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Pausanias · Description of Greece §10.33.1-10.33.6

The Route to Ledon, Lilaia, and Charadra

Passage 458 of 465 · Greek

Summary

Pausanias describes the geographical route from Tithorea to Ledon, Lilaia, and Charadra, detailing the historical fortunes of these cities, a curious phenomenon of a river source, and local monuments.

§10.33.1ἑτέρα δὲ ἐκ Τιθορέας ὁδὸς ἡ ἐπὶ Λέδοντά ἐστιν·
Another road from Tithorea is the one to Ledon.
πόλις δέ ποτε ἐνομίζετο καὶ αὕτη, κατʼ ἐμὲ δὲ ὑπὸ ἀσθενείας ἐξελελοίπεσαν οἱ Λεδόντιοι τὴν πόλιν, καὶ ἄνθρωποι περὶ ἑβδομήκοντα οἱ οἰκοῦντες ἦσαν ἐπὶ τῷ Κηφισῷ·
This too was once considered a city, but in my time the Ledontians had abandoned the city because of weakness, and those who lived along the Cephisus were about seventy people.
Λέδων δʼ οὖν ὄνομα ταῖς οἰκήσεσίν ἐστιν αὐτῶν, καὶ ἐς τὸν Φωκέων σύλλογον κοινὸν τελεῖν ἠξίωνται καὶ οὗτοι, καθάπερ γε καὶ οἱ Πανοπεῖς.
Anyway, Ledon is the name of their dwellings, and these too have been deemed worthy to contribute to the common assembly of the Phocians, just as indeed the Panopeans are.
τῶν δὲ ἀνθρώπων οἳ οἰκοῦσιν ἐπὶ τῷ Κηφισῷ τεσσαράκοντά ἐστιν ἀνωτέρω σταδίοις Λέδοντος τῆς ἀρχαίας τὰ ἐρείπια, καὶ τὸ ὄνομα ἀπὸ ἀνδρὸς λαβεῖν τὴν πόλιν φασὶν αὐτόχθονος.
Forty stades higher up from the people who live along the Cephisus are the ruins of ancient Ledon, and they say that the city took its name from an autochthonous man.
§10.33.2κακῶν δὲ ἀπέλαυσαν μὲν ἀνιάτων καὶ ἄλλαι πόλεις διʼ ἀδικίαν ἐπιχωρίων ἀνδρῶν· ἐς τελέαν δὲ ἀπώλειαν ὤλισθον Ἴλιον μὲν διὰ τὴν ἐς Μενέλαον ὕβριν τοῦ Ἀλεξάνδρου, Μιλήσιοι δὲ διὰ τὸ ἐς τὰς ἐπιθυμίας Ἑστιαίου πρόχειρον καὶ ἔρωτα ἄλλοτε μὲν τῆς ἐν Ἠδωνοῖς πόλεως, τοτὲ δὲ εἶναι Δαρείου σύμβουλον, ἄλλοτε δὲ ἐπανήκειν ἐς Ἰωνίαν·
Other cities too have reaped incurable evils because of the injustice of local men; Ilium slipped into utter ruin because of the outrage of Alexander against Menelaus, and the Milesians because of Histiaeus' readiness to indulge his desires and his longing, at one time for the city in the Edonian land, at another to be Darius' adviser, and at another to return to Ionia.
καὶ δὴ καὶ Λεδοντίοις Φιλόμηλος ἀσέβειαν τὴν ἑαυτοῦ δημοσίᾳ παρέσχε σφίσιν ἀναμάξασθαι.
And indeed, for the Ledontians, Philomelus caused his own impiety to be wiped off onto them publicly.
§10.33.3Λίλαια δὲ ἡμέρας μὲν ὁδὸν καὶ ὥρᾳ χειμῶνος ἀπέχει Δελφῶν κατιοῦσι διὰ τοῦ Παρνασσοῦ, στάδια δὲ ἐτεκμαιρόμεθα ὀγδοήκοντα εἶναι τῆς ὁδοῦ καὶ ἑκατόν.
Lilaia is a day's journey, for those going down through Parnassus, from Delphi in the winter season; and we estimated the road to be one hundred and eighty stades.
τοὺς δὲ ἐνταῦθα ἀνθρώπους, καὶ ἐπειδὴ ἀνῳκίσθη αὐτοῖς ἡ πόλις, ἀτύχημα ἐκ Μακεδονίας δεύτερον σφᾶς ἔμελλεν ἐπιλήψεσθαι.
It was fated that a second misfortune from Macedonia would overtake the people here, even after their city had been rebuilt.
πολιορκηθέντες γὰρ ὑπὸ Φιλίππου τοῦ Δημητρίου παρέστησαν κατὰ συνθήκας, καὶ ἐσήχθη φρουρά σφισιν ἐς τὴν πόλιν, ἕως οὗ ἀνὴρ ἐπιχώριος—ὄνομα δέ οἱ ἦν Πάτρων—τούς τε ἐν ἡλικίᾳ τῶν πολιτῶν συνέστησεν ἐπὶ τὴν φρουρὰν καὶ κρατήσας τοὺς Μακεδόνας μάχῃ ἠνάγκασεν ἀπελθεῖν σφᾶς ὑποσπόνδους· Λιλαιεῖς δὲ αὐτὸν ἀντὶ τῆς εὐεργεσίας ταύτης ἀνέθεσαν ἐς Δελφούς.
For they were besieged by Philip, the son of Demetrius, and surrendered under agreement, and a garrison was introduced for them into the city, until a local man—whose name was Patron—organized those of the citizens who were of age against the garrison, and having defeated the Macedonians in battle, forced them to depart under a truce; and the Lilaians, in return for this benefaction, dedicated his statue at Delphi.
§10.33.4ἔστι δὲ ἐν Λιλαίᾳ θέατρον καὶ ἀγορά τε καὶ λουτρά· ἔστι δὲ καὶ θεῶν ἱερὰ Ἀπόλλωνος, τὸ δὲ Ἀρτέμιδος· ἀγάλματα δὲ ὀρθὰ ἐργασίας τε τῆς Ἀττικῆς καὶ τῆς Πεντελῆσι λιθοτομίας.
There is in Lilaia a theater, an agora, and baths; there are also sanctuaries of the gods, one of Apollo and the other of Artemis; and there are standing images of Attic workmanship and of Pentelic marble.
Λίλαιαν δὲ τῶν καλουμένων Ναΐδων καὶ θυγατέρα εἶναι τοῦ Κηφισοῦ καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς νύμφης τὸ ὄνομα τεθῆναι τῇ πόλει φασί.
They say that Lilaia was one of the so-called Naiads and a daughter of the Cephisus, and that the city was named after the nymph.
§10.33.5καὶ ὁ ποταμὸς ἐνταῦθα ἔχει τὰς πηγάς· ἄνεισι δὲ ἐκ τῆς γῆς οὐ τὰ πάντα μεθʼ ἡσυχίας, ἀλλʼ ὡς τὰ πλείω συμβαίνειν μεσούσης μάλιστα τῆς ἡμέρας παρέχεται φωνὴν ἀνερχόμενος· εἰκάσαις ἂν μυκωμένῳ ταύρῳ τὸν ἦχον τοῦ ὕδατος.
And the river has its sources here; it does not rise from the earth entirely in silence, but for the most part, especially around midday, it makes a sound as it rises; one might liken the sound of the water to a bellowing bull.
ἔχει δὲ ἡ Λίλαια καὶ πρὸς τὰς τοῦ ἔτους ὥρας μετοπώρου καὶ ἐν θέρει καὶ ἦρος ἐπιτηδείως· τὸν δὲ χειμῶνα μὴ ὁμοίως ἤπιον γίνεσθαι κωλύει τὸ ὄρος ὁ Παρνασσός.
Lilaia is also favorably situated with respect to the seasons of autumn, summer, and spring; but Mount Parnassus prevents the winter from being similarly mild.
§10.33.6Χαράδρα δὲ εἴκοσιν ἀπωτέρω σταδίοις ἐστὶν ὑπὲρ ὑψηλοῦ κειμένη κρημνοῦ, καὶ ὕδατος οἱ ἐνταῦθα σπανίζουσιν ἄνθρωποι, ποτὸν δέ σφισι ποταμός ἐστι Χάραδρος κατερχομένοις ὅσον τρία ἐπʼ αὐτὸν στάδια· ἐκδίδωσι δὲ ἐς τὸν Κηφισόν, καί μοι τὸ ὄνομα ἀπὸ τοῦ ποταμοῦ φαίνεται τεθῆναι τοῦ Χαράδρου τῇ πόλει.
Charadra is twenty stades further up, situated above a high cliff, and the people there are in want of water; their drinking water is the river Charadrus, down to which they must go about three stades; it empties into the Cephisus, and it seems to me that the city was named after the river Charadrus.
Χαραδραίοις δὲ Ἡρώων καλουμένων εἰσὶν ἐν τῇ ἀγορᾷ βωμοί, καὶ αὐτοὺς οἱ μὲν Διοσκούρων, οἱ δὲ ἐπιχωρίων εἶναί φασιν ἡρώων.
For the Charadraeans there are altars in the agora of those called Heroes, and some say they belong to the Dioscuri, and others to local heroes.

Notes

  1. 10.33.1τῶν δὲ ἀνθρώπων οἳ οἰκοῦσιν — The genitive τῶν ἀνθρώπων is governed by the adverb of comparison/place ἀνωτέρω ('higher up than/from'), functioning as a genitive of comparison or origin, meaning 'forty stades higher up from the people who live along the Cephisus.'
  2. 10.33.2διὰ τὸ ἐς τὰς ἐπιθυμίας Ἑστιαίου πρόχειρον καὶ ἔρωτα — In the phrase διὰ τὸ ... πρόχειρον καὶ ἔρωτα, the article τό coordinates the substantivized adjective πρόχειρον ('readiness/impulsiveness') and the noun ἔρωτα ('longing/passion'), with Ἑστιαίου acting as the subjective genitive. The genitive noun τῆς ... πόλεως and the two infinitives εἶναι and ἐπανήκειν are coordinated as objects of the longing (ἔρωτα).
  3. 10.33.2ἀναμάξασθαι — The infinitive ἀναμάξασθαι ('to wipe off, rub off, transfer onto') is used here in a causative or resultative sense to express that Philomelus caused the Ledontians to bear or 'wipe off' onto themselves the guilt of his own impiety as a community.
  4. 10.33.5ὡς τὰ πλείω συμβαίνειν — The phrase ὡς τὰ πλείω συμβαίνειν is an idiomatic construction with an absolute infinitive, meaning 'as it happens for the most part' or 'as is usually the case,' with the neuter plural accusative τὰ πλείω used adverbially.

Cite this passage

Pausanias, Description of Greece §10.33.1-10.33.6. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:10.33.1-10.33.6

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