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Pausanias · Description of Greece §1.19.1-1.19.6

Delphinium and Sanctuaries along the Ilisus

Passage 21 of 465 · Greek

Summary

The author describes the sanctuaries and landmarks around the Temple of Olympian Zeus in Athens, including the temples of Apollo, Cynosarges, the Lyceum, the Ilisus River with its mythical associations, and the white marble stadium built by Herodes.

§1.19.1μετὰ δὲ τὸν ναὸν τοῦ Διὸς τοῦ Ὀλυμπίου πλησίον ἄγαλμά ἐστιν Ἀπόλλωνος Πυθίου· ἔστι δὲ καὶ ἄλλο ἱερὸν Ἀπόλλωνος ἐπίκλησιν Δελφινίου.
After the temple of Olympian Zeus, near is a statue of Pythian Apollo; and there is also another sanctuary of Apollo surnamed Delphinios.
λέγουσι δὲ ὡς ἐξειργασμένου τοῦ ναοῦ πλὴν τῆς ὀροφῆς ἀγνὼς ἔτι τοῖς πᾶσιν ἀφίκοιτο Θησεὺς ἐς τὴν πόλιν·
And they say that when the temple was finished except for the roof, Theseus, still unknown to all, arrived in the city.
οἷα δὲ χιτῶνα ἔχοντος αὐτοῦ ποδήρη καὶ πεπλεγμένης ἐς εὐπρεπές οἱ τῆς κόμης, ὡς ἐγίνετο κατὰ τὸν τοῦ Δελφινίου ναόν, οἱ τὴν στέγην οἰκοδομοῦντες ἤροντο σὺν χλευασίᾳ, ὅ τι δὴ παρθένος ἐν ὥρᾳ γάμου πλανᾶται μόνη·
Since he was wearing a tunic that reached to his feet and his hair was beautifully plaited, when he was near the temple of Delphinios, those who were building the roof asked him mockingly why a maiden in the flower of marriage was wandering alone.
Θησεὺς δὲ ἄλλο μὲν αὐτοῖς ἐδήλωσεν οὐδέν, ἀπολύσας δὲ ὡς λέγεται τῆς ἁμάξης τοὺς βοῦς, ἥ σφισι παρῆν, ἀνέρριψεν ἐς ὑψηλότερον ἢ τῷ ναῷ τὴν στέγην ἐποιοῦντο.
Theseus showed them nothing else, but having untied, as they say, the oxen from the cart which was there for them, he threw them up higher than they were making the roof for the temple.
§1.19.2—ἐς δὲ τὸ χωρίον, ὃ Κήπους ὀνομάζουσι, καὶ τῆς Ἀφροδίτης τὸν ναὸν οὐδεὶς λεγόμενός σφισίν ἐστι λόγος· οὐ μὴν οὐδὲ ἐς τὴν Ἀφροδίτην, ἣ τοῦ ναοῦ πλησίον ἕστηκε.
—But for the place which they call the Gardens (Kepoi), and the temple of Aphrodite, they have no story told; nor indeed about the Aphrodite which stands near the temple.
ταύτης γὰρ σχῆμα μὲν τετράγωνον κατὰ ταὐτὰ καὶ τοῖς Ἑρμαῖς, τὸ δὲ ἐπίγραμμα σημαίνει τὴν Οὐρανίαν Ἀφροδίτην τῶν καλουμένων Μοιρῶν εἶναι πρεσβυτάτην.
For her shape is square in the same way as the Hermae, and the inscription indicates that Heavenly Aphrodite is the eldest of the so-called Fates (Moirai).
τὸ δὲ ἄγαλμα τῆς Ἀφροδίτης τῆς ἐν Κήποις ἔργον ἐστὶν Ἀλκαμένους καὶ τῶν Ἀθήνῃσιν ἐν ὀλίγοις θέας ἄξιον.
And the statue of Aphrodite in the Gardens is the work of Alcamenes, and one of the few things in Athens worth seeing.
§1.19.3ἔστι δὲ Ἡρακλέους ἱερὸν καλούμενον Κυνόσαργες· καὶ τὰ μὲν ἐς τὴν κύνα εἰδέναι τὴν λευκὴν ἐπιλεξαμένοις ἔστι τὸν χρησμόν, βωμοὶ δέ εἰσιν Ἡρακλέους τε καὶ Ἥβης, ἣν Διὸς παῖδα οὖσαν συνοικεῖν Ἡρακλεῖ νομίζουσιν· Ἀλκμήνης τε βωμὸς καὶ Ἰολάου πεποίηται, ὃς τὰ πολλὰ Ἡρακλεῖ συνεπόνησε τῶν ἔργων.
And there is a sanctuary of Heracles called Cynosarges; and as for the white dog, those who read the oracle can know the story. And there are altars of Heracles and of Hebe, who, being a daughter of Zeus, they think lives with Heracles; and an altar of Alcmene has been made, and of Iolaus, who shared with Heracles most of his labors.
Λύκειον δὲ ἀπὸ μὲν Λύκου τοῦ Πανδίονος ἔχει τὸ ὄνομα, Ἀπόλλωνος δὲ ἱερὸν ἐξ ἀρχῆς τε εὐθὺς καὶ καθʼ ἡμᾶς ἐνομίζετο, Λύκειός τε ὁ θεὸς ἐνταῦθα ὠνομάσθη πρῶτον· λέγεται δὲ ὅτι καὶ Τερμίλαις, ἐς οὓς ἦλθεν ὁ Λύκος φεύγων Αἰγέα, καὶ τούτοις αἴτιός ἐστι Λυκίους ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ καλεῖσθαι.
The Lyceum has its name from Lycus, the son of Pandion, but from the very beginning and down to our time it was considered a sanctuary of Apollo, and the god was first named Lyceus there; and it is said that for the Termilae also, to whom Lycus came when fleeing from Aegeus, he was the cause for them to be called Lycians after him.
§1.19.4ἔστι δὲ ὄπισθεν τοῦ Λυκείου Νίσου μνῆμα, ὃν ἀποθανόντα ὑπὸ Μίνω βασιλεύοντα Μεγάρων κομίσαντες Ἀθηναῖοι ταύτῃ θάπτουσιν.
Behind the Lyceum is the tomb of Nisus, whom, when he was killed by Minos while ruling over Megara, the Athenians brought and buried here.
ἐς τοῦτον τὸν Νῖσον ἔχει λόγος τρίχας ἐν τῇ κεφαλῇ οἱ πορφυρᾶς εἶναι, χρῆναι δὲ αὐτὸν τελευτᾶν ἐπὶ ταύταις ἀποκαρείσαις· ὡς δὲ οἱ Κρῆτες ἦλθον ἐς τὴν γῆν, τὰς μὲν ἄλλας ἐξ ἐπιδρομῆς ᾕρουν τὰς ἐν τῇ Μεγαρίδι πόλεις, ἐς δὲ τὴν Νίσαιαν καταφεύγοντα τὸν Νῖσον ἐπολιόρκουν· ἐνταῦθα τοῦ Νίσου λέγεται θυγατέρα ἐρασθῆναι Μίνω καὶ ὡς ἀπέκειρε τὰς τρίχας τοῦ πατρός.
About this Nisus there is a story that he had purple hair on his head, and that he was destined to die when this was shorn off; and when the Cretans came to the land, they took by storm the other cities in the Megarid, and besieged Nisus who had fled to Nisaea; here it is said that the daughter of Nisus fell in love with Minos and sheared off her father's hair.
§1.19.5ταῦτα μὲν οὕτω γενέσθαι λέγουσι· ποταμοὶ δὲ Ἀθηναίοις ῥέουσιν Ἰλισός τε καὶ Ἠριδανῷ τῷ Κελτικῷ κατὰ τὰ αὐτὰ ὄνομα ἔχων, ἐκδιδοὺς ἐς τὸν Ἰλισόν.
They say that these things happened thus; and rivers flow for the Athenians, the Ilisus and another having the same name as the Celtic Eridanus, emptying into the Ilisus.
ὁ δὲ Ἰλισός ἐστιν οὗτος, ἔνθα παίζουσαν Ὠρείθυιαν ὑπὸ ἀνέμου Βορέου φασὶν ἁρπασθῆναι· καὶ συνοικεῖν Ὠρειθυίᾳ Βορέαν καί σφισι διὰ τὸ κῆδος ἀμύναντα τῶν τριήρων τῶν βαρβαρικῶν ἀπολέσαι τὰς πολλάς.
This is the Ilisus where they say Oreithyia was snatched away by the wind Boreas while playing; and that Boreas lived with Oreithyia and, helping them because of the kinship, destroyed most of the barbarian triremes.
ἐθέλουσι δὲ Ἀθηναῖοι καὶ ἄλλων θεῶν ἱερὸν εἶναι τὸν Ἰλισόν, καὶ Μουσῶν βωμὸς ἐπʼ αὐτῷ ἐστιν Ἰλισιάδων· δείκνυται δὲ καὶ ἔνθα Πελοποννήσιοι Κόδρον τὸν Μελάνθου βασιλεύοντα Ἀθηναίων κτείνουσι.
And the Athenians wish the Ilisus to be sacred to other gods as well, and there is an altar of the Ilisian Muses upon it; and there is also shown where the Peloponnesians killed Codrus, the son of Melanthus, who was king of the Athenians.
§1.19.6διαβᾶσι δὲ τὸν Ἰλισὸν χωρίον Ἄγραι καλούμενον καὶ ναὸς Ἀγροτέρας ἐστὶν Ἀρτέμιδος· ἐνταῦθα Ἄρτεμιν πρῶτον θηρεῦσαι λέγουσιν ἐλθοῦσαν ἐκ Δήλου, καὶ τὸ ἄγαλμα διὰ τοῦτο ἔχει τόξον.
And for those who have crossed the Ilisus there is a place called Agrae and a temple of Artemis Agrotera; here they say Artemis first hunted when she came from Delos, and for this reason the statue has a bow.
τὸ δὲ ἀκούσασι μὲν οὐχ ὁμοίως ἐπαγωγόν, θαῦμα δʼ ἰδοῦσι, στάδιόν ἐστι λευκοῦ λίθου.
And what is not so attractive to those who hear of it, but a wonder to those who see it, is a stadium of white stone.
μέγεθος δὲ αὐτοῦ τῇδε ἄν τις μάλιστα τεκμαίροιτο· ἄνωθεν ὄρος ὑπὲρ τὸν Ἰλισὸν ἀρχόμενον ἐκ μηνοειδοῦς καθήκει τοῦ ποταμοῦ πρὸς τὴν ὄχθην εὐθύ τε καὶ διπλοῦν.
One might especially estimate its size in this way: a hill starting from above the Ilisus, in a crescent shape, descends towards the bank of the river, straight and double.
τοῦτο ἀνὴρ Ἀθηναῖος Ἡρώδης ᾠκοδόμησε, καί οἱ τὸ πολὺ τῆς λιθοτομίας τῆς Πεντελῆσιν ἐς τὴν οἰκοδομὴν ἀνηλώθη.
An Athenian man, Herodes, built this, and most of the quarry-stone at Pentelicus was consumed by him for the building.

Notes

  1. 1.19.1ὡς ἐξειργασμένου τοῦ ναοῦ πλὴν τῆς ὀροφῆς — A genitive absolute construction consisting of the noun ναοῦ and the participle ἐξειργασμένου. The conjunction ὡς presents the circumstance or background, meaning "when the temple was..."
  2. 1.19.1οἷα δὲ χιτῶνα ἔχοντος αὐτοῦ ποδήρη — A genitive absolute construction introduced by οἷα, expressing an objective cause or reason ("since he was wearing..."). The following clause πεπλεγμένης ... τῆς κόμης is in parallel as another genitive absolute of reason.
  3. 1.19.5Ἠριδανῷ τῷ Κελτικῷ — A dative of comparison dependent on the subsequent expression κατὰ τὰ αὐτά ("in the same way/like"), meaning "the same as the Celtic Eridanus."
  4. 1.19.6διαβᾶσι — Dative plural of the aorist active participle of διαβαίνω. This is a dative of the person judging (dativus iudicantis), frequently used in travel literature to indicate "to/for those who have crossed."

Cite this passage

Pausanias, Description of Greece §1.19.1-1.19.6. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:1.19.1-1.19.6

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