graia, and in course of time the city too; and that the name persisted so long that even Homer made mention of it in the Catalogue: “Thespeia, and Graia, and spacious Mycalessus.” In later times, however, they recovered their ancient name.
ἔστι δʼ Ὠρίωνος μνῆμα ἐν Τανάγρᾳ καὶ ὄρος Κηρύκιον, ἔνθα Ἑρμῆν τεχθῆναι λέγουσι, Πόλος τε ὀνομαζόμενον χωρίον· ἐνταῦθα Ἄτλαντα καθήμενον πολυπραγμονεῖν τά τε ὑπὸ γῆς φασι καὶ τὰ οὐράνια, πεποιῆσθαι δὲ καὶ Ὁμήρῳ περὶ τούτου, "Ἄτλαντος θυγάτηρ ὀλοόφρονος, ὅστε θαλάσσης πάσης βένθεα οἶδεν, ἔχει δέ τε κίονας αὐτός μακράς, αἳ γαῖάν τε καὶ οὐρανὸν ἀμφὶς ἔχουσιν."
There is in Tanagra the tomb of Orion, and Mount Cerycius, where they say Hermes was born, and a place called Polus; here they say Atlas sits and busies himself with both what is beneath the earth and the heavenly things, and Homer too has written concerning him: “The daughter of Atlas of baneful mind, who knows the depths of every sea, and himself holds the tall pillars which keep earth and heaven apart.”
ἐν δὲ τοῦ Διονύσου τῷ ναῷ θέας μὲν καὶ τὸ ἄγαλμα ἄξιον4 λίθου τε ὂν Παρίου καὶ ἔργον Καλάμιδος, θαῦμα δὲ παρέχεται μεῖζον ἔτι ὁ Τρίτων. ὁ μὲν δὴ σεμνότερος ἐς αὐτὸν λόγος τὰς γυναῖκάς φησι τὰς Ταναγραίων πρὸ τῶν Διονύσου ὀργίων ἐπὶ θάλασσαν καταβῆναι καθαρσίων ἕνεκα, νηχομέναις δὲ ἐπιχειρῆσαι τὸν Τρίτωνα καὶ τὰς γυναῖκας εὔξασθαι Διόνυσόν σφισιν ἀφικέσθαι βοηθόν, ὑπακοῦσαί τε δὴ τὸν θεὸν καὶ τοῦ Τρίτωνος κρατῆσαι τῇ μάχῃ·
In the temple of Dionysus, the image, being of Parian marble and the work of Calamis, is worth seeing, but the Triton presents an even greater wonder. The more dignified story concerning him says that the women of the Tanagraeans, before the orgies of Dionysus, went down to the sea for purification, and as they were swimming, the Triton attacked them, and the women prayed that Dionysus would come to their aid, and the god indeed heard them and overcame the Triton in the fight.
ὁ δὲ ἕτερος λόγος ἀξιώματι μὲν ἀποδεῖ τοῦ προτέρου, πιθανώτερος δέ ἐστι. φησὶ γὰρ δὴ οὗτος, ὁπόσα ἐλαύνοιτο5 ἐπὶ θάλασσαν βοσκήματα, ὡς ἐλόχα τε ὁ Τρίτων καὶ ἥρπαζεν· ἐπιχειρεῖν δὲ αὐτὸν καὶ τῶν πλοίων τοῖς λεπτοῖς, ἐς ὃ οἱ Ταναγραῖοι κρατῆρα οἴνου προτιθέασιν αὐτῷ. καὶ τὸν αὐτίκα ἔρχεσθαι λέγουσιν ὑπὸ τῆς ὀσμῆς, πιόντα δὲ ἐρρῖφθαι κατὰ τῆς ᾐόνος ὑπνωμένον, Ταναγραῖον δὲ ἄνδρα πελέκει παίσαντα ἀποκόψαι τὸν αὐχένα αὐτοῦ· καὶ διὰ τοῦτο οὐκ ἔπεστιν αὐτῷ κεφαλή. ὅτι δὲ μεθυσθέντα εἷλον, ἐπὶ τούτῳ ὑπὸ Διονύσου νομίζουσιν ἀποθανεῖν αὐτόν.
The other story, though inferior in dignity to the former, is more plausible. For this story says that, whatever cattle were driven to the sea, the Triton would lie in wait for and carry off; and he even attacked the lighter of the boats, until the Tanagraeans set out a bowl of wine for him. And they say that he came immediately, drawn by the smell, and having drunk it, he was cast down sleeping on the shore, and a Tanagraean man, striking him with an axe, cut off his neck; and because of this he has no head. And since they caught him when he was drunk, they believe that he died at the hands of Dionysus.
- 9.20.1τὸν δʼ
The pronoun τὸν δʼ (accusative) refers back to Eleuther (Ἐλευθῆρα) in the preceding genealogy. Interpreting it as referring to Poemandrus or Chaeresilaus would contradict the established mythological genealogy that Eleuther is the son of Apollo and Aethusa.
- 9.20.1Κορίννῃ δέ ἐστιν ἐς αὐτὴν πεποιημένα
The dative Κορίννῃ is a dative of agent. The neuter plural perfect passive participle πεποιημένα (implying verses or songs) is used to mean "poems have been composed by Corinna." The subsequent accusative with infinitive clause (Ἀσωποῦ παῖδα εἶναι) expresses the content of her poems.
- 9.20.2ταύτης τοῦ βίου προελθούσης ἐπὶ μακρότατον
A genitive absolute construction. The intransitive use of the verb προέρχομαι ("to advance") is combined with the genitive τοῦ βίου ("life") as an internal object/complement, meaning "her life having advanced to the furthest extent" (i.e., she having lived to an extremely old age).
- 9.20.4θέας μὲν καὶ τὸ ἄγαλμα ἄξιον
The adjective ἄξιον ("worthy") governs the genitive case θέας ("sight" or "viewing"). The word order is somewhat irregular due to the positions of μὲν and καὶ, with the subject τὸ ἄγαλμα placed between them.
- 9.20.5ὁπόσα ἐλαύνοιτο
A relative/conditional clause expressing past repetition. The optative mood (ἐλαύνοιτο) is used in a past general condition, which, combined with the imperfect indicative verbs in the main clause (ἐλόχα, ἥρπαζεν), denotes a customary or repeated action in the past ("whenever they were driven...").