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Pausanias · Description of Greece §2.30.1-2.30.5

Cults of Aegina and Mythological Origins of Troezen

Passage 89 of 465 · Greek

Summary

Pausanias describes the temples and cults of Hecate and Aphaea on Aegina, refrains from detailing the events of Auxesia and Damia since they are already recounted by Herodotus, and transitions to the mythological origins of neighboring Troezen.

§2.30.1ναοὶ δὲ οὐ πολὺ ἀλλήλων ἀφεστηκότες ὁ μὲν Ἀπόλλωνός ἐστιν, ὁ δὲ Ἀρτέμιδος, Διονύσῳ δὲ αὐτῶν ὁ τρίτος.
There are temples not far from each other: one of Apollo, another of Artemis, and the third of them belongs to Dionysus.
Ἀπόλλωνι μὲν δὴ ξόανον γυμνόν ἐστι τέχνης τῆς ἐπιχωρίου, τῇ δὲ Ἀρτέμιδί ἐστιν ἐσθής, κατὰ ταὐτὰ δὲ καὶ τῷ Διονύσῳ· καὶ γένεια Διόνυσος ἔχων πεποίηται.
For Apollo there is a nude wooden image of local workmanship, while Artemis is clothed, and in the same way also Dionysus; and Dionysus is represented with a beard.
τοῦ δὲ Ἀσκληπιοῦ τὸ ἱερὸν ἔστι μὲν ἑτέρωθι καὶ οὐ ταύτῃ, λίθου δὲ ἄγαλμα καθήμενον.
The sanctuary of Asclepius is elsewhere and not here, and in it is a seated image of stone.
§2.30.2θεῶν δὲ Αἰγινῆται τιμῶσιν Ἑκάτην μάλιστα καὶ τελετὴν ἄγουσιν ἀνὰ πᾶν ἔτος Ἑκάτης, Ὀρφέα σφίσι τὸν Θρᾷκα καταστήσασθαι τὴν τελετὴν λέγοντες.
Of the gods, the Aeginetans worship Hecate most, and they celebrate a festival of Hecate every year, saying that Orpheus the Thracian established the festival for them.
τοῦ περιβόλου δὲ ἐντὸς ναός ἐστι, ξόανον δὲ ἔργον Μύρωνος, ὁμοίως ἓν πρόσωπόν τε καὶ τὸ λοιπὸν σῶμα.
Within the enclosure is a temple, and the wooden image is the work of Myron, having a single face and the rest of the body likewise.
Ἀλκαμένης δὲ ἐμοὶ δοκεῖν πρῶτος ἀγάλματα Ἑκάτης τρία ἐποίησε προσεχόμενα ἀλλήλοις, ἣν Ἀθηναῖοι καλοῦσιν Ἐπιπυργιδίαν· ἕστηκε δὲ παρὰ τῆς Ἀπτέρου Νίκης τὸν ναόν.
In my opinion, Alcamenes was the first to make three images of Hecate attached to one another, which the Athenians call Epipyrgidia; it stands beside the temple of Wingless Victory.
§2.30.3ἐν Αἰγίνῃ δὲ πρὸς τὸ ὄρος τοῦ Πανελληνίου Διὸς ἰοῦσιν, ἔστιν Ἀφαίας ἱερόν, ἐς ἣν καὶ Πίνδαρος ᾆσμα Αἰγινήταις ἐποίησε.
In Aegina, as one goes toward the mountain of Zeus Panhellenius, there is a sanctuary of Aphaea, to whom Pindar also composed an ode for the Aeginetans.
φασὶ δὲ οἱ Κρῆτες— τούτοις γάρ ἐστι τὰ ἐς αὐτὴν ἐπιχώρια—Καρμάνορος τοῦ καθήραντος Ἀπόλλωνα ἐπὶ φόνῳ τῶ Πύθωνος παῖδα Εὔβουλον εἶναι, Διὸς δὲ καὶ Κάρμης τῆς Εὐβούλου Βριτόμαρτιν γενέσθαι·
The Cretans say—for they have the local stories concerning her—that Eubulus was the son of Carmanor, who purified Apollo for the slaughter of Python, and that Britomartis was born of Zeus and Carme, the daughter of Eubulus.
χαίρειν δὲ αὐτὴν δρόμοις τε καὶ θήραις καὶ Ἀρτέμιδι μάλιστα φίλην εἶναι· Μίνω δὲ ἐρασθέντα φεύγουσα ἔρριψεν ἑαυτὴν ἐς δίκτυα ἀφειμένα ἐπʼ ἰχθύων θήρᾳ.
She delighted in races and hunts, and was a special favorite of Artemis; and fleeing from Minos who was in love with her, she cast herself into nets let down for catching fish.
ταύτην μὲν θεὸν ἐποίησεν Ἄρτεμις, σέβουσι δὲ οὐ Κρῆτες μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ Αἰγινῆται, λέγοντες φαίνεσθαί σφισιν ἐν τῇ νήσῳ τὴν Βριτόμαρτιν.
Artemis made her a goddess, and she is worshiped not only by the Cretans but also by the Aeginetans, who say that Britomartis appeared to them in the island.
ἐπίκλησις δέ οἱ παρά τε Αἰγινήταις ἐστὶν Ἀφαία καὶ Δίκτυννα ἐν Κρήτῃ.
Her surname is Aphaea among the Aeginetans, and Dictynna in Crete.
§2.30.4τὸ δὲ Πανελλήνιον, ὅτι μὴ τοῦ Διὸς τὸ ἱερόν, ἄλλο τὸ ὄρος ἀξιόλογον εἶχεν οὐδέν.
As for the Panhellenius, except for the sanctuary of Zeus, the mountain had nothing else noteworthy.
τοῦτο δὲ τὸ ἱερὸν λέγουσιν Αἰακὸν ποιῆσαι τῷ Διί· τὰ δὲ ἐς τὴν Αὐξησίαν καὶ Δαμίαν, ὡς οὐχ ὗεν ὁ θεὸς Ἐπιδαυρίοις, ὡς τὰ ξόανα ταῦτα ἐκ μαντείας ἐποιήσαντο ἐλαίας παρʼ Ἀθηναίων λαβόντες, ὡς Ἐπιδαύριοι μὲν οὐκ ἀπέφερον ἔτι Ἀθηναίοις ἃ ἐτάξαντο οἷα Αἰγινητῶν ἐχόντων τὰ ἀγάλματα, Ἀθηναίων δὲ ἀπώλοντο οἱ διαβάντες διὰ ταῦτα ἐς Αἴγιναν, ταῦτα εἰπόντος Ἡροδότου καθʼ ἕκαστον αὐτῶν ἐπʼ ἀκριβὲς οὔ μοι γράφειν κατὰ γνώμην ἦν εὖ προειρημένα, πλὴν τοσοῦτό γε ὅτι εἶδόν τε τὰ ἀγάλματα καὶ ἔθυσά σφισι κατὰ τὰ αὐτὰ καθὰ δὴ καὶ Ἐλευσῖνι θύειν νομίζουσιν.
This sanctuary they say Aeacus made for Zeus; but the story of Auxesia and Damia, how the god sent no rain on the Epidaurians, how they made these wooden images in accordance with an oracle, receiving olive wood from the Athenians, how the Epidaurians no longer paid to the Athenians what they had agreed since the Aeginetans had the statues, and how those of the Athenians who crossed over to Aegina on this account perished—since Herodotus has told each of these things accurately, it was not to my mind to write down what has already been well told, except this much, that I both saw the statues and sacrificed to them in the very same way as they are accustomed to sacrifice at Eleusis.
§2.30.5Αἰγίνης μὲν δὴ Αἰακοῦ ἕνεκα καὶ ἔργων ὁπόσα ἀπεδείξατο ἐς τοσόνδε ἔστω μνήμη· τῆς δὲ Ἐπιδαυρίας ἔχονται Τροιζήνιοι, σεμνύνοντες εἴπερ καὶ ἄλλοι τινὲς τὰ ἐγχώρια·
As for Aegina, let the memory of it go so far on account of Aeacus and all the deeds he performed; and next to the territory of Epidaurus are the Troezenians, who pride themselves, if any people do, upon their local history.
φασὶ δὲ Ὦρον γενέσθαι σφίσιν ἐν τῇ γῆ πρῶτον.
They say that Horus was the first to be born in their land.
ἐμοὶ μὲν οὖν Αἰγύπτιον φαίνεται καὶ οὐδαμῶς Ἑλληνικὸν ὄνομα Ὦρος εἶναι· βασιλεῦσαι δʼ οὖν φασιν αὐτὸν καὶ Ὠραίαν ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ καλεῖσθαι τὴν γῆν, Ἄλθηπον δὲ Ποσειδῶνος παῖδα καὶ Ληίδος τῆς Ὤρου, παραλαβόντα μετὰ Ὦρον τὴν ἀρχήν, Ἀλθηπίαν ὀνομάσαι τὴν γῆν.
To me, indeed, Horus seems to be an Egyptian and by no means a Greek name; but they say that he reigned and that the land was called Horaea after him, and that Althepus, the son of Poseidon and Leis, the daughter of Horus, inheriting the rule after Horus, named the land Althepia.

Notes

  1. 2.30.2ἐμοὶ δοκεῖν — An absolute infinitive usage. It is used adverbially, independent of the main clause, to mean "in my opinion" or "as it seems to me."
  2. 2.30.3ἰοῦσιν — Dative plural masculine of the present participle of `εἶμι` (to go). In geographical descriptions and directions, it is a common idiomatic dative (dative of reference) used to mean "for those who go" or "on the way to."
  3. 2.30.4οὔ μοι γράφειν κατὰ γνώμην ἦν — The core of the main clause in this exceptionally long sentence. The noun phrase starting with `τὰ δὲ ἐς τὴν Αὐξησίαν...` at the beginning of the sentence is a proleptic accusative representing the series of events related by Herodotus, with the subsequent four `ὡς` clauses detailing its content. Since Herodotus has already spoken of these things (the genitive absolute `ταῦτα εἰπόντος Ἡροδότου ... εὖ προειρημένα`), the main clause expresses: "it was not to my mind to write them down."

Cite this passage

Pausanias, Description of Greece §2.30.1-2.30.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:2.30.1-2.30.5

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